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Olympic flame is lit at birthplace of ancient games

<p>The flame for the 2024 Paris Olympics was lit on Tuesday at the site of the ancient games in Ancient Olympia, southern Greece. </p> <p>Despite the gloomy weather which prevented the traditional lighting<span style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;">- which involves an ancient Greek priestess using the sun to ignite the torch after offering a prayer to Apollo, the ancient Greek sun god - actress Mary Mina, used a back up flame to kickstart the epic torch relay. </span></p> <p><span style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;">Normally, the </span>group of priestesses would use a parabolic mirror to light the torch using the sun's rays, but because of the cloudy skies, they had to use a back up flame that was kept in a copy of an ancient Greek pot and lit on the same spot during their final rehearsals on Monday. </p> <p>International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said the flame lighting combined "a pilgrimage to our past in ancient Olympia, and an act of faith in our future."</p> <p>A relay of torchbearers will carry the flame along a 5,000-kilometre route through Greece, including several islands, until the handover to Paris Games organisers in Athens on April 26.</p> <p>"In these difficult times ... with wars and conflicts on the rise, people are fed up with all the hate, the aggression and negative news," Bach said. </p> <p>"We are longing for something which brings us together; something that is unifying; something that gives us hope."</p> <p>Thousands of spectators from all over the world packed Olympia for the event, amid the ruins of temples and sports grounds where the ancient games were held from 776 BC - 393 AD.</p> <p>The first torchbearer was Greek rower Stefanos Douskos, who was a gold medalist in 2021, followed by Laure Manaudou, a French swimmer who won three medals at Athens in 2004. </p> <p>Manaudou then handed it over to a Greek senior European Union official, Margaritis Schinas. </p> <p>From Greece, the Olympic flame will travel from Athens' port of Piraeus on the Belem, a French three-masted sailing ship built in 1896 - the year that the first modern games began in Athens. </p> <p>On May 8, it's due in the southern French port of Marseille, a city founded by Greek colonists around 2600 years ago. </p> <p><em>Images: Getty</em></p> <p> </p>

International Travel

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Aussies lament the end of ancient "Beers for Garbos" tradition

<p>Here in Australia, where rubbish collectors are celebrated annually with a frosty brew (or six), a cherished tradition is facing its untimely demise.</p> <p>Yes, you guessed it right – the legendary "Beers for Garbos" tradition, where grateful locals adorn their wheelie bins with a six-pack of beer as a token of appreciation, is disappearing faster than a cold beer on a scorching summer day.</p> <p>For generations, Aussies have upheld this festive practice, a heartwarming exchange between citizens and their garbage collectors during the most wonderful time of the year. But alas, the tides are turning, and it seems the days of beer-topped bins are numbered.</p> <p>The alarm was sounded when a concerned citizen took to the virtual streets of Reddit to lament the decline of this time-honoured tradition. "I've been doing this for 20 years, only the last two years they don't seem interested. Is this a tradition we are losing?" cried out the desperate Redditor, faced with the heartbreaking prospect of having their VB left unwanted and <span style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;">unclaimed</span><span style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;">.</span></p> <p>Speculations ran wild in the digital realm, with theories ranging from light-fingered neighbours to the outrageous notion that beer might not be as popular as it once was. However, Veolia, the giant among waste management companies in Australia, quickly extinguished the fiery speculations.</p> <p>Veolia's chief operating officer of environment, Tony Roderick, delivered the crushing blow, confirming that the "Beers for Garbos" tradition had taken its last bow. The culprit? Health and safety concerns, the perennial party poopers of workplace festivities. Roderick explained, "Packages of beer become missiles in the cabin of the truck under emergency braking."</p> <p>Picture this: a garbage truck hurtling down the suburban streets, emergency brakes screeching, and inside, a symphony of exploding beer bottles. It's a hazardous scenario that even the most seasoned garbage collector might find hard to navigate. Moreover, Veolia has a company-wide dry workplace policy, dashing hopes of a beer-fuelled trash pickup.</p> <p>But fear not, for Roderick is not entirely Ebenezer Scrooge. He encourages alternative forms of gift-giving. "Should people want to leave a small gift for their local driver, it is possible to leave it at the local depot where the driver can collect it at the end of the shift."</p> <p>So, instead of a six-pack perched on the bin, envision a quaint scene of a garbage collector picking up a thoughtful gift basket at the depot – the stuff of modern Aussie holiday magic.</p> <p>As we bid adieu to the "Beers for Garbos" era, let's raise a glass in fond remembrance. May your wheelie bins be forever adorned with the spirit of giving, even if the contents are now strictly non-alcoholic. Cheers to a new era of sober, yet equally heartfelt, expressions of gratitude for our unsung garbage heroes!</p> <p><em>Images: Facebook</em></p>

Home & Garden

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Tiny ancient Christmas tree sells for thousands

<p>One of the world's first mass-produced Christmas trees has sold at auction for a whopping 56 times higher than its original purchase price. </p> <p>The tree was first bought in 1920 for just six pence, and was snapped up at the auction in England by an anonymous buyer for £3,400, or $6,433 AUD. </p> <p>The tree was described by the auctioneer as “the humblest Christmas tree in the world”, measuring just 79cm in height, boasting 25 branches, 12 berries and six mini candle holders.</p> <p>The tree sits in a small, red-painted wooden base with a simple decorative emblem.</p> <p>The Christmas tree was first bought by the family of eight-year-old Dorothy Grant in 1920, with Dorothy using it as her tree until she passed away at the age of 101. </p> <p>The tree is believed to have been bought from Woolworths, with Grant decorating the tree as a child with cotton wool to mimic snow, given that baubles were considered a luxury at the time.</p> <p>After Grant's passing in 2014, the charming tree was passed down to her daughter Shirley Hall, who was "parting with the tree now to honour her mother's memory and to ensure it survives as a humble reminder of 1920s life". </p> <p>It was expected to sell for between £60 and £80 (between $110 and $150 AUD) but was bought for the astonishing price of £3,411 when it went under the hammer at Hansons auctioneers on Friday.</p> <p>Charles Hanson, the owner of Hansons and a regular guest on the BBC’s <em>Bargain Hunt</em> said, “This is one of the earliest Christmas trees of its type we have seen. The humblest Christmas tree in the world has a new home and we’re delighted for both buyer and seller … I think it’s down to the power of nostalgia. Dorothy’s story resonated with people.”</p> <p>He added, “As simple as it was, Dorothy loved that tree. It became a staple part of family celebrations for decades. The fact that it brought such joy to Dorothy is humbling in itself. It reminds us that extravagance and excess are not required to capture the spirit of Christmas. For Dorothy it was enough to have a tree."</p> <p>“Some of the first artificial Christmas trees utilised machinery which had been designed to manufacture toilet brushes. The waste-not, want-not generations of old are still teaching us an important lesson about valuing the simple things and not replacing objects just for the sake of it."</p> <p><em>Image credits: Hansons Auctioneers</em></p>

Money & Banking

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Pitch to ditch the King from Aussie coins

<p>Bob Katter is calling for a major overhaul of Australian coins, saying King Charles' image should be scrapped from the currency. </p> <p>The federal MP touted an alternative design for the national coins, suggesting it could feature a Kalkadoon warrior or distinguished Australian soldier Ralph Honner.</p> <p>“Surely you’d put Kokoda hero Ralph Honner on your coin, not some British monarch, demonstrating that you don’t believe that all people are born free and equal and that you don’t believe you’re a separate country, that you’re a nationalistic Australian,” Katter said on Monday.</p> <p>The Queensland MP plans to move an amendment to the Crown References Amendment Bill to omit references to the monarchy and substitute the words “sovereign people of Australia”.</p> <p>“For heaven’s sake, get rid of the affirmation that we believe that all people are free and equal,” Katter said.</p> <p>“If you’ve got a monarch on your coin, you do not believe that all people are free and equal.”</p> <p>Katter's pitch comes just weeks after the Royal Australian Mint last month unveiled the effigy of King Charles III, which will be seen on Australian coins by Christmas.</p> <p>For decades, the country’s coins have carried an image of Queen Elizabeth II, who died in 2022.</p> <p>The Royal Mint also recently announced the production of a <a href="https://oversixty.com.au/finance/money-banking/new-commemorative-queen-coin-worth-serious-cash" target="_blank" rel="noopener">commemorative coin</a> in honour of the late Queen Elizabeth, which is already in high demand among royal fans and avid coin collectors. </p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

Money & Banking

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New commemorative Queen coin worth serious cash

