huh. I always thought it was AU. i must be very ignorant because i cant find any reference to AV gold.
Both are correct. AU, the chemical symbol, actually has its root in "AV". Both are from the Latin aurum, I believe. The Romans did not use a letter "U". So it's an old tradition; a classical style thing. This is why you'll sometimes see inscriptions like "COVRT HOVSE" on some neoclassical buildings. (Here in my city, it's the DVNWODY BVILDING). In numismatics, particularly ancient numismatics, or among Europeans like Panzerman here, you will often see people use the old-style abbreviations: AV=gold, AR=silver, AE=copper and/or bronze. But in US numismatics, one need look no farther than the Peace dollar to see that seemingly odd "V-for-U" thing. (It was popular in the 1920s.) Another Latin holdover is sometimes seen in hardware stores. And this one is even weirder. A "10d" nail is a tenpenny nail. Up until the 1970s, the Brits used a small "d" to abbreviate "penny". Why? Again, it's Latin. Denarium, or denarius. So there is probably more explanation than you wanted. You aren't ignorant. It's just a rather esoteric tradition, as old traditions can be.
ROFL I see now that Panzerman explained in seven short words what it took me several rambling paragraphs to cover.
Brian....I had never heard of Downies till I saw their auction posting, on sixbid.com auction site. I visited it and found that excellent 8 escudos coin. It was part of the famed Norweb collection, sold thru Stacks in 1980s. It was the first Australian auction for me. John
Thanks, I kinda specialize in Worldwide gold, from the first electrum coinage circa 650 BC/ Ancient Lydia to present. My newest coin is a 1992 Russian Federation Proof 70/Platinum 150 Roubles....my first Platinum coin! My coll. spans 26 centuries/ have at least one AV coin each century. Probably upto 810 AV coins and counting.... I always wanted high quality, so 90 percent are "mintstate" The gang on the Ancient coin forum, got me into collecting Roman silver "AR" Denari, glad I did. One thing with this hobby, you are always BROKE! I get mostly everything thru auctions/ however I have gotten couple of really nice coins via ma.shops.de/ one really nice Mainz AV Goldgulden 14th. Century in mintstate! PS: EL=Electrum was a naturally found deposits of silver/gold nuggets in Asia Minor. Usually the composition was 60/40 gold/silver.
I couldn't afford the melt/bullion value of a coin like that, let alone its numismatic value. Congratulations on yet another impressive piece, Panzerman! Famous pedigree, too! Very cool.
