It’s the 1st of December here currently, so I thought I would start the thread for the final month of the year. Welcome to the additions thread for December of 2024.
The past week has been filled with many deliveries in the mail of more Victorian Gold Rush ephemera. The pieces shown in this post arrived on Friday, although I only got around to opening and photographing these pieces yesterday and today. I thought I would share a couple of The Bank of New South Wales numismatic-related items.
The Bank of New South Wales Assay Report & Cheque, 16/17 July 1874 — C. Edward (Castlemaine, Victoria).
These first two pieces are dated 16th & 17th of July 1874 respectively, and are both signed by the same C. Edward of Castlemaine. It is my assumption that Mr. Edward had his gold tested on the 16th, and then cashed it in the day after. I am extremely happy with these two pieces as they have an awesome interconnected story. I unfortunately had already mounted them in the acrylic before I remembered to get some scans of them.
The Bank of New South Wales Cheque, 10 December 1857 (Castlemaine Tarrengower, Victoria)
Another cheque from The Bank of New South Wales. This one is from the Castlemaine branch once again, but has had the location altered to Tarrengower, which is about a 30 minute drive west from Castlemaine today, and nearby to Maldon. This one reads: ‘Pay Commision [sic] on Gold 950 or bearer £11- 17 - 6.’ The two signatures are from a Burns and James Andrews.
The Bank of New South Wales Envelope with wax seal, c.1890s(?) (Castlemaine, Victoria)
Here is the final Bank of New South Wales piece from Castlemaine — this one being an envelope, with a beautiful red wax seal on the back. The handwriting reads: Seft (…?) Smith at Mr. Green's. Mount A(...?) 4103 in Melbourne. £110_ Major H Hutchins.
I am unsure what the intended purpose of this letter really was, or even who Major H Hutchins was. I think if he was a member of the Victorian Colonial Defence Force, there should be service records archived somewhere of his online. I will try and see if I can find out more about him, which may also reveal a more accurate date for the envelope itself.
And here is an enlarged photo of the Bank of New South Wales Castlemaine wax seal for anyone interested:
I look forward to seeing what new coins and banknotes are added to everyone‘s collection this month, maybe even some new Christmas-related releases!
As of today, there is just one little addition. For now only this one, since I'm preparing to buy something better for christmas. :D I decided to try something new this month! I bought an unidentified Roman coins at a low price and wanted to take a shot at identifying it. I'm lucky that the coin is in a good condition, so I believe that it's this one:
As of today, there is just one little addition. For now only this one, since I'm preparing to buy something better for christmas. :D I decided to try something new this month! I bought an unidentified Roman coins at a low price and wanted to take a shot at identifying it. I'm lucky that the coin is in a good condition, so I believe that it's this one:
Nice coins! That Roman one is very clear and interesting.
Heres my latest buy in, ordered in November, but only arrived today December 2nd (NZ is 13 hours ahead of GMT).
Aussies may like this, a 2006 Commonwealth games album with 18 x 50 cent games coins, a National 50c coin and $5 one. Not really my thing but bought as it was cheap and pristine ($29 + $15 Postage and Papackaging!!). The album retails for $400 in Renniks! Its in pristine condition and already looks dated now. However the coins inside all had very low circulations of 40k in total and thats low even by NCLT standards for Australia. I mean the 2001 Statehood coins had much higher mintage and they are worth more than this!
Plus given how high some other “Sports” themed coins have climbed, this is the bargain of the century. Still its just base metal coins and no precious metal content and for 2006 it really screams 1991 - 1993 in style. Maybe Kath Day Knight designed it?
Some more worthwhile coins
Beautiful 1847 UK crown, the more common and less desired crown from 1847 😜🤔This one is near Fine or a bit past it and has the usual dings and cleaning expected with these types. It means I have every year of crown from 1818 to 1847 (All 8 coins, excluding regnal year varieties).
USA large cent, my first ever from 1854, don't let poor seller photography fool you, it looks better in the flesh and is close to VF. Its equal with a quarter for my oldest American coin.
