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BAVARIA

Bavaria in southern Germany was inhabited by Celts when the Roman emperor Drusus conquered it in 15 B.C.. The Baiuoarii tribe invaded it in the 6th century A.D. and set up the duchy to which they gave their name. It was one of the five basic or stem duchies of medieval Germany. Irish and Scottish monks began the Christianisation of the area, and it was completed in the 8th century by St. Boniface.  The Wittelsbach family were given the Duchy of Bavaria in 1180 and they ruled until 1918. The title of King was granted in 1805. Germany united as a confederation under Prussia in 1871 but the States still had nominal autonomy and were ruled by kings or princes until the 1920s.  After World War I, King Ludwig III was overthrown in 1918 by the socialists under Kurt Eisner.  Eisner was assassinated in 1919 and a communist government was instituted for a short time. German forces intervened and Bavaria joined the Weimar Republic.

Coinage from what is now Bavaria probably began in Frankish times. Bavaria gold coinage began in the early 14th century A.D. and continued through 1913.

20 Mark - 1873-D

KM-501 - 7,965 g - 22 mm

Edge - Reeded

Mintage - 2,771M

The obverse includes the bust of King Ludwig II (b1845-d1886) and the German inscription meaning LUDWIG II KING OF BAVARIA. Below the bust is the mint mark D for Munich. The reverse has the Royal Arms of the German Empire encircled by the German legend for GERMAN EMPIRE.  At the bottom is the denomination 20 M and the date 1873. This reverse is Type I with large arms.

BELGIUM

Beginning in 57 BC, Julius Caesar invaded the region of Europe that is now Belgium which was then populated by the Belgae, a Celtic tribe who Caesar described as the most courageous tribe.  The Romans named their new province Gallia Belgica. In the fourth century AD, with Rome in decline, control of Gaul was ceded to the Franks, a Germanic tribe.  The Merovingians came into power in the 5th century A.D. Their king Clovis I adopted Christianity in the 6th century.  The kingdom withered after Clovis' death and they were succeeded by the Carolingian dynasty under Pepin.  Control of the region alternated between various French and German princes until it became part of the Spanish Netherlands in the 16th century. Spain ceded the territory to France who, after war, turned it over to the Austrian Habsburgs. In 1790, independence was declared but the Habsburgs reestablished control until it was retaken by the French in 1795.  After Napoleon's fall, Belgium became part of The Netherlands until the citizens revolted in 1830 establishing a Belgian constitutional monarchy.  In January 1989, Belgium became a federal kingdom.  

Belgian provincial coins for Brabant and Flanders were issued under Spanish and Austrian governance were issued at mints in Antwerp, Brussels, Bruges, and Tournai.  When it was part of the United Provinces and The Netherlands, coins were issued at the Brussels mint (B mint mark).  The first Belgian national coins were issued in 1832.

20 Francs - 1865

KM-023 - 6,45 g - 20,5 mm

Edge- Reeded

Mintage - 1.548M

The obverse has a bust of King Leopold I (b1790-d1865) with the French inscription LEOPOLD FIRST KING OF THE BELGIANS. Below the bust is the name L, WEINER, the coin's designer.  The reverse features the denomination 20 FRANCS and date 1865 with in a wreath.

There are more Belgian gold coins in this section if you are interested - Page Belgium 1  

BELIZE

Belize was heavily populated by the Maya Indians, whose relatively advanced civilization reached its height between A.D. 250 and 900. The first reference to European settlement in the colony was in 1638. These were later augmented by disbanded British soldiers and sailors after the capture of Jamaica from Spain in 1655. The settlement, whose main activity was logwood cutting (logwood was used in the past to produce dye), had a troubled history during the next 150 years. It was subjected to numerous attacks from neighbouring Spanish settlements (Spain claimed sovereignty over the entire New World except for regions in South America assigned to Portugal). It was not until 1763 that Spain in the Treaty of Paris allowed the British settlers to engage in the logwood industry. The Treaty of Versailles in 1783 reaffirmed those boundaries and logwood concession was extended by the Convention of London in 1786. But Spanish attacks continued until a decisive victory was won by settlers, with British naval support, in the Battle of St. George's Caye in 1798. After that, British control over the settlement gradually increased and in 1871 British Honduras was formally declared a British Colony. Further constitutional advances came in 1954 with the introduction of Universal Adult Suffrage and an elected majority in the Legislature, the Ministerial System was adopted in 1961 leading up to Self Government in 1964. The country's name was changed on 1st June, 1973, from British Honduras to Belize. Independence was achieved on September 21, 1981.

