Coin Talk

Hi all

I'm currently reading "The Numismatic Aspects of Leprosy" (yes, there is such a thing) by McFadden/Grost/Marr.
It's an interesting book, listing more than 1000 different tokens and bank notes used in leper colonies in Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Danish West Indies, Hawaii, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Nigeria, Panama, Philippines, Thailand and Venezuela.

With the exception of tokens from Colombia, The Philippines and Venezuela, these tokens are very rare, and there are few collectors. The background for issuing them were threefold: To prevent spreading the disease through coinage (which was unrealistic), preventing the patients at the colonies from getting legal tender with which they could escape the colony, and preventing black market transactions with outside merchants.

I only have one Colombia 50 centavo and a Venezuela fractional Bolivar. I would love to see more of these tokens, if any of you have some in your collection.




The book...

Here is Part 2 of the Tudor Dynasty

Edward VI was groomed to be king from the time he was born. He was blessed with superior intellect and was schooled by the best tutors. He began to study Greek and Latin at age five and was well versed in the history of the Protestant Reformation in northern Europe. When he became king at age nine in 1547, he was said to be learned and precocious, and his intellect and religious piety were noted throughout the continent. The only thing that was left out of his life was a childhood, and Henry VIII's sixth wife, Catherine Parr, was the closest thing he ever had to a mother.

Given the king's age more senior officials assumed primary responsibility for ruling the country. King Henry VIII had made provisions for a ruling regency council, but one of its members, Edward Seymour, who was the king's uncle and his late mother's brother, out maneuvered the others and made himself regent under the title, Duke of Summerset.

Like King Edward,...

It must be obvious to all of us that we seem to be in danger of a serious epidemic. World markets are reacting adversely to news of an incipient plague and the accompanying economic, not to say human damage that may arise. Most of us on this site know, of course, that world wide epidemics, pandemics, are not a new phenomenon. The Ancient World of Classical Greece and Rome suffered through several which are well documented by both contemporary writings and recent DNA evidence from skeletal remains. The question I would like to raise is, is it possible to see the havoc caused by such pandemics in the coinage of the periods involved.

Well, let's take a look at what we know about four ancient epidemics or plagues( loimos to the Greeks, pestilentia or pestis to Latin speakers). First a bit about that of the Plague of Athens, well known to readers of Thucydides and his History of the Peloponnesian War. The plague broke out, or at least most manifested itself, in the second year of the...

"THE TRUTH, THE WHOLE TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH"

About the history
Martinian the usurper. Emperor for only 3 months in 324 AD. We know nothing about his origins. He was the magister officiorum of Licinius I, in other words his bodyguard. During the civil war between Constantine and Licinius, Martinian was appointed co-emperor by Licinius after the defeat at the battle of Adrianople. He was then sent to Lampsacus with his army to try to stop Constantine's armada, without any success. Licinius had to run away from Byzantium and was soon joined by Martinian for the Battle of Chrysopolis where they finally got crushed. Both Licinius and Martinian were later captured but had their lives spared by the intervention of Constantine's sister (and also Licinius'wife). But Constantine changed his mind and had them executed in 325 AD.
This is the official version. In fact the only one told by modern historians. It is based on stories written by 2...

The city of Milan is one of the most important urban centers of Italy and has been so for the past 2000 years, while also recognized as vital for the control of Italy at least since the third century. Milan was also (before Ravenna) at the center of a historical shift in the manifestation of power and politics. How?

In the summer of 268, while Gaul had been effectively separated and ruled by Postumus as an independent kingdom -- the "Secessionist Empire" -- Aureolus, a general and knight under Gallienus openly rebelled against the rightful emperor and, after a botched attempt at taking Italy, he retreated to Mediolanum, where he offered his support to Postumus. Besieged by Gallienus and his generals -- including the scoffing Claudius (the future Claudius II Gothicus 268-270) and Aurelian (the future emperor Aurelian 270-275) -- his political gambit manifested itself in the coinage he minted in Milan for Postumus. This coinage was a series of EQVIT coins (a nod to the cavalry he...