Group of 4 Indian head cents, with some better dates, 1886, 91, 94 and 95 - they were cheap at $4 each and all are F - VF except 1894 which is VG. Amazed the woke crowd has not asked us to call them something else, like First Nations appropriations in colonial copper?
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 also added well to my Silver Half dollar collection. For someone who did not want or like American coins 5 years ago, I seemed to have changed my stripes very quickly and now American makes up a huge part of my collection - outside Britain and its Commonwealth, America (USA) is my biggest country.
1894S my first 1800s dated Barber Half - not bad FIne to VF condition, badly cleaned though.
1908O Barber, not cleaned as its that toned and likely one of the last coins minted in New Orleans, this is a bit more worn (Fine).
1910S, a low mintage example, again between F and VF and a decent coin overall, likely cleaned in past.
1948 Franklin, this is UNC and clearly photo does not do justice, it shines and it has Full Bell Lines, stunning first year example and cheap.
I love coins. Especially silver, gold and anything really old.
Member of the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand and the Auckland Numismatic Society
A bit of literature for the colder days arrived yesterday and today.
If you like coins, medals and tokens with ship motives follow my new instagram account with regular updates @numisnautiker
From time to time I sell some coins on Ebay make sure to follow me @apuking on Ebay.
Amazing, you must be multi lingual! That's what I envy about people in Europe - they can and do speak more than one language. I see books in at least French, English and German there!
Just 3 small but pricey and scarce coins.
Maundy 2d coin from 1825, amazing piece AU or UNC with a really nice tone - a presentation coin and just 3960 minted. Goes with my 1d of the same date. For those not familar with Maundy, this coin is about 12.5mm (Half of an inch) in size and weighs 0.93 of a gram.
The pennies and tuppences are tiddlers, that make trimes and half dimes look huge.
2 very worn but scarce Indian head pennies for my collection.
1866 in high VG/ near Fine (Liberty is mostly worn off) - Blue book starts these at US$40 each in Good and $75 in Fine. Thats buying in prices too, not retail. So the $69 I paid was a bargain when NZ$ is at 57 US cents.
1867 and much more worn (Good to VG), I paid $49 for it.
Funny how these 2 are considered “rare” when nearly 10 million of each coin were minted (Reconstruction era?), but given later US pennies saw mintages of billions and 10s of billions, 9.8 million seems quite limited. Probably because 90% of Indian head cents are likely to be 1901 or later or at least later 1880s and 1890s.
I love coins. Especially silver, gold and anything really old.
Member of the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand and the Auckland Numismatic Society
Amazing, you must be multi lingual! That's what I envy about people in Europe - they can and do speak more than one language. I see books in at least French, English and German there!
Just 3 small but pricey and scarce coins.
Maundy 2d coin from 1825, amazing piece AU or UNC with a really nice tone - a presentation coin and just 3960 minted. Goes with my 1d of the same date. For those not familar with Maundy, this coin is about 12.5mm (Half of an inch) in size and weighs 0.93 of a gram.
The pennies and tuppences are tiddlers, that make trimes and half dimes look huge.
2 very worn but scarce Indian head pennies for my collection.
1866 in high VG/ near Fine (Liberty is mostly worn off) - Blue book starts these at US$40 each in Good and $75 in Fine. Thats buying in prices too, not retail. So the $69 I paid was a bargain when NZ$ is at 57 US cents.
1867 and much more worn (Good to VG), I paid $49 for it.
Funny how these 2 are considered “rare” when nearly 10 million of each coin were minted (Reconstruction era?), but given later US pennies saw mintages of billions and 10s of billions, 9.8 million seems quite limited. Probably because 90% of Indian head cents are likely to be 1901 or later or at least later 1880s and 1890s.
Great additions, you have some awesome maundy pieces in your collection! That 1825 twopence has some great details on the hair and crown.
Here is my newest addition:
The Bank of New South Wales Bill of Exchange, 1 April 1857 (Melbourne, Victoria)
I am very pleased with this one, as it is my first true Australian pre-federation banknote. I am unable to read the majority of the handwriting, save the date in the top right and the £50 in the top left.
