The coin thread--post pictures of your traditional knives with a coin

Can't go wrong with old half crowns.

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I ISKRA A great set-up there :cool: Why do I particularly like the Guilielmus IV ?;) Guillaume le conquerant would be even better :D The Victoria young head is as always a wonderful effigy. Really like the Irish coin and that's from The Irish Free State 1922-1937 thereafter it became Eire, the Irish Republic. I admire those Irish coins from pre-decimal days 1971 that had wonderful representations of Irish wildlife on them, stayed after decimal coinage but gone when Ireland abandoned the Pund and took the € :( That's a grand Cattle-Knife with low riding Sheepfoot.

Here's an Irish 3d threepence with the Hibernian Hare on it, also from the same year as your Half-Crown. Less illustrious knife of course but....

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Will Power said:
I ISKRA A great set-up there :cool: Why do I particularly like the Guilielmus IV ?;) Guillaume le conquerant would be even better :D The Victoria young head is as always a wonderful effigy. Really like the Irish coin and that's from The Irish Free State 1922-1937 thereafter it became Eire, the Irish Republic. I admire those Irish coins from pre-decimal days 1971 that had wonderful representations of Irish wildlife on them, stayed after decimal coinage but gone when Ireland abandoned the Pund and took the € :( That's a grand Cattle-Knife with low riding Sheepfoot.

Here's an Irish 3d threepence with the Hibernian Hare on it, also from the same year as your Half-Crown. Less illustrious knife of course but....

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Thanks, Will!
Haha, you have a William IV half crown too, don't you? I agree, the Conqueror would be even better. And I certainly wouldn't mind having one from the Stuarts.
These Irish coin designs are quite neat, surprisingly they were done by an Englishman. Back then the Irish Pound was at par with the British Pound Sterling, but the Irish half crown, florin and shilling were made of .750 silver while their British counterparts and down to the threepence got debased to .500 silver after ww1 (they were otherwise of the same dimensions). Yet British coins were accepted 1:1 in Ireland while Irish coins mostly weren't accepted in Britain, save for certain majority republican places in Northern Ireland.

Nothing wrong with a less illustrious knife, if it's built well. The hare looks nice too!

The only other I have is a penny from 1928, it's almost the same diameter as the half crown!

Our old Slovenian Tolar coins from before the Euro used to feature animals as well. Trout, swallows, ibex, bulls, horses, storks, bees, owls and proteus. I might dig some out for next time although I wouldn't considered those designs among the prettiest in Central Europe let alone broader ...

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I ISKRA That's interesting about the silver content of some Eire coins, Britain had sterling until 1919 then mix 50% silver and cupro-nickel which often didn't work well as the early Geo.V coins of the 20s show copper blushing showing through, they were also low relief and wore prematurely. Seems the Irish managed that a lot better- some coins like Canadian were mainly nickel I believe? After 1947 British coins dropped any silver content but the mixture & striking process was good, late Ge.VI coins are nicely done and early Liz II.

My Half-Crown is not William IV but his dissolute brother Geo.IV Something was done to this coin chemically I think. The obverse with monarch's head has odd copper gold patches and does not patina after years, the reverse shown is fine. Never understood this except cleaning gone very wrong or some electrical experiment trying to gold plate it?

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Will Power said:
I ISKRA That's interesting about the silver content of some Eire coins, Britain had sterling until 1919 then mix 50% silver and cupro-nickel which often didn't work well as the early Geo.V coins of the 20s show copper blushing showing through, they were also low relief and wore prematurely. Seems the Irish managed that a lot better- some coins like Canadian were mainly nickel I believe? After 1947 British coins dropped any silver content but the mixture & striking process was good, late Ge.VI coins are nicely done and early Liz II.

My Half-Crown is not William IV but his dissolute brother Geo.IV Something was done to this coin chemically I think. The obverse with monarch's head has odd copper gold patches and does not patina after years, the reverse shown is fine. Never understood this except cleaning gone very wrong or some electrical experiment trying to gold plate it?

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Interesting, a pitty they botched that as the reverse looks wonderful, both in terms of toning and the design itself. Very fitting to the pompous character of George IV. And the knife of course isn't half bad either ... ;)

The only real problem with Irish coins is that it's a bit harder to find any in really good condition as most of them are well circulated. Due to the style used for the animals they wear better, there's not that much detail that will rub off, like hairlines on a a monarch's portrait, but the two hind legs on the horse might blend into one. Where you really lose details is on the obverse, the decorarions on the Irish Harp are usually the first to go.
 
ISKRA said:
Thanks, Will!
I agree, the Conqueror would be even better.
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Nope. Le Conquérant, the guy NEVER spoke English (remember Dieu et mon Droit, Honni soit qui mal y pense)! You certainly saw the movies : the brave Saxons and the bad Normands !


(picture shows on my screen 🤷🏻‍♀️ click to see)
 
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Jolipapa said:
Nope. Le Conquérant, the guy NEVER spoke English (remember Dieu et mon Droit, Honni soit qui mal y pense)! You certainly saw the movies : the brave Saxons and the bad Normands !


(picture shows on my screen 🤷🏻‍♀️ click to see)
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To be fair, one doesn't have to speak the language to rule the place. ;) When a different pair of Saxons arrived some seven centuries later, they struggled at first as well.

Is that a Hungarian szalonnázók?
 
Jolipapa Jolipapa Well Guillaume may never have spoken English..but then nobody else did either 🤣 Modern day 'educated' native-speakers cannot understand Anglo-Saxon and many struggle with Chaucer's Canterbury Tales in the original from the 1380s;) The Conqueror likely spoke several languages , Old Norman, Old French et al. and certainly Latin (which is what Geo I 1714-1727 spoke to his ministers in due to him being a German Pretender...) What is certain is that English although being in the Germanic family is a mongrel language with strong influences from Latin, Old French and even Norse. The Normans also taught the Saxons how to build in stone, churches remain as proof. Too bad Napoleon didn't get his act together and properly invade:cool:

Coin-Knife GEC 33 In Antique Yellow and Half Sovereign
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Jolipapa said:
Yes it is 👍 Polished antler.
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Very nice! Are you pleased with it? How is the fit and finish? I am currently looking into Papp knives, considering getting something for myself (if I can navigate through the websites, Hungarian is a tricky one even for Google Translate 😅).
 
ISKRA said:
Very nice! Are you pleased with it? How is the fit and finish? I am currently looking into Papp knives, considering getting something for myself (if I can navigate through the websites, Hungarian is a tricky one even for Google Translate 😅).
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Papp knives are seriously and well made, intended to be used. I checked Google translate, it is just a step beyond old Chinese manuals 🤣
You can contact me if you need help.
 
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