Looking through my limited world coin collection I came across this tag. Yes, I bought this coin from @lordmarcovan maybe 10 years ago. It is a small world!!! Very pleased to see I bought a coin from the very entertaining and generous Lord Marcovan, Duke of Ducats and Crown Prince of Crowns. Sorry about the cell phone picture, my other camera is charging. Estonia is a fun country to collect. They have a very limited number of issues as an independent country so it is not too hard to get a full set including all dates for all issues. I still need a couple here and there. John
Holy schmoleys, that's an oldie! I have no memory whatsoever of the coin or the sale, and only the very dimmest recollection of those inserts.
I was trying to work out exactly when I bought that from you. It could be more than 15 years ago...probably found it on ebay.
Now THIS is my cup of tea - Estonian coins Nice coin and also in pretty decent condition. They are usually a bit more worn and it is challenge to find these coins in mint state. The coins circulated only 8 years and was later replaced by 20 senti coins. Out of 4 million coins which were minted, roughly 3.65 million were later melted. It's relatively easy to get the coins in circulated condition (except 10 marka 1926), but on the other hand the coin collection in mint state condition is challenge. It took me roughly 10 years to find decent 5 marka 1924. 10 marka 1926 is just expensive, but they are on auctions quite regularly (once a year or two). And keep in mind, that there are lot of copies out there. The 1926 3, 5 and 10 marka are very popular in that sense. My registry sets, if anybody is interested. Mark coins: https://coins.www.collectors-society.com/registry/coins/SetGallery.aspx?PeopleSetID=180592 Kroon and sent coins: https://coins.www.collectors-society.com/registry/coins/SetGallery.aspx?PeopleSetID=168761
I formed a collection 10 or more years ago then got distracted by ancients again. I am inspired now to go back and finish up Estonia and maybe Latvia and Lithuania. I mostly like coins made for circulation and don't really pursue pure commemoratives. John
That is good to know. I guess any coin that is scarce is a target for forgers. Anything to look for to detect the fakes? John
I have a few. That 1928 25 Senti was one of my earliest foreign coins. Mine is quite beat up with some gouges and rim dents. Here are a couple others. Sorry that the photos are not that good.
I used to be a small dealer. I had an antique mall booth for a while in the first decade of the 2000s. (Prior to that, I've helped out as an assistant in two different brick-and-mortar coin shops.) I've since stepped back to what I've always been: a collector who does a little "vest pocket" dealing on the side to support his habit.
That is a very smart way to build your collection and have fun without destroying your bank account. I think a lot of collectors do this to one degree or another. I am too lazy to do much selling even though I have a lot of duplicates by now.
Oh, believe me - without "vestpocket-dealing" and "flipping" and swapping, I would have no disposable income at all to put into collecting. Without that, on my salary, I could perhaps collect Statehood quarters or circulated Lincoln cents, or I'd have to rely on my metal detector or coin roll hunting for new additions. (Actually, I did both of those in my really lean years, and enjoyed both, particularly the detecting.)
Usually the weight is not correct, the edge is wrong, the color of the coins is not correct and so on.
