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What is the strangest non-coin related piece in your collection?

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  • 1630Boston1630Boston Posts: 13,905 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @CascadeChris
    A lot of watercolor artist in my lineage and I must say that is impressive. :smile:
    I'm not sure if that is water color or oil though.

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  • LakesammmanLakesammman Posts: 17,409 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Where did all the pictures go??

    "My friends who see my collection sometimes ask what something costs. I tell them and they are in awe at my stupidity." (Baccaruda, 12/03).I find it hard to believe that he (Trump) rushed to some hotel to meet girls of loose morals, although ours are undoubtedly the best in the world. (Putin 1/17) Gone but not forgotten. IGWT, Speedy, Bear, BigE, HokieFore, John Burns, Russ, TahoeDale, Dahlonega, Astrorat, Stewart Blay, Oldhoopster, Broadstruck, Ricko, Big Moose.
  • CascadeChrisCascadeChris Posts: 2,525 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @1630Boston said:
    @CascadeChris
    A lot of watercolor artist in my lineage and I must say that is impressive. :smile:
    I'm not sure if that is water color or oil though.

    I'm not a paint guy but it seems to be a thick and sturdy oil based paint of some type. Defenatly not watercolor

    The more you VAM..
  • CascadeChrisCascadeChris Posts: 2,525 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Here's another something that fits the bill of this thread. Its an antique Pilot Whale vertebra on original period block & tackle. I had it appraised a couple years ago and the appraiser gave it an estimate of $3-5k but it's illegal to buy or sell in California. Legal to posses (own) though. There is a loophole however. If I get a native American to carve a tiny piece of scrimshaw on it it is then legal to sell. Go figure.




    The more you VAM..
  • LakesammmanLakesammman Posts: 17,409 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Nice - the pictures are back - cool stuff!

    "My friends who see my collection sometimes ask what something costs. I tell them and they are in awe at my stupidity." (Baccaruda, 12/03).I find it hard to believe that he (Trump) rushed to some hotel to meet girls of loose morals, although ours are undoubtedly the best in the world. (Putin 1/17) Gone but not forgotten. IGWT, Speedy, Bear, BigE, HokieFore, John Burns, Russ, TahoeDale, Dahlonega, Astrorat, Stewart Blay, Oldhoopster, Broadstruck, Ricko, Big Moose.
  • epcjimi1epcjimi1 Posts: 3,489 ✭✭✭

    @1630Boston said:
    @PocketArt
    Fantastic tools. :+1:

    Yep,

    Nice, let's see detail.

  • giorgio11giorgio11 Posts: 3,921 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @DCW said:
    Ok, so we are all driven to collect coins here. To many, it is an odd attraction to metallic discs. But for most of us, it is a sanctuary from boredom.
    The desire to seek out and assemble things that are "interesting" or "rare" makes each of us feel special, if serving nothing more than to break up the monotony in a life riddled with repetition.
    But as the saying goes, "There is no sickness like the obsession to collect things."
    Ok, I just made that up, but perhaps it will catch on?
    This thread is about the bizarre purchases we've all made outside of our normal collecting interests, some to the chagrin of our significant bothers...I mean others.
    Here is mine...ahem...a fossil from the great North American saber tooth cat, Smilodon Fatalis.
    I paid so much for this that I shall likely be buried alongside it. And in 10,000 or so years, who knows? Maybe we will be dug up and confuse the hell out of future paleontologists...
    Post what you've got, folks!

    Well I don't have much non-coin-related but after seeing your incredible sabertooth foot I couldn't help but post this picture. I just got back from a trip to Yale and New Haven, and I never get tired of seeing as many of Yale's museums as I can. Both their main Art Gallery and the new (to me) Mellon Gallery of British Art are world-class, as is their Musical Instrument Collection and the wonderful Peabody Museum of Natural History. I visited all four but had not been to the Peabody since I was an undergrad ... and that was a "time and a time" ago, as my dear departed mother-in-law Irene would say.

    Anyway. Here's one of the many photos I snapped at the Peabody on my iPhone.

