Tag: #collectionupdate

Collection Update Feb ’19

We are heading back to Asia this month for my latest addition to my collection.  China more specifically.

The piece I got this month is something I have only ever managed to see in museums or in books.  However, I got lucky and through some of my contacts found someone willing to sell on an example from their own collection.

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From the picture above you can see a Huo Bu (money spade) from the reign of the emperor Wang Mang (9-23AD).  Now, this is not the first time I have acquired a coin from this Chinese emperor, and I have written briefly about his reign in a previous blog post back in January last year (Here).  So I won’t regurgitate anything in this post.  So I would like to explore spade coins in general.

Chinese spade coins were first made during the Zhou dynasty (~1045 – 256 BC) and resembled a small spade or weeding tool often used by the people as an alternative form of currency.  The original spade coins would have a hollow handle at the top of the coin, representative of the wooden handle you would insert.

Towards the later period of the Zhou dynasty, the legs would be less pointed and early forms of Chinese characters would start to appear on the coins.  Further changes would happen during the warring states period (475- 221 BC).  Each of the individual states would start producing their own spade coins, and they would become much smaller and would no longer have the hollow handle at the top.  Different shapes would also begin to be produced, with examples known to exist including arched feet, rounded feet, and coins with three holes (Pictures and examples of which cane be found here).

After Emperor Qin Shi Huang has conquered the warring states in 221 BC he replaced spade coins with the titular round coins with square holes many of us are familiar with and associate with in regards to ancient Chinese coins.  This would continue until we reach our reoccurring blog favourite, Wang Mang.  When he became emperor he reissued spade coins, in an attempt to impose some legitimacy to his dynasty after he usurped the throne and forge a link with previous dynasties.  The spade coins by this time had proven to be unpopular however despite several different types being cast and issued.  Round coins were ultimately reintroduced shortly afterwards, and the spade coin was resigned to it’s place in Chinese numismatic history.

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A New Year and a Collection Update

So it is now the end of January 2019, and I honestly can’t believe I have still managed to keep updating with this blog (I thought I would get bored after the first year).  I am now entering my third year of writing, and despite missing a few months, I feel I can keep going for many years more.

So what did I learn last year in regards to numismatics?  Honestly, I feel I learnt more about different country’s histories more than the hobby itself.  But the one major thing which has stuck with me was during my trip to Japan early in 2018.  Discovering Hansatsu notes was a novelty in itself and I felt an instant interest due to my love of unusual forms of currency (as can be seen about my post a few years ago in regards to German Notgeld).  Furthermore, as was seen in the series of posts I made about that trip, I was actually able to procure one for my collection.  Which I will happily admit is now sitting pride of place amongst other unusual items from my collection in a glass cabinet.  Hopefully this year I will be able to match it with something equally unusual and interesting.

Now despite not updating the blog at the end of December (Christmas got all my budgetary attention), I decided to get something a little more expensive than I usually go for to make up for it.

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So in the picture above, and the one below, we have a silver sixpence from the reign of the well known Elizabeth I.  Measuring 19mm diameter at it’s widest point and only 1mm thick, it is not a particularly large coin.  Minted in 1575, it has the rose mint mark to the right of the portrait which denotes it was struck at the Tower of London.
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Elizabeth’s reign has commanded libraries worth of literature.  With many Tudor historians writing reams about her.  Along with her father Henry VIII, she has typified the Tudor dynasty, especially after the short and brutal reign of her sister Mary I.

Her 44 year reign added much needed stability after the two short reigns of her brother and sister, and the political chaos surrounding the reformation in England put into motion by her father.  I could go into much detail about her reign, but the amount of information out there is too much for such a small blog post as this one.  But in short, her reign was one of precarious balance.  Defending England against the Catholic powers on the continent, whilst balancing society back at home.  The upheaval caused by the protestant reformation would cause no end of headaches for Elizabeth, with the threat of the Spanish armada in 1588 (and the equally catastrophic English armada the following year) and the Nine Years War from 1594-1603 in Ireland to name just a few.

