Stuff like this happens to me more often than I'd like to admit...

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by lordmarcovan, Jun 12, 2018.

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  1. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan Eclectic & Eccentric Moderator

    So, remember this Constantine I campgate that was the subject of a recent thread, when I was playing around with animated GIFs?

    [​IMG]

    (Seasick yet? Sorry.)

    Well, that was on May 18th or thereabouts.

    That coin and two others were supposed to be part of my end of a swap with @dadams.

    One of the others was this exceedingly tiny gold fanam.

    [​IMG]


    So I went into my safe deposit box around May 22, to get this stuff ready to ship.

    Found the first coin (a Trajan Decius ant).

    Then I found the fanam ... but it slipped right out of the tiny gap at the bend in the flip and was ...

    GONE! Totally vanished!

    I spent half an hour searching, and the thing was nowhere to be found.

    Finally gave up in despair.

    I had heard it hit the counter *tick!* and that was it. Poof- GONE.

    So then I went to look for the Constantine campgate.

    It too was GONE ... nowhere to be found!!!

    I didn't even get a chance to drop that one!

    Out of three coins I owed Doug Adams, I had lost TWO of them!

    A day later, around May 23, I went into the little red box I keep my swapstock in, and took out all the coins, searching for the Constantine with increasingly frantic anxiety, as that was the best of the three coins I owed Doug in the swap.

    I didn't find it.

    I did, however, find the tiny, escaped fanam, which fortunately had bounced off the counter and landed back inside the box, nestling itself beneath some of the other coins in 2x2s.

    *whew*

    But the Constantine campgate remained missing, and I never found it. I finally had to pay Doug for that (missing) portion of my end of the swap. He was gracious about it - we're good friends - but he was no doubt disappointed, and I was embarrassed.

    Weeks passed ...

    (continued in next post...)
     
    lordmarcovan, Jun 12, 2018
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  3. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan Eclectic & Eccentric Moderator

    So then, this morning, I'm putting up some stuff on eBay, so I get out my little red swapstock box ...

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    *whew!*

    Better late than never, right? :)
     
    lordmarcovan, Jun 12, 2018
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  4. ToughCOINS

    ToughCOINS Dealer Member Moderator

    I have a similar story for another time . . . now, off to work.
     
    ToughCOINS, Jun 12, 2018
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  5. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan Eclectic & Eccentric Moderator

    Sadly, I have half a dozen stories like this ... some with happy endings, but others full of tears and gnashing of teeth, which remain unsolved mysteries.
     
    lordmarcovan, Jun 12, 2018
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  6. David Atherton

    David Atherton Flavian Fanatic

    What are the odds, eh? Truth really is stranger than fiction!
     
    David Atherton, Jun 12, 2018
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  7. zumbly

    zumbly Ha'ina 'ia mai ana ka puana

    Wow, glad you eventually found them!
     
    zumbly, Jun 12, 2018
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  8. TypeCoin971793

    TypeCoin971793 Just a random guy on the internet

    Truth is stranger than FRICTION! ;)
     
    TypeCoin971793, Jun 12, 2018
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  9. Carausius

    Carausius Brother, can you spare a sestertius?

    Glad you found it! Recently, on another thread I recommended tiny coins like these be stored in Air Tite or comparable containers. I stand by that recommendation. The risk of loss under the simplest "oops" scenario is very high for a coin like this!
     
    Carausius, Jun 12, 2018
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  10. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan Eclectic & Eccentric Moderator

    ROFL :hilarious:

    Excellent!
     
    lordmarcovan, Jun 12, 2018
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  11. tenbobbit

    tenbobbit Well-Known Member

    It happens to most us in one form or another although I have not lost any coins yet.
    My horror story involved a bag of diamonds I had been collecting from scrap jewellery ( worked for a jeweller ) one day when hoovering up I spotted a glint in the carpet, much to my horror I had somehow spilled several stones from the bag without knowing, i then spent a whole day hoover bag checking and carpet searching, I still don't know exactly how many I lost but it was at least a carat & a half of small stones :hurting:
     
    tenbobbit, Jun 12, 2018
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  12. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan Eclectic & Eccentric Moderator

    :eek::nailbiting:

    "Jewellery".

    "Hoovering".

    I know what side of the pond you're from! ;)
     
    lordmarcovan, Jun 12, 2018
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  13. Alegandron

    Alegandron "ΤΩΙ ΚΡΑΤΙΣΤΩΙ..." ΜΕΓΑΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ, June 323 BCE

    I had an incident where I dropped a Tetartemorian, and it took me a long while with a flashlight to find it. Now, when I receive small coins, I put them into a Cointain, then put them into a Saflip with their attributes.

    Saved my life many times when I pulled the coin-in-cointain from the Saflip to show someone. Usually they are "scared" to hold something so small ("so old", "so valuable"), so I just keep them in the Saflip to show them. I rarely need to pull a coin from the Cointain...

    IMG_1545 (1).jpg
     
    Last edited: Jun 12, 2018
    Alegandron, Jun 12, 2018
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  14. TIF

    TIF Always learning.

    I have a few Cointains but really need to order more for all of my small coins. This really is the best way to store them if your collection is housed in flips. Even if it is in a tray or Abafil briefcase or similar, placing your tiniest coins in a Cointain will prevent headaches.
     
    TIF, Jun 12, 2018
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  15. Jay GT4

    Jay GT4 Well-Known Member

    Glad you found them in the end. I have a not so happy ending.

    I went to a coin lunch show and tell a few years ago. Brought about 5 coins. Passed them around and got them all back. Had lunch and talked for 2 hours. Packed up my coins in my pocket and headed home. When I got there one was missing from the flip. Looked everywhere in the car, nothing. Retraced my steps to the restaurant, nothing. Left my details with the staff but nothing. It's gone. I take comfort in the fact that it was probably lost in a similar way over 2000 years ago. So if you find this walking down the street you'll know where it came from...

    Fulvia.jpg

    Fulvia Second wife of Mark Antony fouree
    Bust of Fulvia as Victory right

    Lion right between A and XL (year 40) LVGV in ex DVNI above

    Lugdunum, autumn 43 BC

    1.37g

    Sear 1518
    RSC 4

    Antony's name is not mentioned on the coin but the date-numeral A XL (year 40) refers to his age at the time of the issue. A similar type was struck the following year which includes Antony's name and titles and recods his age as 41.

    Silver Quinarius fouree 1.36gm
    ex CNG 9/98 #1358


    I now transport my coins in a small tin container so nothing can slip out.
     
    Jay GT4, Jun 12, 2018
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  16. Roman Collector

    Roman Collector Well-Known Member

    Wow! I'm glad you found the coins, @lordmarcovan !

    One day, I brought this sestertius to work to show to my students and when I got home and went to my study to put it back in its place, it was no longer in the breast pocket of my shirt.

    I thought it was gone for good but a year or two later, I found it under the clothes dryer in the laundry room. I suspect that when I bent over to reach the dog bowls, it fell out of my shirt pocket and bounced under the dryer. It was in a 2 x 2 holder and was undamaged by the ordeal.

    It felt like secret Saturnalia, though, when I found it!

    Etruscilla FECVNDITAS AVG sestertius.jpg
     
    Roman Collector, Jun 12, 2018
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  17. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan Eclectic & Eccentric Moderator

    I know a Marc Breitsprecher flip when I see one! :)
     
    lordmarcovan, Jun 12, 2018
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  18. Randy Abercrombie

    Randy Abercrombie Supporter! Supporter

    My only horror story was my own undoing. I let my young son take a very nice Trilobite fossil to show and tell. While at school the Trilobite subdivided and came home in three pieces.
     
    Randy Abercrombie, Jun 12, 2018
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  19. Alegandron

    Alegandron "ΤΩΙ ΚΡΑΤΙΣΤΩΙ..." ΜΕΓΑΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ, June 323 BCE

    LOL, oh wow! You need to come to my home and my office to feed my dog! :D

    Super story that you FOUND IT!
     
    Alegandron, Jun 12, 2018
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  20. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan Eclectic & Eccentric Moderator

    Been there, done that, though in my case it was in the car and with a then- $110-ish 1875-S USA 20-cent piece. When I found it, it was indeed like Saturnalia, for enough time had elapsed that I had semi-forgotten I owned the coin and had come to assume I'd sold it long ago. Rediscovering it was a happy little windfall, like I had with the Constantine campgate this morning!

    Lost an EF 1797 British "Cartwheel" 2-pence before I moved out of my old house in North Carolina in 1994. Never found it. That's a big ol' coin to go and lose!

    Another time, back when I was a smoker, I got a nice ornate Victorian love token in the mail. Opened the package, extracted the coin. It was time to go to work, so I slid the coin flip into the clear plastic wrapper of my cigarette pack. (Bet you smokers know all about this trick, if any of you are still alive.) Admired my new coin during a smoke break, slid it back in the packet, and later, after smoking the last ciggie in the pack, I tossed the "empty" pack in the trash ... coin and all.

    About an hour later, I realized my mistake, and ran back across the street to the smoking area, only to find the trash had been emptied and hauled away. Oh, the horror!

    Sometime in the 24th century, future archaelogists digging up the Glynn County landfill are going to be baffled by the presence of an ornately carved 1870s Seated Liberty dime love token, neatly tucked inside an empty Kool cigarette box from the 1990s.

    (There's an anti-smoking public announcement for ya, kiddies!)

    Also know a dealer who accidentally threw away a gold quarter-eagle. Ugh!
     
    Last edited: Jun 12, 2018
    lordmarcovan, Jun 12, 2018
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  21. Mat

    Mat Ancient Coincoholic

    I've dropped coins and thankfully other than the kitchen or bathrooms, I have carpet everywhere.

    When I have dropped them, I have always been able to find them pretty easily and damage free.

    Never lost a coin though.
     
    Mat, Jun 12, 2018
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