That Coke bottle cap coin revisited

Weiss

@ScarsdaleCoin mentioned this piece in a recent post and I was intrigued--especially in light of the recent weird non-planchet pseudo coins coming to market.

Usually modern gimmicky crap like this just makes me angry. But the iconic brand, the whimsy of a Coke bottle cap struck in .999 pure silver, the humor of the reverse being an "actual" NCLT coin, and the Coke-red NGC insert completely hooked me.

The whole package comes together really well. The metal Coke display box (with the clever pun on the iconic Coke logo: It's the real thing : pure silver, legal tender all in the modern Coke font) the COA, the red old font Coca-Cola outer box just makes a neat package.

I got this piece from MCM--who didn't make it clear that the OGP would accompany the coin. Because of that, I wavered about buying a slabbed piece. But the color of the insert was so fun and striking that I had to pony up the $90 for a 70 UCAM. Fortunately, MCM sent the piece quickly, packaged well, and with the entire original OGP--including the protective white outer box that protects the whole shebang (not shown).

It's the kind of thing that I would have come back to the coin shop a dozen times to look at when I was a kid.

Horrible? Funny? Stupid? What do you think?

Barndog

nice pics, but not for me

DCW

Call me a purist, but a coin shaped like a bottle cap and colorized does nothing for me.
To each, his own.

JeffersonFrog

I like it.

BillDugan1959

@Barndog Absolutely agree with you, 100%. None for me.

A lot of people age 40 and younger have no memory of the small old-styled Coca-Cola glass bottles. By 1980 or a little later, those were largely superseded by aluminum and plastic containers. So who are the oldster buyers going to sell to, someday?

Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.

FredWeinberg

Someplace in my 'stuff' I have what I guess I should call
a 'Double Denomination' metal bottle cap.

It's a Coke imprint OVER a Pepsi imprint.

I got it many decades ago, and it wasn't for
about 10 years till I learned that the Caps
are printed at the Bottler locations, not where
Coke or Pepsi is headquartered.

BillDugan1959

@FredWeinberg I have a 1964 British halfpenny 'bottle cap' error. Pretty nice one too. Fairly certain that's the date.

That's about as far as I wanna go with "bottle caps".

FredWeinberg

Yes, there were some nice errors coming out
of that Mint in 1964-65.

Sounds like a nice die cap coin !

Kudbegud

I won't be buying one of these. However,what ever a collector decides to collect is more than fine for me. The fact they like it reminds me that collecting anything is personal joy. Animus directed at them serves no positive purpose. They should be encouraged to continue what ever makes them happy. A nice display of odd ball world mint products would be amazing to see. It's nice to see the creativity that brings these "coins" to the public. It goes a little overboard sometimes but buying one by somebody else does not offend me. Hopefully they will also discover the beauty of the Buffalo Nickel or another conventional coin series.

Encourage them don't denigrate them.

Some sneer at Dan Carr's work too. Why I can't fathom.

JBK

@BillDugan1959 said:
A lot of people age 40 and younger have no memory of the small old-styled Coca-Cola glass bottles. By 1980 or a little later, those were largely superseded by aluminum and plastic containers. So who are the oldster buyers going to sell to, someday?

There is nothing like a cold Coke out of one of those bottles. Luckily a Coke bottler in Mexico still makes them (with cane sugar, no less, and not high fructose corn syrup). Either BJ's or Costco occasionally has them by the case, and even the local supermarket has single bottles for sale. They also make Sprite and Fanta Orange Soda in the appropriate glass bottles also.

But, the point is worth considering. The only reason people know what a bottle cap is anymore is that beer still comes in glass bottles. As for pull tabs from cans, I doubt anyone born since the 1980s would have any idea what those are if they found one.

messydesk

For some reason I felt compelled to post this.

jwitten

I find them weird.

Type2

Is it a coin placed in the cap?

Weiss

@Type2 said:
Is it a coin placed in the cap?

.999 pure silver bottle cap struck with a die. The cap is the coin.

BillDugan1959

Six grams of pure silver is something less than one-fifth of a Troy ounce of silver.

