Picking through someone's trade-in collection like a vulture

At a local coin shop recently, I saw a big binder full of mixed world coins. The proprietor said a customer had traded it in for some gold. The collection dated from recent purchases to about 10-year-ago prices, but he said he didn't have time to go through and reprice them. So I could pick through and get the ones I wanted as marked. Silver has gone up quite a bit in the last few years, and by my rough estimate, some of them were under melt. There were also a few types which were new to me, so I scooped up a good few.

Austria 1925 1 Schilling
$4, about $1 over melt


Colombia 1922 50 Centavos
$8, a little under melt


Sweden 1939 1 Krone
$3, about $1 under melt


I love a bargain. I'll post some more when I take photos.

 

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Those are cool!

 

A few more. All were well over melt, but still very competitively priced, I think.

Colombia 1849 2 Reales
This is a new type to me and I really liked it. $10


Bolivia 1875 20 Centavos
Nice detail on the sun rays. $10


France 1823 A (Paris) 1 Franc
It's pretty worn, but I don't have many Louis XVIII coins. $6

 

Anything 19th century is a go for me, typically.

Nice grabs.

 

For sure. Take them when they come! Especially once you hit 1860s in my experience.

 

Three more:
Puerto Rico 1895 20 Centavos
My first coin from Puerto Rico. $20. These get pricey quickly in higher grades.


German Empire/Prussia 1876 A (Berlin) 2 Marks


Austria 1883 1 Florin

 

Love that Puerto Rico and the 2 Marks!

 

A few more from this set:
Chile 40 Centavos 1907-1908 date set (2 year type)
They are only 0.400 fine silver, so they have an interesting bronzish color.
The 1908 is in better shape, but the 1907 is a much scarcer date (46K vs. 1.4M)

 

A couple German States minors:
Prussia 1/3 Reichsthaler 1771 A
It thought $20 was a good deal on this one.


Württemberg 1 Kreuzer 1758
This is small and billon, so the silver content is tiny. But $4!
This isn't even in that bad shape compared to a lot of German States minors I see.

German States stuff I have to decide if I want on the spot. Demand is strong for these and they are almost always gone the next time I come back.

 

A couple billon minors of Franz Joseph I of Austria
Austria 1849 6 Kreuzer Franz Joseph I 0.4375 Ag, single-year type. $4
First year of his long reign. His uncle, Emperor Ferdinand resigned during the Revolutions of 1848 to try to calm down the revolt.


Austria 1872 10 Kreuzer Franz Joseph I 0.400 Ag. $2

 

You got a great deal on many of those. Great coins!

 

Some wonderful pick ups there. Whenever I am near to Almeria City, I make a beeline for the coin shop and a rummage through his bargain boxes. He deals predominately in Spanish coins and has little interest in other Countries. As a result I often get some unexpected surprises. Thanks for sharing

 

Colombia 1 Centavo 1921, Leprosarium. $1.50
I've found 3 of the 2 centavos over the years, but this is my first of any other denomination. 2 Centavos (not from this lot), is below for comparison.

 

Three non-silvers:
Finland 5 Markkaa 1933 aluminum-bronze
Not an amazing price at $2.50, as this is a common date.
But I like the color of aluminum-bronze as it ages.


Ethiopia 1931 25 Matonas, Nickel
I have another one of these. I thought this one was in better condition, but now that I look at a photo more closely they are about the same. The edge lettering seems to tend to be weak on these, even when the detail on the crown is still good.
Anyway, I like early Ethiopian types. The date EE1923 = 1931AD. Some Ethiopian coins used the same nominal date for many years. I don't know if this type is included. Many Ethiopian coins appear to be single-year types but aren't really.


Luxembourg 1759 Liard Maria Theresa, copper
Numista has the shield as the obverse and the crowned monogram as the reverse.
In coins with no portrait, I usually assume the side with the monogram or crown is the obverse. I guess it doesn't really matter. Assuming they are correct, I'm too lazy to reverse the positions in the collage.

 

The last 3 silvers:
Belgium 1949 20 Francs. Dutch lettering. 0.835 Ag. $6 is about $1 over melt.
For some reason I was not familiar with this type. I don't collect post-WW2 silvers very often. I'm mostly into 1700-1800s world coppers these days.


Bremen 1 Groten 1748. $2
I didn't even realize this was silver when I got it. Maybe billon from the color?
Like many of older German states minors, it's seen a lot of circulation.
At least the date is clearly visible.


Hesse-Darmstadt 1 Kreuzer 1872. 0.166 Ag. $0.50 (holed)
A tiny little silver coin with an even tinier silver content as it's only 0.166 fine.
The early days of the German Empire are fascinating to me because so many of the substituent German states still made their own minor coinage.
Shame about the hole, but how often can one get a silver coin these days for $0.50?

 

Last one from this set. I'm not confident about the shop's attribution.
Label had is as "Spain, 2 Maravedis, circa 1622, Philip IV" ($5)

Coin is 20+ mm, 1.93 grams, copper or bronze color.
Ob: Bust in circle. "PHILIPPVS.IIII.D.G."
Rev: (Starting at around 2:00 crack) "HISPANIARVM R[EX] 16[xx]"
I think the denomination is a VIII or IIII to the right of the shield, but it's not readable. I can't clearly read the "REX". Looks more like "RX" to me.

The weights on these Spanish copper maravedi denominations are all over the place, so I'm not sure how to tell the denomination by size. Philip IV had a long reign (1621-1665), so there are a lot of potential types. Most of the ones in Krause don't have photos, and the descriptions are not very specific.

I believe the reverse has the "quartered arms of Castile-Leon" rather than a single castle in an undivided shield. Here's a vaguely similar type of 4 maravedis. But the weight is too small at 1.1 g. Most 8 maravedis are ~4.5 grams, though.

I'm leaning towards some type of 4 maravedis, but don't know the exact one.
At $5, at least I don't have much to lose.