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Tesserae of Corinth

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Ardatirion

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Published on 07-21-2012 10:55 AM

Tesserae from the famous Greek city of Corinth usually take the form of amid-sized piece struck in bronze. Although sharing similar types with the circulating coins, the crude nature of these uniface pieces haslead most authors to exclude them from the catalogs of the 'official'issues of the city. I ...

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They Also Ran - Medals of Failed Presidential Candidates: 1840-1856

by
Ernie

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Published on 01-27-2012 10:26 AM

Behind every 19th century campaign medal is a story. Some of the candidates for whom these medals were struck are all but forgotten today. I collect anything numismatic (coins, tokens, medals and notes). I also collect historical sources which explain the time and circumstances of their issuance. I’d like to share with you some of both collections.

Sullivan’s American Political Badges and Medalets catalogs 387 medals and buttons for the elections spanning 1840-1856.⁽¹⁾ By comparison, a mere 57 medals were issued for the five preceding elections. It is perhaps no coincidence that this increase occurs at the same time American democracy was evolving. In 1820, state legislators, and not the popular vote, selected presidential electors in nine of the 24 states.
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Conder Token Pattern - Wales, Anglesey DH 252c

by
Larry

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Published on 01-14-2012 05:20 PM

Wales, Anglesey DH 252c (RR) • Druid Penny Pattern by William Williams

William Williams, of London, struck fewer than 30 examples of this pattern variety. It has a plain, rough edge and was struck not in collar. Most Druid tokens had a lettered edge and upset rims. Williams was originally a grinder and latterly a button manufacturer, with a business at 103 St. Martin’s Lane, Charing Cross, London.

It is thought he was Welsh which reinforces his relationship with Parys Mines and Thomas Williams.
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The Cross-S Ranch & Crystal City Texas

by
D@7

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Published on 01-12-2012 04:55 AM

Zavala County is a county located in the state of Texas. Its county seat is Crystal City. Zavala is named for Lorenzo de Zavala, Mexican politician, signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence, and first vice president of the Republic of Texas.

The town of Crystal City is located some 92 miles (148 km) southwest of San Antonio and 35 miles (56 km) from the Mexico border. The city site was platted by land developers Carl F. Groos and E.J. Buckingham on the Cross S Ranch. They named the city for the many crystal-clear springs (used for irrigation) in the area. The arrival of a railroad assured the city’s development as a processing, packing, and shipping centre for vegetables, especially spinach grown in the surrounding area. The city became known as the “Spinach Capital of the World”.
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Prussia And Its Emissions

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Siberian Man

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Published on 12-24-2011 04:15 PM

The Duchy of Prussia was founded in 1525 by Albrecht von Brandenburg. He was the last magister of the Teutonic Order. In 1525 Albrecht became a Protestant, and secularized the lands that belonged to the Order.

Consequently, Albrecht von Brandenburg became the first Prussian Duke. In that historical period the Kingdom of Poland was the one of the strongest countries in Central and Eastern Europe. And that is why Duchy of Prussia became a Polish vassal.

During the long reign of Duke Albrecht von Brandenburg (1525-1568), Prussia became a rather rich country. Moreover, Prussia became the one of Europes foremost educational centers, including the famous Koenigsberg University, which was founded in 1544.
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The Liberty Head or Morgan Type Silver Dollar

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Treashunt

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Published on 12-24-2011 07:34 AM

The Morgan silver dollar was first produced in 1878 only because of the avarice of the western silver mine owners, who were producing vast amounts of silver from their newly discovered mines and had no outlet for their product. Several European countries had given up the silver standard for their coinage and had reverted to gold, as a result, they not only exited the silver market, but they also had silver for sale.

As a result of the massive amounts of silver that the western mines had begun to produce, the open market value of silver had begun to plunge. The western mine owners decided to do what all honest American business owners did, then and today. They approached and pressured Congress to help them to use their product.

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Spotlight Stories
NumisSociety Featured in Nov 2011 Issue of The Numismatist

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CheetahCats

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Published on 12-23-2011 11:01 PM

NumisSociety is fastly maturing into a well respected place for coin-related news, discussions, and articles. Only a few years old, the site was recently featured in the Collector Tech section of November's edition of The Numismatist.

Columnist James Bucki Sr. writes:

"Some interesting forum discussions differentiate this forum from others and include Canadian coins, scrip, exonumia, Civil War Tokens, counterfeits/replicas, books, and numismatic photography."

It was interesting to note that only a handful of forums were mentioned, and NumisSociety was one of them!

Congratulations to all of our forum members!

...

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1859 John Brown Medal - 19th Century Abolitionist

by
CheetahCats

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Published on 12-22-2011 12:36 PM

Born 1800 into a family with deeply religious convictions, John Brown was raised by a father who was ardently opposed to the institution of slavery. Puritans by faith, his family moved from his birthplace in Connecticut to northern Ohio when he was just five, to an area that became prominently known for its abolitionist views.

At 16 years old, John Brown left Ohio and moved to Plainfield Massachusetts to further his education. There he enrolled in a preparatory program with the goal of becoming a Congregationalist minister.

