LOOSE CHANGE: NOVEMBER 8, 2020

Roman coins from the war against Hannibal

The First Roman Quinarius

Waging war is expensive, and the Romans had to debase their currency in order to have enough coins to pay the costs of the Second Punic War; within a few years of Hannibal's invasion, Roman currency was nearly worthless. But in 212 BCE, when Rome's economic situation bottomed out, Roman armies outside of Italy began capturing enormous amounts of booty which could be used to replenish the empty treasury.

In 211 BCE, the Romans used their new-found wealth to launch an entirely new precious metal monetary system, based on a denarius that would be struck in good quality silver. The new coinage system was enormously successful and financed Rome's ongoing military efforts – when the Roman general Publius Cornelius Scipio marched against the Carthaginian armies in Spain in 210 BCE, he did so with a war chest that included 2,400,000 denari.

To read the complete article, see:
Roman Coins From the War Against Hannibal (https://coinweek.com/ancient-coins/roman-coins-from-the-war-against-hannibal/)

Collecting Political Memorabilia

Political memorabilia used to mostly mean campaign buttons, posters, and broadsides, newspapers featuring election results headlines, and in later years, bumper stickers. But today's most-collectible political paraphernalia ain't your grandparents' election souvenirs! In fact, its often downright politically incorrect.

That's not to say that folks back in the day didn't seek out some pretty outrageous, outlandish, and/or oddball political collectibles, because they certainly did.

A WorthPoint search for "political memorabilia" (without quotation marks) yields 467,124 results. The priciest item of all, appropriately enough, is related to the USA's first President. GEORGE WASHINGTON: U.S. PATENT SIGNED was sold by Heritage Auction Galleries on May 21, 2011, for $179,250.

To read the complete article, see:
(https://www.worthpoint.com/articles/fraternal-political-organizations/politically-collect-souvenirs-from-the-presidential-campaign-trail)

Literature Classics As Cartoons

Plenty of us love to read. Or say that we do. But finding the time to do so is, more often than not, much more difficult than wed like. After a hard day at work or school, instead of snuggling up with a doggo, a steaming mug of hot cocoa, and a good novel, we usually end up being couch potatoes in front of the TV or computer screen.

Well, not to worry, because artist John Atkinson of ‘Wrong Hands' has you covered. The illustrator created a series of cartoons that will help any lover of the written word catch up on the literature they missed out on. Whether its the classics or popular modern hits.

To read the complete article, see:
Artist Pokes Fun At Literature Classics In 30 Cartoons (https://www.boredpanda.com/book-spoilers-illustrations-john-atkinson-wrong-hands/)

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