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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;lordmarcovan, post: 2583859, member: 10461&quot;]<font face="Georgia"><b>&quot;Grand Pretensions&quot;: &quot;W.H. Vanderbilt&quot; carved on 1826 Capped Bust half dollar</b></font></p><p><font face="Georgia"><br /></font></p><p><font face="Georgia"><img src="http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k173/lordmarcovan/1826-50c-Vanderbilt-LoveToken-004265-coin-v2.png" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></font></p><p><font face="Georgia"><br /></font></p><p><font face="Georgia"><a href="http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k173/lordmarcovan/1826-50c-Vanderbilt-LoveToken-004265-obv-v2.jpg" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k173/lordmarcovan/1826-50c-Vanderbilt-LoveToken-004265-obv-v2.jpg" rel="nofollow">Larger obverse scan</a></font></p><p><font face="Georgia"><a href="http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k173/lordmarcovan/1826-50c-Vanderbilt-LoveToken-004265-rev-v2.jpg" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k173/lordmarcovan/1826-50c-Vanderbilt-LoveToken-004265-rev-v2.jpg" rel="nofollow">Larger reverse scan</a></font></p><p><font face="Georgia"><br /></font></p><p><font face="Georgia"><b>Host coin:</b> 1826 USA Capped Bust half dollar.</font></p><p><font face="Georgia"><b>Obverse:</b> unaltered except for &quot;W.H. Vanderbilt&quot; graffito in left obverse field. </font></p><p><font face="Georgia"><b>Reverse:</b> original eagle design, unaltered.</font></p><p><font face="Georgia"><br /></font></p><p><font face="Georgia">Ex- &quot;lbandrc&quot; (eBay)</font></p><p><font face="Georgia"><br /></font></p><p><font face="Georgia">Is it really possible this coin once belonged to famous 19th century railroad tycoon <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Henry_Vanderbilt" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Henry_Vanderbilt" rel="nofollow">William Henry Vanderbilt</a> (1821-1885)?</font></p><p><font face="Georgia"><br /></font></p><p><font face="Georgia">Sure, it&#039;s <i>possible</i>.</font></p><p><font face="Georgia"><br /></font></p><p><font face="Georgia">Is it <i>probable?</i> Not very.</font></p><p><font face="Georgia"><br /></font></p><p><font face="Georgia">But even if the engraving is a fantasy, it could be an <i>old</i> fantasy, from his lifetime. He was very rich and famous, after all, so anyone with a bit of time on their hands could’ve carved his name into a coin and perhaps concocted some crazy story or scheme to go with it. Or I’ll admit it’s even possible that somebody in more recent times did the same thing. My personal suspicions are that the carving is old, but let’s just say I’m not convinced the coin had anything to do with W.H. Vanderbilt personally.</font></p><p><font face="Georgia"><br /></font></p><p><font face="Georgia">But considering I acquired this piece for about 1/3 less than the regular G4 price of an 1826 Bust half dollar, I saw no reason at all not to include it in my Oddball collection. </font></p><p><font face="Georgia"><br /></font></p><p><font face="Georgia">You must admit it&#039;s intriguing. Fantasy love token? I&#039;m OK with that. </font></p><p><font face="Georgia"><br /></font></p><p><font face="Georgia">Real Vanderbilt relic from his early days? Wow, wouldn&#039;t <i>that</i> be neat! </font></p><p><font face="Georgia"><br /></font></p><p><font face="Georgia">Either way, I was happy with it, though this piece has since gone on to reside in a good friend&#039;s collection.</font></p><p><font face="Georgia"><br /></font></p><p><font face="Georgia">This was formerly part of my old <a href="http://forums.collectors.com/messageview.aspx?catid=26&amp;threadid=953536&amp;enterthread=y" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://forums.collectors.com/messageview.aspx?catid=26&amp;threadid=953536&amp;enterthread=y" rel="nofollow">Engraved/Counterstamped/Oddball Type Set</a>.</font></p><p><font face="Georgia"><br /></font></p><p><font face="Georgia"><br /></font></p><p><font face="Georgia"><img src="http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k173/lordmarcovan/VanderbiltCartoon-v2.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></font></p><p><font face="Georgia"></font>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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