Today it is raining cats and dogs! Apparently an atmospheric river has decided to dump rain all over southern California. So I won't be spending much of my day outdoors. It really gets me itching to take a trip to the Caribbean, which I have been planning to do anyway. The next best thing I suppose is to share one of my British Virgin Island coins from the 1985 Sunken Ship Treasures of the Caribbean collection.
Over the years I have picked up most of this series, there are still a couple I need to finish up the set. Today's gem is the Brass Nocturnal. Have a look at this beautiful coin:
About the coin:
From numista.com
I love the details they included in the nocturnal. It was produced of course by The Franklin Mint and they always produced quality coins. The one downfall is they always did them in sterling silver so they are a bit more prone to tarnish. It's a great series of coins for stacking silver or for the coin collector alike. I'm going to try to pick up the last couple I'm missing this year, it will be nice to have the complete collection!
So what is a nocturnal and what does it have to do with ships you may ask? Here's a nocturnal picture taken from Wikipedia, this particular one is located in Vienna, Autria.
A nocturnal is a device usually made of brass or wood and allows the user to calculate the current time. That was very important for sailors and pirates because it made it easier to know if it's high tide or not. It's essentially two or more rings with the outer one being the month and the other the day as well as the setting for which star you are observing. It could calculate the time of day by using the north star and the second star to calculate the time of night. This works because the stars follow the same pattern year after year. A rather ingenious invention! If you want to dive deeper on the subject the Wikipedia article is straight forward and included in my reference section.
In the 1500's every boat would have one of these devices. So most shipwrecks and treasure ships usually have one of these near the wreck site if not destroyed by the centuries of laying in ocean water.
And now for some beautiful shots from the British Virgin Islands. Maybe I can't be there today but I can close my eyes and dream.....
cruisethewaves.com
americanyacht.net
That sure puts me in the mood for some beautiful beaches and some great diving!
That will do it for my post today. I hope you enjoyed it, if you have any questions, suggestions, or comments feel free to leave them below. Have a great Monday and keep on stacking!
And since I am posting in the #freecompliments community I just wanted to remind everyone to take some time today to be kind. A little kindness can make a huge difference in someone's life. Please check out the community and consider joining us!
And my disclaimer:
Gold and silver collecting and stacking can be a fun hobby but isn't for everyone. You can lose money. I'm not a financial advisor and this isn't financial advice, please always do your own research before spending your hard earned money.
All pictures are mine unless otherwise noted.
References:
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces32499.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Virgin_Islands
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nocturnal_(instrument)
Re-blog lottery
Now for the winner of the re-blog lottery! Today we had 37 people who re-blogged my post, thank you so much! The people who re-blogged were:
Voluntary daily reminder list for those who request to be on it: 
If you want to be added to the list as well just feel free to ask!
Thank you everyone! I have been working to improve my engagement and all of you have really helped out! If you have any recommendations or suggestions please feel free to let me know. I'm always looking to improve my posts.
Good luck to everyone!
And the Wheel of Names results:
Winner #1:
Winner #2:
Congratulations 
Congratulations 
Now for today's re-blog lottery! You just need to re-blog my post you will be placed on the Wheel of Names for a spin to possibly win up to 5 HSBI units! New twist, one winner on the first spin wins 3 HSBI, and a second spin for a chance for 2 HSBI, so two possible winners or one really lucky one could win both spins! An upvote is not required but is always greatly appreciated. Bots aren't allowed to win the prizes. Contest ends at 14:00 (2 PM) California Pacific time tomorrow. If I somehow missed your re-blog please let me know and I'll add you to the next draw.
What are HSBI units? They are units that you can purchase to sponsor someone and you in turn receive a unit as well. This way we both benefit! They give you occasional upvotes on your posts for a lifetime, and the more you accumulate the more often you receive upvotes and the bigger they can be. You can read some more here:
If you have more questions feel free to ask.
If you are interested in precious metals or even want to learn more about them feel free to come join us #silvergoldstackers
This is a new group focusing on on boarding and retaining new Hive members. Feel free to ask how you can help out!