Post your favorite acquisition of 2017
Boosibri
Posts: 12,289 ✭✭✭✭✭
While the year isn't over yet, lets get the ball rolling!
Only Charles IIII 8E in 65 for any date or service. Was raw, then N65 now P65.
17
Comments
CAR 1832, 2 reales:
Quite rare.
1924 Russia 1 Rouble
https://bishopricquid.com/
1859 W9/8 with a coinage alignment. One of only two graded by PCGS and by far the better of the two. Not the best eye appeal, but a really scarce coin. I have not imaged it yet, so here is the Heritage link.
https://coins.ha.com/itm/canada/canada-victoria-wide-9-cent-1859-8-ms64-red-and-brown-pcgs-/a/3056-30159.s?ic2=mybidspage-lotlinks-12202013&tab=MyBids-101116
http://www.victoriancent.com
My favorite acquisition was something to fill a hole in my English Sovereign Portrait Crown collection; a crown of Elizabeth I.
DPOTD
Wolverhampton Pitt Club medal, 1813 (BHM #772)
My avatar coin: my white whale coin is an Alfred the Great penny with the London monogram on the reverse to commemorate his victory over the Vikings at the Battle of Beddington in 871 AD. The coin pictured below is the far rarer 1/2p version. In truth, the 1/2p version is sufficient as the white whale coin because what I really wanted was the London monogram.
How does one get a hater to stop hating?
I can be reached at evillageprowler@gmail.com
Probably this Diocletian Argenteus, NGC Choice MS★ 5/5 5/5
Gobrecht's Engraved Mature Head Large Cent Model
https://www.instagram.com/rexrarities/?hl=en
I was fortunate to be able to acquire my holy grail: a good quality, though worn, cast of Pisanello's medal of John VIII Palaeologus:
Lead, 101.6 mm Ø, 504.4 g
Pisanello is regarded as the inventor of the Renaissance portrait medal, and his medal of the penultimate Byzantine emperor made during John VIII's trip to Italy in 1438-39 is generally considered to be the first medal he created.
This example was formerly in the Michael Hall collection, and was shown as part of "The Currency of Fame" - a 1994 exhibition of Renaissance medals at the Frick Collection in NYC and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.
Virtus Collection - Renaissance and Baroque Medals
I really cut back on acquisitions this year. This one is from January.
1603 thaler, Teutonic Order. Maximilian of Austria, Dav-5848
Sceat of Eadberht, king of Northumbria 737-758
Mint: York (presumably)
S. 847B
O: EOTBEREhTVſ.
R: Fantastic animal facing left
One of the earliest English kings to issue coins, Eadberht's coinage features what is called a "fantastic animal" which is something of a heraldic horse-dragon that must have had some meaning for the dynasty of Northumbria. This creature would feature on later coins of his successors as well.
I dabbled in a couple of new pieces outside my focus this year, but if I have to pick one favorite, it has to be the 1743 1/2 taler from Mainz. Tough issue with low mintage. NGC AU-55.
A few that I like. Overall, a selective, more disciplined, year.
1604 Rudolph 3T
1803 Hamburg Millennia Medal
1683 Siege of Vienna Show Taler
1632 Augsburg Medal
Wow! Such cool coins and medals and stuff.
Here are some more of my favorites...
[Italian States, from the 2017 NYINC show]
[German States, via private treaty from a friend who is doing home renovations]
[Great Britain, from CNG 106]
How does one get a hater to stop hating?
I can be reached at evillageprowler@gmail.com
Probably this cap and rays 4 real from CRO. These are so tough to find nice as compared to the 8 reales.
1868/58-Go YF/PF. PCGS MS63. Love the 'pull-away' toning! Cool variety, being an over date and over assayer.
Looks like you all had a very good year.
Successful BST deals with mustangt and jesbroken. Now EVERYTHING is for sale.
Rainbow toned 1904 Mexico Peso:
Probably this one picked up in February. But hard to choose just one!
1745 Half Crown "LIMA" PCGS 55
My current "Box of 20"
another top coin added this year
Latin American Collection
Thanks for sharing !!!
Gorgeous coins!
I have to admit that my usual ADD approach to collecting makes it very hard to pick a single favorite. But, some selling, trading, and a schedule adjustment at work (more hours meant more discretionary dollars) allowed me to make some buys I'd not thought reasonable in a single year, more like 5-10 years.
However, one stands above the rest. Thanks to the help of Mr.E, this one has made it into my Albanian coin collection. It's the one that I never expected to have because of scarcity and an inherent 'I'll never spend so much on a hobby" attitude. I'm not sure if I've posted some or all of this here, if it's repetitive, oops.
