bobh

Thanks! There are some stunning Columbian 50c in the Heritage archives, but this one was a lucky find on eBay from a German dealer. It would probably grade at least MS-65 (IMHO), but I only paid something like $25 or $30 for it. If it had been in a slab in a Stack's or Heritage auction ... well, I don't like to think about what it would have cost! As to Hawaiian coinage, it is very difficult to find any coins from the series in MS except for the quarter -- Walter Breen writes in his "Encyclopedia" that entire rolls of Hawaiian quarters were somehow saved from melting down and made their way into the hands of coin dealers, whereas the other silver denominations became quite rare after Hawaii became a territory of the USA.

Won at yesterday and today's Hess-Divo auctions. The first is auction 317, lot 293; the second from auction 318, lot 1355. I'll replace these auction pictures with my own after I pick up the coins and have had a chance to take some pics. EDIT: Here are my own pictures now: BAR KOCHBA Revolt (132-135 A.D.), year 1. Small bronze, grapes on obverse and date palm on reverse (obv. inscription reads "Year 1 of the Redemption of Israel" / rev. inscription reads "Eleazar the Priest"). Mildenberg 148, Group 1a; Meshorer, AJC II, 266, 7a I've wanted one of these for a long time now, and finally found a very nice example (much better one than the one depicted in the plates of the Mildenberg book): RUSSIA: Gold 5 roubles 1909-ЭБ:

I wonder if I just don't make myself clear enough, or if nobody cares??? --- Or is everybody still in Munich after the Gorny & Mosch auction getting drunk on good German beer? Anyway, I can't decide whether this is a fake coin or perhaps a later-date Soviet restrike. My gut feeling says the latter -- correct weight, correct metal (??? waiting for confirmation on this), everything but two edge letters and the mintmaster initials looks good -- and no motivation for faking a relatively common date. The mintmaster (А.Р) is obviously impossible for 1900 -- not so with any other mintmasters during the reign of Nicholas II (except for Viktor Smirnov, of course). One might find plausible explanations for (А.Г) or (Э.Б), but certainly not for (А.Р) or (В.С). So we can eliminate the theory that some old planchets which had already been edged were thrown in with a batch of later-date coins. From the looks of the edge, all of the letters are probably the original punches used in the mint. HOWEVER, the "Н" (Cyrillic "N") AND the "И" (Cyrillic "I") have obviously been altered. On genuine coins of this period, the "Н" (Cyrillic "N") looks very much like a Latin "N", but somebody wanted it to look more like the modern "Н". I wish that I could take some pictures of this coin in order to document what I am seeing. With the 1899-АР coins we have seen, ALL of the edge lettering was bad, and the weight was also off. Therefore, there can be no doubt that these are fakes. But which counterfeiters could/would have access to genuine, original edge devices, but CHANGE just TWO of the letters to alter the appearance? And WHY??? The idea that this 1900-АР ten rouble gold coin is fake is just too easy, too comfortable. The idea that it could be an undocumented Soviet restrike is certainly uncomfortable, but more realistic IMHO. What speaks against the Soviet restrike theory is that until today, this is apparently the ONLY ONE which has been noticed in 110 years (or else one of you would have already quoted a source...???)

Nice one! It is very hard to find high-grade examples of this series. Are you sure that it has been cleaned? From the patina in the field, it doesn't look like it. Probably just honest wear.

Here are some recently acquired Russian coins. 1796-EM 5 Kopecks (Paul I overstrike on earlier cipher series of Catherine II): There is so much hidden detail in this coin, although it is not immediately obvious at first that it is actually overstruck and not just the result of clashed dies and double striking. Please go here to see about 20 different aspects of this fascinating coin! This one and the next were from the recent Auction 69, Leipziger Münzhandlung H. Höhn (lots 1057 + 1060). The 1900 coin is particularly pleasing: 1897-*, 50 Kopecks (Paris mint) 1900-FZ, 50 Kopecks (St. Petersburg mint)

A few odds and ends here: HAWAII: 1883 dime (ex Künker auction 175, lot 3105). It has a few rim dings but is otherwise a very high-end XF: Texas 50c Commemoratives Both of these were in the recent C.B. Slade Estate auction by Stack's. They are both in PCGS holders graded MS-66. 1935-D: 1936-D: Booker T. Washington + George Washington Carver 50c Commemorative 1953-S (bought raw on eBay; very nice UNC coin for only $26!): Morgan Dollar, 1888-O (VAM-4, "Hot Lips" variety). This is in an ANACS holder graded VF-20, also acquired from the C.B. Slade Estate sale. Price not bad at less than $100 for this grade! The question is, though, is it really VF-20 or just an overgraded but high-end F? Recent Russian coins in my next post...

