whycollect

DDO OF THE 70s

2012-03-11T04:20:00.001-07:00

One of the things that we dread most about numismatic is the supply of error coins drying up.

Or rather, the dwindling quantity of error coins that can be acquired without denting our small pockets.

Because as small time amateur collectors, we can hardly afford coins which come with hefty prices.

The greatly improved minting process and sophisticated equipments have reduced the number of error coins leaving the mint drastically.

In the great numismatic book entitled, “100 Greatest US Error Coins,” by Nicholas P Brown, David J Camire and Fred Weinberg, it is noted that all the major striking errors found in the past five years could probably fit in a person’s two hands.

From here onwards, one will be able to visualize how rare these coins are after considering the mind boggling quantity of circulating coins being churned out by the United States Mint, yearly.

The production figures of US circulating coins are as follow :-

2011 8.20 billion

2010 6.37 billion

2009 3.55 billion

2008 10.14 billion

2007 14.44 billion

This clearly shows that the number of major errors coming out from the mint are getting increasingly rare while the quantity of coins minted continues to be very substantial, every year.

The phenomena is not confined to the United States numismatic scene only but locally too.

In fact, it is happening in every country with the advancement in the minting process.

Furthermore, collecting these coins can be rather addictive, hence we sometimes have to endure restless nights with our seemingly insatiable appetite for them, lolz.

So, during the dry spells, we have to make do with what we have and resort to reexamining our existing stash, sometimes even more than twice.

And to our surprise, it yielded some interesting results.

Among the interesting finds is a key-date variety, a 1977 5sen coin with a double die obverse.

With a mintage of 10.6 million, it is the lowest mintage among the 5sen parliament series coins, 1967 – 1988.

What’s more, these 5sen coins of the late 60s to 80s were once extensively circulated, thus not many high grade specimens survived compared to the 5sen coins of the succeeding series.

Nowadays, inflation has somehow curbed their successors wide usage though they are still needed in many daily physical monetary transactions.

Fig.1 Malaysia 1977 5sen coin – obverse and reverse, key-date and double die obverse.

Fig.2 Malaysia 1977 5sen coin – closed-up, key-date and double die obverse.

The double die effects are obvious on the following of the coin’s obverse :-

- crescent moon and star,

- right side of the Parliament House base,

- denticles along 3 to 5 o’clock.

- initials G.C.

The coin is minted by Bank Negara Malaysia Mint.

Kindly note that the numerous long horizontal lines are actually scratches on the coin holder’s transparent mylar and do not affect the coin’s condition.

The world’s most famous double die coin is of course no other than the United States 1955 Double Die Lincoln Cent.

330 million Lincoln Cents were minted in 1955.

However, due to an error produced by a die plate, about 40,000 double die cents were minted.

24,000 made their way into circulation before they were identified and destroyed.

This coin heralded the beginning of error coins collecting.

A 1955 Double Die Lincoln Cent, even in a very low grade, now fetches a value of at least USD500.

While a high grade specimen sells for as much as USD15,000.

Ref : http://www.coinsite.com/content/faq/1955dd.asp

NEED FOR SPEED

2012-03-05T01:34:00.001-08:00

Every year, during this period, enthusiastic fans of motor racing will be looking forward to the exciting F1 Malaysia Grand Prix.

And this year, it is no exception for the event to be held on March 23-25 at the Sepang International Circuit.

Numismatists like us are equally excited too.

The much awaited annual event started since 1999, has been gradually gaining popularity.

And so are the set of coins issued by Bank Negara Malaysia on 6th October 1999, to commemorate the 1st Petronas Malaysia F1 Grand Prix.

The set consists of two coins, a 15 Ringgit Copper Nickel uncirculated coin and a 25 Ringgit Silver proof coin, each comes individually in an exquisite yet simple designed lacquered rubber wood box.

These coins too, are gaining popularity among collectors of Malaysia commemorative coins.

The best part about these coins is that they sort of being given free publicity every year when the event comes to Malaysia.

It is similar to the collectible toys enjoying publicity by the continuous stream of new movies and comics featuring the larger-than-life characters like the Marvel and Japanese superheroes.

These limited editions high-end toys usually come from an oligopolistic supply, while the mass-produced ones are offered in unlimited quantities.

A few major players dominate certain stages of the supply chain, thus creating entry barriers to new manufacturers and suppliers.

However, the supply of numismatic banknotes and coins are strictly controlled by state authorities, thus creating a monopoly.

Each of these items is strictly issued and controlled by the government of a country.

It’s face value is guaranteed.

And most commemorative items made of precious metal have intrinsic values that exceed their face values.

This is a distinctive factor which separates numismatic from other types of collectibles.

The only other collectibles which share this characteristic of monopoly are postal stamps where post offices around the world are bound by the same terms for conducting international postal duties under the Universal Postal Union.

There are also numismatics that carry popular themes or recurrent evergreen events like Olympics, World Cup, F1 Grand Prix, Thomas Cup, etc.

We like to go for numismatics which carry such themes.

With the ever growing population, interest on these items grow together with the themes popularity.

But their supply remains the same, irrespective of the growing number of collectors.

Below is a set of two coins, an uncirculated copper nickel 15 Ringgit and a silver proof 25 Ringgit, issued by Bank Negara Malaysia to commemorate the 1st Petronas Malaysia F1 Grand Prix in the Sepang F1 Circuit, in 1999.

Fig.1 A set consisting of a 25 Ringgit Silver Proof coin and a 15 Ringgit Copper-Nickel Uncirculated coin, commemorating the 1st Petronas Malaysia F1 Grand Prix, 1999.

The coins, each housed in a specially made rubber wood box, together with certificate of authentication, respectively.

Fig.2 15 Ringgit Copper-Nickel Uncirculated coin commemorating the 1st Petronas Malaysia F1 Grand Prix, 1999.

We are attracted to this coin because of it’s unusual appearance.

No other local copper-nickel coin has such a unique matte appearance with an aged bronze colour tone.

It was issued on 6th October 1999 with a mintage of 8,000.

With an issue price of RM95, we felt it was rather expensive for an uncirculated coin made of non-precious metal.

But at the same time, could not help falling in love with it because of it’s unique appearance..

Fig.3 25 Ringgit Silver Proof coin commemorating the 1st Petronas Malaysia F1 Grand Prix.

Issued on the same date with the 15 Ringgit, this silver proof coin has a mintage of 3,000 and an original price tag of RM165.

These two coins were also a 100% product of Malaysia as the boxes were made of local rubber wood, and the coins were minted by a local mint, Boustead Mint Sdn Bhd.

Surprisingly, we prefer the 15 Ringgit to the 25 Ringgit coin.

Rather strange too, even with mintage of 8,000 and 3,000 for the copper-nickel and silver coins respectively, they are rarely seen in the market unlike the 10 Ringgit SEA XXI Silver proof coins (mintage 3,000 plus another 500 pieces in sets of 2 with a gold proof coin).

And honestly we fell in love with the light brown and dark brown rubber wood boxes at first sight even before looking at the coins, haha.

The boxes are simple yet natural, very appealing and compact, thus making storage easy.

Somehow, we feel these two coins should be kept as a pair especially so when both come individually housed in a box of the same size and shape, differentiated by the different colour tone of the lacquer only.

Whatever it is, the days ahead will see the spectacular event come and go, but these supercharged coins will continue to zoom through the years ahead with ‘wrooming’ popularity, lolz.

These are among our favourite local commemorative coins.

Local collectors already have commemorative coins on car racing, badminton, hockey and athletics.

Hmmm..how about one on squash, bowling or football eh?

HAPPY COLLECTING TO ALL :)

NUMISMATIC AND PHILATELIC IN SUPERLATIVES

2012-02-29T08:12:00.001-08:00

While searching for materials in the internet, we stumbled upon some interesting information about stamps, coins and banknotes.

Below are some information for comparison in brief :-

When and first invented?

Coin - The Lydian Lion Electrum Trite, Turkey, circa 600 BC.

Banknote – Jiaozi Note, Song Dynasty, China, circa 10th Century AD.

Stamps - Penny Black, Britain, 1840 AD.

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How long in existence?

Coin - more than 2,600 years.

Banknote - more than 1,000 years.

Stamps - more than 170 years.

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Highest price paid?

Coin - United States 1794 Flowing Hair Silver Dollar US$7.85 million

Stamp - 1833 Swedish Treskilling Yellow Misprint US$2.30 million

Banknote - 1890 US ‘Grand Watermelon’ $1,000 Treasury Note US$2.26 million

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Ten most expensive?

