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40 Articles

Welcome Stamp Collector

INCORPORATING COIN COLLECTOR The 150th anniversary of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) is being commemorated in October. It was established as the General Postal Union on 9 October 1874, when 22 countries signed the Treaty of Bern. The formation of the UPU unified a complex mass of international postal services and regulations into a single postal territory for the reciprocal exchange of letters. This meant that the barriers and frontiers that had impeded the free flow and growth of international mail had been removed. The very earliest postal systems date from ancient times (see ‘Philatelic Firsts’ on page 56 for details of Rome’s cursus publicus), but gradually, more sophisticated postal delivery systems, such as that provided by the Thurn and Taxis dynasty, developed. They served as the imperial courier for…

Welcome Stamp Collector

54th Asiago Awards The latest edition of the highly prestigious Asiago International Awards for Philatelic Art was held in Asiago Town Hall in Italy at the end of July. At the event, Åland Post was one of the winners of the international, postage stamp design awards, often referred to as the ‘Oscars of Philately’. Åland’s stamp Bark Boat in a Jar was awarded the Italian Academy of Philately and Postal History Award for Creativity. It is the first time an Åland stamp has received an award in this competition. The stamp, designed by Finnish art photographer Christoffer Relander, was issued on 9 June 2023. Relander describes the stamp as a preserved childhood memory from Åland. The jury said they had: ‘Awarded the Aland Islands Post for giving an artist full…

The next Kettering Stamp Fair is taking place on 5 October. Stamps, collections, covers, postal history and accessories will be on offer at the event. Additionally, as this is the society’s silver jubilee year, the event includes the second silver jubilee sweepstake draw. Running from 10am–4pm, the fair, with free entry and free parking, is being held at the Ise Lodge Community Centre, St Vincent’s Avenue, Kettering NN15 5DR. The opening, in-person event of the new season has been announced by the Royal Philatelic Society London at 15 Abchurch Lane. At 1pm on 12 September, by Gracious Permission of His Majesty The King, Rod Vousden FRPSL, who is acting keeper of the Royal Philatelic Collection, will present a West Africa display of the Gambia, Gold Coast, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.…

ISLE OF MAN 150th anniversary of the UPU The Isle of Man Post Office released a set of four stamps on 30 August celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Universal Postal Union (UPU), the United Nations regulatory board of postal affairs. This stamp issue honours the global impact of the UPU in unifying international postal services by celebrating the rich heritage of Manx postal history. Established in 1874, the UPU was born out of the need to streamline international mail services, eliminating the need for individual treaties between countries. The foundational treaty, signed on 9 October 1874 in Berne, Switzerland, by 22 nations, established the General Postal Union, later renamed the Universal Postal Union in 1878. Today, the UPU is a specialised agency of the United Nations with 192 member…

On 25 July, Guernsey Post issued ten non-value indicator (NVI) stamps, in GY and UK values, depicting Day and Night Scenes, with the stamps highlighting the natural beauty of Guernsey’s stunning islands. The stamps feature images taken by Guernsey photographers Chris George and Ben Fiore. One of the Bailiwick by Night stamps depicts Rousse Tower, which is one of 15 loophole towers built between 1778 and 1779 to defend Guernsey against the threat of a French invasion. A new ‘B’ value stamp, issued by Poste Italiane on 21 July, is from the thematic series ‘Natural and Landscape Heritage’ and is dedicated to the bicentenary of the Renazzo meteorite. It depicts a fragment of the meteorite that fell on the evening of 15 January 1824 near the town of Renazzo, in…

50 Years of National Motifs

Collecting Europa joint issues by member states of CEPT (Conference of European Postal and Telecommunications) became more interesting from 1974. This was because it was the first year when a common design for the issues was replaced by a free choice of national motifs for the common theme. The topic chosen for 1974 was ‘Sculptures’, which provides a nice art collection (Figure 1). The 1974 Europa issues started in Liechtenstein on 21 March with The Shouting Horseman by Andrea Riccio (1470–1532) and a golden statuette of Crouching Venus by Antonio Susini (1558–1624), which were created in the Italian Renaissance and came from the Princely Collection. Switzerland followed on 28 March with a large, modern sculpture called Kontinuität by architect and designer Max Bill (1908–94) and an Amazon Leading a Horse…

