Mohawk

Dang Thompson....cool find for being under a stump!  And, speaking of which, you've stumped me with those......I do not know anything about East Asian cast coinage other than recognizing it as East Asian cast coinage.  If I were to dig up a stump, I'd probably find something putrid that a raven or a crow stashed there and ended up not needing.  And I'd probably manage to hit myself in the face with said putrid thing.  I love birds, but they don't always love me back.

I personally think you have an awesome outlook on this whole thing Coin Cave.  It sounds like you collect your coins first and because you love the coins, not necessarily because of the holder they're in and you're on the Registry because it's fun for you.  This is a hobby and it's supposed to be fun!  Sadly, I think a lot of people, particularly Competitive Registry collectors, seem to forget that.  They get so caught up in plastic collecting, Registry points and competition that they forget that they collect coins.  For me, the Registry was about one thing.....proving to myself that I could win a major award.  And I did.  Twice.  But, if I'm to be completely honest, Registry collecting lost its luster quickly once I had won that first award.  I quickly found myself wondering why I was continuing to do it.....I had reached my goal and that was good enough for me.  So I stopped and started chasing my ancients, which I love and which have so much to learn and so much variety that they will sustain me for years.  The second big win was for a set I had completed years ago aside from one big non-competitive rarity.  I know a lot of people would just keep trying to win again and again, but that's not the kind of guy I am.  I reached my goal and I was content with that.  The second award was an unexpected bonus.  I'd rather step aside gracefully and contentedly and allow others who haven't won have their shot at achieving that big goal for themselves while I move on to another chapter.  The best thing about the whole NGC thing for me (even better than the awards actually) was becoming a part of this community, and I've learned that I can be an active member here without Registry collecting.  You guys are my virtual coin club because the clubs around me.....well, they're not the greatest.  But I don't feel a void because I have you guys

Actually, Coin Cave, for a cleaned US Large Cent, your coin looks pretty good.  Based on my experience at the brick and mortar shop, cleaned US Large Cents are often this screaming, almost neon orangish color.  Yours has retoned some and I think there's definitely hope for it. And it does have a nice strike.....I'd say it has more going for it than going against it.  Not a bad purchase if you're into US Large Cent varieties which you appear to be.

Thanks for the kind and fun reply!  And sorry about the historical rabbit hole as well....especially since it's one that can get as crazy as Faustina the Younger!  But, please do post the results when you get them back, Thompson.  I'd love to see how good my Peace Dollar eye still is......and I completely give you and the rest of the board full permission to tell me I now suck at Peaces if I blew it .  But I think that Bob has a great eye, and since he came to the same conclusion I did, I feel alright about my grade vote!
Best of luck on your submission.......but I don't think you'll need it.  Those are quality coins.
~Tom

I have this mental picture of these guys standing around the parking lot, wearing t-shirts and black leather jackets, slicked back 50's hairdo, (feather-do?) matchstick hanging from the Bald Eagles beak, whistling at the Sparrows as they walk by.

Yeah!  You should be.  Where are your priorities???  I mean, helping family and making some random guy on the interweb wait four whole hours???  Sheesh!  
 
 

Absolutely no apology needed.  This is certainly not urgent and any help is appreciated (except for sending me off down a historical rabbit hole... lol).   When these come back, I'll post up NGCs pics since they are likely to be ever so slightly superior to mine. 

Thanks again!
 

You definitely have a keeper Don.  She sounds awesome.  If my fiancee and I went to coin shops in London it could get REALLY expensive, especially since London shops are good for both of our coins specialties.  Your experiences prove that even more to us and it could be very dangerous to our bank accounts with two collectors in the family.  The antique bookstore sounds really cool also.....I dig books and I'd likely be digging for the volume of the RIC reference that has Faustina and Lucilla in it, along with some others.  May I ask if your wife is a book collector?  If so, that's a cool pursuit!
Thanks for forgiving me my bit of unintentional rudeness, my friend!
~Tom

Haha, thanks, Tom! I originally put the bit about my birthday to brag on my wife a bit for being patient enough to go to 5 coin stores with me. I think she secretly enjoyed one of them. In fact, the second shop was above an antique bookstore. She found some cool stuff in there but it was all very expensive.