So multiply your purchase price by at least five. That's what you just paid, per ounce, for a silver doo-dad (not strictly a coin) fallen freshly from the dies.

I'll pass.

In its heyday, the old Franklin Mint at least gave you an ounce or two of silver (most of the time). Big mark-ups, yes, you bet; but at least the FM pieces had some heft to them.

ms70

I > @Weiss said:

Usually modern gimmicky crap like this just makes me angry.

This is me all the way, but I too have been interested in this piece. I love it. The holder too.

silverman68

Very attractive in the red holder.

asheland

@BillDugan1959 I remember the old coke in the bottles when I was a kid. (early 1980's) Cool stuff.

BillDugan1959

@asheland I remember the old Coke in bottles from about 1964. I think the cost went from a nickel to a dime shortly after, but may have still been a nickel at that moment in time. The local (rural) general store had two of the big Red Bottle Caps (signs) on either side of its main door. I think they may have actually helped guide some of the older folks from their trucks and cars into the store. About twenty years later when the store sold out, my Dad may have gotten those two signs plus the big red iron-chest Coke machine. All that stuff is still around, but the Coke ice chest/machine may have totally rusted out.

By the time I got to high school, Pepsi was at least as prevalent as Coke. In the 1960s, into the mid-1970s, there was a local bottler named "Vess" that made some popular sodas too, lots of odd flavors.

None of these memories inspire me to buy these Fiji thingies.

messydesk

The only coins from Fiji I ever had were a bunch of cents from the 1970s. I will neither confirm nor deny that they may have been used as dimes for tolls.

messydesk

@FredWeinberg said:
Someplace in my 'stuff' I have what I guess I should call
a 'Double Denomination' metal bottle cap.

It's a Coke imprint OVER a Pepsi imprint.
...

Whoa! That's like putting a Chevy bowtie on a Ford.

jmlanzaf

My favorite coin of the year...easily. I find it hysterical. I don't even collect modern anything, and I bought two of them.

Walkerfan

They are somewhat cool. I wouldn't mind owning one.

NVU

It’s a cool piece to own and it won’t break the bank

Washingtoniana

@JeffersonFrog said:
I like it. I won't buy it, but I like it. With all of the talk about attracting new people to the hobby, I think these kind of efforts can actually be helpful, especially if executed well. NGC's participation also adds an extra layer of credibility.

it won't be helpful in 10 years when those people take their caps to their local coin shop and get offered $5 each

Timbuk3

Wow, "cool" !!!

BigA

@jmlanzaf said:
My favorite coin of the year...easily. I find it hysterical. I don't even collect modern anything, and I bought two of them.

As did I...but in the original packaging not slabbed.....the slab does look decent though

jmlanzaf

@Washingtoniana said:

@JeffersonFrog said:
I like it. I won't buy it, but I like it. With all of the talk about attracting new people to the hobby, I think these kind of efforts can actually be helpful, especially if executed well. NGC's participation also adds an extra layer of credibility.

it won't be helpful in 10 years when those people take their caps to their local coin shop and get offered $5 each

You could say the same about any retail widget. MS64 Morgans are in the tank also. If they paid a premium for $20 Saints a few years ago they are totally buried in them.

People should NOT collect coins to make money. They rarely do, especially if opportunity costs are considered. People should collect coins because they find it fun and interesting. To that end, $30 spent on a Coke coin could be money well spent.

jmlanzaf

@BigA said:

@jmlanzaf said:
My favorite coin of the year...easily. I find it hysterical. I don't even collect modern anything, and I bought two of them.

As did I...but in the original packaging not slabbed.....the slab does look decent though

Yes, mine were in the original packaging. But I must admit the slabs look fun also. But I'm patient enough to wait for the price to come down on those.

They still make me smile every time I see them. Well worth the $30!

renman95

Did it come with a can of Coke? ;-)

Catbert

Seems to me that the OP bought $90 of joy! Good for him. Who cares whether or not he can recoup his money in the future.