<p>The Royal Australian Mint has confirmed that it will be releasing a commemorative 50c coin to celebrate the life of Queen Elizabeth II, on Thursday. </p> <p>The coin will feature all six effigies which have been featured on Australian coins during the late monarch’s reign, with two versions up for sale. </p> <p>One is an uncirculated version which will cost $15 and, the other is silver proof edition for $135.</p> <p>“With limited mintage, this coin is expected to be a highly prized addition to any coin collection,” the Mint said. </p> <p>Australian coin expert Joel Kandia said that online marketplaces are already selling the coin at “seven times the RRP”. </p> <p>Royal Australian Mint CEO Leigh Gordon added that this latest release is the perfect tribute to the late Queen. </p> <p>“Historically, coins bear witness to a Monarch’s reign with their royal effigies appearing on the obverse. In keeping with that tradition, this exceptional coin showcases the Queen Elizabeth II Memorial Effigy by Jody Clark on the obverse,” he said. </p> <p>“The Mint’s trademark storytelling is strongly represented on the coin’s reverse, which features a central design depicting the first six effigies, fanned above the Queen’s royal cypher.”</p> <p>This surprise release will be in high demand, with a “frenzy” expected for coin collectors, according to the Perth coin and bank note expert. </p> <p>“It is essentially the last coin commemorating the Queen,” Kandiah said in an interview with<em> 7News</em>. </p> <p>“It is extremely special because it features all six effigies of the Queen that have appeared on Australian coinage since 1954, so it unique in that respect.</p> <p>“There will definitely be a frenzy, which is why the RAM have reduced the allocation to just one per person through their physical store, through the phone and their authorised distributors.</p> <p>“There have been murmurings about the coin for a while, so collectors are really excited to see it confirmed and able for purchase.”</p> <p>The uncirculated coin itself will have a mintage of  25,000 and the silver proof version has an even lower mintage of 7,500. </p> <p>The coins will be for sale at the Royal Australian Mint in Canberra from 8.30am on Thursday November 23, through the Mint’s Contact Centre on <strong>1300 352 020</strong>, or through the Mint’s authorised distributors.</p> <p><em>Image: Royal Australian Mint</em></p>

Money & Banking

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Bees have appeared on coins for millennia, hinting at an age-old link between sweetness and value

<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/adrian-dyer-387798">Adrian Dyer</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/monash-university-1065">Monash University</a></em></p> <p>In 2022, the Royal Australian Mint issued a $2 coin decorated with honeybees. Around 2,400 years earlier, a mint in the kingdom of Macedon had the same idea, creating a silver obol coin with a bee stamped on one side.</p> <p>Over the centuries between these two events, currency demonstrating a symbolic link between honey and money is surprisingly common.</p> <p>In a recent study in <a href="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/assets.mmxgroup.com.au/ACR/Bee+Article.pdf">Australian Coin Review</a>, I trace the bee through numismatic history – and suggest a scientific reason why our brains might naturally draw a connection between the melliferous insects and the abstract idea of value.</p> <figure class="align-center "><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536400/original/file-20230709-15-2u5ywn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536400/original/file-20230709-15-2u5ywn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=600&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536400/original/file-20230709-15-2u5ywn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=600&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536400/original/file-20230709-15-2u5ywn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=600&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536400/original/file-20230709-15-2u5ywn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=754&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536400/original/file-20230709-15-2u5ywn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=754&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536400/original/file-20230709-15-2u5ywn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=754&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" alt="" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A Royal Australian Mint 2022 two-dollar coin representing 200 years since the introduction of the honeybee to Australia.</span></figcaption></figure> <h2>What is currency and why is it important?</h2> <p>Money is a store of value, and can act as a medium of exchange for goods or services. Currency is a physical manifestation of money, so coins are a durable representation of value.</p> <p>Coins have had central role in many communities to enable efficient trade since ancient times. Their durability makes them important time capsules.</p> <p>Ancient Malta was famous for its honey. The modern 3 Mils coin (<a href="https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces1775.html">1972-81</a>) celebrates this history with images of a bee and honeycomb. According to the information card issued with the coin set,</p> <blockquote> <p>A bee and honeycomb are shown on the 3 Mils coin, symbolising the fact that honey was used as currency in Ancient Malta.</p> </blockquote> <figure class="align-center "><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536403/original/file-20230709-23-drk2lj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536403/original/file-20230709-23-drk2lj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=582&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536403/original/file-20230709-23-drk2lj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=582&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536403/original/file-20230709-23-drk2lj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=582&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536403/original/file-20230709-23-drk2lj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=732&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536403/original/file-20230709-23-drk2lj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=732&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536403/original/file-20230709-23-drk2lj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=732&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" alt="" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A circulating 3 Mils coin from Malta showing a honeybee on honeycomb.</span></figcaption></figure> <p>In ancient Greece, bees were used on some of the earliest coins made in Europe. A silver Greek obol coin minted in Macedon between 412 BCE and 350 BCE, now housed in the British Museum, shows a bee on one side of the coin.</p> <figure class="align-center "><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536411/original/file-20230709-182252-v4evxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536411/original/file-20230709-182252-v4evxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=293&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536411/original/file-20230709-182252-v4evxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=293&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536411/original/file-20230709-182252-v4evxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=293&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536411/original/file-20230709-182252-v4evxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=368&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536411/original/file-20230709-182252-v4evxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=368&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536411/original/file-20230709-182252-v4evxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=368&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" alt="" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An ancient obol from Macedon, dated between 412 BCE and 350 BCE, shows a bee one side.</span></figcaption></figure> <p>Bees also feature on coins minted elsewhere in the ancient Greek world, such as a bronze coin minted in Ephesus dated between 202 BCE and 133 BCE.</p> <figure class="align-center "><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536407/original/file-20230709-27-a2jvo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536407/original/file-20230709-27-a2jvo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=546&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536407/original/file-20230709-27-a2jvo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=546&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536407/original/file-20230709-27-a2jvo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=546&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536407/original/file-20230709-27-a2jvo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=686&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536407/original/file-20230709-27-a2jvo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=686&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536407/original/file-20230709-27-a2jvo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=686&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" alt="" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A bronze coin minted in Ephesus, dated between 202BCE and 133BCE, featuring a honeybee.</span></figcaption></figure> <p>The use of bees on ancient coins extended for many centuries including widely circulated bronze coins, and new varieties <a href="https://coinweek.com/bee-all-that-you-can-bee-honeybees-on-ancient-coins/">continue to be discovered</a>.</p> <h2>Why we might like bees on coins</h2> <p>Why have bees appeared so often on coins? One approach to this question comes from the field of neuro-aesthetics, which seeks to understand our tastes by understanding the basic brain processes that underpin aesthetic appreciation.</p> <p>From this perspective, it seems likely the sweet taste of honey – which indicates the large amount of sugar it delivers – promotes positive neural activity <a href="https://brill.com/view/journals/artp/10/1/article-p1_2.xml">associated with bees and honey</a>.</p> <p>Indeed, primatologist Jane Goodall once proposed that obtaining high-calorie nutrition from bee honey may have been <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0066185668800032">an important step</a> in the cognitive development of primates.</p> <p>Our brain may thus be pre-adapted to liking bees due to their association with the sweet taste of honey. Early usage of bees on coins may have been a functional illustration of the link between a known value (honey) and a new form of currency: coins as money.</p> <h2>The bee on modern coins</h2> <figure class="align-center "><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536393/original/file-20230709-17-jywq3f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536393/original/file-20230709-17-jywq3f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=588&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536393/original/file-20230709-17-jywq3f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=588&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536393/original/file-20230709-17-jywq3f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=588&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536393/original/file-20230709-17-jywq3f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=738&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536393/original/file-20230709-17-jywq3f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=738&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536393/original/file-20230709-17-jywq3f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=738&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" alt="" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A 1920 Italian bronze ten-centesimi coin featuring featuring an Italian honeybee on a flower.</span></figcaption></figure> <p>The use of bees as a design feature has persisted from ancient to modern times. A honeybee visiting a flower is shown on a series of ten-centesimi bronze coins issued in Italy from <a href="https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces1960.html">1919 to 1937</a>.</p> <p>(As an aside, the world’s last stock of pure Italian honeybees is found in Australia, on Kangaroo Island, which was declared a sanctuary for Ligurian bees by an <a href="https://www.legislation.sa.gov.au/home/historical-numbered-as-made-acts/1885/0342-Lingurian-Bees-Act-No-342-of-48-and-49-Vic,-1885.pdf">act of parliament</a> in 1885.)</p> <figure class="align-center "><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536416/original/file-20230709-15-60yst8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536416/original/file-20230709-15-60yst8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=586&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536416/original/file-20230709-15-60yst8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=586&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536416/original/file-20230709-15-60yst8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=586&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536416/original/file-20230709-15-60yst8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=737&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536416/original/file-20230709-15-60yst8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=737&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536416/original/file-20230709-15-60yst8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=737&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" alt="" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A coin from Tonga showing 20 honeybees emerging from a hive.</span></figcaption></figure> <p>More recently, a 20-seniti coin from the Pacific nation of Tonga shows 20 honeybees flying out of a hive. This coin was part of a series initiated by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to promote sustainable agricultural and cultural development around the world.</p> <p>Bees are relevant here because their pollinating efforts contribute to about one-third of the food required to feed the world, with a value in excess of <a href="https://zenodo.org/record/2616458">US$200 billion per year</a>, and they are threatened by climate change and other environmental factors.</p> <h2>Bees on coins, today and tomorrow</h2> <p>Public awareness of bees and environmental sustainability may well be factors in the current interest in bee coins. The diversity of countries using bees as a design feature over the entire history of coins suggests people have valued the relationship with bees as essential to our own prosperity for a long time.</p> <p>In Australia, the 2022 honeybee $2 coin is part of a series developed by the <a href="https://www.ramint.gov.au/about-mint">Royal Australian Mint</a>. In 2019, the Perth Mint in Western Australia also released coins and stamps celebrating native bees.</p> <figure class="align-center "><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536405/original/file-20230709-15-iditcb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536405/original/file-20230709-15-iditcb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=373&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536405/original/file-20230709-15-iditcb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=373&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536405/original/file-20230709-15-iditcb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=373&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536405/original/file-20230709-15-iditcb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=469&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536405/original/file-20230709-15-iditcb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=469&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536405/original/file-20230709-15-iditcb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=469&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" alt="" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Australian native bee coin and stamps released in 2019 by the Perth Mint.</span></figcaption></figure> <p>Despite the decline of cash, bee coins still appear to be going strong. The buzzing companions of human society are likely to be an important subject for coin design for as long as coins continue to be used.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208912/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/adrian-dyer-387798">Adrian Dyer</a>, Associate Professor, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/monash-university-1065">Monash University</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Australian Royal Mint / NZ Post Collectables</em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/bees-have-appeared-on-coins-for-millennia-hinting-at-an-age-old-link-between-sweetness-and-value-208912">original article</a>.</em></p>

