[Game] World Coins Time Machine… Counting Backward by Year! (Plus Prize Coin)

Both also 1996, no denomination but apparently official Thai mint issues (medals?). One for the 50th anniversary, the second for the cremation of the King mother, the reverse depicting her crematorium. "The Royal Cremation took place on 10 March 1996, for which an elaborately carved Royal Crematorium, or Phra Merumas, was built in the centre of Sanam Luang, symbolizing the mythical mountain abode of the Hindu gods. Crowds lined the street as the golden urn of rank was transported on the Royal Great Victory Carriage, or Phra Maha Pichai Ratcharot, in a solemn procession from the Grand Palace to the Royal Crematorium. This Royal Cremation Ceremony was one of the biggest events Thailand has witnessed in modern times, attended by thousands of people and watched on television nationwide".

 

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@KBBPLL - I wouldn't have thought anything about the pics if you hadn't said anything. They're actually pretty good pics, in my opinion. Very good resolution.

Moving on to 1995. How about a pack of 1995s - in sets!

First a Federal Republic of Germany, Berlin Mint, set. Now this is a poor picture. Awful resolution.


And then a Hungarian set from 1995.

 

Great Britain

 

Luxembourg - 5 Ecus - 1995 - Grand Duke Jean and Josephine

Morocco - 10 Dirhams - 1995 - King Hassan II.

 

1995 Hong Kong, 10 dollars, issued 1993-96 … taken from circulation in Hong Kong in 2002.


The obverse device of all Hong Kong circulating coins feature a flower from the Hong Kong orchid tree (Bauhinia blakeana). This tree has an interesting history. Hong Kong orchid trees are sterile … they cannot reproduce naturally. They must be cultivated by hand. All Hong Kong orchid trees are believed to be clones of a single tree discovered around 1880. The tree was discovered by a French Catholic missionary and botanist Jean-Marie Delavay near Pok Fu Lam (1) on Honk Kong Island. From cuttings of the tree he found, he cultivated a tree or trees at Béthanie, the sanatorium run by the Paris Foreign Missions Society(1). Later a cutting was given to what is now the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens. There it was scientifically documented and given the name Bauhinia blakeana. It was widely planted in Hong Kong starting in 1914. {Wikipedia} Today it is also found in the USA and Australia, and I imagine elsewhere throughout the world. You can find it for sale on the internet. HK orchid trees require a tropical to sub-tropical climate. They have a very limited range in the USA. They grow to 30 - 40 ft, bloom from January to May, and the flowers are fragrant.


All orchid trees, including the variety Bauhinia x blakeana, are not related to the orchid flowers. They are given the name “orchid’ because their flowers resemble the orchid flower. Orchid tree is actually in the family of legumes, a diverse group of bean-pod bearing plants ranging from small annual herbs, through woody shrubs to giant perennial trees … the family includes peas and beans. However the HK orchid does not produce pods. A feature touted by sellers on the internet, as the pods can be unsightly.

{Wikipedia} The flag of Hong Kong depicts a white stylised five-petal Hong Kong orchid tree (Bauhinia blakeana) flower in the centre of a Chinese red field. Its original design was unveiled on 4 April 1990 at the Third Session of the Seventh National People's Congress. … The flag of Hong Kong was officially adopted and hoisted on 1 July 1997, during the handover ceremony marking the transfer of sovereignty from Britain back to China.

The regional flag carries a design of five bauhinia petals, each with a star in the middle, on a red background. The red flag represents the motherland and the bauhinia represents Hong Kong. The design implies that Hong Kong is an inalienable part of China and prospers in the embrace of the motherland. The five stars on the flower symbolise the fact that all Hong Kong compatriots love their motherland, while the red and white colours embody the principle of "one country, two systems"

Modern studies have identified the HK orchid tree (Bauhinia x blakeana) to be a hybrid between Bauhinia variegata and Bauhinia purpurea. {Wikipedia, Bauhinia × blakeana}


(1) Both parent plants ... can self-fertilise and be fertilised by pollen from a flower on a genetically different plant. … As the parent plants overlap partially in their flowering periods and geographical habitats, and since they share the same range of bee and butterfly species as pollinators, it is feasible for Bauhinia purpurea and Bauhinia variegata to interbreed. … Kwan Hoi-shan, a molecular biologist and a core member of the Bauhinia Genome project, says this isn’t uncommon in hybrids {to be sterile} .

(1)https://zolimacitymag.com/how-did-the-bauhinia-a-sterile-flower-become-the-symbol-of-hong-kong/

 

That's awesome, @Jimski! Superb! That's for teaching me something.

1995 Germany, ten marks, minted at the Hamburg Mint (J). A celebration or commemoration, so to speak, of the fiftieth anniversary of the destruction of Frauenkirche (church or cathedral of our lady (Mary, I assume)) in Dresden. Heck of a fire. Simply awful.

 

Some more 1995:
Thailand - 2 Baht - 1995 - Year of ASEAN Enviroment

Thailand - 2 Baht - 1995 - Year of Thailands Information Technology

Spain - 5 Pesetas - 1995 - Asturias

 

Thailand 20 baht 1995 (2538) - 120 Years of Ministry of Finance

 

1994 time:
Greece - 10 Drachmes - 1994

Italy - 500 Lire - 1994 - Luca Pacioli

Belgium - 5 Francs - King Albert II.

 

A flock of 1994s . . . we have, in order, Aruba, Cabo Verde, Singapore, Brazil, Uruguay, Fiji, and Armenia.

 

I found an overlooked (in my collection) 1994 Isle of Man

 

All these I only have the photos now, having sold the coins a few years ago.

 

OK - a couple of real scarcities here. These are Royal Mint Trial £2 coins from 1994 - they were deciding whether to use a single metal coin as used for the previous £2 commemoratives, or go with the bimetallic version. Trials of both types were produced in small numbers. After the decision was made to go bimetallic, that version was released in slightly larger numbers in a special pack, which demonstrated with blanks how the coin was created. These packs now make around £200, although beware of fakes and copies.
The single colour one is much scarcer, and has been known to make over £1000. Beware of fakes and copies, although most I have seen are fairly obviously wrong. The one below is genuine.

 

GB, 1 & 2 pence, 1994

 

Italy - 200 Lire - 1993 - 70th anniversary of the italian airforce

Spain - 5 Pesetas - 1993 - Jacobeo

 

Tuvalu 1993

 

Jordania - 5 Piastres - 1993 - King Hussein I.

Netherlands - Medal - Koninginnedag 1993 - Queen Beatrix

 

Time for 1992:
Danmark - 20 Kroner - 1992 - Silver wedding anniversary of Queen Margrethe II. and Prince Henrik

Italy - 200 Lire - 1992 - Philatelic exhibition

Romania - 10 Lei - 1992 - Revolution