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World War 1 Related Coins


AncientNumis

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Hi all! So, I just made a little article on my website about coins of the Triple Entente in WW1 and I was wondering if any of you have cool pieces you can share?
Here's my little article: https://www.ancientnumis.com/articles/effect-of-ww1-on-currency-triple-entente
 

I've added a little image of my 2 WW1 related British gold coins, but they're cropped a bit weirdly sorry.
So, yeah, post any World War One related coins you have and some stories surrounding them. I'm sure this could be really interesting!

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Edited by AncientNumis
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Only one coin I possess with any relevance to WW1 (apart from the dates of course) is a half penny from 1917. My Mother tells of the years after her Father came back from war a different person than people remember. Apparently he would sit in silence rubbing this half penny with his thumb for hours while whatever demons were running through his mind.

 

 

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3 hours ago, expat said:

Only one coin I possess with any relevance to WW1 (apart from the dates of course) is a half penny from 1917. My Mother tells of the years after her Father came back from war a different person than people remember. Apparently he would sit in silence rubbing this half penny with his thumb for hours while whatever demons were running through his mind.

 

 

DSC01099.jpg

DSC01100.jpg

I don't know anything about non-ancient coins, but that is a strong story, the coin must be very important to you

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17 hours ago, expat said:

Only one coin I possess with any relevance to WW1 (apart from the dates of course) is a half penny from 1917. My Mother tells of the years after her Father came back from war a different person than people remember. Apparently he would sit in silence rubbing this half penny with his thumb for hours while whatever demons were running through his mind.

 

 

DSC01099.jpg

DSC01100.jpg

Wow. This must be very special for you - sometimes even normal looking coins can be so much more because of what they remind us of, and this definitely seems the case here. 

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4 hours ago, AncientNumis said:

Wow. This must be very special for you - sometimes even normal looking coins can be so much more because of what they remind us of, and this definitely seems the case here. 

It is a very special coin to me. My Mother thought it would be in a better place if she gave it to me. Don't think it held many happy memories for her. She was born late in her Parents marriage, 20 years after WW1 with WW2 looming. Her Mother passed on to her the coin and how her Father was affected. I never met him, he couldn't bear to be around people outside of his own house. Sad, but probably no different to the experiences of thousands of others.

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My most WW1 related coin is the sestertius my grandad found at Verdun battle while digging a trench. Most of you know the story since I've told it many times on another forum. As this forum is new, the story may be new to some, so here it is again :

 

0160-310.jpg.40982c905b484a1a4a8a0ee409155220.jpg
Commodus, Sestertius- Rome mint, 192 CE
Wt.: 21.01 g
Obv.: L AEL AVREL CO---MM AVG P FEL,Laureate head of Commodus right
Rev.: HERCVLI ROMANO AVG,Hercules facing, head left, holding club and lion's skin, resting on trophy.SCin field
Ref : RCV #5752, Cohen #203
 
 
My grandfather, born 1894, has been "lucky" enough to get involved in the whole WWI where he's been wounded five times (two actual wounds and three gas attacks). While digging a trench at Verdun battle (1916), he eventually found three coins that he carefully kept with him during three years (he's not been sent back home earlier than 1919). After the end of the war, being on a train, back home with two other "poilus" he decided he whould give one coin to each of them and keep the last one for himself (probably one of the first "ancient coin giveaway" in the 20th century). When I was 18, being the only one in the family showing an interest in coins he told me the story and gifted me with the coin.
 
 
Why it’s cool:
It is the very first roman coin I have ever possessed. It's of course the real start of my addiction for ancient coins.
 
My grand dad finding it during his service and keeping it until the end of the war and for almost his entire life makes it the coin I will keep whatever occurs in my own life and/or to my coin collections.
 
As for the coin itself, its coolness comes from it being minted the last year in Commodus' rule, in 192 CE, as he'd turn completely crazy finding himself being a reincarnation of Hercules. Even though the obverse doesn't show him with the lionskin, the reverse has an explicit legend and clearly shows the emperor/hercules with Hercules' attributes.
 
And to finish with, the following comment is taken from the description of a similar example (in far much better condition) in NAC auction 4, # 477 :Few Roman coins excite as much commentary as those of Commodus, which show him possessed of Hercules. Not only do they present an extraordinary image, but they offer incontrovertible support to the literary record. The reports of Commodus’ megalomania and infatuation with Hercules are so alarming and fanciful that if the numismatic record was not there to confirm, modern historians would almost certainly regard the literary record as an absurd version of affairs, much in the way reports of Tiberius’ depraved behaviour on Capri are considered to be callous exaggerations. Faced with such rich and diverse evidence, there can be no question that late in his life Commodus believed that Hercules was his divine patron. Indeed, he worshipped the demigod so intensely that he renamed the month of September after him, and he eventually came to believe himself to be an incarnation of the mythological hero. By tradition, Hercules had fashioned his knotted club from a wild olive tree that he tore from the soil of Mount Helicon and subsequently used to kill the lion of Cithaeron when he was only 18 years old. Probably the most familiar account of his bow and arrows was his shooting of the Stymphalian birds while fulfilling his sixth labour. The reverse inscription HERCVLI ROMANO AVG (‘to the August Roman Hercules’) makes the coin all the more interesting, especially when put into context with those of contemporary coins inscribed HERCVLI COMMODO AVG, which amounts to a dedication ‘to Hercules Commodus Augustus’.
 
