These "coins" are modern creations of historical coins that could
have been, but were never actually issued. They are fantasy
issues, struck by The Shire Post Mint of Arkansas in the style of the
period
using hand carved dies and an old style screw press. They
represent historical periods for
which
there are no actual numismatic pieces.
This
silver and copper penny might have been issued if Lief Ericsson’s
Vinland
colony in North America had been successful. Instead the
Viking
colony
was abandoned after a few years and European knowledge of North America
was forgotten for nearly 500 years. The coin is
struck
in a style typical of Viking coins. A helmeted Lief Ericsson
is
pictured
on one side with the legend “Lief Ericsson” on one side. A
stylized
cross and the legend “Vinland Moneta” is on the other. The
coin
is
available either in silver or copper and is Uncirculated with an
"antiqued" finish. It
is
an
interesting and historical fantasy coin.
Isle
du Massacre, located off the coast of Alabama, was a French settlement
founded in 1699 by a French Canadian named Pierre le Moyne, sieur
d'Iberville. It was one of the first French Settlements in what is now
the United States. The island was named because of human
bones that were found on the shore, apparently from an Indian burial
mound that had been disturbed by a hurricane. The
colony did not attract many settlers, perhaps because of its
unfortunate name. In an effort to attract more settlers it
was renamed in 1707 to Isle Dauphin, Today it is known as Dauphin
Island and is a popular tourist destination. France did not actually
issue coins for the settlement, however this oversight was recently
remedied by a private mint in the United States that struck this
intriguing coin. The coin, a copper 1 Sol dated
1699, pictures French King Louis XIV on one side and a coat of arms
featuring three human skulls on the other. The coin is
Uncirculated, with a dark “antiqued” finish. It is an
interesting piece, struck in the style of the period, which serves as a
reminder of France's long gone North American Empire.
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