Isn't the year just spinning by, here is my first two August Purchases! Its back to my old favourites, old and classic British coins. Both of these are new adds, meaning they are not upgrades. Photos provided by the friendly dealer.
A very nice Charles I shilling, this is a scarcer type being the Portcullis mintmark (1633 - 34) from the Tower mint, fairly early usage of the Van Dyke collar bust and oval shield. Has CR on it too (Carolus Rex), a great coin to buy now we have another Charles on the throne. I will always buy Charles I coins if I can, its a popular reign and numbers in NZ are limited. Despite it being only VG and quite clipped, this is a good coin - intact and even wear with some portrait detail!
Another of my favourites, another Double Florin of Victoria. As you all know Queen Victoria coins are my favourite especially big silver ones in a higher grade. This ticks all the boxes. Its the more common Arabic 1 for 1887. The condition is easily EF for the tails, but I would grade Viccy a bit lower, the hair and lace detail is a bit less so I will say gVF/aEF as her trunk is fairly detailed.
Lets see your August additions!
I love coins. Especially silver, gold and anything really old.
Member of the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand and the Auckland Numismatic Society
I wanted to complete my circulating commemorative coin series of Canadian quarters:
“The History of Canada Through the Second Millennium”
An upgrade of my collection for this tiny 10 cents. My former coin was only fine.
Here is the bloodiest of the Napoleonic battles whose victory is claimed by both sides: The victory is French insofar as Napoleon forces the Russian army to retreat and opens the way to Moscow, but Tolstoy maintains that it is a Russian victory consistent with the war of attrition waged by the Russians.
1 Rouble - 12th World Youth Festival – 1985 - bringing together the communist youth movements of 157 countries with the slogan
« For Anti-Imperialist Solidarity, Peace and Friendship ».
The slogan of the next festival on 2024 which will be held not far from the Kerch Crimean bridge will be “For peace, solidarity and social justice, we fight against imperialism – respecting our past, we are building our future!” (no comment …)
Kazakstan : al-Farabi (°c. 870 +951) known in the Latin West as Alpharabius, was an early Islamic philosopher and music theorist. He has been designated as "Father of Islamic Neoplatonism", and the "Founder of Islamic Political Philosophy". He might have been born in Farab, a ghost town of modern-day Kazakhstan. Since the country's independence, a relative revival of religions has emerged. A large number of mosques but also churches were built. Religions tend for some to fill the ideological void left by the disappearance of communist dogma.
This 20 Tenge 1993 is a large coin. It gets the size of commemorative coins but is considered an usual circulation coin.
100 Tenge - 2016 (Korean fairy tale - The legend of Tangun).
There are some Kazakh commemorative large coins about fairy tales, some of these legends are known in the west. I remember that my children loved the story of Koloboc (in French "roule galette" , in English ”The little round bun”)
Its statue in Donetsk seems to wonder why suddenly the world doesn't turn so round.
Stay in Kazakstan, I added some coins to complete the Jeti Qazyna : the seven treasures of the steppe
At all times, in many countries, the number seven was considered a happy, complete number, full of energy and higher spirituality. Many things link it to religions and beliefs, arts and sciences, language and culture.
The concept of "Jeti Qazyna" occupies a special place in the ideology of the Kazakh people. By treasure, we designate the seven necessary components in the life of a man: er jigit, sulu jáne aqyl áiel, júirik at, qyran búrkit, júirik tazy, beren myltyq, bilim (the courage of a young jigit, a beautiful and intelligent wife, a fast horse, a golden eagle for hunting, a loyal tazi greyhound, a good weapon, clever knowledge). If these seven treasures are present then life will be full and happy.
The first component of “Jeti Qazyna” is the er jigit. Among the Kazakhs, the nomads have always had a man at the head of the family, he had to provide for the needs of the family, support it, he was the protector of the clan. They say about women, wives: “Aqyldy áiel – bereke bar” (an intelligent woman is wealth). The task of the wife is not only to guard the family hearth, but also to distribute her husband's spoils correctly and wisely and to bring up children worthy of their father. The head of the family does not educate his children because he is constantly at work, on the move, hunting.
The other three treasures of a man according to the nomads are the three faithful friends of a young jigit (rider): a swift horse, a tazi greyhound and a golden eagle.
In addition, the Kazakhs believed that a house, where a golden eagle lives, protects against evil. Therefore, the wings, feathers and feet of this bird hung in a place of honor in the house or above the head of the cradle. It was believed that the sacred bird protects against the evil eye and serves as a talisman.
The dog was also a faithful friend during the hunt. According to belief, the birth of a tazi puppy ensures abundance, wealth and happiness. The capture of the first prey by the dog was a real celebration. The tazis, accompanied by the hunting birds and the horses, were always taken to the great feasts and festivals, they were the pride of their master.
In Kazakh oral culture, the horse is an indispensable companion of a hero: "He who has never ridden a horse is not a real jigit", they say.
The list of "Jetі Qazyna" ends with good weapons (saber, bow and arrows, the "qamshy-pyshaq" which is a sharp blade hidden in the handle of the whip, etc.), which are indispensable in battle, and knowledge and wisdom that will help you take the right path in life and make informed decisions.
Surprisingly, this coin commemorating Tamerlane (Timur). How can be celebrated such a genocidaire, even if he was born in his country?
Historians often speak of a "Timurid catastrophe" so spectacular aredestructions and successive massacres; estimates of the number of victims of his military campaigns range from one million to 17 million people (about 5% of the world's population at the time).
A city which was attacked by his army had to either surrender and be looted or resist and be destroyed along with all its inhabitants.
Then the Palace of international symposiums in Tashkent to celebrate 20 years of independence of Uzbekistan
And the future “Center of Islamic Civilization in Tashkent”. What a huge project !
Same as in all the republics of the former Soviet Union in the region, Islam developed after independence, but in the mid-2000s, Karimov fought against extremist tendencies. For example, even though he was Sunni-leaning, he blocked pilgrimages to Mecca which required permission.
On 2016, Shavkat Mirziyoyev (who took over the leadership of Uzbekistan after the death of its longtime dictator Islam Karimov) wanted to build such a center. The idea is very simple: he wanted to show that Islam is the religion of intelligence, peace and enlightenment — not the religion of terrorism or fundamentalism.
Well … I don’t know if I should continue to present all new coins of this month, this thread might be a bit long, I'm so talkative, I spend more time studying my new coins than getting new ones :)
Hi Frenchlover - I agree that story about the 7 Treasures was amazing and good to see the Uzbek 1000 Som too. I recently got a set of Uzbek coins, but it stopped at the 500 Som and that is the only one I am missing.
Gothic Florin - I agree yours are magnificient as well. Love the SA Florins. I have nearly all of them from 1951 onwards, but only a handful before - 1923 worn flat, 1924 Fine and a very nice 1933. My half crowns are better though, have them all from 1923 to 1936 and then 1941, 44, and 1951 to 1958.
Better show some coins.
Rest of the Uzbek set to join Frenchlover's 1000 som.
I love coins. Especially silver, gold and anything really old.
Member of the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand and the Auckland Numismatic Society
Got this in the mail today! An exclusive coin from the Pitcairn Islands, featuring the ongoing Women's World Cup! This coin will be the first in my collection that features King Charles III on the reverse! ⚽
Impressive designs on the Uzbek coins I would say Frenchlover and Moneytane, coins from the Middle East and Central Asia tend to be under appreciated.
