text:
Taoyuan International Airport

Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, also sometimes referred to as Taipei-Taoyuan International Airport, is an international airport situated in Taoyuan City that serves northern Taiwan, including the capital city Taipei. Located in Dayuan District, Taoyuan, about 40 km west of Taipei, the airport is the busiest and largest in Taiwan. In 2016, it was ranked the best airport for its size in the Asia-Pacific region by Airports Council International.

The airport opened for commercial operations in 1979 as Chiang Kai-shek International Airport (中正國際機場) and was renamed in 2006. It is an important regional transshipment center, passenger hub, and gateway for destinations in Asia, and is one of two international airports that serve Taipei. The other, Taipei Songshan Airport, is located within the city limits and served as Taipei's only international airport until 1979. Songshan now mainly serves chartered flights, intra-island flights, and limited international flights.

In 2018, Taoyuan International Airport handled a record 46.5 million passengers and 2.3 billion kg (2½ million tons) of freight, making it the 11th busiest airport worldwide by international passenger traffic, and 8th busiest in terms of international freight traffic in 2018. It is the main international hub for China Airlines, EVA Air and Starlux Airlines. It is also a hub of Mandarin Airlines, Uni Air and Tigerair Taiwan.

History
In the 1970s, the original airport in Taipei City — Taipei Songshan Airport — had become overcrowded and could not be expanded due to space limitations. Thus, a new airport was planned to alleviate congestion. The new airport opened (with Terminal 1) on 26 February 1979, as part of the Ten Major Construction Projects pursued by the government in the 1970s. The airport was originally planned under the name Taoyuan International Airport but was later changed to Chiang Kai-shek International Airport in memory of former President Chiang Kai-shek.

The airport is the main hub of China Airlines, the Republic of China's flag carrier, as well as EVA Air, a private airline established in 1989. Overcrowding of the airport in recent years prompted the construction of Terminal 2, which was opened on 29 July 2000, with half of its gates operational; EVA Air was the first airline to move into Terminal 2. The remaining gates opened on 21 January 2005 for China Airlines, making China Airlines the only airline to operate from both terminals.

The airport has announced construction plans for a third terminal. In October 2015, the design of British firm Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, founded by Pritzker Architecture Prize-laureate Richard Rogers, was chosen for the 640000 m2 Terminal 3. Over US$2.3 billion will be poured into the project, among the most costly constructions in modern Taiwanese history. The terminal is expected to be opened in 2026 and accommodate 45 million passengers per year, boosting the yearly capacity of the airport to 86 million passengers.

Formerly known as Chiang Kai-shek International Airport, it was renamed on 6 September 2006 to its current name. The airport, originally planned as Taoyuan International Airport, bore the name of late President Chiang Kai-shek until 2006. In Chinese, its former name was literally "Chung-Cheng (Zhongzheng) International Airport", where Chung-Cheng is the legal given name that Chiang Kai-shek had used since the 1910s. In Taiwan, Chiang Kai-shek is associated with the Chinese Nationalist Party or Kuomintang and its many years of one-party authoritarian rule. Local officials in Taoyuan City and members of the Pan-Green Coalition often referred to the hub by the name originally associated with it: "Taoyuan International Airport". News organizations and local residents sometimes combined the two commonly used names as "Taoyuan Chung-Cheng Airport."

The Executive Yuan of then-President Chen Shui-bian's administration officially approved the name Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport for the hub on 6 September 2006. The opposition Kuomintang, which together with its political allies held a one-vote majority in the Legislative Yuan, decried the change and proposed "Taiwan Taoyuan Chiang Kai-shek International Airport" instead. The disagreement, like those affecting the names of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and other landmarks in Taiwan, stands as another manifestation of the Taiwan localization efforts by pan-Green officials and resistance against it by Pan-Blue Coalition. The media in mainland China has always referred to the airport as "Taoyuan International Airport" so as to avoid mentioning Chiang Kai-shek.

Terminals
Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport currently has two terminals, which are connected by two short people movers. The third terminal is under construction, while the fourth terminal is planned, however plans may be halted. The Taoyuan Airport MRT links the terminals together underground, and provides transportation to Taipei City.

Terminal 1

Terminal 1 is the original passenger terminal of the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport. The building was designed by Chinese-born, Taiwanese-American structural engineer Tung-Yen Lin and influenced by Eero Saarinen's Washington Dulles International Airport. The five-storey, 169500 m2 terminal, along with the airport, opened in 1979 to relieve the overcrowded Taipei Songshan Airport. All international flights were moved to the airport following the completion of this terminal. Terminal 1 featured 22 gates. A row of 11 gates are located on the north end of the airfield facing the north runway and another row of 11 gates are located on the south end airfield facing the south runway. The two concourses that contained the airplane gates are linked together by a main building that contained the check-in areas, baggage claim, passport immigration areas, and security checkpoint areas. Together they form a giant "H". All gates are equipped with jetways. Gates located at the end of the concourses have one jetway and also reducing people and gates not located at the end of the concourses have two jetways. The terminal was originally white in color when it first opened. As the years gradually passed, the façade and color has become more tan and yellow colored due to air pollution in Taipei.

After the completion of Terminal 2, some gates from Terminal 1 were removed to make space for Terminal 2. Currently Terminal 1 has 18 gates. Alphabetical letters were introduced when Terminal 2 was completed. The north concourse is now Concourse A and the south concourse is now Concourse B. Before Terminal 2, gates were numbered from 1 to 22. China Airlines uses Concourse A for the majority of its flights in Terminal 1, while the third largest carrier of the airport, Cathay Pacific, operates most of its flights at Concourse B.

In 2012, the renovation project of the terminal, designed by Japanese architect Norihiko Dan, was completed, doubling the floor area, expanding check-in counters, increasing shopping areas and expanding car-parking facilities. Part of the project was the complete redesigning of both the exterior and interior of the terminal. The capacity of Terminal 1 is 15 million passengers per year. This renovation received the 2014 Taiwan Architecture Award from the Taiwan Architects Association.

Terminal 2
Terminal 2 opened in 2000 to reduce heavy congestion in the aging Terminal 1. Only the South Concourse had been completed by the time the terminal opened. The South Concourse alone has 10 gates, each with 2 jetways and their own security checkpoints. The North Concourse opened later in 2005, bringing the total number of gates for Terminal 2 to 20 gates; the security checkpoints were moved to a central location in front of the passport control. The 318,000-m2 facility is capable of handling 17 million passengers per year.

The Southern and Northern Concourses are also known as Concourse C and Concourse D, respectively. Terminals 1 and 2 are connected by two short people mover lines, with one from Concourse A to D, and the other from B to C. China Airlines uses Concourse D for the majority of its flights in Terminal 2 while EVA Air uses Concourse C for most of its operations.

A renovation planned to increase the terminal's annual passenger capacity by 5 million to 22 million per annum was announced in 2018.. Terminal 2 renovation was completed in 2020.

Terminal 3 (under construction)
Construction of Terminal 3 is part of the expansion project of Taoyuan International Airport. The 540,000 square meter Terminal 3 is designed by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners and will accommodate 45 million passengers per year. The new terminal was originally planned to be opened in 2020. However, the project has been delayed, which postpones its targeted completion to 2026.

Terminal 4 (plans halted)
Originally part of the expansion project was a new Terminal 4. However, due to the vast amount of construction, the Ministry of Transportation ordered the airport company to halt the project in order to minimize traveller inconvenience.

Passenger
The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter services at Taoyuan International Airport:

Operations
The airport is operated by the Taoyuan International Airport Corporation, a company wholly owned by the Government of Taiwan. The Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) is responsible for the provision of air traffic control services, certification of Taiwan registered aircraft, and the regulation of general civil aviation activities.

The airport has two parallel runways, with one 3660 meters in length and another 3800 meters in length and both 60 meters wide, enabling them to cater to the next generation of aircraft. Both runways have been given a Category II Precision Approach, which allows pilots to land in only 350-metre visibility. The two runways have an ultimate capacity of over 60 aircraft movements an hour. The Airport is upgrading ATC and runways.

There are 41 frontal stands at the main passenger concourse, 15 remote stands and 25 cargo stands. In 2015, the airport was the 11th busiest airport worldwide in terms of international passenger numbers, and sixth busiest in terms of international freight traffic.

The operation of scheduled air services to and from Taoyuan is facilitated by air services agreements between Taiwan and other countries. Since the opening of RCTP, the Taiwan Government has implemented a policy of progressive liberalisation of air services with the intention of promoting consumer choice and competition. Many low-cost airlines have started various regional routes to compete head-on with full-service carriers on trunk routes.

The airport's long term expansion opportunities are subject to variables. A NTD 300 billion proposal to build a third runway and a third terminal has been under feasibility study and consultation.

Terminal transit
Transportation between Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 is provided by the TTIA Skytrain, which transports both passengers who have cleared security and those who have not through separate train cars. The Taoyuan Airport MRT also serves Terminal 1, Terminal 2, and the Airport Hotel, offerring free fare with an electronic ticket such as the EasyCard, IPASS (Taiwan), or icash.

