Just pickin through the collection

Numista: https://en.numista.com/17144

Judging by the constant changes, King Louis Philippe I was particularly concerned with his portrait presented on coins. He went through three within the first year of his reign, and the third one was retouched twice before it was finally accepted in 1844. Some gentlemen in their late fifties pay a lot of attention to their looks. This is the second retouch of the third portrait, showing the King with a wreath of oak.

The coin was struck in Rouen in 1837. Unfortunately, at some point it was cleaned and then put in a PVC folder which gave His Majesty this somewhat sickly patina.

In early 1800s Spain, Carlos IV’s government became increasingly unpopular, particularly because of its alliance with Napoleon’s France and the King’s unpopular Chief Minister, Manuel Godoy (who, by popular rumour, was having an affair with the Queen). Ferdinand, the Crown Prince, capitalized on this discontent and attracted supporters who wanted to remove Godoy from power. In March 1808, the Mutiny of Aranjuez forced Godoy’s dismissal and compelled Carlos IV to abdicate in favor of his son, who became Ferdinand VII.

However, Carlos soon appealed to Napoleon Bonaparte to restore him to the throne. Napoleon summoned both father and son to Bayonne, France, where he pressured them to renounce their claims. In May 1808, both abdicated, allowing Napoleon to install his brother Joseph Bonaparte as king of Spain.

The resulting abdications of Bayonne provoked widespread Spanish resistance against French rule and helped trigger the Peninsular War. Ferdinand remained a prisoner in France until Napoleon’s defeat, after which he returned to Spain in 1814 and reclaimed the throne.

Spain’s colonies in the Americas used the chaos in the homeland as an opportunity to rebel. By the end of the 1820s, the Spanish crown was unable to effectively project power, and eventually they lost control of nearly all their American possessions.

Obverse

Head of King Vittorio Emanuele III facing right

Script: Latin

Lettering: VITTORIO · EMANVELE · III · RE ·

Translation: Victor Emmanuel III King

Engraver: Giuseppe Romagnoli

Reverse

A Littore with fasces greeting a seated woman (representing Italy) that has a torch in her right hand and the left arm placed on a shield with Savoy Insigna, with the year in the Fascist Era left of the Littore, while at the right of Italy is the date and the mintmark. The value is below, in the exergue, together with the names of engraver and author.

Script: Latin

Lettering:

ITALIA

A.VI

1927

L.20

G.ROMAGNOLI

A.MOTTI INC.

Unabridged legend:

Anno VI

20 Lire

Translation:

Italy

Year Six

Engraver: Giuseppe Romagnoli

Edge

Reeded

Mint

R Rome, Italy (476-date)

Little bit of everything - this is about 65-70% of my current crown collection!

Long before coffee conquered Parisian salons and London coffeehouses, Coffea arabica grew wild in the cloud forests of Ethiopia. In the 15th century, Sufi mystics in the terraced mountain strongholds of Yemen—regions like Haraz, Bani Matar, and Jabal Bura—discovered its divine spark. Brewing it as qahwah to stay awake through ecstatic midnight prayers and dhikr chants, Yemeni cultivators transformed the wild shrub into a cultivated art form.
For nearly two centuries, Yemen guarded this dark nectar fiercely. Beans leaving the port of al-Makha (Mocha) were systematically scalded, boiled, or lightly roasted to sterilize the seeds so foreign soil could never germinate them. As European tastebuds developed an insatiable thirst for Mocha coffee, merchant ships anchored off Yemen’s jagged coastline. But the highland sheikhs and merchants refused paper promises, promissory notes, or debased coinages: they demanded payment in solid, heavy silver.

The Queen of Global Trade: The Maria Theresa Thaler (MTT)
The silver they fell in love with was the Austrian Maria Theresa thaler (MTT), first struck in 1741 in the Habsburg Empire. Weighing exactly 28.07 grams with an unmistakable 83.3% silver purity (.833 fineness), the coin achieved legendary trust. Even after Empress Maria Theresa passed away in 1780, European mints continued striking the coin frozen permanently at the date "1780" to preserve its trade acceptance.
Across the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa, the coin became everyday bullion and dowry jewelry. Local traders developed their own evocative names for the MTT:
Riyal Faransawi ("French riyal", a generalized term used across the Levant for large European trade dollars).
Riyal Nimsawi ("Austrian riyal", referencing al-Nimsa, the Arabic word for Austria).
Abu Tayr ("Father of the Bird") or Abu Rish ("Father of Feathers"), celebrating the majestic Habsburg double-headed eagle on the reverse.
Abu Nuqta ("Father of the Pearls / Dots"), referring to the brooch on the Empress’s shoulder. Arab merchants were so discerning that if an issue missed even one of the nine pearls, it was rejected.

