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Kattullus (3)

During the US Civil War, metal monies were hoarded for their value, resulting in a shortage of available coins. The Union government issued official "paper coins" that weren't backed by by gold or silver. This "faith paper" lost value quickly, and for a short while, stamps were official currency. That didn't take, either, so enterprising individuals took it upon themselves to mint their own coinage. These are now known as Civil War Tokens (CTWs), and were made and used between late 1862 and mid 1864. On April 22, 1864, Congress set the weight of coins and set punishment for counterfeiting coins of up to one thousand dollars and imprisonment up to five years. Yet there are over ten thousand varieties of tokens, representing 22 states, 400 towns and about 1500 individual merchants. Melvin and his son Dr. George Fuld wrote key books in the CWT field, creating the rarity scale and composition key used by most numismatists. Given sheer number of CWTs, starting a collection might be daunting. Enter collector Ken Bauer, whose method breaks down the vast world into smaller collections, from anvils to watches and so much more.
posted by filthy light thief on Dec 20, 2011 - 9 comments

Tai Star spent seven hours balancing 600 quarters, 501 dimes, 313 nickels, 1699 pennies and five foreign coins (3,118 coins in total) on a single dime. It's not his first attempt to break a record.

Star explained: 'It is on the very corner for a few reasons: to make it easy to see that it is on one dime and I think the structure of the table is most sturdy there - plus I just like precarious balance.'

posted by gman on Nov 13, 2011 - 48 comments

IAMTHECOINIAMTELLINGTHISSTORYIAMINAGRIDCONSISTINGO
FTWENTYTHOUSANDCOINSAGRIDTWOHUNDREDROWSLONGBYONEHU
NDREDROWSHIGHEACHCOINISALETTERTHEREARENOSPACESANDN
OPUNCTUATIONMARKSTHEREISAHIDDENCLUETOHELPYOUFINDME

[more inside]
posted by Horace Rumpole on Apr 18, 2011 - 45 comments

The United States mint is asking for public feedback regarding what kind of metals to put in the next batch of coins. Here is a bit of history of the metal composition of US coins
posted by robbyrobs on Mar 9, 2011 - 113 comments

Max Keiser (previously) writes in the Guardian about a strategy to try and cause JP Morgan to crash; a strategy which he encourages. [more inside]
posted by a womble is an active kind of sloth on Dec 4, 2010 - 35 comments

The Quarter Shrinker as constructed by Rob Flickenger at Hackerbot Labs in conjunction with Intellectual Ventures Lab. flickr photo set of shrunken coins. The physics behind coin shrinking. Coin World May 2009 article (PDF). Another Shrunken Head Guy.
posted by cjorgensen on Nov 22, 2009 - 22 comments

To encourage circulation of $1 coins, the U.S. Mint offers $250 boxes of dollar coins at face value with free U.S. shipping (and credit card cashback). [via]
posted by parudox on Aug 6, 2009 - 297 comments

The Wriston Art Center Galleries Digital Collection at Lawrence University has over 1500 images of various artworks, focusing especially on prints & printmaking and ancient coins. All can be viewed in extremely high resolution (click "export image" above the artwork). Here are a few I particularly like: Beginning of Winter (Japanese woodcut), Rising Sun (Paul Klee painting), From Distant Lands (watercolor), Three Kings (Jacques Villon engraving), Untitled I (netting) and Noble Lady and Prince (Japanese woodcut).
posted by Kattullus on Apr 14, 2009 - 4 comments

The historic inauguration of President-Elect Barack Obama is two weeks away, and vendors are making a mint selling memorabilia. But be warned: the commemorative coins you see being advertised are not official. A relatively new $1 coin series does feature US presidents in chronological order (previously), but getting Americans to use $1 coins hasn't been easy. Remember Susan B. Anthony, Columbus and Sacagawea? Native American $1 coins will be offered in tandem with the presidential series; if they continue to be issued, Obama's official $1 coin should be available in 2017.
posted by woodway on Jan 6, 2009 - 50 comments

What happens if you post a letter using coins instead of stamps?
posted by divabat on Nov 12, 2008 - 49 comments

The Maria Theresa Thaler (or MTT), a coin first minted in 1741 and continuously to this day, remained legal tender in parts of the Arabian peninsula as late as 1970, where it was much prized both as a coin and for jewelry [magazine article] Incredibly important for trade between Europe and the Middle East, the MTT had a great impact on history. For more information turn to Maria Theresa's Thaler: A case of international money an indepth article about the MTT by Adrian Tschoegl.
posted by Kattullus on Apr 8, 2008 - 10 comments

The Royal Mint revealed their newly designed currency today. Looks pretty sharp. [more inside]
posted by zeoslap on Apr 2, 2008 - 95 comments

Banknote art by Justine Smith. Alternating currency: by Marshall Weber, portraits in money by Mark Wagner, a Ganesh out of Rupee notes by CK Wilde (a spectacular previously). Beautiful banknotes at the World Paper Money Image Gallery. Unusual coins. Unique banknotes, like the 100 Million Dinara note from Croatia. U.S. currency and the pictures behind the portraits. Mildenberg's Dream Collection of Greek Coins at the Money Museum.
posted by nickyskye on Jul 11, 2007 - 19 comments

The Coins and History of Asia contains information and scans of over 2500 coins from 600 BC to 1600 AD. Also on the same site, an article about Hephthalites, the so-called White Huns of Iran who had an empire in Central Asia before disappearing from historical record after a little bit more than a century.
posted by Kattullus on Jun 3, 2007 - 10 comments

