[CLOSED] Expat's Holiday & New Year Giveaway, 2024/5

Expat's Holiday & New Year Giveaway, 2024/5

Contest status: CLOSED
Drawing: 01 January 2025
Winner: @meandyou4ever0
Shipped: 7 January 2025
Delivered: 10 January 2025
Winner's notice of receipt: 19 January 2025

Spanish seaside rainbow pic, by @expat. Maybe there's a pot of gold out there.


@expat wanted to do a giveaway, but due to the laws in his country of residence (Spain, which has rather draconian export restrictions on coins), he has enlisted me to help with logistics. He has sent me $50 USD and deputized me to purchase a prize for this contest.

We decided to go with the "mystery prize" concept, like I used in my own Giveaway #99 , back in August of 2023.

This means that at the start of this contest, nobody, not even @expat himself - nor I - none of us- yet knows what that prize will be!

I, your master of ceremonies, am to shop for the most interesting or appealing coin prize that I can find within that price range. The final decision will be up to @expat and me, but you get to make general suggestions on what you would like to see in a $50-ish prize, and I will take those suggestions into account when shopping.

The prize will be revealed later in the contest, after I have bought it, but before the random drawing.

***Update, Dec. 22*** we have decided to leave the final prize choice up to the winner. See the announcement in Post #53.

To enter: Just mention some things you might like to see as a $40-50 prize, broadly speaking. (Remember that I have to set aside a little bit of the $50 for shipping costs.) Would you like to see a US coin? A proof set? A nice World coin? Something old? Modern? Silver? Ancient? Exonumia? Just throw out some general ideas. Of course none of us know what I will actually find when I go shopping online, but in the meantime, it will be fun to see what ideas you have.

The drawing will be done via random number generator, sometime on or after January 1st, 2025. The timing will depend on my schedule. You may consider the contest open for entries until such time as I have posted the final result of the drawing.

Totally free: the contest is free of charge, open to everyone, with free worldwide shipping. The only further requirement is that if you win...

Please post a receipt in this thread after you get the prize, so we'll know you got it (that helps us keep track).

Oh- and be sure to thank @expat.

This contest is brought to you by Smartie, @expat's cat.

 

Since @expat likes ancient coins- as do I- and I'm going to be doing some of my own shopping for nice <$50 ancients for my own giveaways soon, that might be the first thing I look at. But as mentioned in the intro above, I will be reading your suggestions as to what sort of thing might make a good prize.

 

This contest is now open!

 

I’m liking all the suggestions so far. I’m sure @expat will enjoy watching all this play out, as well.

 

Well, I do have the following lots on the way soon, for my own giveaway goodies…



But Sal, don’t get too excited about those SLQs just yet. They’re just your average low-grade (though dated) examples. I have them earmarked for coworker Christmas gifts. (Each coworker will get a SLQ, a Hershey bar, and a couple of $1 lottery scratchoff tickets.) When I do add a SLQ to the Giveaway store, I intend for it to be a little better than these.

And @JoshuaP - that Byzantine is also a bit cheaper than I want for my contests (I try to stay in the $25-50 range for prizes, usually, and this is a <$20 coin… maybe even <$10.)

 

I shop David Connors’ inventory quite often, and bought three coins from his store last night, to add to my future giveaway goodies. Steve McBride of Incitatus Coins on VCoins is also another good source of reasonably priced ancients.

If memory serves, David Connors includes a printed flip with the attribution for most coins, while in the past Steve at Incitatus did not, rather shipping them in unmarked flips. At least that was my experience in the past. I think the printed flips are a nice touch.

I also like Ephesus Numismatics (bought four future giveaway prizes from them just last night), and Marc Breitsprecher.

 

You’re welcome, but note that this giveaway is @expat ’s doing. I am merely the master of ceremonies and designated prize shopper for this one.