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ColonialCoinsUK

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Journal Entries posted by ColonialCoinsUK

  1. ColonialCoinsUK

    216 Years ago this week

    By 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.
     

  2. ColonialCoinsUK

    A lot can happen in 200 years

    By 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
  3. ColonialCoinsUK

    A rethink

    By ColonialCoinsUK,

    In my last journal entry I probably took the suggestion made by my wife a little too lightly - never a good idea!

    Having mentioned the apparent lack of detailed information available on numerous aspects of world coinage the suggestion of putting together such articles would be very interesting and also introduce some much needed focus. My initial thoughts on this highlighted two main challenges:

    1.   High quality pictures of the coins are essential.
    2.   Examples of all coin types are needed.

    To address Point 1 I have found various threads on the web on how to take pictures of coins, some of which are very technical, so I would have much to learn about photography - I would also need to acquire the necessary equipment (just have my phone and a scanner at the moment). All guidance gratefully received!

    Point 2 is the major challenge as I would not be able to acquire all the necessary 'type' coins to complete any series - financially this is a complete non-starter and would probably take several lifetimes even if unlimited funds were available. The solution would be to use pictures of the coins from other sources (most likely from auction records) although I expect copyright etc therefore comes into play, particularly if the subject matter was in an area popular enough to consider publishing the material as a proper book rather than just as an open access type article. I expect that some members here have published such material and it would be great to get your thoughts on how to approach this.

    It looks like my 'to do list' just got longer!
  4. ColonialCoinsUK

    Added a key Auction Catalogue

    By 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.

  5. ColonialCoinsUK

    An extra path...

    By 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.
     
  6. ColonialCoinsUK
    The recent thoughts by Revenant1 on their choices following the eventual appearance of not one but two examples of a long sought after 1877 Netherlands 10 Gulden coin prompted me to post my first journal entry although the nature of my dilemma is somewhat different.

    As a collector of world coins one of the challenges over the years has been to improve the quality of my collection, however, the number of suitable examples appearing at auction here in the UK is extremely limited with the consequence that most of my purchases are from auctions in the US and continental Europe with some from even further afield (e.g. Australia, Hong Kong and Japan).

    Although the Buyers Premium and shipping costs can vary dramatically between auctions they are known in advance,  whether the purchase will incur import duty should also be considered in what is now very much a global past-time, however the recent biggest uncertainty is currency valuations which seem to be more eratic than ever. Having recently paid invoices in USD, Euros and Swiss Francs my dilemma is do I pay immediately to get the coin in my hands as fast as possible or wait a few days and hope the exchange rate moves in my favour? or risk it going in the wrong direction - as the £ seems to be doing a lot at the moment.

    As coins often provide a tangible insight into the ever-changing history of the world, coupled with (many) years between the appearance of some issues which then may or may not match availability of funds, I expect I will probably carry on regardless and live with the 'excitment' of the currency markets. I can not see myself returning to collecting only UK issues although I would appreciate a more stable exchange rate rather than having to contend with +/- 5% depending on the day of the week!
  8. 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.
  9. ColonialCoinsUK

    Before Zimbabwe there was ....

    By 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!.
     
  10. ColonialCoinsUK
    As my original collection was British sixpences I seem to have a preference for the smaller denominations over trade coinage as these saw extensive day-to-day use and high grade examples are therefore much more of a challenge. This situation coupled with surprisingly limited data and research means that the opportunity to make new discoveries is much greater - or is it that I am just a glutton for punishment? For example at a recent auction a major London dealer thought my quest for die numbers on sixpences was 'mad' - and that's the polite version, as even the most complete 6d collections have not come close and, anyway, it may not even be possible.

    My last journal entry highlighted the discovery of an excellent example of the French 1808I 10 centimes however the upheaval of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic period was felt throughout Europe and beyond, most notably it precipitated the collapse of the Spanish Empire. It is no surprise that 8 reales are very popular with collectors, particularly the colonial issues, and as a result there are some excellent books on the subject and there has been extensive and outstanding research on both the 'real' issues and the many counterfeits - contemporary or modern. Naturally I was drawn to the smaller coins - 1/4, 1/2, 1, 2 and 4R - and found that detailed information was somewhat lacking, particularly for the 'home' Spanish issues and as a result I have picked up a few examples of these over the years.

