Post Your "Coins With Hands"

1923 República Peruana
Lima
Un sol.




(Coin #2 )

2005 Canada.
1 Dollar - Elizabeth II Terry Fox.

1917 Italy.
1 Lira - Vittorio Emanuele III

Commemorative Medals, Foreign Medals, Germany, Hamburg (Hansestadt), Corruption of the Imperial Commission, striking in silver of the satirical doppeldukaten, 1708, by Christian Wermuth, hand extends offering a coin, KOMSTU MIR ALSO, rev. an official covers face with hand, but peers through his fingers, SO KOMME ICH DIR SO, 29mm. (Fieweger 343; Gaed.25-15; BDM. VI, 438), very fine
(400-450 GBP)

https://www.numisbids.com/n.php?p=l...2486&lot=568

@Dorado: Thanks for the info and link. The link provides a nice clean view of the piece.

I used Google Translate on the inscriptions:

KOMSTU MIR ALSO = SO COME TO ME

SO KOMME ICH DIR SO = HOW DO I COME TO YOU?

I don't speak German, so I can't verify the accuracy of the translation. Can anyone offer their knowledge/expertise?

The Panama-Pacific International Exposition was held between February 20, 1915 and December 4, 1915 in San Francisco, CA to celebrate the completion of the Panama Canal. To help fund the Exposition, a five-coin program was approved by Congress for the Exposition organizers. It consisted of a silver half dollar, a gold $1.00, a gold quarter eagle ($2.50) and two varieties of gold $50.00 coins; the coins were dated 1915.

The obverse of the Quarter Eagle depicts an allegorical figure of Columbia - the personification of the United States - seated on a hippocampus - an ancient fictitious animal that combines the front quarters of a horse with the body and tail of a fish. The focus here, however, is the caduceus shown in the left hand of Columbia.

The caduceus is meant to represent the medical triumph over yellow fever that enabled the Panama Canal to be be built/completed.

Yellow fever was just one of the many obstacles that were faced during the construction of the Panama Canal, but it was one of the most significant. The virus behind the disease causes high fever, pain, vomiting and, potentially, severe damage to the liver. Untreated, the issues resulting from the liver damage can cause death. Thousands of canal workers died from yellow fever, malaria and other tropical diseases during the time the French worked to construct the canal.

After the US took over construction of the canal, General Walter Reed, a US Army physician, researched how yellow fever was transmitted. Based on research initiated by Carlos Finlay, a Cuban physician, Reed confirmed that yellow fever was transmitted via mosquitoes. As a result, mosquito breeding sites were sought out and destroyed and standing water was drained. These efforts led to the yellow fever epidemic being overcome and the US was able to complete construction of the canal with a workforce that stayed healtheir and able to work.

It was very fitting, therefore, to have at least one of the coins issued for the Exposition include acknowledgement of the important role medical science played in enabling the canal to be competed - the caduceus in Columbia's hand.

1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition Gold Quarter Eagle

Note: I do not own this coin yet, so I am presenting images of it courtesy of Heritage Auctions, http://www.ha.com.


For more on the Pan-Pac Quarter Eagle, check out:

- 1915 Pan-Pac International Exposition - Animal Kingdom Thread

For other of my posts on commemorative coins and medals, see: Read More: Commems Collection.


Source Consulted

- Web site of the Pan-American Health Organization; https://www.paho.org.

2001 España.
2000 Pesetas.Juan Carlos I (1975-2014)

Circulating commemorative coin

Time to have a quick look at the hands of the Roman god Neptune as depicted on the 1935 Hudson, NY Sesquicentennial half dollar. Neptune is featured on Hudson's original Seal, which was created in 1785; the half dollar's reverse design was based on the original Seal.

On the Seal, Neptune's right hand is holding a trident (something he is almost always depicted as holding), while his left hand is empty with its palm turned down toward the whale with its index finger extended and its other three fingers and thumb curled under. Such detail is very difficult to see on the coin due to the majority having less-than-full strikes, but on those with a better strike, Neptune's left hand's index finger can be seen pointing down toward the whale.

Note: A trident is a three-pronged spear that can be used as a weapon or a tool with which to fish. On the original Seal, the pole of Neptune's trident passes in front of the whale, while on the coin it disappears behind the whale. Just one of several modifications Chester Beach made while adapting the Seal for the Hudson half dollar.

Hands can also be seen on the mermaid in the background as she holds a conch shell into which she is blowing to signal the waters to remain calm.

Statue of Neptune, King of the Seas, with His Trident on the Boardwalk in Virginia Beach, VA

]Image Credit: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. Public Domain.


1935 Hudson, NY Sesquicentennial Half Dollar





You can see my previous posts about the Hudson half dollar here:

- 1935 Hudson, NY 150th Anniversary
- 1935 Hudson, NY 150th Anniversary - Coins with Beards Thread
- 1935 Hudson, NY 150th Anniversary - Coins with Coats-of-Arms Thread

More of my stories about commemorative coins and medals can be accessed from: Read More: Commems Collection.