These are a few of my favorite things... What are yours?

lonemountaincoin

PCGS doesn't slab most ingots, but I quite enjoy the ones that they do. A mild sampling of the things I collect below.

Fun fact: I tried submitting the $7.99 ingot for slabbing as a test to PCGS and it came back in a plastic sleeve.

Another fun fact: PCGS US doesn't appear follow the same standards as PCGS Europe when it comes to assigning numerical grades on the ingots they do slab. The explanation I was given was that they have different organizations and department heads with different policies/procedures.

hummingbird_coins

I saw something recently about an up-and-coming bullion bar grading service. If it takes off, maybe they would slab the things PCGS doesn't.
Also, I see that the gold label has the ingot's weight on it, whereas the standard blue label doesn't. Is that another difference of procedure between locations?

lonemountaincoin

@hummingbird_coins said:
I saw something recently about an up-and-coming bullion bar grading service. If it takes off, maybe they would slab the things PCGS doesn't.
Also, I see that the gold label has the ingot's weight on it, whereas the standard blue label doesn't. Is that another difference of procedure between locations?

Often times the labels for one offs are done just-in-time, so they may not reflect a standard per se. The weight would certainly be nice to have. Given that each of these bars are unique, they end up being a single coin entry in a spec DB.

Regarding the grading company, it is https://bacgrading.com/ out of Casa Grande, AZ.

Davidk7

Very cool. That comstock pride engraved morgan is sick! Here are some of my favorite things to collect:

jfriedm56

@lonemountaincoin, well those are pretty cool. Very much enjoyed viewing your early ingots. A collecting area, I would never have thought of slabbing.

jacrispies

I love the ingots. Never seen those before, so thanks for sharing!! The Sweetwater is my favorite for the simplistic appearance and font. Is the Sweetwater lettering engraved instead of punched?

I collect bust halves like @Davidk7, except I tend to focus on mint errors a little more. He has all the pretty ones I have the holed ones

CaptainBlunt

Nice collection of real and fantasy bars.

To get bars like the “Star Mining Co. “ out of Europe and or to hold and transport within the U.S. one had to apply to the U.S. Treasury Department for a license.

You basically had to state that it was a rare numismatic gold bar etc.

A gold bar which was of numismatic value prior to April 5, 1933

In this case , the bars were not made prior to 1933. However the Treasury Department didn’t know that . The history of the bar’s manufacturer provided on the application was the “Star Mine which operated from the 1870s until 1895 by William Jones near Rose Creek, Sonora (Tuolumne County ) California

They received this information from the applicants via the Glendining &Co sale catalog Nov 13-14 1969

The application I saw was for a 4.25 ozs No. 64 bar

The Applicant was the A Mark Coin Co of Hollywood CA Aug 13, 1973

Yes of course John J Ford Jr was involved in the deal and John Hanson

The fantasy FG Hoard bars also came out of the same London auction

Real gold etc.

lonemountaincoin

@Davidk7 said:
Very cool. That comstock pride engraved morgan is sick! Here are some of my favorite things to collect:

I dig those! Just picked up this beauty today but it didn't last long in my hands.

lonemountaincoin

@jacrispies said:
I love the ingots. Never seen those before, so thanks for sharing!! The Sweetwater is my favorite for the simplistic appearance and font. Is the Sweetwater lettering engraved instead of punched?

Exactly right - that one is engraved. I joke and say it was done by an apprentice that was still figuring out how to do the job. It's very crude and that's my favorite part about it. Nothing else exists like it that I can recall.

I collect bust halves like @Davidk7, except I tend to focus on mint errors a little more. He has all the pretty ones I have the holed ones

Holed coins have great stories too!

Walkerguy21D

Lots of faves, but these two are pretty much irreplaceable, at least from a holder perspective.

oreville

My favorite:

celebrating its 153rd anniversary in 2025!

The only known type II $20 cancelled die and it is from the Carson City Mint,

$9500 plus the 17.5% juice.

this cancelled die has a very interesting history. So interesting and so nice that i decided to win it and take it home.

I had Todd take pictures of it as the Stacks Bowers pictures were very ordinary.

Hopefully, after he gets his 400 hours of sleep from the aftermath of this ANA show he can post the picture(s)

Here is the first one:



Lot #11772. Cancelled Obverse Die for the 1872-CC Liberty Double Eagle.

Cancelled 1872-CC Double Eagle Obverse Die
Description: Size: 2 1/2" high, 1 3/4" diameter, actual die face 1 5/16" across. Deep steel-gray with chiseled X across the die face, single C stamped on neck of die.

Found in Washoe County, Nevada, in January 1999 during development of a new park on the grounds of the old Carson City Mint-Nevada State Museum. The present die was found under a thin layer of earth along with literally hundreds of other discarded dies from the hay-day of Nevada's capital city mint. The theory behind the discovery of the hoard is simple. At some point, an old wooden shed was outside the mint's blacksmith shop. As each calendar year ended, the books were tallied and dies of the year were cancelled with a chisel and discarded in the shed near the blacksmith shop, covered by earth and trash and then forgotten. During the discovery in 1999, numerous dies were found dating from the 1870s, including the present 1872-dated double eagle obverse die. A pair of dies, obverse and reverse, were found for an 1876-CC half dollar; these dies were in excellent shape, given the circumstances, and were used to make impressions on silver bars and other items for collectors.

