Early 2023 Numismatic Year in Review

Boosibri

With some idle time tonight, I figured I would type up my annual “Numismatic Year in Review”, highlighting the major additions, subtractions, and events which shaped the numismatic year. Starting out the year, I was more committed to discipline than ever. I had four active collections to begin the year and am left with two as we exit. In summary, I added significantly to the core of my Latin American crown collection while paring coins which might ultimately be transportation tokens from Kalamazoo, Michigan and the immediate surrounding areas. I exited completely my Guatemalan minor collection with nice gains and also exited for the second time my Irish modern collection, breaking about even, which is better than I expected to do on it.

For the purposes of this post I will focus on the major additions and subtractions from my Latin American Crown set, which took meaningful steps forward in terms of numismatic weight.

The major sales in the year:
1. An offer came in which I couldn’t refuse for this lovely 1758-G 8 Reales in MS63. Joining it in the deal was this MS61 1760-G Ferdinand 8R. In selling these two coins I quickly decided to break down the rest of the Guatemala date set selling a nice 1770, a special 1771 8R ex. Huntington, while retaining a trio of 1763, 1764 and 1765, with the 1764-1765 representing truly core coins which are irreplaceable.

3. With the sale of the Guatemalans, I was in a selling mood and made deals to part with other great, but ultimately replaceable coins. Leaving the collection were the 1852 Argentina 8R in 64, 1758 Jamaica 8R in 61, 1838-Cuzco 8R in 63, 1813 Argentina in 58+, 1807-L 8R in 65, 1852-PTS 8S in 63, 1835 Lima 8R in 63 and lastly a rare 1839-Cuzco 8R in 64. I’ll miss these coins but with the funds paid with the funds from the Guatemalans, bought a significant addition to the set noted below.
   
   
   
   

The major additions:
I added 12 coins this year to the set. I group these mentally into three buckets.
1. Core Coins which are in the top tier of the collection. There is numismatic importance, rarity or extreme condition which sets them at the top of the population.
2. The “Next Core” which are outstanding examples for the type in terms of eye appeal and condition but generally lack the rarity or numismatic importance to make them truly special.
3. “The Rest” which seems dismissive but these are very nice coins but they lack the emotional connection and may one day be written about as major sales in the year.

To start with the bottom….

I added the following coins:
1. 1915 Uruguay Peso in 65. Very tough in 65, ex. Cape Coral and @bidask.
2. 1900-ZS Peso in 65
3. 1883-Mo 8R in 65
4. 1850 Bogota 10R in 65
5. 1867 Paraguay 10R in 25 and very rare

The “Next Core” additions we few but strong…
1. 1779-Mo 8R in 63. Beautiful coin I bought from @OriginalDan, sold to @twokopeki, and missed from the minute i sold it.
2. 1892 Peru Sol in 66+ ex. Cape Coral and @bidask

And for the Core, I was able to make 5 significant additions during the year which is a phenomenal result
1. 1768-SO Chile 8 Reales. https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1095799/added-a-chilean-pillar-8-reales
2. 1822 Chiloe 8R, the first to be graded and the last coin struck by the Spanish in South America https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1093835/grade-update-chiloe-8-reales-and-summary-of-jaras-work-on-the-topic
3. 1868 Chile Proof Peso which I traced to James B Longacre's collection https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1095395/longacre-and-his-connection-to-chile-updated-with-discovery
4. 1889 Paraguay Peso in 66 ex. Cape Coral and @Pruebas
5. 1925 Guatemalan Quetzal in 63 ex. Lissner.

Five outstanding coins which become central to my collection.

In @coinraritiesonline form, a quick “By the Numbers”

12 coins added to the Latin collection, 1 Civil War token

100 sold including the Irish

A paltry 5coin shows attended, Baltimore, CSNS, ANA, Kalamazoo, Michigan State Show

Of the 13 coins added they came from 11 different sources which is pretty atypical for me.

5 of the 11 Latin Crowns sold were also bought in the year. Which guess is OK as I net made money but probably one for reflection on 2024 priorities.

8%…the chance that I find one more coin in the two weeks before the end of the year to buy completely invalidating all of the figures above.

Thanks to everyone who helped me to advance my collection this year!

Abuelo

What an outstanding group of coins @Boosibri

bidask

Wonderful and informative insight into your collecting style and thoughts .

Thank you Brian .

bidask

I remain quite a coin addict/collector and buyer and seller when it comes to coins.

I also have core collection as most on these boards know .

I often take losses on coins and do not care much because most of my investments are in the capital markets and treat coins as a hobby .

I have found that really nice coins I have put an away 7 years or more I usually turn a profit when sold.

The ones I cannot replace I sometimes 🥲
about after selling .

Like some I sold to Brian .

I have tried to be more disciplined in my buying but I seem to repeatedly fail.

Perhaps that should be separate topic/thread.

That is coin addiction 🤫

TheGoonies1985

Very informative thanks for sharing!!!

OGDan

What a year for you Brian, well done. I miss that 1779, and it appears you did too!

SimonW

Nice write up!

