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"Numismatic Gladiator" IX (CoinCast vs. seanq)

WELCOME TO NUMISMATIC GLADIATOR IX!



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To see how the earlier competitions went, click here.







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 public venue.



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 Friday, September 2, 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).








Which do you like better?








COIN A: 1943 British India silver half-rupee, clipped planchet and partial collar error @ $4.25 from eBay.



NGC/Krause priceguide listing (for non-error coins)



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Message from the gladiator who bought Coin A:

Why I chose this coin: Even without an error, I feel British India coins of this era are very interesting and eye appealing. The coin has very intricate design elements both at the rim and on the edge, and I found the way the metal flow from the clip interacted with those elements to be uniquely fascinating. I am also drawn to error coins from the World War II era, in many countries (including the US) quality slipped and errors increased as focus was shifted to manufacturing for the war effort.










COIN B: 19(70-83) Mexico 1-peso, major off-center error, @ $24.00 from eBay.



NGC/Krause priceguide listing (for non-error coins)



image





Message from the gladiator who bought Coin B:

I picked this coin because of general lack of Mexican coins in my collection. I felt like a world coin would be more interesting for this contest and looked at many different countries, but kept going back to Mexico. I wanted something with at least a partial date, but still a dramatic error and this coin fit the bill while still being a good value.












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






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Comments

  • lordmarcovanlordmarcovan Posts: 43,194 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I have not yet voted, nor do I really know yet how I will.



    These are the factors I personally took into account:



    Both coins appear to be very high grade examples (Choice AU+ if not UNC).



    Coin A, the British India half-rupee:
      Has a little bit of silver content (.500 fine/.0939 oz.)
      Was crazy-cheap and cost our gladiator less than 1/5 of the contest price limit*
      Has a neat looking "security" edge (see eBay pictures)
      With a diameter of 24 mm, it is a little bigger than a US nickel (21.21 mm)
    *Gladiator A won his coin at auction. It was supposed to be Buy-It-Now, but since I don't think I was especially clear in that instruction, we won't count it as a foul.





    Coin B, the Mexican peso:
      Is a major error and much more visibly dramatic than the error on Coin A
      Also has a cool design and is a popular type
      Looks to have nice luster
      Is a bigger coin; at 29 mm it is almost the size of a US half dollar (30.61 mm)

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  • lordmarcovanlordmarcovan Posts: 43,194 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Obviously, the winner of this round will go on to play in the NG10 championship round with all the past champions from NG1-NG8.



    The category for the championship round is "anything goes" (ANY coin, medal, or token), but the price limit is tighter (only $10).

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  • ajaanajaan Posts: 17,070 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I voted.

    DPOTD-3
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    Don
  • CuKevinCuKevin Posts: 1,690 ✭✭✭✭
    That Mexico peso is really something!
    Choice Numismatics www.ChoiceCoin.com

    CN eBay

    All of my collection is in a safe deposit box!
  • Jackthecat1Jackthecat1 Posts: 1,122 ✭✭✭
    The rupee is a fascinating coin and was a great bargain but the wildly off-center peso got my vote.
    Member ANS, ANA, GSNA, TNC



    image
  • This is a tough one...



    The half rupee at that price with that error is very cool, but I'm leaning more towards the off center peso if only because of how dramatic the error is.
    "A rich man is nothing but a poor man with money." - W. C. Fields
  • lordmarcovanlordmarcovan Posts: 43,194 ✭✭✭✭✭
    In the interest of fairness, I had to present both coins above in the same sized picture (800x400).



    This did not lend itself well to showing additional pictures of the edge on the Indian coin, which is really the most interesting part.



    So, for the benefit of Gladiator A, I will post the seller's edge pictures of that coin here:



    image



    image



    image

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  • LochNESSLochNESS Posts: 4,829 ✭✭✭
    I looked at the images.



    I read the gladiators' descriptions.



    I reminded myself of the rules and guidelines.



    I voted for the Mexican.



    THEN, when the poll results appeared, I noticed the prices paid. Wow. The biggest spread of any NG thus far, I believe.



    The rupee is a lovely coin - in fact I have one in my collection. As a general rule, I do not find Mexican coins attractive. However, the error on that Mexican is huge in comparison and the name of this game is errors.
    ANA LM • WBCC 429

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    image
  • STLNATSSTLNATS Posts: 1,597 ✭✭✭
    The Indian piece is pretty interesting, especially with the fancy security edge, but the Peso is just so much more dramatic. The only way the Peso would have been better would have been a full date...



    Always interested in St Louis MO & IL metro area and Evansville IN national bank notes and Vatican/papal states coins and medals!
  • BoosibriBoosibri Posts: 11,839 ✭✭✭✭✭
  • lordmarcovanlordmarcovan Posts: 43,194 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Agreed- while the peso would've been better with a full date, and the half-rupee went for crazy-cheap, it is kind of hard to get past the off-center error being more visually striking.



