Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 42 i Coin Collector

Welcome to Coin Collector

In ‘Coin Update’ this month, we feature a new fundraising programme at Yorkshire Museum that allows the public to adopt an object from their collection. As well as raising money, this programme enables the public to connect with objects held by the museum, including the Vale of York hoard, which includes 617 coins. While reading about this, I began to wonder which coins would prove popular if other museums offered an adoption process. One contender would surely be the Alfred the Great penny at the Royal Mint Museum. Featuring the monogram of ‘LONDONIA’ and a portrait of King Alfred (849–99), the Anglo-Saxon ruler of Wessex whose later coinage described him as the king of the English, the coin is from one of England’s most renowned leaders, as well as an…

2 min

Coin Collector|Issue 42

NEWS IN BRIEF

The United States Mint has unveiled the designs depicting Batman and Wonder Woman as the second and third product releases in their Comic Art Coin and Medal Program. The unveiling took place on 19 August during the American Numismatic Association (ANA) World’s Fair of Money in Oklahoma City. The names of the next six DC Super Heroes to feature in the series will be Green Lantern, Robin and Supergirl in 2026, followed by The Flash, Batgirl and Aquaman in 2027. The Royal Mint Museum has appointed Sir David Cannadine as the Chair of the Board of Trustees. Sir David is Dodge Professor of History at Princeton University. He is the author of 20 books and editor of numerous volumes. His scholarly interests range across the economic, social, political and cultural…

1 min

Coin Collector|Issue 42

2025 World’s Fair of Money

Board members of the American Numismatic Association (ANA) decided about four years ago to conduct the 2025 World’s Fair of Money in Oklahoma City, OK. The decision shocked many dealers, who were accustomed to the organisation choosing larger metropolitan areas. Post covid, the board was given less options, and there had been a serious case of Rosemont, IL, fatigue. Oklahoma City had recently constructed a new convention centre and hotel complex, and the city’s various amenities seemed appealing. After much consideration, the board bravely choose to try something new. There was immediate criticism from nearly every corner of the hobby. Dealers complained about flight options, size of the city, remoteness of the location and a host of other issues. The contracts for the location had been signed, however, and the…

4 min

Coin Collector|Issue 42

Hoards Discovered with Metal Detectors

In the last article in this series, I looked at hoards found without the use of metal detectors, often discovered by labourers in the course of farming or building work. This time, the subject will be hoards found by metal detectorists. These days, metal detecting is an enormously popular leisure activity and hoards, often dispersed by agricultural activity, are frequently recovered. That is one great difference between hoards found in the past and those discovered today. In the past, a hoard was usually recovered entire, still intact inside the pot or other container within which it had been concealed. Occasionally, that is the case today, and metal detectorists will find a hoard that has not been disturbed, such as the large Chew Valley hoard, a deposit of over 2,500 pennies…

8 min

Coin Collector|Issue 42

Rare Silver Dollar

When Stack’s Bowers Galleries in the USA announced the sale of selections of the James A Stack Sr collection recently, the headlines were that the over 200 US gold and silver coins offered in the sale were valued at $20,000,000, with several individual pieces valued in excess of $1 million each. However, shortly after the initial announcement, the experts at the auction house made a surprising discovery of a previously unknown US 1804 dollar (Figure 1). Prior to the discovery, only 15 examples were known, with the last sale of one, in August 2021, achieving a world record price for the issue of $7.68 million. Despite a battery of articles, catalogue descriptions and more, no numismatic expert had any indication that James A Stack Sr had an example of this…

3 min

Coin Collector|Issue 42

IN BRIEF

A new 50p brilliant uncirculated colour coin from the Royal Mint is the final coin in a four-coin collection marking iconic moments from the Harry Potter stories. The reverse of the coin illustrates an iconic scene from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in which the boy wizard practises the Patronus Charm, a powerful defensive spell that repels soul-sucking Dementors. The stylised design has been remastered by Bella Biggs, who is a product designer at the Royal Mint. The coin’s detailed reverse design is embellished in colour. In a limited edition of 10,000, this coin was made in partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery Global. The Royal Australian Mint has unveiled a Bush Capital coin as the 32nd coin in its Kangaroo series. This series shines a light on one…

2 min

Coin Collector|Issue 42

coin update

Latest Royal Mint releases The Royal Mint has announced that 30.855 million new £1 coins are entering circulation across the UK. The release includes 23.29 million of the last ever batch of £1 coins featuring the effigy of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, alongside 7.565 million new £1 coins bearing the official portrait of His Majesty King Charles III, including 170,000 dated 2025. This historic transition represents a significant moment for UK coinage, as the nation witnesses the changeover from Britain’s longest-reigning monarch to her successor on the £1 denomination. The Royal Mint has also revealed that the last of the late Queen Elizabeth II pound coins, dated 2022, are the rarest £1 coins in active circulation. Since the introduction of King Charles III’s portrait on UK coinage in…

