Darkside Lion Thread

Nice to see the CoinTalk version of this classic CU topic come roaring to life in a new habitat!

These are just my present lion coins. Needless to say, like most folks, I've owned a good many.

The lions here range from tiny and secondary features in the designs to large and prominent.

Turkey (Seljuq Sultanate of Rum): silver "Lion & Sun" dirham of Kaykhusraw II, AH 638 (1240-1241 AD)



Netherlands (Gelderland): "St. John" type goldgulden (florin) of Arnold van Egmond, ca. 1423-1472



German States (Teutonic Order): silver 1/4-thaler of Grand Master Maximilian of Austria, ca. 1615



Switzerland (Zurich): silver "city view" 1/2-thaler (1 gulden/36 schillings), 1739



Spain: gold half-escudo of Ferdinand VI, 1759,Madrid mint



Mexico (Spanish Colonial): silver 8 reales ("Pillar Dollar"), 1761, Mexico City mint



Belgium (Austrian Netherlands): copper 2 liards (2 Oorden), Insurrection coinage, 1790



Great Britain: silver shilling of George IV, off-center mint error, ca. 1826-1829

 

Speaking of big cats and their kin, I just had a slightly miniaturized lioness (well, closer to a tigress, I suppose) try to nudge the phone out of my hands while I was typing.

 

That one would've been more than welcome on my old Holey Coin Vest.

Nowadays I only do love tokens and trench art engraved pieces, rather than plain old holeys, but holey coins are certainly worth some love, too. They're often still quite appealing (unlike really harshly polished or scratched coins or other problems), and an old hole is part of the coin's story. It brings the price down, too. So yes, while it's preferable not to have a hole in one's coin, having one there is not always a dealbreaker, if you're prepared to respect and appreciate the coins for what they are.