    There were a few of these minors in rare high grades scattered amongst the 8 reales in the many January auctions and despite strong bids I only managed to pick up a single example, a Spanish 1808S CN 2 reales in NGC MS64.* As the last issue from the Seville mint for Charles IV it can usually be found in Fine/VF although an uncirculated example is very rare so I was happy to add this to my collection - my Registry Set now boasts a total of 3 coins out of a possible 41, so the prospects of completing this single country set in high grade does not look good but there is no harm in trying!#

    * I am still amazed that the 1781Mo FF 1/2 real went for $1800!
    # Graded coins currently exist at both services for only 19 of the 41 Charles IV issues with only 11 of them having mint state examples, often just a single coin - high grade raw coins also seem to be just as elusive if not more so. The Ferdinand VII coinage is an even greater undertaking as the French forces were occupying much of Spain by then resulting in many temporary mints being established. 
     
  11. 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.
  12. ColonialCoinsUK

    Copper is good

    By 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.



  13. ColonialCoinsUK

    Dealing with the unexpected

    By 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! 
  14. ColonialCoinsUK

    Finally made it to Rome

    By 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.


  15. 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’.

  16. 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.

  17. 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?

  18. ColonialCoinsUK
    It is nice to see people are making progress with their collections, despite other commitments my own collection is ticking over albeit very slowly. In the introduction to my Typeset of French Napoleonic Coinage I ended with 'The distinct prospect of finding that first, or elusive high grade example for a particular issue remains and makes every auction catalogue a potential source of a new discovery' and this situation probably holds true for the majority of older world coins, particularly minors. Even with the surge in Third Party Grading over the last few years the populations remain extremely low and for many date-runs a graded set is not even possible at this point. As a result I have submitted quite a few coins to NGC rather than wait for the rare, or non-existant, graded example to appear. It was therefore a surprise to see a 1808 10 centimes from the Limoges mint appear at a recent auction in NGC MS65.* Despite this issue having an intermediate mintage for the series - Le Franc 1,062,123 - my review of the population reports in 2017 (included in the introductory text to my 5 and 10 centimes Registry Set) highlighted only two graded examples, both PCGS and MS63, in addition there also appears to be little or no raw coins in mint state in the auction records which is supported by a lack of prices in both Le Franc and Gadoury for uncirculated coins. Even though I was not the only person to recognise the (conditonal) rarity of this coin I was fortunate to secure it and it now resides in my Registry Set.#

    Despite this success there are no graded examples at all for many of the issues in this Set, and for that matter most of the sets I am interested in, with the possible exception of post-1816 British coinage, and sets are therefore being made up of raw coins. As a result I expect that I am not the only 'collector' of world coins that has ungraded examples which are probably, or close to, the 'best known' all the while hoping that a better example appears at some point as you have to believe the coin is out there!

    * Some European auction houses have now taken to grading certain items as part of the sale process
    # Fortunately I had the funds to take advantage of this opportunity however these were meant to be used for a camera so starting to understand coin photography has been somewhat delayed although I have ordered Mark Goodman's book!
  19. ColonialCoinsUK
    Having chased die numbers on British sixpences for many years I am always on the look out for different varieties of the world coins I collect. Whilst trying to complete a graded typeset of Napoleon's Kingdom of Italy coinage* - to mirror my typeset of the French issues - I recently acquired a gold 20 Lire issued by the Milan mint in 1808 in NGC AU58. For the French issues the 20 Franc coin is the most common by far of the two gold denominations whereas for the Italian coinage it is the opposite with the 40 Lire being the most abundant meaning that the 20 Lire pieces are more of a challenge.

    Even though the 1808M issue has the second highest mintage of the short series at 87,183, and that it also has the most graded examples - 37 coins graded at NGC (VF to MS64) and 9 at PCGS (XF40 to AU58) it still does not appear very often. To complicate matters further there are 3 varieties of this coin - Type 1 which is extremely rare and Type 2 which is the version that is usually found. The Type 2 coins are further split into 2 varieties depending on the number of stars on each side of the standard on the reverse, one has 3 stars and the other 6, hopefully the attached scans highlight the difference between the two varieties. As I now have both of these varieties in my collection I decided to look into the possible populations and my research so far suggests that the existing population of Type 2 1808M 20 Lire coins is most likely less than 150 coins with VF being the typical grade encountered and that the 3 stars variety is about twice as prevelant as the 6 stars variety. Although both NGC and PCGS do not yet distinguish between these known varieties on the label what was surprising was that the vast majority of higher grade examples are already in TPG holders and that these also account for a significant portion of the existing examples!

