Author: Julian Ticehurst

Curiouser and curiouser

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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The Canoe

The Canoe

A shiny silver 20 dollars showing the iconic image. The figure in the Canoe is a young boy, the reflection a voyageur. “The boy breaks from paddling to dip his hand in the water… and touches the past – the reflection reveals an early native paddler (or voyageur) in a traditional birch-bark canoe as it also appears on the early silver dollar of 1935.” Specifications MintageLimited to 250000 coins worldwide Composition99.99% pure silver Finishspecimen Weight (g)7.96 Diameter (mm)27 Edgeserrated Certificatenot serialized Face value20 dollars ArtistJason Bouwman (reverse), Susanna Blunt (obverse) Thank you Royal Canadian Mint for quoted text, specification and image: http://www.mint.ca/store/product/product_exchange2011.jsp?itemId=prod1150003

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Vancouver Coin Show – Saturday November 28th 2015

This is a reminder that the North Shore Numismatic Society is hosting another Coins, Stamps and Collectables Show at the Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre on Saturday November 28th 2015.  We have several new stamp and coin dealers at this show. The Nikkei Centre is located at 6688 Southoaks Crescent in Burnaby just 4km east of Metrotown.  The show hours are from 9am to 3pm and admission is $2 and free for those age 16 and under.  There is limited free underground parking at the Nikkei Centre and ample street parking on Beresford Street behind the Centre. If you need further information,…

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A violet-green swallow from Canada

RCM violet-green swallow

Have you spotted a vivid violet-green swallow in the wild ? Fifth and final coin in the Colourful Songbirds of Canada series. With its endearing chirp and stunning plumage, it’s easy to see why the violet-green swallow (Tachycineta thalassina) is a favourite swallow species for many birdwatchers. Found in the open woodlands of western Canada, this songbird’s iridescent feathers add an unexpected splash of colour to its serene surroundings and as such, are part of the beauty of Canada’s natural landscape. – Thank you Royal Canadian Mint for image and text See more at: http://www.mint.ca/store/coins/12-oz.-fine-silver-coloured-coin-%E2%80%93-colourful-songbirds-of-canada-the-violetgreen-swallow-2015-prod2400234?rcmiid=link|search|searchresults|12_oz_Fine_Silver_Coloured_Coin_Colourful_Songbirds_of_Canada_The_Violet-Green_Swallow_2015&#.VhJehPlVhBc

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Scarce Golden BC Dairy Token

I had some luck at a VNS show in the 1990’s. This token showed up and I had not heard of it so I bought it. Golden, B.C., is not really a noted token issuing place. It was a dairy token so I rather assumed that it would be from the 1930’s or 1940’s before the plastic dairy tokens came in. But no, this one turned out to be earlier (around 1910’s which was unusual. Since this token was found at about the same time things were going on line. I was able to find out that a Basil Ashton…

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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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Copper Penny of Torrhen Stark

Torrhen StarK Penny Winterfell

“The copper penny of the North Kingdom was minted at Winterfell by Torrhen Stark, the last King of the Independent North Kingdom. It dates It dates from some three hundred years before King Robert Baratheon’s reign, long before Aegon’s Conquest that united Westeros. The obverse pictures the standing king with scepters. The reverse shows the head of a Dire Wolf, mascot of the House of Stark” Thank you Joel at joelscoins for text and image.

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Hedgehogs from Kazakhstan

A” hedgehog is featured on both sides of this 2013 Kazakhstan 50 Tenge coin.   One side displays the face of the hedgehog staring out at you.  The other features the hedgehog curled up in a ball.  The coin is 31mm in diameter and is brilliant Uncirculated.” Thank you Joel at joelscoins for text and image I like the way the reverse hedgehog, curled up, fills the whole round coin. ~ Julian Ticehurst

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British Colonies (Dominica, Gibraltar, Martinique) holed Dollar

British Colonial Dollar

This rare type of  British Colonial Dollar has a heart-shape cut out from a Peruvian 8-Reales 1753 coin. This particular dollar originated in Gibraltar and was present in Dominica and Martinique in the Caribbean in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Spanish silver pieces-of-eight were the standard currency in Dominica and East Caribbean. In Dominica various holes were cut out of them to create different values – before 1813 a “bit” was worth 9 pence and there were 11 bits to a holed dollar, 12 1/2 bits to an unholed dollar. The values then changed and finally in 1843 sterling became the official currency…

