Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;The Eidolon, post: 4512110, member: 102103&quot;]Day 60:&nbsp; I ran out us usable photos again, except for a few blurry ones I need to retake.&nbsp; So I got out some billon coins and took photos over the weekend.</p><p><br /></p><p>Why make coins out of billon (a silver alloy with more than 50% base metal)?</p><p>Here are a few overlapping reasons that have been used:</p><p>1)&nbsp; To conceal a debasement.</p><p>2)&nbsp; To keep coins at a familiar size after a debasement.</p><p>3)&nbsp; To allow coins of a small denomination to still have value based on silver content.</p><p>4)&nbsp; To allow small-value silver coins to not be impractically small.</p><p><br /></p><p>And why are billon coins mostly no longer used:</p><p>1)&nbsp; Improved minting technology allowed copper and other base-metal coins to be circulated at face value higher than metal value.&nbsp; (Copper was widely counterfeited.)</p><p>2)&nbsp; Billon was seen as a &quot;waste&quot; of silver.&nbsp; It was not widely accepted in international trade, and the silver is expensive to recover to a purer form.</p><p>3)&nbsp; It is hard for ordinary people to assess the value by weighing.</p><p>4)&nbsp; It is relatively bulky for small purchases.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Anyway, for today:&nbsp; Corsica, 4 Soldi Billon, 1764, Pasquale Paoli</p><p><br /></p><p>This was during the Corsican Republic, after independence from Genoa (1755) and before the conquest by France (1768).&nbsp; Paoli was exiled after the conquest, but returned during the French Revolution, which he initially supported.&nbsp; He turned against it after the execution of Louis XVI.&nbsp; Apparently, when ordered to conquer Sardinia, Paoli sent his nephew with secret orders to fail in the invasion.&nbsp; Napoleon was infuriated.&nbsp; Corsica rebelled and became a British protectorate briefly, from 1794-1796.&nbsp; France retook the island, and Paoli lived out his life in exile in the UK.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1118121[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in