"Numismatic Gladiator" V (ajaan vs. Jackthecat1)

lordmarcovan · July 6, 2016 4:10PM

WELCOME TO NUMISMATIC GLADIATOR V!

To see how the earlier competitions went, click here.

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 public venue.

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 Thursday, July 14, 2016.

Vote for whichever coin 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).

*** FINAL RESULTS *** Jackthecat1 was the winner, with Coin B.

(Total Votes: 36)

A- Canada (Newfoundland) silver 20-cent piece of Queen Victoria, 1885, @ $18.53

16 votes 44.44 (%)

B- Canada: tombac 5-cent piece of George VI, 1942, ICCS certified MS63, @ $19.31

19 votes 52.78 (%)

C- I can't decide- they're both great for the money

1 votes 2.78 (%)

D- Neither- they both suck

0 votes 0.00 (%)

E- I'm totally neutral

0 votes 0.00 (%)

Which do you like better?

COIN A: Canada (Newfoundland) silver 20-cent piece of Queen Victoria, 1885, @ $18.53 from eBay.

NGC/Krause priceguide listing

This is a low-mintage (40K) piece of Victorian silver (.925 fine/.1401 oz ASW), so it has that historical appeal.

The 20-cent denomination is also interesting. This is probably nicer than the images we have to work with, here.

COIN B: Canada: tombac 5-cent piece of George VI, 1942, ICCS certified MS63, @ $19.31 from eBay.

NGC/Krause priceguide listing

This coin is Mint State, with an ICCS holder. Like the 1943 US steel cent, it is a one-year type struck in different metal (in this case, tombac)

under wartime austerity conditions. It appears to have attractive toning; the seller noted that some of the specks are from lint on the holder.

Hats off to our cointestants! May the "best" coin win!

lordmarcovan · July 6, 2016 4:25PM

I think each of these coins is going to have its own following, for very different reasons.

They're very different coins, but I think both are appealing within that pricerange.

As to my personal vote, I haven't decided yet. I think I'll wait a while to vote.

BS · July 6, 2016 5:36PM

I went with coin B

Aethelred · July 6, 2016 9:26PM

Both good choices, though very different.

lordmarcovan · July 6, 2016 10:58PM

This is gonna be a tight race, it seems. I like to see that. Goes to show how well the gladiators did their choosing.

TwoKopeiki · July 6, 2016 11:31PM

Hmm, while a Tombac 5 Cent is cool and a great example of governments experimenting with different metals in wartime, i have to go with the Newfoundland silver. Gets bonus points in my book for scarcity and being from 19th century.

asheland · July 7, 2016 12:55AM

I like the 20C!

Musky1011 · July 7, 2016 10:14AM

I went for eye appeal to me.. It may just be the pictures but I went with B... Great coins on the cheap..
Awesome job finding these coins.. i myself found a killer Canadian coin/token for the heck of it.. Maybe someday they will let me in one of these contests

dadams · July 7, 2016 1:23PM

I've been torn amongst the two selections as I like them both equally, but since I know nada about Canadian coinage I've been reading up all day.

I googleized "Canada 20 cent" and read an article about the melting of Canadian 20 cent coins only to realize the discussion was on the single year 1858 20 Cent pieces. 1858/1885. Either way I was already hooked and had to finish reading through the article. Now I'm wanting one and can add another numis diversion for the list.

OK, I got it now "Newfoundland"

I really do like the 1885 20 cent piece and I suppose, like TwoKopeiki, we could add a bonus for it being low mintage 19th c. silver, but I'll deduct that right back since Newfoundland didn't join the Confederation until 1949.

Now on to the one-year type 5c - I can distinctly remember being a kid and always liking those beavers (one of my other favorites back then was that Maori warrior dude on NZ shillings) and then we got this word tombac.

tombac, tombac . . . .

yep, voted B

-d

lordmarcovan · July 7, 2016 3:12PM

Originally posted by: Musky1011

I went for eye appeal to me.. It may just be the pictures but I went with B... Great coins on the cheap..

Awesome job finding these coins.. i myself found a killer Canadian coin/token for the heck of it.. Maybe someday they will let me in one of these contests

Jim, we'll certainly love to have you in a future contest. In fact, you were on the short list for this one.

I agree. I went with B, but only by a VERY narrow margin. Had the Newfie 20c piece been only the tiniest bit sharper (like with a full "20" on the reverse), I'd have leaned that way. But I do like the luster and toning on the Tombac 5c. Again, both were solid choices for the money. Seemingly so solid that this has remained a close race, as I thought it would be. Perhaps the closest-run NG tournament yet. As of my typing this, the coins are tied, 9 to 9.

asheland · July 8, 2016 1:01AM

It's certainly a close match!

Boosibri · July 8, 2016 7:26AM

Testoon2 · July 8, 2016 1:57PM

Both great coins! I'm torn - I agree with Lord Marcovan about the low mintage and the weak "20" but it being Newfoundland adds points for me being a small, independent country. I also agree with TwoKopeiki about the coolness factor of the WWII emergency issue in a different metal but for me I have to go on the side of rarity and vote for A.

Thanks,

Bill

savoyspecial · July 9, 2016 8:29AM

They're Canadian....I have to vote for Coin Eh

bronzemat · July 9, 2016 10:27AM

I went with A. Both are great coins but I am always partial to Vickies.

Stork · July 9, 2016 12:05PM

Hmmm, it looks like my wishy-washy choice 'c' might have to be reconsidered. At the moment it's all tied up 14:14:1. If it remains tied do I have to suck it up and actually choose?

ajaan · July 12, 2016 5:50AM

Only a few more days to vote.

lordmarcovan · July 12, 2016 10:42PM

One of our gladiators has Coin A in hand, now, so we get fresh pictures:

asheland · July 13, 2016 3:37AM

20c

lordmarcovan · July 14, 2016 4:12PM

Well, now has come the time to announce our winner. It was a close race, which I always like to see in these.

Without further ado, I hereby congratulate ... Jackthecat1!

His tombac 5c piece, Coin B above, finally squeaked out a win, by a margin of three votes (19 to 16).

Congrats to both of our gladiators.

Catman Jack, here is your sigline trophy!

(Kudos again to dadams for the epic fight scene illustration above. LOL.)

ajaan · July 16, 2016 4:45AM

Congrats 'thecat1'.

Jackthecat1 · July 16, 2016 4:56AM

Originally posted by: ajaan

Congrats 'thecat1'.

Thank you. This competition has given me a greater respect for Canadian coinage.

carabonnair · July 18, 2016 9:51AM

Nice competition! I arrived late to the party, but one interesting thing about the Newf 20 cents is that the weak 20 might be from someone trying to pass it as 25 cents in Canada. I have a couple where the digits are more effectively obliterated.

TwoKopeiki · July 18, 2016 11:04AM

Originally posted by: carabonnair

Nice competition! I arrived late to the party, but one interesting thing about the Newf 20 cents is that the weak 20 might be from someone trying to pass it as 25 cents in Canada. I have a couple where the digits are more effectively obliterated.

Interesting tidbit - didn't know that was a practice back in the day.

"Numismatic Gladiator" V (ajaan vs. Jackthecat1)

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