Coin Talk

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 .

I have been collecting coins for as long as I can remember. The first coins that I purchased were from the US Mint and included the 1986 proof set, 1986 proof ASE and the 1986 Statue of Liberty Proof set. Up until this year, I only collected coins that were “Made in the USA” and thanks to a fellow CT member who shall go unnamed (SPOCK), I now started collecting foreign coins. The purpose of this collage was to share with you three of my favorite designs joined together.

I have always been fascinated with British coinage. Some of my very first coins were British Pennies that my grandmother gave me when I was just a child. These coins were marvelous; worn and faded and dated from the late 1800’s, thoughts of who held these coins and where they had been preoccupied my mind. So here I am, nearly 30 years later, deciding on what foreign coins I should collect and figure what better way to start that collection...

KM 635 Belgium Insurrection (Provincial) Coinage 10 Sols Silver Coin Depicting Lion on Obverse / Clasped Hands and Eleven Arrows on Reverse



Verenigde Belgische Staten - États-Belgiques-Unis - United States of Belgium / Insurrection Coinage / Belgium, Revolt against Joseph II (HRE) / designed by Theodore Van Berckel, engraver at the Brussels Mint.


Mintmark for Brussels Mint

Obv.Brabant lion standing right, MON NOV ARG PROV FOED BELG
(Currency New Money Provincial Federated Belgium.)

Rev.Two hands shaking, arrows behind, IN VNIONE SALVS
(in union for health/strength/salvation.)




The bundle of 11 arrows representing 11 provinces: East Flanders, West Flanders, Brabant, Hainault, Tournai, Namur, Luxembourg, Liège, Limburg, Antwerp...

Pictured is a 1900 Morgan silver dollar. It was minted in New Orleans which is indicated by the small O above the D and O in the word dollar on the reverse of the coin.

Morgan dollars were designed by George T. Morgan. They were minted from 1878-1904 and again for one year in 1921. They were produced in Philadelphia, New Orleans, Denver, Carson City and San Francisco. The composition is .900 silver .100 copper. Its diameter is 38.1 millimeters. Its weight is 26.73 grams.

The New Orleans mint was one of three southern mints to begin producing coins in the 1830’s. It began minting coins in 1838. In 1861 Louisiana seceded from the union and state authorities seized the mint. The state transferred ownership to the confederates. For a short time it was used to make coins for the Confederacy. The U.S. army retook New Orleans in 1862 and the mint served as headquarters in New Orleans for Union troops. It was the only one of the three southern mints to produce coins after the Civil...

This was the first coin I ever purchased in my pursuit of a complete raw Barber Quarter collection. It bought it from Heritage Auctions in the November 2001 Santa Clara Signature Sale #275. I basically got the coin for half price due to the fact that it was un-certified and the auction photos were terrible.




The challenge with photographing a raw coin is that you really have no excuses for not taking a very high quality photo as you don't have any reflective plastic to deal with. You need to be able to capture the surfaces including both texture and abrasions as well as the luster and of course, color. If I ever intended to sell this coin as a raw MS64, I must be able to show the potential buyer that coin meets my subjective assigned grade. Here...

This coin is a 1942-S NGC MS67 Jefferson War Nickel and is part of my NGC registry set of rainbow toned war nickels. This coin has iridescent toning on the obverse. The toning is beautiful violet and emerald green and is supported by pristine surfaces and silky luster. The problem is that iridescent toning only appears when the coin is tilted under a light source. If the coin is photographed directly, the toning will not appear in the photo. As I stated, the purpose of this photo was for presentation of my registry set, so I needed the quality of the photo to be outstanding in order to truly represent the actual appearance of the coin. The reverse provided a whole new challenge. Minor coinage is very difficult to photograph showing full detail due to the relative size of the coin. Jefferson Nickel reverses are usually not well struck and I needed to ensure that I captured both the toning and the outstanding detail present in Monticello on this coin. This coin is an MS67 and...

Some of you might be surprised to learn that the United States ALMOST had a Saint-Gaudens Cent, that probably would have been minted beginning around 1907 or 1908 and continued for most of the 20th century.

Theodore Roosevelt, who served as President from 1901 to 1909, was the only U.S President known to have taken a deep interest in U.S coinage designs.

In 1905, President Roosevelt viewed a number of high-relief coins of Ancient Greece on display at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington D.C. Admiring the ancient coins sculptured relief and artistry, he felt the U.S. coins in production at the time were derivative and uninspired in comparison.

Roosevelt then challenged his new friend and renowned artist Augustus Saint-Gaudens to redesign the entire line of American coinage from the Cent to the Double Eagle to new and more artistic standards....

While large coins like dekadrachms are unarguably impressive, I find extremely small coins to be equally intriguing, showing off the talent of the ancient engravers. They're somewhat under-appreciated in my eyes, dismissed unfairly because of their size, but with digital photography, they can easily become dinner-plate sized with a decent macro lens. This coin is now my smallest, and I have a few other small electrum coins which I'll be sharing here soon.





IONIA, Phokaia. Circa 625/0-522 BC. EL Myshemihekte – Twenty-fourth Stater (6mm, 0.66 g). Helmeted head right; [below, small seal right] / Quadripartite incuse square. Bodenstedt Em. 15; Boston MFA –; SNG von Aulock 1787; Weber 5732. Near EF. Very rare denomination, only four listed by Bodenstedt.

A coastal city of considerable importance, Phokaia was...

Here's a coin I first spotted two years ago, but at the time, I didn't have the opportunity to acquire it. I was delighted to find it back on the market recently, and didn't waste any time snatching it up.

In my opinion it represents the best of a very rare type, minted only for a period of several months in 9 BC. Syllaeus was a powerful and crafty minister during the reign of Obodas II (30 - 9 BC), and sought to usurp the throne from its rightful heir, Aretas IV. However, owing to his treachery against Rome in a truly stupendous and colossal feat of misdirection, Syllaeus was executed before his ambitions could be realized.

(Strabo's account of the affair is a compelling read, and I plan to post it later in this thread, along with a map I'm currently composing that traces the misadventure.)

Upon the death of Obodas II, Syllaeus took possession of the treasury at Petra, and began minting a few coins of his own. His political position, however, put him rather between a rock and a...