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This is a modest collection of second millennium gold coins
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THE GAMBIA
1000 Dalasis - 1989
KM-025 - 10,0 g - 24 mm
Edge - Reeded
Mintage -
3.000
This NCLT's obverse a bust of the president Dawda Kairaba Jawara (b1924-d ) encircled by the country's name and date of issue - REPUBLIC OF THE GAMBIA - 1989.. The reverse has achild, the denomination 1000 Dalasis and the legend for THE SAVE THE CHILDREN FUND.
GERMAN EAST AFRICA
German East Africa acquired control of Tanganyika in 1884, establishing it as a protectorate in 1891, and finally declaring it a colony in 1897. During WW I, British Forces seized the colony and the League of Nations turned over administration to the UK.
GEA coinage was issued by the German East Africa Company until 1904, after which they were issued by the government. Coinage was minted in Berlin and Hamburg until 1916 when WW I disrupted the supply lines. A local mint was established at Tabora that minted minor coinage as well as the 15 Ripee gold pieces.
15
Rupees - 1916
KM-016.1 - 7,168 g - 21,8 mm
Edge - Plain
Mintage -
9.803
The obverse features the German Imperial arms encircled by the German legend for DEUTSCH OSTAFRKA (GERMAN EAST AFRICA) and 15 RUPIEN. The reverse has an elephant trumpeting with Mt. Kilimanjaro in the background with the date 1916 and mint mark T (for Tabora) below. Most GEA coins were minted in German mints but at this stage of WW I, the local Tabora mint was activated. Tabora is in modern Tanzania in the northwestern part of the country.
GERMANY
All of Europe's great empires got involved in Germany, but none was ever able to subjugate the Germanic tribes. Different pockets of fierce resistance met the Roman legions (50 BC to the 5th century AD), the Frankish conqueror, Charlemagne (up to the early 9th century), and Otto the Great's Holy Roman Empire (from late in the 10th century). By the time the house of Habsburg, ruling from Vienna, took control in the 13th century it was little more than a conglomerate of German-speaking states run by parochial princes. The Habsburgs maintained a modicum of control until the Thirty Years War (1618-48). Local princes assumed complete sovereignty over a patchwork of some 300 states. After the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, Otto von Bismarck unified most of Germany installing Prussian King Wilhelm I as German Kaiser. Wilhelm remained in power until Germany's defeat in WW I where a republic was formed but was doomed by the Allies' forced reparations. German nationalism arose again and in 1933, they voted in Adolf Hitler as Chancellor under the aging President Paul von Hindenburg. After Germany's defeat, the country was partitioned between the Big Four and Soviet actions resulted in the establishment of two German States, the BRD and the DDR. After communism's collapse, Germany was reunited in 1990.
There were literally hundreds of mints coining German coinage from the Middle Ages on. Today there are still several Federal mints operating in major cities.
1 Deutschemark - 2001
KM-203
- 11,850 g
Edge - ~ * ~ ~ * ~ ~ * ~ ~ * ~ ~ * ~ ~ * ~ ~ * ~
Mintage - 0,200M
The coin was issued in the circulation design of the DM but is struck in 0,999 gold as a tribute to the departure of the German national currency just prior to the mandatory adoption of the Euro as currency in the EU. The obverse features the German eagle with the German legend DEUTSCHE BUNDESBANK (German Federal Bank) with the mintmark J (for the Hamburg mint at the bottom). The reverse has the denomination 1 DEUTSCHE MARK with oak leaves and acorns on either side. The date 2001 is at the bottom. This is a limited edition of 200.000 pieces from each of the five German mints.
GHANA
The Portuguese discovered present day Ghana in the early 16th century and found gold there leading to its name as the Gold Coast. Thereafter, they along with the Dutch, British, and Danish established the slave trade and set up almost 80 forts along the coast to funnel slaves to slavetraders. In 1873, the British conquered the indigenous people and set up a British Crown Colony. In 1949 Kwame Nkrumah organized strikes which in 1957 resulted in Ghana's independence. As is the case with most African countries, majority rule led to chaos and corruption for years.
Ghana's coinage is minted at overseas mints.
£2 - 1960
KM-M05
- 15,98 g
Edge - Reeded
Mintage - 0,015M
This medallic issue coin was issued in 1960 to commemorate the establishment of the Republic of Ghana. The obverse pictures the country's first president, Kwame Nkrumah (b1909-d1972), encircled by the legend KWAME NKRUMAH - FIRST PRESIDENT OF GHANA. The reverse features the arms of the Republic with the date of 1 JULY 1960 (the date the country was established) over the arms and REPUBLIC DAY below the arms.
