What numismatically inspired NON-numismatic buys have you made?

Stork

I occasionally (!) buy things related to numismatics, but are not coins themselves. Books of course, but also things like my sovereign weight balance, coins embedded in blocks of plastic (okay, there are coins, but it's all about the paperweight factor) etc.

Right now my obsession is Zog (aka King Zogu) of Albania. I have been collecting the coins for awhile, but now also have a recently purchased e-book to read: Daugher of the Eagle: The Autobiography of an Albanian Girl. And, as of today, an original press photo of Princess Ruhie, one of dear Zog's sisters.





The Albanian Royal Family--the Princesses


The deep end and I are getting to know each other very well. That is all.

What are your acquisitions?

lordmarcovan

Pretty lady. I have the poster-sized original studio photograph of my grandmother when she was the last Asheville, NC Rhododendron Queen in 1938. Her hairstyle looks similar to that.

ajaan

<< <i>original studio photograph of my grandmother when she was the last Asheville, NC Rhododendron Queen in 1938 >>


Wasn't aethelred the King that year?

WillieBoyd2

I have bought a few DVDs of films and television shows which featured coins or coin-related stories
which I use for my website.

Aethelred

<< <i>

<< <i>original studio photograph of my grandmother when she was the last Asheville, NC Rhododendron Queen in 1938 >>


Wasn't aethelred the King that year? >>



I was in exile during most of that era.

Weiss

18th century sterling. If I wasn't a coin collector they wouldn't have anywhere near the same importance:

LochNESS

Yeah, kinda sorta. Four pairs of [darkside] coin cuff links, various colors of enamel/paint to match my neckties; a Yugoslavian dinar money clip; a brown leather wallet with an embedded (glued?) Indian Head cent; various office supplies and keychains featuring designs of US currency; and this thing ...



Slightly more detached from actual numismatic items would be my small pile of assorted bookmarks from ANA conventions (yeah the free stuff they give you at the door), lithographs (although technically speaking, scripophily is numismatic), etc.

Stork

What is that? It's cool looking, just have no idea what it is. Our local auction house had a set of pill boxes and one was adorned with a Japanese 50 sen...I was soooo tempted.

EVillageProwler

I bought this many years ago from Tony Terranova, who offered it to TDN first. TDN passed on it because he was on the fence about it and knew that I really wanted it. His only advice to me about this: do NOT use it for its intended purpose (which I haven't; it's largely been wrapped up and stored in my desk for many years).

GotTheBug

.

asheland

Great silver there, Weiss!

Hussulo

I've got a piggy bank in the shape of a 2p coin.

mnemtsas2

We bought a set of carved wood panels representing the reverse of the Australian decimal coins in 1968. The person we bought them from pulled them from the trash. They came from the walls of a bank board room that was being renovated. Had them framed and they look awesome. This is the 2 cent.

mnemtsas2

We also have this small sculpture by Wojciech Pietranik entitled "Between Sunset and Sunrise". Pietranik is a coin designer and sculptor who used to work for the Royal Australian Mint. The design was the inspiration for the "Kangaroo at Sunset" series of coins that he designed after creating this sculpture.

cacheman

Karl Goetz' personal engraving tool set.

lordmarcovan

OK, here's a non-numismatic item I admired, and ended up owning, quite unexpectedly.

I've been fascinated by carved Roman gemstones for a while, but had never owned one. I started a discussion about them here (sort of along the lines of, "these aren't coins, but I really think they're neat" - that sort of thing.

In that discussion, I posted a link to the dealer listing for this Roman bronze ring (ca. 1st to 4th century AD), which I thought was especially neat, as the intaglio features a capricorn carved into the carnelian gemstone. (Which just happens to be my zodiac symbol, not that I set much store by that kind of stuff.)



I mentioned I probably would never buy any of these ancient intaglios, because while they are in many cases affordable, I prefer to use my limited funds for coins.

So I thought nothing more of it until a few weeks later, when I got a mysterious Priority Mail box in the mail with no return address. Even the ZIP code of origin had been carefully blacked out on the label, which was odd. (And a little spooky, were I a more suspicious or paranoid person, which fortunately I'm not.)

Inside the package was a huge cocoon of bubble wrap, and inside that a little gold box.

Inside the box, on a bed of cotton, was the capricorn ring! And a blue Post-It note which read,

"Hope you enjoy it as
much as you seem like you
will. Your stories + collections are a lot of fun to
follow along with. I hope you continue to have more adventures.

A friend on the Boards."

Needless to say, I was floored by the generosity. That made my whole week... or month. It still gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling.

Earlier this year the ring made a perfect birthday gift for my mother, who also happens to be a Capricorn like I am. So it's no longer mine, but it's still in the family.

And to this day, I don't know who the mysterious benefactor was. He (I suspect a "he" based on the handwriting in the note) covered his tracks well. I only hope he knows how special the surprise gift was.

Stork

Cool stuff!!

edited to add: I keep coming back to look at Goetz's tool set. Truly an awesome addition.

asheland

That's a cool story, Rob!

Steve27

After first purchasing this:




I then purchased this:



Because this is stamped on the end:

asheland

LochNESS

Wow! Some very cool stuff! The wood panels from an old bank ... and the artist's engraving tools ... so much cool stuff.

Yeah my home is definitely not shouting "coins coins coins" by any means. But perhaps someday when I have a proper home office, I'll get some proper adornments.

Stork my piece was made by a dude in France who made lots of these little pocket pieces from circulating coinage. They are most often little knives and nail files (like shown here) but I've seen other combinations. Think coin man's swiss army knife. I don't recall the maker's name but there have been forum posts discussing such over the years since I joined.

ajaan

syl asked me to post these for him:

syl

Thank you, Don. My prowess is certainly not computers. Both these items kinda fit the niche being discussed. Actually, the little bowl (almost 6" across) is pretty neat and very tight (might not even leak if I filled it with H2O). The other is another Geo large cent mounted in a large royal crown & maple leaf with places for tourist welcomes and bigger than the bowl.