Today, I went to see this coin in person (lot 1352). I can verify that the weight is correct (8.60 grams -- using my scales, accurate to 0.01g). However, the mintmaster is (A.P). Since Alexander Redko was not director at the mint until sometime in late 1901, this is obviously not possible as a normal issue. The edge lettering looks very good for the most part. However, the letters "Н" and "И" are a bit strange. On all genuine coins of this type I have seen with lettered edges, the Cyrillic "N" (i.e. "Н") is styled to look very similar to the Latin "N". As a matter of fact, I assume that they used the same letter punch and just mounted it backwards. Here is a variety of 1896-* rouble which has the word "ЗОЛОТНИКА" misspelled as "ЗОЛОТННКА" (illustrated by Yaroslav Adrianov in his catalog): On the coin in the Hess-Divo auction, the "N" looks more like a Cyrillic "Н", but so does the "И"! Also, they seem a bit wider. Other letters look OK to me. If it is a fake, it is a very convincing one! On the 1899-AP ten rouble coins we have discussed here, the weight was off by about 0.2 g. On this one, the weight is correct, and it probably is therefore made of gold since the diameter and thickness seem OK (couldn't really measure this, since the coin is not mine). 1900 is not a rare year for this series, so the question remains: Why do a fake of this year if gold is the metal used? Could it be a later-date Soviet restrike? The mintmaster initials look OK to me -- not re-engraved from (А.Г). But I didn't look under a microscope. Or is it just another fake? The next lot in the auction, 1901 ten roubles, has mintmaster initials "A.P", by the way. Since I already have one of these, I won't be bidding on it, though.

Back in May, I was lucky to win these from the Stack's auction of coins from the C. B. Slade Estate (lots 2282 and 2285 -- both are in PCGS holders graded MS-66): These are the auction pictures from Stack's, not my own -- I had the coins delivered to my Mom's address in the USA to save on postage and VAT taxes to Switzerland, where I live. I go back about 1-2 times per year on the average, usually to see my Mom on her birthday (she just turned 88 ), and on each return trip, I take up to $300 worth of coins with me because that is the limit allowed for Swiss residents before they charge 7.6% VAT when entering the country. I'll be posting pictures of the coins I DID bring back with me soon!

According to the description, the mintmaster initials are not the usual (Ф.З) on this coin: http://www.sixbid.com/nav.php?lot=1352&p=viewlot&sid=296 Although the coin is not in very good grade, it doesn't look fake to me. I plan to go to Hess-Divo this week sometime and look at this coin in person. And I will take my scales with me. If the mintmaster initials are not as documented in all the references, this would have to be a fake. Could be that it is just a normal coin with a bad description; could also be that the weight is wrong, although the description says 8.6 grams. What do you think?

Mike had an earlier thread about dimes here where he lists 7 or 8 books about different dimes series: http://www.coinpeople.com/index.php?/topic/24618-assembling-a-dime-collection/

It looks like an altered 1976 to me. Compare the inner left line of the "0" in the original with your coin ... the original is fairly straight, whereas the same line in your coin is definitely tilted to the left.

Спасибо большое - очень интересно!

Quite right ... it's even in bigger letters than the NGC description!

Excellent purchases! That Siberian kopeck is absolutely spectacular! (PS - nice website you got, too!)

Thank you! It will be interesting to see how it turns out.

As you can tell from some of my other coins, I certainly do love toning if it is attractive. However, how many of you would honestly prefer to have the "BEFORE" rather than the "AFTER" in your collection? BEFORE: AFTER: Dipping can be beneficial in certain cases. I believe this was one of them. Maybe we could take a poll? (Except I'm not sure how to set it up... )

Thanks ... here's another one in the upcoming Ponterio auction (Baltimore), not mine: http://sixbid.com/nav.php?p=viewlot&sid=222&lot=3393

Just to keep the thread alive -- I don't think this actually qualifies as a coin, though: MARILYN MONROE - 24 Carat gold-plated

Morgan dollar, 1879-S (PCGS MS-65): Morgan dollar, 1897-S (ANACS MS-64): There are a few more, but this will do for now.

Booker T. Washington, 1947-D (I think this one might have PVC damage to the obverse): Booker T. Washington, 1948-P (PCGS, MS-65): Buffalo Nickel, 1936-S (PCGS, MS-64): More in next post...

USA 1953-P Washington-Carver 50c commemorative (in a PCGS old green rattler slab, MS-63): 1954 Washington-Carver PDS set (P and D are in NGC slabs graded as MS-64, the S coin is raw): More coming up...

Some of these have been accumulating at my Mom's in Texas. Just got back from a trip there, and here are some of the coins I was able to take back with me. Others which I won from Heritage auctions are still there, so I am using the Heritage images for those until I can get them to Switzerland: RUSSIA Denga, 1730 (Oops, I forgot to photograph the edge!): Denga, 1752 (tough year): More in next post...

Congratulations, Mark -- especially on the nice 1885-CC, which must have cost you a pretty penny (or dollar or two)!

These are also interesting ... go to this link, then enter "spintria" in the search box ("Suche in Auktionen") and click "Suche starten": http://www.gmcoinart.de/index.php?area=auc...alt&AuID=93

I think you are right ... especially considering that the year on the coin doesn't necessarily correspond to the year when it was struck.