2002 PPII Vatican 20 and 50 gold proofs...from Rome!

offthehorse

Hi,

Well, the trip has been long and tiring. I did buy the obligatory PPII Vatican gold 2002 and 2003 sets (the 20 euro and 50 euro). The 2002 is especially sought after, having sold on eBay for 2300€ recently (approximately $2700 US). I paid less for mine. What do you think about these coins?

Ciao...leaving soon!

1jester

Welcome to the Darkside, Offthehorse!

offthehorse

Ah, Jester1, so good to read your post. I have been on the darkside for a long time. I haven't visited the PCGS message board dungeon of doom for several years. Nothing has changed, the same posts by the same people saying the same things. So nice to get a refreshing response. MEMO to PCGS: LIGHTEN UP...get outside and breathe some smoggy air...get out from behind your American bunkers...this is the world! Deal with it! Praying helps...yep, found that too...even saw the 78 yr old novus Papa...attended Mass all over Europe, including Krakow...tried to visit Auschwitz (I am a converted Jew, maybe it wasn't meant to be...)

I have a lot of time on my hands in Rome right now waiting to fly to Budapest then back to the States. I came here to play music and ended up in a chaotic mess...well, hey, at least I got to roam about the nether regions of Rome, eastern and northern Europe. Budapest is one of my favorite towns...they have a coin shop or two up there as well, but I am pretty spent right now...It is very hot, I am broke, alone and sitting in an air conditioned internet café...but i have a lot of COOL coins...

The adventure continues...

Ciao,
andrew

1jester

Cool to hear from you, Andrew! I guess you've been a lurker all these years, or did you have another handle back then?

Budapest is one of my favorite towns too!! Beautiful. And Krakow is really nice also! And let's not forget Prague; you must visit it if you haven't already; in fact, even if you have, there's no reason not to go back. Munich was also one of my favorites--lived there for 2 years back in my college days. Yes, Auschwitz is really painful to visit (even more if you go inside); I've been to Dachau too. I'm sure it's good to be able to have reminders of those horrors though.

So do keep us abreast of your adventure....

1jester

Speaking of having a lot of coins, and carrying them by plane. Please let us know how that works out. One of my friends recently flew out of Warsaw with 10 pounds of mostly low-value silver and copper coins, and Polish customs gave him a really hard time, but let him go finally. He aslo got the what for by American agents, but I'm not sure if it was customs or new security people.

offthehorse

Thanks for the heads-up. Yes, I lurked with another name and handle a couple of years ago but lost my cool (hmm, what else is new) with some of the folks here and ran away. Got the coin itch again in March after a former 'good buddy' took me for $20,000 plus what I would have made on my coins had I not sold them to help his business. I am in the process of suing him right now and he is trying to run away with filing bankruptcy.

What kind of fool AM I? Well, I tried to be helpful when I came into some dough instead of putting the money into selfish things like coins.

Well, now I am putting together a collection that I hope to leave for my future niece or nephew...if God wills it. I just got back with my family after a 6 year estrangement...thus the church thing...I doubt I will have any kids, I am 44 and have issues...so here I am collecting coins again and hanging out at PCGS!

I just have the 4 Pope coins. I expect travel to be a big hassle given all the bombing stuff...but I carry on...better to move forward than to live in fear...better to put money into coins than some idiot's get rich scheme...guess it is the price I pay for being what they call bipolar...I live off the government...big pension...

Thanks and I will be in touch.

Andrew

1jester

I don't believe you'll encounter any trouble with only a handful of coins. Just put them with your pocket change in a side pocket of a carry on bag, and they won't even look at them.

Sorry to hear about your hard luck story, and good luck with your affairs. Did you spend the 6 years in Europe?

offthehorse

During the six years, I studied music in Oregon and California, sang in England, traveled in Europe during the summers of 2002-2003...oh, and worked in...the sex business...very briefly (worked in a porn store and did some photography)...ended up Catholic...

SYRACUSIAN

Hi offthehorse,

as an oldtimer, you must know that we love pictures here.