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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…
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2008 Kyrgyzstan 3 Som
An unusual modern value Kyrgyzstan The government of Kyrgyzstan (or the Kyrgyz Republic) describe their country as: “one the most scenic places in Central Asia. Two-thirds of its territory is occupied by the mountains, which is affected on variety of climate, landscapes, flora, and fauna. Being here, you will open to yourself the country of…
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2016 PNC 400th Anniversary Dirk Hartog’s landing
A large medallion for a large milestone Unknown South Land (Early Dutch map of Australia (Hollandia Nova) showing much of the west and north of the country. Map from Swaen.com) Aboriginal people are known to have occupied mainland Australia for at least 65,000 years. It is widely accepted that this predates the modern human settlement…
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2014 Centenary of Military Aviation & Submarines PNC
A well-presented PNC for a pair of centenaries Obverse When we think of military aircraft, and of submarines, actively engaged in a war, most of us don’t go back past WWII. This PNC reminds us that both types of craft were active right back to the beginning of WWI. Fittingly, the PNC features two coins…
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Imitation Spade Guinea “Good Old Days” UK
One of many fascinating gaming tokens Gaming tokens George III became king of the United Kingdom in 1760, following the death of his grandfather, George II. The industrial revolution was just getting under way, and local manufacturers were in a position to produce commemorative medalets. These were made firstly to mark his ascension, and then…
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284 Rome Numerian Tetradrachm
A Nice thick Roman-Egyptian coin – with an eagle Numerian The “Crisis of the Third Century” was a period of great instability in the Roman Empire following the end of the Severan dynasty. Lasting from 235 – 284, one striking example of this was the year 238: The year of the Six Emperors. Towards the…
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2005 Cayman Islands 1 Cent
A neat little bird from the Caribbean The Cayman Islands are three islands with a total landmass of 264 km2 (102 mi2). The Cayman Islands lie in the Caribbean Cuba, Honduras, Jamaica and Mexico. It is believed the islands were first sighted by Christopher Columbus in 1503. The name Cayman came from “Caiman” or “Caymanas”…
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2024 Marine Emblems PMCs
A set showcasing three state emblems on cut-out medallions Obverse Here is a set of three brightly coloured Postal Medallic Covers. They work well together, so I’m giving them all equal billing rather than trying to highlight just one. These showcase the marine emblems of three states of Australia. I must admit, I didn’t realise…
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1857 USA Cent
A short but interesting issue of US cents The Cent As ubiquitous as the various forms of the “Lincoln Cent” are to anyone familiar with modern US currency, there were a number of designs before it. Even the long running Lincoln Cent has had five iterations. From 1793 to 1857, the cent showed a depiction…
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2024 Solar Eclipse Medallion
A beautiful memento with personal significance Eclipse A “Solar Eclipse” happens when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, casting a shadow on Earth that either fully or partially blocks the Sun’s light in some areas. This only happens occasionally, because the Moon doesn’t orbit in the exact same plane as the Sun and…
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115-113 B.C. China Wu Zhu
The longest-produced coin in history. The Dahuting Tomb (Chinese: 打虎亭汉墓, Pinyin: Dahuting Han mu; Wade-Giles: Tahut’ing Han mu) of the late Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220 AD), located in Zhengzhou, Henan province, China, was excavated in 1960-1961 and contains vault-arched burial chambers decorated with murals showing scenes of daily life. Image, Wikipedia The Han Dynasty The…
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1955 Yugoslavia 50 Dinara
A socialist coin from a series which works well together. 1946-63 Emblem of Federal People’s Republic (FPR) of Yugoslavia. Image from Wikipedia. Writing about the 1931 Yugoslavia 10 Dinara, I covered some of the early history of Yugoslavia – at least up to the creation of Yugoslavia as a dictatorship under King Alexander. This particularly…
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107-110 A.D. Rome Trajan Æ Sestertius
The helpful power of the community Obverse The obverse of the coin shows a portrait of Emperor Trajan. Text around the edge reads in full “IMP CAES NERVAE TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS V P P”. Although only the first part is visible on my coin, which has also been holed.…
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St Florian Medallion
The Patron Saint of Firefighters Obverse The obverse features the text “SAINT FLORIAN” and “Patron Saint of Fire Fighters” around the edge. In the centre is a traditional image of Saint Florian pouring water out of a bucket onto buildings. Note: “firefighter” is usually written as one single word, both in UK and US English.…
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1882 Zanzibar 1 Pysa
A KM1 coin from a small African island. Here it is! The final entry, Day 26, “Z” of the Blogging from A-Z April Challenge!Z = Zanzibar. Zanzibar The area known as Zanzibar has been home to humans for at least 20,000 years. Archaeological evidence includes Microliths (small tools used as spear points in the later stone…
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1931 Yugoslavia 10 Dinara
A coin with an eagle from a tumultuous time for Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. This is my entry for Day 25 “Y” of the Blogging from A-Z April Challenge!Y = Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia Prior to WWI, the Austro-Hungarian Empire not only covered what is today Austria and Hungary. It also covered all or parts of what became…
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1974 Jamaica Proof Cent
A very shiny cent from a newly independent country This is a bonus entry for Day 24 “X” of the Blogging from A-Z April Challenge!X = Xaymaca (Jamaica). Independence As noted yesterday, there are very few coin issuing entities which begin with X. Jamaica is known as Xaymaca in the native language, so we’ll go…
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United Fruit Co Tally, Jamaica
The unsavoury history of fruit, and exploitation This is my entry for Day 24 “X” of the Blogging from A-Z April Challenge!X = Xaymaca (Jamaica). Xaymaca / Jamaica Jamaica on a world globe, from Wikipedia. Jamaica is the third largest island of the Greater Antilles chain. It is located south of Cuba in the Caribbean…
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 (210 coins in all so far).