!!The Golden Coin Hunt!!

*** I CAN'T BELIEVE IT, NOT AGAIN! ***

Thanks for the contest.

 

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Haha....I knew there was a board, I just couldn't find it....and I don't have much patience=p

 

LMAO too funny!

 

Here is mine, I worked on it the whole day!!! I was below the max "I" useage Dak, I hope I could use "coinage" Well here it is...


Not many people have ever had the chance to hold a Roman coin. Even fewer people know the story of such a neat lump of metal and how these coins were made. Even though Roman coins may seem crude, the assembly of the coins was a complex and elaborate ordeal.
The roots of the need for coins began, unusually, from cows. Before the exchange of coins, cattle often completed trade, your wealth was even measured by the number of cows you had. But the growth of the known world and the economy, made trade of cows hard, thus coins were born. Roman coinage started at 400 B.C. upon the advent of coinage, aes rude. These cast "coins" were hardly coins at all, much less lumps of bronze. About 200 years after aes rude, aes signatum emerged. Aes signatum was the antonym of last to carry a photo, but these, agnate the last, were crude and not really coins. When 289 B.C. came around, real coins started to be produced. Aes grave was the antonym of last to be round and to have a set value. Aes rude and singnatum's value was set on the gross of lone coins. These would stay popular for only about 9 years before Rome would adopt the money of the Greeks, the drachm. The drachm allowed the Romans to trade throughout much of the world, as the drachm was broadly acknowledged. Once more when 211 B.C. came around Roman coins would change, to the coinage that would become one of the Roman state, the antonym of last denarius was struck. The au denarius would stay the standard of Rome for the whole of the Roman state.
Before 23 B.C., the value of a denarius and other fellow values had not a set value. Because the value of coins (au and ag) was based on the value of the valuable metal, the coins value could change. Bronze coins, on the other hand, were not based on metal value; the value was much more than that of the metal.
Around 23 B.C. Augustus set the values on stone. The largest valued coin, the Au aureus, was the same as 25 of the base value above. A 1/4 value, 1/8 value, and 1/64 value made up the other values (there are other odd ones). All of these were made of bronze. The 1/64 value, the quadran, was such a small value that the emperor would rarely appear upon the quadran.
Before a coin could be made, a coin needs an approval. The emperor or the senate made a coin when deemed necessary. The emperor would often even approve the art on the coin. Seldom, towns would be allowed to make coins, but naturally only ones of lower value.
Once a coin has been deemed necessary, metal for the coins must be gotten. Most metal would have been dug up, but also surface layers of metals were used. The Romans got Au and Ag from Gaul, the Neareast and lots of other places that have a dangerous letter. Cu was found around Cyprus. Cu and Sn were used to make a bronze alloy. As well to raw metal, other country's coin reserves used for barter with other places would more often than rarely be melted down for Roman coin metal.
For a long age, coinage of Au and Ag was nearly pure, 95% valuable metal and up. The 5% of other metals were lead, used to make the stamp less hard, and Cu, used to make coins less wearable. The base metal content created a small amount of money that helped the expenses along. When there was an age of monetary problems a phenomenon called debasement would occur. The content of Au and Ag could be reduced, only 80% valuable metal was common. By late the late Roman era, many coins were only plated Au, the valuable metal value became almost zero. Roman fake coin makers made plated Au coins, these had a core of copper. Later the government started the same process to Roman coinage.
The process that Roman coin shops used stayed all the way to the 17th century. The use of slaves to make coins stayed all the way to antebellum U.S.A.. The antonym of last step was to smelt the ore and make pure to the proper degree. The metal was then cast as a blank of the correct gross for that value. For lesser-valued bronze coin where gross was not exact, the blanks would be cast several at once or cut from a rod or sheet of metal. The actual process involved two punches made of hardened bronze. The upper punch was a rod, had the reverse design, and the lower punch, had the obverse, and was set on a metal bock. The prepared blank was then often heated to make the blank softer and then placed on the lower punch and struck. Several people helped when a coin was made, one to place the coin, one to punch the coin, one to hold the punch, and one to take the coin off the punch. Modern scholars have shown that smaller shops could of had one person handle the process.
The art placed on Roman coins, often approved by the emperor, was broad. But most often a photo of the ruler was on the obverse and a god or horses engaged the reverse. Coins could also show the last ruler. Often a coin could show an emperor and the new spouse. The Romans would also commonly use coins for propaganda.
And at the end, the process and development of Roman coinage, antonym of end at the aes rude around the 5th century B.C. to the currency reform around the 5th century A.D., made coins that had advanced roots and procedures, not too far from today's. They made tons of coins, scammed the people, celebrated rulers and spouses, and brought money to the heart of the Roman world, all through such a small stamped lump of metal.

