Hard Times

er, Martin, did you notice that was a Jefferson?

Pro Bono indeed (thumbs u

Nice N Frosty devices Jim (thumbs u

Thick original skinned and rare, just like I like them. The observed patina is characteristic for the year and date although it may have been dipped in the far past, who knows. To quote Winter - 'Between 75 and 80% of 1842-O quarter eagles I have seen are weakly struck. ' Those that are struck well appear to have die cracks at the bases of ICA in AMERICA. This one has the very fine die cracks on close inspection, that extends to the base between E and R as well. Within the grade of AU53, this one is as good as it gets and most of what is seen is wear, with a possible touch of weakness on eagles right leg feathers, weakness in Miss Liberty's hair around the face, etc.. Certainly there are examples out there with all central feathers mostly absent and lacking most of the features on Miss Liberty in MS holders for this New Orleans quarter eagle date. Whether this example would get a green bean though is another issue.

Of interest, this was sold at a HA auction in an earlier NGC holder in 2008. The images of this example in that holder show lots of dirt around the devices and in the dentils attesting to its originality, or at least it has been some time since dipped it if ever was. Now it is in an edge view holder, same grade, lacking dirt. I suspect it was sent into NCS to remove the dirt. If so, they did a great job in keeping the original patina but removing the dirt. Dirty Gold purists would probably not like the conservation performed but I like this piece. It may also be why it might not get the gold bean(?).

Best, HT

Preliminary images of a recent NEWP are below. Sometimes I have a hard time getting worn gold just right. I could increase the contrast a touch but then the images are oranger than the true color so still working on this one. These were done with CFL's, I might go back to halogens as I tend to get better images of worn gold with these.

Nevertheless a nice example with original surfaces and minimal hits from its time in circulation. Still has nice cartwheels on both sides under the light.

Best, HT

some beauties HiHo! (thumbs u

Carson City Gold.........

I bought this one from Coins Are Fun a while back.

Best, HT

Nice tokens y'all, here is a nice Warwickshire farthing from a DNW group lot. The second is a nice Middlesex issue from a taxidermist. The latter has mirror-like luster on the obverse that does not show in the image.

Hall’s. A toucan. TO . THE . CURIOUS . OBSERVERS . OF . NATURAL . PHAENOMENA; rev. THE 1ST ARTIST IN EUROPE. T . HALL . PRESERVER . OF . BIRDS . BEASTS . OR . REPTILES . CITTY . ROAD . NEAR . FINSBURY . SQUARE.; edge PAYABLE IN DUBLIN OR LONDON X X.

Didn't he play basketball for the Knicks? Didn't know he retired to Trail Blazer country........

But hey both Jerry Bobbe and Gary Groll are in Oregon, and Gary Sriro just across the Columbia in Vancouver!

Really nice Stephanie!

very nice yarm and brandon! Here is a nice Yorkie......

Chaz that is a real stunner!

Beautiful yarm! Thanks for posting!

Best, HT

Very nice Wendy!

Thanks Bruceswar for the comment on my Atlas holding the 1883-S

Speaking of type, here are two Charlotte mint coins part of my C mint type gold set and my C mint half eagle set. Both were FUN pickups.

a favorite

 

Got this coin at the FUN via Heritage. To my suprise, this coin is a VAM2A. I opened the package today and was looking at the coin. I noticed alot of interesting marks on the Reverse so I went to VAMWorld to check it out. I was suprised when the big pictures on VAMWorld were of the coin I was holding in my hand. Pretty neat! I now have the only Star grade VAM2A (according to NGC's population report for this VAM).

That is a real stunner, nice pick up!

Best, HT

Wendy that is nuts! Did you ask the vendor if they would take a check or money order until this gets cleared up! Sounds awful.

Yarm that is another stunner, yes the pennies have that desirable heft for sure.

Thanks Wendy and HiHo - I didn't even think about the sunset on the obverse. I did not quite capture the reverse well, I only got the multi-hue toning above the globe on one side, so I will need to go back and reshoot. But the only red on the token is on the obverse outlining the castle tower, it is as if the toning gods were thinking of a sunset for sure!

These pennies are big and heavy, a real solid feel in the hand. Makes me want to go out and collect British pennies of the era as well.......

Best, Al

Very nice CRF!

Finally, my Conder winnings from the last Dix Noonan Webb Auction in October (?) have come back from NGC, submitted at the Money Show in early December so not too bad of turn around time given the holidays. I got the grades I expected with the exception of this one below. I contend they screwed up by one to two points, this is an MS65 IMHO, the cartwheel luster booms, rich multicolored toning when the coin is tilted in the light at the right angle, rich brown patina in the light under other angles. A couple fine nicks but I have seen much worse in NGC 65 copper... Hey but I don't care what the grade is because I just wanted it in a holder for preservation and presentation but still.......

On the edge, which can be view in the nice NGC EdgeView holders:

"I PROMISE TO PAY ON DEMAND THE BEARER ONE PENNY"

Gotta love those Edge Views, I will get all of my Conders into these at some point.

Best, HT

Here is a nice Lady Britannia, I try to collect Conders with her on one side. This token commemorates 'The Glorious First of June' in 1794 when the Brits hammered the French Republic during their war of that time, the British Navy was commanded by Richard Howe, aka Earl Howe.

Here is a Wikipedia link on the battle:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glorious_First_of_June

Finally, something that actually represents your handle instead of them HTT's that aren't so BROAD

Filthy that is a clean 1880-CC with an 8/7 you can see from here!

Brandon let me know how those images turn out - I am definitely interested in this technique.

Nice 3 cent Martin! You should have seen what Mark had in his tray at FUN, but nothing as rich in color as this one!

Best, HT