• 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.

ColonialCoinsUK

Member
  • Posts

    193
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Journal Entries posted by ColonialCoinsUK

  1. ColonialCoinsUK

    Collecting World Coins
    Well it has been a while since I actually bought a coin and 2020 turned out to be the first year in a long time that I didn’t pick up multiple lots at the major European auctions over the autumn. I should say this was not from a lack of trying, it is just that I was outbid on the lots I was interested in – sometimes quite spectacularly – so I was delighted when I picked up a 1809 20 Lire from the Milan mint of Napoleonic Italy in AU58 (although the mintage is 52,640 there are only 27 coins graded at NGC for this date and my coin is tied with one other at this grade with only a single coin finer at MS62).

    Just to complicate things there are two known varieties for the 1809 issue which, like 1808, these differ in the stars on the reverse. For the 1808 varieties there are 3 or 6 stars on either side of the standard whereas the 1809 coins both have 3 stars in the design however it is the star below the crown which is now different and this has either 5-points or 6-points. In some examples the 6-point star looks very much like one 5-point star on top of another and these two interpretations exist in the reference books.

    Corpus Nummorum Italicorum (1913), Pagani (1965), Krause and NGC do not differentiate between these varieties. Gadoury (2019) and PCGS highlight 5-pointed (4@XF45 and 2@AU53) and 6-pointed stars (one each at XF45, AU53 and MS62) whereas Montenegro (2020) describes the second variety as a 5-pointed star over another. Gigante (2021) highlights a total of four varieties, which are a combination of the normal 5-pointed star and one with extra points on the reverse coupled with two obverse dies depending on the position of the M mintmark relative to the 0 in the date, with this latter difference being known for the later dates.

    I find coins endlessly fascinating however it is such details which means that the search is never over and it looks like I need to find at least 3 more varieties for 1809M!


  2. ColonialCoinsUK

    Collecting World Coins
    It has been a while but my graded Napoleon typeset is now complete

    Congratulations must go to @Mac5 who reached 100% first.
    Next challenge will be a Custom Set and will be one coin per mint, only about a third of the way there so that may take some time as most of my Typeset are from Paris - mintmark A.
    A project for the next few generations will be the Sets for Italy, Spain, Westphalia, Holland and all the tokens and medals before even attempting date runs. As we don't have any grand children yet I need to have a word with the kids!
  3. ColonialCoinsUK

    Collecting World Coins
    Quite a while has passed since I added a coin to my collection - there are plenty to choose from out there but the prices being acheived at auction are now getting really silly, particularly for quality examples of almost anything.
    Despite this situation it will come as no surprise that the coin in question was Napoleonic  - a 1808 10 centimes from the Paris mint. Why would I do this when, it is the most common issue, and I already have a couple of high grade examples?? (details on my Registry set).
    This mintage is actually made up of two varieities - the normal one and the 'upside down' one. The latter is struck en medaille rather than the usual coin alignment and is by far the much rarer of the two - maybe a few% of the production at best. For years I have been looking at all the 1808A's that have appeared at auction in the hope of finding a good one, I had identified just a few but these had seen extensive circulation and would only grade as Fine at best, so not great and I let them go.
    Recently a quality example appeared and it was already graded. Such a variety is often missed, and it wasn't recognised on the label either - unfortunately the auction house realised what it was and so I decided to just pay up
    Would NGC now recognise this well established variety? There are also clear varieties for some of the other 10 centime issues and I also check for all of those.
     
  4. ColonialCoinsUK

    Collecting World Coins
    As mentioned in earlier Journal entries on Napoleonic coinage the impact of this period was not restricted to Europe, but global. Of particular interest is the collpase of the Spanish Empire in the America's with one country after another gaining their independence from Spain.

