Post a seriously damaged coin that you still like

I believe this 1863 McClellan Civil War Token was used by a Union soldier as a dog tag during the war. The counterstamping reads "C. Cate / A 12 NH / Alton". In my research I found a soldier named Charles Cate who served with A Company, 12th New Hampshire Regiment. He lived in Alton, NH. where he was recruited.

The piece appears to have been in the ground for many years, so may have been lost by Cate on a battlefield somewhere. The 12th New Hampshire, while he was a member, saw serious action, including at Gettysburg. They were badly shot up in an engagement with an Alabama regiment, and were later in the center of the Union defensive position that withstood Pickett's Charge. Fortunately, Cate survived the war, though I think he was seriously wounded.

Bruce

 

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Here's mine.

 

I just posted some comments about this coin in your old 2017 thread titled PMD? I thought it was the best place to post them.

Bruce

 

Bruce,

Thanks for updating that thread your comments were very informative.

Joe

 

I found this 1887 Indian Head Cent while helping my father dig footings for an addition to our home in 1958. Our house, was located at the bottom of a hill and had been a farm house on the edge of our town back to the late 1800s. While we were working, an elderly neighbor came over to watch. When I found this old green IHC he asked to see it. It was quite concaved and green from weather. He spit on it to remove some of the soil (I've never attempted to clean it any further). The old neighbor told me he thought it had landed on the roof of the house years ago when a Circus show was in town and they had a lady sharp shooter shooting pennies out of the air on top of our hill. The elderly neighbor said he was still a boy but remembered that it was before WW I. I asked if maybe it was Annie Oakley, but he didn't remember. He unfortunately died a few weeks later and I never did find out anymore about this coin. I did check the archives for the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show and they were in our town in 1909. However, Annie Oakley was at that time touring with the "Young Buffalo Show". So, I'm not positive of the date or shooter. However, it is a small piece of history in my collection. The edge picture shows that it was distorted consistent with a 22 short that was Annie Oakley's favorite target rifle.

 

Since some of you are posting stamped/engraved coins or chopmarked coins, here is one with a banker's mark.

See the moon-shaped banker's mark on Julius Caesar's head in this lifetime denarius minted around mid-January to March 15 of 44 BC. You can see how the banker's mark strike left a flat spot on the reverse right next to Venus's elbow.

 

My one and only dryer coin

 

Very cool coin and what a neat story.

 

Cool finds. I tend to agree with your assessment of the two cent piece. Aside from the environmental damage, the detail is amazingly intact.

 

There's a Dremel job if there ever was one.

 

In my 60+ years of collecting I've had (and in many cases, still have) many different modern coins with various "alterations" and damage - both intentional and accidental - some of which are fascinating and/or puzzling to contemplate their origin and/or purpose. For the last couple of decades however, this Hadrian sestertius from a $2 pick box has been my favorite. It is the result of a happy, accidental and unintended confluence of wear, patination and possibly some light final cleaning - I've always felt it was just about the equal of a carved cameo.
This photo doesn't quite capture how striking it looks "in person", but it should give at least a general impression of its overall beauty.
I've never made an effort to image all the odd "indian jewelry", advertisement or "blacksmith's toy" items wrought upon coins that I keep as a class of exonumia - but perhaps I should do a series of photos of some of the more photogenic of them. (This would have to wait until I manage to get my ancients website gallery brought up to date.)
Wait, I think I may have a photo of a large copper which had been re-purposed into a cabinet door latch - I'll see if I can find it.

 

I did find a photo, but it doesn't show the semi-circular wear-pattern generated from years of being opened and closed very well in the photo - ah well, it's a start.

 

A gift from the widow neighbor

 

If I had your line of thinking, I'd have never become an ancient coins collector. Every single ancient coin is a "problem coin." By virtue of 1,600+ years of burrial, even the best preserved ancient coin is a cleaned coin. Add to that the prolific ancient practices of writing grafitty on a coin, clipping coins, test-cutting coins, or adding banker's marks to coins, and over 2/3 of surviving ancient coins have post-mint damage caused by ancient people and merchants before these coins were burried. After discovery, many ancient coins were improperly cleaned/polished etc., by the private individuals who discovered them and cleaned them in the 17th through early 20th century, in an era before "proper cleaning techniques" was even a concept. Someone like you would go certifiably nuts if you were in a gathering of ancients collectors.

That's why I cut problem coins a break, because every coin I collect is literally a problem coin by virtue of any of the things I mentioned above, yet they are still beautiful and important historically.

This coin is suffering from crystalization of the silver after 2,500 years in the soil. Thats why it looks so bumpy and rough. Still a beauty, and still worth collecting if you ask me. Just because it is not perfect, it doesn't all of the sudden become trash.



This other coin has a deep test cut on the reverse, right beneath the owl's wing (at the edge by 8 o'clock). You want me to throw away 2,400 years of history? Is it not still worthy of being collected and appreciated because it is less than perfect?

 

^^^ Wish there was a “I Like This A Bunch” button.

 

I posted this before. Not my coin. I did however take a day off and drive two hours to view it when it was discovered.

Lieutenant George Dixon was the captain of the confederate submarine HL Hunley that was discovered in Charleston harbor about 2000. This double eagle was found on his remains. It bore the impact of a Union bullet and saved his life. The double eagle was given to him by the woman he loved before he went to war. Lieutenant Dixon had the double eagle engraved and carried it to his last day.... To me, this is the coolest coin on the planet entirely because of the story that the damage tells.

 

Pocket piece.