Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2019 i World Coin News

The top-selling lot at Stack-Bowers NYINC world coin sale in January had its date woven into its reverse legend as a chronogram. Whether or not this aspect of the coin contributed to the U.S. $78,000 price tag of the Nürnberg 8 ducat is unknown, but it sure didn’t hurt. Chronograms have been around for a long time. They occur in many cultures. The legends of coins have provided a favorite habitat in which they thrive. The word means “time writing” or “time letters.” It refers to interpreting specific letters in a sentence or coin legend as numerals. When these are rearranged, they provide a specific date. Both Roman and Hebrew characters are the most commonly used. The reverse legend on the ducat provides an example. Certain letters are shown in…

Counterfeit coins are not as major a concern as they may have been in the past, but the troublesome fakes are nevertheless out there worldwide. Despite the fact it would be more profitable to make bogus high-denomination bank notes, there has been an increase in the number of fakes in some places. During the second half of 2018, the number of fake euro bank notes detected in Slovakia declined by 9.7 percent, yet the number of bogus coins increased by 16 percent during the same period. The most frequently encountered counterfeit coin was the €2, the highest denomination coin in circulation. This denomination represented 79.8 percent of the bad coins encountered. How do you detect fakes? National Bank of Slovakia spokesman Vráblik Solcanyiová said, “Euro coins of the nominal value…

In recent years, the United States has issued circulating commemorative coins in denominations of 1, 5, and 25 cents. At one time, this included multiple Statehood quarter designs being issued annually. The public still uses these coins without hesitation. Not so in India, where 14 different 10-rupee coin types (expressed as › 10) are in circulation – sort of. The coins are legal tender; however, a significant portion of the public think they are fakes. The U.S. Statehood quarter series was issued between 1999 and 2008. The coins are accepted without any apprehension. India began issuing its current 10-rupee coins in 2009. The most recent design was introduced in 2017. Even some banks hesitate to accept them. On Feb. 12, the web site Latestly.com quoted an unnamed Reserve Bank of…

The Mint of Finland has been around since 1860 when Russian Czar Alexander III founded the facility through an imperial edict. Finland was a Russian grand duchy at the time. Since then, the mint has gone through several important changes and today strikes coins for 40 countries on four continents. So, considering the mint’s track record, why did the Mint of Finland announce on Jan. 31 that the Finnish Ministry of Finance has launched a public call for tenders for the supply of Finnish euro circulation coins? Directives stipulated by the legislature of the European Union is the answer. The supply of domestic Finnish coinage is coordinated by Finland’s treasury. Finland’s Finance Ministry commissions the Mint of Finland to fill orders for coinage, the coins being transferred to Finland’s central…

This Nov. 9 marks the 30th anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall. To commemorate the historic occasion, Monnaie de Paris has issued a spectacular group of three gold and three silver euros. These are the first coins in a new MdP series: “Great Dates in The History of Humanity.” The Berlin Wall group are led by highly imaginative silver €10 (37.00 mm, 22.20 g .900 fine) and gold €200 (37.00 mm, 31.104 g .999 fine) proofs. Both provide an optical illusion. Both are struck on flat flans but are ingeniously designed so they appear as a 3D, L-shaped section taken from the Wall tagged BERLIN. The obverse provides an apt allegory of the Fall. A German soldier holding a rose appears to step through the Wall. Below the…

Over the past two years, New Zealand has issued a series of gold and silver coins to celebrate the great Maori cultural hero Maui-tikitiki. In February, two gold $10s and silver $1s were released. These tell the story of how Maui brought fire to the world. The designs by David Hakaraia depict both Maui and Mahuika, the Maori fire deity. It is Mahuika’s fingernails that provide the source of her fire. Maui was Mahuika’s grandson. When all the fires in his village were extinguished, he sought out Mahuika to request a fingernail to relight the fires. She gave him one, which he promptly extinguished. She provided another and yet another, which he successively extinguished. Naturally Mahuika got rather annoyed, as grandmothers can. She set a major fire to drive Maui…

Recent years have seen several world mints revisit classic designs of former coins. The Royal Canadian Mint is no exception. This year has seen it dust off its archives to reconsider one of the country’s best-known coins: Emanuel Hahn’s Voyageur silver dollar first struck in 1935. The upshot is a superb proof 50 mm, 62.69 g (2 oz), .9999 fine silver 25 cents. The reverse image may look familiar, but all-new sculpts are based solely on the artist’s preliminary pencil sketches preserved in the National Currency Collection of the Bank of Canada. Hahn’s initial design features drawing guides, omissions, additions and even a few inaccuracies. Laser engraving on the flat field mimics the artist’s hand-drawn guide lines with draft artwork set above. All in all, the final result gives a…

On Jan. 14, the Principality of Sealand released a selectively colored 38.6 mm, 28 g, .925 fine silver proof $25 as a memorial to the late Sovereign Princess Joan, who passed away on Mar. 10, 2016. Princess Joan, the former Miss Joan Collins, was the wife of Prince Roy (Paddy Roy Bates), co-founders of Sealand sited in the decommissioned HM Fort Roughs. On Sept. 2, 1967, the fort was declared an independent principality ruled by the two as co-sovereigns. When Prince Roy became elderly, he moved to England and named their son, Prince Michael, as regent. Upon Prince Roy’s death in October 2012, Michael became co-sovereign with his mother, becoming sole sovereign upon his mother’s death. The new coin comes dated 2016.…

Spink’s sale of Allan Williams’ remarkable collection of Anglo-Saxon and Norman coins was completed on Jan. 29 when the fourth and final tranche was offered. This comprised some 180 coins of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Kent, Mercia, East-Anglia, and Wessex plus numerous pennies of the Anglo-Saxon kings of all England. These were followed by 95 early Norman coins. Top-selling price of $8,632 [£6,600] was achieved by a rare 1.608 g silver penny of Aethelstan, 924-939 C.E., showing the monarch’s crowned bust (S-1095; Blunt 302 and pl. xiii this coin). Struck at Winchester by moneyer Otic, the coin came with an enviable provenance that included the Montagu, Murdoch, Brunn, Drabble, and Norweb collections. Graded VF, it went to the block with a £1,500-2,000 estimate. Close behind pricewise came a very rare…

How is the value of an ancient coin determined? This isn’t easy, and not everyone (including coin dealers) gets it right. I don’t like to give a nebulous answer, but demand and quality appear to be the major determining factors rather than supply or age. There are relatively available ancient coins that are in constant demand, while there are truly rare ancient coins for which there is little interest. It is in your best interest to research past sales records when considering making a purchase. Aren’t there any coin catalogs through which I can get values for ancient coins in a similar manner as U.S. coins are valued? There are coin books and catalogs in which a value is suggested for an ancient coin. However, since these books are not…

The short reign of British King Edward VIII has always fascinated numismatists as well as historians. One of the more interesting events connected with this subject came in the latter part of February 2010 when the well-known firm of Ira & Larry Goldberg was able to purchase a set of coins of this ruler, who occupied the throne of the United Kingdom for only a few months in 1936. The price was $2.1 million, an extraordinary sum for a proof set struck by the London Mint. There are rumors that this set may have come from some branch of the royal family that had obtained it in early 1937, but it may be many years before the whole story comes out. It is also thought the set had passed from…

Counterfeit coins have always been a problem. While some fake ancient coins are contemporary fakes meant to be used as money, others are modern pieces meant to deceive collectors and museums alike. The German state of Saxony-Anhalt recently launched an ambitious campaign through which the state plans to digitize its cultural heritage, archaeological finds, and its historical coins. The Saxony-Anhalt State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology has an inventory of about 20,000 coins that has been described as being “often several centuries old.” Until now the inventory had been cataloged by hand. Concerns about the authenticity of these coins includes not only fakes having gone undetected in the collection but the risk of a fake being substituted for a genuine coin when a coin is being returned following having…

