A Ceylon Proof

JCMhouston

Found this in the box I just got out of storage. A 1957 Ceylon 1 Rupee in Proof, mintage was 1800, this one has really attractive gold and hazy blue toning.

TwoKopeiki

Cool toning!

worldcoinguy

You have been sharing some amazing coins! This storage box of yours has some real tresures in it.

JCMhouston

Thanks, this Ceylon piece is probably worth all of $5 or so, even though the mintage is very low there are only 3 people in the world that want one.

As I get these photographed I'm going to post pics until someone tells me to stop, next up will be some Sassanian pieces.

ccrdragon

dude, you keep posting pics like this, ain't nobody on this board gonna say stop!!

schweeeet piece!!

lordmarcovan

Sweet piece, nice toning, and the low mintage is nice.

I have one Ceylon proof, a 1901 quarter-cent. Actually, I have not completely confirmed it is a proof, but I very strongly suspect it.

I bought it on an eBay BIN for ten bucks, being sold as "BU". There was a small, dark, picture, in which the coin looked brown. I needed one for my daughter's 1901 Victorian type set, so I bought it anyway. When I opened the envelope, I was VERY pleasantly surprised.

The coin has some amazingly colored target toning, prooflike surfaces, and a wire edge. If it isn't a proof, it's gotta be one of the nicest UNCs out there. As an UNC, it's worth what I paid- ten bucks, plus maybe a premium for the surfaces and color. But if it's a proof like I suspect it to be, it's a $100 coin by the catalog.

I still have yet to capture it in a good photo, but this handheld, improperly lit, non-white-balanced picture does show some of the colors.



I never saved the seller's picture, but it was smaller and worse than this one I did on a scanner, so you can imagine how surprised I was when I saw the coin in hand. Apparently this is one of those pieces that is totally scanner-unfriendly, where a good digital photo is needed to capture its beauty. Of course it's a tiny little thing.

JCMhouston

That is a very nice Victorian piece!

lordmarcovan

What's that s'posed to be on the obverse of yours, I wonder? A temple? A bell?

Sorta looks like a WW1 German pickelhaube helmet!

theboz11

beauty of a piece. I have a 2500 years of Buddhism 5 Rupees 1957 that is a nice MS-63. I'll have to get a photo of it.

LM- that is a Stupa

lordmarcovan

Thanks. I shall make "stupa" my vocabulary word for the day. Who knows, maybe it'll help me beat my lethally-proficient Scrabble-playing mother one day.

PS-note that I already had "pickelhaube" in my arsenal.

I doubt I'd ever get the opportunity to lay out the latter word on a Scrabble board, though. If I did, it sure would make my momma proud.

(She is so lethal at Scrabble that my aunt and I are the only people who will play against her. A similar situation arose with me in college- nobody would play against me. I had a good teacher.)

theboz11

Here is a quick shot of my 5 Rupee from that year. Turns out it was a PCGS MS-64

lordmarcovan

I've seent that design before, and like it.

Has a sort of "carousel" or "Noah's Ark" feel to it.

SYRACUSIAN

Rob, you can ask Karl Stephens to find out the truth about your coin, if you ever come across him at some show and you have it in hand. Ceylon coins are not all as clear and undoubtefully proof ,as is JCMhouston's rupee, where the parallel lines on the fields leave no room for doubt. There are prooflike business strikes and some specimens too. Also, he's absolutely right about the annoyingly low demand. It was less than a year ago that I was watching this half cent giving me grief because its auction did not go as planned.




Then, I found a pair of specimens, cent and half cent 1926, already slabbed SP65 RD by PCGS, below the catalogue proof's value, but I did not buy them because of my previous bad experience. Instead, I've settled for the cheap business strike below.The palm tree on the reverse is among my favourite designs.

ajaan

Ah, now we get into the SP or PF discussion. Is a Specimen Proof really a Proof coin? How about a P-L coin (like in Canadian and SA coins) where P-L is a prefix not a suffix.

lordmarcovan

Yea, verily, I am very foggy on the SP versus PR distinction, and the Canadian PL designations confuse me too. I would've asked the Shroomdude, but since HE is asking the same question, I don't feel so bad.

Thanks for the info about the PL Ceylon coins, Dimitri. Even if mine (well, Victoria's) turns out to not be a proof, I'm still very happy with it.

PS- speaking of the 1901 Victorian type set and your contributions to it, I just upgraded that lovely BU florin with the unfortunate hairlines, to a toned ex NGC MS65 example from Brett. But I don't quite feel right about selling it. Would you like it back, or do I have the green light to put it on the Weekly Swap when I get a picture? I suppose since your generosity meant it cost me nothing, I can afford to give somebody a sweet deal on it. Actually, when I get the two side by side, I suspect I will have a moment of indecision, since your white coin has loads of eye appeal despite the hairlines, and I like 'em blast white. But Brett's toned piece is also nice, if not as lustrous.

SYRACUSIAN

Rob, glad to hear that you bought Brett's lovely piece, I was considering it myself for different reasons. Will PM you about the rest.




edited to add: Canadians are in a confusing league of their own with all these SP, PL, P-L suffix, prefix etc.

All I meant is that PCGS for example will most likely not slab these coins as proofs, but as specimens. I have no idea what NGC might do. The Tunisian AH1281 coins (from quarter to 8 kharubs) are graded as SP by PCGS and as PF by NGC, they are however the same coins, more likely specimens I'd guess, as usual per the Heaton mint coins and I've seen the same phenomenon with some Greek pieces. Some collectors take it seriously and even price them higher if slabbed as proofs, but to me it doesn't mean a thing, as long as I know that there's only one kind of non business strike of a certain coin.