1794 United States Flowing Hair Silver Dollar Coin US$7.85 million

1933 United States Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle Gold Coin US$7.59 million

1343 Medieval Edward III Double Florin Gold Coin US$6.80million

1804 United States Silver Dollar Coin US$4.14 million

2007 Canada $1million 100 Kilos Gold Coin US$4.00 million

1804 United States Class I Silver Dollar Coin US$3.74 million

1913 United States Liberty Head Nickel Coin US$3.70 million

1787 United States Brasher Doubloon EB on Breast Gold Coin US$2.99 million

190 United States Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle Gold Coin US$2.99 million

1787 United States Brasher Doubloon EB on Wing Gold Coin US$2.42 million

Ref : http://www.bornrich.com/entry/worlds-most-expensive-coins/

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Record price paid for errors?

1833 Swedish Treskilling Yellow Misprint Stamp US$2.30 million

1943-D United States Lincoln Bronze Cent Transitional Error Coin US$1.70 million

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And below are some of the interesting superlatives which we can find in our own humble collections too, haha.

Fig.1 China 開元通寶 Kai Yuan Tong Bao copper cash, circa 621-907 AD.

The Kai Yuan Tong Bao, which means The Inaugural Currency, was among the coins used for the longest period in the world.

It was used throughout the reign of the Tang Dynasty in China.

Fig.2 Malaya and British Borneo 5 Dollars Banknote ,Queen Elizabeth II, 1953.

Queen Elizabeth II is the second longest reigning head of state after King Rama IX of Thailand.

Queen since 1952, her portraits are among the most popular in the world, gracing banknotes of 34 countries.

Fig.3 Great Britain Queen Victoria Penny Red Stamp, 1841-1879.

Even though the Penny Black issued in 1840 was the first stamp in the world, the Penny Red was Great Britain’s longest running stamp.

It was used extensively from February 1841 to the end of November 1879.

Well, the super rare numismatic and philatelic items will always be part of our dreams, but there will always be something else superlatively good and affordable for us to collect, lolz.

HAPPY COLLECTING TO ALL :)

COIN WITH ROLLER MARKS

2012-02-25T03:12:00.001-08:00

Fig.1 Malaysia 1 Ringgit Copper-nickel commemorative coin, 9th Southeast Asian Games 1977 - roller marks, obverse.

Wonder anyone share these feelings that we did when we were kids?

While most road users would probably feel a little agitated by the traffic disruption caused by the workers paving a stretch of bitumen road, we actually enjoyed watching these people worked.

Fresh from the boiler, steaming hot bitumen were being poured onto the road surface, while the workers paved the bitumen over the same surface with great precision.

We would wait anxiously for the steamroller to start leveling and smoothening the surface.

Focusing our eyes on the heavy roller as it moved on the road surface, leaving behind two almost parallel lines created by both sides of the roller.

This process would continue until most of these lines were eventually obliterated and the road surface was finally leveled and smoothened after the driver had skillfully driven the steamroller back and forth on the same area.

When we came across the above commemorative coin, it was like another deja vu that we used to experience as time moved along.

There are a lot of parallel lines running almost perpendicular behind the main device, which is the wau, on the coin’s obverse.

Hence creating an impression that the player seems to be ascending with his soaring wau.

The numerous parallel lines behind the wau give an impression that it is in motion, soaring at great speed.

However, these lines are not part of the design.

And they are not scratches either.

They run underneath the devices and continue on the fields on the obverse.

Fig.2 Malaysia 1 Ringgit Copper-nickel commemorative coin, 9th Southeast Asian Games 1977 - roller marks, obverse and reverse.

Fig.3 Malaysia 1 Ringgit Copper-nickel commemorative coin, 9th Southeast Asian Games 1977 - obverse showing the roller marks.

These interesting features behind the wau produce an appearance of motion on the obverse.

Fig.4 Malaysia 1 Ringgit Copper-nickel commemorative coin, 9th Southeast Asian Games 1977 - close-up on the roller marks on the obverse.

The parallel lines give the impression of upward motion as if the flyer is soaring with the wau at great speed.

These incuse lines are actually roller marks formed during the minting process.

Before the coins are struck, coin blanks are stamped from large sheets of rolled out metal.

These metal sheets are huge ingots made by pouring the molten metal into large moulds.

Once cooled, the ingots are removed from the moulds and passed back and forth through large metal rollers, to get the correct thickness for making the coin blanks.

During this process, tiny pieces of foreign matter like metal shavings, sand or dirt may get onto the ingot or rollers, thus carving grooves or fine lines into the sheet of metal due to the intense pressure exerted by the rollers.

These roller marks normally go underneath the devices of the coin, though sometimes they run across too.

This is because when the coin is struck, the lines are obliterated by the raised devices.

While the roller marks on the fields are still present due to insufficient force of the strike to obliterate them.

Ref : http://coins.about.com/od/uscoins/a/roller_marks.htm

So, may others manage to find this interesting wau coin too.

And flies off to a soaring height :)

Specifications : Mintage 1,000,000 Weight 16.8grams Diameter 33.36mm

Thickness 2.5mm Copper-Nickel, minted by Franklin Mint.

FINDING ZEN IN A TOKEN

2012-02-19T06:31:00.001-08:00

The first impression that we felt when we got hold of the token was the ripple effect that we used to see when a stone was dropped into still water.

And the calming effect of the zen gardens of Japan.

It was a Malaysia 2000 Bank Negara Malaysia Aluminum Token.

Or shall we call it the “Millenium Token,” haha.

Fig.1 Malaysia 2000 Bank Negara Malaysia Aluminum Token - obverse.

Honestly, we cannot tell which side of the token is the obverse or reverse.

However, we presume the side featuring the kancil or mousedeer as the obverse as it is pre-packed in the coin card this way.

At a glance, this token looks normal except for the numerous but harmless scratches on the plastic cover which protects the token.

Fig.2 Malaysia 2000 Bank Negara Malaysia Aluminum Token – obverse showing lathe lines.

However when the token is viewed at a slightly slanted angle, concentric lines can be seen on the obverse.

Fig.3 Malaysia 2000 Bank Negara Malaysia Aluminum Token – closed-up on the fields showing the lathe lines.

The concentric lines are visible only when the token is moved to enable the side lighting to be reflected from the fields of the token’s obverse.

Kindly take note that the numerous hap-hazard lines were actually harmless scratches on the plastic cover sealing and protecting the token, which were photographed together when the picture was taken.

As the token is moved and tilted, light reflected from the undulated surface of the fields, makes the concentric lines visible.

And when viewed as a whole, they look like concentric circles radiating from the main device towards the perimeter of the token.

They look like ripples on the surface of a pool of still water when a stone is dropped.

A very pleasing effect like the zen gardens of Japan.

Fig.4 Malaysia 2000 Bank Negara Malaysia Aluminum Token –closed-up showing the lathe lines being reflected on the undulated surface of the fields.

What we have seen are soft concentric lines that do not go into the device, yet distinct enough to be noticeable on close examination.

The concentric lines are probably lathe lines created during the process where the die blanks were machined.

They probably have not been polished enough to remove all the lathe lines or evidence of their formation.

Some of these lines remained after being hubbed.

Fig.5 Malaysia 2000 Bank Negara Malaysia Aluminum Token, with lathe lines on the obverse – reverse

We have seen the enigmatic Nazca Lines in the Peruvian desert.

In numismatic, the mint sometimes continue to charm us too.

And in this case, the concentric lines which are supposed to be not visible, at least through the collectors’ naked eyes.

But it did.

How nice and hope they continue to err, stimulating our appetite, haha.

May this help to spread a ripple of excitement through the collectors to look for more of these often ignored tokens.

So far, we have found one specimen only.

We hope others will find them too.

And like the saying goes, “to err is human; to forgive, divine.”

..AND THEY LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER

2012-02-14T10:31:00.001-08:00

Here is a love story of two coins.

One is a goliath while the other, a dwarf.

Each sharing the same traits.

The relative thickness, the relative weight, the expression matched.

Dwarf appeared first, and later came, Goliath.

They met each other’s meaning with strange quickness.

And matched like carefully chosen pearls.

This love story involved two split planchet before strike error coins, a 1970 1sen and a 1980 1ringgit.

The petite 1sen came and later we match-made it with a masculine 1ringgit.

And now both have been married and are idyllically happy, haha.

Fig.1 Split Planchet Before Strike Error Coins, Malaysia 1980 1Ringgit and 1970 1Sen – obverse.

Fig.2 Split Planchet Before Strike Error Coins, Malaysia 1980 1Ringgit and 1970 1Sen – reverse.

Fig3 Split Planchet Before Strike Error Coins, Malaysia 1980 1Ringgit and 1970 1Sen – comparison of the edges with their respective normal coins.

Split Planchet Before Strike occurs when the planchet splits before being struck and each half is thin, normally with weak design and/or lines on obverse and reverse. Generally, exhibits weak details due to lack of metal to fill the dies. When the split occurs before striking, it can appear very similar to die adjustment strikes. It will exhibit a varying degree of weakness to the obverse and reverse depending on the thickness of the planchet.