100 Dollars - 1980

KM-062 - 6,21 g - 26 mm  

Mintage - 3.993

The obverse of this NCLT "coin" depicts the Moorish Idol Reef fish with the date 1980 below. The reverse has the country's heraldic arms with the country name BELIZE above and the denomination ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS around the bottom and sides. 

BERMUDA

Bermuda was originally discovered in 1503 by Juan de Bermudez.  The first visitors were shipwrecked Britons under Sir George Somers who were bound for Virginia.  The colony was established in 1612 by a group from Virginia.  Today it is a parliamentary British colony.

The earliest coinage were "Hogge Money" that depicted a hog (which were introduced by the Spanish).  In the 1790s, copper token coinage was struck in Birmingham.  In 1842, the British £sd was declared the sole legal tender until Bermuda adopted the dollar in 1970. Current coinage is minted at private mints in Switzerland and the U.S.A.

50 Dollars - 1977

KM-026 - 4,05 g - 19,4 mm  

Mintage - 4.070

The obverse of this NCLT "coin" to honor the 35th anniversary of her reign has a bust of Queen Elizabeth II (b1926-) with the legend SILVER JUBILEE ELIZABETH II.  The reverse has a sailing vessel with the issuer's name BERMUDA abnd the date 1977 to the left.  The denomination FIFTY DOLLARS is below the sloop.  The hallmark is to the right.

BHUTAN

Although its early history is vague, Bhutan seems to have existed as a political entity for many centuries. At the beginning of the 16th cent. it was ruled by a dual monarchy consisting of a Dharma Raja, or spiritual ruler, and a Deb Raja, or temporal ruler. For much of its early history the Deb Raja held little real power, as the provincial governors (ponlops) became quite strong. In 1720 the Chinese invaded Tibet and established suzerainty over Bhutan. Friction between Bhutan and Indian Bengal culminated in a Bhutanese invasion of Cooch Behar in 1772, followed by a British incursion into Bhutan, but the Tibetan lama's intercession with the governor-general of British India improved relations. In 1774 a British mission arrived in Bhutan to promote trade with India. British occupation of Assam in 1826, however, led to renewed border raids from Bhutan. In 1864 the British occupied part of southern Bhutan which was formally annexed after a war in 1865; the Treaty of Sinchula provided for an annual subsidy to Bhutan as compensation. In 1907 the most powerful of Bhutan's provincial governors, Sir Ugyen Wangchuk, supported by the British, became the monarch of Bhutan, the first of a hereditary line. A treaty signed in 1910 doubled the annual British subsidy to Bhutan in return for an agreement to let Britain direct the country's foreign affairs. After India won independence, a treaty (1949) returned the part of Bhutan annexed by the British and allowed India to assume the former British role of subsidizing Bhutan and directing its defense and foreign relations; the Indians, like the British before them, promised not to interfere in Bhutan's internal affairs. When Chinese Communist forces occupied Tibet in 1950, Bhutan, because of its strategic location, became a point of contest between China and India. The Chinese claim to Bhutan (as part of a greater Tibet) and the persecution of Tibetan Buddhists led India to close the Bhutanese-Tibetan border and to build roads in Bhutan capable of carrying Indian military vehicles. In the 1960s, Bhutan also formed a small army, trained and equipped by India. The kingdom's admission to the United Nations in 1971 was seen as strengthening its sovereignty.

1 Sertum - 1970

KM-036 - 7,98 g - 22 mm

Mintage 3.111

This NCLT coin's obverse has a bust of a young girl. BHUTAN SERTUM is around the top with the date 1970 below. The reverse has a seal with Bhutanese legends. 

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