Money & Banking

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Brand new mitey $2 coin revealed

<p> A brand new $2 coin has been revealed to celebrate 100 years of Australia’s beloved Vegemite.</p> <p>Woolworths and the Royal Australian Mint have partnered up for the release of the limited edition $2 coins marking 100 years of the infamous Aussie spread.</p> <p>Woolworths shoppers across the country will be able to collect three exclusive versions of the gold coin so long as they pay with cash.</p> <p>Three million limited edition coins will be available for customers, with a new design released to cash tills each week over a three-week period.</p> <p>The coins have been designed by Royal Australian Mint designer Aaron Baggio, with each featuring a unique illustration honouring Vegemite.</p> <p>Each of the three designs has a different coloured circle - yellow, red and black.</p> <p>The first coin shows a jar of Vegemite with the words “100 Mitey Years” at the bottom.</p> <p>Another features a slice of Vegemite toast with the words “Tastes Like Australia”, while the third features a child eating a slice of Vegemite toast with the words “Happy Little Vegemites”.</p> <p>Woolworths brand and marketing director Jane Sales said the supermarket has supported Vegemite for decades and is excited to be part of the centenary celebrations.</p> <p>“It’s been a staple in the shopping baskets of Australians for years; we’re delighted to be a part of the celebrations for this iconic brand’s centenary,” she said.</p> <p>As part of the celebrations, there will also be a $1 coin featuring the Queen Elizabeth II Memorial Obverse.</p> <p>The portrait of Queen Elizabeth II by British engraver Jody Clark, the Memorial Obverse also added the Queen’s years of reign – reading “Elizabeth II 1952-2022”.</p> <p>Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury, Andrew Leigh, said Vegemite is one of the most loved brands across the country.</p> <p>“It is fitting the Royal Australian Mint has partnered with Vegemite and Woolworths to celebrate 100 Mitey years of an Australian icon,” he said.</p> <p>The Vegemite brand will be celebrating its 100th birthday on October 25, 2023, with Bega’s marketing manager for spreads, Jess Hoare, thanking all Aussies for loving the mitey product.</p> <p><em>Image credit: Getty/Royal Australian Mint</em></p>

Money & Banking

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A brief history of the mortgage, from its roots in ancient Rome to the English ‘dead pledge’ and its rebirth in America

