Category: History In Coins

Treasure Trove of Ancient & Medieval Numismatic literature

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We bring to your attention a treasure trove of ancient numismatic literature, hitherto unpublished, from Howard R. Engel of Richard Stockley Books in Winnipeg: “Here is Richard Stockley Books’ comprehensive list on numismatic literature relating to ancient and medieval coins the world over.  Prices are in Canadian dollars for Canadian residents and in U.S. dollars for everyone else, plus shipping and handling.  Feel free to contact me at richardstockleybooks@mymts.net if you require any further information, scans, etc.  I hope you enjoy perusing the list! Numismatic literature: Ancient and Medieval Addison, Joseph. THREE SETS OF MEDALS ILLUSTRATED BY THE ANCIENT POETS,…

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Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn. The Star of Bethlehem?

The Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn happens from around now 19th December until the 23rd December 2020. We can look up (weather allowing please, please) to see Jupiter and Saturn very close together, less than half the width of a full moon apart. It’s going to be the closest together they’ve been seen in 400 years. We won’t see the like again until 2080 astronomers say. The peak of the conjunction happens at 10.37 am PST on Monday 21st December 2020 The celebrated German astronomer Johannes Kepler observed a great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in 1603. And the very next year he…

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Ancient Coin meetings live on Zoom

Vancouver Ancient Coin Club Later Roman Empire Coinage Bekircan Tahberer will be presenting the coins of the ‘Later Roman Empire’ (also called the ‘Byzantine’ Empire) Sunday 15th November at 2pm on Zoom Coins Along the Silk Road Julian Ticehurst will be presenting ‘Coins Along the Silk Road’ looking at the role of coins in trade across Central Asia, especially the Tarim Basin (Xinjiang) Wednesday 2nd December at 7pm on Zoom Hope you can come to both! Send an email to  julian@coins.earth  and I’ll add you to the email list with login details. cheers, Julian

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Rare Bank Notes and Coins in All Nations 1250th Auction (also stamps)

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All Nations Stamp and Coin are holding their 1250th grand auction tomorrow Saturday 29th July at noon (sharp) See all the lots here: https://www.allnationsstampandcoin.com/auction-this-week/ There is a very rare Bank Note, 1st time offered at auction: Lot 198 Bank of Canada Fine+ 1935 George V $25 Banknote A004557 “Few people know it, but Canada issued a $25 bill in 1935 to commemorate the silver or 25th anniversary of King George V’s reign. About 1,840 of the 160,000 notes that were printed are still believed to be in private hands (or lost)” ~John Mackie article Lot 197 Macdonald & Co. Victoria, V.I. 1863 $5 Bill…

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Tyrian Shekel from the lifetime of Jesus

Tyrian Shekel from Heritage

A silver trade coin issued in Tyre and used in Ancient Judea during  the lifetime of Jesus. On the obverse is a bust of Melkart (called ‘Baal’ in the Bible). On the reverse the Eagle standing on the prow of a Tyrian galley. “(Matthew 17:24-27), Jesus plucks a shekel from the mouth of a fish to pay his Temple tax. To think that this shekel might have been touched by the actual hand of Jesus! It was auctioned by Heritage a few years back as part of a collection of 38 shekels that were issued and used as a primary…

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We wish you a merry Christmas! 

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AE Follis Constantine I

Our  Christmas coin is a bronze follis of Constantine the Great, Emperor of Rome under whose aegis Christianity was at last legitimized and Christmas was first recorded as being celebrated – in Rome on December 25th of the year AD 336 (as is the customary date for many). The coin below shows a Roman military-style standard as a Labarum – surmounted by the greek symbol  chi-rho or Christ.  There is a serpent at the foot representing, for the ancient Romans, rebirth and fertility – a symbol of Asclepius the greek God of Healing.  Beneath are the letters CONS, for the coin was minted…

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Happy 70th Wedding Anniversary

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QE II 70th Anniversary - Reverse

