bill

Not a great picture, but enough to definitely say, don't clean it! It appears to be problem free. All you can do is ruin it by trying to spiff it up.

I've made some more purchases over the past couple of months. Two are fobs made by Mayer & Bros. in Seattle. The encased chamber pot cent is always a favorite. The two hanger badges have so-called dollars attached. The final image is two pieces I really like, the Cloisonné sterling silver fob is a beauty. I don't normally collect the silver spoons, but the one pictured with the gold-plated bowl was too pretty to pass up.

Nice medals.

Beautiful notes. Keep them coming if we have other examples available from our list members.

Welcome back and welcome to the Bay Area. If you get lonely and want to engage fellow collectors, check out the monthly meeting of the Pacific Coast Numismatic Society. We meet the fourth Wednesday of every month (except Jume) at Fort Mason. Our website: http://www.pcns.org.

I love the coin dealer tokens. An exceptional piece.

A great collecting theme. Beautiful silver pieces and a wide variety of designs, themes, rarity, and value. Nice additions to your collection.

He has compiled a most impressive record and the honor is well earned. Congratulations Bob!

That annoying corrosion that infects the surface of aluminum.

A brass souvenir pictoral souvenir medal struck by L. H. Moise for the 1897 Christian Endeavor national convention in San Francisco. Arches, such as the one pictured here, were often erected on Mission Street for major events. The arch was memorialized on Moise's souvenir medal shown overlaid on the picture of the arch.

And, another store card, but it is my favorite: 1908 Thomas Elder store card struck in aluminum, approximately 51mm. A difficult and expensive piece. I passed on one with pestering across the portrait a couple of months ago and then this one came along. It is also plagued by pestering, but the portrait is clear so I bought it. Best estimates indicate 6-10 struck in silver, 25 in German silver, 25 in copper, 25 in brass, and an unknown number in white metal and/or aluminum. Aluminum pieces were sent on the receipt of a 2¢ stamp. They are out there (a silver example sold at FUN a year ago), but mine is only the second one I have seen.

I most definitely divide my collection into sections and sub-sections, but I do so through my database, collecting activities, and research projects. My example would be storecards of C. A. Klinkner, an early (1880s & 1890s) San Francisco token and medal maker. The primary collection is my interest in early San Francisco tokens and medals. Klinkner store cards were first purchased as part of that collection. But, I also collect medals and tokens from medal and token makers, diesinkers, etc. It fits in that collection as well. Klinkner also made a few Lord's Prayer tokens and I have a collection of them as well. Finally, I am currently writing an article about a few of Klinkner's early store cards, so they form their own primary collection as well for my research. For me, the crossover adds to the fun of collecting tokens and medals as opposed to dates and mintmarks. One purchase can send you off in a wide variety of interesting new directions.

You need to give us some more information in order to help. Do you want to sell them, or are you thinking of becoming a collector? If you want to sell them, you need to see a reputable dealer. We can give you some ideas if you let us know where you live (nearest large city is probably close enough). We can't give you a real idea of value without knowing the condition and the dates of the dimes that might be present in your big bag. If we assume eveything is average circulation and no rare dimes, you might be looking at something in the $4,000 to $5,000 range book value. Book prices would start climbing if there are high quality pieces, but it would require working with a dealer to get the better pieces slabbed and would require some investment. Keep in mind that what you think great condition might be and what we think great condition might be might not be the same. Absent quality pictures, we don't know if we are using the same language. If you are looking to start collecting, you've got some good gold pieces to get you started. Next step is to open the bag of dimes and start sorting. Buy a coin catalog and a collecting book, and some dime albums to match the types of dimes you have. Start filling in the holes, replacing what you put in the album with better pieces as you run across them. If you don't have a taste for collecting when you have finished, think about selling them. You haven't told us how old you are. If you have kids, you might want to think about using the coins to help get them started with collecting before selling the rest. Whatever you do, do not clean or polish the coins. That will lower their value.

I do not know if this would apply to your piece since I do not have it in hand. I have a gold-plated medal that seemed to be laquered. I was able to remove whatever it was by soaking the piece in isopropyl alcohol and gently removing the remainsing softened gunk with a Qtip. I believe acetone is the recommended method for laquer.

Something a little different for the collection and something I know little about: The badge is from the Republican Party parade in Chicago, October 27, 1900 for McKinley's re-election campaign. The theme was Commercial Industrial & Sound Money. About 35,000 paraded through Chicago for six hours. The badge was made by S. D. Childs & Co. in Chicago. The design on the obverse is the seal for the city of Chicago as rendered by Childs. I have not decyphered all the meanings of the designs on the reverse, but it appears to be a quill pen (for the legislative process of drafting laws?), a farmer, a miner, ships at sea, and a gold dollar. Appropriate designs for commerce, industry, and sound money in the form of the gold standard. It is a heavy, large, impressive gold-plated badge.

If the date 1953 is correct and it is not a damaged 1943, then you need to consider if it appears to be a genuine cent, i.e. is it the right size? If so, does it correspond in size to a foreign coin struck at the US mint in 1953? If so, were any of those coins struck on a magnetic planchet? If so, it might be an off-metal error, although its condition might not make it very valuable. If there were no magnetic planchets being used for foreign coins, then it would be extremely unlikely that any 1943 planchets were lying around. Have you taken it to a local coin store to have anyone else look at it?

Agreed. Neat set. Tasty!

I think it well established that the double struck dollars were deliberately made by mint employees. One online site lists values: http://coinsandcanada.com/coins-prices.php?coin=1-dollar-1967&years=1-dollar-1953-1986 I believe the Canadian courts declared them legal to own since they could have been struck accidently. I think having only the reverse die rotated, rather than the struck coin having rotated in the dies, suggests someone struck the coin, rotated one die, and struck it again. I would have it authenticated since all the examples I can find are rotated on both sides. If your piece is genuine, I think it pretty well confirms that it was made deliberately.

And a larger medal, also a so-called dollar. I'm not specializing in this event, only the two so-calleds. There were many other badges and souvenirs issued that one could collect.

Finally, a hanging badge (larger than and somewhat different than the one on the ribbaon above. I've paired it with the design patent that covered the piece:

The other pair is part of the cataloging effort to move beyond what is currently in the catalogs. Two high grade pieces help understand whether a variety (MANUFACTURES misspelled as MANUFACTURFS) is actually a variety or a different die pair. Turns out is is a different die pair and the die was partially filled creating what appears to be a die error without careful study of a high grade specimen.

I tend to get hooked when I'm researching and cataloging as reflected in my purchasing patterns. New additions to the collection: HK 366A and HK 367 and a charm with the same design as on the button pictured above:

Beautiful coin.