<p>The average interest rate for a new U.S. <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/home-loan-mortgage-interest-rate-7-percent-highest-since-2001/">30-year fixed-rate mortgage topped 7% in late October 2022</a> for the first time in more than two decades. It’s a sharp increase from one year earlier, when <a href="https://www.valuepenguin.com/mortgages/historical-mortgage-rates">lenders were charging homebuyers only 3.09%</a> for the same kind of loan. </p> <p>Several factors, including <a href="https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/mortgages/fed-mortgage-rates">inflation rates and the general economic outlook</a>, influence mortgage rates. A primary driver of the ongoing upward spiral is the <a href="https://abc7chicago.com/fed-interest-rate-decision-today-hike-federal-reserve-meeting-november/12408055/">Federal Reserve’s series of interest rate hikes</a> intended to tame inflation. Its decision to increase the benchmark rate by <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/monetary20221102a.htm">0.75 percentage points on Nov. 2, 2022</a>, to as much as 4% will propel the cost of mortgage borrowing even higher.</p> <p>Even if you have had mortgage debt for years, you might be unfamiliar with the history of these loans – a subject I cover <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=KVv47noAAAAJ&amp;hl=en&amp;oi=ao">in my mortgage financing course</a> for undergraduate business students at Mississippi State University.</p> <p>The term dates back to <a href="https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/story-of-england/medieval/">medieval England</a>. But the roots of these legal contracts, in which land is pledged for a debt and will become the property of the lender if the loan is not repaid, go back thousands of years.</p> <h2>Ancient roots</h2> <p>Historians trace the <a href="https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Nehemiah-5-3/">origins of mortgage contracts</a> to the reign of King Artaxerxes of Persia, who ruled modern-day Iran in the fifth century B.C. The Roman Empire formalized and documented the legal process of pledging collateral for a loan. </p> <p>Often using the <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%202%3A13-16&amp;version=NIV">forum and temples as their base of operations</a>, mensarii, which is derived from the word mensa or “bank” in Latin, would set up loans and charge <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%202%3A13-16&amp;version=NIV">borrowers interest</a>. These government-appointed public bankers required the borrower to put up collateral, whether real estate or personal property, and their agreement regarding the use of the collateral would be handled in one of three ways. </p> <p>First, the <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fiducia">Fiducia</a>, Latin for “trust” or “confidence,” required the transfer of both ownership and possession to lenders until the debt was repaid in full. Ironically, this arrangement involved no trust at all.</p> <p>Second, the <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pignus">Pignus</a>, Latin for “pawn,” allowed borrowers to retain ownership while <a href="https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&amp;httpsredir=1&amp;article=1684&amp;context=penn_law_review">sacrificing possession and use</a> until they repaid their debts. </p> <p>Finally, the <a href="https://legaldictionary.lawin.org/hypotheca/">Hypotheca</a>, Latin for “pledge,” let borrowers retain both ownership and possession while repaying debts. </p> <h2>The living-versus-dead pledge</h2> <p><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Claudius-Roman-emperor">Emperor Claudius</a> brought Roman law and customs to Britain in A.D. 43. Over the next <a href="https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/story-of-england/romans/">four centuries of Roman rule</a> and the <a href="https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/story-of-england/early-medieval/">subsequent 600 years known as the Dark Ages</a>, the British adopted another Latin term for a pledge of security or collateral for loans: <a href="https://worldofdictionary.com/dict/latin-english/meaning/vadium">Vadium</a>.</p> <p>If given as collateral for a loan, real estate could be offered as “<a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vadium%20vivum">Vivum Vadium</a>.” The literal translation of this term is “living pledge.” Land would be temporarily pledged to the lender who used it to generate income to pay off the debt. Once the lender had collected enough income to cover the debt and some interest, the land would revert back to the borrower.</p> <p>With the alternative, the “<a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mortuum%20vadium">Mortuum Vadium</a>” or “dead pledge,” land was pledged to the lender until the borrower could fully repay the debt. It was, essentially, an interest-only loan with full principal payment from the borrower required at a future date. When the lender demanded repayment, the borrower had to pay off the loan or lose the land. </p> <p>Lenders would keep proceeds from the land, be it income from farming, selling timber or renting the property for housing. In effect, the land was <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/1321129.pdf">dead to the debtor</a> during the term of the loan because it provided no benefit to the borrower. </p> <p>Following <a href="https://www.royal.uk/william-the-conqueror">William the Conqueror’s victory</a> at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, the English language was heavily influenced by <a href="https://blocs.mesvilaweb.cat/subirats/the-norman-conquest-the-influence-of-french-on-the-english-language-loans-and-calques/">Norman French</a> – William’s language.</p> <p>That is how the Latin term “Mortuum Vadium” morphed into “Mort Gage,” Norman French for “dead” and “pledge.” “<a href="https://www.etymonline.com/word/mortgage">Mortgage</a>,” a <a href="https://ia600201.us.archive.org/1/items/cu31924021674399/cu31924021674399.pdf">mashup of the two words</a>, then entered the English vocabulary.</p> <h2>Establishing rights of borrowers</h2> <p>Unlike today’s mortgages, which are usually due within 15 or 30 years, English loans in the 11th-16th centuries were unpredictable. <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/1323192.pdf">Lenders could demand repayment</a> at any time. If borrowers couldn’t comply, lenders could seek a court order, and the land would be forfeited by the borrower to the lender. </p> <p>Unhappy borrowers could <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/chancery">petition the king</a> regarding their predicament. He could refer the case to the lord chancellor, who could <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Chancery-Division">rule as he saw fit</a>. </p> <p><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Francis-Bacon-Viscount-Saint-Alban">Sir Francis Bacon</a>, England’s lord chancellor from 1618 to 1621, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/752041">established</a> the <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/equity_of_redemption">Equitable Right of Redemption</a>.</p> <p>This new right allowed borrowers to pay off debts, even after default.</p> <p>The official end of the period to redeem the property was called <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/foreclosure">foreclosure</a>, which is derived from an Old French word that means “<a href="https://www.etymonline.com/word/foreclose">to shut out</a>.” Today, foreclosure is a legal process in which lenders to take possession of property used as collateral for a loan. </p> <h2>Early US housing history</h2> <p>The <a href="https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/united-states-history-primary-source-timeline/colonial-settlement-1600-1763/overview/">English colonization</a> of what’s now <a href="https://themayflowersociety.org/history/the-mayflower-compact/">the United States</a> didn’t immediately transplant mortgages across the pond. </p> <p>But eventually, U.S. financial institutions were offering mortgages.</p> <p><a href="https://www.huduser.gov/publications/pdf/us_evolution.pdf">Before 1930, they were small</a> – generally amounting to at most half of a home’s market value.</p> <p>These loans were generally short-term, maturing in under 10 years, with payments due only twice a year. Borrowers either paid nothing toward the principal at all or made a few such payments before maturity.</p> <p>Borrowers would have to refinance loans if they couldn’t pay them off.</p> <h2>Rescuing the housing market</h2> <p>Once America fell into the <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/great-depression">Great Depression</a>, the <a href="https://www.stlouisfed.org/news-releases/2008/05/02/does-the-great-depression-hold-the-answers-for-the-current-mortgage-distress">banking system collapsed</a>. </p> <p>With most homeowners unable to pay off or refinance their mortgages, the <a href="https://www.federalreservehistory.org/essays/great-depression">housing market crumbled</a>. The number of <a href="https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-and-education-magazines/housing-1929-1941">foreclosures grew to over 1,000 per day by 1933</a>, and housing prices fell precipitously. </p> <p>The <a href="https://www.fhfaoig.gov/Content/Files/History%20of%20the%20Government%20Sponsored%20Enterprises.pdf">federal government responded by establishing</a> new agencies to stabilize the housing market.</p> <p>They included the <a href="https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/housing/fhahistory">Federal Housing Administration</a>. It provides <a href="https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/what-is-mortgage-insurance-and-how-does-it-work-en-1953/">mortgage insurance</a> – borrowers pay a small fee to protect lenders in the case of default. </p> <p>Another new agency, the <a href="https://sf.freddiemac.com/articles/insights/why-americas-homebuyers-communities-rely-on-the-30-year-fixed-rate-mortgage">Home Owners’ Loan Corp.</a>, established in 1933, bought defaulted short-term, semiannual, interest-only mortgages and transformed them into new long-term loans lasting 15 years.</p> <p>Payments were monthly and self-amortizing – covering both principal and interest. They were also fixed-rate, remaining steady for the life of the mortgage. Initially they skewed more heavily toward interest and later defrayed more principal. The corporation made new loans for three years, tending to them until it <a href="https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,858135,00.html">closed in 1951</a>. It pioneered long-term mortgages in the U.S.</p> <p>In 1938 Congress established the Federal National Mortgage Association, better known as <a href="https://www.fanniemae.com/about-us/who-we-are/history">Fannie Mae</a>. This <a href="https://www.financial-dictionary.info/terms/government-sponsored-enterprise/">government-sponsored enterprise</a> made fixed-rate long-term mortgage loans viable <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/securitization.asp">through a process called securitization</a> – selling debt to investors and using the proceeds to purchase these long-term mortgage loans from banks. This process reduced risks for banks and encouraged long-term mortgage lending.</p> <h2>Fixed- versus adjustable-rate mortgages</h2> <p>After World War II, Congress authorized the Federal Housing Administration to insure <a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CPRT-108HPRT92629/html/CPRT-108HPRT92629.htm">30-year loans on new construction</a> and, a few years later, purchases of existing homes. But then, the <a href="https://files.stlouisfed.org/files/htdocs/publications/review/69/09/Historical_Sep1969.pdf">credit crunch of 1966</a> and the years of high inflation that followed made adjustable-rate mortgages more popular.</p> <p>Known as ARMs, these mortgages have stable rates for only a few years. Typically, the initial rate is significantly lower than it would be for 15- or 30-year fixed-rate mortgages. Once that initial period ends, <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/arm.asp">interest rates on ARMs</a> get adjusted up or down annually – along with monthly payments to lenders. </p> <p>Unlike the rest of the world, where ARMs prevail, Americans still prefer the <a href="https://sf.freddiemac.com/articles/insights/why-americas-homebuyers-communities-rely-on-the-30-year-fixed-rate-mortgage">30-year fixed-rate mortgage</a>.</p> <p>About <a href="https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=DP04&amp;t=Housing">61% of American homeowners</a> have mortgages today – with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/15214842.2020.1757357">fixed rates the dominant type</a>.</p> <p>But as interest rates rise, demand for <a href="https://www.corelogic.com/intelligence/interest-rates-are-up-but-arm-backed-home-purchases-are-way-up/">ARMs is growing</a> again. If the Federal Reserve fails to slow inflation and interest rates continue to climb, unfortunately for some ARM borrowers, the term “dead pledge” may live up to its name.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-brief-history-of-the-mortgage-from-its-roots-in-ancient-rome-to-the-english-dead-pledge-and-its-rebirth-in-america-193005" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>. </em></p>

Real Estate

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New $2 coin skyrockets in value to $1,200

<p>A coin expert has shared how a brand new $2 coin has soared in value just 10 days after its release.</p> <p>The accredited numismatist from Perth, Joel Kandiah, revealed the Royal Australian Mint’s latest Vietnam Silver $2 is now in high demand.</p> <p>Kandiah, known online as @TheHistoryOf_Money has attracted a large following on his Instagram and TikTok with his insights on the value of multiple coin and bank notes.</p> <p>Speaking to<em> 7News.com.au</em>, he said the coveted coin is selling for up to $1,200 online with an increase of 1,400 per cent on the retail value.</p> <p>Kandiah shared that the shocking price hike, “has never been witnessed before on the numismatic market”.</p> <p>He added that the Royal Australian Mint released two brand new Vietnam War commemorative $2 coins on April 6, 2023.</p> <p>The first coin was an uncirculated C mintmark that has a retail value of $15 and a mintage value of 80,000.</p> <p>The second coin was a silver version of that same coin, but was proof finished, meaning it had been struck multiple times and hand polished for a shiny, spot-free finish. That coin had a retail value of $80, and a lowly mintage of just 5,000.</p> <p>Both coins were initially in demand, however the silver $2 commemorative coin has seen a remarkable price increase.</p> <p>Kandiah said there were two reasons behind the massive interest in the silver coin.</p> <p>“The first reason for the hype of this coin is that it is the first silver version of a coloured two coin and will most likely the only version that will feature the Queen’s effigy,” he told <em>7News.com.au</em>.</p> <p>“It has a lower mintage than the most valuable coloured $2 coin, the Mars $2 coin from the 2018 Planetary Series collection, which is currently valued at around $4000.</p> <p>“The combination of these two factors have led to this price spiral which has never been witnessed before on the numismatic market.”</p> <p>Kandiah also revealed the release of the sought-after coin has stirred up a heated debate among coin collectors in Australia.</p> <p>“Within minutes of release, dealers across the country sold out of their allocations,” he explained.</p> <p>“Meanwhile, people were on the mint’s online store, call centre and in person in Canberra. Silver coins were completely sold out by the afternoon and the uncirculated coins were sold out by midnight.</p> <p>“People were waiting up to 16 hours in the Mint’s online queue system to try and get their hands on the coin.</p> <p>“Many collectors who were purchasing online had to compete with people from the ’sneaker bot’ community, who used sophisticated software to buy up new releases - only to release them on eBay at a significantly higher markup hours later.</p> <p>“By mid-afternoon, prices had gone up to $100 for the uncirculated coin and $300 for the silver coin.</p> <p>“Since then, the price of the uncirculated coin has fallen down to around $60 as ‘fear of missing out’ (FOMO) dies down.</p> <p>“However, the silver coin has continued to spike in price, which has now increased 15-fold to $1200 by April 16.”</p> <p>Kandiah said time will tell whether the silver coin will continue to increase in value.</p> <p>“Whether the value is due to FOMO, is too early to determine,” he told <em>7News.com.au</em>.</p> <p>“Once we find more people get hands on their orders from the Mint, it is likely that they will sell their coins to cash in on the price rise but the relative rarity of the coin could be a long-lasting factor in its valuation.</p> <p>“The coin collector market has changed considerably over the last few years and it is in a new space where the buying and selling are done with each other through Facebook groups and eBay rather than through dealers.</p> <p>“The democratisation and accessibility of this process has led to improved liquidity within the market and hence we will continue to see rapid fluctuations in the Australian coin collector market in the future.”</p> <p><em>Image credit: Instagram</em></p>

