World Coin News December 2023

The first issue of the Standard Catalog of World Coins 2001-Date was spun off from the venerable 20th-century volume in the series, bringing the full SCWC series to five volumes running from 1600-present. I had been pushing for a separate 21st-century volume for several years, but when the first 2001-present SCWC returned from the printer, it seemed almost too small to have bothered. That was in 2006 and the staff was worried that maybe we had made the move to a separate 21st century volume too early. But each following year the size increased until the 21st century volume was growing at a highly accelerated pace. In 2019 the final 21st century volume was released and we were amazed to find that the 13th edition of the 2001-present SCWC was…

King Charles III is well known for his concerns and hands-on approach. Among the many things for which he has a passion is biodiversity. The edge inscription of his new £2 coin, chosen personally by King Charles reads: In servitio omnium, which translates to ‘In the service of all.’ This was taken from the monarch’s Sept. 9, 2022 inaugural speech. Charles’ passions go much further than an inscription on a coin. The new king is the patron of 420 charities. The king has personally supported 43 charities, two of which are the Orphan Working School and the Hospital for Sick Children. The circulation coinage he has recently approved for the United Kingdom is designed to help children identify figures and learn to count. The United Kingdom has waited more than…

The debate has been settled. King Charles III will appear on upcoming circulation strike coins of Australia. Australia is a sovereign nation, but it is also part of the British Commonwealth. As a commonwealth nation, Australia is a free associate with other sovereign states that comprise the United Kingdom and some of its former dependencies. Due to their commonwealth association, King Charles is recognized by Australia as being Australia’s king despite Australia being a representative democracy. Australians elect members of Parliament; however, the king is technically the head of state. This also makes Australia a constitutional monarchy. The king has little if any power since he is required to follow the Australian Constitution. There had been some speculation regarding if Charles would appear on Australia’s currency. The late Queen Elizabeth…

Counterfeiting has been long considered one of the oldest professions in the world. Counterfeiting has been going on since the invention of the coin in Lydia about 560 B.C. Contemporary counterfeit Lydian staters are known. Counterfeit money has been viewed as an attack against the crown or the state. Thomas Rogers was hung, drawn, and quartered and his wife was burned alive in England in 1690 for “clipping 40 pieces of silver.” England became more civilized later, simply hanging an Anglican priest in 1777 for counterfeiting. The death penalty for counterfeiting U.S. securities was authorized by the Act of April 30, 1790, in the fledgling United States. If it weren’t so profitable why would anyone risk their life by becoming a counterfeiter? If counterfeiting is so dastardly, why are counterfeit…

In February 2016 the United Nations Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 2199, obligating member states to take steps to prevent terrorist groups in Iraq and Syria from receiving donations and from benefiting from trade in oil, antiquities, and hostages. On April 19, 2016, the Task Force to Investigate Terrorism Financing hearing before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services was published. The objective of the committee was to “prevent cultural genocide.” On December 15 of the same year, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia filed a civil complaint seeking forfeiture of “multiple antiquities associated with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and alleging that ISIL markets and sells antiquities to finance its terror operations.” A press release from the attorney’s office includes the statement:…

Are we going to use physical cash in the future, or aren’t we? We can’t have it both ways—or can we? A recent YouGov survey in the United Kingdom indicates only three percent of those surveyed have gone completely cashless. Despite this, the Royal Mint didn’t produce any twopence coins during 2022. This followed a dismal 117.7 million pieces minted one year earlier. In defense of the mint, no twopence coins were produced between 2018 and 2020. Likewise, no penny coins were issued in 2018 and 2019. UK banks insist the 5,000 branches closed and the 15,000 cash points added in the past five years are because people prefer to do their banking online and to go cashless. The YouGov survey indicates that 97 percent of consumers still redeem cash…