One pound 2009

The new £1 coin bears on its reverse a rendition of the heraldic shield of the Royal Arms by Matthew Dent. Only the third version of the Royal Arms to appear on the £1 coin since 1983, while the obverse features the familiar portrait of Her Majesty the Queen by Ian Rank-Broadley FRBS. The edge features lettering with the Latin inscription reading DECUS ET TUTAMEN, meaning 'an ornament and a safeguard, this first appeared on the edge of coins of Charles II to deter the unscrupulous practice of clipping and shaving precious metal from the coins. Struck in Brilliant Uncirculated quality, the £1 coin is housed in a full-colour presentation folder detailing the rich history of the shield of the Royal Arms design and the inspiration behind choosing this shield for the new UK coinage.
As a powerful symbol of royal authority, the Royal Arms in various forms have featured on the coinage of every monarch since the reign of Edward III (1327-77). Coins were, and still are, issued under the personal authority of the monarch and came to be regarded as vehicles for royal imagery, whether in the form of a portrait or a monarch’s personal coat of arms. As heraldry itself started to grow as a symbol of royal identity, it was a natural progression for the Royal Arms to appear on the coinage. It is not surprising therefore that Matthew Dent, the winning designer, chose the Royal Arms, and in particular a shield of the Royal Arms, as the theme for his innovative range of new designs, with all four quarters spread over the six coins from the 1p to the 50p. Completing the new range of coins is the £1 coin featuring the shield of the Royal Arms in its entirety, uniting the six elements into one design.
Denom. £1
Alloy Nickel Brass
Weight 9.5 gms
Diameter 22.5 mm
Designer (Reverse) Matthew Dent
Designer (Obverse) Ian Rank-Broadley FRBS
Edge Inscription Decus et Tutamen


Source http://www.blogger.com/www.Royalmint.com

10 years of Euro

For the second time in its short history, all eurozone member states will issue a €2 coin with a common design also on the national side. In 2007, the issue celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, while this new €2 coin celebrates ten years of economic and monetary union (EMU).EU citizens and residents have selected the new design by an on-line vote. The design symbolizes the euro as the latest step in the long history of European economic integration, and was created by Mr. G. Stamatopoulos, sculptor at the Minting Department of the Bank of Greece.The center of the reverse shows a stylized human figure whose left arm is prolonged by the euro symbol. The initials ΓΣ of the artist appear below the euro symbol. The name of the issuing country written in the national language(s) appear(s) at the top, while the legend “1999-2009” and the acronym EMU translated into the national language(s) appear at the bottom. The twelve stars of the European Union surround the design on the outer ring.

Poland 2 zloty coin 2009

Metal CuAL Zn Snl alloy
diameter 27 mm
Weight 8.15 g
mintage (volume) 1.400.000 pcs

Obverse: An image of the Eagle established as the State Emblem of the Republic of Poland; on the sides of the Eagle the notation of the year of issue, 20-09; below the Eagle an inscription, ZŁ 2 ZŁ, in the rim an inscription, RZECZPOSPOLITA POLSKA, preceded and followed by six pearls. The Mint’s mark, M/W, under the Eagle’s left leg.

Reverse: A stylized image of the hussar of the 17th century, on horseback, in armour, with the
hussar’s wing and leopard skin on the back, carrying a lance with a pennant. On the left-hand side, a semicircular inscription, HUSARZ – XVII w.

On the edge: an inscription, NBP, repeated eight times, every second one inverted by 180
degrees, separated by stars.

Obverse designed by: Ewa Tyc-Karpińska
Reverse designed by: ANDR ZEJ NO WAKOWSKI

Source National bank of Poland

Sweden 1 krona, 2009

The obverse of the coin shows a portrait of King Carl XVI Gustaf in profile and the text “CARL XVI GUSTAF •SVERIGES KONUNG” (Carl XVI Gustaf King of Sweden). Under the portrait is the year the coin was struck.

The reverse of the coin has a special strike consisting of a symbolic depiction of the sea as a link connecting Sweden and Finland. The upper edge contains the quotation “DEN UNDERBARA SAGAN OM ETT LAND PÅ ANDRA SIDAN HAFVET” (the wonderful tale of a land beyond the sea), taken from Anton Rosell´s book “Studentbesöket i Finland”. The lower edge carries the text "SVERIGE 1809 2009 FINLAND", the initials of the Riksbank Governor ("SI"), the first letter of the region where the coin is issued and the initials of the designer ("AWJ"). The denomination "1 KR" is at middle of the lower edge.

The edge of the coin is milled. The coin is silver-colored. The coin is designed by artist Ernst Nordin (obverse) and Annie Winblad Jakubowski (reverse).

