T$'s Toned Closet Collection (Coin Outta The Vault...Part 19)

Introduction​

I've always had a sweet tooth for toned coins. In my younger days of collecting I always dreamed how nice it would be to own a toned coin, not just some small crescent toning on a cheap Morgan Dollar, but real nice toning, something that goes around the coin, that flows with different colors throughout, and has excellent eye appeal. Over time I learned how to obtain nicer coins, buy some lower end coins, make what I call a small coin army, and sell them all at once. It fills my craving for coins, but also gives me an opportunity to get a lot of my money back at one period of time in the future, and combined with money I have at that current time, I have enough for really nice coins. I've bought many nice coins, considering my age and financial stage, and a lot of them were just normal coins, nice, but normal blast white, straight outta the mint color coins.

The Process​

Now that I can afford the higher end coins, I started searching for them. I search through Heritage and eBay, and occasionally Teletrade and DLRC. I normally find what I want, on eBay though, and eBay is more convenient at the moment. The past month or so, I've just had the urge to buy something, and I was thinking along the lines of a toned MS65 Morgan Dollar. My dream a while back was to own a proof Indian Cent, and I never got it. The one I was going to buy was at $695 I believe, it was a PCGS PR66BN, with beautiful pruple toning on the obverse, and a lovely shade of orange on the reverse. I believe the day I showed it to Charmy, to see what she thought, it sold. I would have so bought that coin, not a single spot on it, and it was the finest example of a proof Indian in my many months of searching. After that happened I just lost interest in the proof Indian, and it is on the back burner for now. I passed on a lot of toned coins since then, lovely toning, but I haven't really agreed with the grades, and I'm not going to buy an overgraded, just for the toning, I want a PQ or near PQ coin, with toning, not one or the other.

As many of you know I've done a series called Coin Outta The Vault, well heck, all-uv-ya' should know by now, this thread is part 19 of the series!
I've discussed where the coins came from, how they got to me, and posted pictures of the coin. Recently I've been lacking with the series due to school, which is over now, but my health is not good again with my current problems with me knee, and I'm currently resting up for surgery. I brought a few new threads of the series recently, and will continue to make new threads, I probably have enough coins for 100+ Coin Outta The Vaults

Back to the process of the buying (of these still unknown to you) coins.
I've always loved French coins, and I think the design used in 1898-1920 for the 2 Franc, 1 Franc, and 50 Centimes (in silver) was absolutely beautiful. I think it may have even influenced our own Walking Liberty Half Dollar. I thought for grins, I should buy some of these coins, so I picked up two of them raw, a 1918 1 and 2 Franc set from a seller on eBay. I thought, boy, these would look great toned wouldn't they? And here is where it all started!
I also realized that toned world coins, can really have lower premiums than toned U.S. coins such as the Morgan Dollar. People know that I have a habit of wanting to make a lot of things perfect to the best of my ability, and I quickly realized that I may not be able to make a United States toned coin set with the perfection that somebody with an actual income and money to spare from that income might be able to have. But what I did realize is that I do LOVE world coins, and I want to learn about them, and the designs, well, they are right up there with U.S. coins. Instead of trying to do something, like matching Paul coin for coin, tone-wise, why not, do something different. Buy a series that is familiar but a lot of people aren't hard-core collectors with, and to put a cherry on top, have them all be toned and graded.

The Coins​

I went with my realizations and just did it. I bought three French 50 Centimes coins, all graded by NGC, and all eloquently toned.

The first one I bought for a total of $34.95.
Here are the seller's pics.







No judging by these photos I was thinking that this coin was probably going to be darker in hand, and I'm glad I was wrong. Here are MY photos. This coin is killer!




The second one and third one I bought were from a seller known as shawneecoins, one of eBay's finest dealers in toned coins. The total for both of these coins with shipping was $97.88.

Coin number one - $39.95

Here are the seller's photos, which are great, by the way.







Here are my photos of the coin.




