A small post is not exactly about coins. . So to speak, "from the life of a man who sometimes photographs coins."

As you can see, the coin in the photo is the same. And the equipment is the same in quality and quantity. However, the difference is on the face, isn't it?

Once again, to note the base: "the meaning of life is that good people help each other." And to say another word of gratitude to my friend for his very helpful advice.

The correct light placement scheme at the last photo.

Disclaimer: the text below is a machine translation, so there may be errors in it.

A repeat of the old text, as required by the date..

At 8 a.m. on August 6, 1945, the air defense of Imperial Japan detected several air targets approaching Hiroshima. However, since there were very few targets — no more than three — the air raid alert was canceled.

Fifteen minutes later, thirty‑year‑old Colonel Paul Tibbets, the commander of the Boeing B‑29 bomber named after his mother, accompanied by the Great Artist and the Necessary Evil, officially ushered our planet into a new era. Into the era of nuclear weapons.

If you’ve somehow forgotten, today is the 81st anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima. Which, of course, will be broadcast from every possible source. But since we’re talking about colonies here, let’s leave the top‑tier LOMs to throw a tantrum and remember one small country without which this news story wouldn’t have happened. About Belgium.

To understand how Belgium is connected to the destruction of the Japanese, we need to go back another 20 years and a bit further south. To God‑forsaken place, also known as the Belgian Congo — where else? In one of the local provinces, Katanga, the Shinkolobwe mine, where radium was extracted, had been operating since 1921. The business was very profitable: 1 gram of radium at its peak was worth the same as 265 kg of gold. And by 1940, almost a whole kilogram had been extracted. The money was substantial, and the business was extremely profitable, considering that Congolese workers were employed there for food and a bonus of two chickens and a goat after 9 years — if they lived that long, of course. The problem was that radium is a fragment of the radioactive fission of uranium‑238, and the latter’s half‑life is 4.5 billion years. In nature, there is an average of 1 radium atom for every 3 million uranium‑238 atoms.

Therefore, by the end of the 1930s, a certain amount of uranium ore had accumulated in the tailings of Shinkolobwe, which belonged to the “Union Minière du Haut‑Katanga”. It was a small amount. About 2,500 tons.

Much to the Japanese’s regret, half of these reserves were transported to Europe, closer to the production facilities and markets. No one knew what to do with all this splendor, so uranium began to be used as… a paint for porcelain; it was used to make glass with different colors, and it was alloyed with iron instead of the scarce tungsten.

In total, in 1940, the Nazis got hold of about 1,250 tons of uranium ore with a 60%(!) content of uranium‑238. (Just for the record, a uranium content of 2% is considered a very good indicator nowadays.) This event served as a catalyst for the intensification of the program, which eventually became known as the “Manhattan Project.” The second half of the reserves of the “Union Minière du Haut‑Katanga” was used to implement it. Today, the official results of this project’s work are 81 years old.

As for the uranium seized by the Germans, it brought not only harm but also benefit. Most of these reserves eventually ended up in the USSR and became part of our nuclear shield. By the way, initially it was planned to use this nuclear shield with Tu‑4 bombers, which were almost an exact copy of the B‑29. But that’s another story...

So, how did the Americans thank Belgium? They issued occupation coins for it! Yes, Belgium, like France, is among the countries for which occupation money was minted on both sides of the front lines during the Second World War.

The 2-franc coin was minted in the United States, in Philadelphia, with a circulation of 25 million copies. Despite the impressive print run, it's not easy to find them in decent condition for the price of ice cream. The reason is trivial - extremely poor raw materials. The economic Americans used the blanks from the 1943 cent for the Belgian colonial pennies, which was considered extremely unsuccessful and its production was discontinued. The material of both these coins was zinc-plated steel. As you can imagine, this was not planned for many years.

That's all for today.

In the attached photos:

The Allied occupation of Belgium, 2 francs 1944, KM# 133 (this particular coin is the cover of this type at the Numista)

Baby before loading.

Boeing B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay (B-29-45-MO, serial number 44-86292).

The Little Boy explosion over Hiroshima.

The first and the last non silver 50 cents of Indochina.

It's not correctly my main course in collection, but I really love this denomination. And, of course, I want 1trlm!

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Some colonial silver, nice (IMHO) conditions.

In memory of Battle of the Rufiji Delta, July 1915.

Disclaimer: the text below is a machine translation, so there may be errors in it.

