It's my birthday!!! - Post a coin with a cool story

That's right. Today is my birthday. I am turning the big two-zero. And to celebrate, I want to read all about the coins in your collection that have an interesting backstory.

You can post as many different coins as you like, but you must write a little (or a lot) about the cool history of your coin. If I like the story enough, I may just have to scout out an example for myself as a birthday treat.

I'll start:

This coin was cast by Wang Mang between 7-9 AD. He had socialist ideals, so he wanted to nationalize all of the wealth and land in China and redistribute it evenly. He hated the lavish spending of the elite when the poor farmers were not even making enough to eat well. So, when Mang usurped the Han Dynasty, he casy fusiciary coins, the most drastic of which were knife (or "key") coins. Mang mandated that all gold was to be turned in for these knives, and the likely punishment for resistence was execution (much of the aristocracy was executed at this time, though it was likely because they were political rivals of the Confucian Party). However, his coercion was effective, and most of the gold was was confiscated by the government (many tons of gold were found to still be residing in the imperial vault at his death, showing how he accudentally forgot the "redistributing the wealth" part).

These coins did not circulate because they had a large denomination, but little intrinsic value. One was worth 5000 Wu Zhu (25000 Zhu, or 1/2 cattie (60g) of gold), and the other, which I have, was worth 500 Wu Zhu (2500 Zhu). They frankly were not trusted, so the people resorted to counterfeiting and using the Wu Zhus as well as other archaic forms of money (cowrie shells, etc.). All of these quickly became capital offenses, and people literally sat weeping in the streets since there was not trustworthy and legal money that could be used to buy necessities like food. Then in 9 AD, Wang Mang demonetized these coins, destroying the wealth of China overnight and forever marking his coins as untrustworthy. All of his economic reforms were failures, though he would be regarded as a genius today, and the economic turmoil he created caused a third of China's population to die of starvation.

Here is the coin.

Qi Dao Wu Bai (Qi Knife Worth 500)
Cast under Wang Mang 7-9 AD

 

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Congratulations have a great day
Great story, and great coin to thanks

 

Happy B day! If you said 20! I have corns older than you

 

So do I.

 

Happy birthday.

 

Happy birthday!

Here's a quick and dirty one...


ROMAN REPUBLIC. M. Sergius Silus
AR Denarius, 19mm, 3.9g, 9h; Rome, 116-115 BC.
Obv.: Helmeted head of Roma right; ROMA and XVI monogram behind, EX•S•C before.
Rev.: Soldier on horseback rearing left, holding sword and severed Gallic head in left hand; Q M SERGI below, SILVS in exergue.

The above coin celebrates the military exploits of Marcus Sergius, who John Anthony rightfully described as the Roman Republican Rambo. I'm going to let Pliny explain this one:

Nobody - at least in my opinion - can rightly rank any man above Marcus Sergius, although his great-grandson Catiline shames his name. In his second campaign Sergius lost his right hand. In two campaigns he was wounded twenty-three times, with the result that he had no use in either hand or either foot: only his spirit remained intact. Although disabled, Sergius served in many subsequent campaigns. He was twice captured by Hannibal - no ordinary foe- from whom twice he escaped, although kept in chains and shackles every day for twenty months. He fought four times with only his left hand, while two horses he was riding were stabbed beneath him.

He had a right hand made of iron for him and, going into battle with this bound to his arm, raised the siege of Cremona, saved Placentia and captured twelve enemy camps in Gaul - all of which exploits were confirmed by the speech he made as praetor when his colleagues tried to debar him as infirm from the sacrifices. What piles of wreaths he would have amassed in the face of a different enemy!

Natural History, Book 7 Chapter 28

 

Happy Birthday @TypeCoin971793!

Epirus, Nikopolis, AE18. Augustus / Head of boarObv: AVGOVCTO CKTICTHC, Head of Augustus r., bare.
Rev: NΕIΚΟΠΟ(Λ) ΕW(C), Head of boar r.

Nikopolis, Epirus was founded in 31 BC by Octavian in memory of his victory over Antony and Cleopatra at Actium the previous year.

 

AE of Publius Cornelius Scipio (before he was Africanus, and while in Spain), from Carthago Nova... He was young, had been built up almost as a demi-god to politically oppose Hannibal's propaganda campaign in Italy against Rome... This whipper-snapper "figgered" it all out as to how to counter the psychological effect that Hannibal had on the Romans AND Italians for so many years!

When you read the history of Scipio, his personality, the tense times of Hannibal's War, the misunderstood information mediums compared to today's news, then you begin to understand WHY Scipio minted these with his likeness... These would be the FIRST Roman coins with a living likeness of a Leader. LOL, he was smart enough NOT to have them minted in Silver (officially controlled precious metal.) In Bronze he is able to replace the Barcid coinage (having Barcid busts), replace Hannibal's reverence as a divine leader, and replace them with a Roman leader - all part of the MASSIVE political propaganda campaigns that both Hannibal and Rome pushed.


