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rsraghead

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My newest copper coin...with some pretty crazy toning. :shock:

 

1861_Sweden_2Ore_NGC_MS64BN_toned_compos

 

Nice coin. Interesting toning. Perhaps from the material it was stored with.

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Nice coin. Interesting toning. Perhaps from the material it was stored with.

 

Quite possibly. The striations on the reverse are consistent with some pieces I have seen stored in velvet lined cases or cabinets. Not sure. It's a curious piece, and quite intense in hand. I didn't "juice" the images at all...it really is that purple and blue. :swoon:

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Ok,,,, today is literally the first day of my coin collecting career. I'm trying to participate as much as possible here, and really having fun. I was digging through my handful of coins just to see what I was starting with,,, when I discover THIS!!!

 

canada_1_canadian_cent(penny)_1993.jpg

 

Yesserie! I own one single world copper! It might be from right across the Minnesotan border here,,, but I don't care. A 1993 Canadian Penny, in the palm of my hand right now!

 

Whew,,,, I made the cut... :yahoo:

 

Josh

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Ok,,,, today is literally the first day of my coin collecting career. I'm trying to participate as much as possible here, and really having fun. I was digging through my handful of coins just to see what I was starting with,,, when I discover THIS!!!

 

canada_1_canadian_cent(penny)_1993.jpg

 

Yesserie! I own one single world copper! It might be from right across the Minnesotan border here,,, but I don't care. A 1993 Canadian Penny, in the palm of my hand right now!

 

Whew,,,, I made the cut... :yahoo:

 

Josh

 

Welcome!! Where in Minnesota are you from?

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Very nice. You have a great breadth of items in your collection. I really have been enjoying them.

 

A couple new coppers in my collection:

 

1850_Halifax_FerryToken_NGC_MS64RB_compo

 

1958_Sweden_2Ore_NGC_MS66RB_composite_zp

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Very nice 2 ore, I should get a nice red one of the common dates, they were always interesting to me. I don't like paying much for 20th century coppers though.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've been working on putting together a set of the late 1880s copper pieces from Belgian Congo. I got the last piece for the set yesterday, so here are the 4 coins in all their glory. The sizes are shown in proper proportion to one another. For reference, the 1 centime is the same diameter as a USA small cent. The 10 centimes is slightly larger in diameter than a USA half dollar (35mm).

 

The grades are:

1 and 5 centimes: MS66RB

2 centimes: MS66BN

10 centimes: MS64RB (a hard coin to find in high MS)

 

belgian_congo_set_obv_complete_zpsf60dba

belgian_congo_set_rev_complete_zps95719b

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I've been working on putting together a set of the late 1880s copper pieces from Belgian Congo. I got the last piece for the set yesterday, so here are the 4 coins in all their glory. The sizes are shown in proper proportion to one another. For reference, the 1 centime is the same diameter as a USA small cent. The 10 centimes is slightly larger in diameter than a USA half dollar (35mm).

 

The grades are:

1 and 5 centimes: MS66RB

2 centimes: MS66BN

10 centimes: MS64RB (a hard coin to find in high MS)

 

belgian_congo_set_obv_complete_zpsf60dba

belgian_congo_set_rev_complete_zps95719b

 

Terrific coins. I don't recall having seen these before. That's a wonderful collection. Are they very difficult to find?

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Terrific coins. I don't recall having seen these before. That's a wonderful collection. Are they very difficult to find?

 

In general terms, they are not too hard to find. But, with full luster and in higher MS grades and with decent eye appeal, you have to be patient. The full set took me a bit more than 6 months to find, all purchased on eBay. The set of all 4 ran me $290.

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In general terms, they are not too hard to find. But, with full luster and in higher MS grades and with decent eye appeal, you have to be patient. The full set took me a bit more than 6 months to find, all purchased on eBay. The set of all 4 ran me $290.

 

Great coins and good info. Thanks for sharing.

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Very nice. I've got the 1888 5c, also with a similar blue toning. Did you find the blue tones to be typical for this series?

 

I would not say that the bluish tones are "typical". That type of "red-brown" toning is what I particularly like. That or full on "brown" mellowing (with luster of course). The pieces I have were specifically chosen for eye appeal. There are a lot of these pieces with carbon spotting, uneven toning, or that have been "recolored" with some chemicals or acids (and the luster ruined). Don't get me wrong, there are many lovely examples out there to be had -- but I'm not sure they are the majority. :bwink:

 

The 5 centimes in my set is an interesting coin, as it is the 1888/7 variety (overdate). The final 8 is over a "7" from the previous year.