U.K. 50p R2-D2 and C-3PO 1st coin out of a 4 coin series.
Hi to whoever is reading this. Did you know that TYPEWRITER (on a QWERTY keyboard) is the longest word you can type using only the letters on one row of the keyboard.
Bernardo Bertolucci's film in 1987 made "The Last Emperor" known to as many people as possible.
The coinage calendar begins in February 1932 when the state of Manchukuo is officially proclaimed by the Kwantung Army. Puyi is placed at the head of this puppet state under the reign name "Datong" (大同), the great unity). In March 1934 he took a new reign name "Kangde" (康德, tranquility and virtue). My coin is from year 9 of this reign, therefore from March 1942 to March 1943.
It is not surprising to find the Japanese imperial seal on the obverse and Chinese characters on the reverse.
5 Fen Mongolia 1970 :
In Mongolia, the various small coins take up the successive emblems.
On 1960, the People's Party subservient to the Soviet Union seemed to have timid desires for independence when it launched its new emblem:
At the top in the Soviet star is added, in very small, the symbol of Mongolia: The soyombo:
And surprisingly a kind of gear is added at the bottom of the emblem.
It's really Soviet fashion, but is Mongolia a land of industry?
Some will recognize the Buddhist “Wheel of Dharma”, certainly disguised because in those days it was not good to display religious symbols!
From Mongolia to the steppes and mountains of Kyrgyzstan it is the white falcon (Ak-Shumkar), the sacred bird symbol of Genghis Khan, which makes the transition for my 10 Som 2009. The bird "Ak Shumkar" as a symbol of purity and nobility of thoughts is sung in legends and folk epos.
And now we go from purity to its opposite for my 500 Manat – 1999 from Turkmenistan.
At once, looking to his head, he does not look comfortable. It is President Saparmurat Niyazov (1991-2006).
In his time, he was one of the world's most totalitarian, despotic and repressive dictators.
He promoted a cult of personality around himself and imposed his personal eccentricities upon the country, such as renaming Turkmen months and days of the week to references of his autobiography the Ruhnama.
And then at the numismatic level, apart from his face, there is nothing else...
To finish with Central Asia, a few coins from Tajikistan.
You think you are experts in geography, but to name the capitals of these countries, it's another story 😊
Easy for Uzbekistan, Tashkent and Samarkand are quite well known, but for the others...
For a numismatic point of view, Tajikistan is like South Africa with coins that change every year and as the SCWC is now to absent subscribers, we no longer know if such a new combination of character fonts of obverse or reverse should be considered as a new catalog entry or just a variation.
In its time the SCWC gave its recommendations and I therefore lacked the ".2" version of KM#2:
5 Diram 2006
The 5 Somoni - Sadriddin Aynī, Tajikistan national poet,
and the reverse variation from 2019 of the 3 Somoni - Shirinsho Shohtemur (1899-1937) prominent Tajik politician.
Come on, it's time to change regions to join the most isolated island in the world.
To go there, it's not easy and in addition you have to be invited, even the boats from South Africa that pay to fish for lobster are not allowed to dock. I have an "open invitation" as Numista referee for the South Atlantic islands, but I told my correspondents that ... I will never go there, too bad.
The islands of the South Atlantic, does that ring a bell? can you name two or three?
OK it’s not a big deal.
I introduce you Tristan da Cunha and the islets that emerge around it.
Halfway between Buenos Aires and Cape Town in South Africa, you have to endure a beautiful trip before landing. To endure is just to say that you'll meet big waves.
The ½ Penny – 2008 showing Snipe Eel.
This coin is considered by some numatistic websites as "circulating", it would probably make the 250 inhabitants of this island smile ...
And that emperor was the puppet - Pu Yi, last emperor of China (1909 - 1911). Now a grown man - really had no power and was a figurehead, Japan was the real ruler with Hirohito as true emperor, Pu Yi was arrested in July 1945 and spent years in a Soviet and then Communist Chinese re education camp. He was released in 1967 and became a good communist, dying a few years later.
The movie - The Last Emperor has the full story.
Sadly many of the stans have dictators now too or in the past. Turkmenistan now has Gerbanguly Bermeddow, who was bascially Turkmenbashi's 2IC and its still a dictatorship with a Aladeen bling style capital. Interestingly most of these dictators had their start under Soviet rule.
Some more stan sets.
Azerbaijan 1 - 50 Qapik, featuring a map, oil wells and old buildings
Georgia, less dictatory and stany - but still ex Soviet, I really like these coins
I love coins. Especially silver, gold and anything really old.
Member of the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand and the Auckland Numismatic Society
Georgia, less dictatory and stany - but still ex Soviet, I really like these coins
Well … today Georgia, whether by its president or by the various neighborhood quarrels with its cumbersome neighbor, it is difficult to qualify Georgia as an ex-soviet :)
Georgia, less dictatory and stany - but still ex Soviet, I really like these coins
Well … today Georgia, whether by its president or by the various neighborhood quarrels with its cumbersome neighbor, it is difficult to qualify Georgia as an ex-soviet :)
I meant it strictly from a historical point of view. Georgia was part of the Soviet Union until 1991 and the most notorious Soviet was Iosef Vissarionovich Djugashvili (Otherwise known as Stalin) born in Gori near the Azerbaijan border.
Agree about rest. Georgia gets on fairly well with fellow Christian state Armenia, but its relationships with Russia and Isalmic Turkey and Azerbaijan are far from good.
Plus like the Baltic States and Armenia, it has evolved far from the Soviet model and more towards the West, without the pseudo communistic “big man” type rule most of the others have gone for (Ukraine was similar until Zelensky took over, its earlier leaders were very how shall we say “Boris the Trogdolyte with a bear skin rug Putinskaya”.
I love coins. Especially silver, gold and anything really old.
Member of the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand and the Auckland Numismatic Society
One of the goodies which arrived in the post today:
Lwow 100 Krone 1915 b - Polish notgeld.
At 258 × 124 mm, this could well be the largest notgeld note to be produced.
That is a huge note - awesome
Indeed! I had been looking for one for a while - it's not a rare note, so just a matter of waiting for one to turn up, after having missed a couple. I will put it on display a the next Dublin fair.
As my correspondent was Polish, I asked him to look in his purse to see if he had any recent small change since they have changed from copper-nickel to copper-nickel plated steel.
It was good because he had a well-stocked wallet and he was kind enough to put me in duplicate for my future exchanges and certain varieties that I did not have like the 2 grosze minted in Poland
Varieties are one of the pleasures of numismatics and it is not Ole Sjoelund, a great specialist in varieties of coins and... wine bottles, who will contradict me 😊
So for Poland, to play with the varieties, I got two new 1 zloty coins from 1975 and 1976 which look similar but the 1975 one has the MW poland mintmark and the 1976 one doesn't have it since it was minted in Kremnica, Slovakia.
But there are other differences: for 1975, on obverse, the tufts of feathers on the top of eagle's head in one line, fine script, T far from A to RZECZPOSPOLITA.
Whereas for 1976, we can see the tufts of feathers on the top of eagle's head in two lines, bold script, T near A to RZECZPOSPOLITA.
