Ancient and Historical coins, banknotes, and more!

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On 9 February 474, Zeno was crowned as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire, alongside his 7 year old son Leo II. Zeno, whose original name was Tarasis, was not born into royalty. Instead, he inherited his place at the throne through his marriage to Ariadne, the eldest daughter of the Emperor Leo I. Later that year, on 17 November 474, Leo II became ill and died, leaving his father as the sole Emperor of the East. The period in which Zeno ruled was a delicate one, concerning religious disagreements in Rome. Monophysites held the belief that Jesus Christ consisted of one nature that was human and divine. This belief was unorthodox and condemned by the Council of Chalcedon, which urged that Jesus Christ’s human and divine parts were two entirely separate natures. Anxious to settle the ongoing dispute, Zeno issued the law of the Henotikon, “Act of Union”. The order didn’t specify the exact nature of Jesus Christ, and thus left a loop hole for the Monophysites. The Henotikon back-fired, left both groups unsatisfied, and caused a schism between Constantinople and Rome. This schism surpassed Zeno’s death, and was not ended until Easter day in 519 during the reign of Catholic Emperor Justin I. The Catholic union was restored in Rome, and the Monophysites fled. Although Zeno was not successful in ending the Acacian schism, he was successful at restraining numerous uprisings. One of his most famous was preventing the Ostrogoths from an attack at Constantinople. He instead offered a new target in Italy, Odoacer, a previous rival of Zeno’s who had defeated the Western Empire. He died on April 9, 491, after ruling for 17 years and 2 months. Because he and Ariadne had no other children, his widow chose a favored member of the imperial court, Anastasius, to succeed him.

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Today in history: A surprise torpedo attack by the Japanese at Port Arthur in 1904, starts the Russo-Japanese War. The Battle of Port Arthur was the starting battle of the Russo-Japanese War. It began on February 8th 1904, with a surprise night attack by a squadron of Japanese destroyers on the Russian fleet anchored at Port Arthur, Manchuria, and continued with an engagement of major surface combatants the following morning. The battle ended inconclusively, and further skirmishing off of Port Arthur continued until May 1904. The battle was set in the wider context of the rival imperialist ambitions of Russian Empire and Empire of Japan, in Manchuria and Korea. Although neither side won, the battle placed Japan onto the world-stage. Japan's subsequent defeat of Russia in the Russo-Japanese world shocked many who had thought European power invincible. This also laid the foundation for Japan's entry into World War II as a major Eastern ally of Germany.

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On this day in history: The HMS Orpheus sinks off the coast of Auckland, New Zealand, killing 189. On 7 February, 1863, the HMS Orpheus was getting near to her destination port of Auckland. On board were 259 men, many of them British soldiers heading for the Waikato Land Wars. The harbour bar at the head of the Manukau Harbour was a sandbank built up by the movement of the waves. Crossing it had to be done at the right time, when the tide was high enough and the water over the bar deep enough for ships to pass safely. The signalman at the signal station on Paratutai Island signalled the Orpheus to “take the bar” (across the harbour mouth) at about 11am when the tide was right. Weather conditions were fine and sunny. The signalman watched the Orpheus take a course too far to the south of the bar to cross it safely and tried to signal the ship to keep northward, but it did not change course. On board the ship, a seaman with experience of the harbour realised the ship was taking the wrong course. Alarmed, he went to the master of the ship and pointed out the correct course on the chart. Before the turn could be made, the Orpheus struck the sandbar, burying the nose of the ship. The engines seized and gradually the Orpheus slipped further over on to her side. A south-westerly wind had sprung up and the waves were growing stronger. A steamer had just been piloted out of the harbour when the skipper saw the Orpheus out by the bar. At first he did not realise that it was in difficulties, until he met two smaller boats from the Orpheus. Another boat from the Orpheus had been lost when it was lowered over the side. Most of the 40 men on board were drowned or crushed in the wreck. Meanwhile the men remaining on the Orpheus had climbed the rigging in an attempt to stay clear of the waves which were breaking over the ship halfway up the mast. Some tried to climb forward to the bowsprit and jump into the water there, but many fell to the deck making the attempt. Smaller boats from the steamer moved in around the Orpheus to rescue survivors from the sea. Between 8 and 8:30pm the masts fell into the sea, taking with them over 100 men who had climbed the rigging. Further attempts to save the drowning men were made at night by the light of the moon, but by dawn only the stumps of the masts and pieces of the deck remained visible. There were only 70 survivors.

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The Ghent Altarpiece, the most stolen painting in history https://worldstoria.com/ghent_altarpiece/#

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Today in history: The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, signed on February 2, 1848, ended the Mexican-American War in favor of the United States. The war had begun almost two years earlier, in May 1846, over a territorial dispute involving Texas. The treaty added an additional 525,000 square miles to United States territory, including the including the land that makes up all or parts of present-day Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. Mexico also gave up all claims to Texas and recognized the Rio Grande as America’s southern boundary.

