Chennai, Oct 14 2011

Next exhibition details:

Date: October 14-16
Venue:Chennai National Numismatic Exhibition 2011
Adress: Chennai Numismatic Society with Numismatic Promotion Service
of India at Arignar Anna Arangam Hall, 14/29 Dr. Guruswamy
Road, Next to Maharishi Vidya Mandir School, Chetpet
Phone: 09840424344, 09710040000

New Zealand cents

New Zealand 10 cent, 1987

A Maori mask is shown on the 10 cent coin of New Zealand.

20 cent, 1989

Kiwi

The 20 cent coin shows the Kiwi, the national bird of New Zealand. This association is so strong that the word 'Kiwi' is used as equivalent of any New Zealand citizen throughout the world.

The kiwis are flightless ratites who lay very large eggs in proportion to their body size. There are five different recognized species all of which are endangered. The kiwi is endangered like many other species due to habitat loss. Forests have been lost throughout the centuries but recently the loss has become more rapid, putting pressure on the flightless bird for survival.

50 cent, 1982

Endeavour HMS

The 50 cent coin features the HMS Endeavour which was a British Royal Navy research vessel commanded by Lieutenant James Cook on his first voyage of discovery, to Australia and New Zealand from 1769 to 1771.

Launched in 1764 as the collier Earl of Pembroke, she was purchased by the Navy in 1768 for a scientific mission to the Pacific Ocean, and to explore the seas for the surmised Terra Australis Incognita or "unknown southern land". She departed Plymouth in August 1768, rounded Cape Horn, and reached Tahiti in time to observe the 1769 transit of Venus across the Sun. She then set sail into the largely uncharted ocean to the south, stopping at the Pacific islands of Huahine, Borabora, and Raiatea to allow Cook to claim them for Great Britain. In September 1769, she anchored off New Zealand, the first European vessel to reach the islands since Abel Tasman's Heemskerck 127 years earlier. In April 1770, Endeavour became the first seagoing vessel to reach the east coast of Australia, when Cook went ashore at what is now known as Botany Bay.

Endeavour then sailed north along the Australian coast. She narrowly avoided disaster after running aground on the Great Barrier Reef, and was beached on the mainland for seven weeks to permit rudimentary repairs to her hull. On 10 October 1770, she limped into port in Batavia (now named Jakarta) in the Dutch East Indies for more substantial repairs, her crew sworn to secrecy about the lands they had discovered. She resumed her westward journey on 26 December, rounded the Cape of Good Hope on 13 March 1771, and reached the English port of Dover on 12 July, having been at sea for nearly three years.

Largely forgotten after her epic voyage, Endeavour spent the next three years shipping Navy stores to the Falkland Islands. Renamed and sold into private hands in 1775, she briefly returned to naval service as a troop transport during the American Revolutionary War and was scuttled in a blockade of Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island in 1778. Her wreck has not been precisely located, but relics, including six of her cannons and an anchor, are displayed at maritime museums worldwide. A replica of Endeavour was launched in 1994 and is berthed alongside the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney Harbour. The space shuttle Endeavour is named for the original ship.

Mumbai, Sept 23 2011

Details for next exhibition:
Date: September 23 - September 25
Time: 10 am - 7pm
Location: World trade centre
City: Mumbai

On demand I am henceforth putting up notifications for the upcoming exhibitions for those who want to attend.

Why attend exhibitions?
If you are not having any good dealer in your city then exhibitions can be good way to enhance your collection. Dealers from all over India come to sell their coins in National level exhibitions under one roof. So you can get most of the coins you want in a single day. There are large variety of coins to choose from, more than what you can buy. Even if you are generally busy in your work you can still take out at least 1 in an year and buy what you want for the entire year in that time. You can keep a budget of 15-20k whenever you visit an exhibition. Exhibitions are held many times an year at different cities throughout the country so you can also choose the location which suits you. You may visit as many exhibitions as you want throughout the year, though I would recommend visiting at least one in an year. If you are going for the first time, I would suggest to refrain from heavy buying and to observe as much as you can to learn.

Warning:
Even in an exhibition fakes can be there and there are sellers who look to fleece any new and unsuspecting buyers by selling at high prices, so better to keep your eyes and ears open.

How bimetallic coins are made?

Note that the shown process is for the Euro bimetallic coins. The process for making our 10 rupee bimetallic coins may be somewhat different from the shown procedure.

Turkey Kuru

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk

5 new Kurus, 2008
Weight: 2.95gm
Metal: copper-nickel-zinc
Diameter: 17.1mm
Obverse: Head of Ataturk

25 new kurus, 2007

Weight: 5.3gm
Metal: copper-nickel-zinc
Diameter:21.5mm
Obverse: Head of Ataturk facing

50 new Kurus, 2005

Weight: 7gm
Metal: Bimetallic copper-nickel-zinc centre in nickel-bronze ring
Diameter: 23.8mm
Obverse: Head of Ataturk

Note that in 2005, 100 thousand old Lira became equivalent of 1 new Lira. This was done due to rampant inflation and to give the nearly valueless currency some worth. Also, 100 Kurus= 1 Lira so 1 new Kuru=1000 old Lira.