#collectionupdate – Page 3 – Numismatic Exploits

Slumming with Royalty

SDC13398

Earlier this month it was my birthday, and normally I try to visit somewhere new and maybe add some interesting foreign coins to my collection. This year I instead went back to my old university town for a couple of days in an attempt to save money for an event which unfortunately fell through due to the current global crisis.

However, I still did manage to add something new though. As a present, I received a proof £5 coin celebrating my favourite band of all time. There is very little I can say which most people don’t know about the band Queen, but I can safely say I was quite chuffed receiving this coin for my birthday.

SDC13404

New Year, New Decade

2020 is now upon us, and this being my first post of the year, and the first post of the decade I have decided to start off with another first. For Christmas a family member bought me a coin as a present, a novelty item, but something which I can say is unique (for now).

Roughly about the same size as a £1 coin, I got a copy of the world’s first silver sovereign. Minted by the Royal Mint for Gibraltar this coin is limited to a strike of only 100,000 and is composed entire of pure silver. Now I am sure in the future many more of these will be minted, and the novelty of a silver sovereign will quickly wear off. But I can say at least I have one of the very first batch that has been minted.

So what about my intentions for the new year? Since it is a fresh year and a new decade I have decided to focus my efforts on areas of numismatics I know very little about. The coins of Asia and the Middle East I will have to admit I have very cursory knowledge of, as for Africa I can say my knowledge would be equivalent to the average man on the street. So this year I have decided to try and obtain and learn about coins from these areas of the world. A departure from Europe and N. America for a change.
I will however attempt to obtain more ancient coins as it is always an interest to learn something interesting from over a thousand years ago. There is also a quirk of holding something used and made by people who lived during that time. A weird disconnect for want of better words.

Finally, I will always try and seek out further unusual coins and numismatic materials. My love for what I like to term as ‘Funny money’ hasn’t diminished (such as the ancient Greek dolphin coins, or German notgeld). Despite my aims to focus on new areas of the globe. Perhaps I can marry the two objectives, I would love to add more Chinese spade coins to my collection, let alone dagger or money trees. There are also the outlandish currency of the Pacific islands which may be a challenge and worthy goal to try and get. Either way, it is still January, so I still have an entire year to discover and explore new areas of numismatics.

From Russia with love…

SDC13326

This month I guess I have to make up for not posting an update at the end of October. There was a reason for this, and that was due to a trip to Moscow, which went from the 31st October till the 4th November. It was my first time exploring Russia, and I will attest that the country did not disappoint. However, this is not a travel blog, but one devoted to coins, so instead I will talk about what new additions I added to my collection and other numismatic things I saw.

In the picture shown above I decided to buy a small book detailing the history of Russian coinage. A nice little piece of interest which I picked up for roughly 500 roubles (~£6) in the Kremlin gift shop of all places. Although not long, it does have a succinct run through of Russian coinage and pretty much does what it says on the front. It does not go into too much detail, but the main allure was the comprehensive photo gallery which takes up roughly two thirds of the book. Something I think that would come in very handy when trying to decipher any extremely worn Russian coins I may come across in future.

SDC13334

The next thing I bought was a 200th anniversary commemorative collection of 2 and 5 rouble coins which detail Russia’s victory over Napoleon in 1812. Similar to some coins produced here in the UK in 2015 to celebrate victory over Napoleon at Waterloo, Russia’s commemorative set details Napoleons invasion of Russia, his march towards Moscow, the Pyrrhic victory at Borodino, and his eventual retreat from Russia itself.

SDC13335

imgonline-com-ua-twotoone-7braQwiiJz

The obverse side of the coins depict the generals who fought on the side of the Russia, and monuments to commemorate the eventual victory over Napoleon.

As for other numismatic items seen in Moscow, I must admit not to witnessing much. In the Russian history museum there were a couple of cases showcasing gold coins from around the world as well as from Russia’s past. It was interesting to see them up close, and how small such coins were. And as ever, it always amuses me to see British coins on display in foreign lands. Unfortunately, photo’s were almost impossible to attain as the museum curators were ever vigilant in stopping photography.

Moscow is also home to the Bank of Russia money museum, but sadly, I did not have time to visit. Visits to the museum are by guided tour only, and have strict operating times. Most of which clashed with other plans I had during my visit to the city. So this is still on the list for when I next return to Moscow.

I also sadly did not get much chance to visit many coin sellers in the city. Partly this was due to the location of many of them being away from the areas I would be frequenting. Secondly, I read that it is difficult to transport items older than a certain age outside of Russia without the proper paperwork. I can’t say for certain that this information is correct, as I got conflicting information pertaining to it. Some places said it didn’t exist at all, whilst others placed a limit on it being items up to a 100 years old. Some even went as far to suggest that items no older than 50 years could be taken! So to save myself the trouble, I decided to settle on the commemorative coin set instead. It wasn’t too expensive coming in around 2000 roubles (~£25), which to be honest is probably roughly the same price I would have paid for something similar here in the UK. All in all, it was a fantastic trip, and I wholly recommend a visit. A re-run of which I hope to achieve next year.

