Staff Picks
Each of the 5 of us (Dan, Greg, Liz, Clark & Bob) has a specific area of responsibility that entails different interactions with the coins, products and customers that give us our reason for being here. We also each have our own unique interests that draw our attention to particular pieces. Below you will find what each of us has found most striking or curious in the past week.
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Dan Lewis: Owner, Diplomate of Numismatics
Ulysses S. Grant Tomb Dedication Medal - 62mm - 1897 ANS - White Metal
"Who's burried in Grant's tomb? Well, they were pretty sure it was Ulysses S. Grant in 1897 when they dedicated the tomb and struck this medal. It's rather the reverse of a birth certificate, but it should put all but the most die-hard arguments to rest."
Manufactured by Tiffany and Co. 1nd weighing 106 grams. Part of the American Numismatic Society Series of Medals struck in Bronze and White Metal - Includes auction card showing Lot 875, Purchaser Unknown.
Price: $399.99
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Greg Capps:
Shop Numismatist
Karl Goetz Medal "Oh, Old Imperial Glory" - 59mm 1918 - Bronze - K239
Obverse The officers and men of Kaiser Wilhelm I pay homage to him on Jan. 18, 1871 in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles Bismarck, left foreground, stands nearby. Inscription, O alte Kaiserherrlichkeit, or 'O Ancient Imperial Grandeur'
Reverse Inscription, Wohin bist du entschwunden, literally 'Where have you disappeared.' A giant statue of an ox-head designed to resemble the face of Kaiser Wilhelm II wearing a laurel wreath two people are shown worshiping the ox representing the Kaiser, while Germania sits at the base of the statue and cries. Dated, November 9, 1919. Comparison between Germany's heights of glory after defeating the French under Frederick I and the shameful termination of the monarchy in Germany under Wilhelm II.
Price: $349.99
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Clark Chapin:
Numismatic Photographer
Germany - Karl Goetz Medal Peace Treaty with Ukraine - 58mm - 1918 - Blackened Cast Iron - K205
 "Blackened Cast Iron K205
Obverse Bread-laden fruit tree - artocarpus at the side, a sword in the ground. Stem and sword are bound together by ribbon, shone upon by a sun in splendor with human face smiling. Inscription, Brot-Friedemit-der-Ukraine, literally 'Bread-Peace-with-Ukraine'
Reverse On a wheat-sheaf, an eagle looking back to a dove of peace holding an olive branch in its beak. In border, 9.Februar 1918. K·G at bottom. Commemorating the signing of the peace treaty between the Central Powers and the Ukraine.
This medal, through symbolism, alludes to what kind of treaty was signed. Goetz calls it the Bread treaty since the Ukraine is considered the corn and rye reservoir of Europe."
Price: $469.99
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Bob Manis:
Customer Service
Disney - 50th Anniversary of Snow White - The Prince 1987 - 5 oz .999 Fine Silver
"Yeah, I used to fantasize about being one of the Seven Dwarfs as a kid. I mean, you can't beat that gig, unless you get stuck being Grumpy or Sleepy. As a big boy now I can appreciate the Prince, who actually gets to kiss the beauty, and here this one rolls along with 5 ounces of .999 silver and he puts all the benefits of dwarfdom to shame."
Price: $299.99
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Liz Duncan:
Shipping
Australian Bush Babies 2011 Dingo 50 cents Proof Silver Crown
"This is just the most adorable little critter I think I've ever seen on a coin and the butterfly just makes it all the more charming to me. If you don't like cute then you can think whatever you like, but cute is exactly what this is. This is my favorite coin of the week."
Price: $109.99
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Greetings!
Well! We've had quite a start to the week! Donald Trump had just received a public roasting at the White House Correspondents Dinner when we were all startled by the announcement of Osama bin Laden's Death during a firefight in Islamabad. We woke up to the slide of silver and a stronger dollar and wonderment over where we'll all head next. I'm reticent about focusing on much of any of this in our weekly newsletter, but I can't help but have certain coins and banknotes come to mind. One example is the recently posted Liberian Twin Towers commemoratives. I'd avoided posting any such thing on our site for years, not wanting to play into the "monitization of" or "capitalizing upon" what is inherently a tragedy. Last week I went ahead and finally posted two such coins because of expressed interest in them and today I've no hint of regret.
