Heritage Houston NewP, and a Mega Cherrypick, 1688 American Plantations Token Newman 2-G *Arms Trans

ambro51 · December 10, 2013 9:20AM

Luck, Knowledge and Timing paid off. For 21 days after I placed my bid on Lot 7001 I was a nervous wreck. Heritage, God Luv 'em, provided a useless auction description. NGC, God luv 'em, failed to do adequate research to denote the coins proper variety. Perhaps the level of rareness made many unfamiliar with this admittedly esoteric piece, and the confusing reverse added to confusion. But, what it IS, is the Transposed Arms Variety, Newman 2-G. On the reverse, the shields of Scotland and Ireland are different from all other AmPlants. It's obvious, if you "look". Walter Breen noted six known, Whitman says more have came to light, but Auction sale records are virtually non existent, the only I could ding was one SB sale two years ago for a very gnarly VF ($3700). PCGS has no archived auctions for this coin and in fact lacks illustrations of it. Two have been slabbed by PCGS. ••••••. Lot 7001 was the first lot up for the day. I'm glad I had a large bid set because I was not able to get to it before bidding was over. It ran up about 450 and stopped with my book bid winning, with BP $1290. ••••••. With no sales of record it's impossible to value this but the Pricd guide lists 40 at 17K and 53 at 25K. They DO actually grade these well and by comparisons with graded pieces I think this one is solid AU. The tin pest present on the reverse may bring Genuine into play but it's a close call. They DO understand this issue well. Anyway, it's a major addition to the set, the collection as a whole, and most importantly a message to ALL of you that sometimes the little guy can win. Learn your series, memorize and understand the references, have faith in your knowledge and sometimes, sometimes.. ..it all goes good for you. 1688 American Plantations Token Breen 82 Newman 2-G Original Strike Transposed Arms. Enjoy!

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Unknown · December 10, 2013 9:24AM

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1tommy · December 10, 2013 9:39AM

Excellent Story and Proves Once again Knowledge is Power.......YOU SUCK...........Congrats and Enjoy

cmerlo1 · December 10, 2013 9:55AM

Congrats!

Icollecteverything · December 10, 2013 9:59AM

Major score and a great looking coin. How nuts did you go waiting 21 days?

bidask · December 10, 2013 10:03AM

Congrats on the cherry pick!

keyman64 · December 10, 2013 10:11AM

Knowledge is power. Congratulations to you. Well done.

ambro51 · December 10, 2013 11:41AM

Sitting on that bid for 21 days knowing I had a 95% chance of being blown away IF a few people saw, and recognized this rate variety was rough. I slept like crap, then couldn't get away from thinking about it. Thankfully there were two confidants on this forum I talked this out with. They were both great supporters and it was good to talk it out. Totally bizarre was the huge number of page views, over 1100! The bidder/watcher numbers stayed the same. Very odd. I do think there were other interested parties that were not able to bid for one reason or another. It's a good coin and a fun series to learn and collect.

SeattleSlammer · December 10, 2013 1:47PM

I enjoyed the backstory......that may be quite the future payoff. Interesting piece. Kudos!

Staircoins · December 10, 2013 9:19PM

Well played, sir!

MilkmanDan · December 10, 2013 9:26PM

This hobby isn't supposed to be stressful but it sure can be in this sort of situation. Like you pointed out it's nice to have friends to share in the excitement and I'm glad it worked out for you.

TPRC · December 10, 2013 11:04PM

Congratulations Ambro. Your enthusiasm is inspiring!

CoinRaritiesOnline · December 10, 2013 11:54PM

Congrats Ambro - you earned it!

guitarwes · December 11, 2013 12:13AM

<< Congratulations Ambro. Your enthusiasm is inspiring! >>

+1

nags · December 11, 2013 2:24AM

Congrats! I'm always amazed at your knowledge of this area of numismatics. Truly shows the power of knowledge and persistence.

kimber45ACP · December 11, 2013 2:31AM

sparky64 · December 11, 2013 2:32AM

Well done and congratulations.

I'll bet most of those 1100 page views were from you checking every half hour for 21 days.

ambro51 · December 11, 2013 4:06AM

This is probably as close as I'll get to earning the coveted YOU SUCK award. Do I qualify for the official process?

sparky64 · December 11, 2013 4:48AM

<< This is probably as close as I'll get to earning the coveted YOU SUCK award. Do I qualify for the official process?

>>

Seems to me that 1tommy has already made a motion to bestow this coveted award to you. I'll second it.

MidLifeCrisis · December 11, 2013 4:59AM

<< Congrats Ambro - you earned it! >>

Ditto!

CaptHenway · December 11, 2013 5:00AM

Good eye!

