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What do you think of the color of this gold 1893 half sovereign?
bidask
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I manage money. I earn money. I save money .
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I don’t love money . I do love the Lord God.
I give away money. I collect money.
I don’t love money . I do love the Lord God.
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Mottled olive green and copper .... I kinda like it on the reverse but I don't like the solid coloring on the Queen !!
Is it yours?
<< <i>hummm ....
Mottled olive green and copper .... I kinda like it on the reverse but I don't like the solid coloring on the Queen !!
Is it yours? >>
yes,
I give away money. I collect money.
I don’t love money . I do love the Lord God.
<< <i>hummm ....
Mottled olive green and copper .... I kinda like it on the reverse but I don't like the solid coloring on the Queen !!
Is it yours? >>
What is it about the solid color of the queen you do not like?
I give away money. I collect money.
I don’t love money . I do love the Lord God.
Beautiful piece in my opinion.
"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
<< <i>
<< <i>hummm ....
Mottled olive green and copper .... I kinda like it on the reverse but I don't like the solid coloring on the Queen !!
Is it yours? >>
What is it about the solid color of the queen you do not like? >>
I like the coloring on the edges and in the fields. The obverse looks like its olive coloring is on the whole of the coin.
All in all it definitely adds something special to the coin .. if you like toned gold.
<< <i>Seems like it was lying in a coin cabinet or similar place for a long time. Of course, I could be wrong.
Beautiful piece in my opinion.
I don't think you are though jester
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
Look on the reverse, around the tail and hooves of horse. I would expect toning to be present in the fields close to the devices.
But in this case, what appears to be a yellow green haze is missing from the fields in a shape reminiscent of the devices. As if a substance had been blotted onto the coin.
The obverse does not exhibit that issue. The haze on the obverse seems more consistent, yet it seems less present in the rims and on the very highest points. This, too, seems to be odd for a patina. I would expect more patina near the rims.
If it is toning, it is unlike any toning I have seen. The color seems wrong; can the copper impurities in the coin do that?
That said, I see a stunning coin under that haze. It would be a wrenching decision if it were mine. I'd want to assess whether that haze is natural or not. If not, i'd want to conserve this coin. Who is an expert on this? Those folks seem few and far between compared with numbskulls like me who simply post rambling ignorant garbage.
It can and does develop a patina but not green like this coin, the solid dark colour displayed on some the reverse is more the norm, although it is normally more of a rust colour.
Green does not appear like that until you get down to 9k gold
There is copper alloyed with the gold, but there is also silver, which is why they do not tone like US gold which is alloyed with nearly 2% more copper and no silver.
There is information on which years had higher silver content than others and although it is not at hand, I'm reasonably sure 1893 was one year, compare them to 1887 to see the difference.
In 1925 the US fleet was visiting Australia and they converted US gold into local currency to pay the sailors on shore leave, sovereigns produced in Sydney and Melbourne that year then had a distinctly copper colour about them. Althought it is thought that the US gold was not used in time to produce the different colour, it was a subject for much discussion within numismatic circles (articles in the SANS and NZNS journals)
It is a very, very nice coin under the gunk and deserves to be conserved to get it back to original condition.
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
<< <i>
<< <i>Seems like it was lying in a coin cabinet or similar place for a long time. Of course, I could be wrong.
Beautiful piece in my opinion.
I don't think you are though jester
Thanks for the vote of confidence, sir!
Since there seems to be a difference of opinion on this coin, allow me to ramble on a bit about what things came to mind as I viewed this coin:
It's a gem. Hence, it was picked out of circulation at the very beginning of its life, by a numismatist. Then it was squirreled away in some place to keep it in pristine condition. Notice, it has no bag marks to speak of (particularly rare with gold), so that rules out it being merely bullion stashed away somewhere. It was a remarkable coin when minted, and immediately retired to a life in someone's collection. The coin exhibits exhilerating luster, as well as a fine old patina. Now, to the unusual color. Of course, gold does not usually tone so quickly or vividly, or in this rather strange pattern or color. So we have to ask ourselves if it's artificial toning or natural. The primary reasons I say it's natural is that it still has that blaring luster underneath the skin. The skin itself tells me it's never been played with. And most importantly, I perceive a toning pattern derived from some kind of wood. The grain is quite visible on the reverse of the coin (the intermittant vertical stripes). Next to, or in between some of these marks are darker splotches. I think this is consistent with some kinds of wood that emit various chemicals or even sap, such as pine. As one would expect from the irregular patterns inherent in woodgrain, we should also be unsurprised to find erratic variations of the toning pattern on the coin. Surely there are coin cabinets made of woods that are not inert, and this coin was probably put in one of them, resulting in a seldom-seen toning pattern.
But this is merely my opinion and I could be wrong!
"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
I give away money. I collect money.
I don’t love money . I do love the Lord God.
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
Half sovs are notorious for strike problems and this coin is well above average, and jester it was probably plucked out for a collector at the mint, given the total lack of bagging. The Royal Mint did do deals for collectors, often US based ones.
BTW, I have a decent collection of GB half sovs and am a bit conservative, I will admit...
Well, just Love coins, period.
P.S. No one can really nail down a grade based on an image (even if they are a pro), especially if it's the least bit compressed.
<< <i>Did you submit it raw to PCGS? Looks very clean; congrats.
P.S. No one can really nail down a grade based on an image (even if they are a pro), especially if it's the least bit compressed. >>
This coin was bought at auction already slabbed, thanks Mac and to all for your comments.
I give away money. I collect money.
I don’t love money . I do love the Lord God.
<< <i>
But this is merely my opinion and I could be wrong!
At the risk of being redundant, I will repeat my previous stement - I don't think you are. I think that is exactly what happened to the coin