 

*** I CAN'T BELIEVE IT, NOT AGAIN! ***


I have an essay and PIZZA waiting for me..lmao

 

Oh Twiggs, don't tease me... I'm hungry!!

 

Here's my essay. 1060 word and NO 'I's...boy that was brutal. Tried hard for it to make sense using stand-in words..lol
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The Parent Trap

We, as parents, are trapped, we are forced to become actors and actresses. We make up creatures that we thrust upon our sons and daughters for events as they grow from a baby to a young adult. Just a thought, but maybe parents should all get together and be on the same page when such matters come to the forefront. For example, does the Easter Bunny leave baskets on your doorstep, or near the couch? Does Santa and the elves wrap the presents, or leave them open for all eyes to see? Are there really elves that do the housework when everyone sleeps? Parents and households vary when these events happen and that’s ok. As our small ones grow, they start to speak to other small ones about such matters, and whether on the bus or at the playground, these tales are brought back to us, the parents
My son has come home only to seek me out and ask me about these unusual characters he knows as the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus and so on. The one gabbed about the most would have to be the Tooth Lady.
Do you remember when the sun rose you would hunt for those sparkly quarters? These days, our wee ones expect more. The puffy headrests have now become ATM's and we are most assuredly to blame.
My son would come home from school only to vent about classmates who had located ten dollars under these puffy headrests. Holy root canal! Do the math yourselves! Each wee one should loose 20 teeth over the course of a few years. That’s a lot of money! And just what does the Tooth Lady do after she gets all those teeth collected? Have you thought about that one? One of my co-workers told her small ones the Tooth Lady uses the teeth to construct a tooth castle. For me, the tale was funny. For my son, each of these tales have led to many, many gab fests - and one very worn out mom.
The loss of teeth now grows old. Have you ever thought and wondered to yourself how those small teeth seem to always fall out by twos’?
A couple of months ago my son lost one at breakfast and before he went to bed, he had lost another. He then tucked those small teeth under the head puffy and then fell fast asleep. To dream of money and toys, no doubt! Exhausted from a very long day, my weary head longed for some rest and completely forgotten, was the need to become an actress and play the part of the Tooth Lady. Awakened, my son stood before me. Groggy, and a tad angry, he blurted out, "The Tooth Lady forgot to come and take my teeth and leave me my money,"
Oh no! Was my only thought, my heart sank. Have to make up a good cover story and now! “Well you see son, the Tooth Lady can get overworked and when she’s exhausted, she just can't make her way to every house Try once more,” My son turned and walked out of my room, leery but totally suckered by my story.
The rest of that day was crazy. Darkness soon fell and completely exhausted…can you see where we are headed?
My son hadn’t talked about the Tooth Lady that eve. He went to bed, and as for me, yep, sound asleep on the couch. The next day, the teeth were the same spot my son had put them.
Now he was really angry. He checked under the puffy, and as for me, just happened to turn 4 shades of red. “Need to get some money under there and just tell the boy he had overlooked the cash spot” No such luck. He carefully tore the whole bed apart, then, upset he sat down to pout. “Son, we’ll worry about the money later. The Tooth Lady wouldn’t cheat you. Now please get ready for school or you’ll be late”
Ashamed of myself, the bathroom was my only retreat. The parent trap had caught me once and for all. Just then, my son slammed the tooth bag down on the counter near me.
“There’s no such person as the Tooth Lady. Are you gonna hand me the money or what?” Now, no doubt the whole event was made worse by my loud laugh after that statement.
“Don’t speak to me that way. Get ready for school and you’ll get your money”
Now what, my wallets empty, never made the bank and must hurry. Just then, a thought entered my head. My closet, at the back of the top shelf, a small box held the answer to my problem.
“Please be there, please, please be there” Yes, they were! Just then my son walked up to me. “Where’s the money?” he softly spoke.
“Close your eyes and open your hand”
“OK”
“Now open them”
He glared down, then at me, then down. “What are these?”
“Those are two old Kennedy half-dollars”
“Cool, can buy some cars”
“No, they are for you to save, not to spend on cars. When you get older they could be worth a lot of money”
He glanced down once more. He wasn’t happy, wasn’t hard to tell that.
“Can’t buy any toys, how about a game?” he muttered
“Nope, sorry. Now put them away”
The whole day went by slowly. Only thoughts were of how screwed up the whole Tooth Lady, puffy game had become. Was much better when we used the glass of water rouse. Just a clear glass of water and the tooth. When the boy sleeps, remove the tooth, put money, some food colour and of course sparkles for Tooth Lady dust that ends up there because she had to doggy-paddle down to get the tooth. Perfect and much better than the great tooth hunt.
Suddenly the front door opened and there was my son. He was happy and told me how he told all the class about the wonderful treasure the Tooth Lady had left. They were all jealous and wanted Kennedy half-dollars too. My son told them she hadn’t any more and that he had the only ones. He then gave me a huge hug.
The Tooth Lady job may be crappy but the pay more than makes up for the headaches.

