Coin Talk

In addition to what Roger wrote, I believe the failure of huge numbers of bills submitted also played a big part to their demise.

“Abuses of commemorative coins came to the forefront under Grant’s tenure, and President Coolidge vowed not to approve any more in 1925. President Hoover approved some commemoratives, then became disenchanted with the ‘racket,’ and threatened to veto any commemorative coin legislation sent to him by Congress.[1] This eventually resulted in replacement of the Standing Liberty quarter with the Washington design in 1932.

Although President Roosevelt initially approved of additional commemoratives, the entire matter got out of hand quickly. Secretary Morgenthau began to crack down on excessive commemorative coin legislation in mid-1936….(add quotes). Demand for normal coinage in 1936-1937 continued...

Rome has fallen, the glory days of the Antonines are a distant memory fit for the history books, and the Empire is beset on all sides by enemies that wish to extinguish the last light of Nova Roma. This was the world that John II Komenenos was born into.

John was the son of the great Emperor Alexius I Komenenos; it was Alexius who single handedly saved the Eastern Roman Empire from nearly 40 years of neglect and military disasters. This was good news for John as he inherited a secure Empire. Though secure, the Turks still held large swaths of the Anatolian country side. This was unacceptable to John and one of the first things he did was to make war against them. John's go to guy and commander of the field armies that was to lead the attack was confusingly named John. Though this John was a Turkman who had been captured as a child in the early stages of the first crusade. Ironically enough they were best of friends and Emperor John intrusted John the Turk with running the army and...

Hello! I'm new to the forums and just wanted to share my personal project I've been working on for the past year or so. I am collecting a fun short series of Irish coins specifically the silver Shillings. As far as circulating coinage there's only 10 pieces which makes the set that much more fun. I've tried other sets like the 7070 and found it to be overwhelming. As an added bonus these coins were very low mintages and they are a challenge to find in high grades. If anyone can point me to upgrades for the set please do!

Here's the set in it's current state.



Not a high grade but a fun bit of toning. It actually looks much different in hand but PCGS couldn't quite find the right balance. A friend of mine has given his style a go and you can see the same coin here:





This example hase been very recently upgraded with a nicer raw example. It is currently...

Dear Friends of ancient mythology!

One of the famous deeds of Heracles was the fight with Antaios.

The Coin:
Cilicia, Tarsos, Philip I, AD 244-249
AE 37, 19.96g, 225°
obv. AVT KAI IOV ΦIΛIΠΠON [EVT] EVC CE
in l. and r. field Π - Π
Bust, draped and cuirassed, radiate, r.
rev. TAPCOV THC MHTP[OΠ]OΛEΩC
in l. field B, in r. field one below the other A / M / K / Γ
Herakles stg. facing, head l., leaning l., wrestling Antaios; he lifts Antaios up
by the waist while Antaios tries to break his grip
ref. SNG Levante 1153 (same dies); Hunter S.556, 59, pl. LX, 18 (rev. same die);
Voegtli 17h
good F, usual roughness


Mythology:
Antaios (Lat. Antaeus), son of Poseidon and Gaia, was a huge giant, who is said to have a length of 60 Greek cubits. He was king and ruler of Libya and forced all strangers who entered his empire to wrestle with him. Beause of his immense force it was easy for him to strangle all...

The most interesting thing about this note (for me) is the Peru 4 Centavo stamp on the reverse. Is it a Revenue stamp, or simply a Postage stamp gone astray?

Then there's the question of condition...and why this note has been (apparently) carried for so long; folded & unfolded countless times to the point of horizontal rupture and other imminent crease & corner failures. It tells a story, if only it could talk. It was very important, to someone.

Based on a quick reading of PMG Grading Scale, I'll risk an 8, but it might only be a 6...it is absolutely flaccid of course, and faded as well.

All comments welcome...and thanks! wlw









This summary from PMG website:
Face Color: Black on gray underprint.
Face Type: Steamship at lower left, arms between seated Liberty and Justice at
upper center, steam...

