A Few New Pickups - Canada, Czech Republic, France, Great Britain

[astrostu]

Well, not exactly new purchases, but I finally got around to photographing them (had a dozen coins backlogged from the last few months). Here's the first batch. All that's left to process are some Chinese pandas:

 

2010 Canadian Dinosaur

 

2007 Silver BU Britannia (hard to photograph, I went for PL-effect - I feel your pain, Michael)

 

2009 Silver BU Britannia (hard to photograph, I went for PL-effect - I feel your pain, Michael)

 

2009 Czech Republic International Year of Astronomy Coin

 

From my website, a description: The Czech Republic's coin came very late in 2009 and is yet another to honor Johannas Kepler and the formulation of his Three Laws of Planetary Motion that we still use today. They're kinda on the level of Newton's Laws of Motion for astronomy.

 

The obverse (or face ... not sure it's actually the obverse) shows Kepler along with a representation of his Second Law which effectively states that a planet will sweep out equal area in equal time (when it's closer to the sun, it will move faster in its orbit).

 

The reverse is really quite complex. I honestly don't quite know what it's supposed to represent, but it could be some rendition of Kepler's diagrams that he used to figure out his basic planetary laws. I don't think it's an astrolabe as was featured on many other IYA coins. It also contains the denomination, 200 Kč (200 CZK), and the mint mark for Česká Mincovna, the "C" with the bar over it and an inset capital "M" (I can't find a symbol for it on my computer).

 

With a face value of 200 Kč (koruna), the coin has a face value of around $10.50 USD (as of January 2010). This is actually quite a lot considering the coin is only 13 gms and 90% silver (balance copper). There is edge lettering on the proof version (which is what I have) that reads, "ČESKÁ NÁRODNÍ BANKA * Ag 0.900 * 13 g *" which translates as the "Czech National Bank" and then the fraction of silver and total weight. An uncirculated version with a limit of 10,700 pieces was also minted.

 

 

2009 French International Year of Astronomy Coin

 

From my website, a description: France's coin for IYA is an interesting piece and my only coin that's not, well, flat. The coin is domed, and hence is a bear to photograph, where the convex (upwards in the middle) side is what I've selected as the obverse, and concave is the reverse. What you may be barely able to make, out of focus, is actually me, my camera, and tripod above the coin but way out of focus.

 

The obverse commemorates the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. It shows the moon with a boot print over about 70% of the surface and then the denomination, year, and mint next to it. In addition, there are two small privy marks on either side of the date, one a cornucopia, and the other appears to be a dove.

 

The reverse is elegant in its simplicity, emphasizing the dome of the sky with stylized stars over it and the planet Saturn at the top. Around the bottom are the astronomical symbols of the planets, starting with the moon ☾, then sun, and then going through Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. Interestingly, Earth is missing, and the symbol for Pluto is not the standard one that's used in astronomy (♇).

 

What's really cool about this coin is the 1 ounce gold version. Picture the coin above, in gold, but then with the matte "sky" section on the reverse plated in blue gold. Purdy. Too bad the sucker retails for around $2000.

 

The coin has a face value of €10 and is 90% silver, weighing in at 22.2 gm with a diameter of 37 mm. It has a maximum mintage of 10,000 pieces. The coin was also available in a 500-mintage 163.8 gm (5.77 oz) version, a 1000-mintage 8.45 gm (0.30 oz) gold one, and then the 1000-mintage 31.104 gm (1.1 oz) gold with blue gold plate version.

[DC Dawg]

The Czech Republic's coin is fascinating! I tried to find something on the reserve and could not do so while spending a few minutes with Google. I think it would be interesting to find out what it means!!

 

Scott

[astrostu]

Yeah ... it's the only reverse on the IYA coins that I've seen that I haven't a clue as to what it is.

 

[2 minutes later] From eurocollections.com: "On the obverse is an illustration taken from Astronomia Nova showing the orbit of Mars. At the top of the coin is the "Czech Republic" inscription, while the denomination, Czech mint mark and Europa logo are at the bottom."

 

Okay, I'm really impressed that I actually kinda figured that out myself before just looking it up now.