 

HOLY COW!!! We have some serious contenders here! WELL DONE! I think these are going to be a tuff show to follow... Best of luck to ya'll as you work through the challenge!

 

my essay is going to be a rant about hoiw my coin life is no tperfect. Tasts the only way my can come up with a way to get some points How is that for practice?

 

Oh boy, been working on this since yesterday morning, I'm finally finished!
It is now exactly 1,032 words not including the title.

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...The War Between the States...
What was lost and what was gained


85 years of accord threatened
The year 1860: The U.S.A. had been a country for 85 years. Through out those 85 years the US of A had become renown as a frugal and honest country—and was very much reflected by the way the government was run. Nary a speck of chattel was ever wasted, and as the vote of 1860 approached, the total US debt was well under $100,000,000. To prove the stableness of the US government, we compensated for our debts strangely—gold coins. As a result, before the start of the War between the states, no one ever doubted the pledges of the US of A. Our word was our bond, and our bonds were compensated promptly: through gold.


The USA chooses a new leader—no apparent regard for consequences
As the vote of 1860 approached, everyone knew there would be trouble when they voted for Abraham Lincoln, but there was no apparent regard for consequences: as a whole, the north voted for Honest Abe. Even before he was elected, many of the southern states warned the north that they would secede from the US—and the threat was performed when he won. War clouds had gathered. Through seasons of trouble throughout the past, one object—one metal—has always stayed valuable—gold. Much to the government’s concern, these coins quickly evaporated from markets and banks, nearly all of them became entombed under back yards or stuffed under mattresses.


A grave error by the north
As the war between the states got underway, our leader was not too concerned—no one expected the war to last very long. The north could out-produce the south, and they had nearly 3x as many men capable for warfare. Vast hordes of men could be mustered to pummel the south.
But the southerners were a strong and proud lot—they not only held on, but early on, the northerners were forced to concede the fact that they may actually be defeated. The fact that there was to be a long and bloody war began to be found out as several great battles were lost back to back.

The many early southern conquests shocked the Federal Government, and they soon began deployment of more men and more guns and cannons. As a result of these expenses, at least the prospect of a defeat was held at bay.