After the end of World War II, in one of the defeated Axis countries, one of the remaining retired aircraft designers sat and thought about witches. In the second half of the forties of the twentieth century, witches were not sweet. The sky was full of airplanes, radars were actively developing, where could a poor witch on a broom go? Another transport was urgently needed, which would allow witches to move around post-war Europe without attracting the attention of paramedics. Why not do something small to get around, even if not high, but fast? And that the price would not be much more expensive than a high-quality broom?

Whether it was true or not, history is silent. But there is no doubt that in 1946 the Italian concern Piaggio registered the rights to the design of a scooter designed by aircraft designer Corradino D'Ascanio. To advertise this scooter, the Italians used the image of a witch sample of the middle of the century - an emancipated and independent lady. Actually, it was this poster that inspired me to write today's text. After last year's story, which featured Italian motorcycle ads (and almost naked native women), one of the subscribers regularly began posting all sorts of works of Italian (and not only) designer poster art. And not so long ago, a respected German witch lit up the aforementioned poster with a moped. A moped, by the way, called Vespa, i.e. Wasp in Italian has gained such popularity that it has become a cult technique. And so much so that even in the USSR they released a copy of it, although without any licenses at all.

Among other things, Vespa promoted Italian ideas in the Italian colonies. More precisely, in the last of the remaining ones.

During the Second World War in 1941, during the East African Campaign, Italian Somaliland was occupied by British and South African troops, and the British administration began operating in this territory. In November 1949, by decision of the United Nations, the territory was placed under the control of Italy for 10 years, which was supposed to prepare it for independence. On January 1, 1950, Italy gained control of its former colony.

As the guardian, Italy had an obligation to ensure that Somalia were prepared for the transfer of power. In the previous fascist era, the state pursued a repressive educational policy towards its colonized subjects — the "natives" did not need to know more than enough to work as domestic servants, soldiers, translators and clerks. Somalia could attend primary schools run by missionaries and segregated by race only up to the fourth grade, and even this minimal education was mainly provided to children of capi stipendiati ("chiefs" who worked for the State) and those who served in the colonial administration or the army. Only a few hundred children were enrolled in these schools each year, which was far from the number needed to create an educated ruling class.

In addition to fulfilling the UN mandate, the creation of a new public education system based on Italian national curricula was also a means of forming a new Italian-speaking elite that would maintain Italian influence for decades. This generation of cosmopolitan Somalians studied Dante and Machiavelli in school, drank cappuccino, rode the aforementioned Vespa scooters and Fiat 500 cars, and spoke excellent Italian, some of them without leaving Mogadishu. (Other children were sent to study in Rome and Milan on scholarships from the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.) They considered themselves ilbahs (ilbax), a Somali word for a modern, sophisticated worldview oriented both East and West. One of the most important differences between these Mogadorians and the people they considered inexperienced newcomers from the hinterland, Reer Baadiyo, was their fluency in Italian.

Although Somalia officially gained independence in 1960, it remained the last bastion of Italian culture on the African continent until the 1990s. Italians and Italian-speaking residents could walk through the streets of a significant part of southern Somalia or the territory that used to be Italian Somalia without feeling very disconnected from Italian culture. Symbols of Italian culture, including Vespa scooters, could be found everywhere, especially in the capital, Mogadishu. This continued until the outbreak of the Somali civil war, but that's another story.

Few people know that in addition to the two-wheeled version of the Vespa, the Piaggio concern also produced a three-wheeled monitor lizard, which was used as a commercial vehicle, under its own name Piaggio Ape.

But even fewer people know that Piaggio Ape Calessino is the father and mother of all tuk-tuks, without which it is difficult to imagine Southeast Asia. If possible, I will write a separate story about this, and now I will note that the Piaggio Ape Calessino was used as a taxi not only in Asia, but also in Africa. For example, in Mogadishu in the 1960s, a ride on tuk-tuk cost 10 centesimo. That is, they could have paid for it with a coin, with one of the best, in my opinion, numismatic images of an elephant on the obverse.

The 10 centesimo of the Somali Trust Territory, KM# 3, were created by designer Giuseppe Romagnoli and minted in Rome in 1950 in bronze with a circulation of 7,400,000 copies. In my humble opinion, this absolutely wonderful piece of colonial numismatic art should be in every collection.

That's all for today.

In the attached photos:

10 centesimo Trust Territory of Somalia, KM# 3

Vespa Advertising Poster

Perfectly restored Piaggio Ape Calessino

A similar Piaggio Ape Calessino on the streets of Mogadishu carries passengers for 10 centesimo.

