WARNING: HUGE POST.

I'll deal with State Quarters further up the thread. Here, I'll reveal my foreign and other US coins. Like you, I don't go out and buy coins, I just check change.

(If anybody has an alternative reasonable suggestion to what I describe, hey, go ahead and let's see it.)

> Any nation's coins will teach you about what is important to them.
> Howard

I'll start with ours.

The first bit of currency isn't a coin, but actually a bill. Two $2 bills, to be exact. For those who are not familiar with these, they have Jefferson's visage on the front, and the signing of the Declaration of Independence on the back.

Next, a series of dollar coins. One, which was given to me, is from 1942. The obverse seems to depict "Liberty" walking, and the sun coming up over the horizon. The reverse depicts an eaglefacing left, perched on a branch, but ready to fly. I guess.

A second is from 1979. It's the famous Susan B. Anthony dollar, with the suffragette in profile on the front, with an arc of 7 stars on the left and 6 on the right. The reverse has an eagle carrying an olive branch to the moon. The earth can be seen in the background. 13 stars can be seen in an arc.

The last is from 2000. It seems to be golden, unlike the other coins. The obverse depicts Sacagawea looking over her shoulder, carrying a child on her back. The reverse shows a flying eagle. It has 4 stars behind its left wing, 5 behind its right, and 8 in front, for an unusual total of 17.

Next, a couple of half-dollars from 1977 & 1978. John F. Kennedy's face is seen in profile on the front, and the Seal of the President of the United States is found on the back.

Then, a bicentennial quarter. The obverse is the usual profile of George Washington, with the exception of there being two years: the year of the signing of the DoI, and the year it was at the time, 1976.

Now for the new nickels. The first two, from 2004, look like ordinary nickels on the obverse, with Jefferson's face in profile. On the reverse, however, the first commemorates the Louisiana Purchase, with hands shaking, sleeves designating country of origin. A pair of tools of some sort are found above the shaking hands. The second has the Corps of Discovery in their keelboat.

2005 sees a close-up of Jefferson's profile, the edge of the coin nearly cutting off his hair. "Liberty" is written in a cursive script. The reverses are the long lost American Bison, and the Pacific coast with the revised words of William Clark in his diary: "Ocean (instead of "Ocian") in view! O! The joy!"

In 2006, we have Jefferson facing us, a bit off-center. Monticello returns to the reverse.

Now, pennies. The obverses of all have Lincoln's profile. I have 5 wheat pennies: one each from '44, '49, and '57, and two from '58. Wheat pennies have a stalk of wheat on the left and right of the reverse, and "One Cent / United States of America" on the reverse. And then there are two normal pennies which are only noteworthy because holes were made in them: a star in one, and a small string-hole in the other.

Next, I have a museum replica of a gold doubloon. "Cross on obverse served as guide lines to cut the coin into halves or quarters for change. Towers of Castile, rampant Lions of Leon and legend, 'Philip V DG', complete the design. Reverse shows crude Pillars of Hercules, coin denomination and 'PV' representing Philip V, with the edge inscription 'Ano' (year).' I got it at the Castillo De San Marcos in St. Augustine, Florida.

You ever hear the expression, "Don't take any wooden nickels"? Well, dad took three, and passed them on to me. They are, indeed, wooden, with "Wooden Nickel" and a native American's head in profile stamped on the obverse. The reverse says:

Manucy's
Gas & Grocery
Good For $1
On Each $10
Pur. Exc. Cig.

The last two in the US collection are medallions of some sort.

First, one which came from a cereal box, commemorating the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. This particular one is for archery. It has the famous rings on back, with USA above.

The second, I have no idea where I got this one. Best guess, I must've seen it in a parking lot or something.

The obverse has "Brotherly Love" at the top. Beneath are the numerals X to II, as of on a clock. In fact, clock hands show the time as being 11 o'clock. The axis on the hands rests on an elk's head. Ribbons come out the sides of its neck. The left (our left) ribbon says "New Orleans" and the right says "Lodge 30". Below all this is "Charity Justice Fidelity".

