Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2021 i World Coin News

It’s been a while since anyone has seen updated versions of any of the Standard Catalogs, and you may be wondering what’s happening. Whether for paper money or coins, many have viewed Krause Publications’ Standard Catalogs as essential to their hobby or business. The coin and paper money listings of the Standard Catalogs originated in the 1970s and grew with each annual edition. People across the globe helped to build these listings by adding images, information and updated pricing information, while the KP staff continued researching and expanding, even as they kept updating and revising existing records. As the data stretched both backwards and forwards in time, new ways of presenting it had to be created. Eventually there were five printed volumes covering coins from the year 1501 through to…

RUSSIA IN THE early 1750s was in the lull before the storm. Peter the Great, who ruled from 1682 to 1725, long dreamed that his country would become a force to reckon with in European politics. It was not until late in the reign of the Empress Elizabeth (1741–1761) that this was to come true. Prussian King Frederick II (1740–1786) had great territorial ambitions but these clashed with powerful neighbors. One such enemy was Britain, whose possessions in Germany (Hanover) were a source of contention. King George II of England (1727–1760) went to great lengths to sign on Russia in an anti-Prussian coalition to save Hanover from becoming part of Frederick’s domain. Both France and Prussia strongly contested the English attempt to convert the Russians, via the payment of very…

IT HAS CERTAINLY been a wonderful year for Stack’s Bower’s and Ponterio in Honk Kong. They have hit the heights with auctions all through this fall. Their September 27 through October 7 auction offered about 8,050 lots containing coins, medals, tokens and currency. That was the biggest sale they have yet held in Hong Kong with sessions that ran almost nonstop for more than a week. Thirteen sessions lettered A-M, with 53 lots that cracked six figures when the hammer fell and a grand total in excess of $33 million dollars in sales. Two things to note about this landmark sale; that total of $33 million was roughly double the pre-sale estimates and that was the second consecutive Hong Kong auction for Stack’s Bower’s and Ponterio to surpass the $30…

MUSICIAN, PAINTER, ACTOR, poet, Herman Brood was a modern renaissance man. This year the creative and multi-talented Herman Brood (1946 – 2001) would have turned 75, and in his memory, the Royal Dutch Mint is launching a series of three special issues in collaboration with the Brood family. Beginning his career in the arts with a focus on music, Brood played in various bands before gaining some notoriety with the song Saturday Night from his band Herman Brood & His Wild Romance. After that his creative interests shifted towards visual arts, where he was influenced by the Cobra tradition of progressive artists and excelled in capturing the essence of rock performance. Brood’s style is characterized by large canvases with bright colors and thick black lines. These bright primary colors were…

VENUE CHANGE FOR NEW YORK INTERNATIONAL 2022 The New York International Numismatic Convention will be celebrating its 50th anniversary in January, the celebration being held in a different hotel than was originally planned.In an Oct. 6 announcement show convention chairman Kevin Foley said, “Because of the ongoing uncertainty arising from the fact that the Grand Hyatt New York, our site since 2018, remains closed due to COVID pandemic related issues, the NYINC and Grand Hyatt management have reached an amicable decision that it will be in the best interest of both parties for the NYINC to relocate to a new site.”Foley continued, “Our 50th Annual NYINC will be relocating to the InterContinental New York Barclay, located at 111 East 48th Street and Lexington Avenue. Located in the heart of Manhattan’s…

WHILE THERE ARE definitely a wide range of world silver bullion coins in the market these days, few will offer the attractive combination of polished devices and frosted fields that we see on the new Cutty Sark clipper ship struck by the Pobjoy Mint on behalf of the British Indian Ocean Territory. A one ounce .999 fine silver bullion coin with a 1 Royal denomination, the new Cutty Sark carries with it a fascinating chapter in the history of clipper ships and world trade. The Cutty Sark was a British Clipper ship that was built on the river Clyde in 1869. It was one of the last tea transporting clippers to be built and one of the fastest, coming at the end of a long period of design development. The…

In the world of numismatics, COVID has cast little or no shadow over the spirit of Christmas Present. A wide variety of coins continue to be struck to celebrate the season. Their designs are sufficient to satisfy all preferences, whether secular or religious, whether it is Christmas being celebrated or simply the Holiday Season. There are many potential numismatic gifts out there for the collectors in our lives. Just a few are outlined here. Both Australian mints tend to be early starters in the Christmas stakes. This year the Royal Australian Mint easily won the race with its third ever Christmas coin: a 31.51 mm, 15.55 g cupronickel BU 50 cents with an unlimited mintage. The reverse design takes its inspiration from the way many Dinkum Aussies celebrate Christmas: at…

TIBET HAD NOT been any kind of threat to any other state than themselves for many centuries when the Manchus came to power, but they happened to be the possessors of the equivalent of a pope to the kind of Buddhists the Manchu Emperors were. A political threat, then, not a military one, from the Manchu point of view. During the 18th century, they took over more and more administrative and policy functions “on behalf” of the Tibetan government. Recall that Tibet had for more than a century been purchasing coins from Nepal, that there had always been a built-in advantage to Nepal related to the fineness. The Nepalese would fiddle with the exchange rates, but their constant policy was to cheat the Tibetans. In 1788, the Nepalese did decide…

TRADITIONALLY ÉDITIONS VICTOR Gadoury runs a premium numismatic auction in Monaco during late October each year. Normally I will keep an eye on this sale for the coinage of Monaco, as it is one of the few in which the early and scarce Monaco pieces surface with regularity. This year’s sale offered about 2,000 lots and ran live from October 22-23, with special groupings for Ancients, Italy, France and Monaco. However, there were many nice items in other areas and lots of coins that gave us a start, regarding prices realized. We’ll share a few with you here and recommend that you check out the Éditions Victor Gadoury website at www.gadoury.com for future sales and current offerings, keeping in mind that you never know what you might find in with…

AS THE ECLECTIC Nature series begins for Cook Islands, through CIT and B.H. Mayer’s Mint, we’re very happy to see the beautiful Siamese Fighting Fish represented in this premier coin. The first feature that draws your attention to this silver crown is, of course, the vibrant colors of the fish, but very soon you realize that the polished silver proof side and the silky black finished area have also captured your attention. While not in the Yin and Yang traditional format, the dichotomy seen here is representative of the characteristics of this unusual fish. Beautiful in its coloring, yet ferocious in its territoriality, the Siamese Fighting Fish is a unique work in a long evolutionary progression. Wide flowing fins of glorious color have made the Fighting Fish a popular aquarium…

Let’s face it, gift-giving can be a lot of fun. With the holiday season racing at us once again, with Christmas displays going up as November comes on, it might be wise to do some early shopping and avoid the rush – hmm, something we probably all say far too often. While there are all sorts of places to poke around in and shop for something special, including plenty of on-line options, there are also some wonderful gifts that are purely numismatic. We’ll admit that many of them will appeal to the person who is already a collector. But quite a few can work as a well-received item for the person who has never been a collector at all. We’ve compiled our own list here and hope it can help…