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Christian Tokens in Vancouver

The “Jesus Saves / (cross) / Eternal Life” and “Lord is Coming / (cross in circle) / Millenium” aluminum pieces were distributed in the early 1970’s and perhaps earlier in the streets of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada as well as Seattle, Washington state (and very likely many different places in North America) by people wishing to spread their message. It worked like this. They would drop the items on the street (which was usually, it seems, Granville Street here), someone else would pick it up thinking it was a dime, read the message and either a) keep the item or…

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Armillary Sphere coin in gold from the Cook islands

Coin week have reported the new “Armillary Sphere” coin. It’s an ounce of finest gold and is actually legal tender in Cook Islands value  $100.   This avant-garde 24-carat gold coin concept comes in the shape of an Armillary sphere. Four individual annular $25 1/4 ounce coins combine to form a large one-ounce $100 coin. This coin was produced by Swiss gold manufacturer Valcambi and is legal tender in the Cook Islands.  Each of the rings is individually packaged and comes with its own assay card, which lists purity, weight, and authentication by a Valcambi certified assayer. Obverse: Three concentric rings and an center disc.…

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Many people carry their money…on their head

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The great mines of Falun in Sweden provided much of Europe’s copper during the seventeenth century. Now a world heritage site the mine’s production affected the economic and political situation throughout the continent and gave rise to one of the more idiosyncratic monetary practices…. Following the first coinage act for plate money in 1644, sheets of copper of varying sizes were stamped with dies to indicate their value in terms of silver dalers. These included eight daler pieces which were over half a metre in length and weighed 14kg, leading a Danish visitor to comment: “Many people carry their money in…

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Stamps: Bhutanese playable records

One of the most unusual set of stamps ever issued is this set from Bhutan. It was issued in 1973 and each of the seven stamps is a plastic record that can be played on a phonograph. Each record contains folk songs and folk tales. The stamp denominations are: 9 Ngultrums (Yellow Stamp) 8 Ngultrums (White Stamp) 7 Ngultrums (Black Stamp) 3 Ngulturms (Purple Stamp) 1.25 Ngultrums (Blue Stamp) 10 Chetrums (Red Stamp) 25 Chetrums (Green Stamp) A complete unused set sells for between US$400 and US$600 on Ebay. Record stamps that have been postally used and cancelled on envelopes…

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Little-known Medal marks Nazi-Zionist co-operation in 1933

Nazi Zionist Medal

Ein Nazi faehrt nach Palestina (A Nazi  travels to Palestine) It was a struck by [ Goebbels’ ] Berlin daily Der Angriff to commemorate  the co-operation and support given by the Zionist Jewish Agency in helping to make Germany “Judenfrei”. It also commemorate  joint visit to Zionist Palestine by SS officer Leopold von Mildenstein and Zionist Federation official Kurt Tuchler. A series of articles on their tour, appearing under the heading “A Nazi Travels to Palestine,” appeared in Der Angriff in late 1934. “The Star of David side inscription reads: EIN NAZI FÄHRT NACH PALÄSTINA — A Nazi Travels to Palestine. The Swastika side inscription is UND ERZÄHLT DAVON IM Angriff — And tells…

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Bank Note: History of the Coffee Exportation in Costa Rica 1890

This 5 colones note was in circulation from 1968 to 1992 in Costa Rica. It was placed on sale at the Expo 86 Costa Rica pavilion and the envelope and note sold for 2 dollars. The note is dated 16(?)-10-1985. So it really must have circulated just after it was issued. It shows an allegorical painting in the National Theatre by a “J. Villa” (as credited on the banknote) in 1897 which is in the National Theatre. The Wikipedia website states that the painting was done by a Milanese artist named Aleardo Villa (1865-1906). Perhaps his first name is spelt…

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Jacque Cartier claims Iroquois land for France and calls it “Canada”

“On today’s date (September 14th)  in 1535, Jacques Cartier reached the Iroquois village of Kanata at “Kebec” on his second voyage up the St. Lawrence River. There, Cartier met Donnacona, chief of the village of Stadacona (present-day Quebec City)… In 1535, Cartier built a fort at the site, where he stayed for about a year, claiming the area for France and calling it “Canada”, which was an alteration of the Iroquois word “kanata,” meaning village or settlement.” Thank you Canada Coin news report on the Royal Canadian Mint’s 2013 $200 gold coin. In 2013, the Royal Canadian Mint struck a $200 gold…

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