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New coin featuring Queen Elizabeth II carries hidden detail

<p>The final design for the coin featuring Queen Elizabeth’s profile has been released by the Royal Australian Mint.</p> <p>Since taking the throne in 1953, six portraits of the Queen have appeared on Australian coins and next year the late monarch will feature for the last time.</p> <p>The new design was unveiled this week, after her death in September, and will include her familiar profile but with a notable difference.</p> <p>Featuring British engraver Jody Clark’s portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, the memorial coin’s notable addition will include the Queen’s 70 years of reign and will read "Elizabeth II 1952-2022".</p> <p>Australian coin expert Joel Kandiah says this will be the first time this detail has appeared on an Australian coin. The change will only be for the collectable coin, and not for normally circulated coins.</p> <p>“Any new circulation coins minted next year will be dated 2022 until the King Charles III effigy is introduced,” he told 7News.</p> <p>The coin has been called Queen Elizabeth II Memorial Obverse and will be released in January 2023.</p> <p>Existing coins bearing the Queen’s profile will remain in circulation and continue to be legal tender forever.</p> <p>In the coming months, the Australian Government will announce details of the transition to the profile of King Charles III for all Australian coins.</p> <p>Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury Andrew Leigh said: “This final series of collectable coins will serve as a lasting tribute to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and a reminder for all Australians of her 70 years of service to Australia and the Commonwealth".</p> <p><em>Image: Royal Australian Mint</em></p>

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Evidence that human evolution driven by major environmental pressures discovered

<p>The genes of ancient humans might have changed substantially due to environmental pressures and change, say an international team of researchers.</p> <p>A widely held belief related to human evolution is that our ancient ancestors’ ability to fashion tools, shelter, and use advanced communication skills may have helped to shield them from large environmental impacts such as changing climate, disease and exposure to other events affecting mortality.</p> <p>But research led out of Australian Centre for Ancient DNA at the University of Adelaide suggests that beneficial genes may have played a more important role in preserving our ancestors.</p> <p>Until now, the sudden increase in frequency of these genes in human groups was masked by the exchange of DNA between people during reproduction.</p> <p>Now, analyses of more than one thousand ancient genomes dating as far back as 45,000 years ago have found historic signals showing genetic adaptation was more common than previously thought.</p> <p>The study of evolutionary events, says the study’s co-lead author Dr Yassine Souilmi, has increased substantially in recent years, as these are the points where human genetics take historic turns.</p> <p>“Evolutionary events [are] exactly what shape our genetic diversity today,” Souilmi tells Cosmos.</p> <p>“That’s what makes us vulnerable to certain diseases [and] resistant to others.</p> <p>“Having a good understanding of evolution, we can have a better understanding of who we are.”</p> <p>Previous research by the Centre has uncovered a range of evolutionary trends, from historic climate change causing the demise of ancestral lions and bears, to the first interactions between humans and coronaviruses 20,000 years ago.</p> <p>And the broader field of research into ancient DNA has shed light on important moments in human history. Only recently did analyses of ancient genes uncover locations on the human genome associated with surviving Yersinia pestis – the bacterium that causes the bubonic plague.</p> <h2>Single events probably triggered selection</h2> <p>This study, published in Nature Ecology and Evolution, has similarly found environmental events might have been more influential on evolution among Eurasian groups.</p> <p>Such events might lead to a point of natural selection. Take, for instance, the emergence of a pathogen. If such a disease could kill people, those who managed to survive and continue reproducing would pass down favourable traits to subsequent generations.</p> <p>“Natural selection acts in two different mechanisms,” says Souilmi.</p> <p>“It only cares about whether you’re procreating successfully… when it acts, it’s either killing a lot of people, [preventing] some people from reproducing successfully, or some people are just not finding mates because they have some sort of ailment that’s not allowing them to mate successfully, or might make them undesirable.</p> <p>“What we’re finding is that the signal of natural selection we detected in this [research] was likely a single event, because the signal is clustered in time in a very early migration out of Africa.</p> <p>“Not all of the [events] we detected occurred at the same time, but the bulk of them did.”</p> <h2>A mirror to the present</h2> <p>This ‘agnostic’ study did not seek to identify the external pressures leading to the selection events indicated in these ancient genes, but future research by the team will seek to uncover that information.</p> <p>Studies like this, or those into specific pressures like the influence of the Black Death or coronaviruses on humans, show the impact of environmental change on our genetics.</p> <p>Souilmi says this is both insightful and cautionary, as environmental change in the present could be studied by humans in the future.</p> <p>He speculates that changes in the Earth’s climate, or the emergence of new pathogens, likely imposed selection pressures on ancient groups, whether through forcing shortages or changes to food supply or imposing physiological stressors.</p> <p>“Very likely, it’s the environment, the temperature, the weather patterns, that would have somewhat impacted the dietary regime of our ancestors out of Africa, and pathogens would have driven this [genetic] adaptation, which has shaped our genetic diversity now,” Souilmi says.</p> <p>“The direct lesson, socially, now, is that if we’re ever faced with events that are similar to that, we are not as immune to extreme episodes of adaptation where a lot of people might die, or be unable to reproduce.</p> <p>“Unless we do something to counteract the environmental changes, or viruses, bacterial or other pandemics, it could be a bad thing.”</p> <p><strong>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/science/human-evolution-driven-by-environment/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cosmosmagazine.com</a> and was written by Matthew Agius.</strong></p> <p><em>Image: Shutterstock</em></p>

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How Bob Dylan used the ancient practice of ‘imitatio’ to craft some of the most original songs of his time

