"Numismatic Gladiator" VII (jtlee321 vs. TavernTreasures)
lordmarcovan
Posts: 43,673 ✭✭✭✭✭
WELCOME TO NUMISMATIC GLADIATOR VII!
To see how the earlier competitions went, click here.
1. Both contestants agreed to purchase a single coin from the assigned category.
2. The coin had to cost no more than $25.00 US.
3. In order to avoid either contestant having an advantage, contestants agreed to buy their coins from the same public venue.
4. Shipping was not included in the $25.00 limit.
5. You can now vote on which coin you like best without knowing which coin belongs to whom. That will be revealed at the end.
6. The person whose coin receives the most votes gets bragging rights and a sigline trophy.
(And the cool coin they purchased, obviously.)
This cointest will run until midnight Eastern on Monday, August 8, 2016.
Vote for whichever coin appeals to you most.
This need not be the one that is more monetarily valuable. Catalog and/or retail value should be weighed into the decision, of course, but this cointest is about overall desirability - eye appeal, history, design, etc. It is much more about collecting fun than "investment" value.
The coins are presented here in chronological order, in similar sized images (though note that the actual coins themselves may differ widely in physical size).
Which do you like better?
(Note: "OGP" = original government packaging)
COIN A: 1971 Panama: 1-Balboa, silver proof, in OGP @ $24.78 from eBay.
Mintage: 6,863.
Bullion content: .7734 oz ASW.
Certificate from packaging
NGC/Krause priceguide listing
Commentary from LordM:
I'm sure we can look past the cellophane. Great historical design with a US Mint association, and the same amount of silver as a pre-1934 US silver dollar, too. Very nice.
COIN B: USA: 1972-S Eisenhower dollar, silver proof, in "Brown Box" OGP, @ $19.99 from eBay.
Mintage: 2,193,056.
Bullion content: .3162 oz ASW.
Brown box and inner case
Numismedia priceguide
NGC priceguide
PCGS priceguide
Commentary from LordM:
Don't sell yourself short, Gladiator B. That's very nice toning in my opinion, and all the original packaging is there. We'll see how the voting goes, but I think you made a fine choice.
Hats off to our cointestants! May the "best" coin win!
FINAL RESULTS: Coin "A" received the most poll votes, thereby producing victory for TavernTreasures.
Which item do you like better, for the money? (Total Votes: 54)
A- 1971 Panama: 1-Balboa, silver proof, in OGP @ $24.78
32 votes 59.26 (%)
B- 1972-S Eisenhower dollar, silver proof, in "Brown Box" OGP, @ $19.99
19 votes 35.19 (%)
C- I can't decide- they're both great for the money
3 votes 5.56 (%)
D- Neither- they both suck
0 votes 0.00 (%)
E- I'm totally neutral
0 votes 0.00 (%)
To see how the earlier competitions went, click here.
1. Both contestants agreed to purchase a single coin from the assigned category.
2. The coin had to cost no more than $25.00 US.
3. In order to avoid either contestant having an advantage, contestants agreed to buy their coins from the same public venue.
4. Shipping was not included in the $25.00 limit.
5. You can now vote on which coin you like best without knowing which coin belongs to whom. That will be revealed at the end.
6. The person whose coin receives the most votes gets bragging rights and a sigline trophy.
(And the cool coin they purchased, obviously.)
This cointest will run until midnight Eastern on Monday, August 8, 2016.
Vote for whichever coin appeals to you most.
This need not be the one that is more monetarily valuable. Catalog and/or retail value should be weighed into the decision, of course, but this cointest is about overall desirability - eye appeal, history, design, etc. It is much more about collecting fun than "investment" value.
The coins are presented here in chronological order, in similar sized images (though note that the actual coins themselves may differ widely in physical size).
Which do you like better?
(Note: "OGP" = original government packaging)
COIN A: 1971 Panama: 1-Balboa, silver proof, in OGP @ $24.78 from eBay.
Mintage: 6,863.
Bullion content: .7734 oz ASW.
Certificate from packaging
NGC/Krause priceguide listing
Message from the gladiator who bought Coin A:
STRUCK AT THE US MINT IN SAN FRANCISCO! This silver dollar sized “One Balboa” coin was struck at the US Mint in San Francisco and dated 1971. Made for the Republic of Panama. Roberto Lewis a Panamanian artist designed the obverse in the 1930’s. The 1st issue of this coin was minted from 1931-1947 and had a different reverse. This 1971 dated coin is from the 2nd issue which lasted from 1966 thru 1974. The 1966 coins were minted in both proof and business strikes with the following years 1967-1974 being proofs only. All these dates were all made in 90% silver and they are marked as such on the reverse to the left of the shield. So in 1971 when the SF mint was churning out my coin in 90% silver for Panama, the mint was also striking Ikes for us U.S. collectors that were only 40% silver!
For my purchase I was leaning towards the date 1971 because the mintage appears to be the lowest of all the proof dates. And because there were not many choices below $25. There is conflicting information on the quantity minted. Some sources listed the mintage of 1971 as 6863 (as you can see on the card pictured in the auction). Other places I found the mintage to be listed as 18,000. I hope the smaller number is the actual quantity struck.
This proof coin is still in the original cellophane and the seller has assured me that all the marks are on the cello and not the coin. But I do see some staining through the cello when I examine the photos closely. The downslide risk on this coin is low because it contains .773 troy ounces of silver.
Balboa (the man) was a very interesting person and his life story would make a good movie but with a very sad ending. Check it out on Wikipedia.
So here it is! I am entering Vasco Nunez de Balboa who was a conquistador, governor and explorer into this Numismatic Gladiator challenge! With me as his second! I hope he is up to it!
STRUCK AT THE US MINT IN SAN FRANCISCO! This silver dollar sized “One Balboa” coin was struck at the US Mint in San Francisco and dated 1971. Made for the Republic of Panama. Roberto Lewis a Panamanian artist designed the obverse in the 1930’s. The 1st issue of this coin was minted from 1931-1947 and had a different reverse. This 1971 dated coin is from the 2nd issue which lasted from 1966 thru 1974. The 1966 coins were minted in both proof and business strikes with the following years 1967-1974 being proofs only. All these dates were all made in 90% silver and they are marked as such on the reverse to the left of the shield. So in 1971 when the SF mint was churning out my coin in 90% silver for Panama, the mint was also striking Ikes for us U.S. collectors that were only 40% silver!
For my purchase I was leaning towards the date 1971 because the mintage appears to be the lowest of all the proof dates. And because there were not many choices below $25. There is conflicting information on the quantity minted. Some sources listed the mintage of 1971 as 6863 (as you can see on the card pictured in the auction). Other places I found the mintage to be listed as 18,000. I hope the smaller number is the actual quantity struck.
This proof coin is still in the original cellophane and the seller has assured me that all the marks are on the cello and not the coin. But I do see some staining through the cello when I examine the photos closely. The downslide risk on this coin is low because it contains .773 troy ounces of silver.
Balboa (the man) was a very interesting person and his life story would make a good movie but with a very sad ending. Check it out on Wikipedia.
So here it is! I am entering Vasco Nunez de Balboa who was a conquistador, governor and explorer into this Numismatic Gladiator challenge! With me as his second! I hope he is up to it!
Commentary from LordM:
I'm sure we can look past the cellophane. Great historical design with a US Mint association, and the same amount of silver as a pre-1934 US silver dollar, too. Very nice.
COIN B: USA: 1972-S Eisenhower dollar, silver proof, in "Brown Box" OGP, @ $19.99 from eBay.
Mintage: 2,193,056.
Bullion content: .3162 oz ASW.
Brown box and inner case
Numismedia priceguide
NGC priceguide
PCGS priceguide
Message from the gladiator who bought Coin B:
Ok. I picked up something. There were other contenders but they were listed as auctions. This one I picked up because it gave me a chance to buy something I probably would not normally have bought. I wanted to find a world coin, but what I was finding was questionable to me. This one I feel at least is NT as it's still in the mint packaging. It's a 1972-S Proof brown box Ike. It may get crushed in the voting, but we shall see.
Ok. I picked up something. There were other contenders but they were listed as auctions. This one I picked up because it gave me a chance to buy something I probably would not normally have bought. I wanted to find a world coin, but what I was finding was questionable to me. This one I feel at least is NT as it's still in the mint packaging. It's a 1972-S Proof brown box Ike. It may get crushed in the voting, but we shall see.
Commentary from LordM:
Don't sell yourself short, Gladiator B. That's very nice toning in my opinion, and all the original packaging is there. We'll see how the voting goes, but I think you made a fine choice.
Hats off to our cointestants! May the "best" coin win!
FINAL RESULTS: Coin "A" received the most poll votes, thereby producing victory for TavernTreasures.
Which item do you like better, for the money? (Total Votes: 54)
A- 1971 Panama: 1-Balboa, silver proof, in OGP @ $24.78
32 votes 59.26 (%)
B- 1972-S Eisenhower dollar, silver proof, in "Brown Box" OGP, @ $19.99
19 votes 35.19 (%)
C- I can't decide- they're both great for the money
3 votes 5.56 (%)
D- Neither- they both suck
0 votes 0.00 (%)
E- I'm totally neutral
0 votes 0.00 (%)
0
Comments
This would be fun. What kind of time frames do the Gladiators get to find the coins? Do they have to be bought on eBay? I might be interested in participating in this.
