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My exercise in minutia ...

7 posts in this topic

... may be complete.

 

I recently sent eight coins to NGC for grading and while waiting for their return, I decided to do some research. The coins are all from the same set, and I've only handled a few of them, so virtually all of my information has come from books, magazine articles, and the internet (mainly pictures, and eBay listings). I was getting close to completion and with books and papers piled all around me I was sitting at the computer writing the set and coin descriptions when my wife walked up. Very innocently she asked "Whacha doin'?" While this seems like a simple question, I always get caught off guard and assume there is some deeper interest. I should have just said something equally simple like "Writing" but instead, I enthusiastically replied "Researching and writing about the Culion Leper Colony coinage minted between 1913 and 1930!" I realized my mistake immediately when her face went blank and she slowly backed away without another word. Undaunted, I typed on. Later, while talking to my daughter on the phone I mentioned my now completed research. She's a fourth year medical student so I thought she might show more interest, at least from a medical perspective but alas, not so. Just dead air, so we moved on to other topics. Given the current level of interest in my efforts, I fear I may have gone way off the deep end, but just in case there are others here with similar interests, I invite you to read on. The rest of you may just want to slowly back away...

 

Almost a year ago, JAA did a very nice introduction to the Culion Leper Colony coinage in his journal post "Culion Island Leper Colony Coinage" (http://coins.www.collectors-society.com/JournalDetail.aspx?JournalEntryID=12377), so I won't replicate any of that or my own set description here. In my recent research, I mainly focused on the many varieties for these coins and found that all of my sources are at best incomplete, and in some cases contradictory. In the description of the set, I have enumerated the 16 date/denomination issues, and the number of varieties that may exist for each. In the individual coin descriptions, I've gone into even more detail about each variety and how to identify them. I've never seen some of these variations, so the descriptions are really just my best reconciliation of information from the various sources based on my coins and pictures I've seen. If you'd like to have a look at the results, please check out this exercise in minutia in my Culion Leper Colony set at:

 

http://coins.www.collectors-society.com/registry/coins/SetListing.aspx?PeopleSetID=147941

 

As always, I welcome your feedback and comments, particularly if you can shed some light on the ambiguities that I am as yet unable to resolve.

 

Thanks for reading, and happy collecting!

 

(I leave you with a picture of the best of the eight Culion coins I recently had graded)

14340.jpg

 

See more journals by coin928

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I hear you on the wife and kids not getting a charge out of coin research, but you know I'm with you on this stuff as I just eat it up! I love collectors getting excited about what they collect! And yes, I try to understand my wife's point of view and take an interest in the things she gets a charge out of.

Gary

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Coins are a physical connection to a history that most of us would otherwise only be aware of through words in a book (or electronic journals and set descriptions). Thanks for illuminating this particular corner of history's closet. ~jack

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I get the same blank look on my wife's face when I ramble on about my numismatic research. Sometimes she humors me by allowing me to show her the high resolution pictures of newly imaged coins but I get the distinct feeling that she has learned how to sleep with her eyes open.

 

The best book that I have found on the Culion Leper Colony (CLC) Coins is "The Numismatic Aspects of Leprosy, Money Medals. and Miscellanea" by Roger R. McFadden, John Grost, and Dennis F. Marr, (Library of Congress Card # 93-78921) published by D.C. McDonald Associates, Inc. 1993. The book includes 14 pages on the CLC and is very complete with descriptions and photos of all of the KM varieties plus many additional varieties that are not listed in KM. The book also includes detailed information regarding how to differentiate the various die varieties.

 

If you haven't looked at my Culion Leper Colony set in a while please do so. http://coins.www.collectors-society.com/registry/coins/SetListing.aspx?PeopleSetID=148172&Ranking=all

 

I recently updated the set with nine new additions. The nicest specimen in my set is a 1927PM One Centavo, Type lll (KM-A5) NGC AU55. From the NGC and PCGS population reports this appears to be a TOP POP for KM-A5. The remainder of my CLC coins including my 1922PM Curved Wing Peso (KM-17) details graded due to "surface hairlines" but are still strongly struck attractive examples.

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The best book that I have found on the Culion Leper Colony (CLC) Coins is "The Numismatic Aspects of Leprosy, Money Medals. and Miscellanea" by Roger R. McFadden, John Grost, and Dennis F. Marr, (Library of Congress Card # 93-78921) published by D.C. McDonald Associates, Inc. 1993. The book includes 14 pages on the CLC and is very complete with descriptions and photos of all of the KM varieties plus many additional varieties that are not listed in KM. The book also includes detailed information regarding how to differentiate the various die varieties..

The McFadden book is my primary reference, and by far the best of the lot. It still left me with couple of ambiguities though as I wrote in the set and coin descriptions. As a side effect of the research, I created a cross reference chart between all of the KM, McFadden, Basso, and Shafer "SL-" numbers. All of these numbers are included in each of the individual coin descriptions.

 

I recently updated the set with nine new additions. The nicest specimen in my set is a 1927PM One Centavo, Type lll (KM-A5) NGC AU55. From the NGC and PCGS population reports this appears to be a TOP POP for KM-A5. The remainder of my CLC coins including my 1922PM Curved Wing Peso (KM-17) details graded due to "surface hairlines" but are still strongly struck attractive examples.

I have looked at your set, and that KM-A5 is a beauty! Our KM-17s could be twins. Same details grade and both because of hairlines. This will be a difficult set to complete. Coins that do not show signs of harsh cleaning or other environmental damage are tough to come by. Not only that, the 1930 One Centavo (KM-5) may not even exist, in which case the set will be impossible to complete!

 

JAA, would you be interested in making some trades? I have a few coins that you may be interested in, and I suspect that you may have some that would interest me as well. ;)

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It's the same look guys get when the wife asks "Honey, which shade of white do you prefer?" and they look identical....as do all the other fifty color chips she has.

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