I bought, sold and traded at my first coin convention and I'm darn sure the dealers got the better bargain, but I came away with my shirt and two new coins for my small but growing early modern world silver dollar set.

I didn't attend any auctions and only visited for a few hours on Saturday morning but I got most of my goals accomplished. My main purpose was to get an opinion on a raw 1860 Seated Liberty Silver Dollar that I won on Ebay. After showing it around I felt confident enough to send it off for certification instead of sending it back to the seller.

I also brought a few coins to trade and after showing them to a half dozen dealers, and failing to get the cash value I wanted, I came across a table with a stunning thaler featuring a design that I have been seeking for some time. I did a quick lookup for pricing and traded two of my certified 8 reales and a few bucks for it. It's unfortunate that the NGC label was incorrect, as I found out later -- the specific variety of this coin is priced at least $50 less than the variety matching the label.

The correct attribution for this coin is a 1663 German States thaler from Brunswick-Luneburg-Celle, Davenport No. 6521, minted in Clausthal and distinguished by the mint master's initials LW, for Lippold Weber. It's gorgeously toned, especially on the side featuring the leaping stallion. The holder is dreadfully scratched, as you can see in the attached photo, so it will go back to NGC for a new case (it should be a freebie due to the "mechanical error" of the label), but I'm thinking it might warrant a regrade.

~jack

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