An Underappreciated Series

[leeg]

I believe that Classic Commemoratives are at the top of the list. Overall small mintage numbers, famous designers, and a series with real history. Can anyone think of a series that is less appreciated that has these aspects going for it?

 

 

From Mike Printz at Larry Whitlow:

 

 

PCGS MS65 (CAC)

 

 

The Huguenot-Wallon Tercentenary Half Dollar:

 

What the heck is a Huguenot Wallon?

 

The Huguenots were French Protestants who followed the teachings of John Calvin. The Walloons were the same group of people who immigrated to the south of Belgium to escape persecution from the French Catholics, and the persecution of the Spanish Catholics who ruled Holland at that time. These Calvinists sought the freedom to practice there religion in the New World, as did many groups throughout Europe. The newly formed Dutch West India Company saw this as an opportunity to establish colonies in the region called New Netherlands, and convinced 30 families (110 people) to sail to the New World on the ship, Nieuw Nederlandt, and inhabit two settlements. The first was in New Amsterdam (New York City), and the second at Fort Orange

(Albany, NY). This is the group of settlers, as the story tells us, who bought Manhattan Island from the Native American Indians for a chest full of trinkets worth about 24 Lyon Dollars.

 

John Calvin

 

 

Upon the three-hundredth anniversary of the founding of New Netherland, a souvenir half-dollar was authorized by the 67th congress. It is notable that the Act authorizes a coinage to commemorate an event, whereas the coin portrays persons only indirectly associated with the occasion.

 

Admiral Gaspard Coligny

 

The persons whose portraits are shown upon this issue are worthy of a brief historical note. Both Admiral Gaspard Coligny and William the Silent were Protestant leaders of the Reformation, during the latter part of the 16th Century. Coligny was killed in 1572, and Prince William was assassinated in 1584. Their relationship to the founding of New Netherland in 1624, nearly a half century later is a spiritual rather than a factual one.

 

William the Silent

 

 

[PerryHall]

Great post and very educational. Thanks!!!

[cpm9ball]

I would love to own a complete set like the one shown us by Mark Feld, but I know that will never happen. I'll have to be satisfied with getting one here and one there if the price is within my means.

 

Chris

[physics-fan3.14]

That Hugenot looks pretty cool. Neat piece of trivia: Charleston is known as the Holy City, because we have more churches of more varieties than anywhere else. We even have the only still-active French Hugenot congregation. They still have services in French, and reside in this gorgeous church in the heart of the French Quarter downtown.

[RockMyAmadeus]

The reason they're "underappreciated" is because they are, for the most part, "overvalued."

 

Not that people aren't paying the prices for them...they are.

 

But when the average collector cannot obtain one for $10-$15 (Columbian being the exception), how are they supposed to develop an appreciation for the series?

 

Too expensive for most.

[World Colonial]

Its a matter of opinion whether any series is under appreciated or not, but the scacity is definitely not a reason for it. The mintage numbers are relatively low but not particularly since these coins were sold at a premium.. And today, these coins are not scarce.

 

I do agree though that it does provide variety for those who collect it.

[JIM F.]

I agree with the original poster, that classic commemoratives are an under-appreciated series. In particular, I think the classic gold commems are without doubt under-appreciated.

 

With regards to other series that are under-appreciated, my opinion is that the 2 cent pieces are not only under-appreciated, but under-valued with respect to rarity. On the other hand they are pretty darn ugly, so no wonder they are not popular (the 2 cent pieces that is).

 

And that's my 2 cents worth.

 

 

[michael]

Can anyone think of a series that is less appreciated that has these aspects of overall small mintage numbers, famous designers, and a series with real history.going for it?

 

 

colonials

 

flowing hair halfdimes

 

three dollar gold

 

small planchet pine tree shillings by die variety

 

sheets of state obsolete currency

[ldhair]

Nice work Lee. The history behind many of these is really something.

It seems like they have always been underappreciated.

I actually read the Bowers Encyclopedia from cover to cover when it first came out.

Threads like this make me want to dust it off and read it again.

I don't think folks dig into the history of coins as much as they used to and the younger ones don't seem to care about history at all. If they ever did, I could see the prices on these going crazy.

[James_OldeTowne]

I believe that Classic Commemoratives are at the top of the list. Overall small mintage numbers, famous designers, and a series with real history. Can anyone think of a series that is less appreciated that has these aspects going for it?

For me, three-cent nickels, three-cent silvers and shield nickels are more under-appreciated, perhaps by a long shot. I find them to be more historic than commems, because they were actually used as intended in the channels of commerce. And, they have never been commercially hyped as traditional commems have been off and on.

 

It isn't that I dislike commems, but in the series, there are enough designs that I do not like asethetically that I would never want to assemble a complete set.

[bartlesvilleok]

I believe that Classic Commemoratives are at the top of the list. Overall small mintage numbers, famous designers, and a series with real history. Can anyone think of a series that is less appreciated that has these aspects going for it?

For me, three-cent nickels, three-cent silvers and shield nickels are more under-appreciated, perhaps by a long shot. I find them to be more historic than commems, because they were actually used as intended in the channels of commerce. And, they have never been commercially hyped as traditional commems have been off and on.

