let's start some buzz on the coin thread!

[unclemac]

coins are one of my passions. We have some folk here that know a thing or two so let's start some talk!

I'll start... let's see some favorites, here is one of mine...

this one is an 1824 8 reales, the first "type" of the new Republic of Mexico.

it was a short lived type, they soon changed the profile eagle to the more common forward facing eagle. But just look at the detail on this image, it is amazing! Notice the snake.... it faces AWAY from the bird, so it is called "submissive".... the SAME profile can have the snake FACING the eagle and they call that "defiant".

Mexican coinage is a DEEP well to fall into!

 

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[unclemac]

oops... i posted "defiant" and meant to post "submissive" but look at the detail!

 

[Mackaydon]

The coat of arms of Mexico, the Mexican eagle, has its origin in the legend of the founding of Mexico City. Traveling Indians, looking for a site to locate a settlement, came upon the sign told to them by their medicine men; besides a lake, perched on a nopal cactus plant was an eagle in the act of devouring a serpent. The lake was Texcoco, the settlement, Tenochtitlan and the date 1325. Modern Mexico City stands on the location of Tenochtitlan.
The snake can also be found with its head in a 'down' position.
Is your coin from Durango, Guanajuato or MXC?
That's a great coin in any Mexican collection.
Don in SoCal

 

[unclemac]

mine is Durango. Also to note... the Aztecs went by the name "Mexica" , pronounced more like "Mesheka"...thus "Mexico"!

 

[unclemac]

speaking of the eagle and snake image.... it started with this coin (and its variants). The National Congress coins of the Mexican war of Independence (1811). These are the first use of this image for Mexican coins.

 

[l.cutler]

I love the artwork on Mexican coins and currency, even some of those still in production.

 

[cudamark]

coins are one of my passions. We have some folk here that know a thing or two so let's start some talk!

I'll start... let's see some favorites, here is one of mine...

View attachment 2182961this one is an 1824 8 reales, the first "type" of the new Republic of Mexico.View attachment 2182961it was a short lived type, they soon changed the profile eagle to the more common forward facing eagle. But just look at the detail on this image, it is amazing! Notice the snake.... it faces AWAY from the bird, so it is called "submissive".... the SAME profile can have the snake FACING the eagle and they call that "defiant".

Mexican coinage is a DEEP well to fall into!

You think that is a deep well, look into German coins.....yikes they made a lot!

 

[unclemac]

Those German States Thalers are pure nuts! Some really cool, detailed and obscure stuff! Pricey too, I have no idea if anyone knows how many there are including variants. I can just hear it...."honey I finally finished my set"!..."that's nice dear, did you ever hear of Anhalt-Dessau, Anhalt-Bernburg, Anhalt-Köthen, Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, Reuss-Greiz, Reuss-Lobenstein-Ebersdorf, Reuss-Schleiz, Waldeck, Schaumburg-Lippe, and the Free City of Frankfurt"
but a Maria Theresa is a must have!

 

[unclemac]

the present Mexican coat of arms is a pretty good match!

 

[l.cutler]

Those German States Thalers are pure nuts! Some really cool, detailed and obscure stuff! Pricey too, I have no idea if anyone knows how many there are including variants. I can just hear it...."honey I finally finished my set"!..."that's nice dear, did you ever hear of Anhalt-Dessau, Anhalt-Bernburg, Anhalt-Köthen, Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, Reuss-Greiz, Reuss-Lobenstein-Ebersdorf, Reuss-Schleiz, Waldeck, Schaumburg-Lippe, and the Free City of Frankfurt"
but a Maria Theresa is a must have!

We get used to US coins where everything is documented, mintage, varieties, estimated population, getting into some of these other areas of numismatics can be a real shock! Another of my eclectic areas of interest are the fleur de lys 1640 countermarked coins. Long story short, Louis XIII had the old billon douzain coins recalled and countermarked to revalue them. Along with the royal French issues almost anything of similar size and composition that was in circulation may have been done along with the others, so coins of other countries as well as counterfeits and coins that were already centuries old and wore slick also got the stamp. These are often collected by undertype and it is extremely difficult and sometimes impossible to ID some of them. References on French coins of the period are hard to come by and very incomplete, I guess French coin collecting is not that popular and after centuries many are still undocumented.