World Giraffe Day is celebrated annually on June 21. The holiday is timed to coincide with the summer solstice, the longest day of the year, which is symbolic for the tallest mammal in the world. Congratulations to all subscribers on this significant event!

Naturally, we cannot pass by and show you the halfpenny of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland!

Disclaimer: the text below is a machine translation, so there may be errors in it.

Napoleon Bonaparte is credited with saying "God fights on the side of the one with the best artillery." Today, we take this opportunity to illustrate this statement. On the pages of this blog, you have repeatedly read about the African battles of the First World War, but it has always been about East Africa. Thus, we unfairly forgot about West Africa, or rather about German Cameroon, where the fighting took place between August 1914 and March 1916. The British, French and Belgians opposed the German colonial forces. On June 10, 1915, 111 years ago, the Second Battle of Garua ended with the victory of the Allied forces. After repelling the attack of British troops during the First Battle of Garua, which took place eight months earlier, the German forts in Garua underwent extensive reconstruction. The commander of the German forces, Captain Kurt von Crailsheim-Rugland, deployed about 2,000 local workers to reinforce his fortifications with barbed wire, earthworks and dugouts in preparation for a prolonged siege. He also reinforced the garrison with German sailors, who were evacuated from ships stationed on the colony's rivers. The German fortresses also had eleven machine guns and six field guns. In preparation for the siege, which, according to von Crailsheim, was inevitable, the forts stocked up on food, ammunition and other vital resources.

What the Germans did not expect were the naval guns that the French and British had brought overland to Garua. Guns. Confirming Napoleon's words, they very quickly destroyed the fortifications of the city, which were not designed to be bombarded by such heavy artillery. The morale of the defenders quickly dropped. Most of the German soldiers were Askari — Africans recruited locally. To a situation where they are shot by long-range artillery for the sake of their German masters. Some colonists desert, trying to escape from Garua. Others refuse to defend the city.

 

After most of the defenders were destroyed and the forts were severely bombarded, white flags flew over the German forts around 16:00 on June 10. Von Crailsheim demanded that he be given full military honors and a 24-hour truce, but the Allied commander rejected this demand. At 18:30, the German commander surrendered unconditionally. Of the once numerous garrison, only 37 Germans and 212 locals remained. The rest either deserted or died during the bombing.

 

On June 11, the Allied forces entered the Garua forts. In the pockets of the brave Nigerians who represented the British troops in this forgotten battle, the shillings and pennies of British West Africa jingled.

 

Since the number of silver coins with Cousin George's portrait has been off the scale on the project lately, we will make a strong-willed decision to discard them and turn to copper-nickel, which was used during the specified historical period.

 

The KM# 8 type of British West Africa has denominations of ½ penny, minted from 1912 to 1936, by three mints at once. Royal (without mintmark), Heaton and Sons (Mintmark H) and Kings Norton (Mintmark KN). The dimeter of the coin is 25.2 mm, the weight is 5.67 g. The total circulation exceeds 83 million copies, therefore, hypothetically, the coin can be crammed into the "ice cream" category. When it comes to the better condition, everything is not so rosy, and the biggest price on the bag (by the way, for the sister of the presented coin) is just dropping off. We condemn such prices, yes.

 

The coin shown in the photo, as you can see, was minted at the Heaton and Sons Mint in Birmingham. The mintage of 1913H is 216,000 pieces, this is the second mintage when viewed from the minimum and the smallest circulation of the Heaton. Royal Mint had a minimum of 96,000 in 1931. Since the theme of Solomon's seal on these coins has been more than fully revealed in our previous posts, that's all for today.

 

In the attached photos:

½ penny of British West Africa 1913, KM# 8.

German troops defending Garoua during the Cameroon campaign.

The entry of Franco-British troops into Garoua, June 10, 1915, according to the caption in the newspaper. However, I assume that the photo is still on June 11, taking into account the time of the surrender of the German garrison and the length of the day in Cameroon.

10 Centimes, 1941.

Post, as i promise )

In 1944, in the United States, at the Philadelphia Mint, with a truly American scale, with a circulation of as many as 50 million copies, this occupation coin was minted. As you have already understood, France was supposed to be occupied, which was carried out a little later.

Nobody bothered with the design, the material, and so on. Very primitive coins with a diameter of 27 mm, with a face value of 2 francs on one side and the inscription France on the other, were stamped from brass of mediocre quality. It should be noted here that France at that time was Vichy, and De Gaulle was the Republic of France.