GRADES POSTED -- Beautiful old copper

[brg5658]

I had the chance to pick up two very stunning old copper pieces from the Belgian Congo.

 

Guess the grade on the 2 centimes and 5 centimes pictured below!

 

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[Coindude]

Those are nice, I wouldn't be able to give you a grade though. Love the coins and very nice pictures.

[brg5658]

Here are the grades. I guess people are bored with guessing grades lately.

 

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[wdrob]

 

Why did they make those with a hole in them? So they could carry their money on a string or something?

 

I have often wondered.

 

 

[coinman_23885]

Before I saw the grades revealed, my thoughts were 66RB and 65RB respectively, with luster being the limiting factor on the second. I like both of them.

[brg5658]

Before I saw the grades revealed, my thoughts were 66RB and 65RB respectively, with luster being the limiting factor on the second. I like both of them.

 

Trust me, in hand there is no "luster" limiting on either of the pieces. Both are well deserving of the 66 grades.

[physics-fan3.14]

I'm not tired of guessing grades at all, keep them coming! I was just really busy this week, and haven't had as much time to post as I would normally like.

 

There have also been a rash of people posting low grade, damaged, and fake coins on here, so yours might have gotten lost in the froth.

 

Those are beautiful coins, and definitely worthy of any collection!

 

 

[BLive1972]

Why did they make those with a hole in them? So they could carry their money on a string or something?

 

I have often wondered.

 

 

I believe it was for ID purposes. Perhaps there are several purposes.

 

I would have guessed, but I'm no good at copper. Especially with RD/RB/BN. Awesome looking piece though.

[physics-fan3.14]

I would have guessed, but I'm no good at copper. Especially with RD/RB/BN. Awesome looking piece though.

 

Borderline pieces can be tricky. I probably would have guessed RB on both of them. The bottom one is clearly RB, but the top one is a little more difficult. There is a bit of red there in the protected areas, but not enough to call it RB, I guess.

 

A general rule is roughly 5% of the area can be oxidized and still receive the RD designation. Between about 5% and 90% of the area can be oxidized and receive the RB designation. Past that, it is BN.

[BLive1972]

Is 1 any more desirable than the other? One of these days I'll get into some copper. For now, I'm just watching and learning

[coinman_23885]

Is 1 any more desirable than the other? One of these days I'll get into some copper. For now, I'm just watching and learning

 

If you were referring to color designation, it is all relative. Full red coins tend to fetch more than red-brown coins which tend to fetch more than brown coins. With this said, eye appeal is the key. While I prefer full red coins, I have seen several red-brown pieces which I like even more (in terms of eye appeal) than there so called "red" counterparts. I have also seen very eye appealing brown coins, but it all depends on eye appeal. On another note, most of the toned coins that I usually see (unless very slight) would be RB or BN; however, I often find these pieces beautiful. Toned copper can produce an interesting array of colors.