Saor Alba

How many pages? Does it seem like it is comprehensive enough? I ask because I am in the market for a good reference on them.

Nice piece, kind of reminds me of some of the Kaiser Bill medals I have seen recently from Germany.

Nice notes JT

Since cannot send PM until 6:11 in evening per forum, now I say above is reference to OJ Simpson trial. Joke only.

If the metal doesn't fit, you must acquit! Sorry

I think somewhere in my collection I have a series 1880 $20 that has a three digit serial, it is a beater piece note though.

Dave M, I have some Giesecke & Devrient printed notes from the 1890's with microprinting. They printed a lot of notes for the German Lander, some of their colonies, and a few Latin American notes. Also I see microprinting on Joh Enschede en Zonen printed notes from the 1930's and 1940s - Dutch notes. Here is a German, Bavarian note from 1900: And the higher res detail, look in the background:

Believe me, HA wants their dosh. The other day I totalled up one years worth of purchases from just them, - lets say I really needed a good stiff drink afterwards.

Incredibly a real stinker to scan, the moire patterns with shifting inks really do their best to thwart technology that wasn't available until 60 years later, gotta appreciate Joh Enschede en Zonen for going hi tech even then.

Like both notes and can appreciate your frustrations with finding non-specimen notes in better than heavily regurgitated grades. There are some like the New Caledonia notes from the 1930's that are impossible, yet I have to have them.

If I had to like any of the small sized notes, the 1928 series is the one that is the one to go with. I like the numerals in the district seal over the letter combination that was used later.

Oh gees, are you going to keep us in suspense or what?

I have a 25 kopek coin that my daughter got in change and wants turned into a pendant that someone had done the same thing with apparently. Reminds me, I have to get that worked into a pendant so she can stop bugging me.

Quite a few if not all of the Bulgarian 4 Ducats coins with Alexander III of Russia on them are holed. It was just common in that part of the world and even into the Ottoman Empire to hole gold coins and wear them.

I can tell you with banknotes that they were often stapled together even by the printer and then distributed to banks. For some places, notably France and India it is practically impossible to find earlier notes without staple holes in them. In fact only the most recent Indian note series is encountered without staple holes as the Reserve Bank of India did away with the practice and prohibited it. Both of the above notes have the ubiquitous pinholes from staples. The one below does not, being a larger denomination they were not stapled as often - by the Banque de France, but they still were by other institutions which makes them very rare without holes: As for coins, with the large cents - they were a large utilitarian piece, think of them like a washer for a nail or screw - back before washers were common. Often times they were used with roofing nails for this purpose. It is not far out of the realm to suggest that they could have been holed and pegged up on a wall or something at a point in the past, or that some kid was having fun by punching holes in coins.

Loverly 1000 Lei, I need one of those sometime for my Romanian collection. Romania has been vedy vedy good for providing the feminine factor somewhere on her banknotes.

JT, you should be able to log into your account on HA and see your auction wins. So far HA has never let me down, unlike that NYC auction house - where you think you won something and find out later it didn't meet reserve or the consignor pulled it after the auction.

One of those notes that when I saw the amazing symbolism in it, combined with the feminine vignette, I knew I could not live without it. This note was issued in the postbellum southern city of Mobile Alabama. These notes were first issued as early as the summer of 1865, obviously by a reconstructionist government that was probably pro-Union in sentiment. But the vignette is very memorable for the symbolism of the "Union" with her flag greeting the South, with their swords cast to their feet - an obvious allusion to the just ended conflict that tore the nation apart. But as you will see with the rest of the note, old times are not forgotten: Notice the centre vignette with the now sharecroppers, apparently gathering sugar cane? I love the denomination of the note, the $3, the symbolism of the North and South embracing, but coupled with the other vignettes that are so descriptive of the postbellum Southern dilemmas. This note was one of those that of course skirted the legislation of 1863 that forbid the issuance of banknotes without the obligatory tax payment. Of course this was common in the south right after the cessation of hostilities, but notes after 1870 got pretty scarce. Edited to add in "sharecropper" vignette

I will have to find some silver medals I have that were my grandmothers. They have Fra. Junipero Serra on them and they were apparently minted with authorisation of the US Congress. He founded many of the California missions, and I think my grandmother may have bought these medals that were minted in 1963 at one of the missions somewhere during that time.

Saor Alba - 1901-2000 - Portugal 4 Centavos 1919 Portugal 4 Centavos 1919 I have a lot of these coins, in fact I have several of them that show the successive breaking down of the die that struck them. This is a decent sized coin, unusual denomination and a stark feminine design that was utilitarian. Unfortunately inflation rendered them worth more in melt than as coins and they did not circulate long because of that. Much of the small change of the era was notgeld.

Saor Alba - 1701-1800 - USA Large Cent 1795, lettered edge variety: 1795 Large Cent Generally I do not collect USA coins, they are a bit of a darkside to me. This is one that I got a call about in the middle of the night, whilst I was waiting at the airport. This piece is one of the very rare lettered edge variety cents that was struck that year, before the mint in Philadelphia gave up on using the collars with the lettered edges and went to plain edges for the remainder of the year. This coin is PCGS AU-55.

Saor Alba - 1501-1701 - Scotland, James VI(1567-1625) Gold Noble of 1588: Scotland James VI Gold Noble (1588) This piece is an extremely rare and one year type. The coin was worth eleven merks or 146 shillings and 8 pence. Curiously the design is a throwback to earlier English nobles of the 14th century. These pieces were not popular, and were called in and quickly replaced by the sixth coinage. the legend around the periphery of the obverse of the coin is IACOBUS 6 DEI GRATIA REX SCOTORUM or James 6 by the grace of God, King of Scots. The legend on the reverse FLORENT SCEPTRA PIIS REGNA HIS IVOA DAT NUMERATQUE or "Sceptres flourish with the pious, Jehovah gives them the kingdoms and numbers them".

Saor Alba - Your Specials - Scottish Coronation Medal by Nicholas Briot, handed out by King Charles I in 1633 Scottish Coronation Medal by Nicholas Briot A fascinating memento from Scottish and British history, this AR medal by Nicholas Briot was struck in 1633 to commemorate Charles I's very belated Scottish coronation that year. His coronation should have been much earlier, he ascended the throne in 1625, but he carelessly delayed said coronation until finally giving into demands that it be done in 1633. His introduction of Anglican liturgy into the coronation ceremony did little to endear him to his Scottish subjects, and things went decidedly sour thereafter. On his return trip to London his baggage including many crown jewels were lost in the Firth of Forth, just off of Burntisland. Subsequently alleged witches were brought to trial in London, on charges of causing the shipwreck. Things went down for Charles I from there on, both in Scotland and in England. This lovely medal, with a lifelike portrait of the monarch, was commissioned to Nicholas Briot, a famous and skilled coiner. This medal was struck in a screw press, and is actually much better detailed as a result. One of these medals was struck piedfort in gold, which was presented to the King, he kept it as a pocket piece until his death in 1649. The silver examples like this one were thrown by the king to the crowds at the coronation ceremony.

Saor Alba PCI2010 Group 6 - 1901-2000: Submissions - Italy 50th Anniversary of the Kingdom of Italy 50 Lire commemorative 1911: Kingdom of Italy 50 Lire - 1911 This lovely coin was the largest denomination of several commemorative coins issued in 1911 that celebrated the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861. Before the Kingdom of Italy was founded with the King of Sicily as it's ruler, Italy was a patchwork of small feudal states and small kingdoms. This coin commemorates the past, but also the future, with the ocean liner behind the two figures on the reverse of the piece.