What "finds" pique your interest the most?

shirohniichan

It doesn't matter whether it's a small hoard, a collection, or a box discovered in a dealer's shop. What small caches of coins with a combined value of under $1,000 interests you most? I add the value qualification because I'd probably find a hoard of Una & the Lion test strikes fascinating, while I'd have no ability to buy it.

I'm really intrigued when I come across George V 25 cent pieces in choice VF and up. They circulated in difficult financial times, so there weren't many pulled from change. They are plentiful in grades up to fine, but they get much more scarce in EF and AU. The 50 cent pieces are great, also, but it wouldn't take many in EF to AU to make $1,000 worth.

Rickc300

For me I guess it would be going to a shop in Germany and looking thru a bunch of "common" 1, 2, 5 and 10 pfennigs like I did as a kid looking thru wheat pennies here in the US. It is a thrill to look at a thousand coins and then find one you actually need for your date/mint set... I wonder, do dealers in Germany have bags of silver like here? I would love to paw through one looking for 1/2 and 1 marks I need...

ajaan

Going through dealers' 'junk boxes' of foreign coins. Especially when the dealer mainly deals in US coins.

shirohniichan

<< <i>Going through dealers' 'junk boxes' of foreign coins. Especially when the dealer mainly deals in US coins. >>



One dealer checked his junk box a lot more carefully after I pulled out a dozen Japanese 100 yen and 50 yen coins for 20 cents each. Even so, I got a nice Meiji-era 10 sen in VF/EF for 20 cents last time I went in the summer.

coinguy89

<< <i>Going through dealers' 'junk boxes' of foreign coins. Especially when the dealer mainly deals in US coins. >>



Bingo!

lordmarcovan

<< <i>Going through dealers' 'junk boxes' of foreign coins. Especially when the dealer mainly deals in US coins. >>

Ssssh! The Litesiders might be listening! You wouldn't want 'em to wise up, now, would you?

This was one such incident of mine.

Some of the old lots I used to get from ajaan's now-departed-and-sorely-missed source were a lot of fun. They didn't have much silver but had lots of Brit large pennies and common 19th century material, with an occasional "goodie". Bulk lots that include 1800s (and earlier) coins are what do it for me. I don't expect much in the way of silver (you almost have to buy the silver bulk lots to get that), but good mixes with plenty of pre-WW2 minors are fun. Most of the lots I have gotten with such material in them tend to be predominantly pre-WW2 stuff, too, without too much modern material, unlike the "foreign exchange" bulk bags you'll get that are almost all modern. I haven't tried the Bundesbank bags- might have to, sometime.

Goober

My dealer has a bunch of five gallon buckets of darkside material that he allows me to sift through. I'm always finding something nice. In my first bucket I pulled a nice hammered gold...but he wanted it. I think he was more excited than I was.