Coinpictures Top 10 of 2005 (or "Ode to JamminJ")
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After thinking about JamminJ's response to my comment in his NumismaticYearInReview thread, I realized that he's right. We all have coins that give us warm fuzzies, regardless of quality, budget, or scarcity, so why not also do a "Best of" for the year? (Frankly, I'd love to see more people post their annual favorites and let us all ooh and aah. 
)
2005 marked my return to coin collecting after several years away from the hobby. I've always been a "general" collector, pretty much picking up anything and everything pretty, as long as (1) it was pre-World War II, and (2) I perceived it a good deal. I've been mostly a quantity-over-quality collector, but I'm trying to turn that around and am (not always successfully) trying to narrow my focus. Speaking of which, over the next few weeks I hope to be getting things organized and will be selling off a lot of my extraneous coins, almost exclusively darkside material (no, none of the coins in this post will be sold
).
The majority of my purchases came from Ebay, since local purchasing is fairly sparse. Also, for the first time I purchased some coins from online coin vendor web sites, the most coins coming from Ron Guth (www.germancoins.com) and my unfortunate addiction, Northeast Coin, also known as "NEN" (www.northeastcoin.com).
JamminJ was also right in that the process makes one think about the coins and the way they are collected. As I went through the coins that I'd bought and photographed last year, it became clearer to me that what strikes my fancy more than anything else isn't necessarily ultrahigh grade coins, but moreso coins that have unusual and vivid toning... coins that appear "out of the ordinary." I'd much have a dark copper with fluorescent purple toning than a pristine cherry red. Give me rainbow over blast white. Coins that "jump out at you." I like my coins with character, darn it!
If you feel like commenting, just for grins, which of the 10 is your favorite?
Without further preamble, here's my top 10 list of acquisitions for 2005:
10. Denmark 3 Skilling, 1842. PCGS MS66. This coin exemplifies one of the reasons I love the DarkSide compared to U.S. material. There's no way I could ever purchase an 1840s U.S. piece of any denomination in MS66 less than $100. Hell, probably not for even ten times that! The slab is scratched and hazed, but you can still see the brilliance of the piece.
9. Salzburg 1/9 Thaler 1656 and 1/6 Thaler 1669 Klippes. I suppose it's cheating a bit to showcase two coins with one pick, but I bought them as a matched pair. I've always loved the looks of older klippes. Unfortunately, most are not affordable. They're holed, as many of the minor denomination klippes tend to be. I can imagine a townsman or craftsman "wearing his wallet" around his neck.
Nice XF detail. The overly dark edges almost have a "burnt" look to them, which makes me wonder if they were in or near a city fire... (hey, work with me here; I'm tryin' to make it interesting! ).
8. Bern 2.5 Batzen, 1826. PCGS MS65. This one is just a gorgeous piece. It's in an old yellow-labeled holder, and seems like it might make 66 (the pictures below really don't do the coin justice). It has brilliance and very mirrorlike fields, with golden toning on both sides. I love the designs of the Swiss Canton pieces, however attempting to collect them in high grade can be unbelievably expensive! I don't anticipate buying too many more.
7. Wurttemburg 3 Marks, 1908. This one isn't exceptionally high grade, but the dark blue toning is stunning. It's almost electric.
6. Great Britain Half Farthing, 1854. NGC MS66BN Ahh yes... phractional pharthings!!! This is one of the areas I will try to focus on more. I just love those itty bitty bits of copper. Not only is it a tougher date, but it is in an exceptional grade. It has a sheen to it that is just glorious. The first of the "dark coppers" in my list.
5. Great Britain 1/2 Penny, 1858/57. Yeah, you've seen it recently. Technically this arrived the first day of 2006, but since I ordered it in 2005 I figure it counts. Again, I like this coin because it is unusual. It's not your typical copper fare. It may not be an exemplary grade, but the toning gives it wonderful character. It has all the look of a darkly toned proof, even though it isn't.
4. Great Britain 1 Penny, 1891. NGC MS64BN. Uhh... shouldn't it be "MS64PRPL"? This one I affectionally call the "Rapunzel Specimen." That splash of red on the reverse (what is that, by the way?) is perfectly positioned to look like long hair on Britannia. The purple lustre and steel toning makes for striking contrast. Dark copper rulez!
3. Netherlands 1/4 Guilder, 1759. This one has almost an eerie quality to it (the dark barkground helps with that too). I love the sharpness of the strike, and the gold peripheral toning adds a nice delicate touch. It's only about the size of a U.S. quarter.
2. Great Britain 1/4 Farthing, 1839. PCGS MS64RB. This NEN acquisition ended up being far more lovely than their pictures indicated. The dark toning exhibits a faceted gemlike quality. The colors that radiate off the coin as you rotate it are stunning. The strike is razor-sharp. What makes it even more remarkable when in hand is that the coin is smaller than a U.S. dime. A tiny piece of perfection!
And lastly...
1. Prussia 3 Marks, 1910A. ANACS PF63 HVY CAMEO. Mintage of 2,000 pieces. I'm still amazed that I was able to pick this up on Ebay in a 10-day auction without the competition getting crazy. It is the most stunning nonmodern proof I've seen, let alone owned. The pristine mirrors are black as night, and the devices are frostier than a January in Minsk. What adds to the allure of this coin is its "reverse proof" design, far more device than field.
