Coins That Mean Something To You...

Gee ! lucky daughter !!

Q

 

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James, That's a fascinating coin & I'm sure quite rare. How interesting that you were a modern day Speculator for the U.S. Army. Care to reveal what kind of duty you had, stateside or overseas, & when you served ? I always wondered why Marc Antony would advertise the existence of a cohort of Speculatores; you would think he would want to keep their existence a secret .

 

My first purchase was a 1971 Iran Commerative Proof Set. It was struck by the RCM for the Empire of Iran. My Dad, ordered 2 sets, I ended up getting one of them for Christmas. There where 4 gold/ 5 Silver coins in a really beautifull presentation box. Cost back then $261 Canadian. Still have that today. Nice Christmas gift.

 

In the beginning the Speculatores were scouts who gathered intelligence (my word) in an overt fashion. As the years passed, the Specularores became more covert collectors and spys as well as the traditional scouting duties.

I can share most of what I did in my military life. I was drafted in 1968 and, because of my test scores in the battery of tests the army gives all recruits, I was sent to what was then called Intelligence Coordinator course (a glorified clerk). In 1969, I went back to school to become a Counterintelligence Agent and was assigned to MACV (Military Assistance Command Vietnam) in the Phoenix Program. I suggest you look up information on that program. After returning from Vietnam, I had routine duties stateside until 1976 and then was assigned CI duties with the First Armored Division in Germany. Up to this point, my duties (other than Vietnam) were rather routine and not noteworthy. However, in 1979 I was selected for duty with the Special Projects Office under direct control of the Vice Chief of Staff of the Army for Intelligence. This assignment changed everything. I was assigned to various locations over the next 12 years and doing things I don't feel comfortable discussing either here on this board or even in person.

In 1991, I was sent to CENTCOM to augment the forward deployment into Saudi Arabia and Kuwait during the first Gulf War. After returning from a very eventful 8 months, I was assigned to Joint duty with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, duties of which included escorting Russian Inspectors in the US under the START and INF treaties, as well as inspecting Russian compliance with those same treaties in Russia.

I retired in 2001(just shy of 33 years) at the rank of Chief Warrant Officer Five. The military is a way of life, and I still miss that life. I hope I haven't disappointed you, but that was my life as a Speculatore, er, I mean CI Agent.

My afterlife from the military included about 12 years as a DoD contractor teaching Special Operators from all the services on CI operations, interrogation, and body language interpretation. Now I'm just retired!

 

Back when I was in the Navy I was assigned some desk duty as well. I used to enjoy going to the Message Center on base with my pouch filled with reports labelled "Top Secret". Made me feel like I was a part of something big. That was also during the first Gulf War, and many of those reports went off to CENTCOM.

 

James, I'm very impressed with your military carrier ! I had no idea you were a "lifer" . I enlisted in the U.S. Army on January of 1967, & my 1st set of orders were for the 4th Infantry Division, stationed in Pleiku, Viet Nam, the central highlands. After 3 months with the "Fighting 4th" they transferred me to a tiny outpost, Dong ba tin, with the Korean White Horse Division. My duty in Dong ba tin was quite pleasant compared to Pleiku, until we were attacked during the Tet Offensive. My military experience of 3 years was anything but enjoyable & I was honorably discharged. I needed the hard kick in the ass from the Army, & grew up during those 3 years.

 

A"Lifer"? No. A career soldier, yes.

I was in the Delta on a three man Phoenix team. An Xuyen Province. A hard year, but productive as far as I was concerned.

 

All your stories are just fascinating and interesting! It is like reading a book. I don't think my story is interesting at all, and since when I first registered with this amazing site I didn't tell it, I will share it with you now - but I perfectly understand if you skip it because it is boring.

I only have bought a few coins since I started this journey because the collection I have was my father's. He was a passionate coin collector since his youth as well as his father and grandfather. I regret that during his life time I didn't show any interest in his collection (nor did my only brother). My family was from Bohemia - Sudeten Germans - and to make a sad and long story short, after WWII they were declared "displaced people", stateless. Actually, an American GI brought my mom and dad hidden in a Jeep over the border from at that time the Republic of Czechoslovakia to Germany. My dad brought with him some of his coins, among them were the ones that he called "baptism coins" because during decades they were gifts of the family to the children. Later, from Germany, they migrated to South America were they started a new living. He continued his collection from there, even though my mom always complained that spending money on "old coins" was pointless.
I inherited his collection, and since my husband and I moved to the US and became American citizens, we brought the collection to the US. This is a whole different story, but the only important thing is that the coins "survived" the hardships of traveling under really non-ideal conditions.

The coins were in the safe-deposit box of a bank for several years, and in 2017 we wanted to continue his legacy by organizing his collection and attribute the coins (my dad had little notes on each one, but with all the traveling I only took some notes and didn't keep them with the coins. Just imagine what a mess). Organizing the collection was (and still is) a huge task for me and it was at that time when I registered as a new member of cointalk.

There are two notes for which I don't have the corresponding coin: an Augustus As, magistrates Marcus Postumius Albinus and Lucius Porcius Capito(linus?) and a Sestertius of Hadrian - FORTVNA AVG (I don't think that I lost the coins, it maybe because he never got them).

The first coin I bought was a Semis, to somehow "replace" the As that is missing. I found this Semis (I have not been able to find the As) of said magistrates at mrbcoins:

AE Semis, 21 x 23 mm, 5.8 g;
Cartago Nova, Tarraconensis, 4 BC, 15th emission
Ref.: RPC1 171/15; SNG Copenhagen 496;
Ob.: AVGVSTVS DIVI F laureate head of Augustus r.
Rev.: M•POSTVM•ALBIN•L•PORC•CAPIT•π•VIR• Q Priest standing facing holding simpulum and olive branch

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I am still looking for the Hadrian Sestertius - some day I will be lucky

If you were able to read until this point, I really appreciate your time and patience

 

James, Anyone who has retired after spending 33 years in the military is considered a "Lifer"; at least that was the accepted terminology when I was in. Most of us have a great deal of respect for anyone who was a "Lifer" during the war years. The term is not demeaning in any sense.

 

Cmezner, That's a lovely post & thought provoking. Thanks for sharing .

 

Thank you for sharing. I'll be keeping my eye out for that Augustus As.

 

I didn't take any offense. Just correcting the terminology. For a career solder, a lifer is someone marking time just to get to retirement. A career soldier is someone who takes pride in his/her work and profession. But, I took the term for what you meant. And thanks for the kind words.

That's an interesting story @cmezner and I will keep an eye out as well.

 

@Ken Dorney I own a coin that came from the estate of Mr. Cederlind. Thank you for telling me a bit about him, as that’s now what I’ll think about whenever I see the coin. As for the main question, probably two humble two and three cent pieces. No photos, but they were my great-uncle’s, who died before I was born. That, or the innumerable ones I got when I was first collecting from a family friend. He’s now 92!

 

@Justin Lee

yes, if you see it in auctions please let me know

I have not been able to find one for the last 2 years - apparently it doesn't show up often in auctions I am also looking for the Hadrian Sestertius with Fortuna standing left with cornucopia and patera - haven't seen it in auctions either.

 

Nice, interesting and moving stories. A friend of mine brought this coin of SA from his trip to Rome. He thought it might interest me. Well, it did and went beyond that. This one started the journey.