She would survive these problems until her death in 1603, when the crown would pass to her cousin, James VI, King of Scotland (ironically the son of Mary Queen of Scots who Elizabeth had executed in 1587).  Thus ending the Tudor dynasty, and starting the Stuart one.

Collection Update Nov’ 18

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This month I have two small copper coins from the island of Zanzibar to talk about.

Minted in 1882 (1299 in the Arabic calendar) in Belgium, these two coins are from the small island of Zanzibar, now a part of Tanzania, off the coast of East Africa.  The script on the front of the coin in Arabic translates to ‘Sultan Sa’id ibn Barghash ibn
May Allah save him.”  The coin itself, is about the size of a British 10p coin, or a US quarter, with roughly the same thickness too.  The denomination is 1 pysa.

Vasco da Gama’s visit to the island in 1498 started the period of European influence on the island.  Prior to this, Zanzibar had been a small trading hub between Arabic and Indian traders in the east Indian Ocean.  Portuguese settlers would found several settlements on the island, with the main city of Stone Town being expanded.  However, Portuguese influence was very limited, much preferring to leave administrative control of the area to local leaders.  This would come to an end in 1631, when the local Sultan massacred the Portuguese inhabitants.  Direct control would occur until 1698 when Zanzibar would come under the control of the Sultan of Oman, who was invited by the local Swahili elites to remove the European presence.

Up until the late 19th century, Zanzibar would remain as a trading hub throughout the region, with many valuable goods, such as spices and ivory passing through.  It was also a major hub area for the slave trade, with as many as 50,000 slaves passing through the port each year.

This proliferation of the slave trade in Zanzibar was the root cause of British involvement on the island.  During the early 19th century, several treaties were signed between the Sultan of Zanzibar and the British to limit and eventually stop all slave trading ships passing through the territorial waters.  The Sultan, losing a key source of revenue, decided to make Zanzibar itself the centre of the slave trade in the region instead.  Finding it difficult to capture slave trading ships in the area during the 1850’s and 60’s, Britain informed the Sultanate in 1873 that a formal blockade of the island would occur unless the practice was stopped.  The pressure caused the Sultan to relent, and the Anglo-Zanzibari treaty was signed stopping the slave trade, banning slave markets and protecting the rights of freed slaves.

Eventually in 1890, Zanzibar became a protectorate of Britain.  Apart from a brief 38 minute war in 1896, the protectorate would last until 1963 when Britain passed the Zanzibar Act which ended the system.  Zanzibar did not gain independence as Britain did not officially have sovereignty over the island, but citizens of the island until that point had the right to be British citizens.  One of the most famous of these would be Freddie Mercury, who was born in Stone Town in 1946.

Collection Update Oct’ 18

This month I have gotten a coin from Britain’s only colony on the mainland of the South American continent.

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In the picture above you can see a Stiver coin from the colony of Essequibo and Demarary, dated 1815.  These two regions now form parts of the larger state of Guyana which borders the states of Venezuela, Brazil and Suriname.

Guyana was first sighted by Columbus in the late 15th century, and an account was written down by Sir Walter Raleigh a century later.  The area was first settled by the Dutch in the early 17th and mid 18th centuries.   Britain took control of the colony in 1796 during hostilities with the French during the French Revolutionary Wars, who had at that time taken over control of the Netherlands.  The colonies were then returned to the Dutch in 1802 under the terms of the Treaty of Amiens, but were then retaken by the British a year later when hostilities in the Napoleonic Wars broke out.

The colonies were officially ceded to Britain in the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814, and in 1831 the territories were consolidated into the single colony of British Guiana.

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The British mainly developed the colony for sugarcane plantations, with many African slaves being brought here to work on them.  The process of resource exploitation would continue throughout the 19th century, with some minor diversification to exploit the bauxite deposits in the latter half, and early 20th century.  The territory would gain it’s independence from Britain in 1966, changing it’s name to Guyana.

