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About this journal

My rekindled interest in collecting started in 2009 with the impulse purchase of a 1783 shipwreck coin.  I did not imagine that collectible grade 8 reales coins were available until I started browsing Ebay to see whether I got a good deal on my first one.  After I realized what a poor deal I made, I set out to build a collection of quality 8 reales of the 1772-1791 design featuring the bust of Charles III.  I've added a modest collection of columnarios, too.

In 2013, I started a themed collection of coins depicting the sport of fencing, my other hobby/activity.

My current focus is on a collection of world silver crowns of the 16th to 18th centuries.  So far I have examples from the Commonwealth and England, France, Holy Roman Empire states and free cities, Swiss cantons, Dutch provinces, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Russia, Ragusa, Italian states, the Ottoman Empire, Malta, Bohemia, Poland, Hungary, Transylvania, the United States of America and, of course, Spain and Spanish colonies.

Entries in this journal

The Fix for Coins Misaligned in their Holders

Somehow this coin got rotated almost 180 degrees in its holder. I put in some strong bids but was not able to win any coins in several world coin auctions this Fall. For the 8 reales collector, it was a special time because quite a few ultra rare varieties were on the block. A 1733/2-MXF in VF-35 sold for $18,800 in Baltimore and a 1778 MoMF in XF sold for over 14000 euros in Barcelona. Last month I was able to take Friday off and visit the Baltimore Show. I enjoyed the dealers room and got
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Two goals in one!

An overdue report on my January world coin activities. I'm not sure if it's the same with US coins but I think the January Heritage, Stack's Bowers, Triton and Goldberg auctions have the best selection of rare and premium quality world coins of the year. Unlike last year, when I was completely shut out of January's world coin auctions, I scored a few goals this time around. One coin was literally two goals in one. I wanted to add a Swiss Thaler to my collection of world crowns and I've also
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Old Map -- New Presentation

What do you think of this type of coin presentation? I love the look of old historic maps so I thought I would try to use one as the background with a coin of, roughly, the same period. My coin is a 1629 Scudo of Odoardo Farnese, the Duke of Parma and Piacenza, from 1622 - 1646. The map is from 1699, by Phillip Lea of Cheapside, London. I think the map helps to set the coin in its historic, as well as geographic, context. ~jack edit: I posted a larger image to the chat board. To see
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Light and Shadow

Sometimes a strong lighting angle can bring out a coin's best appearance. The lamps that I use for my coin photographs are too bulky to allow placement near the camera lens so I have to experiment with different angles in relation to the plane of the coin's surface. I have a couple of small LEDs lamps on order that will allow me to get close to a perpendicular angle, but until they arrive I have to make due with what I have. I've read advice that for coins with portraits, you should try t
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US Silver Dollar Mint Type Set

I don't collect many US coins but they fit nicely into a mint type set. In a rare case of planning ahead with my coin acquisition strategy, I picked my US silver dollar types so that they each came from a separate mint. The set is now complete and I've created a custom set in the Thematic & Topical Coins section to show them off. coins.www.collectors-society.com/wcm/CoinCustomSetView.aspx?s=19490 Here's a photo teaser. ~jack To see old comments for this Journal entry, click her
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My Three Suns

A glorious light shines on former Spanish colonies. Three of my favorite 8 reales are from the former colonies of the Spanish Empire in the New World. The hopeful aspirations of these newly independent nations are reflected in the beautiful sunface designs of the Provincias Unidas del Río de la Plata, Republica del Centro de America and Republica Sud Peruana. The birth of new nations is a politically contentious process -- these republics had to deal with years of internal and external strife
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A rose by any other name...

would smell as sweet -- but a better photograph can't hurt! My original title for this post was 'Most Subtly Improved', a nod to Gary and Alan's recent posts about their photography, but I could't resist the Shakespearean jest. As my photography skills slowly progress I have greatly improved many of my early coin images but sometimes it's the ones with a subtle improvement that can really catch your attention. That's the case with my Pezza della Rosa or Rose Dollar and I hope you'll agree. Th
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England without a monarch!

A relic from the 'Interregnum' King Charles I lost more than the English Civil War. In 1649 he lost his head and England began a period of eleven years without a monarch. Even so, crowns were still minted. 1658 crown of Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland, a single year issue as he died that September. The crown is noted for its high strike quality due to the mechanized milling and press process introduced by Pierre Blondeau, former engineer o
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A Tale of Two Cities

It was the best of thalers, it was the worst of thalers... Several city-view thalers were up for sale this November and I acquired one of Frankfurt am Main and one of Regensburg. Minted just a few years apart, they are from the last few decades of the Holy Roman Empire. Both of these were Free Imperial Cities, subordinate only to the Emperor, and had important roles in the Empire; Frankfurt was the city where kings and emperors were crowned and Regensburg hosted the principle decision making
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Custom Sets Question

To go big or stay focused? Congratulations to all the registry participants and winners. Now that the 2015 awards have been decided we can take a peek at the judges' selections, and with 90,000 registry sets out there, I know I will be viewing most of these for the first time. Like many of you, I spent a good portion of 2015 creating, organizing and polishing my sets. I've become a big fan of custom sets and I added four last year. I especially like the control we have over the size of our s
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Second Chances

The two year wait for the coin that I won. In 2013, I told the story about the auction that I participated in where I saw the lot hammer at my pre-bid price. Later, I found out that a floor bidder had the lot reopened, but by then I had stopped watching the on-line feed so I didn't get the opportunity to counter-bid (I would had gone at least one increment higher). Now I can tell the rest of the story. That same coin came up for auction in the Rudman Collection of Mexican Coins, Part II.
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