Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2021 i World Coin News

The Pobjoy Mint has announced a beautiful new series of 50p coins featuring Sea Creatures, which is being issued on behalf of the British Indian Ocean Territory. Comparable to earlier Pobjoy Mint sets of turtles and penguins, this new Sea Creatures series should be ideal for introducing children to coin collecting, as well as satisfying the high demand endemic in adult collectors of animal coins. The British Indian Ocean Territory comprises the 50 islands of the Chagos Archipelago which is only a total area of 44 square kilometers, but the territorial seas cover over 60,000 square kilometers containing coral reefs which comprise over 10% of Indian Ocean reef cover and the cleanest seawater ever recorded. This means that the waters around Chagos are a vital natural laboratory for scientists to…

AFTER 27 YEARS of experience in the coin and bullion industry, Natanya Van Niekerk has left her distinctive artistic mark on both legal tender coins and investment bullion pieces. She has experienced the inner workings of our industry at the national mint, private mint and refinery levels. The constant in each of those channels was that Van Niekerk pursued a holistic approach to precious metal design, combining politics, environment and art. This approach guided Van Niekerk in the creation of almost 20 award-winning coin designs, from 1996 to 2013, including nine Mint Directors Conference (MDC) awards and three Coin of the Year (COTY) category awards, two of which went on to win the overall COTY in the 1999 and 2011 competitions. But this recognition did not appear overnight, as Van…

THE ROYAL AUSTRALIAN Mint has launched a new coin collection to commemorate the centenary of the Royal Australian Air Force. Flying under the name “A Century of Air Power –2021” this set will contain eleven coins featuring color depictions of RAAF aircraft from the beginning with the S.E.5a bi-plane to the present with the F-35A Joint Strike Fighter. Speaking at the launch of the coins, the Mint’s new CEO Leigh Gordon, AO, CSM, said collaborations like this one with the Royal Australian Air Force continue to help the Mint showcase the important work of Australian organizations. “Through our coin releases, the Mint aims to commemorate significant events, anniversaries and organizations that are meaningful to the Australian people. Over the last century, the Royal Australian Air Force has made a significant…

IN 2010 THE Real Casa de la Moneda in Madrid, Spain began a series of 2 Euro commemorative coins dedicated to the Spanish sites in the UNESCO’s World Heritage List. Happily this series continues in 2021 with a new issue featuring the Old Town of Toledo. The Puerta del Sol city gate is displayed prominently on this coin and if you have ever been there, then you know it’s really a great site to see. The Old Town of Toledo was added to the UNESCO World Heritage sites list in 1986. The Puerta del Sol city gate was featured on a coin in the popular 5 euro silver series in 2012, but never on a bi-metallic coin in my recollection. Additionally, this 2021 issue shows the Knights Hospitaller built Puerta…

A few weeks ago, I described how the U.S. Mint is limited by federal statute from paying more than the paper market spot price for the metals it purchases to strike gold and silver American Eagles. As a result, the U.S. Mint is unable to comply with other federal statutes that require it to produce enough of these coins to satisfy public demand. The U.S. Mint isn’t the only government operation that has production problems. In Mexico, Banco Azteca has been selling an average of about 50,000 pieces monthly of the Mexico 1-ounce silver Libertad bullion coin. This bank is still listed on the Casa de Moneda de Mexico website as one of the national distributors of these coins. However, a member of the family that owns this bank reported…

THOUGH APRIL SHOWERS might bring May flowers, all that’s on my mind in April is tracking the stellar Pinnacle Collection of Asian coinage set to cross the block in Hong Kong through the auspices of Stack’s Bowers & Ponterio. Presenting over 5,000 lots with a total pre-auction estimate exceeding $16.5 million, this sale hits the market at just the right time and with the best possible high-grade rarities imaginable. Nelson Chang began to assemble the fabulous NC Collection of vintage Chinese coins beginning in the mid-1970s. Chang’s successful Wall Street career specializing in commodities and non-traditional assets provided a solid base from which to focus on collecting the rarest of Chinese coins in the highest quality. A Shanghai native, Nelson returned to China in the 1970s for the first time…

