The Great Coin Rescue

Recently, I ordered two coins that are important for my "Philip II, Alexander III, and the Era of the Diadochi" collection. The seller was in Germany, so I figured they'd take a bit to get here. Yet after only a bit more than a week, I was surprised to see that the package had arrived when I checked it from work.

I couldn't wait for the day to end, but when I arrived, I couldn't find the package. Where was it? Could they have accidentally left it with a neighbor?

Going back, I'd used PayPal to purchase the coins. Some time ago, one of my sons had renamed the account to himself when he used it to sell sports cards on eBay. So, when the package arrived, it had his name on it, so he thought it was for him - even though he hadn't ordered anything from Germany.

He opened it up, didn't find anything other than a piece of cardboard, then noticed the German label and realized it was for me, so he left everything on the kitchen table.

My wife then noticed an open envelope with a piece of cardboard on the table, and threw it away.

Once we figured this out, we went with a flashlight to the trash and luckily it wasn't garbage day, so we found it.

I'm very happy to receive these coins, as they're both rare, not cheap, and would have taken some effort to replace.

Amatokos II was a contemporary of Philip II, and was involved in a lot of intrigue between Philip and his rival Kersebleptes. He's also believed to be the father of Teres II, whose coin looks similar.


Amatokos II
King of Thrace 359-351 BCE
AE 14.55g
Topalov 2003, 105 (S. 244) Kratzer auf Rv.
Ex Ex Münzen & Medaillen GmbH

Alexander I Molossos was the brother in law of Alexander the Great, through Alexander III's sister Kleopatra. It was during this wedding that Philip II was assassinated. In 334 BCE, Alexander I embarked on a campaign in Lucania, where he was killed in 331 BCE. This coin comes from that campaign.


Alexander the Molossian
Bruttium, Croton 334-340 BCE
AE 12mm 3.37g
Attianese, Calabria Graeca, 267,510
Ex Collection of M. Weder
Ex Münzen & Medaillen GmbH

Feel free to share your own horror stories or similar near misses!

 

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Wow!

That must have been some minutes of anxiety for you - glad you found the coins.

I remember several years ago (I think it was during Hurricane Sandy) that a long overdue package from South America arrived thoroughly soaked, with my address barely legible, and in a plastic bag, courtesy of the USPS. It appears that the package was left out in a downpour somewhere back East. The newspaper that was used as packing material was virtually mush. The package itself had a split, so I assumed that the coin slipped out, gone forever. Fortunately did find it in the middle of the mush. So, this is a story not so much about a rescue, but more of one about sheer luck.

Very nice coins, by the way.

 

I didn't have any US dollar bills, so I bought one & two dollar notes a couple of years ago on eBay, and when I recieved I totally forgot I had ordered banknotes and just ripped the flimsy envelope with the notes inside!

Bummer

Luckily they're just common bills and nothing special!

 

Kirispupis, that is AWESOME! You told the story really well, too. Even though it's just a few short lines, it's full of drama and humour. This brightened my day considerably, and I will now tell my wife and son about it so the same thing doesn't happen to me! (The first part did, actually--my son opened a small package for me thinking it was somehow a hoodie that he'd ordered!)

 

Nice additions to your collection, @kirispupis ! You're really exploring every nook and cranny of the Alexander and Diadochi saga.

I do have one small story, or confession really to share. Unlike your mail adventure, it doesn't have a happy ending.

I'm in bed, holding a Corinthian stater, (luckily a cheap fourree, not a 1000 Euro masterwork). I turn around and accidentally drop the coin. It slides between bed and wall, then drops, not on the floor, but right in the small slit between wood paneling of the wall and the floor. No worries. Just gently pry away the paneling, the coin will be rescued and all will be well. At least that's what I hoped. As it turns out, the floorboard in my house doesn't go all the way to the wall, but instead stops half an inch short of it... Underneath just a pitch-black gaping chasm between the double walls of the house's foundation... No door, no window: just an inaccessible void that has sucked in my coin. Do I need to spell the rest?

I even pried away some of the paneling and went on a brave but pointless fishing expedition with a magnet on a rope. No stater. Short of breaking down a part of the load-bearing wall of the house I can't think of a way to ever retrieve the coin.

So that's the sad and embarrassing story of my fourree stater, now (probably forever) lost in the foundations of my house. I don't think NGC could have done a better job in entombing it.





To end the story on a bright note: at least we can now begin to glimpse the real story behind how those Phanes staters ended up under the foundations of the Artemis temple in Ephesos...

 

I don't have horror stories with ancient coins. The only semi-horror is with a coin, already clipped, found broken 3 pieces in the album a few days after purchasing it.
Used Superglue and it did the trick.

But I do have some horror near missed with modern numismatics.