Icons of note

Something relatively different this month. Every so often I receive e-mails from the Royal Mint with special commemorative medallions, coins etc. Often I ignore them because to be quite frank they are usually out of my price range. Sometimes though they send simple offers of a special commemorative (usually made from pure copper) for free with just the nominal cost of postage and packaging.

Over the years have taken up some of these offers, the most notable being the 200th anniversary of the battle of Waterloo, and the 950th anniversary of the battle of Hastings. Recently I decided to buy their offer of the solid copper replica of the Isaac Newton £1 bank note for the princely sum of £2.50 to cover the postage. Now usually these items form part of a larger set, often comprised of solid gold items. Which as I mention, is way out of my price range. This time however I, for once, decided to complete it. Mainly because I was able to afford the price of each banknote to complete the set.

The theme of the set was Great British Icons, with icons all designed by the artist Henry Eccleston. Apart from Newton, other figures featured are Wellington (on the £5), infamous for this campaign against Napoleon. Florence Nightingale, famous for the reforming and founding the principles of modern nursing is on the £10. Shakespeare graces the £20, and Christopher Wren, architect, takes position on the £50.

I won’t go into detail about the lives of these characters, as like last month, there is too much to talk about. I would however like to discuss my thoughts on items such as this.

For a collector these little sets are fun, and can be seen as a present to oneself due to the limited nature of them. Which immediately brings me to their major downside. They can be expensive. Not only constrained by the actual material of the product, the limited nature of them also seems to call for a premium price. Which often leads to me just getting the introductory piece rather than the full set. In a way these are marketed to those who have the money to spend on such a premium product rather than the general collector. Do I recommend these for people? Overall, not really. Unless the theme of the collection is something you are particularly interested with, or you are taken by the sheer novelty of it (like I was with this set), I suggest you direct your efforts elsewhere. Their immediate value is not comparable to the cost you pay for it, and it is a very long stretch you will match the amount you invested in it.

In short, only go out of your way for these if it something truly close to your heart, and you have the spare money floating around to meet the premium price.

Meeting the greats

Ave readers!

Today I will be talking abut one of the more famous Roman emperors. His fame (or infamy) is on par with other emperors such as Augustus, Nero, Caligula, Aurelian, Hadrian, and Claudius. He is well known as legitimising Christianity throughout the Roman empire, as well as founding the city of Constantinople (modern day Istanbul). He reformed the Roman Empire, and reigned it as sole emperor after the dismantling of the Tetrarchy created by Diocletian to end the Third Century Crisis.

You have by now guessed the emperor I am talking about, so I guess I should get on with this months blog post about Constantine I, also known as the ‘Great’.

SDC13240

The coin I have added to my collection this month is a bronze Follis of Constantine I. Dating from around 307 (when he became emperor of the Western Roman Empire) to 337 (when he died as emperor of the whole Roman Empire). The mint mark on the reverse tells me it was minted in Siscia, which is now modern day Sisak in Croatia. From the pictures you can see the coin itself is not very large, and due to the passage of time it about 1mm thick.

SDC13241

The life of Constantine the Great is too detailed and would require many blog posts to do it any justice. So I will just have to suffice with a summary of the more notable events which occurred during his life.

Constantine was born in Naissus (which is the modern day city of Niš in Serbia) and would grow up in a military lifestyle. He would rise up through the ranks during many campaigns in the Eastern empire, eventually reaching the title of Tribune. The Emperor Galerius would bestow the title of ‘Augustus’ on him, and he would be sent to Britannia to campaign under his father, Flavius. After his father’s death in 306, Constantine was proclaimed emperor by the army at Eboracum (York). He would march south to claim his title, and after his victory over Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312, Constantine was proclaimed emperor of the Western Roman Empire. Several years later he would wage campaigns against Licinius, who was the Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire. Constantine would emerge victorious in 324 after the Battle of Chrysopolis, and would become the sole emperor of the whole Roman Empire.

As emperor, Constantine reorganised much of the empire. He enacted administrative, financial, social, and military reforms in attempts to strengthen the empire. Restructuring the government by separating civil and military authorities. To reduce inflation, which was endemic at the time, he introduced a new gold coin called the Solidus. The coin itself would become a standard for Byzantine and European coinage for the next thousand years.

More famously though, Constantine was known as the emperor who legitimised the Christian faith throughout the Empire. He is known as the first Christian emperor, converting on his deathbed to the religion. During his reign he made life in the empire more palatable to Christians. He was highly influential in the declaration of the Edict of Milan in 313 which declared religious tolerance for Christians and Christianity, and in 325 he called the First Council of Nicaea which produced the Nicene Creed. Finally, upon his orders, he had the Church of the Holy Sepulchre built in Jerusalem upon the supposed resting place of Jesus Christ.

