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Help my box of 6 become 20 - World Gold
ProfLiz
Posts: 261 ✭✭✭✭
Having fallen in love with the beauty and variety of world gold coins, I’ve slowly accumulated a few of my favorite designs. Now I would like to expand my “Box of 6” to a Box of 20, but there are so many options, and I’m looking for suggestions. I have a few ground rules:
— I’m going for coins that are beautiful or have an interesting story - or both!
— No kings, presidents, dictators, or generals.
— No moderns, which means approximately pre-1950.
Here is what I have so far, to give you an idea of what I like. So, any suggestions?
5
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Ah, no Kings, but Queens are good
How about a Prince/National Hero? Prince Skanderbeg of Albania is an interesting historical figure. Alive and active in the 1400s.
You've already hit up my favorite Japan, but there are a few more styles there.
The dragon style:
Or even the earlier pre-Modern bits:
Switzerland and Italy also have some attractive pieces. US? Some of that would be nice in a box o' 20 gold set. And, maybe some ancients?
You could make a box of world gold comprised of different animals either on the obverse or reverse.....hmmm that gives me ideas now......
Many members on this forum that now it cannot fit in my signature. Please ask for entire list.
Sure, you need an example of the hand on book escudo from Mexico. The 8 escudos are big if you want to spend, but there are 4 (expensive), 2, 1, and 1/2 escudos, the last ones very affordable. This is a 2 escudos ex Pittman.
I just love these coins.
Stork was thinking along the same lines as me with the "no Kings, but Queens are good" comment. Had kings been acceptable, I would have suggested the Canadian $5 or $10 gold from 1912-1914. They have a terrific backstory involving international arbitrage and WWI along with their eventual limited release from bank-stored bags a few years ago followed by the final melting of the vast majority of the extant pieces. They also have a very cool shield for Canada on them.
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
Latin American Collection
I like those 20 franc Napoleon coins. But you don't want them.
Interesting coin for non collectors to look at.
TomB
100% agree with you as far as the "before the new discovery" coins are concerned
However that "mysterious" release a few years ago sort of spoiled the party by creating an 'artificial" flavor.
what bugged me and hence I did not chase, is this: some select, very select dealers got to pick! WHY???
My top question to this is: why did the mint not send all of that hord to PCGS for grading and then sold it via their own channels????? I bet a ton of secret and "heavy" handshakes took place....
Pick up a copy of "Gold Coins of the World, From Ancient Times to the Present" by Friedberg.
Life member #369 of the Royal Canadian Numismatic Association
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Collector of:
Canadian coins and pre-confederation tokens
Darkside proof/mint sets dated 1960
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I don't mean to get far afield in this thread so I apologize if we are drifting there, but I am not certain what was "mysterious" about the 1912-1914 Canadian gold coinage.
There was no "new discovery" of coins since it was well known that the coins were in the Finance Department vaults in Ottawa and held for the government by the Bank of Canada. One can read about this in Striking Impressions The Royal Canadian Mint and Canadian Coinage by James Haxby, written in 1983. The Royal Canadian Mint press release from late 2012 that announced the upcoming sale of these coins also stated that these were the coins in the hands of the Finance Department for better than 75-years. The coins had a well-known and traceable provenance.
However, the 2012-2013 distribution of these pieces was absolutely bungled and this turned off many collectors. I entered into a gentleman's agreement with a number of other dealers to buy as many of these coins as I could sight-unseen from the RCM and then to pay these other dealers a premium if I could hand select the best coins from the pooled group. It was a large financial commitment and I ended up with a significant number of coins, but the RCM took our orders in mid-November, 2012 and withheld delivery until late February or early March, 2013. This drove us all nuts since the coins were minted essentially 90-years prior, but my understanding was that the RCM was waiting on delays in the packaging. During that time gold fell 20% or thereabouts, but we were locked into the original RCM pricing (I don't believe the RCM ever lowered their prices, either). Our pool of dealers fulfilled our word by buying the coins at the agreed upon RCM prices and then I honored my word to these dealers by committing to take a certain number of the best coins at a further premium. I also do not know why the RCM did not simply have PCGS (ICCS or NGC) grade a certain number of coins. However, the RCM press releases clearly stated why they chose to only release some coins and melt others, so this was not a secret.
I was fortunate that there were a few winners in the group of coins I picked up, but the bulk of them saw no profit for me at all or even ended up as a loss. It was a near total wash of a large amount of cash. I ended up keeping about a dozen of the nicest coins for myself as bullion and am delighted to own them, but it was a hair-raising series of events.
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
Nice, great idea !!!
If I remember Proof Positive coins was the key initial partner with the RCM in brining these coins to market. I was hearing of it from Sandy who owns the firm while buying a 1863 $5 he had at the last Chicago ANA.
Latin American Collection
You probably want a Vreneli ,since they are pretty and have a good story.
Pacific Northwest Numismatic Association
Sorry I was offline yesterday due to work. Thank you all for the great ideas and discussion!
Stork, I must admit, you are making me consider whether a prince would go against my no-kings policy! He's a handsome guy, and I LOVE the winged lion reverse. The Japan types are nice, too - awesome dragon!
Abuelo, I do love the design on the Mexican escudos...great symbolism. Thanks for the tip.