And for reverse, for 1975, we get small arcs of rim decoration, fine script, symmetric narrow leaves. While for 1976, there are large arcs of rim decoration, bold script, wider leaves, some of them asymmetric.
Well, we're going to stop there with varieties because we could spend the night there, and again it's simple because when you attack the silver kopeks of the Russian Empire... you actually spend the night there.
And to finish with Poland, the recurring cosmonaut, a great classic of the USSR and its satellites since Gagarin grilled the Americans in the race for the first man in space. Besides, I was born the day the first American went into space. My father excitedly wanted to name me John but my mother preferred to give me a more French name. From there must come to me a particular affection for all that is astronautics and cosmology. I am unbeatable on all phases of the big bang, the separation of primordial forces, nucleogenesis and all the rest.
Let's slide a little west to Czechia (the official English short name specified by the Czech government) which Numista continues to call the Czech Republic.
Another variety...
On 1993, some coins were minted by Hamburgische Münze and therefore bear the mintmark of the three-towered castle, symbol of the city of Hamburg.
It is hard to imagine the difficulty of finding this small change in Prague. As they are no longer used, I had to rummage in the checkout machines of hotels and shops to finally find some of them further south in Bohemia. But I was missing that 10 Haler from 1993.
Here's a nice Essequibo & Demerara copper stiver. The specifications (metal, weight, diameter) are the same as for the contemporary British penny.
Interesting, when I was at Primary School in rural South Island New Zealand in the mid 1980s, we had choir singing every week or so and as all the teachers were like 65 and born around 1921, the songs we sang were all incredibly old and racist (Someone's in the kitchen with Dinah), one was called “Down in Demerara”, I don't remember many lyrix, but one was “And that poor horsie said to the emperorah, down in Deme a rarah”, Anyway it made me investigate where Demerara was.
I love coins. Especially silver, gold and anything really old.
Member of the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand and the Auckland Numismatic Society
I just looked for the song and, not surprisingly, it's easy to find. Interestingly, in the comments below this YouTube post there are people who had to sing this in school decades ago.
Something else I got from the same seller in the same shipment is this 1857 Flying Eagle cent:
The reverse design of small coins has been modernized.
It was time ! Nothing had changed since the end of the last century.
Flowers remain the same.
Orchids which have been cultivated for over 2,000 years in China and more particularly the Cypripedium ensifolium, also known as the Robust Orchid, or the Summer Hui (Hui indicates this type of orchid has many flowers on one stalk), and sometimes the Four-Season Orchid.
Cymbidium orchids are more than just ornamental plants in China – they are deeply rooted in Chinese culture. Because of their elegant figure and delicate fragrance, Chinese orchids are associated with female beauty. “Orchid (Lan)” was a popular girl’s name in the old days. “Cymbidium orchid heart” refers to a lady with a pure heart and spirit.
The “Orchid-shaped finger” is a graceful gesture used by women to mimic the shape of the orchid.
Lotus is present in figurative form, representing elegance, beauty, perfection, purity, and grace. Perhaps the most famous text is the poetic essay “On the Love of the Lotus” by Zhou Dunyi (1017-1073). As Zhou writes, “I love only the lotus, for rising from the mud yet remaining unstained; bathed by pure currents and yet not seductive.” The lotus is the “gentleman among flowers.” The term “gentleman” (junzi), of course, has since the time of Confucius been the ideal human being. So not surprisingly, the lotus flower is also a popular subject in Chinese paintings.
Chrysanthemum is the last of the four traditional Chinese noble plants after Plum, Orchid and Bamboo.
Chrysanthemum emerges early in spring, but only bears buds when autumn falls and as other flowers wither. The chrysanthemum comes into full bloom, Against the chilly frost, with a bright spectrum of colour yet with a low-key elegance. This represents a tranquil mind of indifference to fame and fortune, which reflects the pursuit of classical Chinese gentlemen.
Since ancient times the chrysanthemum has been deeply cherished by Chinese scholars and known as the ‘Hermit of All Flowers’.
采菊东篱下, 悠然见南山
“While picking asters [chrysanthemums] beneath the Eastern fence, my gaze upon the Southern mountain rests”
A special thought for these two countries who endured the whims of an old-fashion despot with the juxtaposition of 10 Hryven (Territorial Defense Forces) 2022 and 5 rubles 2019 - The 5th anniversary of the referendum on the status of the Crimea and Sevastopol and the Crimea reunification with Russia
Sri Lanka's large coins have decreased in size and weight.
It is creeping inflation that causes the size of coins to decrease in all countries. With a few exceptions like Botswana. In the last quarter of the twentieth century, thanks to the exploitation of the largest diamond mine in the world, Botswana experienced an economic upturn and so … coins increased in weight and size on 2013.
Let's go further south to the Cook Islands.
But why do they issue small-value non-circulating coins?
On 2010 the Cook Islands long ago abandoned their own currency which they could not stabilize and they issue a series of non-circulating cents with this very small version of the fourth Portrait of the Queen, by Ian Rank-Broadley .
This is heresy because Ian Rank-Broadley deliberately made the portrait as large as possible within the framework of the coin's outer edge. Well … Germans minted these coins so they probably didn’t know 😊
At least they pictured the Tiare maori, the beloved flower of the Cook Islands.
Tiare is the generic Maori term for flower, but this flower is the only flower called ‘maori’, which means 'indigenous' in the Maori language of the Cook Islands. This flower is adorned with all virtues.
So what else do I get?
A 2015 20 Diram from Tajikistan.
Did we we already talked about Tajikistan?
Anyway, compared to my 2011, it's not the same coin:
It seems that it will be settled, there will be a new Numista sheet, let's move on.
I love coins from Peru, for small coins there are lots of different varieties, and the commemoratives are really beautiful.
In addition when there are animals, it attracts me even more since I participated in the thread "Animal coins".
Imagine a giant frog. Whoosh!
In Kenya on 2018, the corrupt president with his millions of dollars in Panama, revealed by the Pandora Papers affair, finally decided not to put the portrait of the president on the coins anymore.
Which gives us nice coins that for once have not decreased in size:
The Republic of Cabo Verde changed its official name from The Republic of Cape Verde on 2013 in a request submitted to the Secretary-General by the country's Permanent Representative to the United Nations. 10 years after, Numista might change the name too, but anyway they issued nice commemorative coins.
This one with two big birds and the name Alcatraz which does not take us back to California but which is the largest of the European gulls whose name comes from the Arabic al-ġaţţās, which means the one who dives.
And now back to my domain, the South Atlantic islands.
What a surprise this new series of coins in 2019!
Before deciding to issue a new circulating coin series, the Government of the Falkland Islands considered to abandon the local currency and to still only use the Pound Sterling. They decided not to do so as :
"The existence of a circulating currency for a country is an indication of sovereignty, identity and economic activity".
Let's look to this 5 Pence Falkland Islands.
The Queen lools younger than on the official portrait from the royal mint portrait made by Jody Clark.
These coins were made by the Tower mint, a company created and directed by … Raphael Maklouf.
So give honor where honor is due, he signed himself this new portrait.
Other coins of the year 2019 were produced by Pobjob and thus the obverse depicts the Pobjoy Mint portrait of HM Queen Elizabeth II.
But other things are surprising:
Of the UK and "the six", the Falklands had the oldest reverse designs in use, and they even beat the UK's maximum 41 years for the same designs (though of course the UK's were amended on 1982), whereas apart from the date, the Falklands' were identical from 1974 up to 2018.
And now the direction of flight of the albatross has been reversed!
For the other 2019 coins, the historical reverse will be left the same by Pobjoy.
Minting by two different vendors makes this series from 2019 really weird.
The 5p has a different portrait and no beading, and the date on the obverse.
This mix of suppliers will not happen in the future because Pobjoy Mint won the tender for all circulating coin production of the Falkland Islands. This means that the 2019-dated 5p coin produced by Tower Mint will remain a 1-year-type only.
On the new design, as the date was removed, the "5" is too close to the bird's wing and so should have been moved further down to give the design a less cramped look.
And having "Falkland Islands" on both sides of the coin does seem a bit odd.
Compare to previous coins :
And to finish a new issuer!
Well not quite, let's say a future new issuer.
It's quite a story that would take too long to tell here but Jarcek told me he was taking care of it, so … fingers crossed.
This is Stoltenhoff, a small islet near Nightingale Island (island which also be a future issuer …)
It’s not a gold coin, you’ve understood that I am only interested in coins that do not ruin my wallet 😊
The reverse design of small coins has been modernized.
It was time ! Nothing had changed since the end of the last century.
Flowers remain the same.
Orchids which have been cultivated for over 2,000 years in China and more particularly the Cypripedium ensifolium, also known as the Robust Orchid, or the Summer Hui (Hui indicates this type of orchid has many flowers on one stalk), and sometimes the Four-Season Orchid.
Cymbidium orchids are more than just ornamental plants in China – they are deeply rooted in Chinese culture. Because of their elegant figure and delicate fragrance, Chinese orchids are associated with female beauty. “Orchid (Lan)” was a popular girl’s name in the old days. “Cymbidium orchid heart” refers to a lady with a pure heart and spirit.
The “Orchid-shaped finger” is a graceful gesture used by women to mimic the shape of the orchid.
Lotus is present in figurative form, representing elegance, beauty, perfection, purity, and grace. Perhaps the most famous text is the poetic essay “On the Love of the Lotus” by Zhou Dunyi (1017-1073). As Zhou writes, “I love only the lotus, for rising from the mud yet remaining unstained; bathed by pure currents and yet not seductive.” The lotus is the “gentleman among flowers.” The term “gentleman” (junzi), of course, has since the time of Confucius been the ideal human being. So not surprisingly, the lotus flower is also a popular subject in Chinese paintings.
Chrysanthemum is the last of the four traditional Chinese noble plants after Plum, Orchid and Bamboo.
Chrysanthemum emerges early in spring, but only bears buds when autumn falls and as other flowers wither. The chrysanthemum comes into full bloom, Against the chilly frost, with a bright spectrum of colour yet with a low-key elegance. This represents a tranquil mind of indifference to fame and fortune, which reflects the pursuit of classical Chinese gentlemen.
Since ancient times the chrysanthemum has been deeply cherished by Chinese scholars and known as the ‘Hermit of All Flowers’.
采菊东篱下, 悠然见南山
“While picking asters [chrysanthemums] beneath the Eastern fence, my gaze upon the Southern mountain rests”
A special thought for these two countries who endured the whims of an old-fashion despot with the juxtaposition of 10 Hryven (Territorial Defense Forces) 2022 and 5 rubles 2019 - The 5th anniversary of the referendum on the status of the Crimea and Sevastopol and the Crimea reunification with Russia
Sri Lanka's large coins have decreased in size and weight.
It is creeping inflation that causes the size of coins to decrease in all countries. With a few exceptions like Botswana. In the last quarter of the twentieth century, thanks to the exploitation of the largest diamond mine in the world, Botswana experienced an economic upturn and so … coins increased in weight and size on 2013.
Let's go further south to the Cook Islands.
But why do they issue small-value non-circulating coins?
On 2010 the Cook Islands long ago abandoned their own currency which they could not stabilize and they issue a series of non-circulating cents with this very small version of the fourth Portrait of the Queen, by Ian Rank-Broadley .
This is heresy because Ian Rank-Broadley deliberately made the portrait as large as possible within the framework of the coin's outer edge. Well … Germans minted these coins so they probably didn’t know 😊
At least they pictured the Tiare maori, the beloved flower of the Cook Islands.
Tiare is the generic Maori term for flower, but this flower is the only flower called ‘maori’, which means 'indigenous' in the Maori language of the Cook Islands. This flower is adorned with all virtues.
So what else do I get?
A 2015 20 Diram from Tajikistan.
Did we we already talked about Tajikistan?
Anyway, compared to my 2011, it's not the same coin:
It seems that it will be settled, there will be a new Numista sheet, let's move on.
I love coins from Peru, for small coins there are lots of different varieties, and the commemoratives are really beautiful.
In addition when there are animals, it attracts me even more since I participated in the thread "Animal coins".
Imagine a giant frog. Whoosh!
In Kenya on 2018, the corrupt president with his millions of dollars in Panama, revealed by the Pandora Papers affair, finally decided not to put the portrait of the president on the coins anymore.
Which gives us nice coins that for once have not decreased in size:
The Republic of Cabo Verde changed its official name from The Republic of Cape Verde on 2013 in a request submitted to the Secretary-General by the country's Permanent Representative to the United Nations. 10 years after, Numista might change the name too, but anyway they issued nice commemorative coins.
This one with two big birds and the name Alcatraz which does not take us back to California but which is the largest of the European gulls whose name comes from the Arabic al-ġaţţās, which means the one who dives.
And now back to my domain, the South Atlantic islands.
What a surprise this new series of coins in 2019!
Before deciding to issue a new circulating coin series, the Government of the Falkland Islands considered to abandon the local currency and to still only use the Pound Sterling. They decided not to do so as :
"The existence of a circulating currency for a country is an indication of sovereignty, identity and economic activity".
Let's look to this 5 Pence Falkland Islands.
The Queen lools younger than on the official portrait from the royal mint portrait made by Jody Clark.
These coins were made by the Tower mint, a company created and directed by … Raphael Maklouf.
So give honor where honor is due, he signed himself this new portrait.
Other coins of the year 2019 were produced by Pobjob and thus the obverse depicts the Pobjoy Mint portrait of HM Queen Elizabeth II.
But other things are surprising:
Of the UK and "the six", the Falklands had the oldest reverse designs in use, and they even beat the UK's maximum 41 years for the same designs (though of course the UK's were amended on 1982), whereas apart from the date, the Falklands' were identical from 1974 up to 2018.
And now the direction of flight of the albatross has been reversed!
For the other 2019 coins, the historical reverse will be left the same by Pobjoy.
Minting by two different vendors makes this series from 2019 really weird.
The 5p has a different portrait and no beading, and the date on the obverse.
This mix of suppliers will not happen in the future because Pobjoy Mint won the tender for all circulating coin production of the Falkland Islands. This means that the 2019-dated 5p coin produced by Tower Mint will remain a 1-year-type only.
On the new design, as the date was removed, the "5" is too close to the bird's wing and so should have been moved further down to give the design a less cramped look.
And having "Falkland Islands" on both sides of the coin does seem a bit odd.
Compare to previous coins :
And to finish a new issuer!
Well not quite, let's say a future new issuer.
It's quite a story that would take too long to tell here but Jarcek told me he was taking care of it, so … fingers crossed.
This is Stoltenhoff, a small islet near Nightingale Island (island which also be a future issuer …)
It’s not a gold coin, you’ve understood that I am only interested in coins that do not ruin my wallet 😊
And now we're going to sort it all out,
put in binders
and … go on vacation 😊
Frenchlover, I do like your enthousiastic and meaningfull stories. But 1 small question…: how will an small, uninhabited island, like Stoltenhoff be a coin-issuer?😜
Stoltenhoff Island is like one of those semi legal coin sets. Many private companies like Pojoby, Westminster etc have coin sets made for unihabited places or places that are part of a larger polity. Good examples are various coin sets made for various “First Nations” inside the USA and the set of coins for Greenland (One is trimetallic), and a certain Pitcairn Islands one. Some of these mints may make official coins too.
They are kind of to coins what IGPC, Topnimarka and Stamperija are to stamps (Google them), some legal, some semi legal and some downright fakes. Its always the poorer and/or smaller countries.
The Cook Island coins shown are complete fakes, they use our New Zealand dollar and have their own coins. Yet Tristan itself uses the St Helena coins and notes of the British pound, yet a series of “Crowns” mainly showing sentimental and jingoistical WW2 themes are made by some private mint and sold at huge markups. The portraits of the Queen are funny and different, because they are not the official ones we are used to, but they still have to show her as she is the head of these places. The Crowns are better quality, but still plated muck metal and sold at Abhorrent prices in dodgy collectible sites like Bradford Mint ($40 - 90 + Postage and Papackaging for a coin worth 50 cents).
Some of these coins can be precious metal, but yet they will be hawked at many times their face value and feature sentimental or jingoistic themes (St George, British flag), silly pop culture (Elvis, Marily, Diama). In my opinion these coins are collectibles at best and dangerous overpriced junk or grannybait at the worst.
I only wrote this as some one asked a question about Stoltenhoff island coins.
Here are some more newbies described in my Steel Wheels thread.
Libya with 4 legit coins and 1 dodgy one minted in Russia (1 Dinar)
Philippines new generation 20 Piso and Maldives 2 Rufiyaa (Both bimetallic top values)
New French Pacific set - this combines the old New Caledonian and French Polynesian coins. Top value has a face value of around $3 NZD. These coins were only released in 2021
I love coins. Especially silver, gold and anything really old.
Member of the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand and the Auckland Numismatic Society
Frenchlover, I do like your enthousiastic and meaningfull stories. But 1 small question…: how will an small, uninhabited island, like Stoltenhoff be a coin-issuer?😜
This island is named after the two brothers Gustav and Friedrich Stoltenhoff who tried to settle on the nearby Inaccessible Island. But their attempt was abandoned after two difficult years. There is indeed an animal species, humans, which does not live on this island.
Numista follows the Standard Catalog of Word Coins and the SCWC has created a section for this island with a dedicated KM# numbering as for the other countries.
It therefore makes sense, even though it is uninhabited, to grant it the status of an issuer 🤣
This subject was discussed in the limited access forum for catalogue referees and administrators.
Acquired these Omani notes and Canadian 5 dollars note from a charity shop well below their exchange rate.
Also my local antiques dealer had a customer come in and paid for several items in Scottish notes so I bought several off the dealer for face value.
Hi to whoever is reading this. Did you know that TYPEWRITER (on a QWERTY keyboard) is the longest word you can type using only the letters on one row of the keyboard.
New French Pacific set - this combines the old New Caledonian and French Polynesian coins. Top value has a face value of around $3 NZD. These coins were only released in 2021
These coins are great and some Numista members from these paradise islands are willing to swap them.
That is one type that eludes me - as some of the states now part of Yemen were actually under British suzerainty, so their coins would qualify for inclusion in a British Empire collection.
New French Pacific set - this combines the old New Caledonian and French Polynesian coins. Top value has a face value of around $3 NZD. These coins were only released in 2021
These coins are great and some Numista members from these paradise islands are willing to swap them.
Sorry dude, its my only set and they cost me well above face value. Also I don't do swaps except with 2 or 3 people I made friends with on another site.
I love coins. Especially silver, gold and anything really old.
Member of the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand and the Auckland Numismatic Society
Sorry dude, its my only set and they cost me well above face value. Also I don't do swaps except with 2 or 3 people I made friends with on another site.
I bet you might get a bunch of pacific coins to swap 😉
Sorry dude, its my only set and they cost me well above face value. Also I don't do swaps except with 2 or 3 people I made friends with on another site.
I bet you might get a bunch of pacific coins to swap 😉
Sorry New Zealand has a really bad postal service and it bans us sending coins overseas, Also my collection of Pacific coins is second to none. This will be my final post on the subject of swappery, please respect my choice😀
I love coins. Especially silver, gold and anything really old.
Member of the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand and the Auckland Numismatic Society
Some low denomination fillers completing my Bulgarian set from 1 to 100 leva, Bhutan set from 1 to 100 ngultrum, Nepal set from 5 to 100 rupees, and lastly completing that series of Yugoslav banknotes from 5 to 1000 dinars. And a beautiful, yet sad piece of contemporary history from Ukraine.
I have almost nothing from India, so this is a kind of starter set…
Interesting starter set you have there.
Hi to whoever is reading this. Did you know that TYPEWRITER (on a QWERTY keyboard) is the longest word you can type using only the letters on one row of the keyboard.
It's a great starter set, a lot of classic Raj era silver and there a feudatory state coin! Ironically one of my favourite dealers is having a half off sale and I have bought about 35 silver Raj rupees of my own to add to my fragmentary (Mostly modern Indian collection).
My latest steel coin order came in, but one lot of Canadian dollars which will fill my collection well and carry on the story of the silver ones I have.
Just one photo, as I know you all must be tired of stale photos of the Queen on a coin, and Canada's portraits are amongst the most bland and nearly all are Machin or Maklouf era anyway. I had already given the coins flips (They came raw in a bag and most were AU rather than UNC.
Included are these dollars - 1970 Manitoba, 1971 British Columbia, 1973 Prince Edward Island, 1974 Winnipeg, 1982 Constitution, 1984 Cartier, and 4 Loonies - 1994 D Day, 1995 End of WW2, 2008 Lucky Loonie, Vancouver winter olympics, 2010 Navy centenary. Some samples of my steel coins - to be written about in the thread later.
Mozambique 2006 set - interesting as there 9 coins and all are basically near worthless now - great designs and types though.
Cape Verde, another new country and my 150th in total (I am up to 152 now) - nice set with floral and marine designs.
Mauritania - New Ougiyas set, this includes the superb 20 Ougiya, which won the 2019 coin of the year award. This coin is actually trimetalic!
I love coins. Especially silver, gold and anything really old.
Member of the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand and the Auckland Numismatic Society
The courier brought it to me a while ago ,,Britannia coins in the purity of the purest 99.9% silver in a net weight of 1 ounce (31.1g).,,
ordered from a brick and mortar numismatic shop - both coins have fingerprints ?
nominally £2 fineness 999/1000 country Great Britain gross weight (g) 31.21 fine weight (g) 31.1035 material silver diameter (mm) 38.61 Manufacturer Royal Mint The year 2023
I ordered one for myself, CHarles, and the other is for my son,, Elizabeta,, - he begins to collect investment coins. I just don't understand why they have a different value) is it the issue of the number of pieces or what?) and isn't the price too high?
