Innholdsfortegnelse for July 2019 i World Coin News

The Showdex section lists numismatic shows for 2019 in chronological order. For more information about a show listed in the Showdex section, note the state or country in which the show is held and find the appropriate listing in the Show Guide section beginning on Page A6. June 2019 Jun 13-15 NC, Concord . Carolina Coin and Stamp Shows. Jun 13-16 MO, Kansas City. 43rd Annual IPMS. Jun 14-15 KS, Wichita. 36th Annual Coin & Stamp Show. Jun 15 FL, Brandon. Coin & Currency Show. Jun 15 IL, Lincoln. Railsplitter Spring Coin Show. Jun 16 FL, Plantation. 3rd Sunday Coin Show. Jun 16 IL, Itasca. 3rd Sunday N.O.I.S.E. Coin Show. Jun 16 IA, Council Bluffs. Monthly Coin & Bullion Show. Jun 16 MN, South St. Paul. South St. Paul Coin…

At one time the United Kingdom had half and third farthings, farthings, halfpennies, and pennies. As inflationary pressures mounted the lowest of these denominations became non-functional and eventually were discontinued. The third farthing was initially issued for circulation on Malta. The denomination ceased to be issued in 1913. The half farthing was issued for use in Ceylon (modern Sri Lanka) in 1828, later becoming legal tender in Great Britain as well. The farthing met its demise in 1960, while the halfpenny survived until 1984, the year in which the denomination was demonetized. The penny has continued, even though the penny has been reduced in diameter from 30.86 millimeters to 20.3mm as of 1967 (a 30.86mm proof was issued in 1970). For comparison, the current U.S. cent has a diameter of…

Coins can be a form of ‘index fossil.’ Coins can help date a dig site, identify past trade routes, and even political boundaries. Finds in England have proved to be particularly fruitful, combining finds of coins with everything from weapons to fine art. The extremely rare coin of ancient Roman usurper Ulpius Cornelius Laelianus recently encountered at the site of a new 21-mile bypass is just one of many artifacts recently uncovered by Highways England as the government organization continues to improve a highway identified as A14 between Cambridge and Huntingdon. Archaeologists, paleontologists, and numismatists must be careful not to misinterpret what comes out of the ground as necessarily being associated with each other. In the case of the highway improvement, such unrelated things as the remains of an Ice…

Currently the 2019 International Horticultural Exhibition is being staged in Beijing. It is the largest gardening show in history and the largest international event China has staged since the 2008 Olympics. Held over five months it is expected to attract more than 16 million visitors. It covers over 1,240 acres [503 ha], dwarfing the Chelsea Flower Show by 1,220 acres [495 ha]. Two villages were relocated to accommodate it. From the outset the Chinese were keen to have a record number of countries and international organizations attending and providing pavilion displays. In this they have been 100% successful with over 100 indoor and outdoor gardens, and pavilions hosted by more than 80 countries. One greenhouse alone covers some three-quarters of an acre [3,000 square meters] and houses 1,000 plant species.…

I understand there was a problem in Canada recently when due to the drop in the spot price of silver the face value of some of Canada’s commemorative silver coins exceeded their intrinsic value. Has this happened elsewhere? It has happened previously in both Panama (gold $100 coins) and the British Virgin Islands (silver coins). In both cases the governments reneged, removing their legal tender status. Each was a one-sided deal, earning money for the government, but with no intention of honoring these coins as money. The United States issued its 2017 $25 palladium coins with much fanfare. Who else has issued coins of this metal? Only a handful of countries have ever issued coins composed of this metal. Sierra Leone was the first in 1966, followed by the Russian…

The Royal Mint will be commemorating 160 years since the birth of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, with a coin dedicated to his most famous creation – the detective Sherlock Holmes. The sleuth’s profile, complete with pipe and deerstalker will appear on a 50p piece surrounded by the names of his most popular adventures. The designer of the coin – Stephen Raw – chose to create a design that requires a magnifying glass to read the names of these famous cases, hoping to bring out the “inner detective” of anyone who finds the coin in their change. The character of Sherlock Holmes has inspired countless films, video games, radio plays and TV series. In addition to creating one of the world’s most famous fictional characters, Conan Doyle also highlighted how important…

