Wikipedia:WikiProject Numismatics/newsletter/April 2020
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The WikiProject Numismatics newsletter |
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| Issue XII | |
Stub Article of the Month
[edit]The Big Maple Leaf (BML) is a set of six $1 million (CAD) gold coins each weighing 100 kilograms (220 lb) (3,215 troy ounces). They were produced by the Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) in 2007, at their Ottawa facility where the first BML produced remains in storage. As of March 2017[update], the market value of a single Big Maple Leaf had reached approximately $4 million (USD). On 27 March 2017, one of the coins was stolen from a Berlin museum. (Full article...)
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[edit]| February 2 |
 The San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge half dollar is a fifty-cent piece struck by the United States Bureau of the Mint in 1936 as a commemorative coin. One of many commemoratives issued that year, it was designed by Jacques Schnier and honors the opening of the Bay Bridge that November. One side of the coin depicts a grizzly bear, a symbol of California, and the other shows the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge, with the Ferry Building. Congress passed authorizing legislation for the coin in 1936. Schnier's models were approved and the coins were struck at the San Francisco Mint. Just over 70,000 coins were sold, by mail, in person, and from booths at the Bay Bridge's approaches, making it the first commemorative coin to be sold on a drive-in basis. The coins were taken off sale in February 1937, with the unsold remainder returned to the Mint for redemption and melting. The Bay Bridge half dollar catalogs in the low hundreds of dollars, depending on condition. (Full article...) |
| March 16 |
 The Bridgeport, Connecticut, Centennial half dollar is a fifty-cent piece issued by the United States Bureau of the Mint in 1936 as a commemorative coin. Designed by Henry Kreis, the obverse (pictured) depicts the showman P. T. Barnum, who was one of Bridgeport's most famous residents, mayor of the city, helped develop it, and is buried there. Bridgeport authorities wanted a commemorative coin, and authorizing legislation passed Congress without opposition. Kreis had designed the Connecticut Tercentenary half dollar (1935), and he produced designs showing Barnum and a modernistic eagle similar to the one on the Connecticut piece. The coins were vended to the public beginning in September 1936 at a price of $2. Too late for most of the centennial celebrations, the coins sold well. Unsold pieces were bought up by coin dealers and wholesale quantities were available on the secondary market until the 1970s. The Bridgeport half dollar sells in the low hundreds of dollars, depending on condition. (Full article...) |
Picture of the Day
[edit]| February 9 |  |
This picture shows a ten-sen banknote, in use during the 1914–1922 Japanese occupation of Tsingtao (Qingdao), China, as part of the Asian and Pacific theatre of World War I. Issued by the Bank of Japan, the currency was based on the silver standard. This banknote, dated 1914, is in the National Numismatic Collection of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History.
Before the outbreak of World War I, German naval ships were located in the Pacific; Tsingtao developed into a major seaport while the surrounding Kiautschou Bay area was leased to Germany since 1898. During the war, Japanese and British Allied troops besieged the port in 1914 before capturing it from the German and Austro-Hungarian Central Powers, occupying the city and the surrounding region. It served as a base for the exploitation of the natural resources of Shandong province and northern China, and a "New City District" was established to furnish the Japanese colonists with commercial sections and living quarters. Tsingtao eventually reverted to Chinese rule by 1922. |
| February 20 |  |
The Portuguese escudo was the currency used in Portugal prior to the introduction of the euro on 1 January 1999. One escudo was subdivided into a hundred centavos. In addition, the escudo was also an 18th-century denomination of the real, the currency used before the 5 October 1910 revolution.
This picture shows a gold coin worth eight escudos minted in 1729, during the reign of John V. The obverse (left) features a portrait of the monarch in profile, with an abbreviated Latin inscription translating to 'John V, by the grace of God, King of Portugal and the Algarves'. The reverse (right) depicts the Portuguese coat of arms, supported by two dragons on either side and surmounted by a crown. While various denominations of the gold escudo were produced between 1722 and 1821, the eight-escudo coin was only struck for a fairly brief period, first in 1722, and again between 1724 and 1730. This particular coin is part of the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History. |
| March 20 |  |
Portugalösers were a specific denomination of large gold coins, worth ten ducats, which were based on Portuguese coinage, and generally minted beginning in the 1550s for commemoration, sale, or by commission to institutions or individuals.
This picture shows a 1679 half-portugalöser coin, equivalent to five ducats, minted in Hamburg, then a free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire. The obverse (left) depicts a panorama of the city with the Port of Hamburg in the foreground, while the reverse (right) depicts an allegory of peace. The inscriptions on the coin, in German, read 'Lord, may thy kindness be with us just as we have hoped for' on the obverse, and 'God loves our praise so graciously that he gives unto war first resistance then peace' on the reverse. This coin is now in the National Numismatic Collection of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History. |
| March 23 Chosen at random from a selection of ten | ||
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NASA space-flown Gemini medallions were mission-specific commemorative medallions which were approved by NASA and carried aboard the mission spacecraft into orbit. Gemini 3 was the first crewed mission in the Gemini program. On March 23, 1965, astronauts Gus Grissom and John Young flew three low Earth orbits in their spacecraft, which they nicknamed Molly Brown, in a playful reference to the Broadway musical The Unsinkable Molly Brown; the mission was successful, and the capsule did not sink at splashdown as had happened in Grissom's previous space flight, in the Mercury program.
