bobh

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

Awesome coins ... but what do we do when we get to 1582? (That is when the Gregorian calendar was initiated, BTW).

Great catch, Art!

That's right!

Well, they were obedient to their own government, I suppose ... Also, all of the Swiss "CoinStar" machines reject the silver nowadays. And welcome to CoinPeople under your new user (AKA "Scottishmoney") ... I was wondering if someone had stolen your avatar? (I wouldn't mind "stealing" her myself ... )

The earliest I found was 1908 (10 Rappen) and 1912 (20 Rappen), but pretty worn. I also once found a nice 1967 50 Rappen coin in BU in my change! But one will regularly find 10 and 20 Rappen coins in change as old as 1930's and later, for example. Silver coins are scarce because the government recalled them in 1968, and being an obedient folk, most people turned them in at the bank!

Found in my pocket change last Friday! It's getting very hard to find anything like this in circulation after the Swiss switched from silver to CuNi in 1968: SWITZERLAND, 5 francs 1966 (silver!)

Very interesting article, Blackhawk! Symbolizes "Strength in unity", and of Roman origin ... I can see how it would appeal to many different countries as a design. Thanks!

Thanks for your comments, folks! I almost forgot about these two ... having been to Ecuador a few times in the past, I was intrigued by the image of Señor Sucre who seems to have sported Elvis-like sideburns about 100 years before they were in fashion! The 2 decimos is fairly common, but according to the Krause catalog, the 1 decimo of 1884 is not common at all. The fact that the 1914 2 decimos was minted in Lima, Peru is also intriguing considering that Ecuador and Peru have most definitely NOT been the friendliest of neighbors, even until our present day. Also interesting about the reverse design is the ax-like thing (can't remember what it is called) which was also used for the USA Mercury dimes reverse, but only several years later. 2 Decimos, 1914 - Lima 1 Decimo, 1884 - Birmingham

I did already have a 1926-S, which is the most common date (83,055 struck). But there were 14 different date/MM combinations of the type issued total. 1937-D was the only one for that year, and only 12,008 were minted. Had this crazy idea of completing a PDS set for at least one of the less common years. Since the D mint was the only one for 1937, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to complete the set for that year! But I'm still looking for nice ones. I am very happy to have the Russian coin because it belonged to Tom Willy Bakken who co-authored the supplement to the Brekke catalog in 1997. These are very hard to find in higher grades, as most older Russian coins are. The Hawaiian series is also very short; the silver coins were minted in 1883 only. I already have a nice quarter in MS-65 and a dime in F/VF. The silver dollars are not that hard to find, but are very expensive in high grades (as are the one cent issues of 1847). So I got the easy ones first!

Some coins from the recent Künker and Gorny & Mosch sales: RUSSIA: Alexander I, 5 kopecks 1804-EM (ex Gorny & Mosch 183, lot 7560 - Tom Willy Bakken collection sale): HAWAII: 1/2 dollar, 1883 (ex Künker auction 159, lot 2290): USA: 50 cent commemorative "Oregon Trail" 1937-D (ex Gorny & Mosch 182, lot 5658):

1914-BC, Type 1 obverse (flat striking): 1914-BC, Type 2 obverse (embossed striking):

Rounding up the poltinas I have ... 1910-ЭБ: One of my very best Russian coins. Scarce in any condition, extremely rare in UNC. I bought this coin about 4 years ago on eBay for $200, and I can't imagine what it might bring today (or what I would have to pay for it!) 1911-ЭБ (ex Künker sale 150, lot 3411): 1912-ЭБ (ex Gorny & Mosch auction 178, lot 6754 -- This lot went unsold at auction. When I picked up the 1908 poltina in Munich, I couldn't believe that such a beautiful toned coin with tremendous eye appeal went unnoticed, even if it is perhaps the most common date of the series together with 1913-BC): 1913-ЭБ (scarce mintmaster for that year -- the pictures are a little distorted in perspective): 1913-BC (this coin belonged to my father-in-law and was actually responsible for awakening my interest in Russian coins): (ran out of image permissions ... next message is the last of the poltinas...)

The "poltina story" continues: 1901-АР: Alexander Red'ko didn't begin work at the Imperial Mint until late in 1901 as successor to Felix Zaleman. ALL of the 1901-AR coins, regardless of denomination, are quite scarce in spite of what many catalogs state. The most common denomination is probably 1901-AR ten roubles. Since this is so rare, I thought I would include the edge picture as well: 1902-АР: only about 36,000 were minted 1907-ЭБ: relatively scarce year 1908-ЭБ (ex Gorny & Mosch auction 178, lot 6746): Has some tiny scratches in the obverse field left of the bust. But it's also a very scarce year, and the condition is otherwise very good: Continued in next message...

