I think this coin type was added on one of the other 'horse' threads. The Albanian coins had a gold version of a horse too and this is my NEWP with a little back story I posted on one of the other coin boards: Perhaps most people would not be so excited about such a baggy piece of gold. In this case I love it. The backstory... Ahmet Zogu rose to prominence in newly independent Albania, which emerged after years under the Ottoman Empire. He became president and subsequently declared King. Progressive in some areas, yet known to be ruthless. He recognized the need for outside support to drag his rural country into the ranks of modern nations and looked to Europe as a model. Italy became the prime source of support and as WWII loomed Italy tried to exert control. King Zog was not pleased and did not want to agree that the new independence be lost. In 1938 he married (an American/Hungarian countess who happened to be Roman Catholic, while Zog was Muslim). The next year Italy had enough and invaded, just a day or so after the Queen had given birth. Zog had planned ahead and was able to send the Queen, newborn infant, and household away by car. He followed and carried the majority of the gold in the treasury with him. IIRC it was an 18-ish hour journey over poor mountain roads in some places. I can only imagine how horrible a journey it was for the newly delivered Queen and newborn, but every time I look at baggy Albanian gold I imagine I am seeing evidence of the hasty escape. Not that I mind the nice examples, but the large, bagged examples do pique my imagination. So, my latest NEWP (in an MS-62 slab)
Cool horseman. The vytis from the Lithuanian CoA can also be found on the country's current coins ... Christian
Yes, I am very jealous of you for this one - and a 1927 to boot (I have a little pile of 1927-dated world coins in honor of my grandmother's birth year - the person who started me into coins when I was a child.)
Who= @AncientJoe (if the quality of the coin wasn't clue enough, there was that Photoshop template.) What= a Kyrene stater When= a very long time ago Where= Ancient Greek North Africa; more recently, The Colosseo Collection. How much= if you need to ask, then never mind. These things cost beyond the reach of mere mortals like yours truly. These are the sort of coins the Olympian gods collected.