STEPHEN ALBUM RARE COINS, or SARC as I call them, will present the firm’s 40th Auction May 13-15, following their Internet Auction 9 on April 12. Consignments are arriving at a steady pace because SARC does a great job of cataloging, which is often the key to realizing the best prices at auction. While Internet Auction 9 offers some great opportunities to acquire late 19th century Chinese Provincial Dragon decimal coins of 5, 10 and 20 cent denominations, one should not overlook the exceptional British India coins in the sale. If the Unusual World Coins material is more to your liking, then check out the Karl Goetz private patterns of Germany that are offered. The Italian selections include a 1946 aluminum 2 Lire in MS65, a not often seen Corisca…

Why do we include medals under the umbrella term numismatics? Coin collecting is part of numismatics, but numismatics is more than just collecting coins. Numismatics is the study of money, this including coins, tokens, paper money, electronic payments and any other form of resolving a debt for a good or service. It is also the study of coin-like objects including medals. I’ve heard someone named Pisanello was the first modern medalist. What can you tell me about him? Antonio di Puccio Pisano (about 1380 to 1395 to about 1450 to 1455) was a Renaissance Italian artist known for large murals, portraiture, drawings, and commemorative portrait medals inspired by ancient Roman coins. Pisano or Pisanello as he is better known, was commissioned by the doges of Venice, the pope, and courts…

Images of Britannia have appeared on coins of the British Isles since Roman times. The first images of Britannia were based on Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus, (AD 41-55), the son of Roman Emperor Claudius with his third wife Valeria Messalina. The British Isles were named for this son. During the second century Roman Emperor Hadrian (AD 177-138) resurrected the image on coinage, but this time as a female Britannia perhaps inspired by goddess of war Minerva. Hadrian justified the change as portraying naval strength. Antonius Pius (AD 138-161) followed with further depictions of Britannia on Roman coins. The image was then put to rest until the 17th century. King Charles II introduced England’s first regal farthing coinage in 1672, a copper coin on which a female Britannia appears seated on…

It’s been a long time coming, but it appears the Bank of Central African States (BCAS) is finally ready to issue new coins and bank notes as was approved almost two years earlier. A new currency was approved on October 2, 2019 by the Ministerial Committee of the Central African Monetary Union. It was early March 2021 before depictions of vignettes to appear on new bank notes began appearing on online platforms. Even as of mid-March when contacted by the Business in Cameroon news agency the central bank had “no information about the new bank notes and coins series [that] could be published for the time being.” The proposed new notes appearing online are in denominations of XA500, XA1,000, XA2,000, XA5,000, and XA10,000 (CFA or Central African francs). Nothing had…

Both the editor and I really like the look of this 2021 Triumphant Dragon issue from the Royal Canadian Mint. This coin has such an arresting design and the selective gold plating is a big part of what makes it pop. The Dragon’s eyes exhibit strength, determination and utter joy. As we begin 2021, this coin offers the perfect motivation for achieving a successful year. According to the Chinese legend of the Carp and the Dragon Gate, schools of carp in the Yellow River would swim against the current and attempt to leap over the Dragon Gate. Reaching the top of the waterfall was a seemingly impossible feat for all but the most determined fish. The carp that triumphed over such extreme adversity and made the leap was rewarded for…

WITH THE RISE of Ivan IV (the Terrible) in the 16th century, Russia became a force to be reckoned with in European politics. In 1547 Ivan proclaimed himself czar and this, perhaps more than any other act, signaled the end of the Muscovite state and the creation of a resurrected Russia. Ivan IV was succeeded in 1584 by his son (Fedor I), whose chief minister and brother-in-law, Boris Godunov, gradually built up a power base with an eye towards becoming czar himself, as Fedor had no children. The only other surviving son of Ivan the Terrible, Dmitry, had been brutally murdered in 1591; many thought Boris himself had ordered the killing. With the death of Fedor I in 1598, Boris became czar. On September 1, 1598, the traditional date, the…

