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Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium medallion
A souvenir of a family day out Sea Life is a chain of sea life-themed aquarium attractions owned by UK Merlin Entertainment, with over 53 (as of 2017) around the world. Merlin also run Madam Tussauds, Legoland, the Dungeon, Peppa Pig World and London Eye to name a few. (Information taken from Wikipedia, as none…
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1994 Cambodia 500 Riels
A coin from the heir to the mighty empire of Angkor (Image of Buddhist monks walking towards the famous Angkor Wat temples, Cambodia, from Unesco.com) Archaeological data has revealed that the area we now call “Cambodia” was inhabited by human beings at least 40,000 years ago. Cities developed along the coast in the centuries before…
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New Haven USA Railroad token
A coffee token from an iconic American train The New Haven Railroad (1954 New Haven annual report showing the serif N over H design of the company’s logo, from Northwestern University) The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Company, commonly known as the New Haven Railroad or simply, ‘The New Haven’, operated in the…
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1972 Malta 2 Cents
Featuring the Queen of the Amazons Amazon Warriors Depiction of Amazon Warriors from Live Science) According to Greek mythology, Amazon warriors were the most powerful women ever. They were said to be a tribe of independent, mighty women who had rebelled against the men-dominated society. They used to live in isolate places, exclude men from…
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1919 Luxembourg 25 Centimes
A forked-tail rampart lion on a decorative shield, from a landlocked Grand Duchy Luxembourg The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is a small country landlocked by Belgium, France and Germany. With an area of just 2,586 sq km (994 sq mi) Luxembourg is quite small. For context, that is only 2/3 the area of Rhode Island,…
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2024 Around Australia Flights PMC
A medallion with spinning propellors Cover This Postal Medallion Cover (PMC) from Australia Post commemorates the centenary of the first two flights to circumnavigate Australia. The piece uses a four-colour palette: The colour theme works really well and contrasts the two events nicely with each other. The reverse has details of the flights on a…
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2023 OSIRIS-REx medallion
An ongoing space mission Bennu (Asteroid Bennu, from Nature.com) Asteroid Bennu is a small, near-Earth asteroid that passes close to Earth about every six years. Bennu is a carbon-rich asteroid that is about one-third of a mile (half a kilometre) wide at its equator. There is also a possibility of Bennu impacting Earth towards the…
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1995 Japan 5 Yen
An elegant, modern Japanese coin Heisei Era Last time we visited Japan, we looked at the 1915 Japan 5 Rin. That coin was issued during the Taishō era which lasted until 1926. Each emperor of Japan names the era of their reign. Here is a list of these since the “Meiji Restoration“: Today’s coin is…
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1978 Uruguay 5 Centésimos
A South American Steer (Cattle in Uruguay, from BeefCentral.com) Last time we looked at Uruguay, we explored up to the rule of President Jose Batlle y Ordonez. His successors continued his reforms, paving the way for Uruguay to be seen as one of the most progressive in the world. Although neutral during WWII, the worldwide…
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RFS Macarthur Zone Challenge Coin
A fire brigade challenge coin from New South Wales, Australia Challenge Coins Immediately after posting the Code 9 “Senses” Challenge coin, I was asked “What is a Challenge Coin?” Challenge coins originated in the military, although how far back is hard to be certain. Peter Morrell goes back to Roman times and how some of…
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Code 9 “Senses” Challenge coin
A grounding tool to help first responders The Code 9 Foundation From Code9PTSD.org.au: “The Code 9 Foundation provides a place of support for current & veteran professional first responders & 000 operators (Emergency call takers)* who live with PTSD, depression, anxiety and other mental health conditions that result from their service to the community. This…
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1930 Uruguay 10 Centésimos
A coin commemorating the 100th. Anniversary from Constitution Pledge Uruguay Uruguay means “river of the painted birds” in the native Guaraní language. With just 176.215 km2 / 68,037mi2, Uruguay is the second smallest country in South America (Suriname is the smallest, not counting French Guiana and the Falkland Islands). Uruguay is on the east coast…
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2024 Koalas in Danger PMC set
