Coins speak to me, do they speak to you?

ANACONDA · January 4, 2011 3:04AM

When I look at a coin with a fingerprint on it, the coin says to me "I was once owned by a careless person".

When I look at a Morgan Dollar with an unusually high number of abrasions on it, the coin says to me "I was on the bottom of a bag of Silver Dollars for many years".

When I look at a 1793 Half Cent in MS 65, the coin says to me "someone appreciated me right after I was made, and I have been well taken care of for many, many years."

When I look at a coin that has obviously been artificially toned, the coin says to me "some greedy stupid person tried to make me look beautiful and ruined me".

Do coins speak to you? Can you interpret their surfaces?

Tdec1000 · January 4, 2011 3:12AM

Not only do they speak to me....they make fun of me sometimes when I make a mistake after the purchase.

lordmarcovan · January 4, 2011 3:13AM

Of course they speak to me. I think that's a prerequisite to membership in this great hobby- you have to be able to hear and understand the language that the coins are whispering to you, from across great spans of time and space. All of us hear different things from them, but that just makes it more interesting.

The ones that really speak to me are my metal detector finds, because I know I am the first person in 50, 100, or 200+ years to see and hold that coin, and hear what it has to say. The place where it is found often has a lot to say about the past life of the coin and the people who would have once used it.

Ancient coins speak to me more than most other kinds (except my detector finds), but their dialect is harder to understand. They have a curious accent when they speak, because they spent millennia in the dark bosom of the earth, far away from human touch. They pass along many hints of the amazing stories they no doubt could tell, but only little glimmers of those stories can be heard. Even so, it's still enough to fascinate.

ANACONDA · January 4, 2011 3:18AM

Well said.....good insigts.

pmac · January 4, 2011 3:20AM

I agree that each coin has had a journey that would be interesting to hear, but it's our imagination that has that coin used by civil war soldiers, George Washington, Roman senators, etc. You could do the same with the glass of water that you drink, "molecules of this water were in the glass that wet the lips of....". I certainly like what Lord M does with his imagination when he tells the stories of the coins that his metal detector finds. "That man can sure spin a tale."

MICHAELDIXON · January 4, 2011 3:33AM

"Don't let Adrian get me! Don't let Adrian get me!" Yep! They speak to me too!

crazyhounddog · January 4, 2011 3:35AM

Oh yeah, they speak very load and clear. And I learn the language better every year! Hey, I'm a poet!

airplanenut · January 4, 2011 3:46AM

When I look at a monster toned coin while tripping on LSD, it says, "no, really, I'm dipped out."

Just for the record, I don't use drugs.

rgCoinGuy · January 4, 2011 3:47AM

<< <i>When I look at a monster toned coin while tripping on LSD, it says, "no, really, I'm dipped out."

Just for the record, I don't use drugs. >>

Broadstruck · January 4, 2011 3:54AM

<< <i>"Don't let Adrian get me! Don't let Adrian get me!" >>

Sounds like something post 1994 Moderns might yell

OKbustchaser · January 4, 2011 4:08AM

That's ok, guys. I used to hear voices, too. Then the doctor strapped this electro thingy to my head and the voices went away.

291fifth · January 4, 2011 4:59AM

Hi!

I'm the AU details 1963-D cent you just picked up in the parking lot of the White Castle.

Do you know what it feels like to be run over by a '94 Chevy full size van?

Look at my face!

Look at it!

It's not pretty is it?

Even putty can't help me so please, just spend me again ... and do it quickly. I don't want to spend another 47 years in a jar in the back of a closet, just waiting for my owner to die so their relatives can take me to a Coinstar machine.

ebaybuyer · January 4, 2011 7:08AM

what the fingerprint is really saying is, "i was actually USED by someone for my intended purpose" ........... not all coins were minted in slabs

ambro51 · January 4, 2011 7:10AM

Polly Wanna Cracker

lordmarcovan · January 4, 2011 7:57AM

Geez, Realone, your coins SHOUT RATHER LOUDLY.

Big enough pix, y'think?

(They're pretty, though.)

Elcontador · January 4, 2011 7:58AM

Only really exceptional coins -- like the Heraldic Eagle Bust $ I bought (pics were in a post I made last week) -- speak to me. I can think of five coins in my collection that are in this category, and five others I have seen (which I could not afford) make this grade.

These coins don't have to be expensive. Rather, they have to be very choice for what they are, and something which I collect.

cladking · January 4, 2011 9:53AM

A picture is worth a thousand words and a coin paints a thousand pictures.

henson4 · January 4, 2011 10:03AM

Yes, especially those numismatic rarities that have history inside each one of them. I can gaze at those for hours

pontiacinf · January 4, 2011 10:07AM

Mine do not speak at all, like they have been abused so many times they are afraid of...

oh wait thats right I do not purchase crap, so nope, not at all

tydye · January 4, 2011 10:10AM

<< <i>Geez, Realone, your coins SHOUT RATHER LOUDLY.
>>

more like stuttering

lordmarcovan · January 4, 2011 12:05PM

Oh, yeah. I see the s-s-stuttering, now. I just had to scroll halfway 'cross the fargin' page to do it.

Cool.

(I suppose if I were using a different browser, it would have resized those to fit. But lately I've found that my Firefox doesn't play well with CU, so it's back to old IE, at least for the forums.)

DRUNNER · January 4, 2011 12:16PM

I haven't plumbed the depth of this thread . . but YES! I look at every coin I buy from a sense of the history (or even the PLASTIC history), and I see those same things.

I applaud your post . . history is the only true reason we feel the passion in numismatics!!

Drunner