Post your Lost & Stolen coins thread

This 1869 Uruguay 2 Centesimos went missing USPS Florida to Idaho last winter just after the big ice storm

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

I loved going through this thread. Glad to hear the stolen coins from the original post were finally recovered.

While I am no stranger to “lost” coins (almost always international purchases), I have thankfully had only once instance where the coins were sort of “stolen” from me a few years back.

I do not actively sell coins: just a few “extras” now and then, especially when a fellow collector asks me specifically. Such a transaction is based on mutual trust, and I have, in general, found coin collectors to be exceptionally nice people.

In 2018, a fellow collector I had known since his early collecting days and regarded as a “friend” asked me if I could sell him some of the Greek and Roman coins I had recently upgraded. When I met him, he claimed not to have brought cash. I gave him the coins nonetheless, along with a couple of books I no longer needed and chose to gift him instead. I trusted him to pay me later, as we had agreed.

Since then, he started acting evasive, and never paid despite multiple reminders. It embarrassed me to keep asking, so I chose to give up on the money/coins as well as the person. I did inform mutual collector friends to be wary of getting into a similar situation with him, but was shocked to discover that almost everyone I talked to knew of his “problem”.

Apparently, his passion for a certain series of coins, on which he had become an “expert” in a remarkably short time, had gone out of hand. He had been buying coins at extremely high prices and had gone under debt, holding off paying people as long as possible or not at all. A few people even told me he was a kleptomaniac!

This incident taught me that our incredible hobby can easily turn into an uncontrolled addiction if one is not careful. I was also somewhat surprised by the “practical” nature of many of my fellow collectors, who continued to be friends with this person to obtain the benefit of his expertise, ignoring his unethical behaviour. To each his own, I guess.

Anyway, here are the coins. Nothing very special, but they did cost me a pretty penny given they were international purchases. At least I now know the denomination it takes to find out a false friend.

 

Damn. I really hope this has a happy ending

 

Why didn't you put insurance on the coins? You had some high value coins in that shipment.

 

CuZ I’m A ChEaP IdiOt!

I’m also lucky. I paid a lawyer $2800 and got them back this past November.

 

Your coin sold on David Lawrence on Jan. 23, 2022
https://www.davidlawrence.com/product/2343231/

 

My ex stole my entire collection. I started when I was 5 and continued to add to it until she filed for divorce. Now my collection is definitely different and it’s larger than it ever was before.

 

WoW! That's hard to swallow. I would be devastated if my collection was stolen by someone I knew. I'm glad you were able to rebuild it back.

 

Never had any coins stolen and how would I know if I lost a coin if it's lost? Knowing me, I wouldn't remember anyways if you know me.

 

In 2018 my coin was stolen (DHL)