Recent Posts

By coinsarefun on 09 Apr, 2014 15:25 in board : Other Collectables and Hobbies

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We took a walk on the Redondo Beach pier yesterday.......beautiful day.

By VDB Coins on 01 Mar, 2014 07:15 in board : US Coins, tokens and medals

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I did indeed "rediscover" that the Betts Medal Collection was bequeathed to Yale (although it becomes obvious to anyone reading the Foreword to the Betts book, written by Lyman Low and William T.R. Marvin, who finished the Betts book after his untimely death). Dr. Metcalf was kind enough to send me a complete listing of the Betts bequest to Yale, more than 400 pieces in all, including a bronze Washington Before Boston, copper and silver Libertas Americanas, "The Seasons" medal, Sansom medals, Admiral Vernon medals, William Pitt medals, too many others to list. Wow what a great collection! Best Regards, George

By rrantique on 25 Feb, 2014 16:28 in board : US Coins, tokens and medals

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 sorry

By coinsarefun on 18 Feb, 2014 22:35 in board : US Coins, tokens and medals

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This is a new pickup, not particularly rare, but it is an important merchant token as it has an "intrinsic value of 25 cents"and "warranted pure silver" which is quite a good sum of value for 1857.I'm still looking for a really super nice example but did find this one at a very fair price.A good amount of information   Can be found here at novanumismatics.com  There are many counter stamped coins that pre date this token but this was specifically engraved and minted for Wood’s Minstrels.A few pictures and my token......hope you enjoy.From NovaNumismatics.comAlso from NovaNumismatics.comOn October 15th 1857 a new minstrel hall opened for the troupe. Known as Henry Wood’s Marble Hall, the theatre occupied 561 and 563 Broadway and could seat 2000 people.A screenshot of what the address as it looks today and how it has changed on Google Maps

By coinsarefun on 15 Feb, 2014 15:31 in board : US Coins, tokens and medals

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An update of Abe's Collection:A large part of Abe's (bear) collection was sold in the Feb. 13th  Legend Morphy auction in Las Vegas   Auction number 6  While not the entire collection was auctioned, off a good portion was. Missing from this auction were the moderns and one of my personal favorite the 1837 Bust Half (Reeded edge) ....PCGS MS-65 CACI wonder where this coin resides as it is stunning and the cornerstone coin in any great collection.Even though the coins were not held for the 20 year time frame as Abe wanted and sold just two short years later I feel that the prices realized were reasonable with no major losses to mention of.Below is the final auction prices for the coins:1. 10C 1881 PR67 CAM CAC $70502. 25C 1896 PR67 DCAM CAC $9987.503. 25C 1918 66+ FH CAC $7931.254. 50C 1897 PR67 DCAM CAC $16,4505. 50C 1916 66+ CAC $7343.756. $1 1883 PR65 CAM CAC $8812.57. $1 1881-S 67PL CAC $2115.008. $2.5 1896 MS66 CAC $4112.509. $10 1904-O MS65 CAC $28,200If anyone has information on the remainder of Abe's collection please let me know.And if I find out more I ill post it.

By coinsarefun on 13 Feb, 2014 12:57 in board : US Coins, tokens and medals

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New pickup. I have never seen such a super toned Walker like this before.

By coinsarefun on 11 Feb, 2014 12:26 in board : US Coins, tokens and medals

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Designed after the American Institute this token is always a favorite among collectors.I was pleasantly surprised when I opened the package to find this 178 year old token withso much red on it I'm going to submit this token to PCGS and get a trueview done on it. Will post the gradeand image when I get it.

By coinsarefun on 09 Feb, 2014 11:22 in board : US Coins, tokens and medals

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I wanted to take some time and address a passion of mine that has intrigued me since I started collecting.I have always loved Americans first coins and copper coins in particular but since they have always been so expensive I never thought I would be able to collect them. As I researched them I found a few articles on counterfeits and electrotypes, this sparked my interest and decided that I might be able to collect Early American Copper after all!Fast foreword several years I have managed to acquire a few lovely examples and have made a poster below.Once I have had them imaged properly I will address each one and give further explanations. A wonderfull article from ANACS website.....When Fakes Become Collectable by David F. Fanning

By coinsarefun on 07 Feb, 2014 14:26 in board : US Coins, tokens and medals

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Is coming up for auction soon   Link to the Coin Week article  A few sentences copied and pasted from the article here:" A Higley Copper of any variety that is graded “AU-50” is of tremendous importance. It is unusual for a Higley to grade as high as Fine-15! Furthermore, many surviving Higley Coppers have extensively corroded. Many others have been damaged.High resolution images of this, Newman Collection, NGC graded “AU-50“ Higley are extraordinarily impressive. It has the most detail of any Higley Copper that has been publicly offered in a very long time, as far as I know. The deer on the obverse (front) is well formed and the three crowned hammers on the reverse are amazingly sharp! Even if it has imperfections that I do not now know about, I am almost certain that the sale of this piece will set an auction record for a Higley Copper. "Since most of us do not have a fortune to spend on this amazing piece of history and will go to one lucky person,sometimes the next best thing to owning the real deal is an electrotype.I have been very fortunate to stumble upon and purchase this electrotype of the rare piece and wanted to share it with all of you.When I first saw it I knew it was special but had no idea it was the Newman specimen. As far as the age of this electrotype I will sayit must be very old as the collection has been stashed away for a very long time.I'm going to send this piece and my other electrotypes to Goodman for proper images as mine are terrible.But it just arrived today and I just had to share with everyone here.Below is my piece on the left and Newman's on the right.I'm showing below the large planchet size in comparison to the other Higley so you can get a feel for the coin.I'm wondering if Crosby was responsible for both of these pieces?

By coinsarefun on 30 Jan, 2014 11:21 in board : General Discussions

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I belong to the ANA and The Conder Token Club......I need to get on the weekly E-Sylum mailing  list.