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Coin News for March 18, 2010
Famous Roman Coins You Can Collect, Part III
NGC
After having already had an interesting career, Sulla came to prominence while in his 50s, during Italy’s Social War (91-89 B.C.) and the First Mithridatic War (88-84 B.C.). On one occasion Sulla invaded the capital itself to oust members of the opposing party, and soon after, in 82, he defended that same city from an assault by neighboring Samnites. His main platform was to erode the power held by wealthy families and the senate, believing he was more deserving of that authority. Sulla was successful, and established himself as dictator in Rome in 82 B.C. Not long after, in 79, he reluctantly forfeited his authority and soon died of disease. It is with the struggle between Sulla and Marius that we might suggest the “Imperatorial Period” of Roman history began; it would last until 31 B.C., when Octavian defeated Marc Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium. This silver denarius of c.82 B.C. depicts the head of Roma and a scene of Sulla in a triumphal chariot.
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U.S. Mint First Spouse Coins Update
Mint News Blog
The Abigail Fillmore First Spouse Gold Coins will go on sale tomorrow. There will be a maximum mintage of 15,000 coins across both proof and uncirculated versions, with no household ordering limits. Both of these represent changes in procedure from prior releases of the series, which had maximum mintages set at 40,000 and ordering limits imposed for at least the first month of availability. Since the price of gold has remained within the same average range, the proof coins will be priced at $729 and the uncirculated coins will be priced at $716.
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History Shows A Reagan U.S. $50 Note Not Too Likely
Numismaster
The idea of putting Ronald Reagan on the $50 Federal Reserve Note certainly made for an interesting week for our poll question. As you might expect, there were strong feelings on both sides of the issue. Obviously politics divides numismatists as well as the country at large. I expect the proposal to put the nation’s 40th President on the $50 bill will go nowhere. The sad truth about our paper money is simply the lack of change of the individuals on the notes. Throughout my lifetime George Washington has presided over the $1 bill, Thomas Jefferson the $2, Abraham Lincoln the $5, Alexander Hamilton the $10, Andrew Jackson the $20, Ulysses S. Grant the $50 and Benjamin Franklin the $100.
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New Coin Honors Lost Soldiers of Fromelles
Royal Australian Mint
The Assistant Treasurer, Senator Nick Sherry, and the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, Alan Griffin, have today announced the Royal Australian Mint will next month issue a collectible 20 cent coin commemorating Australia’s Lost Soldiers of Fromelles. “This coin is a continuation of the Mint’s Australia Remembers series, exploring our nation’s war experiences and military history behind and beyond the battlefields,” the Assistant Treasurer said. “The coin design is based on the Cobbers statue which stands in the Australian Memorial Park at Fromelles.” “The design features a circle enclosing an artist’s impression of the Cobbers statue and, to the right, the inscription ‘20′.”
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Brooklyn Artist Leaves Handmade Tokens for the Public
The New York Times
For more than 30 years now, sharp-eyed New Yorkers have been finding them on ledges, windowsills and store counters — poker-chip-size coins that reveal themselves to be something far more mysterious than loose change. The inch-wide ceramic discs, painted in iridescent colors, have the rough, weathered feel of ancient treasure. Each is embossed with a short, cryptic message, a year and two humble letters: “bw.” Those, it turns out, are the initials of Beriah Wall, a Brooklyn artist who estimates he has knocked out hundreds of thousands of these handmade tokens since the late 1970s, quietly dropping them in public places or the hands of bewildered strangers. His latest batch, minted over the last few months, carry the message “Stuck in Brkln.”
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Queueing for Coins in Latin America
Earth Times
In many Latin American cities it’s not unusual for long lines to form in front of banks before business hours. The people standing in the lines tend to be restaurant owners or street vendors who need small-denomination bills or coins to make change for customers of their businesses. They sometimes wait hours just to get a little bit of the precious currency. There aren’t a lot of these bills given over to the banks. When the vendors can’t get them, they have to ask their customers to pay in small bills or in coins. It creates demand, meaning people who have a surplus of small bills can do a good trade.
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About the Author
Tim Shuck is a life-long Midwestern resident, and started collecting coins after finding an Indian Head cent on the ground at his childhood farm home. Additional encouragement came from looking through a collection of well-worn late 19th and early 20th century coins kept by his grandfather in an old leather coin purse. Current collecting interests include U.S. types from the Civil War era through the early 1930's, and Colonial and Early American coins.