But all these men and cannons extracted a hefty fee from the north—a fee far too lofty to be compensated for through gold. The Federal Government suspended payment of gold, and began the release of paper money—"greenbacks"—to settle the huge debts. They vowed that the use of paper money would be a temporary measure, that after the war, the greenbacks could be redeemed for gold.

However, as the war progressed, the costs escalated, and the Federal debt soared. Gold coins stayed concealed—those who held on to them feared that they would be commandeered by the government—and because of the acute coin shortage that soon followed, the Federal Government was forced to create paper money smaller than a dollar to replace the coins that were stashed away.

Try to foresee what would happen today if all of our coins suddenly evaporated and were replaced by paper money—a truly scary thought! It was no different for our predecessors—eventually, nearly everyone grew to hate paper money.


At last! One problem resolved!
Because of all the greenbacks out there, eventually there would have been major problems for the Federal Government to cough up enough gold coins to completely redeem them—but the government eventually found a half-baked response. As of then, all coins made before 1864 that were released by the Federal Government were made out of almost as much metal value as they were worth—even the copper Large Cents had nearly a penny's worth of copper. The masses would not have accepted coins unless the metal value nearly equaled the face value.

However, in 1864, the government struck a new penny out of a bronze alloy. These new cents cost a lot less than a cent to make—and soon after they were released, the government became concerned that they hadn't been and wouldn't be accepted. After the early concern about the cheaper alloy, the people found the new bronze cents far preferable to paper money—and because the new coins weren't really worth a penny they were not hoarded. And, to some degree, the new bronze cents began to gradually ease the coin shortage.


God we Trust
Even though the new cents were accepted, the coin shortage went on. To ease the shortage further, the government resolved that they would produce a new coin—a two cent coin—out of the same bronze alloy they used for the penny. The much larger two cent coin was made by James Longacre and featured a wreath on the reverse, where the "2 CENTS" was placed. On the obverse he placed a buckler, and on a flag above the buckler he engraved a motto taken from the Star Spangled Banner—In God We Trust.

The two cent coin was quickly accepted by the people. The people loved the coin, and they also loved the motto. Congress was pressured by the people to pass a law that the motto would be placed on all future coins—where there was space. But not long after, a law was passed that space must be made for the motto on all US coins.
You may yet observe that same motto on your coins. The two cent coin of 1864 was the 1st US coin to carry the now famous motto, "In God we Trust".

The two cent was produced up to 1873, when gold coins began to turn up once more. Unfortunately, after the gold coins were put back to use, the two cent coin became less and less necessary. By the end of the 19th century there were pretty much none left. But today, we can remember the person and the coin that changed nearly every US coin thereafter. James Longacre and the two cent.

Let's hear a round of applause for James Longacre and the two cent!

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Thanks for reading and good luck to all essay makers!

 

Just wanted clarification...the four finalists cannot vote, correct? Just making sure .

 

whose to stop them.. besides, each would certainly vote for themselves, so in the end, they would cancel each other out

 

Good essays people. djcoins- well reshearched twiggs- well written, and I guess it met the coin requirment

 

Your essay and twigs' essay are both good! :thumb: Good luck to all.

 

Exactly... Just as in a political election, the candidates get to vote, and sure they get to vote here!

Thanks for the chance to clarify! -DAK

 

uhhh Dak....just a thought. If we are the ones voting...we are certain to vote for ourselves...are we not?
So it will be a tie and we will all win?

lmao

 

he will pick the top 4, and then we will all vote for the winner from the top 4

 

Yeah it did. I wanted to write more but it was 11:30pm when I got to that point and I had to be up for work at 4:30am..and I still hadn't eaten dinner..lol

The rest of it would have been how those 2 coins got my son into collecting his own..blah blah blah...you know the rest..lol

 

4:30!!!

 

wow nice essays!!! I broke my head trying to write 300 words in my essay... and people have managed to get over 1000... i feel for you folks