      HM Queen Elizabeth and HRH Prince Philip were married on November 20, 1947.  2017 marks their 70th Wedding Anniversary. Achieving a Platinum wedding anniversary is an incredible feat and, in order to celebrate the Royal Couple’s milestone, Pobjoy Mint has produced one of the largest coins to date. With a weight of 70oz (4.37 lbs.) this coin would make a beautiful centrepiece to any numismatic collection. Production is technically very demanding and each piece has been encrusted with 70 Diamonds (Total Weight of 1 Carat). Spot gold plating has been used to highlight certain pieces of jewellery.…

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The U.S. Capitol Building

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Capital Building - Reverse

            This 2017 $1 coin produced by the Pobjoy Mint for The British Virgin Islands is in the shape of the U.S. Capitol Building. The United States Capitol, often called the Capitol Building or Capitol Hill, is the home of the United States Congress and the seat of the Legislative branch of the US Federal Government.  It sits atop Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C. William Thornton is the man we can thank for this marvel of engineering and as he was born in the British Virgin Island,…

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The Lusitania Medal

Lusitania Medal - Face

   During the First World War, the British passenger liner, R.M.S. Lusitania, was on its return trip from the United States, when it was torpedoed by a German submarine on 7 May, 1915.  Of the 1,951 passengers and crew, 1,198 perished in the sinking. In August 1915, the Munich medallist and sculptor Karl Goetz, produced a medal with a limited run of 500 medals as a satirical attack on the Cunard Line for continuing to do business as usual during wartime.   The medal carried an incorrect date of 5 May instead of 7 May as the day of the sinking.…

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Mount Vesuvius commemorated

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mount-vesuvius-reverse

            Vesuvius is one of two active volcanoes located on the European mainland, and one of the five most dangerous and oldest volcanoes in the world. It is located 9 km east of Naples on the Italian mainland.  In August 79 AD, its eruption led to the burying and destruction of the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, as well as several other settlements.  The thermal energy released by the eruption was a hundred thousand times the thermal energy released by the Hiroshima-Nagasaki bombings.  More than 1,000 people died in the eruption, but exact numbers…

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The Battle of Hong Kong Remembered

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battle-of-hong-kong-reverse

   Canada’s first land combat of the Second World War began on December 8, 1941, when, mere hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese launched an invasion on the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong. Outnumbered and less well equipped than the enemy, the odds were not in the Canadians’ favour as they defended the peninsula, then the island itself. Over 550 of the 1,975 Canadians sent to Hong Kong never made it home; but during the 17 days of fierce fighting, they fought valiantly, even engaging in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy, as they defended Hong Kong…

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The Short Cross Coinage of England

Henry II Short Cross Penny Class 1b o

In 1154 Henry II, Henry Plantagenet, King of England, Duke of Normandy and of Aquitaine, Count of Anjou (as is his inheritance) ascends the throne as one the most powerful kings in all of Europe . His dominions extend from the far north of England to the extreme south-west of France. His subjects acclaim him. A truly great King but oh, his coinage. To begin with England uses the same old bad and mish-mash coins of Stephen, the Barons and the Anarchy. But then in 1158 Henry II ‘s official coinage is issued – and it is really terrible. The silver pennies are called Cross and Crosslets or Tealby…

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The Shortage of Coins in New France

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1670 15 Sols Louis XIV reverse

The Shortage of Coins The colonists living in New France from the mid-1660s on used barter to exchange goods but also used metal coins, such as this 15-sol French coin dated 1670. However, there was never enough hard currency to go around. Silver coins that were sent from France were quickly taken from circulation by local merchants, who immediately returned them to France to pay their taxes and to buy European-made commodities.   New France, Louis XIV, 15 sols, 1670 Thank you Bank of Canada Museum for these images. The shortage of coins persisted throughout the history of New France.…

