This
silver Bracteate Hohlpfennig was issued by
Friedrich II (Frederick II) who was the
Prince-Elector of the
Margravate of Brandenburg from
1440 to 1470. It is believed that he was nicknamed "The Irontooth" or
"The
Iron" due to his great strength and power. Friedrich
strengthened Brandenburg forming the basis of what was to become
Prussia and the German Empire. The rights of the towns and
nobility were curtailed and he regained Neumark (East Brandenburg) from
the Teutonic Knights. The citizens of Berlin revolted when he
attempted to build a palace on Colin island in the Spree
river. Friedrich prevailed, built the castle that became the
Stadtschloss (Berlin Palace), and the rights of the city were greatly
curtailed. The Stadtschloss was torn down by East Germany in the 1950's
and is now being rebuilt. The silver Bracteate Hohlpfennig is
an extremely thin and single sided coin wtih a raised rim.
The
design is
embossed from the reverse. This coin is approximately 16mm in
diameter and features an eagle with outstretched wings.
Because the coins are so thin and fragile, few survive today.
Leopold
I was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1658 to 1705. He had a
rather
pronounced lower lip, possibly brought on by his father’s marriage to
his cousin. He was described as a cultivated man of extreme
ugliness, hence the name "The Hogmouth". As Emperor of the
Holy
Roman Empire (which was neither Holy, Roman, nor an Empire) he ruled a
vast territory including Austria, Hungary, Bohemia, as well as parts of
Germany. He claimed the throne of Spain, leading to The War of Spanish
The Succession. Leopold fought a number of wars against the
Turks
and France. The engravers made no attempt to hide his
ugliness on
the coins, hence his protruding Hapsburg jaw is plainly visible on the
coin. His coins tend to have a slight curvature that was
caused
by the minting process which used "roller dies" rather than the coin
being struck flat. We offer a silver 15 Kreuzer coins of
Leopold
from Hungary featuring the Madonna and Child on the reverse and a
wonderfully ugly portrait of Leopold on the
obverse. The
coin is date between 1660 and 1696 and are approximately 30mm in
diameter.
Queen
Christina of Sweden was one of the most educated, wittiest, unorthodox
and unconventional women of the 17th century. She succeeded
her father on the throne of Sweden in 1632 when she was only six years
old. She took a deep interest in philosophy, religion, art,
mathematics and science. She was fond of books,
paintings and had a collection of over 33,000 coins and medals. She
frequently dressed as a man. She knew at least nine languages - and
could out-cuss a soldier. She was headstrong and often in conflict with
her own Chancellor. In 1638 the first Swedish settlement in
the New World was established and named after her: Fort Christina,
which is now Wilmington, Delaware. She founded Sweden's first
newspaper. Her efforts helped bring about the Peace of Westphalia,
ending the Thirty Years' War. She had an intimate relationship with her
handmaiden and in 1649 she announced that she decided not to
marry. In 1654 she abdicated her throne and left Sweden in
order to convert to Catholicism. She was warmly
received by Pope Alexander VII and for a time was given her own wing
inside the Vatican. Though often running short of money, she
was a major patron of the theater and the arts. She gave much
occasion for gossip as she did not follow the norms for women of that
era and freely socialized with men. She used her position to
protect the Jews of Rome. Missing politics, she attempted to
regain the throne of Sweden and gain the thrones of Naples and Poland,
all without success. She died in 1689, and is one of only
three women buried within St. Peter's Basilica. This Solidus of Queen
Christina was issued for Riga between 1634 and 1654. Riga,
now the capital of Latvia, was under Swedish control from 1621 to 1721.
It was given considerable autonomy, including the right to
issue its own coins. The copper or silver-washed Solidus of
Riga have Queen Christina's royal monogram on one side and the arms of
Riga on the other. The crudely made coins are 15mm in
diameter, typically are struck somewhat off center without a date.
Until
the 1600's most nations did not put dates on coins. These silver
1/2 Grossus (Groschen) coins of Sigismund II Augustus from the 1500's
are some of the earliest affordable coins bearing an AD date.
Sigismund was both the King of Poland and Grand Duke of
Lithuania. In 1569 he formally united the two countries with
the Treaty of Lublin to form the Polish-Lithuanian
Commonwealth. His coins reflect this dual
nationality. One side features his titles as Grand Duke of
Lithuania, and Vytas, the White Knight, which is the national symbol of
Lithuania. Below Vytas is the date. The other side
features the Polish Eagle and his titles as King of Poland.