It's usually eBay. Gladiators may have up to a week to find their coins, though in practice, most people usually have made their purchases within three days or so.
Go for it! Buy something cool.
Ebay, $25.00 or less, preferably via fixed price BIN or Best Offer (not auction).
PM me a link when you've made your purchase.
Any World OR US coin, 1965 or later.
PS- good to see you, TT- longtimenosee.
PPS- jtlee- I know you're a pro photographer, but thought I'd forewarn you that we use the sellers' images in these polls.
(Typo in the OP now fixed. The contest limit is usually set at $20, but for this and any others potentially involving US coins, it's $25.)
Coin bought--link sent!
Oh, goodie. I get to peek at it before anybody else, so nyah nyah.
The poll is now up and the coins are posted.
Salute the gladiators!
Two great choices. The Ike's toning almost swayed me but in the end I voted for the Balboa.
Imagine what a killer coin you'd have if you could put the Ike's toning on the Balboa!
I have not voted yet. But the new forum polls allow you to watch poll results without voting, unlike the old, so I'm just sitting in the stands cheering for both right now. I'll likely vote later on.
DPOTD-3
'Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery'
CU #3245 B.N.A. #428
Don
Menomonee Falls Wisconsin USA
http://www.pcgs.com/SetRegistr...dset.aspx?s=68269&ac=1">Musky 1861 Mint Set
This contest is great fun, and seeing just how varied the selections are within the parameters is truly enjoyable--especially considering how similar the selections were for the first round!
Two great choices. The Ike's toning almost swayed me but in the end I voted for the Balboa.
Ditto for me.
WNC Coins, LLC
1987-C Hendersonville Road
Asheville, NC 28803
wnccoins.com
I voted but won't try to sway future voters.
Just a suggestion LM, I think you should only have both coins in the poll.
Not any other choices.
Although I see that every vote so far, has been for a coin.
Nice work. Fun!
"If I say something in the woods and my wife isn't there to hear it.....am I still wrong?"
My Washington Quarter Registry set...in progress
Two great choices. The Ike's toning almost swayed me but in the end I voted for the Balboa.
Ditto for me.
And me as well- I finally voted "A"- but only after much deliberation.
Just a suggestion LM, I think you should only have both coins in the poll.
Not any other choices.
I think that this is a good idea. If people can't decide then their opinions don't carry much weight.
Just a suggestion LM, I think you should only have both coins in the poll.
Not any other choices.
I think that this is a good idea. If people can't decide then their opinions don't carry much weight.
I dunno, I like having a neutral option, but then again, that's mostly a holdover from the old forums, where you had to vote for something before you could see the results. I will discuss it with my fellow NG director, Aethelred.
LordM should only vote in case of a tie
I used to abstain, actually. I always do when I'm a competitor.
(Which is another reason there's that neutral option there.)
Latin American Collection
owner of the coin asked me to remove the picture of this Ike dollar
We have a winner!
Coin A, the Panamanian Balboa, was chosen, and that coin was purchased by...
TavernTreasures!
Congratulations, TT! Well played!
Here is your sigline trophy, should you choose to join the few and the proud, and wear it.
Thanks also to jtlee321 for participating. Now, I want to see his pictures of that Ike in its true colors. I understand they're considerably different from the ones we've been looking at.
The seller's photo's of the Ike I entered were a bit deceiving to say the least. They overemphasized the "Rainbow" toning around the rim and completely ignored an aspect that potentially could have let him sell the coin for a much higher premium than I bought it for. I was not completely ignorant as to what to expect, I knew the coin in the photo's was an exaggeration, what I received was better than I anticipated. The coin has it's flaws and I know you Ike collectors will spot them. But, overall I am happy with my purchase. Had it not been for lordmarcovan selecting me as a contestant in this latest round of Numismatic Gladiator, I would not have gone shopping for something I don't normally collect or shop for. So for that alone, I am grateful.
Thank you again lordmarcovan, I very much look forward to future battles in the "Numismatic Gladiator" series.
And now, here are the images of the coin I did receive... (I am a little disappointed with the number of spot on the coin, but I can overlook them)
I don't know that those new pix would've influenced my vote, but they look great!
Congrats TT on the victory and thank you LM for your contributions to the boards.
"If I say something in the woods and my wife isn't there to hear it.....am I still wrong?"
My Washington Quarter Registry set...in progress
Congrats TavernTreaures winning the contest, the Balboa is a great coin with nice pics.
[URL=http://s103.photobucket.com/user/taverntreasures/media/obverse_zpsnbd4i3lf.jpg.html]
[URL=http://s103.photobucket.com/user/taverntreasures/media/reverse_zps85uxwbfv.jpg.html]
Again, both nice grabs for the money, though.
I've really enjoyed seeing what people come up with in these "Numismatic Gladiator" contests.