The Elizabeth one has more collectibility as its the last year of her and originally was issued at the end of 2022, postdated 2023. The Charles coin too may gain more value than just bullion as its first year. I think numbers of both coins were a bit lower or they sold out quite quickly. There is also a set of the coins with the 1 0z, ½, ¼, 1/10 and 1/20 oz being sold too.
I bought a pair, and that was strange as I don't generally buy new coins for stacking silver, usually worn old ones.
I love coins. Especially silver, gold and anything really old.
Member of the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand and the Auckland Numismatic Society
It's a great starter set, a lot of classic Raj era silver and there a feudatory state coin! Ironically one of my favourite dealers is having a half off sale and I have bought about 35 silver Raj rupees of my own to add to my fragmentary (Mostly modern Indian collection).
My latest steel coin order came in, but one lot of Canadian dollars which will fill my collection well and carry on the story of the silver ones I have.
Just one photo, as I know you all must be tired of stale photos of the Queen on a coin, and Canada's portraits are amongst the most bland and nearly all are Machin or Maklouf era anyway. I had already given the coins flips (They came raw in a bag and most were AU rather than UNC.
Included are these dollars - 1970 Manitoba, 1971 British Columbia, 1973 Prince Edward Island, 1974 Winnipeg, 1982 Constitution, 1984 Cartier, and 4 Loonies - 1994 D Day, 1995 End of WW2, 2008 Lucky Loonie, Vancouver winter olympics, 2010 Navy centenary. Some samples of my steel coins - to be written about in the thread later.
Mozambique 2006 set - interesting as there 9 coins and all are basically near worthless now - great designs and types though.
Cape Verde, another new country and my 150th in total (I am up to 152 now) - nice set with floral and marine designs.
Mauritania - New Ougiyas set, this includes the superb 20 Ougiya, which won the 2019 coin of the year award. This coin is actually trimetalic!
I got the set of coins with the Tri-Metallic coin too! A few months ago though. I also got every Tri-Metallic coin in the world made for circulation. (There's actually not much)
The Elizabeth one has more collectibility as its the last year of her and originally was issued at the end of 2022, postdated 2023. The Charles coin too may gain more value than just bullion as its first year. I think numbers of both coins were a bit lower or they sold out quite quickly. There is also a set of the coins with the 1 0z, ½, ¼, 1/10 and 1/20 oz being sold too.
I bought a pair, and that was strange as I don't generally buy new coins for stacking silver, usually worn old ones.
Greetings to the island.
Thank you very much for that information. I also think it has collectable potential: when there are two rulers on a coin from the same year - a king and a queen.
My massive buy in of coins has arrived and I have finally processed and photographed it all.
First was a big collection of silver rupees from the British Raj.
1862 Rupee, this was quite cheap, yet basically AU - not rare in the slightest, 100s of millions were minted and they went through a furious number of these coins.
Victorian Rupees, the 1840 is East India company and probably the most common coin ever issued at the time, some 820 million coins were issued that year (Although they may have been minted up to 1855, with the frozen date of 1840). Mine is darkened near EF. Other dates are 1862, 1878, 1882, 1889, 1892 and all are EF or VF.
1900s Rupees, these are very nice as well, especially one of the 1905s. There is a 1901 Victoria, 1905 Bombay (Incuse B on crown) and plain 1905 which was Calcutta. Also a 1904 Rupee.
A big group of 1910s rupees, plentiful with a modified design, I have a 1913 B (Bombay/Mumbai) and 1913 Plain (Calcutta/Kolkata), 1916, 1917 1919C and 1919B and a 1920. All are at least aVF up to AU for 1919B and 1920. Rupees were not issued between 1922 and 1938 for some reason. Most dates of George and Edward Rupee have very high mintages, but well down on Victorian numbers. Overall for the era, these coins were very plentiful and numbers minted each year were probably only exceeded by Chinese cash coins in the 19th century and possible US cents in the 20th, but given these were big silver coins, an average mint of 100 -200 million silver rupees per year is just phenomenal!
One reason is that there were no 2 rupee coins and the next coin was the gold 5 Rupee (⅓ mohur) and which numbers were a few million each year at most. Notes were minted too, but I imagine 1 and 5 rupee notes got very tatty even then. So many people (Even poor ones with jobs) no doubt used slews of rupees for everyday stuff and were paid in rupees each week!
Rupees reappeared in plentiful numbers in the 1940s, however now these coins were only half silver. Here we have 1940, 43, 44 and 45. Starting at this time, coins were being minted at Lahore (now in modern Pakistan) as well. After 1945 they removed silver and issued Nickel Rupees. The design is similar to 1910s coins except we have more spindly/decoish lettering.
I also have a few fractional rupees - numbers of these were much lower than whole rupees. The 1906 half rupee was only 5 million minted and same with the 1938 coin.
They are 1906, 1938, 1940 and 1945. The 1938 is quite scarce and one of the last sterling silver coins issued by the Raj as they dropped to 50% silver in 1939/1940. Designs are similar to whole rupees. The coins are generally high grade. No doubt millions of coins were worn flat quickly in humid India, hence the thicker rims by this era (1940s). Many Victorian Indian silver coins suffer from weak strike and wear in places prematurely.
The smallest coins I call them “Rupee ettes” as they are fractional, here are 3 quarter rupees from 1896, 1908 and 1940. Even smaller is the 2 Annas coin from 1895. 2 Annas was 1/8 of a rupee and thus their smallest silver coin. So small and fiddly, it was replaced by scalloped shaped 2 Anna coins in the 1910s. By the 1930s, they had cupronickel coins for all denominations from ½ Anna to 8 annas, although the 4 and 8 annas were only used in the 20s and 30s and they returned to silver ½ and ¼ Rupees in George 6's time.
Next world coins and British treasures!
I love coins. Especially silver, gold and anything really old.
Member of the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand and the Auckland Numismatic Society
This is a huge silver coin which is about a ceremony where 1st born male children with all sorts of conditions ensuring they are “perfect” are given 5 shekels of silver. This is based on Tyrian shekels and is about 100 grams of silver, so this 26 gram coin would be just one! I got it as it only cost $27 and it has $29 worth of silver.
Palestine 2 mils 1942 - a better coin and sold as UNC, likely almost is (AU at worst), it has a high catalogue value but only cost $45.
Group of 10 and 20 mils, including a bronze 20 mils issued in 1942 when silly war restrictions banned nickel usage. Its quite scarce. Other 20 mils is 1935 and 1935 and 1940 10 mils. Many dates of Palestine coins are hard to get. These beef up the collection well.
My first historical Greek silver coin and it was not cheap! 1873A 1 Drachma with King George I on it.
This is a high grade example in the EF - gEF range.
Not the greatest photo (My new cellphone takes worse photos than my old one and half the time it clicks but no photo is made or saved). Its a 1929 Canadian nickel, usually a forgettable coin, but not in AU condition though, most are F - VF yet still look shiny!
1952 South Africa crown, only cost $20 as it was grubby, described as practically UNC, it probably is under the gunk. A bargain as I have seen them for much as $50 for VF examples. This was the most common date of crown issued with over 1.15 million. Some dates I have are 5 figures.