This note is in surprisingly good condition with minimal tears and holes considering its age, although it does have a pretty heavy centre fold. This note has been placed in between some acrylic sheets along with the rest of my paper ephemera, so this should hopefully flatten out any folds eventually.
Just bought this all yesterday. $107. Time for some fun
Plenty of uk coins to exchange I see :)
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.
Friend of mine got a “VIP” set for me. He met with the head of the trust in whose founder has been honoured on this coin. It’s made Specifically as gifts to dignitaries attending the unveiling function and not sold to the general public. But I don’t know how many of these were made
Didn't bought much things but that allowed me to pick one or two things a little more expensive.
Bought two early 20th century brazilian notes that I won't post here because they're very low grade, and only because of that they were less expensive than usual.
But on the other side, I also picked one of the new notes from UK and Japan:
Coins, I only picked a few ancients. My highlights are a roman Salonina and a Byzantine bronze Trachy:
Some 19th century small French silver, three different regimes.
Three Swedish Kronor, not high grade, but good dates.
Some Bulgarian coins, mostly between the wars. Notice on the 1934 100 leva, one of the ‘I’ in Boris' title is missing, either carefully excised by a skillful vandal, or filled die error. Either way an interesting coin from an interesting time and place. These 100s are .500 silver.
A couple of 1870s crown pieces.
Lastly, a couple of little bits of gold from the Ottoman empire, 1827-28
Love those Ottoman gold and chunky 19th century European silver pieces. I have 1869 and 1871 Italian 5 Lires myself, but not that Greek one.
I love coins. Especially silver, gold and anything really old.
Member of the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand and the Auckland Numismatic Society
That’s a great find Silvergeek considering that coin is at least Fine condition which is great for a 419 year old 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.
It looks like the Canada Post strike will soon be over since the minister responsible for this crown corporation is intervening and will impose back-to-work legislation and arbitration. So, hopefully, I'll receive a few recent acquisitions that have been languishing in some post-office backroom, including a spectacular countermarking error. Also, some wise eBay sellers have been waiting for the end of the strike before sending anything.
It looks like the Canada Post strike will soon be over since the minister responsible for this crown corporation is intervening and will impose back-to-work legislation and arbitration. So, hopefully, I'll receive a few recent acquisitions that have been languishing in some post-office backroom, including a spectacular countermarking error. Also, some wise eBay sellers have been waiting for the end of the strike before sending anything.
That's great news!!
I have my outgoing letter from the Numista gift on hold because of that, just waiting the end of this situation to be sent.
My big Christmas buy in, bought some nice surprises.
Milled 1562 Sixpence of England, amongst the first milled coins ever of England. A Frenchman called Eloy Mestrelle (There are like a kabillion spellings of his name given translation of medieval/renaissance era French and English)in 1561 was invited to England to make some “milled coins”, as an experiment. The coins looked nice, however the technology of milling was well in its infancy and was time consuming and inefficent, so after 10 years Mestrelle and his screw presses got the heave ho - a few years later he was hung for counterfeiting coins! In 1662 milling coins was more efficient and desirable and England got rid of the hammering process for good.
I have always wanted one of these coins, and I got lucky with this very worn 6d. It was cheap for what it was and such a historic coin, it looks way ahead of its time. It has the usual Elizabethan curse for me, a bad portrait with no face.
The Danes however kept the hammers going a bit longer for their low denomination coins, this 2 skilling (About tuppence) was minted in 1677 and looks like it could have been minted in 1577 or even 1477. A billon piece that is 28% silver, its 72% copper shines through. Cheap and interesting old coin.
Another more weird piece is this 1814 Coronation medallet (23mm) of Willem I of the United Netherlands. Dated 1814 it was the beginning of the modern Dutch kingdom (After the Orange period and Napoleon's Batavian Republic). Back then the Netherlands included Belgium and Luxembourg as well. The coin is rather plain, if very well made. Obviously a modern steam press example.
My second large American cent coin and its my oldest American coin now by one year. This is not bad, probably a F12 example.