The reverse has this to say around the top: "Elk's Krewe of Jeffersonians Salutes", finishing with this around the bottom: "Jefferson Parish Industry". (A parish, for those who don't know, is pretty much the Louisiana version of a county. There may be differences, I don't know.) The middle contains the year (1989) and a number of images: an oli rig (?), a fish, a crawfish, a crab, and one of those fancy masks for around the eyes (as opposed to the entire face).

Now, moving on to other countries, first in the same continent. Heh, you know where I'm going next: Canada. All of the coins I have from there have Queen Elizabeth II in profile on the obverse. Unlike most American coins, the head faces the Atlantic Ocean. Well, if you were to put the respective coins on north-oriented maps, anyway... interesting.

The 25-cent piece has a caribou on the reverse. The ones I have are from '72 and '78. The 10-cent has the Bluenose, a famous schooner, on the reverse. The years '74, '78, '79, '82, and '86 are represented. The 5-cent piece has a bea... ahem, a fine example of Castor canadensis (ha!) on the reverse. Years represented: '75, '79, '82, and '85. The one-cent piece NORMALLY depicts two maple leaves still attatched to a branch on the reverse, but one is a centennial penny depicting a rock dove in flight; at the bottom, it says "Canada 1867-1967". The thing I find interesting about my Canadian pennies is, if you'll pardon the pun, the change over the years. The first, from '58, depicts the queen in a simple laurel wreath (I guess) with "Elizabeth II Dei Gratia Regina" circling the head. But then, for '67, '75, '76, '80, '83, and '89, she wears a regular crown and "Dei Gratia" is shortened to "D.G.". The '96 and '98 ones let the queen show her age more. Also of note: the '83, '89, and '96 coins have 12 sides. All told, I have CDN$1.34.

Moving on to Panama, I have a tenth-Balboa coin from 1966. It depicts Vasco Núñez de Balboa in profile on the obverse, with "VN DECIMO DE BALBOA" around the top. I guess that's the Panamanian coat of arms on the back, there.

The Dominican Republic rounds out North America (I don't have any south) with two 25-centavo coins. Both give their mass as 6½ gramos (grams). One is from 1967, and depicts some guy with "Libertad" on his headdress's band. The reverse has the coat of arms. The other one is from 1976 and depicts Juan Pablo Duarte y Diez on the obverse. The reverse has a smaller version of the coat of arms, which is surrounded by "Primer Centenario de la Muerte de Duarte", identifying this as commemorating 100 years since the death of Duarte. "1876-1976" is found at the bottom.

(I used to have a Mexican coin, but it got lost in a pew when I was still part of the Assemblies of God denomination.)

We're off to Europe!

First stop: England. First, a pair of fivepence from '90 and '91. The obverse depicts the Queen the same as on the '90s Canadian coins. The reverse is apparently the Badge of Scotland, a thistle royally crowned. Next, a tenpence from '92, though because it was found on the ground, it is rather tarnished. In any case, the reverse has a crowned lion.

Next, France. A pair of 1-Franc coins from '60 and a half-Franc coin from '69 are all I have in this category. They look pretty much the same, except the half-Franc is smaller and has ½ instead of 1. Both have "Liberty" walking on the obverse, with "Republique" on the coin's left and "Francaise" on the coin's right. Some kind of branch (olive, perhaps?) adorns the reverse, with "Liberte Egalite Fraternite" surrounding.

Next, over the mountains to Spain. Just a 1-peseta coin here. But one that is... muy interesante. As a 1953 coin, it has the visage of Francisco Franco in profile on the obverse, surrounded by "Francisco Franco Caudillo de España por la G. de Dios", meaning "Francisco Franco Leader of Spain by the Grace of God". The reverse has some coat of arms or another.

Now, north to Finland. The coin is from 1990. The obverse has some kind of bear on it. Underneath is "Suomi", the Finnish name of Finland. Beneath that is "Finland", with "1990" under that. The reverse has a big "50" and smaller "Pennia / Penni" underneath and off to the right side. The lower left has a randomish pile of 38 stars. Maybe somebody from there can shed some light on these elements.

From Europe, we head south for a brief stop in Africa.

