Coin Talk
-
A recent purchase, a 1902 British coronation short set
Leave it to a collector to be spending money during a financial crisis! Here is my latest purchase, a 1902 Edward VII coronation short set. This set is “short” because it does not include the two and five pound gold coins. There were 7,057 short sets issued and 8,066 long sets.
The set includes the Maundy Set of four coins plus the crown, half crown, two shillings, one shilling and the six pence.
One of the attractions that I had for this set, is that they are all Matte Proofs. Matte Proof U.S. gold coins are unaffordable. The silver pieces are so rare that they are virtually unobtainable. Here is this set are samples of both.
Edward VII was a very interesting person. He was the second child and oldest son of Queen Victoria. The Queen and Prince Albert tried to raise him as a model monarch, but he would have none of it. He was a poor student, and once he got out from under their clutches... -
My hunt for the pirate treasure ship, Whydah.
I have proof read this article twice, but there may be grammatical errors.
MY HUNT FOR THE PIRATE TREASURE SHIP, WHIDAH
By Robert Ransom
This account is solely based on my memory of events which occurred during my hunt for the sunken pirate ship Whydah. The ship was attacked and captured off the coast of The Bahamas in the early 1700’s by Samuel “Black Sam” Bellamy who decided to use this newly acquired vessel as his flagship. Two other ships were under his command. Black Sam then proceeded up the east coast toward Maine attacking ships and plundering their cargo. Sailing off the coast of Cape Cod, his ship was caught in the grips of a powerful nor-Easter, ran aground on a sandbar and ultimately capsized then sank in the waters off Wellfleet, Massachusetts. The value the treasure aboard was thought to be in the millions of dollars. Rumors exist of coins still washing up on the beach.... -
The Roman PILEUS
This time It's a confrontation between to asses in my collection; in the right corner weighting 9.7g, Antoninus the Pius. In the left corner, weighting exactly 9.79g, Claudius the First. LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLE ! Ok,ok, no fighting today. At least one of those two emperors didn't like the war.
But let's focus instead on the common point between these two pieces. You surely noticed they both featured the goddess Libertas; and also that she is holding in her right hand a pileus. Let's talk a bit about this famous hat and its origin. First, the title of this thread is rather inaccurate, the pileus having a Phrygian's origin. It was a soft woven wool cap often associated with the notion of freedom( that's why Libertas is holding it). The pilei was found in several form: often round, sometimes looking like a helmet, even shaped almost like a pyramid. The pileus originated in Greek... -
Seleucus II Callinicus Teradrachm
Prelude
Few rulers in history had the deck stacked against them so lopsidedly as Seleucus II Callinicus had.
Seleucus II was the firstborn son of Antiochus II and Laodice I and was born in 265 BCE. One failure of Antiochus II was in his inability to induct his oldest son into government duties early on as had been the tradition dating from Seleucus I. Under an ideal circumstance, Antiochus II would have lived a long life and would have had decades to prepare young Seleucus II for the throne. Unfortunately, Antiochus II died at the age of 40, while leaving an unexperienced 19-year-old son to deal with a confusing dynastic situation.
Collapse
Almost immediately after Antiochus II's death in 246, partisans of his first wife, Laodice I, had his second wife and five-year old son murdered in Antioch. This was unfortunate as his second wife, Bernice, was the sister to the Egyptian King Ptolemy III. It didn't take long for the Egyptians to hear about the murder and begin... -
The Philanthropin Medal
BRONZE MEDAL - PHILANTHROPIN JEWISH SCHOOL
Frankfurt am Main
Year: 1904
This is a very large (66 mm) and very rare medal Commemorating 100 Years Since the Founding of the Philanthropin Jewish School in Frankfurt am Main in 1804. It is signed by the Jewish medalist Leo Horovitz.
Obverse: Depicts a man working in the fields planting seeds with the city of Frankfurt in the background / DIE JUGEND IST DIE ZEIT DER SAAT (Youth is the time of the seed.)
Reverse: Wheat bundles with a beehive separating the date 1804 and 1904 / JAHRHUNDERTFEIER DES PHILANTHROPINS ZU FRANKFURT AM - FUR AUFKLARUNG UND HUMANITAT (Century Celebration of the Philanthropins - School Motto: For Enlightenment and Humanity.)