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Taken at the Mine Rescue Station of the 3rd Australian Tunnelling Company at Hulluch Tunnels Hill 60 during WWI. During WWI, the military employed miners to dig tunnels under No Man's Land. The main objective was to place mines beneath enemy defensive positions. When it was detonated, the explosion would destroy that section of the trench. The infantry would then advance towards the enemy front-line hoping to take advantage of the confusion that followed the explosion of an underground mine. Soldiers in the trenches developed different strategies to discover enemy tunnelling. One method was to drive a stick into the ground and hold the other end between the teeth and feel any underground vibrations. Another one involved sinking a water-filled oil drum into the floor of the trench. The soldiers then took it in turns to lower an ear into the water to listen for any noise being made by tunnellers. It could take as long as a year to dig a tunnel and place a mine. As well as digging their own tunnels, the miners had to listen out for enemy tunnellers. On occasions miners accidentally dug into the opposing side's tunnel and an underground fight took place. When an enemy's tunnel was found it was usually destroyed by placing an explosive charge inside. At the beginning of the Somme offensive, the British denoted 2 mines that contained 24 tons of explosives. Another 91k lb. mine at Spanbroekmolen created a hole that afterwards measured 430 ft. from rim to rim. Now known as the Pool of Peace, it is large enough to house a 40 ft. deep lake. In January, 1917, General Sir Herbert Plumer, gave orders for 20 mines to be placed under German lines at Messines. Over the next five months more than 8,000 mts of tunnel were dug and 600 tons of explosive were placed in position. Simultaneous explosion of the mines took place on 7th June. The blast killed an estimated 10,000 soldiers and was so loud it was heard in London.

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Today in history: Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during the reentry into our atmosphere in 2003. Initial speculation about the cause focused on possible damage sustained by the shuttle's left wing during blastoff 16 days earlier. No cause was immediately apparent, but sensors aboard Columbia reported a sudden spike of intense heat, an indication that the ship's heat shield had been breached — possibly on that left wing. The temperature at that point of reentry: 3,000 degrees. The altitude: 207,135 feet, the equivalent of 39 miles above Earth. The crew included three U.S. military officers, one of the nation's few African American astronauts and a woman who immigrated to America from India. Six were married. Among them, the astronauts of shuttle Columbia had 12 children.

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Today in history: Germany is the first to make large scale use of poison gas in warfare during WWI's Battle of Bolimów in 1915. Experimental in nature the firing of several thousand gas shells proved entirely unsuccessful against the Russians.  Not only was the xylyl bromide (a tear gas) blown back towards the German lines, it also failed to vaporize in the freezing temperatures, falling harmlessly to the ground. In consequence of the gas failure the German attack was called off in failure.  The Russians in turn launched a number of heavy frontal counterattacks by some 11 divisions (led by Vasily Gurko), suffering 40,000 casualties and achieving little, German artillery repulsing the Russian attacks with ease. Although the Russians were aware that the Germans had attempted an innovation in their use of poison gas, its failure was such that it was not greatly remarked upon at the time, and consequently was not widely reported to Russia's Allies in the west. Poison gas was to make its next appearance on the better-suited Western Front, with much greater success, during the Second Battle of Ypres in April 1915.

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Hiroo Onoda was a Japanese Army officer who refused to surrender long after the capitulation of Japan in WWII. For 29 extra years, Onoda continued to execute the mission that he was ordered to carry out in 1944. Stationed at Lubang Island, in the Philippines, he and his three-man team were the only survivors when the US attacked and recaptured the island in 1945. Onoda ordered the group to retreat to remote mountains, occasionally carrying out guerrilla missions against island installations, which was his original assignment. Despite the death or capture of all three of his subordinates, repeated attempts to inform him of the end of the war, and gun battles with Filipino authorities, Onoda fought on. When he was finally tracked down by a Japanese national and told that the war was over, he responded by saying he was continuing to follow orders and would not surrender until he received an appropriate command from his superior officer. He was finally persuaded to emerge and surrender in 1974 after his aging former commanding officer was flown in to see him.  His homecoming, with roaring crowds, celebratory parades and speeches by public officials, stirred his nation with a pride that many Japanese had found lacking in the postwar years of rising prosperity and materialism. His ordeal of deprivation may have seemed a pointless waste to much of the world, but in Japan it was a moving reminder of the redemptive qualities of duty and perseverance.

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Today in history: Charles I of England is beheaded in 1649 for being a “tyrant, traitor and murderer; and a public and implacable enemy to the Commonwealth of England.“ Charles was executed on a Tuesday. It was a cold day. Charles was allowed to go for a last walk in St James’s park with his pet dog. His last meal was bread and wine. However, there was a delay in his execution. The man who was to execute Charles refused to do it. So did others. Very quickly, another man and his assistant was found. They were paid £100 and were allowed to wear masks so that no-one would ever know who they were. At nearly 2:00PM, Charles was led to the scaffold which was covered in black cloth. He had asked to wear thick underclothes under his shirt as he was very concerned that if he shivered in the cold, the crowd might think that he was scared. Charles gave a last speech to the crowd but very few could hear him. He said: “I have delivered to my conscience; I pray God you do take those courses that are best for the good of the kingdom and your own salvation.” It is said that when he was beheaded a large groan went up throughout the crowd. One observer in the crowd described it as “such a groan by the thousands then present, as I never heard before and I desire I may never hear again.”