The 19mm silver coins date from 1547 to 1572. In 1572
Sigsmund died childless, despite having three wives (two of which were
first cousins) and carrying on affairs with "two of the most beautiful
of his countrywomen". He was the last of the powerful
Jagiellonian dynasty controlled much of central Europe for almost 200
years.
This
silver 3 Polker
coins of Poland issued by king Sigismund III Vasa is dated
between about 1620 to 1628. Sigismund became king of Poland and
Lithuania in 1587. He was also king of Sweden from 1592 until
he was deposed in 1599. His efforts to unite Poland and
Sweden caused sixty years of war between the two. He invaded
Russia in 1605, taking advantage of their Time of Troubles.
Despite occupying Moscow and proclaiming himself to be Czar, he was
unable to control the country. His war in Russia continued until a
peace treaty was finally signed in 1618. It was during the
later part of his reign that the 30 Years War started. The war was one
of the most destructive conflicts in human history.
One side of the coin has the crowned arms of united Poland and
Lithuania. The other side features the number 24 within an
orb, indicating the coin was worth 1/24th of a Thaler. On either side
of the cross and orb are the last two digits of the date.
Sigismund did not feel it necessary to include the first two digits. For hundreds of years much of Russian commerce was based on these tiny silver coins called wire money. The coins were struck by taking a piece of silver wire, cutting it to the proper weight, then smashing it between a pair of dies by a strong-armed Russian. As might be expected, the coins are quite crude and are usually struck partly off-center. The coin shows a horseman, on one side and legends on the other. We are pleased to offer you this selection of Russian Wire Money which covers a vast sweep of Russian History.
Peter the Great ruled Russia from 1689 to 1725.
He was a great reformer, modernizing Russia and expanding its Navy,
frontiers and prestige. One of his reforms was to abolish the
wire coinage in favor of machine struck coins that were used in much of
Europe. Thus he brought an end to this long series of crude
silver coins. 
DUTCH
EAST INDIA COMPANY DUIT - THE FIRST NEW YORK PENNY
This
copper 1 Duit was struck for the Dutch East India Company between about
1730 and 1794 for use in their colonies in Asia, including what is now
Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Malaysia. The company, known by its
initials VOC (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, or United East India
Company) began in 1602 to trade spices. It was the first
company to issue stock and bonds to the general public. For many years
it was hugely profitable. It held quasi-governmental powers, including
maintaining its own army and navy, the ability to wage war, convict and
execute convicts, negotiate treaties, issue its own coins, and
establish colonies. The Dutch East India 1 Duit was also used
in New York long after the Dutch ceded Manhattan to the British, so it
sometimes referred to as the "First New York Penny". The
coins are approximately 21mm in diamter and show the VOC monogram and
date on one side. The other
side has the arms of the provincial mint in the Netherlands where the
coin was struck: Holland, West Friesland, Utrecht or Zeeland.EARLY COIN OF THE AMERICAS -
SANTO DOMINGO
This
coin is one of the first coins struck for the Americas. It
was struck for the Spanish Colony of Santo Domingo (now the nations of
Dominican Republic and Haiti) during the reign of Carlos and
Juana. Juana (Joanna) ruled Spain with
her young son Carlos (Charles I) from 1506 until
1516. The copper coin is approximately 22 to 25mm
in diameter. One side has the royal monogram, which looks
like a crowned "Y", the other side has two crowned pillars,
representing the Pillars of Hercules. There is a debate about
the original face value of the coin. Spanish references call it 2
Maravedis, English references call it 4 Maravedis. The coins are
crudely struck and have corrosion. It is a scarce,
historically important coin.
COLUMBUS'S SHIPS ON DOMINICAN REPUBLIC COIN: 1 Peso 1988 KM66COIN OF THE BARBARY
PIRATES
For
hundreds of years the nations of the Barbary coast of North Africa
engaged in piracy, attacking European ships and raiding coastal
European towns for slaves. Some estimate well over a million
Europeans were taken as slaves by the Barbary Pirates. The Barbary
states were nominally under Ottoman control, but operated with virtual
independence. The piracy finally came to an end
about 1830, after the two Barbary Wars with the United States and the
conquest of Algeria by France. This small, crude billon
Kharub was issued by the Barbary State of Tunis between 1757 and 1830.
It is an historic piece from a nation whose economy was based on
piracy. 
