What happened here?

mrpotatoheadd

The auction linked is mine- it closed tonight: Auction link

My question is... what happened? I never expected it to go that high- am I missing something, or was it just a case of lucking into two bidders who really wanted the item?

Aethelred

There are some people who go nuts over chop marks.

ajaan

<< <i>There are some people who go nuts over chop marks. >>


What about chopped nuts?

mrpotatoheadd

<< <i>There are some people who go nuts over chop marks. >>


I didn't know that. Does it seem to matter what country? I've sold a few Mexican 8 reales in the past, with little success- those didn't do much better than melt value.

coinpictures

<< <i>What about chopped nuts? >>



C'mere, I'll show ya.

Anyway, yes there are people that go gaga for chopmarked coins, depending on th number and type on a coin. It's a fairly big area of collecting on U.S. trade dollars and Mexican 8 Reales.

It doesn't surprise me that someone upped the ante on your Indo-China piece, as those are less common than the above types.

mrpotatoheadd

You learn something new every day. I guess I was surprised because this one



sold for fifteen bucks, and I thought it had much nicer color.

TwoKopeiki

When considering chopmarked coins, you have to look at a number of factors. For example, rarity of chopmarked coins starts with the scarcity of the coin itself, and then depends on whether a quantity, or any of the coins, either the type or particular date and/or mintmark were shipped to China. Chopmarked French Indo-China Piastres are common and can be collected without too many problems, if one has patience.

Perhaps someone is putting together a chopmarked Piastres set and yours was the last they needed?

Just speculating here...

Burks

Are there collectable chop marks? Like a certain chop mark brings more than a different one?

I hope you understand what I'm asking.

Edit: Since a chop mark is basically a signature (if I've heard correctly), I guess I'm asking if a certain signature/chop mark is more valuable than another.

mrpotatoheadd

<< <i>is putting together a chopmarked Piastres set and yours was the last they needed? >>

Looks like this is a possibility- I received an email from the winning bidder asking if I had any other FIC pieces with chops.

TwoKopeiki

<< <i>Are there collectable chop marks? Like a certain chop mark brings more than a different one?

I hope you understand what I'm asking.

Edit: Since a chop mark is basically a signature (if I've heard correctly), I guess I'm asking if a certain signature/chop mark is more valuable than another. >>



Of course chopmarks can be collected. For example, you can collect based on physical characteristics of the chopmark - small/large chops, chops in relief, assay chops, letter chops, number chops, manchu chops (chops in manchu script, considered rare), bankers ink chops (in red, blue, purple ink), paper chops (like a "Happy Wedding" chop) and presentation chops (drawn in India ink and usualy are very elaborate, covering the entire coin). You can also collect based on identification and meaning of them, but you would need knowledge of Chinese characters or a guide of sort, listing various chop marks and who made them.

I have a small publication from 1987 which mentions that John L. Pieratt has a list out with translations taken from chopmarks on French Indo-China coins.

Stork

Here's my favorite chopped coin (posted before). I was told the oval chop is a very desirable one












Cathy