The 1926 20 FrA coin has some mystery to it. There are two types listed--one with the (at the time) President Zog bust/double headed eagle reverse and the historical hero Prince Skanderbeg bust/winged lion reverse.
Despite consistent reports of the Zog bust production, I have yet to see an auction/sale of one, other than a single listing in all the online years of the Numismatist classifieds--no picture there, just the catalog # and who knows if that was an error or real?
The Prince Skanderbeg bust has two varieties listed. Of the total mintage of 6000, there were 100 minted bearing the fasces privy type mark in addition to the 'R' mint mark. Of the 100, 90 were reported melted.
Notice the annoying placement of the white prong right over the area with the important design feature of the fasces mark on the reverse!
I've found no specific or official reason for either the melting, redesign, or retention of the 10 coins.
However, in a book published by the Bank of Albania there is reference to a banknote that was withdrawn from circulation in the same time frame. The note was objectionable and rejected due to the single headed eagle design which was 'not Albanian'. It would not be surprising to me that the prominent fasces mark would also be considered 'not Albanian' and also be objectionable.
In translation, the book also states the 100 pieces were trial pieces. However the trial pieces of Albanian coins (even on other coins from 1926) are marked 'prova' and these are not, which is perhaps a reflection of the translation.
My suspicion would be that the first 100 pieces were struck and reviewed, but subsequently rejected due to the fasces with the dies reworked to remove the fasces for the remaining 5900 coins. Though 90 were melted I can see 10 being retained either by some individuals involved and/or the mint. If nothing else the Italian King was an avid coin collector and easily could have been given early pieces. All speculation of course, but considering the fate of the one banknote, I can see the similar scenario for this coin.
As for the Zog bust 1926 coin, I have no idea. Perhaps they were all located in the Albanian Treasury when Italy invaded and were melted. Perhaps there are a few remaining in old European collections waiting to see the light of day. Still keeping an eye out for that one!
@Stork: Curious, why Albania
Latin American Collection
--Severian the Lame
Great stuff!
My YouTube Channel
Always a tough one to answer and it's never short.
Partly when I first started hanging out on CU there were several themes popular for collecting. Among them eagles and lions, of which there are some nice examples on Albanian coins. Also, the so-called 'bare breasted ladies' were very popular for awhile. Well, not being so into the 'bbl' theme, I joked around about collecting 'nekkid men' of which there are also some good Albanian coins.
Plus, when I first started trying to figure out what to collect I pursued the ever popular 'one from every country' collection. It became quite apparent early that most countries are hard to limit to just one coin as there are so many awesome choices. And, ever notice Albania comes up pretty close to the front of Krause? Basically I had a hard time getting past Albania on the country list.
Reading up on the history of Albania ended up being quite interesting. Zog was a self-made monarch--a mix of totalitarian leader, yet was trying to pull his country out of being a backwater. He imposed anti-animal cruelty laws, outlawed serfdom, 'banned the veil' among other things. Leading up to WWII Albania was one of few countries still writing visas for Jewish people and during the war the Jewish population actually increased (200 to 2000), and the rest of the country (Muslim and Christian) actively protected the Jewish residents. Zog's refusal to close the borders to Jewish people was one of the things that infuriated the Italians prior to the Italian occupation and Zog fleeing.
Anyway, after the first half dozen or so coins it ended up being a bit of an obsession.
Someone on another forum said he somehow pictured me as being of half Japanese-half Albanian descent...but I am neither. It did inspire me to create my new avatar though!
I think the Albanian designs rock - modern yet capture many ancient motifs with crafty engraving. You can clearly see the neighboring Italian influence.
I didn't buy many this year, my favorite, although not the most expensive, was my first ancient signed by the engraver.
World Collection
British Collection
German States Collection
Jeff, great to see you active (and alive and kicking!). Miss the camaraderie!
Cheers to you
And all the other wonder postings.
I would show the MS 1848/7 sixpence that I got earlier but have misplaced it!
Well, just Love coins, period.
I got this for short money and it's not very valuable, but it's what collecting is all about - getting something that has meaning to you. In this case, I'm from Hanover, MA and this coin led me to do a little research of Hanover, England. At the time, the monarchs were crowned at Hanover.
my bremerhaven
Radiant Collection: Numismatics and Exonumia of the Atomic Age.
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/showcase/3232
Bremerhaven, smelly port city on the North Sea. Absolutely beautiful 3DM coin.
1634/35 S-2773 Half Crown
Spanish America silver eight reales "cob" type 1685 Potosí (Charles II)
Silver, 39mm x 40mm, 25.11gm
Walt Disney had one and now I have one.
The Mysterious Egyptian Magic Coin
Coins in Movies
Coins on Television
I've waited for a Perseus Zoilos signed tetradrachm for years, having been outbid on two and missing a bid on one. This coin is the nicer than the three I tried for, so apparently involuntarily waiting was the right choice!