    For Guatemala this happened in 1821 when it became part of the new Central American Republic so my tiny Ferdinand VII silver 1/4 Real was an example of the last Spanish coinage struck. This period only lasted a few years until the Central American Civil War broke out (1826-1829) as the constituent territories sought their own paths. Over the next few years various factions, seemly pro and anti the Aycinena family, most notably Carrera, attempted to seize control of the region with the Concordat of 1854 finally providing a formal link between the State and the Catholic church. The 1890s not only saw the US take a larger interest in Latin America, with increased business activity, but also the first civilian President for many decades - Cabrera, revolution again saw a change in the 1920s. In time another military dictator arose - Jorge Ubico (1931-1944) which again culminated in revolution and the installation of Arevalo as President. The military regained power in 1951 and introduced many policies, which caused much suffering for the population, leading to outbreak of the Guatemalan Civil War in 1960 - which went on until 1996!
    Election of Portillo brought a degree of peace to the country however reform of the whole system was required and, at times, this was far from easy. Dealing with embedded corruption lead to the most recent change with both Morales (2015) and Giammattei (2020) being elected to address this specific issue.

     
    Given all the dramatic changes over the last 200 years it is no surprise that coins have changed from the gold and silver of the Spanish Empire to the base metal issues of today. The late 19th century saw the introduction of banknotes (in pesos) which changed to the Quetzal in the 1920's. Unlike many neighbouring countries the currency has been surpringly consistent for most of this period so I couldn't resist adding to my collection the 'paper' commemorative note released in 2021, thus representing the lifetime of independent Guatemala.

    Now to fill in all the gaps
  5. ColonialCoinsUK

    Collecting World Coins
    In a previous Journal Entry (Copper is good - September 2021) I highlighted a Napoleonic medal depicting the column in Place Vendome, Paris which was commissioned to recognise the success of the Grand Armee in the Battle of Austerlitz in 1805.  Following Napoleon's defeat the original Romanesque statue of Napoleon was torn down and replaced by a flag with the fleur-de-lys representing France. 1830 witnessed another revolution in France which saw Louis Phillipe and the Bourbon's back on the throne, albeit for the last time. In 1833, on the anniversary of this new period in French history, a more realistic statue of Napoleon was reinstated on top of the column and in my collection I have a large copper medal by Emile Rogat commemorating this event (Bramsen 1915; Julius 3900 var.; Essling 1685).
    This medal has Napoleon's portrait, and in particular the iconic tricorn hat, in very high relief making it quite unusual for the period and also for my collection as I don't have any of the modern high relief coins - so would it fit in a slab??


     
  6. ColonialCoinsUK

    Collecting World Coins
    The area in south central Africa now bordered by Botswana, Zambia, Mozambique and South Africa went through several reincarnations and amalgamations of territories before becoming Zimbabwe in 1980 - apparently they have inflation problems. I have a number of coins, almost all ungraded, from an earlier period, 1923 to 1953, when the area was called Southern Rhodesia and it was under British control.
    My original target was to complete a full date run for all of the denominations but after 20 years or so this is still not finished and my excuse is that life just got in the way. One of the great things about collecting coins is that you can start, stop and start again at any time and a few years ago I decided on the smaller goal of trying to put together a graded typeset for Southern Rhodesia for both George V and George VI.
    So far my Registry sets for these are still looking a bit sparse although I recently acquired a graded 1939 shilling (PCGS MS62) to make a little progress. As this year has the lowest mintage at 420,000 it is the key date shilling for George VI and at MS62 it is also the highest grade recorded at both PCGS and NGC (when I last looked) so I am very happy with this addition. I should sort through my other coins as some are certainly worth grading, particularly some of the sixpences and threepences and this would start to make the sets a bit more respectable.
    That Great Zimbabwe bird seems to get around quite a bit so it must be able to fly as it can't be sat down all the time!.
     
  7. ColonialCoinsUK

    Collecting World Coins
    As a collector of British sixpences it is no surprise that on the addition of Napoleonic and Spanish coinage I was drawn to the smaller denominations. Often these are less well documented than crowns and the gold coinage and as such there are often new varieties that remain to be discovered.
    In my collection I have a Mexican 1773 half real coin where the King's name is spelt CAROLS rather than the usual CAROLUS - in this case a well-known variety (Calico 2019: 196, Cayon 11118, it's even in Krause KM#69.2). You will have to forgive the terrible scan, I blame my example being very dark and low grade. Along side is a 1805 half real depicting his son Charles IV as IIII - just to prove that there was plenty of room for the extra 'U'.
    I wonder what the penalty was in those days for making that mistake!
    And people think quality control at some mints is bad today but in the 18th century no one was worrying about MS70.

