Arminius

unknown mint in Caria, ca. 500-400 BC., Hemitetartemorion (1/8 Obol) (5 mm / 0,16 g), Obv.: head of Artemis r., (before a letter like iv ?). Rev.: head of lion l. SNG Tuebingen 3315 .

If your passion will last longer you may observe your collecting budget and focus changing, as every focus sooner or later becomes boring and expensive. I once decided to collect without clear focus but specialized on some areas of interest. When my eyesight started to degrade and my interest to look at small objects decreased i found coin photography and magnification technologies on computer screens as a remedy against loosing motivation to collect coins. Spreadsheets are a good starter to compile data, pictures and related info. Uploading these data to web-based communities or databases will show and exchange your collection and experience worldwide with other people sharing the same passion. What is the future of coin collecting? I´d be glad to know the answer. Just my humble opinion: Rare and interesting material will stay rare and expensive, gold and other bullion noble metal plus silver will survive many other investments and present currencies. So find YOUR special mix of safety and investment on the one hand - and affordable collection growth on the other hand.

Probably a variant, close to this type: Corinth, Greece, 405 - 345 B.C. Silver stater, Pegasi I 354/2 variety, Corinth mint, ca. 8.20g, 20.5mm, 180°, obverse Pegasos flying right, koppa below; reverse head of Athena (or Aphrodite) right wearing Corinthian helmet, ornamented trident behind, K - A across fields, Calciati notes this type as a variety of 354/2, which has KA right.

No wonder - this forum was trained a couple of months ago by this one: (25 mm / 4,44 g),copper

Austria, Hapsburg monarchy, Franz Joseph I (1848-1916), 1912 AD., 1 Heller (17 mm / 1,74 g), bronze, 1,67 g. theor. mint weight, mintage 27,053,000 , medal alignment ↑↑ , plain edge, varnished, Obv.: crowned double eagle, imperial shield of arms on breast. Rev.: 1 / 1912 , value above springs, date below, all in an ornamental frame. KM 2800 . Year / Mintage 1892 1893 29,000,000 1894 30,100,000 1895 49,500,000 1896 15,600,000 1897 12,400,000 1898 6,780,000 1899 1,901,000 1900 26,981,000 1901 52,096,000 1902 20,553,000 1903 13,779,000 1909 12,668,000 1910 21,941,000 1911 18,387,000 1912 27,053,000 1913 8,782,000 1914 9,906,000 1915 5,673,000 1916 12,484,000

I´ll be back with a Lithuanian horseman of 1519. So fill the gaps guys.

Certainly, please pardon me, i didn´t realize this is the Russion department of coinpeople. Here is my latest nice Russian coin: 1814 AD., Russian Empire, Alexander I, Izhora mint, 2 Kopeks, KM C 118.4. Again: Not rare - but i like big coppers.

I wish you all Happy New Year. The latest nice one i stumbled on: (sorry, no Russian coin and not rare at all)

Hello and Welcome!

Bienvenido Ringo !

Macedon, Kingdom, Demetrios Poliorketes, 294 - 288 BC. silver Tetradrachm, from Chalkis / Euboia mint. Rev. Poseidon on a rock. Newell 151 When i see this eathen attachments on a rare coin my alarm bells start ringing. Some expert should check if the coin is genuine. Regards

Hello, as the surface of this nickel looks untouched since striking with an old copper-nickel patination i suppose a striking problem caused the flat areas, especially at center: KM 134, 21,3 mm / 4,84 g, copper-nickel, 5,00 g. theor. mint weight, mintage 63,093,000 , coin alignment ↑↓ (180°), plain edge. A flan defect as 0.16 g material is missing? Too much oil during striking? The rim and edge is plain and perfect. The coin shows no hints for a mechnical treatment after leaving the mint. Maybe an expert on these nickels has some experience. regards