    Folks, if you are in NYC or New Haven, it is worth a trip to the Peabody (on Whitney Avenue) just to see the newly installed, fantastic collection of minerals from the David Friend collection, aka David Friend Hall.

    news.yale.edu/2016/10/17/peabody-museum-s-new-mineral-gallery-will-knock-your-socks

    Kind regards,

    George

    VDBCoins.com Our Registry Sets Many successful BSTs; pls ask.
  • DCWDCW Posts: 7,460 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Thanks, @giorgio11 but I must clarify again that although this looks like a claw or a foot, it is piece of skull that has two huge incisors hanging from it. The way the fragment broke off makes it extremely eye catching. They would have been right next to the famous "sabers."

    Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
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  • coinkatcoinkat Posts: 23,375 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Love the Suffrage piece... I do not recall seeing that item before.

    Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.

  • cmerlo1cmerlo1 Posts: 7,920 ✭✭✭✭✭

    No images, but my collection of major cast autographs from the movie 'Citizen Kane' is about 80% complete. Orson Welles was easy, but Dorothy Comingore (Susan Alexander Kane) was really tough and I've been searching for George Coulouris (Walter P Thatcher) William Alland (Jerry Thompson) and Erskine Sandford (Herbert Carter) for years and have had no luck.

    You Suck! Awarded 6/2008- 1901-O Micro O Morgan, 8/2008- 1878 VAM-123 Morgan, 9/2022 1888-O VAM-1B3 H8 Morgan | Senior Regional Representative- ANACS Coin Grading. Posted opinions on coins are my own, and are not an official ANACS opinion.
  • DRUNNERDRUNNER Posts: 3,873 ✭✭✭✭✭

    We have chatted many times before . . . . . . . .

    I regard myself as lucky to be able to teach "To Kill a Mockingbird" to several classes each year . . . and I use the files you sent to me every year. What a special event in American . . . albeit WORLD history . . . the gift we have of Harper Lee's magical effort. I have read 'it all' it seems, and still, nothing quite rivals the novel in my life's ranking.

    If I were marooned on a desert isle . . . or had only one book in this world to teach to a son or daughter . . . . there is no doubt as to what I would choose.

    Always good to see your posts and the fantastic Lee memorabilia you have . . . I am envious!

    Drunner

  • CascadeChrisCascadeChris Posts: 2,525 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November 27, 2016 6:33PM

    Here's something cool you 30-somethings will appreciate. I bought a box of sealed vintage garbage pail kids packs at an auction a few years back for like $10 and under all the cards was this just laying there loose. Not folded just flat at the bottom. I contacted the artist Jay Lynch to get more info about it and he responded which I have taped to the back of it. A very neat piece. Today something like this would be owned by Topps and go into the Topps Vault. Back then they were given back to the artist or just discarded.

    You can read Mr. Lynch's email but basically it was a concept piece he drew in the 80s for the back of a GPK card. He wasn't sure which one but he was sure that it was used. Boy would I like to find the card that used this back. Anybody have a GPK collection they don't mind checking lol

    The more you VAM..
  • COINS MAKE CENTSCOINS MAKE CENTS Posts: 1,841 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I to collect garbage pail kids cards. I love them. They are definitely interesting for sure

    New inventory added daily at Coins Make Cents
    HAPPY COLLECTING


  • giorgio11giorgio11 Posts: 3,921 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @DCW said:
    Thanks, @giorgio11 but I must clarify again that although this looks like a claw or a foot, it is piece of skull that has two huge incisors hanging from it. The way the fragment broke off makes it extremely eye catching. They would have been right next to the famous "sabers."

    Ah, I see, got it. Not something you want biting you!

    Kind regards,

    George

    VDBCoins.com Our Registry Sets Many successful BSTs; pls ask.
  • northcoinnorthcoin Posts: 4,987 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @CascadeChris said:
    My grandfather was an MP at Pearl Harbor in 1941. He picked this up on the beach 2 days after the attack. He wrote "P. Harb Dec 9 '41" on the back in pencil which is faded a bit now. It's a damaged hand painted wood cabinet door presumably painted by a bored sailor with a bit of spare time sometime before the attack to brighten up his workspace.

    Very appropriate with the 75th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor Day coming up in two weeks on December 7, 2016.

  • northcoinnorthcoin Posts: 4,987 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @SmEagle1795 said:

    And also recently purchased from Heritage: a slice of the moon:

    Very cool. I was at the Expo 70 in Japan when Prince Charles came to visit. He came to the U.S. Pavilion to see the Moon Rock on display there that had been brought back to earth from the first landing on the moon the prior year. Here are some 1970 photos I took including one of the Prince as he entered the U.S. Pavilion (blurred because I had my telephoto attached, and he ended up walking right in front of me), the moon rock itself, and the accompanying exhibit recreating the Lunar landing.

