primitives collect coins

[franksolich]

http://demopedia.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7857224

It's Saturday, the weekend.

So time to post some "fun" campfires from the primitives of Skins's island.

fascisthunter  (1000+ posts)        Sat Mar-06-10 12:25 PM
Original message
 
Poll question: How Many Here Collect Coins?

Yes, a non political question for DUers. I have been a hobbyist most of my life, yet not as serious a collector until I was about 30. How many DUers here collect coins?

Poll result (18 votes) 

I Collect coins occasionally...  (10 votes, 56%)
I consider myself to be an avid collector of coins...  (1 votes, 6%) 
I consider myself to be a numismatist...  (1 votes, 6%) 
I could care less...  (6 votes, 33%)

For the record, franksolich collects pre-1861 British copper coins; I have no idea why, as it's just something that happened.

roamer65 (1000+ posts)     Sat Mar-06-10 12:27 PM
Response to Original message

1. My weakness is Double Eagles ($20 US gold)

The primitive must not be confident of an 0bamarecovery.

fascisthunter  (1000+ posts)        Sat Mar-06-10 12:30 PM
Response to Reply #1
 
3. awesome! At this point collecting coins, I can only dream of Double Eagles...

My favorite coin so far is an Austrian Taler/Thaler 1632.

roamer65 (1000+ posts)     Sat Mar-06-10 12:41 PM
Response to Reply #3
 
8. It's a collection I can never complete, but it's fun.

The Carson City and New Orleans ones are very rare and expensive. Many of the St Gaudens double eagles were destroyed in the 1937 US gov't melt of gold coins. Thank goodness for European banks which refused to redeem their US gold for paper money in 1933-34. Most double eagles you see at coins shows nowadays are from European banks.

fascisthunter  (1000+ posts)        Sat Mar-06-10 12:46 PM
Response to Reply #8
 
12. That's right... I read a good book about Coins and Carson CIty came up a lot. What a beautiful coin the Double Eagle is... the more rare the more enticing.

Well, hopefully this evening I will have a 1995 Double Die Cent!

Question: do you grade and buy raw Double Eagles or slabbed?

Despite that errors in mintage bring high prices, some of them very high, franksolich doesn't touch mint errors with a ten-foot primitive; they're stupid.

It's like collecting cracked Wedgewood china.

roamer65 (1000+ posts)     Sat Mar-06-10 12:49 PM
Response to Reply #12
 
15. I absoutely steer clear of uncertified, unslabbed US gold.

99% of them in my collection are PCGS or NGC only.

Way too many good counterfeits in pre-1933 US gold so I trust the experts to look them over first.

fascisthunter  (1000+ posts)        Sat Mar-06-10 12:53 PM
Response to Reply #15
 
17. ok... That's what I was Thinking

I learned about grading, but because counterfeiting is so prevalent, I prefer NGC or PCGS. I have sunk enough money into raw coins to know it's a huge gamble. Here's the coin I mentioned above and yes, it is RAW:

after which photograph of a coin

This is the coin I have, but in slight better condition than what you see here.

roamer65 (1000+ posts)     Sat Mar-06-10 12:57 PM
Response to Reply #17
 
18. nice coin!

It's mostly a personal judgement on raw vs certified. I have a 1829 US half dollar that I bought raw. It wasn't expensive and the toning "tells" me its genuine, so not much need to worry on certification, IMHO.

fascisthunter  (1000+ posts)        Sat Mar-06-10 01:11 PM
Response to Reply #18
 
21. I'm, not confident in my grading... lol

someday I will be. I've been ripped off a couple times, so until I am more confident in my ability to grade or spot a counterfeit, I will be relying on slabs and grading companies, which I hope to someday do without.

If I had the funds, I would exclusively collect Large Cents... coinage from the beginnings of this country fascinate me the most. Colonial coins are intriguing too...

I'm hooked I tell ya!

Yeah, when franksolich was young and green, he got stuck with a counterfeit 1819 British shilling--the dealer himself was no expert in British numismatics (and in fact underpriced the coin), and so no fraud involved.

Despite that the counterfeit dated to, probably, 1819, as it was, and was probably worth something as a curiosity (rather than as an honest coin) franksolich gave it back, preferring to collect only real coins.

roamer65 (1000+ posts)     Sat Mar-06-10 01:42 PM
Response to Reply #21
 
26. You'll get better at grading.

I "cut my teeth" on Morgan dollars and learned grading with them, before heading into double eagles. Doubles are absolute addiction once you get into them, so I understand being "hooked".

