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. 
ATTRACTIVE OLD UNCIRCULATED COIN
FROM BELGIUM
The
obverse of this attractive Uncirculated copper 1912 1 Centime from
Belgium features a symbolic Belgian lion with its paw over the 1831
Belgium Constitution, Belgium gained independence from the
Netherlands in 1830. The reverse has the "A" cypher of King
Albert I. The legends are in French. The coin was
struck only two years, 1912 and 1914. In August 1914 Belgium was
invaded by Germany at the beginning of World War I as part of a plan to
attack France. Germany did the same thing at the beginning of World War
II. 
This 1912 Uncirculated Bronze 1
Stotinka of the Kingdom of Bulgaria was part of a hoard 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. The coin was struck to the
standards of the Latin Monetary Union, it is 15mm and weighs just 1
gram. Even after over 100 years the coin still retains much
of its original red luster. 
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.
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.
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. 
This
copper 1 Duit was issued by the Dutch East India Company between 1726
and 1794. The company, known by its initials VOC (Vereenigde
Oost-Indische Compagnie, or United East India Company) began in 1602 to
trade spices. In the 1600's 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, imprison and execute
convicts, negotiate treaties, issue its own coins, and establish
colonies. In 1609, Henry Hudson, while exploring for the company,
discovered New York harbor and the Hudson River, resulting in Dutch
settlements in the area. This copper Duit coin was minted by
the VOC for its colonies. The coins show the VOC
monogram and date on one side. The other side has the arms of
the Dutch province of Zeeland. NAPOLEONIC
WARS COIN FROM JAVA
This
copper 1 Duit from Java dates between 1807 and 1809. It is a most
unusual issue. The coin was minted for a French colony and
featured the emblem of a Dutch company that no longer
existed. At the time Java was a French colony, as The
Netherlands and its colonies had been taken over by the French and were
ruled Napoleon's brother. The simple, crude, locally minted
coin has the denomination and date on one side and the VOC emblem of
the Dutch East India Company on the other. The Dutch East
India Company declared bankruptcy and was dissolved in 1799, with the
Dutch government taking over its colonies. The company had
suffered major losses in the fourth Anglo-Dutch War, faced increasing
competition, and was weighed down by growing administrative costs and
corruption. Even though the company no longer
existed, the continued use of VOC emblem helped assure local acceptance
of the coins as they were similar to the coins
that had been in
circulation for generations. Dutch authorities may have also
wanted to
represent a continued Dutch colonial presence, even though the country
was ruled by the French. It is an historic issue from a
turbulent period of history.
Perhaps
it was his unlucky number 13, or perhaps he had bad advisors, but the
reign of Alfonso XIII was a disaster. He was the posthumous son of King
Alfonso XII, so became king at birth in 1886. During his
reign Spain
lost the Philippines and her last American colonies in the
Spanish-American War. Its troops were defeated in Morocco in
1921 and there were numerous uprisings, strikes and riots. He was
called “the playboy king” due to his numerous extramarital affairs and
large collection of pornographic films, many of which he
commissioned. His fondness of soccer led to the patronage of
several “royal” (real in Spanish) teams, including Real
Madrid. In 1931 he was forced to flee the country and the
Spanish monarchy was abolished. The King at age 20, is shown
on this 1 Centimo of 1906. The Spanish coat of arms is on the
reverse. The coin was minted only one year. This
attractive coin retains much of its original copper-red
luster. It is a nice, old, high-grade coin and is downright
cheap when compared to similar US coins of that era.UNITED
STATES CIVIL WAR ERA 2
CENT & NICKEL 3 CENT PIECES
AFGHANISTAN COINSCOINS OF
INDIA and PAKISTAN COINS OF THE
MIDDLE EAST 2400 YEARS OF CHINESE COINS and
CURRENCYCOINS
OF DEAD NATIONS<--
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