Soon thereafter though, he developed eye problems and a shortage of money, and returned home to Ohio. Four years later, John Brown married Dianthe Lusk, and about a year thereafter, the first of 20 children, John Jr., was born.
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Young's Pier - Flip Flap Railway Roller Coaster

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CheetahCats

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Published on 12-13-2011 12:04 PM

Established in the late 19th century, Young's Pier was an Atlantic City entertainment venue that flourished through the dawn of the 20th Century. Built over top a pier on the surf, among its various attractions, it offered thrill rides and other amusements including a roller coaster, a Ferris wheel, and a carousel.

Russell Rulau, in his book United States Tokens, lists several exonomia pieces that were issued from Young's Pier. All but two were tokens. The other two consisted of hard, rounded-rectangular celluloid cartouches. One of those celluloid cartouches includes an extremely rare 10-cent admission piece to Young's Flip-Flap Railway. The Flip-Flap Railway was one of the earliest roller coasters along the Jersey Shore -- and in the United States in general.
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The 1788 Warwickshire, Birmingham DH 1 Varieties

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Larry

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Published on 12-06-2011 07:30 AM

Featured below are a group of the Warwickshire, Birmingham DH 1 and DH 1a Conder Tokens.

A half crown was equal to 30 pennies, or 1/8 of a pound.
A shilling was equal to 12 pennies.
Two shillings, sixpence equaled 30 pennies, or 60 halfpennies.
...

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The Forgotten Tokens and Town of Howell Works Garden, Allaire NJ

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CheetahCats

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Published on 10-27-2011 06:57 PM

In 1830s New Jersey there was a picturesque and grandiose town established, situated in Monmouth County, thirteen miles south of Freehold and six miles west of Sea Girt. Known as the town of Allaire, for two decades the town ranked as one of the largest industrial centers in the Eastern United States.

The construction of an iron smelting works marked the town's beginning. Incorporated in 1828, the Howell Works Company began operations and a company town was created. Only three years thereafter, in 1831 the company was sold, and James P. Allaire, the company's president, purchased the company as its sole owner.
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1863 - Albion Commerical College

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CheetahCats

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Published on 10-09-2011 03:34 PM

The Albion Commercial College was founded in 1860 by Ira Mayhew, a prominent educator in 19th century Michigan. An author of a watershed accounting textbook, Mayhew was viewed and esteemed as an expert in business financial practices.

His accounting methods and theory were well received by both businessmen and business students alike throughout the country. Many of the accounting methods he introduced are still in practice today.

Mayhew operated the college in Albion until 1869. After a mysterious fire which destroyed the college's building, he relocated it to Detroit Michigan.
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The Allure of Patriotic Civil War Tokens

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CheetahCats

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Published on 08-01-2011 01:48 PM

Early in 1862 all coins disappeared from circulation. The general public, concerned about possible increases in values of all metals, began hoarding their change. First gold and silver coins disappeared from circulation. But before long, even copper coinage became extremely scarce. Virtually over night, there were practically no U.S. coins of any denomination in circulation. Merchants and proprietors found themselves in a difficult situation. With no coinage available, they were unable to conduct everyday transactions with their patrons. Resultantly, they found themselves forced to create and issue their own private coinages. The first of such appeared in Chicago in the early decade of the 1860s, and quickly spread elsewhere.
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The Faithful Steward and Delaware's Coin Beach

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CheetahCats

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Published on 07-28-2011 10:45 PM

On the dark night of September 1st 1785 the Faithful Steward, having journeyed 53 days from Londonberry Ireland enroute to Philadelphia, ran aground during an intense storm near Delaware's Indian River Inlet. On board were 249 immigrants, Captain Connolly McCausland, a first and second Mate, 10 crew members, and 400 barrels of half pennies and gold-rose guineas.

Having been blown off course, and surprised at the predicament the crew found themselves in, a sounding was taken. To their amazement, the ship was only in 4 fathoms of water, yet there was not the slightest hint of land within sight of the ship. To no avail, the crew attempted to free the 350 ton, 150 foot-long ship.
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Johann Marr - Civil War Token Engraver - Milwaukee, WI

by
CheetahCats

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Published on 07-20-2011 03:59 AM

Johann "John" Marr, a native of Germany, emigrated to the United States in 1850. For 5 years he worked as an engraver at the colt gun factory in Hartford, Connecticut. In 1856, Marr moved to to Milwaukee. There, Marr teamed up with Danish Engraver Peter Louis Mossin, and the two created the engraving firm Mossin & Marr.

Under their partnership, the firm of Mossin & Marr were responsible for a multitude of Wisconsin Civil War tokens.

The work of Marr was second to none. Born in 1831, as a young and destitute boy in Germany, Marr was forced to live with ...

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The Winged Liberty Head or ‘Mercury’ Dime

by
Treashunt

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Published on 06-11-2011 05:21 AM

The Winged Liberty Head or ‘Mercury’ Dime
Frank J. Colletti

March 15, 2011　

The Barber dime had been in production for nearly 25 years and it was deemed that a change was long overdue. The general consensus was that the designs as created by Charles Barber was ...

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Third Avenue Rail Road

by
CheetahCats

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Published on 05-09-2011 12:22 PM

Starting in the mid-1800's, New York City had a hodge-podge of multiple companies providing transportation services throughout the city. The Atwood-Coffee Guide to Transportation Tokens lists over a dozen such companies and their tokens.

Tyson's Telegraph Line was one, another was the Harlaam Rail Road. And yet another was the Third Avenue Rail Road.

Below ...

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