Don’t they say geography is destiny? I’m going to write about Syria for the next several articles, getting eventually to the coins. I started with the Wikipedia History of Syria, where I was reminded that this country contains several oldest in the world artifacts of human culture. I mean big, systemic artifacts like cities, metal work, and agriculture. But there’s a discrepancy in my thought process. When I think earliest civilization (in the sense of “cities”) I think of Sumer and Akkad, located a few hundred miles east in what is now Iraq, and of mighty Egypt, which is way to the west in a different continent. Somehow, in my historical outlook, I overlook the place where it all started (at least on that side of Eurasia). Syria. This is…

AAA Historical Americana - World Exonumia, P.O. Box 4143, Rockford, IL 61110; (815) 226-0771; fax (815) 301-9696; email hartzog@exonumia.com; website www.exonumia.com. B. Ahlstrom Mynthandel AB, Radmansgatan 21, 114 25 Stockholm, Sweden; (46) 08-10-10-10; fax (46) 08-678-77-77. Stephen P. Alpert’s Exonumia, P.O. Box 335441,North Las Vegas, NV 89033-5441; (702) 473-9071; email quadra1@cox.net. Archives International LLC, 1580 Lemoine Ave., Suite 7, Fort Lee, NJ 07024; (201) 944-4800. Arneson Auction Service, 6902 Icon Ave., Sparta, WI 54656; (608) 797-5086. Astarte S.A., Via Cantonale, 1/A, CH-6900 Lugano, Switzerland.; 0041 (0)91 923 3640; fax 0041 (0) 91 922 55 74; email info@astartesa.com. Auctions Unlimited, P.O. Box 5595, Phoenix, AZ 85010; (480) 998-4001. Baldwin’s Auctions Ltd., 11 Adelphi Terrace, London WC2N 6BJ, England; (44) 171-930-9808 or (44) 171-930-6879; fax (44) 171-930-9450. Harlan J. Berk Ltd., 31…

Sweden blinked! The nation leading the cashless society charge recently acknowledged that no matter how sophisticated a system of electronic transfers becomes, individuals need to keep physical currency on hand in case of an emergency. As the May 4 London newspaper The Times put it, “Sweden, the nation that pioneered living without cash, warns: Hoard your bank notes.” The warning bell was rung by the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency, an administrative authority under the Ministry of Defense. The SCCA is responsible for issues concerning civil protection, public safety, emergency management, and civil defense. The agency suggests that every home in Sweden keep a stash of small denomination bank notes in case of technical problems that could arise from a cyber attack, terrorist attack, or war. Nothing was said regarding a…

Australia’s current $50 bank note has joined a small but unusual group of coins and bank notes—there is a misspelled word on the note. The polymer substrate note issued on Oct. 18, 2018 depicts a vignette of Alan ‘Chirpy’ Campbell on one side, and a vignette of Edith Cowan on the other. Cowan also appears on the back of an earlier $50 note issued between 2003 and 2013 on which a vignette of David Unaipon appears on the front. Cowan was the first woman member of an Australian parliament. Among the anti-counterfeiting measures on the note is a swan that appears to fly and the holographic numeral 50 that reverses when the note is viewed at different angles. It was unintended, but the Campbell/ Cowan $50 note also includes a…

August 30 has been set as the date on which the Peoples’ Bank of China will issue its new fifth series of coins and bank notes. As might be expected the Chinese central bank is keeping most of the details of the changes close to the vest. It has been announced that the major design elements will not change, but there will be “some minor adjustments.” The new bank notes will include more advanced anti-counterfeiting technology. The quality of the printing will be improved in an effort to ensure verifying authenticity will become easier. The central bank also announced the typeface denomination numeral on the obverse of the 1-yuan coin will be adjusted and the floral pattern on the reverse will be appropriately scaled back since the diameter of the…

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. JUNE Jun 26-28 Japan, Hong Kong. World Coins and Paper Money. www.ha.com Jun 29-30 CA, Arcadia. San Gabriel Valley Coin, Currency, and Collectibles Show. Arcadia Masonic Center, 50 West Duarte Road. Scott McNatt. PH: 818- 667-2329. JULY Jul 5-7 FL, Lakeland. 67th…