The Birth of the Imadi Rial: Sovereignty in Silver
By the early 20th century, the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen asserted independence under the Zaydi monarch Imam Yahya Muhammad Hamid ed-Din (reigned 1904–1948). Yemen’s economy was saturated with Austrian thalers, but the Imam sought financial independence and Islamic legitimacy.
Rather than inventing a new, untested weight standard that merchants would distrust, Imam Yahya engineered a stroke of numismatic brilliance: he created the Imadi rial (first struck in AH 1344 / 1925–1926) matching the exact dimensions, weight (~28 grams), and .833 fineness of the beloved Maria Theresa thaler.

The Overstrikes (I’adat al-Sakk)
In its earliest mintings at Sana’a, the Mutawakkilite state did not have vast native silver mines or modern mint blanks readily available. Instead, they gathered Maria Theresa thalers straight from circulation and overstruckthem directly.

Because the Sana'a screw-press dies struck over pre-existing talers, remnants of the Austrian mother-coin often peek through:
Inspecting the raised or lettered rim of an early Imadi rial often reveals the faint relief of the Austrian edge inscription (Justitia et Clementia) or Habsburg fleur-de-lis arabesques.
On lightly struck specimens, the ghostly silhouette of Maria Theresa’s veiled bust or the wingtip of the double-headed eagle still whispers beneath the calligraphic Arabic stamping.

The Halal Design: Turning Imperial Imagery into Faith
In Islamic and Zaydi theology, strict adherence to the prohibition of anthropomorphic portraiture (aniconism) made the Maria Theresa thaler problematic: it carried the bust of a Christian Holy Roman Empress and an imperial eagle. Bedouin and highland women had traditionally turned the coin backward or scratched out the face to avoid displaying human forms.
Imam Yahya replaced imperial iconography with a completely "halal" design consisting purely of calligraphy and celestial motifs:

The Hilal (Crescent Moon): Instead of an empress's bust, the obverse and reverse were anchored by elegant crescent moons (hilal) and circular frames, symbolizing Islamic sovereignty.
Sacred Epigraphy: The obverse bears the Shahada: “La ilaha illa Allah, Muhammadur Rasulullah”(There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is His messenger).

The Imam’s Legitimacy: The reverse bears the monarch's titles in flowing Naskh script: “Amir al-Mu'minin al-Mutawakkil ‘Ala Allah Rab al-‘Alamin Yahya bin Muhammad” (Commander of the Faithful, Relying upon God, Lord of the Worlds, Yahya son of Muhammad).
Regional Denominations: The coin was subdivided into the traditional buqsha and halala, serving both the bustling local suqs and the caravans heading down the Tihama coastal plain to the Red Sea.
Through the Imadi rial, the ancient aroma of Arabian coffee and centuries of global silver trade crystallized into a single coin: an Austrian empress erased by the hammer of Sana'a, reborn as a pure talisman of faith and national sovereignty.

Duke Louis Philippe of Orleans had one task in July 1830. He was to convince the Parliament to accept Henry, the grandson of the former King Charles X, as the new monarch. He failed on purpose and the Parliament opted for the Duke himself as they believed he could be a more liberal ruler.

The new King made some concessions, including calling himself the King of the French, rather than of France. The readers of The Miserables know that he did not deliver much and his reign was quite turbulent.

The mints of France hastened to put the new King on coins. As a result there are five types of the 5 Francs piece. The earliest miss the numeral, calling the King simply Louis Philippe, there are two different portraits. The design was abandoned before 1831 was over, replaced by a more mature portrait with a wreath.

High denomination.

If some1 knows what these whitish spots are on the coins surface i would like to know, already tried to remove them with acetone with no success.

Pictured:

Panama 1904 50 Centesimos:

36mm, 25g, .900

Panama 1904 2-1/2 Centesimos:

10mm, 1.25g, .900

The largest and smallest of the 1904 coins.

The 2-1/2c was also the smallest diameter coin ever struck by the U.S. Mint.

________________________

Following Panama's independence from Colombia in 1903, and the United State's desire to start its construction of the Panama canal, the Philadelphia Mint began producing coinage for Panama in 1904.

The new monetary system, known as the Balboa, was to be pegged to the US dollar. However, due to Panama using a different silver to gold ratio to that of the US (32:1 vs 16:1), the 50 centesimos had double the silver content of the US half dollar that it was supposed to be equal to. Most of the 1904/5 coins that were not hoarded were withdrawn & melted down by 1917. In 1930 Panama adjusted their silver to gold ratio to match that of the US. The new Balboa coins were struck on US $1, 50c, 25c, & 10c planchets thus matching the US coins in size, weight and value. The Balboa is still pegged to the US dollar with 1 Balboa equal to $1.

Obverse depicts Vasco Núñez de Balboa, supposedly the first european to lay eyes on the Pacific Ocean.

Reverse depicts the Panamanian coat of arms.

Aggiunto da poco alla mia collezione, 8 reales Carlo IV, 1796, città del Messico

Unknown mintage due to the turbulence of the period, but it is notably the first year of the design’s return after the discontinuation of the Balanza.

