The 1898 1000 Reis coin from Portugal looks to be in remarkable shape, despite the obvious rim damage. The key that houses the coin is magnetic (the coin is not magnetic, it's silver), so I believe that it's either steel or some other iron based alloy. Now, I'm trying to figure out what this is... keys to the kingdom? Maybe it's a specimen gift to important individuals known to the Portuguese royal couple to celebrate their union? Or is it something less exciting like a souvenir piece? But then this happened: No, I didn't break it. It twists off to reveal a screw shaped end. Is it an EDC "knife", or keys to the wine cabinet with a cork screw to pop the top? Thanks and let me know!
Portugal 1898, 1000 Reis, Krause KM#539, metal- .917 silver, mintage 300,000 grade/value VG-$10.00 F-$17.50 VF-$27.50 XF-$40.00 if it's prooflike UNC-$200.00 Krause values may differ from real life values.
Correction - Cork screws are used to open wine bottles that don't necessarily pop.. champagne bottle corks pop and you don't use a corkscrew to open them. HAPPY NEW YEAR 2016
That's pretty nifty. Might have been a key to a wine cellar and to open the wine bottle. 2 in 1. Must admit that I haven't seen one like that. So who cares if it's not a 'key' date - 'screw' it!
I take it that NGC won't accept a submission like this... right? Not sure if it'd fit any available slab unless it was a custom slab. If they even did grade it, it'll be just the grade for the coin and probably be labeled as "Rim Damage". But I haven't seen anything like that on oversized slabs so probably not... I do wonder if they'd slab military medals such as Silver Cross, Purple Hearts, etc.
And, would NGC slab something like these Japanese coins below? They're in the original state from Japan's Mint, straight out of the foundry and uncirculated (not even taken off the "tree")...
I agree It makes me wonder if they just remelted the remaining "tree" or if the Japanese fashioned it into two separate swords, spear heads, etc. (I'd think that they wouldn't be sufficiently hard, even with proper heat treatment). How the Japanese coins were made reminds me of the scene from Game of Thrones where they melt and pour Valyrian steel to make two swords:
They wouldn't slab the screw-key, or other items where coins were re-appropriated away from a strictly numismatic sense. They would only slab the coin if you removed it and sent it in, which would be a waste of both money and a cool quasi-numismatic item.
