The Eidolon

1 hour ago, expat said:

I always like reading your junk bin threads on CT, so it is good to see them here.

Thank you!  I always enjoy positive feedback.  Hopefully modern world threads won't interfere too much with those interested primarily in ancients.  It seems like a lot of users check all the sections together rather than by individual topic.

Some modern coins (post-1960).  Mostly I focus on pre-WWII coins, but occasionally a modern type will catch my eye.  Rather than heads/tails I have these sorted by which side has the date on them.  Some world coins deciding which face is the obverse can be challenging...  From top L:

Poland 1976 20 Złotych

Finland 1970 50 Penniä

Poland 1977 5 Złotych

Romania 1991 50 Lei

USSR 1984 5 Kopeck (A USSR coin from 1984 feels a bit too on the nose...)

Italy 1994 100 Lire

Panama 1966 5 Centésimos

Afrika-Dzonga (South Africa) 1991 5 cents

Iceland:  1940 1 Króna and 1963 10 Aurar.  The 10 Aurar isn't worth much, but the Króna is probably worth a buck or two.

Various Netherlands:  1 Cent: 1884, 1884, 1907, 1893, 1878 (oops, rotated--my eyes are getting old), 1878.  

The 1907 is a better date, I think?  10 cents is a good price on any of these, really.

1/2 Cent: 1916, 1884, 1936

5 cents: 1953

Finland interwar 5 Penniä and 10 Penniä

There were a bunch of these and I picked pretty much all of them I saw.  They are not worth much, but I don't regularly see them in junk bins, and many of them are not very worn.  There are a few better dates in the bunch that are a little more valuable:

5 Penniä: 1929

10 Penniä:  1928, 1929, 1934, 1936, 1940 (duplicates not shown)

Not necessarily valuable enough to package up individually, but 10 cents is a very attractive price for these.

Some closer photos:  Italy 1919 5 Centesimi.  Some nice detail on the reverse for a 10 cent coin.

Austria and Germany (from L):  1 Heller 1900, 2 Heller 1893, 5 Reichspfennig 1924 A

Benelux wartime (from top L):  Netherlands 25 cents, 1941, 1943; 10 cents 1942, 1941; 5 cents 1941 (x2); Luxembourg 1915 5 centimes, Belgium 1916 25 centimes

These are zinc and fairly ugly, but not nearly as corroded as the examples I usually see of occupation coinage.

I'm still learning the culture of this new forum, so please let me know if this kind of topic is appropriate.  I'm kind of a bottom-feeder when it comes to coins.  I like to see what's the most interesting set of coins I can get very cheaply.  Today along with the usual world 10 cent bin, my local shop had 2 large bags of never yet picked-through coins.  It's always fun to be the first one to paw through the junk bin, and I think a few from today were more interesting than usual.  I'll post photos of the some closer up when I get the chance.

Overview photos 1 and 2, lots of Finnish 10 penniä from the 1920s and 1930s.

One of my favorites so far:  Denmark, 1 Skilling Danske, 1771, Christian VII

CoinTalk - have had almost entirely positive experiences there, with lots of helpful advice IDing coins.  I stuck to the World Coins forum, which was a little less active than the Ancients one, but rarely had drama that I saw.  Hopefully this site will have an active World and Non-Western section as well!  Sad to hear that so many familiar faces were treated unfairly there.  I did "ignore" a few users whose interests were too different from mine or were needlessly prolific, which improved my quality of life.

Facebook - wouldn't want to use for coin stuff since it's in my real name, so mostly for photos of my kids

Instagram - for my other life as an amateur artist.  No coin photos from me

Twitter - I don't use it, it seems to not bring out the best in people.

Here - seems like a friendly place so far!  Thanks to @Restitutor for setting it up.

And I try to post some kind of coin photo with as many posts as I can, so here's one!

I think this was Byzantine (chain is modern).

 I have about a dozen Byzantine coins, all cheap and low grade.  I like this one because the text is so cockeyed on the reverse.

Not sure if it's double struck or overstruck or what.  I have it as "Byzantine anonymous follis class E 1059-1067 Constantine X" but I'm no expert.

Another beautiful (to me) copper:  Osnabrück, 1625, 9 Pfennig

Oh, maybe one more:  Papal States, Gubbio, 1750, Quattrino, Jubilee Year

I find the color of old coppers and bronzes beautiful.  Here's one of my many favorites.

1/26 Shilling Jersey 1844

Friedrich Franz II of Mecklenburg-Schwerin had decent hair in 1848, but I can't get over his beard in the photo from 1875.  Now that is facial hair!

William III looks like he would have fit right in in the 1970s...

Netherlands, 2 1/2 Gulden, 1852, William III

How does one tell if a coin from the 1600-1700s is hammered?  There are a few where I'm honestly not sure.

For example, this Hamm 1719 3 Pfennig is oddly oval-shaped and looks hammered to me, but my references don't list hammered or minted.

For older stuff like this group of Portuguese Ceitils of Manuel I (1495-1521) I assume they would have to be hammered because of the time period.

 Nice coin!  I wondered if I have any of his, but looks like his reign was just too short.

Here's the wrong Leopold II (of Belgium).

And here's one from Austria, 1790, a month or two before Leopold II started his reign.  (1 Kreutzer 1790, Joseph II, older brother of Leopold II)

Beautiful coin.  I don't have anything gold from that region.

How about a 1739 Guatemala 8 reales cob?  

I'm not the one who turned it into a key fob!  (The hole was probably placed much earlier)

I also have a Quito countermarked (script "MDQ" = Moneda de Quito) 1821 Colombia 8 reales.

Only two, an ancient (Electrum Hekte Lesbos Mytilene 521-478 BC)

...and a modern:  (Japan 2 shu kin Tempo 1832-58 0.298 Au)

Mostly a lurker when it comes to ancients, but thought I'd say hi.

Here's one of my scattering of ancients.  "Magadha India ~346 BC"

For world stuff, I especially like German and Italian states, 1600~1850 or so.  Or really, just about anything that circulated and looks interesting.

One of my favorites:  Osnabrück 1625 9 Pfennigen