50 Years of National Motifs

Tower of London

The fascinating history and traditions of the Tower of London have been explored by Royal Mail with a set of six stamps featuring images of the Tower, while a further four stamps, presented in a miniature sheet, depict some of the Tower’s most famous historic prisoners during its time as a state prison. Released on 13 August, the stamps were created in partnership with Historic Royal Palaces; the charity that cares for the Tower and five other palaces. For almost 1,000 years, the Tower of London has been at the heart of British history. Over the centuries, it has played many different roles – from impenetrable fortress to royal residence, state prison to place of execution, national arsenal to menagerie of exotic animals, and Royal Mint to home of the…

Tower of London

The 2d Tyrian Plum

On 1 January 1887, Great Britain issued its first stamps printed in two colours. The resulting set of stamps, in values from ½d to 1s (the £1 was also issued in green in 1891), is generally known as the ‘Jubilee issue’ because 1887 marked the 50th anniversary of Queen Victoria’s reign. The stamps, however, were not commemoratives. Similar bicoloured designs, with a change of portrait, were used for the reign of King Edward VII, whose accession was on 22 January 1901, with the stamps being issued on 1 January 1902. However, the cost of producing stamps in two colours was proving prohibitive, so it was decided that three values, 1½d, 2d and 4d, should be produced using the same design but now printed in just one colour: at the same…

The 2d Tyrian Plum

An Alternative Portrait of Sir Rowland Hill

Sir Rowland Hill is most often portrayed as the man behind the basic concepts of the modern postal service and inseparable from the invention of the world’s first postage stamp. It is easy to assume he was well respected by all and had an uninterrupted career at the General Post Office. However, that was not the case. Sorting through a remainder album, which contained an assortment of circulated covers and cards from early Queen Victoria through to King George VI, a lettersheet emerged (Figure 1). Sent from the General Post Office, dated 21 December 1846, it is clearly signed by Rowland Hill. The letter reads: ‘Sir, I have great pleasure in complying with your request and am, Sir, Your obedient Servant.’ Whilst the contents have no postal relevance, which would…

An Alternative Portrait of Sir Rowland Hill

Singapore Philatelic Museum The sale of the second part of the former Singapore Philatelic Museum was held by Baldwin’s on 22 August. Among the highlights was a Staits Settlements registered airmail OHMS envelope of 17 October 1941, which was sent from Singapore to the British Embassy in Washington (lot 203). The cover was franked at $61.65 by a 1937–41 15c (die II), 50c, $1 and 12×$5 values, and it was tied by multiple strikes of a ‘SINGAPORE’ CDS. It was endorsed ‘By Clipper’, with a violet ‘CHIEF CENSOR/MALAYA’ handstamp at the foot, and registration and airmail labels were at left. On the reverse, it was stamped at Honolulu (1 November) and Washington (6 November). This remarkable wartime franking exceeded its £200–£300 estimate to achieve £5,000. SOLD FOR £5,000 Popular Falkland…

9–10 Sept – Tony Lester Unit 2, The Sidings, Birdingbury Road, Marton, Rugby CV23 9RX www.tonylester.co.uk 11 Sept – AJH The Laurels, Manchester Road, Accrington, Lancs BB5 2PF ajhstamps.co.uk 12 Sept – Brian Reeve 2 College Fields, Prince Georges Road, London SW19 2PT www.brian-reeve.com 12–14 Sept – Cheshire Stamp Auctions Egerton Court, Parkgate, Knutsford, Cheshire WA16 8DX www.cheshirestampauctions.com 13–14 Sept – Corinphila Netherlands Corinphila Veilingen, Mortelmolen 3, 1185 XV Amstelveen, The Netherlands www.corinphila-veilingen.nl 19 Sept – Baldwins 399 Strand, London WC2R 0LX baldwins.co 19–20, 23–28 Sept – Heinrich Köhler Hasengartenstrasse 25, 65189 Wiesbaden, Germany heinrich-koehler.de 22 Sept – Provincial Benson Parish Hall, Sunnyside, Benson, Wallingford, Oxfordshire OX10 6LZ provincialphilatelics.co.uk 24 Sept – Philangles Carson House, 44 Legh Street, Warrington, Cheshire WA1 1UJ philangles.co.uk 24 Sept – Spink 15 Abchurch Lane,…

