What Are you Suckered For?

With my recent Hadrian thread I thought I would make a topic on what ancients or modern coins are you just a plain sucker for?

For me I have to say I love ragged flans, not sure why but when they have a jagged edge look to them but still have their full inscriptions and such. Its partly why I would like to get serrated republics added to my collection.

I love Clashed Dies, its just something I always liked even on modern coinage.

Circulated Cameo look would be my last favorite. Everyone likes EF/MS examples on coins but if a coin, whether its ancient or modern, has a nice honest circulated look too to them I will sometimes pick that example over the shiny ones. Imagine the history it's seen vs one thats just left the mint.

 

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Cheap asses. (plural for As in case someone gets offended)
I cant pass up an As, in hand, that is $1-$4. I have to force myself not to get them. There is one of Claudius/Liertas that was like less than $20 at the local shop because it looks much better than the ones than I had previously bought but I had to remind myself of the really nice one I have already XD

And yeah a worn coin has much more History.

 

i would have to say cents, what beats a coin that has been continually produced since 1795 and is the most collected coin in the world? you can buy them extremly cheap and en mass.

 

Rarity.

IDK why, but simple absolute scarcity always attracts me. That is why most of my attention has not been Roman or Greek, but esoteric civilizations. I can appreciate a good lucking Roman, but show me an ugly visigoth coin and I am off and running.

For US coins, I still am a sucker for capped bust halves. Whenever I am at a show and nothing for my collection to buy, I will buy a bust half just in principal.

Chris

 

when I go through my local dealers junque silver, I cannot seem to pass up a commemorative. Even though I have some nice ones in the OGP, I am on my way to having a couple rolls of 93 columbians and 82 washingtons

 

brockage errors and other cool mint errors. Circam look (LM from Collectors universe got me liking those). Well centered coins. I love a nice honest worn coin with no problems, well centered, and with nice toning. And of course high grade stuff, but it's got to be well centered otherwise I wont be spending the money on it.

For history, I mainly look for things that have to do with Medusa, Egyptian mythology, and coins that commemorate victories (Vespasian Judea Capta, for instance).

stainless

 

Several years ago I picked up a few Barber half dollars at a yard sale for $4 to $5 each. Mainly it was just an experiment to study them and see if I liked the series.
Soon I was buying more [in better condition] and paying $14 to $16 each. Then I had so many different dates/mintmarks I bought a new Dansco and strted filling holes. Years later I have a set that is missing four coins.
The sucker part comes in when I start to add up what I have spent trying to finish a complete set. I had no idea when I started how much money it would take.
The primary criteria is that all coins have full intact rims so there are still a few that need upgrading. But all holes are filled except four: 1892, 1892-O, 1893-S and 1896-S.

 

I have to agree. My son wanted to collect barber halves and now I find myself just accumulating them. Everytime I look at them and think about what I've paid so far, I'm happy my wife has no clue...

 

What also has changed is the selling price for a complete Barber half set. When I first started collecting them a full set was selling on ebay for about $1,400 or a bit more. After I spent over $1,400 I began to get nervous knowing I still had a long way to go and still had several keys to buy.
Now I see people trying to get $2,500 plus for a set. I don't know if they get that price but some of those sets have a few very worn out coins in them.

 

Dombes !!
I'm really dumb with them. Roman coins OK. If I find one I like but for some reason can't afford, it's not a hard job to let it go. Dombes coinage (as some of you already know it's an obscure feudal coinage from the area I live in. See : http://monnaiesdeladombes.blogspot.com/, don't be afraid there is a link at the top of the summary on the left side of the homepage to translate it in every language you would like to, even english...) is very different. The coins are so rare (very often less than ten known examples, many unrecorded) that finding one, and knowing it will probably not show up again in a lifetime....You can write the end of the sentence yourself

Q

 

I like controversy. So being Canadian, I'm a sucker for anything 1911. Also known as the Godless year. If it's under $40 it's mine no hesitation. The pennies are my favorite, and Im working on putting together a sort of un-graded registry set. to be graded in a few years.

 

1985 Cyprus 50 cent http://www.coinshome.net/coin_instance_details.htm?id=2erBwcI0hKQAAAEqMipDRaTS
1943 Belgian Congo 2 franc http://coins.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=610081&lotNo=61014
FAO Series coins
Edge incused/security world coins (love the stacked effect of all the different edges)
!!!"TONING"!!!
Early 1900's French coins

 

anything from la belle francais,

 

I'm curious what the story is behind this?

First for me it would have been the old, big British pennies. Now it's anything from a strange place, especially something that doesn't exist anymore. An example is a coin from Sarawak I picked up recently.

 

top of the list are the fractional Spanish columnarios. Late Ottoman empire and milled Chinese silver also get my attention. And anything with an overdate, repunched date, over mintmark, etc.

 

Anything that resembles this;

 

For some reason, that reminds me of a line from an old Monty Python sketch:

"Hand over le fromage de la belle France qui s'appelle Camembert, s'il vous plait".

 

Zinc coins. There are so hard to find in good condition, and hard to keep them safe due to my local weather.

 

I blow my nose in your general direction. You crazy English k-nig-ghts! Don't come back, or I shall taunt you a second time!