Roman Republic
Carthago Nova (Carthaginian city of Qart Hadasht) Roman Occupation by Scipio (later Africanus)
ca. 209-206 BCE
Bronze Unit
22.8mm, 9.1g
Carthago Nova mint
OBV: Bare head l, Roman style (Scipio?)
REV: Horse standing r
Rare
Sear/Seaby Vol 2 6575; SNG BM Spain 127-128; Burgos 552
ex FORVM


Roman Republic
Bronze 1/5 unit,
1.606g, maximum diameter 14.6mm, die axis 0o
Carthago Nova mint, weight, 209 - 206 B.C.
Obv: bare male head (Scipio Africanus?) left
Rev: horse head right
Ref: SNG BM Spain 129, Burgos 556
VF, rough,
rare
Comment: In order to force Hannibal to retreat from Italy, Scipio Africanus attacked Carthaginian Spain and took Carthago Nova in 209 B.C. Note that the head is "Roman style." Some authorities believe, as we do, that this type was struck after 209, under Roman rule. Carthaginian coins sometimes depicted Barcid generals. This coin possibly depicts the Roman general Scipio Africanus.

 

I love this story, it is an amazing one in Roman Republic history...

This must had been an inspiration for the Black Knight!

 

Woo! Happy B-Day Type

 

My birthday is not until Thursday. May the Fourth be with you. I'll be 17 if you understand that I suffer from dyslexia.

Continuing with the Star Wars theme, as a young girl, Julia Domna's horoscope predicted that she would marry a king. In addition to her being young and pretty, this made her very attractive to Septimius Severus who was, to say the least, ambitious. Julia's father was high priest of Ba'al so astrology was of interest in the family. Years later, after all this had come to pass, her home town mint in Syria issued coins honoring the part that the stars had played in the success of Julia and Septimius. As Emesa mint coins go, these are neither the most common or most scarce but I have had trouble finding many in what I would call really excellent condition. Post yours.

 

Happy birthday, dear TypeCoin!

I'm busy at work and don't have time to dig up a suitably fun storycoin, but for now:

 

I like this idea for a thread - tell your coin's story!

 

Happy Birthday @TypeCoin971793
The is a fascinating story and great coin.

While certainly not ancient, I offer a copper Penny Conder Token which was privately minted in by the Payrs Mine Company of Anglesey Wales in 1787. Also, I apologize if my write-up is a bit long.




Obv: Hooded Druid bust left within Oaken Wreath
Rev: "WE PROMISE TO PAY THE BEARER ONE PENNY", Cypher of PMC (Parys Mine Company)
Edge Inscription: "ON DEMAND IN LONDON LIVERPOOL OR ANGLESET .X."

By the 1780s the state of coinage in British coinage was atrocious. From the late 17th century until the late 18th century of Royal Mint produced almost no copper coins, in fact many years saw none minted. Instead, the Royal mint focused on minting mostly gold coins with some silver too. Yet the mint officially overvalued gold in relation to silver, and Gresham's law drove silver out of the United Kingdom.

The state of English coinage, especially the scarcity of small denomination coinage, was acutely felt due to the Industrial Revolution and the need to pay worker's wages. Copper coinage was the natural method, but there was almost none to be had. Some factories paid a group of men in gold, and let them divvy it amongst themselves. Other factories would hold off paying individual wages until they became large enough to be paid in gold. Either way, workmen were left with gold coins that were difficult to spend on their daily purchases. The need for copper coinage was so great that merchants, workers, and the public at large gladly accepted counterfeits. In many cases the authorities even turned a blind eye to the activities of the counterfeiters, as it was felt that they were preforming a public service. By the late 1700s it was estimated that two-thirds of all coins in circulation were counterfeit.

Thomas Williams, the acting director of the Payrs Mine Company, sough to rectify the situation. He first approached the Royal Mint about striking copper coinage using Payrs copper, but was refused. If the Royal Mint would note strike copper, Williams decided he would, and oversaw the minting of the first token coinage in 1787. As the inscription on the token says, they represented a promise to pay the holder of the token one penny, and were not in fact legal tender. To the public at large this distinction didn't matter. Finally they had copper coinage with which to conduct their daily business, and enthusiastically embraced the coinage. Quickly other industrialist, merchants, and craftsmen issued tokens of their own, and by the early 1790s millions had been mint in thousands of designs.

Eventually the Government was shaken from its lethargy by a financial crisis, and in 1797 the famous Cartwheel Tuppence of George III, as well as a penny, were produced. With large quantities of government issued coinage the need for privately issued token coinage ended. Eventually in the early 1800s Parliament passed an act that forbid the production of private token coinage.