SOLD FOR £1,703 Spanish Andorra, 1935–45 definitives, MNH (with certificate), only one value shown SOLD FOR £284 Belgium, 1867 1f purple Leopold I with French cancellation, rare (with certificate) SOLD FOR £182 New Zealand, 1908 cover to Christchurch franked 1d ‘King Edward VII Land’, cancelled British Antarctic Expedition SOLD FOR £560 Great Britain, 1884 £1 Queen Victoria brown-lilac (SG 185), three imperial crowns watermark, cancelled SOLD FOR £389 France, 2006 Flying Machines sheetlet, MNH, variety shifted perforation SOLD FOR £419 Spain, 1935 International Reply Coupon of 80 céntesimos, cancelled Barcelona SOLD FOR £155 Hong Kong, 1863 96c olive-bistre (SG 18) and 96c brownish grey (SG 19), crown CC watermark, used SOLD FOR £274 Russian Levant, 1863–65 6k blue, used SOLD FOR £312 Germany (Federal Republic), 1951 Post Horn definitives (with…

Celebrating the Teddy Bear

Every year, on 9 September, thematic collectors of bear stamps celebrate ‘Teddy Bear Day’. For six decades, the popular toy has been featured on stamps in many variations, with an increasing number being issued. The first issue of this topic – and many of the following ones – are still available at low costs. Yugoslavia started the theme on 5 October 1963 with a stamp for the ‘Week of the Child’, showing a girl with teddy bear and a boy with aeroplane (Figure 1). Just over 60 years ago, in June 1964, the German Democratic Republic presented the first teddy bear as main motif on a stamp – ‘Bummi’ was from a children’s television programme (Figure 2). What has followed in the last few decades are more than 100 attractive…

Celebrating the Teddy Bear

Context Philately A New Brand for an Existing Idea

Context philately is a new name given to an old idea – it was first used in January 2023. It is an exercise in what in marketing terms is called branding, which gives something – in this case an approach to philately – an identity. Readers of Stamp Collector might have seen the article ‘Context philately: an introduction’ in the December 2023 issue. Philately is a subject that is just what you want it to be. It can be relatively simple in collecting stamps or more complex in the study of stamps and aspects of postal (not to mention revenue/taxation) history. It can be seen as a hobby or an academic study and interest, and all stages between. Context philately aims to extend the understanding of the aspect of philately…

Dating for Stamps

Active dealer and international exhibitor Bill Barrell has recently purchased an exceptional collection of 1840 1d blacks from plates 1a to 11. Before we hear a bit more about them, we asked Bill a general question. HOW IS THE CURRENT GB MARKET? We at Bill Barrell Ltd find the GB market very strong, particularly in fine/fine-plus items dating from pre-1901. Interesting and clean GB postal history, from c.1580 Corsini mail (Figure 1) to modern commercial mail, finds a strong demand, particularly Queen Victoria, the Seahorse issue and usages from the reigns of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II. With respect to stamps, again pre-1901 is very strong, both line-engraved and surface-printed issues, mint and used, multiples, varieties, proofs, exhibition items, Mulreadys, including the adverts, rarities, telegraphs and much more…

Dating for Stamps

A Worldwide Postal Union

This October is the month to remember the foundation of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) in Switzerland 150 years ago. No other international organisation is connected so essentially with philately and postal administrations. No wonder that UPU congresses and jubilees have repeatedly been accompanied by stamp issues from all continents. CLASSIC BEGINNINGS From the early decades of the 19th century, various postal regulations are reflected in philatelic items and transported mail. Stamp values were adapted to the developed international system of basic rates. Several colours for postage stamps were changed after the coding introduced by the 2nd UPU Congress 1878 in Paris, France. Reply-paid postcards were internationally admitted after the 3rd assembly of 1885 in the hall of the Supreme Court of Justice in Lisbon, Portugal. STYLISH LADY AT TELEPHONE…

A Worldwide Postal Union

The Sailor’s Saviour

The ‘Age of Sail’ seems romantic to us, but for many participants, it was hell due to a disease called scurvy, which affected those on long voyages. It would set in after a month or two at sea. The skin bruised easily, joints weakened and ached, and teeth and hair began to fall out, with death the most common outcome. It killed 116 of the 170 men who sailed with Vasco de Gama on his voyage to India in 1499. Of the 1,854 sailors who set out on Admiral George Anson’s round the world voyage in 1740, 240 years later, only 188 returned – many perishing of other causes, but scurvy was the worst killer. The tragedy is that by 1740 prevention of scurvy was understood but only informally (we…

