My forthcoming book, With the Pen In One Hand and the Sword in the Other: Haiti and the United States in the Nineteenth Century, is now available for pre-order from @ugapress.bsky.social. www.ugapress.org/978082038100...

Google autofilled my dietary requirements as "Pennsylvania"

Registration is now open for the 'Women, Power and Money' conference at the University of Warwick on June 11! Online or in person attendance possible. :-) Find out more about the programme here: warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/cla... @tokeneffort.bsky.social

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/25/u... "Only those nations ruled by kings or dictators display the image of their sitting ruler on the coins of the realm." 🔥🔥🔥

Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again. #Pinks #ProudBlue

Mace is capitalized because it is a trademark, shortened from Chemical Mace, for a brand of tear gas that is packaged in an aerosol canister and temporarily stuns its victims. The generic term tear gas is two words and lowercase.

Nice article by Georgia Vullinghs in the latest Proccedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland on #Jacobite tokens #c18th #c18 #18thc @socantscot.bsky.social @ntlmuseumsscot.bsky.social

This is the coolest one I've seen in a while!

Last night, I was watching episode 2.12 of The Twilight Zone. The father of a condemned man buys a bag of fake magic dust for 100 Pesos in gold. When they jingle the coins the sound is very clear that they are holding five 20 Peso gold coins, or at least double eagles! www.imdb.com/title/tt0734...

“Nothing in the middle of the road but yellow lines and dead armadillos” is a genius turn of phrase.

Being absolute shit is the only thing AI is good at, but in that it does truly excel.

It is Charles F. Brannock's birthday, famous for inventing the foot measuring device named after him (and highlighted on a recent John Oliver episode). So, here is an amazing 1870s ad note for Abel H. Gunn's Silver Tipped Boots & Shoes with a Rebus puzzle on the back (solution in next post).🗃️

For May Day here is protest money issued by the IWW during the Nevada Goldfield Miners Strike. Workers struck after owners replaced cash wages with scrip due to the Panic of 1907. The notes reference the Exploitation Mercantile Company, In Gold we Trust, and President Teddy Roosevelt (Teddy Bear). 🗃️

Equally comforting and depressing that we're dealing with the same shit 225 years later.

History in a nutshell

How could anyone be so mean to the voice of Paddington?

Tired: guillotines Wired: molten gold

"Art is when there's butts"

It’s Black History Month, so it’s a good time to remember that the press used to strike the first coins issued by the United States was operated by an enslaved man. His name was Aaron, and the man who enslaved him was paid four shillings per day for his labor.

Beard hair on a 1929 coin photo. I know that feeling... #coins #numismatics

New favorite artifact 😍

😲

After several years of research, writing, and generally sacrificing both my eyesight and sanity, my next paper on Liberian coins has finally been published! The paper covers the 1847 and 1862 coinage, as well as related patterns. Find it in the 2024 issue of the American Journal of Numismatics!

Banknote design is my passion

What an excellent and organized way to approach archival research. I'd love to see someone like @profyarrow.bsky.social or @ancient-tokens.bsky.social write the same for approaching numismatic collections!

100%. I want nothing to do with it.

Fascinating example of die repair at the Port au Prince mint. Traces of the die break persist in the reworked die at the top of the 1.

It is high time for @mikeduncan.bsky.social to consider that he may in fact be a practicing psychohistorian.

I just acquired this lovely Haitian centime from the first year of issue for that denomination. I had only three recorded in my study, with two of them in museum collections. Both this and the 2 centime denomination for this year are rare today, yet exhibit some major die breaks.

Hey, I'm Bill and... you know I can do better than this :(

November 19th is: #WorldToiletDay. 🚽🏺 Roman latrine in form of a chariot, marble 2nd-3rd century CE, Baths of Caracalla, Rome. 🤝 Training potty in form of a racing car plastic, 21st century CE.

Do I know anyone who has access to this book chapter? It looks to have some information on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Monrovia. academic.oup.com/book/44040/c...

Oh that's why I suddenly have friends!

Hello BlueSky! If you're following me, I hope you're interested in numismatics. I'm a cataloger at Classical Numismatics Group, where I work with world and British coins. My personal research is on Liberian and Haitian coins, Roman lead tokens, and coins/tokens from the private mint in Belleville NJ

Proof coins: the NFTs of the 1970s

Found a description of myself in the Roman Republican Die Project.

CONGRATULATIONS! I have looked forward to this publication for a long time!

Well this is fascinating. Currency of Liberia under the Commonwealth was officially camwood and ivory from 1840 to 1841. The notes issued by the ACS Board of Directors at this time were redeemable in these materials.

The delight of finding a map that you'd never before seen! On this 1850 map of Essex County, NJ, the "Mill" on the lower right is that of Stephens & Sons. By this point they were primarily engaged in manufacturing foudrinier wire mesh for use in paper making.

This weekend, I'll be working on edits for my next paper on the #coins of #Liberia, focusing on the 1847 and 1862 dated coppers. Engraved by William Taylor, many high-grade restrikes were later made for collectors, like this specimen at the tail end of the sequence.

Just saw this wonderful 1810s unissued banknote for the Newark Banking Company. The vignette likely depicts the brownstone quarries along what is today Bloomfield Avenue.

I think my next project might be exploring Haitian coinage under J.P. Boyer. There seems to be some wonderful variety in the series that is all but unexplored. #numismatics #coins

Good old London never change!