Big Italian 5 Lire from 1877, I got cheap as it was cleaned in the past. This is a nice coin and easily EF grade, most are more worn. Nice shiny Latin Monetary Union silver for my collection.
More to come.
I love coins. Especially silver, gold and anything really old.
Member of the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand and the Auckland Numismatic Society
Very nice 1890H quarter, Very fine or better with sharp detail. Scarce and expensive, great to have when all my Victorian coins sans pennies are quite worn.
Average 1909 50c piece, this is probably a decent coin, possibly cleaned in past. It scores around fine. Edward coins always have that low rim, a problem sorted out in the next reign. Lower rims meant designs were more exposed and coins wore quicker.
As you can see here, a higher and thicker rim distinguishes GV coins, this dime is a decent VF and 1915 is one of the better years for them.
Very nice and frosty lustred 25c coin from 1937, first year of this design, a worthy upgrade for the worn flat 1937 quarter I have.
This was not cheap and neither was the half dollar below.
And a stunning 50 cent coin, 1937 is a scarce year anyway and I know its circulation as you can see the weak strike in the Lion Rampant and 3 lions and frame below crown. Easily a Choice uncirculated pair. I suspect these 2 are from a 1937 uncirculated set, as I bought a dollar in similar condition a few months ago. Now just to see where the penny, nickel and dime went.
Few non Canadians - the bling parade continues!
Bizarre NZ silver dollar coin. The coin is sterling silver and piedfort thickness (Actually thick as an old round pound of the UK). It has on the edge “25 years of decimal currency”. Its a lovely proof too and just 3,390 minted - good value for $37. Usual $1 coins are aluminium brass and none were issued for circulation in 1992 anyway!
1938 Australian 6d in UNC, again a scarce coin, as its a frist year of type (The 6d was the only denomination to continue using the Blakemore reverses, every other coin got a Kruger Grey makeover). Generally UNC Aussie before WW2 is rare and most 1938 6d are VG - Fine. The weird mint finish (Misty matte) makes it hard to distinguish VF from UNC too. No Aussi coins came out in 1937 except Crowns - so this is a first year of KGVI.
The final coin was this stunner which was described as Virtually Uncirculated, meaning it looks UNC, but is likely a very high AU - anyway the lustre is right, but it seems a bit pale (Dipped in past?) and the lustre may not be fully cartwheel. I may be wrong as this is a crown size coin and unlike British crowns of the era, its Sterling silver so hence why it might be so bright.
It celebrates 50 years of British rule in Cyprus and is hardly known, a scarce coin at 80k issued - they are quite valuable ($200+). This one has a brown tone stain in the middle of the reverse between the lions, so is nice but not perfect.
The reason for all these coins, is one of my favourite dealer has a half off coin sale every December and when I see a $400 coin for $200, I will buy it. Some of my very best coins have come out of these sales!
I love coins. Especially silver, gold and anything really old.
Member of the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand and the Auckland Numismatic Society
Very nice — especially the 1890 quarter. And congrats everyone for your additions so far this month.
I just won a "Nederland Lager Westerbork Concentration Camp 1944 100 Cent Note" but the seller seems to have made a mistake in his eBay listing with regard to shipping from the USA to Canada. I hope it won't be a problem, especially now that the Canada Post employees will be back at work.
Using the photos taken by coin sellers. This dealer is a superstar. I often compress the images and cut out the detail so you get just coin. They don't mind, once I pay for the coin, I own its image too. I keep all my photos for insurance and collection purposes. Kind of like proof of my collection if its ever stolen or lost.
Most of my own coin shots are poor as I have one of those cheap cell phones with bad vertical hold, and I have the shakes (early Parkinsons), so if you get a photo thats a blurry mess - that is me.
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 Bank of New South Wales Bill of Exchange, 1 April 1857 (Melbourne, Victoria)
I am very pleased with this one, as it is my first true Australian pre-federation banknote. I am unable to read the majority of the handwriting, save the date in the top right and the £50 in the top left.
