Let's see your exonumia!

Talk about a blank reverse

 

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I begin to see why Zerbe had a hard time selling the P-P coins with people thinking they were overpriced junk.

I went to Wildwood, New Jersey to join my brother and his family on their vacation, and here are arcade tokens. They are going out of fashion as more and more places go purely to paper tickets, but some slot machines still spew them out (I have plenty of extras on these, if anyone wants to paypal me a buck, I'll send them a couple)

More European stuff coming. I haven't even touched Germany yet.

 

Here's a Danish medal, gotten from a Saturday flea market set up in Copenhagen with dealers at intervals along the wall outside of a very wooded cemetery. I used to be into stamps, so I knew what was meant by an international stamp exhibition (a country was allowed to hold one a decade, and the US held INTERPHIL in Philadelphia also in 1976).

 

You pick up some really exceptional pieces on your travels, Wehwalt. Do you also buy coins?

Bruce

 

I was very lucky to have won this counterstamp from Steve Hayden's recent Mail Bid Sale. I've loved these stamps for as long as I can remember, but have never seen one offered before now. It's no surprise, since there are only two examples documented, and it being a very popular early American classic stamp, makes it elusive at best.

Philip Apple was a Philadelphia coppersmith from 1805 until his retirement in 1839. There's very little historical reference to him that I could find. According to past research (Kauffman 1968: 261) Apple had a second shop in West Chester, Chester Co., PA in the 1820s. I couldn't confirm this in my own research, so Kauffman must have found documentation that I couldn't. I studied several histories of the city and county, but found no reference to him.

There are two other varieties of his product stamps known, one without the eagle or the word "Phila" and a second without the eagle. These are extremely rare as well, only one example of each being documented

Another interesting diagnostic of this example...on an 1818 Large Cent... is evidence within the stamp of imminent die failure. If you look closely, you'll see a number of die cracks within the lettering as well as a weakness near the tip of the eagle's right wing. I would guess that the punch broke near the time he struck this specimen. It would be interesting to examine the second piece to see if the punch was in a better or worse condition at that point. It's not likely to happen, because the chances of ever seeing it are remote.

I was determined to add this one to my collection and, fortunately, was able to. I paid dearly for it, but it was worth every penny. It also has an impressive provenance... Ex Dave Bowers, plate coin for both Brunk's and Rulau's references, and can be traced back to a Coin Galleries auction in November, 1989.

Bruce

 

Not much. There's a lot less competition for medals. Nothing I bought on this trip cost me more than $30 and most considerably less.

This one I think was the most expensive, for 25 euros ($28). I bought it in Rostock, which is in what used to be East Germany. You see, the cruise lines stop in Rostock or adjacent Warnemunde because they can run a private train from there to Berlin, which is about three hours. The fare is $189 a person plus the cost of any tours you'd like to take. As I've been to Berlin a few times, I passed and stayed locally. This was from a shop in Rostock that specializes in DDR stuff. The shopkeeper spoke little English, but as I understand it, this was issued by an artist in 1990 as a protest against East Germans' savings in Ostmarks being discounted by 50 percent over a certain level for conversion into DM. She also had one with a silver ring, but I liked this better. 200 of each were made. Sorry about the lighting, it's sealed in there.

 

Here are some mourning medals, from 1888. Kaiser Wilhelm I died that year at the age of 90, he's commemorated in one of them. His son, Kaiser Friedrich, was the great hope of German liberals. With his wife, Victoria (daughter of the Queen) he was supposed to modernize Germany, but his father obstinately insisted on living to a very ripe old age, by which time Friedrich was ill with throat cancer and reigned only 99 days. Two of them are for him, and one of them are for both of them. Friedrich was succeeded by Kaiser Wilhelm II, of World War I fame. I think that's him on the reverse of the medal with his father and grandfather. "Lerne leiden ohne zu klagen" means "learn to suffer without complaint", something closely associated with Friedrich, part of whose treatment included trying to burn out the cancer by poking the inside of his throat with red-hot instruments.

 

Here's a 1901 Pan American Expo encased Indian cent. The neat thing is that the coin is choice red brown BU. I always wonder how a copper coin stayed so bright. Anyway, the reverse sort of throws me as I don't know what the large North means but it's still a neat thing.

 

same both sides



a different play dime, same both sides

 

Here are four East German medals (sorry about the rotation on the reverses). Two of them are rather grim Army anniversary medals, a third a 1964 medal probably worn from the lapel for a youth gathering in East Berlin. I bought that one because of the bear holding the Brandenburg Gate in its paws, although the symbol of Berlin is certainly a bear, I wonder if the Russian bear is subversively meant? That's an aggressive looking bruin, is all I can say. The fourth is a medal for an anniversary of Schwerin, the state capital for Rostock, a very handsome city I visited by train (and found only one medal, at the tourist office, that I may post later but most likely not because it isn't that great). All are very clearly from the DDR era. I don't think there's much nostalgia for East Germany.

 

This may be a school medal, we will never know what unknown Polly Taylor did toget a bronze medal but I hope she took advantage of knowledge being power, as it says.

At the time being male was power, generally.







Original morocco leather box.

 

There are many Polly Taylor's that come up w/a Google search.
Only a few were alive in 1880.
Maybe she was awarded as a retiring teacher?
One profession that women excelled in!

 

The Polly Taylor item is British, by the way.

 

Here's a couple I picked up awhile back. The toy gun I sold for $125, beautiful piece but for that kind of money, I couldn't justify keeping it. Gotta move down to show the rest. ~Cheers!

 

Here's the rest.

 

Well done Polly! Love the last name too!

 

I don't really consider this a "challenge coin" so I'm not putting it there. This is one of the aircraft I currently work:



In fact, my hands still stink like the fuel one of these spewed on the flight line this morning.