    ... and some added positioning shots from my camera of yours truly at Expo 70 and of the Expo 70 theme Sun Sculpture that still stands today outside of Osaka.

  • TwobitcollectorTwobitcollector Posts: 3,473 ✭✭✭✭✭

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  • epcjimi1epcjimi1 Posts: 3,489 ✭✭✭
    edited November 29, 2016 4:42PM

    @PipestonePete said:
    A Harper Lee hand written quote from "To Kill a Mockingbird".

    Things that make you say huh. Nice. Well Done.

    Which reminds me. Melvin Belli, San Francisco lawyer in the day, also starred in an original Star Trek episode as Gorgon, IIRC.

    Anyway, MB's phone number was listed in the local phone book.

    "Rumproast, Welldone", name of his dauschand pet dog was the listing.

  • ShamikaShamika Posts: 18,785 ✭✭✭✭

    @ernie11 said:
    The item isn't strange in and of itself, it's just that I felt strange to have pursued this item. I also collect autographs, and back in 1998 I read an article in the paper that the oldest living former major league baseball player, Chester "Chet" Hoff was celebrating his 107th birthday. Born in 1891, he started his career in 1911 and had faced Ty Cobb in the second game of his career (and struck him out). So I found his address in my baseball autograph book, wrote to Mr. Hoff and asked for his autograph. To my surprise, he responded quickly with the signed index card.

    It was a good thing for me that I wrote to him so promptly because he passed away in September of 1998.

    Ernie11 - This is such a great piece. Maybe my favorite item pictured in this thread.

    .

    Buyer and seller of vintage coin boards!
  • ashelandasheland Posts: 23,335 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @thebigeng said:

    Mine is a totally cool silver tea pot made in Russia in 1859 Royal seal, fine craftsmanship. Really awesome, saved from the melting pot!





    Splendid piece! :)

  • SeattleSlammerSeattleSlammer Posts: 10,032 ✭✭✭✭✭

    That praying mantis is outrageous!...looks like Disney made it. Looks too good to be true.

  • SeattleSlammerSeattleSlammer Posts: 10,032 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November 29, 2016 8:46PM

    How about some 19th Century, English, sterling silver bladed, mother-of-pearl handled fruit knives?

  • NapNap Posts: 1,731 ✭✭✭✭✭

    A medieval manuscript page, with a miniature depicting poor St. Catherine (of Alexandria) about to lose her head, with the broken wheel off to the side.

  • boiler78boiler78 Posts: 3,063 ✭✭✭✭✭

  • BarberianBarberian Posts: 3,707 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Undescribed species of insects.

    3 rim nicks away from Good
  • BLUEJAYWAYBLUEJAYWAY Posts: 9,561 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @ThreeCentSilverFL said:
    Meteorites

    Were you fortunate to find any in the wild or were they purchases? Either way very nice specimens.

    Successful transactions:Tookybandit. "Everyone is equal, some are more equal than others".
  • ConshyboyConshyboy Posts: 460 ✭✭✭✭



    Raised seal press from my K of C council

  • SanctionIISanctionII Posts: 12,248 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I have a few interesting items.

    1 is a small book about the 1967 California Legislature. Reagan was elected governor in November, 1966. He succeeded Edmund G. Pat Brown (Edmund G. Jerry Brown's father; Jerry Brown succeeded Reagan). In 1967 the California Legislature, House and Senate were both about half Democrats and half Republicans. The Senate was exclusively white and Male. The House had three black members (including Willie Brown) and three women members. The rest were white males (including Pete Wilson). The book also has on its first page the pledge of allegiance, followed by the California flag and a photo of governor Reagan.

    A 2023 version of this book would show substantial changes in the State Legislature from what it was in 1967.

    Photos attached.

    2 is a book published in 1911 containing the 1911 decisions issued by the US Supreme Court.

    Photos attached.

