hey guys, What is the most important coin to you in your collection today. I dont mean themost valueable or the most scarce, just the most important btw, Ive been away from cointalk for a good while now and Im so glad to be back chevy
Welcome back, chevy! Hard to answer your question. It could be the 1900-O Morgan dollar that I bought from a local dealer yesterday. My newest purchase seems to always interest me most. It could be the 1941-D jefferson nickel that I got earlier this week. That particular coin completed an album that I had been working on for a long time. If a complete set could be included, my very best set of 1938-present PDS nickels are very important to me. Maybe one of my higher grade type coins, or my local Merchant tokens. I have coins that were given to me by close friends. There's no denying their importance. It could be the 1808 half dollar. That's my oldest coin and one of the first ones I ever bought. It could be the the complete set of Arista, WV Weynoke Coal & Coke coal mine scrip tokens. These came from the coal camp where my wife was born into. The hard lobor and poverty of her family's early years, are things she will never forget. My wife has bought a few coins for me over the years. Those are very important to me. Maybe the Roosevelt dime that was recovered from the fire that destroyed all our belongings in 1968. Sorry, chevy I just can't choose.
Tough call. As I stated in another thread, I'm leaning toward dusting off my wallet and buying an XF/AU 1877 Indian cent to complete my collection in that grade range. I've worked on this collection since I was about 8, upgrading as finances allowed, but for a couple of years I've had all but the '77 in place. If I get that one, it will be the most important, not just for its worth but because it would complete the series for me in the grade range I'm building. Other than that? Hard to say. Could be my MS-64 1829 Bust Dime or my MS-65 1896 Liberty nickel. Or perhaps my MS-63 1892-O Morgan, not because of its worth or particular significance to my collection, but because I lucked into finding this one with a fantastic strike (highly unusual for this date). Or maybe it's my AU-58 1869 Indian cent or my XF-45 1909-S Indian cent, the two *current* "stars" of this collection (with XF examples of 1870, '71 and '72 closely behind).
This is an easy one for me. As some of the members that have been around here know, my most important coin is my VG 1864 Two Cent Piece. The only collector coin that is in my personal collection. This coin, given to me by a history teacher inspired me to learn about the civil war, and later numismatics. This little worn coin, took a student into the business of buying and selling coins for a living. It is mounted on the wall of my office to remind me how one little coin can inspire the heart and mind.
Old times there are not forgotten The most important coin in my collection is not a coin at all, but a "stamp seal" from Sumeria. "Everyone" carried a seal, a stamp or a cylinder to be rolled, with which they signed contracts for delivery of farm goods. That was the main way of doing daily business before the invention of coins. Michael
Most important - my ratty little 2000 ASE. It has been rubbed, dropped, scratched for the last four years, and I finally had to put it in an Airtite to keep a limit on the damage. Given to be my an employer as an "atta-boy". It will never leave me, and when it is a slick, I'll treasure it nonetheless. Now if the second most favorite question comes up, I am in trouble!
Most of them are most important on some level but I prize a 1981-P type "d" reverse in MS-65PL. (it may be the nicest type "d" in existence). I also have a '77 type "d" in gem AU and a '66 quarter which appears fully proof! There's a gem/ch gem '82-NMM dime with a full strike!! I have a superb gem '76 quarter which is fully proof like and a 1970-S small date cent in superb gem. Some of these still trade on the market for less than a dollar if you can find them. I keep everything in safety deposit boxes so don't get to visit often enough.
I have two coins in particular that are important to me. The first is a 1921-S Morgan in VF condition. While I have plenty of other coins that are much nicer than this one, it was this coin that started my passion with coin collecting. The second coin is a 1969-D Kennedy that would grade around EF except for some pretty bad environmental damage on the obverse. For many years, it was the only silver coin that I had, and it was the first silver coin I had found in circulation. On a side note, one time I found a scruffed up 1970-S Kennedy in a roll of half dollars. Not something you find every day.
Historically the most important coin in my collection is a silver Meiji 3 (1870) Japanese silver 50 sen, Y#4. It is one of the original modern coins issued by Japan, in the third year of the Meiji Emperor's reign, following his overthrow of the Tokugawa Shogunate, which resulted in restoration of the Imperial Family to its position of authority, following hundreds of years' rule by warlords, who had restricted the Emperor to ceremonial and religious duties. Striking round coinage with milled edges, and creating a decimal system to replace the cast and hammered coins used for about 1,160 years, was an extremely major step in ending Japan's isolation from the modern world. My coin was struck at the Osaka Mint, on British machinery imported from Hong Kong, . Opening that mint was one of Japan's earliest steps on the road to a modern world economy, as it became operational even before the railway and postal systems.
Thanks, Roy, for reminding me of how little I know about coins, and how much there is to learn. And to all the posters on this thread, your insight has brought a new meaning to the word "important" to me. Keep'em com'in.
For me, it would be my 1979 type 2 proof set. My grandfather gave that set and a few others to me when I was younger. A ton of wheat pennies as well. I have hung onto them for 20 years now.. A couple years ago I looked up the dif between a type 1 and type 2 proof set. I ran home to look at the set my granfather gave me and walla, a type 2 it was. So, for the love of my late grandfather, coins collecting, and my 2.5 year old, I have been deep into the hobbie for the last couple years.