The European Union’s 1- and 2-cent euro coins continue to move closer to becoming an extinct form of specie. Malta is the latest nation participating in the common eurozone currency system to voice concern about the continuing use of the two lowest denomination coins within the physical cash system. Finland phased out the two denominations in 2002. This was followed by the Netherlands in 2004, Belgium in 2014, Ireland in 2015, and Italy in 2018. Other EU nations have suggested they, too, might consider phasing out the denominations, although the coins remain legal tender throughout the common currency zone. The cost of manufacturing the two denominations is a concern. The European Central Bank is responsible for the issue of all EU bank notes; however, the central bank of each country…

“May you become as smart as the rabbit!” This is how the Monoglian fairy tale about the smart rabbit ends. Unlike in Grimms’ fairy tales, in Mongolia the rabbit is not the natural enemy of the fox. Both are evenly matched and equal denizens of the forest. Their stories modify the eternally relevant theme of David vs. Goliath: in the fairy tale about the smart rabbit, for example, the rabbit has to prevail against the wolf in order to get a lamb out of harm’s way. With its “Woodland Spirits” series, CIT Coin Invest AG has dedicated a numismatic tribute to the heroes of our forest fairy tales. After the first issue depicting a fox, which sold out fast, this new coin features a rabbit. Thanks to Smartminting technology, the…

The region in what is today Belgium and the Netherlands that was occupied by the ancient Romans appears to be larger than previously known, the evidence being a recent find of coins. The find consists of four silver denarii and 103 bronze composition sestertii and as coins. Recent research on the find conducted by Leiden University historian Liesbeth Claes indicates the coins were struck between the reigns of Roman Emperor Vespasian in AD 69 through that of Marcus Aurelius in AD 180, with one exception. That denarius was struck in 90 BC by the Roman moneyer C. Calpurnius Piso L.F. Frugi, a son-in-law to the famed Roman statesman and orator Cicero. The coins were found in 2017 by two local men using metal detectors. The men had been sweeping fields…

The celebration of Christmas, the Olympics, or other predictable and repetitive events are increasingly being marked by coins. While these events are important, they pale when compared to the many mints and countries that are now issuing coins to mark the annually celebrated tradition of the Lunar New Year. The zodiac symbols of the Lunar New Year, or shengxiao (“born resembling”), are repeated in a 12-year cycle, each year being represented by a rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig, in that order. This year, which began on Feb. 5, is the Year of the Pig. People following the tradition associate each animal with certain characteristics that are believed to fit the personality of people born in that lunar year. Coins marking the Lunar…

Not only does Egypt have new coin designs in circulation but the north African nation is experimenting with a machine through which bank notes can be converted to these coins in an effort to ensure more coins and less bank notes are used in commerce. Major national projects are the theme of the new coins first announced Feb. 4 by the Ministry of Finance, representing the Egyptian Mint Authority. The theme of the new coins is, “raise awareness of national projects in the fields of renewable energy, irrigation, agriculture, roads, and urban development, which represent some of the achievements of the current government,” according to Sherif Hazem, an advisor to Egypt Finance Minister Mostafa Madbouli. Hazem was quoted in an article appearing in the Egypt Independent newspaper. It was Madbouli…

This month, the comedy of errors is over. We are back on track with our trip across Europe with four German states coins, three of which are recent additions to my collection and one that was acquired years ago. Next month will lead off with my most recent acquisition, a cast coin from the second siege of Mantua in the Napoleonic Wars. Contact Don Dool with questions, corrections, and comments at dool@comcast.net. Works Cited Eklund, O. P. Copper Coins of German States. Colorado Springs: American, 1963. Rpt. Of ”Copper Coins of German States.” The Numismatist. Krause, Chester L., and Mishler, Clifford. Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800. Ed. Colin R. Bruce II. Iola, WI: Krause, 1993. Neumann, Josef. Beschreibung der bekanntesten Kupfermünzen. 6 vols. Prague: 1858-1872. Rpt. 7 vols. Leipzig,…

