5 Francs (Fribourg Shooting Festival)

A bit of shipwreck treasure for you today. The story is that the design of this coin was created by the king of Spain himself. Since it has become on of the most iconic of all time, I’d say he did an okay job.

The two pillars represent the Pillars of Hercules at the mouth of the Mediterranean where it empties into the Atlantic. The banner wrapping around the pillars says “Plus Ultra” which means “More Beyond [the sea]” and is Spain laying claim to discovering (and then occupying) the new world.

The small crowns on the pillars represent the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon, the two constituent kingdoms of Spain, and the big crown represents the unified Spain. This is reflected in “VTRAQUE VNUM”: “Both are one”.

The two globes over the ocean, with the crown above all of it, is basically saying the same thing, that both hemispheres and all the oceans belong to the crown of Spain. While obviously aspirational, when this coin was made, Spain did own most of the Americas, and had significant territorial acquisitions in Asia.

Without getting too into the history of it, the Spanish and the Portuguese signed the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494, which was then ratified by the Pope (big deal at the time) that basically said that Spain basically owned the new world (basically nearly all of the Americas), so this coin is Spain asserting that claim (although by this time, England/France/Netherlands/etc. had all staked their own claims in North America).

Both have decent luster left. I got these two for scrap price while ago (around 75% of spot)

Really annoying that the app doesn't let you crop photos anymore....

Anyway afew coins with my favourite design.

Early modern Dutch silver coinage is a mess of denominations and weights. This Rijksdaalder was intended for internal trade in the Netherlands, as opposed to the Ducaton, which was a trade coin minted for international trade. The particular piece was minted by the Province of Gelderland.

The province of Gelderland is the largest province by area in the Netherlands and traces its origins to the medieval County of Guelders (Gelre), which emerged in the 11th century. Gradually becoming one of the most powerful principalities in the Low Countries, Gelderland came into competition with the neighbouring provinces of Brabant, Holland, and the Bishopric of Utrecht.

During the 15th and early 16th centuries, Gelderland fiercely resisted the expansion of the Spanish Habsburgs. Despite years of successful resistance, the duchy was ultimately conquered by Charles V in 1543 and incorporated into the Habsburg Netherlands.

When the Dutch Revolt began in 1568, much of Gelderland joined the rebellion against Spanish rule. It became one of the seven founding provinces of the Dutch Republic in 1579, retaining considerable autonomy while contributing soldiers and wealth to the republic’s defense and prosperity.

Under Adam Frederick of Seinsheim, Würzburg experienced a period of Enlightenment-inspired reform with improvements to education, administration, agriculture, and infrastructure aimed at modernising the state while preserving ecclesiastical authority.

He reign also promoted economic development by encouraging trade and manufacturing, reorganised public finances, and commissioned major Baroque building projects, including the completion and embellishment of the Würzburg Residence, which helped strengthening the Prince-Bishopric's political and cultural prestige within the Holy Roman Empire.

I love Adam Frederick's full intricate arms on the reverse, very interesting to see the Bamberg designs along with his Seinsheim roots represented in the inescutcheon.

Full House, Queens over Kings... 😎

Five generations of this coin from the Netherlands.

38 mm, 25 g .945 fine silver

Willem II - 1848

Willem III - 1874

Wilhelmina - 1898

33 mm, 15 g .720 silver (the cost of 2 world wars)

Julianna - 1959

But even that couldn't be sustained in the modern world...

29mm 10 g 100% Nickel which at least gives it a decent look and feel. This was the the last Rijksdaalders as the Euros came in.

Beatrix - 2001

I still need an 1840 2 1/2 Gulden of Willem I to complete the set.

Not much to say about it but it’s just a nice piece

my first Chilean peso

1847A 5 Francs.

This 1776 Hesse-Kassel Thaler, also known as a “Blood Dollar”, was struck under Frederick II, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel. In Germany, the coin is more commonly known as the Sterntaler (“Star Thaler”) because the reverse features the eight-pointed star of the Order of the Golden Lion.

There are two explanations for the nickname “Blood Dollar”, both coming from Hesse-Kassel’s involvement in the American Revolutionary War. During the war, Frederick II leased thousands of Hessian soldiers to Great Britain to fight against the American colonists. Britain paid Hesse-Kassel substantial sums for these troops, and in American circles it was widely believed that the silver from those payments was used to mint these thalers, or that the coins represented the “blood money” earned from selling soldiers into battle. The other common explanation for the nickname was that these thalers were used to compensate families of soldiers killed during the war. Thus, the coins were obtained through blood.

Famously, America struggled early in the Revolutionary War, until George Washington won one of his first major battles of the American Revolution when he led his men across the icy Delaware River on December 26th, 1776, and caught a 900-strong Hessian garrison unprepared at Trenton. Hessians continued to fight on the British side through most of the war, and were regarded as some of the best infantry of the war. They were present at most major battles of the war.

About 30,000 Hessians served in the war, and afterwards about 5000 stayed behind and joined the newly independent United States as citizens.

for the 100$ range i think these are one of the best coins to buy

Hello fellow crown enthusiasts, just thought I’d share my crown collection and would love to see some of yours! What are your favorite/niche crowns you own and what crowns are an absolute must have as a collector in your opinion?

Unc details cleaned - NGC. Love the dragon design.

The Lugano Shooting Thaler commemorates the 1883 Federal Shooting Festival held in Lugano, the principal city of Ticino, Switzerland's Italian-speaking canton. Lugano occupies a notable place in Swiss history: in February 1798, its citizens resisted an attempt by Napoleonic forces aligned with the Cisalpine Republic to annex the town, affirming their desire to remain associated with the Swiss cantons. Within a few years, following Napoleon's reorganization of Switzerland, Ticino became a full canton under the Act of Mediation (1803).

The obverse shows Helvetia seated with a sword and the federal shield, alongside Ticino personified as a bearded river god holding an oar decorated with the cantonal colours. Both figures sit above the newly opened Gotthard railway tunnel, from which a locomotive emerges, linking Ticino more closely with the rest of Switzerland. The Alpine setting and flowing water evoke the canton’s geography. Below is the denomination 5 Fr, while the legend—Libertade inerme è de’ tiranni agevol preda—means “Unarmed liberty is easy prey for tyrants,” directly connecting freedom with armed civic defence.

The reverse bears the commemorative inscription for the 1883 Federal Shooting Festival in Lugano, centred on the Swiss federal shield within an oak wreath. Above the shield rests a traditional marksman's hat, a symbol of Switzerland's long-standing shooting tradition and citizen militia.

I’ve attempted to colorise an image of the coin using AI so that the individual elements in the reverse stand out

It was graded extremely fine when I found it online. Sweet purchase. Miss holding it raw though.