Easy topic, probably done before, but I'll give it another shot.

What's the one coin that you'd drool over to have in your collection that you'd never be able to afford? The one that you'd give up all the other coins in your collection to own.

I'd have to go with the Coiled Hair Stella (1879 or 1880).

Or the octagonal $50 Pan-Pac.

Or...

OK, since I can't decide only one myself, you can name a few, if you want.

John

1893-S Morgan in MS condition with gold rim toning.

Eid-Mar denarius

The Philip Morse 1927-D Saint.

I'm a pretty simple guy. Not really into rarities much just for the sake of rarity...things like 1913 Lib Nicks and 1804 Dollars don't do much for me. If you gave me one, I'd just sell it. I'm also not into ultra high grade coins so that lets out a lot of choices.

My dream coin is rather simple too. A Fugio cent in VF condition, no higher, no lower. Good thing about being a simple guy is that my dream coin is probably attainable.

Let's say, a nice set of Imperial Russian commemorative coins would be nice

But then, I am being too greedy I guess

Nice choice Stu.

I would go for a 1876-CC Twenty cent piece.

1794/95 Flowing Hair US Dollar

Give them all up for one? I don't think so. I examined the Garrett collection lots years ago at Bowers and Ruddy. Now if you want to swap collections---okay. The 1804 dollar, great stuff. The rare colonials and patterns, even better. I handed my wife an Eid Mar denarius at the ANA this summer and then told her what it cost. I was ready to catch it. But she was cool and just handed it back. I was ready to write a check, but the dealer knows me well enough that $2,000 is a good day for me with months of saving for a national show. Oh well, the Eid Mar wasn't struck in Gaul so it doesn't fit in my collection. Now a Celtic Parisian gold, abstract head and abstract horse, I might reconsider!

None. Type sets are much more fun than a single piece.

My dream coin would be the MCMVII Saint Gaudens high-relief double eagle....followed by the 1933 saint. The 1927-D is the big one no doubt.

Too bad my budget is more along the lines of 1972 type 2 Ike

I high relief Saint Gaudens or a Pan Pac $50 would be good choices for US coins. I'd also strongly consider some 18th century US Gold in MS.

I gotta go with likes_Ikes--I have always loved the Saints, hands-down the most magnificent coin ever hammered out, especially that Roman numeral unspeakably high relief wire rim lettered edge bastich that I'll never ever own... Okay, I feel better now. Base-metal, it has to be the 1856 Flying Eagle. And I might just be talked into one of the legendary '64 Peace dollars, or '74 aluminum cents. I'm not picky.

Well, in the grand scheme of rare Saints, my budget is much closer to yours! I will someday own a regular high relief Saint, so the choice for me would be an Ultra-High Relief (if you've never seen one in person, it makes the regular HR Saint look flat). But in my view there are probably almost twice as many URH Saints extant than 27-Ds (I believe there are about a dozen or so 27-Ds and maybe two dozen URHs), so for rougly the same $2 million, I would choose the coin that's twice as rare. As for the 33, right now it's more of a novelty piece with one that's technically legal to own. There are now 13 total specimens, and that number may increase (there is still debate as to whether the one sold in 2002 was indeed the Farouk specimen). Depending on what happens with the Switt specimens, you could see more come out of the woodwork so to speak. Currently I would rank the 33 on par with the 27-D for extant specimens, though the legal problems make the 33 tougher to own. Anyhow, that's why I chose the coin I did in this fantasy league!

A type set of the first American coinage, UNC! & TONERS!!

Same here......

Or any of the other Flowing Hair denoms for me.

Without a doubt - a brasher doubloon...

A 1878-CC Trade dollar,within the realm of possibilty for me but over my price range.

One of these days maybe. Holed, chopmarked to hell, whizzed, dipped, rubbed, drop kicked.....it could happen

There is nothing I would trade my whole collection for, but my current dream coin would be a 1796 S-96 large cent. Any condition.

Off the top of my head I would have to say a 1913 liberty nickel.

Bunny won't buy it for me

Errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr isn't that a bit too much?

Bunny has deep pockets, she is just selfish about her buying.

I'll consider it if I win the Powerball on Wednesday.

THANKS for reminding me

If I win......everyone gets a 1909-S-VDB!

Remember the OP, and good luck!

John

Were you reading my mind?

Then, and only then, might I love you.

Im new to the site,

Hello to all my fellow coin collecters

My coin would have to be the 1804 Dollar
Just love that coin

See ya,

COINKING88

Welcome.

Welcome aboard Coinking88.

I could not trade my whole collection for this because I actually own another in the same series not quite as famous. That said, mine would be one of the earliest known coins from the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus. This coin from Gyges



would be typical. Striated on one side with punch marks. If I have my coins right, the punchmarks are linked with another coin of Miletos, that one having a Lion on one side and these on the other.

It is the origin of coinage that fascinates me most.

Read more from Historia Numorum on Ed Snible's website:
http://www.snible.org/coins/hn/lydia.html

A coin salvaged from the Titanic, that'd suit me down to the ground.

Ætheling
It just so happens I have a 1911 1d in fine (bit of green verdigris) that was brought up with some of the artifacts....honest guv.
Yours for £50

A Willow Tree that I dig up with my metal detector.

That would be extremely interesting! I remember seeing the traveling Titanic exhibit (I think it was in Vegas) and they had many exhibits of small artifacts recovered, from postcards to eyeglasses, from immigration documents to coins and currency. Very interesting and somber exhibit.

Very sombre indeed i can imagine and at the same time very intriguing. I've heard people say that Titanic has something that grabs attention, perhaps the tragic loss of life, the grand scale of the ship.

But to me it stands remarkable for a different reason;

The Titanic is a microcosm of 'Edwardian' society. Things really weren't as picturesque or as golden as they tried to paint it, war was on the horizon, class restriction and struggle on the ship during it's sinking mirrored the struggle going on between the classes in the everyday world. The gap between rich and poor was immense. The entrepeneurs still put their own self surety in being right ahead of any possible safety problems that might occur (a very Victorian attitude). That ship was 'Edwardian' Europe and the illusion it cast was broken on the quietest, calmest night of April 14th 1912. Two years later the rest of 'Edwardian' Europe sank too.

Such a momentous event in history, a coin from it would certainly be something.

Well said. An elegant expression of the real pleasure of collecting coins as history.

Hmmm... I may trade my small collection for one of these because these are much scarcer than all of the stuff I have.

Here are my three cliche dream coins:

1894-S Dime
1913 V Nick
1964 Peace.
All related patterns to those three series

I am working on these series. For a complete series, in my opinion, I would need the patterns and other major varieties.

Regarding notes:

1928 C *STAR* $1 Silver Cert.
1928 E *STAR* $1 Silver Cert.



PS. What is the Eid Mar coin? I figure you guys could explain it to me a little more passionately than another website.

Brutus EID MAR denarius

Gorgeous coin. What is special about it?

Struck by Brutus to commemorate the assassination of Julius Caesar on the Ides of March ("EID MAR"). I believe the cap is the liberty cap, to suggest that the dictator has been killed (daggers), and that the Roman people are once again free. As history would tell, this was not to be the truth.

As an added note, there are few examples of the coin.

^^ what he said...see, Brutus helped kill Caesar but the problem is, Caesar was very popular with the people and Brutus found himself on the run. The interesting thing about this coin as well is that it was minted around 43/42 BC, there is a high likelyhood that it was minted while he was on the run in a mint that traveled with him that he used to pay his soldiers. Marcus Antonius took advantage of the unpopular killing of Caesar to denounce his murderers and Brutus fled with his soldiers. He would eventualy take his own life after defeat at the hands of Marcus Antonius.

Brutus issued the this silver denarius to remind his soldiers that they fought for the Roman Republic. The reverse of the coin bears the two daggers, with a liberty cap in between. The inscription reads EID MAR, meaning "the Ides of March." The message of the coin is that on the Ides of March, Brutus set the Romans free.

MOST republican roman coins did NOT have a real persons face on it, Caesar broke the mold for this and Brutus also went along thus this coin has the image of Brutus. The inscription reads BRVT IMP L PLAET CEST, which means Brutus, Imperator, Lucius Plaetorius Cestianus. Lucius Plaetorius Cestianus was the moneyer who produced the coin.

Coins like this have sold for around 150,000 dollars (this one isnt as well struck as some I have seen) and is very very rare...with a great amount of important history surrounding it.

Wow. Thanks, ccg and drusus!

Now that you have my interest piqued, I'll have to do more research myself.

One of my favorite dealers had one at the ANA show a couple of years ago. He handed it to my wife. She said neat, she liked it. He told her the price. She said I couldn't buy one!