The Philanthropin was a school for poor Jewish children in the city of Frankfurt's Judengasse, the oldest Jewish Ghetto in Germany. It... -
Another "Family" of struck Counterfeits- 1826 C-1 Reverse Parent!
I have posted a number of recent struck counterfeits, mostly early copper in this forum. Today's subject is based on the reverse of the 1826 C-1 and a still researched obverse.
One of the recent examples for sale on the "Bay" is this bad "1810" half cent. Not only did the seller have this 1810 but a couple of others with the same overall appearance; unfortunately, I didn't save images of the group prior to the listings being removed but did some screen shots of the listings.
One of the 1st things to stand out is the apparent strange date; upon further review the head style is incorrect for the date and is typical of the style of 1833-1835. The obverse certainly doesn't match an 1810 C-1 (the only variety for the year). I have noted (in red) a couple of interesting marks on the subject coin (hold that thought!)
And the reverse is certainly wrong for the date but it loosely matches an 1826... -
Solidus of Zeno from the Guy Lacam Collection
Guy Lacam authored a monumental study of two volumes (1107 pages), La fin de L'Empire romain et le monnayage or en Italie: 455-493 (The end of the Roman Empire and the Gold Coinage in Italy: 455-493), copyright 1983, published by Adolph Hess. Many experts and European auction houses are using Lacam's publication as the bible for Roman gold coinage for the period of AD 455-493. I became aware of Guy Lacam and the coin pictured below 33 years ago while browsing thru the NFA XVIII Auction catalog, April 1, 1987.
In January of 2003, CNG offered the same coin in their Triton VI auction, lot 1186, with virtually the same description. The very same coin reappeared in September 2017, in CNG Auction 106, lot 862, with a more detailed description and different attribution, see the attached link below.
https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=342581
The coin is now described as "uncertain mint" and they... -
Andrew Jackson’s “Mint Drops”
Greetings, "fellow prisoners!" Today I had one of my two days “out of captivity,” to go food shopping. I wore a mask as the president has asked and thought that I was going to smother. The thing fogged my glasses, which was annoying enough, but I felt like my head was in a box.
At any rate, here is another article. I hope you like it.
Andrew Jackson is best remembered for two events. First, his dramatic victory over the British at The Battle of New Orleans in January 1815 brought honor to the U.S. after our country suffered the humiliation of watching our capital, Washington, DC, burn. Second, his “war” against The Bank of the United States during his presidency ended the federal charter for that institution.
Today Jackson’s “bank war” policies get mixed reviews. Some historians, such as Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. have held that the bank had excessive powers. Jackson’s policies were necessary to prevent wealthy individuals from controlling the United States economy and... -
New Sestertius of Vitellius - MARS
Before reading on you must excuse me for the low grade of the coin I am about to show you - I promise there is some eye candy at the end of this post as a compensation ).
Vitellius´ bronze coinage from the mint of Rome is much rarer than his earlier output from Tarraco and it was only at the capital that the Emperor struck the Sestertii which are rare and collectible today.
Genuine Sestertii of Vitellius are outnumbered by Denarii of his by the factor 20 to 1, so my specimen is of course a compromise but I am more that happy to fill this vacancy in my Sestertius collection. Of course genuine Sestertii of his are also vastly outnumbered by Paduans. My coin has been deemed genuine by two experts so far but only from pictures I must admit.
After his victory against Otho and a lengthy trip, Vitellius entered Rome on July 17, 69 and received the titles Augustus and Pontifex Maximus the following day. It was therefore only in late July of that year that the mint of the capital... -
A brief introduction to the 1793 Bermuda Penny
This past week I had the opportunity to acquire an example of a 1793 Bermuda Penny, which is a highly sought after and particularly rare issue. In doing a little research before its arrival, I stumbled upon an excellent article written by Mark A. Sportack (Link to article). For those of you who wish to learn more about this one-year type coin, his article is an invaluable asset.
Most of you are probably familiar with the modern coinage of Bermuda, such as the 1970 coinage or the odd triangle-shaped collector’s coins issued in the recent past; however, you are likely much less aware of their earlier coinage. Like most other British colonies, one might assume that Regal coinage was issued in a sporadic fashion that provides a handful of examples to collect. This assumption, however, would be incorrect. In fact, the 1793 Penny would be the first Regally sanctioned coinage issued in Bermuda during its first...
Page 59 of 140