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This small
(10mm) silver Obol (1/2 Dener) was issued in Hungary by
Sigismund I. Sigismund ruled Hungary from 1387 to
1437. He also ruled Luxembourg and Bohemia and was one of
three simultaneous claimants to The Holy Roman Empire. (Each
of which was supported by one of three simultaneous Popes).
Sigismund's long reign was less than a success. He
lost considerable portions of his land to the Turks and started the
bloody Hussite wars by promising Jan Hus safety, then had him burned at
the stake.
These early, dated, silver
Denars of Hungary feature the Madonna and Christ Child on the obverse
and the Hungarian arms on the reverse. They were struck by Hapsburg
Kings of Hungary: Ferdinand I who reigned from 1526 to 1564, Maximilian
II who ruled from 1563 to 1576 and Rudolf, who reigned from 1572 to
1608. Unlike most coins of the period, they carry a
date, though it can sometimes be obscure and its location can vary
considerably. Ferdinand I was noted for making peace with the invading
Ottoman Turks, and temporarily settling the religious wars in Europe
with the Peace of Augsburg in 1555, which let the monarch of a
territory decide the religion of its inhabitants. His son
Maximilian continued a policy of religious neutrality, while at the
same time proposing reforms to the Catholic Church.
Maximilian’s son, Rudolf II, was an ineffectual ruler, who was more
interested in science, art, the occult, and sexual adventures, than in
the affairs of state. The coins are approximately 15mm in
diameter. 
This silver 3 Polker coin of
Poland issued by king Sigismund III Vasa is dated between
1622 to 1624.
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. 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. 
Charles XI was one of Sweden’s
greatest kings. He inherited
his throne in 1660 at age 5. As a teenager he showed little
interest or capability in statecraft. At age 20 he proved
himself a competent military commander, defeating the Danes in the
Scanian war. He devoted the rest of his life to
avoiding warfare, promoting economic stability, reorganizing the
military and increasing the power of the monarchy.
Sweden employed a dual monetary system at the time, one based on
copper, which was plentiful in Sweden, and one based on silver, which
was not. These 1/6 Ore Silvermynt coins of Charles XI are
denominated in silver, even though they are struck in copper!
One side of the coin depicts the three crowns, a design still used on
Swedish coins, and the date. The other has a crowned lion and
the denomination 1/6 ÖR S m. The coins date from 1666 to 1686
and grade Very Good to Very Fine, however they do show signs of
corrosion.
DA GAMA’S ROYAL TREASURE FROM THE SÃO
JOSÉ SHIPWRECK
The Spanish treasure ship Santa Maria de la Consolocion
left Callao, Chile in 1681, bound for Panama, where her precious cargo
that was to be transported across the isthmus and then shipped onto
Spain. Because of a delay in getting its silver coins from
the mint in Potosi, Bolivia, she was forced to sail alone, after the
rest of the South Sea Armada had departed. The lone
galleon was soon attacked by a fleet of six British pirate
ships. The captain attempted to defend his precious
cargo by landing his ship on a small island named Isla de Muerto
(Island of the Dead) in the Bay of Guayaquil, Ecuador. The
vessel accidentally hit a reef and began to sink. To prevent
the treasure from falling into the hands of the pirates, the captain
set the ship afire. The pirates, furious that the ship had
been burned, captured and beheaded the estimated 350 passengers and
crew of the ship. Neither the pirates, nor the returning
Spaniards were able to recover the treasure from the shark infested
waters. We are pleased to offer you a genuine Spanish silver
Eight Real cob, also known as a Piece of Eight, salvaged from the
treasure ship Consolacion. As with all cobs, the
coin is very crudely struck, and sitting under the ocean for over 300
years did not improve their quality. A cob was basically a piece of
silver, cut to the right weight, then stamped with the royal insignia.
They are much cruder thana the later portrait
pieces-of-eight. The major
elements of the design are visible. The coin is dated between
about 1660 and 1680, though the date is a bit obscure, and are from the
Potosi mint. The coin comes with an attractive Certificate of
Authenticity that includes a photograph of the coin. It is an
interesting and historic treasure coin.
EL
CAZADOR PIECE-OF-EIGHT IN NGC SLABTHE
ORIGINAL "2 BITS"
The
Spanish silver 2 Reales was the original "2 bit" (quarter dollar) coin
used in the
United States, even before the United States achieved independence from
Great Britain. The Spanish 8 Reales, or Piece-of -Eight was
the basis of the United States dollar, thus the 2 Reales coin was
equivilent to a Quarter Dollar. The Spanish coins were legal
tender in the United States until 1857. This 2 Reales bears
the bust of Spanish king Carlos (Charles) III on one side and the arms
of Spain and the Mexico City mintmark on the other. The coins
date between 1780 and 1783. The coins were recovered from the
waters of the Gulf of Mexico and shows normal salt water corrosion.
The coin comes in a small attractive folder that describes
the history of this historic Spanish Treasure coin.
From
1879 to 1884 Bolivia, Chile and Peru engaged in the War of The
Pacific over control over huge piles of bird droppings (guano) which
were mined to obtain nitrate. Chile won, Bolivia became a
land-locked nation, and Peru almost collapsed. During the war
Peru issued special copper-nickel coins, which they called provisional
money, in place of their usual silver coins. We offer the set
of two historic Peru Provisional coins in Uncirculated conditions. The
5 Centavos is dated 1879 and the 10 Centavo is dated 1880.
The coins have the denomination on one side and a sun face on the
other. For Uncirculated coins over 125 years old with such an
unusual background, they are quite a bargain.
After
the fall of ancient Rome, Italy disintegrated into a collection
of independent cities and states. The country was not
reunited again until 1861. King Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia was made
the first king of the united Italy. This 30mm copper 10
Centesimi was one of the first series of coins issued for Italy after
the unification. The king is on the obverse and the date and
denomination within a wreath on the reverse. It was
struck from 1862 to 1867.
This 1912 Brilliant Uncirculated
Bulgarian Bronze 1 Stotinka was found in the basement of a church in
Sophia, Bulgaria. The coins were probably hidden there at the
beginning of World War I, then forgotten. One side of the
coin
has the arms of the Kingdom of Bulgaria, the other has the denomination
and date. Even after almost 100 years the coin still retains
much
of its original red luster. We are pleased to offer the coin
at
half of its $14.00 catalog value!FIRST
COINS OF COMMUNIST BULGARIA1000
YEARS OF AFGHANISTAN COINS OLD COINS OF ANNAMHISTORICAL
COINS AND NOTES OF IRAQ COINS OF
INDIA and PAKISTAN COINS OF THE
MIDDLE EAST 2400 YEARS OF CHINESE COINS and
CURRENCYCOINS
OF DEAD NATIONS<--
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