Collection Update Sept’ 18

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In the picture above we have this months newest addition to my collection.  Being relatively small and thin (16mm in diameter and only 1mm thick), the coin itself is relatively unremarkable.  It dates from the late 12th century, and is a joint issue Denaro from the Kingdom of Sicily.  Issued by the then Holy Roman Emperor, Henry VI, and his infant son Frederick who was crowned King of Sicily in 1198 at the age of 3.

Henry VI conquered Sicily in 1194 after successfully ransoming off the English king Richard the Lionheart after his capture and arrest whilst returning from the Third Crusade.  Using the ransom money of 150,000 silver marks ($18.5 million or £14.2 million today) to pay for the expedition.  After rooting out the Norman nobles who opposed his rule or fought him prior to the conquest Henry made his wife, Constance, Queen regnant.

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Henry’s son, Frederick, would not however succeed to his father’s position as Holy Roman Emperor after Henry’s death in 1198.  It would not be until 1220 that Frederick would attain the crown of the Holy Roman Empire after the current incumbent, Otto of Brunswick (Otto IV), would be overthrown after his defeat at the Battle of Bouvines, a conclusive battle of the 1213-14 Anglo-French war.  Already recognised as Emperor a year and a half prior to the battle by the Southern states of the Empire, it didn’t take much for him to ascend to the throne.

Collection Update Aug’ 18

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I fear that this month’s update will be quite lengthy as I recently acquired a large number of German coins stretching through just over 200 years of history.  During that time Germany went from a collection of individual states disguised as the Holy Roman Empire, to eventual unity.  Two world wars, being split again, and another eventual reunification requires me to be very scant on details otherwise it would turn into a very lengthy essay!

Our delve into Germany’s past starts with the first coin, which is a 1/4 Stuber from the German state of Cologne (dated 1741).  Cologne at this time was an archbishopric and was issued under the name of Archbishop Clemens August (his stylised monogram taking up the obverse side of the coin).

The beginnings of the Holy Roman Empire are unsure, and many scholars cannot agree whether it was Charlemagne who became the first emperor in 800AD, or Otto I in 962AD.  However, by the middle of the 18th century when the 1/4 Stuber was minted, the state of Prussia had come to dominate the Empire in it’s politics with the accession of Frederick I (the Great) to the throne of Prussia.  Frederick would eventually spark the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-48) and more importantly the Seven Years Wars (1756-63) which would sow the seeds for the American Revolutionary War, and add further fuel to the fire which caused the French Revolution.

By the time of the minting of the next coin (1 Kreuzer, 1856, Duchy of Nassau), the Empire had been dissolved 50 years previously in 1806.  This happened when Emperor Francis II’s armies were defeated by the French under Napoleon at the battle of Austerlitz.  The Emperor abdicated after signing the Treaty of Pressburg, where many of the Empire’s western territories were organised into a French satellite state called The Confederation of the Rhine.  After the end of the Napoleonic wars in 1815, the Confederation was replaced by the German confederation until 1866 when it became part of the North German Confederation founded by Prussia.  A forerunner of the German Empire which would be formed under Prussian leadership in 1871.

The unification of Germany occurred under the leadership of the Iron Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck.  The desire for a unified Germany was borne out of the revolutions which occurred in 1848-9, with the idea of pan-Germanism and the discontent felt with the traditional autocratic political structure of the current individual German states.  Bismarck desired a unified Germany, but with Prussia at the helm, not Austria.  So a series of wars were initiated to establish dominance.  The first is known as the Second Schleswig War (1864), in which Prussia and Austria attacked Denmark.  Achieving victory, both Austria and Prussia were ceded territory from Denmark, and the northern frontier of the future German Empire would be established.  However, due to collusion with Austria, the outcome of this war led to the Austro-Prussian War (1866).  The result of this war allowed Prussia to assert control over what would be the empires future southern provinces.  It also ended the idea of forming a German empire which included Austria, as this would weaken any Prussian control.

Finally, in 1870, the French declared war on Prussia starting the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1).  The French Emperor, Napoleon III, was worried about being encircled by two family members of the same house (A candidate of the Hohenzollerns was in line for the throne of Spain).  Some clever politicking by Bismarck and the infamous Ems Dispatch caused conflict to be started.  Prussia, with assistance from the Southern German states, easily defeated France. With the chief adversary to German unification being defeated, the new German empire was proclaimed in 1871 in the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles with the Prussian King Wilhelm I becoming emperor.