The Sailor’s Saviour

How to Collect Norway

Ties between Norway and the British Isles have always been very strong. In fact, Orkney and Shetland were part of Norway from about 800 until 1468. Many words in the English language are of Norse or Norwegian origin. In Norwegian, window is vindue to give just one example. BACKGROUND Norway has five official languages: Norwegian, New Norwegian and three Sami languages (spoken by the Sami people in the far north). New Norwegian is of fairly recent origin, having been created by poet and philologist Ivar Aasen (1813–96). Rather interestingly, the name of the country varies in the two languages. In standard Norwegian, it is Norge (Figure 1), while in New Norwegian it is Noreg. When the 150th birthday of Aaasen was celebrated in 1963, the two stamps were given the…

How to Collect Norway

Mozambique Company 1937

Acquiring new territory is one thing. Administering it, developing it and, hopefully, realising its potential are something else entirely. They’re time-consuming, long-term projects that can absorb large amounts of money before the profits start to flow. Over the years, the colonialising nations of Europe have tried several ways to sub-contract the job to someone else. Portugal was first, with its African colonies, which used the system of ‘prazos’, or land grants, where an individual was given control of a given area, becoming a sort of feudal lord. However, by the end of the 19th century, the system was in decline, and the Portuguese colonies were under threat from Britain and Germany. So, the Portuguese looked at a new solution: the Chartered Company. This had become the standard model for exploration…

Mozambique Company 1937

The Strange Case of Ogden’s Cigarette Cards

Some readers may be familiar with the name of Reginald Bray; the man whose passion was testing the ability of the Post Office to deliver items not otherwise prohibited by regulations, with the smallest being a bee and the largest an elephant. His notoriety was such that he featured on the reverse of a Churchman’s cigarette card, and there is a whole book devoted to his postal creations. One of his more endearing habits was to cut out one of the small photographic pictures that were given away inside cigarette packets and then attach it to the address side of postcards, which he posted to personalities whose autograph he was seeking. The name of the person concerned was cut off the image, which was attached with paper fasteners. In the…

The Strange Case of Ogden’s Cigarette Cards

Palaeoanthropology on Stamps

Palaeoanthropology (or paleoanthropology), also referred to as human palaeontology, is an interdisciplinary branch of anthropology concerned with the origins and development of early humans or hominids. In other words, it is a science about human origin and evolution based on fossils record, primitive (flint or stone) tools, artefacts and settlement locations. Palaeoanthropology studies the prehistoric ancestors of humankind – the hominids. Scientists who study these fossil hominids are called palaeoanthropologists (Figure 1). Do not mistake palaeoanthropology for archaeology and anthropology. Archaeology is the science that explores human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture, while anthropology is the science that studies human behaviour and societies in the past and present. In the field, palaeoanthropologists discover physical remains and other fossils using painstaking procedures similar to those archaeologists use…

Palaeoanthropology on Stamps

Cursus Publicus

They say that all roads lead to Rome, and it was Rome’s roads that were the backbone of not just their military might but its ability to rule such an expansive empire. Roman citizens were required to help maintain roads and, remarkably, the same was true of one of Rome’s most important highways, the cursus publicus – the ‘public way’. Used to transport officials, soldiers and government personnel at speed, the cursus publicus was also used to transport mail and goods – making it a precursor to today’s parcel post. IMPERIAL MAIL Rome’s cursus publicus was created by the Emperor Augustus (63 BC–AD 14), who was inspired by the Chapar Khaneh (Figure 1). Initially, the cursus publicus was only used by government officials or the military. However, very quickly, licences…