8 min

Coin Collector|Issue 42

auction update

On 20 August, the coins, medals, militaria and banknotes auction at Warwick & Warwick had some unusual lots. The highest-selling item in the auction was a 1960 3 dinars (also known as a sovereign) pattern issue that was issued by Kuwait (lot 706). Struck to mark the anniversary of the reign of Sheikh Abdullah III Al-Salim Al-Sabah, only a handful of this rare coin was made and they are all thought to have been gifted to guests by the sheikh. The obverse of the coin depicted a bust of the sheikh facing slightly to the left. The reverse featured a boom sailing ship, which is a traditional deep-sea dhow with two masts, which was sailing to the right and had a small flag at the stern on the left side.…

8 min

Coin Collector|Issue 42

Coin of the Year Awards

For the first time in recent memory, the Coin of the Year (COTY) awards have produced a clean sweep: all ten categories went to European mints. On the surface, it looks like a triumphant moment. Europe, one could argue, has cemented its position as the global driver of innovation in modern coinage. Collectors across the Atlantic might well look at the list of winners and wonder whether the age of American or Asian leadership in numismatic artistry has passed. But as always in the world of medals, prizes and juries, one should look beneath the headlines before popping the champagne corks. A NARROW VICTORY Austria, France, Latvia, Malta, the Vatican and Ukraine: a respectable roster of countries carried home the ten trophies, with the Austrian Mint’s Supernova €20 silver coin…

4 min

Coin Collector|Issue 42

Banknote Printers to the World

The history of the great printing firm Waterlow & Sons was stated as going back to 1810 in all the company’s advertising, but according to the family history written by Chris Waterlow in 2013, The House of Waterlow, it probably started several years later. The firm survived until 1961 when it was broken up, with the security printing division going to Thomas de la Rue & Co. The Huguenot Waterlo family were Walloons who had emigrated to England in the early-17th century, changing their names in the process. James Waterlow (1790–1876), having served an apprenticeship in the printing trade, joined the small London firm of stationers of Evans & Waterlow as a junior partner in 1812 but was first recorded as running his own firm of law stationers in 1821.…

7 min

Coin Collector|Issue 42

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

14 September – Chris Rudd PO Box 1500, Norwich NR10 5WS celticcoins.com 23 September – Sovereign Rarities 17–19 Maddox Street, London W1S 2QH www.sovr.co.uk 24 September – Noonans 16 Bolton Street, Mayfair, London W1J 8BQ www.noonans.co.uk 24 September – St James’s 10 Charles II Street, St James’s, London SW1Y 4AA stjauctions.com 25 September – SGB 399 Strand, London WC2R 0LX sgbaldwins.com 30 September–1 October – Spink 67–69 Southampton Row, Bloomsbury, London WC1B 4ET www.spink.com 1 October – SGB 399 Strand, London WC2R 0LX sgbaldwins.com…

1 min

Coin Collector|Issue 42

price £ watch

BUY AND SELL ON DECAMPE, MORE THAN 80 MILLION COLLECTABLES ARE WAITING FOR YOU!…

1 min

Coin Collector|Issue 42

Big Coins of the World

The first time I came across large jade coins was decades ago when I visited the Jade Market and Jade Street in Hongkong, shortly after the former British colony was returned to China. SPIRITUAL ARTEFACTS IN STONE Throughout history, jade has held a revered place as ‘stone of heaven’ in many cultures, particularly in East Asia, where it was often valued more highly than gold or silver. Among the most intriguing artefacts crafted from this precious stone are large jade coins – circular objects, often with a central hole (Figure 1). They were not used for everyday trade but rather served ritualistic, symbolic or prestige purposes. These ancient items offer a fascinating window into the societies that produced them, blending artistry, spiritual belief and socio-political power as symbols of wealth,…

10 min

Coin Collector|Issue 42

The 10th Century AD

The 10th century was a period of crumbling and soaring empires. Of cultural change and exchange. In the West, the so-called Dark Ages were an era of possibility, rather than stagnation. Europe was about to emerge from the downfall of Rome into an age of renewal. However, elsewhere that wasn’t the case. It was in the 10th century that African kingdoms, such as Nubia, reached the height of their power. After generations of war, China was nearing unification. The Muslim world was flourishing. And, in the East, Volodymyr the Great, Prince of Kyiv, was building and consolidating an empire that united the Slavs into Kyivan Rus. Both Russia and Ukraine still claim Volodymyr as one of their founding fathers (Figure 1). Volodymyr is one of those historical figures that could…

3 min

Coin Collector|Issue 42

new coins

200 years of the modern railway A new £2 brilliant uncirculated commemorative coin from the Royal Mint celebrates the 200th anniversary of Britain’s modern railway. On 27 September 1825, George Stephenson’s steam-powered Locomotion No. 1 travelled 26 miles between Shildon, Darlington and Stockton, and this revolutionary journey transformed world transport, trade and communication. Rails had been used since ancient times to move heavy objects. By the 1700s, miles of wooden track were used to haul coal across north-east England. Horses were used to pull the wagons until 1804, when 10 tonnes of coal were hauled nearly 10 miles by Richard Trevithick’s Pen-y-Darren steam locomotive in Wales. The first paying passengers were also in Wales, when the Swansea and Mumbles Railway, which was built in 1804 to carry limestone from the…

7 min