Hello, i´m not quite shure if this is ancient or some modern restrike, anyway - i liked it and i hope it´s of some interest for you: Germany, Saxony-House of Wettin, Friedrich August II (1733-1763), death of Maurice de Saxe and his monument in the Thomas-church of Strasbourg, engraver: Müller, 1750 AD., Medal (53 mm / 53,53 g), tin, medal alignment ↑↑ (0°), plain edge, Obv.: MAURIT· SAXO· GAL· MARESC GEN D· CURL ET SEM· / MÜLLER , his cuirasseb bust facing left, engraver´s signature on shoulder.. Rev.: MAURITIO SAXO / CURL ET SEMICAT / DUCI SURE EXTUR/ SEMPER UNTUR / LUDOVICUS XV / VICTORIA AUCTOR / ..... , the monument. cf. Merseburger coll. 4549 (engraver D. Kamm) ; - Schnee coll. 1969 (same) ; - Engel&Lehr 713 (same) ; - Berstett S. 87 (same) ; Koehne's Zeitschrift für Münz-, Siegel- und Wappenkunde p. 24, no. 46 : http://www.archive.org/stream/koehneszeitschr00khgoog/koehneszeitschr00khgoog_djvu.txt "continually struck as tin medal, from different dies, sold at the Strassboug cathedral" from wiki: Maurice de Saxe (German: Moritz Graf von Sachsen) (28 October 1696 – 20 November 1750) was a German in French service who was Marshal and later also Marshal General of France. Maurice was born at Goslar, an illegitimate son of August the Strong, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony, and the Countess Maria Aurora of Königsmarck. He was the first of eight extramarital children whom August acknowledged, although as many as 354 are claimed by sources, including Wilhelmine of Bayreuth, to have existed. In 1698, the Countess sent him to his father in Warsaw. August had been elected King of Poland in the previous year, but the unsettled condition of the country obliged Maurice to spend the greater part of his youth outside its borders. This separation from his father made him independent and had an important effect on his future career. At the age of twelve, Maurice served in the army of Prince Eugene of Savoy, at the sieges of Tournai and Mons and at the Battle of Malplaquet. A proposal at the end of the campaign to send him to a Jesuit college in Brussels was dropped due to the protests of his mother. When only thirteen years of age Maurice apparently had a brief liaison with a girl called Rosette Dubosan, daughter of a lace-maker in Tournai. The product of the affair, a girl, was born 27 June 1710 in Brussels and died there in February 1711, aged 8 months. Upon his return to the camp of the Allies at the beginning of 1710, Maurice displayed a courage so impetuous that Prince Eugene admonished him to not confuse rashness with valour. He next served under Peter the Great against the Swedes. In 1711, August formally recognized him and Maurice was granted the rank of Count. He then accompanied his father to Pomerania, and in 1712 he took part in the siege of Stralsund. At the age of 17 in 1713 he commanded his own regiment. In manhood, Maurice bore a strong resemblance to his father, both physically and in character. His grasp was so powerful that he could bend a horseshoe with his hand, and even at the end of his life, his energy and endurance were scarcely affected by the illnesses his many excesses had caused. On 12 March 1714, a marriage was arranged between him and one of the richest of his father's subjects, Countess Johanna Viktoria Tugendreich von Loeben, but he dissipated her fortune so rapidly that he was soon heavily in debt. The next year (21 January 1715), Johanna gave birth to a son, called August Adolf after his grandfather; the child only lived a few hours. Since Maurice had also given her more serious grounds of complaint against him, he consented to an annulment of the marriage in 21 March 1721. After serving in a campaign against the Ottoman Empire in 1717, he went to Paris to study mathematics, and in 1720 obtained a commission as maréchal de camp. In 1725, he entered negotiations for election as Duke of Courland, at the insistence of the Duchess Anna