Diocletian Bronze Antoninianus Fine

In the 1920’s Australia thought about making some of their coins square, they even made some patterns. These square coins were not made but the patterns they issued sell for up to £20,000. The INA decided to issue a square pattern Patina crown with the retro date of 1920 on it. It has George V on one side and ‘5’ with a bird on the other side. They are struck in Proof Sterling Silver.

The discovery of Iceland, according to medieval sources, took place in the second half of the 9th century A.D. when Norwegians on their way to the Faroes were driven off course and came upon an unknown land further to the west. There they found Irish Christian hermits who left soon after the Norsemen arrived. On the 1100th anniversary of the settlement, the Central Bank of Iceland issued commemorative coins to mark the occasion. The coins were designed by an Icelandic artist but struck at the Royal Mint in the UK. The two coins in this set are the 1000 Kronur showing two Norsemen beside a large fire and the 500 Kronur depicting a woman leading a cow by her side. The reverse of both coins shows Iceland’s guardian spirits, a bull, a bird, a dragon and a giant. A beautiful pair of large-size Sterling silver proof coins in the case of issue, now 50 years old but as perfect as the day they were struck.

Postumus was the governor of Germany in A.D. 260 when the emperor Valerian was captured in the East. With the Roman world in crisis the rebel Postumus was left in control of Britain, Gaul, Spain and parts of Germany, forming what was called the ‘Gallic Empire’. Like many emperors at the time Postumus was murdered by his own troops in A.D. 269. At the start of his reign Postumus minted coins that were about 20% silver, at least twice as much silver than the coins being made by Gallienus’ central government in Rome. Later in his reign as he ran out of resources he lowered the silver content to about 5%, the same as the rest of the empire. This is the 5% silver grade Extremely Fine meaning they’ve had very limited use since they were struck.