<p>Over the course of six decades, Bob Dylan steadily brought together popular music and poetic excellence. Yet the guardians of literary culture have only rarely accepted Dylan’s legitimacy.</p> <p>His <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/14/arts/music/bob-dylan-nobel-prize-literature.html">2016 Nobel Prize in Literature</a> undermined his outsider status, challenging scholars, fans and critics to think of Dylan as an integral part of international literary heritage. My new book, “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/No-One-Meet-Imitation-Originality/dp/0817321411">No One to Meet: Imitation and Originality in the Songs of Bob Dylan</a>,” takes this challenge seriously and places Dylan within a literary tradition that extends all the way back to the ancients.</p> <p><a href="https://english.umbc.edu/core-faculty/raphael-falco/">I am a professor of early modern literature</a>, with a special interest in the Renaissance. But I am also a longtime Dylan enthusiast and the co-editor of the open-access <a href="https://thedylanreview.org/">Dylan Review</a>, the only scholarly journal on Bob Dylan. </p> <p>After teaching and <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Raphael-Falco">writing about</a> early modern poetry for 30 years, I couldn’t help but recognize a similarity between the way Dylan composes his songs and the ancient practice known as “<a href="http://www.artandpopularculture.com/Dionysian_imitatio">imitatio</a>.”</p> <h2>Poetic honey-making</h2> <p>Although the Latin word imitatio would translate to “imitation” in English, it doesn’t mean simply producing a mirror image of something. The term instead describes a practice or a methodology of composing poetry.</p> <p>The classical author Seneca <a href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Moral_letters_to_Lucilius/Letter_84">used bees</a> as a metaphor for writing poetry using imitatio. Just as a bee samples and digests the nectar from a whole field of flowers to produce a new kind of honey – which is part flower and part bee – a poet produces a poem by sampling and digesting the best authors of the past.</p> <p>Dylan’s imitations follow this pattern: His best work is always part flower, part Dylan. </p> <p>Consider a song like “<a href="https://www.bobdylan.com/songs/hard-rains-gonna-fall/">A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall</a>.” To write it, Dylan repurposed the familiar Old English ballad “<a href="https://www.poetrybyheart.org.uk/poems/lord-randall/">Lord Randal</a>,” retaining the call-and-response framework. In the original, a worried mother asks, “O where ha’ you been, Lord Randal, my son? / And where ha’ you been, my handsome young man?” and her son tells of being poisoned by his true love. </p> <p>In Dylan’s version, the nominal son responds to the same questions with a brilliant mixture of public and private experiences, conjuring violent images such as a newborn baby surrounded by wolves, black branches dripping blood, the broken tongues of a thousand talkers and pellets poisoning the water. At the end, a young girl hands the speaker – a son in name only – a rainbow, and he promises to know his song well before he’ll stand on the mountain to sing it.</p> <p>“A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” resounds with the original Old English ballad, which would have been very familiar to Dylan’s original audiences of Greenwich Village folk singers. He first sang the song in 1962 at <a href="https://bedfordandbowery.com/2016/12/the-story-of-the-gaslight-cafe-where-dylan-premiered-a-hard-rains-a-gonna-fall/">the Gaslight Cafe</a> on MacDougal Street, a hangout of folk revival stalwarts. To their ears, Dylan’s indictment of American culture – its racism, militarism and reckless destruction of the environment – would have echoed that poisoning in the earlier poem and added force to the repurposed lyrics.</p> <h2>Drawing from the source</h2> <p>Because Dylan “samples and digests” songs from the past, <a href="https://thedylanreview.org/2022/08/04/interview-with-scott-warmuth/">he has been accused of plagiarism</a>. </p> <p>This charge underestimates Dylan’s complex creative process, which closely resembles that of early modern poets who had a different concept of originality – a concept Dylan intuitively understands. For Renaissance authors, “originality” meant not creating something out of nothing, but <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Origin_and_Originality_in_Renaissance_Li/1OmCQgAACAAJ?hl=en">going back to what had come before</a>. They literally returned to the “origin.” Writers first searched outside themselves to find models to imitate, and then they transformed what they imitated – that is, what they found, sampled and digested – into something new. Achieving originality depended on the successful imitation and repurposing of an admired author from a much earlier era. They did not imitate each other, or contemporary authors from a different national tradition. Instead, they found their models among authors and works from earlier centuries.</p> <p>In his book “<a href="https://archive.org/details/lightintroyimita0000gree/page/n5/mode/2up">The Light in Troy</a>,” literary scholar Thomas Greene points to a 1513 letter written by poet Pietro Bembo to Giovanfrancesco Pico della Mirandola.</p> <p>“Imitation,” Bembo writes, “since it is wholly concerned with a model, must be drawn from the model … the activity of imitating is nothing other than translating the likeness of some other’s style into one’s own writings.” The act of translation was largely stylistic and involved a transformation of the model.</p> <h2>Romantics devise a new definition of originality</h2> <p>However, the Romantics of the late 18th century wished to change, and supersede, that understanding of poetic originality. For them, and the writers who came after them, creative originality meant going inside oneself to find a connection to nature. </p> <p><a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Natural_Supernaturalism/-ygCZmrJ2E4C?hl=en&amp;gbpv=1&amp;dq=natural+supernaturalism&amp;printsec=frontcover">As scholar of Romantic literature M.H. Abrams explains</a> in his renowned study “Natural Supernaturalism,” “the poet will proclaim how exquisitely an individual mind … is fitted to the external world, and the external world to the mind, and how the two in union are able to beget a new world.” </p> <p>Instead of the world wrought by imitating the ancients, the new Romantic theories envisioned the union of nature and the mind as the ideal creative process. Abrams quotes the 18th-century German Romantic <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/novalis/">Novalis</a>: “The higher philosophy is concerned with the marriage of Nature and Mind.”</p> <p>The Romantics believed that through this connection of nature and mind, poets would discover something new and produce an original creation. To borrow from past “original” models, rather than producing a supposedly new work or “new world,” could seem like theft, despite the fact, obvious to anyone paging through an anthology, that poets have always responded to one another and to earlier works.</p> <p>Unfortunately – as Dylan’s critics too often demonstrate – this bias favoring supposedly “natural” originality over imitation continues to color views of the creative process today. </p> <p>For six decades now, Dylan has turned that Romantic idea of originality on its head. With his own idiosyncratic method of composing songs and his creative reinvention of the Renaissance practice of imitatio, he has written and performed – yes, imitation functions in performance too – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_songs_written_by_Bob_Dylan">over 600 songs</a>, many of which are the most significant and most significantly original songs of his time.</p> <p>To me, there is a firm historical and theoretical rationale for what these audiences have long known – and the Nobel Prize committee made official in 2016 – that Bob Dylan is both a modern voice entirely unique and, at the same time, the product of ancient, time-honoured ways of practicing and thinking about creativity.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-bob-dylan-used-the-ancient-practice-of-imitatio-to-craft-some-of-the-most-original-songs-of-his-time-187052" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>. </em></p>

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UK couple strike gold under their kitchen floor

<p dir="ltr">A UK couple have made a surprising discovery while renovating their home, with their find selling for £754,000 ($AU 1.3 million) at auction.</p> <p dir="ltr">After ripping up the existing floorboards and jackhammering through the concrete in the kitchen of their East Yorkshire home, the couple uncovered a small urn containing 260 ancient coins.</p> <p dir="ltr">The <em>BBC </em>reported that the coins dated from 1610 to 1727 and belonged to the Fernley-Maisters, a family who traded through the Baltic region. </p> <p dir="ltr">Auction house Spink &amp; Son said Joseph Fernley and Sarah Maister were married in 1694 and lived in Ellerby.</p> <p dir="ltr">Joseph died in 1796 aged 76, and Sarah died aged 80 in 1745, with the family line “dying out soon after” according to the auction house.</p> <p dir="ltr">Auctioneer Gregory Edmund told the outlet that the sale sum was an “absolutely extraordinary” result and said the costly urn was no larger than a can of soft drink.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Picture the scene – you’re choosing to re-lay your uneven kitchen floor, you put a pick-axe through the concrete and just beneath you see a tiny sliver of gold,” he said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“At the time, you think it must just be a bit of electrical cable, but you find it’s a gold round disc and beneath it there are hundreds more.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-29911120-7fff-2ab8-6964-7eedba22d546"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">“I will never see an auction like this again.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/10/coins-find.jpg" alt="" /></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>The coins were found during renovation works in an East Yorkshire home (left) before being sold at auction. Images: Spink &amp; Son</em></p> <p dir="ltr">Though the couple made the discovery in 2019, they have only just sent the coins to auction.</p> <p dir="ltr">Spink &amp; Son said the collecction was “one of the largest hoards of 18th Century English gold coins ever found in Britain”.</p> <p dir="ltr">The coins are only represent about £100,000 in today’s currency, but they attracted such a high price due to their rarity, which only skyrocketed after the find gained global attention and became the subject of media coverage.</p> <p dir="ltr">Selling in lots, the highest individual price for one of the coins was a hefty £62,400 ($AU 108,000), paid for a 1720 coin described by the auction house as “imperfect”.</p> <p dir="ltr">Mr Edmund described the bidding as “electrifying”, with the auction attracting the interest of collectors around the world.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-946d24fb-7fff-52fe-56f6-1d2bba9289ea"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Spink &amp; Son</em></p>

Real Estate

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7th century gold coins found hidden in wall