  8. ColonialCoinsUK

    Collecting World Coins
    The Treaty of Amiens was signed in 1802 by France and the UK and ended the War of the Second Coalition and thus the French Revolutionary Wars. The resulting peace in Europe was only temporary with the British declaring war on France only a year later in response to Napoleon's continued and expanding occupation of territory thereby initiating the Napoleonic wars. This conflict then consumed Europe for more than a decade estabilishing the basis for the national boundaries we know today.
    Napoleon had a medal struck in response, with the English breaking the Treaty of Amiens represented by a large cat tearing up the Treaty. Over the years I have seen this cat described in auction listings and books as a lion, a leopard or a panther and even a pitbull so which it is?
    I posted this question on several forums and the polls favoured a panther whereas the comments seemed to favour a leopard. My original thought was it was a panther as these are usually depicted as maneless lions and, to me, it looked more like that. However it looks like panthers are spotted in heraldry etc and often have what appears to be fire coming from their mouths and ears which this big cat doesn't.
    That left maneless lion or a leopard and I would expect a 'lion' to have mane and all other lions seem to have one but I thought leopards had spots - in heraldry it seems not. It is well known that the English Arms are referred to as three lions however I found it interesting that these cats were called leopards until the late 1300's and it is only later than they became lions to the English - with the French and neighbouring nations still referring to them as leopards.
    A possible reason for this is that that leopards were thought to be a result of the mating of a lion and the mythical Pard, with the offspring therefore being leo-pards. This mixed heritage meant that leopards could not have young and was therefore also used as a term to describe someone born of adultery as such children were left out of the line of succession.
    It would not surprise me that, for such reasons, the English switched to calling them lions whilst the French were still calling the English leopards and hence 'barren bas*&"ds', or whatever the equivalent is in French!
    As this medal was struck in France, and blaming the English for ending the Treaty of Amiens, I am therefore going to refer to the big cat as a leopard from now on - of course all this could be complete rubbish and it is the local farm moggy
    Any other ideas?

  9. ColonialCoinsUK

    Collecting World Coins
    For many years I have not only been following coins, and medals but also banknotes - and with a username of 'ColonialCoinsUK' it will come as no surprise that the focus of this was the banknotes of the British colonies. Congratulations to Alan Collection Malaysia for their Overall Acheivement Award in the 2021 PMG Registry Awards.
    To date I have resisted the urge as I would like to collect everything but the British Empire and the Commonwealth covered many countries, and many years, and I just couldn't pick one area. I was also continually shocked by the prices of high grade examples so sets complimenting my coins of Australia, Canada, South/East/West Africa, Palestine, Hong Kong, Malaya, India and so on was an impossibility. Unforrtunately the prices obtained at the recent January auctions just emphasised this!
    My interest in Napoleonic coinage meant that I have also become familiar with the banknotes of some of the other colonial powers e.g. France, Spain and Italy. Although these were typically more affordable than the British issues they still represented a significant challenge given the coins I would prefer to occupy the final slots in some key sets. I expect this is because I tend to be drawn to the more classical designs from the early 20th century rather than more modern issues.
    @Revenant has made the jump to successfully collecting both coins and banknotes so it must be possible!
    No doubt a Journal entry. or two, may appear over at PMG at some point as I have found what I think is an interesting area and I have even managed to put together a few banknotes to get started.
     
  10. ColonialCoinsUK

    Collecting World Coins
    For the first time in years I actually had some time over the break and managed to sort through some coins. As I have mentioned a few times my original collection was British sixpences and, in particular Victorian ones (1864 to 1879) bearing die numbers in addition to the date.
    In turns out I had nearly 100 such sixpences scattered through various boxes that I had not catalogued properly. Some of these appear to be duplicates, some upgrades, some are die numbers that I was missing, some are unrecorded varieties and a few are even suitable for grading!
    I just need to deal with these now - the pile of other British and world coins still needs sorting out though. I hope I am not the only one behind with things.
     

