"Numismatic Gladiator" III (Andres vs. dadams)

lordmarcovan

WELCOME TO NUMISMATIC GLADIATOR III!







To see how the games began, refer to the earlier competitions.



Numismatic Gladiator I (Aethelred vs. lordmarcovan: Roman Imperial coins under $20.00- Aethelred won)



Numismatic Gladiator II (Stork vs. Swampboy: Pre-1800 dated world coins under $20.00- Swampboy won)



Numismatic Gladiator III (Andres vs. dadams: Pre-1964 United States coins under $25.00) *** THIS COMPETITION ***

1. Both contestants agreed to purchase a single coin from the assigned category.



2. The coin had to cost no more than $25.00 US.



3. In order to avoid either contestant having an advantage, contestants agreed to buy their coins from the same venue at a fixed price.



4. Shipping was not included in the $25.00 limit.



5. You can now vote on which coin you like best without knowing which coin belongs to whom. That will be revealed at the end.



6. The person whose coin receives the most votes gets bragging rights and a sigline trophy.



(And the cool coin they purchased, obviously.)

This cointest will run until midnight Eastern on Monday, June 13, 2016.



Vote for whichever coin appeals to you most.



This need not be the one that is more monetarily valuable. Catalog and/or retail value should be weighed into the decision, of course, but this cointest is about overall desirability - eye appeal, history, design, etc. It is much more about collecting fun than "investment" value.



The coins are presented here in chronological order, in similar sized images (though note that the actual coins themselves may differ widely in physical size).

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Which do you like better?

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COIN A: 1851 N-7 Braided Hair large cent, @ $25.00 from eBay.



Numismedia FMV trends

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COIN B: 1937 Buffalo nickel, @ $12.42 from eBay.



Numismedia FMV trends

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Hats off to our cointestants! May the "best" coin win!

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FINAL RESULTS- a victory for dadams



Which coin do you like better, for the money? (Total Votes: 75)

A- the 1851 large cent, @ $25.00



38 votes 50.67 (%)

B- the 1937 Buffalo nickel, @ $12.42



26 votes 34.67 (%)

C- I can't decide- they're both great for the money



0 votes 0.00 (%)

D- Neither- they both suck



9 votes 12.00 (%)

E- I'm totally neutral



2 votes 2.67 (%)

lordmarcovan

We had a much wider discrepancy in price paid for the two coins this time around.



In fact, one of our gladiators actually spent less than half his allotted budget!



This should make the poll interesting to watch.



Anyway, the price our contestants paid may not enter into some people's voting considerations at all, while for others it will be the primary consideration.



We'll likely have fans of early copper and Buffalo nickel enthusiasts both.



(Hey, what's not to like about either? Both are appealing in different ways.)

Aethelred

Great choices from both!

ricko

They both have done well....this will be a fun contest. Cheers, RickO

TwoKopeiki

Good luck to the gladiators! Went with the cent, personally.

3keepSECRETif2rDEAD

My vote for the buff just knotted it up at 8-all

Cool contest and both are nice coins!

Bochiman

The buff, for the price and the meat on it, is a good value.

However, I'm not really a buff nickel fan.



Looking at the large cent, I see some things that I don't like, but I also see a very old coin, that has no peer today (sure, there are cents but none that size), is super old, and was around when it was actually worth something. Most of what I see in the large cent category, for the $25, would have more scratches or other things to degrade the view of the coin...this one looks pretty nice for the price.

lordmarcovan

Originally posted by: Bochiman

The buff, for the price and the meat on it, is a good value.

However, I'm not really a buff nickel fan.



Looking at the large cent, I see some things that I don't like, but I also see a very old coin, that has no peer today (sure, there are cents but none that size), is super old, and was around when it was actually worth something. Most of what I see in the large cent category, for the $25, would have more scratches or other things to degrade the view of the coin...this one looks pretty nice for the price.

I pretty much agree with everything Bochiman said here, except that I have no particular aversion to Buffalo nickels.



I do tend to gravitate more towards 19th century type coins (and half hoped and/or expected to see somebody buy a piece of Seated silver), but I think both of these were OK picks for the money.



PS- for the record, I'm not in the tiny "neutral" camp this time around. I did make a choice this time, and voted for the large cent, though again, both coins have their merits for the prices paid.

Swampboy

Wow

Tough choice

Gotta get back to you on this one

DNADave

I like the cent, and give it a little bonus for the 2x2 that it came in.

FWIW, I looked at large cents too, but decided on This coin if I was participating. Maybe a decent three cent nickel could be had for that amount too.

mannie gray

I voted for the Large Cent.

lordmarcovan

DNADave- that 1861 quarter is kinda-sorta the type of thing I half expected to see in play here. I like it, except for the spot at 9:00 on the reverse. Sure, it's low grade, but for less than 25 bucks for a quarter from the first year of the Civil War, well... yeah. Bang for the buck. Which is what these contests are all about, in my opinion.



