Coin Talk

Part of this is a duplicate of a former post but it was suggested that I start a new post on Goetz medals. Let's see what happens and please share yours.

My collection of world medals increased by one a few weeks ago. Karl Goetz was a controversial man due to his political beliefs but his numismatic accomplishments shouldn't be over looked. In addition to his medal output, he designed a number of German coins after WWI.

This medal depicts "The Bismarck Mausoleum (Bismarck Grabhaus)", Cast Bronze Medal, 356.00g., 105mm, by Karl Goetz, 1919. As you can see it is a big medal measuring over 4" in diameter.

Obverse: Bismarck in the heavens, defiantly clenching his fists with clouds swirling around him.

Legend: Was ich mit Hulfe des deutschen Volkes schuf in grosser Zeit - das hat der Wahn eines einzelnen zerstort • Das deutsche Volk hat sich durtch Unterzeichnung des Friedens von Versailles selbst aus der Reihe der Grossmächte gestrichen • War es fruher...

I recently acquired this coin of Phokas. But before sharing the coin I wanted to go into some of the history behind this lesser-known, and often poorly understood ruler who was able to topple the author (or benefactor) behind the Strategikon of Maurice military treatise.

Phokas (Latin: Flavius Focas Augustus; Greek: Φωκᾶς, Phokas; c. 547 – 5 October 610) was Byzantine emperor from 602 to 610. The early life of Phokas is largely unknown and buried in obscurity, but he rose to prominence in 602, as a leader in a revolt against Emperor Maurice Tiberius. Maurice had ordered the troops in the Balkans to campaign against the Avars across the Danube during the onset of winter, a very unpopular move. Also, there were deficiencies in their pay. Declaring the standard of revolt, a low ranking military officer named Phokas was raised on a shield and acclaimed emperor by the soldiers.

Phokas marched on Constantinople with his army. He captured Constantinople and overthrew Maurice on 23...

My new arrival is a coin I have been wanting by a person I consider interesting for several reasons. In the first century BC, pirates operated freely off the southern coast of Asia Minor in the region of Cilicia. Most famously, Caesar reported being captured by pirates who offended him by not seeking a high enough ransom for his safe return so he returned later with a force and crucified them. My coin is from a pirate who fared better largely by associating himself with sequence powerful Romans from Pompey to Octavian. Those interested in the subject can research the matter using the usual search engines.
https://www.google.com/search?q=cil...i57j0j69i60.8734j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

When Pompey set to cleaning up the pirate problem, the (retired) pirate Tarkondimotos joined him and went straight (the difference between a pirate and a Roman Imperator can seem a fine line in some cases). After changing allegiances as...

For the first time ever, the newest addition to my collection is not a coin, but a medal. This medal was designed by the Medallic Art Company and issued by the General Dynamics Electric Boat Division to commemorate the launching of the USS Nautilus. The Nautilus is famous for being the very first nuclear powered vessel of any kind, and represented the first significant development with nuclear power since the atomic bomb. The obverse shows the Nautilus superimposed on a uranium atom, and the reverse shows a nautilus shell superimposed on the Nautilus and the General Dynamics logo. This particular medal was given out to Electric Boat employees who helped to design and build the Nautilus. This medal was issued for an “H. Ford.”











Decades before the advent of nuclear power, submarines had diesel-electric propulsion systems that...

Roman, Imperatorial Period. Military mint, probably at Patrae. AR denarius (15 mm, 3.60 g). Marcus Antonius, (ex-)triumvir. Issued autumn 32-spring 31 BC. Obverse: Galley right, legend around ANT AVG IIIVIR R P C (Antonius Augur, Triumvir Rei Publicae Constituendae) (Antony, Augur, [One of] Three Men for Establishing the Republic). Reverse: Legionary eagle between two standards, legend below LEG III (Legion 3). Crawford 544/15, RSC 28. This coin: Purchased from Marc R. Breitsprecher, 2020.

Marcus Antonius (usually Anglicized as Marc Antony) is, like his mentor Julius Caesar, such a towering figure that he almost seems to be a fictional character. Indeed, if I say the names "Antony and Cleopatra", you will probably first think of Shakespeare's play (or Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor) rather than Julius Caesar's henchman and the last Ptolemaic queen of Egypt. Marc Antony led such an eventful (and well-documented) life that I can't do it...

The last 12-15 months have been the most interesting and rewarding in my 30 Year+ EAC collecting journey.

