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"Numismatic Gladiator" IV (lordmarcovan vs. savoyspecial)
lordmarcovan
Posts: 43,218 ✭✭✭✭✭
WELCOME TO NUMISMATIC GLADIATOR IV!
To see how the games began, refer to the earlier competitions.
Numismatic Gladiator I (Aethelred vs. lordmarcovan: Roman Imperial coins under $20.00- Aethelred won)
Numismatic Gladiator II (Stork vs. Swampboy: Pre-1800 dated world coins under $20.00- Swampboy won)
Numismatic Gladiator III (Andres vs. dadams: Pre-1964 United States coins under $25.00- dadams won)
Numismatic Gladiator IV (lordmarcovan vs. savoyspecial: World exonumia under $20.00) ***THIS COMPETITION***
1. Both contestants agreed to purchase a single coin from the assigned category.
2. The coin had to cost no more than $20.00 US.
3. In order to avoid either contestant having an advantage, contestants agreed to buy their coins from the same venue at a fixed price.
4. Shipping was not included in the $20.00 limit.
5. You can now vote on which coin you like best without knowing which coin belongs to whom. That will be revealed at the end.
6. The person whose coin receives the most votes gets bragging rights and a sigline trophy.
(And the cool coin they purchased, obviously.)
This cointest will run until midnight Eastern on Tuesday, June 21, 2016.
Vote for whichever coin (or in this case, token or medal) appeals to you most.
This need not be the one that is more monetarily valuable. Catalog and/or retail value should be weighed into the decision, of course, but this cointest is about overall desirability - eye appeal, history, design, etc. It is much more about collecting fun than "investment" value.
The coins are presented here in chronological order, in similar sized images (though note that the actual coins themselves may differ widely in physical size).
Which do you like better?
COIN A: "FRANK H GREEN" love token or fob engraved on 1838-BB French silver 5-franc coin, @ $15.00 from eBay.
Detail picture of the engraving - (there are also more and bigger images on the eBay page.)
Here is the NGC/Krause priceguide listing for the host coin. You can see that our gladiator purchased this silver dollar-sized piece for only a few dollars over melt value.
The "BB" mintmark is for Strasbourg. It seems likely that "Frank H Green", the onetime owner of this piece, was an American.
COIN B: 28 mm Italian/Argentine medal commemorating the 50th anniversary of Italian unification, September 20, 1911, @ $12.65 from eBay.
Confirmation of Best Offer price - (the auction page will show $19.99 but the buyer paid $12.65 before shipping).
For an explanation of the seeming oddity of an Italian medal being struck in Buenos Aires, see the Wikipedia page about Italian Argentines,
which says, "In 1914, the city of Buenos Aires alone had more than 300,000 Italian-born inhabitants, representing 25% of the total population."
It is presently unknown whether this medal was struck in silver or white metal; the latter seems more likely.
The allegorical figures in the foreground of the obverse represent Peace and Labor ("PAX ET LABOR").
Hats off to our cointestants! May the "best" coin win!
FINAL RESULTS: lordmarcovan won
Which item do you like better, for the money? (Total Votes: 41)
A- "FRANK H GREEN" love token or fob engraved on 1838-BB French silver 5-franc coin, @$15.00
11 votes 26.83 (%)
B- 28 mm Italian/Argentine medal commemorating the 50th anniversary of Italian unification, September 20, 1911, @$12.65
25 votes 60.98 (%)
C- I can't decide- they're both great for the money
3 votes 7.32 (%)
D- Neither- they both suck
1 votes 2.44 (%)
E- I'm totally neutral
1 votes 2.44 (%)
To see how the games began, refer to the earlier competitions.
Numismatic Gladiator I (Aethelred vs. lordmarcovan: Roman Imperial coins under $20.00- Aethelred won)Numismatic Gladiator II (Stork vs. Swampboy: Pre-1800 dated world coins under $20.00- Swampboy won)Numismatic Gladiator III (Andres vs. dadams: Pre-1964 United States coins under $25.00- dadams won)Numismatic Gladiator IV (lordmarcovan vs. savoyspecial: World exonumia under $20.00) ***THIS COMPETITION***1. Both contestants agreed to purchase a single coin from the assigned category.
2. The coin had to cost no more than $20.00 US.
3. In order to avoid either contestant having an advantage, contestants agreed to buy their coins from the same venue at a fixed price.
4. Shipping was not included in the $20.00 limit.
5. You can now vote on which coin you like best without knowing which coin belongs to whom. That will be revealed at the end.
6. The person whose coin receives the most votes gets bragging rights and a sigline trophy.
(And the cool coin they purchased, obviously.)
This cointest will run until midnight Eastern on Tuesday, June 21, 2016.
Vote for whichever coin (or in this case, token or medal) appeals to you most.
This need not be the one that is more monetarily valuable. Catalog and/or retail value should be weighed into the decision, of course, but this cointest is about overall desirability - eye appeal, history, design, etc. It is much more about collecting fun than "investment" value.
The coins are presented here in chronological order, in similar sized images (though note that the actual coins themselves may differ widely in physical size).
Which do you like better?
COIN A: "FRANK H GREEN" love token or fob engraved on 1838-BB French silver 5-franc coin, @ $15.00 from eBay.
Detail picture of the engraving - (there are also more and bigger images on the eBay page.)
Here is the NGC/Krause priceguide listing for the host coin. You can see that our gladiator purchased this silver dollar-sized piece for only a few dollars over melt value.
The "BB" mintmark is for Strasbourg. It seems likely that "Frank H Green", the onetime owner of this piece, was an American.
COIN B: 28 mm Italian/Argentine medal commemorating the 50th anniversary of Italian unification, September 20, 1911, @ $12.65 from eBay.
Confirmation of Best Offer price - (the auction page will show $19.99 but the buyer paid $12.65 before shipping).
For an explanation of the seeming oddity of an Italian medal being struck in Buenos Aires, see the Wikipedia page about Italian Argentines,
which says, "In 1914, the city of Buenos Aires alone had more than 300,000 Italian-born inhabitants, representing 25% of the total population."
It is presently unknown whether this medal was struck in silver or white metal; the latter seems more likely.
The allegorical figures in the foreground of the obverse represent Peace and Labor ("PAX ET LABOR").
Hats off to our cointestants! May the "best" coin win!
FINAL RESULTS: lordmarcovan won
Which item do you like better, for the money? (Total Votes: 41)
A- "FRANK H GREEN" love token or fob engraved on 1838-BB French silver 5-franc coin, @$15.00
11 votes 26.83 (%)
B- 28 mm Italian/Argentine medal commemorating the 50th anniversary of Italian unification, September 20, 1911, @$12.65
25 votes 60.98 (%)
C- I can't decide- they're both great for the money
3 votes 7.32 (%)
D- Neither- they both suck
1 votes 2.44 (%)
E- I'm totally neutral
1 votes 2.44 (%)
0
Comments
(I do think it's true, though- both look to be nice purchases for the money.)
WNC Coins, LLC
1987-C Hendersonville Road
Asheville, NC 28803
wnccoins.com
8 Reales Madness Collection
The one with the curvy Italian babe on it.
It's not just me then.
That being said, don't forget that the other piece is a nice big "crown" (dollar) sized piece of silver, with a spot price not terribly far from what it was bought for.
The nekkid lady medal might not be silver at all. (I dunno.)
My YouTube Channel
Never underestimate the power of nekkid ladies, particuarly of the Art Nouveau persuasion.
That being said, don't forget that the other piece is a nice big "crown" (dollar) sized piece of silver, with a spot price not terribly far from what it was bought for.
The nekkid lady medal might not be silver at all. (I dunno.)
I have lots of nekkid ladies in my numismatic harem, some of them were quite pricey - particularly the one that was also minted in Italy in 1911.
The one with the curvy Italian babe on it.
It's not just me then.
No!
WNC Coins, LLC
1987-C Hendersonville Road
Asheville, NC 28803
wnccoins.com
DPOTD-3
'Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery'
CU #3245 B.N.A. #428
Don
8 Reales Madness Collection
Menomonee Falls Wisconsin USA
http://www.pcgs.com/SetRegistr...dset.aspx?s=68269&ac=1">Musky 1861 Mint Set
just a minor detail for the latest gladiator logo award
WNC Coins, LLC
1987-C Hendersonville Road
Asheville, NC 28803
wnccoins.com
By a vote of 23/11 Lordmarcovan in the winner of Numismatic Gladiator IV.
WNC Coins, LLC
1987-C Hendersonville Road
Asheville, NC 28803
wnccoins.com
Yes, I finally managed to win one of these.
No room in my sigline for the trophy, but I'm happy.
(PS- why isn't Swampboy wearing his NG2 trophy?)
It should be said, however, that I would have happily bought the French piece Greg did, at the price he paid, and in fact had it watchlisted (it was my #2 or #3 pick.)
Considering the vast size of the eBay Exonumia category, that's another "small world" moment. He got a very cool item and big piece of silver too, for not terribly more than melt.
In fact, his item is more like the sort of thing I would buy for my own "oddball" collection, while the medal I bought doesn't really fit my collection. (Though it looks sweet, of course.)
I just had to go with the scantily-clad Art Nouveau babes, as previously mentioned, because I knew they'd be a crowd-pleaser.
Also, he only paid $2.80 shipping and I had to pay $9.95 on mine, for shipping from Uruguay, so mine ended up costing more on the bottom line.
But shipping isn't factored into the competition prices, and I still did OK compared with the prices on the few other examples of my medal I've seen out there.
We've already figured on ajaan being one of the gladiators. Who would like to challenge him?
DPOTD-3
'Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery'
CU #3245 B.N.A. #428
Don
For the money, I'm quite pleased. Lots of "bang for the buck", here, which is the main idea behind these fun little contests.
My YouTube Channel
For future competitors, I will take offers to NOT vote for your coin in upcoming battles.
As for Canada and vs Ajaan? No way. Don may have to run unopposed
Seriously, I AM getting curious as to the next one.
The French piece fits into my "Oddball" set, since it started life as a coin. The medal I bought above, while beautiful and a winner, was always a medal. (I sold it not long after this contest and turned a small profit.)
As the only person who's ever seen both of these pieces in hand, if this contest were restaged today with only me as a voter, without bias, I would choose B above- the one I bought. (I voted neutral in the original poll.)
But I must say, it would be close. One really gets no idea of the difference of scale with these photos. The big crown-sized French piece is nice and hefty, I like that contrasting toning, and it was, as you can see, quite affordable. (For both me and Greg.)
Coin A is definitely more impressive in hand than it appeared here.