The
Imperial Coat-of-Arms of Austria is featured on the obverse 1851
Austrian 1 Kruezer. It was the first time the denomination
had been struck since 1816, and was one of the first coins of Emperor
Franz-Joseph I, Franz-Joseph reigned for almost 68 years,
until his death in 1916. During his reign Austria lost its
possessions in Italy in the Italian Wars of Independence in 1859 and
1866. Its defeat in the Austro-Prussian War in 1866 lead to
the unification of Germany under Prussia. After this rocky
beginning of his reign, a forty-eight year period of peace
then
prevailed in Austria until the start of World War I in 1914.
The reverse of the 23mm copper coin features the denomination and
date. 
This
10 Soldi, (1/2 Lira) was struck for Victor Amadeus III (Vittorio
Amedeo III) who was the King of Sardinia and Duke of Savoy.
His territory included the island of Sardinia and the region around his
capital of Turin including Piedmont and Savoy. This coin was issued for
use in Piedmont and Savoy. Victor Amadeus joined
the War of the First Coalition against the newly formed French Republic
in 1792. He was defeated by Napoleon in 1796 and forced to
cede Savoy and Nice to France, abandon the Coalition and allow the
French Army free passage through his territory. He died
shortly thereafter. The 22mm coin is struck in billon (low
fineness silver) and tends to be weakly struck. It depicts Victor
Amadeus on one side and the national arms on the other. The
coin was struck for only three years: 1794, 1795 and 1796. It
represents a violent and transitional period of French and Italian
history. 
The
Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed on March 17, 1861. Victor
Emmanuel II, the king of Sardinia was declared King. Prior to
that time Italy was a collection of independent nations. The
first coins of unified Italy were issued later that year, including the
copper 1 and 2 Centesimi. King Victor Emmanuel is portrayed
on the obverse. The denomination and date within a wreath are
on the reverse. The 1 Centesimo is 15mm and the 2 Centesimi
is 20.2mm. Both coins were struck in Milan and have the “M”
mintmark at the bottom of the reverse. Amazingly both coins
are in Uncirculated condition and still retain most of their original
mint luster! It is an historic set in top condition. SILVER COINS OF THE KINGDOM OF ITALY:ATTRACTIVE COINS
OF THE ITALIAN REPUBLICFAMOUS ITALIANS ON BEAUTIFUL BANKNOTES ITALY EURO COIN SETOLD HONG KONG QUEEN VICTORIA LARGE CENT 
This bronze large cent was among the
last coins struck for Queen Victoria for the British Crown Colony of
Hong Kong. They are dated in the last two years of her life,
1900 or 1901. The 27.6mm coins portray Victoria on the
obverse and the denomination and name of the country in English and
Chinese on the reverse.
The
Spanish Civil war broke out in 1936 between the Republic, which was
supported by the Soviet Union and the Nationalists under Francisco
Franco supported by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. The
brutal war was a prelude to World War II. This Uncirculated
23mm copper 50 Centimos dated 1937 was issued by the
Republic. The obverse depicts Hispania seated holding a
sprig. The reverse features the denomination. WORLD WAR II COIN OF SPAIN: 1 Peseta 1944 KM767
The
Demak Sultanate was founded about 1475 by Sultan Pangeran al Patah,
also known as Raden Patah. He was of Javanese nobility and his mother
may have been a Chinese princess who had been exiled from China.
His Sultanate was the first Muslim state in Java.
He quickly expanded his Sultanate to include most of the
northern coast of Java and southern Sumatra. This was
an important step in bringing Islam to what is now Indonesia.
The Sultan ruled until his death in 1518. The Sultanate
lasted about another 30 years, until it collapsed in a dynastic
feud. The Sultanate prospered through trade in spices, rice
and its control over Javanese trading ports. This
Pitis of Sultan Pangeran al Patah is one of the few
affordable coins of the Demak Sultanate. The uniface tin coin
is approximately 19mm to 20mm in diameter and grades Very Fine.
Palembang
is one of the oldest cities in Indonesia. It is located on
the Musi river on the island of Sumatra. The Sultanate of
Palembang was established in the early 17th century by Javanese nobles
fleeing from dynastic intrigues after the collapse of the Sultanate of Demak. It soon
became the
one of the greatest agricultural and trade centers in the Malay
area. It controlled much of the lucrative spice trade – until
it was taken over by the Dutch in 1821. This uniface tin 1 Pitis was
issued by Sultan Muhammad Bahauddin. It is dated AH1203,
which is 1789AD. AFGHANISTAN COINS OLD COINS OF ANNAMCOINS OF
INDIA and PAKISTAN COINS OF THE
MIDDLE EAST 2400 YEARS OF CHINESE COINS and
CURRENCYCOINS
OF DEAD NATIONS<--
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