France And Italy Coins

France

In France the sou (until 1715 sol) was the first name of a coin. It was initial minted in gold, from the 1200s in silver and during the 1700s in copper. The sou tournois was a 12-denier coin, one-twentieth of the livre tournois (Tournois pound), although the sou parisis was a 15-denier coin. After decimalisation in France, the sou became the forename for a five-centime coin, one-twentieth of the French franc(Until the late 1960s, the expression "20 sou" was a synonym of 1 Franc).

To this day, sou is used as jargon for currency, as in j'ai pas de sous. "I'm broke", "I haven't got two bob to rub together".

Sou of copper, coined 1767 designed for Louis XV of France

Italy

The first name of the medieval Italian soldo (plural soldi) was derived from solidus.

Solidus coin

A solidus (the Latin word for solid) was initially a gold coin issued by the Romans.

Julian solidus, ca. 361.It was introduced by Constantine I in the AD 309–10, and was used from beginning to end the Byzantine Empire until the 10th century AD. The coin replaced the aureus as the major gold coin of the Roman Empire.

The name solidus had beforehand been used by Diocletian (284-305) for the gold coin that he introduced, which is different from the solidus introduced by Constantine. The coin was struck at a theoretical worth of 1/72 of a Roman pound (about 4.5 grams). Solidi were wider and thinner than the aureus, with the exclusion of some dumpy issues from the Byzantine Empire. The weight and fineness of the solidus remained moderately constant throughout its long production, with few exceptions. Fractions of the solidus recognized as semisses (half-solidi) and tremissis (one-third solidi) were also produced.

Avitus tremissis, ca. 456.The word soldier is eventually derived from solidus, referring to the solidi with which soldiers were paid.

Beaver Coins

Beaver Coins, also identified in Pioneer days as Beaver Money, were gold coins temporarily minted by the Provisional Government of the Oregon Territory in the late 1840's. The coins were accessible in $5 and $10 dollar denominations. Their name comes from the well-known Beaver depicted on the face of the coins. Today these coins are moderately rare and valuable.

The influx of settlers into the Oregon Country produced a scarcity of circulating currency. The population at the moment in time resorted to using gold specks or minting their own gold coins for utilize in trading. Many settlers began lobbying the territory's new government to accurate this situation.

The Provisional Territorial Legislature at Champoeg then gave the endorsement for the Oregon Exchange Company to mint currency. Although the Oregon Exchange Company was generally a private organization, the territorial legislature set the coin's values, authorized a mint, and appointed the officers to the mint.

British coin Triple Unite

The Triple Unite, valued at sixty shillings, 60/- or three pounds, was the peak British denomination to be produced in the era of the hammered coinage. It was only produced during the Civil War, at King Charles I's mints at Oxford and, on the odd occasion, at Shrewsbury in 1642. It weighed 421 grains, or immediately over seven-eighths of a troy ounce.

The gold coins are unquestionably magnificent pieces of work, and they show the king holding a sword and an olive branch on the obverse, signifying his wish for peace rather than war.

The tremendously rare Shrewsbury-produced coin shows, on the obverse, a plume behind the kings' head surrounded by the legend CAROLUS DG MAG BRIT FRAN ET HIBER REX -- Charles by the grace of God King of Great Britain France and Ireland.

The reverse shows the legend RELIG PROT LEG ANG LIBER PAR in two lines -- The religious conviction of the Protestants, the laws of England and the liberty of Parliament, with three plumes and the value numeral III above the announcement and the year 1642 below it, the whole being surrounded by the legend EXURGAT DEUS DISSIPENTUR INIMICI - Let God arise and His enemies be scattered.

The Oxford issues are extremely similar to the Shrewsbury one, except that the legend on the reverse appears in three lines rather than two, and the obverse legend appears as CAROLUS DG MAG BRIT FR ET HIB REX. Oxford coins come into view with slight design differences in each year of 1642, 1643, and 1644.

Between 1985 and 1997 of Penny coin

Between 1985 and 1997 the cranium by Raphael Maklouf was used, in which the Queen wears the George IV State Diadem. Since 1998 one by Ian Rank-Broadley has been used, again featuring the tiara, with a signature-mark IRB below the portrait. In all cases, the dedication used is ELIZABETH II D.G.REG.F.D. date. Both sides of the coin are bordered by dots.

One penny and two pence coins are officially permitted tender only up to the sum of 20p; these means that it is possible to refuse payment of sums greater than this in one and two pence coins in order to settle a debt.

British One Penny coin

The coin was originally minted from bronze, but since 1992 it has been minted in copper-plated steel. As this is less dense than bronze, post-1992 coins have been to some extent thicker. The British decimal Penny (1p) coin, produced by the Royal Mint, was issued on 15 February 1971, the day the British coinage was decimalised. In practice, it had been existing from banks in bags of £1 for some weeks previously. The coin weighs 3.56 grams and has a diameter of 20.32 millimetres.

The reverse of the coin, planned by Christopher Ironside, is a crowned portcullis with chains (an adaptation of the Badge of Henry VII which is now the Badge of the Palace of Westminster), with the numeral "1" written below the portcullis, and either NEW PENNY (1971–1981) or ONE PENNY (1982–present) above the portcullis.

During the times gone by of the coin, three dissimilar obverses have been used so far. Between 1971 and 1984 the leader of Queen Elizabeth II by Arnold Machin was used, in which the Queen wears the 'Girls of Great Britain and Ireland' Tiara.

The Irish pound coin sketch

The Irish pound coin was introduced on June 20, 1990 using the sketch of a red deer, by the Irish artist Tom Ryan. The 2000 Millennium was used to issue a memorial coin, the design was based on the "Broighter Boat" in the National Museum of Ireland; the coins blueprint was by Alan Ardiff and Garrett Stokes and were issued on November 29, 1999. The coin featured a milled edge - unique in Irish coinage.

The Irish pound coin, which was introduced in 1990, vestiges the largest Irish coin introduced since decimalisation at 3.11 centimetres diameter and was 10 grams weight. The coin was almost impossible to tell apart in dimensions to the old penny coin that circulated before 1971, and was quite similar in diameter to, but thinner, than the half-crown coin.

During the in the early hours circulation of the coin, many payphone and vending machines which had been changed to accept the pound coin also accepted the old penny because of the similar size, the latter coin which was no longer legal tender and had little value to collectors. As a result losses accrued to vending machine operators due to the substitution of the penny coin and additional costs were associated with updating the machines so they would no longer accept the penny