How'd I do? (Buying spree: small-denomination old gold, etc.)

I unexpectedly won this 1/3 guinea piece in the GC auction last night, on an impulse bid, since it seemed to be pretty low. GC had erroneously listed it as a "1/3 gulden" (sic).

I don't think anybody else bid after me. I got it for a bit less than my maximum (it closed at $572 after buyer's fee).

Now, check this out. Though it's probably the most common date, Krause lists it at $775 in XF and $1,275 in MS60. And this is a certified MS62. Granted, it's in ANACS rather than PCGS or NGC plastic, and Krause may be (likely is) inflated here, but... VF+ money for certified MS62 Georgian-era British gold? Seems like a real bargain!

Don't know if I'll keep this one or flip it. My collection is already a bit heavy on British and Georgian material.

Here's an NGC 62 @ $975 obo.
Here's a PCGS 62 @ $1,235 obo.

Have I overlooked anything? I think I might have just gotten a win, here!







Stand by while I go get the next one to post...

 

Here's a Spanish half-escudo from the golden age of pirates and New World colonization.

I bought it from a dealer in Israel through their website, after initially seeing the listing on MA-shops. It already seemed surprisingly inexpensive, but the seller actually gave me a further small discount since I'm a new customer. I promised him good word-of-mouth if the deal is successful (which as long as the coin arrives safely, it should be).

The final price after shipping was in the $190s.

Krause lists this at $350 in VF and $500 in XF, and I regularly see Spanish gold like this offered well above Krause. Throw in some attractive toning? It's got to be a winner. Now, I'm not sure I agree with the seller that this is XF, but I do think it's a solid VF.

Attractively toned Spanish gold at around half catalog?

Winner, I say. What say you? This one will go to PCGS, get a TrueView, and likely take up residence in my Box of 25.

PS- oh, yes- I almost forgot- look at that Krause listing again.

This is the key date for the type; in fact the only date for the type that's priced differently (i.e., higher).

Yay!

 

Personally, I'd flip it. While it's a very nice coin, it doesn't possess the same level of originality that befits the other coins in your box of twenty. Better for it to reside in a collection of mostly brilliant, un-toned coins.

 

Okay, I just read the second post about the toned Spanish gold . . . now you've gone too far.

I thought you had constrained your box to 20 coins (as this writer smiles).

 

Having cashed in a semi-forgotten IRA CD to pay some bills, I'm in the unusual (for me) situation of actually having money to go on a little coin-buying spree (after taking care of some responsible things first, of course).

The 1810 third-guinea above was a fluke. I wasn't supposed to win it at that bid level.

Yes, the Box of 20 is expanding to a Box of 25. It has actually been in a 25-slot slab box for more than a year. I just haven't used the extra slots. Now I've filled them and might still need to trim a few pieces.

Eventually (soon, actually) I'm gonna run out of "mad money" and go back to being my usual impoverished self, but at least the credit card will be paid off and who knows, I might actually have some modest "savings" left in the bank (a previously alien concept to me).

Wait- I still have two more small, old goldies to post, and two silvers as well...

 

I just bought this from a member here, so there is once again one Far Eastern coin in my collection.

Oh and a "non-round" piece as well.



These little rectangular Japanese gold pieces are fun. The common Meiji types like this are not frightfully expensive, either, for gold coins. (These actually have more silver than gold content.)

They do look a little silly in a slab.



At $150, the price on this was fair, I think. Neither a cherrypick bargain nor an overpriced ripoff. Just about right.

I had one in my Box of 20 before. That one I paid $80 for, sight unseen, from a bulk offer. I sent it to PCGS and it got XF45. This new one, being ten points better (AU55) and attractively toned made it worth the extra money to me.

These are just fun.

 

This tiny ancient Greek piece got its own "newp" thread in the Ancients forum.

Description
ANCIENT GREECE EL Hekte 478-387 B.C.
Grade: VF/VF+ surface scratches on obverse
Material: Gold
Weight: 2.53 g
Diameter: 9.00 mm
Obverse: Helmeted head of Athena right; below, dolphin swimming left.

Reverse: Quadripartite incuse square

 

Here's another ancient newp that has been posted on the Ancients forum but does not yet have its own thread, so I will copy and paste the listing description from FORVM Ancient Coins.

This one is in hand now and is a nice, bright piece.



Corinth, Corinthia, Greece, 345 - 307 B.C.

85158. Silver stater, Pegasi I 451, Ravel 1076, HGC 4 1848, BCD Korinth -, BMC Corinth -, EF, superb style, some luster, light marks, areas of porosity, 8.468g, 20.3mm, 180o, Greece, Corinth mint, 345 - 307 B.C.; obverse Pegasos flying left, koppa below; reverse helmeted head of Athena (or Aphrodite) right, D (off flan) before, I and Artemis Phosphoros running left carrying torch behind; ex CNG; SOLD

Horace is quoted as saying: "non licet omnibus adire Corinthum," which translates, "Not everyone is able to go to Corinth" (referring to the expensive living standards that prevailed in the city). Corinth was renowned for the temple prostitutes of Aphrodite, the goddess of love, who served the wealthy merchants and the powerful officials living in or traveling in and out of the city. The most famous of them, Lais, was said to have extraordinary abilities and charged tremendous fees for her favors.

 

I'm headed to the post office to pick this one up this afternoon.


Switzerland (Zurich): silver "city view" 1/2-thaler (1 gulden/36 schillings), 1739.

(Pix above from Atlas numismatics. Pix and slabshot below from Coin Rarities Online. I purchased the coin from Atlas, where it was a little cheaper. Apparently Atlas and CRO must swap inventory around occasionally?)

No "bargain cherrypick" here, either, but essentially a full-retail purchase.

But high quality, and fairly priced within that consideration, I think.

 

Come to think of it, I might've done pretty well on the Zurich city view 1/2 thaler, too.

Krause says $525 in XF and $950 in MS60.

I'm into this PCGS AU58 at $495, so I got it below XF catalog.

It is another Pop 1 coin. But that's not quite as unusual in my offbeat collection, considering I go for slightly more esoteric stuff that's just a tiny bit off the beaten path.

 

When the dust settles from this spree, I might have 27-30 coins. I'm expanding to a Box of 25 now, but I'll still be shaking a few pieces loose after the expansion. Time will tell what they will be.

 

Hmmm - if I didn't know better I'd think you're going back to your old ways Rob. Soooo - when ya gonna start filling that hat again ?

 

Actually, I have been very gradually working on the sidelines to repopulate the trademark hat, though with mostly love tokens and trench art/engraved pieces rather than holey gold as it was in its pre-recession heyday.

That is my secondary collection, which I'll play with when I don't have the money for Box of 20 - er - 25 - newps.

Its nice to keep a collection of two-figure rather than three- or four-figure priced coins going. Truth be told, the two-figure stuff is much more my usual speed, and spending sprees like this one are rare.

So far, very little of the "Holey Coin Hat" reboot collection has been organized or properly photographed yet.

 

Unh huh - I knew it ! One can only keep one's true self repressed for so long

 

LOL

It seems my Old School CU forum peeps know me all too well, despite several reinventions through the years...