What world coins (top 5) have brought you the greatest joy of ownership that you still own?

TheGoonies1985

Let's see them.

hfjacinto

Well I was born in Portugal. I've been doing a type set (in raw) of the escudo coin and I have 2 coins that I truly like.

The first one because its just so nice. But it also has a story:

After the overthrow of the monarchy Portugal's economy went from periods of boom and bust. The economy started off strong in 1910 and promptly collapsed due to poor planning, lax control and the largest counterfeiting scheme ever devised (I posted the link earlier in the thread). This resulted in another Coup D'Etat and the military leaders begging an economist (Salazar) from Coimbra university to manage the finances of Portugal. In 1 year he was able to stabilize the economy and the finances. Resulting in getting elected to Prime Minister and eventually becoming a dictator for almost 40 years. As a result of his financial control, Portugal barely suffered during the great depression and the economy again boomed during WWII as a result of Portugal staying Neutral. The Germans needed Portuguese Escudos to buy commodities. Hence the Escudo rose significantly in value.

While the original controls worked well during the period of 1930 to 1946, they didn't work so well from 1947 onward. The economy stagnated, but while Salazar was a dictator he was primarily an economist and realized that the strict controls he implemented needed to be changed. In the 1950's there were several plans introduced to streamline and modernize the economy, resulting in one of the largest economic growth in Portugal (over 4.8% yearly on average). This resulted in Portugal acquiring the 14th largest gold reserves in the world (Portugal is a very small country of about 10 million people). This economic expansion lasted until the late 60's in which the colonies started demanding independence and starting the Colonial war which resulted in the end of the 2nd republic.

This coin commemorates the change of the economy and is one of my favorite coins. Its a large coin (dollar sized) and has so much luster. The coin reminds me of the Seated Liberty.

And this one is the other. I lived in Portugal till 1976. The town I came from was poor but really close to the beach.

I remember going to the local store and picking up some lemon and orange hard candies. There 5 centavos each. I ended up picking up 9 candies and gave the clerk a 50 centavos coin. As there wasn't usually change given back for such a small amount I was surprised when I got back a large 5 Centavos. The clerk actually had a few in his till. Considering I had never seen one, I ended up saving it.

About 15 years ago, my parents tore down the old house and built a new one as the town had changed from poor to pretty upscale as the Europeans had found it and had been building homes for the last few years and currently are around 50% of the population.

A few years ago my mom found the stash of coins I had saved up. Most were in poor shape, including the 5 centavos so when I got them home they went into a deep bath of acetone, water, xylene and several other items. After a few weeks I was able to remove all the contaminates on the coin but it has the copper cleaned look. So first you get the coin I was given as change when I was 6 years old.

As I wanted a non details one also for the main collection, I recently got the below.

This one version was only a 2 year issue, 5 centavos were produced in a different version until 1927.

MrEureka

TheGoonies1985

If anyone else has a story behind their coins please share makes for great reading.

Zohar

1984worldcoins

harasha

I only have one that genuinely would fit your topic and it is a numismatic item only in a broad sense. One of my earliest heroes, and perhaps my first one, is Jeanne d'Arc. I do not know the story about the medallion, but the fact that it is so worn attests to its handling by real live people of all sorts. I suspect that it was cast during the canonization process. The casting appears to have taken place at a foundry in Bourg Firenze.

bidask

@hfjacinto said:
Well I was born in Portugal. I've been doing a type set (in raw) of the escudo coin and I have 2 coins that I truly like.

The first one because its just so nice. But it also has a story:

After the overthrow of the monarchy Portugal's economy went from periods of boom and bust. The economy started off strong in 1910 and promptly collapsed due to poor planning, lax control and the largest counterfeiting scheme ever devised (I posted the link earlier in the thread). This resulted in another Coup D'Etat and the military leaders begging an economist (Salazar) from Coimbra university to manage the finances of Portugal. In 1 year he was able to stabilize the economy and the finances. Resulting in getting elected to Prime Minister and eventually becoming a dictator for almost 40 years. As a result of his financial control, Portugal barely suffered during the great depression and the economy again boomed during WWII as a result of Portugal staying Neutral. The Germans needed Portuguese Escudos to buy commodities. Hence the Escudo rose significantly in value.

While the original controls worked well during the period of 1930 to 1946, they didn't work so well from 1947 onward. The economy stagnated, but while Salazar was a dictator he was primarily an economist and realized that the strict controls he implemented needed to be changed. In the 1950's there were several plans introduced to streamline and modernize the economy, resulting in one of the largest economic growth in Portugal (over 4.8% yearly on average). This resulted in Portugal acquiring the 14th largest gold reserves in the world (Portugal is a very small country of about 10 million people). This economic expansion lasted until the late 60's in which the colonies started demanding independence and starting the Colonial war which resulted in the end of the 2nd republic.

This coin commemorates the change of the economy and is one of my favorite coins. Its a large coin (dollar sized) and has so much luster. The coin reminds me of the Seated Liberty.

And this one is the other. I lived in Portugal till 1976. The town I came from was poor but really close to the beach.

I remember going to the local store and picking up some lemon and orange hard candies. There 5 centavos each. I ended up picking up 9 candies and gave the clerk a 50 centavos coin. As there wasn't usually change given back for such a small amount I was surprised when I got back a large 5 Centavos. The clerk actually had a few in his till. Considering I had never seen one, I ended up saving it.

About 15 years ago, my parents tore down the old house and built a new one as the town had changed from poor to pretty upscale as the Europeans had found it and had been building homes for the last few years and currently are around 50% of the population.

A few years ago my mom found the stash of coins I had saved up. Most were in poor shape, including the 5 centavos so when I got them home they went into a deep bath of acetone, water, xylene and several other items. After a few weeks I was able to remove all the contaminates on the coin but it has the copper cleaned look. So first you get the coin I was given as change when I was 6 years old.

As I wanted a non details one also for the main collection, I recently got the below.

This one version was only a 2 year issue, 5 centavos were produced in a different version until 1927.

Great story thanks for sharing.

MrEureka

This Sevilla 8 escudos purchased raw at the Caballero de las Yndias auction in Barcelona. I paid way more than I thought I’d have to, but to me it was priceless and I figured it would work out in the long run. Now in a 65 holder, and completely not for sale.

bidask

@MrEureka said:
This Sevilla 8 escudos purchased raw at the Caballero de las Yndias auction in Barcelona. I paid way more than I thought I’d have to, but to me it was priceless and I figured it would work out in the long run. Now in a 65 holder, and completely not for sale.

Wowee congratulations

TheGoonies1985

I changed it to your top 5 lets see some more coins. Great eye candy so far!!!

TheGoonies1985

@MrEureka said:
This Sevilla 8 escudos purchased raw at the Caballero de las Yndias auction in Barcelona. I paid way more than I thought I’d have to, but to me it was priceless and I figured it would work out in the long run. Now in a 65 holder, and completely not for sale.

What a gorgeous gold coin congrats!!!

deepblue30

@MrEureka said:
This Sevilla 8 escudos purchased raw at the Caballero de las Yndias auction in Barcelona. I paid way more than I thought I’d have to, but to me it was priceless and I figured it would work out in the long run. Now in a 65 holder, and completely not for sale.

Absolutely stunning

Boosibri

Worth noting that 4 of 5 came from @MrEureka and one from
Forum
Member @bidask. Great community here.