Show us an Easter Egg you found
pursuitofliberty
Posts: 7,720 ✭✭✭✭✭
Happy Easter!
The conditions for this post are easy.
Show us a special coin with natural and colorful toning (at least as you consider it), that you found either in an unexpected place or from an unexpected source ... and give us a brief snippet on how that came to be.
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Early 2021, as I was becoming much more serious about CBH's, I "accidentally" met a board member here while messaging him as an eBay seller, and we struck up quite a back and forth conversation as I remember.
This coin is still my set piece for 1833.
Happy Easter Ken! @oldUScoins
I hope you see this post and that all is well and good for you at the beach!
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1833 O-105 (105.2), r.1; P58cac
Deep thick luster with fully original skin and an attractive mix of russets, golds and teal colors, deeper on the reverse.
“We are only their care-takers,” he posed, “if we take good care of them, then centuries from now they may still be here … ”
Todd - BHNC #242
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Neat idea for a thread.
Please excuse this "ancient Easter egg", but this story happened in 2002.
I had been cruising the WQ section of ebay when a title caught my attention and the title said something like "Spectacular rainbow...". Well, I had to look and when the page opened there was an awful, dark brown, no luster and low end eye appeal MS WQ staring at me. I was about to close the page when I noticed that the coin in the image was a 1948-S and the title of the auction stated it was a 1947-S. To those who study the WQ series, the 1947-S stands out as one of the best issues for a combination of strike, luster, toning and overall quality. It might be thought of as the big tuna of WQs in that it might take less searching to find a wonderful coin of this date than of most any other in the series. However, the grade of MS66 is extremely common for a coin such as this, which makes the issue quite similar to the 1881-S Morgan dollar.
Given the above, I thought that the auction image (it wasn't a BIN) might be incorrect. So, I copied the URL of the image embedded in the listing and changed it from "1948S" to "1947S" and hit enter. That did the trick as an image of a wonderfully toned 1947-S appeared in front of me. I immediately emailed the seller to tell him that he had the wrong URL up in his auction and that he would get no action on his coin. Two days later he did not respond and the image was still wrong so I emailed him again. My wife asked me why I would do such a thing since I desperately wanted the coin in the image...and...she had a point. Anyway, the seller neither replied nor changed the image. I was the high bidder (and only bidder) on the coin at $42 including shipping and have been very pleased and guilt-free since. Apparently, the seller entered the wrong URL for the image and none of the potential bidders on ebay that looked at the image figured out that it was not the coin described, or they simply didn't figure out how to determine what the seller's URL would be for the proper image. Overall, I obtained a superbly toned coin for almost nothing because the seller did not check his listing; never answered his email and other bidders didn't pay attention to the details of the coin.
Years later CAC was founded and this was the first 1947-S WQ to receive a CAC gold sticker. I still own this coin.
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
Here’s how I found it 😉
Sorry, but I couldn’t resist posting this one
Mr_Spud
If I may tell a story similar to what @TomB wrote, and only a few years more recent... back in the day I just searched for toned coins in general on eBay (I don't have time to wade through everything that keyword would pick up today) and this coin showed up, except the reverse was nearly black in the photo and wholly unappealing. But it was described as bright green and just a hint of that purple/red in the lower part of the coin showed any color in the actual photo. Something made me think the seller was telling the truth, so I thought I'd give it a shot.
Well... if you're like me and you like bright green toning, boy was this a win when it showed up!
In keeping with associated Easter colors, I'll post two coins.
This PR67 coin was found on Instagram in September of 2024. Since I already had the proof quarter with color of the same date, I thought I'd build a proof set. I wanted an electric coin to fit my collecting theme for the set and the explosive purple on this coin fit the requirement:
The following coin (PR69 DCAM) was purchased at the January 2024 FUN show at a dealer that carries mainly foreign coins but had a few Washington quarter toners in his case. The green toning with a ring of purple certainly resembles Easter colors.
Are both of these naturally toned? I've no idea, but they are definitely distinctive and I enjoy looking at them.
Happy Easter!
"She comes out of the sun in a silk dress,
running like a water color in the rain...."
Wow, I’m loving all the Washington Quarters in this thread, so allow me to continue the theme. While this one wasn’t acquired from an unexpected place (GC), I got an exciting surprise when I went to submit it to CAC and found it had already passed with a green bean! Instead of submitting it for approval, I sent it in for a re-sticker instead. No idea why it didn’t have a bean on at the time of sale (auction slab photo below). Happy Easter 🥚
Nothing is as expensive as free money.
Here's my Easter Egg, I picked up from P.O. today. Couldn't go last couple of days so today was the day.
Jim
When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest....Abraham Lincoln
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.....Mark Twain
chopmarkedtradedollars.com
Here's a nice Civil War token I had at one point with brockage:
Long gone
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
An Easter Egg or an acid trip from a Jefferson Airplane concert?
Although since sold, it remains one of my favorite toners of all time! The selling dealer seldom had toned coins to this degree, so it was a real find.
“The thrill of the hunt never gets old”
PCGS Registry: Screaming Eagles
Copperindian
Copperindian II
Indy Eagles
Gold Rush
Retired sets: Soaring Eagles
Copperindian
Nickelodeon
Early Walkers
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One of the earliest. I just love looking at these.
Is a black cat looking out of that carriage?
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson