1969 Nanaimo Bathtub Race Token

Nanaimo Bathtub Race

           The Nanaimo Bathtub Race began in 1967 and the race entailed crossing the Strait of Georgia from Nanaimo to Vancouver.  The distance travelled was 36 miles and all conceivable types of watercraft entered the competition.   The Loyal Nanaimo Bathtub Society began issuing tokens commemorating the annual race in 1969 and has continued to do so each year. In 1969, The Diners’ Rendezvous restaurant in downtown Nanaimo, owned by Wong Bros Enterprises Ltd., decided to issue its own token to commemorate this event and at the same time, promote their own business which was celebrating its…

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Hong Kong 1941 1 Cent

Hong Kong 1941 1 Cent - Obverse

   In the 1930s, all the coins for Hong Kong were minted in England and shipped to the colony.  When war started in December 1941, five shipments of the 1 Cent coins were enroute to the colony.  According to the records at the British Royal Mint, one shipment was unloaded in South Africa, returned to the Mint and melted down.  The fate of the remaining four shipments is unknown and there are rumors that one shipment was sunk by a Japanese submarine and another shipment was captured by the Japanese in Hong Kong and melted down for the war.  Although…

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Keeling Cocos Islands “Plastic Ivory” Tokens

Keeling Cocos Islands Tokens

The Keeling-Cocos Islands were 27 coral islands situated in the Indian Ocean located 1,300 miles northwest of Australia.  They were discovered by Captain William Keeling of the British East India Company in 1609.  A settlement was established on Direction Island by English adventurer, Alexander Hare and Captain John Clunes Ross for the purpose of storing East Indian spices for reshipment to Europe.  When the venture failed, Hare left the island and Clunies Ross became its sole owner.  The island began exporting coconut products, calcium and phosphate.   The coral group became a British protectorate in 1856, was attached to 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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Somalia Map Shaped Coins

Somalia Map Shaped Coins

In their continuing their series of odd-shaped multi-colored coins, Somalia released a six coin set of map shaped coins for 2013.  Each coin is shaped in the outline of a country. It appears they picked the countries with the largest numbers of active coin collectors. Each map shaped coin is decorated with a design from the nation’s flag.  Included are Australia, Canada, China, Germany, Russia and United States (without Alaska and Hawaii). The multi-colored coins are approximately 38mm (1.5 inches) long.  The coins are dated 2013 and are denominated 1 Dollar.  The date, denomination and arms of Somalia are on…

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New Caledonia Emergency Postage Stamp Money

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New_Caledonia-25_Centimes_(1914-23)

       Here are two examples of unusual paper money from New Caledonia. Between 1914 and 1923, New Caledonia postage stamps were used to make emergency issue currency. The first issues were pieces of cardboard to which stamps were affixed in denominations of 25 and 50 centimes, 1 and 2 francs, with the 50 centime denominations made from either a single 50 centime stamp or a 15 and a 35 centime stamp.  The reverse of the cardboard is handstamped with “TRESORIER PAYEUR DE LA NOUVELLE CALEDONIE”, roughly translated as: “PAYABLE BY THE TREASURER OF NEW CALEDONIA”.  This item is listed…

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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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Pismo Beach Clamshell Money

Pismo Beach Clamshell Money

When the Depression and resulting banking crisis hit their community, the residents of the coastal town of Pismo Beach, California picked an unusual but logical medium of exchange. The pismo is a species of clam with a very thick shell, then found in large numbers along the California coast and prized as a food. A town named after the bivalves suggests an adequate supply of their shells. Perhaps with tongue in cheek, the merchants and officials of Pismo Beach (who were often the same people) decided to make the best of a bad situation, and to make the humble clam…

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Club meeting tonight at Bonsor

The Bank of Vancouver 50 Dollar note

Our coin Club meeting is today Tuesday 20th October. Everyone is welcome – no need for an introduction, just turn up. Warm welcomes! We’re at the Bonsor Recreation Centre, Burnaby, in Multipurpose Room #2. Doors open at 7pm and the meeting starts at 7:30 pm. Free Parking. Show-and-tell a Coin Auction! Door prizes! and Free Refreshments Program: Michael Souza will present a PowerPoint on “The History of the Bank of Vancouver”. Using archival photos and Bank of Vancouver memorabilia, Michael will present a brief history of British Columbia and its impact on the rise and demise of the Bank of…

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Imperial Bank of Canada Counterfeit 1917 $100