Ivanovna, who offered him her hand. He was chosen Duke in 1726, but declined marriage with the duchess. He soon found it impossible to resist her opposition to his claims, but with the assistance of £30,000 lent him by the French actress Adrienne Lecouvreur, he raised a force by which he maintained his authority till 1727, when he withdrew and took up residence in Paris. At the outbreak of the War of the Polish Succession, Saxe served under Marshal the Duke of Berwick, and for a brilliant exploit at the Siege of Philippsburg he was named lieutenant-general. In the War of the Austrian Succession he took command of an army division sent to invade Austria in 1741, and on 19 November 1741, surprised Prague during the night, and seized it before the garrison was aware of the presence of an enemy, a coup de main which made him famous throughout Europe; he thus repeated the exploit of 1648 of his maternal great-grandfather, Hans Christoff von Königsmarck. After capturing the fortress of Eger (Cheb) on 19 April 1742, he received a leave of absence, and went to Russia to push his claims for the Duchy of Courland, but returned to his command after getting nowhere. Saxe's exploits were the sole redeeming feature in an unsuccessful campaign, and on 26 March 1743, his merits were rewarded by promotion to Marshal of France. He had been given only 50-60,000 men to defend against an enemy army twice as large. From this time on, he became one of the great generals of the age. In 1744, he was chosen to command the 10,000 men of the French Invasion of Britain on behalf of the Old Pretender, which assembled at Dunkirk but did not proceed more than a few miles out of harbour before being wrecked by disastrous storms.[4] After its termination, he received an independent command in the Netherlands, and by skilful manoeuvering succeeded in continually harassing the superior forces of the enemy without risking a decisive battle. In the following year, Saxe with 65,000 men besieged Tournai and inflicted a severe defeat on the army of the Duke of Cumberland at the Battle of Fontenoy, an encounter determined entirely by his constancy and cool leadership. During the battle, he was unable to sit on horseback due to edema, and was carried about in a wicker chariot. In recognition of his brilliant achievement, King Louis XV of France conferred on him the Château de Chambord for life, and in April 1746, he was naturalised as a French subject. Until the end of the war, he continued to command in the Netherlands, always with success. He was given command of 200,000 men in 1746. Besides Fontenoy he added Rocoux (1746) and Lawfeldt or Val (1747) to the list of French victories. He led the French force which captured Brussels and it was under his orders that Marshal Löwendahl captured Bergen op Zoom. He himself won the last success of the war in capturing Maastricht in 1748. In 1747 the title once held by Turenne and Villars, "Marshal General of the King's camps and armies", was revived for him. But on 20 November 1750 he died at the Château de Chambord "of a putrid fever". During the last years of his life, Maurice had an affair with a French lady, Marie Rinteau de Verrières, who at that time was only eighteen years old. In 1748 she gave birth to a daughter, the last of Maurice's several illegitimate children. She was called Maria Aurora (in French: Marie Aurore) after her grandmother. During the first year of her life, she bore the surname de la Riviere, until her father, shortly before his own death, recognized her as his daughter and gave her the surname von Sachsen or de Saxe. By her second marriage with Claude Dupin de Franceuil, Marie Aurore married in 1764 Antoine, comte d'Horne (1735–1765), an illegitimate son of Louis XV of France by an unknown mother. By second marriage she was the grandmother of Amandine Lucile Aurore Dupin, who later became famous as the writer George Sand, and died on 25 December 1821.

