I got a few dime size coins last night. The obverse has a figure with a headband like US Liberty coins but the headband says Libertas. The coin says conf oe deratio helvetica on the obverse. The reverse simply has a wreath similar to the device on the reverse of US Indian head cents and the number 10. Most are dated 1957 to 1964. What country and are they silver? The outside edge of the rim is smooth similar to a US nickle.
That is a Swiss 10 centimes/rappen coin, and no, there is no silver in it. "Confœderatio Helvetica" is Latin for Swiss Confederation. By the way, that design has been used since 1879 ... Christian
Thanks Thank you very much for the quick ID. What threw me off was the word Libertas. That made me think it was Spanish. You sure know your stuff!
Victor,'Libertas' is actually Latin.The Spanish is 'Libertad',which is found on coins of South American countries such as Chile & Mexico. Aidan.
The Swiss had and have a fairly simple reason for the Latin inscriptions on their coins: They have four different official languages, so the use of Latin avoids making quadrilingual pieces or four different versions of each coin. That is also why the small denominations have no "unit name" on the coins. The franc/franken coins have "Fr." (which works for all four languages) and the country name as either Confoederatio Helvetica or simply Helvetia. Christian
Yes I've been looking at Libertads. Nice. So far though I've yet to see one for less than $18.00 Very impressive coin though. Since it is inflated abit more than the ASE I've been sticking with the ASE.
Victor,have you had a look at Mexican silver Onzas? The recent ones have what looks like a statue of Cupid like the one in London,England. Aidan.
Well maybe I'm confused. Isn't that the same as the Libertad? An angel with wings and the twin lover's peaks (mountains) on the obverse? I see those at $14 to $15 on Ebay. Then add shipping.
Yes, but there are two versions. The gold Libertad and the silver Libertad look a little different. Now whether any of them looks like the Piccadilly Circus "Eros" in London ... weeellll ... What may also be confusing is that the Mexican Mint refers the coins as Libertad but in descriptions mentions "a Winged Victory": http://www.cmm.gob.mx/cmm/ventas/cat_liboro_i.htm http://www.cmm.gob.mx/cmm/ventas/cat_nvalib52_i.htm Christian
