Yesterday I showed an 1918 50 Centime from France in a "post your latest Foreign coin" post.The coin showed the famous sower image. I provided a tidbit of history which occurred on 9/26/1918 to add some interest. I collect world coins and I enjoy studying the history of the coins and the countries they come from. That got me thinking about a topic which might be fun and educational. Each day post a coin from any country and try and find some interesting bit of history from that country during the year the coin was minted.The only rule is that it be a regular circulation coin, preferably circulated. I'll start with a coin from Austria. a 1957 Schilling which also shows a sower, only this time a male. On 05/05/1957 Austria held their Presidential elections. Adolf Scharf, representing the Social Democratic Party, defeated Wolfgang Denk, representing the Austrian People's Party-Freedom Party of Austria, by a margin of 51.1% to 48.9%. Voter turnout was 97.2%! Perhaps this might be an omen that our own Social Democratic Party might win by a small margin. We can only hope for a 97.2% turnout. So find a coin, Google, and share some World History.
The Veld Pond Nice post. I also love the history behind foreign coins. The Second Anglo-Boer War broke out in October 1899 and in June 1900 the British under Lord Roberts occupied Pretoria, the capital of the South African Republic. When Roberts entry into Pretoria was imminent, the Boer Government left, taking with them any precious metals at the Pretoria Mint. Amongst the metals were a number of pond blanks that were ready for striking. These were put into circulation and became known as kaal ponde [naked pounds].The Government set up an emergency mint at Pilgrim's Rest where a total of 986 Veld Ponde were struck and put into circulation. These coins, struck from hand-made dies, had the South African Republic monogram Z.A.R and the date (1902) on the obverse and the text EEN POND on the reverse.
The Vredefort Dome Vredefort crater is the largest verified impact crater on Earth. It is located in the Free State Province of South Africa and named after the town of Vredefort, which is situated near its centre. The site is also known as the Vredefort Dome or Vredefort impact structure. In 2005, the Vredefort Dome was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites for its geologic interest.The asteroid that hit Vredefort is estimated to have been one of the largest ever to strike Earth (at least since the Hadean eon some four billion years ago). The asteroid is thought to have been approximately 5–10 km (3.1–6.2 mi) in diameter. The bolide that created the Sudbury Basin could have been even larger.The crater has a diameter of roughly 250–300 km (160–190 mi), larger than the 200 km (120 mi) Sudbury Basin and the 170 km (110 mi) Chicxulub Crater. This makes Vredefort the largest known impact structure on Earth. If the Wilkes Land Crater in Antarctica is an impact crater, then it is the largest known at 500 km (310 mi) in diameter.The Vredefort Crater's age is estimated to be 2.023 billion years (± 4 million years), which places it in the Paleoproterozoic era. It is the second-oldest known crater on Earth, a little less than 300 million years younger than the Suavjärvi Crater in Russia. In comparison, it is about 10% older than the Sudbury Basin impact (at 1.849 billion years).The dome in the center of the crater was originally thought to have been formed by a volcanic explosion, but in the mid-1990s, evidence revealed it was the site of a huge bolide impact, as telltale shatter cones were discovered in the bed of the nearby Vaal River.The crater site is one of the few multiple-ringed impact craters on Earth, although they are more common elsewhere in the Solar System. Perhaps the best-known example is Valhalla Crater on Jupiter's moon Callisto, although Earth's Moon has a number, as well. Geological processes, such as erosion and plate tectonics, have destroyed most multiple-ring craters on Earth.The nearby Bushveld Igneous Complex (BIC) and Witwatersrand Basin were created during this same period, leading to speculation that the Vredefort bolide's mass and kinetics were of sufficient magnitude to induce regional volcanism. The BIC is the location of most of the world's known reserves of platinum group metals, while the Witwatersrand basin holds most of the known reserves of gold.
King Edward VII died on 5/6/1910 and King George V ascended the throne. In 1911, George V visited India and named Delhi as the new capital of India. He then went on a hunting trip to Nepal where he bagged 21 tigers, 8 Rhinos, and a bear while riding on elephants.The 1910 Penny is the last year of King Edward VII and the 1911 is the first year of George V. For over 300 years the tradition on Great Britain's coins dictated that the sovereign's head faced in the opposite direction of it's predecessor. After King George V died in 1936, he was followed by his son Edward VIII. Edward VIII disliked the custom and dictated that his profile face left, since he felt it had a better profile. Coinage was designed, but never issued since Edward VIII abdicated the throne, after less than 1 year, so he could marry Wallis Simpson. The affair began while Mrs. Simpson was still married to Ernest Simpson, a British shipping executive. Edward decided to give up the throne rather than give up Simpson. At least 4 complete Proof sets of Edward VIII coins are known to exist. Three are in the collection of the Royal Mint and the 4th was sold in a private transaction in 2010 for $2.1 Million.British West Africa, British West Africa, Fiji, and New Guinea issued coins with King Edward VII name but no profile on the coins. Edward VIII was followed by George VI, who also has a left profile, which would be correct since Edward VIII should have been a right profile.I don't have a copy of the George VI Penny so I show the Half Cent.
The Half Penny is actually smaller, 25.5mm compared to 30.8mm for the Pennys. I just made it the same size of the Pennys to illustrate King George VI with the other monarchs.