Q
Edited by Qcumbor
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This is something distinctively WW1-related.

A 10-pfennig 1917 coin of "Kingdom of Poland" a German puppet state formed in latest 1916 after Germany and Austria-Hungary occupied the entirety of former Congress Poland. The state was intended as a source of manpower and part of the so-called "Mittle Europa" - a project of small Germany-aligned puppet states in Central and Eastern Europe. The state wasn't success to say the least. It was difficult to find Poles willing to cooperate for various reasons ranging from doubts in German victory, outrage at plunder by the occupying forces and up to obvious favoritism given to Lithuanians and Ukrainians regarding competing territorial claims.

The coin in question reflects the reality of the era. It's denomination in pfennig (substraction of "Polish mark") was alien to Polish tradition and betrays the foreign origin. It was minted in massive, inflationary quantities making even well preserved specimens affordable today. At the same time it was made from cheap base metals, which causes the coin to rust! I'm not kidding. My first specimen literally rusted after it spent brief time in damp air.

On the other hand, the coin stands out as part of the very first distinctively Polish coinage since mid 19th century, when Russia clamped down on the last remnants of Congress Poland's autonomy.

 

ZomboDroid 28052022154849.jpg

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1 hour ago, Qcumbor said:

My most WW1 related coin is the sestertius my grandad found at Verdun battle while digging a trench. Most of you know the story since I've told it many times on another forum. As this forum is new, the story may be new to some, so here it is again :

 

0160-310.jpg.40982c905b484a1a4a8a0ee409155220.jpg
Commodus, Sestertius- Rome mint, 192 CE
Wt.: 21.01 g
Obv.: L AEL AVREL CO---MM AVG P FEL,Laureate head of Commodus right
Rev.: HERCVLI ROMANO AVG,Hercules facing, head left, holding club and lion's skin, resting on trophy.SCin field
Ref : RCV #5752, Cohen #203
 
 
My grandfather, born 1894, has been "lucky" enough to get involved in the whole WWI where he's been wounded five times (two actual wounds and three gas attacks). While digging a trench at Verdun battle (1916), he eventually found three coins that he carefully kept with him during three years (he's not been sent back home earlier than 1919). After the end of the war, being on a train, back home with two other "poilus" he decided he whould give one coin to each of them and keep the last one for himself (probably one of the first "ancient coin giveaway" in the 20th century). When I was 18, being the only one in the family showing an interest in coins he told me the story and gifted me with the coin.
 
 
Why it’s cool:
It is the very first roman coin I have ever possessed. It's of course the real start of my addiction for ancient coins.
 
My grand dad finding it during his service and keeping it until the end of the war and for almost his entire life makes it the coin I will keep whatever occurs in my own life and/or to my coin collections.
 
As for the coin itself, its coolness comes from it being minted the last year in Commodus' rule, in 192 CE, as he'd turn completely crazy finding himself being a reincarnation of Hercules. Even though the obverse doesn't show him with the lionskin, the reverse has an explicit legend and clearly shows the emperor/hercules with Hercules' attributes.
 
And to finish with, the following comment is taken from the description of a similar example (in far much better condition) in NAC auction 4, # 477 :Few Roman coins excite as much commentary as those of Commodus, which show him possessed of Hercules. Not only do they present an extraordinary image, but they offer incontrovertible support to the literary record. The reports of Commodus’ megalomania and infatuation with Hercules are so alarming and fanciful that if the numismatic record was not there to confirm, modern historians would almost certainly regard the literary record as an absurd version of affairs, much in the way reports of Tiberius’ depraved behaviour on Capri are considered to be callous exaggerations. Faced with such rich and diverse evidence, there can be no question that late in his life Commodus believed that Hercules was his divine patron. Indeed, he worshipped the demigod so intensely that he renamed the month of September after him, and he eventually came to believe himself to be an incarnation of the mythological hero. By tradition, Hercules had fashioned his knotted club from a wild olive tree that he tore from the soil of Mount Helicon and subsequently used to kill the lion of Cithaeron when he was only 18 years old. Probably the most familiar account of his bow and arrows was his shooting of the Stymphalian birds while fulfilling his sixth labour. The reverse inscription HERCVLI ROMANO AVG (‘to the August Roman Hercules’) makes the coin all the more interesting, especially when put into context with those of contemporary coins inscribed HERCVLI COMMODO AVG, which amounts to a dedication ‘to Hercules Commodus Augustus’.
 
Q

Wow, what a provenance @Qcumbor!

