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 Friday, May 11, 2007
Posted by tom
Friday Fix
London pm fixes for 05-11-07 Gold $669.00 Silver $13.04 Platinum $1,321.00 Palladium $362.00
Friday Fix
5/11/2007 12:57:37 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00) 
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Black Death, antibiotics and Medieval Coinage
Posted by tom
 Focus Country Read an article today about squirrels dying out in Denver from The Black Death. Apparently Black Death is still around! Some things just never go out of style. Though seldom contracted by humans, it seems that with modern antibiotics a person who does get the Black Death has an excellent chance of survival. One of the many benefits of living in the 21st Century I guess. Of course during the 14th Century it was a different story entirely, hense the name Black Death. Another benefit of living in the 21st Century is that, after all these years we finally have a good numismatic reference for Medieval Coinage. Bob Levinson has written an excellent book covering dated European coins from 1234-1500. Listing more than 1,000 types and offering a rough price guide this a great advancement on previous works. If you have been interested in this area of numismatics, now is a wonderful time to dive in and swim around a bit. With Levinson's book in hand you will feel much more confident than you might have on your own.
Focus Country
5/11/2007 12:56:04 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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The U.S. vs. John Lennon
Posted by tom
 Tom's Recommended Film of the Week Without a doubt I would highly recommend The U.S. vs. John Lennon. For a child of the 60's, I must say it brought back memories and filled in some blanks. We 60's kids had plenty thrown at us and we were quick to learn that things did not have to remain as they had always been, regardless of what authority figures were telling us. Music helped bring that realization home with a sweet note and that feeling comes through with this film written and directed by David Leaf and John Scheinfeld. The generation before me remembers where they were when John Kennedy was shot and my generation remembers where they were when John Lennon was shot. That's true not only because Lennon did audacious things, but also because he created audacious music, which struck a cord in us and made us wake up and think for ourselves. This documentary covers the time from The Beatles U.S. invasion until Lennons assasination. No conspiracy theories, or wild stuff, just a good look at how Lennon developed as a person of the world. People interviewed come from both sides of the fence: Carl Bernstein, G. Gordon Liddy, Walter Cronkite, George McGovern, John Dean, Bobby Seale, Gore Vidal and many others. That diversity of opinion and reference point are a key element in broadening the scope of this film to mesh Lennon's approach to life and human responsibility with the ever shifting map of those highly political Nixon driven Vietnam War years. If you lived through it, or are saddled with a parent who did, take the time to find and view this film. I'd recommend watching all the extras also, as some were even more startling than the film.
Tom's Recommended Film of the Week
5/11/2007 12:52:26 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Thursday, May 10, 2007
British Commonwealth - Pobjoy Update
Posted by tom
 Old to New - Book Review Looking behind the scenes I noticed that someone searching for Isle of Man information was directed to my postings on British Commomwealth coin catalogs. While I'm pleased to be getting visitors, I realized that my comments were all directed towards British Royal Mint issue coinage. We never really touched on the Pobjoy Mint island issues, so here goes. In the 1970's and again in the 1990's Pobjoy Mint released a few catalogs of their coins produced for British Commonwealth nations. The only ones I have access to are the 1977 and 1979 books for Isle of Man Coins and Tokens, and the 1999 Encyclopedia of Gibraltar Coins 1988-1999 by Taya Pobjoy. If you collect Pobjoy issues for these countries you may enjoy these books, but most of the information they compiled has been worked into the Standard Catalog of World Coins 20th Century editon by now. Regarding the Channel Islands, there is also a an excellent book, which goes back to ancient times, covers tokens, banknotes and modern coinage as well. It's a product of Spink & Son from 1984 titled Currencies of the Anglo-Norman Isles by A.L.T. McCammon. The listings for Guernsey and Jersey coins are good, and include blow up shots of varieties that would prove helpful to collectors. Coin coverage for these countries however, is limited to British Royal Mint issues.
Old to New - Book Review
5/10/2007 1:59:30 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Ancient coins & Fantasy Brothel Tokens
Posted by tom
Today I was reading the May issue of an ancient coin magazine called The Celator , edited by our friend in numismatics Kerry Wetterstrom, when I noticed a comment in the letters to the editor about Fantasy Brothel tokens. Seems an image of a Fantasy Brothel token must have slipped into an article on Quadrans in a previous issue and a diligent reader was writing to staighten things out. To me this was a strange coincidence, because another friend in numismatics, Stephen Alpert, just recently finished a catalog titled Fantasy Brothel Tokens. Stephen's book covers over 400 known fantasy brothel token issues from the 1960's to present day and includes 100 illustrations. Fantasy Brothel tokens have become a fun little collecting area, but some deceptive sellers on web auction sites can take the fun right out of it, especially if the buyer ends up thinking it's one of the very rare real brothel tokens and pays too much. Stephen's catalog should be a great tool in avoiding this problem, as it also offers rarity and value information for each fantasy type. I never expected to find a link between ancient coins and fantasy brothel tokens, but hey, my philosophy is, grab a little serendipity whenever you can!