The presently offered die will make an excellent addition to a Carson City Mint-related collection or an advanced double eagle cabinet.

Numismatic Reflections by Q. David Bowers
Without a doubt this will be a show-stopper at a convention, club meeting, or other event where collectors gather. Carson City Mint double eagles are rare enough in their own right, with 1872-CC being a key issue, but having a die is an almost impossible situation. What a nice go-with this will be to a collection of Carson City Mint coinages.

This is the original Stacks Bowers auction photo which I found in their restored auction archives.

oreville

After nearly 13 years I took this cancelled die to NGC to have them encapsulate it. PCGS and CACG does not encapsulate cancelled dies.

Barberian

These are two favorites!

dcarr

One of my favorite things is ...

... threads like this

When I bought the item (shown below) it seemed pretty expensive and there was nothing really to compare it to regarding price. But it seems that the market for this sort of thing has been pretty hot for several years now. So I could do well if I wanted to sell it now (but I plan to keep it). The connections to a famous silver mine, Aspen Colorado, and Tiffany certainly don't hurt.

Specifications:
4.5 inches by 3.0 inches, about 0.06 inches (1.5mm) thick, 115.8 grams (3.72 troy oz).
The ingot/plaque has "TIFFANY & CO. / NEW YORK" stamped on the back (near the center of the bottom edge).
It comes with the original leather pouch which is also stamped "TIFFANY & CO. / NEW YORK" near the opening under the flap. It is expertly engraved (and a lot of engraving it required). The engraved lettering has dark blue enamel laid down in the grooves. I have never seen any other example of a company annual report engraved in metal. It has remained in pristine condition. It was obviously well cared for and the leather pouch protected it well. When I purchased it, the seller indicated that it came from the Bolles estate. "R.J. Bolles" is engraved on the item as Vice President. There is nothing to confirm that origin, but it is certainly plausible.

skier07

I found this in the wild. Ever since I began collecting I always wanted a 55 DDO. PCGS/CAC 55.

My father-in-law wore this coin most of his adult life. He was given this coin shortly after he was born in 1927 at his pidyon haben. The pidyon haben (Hebrew: פדיון הבן) or redemption of the first-born son[1] is a mitzvah in Judaism whereby a Jewish firstborn son is "redeemed" with money.

I never in my wildest dreams thought I would ever own a proof double eagle.

lermish

Chopmarked trade dollars

Crusty gold

Japanese Gold

PeakRarities

A San Francisco treat….and we’re not talking about boxed rice-

The evolution of San Francisco gold preceding and during the SF Assay office, followed by a return to the namesake in 1962…in chronological order. Though the mint was operational in 1854, they needed some backup for a brief period in 1855 😉.

pogonip

@lonemountaincoin said:
PCGS doesn't slab most ingots, but I quite enjoy the ones that they do. A mild sampling of the things I collect below.

Fun fact: I tried submitting the $7.99 ingot for slabbing as a test to PCGS and it came back in a plastic sleeve.

Another fun fact: PCGS US doesn't appear follow the same standards as PCGS Europe when it comes to assigning numerical grades on the ingots they do slab. The explanation I was given was that they have different organizations and department heads with different policies/procedures.

This is a wonderful post and thread!
As a collector of Nevada mining history would your $7.99 ingot happen to be from the International Mill of
White Pine District - Nevada? I know it was operational starting in1870. Burned down in Aug. of 1872.

mattniss

@PeakRarities said:
A San Francisco treat….and we’re not talking about boxed rice-

The evolution of San Francisco gold preceding and during the SF Assay office, followed by a return to the namesake in 1962…in chronological order. Though the mint was operational in 1854, they needed some backup for a brief period in 1855 😉.

Dang, even amongst such a killer lineup, that Norris stands out, and I'd say that even if it didn't have the gold bean. What a set! Thanks for sharing as always DD.

Mr_Spud

In between coin purchases, I like to change focus and work on my Vintage Album collection which is one of my Favorite Things. Right now focusing on sorting my small size Wayte Raymond National Coin Albums. Eventually I hope to have 1 or 2 of each of the ones made and having them in chronological order and determining the dates they were made. Here’s where I’m at:

Basically the top row is pre-WW2, the 2nd row are later Wayte Raymond “B” series on the left and earlier Faxon ones towards the right, and the ones on the shelf below are mid and late Faxon’s. On the very right are the last ones made in the 60s.

And just today, I won a pre-WW2 one on eBay that I didn’t already have. It’s one for Half Dimes. Here’s some of the auction pictures:


Note the green tint of the slides on the half-dime pages, those are celluloid and were only used early on, they are highly flammable and they used to include warnings in some of their ads to keep away from flames.

The prewar ones before National Blank Book Company’s main Ring Binder patents expired have the words National Riveted Ring inside of the outline of their Eagle trademark stamped on the binder ring metal mechanism cover

Here’s a couple of others of mine showing that National Riveted Ring logo stamped in the metal.

lonemountaincoin

@dcarr said:
One of my favorite things is ...

