NEWPs - A Pair of 1958 Danny Kaye 5 Lirot in Regency Holder

Zohar

I like the coin type commemorating Israel's 10th anniversary. What made this interesting is the PCGS holder and packaging it comes in given the limited edition nature. I don't collect holder types, yet the combination here was interesting. The coins themselves were minted as a proof like issue as part of the Danny Kaye order as described below. I saw two being offered by same seller, so took them both.

Found this reference online "The PCGS Regency Holder is one of the most rare versions of the PCGS holder. For a short time in the early 1990s, PCGS had an optional premium holder available for a significant extra cost. This premium slab, known as the Regency slab, was large and green with a larger label as well. This larger label allowed for the addition of a couple of lines of text which were customizable by the submitter. This large Regency slab ultimately proved to be quite unpopular at the time given the added cost and the large size of the holder which did not match other PCGS slabs and did not fit in any of the PCGS slab boxes.

PCGS estimates that less than 700 of these special holders were ever produced, more than half of which were Israeli coins holdered by the Danny Kaye Estate. These two 1958 Israel 5 Lirot have been graded MS66 by PCGS and come from the Danny Kaye Estate. These coins are part of 1,000 coins given to Kaye by the Israeli government for his work with the United Children's Fund (UNICEF). Of these 1,000, 363 coins were acquired and submitted to PCGS for grading by dealer Randy Karlin in 1995. These coins were given "Specimen" designation by PCGS, because though uncirculated, they received special treatment at the Israel mint from the use of proof dies in the production process.

Normal uncirculated coins of the 10th anniversary 5 Lirot series are often marred by heavy surface markings which are not apparent on coins from the Kaye estate. These coins are #181 and #360 out of 363. Danny Kaye, born in 1913, was a popular comedian and appeared in several notable films such as Hans Christian Anderson in 1952, and The Court Jester in 1956. Kaye died in 1987. "

coinkat

I saw coins from the Danny Kaye estate years ago. I think those holders are rare

desslok

Although it's a world coin, the slab collectors are all in the U.S. coins forum. You should post a link to this post over there.

Zohar

Yes true. The coin itself is considered a proof for the series which was never marked and minted at 2000 (if records are correct).

marcmoish

Nnnnnice find, interesting read, always see and find something new here.

You def scored Z.

atom

From the images it appears to be the Uncirculated version, not Proof. The telling characteristic of the proof coin will be mirror like surfaces with frosted devices. But most significantly, the evidence of the 4 quadrants intersecting at the center is found on the uncirculated issue, never the Proof.

asheland

Very nice addition!

neildrobertson

I'd definitely buy that just for the holder

OldEastside

I Believe Stef @coinsarefun has a beautiful toned example of a Kaye/Regency 5 Lirot.
Oh and Congrat on the newps, I have always kinda wanted one of those.

Steve

brg5658

Slab variety frenzy.

I don't find the holder/slab to be anything special, and the coin design in them is downright ugly.

Has Israel issued any coins that aren't of this "modernist" and "minimalist" ugly (lack-of) aesthetic?

Zohar

I appreciate the bluntness

brg5658

@Zohar said:
I appreciate the bluntness

It is a serious question. I want to like an Israeli coin, but I haven't seen one aesthetically pleasing to my eye design wise.

Zohar

How many people have thought the talers are distasteful and British milled are beauties. Aesthetics are subjective I guess.

brg5658

@Zohar said:
How many people have thought the talers are distasteful and British milled are beauties. Aesthetics are subjective I guess.

Taler beauty may be subjective. I think Israeli coins are by-and-large objectively ugly.

BillDugan1959

I very well know the answer, but I will ask for the 89.8% of the world who doesn't know: who was Danny Kaye? Was he related to Deng Xiaoping?

Zohar

@brg5658 said:

@Zohar said:
How many people have thought the talers are distasteful and British milled are beauties. Aesthetics are subjective I guess.

Taler beauty may be subjective. I think Israeli coins are by-and-large objectively ugly.

Ok !

coinkat

Danny Kaye was fairly big movie star entertainer back in the day. I would guess he appeared in over 50 films... Mostly musicals and musical comedies in the 1940s and 1950s.

Still like the Mid Century modern look of coins from Israel...

BillDugan1959

Perhaps 10% of all persons now living have a scintilla, and that group shrinks everyday.

He was not a bad person, he was just an easy person for late Studio Hollywood/ early television networks to grasp on to, he probably didn't cost them much.

coinsarefun

Very nice, lucky you!
I have a complete set too, but about the only one I have seen that is toned.
I picked it up years ago from a member here on the forum.

Zohar

@brg5658 said:

@Zohar said:
How many people have thought the talers are distasteful and British milled are beauties. Aesthetics are subjective I guess.

Taler beauty may be subjective. I think Israeli coins are by-and-large objectively ugly.

By the way, you have contradicted yourself in the statement. The minute you state that "you think", it's subjective unless your view is absolutely followed by all. If it rains outside, it is objectively raining. Now as a few of us do appreciate these coins for what they are your argument is likely to be subjective. However I appreciate your opinionated subjective view.

brg5658

@Zohar said:

@brg5658 said:

@Zohar said:
How many people have thought the talers are distasteful and British milled are beauties. Aesthetics are subjective I guess.

