whuamai

Today I received...
Well, ok, they didn't all show up today, they've been assembled over a six month period. But the last one DID just show up this week, so I'm posting anyways.
Here's a nice mini-collection of Romanian gold pieces in terrific condition. Eastern European gold coinage can be tough to collect, with its unfortunate combination of low mintages and war/revolution/political unrest.
The coins:
1. 1883 20 Lei - LMU standard 0.1867AGW - Minted in Bucharest, 185,290 pieces. King Carol I on the obverse, crowned and draped coat of arms on the reverse. Edge lettering that reads "PATRIA*SI DREPTUL*MEU" (Homeland And My Right).
2. 1890 20 Lei - LMU standard 0.1867AGW - Minted in Bucharest, 196,000 pieces. King Carol I on the obverse, crowned and draped coat of arms on the reverse. Edge lettering that reads "PATRIA*SI DREPTUL*MEU" (Homeland And My Right).
3. 1906 circulating commemorative 20 Lei - LMU standard 0.1867AGW - Minted in Brussels, Belgium, 15,000 pieces. Obverse and reverse both portraits of King Carol I. Milled edge.
4. 1944 Ardealul Nostru medallion, a commemorative issued to mark the liberation of areas of northern Transylvania that were annexed by Hungary in 1940 with the support of Nazi Germany.
Nominally assigned a value of 20 Lei, although not to LMU standards - it mirrors the same size/fineness/weight of the debased 100 Franc - 21mm, 6.55g, 0.1895AGW.
Obverse depicts overlapped busts of Michael the Brave, King Ferdinand, and King Michael. Reverse is a crowned eagle surrounded by the coats of arms of the annexed Transylvanian counties. Edge lettering that reads "NIHIL SINE DEO" (Nothing Without God).
Minted in Vienna, 1,000,000 pieces, though its anyone's guess how many survived the end of WWII and all that came after in this part of the world. Many thanks to @DuncanWylieWilson for this piece that completes my little Romanian mini-collection. Off to deep storage for my ungrateful heirs to one day auction off 😂😂😂

Today (recently, lol) I received...
This fantastic and scarce coin which for the time being is the crown jewel of my LMU collection.
The coin is an 1848 Republic of Venice (San Marco) 20 Lire. A one-year edition only, as the revolutions of 1848-49 sweeping Europe generally, and the Italian States in particular, turned out to be fairly short lived.
A total of 5,210 of these absolutely breathtaking 20 Lire coins were minted (I believe in Turin, but I haven't confirmed). The obverse is the Lion of St. Mark, and value within wreath on the reverse.
One thing that I have noticed with graded pieces is there is a prevalence of Prooflike designations for these coins. I've tried to capture the reflective, prooflike nature of this coin but its really difficult to do in photos. In hand, it is amazing to see. A very, very beautiful mirrorlike finish. Angle it in the sunlight the right way and you could signal an airplane with it! One of the nicest coins I've had the privilege to add to the LMU collection and one of the very few raw coins I would consider sending off for grading to validate and conserve it.
 
 

This might be boring for some but this 1871 100 Pesetas specimen just allowed me to understand the relationship between the LMU denominations and the metric system:

As it states in the legend: there are 31 pieces of 100 Franc (or here 100 Pesetas) in 1kg.
And indeed, if we divide 1,000g by 31 we get 32.2580g as stated on this 100 Bolívares or Pachano:

So if your aim is to stack/collect 100g of fine gold, you will need 310 Francs or equivalent. 

 
There are a few odd outliers like some of the 5 Peso in South America which are 25 Pesetas equivalent; the 2.5 Peso Argentino equates to 12.5 Pesetas or Francs. 


The 5 Roubles 1884-1896 and 1897 7.5 Roubles are 20 Francs; the 1897 15 Roubles corresponds to the 40 Franc pieces. 
 

 
1897 onward 5 Roubles are 2/3 of 20 Franc and 10 Roubles and modern Chervonets are 4/3 of 20 Francs so 30 Roubles equate to 80 Francs or quatre-vingt Francs.  



So the Soviet Union has been producing up to the 1980s as one of the last countries yearly several tons of LMU trade coinage. 

1 Pound Egypt 1955
Mintage: 16 000 pieces
 
 

1 Pound Egypt 1955
Mintage: 16 000 pieces
 
 

1 Pound Egypt 1955
Mintage: 16 000 pieces
 
 

1 Pound Egypt 1955
Mintage: 16 000 pieces
 
 

1 Pound Egypt 1955
Mintage: 16 000 pieces
 
 

1 Pound Egypt 1955
Mintage: 16 000 pieces
 
 

1 Pound Egypt 1955
Mintage: 16 000 pieces
 
 

The motif immediately reminds me of the 5oz silver coin from Chad. Greeting Maxe.

1 Pound Egypt 1955
Mintage: 16 000 pieces
 
 

1 Pound Egypt 1955
Mintage: 16 000 pieces
 
 

1 Pound Egypt 1955
Mintage: 16 000 pieces
 
 

1 Pound Egypt 1955
Mintage: 16 000 pieces
 
 

1 Pound Egypt 1955
Mintage: 16 000 pieces
 
 

1 Pound Egypt 1955
Mintage: 16 000 pieces
 
 

1 Pound Egypt 1955
Mintage: 16 000 pieces
 
 

1 Pound Egypt 1955
Mintage: 16 000 pieces
 
 

1 Pound Egypt 1955
Mintage: 16 000 pieces
 
 

1 Pound Egypt 1955
Mintage: 16 000 pieces
 
 

1 Pound Egypt 1955
Mintage: 16 000 pieces
 
 

1 Pound Egypt 1955
Mintage: 16 000 pieces
 
 

1 Pound Egypt 1955
Mintage: 16 000 pieces
 
 

1 Pound Egypt 1955
Mintage: 16 000 pieces