Ref : http://dniewcollectors.blogspot.com/2011/11/split-planchet-before-strike.html

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY TO ALL WHO ARE CELEBRATING

A GENIUS IMMORTALIZED IN PEWTER

2012-02-11T09:00:00.001-08:00

Fig. 1 Eyes of a genius intricately crafted and struck in pewter.

Wonder anyone can tell who this great man is by just looking at his eyes?

Each fine details of the portrait of this great man has been intricately crafted by the skillful craftsman before being struck at Selangor Pewter.

Fig.2 Hairs of a genius intricately crafted and struck in pewter.

Fig.3 Nose of a genius intricately crafted and struck in pewter.

Fig.4 Mouth of a genius intricately crafted and struck in pewter.

Each feature shown above, intricately crafted before being struck to bring out the best of our iconic Malay film star, Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr. P. Ramlee.

Not only a famous actor, he was a director, singer, songwriter, composer and producer as well.

We like this pewter medallion because of our great admiration for this remarkable artist who never fail to charm us with his movies and songs.

And also it’s striking appearance and exquisite craftsmanship.

Fig.5 Pewter medallion commemorating the iconic Malay film star, Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr. P. Ramlee, by Selangor Pewter - obverse.

The obverse of the medallion depicts an intricately crafted and struck portrait of P. Ramlee.

We never feel bored with his timeless movies and songs.

His demise is a great loss to our local entertainment scene.

Fig.6 Pewter medallion commemorating the iconic Malay film star, Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr. P. Ramlee, by Selangor Pewter – reverse.

The reverse shows some of his best works in his career.

At the bottom of the medallion is the old name of Royal Selangor Pewter.

The name was only changed from Selangor Pewter to the present name in 1992.

Therefore, we believe this medallion could have been made before the early 90s.

However, it could be even earlier.

Fig.7 Pewter medallion commemorating the iconic Malay film star, Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr. P. Ramlee, by Selangor Pewter – medallion with the original printed cardboard holder in a transparent plastic casing.

13 years after his death, in 1986, in honour of his contributions to the Malaysian entertainment industry, the P.Ramlee Memorial or Pustaka Peringatan P. Ramlee was built in his home in Setapak, Kuala Lumpur.

In 1990, he was posthumously awarded the title Tan Sri.

And later in 2009, the title Datuk Amar by the Sarawak State Government.

Ref source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._Ramlee

The medallion comes with a card, imprinted with the words ‘Pustaka Peringatan P.Ramlee”, and “ Arkib Negara Malaysia.”

As the memorial was established in 1986, there is a strong probability that this medallion was made somewhere within that period.

However, we would be most grateful if anyone could help us confirm the exact year that this medallion was made by Royal Selangor Pewter, then called Selangor Pewter.

Royal Selangor Pewter is renowned for their objects d’art of exquisite craftsmanship with timeless beauty.

Honestly, we love everything produced by the company.

Below is a pewter table clock which have been serving us well.

Fig.8 Table clock made of pewter by Royal Selangor Pewter.

INSPIRATIONAL COINS AND MEDALS

2012-02-10T04:45:00.001-08:00

Fig.1 Golden medallion commemorating Malaysia Achieving Independence on 31st August 1957- obverse.

First of all, our best wishes to all those who are entering universities and colleges during this period of the year.

And to those who are determined to overcome all odds and challenges, in order to achieve academic excellence.

While we read about great success stories of top achievers, we find there is a category of numismatic which is equally inspirational and motivational.

Numismatic which carries the sports theme.

Locally, we have our fair share of numismatic items depicting this theme.

Below are some of the coins and medallions portraying sportsmen, sportswomen and sports mascots in actions.

Fig.2 Malaysia 1989 15 Ringgit Silver Coin commemorating the 15th S.E.A Games.

Fig.3 Malaysia 2001 10 Ringgit Silver Proof Coin commemorating the XXI S.E.A Games.

Fig.4 Malaysia 2002 1 Ringgit Nordic Gold Coin commemorating the 10th Men’s Hockey World Cup.

Fig.5 Penang Schools Sports Council medallion, circa pre-50s.

Fig.6 Pewter medallion featuring the Youth, Sports and Culture Ministry by Selangor Pewter.

Fig.7 Golden medallion commemorating Malaysia Achieving Independence and it’s sports achievements.

Fig.8 Golden medallion commemorating Malaysia’s Independence – the reverse depicting various types of sports in the country.

The sight of these coins and medals reminds us of the true grit and determination shown by the great sportsmen and sportswomen.

And so just like those in sports, we would like to dedicate an inspirational poem on Perseverance, from an unknown author, to those entering universities or colleges, too...

When things go wrong as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low, and the debts are high
And you want to smile, but have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit
Rest if you must, but do not quit.
Success is failure turned inside out,
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you can never tell how close you are
It may be near when it seems so far,
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit
It's when things go wrong that you must not quit.

Ref : http://www.inspirationalspark.com/perseverance-quotes.html

ALL YOU DO, YOU DO SO WELL. YOU WILL FIND GREAT SUCCESS IN YOUR ENDEAVORS AND HAPPINESS WILL FOLLOW YOU.

GOOD START

2012-02-07T00:20:00.001-08:00

Fig.1 Malaysia 2001 20sen multiple strike error coin cropped image superimposed on a mandarin orange.

After 15 days of revelry, it is time to get on working seriously again to a brighter year ahead.

It is always good to get off to a good start in all our endeavors.

So, as a prelude to more good things to come in the year of the dragon, we share a LUCKY STRIKE.

Ops sorry! we mean a MULTIPLE STRIKE, haha.

Fig.2 Malaysia 2001 20sen multiple strike error – obverse.

Fig.3 Malaysia 2001 20sen multiple strike error– reverse.

We noticed some multiple strike error coins are born to be beautiful.

This specimen here is among those which we like because the multiple images on the reverse are so evenly struck, making it looks just like another normal coin with overlapping designs.

If the top and bottom unstruck portions of the coin are omitted, it will take on a shape of a mandarin orange.

Fig.4 Malaysia 2001 20sen multiple strike coin cropped image– shaped like a mandarin orange if the top and bottom unstruck portions are omitted.

To the Chinese, the mandarin orange signifies abundant happiness.

Fig.5 A basketful of mandarin oranges and the cropped mandarin shaped coin.

And together with a cup of vintage 90s miniature raw puerh tuocha, we wish all..

Fig.6 Small raw puerh tuocha 90s and two glazed with dragon designs porcelain tea cups, circa. 70s.

MAY EVERYONE HAS A GOOD START TO A BOUNTIFUL YEAR OF THE DRAGON

THE THIRD SIDE OF A COIN

2012-02-03T06:44:00.001-08:00

We read with much amusement about mnfaj’s and depankanta’s postings on the third side of a coin.

A coin with a head and a tail does not exist without a third side.

Likewise, two sides of a coin cannot make it roll, but a third side does.

Yet, the third side often goes unnoticed.

Just like in real life, so many less obvious things which are often overlooked, yet they shape our lives more often than most of us ever realized.

Physically, a coin’s three dimensional form is made up, a head, a tail and an edge, which, together make up three.

After reading the postings and the expert explanations and descriptions by Sifu Nu and Sifu Dickson about the subject on partial collar errors, we started to imagine what it would be like if the same situation occurred back in the 70s, 80s, 90s, or even the early 2000s.

Imagine numerous virgin hoards of coins of the parliament series awaiting to be screened by collectors, hoping to find varieties with abnormal edges.

What’s more, during those days where the 1967, 1968 and 1969 50sen coins were still commonly found among the circulation coins.

These 50sen coins with the special security line on edge offered immense pleasure and sometimes anxiety to collectors looking for anything abnormal along their edges.

Those rare freaks with totally milled without the security line, probably would not have been missed by even the most untrained eyes.

Yet, along with these rare milled freaks, were those less rare specimens only partially affected by the same phenomena.

Maybe collectors with these 67-8-9 50sen coins, should reexamine them to check for “partially affected edge” specimens, which might have been overlooked earlier.

Haha, we used to call them as ‘67-8-9 big biscuits’ in Cantonese among ourselves.

Below are some of the 1967 varieties found.

Fig.1 Malaysia 1967 50sen freak coin – error on security edge.

Fig.2 Malaysia 1967 50sen freak coin – error on security edge.

Fig.3 Malaysia 1967 50sen freak coin – error on security edge.

Fig.4 Malaysia 1967 50sen freak coin – error on security edge.

Fig.5 Malaysia 1967 50sen freak coin – error on security edge.

Now, who says the edge of a coin is not sexy, haha.

Maybe, we could even call it the intimate part of a coin since it is the edge which intimately unite the obverse and reverse of a coin.

Without it, to act as the third dimension, a coin cannot exist.

15 million 50sen coins of the Parliament series, bearing this security edge were minted in 1967, by The Royal Mint, London for circulation in Malaysia.

The coin weighing 9.33 grams with a diameter of 27.7mm, is one of the only three 50sen coins with a special security line on edge, ever minted on a modern definitive series.