Cursus Publicus

back of the book

FIRST DAY COVERS Royal Mail No. 10 It is always a very closely guarded secret what stamps are going to be issued by Royal Mail, writes Brian Austin. A few very trusted dealers are given advance information in the autumn of what will be issued the following year, but generally, this is not made public until over Christmas, and even then, there are normally a few gaps. Both collectors and dealers like to guess what they hope will be issued, and there are normally some surprises in what is not announced. In July 1985, Royal Mail issued this set of four stamps to mark their 350th anniversary, but cover producer Adrian Bradbury used this issue to commemorate the 250th anniversary of No. 10 Downing Street being the official residence of…

back of the book

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INCORPORATING COIN COLLECTOR ON SALE 11 OCTOBER Philatelic Firsts EUROPE’S FIRST POSTAL NETWORK How to Collect Bhutan DISCOVER THIS REMOTE HIMALAYAN KINGDOM THROUGH ITS STAMPS Postal History THE STORY OF ROYAL MAIL’S MAIL HOLDING FACILITIES Ancient Coins YOUR INTRODUCTION TO THE COINAGE OF EMPEROR CLAUDIUS II The stotin and sokol AN UNREALISED EASTERN EUROPEAN CURRENCY AVAILABLE IN ALL GOOD NEWSAGENTS OR DIRECT FROM WWW.ALLABOUTSTAMPS.CO.UK…

Next Month in STAMP COLLECTOR

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Just £4.99 a month* EVERY ISSUE INCLUDES ◗ The latest stamp and coin news and releases ◗ Expert advice, updates and guidance to take your stamp or coin collection to the next level ◗ In-depth collecting guides that analyse classic stamp sets, postal history, first-day covers and more ◗ In-depth collecting guides on a vast selection of coins from all locations and time periods VIEW OUR LATEST SUBSCRIPTION OFFERS www.bit.ly/stamp_coin_subs or call 01778 392030 and quote SCM/SUBS *Ts & Cs apply - £4.99 rate applies when you subscribe via monthly CPA. Cancel anytime.…

STAMP COLLECTOR INCORPORATING COIN COLLECTOR

Welcome to Coin Collector

This month’s edition of the magazine contains details of the Coin of the Year awards, which were announced at the ANA World’s Fair of Money. From all the coins issued in 2023, finalists were selected for ten different categories, before the winning coins and overall Coin of the Year were declared. Among the categories being considered were best silver, gold, crown, circulating and bi-metallic coins. Other categories up for grabs were most artistic, most innovative and most inspirational coins. Finally, there was an award for best contemporary coin and one for most historically significant coin. The winners included a coin featuring an allegory of Peace from Canada, one illustrating a neutron star from Austria, a coin in the shape of a macaron from France and one called ‘Courage to Be’…

Welcome to Coin Collector

Sale to benefit Ashmolean Museum A private collection of 254 gold and silver coins that span the whole of the Greek world are to be sold to benefit the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. The collection is to be sold at Noonans Mayfair on Wednesday, 25 September. The collection is estimated to fetch £1 million and is being sold to benefit the Heberden Coin Room in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford University’s museum of art and archaeology, which houses approximately 50,000 Greek and Roman provincial coins. Dr Alexander Sturgis, director Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, said: ‘The money generated from the sale will endow the post of the curator of Greek coins at the Heberden Coin Room. This will ensure the long-term future of Greek numismatics at the University of Oxford,…

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

6 September – Noonans 16 Bolton Street, Mayfair, London W1J 8BQ www.noonans.co.uk 15 September – Chris Rudd PO Box 1500, Norwich NR10 5WS celticcoins.com 17 September – Hosker Haynes Bath Mews, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire GL52 7HL www.hoskerhaynes.com 18 September – Noonans 16 Bolton Street, Mayfair, London W1J 8BQ www.noonans.co.uk 20 September – Mowbray Collectables West Plaza Hotel, Wellington, New Zealand www.mowbrays.co.nz 24 September – Sovereign Rarities 17–19 Maddox Street, London W1S 2QH www.sovr.co.uk 25 September – Noonans 16 Bolton Street, Mayfair, London W1J 8BQ www.noonans.co.uk 25 September – RWB 144 High St, Royal Wootton Bassett SN4 7AB www.rwbauctions.com 25 September – St James’s 10 Charles II St, St James’s SW1Y 4AA stjauctions.com 26 September – Spink 67–69 Southampton Row, Bloomsbury, London WC1B 4ET www.spink.com 30 September – Harmers of London Berkeley…

The Royal Australian Mint has announced that its mint gallery and coin shop located at Deakin, Canberra, have now reopened. For more information, please see their website (www.ramint.gov.au). Two of Stack’s Bowers Galleries leaders, Ronald J Gillio and Christine Karstedt, have been inducted into the PCGS CoinFacts Coin Dealer Hall of Fame. This group honours coin dealers past and present who have shaped the coin hobby through their dedication, expertise, innovation and commitment. Additionally, the company won six 2024 Numismatic Literary Guild Awards at the ANA World’s Fair of Money. The awards recognise contributions across various types of media. Coins have been found alongside the remains of two more victims of the Pompeii eruption of AD 79. The latest discovery of a man and a woman were found in a…

Warwick and Warwick’s coins, medals, militaria and banknotes sale on 21 August saw some interesting and rare lots, with competitive bidding throughout. A highlight from the coins on offer was an 1847 Gothic crown (lot 454). The coin featured the ‘Gothic Portrait’ of Queen Victoria designed by the engraver William Wyon on the obverse, while the crowned cruciform shields of England, Scotland and Ireland around a central Garter star, with national flower emblems in angles, appeared on the reverse. On the edge, the inscription translated as ‘an ornament and a safeguard. Eleventh year of reign’. From a total of 8,000 Gothic crowns minted in 1847, this extremely fine example had a hammer price of £2,800. SOLD FOR £2,800 Heritage held a spotlight sale of shipwreck and treasure coins on 19…

SOLD FOR £464 Germany, 1894 20 mark Wilhelm II ‘DEUTSCHER KAISER KÖNIG V PREUSSEN’ gold coin, PCGS MS63 SOLD FOR £223 Trinidad & Tobago, French colonies, 1839 5c copper coin with ‘FD’ countermark (baker François Duclos) creating ½ stampee SOLD FOR £114 Bulgaria, 1884 5 leva silver coin, VF SOLD FOR £619 United Arab Emirates, 1973 10 dirhams ‘Replacement’ banknote, PMG 25 SOLD FOR £266 Sardinia, 1832 20 lire Charles Albert Genoa gold coin, XF SOLD FOR £199 Belgium, 1832, 5 francs Léopold I silver coin, VF SOLD FOR £126 Poland, 1928, 5 zloty Warsaw silver coin, VF SOLD FOR £246 Cameroon, 1957 500 francs French Equatorial Africa & Cameroon banknote BUY AND SELL ON DECAMPE, MORE THAN 80 MILLION COLLECTABLES ARE WAITING FOR YOU!…

Highlight of the US Numismatic Year

This year’s edition of the ANA World’s Fair of Money held in Rosemont (Chicago), Illinois, was special for me in many ways. The ANA show is the highlight of the numismatic year in the United States and has been so for decades. I was able to attend my first ANA convention in my home state of Florida in 1974. The 2024 ANA convention marked the 50th show in a row I have been able to attend. It is a record I hope to extend for many years to come. The ANA World’s Fair of Money has evolved a great deal over the decades, but it is still the one show that everyone in the business feels they should attend each year. This includes dealers and collectors from around the world.…

Highlight of the US Numismatic Year

Keep Calm and Buy Gold?

Based on the principles of supply and demand, precious metal dealers across Europe should currently be sold out because the price of gold has been breaking one record after another in recent months. However, the gold trade is reporting one piece of bad news after another: the premium for coins and bars has dwindled to a minimum, dealers are being inundated with buybacks and they are immediately melting down the stock to secure their liquidity. The world is in love with gold, and the price is experiencing a bull run like we haven’t seen in a long time. The direction of the gold price is clear: up! But can this continue? Yes, but recent years have shown how vulnerable precious metals can be. Therefore, it is time to take a…

Keep Calm and Buy Gold?

