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Vol. 9, No. 2 February, 2010
Press Release: George Manz Coins An Album of Renaissance Coinage Designs Currency of the Jewish Internment Camps, Cyprus
Above: Spain , Gold 8-escudo "Doubloon", 1701-S/M ( Seville mint). Not all doubloons in North America were from Spanish South American mints; some were from Spain itself. Those became machine-struck earlier - the above was minted by roller-mill, the edge marked beforehand.
The Mid-Island Coin Club, Dues: $12 per year Mailing Address: Mid-Island Coin Club, c/o West Coast Stamp & Coin, Executive Officers: President: Felix Stawski
The January meeting was attended by 26 members, not too bad considering that it was election night. Speaking of which, you will notice some changes, including a couple of new names. As "new blood", we welcome Chris Linfitt, owner of West Coast Stamp & Coin, as our new vice-president as well as Steve McAdam, holding one of the directorship portfolios. Outgoing, we thank Bill Lane for his past service as director and, especially , Bob Bresden who has ably filled the post of club treasurer since June, 2004. Taking Bob's place will be Joan Ryan (thankyouthankyouthankyou). Since the club has something of a surplus in the kitty, the executive are looking into the possibilty of acquiring a computer-projector to enliven our meetings. They're still quite expensive pieces of equipment but, who knows, perhaps there is some sort of deal out there. * * * * * Hot off the press from two of our member dealers: (1) Just received (Jan. 25), the latest pricelist - #2010A - from Stan Morash. 11 pages of decimals, Canadian notes, good selection of coin varieties and errors, etc. For your copy, write: Stan Morash, P.O. Box 21031 , Prince Albert , Sask. S6V 8A4 or telephone (306) 763-8613. (2) Press release for George Manz's upcoming auction, reproduced in this issue.
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George Manz Coins & Auctions presents "Auction # 8".
The Regina Coin Club's spring show will be the venue for the eighth in a series of auctions by George Manz Coins & Auctions. World coin highlights include a complete 1820 British Maundy Money set with exceptional toning on both sides. The four coins are housed in a red Maundy Money case and carry an estimate of $500. Lot 12, an East India Company 1808 10 cash salvaged from the wreck of the Admiral Gardner , is also on offer with an estimate of $50. Canadian decimal coins include an 1897 1-Cent graded MS-63 by ICCS, a 1901 5-Cents graded MS-62 by ICCS, and a 1937 Specimen 5-Cents graded SP-64 Mirror, Cameo by ICCS. Among the rarities at auction is a 1906 Small Crown 25-Cents graded G-4, one of only 58 certified by ICCS. Lot 93, a 1935 silver dollar stamped by Joseph Oliva Patenaude, a jeweler from Nelson, B.C., is also on the block, this one bearing his incuse initials only, with no periods. It is one of only a few that were counterstamped on an angle. Graded EF-40 by ICCS, the coin is estimated to fetch $600. Errors are led by a British undated Queen Victoria 3-Pence with an obverse mirror brockage resulting from the first strike of a capped die. The incused (sunken) image of the queen on the reverse has the exact same die crack as on the obverse. The rarity is expected to realize $500. Hudson's Bay Company tokens include a complete set of six 1946 Eastern Arctic tokens, including the square 1 White Fox as well as a short set of two HBC tokens from the now famous South Dakota Hoard. The newly-discovered tokens have been written about in recent issues of Canadian Coin News . Commemorative medals include two huge 77mm British rarities, including the 1862 Britannia Prize Medal and the 1855 Sardinia medal, one of only 350 struck. ANA badges from 1958 to 1970 issued to Roy Miller should see spirited bidding. Canadian paper money is led by a 1954 Modified Portrait Million Numbered Note with the serial number H/Y 1000000. One of the highlights of the auction is a large number of books from the personal collection of Daniel Gosling, President of the Royal Canadian Numismatic Association. This eclectic auction also includes ancient coins, Lasqueti Mint products, pre-Confederation tokens, trade dollars, sports medals, an NDP Founding Convention badge and medal from 1961, merchants' scrip, military medals and two coin T-shirts. The auction will take place at the Regina Coin Club's spring show on Saturday April 17 at the Western Christian College gym in Regina . Those wishing to receive the auction catalogue by e-mail should send their e-mail address to George Manz at george@georgemanzcoins.com . The catalogue can also be viewed at www.georgemanzcoins.com . There is no buyer's fee in this auction.
