Innholdsfortegnelse for January 2025 i World Coin News

What a year 2024 has been in NumisMaster! Over 7,000 coins added with almost as many images; it was quite productive! There has been an even greater increase in price changes. The rollicking spot metal prices for our favorite precious coinage compositions of gold and silver have driven the biggest changes this past month. Tens of thousands of values have been changed for coins across the world, which normally track spot prices closely. You may even notice that higher grades are being dramatically affected, particularly with gold commemoratives. When spot prices rise as high as they are now, we also find ourselves adjusting values for older circulating coins that used silver. This updating has been in process for several months but was accelerated recently in a wide array of countries.…

Inflation has not been kind to the Russian ruble. One ruble is currently valued at a single U.S. cent at official international exchange rates. As of October 25, Russia’s central bank estimated annual inflation to end 2024 at between 8–8.5%. This is a higher forecast than July’s 6.5–7% percent forecast. It currently costs 135 rubles to purchase a McDonald’s Big Mac in Moscow. A carton of milk costs between 80 and 100 rubles. A carton of eggs costs between 70 and 100 rubles, while a loaf of bread is priced between 40 and 60 rubles. In other words, a single ruble isn’t worth much. For that reason, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation recently decided that Russia will print paper ruble bank notes for cost-saving purposes rather than strike…

I’d promised last time to discuss medieval Armenian coins, which were struck in southeastern Anatolia from the late 12th to the mid-14th centuries. So, let’s do medieval Armenia, sometimes called Cilician Armenia or Rupenid (Rubenid) Armenia. The Cilician Armenians made large quantities of some of their coins. I’ve been encountering them throughout my career. Some of them are very nice looking: faces and lions are nicely struck with readable legends if you can understand Armenian. Others, from the later bad years, can be so crude I still can’t figure out what they are. After about a century of Rupenid governance in Cilicia, Levon I struck the first coins of Cilician Armenia in A.D. 1198. He had gotten himself accepted as a vassal of Henry VI of the Holy Roman Empire.…

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. ALABAMA Jan 18-19 AL, Foley. Gold Coast Coin Show. Civic Center, 407 East Laurel Avenue. SH: Sat: 9-5, Sun: 9-3. SP: South Baldwin Numismatic Society. A: Free. T: 36. F: $160. Robert Jenkins. PH: 251- 943-5621…

There are lots of theories, but nothing concrete, as to why a large hoard of mostly Gallic Empire Roman coins has been discovered near Herschbach, Germany. The location of the find had been a no-man’s-land that served as a buffer between the Roman Empire and local Germanic tribes at that time. The initial find was discovered by a licensed metal detectorist who immediately reported the coins to government archaeologists in Koblenz, Germany. Further excavations yielded what has been reported to be about 2,940 coins and an additional 100 thin silver fragments on which geometric patterns appear. The hoard was buried in a ceramic pot hidden between two rocks. The pot was broken at the time of its discovery. The find is outside what had been the Roman Empire’s borders but…

Oh, the times, they are a-changin’. New monarchs continue to appear on coins but in declining numbers. Nations that are choosing to depict something other than a living national leader are on the increase. Are monarchs’ appearances on coins about to fade into the past? Think about it. When the fledgling United States began issuing coins in 1793, it was Liberty rather than a U.S. president that was featured. At that time, most coins issued worldwide depicted the current monarch of that nation or a symbol representing the royal seat. Today, subjects on coins are heading in the opposite direction, as are the number of monarchies still in power. In May, the British Royal Mint announced that they would discontinue the “British Monarchs” collection due to a decline in interest…

Too young. Too individual. Too romantic. These scathing critiques were not about the next superstar in a talent show in 2025 but about a numismatic representative for Switzerland in May 1895. Twelve years earlier, Switzerland had introduced its first federal gold coin featuring the female personification of the country, "Helvetia," designed by Neuchâtel-based medalist Fritz Ulisse Landry. However, the government in Bern believed that she needed a makeover, and this endeavor ultimately ended in scandal. What Landry presented to the jury was a step too daring; he had modeled the coin after a young woman. The unique design of the youthful woman's face was meant to symbolize his vision of freedom. However, the jury didn't fall in love at first sight. They demanded that Landry make the features of the…

Among the vast collection of Celtic coins that were up for bid at Chris Rudd Ltd.’s November 17, 2024, auction was a selection of rare staters and units that earned impressive numbers. These coins were made by the Cantiaci, an Iron Age Celtic civilization that resided in Cantium—now Southeastern England in the county of Kent— that later became a civitas after the Roman invasion. A particular standout of the auction was a Good Very Fair “Anarevito” gold stater (17 millimeters; 5.50 grams) from A.D. 10–15 that garnered a high price of £20,000. It is rated in excessively rare condition as it is one of two ever recorded. Upon discovery in Kent in 2022, the coin has become an important historical aid in better understanding the ruler Anarevito’s reign and financial…

The recent find of perhaps as many as a half million coins planned to be circulated in Japan during the latter period of World War II may not hold a lot of monetary worth, but the story behind them is of much greater value. In August 2023, what has since been dubbed “maboroshi” or phantom coins was found in a Shofu Global warehouse used to keep dental equipment. They had been stored loose and in bags in 15 boxes, holding more than 500,000 coins. The coins are now in the possession of the Japanese Mint Bureau, and a donation of 100 coins was presented to Shofu Co Ltd. A Shofu representative commented, “There are unexpected things in expected places.” Founded as the Shofu Kogyo Company in Kyoto, Japan, in 1906,…