Victoria (20 June 1837 - 22 January 1901)

Here is an example of a Jubilee Shilling from 1887 of Queen Victoria Spink Number 3926 Small Head some additional information can be found below.

HOUSE OF HANOVER

Victoria (20 June 1837 - 22 January 1901) - born 24th May 1819 - one marriage with nine offspring

Victoria was granddaughter of George III, the daughter of his fifth son Edward. Her father Edward died while she was in infancy, but her mother Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld brought her up under a strict regimen that stood her in good stead to be Queen upon the death of her Uncle William. A Royal wedding took place on 10 February 1840 to Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, with whom she had four sons and five daughters, all of whom married into some of the finest Royal families in Europe. Victoria was devastated by the death of her beloved Albert in 1861 from typhoid and never really recovered, known as the “Widow of Windsor” in seclusion for 25 years until she emerged for her Golden Jubilee. During the seclusion Victoria also became Empress of India in 1878.

Victoria enjoyed the longest reign so far of any monarch and saw her Diamond Jubilee in 1897, the only time this has occurred in British history so far. The Industrial Revolution was now in full force, the zenith of which was the Great Exhibition of 1851. Victoria built up the greatest Empire ever seen since the days of the Ancient Romans. There were many technological revolutions with the harnessing of electricity perhaps most significant, also the invention of the telephone and motor transport, as well as the massive growth of railways and shipping and science. Magnificent architecture from the Victorian era not only transformed London, but also cities as far apart as Sydney and Delhi, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Victoria died aged 81 with her family gathered around her at Osbourne House on the Isle of Wight after a 63 year reign, her body was brought back to the Capital by the Royal Train. Her long reign produced some fascinating coinage and many different busts were used for the various Colonial coinages. Branch Mints opened in Australia, first in Sydney then Melbourne, and much later at Perth. There were attempts at decimalization during her reign and the biggest successful move towards this was the introduction of the Florin or one tenth of a pound in 1848.

Some of the finest designs were by William Wyon for the 1839 gold Five Pounds coin used in that year’s proof set and later for the 1847 Gothic Crown. The Wyon family dominated coin and medal production for the earlier part of Victoria’s reign, J E Boehm engraved the Jubilee coinage of 1887, and Thomas Brock the “widow” old head coinage of 1893.

Word Cut UP's in The Footsteps Of Burroughs

A Red Pill, A Blue Pill.
One to make you happy, one to make you sad.
A Blue Pill, A Red Pill.
One to make you forget, The other to numb the pain.
A Red Pill, A Blue Pill.
One to Create an Altered State, The other to change what has been altered.
A Blue Pill, A Red Pill.
Nothing Remains the same, sometimes nothing seems sane.
A Red Pill, A Blue Pill.
The colours are all that remain.

North Korea Nuclear Test Successful

Last May in my other Blog I posted a story about North Korea's Missile tests, now it looks like they have gone Nuclear. It is really hard to predict what will happen next, Yet I don't think it will be good.

This test will put a lot of pressure on North America and Europe to do something, as Japan and other countries can not have this go unchecked, Yet the politics of the region is intertwined. With China having issues with their claim to Taiwan, Japan having military restrictions from The Second World War, and the United States and NATO committed as an Allie to protect them because of post world war two treaty's.

In addition The Korean War never really ended, there was just an armistice that was signed no peace treaty was signed technically North and South Korea are still in a state of war even though very little has happened since the armistice. All in all, this makes for even more Interesting Times.

North Korea says nuclear test successful


By BURT HERMAN, Associated Press Writer

North Korea said Monday it had performed its first-ever nuclear weapons test, setting off an underground blast in defiance of international warnings and intense diplomatic activity aimed at heading off such a move.

The North Korean statement said there was no radioactive leakage from the test site.An official at South Korea's seismic monitoring center confirmed a magnitude-3.6 tremor felt at the time North Korea said it conducted the test was not a natural occurrence. The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition his name not be used, because he was not authorized to talk about the sensitive information to the media.


Australia also said there was seismic confirmation that North Korea conducted a nuclear test.However, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that information still needs to be collected and analyzed to determine whether North Korea truly conducted its first nuclear test.Japan's top government spokesman said if confirmed, the North Korean test would post a serious threat to the stability in the region and a provocation.

China, the North's closest ally, said Beijing "resolutely opposes" the North Korean nuclear test and hopes Pyongyang will return to disarmament talks.U.S. and South Korean officials could not immediately confirm the report.South Korea's Defense Ministry said the alert level of the military had been raised in response to the claimed nuclear test.
The U.N. Security Council is expected to discuss the reported North Korean test on Monday, and the United States and Japan are likely to press for a resolution imposing additional sanctions on Pyongyang.


