One of these things is not like the others!

I was scrounging through loose change today, looking for laundry money, when I ran across a £1 coin that stood out a bit, with a completely different texture, weight and color from the others in the pile.  Upon closer inspection I saw that, though it was dated 2000, it was more scuffed then several older coins and it was also wider by a hair’s-breadth.  Fairly certain now that I was dealing with a fake, I flipped it on edge to check out the inscription.  And what a typographical travesty awaited me!

Yep, the one on the top is the counterfeit.  What with the poor spacing and the total lack of serifs on a hideous, evil typeface. If you could even call it a proper typeface, as the letters are wildly inconsistent.  Seriously, scammers, come on.  How can society be expected to function with such ugly text scattered willy-nilly?

Anyway, I did do some internet research to make sure that it was a true fake and not just a really bad day at the mint.  There are several common, easy to spot errors among counterfeit pounds (most of which my coin gets correct: they did include the cross in the inscription, and the alignment of the two sides is spot-on).  One of the best ways to tell is by making sure that the reverse image and the inscription match up.  This ostensibly being a year 2000 Welsh dragon design, the inscription actually should have been the Welsh PLEIDIOL WYF I’M GWLAD, rather than the Latin DECUS ET TUTAMEN.

According to the BBC, 1 in 50 of these coins are now fakes.  If you find one you’re supposed to turn it in, but I think I’ll keep mine as a souvenir (a souvenir which cost me approximately $1.70).  And whenever I look at it I will silently thank the people who spend their lives designing attractive typefaces.

Filed under coins, counterfeit coins, great britain, typography | Comment (0)

Hurrah!

Great news today: my UK visa application was officially approved.  And I’m relieved to report that the entire process was quick and painless (especially compared with the major hassles of my student loans).

Now everything for school is sorted, save for the housing paperwork that hasn’t been mailed to me yet.  The other odd bits, like getting a bank account, can wait until I arrive in Britain.  By the way, if you have any recommendations regarding banking please let me know!  I’ve heard that setting up an account can be a nightmare, especially with online banking, which is all I ever use here at home.

Filed under great britain, study abroad, travel, visas | Comment (0)

African American Pamphlets & WWI Postcards

Today I want to point out two nice digital collections at Emory University.

When most of us think of pamphlets the first things that come to mind are the broadsides and revolutionary tracts of the early modern era followed by the religious and social works of the 19th century.  The Emory University Portal for African American Pamphlets, however, sheds light on what I would consider to be an often overlooked but significant aspect of American printing history.  You can look through notable examples beginning on the home page, many of which have striking covers, or browse based on author, illustrator or publisher.  It would be nice if Emory made available more background information and full scans of these tracts (at least for the notable examples,) but I did enjoy just looking through the cover images.  The site also provides, at the bottom of the ‘About‘ section, a list of important pamphlet collections at other institutions.

The second site is The Great War, which features a nice collection of WWI era postcards and poetry.  I’m not much into poetry so I haven’t delved into that section, but the postcards are wonderful and can be browsed via a range of subjects like nationality, image type and content (there are even some WWII era cards in the mix.)  I was particularly taken with the embroidered cards—do give them a look.  A bit disappointed, though, that the ANZACs have been mostly left out.

Filed under US history, WWI, african american history, civil rights movement, europe, great britain, pamphlets, postcards, printing history | Comment (0)