bobh

And this one -- only VF grade (IMHO), but I didn't have one yet and got it for less than VG money:

 

Indian Cent, 1908-S:

 

Some people might call this XF-40, but I don't think it would grade quite that high.

 

It's pretty tough building an unslabbed set of these in XF or better (... especially when you live in Switzerland)! I'm still lacking most of the key dates, and there are some coins that don't make the grade. Slowly but surely, I'm getting there.

Feel free to post a 1726...

I'll have to bide my time now until we get to 1710, I'm afraid!

Almost forgot about this one:

 

Russia, 1790-EM, five kopeks (пятак):

 

Lots of detail. But surfaces look like they might have been treated with lacquer, or some such thing, long ago in the past (maybe it wasn't such a bad idea?)

Nice doubling on the year, in particular the number 7 for the Peruvian gold coin, as well as a minor die crack.

Good catch, I hadn't noticed the die crack; I did see the doubling on the top of the "7" right after posting these.

 

Forgot to mention that there seems to be some die clashes on the dime, too!

Picked up all of these during the past week or so:

 

Peru, 1 Libra:

 

Barber dime, 1911-D, in AU (getting harder and harder to find these nowadays in XF or better, IMHO):

 

Next, there is a Swiss eBay seller I have dealt with a lot in the past. Although pricing of his coins is sometimes over the top, once in a while there will be a bargain, and I have never been disappointed in the coins once having received them. He had both of these Indian cents (both 1873, close and open 3 varieties) for sale at EF-40 money each -- and they turned out to be very pleasing, problem-free XF-40's (IMHO) Here they are:

 

1873, close 3:

 

1873, open 3:

 

When I received the coins, the label on the holder for the open 3 said "double die, outside legend". Naturally, he didn't try to pass it off as the doubled liberty (which it isn't), but I looked for machine doubling on the legend and could only make out a tiny bit of doubling on the "M" in AMERICA. Does anyone see any doubling there, or anywhere else?

A missing year/mint for me 1900 O Morgan dollar For a New Orleans mint it has a decent strike.

 

1900-O VAM-21 Near Date, High O

 

21 III2 5 - C3l (Near Date, High O) (190) I-2 R-3

Date set further left than normal. Open 9.

Some show high die crack through tops of ED STATES OF.

Very nice, Mark!

 

I was browsing your collection and noticed that we have two very similar coins: the 1882-S with crescent toning on the reverse. Here's mine:

Morgan dollar, 1882-S with crescent toning on reverse

 

Wonder if they were from the same canvas bag? And what the chances are of two coins having such similar toning?

Glad to hear it. Thanks for good words!

I just ordered the Bitkin catalog from your store myself. I've had a ripped-off CD copy now for a couple of years ... very ashamed of myself! Looking forward to receiving the real thing!

Russian denga, 1731:

This type has eluded me for a long time. Never saw one that I really liked until now. It's far from being perfect, but it has lots of mint luster and a fairly good strike (good strike is not very common for this type, you know):

 

1921 Peace dollar (one-year type)

 

Picked up on eBay for €91 (€101 including shipping). I would estimate the grade of this coin to be at least MS-63, perhaps MS-64 ... any other opinions on grade?

Bumping this one to the top ... I looked around the Heritage archives for some slabbed Peace 1921's just for comparison's sake; there's mostly MS-64 and above over there, but a few in lower grades as well.

 

I'd really like to know what others think of this one. It has very nice (to me) even toning, never been cleaned, and only a few marks here and there. Do I hear MS at all on this one? 63? 64? ... ???

 

As always, thanks for looking!

Picked this one up at a local dealer's shop for a little over melt value:

 

Russia, gold 1979 Chervonets (10 roubles)

Here's another silver dollar which arrived last week ... discussed in the "Do you see what I see" thread:

 

Morgan dollar, 1900-O (VAM 35)

 

Would have been nice if it had turned out to be VAM 29A, especially in this condition!

This type has eluded me for a long time. Never saw one that I really liked until now. It's far from being perfect, but it has lots of mint luster and a fairly good strike (good strike is not very common for this type, you know):

 

1921 Peace dollar (one-year type)

 

Picked up on eBay for €91 (€101 including shipping). I would estimate the grade of this coin to be at least MS-63, perhaps MS-64 ... any other opinions on grade?

Where can I buy this catalog? I know valeriyavaleriya71 is selling it for $250 on Ebay, is there any other place it can be bought online?