This note is in surprisingly good condition with minimal tears and holes considering its age, although it does have a pretty heavy centre fold. This note has been placed in between some acrylic sheets along with the rest of my paper ephemera, so this should hopefully flatten out any folds eventually.
Hey @IM94 I don't know whether you got to read the whole thing on your own, but here we go:
The signatures on the right should be easy enough to find online, except perhaps the teller's.
Now, this is a “third of exchange” but since it wasn't sign at the back it's probably a remainder, meaning that the first or second of exchange was paid in London.
Bills of exchange were the most common way for a person or firm to transfer a sum of money between countries, or between a colony and the motherland, or between two colonies. I'm still investigating the whole thing because of my current interest in Caribbean colonial banking…
Sometimes a bill of exchange was “to ourselves”, i.e. a way for a firm established in a colony to transfer money to their main bank in the motherland (often in London).
These are more akin to cheques than to banknotes. As you can see, they are to be paid within a rather short time frame.
EDIT — Pretty sure Hewitt's first initial is W. The very thin lines are because of the angle at which the pen is held. You also have to ignore 4-5 droplets of ink which are just a distraction.
EDIT 2 — This is from The Banking Almanac, Directory, … … for 1861:
My big Christmas buy in, bought some nice surprises.
Milled 1562 Sixpence of England, amongst the first milled coins ever of England. A Frenchman called Eloy Mestrelle (There are like a kabillion spellings of his name given translation of medieval/renaissance era French and English)in 1561 was invited to England to make some “milled coins”, as an experiment. The coins looked nice, however the technology of milling was well in its infancy and was time consuming and inefficent, so after 10 years Mestrelle and his screw presses got the heave ho - a few years later he was hung for counterfeiting coins! In 1662 milling coins was more efficient and desirable and England got rid of the hammering process for good.
I have always wanted one of these coins, and I got lucky with this very worn 6d. It was cheap for what it was and such a historic coin, it looks way ahead of its time. It has the usual Elizabethan curse for me, a bad portrait with no face.
The Danes however kept the hammers going a bit longer for their low denomination coins, this 2 skilling (About tuppence) was minted in 1677 and looks like it could have been minted in 1577 or even 1477. A billon piece that is 28% silver, its 72% copper shines through. Cheap and interesting old coin.
Another more weird piece is this 1814 Coronation medallet (23mm) of Willem I of the United Netherlands. Dated 1814 it was the beginning of the modern Dutch kingdom (After the Orange period and Napoleon's Batavian Republic). Back then the Netherlands included Belgium and Luxembourg as well. The coin is rather plain, if very well made. Obviously a modern steam press example.
My second large American cent coin and its my oldest American coin now by one year. This is not bad, probably a F12 example.
Big Italian 5 Lire from 1877, I got cheap as it was cleaned in the past. This is a nice coin and easily EF grade, most are more worn. Nice shiny Latin Monetary Union silver for my collection.
More to come.
That is a very interesting story about Mestrelle and his coin press, and his fate! I had never heard of that before. The coin does indeed look centuries ahead of its time.
Also, nice example of LMU crown. The details are excellent.
Jamais l'or n'a perdu la plus petite occasion de se montrer stupide. -Balzac
A coin from this place and period in particular in the history of mankind (where a certain man was still alive) is a big relic.
That was what made me buy this coin, which is by far my most expensive non-precious coin. Normally I don't buy such very expensive coins, but I opened an exception for this one, where it's value is less on the metal and more on the historical meaning.
A coin from this place and period in particular in the history of mankind (where a certain man was still alive) is a big relic.
That was what made me buy this coin, which is by far my most expensive non-precious coin. Normally I don't buy such very expensive coins, but I opened an exception for this one, where it's value is less on the metal and more on the historical meaning.
Wonderful piece of history. Who knows it could have been touched by so many "famous" people in the past! 😇
Did you buy it online or at a local shop/ market @Giobruno ?
After a week of medical treatment, I returned home from the capital city of Prague last night. And what the post office brought is waiting for me here at home.
