krasnaya_vityaz

And now you can see all I have in their glory here: Scottish Coins

http://www.geocities.com/scottishmoney/coi...oins/coins.html After a 1.5 year hiatus, I restored this site this morning. I will probably do more about other numismatic interests soon, but will NOT restore the Scottish banknotes site I once had. Just too much work with the cumbersome 220 so html pages.

That approach sounds much more sensible to me than rushing out an incomplete revision each year like some publishers do... Every two years would suffice i should thnk. On that note, I really don't pay attention to the prices they have in there, Seaby seemed to have been a bit lowish, whilst CC tended towards the other end of the price spectrum. The prices are good as a guide, but only as such.

I emailed CC a while ago and they said that they have no plans to make another in the near future, presumably because of all the work it entails. Presumably they are devoting more time to putting out the "Phoenix" than any other endeavour, which are not quite the money makers as the "Phoenix" is.

I wonder if it is like the Seaby catalog, they come out with a new one when they feel like it? I like the CC catalog, but it is a bit large and cumbersome to take to shows, I like the Seaby because they were a bit more compact. I have a slight preference for the CC, it had more useful information and collecting tips.

2) What if Anne's children had survived? There were attempts by Anne to have established contacts with the Stuarts in France, seeking their conversion to the Anglican church, in the hopes of keeping the Stuart family on the throne and not having to bring over the Hanoverians. Needless to say all these negotiations came to naught. 4) Imagine if Mary Tudor had lived long and had produced an heir, would England and Spain be more closely connected? Mary Tudor believed she was pregnant on at least one occasion, however after all the excitement died down, reality set in and she realised she was not pregnant with an heir. Phillip spent very little time in England, he did not care for the climate, and Mary was quite unwilling to travel to Spain. Phillip actually despised Mary, and reported to his aides that her breath smelt of rotten eggs and that thusly it was difficult to be intimate with her. Even after Mary's demise Phillip still believed he had claim of throne in England, and thus the 1588 Armada. QEI had earlier rebuffed his proposals of a marriage alliance. 1) What if Princess Charlotte and her son hadn't died? There would have been no Victoria. cted? There was a frenzy to marry right after Princess Charlotte died, if not Victoria, then another would have surely assumed the throne. And here is the big big if on that one, what if the heir had been male, and under Salic Law been eligible to have assumed the throne in Hannover? Britain surely would have had more interests in contemorary German politics, and may have kept Prussia in check thusly.

My grandmother, yes my grandmother, owned a 1974 MGB convertible when I was a kid. It was a zippy little car that was fun to ride in on trips into the mountains with the top down. Unfortunately she never drove it much and it sat parked for 6 years undriven, she sold it for about £3500. Amazingly it had about 7500 miles on it. I lament the fact that I could not have gotten that car, it was a gem.

It actually existed on a website I had on banknotes and coins from Scotland. I ditched the banknote site back in 2003 due to logistical issues with updating over 200 different pages. I kept the coin site and moved it, but it was taken down by the webhost last year when they changed servers(I was not notified, but had a backup CD-Rom which is where these came from. I have webspace now, but just no real desire to do much with it. As of now all I have restored is the page about 17th century English Tokens, an area of collecting I really enjoy, especially the nice scarce better condition pieces. If I can come up with a shortcut way to redo the coin part of the website, and update it because of several acquisitions since the site went down, I may, but it is a pretty low priority when I have a house to paint inside and outside and work on top of all that.

At any rate the coins that purported to be of Edward V's reign are still scarcer than hen's teeth, so I would still take them at any rate. Even Richard III's coins are inexpensive by comparison.

Soviet and Russian Aviation history, and railroad history of North America.

Sometime back I saw the original 1977 Star Wars movie on TeeVee. I hadn't seen it since 1977! And shouldn't have bothered either, it stunk.

One good thing about earlier references is they sometimes note items which get left out of later editions because of space limitations etc. One area which is always interesting to look at is Edward V coinage. There has always been debate as to ascertaining what if any coins were issued during that reign. Go through the last 25 years of Seaby catalogs and you will see they swing back and forth in opinion on Edw V. Seeminly now the presumption is that if coins were issued during that reign they were only a continuation of the previous reigns coinage and no unique coins to that reign were issued.