Poltinas continued: 1899-ЭБ (traces of mounting, but good detail): 1899-* (Paris mint). These are relatively common, but getting hard to find in AU or better: 1900-ФЗ (only VF grade, but hopefully to be upgraded soon): 1901-ФЗ (ex AUREA auction 23, lot 3613 -- not an easy year, but it appears to have been cleaned some time ago): Now we are getting into some very rare years... to be continued ...

Well, I have 50 kopeck coins ONLY from the era of Nicholas II. It is VERY DIFFICULT to collect these by year and mintmaster! If you decide not to collect proof coins, you can avoid having to buy 1898 and 1903. But there are still several very rare years and MM combinations, and some years are almost impossible to find in higher grades. Here is the result of my collecting efforts since about 2004 (note: I also have images of the edges of these coins, but won't post them here to save bandwidth): 1895-АГ (ex NY Sale 2006, lot 1581, NGC AU-58): 1896-АГ: 1896-* (Paris mint, somewhat scarce with 200,000 minted): 1897-* (Paris mint ... there were none minted in St. Petersburg that year): 1899-АГ (ex Künker Auction 150, lot 3405): Continued in the next message!

Welcome to Coin People, platinrubel! I'm sure that such a book would be a welcome addition to the existing literature such as Severin's gold and platinum book. I'm not sure how many buyers it would find, though, since platinum coins are very expensive, and I don't know how many collectors can afford to collect this series. One thing is certain: you will have a larger audience if you publish it in English first, or perhaps English and German together. Good luck!

Some stuff piled up in the meantime. Here's an update: 1864 - 2 cents, large motto: Here's a couple of coins that just happen to have a ship as motive: 1920 - 50c commemorative "Pilgrim": There's no "X" on the collar on this one ... 1893 - 50c commemorative "Columbian Exposition" This one has awesome toning: 1866 - Indian Cent Filling in some of the missing years: Shawnee Tribe silver dollars: After picking up 2002 and 2003 issues on eBay about 4 years ago, I never saw them offered again. I liked them so much that I decided to order the others from Panda America. One of them arrived as proof (should have been BU matte like the others, but I decided to keep it anyway): Link: http://hairgrove-goldberg.com/Gallery/usa-...m-modern-indian Enjoy!

Here's proof that it is still possible to pick up something really nice on eBay. From the seller's pictures, one could see that the coin had this toning, but the pictures gave no indication that it was this nice. I just bought it on an impulse, and I'm glad I did! I must own half a dozen of these, all AU or lower-grade UNC, but this one is surely the nicest one I have ever seen. For me, this is the perfect amount of toning. Plenty of mint luster remains, and just a little crescent toning around the edges. Is this drool material, or what?

Here is the link to that article. As I mentioned in the thread about "olive oil cleaning", I am not a chemist, so I will leave it to those who know more about the subject than I to sort this out: Copper and acetone reaction

Well, if your coins were completely dry when you put them in to soak, then it should be OK. Note that there are TWO preconditions for the reaction: water and light. I have a link to a chemistry site somewhere in a previous post I made on this topic here on the forum -- maybe someone else will find it before I do, and if so, please feel free to quote it here. In the meantime, I'll try to hunt it up.

Beautiful!

Why not print out this thread for them to read, or let them read it on screen?

Which is why I don't like to keep any acetone in the house except in minute quantities. Since they tend to sell the stuff only by the pint or 1/2 gallon canister at hardware stores in the USA, I would try getting a little 150ml bottle of medicinally pure acetone from your local apothecary (pharmacy for U.S. folks). That's what I do here in Zurich. (NOTE: Please DO NOT attempt to board an airplane, or even go through security, with this ... it is a "prohibited substance" in any quantity).

Actually, you can briefly dip silver coins in acetone (as long as it is pure acetone, not fingernail polish remover, etc.) and they won't be harmed at all. "Brief" would be something like a minute or two. However, to repeat what someone else has already said, acetone will only remove organic material. It will not remove corrosion or other environmentally-related things (patina, for example). Where you need to watch out with acetone is with copper coins. Copper reacts adversely with acetone in the presence of water and light. IOW, do it in the dark, or be very careful that the coin is completely dry when you dip it in acetone. To repeat the mantra, you really shouldn't clean coins at all if there is no compelling reason to do so. What is a "compelling reason"? The only one I can think of is that you have a coin which has already been messed with, and you can't hurt it any more than it already has been hurt. By all means, refrain from any kind of rubbing a coin.