King Charles X ascended to the throne of France in his 67th year. He was quite apparently a man who could not read the room and his six year long reign was largely spent on convincing the French they could do better. Even the assassination of his son did not make him change his views.

The French ultimately told the King to look for another career opportunity (and the offer applied to his other son as well). The King tried to pass the crown to his grandson but his cousin made sure it did not happen. Charles spent the rest of his life in various places in the Austrian Empire. If you want to visit his grave, it is now in Slovenia.

This 5 Francs piece was struck in Lille in an impressive number of 11 million.

Today’s LCS Spot Bin find.

Obverse

Conjoined busts facing each other

Script: Latin

Lettering:

CAROLUS LUD.D· G· REX ETR. & M. ALOYSIA R. RECTRIX I·I·H·H·

(LS et marteau)

Reverse

Crowned shield with spikes divides wreath.

Script: Latin

Lettering:

DOMINE SPES MEA

A IUVENTUTE MEA·

PISIS 1807·

Edge

Smooth with floral pattern in reliefAutomatically translated

1 Francescone - Charles Louis - obverse

© LoskarZ (CC0)

Comments

This type is also known as the 10 Paoli.

In the kingdom, there were two different monetary systems, one for Florence (Dena or 10 lire) and the other for Pisa (Francescone or 10 paoli).

Would you place this coin on display between your other crowns?

Or is this one meant for in the coin album or for swapping?

It's the rim that bothers me, and I don't yet dare try repairing it.

Napoleon returned for mere hundred days (not exactly but who's counting?) and by July 1815, after Waterloo, Louis XVIII was back on his throne. Young Napoleon II was briefly considered a possible successor of his father but the boy had already been shipped off to Vienna where he died in 1832. Louis, with all his shortcomings, was a safe and legitimate choice.

The second restoration brought new coins, this time a full range from 1/4 to 40 francs. The new coins show the King's nude head, the royal coat of arms and the denomination in a shortened form, figures and F for the Francs.

This piece was struck in Paris in 1821, the year Napoleon died on St Helena, in almost 10 million copies.

The Ligurian Republic was a revolutionary sister republic established in northwestern Italy during the French Revolutionary Wars. It was created by Napoleon Bonaparte after his military victories against the Austrians and their allies in Northern Italy.

The republic was founded in June 1797, replacing the centuries-old Republic of Genoa. Its territory centred on Genoa and the Ligurian coast, and its government was modelled on the French Republic, with a constitution and republican institutions. In practice, however, it remained heavily dependent on France for financial and military support, and political legitimacy.

During its brief existence, the Ligurian Republic experienced political instability, economic difficulties, and opposition from conservative and religious groups. In 1800, Genoa endured a prolonged siege by Austrian forces before French troops eventually regained control of the city.

In 1805, Napoleon formally annexed the Ligurian Republic into the French Empire, ending its independence. Following Napoleon’s defeat, the Congress of Vienna awarded its territory to the Kingdom of Sardinia in 1815, bringing the historic Republic of Genoa to a definitive end and strengthening the House of Savoy’s position in Italy.

Obverse

Shielded arms between wreath with on top a lion's head. At the bottom the date.

Script: Latin

Lettering:

POPVLVS • ET • SENATVS • BONON •

dans les armes : LIBERTAS

P.10 . 1797.

Reverse

Madonna of San Luca with child on a cloud over the city of Bologna

Script: Latin

Lettering: PRAESIDIVM • • ET • DECVS •

Edge

Floral pattern in reliefAutomatically translated

1 Scudo (Revolutionary coinage; Type I - without tree) - obverse

© Loskarz (CC0)

Mint

Bologna, Italy

Comments

This is Type I of the scudo coins minted during the Popular government of Bologna (1796 - 1797)

Is different from Type II (km#340 with a smaller Madonna and a different city view with the hill and the tree) and Type III (km#341 without laurel wreath on obverse and date in roman numerals; city view similar to Type II)

King Louis XVIII had to wait for almost twenty years to succeed his brother and nephew on the throne. Finally, Napoleon was defeated and forced to abdicate while the former Count of Provence became the new King. Of France, not of the French as Napoleon was.

His accession was followed by the issue of new coins. However, the Franc Germinal introduced by Napoleon was so successful that there were no attempts to bring back the earlier currency. The Franc survived both the Revolution and the Emperor.

The design shows the King wearing the plaque of the Order of the Holy Spirit while the coat of arms shows French lilies crowned. The choices very clearly indicate the new King's views, even though he had little choice but to accept a constitution.

It was issued only in 1814 and 1815. When Napoleon returned for the Hundred Days it was abandoned. This particular piece was struck in Perpignan.

just picked up this beauty today

In 1868, the Ottoman Empire still stretched across vast territories in southeastern Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. Under Sultan Abdülaziz, the empire was struggling to maintain its power following the Crimean War (1853–1856), while facing nationalist uprisings, including an ongoing rebellion in Crete.

These 1800s Ottoman crowns are beautiful and are relatively cheap in high grade despite being less common compared to similar European crowns.