Lord Marcovan's "Eclectic Box" collection (construction thread)

Lord Marcovan's "Eclectic Box" collection

 

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Summary of changes, December 20, 2017

Here's what's happened since the last update.

(A goodbye)
First, I bid a bittersweet farewell to one of my favorites. This Anglo-Saxon penny of Aethelred II ("the Unready") was one of my top coins. It took 19 years to persuade my old friend Michael S. (who goes by the username @Aethelred) to sell this to me (frankly, I was surprised he ever did). I proudly owned it for four years (and got it into the MS plastic it deserved). But he eventually decided he wanted it back, and since it was once his signature, "namesake" coin (not to mention the fact I owed him money), I let him have it back. Not without some seller's remorse, but at least it's back where it belongs (and I don't owe him money anymore- at least for the moment- haha). And if he ever sells it again, he knows who's got first dibs on it.

England (Anglo-Saxon): silver penny of Aethelred II, struck ca. 997-1003 AD

(PCGS MS63; population 2 with 6 higher as of 12/20/2017)

(A hello)
Next, I added this 1550 Lithuanian half-groschen piece, after soliciting the opinions of the forum in a poll. That was fun; I think I'll do that more often. I even followed the advice of the poll this time, opting for this PCGS MS63 over a PCGS MS64 that cost about $100 more but was not really all that different. I owned an NGC AU58 of the same type and year early on in the history of this Eclectic Box collection. I've always liked these- they're among the more affordable early-dated coins, even in Mint State like this. This coin has some subtle but attractive luster not seen in these photos.

Lithuania: silver half-groschen of Sigismund II Augustus of Poland, 1550

(PCGS MS63; population 5 with 8 higher as of 12/20/2017)

(Another hello)
I also added this 1650 German States (Nurnberg) 1/8 thaler klippe, which is likely to be my last major purchase for 2017. It just arrived from @H8_modern, who discussed it here. This is such a fresh "newp" that I don't even have temporary "shadowbox" pictures of it yet, which is why it is not in the lineup above. It will likely go to PCGS in January.

This is a commemorative issue struck to celebrate the Peace of Westphalia at the end of the Thirty Years War. I have long loved the motif of the little boy on the stick horse, and @chrisild was kind enough to share the story behind that. I used to have one of these on my old "Holey Coin Vest". It was one of my favorite holed coins. Now I am happy to own an even higher-grade, unholed example.



(Just graded)
Finally, I just received the happy news that my AH1233 (1817) Persian gold toman not only received a "straight" grade from PCGS, it went Mint State as well! I was expecting a high AU grade, though I had an inkling that MS could be possible. It just graded MS62. That makes it worth over $500, and I paid $400 for this one. It is also now a pop. 3/0 coin, meaning it is tied with just two other examples for the finest graded. I'm happy.

As of this post, the TrueView images have not been added to the cert verification page just yet (but should be, within the next 24-48 hours), so I'm still using the temporary (seller's) images here and in the lineup above.

Iran (Persia): gold toman of Fath Ali Shah, AH 1233 (1817), Yazd mint

(PCGS MS62; population 3 with none higher as of 12/20/2017)

(An additional hello)
Also, this ca. 238 AD Roman antoninianus of Gordian III was a kind gift from @Ancient Aussie in the Ancient forum's "Secret Saturnalia" gift exchange (think "Secret Santa", but with ancients only).

I don't know if I'll include it in the Eclectic Box. Maybe, maybe not. I'm kind of light on Roman material as of this post. Regardless, I'm enjoying it and have kept it on my bedside table to look at over the last few days. If it doesn't offend the donor, I might someday pass it forward in a future giveaway of my own later. But not yet. I intend to enjoy it a while longer, whether it becomes a part of the Eclectic Box or not.

Please forgive the hasty cellphone shots.



(A potential addition)
I might squeeze one more in before the end of the year, if money allows. This one was the popular favorite in my last "newp" poll. Though I ended up going with the Nurnberg klippe above rather than any of the three contenders in the poll, this one still might happen. It's a high grade 17th century coin with some killer toning, for slightly under a hundred bucks, so I'm still tempted.

German States (Pomerania-Stettin): silver doppelschilling of Bogislaw XIV, undated, ca. 1620-1625.



Oh- one other bit of housekeeping- in the last update I mentioned how I intended to give each coin its own writeup (subthread), since I've been lax on that for the past year. That still hasn't been done yet. I'll have to make that a 2018 new year's resolution.

 

Peace dollars, huh?

It's been a while.

Here:

Spoiler: Guess the grade, if you wanna test yourself before clicking this

(Hint: I thought this one was pretty conservatively graded, by 1-2 points.)

I really do need to bring some US material back in. I've been sort of shopping Draped Bust (Heraldic Eagle) halves, but those are at the upper end of my budget in the quality I want. I'll have another one day, but probably not for a little while yet, unless one comes my way in a swap.

 

I sure did, because Peace dollars, lovely though they are, are not usually something I'd buy. (When I do US, I typically prefer 19th century Type.)

I bought that one, though, and think I did OK when I "flipped" it later.

It was a lusterbomb.

 

Ditto. Kinda wish I still had it.

But my heart is more in the World & Ancient stuff, so the US stuff I have tends to gets "flipped" a bit more often (it also happens to be easier to flip, of course.)

 

Maybe. It's true as I've thrown more and more self-imposed parameters and restrictions out the window, I am indeed veering closer to "accumulation" than "collection".

But it doesn't have the randomness that "accumulation" implies. There IS still some rhyme to the reason, even if it is only apparent to just me alone half the time.