The other two are dated 1968 and 1969, with mintage of 12 million and 2 million respectively.

SOMETHING GOOD FOR EVERYONE

2012-01-26T23:29:00.001-08:00

Fig.1 Ching Dynasty, Kuang Hsu Yuan Pao Copper Coin, 10 Cash, Hunan Province, 1902-1906, closed-up section of the obverse showing a die crack between 12 to 1 o’clock.

The good thing about the Lunar New Year is that there is always something nice for everyone who is celebrating the festival.

Everyone steps into the festive season, supercharged with good feelings.

The new year evokes an aura of warmth and tranquility yet exciting, rarely found in our daily lives except during such festive season, Hari Raya Aidilfitri or Deepavali.

Kids receiving ang-pows.

Tech-savvy teenagers reviewing their festive postings in the facebook, checking how many likes and comments they have received.

While adults meeting up with their family members and friends.

And for collectors too, it was also a time to search for anything interesting and worth collecting.

The good news is that, there is bound to be something for us to collect, if we take the trouble to look for them, on every festive season.

Flipping through bundles of new banknotes, hoping to find interesting ones with good serial numbers and errors.

Looking for limited-edition souvenirs that come along with the festive food and drinks.

While kids are busy taking out the cash and setting aside the empty ang-pow packets, we pick up the attractive ones, especially those depicting the zodiac animals which only come once in twelve years.

So, for this year, we found some interesting ang-pow packets depicting the magnificent dragon.

Fig.2 Red ang-pow packets with a 福 and dragon hologram.

Fig.3 Red ang-pow packets with a 福 and dragon hologram.

Fig.4 Red ang-pow packets with a 福 and dragon hologram.

The above three red packets, each bearing a hologram, depicting the Chinese character 福 or “Fook” meaning Luck.

When the red packet is viewed at a slightly tilted angle, the Chinese character 福 slowly changes into a majestic dragon.

And listed below are nine red ang-pow packets, each bearing a golden coin design depicting dragons.

Fig.5 Red ang-pow packets depicting various motifs of the dragon, nine different designs

Of course, nothing beats the thrill of finding an error among the dragon coins, considering collecting errors is always our mainstay in numismatic and this is the year of the dragon..

Below is a Ching Dynasty, Kuang Hsu Yuan Pao Copper Coin, 10 Cash, Hupeh Province, 1902, with multiple die cracks on obverse and reverse and 90 degrees rotated die.

Fig.6 Ching Dynasty, Kuang Hsu Yuan Pao Copper Coin, 10 Cash, Hupeh Province, 1902, with multiple die cracks on obverse and reverse and 90 degrees rotated die – obverse and reverse.

Fig.7 Ching Dynasty, Kuang Hsu Yuan Pao Copper Coin, 10 Cash, Hupeh Province, 1902, with multiple die cracks on obverse and reverse and 90 degrees rotated die – obverse.

The obverse shows the followings :-

The legends are poorly minted, with incomplete letterings.

Furthermore, the alignment and size of the letterings are not uniform.

The coin is also slightly off-centered.

And the portrait, that is the dragon’s image is not well defined.

While die cracks are obvious on the left and around the portrait.

Fig.8 Ching Dynasty, Kuang Hsu Yuan Pao Copper Coin, 10 Cash, Hupeh Province, 1902, with multiple die cracks on obverse and reverse and 90 degrees rotated die- reverse.

The reverse shows the followings :-

A 90 degrees rotated die.

Multiple die cracks and striation marks.

And the denticles are not well defined or totally missing along the rim.

It is also slightly off-center.

MAY ALL OF US FIND MORE GREAT COINS ON THIS YEAR OF THE DRAGON :)

GONG XI FA CAI 2012

2012-01-19T04:32:00.001-08:00

As we enter the year of the dragon, the collectibles brought down from the year of the rabbit, have gone through another year of graceful aging.

Unlike their masters, with a few more lines added onto their faces, haha.

Hmmm..looking back, these collectibles have fulfilled our whims and fancies.

Many have been together with us through thick and thin for almost two complete zodiac cycles, with some inherited ones even longer.

And on every Lunar New Year, we would search through our collections, looking for items with suitable themes to go along with it.

So, for this GOOD YEAR OF THE DRAGON, it is no exception.

We singled out a few depicting the mystical dragon, just striking the right note for a MIGHTY GOOD YEAR OF THE DRAGON 2012.

Below are three collectibles depicting the dragon.

A Japanese 1 Yen Meiji Year 25 (1892) Osaka Mint 銀 Countermark Silver Coin 1897,

a vintage ‘koi changing to dragon’ Yixing teapot,

and a chicken’s blood seal stone.

Fig.1 Japanese 1 Yen Meiji Year 25 (1892) Osaka Mint 銀 Countermark Silver Coin 1897, obverse.

In 1897, Japan demonetized the Trade Dollars and silver One Yen.

Consequently, many were melted to provide bullion to produce subsidiary coins.

About 20 million pieces, however were shipped to Korea, Taiwan and Southern Manchuria to facilitate international trade.

銀 countermarks were put on the coins to prevent them from returning to Japan where they could be exchange for gold, due to the shift in the relative values between gold and silver.

Made of silver of 0.900 fineness and weighing 26.99grams, with an actual silver weight of 0.7800 oz, this 1892 coin was countermarked with the Chinese character 銀 or ‘Gin’ at the Osaka Mint in 1897.

Fig.2 Japanese 1 Yen Meiji Year 25 (1892) Osaka Mint 銀 Countermark Silver Coin 1897, reverse showing the 銀 countermark on the left.

These coins were countermarked by two mint in Japan, the Osaka Mint and Tokyo Mint.

Those from the Osaka Mint bear the 銀 marks on the left of the reverse, while those from the Tokyo Mint had the 銀 marks on the right.

Only 2.1 million coins were countermarked at the Tokyo Mint compared to 18.35 million at the Osaka Mint.

Fig.3 Japanese 1 Yen Meiji Year 25 (1892) Osaka Mint 銀 Countermark Silver Coin 1897, closed-up on the countermark 銀 which in Chinese means silver.

The ‘Gin’ mark is represented by the Chinese character 銀 which means silver.

Next, listed below is a ‘koi changing to dragon’ vintage Yixing teapot.

Fig.4 ‘Koi changing to dragon’ vintage Yixing teapot, side profile.

Teapots with this design were very popular during the early years.

However, many replicas of this design have been produced till today.

This one listed here is estimated to be least 25-30 years old, considering it was inherited from our parents.

However, we apologise if the age is misrepresented because even our parents have forgotten exactly when they have acquired it but only knew it was long ago.

Fig.5 ‘Koi changing to dragon’ vintage Yixing teapot, side profile showing the two dragons.

On one side of the external wall is a slightly raised dragon, while another young dragon’s head is seen emerging from the lid of the teapot.

Fig.6 ‘Koi changing to dragon’ vintage Yixing teapot, a raised image of a koi on the opposite side of the teapot’s external wall.

While the other side of the external wall shows a swimming koi.

Fig.7 ‘Koi fish changing to dragon’ vintage Yixing teapot, closed-up on the two dragons.

The soft lines of the designs of the koi and dragon on the purple clay make them look slightly raised but not well defined, portraying an overall subtle appearance.

This subtle look is best observed when hot water is poured onto the walls of the teapot, the koi and dragon images suddenly appear sharp and clear out of the wet external walls.

But gradually disappear into the fine purple clay as the walls dry up, leaving behind only the wet 3-D dragon’s head emerging from the lid.

Very interesting teapot.

The Lunar New Year is synonymous with the colour RED.

Red ang-bao, red firecrackers, red lanterns, red decorations, red dress, red etc.

And so a red Chicken’s blood seal stone should fit into the theme, too Fig. 8

Fig.8 Chicken’s blood seal stone from Changhua, China.

The random formation of clay, quartz and cinnabar produced interesting patterns, sometimes resembling pictures, Fig.9

Fig.9 Chicken’s blood seal stone from Changhua, China, closed-up section of the highlighted dragon’s head formation.

The minerals formation of this seal stone created patterns which resembles a dragon’s head.

Chicken’s blood stone, highly prized by the Chinese, is formed from a mixture of fine grained clay, quartz and cinnabar.

The degree and intensity of red colour is determined by the presence of cinnabar.

Reportedly, only two localities in the world produced stones of such nature.

Both are located in China.

One is in Changhua, also referred to as the old pit.

While the other in Balinyouqi, or new pit.

The best quality stones were once extracted from the vein located in the Yu-Yan mountain in Changhua. .

The Changhua vein is since exhausted, after officially closed by the Chinese government in 1985, mined since the Ming Dynasty, six hundred years ago.

Currently, stones of lower quality are being mined in Balinyouqi, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

For most Chinese, the stone is a protection against evil and considered even more powerful than jade.

However, it is too soft to be used for jewelry purposes.

Therefore, it is mainly used in carvings and seals.

