Innehållsförteckning för Issue 10 från Coin Collector

The People’s Bank of China has revealed nine new coins to celebrate the forthcoming event, including three gold coins, five silver coins, and one gold and silver bi-metal coin. All of them are the legal-tendered coins of the People’s Republic of China. The common obverse features the emblem of the XXIV Olympic Winter Games, the Great Wall of China with snowflakes, the title of PRC and the year. The reverse is inscribed with different pictures, denominations and Chinese characters reading ‘The 24th Winter Olympics’. The 150g round gold coin depicts the mascot for the Games; the 30g gold and 12g silver round bi-metal coin depicts the National Stadium and the National Aquatics Centre. The two 5g round gold coins depicts the traditional winter sport of skating, and a skier in…

South Africa’s new R5 coin, set to be entered into circulation on 1 January 2021 to celebrate the centenary of the South African Reserve Bank, features a design showing some of the country’s classic coins. The new coin is being issued to celebrate the centenary of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), which was founded in 1921 to take over the creation of banknotes from private companies. The new coin features a similar design to a R5 coin issued in 2011 to mark the bank’s 90th anniversary, which also showcased older South African coins. The reverse design of the new bi-metal coin, which has a diameter of 26mm and weighs 9.5g, includes: • A 1923 3 cents coin (issued from 1923 to 1925)• The R1 coin, introduced in 1961 and…

A hoard of gold and silver coins, deposited in about 1540, were uncovered in a New Forest garden, including four coins from Henry VIII’s reign, unusually featuring the initials of his wives Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour. In total, 63 gold coins and 1 silver coin of Edward IV through to Henry VIII were found in the New Forest area, Hampshire as the finders pulled out weeds in their garden. Ranging across nearly a century, dating from the late 15th to early 16th centuries, the hoard includes four coins from Henry VIII’s reign, unusually featuring the initials of his wives Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour. The total value of the coins far exceeds the average annual wage in the Tudor period, but it is…

For the last several years I have attended the annual World Money Fair in Belin. The show is unlike any in the United States, and I truly enjoy exploring the diverse bourse with everything from ancient coins to coins being struck that day. The show is about meeting people and establishing relationships that will be fruitful for years to come. The amazing attendance which is displayed by the long lines to get in are the envy of show promoters around the world. My wife and I also enjoy the many social events surrounding the World Money Fair, the highlight being the show banquet that is hosted by the sponsoring Mint. In 2020 the Japanese Mint staged an elegant dinner with engaging entertainment. Part of the evening event each year is…

The collection could be categorised in many different ways, but two of the chief themes are people and processes. Photographers have always been interested in capturing how coins are made, the types and variety of machines used, the sequence of production. Inevitably the people who worked in the factory have formed a part of this record but the joy of the Museum’s photographic collection is that something of their lives is also often revealed beyond the confines of their working environment. Images of coining presses and furnaces, blanking presses and weighing machines offer a rich visual history of how the technology of minting has changed over time. The social hierarchy, too, at play in some instances can be immediately apparent. Here (figure 1, direction indicator) a clerk wearing a top…

Throughout the second half of the 19th century, legislation, the most important being the Elementary Education Act 1870, put schooling on a formal basis, with education up to the age of twelve becoming compulsory for all. Before 1870 it is estimated that just under half of England’s children received no education whatsoever. The remainder attended voluntary or church schools. As the franchise had been extended in 1867 it was felt appropriate that education be provided to the masses so that they would vote ‘wisely’. There was some opposition, however, from liberals fearing indoctrination and conservatives worried that education may lead to revolution. The established church also feared a loss of influence. Although it is a great simplification to state that Board Schools’ funding was dependent on results, there was great…

COIN COLLECTOR STORAGE KIT This is your chance to win a fantastic coin collecting storage kit (perfect for newcomers or experienced numismatists), containing a Classicdesign complete album with matching slipcase and pages, and a set of ten 30mm ULTRA Intercept coin capsules. All you have to do is answer one simple question! ABOUT THE PRIZE The Classic-design is a bound leatherette ring binder with four-ring mechanism, a matching slipcase, five ‘NUMIS’ pages and five white interleaves. Sliding drawer window are made of plasticiser and acid free soft specialty film. The ULTRA Intercept is the only round coin capsule in the world with active protection against tarnishing. The copper particles in the material bind corrosive gases permanently and as a result neutralise harmful atmospheric substances inside the capsule. This protects the…

A San Francisco collector who sold his large coin collection to a dealer for around 5 cents per coin, has been told that one of the pieces in the collection was worth an estimated $40,000, with the honest dealer returning the rarity to its owner. Over the past fifty years, the San Francisco collector accumulated thousands of Lincoln Cents from change, friends and by searching rolls. He never found anything of note, and ended up selling the whole collection for a few hundred dollars, equalling about 5 cents per coin. The dealer who purchased the coins eventually sorted through the collection and, to his surprise, discovered an uncirculated 1969-S Lincoln Cent which turned out to be the very scarce Doubled Die variety, of which less than 100 coins are known…

