[CLOSED] CoinTalk Friends (CTF) Giveaway #2 (four drawings)

That’s interesting. I have a 1797 Cartwheel 2d off at NGC right now. I bought and submitted it at the FUN show. It was my first purchase at the show. Can’t wait to see the NGC pics. The grade will still be a little while yet.

But anyway, I never stopped to consider the die rotation on it. Looking at Numista, I see this issue did have coin rotation. Which makes your question interesting. Why the switch from medal rotation to coin rotation? I do not know.

 

That’s not your everyday CRH find! I’ve only found one Franklin, ever. One while CRH’ing and one while metal detecting.

 

Thanks for those updates, y'all. Helps me keep the summary post up to date.

 

Thanks for the updates, y'all.

Round 3 drawing shall be forthcoming soon.

 

It is now time for the Round 3 drawing!




Our lucky number was... 86!



And Post #86 was by... @Sting 60 !

Coingratulations, @Sting 60 ! You have won the Round 3 prize!



@Randy Abercrombie will need your shipping address. I shall message you both soon.

When you receive the prize, please be sure to post to this public thread, not only to thank @Randy Abercrombie , but also so we'll all know you got your goodies.

Round Summary (this contest)
Master Summary (all CTF contests)
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It is time for Round 4!



CTF Giveaway 2, Round 4

Donor: @Elizabeth Shamblin (my sister)
Availability: international

To enter:

1) Just say you want this prize.

2) Post something else coin-related or cheerful.

If you win, we ask that you please post to this thread later, after receiving the prize, to thank your donor, and also so that we'll all know you got it.

Alternately, you may enter on someone else's behalf if you prefer. Simply name the person you'd like to receive it.

The random drawing:

Should take place on or shortly after Saturday, March 1, 2025. If I should happen to be absent, you may assume the contest to be open for entries up until the time I return and announce the drawing.

The prize:

Well... hang on a sec. Before we get to the prize, I have two stories to tell. The first is an interesting bit of historical trivia. The second is a personal family anecdote.

First, the historical trivia.

No doubt you've heard about the old custom of people placing coins over a dead person's eyes, right? That custom goes way back to the ancient Greeks, in a tradition called Charon's Obol. The Greeks would put a coin (an obol) in the mouth, to pay for the dead person's passage to the Underworld. (It was to pay Charon, the boatman who ferried these souls across the River Styx.)​

But much later, in the 19th century, heavy coins were placed over the dead person's eyes, to keep the eyelids from opening as the body settled.​

Now, here's the morbidly interesting part. Did you know that two Seated Liberty half dollars, dated 1854 and 1861, were placed over the dead Abraham Lincoln's eyes when his body was laid out after his assassination in 1865? And they are in the Chicago History Museum today! I mean, how fascinating is that? I had never heard of these coins until recently.

(No, these are not the giveaway prize. The museum would probably frown on us giving those away. Besides, they might be haunted. Read on...)

​

Next, the personal anecdote.

When @Elizabeth Shamblin and I were kids, we were watching some TV show about the Civil War. I think it was the 1982 miniseries called The Blue and the Gray. Gregory Peck played Lincoln in that show. When the show aired, I was 16 and Elizabeth was 13. In the show, there was a spooky dream sequence. As I recall, it showed a dream Lincoln had had about his own death, right before it happened. This premonition he had is historically documented.​

In the TV miniseries, it showed the dream sequence, and there was a shot of the dead Lincoln lying there, with the half dollars over his eyes. They did a good job with the scene- it was surreal and spooky. It really, really spooked Elizabeth out. (And unfortunately for her, I noticed that.)​

So, to fulfill my responsibility as an older brother, I waited until she went off to bed after we'd finished watching the show. I got two half dollars (they were Kennedies, not Seated Liberties- but hey, another assassinated president on 'em, right? Close enough). I went and stood outside Elizabeth's bedroom window in the dark, stuck a half dollar over each of my eyes, and squinched my eye sockets to hold ‘em in place. Then I tapped on the glass.​

Permanently traumatized my poor, impressionable young sister. Heh heh.​

So I'm not sure exactly how that memory of our youth resurfaced, but recently it came up in conversation. ("Hey- remember that time you scared the crap out of me with those coins over your eyes?" Something like that.)​

Anyway, Elizabeth had already volunteered to donate a coin to one of these giveaways.

But first she had to pose a picture with it...



Well played, Dear Sister. Well played! Very spooky indeed!

OK, now... the prize:

Elizabeth bought a nice 1854 Seated Liberty half dollar as the prize for this round in the giveaway. Just like one of the coins that was put on the dead Abraham Lincoln's eyes.

It is a nice original grey example; well circulated but wholesome, with no problems to speak of.





So if you enter this round, you have a chance to win it, and even if you don't win the drawing, you will at least have picked up a little bit of trivia and heard a funny story, right?

Thank you, Elizabeth!

Round Summary (this contest)
Master Summary (all CTF contests)
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