  11. ColonialCoinsUK

    Collecting World Coins
    Another Napoleonic medal added to the collection. This one was produced following the Treaty of Pressburg which was signed by Napoleon on the 26th December 1805 following the major victory by the French over the Austrian's at Austerlitz earlier in that month. In 1813, as Napoleon's control in Europe weakened, the Austrians regained the Illyrian provinces so French influence was short-lived but did result in some positive changes in region.
    As part of this important Treaty Austria ceded its possessions in Dalmatia to France and this is represented on this 1806 bronze medal by the Temple of Jupiter in Split (Bramsen 513, Julius 1552, Essling 1128 - there is also an example in silver). This temple was part of Diocletian's palace, and given Napleon's fixation with the Roman Empire, this was no doubt an appropriate example to highlight the importance of the region. The Paris mint produced a whole range of medals related to this pivotal battle and the corresponding Treaty, and its resultant collapse, so this medal is the start of a small sub-collection.
     

  12. ColonialCoinsUK

    Collecting World Coins
    During the Napoleonic period Italy was not the single country we know today and as such had multiple, sometimes, short-lived territories each with their own coinage.

    The gold 20 and 40 Lire issues were only struck at Milan (mint mark M) with the smaller denominations also being issued by the mints at Bologna and Venice (mint marks B and V), the Italians seem to have had a much greater need than the French for small change - Napoleon only had a single copper issue struck for the French, the 1808BB 5 centimes, so I assume there was enough copper coinage already circulating. These were the main mints for the Kingdom of Italy and I have some examples for each of these. However some Italian mints were under the same authority as the French mints and issued Francs rather than Lire, these were Turin (mint mark U, T was already taken by Nantes!), Genoa (mint mark CL) and Rome (mint mark is a R topped with a crown as Napoleon declared himself the King of Rome). I have had a 1810U gold 20 francs for some time, and this is part of my Registry set, however examples from Rome and Genoa have proven more of a challenge - usually financial . So it is great to finally acquire the crowned R mint mark in the form of a 1813Rome gold 20 francs to add to my collection I will now have to start saving for the elusive CL.


  13. ColonialCoinsUK

    Collecting World Coins
    Given earlier Journal entries it will be no surprise that I, not only, have an interest in die varieties but have also been looking at the Napoleonic coinage of Italy which is complex to say the least!
    It looks like I was not the only one attempting to resolve this dilemma as another collector has also been working on the gold 20 Lire issues and their collection came up for sale at the recent Gaduory auction in Monaco which took place on 22/23 October (see catalogue pages below and next post). It includes the variations in the number of stars, the points on the stars, the overdates and the relative positions and styles of the M mintmark for Milan.
    I think this should now be the reference work for these coins - just the small matter of all the other denominations to sort out now which are even more diverse than 20 Lire with the Venice and Bologna mints also issuing coins and often reusing the dies from Milan! 


  14. ColonialCoinsUK

    Collecting World Coins
    Napoleon had a fascination with the Roman Empire and this is reflected in everything he did, most notably on the medals of the period. I have an example of the medal depicting the Vendome column in Paris, this was erected in 1810 as tribute to the Grand Armee and the Victory at Austerlitz in 1805. This was Napoleon's take on Trajan's column in Rome.

    Both columns show a spiral relief of important military events, the major events of the 1805 campaign for Napoleon and in this case of Trajan the Dacian campaign. The similarity does not end there as they also seem to have had the statue on the top changed a few times over the years – Napoleon, originally dressed in Roman garb, did not survive much past 1814 and the fall of his Empire being re-instated as the little corporal’ in 1833. The Vendome column was also demolished in 1871 during the short-lived Paris commune only to be re-erected a mere three years later following the French army regaining control of the area. This is the version that can still be seen in Paris today and is topped by yet another roman reincarnation of Napoleon.

    An extremely rare, possibly unique, gold version of the medal has just appeared at the upcoming MDC Monaco auction (20-21 October, lot 763) with a starting price of 30,000Euros. That means that I will not be able to ‘upgrade’ in this lifetime and have to settle for my example, copper is good.



  15. ColonialCoinsUK

    Collecting World Coins
    I agree with everyone that prices, and certainly those in my areas of interest, seem to be going forever upwards - I think I was a bit in shock watching my selected lots go through at the MDC Monaco auction, the Paramount Collection and the latest Heritage and Stacks sales, needless to say I didn't get anything!! As a result I have bought very little lately, although I did pick up some more Napoleonic medals - in copper/bronze as the more elusive silver strikes are now achieving prices in the thousands!

    My lack of recent Journal entries is a result of my focus being elsewhere following a life-changing diagnosis rather than the lack of new acquisitions (I did try). Although I am functioning again and back at work for now it looks like I am going to get the time to finally sort out, and research, my collection properly, albeit earlier than expected.

    Always have a hobby you can do at your own pace whilst sitting down - numismatics seems a good choice! 
  16. ColonialCoinsUK

    Collecting World Coins
    The catalogue for the Paramount Collection from Heritage has just arrived and I will be adding this to my collection as it has some great information on rare world coins and will no doubt get referred to for many years to come.

    As I mentioned in the ‘Auction Catalogs’ thread some of the standard references used in sales for the areas I have an interest in are actually auction catalogues rather than books, the main one being Napoleonic medals. I already had a copy of Bramsen (reprint, original 1907 and the first attempt at listing) and Julius (1932) so it was great that I have now also acquired a copy of the 1927 catalogue for the Prince d’Essling collection on the coins & medals of the 1st Empire Napoleon I to Napoleon III, so I finally have the three main ‘references’. There have been many more specialist collections since the early 1800’s and due to last minute work commitments I managed to miss the start of the latest Kolbe & Fanning Sale (March 6th) which had some rare catalogues for collections from this early period – this was a bit frustrating to say the least. I was surprised that the copy of Julius that appeared later on in the sale hammered at $550! (only the 3rd copy I have seen, including mine, and therefore looks to be a much better financial return that some of my coins).

    I know that you are supposed to buy the book before the coin but sometimes you have no choice – well that is my excuse.

  17. ColonialCoinsUK

    Collecting World Coins
    Short version – do all the things I still haven’t done from 2020, 2019, 2018 etc
    Longer version – I bought less coins in 2020 than I have done for many years, and this is not because of the current environment we all find ourselves in, but that the higher grade coins in my collecting areas, even the minors, seem increasingly scarce and have rapidly moved beyond by budget making completing sets effectively impossible.
    At least partial acceptance of this fact prompted some specific research into ancients and banknotes, two areas I have always been interested in and still follow, and the situation is very similar – quality examples are very expensive, even more so than coins. Financially it looks like I should have concentrated on banknotes of the British colonies rather than their coins!
    So where does that leave things? It is no doubt apparent that I have an interest in varieties, this coupled with the rapid improvement in photography of auction lots, has made identifying such things much easier which is great – and even negates the need to buy the actual coin which is a bonus when you can’t afford them. Documenting this level of detail may not always be possible within the standard references, which makes rarity etc somewhat difficult to establish, and it would be useful to have such information available.
    This Journal would be a good place for me to start, and evolve, such a study for the series I am familiar with as committing to paper, albeit electronic, often highlights gaps in the information available which my memory just doesn’t do any more,  so it was a nice surprise to receive another Journal Award from NGC. This was particularly appreciated as friends and family would probably describe me as more of a practical person and allergic to paperwork. I do hope to continue adding to my collection however a shift in focus from date-runs means that Custom Sets will be more appropriate although the current possibilities for these still have plenty of empty slots before they are coherent enough to be added to the Registry.
    I hope everyone makes progress on their goals for 2021 be it coins or anything else (apparently my wife thinks the kitchen needs painting etc etc).
  18. ColonialCoinsUK
    A week or so ago I thought a recently completed set would form the basis for a Journal entry given the interesting range of denominations, metals and mints. The basic set is made up of 12 coins and my set is currently comprised of ungraded coins and coins in both NGC and PCGS holders and as such is a long way from being suitable for the NGC Registry. It is a good start though as it does include some key dates in top grades.

    However, whilst assembling the coins for a 'group photo' I found that I was missing one and I can't find it anywhere  From memory (which is now highly suspect) this was an ungraded coin which are so much easier to misplace than ones in a slab. Just in case I can't find it, and now having an increased need to complete the set, I looked at the current auction listings where there are less than a dozen for sale, all common dates and in low grade/damaged or part of bulk lots, although one appearing in January is a bit better. Graded populations total ~60 for all years across both NGC and PCGS and these do not appear for sale very often so a fresh coin seems to be the only option - I just can't bring myself to bid on coins in 'fine' anymore so it looks like finally completing the set may be a little while yet.
  19. ColonialCoinsUK
    As I have mentioned my original goal in coin collecting was to assemble all the die numbers for the British sixpences from 1864 to 1879 which resulted in many other collectors questioning my sanity as there are about 600. So many years ago, having nearly acheived this goal which the acquisition of 100's of different die numbers my focus shifted to colonial coins and the Napoleonic period yet I have never quite shaken the die number challenge and always check auction listings although I have usually resisted the urge to bid.

    A few weeks ago I failed to control this impulse and submitted bids for two graded sixpences, both of which would be upgrades from the examples I already had in my collection. As this sale was not live I was not tempted to just increase my bids until I secured them and as a result only one of my bids was successful. I am now the pround owner of a 1865 sixpence with die number 18 in MS63 which is an improvement on my original VF example.

    I am sure I am not the only one who 'reverts to type' although unrecorded overdates in my more recent collecting areas is probably the start of another slippery slope. 


  20. ColonialCoinsUK
    It is good practice that auction houses cite references for the lots they are selling however, and it may just be me, but this can sometimes make research difficult for a number of reasons.

    1) What is the actual reference? Fortunately, some, but not all, auction houses list the references used but do not always state which one the abbreviation used in the lot description corresponds to. For example, using ‘P’ and then citing several books with titles/authors/publishers that could all be the mystery ‘P’ is not very helpful, it would also be nice if everyone used the same abbreviation.

    2) Using a reference that is prohibitively expensive.

    3) Using a reference that is out-of-print that no one can get hold of!

    For most of my areas of interest Option 3 seems to be the situation that I am usually faced with and that can be very frustrating. As a result, this Journal Entry was prompted by the eventual acquisition of a copy of the two volume ‘Histoire Monetaire et Numismatique Contemporaine’ by Jean Mazard published in 1965 which corresponds to the ‘MAZ’ references sometimes seen in auction listings (or M, or Mazard, or MZ).

    Once acquired I always find it interesting to compare these older tomes to the more recent references as this not only highlights discoveries made since publication but that they often also contain more detailed and useful information – it also highlights that the citation used for some lots is wrong

    It is often said to ‘buy the book before the coin’ and I totally agree where this is easy to do – Gadoury and Le Franc publish regular price guides for French coinage largely negating the need for MAZ however it is nice to now be able to add this to my collection of books. I expect many of us are searching for ‘missing’ texts for our libraries and, once found, it is just as satisfying as tracking down that elusive coin – well almost.

  21. ColonialCoinsUK
    Whilst trawling a dealers inventory, looking for something else, I was very pleased to come across a 1809W 10 centimes (PCGS AU55 – main image), and I immediately bought this coin for my Napoleon collection as I was lacking an example from the Lille mint for this denomination.

    Why the instant decision? Having, decided to assemble a graded set of 10 centimes in 2012 I later reviewed the population reports (2017, included in the introductory text to my Registry Set) which not only highlighted that this would be a real challenge but that there were no graded examples of the 1809W issue at either service, plus the few examples that I was aware of were in VF at best and usually much worse even though it has one of the higher mintages in the series at 1,160,351.

