Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.
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| Laser-Inscribed Diamond. Source:SerendipityDiamonds.com. More about that below. |
Have you ever wondered why a United States quarter-dollar is called “two-bits”? Or, a half-dollar “four-bits”? Do you know why we call our basic monetary unit “dollar” instead of something else?
Here is a nice article that will answer those questions.
https://coinweek.com/world-coins/history-of-coins-two-bits-four-bits-six-bits-eight/
And here is a brief excerpt from the same web site.
The English colonies of America were prohibited by royal law from coining, minting, or even so much as using coins. The colonists were supposed to ship any and all coins to Mother England in payment for manufactured goods. This, of course, precluded any foolhardy colonist from starting a mint. Besides, there is little silver or gold to be had in New England and eastern Canada to this day. So, the English Colonies decided to use paper money which served them well until they attempted to finance the USA Revolutionary War with it. By 1780, this form of currency became useless and worthless and the money called Continental Currency collapsed.
Immediately, part of the vacuum was filled by the milled Spanish-American silver issues based on the real system in denominations of 1/8R through eight-reales. The most widely circulated of these was the piece of eight, which, when supplies of smaller denomination coins dwindled were chopped or cut into smaller pieces to make change. Thus, one eighth of eight-reales became one bit, one quarter two-bits–the equivalent of our present day quarter-dollar. One-half is four-bits and three quarters are six-bits. Many believe these expressions to be slang, yet, history suggests they are perfectly good nomenclature...
After reading that web site you might want to follow that one up with these.http://materialculture18t.wixsite.com/18thcmcrc/money--scales
https://historicjamestowne.org/selected-artifacts/english-coins-2/
Thanks to Dale J. for the coinweek link.
Having the 1715 Fleet wrecks offshore, Spanish colonial coins receive a lot of our attention, but English, Irish and Dutch coins were also used in colonial America.
I recommend both the MaterialCulture and HistoricJamesTowne web sites.
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Did you know...
Diamonds accompanied by GIA Diamond Dossiers® typically feature a micro-laser inscription applied to the edge of the diamond. The GIA report number appears microscopically engraved on the outer edge (girdle) of the diamond. This gives buyers a unique way of linking their GIA report to the physical diamond. Enter this number into GIA’s website and hey-presto – you have an electronic copy of your diamond grading report.
Where to find the girdle of a diamond
The girdle of your diamond runs around the outer edge between the upper crown facets and the lower pavilion facets. It is basically the thin outer edge, separating the upper part of the diamond from the lower section. The outer edge will appear as a polished, faceted or bruted (matt) surface on which the number will be microscopically lasered.
A GIA laser inscription gives the consumer greater confidence when purchasing a diamond. Retailers should use this as a further selling point since not all laboratories laser mark diamonds in this way. The inscription is permanently registered in GIA’s archive database.
The GIA inscription is invisible to the naked eye and difficult to see under 10x magnification to the untrained eye. Buyers who purchase without consultation are likely to be unaware of the presence of the inscription.
Here is that link.https://www.serendipitydiamonds.com/blog/how-to-read-the-gia-laser-inscription-on-your-diamond/
Other wording can be inscribed on diamonds, however it would be very rare for those inscriptions to help identify rightful owners. For one thing, the databases are kept confidential without a court order.
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A super wolf blood moon is going to appear in all its stunning splendor later this month, as a rare cosmic gesture to welcome in 2019.
People who live in the Americas, Europe, Africa and the central Pacific region could take a glimpse of this stunning image late on the evening of Jan. 20 and into the early morning hours of Jan. 21, according to National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
The eastern side of North America will have the best view, but the full lunar eclipse will be visible from coast to coast, and will last far longer than most eclipses, with a duration of roughly one hour and three minutes. Super blood wolf moons are highly uncommon: only 28 are expected to align this century...
https://abcnews.go.com/US/super-blood-moon-eclipse-make-appearance-jan-21/story?id=60334755
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Both the tides and surf are small along the Treasure Coast now. The surf is expected to increase Wednesday - maybe up to five feet.
Happy hunting
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