Morgan dollars are a pain in the ass to grade, because of w-a-a-a-a-y too many gradations.

franksolich prefers the older system of "poor," "almost good," "good," "fine," "very fine," "extremely fine," "almost uncirculated," and "uncirculated."

No need to quibble about microscopic differences.

gateley  (1000+ posts)      Sat Mar-06-10 12:29 PM
Response to Original message
 
2. Am not, have never been a collector, but I think I would be very interesting.

fascisthunter  (1000+ posts)        Sat Mar-06-10 12:31 PM
Response to Reply #2
 
4. It is... there is history in coins if you begin collecting, learn how to grade them... then start a collection of any coin. It's fun, educational and can be an investment.

gateley  (1000+ posts)      Sat Mar-06-10 12:35 PM
Response to Reply #4
 
6. That's what I was thinking about -- the history. And knowing that others somewhere and some time used the very coin you're holding to buy a loaf of bread (or something. ) Not in a position to begin a collection, but I wish you continued success and enjoyment with yours!

Unlike the materialistic primitives, franksolich doesn't collect coins with "investment" and "profit" in mind; franksolich collects coins only because they're interesting, and pieces of history.

For this reason, franksolich makes it a specialty to collect ONLY coins in "fine," "very fine," or "extremely fine" condition (old grading system).  Coins less than "fine" tend to be unaesthetic, and uncirculated coins of course have no history, never having been circulated, i.e., used for money. 

fascisthunter  (1000+ posts)        Sat Mar-06-10 12:41 PM
Response to Reply #6
 
7. Thanks... it's been lot's of fun

someday I may either pass it all down to someone of my choosing or cash in for whatever it is worth, although when the time comes, I imagine that decision will not be so casual.

petronius (1000+ posts)        Sat Mar-06-10 12:34 PM
Response to Original message
 
5. I do now. I used to collect dollars, but then the Bush economy came along...

Hah! How's that for a snarky political answer to your non-political poll?

Seriously, I don't collect coins but I have a box of unusual (to me) coins that I set aside. Also, I have a bunch of 1800s coins that my grandmother had - they're pretty cool...

fascisthunter  (1000+ posts)        Sat Mar-06-10 12:43 PM
Response to Reply #5
 
9. cool.... that's pretty much how I started

and elderly lady my mother worked for gave me a few old coins, and from there, I was always wondering the history of those coins.

CTyankee  (1000+ posts)      Sat Mar-06-10 12:43 PM
Response to Reply #5
 
10. Question for you: are $2 bills still in U.S. currency? I have a couple that my mother gave me about 10 years ago. I think she got them in Vegas. I never see them here in CT but then we don't see $1 coins either, or 50 cent pieces either for that matter...

Duh.

One of franksolich's favorite tricks is to take a (badly worn) pre-1929 bill, and use it in a transaction (at a convenience store or gasoline station or something).  It's just paper, and as it's badly worn, it's of no use to franksolich.

Pre-1929 bills are similar with bills used today, excepting that they're about one and a half times larger than current bills.

franksolich also spends Indian Head/Buffalo five-cent pieces where the date's worn wholly off--no point in having an undated coin, and one time even a 2-cent piece from the 1860s that had been warped, and a few badly-damaged half-dimes from the 1840s and 1850s, also damaged and hence of no value to him.

It freaks cashiers out, but it's all legitimate U.S. currency and coinage, despite its age.

roamer65 (1000+ posts)     Sat Mar-06-10 12:46 PM
Response to Reply #10
 
13. Yes, they are.

If they are Federal Reserve Notes with the Declaration of Independence signing on the back, they would be mainly of sentimental value for you...and worth $2.

CTyankee  (1000+ posts)      Sat Mar-06-10 12:52 PM
Response to Reply #13
 
16. Oh, I don't care what they are worth...and I'm not sure why I even keep them except to show to my grandkids, if I were to remember to do so...

roamer65 (1000+ posts)     Sat Mar-06-10 12:59 PM
Response to Reply #16
 
19. Keep them and give them to the grandkids eventually.

$2 bills are a great memento kinda gift.

On the Road  (1000+ posts)        Sat Mar-06-10 12:43 PM
Response to Original message
 
11. I Expect That Numismatics is Very Interesting 

especially from a historical and geographical perspective.

