Now for something truly odd

I got this in an old collection I just acquired. I find it fascinating being a coin collector and a rockhound. It is an 1867 Italian 10 centesimi coin imbedded in Lava. I am guessing they were sold as souvenirs in Italy but I wonder if it actually was encased in lava in 1867 or they just used the coins because they had no value and were common. I also wonder which volcano it came from. It had to be something flowing at the time. I am not sure when the last time there was an active volcano or maybe there are still some. Anybody have any ideas.
Thanks

That's a nifty piece!

After a quick search, I found that Mt. Vesuvius had a relatively major eruption in 1868 and then again in 1872, which fits the time frame for the coin in your piece.

I also found this link: [www.crystalclassics.co.uk] which shows a similar coin-in-lava "specimen" from 1825 near the bottom of the page. Like you said, probably just a souvenir item, but likely from the timeframe of the embedded coin, making it a really cool antique (and one I'd love to have!).

Here's another example I found: [www.culture24.org.uk] near the center of the page.

It's an article about an artist, but it shows another old coin embedded in lava "presumably from Vesuvius." Hope that helps.

I think there is a long history of the locals embedding coins in lava from Mt. Vesuvius volcano for tourists. Many of them are dated the year of the particular flow from which the lava was dipped.

Rock Currier
Crystals not pistols.

Hi

I would have thought that the lava would have been hot enough to have melted the coin if it truly encased the coin when molten

Hmmmm

Cheers

Nearly cooled lava can remain in a plastic state for quite a while. I imagine that it can be soft enough to allow a coin to be pushed into it but not hot enough to melt it.

I never knew about these items before seeing this thread today - now I want one!

Don,

I was really surprised - and delighted - to see this.

My father (who died in 1971 when I was 13) had one almost identical to this, except that his woukd have had, I'm sure, a later-dated coin in it. I remember him telling me that he "made" it when he climbed Vesuvius towards the end of the second World War. My memory of his description of this is that there was a vendor near the summit, who "ladled" lava from the flow (apparently with "tourist" participation) and then pressed coins into the semi-molten rock, and then cooled the resulting specimens for sale as souvenirs. My Dad's example was evidently from the 1944 eruption.

The sad part of the story is that he allowed me to take it to school - primary school, I would have been about 8 - for a project on volcanos,and it was somehow lost and never seen again. At that time, the loss meant a lot more to my Dad than it did to me; now, I sincerely wish it was still in my possession.

So that's why I smiled when I saw your picture. I guess the good news is that the volcano project was one of the things that steered me towards geology at university.

Cheers

mal

[www.earth-prints.org]

___________
Antonio

Many thanks to all. I love it more now than before.

Hello Dan,

perhaps I can help you. I have some from Vesuvius with coins to offer