I had never heard of the Chiloe coins before you got one…now I think about them way too much.

coinkat

Congrats- taking a moment to reflect can help with motivation.

I think I'll stick to the easier task of just sharing True Views from my submissions.

JohnnyCache

You have always set the bar high for yourself.
Thank you for sharing your journey with us!

As a side note, please let me know if your 1811-L JP 8 R Calico-1242 Imagined Bust should ever fall out of favor.

MrEureka

Constantly selling coins is the best way to stay on top of the market, so I'm all for this approach to collecting. In fact, I do the same. But if we're going to do things "by the numbers", what percentage of the sold coins will you regret selling within (let's say) 5 years?

coinkat

Let's flip the question...

How many coins do you regret not buying because at the time they were "outside the scope" of what you collect?

Understanding and appreciating opportunities as they present themselves might be the most overlooked aspect of collecting

TwoKopeiki

Thanks for taking us along on your Numismatic journey. Quite a year for you!

Boosibri

@MrEureka said:
Constantly selling coins is the best way to stay on top of the market, so I'm all for this approach to collecting. In fact, I do the same. But if we're going to do things "by the numbers", what percentage of the sold coins will you regret selling within (let's say) 5 years?

I think the three coins I will have some level of regret on will be the two Guatemalan Pillars and the Peru Sunface. The Sunface was just very nice for what it was but I have seen better, so in the end, not a big regret.

The two Guatemalan pillars are likely irreplaceable in this quality as you know, but I got almost $40k for the pair which was very good value and the directly funded the Santiago pillar which I thought was exceptional quality.

From the census of Santiago pillars, I would see only a small handful that would meet the standards for my set which has become very rich in Chilean crowns. My 1768, a few of the 1758's, I'd love the Cacho 1764 one day, maybe 1-2 more that have been documented in US sales and 3-4 more likely extant in Chile. While the 1768 is the most common, I have documented 10 of the 17 or so that Jara says are extant, and of the 10 I can find photographic evidence of, this is the nicest by far. Most are damaged or very low grade. So, I look at the Guatemalan sale as a trade for the Chile pillar, and I'm happy with that trade.

I have made the mistake in the past of parting with coins that I regretted (see the 1779 above) and have tried to learn from that lesson.

Boosibri

@coinkat said:
Let's flip the question...

How many coins do you regret not buying because at the time they were "outside the scope" of what you collect?

Understanding and appreciating opportunities as they present themselves might be the most overlooked aspect of collecting

I don't think that the word regret is fair in that context. If I wasn't collecting it at the time it is hard to hold myself accountable to poor judgement in not acquiring a piece. Of course there are coins I look back on and say "if only I was collecting then..." but that never comes with the feeling in my stomach of failure.

Where I do feel more of that is in the sales like Cape Coral (I wasn't active during Lissner), maybe Rudman, and the oh my God D. Moore sale where coins sold so cheaply. In Cape Coral, I stayed focused on my top lot (the 1867 Chile 1 peso "Pechugon" which I bought for 60% of my max bid) and held back from lots previous only buying what I thought was a real sleeper, the 1837 Colombia 8 Reales in 64 which I had already traced back to Brand and Norweb as such in Millennia or Cape Coral cataloging missed that or never cared to look. I then was focused on my second priority lot, the 1844 Uruguay Peso in MS67 which I lost and was the direct under bidder on.

In retrospect, I should have bid higher on the Uruguay and I should have been much more aggressive the sale in general. Since then I have added several pieces from the sale, some of them this year. Most of those coins are now worth 2X or more what they sold for in the sale.

So the learning is, when important sales come up, be uncomfortably aggressive, and appreciate these sales for the special opportunities that they are. We have been spoiled the past few years with great collections capitalizing on the accelerated market.

coinkat

The question was not directed at anyone... Instead, it is more of a philosophical commentary in the form of a question based on my own numismatic experiences. I have had the best results finding tougher coins with the right look when the coins were not high on my collecting priority in terms of a specific country or set. I did not mean to infer that anyone should hold themselves accountable for something they did not buy, but merely consider having a wider perspective in terms of rarity, condition rarity, the frequency a coin is offered and whether that coin has a place or may have a place in the future in what you might want within your numismatic holdings.

TheGoonies1985

That was a great buy the coin looks awesome:

1. 1768-SO Chile 8 Reales. https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1095799/added-a-chilean-pillar-8-reales

bidask

@coinkat said:
The question was not directed at anyone... Instead, it is more of a philosophical commentary in the form of a question based on my own numismatic experiences. I have had the best results finding tougher coins with the right look when the coins were not high on my collecting priority in terms of a specific country or set. I did not mean to infer that anyone should hold themselves accountable for something they did not buy, but merely consider having a wider perspective in terms of rarity, condition rarity, the frequency a coin is offered and whether that coin has a place or may have a place in the future in what you might want within your numismatic holdings.

I find the coins your talking about for me anyway are mostly minors .

Minors are undervalued in my opinion .

But who cares ?

Many can be bought for a song and they are scarce .

WildIdea

Awesome write up and excellent coins! I love seeing the pictures of these stunners! Thanks for sharing @Boosibri