Chicken’s blood stone became even more popular after Premier Chou En-Lai presented a pair of these stone seals to the Japanese Prime Minister Tanaka Kakue in conjunction with the establishment of formal diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Now, what’s still being left out for this dragon’s year preparation?

Aha, nothing’s complete without the red firecrackers, whether real or replicas to decorate our homes.

Ask the Chinese of the older generation, what they liked most when the Spring Festival came during those days when they were kids.

Chances are most will say there’s nothing quite like starting off the Lunar New Year with a big bang of red firecrackers.

When the smell of sulfur in the air had subsided and the deafening sound of firecrackers had stopped, the next morning, we would fumble and dug through the inches thick red papers, looking for unexploded firecrackers.

To take home, anxiously waiting till the right moment to start off another round of fire crackling again.

And the sights of the main streets were simply awesome.

They no more looked like streets but like rivers of bright red flowing papers.

Amidst the sound of exploding firecrackers, red papers flying, heralding the mighty dragon, bringing good and rich blessings to all.

We take this opportunity to wish all who celebrate the Lunar New Year,

GONG XI FA CAI

NB : We will be taking a break for this coming lunar new year. So until then..lets enjoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooy :D

THERE’S ALWAYS ANOTHER WAY

2012-01-15T20:58:00.001-08:00

Many a time, our deep obsessions cause us to be enslaved by our hobbies instead of we being their masters.

These occur when we find ourselves trapped in the confined world of our own obsession, totally preoccupied with hunting for seemingly unobtainable items.

Causing us sleepless nights, even to the extent of affecting our daily lives.

If such is the case, do not be despair.

Stone walls do not a prison make, nor iron bars a cage.

There are 1,001 ways to a hobby.

We should be enjoying and relaxing in what we are doing instead of feeling the otherwise.

This is especially true in situations pertaining to collecting classical coins, where many specimens are not forthcoming or difficult to obtain especially with our limited budgets.

We can always devise a way of collecting which suits us best.

For example, if complete sets cannot be obtained, maybe the smallest and the biggest denominations among the coins, made of the same type of metal in the series, would do the trick.

Below are two Sarawak Rajah Charles Johnson Brooke silver coins, a 5cents and a 50cents coin.

The 5cents being the smallest denomination, while the 50cents, the largest denomination among the silver series, Fig.1

Fig.1 Sarawak Rajah Charles Johnson Brooke silver coins, left pic showing the reverse of a 1913 5cents, while right pic, a 1900 50cents.

With only a limited budget, we found it was impossible to proceed further, trying to build a complete set of these highly desirable Sarawak coins of the Brooke era.

But was quite satisfied to have two of these coins in the series, both being non-repaired specimens.

Repaired coins are very common among these series minted in silver due to their usage as ornamental items by the locals which left many with soldering marks.

We normally set a limit that we need to pay for a coin acquisition and if the price surpassed the limit, then we would stop as we felt we could get much better bargains on other coins.

Of course, always bearing in mind that all items must be in reasonably high grades.

We focus more on quality than quantity as its a known fact that high grade coins are more easily disposable when the need arises.

So, in this case, even with a heavy heart, we decided to stop after acquiring the 5cents in high grade, to match with the 50cents coin which was already in our collection for a long time.

Hehe, at least we have a pair of these silver coins which are high grade specimens, especially non-repaired ones which are considered scare, nowadays.

Even more satisfying will be getting the smallest and the biggest denominations with the last or first date of mintage of a particular series.

Below Fig.2 is a pair of Straits Settlements Queen Victoria 1cent and 50cents coins, with the last date of mintage.

Fig.2 Straits Settlements Queen Victoria 1901 1cent and 50cents coins. Left pic showing the reverse of a 1cent coin, while right pic shows a 50cents reverse.

Haha, not that we have not tried, we did try very hard to acquire these 1cent bronze and copper coins, with 22 different dates, from 1872 till 1901.

However, we only managed to obtained a couple of these coins in reasonably high grades.

We found low grade ones were plentiful while the high graders were getting really scare, and have not even physically seen or handled a high grade 1878 specimen.

What’s more to mention about the 50cents silver coins.

So we ended up quite satisfied, pairing the 1cent copper with a 50cents silver, both bearing the last date of mintage, i.e. 1901, and being the smallest and the biggest denominations in the series.

Even if in situations where the issuer makes life difficult for collectors, there are many other alternatives, many even better in all aspects, waiting to be collected.

Maybe we could explore coins of foreign origin, especially those popular ones and still competitively priced.

A check in the internet, found these silver coins from Germany which were quite popular even among the collectors in China, Fig.3.

Nowadays, anything in demand by the Chinese is an eye-opener, haha.

Might be due to its high silver content, popular Olympic sports theme and from a rich and powerful country, Germany.

Fig.3 Germany 1972-J 10 Deutsche Mark silver coin commemorating the hosting of Olympic events in Munich.

Surprisingly, these popular coins are still reasonably priced, with prices quite near to their intrinsic bullion value.

Probably it is due to their high mintage of 5 million.

However, with an actual silver weight of 0.3115 oz, an evergreen popular Olympic theme, and coming from a rich and affluent country with a big population, we believe such coins would continue to be in good demand by collectors, globally.

Maybe, the fairly high mintage makes these coins even more transactable, thus enhancing their marketability.

We too found them to be good buys especially when many silver coins have gone up in price a lot, lately.

Of course, nothing beats having a complete set of coins belonging to a series or even just on a particular date.

Below is a set of uncirculated Singapore 1975 definitive series coins, Fig.4.

Fig.4 Singapore 1975 definitive series coins, 1cent to S$1 coins, uncirculated.

We managed to obtain this set of 1975 coins which was comparatively ‘rare’ in respect to other dates of mintage in the same series.

This is the set with the most number of key dates in a particular year.

It came in the form of official uncirculated sets in plastic wallet.

We have discarded the plastic wallet because it was made of PVC which could damage the coins.

These modern coins are normally much easier to acquire in complete sets, with a particular date.

However, getting a set, complete with all the dates in uncirculated to brilliant uncirculated conditions, seems a formidable task, nowadays.

Here, we would like to recommend readers to take a look at Dickson’s blog for modern Malaysia coinage and other interesting numismatic items.

http://dniewcollectors.blogspot.com/

At times, we found out that engaging an honest and experienced collector/dealer can save one a lot of time to build a collection.

Or maybe even a more economical way to build at least a reasonable good collection, as the hobby is seen to be fast gaining popularity, nowadays.

Haha, all thanks to the seemingly perpetual quantitative easing of money by countries all over the world.

Probably, people are looking for something more tangible, nowadays.

We have come across friends whom we have tried to encourage them to go into numismatic, and got replies, “No, boring and expensive hobby la.”

Hmmm..maybe it was just excuses to keep us from bothering them again, haha.

Well, if it wasn’t, then we believe devising a systematic approach before venturing seriously into the hobby would definitely benefits a new collector in the long run.

Now, who says coins collecting is expensive when one could fork out RM2K plus to buy a IPhone? Haha.

Hmm..as for us, looking back, no regrets, considering some of the very affordable past acquisitions like the classics, bi-metal and silver commemoratives, modern key dates, errors, etc, are starting to bear fruits.

The best part we find in numismatic is that there is no such thing as too late to start because at any point in time, there is always something good or worthwhile to collect.

It is only a matter of identifying what items to collect which best suits one’s way.

Just a humble opinion from a once obsessive compulsive novice, collecting on a very limited budget :D

DEEP BLUE SEA AT HOME

2012-01-09T03:07:00.001-08:00

Ever since our childhood days, we were always fascinated with the wonders of the sea.

Which we eventually became ardent nature lovers.

Fantasizing diving into the deep blue sea, swimming along with a pod of Whale Sharks, or observing a shoal of Sardines swimming together in a silvery mass.

Equally fascinating, the sight of hundreds of Spiny Lobsters lining up perfectly for their annual migration through the Carribean waters.

Even bizarre, snorkeling with a smack of Golden Jellyfish doing their daily migration across the Jellyfish Lake, off the coast of Koror in Palau, like strange alien beings drifting through space.

Such are some of the wonders of nature.

Whenever possible, we will let ourselves to be transported from the monotonous working life to exotic beaches, before diving into the deep blue seas, all these through our coins and collectibles.

Coins which depict exotic landscapes, igniting our imaginations.

Below is a French Polynesia 1995 2 Franc Aluminum Coin.

Made of aluminum and measuring 27mm in diameter with a weight of 2.7gram, it has a mintage of 1.2 million.

Fig.1 French Polynesia 1995 2 Franc Aluminum Coin, obverse showing an island scene.

Suddenly we find ourselves on an exotic beach facing the sea.

All is pleasant and quiet out there, while we enjoy exotic fruits from a giant clam shell.

We can see boats in the sea, sailing past us.