Huan Yu VIP Terminal
Huan Yu VIP Terminal, also known as the Taoyuan Business Aviation Centre (TYBAC), began service in September 2011 and was officially opened in mid-October 2011. The three-story facility has its own terminal and facilities separate from the public terminals. It provides a multimedia conference room, passenger lounge, private rooms and showers, spa, sauna, gym, and business centre facilities. Other services provided include ground handling, baggage handling, fuelling, security, customs and flight planning. Passengers planning to utilize TYBAC must sign up (to the Taiwanese immigration service) 3 days before use and pay a one-time service charge.

Statistics showed that 376 private jets landed and departed the airport through a six-month timeframe in 2011; this is a 100 percent increase from the same timeframe in 2010.

E-gate
Passengers who are citizens of the R.O.C (Taiwan) with valid passports or non-citizens who have ROC (Taiwan) Resident Certificate (ARC/APRC) can register with facial features and fingerprints for the E-Gate. After registration, the passengers are able to choose either E-Gate or manual immigration clearance when entering or leaving the country.

Baggage and cargo facilities
The handling and transportation of mail, passenger baggage, cargo, and the operation of aerobridges and passenger stairways in Taoyuan Airport is provided by Taoyuan International Airport Services Limited (TIAS) and Evergreen Airline Services (EGAS).

TTIA currently handles over 1.5 million tonnes of cargo annually. There are two air cargo terminals in the airport: one operated by Taiwan Air Cargo Terminals Limited and the other operated by Evergreen Air Cargo Services.

Aircraft maintenance services
China Airlines Engineering and Maintenance Organization (CALEMO) and Evergreen Aviation Technologies (EGAT) both offers maintenance services at the airport. With its huge base, CALEMO has a market share of over 75% and can offer maintenance service of five wide-body airliners and one narrow-body airliner simultaneously. In addition, EGAT is capable of aircraft conversion programs, such as the Dreamlifter program.

In 2022 aerospace company Nordam opened a major components repair facility at Taoyuan, which will serve as their regional hub replacing operations in Singapore.

Bus
Frequent buses link the airport to Taipei, Taoyuan, Zhongli, Taichung, Banqiao, Changhua, and THSR's Taoyuan Station. Bus terminals are present at both terminals.

Rail

 * Taoyuan Airport MRT: Links both terminals at the airport to Taipei and Zhongli District, Taoyuan City. Free Wi-Fi and wireless charging services provided on trains. Passengers flying China Airlines, EVA Air, Mandarin Airlines, and UNI Air can utilize downtown check-in and luggage facilities at Taipei Main Station.
 * Express train: 38-minute link between the airport and downtown Taipei. Stops at both airport terminals, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, New Taipei Industrial Park, and Taipei Main Station.
 * Commuter train: 45-minute link between the airport and downtown Taipei. Stops at all 21 stations on the line.
 * Taiwan High Speed Rail Taoyuan HSR station is about 8 km away and is accessible by the Taoyuan Airport MRT's commuter train and shuttle bus.

Taxi
Taxi queues are outside the arrival halls of both terminals and are available 24 hours a day. They are metered and subject to a 15-percent surcharge.

Car rental
Car rentals are available at both terminals. The airport is served by National Highway No. 2.

CAL Park

China Airlines has its headquarters, CAL Park, on the grounds of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport. CAL Park, located at the airport entrance forms a straight line with Terminal 1, Terminal 2, and the future Terminal 3.

Airport hotels
Located adjacent to the Aviation Museum(now closed) and the convention center is the Novotel Taipei Taoyuan International Airport, which opened in November 2009. The 360-room hotel is equipped with restaurants, recreation and fitness centers, and a hair salon and spa.

Aviation museum
The Chung Cheng Aviation Museum was located in the south-eastern area of the airport between the main freeway entrance and the terminals. It was built in 1981 by Boeing under CAA contract. Many retired Republic of China Air Force fighters are represented here. Its purpose is to preserve aviation history and provide public understanding of the civil aviation industry. It is now currently closed due to the expansion and construction of the new Terminal 3.

Awards

 * Airport Service Quality (Airports Council International) Best Airport in 15–25 million passengers level (2008)

Future developments
Taoyuan International Airport is undergoing major facility-upgrading and expansion plans. While the South runway (05R/23L) just completed its renovation in January 2015, construction started at the North runway (05L/23R) in March 2015. The runway renovations involve upgrading the runway to Category III and improving the surface conditions. On the other hand, two Terminal 2 gates, C2 and D6, had additional jet bridges installed to accommodate the A380 aircraft. After the runway and jetbridge upgrades, the airport will be able to allow regular A380 operations, with likely carriers being Emirates, China Southern and Singapore Airlines.

Also underway are the Terminal 3, satellite terminal, and third runway plans. Terminal 3 will be designed by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners and have an annual capacity of 45 million passengers. Specific plans for the satellite terminal have not been announced. The third runway is expected to be completed by 2030.

The master plan of the airport is the Taoyuan Aerotropolis project, an urban plan aimed at creating an industrial area surrounding Taoyuan Airport. The aerotropolis will take advantage of the competitive local infrastructure to attract developments and help stimulate economic growth. The total area, including the "yolk" airport area and the "white" area, will exceed 6845 hectares. The Terminal 3 and third runway plans are all part of the "yolk" area projects. The official year of completion is 2023. However, due to land resumption controversies, the estimated year may be delayed.

Terminal 2 expansion
With the unanticipated rise of the number of passengers, the Ministry of Transportation has planned an expansion project for Terminal 2, increasing its capacity by 5 million passengers per year from 17 mil to 22 mil.

Terminal 3 construction
In October 2015, it was announced that RSHP won the bid to design the 640,000 square meter terminal. Structures will include a processor (main terminal building), two concourses, and a multi-functional building to connect the terminal with Terminal 2. The processor will have a wave-like roof structure from which lights will be hung. The lights will move up and down to reflect the flow of passengers. Terminal 3 was initially expected to be completed in 2020 and will be able to handle up to 50 million passengers per year, thus increasing the overall yearly capacity of the airport to over 90 million passengers. It is now scheduled to be complete by 2026.

Accidents and incidents

 * On 28 November 1987, South African Airways Flight 295 experienced a catastrophic in-flight fire in the cargo area, broke up in mid-air, and crashed into the Indian Ocean east of Mauritius, killing all 159 people on board. The Boeing 747 combi was flying from Chiang Kai-shek International Airport to Jan Smuts International Airport, Johannesburg, South Africa with a stopover in Plaisance Airport, Plaine Magnien, Mauritius.
 * On 10 August 1993, Air China Flight 973, a Boeing 767 was hijacked after takeoff from Beijing en route to Jakarta. A 30-year-old Chinese man passed a handwritten note to a flight attendant demanding to be flown to Taiwan. He threatened that his "accomplice" would destroy the aircraft unless he was flown to Taiwan. He was carrying a shampoo bottle containing a mixture of hydrochloric and nitric acids, and he threatened to disfigure nearby passengers with the acid if his demands were ignored. The aircraft was flown to Taoyuan International Airport, where the hijacker surrendered.
 * Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport was one of many airports targeted by the failed Project Bojinka plot in 1995.
 * On 16 February 1998, China Airlines Flight 676, which was arriving from Ngurah Rai International Airport, Indonesia, crashed into a residential area while landing in poor weather, killing all 196 people on board and six on the ground.
 * On 31 October 2000, Singapore Airlines Flight 006 crashed into construction equipment taking off on the wrong runway, killing 83 of the 179 occupants aboard.
 * On 2 November 2019, an unidentified man (referred to as Man A) reportedly of Russian descent jumped onto the landing gear of a China Airlines plane heading from Taoyuan International Airport to Roman Tmetuchl International Airport in Palau. An Asiana Airlines pilot who spotted the man informed air traffic control, which caused the China Airlines flight to be aborted, and the man to be arrested. Officers of the National Police Agency found a notebook and a Bible both in the Russian language in two backpacks that the man had carried with him. In February 2020, the man was charged with violating the Immigration Act of Taiwan after refusing to cooperate with authorities and a Russian interpreter, who was a priest from a Russian Orthodox Church.

title: Taoyuan International Airport


text:
Norfolk International Airport

Norfolk International Airport is seven miles (11 km) northeast of downtown Norfolk, within the boundaries of the independent city in Virginia, United States. It is owned and operated by the Norfolk Airport Authority: a bureau under the municipal government. The airport serves the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of southeast Virginia (along with Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport in Newport News) as well as northeast North Carolina. There are currently no international destinations with regularly scheduled service from the airport.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) 2022 categorized it as a small hub airport.

, with an enplanement count of 2,065,116 people, Norfolk International was ranked as the 65th-busiest airport in the United States and the third-busiest in Virginia in terms of passengers served annually, behind Dulles International Airport and Reagan National Airport, but just ahead of Richmond International. Delta Air Lines has the largest share of passenger traffic, followed by Southwest Airlines and American Airlines.

1920s
In 1926, Norfolk citizens experienced their first commercial flights on the Mitten Line, operated by Philadelphia Rapid Transit Air Service, Inc. The service offered round-trip flights to Washington and Philadelphia for a brief period before high costs led to its discontinuation. In 1929, Ben Epstein, a World War I veteran pilot, established an air taxi service between Norfolk and Richmond from his airfield on Granby Street. The Ludington Line commenced the first daily scheduled service from Epstein's field to Washington, D.C. During this era, air travel was a special occasion marked by families dressing in their finest attire to board the 10-passenger Fokker Trimotor.

