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German Regimental Steins began at the conclusion of the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-1871. Constitutional law required compulsory military service to all German men between the ages of 17 to 45 excluding only members of ruling houses, criminals and those deprived of their civil rights.

The German Military was divided into six land based groups which were of the following:

Artillery
Calvary
Technical Troops
Infantry
Military Supply
Engineer or Pioneer
Air Force (started at the end of the century)

During this time, military service was compulsory and it was considered a great honor to defend your country. The completion of a military man’s service to the fatherland was a milestone to be commemorated.

At the completion of his active duty and to start his reserve service to his country, the soldier either purchased or was presented with a commemorative stein. These steins were considered a badge of honor by the men who had served in the German military.

Each stein was custom made and decorated with information relating to the unit that the military man had served with. The pewter lids were either cone or dome shaped with ornamental designs and the tops were crowned with figurines or symbols of the unit group.

Names of fellow men in the unit were displayed in columns on either side of the handles. The unit name, along with a picture depicting the unit he served in was on the front of the stein. Various other phrases and lettering would be applied representing his unit. Many of these steins were also decorated with a drinking toast or phrase that was popular with the men of the unit. Translated today, these phrases still make wonderful toasts.

At the local beer hall all others could see that he had served his homeland with honor and helped to ensure the security of his people. This alone, was an excellent reason to display the stein and to toast the honor of all those who had served Germany.

Regimental steins are still made today, but in replica versions. Authentic Regimental steins are still today a highly sought after item by many avid beer stein collectors.

The following are some popular military toasts found on some Regimental steins:

Artillery:
German – Kanonendonner is unser Gruss!
English – Cannon thunder is our greeting!

Engineer/Pioneer:
German – Brueder stosst die Glaeser an, hoch lebe der Reservemann!
English – Brothers bring those glasses on, highly live the Reserve man!

Infantry:
German – Dauerfeuer ist unser Gruss!
English – Constant fire is our greeting!

Navy:
German – Wert trev gedient hat seine Zeit, dem sei ein voller Krug gewith!
English – He who has served his time, has a mug that is fuller!

Calvary:
German – Stolz zu Ross die Kavallerie, auf dem posten spat und frueh!
English – Proudly rides the cavalry, guarding from morning to night!

Evelyn Whitaker writes articles for Deutsches Haus http://www.deutscheshaus.cc which is located in St. Paul, Minnesota. Deutsches Haus offers German collectibles, souvenirs, gifts and foods.

Books can be a fascinating type of treasure. Most books bought in America today cost between one and five dollars apiece, but there are books in the world that have been sold for over one hundred fifty thousand dollars.

These books are called “rare” books, and many men spend their lives collecting, buying and selling them. The bookdealers and auctioneers classify them as scarce, rare, very rare, exceedingly rare, or “excessively rare.” If a large number of people want to buy a particular book and there are not many available, it becomes classified as one of the rare books. Dr. Abraham S. W. Rosenbach, a famous rare-book collector, paid one hundred fifty-one thousand dollars for a copy of the Bay Psalm Book printed in 1640.

Age alone does not make a book valuable. The reason the Bay Psalm Book is interesting to collectors is not its age, but because it was the first book printed in the American colonies. There are many older books in the world, but a “first” in any connection is a point of interest in book collecting.

The Gutenberg Bible was published in 1455. It was the first edition of the first book ever printed from movable type. The fifteenth century was called the “cradle of printing.” Any book printed during this period is cherished.

There are books we know were printed, but of which no copies are known to exist. If you found one of these books it would be “most exceptionally rare”!

Autographs add to the interest and value of books. The more famous the name written in the front of a book, the more highly it is valued. But make certain that it is in the man’s own handwriting. Some men wrote their names all the time and so their autographs are less sought after than those that are seldom found.

One rare-book treasure was found in a New York shop by the actor John Drinkwater. It was a copy of Moby Dick, by Herman Melville, presented by the author to Nathaniel Hawthorne and inscribed with Hawthorne’s name!

The first appearance of a well-loved book has importance to collectors. These “first editions” are greatly sought after.

Sometimes the books have appeared first in magazines and then been issued in book form. Only the books are treasures. Old newspapers and magazines are often interesting but only occasionally are they valuable.

Look up in your attic. If your great-great-great-grandfather kept the Analectic Magazine dated November, 1814, you do have a treasure. In it first appeared a poem by Francis Scott Key called “Defense of Fort McHenry.” Sounds unfamiliar? It begins, “Oh say, can you see by the dawn’s early light . . .” It was set to music as “The Star Spangled Banner.”