<p dir="ltr">A collection of coins have been found concealed in a wall at a nature reserve in what has been described as an "extremely significant archaeological find".</p> <p dir="ltr">During an excavation at the Hermon Stream (Banias) in Israel, archaeologists found 44 gold coins dating back to the 7th century.</p> <p dir="ltr">Weighing in at about 170g, experts estimate that the hoard was hidden during the Muslim conquest in 635 CE.</p> <p dir="ltr">They say the discovery sheds light on this significant moment in history which saw the end of the Byzantine rule in the area.</p> <p dir="ltr">"We can imagine the owner concealing his fortune in the threat of war, hoping to return one day to retrieve his property," Yoav Lerer, the director of the excavation, told the <em><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-63122180" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BBC</a></em>.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-e2de019e-7fff-f560-1b33-b05e0737cf0b"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">"In retrospect, we know that he was less fortunate."</p> <p dir="ltr"><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/10/ancient-coins1.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p dir="ltr">Numismatic (currency) expert Dr Gabriela Bijovsky of the Israel Antiquities Authority said some of the coins were minted by Emperor Phocas (602-610 CE), while the majority were of his successor, Emperor Heraclius, with the latest coins the latter minted dating back to 635 CE.</p> <p dir="ltr">Eli Escusido, the director of the Israel Antiquities Authority, said it was a significant find and that the public could soon see the coins for themselves.</p> <p dir="ltr">"The coin hoard is an extremely significant archaeological find as it dates back to an important transitional period in the history of the city of Banias and the entire region of the Levant," he said.</p> <p dir="ltr">"The Israel Antiquities Authority, together with the National Parks Authority, will work together to exhibit the treasure to the public."</p> <p dir="ltr">Along with the coins, Israeli authorities said the excavation also uncovered remains of buildings and bronze coins, as well as water channels and pipes.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-1fc84529-7fff-21de-638e-0c0babadf54e"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: Israel Antiquities Authority (Facebook)</em></p>

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An ancient seed could prove wonders for your hair and skin

<p dir="ltr">In a world of products saturated with new formulas and hero ingredients that promise wondrous benefits, it can feel overwhelming to find a product that works for you.</p> <p dir="ltr">A new contender is the oil of the humble Black Cumin seed, or <em>Nigella sativa</em>, which is the hero ingredient in Hab Shifa’s line of beauty products, including a body wash, moisturiser shampoo and conditioner.</p> <p dir="ltr">With its use dating back to the Ancient Egyptians and in some of the world’s oldest religious and medical texts, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2583426/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">clinical studies</a> of the Black Seed have since found it has various health benefits, thanks to its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antiviral, and even anti-diabetic properties.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-a685ac50-7fff-e15d-7f6e-64f04896e501"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">When it comes to our skin and hair, Black Seed oil has been praised for its ability to cleanse hair of impurities while nurturing the scalp.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CiOcuLuNVYA/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CiOcuLuNVYA/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Hab Shifa Australia (@hab_shifa_black_seed)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">Hab Shifa takes advantage of these qualities and combines Black Seed oil with other anti-irritant ingredients, with the resulting combination helping restore skin elasticity and minimise the loss of moisture in the barriers of the skin.</p> <p dir="ltr">After trialling Hab Shifa’s products over the last few months, I can safely say the shampoo and conditioner make easy work of my hair, leaving it feeling lighter, softer, and clean even when it has been at its greasiest.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-7a65138d-7fff-fd3a-4496-5aba5fa2e455"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">The body wash and moisturiser have delivered similar results for my skin, with the scrub helping my skin feel exfoliated while the moisturiser has put an end to my usual bouts of dry skin.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/Ch1t5DOLeXI/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Ch1t5DOLeXI/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Hab Shifa Australia (@hab_shifa_black_seed)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">I’m not the only one who has seen the benefits of using Hab Shifa’s Black Seed oil products either.</p> <p dir="ltr">After searching for a product to help with dryness and cracking - a problem made all the worse due to increased hand-washing during the COVID-19 pandemic - nurse Margie Ryan has since made the moisturiser her go-to product, even over pharmaceutical and heavy-duty products.</p> <p dir="ltr">She says the moisturiser absorbs well and that it doesn’t feel like oils are transferred, and recommends it for anyone who works in industries where their hands are frequently in water or where they are prone to dryness or cracking.</p> <p dir="ltr">The Hab Shifa Black Seed skin and hair care range consists of the <a href="https://habshifa.com.au/collections/nourishment-tq/products/black-seed-nurturing-shampoo-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nurturing Shampoo</a> and <a href="https://habshifa.com.au/collections/nourishment-tq/products/black-seed-nurturing-conditioner" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nurturing Conditioner</a>, the <a href="https://habshifa.com.au/collections/nourishment-tq/products/black-seed-revitalizing-body-wash" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Revitalizing Body Wash</a>, and the <a href="https://habshifa.com.au/collections/nourishment-tq/products/black-seed-hydrating-moisturizing-lotion" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hydrating Moisturizing Lotion</a>, which retail for $19.95 each or can be purchased as <a href="https://habshifa.com.au/collections/gift-packs/products/gift-of-beauty-gift-pack" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a bundle</a> for $77.50 on Hab Shifa’s online store.</p> <p dir="ltr">To find their products in-store, head <a href="https://habshifa.com.au/pages/store-locator" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a> to locate your closest one.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-dd856881-7fff-150d-3a26-2cdd567f32d9"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

Beauty & Style

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King Charles III's new coin effigy finally unveiled

<p>The first coins to feature the effigy of King Charles III have been unveiled.</p> <p>The Royal Mint in the UK released the first look at the official effigy of the new monarch on Friday, announcing the coins will start to circulate in the coming months.</p> <p>The design was personally approved by the King himself and was sculpted by Martin Jennings. It will appear on commemorative 50 pence pieces and on the five pound note.</p> <p>Chief executive officer of The Royal Mint, Anne Jessopp said they were honoured to keep the effigy tradition going for more than 1000 years.</p> <p>“The Royal Mint has been trusted to make coins bearing the monarch’s effigy for over 1,100 years and we are proud to continue this tradition into the reign of King Charles III. Although technology has progressed, we continue to honour British craftsmanship passed down through the centuries,” Ms Jessopp said.</p> <p>“Her Late Majesty ruled with heart and devotion for 70 years, and this memorial collection commemorates her remarkable legacy as Britain’s longest-serving monarch.</p> <p>"To ensure everyone can hold a piece of history in their hand, the 50p will also enter circulation in the UK.”</p> <p><em>Read more: The Royal Mint</em></p> <p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; outline: none !important;"> </p>

Money & Banking

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"This is the big one": Mars-themed coin rockets up in value

<p dir="auto">A set of unusual 2017 Australian coins has leapt in value and is now fetching upwards of $6,000 online – thanks in part to one very special element of the set, and of course to the recent passing of Queen Elizabeth II.</p> <p>The remarkable 10-piece Planetary Collection set, which was released to the public in 2017, shows each of the planets of our Solar System, and also includes Pluto and the Sun.</p> <p>Inside the intergalactic set, the 10 coins range from one cent to $5 and were originally sold for just $170 to savvy collectors - but it's one coin in particular that has rocketed the set's overall price: the Mars $2 coin.</p> <p><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/09/big-marscoin.jpg" alt="" width="426" height="227" /></p> <p>Accounting for at least half of the set's overall $6000 value, Australian coin expert Joel Kandiah says that's why <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/finance/money-banking/why-the-value-of-these-coins-has-shot-through-the-roof" target="_blank" rel="noopener">demand for this coin has shot through the roof </a>and has been growing since 2020, when collectors were hunting for every single different version.</p> <p>However, the Mars $2 coin within the new set is the one that people are most eager to get their hands on.</p> <p>“People started buying up the entire sets because it's still relatively affordable. And that started pushing demand up for that coin specifically in a short space of time,” the social media personality said.</p> <p>Halfway through last year the sets were selling between $1,800 to $2,000.</p> <p>The 2012 Red Poppy and 2013 Purple coronation $2 coins are also spiking in value.</p> <p>The demand for the $2 coins has shot up even more after the death of Queen Elizabeth II.</p> <p>However, if you're hoping to discover one behind your couch cushions, you might be disappointed, as these box set coins were never intended to be used in general circulation. But if you DO know someone who made that wise $170 investment back in 2017, now is the time to tell them what they are sitting on!</p> <p><em>Image: Wynyardcoins.com.au</em></p>

Money & Banking

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Why the value of these coins has shot through the roof

<p>Aussies around the country will be racing to check their wallets in light of the revelation that the value of two rare $2 coins has exploded virtually overnight.</p> <p>Leading Australian coin expert Joel Kandiah has shared that two coins in particular have shot up in value following the Queen’s death. The Perth based teacher is an avid coin collector and has racked up a huge following on Instagram and TikTok with his page, The History of Money.</p> <p>In a recent video he shared the 2012 Red Poppy coin and the 2013 Purple Coronation coin are now worth a combined total of $550. The increase in demand for these rare $2 coins is of course all due to the Queen’s passing.</p> <p>“The market has been hot for these two $2 coins, which are the lowest minted coloured $2 coins in Australian history,” Mr Kandiah explained in the video.</p> <p>The 2013 Purple Coronation $2 coin has a slightly higher mintage of 995,000, but its value has also soared.</p> <p>If the coins are in mint condition they could go for an even higher price. A simple search on Ebay will reveal a number of Red Poppy coins selling in recent days for between $390 and $434, while the 50c coin released for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee initially sold for $12.50, but is now valued at $100.</p> <p>The 2019 “Effigies Over Time” collector set has also seen a huge spike in demand, with the price soaring from $50 two weeks ago to $250 in the current market.</p> <p>“I’ve been collecting for 27 years and I’ve never seen price rises like that ever,” Mr Kandiah said.</p> <p>According to Mr Kandiah, the 5c coin could also soon be taken out of circulation.</p> <p>The Royal Australian Mint disclosed that 5c coins currently cost 12c to make due to high metal prices. It also costs 24c to make a 10c coin and 48c to make a 20c.</p> <p>The cost is simply unfeasible for a coin everyone hates, Mr Kandiah said. The Queen’s death was the perfect time for authorities to reset a flawed system, according to the coin expert.</p> <p><em>Image: TikTok</em></p>

Money & Banking

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Silence of the poets – has an ancient tradition of commemorative verse died with the Queen?

