Treasure of the Low Countries

From the last couple of posts it is quite clear I have had a recent trip to the Low Countries, specifically the Netherlands and Luxembourg. It is of course, during this trip I added some more coins to my collection and this post is to have a brief discussion about the newest additions.

The first pair of coins I bought during my trip were two Gulden coins from the Netherlands roughly 100 years apart in age.

The first coin is a 2 1/2 Gulden from 1874 issued during the reign of William III. A king who presided over the Luxembourg Crisis in 1867 which led to the second Treaty of London guaranteeing the independence of Luxembourg as a country. He was a king well known for his scandals (which are equalled by those of the UK’s own Edward VII) and political chaos of his reign. He would die at the Het Loo palace in Apeldoorn in 1890.
The second coin is a 50 Gulden coin from 1982 commemorating the 200th anniversary of Dutch-American friendship after the USA gained independence from the UK.

The next pair of coins are from two Dutch colonies, that from Curaçao and Aruba. Both colonies are islands in the Caribbean not far from the coat of Venezuela. Both islands were colonised originally by the Spanish, but after the Eighty Years War they were taken over by the Dutch, primarily by the Dutch West Indian Company (The Dutch East India Company’s less famous brother).
Due to their location within the Caribbean the islands, particularly Curaçao, became centres of the Dutch Atlantic slave trade. Both islands were used for growing cash crops, and would become the staging point for the Dutch to eventually expand their colonial ambitions to the mainland in South America leading to the colonisation of Suriname.
It wouldn’t be until 1863 that the Dutch would abolish slavery, and although free, many of the now emancipated slaves would have few places to go. Some would emigrate to other islands in the Caribbean such as Cuba, or to the Netherlands itself, whilst many would continue working on the farms they were slaves on but this time leasing the land from their former masters.
For Aruba, there was significant efforts made to obtain independence in the 1980’s with an agreement being made in 1983 to start a slow step process. However the main advocate of the deal in Aruba, Betico Croes, would suffer a severe car accident and would later die in 1986. This coupled with the economic downturn experienced on the islands in the mid to late 80’s it was thus agreed in 1990, and then put into practice in 1995, that independence for Aruba would be postponed until a successful referendum result could be obtained.
Curaçao meanwhile would seek independence at the same time as Aruba, but would experience further economic hardships throughout the 80’s and 90’s due to the volatility of the oil market at the time. With the main Shell refinery on the island being the cause of many economic and legal disputes. In 2007 it was voted that Curaçao would become an independent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands with a majority of voters supporting the move in a referendum in 2009.
In 2010, Curaçao gained that independence with the Netherlands being only responsible for the island’s defence and foreign policy.

Finally, the last coin which was added to my collection was a 25 euro commemorative coin from Luxembourg which is part of a series remembering the heroes of the global pandemic which raged from 2019-2021. This particular coin of the series commemorates the doctors, nurses, and other health workers.

Luxembourg History and Archaeology Museum

I am on the last leg of my holiday, and I am in the city of Luxembourg

I thought I would start out by visiting the Bank of Luxembourg, as it supposedly had a small exhibit and shop open to the public. It did, but the exhibit was a small area with 3 tables explaining briefly the history of Luxembourg’s coinage. Something which took me about 15 minutes in total to examine and read through.

Feeling a little disheartened I went to the History and Archaeology museum and was delighted to find they had a gallery dedicated to numismatics.

Taking up one half of a floor in the museum the gallery aims to explain the history of money within the region of Luxembourg itself. Starting with the Celtic tribes in the area, through to the Romans, and the Medieval period.
The exhibit works it’s way through the history of Luxembourg, eventually moving to the country’s first minted coins when it gained it’s independence after the Treaty of London (1839) and eventually culminating in the adoption of the Euro in 2002.

Many of the pieces on show are from the Luxembourg region only, with those coins minted outside of the area only shown as they were found as part of hoards or specific events to tell the story of the country.

Unusually for a coin gallery, there was no exhibits explaining how anti-counterfeiting measures were included in the coins and banknotes issued by the Country. There was a brief showing of how coin and banknotes were made and minted, but the main focus was on the history of coins in Luxembourg itself.