Justlooking · December 11, 2013 5:30AM

That is one terrific score!

Icollecteverything · December 11, 2013 6:07AM

<< Sitting on that bid for 21 days knowing I had a 95% chance of being blown away IF a few people saw, and recognized this rate variety was rough. I slept like crap, then couldn't get away from thinking about it. Thankfully there were two confidants on this forum I talked this out with. They were both great supporters and it was good to talk it out. Totally bizarre was the huge number of page views, over 1100! The bidder/watcher numbers stayed the same. Very odd. I do think there were other interested parties that were not able to bid for one reason or another. It's a good coin and a fun series to learn and collect. >>

I am picturing Ambro hunched over his computer in a old bathrobe, with a 21 day beard, food and drink containers scattered around and a glazed look in his eye while pushing "refresh" over and over and muttering to himself.

I am not qualified to give out official "You Suck" awards..........but you definitely do suck!

Lakesammman · December 11, 2013 7:43AM

1100 page views?? Your 2 friends were toying with you!

Major congrats!!!

keyman64 · December 11, 2013 8:10AM

<< Well done and congratulations.

I'll bet most of those 1100 page views were from you checking every half hour for 21 days.

>>

I know this feeling well!

Shamika · December 11, 2013 9:44AM

Outstanding win. The wait must have been killing you.

kiyote · December 11, 2013 10:24AM

Ambro51 posts are never a let down. Thanks for sharing!

1tommy · December 12, 2013 1:13AM

Having the same passion for coins just a different series, I have to laugh as I recently put a bid on a coin that is the first graded Variety in my series. I just opened with the minumun bid, and of course the tornado outbreak here in Illinois shut my power down for 9 hrs on the ending day of the auction. To My amazement when I got back on No One else had Bid and I won. Sometimes luck does play into it but most of the time without the knowledge, these coins would be passed up. The OLD Forum guard would have all chimed in with the You Suck but times have changed, and now its the NEW GUARD. And yes we have our own secret hand shake. Congrats again... Enjoy

AuroraBorealis · December 12, 2013 2:05AM

Very cool...

AB

Unknown · December 12, 2013 8:19AM

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Unknown · December 12, 2013 9:41AM

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Icollecteverything · December 12, 2013 9:46AM

Ambro,

Could you please give me a little edumacation on the "tin pest"? I know you have touched a little on it and it seems to be common on old tin. How does it happen and what, if any, acceptable measures are used to stop or control it?

Type2 · December 12, 2013 10:02AM

Smoking pick.

ambro51 · December 12, 2013 11:45AM

You Guys realize I would covet the "Award" more than the coin itself, it would certainly not be something I'd be tempted to sell. :-) As to Tin, this interesting and unfamiliar metal, to us, has many odd traits best seriously presented here. . In a nutshell, the metal is reactive to temperature, breaking down into alpha tin ( a grey powder) from the metallic beta tin. The degree on this is related to the purity of the tin. Alloyed metals such as lead, bismuth and antimony will increase the resistance of the tin to break down. At its purest state, Tin will react at temperatures below 56 degrees Fahrenheit. Additions of the mentioned metals, or other traces such as silver, will even prevent the decay. British Tin Farthings are 96.5% tin, 3% lead and .5% traces including copper. I've seen one analysis of an AmPlant original which shows 97.5% Tin and 2.5% Antimony. This may be the reason pest on the farthings seems to differ a bit from pest on the AmPlants, but this only my theory. I do think hardness wise, the farthings are softer. •••••. As how to stop this, once a speck of alpha tin is present the process will continue when conditions allow. This means that under room temperature, or somewhat lower, the pest is stable. To what degree the temperature must sink before this alloyed form of Tin we have begins to react.... That is something I can't answer. •••••••• Perhaps if I work hard and collect all ten varieties I can persuade my wife to allow us to move to Florida.....for the sake of the coins :-).

7Jaguars · December 12, 2013 1:15PM

I also congratulate you! Nice job.

A question that goes begging however is that if so many missed this coin, might there not be a number of other undiscovered variant types of this transposed sort, or even other varieties?

ambro51 · December 12, 2013 7:46PM

YES unrecognized varieties have indeed came to light since Newmans research. Subtle difference in letter spacing is the main difference.

Icollecteverything · December 13, 2013 1:10AM

Thanks Ambro. That is really odd that tin pest occurs due to temperature and the Wiki article says it is not easily oxidized due to air or water. Now you have to make sure your heat doesn't fail.

Unknown · December 13, 2013 1:14AM

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Heritage Houston NewP, and a Mega Cherrypick, 1688 American Plantations Token Newman 2-G *Arms Trans

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