This is one of the smallest banknotes in the world, in fact it is a "paper coin" issued in WW1 as an emergency measure. 27.5 x 38 mm.
These are not extremely rare, but interesting and popular.
As a beginner collector, I ordered some coins and banknotes from an auction site, some years ago. I was in the office so the courier arrived there. I opened the package, I was very glad about the contents, I analyzed the coins and notes and in the meantime I was working.
So after unpacking and sorting I cleaned my desk and threw all the unnecessary stuff (envelope, pieces of paper, plastic sheets) in the bin.
Of course, the small banknote was lost.
The next day I spoke with one of the cleaning ladies and with a great chance, she found "the stamp" and gave it back.

I seem to have major issues when doing 2 things in the same time (generally speaking, even doing 2 tasks at work) and this is why I have been avoiding doing anything numismatic related AND something else concomitantly ever since.

 

This sort of reminds me of the time I dropped a bronze Roman coin into the garbage disposal and ground it up real good

 

All these stories remind me of Luke 15:8-10.

Here is mine

I live south of Paris, not far from Fontainebleau. One day, while all the family was at work or at school, a burglar came and snatched my wife's few jewels and my ancient coin collection. The entire collection, the damned bastard. I filed a complaint at the police and I also went to the nearest coin dealer to show him photographs of some coins, in case somebody would try to sell them to him. He told me he didn't need photos, but that I should just write down a list of the principal stolen coins, and he would send it to an alert-chain for all professional dealers of France, Belgium and Switzerland. So did I.

Some time after, maybe a month or two, I had a call from the dealer, telling me my coins had been sold to another dealer in Paris and had been secured by the police at the 36, Quai des Orfèvres. Whow, this address is a legend in France, mentioned in every crime novel or film noir, it is the headquarters of the Police Judiciaire just next to Notre-Dame. I called them and they told me to come recognize my coins.

I went there. It was exactly like in the movies, small dilapidated offices full of officers wearing holsters under their jackets. It had not changed much since the early 1950s (they recently moved to a modern building).


They brought me a box full of my coins and told me to take my time and check them one by one. I recognized all my coins except for one: a Julia Domna denarius that was not mine, while a Faustina II denarius was missing. Obviously a substitution. They insisted: Are you sure this coin is not yours? Maybe it was a kind of test to verify I told the truth, I don't know.

Then, they told me to wait a little, there was at this very moment a team watching the burglar's home and they were ready to break in for an arrest. They wanted me to go with them, so I could perhaps recognize there other stolen objects, like necklaces or rings. I was so excited. But unfortunately the cops on the spot called later to say the guy was absent, so the arrest was canceled and I came back home with my collection (minus the Faustina II denarius).

The burglar was not caught because he had fled to a foreign country with which there is no extradition agreement. I went to his trial in absentia, he was condemned, so he could not come back to France for decades. The ancient Greeks said exile was worse than death, after all...

 

Maybe not forever. It will make an interesting article by the archaeologist who will excavate the remains of your house 1000 years from now.

 

Crazy story!

Recently, my wife's been trying to convince me to tear down our house and build a new one on the lot. If I did this with a real Corinthian stater (or one of my tets), I'd probably just do it.

 

Interesting, just learned a bit about the provenance of one of these coins.

Markus Robert Weder (1953-2016), renowned specialist for Roman numismatics and particularly for coins of the 3rd Century AD and the Gallic Empire who worked in the British Museum for a time and was also active in the Swiss coin trade (with Leu Numismatics), as well as cataloguing coin finds.

So, the Alexander I Molossos coin was owned by someone who worked with the British Museum. It seems to have been out of his core collecting area, so there must have been something intriguing about it (probably the rarity of Alexander I's coins) that made him grab it.

 

Hannibal escapes again!

Punic Spain AR shekel 7.24 gm
O: head Hannibal as Melqart left
R: horse standing right before palm tree
SNG Cop 295, Villaronga 64

What a great thread to share my own somewhat embarrassing story that ended well.
20 years ago, I proudly take my new purchase to our ancient coin club meeting and admire it in the Abafil case in car before going in. At show and tell, surprised the coin is the only one missing! Look around seat, go to car and look around, help clean up and check floor, search car again, check now empty parking lot including storm drain below where I parked sideways on a steep hill. Go home and thoroughly search car. Now, panic really sets in! After a sleepless night, I get up at dawn, go back to the parking lot and park in same spot. Then, just before getting out, I notice a glint of silver in the narrow slot of the parking brake between seats because of steep angle of parking. To my great relief, I see Hannibal glaring up at me! “Hannibal ad fregit”
Ever since, all coins being transported stay in flips, in case secured with rubber band, locked in glove box and only taken out of case when sitting at a table.

 

Rubber bands are not a good idea! They have sulfur in them, which is bad for coins, especially silver ones

 

Rubber band only used to secure Abafil miniminor while transporting because the latch can pop open.

 

Savage Thracian and very rare and cooool Alexander the Molossian
Excellent story, total wife move and so glad you found these two stunners from one of my very favorite times in history in the garbage.
I too lost a single coin I was very passionate about:
https://www.cointalk.com/threads/th...-mysterious-missing-coin.362762/#post-4604549
*spoiler alert, it too has a happy ending and it was my wife who saved the day!

