ikaros

Well, actually, I meant 'washer' in the sense of flat and featureless... Just imagine how some of the SLQs would've looked if they'd been struck as deeply as they used to. Mmmm. Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's what's going on -- people are spending whatever's at hand because they need to. Sad in one way... but lucky for us in another.

Now that I'm working again, I have cause to get lots of quarter rolls to feed the buses and snack machines. Of late I've noticed a lot more early clad quarters in surprisingly good shape -- easily VF to VF+, with that gorgeous deep sculpture that's so horribly missing from our modern washers examples. I guess people are circulating anything that will spend until the economy really gets going again...

The George 5 & 6es are usually in decent condition; I often see fine and sometimes better. The Eds, not so much. And this was the first Vickie I've seen in the bin, so I don't really have much to judge by. Evil Twin picked me up after work on Friday, we stopped by the coin shop on the way out to his place, and he loaded up on low-grade copper for 'pocket litter' for his steampunk outfit. I filled a few holes in my 1963 set, added an Eddie farthing, and seriously upgraded the Liberty nickel in my type set, thusly: Her predecessor was on the G/VG line.

Well, that's what 20c will get you from a chest full of miscellaneous foreign coins. Now that I'm working, I can think about upgrades. Still, I like a coin that I can handle without feeling guilty sometimes.

New arrival in the mail today -- a coin of the self-proclaimed "Aerican Empire" from 2009. It has a value of 42ƺ, and is numbered #37 of the 100 minted, becoming also the smallest mintage issue I own. There were six left when I contacted them of varying numbers. I chose #37 for literary reasons: when Douglas Adams was writing the Hitchhiker's Guide, it was going to be either that or 42 that would ultimately be The Answer. I therefore have The Other Answer. I'm generally not much on exonumia, but this was kind of a cool piece -- too much so to not have.

Really? I usually find them in fairly decent shape in the local foreign bins. The thrift plant design is nice, but I prefer the Parliament gate design. And I still wish they'd reinstate the seated Britannia to the one or two pence. That's a terrific design; always was. Thanks on the job -- had a bit of a scare yesterday, my recruiter started off the call with 'Unfortunately the client...' but it only turned out they were delaying the start date one week, not cancelling.

And I don't mind them in circulated condition, as long as they're not total slugs. If I was trying to build a collection that was all at least XF, I'd have a lot fewer coins... Eventually I'll want the silver coinage too (now that I finally have a job again, I can start thinking seriously about that!), but the copper really is beautiful unto itself. And the brass threepence, too.

Farthings! Including my first Vickie farthing! But we'll work our way back to that. George VI, first. 1943: 1940: George V, 1931: 1926: 1925: 1916: 1914: 1913: And, Victoria! 1898, and I still say that this obverse is the most imperial looking coin I can think of, even in this condition:

And now, the Brits! 1955 shilling, Scottish crest: 1953 halfpenny: 1957 halfpenny: 1962 halfpenny:

Back to Allen's yesterday! Pakistan joins my birth year set with this 10 Paisa piece: Two new Polish pieces, a 1949 5 Groszy: and a 1992 10 Groszy: And two new Soviet-era coins, a 1965 1 kopek: and a 1977 10 kopek: Next up, British copper! And one cupronickel.

Learn something new every day. Thanks!

Huh... the Mauritius 1, 2 and 5 cent coins are identical to Seychelles coins of the same era (not sure about the higher denominations as I don't have any of them) -- except of course for saying 'Mauritius' rather than 'Seychelles'. One of the charms of Commonwealth coinage is that the reverses differ from country to country, usually displaying something local. I can't think of another instance of this among Commonwealth issues.

I probably wouldn't even have noticed had it not been for my birth year set -- more than once I've sat down to add a few more coins and thought, 'Wait, don't I have that one already?' It doesn't help that the sizes and values of the coins are not standardized, even though the obverse is -- the 1963 British Caribbean Territories Eastern Group 25c piece is the same size and obverse and composition as the 1963H Hong Kong 50c piece -- though the latter has a security edge. Definitely looking forward to seeing more!

