LOOSE CHANGE: MAY 22, 2022

 

Domitian
Æ Semis, 2.90g
Rome mint, 90-91 AD
Obv: IMP DOMIT AVG GERM COS XV; Bust of Apollo, draped, r.; in front, branch
Rev: S C in exergue; Raven stg. r. on laurel branch
RIC 710 (C). BMC 453. BNC 484.
Acquired from Den of Antiquity, May 2022.

Domitian's smaller bronzes rarely feature a portrait of the emperor. This semis from 90-91 sports a bust of Apollo on the obverse and, appropriately enough, his divine messenger a raven on the reverse. Perhaps an allusion to Domitian's support of the arts.

To read the complete article, see:
A Coin Edgar Allan Poe Could Love (https://www.cointalk.com/threads/a-coin-edgar-allan-poe-could-love.396696/)

A pub owner is raising a glass to toast his good luck after finding a 364-year-old coin under his floorboards - as it was worth a staggering £12,500.

David Gorton was renovating the Grade II listed pub when he prised up the wooden beams and found what he thought was an old penny in the dirt below.

He'd sucked it up in a vacuum cleaner but got it out and then stuck it in his back pocket to look at later in the day, and when he did he realised it was an Oliver Cromwell silver shilling dating back to 1658.

David, who runs the Old Cottage in Margate, Kent, said: "There was a clunk noise and I thought I'd hoovered an old nut or bolt.

"But I emptied it later and saw it was a coin.

To read the complete article, see:
Pub owner finds 364-year-old coin with staggering value under his floorboards (https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/pub-owner-finds-364-year-26985244)

The Educated Mint Master: Reiner Budel

There are men who spend a lifetime gaining experience. And there are men who learn how to put their knowledge on paper at universities. And then there are a select few who possess both, experience and university knowledge. The mint master Reiner Budel was one of them. He wrote an influential work on numismatics.

To read the complete article, see:
The Educated Mint Master: Reiner Budel (https://bookophile.com/the-educated-mint-master-reiner-budel/?lang=en)

Nickel is an important metal for many industrial purposes, and its hardening and anticoercive properties explain why it is used in many US and EU coins. There are a few thousand different nickel alloys used in commercial production and a few hundred thousand aerospace, architecture, consumer, industrial, and transportation products that require nickel. Its use is highlighted in military, monetary, and battery applications.

Despite nickel's economic importance and even the recent chaos in its wholesale market, there is almost no media coverage or economic commentary on the metal. Most economists do not know anything about nickel and generally ignore it.

However, like many commodities, nickel can serve as a microcosm for economic analysis and improve our historical understanding of inflation. Despite its origins as a fiat money, nickel has ironically become a marker for price stability in more recent decades.

To read the complete article, see:
Nickel: How Government Alchemists Turned a Base Money Hard and Now Are Expected to Kill It. (https://mises.org/wire/nickel-how-government-alchemists-turned-base-money-hard-and-now-are-expected-kill-it)

In one of the biggest busts in Israeli history, the Israel Antiquities Authority's theft prevention unit has recovered over 1,800 ancient artifacts from an unlicensed dealer in the central Israeli city of Modiin. Mostly coins and jewelry, the artifacts also included cuneiform tablets and bronze statuettes.

The items were seized on Sunday after a judge granted a wide-ranging search warrant of the dealer's private home.

IAA antiquities' trade supervision Ilan Haddad told The Times of Israel on Thursday that the IAA periodically checks all online antiquities auction platforms, including eBay, as well as new online storefronts out of Israel. The Modiin-based suspect, a man in his 50-60s, was identified through his online store, which was linked to an Israeli IP address.

To read the complete article, see:
Massive bust of illegal antiquities trade seizes 1,800 coins and ancient artifacts (https://www.timesofisrael.com/massive-bust-of-illegal-antiquities-trade-seizes-1800-coins-and-ancient-artifacts/)

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web