    It should also be noted that, at the moment, I am only aware of a single mint state example, either raw or graded and that is the NGC MS64 '3 stars' example sold by Heritage in January 2015 for $3525, as this is way beyond my budget, and that it also has some light adjustment marks across the middle of the reverse, I am more than happy with my '2nd finest AU58' example. Following Revenants Journal Entry on 'Subjective Novelty' I realise these details on varieties are probably of little interest to most people however I find it fascinating and it keeps me happy!

    *Almost complete as a mixture of NGC and PCGS coins although I do also need to submit a few.

  20. ColonialCoinsUK
    As my username would suggest I have a long standing interest in British colonial coinage, whilst the vast majority of my collection is made up of raw coins in VF I do occasionally improve to a graded example. I was therefore pleased to see a 1942 bronze penny from Southern Rhodesia in NGC MS63BN appear recently at Heritage,* as this was a lot at a weekly auction the estimate isn't usually added until the close of the preceeding weeks sale so I was very surprised when this was set as $20-$40. I say surprised as this is not only the key date penny for George VI but mint state examples seem to be scare to say the least and high grade examples are typically missing from British Colonial collections which usually settle for the proof version of the date.

    Although there are three graded finer at NGC (65BN, 64RB and 64BN) with three others also reported in mint state (two tied at 63BN and one at 62RB) and only a total of two coins at PCGS (65BN and 64BN) I expect it will be a long time before some of these appear at auction as these make up more examples than are contained in the online auction records! Unfortunately I wasn't the only collector to realise the conditional rarity of this coin and I had to pay $85 (hammer) to secure it - which was just over double the top estimate but less than I expected to pay so I guess very few collectors in the UK were up at 3am in the morning. As a result, coupled with the fact that I was outbid in the Baldwin's sale of the Diana Collection in 2008,# I am more than happy to have this rather elusive penny fill another slot in my graded typeset for Southern Rhodesia.

    * Pics are from Heritage as I haven't received the coin yet.
    # I did pick up some nice sixpences though
  21. ColonialCoinsUK

    Making progress - sort of

    By 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.
     

  22. ColonialCoinsUK

    Napoleon - what a relief!

    By 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??


     
  23. ColonialCoinsUK

    Napoleon is finished - almost!

    By 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!
  24. ColonialCoinsUK

    Plans for 2021

    By 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).
  25. ColonialCoinsUK
    My last journal entry highlighted that completion of my Spanish Charles IV 2 reales Registry Set may be somewhat of a challenge and this prompted me to look again at how practical this would actually be.

    As mentioned before only 19 of the 41 issues have graded examples and of those only 11 had mint state examples, often as a single coin, making completion of a graded mint state set extremely unlikely, the equivalent raw coins also seem to be lacking. Assuming the coins actually exist for such a set a typical price for the whole would be £18450 as such coins would be about £450 each covering the hammer price, buyers premium, tax, shipping, import duty and for only a few auction houses a bank transfer fee. The last one really annoys me as it is completely unnecessary with modern online banking practices , fortunately it is not the norm at all although I am not sure how to change it. As I am in the UK all of these will also be subject to the prevailing exchange rate at the time as world coins, even British colonial issues, are very difficult to get here at home.

    A set of raw coins in VF is much more realistic and at £2870 (£70 per coin) much more affordable, particularly over time, coupled with the fact that VF may the finest known for some issues the prospect of completion of the set is also much higher. As a result I do have quite a few raw coins in VF/EF particularly for those issues where there are no graded examples at all so at the moment I have the makings of a 'mixed set'.

    I am sure that I am not alone in that I do not just have a single set but multiple sets* and those are in varying degrees of completion and this situation just places further restrictions on the available funds and the chances of completion of any one set - but coins and their history are just so fascinating and diverse.

    The advice always seems to be 'buy the best that you can afford' and I generally agree with that however, at times, the 'gaps' really bother me!

    * $15million should be enough to try and complete the Napoleonic sets