A new 2019 three-ounce Mongolia 2,000 togrog “Prehistoric Beasts” coin in .999 fine silver with Red-rock finish, measuring 65 mm in diameter, will be available from CIT Coin Invest AG. Mintage is 999 pieces by B. H. Mayer’s Kunstprägeanstalt, Munich. In 2018, CIT initiated the series with a Velociraptor mongoliensis. In 2019, this success story continues with the Protoceratops andrewsi. The two prehistoric species share a close connection. A fossil was found in the Mongolian Gobi Desert in 1971 that shows a Velociraptor fighting a Protoceratops. This is remarkable because the find was the first evidence of the Velociraptor with its razor-sharp claws really having been the dangerous predator it is presented as in Jurassic Park. For the purpose of boosting the arc of suspense, the dimensions of the turkey-sized…

On Jan. 23, 1719, The Holy Roman Emperor decreed a new principality within his domain. It was to be called “Lichtenstein” after his “true servant, Anton Florian of Liechtenstein.” This year, the country celebrates the 300th anniversary of the Principality’s creation. To mark the tercentenary, five commemorative coins have been produced by Lichtenstein’s very own Coin Invest Trust. For numismatists, this is a remarkable event. The official currency of the Principality is the Swiss franc. Commemorative coins are issued only occasionally and only with the consent of the Swiss Department of Finance. The last to be struck was in 2006. Lichtenstein’s origins date back well before 1719. The family originally came from Liechtenstein Castle in Lower Austria. Although they had possessed the castle from at least 1140, they were never…

On Valentine’s Day, Britain’s Royal Mint announced the launch of the first BU sovereign having a matte finish. The reverse of the 2019-dated, 22.05 mm, 7.98 g, .9167 fine gold coin shows the usual Pistrucci design of St. George slaying the dragon. If you order from the BRM, you have an option of having the coin packaged in a special “On This Date and Always” sleeve featuring a “Congratulations” card that you can personalize with your own message. Mintage is 20,000.…

What are the worst nightmares a person can have? One of them is likely being trapped without being able to move; being stuck in quicksand; being separated from the rest of the world by an impenetrable membrane. The award-winning designers of CIT Coin Invest AG have dedicated an innovative coin to this fear. The piece, titled “TRAPPED,” alludes to the primal fears of humans and applies the most modern minting technology to do so. According to CIT, the 2019 Cook Islands 5-dollar coin will be struck in .999 fine silver, weigh one ounce, and measure 38.61 mm with an antique finish. Total mintage is 999 pieces, produced by B. H. Mayer’s Kunstprägeanstalt of Munich. In order to be able to depict a front-facing portrait that appears to be covered by…

The market for Britain’s 5-guinea gold pieces has run red hot for many a moon. All previous results, however, paled into insignificance on Jan. 13. Lot 69 of Baldwins of St. James’s New York Premier Sale consisted of a rare 5 guineas of Queen Anne dated 1703 (SECVNDO) with the magic word VIGO below the monarch’s bust (KM-520.1; S-3561; cf. Schneider 523). In a superb PCGS-MS62 grading, it carried an estimate of $1,000,000-1,500,000. Its appearance on the block opened a round of intense bidding from room, phone, and online. But the battle soon settled to an intense tussle between two phone bidders with the hammer making its final fall at $900,000. That in itself is a world record hammer price for a British coin. With buyer’s premium added the total…

For complete show listings visit NumisMaster.com The World Coin News club show and commercial events calendar is a guide to events with a focus for world-coin collectors. Domestic events scheduled up to 10 weeks in advance of the issue date and foreign events up to six months in advance are listed. Abbreviations used: “A” – Admission charge; “T” – number of tables; “F” – Table fee; “N/A” – not available. Other data required for submitting a listing: name and address of show site, and name and address of bourse chairman or other contact person. APRIL Apr 4-6 FL, Orlando. Central Florida Coin Club Coin and Currency Show. Orlando Event Center, 5250 International Dr.. SH: Thurs. 12pm - 6pm, Fri. 9am - 6pm, Sat. 9am - 5pm. SP: Central Florida Coin…