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NÜRNBERG
Nürnberg received a charter in 1219 and was made a free imperial city by the end of the 13th century. The city was independent of the burgraviate of Nürnberg, which included a large part of Franconia and which came under the control of the Hohenzollern family in 1192. In 1525, Nürnberg accepted the Reformation, and the religious Peace of Nürnberg, by which the Lutherans gained important concessions, was signed there in 1532. In the Thirty Years War, Gustavus II was besieged (1632) in Nürnberg by Wallenstein. The city declined after the war and recovered its importance only in the 19th centuryt when it grew as an industrial center. In 1806, Nürnberg passed to Bavaria.
¼ Ducat - 1700
KM-252
- 0,88 g
This coin is called a klippe as it is square-shaped. Unfortunately the corner has been broken off as well as the coin was holed. The oberverse has the arms of the German State of Nürnberg. The reverse has the Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) with the initials GFN below for the mintmaster.
PAKISTAN
The first inhabitants of Pakistan were Stone Age peoples in the Potwar Plateau in northwest Punjab. In 327 BC Alexander the Great came over the Hindu Kush to finish off the remnants of the defeated Persian empire. A The Kushans were at the centre of the silk trade and established the capital of their Gandhara kingdom at Peshawar. By the 2nd century AD they had reached the height of their power, with an empire that stretched from eastern Iran to the Chinese frontier and south to the Ganges River. The Kushans were Buddhist and under King Kanishka built thousands of monasteries and stupas. Soon Gandhara became both a place of trade and of religious study and pilgrimage. The Kushan empire had unravelled by the 4th century and was subsequently absorbed by the Persian Sassanians, the Gupta dynasty, Hephthalites from Central Asia, and Turkic and Hindu Shahi dynasties. The next strong central power was the Moghuls who reigned during the 16th and 17th centuries. A succession of rulers introduced sweeping reforms, ending Islam's supremacy as a state religion. In 1799 a Sikh leader named Ranjit Singh was granted governorship of Lahore. Over the next few decades he proceeded to parlay this entity into a small empire, fashioning a religious brotherhood of 'holy brothers' into the most formidable army on the subcontinent. In the course of his rule, Ranjit had agreed to stay out of British territory - roughly southeast of the Sutlej River - if they in turn left him alone. But his death in 1839 and his successor's violation of the treaty plunged the Sikhs into war. The British duly triumphed, annexing Kashmir, Ladakh, Baltistan and Gilgit and renaming them the State of Jammu and Kashmir. A second war against the British in 1849 brought the empire to an end, and the annexation of the Punjab and the Sind in the 1850s; these were ceded to the British Raj in 1857. National self-awareness began growing in British India in the latter stages of the 19th century. In 1906 the Muslim League was founded to demand an independent Muslim state, but it wasn't until 24 years later that a totally separate Muslim homeland was proposed. Around the same time, a group of England-based Muslim exiles coined the name Pakistan, meaning 'Land of the Pure'. After violence between Hindus and Muslims escalated in the mid-1940s, the British were forced to admit that a separate Muslim state was unavoidable. The new viceroy, Lord Louis Mountbatten, announced that independence would come by June 1948. British India was dutifully carved up into a central, largely Hindu region retaining the name India, and a Muslim East (present-day Bangladesh) and West Pakistan. The announcement of the boundaries sparked widespread carnage and one of the largest migrations of people in history. Mohammed Ali Jinnah, a prime mover of Muslim independence, became Pakistan's first governor general but died barely a year into his new country's independence. His deputy and friend Liaqat Ali Khan replaced him but was assassinated three years later. In 1956 Pakistan finally produced a constitution and became an Islamic republic.
KUSHAN KINGDOM
1
Stater - ca350AD
KM-? - 8,1 g - 18 mm
Edge - Smooth
This coin was minted around 350AD by a rebel king named Kidara, who was either Kushan or Hunnic. These tribes were called the "Red Huns." After his death his son, Kungas was defeated by Peroz and they went through the Hindu Kush to Kabul, then they were pushed into northern India and Gandhara. These coins were minted in imitation of the Kushan coinage. The obverse has the king standing facing left with Brahmin characters. The reverse has an enthroned goddess.