I did my US pick over on the "Commoners" side.
So I have two that belong here because I can't pick which ONE I'd pick if forced to.
My current favorite that I have an image of. Good year.
DPOTD-3
'Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery'
CU #3245 B.N.A. #428
Don
China: Warring States Period (475-220 BC). State of Yan "Yi" or "Ming" Knife ND (400-220 BC), H-4.42.
Carlos & Joanna 4 Reales ND (1542-1555) M-G. "Charolvs". Mexico City mint, KM0018. Sea Salvage
Charles III 8 Reales 1769 Mo-MF, Mexico City mint, KM105.
Ferdinand & Isabella Real ND (1474-1504)-S, Seville mint, Cay-2706.
Judea. Roman Procurators. Pontius Pilate (AD 26-36). AE prutah. Jerusalem, RY 16 (29/30). Hendin 1341.
Steve
British 1746 proof halfcrown
These are pretty cool. Do you have any others?
Does anyone grade these?
Thanks. Of my five favorites I posted above, this is definitely #1 on the list.
Heritage had five of these back in April 2017, and this is the only one I was able to pick up.
This particular one is 5" long, and 3/4" at its widest point. I don't know of anyone who grades/slabs them.
Steve
Just under the wire. I've wanted this particular coin for as long as I've been collecting.
mark
Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
Wonderful example of this counterstamped issue!
8 Reales Madness Collection
There are some pretty spectacular coins here. Tough call deciding what my favorite non-US was. It felt good to put a nice, big chunk of 18th century gold into my Prime Number set.
As well as a dated 15th century coin
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
In mid-2017 I cashed out an old retirement account CD, paid off my personal credit card debt (which has since been run up again, haha), and allowed myself to "splurge" a bit beyond my usual means, thereby expanding my "Eclectic Box of 20" beyond the self-imposed limit of 20 coins that I had kept to since 2013.
So now it's just the "Eclectic Box" (of MORE than 20). No more maximum number of pieces. Now my primary collection is an entirely freestyle accumulation, with the only unifying theme being that it's all stuff I like (obviously), and all certified by PCGS or NGC (or about to be). There IS a tiny bit of method to my madness, though- I'm trying to keep a good assortment of time periods, geographical regions, and cultures represented. Otherwise, pretty much anything goes.
I "got my Greek on" a bit this summer. It's hard for me to pick a favorite from this trio, but that Calabrian owl might be the pick of the litter as far as I'm concerned. I love the owl and the grey toning on it. (Note the perfect 5/5 strike/surface ratings NGC gave it, too.) The Corinthian stater is the crowd-pleaser, of course, and the one most people comment on.
These were photographed by a respected professional most of us know, who does NOT work for NGC, and therefore does not usually photograph ancient coins. I think he enjoyed that. I'm certainly glad I got him to shoot these.
I bought all of these raw and submitted them to NGC. The first one (the electrum hekte) came from Germania Inferior Numismatics. The two silver coins came from FORVM Ancient Coins.
Ancient Greece (Ionia, Phokaia): electrum hekte, Athena and quadripartite punch, ca. 478-387 BC
(NGC VF; Strike 5/5, Surface 3/5)
Ancient Greece (Corinth): silver stater featuring Pegasus and Athena, ca. 345-307 BC
(NGC AU; Strike 5/5, Surface 3/5)
Ancient Greece (Spartans in Taras, Calabria, Italy): silver drachm, Athena and owl, ca. 302-281 BC
(NGC XF; Strike 5/5, Surface 5/5)
RMW, I like that one immensely .
Thanks. It is slabbed as a 66 star by NGC.
I have a nice proof shilling 1746 as well but have yet to see a really nice 1746 proof sixpence. Am waiting to win the lottery to get the crown.
Really nice find.
Why 1746?
Thanks. Now on to get a nice proof sixpence.
Actually the halfcrown looks even nicer in hand as the pic is a bit overexposed.
@messydesk - what is your second coin there? What exactly is the date?
My current "Box of 20"
To Yorkshireman.
I don’t quite understand your question of why 1746, but it is the first year where Proof sets were struck for collectors ( 100 Sets) and for me it represents a good opportunity to get good examples of the Old Head type of George II. I also got a lustrous 1758/7 sixpence this year in MS 65 which has great toning as well, and so I can afford to wait until the right 1746 Proof sixpence comes along.
The coin is a Bausche from the Duchy of Jülich-Berg (northwestern Germany), dated 1483 in roman numerals around the inside ring on the reverse. Starting at about 7:30 on the reverse, A'*MCCCC*LXXXIII*.
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution