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 Replies: 7 / Views: 2,818 |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1082 Posts |
I was at one of my favorite collectibles stores this morning, where I usually go to buy bulk foreign coin. The place is great; they sell solely by weight, and there is usually a good selection in their bags.
This morning's bag yelded a 1799 British penny; an 1811 Russian 2 Kopecks, a whole bunch of early 40s coins from Slovakia, some 1890's Danish 1 Ore pieces, and others.
Two of the coins were not so easy to identify, although I have to some degree figured out where they're from, I don't know exactly what they are.
Both appear to be copper or some other "brown" metal, and until I actually looked closely at them, I thought they were also British pennies.
(1) Polish - pictures a round coat of arms shield divided into four sections, but with another round section at the center of the shield. Above the shield is a crown. To the right of the crown, it says around the edge: GROSSUS POLON TH.... 1767; on the back is the ruler STANISLAUS AUG DG REX POLMDI(?) (which is presumably something like "Stanislaus ? By the Grace of God King of Poland"
Any idea of denomination, anyone?
(2) Spanish - front is fairly worn but it appears to show a coat of arms with a wreath around the edge of the coin. On the back is CAROLUS III / D.G. HISP REX, and at the base of the King's neck, the date 1779. Charles III, by the grace of God King of Spain, but again, what denomination is it?
There are no shortage of pictures of Charles III coins on the internet, but all of them are silver coins; I see nothing in copper anywhere.
Pictures not possible because I can't find the disc to install the scanner on my new computer...but anyway, does this ring a bell anyone?
Edited by Sap
05/05/2009 06:18 am
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
2830 Posts |
quote: "a 1799 British penny"
- more likely, a halfpenny: no pennies in 1799, if I recall correctly.
They weren't denominated, but the halfpenny weighed a half-ounce: 14g.
Peter in Oz
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Pillar of the Community
 Canada
1082 Posts |
Thanks, Peter. Makes sense, because they were striking one and two penny cartwheels then, weren't they?
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
2830 Posts |
... the pennies & tuppences are dated 1797: 1 oz & 2 oz respectively.
The farthing of 1799 was the first British coin to bear its denomination ... which was deleted from the next issue.
Peter
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Pillar of the Community
Poland
3201 Posts |
The Polish coin is a 3 grosze piece. Generally, the 1 grosz featured a S-A-R monogram, while the 3 grosze the ruler's bust or head. The text should be GROSSUS POLON TRIPLEX [date] / STANISLAUS AUG D G REX POL M D L - the last three letter standing for the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
Edited by DL20K
05/05/2009 04:51 am
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Moderator
 Australia
16842 Posts |
Quote:
(1) Polish - pictures a round coat of arms shield divided into four sections, but with another round section at the center of the shield. Above the shield is a crown. To the right of the crown, it says around the edge: GROSSUS POLON TH.... 1767; on the back is the ruler STANISLAUS AUG DG REX POLMDI(?) (which is presumably something like "Stanislaus ? By the Grace of God King of Poland" "Grossus" is the Latin name for the denomination, called "groschen" in German or "grosz" in Polish. "AUG" stands for "Augustus", the king's second name; King Stanislaus II Augustus reigned from 1764 to 1795, when his country was invaded and abolished. The king's titles are "REX POL M D L" - King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania. The emphasis of Poland and heavy abbreviation of Lithuania indicate this coin was struck for the Polish half of the country. Your coin best matches the 3 grosz coin, KM# 182; Example on CoinArchives. The reverse legend is "GROSSVS POLON TRIPLEX", Latin for "three Polish grosze". Krause lists three varieties dated 1767: "GROSSVS" (the normal type), "GROSSUS" (a variety) and "TRIPEX" (an error); CV in VG condition is $5, $7 and $12 respectively in my 2002 edition Krause. Edit: DL20K beat me by 3/4 of an hour. Man, I've got to type faster.  Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
Edited by Sap
05/05/2009 05:41 am
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Moderator
Australia
16842 Posts |
Quote:
2) Spanish - front is fairly worn but it appears to show a coat of arms with a wreath around the edge of the coin. On the back is CAROLUS III / D.G. HISP REX, and at the base of the King's neck, the date 1779. Charles III, by the grace of God King of Spain, but again, what denomination is it? The Spanish-American colonies produced no copper coins, but European Spain produced many. The coppers are denominated in "maravedis"; there were 34 maravedis to the real. There should be a large number in the field, below the king's chin; that'll be the denomination. Options are 1, 2, 4 and 8 maravedis. There's an example of a 4 maravedi coin on this website, the fifth coin down. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1082 Posts |
Thank you both for solving the mystery, and with such a wealth of information!
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Replies: 7 / Views: 2,818 |
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Posted 05/05/2009 12:09 am