Next British coins.
I love coins. Especially silver, gold and anything really old.
Member of the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand and the Auckland Numismatic Society
1786 Threepence, this is amazing, has lustre and is gEF, quite rare as only Maundy coins come from this year. Even more shocking was I got this rare beauty for only $68!
1758 Sixpence - common coin, but incredibly scarce in this condition (EF/aEF) and you will notice lustre - very little wear, my oldest coin with original lustre now. Cost was barely over $100
1821 Sixpence, a scarce and nice coin, this historically cleaned EF piece was also in the low 100s. Blown away to have it, but the coin below is even better!
Photos don't do this justice, blinding lustre - this is a 1824 Sixpence (Thats right almost 200 years old and it looks like it came straight from Tower Hill!). I just love it and had to have it. This cost $225 and was my most expensive coin. Catalogued at £180 in EF and £350 in UNC, this is near AU.
Did I mention this dealer has a ½ price sale each year and this is when I swoop in.
And a much cheaper, but no less nicer UNC 1956 Sixpence, a bargain at just $4.
I love coins. Especially silver, gold and anything really old.
Member of the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand and the Auckland Numismatic Society
More British coins, some nice shillings and florins
1891 Shilling, toned EF
1896 shilling good EF (photos not doing justice!)
1910 shilling, high grade, but this coin is heavily toned. Still my first 1910 shilling
1896 Florin, a nice EF example - I always loved this veiled head coinage, especially high grade
1902 Florin - another stunner and this coin is the first Edward date, a nice EF example too. Just missing 1904 in this series now.
Toned Double Florin in gVF/EF condition - this was quite cheap at $80 for 1889 the commonest of the 4 years.
I love coins. Especially silver, gold and anything really old.
Member of the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand and the Auckland Numismatic Society
1913 ⅓ Farthing, these coins were made for Malta, which was British. It was the same as a grano, an old Maltese copper coin used in the Medieval and Knights era (1200 - 1800). Issued infrequently between 1839 and this last year 1913. Quite a scarce coin with just 288,000 in 1913 - this one is UNC and thus rarer. Its 15mm in size and weighs under a gram.
1794 Duke of Lancaster Halfpenny conder, I don't collect these much yet, but like them and this was cheap at $12, at least VF too.
1859 US Indian Head cent, this looks worn but is a weakly struck VF
1903S Barber Half Dollar, a Full fine, and these get hard to find in this grade, a nice coin under $100.
1942S Walker Half, I love this design and glad to have this coin described as UNC, but looks AU to me.
Yet it still an outstanding example.
I love coins. Especially silver, gold and anything really old.
Member of the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand and the Auckland Numismatic Society
Is there any way to know if this one is from 1915 or any other year? Thanks in advance.
Ahoj.
How to recognize a new coinage? Official new mintages may or may not differ from the original coin. If they differ, it's because of the mark (sometimes stamped, sometimes stamped) or other writing on the edge, etc. There is no difference with the 1915 ducats, so you won't know.
Do not ask and do not take the advice of collectors with "Miami", they claim that this coin must be struck with "FAKE" dies - please do not believe them.😁😝
I believe that no one in the world has this and so golden grandchildren are also a sight to behold, they make grandfather happy, so I shared it with you.
(There is not even a mention of the monarch, but in our country even small children know who he is - the father of the country, even though he was from the "Luxemburg" family.)
I have always liked the Polish Republic coinage from between the wars. The Art Deco sensibility definately among my favorite design motifs, these are all new additions this month.
The big silver 10 zloty is my new favorite coin design. This one is worn and scratched, I will look out for a better one.
I don't generally like zinc coins but these are in pretty good condition. These are war time re-strikes of the 1923 pure nickle 10 and 20 groszy pieces, posed here with some I've had for a while.
Jamais l'or n'a perdu la plus petite occasion de se montrer stupide. -Balzac
As I have not been on numista for a long time some of these are not just achieved during august. I discovered some good discord coin servers and so I have been deep into that lol. But since then I have been getting into Holy Roman Empire area coins specifically putting an emphasis on Bavarian coins as a good portion of me is Bavarian.
1813 Bavarian 6 Kreuzer
(1623) Bavarian 2 kreuzer KM#128.3 (without date; Value 2) has a bit of a different shield than the other sub types of this type
I like the chocolate brown colour of the coin, also is it a scratch or is there some lamination next to the R?
Hi to whoever is reading this. Did you know that TYPEWRITER (on a QWERTY keyboard) is the longest word you can type using only the letters on one row of the keyboard.
Acquired this series F 500 Pesos note last week from an exchange office which I’m happy about because it’s in AU condition.
Hi to whoever is reading this. Did you know that TYPEWRITER (on a QWERTY keyboard) is the longest word you can type using only the letters on one row of the keyboard.
I like the chocolate brown colour of the coin, also is it a scratch or is there some lamination next to the R?
it is a die crack many many die cracks on this coin and the probably from the die clash you can see on the reverse of the obverse wreath
Ah I can see it now still very nice coin.
Hi to whoever is reading this. Did you know that TYPEWRITER (on a QWERTY keyboard) is the longest word you can type using only the letters on one row of the keyboard.
Some more Mexican banknotes mostly new years/signatures.
Hi to whoever is reading this. Did you know that TYPEWRITER (on a QWERTY keyboard) is the longest word you can type using only the letters on one row of the keyboard.
I got last week two nice pieces of jewelry, made from British sixpence and halfcrown 1887. The used coins seem authentic to me and the design seems not new.
Is there any information, where or when this kind of jewelry was produced?
I got last week two nice pieces of jewelry, made from British sixpence and halfcrown 1887. The used coins seem authentic to me and the design seems not new.
Is there any information, where or when this kind of jewelry was produced?
Very nice pieces and skillfully done, but it is still PMD….😇
Some more early American pieces I found reasonably cheap - not a massive fan of the USA, but I do like some of their early coins and lets face it - its an easy country to collect. Here in New Zealand too, ironically most of the 20th century coins are minted in San Francisco I find here at home, so somewhere else is always fun to get.
Flying eagle cents - Coins I have always wanted to own
1857 - This is a nice coin I think, its easily a full Fine and maybe even a good Fine. This coin is surprisingly well struck (Flying Eagles and early Indians are always poorly struck). I paid less than $50 for it. Also now officially my oldest US coin.
1858 - Much more worn, but also very poorly struck. This is actually a VG to gVG - The wreath and One Cent very faint, but you notice a full rim and details on the weakly struck bits. This is a more common date than 1857, but by standards of American cents - scarce. The variety is the large letters and a large “8” in the date.
1865 Indian Head cent - fancy 5 variety. The first year of the lighter copper cents issued (1859 - 1864 Indians were copper nickel and weighed 4.64 grams like the Flying Eagles) weighing just 3.11grams. This is a very nice coin and easily VF to even gVF. Lots of detail on everything and a good strike with the shield, but a bit weak behind the headress. Easily my nicest early Indian. Honestly most of my 1900s Indians are not this nice! It is my 2nd 1865 coin, I also have a 3 cent nickel designed by James B Longacre, this coin also shows an Indian (First nations now).
1865 is a significant year as it was the end of the Civil War.