Overall it was an interesting experience to wander the exhibits in the gallery, the only downside is that much of the information was solely in French. There were some museum signage which was in dual French/German which allowed me to understand the general gist of what was trying to be said (due to my very limited rudimentary knowledge of German); and rarely there was some English signage as well.
It is definitely worth a visit, as many of the other exhibits in the museum are worth it on it’s own. The huge selection of Roman and Celtic artefacts on display made me spend more time than I normally would in a museum, and the cost of 7 euro for the entry ticket was an absolute bargain compared to what some museums charge you for entry.

National Bank of the Netherlands Museum

This week I am in the Netherlands enjoying a nice break from my soggy island exploring the country and visiting some long time friends.

During this visit I had a chance today to visit the National Bank of the Netherlands museum. A small museum found in the southern outskirts of Amsterdam.

Whilst the bank itself is a large, but not a particularly attractive looking building, the museum only takes up a small part of the building in the basement areas. Free to enter, you are immediately greeted by friendly staff who guide you on where to access the exhibits, away from the more important and sensitive areas of the bank.
The museum is split over two floors, with the first sub-basement floor having exhibits in two of the old minor bank vaults. The second sub-basement floor is the old bank vault which housed the Netherlands’ gold supply until it was moved to a new location elsewhere within the country.

The two exhibits on the first sub-basement floor is split into two sections. The first explains economic theory and how banks handle the economy and deal with any potential crises which may arise. Much like the Geldmuseum in Frankfurt it is a very dry section of the museum, and although there is interactive games which can be played, it is probably geared more towards the educational side for schools than anything else.
The second exhibit looks at money itself from it’s earliest origins to the present day, and how money has been used for a variety of reasons. It also explores different forms money has taken place, and the potential reasons why these items came about.
Finally, this second section also looks at the formation of the Dutch bank, and the currency used within the Netherlands since it’s creation as a country in the 17th century. Many of the exhibits which, have wonderful explanations of the artefacts on show to effectively explain the points being made.

Amongst the exhibits on display there were some of the old favourites like Swedish plate coins, Chinese knife and spade coins, and shell necklaces from the Indian Ocean, however there was a few items which I have not seen before which interested me.
The one which stood out the most was the iron spear blade from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Picture included in the slideshow above). Dating from around the turn of the 20th century, these blades were used by the Topoke tribe to show power and status within their community. Essentially the more spear blades you owned the more prestige you had. They were used as a form of currency rather than combat. They were used from anything to paying for goods at a market, dowries for brides, to even ransom of prisoners of war and the purchase of slaves.

The museum overall was very much like the Geldmuseum in Germany, but on a much smaller scale. Covering many of the same topics, the National Bank of the Netherlands keeps more of the Dutch attitude for brevity. Unlike the Geldmuseum which goes into impressive detail about the topic it is describing to ensure nothing is left out, the National Bank of the Netherlands is much more succinct in it’s telling, which I feel has led to the museum itself looking a bit sparse.
Despite only having such a small space for the museum itself, it still felt rather empty, and the exhibit in the old vault in the second sub-basement in the old gold vault felt…..pointless. The vault itself is a very large room, and it invites visitors to a small video presentation about gold itself. That’s it. So much wasted space. I feel further exhibits could have been placed here, maybe expanding on some of the topics shown on the floor above.

Now, I did enjoy my visit to the museum, and the interactive exhibits were definitely fun to play with. Some of the games actually had me thinking fast on my feet to win. It is certainly worth a small detour to visit if you are ever in Amsterdam and wish to while away an hour or so, but I feel there is so much more potential for the museum to improve and grow.

Out in the Provinces

This month I will be writing about a new addition much closer to home than the last few updates I have written about.

The subject of my post this month is an English banknote issued in 1809

In the picture above you can see that this bank note has seen better days.