GIBRALTAR
The Phoenicians (c 950 BC) and the Carthaginians visited the area but did not settle on the Rock. The word "Calpe", Gibraltar's first known name, is of Phoenician origin and is possibly derived from the verb 'kalph', to hollow out - maybe a reference to St. Michael's Cave. Another name associated with the area is "the Pillars of Hercules" (the other pillar is in Morocco just west of the Spanish enclave of Ceuta). The Greek philosopher, Plato, mentions the Pillars of Hercules with reference to Calpe (Gibraltar) and Mons Abyla (Jebel Musa), the two mountains which dominate the Strait. The Romans followed and it was they who coined the phrase "Ne Plus Ultra" - go beyond at your peril which is the motto on Spanish coins of the 18th century and later. The Romans called Gibraltar "Mons Calpe" but they did not establish a town there. The decline of the Roman Empire around 400 AD led to invasions by the barbarian races of the east. Through Iberia (Spain) swept the Vandals and then the Goths from the area. The former moved on into North Africa, but the latter occupied the Iberian peninsula from 414 to 711 AD. After the death of Mohammad, the Arab armies of Islam invaded Spanish territory. In 711, Tarik-ibn-Zeyad, a Berber, landed at the southern end of the Rock. His memory lives on to this day in the name "Gibraltar", which is a corruption of the Arabic words "Jebel Tarik" (Tarik's mountain). For over six centuries, with a short break from 1309 to 1333, Gibraltar remained under Moorish occupation. Although Tarik had ordered some fortifications to be built, no town existed in Gibraltar until 1160. In that year Abdul Mamen, Caliph of Morocco, ordered a city to be built there with all the necessary fortifications, including a castle. A small walled city grew up on the western side of the Rock on an area from the Tower of Homage to what is Grand Casemates Square today. Gibraltar was reconquered from the Moors by the Spanish forces in 1462. Initially taken on behalf of the King of Castile, it was besieged and taken by the Duke of Medina Sidonia in 1466. Three years later, the Duke's son was confirmed as the rightful owner of the Rock by Royal Decree. When Isabella I became Queen of Castile in 1474 she was determined to get Gibraltar back. This was achieved in 1501 and the following year the Queen granted Gibraltar a Coat of Arms, the Castle and Key. The inscription on it read: "Seal of the Noble City of Gibraltar, the key of Spain." Gibraltar remained a Spanish possession until the beginning of the eighteenth century. During the War of the Spanish Succession (1702-1713), the Rock of Gibraltar became a pawn in the struggle between the two rival claimants to the Spanish throne, the Frenchman Philip of Anjou ("Philip V") and the Austrian Archduke Charles ("Charles III"). Held by forces loyal to the former, Gibraltar fell to a combined Anglo-Dutch force supporting the latter in 1704. Gibraltar, then, had been captured on behalf of one of the claimants to the Spanish throne. However, as the war neared its end, English policy was beginning to attach greater importance to Gibraltar, and by the Treaty of Utrecht, which ended the conflict, the Fortress was yielded to the Crown of Great Britain "for ever." Spain laid siege to the place in 1727 and again in 1779. In the latter case, "The Great Siege" lasted for close on four years and great destruction was caused to the town and its fortifications. It was the last attempt to take the Rock by force of arms. During the course of the nineteenth century, Gibraltar developed into a fortress of renowned impregnability - the phrase "As safe as the Rock of Gibraltar" became commonplace in the English language. At the same time, a civilian community grew up within its walls, earning its living primarily from commercial activities. In 1830, responsibility for Gibraltar's affairs was transferred from the War Office to the Colonial Office and the status of Gibraltar was changed from "the town and garrison of Gibraltar in the Kingdom of Spain" to "Crown Colony of Gibraltar." In that same year, a new Charter of Justice created a Judiciary independent of the Executive and Legislative powers vested in the Governor. In 1963, the question of Gibraltar's status came before the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonisation, and Spain seized the opportunity to revive her claim for the reversion of the Rock to Spanish sovereignty. The claim was accompanied by increasing restrictions at the border between Gibraltar and Spain, which culminated in the complete closure of the frontier and all other means of direct communication with the mainland in 1969. In that same year, Gibraltar was granted a new Constitution by Great Britain by which the functions of the Legislative Council and the City Council were merged and a Gibraltar House of Assembly was established. The Gibraltarians had now achieved self-government in domestic matters. The "Gibraltar problem" simmered on, and after sixteen years of isolation from mainland Spain, the frontier gates were again opened. However, Spain continues to pursue her claim for the re-integration of the Rock into her territory, whilst the Gibraltarians continue to insist on their rights to their land.
£2 - 1975
KM-007
- 7,70 g
Edge - Reeded
Mintage - 750
This NCLT "coin" was issued to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the British £sd Sterling currency. The obverse has a bust of Queen Elizabeth II (b1926-) with the country's name GIBRALTAR to the left, the queen's name ELIZABETH II to the right and the date 1975 below. The reverse has the lion holding a key, the symbol of the Bank of England, with the denomination 25 POUNDS below.
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