 

Some time ago, I purchased this sestertius of Herennia Etruscilla and opened up the envelope in which it was shipped in the mail. I got distracted doing some things and forgot about it for a few days. Then, when I went to look for it, I couldn't find it anywhere. I was heartbroken and assumed it must have come out of my pants pocket at some point in the day and fallen on the ground who-knows-where.
A few years later, when I put on a jacket I hadn't worn in a while, I found the coin in the inside breast pocket. It felt like a gift!

 

Not coins but came back after a day at the F1 Race with my son. Laid the plastic bag containing some promotional material and my camera containing all our memories of the day in the TV lounge and went to bed. Wife wakes up earlier and looks in the bag.....ah just promotional junk....she says to herself and into the garbage!!!

Unfortunately they collect the garbage 3 times a week so I didn't stand a chance. I mused if one should notice that a camera would be significantly heavier that a few pieces of paper but was told in no uncertain terms that it was my fault for leaving it on the side table in the TV lounge of all places. Who could argue with such strong logic!!!? So I accepted my blunder and reprimanded myself severely. A while later it struck me that this was the same lady who threw away her diamond earrings along with used facial tissue, after a nice dinner with her husband. AGAIN his fault for taking her out…..which was readily acknowledged.

She is my Ex now....and of course the two minor events above had nothing to do with that.

But that's another story!!!

 

That's a great story @kirispupis.
My story is not so good but to me was a great result and it happened this week.
Yesterday two coins finally turned up from Poland that have sat in my local UPS depot since the beginning of March. These coins were bought in February from Salon Numismatic. My problem was that I bought the coins in Euros but the invoice also showed the purchase price also in Polish Zlotys. The Zloty value was roughly $190 US but UPS submitted to Customs the Zlotys as British Pounds so roughly $1100 US. I was then charged 20% of this which was actually more than the value of the coins and should have been 5% anyway. UPS have also tried to collect late payment charges for the last 9 months as I refused to pay the duty and their charges based on their calculation.
It has taken me nearly 10 months to speak to a human with common sense at UPS who could comprehend their mistake and resubmit to customs. I pursued this with around 30 emails and dozens of calls when I had the inclination to do so and in idle moments of which I have few.
Finally the coins turned up yesterday and here, UPS only take cash not card and don't carry change so the ended up with a couple of dollars more than the duty anyway. The charge was roughly $11 US compared to the original charge in excess of $200.
These are the coins which I had more or less given up on seeing as the Auction House told me they would not organise a return as they would have to pay the return charge and there was no way I was going to pay for UPS's mistake.


Roman Imperial, Domitian, Dupondius - RARE
Rare Domitian dupondius with COS XV in the obverse legend.
Roman Imperial Domitian (81-96), Dupondius 90-91, Rome mint Obverse: radiate head right
IMP CAES DOMIT AVG GERM COS XV CENS PER P P
Reverse: Virtus standing right, foot on helmet, holding spear and parazonium, SC in fields
VIRTVTI AVGVSTI
Weight 12,67 g.


Saloninus (258-260), Antoninianus 258, Samosata mint
Obverse: radiate, draped bust right
SALON VALERIANVS NOB CAES
Reverse: Saloninus standing right, holding spear and receiving flower from Spes, standing left and lifting hem of dress
SPES PVBLICA
Weight 3,93 g.

This one looks far better in the hand than the image as the porosity is not as apparent as it looks in the image. I intend to try and take a better image.

It has been very frustrating to know that these coins were sat in a depot only 30 miles away and I could see them being scanned every three days. It was Catch 22 as UPS wouldn't deliver and the Auction House wouldn't take them back.
I've learnt a few lessons, every day is a school day

Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving Greetings from Wales to everyone!

 

A minor "loss" and recovery:

This coin arrived after 38 days in the mail:


Southern Rhodesia Penny 1934

This was an Ebay purchase from an American seller for less than $10 and mailed to me in California on October 18 2021.

After 30 days both the seller and I agreed that it was lost in the mail and the seller refunded my money.

The coin arrived yesterday November 24 2021 after 38 days in the mail.

I contacted the seller and sent the money to the seller.

 

My tidbit is not about a coin, but about a lost contact lens. My wife had been working in the yard for a while, so she went in for a drink. It was when she was pouring a drink she blinked and realized one of her contact lens was missing. She went outside and looked and looked and no contact lens. Later that evening, when the sun was going down, she saw a glint from the lawn. Luckily, she walked outside to the glint and she bent over and found her contact lens. This was in 1972 and I was making $140 a week and if she hadn't found her contact lens, she would have had to go back to those awful pointed glasses that were warn then.
Another thing, this may only be in the U.S. and Amazon, but I get an email with a picture of where my packages are delivered.