Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2025 i World Coin News

As we come to the end of 2025, I was surprised to see that there were a few mints that released coins featuring characters from DC Comics. Although Niue seems to mint a DC Comics-related coin yearly, these new issues were from Monnaie de Paris and the U.S. Mint. Monnaie de Paris’ DC Comics issues came in different denominations. They feature Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, the Justice League, and the more common villains, such as Harley Quinn and the Joker. The U.S. Mint also minted coins featuring Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman, all in $50 denominations. MDM also minted their own take of a Superman coin for Samoa this year. These iconic superheroes have been around for generations, and their popularity continues to grow. Which DC Comics coin from the…

The US 1¢ doesn’t buy much, yet it continues to circulate. The same could be said of the copper shilling or szelag, which circulated about 365 years ago in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Reliable statistics regarding inflation and purchasing power in the Commonwealth at that time are not available; however, the diminutive 1.0-to-1.2-gram weight coin was mass-produced in what modern economists have termed a massive oversupply, which predictably caused inflation that, in turn, reduced the purchasing power of the individual coins. When studying a hoard of boratynki found in Zaniówka in 2023, provincial heritage conservator Dariusz Kopciowski estimated “around 1,000 boratynki would pay for two pairs of shoes.” The Commonwealth szelag was minted between 1659 and 1668 during the reign of John II Casimir, primarily to fund the state treasury and…

I got a call from Steve Album. I was wrong about a couple of things in my last article. The first was my statement that I had not encountered large quantities of base silver Ottoman crowns in the last several decades. Album's organization has several times, as recently as a few years ago. Sorry about that; they are still finding hoards of that stuff. Kind of supports my notion that those coins were disfavored in international commerce, being base and all. People got stuck with them and couldn't spend them. They were too base. People would ask for gold; usually, they wouldn't get it, so someone ended up putting them in the attic for 200 years. The other thing was about the gold. I got a weight wrong, sorry. Still,…

The world of numismatics is full of stories—not only about the coins that were actually minted and circulated, but also about those that never made it beyond announcements, design drafts, or early trial strikes. Among them, €2 commemorative coins hold a special place. As legal tender across the entire euro area, their creation follows strict rules and often involves a delicate balance of political and diplomatic considerations. When €2 commemorative coins were first introduced in 2004, it marked a historic milestone. This decision not only created a cross-border field of collecting but also symbolized European unity and neighborly understanding. For collectors, it remains a delight to find a coin in their change in France or Spain honoring an event or historical figure from Germany, Italy, or Latvia. Yet not every…

From the dense canopy of a forest in Aotearoa (the Māori name for New Zealand), a green creature emerges on a new 2026 coin. The form revealed on this new issue is a mythological Māori creature known as a forest taniwha. Made for New Zealand’s “Dwelling Taniwha” series, the frightening image depicts the creature in its natural habitat, in the depths of nature’s darkness within the te ao wairua (the spiritual realm). When appearing to humans, taniwha look like terrestrial beings or earthly elements, such as wood, wind, water, or stone, and possess powers that can bring fortune or hardship to those they encounter. Stories abound about the taniwha in Māori culture, including traditional waiata (songs) and haka (dances) dedicated to telling, or warning, about these spiritual beings. For 2026,…

Collectors often identify both odd and primitive money as being associated with early societies in both Oceania and Africa, but seldom elsewhere. Coin money, in what I will call the European tradition, didn’t begin until the mid-7th century B.C. What was used in commerce in that part of the world prior to the invention of the coin was also primitive and was valued for its acceptance as a form of barter. The Old Testament mentions money more than 100 times. It isn’t until Ezra 2:69 and Nehemiah 7:70–72 that coins, these being Persian darics, can be identified. While the early Jews used foreign coins, the first true coins issued by the Jewish people weren’t minted until about 143 B.C. during the Maccabean period. Genesis 43:21 and 2 Kings 12:11 describe…

Throughout the reign of Alexander II (1855–1881) there was a hesitant movement towards a more open society. In 1861, the serfs had been freed, and in the late 1870s, the czar had begun to consider limited self-government for certain elements of the Russian society. The rumor arose in later years that the czar had been planning to create a constitution for Russia, with a sharply decreased role for the autocrat in running the country. Nothing was further from the truth; except Alexander II was planning for a slight increase in voting power for his subjects. At this precise moment of time—March 1881—Narodnaya Volya (known in English as People’s Will) assassinated the czar. The czar was traveling along a canal in St. Petersburg when the anarchists threw a bomb, wounding his…

Inspired by the Latin Monetary Union (LMU), the Scandinavian Monetary Union (SMU) was a supranational monetary alliance formed by the Nordic countries of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway in the late nineteenth century. More about the LMU can be read in the November 2025 issue of World Coin News. Denmark and Sweden initially considered joining the LMU treaty, which had just been signed. However, France’s defeat in the Franco-German War in 1871 made the countries change their minds and seek a different option. This led to the establishment of a Scandinavian Momentary Commission, which first met in Copenhagen on August 19, 1872. An agreement to form a monetary union was signed in Stockholm on December 18, 1872, by Denmark and Sweden, while the Norwegian parliament initially rejected the proposal. As a…

Halloween was a time of no tricks, just treats for attendees of the October 31 Ancient, British, & World Coins—Auction 125 at Stanley Gibbons Baldwin’s. The goodies for sale were a selection of ancient coins from kingdoms past, spanning the Greek and Roman empires, the Islamic world, the Celtic tribes, and more. Not forgotten were more modern examples, including pieces like multiple Brazilian réis from the reign of João VI, Saladin commemorative pounds, and a mint state, About Extremely Fine 1798 Paul I rouble (MS 63) that sold for £6,960. The “quirky intrigue” —as described by the auction house—of an Extremely Fine, Rare gold gadyana with elephant-shaped punches made during the reign of Marasimha II Satyavakya (963–975) attracted a winning bid for £1,800, while a moodier 1847 proof “Undecimo” Victoria…

As the holiday season approaches, it seems to many of us like the pace of an already hectic life speeds up even more, if that were possible. There can be all sorts of get-togethers, friends and relatives stopping in, and sometimes even folks we haven’t seen for the whole year making an appearance. There’s often some home cooking to be done, and a variety of other tasks that appear to come about only at the end-of-the-year holidays. In the midst of all this, there is also some gift buying going on. To ease up on the gas, as it were, we’ll propose several numismatic gifts that might appease a wide variety of people, be they close friends or that surprise visitor. Proof Sets, Silver, and Base Metal Proof sets remain…