Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 16 i Coin Collector

The appeal of collecting coins is probably a little different for us all. Some of us love to learn about the history and stories behind the designs, others focus on the talented artists who create mini masterpieces, many of us are intrigued by the coin’s composition and how it was made. But I bet we all agree on the thrill of the hunt! Whether you’re purchasing ancient coins at auction or from a coin trader, or searching through your loose change to find the latest 50p design, it’s the challenge of unearthing (sometimes literally) coins to add to our collections which keeps us coming back. And this ongoing quest to find remarkable artefacts is an important part of the story of shipwreck coins, as our special feature explains (see page…

An extremely rare ‘Double Eagle’ coin, from the Bob R. Simpson Collection, smashed the previous record of $2.2 million at Heritage Coins’ recent US Coins Signature Auction in Dallas, Texas. The 27-D St Gaudens Double Eagle has been described as a ‘legendary rarity – the rarest regular issue gold coin of any denomination of the 20th century’. The coin was part of a smallish mint of 180,000 pieces, delivered in seven batches between 12 and 25 August 1927, suggesting that they were intended for a specific purpose, although no documentation has come to light on this subject. As none of the coins were ever shipped to federal Reserve Banks, it has been suggested that they were intended strictly as currency reserves. Of the 180,000 double eagles struck at the Denver…

The final coins in The Royal Mint’s ‘Winnie the Pooh and Friends’ coin collection have been revealed, with the launch of a collectable 50p featuring Pooh and some of his closest friends. The final coin in the nine-coin collection, the new 50p features a woodland scene with the bear and his Hundred Acre Wood friends Tiger, Eeyore and Piglet. As with the other coins in the series, the design is inspired by the original illustrations of E.H. Shepard. The Royal Mint’s designer Daniel Thorne worked with Shepard’s illustrations whilst also adding an original twist, with the addition of a signature bee motif on all the coins. The Royal Mint’s designer Daniel Thorne said: ‘Working on Disney’s Winnie the Pooh and Friends collection has been a fantastic experience, as a designer…

The Croatian Mint has started to mint euro coins, ahead of the country’s admittance into the Eurozone on 1 January 2023. The beginning of the production was celebrated with Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic attending a tour of the Mint with the governor of the Croatian National Bank, Boris Vujcic, and the President of the Board of the Croatian Mint, Damir Bolta. The coins are being produced on six presses with approximately 3,700 tonnes of euro coins being made for circulation. The new €1 coin has a pattern of a kuna or marten (as pictured) with chessboard background on the Croatian national side. The €2 coin exhibits the Croatian map, and text regarding freedom from Ivan Gundulc’s Dubravka. The 10, 20 and 50 cent coins display a portrait of pioneering electrical…

Coin producers CIT and Japan Mint are the latest mints to become Mint Partners on the www.allaboutcoins.co.uk website. The ‘New Coins’ section of the popular coin collecting website features a growing number of mints, including British Pobjoy Mint and Coiniverse. Each mint has their own dedicated section of the site, with new issues covered in detail along with links to purchase the coins. Now the latest pieces from the Liechtenstein-based coin producers, CIT, and the national mint of Japan are set to be featured on the website, whilst the quarterly ‘New Coins’ email update will also include news of these mints’ latest coins. CIT also recently revealed a wide range of coins as part of the company’s summer launch, with subjects as varied as Steampunk, American writer H.P. Lovecraft, the…

It hard to believe, but in the mid-1990s there was no such thing as electronic auction records for collectors or dealers to search before making a purchase. There were quite a few price guides for US and World Coins, but most contained information that was dated at best. The only auction records that had been assembled and published were done on an annual basis. They were very difficult to use, and it was impossible to carry them to conventions for reference. In the late 1990s, I had begun work on several numismatic research projects, and soon realised the need for a searchable database of auction records. For several years we hired college students to input the auction data into an Excel file in a searchable format. It was not long…

The Hollandia, sunk in 1743 off the Scilly Isles, southwest of England, writes John Philpotts of Silbury Coins Ltd. Blown off course on her way to the East Indies, the Hollandia struck Gunner Rock and sank in about 110 feet of water 1½ miles east of the rock on 13 July 1743. There were no survivors. The first sign of the wreck came in 1971, when divers under Rex Cowan located the wreck site and within a couple years salvaged over 35,000 silver coins among the nearly 130,000 guilders (dollar-sized units) recorded to be on board the Hollandia. A great majority of the coins were Mexican ‘pillar dollars,’ but there were also some silver cobs, including the scarce Mexican transitional ‘klippes’ of 1733-1734 and a few Guatemala cobs, in mixed…