Coin magazines, binders, silver coin album, exonumia:
Republic of Sudan:
Butane:
Jordan:
Gambia:
This silver coin was also delivered with coin magazines and an album for silver coins. This is the Finland Tsar Nicholas II and the coins of Finland - I haven't studied it yet:
Now, can someone explain to me where the magazine got so many old Finland Tsar silver coins?
And also exonumia adding copies of rare coins to the album (I just don't know why three?)
I just have to find a place to take pictures - all my work space is taken up by decorating the tree. Some of the decorations are antiques, passed down for a hundred years.
There are also lots of sweets hanging on the tree and there are even more decorations, they are gradually being taken out of the boxes, so a third is still unpacked. The tree is a living "Caucasian fir", like every year 2.5 meters.
All lovely things! My family have some similar hand made glass decorations, also, since about 100 years.
The eggnog is especially appealing.
I got a few LMU silver pieces at a show today. I have been collecting LMU coins for some time, but I have only a few coins of Spain and Belgium, so these fills some gaps.
All lovely things! My family have some similar hand made glass decorations, also, since about 100 years.
The eggnog is especially appealing.
I got a few LMU silver pieces at a show today. I have been collecting LMU coins for some time, but I have only a few coins of Spain and Belgium, so these fills some gaps.
both ex-jewelry, and polished, but paid just exactly spot bullion price for them.
Very nice pieces you have got there Mr. Midnight, those Ottoman 25 Kurus coins are great finds as I think they are much underappreciated compared to the US and European Gold coins from that same period.
I'm pretty much addicted to eggnog during the winter period which I likely inherited from my mother who used to drink Rompope back in Mexico which tastes pretty much the same as the eggnog. Sadly, it's not as common in the UK as in many other countries where you have to order it online or go to Starbucks to order one. I might have indirectly caused the eggnog shortage for the last few weeks as most stores have ran out ;)
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.
All lovely things! My family have some similar hand made glass decorations, also, since about 100 years.
The eggnog is especially appealing.
I got a few LMU silver pieces at a show today. I have been collecting LMU coins for some time, but I have only a few coins of Spain and Belgium, so these fills some gaps.
Sadly, it's not as common in the UK as in many other countries where you have to order it online or go to Starbucks to order one. I might have indirectly caused the eggnog shortage for the last few weeks as most stores have ran out ;)
I also like this kind of coins, it must have been especially nice to see belly dancers with real coins.
And egg cognac, Sir, is not bought. It is basically mixed from rum, egg yolk mixture cooked over steam, a large amount of sweet Salk and a little vanilla.
I don't drink alcohol and I'm not allowed to, but my wife mixed 5 liters for herself and her son. Hopefully it will last for two days😁😁😁🥰
The Bank of New South Wales Envelope with wax seal, c.1890s(?) (Castlemaine, Victoria)
Here is the final Bank of New South Wales piece from Castlemaine — this one being an envelope, with a beautiful red wax seal on the back. The handwriting reads: Seft (…?) Smith at Mr. Green's. Mount A(...?) 4103 in Melbourne. £110_ Major H Hutchins.
I am unsure what the intended purpose of this letter really was, or even who Major H Hutchins was. I think if he was a member of the Victorian Colonial Defence Force, there should be service records archived somewhere of his online. I will try and see if I can find out more about him, which may also reveal a more accurate date for the envelope itself.
Another interesting document. I think I can contribute a little to the reading…
I also see no other name than “Seft” (is this attested otherwise?) followed by what looks like “Nz” and then, I think, “Mr Smith” [EDIT — Possibly “Mr Jno Smith”, “Jno” being a frequent abbreviation for “John”.]
Next, the penultimate line: “Mount Alex(ander)” which was a gold digging area to the NE of Castelmaine. People received gold licenses, so I suggest, altogether, “Mount Alex(ander) L(icense) Nº 4103, on [rather than “in”] Melbourne £110—”
Last line the first word is not Major — I'm not sure what it is but there's no “j” in the middle of that name or title.
Like the rest, a very interesting artefact. There is a lot online about the Australian gold rush, so I'm pretty sure you should be able to find out more. I would suppose there are Facebook groups that could help fill the gaps.
