Saturday 9 March 2024

 

A Mars a Day

The theme of the meeting today was Mars, which is suitable for the month which is named after the Roman God. Many of us of a certain age in England associate the word with the delicious chocolate bars. It was first manufactured in 1932 in Slough. It is not named after the planet or the god but a man called Forrest Mars, Sr.

The advertising jingle, “A Mars a day helps you work, rest and play" jingle was associated with the confectionary from the late 1950s through to the mid-1990s. It was reintroduced a few years ago.During the football World Cup in 2006 Mars rebranded its bars with the word "Believe" in support of the England team.

The god Mars features on many ancient coins. In ancient Roman religion and mythology, Mars was the god of war and also an agricultural guardian, a combination characteristic of early Rome. He is the son of Jupiter and Juno, and was pre-eminent among the Roman army's military gods. Most of his festivals were held in March and in October, the months which traditionally began and ended the season for both military campaigning and farming.

The union of Venus and Mars held greater appeal for poets and philosophers, and the couple were a frequent subject of art. The wild animals most sacred to Mars were the woodpecker and the wolf, which in the natural lore of the Romans were said always to inhabit the same foothills and woodlands. A stylised "spear and shield of Mars" is also the symbol for the planet Mars and male gender.

Friday 1 March 2024

 

Do Coins have a Future?


Centuries ago, probably more than two thousand years ago, an invention was changing the way people did everyday business. If you wanted to buy some wine and food that cost a sheep and you did not have the right payment on you, perhaps you would hand over a cow and apologise you had nothing smaller. The dealer would offer you nine chickens in change and count them laboriously in front of you.

The invention was money which was pieces of metal which had an agreed value. Someone must have thought they needed a special to show they were genuine and the value. Coins were easier to carry than goods for barter and you do not have to keep them alive.

Nowadays the reverse is happening. Most transactions are done with a plastic card or tapping your telephone. Coins are disappearing along with high street banks and ATMs to get cash. However over a million people in the UK do not have a bank account and then add those who have an account but prefer cash and the people who temporarily are not able to access their accounts which equals a lot more.

Will this mean the end of coins and more worryingly the end of coin collectors? Probably not as old coins will still be collected and collectors want commemorative coins.

 

 

 

 

Saturday 6 January 2024

 Happy New Year

 

Three wise men of Cologne

On June 9, 1164, Frederick I issued a certificate conferring the ownership of the relics of the Three Magi to the Archbishop of Cologne which were transferred to the Cologne Cathedral on July 23, 1164. In medieval times, the possession of such a relic was a strong argument for the German king to be the only true emperor and thus of higher rank than all the other European rulers. The fact that Frederick I owned their relics underlined heaven’s appreciation for him. The possession of those relics brought lots of pilgrims to Cologne.

  

City of Cologne. Gold strike at 4 gold florins from the dies of the Dreikönigstaler [Three Magi taler], no year (around 1620). Extremely rare. Very fine. Estimate: 50,000 euros. From Künker auction 313 (October 9, 2018), No. 3724.

 

The coin shows the key scene of Saint Ursula’s legend, as it has been established since the 13th century. In the centre of a boat going up the river Rhine towards Cologne, we see Saint Ursula, wearing a crown. To her left, elaborately dressed, is Prince Aetherius. He had promised to get baptized after the three years’ waiting period. Together with his bride-to-be, he had gone on a pilgrimage to Rome, where the two of them were joined by Pope Cyriacus. We see him with a tiara and a processional cross to Saint Ursula’s right. The coin depicts the moment of the attack by the pagan besiegers of Cologne: While the prince protectively covers his body with his arms, the holy virgin is praying to God, supported by the brave pope who brings the Christian message to the land of the unbelievers.


Diocese of




Cologne. 1688 Vacancy of the See. Reichstaler 1688. Very rare. Extremely fine. 4,000 euros. From Künker auction 313 (October 9, 2018), no. 3634.

