Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2021 i World Coin News

We’ve all seen our share of well circulated coins that don’t deserve to be treated as anything other than scrap. Would you treat such things as busted up bronze swords, axes, and even jewelry as being collectible coins (more likely odd and curious money) if you knew these objects dated from the late Bronze Age of about 1350 to 800 BC? According to a recent article titled ‘A small change revolution. Weight systems and the emergence of the first Pan-European money’ published in the May issue of Journal of Archaeological Science not only were such scraps used as a form of primitive money prior to the invention of the coin, but they were used as cash across what at the time was a global market encompassing Eurasia. So, how can…

Base metal coins that circulate in countries all over the world are generally accepted to be fiat money. They have perhaps a nominal intrinsic value, but they carry face values far exceeding their value if the coins were to be scrapped. The Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina drew attention to its unusual monetary arrangement when it announced its recently released 2021-dated coins, pointing out that the coins are ‘convertible marks.’ Each is issued after the central bank’s currency board determines the coin is covered at a fixed exchange rate in foreign currency. Can it be argued since these convertible mark coins are backed by this foreign currency assurance does this assurance make Bosnia and Herzegovina coins specie? According to the CBBH web site, “The Central Bank of Bosnia and…

THE OWL WAS associated with Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom, from very early on in archaic artworks. Often depicted perching on Athena’s hand, I think the owl stays so close to imbue his wisdom to the goddess. Because of its strong connection with Athena, the owl evolved into the Athenians’ own icon and graced a large variety of coins such as the tetradrachm from as early as the 5th century B.C. The Athenian Owl tetradrachm is probably one of the most recognized ancient coin designs. I would expect that any collector of ancient Greek coinage has one in their collection. Many folks who only have light interest in ancient coins might also own an example, perhaps well circulated, in their peripheral holdings. It is a very popular type. CIT…

WELCOME TO THE new Tiffany Art series – Metropolis. Designed to feature famous urban landscapes the new Metropolis Tiffany Art series begins with a city on almost all travelers want lists: Paris, France. The high degree of detail in this city scape is quite stunning and the blue and turquoise Tiffany glass are perfect choices for the river Seine dividing Paris. While the extensive detail of the reverse is amazing, the obverse design of these coins is equally pleasing. Featuring the Pond Alexandre III built in 1900, and providing an exceptionally high relief, this side of the coin also identifies the issuing nation of Palau. National arms and denomination is set alongside the city name of Paris, below which we see my favorite French phrase, je t’aime. Both the $20…

Dealers, collectors, and auction houses are all preparing for the August ANA World’s Fair of Money. We have been seeing many releases on what visitors can expect to see next month, building the excitement. Recently, Stack’s Bowers Galleries announced that they will be presenting the Loch Ness Collection of Scottish Coins as part of their world coin auction. In the June issue, we saw some of their anticipated highlights, including a rare 1910 Nicholas I proof 100 Perpera, and an 1878 Umberto I silver 5 lire. Now as the date of the auction draws nearer, more information is becoming available. The complete offering will include various types and denominations with over 100 coins and medals from a John Baliol halfpenny to the impressive 20-pound piece of James VI, the largest…

I recently read about a punch mark made on Russian coins collected by a Count Hutten-Czapski. Can you identify what this mark is for me? Count Emeryk Z.M. Hutton-Czapski (1828-1896) applied a small hallmark of the Sforza family shield to coins in his collection in the same manner as did the d’Este family in Italy. The count worked in the civil service of the Russian Empire. Among his many collectibles were 900 Russian coins he sold to Grand Duke George Mikhailovich, using the money to expand his Polish coin collection. Do you know how one can tell the difference between the German 1950-G 50-pfenning originals and the unauthorized ones? According to Numismatic Guarantee Corporation, “The 1950-G dated [50-pfennig] coin was re-struck without authorization by a mint official using genuine dies—quantity…

“Courts failed to consider the damaged caused by theft” They threw the book at them. Two men previously convicted of stealing more than 3,600 ancient gold coins in Romania were ordered to pay reparations in May. Law enforcement got the legal aspects of this crime right, but do they understand what these criminals stole? On May 20, Darius Liviu Baci and Mircea Mihaila were ordered to pay more than $5.2 million in compensation to the state by a court in Alba Lulia, Romania. The pair were in prison between 2016 and 2020 after being convicted on the theft charges. They had not previously been ordered to make payment for what they stole. The pair met Florin Sebastian Zvînca and Romica Hîndorean in Austria, both of whom specialized in plundering antiquities…

