The following was posted by Chris.
I often get asked by customers if I have a personal coin collection and if so, what's in it. I thought I'd take advantage of our blog to post some selections. The majority of my collection is comprised of medals, mostly 19th and early 20th century European medals. While my expertise is primarily U.S. coins, I have always appreciated the intricate designs of medals.I also have several world coins and some U.S. coins in my collection. Here are some highlights you might enjoy seeing.
1861 Great Britain Halfpenny NGC PF66 RB (Definitely one of my favorites. Finest RB of the date.)
1877-A France 5 Francs NGC MS66 (Semi-PL, tied for finest graded.)
1904-A Germany Mark NGC MS67 (I'm always a fan of attractive toning.)
1909 Germany Saxony-Leipzig University NGC MS67 (Amazingly, there is one finer, which I'd love to see.)
1902 Great Britain Halfpenny High Sea Level NGC MS66 BN (Not an exciting coin, but I like high-end/finest graded material.)
1894-A German New Guinea Mark NGC MS65 (Semi-prooflike. One of my favorite designs of any coin.)
1913 France 2 Centimes NGC MS63 RB (Nothing special. Just cool color.)
1842-Ng MA C.A.R. 8 Reales 42/37 PCGS AU50 (Many collectors love the sun design and I am no exception.)
1797 Great Britain SOHO "Cartwheel" Twopence NGC PF63 BN
1883 Hawaii Quarter PCGS MS64 CAC (The most prooflike example I've seen!)
France World War I Medal (Somewhat eerie but impressive design. Uninscribed reverse.)
1828 Germany Alexander Humbolt Geographer (Exquisite high relief design.)
1825 Germany Fredrich Blumenbach Anthropologist (I like the reverse design. Knocked it out of an NGC MS65 holder.)
1881 Austria Marriage of Prince Rudolph and Princess Stefanie of Belgium (Amazingly intricate design. Big fan of original cases.)
1837 Great Britain Royal Academy of Arts Award Medal (Awarded in 1874. Features the Belvedere Torso. It took me a few years to pry this out of the hands of a former colleague.)
1893 Columbian Exposition Medal (Struck/pressed in wood!)
New Orleans obsolete and national bank notes (I was born in Louisiana and moved up to MA from the NOLA area, so I have several of these in my collection.)
I agree - some of the designs on the medals are stunning. Thanks for sharing.
Beautiful medals. Also outstanding examples of them. Stunning was the right descriptor. There is so much discusssion about the lack of art in today's really clip-art style or disproportionate art for the planchette and the return to the"Renaissance Era" of US coinage. We don't need to go back, as technically incredible and artistic these older medals and our older coinage were, but go forward to our current medallic artists and sculptors and let them create. You can see the evidence in modern International coinage and medals that range from classic to very modern, but are still stand- alone works of art. We have plenty of great artists in the US and should tap into that pool of talent. Thanks for sharing these rareties and beauties with us.
An interesting coin we just sold is the 1945 No "AW" Walking Liberty Half. As far as diagnostics are concerned, this is more correctly known as a die state, rather than a true variety, as polishing of the die to remove clash marks or erosion lines obliterated the designer's monogram.
The one we just sold is the first non-proof No AW Walker we've offered and the only 1945 issue we've even heard of.
We celebrated Mardi Gras today at the office, complete with King Cake (from Paul's Pastry, of course!), beads, masks, and doubloons.
Here's our King Cake (decorating by Helen).
Chris and Marne getting into the spirit.
Thanks for the masks and King Cake, Marne! Hopefully someone else will get the baby this year so you don't have to buy again!
Brian grading some Mardi Gras Doubloons before deciding which ones to submit.
Christy in "costume" also.
Mardi Gras update. Marne got the baby...AGAIN. Three years in a row!
Congratulations to J.W. of Tampa for winning our Super Bowl Contest! He, along with three other people, guessed the exact final score of the game. His was the first correct entry received, so he will be receiving a $500 Gift Certificate to Northeastcoin.com. We will be contacting the winners of our ten $50 gift certificates later today.
Thank you to all who participated!
FINAL SCORE:
Patriots 34
Falcons 28
We are still going through the several hundred entries we received. The winners will be announced on February 7th.
Our popular Super Bowl contest is back! Super Bowl LI (and the final chapter of Deflategate...we hope) is just five days away. For those who want to participate, all you need to do is reply to this email with your guess as to the final score of the game. If anyone guesses the exact final score, they will receive a $500 gift certificate to Northeastcoin.com! The next ten participants who are closest to the final score will each receive a $50 gift certificate. Please see below for additional details.
Good luck, everyone!
Contest rules: Entries must be received by kick-off on Sunday. Only one entry per household. If there are multiple entries that correctly predict the final score, the person who submitted their entry first will be the $500 winner. Entries are accepted by email to info@northeastcoin.com and must be formatted like the following example:
Patriots 38 (or whatever your guess is)
Falcons 30 (or whatever your guess is)
