What's the most surprising coin you've seen?
MrEureka
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.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
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I have a real sick feeling I used to own it in a NGC 65 holder back in the early nineties.
I was... surprised.
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?
Tyler
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
“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
(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.
the only example known that was struck from this obverse die, in any condition
Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry
Camelot
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.
09/07/2006
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.
Photos of the 2006 Boston Massacre
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...
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.
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.
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.
Photos of the 2006 Boston Massacre
Cameron Kiefer
<< <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?
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.
Betts medals, colonial coins, US Mint medals, foreign coins found in early America, and other numismatic Americana
<< <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.
<< <i>a full flaming red 1793 Wreath Cent >>
GOOD GOD!