California gold type setI have been collecting coins since I was a child. My uncle worked for the city of Saginaw, MI, as a meter attendant. As he emptied the parking meters and sorted the coins, he would sort out rarer pennies he would find. He also gave me some of his Indian-head cents. Another uncle gave me all the money he had when he returned from WWII. Most of it was English change, but there was some other interesting stuff as well. In the '80s I started collecting coins in earnest, often bullion.
This page is under construction, please be patient. And yes, I will enlarge some of these pictures.
U.S. gold type setI have managed to put together a 12-piece type set of U.S. gold, just recently adding the $3.00 coin and the Type II $1.00. I also have a 4-piece type set of 1907 Liberty series gold coins.
California gold type set
I recently had a chance to pick up a three-piece set of California gold. The coins are a the $1.00, the half dollar, and a quarter dollar. Hard to imagine a gold quarter. There were only 10,000 pieces made, and that includes all 500 or so varieties.
Silver dollarsI also like silver. I got the 8 reales (pieces of eight) because of the significance of the year. These were once legal tender in the U.S. I also wanted a trade dollar, and may try to complete a year set of those. I do have a complete set of all 1878 Morgan silver dollars, including the 7-, 8- and 7/8-tail feather varieties. It appears I need to get one more coin in this series, since I am not sure which reverse I have on my 7 tail feather coin. I also have a complete set of silver Eagles, and continue to add to this collection.
Silver bullion
I should have included the silver Eagles here too, since it is also silver bullion. I have a complete set of silver Cats from the Isle of Man, partly because I am a cat lover. I also have a complete set of Canadian Maple Leaves (Leafs?), and Australian Kookaburras.
WWF bullion set
Another interesting bullion set is the World Wildlife Federation Endangered Species set. I am in the process of completing another WWF set, one from the Franklin Mint.
Pillar Dollar commemorative set
A few years ago the Mexico City Mint was cleaning house and found the original dies of the 1732 pillar dollars. In honor of the find, they minted 1000 of these proof sets of pillar dollars. The 12-ounce (troy pound!) example is especially impressive.
Ancient Roman coinsAnother thing I have done recently is buy uncleaned unsorted ancient coins. Some of them are very hard to identify, but many are in very fine condition, like these. Ancient coins are often in excellent condition, in spite of having been buried for years. Like squirrels and their nuts, ancients buried their coins (there were no banks), then forgot about them or died/were killed. These coins are from a hoard found in an Eastern European country. Clockwise from top left are:
Bronze follis of Maximinus II (A.D. 309-313), Sear #3766 obverse, #3758 reverse
Bronze antoninianus of Claudius II Gothicus (A.D. 268-270, undetermined
Bronze Rome Commemorative (A.D. 330-346), Sear #3894, obverse and reverse shown
Israel State Art medalsThis is an unusual set of three silver medals with a color painting lithographed on one side of each medal. They are 26mm diameter, and only 500 sets were made.
This is a set of silver medallions the Salvador Dali did for the 1988 Olympics.
Nude Zodiac -- R-rated Please do not view if easily offended!
This is a set of silver medallions of nude women representing the twelve astological signs of the zodiac. Full frontal nudity, parental discretion advised!
Sex Positions -- X-rated Please do not view is easily offended!
This is a set of silver ingots, each with featuring a couple in a different sexual position. No worse than the T-shirts you see of different sexual positions using pigs or geckos, but parental discretion is still strongly advised.
NOTE: A number of people have sent e-mail requesting price information for coins they own. I am not a dealer, merely a hobbyist. If you seek coin prices, consult "The Red Book." Thanks. Send me your comments.