Great idea! I had some niggling questions about the design anyway -- at least the crowned young head design, which seems to have been standardized across several commonwealth nations. Wondered if that was because the coins were made in one location and then shipped out... or whatever other reason there might be. I assume not making localized obverses was a cost-saving measure, but I could be wrong.

More eBay goodness! Lost out on a General Władysław Sikorski piece, but won this one, celebrating the cracking of Enigma by Marian Rejewski, Jerzy Różycki and Henryk Zygalski, a decade before Turing and the Bletchley Park team. Rejewski was able to reconstruct by pure mathematics the internal wiring of the Enigma rotors, without even the primitive computers the British team would use during the war. As always, it's much nicer in hand. I still haven't sorted getting good pictures of my coins.

We need an icon for a fainting smilie, stat!

I'm not really a big fan of the current 'Miss Hathaway' design -- I'm sorry, but TJ looks like Nancy Culp on the current nickel, and that's all there is to it. I really liked what my then-roomie called the 'peekaboo' design, with Jefferson's bust coming in from the side.

I don't have the eyesight for that; here's larger scans, though. The fields are absolutely satiny.

I really like them -- the only design change I would make is to have 'ONE CENT' incuse on the banner over the shield, like the 'E PLURIBUS UNUM' on the top of the shield. It won't be long before that's the key wear point on this issue, I'd wager.

Tons of goodies came in while I was away in Toledo helping my folks clear out the garage and basement at Grandpa's house in preparation for the estate sale. Note to anyone in or visiting Toledo: you owe it to yourself to eat not only at Tony Packo's on the East Side, but at Ski's in Sylvania and Inky's Italian on North Detroit. Wow. I mean, *wow*. Anyway, I spotted an acceptable deal on '09 P and D nickels and dimes on eBay (bid+shipping=US$5.10) and bid, and won. Come back to see that the seller also threw in '10 P and D cents. Six uncirculated coins, five bucks! I mean, going to a local coin shop would cost $3.50 just for round-trip bus fare! So, here they are. First, what I actually ordered: And, the bonus items:

Finally got my '09 dimes! P and D, off eBay.

Hurrah for eBay! Uncirculated 2009P and D Jeffs and Roosies for two and a half bucks, and the seller threw in the 2010 P and D shield cents, completely unexpectedly! With shipping, it came to five bucks total; going to a local coin shop would've cost $3.50 just for the bus there and back, never mind the cost of the coins. Pursuant to the topic, though, here's just the Jeffs:

Reasonably easy, yeah. Allen's chest of foreigns was over-represented with George V farthings, based on my quick look. I assume they only go through and look for silver and Canadian and maybe a small number of known high-value foreigns before putting them in the chest. There aren't any really evil dates for 20th century farthings, which simplifies things a little bit.

On the heels of yesterday's improbable nickel find, and being in desperate need of flips for something other than half dollars and dollars/crowns, I hied myself forth to a shop I don't normally get to because it's not on a bus line -- Allen's, up in Westerville. It's well worth the extra effort; friendly staff and decent prices. I've had some negative experiences at other coin shops in Columbus, so it's good to know these guys are here. Anyway, I got doggone sick and tired of not having a 2010 cent yet, so I went and got the Philly and Denver in BU: I gotta say, I really like the new designs. Terrifically retro; the Union shield's a good choice. The only design choice I would've made different is to make 'ONE CENT' incuse on the ribbon; years from now, that's the element that's going to be worn down the most. Looks like they've re-worked the Lincoln bust, too. Pity they're not in bronze; the proofs would be gorgeous. All in all, this'll be a great design to carry us through to 2059. Couple more Brits: the last George halfpenny and the first Liz: And a couple more for my birth year set--a Belgian 5 Franc and a Portuguese 2$50 Escudo: Got this in error -- me without my loupe (and not thinking to ask), I thought this 1965 25 kurus of Turkey was a '63: And this wee little kopek from '72: Also had and not imaged are all four circulation cents from last year in BU, plus three George V farthings: 1912, 1927 and 1932. Not a bad day!

Oh yeah -- I got several rolls of pennies, too. Quite a few in the 60s and early 70s in high grade, and a couple have some incredible blue and magenta toning going on. Pictures when I finish sorting through them!