Stars on coins

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The star that appears on nearly all the pre-decimal coins of Australia looks at first like mere ornamentation, but it has a special significance.

From Wikipedia:

The Commonwealth Star (also known as the Federation Star, the Seven Point Star, or the Star of Federation) is a seven-pointed star symbolising the Federation of Australia which came into force on 1 January 1901.

Six points of the Star represent the six original states of the Commonwealth of Australia, while the seventh point represents the territories and any future states. The original Star had only six points; however, the proclamation in 1905 of the Territory of Papua led to the addition of the seventh point in 1908 to represent it and future territories.








 

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Here you see the Southern Cross constellation on the reverse of the Australian two dollar coin.



 
 

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Which star is this, on the South African shilling?

 

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Twelve stars appear on the obverse and reverse of the euro coinage. The number was randomly chosen to symbolise the diversity of Europe’s nations.





 

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These star-ridden UK fifty pence coins celebrate the EU.

 

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The Star of David, or Seal of Solomon, appears on lots of coins, some of them unexpected.




Nepal, 500 rupees, 2060.

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Morocco's coins are rich in stars.




Morocco, 1953, 100 Francs.

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New Zealand prefers traditional five-pointed stars.

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Is this a star on the New Guinea sixpence?

According to our member malj1:

The proclamation says 'a representation of the stone head of a native war club in the form of and eight pointed star' on the reverse.
From... From Cowrie to Kina by Dr William J D Mira.1986. publ. Spink and Sons. ....A lovely book.

See also: Coinage of New Guinea

 

[Figleaf]

Which star is this, on the South African shilling?

Since the figure is hope, the star is likely to be the North star, the sailor's hope, as it is a bright star, it can be used for celestial navigation and it is one of the symbols for the virgin Mary (Stella Maris), who, in turn, is also a symbol of hope.

However, if you want to argue that hope refers to the Cape of Good Hope, therefore the star must be the (much fainter) South Star, that's fine with me.

I think the stars on the Irish punt symbolise celestial navigation. There can be little doubt that the Norsemen knew it, but I am not sure if the Irish knew it.

Peter

[villa66]

Here is a single coin that shows American coin iconography evolving from what had been its traditional six-pointed star to the five-pointed star of the present day.

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[villa66]

For fun, a Kennedy half dollar; the multiple meanings of its stars, anyone?

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[chrisild]

Twelve stars appear on the obverse and reverse of the euro coinage. The number was randomly chosen to symbolise the diversity of Europe’s nations.

Not quite randomly. And on the reverses of the three lowest denominations they do not show. But I remember that a couple of years ago some coin dealers tried to sell the "older" euro coins with the argument that, when the euro cash became legal tender, there were twelve euro area member states, and that in the future new stars would be added whenever a new country enters the currency union ...   "The number of stars has nothing to do with the number of Member States. There are twelve stars because the number twelve is traditionally the symbol of perfection, completeness and unity. The flag therefore remains unchanged regardless of EU enlargements." The European flag | European Union

The Stars of Europe are also displayed on the collector coins of some euro countries. Attached is one example; Germany has them on all collector coins even though those pieces are pretty much the contrary of common currency money ...

Christian

[chrisild]

For fun, a Kennedy half dollar; the multiple meanings of its stars, anyone?

The fairly obvious one is fifty stars representing fifty states. But maybe each star represents a value of 1 cent too?

By the way, while the number of the "Stars of Europe" is fixed, the Swiss stars refer to the number of cantons. That is why the number of stars went up from 22 to 23 in the early 1980s, after Jura became a "full" canton:



Christian

[izotz]

Bolivia usually depicts stars in his coins and / or in his coat of arms, one for each "Department" (Departamentos).

KM160 1 Boliviano


In Spanish old coins, you could tell some of the mintmarks depending on the number of points of the stars. Later, on Franco and Juan Carlos I pesetas, it was used to include the year when the coin had been minted on the reverse, while the year on the obverse stated the year when the design had been approved :