Voluntarily Going Down the Rabbit Hole of Coin Collecting
braddick
Posts: 25,072 ✭✭✭✭✭
I thought it might be interesting to start a thread where we show each other the odd and unusual items we collect that are not necessarily main stream. Kind of off the beaten path.
Many years ago I discovered Library of Coins issued a Kennedy half album before the makers of this album even knew what the Kennedy half would look like. As we all know there was a rush to creating the Kennedy half after the president's assassination. It appears Library of Coins scrambled to produce this album without many details.
Of course once the coin was released they quickly modified the volume to more realistically depict the Kennedy half dollar. They also changed the dates and mints to reflect the actual mintages (most notably eliminating the Denver mint coins for years that mint did not mint these half dollars).
My side quest has been to collect these 'first edition' albums when I come upon them. I don't know how many were printed before the corrected changes, yet do find it a challenge to locate them. My criteria is they can't be man-handed/dog-eared or written within. I pass on those.
Anyway, here are the ones I've acquired- going down this rabbit hole for the last 30 years!
Here are some close-ups:
Not to obsess, I also enjoy collecting the early Kennedy halves in problem-free worn condition.
I've submitted many over the last twenty years to PCGS and have a Lowball Registry of these. The ones I haven't submitted- and I might again some day, are here:
Most of all of this I've located at coin shows (mostly Long Beach, back in the day) and by scouring auction sites.
So, what is your mini-side collection that just doesn't fit the norm and outside of collectors here, most wouldn't understand?
I'd love to see them!
Comments
Just to add... here are the adjustments Library of Coins made after discovering what the Kennedy half dollar looked like.
(They went through a couple of modifications.)
(Not my albums. I found these on a search.)
Very cool!
Hope this works. Got it off the bay
Super cool. Someday I’m going to organize and take pictures of all the Beistle, National Blank Book Company binders, Wayne Raymond, Stacks Binders, etc.., when I was totally OCD and Focused on them. I showed some of the more mainstream stuff already, but you have no idea how far I went when I was actively researching this stuff. Here are a few examples that barely scratch the surface.
Mr_Spud
@braddick, Pat, some of the album covers are clearly different in color, while others appear the same. Am I seeing variety duplicates or are they all different, either on the outside or the inside?
Thanks and I like the theme of this thread. Hopefully, there will be a lot more participation.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
Been in the industrial area in holyoke, ma and remember seeing the sight where they made the national bank stuff. I believe its all newer buildings now
Mark,
Just a bit faded! These covers are easily susceptible to light whether it is sunlight or indoor lighting and over the decades, fade.
@Mr_Spud
Your 'Rabbit Hole' goes to the center of the earth!
What an amazing assortment of early (and rare) binders/albums.
Here’s a picture of the National Blank Book Company, where they made the National Coin Album binders, that I just restored and enhanced yesterday. Someday I’m going to restore a bunch more and make a virtual museum
Mr_Spud
Given the group pictures, there has to be a “secret handshake” in here somewhere.
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
Lots of secret handshake stuff for sure. I purchased a bunch of negatives off eBay from a celebration from 1950 at the National Blank Book Company where the National Coin Albums were made. All kind of Grand Poobah stuff going on! I restored and colorized the negatives into photos.
And here’s a photo from a book about the company showing the names of the executives. I restored and colorized the photo. You can identify a lot of the people in the pictures above using this photo. John Schade is the guy who invented the binder mechanism used in the National Coin Albums Binders
Mr_Spud
😉
Also in WWII, National recommissioned the machinery used to make the Binder mechanisms to make the mechanisms that made the Browning Automatic Rifles work. This contributed to the binder shortage that eventually caused Meghrig and other imitators to make copies of the National Coin Album Binders.
Meanwhile, in a parallel universe where the company still makes National Coin Album Binders…
Mr_Spud
And just wait until I get a chance to photograph a bunch more Beistle stuff. Everything from rare vintage patented Halloween Decorations to Diaries and other Beistle related stuff. It’s gonna take me years to sort it all out.
Mr_Spud
(L to R) A box dollar/opium dollar, ash tray made from a chopmarked T$, whist counter.
In front of the cover of the 6/4/1887 Harper's Weekly illustration showing the redemption of trade dollars.
chopmarkedtradedollars.com
God, this is to early yet 🙏
Ut oh, now I can’t stop again and I’m not sure where this is leading to 😬
Mr_Spud
Wow. I dont know where to begin!
But I will anyway.
Who's the birthday boy in this photo?
I’m thinking maybe it’s the tallest guy in the back row standing up maybe 🤔 not sure though, there are a couple of possibilities, but for sure one of these guys
Mr_Spud
Is that one of the deluxe leather bound editions? If so do you happen to have the issue number?
Seated Dollar Collection
Yes it is, It’s issue #13, my lucky number 😎
Mr_Spud
Thanks for sharing. Its hard to imagine that blank books and three ring binders were so deluxe. The corporate board meetings must have been interesting. They remind me of the Hudsucker Proxy, one of my favorite movies. If you haven't seen it give it a shot.
Paul Newman as Mr. Big, and Tim Robbins as the mailroom clerk who gets promoted past his abilities.
https://youtu.be/mg2N0dOb_jM?si=mPcqGjIClgXrKLXn
Thanks @rooksmith , I’ll have to check that one out
Mr_Spud