THE STRUGGLE. THE ACQUISTION. THE GOODBYE.

One of the thrills of coin collecting is truly the hunt. Recently, I made it my mission to acquire a coin that is nearly impossible to find. Based on my research, only 25 to 50 of these coins even exist, and it is the key in the very lengthy S$20 commemorative series.

With the hunt, came months of calling, driving, chasing leads and dead ends. In many cases, I had to drive great distances only to find that the dealer was talking about a different coin, or trying to sell me something else.

Very few of these coins still exist, as many were destroyed during an attempt to create a memorabilia item for the Home Shopping Network. They attempted to encase these coins in hot plastic as a commemorative showpiece. The hot plastic melted the painted side of the coin, effectively destroying it. I believe about 200 coins were destroyed during this process. The other 40 or so coins were sold directly via the Mint website, as none were ordered by secondary dealers.

Finally the day came where I found it. The price was a little higher than I was expecting to pay, but with all the running around I had done, I felt as though it was worth it.

I bought the coin. Really, I bought it for a friend. The thrill of finding it is met with a little sadness to let it go, but I know that the true owner of this item loves the hobby as much as I do. The coin will have a good home. He has been looking for it for at least two years, so I hope it finds him well.

Off to the next journey. Appended is the photo. 2009 S$20 Toronto Maple Leafs Goalie Mask Coin (Mintage: 244, with less than 40 existed)

(ps if you are wondering why the mintage says 427 on the coin, that is because the RCM does not sell product as minted. At the time, they'd mint 1000 coin batches and ship them as ordered. So the mintage number you got was taken at random. Unsold coins went to the melting pot at year's end.

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