In normal circumstances Charles II would have immediately ascended the throne upon the demise of his predecessor, however Britain during the period of the 1640’s through 1660 could hardly be described in any stretch of the imagination as normal. Charles was the eldest son of Charles I, and was 12 years of age whence the Civil War began in earnest. At the tender age of 15 he assumed command of soldiers in the West of England. Shortly thereafter as the fortunes of war changed, Charles left England for continental Europe in 1646. Whilst living in Holland in 1648 Charles learned of the death of his father at the hands of the Parliamentarians that year. Shortly thereafter he was proclaimed King in Jersey, and thence in Scotland with the provision that he accept the Scottish Covenant. The acceptance of the Scottish Covenant was anathema to many in England, which Charles II dearly wanted to assume said throne of. Religious fervor during this time betwixt Catholics, Presbyterians, and Anglicans cause much of the behind the scenes dissension during the Civil War. Charles skillfully and somewhat ambiguosly affected a treaty with the Scots in which he assumed the throne of Scotland but left the door open for differing religious opinions. Very shortly thereafter Charles II returned to Scotland where he was crowned at Scone on Scottish New Years day 1651. After narrowly escaping Cromwells forces in Worcester, he made his way back to the Continent, from where he travelled extensively and enlisted support for his cause. The demise of Oliver Cromwell in 1658 and the subsequent inability of his son, Richard Cromwell to exercise his authority left a power vacuum waiting to be filled, and Charles II was the willing contestant. His march into London in May 1660 was met with very little opposition, in fact many were enthusiastic to see the probability of stability returning to their lives. Charles was married in 1662 to Katherine of Braganza, by whom he fathered 3 children all stillborn. He had numerous extramarital affairs(at least 7 are recorded) and produced 16 children of at the very least questionable legitimacy. Charles II religion is subject to debate even to this day, he publicly professed Protestantism, however it has been suggested by some authorities that he converted to Catholicism on his deathbed in 1685. Numismatically some of the most significant events in Scottish coinage occurred during the tenure of this reign. For the first time significant numbers of milled coins were issued, beginning in 1663 with the minting of the bodle or Scottish twopence coin. These first examples were undated, however subsequent issues were dated from 1677-1679 with a design change. Silver coinage was initiated beginning in 1664, the values ranging from the quarter merk / sixteenth of a dollar on up to the four merk or one dollar coin. One of the striking curiousities from this era was the use of three denominations on all silver coins. For example the quarter merk or sixteenth dollar coin was tariffed at three shillings sixpence Scottish. Even though the dollar denomination was used in describing these coins, it appears to have not been a contemporaraneously used description. Denominations used during this reign: Silver 4 Merks – Dollar – 53 Shillings 4 Pence 2 Merks – ½ Dollar – 26 Shillings 8 Pence 1 Merk – ¼ Dollar – 13 Shillings 4 Pence ½ Merk – 1/8 Dollar – 6 Shillings 8 Pence ¼ Merk – 1/16 Dollar – 3 Shillings 4 Pence Copper 6 Pence – Bawbee 2 Pence – Bodle The silver coinage of this reign represents one of the most significant issues of larger denomination coins since the reign of James VI. In many ways they served to replace much of the earlier and well worn examples which continued to circulate long after issue because of the Civil War. Whilst at the time it was by comparison to earlier times quite common to encounter the new milled coins, for later collectors they would prove to be rather elusive, due in no small part to the recall after the Union of 1707 in which most coins were exchanged for the new coin of the realm. The recall collected significant numbers of known coins, which were subsequently melted into the English style coins with the E Mintmark from 1707-1709. Fortunately this reign authourised large numbers of copper coinage, the undated bodles of 1663 followed up by the issues of bodles and bawbees from 1677 – 1679 created a circulating medium for smaller denomination coins, which because of the Crowns later lack of desire to supplement small change requirements throughout Britain after 1707 resulted in their circulating quite late into the 18th century. Whilst the small change situation in the late 17th century was desperate, later would be proven by example to be even more dire. Perhaps because of this coin shortage, it was determined in 1682 that far more copper coins were minted than had been authorised in various Acts, resulting in an investigation and closure of the mint whence it had been determined that certain mint officials including Mintmaster John Falconer had engaged in fraudulent activities in the minting of these coins. This coin is a bawbee or sixpence minted in 1678, obviously one of the coins which saw a long term of service beyond normal, because of the accute coin shortage in Scotland during the early 18th century. Some of the copper for this issue was imported from Swedish mines. Because this coin managed to circulate long after the Union of 1707 as a halfpenny, it became common vernacular to refer to halfpennies as bawbees, a practice which continued on up to the demise of the halfpenny in 1971.

The son of James VI, Charles I succeeded his father on the latters death in 1625. During the earliest years of his reign, coinage continued to be struck in the name of James VI, this may have been an economic necessity, or may have given some continuity to what was then a rapidly changing series of coins. This reign was a remarkably unpopular one, both in Scotland and in England, indeed Charles I only was coronated in Scotland in 1633 and preferred to spend most of his time to the south in England. The above bodle represents the last coinage of this monarch, indeed this coin may have been struck posthumously during the beginning of the Commonwealth in England as Charles I was executed on orders of the Parliament in 1648. The above coin is a 30 shilling that was issued during the reign of Charles I. By the time this coin was issued, Scottish and English coinage had been fixed in value at a rate of 12:1 so this coin was the equivalent of 2 Shillings 6 Pence, and may have circulated in England as such. The coin portrays Charles I on horseback, which was a common portrayal of the British Monarch on larger denominated coins during that time.

From 1632-1639 the Earl of Stirling was lisenced to mint coins on contract for the Crown. Curiously the bodles issued during this time were notably smaller and lighter. The design was changed to one with the Crown over the monogram of Charles I and the denomination of the coin in Roman numerals. The obverse legend in Latin is "C R D G SCOT ANG FR ET HIB" which translates to Charles King by the Grace of God Scotland England France and Ireland. The reverse of this coin portrays the now familiar thistle emblem and the Latin legend "NEMO ME IMPUNE LACESSET" which translates to Nobody Provokes Me With Impunity. One of the most curious aspects of this piece is that it is not the real thing, it is a contemporary counterfeit issued during that time. Small denomination coins were very scarce, and counterfeit issues as well as imported foreign coins became an integral part of the day to day economy in 17th century Scotland. The penalty for minting and or even tendering counterfeit coins could be quite severe, thusly these issues are now quite a bit scarcer than their Government issued brethren.

At one time I could list every English monarch from William I on up to the present QEII with their regnant dates. Now I would probably muck up the 15th century with the the Henry's and Edwards and the on again off again monarchs, ie Edw IV and Henry VI. I am only good with Scottish monarchs since William I of Scotland.

Denominations used during the reign of James VI: Gold issued before accession to the English throne: Second Coinage: Twenty Pound Piece, 1575-1576 Third Coinage: Ducat or 80/-, 1580 Fourth Coinage: 1/3 Noble or 25/-, 1584 2/3 Noble or 50/-, 1584-1587 Lion Noble or 75/-, 1584-1588 Fifth Coinage: Thistle Noble, ca. 1588 Sixth Coinage: Hat Piece or 80/-, ca. 1591-1593 Seventh Coinage: Rider or 50/-, 1593-95, 1598-9, 1601 Rider or 100/-, 1593-95, 1598-9, 1601 Eighth Coinage: Half Sword and Sceptre Piece or 60/- 1601-04 Sword and Sceptre Piece or 120/- 1601-04 Gold issued after accession to the English throne: Ninth Coinage 1604-09 and Tenth Coinage 1609-25: Half Crown or 30/- Scots Thistle Crown or 48/- Scots Britain Crown or £ 3 Scots, 5/- Sterling Double Crown or £ 6 Scots, 10/- Sterling Unit or Sceptre Piece, £ 12 Scots or £ 1 Sterling Silver issued before accession to the English throne: First Coinage: 1/3 Ryal or 10/-, 1567-1571 2/3 Ryal or 20/-, 1567-1571 Ryal or 30/-, 1567-1571 Second Coinage: 1/4 Merk or 3/4, 1572-7, 1580 1/2 Merk or 6/8, 1572-7, 1580 Merk or 13/4, 1579-80 Merk or 26/8, 1579-80 Third Coinage: Two Shillings or 2/-, 1581 Four Shillings or 4/-, 1581 Eight Shillings or 8/-, 1581 Sixteen Shillings or 16/-, 1581 Fourth Coinage: Ten Shillings or 10/-, 1582-1584 Twenty Shillings or 20/-, 1582-1585 Thirty Shillings or 30/-, 1581-1586 Fourty Shillings or 40/-, 1582 Fifth Coinage: No silver coins issued in this coinage. Sixth Coinage: Balance Quarter Merk or 6/8, 1591 Balance Half Merk or 13/4, 1591-3 Seventh Coinage: Twelve Pence or 1/-, 1594-6 Thirty Pence or 2/6, 1594-6, 1598-9, 1601 Sixty Pence or 5/-, 1594-6, 1598-9, 1600-1 120 Pence or 10/-, 1593-5, 1598-9, 1600-1. Eighth Coinage: Eighth Thistle Merk or 1/8, 1601-3 Quarter Thistle Merk or 3/4, 1601-4 Half Thistle Merk or 6/8, 1601-4 Thistle Merk or 13/4, 1601-4 Silver issued after accession to the English throne: Ninth and Tenth Coinages: One Shilling or 1/-, (1605-1625, undated) Two Shillings or 2/-, (1605-1625, undated) Six Shillings or 6/-, 1605-1622 Twelve Shillings or 12/-, (1605-1625, undated) Thirty Shillings or 30/-, (1605-1625, undated) Sixty Shillings or 60/-, (1605-1625, undated) Billon and Copper issued before accession to the English throne: All Coinages Penny, One Penny Plack Twopenny, Two Penny Plack, Hardhead, or "Turner" Fourpenny Plack Eightpenny Groat Copper issued after accession to the English throne: All Coinages Penny Twopence or "Turner"

This coin is a Ryal, better known as a "Sword Dollar", this was worth 30/- Scots when issued, and was a continuation of a denomination first issued during the reign of Mary Queen of Scots in 1565. This particular coin represents some of the first coinage issued during the reign of James VI, however inflation rendered it worth more than its monetary value and in 1578 it was called in, countermarked and given a new valuation of 36/9 or 36 shillings nine pence Scots.

This half merk represents an issue that was in the earlier debased billon issues that were issued during the 16th century. This coin was issued in 1572 and was worth 6 Shillings, 8 Pence Scots. It was the rough equivalent of 6 1/2 English Pence. The above pictured coin is a Merk, and represents the very last of unique Scottish denominated coins. The Merk was derived from a very old measure of money that was used for larger quantities of money from early Medieval times. This particular coin was valued at 13 Shillings 4 Pence in Scots. This coin was issued in .916 silver, which was nearly sterling standard. The front or obverse of the coin portrays the Lion Arms of Scotland, whilst the reverse has the Thistle motif which had become quite popular in the 16th century on Scottish coinage.

This coin is a twopence or turner that was minted ca. 1623 in Edinburgh. After many years of debased issues, from the start of the reign in 1567, by the dawn of the 17th century Scotland had largely done away with debased billon issues. This Quarter Merk was issued in 1603, the year of the death of Queen Elizabeth of England and the accession of James VI to the English throne as James I. This coin was issued in sterling silver and had a value of 3 Shillings 4 pence scots, or roughly the equivalent of three English pence.

The longest reigning Scottish monarch, and also the first monarch to reign in all of Britain, James VI acceded the throne of Scotland in 1567 after the abdication of his mother, Queen Mary. Much of his early reign was under regency. The coinage of James VI represents the most varied and substantial issues of any Scottish monarch, many new and innovative designs were introduced during this reign as well as many denominations. After the accession of James VI to the English throne as James I in 1603 the Scottish monetary system was fixed at 12:1 with the English system which was maintained until Scottish coinage was called in following the establishment of the United Kingdom in 1707. This reign is notable for the incredible number of denominations of coins, the late 16th and early 17th centuries must have been a numismatically confusing time for anybody engaging in commerce. http://www.geocities.com/scottishmoney/pre...es1597bodle.jpg This coin is a twopence or turner that was minted ca. 1597 in Edinburgh. The obverse portrays an image of James VI, the reverse three thistles and the legend "OPPIDVM EDINBURGI".