However, it is a £1 bank note issued with the date 17th February 1809. Issued by the Pocklington, Dickinson and Company for the Newark bank, it is one of many provincial banknotes which were in circulation within the United Kingdom from the late 18th century until the early 20th century (although in Scotland and N. Ireland they are still a feature of some banks).
Issued originally due to the Bank of England not have full monopoly over the currency within the United Kingdom, many local banks would issue handwritten banknotes (with some being printed, although not coming into commonality until the mid to late 19th century) to keep local economies going.
The note I have in my collection was issued for the Newark bank in Nottinghamshire by Pocklington, Dickinson and Company who also supplied another local bank at the time, the Retford Bank. Historically over time, many of these provincial banks would be amalgamated, bought out by larger banks, or face bankruptcy and close. Newark Bank would unfortunately fall under the last category and would close it’s doors a month after this note was issued in 1809.
By 1844, with the passing of the Bank Charter Act, the Bank of England would gain more control over the issuing of currency within the United Kingdom, and over the proceeding decades the rules for issuing currency within the country would be tightened and changed. The main feature would be that many provincial banks would have to back the issuing of their own currency with either physical gold or with the equal amount of currency issued by the Bank of England. With there being a shortage of gold at the time in the 19th century, many banks were forced to stop the process, with the last provincial bank in England and Wales ceasing the practice in 1921.
In Scotland and Northern Ireland however, the restrictions for the 1844 Act did not apply, and many provincial banks continued the practice. Today there are still three bank in Scotland which issue their own banknotes, and four in Northern Ireland. Though modern laws have been passed to state that these banknotes must be backed by the equivalent value of Bank of England banknotes, who issue notes on behalf of the entirety of the United Kingdom.

The Tigers of South-East Asia

After my last collection update which featured some emergency banknotes from Vietnam, I am returning to the region, but to Vietnam’s neighbour of Laos.

The most recent addition to my collection is a 1 1/2 Tamlung silver ingot from the Lao Kingdom of Vientiane. Dating from around the early 18th century to mid 19th century this ingot features a unique raised bumpy pattern over one side. Thus giving it’s affectionate name of “Tiger Tongue” by many in the numismatic community.

Officially known as Lat money or Hoi money, the distinctive markings over the top of the ingot is a subject of much debate amongst historians and researchers of Laos’ monetary history. The most prevalent theory is that during the casting process the distinctive raised bumps were formed by scattering live ants on to the cooling metal, and the resultant formic acid causing them to be created.

These coins were first minted after the Kingdom of Lan Xang was split into two kingdoms after a small series of succession wars in 1707. These wars were caused by several invasions from the neighbouring Burmese kingdom. Luang Phrabang and Vientiane would be the successor states.
Both kingdoms would eventually be subordinated to the Kingdom of Siam, with the Siamese exerting much control over the region until Western Colonial powers, predominantly France but also Great Britain, would start to interfere in the region’s stability.
The Kingdom of Vientiane would pass to French rule in 1893. The city of Vientiane would become the capitol city of the French protectorate of Laos in 1899. Independence would not come to the country until 1953 when Civil War would break out. Several years later Laos would be drawn into the Vietnam war when parts of it’s territory was invaded by North Vietnamese troops. A further Civil War would also break out in the mid 1970’s which saw the Royalist Government overthrown and a Communist state set up in December 1975 under Kaysone Phomvihane. Peace would be quickly sought with Vietnam, with a treaty ratified in 1977.

Museu do Dinheiro

Following on from my last post, there was another money museum I visited during my hiatus from this blog.

Back in March I visited Lisbon for my birthday, and near to the seafront there is an old baroque-era church which has been converted to the Museu do Dinheiro (or Money Museum for those not fluent in Portuguese).

Granting free admission, once through security, you enter a large space reminiscent of it’s old ecclesiastical heritage. Open and bright, the interior space of the museum gives an air of relaxation as you wander around. The sense of scale makes the experience feel like there is much to see. Although, the entrance hall does seem underdeveloped and feels a little empty.

The museum is spread over multiple floors, and you are first guided to the ticket desk where you are provided with a brochure, map of the museum itself, and your free admission ticket (more on this later). This also doubles as a shop, and there are many commemorative coins on offer which you can purchase at fair prices.
Off to one side you will also see a large vault space which, like many money museums have done, sits a solid gold bar where you are challenged to try and lift it one handed.

The museum itself has a set path for you to follow (very similar to the Geldmuseum in Frankfurt) starting off with the simplest of questions, “What is money?”. The route guides you through the idea of money, how money has been used to pay for goods and services, until eventually on the 1st floor it begins to tell the origin story of money. Using examples from around the world the museum asks the visitor to explore their own understanding of how we perceive coins and money itself.