My father is a philatelist, specializing in German plebiscites formed after WWI -- Allenstein, Saar, Memel, Schleswig-Holstein, etc. It makes the history much more palbable, and leads to all kinds of interesting findings.

Yeah, postage stamps are interesting, too; franksolich specializes in collecting stamps from pre-1947 India, when the British were still there, trying desperately to bring decency and civility to that most unhappy place.

fascisthunter  (1000+ posts)        Sat Mar-06-10 12:48 PM
Response to Reply #11
 
14. now THAT is very interesting

talk about collecting history!

pansypoo53219 (1000+ posts)        Sat Mar-06-10 01:11 PM
Response to Original message
 
20. if i ee coins at estate sales, i get them, 

best deal-1719 austrian-hungarian for $2.50. 1/2 off.

The best deal franksolich ever got was a boxful of unused postage stamps from the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, over $200 worth (face-value), for seventy-five cents (nobody bothered to dig inside a box full of stationary supplies; I got those too).

Since they were all pretty common, I used them to mail things, as they were still legitimate for postage.  My mail, plastered with six or eight or ten 3-cent stamps (so as to meet the then-current postage rates) always got immediate attention.

fascisthunter  (1000+ posts)        Sat Mar-06-10 01:13 PM
Response to Reply #20
 
22. THAT's a Really Good Way of Getting some fine coins...

I've have read numerous accounts(some may have been fictional) of folks going to estate sales and finding very nice coins.

Hasn't happened to franksolich yet, but it might some day.

Feron (1000+ posts)      Sat Mar-06-10 01:20 PM
Response to Original message
 
24. Occasionally..I mainly collect the newer U.S. coins, but I do have a few older and foreign coins.

Newer U.S. coins are crap; it boggles the mind, that some people, probably many of them primitives, think that Bicentennial coins (1974-1976) or state quarter-dollars are worth more than their face value.

[Carl]

roamer65 (1000+ posts)     Sat Mar-06-10 12:27 PM
Response to Original message

1. My weakness is Double Eagles ($20 US gold)

Given the value of one that is likely a lie right off the start.
Surprise huh?

[JohnnyReb]

DUmmie coin collector: One who picks up coins in the parking lot at the liquor store.

[shadeaux]

Back in the day my grandmother would give us two dollar bills for birthdays and usually Easter.  I never spent mine, I held onto them for a few years.

One day I went to the store and used one to pay for my purchase.  The young clerk looked at me and said she couldn't accept it because it wasn't real money. I laughed. So did the manager.

I once gave an old silver dollar to a clerk and he told me they didn't take big quarters.  

[Chris]

I had a conveneince store refuse a fifty cent piece because they "had no way to count it".

[The Village Idiot]

The best deal franksolich ever got was a boxful of unused postage stamps from the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, over $200 worth (face-value), for seventy-five cents (nobody bothered to dig inside a box full of stationary supplies; I got those too).

Since they were all pretty common, I used them to mail things, as they were still legitimate for postage.  My mail, plastered with six or eight or ten 3-cent stamps (so as to meet the then-current postage rates) always got immediate attention

You didn't use one of those stamps with the upside down bi-plane did you?

[franksolich]

You didn't use one of those stamps with the upside down bi-plane did you?

Nope.  Never even seen one of those.

I did however have to be careful about one thing, when using these old unused stamps.

The old "air mail" stamps were good for regular postage, even though "air mail" had been discontinued a long time ago.

However, the old 10-cent "special delivery" and 15-cent "certified mail" stamps were not for postage, but for the service.  And so if I slapped one of those onto an envelope, the post office then added the then-current charge (for special delivery) minus ten cents, or added the then-current charge (for certified mail) minus fifteen cents.

Some of the envelopes, if I was using old half-cent, one-cent, one-and-a-quarter cents, one-and-a-half cents, stamps, would be plastered on both sides with stamps.

My mail always got attention.

[The Village Idiot]

However, the old 10-cent "special delivery" and 15-cent "certified mail" stamps were not for postage, but for the service.  And so if I slapped one of those onto an envelope, the post office then added the then-current charge (for special delivery) minus ten cents, or added the then-current charge (for certified mail) minus fifteen cents.

Some of the envelopes, if I was using old half-cent, one-cent, one-and-a-quarter cents, one-and-a-half cents, stamps, would be plastered on both sides with stamps.

My mail always got attention.

   do you know what some of those stamps might be worth??

[franksolich]

  do you know what some of those stamps might be worth??

I'm a collector.

