Here is my iron kopeks

KEEWEE

Here is a scan of my 1916 iron kopeks. My scanner sort of stinks, so I apologize if it doesn't turn out well.

KEEWEE

KEEWEE

Boy did that attempt stink big time! Any suggestions for uploading pics without the aid of a magnifying glass?

spoon

Hmm.. digital cameras work better on coins, but you might want to fiddle around with your scanner settings to see if you can get something bigger out of it. You can upload to this server pics up to 50KB, which in most cases is a decent size.

Here's my 2Ko (excuse the lousy lighting):

JohnZ

Spoon, I want that coin!!!!!! PM me, seriously. (If you want to part with it.) I can't find anything of comprable quality in the US.

Here are mine, including the Austrian-Regency issues.

JohnZ

P.S. Welcome to the boards KEEWEE!

KEEWEE

Hey thanks.

Yeah, I tried to upload at first, but it was too big (78kb), and then when I finally got it under 50 kb, that size is what came up...grrr!!

JohnZ, is your picture a scan or digital camera? Now that is the size I would like to get mine to be. I am hoping to get some of the Fenigows, or whatever they be called.

Perhaps I will take a digi-pic and try to upload it later on. BTW, those coins you guys have kick a**. My kopeks were incredibly rusty when I got them, so I disregarded the cardinal rule about not cleaning coins and cleaned them up...it was definitely worth the risk because it brought out a lot of hidden features.

Most of these coins I have seen on ebay go WAY higher than their book value, so either the book value doesn't reflect their true value, or there are a bunch of crazy people like me who pay WAY too much for them. Spoon, yours is probably the nicest I have ever seen.

KEEWEE

JohnZ

Hi KEEWEE. Again, let me welcome you to the boards!

Let me answer your questions one at a time:

Yeah, I tried to upload at first, but it was too big (78kb), and then when I finally got it under 50 kb, that size is what came up...grrr!!

You need an independent picture host. I use myphotospace.com, and I'm very satisfied with their services. They are very inexpensive (six dollars per month, charged to my Paypal account.) I can upload images up to 900K, and link them to this board. If you want me to go into detailed information about using a pic host and linking, please PM me, and I would be happy to help you out.

JohnZ, is your picture a scan or digital camera? Now that is the size I would like to get mine to be. I am hoping to get some of the Fenigows, or whatever they be called.

Just a plain old scan. As far as the size is concerned, see my prior answer. The Fenigow (pronounced " Fen-EEG-oof") are are the German-Austrian Regency issues of 1917-18, minted at the Stuggart Mint for the puppet Kingdom of Poland established by the German Empire during the last years of WWI.

Perhaps I will take a digi-pic and try to upload it later on. BTW, those coins you guys have kick a**. My kopeks were incredibly rusty when I got them, so I disregarded the cardinal rule about not cleaning coins and cleaned them up...it was definitely worth the risk because it brought out a lot of hidden features.

My first question is "how did you clean them?" Mine are also cleaned, but nevetheless rusted-over. Iron is a highly reactive metal, especially when it comes to any combination of hydrogen and oxygen, ie., water. Collecting corrosion-free iron coins is a particular kind of challenge.

Most of these coins I have seen on ebay go WAY higher than their book value, so either the book value doesn't reflect their true value, or there are a bunch of crazy people like me who pay WAY too much for them. Spoon, yours is probably the nicest I have ever seen.

Yes. The "book" values, by which I assume you mean Krause and Mishler, are thoroughally unrepresentative of the market, especially when it comes to coins minted of base metals, which are difficult to find in uncirculated, corrosion-free, well-struck examples. Whatever you paid was probably not too much.

Incidentally, I am currently writing a book on early 20th-century Polish coinage, some of which I will begin posting here in about a week. The chapter which is most complete at this moment happens to concern the German Empire Military Kopeks, so I find your post very exciting. Stay tuned....

spoon

John, it's a keeper but if I ever do part with it you'll be first on the list.. I'll keep an eye out for more in the meantime.

I'm not sure if it has been cleaned. I still can't really tell with iron It has some striations on the surface under weak magnification but doesn't look like your usual brush cleaning. Then again I only paid €8 for it? Also the leaf details and some other devices seem a bit rounded on the edges.. but that could be a weak strike on a hard material? I dunno, but I'll side with cleaned simply because I don't think the stars will align just for me! It's picked up another spot or two since I've had it though

KEEWEE

RE: cleaning. I was facing a dilemma, because the rule typically is not to clean coins. And generally I follow that rule. In this case, the kopeks that I got were for the most part covered with a layer of rust/grime, but mostly rust. After talking to a few people about it I decided to go with the gun oil/steel wool, and I must admit, it worked pretty well. The rust had already started working its way into the marrow of the coin in places, so at the very least I wanted to stop it from continuing. I shoot a glance at them every so often just to make sure they haven't deteriorated any more. If I had planned to sell these, I would not have messed with them, but I don't plan to sell them, and since they were already damaged, I wasn't going to decrease their value anyway by cleaning them.

Does this make me a coin heretic? LOL

Anyhow, I have a few other iron coins. There are some mid-1940s Swedish coins that I have that have held up remarkably well, and some of my German Empire minors are in decent shape. Thankfully I haven't had to do anything that drastic to them.

Catch you all later,
KEEWEE