Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2025 i World Coin News

Things at NumisMaster are still going full steam ahead as we inch closer to the end of summer. I can’t believe how fast 2025 has gone! The ever-changing prices of metals have kept us on our toes, with seemingly constant updates to our melt values and bullion prices. This month, we focused on adding coins to countries that may not be high on collector’s lists but are important, nonetheless. These countries include Grenada, Ivory Coast, and Moldova, to name a few. This Month’s Frequently Asked Question: We received a request from a member to explain how we select a KM number for a coin, especially those with a “.1” or an “A” after the selected number. This was a great suggestion, and I agree with the member that some in…

The ancient Norse pagan god Odin is recorded in such sources as the “Poetic Edda,” the “Ynglinga saga,” and the “Prose Edda.” In Norse mythology, Odin is associated with such symbols as a spear, ring, triple horn, the ravens Huginn and Muninn, the wolves Geri and Freki, and the eight-legged horse, Sleipnir, but never a Christian cross…until now. The image of Odin with a cross has been discovered on a recently found Anglo-Saxon coin. The coin was discovered near Norwich by an individual with a metal detector, and it is likely from the early Anglo-Saxon period. According to experts, the coin dates from between 640 and 660 and is the oldest known coin from East Anglia. The earliest coins attributed to East Anglia in Spink’s “Coins of England” are sceats,…

A shipwreck encountered during the late 20th century may now have a name. The remains of the ship have been known since the late 20th century when the U.S. company Glocca Morra announced that it had found the wreckage off the coast of Colombia. Glocca Morra has since been renamed Sea Search Armada. In 2015, the Colombian government also announced the discovery, denying the claims of the Sea Search Armada. Neither party was initially able to identify the shipwreck. In 2024, the Colombian Navy inspected the shipwreck using a remotely operated vehicle (ROV). The ROV utilized high-resolution photogrammetry to create a three-dimensional reconstruction. This photogrammetry was used to determine the name of the mystery ship and identify a treasure of coins scattered throughout the wreckage. What is astounding is that…

Assignats (paper money) had ruled the marketplace for several decades in Russia, but all of this was to change for the better in July 1839. Since the late 1820s, Treasury Minister Egor Kankrin had worked to bring silver and gold back to everyday use in the marketplace under direct orders from Czar Nicholas I. This momentous financial event was not marked on the coins of silver and gold, but there was an important change for copper. The government had originally determined that the return to hard money could not be accomplished before January 1840 and had made plans accordingly. A special new design for copper coinage was then prepared under the watchful eye of Nicholas I, who personally approved the final product. Unlike earlier copper coins, which had carried the…

Australia A Dhari headdress and star are encircled by relief motifs of reef patterns, traditional netting and fishing traps, and the colors of the Torres Strait Islands’ flag on the Royal Australian Mint’s new AU$2 coin. Available in uncirculated aluminum bronze and fine silver proof variations, the coin commemorates 30 years since the Torres Strait Islander flag was officially recognized as one of Australia’s three national flags. It was designed by Royal Australian Mint artist Elyssa Waterford, with artwork by Erub Island artist Lavinia Ketchell and flag designer Bernard Namok also included. United Kingdom The orange and accident-prone Zog flies across the obverse of a UK 50p coin by the Royal Mint. This design was made to celebrate the 15th anniversary of Zog’s original book release. Canada The moon is…

Change is coming to the coins and bank notes of the European Union. The so-called euro zone, where a common currency is currently used, comprises 20 of the 27 EU member countries, as well as associated city-states, including Monaco, San Marino, and Vatican City. The Maastricht Treaty, through which all EU members are required to adopt the euro and join the common currency union, does not specify a set timetable for countries to join. Denmark is the only EU member allowed exemption from joining the currency union. Newly designed euro-denominated bank notes are currently being developed; however, the coinage may also see changes. Belgium, Finland, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, and Slovakia have stopped using the 1- and 2-cent euro coins. Germany is considering following their example. Each of these countries…

How can you tell if the patina on a centuries-old coin is genuine? Can you tell if a coin is authentic or if it is a cleverly contrived fake? These aren’t new questions, but rather some of the ways artificial patina can be added to a genuine or counterfeit coin, and the methods used to detect such fakes are changing. Not everyone who knowingly sells coins with an artificial patina tries to cover up that fact, but some of the ways such a coin is described without fibbing aren’t well known. Such descriptions as Hispania patina or desert patination are often carefully crafted attempts to cover up the fact that “earthen dirt” on a coin has been glued to it. Sometimes, exposing a coin to water or studying recesses under…