When the tide goes lower, exposing the mountain range beyond the horizon, the boats now look like sunken ships that are still sailing on at the bottom of the sea.

Wow, this scenic design on the coin’s obverse surely gives us a relaxing feel as we let our imaginations roam free, rekindling those wonderful moments while holidaying at the exotic beaches.

Fig.2 French Polynesia 1995 2 Franc Aluminum Coin, reverse showing a seated figure of Marianne holding the torch and cornucopia, the symbol of France.

Then, diving into the deep blue waters of the sea with a piece of palm size Lapis Lazuli, Fig.3

Fig.3 Lapis Lazuli, a deep blue semi-precious opaque gemstone.

The pyrite inclusions gives a golden shimmering when light hits the stone like the sun glittering on the sea’s surface.

Fig.4 Singapore 1971 5cents Aluminum Coin, commemorating the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (F.A.O), obverse featuring a pomfret.

While beneath the waters, a shoal of silver pomfrets glides.

Wow, wonderful soothing thoughts.

Fig.5 Singapore 1971 5cents Aluminum Coin, commemorating the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (F.A.O), reverse.

To us, these are more than collectibles.

They make us imagine all the beautiful and great things that we want to do in life.

Invigorating our subconscious, nourishing our feelings.

By the way, we really like this Singapore aluminum coin featuring a pomfret on the obverse.

Regarded as a food fish by most of us, this single dorsal finned, deep-bodied fish with deep forked tail, consisting of 35 species from the Bramidae family, can be very attractive when featured in coins.

Especially the silver pomfret, where the Cantonese used to call it “bak-chong” or “tau-tai”.

“Tau-tai” normally being referred to the more expensive type.

It is called ikan bawal putih in Bahasa Malaysia.

The silvery surface of the coin immediately lead us to visualize the silvery deep body of the pomfret.

One of the cutest aluminum coin and one of a kind ever minted by Singapore.

With a mintage of 3.049 million, nowadays, these coins are not as common as they used to be during the earlier years.

Hehe, better get ‘em while they are still available.

Arg, its a pity Malaysia never had an aluminum coin meant for circulation except for the Bank Negara Souvenir Tokens.

Happy Collecting to All :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012

2012-01-01T04:40:00.001-08:00

Goal.. Goal .. Goal

Ole.. ole.. ole

So ecstatic.

To see our favourite football player scored a hat-trick.

And it was like deja vu all over again, when this coin Fig.1 first met our eyes.

A triple strike like the hat-trick that we have witnessed earlier.

Fig.1 Malaysia 2009 10sen triple strike off-center error coin, obverse and reverse.

Fig.2 Malaysia 2009 10sen triple strike off-center error coin, closed-up on the obverse.

Fig.3 Malaysia 2009 10sen triple strike off-center error coin, extreme closed-up showing the coin struck three times on obverse.

Fig.4 Malaysia 2009 10sen triple strike off-center error coin, closed-up on the reverse.

Fig.5 Malaysia 2009 10sen triple strike off-center error coin, extreme closed-up showing the triple strike on reverse.

What’s more, it was also a major off-center strike.

And the year of mintage was clearly shown with the last two-digits of the year well struck.

Haha, we apologise for the brouhaha.

But it was indeed a pleasant surprise when we came across this 2 in 1 error coin.

Made us felt like the coin was mocking us to knock three times on the seller’s table and sang out loud, Tony’s evergreen hit, “Oh, my darling knock three times on the ceiling if you want me.”

Shhhh..we actually did, when we took it out again and began working on it, photographing before sealing it for proper storage, while listening to our favourite Tony Orlando’s hit, “Knock Three Times,” at home in the evening, haha.

Fig.6 Zhongcha Brand Traditional Chinese Characters Seven-sons Puerh Discus Tea Cake 80s, code 8653 background, a 2009 Lin’s ceramic celadon teacup foreground left and a Yixing teapot by a contemporary artist, foreground right.

Hehe, of course no evening would be complete without seeping some vintage puerh to keep us a little intoxicated with caffeine.

Fig.7 Zhongcha Brand Traditional Chinese Characters Seven-sons Puerh Tea Cake, a discus tea cake of the 80s, Tea Code : 8653, closed-up of a section of the tea cake.

So chose a 1980s Zhongcha Brand Traditional Chinese Characters Seven-sons Puerh Tea Cake, code 8653, to go along while working with the error coin in the evening.

Ref : http://cloudspuerh.blogspot.com/

Phew, it was ecstatic and nostalgic!

What a wonderful day to be able to lay our hands on a coin like this.

Well, to some, such a coin may not mean much, but to us every error coin which we come across, gave us a feel good effect.

Each experience was unique.

The feelings, never the same twice.

Some were mild and subdued, others hold excitement, but once in a while we got great elation, or even took us down memory lane.

And, on each of these occasions, the day would end on a happy note.

HERE’S A CUP OF TEA TO WISH EVERYONE LOTS OF GOOD LUCK AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012 :D

GREASERS

2011-12-29T02:26:00.001-08:00

Fig.1 Malaysia 2000 5sen coin – obverse, grease filled die, die chip, die deterioration and clash die.

Just like water which can be a friend or foe, grease too can make minting machines work efficiently or the otherwise.

When too much grease gets into the dies, the end results of the coining process turns out unsatisfactory.

Most grease filled die coins are produced as a result of this malfunction.

Unless they are in some way spectacular, coins struck through grease filled dies generally do not command much premium.

In fact, we used to find these greasers during our search for errors and varieties among the circulation coins, frequently.

Even though, they do not command high premiums, we still keep them, just like all the other oddities that we used to come across.

Fig.2 Malaysia 2000 5sen coin – obverse and reverse, grease filled die, die deterioration, die chip and clash die.

Fig.3 Malaysia 2008 5sen coin – obverse and reverse, grease filled die and die deterioration.

However, among them, we found some a little different from the rest of the greasers.

Below is a 1988 5sen grease filled die coin with some interesting features.

Among the features are :-

- double toning i.e. a matt tone along the rim in an otherwise shiny surface.

- missing initials ‘C.G’ in relief below the House of Parliament near the right edge of

the coin on the obverse.

- denticles appear to be not well struck and flattened.

- blur image of House of Parliament.

- all details as a whole looks not sharp especially on the obverse.

Fig.4 Malaysia 1988 5sen coin – obverse and reverse, grease filled die and clash die.

Kindly take note of the double toning especially on the reverse.

Fig.5 Malaysia 1988 5sen coin – obverse, grease filled die and clash die.

The initial ‘C.G’ is missing, probably due to the grease filled die.

Clash die mark can be seen in between the House of Parliament and the crescent moon.

Denticles along the rim appear not sharp.

While the details of the House of Parliament are not distinct.

Fig.6 Malaysia 1988 5sen coin – reverse, grease filled die and double toning.

The double toning is most obvious on the reverse.

There is good lustre on the reverse.

However, the area along the rim is dull in colour.

And the denticles are either missing or not well struck.

This coin is one of the two coins with ‘contradicting lustre’ that we have found.

1971 10SEN COIN – TWO VARIETIES

2011-12-22T10:20:00.001-08:00

It was indeed a pleasant surprise when we read an article posted by the generous Malaysia coins specialist, Mr. Dickson on the existence of two varieties of the 1971 10sen coins.

We, immediately ran through our collection and found these two varieties.

In fact, we were totally unaware of their differences before reading Dickson’s posting.

Ref : http://dniewcollectors.blogspot.com/2011/12/malaysia-rare-coin-10-cents-1971-die.html

Listed below are the two varieties.

Fig.1 Malaysia 1971 10sen coin – 1st variety (for circulation), darker in colour.

Fig.2 Malaysia 1971 10sen coin – 2nd variety (proof like), very shiny.

Fig.3 Malaysia 1971 10sen coin – 2nd variety (proof like), closed-up of the ‘dot’ in between the alphabet ‘L’ and ‘A’.

Comparison between the two varieties :-

1st variety vs 2nd variety

darker and dimmed color vs shiny, proof-like condition

no dot between alphabet ‘L’ and ‘A’ vs ‘L’ dot ‘A’

bevelled milled edge vs squared milled edge

less common vs more common

A specimen of the 1971 10sen 1st variety in Extremely Fine condition with a reserve price of RM150 was realised at RM360 at the Malaysia Numismatic Society Auction No. 150 held on 18 December 2011.

Reportedly, a total of 32,236 pieces of these rare date coins (1st and 2nd varieties) were released into circulation.

Once again, our sincere thanks to you, Dickson for bringing up these extremely useful information to amateur collectors like us.

These useful information enhances the value of our collections.

Always looking forward to your interesting articles :)

QUEST FOR A FULL DATED MULTIPLE STRIKE OUT OF COLLAR

2011-12-15T03:23:00.001-08:00

We have been trying to look for a multiple strike out of collar error with a discernible date for some time.

It was rather disheartening to see many multiple strike out of collar coins of the Bunga Raya series have incomplete dates.