A resolution adopted in July after a series of North Korean missile launches imposed limited sanctions on North Korea and demanded that the reclusive communist nation suspend its ballistic missile program — a demand the North immediately rejected.The resolution bans all U.N. member states from selling material or technology for missiles or weapons of mass destruction to North Korea — and it bans all countries from receiving missiles, banned weapons or technology from Pyongyang.

The North said last week it would conduct a test, sparking regional concern and frantic diplomatic efforts aimed at dissuading Pyongyang from such a move. North Korea has long claimed to have nuclear weapons, but had never before performed a known test to prove its arsenal.The North's official Korean Central News Agency said the underground test was performed successfully."It marks a historic event as it greatly encouraged and pleased the ... people that have wished to have powerful self-reliant defense capability," the KCNA statement said."It will contribute to defending the peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in the area around it."


South Korean intelligence officials said the seismic wave had been detected in North Hamkyung province, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency. It said the test was conducted at 10:36 a.m. (9:36 p.m. EDT Sunday) in Hwaderi near Kilju city on the northeast coast, citing defense officials.North Korean scientists "successfully conducted an underground nuclear test under secure conditions," the KCNA report said, adding this was "a stirring time when all the people of the country are making a great leap forward in the building of a great prosperous powerful socialist nation."


The U.S. Geological Survey said it had detected no seismic activity in North Korea, although it was not clear whether a blast would be strong enough for its sensors.On Sunday night, U.S. government officials said a wide range of agencies were looking into the report of the nuclear test, which officials were taking seriously.South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun has convened a meeting of security advisers over the issue, Yonhap reported, and intelligence over the test has been exchanged between concerned countries.


Kyodo News agency reported that the Japanese government has set up a taskforce in response to reports of the test.The North has refused for a year to attend international talks aimed at persuading it to disarm. The country pulled out of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty in 2003 after U.S. officials accused it of a secret nuclear program, allegedly violating an earlier nuclear pact between Washington and Pyongyang.Speculation over a possible North Korean test arose earlier this year after U.S. and Japanese reports cited suspicious activity at a suspected underground test site.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061009/ap_on_re_as/koreas_nuclear

Edward IV (4 Mar 1461 - 6 Oct 1470) Coinage And History

This is a typical Edward IV second reign halfgroat
Initial Mark Rose, C
on Breast, trefoils on all cusps ( Blunt and Whitton
XVIII ) reverse with
nothing in centre also with Initial mark Rose, (Blunt
and Whitton XIX) and
is also DIG no 1/6 Unfortunately it's worn and has been clipped, but still a nice example given it's age some more history follows below.


THE YORKIST KINGS

Edward IV (4 Mar 1461 - 6 Oct 1470) deposed: restored (11 Apr 1471 - 9 Apr 1483) - born 28th April 1442 - one marriage with ten offspring

In 1461 the Yorkist claimant Edward, seized the throne with the help of his cousin Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick who was also known as the powerful ‘Kingmaker’ for his decisive actions in determining who sat on the English throne. Unwisely, he married Elizabeth Woodville and English politics became dominated by her ambitious family, much to the distaste of Edwards’ brothers and their allies.

The powerful but treacherous Warwick later proved to be trouble when he briefly restored Henry to the throne in 1470. However Edward reassembled an army from Burgundy, and after killing Warwick at the Battle of Barnet (1471) he destroyed the Lancastrians at Tewkesbury (1471), finally sentencing Henry VI to death in the tower of London. His reign was prosperous despite the brief interregnum, and planted the seeds and blossoming of the Renaissance in England. Edward died suddenly in 1483 aged only 40 leaving two young sons and a daughter, with a troubled legacy.

In order to increase the bullion supply the weight of the penny was reduced in 1464 and the face value of the gold noble went up. A new gold coin the Ryal or Rose Noble was issued at ten shillings, but the old noble was missed so the Angel was also introduced later. Royal Mints were also opened at Canterbury and York to help with re-coinage and other short-term mints were Bristol, Coventry and Norwich.

I'M Back

I'm Back, Finally. Had some troubles going over to the Blogger Beta on Google. I'm still not sure what went wrong, but with some tinkering here and there, I was able to sign in. I hope that's the last I see of that kind of trouble, but then again everyone and everything has growing pains, I know I'm certainly on a steep learning curve here.