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2 hours ago, Qcumbor said:

My most WW1 related coin is the sestertius my grandad found at Verdun battle while digging a trench. Most of you know the story since I've told it many times on another forum. As this forum is new, the story may be new to some, so here it is again :

 

0160-310.jpg.40982c905b484a1a4a8a0ee409155220.jpg
Commodus, Sestertius- Rome mint, 192 CE
Wt.: 21.01 g
Obv.: L AEL AVREL CO---MM AVG P FEL,Laureate head of Commodus right
Rev.: HERCVLI ROMANO AVG,Hercules facing, head left, holding club and lion's skin, resting on trophy.SCin field
Ref : RCV #5752, Cohen #203
 
 
My grandfather, born 1894, has been "lucky" enough to get involved in the whole WWI where he's been wounded five times (two actual wounds and three gas attacks). While digging a trench at Verdun battle (1916), he eventually found three coins that he carefully kept with him during three years (he's not been sent back home earlier than 1919). After the end of the war, being on a train, back home with two other "poilus" he decided he whould give one coin to each of them and keep the last one for himself (probably one of the first "ancient coin giveaway" in the 20th century). When I was 18, being the only one in the family showing an interest in coins he told me the story and gifted me with the coin.
 
 
Why it’s cool:
It is the very first roman coin I have ever possessed. It's of course the real start of my addiction for ancient coins.
 
My grand dad finding it during his service and keeping it until the end of the war and for almost his entire life makes it the coin I will keep whatever occurs in my own life and/or to my coin collections.
 
As for the coin itself, its coolness comes from it being minted the last year in Commodus' rule, in 192 CE, as he'd turn completely crazy finding himself being a reincarnation of Hercules. Even though the obverse doesn't show him with the lionskin, the reverse has an explicit legend and clearly shows the emperor/hercules with Hercules' attributes.
 
And to finish with, the following comment is taken from the description of a similar example (in far much better condition) in NAC auction 4, # 477 :Few Roman coins excite as much commentary as those of Commodus, which show him possessed of Hercules. Not only do they present an extraordinary image, but they offer incontrovertible support to the literary record. The reports of Commodus’ megalomania and infatuation with Hercules are so alarming and fanciful that if the numismatic record was not there to confirm, modern historians would almost certainly regard the literary record as an absurd version of affairs, much in the way reports of Tiberius’ depraved behaviour on Capri are considered to be callous exaggerations. Faced with such rich and diverse evidence, there can be no question that late in his life Commodus believed that Hercules was his divine patron. Indeed, he worshipped the demigod so intensely that he renamed the month of September after him, and he eventually came to believe himself to be an incarnation of the mythological hero. By tradition, Hercules had fashioned his knotted club from a wild olive tree that he tore from the soil of Mount Helicon and subsequently used to kill the lion of Cithaeron when he was only 18 years old. Probably the most familiar account of his bow and arrows was his shooting of the Stymphalian birds while fulfilling his sixth labour. The reverse inscription HERCVLI ROMANO AVG (‘to the August Roman Hercules’) makes the coin all the more interesting, especially when put into context with those of contemporary coins inscribed HERCVLI COMMODO AVG, which amounts to a dedication ‘to Hercules Commodus Augustus’.
 
Q
 

That is such a fascinating story! And the coin happens to be really nice too. With that history, no wonder it is special to you! 

I don't suppose you know what the other two coins were?

Edited by CPK
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1 minute ago, CPK said:

That is such a fascinating story! And the coin happens to be really nice too. With that history, no wonder it is special to you! 

I don't suppose you know what the other two coins were?

That was what I was thinking of asking too! Sure would be cool.

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1 hour ago, Troyden said:

This is something distinctively WW1-related.

A 10-pfennig 1917 coin of "Kingdom of Poland" a German puppet state formed in latest 1916 after Germany and Austria-Hungary occupied the entirety of former Congress Poland. The state was intended as a source of manpower and part of the so-called "Mittle Europa" - a project of small Germany-aligned puppet states in Central and Eastern Europe. The state wasn't success to say the least. It was difficult to find Poles willing to cooperate for various reasons ranging from doubts in German victory, outrage at plunder by the occupying forces and up to obvious favoritism given to Lithuanians and Ukrainians regarding competing territorial claims.

The coin in question reflects the reality of the era. It's denomination in pfennig (substraction of "Polish mark") was alien to Polish tradition and betrays the foreign origin. It was minted in massive, inflationary quantities making even well preserved specimens affordable today. At the same time it was made from cheap base metals, which causes the coin to rust! I'm not kidding. My first specimen literally rusted after it spent brief time in damp air.

On the other hand, the coin stands out as part of the very first distinctively Polish coinage since mid 19th century, when Russia clamped down on the last remnants of Congress Poland's autonomy.

 

ZomboDroid 28052022154849.jpg

That is very interesting! If I happen to write another little article about WW1 coins, it might be fun for me to take a look at these coins.

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