A Collection

Putting this up to remind myself to post soon. <3 I've missed this.

This time, it’s an old Canadian cent piece! Whoo! This particular die was run from 1876-1901, and had some slight varieties in the 1891 year. There’s a total of SIX different varieties of this coin! There were three main areas they experimented with different dies on this; the font on the obverse, the date size, and the leaf/vine size. What’s pictured is, I think, a ‘Large Date/Large Leaf’ variety, with Obverse variety #3. I could be wrong here, the condition of this one is pretty poor (which also lowers the value considerably). This is a little bit bigger than the current American quarter; apparently both America and Canada liked to run their pennies large, way back when! Obverse Text: “VICTORIA DEI GRATIA REGINA... CANADA” Reverse Text: “ONE CENT” Approximate Value: ~$10 (more for better condition)

Yet another old coin! I like these, what, it’s my coin blog. Pictured above is the first commemorative coin ever commissioned by the US government, specifically to honor what would later be known as the Chicago World’s Fair. These were sold for $1 each to cover some of the cost of hosting the event. Christopher Columbus is pictured on the obverse of the coin: a ship, two halves of the globe, and ‘1492′ is on the reverse. The portrait was picked because the Fair was to be held in 1892, 400 years after Columbus’s ‘discovery’. (Picture, like, eighteen air-quotes around ‘discovery’.) Obverse text: “United States of America... Columbian Half Dollar” Reverse Text: “World’s Columbian Exposition Chicago” Approximate value: ~$20

Another oldie! This “Braided Hair Large Cent” is from just before the Civil War and ran 1839-1857. This is actually about the size of a current-day US quarter- hence the name ‘Large Cent’. This was the last penny style to be minted to that size, as the next die for the 1C piece was the first ‘Small Cent’ (the current penny size) in the ‘Flying Eagle’ design. I’ll put up an image of the Flying Eagle cent at some point too, though mine is in pretty iffy condition. Obverse Text: "Liberty” (crown of bust) Reverse Text: ‘United States of America... One Cent” Approximate Value: ~$30

Okay, so the first post isn’t about a coin so much as it is a token. Oh well!  These three are Civil War Tokens; propaganda minted during the Civil War that was meant to be mistaken for (and therefore circulate similarly to) real currency. CWTs come in a huge variety, since most were made by private persons or regions, and they often can be found with errors. Obverse text: “The Flag of Our Union”  Reverse text: “If Anybody Attempts to Tear it Down... Shoot Him on the Spot”* Approximate Value: ~$40 each *An error, shown on the lower-right token, reads “...Shoot Him on the Spoot” on the reverse face. I’m assuming that this particular token was Pro-North propaganda, as it seems to insinuate that not supporting the Union (represented by the flag and stars on the obverse) was a shootable offense. A personal favorite of mine, if only for the silly spelling error.

This blog sat largely unused for about four years, and it seemed like a good time to brush off the cobwebs and begin again.  So, welcome to TheCoinBlog! I’ll be posting photos from my personal hoard collection, and answering questions about coins in general (if I can). I’ll try to post rough prices for each piece, along with a blurb about it if possible.  Comments and inquiries are welcome! Hope you like money, you’re in the right place.