1930s
Commercial air travel faced challenges in 1932 when the Navy objected to the expansion of the Granby Street field due to its proximity to Norfolk Naval Air Station. Operations moved to Glenrock Airport, but the Great Depression caused all commercial flights to be suspended indefinitely, grounding Norfolk for five years. In 1938, Norfolk Municipal Airport was established on the site of the former Truxton Manor Golf Course, featuring a 3,500-foot runway and a passenger terminal.

1940s
During World War II, Norfolk Municipal Airport played a crucial role in the war effort. The Army Air Corps took over operations from 1942 to 1947, expanding the runway and adding two more to accommodate increased flights. After the war, the airport returned to city control, and commercial travel resumed with the introduction of new airlines. In 1948, Piedmont Airlines began operations, coinciding with the groundbreaking for a modern terminal building.

1950s
By the early 1950s, Norfolk had more daily flights than New York's La Guardia Airport. In 1950, the Norfolk Port and Industrial Authority (NPIA) took over airport management, boasting Norfolk Municipal Airport as one of the nation's finest and busiest. The new terminal was officially dedicated in 1951.

1960s
The 1960s witnessed the transition from propeller-driven aircraft to jets. Norfolk Municipal Airport easily adapted to the demands for longer runways and taxiways, with jetliners becoming the norm. In 1968, the airport was officially recognized as the air transportation center for the entire region and was renamed Norfolk Regional Airport.

1970s
In 1974, Norfolk Regional Airport dedicated its new terminal, expanding further with additional land acquisition and the addition of Federal Customs facilities in 1976. New facilities for the fire station, maintenance depot, and air traffic control tower were also planned and completed as needed.

1980s
The 1980s saw significant developments, including the opening of a new general aviation facility and air cargo terminal, along with expanded parking facilities. In 1988, the Norfolk Port and Industrial Authority was renamed the Norfolk Airport Authority.

1990s
Norfolk International Airport continued to grow in the 1990s, expanding its air cargo terminal, parking facilities, and passenger terminal. In 1991, a new concourse extension with 10 additional gates was completed, along with a modern fire station and FAA air traffic control tower. The airport also embraced the digital age by launching its first website and installing internet access booths for travelers.

21st century
The Norfolk Airport Authority has undertaken a multi-phase plan to improve airport terminals, concourses, the general aviation terminal, dining and retail facilities, in-airport advertising, and customer service. Renovations and improvements to enhance the passenger experience are ongoing, with capital development projects planned for 2024 and beyond, including runway rehabilitation, pedestrian bridge enhancements, terminal development, concourse expansion, a Federal Inspection Services Facility, and an Airport Hotel.

Facilities
The airport covers 1,300 acres (526 ha) at an elevation of 27 feet (8 m). Its main runway, 5–23, is 9,001 by 150 feet (2,744 x 46 m), and crosswind runway 14–32 is 4,875 by 150 feet (1,486 x 46 m).

The crosswind runway (14–32) was closed for renovations on December 19, 2009, and reopened in the spring of 2011. The airport's long-term plan calls for this runway to be destroyed to make way for a parallel runway (5R-23L) east of runway 5–23, but the FAA grounded the plan in the summer of 2016 due to diminishing demand, limited space, and environmental impacts.

In 2017 the airport had 67,679 aircraft operations, an average of 185 per day: 39% airline, 27% air taxi, 27% general aviation, and 2% military. In November 2018, 95 aircraft were based at the airport: 52 single-engine, 20 multi-engine, 20 jet, and three helicopters.

General aviation services, or fixed-base operations, are provided by Signature Flight Support with full-service facilities for maintaining and housing private and corporate aircraft. The modern 54000 sqft terminal facility offers everything from aircraft rental to sightseeing flights and aircraft repair.

Daily scheduled aircraft include ERJ140/145 (United, American,), CRJ200/550/700/900 (Delta, United, American), ERJ170/175/190/195 (American, United, Delta, Breeze), A300 (FedEx), A319/320 (United, Allegiant, American, Frontier, Spirit), B717 (Delta), B737 (Southwest, American, Delta, United), and B757 (UPS and Delta).

FAA control tower
Built in 1995, the FAA Norfolk Air Traffic Control Tower stands 134 ft high. Operated and managed by the Federal Aviation Administration, the Norfolk Tower handles about 1,100 aircraft per day, 24 hours per day and 365 days per year. Radar coverage is provided by the ASR-9 terminal system with a six-level weather detection capability. Also available for use is an Enhanced Target Generator (ETG) lab with two radar scopes to accomplish training objectives, as well as the IDS4 system, a specialized microcomputer network system designed to distribute and display both static and real-time data regarding weather and other rapidly changing critical information to air traffic controllers.

Gates
Norfolk International Airport has two passenger concourses: Concourse A (gates A1-A11), and Concourse B (gates B16-B30). Allegiant Air, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines occupy Concourse A while Breeze Airways, Delta Airlines, Frontier Airlines, Spirit Airlines and United Airlines occupy Concourse B. International flights are handled at gate A1; however, there are currently no scheduled international flights. Specific gate locations are the following: Allegiant A7; American A2, A4, A6, A8 and A9; Delta B19, B21, B23, B24 and B25; Southwest A3 and A5; United B27-B30, with Breeze, Frontier and Spirit using common gates of B16, B17, B18, B20. Concourse B gates B22 and B26 are no longer in use and have been converted into passenger seating areas for B21 and B25.

Cargo yard
About 70 million pounds of air cargo are shipped in and out of Norfolk International Airport each year. NIA houses one of the most modern and efficient air cargo facilities in the state. Its two modern air cargo terminals have 88000 sqft of space. A ramp provides direct access from the plane to the warehouse.

Terminal upgrade
Beginning in 2025 the terminal will undergo major upgrades.

Ground transportation
There are no bus or shuttle services to and from Norfolk International Airport. The nearest bus (HRT Route 15) connection is 1.5 mi away at the intersection of Military Highway (Route 165) and Norview Avenue (Route 247).

All ground transportation services are located in the arrivals terminal. There are several on-site rental car companies, an authorized shuttle service providing door-to-door service to the entire Hampton Roads area, and taxis available through several companies. Both Uber and Lyft service the airport through an agreement with the airport authority.

Parking

A nine-level parking garage adjacent to the new arrivals terminal opened in July 2002. It provides 2,800 covered spaces for short-term, long-term, and rental parking. Overall, NIA parking facilities can accommodate 7,000 vehicles. In February 2019, the airport announced it would begin construction of a brand new 1.09 million square foot parking garage. Construction started in July 2019. This new parking garage will consolidate all parking lots at ORF. It will also replace the employee shuttle that costs over $600,000 a year to operate.

Accidents and incidents

 * On January 19, 1967, a United Airlines Vickers 754D Viscount collided with a snow plow that had entered the runway in the path of the United plane upon landing. All 50 passengers and crew on board the aircraft survived; the aircraft suffered major damage to its airframe and was written off.
 * On September 1, 1974, a Martin 4-0-4 which was sitting empty on the ramp caught fire, damaging the airframe beyond repair. The cause of the fire was never determined.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Norfolk International Airport


text:
The Two Coreys

The Two Coreys (also known as The Coreys) refer to American actor Corey Feldman (born 1971) and Canadian actor Corey Haim (1971–2010), who were often paired.

Feldman and Haim were child actors during the 1980s; the two were close friends. Both of them grew up in Jewish families and had a passing interest in Numerology.They almost even [https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-news/10-most-wtf-moments-of-lifetimes-a-tale-of-two-coreys-206096/#:~:text=They%20almost%20even%20share%20the%20same%20lucky%20number%20%E2%80%93%20Feldman%E2%80%99s%20is%2022%2C%20while%20Haim%20wears%20222%20on%20a%20chain%20around%20his%20neck. share the same lucky number] – Feldman’s is 22, while Haim wore 222 on a chain around his neck. The Two Coreys appeared in a total of nine films together, including The Lost Boys (1987).

Becoming a brand, The Two Coreys achieved mainstream fame and notoriety as teen idols, but each later experienced a career downturn due to drug use.

The Two Coreys, a reality show about the two actors, aired on the A&E Network from 2007 to 2008.

Following a long battle with drug addiction, Haim died of pneumonia in 2010.

In 2020, Feldman released My Truth: The Rape of 2 Coreys. The documentary explores the friendship between The Two Coreys and asserts that both were sexually abused as children in the entertainment industry.