********** A Non-existent Scots Crown.
James VI of Scotland (ruled 1567-1625) also acceded to the throne of England upon the death of his aunt, Elizabeth I, in 1603 to become King James I of " Great Britain ". His grandson also ruled Great Britain 1685-8 as James II after the death of his elder brother, Charles II. A fervent Roman Catholic - and a rather obtuse man - , James badly under-estimated the strength of the established Church of England and badly over-estimated that of the Catholics. And extremely badly the help he would receive from the Pope and Louis of France, which was virtually nil save for words. Louis, however, used the situation to cease payments on Dunkirk , the last English enclave in France which had been sold to him by Charles II. In late 1688, James lost the throne of Britain in "the Glorious Revolution", his place taken by his daughter, Mary, and her husband, William, Prince of Orange. Until 1707, Scotland maintained its own distinctive coinage although English was also used at the rate of £12 Scots = £1 Sterling . Sometimes the Scots coinage was very much different from the English such as the period of Charles II's reign when they struck and issued silver ½ -, 1-, 2- and 4-"merks" (1664-75) with the 4-merk equal in weight, fineness and value to the Spanish milled dollar (53s4d Scots), the fractions in proportion. During the period 1675-82, the same coins were termed 1/16th-, 1/8th-, ¼-, ½ -, 1-Dollar (with the addition of the smallest, equivalent to the old ¼-merk). By treaty in 1707, it was agreed that henceforth all coinage throughout Britain was to be the same as presently used in England . Scottish silver was withdrawn and sent to the mint for melting and recoinage at the rate of 65s Scots per 5s English, the extra 5s Scots (5d Sterling ) granted to cover transportation charges. Scottish gold was allowed to remain where it habitually passed only at the bullion value by weight until it soon disappeared into the melting pots. Scottish copper - the 6d Scottish "bawbee" and the 2d Scottish "turner" or "bodle" - were never officially withdrawn but rather used until wear caused their disappearance, British copper denominations taking their place. The particular coin shown above is classified today as a "medallic issue", but that's not exactly what it was originally meant to be. Showing a bust of James II facing right (the normal British issues had him facing left), the legends are the same as the British crown although the reverse shows the arms of Scotland only, rather than the normal four arms in cruciform arrangement. Dated 1688, it was not struck in that year. The coin - and possibly its fractional parts - was authorized by an Act of the Scottish Parliament of 16 June 1686 , the dies being cut by John Roettier, Chief Engraver of the London Mint. Perhaps the intention was for a distinctive Scottish coinage which, nevertheless, was fully interchangeable with those of England . This one, a "60-shilling" piece (the "60" being under the bust) would have been an English 5-shilling "crown" at the exchange rate of 12:1. If there were dies for other denominations, it would seem that all have been lost. Nor was this one struck in 1688; by this time - the very year that James fled Britain - the political troubles caused everything to be shelved. In 1828, London coin dealer Matthew Young, who specialized in the tracking down of old dies and striking limited collectors' issues from them, came into possession of the set for the Scottish 60-shilling piece of 1688. He had 60 examples in silver struck from them, after which the dies were defaced and presented to the British Museum . All show evidence of slight die rust on the obverse. Today, the Young "restrikes(?)" in Unc are valued in the $5000-7500 range.
An Album of Renaissance Coin Designs.
The Renaissance characterized a period that saw an explosion of knowledge. Its time frame is somewhat fuzzy but its beginning is usually attributed as being either the invention of printing by moveable type (Johann Gutenberg, 1455) or the fall of Constantinople to the Seljuk Turks (1453) at which time scholars fled to the western Christian lands. Generally speaking, its end came with the Reformation - about 1530. Before this period was the Middle Ages; after it came the early Modern Era. Arts and design were greatly changed, realism taking the place of the old cartoonish Gothic. Much of this was influenced by the art of the ancient Greeks and Romans, the one tending to idealism, the other to harsh reality. Not that this had ever entirely died out; there are many realistic sculptures that date before this "rebirth" of the ancient knowledge and tastes.
Such old coins were well known throughout the Middle Ages. The gold pieces, especially, were coveted as "treasure" since the high quality of their designs and minting techniques were much greater than was possible for many centuries thereafter and, as such, a sure-fire safeguard against counterfeiting. For "ordinary" transactions in gold coin, there were the pieces of the Byzantine Empire and the Arabs, neither of which had artistic merit and were crudely struck. We should not believe that there was no learning. On the contrary, there had been established numerous universities throughout Europe - even though their thrust was to theology and philosophy with practically nothing to "natural science". But even here there were advances, usually through the efforts of "working man" engineers and "mechaniks". Even before the Renaissance, there were scattered instances in western coinage of a "proto-Renaissance" style, most usually in direct imitation of the late Roman pieces. Below are two such coins, very much alike even though coined as much as a half-century apart.