Reading and understanding Islamic coins has frequently been considered a daunting task for new collectors. Knowing Arabic script and language is often cited as a pre-requisite for this field of numismatics. While it is extremely helpful to have that knowledge, not having the full grasp of Kufic script and Arabic language is no impediment to collecting and understanding these wonderful coins. Aside from the script, it is also important to be aware of the historical circumstances in which these coins were made, especially in the periods of great dynastic and political turmoil such as in the last centuries of the Abbasid rule. In this very brief, introductory guide, I would like to explore what makes these coins interesting and rewarding to collect and research. A useful list of books will…

Most of us can dredge up a fact or two about Byzantium from half forgotten school history lessons. We probably recall that the Roman Emperor Constantine I, who briefly visited York (Eboracum), transferred his official residence to a city on the Bosporus (in 314 AD), and that his supporters began to call it Constantinople in his honour. It later became the capital of the Byzantine Empire. Those Eastern Romans preferred to speak Greek rather than Latin, though they retained Roman inscriptions on their coins for centuries. They also favoured, and later officially adopted, Christianity over Rome’s pagan deities. However, when it came to currency, they clung tenaciously to Rome’s gold coin, the solidus. It had first been introduced in Rome by Constantine I in 312 to replace the traditional Roman…

From exciting scientific breakthroughs to the study of the stars, some of history’s most incredible discoveries have been celebrated on UK coins in recent years. Each coin pays tribute to the brilliant British minds responsible for the technology and knowledge we have today. We’ve highlighted some of our favourites, including sell-out sensations and encrypted designs which have delighted collectors worldwide. Sell-out history of scientific coins Science-themed coins have a history of proving popular with collectors, but perhaps the most popular of them all is the Stephen Hawking 50p. Released as the first coin in the UK’s Innovation in Science series, the 50p caused a collecting storm when all precious metal specifications sold out on launch day. This of course then drove a high demand for the Brilliant Uncirculated issue, which…

Adrian Marsden Adrian Marsden completed a Doctorate on Roman coinage at Oxford University and now works as the County Numismatist for Norfolk. His research interests include the Roman Imperial coinage and its contemporary copies, religion in Roman Britain, fakes and forgeries of coins from all periods and the 17th-century token series. Paula Hammond Paula Hammond has worked as a publisher, copy-writer, ghost-writer, author, and journalist. She has written over thirty fiction and non-fiction books as well as comics, poetry, and scripts, and is a regular contributor to Coin Collector. Her collecting passions include autographed FDCs and coins. Kevin Clancy Dr. Kevin Clancy is a numismatist and the Director of the Royal Mint Museum. He is also Secretary to the Royal Mint Advisory Committee on the Design of Coins, Medals, Seals…

The Royal Mail has unveiled the two final coins in its 2022 Sovereign Collection commemorating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. The Five Sovereign Piece, which features a change of design in honour of the Queen’s Jubilee, is the largest coin in the 2022 Collection. The coin’s size enables viewers to appreciate the detail in the new design by artist Timothy Noad, which is a new interpretation of the Royal Coat of Arms. The Sovereign habitually depicts an interpretation of St George and the Dragon by Benedetto Pistrucci, and any change to the design is reserved for momentous State occasions such as the Golden, Diamond and Platinum Jubilees. ‘It’s a huge privilege to be chosen for the third time to design the reverse of the iconic Sovereign,’ said Timothy Noad. ‘The first…

The United States Mint has announced the designs for the second year of the American Women Quarters™ coin series, with former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt and civil aviator Bessie Coleman amongst those set to be honoured. The four-year programme, which began in 2022, features coins with reverse designs ‘emblematic of the accomplishments and contributions of trailblazing American women’. In all, twenty coins will be issued, five in each year. The full list of honourees is: Bessie Coleman, the first Native American to hold a pilot license; American journalist, teacher, political activist, and civil rights worker, Jovita Idar; Hawaiian dancer, and teacher Edith Kanaka’ole; former first lady of the USA Eleanor Roosevelt, and American ballerina, Maria Tallchief, the first Native American to be considered America’s ‘prima ballerina’. Mint Director Ventris C.…