Imperial Bank of Canada - Counterfeit

During the First World War, the Germans counterfeited the Imperial Bank of Canada’s $100 banknote presumably to undermine Canada’s financial system.  According to Joseph Boling’s March 12, 2012 presentation to the Chicago Coin Club entitled Official Counterfeiting of Paper Currency, “The counterfeit $100 Imperial Bank of Canada circulated in the Middle East, and became known in Canada in the 1920s. The paper does not feel right on this intaglio item of middle quality — the intaglio is shallow, and all pieces seen in the numismatic market have a Persian bank stamp (the Imperial Bank of Resht in northwest Iran, on…

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Somalia 2012 Guitar Coins

Somalia 2012 Guitar Coins

Following the popularity of the 2008 Guitar Coins (see my earlier post on September 29), Somalia issued another six Guitar Coins in 2012. The 2012 issue consisted of the USA map guitar, which is similar to one believed to have been used by Rick Nelson of Cheap Trick and is based a guitar produced by Gibson.  The double-necked Gibson guitar is based on a style used by Jimmy Page.  The red rectangular guitar is based on a style used by Bo Diddley.  The Gretsch White Falcon was used by Neil Young and others.  The green Gibson reverse V was used…

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Operation Bernhard Bank of England 10 Pounds

Operation Bernhard Bank of England 10 Pounds

During World War II, Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp was the location of a secret plot called Operation Bernhard.  Its purpose was to undermine the British economy by issuing counterfeit Bank of England 5, 10 and 20 and 50 pound notes.  The plan was directed by and named after SS Major Bernhard Kruger. Major Kruger recruited 142 counterfeiters from among the inmates.  They were involved in engraving the complex printing plates, developing the appropriate rag-based paper with the correct watermark, and breaking the codes to generate valid serial numbers.   German agents abroad were putting these fake notes into circulation and by the…

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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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Singapore 2008 $5 Beaded Stamp

Singapore Beaded Stamp

This colourful stamp sheet was issued by Singapore in 2008.  The stamp itself with the design of the deer is intricately pasted by hand with ‘caviar beads’.  The stamp was inspired by the exquisite beadwork which is a distinctive aspect of the Peranakan culture.  The Peranakan were descendants of Chinese that immigrated to Indonesia and Malaya in the 15th and 16th Century.  Reputed for their creativity, the Peranakans used brilliantly-coloured miniscule glass beads to create intricate designs on anything from slippers to tobacco pouches. This text and image by North Shore Numismatic Society is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.…

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Italy 2010 Magnetic Stamp

Italy 2010 Magnetic Stamp

Post Italiane issued of a stamp in the “Made in Italy” series, dedicated to Federacciai, on the centenary of the inauguration of the complete continuous iron and steel casting plant in Bagnoli, the first in Italy. The stamp shows the Federacciai logo with the name standing out at the top on a grey background. At the bottom, a series of geometric and chiaroscuro effects appear to create a block of steel. The words “MADE IN ITALY”, “ITALIA”, and the denomination “€ 3,30” complete the stamp The stamp is printed with special metallic ink and can be picked up with a…

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Palau 2015 $5 Game Coin

Palau 2015 Game Coin

  This Palau 2015 5 Dollar “Game Coin” is a REALLY BIG COIN.  The high relief bronze coin is 180mm (7 inches) in diameter and weighs 680 grams (1 1/2 Pounds).  One side consists of a treasure hunt game titled “The Treasure of the Cruel Captain”. Two players toss a dice to move their markers across the game coin to see who can get to the treasure first; however there are hazards on the way! The game can be enjoyed by players of any age.  The other side features the arms of Palau.  The coin has an attractive antique finish…

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China Tea Brick Money

China Tea Brick Money

  The use of tea as a commercial trade item probably began with the heavy demand for fine Chinese tea from the Russian nobility. It was considered very valuable and only the rich could afford it. At first, dried leaves were transported from China to Russia by caravans of camels over the silk route.  In time it was discovered that a more convenient commodity could be fashioned by processing the tea and forming it into solid bricks about the size of a large book.  Eventually tea bricks became an accepted medium of exchange that could pass the same as silver…

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Somalia 2008 3-D Coins

Somalia 2008 3-D Coins

In 2008, Somalia issued the first 3-D coins to commemorate geometric shapes in mathematics: from left to right, the Pyramid, the Cube, the Orb, the Cylinder, and the Cone.  The coins were made of copper nickel and silver-plated, have a denomination of $1, and bear the Coat of Arms of Somalia.   The coins proved so popular with collectors that the set was re-issued in 2014.   Mintage figures of both sets are unknown. Image courtesy of StrangeBusiness.com (http://www.strangebusiness.com/content/item/168236.html)

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