• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Well, doesn’t that just look… odd?

0
Revenant

I’ve been really focusing on my Zimbabwe note set recently but I’ve been having a nagging voice in the back of my mind telling me that I should try to set a part of my budget aside soon and pick up the Falcons I need for my Queen’s beast set. I think the biggest problem I’m having with listening to that little voice right now is that the Zimbabwe notes / set / collection has me feeling pumped and excited and interested right now and that Falcon just... doesn’t.

If it weren’t for the fact that I have been buying the 6 sets and I want it / need it to finish those sets I don’t know that I’d be all that interested in buying it. It just feels like a really disappointing and underwhelming design IMO. It just does not live up to the promise that I saw in the Lion, the Griffin, and the Dragon.

And, now, while cruising the internet and window-shopping around on eBay, what do I discover? The new design for the Yale has been released and… Doesn’t that just look… odd?

Before seeing this, I didn’t know what a Yale was. Looking at this coin; I just don’t know what to think. It looks like the thing has chicken pox or measles or something. I can see from other depictions of the thing that it does have some kind of spots or horns on it but the way it comes across / looks in this design just looks funky to me.

That… is going to take me some time to wrap my head around.

I’m writing this as much as anything for my own future amusement and reconsideration down the line. When I saw the Bull for the first time it didn’t thrill me but it definitely grew on me as I looked at it more. Six months after seeing it, the Falcon really hasn’t grown on me the same way. I still just don't really like it. I’m curious to see if I’ll look back on this design in a year or 10 years and have decided that I like it or if it’s going to be, “Nope. Still ugly.”

I’m starting to think that this really is the major risk / trade-off of starting a new commemorative series or something similar with the first design. If you start out with the first design and buy the coins as the come out, you have no way of knowing when you start if you’re actually going to like the entire set. If you wait to see more designs before you pull the trigger or start to commit, it might be harder or more expensive to pick up some of the earlier designs that you didn’t pick up when they were current.

When you start collecting an issue that doesn’t change over time or a classic series that ended a long time ago you know exactly what you’re getting into. Of course, I say that about coins where the design is static and then you get someone at the mint with the bright idea of making 5 or 10 sub-types or varieties every year.

 

front-min_3_132.jpg

0

8 Comments

Recommended Comments

Mohawk

Yeah.....I see what you mean....the Yale looks like it's suffering from some kind of illness...maybe smallpox?  Something like that?  At any rate, it looks strange and rather sickly....not something you'd expect in heraldry to convey strength or heritage or anything else that heraldry is meant to convey.  As for myself, I think there's nothing wrong with focusing on your Zimbabwe notes and there's nothing wrong with only collecting the Queen's Beasts coins that you actually enjoy.  That's the trap that traditional series collecting can spring on us......the need to collect everything, even if we don't like everything in a series or set.  An example of this for me is last year's US Mint Reverse Proof Set.  As you already know, I'm not a US coin guy but this set had three of the ATB quarters with birds featured on them and I am a bird coin guy.  So, I bought the set, took the three quarters and sold the rest.  I paid for the set that way and I got the coins from it I wanted without being stuck with coins I dislike.  And I feel good about it!  I did it my way, and my award winning Custom Set benefited.  I pursue my Canadian PL coins in a similar way.  While I plug them into year sets, I'm mostly hunting Cameo pieces, so I'll buy duplicates and not worry about it.  If I can't find one of the coins in a condition I like (mostly meaning cameo, but toned also works here), I don't worry about it too much.  I sort of view my collection as one big thing made up of different little parts, built to my own design and what I like to do.  If they form sets, then they do, but I don't let the idea of sets or series hold me hostage.  I just do what I do.  Giving up on the idea of traditional sets and series has been rather liberating for me and I feel that it has made me a better and happier collector.  The best thing I think is to ask yourself if you genuinely like something.  If you do, then chase it but if you don't, don't spend you money on something just to complete someone else's idea of what a set or series is.  Buy what you like, form a collection of what you like, and you can't go wrong!  However, if there is a series or set where you like everything in it (like your Zimbabwe notes), then forming a series set is a good thing!  There is no one absolute answer on how to pursue this great hobby.....and, just my humble opinion, your Zimbabwe notes are far more fascinating than the Queen's Beasts coins will ever be!

Cheers!

~Tom

Edited by Mohawk
Link to comment
Numismatic, A.A.S.

Yale University in the U.S.A. has the creature posted everywhere on campus...it appears on many things related to the Queen's Coronation in 1953...like Medals and other stuff...even though I do not collect Zimbabwe Notes...Congratulations!!! Love your posts!!....peace 

Link to comment
ilLOminatus

A quick trip to wikipedia reveals that it is a mythical creature described as "an antelope- or goat-like four-legged creature with the tusks of a boar and large horns that it can swivel in any direction"

Link to comment
thisistheshow
On 2/25/2019 at 9:17 PM, Mohawk said:

Yeah.....I see what you mean....the Yale looks like it's suffering from some kind of illness...maybe smallpox?  Something like that?  At any rate, it looks strange and rather sickly....not something you'd expect in heraldry to convey strength or heritage or anything else that heraldry is meant to convey.  As for myself, I think there's nothing wrong with focusing on your Zimbabwe notes and there's nothing wrong with only collecting the Queen's Beasts coins that you actually enjoy.  That's the trap that traditional series collecting can spring on us......the need to collect everything, even if we don't like everything in a series or set.  An example of this for me is last year's US Mint Reverse Proof Set.  As you already know, I'm not a US coin guy but this set had three of the ATB quarters with birds featured on them and I am a bird coin guy.  So, I bought the set, took the three quarters and old the rest.  I paid for the set that way and I got the coins from it I wanted without being stuck with coins I dislike.  And I feel good about it!  I did it my way, and my award winning Custom Set benefited.  I pursue my Canadian PL coins in a similar way.  While I plug them into year sets, I'm mostly hunting Cameo pieces, so I'll buy duplicates and not worry about it.  If I can't find one of the coins in a condition I like (mostly meaning cameo, but toned also works here), I don't worry about it too much.  I sort of view my collection as one big thing made up of different little parts, built to my own design and what I like to do.  If they form sets, then they do, but I don't let the idea of sets or series hold me hostage.  I just do what I do.  Giving up on the idea of traditional sets and series has been rather liberating for me and I feel that it has made me a better and happier collector.  The best thing I think is to ask yourself if you genuinely like something.  If you do, then chase it but if you don't, don't spend you money on something just to complete someone else's idea of what a set or series is.  Buy what you like, form a collection of what you like, and you can't go wrong!  However, if there is a series or set where you like everything in it (like your Zimbabwe notes), then forming a series set is a good thing!  There is no one absolute answer on how to pursue this great hobby.....and, just my humble opinion, your Zimbabwe notes are far more fascinating than the Queen's Beasts coins will ever be!

Cheers!

~Tom

This is very well said. It is important to not become a hostage to anything in collecting at the expense of losing the enjoyment. 

Thank you for writing this.

Link to comment
Revenant

For some reason (I can't tell ya why, honestly, maybe it's just seeing it in actual silver), when looking at this picture, it looks a lot better to me. The spots don't seem nearly as unsightly and the face / eye doesn't seem so weird.

52914659_425192264918523_5664564123959033856_n.jpg

Link to comment
MIKE BYRNE

Great journal. I just sat this stuff up. My opinion a and only mine. I would not buy this piece it's didn't say buy me. And it looks sick.silver at $15 an ounce I bet they charged alot more that that plus the exchange rate. I did enjoy what you wrote and the comments. At the ANA we learn from them also. Thanks . Mike

Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now