1916 What a graet idea starting a thread where you can post a certain coin, reflecting about what happened in the world when it was struck. When I saw the ZAR - Veld Pond I immediatly felt like posting an image of the other african gold - emergency - issues; the German East Africa - 15 Rupee - coin, which was struck in the Railway Work- Shop at Tabora ( T ) in 1916 under adventerous circumstances. The story of the " Tabora Sovereign " could be worth being told in a thread of its own, but the year of 1916 did not only see drama and action on the black continent. WW I was still lasting on in Europe as well. In the shaddow of this war the Easter Rising in Ireland took place. This attempt to gain home rule or independence culminated in the battle of the Dublin General Post Office, a massiv building in the classical style leading your thoughts to ancient Greece and heroes of long gone days. Dublin GPO was shelled and most of the survievers where shot as vigilants. Today pictures of those dramatic days can be watched in the restored building, that besides of being a national monument still serves its purpose as a mail office. So, in order not to stretch the rules for this thread , I post another coin of 1916 ; the regular currency - sovereign, minted in London that year. This coin could have been used in Dublin during the Easter - rising would it not have been for that is was never released for circulation. In 1916 England stopped redeeming banknotes into goldcoins. The London sovereign of that year, along with the issue of 1917 and 1925 finally went to the US as payment for goods received during the war. There, almost all coins where melted down. The 1917 - sovereign today is only known in about 10 or 20 specimens , the 1916 is scarce, but not too difficult to get hold of, while the 1925 - issue was reproduced between 1949 - 51.
1813 a very interesting year. Europe wages war on France and Napoleon. Lord Byron published "The Bride of Abydos." Oliver Hazard perry defeats a British fleet in the "Battle of Lake Erie." The last striking of English Guinea coins. Jane Austin published "Pride and Prejudice." The German medal "Iron Cross" is founded.
Queen Juliana was the Matriarch of the Netherlands from 1948 til 1980. She was followed by Beatrix after her death at the age of 94. In April of 1952 Juliana visited the United States. The photo shows Juliana greeting Harry and Bess Truman. On today's date in 1952, I was born. Now that is a historical event for me.:hail:. Say "Happy Birthday, Mike" I have purchased both the mint and proof sets for the birth years of both of children and both of my grand-kids. I don't think I paid more than $10 for any of them. The mint set for 1952 sells for $825 and the proof $250. Not fair! I guess I will have to buy the coins separately and create my own set. Or I could start with this superb gem of a 1952 Franklin. I hope everyone is having as great a day as I am. 60 years young and still ticking.
1702 Vigo British Shilling In October 1702 the British Navy in association with the Dutch attacked a Spanish Silver treasure fleet, defended by the French, in the Bay of Vigo. It was a huge success for the allies and the entire Spanish and French force was either captured or sunk. Popular tradition is that the silver coinage minted in Britain in 1702 and 1703 with Vigo below the bust of Queen Anne was made from the captured Silver, but contemporary records by Sir Isaac Newton (who was Master of the Mint at the time) suggest that insufficient Silver was actually handed in to make this viable, so it is more likely the Vigo name was added in celebration only. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vigo_Bay for a full history. Still a lovely story!
Anastasio "Tacho" Somoza Garcia was elected as President of Nicaragua in the fall of 1936. He won by a margin of 107,201 votes to 100. Perhaps some voter fraud. At one time he was the largest land owner in Nicaragua.He ran the country more as a dictator until he was assassinated by Rigoberto Lopez Perez in 1956. 1936 10 Centavos. Minted from 1912-1936 .800 Silver. .0643 oz. ASW, 2.5g. Mintage 250,000 VF The obverse features Fracisco Hernandez de Cordoba, the founder of Nicaragua.Reverse show radiant sun over hills.
With a mintage of 19,000,000 this Berlin 10 pfennig of 1936 is not a rare date . But the grade is nice, those coins appear usually entirely worn. Fortunatly also the better preserved specimens can be obtained for a small amount. But the primary reason why I wanted to incorporate this “ groschen “ into my collection is because of the year the mintage took place. 1936 was the year when Germany hosted the Olympic games. The wintergames where held at Garmisch – Partenkirchen “ down south “, but the summer games took place in Berlin between the 1 and the 16[SUP]th[/SUP] of august. At the time Germany was awarded the games the republic of Weimar still existed. When in 1933 Hitler gained power there were serious concerns whether or not the Olympic spirit could bloom freely under a oppressive regime. Finally 3961 athlets participated. The star of the games was US- American sprinter Jesse Owens who won 4 goldmedales. When Owens won over german Lutz Long, Long was the first to congratulate hin with his victory. Owens commented the event later as : “It took a lot of courage for him to befriend me in front of Hitler. You can melt down all the medals and cups I have and they wouldn't be a plating on the 24-karat friendship I felt for Luz Long at that moment. Hitler must have gone crazy watching us embrace. The sad part of the story is I never saw Long again. He was killed in World War II.” 1936 was also the final year of the Weimar coinage. When the nazis came into offfice they first reformed the larger denominations. The 1 mark piece now was minted of nickel, the size of the 2 mark and the 5 mark were reduced. The 3 – mark and the 4 pfennig ceased. Eager nazis demanded the 5 and 10 pfennig wich had been produced since the currency reform of 1923 to be reformed as well, as those coins were said to show “ ungerman “ symbols. The anti clockwise direction of the oak leafs on the obverse was said to refer to the hebraic letters, wich are written from the right to the left. On the reverse the those true protectords of pure german spirite ment to spot a masonic symbol in the cross – over design of the straws. Those complaints although where not taken into consoideration. It was pointed out that the artist who designed the standard coins of 1923 only had 24 hours to do the job- and no artist could possibly hide so many symbols in a design in such a short time. In late 1936 the coining of the last remaining Weimar – coins was stopped and the swastika coins saw the day of light. The latter are sometimes offered as “ nazi gold “ today, but that is not true. One may say the last gold issued in Germany before the war demolished the country was the olympic gold in the summer of 36.