PMCs helping save Australia’s endangered Koalas PMC The set comprises three PMCs, which each feature cute images of koalas. On the back of each is the (same) text: “Our iconic Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) is facing a crisis. In its native habitat on the eastern and southern coastal regions of the mainland, the Koala is at…
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1980 Laos 50 Att
Laos is a landlocked country between Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar and China. The Lao people were a tribe originally from Yunnan, China, who were pushed south to the border of the Khmer empire in the 13th century. The first Lao kingdom, called Lan Xang or “land of the million elephants,” was founded by Fa Ngum…
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Saint Anthony of Padua Medal
A very large medal I hopefully won’t lose (Painting of St Anthony, from Catholic.org) St Anthony of Padua St. Anthony of Padua is one of the Catholic Church’s most popular saints. Saint Anthony of Padua, patron saint of lost and stolen articles, was a powerful Franciscan preacher and teacher. He’s typically portrayed holding the child…
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1936 UK Painted Threepence
A colourful version of one of George VI’s last coins The last circulating coin we wrote up from the UK got the “altered” tag, in that case because it had been carved. Today’s will as well, although the changes are more cosmetic. The UK This threepence was issued under George V. Son of Edward VII,…
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1946 Iran 2 Rials
An imperial looking coin from a historic nation Iran (The Pahlavi Crown, commissioned by Reza Shah in 1925. Image: TheZay.org) Iran has been inhabited for a long time. Stone tools found in the region date back 800,000 years. We have previously looked at coins from some of the civilisations which have occupied modern-day Iran. These…
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James Burness & Sons Coaling Station, St Lucia
A coal token from a tiny Caribbean nation St Lucia St Lucia is a small island nation in the Caribbean, just north of St Vincent & the Grenadines and south of Martinique. It is part of the chain of islands which runs from Venezuela in South America, through Trinidad & Tobago through to Cuba. Saint…
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1970 Brazil 50 Centavos
A nice industrial scene from a country with a large shipping industry 200th Coin! We interrupt this coin post to thank you for reading through TWO-HUNDRED posts about coins! I hope you’ve learnt as much reading them as I learnt writing them, and enjoyed it too. Today’s 200th coin is actually a special one, as…
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1919 Italy 20 Centesimi
A re-used coin from the Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy In talking about one of the last Papal States coins, we had a bit of a look at the make-up of Italy in the mid-19th century. Broadly there were three kingdoms (Sardinia, Lombardy-Ventia and the Kingdom of the two Sicilies), three sovereign duchies,…
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1977 Panama Un Centesimo
A little coin from a pivotal time in Panama The Panama Canal In writing about the 1916 2 1/2 Centésimos coin, we looked at the history of Panama up until that year. It is next to impossible to talk about the history of Panama without covering the Panama Canal. In the 1880s, the French attempted…
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1916 Panama 2 1/2 Centésimos
A coin from the crossroad of the world Panama (Panama joins Central (Latin) and South America. Source: Wikipedia) Panama is the southern-most country in North America. Bordering Costa Rica on the west, and the Southern American country of Colombia to the east. Panama is a narrow land bridge or isthmus, with the Carribbean Sea to…
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1994 France 20 Francs
A coin for the 100th Anniversary of the International Olympic Committee The Olympics (In 1913 Pierre de Coubertin designed the the Olympic rings: “five rings represent the five parts of the world now won over to Olympism” and the five colours of the rings plus the white background of the flag “combined to produce the…
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2006 Commonwealth Games PMC set
The first (medallion) PMCs from Australia Post Timeline to the first PMCs (Image of the first page of the first Philatelic Bulletin and issue 282 of the Stamp Bulletin, courtesy Australia Post) Firstly, this piece is about the first official Australia Post issued PMC. I am aware of other PMCs issued by other countries /…
Hi, welcome to “Coin of Note”. Information & images of coins (including non-circulating), postal numismatic covers, banknotes & exonumia (tokens, medallions). Learn more on the About page, browse by Country or Topic (& Challenges), or find recently added pieces below (218 coins in all so far).