KOTCT
Worldwide Coins & Bank Notes => Other World Coins => Topic started by: scottishmoney on October 07, 2007, 10:12:46 AM
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(http://www.geocities.com/scottishmoney/bigcoins/katangacross.jpg)
This is a Katanga cross, these were made from approximately the 14th century on up to the late 19th century in the Katanga region in what is now the Congo. Technically speaking, not a coin, but a monetary instrument with the same difference as betwixt paper money and coins etc. These pieces continued to circulate to some extent in the then Belgian Congo into the early part of the 20th century, thereafter they lost monetary value.
These pieces were cast in bronze, in a sand mold, which accounts for the rough surface, notice the spur in the centre of the piece, it is where the casting sprue was until it was removed by the maker.
These are pretty neat pieces, especially when you buy them for $20 on an overlooked auction on eBay on a slow summer day a couple of years ago. The Indian nickel is for size reference, it was received in change last year, only the second I have ever gotten in change.
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Thanks for the post and picture scottishmoney.
You must have a vast and varied collection.
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(http://www.geocities.com/scottishmoney/bigcoins/siamboatmoney.jpg)
Boat money from Siam, these were made until the late 19th or early 20th centuries, and came from the Mekong Delta area. These were long bars of copper essentially that functioned as a form of money. During the war in SE Asia in the 1970's these seem to be relatively common, now they are quite difficult to find.
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But my favourite non-traditional forms of money are the plate money pieces from Sweden. These are generally accepted as a coinage, and are included in Krause's 17th and 18th century catalogs.
(http://www.geocities.com/scottishmoney/sweden/1daler.jpg)
weden had minted "Plate Money" from 1644 until 1776. This huge and cumbersome coinage was necessitated both by a lack of silver, and an overabundance of copper in Sweden. Coins were issued in denominations of 1/2 Daler on up to the monster 10 Daler coin. The Daler had a value of 1/3 of a Riksdaler, which was equivalent of a Swedish Silver Dollar. These coins were not popular from the moment they were first introduced, both because of their sheer size and the weight. Any sum of them constituted a considerable effort to move around. An early account of a bank robbery in Stockholm notes that the thieves took all money except that which was in plate money, because of the effort involved in hauling it away. The largest of these pieces issued were the 10 Daler coins during the 17th century. These measured 13" by 25" and weighed in at 44lbs each.
The above coin was minted in 1716, during the reign of Charles XII. During this time Sweden was fighting the Northern War with Russia for control of the eastern Baltic, and Finland. This war was devastating to the Swedish economy and the resultant shortage of funds necessitated a token coinage which was even more unpopular than the plate money. The Government minister whom initiated this token coinage, Baron Georg Heinrich von Goertz, subsequently lost his head, largely because of the financial mess he created in his effort to fund the costly war with Russia.
(http://www.geocities.com/scottishmoney/sweden/2daler.jpg)
In 1718, the reign of Charles XII was ended at a battle in outside of Kristiana in Norway. Charles's sister, Ulrika Eleanora inherited the throne, which subsequently was passed onto her husband, Frederik Duke of Hesse. This particular coin was issued during his reign, which lasted from 1720-51.
The demise of plate money in 1776 basically rendered the money worthless except as scrap metal. The greater majority of these coins were subsequently called in, and sold for scrap. They were useful as ballast, so they were loaded deep into the holds of ships travelling to the Far East, where they were thence unloaded and sold as scrap to merchants in Asia. One such ship travelling to the Far East was sunk in a storm in the 1780's off of South Africa. The "Nicobar" was laden with these coins. Most of the plate money available today came from this shipwreck. Any other, non sea salvage, plate money, such as the two above pieces are now quite scarce. So far this is the largest coin I have in my collection.
Sometime I hope to acquire the 4 Daler piece, but so far a non sea salvage piece has alluded my capture.
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Fantastic ...... I learn more everyday.
The day I do not learn something will be the day I am no longer able to.
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Scottishmoney. You have some wonderful, if not a bit strange, items of currency, there.
I have never seen these before. Thanks for sharing.
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Those are incredible. Someday I hope to track down some of the stranger examples of currency for my collection. They're so fascinating!
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I also have a manilla from West Africa, it is about the most affordable of the unusuals, they are known as slave bracelets and circulated in Nigeria until the 1940's and were tariffed at 3d, threepence per. I just never seem to get a good enough image of it.
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The strangest money to me is the stone money from the Pacific island of Yap ...
(http://www.goworldtravel.com/july04/YapStone2.jpg)
(http://www.pacificworlds.com/yap/visitors/images/money2.jpg)
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Yep....bit hard to put your change in your pocket!
;D
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Yep....bit hard to put your change in your pocket!
;D
Just as hard to lose. ;D
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And you don't have to worry about the kids taking your change. ;D
Great items and very unusual
madspec
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I have always wanted one of those Yapese stone coins, but even if I could get one, that like the Hamilton Standard DC-3 propeller for a ceiling fan would drive the Boss woman over the edge of what I can have.
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Now that is something I know about.
Purchased one a couple of years ago.
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Can you tell me what size and weight of the one Daler and two Daler plate money that you have shown in your picture?
Amazing money!
And...are my eyes playing tricks on me or is there really an image on the reverse of those coins?
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If I remember correctly the 2 Daler weighs about a Kilo, so I am sure the 1 Daler is about half of that, and there is nothing on the reverse save the rolling marks from when the copper was flattened out to make these.
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they are all very nice i have wanted to collect these for quite some time , Also pants money, tiger tounge money etc.
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Oh man I'd just love to take that Yap coin to a shop and buy a packet of crisps or something cheap hehehe...
Wonder what I'd get for change?
How much value does it represent anyhow??