Fliteline medallions were made for each of the crewed Gemini flights, being prepared for the astronauts at their request. It is unclear who prepared these early medallions, only that each individual box containing a medallion bore the word "Fliteline". | |
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NASA space-flown Gemini medallions were mission-specific commemorative medallions which were approved by NASA and carried aboard the mission spacecraft into orbit. Gemini 4 was the second crewed mission in the Gemini program. In June 1965, astronauts James McDivitt and Ed White flew sixty-six Earth orbits in their spacecraft. The highlight of the mission was the first space walk by an American, during which White floated free outside the spacecraft, tethered to it, for approximately twenty minutes.
Fliteline medallions were made for each of the crewed Gemini flights, being prepared for the astronauts at their request. It is unclear who prepared these early medallions, only that each individual box containing one bore the word "Fliteline". | |
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NASA space-flown Gemini medallions were mission-specific commemorative medallions which were approved by NASA and carried aboard the mission spacecraft into orbit. Gemini 5 was the third crewed mission in the Gemini program. In August 1965, astronauts Gordon Cooper and Charles "Pete" Conrad flew 120 Earth orbits in their spacecraft. The flight broke the Soviet Union's previous world record for duration, set by Vostok 5 in 1963, and was the first time an American-crewed space mission had held the record.
Fliteline medallions were made for each of the crewed Gemini flights, being prepared for the astronauts at their request. It is unclear who prepared these early medallions, only that each individual box containing one bore the word "Fliteline". | |
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NASA space-flown Gemini medallions were mission-specific commemorative medallions which were approved by NASA and carried aboard the mission spacecraft into orbit. Gemini 6A was a mission in the Gemini program. On December 15, 1965, astronauts Wally Schirra and Thomas P. Stafford were launched into space where they made the first crewed rendezvous with another spacecraft, Gemini 7; the two craft came within a foot (30 cm) of each other, and could have docked had they been equipped to do so.
Fliteline medallions were made for each of the crewed Gemini flights, being prepared for the astronauts at their request. It is unclear who prepared these early medallions, only that each individual box containing a medallion bore the word "Fliteline". | |
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NASA space-flown Gemini medallions were mission-specific commemorative medallions which were approved by NASA and carried aboard the mission spacecraft into orbit. Gemini 7 was a mission in the Gemini program. The craft was launched on December 4, 1965, and astronauts Frank Borman and Jim Lovell spent nearly 14 days in space and made the first crewed rendezvous with another spacecraft, Gemini 6A; the two craft came within a foot (30 cm) of each other, and could have docked had they been equipped to do so.
Fliteline medallions were made for each of the crewed Gemini flights, being prepared for the astronauts at their request. It is unclear who prepared these early medallions, only that each individual box containing a medallion bore the word "Fliteline". | |
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NASA space-flown Gemini medallions were mission-specific commemorative medallions which were approved by NASA and carried aboard the mission spacecraft into orbit. Gemini 9A was a mission in the Gemini program. The craft was launched on June 3, 1966, and astronauts Thomas P. Stafford and Gene Cernan spent three days in low Earth orbit. An attempt to dock with an unmanned spacecraft was unsuccessful, but Cernan performed a two hour extravehicular activity.
Fliteline medallions were made for each of the crewed Gemini flights, being prepared for the astronauts at their request. It is unclear who prepared these early medallions, only that each individual box containing a medallion bore the word "Fliteline". | |
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NASA space-flown Gemini medallions were mission-specific commemorative medallions which were approved by NASA and carried aboard the mission spacecraft into orbit. Gemini 10 was a mission in the Gemini program. The craft was launched on June 18, 1966, and astronauts John Young and Michael Collins spent three days in low Earth orbit. Gemini 10 was designed to achieve rendezvous and docking with an Agena target vehicle, and an extravehicular activity, and these objectives were successfully achieved.
Fliteline medallions were made for each of the crewed Gemini flights, being prepared for the astronauts at their request. It is unclear who prepared these early medallions, only that each individual box containing a medallion bore the word "Fliteline". | |
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NASA space-flown Gemini medallions were mission-specific commemorative medallions which were approved by NASA and carried aboard the mission spacecraft into orbit. Gemini 11 was a mission in the Gemini program. The craft was launched on September 12, 1966, and astronauts Pete Conrad and Richard Gordon spent two days in low Earth orbit. Gemini 11 performed the first-ever direct-ascent (first orbit) rendezvous with an Agena target vehicle, docking with it 1 hour 34 minutes after launch. Gordon also performed two extra-vehicular activities for a total of 2 hours 41 minutes.
Fliteline medallions were made for each of the crewed Gemini flights, being prepared for the astronauts at their request. It is unclear who prepared these early medallions, only that each individual box containing a medallion bore the word "Fliteline". | |
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NASA space-flown Gemini medallions were mission-specific commemorative medallions which were approved by NASA and carried aboard the mission spacecraft into orbit. Gemini 12 was the final mission in the Gemini program. The craft was launched on November 11, 1966, and astronauts Jim Lovell and Buzz Aldrin spent nearly four days in low Earth orbit. Gemini 12 marked a successful conclusion to the program, achieving the last of its goals by successfully demonstrating that astronauts can effectively work outside of spacecraft. This was instrumental in paving the way for the Apollo program, which aimed to land a man on the Moon by the end of the 1960s.
Fliteline medallions were made for each of the crewed Gemini flights, being prepared for the astronauts at their request. It is unclear who prepared these early medallions, only that each individual box containing a medallion bore the word "Fliteline". |
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