The first coin? The Lydian Lion, the Athenian Owl, and other intriguing numismatic articles with a particular eye toward the ancient.
posted by Wolfdog on Jan 6, 2007 - 10 comments

According to CNN, the US Mint is coming out with a new dollar. Apparently collectors just hung onto the Sacagawea dollar coin. Let's also not forget what happened to the Susan B. Anthony (Wikipedia) which many thought was a quarter. Speaking of, not only is the Mint making the dollar over again, they're taking the idea that worked with the Quarter. They're going to put different presidents on the new dollar. More coins, if you thought I didn't say "dollar" enough.
posted by Cyclopsis Raptor on Nov 20, 2006 - 90 comments

£10,000 in coins, arranged as dominoes, set into motion, filmed and posted to Google video.
posted by Brandon Blatcher on Nov 15, 2006 - 31 comments

Bush approves new "dead presidents." In addition to the new new silver dollars celebrating the 300th anniversary of Benjamin Franklin's birth, the US Mint will be making new dollar coins featuring all 37 dead presidents starting in 2007.
posted by Hot Like Your 12V Wire on Dec 23, 2005 - 55 comments

The Brasher Doubloon has been called "the single most important coin in American numismatics." Struck in 1787 by George Washington's neighbor Ephraim Brasher, it's believed to be the first gold coin made in the United States. Seven of Brasher's 1787 doubloons are in existence, each with the initials EB stamped on an eagle; the one that gets title-case capitalization is the only one where the intitials are stamped on the eagle's breast instead of its wing [hi-res pics: front, back]. In January 2005, it was sold at auction for $2.9 million. It's now on a tour of the United States (and insured for $6 million). In Raymond Chandler's 1942 novel The High Window and the 1947 film adaptation The Brasher Doubloon, Philip Marlowe investigates the theft of the doubloon.
posted by goatdog on Nov 12, 2005 - 9 comments

For 36 years, Harold Gray has been on an extraordinary mission -- to recover what may be the most famous stolen coin collection in the United States. Since October 1967, when five hooded gunmen invaded the Coconut Grove estate of chemical empire heir Willis Harrington duPont, binding the family with silk neckties and stealing the valuable coin collection from duPont's safe, Gray has been on the case. ''We remain,'' he says today, ``in hot pursuit.''
posted by stbalbach on Apr 5, 2004 - 4 comments

New Nickels On The Way! My metafilter loving friend Jeff says, "Why bother." I'm excited about it though. I've got lots of change from everywhere. Am I barely qualified to do laundry around the world, or is it pretty neat that foreign money looks fake? Is Jeff right? Is small change a waste of time? Can you judge a state by its quarter?
posted by ewkpates on Mar 4, 2004 - 46 comments

Put MLK on the $20 Bill. Conservatives have clamored to put Ronald Reagan on the dime or the $10 bill. One outfit wants to name something after Reagan in each of the US's counties. Why not put one of "the greatest moral leaders of the 20th century" on one of our most commonly used pieces of currency instead? (Better to have King on the $20 than Andrew Jackson, whose unconstitutional Indian Removal policy created the "Trail of Tears.")
posted by Vidiot on Jan 19, 2004 - 59 comments

Behold the answer to the Canadian Change conspiracy.
posted by boost ventilator on Nov 22, 2003 - 23 comments

Euro diffusion: "On January 2002 twelve European countries [plus San Marino, the Vatican and Monaco] have welcomed the euro as their new coin. The euro coins have a national side, which is different for every country... So there are fifteen different euro coins that can be used in every one of those 15 countries. Therefore, unlike in the past, the coins will not be collected and brought back to their home country. The coins will slowly but surely be spreaded over the 15 countries. This is the diffusion of the euro, the euro diffusion[.pdf file]." A statistician's playground, this unique historical opportunity, is leading to interesting collaborative internet projects
posted by talos on Dec 19, 2002 - 17 comments

The Humble Penny? A site to help visualize large numbers with the common US coin. And to think I've been cursing them for so long. If I'd saved 10 million of the little buggars I'd have $100k.
posted by yoga on Dec 7, 2002 - 15 comments

God, politics and America's most notorious coin Teddy Roosevelt described the appearance of "In God We Trust" on U.S. money as "dangerously close to sacrilege." He ordered the motto kept off new $20 gold coins designed by famous sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens. Congress demanded the motto restored, making the earlier coins into collector's items. The motto didn't appear on paper money until 1957, just after "In God We Trust" replaced the secular "E Pluribus Unum" as the national motto and the words "So help me God" were added to the oaths of office for federal judges. Meanwhile, religious conservatives are using the motto to put "In God We Trust" posters in every classroom in America.
posted by mediareport on Jun 27, 2002 - 24 comments

Bert Hickman has a ten inch diameter Tesla coil powered from two neon sign transformers in his screened-in (but unheated) porch, along with a device that produces magnetic fields strong enough to shrink coins. One of the byproducts of the coin-shrinking: an eight inch ball of plasma.
posted by tranquileye on May 14, 2002 - 15 comments

"Euro Coins Could Cause Skin Disease" Obviously Lex Luthor is behind this and wants Europeans to throw away their change so he can gather it up and be rich, Rich, RICH! (maniacal laugh).
posted by Outlawyr on Nov 24, 2001 - 9 comments

Flip a coin! Sometimes two heads are NOT better than one...
posted by rushmc on Dec 7, 2000 - 12 comments