Considering that at the time, most European coins were struck from dies whose designs and lettering were typically "built-up" by the use of a limited number of simple punches (lines, dots, circles, triangles and different size curves), and were not even decent cartoons, the above are very good indeed. Both Sicilian, the earlier (and better) is obviously more a pure copy of the Late Roman while the second shows more French influence, the d'Angi ò family being the French House of Anjou. Both were probably also something of prestige issues since both are very rare today; obviously, quality came at a cost.
True Renaissance coinage began in the last half of the Fifteenth Century and frequently these quality issues were not of the major states but rather of the smaller ones; again, something of presitge issues. The larger states, whose coinage saw extensive use even outside their borders, usually put cost before quality. But not always . One of the earliest issues was for the semi-powerful state of Milan .
Not only is the above one of the earliest Renaissance issues, its appearance is such as to suggest techniques as much as a century hence. Its extreme roundness indicates the use of a punch cutter which, in turn, would require strip or sheet mechanically rolled. The completely homogenous strength of strike also suggests some type of coining press - perhaps the vite described by Cellini years later. One advantage of a coining press was to ensure that the die faces were exactly parallel, one edge neither fainter nor stronger than the other. The tradeoff for all these advantages was lack of speed - and Galleazzo's father certainly used nothing but hand methods, even on the gold, and the coins show it.
Louis, Duc d'Orleans, took Milan from Ludovico Sforza in 1499, becoming King of France in 1500. The Renaissance artistry of the Sforzas came to an end but was adopted by Louis as this piece shows. Even the "Charging Duke" reverse, in use for years on the Milanese gold, was retained. The Milanese coinage may have given rise to a sort of orthodox Renaissance design adopted by other Italian states. The following coin is an early issue by a fairly minor entity, Casale, and shows Guglielmo II Paleologo (1434-1518) wearing the berretta of the Marquis of Monferato. The reverse shows the cross of Serbia , by way of his mother, and the imperial eagle claiming kinship to the last Byzantine dynasty. A lot of claims for a fairly minor figure, but still a coin notable for its Renaissance artisty.
Both of the above show characteristics common to the early Renaissance coins: well-cut, realistic, artistic dies combined with old-fashioned less-than-satisfactory minting techniques. Neither of the above are really round and both show the effects of blanks that have been pared and filed to the required weight before striking, even when the paring meant the loss of some of the design. Also quite common on such coins was doubling, caused by more than one blow being sometimes required by the hammer method.
Not all Renaissance coins were by the minor states. The Vatican , for instance, could - and did - afford the services of the best. This particular coin displays a highly detailed bust of the formidable "Warrior Pope", Julius II in heavy cope on the obverse while on the reverse, Saints Peter and Andrew fish from the Ship of Eternal Salvation, again in great detail. Carefully struck and well-centered, this would have been as much a prestige issue as a circulating one.
From an artistic stanpoint, the above would have been its equal, showing as it does a highly detailed rendering of the Pope, bearded and fierce, while the reverse shows Saint Peter fishing from a boat, equally detailed. Unfortunately, much has been lost by doubling during the strike, a common enough occurrance at this time.
Beginning in Italy , the Renaissance soon spread to other parts of Europe . However, the above coin, despite its date, is not Renaissance but rather an example of ultra-late Gothic design. Two of Cologne 's greatest legends are shown here. The obverse shows the Three Kings, or Magi, that Cologne claims are buried in the city's great cathedral. But rather than being depicted in the half-round, realistic style, they are shown delineated by lines in the manner of a drawing, a characteristic of Gothic art. The reverse shows Cologne 's second legend: the Pope and Saint Ursula on board a cog with some of her 11,000 virgins on their pilgrimage to Rome . Saint Ursula is the city's patron saint, having met her death at the hands of the invading Huns nearby in the Third Century. But it will be noted that the reverse is also in Gothic style and, moreover, the design is "old hat", being similar to that on English gold from 150 years before. Both as a gold Real and a later 6-Ducats, the designs were retained for many years but soon became more realistically modelled. As with many German coins, it was of a very "busy" design.
