Tag: Birds
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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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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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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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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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1978 Vatican 500 Lire Sede Vacante September
A coin to mark a once in 400 year event This is my entry for Day 22 “V” of the Blogging from A-Z April Challenge!V = Vatican City. The Papacy The coat of arms of Vatican City, from Vatican.va Matthew 16:18, Jesus said to the Apostle Peter: “You are Peter, and on this rock I will…
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1975 Germany 5 Deutsche Mark (Cancelled)
A coin whose story didn’t end when it was demonetised This is my entry for Day 7 “G” of the Blogging from A-Z April Challenge!G = Germany. East and West Map of Germany showing West Germany (Green) and East Germany (Orange), from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_reunification Following WWII, Germany, even more than most countries, needed to rebuild. Germany was…
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1974 United States Quarter Dollar D
A classic coin from the USA Obverse The obverse of the coin features a left-facing portrait of George Washington, above the year, with the mintmark (where present) to the right. My coin doesn’t have a mintmark so was minted at Philadelphia. Above is the text “LIBERTY” and to the left “IN GOD WE TRUST”. “In…
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1983 Finland 5 Markkaa
A very cool, “common” coin. Obverse Numista describes the obverse as “Icebreaker ship on ice boulders above legend and year”. Suomi is the country’s name (Finland), in Finnish. Numista lists over 3,000 coins with ships. Refine that to standard circulating coins featuring “icebreaker” ships, and you’re left with just two. This coin, issued 1979-1993 by…
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1901 Guatemala 1/4 Real
A little coin with a sharp image Obverse Guatemala is located in Central America. Bordered to the north and west by Mexico, north-east by Belize and the Gulf of Honduras (Caribbean Sea), then, Honduras, and El Salvador south-east and the Pacific ocean to the south. Guatemala is crossed by a large chain of volcanoes. Between…
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1943 Cameroon 50 Centimes
A WWII African coin showing support for the exiled Free France government. French Cameroon What became Cameroon was originally claimed by Germany as “Kamerun” in the “Scramble for Africa” of the late 19th century. Soon after WWI was declared, French and British troops poured into the country. The dense equatorial rainforest was as much an…
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2009 Trinidad and Tobago cent
A small hummingbird from the West Indies Trinidad and Tobago The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is made up of two main islands (Trinidad and Tobago) and 21 smaller islands. The country is located in the far south of the Caribbean, near the northern coast of Venezuela. The total landmass is 5,128 square kilometres (1,979…
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2005 New Zealand Dollar
National symbols, and an error Decimal currency New Zealand introduced decimal currency on 10th July 1967. At the time, the coins were 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 cents, with 1 and 2 dollar notes. From 1989 – 1991 a number of changes were made to the currency: The new 20c, $1 and $2…
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1999 Indonesia 50 Rupiah
A small value coin from the largest single state archipelago. The country Indonesia is north of Australia, south of Malaysia & the Philippines, and west of Papua New Guinea & Timor-Leste. Indonesia is the largest archipelago in the world to form a single state. Made up of over 18,000 islands, of which 6,000 occupied with…
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2022 75th Anniversary of Peacekeeping PNC
Remembering peacekeeping on Armistice day Here is a PNC with a simple, effective design. Broadly blue, the colour of UN peacekeepers, and with the main theme being a dove holding an olive branch, a universal symbol of peace. The 11th November is “Remembrance day” or “Armistice day”. At 11am on 11 November 1918, the guns…
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1783 Sicily 1 Grano
A beautiful Italian bird The Kingdom of Sicily was a kingdom which existed in the south of Italy. Originally it included the south portion of mainland Italy, as well as the island of Sicily. However, in 1282, they split up, but evidently couldn’t agree who got to keep the name, so they both ended up…
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Bosporan Kingdom 20 Æ 324-325 AD
The longest surviving Roman client kingdom Due to the ongoing situation between Ukraine and Russia over Crimea, most people have a bit of an idea where it is. Here is a map from the Balsille School of International Affairs: Several thousand years ago, the territorial borders looked a lot different (courtesy Greek City Times): The…
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1995 UK Peace 2 Pounds
A simple, elegant design without words in 1995, the UK issued a commemorative £2 coin to mark the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II. The whole reverse design is taken up with a dove, flying left and holding an olive branch. The coin was designed by John Mills, who created some memorable…
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Constans Phoenix (Trier) 348-350 AD
A tiny happy bird Constantine the Great had four sons and two daughters. All four sons were “Caesar“, that is, prince, or heir apparent, and three became “Augustus” (Emperor) on his death (Crispus didn’t fare so well, being executed by his father in 326). Both terms Caesar and August are much more nuanced and complex.…
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Austria 10 Groschen 1952
The first coin in my collection Here is the 1952 Austria 10 Groschen, a coin which was produced by Austria from 1951 – 2001, a pretty good run! The (second) Austrian Schilling was produced after WWII, from 1945 – 2001. 1 Schilling is divided up into 100 Groschen. The coin has a simple but attractive…
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Aachen 12 Heller 1794
Aachen today, is a city in western Germany, on the border with both Belgium and the Netherlands. Aachen is famous for its spas, it’s cathedral and as the burial place of Charlemagne. In 1794, Aachen issued this 12 Heller coin: The coin is somewhat worn, and the top line is almost completely missing. It should…
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Russia 1 Denga 1749
The Russian Ruble, used since the 14th century is the second oldest currency still in circulation (the oldest being the UK Pound Sterling. The Ruble is commonly cited as the first currency in Europe to be decimalised in 1704. In fact in 1535, the Denga was worth 1/100 Ruble. But, there is an argument that…
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Superb Fruit Dove PNC
Postal Numismatic Covers, or PNCs, are a popular issue in Australia particularly. Other countries have issued them, but none to the extent Australia does. The covers are similar to a First Day Cover the post office issues with stamps, PNCs also feature a coin, or medallion. The 2021 Doves and Pigeons PNC features a pretty…
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Owl of Athena Æ20
Here is a little coin which really got me interested in Ancient coins: It’s worn, but look at that gorgeous owl! Even more impressive considering this coin was struck up to 133 years before the time of Christ. The closest CoinProject reference I’ve found for this is listed as 133 – 27 BC. Struck in…