5/10/2007 1:56:52 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Update on British Commonwealth
Posted by tom
As a follow-up to my posting on building a British Commonwealth numismatic library, I'l like to mention the British Commonwealth Numismatic Forum. My friend in numismatics, Aidan Work, clued me into this site and I think anyone actively involved in collecting this area would both enjoy and gain knowledge by stopping by for a visit. This is a nicely tended forum, which uses a Real Name policy to keep out spammers. If you're interested in British Commonwealth coinage, I think you'll like the experience!
Old to New - Book Review
5/9/2007 2:52:29 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Friday, May 04, 2007
Posted by tom
Focus Country
Yesterday the Royal Canadian Mint announced that they had struck some huge gold coins. I mean very, very large. At 21 inches or 53 centimeters across and with a thickness of 1.2 inches or three centimeters, I think this is the biggest coin ever struck! There are plenty of stories in the Canadian press as well as the U.S., Indian and New Zealand press. One of the ones I read at Canada.Com with Canadian Press credit, had an excellent perspective image with Sanjay Gupta, CEO of Shirpur Gold Refinery Ltd taking a good close look. Just imagine the press power it must have taken to strike this thing!
British Colonial enthusiast and writer, Aidan Work applied the term "Coinzilla" to this new mammoth effort and I think it fits very nicely! Word from Aidan is that "There's been a report of 10 pieces having been struck of the Coinzilla with 3 of them having being sold so far at C$3,000,000 each,even though their denomination is C$1,000,000!". Yahoo News mentioned that this new denomination only came about through an amendment to the Canadian currency act. But that's the fun of it, this is the largest denomination coin in the wolrd. In fact, I'm pretty sure this carries a larger denomination that any banknote in circulation as well.
- Melt value, using todays london pm fix, would be about $1,822,565 in U.S. dollars.
- Face value is $1,000,000 Canadian, or about $900,000 in U.S. dollars.
- Reported sale price is $3,000,000 Canadian, or about $2,700,000 in U.S. dollars.
While that may seem like a healthy profit, remember that the Royal Canadian Mint engineers had to develop the technology to strike a coin of this size. I am sure that was no small task! The press they got from this is not small either and I am sure this was part of their mission, as this coin and all the new Maple Leaf series are moving to a five digit fineness at .99999 fine. That's about as close to pure as you're going to get.
Focus Country
5/4/2007 6:26:36 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Update on British Commonwealth catalogs
Posted by tom
Old to New - Book Review Update
Just heard from Aidan Work, who let me know that Coincraft's Standard Catalogue of English and UK Coins will be available as a FREE download from www.coincraft.com sometime later this year. Check it out at their website.
Old to New - Book Review
5/4/2007 5:23:41 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Posted by tom
Friday Fix
London pm fixes for 5-04-07
Gold $688.80
Silver $13.40
Platinum $1311.00
Palladium $374.00
Friday Fix
5/4/2007 12:07:28 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Last Orders
Posted by tom
Tom's Recommended Film of the Week
Finally found a real standout film among all the Helen Mirren films I have been watching. It's a British film from 2001 titled Last Orders and starring Michael Caine, Helen Mirren, Bob Hoskins and Ray Winstone. The story basically presents a man's life through the accounts of his mates and family after his death. The plot is set in a road trip format, as the survivors travel to scatter his ashes. With a great ensemble cast, fine depth of passion, excellent acting and a compelling story line this film really holds your attention while presenting good entertainment value for the viewer.
Tom's Recommended Film of the Week
5/4/2007 11:58:24 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Thursday, May 03, 2007
Responsibility
Posted by tom
Tom's Inescapable Truths
As a teen I ran towards responsibility, in my middle years I embraced it, but in my twilight years I plan on running away from it as fast as possible!
Tom's Inescapable Truths
5/3/2007 3:57:34 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Wednesday, May 02, 2007
British Colonial collecting
Posted by tom
Old to New - Book Review
I had a call yesterday from a collector who wanted to know what books were available for specialists in British Colonial coinage. That really made me think. Back in the 1960's, 1970's and 1980's this was quite a popular collecting field, and there were several books produced, but today the emphasis is much more on broad catalogs like the Standard Catalog series from Krause Publications or country specific guide books like Coins of England and the United Kingdom from Spink.