Occasionally a book that is marked “second edition” is really a “first.” The printers probably marked it this way to give the impression that the author’s work was widely read. One of these books is Edgar Allan Poe’s Poems.

Sometimes when a book is printed the type is kept standing. Then, if the book sells well, it is re-issued from the same type.

This second issue of a book is not as valuable as the first. How can you tell? There may be a fading out in the letters. Occasionally, the author has changed a line.

If you have a copy of the Songs of Hiawatha, look at page 32, line 11.

Does it say, “In the moon when nights are brightest,” or does it read, “To the melancholy Northland”? If the line tells you about the bright nights, show your book to a collector.

Anyone can start to collect first editions. Take any subject you like, or any author who interests you, and start in. The subject doesn’t matter. Even old schoolbooks have been collectors’ items. The author who is unknown today may be world-famous twenty years from now. Why not start collecting the books you love? Tomorrow they may be considered treasures.

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In 1837 Sir Rowland Hill, after having completed exhaustive studies of the postal service then in effect, made public his revolutionary idea, the stamp. This was, reduced to its simplest expression, merely the fact that it cost no more to deliver a letter a hundred miles than it did to deliver one a few city blocks. After three years of pushing his claims the idea was officially adopted and along with it the means of collecting postage in advance – the postage stamp.

Some people claim that the postage stamp was an “invention” but such would not seem to be the case, for stamps had been used for collecting revenues for many years previous to the introduction of their use to collect postage. Indeed, the Stamp Tax Act brought about the “Boston Tea Party” and, eventually, the American Revolution. “Taxation without representation”, the ringing words that called a new nation to arms, sprang from the use of revenue stamps.

The world’s first postage stamp, Great Britain’s famous “Penny Black”, did present somewhat of an innovation in that it was gummed on the back. This caused considerable public comment at the time for many considered the idea of slobbering over the back of Queen Victoria’s face an affront not to be countenanced.

Simultaneously with issuing of the first adhesive stamp, Great Britain also issued the world’s first government-stamped envelope and letter sheet. This, the famous “Mulready Envelope”, caused an even greater public expression than did the adhesive stamp. The Mulready Envelope and its counterpart, the letter sheet, resembled nothing even closely approximating the modern stamped envelopes that are so common today. William Mulready, one of the foremost artists of the time, chose as his design an allegorical figure of Britannia dispatching messages to the entire world.

The design, now recognized as one of great beauty and meaning, brought forth a flood of derision in the press, and entrepreneurs, quick to see a good thing, quickly made up envelopes caricaturing the Mulready design. Commenting on the new stamps and envelopes the Ingoldsby Legends contained the following ditty:

“The manager rings,
And the prompter springs
To his side in a jiffy, and with him he brings
A set of those odd-looking envelope things,
Where Britannia (who seems to be crucified) flings
To her right and her left funny people with wings
Amongst Elephants, Quakers, and Catabaw Kings;
And a taper and wax,
And small Queen’s heads, in packs,
Which, when notes are too big, you’re to stick on their backs”.

The “Queen’s heads”, of course, were the adhesive stamps.

This furor and ridicule might well have ruined Row-land Hill’s whole idea and, in fact, did result in the withdrawing of the Mulready Envelope. But the need for a better postal system was so pressing, and Hill’s plan of universal postage proved so completely to satisfy the demand, that the stamp idea stuck and became the basis of every postal system of the world today. For a few cents, or whatever the rate may be, anyone in any civilized country in the world may send a letter a few city blocks or many thousands of miles.

Rowland Hill’s universal postage idea worked well within the limits of each country where it was adopted. However, difficulties were encountered when mail was to be transported over international boundaries. This involved the negotiation of separate postal treaties between nations – a cumbersome arrangement which caused no end of confusion and, not infrequently, the stoppage of mail delivery when treaties had expired or could not be negotiated.

Dr. Heinrich von Stephan, the first postmaster of the German Empire, labored strenuously for the establishment of some form of an international union that would permit the flow of international mail with the same ease that existed for delivery of mail within a single country. His efforts resulted in the formation of the Universal Postal Union in 1875. All civilized nations have become members and since its foundation, the U.P.U. has insured the rapid and uninterrupted passage of mail throughout the world. The U.P.U. is one of the greatest achievements of history.

This, then, is the genesis of the postal systems as we know them today.