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The next few coins come from the German Empire, with the large 2 Mark (1913) being a special anniversary coin commemorating Prussia re-entering the Napoleonic Wars a century prior.  The last in the top row is a 3 Kopeks (1916) made from solid iron.  These would be issued by occupying German forces on the Eastern front in the Russian territories they had captured during WWI.

After Germany’s loss in WWI the Weimar republic was created in 1919.  The first coin on the second row is a 5 Reichpfennig (1926) from the Republic.  The Republic suffered many problems from it’s inception, ranging from hyperinflation during the Great Depression of 1929, political paramilitaries from both the Left and Right, and a contentious relationship with the victors of WWI, most notably France.  The people of Germany blamed the Republic for the loss in WWI and the humiliating requirements of the Treaty of Versailles rather than the wartime government.  This created the perfect condition for Hitler and the Nazi party to rise to power, which as everyone knows, led to WWII and the horrors committed within.  The next coin is a 50 Reichpfennig from this period, dated 1940 below the eagle and swastika.

After Nazi Germany’s defeat in WWII, Germany was split in half between the Western Allies and Soviet Russia.  The part controlled by the West was called the Federal Republic of Germany, whilst the part under Soviet control was called the German Democratic Republic.  The last two coins each come from both parts of Germany.  The 1 Deutsche Mark (1956) comes from East Germany, and it is testament to the conditions at the time under Soviet rule as the material the coin is made out of is aluminium.  Compared to the 2 Mark (1979) coin from the West which is a much more solid cupro-nickel coin.

With the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989, it paved the way for Germany to be reunited again after 45 years of separation in October 1990 with the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany.  This was further reinforced by the collapse of the Soviet Union the following year, and Germany was able to become fully sovereign in March 1991.

Collection Update Jul’ 18

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This month, I am going to talk about a small coin (about 16mm in diameter) from James I of England.  This coin is known as a ‘Lennox’ farthing, taking it’s namesake from the man who minted them.  Originally the patent to strike these coins was given to Lord Harrington by James I in 1613, due to their being an extreme shortage of small change in the country at the time (a problem which would persist until the late 18th century).  Harrington died the following year in 1614, followed shortly by his son.  The patent went to his wife who either sold it or gave it to Ludovic Stewart 2nd Duke of Lennox on June 28th 1614.

Ludovic would go on to mint five different variations of this coin.  With only one of these actually being authorised to be circulated in Ireland.  Despite a harp featuring prominently on the reverse of the coin, it was not until the fifth variation when it was allowed in Ireland.  This fifth variation is markedly different from the others, as the flan was more oval shaped than round.

The coin shown in the picture above is the third variation minted sometime between 1622-24.  This can be identified by the privy mark shown at 12 o’clock on the obverse side of the coin (above the crown and sceptres).  The privy mark shown is called an ‘annulet’ (represented by a full circle), and with this third variation a total of 22 different privy marks were used.  All in an attempt to stop forgeries.

The Duke of Lennox would die in 1624, a year before James I.  The patent to strike the coin would pass on to his widow Frances Duchess of Richmond.  The patent would be reaffirmed by James’ son Charles I, and the coins themselves would later be known as ‘Richmond’ farthings.

Collection Update Jun ’18

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This month I have acquired two coins from the Dutch East Indies, what is now known as Indonesia.  Both coins are relatively small, about the same size as a 10c euro piece, or a British 20p coin.  Both are relatively well worn, and thus are thin, about 1mm in thickness.  Both are valued at 1 duit, with 160 duits equalling 1 gulden.