Here's my sole win from Frank S. Robinson's most recent auction:

Indo-Parthians. Abarshahr mint (?). AE drachm. Successors of Sanabares II (second half of second century AD). Obverse: Bust of king left, wearing diadem with triangular bow behind head. Reverse: Seated archer right, Abarshahr mint symbol (A above Pi) below bow, inscription behind (either badly blundered Greek or not-so-blundered Aramaic-Parthian). Sellwood 93.6-8, Shore 479, Sunrise 504, Koch Group 12. This coin: Frank S. Robinson Auction 111, Lot 114 (February 11, 2020).

This coin is part of the enigmatic "Sanabares" bronze coins that are part of the Indo-Parthian series, but are listed by David Sellwood as the last type (93) in his definitive work on Parthian coins. Sanabares I was apparently a rebel against the Parthians in the eastern part of the empire, though his exact dates are disputed (mid-to late-1st century AD seems to be the usual range). He may have been part of...

I usually stick to just the kings and queens when I add coins to my British collection. In this case I made an exception because this historical figure is interesting.



This piece has heavy "ghosting" on the obverse, but the wording is strong. Here is the legend:

Legend: “ED'PO'G'TR EG AGLE L” Full obverse legend in Latin: "Edwardvs primo genitvs Regis anglie Princeps Aqvitanie" Translation: "Edward, first born of the King of England, Prince of Aquitaine" Reverse "Princeps Aquitanie" for "Prince of Aquitaine."

The Hardi d’ Argent coins were struck in France during the Hundred Years War for use in English held France.

Here are the bullets from my book on the Black Prince:

· The Black Prince may not have been known by that name during his lifetime. The name first appears in notes by John Leland in the 1530s or early 1540s. He noted at the time that was in widespread use at that point.

· It has been suggested that the...

Coin photography still is relatively new for me. I started it only about a year and a half ago, largely due to the influence of this forum. Since I am also doing a tiny bit of landscape and animal photography, which mixes well with another favourite activity of mine, hiking, I already knew the basics of handling a camera but had never done any macro photography before. 18 months later, I’m still light-years aways from the coin photography masters on this board (@dougsmit , @Curtisimo, @TIF, to name just a few), but in most cases I manage to produce acceptable results.

Generally, I shoot all my coin pictures with the same DSLR (digital single-lens reflex camera) I also use for outdoor photography. For those of you interested in the technical details: it’s a Canon EOS Rebel T6s equipped with a Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM lens and a cheap 13mm macro extension tube. Mostly, I shoot in aperture priority mode with f/10...

A countermarked coin arrived this week and took me on a dive into Seleucid and Attalid countermarks on Attic tetradrachms. Why where these coins marked, and at what location? Can I more narrowly assign a date to my coin? while only touching the surface on this topic, this post is a summary of what I’ve found, so far, on this particular coin, and link with resources for more information.

The Coin
A 27-28mm, 16.25g, tetradrachm from Pamphylia – as I have mostly drachms and denarii, the scale of this coin already makes it a special coin in my collection. Reasonably well centered, even wear, pleasing style, light toning and the counter-mark, all add up to an interesting and attractive coin.

PAMPHYLIA, Side, c.205-150 BC, AR Tetradrachm, ST–, magistrate
Obv: Helmeted head of Athena (guardian deity of Side from its founding) right; countermark: Seleukid anchor within oval incuse
Rev: Nike...

I've been putting together a group of numismatic items showing Saint George slaying a dragon for a type collection with the intent of exhibiting. Just picked up one of the pricier pieces in that "series" - a Russian 50 Ruble from 2009 (a 1/4 ounce gold piece).



I'm wondering if you know of any obscure coins that have different variations on this theme? I got started a few years ago when I acquired a German silver medal showing Bismark as Saint George in a clear homage to the British Sovereign design by Pistrucci. I thought I might be able to find 3 or 4 interesting variations on that theme and put together a page in a binder.

20 or 30 pieces later, I keep finding examples of this design (from the Dutch Peace Corp commemorative medal for JFK to the Russian 1757 2 kopek, to the 2003 Gibraltar pound, the 1994 Italian 1000 lire commemorating Tintorreto, a Canadian $25 silver piece celebrating an old $5 bill, and more).

...