Coin Talk

Minted in 1930 to commemorate the 1000-year anniversary of the Althing this is one of the more stunning coins ever made (in my humble opinion). I find it hard to fathom a 1000-year anniversary of anything. This coin was minted at the Saxon State Mint in Germany at the request of the Icelandic Parliament, the Althing, to commemorate their anniversary. It is one of the oldest parliamentary institutions in the world and a forerunner of the Western Democracy style of governing.

The obverse of the coin is a magnificent relief of the King of Thule on his throne, with his hands on the heads of kneeling children; it bears the initials EJ, for designer Einar Jonsson.




The reverse is the Icelandic coat of arms with a sailing ship, shield, and crown surrounded by four mythic creatures. It bears the initials B.B. for designer Baldvin Björnsson.



There was a total mintage of 10,001 pieces. This piece is 45mm in diameter and about...

( This post is expanded & reposted [by request] from last year's Imperator tournament... hopefully enough time has passed that it will seem fresh again! Plus I'd really like some feedback on the theory...)

Here is one of the most famous and most enigmatic issues in ancient coinage:


Julius Caesar, denarius 49-48 BCE, military mint traveling with Caesar
Obv: Pontifical implements (simpulum, aspergillum, securis, and apex)
Rev: Elephant advancing right, trampling on serpent, CAESAR in exergue
References: Cr 443/1; Sydenham 1006; RSC 49

Note: Most dealers have obverse and reverse the other way around, but since exergues are otherwise exclusive to the reverse on Republican silver, I have gone with the minority opinion. BTW, it's not a fourrée. The dark stuff in the edge crack at the top is dirt, not base metal.

First, some historical context for this coin, which I think of as a numismatic Darth...

Collector’s Note I have had an interest in the Twenty Cent Piece series since I was in high school. Back then I formed a set of the four made for circulation issues. Unfortunately, the two Proof only coins, the 1877 and 1878 were well beyond my financial means.

As an adult my interests have continued. Recently I completed a set with the exception of the rare 1876-CC. These pieces were a product of “the silver lobby” which fought many political battles during the latter half of the 19th century. The best known products of those battles were the Morgan Silver Dollar and William Jennings Bryan’s three presidential campaigns.


Among the six “odd denominations” that U.S. Mint System issued during the 19th century, the Twenty Cent Piece or double dime was the biggest failure. The half cent, which dated from the Coinage Act 1792, provided a bridge between the Spanish system of “bits,” which were worth 12 ½ cents, and the U.S. decimal system of coinage....

Dear Friends of ancient mythology!

A small coin but a great story!

The Coin:
Thessaly, Lamia, in the name of the Malienses, 400-344 BC
AE 15, 1.69g, 15.24mm, 180°
obv. Head of Athena r., wearing Corinthian helmet and necklace
rev. MALIEWN (in l. field from bottom to top)
Philoktetes, nude, with sidestep stg. r., shooting his bow; before him, a bird falling
on the ground below; before him his quiver
ref. SNG Copenhagen 87; Rogers 384, fig. 197; SNG Evelpidis 1540; Moustaka 41;
Georgioiu, mint 16; BCD Thessaly II, 125; Lindgren II, 1397
rare, F+, brown Patina

Note:
Lamia was the eastern city of the Malienses in the Phthiotis in Thessaly. The city was situated at the foot of the mountains at the northern end of the plain which is traversed by the river Sperchios (Wikipedia). Today it is Zeitun or Zeituni. Strangely the Kleiner Pauly writes Lamis which I didn't found anywhere elese. Maybe a typo? The eponym of Lamia was Lamos or Lamios, the...

RIP Chris Kraft. Without him it would have been a far different looking program.

Post a coin from 1924.







(As per collectSPACE)...

Christopher C. Kraft, Jr., NASA's original flight director who invented the concept of Mission Control, has died. He was 95.
The following biography was prepared by NASA prior to his death:

Christopher C. "Chris" Kraft, Jr. (b. 1924) created the concept, and developed the organization, operational procedures, and culture of NASA's Mission Control, which was a critical element of the success of the nation's manned spaceflight programs.
Kraft was born in Phoebus, Virginia, where he attended high school and developed strong interests in non-aeronautical topics such as baseball, and drum and bugle corps. Unlike many of his esteemed aerospace peers later in his career, he wasn't interested in airplanes. After high school, he wanted to attend college, but didn't know where or what he should...