Coin number two- $49.95





Here are my photos of the coin.

Closing​

I think these coins will be a great series for me to collect, and putting together a very eye appealing set, with brilliant luster and fantastic toning on each one will be a challenge but it will be easier to do that than buy a whole set of toned Morgans. I'll leave that to Paul. I think I finally found one thing I can focus on, and who would've thought it would be a world coin?
I guess my French heritage is catching up to me...hope that German heritage doesn't kick in any time soon, their coins aren't half as nice.

Thanks for reading!

 

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Great thread. I use the same sort of process in my collecting too. Work up a small army, then sell it for a really nice coin.

Your pictures are pretty good, too!

 

Very nice coins. I do not know much about them. Is that the Sower (La Semeuse) on the obverse? It looks like their recent bullion issues were inspired by these classics. TC

 

Thanks
I'm just glad the pics came out accurate, although it would've been nice for the photos to be already done for me when I bought the coins :computer:

http://secure.numismaster.com/ta/Co...CountryId=134&DenomId=2222&KM=&Comp=&Date=191

Yes, it is the sower, that is just one description of the obverse and reverse though.
You are right, the recent bullion issues of the French have some of the same design as this series.

 

nice --

keep it up.

 

*gasp* darkside toners!

 

Very cool T$. Great post.

Hopefully you're done with your collection though because now that you have told us that we can get these cool coins for less than $50 each, you're going to have some competition!!!!

hahaha

 

Guess I should've kept it a secret a little while longer.
Ya' know Mike, these were minted in 1909 (hint hint)

 

This is a nice thread and I enjoyed seeing your coins. I like the design and the toning is very attractive. Cool!

 

Thanks for sharing Travis! You have been hanging Lehigh for too long! LOL! I am very impressed with your collection that you have started. I can't wait to see the finished set!

 

T$: This is an excellent thread! Your coins are KILLER! You have excellent taste and wonderful intuition. Keep up the good work.

If you are into sowers and French coins in general then you'll probably want to bookmark this thread.

Also weryon had this nice thread up a short while ago you might check out. chrisild referred me to this site, first 1 franc coin and this site, which I especially liked in relation to the sowers : walking liberty halves.

Great work!

 

Thanks Dan, always nice to hear from you.

Yeah, I guess me and Paul have been spending too much time together. lol
Thanks Joe

Well what can I say Krispy? Thanks a million for the links! Sweet! Although your first link takes me to this site, and you were referring to a thread?
http://www.gadoury.com/eng/index Is that what you meant? lol

I like those other links, glad Google Chrome translates em' for me. Quite informative.
Thanks again Krispy.

 

Very nice write up TMoney..I enjoyed reading and looking at your excellent coins.

RickieB

 

Oops! Yes! I meant that site, not a thread.

 

Thanks RickieB, if my French Sower set ever comes close to your currency collection...oooo boy that'd be a dream. :goofer:

LOL! It's quite alright, I'll be sure to spend some more time on those sites, try to soak in everything.

 

+

 

Nice batch of coins T$. I like the middle one the best.

 

T$ Wow some awesome coins there , they look great in pics but I bet they're even nicer in hand . The 1915 is my favorite but I'd be proud of any of them , so you better send them to me for authentication , as you can't trust NGC , LOL . Also a great write up . Keep hanging with Paul he certainly knows his toners .
rzage

 

++

Thanks Mark

Thanks Rusty, they do look wonderful in hand, can't wait to get some more.
Although I'm surprised you and Mark both think the 1915 is the nicest, that one just shocks me a bit, although it does seem to have the best luster.
The 1919 is my favorite, amazing toning.

 

Like I said I like them all:hug:I'd probably pick another favorite in hand , and another favorite each day of the week ,that's why I would be proud to have any of them in my collection , plus the Francs design is quite beautiful . Keep it up buddy and by the time you're 25 you'll have a world class collection .
Rusty:hatch::hammer: