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What's the most surprising coin you've seen?

MrEurekaMrEureka Posts: 24,253 ✭✭✭✭✭
Name a rarity you never expected to see, or a coin in a grade you never expected to see, or a coin in a place you never would have expected, or anything else wildly surprising.

Andy Lustig

Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.

Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.

Comments

  • JrGMan2004JrGMan2004 Posts: 7,557
    1795 Flowing Hair Half-Dime in middle of no-where Florida image
    -George
    42/92
  • RegistryCoinRegistryCoin Posts: 5,117 ✭✭✭✭
    Every coin that has been "tried" a dozen times, yet it does eventually "get the nod" to upgrade, never to see the light of day in a grading room ever again.
  • MonstavetMonstavet Posts: 1,235 ✭✭
    A 1907 Indian Head in Fine in my change at Kentucky Fried Chicken in the middle of nowhere eastern washington.
    Send Email or PM for free veterinary advice.
  • 1845-O dime in PCGS 69
    David Schweitz
  • ar18ar18 Posts: 1,122
    a complete set of jeffersons 64-date MS-70 (sgs of course lol!!)image
  • ClankeyeClankeye Posts: 3,928
    There is a coin in the current JFS collection auction in a PCGS 67 holder.

    I have a real sick feeling I used to own it in a NGC 65 holder back in the early nineties.

    I was... surprised.
    Brevity is the soul of wit. --William Shakespeare
  • atarianatarian Posts: 3,116
    either my 1859 XF40 at work at rite aid or my 1886 var II in a roll at blockbuster. i am leaning to my 1859 cent. a beautiful coin
    Founder of the NDCCA. *WAM Count : 025. *NDCCA Database Count : 2,610. *You suck 6/24/10. <3 In memory of Tiggar 5/21/1994 - 5/28/2010 <3
    image
  • ARCOARCO Posts: 4,396 ✭✭✭✭✭
    As a Barber half collector I was very surprised to see Cary's 1898-o micro O Barber half. It was rumored to exist, but never had an example been made available for comparison. Now one. Now one has.

    More of a shock than that was the super nice VF30 1908 Barber half, all original I saw on Yahoo some months back. I am still taking medication for the shock my heart sustained in trying to understand how the universe could align such astronomically impossible odds to bring that about? image

    Tyler
  • pursuitoflibertypursuitofliberty Posts: 6,917 ✭✭✭✭✭
    about two months ago I found a 19-s Lincoln in change, about a g-6 to vg-8 coin ... very surprising to find one that early these days in decent condition

    and then there's a few coins I bought as raw 58's that now reside in PCGS 63 holders, but that's a different story image

    “We are only their care-takers,” he posed, “if we take good care of them, then centuries from now they may still be here … ”

    Todd - BHNC #242
  • lordmarcovanlordmarcovan Posts: 43,530 ✭✭✭✭✭
    This was rather astonishing, when it popped out of the ground.

    image

    (Apologies for its 400th posting- I'm probably a crashing bore with some of the detecting tales, I know.)

    Being a detectorist, one gets pleasant surprises. And sometimes little unsolved mysteries, too.

    Explore collections of lordmarcovan on CollecOnline, management, safe-keeping, sharing and valuation solution for art piece and collectibles.
  • BaleyBaley Posts: 22,660 ✭✭✭✭✭
    gotta be this one...

    image

    the only example known that was struck from this obverse die, in any condition

    Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry

  • BearBear Posts: 18,953 ✭✭✭
    NO. I just wont say.
    There once was a place called
    Camelotimage
  • lordmarcovanlordmarcovan Posts: 43,530 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I'd say that one qualifies, Baley. image

    Explore collections of lordmarcovan on CollecOnline, management, safe-keeping, sharing and valuation solution for art piece and collectibles.
  • ColonialCoinUnionColonialCoinUnion Posts: 10,087 ✭✭✭
    There have been many, under all kinds of circumstances, but one that sticks in my mind was when I attended the Goldberg Benson I sale lot viewing in fall 2001 and they announced a late addition to the lots: The Eliasberg Elephant token in PCGS MS66RB.

    The coin was not in the catalog, sold for a relatively low price and disappeared. Gonzo. Whoever owned that got about 1/2 of what its worth, in my opinion.

  • boiler78boiler78 Posts: 3,057 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I never expected to see a gem proof 1826 half eagle or a 1794 dollar struck in copper.image
  • cosmicdebriscosmicdebris Posts: 12,332 ✭✭✭
    MS68 1792 Half Disme
    Bill

    image

    09/07/2006
  • LanLordLanLord Posts: 11,714 ✭✭✭✭✭
    A 1796 quarter in my collection
  • Leif Ericson S1$. I bought one UNC from the mint, graded/slabbed MS69 PCGS, and later, saw its low mintage in MS and saw how much they more they are selling on eBAY in PCGS MS69 ($80 and up).

    Another coin that has surpised me was the 1981-S TY2 PR69DCAM Lincoln. In my limited experience, I had always felt that the SBA 81-S TY2 was the key of that set but getting that SBA was easy compared to the Lincoln in that grade. That cent, in that grade, is too much for me.