    My journal article in January ‘If you wait long enough ….’ highlighted that I had been fortunate to acquire a newly graded 1808I example of the 10 centimes (the first at NGC, MS65 – there were already two at PCGS, both MS63). These two new discoveries prompted me to update my records for the Napoleon 10 centimes and this led to some interesting findings.

    In less than 3 years the number of 10 centimes graded, across all dates (1808-1810) and mints, has not only risen by 32% (65 to 86, almost equally split between NGC and PCGS) but the first examples of 1808B and 1809W have been added to the population reports – the latter being my new acquisition. It is no surprise that the most common issue, 1808A, has seen the largest increase with 9 mint state examples being added! I have included a more detailed examination as an update in the introductory text to my Registry Set.

    Although this study is only a miniscule, or even smaller, snapshot of the vast arena that is world coin collecting, the quality, ungraded coins appear to be out there waiting to be discovered. This surprising increase in graded examples coupled with the now routine appearance of graded world coins at auctions across the globe means that I am more than happy with my decision to transition my collection to this format.

  22. ColonialCoinsUK
    Unfortunately, things have not changed since my Journal Entry last month - How difficult can placing a bid be?

    In that never-ending challenge of trying to fill gaps in my collection several more very nice examples of coins, ungraded and possibly the finest available for the issue, have appeared and passed me by yet again. Typically, there were multiple bidders and they achieved 4x the top estimate and as the prices kept rising, I just couldn’t bring myself to bid again.

    As a result I thought I would take the opportunity to expand my library as some interesting books also appeared in the auction lists, one of which, although expensive, is still available brand new from the publisher and as this was the first time I had ever seen a second hand copy for sale I rearranged my plans and followed the auction online with the intention of finally securing myself a copy. I was very surprised when it hammered at 25% more than the cost of a new one!

    Having recovered from my disbelief I thought I can take a hint and ordered a new copy instead – ‘your purchase will not be shipped until September due to COVID-19 restrictions’.

  23. ColonialCoinsUK
    With an ongoing interest in far too many coin series there is usually something suitable at most auctions for filling a gap in my sets with a quality coin however I have bought almost nothing for months. Even with some outstanding top-grade minors appearing I just do not seem to be able to press the ‘bid’ button one more time to try and secure these elusive examples for my collection and in some cases I am already regretting it.

    I think some possibilities for this, subconsciously or not, are:-

    1) The COVID-19 crisis is causing me to cut back on spending in case cash is needed due to an enforced change in job, health etc

    2) I have been on the lookout for two particular coins for a long time, both of which have surfaced over the last year for the first time in decades. The first was in a sale which also included one of my other ‘holy grail coins’ so, with limited funds, I had to make choice. The one that got away subsequently appeared on a dealer’s list for 3x the hammer price and, and as it is still there, I hope that it may re-appear at auction at a more realistic valuation. The second is almost completely missing from the auction records and attracted lots of bidders and sailed way past what I thought was an already high estimate causing me to just stare at the screen in disbelief.

    I expect reality is probably a little of both, although I would like to think with more of the second option. Although both of these coins are very rare the auction results would suggest that they are now really beyond my budget and spending a few hundred dollars on a coin now may not actually make any difference – although restricting the family to beans on toast for the foreseeable future would . There are some auctions this month that will, yet again, test me so will I miss out on some excellent coins or hope that one (and not both ) of my key targets appear at the major sales in November and January?

  24. ColonialCoinsUK
    In a vain attempt at sorting out auction catalogues at home I found a small book buried in their midst.
    This was 'Coins & Tokens of Tasminia 1803 - 1910' by Roger V. Neice. As a collector of British Colonial issues and those of the Napoleonic period it was refreshing to go through this again as it includes all the various types of 'money' that circulated in Tasminia with plenty of historical context conveying the variable fortunes of the island and its people. To say Napoleon's influence was global would be an understatement as Tasmania is about as far away as you can get!
    It also prompted a quick search of the auction archives for some of the rarer issues - it appears that proof examples of some of the early tokens now command serious money .
    This interesting find has renewed my hope of finding my other 'missing' books and I know that I have some actual Australian and New Zealand tokens somewhere although I expect it will only be 'moving house' that finally explains all the disappearances.