The Year of the Five Emperors (AD 192 – 193) Pertinax The ‘Year of the Five Emperors’ refers to the year AD 193, in which there were five claimants for the title of Roman Emperor – Pertinax, Didius Julianus, Pescennius Niger, Clodius Albinus and Septimius Severus. The year opened with news of the murder of Commodus…
In 1922 Ireland won its independence from Britain after a two-year War of Independence and protracted negotiations in London. The team, authorized to negotiate on behalf of Dáil Eireann, signed a treaty and, after ratification by ‘simple majority’ in the Dáil and by a referendum vote by the Irish people, the Irish Free State was…
The new Irish 20p coin In 1982 the then Minister for Finance, Ray MacSharry, announced that a twenty or twenty-five pence coin might be designed and in August 1984 the twenty pence was chosen. The Arts Council of Ireland recommended the horse design. The twenty pence (20p) coin was introduced on 30th October 1986. It was first…
In 1937, a new constitution declaring Ireland a free state was established and the old designs for the coins of Ireland that featured the legend “Saorstat Eireann” or Irish Free State were changed to “Eire” to reflect the new constitution. The only known 1938 coins to feature that revised legend are: one halfcrown (currently unique…
The Nervan-Antonine Dynasty (96–192) The Nerva–Antonine dynasty was a dynasty of seven Roman Emperors who ruled over the Roman Empire from 96 AD to 192 AD. These Emperors were Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius, Lucius Verus, and Commodus. They are probably of great interest to fans of the Gladiator movie but the real history…
The Year of the Four Emperors (68–69) and the beginning of the Flavian Dynasty The suicide of emperor Nero, in AD 68, was followed by a brief period of civil war – the first Roman civil war since Mark Antony’s death in 30 BC. Between June and December of AD 69, Rome witnessed the successive rise and…
Coins of the Roman Empire This is intended as a simple, introductory guide to Roman coins. Links to academic and other sources of information are provided for each Roman Emperor and more detailed Roman coin databases are available online. Roman Provincial Coinage (University of Oxford) Online Coins of the Roman Empire (New York University / ANS) Coin…
Introduction There are two facets of grading coins that are frequently discussed at coin fairs and exhibitions – condition and rarity ! The former is relatively straight forward (albeit subject to several different standards) whereas the latter is often the subject of spirited debate. In order to address both, I will deal with them separately. …
One of the most asked questions relating to hammered coins is “how are they made?” Rather than go into a long speech about how it was done, perhaps it is best if I leave this to the experts …. Dave Greenhalgh (Cosmeston Medieval Village) & Barrie Cook (Curator of Medieval Coins, British Museum) Dave reckons…
Abrasions Area(s) of a coin where a foreign object or another coin has displaced metal in an abraded fashion. Similar to a bag mark but usually on the high points or open fields but not as deep or acute as the former. Accumulation A miscellaneous grouping of coins, often as a monetary hoard. Opposite of…
The Old Currency Exchange is a specialist dealer and valuer of Irish & GB coins, tokens and banknotes 