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Although there are many types and styles of beer steins, the majority are made from the following types of materials.

Pewter

A pliable compound consisting of tin, copper and antimony. European pewter has a minimum tin content of 92%. Copper and antimony are added to harden the metal. The higher the tin content, the more silver the final color. A common misconception is that all pewter products contain lead. Although used in the past, lead is virtually never used to create pewter steins. Primarily, steins are component cast – that is, the lids, bodies, handles and special ornamentation are separately made. Pewter is also occasionally rolled or hammered. The final color is a result of the tin content, polishing and chemical antiquing.

Crystal

A clear, high-quality glass. Please don’t confuse this with lead crystal, which is a material consisting of 24% or more lead monoxide. The body is hand-cut, hand engraved and/or patterned by the mold. They are case hardened, usually are mouth-blown and often feature transparent coloring on the exterior or the interior of the body.

Glass

The least expensive of all popular materials. Unlike the procedure for making stoneware, pewter, and crystal steins, glass bodies and handles are formed in one mold. Also, the lids are often attached by machine. The bodies are usually transfer-decorated and the only hand work involved usually is the application of a decoration.

Ceramic Materials

Ceramic steins fall into one of five categories according to the quality of the ceramic mass, the raw materials, the firing temperature, the color, and density.

– Earthenware
(German-Irdenware, Topferware) – A colored mass that is porous (absorbs liquid) until is is glazed. It is fired at a temperature around 1,000 degrees celsius.

–Ceramics
(German-Keramik) – Slightly porous, light-colored ware, usually fired at about 1,050 – 1,080 degrees celsius. It must be glazed to make it impermeable.

– Creamware
(German-Steingut/Feinsteingut) – White earthenware with a lead glaze. Contains Kaolin (a fine white clay). It is fired twice, once at 1,150 – 1,180 degrees celsius without a glaze, then decorated, glazed and fired again around 900 – 1,000 degrees celsius.

– Stoneware
(German-Steinzeug) – Hard material, fired in high temperature, kilns generally around 1,200 – 1,400 degrees celsius. At this temperature, stoneware vitrifies (becomes glasslike). The resulting product is less than 2 percent porous, therefore, glaze is not mandatory for a stoneware stein. When glaze is used, it must be of special quality to withstand the high kiln temperature.

– Porcelain
(German-Porzellan) – True porcelain, known as hard paste, is made of Kaolin (white clay) and Petuntse (pulverized granite). When fired at a temperature of 1,300 – 1,400 degrees celsius, these ingredients produce a white, more or less translucent, glasslike material.

Evelyn Whitaker writes articles for German Toasting Glasses http://www.german-toasting-glasses.com which specializes in custom engraved wedding gifts from Germany.

You might think you would like to start a coin collection. Although you would like to give it a try you may not be sure your interest is high enough to justify investing a lot of time or money into this hobby. This article will look at some creative ways to get started with coins worth collecting without spending a lot of money.

There are just a few things you need to get started with this low-tech coin collecting method. The main thing you need is the desire to start collecting coins. Once you decide you will give coin collecting a try always be on the look out for that next great find. Once you get something to store your coins in you will be ready to go. Be careful as this hobby can really grow on you if you are not careful.

Perhaps you have a friend who collects coins or possibly you just think it may be a neat hobby. The reason you decide to start a coin collection does not matter as much as the fact you have decided to get started. Since we are going low tech you will not need any special equipment. A good eye and something to keep your coins in will get you started.

You will find old coins all over the place once you start looking for them. You might even have that first collectible coin in your pocket. Do not worry how much your coins are worth at this point; the main thing is to be on the lookout for coins worth collecting.

Some good places to get started looking for coins worth collecting could be as close as your local store. The next time you get any change take a quick look at it before you put the change away. The local flea market may have some coin dealers you can buy a few coins from. Getting to know the guy behind the counter at your local coin shop can be helpful. Often the coins you will want to get started with are ones that do not hold as much value as some of the more collectible pieces. Your local coin dealer can help you out with lots of good advice.

Find something to keep your coins in and you will be ready to start collecting. Your storage container does not need to be anything fancy to start with. Some sort of box will get you started. The main thing is to get started.

This low-tech coin collecting method is not fancy but it will get you started finding coins worth collecting without a lot of trouble. If you find coin collecting enjoyable and decide to keep going it will be time well spent

For more information all about how much is my coin worth visit http://www.find-coins.com where will find useful tips, articles and resources to help you find out the value of a rare coin.