Common filmography

 * The Lost Boys (1987)
 * License to Drive (1988)
 * Dream a Little Dream (1989)
 * Blown Away (1993)
 * National Lampoon's Last Resort (1994)
 * Dream a Little Dream 2 (1995)
 * Busted (1996)
 * Big Wolf on Campus (TV series) (Haim in 2000, Feldman in 2002) (cameo)
 * Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star (2003) (cameo)
 * Robot Chicken (2006) (Episode 2.2, "Federated Resources")
 * The Two Coreys (TV series) (2007–2008)
 * Lost Boys: The Tribe (2008)

title: The Two Coreys


text:
Talk:Paramount leader

Who else?
Other than Deng, who else does this title refer to? --Menchi 07:44 13 Jul 2003 (UTC)

 * refers also to all successors like Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 217.226.158.8 (talk • contribs) 12:16, January 28, 2005 (UTC)
 * I don't see how that can be. Hu Jintao certainly does not have paramount power in the same way that Deng did. The only paramount leaders I can see would be Mao, Deng, and possibly Jiang, although he was so incompetent the word "paramount" seems self-contradictory on him. --Sumple (Talk) 02:00, 26 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Incomptence -if true, your claim- is irrelevant, the term describes the pinacle position- like Caligula, who was mad as a hat, was as 'paamount' as any other princeps. Fastifex 17:44, 26 August 2006 (UTC)
 * That was just the offside remark. My main point is that, Mao, at the very least, is a paramount leader. You can't get more paramount than him, surely? Hu, on the other hand, is a leader in an institutionalised oligarchy, and thus would not be a paramount leader. --Sumple (Talk) 23:55, 26 August 2006 (UTC)
 * 'More paramount' is besides the point, the notion is essentially 'top dog', whether one uses it to shine as 'father of the nation' (Mao), to change its faith (Deng) or rather fails to assure a notable place in history, what counts is the relative position while in office - 'for lack of better' will do. Fastifex 13:10, 27 August 2006 (UTC)
 * In that case, I will add Mao to the list. I hope no-one objects.
 * Nevertheless, if a paramount leader is merely "the top dog", isn't George W Bush also a paramount leader? In my mind "paramount leader" connotes some sense of unchecked authority. --Sumple (Talk) 23:00, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

 * An interesting thought, and technically I suppose he wmight qualify- but another characteristic is that the position is given this generic name because it is not formally defined and styled (the hinese cases don NOT share the same titulature) as such by law, unlike the constitutional position of a US President Fastifex 06:32, 28 August 2006 (UTC)
 * I think the Pinyin on this page might not be accurate, but I am not a native speaker. Also, does anyone know the source of the term paramount leader? I can't find any references.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Lcc76 (talk • contribs) 12:29, 15 November 2007 (UTC)

Power struggle
Anyone follows the Chinese communist politic would know that there is always in-party fighting and constant behind the scene life-or-death power struggle. To start with, Hu Jintao may be the Chairman of the Central Military Commission, but the real power that commands the PLA is not in his hand. In the true sense, Hu is not yet THE paramount leader, but on the outside, he is. This is the complexicity of Chinese politic; there is a lot of guess work. Arilang   talk  22:00, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

Requested move 2009

 * The following discussion is an archived discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was not moved. Jafeluv (talk) 01:59, 29 August 2009 (UTC)

Paramount leader → Paramount Leader — "Paramount Leader" is used as a title, even though it's unofficial. roc (talk) 07:26, 21 August 2009 (UTC)

 * Oppose — IAW WP:TITLE — V = I * R  (talk) 07:59, 21 August 2009 (UTC)

 * Oppose: in my reading it appears the phrase "paramount leader" is primarily used as an uncapitalized, informal description -- as noted it's not an official title. Baileypalblue (talk) 06:17, 27 August 2009 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

Requested move 2010

 * The following discussion is an archived discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: No move Orlady (talk) 14:27, 10 September 2010 (UTC)

Paramount leader → — Why was this rejected? Let's think this through. Either "Parmount Leader" is a title or it is not. If it is a title, then it is is a proper noun and both words should be capitalized. If it is merely a description, neither should be capitalized. (One usage that is clearly incorrect would be "Paramount leader", which I had found used in the Hu Jintao article. "Paramount leader" means "The Paramount (who is a leader)").

But it's clearly a title, albeit an informal one - the title of the leader of China. If it's not a title, what is it? If it's merely a neutral description, like "head of state" it would apply to any national leader. For instance, we could say "Barack Obama is the paramount leader of the United States." We could say this, but we don't, because its not a generally accepted neutral description. When and if we do, we can use the same capitalization for "Paramount Leader" as we use for "Head of state" (and change the article to read "Paramount leader is the generic term for an individual who is generally considered to be the most powerful political figure in an independent state..." or something). Finally, consider the parallel to the Supreme Leader of Iran, who is not just the "supreme leader of Iran". Granted his title is formal while Hu Jintao's is informal, but so what?

At any rate, this article and related articles need to rationalized. This article uses both "Paramount Leader" and "paramount leader" (and I have seen "Paramount leader" elsewhere). I can't fix this until I know what the deal is.

If the current title is retained, we probably ought to consider just deleting the article. We don't have articles such as Greatest leader of all mankind ("Greatest leader of all mankind is a description of the position of Kim Jong Il among mortals...") and so forth. Herostratus (talk) 14:49, 16 August 2010 (UTC)

 * I'm no expert, but it does seem to me as though this is not a title requiring capitalization (as it would if it were a formal title), but is nonetheless a widely discussed concept deserving of an article. (So oppose, as people did in the previous proposal just above.)--Kotniski (talk) 09:26, 6 September 2010 (UTC)

 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

Next generation
I know Wikipedia is not a crystal ball but Reliable sources are now consistently saying that Xi Jinping is expected to take over Hu's position(s) next year as a new generation of leadership transitions in. This seems like valuable information to include in the article but I honestly couldn't figure out where to put it. some sources. and pretty much any time a newspaper talks about Joe Biden visiting China, or anytime Xi Jinping is mentioned there is some mention that he is presumed to be the sucessor to Hu. - Metal lunchbox (talk) 23:46, 17 August 2011 (UTC)

 * I think we can afford to be somewhat patient with this one. Until Xi take over in November 2012 first as General Secretary... we can update the article then... Colipon+ (Talk) 00:03, 18 August 2011 (UTC)

 * That seems reasonable. - Metal lunchbox (talk) 01:04, 18 August 2011 (UTC)

Citation needed and original research tags
While the term "paramount leader" is well attested in relation to Deng Xiaoping and (less so) Mao Zedong, the claims that it also applies to Jiang, Hu and Xi are in decreasing order of acceptance. The article as it stands now provides no citations for its most central claims - the two citations which have been provided relate to peripheral claims only. Unless better citation can be provided, it seems wholly inappropriate to claim that, for example, Xi is called a paramount leader. --PalaceGuard008 (Talk) 14:42, 28 November 2012 (UTC)

Deng's 'enddate' is not certain
I don't know if it is appropriate for Wikipedia to prescribe the 'end date' for Deng Xiaoping's tenure as 'paramount leader'. It is unsourced and totally dubious - and would need to be substantiated. Deng Xiaoping's informal authority, some scholars believe, continued well into the 1990s. Others say he lost it before his "southern tour" of 1992... so it really depends on who you ask when Deng was paramount "until". Colipon+ (Talk) 04:50, 9 April 2013 (UTC)
 * Second that. It reflects the more general issues with this article - it contains a great deal of original research by an editor who has convinced himself or herself that "paramount leader" is a real position. All that can be said reliably, based on actual pronouncements by the leadership, is that Deng was and was acknowledged to be the "paramount leader" at least until 1989, anything after that date is debatable. --PalaceGuard008 (Talk) 10:36, 9 June 2013 (UTC)
 * And I third that - looking through this article, and the bios of Deng Xiaopeng and Jiang Zemin, I see nothing that would indicate the significance of "12 October 1992" as any kind of milestone date. Where did this figure come from? Peter G Werner (talk) 02:41, 14 December 2015 (UTC)
 * The Communist Party's officially summary of its history regards the Deng-Jiang transition as taking place at the 4th Plenum of the Thirteenth Central Committee (Jun. 23-24 1989). I will use this date since it is at least somewhat official. Metuselth (talk) 06:59, 19 May 2023 (UTC)

What's up with this "timeline" image. It is incomprehensible.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:1.3.2.%E4%B8%AD%E5%85%B1%E5%85%9A%E5%8F%B2.%E9%A6%96%E8%84%91.jpg — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:1C2:1000:2A80:ADDA:EFA6:1F6:A7AF (talk) 02:28, 8 August 2015 (UTC)
 * Agreed. I'm removing it. - Tronno ( t | c ) 20:25, 6 April 2016 (UTC)

Why is 最高 translated to "paramount"?
最高 should be translated as "top". Why does the article use "paramount"?

Translating 最高领导人 to "paramount leader" is just weird. The term "top leader" would be accurate. Even "supreme leader" would be a much better alternative compared to "paramount leader".

Should the term "paramount leader" be changed? Pacerier (talk) 02:31, 15 January 2016 (UTC)

 * It is simply tradition discourse. Google those two terms with date range before Wikipedia (e.g. 2000) to see that both terms have been used before then. "Paramount leader" was already the dominant term for Chinese leadership, while "supreme leader" was already in use for Iran and North Korea. --207.96.108.179 (talk) 04:32, 12 June 2018 (UTC)

Beijing At-large (49–76)?
What do the “Beijing At-large (49–76)” etc. refer to? These must be made clear. --Kaihsu (talk) 17:57, 7 June 2016 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page has been nominated for deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page has been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the. Community Tech bot (talk) 03:52, 16 June 2018 (UTC)
 * Mao Zedong portrait.jpg

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the. —Community Tech bot (talk) 14:39, 6 October 2022 (UTC)
 * Mao Zedong portrait.jpg

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the. —Community Tech bot (talk) 03:07, 2 December 2022 (UTC)
 * Jiang Zemin Official.jpg

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the. —Community Tech bot (talk) 10:54, 30 May 2023 (UTC)
 * Xi Jinping 2023.jpg

title: Talk:Paramount leader


text:
Jim Mollison

James Allan Mollison MBE (19 April 1905 – 30 October 1959) was a Scottish pioneer aviator who, flying solo or with his wife, Amy Johnson, set many records during the rapid development of aviation in the 1930s.

