Coin Talk

How can you find provenance for your ancient coins? It helps to get good at recognizing dies and die matches and knowing what your coins look like.

Brute Force: flipping through large numbers of books and catalogs in paper and electronic libraries. I have tried this unless I was just looking for an image of a coin with a known auction listing.
Example: https://www.sullacoins.com/post/coins-of-parthian-king-phraates-iv

Roman Republican coins - the Schaeffer Roman Republican Die Project is a useful resource http://numismatics.org/archives/ark:/53695/schaefer.rrdp.b04. Examples:

https://www.sullacoins.com/post/fun-provenance-find

https://www.sullacoins.com/post/unencrypting-crawford-rrc

Coins of Roman Egypt : Dattari Savio is an easy place to check with ~10K coins it provides one stop for 100+ years of provenance.

Example:...

Collecting ancient coins is one thing for mere mortals like most of us, but it's a completely different hobby when you can rely on almost unlimited financial resources. Like Louis XIV for example and, to be sincere, I'm a bit jealous...

Louis XIV discovered this hobby when he was a child, thanks to Jean Warin (1607-1672), a die engraver who was head of Paris mint and engraved the official busts of Louis XIII and young Louis XIV struck on gold and silver coins. On this picture painted by an anonymous artist in 1645 (with later additions), Jean Warin is teaching ancient history to the young Louis XIV, aged 7, using coins and medals. Show and tell method. The little kid was fascinated and later became a passionate collector.


(Musée de la Monnaie, Paris)

He was actually a promising child. Two years before, when only 5, he was called by his father Louis XIII on his deathbed. The dying king asked him: "Do you know who you are?" and the...

This 1 Groschen was struck in 1577 in Dresden, Saxony (Saxony) under August I of the Albertine Line.


In 1470, the Saxons found rich, silver ore deposits in Schneeberg. In 1492 (a date many might recognize), another was found in Schreckenberg. Because both of these were in the Ore Mountains of Saxony, they experienced a silver rush, known in German as a Berggeschrei. Many flocked to the region to strike it rich, leading to new developments in mining and metallurgy. August I shepherded Saxony through this age, to whom Georg Bauer addressed his book De re Metallica. The 672-page book cataloged the state-of-the-art mining, refining, and smelting methods. This book remained the authoritative text on mining for almost two centuries and is said to have helped enable the Industrial Revolution. I find the book fascinating and recommend any who might have interest to visit this link...

Did you ever wonder about the origin of something you commonly encounter? The apple, which is the fourth most harvested fruit worldwide (third if we removed tomatoes-we all know they aren’t “true” fruits ), can be traced to the mountains of Central Asia, especially Kazakhstan. Almaty, formerly the capital of Kazakhstan and still the largest city, is home to forests containing the wild apple Malus sieversii. It has been shown to be the ancestor of the domesticated apples many of us consume nowadays. Even the name “Almaty” is derived from the Kazakh word for apple (“алма“). The city and country takes pride in this wonderful fruit with billboards, a fountain, and even a coin.

I recently added the aforementioned coin to my collection. Issued in 2013, the coin has a simple yet striking design. What is even more interesting is that the two sides are almost like halfs of two different coins. One side is a proof with selected gilding of the apples. Meanwhile the other side is more of a...

Dear friends of ancient Mythology!

Here is my last article before Christmas

The Coin:
Akarnania. Oiniadai, 219-211 BC.
AE 22, 6.91g, 22.02mm
Obv.: Laureate head of Zeus r.
Behind thunderbolt, below ΠPI.
Rev.: OINIAΔAN
Head of river god Acheloos as bull with human head n. r.
behind monogram AKAP
Ref.: BCD Akarnania 347; SNG Copenhagen 402
rubbers, otherwise almost VF


Mythology
The name Acheloos probably comes from the old Greek word αχ (= aqua, related to the German Ach, Ache) for water, which is why its name was also used by poets for fresh water in general. In ancient times the river was also called Thoas and Acheloos was king in Aetolia. It is said that the river only received its final name after Acheloos drowned in it in an accident. Others say that the river was originally called Thestios, after the son of Ares and Prisidike.