One could probably get an even "meatier" dime or half dime for the money, too. And you're right about 3cNs.

Walkerfan

I like the Buff, b/c it is part of the U.S. coinage 'Renaissance Era' and it is in better condition. Just my 2 cents.

Jackthecat1

The Buffalo is nice, but I prefer the large cent.

ajaan

Buffalo 5c

Swampboy

Both appear to be excellent values and great low budget examples.

In the end I chose the cent.

asheland

I like the large cent, and I'm sure Greg would, too.
(He likes copper)

dadams

So I cast my vote -- E- I'm totally neutral

ricko

I like the Buff...nice coin for the money.... Cheers, RickO

Desert Moon

Kudos to both, nice coins for the price no question. But I could vote for only one.............

Best, SH

3keepSECRETif2rDEAD

Originally posted by: lordmarcovan
DNADave- that 1861 quarter is kinda-sorta the type of thing I half expected to see in play here. I like it, except for the spot at 9:00 on the reverse. Sure, it's low grade, but for less than 25 bucks for a quarter from the first year of the Civil War, well... yeah. Bang for the buck. Which is what these contests are all about, in my opinion.

One could probably get an even "meatier" dime or half dime for the money, too. And you're right about 3cNs.

...1851 right???

pmac

Originally posted by: 3keepSECRETif2rDEAD

Originally posted by: lordmarcovan
DNADave- that 1861 quarter is kinda-sorta the type of thing I half expected to see in play here. I like it, except for the spot at 9:00 on the reverse. Sure, it's low grade, but for less than 25 bucks for a quarter from the first year of the Civil War, well... yeah. Bang for the buck. Which is what these contests are all about, in my opinion.

One could probably get an even "meatier" dime or half dime for the money, too. And you're right about 3cNs.

...1851 right???

...cent right???

3keepSECRETif2rDEAD

Originally posted by: pmac

Originally posted by: 3keepSECRETif2rDEAD

Originally posted by: lordmarcovan
DNADave- that 1861 quarter is kinda-sorta the type of thing I half expected to see in play here. I like it, except for the spot at 9:00 on the reverse. Sure, it's low grade, but for less than 25 bucks for a quarter from the first year of the Civil War, well... yeah. Bang for the buck. Which is what these contests are all about, in my opinion.

One could probably get an even "meatier" dime or half dime for the money, too. And you're right about 3cNs.

...1851 right???

...cent right???

...large right???

garrynot

TTT

lordmarcovan

Originally posted by: Walkerfan

I like the Buff, b/c it is part of the U.S. coinage 'Renaissance Era' and it is in better condition. Just my 2 cents.

The buyer of that coin expressed similar sentiments when he told me his rationale. He found it to be the quintessentially American design (though he is not necessarily an American himself), and he liked its association with Teddy Roosevelt.

lordmarcovan

Oh, BTW, after we wrap this up on Monday, we'll go straight into "Numismatic Gladiator IV", which will be a cheap ($20 limit) Exonumia contest.



Me versus savoyspecial. Our items have already been purchased, so stay tuned for that. (Both pieces ended up being World exonumia, so that round will likely be posted on the Darkside.)



"Numismatic Gladiator V" will almost certainly be Greyside (Canadian coins), and ajaan will be one of the gladiators. We don't know who he'll be facing off against yet. Might let him challenge his own opponent.

Stork

bumpity bump bump.

Musky1011

I could be challenger

lordmarcovan

And now...



The winner is...



Coin A- the the 1851 large cent!



And that coin was purchased by...



dadams!







Congratulations, dadams! Well chosen! Here is your trophy!









Andres, who lives in the Netherlands, had the added challenge of crazy-high shipping costs added by the eBay Global Shipping Program, which limited his shopping somewhat. I think he still did pretty well, so hats off to him as well!



Now it's time for Numimsmatic Gladiator IV, which I'll be posting shortly. That is an exonumia challenge between savoyspecial and I. The category was World Exonumia, so that will be posted on the Darkside forum.

lordmarcovan

Numismatic Gladiator IV (lordmarcovan vs. savoyspecial: World exonumia under $20.00)

Andres

Congrats dadams,

@Rob , This 1916 Buffalo was my first choice , great colours , goldtone on the obverse , pinkish on the reverse , and exactly 100 years old for $24 ,
the Global *****ting Program from eBay added $ 27 for shipping, this system seems to be convenient for sellers , good for them, but I refuse to buy anything with this GSP system.

The 1937 Buffalo I bought had Free shipping + an unknown bonus coin (perhaps a Large Cent )

TwoKopeiki

Congrats, Doug!

dadams

Well, it is a surprise as I certainly didn't think I would come out on top. Kudos to Andres as I think his selection was a great choice and also thanks to Aethelred and lordmarcovan for sponsoring the contest. I'll have more commentary this weekend after I return from vacation.

Musky1011

Well, the nickel was a great buy. The large cent was a good buy. For the type collector in me it is the cent of course. But thinking about it I did change my mind to the nickel