LordM BST archive, 12/11/11

lordmarcovan · December 10, 2011 10:53PM

Welcome to my BST Forum swaplist.

Terms of Sale & Shipping: For simplicity's sake, let's just make ALL SHIPMENTS POSTPAID.
For special circumstances (Registered Mail, insurance, overseas, extra large shipments, etc.), a modest contribution is appreciated.

PayPal is fine, but if you use it, PLEASE add your forum name to the payment so I'll know who you are and what you are buying!

Full return privilege if you are not 100% satisfied. My return privilege is very flexible, mostly because I've almost never needed one. The main thing I ask is that you notify me as soon as you can if there is a problem or concern of any kind, and I'll do my best to make it good.

Contact Info: Should I ever disappear from the forums and the computer for a week or more, as I sometimes do, and you need to reach me, feel free to call (912) 261-8408 and ask for Rob. Emailing me in the event of a forum absence won't help much- usually when I'm away, I'm away from the computer entirely.

I love to swap! Got an interesting trade offer? Don't be shy- step right up! As you can see here, I dabble in a little bit of everything.

Bullion Info: I've added a bullion chart from Kitco.com towards the bottom of this thread, should you need it for reference.

Archives: If you need to retrieve info on a coin you bought here, but it's no longer listed, do a search for "BST archive" on the Testing forum.

Roman Empire: bronze sestertius of LUCIUS VERUS (161-169 AD), struck 164 AD
LUCIUS VERUS, Augustus 161-169 AD (with Marcus Aurelius). AE sestertius, 164 AD. Obverse- L AVREL VERVS AVG ARMENIACVS, laureate head right. Reverse- TR P IIII IMP II COS II S-C, Victory standing right, placing a shield inscribed VIC/AVG in two lines on palm. RIC-1396, Cohen-249. 33.79 mm, 23 g. Ex-Ancient Imports, 05/2007. Asking $73, which is my cost.

Roman Empire: silver antoninianus of VALERIAN II (ca. 253-257 AD), posthumous issue
VALERIAN II, Caesar under Valerian I, ca. 253-257 AD. AR antoninianus, posthumous issue.
Obverse- DIVO VALERIANO CAES, radiate and draped bust right. Reverse- CONSACRATIO, Valerian riding on eagle flying right.
RIC-9, RCV-10606, Sear-3071. 22 mm, 3.3 g. Ex-Incitatus Coins (Canada), 03/2008. Asking $59, which is my cost.

Roman Empire: bronze antoninianus of CARUS (282-283 AD), posthumous issue struck ca. 283 AD
CARUS, Augustus 282-283 AD. Posthumous AE antoninianus, Siscia mint, ca. 283 AD. Obverse- DIVO CARO PARTHICO, radiate head right. Reverse- CONSECRATIO AVG, flaming altar, A to right, SMSXXI in exergue. RIC-111 var., Cohen-23, Venera-4341. 21 mm, 3 g. Ex-Ancient Imports, 05/2007, Harmer Rooke 1988. Asking $35, but that's flexible. I think my cost was about $55, originally.

Early dated Hungarian silver "Madonna & Child" denars: I've long loved these little hammered silver coins for their early four-digit dates, the interesting design, and their affordability. They pack a lot of historical bang for the buck. If you're unfamiliar with 'em, I suppose they're roughly the size of a United States half dime.

Late-medieval Hungary: silver "Madonna & Child" denar, 1546, VG+
1546 silver denar of Ferdinand I, king of Hungary, Bohemia and Croatia, 1527-1564 and Holy Roman emperor from 1558-1664. Huszar-935 variant. Obverse- *FERNINAND*D*G*R*VNG*1546, Madonna and Christ child. Reverse- PATRONA*VNGARIE*, coat of arms. Some rim nicks. $17
Pending newp- COMING SOON

Late-medieval Hungary: silver "Madonna & Child" denar, 1552, VG+
1552 silver denar of Ferdinand I, king of Hungary, Bohemia and Croatia, 1527-1564 and Holy Roman emperor from 1558-1664. Huszar-935 variant. Obverse- *FERNINAND*D*G*R*VNG*1552, Madonna and Christ child. Reverse- PATRONA*VNGARIE*, coat of arms. $17
Pending newp- COMING SOON

Late-medieval Hungary: silver "Madonna & Child" denar, 1552, Fine
1552 silver denar of Ferdinand I, king of Hungary, Bohemia and Croatia, 1527-1564 and Holy Roman emperor from 1558-1664. Huszar-935 variant. Obverse- *FERNINAND*D*G*R*VNG*1552, Madonna and Christ child. Reverse- PATRONA*VNGARIE*, coat of arms. $19
Pending newp- COMING SOON