The coins themselves date from the late 18th and early 19th centuries.  The one on the left being struck and issued by the Dutch East India Company (VoC), as seen by the companies logo on the reverse side (The logo was used in an attempt to stop smuggling in it’s Indonesian colony).  The VoC, first founded in 1602, functioned along the same lines as it’s British contemporary working to capitalise on trade in India and the Far East.  The VoC was influential in the early modern period as it pioneered the rise of corporate-led globalisation.  It became the first corporation to be listed on a formal stock exchange, and at it’s peak was the most valuable corporation ever.

The coin was struck in 1791 close to the end of the VoC’s existence as 7 years prior it had taken part in the financially disastrous Fourth Anglo-Dutch war (1780-84).  Which would eventually cause for it to be part nationalised 5 years later in 1796, and eventually completely nationalised by 1799.

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After it was nationalised all VoC territories were taken over by the Dutch government, and all it’s assets seized.  This can be seen in the following coin on the right which was issued for the region in 1807.  The Latinised form of the name Batavia is the colonial name of what is now central Jakarta.  Indonesia declared it’s independence from colonial rule after the Japanese surrender in WWII.  However, the Dutch government refused to relinquish control and an armed and diplomatic struggle broke out.  This would last until December 1949, when the Dutch finally recognised Indonesian independence due to international pressure.  The last part of Dutch owned territory in the area would not be gained by Indonesia until 1962 when the province of Netherlands New Guinea was handed over to them following the New York Agreement.

Collection Update May ’18

Getting back into the swing of things, this month I have a few coins from Russia which have been added to my collection.

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Starting from left to right, there is a 10 Pennia (1905) from the province of Finland, which was a part of Russia until it gained it’s independence in 1917.  In the middle is a 1/2 Kopek from 1747, also known as a Denga. Finally on the right is a Rouble proof from 1990 depicting the Russian composer Tchaikovsky.

The name Denga was the original name for Russian monetary units.  Starting back in the middle of the 14th century, denghi were originally made from silver wire which had been cut to a prescribed length and then beaten flat.  The flattened disks would then be placed between two coin dies and hammered.  Thus resulting in rather elongated oval shaped coins.  Due to poor Russian monetary policies, the denga coins were devalued constantly until the great coin reforms of Peter the Great in 1700.  Denghi were re-minted as much larger copper coins, as the previous silver coins had been reduced so much in size they weighed on average 0.14g.  The name denga was used until the middle of the 19th century when it was changed on the coins to Kopek, with a single denga equating to 1/2 Kopek.

The denga in the pictures shown dates from the reign of Tsarina Elizabeth (1741-62).  The daughter of Peter the Great, she is remembered fondly for being strongly opposed to Prussian policies and attempted German influences in the Russian court as well as not executing a single person throughout the entirety of her reign.  During her reign she led the country during the War of Austrian Succession and the Seven Years War.

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Finland for most of it’s history was not an independent country.  It didn’t gain it’s independence until 1917 after a short and brutal civil war.  Prior to this Finland was an autonomous province of Russia which it gained in 1809 after the Finnish war against Sweden.  Prior to this Finland was part of the Swedish Empire, due to Swedish colonisation and expansion from the 13th century.  During the 20th century, Finland fought twice against the Soviet Union in the Winter War and the Continuation War to retain it’s independence.  Although gaining independence from Russia, Finland continued with the Markka as it’s currency and would eventually switch to the Euro in 2002 after joining the EU in 1995.

Now some technical information.  Proof coins are usually early samples of a coin issue, traditionally as sample coins to check dies and equipment.  Today they are struck in higher quantities for the numismatic collector market.

Most proof coins are double struck by highly polished dies.  This process allows the details to be much sharper in contrast to regular issue coins, as well as being highly polished to an almost mirror sheen.  Another difference between proof and regular issue is that proof coins are individually handled after being struck whereas regular issue are normally thrown into collection bins on mass.  The ‘proof’ moniker does not refer to the condition of the coin, but more in regards to it’s historical background and through the process in which they are made.

Collection update – Japan Special

As the title reveals, and as my previous entry confirms, I spent several weeks in Japan earlier this month for my birthday.  As well as visiting the Bank of Japan’s currency museum (see the last post which is dedicated to it), I also had a chance to visit some coin sellers in the Tokyo area.  It was visiting these sellers which allowed me to acquire items which normally are difficult to find here in the UK (avoiding searching the internet of course), and usually are significantly more expensive.