    On the other side of the spectrum, I've seen many MS state quarters from 1999-2000 appear rare in MS67 and scant in MS68. No longer. About 3 years ago, I remember seeing an auction for a NC MS68 for over $500! Now they go for about $100 as the STQs craze kicks in and the pop #s increase. That's one of the reasons I stay away from STQs. In that series, I only collect proof silvers PCGS PR69DCAMs.
  • cladkingcladking Posts: 28,654 ✭✭✭✭✭
    There was a large silver darkside coin that was posted on the world coin forum some time back.
    It was a very low mintage modern which is very rarely seen. This one was especially distinctive
    because it was in a 2 1/2 X 2 1/2 with eight staples that I remember putting in. I don't remember
    to whom I traded it or for what.

    I miss that coin a lot now...
    Tempus fugit.
  • BillJonesBillJones Posts: 33,967 ✭✭✭✭✭
    1838-D Five Dollar gold piece in MS-64.

    I saw this coin at a local show in New Jersey in the mid 1970s. Unfortunatley I was hung up on buying early type coins at the time and did not act upon it. The coin was priced at $1,900, which was just within my price range at the time.

    Today I believe that this coin is in an MS-64 holder, and is said to be the finest known.

    Years later I spotted an 1838-C $2.50 at an Early American Coppers Club (EAC) convention, which is not usually the place where one expects to find rare date gold. That time I did pull the trigger. Today it's in a PCGS AU-55 holder. The strike was really remarkable.

    image
    Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
  • krankykranky Posts: 8,709 ✭✭✭
    Seeing one of these (J-115 pattern) in an auction lot viewing a while ago. Hand-engraved by Longacre himself. It was really something to hold a coin that Longacre had worked on personally.
    image

    New collectors, please educate yourself before spending money on coins; there are people who believe that using numismatic knowledge to rip the naïve is what this hobby is all about.

  • BillJonesBillJones Posts: 33,967 ✭✭✭✭✭
    This is to my knowledge the only item in the U.S. coin series that was totally engraved. Longacre got his job as chief mint engraver through politics not qualifications. He was a good friend of the powerful southern senator, John C. Calhoun.

    During the first years of his time in office, he mostly had to reproduce dies for designs that were already established, but in 1849 the rubber met the road. That year Congress authorized the gold dollar. This coin was a MAJOR technical challenge in the time because of its tiny size. Longacre had a terrible time producing a set of dies, and his job may have been made harder because mint employees who were jealous of his position may have been sabotaging his work.

    To get some idea of what a gold dollar might look like, Longacre hand engraved two examples of a patter piece. The hole or perforated planchet was one idea that was considered to make the coin larger, but in the end the technology of the time precluded that.

    Finally in May 1849 Longacre completed a set a dies and 1,000 gold dollars were produced from them. Here is one of those first gold dollars.

    imageimage
    Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
  • My mom was an assitant VP at a bank. Her boss and longtime friend had old gold coins he was "giving" to family members and trusted employees. Since my mom's boss was the treasurer at that bank, and it was unlawful to keep monetary gold at that time, he decided to give them away as gifts to whom he saw fit. My mom was one of those fortunate enough to get one. My mom's boss retired 30 years ago and was later widowed. My dad, who got my coin collection started, passed away 15 years ago. My mom, in her 70s and her former boss, in his late 80s had maintained their friendship and had decided to get married. I had vaguely known about this gold coin before my mom gave it to me. It was a 1851-O Quarter Eagle. I had never held a gold coin before. I sent it to PCGS for grading and it is now in a safe deposit box (PCGS XF45). What surprised me was the old date and that it was MM. My stepdad passed away 3 years ago at 90 - on my birthday. But he was a good man and I was happy he lived long enough to see me get married. Too bad he hated the Yankees, but at least he remembered the Red Sox last WS title. image
  • Chocolate coin in a PCGS slab.

    Cameron Kiefer
  • PistareenPistareen Posts: 1,505 ✭✭✭


    << <i>I never expected to see a gem proof 1826 half eagle or a 1794 dollar struck in copper. >>



    There you go bragging again! Preytell, where might you have seen such delicacies? image

    Agreed that those are two of the coolest things ever to sit RAW in a collection anywhere. But how about two 1877 half unions, 2 of the 3 known 1822 half eagles, or the ENTIRE mintage of 1891 Barber patterns?

    Only at the Smithsonian folks ...

    My vote for most surprising coin -- a full flaming red 1793 Wreath Cent, ex At.water, that Jay Parrino handed me when I was about 14 and said something along the lines of "enjoy looking at it, but don't run off with it." Egads! The coin is in a 68 RD holder now.

    A certain gem 1866 dollar could also be mentioned.
  • krankykranky Posts: 8,709 ✭✭✭


    << <i>A certain gem 1866 dollar could also be mentioned. >>



    I don't think anyone will be able to top that story.

    New collectors, please educate yourself before spending money on coins; there are people who believe that using numismatic knowledge to rip the naïve is what this hobby is all about.

  • ShamikaShamika Posts: 18,781 ✭✭✭✭


    << <i>a full flaming red 1793 Wreath Cent >>


    GOOD GOD!

    image

    Buyer and seller of vintage coin boards!
  • Conder101Conder101 Posts: 10,536
    I never got a chance to see it but I would say the gold 1000 mohur piece that came up for auction back in the mid 80's. Missing and presumed destroyed for I believe over 140 years and only known from a plaster cast in the British museum. It reappeared and still holds the record for the highest price ever bid on a coin at auction. (The 1933 double eagle holds the record for the highest price actually SOLD at auction.) Eight million dollars. If the deal had actually been consumated with the juice it would have been 9.2 million. Unfortunately the consignor had a 10 million dollar reserve on the coin so it didn't sell, the coin went back into hiding, and it hasn't been seen since.

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