TREASURE AUCTION 29 will be presented by the well-known Latin American coinage experts at Daniel Frank Sedwick, LLC on May 7-8 & 10, 2021. Featured is a stellar selection of rare and high grade Colombian coins traveling under the name Esmeralda Collection. DFS worked with NGC to design a special label for the Esmeralda Collection coins, which sports one of the most recognized busts of Colombia’s pre-republican period. The two crowning highlights from the Esmeralda Collection include; the Bogota, Colombia gold 4 escudos of 1826 JF by far the finest known at NGC MS64 and estimated at $35,000 and up; plus a Bogota, Colombia 8 reales of 1819 JF from Nueva Granada with the Libertad Americana legend, also the finest known at NGC MS64 and estimated at $25,000 and up.…

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 25 FL, Greenacres. Palm Beach Coin Club’s Monthly Coin Show. American Polish Club, 4725 Lake Worth Road. SH: 9am - 3pm. SP: Palm Beach Coin Club. A: Free. T: 50. Tony Swicer, PO Box 5823, Lake Worth, FL, 33466. PH:…

A Chinese news agency recently reported a woman being arrested for throwing coins from a moving vehicle. The woman said she was practicing a superstition involving money. Several years earlier there was a rash of individuals throwing coins at the engines of jet airplanes, also in China, also practicing a superstition. Be it custom or superstition, yes people are once more literally throwing their money away. The airplane incidents and the highway toss each involved low value coins, but metal coins can nevertheless do damage when thrown. According to a posting to the news service shine.cn/news/metro, “Police in the Pudong New Area received a report from a man surnamed Zhang on March 3 on the incident. Zhang said he was driving on the Outer Ring Road toward Longdong Elevated Road…

There is only so much inflation the currency of a country can withstand. Low denomination coins used in circulation can be viewed as a good thing since they represent low inflation. The introduction of increasingly higher denomination coins or bank notes can be viewed as signs of inflation. The African nation of South Sudan gained its independence from Sudan in 2011. It wasn’t until 2016 the new nation joined the East African Community. It has yet to join the Commonwealth of Nations. South Sudan is one of the poorest nations in the world. Sudan and South Sudan share about $38 billion U.S. in shared debt, some of which is owed to the World Bank, the Paris Club, and the International Monetary Fund. (The Paris Club is an informal group of…

CENTURIES AFTER HIS tales were first told around British campfires and hearths, The Royal Mint is celebrating the legendary hero Robin Hood. The iconic character, who famously stole from the rich to give to the poor, appears on the first coin in a new bullion collection inspired by British myth and legend. The Royal Mint’s new Myths and Legends bullion collection inaugural issue for 2021 features a modern interpretation of Robin Hood by well know coin designer, Jody Clark. One ounce gold and silver coins have been struck and are currently available on the Royal Mint website. They are denominated 100 pounds and 2 pounds respectively. Both the gold and silver strikes include a secure, micro-dot background texture, a great indication of the craftsmanship and security for which all precious…

THOUGH CROSSING THE block later in the Bruun Rasmussen spring 2021 auction, one of the truly outstanding rarities of the sale will be Queen Louise’s personal Royal Danish 50th Wedding Anniversary medal struck in gold. Only two of these medals were produced, one for King Christian IX and one for Queen Louise. The Queen’s medal passed eventually to their youngest son, Prince Valdemar and was subsequently sold into private collection in 1939. Remaining in private hands, this medal represents one of the collecting pinnacles of Danish medallic issues. The design is similar to that of the silver 2 Krone struck for public distribution in honor of the Royal couples 50th Wedding Anniversary in 1892. However, the gold medal offers plain fields below the conjoined busts of King and Queen and…