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I managed to acquire these coins in a varied hodge-podge of places.  The coins in the top left corner acquired in the more unusual place.  Of course, it goes without saying that visiting Japan and not acquiring a 100 mon coin (bottom left) is practically impossible for a collector.  This is not the first I have gotten, as my update back in December showed.  However, seeing it for sale in Akihabara of all places, and at a significantly low cost meant it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.

So I will first start discussing the coins to the right of the picture.  At the top are five 4 Mon coins dating from the middle to late 18th century.  A design influenced heavily by the Chinese, it was during this period that Japan declared that Chinese money could no longer be used as legal tender (a practice which had been going on for a fair number of centuries prior to this decision).  This was due in part to the large influx of Chinese copper coins disrupting markets in Eastern Japan resorting many Japanese traders to using rice for transactions rather than coins themselves.  After 1670, when the use of the old Japanese and Chinese coins became prohibited, many traders instead sold them overseas to make a profit.  Vietnam was the main trading hub for these old coins, which resorted in Japanese mon coins becoming the de facto currency of the country due to the large influx of them.  This stopped in 1715, when the Japanese Shogunate banned copper from leaving the country.

Below the mon coins is a solid silver rectangular 1 Bu coin, Ichibu-gin in Japanese.  Dating from the dying days of the Tokugawa Shogunate (1853-1865).  During this period the Shogunate had ruled Japan for roughly 700 years, but by the early 19th century, it was starting to show it’s weaknesses.  Handling of several famines during the previous century had not gained it any popularity, and new ideas spreading from the West caused some dissent amongst the peasant population.  The situation was further exacerbated by unfavourable demands placed on Japan by the encroaching Western powers.  This is heavily characterised by the trade treaties first bargained in the US’s favour by the Perry Expedition in 1853.  The Shogunate fell in 1867 when the Shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu tendered his resignation to the Emperor and stepped down as Shogun.  The following year the Emperor Meiji officially ended the Shogunate and after a brief civil war (Boshin War 1868-9) against the remnants of those who wanted the Shogunate to keep power, reclaimed it for the Imperial throne.  The return of the Emperor to power in 1868 is known as the Meiji restoration.

The coins in the top left corner I acquired in one of the least likely of places.  Again they were found in Akihabara,  but this time they were in one of the many Gatchapon machines dotted around the district.  Gatchapons are small machines containing pods (or eggs as we call them here in the UK), which for a small nominal sum you receive a random item from those displayed on the front of the machine.  Seeing one dedicated to old Japanese coins and banknotes I couldn’t resist having a try.  It also allowed me to get rid of some of the change out of my pocket.  Some of the items on offer ranged from small iron or copper coins up to old demonitised banknotes.  From what I could tell from the picture on the front of the machine, all dated from the early 20th century.  The coins I got were a couple of copper Sen dating from the 1910’s and a 10 sen tin-zinc alloy coin dating from 1944.  Overall, not worth the change I put into the machine, but honestly the fun and novelty of it all mitigated any financial loss I felt about it.

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Finally, the last thing I acquired whilst in Japan was this banknote called a Hansatsu.  I will freely admit, I had no idea that these things existed until I visited the currency museum in Tokyo.  They date from the late 17th century well until the Meiji restoration in 1868 when the Emperor started to issue the first national Japanese banknote called the Dajoukansatsu.  Hansatsu notes are very similar to the German notgeld of the early 20th century in that they often could only be used in the region (Han) they were printed in, as well as not being official state issued currency.  Most of them had equivalent values equal to metal coinage circulating Japan at the time, but some were also priced in the value of commodities like rice and fish.  Some of the larger Hansatsu feature depictions of a large man, who is Daikokuten, one of the seven Gods of fortune from the Buddhist faith.  He is often seen sat astride two rice bales due to his close connections with agriculture.  He was also associated with weath, happiness and good fortune leading him to become a favourite deity throughout Japan.