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Today in history: Edgar Allan Poe’s famous poem “The Raven,” beginning “Once upon a midnight dreary,” is published in the New York Evening Mirror in 1845. Poe’s dark and macabre work reflected his own tumultuous and difficult life. Born in Boston in 1809, Poe was orphaned at age three and went to live with the family of a Richmond, Virginia, businessman. Poe enrolled in a military academy but was expelled for gambling. He later studied briefly at the University of Virginia. In 1827, Poe self-published a collection of poems. Six years later, his short story “MS Found in a Bottle” won $50 in a story contest. He edited a series of literary journals, including the Southern Literary Messenger in Richmond starting in 1835, and Burton’s Gentleman’s Magazine in Philadelphia, starting in 1839. Poe’s excessive drinking got him fired from several positions. His macabre work, often portraying motiveless crimes and intolerable guilt that induces growing mania in his characters, was a significant influence on such European writers as Charles Baudelaire, Stephane Mallarme, and even Dostoyevsky.

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The Środa Treasure is one of the most valuable archaeological finds of the 20th century. It was found in 1985 during renovation works in Środa Śląska, Poland. It is now agreed that the treasure belonged to the King (later Emperor) Charles IV of the House of Luxembourg. Around 1348, needing funds to support his claim to the King of the Romans, Charles pawned various items to the Jewish banker Muscho (Moshe, Mojżesz) in Środa. Soon afterwards, the black plague visited Środa. Muscho was not heard of again and it is believed that he either fled from the plague-struck town, died of plague, or perhaps fell victim to pogroms as Jews were blamed for spreading the plague. What is certain is that no one ever reclaimed the treasure, which was left hidden somewhere in the town for hundreds of years. The main part of the treasure is now in a Regional Museum in Środa Śląska. The treasure includes a Golden crown, probably belonging to Blanche of Valois, a wife of Emperor Charles IV, 2 12th century gold pendants, two 13th century gold pendants, a medieval gold clasp decorated with precious stones, three rings, 39 gold coins, and 2924 silver coins. It's estimated value is 120 million USD

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On this day, January 28, 1547, King Henry VIII died peacefully from old age. He had married a total of six times and left behind three heirs: two daughters and a son, Edward, who at the tender age of nine succeeded his father to the throne. Edward VI unfortunately did not have a long reign, succumbing to tuberculosis at the age of 15. But like his father, he made the most of his time, proclaiming a number of measures against the Church: images were forbidden – statues and stained glass windows were destroyed or dismantled. The rule of priesthood celibacy was cancelled, as was their wearing of vestments. By the time Edward was succeeded by his half-sister (a daughter by his father’s first wife), the Reformation was continuing on under its own momentum.

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First morning after Sweden changed from driving on the left side to driving on the right, September 3 1967. Known as Dagen H (Swedish for H Day). The H stands for Högertrafikomläggningen, or the Right-Hand Traffic Diversion.

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The Hindenburg disaster at Lakehurst, New Jersey on May 6, 1937 brought an end to the age of the rigid airship. The disaster killed 35 persons on the airship, and one member of the ground crew, but miraculously 62 of the 97 passengers and crew survived. After more than 30 years of passenger travel on commercial zeppelins — in which tens of thousands of passengers flew over a million miles, on more than 2,000 flights, without a single injury — the era of the passenger airship came to an end in a few fiery minutes. Almost 80 years of research and scientific tests support the same conclusion reached by the original German and American accident investigations in 1937: It seems clear that the Hindenburg disaster was caused by an electrostatic discharge (i.e., a spark) that ignited leaking hydrogen.

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Today in history: Trajan succeeds his adoptive father Nerva as Emperor of Rome.

Roman emperor from 98 AD until his death in 117AD. Officially declared by the Senate as optimus princeps (“the best ruler”), he is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presided over the greatest military expansion in Roman history, leading the empire to attain its maximum territorial extent by the time of his death.

Also known for his philanthropic rule, overseeing extensive public building programs and implementing social welfare policies, which earned him his enduring reputation as the second of the Five Good Emperors who presided over an era of peace and prosperity in the Mediterranean world.

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On this day in history: The British First Fleet, led by Artur Phillip, sails into Port Jackson (Sidney Harbour) in 1788 to establish Sidney, the first permanent European settlement of the continent. Arthur Phillip named the place of landing Sydney Cove, after Lord Sydney, an official who had helped to organize the voyage. The fleet departed from Portsmouth, England and the journey lasted 252 days and sailed 24,000 kilometres. No ships were lost!  Forty-eight people died on the journey.