Boosibri, the Central American Republic 4 escudos is the absolute #1 item on my want list right now - and yours is an outstanding example! The design charms me on so many levels. If only I could find one! Let me know if you have a source.
carabonnair, you are psychic - I just picked up the Swiss 20 francs for its nice looks and no-downside price. I'll enjoy learning the back story.
Finally, 1960NYGiants, thanks for the book recommendation. I believe in buy the book before the coins, but didn't know which book to look for.
Tom, I remember when you were selling those Canadian bank hoard coins. I find them both super attractive, as unmessed-with gold, and interesting historically. George V wasn't bad, for a king, but for now I'm resisting.
Thanks, also, for the story of how they were released. I had no idea what you went through to get them!
Check out some of the beautiful coins in the galleries of @SmEagle1795 . Many of them are gold and meet your criteria.
http://www.colosseocollection.com/p554191514
http://www.colosseocollection.com/p168103053
South African 1 Rand & 2 Rand coins?
Oh my heavens, that is eye candy I'll be returning to again and again! What an amazing collection!
Thanks! I appreciate the shout out :-)
One needs a Genius around!
France 20 francs 1898 - Genius
These are also called French Angel coins.
The Mysterious Egyptian Magic Coin
Coins in Movies
Coins on Television
I think it adds a little to the story that the establishment of the Royal Canadian Mint in 1908 was the indirect result of the Klondike Gold Rush ten years earlier.
If you want an interesting coin from North America with a queen, I suggest a Newfoundland $2
Pacific Northwest Numismatic Association
The Rand might be too modern, beginning in 1961. The ZAR pond coins have Paul Kruger, a president, so that one is out. The SA sovereigns are all with Kings. The first QEII pound is 1953, which is close. What else is a good candidate for Africa?
Pacific Northwest Numismatic Association
What else is a good candidate for Africa?
As mentioned, with Paul Kruger on almost all the coins, the only one left that i can think of will be the following coin.
However, the price tag might be too high for your purpose.
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces21868.html
wow, I like the Dahomey 1971 and Biafra 1969 issues much more than the SA gold.
Well, just Love coins, period.
These Canadian coins are cool:
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The French Angel and the Newfoundland Victoria are both good fits. I like how the Newfoundland version of Queen Victoria looks a lot more like a Lady Liberty than a queen.
It looks like pre-1950 Africa will pose a challenge. With only 530 minted, the 1902 ZAR pound is out of my league - although it is a really fascinating coin!
Thanks to you all for continuing to post suggestions!
Don't forget Queen Isabel II. I prefer the type with the Draped Laureate Bust obverse and Crowned Mantled Arms reverse designed by Luis Marchionni (1863-1864 100 reales and 1865-1868 10 escudos).
@PatAR I have to recognise that I never thought much of Queen Isabel or her coins. But seems to me that I was wrong. You have a nice website!
A couple of additional ideas for ProfLiz for the World Gold box of 20.
How about a Mexico 20 peso featuring the Aztec calendar? This would go well with your Mexico 50 peso.
There are a number of different world gold issues that were struck by the United States. In addition to your Saudi gold disc you could add a coin from Costa Rica (if Columbus meets the criteria) - either a 2, 5, 10 or 20 colones. Guatemala is another option - either a 5, 10 or 20 quetzales. Finally, Syria is another option, either a 1/2 or 1 pound (these just make the cut, being dated 1950, although struck in 1951).
I pulled images of some nicer examples (not mine) from the PCGS pop report.
Jeff
There are a bunch of ducats that fit the bill. I thought that this one was interesting because it demonstrates why the bishop can only move diagonally on the black squares
Nürnberg. Free City gold "Confirmation" Medallic 3 Ducat ND (1790-1810)
tomorrow's Heritage sale
Pacific Northwest Numismatic Association
@Abuelo Thanks!
For the OP: The gold 20 peso @cecropiamoth mentioned and the beautiful winged Victory on the 50 pesos are some other attractive non-king pieces. As are the Chile 20, 50, and 100 pesos gold coins bearing the image of Dona Juanita, symbolizing Liberty of Chile. That coin was actually designed by Oscar Roty of French "The Sower" and medallic art fame.
Thanks so much you guys for continuing to broaden my horizons.
cecropiamoth, I had no idea that the US minted gold coins for other countries. I especially like the quetzal bird obverse and reverse.
PatAR, your website on the coins of Queen Isabel is fantastic! Your historical perspective makes the coins much more interesting.
The Aztec calendar 20 pesos is on my want list, in high grade and not a restrike. There are a lot out there, so I'm just waiting for the right coin at the right price. I'll definitely be looking for one at the upcoming PAN show.
The Dona Juanita design is very pretty, and I'll definitely be on the lookout for one that is an early enough date in a high enough grade.
carabonnair, I am not familiar with ducats, and will have to research them. The one you showed makes me think about assembling a coin chess set: coins that feature a king, queen, knight, bishop, castle, and pawn/soldier. Maybe a set in silver and in gold, to represent both colors!
New here, following this interesting thread...
For Africa, you might look to Tunisia. Here's a nice 100f gold, but there are also many earlier types with exotic script on them.
cerberus, that Tunisia 100 Fr is very pretty! Here's another contender for Africa, though a bit pricey: