I added three new bears to my collection. The 1944 Greenland 5 kronur is the most expensive in this series and the largest, about the size of a half dollar. I love the polar bear obviously. The 1960 Greenland krone only has a small bear but there aren't too many coins from Greenland so it's still exciting. The last is a little different. Notgeld depicting a cave bear fossil.
My other recent newps, Japan this time. Theoretically common, but not so easy to find in gemmy conditions in the US. Some dude in Asia is probably giggling at the ridiculous prices his 'common coins' get from silly Americans. Showa 8 (1933) 1 sen Showa 15 (1940) 1 sen. I swear it's the aluminum/base metal coins that have enormous mintages, low catalog values, but finding them like this hardly ever happens. Well, at least not for me living on the East Coast.
I completely agree. Finding worn common stuff? Super easy. Finding nice common stuff? Not too bad. Finding something that screams "KEEP ME BECAUSE YOU'LL NEVER SEE ANOTHER LIKE ME"? Very, very difficult. Which is why I've started keeping all those coins. $2 book value? That's fine. I know it's a 66.
France - 1948 B 5 Francs (A bit of a key date, assuming it has a low survival rate.) France - 1949 B 1 Franc (Not quite a gem, but much nicer than normal.) French Polynesia - 1965 5 Francs (Here's an example of a gorgeous coin with a low book value - $2.50 in MS63 - and yet it screams KEEPER. There is a PCGS MS64 that's at $15.50 right now on eBay. I think I'm comfortable saying this coin is nicer than a 64...) Togo - 1924 2 Francs (One year type from French Mandate; ran across a pair in one go.)
Had some great deliveries today! Franz Josef I medallion from Vienna 1873 - big at 70mm diameter: Along with this interesting Boat Club medal "Queen's Printers" about 48mm diameter:
... and then this 1898 British Penny as an upgrade to my own collection: and finally and hopefully most excitingly, this 2 Rupie from German East Africa with the bellicose portrait of Kaiser Wilhelm:
A couple odds and ends that showed up yesterday....can't compare to that dude with the eagle on top his head though!
This arrived from Bogota a few weeks ago. I am pleased. I am still looking for a much nicer one. Can someone tell me why it is so hard to find?
URUGUAY 10 PESOS 2011 (PUMA) finally bought this off Ebay. I like the powerful puma and suns rays. sellers pics... not rare mintage 20,000,000 lol
That's a good observation. Coins like these are being overlooked since they are high mintage moderns. This will be a much bigger deal down the road when those time periods become more collectible and people realize how scarce the high grade examples really are. For my set, it's the 1941-1956 aluminum/aluminum-bronze common issues for Hungary. Almost all of the types are easy to find in circulated condition, and most are incredibly easy to find in BU. Try to find examples above MS65 though and you'll be looking for a very long time. I've been working diligently on the above set for a few years now, upgrading whenever possible. My minimum acceptable grade is 63 for these aluminum types, and out of 23 types, I've still been unable to locate acceptable examples for 6 of them. Out of the remaining types, 7 are MS63-64, 8 are MS65-66, and only 2 are MS67. All of these are common, high mintage modern aluminum coins.
Picked up 16 pounds of bulk world coins purchased today - this was the highlight (apart from the silver French 50 Centimes from 1918) of the lot: EDIT: Just imaged a few more of my recent pickups - instead of making a new post, thought I'd add them to this one. Fiji Islands - 1949 1/2 Penny France - 1938 1 Franc Vatican City - 1964 10 Lire
So has anyone here ever went to a coin show...purchased the items they collect and just before you walked out the door..... a dealer friend hands you a binder..? And...You really like window shopping but ...and there's always a but.... I saw this coin an Henry VI 1422-1461 Groat ....and to be honest this image does this coin no justice...just had to post it asap. I fell in love with this one...in hand it's unbelievable! Henry VI pinecone muscle issue groat, from the Reigate hoard