If you had to choose just 1 single coin out of your collection, what would you say is your favorite, and why? it's rarity? the story behind it? how you got it/who gave it to you/sentimental value? etc... I'm curious to see what you guys value the most and why. It doesn't have to be the most expensive coin you have, but rather the one that has the best story and means the most to you I'll post mine after a couple others have responded to the thread
I must have answered this question a dozen times - but somehow I never get tired of answering it My favorite coin is a franc a' cheval, also known as a cavalier d'or. The reason it's my favorite is two fold - one I love the design. It's hard for me not to love a knight on a charging horse with a raised sword. And two - the coin was used to pay the ransom for a King. To me, it doesn't get any cooler than that
wow thats neat do you have a picture of it? i've never seen one of those. and edit- sorry about the repost... i went back a couple pages and didn't see anything
Hate having to pick one, lol... but if I had to it would be the 2000 silver 1 pound proof coin I bought on eBay about a year ago. Just love the Welsh dragon on the reverse. Have a few coins tied as close seconds... 2006-W proof silver eagle I recently got for my birthday, can literally see myself in the coins reflection... 2005-W 1/10 oz proof gold eagle I got for Christmas, beautiful coin... 1958 Mexican 1 peso I recently inherited from my grandmother, love the old fashioned look to it, almost a throwback to colonial coinage. The Japanese Shouwa 32 (1957) 100 yen piece I have is probably a close 3rd... love the bird on the front... why Japan moved to the generic designs after that I'll never understand. Honorable mention are just about any decent bi-metallic coin in my collection... I love these things... I'm especially fond of the 10 peso coin Mexico has been putting out since they renumerated their currency in 1992. The Aztec calender looks great on the two different metals. Wish the US would mint more bimetallic coins, lol... so far the only one they've minted was the 2000 Library of Congress commemorative (which is second on my wish list, right after a St. Gauden's double eagle!) Were I to mention paper money too, my favorite notes would easily be the 1 and 2 Ngultrum notes I have from Bhutan. Seem more like artwork than money, lol... the designs on them are absolutely beautiful.
My favorite is actually a note. I was visiting my paternal grandmother several years ago. She pulled out a framed note (the note was in a noteholder, which was itself taped to a cardboard background in a frame) to show me. It was a National Currency note from a bank in North Dakota of which her father (my great-grandfather) had been the President. As a result, one of the signatures on the note was his. I was very excited about that. Thought it was quite cool. She said, "it's yours." My jaw, of course, hit the floor. Taking it through airport security on the way home, I wouldn't let them X-ray it. Made them inspect it by hand. Annoyed them no end. On the heirloom value alone, I would never sell this note, even if I was destitute or I owed the bank a boatload of money. Which is a bigger deal than it might sound at first hearing. According to what I've been told by various currency dealers at various shows, it's a rather rare note. Easily the most valuable item in my collection (probably by a factor of 2.5 or so).
I'd have to say my Morgan dollar from the Binion Hoard, just cuz I live in the west and it was pretty big news. The STORY behind it intrigues me. Its not worth much, but to me the story behind it is
Mine is a 1902 morgan. Not much monatery value, but it was the only piece that my wife owned before she passed. It is my pocket piece.
My sister just gave me a pendant that our father had made for our mother. He sacrificed a 159? gold ducat from Westfriesland, but he couldn't bring himself to have it soldered, so it's in a hideous setting that cradles the coin. I'd forgotten all about this pendant; my mom spent most of her time killing gophers and irrigating walnut trees, so she seldom wore jewelry. It's a sentimental favorite because my dad's family comes from Westfriesland, and because it reminds me that my moody and difficult father had a squishy center. Second favorite: a 1945-P Netherlands 1 gulden. This was minted in Philadelphia (obviously) during the war, with a mintage of over 25 million. Most of the coins were melted and sent back to the U.S., making the Netherlands one of the few countries to repay its war debt in full. It's an R-2 coin, which I *believe* means there are 501-1250 known. My dad was in the Dutch underground, and in 1944 - at around the time this coin was being produced, I imagine - he'd been captured and was in a concentration camp. I also have the medal awarded to him by the Dutch government. That's one of my most cherished possessions.
Well if I had to pick just one ,it would be my mare island ferry token, from mare island naval shipyard in Vallejo Calif. At one time or another every one in my family has worked there, my mother was a welder there in world war two. I was born in vallejo when she worked there in the shipyards and the only way to get out to the shipyard was to ride the ferry. No true value other than sentimental but my mom is gone now and it brings back memories when I look at it.
The first wheat penny I ever found (1940). It was the piece that turned me on to coins. But, of course, I've found so many 1940's that I couldn't find it if I tried.
My favorite coin(s) is(are) two carson city mint morgan silver dollars passed down to me from my grandfather. He was in the US cavalry around the turn of the century and brought them back with him from the west and kept them as a keepsake of his service.
Ya know, I always look forward to these threads cause I know this coin is gonna show up! Thanks for sharing it again Doug.
Probably my oldest coin, i mean just thinking that that coin has been used to buy so many things, and the number of owners that it's had... that's an expirienced coin, that can tell ten time more stories than me... (Don't kno why i've been 32 minutes to write this...) Oh, and i prefair a really scrached, used old coin that a nice and shiny coin that haesn't lived the life... NEXT