In the far west, we have Sierra Leone. The obverse bears the profiled visage of Sir Milton Marcai, the first prime minister of Sierra Leone. Around the top, "Unity Freedom Justice". Around the bottom, "Sir Milton Marcai". In the center of the reverse is ½, circled by two fish. There's some sort of outwardly jagged circle around the fish. Around the top, "Sierra Leone"; around the bottom, "Half Cent" and "1964"... the year of Sir Milton's death. He died in office.

A little to the east, we come to Ghana. A circle around the center of the obverse contains a close-up of a cacao tree with four visible pods. (If you're not familiar with that kind of tree, just think of where COCOA and CHOCOLATE come from.) At the top of the circle is "Ghana". Circling around from the left side of "Ghana" to the right is "Freedom and Justice". The reverse has "Ten" at the top and "Pesewas" at the bottom. A shield or coat of arms in the middle splits the year into "19" and "75".

And finally, we're off to Asia.

This time, it's the Philippines we're looking at. It's a 1-peso note, rather than a coin, from '49. The usual webby stuff decorates the border. The top center contains "Central Bank of the Philippines" and "This note is a liability of the Central Bank and is fully guaranteed by the government of the Republic of the Philippines". "1 Peso" is in the middle and in each corner. To the left, the off-center face of Apolinario Mabini y Maranan, the first prime minister and the framer of its constitution. To the right, the old seal of the CBotP. It depicts a man steering a wheel, representing the nation steering toward progress. The signatures of the President of the Phillipines and the Governor of the Central Bank are at the bottom. On the reverse, the webbing forms a thicker border on the sides. In the middle, Baraboain Church is depicted and identified. The corners have "1 Peso", and the sides and the area beneath the picture say "One Peso".

And finally, we come to Israel. The smallest of these coins, while round, has a square with rounded corners in which the text and picture reside on the obverse. The picture in the upper right is a palm tree. The Hebrew text at the bottom says yud-shin-resh-aleph-lamed, spelling "Yisrael". Going up along the left is some Arabic which *might* say Israel, but I couldn't say. The reverse has something closer to being round, but which is still closer to a square. Prominent on the back is a numeral, "1". Underneath, in smallish Hebrew letters, is aleph-gimel-vav-resh-hey, "agorah". (It's in the Strong's Concordance, for those who are interested: Hebrew #95.) Below that, in smaller letters, chet-dalet-shin-hey, "chadashah", meaning "new", in this context. (It can also mean "renewed" in others.) At the very bottom, tav-shin, followed by two ticks that mean "this is a number", and finally, a final mem. This is the year. 5000 (implied) + 400 + 300 + 40 = 5740, which masks to September 22, 1979 to September 10, 1980.

Next up is a pair of browner coins. The obverse has "Israel" in Hebrew, Arabic, and English around the left. The seal of the State of Israel is slightly to the left of the top. A [7-branched] no-candle menorah takes up most of the right. Prominent on the reverse is a series of lines forming a square. The lines are broken, forming a "10" in the empty space. to the left, aleph-gimel-vav-resh-vav-tav, transliterated to the right of the square as "agorot", which is the plural of "agorah". At the bottom, hey-tav-shin-nun, ticks, gimel. Since the highest value in the Hebrew alphabet is 400, the hey, which is normally 5, represents 5000 here. 5000 + 400 + 300 + 50 + 3 = 5753, which masks to September 28, 1992 to September 15, 1993. The other has hey-tav-shin-nun, ticks, aleph, for 5751, that is, September 20, 1990 to September 8, 1991.

Same color, but larger, the final pair of coins have a 12-stringed harp to the left and the seal of the State of Israel to the right on the obverse. In the middle of the reverse, a big vertical ½ is seen, with shin-qoph-lamed chet-dalet-shin (shekel chadash, New Shekel) below. "New Sheqel" is seen at the bottom is smaller letters. Around the upper left, "Israel" is found in Arabic and English. Arund the upper right, the year, and "Israel" in Hebrew. The date on one coin is 5755 (September 6, 1994 - September 24, 1995), and the date on the other is 5758 (October 2, 1997 - September 20, 1998).

There's certainly a lot of interesting history behind these bits of metal and paper.

Nyperold