Preserved collection
Twenty original features on precious metals, historic coins, treasure, alchemy, shipwrecks, gems, and the human stories behind them.
The Aztecs were an incredibly wealthy people, amassing a huge fortune in gold and other valuables. So what happened to all their wealth? It’s pretty simple, really – they spent it all. The…
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Rhodium is a rare metal used in jewelry, It’s also the most expensive metal in the world. It’s part of the platinum group of metals, alongside palladium, osmium, platinum, iridium, and…
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If you’re a regular reader at Historic Metals (and why wouldn’t you be?) you probably already know that we love talking about shipwreck hauls. We also recently wrote an article about lost…
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In this weeks video we introduce you to the Winged Liberty dime. Almost 3 billion were minted, and everyone knows and loves them, but not many people know their real name or even the…
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In this video we are going to get wrecked. Shipwrecked, that is! We will dive in to the fascinating tale of the 1809 shipwreck of the East India Company’s Admiral Gardner “Eastindianman”…
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Gems and jewels have drawn robberies and thefts since the beginning of time. Anywhere there is a large stash of treasure, you can be sure someone has tried to steal it. Museums are filled…
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In this video we will explore the fascinating tale of that time when US President Theodore Roosevelt canceled a coin designed by the US Mint Chief of Design, Charles Barber, so he could…
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In this video we will explore the fascinating, ancient coins of the Ancient Greek Empire, which are more than 2500 years old! We’re calling this “Greek Week” for this week’s video, all…
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In this video we will explore the fascinating ancient coins of the Byzantine Empire, which were in circulation for around 900 years between the years 300 and 1200. Discover the interesting…
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In the 16th century, as Spanish colonizers roamed Mexico and the Southern United States, there were persistent rumors floating around of these mythical Seven Cities of Cibola (Gold). These…
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In this video, we will explore the story of how the smallest coin ever issued in the history of mankind, became one of the most well known coins ever made and how it became Historic Metal…
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The oceans on our planet are hiding extraordinary things. Be they shipwrecks or fish surviving from the prehistoric era, it’s no secret that there’s plenty to be discovered on the watery…
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Our planet is full of things that have been lost over time, never to be recovered. We might think that because of satellites, the internet, and that everyone has a camera on them at all…
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Fabergé eggs are synonymous with the decadence of imperial Russian rule before the Russian Revolution of 1917. There were around 69 eggs created, and 57 remain–although some are still lost…
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Gold rushes have shaped human history all over the world. Some of the world’s biggest cities originally flourished as gold rush towns. San Francisco was one of them. In America, the…
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Is the “CC” Morgan, the ‘C’oolest ‘C’oin in America? Let’s dig in to this Historic Metal! Join me for this brief history of the Carson City Mint and the “CC” Morgan Silver Dollar. The US…
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In general, a “metal” is a material that is usually hard, opaque, sometimes shiny, and possessing electrical and thermal conductivity capabilities. Metals are generally malleable and…
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The name alchemy comes etymologically from Arabic and Late Greek. Ancient Greeks had a term ‘khēmía’, and the Arabic part is the ‘al’, which means ‘the’. A loose interpretation of the word…
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A Goldback is an innovative new form of money. It’s the world’s first voluntary currency that is created from a small amount of spendable 24-karat gold. They are an inflation proof form of…
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Our world today is full of different metals of varying value. Metals can naturally occur on Earth, or asteroids and meteorites bring them to the planet when they make impact. In more…
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