Pobjoy Mint is releasing the last coin to feature one of seven children’s books by international bestseller David Walliams. Grandpa’s Great Escape, which was Walliams’ eighth children’s novel, features the adventures of a boy called Jack and was published in 2015 by HarperCollins. It was adapted for BBC TV in 2018 and a stage adaptation opened at Arena Birmingham in 2019 before touring. The new 50p coin has been created by Pobjoy Mint on behalf of the Government of Gibraltar. It comes in two limited editions, Cupro Nickel Diamond Finish Coloured, presented in a special pack, and Coloured Proof Sterling Silver with a certificate. The design shows the image from the front cover of the novel, to match the illustrations by Tony Ross. Other coins in the 50p series have…

A farthing coin placed under the mast of Nelson’s flagship HMS Victory (pictured above) was discovered in perfect condition 127 years later, the Royal Navy reported back in October 2021. The farthing – worth ¼ pence when issued in 1894 under the reign of Queen Victoria – was uncovered in the base plate of the 32-metre, 26-tonne mast section which was temporarily removed from Victory as part of the latest phase of her restoration. The coin is now on display in the National Museum of the Royal Navy’s gallery – HMS Victory: The Nation’s Flagship, which charts the history of Britain’s most famous warship and those who served in her. The tradition of placing coins under their ship masts may date back to Roman times – although it’s not practised…

Who said coin collecting wasn’t very ‘rock n roll’? The theme of pop and rock music is becoming increasingly popular on modern coins, with many national mints choosing to give a nod to their top stars. Of course, when it comes to rock and pop, Britain is (or at least was) at the forefront, and The Royal Mint’s ‘Music Legends’ collection will be the first port of call for many music-mad numismatists. Four special £5 coins celebrated the work of David Bowie, Elton John, The Who and Queen, respectively. The David Bowie £5 coin was the third in the collection and the design features the iconic lightning bolt motif from the Aladdin Sane album. But it was the unique way the coin’s release was promoted that grabbed the headlines, as…

Earlier this year The Royal Mint launched a commemorative £2 coin celebrating the life and legacy of national treasure Dame Vera Lynn. The £2 coin features a detailed portrait of Dame Vera as she appeared during the height of her fame. Dame Vera Lynn’s iconic renditions of classic songs such as ‘We’ll Meet Again’ earned her a place in the hearts of many and she will be remembered for her hard work during the Second World War, when she entertained the troops and boosted morale. The reverse design of the £2 coin features a detailed portrait of Dame Vera accompanied by her name and the dates of her life. In reference to her most famous release, the coin features an edge inscription that reads ‘WE’LL MEET AGAIN’. Synonymous with Dame…

At first, three cent pieces seemed like a good idea. They could buy a postage stamp once the standard letter rate dropped to three cents in 1851. Small change was still in short supply and Americans disliked the large-sized one cent coins. A fresh supply of three cent coins would help postmasters make change, and it would also help retire ‘worn out Spanish money’ which was still legal tender. US Mint engraver James Longacre created the new coin’s obverse, which bore a shield inside a six-pointed star, the words ‘United States of America’, and the date. The reverse was packed with a Roman numeral III inside a large ‘C’ for ‘cents’, surrounded by thirteen stars. Production began early in 1851, to make sure that coins would be available when the…

Estonia’s central bank, Eesti Pank, have issued a coin card featuring a €2 coin dedicated to Ukraine and freedom, designed by a refugee from Ukraine. The income from sales will be given by Eesti Pank to Ukrainian central bank. The coin was designed by Daria Titova, a young Ukrainian refugee who is studying at the Estonian Academy of Arts. Daria won a contest to design the coin. ‘I felt bad and guilty because I wake up with sunshine, while many Ukrainians wake up at the sound of missiles and bombs,’ she said. ‘To express this feeling, I drew a girl protecting a bird in her hand’. The coin card costs €18 and 40,000 coin cards have been made available for sale, although Eesti Pank is prepared to increase production if…

The Royal Mint has released British Monarchs: King George 1, 2022 Coin Range, the third coin in its collection that brings the coinage of notable monarchs into the modern age. Using early Georgian coins and combining them with state-of-the-art technology, the Royal Mint’s experts have faithfully recreated an original coinage of George1, giving the coin the same appearance as it would have had on its original release. George 1 ascended to the British throne during a period of political instability. The German-born ruler’s reIgn ended the turbulent Stuart dynasty and led to a long period – nearly 200 years – of royal stability with the establishment of the House of Hanover. During his reign, the political system moved towards the current system of cabinet government. Georgian coins were considered the…

