I have listed a small but rather interesting group of Jewish merchant tokens issued
in Cairo, Egypt after WW I in the latest edition of "Unusual World Coins". They consist
of imitations of Spanish and Spanish colonial silver 2 and 8 reales coins. Most likely
these were advertising pieces and enjoyed some limited circulation or could end up
being used as jewelry. As we know Spanish silver and especially Maria Theresa talers
of Austria were very popular in trade in all of North Africa for centuries.
The example illustrated is cast silver weighing 24.83 grams and measures 40.88 mm. The obverse portrays a very crude bust of Ferdinand VII of Spain dated 1920. The obverse legend reads: • FERDIN • VII • - DEI • GRATIA •. The reverse has a very stylized crowned arms between pillars with rather unusual banners. The reverse legend reads: • CAIRO . SAGA - SAAD. MEAWAD • with "28" below the arms.
The example illustrated is cast silver weighing 24.83 grams and measures 40.88 mm. The obverse portrays a very crude bust of Ferdinand VII of Spain dated 1920. The obverse legend reads: • FERDIN • VII • - DEI • GRATIA •. The reverse has a very stylized crowned arms between pillars with rather unusual banners. The reverse legend reads: • CAIRO . SAGA - SAAD. MEAWAD • with "28" below the arms.
During
most any war in the past, coins in circulation disappear quickly mainly due to hoarding
or purchasing needed items provided through the black market. During these coin shortages
many varieties of substitutes have been created in various metals and paper "good
fors" by local businesses, organizations, towns to larger cities and provinces.
The
MPC Gram, which is open forum for collectors specializing in worldwide military payment
certificates and vouchers, recently mentioned coinage struck for the sole purpose
of paying troops. This really rang a bell, so I had to do a little digging around
in my accumulation of stuff to come up with a neat example for one of the more famous
issues of ancient times.
My
favorite is the silver denarius that has a legionary galley on the obverse with the
legend "ANT.AVG.III " above and "VIR R. P. C." below.
Amongst
my accumulation of world orders and military medals I noticed an old acquisition the
other day which probably came from Ireland.
Going
back to 1996 and the 25th Anniversary of The Standard Catalog of World Coins quickly
approaching, I asked Clifford Mishler here if it was at all possible to have, say,
a $5.00 coin struck for this gala event, perhaps in copper-nickel, that we could use
as a giveaway item with each catalog purchased.
A
few years later the remaining stock was distributed to all of Krause Publications
employees at a Christmas party. Well I thought this was rather unusual, but it turned
out to be one of the more popular keepsakes that was ever handed out. Of the 400 or
so given out here I would guess about only 100 have been turned in for their bullion
value and remelted. But as silver hit $20.00 ounce the coin is worth twice the face
value of $25, so we might see a few more surface for cash.
Lately
I have noticed the occasional listing of older wooden blocks used for printing "bank"
notes in the Peoples Republic of China in auctions and pricelists. Actually not banknotes
for circulation but those "Hell" or "Ghost" notes printed to be burned at funerals
so the deceased will have spending money in the here after world. Modern types of
these notes can usually be found in certain shops in most any Chinatown here in the
states.
interest
is that it has two different "bank" titles at top center. The upper note is for 1
Yuan with 1's in all four corners and Chinese characters for 1 yuan in guiloches at
left and right of the locomotive. Below the locomotive is the date 1975 in Chinese
and Western numerals.
The
countermarking of coins with business advertisements is usually considered a thing
of the past done more in the 18th - 19th centuries. I had won this particular lot
in a local Kurt Krueger auction here in Iola 15 years ago and it recently turned up
while I was searching for some other items.
I
recently purchased a group of 15 pieces of the Russian Imperial 5-1/2% obligations
or Internal Loan dated 1916 with a value of 1000 Roubles, which was quite a sum of
money back then. The interesting part is that they were issued by the Bank of Commerce
and Trust Company located in Memphis, Tenn., and were still in the original bank packet
or folder. These obligations were to mature in 1926 while the coupons would still
be redeemable until 1936. Notice only one coupon was clipped and possibly redeemed
from all 15 obligations.
Almost
50 years ago while working as a design draftsman at Columbus McKinnon Chain Corporation
located in Tonawanda, N.Y., I spent most of my lunch hours going to the local banks
and picking up rolls of coins to search through with one of the office managers, Raymond
Huckles. Each day we would do one denomination. Of course this is way back in the
"good old days" of circulating silver coinage. I think my favorites were Buffalo nickels
and Mercury dimes. Can you imagine being greatly disappointed after opening a BU mint
wrapped roll of Morgans dated 1921 or Peace dollars dated 1922? Well at the time I
certainly was. Back to the banks they went.
specimen
going back into the roll. We would press them in the inexpensive blue albums produced
by Whitman in Racine, WI. These albums were found in various local stores such as
the "five and dimes.”
Well
one never gets over the fun of the search in coin collecting and half dollars are
probably the only easy denomination to put together an AU - Unc. set of circulation
strikes. I gave a call to an area dealer friend, Fritz Voecks at Fox Valley Coin,
and asked if he had a used Whitman Classic JFK album kicking around and a week or
so later it arrived in the mail. The first thing I did was re-label the dates eliminating
the "S" mint proofs in the copper-nickel clad series. This gives one the "P" and "D"
side-by-side two dates across.
ntinue
on. The nice condition duplicates are being sent to my "horse trading" friend Juozas
Minikevicius over in Lithuania where they are rather popular, while the well circulated
examples are all being spent here and there, giving them another brief period of freedom
from a bank vault. It is very amusing to hear a young cashier look at them and say:
"Oh, these are half dollars aren't they?" Their cash register drawer usually has rolls
of dimes or quarters in the half dollar compartment or start with the quarters at
the side.
I
grew up in North Tonawanda, N.Y., located where the Erie Barge Canal joins the Niagara
River in Western New York. "NT" was noted for being one of the largest lumber industries
and ports on the Great Lakes and was referred to as "The Lumber City." The lumber
industry also attracted various railroads such as the New york Central, Erie and Lehigh
Valley which ran through Buffalo, N.Y., on into Niagara Falls, N.Y., and then across
the border into Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada.
A
postwar Christmas gift of a Lionel train set really put railroading into my blood
and now I collect (or accumulate) HO model trains and various railroadania such as
kerosene lanterns of all types.