Coin Spotlight

Twelve Carlini - AN 7 (1799)

French Revolutionary War issue of Naples Italy. The Parthenopean Republic was the shortest existing republic in history.

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St. Lambert Charity Token - 1686

Prince-Bishopric of Liège Cathedral Token with a macabre Skull & Cross Bones design.

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T. Carisius Denarius with Moneta & Mint Tools

This coin was struck in 46 B.C.E. and is one of the very few coins depicting the minting tools used in ancient Rome.

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Gold Pahlavi of Muhammad Reza Pahlavi

This coin was struck by the US Mint for the new Shah of Iran in 1943. Besides the beautiful flowing letters of the Persian script the coin features the historic motif of Lion and Sun.

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Centennial of Independence 2 Pesos 1921

For their 1st Centenary, in 1921, The Bank of Mexico commissioned the Mexico Mint to issue a silver 2 Pesos and a gold 50 Pesos coin. These commemorated the 100th year since Mexico officially became independent of Spain, having declared independence in 1810.

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Half Penny - 1821; Time & Place of Napoleon's Death

This month we recognize the death of Napoleon Bonaparte in May of 1821. His second exile was to the island of St. Helena, 1150 miles to the west of Angola, in the southern Atlantic Ocean. The Portuguese had discovered the uninhabited island in 1502

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Middlesex Halfpenny - 1795

Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette are featured in jugate portraits with the French legend identifying them as King and Queen of France. Dr. Guilottine's horrible invention stands waiting on the reverse.

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Belgium Recovery, 1 Franc 1923

The constitutional monarchy of Belgium was not established until 1830, following the the upheavals created by Napoleon Bonaparte, and the revolutions of 1830. The origin of the country name stems from the Celtic tribe of the area called the ‘Belgae’, declared by Julius Caesar to be the most courageous tribe in all of Gaul.

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Wuchang Uprising, Fukien Province, 1 Cash

The Wuchang Uprising (aka Wuhan uprising) directly led to the Xinhai Revolution (辛亥革命) in which revolutionary forces overthrew the Qing Dynasty, ending more than 2,000 years of dynastic rule in China and ushering in the Republican era (1911 to 1949).

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It's hard to find a more gruesome Gorgon than this example from Thrace on the Black Sea.

With the opening of the "Hermit Kingdom" to Western traders and religious evangelists, Korean officials attempted to modernize the traditional cash coinage in use for almost a thousand years.

George III issue for the Isle of Man at a time when the British Mint produced few issues of copper coinage.

The tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan has been called the “Dragon Kingdom”. 

One Thousand Years of Hungary commemorative 1 Korona depicting Arpad on horseback leading his people into a new homeland, probably accompanied by his queen and son (s).

The Princely County of Tyrol, a state in Austria and previously incorporated into the Habsburg and Austro-Hungarian Empires, was famous for its abundance of silver in Medieval times.

If you are a collector of Roman era coins then you will recognize this denarius as one struck by Marcus Antonius, known as a "Legionary denarii."

Peter Spooner, the author of "Arizona Trade Tokens - 2010" graciously allowed me to visit him in his Tucson shop in order to photograph a portion of his extensive collection of Arizona tokens.

On the death of Edward the Confessor, the King of England in 1066, a council of senior nobles proclaimed Harold II as the next King.

After nearly forty years of fighting a branch of the Mongol Empire, known as the Yuan, established themselves as rulers of all of China.

Following the robust abolition movement in Great Britain this social justice movement quickly progressed in the United States.

Following independence from the French and British mandate system at the close of World War II, politics in Syria became particularly chaotic.

Phoenicia, Tyre AR Stater (Shekel). Circa 400-332 BC.

This "first of" coin is a non-circulating commemorative for the YEAR OF MARINE-LIFE PROTECTION issued by the Republic of Palau in 1992.