    Still, I voted for the half-rupee, mostly to give the underdog a boost.



    Offered the chance in the real world to pick one or the other at the prices paid?



    I dunno.



    I will say that Mexican errors of the 1970s and '80s tend to be relatively common, and I once got a dramatic off-center 10-peso piece (one of those with the multi-sided shape) for less than ten bucks, but that was a steal. I do like the peso here, even if I personally would've sought one with a full date on the flan.

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  • TwoKopeikiTwoKopeiki Posts: 9,528 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Voted for the Half-Rupee because I expected the Mexican. Modern Mexican errors are inexpensive and abundant. Didn't expect a silver error under $5 though. image
  • lordmarcovanlordmarcovan Posts: 43,194 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I did predict to Aethelred, long in advance of this being set up, that we'd almost certainly see a Mexican error coin in this round.

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  • seanqseanq Posts: 8,568 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Originally posted by: lordmarcovan

    I did predict to Aethelred, long in advance of this being set up, that we'd almost certainly see a Mexican error coin in this round.




    A couple of weeks before this came up, someone listed a slew of Egyptian errors with very low prices, but I suspect most of them are either counterfeit or had a lot of help coming into existence. There is also a seller who has a lot of modern errors from India, many of them were just above the price limit for the contest but it would not have shocked me to see one entered (in fact, there was a shattered die that fit the contest that was my fallback if I didn't win the coin above).



    Sean Reynolds
    Incomplete planchets wanted, especially Lincoln Cents & type coins.

    "Keep in mind that most of what passes as numismatic information is no more than tested opinion at best, and marketing blather at worst. However, I try to choose my words carefully, since I know that you guys are always watching." - Joe O'Connor
  • lordmarcovanlordmarcovan Posts: 43,194 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Originally posted by: seanq

    Originally posted by: lordmarcovan

    I did predict to Aethelred, long in advance of this being set up, that we'd almost certainly see a Mexican error coin in this round.




    A couple of weeks before this came up, someone listed a slew of Egyptian errors with very low prices, but I suspect most of them are either counterfeit or had a lot of help coming into existence. There is also a seller who has a lot of modern errors from India, many of them were just above the price limit for the contest but it would not have shocked me to see one entered (in fact, there was a shattered die that fit the contest that was my fallback if I didn't win the coin above).



    Sean Reynolds




    I saw those Egyptian errors in the course of my own shopping for NG10. I wasn't sure if they were sketchy or not, but the pictures in the listings were pretty awful, as I recall.


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  • ashelandasheland Posts: 22,612 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I like that peso. image
  • mnemtsas2mnemtsas2 Posts: 745 ✭✭✭
    I don't see any evidence of the rupee being a partial collar? It's certainly got a security edge. What am I missing?
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  • lordmarcovanlordmarcovan Posts: 43,194 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Originally posted by: mnemtsas2

    I don't see any evidence of the rupee being a partial collar? It's certainly got a security edge. What am I missing?




    For the record, I personally don't know anything about partial collar errors, and was merely duplicating that information in the OP.

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  • seanqseanq Posts: 8,568 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Originally posted by: lordmarcovan

    Originally posted by: mnemtsas2

    I don't see any evidence of the rupee being a partial collar? It's certainly got a security edge. What am I missing?




    For the record, I personally don't know anything about partial collar errors, and was merely duplicating that information in the OP.




    I have a feeling the seller used that term to describe the incomplete design on the rim, but in truth the coin was struck fully within the collar.



    Sean Reynolds



    Incomplete planchets wanted, especially Lincoln Cents & type coins.

    "Keep in mind that most of what passes as numismatic information is no more than tested opinion at best, and marketing blather at worst. However, I try to choose my words carefully, since I know that you guys are always watching." - Joe O'Connor
  • lordmarcovanlordmarcovan Posts: 43,194 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Well, it's official.



    The Mexican error coin was triumphant, and that coin was purchased by...



    CoinCast!



    Please join me in congratulating CoinCast, but also in thanking seanq, who deserves credit for suggesting an error coin NG tournament.



    Seanq, don't feel bad- I did not prevail in my first time in the arena, either. And you are heartily encouraged to take up another NG challenge, for a shot at redemption! Maybe even error coins again sometime.



    CoinCast, here is your virtual trophy. Should you decide to display it in your sigline, wear it with pride.



    image





    Now, I hope you're shopping for NG10, because you're now being invited to face off against the other champions for a shot at the eagle trophy in the championship round!



    Should you decline to participate, your place in NG10 goes to your former opponent, so either way, one of you should be going right back into the ring with a $10 purchase!

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  • Jackthecat1Jackthecat1 Posts: 1,122 ✭✭✭
    Congratulations to CoinCast for your victory. Great coin!
    Member ANS, ANA, GSNA, TNC



    image
  • CoinCastCoinCast Posts: 508 ✭✭✭
    Thanks for the fun everyone! I will have to start getting serious about my $10 Challenge coin now!

    Numismatist @WitterCoin

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