He reigned for 31 years, dying of illness in 337 in Nicomedia. Combining his years as both co-ruler and sole ruler, Constantine was the second longest reigning ruler of the Roman Empire after Augustus. His body was interred in the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople.

The Octopus man cometh…

Well… Not actually an octopus man, but the design of this months coin certainly does fit the bill. SDC13233

This small copper coin, dating from around the beginning of the 11th century, hails from the Chola empire which dominated the southern part of the Indian sub-continent for centuries. The Chola dynasty is known as the longest recorded dynasty in history, with written records dating as far back to the 3rd century BC. It survived and thrived until it’s eventual decline and collapse in the 13th century.

The chola empire had much influence within SE Asia, with the majority centred around what is now modern day Malaysia. It was further extended north, when strong trade links were established with China.

The Cholas left a lasting legacy after their long rule. Their patronage of literature and their zeal in the building of temples has resulted in some great works of Tamil literature and architecture. The Chola kings were avid builders and envisioned the temples in their kingdoms not only as places of worship but also as centres of economic activity. They pioneered a centralised form of government and established a disciplined bureaucracy. The Chola school of art spread to SE Asia and influenced the architecture and art of the region.

SDC13234

The image on the coin itself shows the king Raja Raja I standing with the traditional garment called a ‘dhoti’. The garment depicted is when gives the design it’s unique look and the apparent appearance of extra appendages. The other side of the coin shows the king sat upon his throne surrounded by dancers.

After the empires decline, there is an oral tradition that a rebel branch of the dynasty fled and thrived in the Philippines until the 16th century. It created a small ‘Indianised’ kingdom in the region until Spanish conquistadors under the command of Miguel Lopez de Legaspi conquered the region after sailing from Mexico.

Of Greeks and Dolphins.

We are heading back to ancient civilisations this month, but rather than greeting the Romans, we are heading a bit further east to their Greek neighbours.

SDC13232

The coins I have gained this month fall into the weird shaped and unusual category which I am so fond of. In the picture above you can see two bronze ‘Dolphin’ coins from the city state of Olbia, which was part of the Greek Sarmatian area of the Black Sea.

Olbia is located in what is now known as Parutyne, in Ukraine on the northern shore of the Black sea. The Black sea is known for it’s large population of bottle-nose dolphins. This may be why the Greek city state decided to cast their coins in the distinctive shape of the creature.

The coins are unusual in that most Greek city states would often mint their coins in the distinctive round shape many of us are familiar with today, whereas Olbia would instead cast these dolphin shaped coins. Archaeologists are led to believe that the coins originated as sacrificial tokens used in the temple of Apollo Delphinios. The dolphin itself is known as a divine creature in Greek mythology, and with a large presence of the creatures in the Black sea, it doesn’t take a far leap of the imagination to make a possible connection.

The coins themselves date from around the 5th-4th century BC, and were made using a casting method often used by the ancient Celts in France and which originated in this area. Many of the dolphins themselves had their tails removed during the process of removing the coins from the ‘trees’ they were attached to during the casting process. Probably due to speed over efficiency to move onto the next batch. Quality of the coins varied wildly, as can be seen in the photo, and variations of the coins do exist. Some have the dolphins distinctive fin, and some will also have the eye moulded onto them. In some very rare cases, there are known examples of the coins to feature words or inscriptions.

Revolution is in the air…

Bonjour mes amis.

This month for my collection update we travel to revolutionary France of the late 18th century. Dating from 1793, the piece I have recently acquired is a 2 Sol coin. Made out of bronze, and highly worn.

SDC12952

Now the more historically knowledgeable of you are asking “Wait, why is Louis’ portrait on the coin when he was executed in 1793?” And that is a very good question. Although Louis was beheaded in January 1793, the revolutionary government would still issue coins with the king’s portrait on them. Along with keeping the same weight and value of the coins. They would also keep Louis’ titles such as ‘king of the French’ but they would be featured alongside revolutionary mottos on the reverse.
Towards the end of 1793, there would be a continuation of the monetary system of the old regime but the portrait of Louis would be removed, along with his titles, and be replaced by a stylised figure along with the value of the coin.

SDC12951

Eventually by 1795 the Republican authorities replaced the old monetary units that were in use (which were almost identical to the pounds, shilling, and pence of the UK) with a more rationalised decimal system. Gone were the livres, sols, and deniers. They were succeeded by centimes, decimes, and francs. The original franc in 1795 was set as 5g of 90% silver, which was similar to the old livre. However, the struggling republic was unable to ensure such a quality for it’s coinage, and instead was reduced to issuing paper ‘Assignats’ at a much depreciated value.

