Here are my top ten new acquisitions for the year: USA 1831 Capped Bust Quarter Small Letters B-4 (R1) PCGS AU55 This coin is in an earlier PCGS OGH and is undergraded. I would expect an AU58-MS62 on this coin by today's standards. It's stunning in hand with a prooflike reverse. Without a doubt my favorite pickup for 2022. USA 1833 Capped Bust Half Dollar Lettered Edge NGC AU53 This coin is in an old NGC holder. Closer to an AU55 in my book, this coin has pleasing color and luster. Austria 1893 AR Corona KM-2804 (1892-1907) NGC MS64 PL A breathtaking prooflike example of the earliest Austrian corona type. An incredible rarity which I paid dearly for at auction in Europe this year. I purchased this along with an NGC MS65+ example of the same date. Hungary 1896KB UP AR Taler Hungarian Millennium Commemorative Restrike KM-X13 (1896) NGC PF68 CAMEO This is one of the more prized restrikes of the Hungarian Millennium coinage. 798 pieces were struck in 1965. Very few examples have any sort of cameo. There is a lone 64 UCAM in the census, but this 68 cameo example is the finest graded with or without cameo. Austria 1908 AR 5 Corona (60 Years of Reign) KM-2809 (1908) PCGS MS63 This is currently crossing to NGC. I have an NGC MS61 PL example of this coin, but I wanted a pleasing 63 for my corona set as well. I got this example at a very reasonable price and couldn't resist. Austria 1909 AU 10 Corona KM-2815 (1909) Small Head NGC MS62 This is a nice example of a one year type referred to as the 1909 Small Head. While that description is accurate, the coin is actually a mule of a leftover 10 corona obverse from the 1908 60 Years of Reign commemorative type KM-2810 pressed into use with a 1909 reverse from the 1909-1911 10 corona type KM-2816. After 1909 these older 1908 commemorative obverses were retired. Hungary 1944BP Aluminum Pengő KM-521 (1941-1944) NGC MS66 During WWII the pengő was struck in aluminum instead of silver. I stumbled upon the chance to buy a roll of 1944 pengő and this hypergem example was the best from that roll. High grade examples are actually quite scarce and underappreciated so I was very pleased to get one of this quality. Hungary 1966BP AR 25 Forint (Zrínyi Miklós) KM-567 (1966) NGC PF69 ULTRA CAMEO This coin popped up for sale one day before the competitive registry sets closed for judging at NGC this year, and I was able to buy it and get it in my 25 forint set just under the wire. Not only is this a stunning example of the General Zrínyi Miklós commemorative, but this was the last coin I needed for set completion with 100% top pops, making for a very satisfying purchase. You can view this registry set here: https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/417774/ Hungary 1989BP Aluminum 2 Fillér KM-546 (1950-1989) Double Punched Holes A very interesting 2 fillér Soviet-era type error that got the hole punched twice. A slightly misplaced hole is not uncommon, and I have a couple examples of this type with a significantly misplaced hole. I was excited to find this double holed example which after examining in hand was unquestionably genuine. I am now searching for an equally rare example of this type without a punched hole. This example is currently with NGC errors.
Hungary 2002BP Copper-Nickel 500 Forint Rubik's Cube (Rubik Kocka) KM-765 (2002) The Hungarian inventor Rubik Ernő came up with the idea for the Rubik's cube in 1974 while he was a professor of architecture at the Budapest College of Applied Arts. He patented his idea in 1975 (the date shown on the cube on the obverse) and the rest is history. This square coin was struck in 2002 to honor the legacy of his invention (it was also struck as a proof). *** BONUS *** Yes my top 10 has 11 coins. Here's the last one: Hungary 2002BP Bi-Metallic (Brass-Plated Steel/Stainless Steel) 100 Forint (Lajos Kossuth) KM-760 (2002) NGC PF67 ULTRA CAMEO Kossuth Lajos (known as the George Washington of Hungary) visited the US in exile in 1851-1852. His speeches had a significant impact on Abraham Lincoln, and he is one of only two foreigners to be honored with a bust in the rotunda of the US Capitol building. I consider this type to be Hungary's most beautiful modern circulating commemorative. It was struck in 2002 with three different finishes: a business strike, a prooflike collector strike, and a proof strike. The center of this bi-metallic coin features the obverse of the Kossuth Lajos commemorative 5 forint of 1946. So in this way it is not only a Kossuth Lajos commemorative, but also a coin which commemorates Hungarian coinage. The original silver coin was struck in 1946 and again in 1947 on a thinner planchet. Here's an example of the obverse of the original 1946BP AR 5 Forint KM-534: This coin was struck again in 1966 and 1967 as a silver proof. Here's the obverse of one of my examples of the 1966BP AR 5 Forint KM-534b proof:
I saw the first two coins and was wondering if you had changed your main collecting focus. Then came the Hungarian and all was well again. In all seriousness, this is a great top 10 (plus one). The US and world are all cool. Nice year of pickups!
Wow! And wow! What a group of gems. You did well this year. They are all so superb that I'm not even jealous.
Haha yeah, so true. Well I've also been a bust coinage collector for about 20 years, and I do have substantial US collections, especially currency. I just don't post about them as much, because while my US collection is pretty good, my Austro-Hungarian collection is world class, and so it's a lot more exciting to talk about.