 

Happy Birthday, TypeCoin971793!

Thank you for celebrating your birthday with us! Are you perhaps the youngest regular forum member? At your young age if you continue to collect ancients for another sixty years you are going to have an awesome collection. What a legacy! It’s interesting to hear each others stories about how we came to collect ancient coins. Every story is unique. This is definitely an elite group of collectors that we are privileged to be acquainted with.

My most interesting story is about the Holy Land Collection that I purchased nine and a half years ago. I was in the stranglehold of alcohol and drug addiction at the time and most certainly on the threshold of death. The reason I bought the collection is because I thought that a Holy Relic that had been touched by Jesus would cure me of my self destructive behavior. I can't say that any of these coins were touched by Jesus, and I’m making no claims about any power that the coins may have to cure illness, but I've got to tell you that within three days of having them delivered to my home I stopped drinking and using. My clean and sober day is May 3, 2008 and tomorrow is my nine year anniversary. My anniversary date is my second birthday. I owe my new life to a Power far greater than myself. Now I live to help other addicts. The coins helped me get to where I am today. Collecting ancients became one of the Joys of life for me.

I don’t slab my coins anymore. I enjoy handling them. In the early years I slabbed a lot of coins so that I could give them away as gifts to people who were struggling with life's problems. I thought the slabs gave them a more authentic look to non collectors.

 

Happy B-Day.

 

Happy birthday @TypeCoin971793!!
This types relates to the battle of Lake Regillus where the expelled last king of Rome, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, attempted to retake the throne. The Romans, who were led by dictator Aulus Postumius Albus, defeated Superbus and the Latin League. It is said that Castor and Pollux fought alongside the Romans and Albinus built the Temple of Castor and Pollux in their honour.
The reverse refers to the sacrifice the Romans are said to have made to Diana prior to the battle.

Roman Republic
AR serrate denarius 3.91 g, 20 mm
A. Postumius A.f. Sp.n. Albinus
Rome mint, 81 BC
Draped bust of Diana right, with bow and quiver over shoulder; bucranium above / Priest and bull with lighted altar between them.
Crawford 372/1; Sydenham 745; RSC Postumia 7; Sear 296

 

Eleanor of Aquitaine was one of the most powerful and influential figures of the Middle Ages. She would eventually become the queen of France, the queen of England and lead a crusade to the Holy Land. She is also credited with establishing and preserving many of the courtly rituals of chivalry.

I am currently reading a medieval mystery The Queen's Man by Sharon Kay Penman...a fun and easy way to learn about Eleanor and her sons, Richard the Lionheart and John.



ANGLO-GALLIC, England
1137-1152, Eleanor of Aquitaine
AR Denier .84 gm - 17 mm
Obv: Two crosses with A Ω.
Rev: Cross
Ref: El.11

Happy Birthday @TypeCoin971793! And early birthday wishes to @dougsmit

 

Nice write up, I dig conder tokens as well!

Here's another modern coin, but struck like an ancient...



INDIA, French Pondicherry

Æ Doudou, 16mm, 4.0g, 12h; c. AD 1720-1837 Obv.: Fleur de lis. Rev.: 3-line Tamil legend, naming the mint: Pu du / ch e r / i Reference: KM 35


This is a French colonial coin struck in Pondicherry, which is a city on the southeastern coast of India. It changed hands several times between the British and the French during the times listed as possible dates for the coin, like during the Seven Years War ..The French and Indian War to us North Americans....which actually did involve Indians...just not when we use the term.

Of course, depending on when you want to say the war began, it could have lasted longer than seven years, maybe the Seven Years War isn't a great name either.

I know, lets call it The First World War! It involved several nations and conflicts on every continent but Australia and and Antarctica. Oh wait...that wont work either.


The Global Conflict that Did Involve Actual Indians and Lasted About Seven Years Maybe, A Bit Longer War.

Happy BDAY @TypeCoin971793 and @dougsmit !!!!

 

Happy birthday!

The following coin is cool for its history (but I've already told it to death), so instead I'll add a personal story of me and this coin.

I was once cleaning my office desk. I had a few ancient coins on my desk which I had brought with me to show a fellow attorney who collects medieval coins. Late in the evening, and in the rush to get out of the office, I accidentally threw it and 2 other ancient coins in the trash along with some papers, and took the trash out to the dumpster. It was not until the next day when I realized I had thrown out an important paper, that I decided to look for the bag, and went dumpster diving in tie and suit (the paper was that important). I found the bag, and searching for the paper, I ran across an ancient coin. In a panic, I searched the whole bag and found the three coins. This one was the most valuable one of the three, and the more sentimental one as it was my first Roman Republic denarii.

M. Junius Silanus denarius

Talk about a close call. I almost lost three coins to the landfill for a momentary lapse of judgment. I still cringe thinking about it.