Early years
Mollison was born on 19 April 1905 in Glasgow, the only child of Hector Alexander Mollison, a consultant engineer, and Thomasina Macnee Addie (d. 1965). He was educated at The Glasgow Academy and Edinburgh Academy. He was attracted at an early age to flying. Obtaining his Royal Air Force (RAF) Short Service Commission at 18, he was the youngest officer in the service and, upon completion of training, was posted to India, flying on active service in Waziristan.

Aviation career
At the age of 22, Mollison became a flying instructor at the Central Flying School (CFS), again setting the record for being the youngest in this role. Shortly after, he transferred to the RAF Reserve and devoted his time to civil aviation. In 1928–29, he worked as an instructor with the South Australian Aero Club in Adelaide, leaving that position to become a pilot with Eyre Peninsular Airways and Australian National Airways.

Whilst gaining a reputation as a playboy, Mollison was a skilled pilot who, like many others, took to record breaking as a means of "making his name". In July to August 1931, he set a record time of 8 days, 19 hours for a flight from Australia to England and, in March 1932, a record for flying from England to Cape Town, South Africa in 4 days, 17 hours.

Mollison had flown commercially for Charles Kingsford Smith's ill-fated Australian National Airways. During one of his commercial flights, he met the equally famous aviator Amy Johnson, to whom he proposed only eight hours after meeting, and while still in the air. Johnson accepted; they married in July 1932, and she went off to break her husband's England to South Africa record. They were dubbed The Flying Sweethearts by the press and public.

Mollison continued to attempt aviation records. On 18 August 1932 he made an east-to-west solo trans-Atlantic flight of 31 hours, from Portmarnock, Ireland to Pennfield, New Brunswick, Canada, using a de Havilland Puss Moth called "The Heart's Content". In 1933, using the same aircraft, Mollison flew from England to Brazil in 3 days, 13 hours, staging through West Africa, the first solo east-west South Atlantic crossing. By then, he and his wife began to plan a record-breaking flight across the world. On 22 July 1933, they took off from Pendine Sands in South Wales on a non-stop flight to New York, but were forced to crash land in Bridgeport, Connecticut, just short of their target, after running out of fuel. He and his wife were both injured, and the plane broken apart by souvenir seekers.

In October 1934 the Mollisons took part in MacRobertson Air Race. Their de Havilland DH.88 Comet Black Magic led the competitors off the line and was leading at Baghdad, but they were forced to retire at Allahabad after having to use non-aviation fuel, which damaged their engines.

In November 1936 Mollison made his last major record attempt, a flight from Croydon to Cape Town, South Africa. This time he flew with a co-pilot, French aviator Édouard Corniglion-Molinier. The attempt ended with a forced landing some 160 km short of Cape Town.

The Mollisons' marriage had become strained; they were rivals for the same aviation records and Mollison was at times a heavy drinker. They divorced in 1938 and Amy Mollison resumed her maiden name.

World War II
Both Johnson and Mollison eventually served in the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) in World War II. Johnson was killed while ferrying an aircraft in 1941. A notable incident occurred when Mollison flew as a co-pilot with Diana Barnato Walker. Their Anson was intercepted and shot at by Luftwaffe fighters. Although the aircraft was hit, the 12 passengers and crew were unhurt. On landing, Mollison's only concern was "how to get a cup of tea!"

In June 1941 Mollison and an ATA crew delivered Cunliffe-Owen OA-1 G-AFMB to Fort Lamy, Chad. The aircraft was fitted out as a personal transport for General De Gaulle. Jim Mollison was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for his services with the ATA.

Postwar
Mollison later settled in London and ran a public house. He married Maria Clasina E. Kamphuis on 26 September 1949 at the Maidenhead Register Office.

Mollison abused alcohol and, in 1953, the Civil Aviation Authority Medical Board revoked his pilot's licence. The couple separated but Maria bought the Carisbrooke Hotel in Surbiton for him – a temperance hotel.

Suffering from acute alcoholism, he was admitted to The Priory, Roehampton, south-west London, where he died on 30 October 1959.

Legacy
Also - Mildenhall, Suffolk. Jim Mollison Court (social housing). Close to Mildenhall airfield, the start for the 1934 England-Australia Air Race, that the Mollison's took part in.

title: Jim Mollison


text:
Talk:Sovereign (British coin)

Untitled
I do not think it appropriate the The London Mint Office are included in the (external) links. They are, as I/we have pointed out on our websites, a company with a misleading name, which uses dubious and misleading titles, claims and statements in its adverts, websites, and other published material. We believe its inclusion here lends it a degree of expertise or respectability which is does not deserve. For example : £139 Gold Sovereign 2009 Proof Gold Sovereign £160 saving, Free Postage! When we post pages strongly criticising competitors, we are naturally highly aware of the need for caution, fairness and accuracy. Lawrence Chard (talk) 20:37, 25 September 2009 (UTC)
 * I agree, and I went ahead and removed that link. --Joffeloff (talk) 12:33, 11 October 2009 (UTC)

I think that most of the articles on coins in wikipedia need work in terms of fitting them into a meaningful hierarchy instead of unconnected articles. A tree structure thats starts at 'coin' and then braches into 'ancient and midieval' and 'modern'. From there 'modern' can be broken up into countries, while 'ancient and medieval' can be broken up into ruling authorites and such (Greek, Roman, Parthian, Celtic etc.) (u/s) Maximus Rex 07:58, 13 July 2003 (UTC)

I have no problem with that so long as a user who types in krugerrand still gets to the right place. Remember this is free and user driven! Although 21:17, 19 October 2005 (UTC)

Value
Could we be given some idea of the value of a sovereign? Since an indication is given that they are worth more than the raw value of the gold, what is their actual value? In pounds sterling (u/s) 57.66.51.165 13:51, 12 January 2006
 * Nominally it has a face value of one pound, although its bullion value is clearly more than that. It contains aproximately 1/4 of a troy ounce of gold, sojust look up the most current value of gold and mutiply it by .25 and there's its bullion value.  Its numismatic value depends on condition and rarity of the sepcific year, but it will always be worth at least its bullion value.  75.70.123.215 (talk) 07:15, 22 February 2008 (UTC)
 * This article needs some more clarification on this topic, because 'Nominally it has a face value of one pound' doesn't make a lick of sense to me if the gold content has a higher value. In what context is that relevant? Walkersam (talk) 22:26, 24 April 2018 (UTC)
 * See the discussion of tax treatment at the end of the article.--Wehwalt (talk) 07:24, 25 April 2018 (UTC)

How is it that we're calling this "impressive size" when it's 7/8ths of an inch in diameter, and maybe 1/32 of an inch thick? Does anyone have background for the "why it's called a Sovereign" statements? (u/s) Dagfinn Ronaldsen 18:52, 25 April 2006

The 1489 original measured about 43 mms in diameter (1.8 inches) which was, and still is, impressive.

Why it's called a Sovereign is explained on my/our Gold Sovereigns website. Although I have previous contributed towards this Wikipedia (Sovereign) page, and others, I have tried to avoid appearing to spam or advertise, and keep my signatures and links to a minimum. If others see fit to create links to our sites, we naturally have no objections. Lawrence Chard (talk) 20:37, 25 September 2009 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:SVH06 2.jpg
Image:SVH06 2.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images lacking such an explanation can be deleted one week after being tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

BetacommandBot (talk) 07:17, 21 January 2008 (UTC)

Production summary
Surely sovereigns are currently (and have been for some time) minted at the Royal Mint works in Wales, not London? Methinks this section needs changing. David (talk) 23:53, 25 October 2008 (UTC)

Value Of British Gold Sovereign 1902
I have two British Gold Sovereigns with me of years 1902 and 1903. Could you please give approximate value of these sovereigns?? Thanks and best regards.

Iftikhar-ur-Rehman —Preceding unsigned comment added by Iftigrandpa (talk • contribs) 07:27, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

Please translate all figures into the SI-system
At several places in this article the subunit of the SI-system for weight, 'grams are presented (whithin parantheses). But at the end of the article only UK-units are presented. Could someone please translate all units into SI-standard. (ie for weight kg or the subunit gram; 1 kg = 1000 g.) Outside the UK the UK-units often "is like reading chineese". This would be appriciated by all english reading people of the planet, and need only to (stand inside parantheses). But not only in this article, but evrywhere in the Brittish Wikipedia, and for all units (kilometer, meter or millimeter for length, km/h or knots for speed, liter or milliliter for volume. ) I do not want to take away the UK-units only have them translated as standard. No one in France, Russia, Scandinavia, Spain, Germany etc do have a clue what for instence a grain, ounce, yard, stone or a gallon really is, UK-miles (and feet among pilots) are a bit more common known but often confused whith nautical mile or distance minutes (wich are the same and = 1852 meters, used at sea and in air). Brittons ! Please do not take offence by this wishing, we (or at least I) only want to understand, and besides the SI-system is made logical by their prefixes "kilo" is always 1000 of the following unit. 1 kilometer = 1000 meter, 1 kilogram = 1000 grams. While "milli" is the opposite. 1 millimeter = 0.001 meter, 1 milligram = 0,001 gram. It's far more easy to learn. And the rest of the world have adapted the english language as the global language (and global longitudes and latitudes with zero-meridian through Greenwich observatory). So London will remain center of the world anyway. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.249.36.175 (talk) 23:54, 20 December 2010 (UTC)

Page name
Is there any good reason why this page is called Sovereign (British coin) rather than just Sovereign (coin)? The latter would seem to be more in keeping with the way page names are usually disambiguated. Roy Badami (talk) 10:11, 14 March 2011 (UTC)

See Sovereign (English coin). James500 (talk) 16:05, 3 September 2011 (UTC)

Melting down sovereigns
if a gold sovereign is legal tender, and it is illegal to deface british coins. are jewellers who buy up these coins to melt them down, breaking the law? if this practice is illegal, and it appears to be widespead, should something be put in this article about it?