PANAMA
The earliest known inhabitants of Panama were the Cuevas and the Coclé cultures, but they were decimated by disease and the sword when the Spanish arrived in the 16th century. After several forays along the country's Caribbean shore, the Spanish settlement of Nombre de Dios was established at the mouth of the Río Chagres on the Caribbean coast in 1510. Panama's Pacific coast later became the springboard for invasions of Peru, and the wealth generated by these incursions was carried overland from the Pacific port of Panama (City) to Nombre de Dios. The transport of wealth attracted pirates, and by the 18th century, the Caribbean was so dangerous that Spanish ships began bypassing Panama and sailing directly from Peru around Cape Horn to reach Europe. Panama went into decline, and became a province of Colombia when the South American nation received its independence in 1821. In 1846, Colombia signed a treaty permitting the USA to construct a railway across the isthmus and to defend it with military force. The idea of a canal across the isthmus had been broached even in the 16th century, but a French attempt to build one in 1880 resulted in the death of 22,000 workers from malaria and yellow fever and bankruptcy for everyone involved. A Frenchman who stood to gain handsomely from a US buyout of the French rights to build a canal was named 'envoy extraordinary' by Washington, and he negotiated and signed a canal treaty with the USA, despite the objections of the Colombian government. A revolutionary junta declared Panama independent on November 3, 1903.
100
Balboas - 1975
KM-041 - 8,16 g - 26,4 mm
Edge
- Reeded
Mintage - 0,075M
This NCLT "coin" was issued to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the birth of Vasco Nuñez Balboa (b1475-d1519), discoverer of Panama. The obverse features the arms of the Republic with the country's name REPUBLICA DE PANAMA in Spanish at the top and the denomination 100 BALBOAS at the bottom. The fineness 900/1000 ORO FINO is above the denomination. The reverse has a depiction of Balboa (b1475-1519) with his name VASCO NUÑEZ DE BALBOA at the top with the date 1975 below the bust. Balboa was a Spanish conquistador and explorer who was the first European to see on 13 September 1513 the eastern part of the Pacific Ocean after an arduous trip through the jungles of the Isthmus of Panama. He was beheaded for treason in 1519.
PAPUA-NEW GUINEA
The first European contact in 1526-27 was by the Portuguese explorer Jorge de Meneses, who named the island Ilhas dos Papuas (Island of the Fuzzy Hairs). The Spaniard Inigo Ortiz de Retes later called it New Guinea because he thought the people similar to those of Guinea in Africa. Further exploration followed, including landings by Bougainville, Cook, Stanley and John Moresby. New Guinea was left alone for several centuries, with only the Dutch making any effort to assert European authority over the island. But in 1824, the Dutch (seeking to shore up their profitable Dutch East Indies empire) formalised their claims to sovereignty over the western portion of the island. Germany followed, taking possession of the northern part of the territory in 1884. At the same time Great Britain declared a protectorate over the southern region with outright annexation occurring four years later. In 1906, British New Guinea became Papua, and administration of the region was taken over by newly independent Australia. With the outbreak of WWI, Australian troops promptly secured the German headquarters at Rabaul, subsequently taking control of German New Guinea. In 1920, the League of Nations officially handed it over to Australia as a mandated territory. After World War II, the eastern half of New Guinea reverted to Australia and became the Territory of Papua & New Guinea. PNG was granted self-government in 1973, and full independence was achieved in 1975.
100 Kina - 1976
KM-010
- 9,57 g
Edge - Reeded
Mintage - 8.020
This NCLT "coin" commemorate the 1st Anniversary of PNG Independence. The obverse has the country's name and date 1976 around an representation of the crest of the national bank. The reverse has the nation's arms with the Bird of Paradise at the top with a string of traditional money below. The denomination K100 is at the bottom with the commemorative legend at the sides.
PARMA
In 1814 the Duchy was reestablished (since 1808 it had been a French departement) and given to Napoleon's wife, Marie-Louise von Habsburg. In 1844, Guastalla was ceded to Modena. Then the Bourbon dynasty, hitherto residing in Lucca, succeeded to power. Parma-Piacenza and Lucca were united (1847). There were revolutions in 1831 and 1848, which were suppressed by Austrian Piedmontese troops. In 1854, Duke Carlo III. was assassinated. After Austria's defeat in the Battle of Solferino in 1859 the Armistice of Villafranca set in place the return of the ruling duke. A provisional government took charge on 9 June. Parma-Piacenza was formally annexed by Piemont-Sardinia in March 1860. The Kingdom of Piemont-Sardinia was renamed Kingdom of Italy in 1861.
40 Lire - 1815
KM-032 - 12,90 g
Mintage - 0,220M
This coin was minted by Parma which was an entity in Italy. The obverse features a bust of Duchessa Maria Luigia (b1791-d1847), the wife of Emperor Napoleon of France (known in French as Marie Louise). The Latin legend means MARIA LUIGIA IMPERIAL PRINCESS OF AUSTRIA. At the bottom is the date and the privy marks. The reverse has the city's royal coat of arms with a Latin legend THROUGH THE GRACE OF GOD, DUCHESS OF PARMA, PIACENZA, AND GUASTALLA with the denomination at the bottom.
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