Went to a local coin show recently. I'm not buying much silver recently because of high prices, but I found some loose coppers I could pick through for $2 each at one dealer, and some others in a $0.50 bin at another. Lots of fun Canadian tokens. I'm especially fond of the Meiji 32 (1899) 1 Sen (top photo, 3rd from L).
You seem to do well with Japanese. I'm mostly clueless with Japanese, but I agree that that nice, big 1899 Meiji sen is attractive. I like the Canadian stuff in here. The Cartwheel copper with the anchor counterstamp is cool, too. I wonder what the story behind that one is.
Thanks! I do like to pick through Japanese stuff from bins especially. Anything Meiji is worth a look especially. I have hundreds of early-mid 1900s Japanese stuff just from 10 cent junk bins over the years. I was a Japanese language dual major in college and worked there for half a year during grad school, so I've tried to keep up the language. I can still read enough characters for coin ID at least. I hadn't noticed the anchor counterstamp on the 1 penny coin until you mentioned it. Fun! I have no idea what it means. Usually at coin shows coin shows I don't have much luck picking from bins. It doesn't make much sense for dealers to lug a bunch low-end stuff. But sometimes I get lucky. All my nearby coin shops have closed, so I need to venture out more if I want to find anything new.
That anchor counterstamp bears further research. Could be something good. On the other hand, it could just be an unpublished, random counterstamp. Either way, it’s neat. PS- is it a counterstamp, though? Or was the anchor hand-engraved on there? I can’t tell from the picture. As you likely know and may have encountered in your junk box diving, Cartwheel coppers were very often counterstamped or engraved, with everything from simple initials to elaborate pictorials.
I'm going to go with just roughly scratched on and not a real counterstamp. Looks like an anchor with a rope. Probably not of any numismatic interest if it's hand engraved, but still a lot of fun! Even worn nearly slick, I enjoy these 1797 coppers a lot. I didn't know they were often used for engravings, though it makes sense given the size. Since we're mentioning UK engraved coins, here's my all-time favorite love token: Queen Anne 1711 Shilling love token. Got it in ~1997 for just a few dollars.
The anchor is engraved for sure. A very common counterstamp or engraving on coins and nearly always unattributed as you'd expect. Bruce
Ah, yes. Engraved, not counterstamped. And almost certainly untraceable, as such. Oh well. It’s still a cool piece, and a solid pickup for two bucks or less. I for sure would have bought it. I could see it going for $10-20+ in an eBay auction in the Love Token category, simply because it’s interesting.
I looked up some of the coppers and took individual photos. A few of them look to have been good deals at $2 each. Austria 1 Kreutzer 1803H (Nice condition for the price) Austria 1 Kreutzer 1790S Austria, Burgau 1 Kreutzer 1772G Bremen 2 1/2 Schwaren 1866 (Also a good deal in this condition, I think) Denmark 1 Skilling Rigsmont 1867 (Nice condition for this price) East India Company 1/4 Anna 1835 (there are several variants I can't distinguish) Prussia 1/24 Thaler 178x A. This is actually billon! About $2 silver content, ha. Sweden 1/3 Skilling Banco 1854 Württemberg 1/2 Kreuzer 1861 (Nice condition for the price) Thanks for following along!
This is actually my second one, I think. I have an 1820 I got a while ago, but it's not as nice. I'm always on the lookout for weird denominations like 2 1/2 etc.
