gxseries

XXXXXXXXXL scan size (overaggerated I guess ) But yes, anyways, here are my scans of the two Alexandrine ruble coins that I have. One is a total banged up F+ coin and the other is somewhat a proof or prooflike coin (or a mishandled proof if you like to call it). P.S. Note of the hair detail on the obverse and the column details at the reverse. They are very stunning... Banged up version: High Quality version: Once again, looking at the column, from the bottom, you have the finest details of the gates, then the crest, supposingly you should be able to see some emblem and then you see some criss-cross sign on the column. At the top of the column, you see an angel on the cross. You can even see the details on the feather!!! Pity that the head is just a dot, but honestly, this is an image that I blew up to 400% of the original size; the original size of the coin is only approximately 36mm!!! A ruble that you must get... provided that the price is just right...

Hahaha

I honestly don't know why Osaka though. It's true that both Paris and Brussels were occupied in WWI. The timing of the Osaka kopeks to me is just completely imcomprehensible, or rather, was St. Petersburg mint too overloaded? It's true that by that time, they were forced to stop their gold ruble mintage and Imperial Russia was economically going downhill. Was ordering such mass coins overseas a lot cheaper than self producing? I guess this is going to be a lot of speculation... P.S. I think I have found an interesting link worth reading, but you need acrobat reader. http://www.esh.ed.ac.uk/EH2_RUS/Lecture1.PDF

Definately can't tell from that ultra small jpg. I honestly thought it was some sort of arabic coin from the first look...

If I am not wrong, Russia's early trial coins were made overseas around 1870s or so. But you must remember that Ekaterninburg's technology was just too outdated that Saint Petersburg had to overtake the striking of copper coins, which means that St. Petersburg production lines were not capable of striking both silver, gold and copper at the same time. (geez, that's sure a lot) Note that the Ekaterninburg mint production last ended at 1876, and in 1890s, there was another currency reform, which probably caused people to hoard as much coins as possible for a brief while. Why Paris and Brussels? I still do not understand up to know though... far less reason why Osaka mint too for the 10 and 15 kopeks of 1916...

Thank you, thank you! It's a book that was compiled after at least one year's worth of research notes. I still have a few more copies of it, if anyone still wants one, I can still offer them to you.

At least you managed to notice the cyrillic font, that's a good sign. I.e. "N" & "R" in the reverse.

New overstriked coin! Described by the seller: "Very interesting 1757 Elizabeth 2 kopecks in VF! Three coins in one! This coin was struck over Baroque kopecks 1756. The year of mintining and MMD (Moscow mint) along with all details of host coin are clearly visible. The traces of bis-host coin - cross 5 kopecks of 1723-30 type are also visible on rider site of the coin." Very interesting!

Wow nice! Congradulations!

I had a few questions over some of the coins that I had, and people wondered if I am ever going to sell them... well that's some of the general questions that I had. It was funny when I got some mails from Russians, or rather I even sold one to a Russian before. The scans are as follows: Never too sure if the 1839 ruble is a genuine one or a fake one. I am more than sure that the 1914 Gangut ruble is a fake one but oh well... I am happy to have one... I could have uploaded a larger image for both of them but it was about 25mbs each side, so I didn't bother... Enjoy...

Hum? Maybe the steel penny was one of the few few coins that went through after the last few copper pennies were struck, so it had a bit of copper plating? Who knows.

Ouch, I am out of luck I ruined a Japanese 1894 die at the same time. It is quite rusty and I am on my way to restore it at the moment...

Wow! What beauty!!!

Most definately not. That seems to be a genuine coin.

Oh wow wait, this is something interesting that I have found at the same time. http://www.coinauthentication.co.uk/newsletter2.html Enjoy

Hum... something VERY odd that I found, sorry I can't put any pictures at the moment... my scanner decided to be nasty at the moment... but anyways, The story is as following: Chinese 1995 1 yuan counterfeit coin. If you wondered how much is 1 yuan, it is just a miserable 12 US cents... who on earth would want to counterfeit such coin. Nevertheless, the only reason I found it is because I noticed the different alloy at first (probably alunimum alloy), and then the thickness of the planchet, which happens to be slightly thinner than the rest of the chinese 1 yuan coin. At close look, the details seem pretty horribly off and which I assume that it is a counterfeit coin. Pretty interesting really... I haven't expected to find such counterfeit coin... not that I am horribly upset, but instead, I am quite amused. Speaking of which... I am quite interested in getting hold of a counterfeit Japanese 500 yen coin for quite some time... http://search.japantimes.co.jp/print/news/...n20050204a1.htm Poor little Japan's coin have been hit hard... http://web-japan.org/trends00/honbun/tj001106.html is one of the main reasons why the 500 yen coin was redesigned...

I actually got this coin in my hands right now from the seller... *wow* I don't know how to describe the details. Of course there are some VF details but some are ruined here and there, so I guess it's going to be a F+ grade or so. Nevertheless, the original fields seemed to have originated from a proof / proof-like condition... so it is pretty interesting... only if I could get my scanner working... I would have posted a XXL image...

Yes, it is pretty greasy at touch. Well I guess the worst it has done is ruining several mint boxes and a few coins. The worst damage it has done is to a mint box and almost the coins, which is Japan's 2001 3rd coin medal series... http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...8318214324&rd=1 Pretty similar to it... The rest of the coins are pretty much ok, as I was clever enough to waste enough plastic bags and wrapped them, so... they weren't as bad as I would have hoped. Details of calcium chloride: http://www.jtbaker.com/msds/englishhtml/c0357.htm Nasty stuff... I still can't believe how the contents leaked out...

Here is an interesting link: Very recent too, but you can call it quite lame too at the same time... http://www.cbr.ru/eng/bank-notes_coins/mem...=050701_eng.htm Enjoy...

lol. Make that three Sometimes... black and white details on cheap catalogue books just don't do don't the right job...

Appearently it gave the coins some "greasy" effect, but I don't know what the side effects will be... That is why I have been awfully silent these few days... The damage was a lot worse than what I hoped for

Ouch... that sure hurts...

Hum... unfortunately US100 dollar bills are the world's most counterfeited notes, because of too many reasons. Obviously we know that there are still many countries that still accept payments in USD, which many tourists sure will be more than happy to use, but you know, there are always evil things going on... Leaving that aside, the security of the US note honestly in my opinion is a laughing stock. Metallic thread, ink, and watermark would most certainly would be the obvious security features, but other than that, it is not too horribly hard to counterfeit the rest of the other features! But honestly, how often would an average Joe look at the security feature of a banknote in a daily transaction? The worst story I heard this month is that some person tried to withdraw some $8,000 in China *FROM A BANK* all in 100 dollar bills and shockingly, over 40% of his bills are counterfeit. (lol) (obviously, he lost quite a fair bit of money there) But yes, I was just disappointed that the 20 dollar hologram design didn't make it, or it would have been a great way to ward off such counterfeit banknotes that still circulate...

Wow, nice one. I have seen quite a few of them, but obviously, there are more counterfeit ones than genuine ones nowadays

For some absurd reasons, some of my coins that I used to protect with moisture absorbant, (not silica gel, but a plastic container with some dry chemicals to absorb moisture) spilled over some of my rare and boxed proof coins, so yes... pretty badly shaken over it. It almost ruined my proof / proof-like 1834 Alexandrine Column ruble... >_< Good lord I had coin capsules... or I would be peeping now... I was told by my dad that it is quite corrosive, as it is some high calcium solution, although he wasn't too sure if that was the exact chemical compound. Any suggestions on what to do with some of the ruined coins and paper boxes that I have?