Coin Talk

Within each of your respective collections, there is undoubtedly coins of great value and beauty. But, I would imagine that everyone of us also has a coin (or coins) that we have acquired over the years (or decades) that have a special story that is worth a greater value to the owner of the coin than it could ever fetch if listed for sale.

I thought it would be fun to share some of those stories...so here is one of mine.

I first began collecting coins when I was in the 6th grade or so, that would have been around 1996. Not long after I started collecting, I found this little coin shop called "Al's Stamps and Coins." It was a smaller shop owned by an older gentleman (Al) who was semi-retired and used the shop to make a little extra money and hang around with his regulars (also older semi-retired guys...and me) and tell crazy old stories. In a lot of ways, it was like a scene from Cheers...except in a coin shop rather than a pub.

Al's shop didn't have the best inventory,...

Our Beloved Sovereign Has Died.

On this date (August 1) three hundred years ago (1714), our most glorious Queen was finally released from her earthly suffering. Queen Anne had hoped in death to be finally reunited with both her last surviving child the Duke of Gloucester (d. 1700) and her loving husband, the always affable (but somewhat dim-witted) Prince George of Denmark (d. 1708).

Below are small sections of 25 U.S. Coins out of my collection -- all are legal tender, though some might be commemoratives.

How many can you get right?

If a design is shared amongst various denominations, you can identify it by the major design type only.

I wish to introduce my 3-coin type set, but also to provide some additional information concerning these coins.

History

As many collectors know, the Liberty head dime, quarter, and half was minted from 1892-1916 and replaced the tired 50+ year-old seated liberty design for the same denominations. Initially, it was thought that a competition among the nation’s top 10 artists would produce compelling designs, but these artists complained about the insufficient compensation, legal restrictions, the limited timeframe to comply, and thus declined to participate. Thus, in response, the Treasury invited the general public to submit designs and some 300 entries were received of which only two were worthy of consideration. The Mint Director considered the contest a “wretched failure” and he then directed his Chief Engraver, Charles Barber to complete the task. This may have been the game plan all along with Barber being one of...

In the sixth year of Rabbel's reign (75/76 CE), the queen Gamilat first appears on the sela'im. These coins are of the same type as the previous issues, with the bust of the king on the obverse, the queen on the reverse. The inscriptions read "Rabbel the king, king of the Nabataeans, year x", and "Gamilat his sister, queen of the Nabataeans." The term "sister" was a title in the Nabataean royal court, and does not necessarily imply Gamilat was Rabbel's biological sister, although the possibility is not ruled out.

Nabataean silver coinage experienced a gradual debasement throughout the reigns of Aretas IV, Malichus II, and Rabbel II, with these last issues containing as little as 30-40% silver. These coins are the "blacks" referred to in six Greek papyri discovered at Naḥal Ḥever, in which various sums of money are expressed as such, e.g., "one black and thirty lepta" or "710 blacks of silver." The term "black" was a pejorative Roman moniker for these sela'im. It may have referred to...

I visited the Disney Family Museum at the Presidio of San Francisco recently.
This museum is dedicated to the life of film animator and producer Walt Disney (1901-1966).

The museum has exhibits on his early life, service in France, animation work, Mickey Mouse,
World War II company work, and the development of the Disneyland theme park.

The museum had a couple of coin related items.

Walt Disney wanted to get into World War I but was too young for the Army.
He joined the Red Cross ambulance service and arrived in France after the war ended.
He accumulated a collection of small items, mostly coins, which he carried in a cloth bag.
The bag was still in his possession when he died in 1966.


Disney collection of small items

The coins include ones from France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Great Britain, Tunisia,
US Philippines, French Indo-China, along with uniform buttons and German Notgeld tokens.

Walt Disney...

I just received my Daniel Carr Peace Dollar 1965D overstrike fantasy coin, and said that I would evaluate it objectively. I have included two photographs, that are of mediocre quality, as we'e having severe thunderstorms, and my normal photographic setup just isn't working today--be glad to provide others on a better light day.

At any rate, it is a nice coin. The overall impression is of a softly struck Peace Dollar of gem quality. The devices are decently struck, with some grainy quality and a quite a bit of softness to them, as was expected. The fields are nice and clear (marks are on the flip, which were exaggerated by the direct flash, necessitated by today's weather).

Oinoanda, an ancient Greek city located in the upper valley of the Xanthus River, was built on the top of a high mountain in the ancient province of Lycia, now modern southwest Turkey. Little is known of the early history of the settlement in spite of several exploratory surveys which have been carried out in the region.

It was a substantial city in antiquity but surprisingly, it issued its own silver coins at only one moment in its long history. Until the early 2000s, the coinage was known from only a single specimen acquired by the British Museum in 1897. The discovery of a small group has allowed the coinage to be studied in much more detail and has added to our admittedly sparse understanding of the coinage of the period.

Three distinct issues have been identified, marked by a sequence of letters and symbols. They are dated to the first three years of Attalid rule of the region following the...

In school, we all learned about Brutus’ assassination of Julius Caesar. For me, it was a compelling story, further enhanced by the reading of Shakespeare’s play which told of the events of the Ides of March. However, my deeper fascination with it came when I began collecting ancient coins, learning that, fortunately for historians and collectors alike, Brutus minted a coin commemorating this turning point in Western history.

It’s hard to argue with the #1 ranking given to it by a consortium of collectors and dealers in the “100 Greatest Ancient Coins” book published by Harlan Berk. The trouble with this type is that it’s very hard to find in good condition and regardless of the condition, its popularity drives up the price.

I am extremely fortunate to have been able to acquire a solid-silver example of this historic type. It’s graded nearly EF and considerably better in hand and in my photos than...

Sorry for the tabloidish subject line, it's really just one normal dog with one head, and another with three. Heh.

I'm thinking of starting a small collection of ancient coins with dogs on them, and while I know there are quite a number of types out there, I'm really hankering after those beautiful Segesta issues, which unfortunately tend to be on the scarce side.

Until I manage to get myself one of those, these two puppies will have to do. And just so I can have some pretensions about becoming a dog-coin whisperer, I've decided to give them names too (the coins, not the dogs).

I'm calling this first one Mr. Huntington, which I know is a little snooty, but he is... *cough* pedigreed afterall .