 

It isn't that I dislike commems, but in the series, there are enough designs that I do not like asethetically that I would never want to assemble a complete set.

 

Wow James, just what I was about to say then again I do kind of like the 3 cents

[World Colonial]

Other than relative value, I see no objective measure of under appreciation. What other comparison is there?

 

Using this measure, the most popular series are the most over appreciated. I can come up with no shortage of examples for either US or world coins.

 

Some of the series mentioned here like two and three cent pieces I see little to no chance for a meaningful change in their popularity.

 

For classic commemoratives, these were the subject of a speculative bubble in the late 1980's. So whatever lack of attention they get now, they certainly go it then as "investments". Many of them are cheaper now (some possibly much cheaper) than 20 years ago. Yet given their availability, not cheap at all in my opinion.

[leeg]

Thanks all for sharing your thoughts.

 

 

The Huguenot was struck at the Philadelphia Mint during February and April, 1924, from Models prepared by G. T. Morgan. There was considerable agitation concerning this issue. Some desired its suppression feeling that it was solely a vehicle for religious propaganda and, as such, un-American and unsuitable for the national coinage. The bill for this issue of souvenir coins, included, as sponsors, several religious leaders-the first instance in which religious groups had actively participated in an issue of coins.

 

Since the occasion for the coinage was the settling of the Huguenots and Wallons in the New World, it was contended that American events associated with the settling could have supplied the types for the coinage.

 

When I say real history my meaning is that Commemorative Coins differ from the regular issues of the year because by authorization of Congress they are permitted to bear special designs and are not distributed by government agencies. Thus, being special designs, they all have a unique story to tell and for the most part, are based on a piece of history.

 

 

Gregorius XIII - Pont. Max. An. I Ugonottorum Strages (Huguenots Slaughtered) - 1572

 

Pope Gregory XIII, with the dragon of Satan as his heraldic symbol, was also the pope who upon hearing of the wholesale slaughter of Protestant French Huguenots, known as St. Bartholomew's massacre, had a medal struck to celebrate the bloody event. The reverse side of the medal depicts an angel with a cross and sword murdering the Huguenot heretics.

 

 

Painting by François Dubois, a Huguenot painter born circa 1529 in Amiens, who settled in Switzerland. Although Dubois did not witness the massacre, he depicts Coligny's body hanging out of a window at the rear to the right. To the left rear, Catherine de' Medici is shown emerging from the Louvre to inspect a heap of bodies.

 

 

The St. Bartholomew's Day massacre (Massacre de la Saint-Barthélemy in French) in 1572 was a targeted group of assassinations, followed by a wave of Roman Catholic mob violence, both directed against the Huguenots (French Calvinist Protestants), during the French Wars of Religion. Traditionally believed to have been instigated by Catherine de' Medici, the mother of King Charles IX, the massacre took place six days after the wedding of the king's sister Margaret to the Protestant Henry III of Navarre (the future Henry IV of France). This marriage was an occasion for which many of the most wealthy and prominent Huguenots had gathered in largely Catholic Paris.

 

The massacre began two days after the attempted assassination of Admiral Gaspard de Coligny, the military and political leader of the Huguenots. Starting on 23 August 1572 (the eve of the feast of Bartholomew the Apostle) with murders on orders of the king of a group of Huguenot leaders including Coligny, the massacres spread throughout Paris. Lasting several weeks, the massacre extended to other urban centres and the countryside. Modern estimates for the number of dead vary widely between 5,000 and 30,000 in total.

 

The massacre also marked a turning point in the French Wars of Religion. The Huguenot political movement was crippled by the loss of many of its prominent aristocratic leaders, as well as many re-conversions by the rank and file, and those who remained were increasingly radicalized. Though by no means unique, it "was the worst of the century's religious massacres." Throughout Europe, it "printed on Protestant minds the indelible conviction that Catholicism was a bloody and treacherous religion".

 

Catherine de Medicis

[James_OldeTowne]

Other than relative value, I see no objective measure of under appreciation. What other comparison is there?

My impression of what underappreciated is series in which the coins just simply never, ever go up in value. I don't think the series I mentioned have even kept pace with inflation! In other words, low grade examples are actually worth LESS than face value if you take into account the appreciation of simple inflation since the mid 1800s. Commems have had their ups and downs, and in some years, been "hot" and sold for premiums. Has that ever happened for three-cent nickels?? They are practically the same price today as they were in the 1980s and haven't appreciated in value at all, again taking into account inflation!

 

Now, THAT is underappreciated!!

[World Colonial]

I see you your point. I do not collect these coins but I happen to like the 2-cent design, especially the few cameo proofs I have seen for sale. (Never seen one in person.)

 

Its also all relative because those that have appreciated a lot since the 1980's, I would say many have appreciated "too much" given their actual scarcity.

 

For a large number of coins out there, there is a vast supply. Given the opinions I expressed on the external environment in other posts, I expect coin prices - all of them - to fall and a lot. It will not surprise me if many prices fall back to 1970's levels, even in nominal prices.