To build a nice working library for British Colonial coinage today, you would have to buy between ten and twenty books. First I would recommend tracking down one of the two major older catalogs on British Commonwealth and Colonial coins:
- The Guidebook and Catalogue of British Commonwealth Coins by Jerome Remick, last published in 1971
- Spink's Catalogue of British Colonial and Commonwealth Coins by Andre de Clermont, last published in 1986
Next it would be wise to acquire a set of The British Commonwealth of Nations series by F. Pridmore. Spink published these in various bindings over the years. Some volumes are difficult to find and none are cheap, but the information compiled by Pridmore stands up to the test of time. The series had volumes covering the West Indies, European Territories, India, Asia and such. The West Indies volume has always been very useful, coupled with a few cut and countermarked auction references and the classic West Indies Countermarked Gold Coins by Ralph Gordon.
The third step would be to purchase a pair of the basic catalogs on England - United Kingdom and Scotland - Ireland. There are two available options. Spink produces the annual Coins of England and the United Kingdom, plus the sporadic Coins of Scotland, Ireland and the Islands (Jersey, Guernsey, Man and Lundy), while Coincraft has compiled Coincraft's Standard Catalogue of English and UK Coins 1066 to date and Coincraft's Standard Catalogue of the coins of Scotland, Ireland, Channel Islands & Isle of Man. I like the Coincraft books for ease of use, but the Spink books are more current. Either set will do the job.
To cover what may have been missed in the above group I would also suggest filling in with two major world catalogs from the KP series:
- Spink Coin Auctions No. 79 from October 1990
- Spink Coin Auctions No. 88 from October 1991
These two sales offered parts one and two of the R. J. Ford Collection of British Colonial coins. Part one was comprised of coins from Europe and the West Indies, while part two offered coins from Africa and the Indian Ocean countries. Together these sales offer a great deal of market information and illustrate a wide spectrum of British Colonial coinage. While there are many other worthy auction catalogs for British Colonial, I know of no others, which offer so much in such compact form.
So there you are, at about a dozen books and auction catalogs, with a good working numismatic library for British Colonial coinage. Of course I have stayed with those references, which are most cost efficient and have the most coin coverage. There are many more expensive references which can give the collector more historical perspective, but that is a pursuit for the more advanced. Also I have excluded British tokens and Colonial America, since those are each strong individual collecting areas on their own, which can be covered in future postings.
If you find yourself wanting more for your British Colonial reference library, check out some of these peripheral titles.
Other moderately priced books you might consider adding to your British Commonwealth library at some future point, as your interests become more specialized would include:
- Rennicks Australian Coin & Banknote Values
- The Pocket Guide to Australian Coins and Banknotes by Greg McDonald
- Charlton Standard Catalogue of Canadian Coins
- A History of Currency in the British Colonies by Robert Chalmers
- The Coinage of British West Africa & St. Helena 1684-1958 by David Vice
- Illustrated Catalogue of Hong Kong Currency by Ma Tak Wo
- Standard Catalogue of Malaysia, Singapore & Brunei Coin & Paper Money edited by Steven Tan
- The Scottish Coinage by Ian Halley Stewart
- The Crown Pieces of Great Britain and the British Commonwealth by Howard W. A. Linecar
- Rennicks New Zealand Coin and Banknote Values by Dion Skinner and Alistair Robb
- The Coins and Tokens of British Oceania by Robert L. Clarke
Other auction catalogs you might consider adding to your library as your interests become more advanced would include:
- Spink London No. 184, October 2006, The Jerry Remick Collection of Colonial and British Commonwealth Coins, Part I - Australia and Asia
- Whyte's of Dublin, April 2000, The Millennial Collection of Irish Coinage
- Bowers and Ruddy Galleries in conjunction with Spink & Son, Ltd., February 1976, The Dundee Collection of Scottish Coins
Some inexpensive older books, which may still retain some usefulness to British Colonial collectors, include:
- Coins of the British World - Complete from 500 A.D. to Present by Robert Friedberg, which really covers British Empire from 1600-1962 and British Isle from 500 A.D. to 1962 by coin types.
- A Guide Book of Modern British Commonwealth Coins by Robert P. Harris
- British Colonial Coins and Tokens by J. Verner Scaife, Jr.
- Coins of the World - British Colonies and Dominions in Asia and the Pacific (except India) by Wayte Raymond
- Coins of the World - British Colonies in Africa, Union of South Africa, Independent African Countries by Wayte Raymond
Old to New - Book Review
5/2/2007 11:07:01 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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