Saturday 28th January is Vancouver Coins, Stamps and Collectibles Show!

Hi everyone, Just a quick reminder that the next Coins, Stamps & Collectibles Show is on Saturday, January 28th at the Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre.  The Centre is located 4 kms east of Metrotown at the intersection of Kingsway and Sperling. The show is from 9 am to 3 pm and there is free underground parking.  If the underground parking is full, there is street parking along Beresford Street behind the Centre. Hope to see you all at the show. Michael More information here : http://northshorenumismaticsociety.org/vancouver-coin-show/  

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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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January Club Meeting and Coin Show

Happy New Year everyone, 2017 is Canada’s sesquicentennial  Before I forget, the next Coins, Stamps & Collectibles Show at the Nikkei Centre is on Saturday, January 28th, 9 am to 3 pm.  The next North Shore Numismatic Society Meeting is on Tuesday, January 17th.  The meetings are held at the Bonsor Recreation Centre in Burnaby in Multipurpose Room #2.  Doors open at 7 pm and the meeting starts at 7:30 pm.  The meeting is open to both members and non-members, so everyone is welcome. Program: Michael Souza will present a PowerPoint program on “Counterfeiters and Forgers”.  Despite severe penalties for counterfeiting, they have not stopped…

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Wake up to a New Year

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year-of-the-rooster-reverse

              According to the Chinese zodiac, the year 2017 is ruled by the Rooster. The Rooster loves to be the centre of attention; witty and self-assured, he or she can talk about anything! A natural performer, he or she does amazingly well in any career that puts him or her in the public eye. The Rooster is astute, organized and decisive—put him or her in charge, and your life and finances will run like clockwork! The coin features the 24-karat gilded image of a rooster in the middle of a ring made of real jade.…

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Token Talk: Brown & Davis, Junction City, Montana

Token Talk Brown and Davis

This was a token that was saved by my great grandfather who first arrived in Montana in 1881. It would seem to have been saved by him and kept with him for some reason (he did almost once drown in the Missouri River) as a memento.  It would be quite likely that he did go through the place.    Junction City was a rather wild Western town on the Yellowstone River which was first set up when a trading store was built in 1877. This store did well with miners and soldiers in the area and another store was thus…

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We wish you a Joyous Christmas!

Christmas Snowman 2014

Our club Christmas meet this week was a wonderful, fun time! It was very well-attended.  Dorian, our youngest member, won Pandora’s box! This is a huge pot where everyone gives a coin $15 in value or more and wrapped as a christmas present. Here’s Dorian with Alex, his father, showing  Pandora’s box with all the presents opened so we could  see the coin joy: Dorian’s favourite coin out of them all was this Christmas Snowman: We wish you a very merry Christmas and a happy collecting New Year!  Thank you Royal Canadian Mint for the Snowman image. This year the…

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Paraguayan 1985 Playable Record and stamp

Paraguayan 1985 record stamp

In 1985, Paraguay issued a souvenir sheet commemorating Luis Alberto del Paraná (1926 – 1974) and the “Galopera”.    Luis Alberto del Paraná was a popular Paraguayan singer and guitarist.   During the fifties, sixties and early seventies, he traveled extensively around the globe with his group Los Paraguayos, popularizing Paraguayan music.   He is the best-selling Paraguayan musician ever sharing the stage with The Beatles and recorded with The Rolling Stones. Luis Alberto del Paraná and “Los Paraguayos” sold more than 30,000,000 records, more than 650,000 tape cassettes, and traveled more than 1,000,000 kilometers during their tours.  Tragically, in 1974, at the…

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Reminder our club Christmas party is this Tuesday 20th

Christmas tree

       Hello Everyone, The North Shore Numismatic Society Christmas meeting is going to be held this coming Tuesday, December 20, 2016. The meeting is held in Multipurpose Room #2 at the Bonsor Recreation Centre next to Metrotown. Doors open at 7 pm and the meeting will start at 7:30 pm. The meeting is open to members and non-members, so everyone is welcome. Instead of a program, this meeting is an opportunity to get together with your fellow members for food and drinks. To make it a successful evening, please bring some finger foods or snacks to share with…

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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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Vancouver Coins, Stamps & Collectibles Show is this Saturday, November 26th at the Nikkei

1935 Canada silver dollar

Hi everyone, This is a reminder that the next Coins, Stamps & Collectibles Show is this Saturday, November 26th at the Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre.  The centre is located at 6688 Southoaks Crescent in Burnaby, 4 kms east of Metrotown.  Here is the location on Google Maps: We have 40 tables with dealers that buy, sell and do free appraisals. The show runs from 9 am to 3 pm and there is free underground parking on a first-come, first-served basis.  There is additional parking on Beresford Street behind the Centre and street parking north of Kingsway.  Admission is…

