Tag: MysteryCoin
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1959 Iraq 1 Fils
The first Decagonal coin The Decagon When I posted about the 2018 Mauritania 20 Ouguiya, I noticed the coin next to it in the set, the decagonal 10 Ouguiya. A decagon is a shape with ten sides. Which of course got me thinking, what was the FIRST dodecagonal coin? It was the Iraq 1 Fils…
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1919 Thailand 10 Satang
Beautiful traditional Thai design which skipped a whole monarch This coin stumped all our newsletter and social media followers. The beautiful pattern is described on Numista as a “Chakra with 8 blades”. Thailand is overwhelmingly Buddhist, 92.5% according to a 2021 report. I must confess, that not being overly familiar with the symbology used in…
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India 1910 1 Anna
The first modern scalloped coin One of the first 1 Anna coins was this piece. This particular example, minted under King Edward VII, was issued from 1906 – 1910. The overall design, continued to be used up until 1947. This coin has quite a beautiful design, from the striped numeral 1 in the center, to…
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Liard of Frederik Henry, Prince of Orange, France 1625-47
A coin which isn’t what it first seems Mystery Coin Each fortnight, I include a photo of a coin in the newsletter, and ask people to guess what it is. When I shared this coin, I expected it would stump people, but it was ok, because I did in fact know what it was. Only,…
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1987 New Zealand 5 Cents
A coin featuring a living dinosaur The obverse of the coin, like all New Zealand coins from 1986 – 1998 features the 3rd portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, designed by Raphael David Maklouf. Australia used the same portrait from 1985 – 1988. The reverse features the tuatara, a fascinating creature from the time of the…
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1962 Norway 10 Øre
The last cypher-only coin When researching King Charles III’s coronation medallion recently, I explored how Monograms have letters which form part of each other, where Cyphers (or ciphers) have letters which could be separated. The O and V on this coin could be separated, so I would have called it a cypher, despite what the…
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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…