As part of the free admission ticket, you are granted a unique barcode which allows you to interact with many of exhibits within the museum. These range from games to logic puzzles, and task you to reason out why money has developed the way it has. At some points later in the exhibition you are able to have fun with the making of money, and even have your face put on an old Portuguese banknote.

As you wind your way through the path set for you, eventually you come across how coins have been used during the history of the Portuguese state, and it’s colonial empire. Many examples are on show, and there are some parts which show how the money was made in the past. The museum also has a few exhibits on how Portugal’s modern Euro currency is used and produced.

The final part of the museum looks how money affects the wider economy within Portugal, how banking procedures and policies can affect people’s lives, and what controls governments have to affect and effect such policies.

Overall, the museum was well worth the visit. Several hours can easily be spent here with no sign of boredom to be had. With free admission as well I cannot see a reason not to go.

Bank of Estonia Museum

During my hiatus from writing posts on this blog I have had a chance to visit several money museums in different countries. This post I will be talking about the Bank of Estonia museum which I visited when I was staying in Tallinn back in November last year.

The museum itself is just found outside the city centre, about a 5 minute walk. It is an early 20th century brick and stone building which is typical of the style you will find in the Baltic countries, and Finland. As soon as you enter you are met with a beautifully styled spiral staircase leading to the first floor where the museum is. The Bank of Estonia museum is by far the most beautiful and charming museum I have had the luxury of visiting since starting this blog. Everything is decorated with paintings, designs, and carvings. There is even a small friend who greets and says goodbye to you above the front door.

The museum itself is spread over three rooms (one being the shop), and the basement vault area.
The first room is the main exhibit space, and shows coins and banknotes from all over the world. Describing how coins are made, their security features, and the evolution of coinage through time. Of course much of the focus is on the history and development of the Estonian coinage throughout it’s long history. There are a few hands-on exhibits in the room with interactive screens which allow you to examine a curated number of specimens closely.
The second room looks at how banking works in the modern world, and discusses briefly how stocks and shares work in the wider world. Much of this room looked to be dedicated for school visits, as there were many chairs and tables set aside for hands-on activities.

Entrance to the old vault of the museum was through the old vault doors, and is separated into two levels. The top level describes a little history of the Estonian national bank, but also the safety and security of keeping coinage within the building.

The second basement level was reached through a small narrow staircase down and leads to a small rounded room where much of the valuable gold was kept. Within this room there is a small display showing one of the original gold bars the bank handled prior to sending it to the USA for safe keeping before WWII. There is information about the use of gold in Estonia, as well as a small history describing the history of Estonia sending it’s gold for protection from the invading German, and then Soviet forces.

Overall, despite being on the smaller side of museums I have visited, the museum was very charming. Although the exhibits are small, they are well chosen and do contain a lot of information about the period they are portraying. With free entrance, it is certainly a museum I would recommend visiting if you are interested in the topic and you are in the area.

Being Offensive in Vietnam

This month I will be presenting a small set of notes from Vietnam.

Dating from 1968, these are not currency per se. They are in fact food coupons issued by the Vietnamese Red Cross to the local population of the city of Hue after the vicious Battle of Hue in 1968 during the Vietnam War.

The city of Hue is located centrally in Vietnam and is the perfect border city between the North and South. This would inevitably lead to much fierce fighting breaking out around and in the city during the Vietnam War which raged from 1955 to 1975.

These notes were issued in 1968 after the Battle of Hue, one of the bloodiest battles of the Vietnam War, and is often cited as one of the toughest and most intense urban battles during American involvement.
Starting on 30th January as part of the Tet Offensive, when North Vietnamese forces launched mass surprise attacks against Southern forces across the warfront. The battle would last until the 2nd March, when Southern forces would manage to retake the city.
During this period it is estimated that over 10,000 soldiers and civilians died in the fighting. At least 2,800 civilians were executed by North Vietnamese forces in what is known as the Hue Massacre, as an attempt to purge entire sections of Vietnamese society in the city, as well as elements friendly to the Americans. Many of the victims would end up in hastily covered mass graves.
Due to the widespread devastation caused by the fighting which took place in Hue, with many of the buildings and districts seeing levels of destruction similar to what befell Dresden in WWII, civilians would face severe shortages of necessary amenities and supplies. Many coupons, and ration cards were issued to try and solve the logistical nightmare the Tet Offensive caused.
Reports of the Hue massacre would remain in the minds of populace in Vietnam and abroad during the rest of the war, and there were reports of it still being talked about in 1973. It is argued that the panic of another bloodbath occurring led to the swift collapse of remaining South Vietnamese forces in 1975 during the North’s Spring Offensive. Ultimately leading to the fall of the Republic of Vietnam on the 30th April 1975.
The following year in July 1976 the North and South would merge to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, and despite speculation by many, including President Nixon, no further massacres would occur. To date, Vietnam remains a single party Communist State.

