LOOSE CHANGE: NOVEMBER 14, 2021

ANCIENT GREEK COINS struck before 500 BCE are called archaic by numismatists. Actually, archaic features continue to appear on coins for at least another century or so. Male and female faces on many of these coins bear a faint, enigmatic smile, something that is also found in sculpture and vase painting from this era. For centuries, art historians have been fascinated by this Archaic Smile, and many different theories have been proposed to explain it.

 

An early example is found on a 2.57 gram electrum hekte (one-sixth stater) of Phokaia (or Phocaea), a coastal town in Ionia (on the eastern shore of the Aegean Sea). Dated to c. 521-478 BCE, the coin bears a female head wearing a helmet or close-fitting cap. The only female figure in ancient art usually depicted wearing a helmet is Athena, in her aspect as a war goddess. On the coin, her full lips are slightly upturned, and although the head is shown in profile, the large almond-shaped eye appears as if viewed frontally. This is a standard feature of archaic portraiture.

To read the complete article, see:
The Archaic Smile on Ancient Coins (https://coinweek.com/ancient-coins/the-archaic-smile-on-ancient-coins/)

 

To read the complete article, see:
Is Paying With Collector Coins A Crime in the UK? (https://coinsweekly.com/is-paying-with-collector-coins-a-crime-in-the-uk/)

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: NOVEMBER 7, 2021 : Commemorative Legal Tender Coins Spent in the U.S.? (https://www.coinbooks.org/v24/esylum_v24n45a13.html)

On Friday, the Government Printing Office updated S. 2384, the Semiquincentennial Commemorative Coin Act, to include a summary. If passed, the bill will create a commemorative coin program in 2026 to celebrate the 250th anniversary of declaring our independence from England.

To read the complete article, see:
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE: Semiquincentennial Commemorative Coin Act (http://coinsblog.ws/2021/11/legislative-update-semiquincentennial-commemorative-coin-act.html)

 

The Distinguished Flying Cross earned by a teenage RAF pilot who downed a First World War German ace is going under the hammer later this month.

Richard Winterton Auctioneers, Tamworth, is auctioning the rare piece of history with other medals awarded to Lieutenant George Edgar Bruce Lawson plus an archive of associated paperwork.

Hailing from Cape Town, Lawson was only one of eight South Africans to be awarded the DFC and was a fighter ace credited with six aerial victories.

To read the complete article, see:
Rare medal collection from WW1 pilot who downed German flying ace set to for auction (https://www.expressandstar.com/news/local-hubs/staffordshire/lichfield/2021/11/11/rare-medal-collection-from-ww1-pilot-who-downed-german-fling-ace-set-to-be-auctioned-off/)

Over its half-century in the heart of Portland, Powell's Books has survived an unending array of foundational threats — the oft-anticipated death of reading, the rise of Amazon, the supposedly irretrievable abandonment of the American downtown.

None of that provided preparation for the tumult of the past two years.

The pandemic shut down its stores for several months, and turned downtown into a place best avoided.

A quirky, old-school enterprise, Powell's has retained its traditional aura in the digital era, while standing as a hero in a now-familiar tale of American urban rejuvenation. Its flagship store — a grand warren of books filling out a former car dealership — anchors a once dicey neighborhood whose warehouses have been traded in for glass-fronted condos and furniture boutiques.

To read the complete article, see:
Powell's Books Survived Amazon. Can It Reinvent Itself After the Pandemic? (https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/09/business/powells-books-pandemic.html)

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