On June 4, 2025, Bulgaria received the long-awaited approval from the EU Commission and the European Central Bank to adopt the euro on January 1, 2026, and become the 21st member of the eurozone. This decision marks the end of the Bulgarian lev (BGN) as the national currency. For coin collectors, the transition signals the close of a historic chapter and the beginning of a new one. This article offers a concise retrospective of the lev’s journey since its introduction in 1881, highlighting key developments in Bulgaria’s coinage history while placing the upcoming currency shift in a broader numismatic and economic context. Bulgarian Coinage Through the Ages Greek silver coins from Thrace and Macedonia began circulating in today’s Bulgaria as early as the 5th century B.C. Coastal Greek colonies minted…

Among the many auctions featuring outstanding numismatic finds in June, Doyle’s event on the 12th was quite a standout. The auction showcased a fascinating collection of rare coinage from the Roman Republic and the Early Imperial period, attracting a worldwide audience of collectors eager to bid and win. The collection proved impressive to this audience, as the house achieved over $1,040,116 in a white-glove sale. But aside from the ancient coins and high bids, the story of the former owner of this collection, collector Carol F. Ross, was also a reason to take note. Carol F. Ross (1942–2025) assembled what would be known as the Carol F. Ross Collection of Ancient Roman Coins over a decade. She first began her ancient Roman coin collection in the mid-1980s, while she was…

Several significantly sized hoards of ancient Roman coins have been found in part of Romania, which was a disputed territory between the Romans and the Dacians. It is not determined if the hoards belonged to the winners or the losers. The Dacians were situated near the Carpathian Mountains and west of the Black Sea. This region was a confederacy between the Buri, Carp, Daci, and Getae. According to ancient Greek geographer Strabo, the inhabitants could raise an army of 200,000 at the time of Roman Emperor Augustus. It was under King Burebista (ruled 82–44 B.C.) that the Dacian kingdom reached its height of power. Raids across the Danube River into Roman territory during the reign of King Decebalus (ruled 87–106) resulted in two Roman military campaigns in 86 and 88,…

It can be argued that coins not only represent history but also serve as a document of it. A recent discovery in the Fergana region in modern Uzbekistan of perhaps 20 coins (the exact number was not verifiable at the time this article was written) that share stylistic traits and inscriptions of significance when compared to previously known coins from Tashkent are now challenging the early Turkic identity, legitimacy of early khagans, and the sophistication of pre-Islamic Central Asian politics. Khagan is a Mongolian and Turkic imperial title, generally regarded as equivalent to that of an emperor. Khagan can be translated to mean “khan of khans.” Turkic people is a catchall description of Asian, Caucasus, Central Asian, Eastern European, and parts of the Middle East ethnic groups that share common…

We’ll discuss the Ottomans in the 17th century. Aside from the second siege of Vienna, which failed, there were problems. Things were not great at the start of the 17th century, and they worsened by the end. The Ottoman Empire suffered a series of unfortunate events and had to contend with the normal political corruption of great families and ambitious individuals scheming for advantage and accumulating wealth and power. It is our habit, as coin people, to concentrate on the person of the ruler. In Europe, people's faces are featured on the coins. In the World of Islam, where they mostly didn't believe in portraiture, they just wrote the ruler's name. So, people tend to think of coins in terms of rulers, because that's what the coins depict. But in…

In his new book “In the Midst of Chaos and Discord. The Genesis of the First Mexican Cent of 1841,” numismatist and author Pablo Luna Herrera explores the history of the forgotten 1841 Mexican cent. Through new research and information that had yet to be published, the author unwraps the coin’s history and significance to Mexican currency today. Below, Luna Herrera discusses his book with World Coin News. What is the book about?* Luna Herrera (LH): “In the Midst of Chaos and Discord. The Genesis of the First Mexican Cent of 1841,” published in 2025, is an investigation that focuses on a single coin: the mythical and intriguing cent of 1841. Mexico utilized the Spanish currency system, which used reales and escudos, and maintained the division of all values by…