A numismatic trip to Tallinn capital of Estonia. 

This is a photograph of the National Bank museum in Tallinn. Well worth a visit if you are in the area and free!  It has good displays about modern Estonian currency. 

Estonia has had many outside influences and has only been independent for a very short period in its history. It was fought over in the Northern Crusades in the Middle Ages. Danes and Germans conquered the area in 1227. From 1418 to 1562 the whole of Estonia formed part of the Livonian Confederation. Estonia became part of the Swedish Empire until 1710/1721, when Sweden ceded it to Russia as a result of the Great Northern War of 1700-1721.  In the aftermath of World War I (1914-1918) and the Russian revolutions of 1917, Estonians declared their independence in February 1918.

The Estonian War of Independence (1918-1920) involved battles with Bolshevist Russia to the east and against the Baltic German forces to the south. The Tartu Peace Treaty in 1920 marked the end of fighting and recognised Estonian independence in perpetuity. In 1940, in the wake of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of 1939, the Soviet Union occupied Estonia.  Nazi Germany occupied Estonia in 1941 and later in World War II the Soviet Union reoccupied it in 1944. Estonia regained independence in 1991 in the course of the dissolution of the Soviet Union and joined the European Union and NATO in 2004.

The kroon was the currency of Estonia for two periods in history: 1928–1940 and 1992–2011. Between 1 January and 14 January 2011, the kroon circulated together with the euro, after which the euro became the sole legal tender in Estonia. The kroon succeeded the mark in 1928 and was in use until the Soviet invasion in 1940 and Estonia's subsequent incorporation into the Soviet Union when it was replaced by the Soviet rouble. After Estonia regained its independence, the kroon was reintroduced in 1992.

Medallions 

Images of Oxford medallions courtesy of Charles. www.charlesriley.co.uk 

The theme of this month's meeting was medallions. there was an impressive showing from Charles. Others brought Irish and South African items.

Sandwich anyone?

This is a copper falus coin struck at Kandahar or Qandahar in Afghanistan. It features two fish swimming around a star on one side. If you look it up you will see it is described as a siege coin although quite which siege I am not sure.

I have included an image of the side because it shows how it was made. It was made from a long strip of copper that was then folded over to make a sandwich or flattened Swiss roll. They were made from metal cut from copper pots.

Not very rare but this coin is in good condition and well worth the £6.00 I paid for it.

Reference Valentine number 9 page 170.