I personally think you have an awesome outlook on this whole thing Coin Cave.  It sounds like you collect your coins first and because you love the coins, not necessarily because of the holder they're in and you're on the Registry because it's fun for you.  This is a hobby and it's supposed to be fun!  Sadly, I think a lot of people, particularly Competitive Registry collectors, seem to forget that.  They get so caught up in plastic collecting, Registry points and competition that they forget that they collect coins.  For me, the Registry was about one thing.....proving to myself that I could win a major award.  And I did.  Twice.  But, if I'm to be completely honest, Registry collecting lost its luster quickly once I had won that first award.  I quickly found myself wondering why I was continuing to do it.....I had reached my goal and that was good enough for me.  So I stopped and started chasing my ancients, which I love and which have so much to learn and so much variety that they will sustain me for years.  The second big win was for a set I had completed years ago aside from one big non-competitive rarity.  I know a lot of people would just keep trying to win again and again, but that's not the kind of guy I am.  I reached my goal and I was content with that.  The second award was an unexpected bonus.  I'd rather step aside gracefully and contentedly and allow others who haven't won have their shot at achieving that big goal for themselves while I move on to another chapter.  The best thing about the whole NGC thing for me (even better than the awards actually) was becoming a part of this community, and I've learned that I can be an active member here without Registry collecting.  You guys are my virtual coin club because the clubs around me.....well, they're not the greatest.  But I don't feel a void because I have you guys

I personally think you have an awesome outlook on this whole thing Coin Cave.  It sounds like you collect your coins first and because you love the coins, not necessarily because of the holder they're in and you're on the Registry because it's fun for you.  This is a hobby and it's supposed to be fun!  Sadly, I think a lot of people, particularly Competitive Registry collectors, seem to forget that.  They get so caught up in plastic collecting, Registry points and competition that they forget that they collect coins.  For me, the Registry was about one thing.....proving to myself that I could win a major award.  And I did.  Twice.  But, if I'm to be completely honest, Registry collecting lost its luster quickly once I had won that first award.  I quickly found myself wondering why I was continuing to do it.....I had reached my goal and that was good enough for me.  So I stopped and started chasing my ancients, which I love and which have so much to learn and so much variety that they will sustain me for years.  The second big win was for a set I had completed years ago aside from one big non-competitive rarity.  I know a lot of people would just keep trying to win again and again, but that's not the kind of guy I am.  I reached my goal and I was content with that.  The second award was an unexpected bonus.  I'd rather step aside gracefully and contentedly and allow others who haven't won have their shot at achieving that big goal for themselves while I move on to another chapter.  The best thing about the whole NGC thing for me (even better than the awards actually) was becoming a part of this community, and I've learned that I can be an active member here without Registry collecting.  You guys are my virtual coin club because the clubs around me.....well, they're not the greatest.  But I don't feel a void because I have you guys

Hey Tom! I suppose layovers are just part of the misery of traveling. This has been by far the worst flight experience going to and from Europe. Delta managed to really mess up our trip. On any note, we are back in the Tennessee area, but we won’t return to Mississippi until tomorrow so I still have some time to wait until I get back to my reference books. I appreciate you taking the time to respond. I checked out wildwinds but I had no luck with 1380. Nonetheless ,it is still a very impressive source of information. I am excited to research my new purchase and I will definitely post some pictures when I can. I need to catch up on posts. I can only imagine some of your new purchases have arrived by now. There is no shortage of ancient coins in London. I actually found a Faustina sitting in a tray and thought of you! Looking over some of the displays I could not help but realize my general lack of knowledge on the subject is astounding. Even though I didn’t entirely know what I was looking at I still enjoyed browsing. 