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Happy 90th Birthday

QE II-90th-birthday-reverse

             The British Virgin Islands released this unusual bi-metallic 1 Dollar coin in 2016 to commemorate Queen Elizabeth’s 90th Birthday. The coin is struck in the shape of the numeral “90”.  Both sides of the coin feature portraits of the Queen.  One portrait is surrounded by bouquet made up of the Rose of England, the Thistle of Scotland, the Daffodil of Wales and the Shamrock of Ireland.  The flowers represent the four countries that make up the United Kingdom.  The other side includes a different portrait of the Queen and the royal crown surrounded by…

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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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Outstanding Iconic Animals

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grizzly-bear-reverse

                     Nature is an integral part of Canada’s national identity. Throughout its vast wilderness are species that tower above all others as iconic national symbols. These magnificent animals have shaped Canada’s character and reign as cornerstones in the rich cultural legacy of its Indigenous peoples. This new series honours five pillars of the Canadian wild. Each coin features a meticulously crafted sculpture mounted on its surface to bring unprecedented dimension, look and feel to its design—and what better species to place on such a pedestal for the first coin than the…

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Mint’s First 3-D Coin

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3d-whale-2017-side-view

               The Mint’s First True 3-D Coin Ever! Unique printing and embossing bring unprecedented dimension to the engraved design! Few sights are as electrifying as a breaching whale, and this coin features one of the most iconic species that can be witnessed off Canada’s east and west coasts. For the first time ever, we combined a unique printing and embossing process to create a 3-D whale that appears to be launching itself right off the surface of the coin to jaw-dropping effect. Designed by Canadian artist Matt Bowen, the coin features a three-dimensional depiction of…

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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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Philip Timms, B.C. photographer

Philip Timms Bowen. Island

“Mr. Timms is a real Vancouver pioneer; handpicked, extra special, double refined and forty over proof.” Major J.S. Matthews, City of Vancouver Archivist, perhaps best described Philip Timms. Philip Timms, amongst many other accomplishments, created a photographic record of Vancouver between 1900 and 1910. In subsequent years he take many photographs across B.C. A number of Timms’ real photograph postcards have recently featured in the All Nations Stamp & Coin auctions here in Vancouver – thank you for the images.  Thank you Vancouver Public library for the biography of Philip Timms see British Columbia Through the Camera Lens of Philip Timms Philip Timms…

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To boldly go where no Mint has gone before

star-trek-reverse

         The Royal Canadian Mint has unveiled (12th May) a new series of coins celebrating the 50th anniversary of the television debut of Star Trek, which aired its first episode in September of 1966. The series, now considered a cult-classic with tens of millions of admirers worldwide, was created by screenwriter Gene Rodenberry (1921 – 1991); it told the story of the crew aboard the Starship U.S.S. Enterprise, whose mission was “to boldly go where no man has gone before.” The fictional space travelers were headed by Captain James “Jim” Tiberius Kirk, who was born in the…

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Our Collectibles Show is this weekend

Our Vancouver Coins, Stamps & Collectibles Show is this Saturday 17th & Sunday 18th at the Nikkei Centre, Burnaby see more information here Everyone welcome!  Canada Coins, World Coins, Ancient Coins, Tokens, Bank Notes, Postcards, Stamps, Covers,  Maps, Medals, Silver and all types of collectibles. Come along and see what you can find! There’ll be 25 dealers gathered including … Paul Anderson, Praefectus Coins will be there. He has ancient coins for all budgets. KINGS OF MACEDON. DEMETRIOS POLIORCETES (306-283 BC). AR TETRADRACHM Kings of Macedon. Demetrios Poliorcetes (306-283 BC). AR tetradrachm 31 mm. 16.8 gm. Amphipolis, ca. 290-289. Obv: Diademed…

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Glass stamp another first for Austria

austrian-glass-stamp

    In 2014, Austria issued the first stamp made of ceramic and in 2015, they issued the first stamp printed on leather. (Please see my earlier post to our club website: http://northshorenumismaticsociety.org/category/stamps/) In June 2016, Austria issued the first postage stamp printed on glass. With this glass stamp Austrian Post is presenting a very special, exclusive stamp and once again showing a great deal of innovative spirit when it comes to stamp design – to date no stamp valid for franking has ever been made out of glass anywhere in the world. The glass stamp shows one of the famous “Sandlbilder”:…

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Inaugural two-day Coins, Stamps & Collectibles Show at the Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre

Star Trek Enterprise

Hi everyone, ONLY ONE MORE WEEK TILL SHOW TIME!!! This is a quick reminder that next weekend, Saturday, the 17th and Sunday, the 18th, the club is hosting its inaugural two-day Coins, Stamps & Collectibles Show at the Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre. We will have the following dealers in attendance: Michael Tarantino, AAA Stamp Coin Jewellery. Victoria Paul Anderson, Praefectus Coins, Vancouver Lynn Balmer, Balmoral Numismatics, Burnaby Louie Bassetto, Vancouver Albert Benoit, Vancouver Lydia Bellan, New Westminster Stan Chin, Vancouver Clay Elmquist, LC Coins, Victoria Bill Hilderbrand, Abbotsford Peter Jensen, Burnaby Adem Karasik, Vancouver Tolling Jennings, Lasqueti Mint,…

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