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1927 Albanian Gold

Silvereagle82Silvereagle82 Posts: 1,219 ✭✭✭
in World & Ancient Coins Forum
Hey I had to be like theboz11

(Retro Sunday November 14, 2004)

My latest acquisition:

ALBANIA GOLD SKANDERBEG 1927V, 20 FRANGA (NGC MS-65)


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Comments

  • coinkatcoinkat Posts: 23,429 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Very cool design... great looking coin...

    Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.

  • HenriIIIHenriIII Posts: 99
    Remarkable Gold Coin! AAA
  • worldcoinguyworldcoinguy Posts: 3,019 ✭✭✭✭
    Wow - great design!
  • theboz11theboz11 Posts: 6,576 ✭✭✭
    You done good, a real beauty. It is worth every penny as gold and Darkside rise in valueimage
    My Medals collection

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  • StorkStork Posts: 5,206 ✭✭✭✭✭
    That one's been on my list. Unfortunately my list is exceedingly long. I like those 1920s Albanian coin designs and yours is a particularly nice example!

  • Steve27Steve27 Posts: 13,274 ✭✭✭
    Great coin! Is that supposed to be a griffin on the reverse?
    "It's far easier to fight for principles, than to live up to them." Adlai Stevenson
  • ajaanajaan Posts: 17,454 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>That one's been on my list. >>


    Mine too.

    DPOTD-3
    'Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery'

    CU #3245 B.N.A. #428


    Don
  • LynchLynch Posts: 299


    << <i>Great coin! Is that supposed to be a griffin on the reverse? >>



    No, it is the Lion of St. Mark, symbolic of Venice, a reference to the role of the Venetians in supporting Giorgio Castrioti ("Skanderbeg") in achieving Albanian independence and leading resistance through guerrilla warfare to attempts by the Ottoman Turks to bring Albania under Ottoman control in the 15th century.
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  • ajaanajaan Posts: 17,454 ✭✭✭✭✭

    DPOTD-3
    'Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery'

    CU #3245 B.N.A. #428


    Don
  • SYRACUSIANSYRACUSIAN Posts: 6,461 ✭✭✭✭
    When a member had first posted this coin, not in that linked thread, I had a small argument with Askari about Kastrioti's roots. Besides the name, which is 100% Greek, his father John Kastrioti was the prince of Epirus at the time. Epirus is in the border between Albania and Greece, we still call South Albania as north Epirus, and most inhabitants have Greek descendance, despite Hodja's harsh treatment,change of the Greek names of the cities and attempts to vanish that population all together.

    During the Balkan wars, around 1912-13 King Constantine the first,was headed to liberate these territories and annex them to Greece. On his way there however, he received a telegram from the then prime minister that the army's presence was urgently needed in Thesalonique that would have otherwise fallen to the supposedly friendly Bulgarian army. It was a tough choice, but Thesalonique was of much greater importance and indeed he changed course and managed to arrive and liberate Thesalonique on time. When the Bulgarian army arrived three hours later, they were surprised to find the city already under the control of the Greek army and hence their dreams for an exit to the Mediterranean sea gone for ever. The price that Greece paid for this was the loss of North Epirus.

    My point then and now, is that these territories were contested by many surrounding countries and that the origin of the heroes is not as clear as in say Northern Europe. I have no problem to believe and respect Skandenberg as a national Albanian hero, but I have trouble to believe that he did not have Greek roots from his father's side. Just a side note on an otherwise wonderful gold coin.
    Dimitri



    myEbay



    DPOTD 3
  • Silvereagle82Silvereagle82 Posts: 1,219 ✭✭✭
    SYRACUSIAN
    Thanks for the historical insight. I will note all this in my files for this coin!
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