2019 has been a great year for me collecting-wise - and this most recent acquisition is a fantastic reason why it has been. When a coin surfaces in trade you've only seen examples of in catalogues it is a cause for celebration!





Vespasian
Æ Dupondius, 14.36g
Rome mint, 71 AD
RIC 282 (R2). BMC 596.
Obv: IMP CAES VESPASIAN AVG COS III; Head of Vespasian, radiate, r.
Rev: TVTELA AVGVSTI; S C in exergue; Tutela std. l., with a child either side
Acquired from Praefectus Coins, July 2019. Ex The Morris Collection.

Tutela, the goddess of guardianship, is a rare personification on Roman coinage. She first appears on the dupondii of Vitellius and later under Vespasian during his great bronze issue of 71, both on the dupondius and a unique sestertius. The type under Vespasian is extremely scarce with only two reverse dies known for the dupondius. The unique sestertius was acquired by Curtis Clay, for which he wrote the following concerning the TVTELA...

Trying something new... a video presentation. The coins are below if you don't want to spend 5 minutes listening to me talk . Perhaps tomorrow I'll post a transcript of the video.



ISLANDS BETWEEN SICILY AND AFRICA, Melita.
c. 218-175 BCE. Æ 29 mm, 10.82 gm
Obv: Veiled and diademed female head right
Rev: Mummy of Osiris standing facing, head left, between winged figures of Isis and Nephtys, each holding a palm frond; Punic ‘NN above
Ref: SNG Copenhagen (Vol. 8) 458-9


ISLANDS BETWEEN SICILY AND AFRICA, Melita.
c. 218-175 BCE. Æ 29 mm, 10.84 gm
Obv: Veiled and diademed female head right
Rev: Mummy of Osiris standing facing, head left, between winged figures of Isis and Nephtys, each holding a palm frond; Punic ‘NN above
Ref: SNG Copenhagen (Vol. 8) 458-9


ISLANDS BETWEEN SICILY AND AFRICA, Melita.
c. 160 BCE. Æ...

Eight Cents for a Matte Proof Lincoln and a Proof Nickel!! You gotta be kidding!

Matte Proof Lincoln Cents were issued by the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia, starting in 1909, in a minor set that included a proof Liberty Nickel at a cost of 8 cents plus postage (only 2 cents over face value! WOW.).


The Matte Proof Lincolns were not received very well by collectors of the day since most didn't understand or appreciate the Matte (rather than the Mirror) finish. Because of the lack of collector excitement or demand, the mintages were quite low, with most dates having mintage totals in the 3 to low 4 digits.



In 1912, the cost increased to 12 cents per minor set plus postage. (I wonder if there were complaints about the 50% price increase (4 cents additional) in 1912? HA!). From 1913 to 1916, the minor set included a proof Buffalo Nickel. The short 8...

One of the great benefits provided by private collectors to the study of ancient coins is the attention paid to relatively common coins that are of humble preservation. Large institutions, such as museums, have a hard enough task properly attributing and photographing their rare / high quality items and as such the low quality coins (like the ones below) would stand very little chance of being published individually online.

However, to an individual collector these little slugs are beautiful pieces of history and well worth the time it takes to take high resolution photographs and post them on a forum or website. My long term goal is to photograph all coins in my collection (not just my favorites!) and get them cataloged on my future website. Below are five previously unattributed coins I received as Christmas presents from family which I just now have gotten around to looking into further. Hopefully you all can get some enjoyment, as I have, out of looking over these ugly...

As most of you are aware, this year marks the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing. The mission lasted from July 16 - 24, 1969. Over the next 9 days I WILL BE ADDING POSTS TO THIS THREAD with what happened on that day 50 years ago, along with pictures of items from my space collection. I won't necessarily be posting every day, as many of the days 50 years ago were basically coasting/traveling from the Earth to the Moon or from the Moon to the Earth.

IMO what makes the Apollo 11 Moon landing so memorable were that humans were aboard. Over the last decade there have been many 50th anniversaries of robotic Moon landers, but they were either ignored or only briefly mentioned. While I will touch on some of the technical aspects of this mission, the predominate aspect that I wish to write about is the human efforts and the people that allowed Mankind to finally realize it's age old dream of flying to the Moon.

Some of you are probably wondering why I started the Apollo...