Late-medieval Hungary: silver "Madonna & Child" denar, 1553, Fine
1553 silver denar of Ferdinand I, king of Hungary, Bohemia and Croatia, 1527-1564 and Holy Roman emperor from 1558-1664. Huszar-935 variant. Obverse- *FERNINAND*D*G*R*VNG*1553, Madonna and Christ child. Reverse- PATRONA*VNGARIE*, coat of arms. The date exhibits some doubling. $19
Pending newp- COMING SOON

German States (Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach): commemorative silver 2-mark coin, 1908, choice AU-UNC
KM/Y174, .900 silver/.03215 oz. Mintage: 50,000. Approx. 28 mm (not quite US half dollar size.) Struck under Wilhelm Ernst, the last Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, to commemorate the 350th anniversary of Jena University. Obverse: Johan Friedrich the Magnanimous in 3/4 profile, with sword on shoulder. Reverse: imperial eagle. This super-cool and popular design is an early 20th century throwback to similar 16th century coin portrayals (and the seal of Jena University). The coin itself is either a very choice AU (AU58) or a modest BU (MS62-63), gradewise. I suspect the former- it's probably just a "super slider" AU++, but it's got nice luster and I can't really tell if there's any wear on it or not (some of the flat areas could be attributable to the strike). There is one tiny (carbon spot?) on ol' Johan's face (making it look like he's got a "mole" or "beauty spot", haha), but that's not particularly distracting and I wouldn't call it a "problem". There is ample cartwheel luster beneath the light toning. Here are slightly larger images of the obverse and reverse. The 2009 edition Krause lists this coin at $110 in XF and $135 in UNC, but I can let it go for well below XF price, so whether it's AU or UNC, it should be quite reasonable to ask $86.

Great Britain: halfpenny, 1854, PCGS MS64 BN
KM726, copper. Nice "Young Head" copper halfpenny with traces of original red. Roughly the same size as a US copper large cent cent of the period, but quite a bargain when you consider what its American counterpart would cost in this grade. $145.

Great Britain: silver sixpence, 1900, NGC MS64, with nice pastel colors
KM779, .925 silver/.0895 oz. In an old "fattie" NGC holder. As was common with these old slabs, there is a little bit of peeling on the hologram label on the back. The coin has subtle but beautiful pastel toning in blues-greens-pinks-golds. Here are bigger pictures of the obverse and reverse. The full slab picture was done on my scanner and therefore does not show the colors. The other photos were recycled from the previous owner. $79.
SOLD

Ireland: Associated Irish Mine Co. "Cronebane Halfpenny" Conder token, 1789, VF+ (borderline XF)
Nice medium brown surfaces and no problems. The images are scans, not photos. The obverse features a bishop in a mitered hat- hey, you gotta love some of the cool designs on these old tokens, right? I'm too lazy to look up the Dalton & Hamer variety (there are a LOT of varieties of this issue), but hey... y'know what? Buy it, and I'll throw in a CD copy of the D&H book I bought here, so you can attribute it yourself. Apparently the person I bought the CD from didn't know it wasn't legal for resale, but I won't be reselling the (bootleg?) CD. I'll be giving it to you as a bonus. (I paid 20 bucks for it.) Who wants a nifty Irish token and a free CD of the classic reference on 18th Century British provincial tokens? $35.

Mexico: "Caballito" peso, 1910-Mo, VF
KM453, .903 silver/.7859 oz. Mexico City mint. This is a beautiful and extremely popular classic design. This particular example is only a low-end VF and was probably dipped in the past, but it's really not a bad looking coin, and you've gotta love that design. The coin is a tiny bit bigger than a US silver dollar (39 mm versus 38.1 mm), and has a tiny bit more silver, too (.7859 oz. versus .7734 oz.) The 2009 Krause price is $45 in VF. The coin does look a bit better than my images- some of the specks (like the one by the sun ray to the right of where her cape is billowing out) are dust on the scanner bed rather than marks on the coin. $36.

