Bahamas: 1974-FM copper-nickel proof 10-cents, bonefish

Bahamas: 1974-FM copper-nickel proof 10-cents, bonefish

PCGS PR69 DCAM. Cert. #39640166.

Numista-9224. Krause-Mishler-61.

Diameter: 23.50 mm (scalloped, with 12 notches). Weight: 5.54 g.

Some may wonder why I spent nearly fifty dollars to certify this piece, which was worth less than two dollars as of the time I acquired it. I have always loved the design and odd shape, but more importantly, my family lived aboard a forty-foot trimaran sailboat in the Bahamas in 1974, and we had many island-hopping adventures. My mother would give me pocket change, and I fondly remember the Bahamian coins of the time. In Nassau I could buy a comic book with one of these "bonefish" ten-cent pieces. (I even recall that one of those was a Disney comic about Scrooge McDuck.) So this coin was added to my collection for purely sentimental reasons. Of course this particular piece is a Franklin Mint proof, and not a circulation issue like the ones I spent as a kid.

Despite the orientation in the PCGS images, the side with the bonefish is the reverse.

Ex-eBay, purchased raw in the original mint cellophane.



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