 

1888-7_Belgian_Congo_5C_NGC_MS66RB_compo

 

 

1888-7_Belgian_Congo_5C_NGC_overdate_com

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I would not say that the bluish tones are "typical". That type of "red-brown" toning is what I particularly like. That or full on "brown" mellowing (with luster of course). The pieces I have were specifically chosen for eye appeal. There are a lot of these pieces with carbon spotting, uneven toning, or that have been "recolored" with some chemicals or acids (and the luster ruined). Don't get me wrong, there are many lovely examples out there to be had -- but I'm not sure they are the majority. :bwink:

 

The 5 centimes in my set is an interesting coin, as it is the 1888/7 variety (overdate). The final 8 is over a "7" from the previous year.

 

1888-7_Belgian_Congo_5C_NGC_MS66RB_compo

 

 

1888-7_Belgian_Congo_5C_NGC_overdate_com

 

I love it. Beautiful coin and the photographs are first rate too. Did you take these yourself? Can you tell us about your setup/etc. ?

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Here is another coin/token that I purchased in the last couple months.

 

The Bank of Upper Canada was established in 1821 in York (Toronto, Ontario) under a charter granted by the Province of Upper Canada in 1819. When Upper and Lower Canada were united in 1841 to form the Province of Canada, it was decided that only the bank that held the government accounts should have the right to issue copper tokens. This privilege was enjoyed by the Bank of Montreal until 1848. Following the passage of the Rebellion Losses Bill in 1849, rioting in Montreal led to the destruction of the legislative buildings and the capital of the province was transferred to Toronto. As a result, the right to issue tokens passed to the Bank of Upper Canada.
The "St. George" bank tokens were issued with dates of 1850, 1852, 1854, and 1857 and in denominations of both one penny and one half-penny. The obverse design is based on the wildly popular and well-known "St. George slaying the dragon" design by Benedetto Pistrucci, first used for the British sovereign of 1817.
Of the 1857 issues in particular, Robert Wallace McLachlan wrote in his 1916 book "The Copper Tokens of Upper Canada": "A most extensive coinage of this date, both of pennies and half-pennies was struck, but before much of it was put into circulation, the decimal currency act of 1858 was passed, which necessitated the coinage of the cents of 1858 and 1859. The balance of these bank tokens therefore remained in the vaults of the Montreal branch for a number of years, when they were sold to a coppersmith and melted down."
While relatively common in grades of XF and lower, these tokens become difficult to find in AU grades, and outright hard to locate in true MS condition. If you want a challenge, try putting together a set of the 8 different dates/denominations in true AU or better. If you want an almost impossible task, try finding one (of any grade) of each of the more than 300 varieties indexed by Eugene Gaspard Courteau in his book from 1934 (The St. George copper tokens of the Bank of Upper Canada). But, be forewarned, the reference by Courteau (only 32 pages in length) is almost as hard to find as a pristine example of the token. :bgreen:
1857_UpperCanada_HalfPenny_NGC_MS63BN_co
1857_UpperCanada_HalfPennyToken_NGC_MS63
1857_UpperCanada_HalfPennyToken_NGC_MS63
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I love it. Beautiful coin and the photographs are first rate too. Did you take these yourself? Can you tell us about your setup/etc. ?

 

 

Hi Art, thanks for the kind words. I do all of my own photography. You can find more information about my photography setup at this link.

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Hi Art, thanks for the kind words. I do all of my own photography. You can find more information about my photography setup at this link.

 

Thanks. I've bookmarked your page and think that I'll use if as a nice reference when I get to giving some real effort to photographing some of my coins.

 

Great info on the Canadian Tokens. I have a number of them but nothing in the kind of condition you have.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I had the opportunity to add another Province of Canada copper token to my collection. I couldn't pass this one up.

 

1857 Bank of Upper Canada, Half-penny token

NGC MS65BN

1857_HalfPenny_NGC_MS65BN_composite_1000

 

Another beautiful token and photograph. :bthumbsup:

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  • 3 months later...
In 1797, Peter Kempson issued 10 different penny-sized tokens (or more accurately, medalets) featuring London Buildings on the obverse and "Standing Justice" on the reverse. I simply couldn't resist this Ludgate token engraved by Thomas Wyon. My pictures don't do it any favors, but it appears almost as a proof in hand. The fields are glassy and almost completely mark free, with high relief devices. Both the obverse and reverse exhibit dark hues of blues and rose/pinks, as is common on the entire series of these particular tokens. This set of medalets was struck specifically for collectors (not intended for actual commerce), and in relatively small mintages of less than 200 of each design. The reverse reminds me of the Regal cartwheel issues of the same year, with inset lettering surrounding the central design. I have not seen a nicer example than this one, and I was delighted to add it to my collection.


1797 Middlesex/Kempson's penny token, Ludgate D&H-78 (scarce, mintage < 200)

1797_Middlesex_DH78_Penny_NGC_MS65BN_com
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