    3 is a rock that has been with me and my parents and sister since 1966. It weighs about 3 pounds 10 ounces. It has an interesting appearance and is made of different materials. My parents purchased a home in 1966. The home had a front porch that was covered. The roof above the front porch was connected to the house. The front of the roof was placed on the top of two brick pillars. The top of the brick pillars were not completely covered by the roof. Part of the top of the pillars were uncovered and flat. The rock was sitting on top of one of the pillars. The house was built in 1927 and it is possible the rock had always been sitting on top of the pillar since 1927. I took the rock down a few times and looked at it. I put it back on the top of the pillar. Years and decades passed. My mother died and my father continued to live in the house until 2012 when he moved into assisted living. In 2013 the home was sold. My sister and I cleaned out the house and handled the sale. In doing do I saw that the rock was still sitting on top of the pillar. I could not throw it away. So I took it, washed off all of the dust and dirt and kept it. It now resides on a bookcase in my office.

    Attached are photos of the rock. At some point in time I am going to have the rock cut in half and made into bookends, with the faces of both halves created by cutting it in half polished. Alternatively, if it is feasible to fo so I will half the rock sliced into flat pieces the thickness of the middle part of a Capital holder. Thereafter I will have holes drilled into the flat pieces and insert coins into them. The result will be a lapidary coin display.

  • ThreeCentSilverFLThreeCentSilverFL Posts: 1,694 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @BLUEJAYWAY No, none were found by myself. Most all I have purchased from the main mass holder or via deaccession from a known collection or institution.

  • jt88jt88 Posts: 3,075 ✭✭✭✭✭

    This is a Rare Antique Chinese opium Silver Chatelaine Circa 1850 - 1880. Chatelaines are clips which were worn at the waist with chains suspended from them to hold a variety of useful items for opium smoker to use. On this chatelaine the tweezers were used to put a small amount of opium in the pipe damper (bowl), the small spoon was used to tamp the opium in the damper, and the pointed tool was used to clean out the hole in the opium damper. Length is 15.5" (39.3 CM), the weight is 45 grams.

  • Herb_THerb_T Posts: 1,754 ✭✭✭✭✭

    1/24th scale Carrera slot cars…over 500 of them….

  • jackpine20jackpine20 Posts: 142 ✭✭✭✭

    I love antiques that have a story to tell. I found this 18th-century sampler while scrolling around on the website of an antique seller here in Wisconsin. I bought a book on the subject and then felt compelled to share my thoughts on social media.

    Plain weave flax linen, embellished with colored silk, the subject of a schoolgirl's hand. Perhaps she practiced first on the border, with its floral geometry. Cubic crimson flowers on the vine surrendered from red to gold before the girl's needle could return to its genesis. An adult hand, perhaps Quaker, most certainly commanded the layout of this impressive, eighteenth-century sampler. From the repetitive symmetry of borders to the pleasing, at times complicated, cross-stitched floral motifs, we witness a centuries-old design that does not disappoint.
    For a young girl, a sampler of this quality could serve her later, as a private reference, or as a public curriculum vitae as she assumed the demands of womanhood. The innocence of youth is piously arrested in this verse embroidered from Ecclesiastes: "Fear God and keep his commandments for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment with every secret thing whether it be good or whether it be evil." Signed, Betsey Farrington, aged 11 years.
    A search of records leads me to believe this sampler was worked around 1795 in the District of Maine, in the time before statehood. Mary Elizabeth "Betsey" Farrington was born in Massachusetts on 14 January 1784 and soon moved with her family to a region in the Maine District richly populated by Quakers. I came into the possession of this precious antiquity only moments after my eyes came to rest upon it. Framed under glass 19.5" x 23"

    Matt Snebold

  • HiBuckyHiBucky Posts: 612 ✭✭✭

    All dug including over 2000 religious medals with over 100 sterling and one gold....

  • BLUEJAYWAYBLUEJAYWAY Posts: 9,561 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Herb_T said:
    1/24th scale Carrera slot cars…over 500 of them….

    Brings back fond memories of when I raced them in the 60's. Had 1/24 and 1/32 scale cars. Local racing center had 2 tracks and a drag strip. We used to have a demolition derby night with the cars. Was lots of fun. One of my cars had twin engines. One for the front axle,one for the rear axle. There were 500 lap races and night racing with headlights on the cars and the house lights were dimmed.

    Successful transactions:Tookybandit. "Everyone is equal, some are more equal than others".
  • This is one of mine, probably an Australopithecus depiction.

  • DCWDCW Posts: 7,460 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Interesting post from 7 years ago. Boy, it doesn't seem that long ago...
    I want my smilodon fatalis tooth back! Sold in a moment of weakness (and hunger! 😆 )

    Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
    "Coin collecting for outcasts..."

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