US Mint Director, David J. Ryder, has published an open letter addressing negative feedback on mintage numbers and the Mint’s website. Writing about Mint’s the World War II 75th Anniversary products, Ryder admitted: ‘we clearly underestimated demand’ and also mentioned that the ‘overwhelming demand for these products outpaced our website capacity in ways that we are still trying to better understand and remedy’. Ryder concludes: ‘I and my team are working to change the way the Mint has done business in the past. We endeavour to produce numismatic products that our customers will value. Along the way, we’ve made mistakes, and are doing our absolute best to learn from those mistakes.’ Latvia have issued a collector coin on the theme of ‘Personal Freedom’. The silver €5 coin has a mintage…

The results of the Change Checker Awards for 2020 have been announced, celebrating the very best people in the world of change collecting, many of whom have incredible coin-related stories to share from what has been a challenging year. The winners were revealed on the Change Checker website with a special video (head over to allaboutcoins.co.uk to watch) presented by Change Checker’s experts Rachel Hooper and Alexandra Siddons. The annual awards are proudly supported by Coin Collector and the allaboutcoins.co.uk website. Matt Hill, Coin Collector editor and a member of the judging panel, said: ‘‘Wow, the team at allaboutcoins.co.uk were blown away by the entrants for this year’s awards, with so many heart-warming stories and inspirational collectors. It’s been a heck of a year, and so hearing how coin enthusiasts…

A gold ‘Ides of March’ coin was recently sold at auction house Roma Numismatics for a staggering £2,700,000, the world record price paid for a Roman coin. The star lot was only the third known example of a gold EID MAR coin, struck by Marcus Junius Brutus, the most famous of Julius Caesar’s assassins, on the eve of the battle of Philippi, commemorating (if not celebrating) the murder of the dictator. The auction catalogue described the coin as being: ‘excessively Rare; the third known example: one on long-term loan to the British Museum, the other in the Deutsche Bundesbank collection.’ The coin reflects historic death of Caesar. The reverse features the three principal elements of this ‘patriotic’ act of regicide committed to liberate the Republic from monarchical tyranny. Most striking…

At the beginning of the 19th century, a confusing variety of currencies and denominations prevailed throughout Europe. The German lands, for example, counted on thalers, guldens, and pennies, while francs, lira, drachmas, and various other local means of payment were circulating all across the continent. But most currencies had one thing in common at the time: most circulation coins were minted in gold and silver. This increased the acceptance of coins in other countries. The preliminary highlight of this early form of a gold standard in the 19th century occurred in 1865 when France, Belgium, Italy, and Switzerland merged and unified the sizes and weights of their national gold coins. The gold coins of the member states of the ‘Latin Monetary Union’ are traded close to the gold price nowadays…

The base silver or bronze antoniniani – also known as radiates – of the so-called Gallic Empire (260-74) were struck in enormous numbers and can be picked up relatively cheaply. Thus, they offer a good introduction to Roman coins for the beginner. Radiates are instantly recognisable on account of the spiky head-dress worn by the emperor, a visual representation of the sunrays bursting from the brows of the sun god Apollo. On Roman coins it had the significance of marking a double denomination; the radiate started life in 215 as a double denarius under the emperor Caracalla. Its silver content then was around the fifty percent mark; by the early 250s that had dropped still further to around thirty to forty percent. In the 260s the purity was to plummet.…

It’s all change for the 50ps this quarter, as one coin drops a huge fifteen places! With less cash being used because of the current climate, it’s likely this is affecting collecting and it seems this has exposed some new trends on the indexes! You can use the updated A-Z 10p, 50p and £2 indexes below to discover how sought-after the coins in your collection really are. This information has been compiled using data from the Change Checker Swap Centre and presented in the easy to use indexes below, with arrows to signify how many places up or down a coin has moved since the last Scarcity Index. A-Z 10p Scarcity Index We’ve seen another big mix up for the latest A-Z 10p Scarcity Index update, with our biggest climber,…

Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC) has certified two more colossal gold coins, both 2020 Year of the Rat issues from China. Together, the coins contain over $700,000 (approximately £) in gold, but their numismatic value is significantly greater. Each of them has earned NGC’s highest grade: NGC PF 70 Ultra Cameo. The NGC Mega Holder® was used to encapsulate the 10kg 100,000 Yuan example, while the NGC Oversize Holder® was used to encapsulate the 2kg 20,000 Yuan example. Each are struck in .999 fine gold, with diameters of 180 mm (7.1 inches) and 110 mm (4.3 inches), respectively. These are the largest (both by denomination and weight) of the seventeen types of 2020 Year of the Rat coins issued by China. The coins feature China’s National Emblem with auspicious patterns on…

