5 Kopeks 1803-EM Czarist Russia Alexander I 42mm It's a brute-very pleasant to handle. Post your Big Copper!
@laurentyvan- Good, 'cause you've got a few more comin' your way soon. Nothing that big, mind you- just some Frenchie stuff. Maybe some Napoleon III 10-centime pieces. (Which I suppose are technically bronze.) But there are some earlier French Republic coppers (decimes, maybe?) Y'know, with those "L'An" dates from the Revolutionary calendar. I was gonna send this to you in a PM, but then I saw this post and thought I'd check it out. I got your "Big Ol' Box o' Books" and am looking forward to plunging therein next downtime I get. Have not as yet opened it. Nor have I as yet gotten your latest goodies packaged and shipped. Soon. (-ish.) At least I finally excavated them from my clutter heaps. There weren't as many ancient Chinese cash as I remembered- only one- and two other later ones. And then there's the Frenchie stuff, as mentioned. As to the topic at hand, I've always been a fan of big fat Russian "whopper coppers". But @Aethelred can top that. He just bought a small lot of Swedish plate money. I got to see and hold those on my recent visit to him. Maybe he'll post some of that stuff. I had one piece which was a 4-daler plate from the Nicobar shipwreck, as I recall. But this lot he bought had four or five pieces, if I remember correctly. All different denominations. And very nice.
These are currently my biggish copper pieces (or orichalcum/brass, in the case of the Roman), but they're not in the same class as your big 'uns, there, for heft! Ancient Roman Empire: orichalcum sestertius of Hadrian, 134-138 AD, ex-Boston Museum of Fine Arts (31 mm) Austrian Netherlands: copper 2 liards (2 Oorden), Insurrection coinage, 1790 (Don't know the exact diameter, offhand. It's big, but not huge. See the slab for scale.) France: copper specimen striking of a 10-centime pattern (essai), 1848 (30 mm approx. Haven't done the full writeup on this one yet. I'm so behind with my Box of 20!) Liberia: proof copper cent, 1847 (Don't recall the exact diameter, but it's in the same ballpark. Ditto- no writeup yet.)
Nice big Belgian lion, @spirityoda! Maybe the nicest I've seen, in fact. Isn't that one of the earliest dates?
It is beautiful-especially for copper to achieve such an iridescent blue. For me it's the 1847 Liberian cent-the absolute perfect toning for a copper coin; different shades of brown for a cameo-like effect. Where do you folks find these beauties...?
I found the Liberian on the Collectors Universe B/S/T. TheBigEng. Swapped him some nice circ Seated Liberty US coins for it. It was in an NGC PR64 BN holder. Cracked it, had ajaan piggyback it with his PCGS submission, and presto! PCGS PR65 BN. Highest graded at either service, last I looked. Pop. 1 in all grades at PCGS, too, if I remember correctly, which surprised me. I found the French essai at Atlas Numismatics. There's a great place to shop for eyecandy. Not a bargain basement operation, but they're a little bit flexible, and a classy firm to work with. I have had three good deals with them. The TrueViews on this one are what make the colors "pop" like that. This is one of those where the colors only show at certain angles to the light, but in its "normal" appearance, it is an attractive reddish brown with a slight cameo effect.
i love these big coins! here are my large bronze modern coins.. 37 mm.. 40 mm... about 38 mm.. 35 mm, but thick as a cool edge.. i have one like the op coin as well, but not as nice as yours @laurentyvan thick as heck, and a cool edge as well! this is my largest coin..
A large copper coin thread would be incomplete without a 2 pence cartwheel of Great Britain. Many have damaged edges from being dropped.
Lot's of interesting 30mm European bronze coins from the 19th century; South America too. This is a category that just recently came up on my radar and I've started picking up a few pieces here and there. Lovely coins.