Defacing Coins as a Form of Political Action: Royal Canadian Mint Sues Dogwood Initiative over ‘Loony Idea’ By: Graham Sproule. “No person shall, except in accordance with a licence granted by the Minister, melt down, break up or use otherwise than as currency any coin that is current and legal tender in Canada.” - Article 11, Currency Act Controversy brings media attention, and breaking the law for the sake of the ‘greater good’ is always controversial. The current legal fight between a British Columbia environmentalist group, Dogwood Initiative, and the Royal Canadian Mint has … [Read more...]

French Experiments with Paper Money - Part 3 “Those who can not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” By: Pierre Driessen The Revolutionary government, having assumed the debts of the previous regime, found itself in dire financial straits. In addition to this fiscal burden, domestically it faced a deteriorating economy, shortages of food and other basics, falling tax revenues, factionalism, political unrest and in certain regions civil war. France confronted invasion from outside and her colonies and their commerce were threatened. Bottom line, government credit had … [Read more...]

French Experiments with Paper Money - Part 2 By: Pierre Driessen Following the collapse of John Law’s “System”, the French government’s finances became desperate. Royal debt had tripled between 1715 and 1722, credit was drying up, interest rates were soaring and the crown’s credibility had been severely tarnished. Over time however, through governmental and administrative reforms and a program of careful diplomatic, economic and tax policies, the finances of the Bourbon monarchy were placed on a more sound footing. The corner stone of this program was the use of diplomacy to advance … [Read more...]

French Experiments with Paper Money - Part 1 By: Pierre Driessen This article was sparked by a conversation with a dealer at a recent coin show. As I was admiring the nice mandat he had for sale, the dealer surprised me with his questions. He was wondering exactly what it was, who issued it and how it worked? As we were talking, I was struck by the similarities between the story of this mandat and present day experimentation with paper money by governments all over the world. The mandat, a form of paper money, was issued by the Revolutionary government of France at the close of the 18th … [Read more...]

Tetradrachm of Mithradates II By: Terrance Cheesman The Parthian Kingdom occupied the region of modern day Iraq and Iran. Starting in north eastern Iran, the Parthians conquered Iran by 230 B.C. and Iraq by 170 B.C. They were a constant menace to the Greek kingdoms in Syria and Turkey, and later to the Romans when they conquered the Greeks. Mithradates II who reigned from 123 to 88 B.C. witnessed the beginning of the Roman domination of the eastern Mediterranean. He was the first to make contact with the Romans when his ambassadors made contact with the Roman general Sulla. This … [Read more...]