~ LordM Box of 20 archive, 09/15/16
lordmarcovan
Posts: 43,648 ✭✭✭✭✭
In 2013, I decided to pare down my collections and simplify to a single "Box of 20" for everything, hopefully to focus a bit more on quality than quantity. Still, pursuing quality is an ongoing challenge on my budget.
The idea is a freestyle "Box of 20" collection with no parameters or restrictions except that the coins must be certified and the collection is limited to twenty pieces. (When one comes in, another must go out.) Otherwise, anything goes.
In a way, I have narrowed my focus by limiting myself to just twenty slabbed pieces, but on the other hand, I've opened up my horizons to pursue whatever catches my fancy, be it ancient, medieval, modern, or even some tokens and medals. It sort of feels liberating to be freed of the constraints of collecting "sets". Now I can collect what I like and not be a slave to any predetermined "structure". But as the coins get nicer, I suspect it will become more and more difficult sentimentally for me to stick to the "one in, one out" rule.
Ancient Greece (Thessaly), silver "Rhodian Mercenaries" drachm struck by King Perseus of Macedon, ca. 175-170 BC
Ancient Roman Republic: silver denarius of moneyer L. Furius Brocchus, ca. 63 BC
Ancient Roman Empire: silver "Capricorn" denarius of Vespasian, struck by Titus ca. 80-81 AD
Ancient Roman Empire: orichalcum sestertius of Hadrian, struck ca. 134-138 AD, ex-Boston Museum of Fine Arts
Ancient Roman Empire: silver denarius of Septimius Severus, ca. 193-211 AD
Ancient Byzantine Empire: gold tremissis of Justinian I, ca. 527-565 AD
England (Anglo-Saxon): silver penny of Aethelred II, struck ca. 997-1003 AD
Medieval Croatia (Ragusa): silver grosso portraying St. Blasius and Christ, ca. 1372-1438
Netherlands (Gelderland): "St. John" type gold gulden (florin) of Arnold van Egmond, ca. 1423-1472
German States (Teutonic Order): silver 1/4 thaler of Grand Master Maximilian of Austria, undated (ca. 1615)
Great Britain: silver "South Sea Company" shilling of George I, 1723
France: silver jeton of Louis XV, "Aurora in cloud chariot", undated (ca. 1740)
Great Britain: gilt proof halfpenny of George III, Soho Mint, 1806
United States: gold 5-dollar half-eagle, Liberty Head type, 1842-D (small date)
United States: bronze Civil War token, "Our Little Monitor" type, 1863
United States: proof copper-nickel 3-cent piece, Liberty head type, 1888
Guatemala, silver quarter-real, 1898
Great Britain: gold half-sovereign of Queen Victoria, 1901, from the Terner Collection
Germany (Imperial): silver half-mark, 1916-A
USA: silver commemorative half dollar, Pilgrim Tercentenary, 1920
The idea is a freestyle "Box of 20" collection with no parameters or restrictions except that the coins must be certified and the collection is limited to twenty pieces. (When one comes in, another must go out.) Otherwise, anything goes.
In a way, I have narrowed my focus by limiting myself to just twenty slabbed pieces, but on the other hand, I've opened up my horizons to pursue whatever catches my fancy, be it ancient, medieval, modern, or even some tokens and medals. It sort of feels liberating to be freed of the constraints of collecting "sets". Now I can collect what I like and not be a slave to any predetermined "structure". But as the coins get nicer, I suspect it will become more and more difficult sentimentally for me to stick to the "one in, one out" rule.
Ancient Greece (Thessaly), silver "Rhodian Mercenaries" drachm struck by King Perseus of Macedon, ca. 175-170 BC
Ancient Roman Republic: silver denarius of moneyer L. Furius Brocchus, ca. 63 BC
Ancient Roman Empire: silver "Capricorn" denarius of Vespasian, struck by Titus ca. 80-81 AD
Ancient Roman Empire: orichalcum sestertius of Hadrian, struck ca. 134-138 AD, ex-Boston Museum of Fine Arts
Ancient Roman Empire: silver denarius of Septimius Severus, ca. 193-211 AD
Ancient Byzantine Empire: gold tremissis of Justinian I, ca. 527-565 AD
England (Anglo-Saxon): silver penny of Aethelred II, struck ca. 997-1003 AD
Medieval Croatia (Ragusa): silver grosso portraying St. Blasius and Christ, ca. 1372-1438
Netherlands (Gelderland): "St. John" type gold gulden (florin) of Arnold van Egmond, ca. 1423-1472
German States (Teutonic Order): silver 1/4 thaler of Grand Master Maximilian of Austria, undated (ca. 1615)
Great Britain: silver "South Sea Company" shilling of George I, 1723
France: silver jeton of Louis XV, "Aurora in cloud chariot", undated (ca. 1740)
Great Britain: gilt proof halfpenny of George III, Soho Mint, 1806
United States: gold 5-dollar half-eagle, Liberty Head type, 1842-D (small date)
United States: bronze Civil War token, "Our Little Monitor" type, 1863
United States: proof copper-nickel 3-cent piece, Liberty head type, 1888
Guatemala, silver quarter-real, 1898
Great Britain: gold half-sovereign of Queen Victoria, 1901, from the Terner Collection
Germany (Imperial): silver half-mark, 1916-A
USA: silver commemorative half dollar, Pilgrim Tercentenary, 1920
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