Actually in the complete side of these 20 cent types, but just a quarter to a third of a millimeter deep.

An impressive lion from last days change: Finland, engravers: H. Häiväoja (obverse) and L. Luycx (reverse), Helsinki mint, mint master Raimo Makkonen, 2002 AD., 20 Euro Cent (22,3 mm / 5,73 g), 5,74 g mint weight, "Nordic gold" alloy (89% copper, 5% aluminium, 5% zinc, and 1% tin), mintage 100.759.000 (133.000 of these in sets, 13.000 proof), medal alignment ↑↑ (0°) , smooth edge with seven indentations ("Spanish flower"), Obv.: 2002 / M , the Finnish heraldic lion, encircled by twelve stars; below, mintmark "M" for Raimo Makkonen, mint master before 2006. Rev.: 20 / EURO / CENT // LL , (1st) relief map of Western Europe with 12 stars and lines to l., big value number above denomination to r., engraver´s initial at the r. edge. KM 102 .

1526 Świdnica in Silesia, Bohemian kingdom, Louis II of Hungary (1516-1526), 1526 AD., Half Groschen (17-18 mm / 0,94 g), Obv.: + CIVITAS: SWЄINIC: 1:5:26 , around crown. Rev.: + LVDOVICVS: II: VN: ЄT: BO , around eagle. Friedensburg 721 ; Saurm. 222 . Świdnica (German: Schweidnitz; Czech: Svídnice) is a town in south-western Poland. It has a population of 60,317 according to 2006 figures. It lies in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, being the seventh largest town in that voivodeship. At the end of the 14th century the city was under rule of the Kingdom of Bohemia, and a long period of growth began. The last Piast duke was Bolko II of Świdnica, and after his death in 1368 land was held by his wife until 1392; after her death they were incorporated into the lands of Bohemia by Wenceslaus, King of the Romans. In 1493, the town is recorded by Hartmann Schedel in his Nuremberg Chronicle as Schwednitz[1] along with Neyß, Oppel, Liegnitz, Teschen, Frankenstein etc. all in Silesia. In 1471, there were 47 trade guilds in operation, nearly 300 homes had the rights to brew beer, and large cattle and hops fairs were organized. The beer was distributed in many European cities, including Breslau, Prague, Heidelberg, Kraków, and Pisa. The beer was offered in pubs. In 1526, all of Silesia, including Schweidnitz, came under the rule of the Habsburg Monarchy. The city of Schweidnitz was in the surrounding Duchy of Schweidnitz. The Thirty Years' War (1618–48) ravaged the Duchy. The town was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia during the First Silesian War. It was subsequently turned into a fortress. Schweidnitz became part of the Prussian-led German Empire in 1871 during the unification of Germany. The town was placed under Polish administration according to the post-war Potsdam Conference in 1945 and renamed Świdnica. The German population who had not fled during the war were subsequently expelled westward and replaced with Poles, many of whom had been expelled themselves from Polish areas annexed by the Soviet Union. Louis II (July 1, 1506, Budapest, Hungary – August 29, 1526 in Mohács, Hungary) was King of Hungary and King of Bohemia from 1516 to 1526. After his father's death in 1516, the minor Louis II ascended to the throne of Hungary and Bohemia Upon his father's death Louis had been adopted by Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I in 1515. When Maximilian I died in 1519, Louis was raised by his legal guardian, his cousin Georg von Hohenzollern, margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach. In 1522 Louis II was married to Mary of Habsburg, a Habsburg princess, granddaughter of Maximilian I, as stipulated by the First Congress of Vienna in 1515. His sister Anne was married to Archduke Ferdinand of Austria, then a governor on behalf of his brother Charles V, and later Emperor Ferdinand I. On 29 August 1526, Louis was killed in the Battle of Mohács while leading his forces against Suleiman the Magnificent of the Ottoman Empire. He had no legitimate children. Ferdinand was elected as his successor in Kingdom of Bohemia and Hungary, but the Hungarian throne was contested by János Szapolyai, who ruled the areas of the kingdom conquered by the Turks as an Ottoman client.

1529 Poland, Zygmunt I Stary / Sigismund I (1506-1548), Torun mint for Prussia, 1529 AD., Grossus (22 mm / 1,67 g), Obv.: SIGIS. I. REX. PO. DO. TOCI. PRV , crowned, draped bust right. Rev.: GROSS.COMV.TERR.PRVSS.15Z9 , "Groschen, common to all Prussian territory", around eagle with sword. . Sigismund I , 1506-1548 King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, *1467 in Kraków, son of Elisabeth of Habsburg and Casimir IV Jagiello, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. Sigismund married Barbara Zápolya from Transylvania in 1512. After her death he married Bona Sforza from Milan in 1518. Their son Sigismund II August was Grand Duke of Lithuania and the last Jagiellon King of Poland. Sigismund and Bona Sforza were lovers of the fine arts. They brought Italian artists to Kraków and propagated Renaissance ideals throughout the country. The period of the two Sigismunds is known as the Golden Age of Polish culture. Sigismund's nephew Albert of Brandenburg-Ansbach was the last grand master of the Teutonic Order. On 10 April 1525, he took the oath of fealty on the marketplace of Kraków. In return, Sigismund made him the first Duke of Prussia and invested him with the domains of the Order. This so called "Prussian Homage" converted the catholic Teutonic Order into the secular lutheran Duchy of East Prussia as a fief of catholic Poland. Western Prussia had already become the Polish province of Royal Prussia in 1466. Sigismund added the duchy of Mazovia (now the province of Warsaw) to the Polish state when the last ruler of the Piast dynasty died in 1529. His country extended from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea. Sigismund had to fight off attacks from Russians and Tatars. Domestically, he asserted royal power against the predominant nobility. West Prussia fell under Polish government in 1466, after her secession from the Teutonic Order in 1454. King Sigismund largely confirmed the rights of the diet. The Prussian eagle with brandishing sword arm became the coat of arms of "royal Polish Prussia". The Prussian eagle is derived from the coat of arms of the Teutonic Order: a cross surmounted by a black imperial eagle. The crown on the eagle's neck stands for "being put to the yoke". The sword arm is a symbol of secular law. The first king's governor in West Prussia used this coat of arms to seal state documents.

