AV 100 Francs 1862-BB (Strasbourg Mint) Louis Napoleon was elected President in 1848 after Louis Philippe was deposed. In 1852 he made himself Empereur of France. He tried to take over Mexico in 1864, that plan failed. In 1870 he heard of rumblings that Prussia wanted to have German unification, so he declared war of Prussia and invaded Germany/ that also backfired. His Army under McMahon was wiped out at Sedan. He then abdicated....
Hungary AV Dukat 1633 K-B Kremnitz Mint Emperor Ferdinand II 1619-37 HRE Ferdinand was elected Holy Roman Emperor in 1619/ following death of Matthias II. In 1618, war broke out between the Catholics and Protestants in Central Europe. Danish/ Swedish armies invaded territories under the Catholic Holy Roman Empire. Ferdinand II/ Bavaria/ Catholic German States vs Sweden/ Denmark/ Sachsen/ England. By 1633 the Imperial armies where pushing back the Protestant armies. It looked like the War would end. However, Catholic France under Cardinal Richelieu joined the enemy. Now, it became a stalement. Spain would join on the Catholic side The bloody war would finally end in 1648.
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, 30 November 1874-24 January 1965. He was always a sort of hero to me, perhaps because we share the same birthday. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston_Churchill
Papal States/ Bologna AV Pope Clemente VII 1523-34 He was a member of the De Medici Family. In 1523 he was elected Pope. This was just 4 years after Martin Luther "Wittenberg" affair. Plus, the Church was bankrupt at this point in time. Add to this the schism brought on by Henry VIII of England breaking away from the RC Church and setting up his own/ Anglican Church. To complicate things more/ France and Spain where fighting Wars in Italy for supremacy. In 1526 HRE Karl V of Germany utterly wiped out Francois II French army at Pavia. Karl was not happy with Clemente papacy, for he threw his support to the French King/ allowing free passage of Francois II armies thru Papal territory. Thus, in 1527 Karl V German/ Spanish forces marched to Rome and sacked it. Clemente escaped death, but was captured and thrown in jail by the Emperor. Eventually, Karl released him after Clemente promised to behave. He died in 1534.
Well, after 3 years of silence, in a little over 24 hours the number of posts in this thread has more than doubled. I see that as being a very good thing
I agree! Nothing more fun then coins and history. AV Dukat ND Danzig John III Sobieski In 1683, War broke out between the HRE and the Ottoman Empire. Memet IV sent his Grand Vizier Mustapha Pasha to invade the Holy Roman Empire and take Vienna. Pope Innocent XI alarmed asked for help from Polands King John III Sobieski. In July the 140,000 man Ottoman army began its seige of Vienna. HRE Leopold fled to Linz. Luckily for Leopold, the Polish army arrived later to harass the Turks. Eventually, more help arrived from German States and the Turks had to abandon the siege. Losses where about 12-20K casualties for both sides. This would be the last great invasion by Turkish Empire on Christian Europe.
This one got buried in a clay pot with a whole bunch of others. Great Britain (England): silver groat of Henry VI, first reign, Calais mint, ca. 1422-1461, from the Reigate Hoard found in Surrey https://www.britnumsoc.org/publications/Digital BNJ/pdfs/1978_BNJ_48_10.pdf
This one had a tale to tell, as well. I dug it while a hurricane was blowing in. It was an exciting find (and day). Transcript of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution article from February 25, 1999: SPANISH COIN GIVES CLUE TO STATE'S PAST St. Simons Island-- Robertson Shinnick has found a tiny piece of Georgia's past-- lost for more than 300 years. Searching the ground on this resort isle with a metal detector last fall, the 33-year-old coin collector dug a foot into the black soil and found an odd-shaped coin. "I had in my hand a small, squarish piece of copper with a strange design on it," Shinnick said. "I knew the Spanish colonial mints struck millions of silver coins, but this was obviously copper. "It was a mystery until I identified the design as the monogram of Philip IV of Spain, who reigned from 1621 to 1665." Turns out the four-maraved coin, a low-value sort of penny of its era, had been hand-forged in Spain about 1658. It isn't particularly dear to collectors-- it's worth about $65-- but it's valuable to Georgia historians. John Worth, director of programs for the Calhoun-based Coosawattee Foundation and one of the top experts on 17th century Spanish missions along the Georgia coast, calls the coin "quite a find." He says Shinnick's coin gives a clue about the long-lost mission of Santo Domingo de Asajo, built in 1595 to convert Native Americans to Christianity. It was destroyed by English-backed slave traders in 1661, rebuilt a year later, then burned by British pirates in 1684. "There were about 30 men, women and children, and friars, but no soldiers. A small garrison of soldiers was located on nearby St. Catherine's Island," Worth says. Other traces of the early Spanish period, such as olive jars and pottery shards, have been found on St. Simons, says Worth, who's done extensive studies on the island. But coins such as the one Shinnick found are rare along the Georgia coast. Shinnick's may be the first found on St. Simons. "Its significance is in our common state heritage," Worth says. "It is a bit of actual, concrete evidence of the Spanish missions, right here in Georgia." Shinnick, a bellman at the King and Prince Resort, found the coin on private land at Hampton Point, where million-dollar mansions are being built. One side of the time-blackened coin shows the royal monogram of Philip IV and a Roman numeral for the denomination. The other shows the letters "RX" _ for "rex," or "king," according to Worth. "Because the friars couldn't touch coins, my best guess is it was dropped by a passing soldier or an Indian," says Worth, whose Coosawattee Foundation aims to protect former Native American sites in the Southeast. "It's just a good history lesson from an era that's been lost."
They found same Spanish coin in swamp/ Oak Island. Usually, when we think of Spanish coins= AV 8 Escudos
No that's when you think of Spanish coins. Most of the rest of us think of silver pieces of eight or little half-reales or stuff mortal people can afford. I can't even afford the melt value of the gold in the very worst 8-escudo coin out there.
AV Poltina (1/2 Rouble) 1777 St. Petersburg Mint Katharina II Czarina of Russia Katharina was a Princess from Anhalt-Zerbst. There was an arranged marriage to future Peter III/ son of Empress Elizabeth. The Empress had two problems, she hated Friedrich II Der Grosse of Preussen/ she ate way to much for sitting on her duff most of the time. On her death, Peter III became Czar. At this time 1760, the Russian armies where in Berlin/ French/ Austrians armies ready to wipe out Prussia. However, wisely Peter admired Friedrich and made peace/ leaving the Prussians able to deal with the French/ Austrians. Back to Moscow, Katharina found Peter repugnant/ ulgy and incompetent, so had her lover murder him. This made her sole ruler. Over her long reign she dealt with the "Peasants Revolt" Tartar pirates on the Black Sea/ made Imperial Russia great again.
Speaking of half-reales, here's another Spanish piece I dug here. Mexico (Spanish Colonial): silver half-real, Mexico City mint, 1787-FM. I found this little beauty on St. Simons Island, Georgia, while metal detecting near the site of General James Oglethorpe's long-vanished villa that he had occupied during the founding of Frederica town in the 1730s. (Oglethorpe was the founder of Georgia.) This coin was lost later, obviously, after he went back to England, but there was an old plantation on the same site in the later 1700s and early 1800s. I had found a holed 1776 half-real on the same site the night before, just a few feet from where I dug this one. Exciting stuff!