ABOUT 2,500 YEARS ago the land now known as Russia saw its first coined money. Colonists and traders from Greece, Athens in particular, carried silver coins with them on their trips to the northern shore of the Black Sea. From that small beginning their use spread slowly throughout eastern Europe. Over the succeeding centuries southern Russia was ruled by different entities, each providing its own brand of coinage. When the Roman Empire began to collapse in the fifth century, its eastern half – later to be known as the Byzantine Empire – established a strong and viable state. The Byzantine authorities at Constantinople from time to time allowed local administrators in the Crimea to produce cast coinage to supplement the regular issues. Silver was scarce, and gold came but little…

“Heritage Auctions has begun listing which coins will be up for auction at the ANA.” HERITAGE HAS JUST begun cataloging the coins consigned to their ANA auction, so I took some time and picked through the early listings to find some interesting and unusual items. These are coins in which I have an academic interest from a cataloging standpoint. Some are rare types, many are grade rarities, and a few are coins I just never see for sale. Everyone admires the Central American Republic sun and mountains design and we see elements of the image used in various forms and on multiple coins throughout the Americas. In August, Heritage has the pleasure of offering for sale the finest known example of a Central American Republic sun and mountains 8 Reales…

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. AUGUST Aug 1 MA, Dedham. First Sunday Stamp and Coin Show. Holiday Inn, 55 Ariadne Rd. SH: 9-4. SP: Edward Donegan. A: Free. T: 35. F: $65. Edward Donegan, 210 North Central Street, East Bridgewater, MA,…

“Thailand began to modernize to keep up with the international market.” IT WAS KING MONGKUT who had the first Siamese flat coins put into circulation. The King was being bothered by the British, who were always angling for better deals and warning them about the French. He clearly saw that his country was in an adapt or die situation. The trick was to do the modernizing without losing sovereignty. On the one hand was local politics, which is to say nobles with their own assets and armies, and traditional ways of doing things. On the other hand, the Europeans obviously had better military stuff, and all these other things they did differently than in Siam. Hard to tell what the good stuff was and what was just exotic foreign habits.…

You could consider it being the medieval form of ransomware. The question being asked is why a hoard of silver Carolingian deniers has been discovered in Poland. Until the 118 coins were recently discovered in a farmer’s field only three such coins had ever been found within the borders of what is now modern Poland. The first coins in the trove were encountered in a field near Biskupiec in November 2020 by metal detector enthusiasts. The finders had provincial government permission to search the area. The nearby Museum of Ostróda was notified of the find in secret, giving experts the opportunity to study the site. It appears the area where the coins were found had been wilderness at the time the coins were hidden. Biskupiec is in northeastern Poland in…

The collector’s world recently lost a most generous gentleman that collectors both here and in Europe can recall as a good friend and a sincere numismatist. Gus Pappas passed away peacefully this past May 13, 2021 in his native Indianapolis, Indiana. He was known to be a passionate collector of modern coins from his native Greece. His collection was ranked as one of the top three collections of the coins of Greece from 1828 to the present in the numismatic world before its dispersal. Gus was born on July 24, 1944 in a small town in Arcadia, Greece and immigrated at the age of 14 with his family to the United States and settled in Indianapolis. As a young man he became intrigued with the modern coins of Greece and…

A new book on all the coins of Sweden from 995 to 2021 is now available in a compact, 512-page, full color, 8.25×5.75 inch format, and at a price of just $9.95 (plus $5.75 postage & handling). Myntårsboken 995-2021 (or Coin Yearbook 995-2021), is by the Swedish numismatist and author Roberto Delzanno, who has also recently published Swedish Gold Coins 1512-2020 and Swedish Coin Book 995-2022, a pair of major works on the gold and other coins of Sweden and its possessions. This new book is a pocket version of these two, that while compressed, uses the same numbering system to easily identify the coins. Coin Yearbook is published annually with the latest price updates, new variants, errors, etc., in addition to the latest scientific findings in terms of attributions…