Tom, I have flown more times than I care to admit for conferences (domestic and international) on more airlines than I can remember but this has been the absolute worst experience I have ever had. In my book, Delta has really earned the top prize for the biggest screw-up. Five delayed flights, lost luggage, damaged luggage....you name it they messed it up on this trip. We spent nearly 5X longer in delta lines on the flight to London alone than we did in security across 9 airports combined. 
I’ll be posting a bit on my coin shopping experience when I finally get a chance to examine and image my new addition. The quality of stock was amazing at the two major stores I stopped at. The ancient selection was very extensive from what I could gather but I don’t know enough about them to speak intelligently about what was available. Overall I found it very difficult to find anything to add to my collection because my focus is so narrow. Almost every dealer I talked to said I would have to focus most of my buying efforts on large auction houses. 
I really did think of you when I looked at that coin. I recognized it based off your posts but I had to read the label to confirm. Seeing one in person I can fully understand why you enjoy them so much. Wow sounds like you’ve been busy my friend. I look forward to seeing the new additions. I am so honored to know I may have influenced you to explore copper!! I can only imagine finding well-preserved copper examples is nearly impossible. I look forward to seeing what you add in that realm.

Hey Don!  Yeah, layovers suck and they're often horrendously boring.  You gotta love some of these airlines......they can find ways to amazingly screw up the simplest of routes and plans.  It really is spectacular what they can accomplish in that area.  My mom had a job a few years ago that she had to travel often for....man, she has some amazing airline screw up stories!  It must have been spectacular to go coin shopping in London!  I've heard that it's one of the best markets for ancient coins in the world and then there's all of the other cool coins you can pick up.....like the British stuff you and my fiancee dig!  And, I must say I was touched by this:
  I think I'm turning into our little community's Faustina the Younger guy....a title I carry proudly!  I think I have had three new purchases since you've been away....a Lucilla denarius, a Faustina denarius and my first copper....a Faustina sestertius (you inspired me to try copper on with your collection, my friend......and I love it!  You may have gotten me into some trouble!)  I'm greatly looking forward to seeing your new pickups and to hear more about how your trip went!
I hope you guys have a safe and easy trip the rest of the way home
~Tom

Hi Don!
Good to hear from you my friend and sorry about the layover!! Sadly, I don't have a Peck reference and my fiancee doesn't either.....I made sure I asked her.  But, Wildwinds is a site I use to attribute my Faustina the Younger coins along with the Aorta reference and they have a section for British coins.  The Roman section does Sear and RIC numbers and it looks like there are Peck numbers in the British section.  It may be of some help.  Here's a link to it:
http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/brit/i.html
Be sure to share your new pickups with us when you can.  I hope that Wildwinds is of some help.  Have a safe trip!
~Tom

Hi Thompson,
Thank you for the thank you!  I think Bob and Jonathan have everything covered perfectly for you. 
As always, I hope that we've been helpful to you!
~Tom

Actually, I do have a gold coin to share!  I forgot about one of the US coins I have that I do enjoy:

That looks like a nice one, Thompson.  But, I'm going to let Jgrinz jump in here and grade it......he's a Morgan guy and has a good eye for them and knowledge of the series.  But, for what it's worth from an Ancient coin guy, that coin could be worth sending off. 

Hi Thompson,
Thank you for the thank you!  I think Bob and Jonathan have everything covered perfectly for you. 
As always, I hope that we've been helpful to you!
~Tom

Actually, I do have a gold coin to share!  I forgot about one of the US coins I have that I do enjoy:

Actually, I do have a gold coin to share!  I forgot about one of the US coins I have that I do enjoy:

Unfortunately I think a lot of people have become plastic collectors.  (And I don't mean people like myself that actually collect the slabs for what they are.)

Agreed 100% on all points.  Sadly, some people seem to be more plastic collectors than coin collectors now.

Unfortunately I'm not joking.  I wish I was.  The plastic obsession in this hobby is nutty to me.

Added another 1852 large cent to my collection.  N-11
I bought the coin for the strike.  It may have been cleaned, but, the strike is outstanding. A little brown coin envelope should fix up that nasty old cleaning.