bobh

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!

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:

Peru: Gold Libra, 1900 Does anybody else here collect these? It was going for about melt on eBay; has a little rim ding at 12 o'clock on the reverse, but otherwise is in good shape. I love the design, and couldn't resist, although I don't really collect these actively.

Добро пожаловать в coinpeople, prodigykid! (trans: "Welcome to coinpeople, prodigykid!") Funny you should ask ... just about a week ago I received a bread token from the same eBay seller from whom I bought the other two coins. Unfortunately, I haven't had time to make pictures of it! I am also interested in modern silver proof Russian coins ... are there any issues especially devoted to Tatarstan? Пока!

Some of the nicer ones which have arrived this month; the first two I bought at the recent bourse "Internationale Münzenmesse" here in Zürich: USA: 2 cents 1865 USA: Indian cent, 1864-no-L (bronze) The rest were eBay purchases: RUSSIA: 1 kopeika 1710-WD (Bitkin 3386, R1) RUSSIA: 5 kopeek, 1792-AM RUSSIA: 50 kopeek, 1896-АГ (NGC AU-58) The 1 kopeika coin is a somewhat rare error variety -- actually it is supposed to have the mintmark "МД" (MD) but whoever punched it in the die put the M in upside down. Thanks for looking!

Right! How did you know? (Oh ... ... this one is marked as "scarce" even by Uzdenikov!)

From the last two or three weeks, mostly eBay purchases: USA: Barber dime, 1908-P USA: Barber dime, 1913-P RUSSIA: Polushka, 1735 RUSSIA: Denga, 1758 RUSSIA: Pyatak, 1791-EM RUSSIA: Pyatak, 1790-AM RUSSIA: 50 Kopeek, 1901-AR No trouble guessing which purchase was the most expensive, I presume? (hint: don't be misled by the grade of the coin! )

Some coins which I have had for some time in my collection but never got around to putting up on the Gallery until now: Trime (silver 3 cent piece) 1862 w/ cool die clash Seated Liberty Dime, 1887 w/ numerous die clashes Barber Dimes (12 coins) Twenty Cents, 1875-S in XF It was especially fun trying to find as many die clashes as possible on the 1887 seated dime. The trime appears to have clashes on the reverse only, but it is so spectacular that it makes up for the missing obverse clashes. Enjoy!

Interesting approach -- eliminating the background entirely by using an elevated glass platform, so to speak. When you say "macro lens", does this mean that you use a SLR camera? For the moment, I'm doing OK with my Nikon CoolPix 5900 (i.e. cheapie) camera, but I am finding out its limitations -- these become fairly obvious when you start taking pictures of dimes, for example. Your dime photo came out quite realistic; I'm jealous! I also have had the best luck, color-wise, shooting copper and bronze coins. I think that the inevitable toning seems to give the camera software more to "chew on", so to speak, and there is some internal color adjustment there that we have little or no control over in most cameras (at least this is my theory why it is so). Anyway, with silver coins in good condition, we have mostly gray shades to work with (i.e. little or no toning, perhaps some gray patina). With coppers, there is a more natural spread which makes it easier for the camera software to adjust properly. Thanks for the insight into your photo shooting!

Nice coins, elverno! What camera setup did you use for the dime and the half dollar, BTW?

Speaking of Russian coins, I do have quite a few new items. However, these are all eBay acquisitions. 1. I was finally able to find some 1899 gold 10 rouble coins which are not fakes: 1899-АГ and 1899-ФЗ. The 1899-ФЗ is a bit scratched up and only VF grade or so, but the 1899-АГ is a solid XF. 2. Some 5 kopeek coins of Catherine II. All of these have some kind of error or overstrike: 1765-EM (double-struck edge) 1781-EM, scroll is double-struck 1779-EM (possible repunched date??) There was also one overweight coin (62g+) and one underweight (41g) among the other пятака which were newly purchased. 3. Some nice modern 3 rouble silver commemoratives here: 1994 Trans-Siberian Railway (100 yr. anniversary) 1995 Belgorod Fortress (1000 yr. anniv.) 1995 Wooden Church at Kizhi 4. As a curiosity, I picked up these two coins which amount to 2/3 of the total coinage types minted by Tatarstan: Tatarstan petrol tokens (1993) According to my Krause catalog, the independent country of Tatarstan existed for a little less than two years before joining up with Mother Russia again after the collapse of the old Soviet Union. In the meantime, three different coins were issued. The copper-nickel token was struck from the exact same design (or even dies) used for the bronze tokens. This created a problem because vast numbers of the bronze coins were illegally plated in nickel and traded at the higher value. Therefore, these coins are often found with test filing marks. The remaining coin was a token for 1 kilo of bread. It has a different design; the seller of these coins (who lives in Tatarstan) has promised to look for a bread token for me. As you can see, gxseries, I'm not only interested in Imperial Russian coins, although I do tend to avoid the Soviet period.

A long time ago! Thanks!

I needed some supplies at the local dealer's shop the other day, and as usual, I cannot go into a coin shop and just buy supplies! So I asked if any new coins had come in lately (U.S. American or Russian). Sitting open, in a felt-lined tray, were some Morgan dollars. Most of them were circulated, but there was one which didn't have a price. It was an uncirculated prooflike 1881-S. I couldn't believe that they had it out in the open, unprotected from the fingerprints of all the customers and personnel, sitting in that tray. So I asked what the price was. The man who was showing me the coins was new, I suppose, for I had never seen him before. He went into the back room to ask the boss and came back. Since this is a fairly common date, especially in MS condition, he let me have it for about $28 (CHF 35) which is the price that they had marked for the other coins in AU! But it is probably my very nicest Morgan to date. Here it is: Morgan dollar, 1881-S (prooflike) Although there is some very light chatter on the obverse, it is not distracting (to me at least). The reverse is practically flawless. I would give it a grade of at least MS-63 but wouldn't be surprised if it went higher than that. I suppose it didn't hurt that I also bought this Barber dime from them for about the regular retail price in AU (although it might even grade MS-62 or so), so they were probably willing to give be a break with the Morgan dollar: Barber dime, 1892 Another recent acquisition from a different dealer: Standing Liberty Quarter, 1928 I love the design of this coin, and nice ones are hard to find, much harder than silver dollars. So I couldn't pass this one up. I would grade this one AU-58 since there is some rub on the eagle feathers. However, the coin has tremendous eye appeal. But I don't collect these as a rule, so maybe my grade is too generous? Opinions on the grades are most welcome!

I have been building my own website for my coins ... it is almost complete except for some U.S. American dimes and other odds and ends for which I haven't yet had time to make images: My Coins Since I am just starting this thread, I will wait until the next new coins arrive and just leave the link to the main page as is. I have mostly U.S. American coins (pre-W.W. II) and Russian Imperial coins as well as a now almost-complete series of gold Swiss Vreneli coins. I also have most of the USA Indian cents in XF or better except for the key dates; my goal in all the series I have been concentrating on is grade XF or better. As resources permit, I will replace lower-grade pieces and add dates and mintmarks which are still missing. At present, nothing is up for sale. I'll probably put up some duplicates on eBay before the year is over, though. Thanks for looking!