193.133.92.229 (talk) 10:12, 25 July 2011 (UTC)

Request for photo
Although there are a few pictures of sovereigns on the page, the sovereign is a coin currently in production--even if only as a bullion coin for investment and collection--and we should have a photo of the current design. A usable image is therefore what's called for. Lockesdonkey (talk) 02:56, 12 June 2015 (UTC)

Legal tender?
Is the sovereign still legal tender in the UK? I assume so, but the article doesn't state that directly anywhere. If it is legal tender, would anyone be opposed to me adding a sentence to the end of the last paragraph of the lead that read something like, "Though the sovereign is no longer in widespread use in circulation, it is still legal tender in the United Kingdom."? AmericanLemming (talk) 12:16, 17 March 2018 (UTC)
 * It is legal tender. It is so stated in the final section of the article. I have no objection to your addition, though I would strike the word "widespread". I'm not aware of it being used as a circulating coin anywhere.--Wehwalt (talk) 22:31, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

Dubious - coin weight
The article claims:

"Formal instruction to the Mint came with an indenture dated February 1817, directing the Royal Mint to strike gold coins weighing 7.988 grams, that is to say, the new sovereign."

The number 7.988 grams is an indirect quotation. We are saying that the 1817 indenture said that it should be 7.988 grams - as opposed to a number in grains or troy ounces.

In 1817, less than two years after the defeat of Napoleon, it seems distinctly unlikely that the Royal Mint was instructed to strike gold coins using any weight in grams. It seems far more likely that the mint was instructed to strike gold coins containing 20 shillings' worth of gold at the existing standard of 44.5 guineas (£46/14/6) to the troy pound. If you do the sum, this works out as precisely $160⁄623$ troy ounces for the sovereign.

Now, the actual weights concerned are basically the same (with too many decimal places the convert template reports 160/623 ozt), so if we don't know exactly what the indenture said we can reword to avoid the issue. But that being said, if there is a formal definition, WP:UNITS says we should use it as primary. Kahastok talk 22:13, 30 December 2019 (UTC)
 * I don't think it says that grams were used, I think both the source (that I've looked at afresh) and what was written avoid that. But for clarity, I've dropped a footnote approximating the original language and giving a link in case something further is desired. I've removed the dubious tag.--Wehwalt (talk) 07:01, 31 December 2019 (UTC)

Sovereign ring
On the offchance that anyone reads this while its on the main page we've been looking for a pic for the Sovereign ring for years.©Geni (talk) 15:00, 17 November 2020 (UTC)
 * I would suggest messaging someone who is selling one on eBay and asking them to release the photographic rights via OTRS.--Wehwalt (talk) 15:10, 17 November 2020 (UTC)

title: Talk:Sovereign (British coin)


text:
Gustave Doré

Paul Gustave Louis Christophe Doré (, , ; 6January 1832 – 23January 1883) was a French printmaker, illustrator, painter, comics artist, caricaturist, and sculptor. He is best known for his prolific output of wood-engravings illustrating classic literature, especially those for the Vulgate Bible and Dante's Divine Comedy. These achieved great international success, and he became renowned for printmaking, although his role was normally as the designer only; at the height of his career some 40 block-cutters were employed to cut his drawings onto the wooden printing blocks, usually also signing the image.

He created over 10,000illustrations, the most important of which were copied using an electrotype process using cylinder presses, allowing very large print runs to be published simultaneously in many countries.

Biography
Doré was born in Strasbourg on 6January 1832. At the age of15, Doré began his career working as a caricaturist for the French paper Le journal pour rire. The illustrations of J. J. Grandville have been noted as an influence on his work. Wood-engraving was his primary method at this time. In the late 1840s and early 1850s, he made several text comics, like Les Travaux d'Hercule (1847), Trois artistes incompris et mécontents (1851), Les Dés-agréments d'un voyage d'agrément (1851) and L'Histoire de la Sainte Russie (1854). Doré subsequently went on to win commissions to depict scenes from books by Cervantes, Rabelais, Balzac, Milton, and Dante. He also illustrated "Gargantua et Pantagruel" in 1854.

In 1853 Doré was asked to illustrate the works of Lord Byron. This commission was followed by additional work for British publishers, including a new illustrated Bible. In 1856 he produced 12folio-size illustrations of The Legend of The Wandering Jew, which propagated longstanding antisemitic views of the time, for a short poem which Pierre-Jean de Béranger had derived from a novel of Eugène Sue of 1845. In the 1860s he illustrated a French edition of Cervantes's Don Quixote, and his depictions of the knight and his squire, Sancho Panza, became so famous that they influenced subsequent readers, artists, and stage and film directors' ideas of the physical "look" of the two characters. Doré also illustrated an oversized edition of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven", an endeavor that earned him 30,000francs from publisher Harper & Brothers in 1883.

The government of France made him a Knight of the Legion of Honour in 1861. Doré's illustrations for the Bible (1866) were a great success, and in 1867 Doré had a major exhibition of his work in London. This exhibition led to the foundation of the Doré Gallery in Bond Street, London. In 1869, Blanchard Jerrold, the son of Douglas William Jerrold, suggested that they work together to produce a comprehensive portrait of London. Jerrold had obtained the idea from The Microcosm of London produced by Rudolph Ackermann, William Pyne, and Thomas Rowlandson (published in three volumes from 1808 to 1810). Doré signed a five-year contract with the publishers Grant & Co that involved his staying in London for three months a year, and he received the vast sum of £10,000 a year for the project. Doré was celebrated for his paintings in his day, but his wood-engravings, like those he did for Jerrold, are where he excelled as an artist with an individual vision.

The completed book London: A Pilgrimage, with 180wood engravings, was published in 1872. It enjoyed commercial and popular success, but the work was disliked by some contemporary British critics, as it appeared to focus on the poverty that existed in parts of London. Doré was accused by The Art Journal of "inventing rather than copying." The Westminster Review claimed that "Doré gives us sketches in which the commonest, the vulgarest external features are set down." But they impressed Vincent van Gogh, who painted a version of the Prisoners' Round in 1890, the year of his death. The book was a financial success, however, and Doré received commissions from other British publishers.

Doré's later work included illustrations for new editions of Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Milton's Paradise Lost, Tennyson's Idylls of the King, The Works of Thomas Hood, and The Divine Comedy. Doré's work also appeared in the weekly newspaper The Illustrated London News.

Death
Doré never married and, following the death of his father in 1849, he continued to live with his mother, illustrating books until his death of a heart attack in Paris on January23, 1883, following a short illness. At the time of his death Doré was working on illustrations for an edition of Shakespeare's plays.

Works
Doré was a prolific artist; thus the following list of works is not complete and it does not include his paintings, sculptures, and many of his journal illustrations:

Reception and legacy
Doré's work received mixed reviews from contemporary art critics, but he was widely acclaimed by the general public. He was adored by many writers and poets, who felt he "brought their wildest dreams and fantasies to life". Théophile Gautier for example stated "Nobody better than this artist can give a mysterious and deep vitality to chimeras, dreams, nightmares, intangible shapes bathed in light and shade, weirdly caricatured silhouettes and all the monsters of fantasy." H.P. Lovecraft drew inspiration from Doré's Rime of the Ancient Mariner illustrations in his formative years.

title: Gustave Doré


text:
Rabbit Don't Come Easy

Rabbit Don't Come Easy is the tenth studio album by German power metal band Helloween, released in 2003. It is the first Helloween album to feature Sascha Gerstner on guitars, who replaced Roland Grapow. No drummer is listed in the band line-up for this album. Mark Cross was hired for the position before recording, but only managed to complete two tracks ("Don't Stop Being Crazy" and "Listen to the Flies") before being forced to leave due to illness. Mikkey Dee of Motörhead played on the rest of the songs on a session basis. The Japanese version contains a cover of Accept's "Fast as a Shark", with the band's new drummer, Stefan Schwarzmann.

Commenting on Dee's performance, bassist Markus Grosskopf said:

"We really challenged him. Last time he played stuff something like that was when he played in King Diamond in the 80's and this type of double bass playing with that kind of stuff we're doing is not just like very easy to play and he had to recall all this stuff. But then he was, once he tried a little then he was back on the track really fast."