)2005 marked my return to coin collecting after several years away from the hobby. I've always been a "general" collector, pretty much picking up anything and everything pretty, as long as (1) it was pre-World War II, and (2) I perceived it a good deal. I've been mostly a quantity-over-quality collector, but I'm trying to turn that around and am (not always successfully) trying to narrow my focus. Speaking of which, over the next few weeks I hope to be getting things organized and will be selling off a lot of my extraneous coins, almost exclusively darkside material (no, none of the coins in this post will be sold
).The majority of my purchases came from Ebay, since local purchasing is fairly sparse. Also, for the first time I purchased some coins from online coin vendor web sites, the most coins coming from Ron Guth (www.germancoins.com) and my unfortunate addiction, Northeast Coin, also known as "NEN" (www.northeastcoin.com).
JamminJ was also right in that the process makes one think about the coins and the way they are collected. As I went through the coins that I'd bought and photographed last year, it became clearer to me that what strikes my fancy more than anything else isn't necessarily ultrahigh grade coins, but moreso coins that have unusual and vivid toning... coins that appear "out of the ordinary." I'd much have a dark copper with fluorescent purple toning than a pristine cherry red. Give me rainbow over blast white. Coins that "jump out at you." I like my coins with character, darn it!
If you feel like commenting, just for grins, which of the 10 is your favorite?
Without further preamble, here's my top 10 list of acquisitions for 2005:
10. Denmark 3 Skilling, 1842. PCGS MS66. This coin exemplifies one of the reasons I love the DarkSide compared to U.S. material. There's no way I could ever purchase an 1840s U.S. piece of any denomination in MS66 less than $100. Hell, probably not for even ten times that! The slab is scratched and hazed, but you can still see the brilliance of the piece.
9. Salzburg 1/9 Thaler 1656 and 1/6 Thaler 1669 Klippes. I suppose it's cheating a bit to showcase two coins with one pick, but I bought them as a matched pair. I've always loved the looks of older klippes. Unfortunately, most are not affordable. They're holed, as many of the minor denomination klippes tend to be. I can imagine a townsman or craftsman "wearing his wallet" around his neck.
Nice XF detail. The overly dark edges almost have a "burnt" look to them, which makes me wonder if they were in or near a city fire... (hey, work with me here; I'm tryin' to make it interesting! ).8. Bern 2.5 Batzen, 1826. PCGS MS65. This one is just a gorgeous piece. It's in an old yellow-labeled holder, and seems like it might make 66 (the pictures below really don't do the coin justice). It has brilliance and very mirrorlike fields, with golden toning on both sides. I love the designs of the Swiss Canton pieces, however attempting to collect them in high grade can be unbelievably expensive! I don't anticipate buying too many more.
7. Wurttemburg 3 Marks, 1908. This one isn't exceptionally high grade, but the dark blue toning is stunning. It's almost electric.
6. Great Britain Half Farthing, 1854. NGC MS66BN Ahh yes... phractional pharthings!!! This is one of the areas I will try to focus on more. I just love those itty bitty bits of copper. Not only is it a tougher date, but it is in an exceptional grade. It has a sheen to it that is just glorious. The first of the "dark coppers" in my list.
5. Great Britain 1/2 Penny, 1858/57. Yeah, you've seen it recently.
Technically this arrived the first day of 2006, but since I ordered it in 2005 I figure it counts. Again, I like this coin because it is unusual. It's not your typical copper fare. It may not be an exemplary grade, but the toning gives it wonderful character. It has all the look of a darkly toned proof, even though it isn't.4. Great Britain 1 Penny, 1891. NGC MS64BN. Uhh... shouldn't it be "MS64PRPL"?
This one I affectionally call the "Rapunzel Specimen." That splash of red on the reverse (what is that, by the way?) is perfectly positioned to look like long hair on Britannia. The purple lustre and steel toning makes for striking contrast. Dark copper rulez!3. Netherlands 1/4 Guilder, 1759. This one has almost an eerie quality to it (the dark barkground helps with that too). I love the sharpness of the strike, and the gold peripheral toning adds a nice delicate touch. It's only about the size of a U.S. quarter.
2. Great Britain 1/4 Farthing, 1839. PCGS MS64RB. This NEN acquisition ended up being far more lovely than their pictures indicated. The dark toning exhibits a faceted gemlike quality. The colors that radiate off the coin as you rotate it are stunning. The strike is razor-sharp. What makes it even more remarkable when in hand is that the coin is smaller than a U.S. dime. A tiny piece of perfection!
And lastly...
1. Prussia 3 Marks, 1910A. ANACS PF63 HVY CAMEO. Mintage of 2,000 pieces. I'm still amazed that I was able to pick this up on Ebay in a 10-day auction without the competition getting crazy. It is the most stunning nonmodern proof I've seen, let alone owned. The pristine mirrors are black as night, and the devices are frostier than a January in Minsk. What adds to the allure of this coin is its "reverse proof" design, far more device than field.
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WNC Coins, LLC
1987-C Hendersonville Road
Asheville, NC 28803
wnccoins.com
eBay Store
DPOTD Jan 2005, Meet the Darksiders
"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." -Luke 11:9
"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." -Deut. 6:4-5
"For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; He will save us." -Isaiah 33:22
Awesome!!
I'll have to go with the Wilhelm II 3 Marks piece (even though he wasn't much of a leader). Great color!!
Exceptional quality copper, and nice images to boot.
<< <i>or is it, Vic-ophile? >>
No, you are thinking of Prince Albert.
WNC Coins, LLC
1987-C Hendersonville Road
Asheville, NC 28803
wnccoins.com
Beautiful coins (and more beautiful pictures).
JZ
edit to add: I'd post my fav's of 2005, but you're undoubtedly sick of seeing them by now
My OmniCoin Collection
My BankNoteBank Collection
Tom, formerly in Albuquerque, NM.
Av
Pro Deo Et Patria
Capped Bust Half Series
Capped Bust Half Dime Series