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An alphabet of oddities

Started by <k>, July 06, 2018, 05:10:09 PM

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<k>

Here I will go through the alphabet and try to pick an unusual coin (or coins) from each country / territory.
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<k>

#1
Afghanistan.jpg


Afghanistan issued a nice WWF set in 1978 - a set of three animal designs from the Royal Mint.

At some point in that year there was a regime change and the poor animals got caught up in it.

Notice the two very different state emblems, courtesy of numista.com.
Visit the website of The Royal Mint Museum.

See: The Royal Mint Museum.

<k>

#2
Albania 0.20 lek 1941-.jpg



Albania 0.20 lek 1941.jpg


During World War 2, Italy invaded and conquered Albania.

King Vittorio Emanuele III of Italy became King of Albania.

Here you see him trying to look fierce in a military helmet.

The reverse of the coin shows the Albanian double eagle flanked by fasces.
Visit the website of The Royal Mint Museum.

See: The Royal Mint Museum.

<k>

#3


Algeria, 100 dinars, 1992.


Thinks the horse, well, that's a funny way to write "100".

It is of course an intelligent horse that can think that, when many humans wouldn't even notice.
Visit the website of The Royal Mint Museum.

See: The Royal Mint Museum.

<k>

#4


Angola: elephant and zebra. This was when Angola was part of the Portuguese Empire.

Visit the website of The Royal Mint Museum.

See: The Royal Mint Museum.

<k>

#5
Argentina 2 pesos 1999.jpg


"Labyrinths" (1962) is a collection of short stories and essays by Jorge Luis Borges of Argentina.
Visit the website of The Royal Mint Museum.

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<k>



Armenia believes it is the country where Noah's ark came to rest.
Visit the website of The Royal Mint Museum.

See: The Royal Mint Museum.

<k>



Here I tried reversing the kangaroo on the Australian half penny, to see whether it is a mirror image of the penny design. It is not.

Still, it is disappointing that one of those two coins could not have been given an original design.
Visit the website of The Royal Mint Museum.

See: The Royal Mint Museum.

<k>


Austria, 2 Groschen, 1925.




Note the unusual pseudo-runic "S" on the obverse (right), while that on the reverse (left) is rather ordinary.

Thirteen years after the issue of this coin, Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany. The SS logo of course used two of those ominous "S" characters.

See: Austrofascism.
Visit the website of The Royal Mint Museum.

See: The Royal Mint Museum.

<k>



The Maiden Tower of Baku.






Yes, the design on the left is supposed to depict the Maiden Tower.

See: Azerbaijan: post-Soviet coinage.
Visit the website of The Royal Mint Museum.

See: The Royal Mint Museum.

<k>

Next will come the B's. But first I will take a break. Comments are welcome.  ;)
Visit the website of The Royal Mint Museum.

See: The Royal Mint Museum.

Figleaf

Fun idea, K. Let me know if you need ideas.

Some loose comments.
Albania: fine, but what does IMP. MBRET E PER stand for? Emperor of Great Bretain and Pertugal?
Argentina: did you note the infinity sign in the exit and entrance? What are those two symbols near the central device?
Armenia: the Armenians have a point, or rather a mountain top. The top seems to high for lifting a ship over it, though.
Australia: even more odditious: early Australian coins have another coat of arms than later ones. Early Australian tokens have different arms again.
Azerbaijan: an even more stylised picture of the maiden tower is on the Baku metro tokens.

Peter
An unidentified coin is a piece of metal. An identified coin is a piece of history.

<k>

Quote from: Figleaf on July 06, 2018, 06:59:29 PM
Albania: fine, but what does IMP. MBRET E PER stand for? Emperor of Great Bretain and Pertugal?

When I translate "King and Emperor" into Albanian via Google Translate, the result is "mbreti dhe perandori". Whether that is grammatically correct, I do not know.

"RE E IMP" is abbreviated Latin for "King and Emperor".
Visit the website of The Royal Mint Museum.

See: The Royal Mint Museum.

<k>

#13


The Bahamas, 15 cents.

Not only is 15 cents an unusual denomination these days (though it was used in the Soviet Union and some of its satellites), but it's square too. All the other Bahamian circulating denominations have had their reverse design updated. But is this coin still actually used?

Visit the website of The Royal Mint Museum.

See: The Royal Mint Museum.

<k>

Quote from: Figleaf on July 06, 2018, 06:59:29 PM
Argentina: did you note the infinity sign in the exit and entrance? What are those two symbols near the central device?

1] I didn't.  2] No, please enlighten me.  :)
Visit the website of The Royal Mint Museum.

See: The Royal Mint Museum.