Heritage Auctions recently sold a Meiji gold Pattern 10 Yen dating from 1870, which was described as being ‘arguably one of the finest representatives within the entire Japanese series, indescribable in just a few words, which remains the epitome of both conditional and absolute rarity.’ According to the auction house, pattern coins produced during the Meiji era remain a ‘difficult section of the Japanese numismatic market’, with so few ever reaching the market, especially in good condition. The lot description explained: ‘For hundreds of years prior to the Meiji era, during a tumultuous time of shogunate rule, commerce had been conducted using various cast and hammered coinage, with cash pieces the inspiration of circulating Chinese issues of the day. Similar to their western counterparts, minting in this fashion had numerous…

Anne’s tenuous entitlement to England’s throne hung on her relationship through marriage to her brother-in-law William III (William of Orange) who died aged 51 after a fall from his horse while riding at Hampton Court in 1702. The English Parliament elected her as their monarch for no other reason than that she was a staunch Protestant and thus far preferable to a return to a Roman Catholic wearing England’s crown. Alas she was destined to spend her entire reign suffering a series of miscarriages and body-racking ailments including gout, smallpox and eye inflammations. Increasing obesity and lameness confined her to a wheelchair and a specially constructed horse-drawn cart she used to move around the grounds of Kensington Palace. Ironically the years of her reign brought numerous glories for England. The…

We all have an image in our minds of ships from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries heavily laden with bullion, usually in the form of coins and more often than not in the form of silver coins. We are dealing with a time, the early modern period, when coins were widely used and were produced in large quantities by European countries. They serviced domestic economies but also international trade and consequently they were regularly shipped in huge numbers by sea. When a voyage was successful, it formed part of the routine of maritime business but when something went wrong, and a ship sank for whatever reason, its cargo becomes part of the archaeological record. Looked at this way, a hold full of coins shifts its significance. In many instances the…

Known as the ‘First Dollar of the Americas’, this 8 Reales coin is the finest of only three known specimens and was recovered from the shipwreck of the Golden Fleece (sunk c.1550) in 1990. It was sold at Heritage Auctions in the USA in 2018 for $528,000. The lot description explained: ‘this earliest of crown-sized coins struck in the New World… just two years after the establishment of the mint (later Mexico City) by royal charter in 1536.’ SOLD FOR £437,400 The SS Central America was a 280-foot long, three-masted side-wheel steamship carrying tons of California gold that had been shipped from San Francisco to Panama when she sank in a hurricane on 12 September 1857 during the final leg of a voyage from Aspinwall (now Colón), Panama to New…

Paranumismatica is the term applied to items that fulfil a coin-like function or are related to coins but which are not themselves coins. This catch-all category includes many rather odd items and this article will discuss a few of these groups from the Tudor and Stuart periods, roughly the 16th and 17th centuries. A good volume of gold coins had been produced in England since the mid-14th century. By the start of the 16th century, there were several denominations in use, not to mention significant numbers of foreign coins which circulated quite happily alongside their English counterparts. However, as we have seen in earlier articles (Coin Collector issue 7), coins of this period might be forged, particularly examples of gold with their very high face value. The very high purity…

Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, and Christopher Robin are the latest children’s book characters to feature on 50p coins. In total nine coins have been issued in the ‘Winnie the Pooh and Friends collection, inspired by Disney’, three each year in 2020, 2021 and 2022. Whilst they have not been entered into circulation, they have still been eagerly snapped up by collectors and fans of the A.A. Milne stories. Each of the nine 50p pieces features a design adapted from the well known and much-loved illustrations of E.H. Shepard, and you’ll also notice a little bee motif that buzzes around each coin, giving them a consistent feel. The Winne the Pooh coins issued over the past three years are as follows: Winnie the Pooh (2020) Christopher Robin (2020) Piglet (2020) Winnie…

Our 50p Index sees two new entrants with the issue of Platinum Jubilee and Pride 50ps into circulation, whilst our £2 and 10p indexes both saw huge shake-ups! 50p Scarcity Index As we received updated mintage figures for the Pride and Platinum Jubilee 50p coins, they also made their debut in our 50p Index! Ahead of the Platinum Jubilee weekend, The Royal Mint issued a further 1 million Platinum Jubilee 50p coins into circulation, meaning there are now 2.3 million out there for Change Checkers to find. To celebrate 50 years since the first UK Pride Event, a brand new Pride 50p was issued into circulation, with a circulating mintage of 5 million. As more Change Checkers find these coins in their change, it’ll be great to see how their…