1530 Prussia, Albrecht von Brandenburg (1525-69), 1530 AD., Schilling (Solidus) (19 mm / 1,09 g), Obv.: SOLIDVS PRVSSIE 1530 / A , big A between two rosettes, Zollern shield of arms below. Rev.: ALBER D G DVX PRVSSIE / S , eagle with S on breast. Saurmasche coll. 2679 .

Here we go for 1540: Riga in Latvia, Livonian Order, Hermann von Brüggeney-Hasenkamp (1535-1549), 1540 AD., AR Schilling (18 mm / 0,83 g), Obv.: HIRD-BRIC-NA M-LIVO , Family Arms on Order cross. Rev.: MONE•NOV•RIGENSIS 140 , arms of the city of Riga: cross above crossed keys, dot beneath. Neumann 246 ; Haljak 180 ; Kieler 180 . Hermann von Brüggenei called Hasenkamp (also Bugseney, Brügeney, date of birth unknown; † 1549) was Land Master of Livonia 1535 to 1549 . Hermann's parents were Wennemar Brüggenei and Christine Oldenbockum from Westphalia in western Germany. The Master of the Order was distantly related to him. Hermann came as a child to Livonia. He appeared there in the Livonian Order. Hermann von Brüggenei enjoyed a peaceful reign, because 1531 the Russians prevailed with a 20-year peace and even with the Archbishop of Riga were no problems. Brüggenei supported the Roman Catholic Church against the Reformation. In 1549 Brüggenei died, probably of plague.

Until someone shows a 1542 i post this 1544 in our waiting room (actually i had no chance to post it the regular sequence, tommyd was too fast). 1544 AD., Prussia, Albrecht von Brandenburg, Groschen, Saurmasche coll. 2678. Prussia, Albrecht von Brandenburg (1525-69), 1544 AD., Groschen (23 mm / 1,91 g), Obv.: (Zollern shield of arms) IVSTVS EX FIDE VIVIT 1544 , his bust facing r. Rev.: ALBER D G MAR BRAИ DVX PRVSS / S , eagle with S on breast. Saurmasche coll. 2678 . Albert of Prussia (German: Albrecht; Latin: Albertus) (8 July 1490 – 20 March 1568) was the 37th Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights and, after converting to Lutheranism, the first duke of the Duchy of Prussia, which was the first state to adopt the Lutheran faith and Protestantism as the official state religion. Albert proved instrumental in the political spread of Protestantism in its early stage. Because Albert was a member of the Brandenburg-Ansbach branch of the House of Hohenzollern, it had been hoped that his election as Grand Master would reverse the decline of the Teutonic Knights since 1410; Duke Frederick of Saxony of the House of Wettin had been elected for the same reason. Instead, Albert's secularization of the Prussian territories of the Order eventually led to the inheritance of the Duchy of Prussia by the Margraviate of Brandenburg. Although Albert has received relatively little recognition in German history, his dissolution of the Teutonic State caused the founding of the Duchy of Prussia (and also the Hohernzollern dynasty), which would eventually become arguably the most powerful German state and instrumental in uniting the whole of Germany. Albert is therefore often seen as the father of the Prussian nation, and even as indirectly responsible for the unification of Germany. He was a skilled political administrator and leader, and effectively reversed the decline of the Teutonic Order, until he betrayed it by transforming the order's lands into his own duchy, secularizing it in the process. He was the first German noble to support Luther's ideas and in 1544 founded the University of Königsberg (the so called Albertina) as a rival to the Roman Catholic Cracow Academy; it was only the second Lutheran university in the German states, after Marburg. He died of plague at Tapiau (todays Gvardeysk (Russian Гварде́йск​ , Lithuanian: Tepliava/Tepliuva; Polish: Tapiawa/Tapiewo) a town in the Königsberg/Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Pregel/Pregolya River) on 20 March 1568.

