Coins in Movies or on Television

The film "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny":

Near the end of the film when Indiana Jones and Helena Shaw find the grave of Archimedes, they uncover the stone casket and view the remains.



The skull has two coins placed on the eyes which is an ancient Greek custom.

The coins appear to be large coins, corroded and covered with dust, which makes them hard to identify.

They are probably copies of ancient Greek coins.

 

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Back to back reruns of Andy Griffith tonight featured coins. First was the episode where Andy tricks Barney into thinking his buffalo nickel was rare because the bison is facing the wrong way. Next episode Andy wants Opie to stop fighting with his friend, so he offers them each a shiny nickel if they play together without fighting. We see the coins but not close enough to identify.

 

I post this one the first post. LOL.
Check it out.

 

Cool clip. Never saw that one and I thought I saw them all. Now I'm hungry for a calzone.

 

I know, I just thought it was funny that back to back episodes tonight featured coins. One thing I noticed tonight was that when Barney and Andy were comparing their coins, they both indicate that the buffalo is facing to the right. If that was true, they would actually be rare! Jump to about 3:05 (I thought I copied a link to that spot but I guess it doesn't post properly).

 

Well it must be coin rerun night on MeTV - the Perry Mason episode The Case of the Wooden Nickels is on right now. Coins galore! The plot centers around an 1861 Confederate half dollar.

 

Nice! I like the Continental Currency coin the best!!

 

My favorite parts of the Perry Mason episode are when Paul buys smokes with the Confederate half and the Coin expert hands Perry a 1913 nickel with his thumb on the face of the coin. James. Too funny.

 

I noticed that too. Pretty much every scene with a coin they're putting their fat fingers all over it.

 

My Man Godfrey. Irene puts some money in Godfreys coat pocket and it falls to the ground, There was a paper note and two coins, not sure what they were but looked to be roughly half dollar size.

 

Coins on Television - Another Perry Mason episode - The Grinning Gorilla

This episode is titled "The Case of the Grinning Gorilla" and was first broadcast on April 29, 1965.

This time the coins are ordinary United States coins but the the guest star is not ordinary.

Attorney Perry Mason and his assistants Della Street and Paul Drake find themselves at the mansion of an eccentric millionaire who keeps monkeys, chimpanzees, and a gorilla (played by actor and stuntman Janos Prohaska).

At one point Perry and a former employee, Mrs. Kempton, encounter the gorilla.


Mrs. Kempton and Perry Mason

Mrs. Kempton tells Perry to put some coins in front of the gorilla for the animal to play with.


The Gorilla examines his coins


A close-up of the coins shows the US coin denominations.

The coins appear to be (from the top left):
A Roosevelt dime, a Roosevelt dime, a Lincoln cent, a foreign coin, a Jefferson nickel, a Washington quarter.

 

Coins on Television: Perry Mason


Perry Mason - The Case of the Sad Sicilian (1965)

 

The show the Unit has a key date morgan in it, but they call the mint mark a counterstamp or something ridiculous. It is hands down the worst TV show I have ever seen for that, among other better reasons.

 

The 1981 film "Chariots of Fire" shows some British large pennies of King Edward VII and King George V.


Chariots of Fire pennies

In the early 1920's British runner Harold Abrahams asks his coach Sam Mussabini what he is doing wrong.

The coach shows him the five pennies and tells him:
"Do you know why you lost? Because you're overstriding, just a couple of inches. These coins represent the strides in your 100 meters. Have you got another two coins, Mr. Abrahams? Well, maybe we can find them."

 

They seem rather heavily worn for coins that would be from 0 to 22 years old.

 

Another Andy Griffith episode with a coin was on MeTV the other night, where Buddy Epsen plays a drifter with his own moral code. He borrows a quarter from Andy to do a coin trick (pulling it from Opie's ear) and then tries to walk off with it. We never get a closeup of the coin though, and I can't find a clip.

 

As seen on TV: 'Rockford Files' episode shot in real California coin store

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This is the exterior of American Coin Co., a real store that was used as a shooting location in the 1976 episode of The Rockford The Rockford Files, Sept. 24, 1976

An unseen 1838-O Seated Liberty half dollar played a key part in The Rockford Files show The Fourth Man (season 3, episode 2). Interestingly, much of the show was shot in a real coin store - American Coin Co., 12164 N. Ventra Blvd., Studio City, Calif.

In the story, coin dealer Timson Farrell, played by actor John McMartin, is a hit man who uses his coin shop as a cover for his life of crime. His latest job is to eliminate four gangsters who were going to appear before a U.S. Senate subcommittee investigating organized crime.

I always really liked The Rockford files but particularly like this one as a coin collector.

 

I recall a film called Zotz from the late 50s early 60s in which there was an ancient coin which gave magical powers to the person who held it. The key was to say/yell the word Zotz and the coin would take of your problem. I remember one scene where the hero has fallen off of a building and he shouts Zotz and everything around him goes to slow motion and he gently falls unharmed to the ground.

 

Mission Impossible episode Chico. About a coin and stamp collector who was a drug king pin in South America. Chico was a dog who was suppose to steal a stamp with a micro dot on it.

Is it just me or are coin collectors/dealers in some of these movies usually depicted as seedy characters?