Your Top 3 and your Dream 3.

[YeOldeCollector]

Borrowing the idea from a post in the Banknote forum that MauMauNotes started here, what coins in your own collection form your top three and which three would you dream to own?

 

I am sure that this thread will show some absolute beauties.

[Mark Stilson]

Top three is kind of tough. These are not the most expensive. But a few highlights. I guess the number one would be the Alexander III. 2,334 years old. Prime time in Greek history. Plus finding out it is one of the rarer ones. And there are a bunch of variations. I only found one with the same markings after looking at hundreds of them. A specialty site with listings of all the Alexanders did not even have a picture of mine.

 

Next one is The 8 Reale. Because of its history, not the price. Since the ship it was on wrecked and changed history.

 

Next one is my 1885 Carson City

 

Even though I collect Morgan dollars and would love a 1893 S or 1895 My number one dream coin would be a Stater like this one .

 

Next would be Pattern Dollars similar to this one.

And this one.

I have always loved the look of a lot of the pattern coins.

 

 

Edited to finish list.

[Art]

Top 3...................hmmm.

 

 

1839 Large Cent - Jules Reiver Collection Obv by UGotaHaveArt, on Flickr

 

and

 

1900 IHC NCS slabbed obv by UGotaHaveArt, on Flickr

 

and

 

1912 George V Half Sovereign by UGotaHaveArt, on Flickr

 

 

Top 3 that I desire to own. Hmmmm that's a tough one since I want everything.

 

I'll have to find some pics for them and get back to that part.

[Dan769]

Ok, summer is over and I make an appearance to answer this one. Sorry no pics.

 

My top 3 are:

 

1875-CC Twenty cent piece- I like odd denominations, combined with my alltime favorite CC mintmark tops my list.

1893-CC Morgan-Another CC and I like it because I found it in the bottom of a pawn shops coin case in Carson City when I first started out collecting and was so afraid it may be fake or cleaned, but it made it's way into a PCGS F-15 holder.

1871-S Half Dime-Another off denomination, combined with the fact it took me 3 years to find the look and grade I wanted and could afford.

 

Dream coins

 

1876-CC Twenty Cent

1776 Continental currency in silver

Any well struck high grade Connecticut Copper.

[thedeadpoint]

Ok i definitely need to spend some time this weeek answering these two.. remind me!

[Mark Stilson]

Ok i definitely need to spend some time this weeek answering these two.. remind me!

 

 

George answer these. Your reminded.

[KoRnholio]

Interesting question, not an easy answer.

 

My top 3 in no particular order are:

 

1935 Canada dollar (PCGS old holder MS66)

 

 

1820 British Halfcrown aEF

 

 

1858 Canada 20 cent piece (PCGS old holder AU53)

 

 

 

All three are nicely toned. The Canadian dollar is practically dripping with lustre and, in my humble opinion, would be an easy shoe in for MS67 if not for a hit in the crown that's actually quite concealed/not distracting. The rest of the coin is virtually flawless. I'll probably try for an upgrade on this one day.

[YeOldeCollector]

1820 British Halfcrown aEF

 

 

I adore this coin so much.

[ccg]

1893-CC Morgan-Another CC and I like it because I found it in the bottom of a pawn shops coin case in Carson City when I first started out collecting and was so afraid it may be fake or cleaned, but it made it's way into a PCGS F-15 holder.

 

A CC from CC? Great story!

[Art]

My three big dream coins are:

 

1) 1877 Indian Head Cent - F/VF/XF condition, no damage, chocolate brown color

 

2) 1909-S Indian Head Cent - XF/AU condition, no damage, not cleaned, red/brown

 

3) Still thinking about that one.

[bobh]

This was a hard decision to make (fortunately!):

 

Top 3:

 

RUSSIA, 50 kopeck 1910 (a scarce date and very rare in such high grade):

 

JUDEA, Bar Kochba era (Year 1, "Eleazar" - bronze):

 

USA, "Oregon Trail" 50 cent commemorative (1926-S):

 

Now for the dream 3:

 

Russia, 1904 and 1906 50 kopecks in BU;

USA, 1909-S Indian Cent in good EF or better.

[YeOldeCollector]

Fantastic relief on the trail piece.

[ikaros]

Wow. I'm going to have to think long and hard about this. Get back to you later.

[ScottO]

my top 3 is difficult, i have 1 then about 4 or 5 close 2nds

my most valuable coin bought for 10p worth £100

now it get difficult as i have so many scarce coins, and coins i love for what they are but, this, estimated to only be 1000 in existance, i could not really ignore this

a few more of these in existance, but not so many in VF or higher like this one, still quite rare

[thedeadpoint]

many great entries so far, guys.

 

Finally, I'm answering. In order of my favorite from my collection:

 

3. 1941 Proof 66 Walker - my first older proof. Got her when I was a good deal younger. It was my most expensive coin at the time I had ever bought. She's got a little ugliness on the reverse but I love her nonetheless.

 

 

2. 1928 unc Peace dollar - Peace dollars are some of the first collectible coins I received. They got me into collecting. My first series and most complete is Peace dollars. This one is a key. I got her last year. I had been looking for one for a few years and was waiting on just the right one. So, a key (only the 1934-S remains I think) to my first and favorite series.

 

 

1. 1881-S half eagle - my dad gave me this. it's from his dad's collection. the first collectible coin I've ever seen. this is one of the ones that got me started. also one of my only gold coins.