About the album title, bassist Markus Grosskopf explained in 2003 that "It's based on that English saying, pulling a rabbit out of the hat. Pulling this rabbit [the album] out of this hat [in reference to recent line up changes] wasn't that easy this time. That gave us the idea of just calling the album Rabbit Don't Come Easy. [Laughs] It's not to be taken too seriously. We were joking that statement around, and then I suggested we actually call the album that".

About the recording of the album, singer Andi Deris said in 2003 that producer Charlie Bauerfeind "shows on this new record that he is the biggest fan of our genre of music because he knows how to separate the frequencies and knows where the power has to be. You have to imagine that this type of music is so packed with frequencies that it is nearly impossible to mix because it is so overloaded and you have to single out all of the instruments so you can hear them all".

After the controversial release of The Dark Ride, according to Grosskopf, "The record company also wanted us to show that we are back. This song "Just a Little Sign" represents the more typical side of Helloween, and that's what we wanted to make clear. You can't really represent a whole album with one track, but this shows exactly where the album actually goes. It's more of that 'happy happy Helloween' direction. It shows that this album is not a sequel to 'The Dark Ride'".

Track listing
All lyrics written by Andi Deris, except where noted.

Personnel

 * Helloween

 * Andi Deris - vocals
 * Michael Weikath - guitar
 * Sascha Gerstner - guitar
 * Markus Grosskopf - bass

 * Additional musicians
 * Mark Cross - drums on tracks 7, 11
 * Mikkey Dee - drums on tracks 1-6, 8-10, 12
 * Stefan Schwarzmann - drums on tracks 13-15 (bonus tracks)

title: Rabbit Don't Come Easy


text:
Vending machine

A vending machine is an automated machine that dispenses items such as snacks, beverages, cigarettes, and lottery tickets to consumers after cash, a credit card, or other forms of payment are inserted into the machine or otherwise made. The first modern vending machines were developed in England in the early 1880s and dispensed postcards. Vending machines exist in many countries and, in more recent times, specialized vending machines that provide less common products compared to traditional vending machine items have been created.

History
The earliest known reference to a vending machine is in the work of Hero of Alexandria, an engineer, and mathematician in first-century Roman Egypt. His machine accepted a coin and then dispensed wine or holy water When the coin was deposited, it fell upon a pan attached to a lever. The lever opened a valve which let some water flow out. The pan continued to tilt with the weight of the coin until it fell off, at which point a counterweight snapped the lever up and turned off the valve.

Coin-operated machines that dispensed tobacco were being operated as early as 1615 in the taverns of England. The machines were portable and made of brass. An English bookseller, Richard Carlile, devised a newspaper dispensing machine for the dissemination of banned works in 1822. Simon Denham was awarded British Patent no. 706 for his stamp dispensing machine in 1867, the first fully automatic vending machine.

Modern vending machines
The first modern coin-operated vending machines were introduced in London, England in the early 1880s, dispensing postcards. The machine was invented by Percival Everitt in 1883 and soon became a widespread feature at railway stations and post offices, dispensing envelopes, postcards, and notepaper. The Sweetmeat Automatic Delivery Company was founded in 1887 in England as the first company to deal primarily with the installation and maintenance of vending machines. Also at about that time in England, Dixon Henry Davies and inventor John Mensy Tourtel patented a coin-operated reading lamp for use on trains and founded the Railway Automatic Electric Light Syndicate, Ltd. The system ran off batteries and delivered 30 minutes of light for 1d., but was not a long-term success. Tourtel also invented a similarly coin-operated gas meter. In 1893, Stollwerck, a German chocolate manufacturer, was selling its chocolate in 15,000 vending machines. It set up separate companies in various territories to manufacture vending machines to sell not just chocolate, but cigarettes, matches, chewing gum, and soap products.

The first vending machine in the U.S. was built in 1888 by the Thomas Adams Gum Company, selling gum on New York City train platforms. The idea of adding games to these machines as a further incentive to buy came in 1897 when the Pulver Manufacturing Company added small figures, which would move around whenever somebody bought some gum from their machines. This idea spawned a whole new type of mechanical device known as the "trade stimulators".

Mechanisms
Internal communication in vending machines is typically based on the MDB standard, supported by National Automatic Merchandising Association (NAMA) and European Vending & Coffee Service Association (EVA).

After payment has been tendered, a product may become available by: Some products need to be prepared to become available. For example, tickets are printed or magnetized on the spot, and coffee is freshly concocted. One of the most common forms of vending machine, the snack machine, often uses a metal coil which when ordered rotates to release the product.
 * the machine releasing it, so that it falls in an open compartment at the bottom, or into a cup, either released first, or put in by the customer, or
 * the unlocking of a door, drawer, or turning of a knob.

The main example of a vending machine giving access to all merchandise after paying for one item is a newspaper vending machine (also called vending box) found mainly in the U.S. and Canada. It contains a pile of identical newspapers. After a sale the door automatically returns to a locked position. A customer could open the box and take all of the newspapers or, for the benefit of other customers, leave all of the newspapers outside of the box, slowly return the door to an unlatched position, or block the door from fully closing, each of which are frequently discouraged, sometimes by a security clamp. The success of such machines is predicated on the assumption that the customer will be honest (hence the nickname "honor box"), and need only one copy.

Change machine
A change machine is a vending machine that accepts large denominations of currency and returns an equal amount of currency in smaller bills or coins. Typically these machines are used to provide coins in exchange for paper currency, in which case they are also often known as bill changers.

Cigarette vending
In the past, cigarettes were commonly sold in the United States through these machines, but this is increasingly rare due to concerns about underage buyers. Sometimes a pass has to be inserted in the machine to prove one's age before a purchase can be made. In the United Kingdom, legislation banning them outright came into effect on 1 October 2011. In Germany, Austria, Italy, the Czech Republic, and Japan, cigarette machines are still common.

Since 2007, however, age verification has been mandatory in Germany and Italy – buyers must be 18 or over. The various machines installed in pubs and cafés, other publicly accessible buildings, and on the street accept one or more of the following as proof of age: the buyer's identity card, bank debit card (smart card), or European Union driver's license. In Japan, age verification has been mandatory since 1 July 2008 via the Taspo card, issued only to persons aged 20 or over. The Taspo card uses RFID, stores monetary value, and is contactless.

Birth control and condom vending machines
A birth control machine is a vending machine for the sale of birth control, such as condoms or emergency contraception. Condom machines are often placed in public toilets, subway stations, airports, or schools as a public health measure to promote safe sex. Many pharmacies also keep one outside, for after-hours access. Rare examples exist that dispense female condoms or the morning after pill.

Food and snack vending machines
Various types of food and snack vending machines exist in the world. Food vending machines that provide shelf-stable foods such as chips, cookies, cakes, and other such snacks are common. Some food vending machines are refrigerated or frozen, such as for chilled soft drinks and ice cream treats, and some machines provide hot food.

Some unique food vending machines exist that are specialized and less common, such as the French fry vending machine and hot pizza vending machines, such as Let's Pizza. The Beverly Hills Caviar Automated Boutique dispenses frozen caviar and other high-end foods.

Bulk candy and gumball vending
The profit margins in the bulk candy business can be quite high – gumballs, for instance, can be purchased in bulk for around 2 cents per piece and sold for 25 cents in gumball machines in the U.S., and other countries. Gumballs and candy have a relatively long shelf life, enabling vending machine operators to manage many machines without too much time or cost involved. In addition, the machines are typically inexpensive compared to soft drink or snack machines, which often require power and sometimes refrigeration to work. Many operators donate a percentage of the profits to charity so that locations will allow them to place the machines for free.

Bulk vending may be a more practical choice than soft drink/snack vending for an individual who also works a full-time job, since the restaurants, retail stores, and other locations suitable for bulk vending may be more likely to be open during the evening and on weekends than venues such as offices that host soft drink and snack machines.

The Bulk vending machines of today provide many different vending choices with the use of adjustable gumball and candy wheels. Adjustable gumball wheels allow an operator to not only offer the traditional 1-inch gumball, but they can also vend larger gumballs, and non-edible items such as toy capsules and bouncy balls. Adjustable candy wheels allow an operator to offer a variety of pressed candies, jelly candy, chocolates and even nuts.

Full-line vending

A full-line vending company may set up several types of vending machines that sell a wide range of products. Products may include candy, cookies, chips, fresh fruit, milk, cold food, coffee and other hot drinks, bottles and cans of soda and other drinks, and even frozen products like ice cream. These products can be sold from machines that include hot coffee, snack, cold food, and 20 USoz bottle machines. In the United States, almost all machines accept bills with more and more machines accepting $5 bills, along with payment from traditional debit and credit cards, or a mobile payment system. This is an advantage to the vendor because it virtually eliminates the need for a bill changer. Larger corporations with cafeterias will often request full line vending to supplement their food service.

Newspaper vending machine
A newspaper vending machine or newspaper rack is a vending machine designed to distribute newspapers. Newspaper vending machines are used worldwide, and they can be one of the main distribution methods for newspaper publishers. According to the Newspaper Association of America, in recent times in the United States, circulation via newspaper vending machines has dropped significantly: in 1996, around 46% of single-sale newspapers were sold in newspaper boxes, and in 2014, only 20% of newspapers were sold in the boxes.