This was probably due to the design on the reverse of these coins where the first 2-digits and the last 2-digits of the dates were separated by the main devices.

As most of these coins have incomplete dates, determining their year of mintage was impossible.

And this unwelcomed feature affected their values.

We did not feel despair even after numerous failed attempts.

Instead, failure only intensified our determination.

Finally, we succeeded.

A specimen dated 2009 was found!

Below is the coin in question.

Fig.1 Malaysia 2009 20sen multiple strike out of collar, obverse.

We noticed the coin has been struck at least five times, probably more, based on the multiple images on the obverse and reverse.

Fig.2 Malaysia 2009 20sen multiple strike out of collar, reverse.

The darkened indent segment of the coin’s reverse seems to look out of place with the rest of the coin.

Fig.3 Malaysia 2009 20sen multiple strike out of collar, closed-up on the date 2009 on the reverse.

We were indeed lucky because if the indentation has occurred a little more into the coin’s reverse, the full date especially the last digit 9 would have been totally obliterated.

Fig.4 Malaysia 2009 20sen multiple strike out of collar, side profile showing the partial separation between the main segment and the minor blackened indent segment of the coin.

Coins with such error like the specimen here look rather odd if viewed from the sides.

In fact, we found it most interesting to look at the coin from the side angles.

Fig.5 Malaysia 2009 20sen multiple strike out of collar, side view showing the unreeded edge morphing into a deepened gorge-like edge before meeting the minor extended segment of the coin.

Haha, staring at this coin conjures up an image of the breaking up of Pangaea, more than 200 million years ago.

RIDDLE

2011-12-07T03:24:00.001-08:00

Phew, after all the hard work, we finally managed to free ourselves from the drudgery.

Before we proceed further, we like to wish all wonderful bloggers and readers a beautiful end to a bountiful year.

Bountiful, with lots of desirable collectibles especially coins and banknotes :)

Hehe, maybe a coin riddle to make us start working with our coins again albeit at a slower pace.

What happens when two coins fight to stay on a planchet?

Haha, you get a double denomination!

Below is a Malaysia 20sen struck on a struck 10sen double denomination error.

Double denominations are mostly spectacular errors especially when the dates are visible.

It is a pity that the case here proves otherwise.

However, all may not be lost as we are still in the process of figuring out the overlapping dates on the reverse.

Fig.1 Malaysia 20sen struck on a struck 10sen double denomination error coin, date 200?, obverse.

Fig.2 Malaysia 20sen struck on a struck 10sen double denomination error coin, date 200?, reverse.

A genuine double denomination can only occurs when the coin in question can fit inside the collar of the second denomination.

Thus in this case, it is possible for the 10sen coin to be struck a second time with the bigger 20sen dies.

Fig.3 Malaysia 20sen struck on a struck 10sen double denomination error coin, date 200?, closed-up on the overlapping last two digits of date on the 10sen and first two digits of the date on the 20sen on the reverse.

Wonder anyone could help us figure out the last two digits of the year struck on the 10sen?

A discernible date will greatly enhance it’s value.

THANK YOU

2011-10-30T05:34:00.001-07:00

First of all, our sincere thanks to all who have been so kind enough to visit our humble site.

We have to take a break from blogging as new commitments require our full attention.

Anyway, we hope to resume blogging again the soonest possible.

Haha, still have lots of things which we feel happy to share with collectors.

By the way, listed below are a set of two medallions.

One medallion depicting the independence of Malaysia in 1957 and the other, Singapore being granted full internal self-government in 1959.

Fig.1 Medallions portraying the independence of Malaysia on 31st August 1957 left, top obverse & bottom reverse and Singapore being granted full internal self-government in 1959 right, top obverse & bottom reverse.

OUR BEST WISHES TO ALL :)

STRUCK WITH A BROKEN NOSE

2011-10-27T05:34:00.001-07:00

It was one of those evenings where we just wanted to do something light but interesting without straining ourselves.

So we got hold of some old Malayan five cents coins and began turning and rotating them around with our fingers.

During the process, we noticed something unusual about one of them.

It was a Malaya King George VI 1941i 5 cents silver coin.

Fig.1 Malaya British Borneo King George VI 19451 5 Cents Silver Coin – obverse and reverse, struck through grease filled die or weak strike?.

We noticed certain features on the obverse and reverse were partially omitted.

Could it be a weak strike or struck through grease filled die?

Fig.2 Malaya British Borneo King George VI 19451 5 Cents Silver Coin – reverse, struck through grease filled die or weak strike?

Most of the beads forming the inner circle of the coin’s reverse were not distinct, while some were almost omitted.

However, it was the portrait on the coin’s obverse which was more interesting.

Fig.3 Malaya British Borneo King George VI 19451 5 Cents Silver Coin – obverse, struck through grease filled die or weak strike?

If we look directly at the coin’s obverse, it looked just like another normal coin.

However, when the coin was rotated, we noticed part of the King George VI’s portrait was very weakly struck until the nasion along the face profile was totally omitted, Fig. 4

Fig.4 Malaya British Borneo King George VI 19451 5 Cents Silver Coin – closed-up on the King’s portrait showing the omitted nasion along the face profile.

We started to notice this feature while we started to rotate the coin’s obverse.

At certain angles, the ‘broken nose’ feature looked more obvious.

In fact, the outline which was supposed to portray the nasion of the face profile was totally omitted.

Below are two pictures to show the difference between the portraits of a normal coin and the coin in question, Fig.5.

Picture A Picture B

Fig.5 Malaya British Borneo King George VI 19451 5 Cents Silver Coin – extreme closed-up on the King’s portrait shows the broken nose in Picture B, while Picture A shows a complete nose on a normal coin.

Could this specimen be a struck through grease instead of a weak strike?

This specimen showed a complete rim while weak strike generally produced very weak rim or none at all.

F&N IS 128 YEARS OLD

2011-10-22T20:05:00.001-07:00

Fraser and Neave Limited, a company formed by John Fraser and David Neave who pioneered the aerated water business in Southeast Asia in 1883.

Coincidentally, the popular isotonic drink 100PLUS was launched in 1983, 100 years after F&N was established in Singapore.

Suppose, for Southeast Asians, F&N needs no further introduction as it has become a household name.

Many of us, especially from the older generations, grew up with these company’s diary products and soft drinks.

Therefore, it was of course nostalgic when we found a medallion depicting the centennial of this company.

Below are four self-explanatory pictures of the medallion.

Fig.1 Fraser & Neave Centennial 1883-1983 medallion, obverse in the original plastic casing.

Fig.2 Fraser & Neave Centennial 1883-1983 medallion, reverse in the original plastic casing.

Fig.3 Fraser & Neave Centennial 1883-1983 medallion, closed-up of obverse in the original plastic casing.

Fig.4 Fraser & Neave Centennial 1883-1983 medallion, closed-up on reverse in the original plastic casing.

WISHING ALL HINDUS A HAPPY DEEPAVALI.

OWNING A PIECE OF THE EARTH

2011-10-20T02:24:00.001-07:00

Things which are natural and rare always give us a feel good effect.

So, naturally, coins made of precious metal like gold, platinum, palladium or silver will appeal to us.

These collectibles give us sort of a unique feel of personally owning a piece of the precious earth.

Below is a Malaysia 250 Ringgit Proof Gold Coin commemorating the 30th Anniversary of Independence, minted in 1987.

Fig.1 Malaysia 1987 250 Ringgit Proof Gold Coin, commemorating the 30th Anniversary of Independence.

This proof coin has a mintage of 1,000 single pieces and another 2,000 pieces in sets of three, together with a One Ringgit Copper Zinc and 10 Ringgit Silver.

Each coin contains 0.2150 troy oz of pure gold.

Equally appealing are the more affordable silver coins.

Even a small classical silver coin is as appealing as a crown size specimen, as the usage of silver has long since been discontinued in the mintage of circulation coins.

The last time a Malayan silver coin was minted for circulation was 66 years ago.

Below is a smallish Malaya 1939 King George VI 10 Cents Silver Coin.

Fig.2 Malaya 1939 King George VI 10 Cents Silver Coin.

This silver coin has a mintage of 10 million and an actual silver weight of 0.0653 oz.

These silver coins in high grades are still available in the market but like others of earlier dates, probably will soon disappear.

Its a pity Malaysia has yet to issue any coins made of platinum or palladium.

Otherwise, the local numismatic scene will be more exciting.

By the way, here are some interesting facts about these precious metal.

The four popular precious metal used in coinage and bullion coins are Palladium, Platinum, Gold and Silver, ranked according to their rarity.

Below are some examples to show their degrees of rarity.

Actually, they are not as abundant as some would imagine them to be.

Palladium is the rarest among the four.

If all the platinum ever mined in the world were poured into an Olympic size swimming pool, it would fill up the pool to a depth of just enough to cover our ankles.

And all the gold ever mined would fill up slightly more than 3 Olympic size swimming pools.