 

 

This was surprisingly easy. I collect by series primarily. So most of the coins are of a handful of designs. That means I choose favorites based on significance to me, beautify, rarity, etc. This will be harder when I answer the note's one. (Someone remind me to...)

 

 

 

Top 3 on my wishlist later. I had them spelled out by my computer blanked them...

[ikaros]

Yaknow, I've thought and thought and thought, and I can't narrow the field down to just three. I could conceivably give you the top three out of each subcollection, but trying to narrow it down past that would be like trying to give you my three favorite breaths of air.

 

As for my dream coins, that's a bit easier. An '07 Saint (flat or wire, I'm not picky ), an old head Victoria sovereign, and ... oh, I dunno. An Athenian Owl tetradrachm, or maybe an Alexander the Great piece dating from his actual lifetime.

[bobh]

I found it very hard to narrow my choices down to three. If I went by sheer beauty, there would be others, different coins ... if I chose by rarity, then there would be still others.

 

The ones I chose were somehow significant to me, but I'm not sure why. The Russian 50 kopeck series of Nicholas II is one I have been working on for quite some time now, and the 1910 coin is probably the nicest of that series that I own. Some dates are much tougher, though. I also have 1908 in XF and 1909 in AU-58 or (at best) MS-63 which are both much rarer than 1910, but they don't come close to the condition of my 1910 coin. I suppose I have had it a lot longer in my collection, back when everything else in that series was VF or XF.

 

The Bar Kochba coin was my first ancient. Although a more recent purchase, I had wanted one for a long time before that. And the Oregon Trail is not that scarce, but I chanced on a nice example. Also, it has been in my collection for a relatively long time.

[ikaros]

Okay, I'm going to parcel this out. First are my favorite three from my birth year set.

 

Netherlands Antilles 5c

I just love everything about this design - the shape, the depth of the sculpture, the scrollwork, everything. This is one of the prettiest non-portraiture pieces I've seen. It's also a meaty coin, with the heft of a brass threepenny bit.

 

Greece 'Five Kings' 30 Drachmai

This was a long-sought piece; I had seen it around town in the $25-$30 range, and stumbled across this particular beauty at the Ohio State Coin Show in September for $15. Gorgeous deep-sculpted design and details, details, and more details. Raised rather than incuse lettering on the edge -- I can't recall seeing that before.

 

New Zealand half crown

The third was a difficult choice; it was down to several sterling issues. This piece only barely edged out the UK half crown, the Australian florin, and the Irish leath choróin (half crown) in my mental calculations. Again, depth and detail of design won out, although only barely.

[bobh]

I really like the Greek piece, although all three are quite striking!

[almingbg]

Greek coin is REALLY amazing!

[Steve D'Ippolito]

 

This was a long-sought piece; I had seen it around town in the $25-$30 range, and stumbled across this particular beauty at the Ohio State Coin Show in September for $15. Gorgeous deep-sculpted design and details, details, and more details. Raised rather than incuse lettering on the edge -- I can't recall seeing that before.

 

 

I'll agree with the previous posters that the Greek piece is fantastic!

 

Raised edge lettering was used on some Russian coins in the 18th century, in particular the first couple of years of the Siberian Series where "Kolyvan Copper" was spelled out on the edge before they started putting the abbreviation КМ (often mistaken for a mint mark) on the face of the coin. I think some of the Peter the Great silver had it too.

[Moocat]

Hi. I am new here, from England, so treat me kindly.

 

I have just opened an old jewellery box that was passed on to us after a bereavement and have found a George V half sovereign (in a gold ring) which is the same as the one listed above.

 

Does anyone have any idea of the value?

[ikaros]

Thanks - that Greek piece definitely moved into the top tier of my collection the moment it joined it, and it's one of the pieces I'm happiest to own. The only reason it wasn't in PCI was that I got it after nominations closed. I can promise it'll be in the 2012 edition, though! And really, the picture only gives a partial idea of what the depth and detail is like, so I'm going to re-photograph it eventually, outside of its cardboard holder. I need to figure out a way to get the edge lettering imaged, too.

 

Anyway, I think I'll move on to my next phase, my favorites from my ongoing Jefferson Project:

 

1938 Nickel, Toned

This was the specific coin that shook me out of my agnosticism on toning. The colors are a bit richer than the picture suggests -- it's a gorgeous rainbow bullseye on the obverse and subtle blue on the reverse.

 

1965 Nickel, Cameo SMS

This might be the most proof-like SMS I've ever seen. The cameo's more visible in-hand; it's definitely the most cameo I can recall seeing on an SMS coin.

 

1942S Silver Nickel

And this is one of my favorites more by dint of how I came by it: it came out of a bank roll of nickels in this condition, very nearly uncirculated. It's a gorgeous piece, the likes of which I would never have believed would've come out of a roll of nickels from the bank.

[ccg]

Hi. I am new here, from England, so treat me kindly.

 

I have just opened an old jewellery box that was passed on to us after a bereavement and have found a George V half sovereign (in a gold ring) which is the same as the one listed above.

 

Does anyone have any idea of the value?

 

Welcome, and sorry to hear about your loss. Generally speaking, gold coins in rings are sold for their value as gold + a small percentage.

[just carl]

I have no idea of any favorites or dream coins. Been collecting to long I guess. With well over 100 Albums, numerous rolls of coins, many in 2x2's and on and on and on. Just never thought of a favorite.