... threads like this

When I bought the item (shown below) it seemed pretty expensive and there was nothing really to compare it to regarding price. But it seems that the market for this sort of thing has been pretty hot for several years now. So I could do well if I wanted to sell it now (but I plan to keep it). The connections to a famous silver mine, Aspen Colorado, and Tiffany certainly don't hurt.

Specifications:
4.5 inches by 3.0 inches, about 0.06 inches (1.5mm) thick, 115.8 grams (3.72 troy oz).
The ingot/plaque has "TIFFANY & CO. / NEW YORK" stamped on the back (near the center of the bottom edge).
It comes with the original leather pouch which is also stamped "TIFFANY & CO. / NEW YORK" near the opening under the flap. It is expertly engraved (and a lot of engraving it required). The engraved lettering has dark blue enamel laid down in the grooves. I have never seen any other example of a company annual report engraved in metal. It has remained in pristine condition. It was obviously well cared for and the leather pouch protected it well. When I purchased it, the seller indicated that it came from the Bolles estate. "R.J. Bolles" is engraved on the item as Vice President. There is nothing to confirm that origin, but it is certainly plausible.

You tease! Love it.

lonemountaincoin

@skier07 said:
I found this in the wild. Ever since I began collecting I always wanted a 55 DDO. PCGS/CAC 55.

My father-in-law wore this coin most of his adult life. He was given this coin shortly after he was born in 1927 at his pidyon haben. The pidyon haben (Hebrew: פדיון הבן) or redemption of the first-born son[1] is a mitzvah in Judaism whereby a Jewish firstborn son is "redeemed" with money.

I never in my wildest dreams thought I would ever own a proof double eagle.

Love all of these! Thanks for sharing.

lonemountaincoin

@PeakRarities said:
A San Francisco treat….and we’re not talking about boxed rice-

The evolution of San Francisco gold preceding and during the SF Assay office, followed by a return to the namesake in 1962…in chronological order. Though the mint was operational in 1854, they needed some backup for a brief period in 1855 😉.

That's a stunning amount of variety from one mint. Awesome to see the progression in one pic and must be a joy to sit and stare from time to time. Even a little shipwreck history mixed in.

lonemountaincoin

@pogonip said:

@lonemountaincoin said:
PCGS doesn't slab most ingots, but I quite enjoy the ones that they do. A mild sampling of the things I collect below.

Fun fact: I tried submitting the $7.99 ingot for slabbing as a test to PCGS and it came back in a plastic sleeve.

Another fun fact: PCGS US doesn't appear follow the same standards as PCGS Europe when it comes to assigning numerical grades on the ingots they do slab. The explanation I was given was that they have different organizations and department heads with different policies/procedures.

This is a wonderful post and thread!
As a collector of Nevada mining history would your $7.99 ingot happen to be from the International Mill of
White Pine District - Nevada? I know it was operational starting in1870. Burned down in Aug. of 1872.

Thank you and excellent question! There are two international mills and I can't be certain as to which of them this ingot pertains to yet. I punch linked it to another ingot from International Mill that has been to auction, but the auction catalog only mentioned the one in Georgetown, Colorado. Apparently they weren't aware of the one in Nevada at the time.

It's either from Clear Creek County, CO (near Georgetown) or White Pine County, NV (Eberhardt).

safari_dude

@PeakRarities said:
A San Francisco treat….and we’re not talking about boxed rice-

…..

So are you a collector or dealer…because you know, especially here, that you can’t possibly be both? 😉 What a collection to be proud of! Wow!

lonemountaincoin

@safari_dude said:

@PeakRarities said:
A San Francisco treat….and we’re not talking about boxed rice-

…..

So are you a collector or dealer…because you know, especially here, that you can’t possibly be both? 😉 What a collection to be proud of! Wow!

The new breed of dealer questions the norms and redefines them.

A good friend of mine put it succinctly: to collect is to place a long term bet.
To deal is place a short term bet.

You can place short term and long term bets.

SanctionII

I am very attached to this coin (a 1768 2/3 Thaler graded MS64 and a Top Pop) that was minted in Saxony (the area of Germany where my paternal ancestors resided).

And I am also very attached to these two toned, 1956 Proof Franklins (Type 1 graded PF67 and Type 2 graded PF67+) minted in my birth year.

dcarr

Wow, a lot of great items posted here so far.

Here is another item I have that has specific historical interest:

Boosibri

cinque1543

@lonemountaincoin said:
PCGS doesn't slab most ingots, but I quite enjoy the ones that they do. A mild sampling of the things I collect below.

>

First, congratulations on a fabulous collection.

Second, re the bolded remark above, do any of the TPGs slab rectangular or other odd-shaped coins and ingots?

divecchia

I don't collect bars and ingots, but I must say you have an awesome and varied collection. I would be proud to own these pieces. Thanks for sharing them and opening up my eyes to a different form of collecting.

Donato

Edited to add: One of my "favorite things".

Eldorado9

3 of my favorites....

breakdown

Some great examples above. Here are a few of my favorites today.