My first New Orleans coin is this beautiful Barber Half dollar
I absolutely love Barber coins and this is a decent coin. Not quite fine but close (I grade it aFine). the Eagle shows enough detail for fine with a full E Pluribus Unum, but Liberty is too worn as only 2 full letters and 4 half letters in Liberty show and there is not enough detail for Fine. The coin is also badly cleaned in the past.
Still a good buy at $60. Its only my 2nd Barber half - the dimes are easy to get and quarters quite easy, but Halves are hard and these coins above VG are expensive and above VF unaffordable.
I love coins. Especially silver, gold and anything really old.
Member of the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand and the Auckland Numismatic Society
1949 South African Crown - 3rd year and another 80% silver coin, a good buy for $39 as it contains $31 worth of silver alone (The silver price is only average, but our dollar is really low at the moment - 58 US cents). This one is worn by standards of these coins (good Very Fine) but nice tone and even wear. It has some deeply recessed lustre. I just need 1950/51 and 1954 for my SA Crowns now. The 1954 will be hard. Only 3k 1959s were minted, so not sure if you can even buy these coins as they may be set pieces.
And finally a stunning 1929 British shilling!
Its hard to say if this is AU or UNC as these were badly struck. It has natural cartwheel lustre, I can't see any real wear on it and the King looks faint, but its bad striking and I can't see wear. This is a beauty full stop.
I love coins. Especially silver, gold and anything really old.
Member of the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand and the Auckland Numismatic Society
I just looked for the song and, not surprisingly, it's easy to find. Interestingly, in the comments below this YouTube post there are people who had to sing this in school decades ago.
Something else I got from the same seller in the same shipment is this 1857 Flying Eagle cent:
That leaves mine to shame - what a nice coin!
I love coins. Especially silver, gold and anything really old.
Member of the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand and the Auckland Numismatic Society
You certainly beat me with your '65. Mine grades only as “G”.
I don't remember whether I posted it on Numista but a couple months back I won this low grade '72 for about US$11:
I can confirm that the date is 1872 on close investigation. It's one of the rare dates in the series, with 1871 and especially 1877. I'm not likely to ever upgrade it. I sensed bids could be very low because the coin was poorly described and mistakenly categorized as Canadian, so few US bidders were likely to have seen it.
To be honest, it actually looks like 1873 to me. But I could be wrong, I know any Indian before the mid 1880s is a good find as so many of them are 1900s and then 1890s and 1887 onwards.
I am pretty new to this whole American penny stuff anyway. I have the 1859 you saw in the thread, the 3 coins there and a very worn 1863 sent to me by an American as a Christmas gift.
My best American coin by far was this one I found in a collection - I estimated I paid a couple of dollars for it.
It was so good, I thought it was fake. It is a 1917 Type 1 Standing Liberty Quarter grading AU 53 - 55 and has a book value of around $250US.
I love coins. Especially silver, gold and anything really old.
Member of the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand and the Auckland Numismatic Society
Some more Mexican banknotes mostly new years/signatures.
Nice notes. If you lived in southern California I would swap you out the < EF notes for ones in better shape, and trade older pre-2007 new peso notes at the exchange rate. If you are collecting by sig., you are up for an expensive collection considering the $1000 are ~$60ea in FV and are hard to come by. The $200 Juana and $500 Rivera notes are becoming increasingly uncommon in circulation, which in my personal taste is a good sign; they were counterfeited often and had ugly designs.
Kenny
- Verifying your Asian and British-territorial coins everyday with the best quality photos and the best information.
Some more Mexican banknotes mostly new years/signatures.
Nice notes. If you lived in southern California I would swap you out the < EF notes for ones in better shape, and trade older pre-2007 new peso notes at the exchange rate. If you are collecting by sig., you are up for an expensive collection considering the $1000 are ~$60ea in FV and are hard to come by. The $200 Juana and $500 Rivera notes are becoming increasingly uncommon in circulation, which in my personal taste is a good sign; they were counterfeited often and had ugly designs.
Yeah that’s quite a shame because any pre 2007 notes above 100 Pesos are seldom sold online and when they turn up they are either graded or in very poor condition.
That’s my issue I have because for the F and G series there is between 3 to 5 different signatures for each year so im thinking maybe just collect all the signatures found on those notes instead of all of them from each year. Although it might be possible for me to collect all years and signatures on the 20 Peso note because it’s much lower in value compared to the 200 and 500 Peso notes.
I agree especially for the series F 200 Peso I think the newer version and moving Juana to the series G 100 Peso note was a great move by the BDM.
One question are the pre 2007 notes rarly encountred in circulation compared to the F and G series notes? Because I’ve heard for a while the central bank have been withdrawing them for a while now.
Hi to whoever is reading this. Did you know that TYPEWRITER (on a QWERTY keyboard) is the longest word you can type using only the letters on one row of the keyboard.
Yeah that’s quite a shame because any pre 2007 notes above 100 Pesos are seldom sold online and when they turn up they are either graded or in very poor condition.
That’s my issue I have because for the F and G series there is between 3 to 5 different signatures for each year so im thinking maybe just collect all the signatures found on those notes instead of all of them from each year. Although it might be possible for me to collect all years and signatures on the 20 Peso note because it’s much lower in value compared to the 200 and 500 Peso notes.
I agree especially for the series F 200 Peso I think the newer version and moving Juana to the series G 100 Peso note was a great move by the BDM.
One question are the pre 2007 notes rarly encountred in circulation compared to the F and G series notes? Because I’ve heard for a while the central bank have been withdrawing them for a while now.
You cannot find any pre-2007 notes in circulation. It can happen that someone will try to pay with them and the store at their discretion will accept them, though they are meant to go to the bank and the lines are hours long. I've also seen them at exchange houses internationally (ex. Osaka). The times I come across them are with people I swap with in the US, like pre-euro currency for pesos, and sometimes I will get a batch of the 1992 series or 500 peso notes at exchange value. I hold onto VF and better notes of this series (except 20 peso polymer) and plan to sell them online eventually.
Kenny
- Verifying your Asian and British-territorial coins everyday with the best quality photos and the best information.
Yeah that’s quite a shame because any pre 2007 notes above 100 Pesos are seldom sold online and when they turn up they are either graded or in very poor condition.
That’s my issue I have because for the F and G series there is between 3 to 5 different signatures for each year so im thinking maybe just collect all the signatures found on those notes instead of all of them from each year. Although it might be possible for me to collect all years and signatures on the 20 Peso note because it’s much lower in value compared to the 200 and 500 Peso notes.
I agree especially for the series F 200 Peso I think the newer version and moving Juana to the series G 100 Peso note was a great move by the BDM.
One question are the pre 2007 notes rarly encountred in circulation compared to the F and G series notes? Because I’ve heard for a while the central bank have been withdrawing them for a while now.
You cannot find any pre-2007 notes in circulation. It can happen that someone will try to pay with them and the store at their discretion will accept them, though they are meant to go to the bank and the lines are hours long. I've also seen them at exchange houses internationally (ex. Osaka). The times I come across them are with people I swap with in the US, like pre-euro currency for pesos, and sometimes I will get a batch of the 1992 series or 500 peso notes at exchange value. I hold onto VF and better notes of this series (except 20 peso polymer) and plan to sell them online eventually.
Interesting to know and if you “eventually“ start selling the older notes can you PM me please because I’ll be willing to buy some off you if the shipping to the U.K. isn’t that expensive.
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