During the French occupation, the relics of the Three Magi were evacuated to the free town of Deutz. Only after Napoleon’s Concordat with the Catholic Church, they returned to their usual place on January 6, 1804.

Source

https://www.kuenker.de/en/information/presseinformationen/aktuelle-mitteilungen/206

Accessed 02 01 2024

 

images by kind permission of Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co. KG, Osnabrück“. Lübke & Wiedemann KG, Leonberg“  owner of the coin images

http://www.kuenker.com


Sunday 18 June 2023

 




The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday, 18 June 1815.

The fiftieth anniversary was not celebrated as Britain and France were on good terms and no-one wanted to offend them.

The hundredth anniversary fell during the First World War and so there were other priorities although the hundredth anniversary of Trafalgar was marked.

A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armies of the Seventh Coalition. One of these was a British-led coalition consisting of units from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Hanover, Brunswick, and Nassau, under the command of the Duke of Wellington.  The other was composed of three corps of the Prussian army under the command of Field Marshal von Blücher (the fourth corps of this army fought at the Battle of Wavre on the same day). The battle marked the end of the Napoleonic Wars.The Marquis of Anglesey and the Charge of the British, AE by Mudie (1820)

Pistrucci's electrotype medal (1840s)

Wellington death 1852 (obv)  

____________________________

Charles Riley, Coins & Medals


Thursday 4 May 2023

 

Catch! A coronation medallion fit for a king.

At the coronation following the Restoration commemorative medallions were distributed to the congregation. The diarist Samuel Pepys recorded that “medals [were] flung up and down by my Lord Cornwallis of silver, but [Pepys] could not get any. Another witness, Elias Ashmole, noted medals, “flung abroad… medals both of silver and gold… as a princely Donation or Largesse…” 

 





Bust of Charles II  crowned in royal ermine robes, wearing collar and George of the Garter. On the obverse Charles II in royal robes, holding the sceptre, is seated on a throne; Peace, hovering over him, places the crown upon his head.  The inscription reads

EVERSO . MISSVS . SVCCVRRERE . SECLO . XXIII . APR . 1661.

Inscription translation: Sent to support a fallen age, 23 April, 1661.

Illustration by kind permission of Charles Riley, Coins & Medals www.charlesriley.co.uk

 

Friday 31 March 2023

 


 

Collectors are divided on whether to buy slabbed coins. Many numismatists like the professional grading and descriptions and the protection the slabbing offers. However many of us prefer to handle the actual coins.

Interestingly archaeologists have discovered that slabbing coins was known to ancient Roman collectors. Perspex or plastic of any type had not been invented, and glass was expensive, so the coins had to be encased in stone or concrete. This meant the coin was protected from wear, accidental damage and were difficult to steal (or even move at all). However the coins could not be viewed by the collector. Julius Caesar who was a keen collector, came up with the saying “veni vidi vici” which means “I came, I saw, I saw no coin”.

 

Some coins were stamped SPQR which stands for Slab Pretty Quickly, Romans. So look out for rocks or stones which may contain a coin.  You would be a fool not to!

 

Friday 20 January 2023

 The Penny

At our January meeting we looked at the humble penny in the UK and abroad. here are some colloquial uses:

"A penny for your thoughts" is a way of asking someone what they are thinking about. It was first documented John Heywood's 1547 Dialogue Conteinying the Nomber in Effect of All the Proverbes in the Englishe Tongue

"In for a penny, in for a pound," is a common expression used to express someone's intention to see something through, however much time, effort, or money this entails.

To "give (one's) tuppence/tuppenny/two'penneth (worth)", is a saying that uses the words for two pence to share one's opinion, idea, or point of view, regardless of whether or not others want to hear it. A similar expression using the US term of cents is my two cents. Give me five cents in Catalonia means to give the summary only. 

To "spend a penny" means to urinate. Its etymology is literal: coin-operated public toilets commonly charged a pre-decimal penny, beginning with the Great Exhibition of 1851.