On my side of things, I just received this “narrow panel” George VI $1 note:
On my side of things, I just received this “narrow panel” George VI $1 note:
Nice, tough prefix Camerinvs! For those who don't realize, this Gordon Towers H/A & J/A have the same design as the short-lived Osborne Towers signature (a narrow signature panel). The design of the $1.00 was shifted to a wide panel for K/A prefixes onward which was discovered much later. Not many of those around.
I picked up a few notes from China, including the following 2 replacements from 1990:
After circumventing expensive, unreliable or unavailable postal services, today I received coins that travelled from one Croatian city to another, then - all through good services of my friends - to Belgrade, from there to Tel Aviv and finally to my place. Took some time (actually not much longer than usual post!) but without paying astronomic postage!
In a few days I am expecting coins from different sellers in the USA that have been collected by a friend in Houston and delivered to my son in L.A. - logistics that saved me a couple of hundred bucks! Recommended practice these days!
All lovely things! My family have some similar hand made glass decorations, also, since about 100 years.
The eggnog is especially appealing.
I got a few LMU silver pieces at a show today. I have been collecting LMU coins for some time, but I have only a few coins of Spain and Belgium, so these fills some gaps.
Sadly, it's not as common in the UK as in many other countries where you have to order it online or go to Starbucks to order one. I might have indirectly caused the eggnog shortage for the last few weeks as most stores have ran out ;)
I also like this kind of coins, it must have been especially nice to see belly dancers with real coins.
And egg cognac, Sir, is not bought. It is basically mixed from rum, egg yolk mixture cooked over steam, a large amount of sweet Salk and a little vanilla.
I don't drink alcohol and I'm not allowed to, but my wife mixed 5 liters for herself and her son. Hopefully it will last for two days😁😁😁🥰
I’m not really a fan of alcohol (although I do like a mojito occasionally) we tend to buy one of these.
For Christmas dinner dessert for the 24th we used some of it to make brioche bread and butter pudding with sultanas.
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.
Merry Christmas all (or happy whatever other holiday you may be celebrating 🙂).
Because I've been a very good boy this year, Father Christmas left me a coin related goody.
It's not the best photo because I just couldn't get the light right for silver. 🙃
Anyway, these four beauties are what our £1 coins from 2004-07 could have looked like, had they chosen these delightful modern heraldic takes on the four animals of the home nations instead of the bridge series we actually got.
The Lion of England, Unicorn of Scotland, Dragon of Wales, and the White Hart of (Northern) Ireland.
Didn't even know these existed, so happy days and interesting to see some “almost” coins.
On my side of things, I just received this “narrow panel” George VI $1 note:
Nice, tough prefix Camerinvs! For those who don't realize, this Gordon Towers H/A & J/A have the same design as the short-lived Osborne Towers signature (a narrow signature panel). The design of the $1.00 was shifted to a wide panel for K/A prefixes onward which was discovered much later. Not many of those around.
Thx, Serial_Number_8, and nice Chinese notes. How does one know they're replacement?
I just made an image for the two types of panels:
Sent for addition to the catalogue page. It's interesting only the $1 was modified — none of the $2 to $100 values.
Thx, Serial_Number_8, and nice Chinese notes. How does one know they're replacement?
-Actually, you need a catalogue such as Mehilba World Replacement to really know about Chinese (& many countries) replacements. For me, I just trusted PMG have them correctly labelled & put a few low bids on Central Collections last true auction style listings on eBay (& won). I was surprised I won (the bids were lower than most of the regular issued 1990 notes of this series described as UNC on eBay).
On my side of things, I just received this “narrow panel” George VI $1 note:
Nice, tough prefix Camerinvs! For those who don't realize, this Gordon Towers H/A & J/A have the same design as the short-lived Osborne Towers signature (a narrow signature panel). The design of the $1.00 was shifted to a wide panel for K/A prefixes onward which was discovered much later. Not many of those around.
I picked up a few notes from China, including the following 2 replacements from 1990:
I would not even know how to tell what the Chinese replacement notes are.