Netherlands (Holland): 1/4 gulden, 1759, AU, nice toning
Apparently this was a one-year type, if Krause is to believed. It's type number KM100, struck in .920 fine silver with a bullion weight of .0784 oz. (2.6500 g). Obverse: crowned arms dividing date, MO : ARG : ORG : FAED : BELG : HOLL. Reverse- HANCTVEMVR HAC NITIMVR, female figure leaning on column with liberty cap and pole. According to Dutch forum member Andres, these short-lived muntmeester penningen (or "mintmaster medals") were not official "coins", per se, though Krause lists them as such and they seem to have circulated. They were presented as New Year's gifts (hey, good timing, huh?) and the silver value was equivalent to a quarter guilder or 25 cents. I guess their quasi-official status as gifts might have been a bit like the Maundy money tradition in England? Anyway, Andres said these were "only minted a couple of years and prohibited by the Dutch government around 1760". The obverse side with the Dutch lion has a motto that equates to something like "Silver money as ordered by the United Provinces of the Netherlands" and the "Holl" indicates it was struck at Dordrecht in Holland. The female figure is Pallas Athena (perhaps Christianized as the "Dutch Virgin"). The reverse motto translates to something like "In this I believe and rely on", indicating the Bible she's resting her left elbow on. The coin has lovely toning and appears to be somewhat prooflike, as well. (I'll let you know more when it is in hand.) $99.
Pending newp- COMING SOON

1901 British empire type set WANTLIST
(Link leads to my collection and wantlist thread.) I am building a collection of 1901-dated coins of the British empire with Queen Victoria's portrait for my daughter, Victoria (who was born in 2001, a century later). A decade after starting it, I'm pretty far along, but I still lack a few pieces, and there is always room for upgrading. Let me know if you have any of these. When this set generates duplicates, I will put them for sale or trade here.

USA: Coronet (or "Modified Matron Head") large cent, 1838
A nice brown coin with decent surfaces and no major problems or distractions. I'd would say it's right on the cusp between F15 and VF20 in terms of technical grade. I don't know the Newcomb variety. $44.

USA: Flying Eagle cent, 1857, G+
I'd call this one a G6, personally. The eagle's a tiny bit scuffy but not bad. The coin doesn't have any major problems, really. $22.

USA: copper-nickel Indian Head cent, 1860 (Round Bust), G+ (borderline VG)
This early Indian is right on the line between G6 and VG8. Some of "....RTY" in LIBERTY is visible on the headband. Lower grade, but decent. $14.

USA: Indian Head cent, 1889, EF+ to AU
This little Indian is pretty sharp. It's got choice EF to AU details and looks better than the picture. There are some rim nicks at 2:00 on the obverse and 11:00 on the reverse. Stick it in an album and you might not even see those, though. $9

USA: Indian Head cent, 1909, G+ (borderline VG)
This final-year Indian is on the borderline between G6 and VG8. Some of "....RTY" in LIBERTY shows on the headband. Not counting the more valuable "S" mint cents, this is the date to have in the 20th century pieces. I guess fewer were produced in 1909 because production shifted over to the new Lincoln cents in the latter part of the year. I've recycled the previous owner's pictures above, but the color's all wrong in them. I tried reshooting it without much luck, but I did get one obverse picture which at least shows the color a little bit better. $8.

USA: 25-piece lot of all different pre-1935 Wheat cents, average circulated, P-D-S mints, plus bonus coins
Nothin' special here- just your typical low-end Wheaties- but they're all somewhat earlier dates, and all have different date and mintmark combinations. (I'm tired and don't really feel like transcribing the list of dates in this description, so just look at the scan, would you? - Thanks.) I'll add five bonus coins not seen in the picture, to bring it up to a total of 30 pieces. These are: 1935-S, 1936-S, and 1937-S average circulated, 1951-D gem BU full Red, and a 1950-P full red BU with a small planchet clip at 5:00. This "error" is only about a 1% clip, which looks like post-mint damage but isn't- it's a bonafide clip, just teeny-tiny. It doesn't even intrude fully into the rim, but just looks like somebody pinched the coin. Which the mint machinery no doubt did. Not really worth a premium as an error, but call it a fun freebie nonetheless. Add in one of my custom wooden dollars and a small prehistoric fossil shark tooth, and we've got ourselves an inexpensive package full o' fun for some discerning young collector, perhaps. $9. ($7 if you're buying something else here)

USA: No Stars Seated Liberty half dime, 1837, ANACS EF40
Great looking coin with original grey toning, nice surfaces, and a very faint hint of iridescent coloring. In an old small-size ANACS slab. I liked this coin so much, I bought it twice! This was a part of my old pre-millennial type set before I sold it to Robert K. ("oreville") the week 9/11 happened. He sold it to Carl Wohlforth sometime after that. I recently bought it back from Carl, but didn't even know I was repurchasing an old friend until after the deal was done! I'm not really working on a type set anymore, so it's not like I need this coin or anything- I just bought it to jazz up this swaplist a bit. So yes- though it has a tiny bit of sentimental value, it's for sale. Perhaps it will be a sentimental favorite of yours in your type set. If so, it will be one of those coins with a long and distinguished forum pedigree. I personally think this coin has a shot at a bit higher grade. It looks at least 45 to me, and I think it would have pretensions to AU50, except the toning subdues the luster a bit, and most folks look for more luster on an AU. Many who voted in the poll about it seem to agree that it's got 45 or 50 "meat" on it. (There are links to slightly larger images there on the poll thread.) $235.
SOLD