Over this time period, I was first able to add a very nice 1800 Draped Bust cent, variety Sheldon-205, Rarity-4, a fortunate eBay find which would be difficult to repeat.

Just a few months later, I made what is, and will probably forever remain the best (and luckiest) find I ever made in my Early Copper collecting journey: a 1766 William Pitt Farthing. A very scarce and historical coin/token which is currently rated Rarity-6, with about 25 examples known. It is now coin # 13-15 in the latest census of this rare issue.


A little later, in September 2019 and purely by chance, I "discovered" in my own collection a very rare 1837 Feuchtwanger Cent, Variety 3-D which is currently rated Rarity-7, which had lain dormant in my collection since 1986. I say "discovered" because I originally put this coin aside as part...

“This was the greatest event in the war, or, in my opinion, in Greek history; at once most glorious to the victors, and most calamitous to the conquered. They were beaten at all points and altogether; their sufferings in every way were great. They were totally destroyed – their fleet, their army, everything – and few out of many returned home. So ended the Sicilian expedition.”

Thucydides

This is the final passage of Book VII from Thucydides’ classic work, The History of the Peloponnesian War, a war that culminated in 404 BC with the surrender of a starved and besieged Athens. Athens’ expedition to Sicily to take on Syracuse and her allies Corinth and Sparta, was fraught, from the start of the expedition in 415 BC to the final battle in 413 BC with delays, missed opportunities, political opportunism, shifting alliances, fateful miscalculation, and questions of purpose of the expedition and who was to command for the Athenians. Like many foreign interventions...

SILVER CORONATION MEDAL - QUEEN CHRISTINA OF SWEDEN
Date: A.D. 1650



Obverse: Portrait laureate head left - CHRISTINA REGINA (Engravers Initials below bust)

Reverse: Hand of God emerging from clouds holding crown - AVITAM . ET . AVCTAM

Engraver: Erich Parise

This is a silver medal to commemorate the coronation of Queen Christina of Sweden in 1650. The obverse shows the laureate head facing left of Christina with the inscription CHRISTINA REGINA (Queen Christina). Below the bust of the queen are initials which identifies the engraver Erich Parise. The reverse shows the hand of God emerging from the clouds holding a crown to show the divine nature of her right to rule. Below is the inscription AVITAM ET AVCTAM or HEREDITARY AND EXTENDED.

The official number of this edition total was 3094 medals of this size, of which 125 were distributed to select individuals and 2699 were thrown out to the people. Many of the surviving...

Well, almost. Only the 2 Liberty Seated Dollars remain. I’ll have to acquire them in better times.

This is not a masterpiece collection. But was a lifelong project. So roughly 40 years in the making. I’ve spent the last several months putting them into a Intercept Shield Album. And attempting to photograph them (put onto CollectiveCoin website) before they went in.

Only 1 coin cost me more than $105: the Trade Dollar.
Four of the coins cost me more than $75:
The Draped Bust ($103) and Classic Head Large Cent ($105). The no rays Shield nickel ($80). And the Twenty Cent piece ($103).
Everything else was less than $75.

Everything that was busted out of a TPG holder:
1804 Half Cent: NGC VG details
1798 Large Cent: NGC Fine details
1812 Large Cent: NGC G4
1863 Indian: NGC XF40
1952 D Linc: ICG MS66+
1866 Shield Nickel: ICG VF30
1883 Shield: NGC AU58
1913 Buffalo: NGC MS64
1943 D War Nickel: PCGS MS65 full steps
1944 Mercury: NGC MS66
1856 Quarter: Anacs VF30
1917 Quarter:...

We were up a 60:30 to this morning to get to the "senior hour" at the food store at 7 am. Friday is steak night for us, and two pounds of tenderloin cost over $30, no, it was not prime beef. A meat packer today said that his business is "the new toilet paper."

Time for another piece from the archives, this one from 2011.


Although the Barber dimes, quarters and half dollars have many fans in the collector community, there are more than few numismatists who find these coins to be dull, bland and uninspiring. Back in 1892 when the U.S. mint introduced the Barber coins many people at the time were less than impressed with their appearance. Almost immediately there were moves afoot to replace them, but since that required an act of Congress, the designs stayed in place.

According to laws that are still in place, the Secretary of the Treasury can approve of a new design for a coin after the current design has been in place for 25 years. Therefore in 1915 Treasury...