What coin in hand thrilled you the most?

I thought this might be fun. What coin have you ever actually held, (raw or slabbed), that gave you the biggest thrill?

Sometime in your collecting career there must have been some memorable coin that you held, maybe it was at a coin show or shop, or maybe it was the coin of a friend, or maybe it was yours, that took your breath away.

There may be many coins that did this, but pick one of the most memorable.

You don't have to have owned it, just held it. It could be any coin, ancient, or modern and let's include tokens and medals.

Posting pictures, if possible, would be greatly appreciated. Or how else can we share in the thrill?


I have a good one to post but I will need to find the pictures and write an explanation. So I will post it in a day or two.

 

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Years ago I was in the entrance area of one of the big Baltimore shows.
Got to talking with an older man, and probably told him I was after some Morgan dollars.
And I gave him my usual line about eventually having them all except the 1895.
He pulls a slabbed one out of his pocket and handed it to me (just to look at, of course.)
It wasn't a spectacular specimen, but it was MS.
That was a thrill.

Well, my story has come true.
I have them all EXCEPT the 1895.

 

I love holding used gaudens and double eagles. Just the weight of them in my hand feels good. Then think back on what story they had to tell back in the cowboy gambling days or during the roaring 20's days. What story a coin could tell. :loud:

 

The 1804 Silver Dollar in the ANA Museum Collection. (That's Ken Bressett beside me.)

 

And a close second is the 1913 Liberty Nickel (on loan to the ANA Museum by the Walton Family).

 

Three 1856 Flying Eagle Cents that my local dealer (now boss) got years ago.

Two were higher grade AU business strikes, other was a proof. I liked the business strikes myself.

There was also a real nice 1955 double die Lincoln in the mix.

 

As I am a world coin collector and there are so many coins to choose from; I can't decide which one gives more thrill to hold. I guess I'll go with the Austrian silver Maria Theresa Thaler, that my friend has probably because I don't own it yet.

 

probably my Dimiscus Ancient

 

A beautiful 1895 Proof Morgan that a friend purchased many years ago to complete his Morgan Dollar Set.

I remember that he literally went to every major show in the Midwest before he found the one that was good enough for his set.

 

Nothing ever topped the first time I saw and held one of my gradfather's Morgan dollars. I don't recall the date but it was probably about XF condition; nothing special except to a kid like me at the time. It was the first time I ever saw a coin from the 1800's.

 

me being a 20th century key-date nut, mine is rather obviously the king of all 20th century coins, a 1901-S Barber Quarter in VG-10. Most 01-S quarters are of either extrmely low grade (AG-G) or extremely high grade (XF and up), so to see (and hold) one in nearly Fine was quite a thrill!!

 

Wass Molitor $50 California Territorial Gold in MS-65. What a hunk of gold!

 

As I have no significant dealers or coin shows near where I live, I haven't gotten the opportunity to come close to any collectible coins but my own collection.

Two years ago, I bought a lot of Roman provincial coins. I hadn't been collecting ancient coins for a long time, so it wasn't until I got them in the mail I started to research what I had bought. Among the coins was a tetradrachm of Vespasian, minted somewhere in Syria around 70 AD. It could possibly have been minted in Antioch, Syria, but also at one of the mints that the Roman army would take with them to make money for soldiers wages etc.

As many of you probably know, the Roman army was at this point in history eangaged in crushing the jewish revolt in Judea. After retaking Jerusalem, they sacked and burned the temple of Solomon in 70 AD.

What struck me one day when I was holding this coin, was the possibility that it could have been made with silver looted from the temple, and that this wasn't even unlikely. I have been an avid collector of ancient coins ever since.

 

I collect foreign coins but the biggest thrill was my first thrill and it was a Morgan non slabbed dollar coin. Still have it and let my kids hand it about.

nice pictures hobo. got some clout from your art I see. Saw your coins on a website once and was beyond impressed.

 

A 10 dollar gold piece when I was a child some 33 yrs ago. It was in my Father's safety deposit box. It had my name on it. It's still there.

 

this coin because it was the only ancient coin i was able 2 find this summer in europe since the shop in london was closed. I got it in a little shop a few blocks from the hotel we stayed at in venice. The guy didn't speak english very well but thanfully my girlfriend speaks a little italian and we could ask questions and browse his stuff I probably over paid but its in amazing condition as far as I can tell lol anyways I kept taking it out the rest of the trip to look at it

 

A lot of good coins and stories! That's what I was hoping for.

svessien, Wow! I like your coin and story! That is thrilling!



Ok here's mine.




If you don't know what it is, it doesn't look like much, right? Well, you could call it the Black Tulip of Alexander the Great coin collecting.


I started collecting ancient coins 13 years ago with the coins of Alexander the Great. Although I have developed many other areas of collecting interest, ATG is still a focus of mine.

About 3 years ago I was at a coin show in San Francisco. I happened to walk by the Harlan J. Berk table. Aaron Berk was at the table and no one else was around. I looked down and I couldn't believe what I saw. I literally stuttered:

"Is that wwwhat I ttthink it iiis?

"It is. Do you want to hold it?"

I thought, "You're going to trust clumsy me holding that?"

He then let me take it out of the flip and hold it raw!

But I have to tell you that it was THE greatest thrill in my 13 years of coin collecting.


So what is this coin?...

Well, no knows for sure. Some call it a coin, some a medallion. They are roughly 34mm and 38.84 gm.

And there are only 10 of them known!


On one side of the coin is a deified Alexander, in military dress, holding lightning in his hand. No one but the gods, particularly Zeus, are ever shown doing this. This is significant because it is clear evidence of Alexander being portrayed as a god. He is also being crowned by a winged Victory.

On the other side is what is sometimes interpreted as Alexander on Bucephalus, attacking King Porus on his elephant.

Frank Holt has written a book about these medallions, Alexander the Great and the Mystery of the Elephant Medallions. In it he convincingly portrays these medallions as commemoratives made after the Battle of the Hydaspes River with King Porus. And given out as gifts to his officers and men in appreciation for extraordinary courage or deeds. The Roman sources even state that gifts were given out after the battle.

I highly recommended this book for anyone interested in the coins or history of Alexander the Great.

But there is also another interpretation of these coins. That they were minted in Susa in commemorating the Battle of Gaugamela. It's often overlooked, but this was the first battle that Alexander fought against elephants.

As I said there are 10 known. Here are some other examples.

The one in the British Museum:



The ANS specimen:




On the Greek Military History & Archaeology Forum a Giannis K. Hoplite painted the Alexander side of the medallion. It gives you a better idea what is being portrayed.



I could go on and on. But I will stop here. Again, if interested I recommend the above book. And here is a little more detailed info:

http://www.zeno.ru/showphoto.php?photo=25924



And the coin that I held at the show, it sold for $90,000 USD at auction!

Thank you Aaron Berk for the thrill of a lifetime!

 

tenacious - what a great story! Thank you for sharing it with us.

 

Where can I get one of those 'colorized' versions/ QVC?

 

Some eBay sellers would have you believe it is natural toning!