SAXONY, Germany . Ernestine Line. Friedrich II, the Wise, 1486-1523 Silver "Double Guldengroschen", nd. (1512-14). Approx. actual size (49 mm)
Even while the pseudo-Gothic Cologne gold piece was being struck, other places in Germany had successfully made the transition to Renaissance style. One of the more unusual pieces is shown. In extremely high relief, it was, nevertheless, struck - not cast - and without the doubling normally expected. For such high relief, several blows should have been needed to bring up the design - and more than one blow would almost certainly cause doubling in the legend. The coin is not exactly round but rather slightly eliptical. An example of roller-minting decades before it was reputed to exist? A mystery but still a masterpiece of German Renaissance coinage art.
The same could be said for a series of coins struck for the archbishopric of Salzburg in Austria as illustrated by the coin above. A large coin - in fact a "double thaler" - these pieces were also notable for having been struck in very high relief with no evidence of doubling as the result of more than one coining blow. These coins, also just slightly out of round, would seem to indicate the use of a roller press. If so, the coin antedates by some forty years the first documentary evidence of such a machine in the Salzburg mint, which by the late 16th Century was the means of coining throughout the Holy Roman and Spanish empires. This particular piece also displays a high degree of art, the obverse showing a realistic bust of the archbishop, the reverse of the Double Guldiner showing Radiana standing up to the attack of two wolves. Reverses specific to the denomination were used throughout the archbishop's reign, although his was not the first to adopt Renaissance art and minting techniques.
That would belong to his predecessor, Archbishop von Keutschach. The piece illustrated above would seem to be among the first to adopt these advanced techniques; previously, denominations of this same man were hammer-struck - and looked it.
Oddly, the more minor states of Salzburg and Saxony appeared to be using methods that were superior to their larger near-contemporaries. The pfunder shown above is of a major, longlasting coinage but combines excellent dies cut in the new realistic Renaissance style with the old hammer method of striking, characterized by peripheral weaknesses with sections of turned-up rims. The coin's unusual roundness, however, may possibly be due to the planchet having been punched out rather than cut with shears.
Switzerland , as a sort of geographical bridge between the Italian and Germanic zones, also produced fairly early Renaissance coinages. The "Saint Peter Testone" shown was of an extensive, long-lasting coinage and, like those of the Holy Roman Empire , combined superior Renaissance art and modelling with the more primitive hammer-coining.
The above piece is representative of what has often been termed the world's first "milled coinage" - but if not by roller-press, certainly by screwpress. The mint of production was especially built on , and powered by, the Seine River in Paris . It was the project of Aubin (or Aubrey) Olivier, a mint engineer who adapted the metalworking techniques of Augsburg , H.R.E., to that of coining in 1553. The milled coin appeared only briefly, the powerful closed guild of French moneyers successfully ousting Olivier with the argument that their second-class, but good-enough, coinage was, nevertheless cheaper to make. Olivier was only the first of a number of talented mint "mechaniks", such as Eloi Mestrell and Nicholas Briot, to suffer the same fate over the next century, forcing all of them to peddle their technology wherever buyers were to found. As the new technology improved, it also dropped the cost-per-coin, rendering the old guild argument increasingly invalid. By the 1660s, scarcely a hammered coin was being produced in Europe . But, as something of an off-set, coins increasingly were struck to accomodate the demands of the machinery, a big one of which was low (and lower) relief. That's still the way it is.
Currency of the Jewish Interment Camps, Cyprus .
Excerpts from The Numismatist : "After the end of WWII, the liberated Jewry from all concentration camps and ghettos in Europe, legal or illegal, flocked to Palestine , the Land of Promise … The Mandatory/British Government of Palestine tried to stop them by reducing the quota of immigration to the maximum of 1500 monthly. "There were many ships loaded with these prospective immigrants who tried to enter Palestine illegally. Very few succeeded and the unfortunate ones were sent to Cyprus … The internment started in Aug. 1946 and gradually reached 32,000 … The Jewish Agency and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee began to function soon … Issued for interior use in their canteens, three notes: 1, 2, 5 Shillings" There were two series, the above belonging to the second. The first series carries the additional wording: "Good for purchase in the canteens of Cyprus or for exchange for cash in Jerusalem ". This was changed to "Good for purchase in the canteens" due to British objections.
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February 2010Press Release: George Manz Coins An Album of Renaissance Coinage Designs Currency of the Jewish Internment Camps, Cyprus
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