US auction house Stack’s Bowers Galleries has announced the acquisition of the company Coins In Motion LLC, whose technology creates high-resolution animations of coins and banknotes. According to the auction house, the patent-pending ‘Coins in Motion’ technology accurately captures the ‘in-hand visual appeal of coins and banknotes in a manner unlike any still or video photography available today’. The technology was first used by the company to showcase coins from their December 2020 Showcase Auctions. Stack’s Bowers Galleries president Brian Kendrella said: ‘Over the past several years we have seen technology’s increasing and dramatic impact on the numismatic hobby. With the vast majority of sales now taking place strictly online from the comfort of our clients’ homes or offices, we have worked hard to provide our customers with the information…

A unique gold stater of Caratacus was recently sold by Elizabeth Cottam of Chris Rudd Ltd for £88,000, breaking the record for the highest price ever paid for a Celtic coin. Liz Cottam said: ‘Considering the historic importance of Caratacus, Britain’s first famous freedom fighter and first national hero, and considering the uniqueness of the coin – the one and only gold coin of Caratacus ever found – I believe it’s the biggest bargain we’ve ever sold. ‘In my opinion Celtic coins are still widely undervalued. If the Caratacus stater had been a Roman coin of similar rarity and similar importance it would unquestionably have realised well over £1 million, like that aureus of Brutus that recently went for £2.7 million.’ According to the Celtic coin specialists, the winning bid…

SOLD FOR £1,513 France, French gold Ecu Louis XIII Montpellier 1629 XF SOLD FOR £440 Belgium, Millennium Coinage in Brussels gold medal 1965 FDC SOLD FOR £258 Belgium, 20 francs Leopold II 1882 gold coin XF SOLD FOR £383 China Republic, 10 cents 1926 silver coin XF SOLD FOR £267 Switzerland, 20 francs gold coin 1947 SOLD FOR £274 USA, 5$ Crowned Head 1898 gold coin SOLD FOR £4,111 Belgian Congo, 5000f banknote 1950 SPECIMEN graded PMG SOLD FOR £445 Luxembourg, 10 franc banknote 1923 SOLD FOR £275 Italy, 200 EUR Series S Duisenberg UNC Buy and sell on Delcampe, more than 80 million collectables are waiting for you! http://www.delcampe.net…

The year 2020 has a special meaning for coin collectors in Europe: this is the year in which the Euro as a coin was about to celebrate its ‘coming of age’. Eighteen years ago, the era of the common European currency began in wallets and purses throughout Europe, after the Euro had already been introduced as book money in 1999. While people all over Europe had to get used to new prices and say goodbye to their beloved currencies, such as the German Mark, the Franc, or the Lira, the introduction of the Euro brought about a renaissance in numismatics. And the eighteenth year of the Euro was to be celebrated in style… until Corona ruined the anniversary year of European numismatics. The pandemic did not spare numismatics. Countries such…

On a cold winter’s afternoon on 30 January 1649 King Charles I was beheaded outside the Banqueting House at the Palace of Whitehall. This gruesome spectacle, watched by a packed crowd of onlookers (figure 1), came as a turning point after six harsh years of Civil War, a conflict that saw brother fight brother in defence of King or Parliament. With Charles’ execution, Parliament had literally claimed a royalist scalp, and was able to reform the state as it saw fit. And reform it did: by the end of May 1649, the House of Commons had abolished the monarchy and House of Lords, and had declared itself the supreme authority of a new sovereign republic, the Commonwealth of England. In the eleven years until the restoration of the monarchy in…

Most modern money comes in one of a few familiar physical forms. Circular base metal coins made of alloys of nickel, copper, brass and steel – depending on denomination and desired finish – are one common form. Another are banknotes made of paper or, increasingly over the past decade, polymer. Although metal coinages have been a consistent monetary form over time, they have occasionally veered off in quite unexpected directions. If you asked what the world’s largest coin is, the Guinness Book of World Records would tell you it’s the Australian Kangaroo gold coin weighing an astonishing one tonne. This coin, however, is more of a novelty showpiece than functioning money. Sweden was Europe’s foremost copper producer, thanks to the productive mine at Falun where seams of copper have been…

Despite lockdowns and a worldwide pandemic, we saw an incredible twelve 50ps released, four £2 coins and fifteen £5 coins to add to our ever growing collections. Of all the wonderful coins released last year, here are some of our highlights and the stories behind them… Brexit 50p On the 31 January 2020, the United Kingdom left the European Union – over three and half years after the vote. As one of the most historically significant events to happen in modern history, it was only fitting that the occasion should be marked with the release of a brand new United Kingdom coin. The 2020 UK Brexit 50p was released on Brexit Day and proved to be one of the most popular releases of the year, with the Silver Proof version…