rare gold coins

Augustus Saint-Gaudens' artistic brilliance left an indelible mark on American coinage. Born in Dublin in 1848 and raised in New York City, Saint-Gaudens displayed an early aptitude for sculpture. Importantly, his journey led him to Paris, where he honed his craft at the École des Beaux-Arts, a renowned art school. Afterwards, upon his return to the United States, his innovative approach to sculpting gained admiration.

A Presidential Commission

The pivotal moment in Saint-Gaudens' career came with a commission from President Theodore Roosevelt in 1905. Tasked with rejuvenating American coin design, Saint-Gaudens brought a fresh perspective to numismatic art. Furthermore, his designs captured the essence of American identity and history, elevating coins from mere currency to intricate works of art.

Was Thrace influenced by Greece & the Macedonian Empire? It is a fact, Thrace was conquered by Philip II, king of Macedonia. This occurred in the 4th century BC. Once Philip the II died Thrace became a part of the great kingdom of Alexander the Great. Following Alexander’s death, his empire was divided among his generals, who established independent kingdoms including Thrace.

Lysimachus, who reigned from 323 to 281 BCE, was the general who succeeded Alexander as the ruler of Thrace. According to Herodotus, an ancient Greek historian, Thrace was highly influenced by Greece and the Macedonian Empire's culture. But, were they?

Yes, Thracian coinage gave homage to the once great leader of the Macedonian Empire. The Thracians under the leadership of Lysimachus used Alexander's portrait on the front of their coins. However, on the back

Gold Cob collectors didn't learn the true story of the failed gold mint at Cuzco (1698-99) until 1964. For years, the truth was hidden in the Mint archives of Spain and Peru.

Prior to 1964 only one 1698 C M Peru 2 Escudos was known to exist. Hence, the 2 Escudo was under extreme scrutiny and reputed as being a fake. Consequently, after the recovery of the 1715 Fleet, everything changed. Most importantly, a small quantity of 1698 C M Peru 2 Escudos were discovered. This totally vindicated the one 1698 coin previously found. In conclusion, it was indeed very real and not a fake. In fact, it was a one year type only struck in Cuzco, Peru. 

The truth revealed that the Cuzco

As far as the history of rulers of the Byzantine Empire, Tiberius II was a good emperor. Tiberius II ruled as an Eastern Roman emperor from 574 to 582. He ruled Byzantine Empire under the Justinian dynasty and proved himself to be a capable administrator that was well loved by his people.

During the Justinian Dynasty Tiberius II rose to power in 574 when Justin II started to have a mental breakdown. Justin the II had adopted Tiberius as his own son and proclaimed him Caesar. In fact, in 578 the dying Justin II gave Tiberius the title of Augustus and becoming co-emperor alongside him. Tiberius became sole ruler less than two weeks later. Subsequently, Tiberius took the regnal name of "Constantine" under which he reigned until his death.  

Many people today are not aware that Newfoundland was independent and its own Dominion. Today, Newfoundland is the last province of Canada. This means it was the 10th and last province added. However, it was formerly known as the Newfoundland Colony. It wasn't until after World War II that it became a province of Canada. In fact, on March 31, 1949, it was easternmost, the tenth, and last province to be added to Canada.

Before it became a Canadian province, Newfoundland was called the "Dominion of Newfoundland." Back in 1907 Newfoundland along with its neighbor Labrador enjoyed the constitutional status like other dominions of the time. This was confirmed by the Balfour Declaration of 1926 along with the Statute of Westminster of 1931.

Newfoundland's independence only survived for 79 years. This was because of severe economic hardship

US President Theodore Roosevelt was tired of minting the same old gold eagle and double eagle coins. To paraphrase President Roosevelt, the country needed a US gold coin redesign. In short, he had long been complaining that US coins lacked artistic quality. In fact, he decided to hire a private sculptor to create a new design. Augustus Saint-Gaudens was chosen to redesign five denominations of US coinage that could be changed without an Act of Congress.

Roosevelt's broad overhaul of the United States gold coins led to a new Lady Liberty. One wearing a traditional Native American Indian Headdress. In 1907, the new $10 coin with the new Lady Liberty wearing the Indian Headdress was unveiled. The coin became a huge success.

The world’s first coins were minted in ancient Lydia. Lydia's King Croesus became the first ruler to separate gold from other metals. He issued the world's first pure gold and pure silver coins. The Persian Empire, also known as the Achaemenid Empire, took up the idea of coinage upon defeating King Croesus in 547 B.C. However, it wasn't until Alexander the Great of the Macedonian Empire, who conquered the Persian Empire, that the first international currency evolved. In fact, some believe that Alexander was the father of the first international currency.

Alexander ascended to the throne in 336 BC following the assassination of his father Philip II. He became king at the very young age of 20. In addition, Alexander adopted the Attic coinage standard. Unfortunately, Alexander spent his ruling years conducting lengthy military campaigns and really didn't get to enjoy his conquest much. He was always too busy conquering more lands throughout Western Asia and Egypt.

King Croesus renowned wealth became synonymous with his own name. The saying "rich as Croesus" originated in reference to his absurd affluence. Subsequently, Croesus reign became associated with the invention of coins as currency. Before Croesus became King, his father Alyattes had already started to mint various types of non-standardized coins. However, Croesus took it one step further. By developing an innovative refining process and standardizing the specific sizes as well as the purity for general circulation, King Croesus advanced both silver and gold.

In other words, Croesus created intrinsic value deriving from a certain quantity of gold or

Many collectors wonder what an Austrian Ducat is worth. It is important to first understand what an Austrian Ducat coin actually is. The Ducat became a popular world traded coin. It was first introduced in the late 13th Century. However, it was the Venetians who introduced the coin.

Austrian Gold Ducats are large gold coins valued by investors for several reasons. First of all for their 98.60% fineness weighing 3.44 grams. Secondly, these circulated coins were the highest purity gold coins to be issued prior to the late 20^th Century. Therefore, during the 1400s international traders in Western Europe changed from using florins to ducats as the preferred currency.

It is important to note, Ducats come it different sizes in different countries in Western Europe. Today

The rarest pre-1933 US gold coin is the Three-Dollar gold piece. To clarify, only 539,792 of them were produced according to the US Mint. The reason there were so few made is because the Three-Dollar gold coins were very unpopular. Basically, the public rejected them when they were introduced in 1854. Therefore, only small mintages of these coins were produced from 1854 to 1889. Similarly, They ended production after just 35 years. This total of just over half a million coins were produced at the US Mint facilities in Philadelphia, New Orleans, San Francisco and Dahlonega combined.

Many of these 3 Dollar coins have been destroyed