Something about Elagabalus

So it has been a while since I last posted an update here.

My collection in the last few years has certainly been growing, and I think it is about time I start posting updates again.

This month is a Roman coin from one of Roman Empire’s more … divisive emperors. Even though he is often forgotten. Ruling the empire from 218-222 AD, although short, it was an interesting reign. This update, I will be breifly talking about the Roman Emperor Elegabalus.

The coin this month is a silver denarius showing a profile of Elagabalus on the obverse, and a depiction of Victory on the reverse.

A lot of our information about Elagabalus comes from contemporary accounts from the Roman senator Cassio Dio, who quite frankly, was very hostile towards him. This has lead to historical views of Elagabalus to be quote biased against him. The venerable Edward Gibbon set the trend in his seminal work The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by cementing the scandalous reputation of the Emperor and his reign.

Elagabalus was originally the head priest of a sun god cult in Emesa (nowadays Homs in Syria), at the age of 14, a revolt by the army against the emperor Macrinus instigated by his grandmother thrust him to the imperial throne.

During his reign he showed much disregard to many of the religious beliefs in Rome at the time, instead importing the cult he was the head of to the city with him from Syria. Still being the head priest, he forced many of the more prominent members of the Roman government to participate in the religious rites celebrating his deity.
According to the accounts of Cassius Dio, he married four women, including a Vestal Virgin, in addition to lavishing favours on male courtiers they suggested to have been his lovers, and prostituted himself. His behaviour estranged the Praetorian Guard, the Senate, and the common people alike. Amidst growing opposition, at just 18 years of age he was assassinated and replaced by his cousin Severus Alexander in March 222.

Modern historians are beginning to question the unfavourable reputation. Some have questioned the accuracy of Roman accounts of his reign, with suggestions that the reports of his salacious behaviour and sexual excess likely reflected a desire to politically discredit him in the immediate aftermath of his death, as well as reflecting Roman stereotypes regarding people from the Orient as effeminate.
Historian Warwick Ball paints Elagabalus as a child forced to become emperor who, as expected of the high-priest of a cult, continued his rituals even after becoming emperor. Ball asserts Elagabalus’s lasting influence in the sense that his deity would be welcomed by Rome in its Sol Invictus form 50 years later. Ball claims that Sol Invictus came to influence the monotheist Christian beliefs of Constantine, asserting that this influence remains in Christianity to this day.

Nécessités de Guerre

It has been a couple of months since I have added anything new to my collection. Fairly recently I managed to spend a few days away in sunny Germany where ironically I bought some interesting items from France.

Dating from WWI these notes are the Gallic equivalent of those issued by Germany during the same period. Although not known locally as Notgeld, this necessity money functioned much in the same way.

Issued by local towns and villages it sought to fill the vacuum left by the central government during the unprecedented conflict at the time. These necessity money were a plan to keep local economies going during a time of great upheaval.

During the outbreak of the war in 1914 the central bank of France suspended the use of gold coins and any conversion of banknotes into gold. As a result rampant inflation begin to occur with many hoarding any coins with gold or silver content.
Merchants, unable to process small transaction due to a lack of small coinage, began to issue bonds in small amounts to get around the problem. In August of 1914 the Chamber of Commerce of Paris was authorised to issue these small denomination bonds on behalf of the state as legal tender for any merchants who agreed to use them. These small bonds were backed with an equivalent amount of cash on deposit with the Banque de France.

Soon thereafter other Chambers of Commerce around France would begin to issue bonds in a similar manner to the one in Paris. The specimens added to my collection hailing from the town of Lille which sits close to the Belgian border.

The bonds would be issued for 5 years after which they would be swapped to more durable materials, such as bronze plated aluminium, as paper was not able to withstand the constant handling of day to day life. The last paper issues were phased out in most of France by 1921.