Options
What I think coin collecting is all about...in one image
RYK
Posts: 35,799 ✭✭✭✭✭
I saw the photo below in a thread discussing the pricing structure of Trade dollars during the Depression Borrowed from another thread(link) when Duiguy posted the photo below:
I could not stop thinking about it! It encompasses just about everything I enjoy about coin collecting.
1. An early 19th century precious metal (silver) coin. How does such a thing survive the ravages of time? How did it failed to get melted, damaged, or lost over time? How many different owners? How many times was it used in commerce? Did anyone famous, like a Founding Father, ever handle it? How did it spend the Civil War? Etc.
2. Max Mehl and the history of numismatics. Numismatics has its own stories to tell, and after a certain point in time, the coin was removed from circulation and placed in a collection (or maybe a family heirloom at some point). How many collectors have owned the coin? Any famous collectors? Did the Clapp own it and upgrade it with another piece? Was it a pocket piece for FCC Boyd? How about notable dealers--we know Mehl owned it, how about Kosoff? Did it spend any time at Stack's in NY? With Birdie Johnson is St. Louis? Etc.
3. The design and manufacture if the coin. An allegorical design for a fledgling nation, how impressive it must have been to the citizens who encountered it at the time. Ye Olde Mint comes to mind.
4. A large, impressive, mid-grade circulated original-appearing coin that is over 200 years old. 'Nuff said.
5. The absence of slabs, stickers, and grading assessments is a throwback to a simpler time.
6. What were the circumstances of the Mehl auction that sold the coin for $3.60. Was lot #1695 an 1800 $1 in Gem? What else did the purchaser buy? Did he bid by mail? Was it a dealer or collector? Was the coin part of a larger consignment or something brought in, as a single, "over the counter" by someone desperate to feed a family? What was the estimated price in the catalog? Was it a rip for the buyer...or did he get buried? Etc.
At any rate, that one photo depicts just about everything I enjoy about collecting coins.
I could not stop thinking about it! It encompasses just about everything I enjoy about coin collecting.
1. An early 19th century precious metal (silver) coin. How does such a thing survive the ravages of time? How did it failed to get melted, damaged, or lost over time? How many different owners? How many times was it used in commerce? Did anyone famous, like a Founding Father, ever handle it? How did it spend the Civil War? Etc.
2. Max Mehl and the history of numismatics. Numismatics has its own stories to tell, and after a certain point in time, the coin was removed from circulation and placed in a collection (or maybe a family heirloom at some point). How many collectors have owned the coin? Any famous collectors? Did the Clapp own it and upgrade it with another piece? Was it a pocket piece for FCC Boyd? How about notable dealers--we know Mehl owned it, how about Kosoff? Did it spend any time at Stack's in NY? With Birdie Johnson is St. Louis? Etc.
3. The design and manufacture if the coin. An allegorical design for a fledgling nation, how impressive it must have been to the citizens who encountered it at the time. Ye Olde Mint comes to mind.
4. A large, impressive, mid-grade circulated original-appearing coin that is over 200 years old. 'Nuff said.
5. The absence of slabs, stickers, and grading assessments is a throwback to a simpler time.
6. What were the circumstances of the Mehl auction that sold the coin for $3.60. Was lot #1695 an 1800 $1 in Gem? What else did the purchaser buy? Did he bid by mail? Was it a dealer or collector? Was the coin part of a larger consignment or something brought in, as a single, "over the counter" by someone desperate to feed a family? What was the estimated price in the catalog? Was it a rip for the buyer...or did he get buried? Etc.
At any rate, that one photo depicts just about everything I enjoy about collecting coins.
0
Comments
I absolutely, positively, agree with you. It never gets old, and the stories never end. Furthermore, new ones cointinue to sprout...
That is well said. You took the words right out of my mouth.
Too many positive BST transactions with too many members to list.
Very Nice Post Robert
My Coin Blog
My Toned Lincoln Registry Set
<< <i>Love this post! This boils things down perfectly. >>
Yep !
<< <i>Lets say that coin is a VF 30 +- a little , it has went up about 800 times its value. I wonder if coins will do that in the next 70 or so years. >>
Sorry, brother, but posts like that kill the romance of this thread, IMO.
Imagine all the collectors who looked at the wear, the remaining luster (if any), the strike.
Imagine how many collectors had that coin in their collection.
Good stuff.
I remember pulling our many of my early coins that were in envelopes and labeled Gem BU, CHBU, Fine, Very Fine...no numbers, just conditions.
Brings back memories.
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
<< <i>Well said, especially with respect to number 5. >>
Ditto!
All very well said. Thanks for posting.
<< <i>I've always loved that image, too. >>
type2,CCHunter.
The history is fascinating. To think what that dollar could have seen...but we will never know. The fun is the guessing....
siliconvalleycoins.com