Love token on USA Seated Liberty dime, 1861 host coin w/ Old English "I" (or "L")
Here's a neat love token. Of course I'm biased- I think all love tokens are neat. If nothing else, they're one-of-a-kind pieces of folk art, on a coin! Some are miniature masterpieces, too. This piece isn't quite masterpiece-level, but it's nice enough. It could be perfect for you if you want a trinket to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War, perhaps, or if you have the initial "I" or "L". (The Old English letter on the reverse is engraved like an "L", but with a shortish lower extension that makes it look more like an "I", so I guess it could be either, as you please.) $12.

Seated Liberty dime love token WANTLIST
(Link leads to my collection and wantlist thread.) I am collecting a date set of Seated dimes with love token reverses. If you have any dates I need, let me know! Additionally, if you have any "scenic" or "pictorial" pieces for sale, I'd like to upgrade some of my more mundane monogrammed pieces to pictorials. When this collection generates duplicates, I will list them for sale or trade below.

Raw F-VF Walking Liberty half WANTLIST
(Link leads to my collection and wantlist thread.) I'm casually collecting a F-VF Walker half set in a Dansco album. Let me know if you have any I need! I'll happily trade anything off this list or buy from you if you have nice original grey F-VF coins for sale. I prefer to buy the common date pieces at or near melt. When I end up with duplicates I will add them below.

Silver "grotesque" pommel decoration from an 18th Century English flintlock pistol
(Front views) ~ (Side views)
This fascinating artifact was found on an 18th Century site near the Crescent community in McIntosh County, Georgia, by Billy Ridenour, a detecting buddy of mine. It had obviously been a site occupied by at least one high-status individual, though we do not know if it was a long-vanished homestead or a military camp. The latter seems likely, as Billy also dug a brass sword pommel with a similar but not identical "grotesque" or "gargoyle" face on it. A number of buttons also turned up. It is obviously made of silver, and it fared quite well in the soil for more than two centuries. After some web research, I'm nearly certain that this piece would have been from a pistol manufactured by an English gunsmith named Barbar. It bears no marks, but closely matches pommel decorations on a couple of Barbar-marked pistols of the period. See here and here, and note where the mounting screw would have gone through the mouth of the gargoyle face. I think maybe there was more than one Barbar gunsmith- perhaps they were father and son? This roughly dates it between about the 1740s and the 1770s. There were British troops all over this area in the early days of the Georgia colony under Oglethorpe, so it could indeed date from the 1740s and the "War of Jenkins Ear". A crucial battle in that war, the Battle of Bloody Marsh, was fought on nearby St. Simons Island in July of 1742. But it could also date to the Revolution- there was much military activity associated with that around here in the late 1770s, as well. Was this part of a pistol carried by a Redcoat officer? Surely a common soldier wouldn't have owned so fine a weapon. So what's this piece worth? The guns themselves are quite valuable, as you can see in those auction links, but I have been unable to find any auction records for single parts like this. I have a pet theory that a militaria dealer would have a pretty strong price on such an artifact, though. It's almost a certainty that this piece of 18th century silver is a lot rarer than many silver coins of the same period! $65, or make offer.

Screw-top coin bezels in assorted sizes
The cent-sized bezels are gold-colored while all of the others are silver colored. I would not recommend these for valuable coins, obviously, but they make nice inexpensive mounts for cheap keepsake coins. A few years back I took some of those gold-plated Statehood quarters from my home state and put some in these bezels, and they sold very nicely at my antique mall booth. I gave my lady boss a Peace dollar in one of these as a Christmas gift, and she was happy. Put some common Indian cents, Buffalo nickels, or Merc dimes in these and I'll bet you'll find them popular. Use needle nose pliers to gently open the crown screw, put the coin in, and screw the crown back on. Be careful not to overtighten or you could snap the stem off.
$2 each for one or two bezels (only $1 each if you buy three or more, or are buying anything else from here)
CENT size (gold color): 9 available
NICKEL size (silver color): 10 available
DIME size (silver color): 10 available
QUARTER size (silver color): 22 available
HALF DOLLAR size (silver color): 8 available
LARGE DOLLAR (Morgan/Peace/Ike, not ASE) size (silver color): 7 available
Keychain attachment (the typical inexpensive kind you see on most novelty key rings): 4 available (free for the askin', while supply lasts).