Category Archives: Coins

Toasted cloves

Posted on October 16, 2013 by John M

The other day I was browsing through lots in a coin auction and spotted a very interesting silver restrike 1780 Maria Theresa Taler with clove countermarks from Pemba Island, off the coast of modern-day Tanzania. The coin Maria Theresa talers (or thalers) feature … Continue reading →

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Commemorative medal

Posted on September 19, 2013 by John M

I think this is what an old-fashioned commemorative medal would look like if something like the Nine Years’ War took place today, with Barack Obama as William of Orange. They seem to share a similar self-perception: “IOVI TONANTI” (Jupiter the Thunderous). We’re in for trouble if there … Continue reading →

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Resistance to Change

Posted on August 5, 2013 by John M

Here’s a timely article from the August edition of Token Publishing’s Coin News about the seeming inability of the US to migrate from the dollar bill to the dollar coin: US CONGRESS has reopened the debate yet again on the future of the much-loved one … Continue reading →

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Atrocious Hideousness

Posted on March 27, 2013 by John M

Many American numismatists may have heard this expression, used by U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt in a 1904 letter to Secretary of the Treasury Leslie Mortier Shaw to describe US coins: “I think our coinage is artistically of atrocious hideousness. Would … Continue reading →

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The Young Victoria Collection Wins NGC Best in Category Award for 2012

Posted on January 13, 2013 by John M

On January 11, 2013, Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC), the official grading service of the American Numismatic Association and the Professional Numismatists’s Guild, announced the NGC Collector’s Society 2012 NGC Registry Award Winners. The Young Victoria Collection was awarded the Best in Category in World … Continue reading →

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Transitions

Posted on May 28, 2012 by John M

Design Changes to the Young Head Victoria Shield Sovereign, 1838 – 1887 1. Introduction One of the challenges confronting the collector of young head Victoria shield sovereigns is the lack of an overview of the transitions between design changes during … Continue reading →

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The value of a cent

Posted on April 20, 2012 by John M

I just read news that a 1792 US silver center cent sold for $1 million at a recent Heritage auction!* A pattern with a known population of less than a couple dozen, it’s one of the most extreme example of the relative … Continue reading →

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Evliya Çelebi and the Leopold Taler

Posted on February 5, 2012 by John M

Here’s an entertaining description of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I; who lived from June 9, 1640 to May 5, 1705; given by Evliya Çelebi, an Ottoman traveler who visited Leopold’s court at Vienna in 1665: One may almost doubt whether the Almighty … Continue reading →

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The Young Victoria Collection is complete!

Posted on January 24, 2012 by John M

I finally acquired the key date of the series, 1841, and the Young Victoria Collection is now complete!   1841 (S.3852), ‘GRɅTIɅ’, extremely rare (R3), XF Details, the key date of the series This collection of British shield sovereigns from the early years … Continue reading →

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Using the 2012 Standard Catalogue of British Coins

Posted on December 30, 2011 by John M

I just received my copy of the 2012 Standard Catalogue of British Coins: Coins of England and the United Kingdom, 47th Edition (SCBC hereafter). The SCBC is an indispensable reference for the collector of British coins, and features reference numbers, photographs, descriptions, … Continue reading →

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