Some of you whom know me from other boards(no comment) know that I have varied interests in numismatics. One area I have always shied from until the last year have been ancients. One thing I have come to surely appreciate with ancients is that there is a level of artistic merit attached with these pieces that is not found on other coins. For one, the creators of these coins were not consumed with keeping coins flat, they often had high features which gave greater depth of design, and more of a 3-D effect that makes them more attractive in my opinion. This is not my most expensive ancient, yes I have more expensive ones, but they are more common Athens coins etc. But this is one of my personal favourites. This coin is from Syracuse Sicily, and was minted during the reign of Agathokles(317-289 BC) The obverse has Artemis(Diana to the Romans) and the legend "Soteira" - savior, and then on the reverse the fascinating winged thunderbolt with the legend Agatholeos Basileos - King Agathokles.

And for James VI, I will take a temporary break, this is long and involved

The coin pictured above is a plack, a billon coin worth 4 Scottish pence. It was issued in 1557, many of these coins were counterfeited, resulting in their being called in for examination in 1575. The forged coins were destroyed, and the coins found to be authentic were counterstamped with the star in heart mark and re-released into general circulation. A very small, 90% copper 10% silver, this coin is called a Lion or "Hardhead". At the time it was worth three halfpence Scottish, or the equivalent of a French Denier. This coin was issued during Mary's very short marriage to Francis, the Dauphin of France in the late 1550's, and has the FM logo that reflected the dual monarchy of France and Scotland from 1558-1560. However, despite the miniscule denomination of this coin, it was heavily counterfieted, and this example is a contemporary counterfiet because of the date, "58" instead of 1558. Unfortunately for collectors, very very few coins, notably some gold coins, and some silver Testoons, were ever issued with Mary's portrait on them. Most coins were issued with her monogram or that of her and her first husband, Francois of France.

Any person interested in Scottish and British history surely cannot help but be intriqued with the reign of Mary Queen of Scots. Like her English counterparts, Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, she is the subject of much debate. In many ways she was a contrast to her English cousin, whilst Elizabeth stood above the fray and was not easily influenced by others, Mary seemingly went with the wind. Ultimately it would lead to her losing her crown, her country and eventually her life. This incredibly tragic reign began when Mary was only one week old, an inauspicious start to nearly a quarter century of what would deteriorate into factional unrest, treachery, murder, and the abdication of Mary in 1567. The early part of her reign was spent in regency under James Hamilton and from 1554-1558 under her mother, Mary of Guise. In 1558 Queen Mary wedded the Dauphin of France, Francois. In 1560 Francois II of France died, leaving 18 year old Mary as a widow. Her subsequent marriage to Henry Darnley in 1565 would end with his suspicious murder in 1567. Queen Mary married James Hepburn, earl of Bothwell in May of 1567, however she was forced to abdicate from the throne on 24 July, after many of her lords withdrew support for her. Her son, James VI, the son of Henry Darnley was recognised as her heir. Despite rallying some support for her cause in 1568, her forces were overwhelmed by supporters of her son, and she thence fled into exile under the protection of her cousin, Queen Elizabeth in England. Several intriques with the objective of putting her on the English throne were suppressed, resulting in her imprisonment for nearly twenty years, until her final alleged conspiracy in 1586 which resulted in her execution the following year. One of the first coins issued in the reign of Queen Mary, this coin is a Bawbee or Scottish Sixpence coin. It was a mainstay of small change during that time, and was perhaps the most common coin encountered in daily transactions. The Bawbee had been considerably debased in previous reigns and by the time this was issued, the silver content was down to .250 fine. This coin continues the earlier James V era usage of the thistle on the obverse of the piece, with the legend in Latin "Maria D G Regina Scotorum" or Mary by the grace of God, Queen of the Scots. The reverse of this coin portrays the Cross of St Andrew within a crown and flanked by cinquefoils. The legend "Oppidum Edinburgi" or Town of Edinburgh encompasses the perimeter of the coin.