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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 /…
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2019 PMC Moon Landing 50th Anniversary
A big medallion for a big milestone July 20th, 2019 was the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 astronauts landing on the moon. This was the first time that humans had set foot on our nearest celestial neighbour. It also fulfilled the goal, uttered by US President Kennedy on May 25, 1961, that: “I believe…
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1945 Venezuela 12 1/2 Centimos
A coin with an unusual denomination from the northernmost country of South America. Venezuela The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is a Latin American nation with a culturally and ethnically rich and diverse population and enormous natural resources. Venezuela is in the northern part of South America, on the Caribbean Sea. Bordered by Colombia, Brazil and…
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1776 Prussia 1/48 Thaler
An unusual denomination from a year I took a while to find. Kingdom of Prussia Map of Prussia & German States in the 19th century. From Wikipedia. The early Prussians were a Baltic people comprised of multiple tribes. Their pagan faith is like that of Germanic and Greek paganism. Polish dukes and kings sent both…
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1963 Australian Penny keyring
One of the last Australian pre-decimal coins kept as a souvenir Obverse The obverse of the coin features the Mary Gillick portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. Lettering around the edge reads “ELIZABETH·II·DEI·GRATIA·REGINA·F:D:”, which translates to “Elizabeth II by the Grace of God, Queen, Defender of the Faith”. The 1953 Penny, and 1953-4 Half Penny of…
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2024 Gold Coast Suns Error PNC
An error on a football PNC Gold Coast Suns (Five players from the Gold Coast Suns AFLW team. Photo AFLQ.com.au) Australian Rules Football is a distinctly Australian game. The highest tier is the Australian Football League (AFL), which has both men’s and women’s (AFLW) competitions, each with 18 teams currently. AFL uses an oval-shaped ball…
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2024 Marine Emblems 2 PMCs
A second series of Marine Emblem PMCs with cut-out medallions In March this year, Australia Post released a series of three “Marine Emblems” PNCs, featuring: Now, in July, they have followed up with three more medallion PNCs, this time featuring: These three have the same overall design as the earlier releases, however, use paler colours…
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1950 East Germany 50 Pfennig
An evocative industrious scene in a Socialist Democracy Deutsche Demokratische Republik The Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR), or English German Democratic Republic (GDR), also called East Germany. This was a socialist nation, formed in 1949 after the division of Germany. After WWII, the occupying allied forces and Soviet Union didn’t originally intend to partition Germany into…
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19th Century German Baptism Medallion
A beautiful old pewter medallion Heads or tails? Some coins and medallions have a clear obverse and reverse. On some it is harder to define. The US Mint, I think only partly helpfully, explains: “Obverse (heads) is the front of the coin and the reverse (tails) is the back”. Ok, so if it has a…
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1oz Bismuth Ingot
A fascinating metal, although not found in many coins Bullion Traditionally, silver, and gold coins have been used as a store of wealth. With the value being in the metal itself, any object made of gold, for instance, tends to be valuable. Coins are convenient in that they are solid, compact ways to store that…
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1989 Cuba 1 Peso – impact damage
Interesting damage to this coin from Communist Cuba Cuba 1920s-1980s When we covered the 1920 5 Centavos, we also covered the history of Cuba to that time. Let’s pick up in the 1920s. Gerardo Machado y Morales became president in 1925. His rule has been described as “Cruel Dictatorship”. On top of the economic hardships…
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1920 Cuba 5 Centavos
An elegant coin from a torn nation Cuba Cuba is home to the largest island in the Caribbean, although the nation is composed of over 4,000 islands. Like other islands in the Caribbean, such as the Cayman Islands, and Jamaica, Cuba was first charted by Christopher Columbus, this time on his first voyage in 1492,…
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2023 Australia King’s Birthday Medallion PNC
A PNC for a holiday A change in holiday In 2023, Australia Post released a medallion PNC to commemorate the King’s Birthday. This was a momentous occasion as it was the first time in 72 years that the holiday was for a King’s birthday, rather than a Queen. As someone from the Commonwealth, my head…
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Proverbs: “A friend loves at all times” medallion
A positive piece to give a friend. Medallions with bible quotes One of my favourite collections is my folder of pieces with biblical quotes. I posted earlier this year about a medallion depicting The Last Supper my daughter gifted me for Christmas. This time, I have another piece with a biblical reference, which I am…
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N.C.B. Rawdon Check, UK
A prototypical colliery check from England. The coal industry Coal had been mined in the UK as early as Roman times, but it wasn’t until the 1700’s that mining started to venture deeper than surface level. Steam engines powering the industrial revolution from the mid-1700s needed coal, and arrival of railways in the 1800s helped…
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Imitation Spade Guinea Sam Lyon
An interesting advertising ISG variant Obverse We’ve previously looked at another Imitation Spade Guinea (ISG) token. These are gambling tokens produced in the UK in the 1800s and early 1900s. They come in many varieties, although there are a handful of main types. The previous piece we covered was an “In Memory” type. Those are…
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 (227 coins in all so far).