On 16 November 2021, Numismatica Genevensis will be auctioning a very important rarity: 5 francs, 1886 – the rarest silver crown of the Latin Monetary Union. Produced around the same time as the Morgan dollar, its rareness also shares the same economic and historical background: the overproduction of silver in the American town of Virginia City, Nevada.
The political crisis of the United States continued during the 70s. After the Watergate scandal shocking the nation, President Reagan was able to restore the self-confidence of the USA – especially by means of his economic policies.
The Second World War was won, and yet the United States, as a new superpower, was about to face decades of turbulence. The world was split into two camps, each bristling with weapons, and tensions also arose among the people of the United States. Of course, a lot happened in terms of monetary history as well.
In the third episode of the series on the monetary history of the United States, we look at what an economic boom and a depression can do to a country. When the situation is particularly complicated, it may even lead to a world war.
In the second part of our series on the monetary history of the United States of America, we deal with booming and struggling national economies and the question of whether US citizens should pay in silver or gold currencies.
The birth of the United States of America was anything but peaceful. Two major wars were necessary so that the nation as we know it today could emerge: the Mexican-American War and the American Civil War.
The bullion coin “American Buffalo” is supposed to capture the beauty of the Wild West. In reality though, the models used for the images were anything but wild.
Only for a few years the US Mint struck gold and silver coins at its branch in Carson City. Only 57 types of gold coins originated there. Auction house Gadoury is now able to offer an impressive number of these rarities in their forthcoming auction.
As part of its Berlin Auction 285, the auction house Künker offers a Congressional Gold Medal. This is no medal like any other, but the one President Madison handed personally to Alexander Macomb, the Hero of Plattsburgh. We are telling his story.
Jack London, Klondike and Burning Daylight
One day in December Daylight filled a pan from bed rock on his own claim and carried it into his cabin. Here a fire burned and enabled him to keep water unfrozen in a canvas tank. He squatted over the tank and began to wash…