 

[ToddsPoint]

I have a lot of US coins. This is my only Mexican. 1922 one peso. It has a soldered ring for jewelry use. From my grandfather's stuff after he passed.

 

[Red-Coat]

Here’s one you may not have seen before.

After the late 16th Century, the ‘Spanish dollar’ (aka ‘Mexican dollar’ and ‘silver peso’) increasingly became the de facto currency for trade in the Far East, trusted in China especially for its reliable weight and silver fineness. China ultimately produced its own version as the silver yuan (‘dragon dollar’) which circulated alongside Spanish/Mexican coins in trade with its neighbours.

Following its defeat in the Opium Wars of 1839–1842 and 1856–1860, China was forced to open its ports to foreign trade. A general shortage of Spanish/Mexican coins resulted in a number of Western nations trading with China and other Far Eastern countries (for commodities such as tea, silk and porcelain) ultimately producing their own versions in equivalent weight and fineness. The coins were known as ‘trade dollars’.

In 1895, lobbying by the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce with support from the Straits Settlements (British territories in Asia) led to production of the ‘British Trade Dollar’ to alleviate the shortage. Like this one, from my collection (not dug).

The reverse has ‘One Dollar’ in Chinese script and ‘One Ringgit’ in Jawi Malay, with the Chinese symbol for longevity in the centre. Most were minted in India, but some in London, and mine has the ‘B’ mintmark for Bombay (now Mumbai) on the middle tine of Britannia’s trident:

They were struck as 27.95g of .900 silver (a slightly lower standard than the silver peso, which circulated alongside it) and intended for wider circulation in British territories, but the adoption of the ‘Straits dollar’ in 1905 left Hong Kong as the only British colony using them and they ceased to be produced in 1935. The coin never circulated in Britain but had a fluctuating exchange value depending on the bullion price for silver.

 

[l.cutler]

All these interesting coins could be very dangerous, I really don't need another collecting interest!

 

[Terry Soloman]

Here’s one you may not have seen before.

After the late 16th Century, the ‘Spanish dollar’ (aka ‘Mexican dollar’ and ‘silver peso’) increasingly became the de facto currency for trade in the Far East, trusted in China especially for its reliable weight and silver fineness. China ultimately produced its own version as the silver yuan (‘dragon dollar’) which circulated alongside Spanish/Mexican coins in trade with its neighbours.

Following its defeat in the Opium Wars of 1839–1842 and 1856–1860, China was forced to open its ports to foreign trade. A general shortage of Spanish/Mexican coins resulted in a number of Western nations trading with China and other Far Eastern countries (for commodities such as tea, silk and porcelain) ultimately producing their own versions in equivalent weight and fineness. The coins were known as ‘trade dollars’.

In 1895, lobbying by the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce with support from the Straits Settlements (British territories in Asia) led to production of the ‘British Trade Dollar’ to alleviate the shortage. Like this one, from my collection (not dug).

View attachment 2183197
View attachment 2183198

The reverse has ‘One Dollar’ in Chinese script and ‘One Ringgit’ in Jawi Malay, with the Chinese symbol for longevity in the centre. Most were minted in India, but some in London, and mine has the ‘B’ mintmark for Bombay (now Mumbai) on the middle tine of Britannia’s trident:

View attachment 2183199

They were struck as 27.95g of .900 silver (a slightly lower standard than the silver peso, which circulated alongside it) and intended for wider circulation in British territories, but the adoption of the ‘Straits dollar’ in 1905 left Hong Kong as the only British colony using them and they ceased to be produced in 1935. The coin never circulated in Britain but had a fluctuating exchange value depending on the bullion price for silver.

I was today years old when you taught me about this coin! Bravo!!

 

[Terry Soloman]

While I never really looked into the value of these coins, I was offered over $8,000.00 for them last year (Not the quarter which is for size). Found by my father in the early 1960's using a modified WWII Mine detector.

 

[Mackaydon]

Mexico used the medieval system of dineros and granos to measure the fineness of their coins, twelve dineros designating pure silver with each dinero divided into 24 granos. A coin showing 10 Ds. 20 Gs equated to . 902777 fine.
The "o.7 2o" on Todd's coin (post #11) designates its composition as 0.72 pure silver.
Don in SoCal.