I've been selling coins on eBay for years and I've always relied on the free listings promos because otherwise the fees just wouldn't make it worthwhile for me. The free listings have always come pretty reliably, usually 2-3 times a month in different quantities. But twice in the last month or so the free listing promo that I received has excluded coins. It's ridiculous because every other item excluded is a huge ticket item like RVs, houses, submarines, and private islands. I might have made a few of those up, but honestly coins are totally different from everything else excluded. I just don't understand why coins are excluded from these deals. Before you say it, yes I know that they're not obligated to give me anything, but they've been doing this regularly for years, and coins have never been excluded until this year, and it has now happened at least three times. It's just so frustrating. Why don't they want me selling coins? Collectibles make the most sense to sell on eBay, unlike...

So I had this dirty ugly duckling Nerva as a placeholder for a better Nerva. However, seeing this dirty coin between two smug smiling Trajans, I decided to practise some cleaning on it.
First, the poor ugly duckling before cleaning:

It turned out incredible fine (in my opinion at least):

Nerva AR denarius, 96-98 AD, 3.34 gm, struck in Rome January 98 AD, 3.34gm, 17.8mm.Obv: IMP NERVA CAES AVG GERM P M TR P II; laureate head right.Rev: IMP II COS IIII P P; clasped hands holding legionary eagle resting on prow.RIC II p226, 49; Cohen 98.EF
Same coin on Vcoins:
https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/ap...ed_hands_standard_prow__ef/47353/Default.aspx

I must admit: I never expected such detail, especially on the reverse. Starting the clearing process thinking "I couldn’t hurt that much on this coin", seeing the amount of detail gradually appearing under a thick layer of...

Most U.S. coin collectors are aware that there is a Delaware commemorative half dollar in the U.S. series. In addition to that piece, there were a Swedish and two medals plus three medals that were issued by the Medallic Art Company. Since we are limited to ten pictures per post, this will take a few messages.

First the Delaware commemorative. This piece was designed by Carl Schmitz. The net mintage after the unsold coins were melted was 20,993. The obverse shows the Kalmar Nyckel the ship that brought the Swedish settlers to Delaware. The reverse depicts Old Swedes Church, which is one of the oldest Protestant churches in the United States.



Years ago I obtained a copy of the program for the Delaware Tercentenary celebration. Here is a photo of the cover.



There was a photo of a clay mock-up of half dollar in this booklet which was obviously done before the design was finalized. It is...

Beginners sometimes ask "What should I collect?" Our members have been generous with good advice and I give links to some relevant old CoinTalk threads below. Actually, I'm not sure a beginner can do much better than to watch CoinTalk threads for a while and get a feeling for what they like.

However, they might wonder about reference works. I have been assembling pages of sale-catalog references organized by collecting theme for many years. I finally decided to improve those theme pages by including relevant books. To link the themes together I created this web page
http://augustuscoins.com/ed/catalogs/themes.html
with two goals:
1) Give beginners an idea of the wide variety of ancient coins and potential collection themes.
2) List reference works collectors could consult to learn more, or much more, about those themes.

I hope to improve those reference pages (I solicit your suggestions).

For example, one theme might be "specific victories":...

1865



After just over four years of bloodshed, General-in-Chief Robert E. Lee met Lieutenant-General General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia in the early afternoon of April 9th, 1865. They had met during the Mexican War, and discussed those days for nearly half an hour before Lee suggested they address the matter at hand. The terms for surrender were as agreeable as Lee could hope for; his men would not be imprisoned or prosecuted for treason. Officers were allowed to keep their sidearms, horses, and personal baggage. While other Confederate troops would officially surrender in the days and months to come, the Union terms were accepted by Lee, effectively ending the American Civil War.



In a war that was marked by such divisiveness and bitter fighting, it is remarkable that it closed so simply. However, relief that it was over turned to disbelief when President...