Last 2024 coins just in: purchased all over the USA, collected by a friend in Houston, sent to my son in a hotel in LA who finally brought them today. A lot of logistics and - at the same time - a lot of $$$ saved!
Likely the last thing I bought this year too. 2024 has been a wonderful year and seen my collection expand in every conceivable direction, but as the money fountain has stopped flowing for me, it is time to be prudent and 2025 will be a year with more restraint.
This last item sums up the new attitude of restraint.
A 1993 New Zealand Proof set with a sterling silver $2 coin, this was the one off Kingfisher (Kotare) design and was also issued in standard aluminium bronze as well for a collector's piece.
The other coins are standard proof NZ coins and the joy of these is that no circulation coins dated 1993 were issued, making these set only coins. Plus the 4 lower values are the old style phased out in 2006.
The set cost me little more than the melt value of the $2 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
Hi I'm new to this Numista Forum https://en.ucoin.net/uid283151 the ones that say 2 days ago,4 days ago,5 days ago,1 week ago are new to my collection.
A happy holidays to everyone who celebrated or is still celebrating. These coins are the highlights of what I've added to my collection over the past two months or so, but most of which are from within the past two weeks. I am quite happy with my recent acquisitions! Most coins were purchased however some were gifts which I am quite thankful for. Most coins are cleaned or damaged to some degree but as I've stated before I'm not bothered by it so long as I can get them for a good deal! Once again, I apologize for the low-quality pictures and I hope at least some of the detail has been preserved.
First are these four silver Thai baht (1874-1900). The obverse features King Rama V, with the reverse showing the royal coat of arms of the Kingdom of Siam. I quite like these as I find the reverse very pleasing to look at and these are my first pieces of Thai silver.
These four coins, in clockwise order from the top left, are: a 1964 Japanese 1000 yen Olympic commemorative featuring Mt. Fuji on the reverse, a rather common coin but I quite like the scene with Mt. Fuji on the reverse. Japan always designs such beautiful coins; a 1907 Straits Settlements dollar featuring Edward VII on the obverse. I feel like this coin is the little brother to the British trade dollar, considering their similar designs, the lack of popularity compared to the trade dollar, and it being physically smaller in size; A Taisho 3 (1914) Japanese 1 yen, by this time these coins were only made for use in Japanese-occupied Taiwan; and a Year 21 (1932) Yunnan 2 Jiao, I've been trying to collect more Chinese silver this year and I think this one makes for a neat little final addition for this year.
Three more French Indochina 1 Piastres, from 1901 (top left), 1921 (bottom), and 1924 (top right). I'm just quite fond of this coin, these would be the fifth, sixth, and seventh Piastres in my collection now. Perhaps I should try to collect every date in the series! That would take a lot of time and a lot of money, so maybe not…
Lastly are these three. A 1908 Straits settlement dollar, this being my fourth graded coin at XF 45. A 1997 10 Yuan silver ounce with a unicorn on the obverse and two kirin on the reverse. I personally think China comes out with the most beautiful bullion coinage, I just love their designs featuring mythological creatures or beautiful architecture. And a 2015 Australian Year 1 Dollar Year of the Goat silver ounce. This one was received as a gift but my Chinese zodiac is actually not the Goat. This is just to go with my other Australian Chinese Zodiac bullion coins.
Thank you all for enjoying these coins with me, and it seems like many others had a fantastic time with these new additions this month. I wish you all a Happy New Year!
Liumin - lovely group of pieces and an interesting range. Rama V (Chulangkorn) was the great modernising ruler of Thailand (Siam then), who was much revered there and did much to improve Thailand's prestige at home and on the international stage.
Best thing was he stopped Thailand being colonised by any European power. Britain was very keen as France had annexed all the kingdoms eastwards and Britain had its neighbours to the west (Burma) and south (Malaya).
All I have done coinwise this week, is liberate the coins from my 1970s Franklin Mint coin sets, with the 2½ inch coin flips this was easy, except for the 20 Balboas, which went into its own plastic bag!
I love coins. Especially silver, gold and anything really old.
Member of the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand and the Auckland Numismatic Society