The parents of Acheloos were Okeanos and Tethys...

With more US Mint Bureau documents becoming available on-line through the Newman Numismatic Portal (NNP), it seems a good time to give those doing numismatic research a little guidance. This will show how various groups of documents are connected and suggest which files to search for letters relating to specific events or persons.

The information will help researchers look through thousands of documents without have to spend weeks at NARA locations thumbing through thick volumes and overstuffed file boxes.

What you will find: Connections between archive files. Transcriptions of some documents.

What you will not find: Transcriptions of everything.

Access: All materials are available for free via NNP to read or download.

Basic files in Record Group 104 U.S. Mint ––


For letters from 1873 to 1900 the overall search flow is:

1. Start with Entry 1. These are in chronological order and many are transcribed. Search by subject or approximate date.

2. Once...

Although there's still two months left in the year (including the Baltimore show at the end of this month), I'm almost certain that I've already purchased my top coin of the year. It is one of my "bucket list" types that I've been hoping to acquire for years now, and I finally had the chance to do so. Photo borrowed from the seller because My attempts at photography did not do the coin justice:

Sasanian Empire. AR drachm (3.00 g, clipped). Queen Boran (630-631). Obverse: Bust of queen right, legend in Pahlavi before and behind "Bwran GDH abzwt" (Boran [who] multiplies glory). Reverse: Zoroastrian fire-altar with two attendants, crescent and sun above, to right mintmark SK (Sakastan), to left date [Year] 2. Gobl I/1 (229), MACW 1241, Sunrise 1006. This coin: Stephen Album Auction 44, lot 110 (September 15-18, 2022).

In 628, a conspiracy of nobles removed Khusro II from the throne, put him through a show trial, and executed him. This would set...

Recently had to buy one of these since I love counterstamps and a good story.





And here’s the story, for educational purposes, from PCGS

A Referendum, a Newspaper Editor & a Coin – The Story of the “Anguilla Liberty Dollar”
By Jay TurnerApril 9, 2020

1967 $1, X#2 C/M on Mex 5 Peso, Anguilla, PCGS MS63.

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1967 $1, X#2 C/M on Mex 5 Peso, Anguilla, PCGS MS63. Click image to enlarge.

In history, fiction often becomes fact. This is certainly true in numismatics, where sometimes reality is overtaken by salesmanship, ignorance, and lack of published materials. One such glaring...

Coins found in New England help solve mystery of murderous 1600s pirate: "One of the greatest crimes of the 17th century"

From CBS News:

One tarnished silver coin at a time, the ground is yielding new evidence that in the late 1600s, one of the world's most ruthless pirates wandered the American colonies with impunity.

Newly surfaced documents also strengthen the case that English buccaneer Henry Every - the target of the first worldwide manhunt - hid out in New England before sailing for Ireland and vanishing into the wind.

CBS News article:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coins-...mystery-of-murderous-1600s-pirate-henry-every

A Mughal coin of Aurangzeb which could have been part of the pirate's loot:


Mughal silver rupee of Aurangzeb, Surat mint, AH 1091 (AD 1680)
Silver, 24 mm, 11.49 gm, Krause KM 300.86

How cool is this . . . . . ?




I recently picked up this really nicely designed New Orleans pictorial token. Unfortunately, the venue this token was promoting had a tragic ending, but it also came with a rare accompaniment piece.

The token is an advertisement for The Lamplighter Club, high atop the Rault Center in New Orleans, LA. The Lamplighter Club was a small rooftop venue at the top of the Rault Center, a 17-story building populated with offices and nice apartments. One of the few high rises in 1970s New Orleans, it boasted a skyline view from the heart of the Central Business District. The lounge attracted many affluent professionals and cocktail lovers looking for a drink with some nice scenery to the corners of Gravier and South Rampart.

It's unfortunate end came 50 years ago this week. On November 29, 1972, a terrible tragedy befell a group of unsuspecting New Orleanians...