Namvet69

Novelty item, a big yes. I give Coke enough money as it is. Peace Roy

ricko

Definitely a novelty item..... Not one I will be purchasing, but I did get a chuckle when I first saw the 'coin'....Makes one wonder what will be coming...Actually, something like this could spawn an entirely new segment of collecting...along with the 'guitar coins' and other novelties....our own baseball coin would also fit....I can see these appealing to kids ....Cheers, RickO

Icollecteverything

These are not worth anything but are fun to accumulate.....

thisnamztaken

@BillDugan1959 said:
@asheland I remember the old Coke in bottles from about 1964. I think the cost went from a nickel to a dime shortly after, but may have still been a nickel at that moment in time. The local (rural) general store had two of the big Red Bottle Caps (signs) on either side of its main door. I think they may have actually helped guide some of the older folks from their trucks and cars into the store. About twenty years later when the store sold out, my Dad may have gotten those two signs plus the big red iron-chest Coke machine. All that stuff is still around, but the Coke ice chest/machine may have totally rusted out.

By the time I got to high school, Pepsi was at least as prevalent as Coke. In the 1960s, into the mid-1970s, there was a local bottler named "Vess" that made some popular sodas too, lots of odd flavors.

None of these memories inspire me to buy these Fiji thingies.

This is for the younger members of this forum (or perhaps more for the older members?).

BillDugan1959

@thisnamztaken The small stylized glass bottle was the old Standard.

The larger bottle, you can still buy something very similar today in the "home" grocery store here - they have some 'retro' sodas, made with real sugar (not corn sweetener) - perhaps made in Mexico.

bigmarty58

@Icollecteverything said:
These are not worth anything but are fun to accumulate.....

Moosehead Nation!

steveben

i think it's pretty cool. it's a nice cross collectable and could possibly bring coca-cola collectors into bullion or collectable coins. i like that it's legal tender.

Kudbegud

I bought one today.

Onastone

@DCW said:
Call me a purist, but a coin shaped like a bottle cap and colorized does nothing for me.
To each, his own.

This coin is also available non-colorized and also in gold. Still shaped like a cap though....

fivecents

That is just wrong in a cool way.
I will buy one for sure.

Zoins

@messydesk said:
For some reason I felt compelled to post this.

What would it be if Coke issued a Coke bottle using a coin as the actual cap

asheland

Where I normally don't care for specialty slabs, especially ATS, this slab however looks incredibly cool and I would buy one. I kinda like the green core NGC slabs for the "monster box" eagles, too...

ms70

@asheland said:
Where I normally don't care for specialty slabs, especially ATS, this slab however looks incredibly cool and I would buy one. I kinda like the green core NGC slabs for the "monster box" eagles, too...

Yup. I think is a pretty rare item as far as the cool factor for combination of "coin" and holder goes. Pulling this off is far and few between so TPGs should not try to do specialty slabs on a regular basis.

MrMonkeySwag96

I've viewed these Coca-Cola coins as abominations ever since they were first released. I'll admit, they do look cool. But I'll never buy one. There were many gimmick coins similar to the Coke coins:

A 2015 Pizza coin that was designed to smell like a leftover slice of Lil Caesars.

A 2016 Cannabis coin that was designed to smell like some really good Mary Jane.

A 2018 coin commemorating the 70th anniversary of German bratwurst.

topstuf

@messydesk said:
The only coins from Fiji I ever had were a bunch of cents from the 1970s. I will neither confirm nor deny that they may have been used as dimes for tolls.

And I won't confirm or deny that a certain dealer in SF Tenderloin district had bags of Fiji pennies covering his floor and going out in large quantities all over the country in the 70s.

RINATIONALS

Admit it - you photoshopped the bratwurst 'coin'

Zoins

@RINATIONALS said:
Admit it - you photoshopped the bratwurst 'coin'

No photoshop necessary. It's a limited edition too! The Mint that struck this makes 20% of all of Germany's Euro coins.

Currywurst was created by Herta Heuwer in western Berlin on Sept. 4, 1949.

• https://qz.com/1523284/a-german-mint-just-released-a-coin-commemorating-70-years-of-currywurst-and-its-unspeakably-ugly/

RINATIONALS

How can it be 'cash' if it's not 'legal tender' and if it's not legal tender isn't it a medallion not a coin?