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Tetradrachm of Probus

Probus Tetradrachm - Obverse

    This is a tetradrachm from Alexandria in Egypt.  It depicts Emperor Marcus Aurelius Probus on the obverse and an Eagle on the reverse. Probus was born in AD 232 in Sirmium (modern day Sremska Mitrovica in Serbia) and became emperor in AD 276.  In AD 278, he successfully campaigned against Gallic tribes that pushed into Roman territory, and in AD 279 – 280, his generals defeated Vandals in the Roman provinces of Raetia, Illyricum, and Lycia.  In the same years, Probus’ generals defeated the Blemmyes in Egypt. In AD 280–281, Probus put down three usurpers, Julius Saturninus, Proculus and Bonosus. …

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The Commonwealth of England, 1653

In 1649 Pierre Blondeau, a master engineer at the Paris mint, came to the Tower Mint in London. He was invited by a mint beset by forgers and clippers of its hammered coins and willing to look at milled coinage afresh (Milling had been tried a 100 years before under Elizabeth I). Despite the invitation and his capable machinery Blondeau had a fierce struggle against the MInt and its supporters who, frightened by technology, attacked the innovative Blondeau in pamphlets and accusations of high treason. But he succeeded, in the end, as luck and the Lord Protector favoured him. Blondeau…

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King Philip II of Macedon

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Kingdom of Macedon, Philip II AR Tetradrachm

Philip II of Macedon is the powerful war-king who has taken Macedonia from barbarian obscurity to being the ascendant power in all of the lands from Thrace to the League of Corinth. Here he  is shown addressing the Army assembly at Pella. Zeus backs him.  The silver is good.  Who can withstand ? Thank you Paul Anderson at Praefectus Coins for our featured coin and attribution text. Praefectus coins will be at our Coins, Stamps & Collectables show on April 2nd at Nikkei centre in Burnaby     is        

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Royal Maundy Thursday Coinage

Maundy Coins - Mary Gillick effigy

The word ‘maundy’ derives from the latin ‘mandatum’ which was applied to Christ’s washing of his disciples feet on the day before Good Friday; ‘that ye love one another’ (John XIII 34) British Royalty have taken part in the Maundy ceremony since the 13th century; distributing money, gifts and washing the feet of the poor It was King John who started the Royal Maundy tradition in 1210 when he donated garments, forks, food, and other gifts to the poor of Knaresborough, Yorkshire. Henry IV, around 1400, related the number of Maundy recipients to the age of the Sovereign. And it…

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Julius Caesar Elephant

Julius Caesar elephant

The Julius Caesar Elephant denarius was one of the 5 most common silver coin types at the time of the Claudian invasion of Britain (1). Crawford estimated 750 obverse dies and with each die producing perhaps 10,000 coin obverses we’re looking at  7.5 million Elephants. Or another estimate is 22.5 million elephants – enough to pay 8 legions.(2)   To mint all of these coins, to pay his troops, Caesar simply helped himself  to the vast  silver reserves in the Temple of Saturn in Rome; where it had been held in sacred trust for time immemorial. They are readily available to collectors but the…

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Urbs Roma – The City of Rome

Romulus and Remus, the baby twins, were the progeny of Mars, the God of War, and Rhea, a Vestal Virgin, daughter of King Numitor. An evil deposer of the King had slung the grandchildren into the Tiber but they washed up and were discovered by a she-Wolf who had recently lost her cubs. Now they suckle at the teats of their saviour she-Wolf, imbibing the wolf-like fierceness that will characterize the City they will later found on the same spot: Rome. The Urbs Roma coin commemorates the Founding of Rome. It was issued by Constantine and his successors specifically to reinforce…

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Z.A.R. Coinage by Tom Deeth

The Country of South Africa is about ½ million square miles, the 25th largest in the world shaped like a large potato some 1200 miles long from Capetown in the Southwest to the Limpopo River bordering Zimbabwe & Mozambique in the northeast and 400 to 600 miles wide from the Atlantic & Indian Oceans in the south and southeast to the Kalahari Desert in the north. South Africa was unknown to Western Europe until the first Portuguese explorer, Diaz in 1488, first rounded the Cape and entered the waters of the Indian ocean. A decade later, in 1497, the Portuguese…

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