Photo booth

A photo booth is a vending machine or modern kiosk that contains an automated, usually coin-operated, camera and film processor. Today, the vast majority of photo booths are digital. Traditionally, photo booths contain a seat or bench designed to seat the one or two patrons being photographed. The seat is typically surrounded by a curtain of some sort to allow for some privacy and help avoid outside interference during the photo session. Once the payment is made, the photo booth will take a series of photographs and the customer is then provided with prints. Older photo booth vending machines used film and involved the process of developing the film using liquid chemicals.

Stamp vending machine
A stamp vending machine is a mechanical, electrical or electro-mechanical device which can be used to automatically vend postage stamps to users in exchange for a pre-determined amount of money, normally in coin.

Ticket machines

A ticket machine is a vending machine that produces tickets. For instance, ticket machines dispense train tickets at railway stations, transit tickets at metro stations and tram tickets at some tram stops and in some trams. The typical transaction consists of a user using the display interface to select the type and quantity of tickets and then choosing a payment method of either cash, credit/debit card or smartcard. The ticket or tickets are then printed and dispensed to the user.

Specialized vending machines
From 2000 to 2010, the specialization of vending machines became more common. Vending extended increasingly into non-traditional areas like electronics, or even artwork or short stories. Machines of this new category are generally called automated retail kiosks. When using an automated retail machine, consumers select products, sometimes using a touchscreen interface, pay for purchases using a credit or debit card and then the product is dispensed, sometimes via an internal robotic arm in the machine. The trend of specialization and proliferation of vending machines is perhaps most apparent in Japan where vending machines sell products from toilet paper to hot meals and pornography, and there is 1 vending machine per 23 people.

Automobile vending machine
In November 2013, online auto retailer Carvana opened the first car vending machine in the U.S., located in Atlanta.

In late 2016, Autobahn Motors, a car dealership in Singapore, opened a 15-story-tall luxury car vending machine containing 60 cars, dispensing Ferrari and Lamborghini vehicles.

Bait vending machine
A bait machine is a vending machine that dispenses live fishing bait, such as worms and crickets, for fishing.

Book vending machine
Book vending machines dispense books, which may be full-sized. Some libraries use book vending machines. GoLibrary is a book lending vending machine used by libraries in Sweden and the U.S. state of California. The Biblio-Mat is a random antiquarian book vending machine located at The Monkey's Paw bookstore in Toronto, Canada.

Burger vending machine
In 2022 RoboBurger introduced a machine to cook and vend a fresh hamburger.

French fry vending machine
A French fry vending machine is a vending machine that dispenses hot French fries,  also known as chips. The first known french fry vending machine was developed circa 1982 by the defunct Precision Fry Foods Pty Ltd. in Australia. A few companies have developed and manufactured French fry vending machines and prototypes. Furthermore, a prototype machine was also developed at Wageningen University in the Netherlands.

Pizza vending machine
Let's Pizza is the name of a vending machine that makes fresh pizza from scratch. It was developed in 2009 by Italian company Sitos srl. The machine combines water, flour, tomato sauce, and fresh ingredients to make a pizza in approximately three minutes. It includes windows so customers can watch the pizza as it is made. The pizza is cooked in an infrared oven. The device was invented by Claudio Torghele, an entrepreneur in Rovereto, Italy. The vending machine began in Italy and is now spreading into the United Kingdom and becoming popular there.

Life insurance
From the 1950s until the 1970s, vending machines were used at American airports to sell life insurance policies covering death, in case the buyer's flight crashed. However, this practice gradually disappeared due to the tendency of American courts to strictly construe such policies against their sellers, such as the Fidelity and Casualty Company of New York (which later became part of CNA Financial).

Marijuana vending machine
The marijuana vending machine originally found a niche market for selling or dispensing cannabis. In the early 21st century with legalization of cannabis in many countries, marijuana vending machines became widespread, selling products such as marijuana, hemp and CBD based products and smoke paraphernalia. The first experiments in distributing marijuana through vending machines started in the early 2010s, when they were already in use in the United States and Canada. The primary challenge faced in selling restricted or controlled merchandise like cannabis is to verify the identity of the buyer, which is overcome by the application of biometrics and smart vending software technology, the same technology used to verify the buyer's age in the automatic sales of tobacco.

Mold-A-Rama
The Mold-A-Rama is a brand name for a type of vending machine that makes blow-molded plastic figurines. Mold-A-Rama machines debuted in late 1962 and grew in prominence at the 1964 New York World's Fair. The machines can still be found operating in dozens of museums and zoos.

Fresh-squeezed orange juice
This type of machine contains fresh oranges and a mechanism to cut and squeeze them in order to produce fresh juice.

Prize vending machine
This type of machine sells a container that may contain a prize. Some such machines advertise the possible prizes that may be won. Examples include smart phones, holiday packages, and toys.

Social-networked vending machine
With the rise of the social networks, vending machine has been integrated to social media in order to proliferate the interaction of the vending machine with the users from the physical machine to the social networks. The common application of social-networked vending machine is that the user can connect their social account to a specific social media designated by the vending machine, the user will be getting some rewards in return, normally in the form of free gift dispensed from the vending machine.

Make-Up vending machines
Vending machines are also being used by entrepreneurs to sell cosmetics to those on the go as an easy convenience.

Popularity in Japan
Vending machines are a common sight in Japan, and are considerably popular. There are more than 5.5 million machines installed throughout the nation, and Japan holds the highest ratio of machines per person for any country with one machine for every twenty-three people.

Regarding the development of advanced technology, Japanese vending machines provide more services by selling different kinds of products. Food, smartphones, SIM cards, and even clothing can be found in these machines. Apart from the most popular drink vending machines, Japanese vending machines also offer certain products depending on the demand and need for different locations. For example, products like sanitary napkins and tampons can be found in vending machines in female restrooms, while machines selling condoms are usually located in male restrooms.

Convenience, low cost of running, security, and stability seem to be the main reasons for Japan to invest in vending machines.

A patent for an "automatic goods vending machine" was filed in 1888 in Japan; early surviving vending machines from around the 1900s include one that dispenses stamps and postcards, and one that dispenses sake. Confectionery vending machines became widespread in the 1920s, and juice vending machines became popular in the late 1950s and 1960s. By 2000, the number of vending machines in Japan had grown to 5.6 million. However, from around the early 2000s, the number of vending machines in Japan decreased slightly to 5.03 million, and the sales amount also decreased gradually, in part due to the rise of digital technology and market competition. In recent years, attention has been drawn towards older machines, such as the collection of vintage vending machines installed at the Sagamihara Vending Machine Park.

In 2024, it was reported that a sizeable portion of the vending machines in Japan would require updates to their acceptors in order to accept the new designs for the Japanese yen banknotes that were due to be released that year.

Smart vending machines
Similar to the development of traditional mobile phones into smartphones, vending machines have also progressively, though at a much slower pace, evolved into smart vending machines. Newer technologies at a lower cost of adoption, such as the large digital touch display, internet connectivity, cameras and various types of sensors, more cost-effective embedded computing power, digital signage, various advanced payment systems, and a wide range of identification technology (NFC, RFID, etc.) have contributed to this development. These smart vending machines enable a more interactive user experience, and reduce operating costs while improving the efficiency of the vending operations through remote manageability and intelligent back-end analytic. Integrated sensors and cameras also represent a source of such data as customer demographics, purchase trends, and other locality-specific information. It also enables better customer-engagement for the brands through interactive multimedia and social media connectivity. Smart vending machines were No.79 by JWT Intelligence on its list of 100 Things to Watch in 2014. According to market research by Frost & Sullivan, global shipments of smart vending machines are forecasted to reach around 2 million units by 2018, and further to 3.6 million units by 2020 with penetration rate of 20.3 percent.

title: Vending machine


text:
User:Lawrence Chard

Please leave any messages on my Talk page. Lawrence Chard  About Me

I was born in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, on 9th June 1948, making me 29 years old. Educated at Blackpool Grammar School. Having spent more of my sixth form time running my existing business than studying maths and physics, it's not surprising that my A levels results were not good enough to get me into any university worth attending.

Since 1964 or earlier, I have worked as a coin dealer, later adding jewellery. Since 1998, my business has been mainly marketed via the internet. We now have about 20+ websites covering different aspects of coins, gold, diamonds, and jewellery, with over 3,000 pages, and 4,000 images, findable via [www.chards.co.uk]. Strangely enough, I have only recently, June 2003, got around to creating a "Lawrence Chard" personal site [www.lawrencechard.com] as somewhere to place most of my personal opinions about all sorts of diverse subjects.

I think Wikipedia is a wonderful resource, and I hope my few contributions to it will help.

The first time I contributed a page (Gold sovereign), I hadn't much clue how Wikipedia worked. so it wasn't fomatted in the correct style, and I had inserted no links. Half an hour later when I looked back at the newly created page, links had magically appeared, and I can remember thinking what an incredible piece of software must be driving it, I had mistaken artificial intelligence for the real thing.

I must find out how to get images to work.

Lawrence Chard July 13th 2003, and later additions.

Articles Contibuted So Far Gold sovereign Nordic Gold Benedetto Pistrucci Half sovereign Shilling Onyx Cabochon London Gold Market BNTA The British Numismatic Association FENAP Federation of European Numismatic Associations. Black Diamond. The buffalo used as a model for the US Indian Head nickel coin, issued from 1913 to 1938, and later the one ounce gold buffalo coin.

title: User:Lawrence Chard