Assignats were a sort of paper bond issued by the revolutionary government backed by precious metals they had in the treasury. It was an effort to reduce cost and keep the economy going during the subsequent crises which befell France in the following years.

Assignats themselves were issued during 1791-97 when Revolutionary France found itself attacked on all sides by the other European powers. Forced to use what precious metal it had to fund the ongoing wars, the reliance on the paper assignats increased where eventually they became compulsory paper money. By 1796, the number of assignats were twenty times that of the current value of precious metals the government had to back up the value of the issues. This led to an increase in prices, with many items seeing a 500% price rise compared to what they were in 1790.

The financial situation would not stabilise until Napoleon would start winning conquests in neighbouring countries and send the captured loot back to France.

Collection Update Apr’ 2019

imgonline-com-ua-twotoone-yqDmi2GbQpibmcd

We are heading out West this month to the US. From the picture above it can be clearly seen that I have managed to get a hold for myself two US one dollar coins. Dating 1921 and 1922 respectively.

Dollars in the US date back to just after the Revolutionary War with their basis on the then silver Spanish Dollar which was freely accepted as circulating currency in the US until 1857. The dollar on the left in the picture is an example of the infamous ‘Morgan’ dollar, so named after the engraver who created the design for the coin George T. Morgan. The Morgan dollar would start life in 1878 and initially end in 1904. However, in 1921, there was a need to melt and re-mint new silver dollar coins to be put into general circulation. New die designs had not been completed by this point, so it was decided to resurrect the old ‘Morgan’ design until the new one could be finished. Thus there was one further striking of the design in 1921.

On 26 December that year the new design dies were completed, and became to be known as the ‘Peace dollar’ (an example of which is on the right of the picture). The design itself was to commemorate the “lasting” peace after WWI and originally had a sword being broken by the eagle on the reverse of the coin. It was however interpreted than the broken sword could symbolise defeat, so an olive branch instead was quickly swapped in to be a better representation. The design would continue to be used until 1928 when silver in domestic mines would run out. The following year, the Great Depression would strike and production would be halted until 1934. It would last for a further two more years until being stopped completely in 1936. New dollar coins would not be minted in the US again until 1971 with the arrival of the Eisenhower dollar.

Collection Update Mar’ 2019

Ave Imperator! Another ancient coin added to my collection this month, this time of the Roman variety.

SDC12928

The coin showcased this month is a billon antoninianus from the Roman emperor Gallienus, who reigned as Roman Emperor from 253-268AD. For the first seven years of his reign he ruled jointly with his father Valerian, who split the empire in half. With Valerian ruling in the east, and his son Gallienus ruling in the West. Gallienus would become sole ruler in 260 when his father was defeated and captured by the Sasanian Empire at the battle of Edessa (Now known as Urfa in the South-eastern part of Turkey). After Valerian’s capture several usurpers to the imperial throne would rise up and declare themselves independent from Rome. Civil war soon broke out.

Gallienus would have some success in defeating the usurpers, most notably the ones who arose in the eastern parts of the Empire. He would fail however to put down those in the West, which would later form the Gallic empire under the Roman general Postumus. Gallienus would die in 268 whilst being besieged in Mediolanum (modern day Milan) when one of his soldiers would stab him to death as part of a conspiracy.

Gallienus reigned during what is known as the ‘Crisis of the Third Century’ when barbarian migrations, political turmoil, civil wars, and peasant revolts would almost cause the collapse of the Roman empire. The period would start in 235 with the assassination of the emperor Severus Alexander by his own troops. With many claimants to the title of Emperor (around 26) during the next half century, many of whom were Roman army generals. The Crisis would culminate in the Empire splitting into three distinct competing provinces. With the Gallic Empire in the west, the Roman Empire centred on Rome in the centre, and the Palmyrene Empire in the east.

The emperor Aurelian would unite the fractured empire in the early 270’s, and the crisis would end under the rule of Diocletian in 284 with many much needed political, social and economic reforms.

SDC12927

During this period, due to the increased military activity, the coinage of the Empire grew more and more debased. As can be clearly seen with the acquisition I got this month. The antoninianus is thought to have the nominal value of two denarii and was initially silver. But over time more and more copper would find itself into the coin (which of course caused hording of the older and more pure denarii and inflation in line with the decreased perceived value of the new issues) leading to an almost doubling in size of the coin during the reign of emperor Aurelian in an attempt to arrest inflation. The debasement would continue till the coin itself would be wholly copper. The coin I have seems to be towards the end of this transition as it still has a very faint silvery sheen to it, unfortunately not seen clearly in the photo’s. The term to describe coins with this type of debasement are known as ‘billon’, and would not be limited to the Romans. Examples of billon coins can be found starting from the ancient Greeks right through to the Middles Ages.