Last week, from small change at the motorway gas station, somewhere in the middle of Europe: Slovenia, Republic, designers: Luc Luycx (obverse, LL-mark) and Janez Boljka, Maja Licul, Miljenko Licul (all for the reverse), Helsinki-Vantaa mint (Finland), 2007 AD., 20 Euro Cent (22 mm / 5,77 g), brass, mintage 37.150.000 , "Spanish flower" shape (round, notched by seven indents), medal alignment, smooth edge (notched by seven indents), Obv.: *S*L*O*V*E*N*I*J*A* / LIPICANEC // * (Fi) 2007 * , two Lipizzaner horses prancing left; 12 stars around and between outer legend; below, mintmark Fi (incuse shape at an elevated square) between year and the next star to left. Rev.: 20 / EURO / CENT / LL , a map of Europe on the left, six fine lines cut through the sea, breaking when passing through the map, and at their ends at the top and bottom are twelve stars (reflective of the flag of Europe). To the right, in raised lettering, is "20 Euro Cent" with the '20' being shown much larger than the words. The designers initials, LL (Luc Luycx), appearing right next to the 0 in 20. KM 72 . a circulation coin from wikipedia: The Lipizzan or Lipizzaner (Slovene: Lipicanec, Croatian: Lipicanac), is a breed of horse closely associated with the Spanish Riding School of Vienna, Austria, where the finest representatives demonstrate the haute ecole or "high school" movements of classical dressage, including the highly controlled, stylized jumps and other movements known as the "airs above the ground." The Lipizzan breed dates back to the 16th century, when it was developed with the support of the Habsburg nobility. The breed takes its name from one of the earliest stud farms established, located near the Kras village of Lipica (spelled "Lipizza" in Italian), in modern-day Slovenia. The ancestors of the Lipizzan can be traced to approximately A.D. 800. The earliest predecessors of the Lipizzan originated in the 7th century when Barb horses were brought into Spain by the Moors and crossed on native Spanish stock. The result was the Andalusian horse and other Iberian horse breeds. By the 16th century, when the Habsburgs ruled both Spain and Austria, a powerful but agile horse was desired both for military uses and for use in the fashionable and rapidly growing riding schools for the nobility of central Europe. Therefore, in 1562, the Habsburg Emperor Maximillian II brought the Spanish Andalusian horse to Austria and founded the court stud at Kladrub. In 1580, his brother, Archduke Charles II, established a similar stud at Lipizza (now Lipica), located in modern-day Slovenia, from which the breed obtained its name. Kladrub and Lipizza stock were bred to the native Karst (Kras) horses, and succeeding generations were crossed with the now-extinct Neapolitan breed from Italy and other Baroque horses of Spanish descent obtained from Spain, Germany, Denmark. While breeding stock was exchanged between the two studs, Kladrub specialized in producing heavy carriage horses, while riding and light carriage horses came from the Lipizza stud. Beginning in 1920, the Piber Federal Stud, near Graz, Austria, became the main stud for the horses used in Vienna. Breeding became very selective, only allowing stallions that had proved themselves at the Riding School to stand at stud, and only breeding mares who had passed rigorous performance testing. hope you like it

Nice one with a lifelike baroque style portrait. The perfect definition of a real collector´s "pattern of predation".

I have another of these for 1548: Kremnitz in Hungary, Habsburg, Ferdinand I. (1520-1564), 1548 AD., Denar (15-17 mm / 0,48 g), Obv.: FERDINAND. D. G. R. VNG. 1548 , shield with Hungarian arms (Árpádian stripes, patriarchal cross, Dalmatian leopard heads, Bohemian lion). Rev.: PATRONA. - .VNGARIE / K - B , Madonna and Jesus child seated, facing, K – B (privy mark) in fields. . ... but no one for 47, so it´s your chance now.

Like for coins to me this issue it´s the same with other people or potential friends: I prefer some "wear". I´m very suspicious of the perfect looking, faultless ones without some abrasive experience and obvious "wear".

Andrei, thanks for this useful site and the hard work behind! I certainly will need the infos for Tibet and China. regards,