History

When is a penny worth $1.15 million? When it is a rare experimental penny minted in 1792.

The unusual coin was auctioned off Thursday at the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Centre in suburban Chicago.

Officials with Heritage Auctions say Kevin Lipton of Beverly Hills, California, bought the penny on behalf of a group of unnamed investors. The winning bid was $1 million, but the investors also must pay the auction house’s 15 percent commission.

The coin is made from copper and encases a small plug of silver.

The silver was added to make the penny heavier, said Todd Imhof, executive vice president of Heritage Auctions. On one side of the coin, a depiction of Miss Liberty is ringed by the phrase Liberty Parent of Science & Industry. The back of the coin reads United States of America One Cent.

After 200 years, we can only account for 14 of these, said Imhof, who added that the penny was never actually put into circulation — via redwolf.newsvine.com

The most spectacular ecclesiastical treasures to be discovered in Britain for almost half a century have been unearthed in the ruins of a medieval abbey in Cumbria.

An elaborate 14th-15th century abbot’s crook (his staff of office) and his gilt silver inauguration ring were found in a grave just four meters northwest of the high altar at the ruined Cistercian abbey of Furness near Preston.

The top of the crook is decorated with a silver plaque bearing a gilded image of the Archangel Michael slaying a dragon. Remarkably, some of the original wood of the crook also survives, as does the pointed iron spike at its base — and part of a linen and silk sweat cloth designed to prevent the abbot’s potentially perspiring hands coming into contact with the wooden part of the crook.

The ring, which would almost certainly have been specially made for his inauguration as abbot, is of gilded silver and is set with a large white gemstone — either a rock crystal or a white sapphire — via redwolf.newsvine.com

A short film that tells the story behind the Keep Calm and Carry On poster. Its origins at the beginning of WWII and its rediscovery in a bookshop in England in 2000, becoming one of the iconic images of the 21st century — via Barter Books

An Australian historian has uncovered hidden documents which reveal that African American troops used machine guns to attack their white officers in a siege on a US base in north Queensland in 1942.

Information about the Townsville mutiny has never been released to the public.

But the story began to come to light when James Cook University’s Ray Holyoak first began researching why US congressman Lyndon B Johnson visited Townsville for three days back in 1942.

What he discovered was evidence detailing one of the biggest uprisings within the US military — via redwolf.newsvine.com

A Maine treasure hunter says he has discovered a WWII-era shipwreck filled with platinum, now worth $3bn (£1.9bn).

Greg Brooks of Sub Sea Research says a wreck sitting 50 miles (80km) off the US Atlantic coast is the SS Port Nicholson, sunk in 1942.

The Port Nicholson, a British merchant ship, was torpedoed by a German U-boat in an attack that killed six people.

Some have expressed doubts the wreck holds platinum, and maritime law would complicate ownership claims.

Anthony Shusta, an attorney representing the British government, says it is unclear if the ship ever carried platinum.

We’re still researching what was on the vessel, Mr Shusta told the Associated Press news agency. Our initial research indicated it was mostly machinery and military stores.

The United Kingdom will wait until salvage operations begin before deciding whether to file a claim on the cargo, he added

Granville Train Disaster 1977, originally uploaded by Blue Mountains Library – Local Studies.

Survivors of the Granville train disaster have gathered at the western Sydney site of the crash to mark the 35th anniversary of what is still Australia’s worst rail accident.

Eighty three people died and more than 200 were injured when a passenger train derailed and ran into the base of the Bold Street Bridge on January 18, 1977.

Two passenger carriages were crushed as the bridge came down on top of the train.

The early morning service was packed with commuters travelling from the Blue Mountains — via redwolf.newsvine.com