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New HA auction wins. What do they have in common?
Weiss
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Got these yesterday from a last week Heritage auction.
We are like children who look at print and see a serpent in the last letter but one, and a sword in the last.
--Severian the Lame
--Severian the Lame
2
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The True View of the Napoleonic piece:
--Severian the Lame
I have no idea. But, noticed that Italian piece in the Heritage Auction. The toning looked fantastic - how is it in hand?
My current "Box of 20"
Is it the coins are the same size silver, that they both have idiosyncratic dating methods, or asymmetrical reverse wreaths?
Pacific Northwest Numismatic Association
Not a clue !!!
The toning is all there, but you have to catch it in the right light. Unfortunately I don't have a very good setup for tone in a slab. Takes me a hundred shots to get close
--Severian the Lame
Damn, man. There weren't supposed to be any similarities. I just thought they were cool coins. Thanks for ruining it for me
--Severian the Lame
they are expensive
You bought both of them?
Nice coins BTW
No idea but they look great!
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Congrats... Nice examples. I wonder how many of the so-called Gin marked yen coins survived in MS.
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
I find Gin left has more than Gin right but I could be wrong.
I like that Italian piece!
Latin American Collection
Thanks. A thumbnail count from ATS shows about 100 examples MS60 and above across all 21 of the years included in this series (1870-1897). PCGS shows maybe 250 total. So fewer than 400 mint state examples from both services across all 21 years.
That said, I see only one gem (65 or higher) example from either TPG. And these figures are out of a combined mintage of around 100 million.
--Severian the Lame
The gin coins weren't always slabbed as problem free, and aren't always attributed on the labels. That said, finding nice ones isn't so easy. I'm still shopping around for one (well two as I want a left and a right)...wish I'd seen the auction.
I was going to say dating by year of the ruler. Also, 'coins Stork should own'. Always loved the Piedmont one as the allegorical female on the right looks preggers, sometimes more than others depending on the wear pattern.
Makes sense, @Stork. Loved the luster on the Japanese piece and the port wine tone on the reverse.
I've read that the gin mark is not technically considered a "chop". Rather a countermark--but maybe even that is too strong a word since it was made by the same mint who made these coins in the first place. As such, it's not (now) considered damage but actually integral to the coin. All the more interesting since it is so similar to and was made of the material, time, and location where actual chops were so common.
I'm guessing the allegorical symbols on the Piedmont piece are France staring lovingly into Piedmont's eyes, offering protection from the world she's incapable of facing alone
--Severian the Lame
They all have a buyer's premium that is too high.
(Nice coins though.)
ANA LM
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That Italy piece
Finally had a sunny day here and a few minutes to try to capture the Piedmont's color.
The golds pop and have pretty lustrous red highlights in-hand (more like the trueview above). Especially around the feet. But everything else is pretty close.
Speaking of luster: That's mint luster, as near as I can tell, on the reverse. It has cartwheel, too. And note the denticals? Makes me wonder how our hosts gave it a 35 grade. I know these are few and far between, so grading is a little subjective. But I have to think these were struck under less than ideal conditions, and it's closer to a 45.
Thoughts?
--Severian the Lame
@Weiss said: "Speaking of luster: That's mint luster, as near as I can tell, on the reverse. It has cartwheel, too. And note the denticals? Makes me wonder how our hosts gave it a 35 grade. I know these are few and far between, so grading is a little subjective. But I have to think these were struck under less than ideal conditions, and it's closer to a 45. Thoughts?"
Yes, mint luster and IMO, the coin is graded correctly. While we don't use European standards over here, someone claiming the coin was an XF would probably be ignored. When I was learning to grade, VF coins had lots of mint luster.
From what I see today, if a dealer can find a tiny bit of luster remaining inside the center of the letter "D" he grades the coin XF+!!
From old goofy list I did in the '70s
Seller's grading:
AG ...........Somewhat round but completely smooth
G ........... Mostly round, a trace of design is present
VG .........Round, identifiable
F ..........Date discernible, design smooth
VF ..........Details begin to show
XF ......... Full rim, lettering is readable
AU ............Some high points show
Unc ............Some luster or "shine", most of high points are not smooth.
Buyer's grading:
AG ..........All details and high points are clear and bold
G ...........Some mint luster, almost new
VG .........Full blazing luster, everything is bold
F .............Blazing luster with mint "frost"
VF .......... As above with no bag marks
XF ...........Blazing luster, full mint frost, no bag marks, field must have mirror finish, pristine and superlative
AU ...... Coin will draw blood if touched on high points
Unc......... Imaginary condition. If coin has left mint, it is circulated.
I see your point and I've seen it in person, first hand
Here are two other examples available currently through Vcoins, also billed as "VF".
Note the weakness at 3:00 and 9:00 and the lifelessness on the reverse of the first, the lack of detail on Piedmont's dress on the second:
This one from eBay is being offered as VF/XF. Again, the weakness at 9:00 and the dress:
Finally, here's an XF45 from ATS. I think it's close, probably the NGC by a nose. Maybe it's really a 40?
--Severian the Lame