Karl XII (1682 - 1718), as he was known by the Swedes, is recognized as one of the potential conquerors of Russia, along with Napoleon and Hitler, that all came to grief in the attempt.

In remembrance of the 100th Anniversary of the Russian Revolution of October 1917, that occurs this month, I would like to examine the development of a powerful symbol.

In 1787 the British established the "Province of Freedom" in an area of the west coast of Africa that the Portuguese and Spanish had named Sierra Leone (Lioness Mountains).

Normally seen as Hupeh-Honan-Anhwei Soviet, here is a bit of history about this important Communist Guerilla Base: O, or (Ngo) Yu & Wan are the respective literary names of Hupeh, Honan, Anhwei.

This is a One Hundred Mun ("Value Hundred" tangbaekchon or dangbaekjun [sang pyong tong bo] coin issued by the Kingdom of Korea and the Treasury Department (Ho Jo).

Ferdinand is today best known for his role in inaugurating the discovery of the New World, since he and Isabella sponsored the first voyage of Christopher Columbus in 1492.

Matthew Boulton was contracted to strike these for the East India Company in July of 1794 at his fully steam driven mint in Soho.

Islamic Republic bullion coinage issued by the National Bank of Iran. Obverse features a mosque with the legends "The Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran" and (perhaps) "Spring of Freedom".

This gilded bronze Monneron token 5 Sols was minted in Birmingham England.

During the period of 1852 - 1856 New Zealand, a colony of Great Britain, was granted self-governance under a ministerial form of government.

These coins were minted in Bunkyu 2-3 (1862-63) by the Shimazu clan at Isonohama, near Kashogima, the political center for Satsuma and also for the Ryukyu.

This coin is a cast 8 reales, dated 1812, from the Chihuahua mint in Mexico.

This unassuming uniface WWI P.O.W. camp token was an acquisition with two other Notgeld coins of Germany, only one of which I was interested in.

This interesting Half-Penney Token is part of a sub-set of 18th Century tokens issued in Great Britain by private manufacturers.

Not much numismatic information is available on Ancient Chinese coins, especially those made previous to about 700 B.C.

The famous Industrial Revolution coiner, Matthew Boulton, began his historic career as coiner with a contract with the British East India Company in 1786.

The era of Napoleon I, following the French Revolution, used three date formats.

Any short collection of Biblical coins has to include a Shekel of Tyre, which is generally accepted as the money received by Judas Iscariot for the betrayal of Jesus' whereabouts in the Garden of Gethsemane.

This month's coin celebrates Peru, the important history of Túpac Amaru II, and an award winning article by Alan Luedeking found in a previous issue of NI's "Bulletin."

One of the first countries to commemorate America's 1969 Moon Landing (Apollo XI) Guinea repeated the honor a year later for Apollo XIII's near fatal disaster and miraculous recovery.

Zanzibar was a British Protectorate on islands in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Tanzania (Tanganyika).

Larissa was the most important town of all the federated towns of the Thessalian plains; they were famous for their cattle and horses.

Roman Imperial silver denarius of Emperor Septimius Severus (Lucius Septimius Severus, ruled 193 - 211 A.D.).

Dutch, German, and French Huguenots established themselves in southern Africa in the 17th and 18th Centuries and became known as Afrikaaners.

CHINA, Qing Dynasty - Guang-Xu (Emperor De Zong, reigned 1875-1908) milled brass one cash of Zhejiang (Chekiang) Province.

The Island of Rhodes, off the coast of Asia Minor, was a very prosperous port city.

First issued in 1549 under King Edward VI, this Victorian issue has the classic Jubilee portrait with crowned head.

This coin is from an oasis town in the Hadhramaut Plateau, and it was minted at the Birmingham mint by the Heaton Family. It is 17mm in size, weighs 1.55 grams and is 90% silver.

This coin from the Mexico City mint was produced during the reign of King Charles III (1759-88). It is a 39mm coin of 91.70% silver, weighing 27.07 grams.