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World War 1 Related Coins


AncientNumis

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20 hours ago, AncientNumis said:

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.

 

You might be also interested in the coins issued by Ober-Ost - Central Powers' occupation autority in what's today the Baltics, Belarus and northeastern Poland. Those were 1, 2 and 3 kopeck coins, subdivisions of the so called "Ostrubel". For some reasons German authorities kept the old Imperial Russian currency names, even though everything related to Imperial Russia was absolutely despised by the locals.

Picture below is from Wiki, I never ever bothered to get one.

Ilustracja

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23 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 :

 

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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! Definitely a great find by him

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Interesting thread.  I've long thought that things were getting bad in Europe when Kaiser Wilhelm II changed from his 1890s nude bust on his coins and put on a uniform for the 1913-1914 issue.  Below are two 5 mark crown-sized silver pieces:

1903, peace in Europe:  

510577734_Prussia-19035Marks19.99Jul08x.jpg.dca7468458f2969a288981abd36f9b9e.jpg

 

1913, storm clouds gathering, putting on the uniform: 

1522495507_Prussia-19135Marks24Apr2015x.jpg.07e6c96efca4e52595c6c8065f3a2ec5.jpg

 

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Fantastic coins, gang ... 

 

Ummm, here are a few of my sweet ol' quarters that were minted around the time of WWI ... man, I love coins

 

image.png.94fb5846badcaa4db77bc3c9091f9dc2.pngimage.png.a3bcc2eab406693a0699a9284fc6618d.png

 

Sorry for the fairly weak coin-photo effort ... I could go downstairs and re-shoot these coins, if required (but ummm, you get the coin-gist, right?)

Coins Rock!!

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On 5/28/2022 at 12:03 PM, CPK said:

Nice coin! I was hoping it was a "D". 😉

Yes that would of been sweet! 

But let ya in on a little secret.... I cherry picked something this week something rarer! An 1857 Seated Liberty Quarter  clashed with an Flying Eagle cent! On about 30 known to exist!  A $60  purchase that's worth in vf. 20 around $475/$500 ! So its been a great week !

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I have this 1918 10 Pfennig from Weißenfels of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It's one of the earliest hammer and sickle designs on a coin (I think somewhere in South America had an 1800s coin with it) but if I recall correctly this coin's hammer and sickle isn't necessarily related to Communism.

image.jpeg.80826c8302fa6f64ef8a43da6f0c9988.jpeg

1918 | 10 Pfennig

Weißenfels of Saxony-Anhalt

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I’ve had several interesting and unique WW1-related pieces, and wrote articles about four of them.

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/souvenir-of-an-invasion-ww1-german-trench-art-on-1904-belgian-10-centime-coin.293084/

0BC15583-4ED4-47B8-A1FE-0D144F261F19.png.daf263e077d4da209da98f50e5fafd28.png
 

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/the-sailmakers-badge-ww1-royal-flying-corps-identity-disc-made-from-1916-british-half-crown.287381/

841E3222-B942-4534-86C1-66C5C7C5CBAF.png.ff1bdeec94dabc1d98e6ef616b42c562.png

 

These last two were especially interesting because the pieces could be traced to a specific individual, and photos of those individuals turned up.  Both are rather poignant stories, too.

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/berthas-boy-ww1-love-token-on-1916-french-franc-from-a-fallen-canadian-soldier-to-his-mother.286034/

710FE1D1-3AFF-4489-A56B-C1B3037AB81C.png.160e9af4ff7cc4be35ae86ed36841e1c.png

 

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/vesta-mccurrys-ww1-love-token-coin-is-going-home.329215/

88A35302-3A96-4F22-8D7A-646445FB7EEC.png.e070e7f827a0bf5a2387f3c0983aea42.png

Edited by lordmarcovan
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