Of course I do.

I once caught Hell from someone for using a 2-cent stamp from the 1890s, but I know this stuff.  Despite its great age, it was worth.....two cents.  Cracked or broken stamps are worth only their face-value, no additional because of age.

Perfect specimens, yes; broken ones, no.

This was during the 1980s and the first third of the 1990s, that I was doing this, using antique postage stamps.  I found a coin-and-stamp dealer who was always burdened with sheets and sheets of old unused postage stamps from estates.  They had been put away decades earlier under the erroneous assumption that they would be "valuable" some day.

Just like idiots who during the 1970s stashed away Bicentennial coins.

This coin-and-stamp dealer bought these sheets of unused old postage stamps at 50% of face value, and then turned around and sold them to me at 80% of face value.

(And hence interestingly, I was actually saving on postage costs.)

Most of them were usually from the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, although at times I got earlier and later issues too.  He also sold me old unused postage stamps that were broken or torn.

Once in a while, he would get a really poor lot of unused postage stamps, full or partial sheets that had been stored in damp conditions, meaning they stuck together or had no more adhesive on the back.  It was an easy matter of soaking (in water) those apart, and grabbing the bottle of Elmer's glue.

The biggest lot I ever got was some 1936 3-cent stamps commemorating some fair in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, that year.  It took forever to use those up.

When stamping envelopes, I always liked using different stamps, never two of the same kind.  And so it took a l-o-n-g time to use up all those purple Texas stamps, one at a time per envelope.

I always had to use several stamps, so as to meet the then-current first-class rate.

Just because something's old doesn't mean it's rare or valuable.

I can very well see myself, in a couple of decades more, buying Bicentennial quarter-dollars at.....twelve and a half cents apiece.

[The Village Idiot]

That must have been the forerunner of the State Fair of Texas or something.

[franksolich]

That must have been the forerunner of the State Fair of Texas or something.

If I recall correctly, it was the centennial year of Texas independence, and Dallas-Fort Worth put on a big mini-World's Fair in 1936.

[Tucker]

DUmmie coin collector: One who picks up coins in the parking lot at the liquor store.

LOL.

I was thinking that the coins they get from turning in empty bottles for the deposit.

[Specbid]

gateley  (1000+ posts)      Sat Mar-06-10 12:35 PM
Response to Reply #4
 
6. That's what I was thinking about -- the history. And knowing that others somewhere and some time used the very coin you're holding to buy a loaf of bread (or something. ) Not in a position to begin a collection, but I wish you continued success and enjoyment with yours!

A loaf of bread?...hell DUmmie, maybe that coin was used to buy a slave, or buy bullets to kill indians, or used by the RRs to exploit the chinese/irish workers etc. We know how evil American history is...

[Randy]

LOL.

I was thinking that the coins they get from turning in empty bottles for the deposit.

I was thinking more the smelly bums hitting you up for spare change.

[franksolich]

Oh my.

applegrove  (1000+ posts)      Sat Mar-06-10 11:59 PM
Response to Original message
 
36. I worked at a store that sold coins. I was showing them to a customer one day. I noticed that I had a little cheese powder on my finger from eating cheetos a little earlier. I went and checked the coins. One of the ones I showed the customer came with a little booklet. There was cheese powder on that. So I had to buy it. It only cost be $200. I looked it up online and it was only worth $35 dollars. That is the start and end to my coin collecting.

[BlueStateSaint]

Oh my.

applegrove  (1000+ posts)      Sat Mar-06-10 11:59 PM
Response to Original message
 
36. I worked at a store that sold coins. I was showing them to a customer one day. I noticed that I had a little cheese powder on my finger from eating cheetos a little earlier. I went and checked the coins. One of the ones I showed the customer came with a little booklet. There was cheese powder on that. So I had to buy it. It only cost be $200. I looked it up online and it was only worth $35 dollars. That is the start and end to my coin collecting.

 

Why am I not surprised at this?

[Specbid]

applegrove  (1000+ posts)      Sat Mar-06-10 11:59 PM
Response to Original message
 
36. I worked at a store that sold coins. I was showing them to a customer one day. I noticed that I had a little cheese powder on my finger from eating cheetos a little earlier. I went and checked the coins. One of the ones I showed the customer came with a little booklet. There was cheese powder on that. So I had to buy it. It only cost be $200. I looked it up online and it was only worth $35 dollars. That is the start and end to my coin collecting.

That was an expensive bag of Cheetos right there.