Another example (and one which names our newsletter of this week and occupies the boldest space of it) is the 1961 "Forbidden Coin" of Afghanistan's then king, Muhammed Zahir Shah. You can read more below about this numismatic misstep of a sitting monarch and it's repercussions, but I'll tell you here that my reason for highlighting this piece is that the perceptions of the public as to who might be a just leader in Afghanistan have long been built upon their lack of commemoration, in imagery at least. Also, this numismatic fluke only became available to the world recently because of a hidden hoard of the blasphemous coins found after the overthrow of the Taliban in 2001. The last example that kept springing to mind was the collection of Taliban era inflationary Banknotes that we've listed for some time now. Like the Forbidden Coin these banknotes were also destroyed en mass, but with many examples still surviving for collectors of either world banknotes or inflationary currency.
To all you good people I offer my sincerest regards and hope your lives are piqued by happiness, fortune and success. And for any who feel deprived of either of these three, I wish for you good humor and the patience for changing tides.  |
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Muslim coinage throughout 14 centuries exhibit almost none with images. A wide variety of flowing calligraphy styles and floral motifs appear instead. There is good reason for this fact as images or likenesses of humans and sometimes animals have been often held as being violations of Islamic Law and the word of the prophet. In the Sahih Bukhari, a collection of saying and deeds from the Prophet Muhammad, he is quoted as saying "the people who will receive the severest punishment from Allah will be the picture makers" (Book 024, Number 5170) and "the most grievously tormented people on the Day of Resurrection will be the painters of pictures" (Book 024, Number 5271). There are many other references to this prohibition against possible idolatry. To illustrate the seriousness of this prohibition Mullah Mohammed Omar, leader of Afghanistan's Taliban government in March of 2001 ordered the destruction of what many conceived to be wonders of the world, the 175 foot tall, 5th century statues of the Buddha carved into the sandstone cliffs of Bamiyan, Afghanistan.
Afghan King, Muhammed Zahir Shah, decided in 1961 that the coins of the realm should bear the likeness of its ruler, himself. and so ordered that large-sized 5 Afghani coins should be struck so honoring him. These coins, destined for common circulation were a bold and precipitous pronouncement of the king - a pronouncement that, once in common circulation, gave rise to the most vociferous denunciations of the the king, himself, for being and idolater and hypocrite. The uproar set off by his publicly bandied portrait quickly reached fever pitch and raised condemnations throughout Afghanistan and the Muslim world. The coins were destroyed en mass with only handfuls surviving the hot rebuke that nearly toppled the monarch. None were seen for decades in Afghanistan. While Muhammed Zahir Shah managed to hold onto power for another 12 years his reign was marked by contentious infighting and ambivalence toward his leadership. Not until 2001, following the ouster of the Taliban from control in Kabul and the discovery of secret hoard hidden deep in a mountain cave, did any more of these Forbidden Coins come to light.
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As I said above, I've been more than just reticent about listing 9/11 commemoratives on our website. Profiteering from disaster has never been of appeal to me and it's something that is too common in the back pages of many a magazine and glossy spreads. Last week I finally relented on my banning of post-9/11 Twin Towers commemoratives and listed two coins minted by the British Virgin Islands that commemorate the World Trade Center towers as edifices that symbolize the loss of our nation on that September day of 2001. Nearly ten years after that morning, and just following the news of the mortal end of Osama bin Laden, I feel it's more than appropriate to not just offer these pieces on our site to do so proudly.
Please note, the shadows to the left of each of the Twin Towers in the Proof Silver strike of this coin are merely the result of lighting angle. The coins do not show the towers subject to attack but rather as the icons of pre-9/11 New York.
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These are genuine banknotes, in uncirculated condition, that were legal tender in Afghanistan until December 7, 2002. They were issued beginning in 1990, until the fall of the Taliban regime in late 2001. The value of these old afghani notes declined from 60 afghanis to the US dollar at the end of the Soviet occupation in 1989 to 43,000 afghanis to the dollar at the time of the change over to the new afghani in 2002, an inflation rate of 71,000%!
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