I kind of splurged recently to get some nicer coins that my collection lacked. I don't buy online much anymore but sometimes when you want a certain coin there's no other options. This New Zealand 1 penny token someone else posted on another thread and when I saw it I knew I had to have one. It doesn't have a date but is probably from the 1860s-1880s. New Zealand didn't mint regular coins until 1933. I just love the designs here and the detail. I have a weakness for large bronze/copper coins as it is. Secondly, I always wanted a coin from German New Guinea. The 1 pfennig isn't really that interesting as a coin, and starting at the 10 pfennig and going up there is a much more interesting design with a bird of paradise. But I have to be reasonable with my expenses and I wanted to at least have something from this colony. This coin has probably been cleaned, but as I said, I have to be reasonable on price. I purchased some other coins too but these are the only ones to arrive so far.
I have the bottom Maori Token from the 1880's! Maori's are a fascinating group of people! There's a number of Youtube's keeping the haka alive and well!
Here's my three New Zealand Tokens I've had for quite awhile, the 1905 is supposed to be fairly rare one. I read about the Maori tribes years ago, below is a blurb of what I learned. "In what is now known as New Zealand, the Māori preserved the heads of enemies in a form known as mokomokai. They removed the brain and eyes, and smoked the head. The heads were sold to European collectors in the late 1800s, in some instances having been commissioned and "made to order"."
German New Guinea coins are tough; the only one I've been able to find at a semi-reasonable price was a fire-damaged 1 mark piece! Some holes in my album are destined to remain that way, it seems...