Did you check at Alex Basok's website? http://www.rustypennies.com

 

Also, Dmitry Markov usually has some books for sale: http://www.russian-coins.net. Don't know about Bitkin, though.

 

Bob Reis has a web site where I once bought RW Julian's reference: http://www.anythinganywhere.com/

 

Maybe you could also drop a note to Jim Elmen -- he sells back catalogs of his auctions, and I wouldn't be surprised if he could tell you where one can purchase other books such as Bitkin?

Oops ... I totally forgot to add feedback for the great slabbed VAM Morgan dollar you sent to Switzerland sometime last fall! Sorry about that ...

 

A great transaction it was ... I'm a happy camper!

Nice, just wondering have you checked for VAM type yet?

Both this coin and the 1884-CC I recently bought are the normal VAM 1 variety, AFAICT.

Nice piece, really nice when you consider the nice clean fields on it.

Thanks, Scottishmoney! It has a fair share of marks on the cheek, so it probably wouldn't grade higher than MS-63 (IMHO). However, the fields are very nice, and it has a lot of luster (the pictures don't do it justice!)

Nice, just wondering have you checked for VAM type yet?

Thanks, Mark -- I haven't checked yet, but I do have the VAM book. Don't know if I will have time before leaving on vacation, though.

Picked this one up recently on eBay for less than $170 including shipping:

 

USA Morgan Dollar, 1883-CC in original GSA holder

 

I thought it was so nice that it arrived yesterday, on July 4th! Living in a foreign country makes one a bit sentimental about such things, I suppose...

Bulk lotting can be controversial.

 

How do you like these bulk lots?

[...snip...]

At those prices, they look pretty good! (I wish...)

I finally had time to look at the coins older than Nicholas II in this sale. All I can say is ... ...

 

Take a look at the run of roubles from around 1800 up through Alexander III -- there aren't too many missing items! And all are XF or better, many proofs or prooflike coins among them.

 

However, I DO NOT appreciate the auction house selling 8 poltinas as a LOT, and among them are very nice 1902 and 1909 examples! I'm upset because you hardly ever see those years offered anywhere, much less in XF/AU condition, and I really don't need any of the other years in that lot.

Check Hess on sixbid.com All these coins are listed for sale. (Russia part I)

Thanks for this information, WCO! Strange pricing, though ... who would pay CHF 1,000 for that (un?)circulated Romanov rouble?? And a Gangut rouble for only CHF 1,500 ??

RJW: In this context, I guess BM and MW were both used (again, I have not checked those "bibles"). The first one - on some copper coins if my memory is correct.

The mistake Bob Julian is referring to, I believe, is that "MW" was interpreted as "МШ", then transliterated as "MSH" in the above list. The Warsaw-minted roubles, for example, were struck with the Latin letters "MW" as mintmark.

I was a bit critical of the most recent UBS auction (69) in the thread about the Isabella Quarter. But I did manage to win this nice trime there:

 

Silver 3 cents, 1860

 

Unlike some of the commemorative coins, the toning on this one looked natural to me. Of course, I could have been fooled (wouldn't be the first time! ).

 

So I went downtown to pick up this coin today at the UBS headquarters in Zurich. While I was there, I asked if they had any Peruvian 1 Libra gold coins. Sure enough, they pulled out a tray with a half-dozen or so, and I cherry-picked this uncirculated specimen. The picture doesn't do it justice; I can't find any of the obverse chatter on the coin with my 10x loupe:

 

Peru, 1 Libra 1966 (1/4 oz. gold)

 

I might just get hooked on these next!

Do you ever find any of the older rappen coins in circulation, I thought it was possible to find 19th century stuff in change?

I've heard that it still happens from time to time ... but I never found anything that old yet. The oldest I have found up to now was 10 rappen 1908, followed by 20 rappen 1919 and 1920. The funny thing was that two of those coins were given in change at the same store (at different times, though)!

 

All of these coins were in similar condition to the 1929 piece shown (F to good VF). The nicest silver I ever found in my change was 50 rappen of 1967 in AU/UNC, pictures of which I have posted here somewhere before ... I also believe you have seen that one, since I remember that you replied to that message.

 

Maybe someone seeded the cash register with these coins to get more customers?? This is highly doubtful, though, since being located in an underground thoroughfare at one of the larger train stations here, they probably have all the customers they need! But obviously, at least I, for one, am a repeat customer!

 

Cheers!

Since I live in Switzerland, I can't boast of finding Buffalo nickels or IHC in my change ... but any minor denominations minted before 1968 in silver are pretty neat. I picked this one up in my change about four days ago: