Coin Talk

Since I have been posting comments about Franklin Pierce, I thought that you might be interested see a few of the campaign pieces for man most historians rate as the worst United States president in history, James Buchanan. Here is one of his more humous tokens when you consider him in the context of history. The slogan on the reverse reasons, “The crisis demands his election.”



Along came James Buchanan, the man who had the perfect resume. You might say that the reverse of this token was like the perfect job application.



Every claim here was true. Buchanan had served in Congress and the Senate, had been the Minister to Russia and Great Britian and had served as secretary of state. Few presidental condidates have had such an impressive list of positions held. The trouble was he was an empty suit. He had held the positions but had mote done much of note during his...

This coin had been misidentified by the auction firm as being RIC 59 from the Rome mint. It is properly attributed as RIC 75, from what was previously considered to be the Mediolanum mint. Sear (RIC 5, vol. III, p. 227) notes there is considerable uncertainty about not only the location of the mint traditionally attributed to Mediolanum, but its actual operation during Gallus' reign. He writes,


I don't believe the coins...

This is hardly a new topic and it has been addressed here before. The common consensus is that it was a denarius of Tiberius, the reigning emperor at the time of the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth, circa 28 AD. Many of these denarii are specifically marketed as "Tribute Pennies", the English term, penny, as the translation of the Latin denarius. It seems like common sense. Tiberius was Caesar at that time and his image was on the coin.

But there are some doubts that it was this coin. As a matter of fact that coin might not have been a denarius at all. The term used in the Synoptic Gospels is denarius (denarios in the original koine Greek versions) and the term drachma was also used in the parable of the woman who lost a coin labelled a drachma, so a distinction between denarius and drachma was understood by the authors of those three Gospels. They wrote denarius when they could have used drachma. But, some have argued that the use of denarius was not for the exact denomination but...

After writing the previous “family” article about rather deceptive struck counterfeit half cents based on the genuine 1804 “C-6” variety (at coinweek.com ) I felt it timely to document another member of the family, the counterfeit large cents based on the 1833 “N-5’s”.

Just a note, I consider this type of counterfeit an intermediate level of deceptive “types”, better than the lower level fakes from the ones I refer to as “Chinese Cartoon” types up to the multiple lower level “Ali” offerings.

These struck fakes are documented in several different denominations and varieties and are fairly accurate as compared to the source coins, but the counterfeiters use the same layout and change the date to create a series of fakes, resulting in impossible die combinations/ states. These take a higher level of knowledge to discern, with being savvy with the series and variety...

Recently there has been some talk about the Continental Dollar, which now appears not be a dollar at all, but a small medal that commemorated the end of the American Revolutionary War. I mentioned the Libertas Americana medal as a less expensive (but it’s not cheap) alternative to the Continental Dollar. Here is an example that I have owned for many years.




The Libertas Americana medal was Benjamin Franklin’s private project that commemorated the Treaty of Paris, which formally ended the Revolutionary War. Since the medal was struck at the time and in the city where the treaty was signed it would have been a popular collectors’ item in any case. The piece gained added significance for coin collectors because it was the inspiration for the Liberty Cap design that appeared on some early United States cents and half-cents.

The obverse features a goddess of liberty, facing left. A Phrygian cap, symbolic of...

I have admired examples of this coin ever since I began collecting ancient coins, but until now, never found one in good enough condition that I could afford. One of the dealers I have purchased from in the past had this coin on the market. But because of the small edge chip, it was just collecting dust. I was more than surprised when I made him a offer which he accepted. I suppose he needed to cut his losses. And since I was purchasing this coin at an exceptional price, I asked for opinions from several of the CT family before consummating the purchase.

Caesar's Comet was known to ancient writers as the Sidus Iulium ("Julian Star") or Caesaris astrum ("Star of Julius Caesar). The bright, daylight-visible comet appeared during the festival known as the Ludi Victoriae Caesaris – for which the 44 BC iteration was held in the month of July in the same year, some four months after the assassination of Julius Caesar, as well as Caesar's own birth month. According to Suetonius, as...

You see, I was missing the "Skully" token that I had sold back in March.

Belgium (Liège, Chapter of St. Lambert): copper communion token; memento mori, ca. 1680s


So I was casually browsing around for a replacement. While I don't think these are especially rare, they're not always easy to find, either. They first came to my attention when CNG was auctioning several of them. I ended up paying around $115-ish for the example above when I won it in a Heritage auction.

There are a few different varieties. Another type has a slightly different skull-and-bones memento mori motif and is dated, with the year 1686. I like the skull on this particular design a bit more, but kind of thought I might go for one of the dated ones next time.

But I never could...

This counterfeit Pillar Dollar was offered at my local club's auction a year or so. The consigner gave it to me for educational purposes after I saw that it was not good. I am posting it here for the membership to see.



The issues are with the surfaces and the rim design, which is not sharp.

Here are photos of a genuine piece.



This one has been dipped, but it is in a SEGS holder.

CALABRIA, Tarentum
circa 344-340 BCE per CNG's cataloger; 380-345 BCE per Cote/Ratto;
AR nomos (didrachm); 21 mm, 7.72 gm, 9h
Obv: Warrior, holding small shield in left hand, dismounting from horse galloping left; horizontal T below
Rev: Phalanthos (Taras?), holding helmet in right hand, riding dolphin left; TAPAΣ to upper right, I and waves below
Ref: Fischer-Bossert group 47, 657 (V252/R509); Vlasto 437 (same dies); HN Italy 876; Côte 152
Ex Dr. Spencer Paterson Collection of Ancient Coins, Sept 2019
Slabbed prior to its most recent sale to me and quickly de-slabbed upon arrival; NGC XF, 5/5, 4/5, Fine Style.
Prior sales: CNG's Coin shop (date unknown); Roma Auction 6 lot 327 (Sept 2013)

I love the whole Tarentum "dolphin rider" series but have never managed to make a decision until now. There are just so many types... which one should I buy? Early, middle, or...

Most numismatists believe that the 1907 High Relief $20 gold piece is the most beautiful U.S. coin. This piece was the “pet baby” of President Theodore Roosevelt who started the “Renaissance of American Coinage” which extended from 1907 to 1921.

In 1905 President Roosevelt met with Augustus St. Gaudens who was viewed as the greatest American artist of his era. Roosevelt was very dissatisfied with the designs of the coins which were then in circulation and wanted to introduce a series of U.S. coinage designs that would be on a par with America’s emerging greatness. The president asked St. Gaudens to redesign every U.S. coin from the cent to the double eagle. St. Gaudens had more assignments than he could complete, and he was also becoming progressively ill with terminal cancer. Therefore he drew up the designs and assigned an artist, Henry Herring, who worked in the St. Gaudens studio, to execute the models.

St. Gaudens...