Greece,5 lepta, owl & amphora 1912

[capnbirdseye]

Another nice coin from my toffee tin, 5 lepta 1912, KM#62 ,seemingly good condition but tarnished

[chrisild]

That is a French coin. Well, designed (Charles Pillet) and minted (privy mark and mint mark on the other side) by the Monnaie de Paris. Ah, empty toffee tins are quite frustrating, but yours has apparently been "refilled" with lots of nice tidbits ...

Christian

[capnbirdseye]

That is a French coin. Well, designed (Charles Pillet) and minted (privy mark and mint mark on the other side) by the Monnaie de Paris. Ah, empty toffee tins are quite frustrating, but yours has apparently been "refilled" with lots of nice tidbits ...

Christian

The wife is away for the weekend, I've got coins all over the carpet looking for any scarce coins that might be lurking in there to sell off to fund new purchases

just found Greece 20 Lepta KM#64, Monaco 5 franks 1945 ,now going through some  third reich coins

[Figleaf]

The French also had holed coins and knew about designing around the hole. I like that little olive sprig. If you have travelled in Greece and seen a good sized olive grove, olives (not owls) will keep reminding you of the country.

And goat cheese. A good combination with olives.

And Bourekas filled with fresh goat cheese

Thoughts drifting...

Peter

[villa66]

The French also had holed coins and knew about designing around the hole....

You know I don't believe the French did have center-holed coins at the time this Greek coin appeared, if the 1912 date is to be trusted, anyway. There were a few center-holed colonial coins for the French possessions in SE Asia, but the French Indochina 1-cent is the only one that I know of that doesn't look like an obvious descendant of the old cash coins.

More like the 1912 Greek minors were design- and coining-practice for the later French center-holed coins that began their (spasmodic) debut in 1914.

v.

[chrisild]

You know I don't believe the French did have center-holed coins at the time this Greek coin appeared, if the 1912 date is to be trusted, anyway.

Correct, but nobody has claimed here that French coins had central holes before those Greek pieces had them. Now Charles Pillet may indeed have used the coins for Greece as models or, errm, guinea pigs for the French ones (the Lindauer type did, as you wrote, first come out in 1914). Then again, Pillet may have been inspired by Belgian coins; Alphonse Michaux designed the 5c piece first issued in 1901 (and a few other coins for Belgium that had holes). As far as I know, one of the reason for trying out holed coins was that they were supposed to be reasonably sized (ie. not too small) and yet different from higher value silver pieces ...

Christian

[villa66]

Correct, but nobody has claimed here that French coins had central holes before those Greek pieces had them....

Yes, and? You called these Greek center-holed coins French--an interesting connection. Figleaf made a comment about the French knowing how to design around a center-hole. Okay. It just seemed suddenly odd to me that the French, whose penchant (and talent) for center-holed minors was undeniable, were actually somewhat late arriving to the party. I didn't mean to offend; I just thought it was interesting.

On reflection, I still think so. The French had a lot of trouble making their revived 25-centime piece work early in the 20th century, and it's a little puzzling to me--as hard as they worked at it--that the center-hole arrived in their coinage repertoire so late. (Especially since, as you point out, they had the Belgian example right next-door.) But then every coin-culture has its blindspots, of that I'm very sure.

v.

[xristaras33]

Hello from Greece,

Some historical facts about these coins. These coins "5 lepta 1912"were minted in the years 1912, 1913, 1914 and 1920 and brought all the date 1912. The order of currencies held in Paris at the house Companie Francaise de Metaux. Individual cut 202,108 units in 1912, 12,539,094 in 1913, 10,181,994 in 1914 and 2,130,750 in 1920. These coins bear on one side the value, olive branch and the Athenian owl onto its side amphora. On the other side the right bearing the royal crown, the inscription "Kingdom of Greece" and the date. Also bearing in the center hole. The composition of the metal is 98% nickel and 2% copper.


Regards,

Xristos

[capnbirdseye]

Thank you for the additional info Xristos, they are very attractive coins I think

[xristaras33]

Attractive maybe but it's not so beutifull...However is piece of coin history of Greece.
Αlong with this there are two other coins:
10 lepta 1912
20 lepta 1912
So the set consistsn of 3 coins.

[villa66]

Can you please also post the years and mintages of the "1912" 10- and 20-lepta coins? And, is there any way to distinguish between the several mintages of each denomination?

v.

[xristaras33]

About
10 lepta
1912 --> 498.318
1913 --> 13.844.871
1914 --> 12.540.849
1920 --> 2.089.459
20 lepta
1913 --> 1.881.198
1914 --> 6.909.537
1920 --> 1.353.557

Also all the coins are the same at each minted.
You can see the set on the photo

[villa66]

Thanks a lot, xristaras33. Very interesting!

v.

[xristaras33]

Whatever you want about greek coins you can ask me and I'll try to help you

My name is Xristos

[villa66]

I will definitely get some questions together.

v.