World’s Fair of Money

At the start of August, the Baldwin’s team headed to Chicago, USA, for the annual ANA World’s Fair of Money. This year’s fair was held at the Donald E Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont from 6 to 10 August. The World’s Fair of Money is a premier event for numismatic enthusiasts, collectors, dealers and industry professionals. The event is hosted by the American Numismatic Association (ANA), and it showcases a diverse range of rare coins, currency and precious metals, attracting attendees from all around the world. This year looked to be especially strong in terms of rarity and quality of the coins that were exhibited. Rosemont, about 40 minutes from central Chicago, is a well-known home of the ANA show, and the event has been held there frequently, thus, for…

World’s Fair of Money

Oudiné’s Francs

The origins of the ‘Ceres’ design – the representation of a goddess of harvest created during the years of the Second Republic of 1849–51 – were previously explored with the first stamps of France (see Stamp Collector, July 2024). For comparison, we now turn from the depiction of Ceres on the stamps by Jacques-Jean Barre, general engraver of the Paris mint, to the coin versions by Eugène-André Oudiné (1810–87). Oudiné’s portrait of Ceres first appeared on the French franc in 1849. But the original of his nicely decorated female head was a bronze medal engraved in 1845 (Figure 1). His effigy of the Republic is represented by a young woman, turned to the left. She wears a pearl necklace, with her forehead encircled by a headband bearing the word ‘CONCOR(DE)’,…

Oudiné’s Francs

Bicorporates on Coins

Bicorporates are composite animals with one head and two bodies. Unlike other famous composite creatures, such as sphinxes, sirens, chimaeras, etc., there was either never a single myth about how bicorporates came about or it has been forgotten over the millennia. WHAT IS A BICORPORATE? The term bicorporate, according to the Danish art historian Vilhelm Slomann (1885–1962) in his 1967 book, Bicorporates: Studies in Revivals and Migrations of Art Motifs, is simply descriptive and derived from the vocabulary of heraldry. Slomann said that the first known bicorporate appeared on a Mesopotamian cylinder seal from roughly the first half of the third millennium BC. They emerged in Aegean Greek, Etruscan and Roman art as well as in pre-Islamic Syria and Iran and various other locations. In the mediaeval period, Slomann explained…

Bicorporates on Coins

The paper money history of Turkey pre-dates the establishment of the modern secular state. We need to look back to the days of the Ottoman Empire when in 1840 the Sultan’s treasury issued notes in kurush, with later issues in piastres. These and later Ottoman Treasury issues are very rare today. A feature of Ottoman-era notes was the tughra, the sultan’s calligraphic monogram. These were highly stylised and incorporated Arabic words naming and describing each sultan. They thus vary and this can help date the notes (Figures 1–3). EARLY ISSUES In 1876, the Banque Imperiale Ottomane was authorised to issue notes. This bank, with its head office in Constantinople, was jointly owned by British and French interests. Their notes were first denominated in kurush, then piastres and finally in livres…

The 4th Century AD

In a world with thousands of gods, and just as many religions, the idea that one small, hated sect would become the dominant world religion must have seemed crazy. But that’s exactly what happened in 380 AD. At the time, Rome was ruled as a tetrarchy, which divided control between two emperors and their juniors. After the death of his father, Constantine declared himself sole ruler and marched on Rome to attack his co-regent, Maxentius. At Milvian Bridge, in AD 312, he experienced a vision of what his biographer, Eusebius, describes as ‘a cross-shaped trophy formed from light and a text attached to it which said, “By this, conquer”’ (Figure 1). Constantine went on to win a resounding victory, and claiming that the Christian god had personally intervened to help…

The 4th Century AD

Myths and Legends – Little John The Royal Mint have released their third and final coin in their tales of Robin Hood Myths and Legends collection. Deeply ingrained in English legend, the story of Robin Hood has existed through the retelling of adventures since the 13th century, with many believing that the early tales of Robin Hood passed down the generations through the oral tradition of ballads. By the late-14th century, the legendary archer had received his first literary mention in The Vision of Piers Plowman. Since then, he has been subject to many reinterpretations through a variety of mediums. Today’s most popular interpretation of Robin Hood is that he was an aggrieved yeoman. It is said that he was a staunch supporter of Richard I, who joined the king…

As a tribute to Finnish architecture, a new €20 silver coin has been released by the Suomen Moneta. At the end of the 19th century, Finland’s national image was built with the aid of architecture. The practice of Herman Gesellius, Armas Lindgren and Eliel Saarinen was founded in 1897, shortly after they finished their architectural education, and it was responsible for many significant works of Finnish architecture during its short period of existence. Some of these have been immortalised by the new coin. The obverse of the coin is distinguished by the images of four buildings stretching towards the centre (the National Museum, Hvitträsk, Tallberg House and the Finnish Pavilion at the Paris World Exhibition 1900), as well as the names of the three architects. The motif of the obverse…

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