Metal content: Alloy of 75 % copper and 25 % nickel
Weight: 7.00 grammas
Diameter: 25.00 millimeters
Border thickness: 1.88 millimeters

Source: Sweden National Bank

Grading coins

Lets see how the Standard Catalog of World Coins attempts to guide us through grading.

''In grading coins, there are two elements to look for: 1) Overall wear, and 2) loss of design details, such as strands of hair, feathers on eagles, designs on coats of arms, etc. The age, rarity or type of a coin should not be a consideration in grading, Grade each coin by the weaker of the two sides. Grade by the amount of overall wear and loss of design detail evident on each side of the coin. On coins with a moderately small design element, which is prone to early wear, grade by that design alone.

For Brilliant Uncirculated (BU) grades there will be no visible signs of wear or handling, even under 30-power microscope. Full mint luster will be present. Ideally no bag marks will be evident.

For Uncirculated (Unc.) grades there will be no visible signs of wear or handling, even under a 30-power microscope. Bag marks may be present.

For Almost Uncirculated (AU), all detail will be visible. There will be wear only on the highest point of the coin. There will often be half or nore of the original mint luster present.

On the Extremely fine (XF) coin, there will be about 95% of the original detail visible. Or, on a coin with a design with no inner detail to wear down, there will be a very light wear over nearly all the coin. If a small design is used as the grading area, about 90% of the original detail will be visible. This latter rule stems from the logic that a smaller amount of detail needs to be present because a small area is being used to grade the whole coin.

The Very Fine (VF) coin will have about 75% of the original detail visible. Or, on a coin with no inner detail, there will be moderate wear over the entire coin. Corners of letters and numbers may be weak. A small grading area will have about 66% of the original detail.

For Fine (F), there will be about 50% of the original detail visible. Or, on a coin with no inner detail, there will be fairly heavy wear over all the coin. Sides of letters will be weak. A typically uncleaned coin will often appear as dirty of dull. A small grading area will have just under 50% of the original detail.

On the Very Good (VG) coin, there will be about 25% of the original detail visible. There will be heavy wear on all the coin.

The Good (G) coin's design will be clearly outlined but with substantial wear. Some of the larger detail may be visible. The rim may have a few weak spots of wear.

On the About Good (AG) coin, there will be typically be only a silhouette of a large design. The rim will be worn down into the letters if any. ''

1 dollar 2008 Sacagawea

The Sacagawea Dollar honors the Indian guide that led Lewis and Clark on their discovery. On her back, Sacagawea carries her infant son Jean Baptiste, who she carried and cared for on her entire 3,000-mile portion of the expedition with Lewis and Clark.
The reverse shows a soaring American bald eagle encircled by 17 stars, symbolizing the states of the union at the time of the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1804.

metal 88.5% Copper, 6% Zinc, 3.5% Manganese, 2% Nickel

The 2 Euro coin 2004 Greece

Greece publishes 2004 the first 2 Euro Intending coins, which is course valid in the entire monetary union. European back, weight and material correspond to the normal rotating coin, the illustrated page show a Discus thrower and the Olympic rings. The European commission has green light on 30 September 2003 given for a new series of 2 Euro Think of coins. Starting from this year it is open all member states to coin/shape per year an intending coin in the value from 2 Euros to which exhibits the same specifications and the same European side, like the normal course coins. This new 2 Euro Think of coins is in completely euro country official, legal tender. For the editions of these coins, differently than thus with the rotating money, limitations, maximum limits of the embossing quantities, were specified. In completely euro country course-valid with the introduction of the euro-coins in the year 2002 one had agreed on European level first to leave it provisionally with the well-known national backs of the course coins. The population should get accustomed only once to the new change. Now the European commission in coordination with the governments of the euro-countries waived this restriction starting from the year 2004 for the 2 Euro coin. Greece premiere as the first country of the monetary union Greece uses the new freedom. On the occasion of the presentation of the Olympia intending coins too „2004 “in November in Berlin the director of many years of the national mint Athens, Konstantin Karkazis explained Athens that the Greek government had seized the resolution to publish 2004 from cause of the Olympic summer games such a coin. As motive a Discus thrower is intended. In addition the five Olympic rings are to be represented on only 2 Euro coin shaped with the year 2004. The height of the edition was not announced yet, however probably lies in the million-range. The 2 Euro coin, at the beginning of the yearly in Greece is in circulation given to be seen, is as addition to the precious metal program of the country. It is with the own population, in addition, beyond the borders of the organizer country for the sporty major event recruit - the classical auxiliary function of a coin already in the antiquity.