Taler beauty may be subjective. I think Israeli coins are by-and-large objectively ugly.

By the way, you have contradicted yourself in the statement. The minute you state that "you think", it's subjective unless your view is absolutely followed by all. If it rains outside, it is objectively raining. Now as a few of us do appreciate these coins for what they are your argument is likely to be subjective. However I appreciate your opinionated subjective view.

Fair enough. Let me fix it then -- Israeli coins are ugly. Period.

WillieBoyd2

This early Israel coin has a nice simple design:

Israel 500 Prutah 1949 - Silver, 37mm, 24.94gm

mkman123

I'd have to agree with brg about israeli coins........ugly in my opinion

coinkat

At least some countries such as Israel, Poland and Finland among others, designed coins that captured new concepts in design that were reflective of the times. Mid century modern design in architecture, furniture and even within the auto industry offered something different and bold.

While some collectors can choose to dislike these coins and call them ugly, they simply cannot dismiss their impact or artistic merit in capturing the culture of the times as well as the progression of design and artistic trends moving forward.

coinsarefun

@coinkat said:
At least some countries such as Israel, Poland and Finland among others, designed coins that captured new concepts in design that were reflective of the times. Mid century modern design in architecture, furniture and even within the auto industry offered something different and bold.

While some collectors can choose to dislike these coins and call them ugly, they simply cannot dismiss their impact or artistic merit in capturing the culture of the times as well as the progression of design and artistic trends moving forward.

Well said coinkat. Most forget this design goes along with mid century modern architecture and design.

brg5658

Mid-century minimalist design doesn't translate well to coins. And Israeli coins issued today are still ugly. It's 2017, not 1950 anymore.

Granted the USA coinage of the same period (1950-present) is awful as well. So it's not a problem of which only Israeli coins suffer.

coinkat

in the matter of taste, there is simply no dispute... Best wishes in your collecting efforts

Zohar

I came back yesterday from travel and received coins. One thing for sure is that PCGS invested in these - large box insetting the original wooden box, holder, picture of the artist and a satchel for holder. I wonder what they charged for each in today's terms.

Zohar

So i found another one, yet this one is a proof (which I didn't realize was placed in this series). The proof issues were never marked with a "mem" as later issues, and 2,000 are known in total. I guess a 59 issued to Danny Kaye.

291fifth

Many Israeli coins are very modernist when it comes to design. Many coin collectors are anything but modernist when it comes to their choice of artistic style.

ajaan

I saw one of these at a small local coin show today. How much are these worth?

Zohar

https://coins.ha.com/itm/israel/world-coins/israel-republic-5-lirot-1958-ms66-pcgs-/a/231728-62243.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515

This is probably the higher end price point.

ajaan

For those of us how don't bid on Heritage Auctions and can't sign in, what was the ending price?

Zohar

$646.25 pre shipping.

ajaan

Thanks, I think the one I saw was priced at $800 but I know the dealer and he would probably have taken a lot less.

Zohar

He should. Was it PF or MS graded? I have never seen a PF until this one.

ajaan

I really didn't look at it closely to see if MS or PF. I'll see this dealer next month at the Buffalo Numismatic Association club show and will take a closer look.

Zohar

Sorry to bump this again - found this - https://pcgs.com/holders/TheRegency

Stork

@Zohar Just ran across these in tonights auction:

https://coins.ha.com/itm/israel/world-coins/israel-republic-10th-anniversary-5-lirot-1958-ms66-pcgs-/a/231820-63241.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515

https://coins.ha.com/itm/israel/world-coins/israel-republic-10th-anniversary-5-lirot-1958-ms66-pcgs-/a/231820-63242.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515

bronco2078

@brg5658 said:
Mid-century minimalist design doesn't translate well to coins. And Israeli coins issued today are still ugly. It's 2017, not 1950 anymore.

Granted the USA coinage of the same period (1950-present) is awful as well. So it's not a problem of which only Israeli coins suffer.

they remind me of the $5 and $10 coins that Canada made for the 76 olympics , lots of blank space

bidask

coinsarefun

Hey @bidask I got one of those too, but lightly toned. MS68
.
.
.

coinsarefun

I also got a set of these, super cool, all toned along with The scroll and wooden box
.
.

bidask

@coinsarefun said:
Hey @bidask I got one of those too, but lightly toned. MS68

Ohhh that is nice toning !

Zohar

amwldcoin

Somehow I knew you would have what I consider the only good collectable coin from Isreal...the Seafaring!

@Zohar said:

bidask

Love all those Israel coins Zohar !

asheland

Awesome coins!

Swampboy

As a baseball fan from the Pacific Northwet I'd like to add that Danny Kaye was one of the original owners of the Seattle Marinets ballclub

I also like the unique coin and the very unique holder

SYRACUSIAN

I didn’t know that the Port of Eilat was so popular in this forum.

Israeli coins. You can love them or hate them, but looking at Zohar’s set, they sure tone nicely.