-
1955 Mexico 20 Centavos
A beautiful landscape on a coin Mexico Mexico has been inhabited for tens of thousands of years. Initially by local tribes, who became quite powerful and left long-lasting monuments such as “Teotihuacán”, which includes the Temple of Quetzalcoatl, the Pyramid of the Moon and the Pyramid of the Sun. This pyramid is one of the…
-
Copenhagen Tramways token
A picturesque token from a beautiful public transit system The first trams to operate in Denmark were in the capital, Copenhagen, under the “Copenhagen Railway Company Ltd.” which was founded in 1863. These early trams were initially horse-drawn. (1863 drawing of one of the first horse-drawn trams, from https://www.vognstyrer.dk/) Some early tokens can be seen…
-
1982 Switzerland 10 Rappen
One of the longest issued coins Switzerland (Map highlighting Switzerland, from Wikipedia) Switzerland is in the centre of Europe. Landlocked by Italy, France, Germany, Austria and Liechtenstein. Geographically it is comprised of the Alps, sub-alpine Jura and the Swiss plateau, with a population of 9 million people. Over the centuries, Switzerland developed from a network…
-
1876 Norway 5 Øre
An elegant coin from Scandinavia Norway (Map of Northern Europe showing Norway. From Wikipedia). Norway is a long, thin country, the northernmost in Scandinavia. It has a long southern land border with Sweden, then Finland and a short border with Russia, near Murmansk. The last ice age ended in the country around 14,000 years ago,…
-
1981 Kuwait 10 Fils
A Dhow on a well used coin Kuwait Like many other middle eastern countries, Kuwait is an Emirate, ruled by an Emir. From e.gov.kw: “Al Otob tribe fled to State of Kuwait away from the terrible drought which perished the Arab Peninsula. They chose Sabah bin Jaber as their governor in 1756. As time passed,…
-
2024 Australian Ground Parrots Medallions
Some fascinating birds I’d never heard of In February 2024, Australia Post released a series of three stamps on the theme “Ground Parrots”, introducing them as: “Australia is renowned for its diverse avifauna, being home to around 800 bird species. This includes around 55 extant species of parrots (Order Psittaciformes, Family Psittaculidae). These colourful, cacophonous…
-
1944 Ethiopia 25 Santeem
The most interesting edge I have found on a coin. Ethiopia The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia is located in the north-eastern part of Africa commonly known as the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by the Sudan in the west, Somalia and Djibouti in the east, Eritrea in the north and Kenya in the…
-
Change is the Essence of Life medallion
A short piece dedicated to my sister My sister passed away a few years ago. Since she loved butterflies, I thought of her in choosing this piece, which also has an important message. Obverse “Change is the essence of life” is part of a quote by Reinhold Niebuhr. Neibuhr was a theologian, son of a…
-
2003 DRC 5 Francs (Concorde)
A wonder of aviation, from a troubled country Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) was born with independence from Belgium in 1960. The country has only issued ten circulating coins in that time: Since 1998, the DRC has used the Franc (1 Franc = 100 Centimes), although only banknotes…
-
2014 United Arab Emirates 1 Dirham
A traditional Arabic coffee pot on a coin United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE) covers 83,600 square kilometres (32,400 square miles) and include 200 islands. It borders Oman in the east and Saudi Arabia in the south. On the coast of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula, the UAE shares maritime borders…
-
The Falls Impressions medallion cover
A post office initiative and celebration of local nature The Falls, Orange The town of Orange is in the Central Tablelands region of inland New South Wales, Australia. Orange is just over 250km (160 miles) west of the state capital Sydney. The town (and local parish area) was named by Surveyor General Thomas Mitchell, after…
-
1953 Japan 10 Yen
A coin of rebuilding. Shōwa Era The reign of Emperor Hirohito lasted from 1926 – 1989. The era name, “Shōwa”, means “Enlightened Peace” from the Chinese Book of Documents. In World War 2, Japan joined the Axis powers of Germany and Italy. The end of the Pacific war came when Japan accepted the terms of the…
-
1910 Greece 1 Drachme
History of Greece The last time we visited Greece itself (rather than another country in the Ancient Greek Empire) was with of the first coins on the site, this beautiful Owl of Athene, around 133 B.C. Following the Hellenistic period, the Greek empire fell to the Romans, who in turn gave way to the Byzantine…
-
1868 Hungary 1 Kreuzer
On Hungary and the crown with the bent cross. Hungary (Location of Hungary (dark green) – in Europe (green & dark grey) – in the European Union (green) – from Wikipedia) Hungary is a landlocked country in central Europe with a population of 9.5 million. Hungary is surrounded by Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia…
-
Happy Halloween medallion
A memento of All Hallows Eve Halloween What is now Halloween has its origins in the Celtic Samhein (pronounced a few different ways, including “Sow-wen” “Sau-ihn”, and “Sow-unn”, but NOT “Sam-hane”). Samhain was a pastoral/harvest festival celebrated across the Celtic world on the evening of October 31st and into November 1st with ceremonial fires and…
-
2018 XC Falcon Cobra 40 Years PMC
The last two-door falcon Falcon history In the 1950s, the Australian-built Holdens (FX, FJ, FE and FC) outsold the imported Fords of the era – primarily due to the cheaper cost of local production vs importing. Seeing the new “Falcon” being developed in Detroit, USA, Ford Australia immediately liked the new car. Ford built a…
-
2010 Netherlands Antilles 10 Cents
A beautiful coin from the Caribbean Dutch Caribbean The Dutch islands in the Caribbean region became part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the 17th century. All of them switched hands between Dutch, English and Spanish governments many times, and shared a lot of the history of the slave trade with other Caribbean countries.…
-
1968 Kenya 10 Cents
An anepigraphic bust of the president of a young nation Kenya Kenya is named after Mount Kenya, the second tallest mountain in Africa. The Kikuyu people referred to it as Kirinyaga or Kerenyaga, meaning “mountain of whiteness” because of its snow-capped peak. When the British colonised the country, they could not pronounce the name, and…
-
Armor of God medallion
A very symbolic passage from Ephesians St Paul’s letter to the Ephesians For a brief time at the end of his second missionary journey, and then for more than two years on his third missionary journey, Paul ministered to the church at Ephesus (Acts 18:18–21; 19:1–41). Ephesus was a city in what is now modern-day…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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,…
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 (237 coins in all so far).