<p>Not so long ago, the death of a monarch would have been a cue for outpourings of elegies and poetic commemorations. One might have thought the end of the second Elizabethan era would prompt something similar – but apparently not.</p> <p>So far, the death of Queen Elizabeth II has had only a muted response from our poets, both in the United Kingdom and here in Aotearoa New Zealand. Does this reflect shifting priorities in the national imagination? Are we witnessing the demise of poetry on public occasions?</p> <p>We need only look back at the death in 1936 of the queen’s grandfather, George V, for comparison. <a href="https://backwatersman.wordpress.com/2009/12/27/the-death-of-king-george-v/">John Betjeman</a> and <a href="https://www.poetryexplorer.net/poem.php?id=10105234">John Masefield</a> were among the poets who marked the occasion. Betjeman was England’s poet laureate from 1972 until his death in 1984, and also wrote on the <a href="https://www.poetryexplorer.net/poem.php?id=10038138">birthday of the queen mother</a> and the <a href="https://www.poetryexplorer.net/poem.php?id=10038137">marriage of Charles and Diana</a>.</p> <p>Betjeman stood in a long line of British poet laureates stretching back unbroken to John Dryden in 1668, and to poets such as Geoffrey Chaucer before that. But the culture of poetry responding to monarchs’ deaths has flourished outside the official post, too.</p> <p>The unexpected death in 1612 of the 18-year-old Prince Henry, son and heir to James VI and I, prompted an <a href="https://specialcollections-blog.lib.cam.ac.uk/?p=3553">outpouring of poetic tears</a>. <a href="https://www.poetrynook.com/poem/elegy-upon-untimely-death-incomparable-prince-henry">John Donne</a> wrote an elegy, as did George Herbert, John Webster and Sir Walter Raleigh.</p> <h2>Elegiac energy</h2> <p>Particularly voluminous was the the flood of poetry that met the execution of King Charles I at the height of the English Civil Wars in 1649. His <a href="https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw35443/The-execution-of-King-Charles-I">dramatic beheading</a> on a scaffold erected outside Whitehall Palace made him a martyr to his loyal followers. </p> <p>Literary historian Nigel Smith has described the way elegy became a royalist genre, as the death of the king “sucked all elegiac energy into its own subject”.</p> <p>And there are close connections nearby to these elegies on King Charles I. Melbourne’s State Library Victoria holds the <a href="https://www.slv.vic.gov.au/search-discover/explore-collections-theme/history-book/emmerson-collection">John Emmerson collection</a> of over 5,000 early modern English books, among which poems, pamphlets and other <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-16/king-charles-1-trial-and-executed-news-of-the-time/6391990">publications on the death of Charles I</a> feature prominently.</p> <p>Poetic treasures in the collection include a copy of Monumentum Regale: Or a Tombe, Erected for that Incomparable and Glorious Monarch, Charles the First, a volume of elegies and poetic “sighs” and “groans” published three months after the king’s execution. Royalist poets grapple with how they can possibly commemorate an “incomparable” king. The Earl of Montrose declares he has written his poem with “blood”, “wounds” and the point of his sword.</p> <p>In Aotearoa New Zealand, the Alexander Turnbull Library is famous for its collection of works by a poet from the other side of the 17th-century political divide, John Milton. <a href="https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/2t53/turnbull-alexander-horsburgh">Turnbull</a> (1868–1918) had a personal interest in Milton, an ardent republican. Even Turnbull’s collection, however, contains a notable number of volumes celebrating Charles I, including multiple editions of Eikon Basilike (The King’s Book), which represented Charles I as a Christ-like martyr.</p> <h2>Public poetry isn’t dead</h2> <p>This vast body of public poetry about previous monarchs is in sharp contrast to the response to Queen Elizabeth II’s death. Even in the United Kingdom, the current poet laureate, Simon Armitage, seems to have struggled. The form of his poem “Floral Tribute”, an acrostic on the name “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/sep/13/floral-tribute-poem-queen-elizabeth-simon-armitage-poet-laureate">Elizabeth</a>”, seems archaic at best and banal at worst.</p> <p>New Zealand’s poet laurate, Chris Tse, inaugurated only a few weeks ago, has been notably silent. When I asked him why, he said writing a poem for the queen “would be a backwards step in terms of where I want the role to go”.</p> <p>Tse’s reticence perhaps echoes the complicated thoughts of Selina Tusitala Marsh, a recent former laureate, on <a href="https://www.read-nz.org/aotearoa-reads-details/nz-poet-selina-tusitala-marsh-visits-and-sasses-the-queen">performing her poem</a> “Unity” for the queen in 2016. For Marsh, the British Crown’s colonial legacy (as she put it, “Her peeps also colonised my peeps”) made writing and performing the poem a complex commission to accept.</p> <p>As laureate, Marsh preferred to write poems on occasions such as <a href="https://thespinoff.co.nz/books/22-06-2018/the-friday-poem-jacinda-and-clarke-and-the-baby-and-us-by-the-nz-poet-laureate">the birth of a prime ministerial baby</a>. But the fact New Zealand even has a <a href="http://www.poetlaureate.org.nz/">poet laureate</a> in 2022 suggests there is still an appetite for public poetry, even if the days of poems on the death of a queen are numbered.</p> <p>The modern monarchy itself, of course, provides rich material for poetry of a less commemorative kind. Bill Manhire, New Zealand’s inaugural laureate, speculated on Twitter that we are awaiting an acrostic on “Andrew”. And the most remarkable poem of the morning we awoke to news of the queen’s death was essa may ranapiri’s “<a href="https://twitter.com/ired0mi/status/1567977694348058624">The Queen is Dead</a>”.</p> <p>Immediate and visceral, it’s an unabashed anti-colonialist spit in the face of monarchy. Some will find it shocking, others will gasp with appreciation. But even those taken aback by its frank approach and timing may share the sense of distance it captures, in its formal displacement of the news from afar by scrambled eggs, spring sunlight and the joy of quotidian love as a new day begins.</p> <p>Public poetry isn’t dead. But our poets’ responses to the death of the queen – the silent, the awkward, the confrontational – tell us much, as ever, about the societies we live in.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/silence-of-the-poets-has-an-ancient-tradition-of-commemorative-verse-died-with-the-queen-190834" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>. </em></p>

Art

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Genius idea for leftover foreign coins

<p>Anyone who’s travelled knows how annoying it is to come home with a handful of foreign change.  But it seems as though there’s a solution.</p> <p>An Irish company called <a href="http://www.coindrum.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Coindrum</span></em></strong></a> is hoping to get rid of this lose change by creating a service that will collect this money at airports, where it can be exchanges for vouchers.</p> <p>The vouchers can then be spent at the airport.</p> <p>Coindrum has been successfully trialled at Dublin Airport, with some passengers reportedly depositing up to €300 in coins when taking advantage of the new service.</p> <p>The great advantage is Coindrum not only gives you the full value of the coins you deposit, but throws in a bonus 10 per cent on top, which is a significant mark up!</p> <p>The idea has proven popular not just with visitors who are heading back to countries where they’ve been using different currencies, but also with locals looking to offload their own euro coins.</p> <p>Based on the initial success Coindrum has plants to expand to major airports around the world, and has secured quite a sizeable $US 2 million in its latest round of funding.</p> <p>Coindrum chief executive Lukas Decker told Lonely Planet, “Travellers are currently getting stuck with their leftover coins when they are departing the currency area, so Coindrum offers a simple solution to this inconvenience. Instead of your change turning into dead weight, you get to buy something you love with it. Coindrum should and will be in every international hub airport worldwide as it offers a simple solution to a common problem.”</p> <p>Not only did Coindrum significantly boost shopping levels at Dublin Airport, it also cut down on pedestrian traffic with people spending less time fumbling around with coins at security checks.</p> <p><em>Image: Getty</em></p> <p> </p>

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