Surprise Mystery Gift package! Wanna see me open it?

Thank you. I appreciate the consideration. But I don’t think I need two, and my sister will certainly like the £2 Mayflower piece.

Now I’m wondering what the other coin was that you intended to gift to me. I know what my favorite is. I’ll save that for last.

 

Next up are some coins from the Isle of Man. First of them is this Uncirculated 1979 IOM £1 coin with the original Pobjoy Mint First Day of Issue certificate.

 

Next there is a proof striking of the same date and type.

I have to confess that when this coin was one of the first to come out of the package and I saw its flashiness, my heart skipped a beat because I thought it might be a gold sovereign at first glance. (No way!!!)

 

Next is a very handsome and large 1981 1981 £5 coin from the Isle of Man, with flashy surfaces and attractive color.

 

Here is an American stowaway- a BU 1964 Kennedy half in Littleton plastic. I guess JFK wanted to be repatriated to his homeland.

Also a 1967 British large penny in Red-Brown UNC. If memory serves, these were the last British large pennies issued for circulation (though a 1970 was issued, only in proof sets). I bought a bag lot of dozens of these a while back- it’s still at the bottom of one of my drawers. All the coins are UNC and in varying stages of Red-Brown progression, with many looking like this one.

 

Next we go to Ireland, with this 1694 halfpenny of William & Mary, Numista-41084.

These often come pretty rough, and this one is actually nicer than a lot I’ve seen. The one example I’ve owned before (also a 1694), was about like this but also holed.

 

Next is an 1855 British Young Head halfpenny of Queen Victoria. I love these pre-1860 halfpennies and pennies. They are slightly larger than their post-1860 redesigned bronze counterparts. More attractive, too, in my humble opinion.

 

Next is a nice big 1951 British crown (5 shillings) of George VI, with the classic Pistrucci “Saint George and the Dragon” reverse. I believe this was a commemorative for the Festival of Britain.

PS- ah, yes. I was correct. This type is Numista-10641. Festival of Britain.

Not seen: the lettered edge, which reads, “MDCCCLI CIVIUM INDUSTRIA FLORET CIVITAS MCMLI”, which translates to: “1851 By the industry of its people the state flourishes 1951”.

Handsome and hefty coins, these.

 

Here is a modern 10-pence piece from 2012.





These have an unusual series of reverse designs. If you have a full set of the denominations, you can lay the different designs next to each other, to form a larger picture of the royal shield, like so:



It’s an interesting concept. I’m not sure it totally works for me, but I give ‘em full credit for being innovative and creative.

 

Next is a 1970 proof shilling with the Scottish reverse.

 

And a 2000 proof “round pound” with the Welsh dragon on the reverse. (Like we see in @Dafydd’s avatars.)

Nice! Love the frost and the Deep Cameo contrast.

 

Now we come to the last two coins in the package. I mentioned there were two ancient Roman pieces in the lot.

Here is the first of them. It is a silver denarius of the emperor Trajan (97-117 AD). It has his consular titles on the reverse so I believe this coin can be closely dated to within a single year, but I’m not very good at that myself so I’ll have to ask for help with it.

It was tempting to grab this piece for myself since I do not currently own a Trajan, and have owned only one previously.

But I’m going to put this in the giveaway stash, where it will no doubt be a popular selection later in my monthly “pick your prize” contests. Can’t wait to see who eventually wins it!

 

Here is the final coin from the package.

It is a large Roman bronze sestertius of the young emperor Gordian III (238-244 AD). The reverse features Roma Æterna, the Eternal Rome personified.

This might be my favorite coin from the package. That’s why I left it for last in this thread. Without cross-checking offhand right now, I believe this is a $100+ coin.

Again, I was strongly tempted to keep it for myself, but I’ve decided it too is destined to go into the giveaway stash, where I believe it should cause some excitement.

(Anyway, I get just as much fun out of giving away cool and interesting stuff as I would by adding it to my own collection.)

 

~End of Mystery Package contents~

Thank you all for looking on as I went through the contents of this package. It was fun!

But thanks most of all to @Dafydd for his thoughtfulness and generosity.

Y'all be sure to keep an eye on my future giveaways. You’ll have your chance to win some of this stuff later!

 

So @Dafydd intended me to have the Mayflower coin (which is going to my sister, as mentioned).

But I’m not sure what the second coin he intended me to keep was. Those Romans were certainly tempting!

However, I’ve made my choice, and think I will keep the Prince of Wales Model Half-Sovereign mentioned in Post #32. Might submit it to NGC later. It won’t get a lofty grade, but it is interesting enough to keep for my own collection.

Thank you.

 

So now you’ve read above about the incoming surprise package from @Dafydd. And seen that it included two ancient Roman items.

But I also mentioned an outgoing surprise package, which also contains two ancient Roman items, by coincidence. I liked the symmetry of that.

I already had this packaged up to send to @Vytis when @Dafydd’s incoming package landed here. (As mentioned, I failed in my attempt to mail it Friday, so it will be in Monday’s mail.)

I will hereby spoil the surprise for @Vytis but since I had to ask him for his address and already dropped a hint, he’s probably already guessed what one of these items is anyway.

He has been trying for months to win this Roman bronze bracelet in my “pick your prize” contests. The random number generator just always picked someone else.

I bought this bracelet at The Time Machine table (Dr. Mark Reid), at the 2025 FUN show in Orlando.




As a bonus, there is also this Roman buckle I bought at his table at the 2026 FUN show, just recently. I thought it was a perfect companion piece to the bracelet I bought the year before.




Watch your mailbox soon, @Vytis. They’re yours now.

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