One of the most underrated Modern coinage series - Israel 90% silver commemoratives of the 1960's

atom

It's amazing to discover an elusive series of beautiful designs at low cost.

Take this Israel 1962 Negev Industrialization silver coin as an example. Not a circulating coin, but a hefty 90% silver commemorative with low mintage. (How many such 90% silver coins have been melted to date?)

The words "Israel shall blossom" that appear on this coin's obverse appear in Isaiah's prophecy: "He shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root; Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit." This passage symbolizes Israel's quest to develop its southern desert, the Negev, by increasing its agricultural output and embarking on a program of industrialization and exploitation of minerals and other natural resources.

Just 14 years after the founding of the State of Israel in 1948 this silver coin was issued as part of the annual Independence Day series. It's a modern miracle to see how the tiny country thrived to become a regional, if not world leader in many industries.

This coin escaped the common mishandling typical of the early commemoratives. Local coin dealers in the 1970's would keep such coins in their pocket, literally! Hence, few coins survived in pristine condition. Original mintage of 10,380. Graded MS68, top pop of 1.

58 years old and counting...

norsemen012

Very cool looking coin and love the colors of the toning.

neildrobertson

That's much nicer than my example

amwldcoin

I bet those do end up being quite the catch 1 day. Back in the 90's and 00's all but the Seafarer were basically Bullion with few collectors of them in my circles. I would say of the 100's I handled at least 70% suffered from environmental damage from the packaging.

291fifth

That is a very eye-appealing example. There was a time when those 1960s era silver Israel commems were very common in dealer stocks. (While the mintages weren't that high they had very high survival rates in the years immediately following their issue since they were commemoratives.) I wouldn't be surprised if many were melted during the silver price run-up of 1979-80.

bidask

I like it !

I will tell you a secret 👀

I own a lot of Israel coins ..... all silver and gold !

Like the one above . PCGS MS 67

bronco2078

the whole minimalist thing is an acquired taste frankly , when i see most of them I think of 1970's canadian 5 and 10 dollar olympics although the 88 calgary olympic coins were just as hideous , and obviously Finland , the one with the bald guy with the wrinkled up scalp like a bulldog? YIKES !

Sorry Austria olympic coins from the 70's too. Remember the austria coin with the skier I think that was actually made of little squares?

Its actually more widespread than I thought at first. the 60's and 70's birthed a lot of bland bizarre coinage all over the world .

I guess you can't really single out Israel for that style . Plus Canada , austria Egypt Israel also slipstreamed in reduced silver content in a sneaky fashion. With coins not intended for circulation I never understood the point of going from 90% to 50% ? I mean they just made up a price whatever they felt like charging and silver was what, 4$ an ounce? why alter the composition?

Actually to ramble on a bit the whole coins with industrial scenes was a big thing for Egypt too. Hey we built a dam ! here is a picture of it on a metal disk you can put in your pocket !

I do feel like these sort of rimless designs with field out to the edge tone more . Nothing a little EZ-est won't take care of though

70's coinage designs by Ikea !

don't shoot the messenger

PS last one Germany 5 and 10 65% silver DM

atom

@bidask said:
I like it !

I will tell you a secret 👀

I own a lot of Israel coins ..... all silver and gold !

Like the one above . PCGS MS 67

Nice!! Israel's First gold coin - a beautiful problem-free example in top grade.

Here's one of my favs: 1967 Victory issued after Six-Day War, contrasting not seen on the silver of same

cladking

The lack of interest in Israeli coins has always surprised me. I pick up all the nice Gems I see,

To my knowledge the circulation issues are all common other than varieties, types, and special issues. I don't see some of the later ones as much.

brg5658

@cladking said:
The lack of interest in Israeli coins has always surprised me. I pick up all the nice Gems I see,

To my knowledge the circulation issues are all common other than varieties, types, and special issues. I don't see some of the later ones as much.

IMO their lack of popularity is because many if not most of the designs are uninspired (if not outright ugly). Some may call these an “acquired taste” - it might more easily be called boring.

Some of them with toning like the OP coin here have some appeal, but blast white minimalist designs don’t do much for mass appeal. Just my opinions.

bronco2078

@brg5658 said:

@cladking said:
The lack of interest in Israeli coins has always surprised me. I pick up all the nice Gems I see,

To my knowledge the circulation issues are all common other than varieties, types, and special issues. I don't see some of the later ones as much.

IMO their lack of popularity is because many if not most of the designs are uninspired (if not outright ugly). Some may call these an “acquired taste” - it might more easily be called boring.

Some of them with toning like the OP coin here have some appeal, but blast white minimalist designs don’t do much for mass appeal. Just my opinions.

half the world was making the same ugly coins . That period of coin design was whatever you call the opposite of a Renaissance . To be fair though, I think we are still in that period

At least put a raised rim on the coin like this if you want them to be nice for more than just the 30 seconds after they are struck.

@bidask said:
I like it !

I will tell you a secret 👀

I own a lot of Israel coins ..... all silver and gold !

Like the one above . PCGS MS 67

the 67 gold is a great design , fill up both sides with something exciting !

JBK

I have a few Israel medals which 8 love, but the artwork on Israeli issues is definitely different than classic US or European designs.