The major rarities of the vast Morris Collection of Roman Imperial coins was sold by Heritage Auctions as part of their January 2019 NYINC sale. As announced at the time the remainder of the collection is to be sold through dedicated monthly internet auctions over the remainder of this year. On May 26 Part I of the sale was completed with extremely satisfactory results. The 507 lots brought in $60,000 over the high estimate of $156,000 for a total of $215,704. Numerous unlisted varieties realized multiples of high estimate with sestertii being particularly active. The top-priced gold item was a delightful 20 mm, 4.42 g solidus of Leo V the Armenian, Emperor of the Byzantine Empire AD 813-820 (Sear 1627). Struck at Constantinople the obverse shows Leo wearing crown and…

The Show Guide section provides geographic information about numismatic shows scheduled for 2019. To look up a show quickly by date alone, or if you first need to find out where a particular show will be held, use the Showdex section beginning on Page A23. Show dates and locations are sometimes changed at the last minute, so it’s best to call the promoter or show site before traveling a long distance. Except as otherwise indicated by the name of a sponsoring organization, shows listed are commercially sponsored events. If no listing appears for a state, there are no shows in that state during the covered period. Abbreviations used: A – admission charge; T – number of tables; ( ) – number of primarily numismatic tables at a multi-hobby shows; F…

Are we from the United States, or are we Americans? We use both terms and neither appears to bother anyone. This is not so if you live in the Southeast European nation of Macedonia—or is it North Macedonia? Perhaps this sounds petty. But, the dispute regarding if the former Yugoslavian region should be called Macedonia or North Macedonia became such a sticking point it took the Prespa Agreement of June 2018 to get the country to agree to being called North Macedonia. Even then the parliaments of both Macedonia and Greece had to ratify the agreement before it went into effect. This tempest in a tea pot arose due to there being a Republic of Macedonia adjacent to the region of Macedonia that is part of Greece, and the ancient…

It looks like France is about to do something that would likely be considered unconstitutional if it were done in the United States. Monnaie de Paris, the mint of France, has recently issued commemorative coins to help raise funds to repair the recent fire-ravaged Cathedral de Notre Dame de Paris. In the United States commemorative coins have been issued that are earmarked specifically to help fund or commemorate something. Funds raised from the sale of each issue goes to a pre-designated organization as planned when the legislation approving each commemorative was approved by Congress. Commemorative coins have been issued to fund everything from Olympiads to charities worldwide. In the U.S. the idea of raising funds to help rebuild a damaged church wouldn’t be permitted, but this isn’t true everywhere. What…

Four individuals identified as Deepali Goswami, Subhash (no last name given), Rakesh Bhati, and Nasir Ali were charged by police in Faridabad, India with counterfeiting 5-rupee coins on May 20. According to Police Commissioner Sanjay Kumar, Naresh Goswami, husband of Deepali Goswami, “contacted Charkhi Dadri’s Naresh, serving a jail sentence on the charge of minting fake coins, and learnt the technique of minting fake coins.” Deepali was operating the non-government organization, Paryavaran Foundation, for physically challenged persons as a cover for the counterfeiting organization. The individual known only as Rakesh was her driver. Kumar said Deepali Goswami and Subhash were stopped at a police checkpoint on the Surajkund road in Faridabad. “The police found 20 packets of 5-rupee coins under the seats of Innova (in which they were travelling). When…

On June 1, 1969, a hastily written and partly improvised song by John Lennon called “Give Peace a Chance” was performed by the “Plastic Ono Band”. It was recorded in Room 1742 at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal where John and Yoko were holding their famous “Bed-in for Peace” protest. Numerous media representatives and celebrities were in attendance. The release of the record would see the song soar to no. 2 in the U.K. Singles Chart and no. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. It quickly became the anthem of the anti-Vietnam War and counterculture movements. To mark the 50th anniversary of the recording The Royal Canadian Mint has produced a 38 mm, 31.39 g .9999 fine silver proof $20 with a mintage of 9,999. The…