OldEastside

I Agree

Steve

coinkat

This has been discussed before. While Mid Century Modern is an acquired taste, the style has quite a following and has grown in popularity... especially furniture. I suspect the surviving population for several of these issues is much less given the propensity for coins such as these to be melted which is unfortunate. Look at some of the German and Polish mid century commems for bold simplicity.

bronco2078

@coinkat said:
This has been discussed before. While Mid Century Modern is an acquired taste, the style has quite a following and has grown in popularity... especially furniture. I suspect the surviving population for several of these issues is much less given the propensity for coins such as these to be melted which is unfortunate. Look at some of the German and Polish mid century commems for bold simplicity.

We need to do research to figure out who started the ball rolling with these ugly sparse designs

I'm prepared to blame the franklin half dollar in its certainly ugly enough yea or nay ?

Germany didn't just make revolting coins in this period they also are guilty of promiscuity , the number of 5 and 10 commems is so vast that if you made a stack it would reach the moon without repeating a design .

There are over 800 billion different designs each uglier than the one before.

coinkat

Coins are often a reflection of art of the times or a representation of mass production. I doubt many will call coinage from the Art Nouveau period or Art Deco into Art Moderne as ugly. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and in the matter of taste there is no dispute. The West German commems from the 1950s are quite striking as are the Polish issues from the 1960s. You may not like them, but they do and will continue to have a following among collectors.

brg5658

@coinkat said:
Coins are often a reflection of art of the times or a representation of mass production. I doubt many will call coinage from the Art Nouveau period or Art Deco into Art Moderne as ugly. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and in the matter of taste there is no dispute. The West German commems from the 1950s are quite striking as are the Polish issues from the 1960s. You may not like them, but they do and will continue to have a following among collectors.

---

I agree that beauty is subjective. I tried to be careful in stating that my lack of enthusiasm for these is only my personal opinion. I will say that my opinions on the Israeli coinage (and coinage of the Levant in general) has tempered over time. I used to find them completely and utterly unattractive. Nowadays, there are a few designs I have grown to appreciate.

To each his/her own.

bronco2078

@coinkat said:
Coins are often a reflection of art of the times or a representation of mass production. I doubt many will call coinage from the Art Nouveau period or Art Deco into Art Moderne as ugly. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and in the matter of taste there is no dispute. The West German commems from the 1950s are quite striking as are the Polish issues from the 1960s. You may not like them, but they do and will continue to have a following among collectors.

wait till you see what the instagram generation puts on coins , the kardashians probably the mid century stuff will become classical overnight

pruebas

@bronco2078 said:

@coinkat said:
Coins are often a reflection of art of the times or a representation of mass production. I doubt many will call coinage from the Art Nouveau period or Art Deco into Art Moderne as ugly. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and in the matter of taste there is no dispute. The West German commems from the 1950s are quite striking as are the Polish issues from the 1960s. You may not like them, but they do and will continue to have a following among collectors.

wait till you see what the instagram generation puts on coins , the kardashians probably the mid century stuff will become classical overnight

We are already starting to see them. Take this gem, that maybe I alone think is absolutely hideous.

coinkat

@pruebas

Funny you should post an image of the 5 ounce example... I understand this coin remains highly sought after with a fairly low mintage... really low by US 5 ounce coins that are comparable.

pruebas

@coinkat said:
@pruebas

Funny you should post an image of the 5 ounce example... I understand this coin remains highly sought after with a fairly low mintage... really low by US 5 ounce coins that are comparable.

It's still bloody ugly!

bronco2078

@coinkat said:
@pruebas

Funny you should post an image of the 5 ounce example... I understand this coin remains highly sought after with a fairly low mintage... really low by US 5 ounce coins that are comparable.

all 5 oz coins are worth a solid 97% of melt , except the incredible colorized year of the dragon coins which I may or may not have listed on the BST

coinkat

I gave like to the 2014 Britannia coin. And it works as a modern issue. The 5 ounce coin is simply not 97%.

SYRACUSIAN

I didn’t find this series particularly inspiring, until I saw the set that Zohar set up and it literally took my breath away. All of his coins, were as nicely toned and best possible grade as the one posted by atom.

bronco2078

@coinkat said:
I gave like to the 2014 Britannia coin. And it works as a modern issue. The 5 ounce coin is simply not 97%.

97% is my max bid , I hate giant coins . Blame the wretched ATB series . Buy them and leave instructions to be buried with them

coinkat

Just to be clear, I specifically mean the 2014 Britannia 5 ounce coin... these have traded for moon money.

ColonelKlinck

I also find the concave design on both obverse and reverse of these pieces to be quite interesting.
Here's mine!

atom

That is beautiful! The design is simple yet striking. with artistic contours. And of course the color is wonderful!
The very first silver commemorative coin issued.

bronco2078

@ColonelKlinck said:
I also find the concave design on both obverse and reverse of these pieces to be quite interesting.
Here's mine!

i don't know why but that reminds me of a czech coin , maybe its just the font the 5 is in?

bidask

what is there not to like.

mintage 10,380
fineness 90% silver

pop 4/1

Cost ....cheap

atom

nice purchase!