While all silver mined since time immemorial, would fill a football field to a depth of 80 feet.

It is believed that over 95% of the gold ever mined is still in existence and owned privately or publicly.

While the amount of physical silver above ground is believed to be much less than gold due to the consumption by various types of industries, in many cases non-recoverable.

Ref : https://www.kitcomm.com/archive/index.php?t-63268.html

http://seekingalpha.com/article/262347-silver-supply-illustrated

Strangely, at the time of writing, gold is more expensive than platinum, while silver is more than 50 times cheaper than gold.

And of course, there are other precious collectibles derived from the earth crust, like gemstones.

Below are some uncut and unpolished Burmese rubies and pink sapphires.

Fig.3 Uncut and unpolished Burmese pink sapphires and rubies.

Rubies, sapphires, emeralds and diamonds are the four primary gemstones on earth.

Some interesting facts of these precious stones.

Rubies and sapphires are corundum, while emeralds are beryl and diamonds are allotropes of carbon.

Rubies are red corundum, while all other colours are called Sapphires.

High quality rubies are 50 times more rare than high quality diamonds.

Finding a necklace set with top quality matching diamonds can be easy and just a matter of pricing.

But it is extremely difficult to almost impossible to get a necklace set with matching top quality rubies.

Emeralds are hard but brittle.

Haha, how not to get attracted by all these interesting and precious collectibles.

Happy Collecting to All :)

ERROR COIN WITH TWO EXTREMES

2011-10-17T08:34:00.001-07:00

We found a Malaysia 1973 20sen error coin with two extremes.

It was a struck through error with an extremely deep indentation on the reverse.

While the reverse has a deep depression, a part of the obverse has unusually high rim, i.e. from 5 to 6 o’clock.

The struck through effect on the reverse was so pronounced that the indentation almost pierced through the other side of the coin.

Yet the other side, i.e. the coin’s obverse did not show even the slightest effect caused by the indentation.

Instead, a high finned rim could be seen along the side of the obverse, exactly opposite the side of the indentation on the reverse. .

Fig.1 Malaysia 1973 20sen error coin – struck through and high finned rim, obverse.

Fig.2 Malaysia 1973 20sen error coin – closed-up on the high finned rim on the obverse.

Fig.3 Malaysia 1973 20sen error coin – struck through and high finned rim, reverse.

Fig.4 Malaysia 1973 20sen error coin – closed-up on the struck through on the reverse.

By the way, could the light greenish patches at the bottom of the indentation be crystallized verdigris?

Dickson put up an interesting article on this phenomena in his posting listed below :-

Ref : http://dniewcollectors.blogspot.com/2011/09/malaysia-coin-striking-errorsstrike_16.html

Coincidentally, the green coloured copper carbonate mineral, Malachite also occurs in either massive or crystallized form.

It will be very interesting if they were indeed Malachite crystals.

Below is a piece of polished Malachite.

Fig.5 A piece of polished Malachite.

THREE MOST DESIRABLE COMMEMORATIVE RM1 COINS

2011-10-14T07:24:00.001-07:00

Songs and music make good companions while we work with our collections.

They not only entertain us but also ignite our imaginations and make us ponder over our collections.

“Three coins in fountain..Each one seeking happiness..Thrown by three hopeful lovers..Which one will the fountain bless..”

While listening to this Jule Styne and Sammy Chan’s song, last week, it suddenly made us ponder over our best three choices if we were asked to choose among the whole range of commemorative one ringgit uncirculated coins.

Well, our three most preferred choices, without any specific order of placing are :-

- 2006 Songket Seni Warisan Agung The Regal Heritage 1 Ringgit Copper-Nickel Coin.

- 2000 Bandaraya Shah Alam 1 Ringgit Nickel-Brass Coin.

- 2000 Thomas-Uber Cup 1 Ringgit Nickel-Brass Coin.

Of course, these choices purely reflect our preferences only.

And they may differ from other collectors.

Fig.1 Malaysia 2006 One Ringgit Non-proof Commemorative Coin – Songket Seni Warisan Agung The Regal Heritage.

We found this RM1 coin as one of the most attractive coins featuring the country’s rich culture and heritage.

The mosaic designs look futuristic yet reflect and retain the beautiful motifs of our culture and heritage, successfully.

Fig.2 Malaysia 2000 One Ringgit Non-proof Commemorative Coin – Pengisytiharan Bandaraya Shah Alam.

Initially, we were attracted by two unique features of this Bandaraya Shah Alam coin, i.e. the Nickel-Brass & Copper-Nickel composition and the elaborate yet pleasant designs.

The small blister packaging was another strong point which made storing them much easier.

Honestly, we prefer this type of packaging to the current ones which are normally big and bulky.

Later, we found it even more desirable when it became one of the most hotly sought after RM1 non-proof commemorative coins.

Fig.3 Malaysia 2000 One Ringgit Non-Proof Commemorative Coin – Thomas Uber Cup.

Of course, most local commemorative coin collectors would agree with us that this coin greeted us with a bang because it was the first local coin which was made of a composition of Nickel-Brass & Copper-Nickel.

The attractiveness of the coin was further enhanced by its intricate designs on its obverse and reverse.

We especially liked the feathers surrounding the Thomas Cup on the obverse.

Hmm..ever wonder how changing situations can some times change one’s perception even in collectibles?

Like the three examples here.

Initially, all three were equally preferred.

As time passed, the Bandaraya Shah Alam RM1 coin became more popular than the other two.

And so is our preference, lolz :)

Fig.4 Malaysia 2000 One Ringgit Non-proof Commemorative Coin – Pengisytiharan Bandaraya Shah Alam, obverse and reverse.

Haha, getting these Bandaraya Shah Alam one ringgit commemorative coins at the early stage when they were first available to the public back in the early 2000s was like striking a jackpot.

These coins were initially issued at a mere RM5 each on 8th November 2000.

They are now worth many times more than their original selling prices.

We beg to digress a little from the notion of collecting coins solely for pleasure or past time purposes.

Honestly, we cannot speak for others, but as for us, its extremely satisfying to see the prices of some of our collectibles skyrocketing.

Coins, when view from an investment perspective, are generally long term investments.

But it pays to do some prior homework and stick to the general approach, i.e. going for the highest grades and coins from countries with growing affluent population, before venturing into acquisitions.

HSBC Bank in a report, “The World in 2050 : Quantifying the Shift in the Global Economy,” on January 4th, projected Malaysia could be among the top 30 economies in the world, 40 years from now.

Ref : http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?sec=business&file=/2011/1/15/business/7800965

Its interesting to note that Malaysian coins seem to fit into this category.

And mintage for most of its commemoratives are generally not excessive.

In fact, they are far less than those minted in our neighboring countries like Thailand and Singapore

Some of the profitable coins can then be liquidated to generate funds for us to further grow our hobbies.

This will enhance our interest in the hobby in the long run.

We feel at certain point in time, the hobby got to pay us back, if not all or more , then at least a little or partially.

Haha, just our two cents.

Happy Collecting to All :)

COIN WITH A DOUBLE TALE

2011-10-10T08:53:00.001-07:00

Fig.1 1834 Portugal’s coat-of-arms countermark on a Ferdinand VII Peru 1817-II 8 Reales silver coin.

Our first foray into countermarked coins had been fraught with confusion.

It was during those days where the internet was non-existent to us.

Apart from a few outdated and mostly irrelevant reference books found in the state library, the rest of the information came mainly by word of mouth between dealers, friends and us.

Previously, we were given the understanding that these countermarked coins were ‘damaged’ coins.

So when we first came face to face with one, a thousand thoughts volleyed in our minds.

“To buy or not to?”

It was a 1834 Portugal countermarked with its coat-of-arms on a Ferdinand VII Peru 1817-II 8 Reales silver coin.

We were attracted by the countermark, the beautiful crowned arms of Portugal.

It was ‘love-at-first-sight’ but at the same time the notion that it was a ‘damaged’ coin kept playing in our minds, thus stifling our rational thoughts.

Furthermore, these ‘major’ countermarked coins were never cheap even back in those days.

Finally, we decided to go ahead with our acquisition as we found it simply irresistible.

Imagine the immense amount of history packed into the coin.

It carried a story before and another story after the counter-marking.

Seemingly, like a coin being given a new lease of life.

This coin belonged to the category of coins with countermarks applied to certify specific coinages for circulation in stipulated areas.

They are rarely seen in the local market, nowadays.

However, we may still come across another category of coins with countermarks applied to guarantee that they had been tested for proper silver content, as shown by some Mexico Libertad Silver, Japanese Silver Yen, etc.

Most of the countermarked coins that belong to the first category including the common ones, now command good to exorbitant prices which clearly shows that collectors’ perception toward them have changed.

Just like modern bullion coins of limited mintage, countermarked coins are well sought after by collectors, nowadays.

In fact, many countermarked coins are more expensive than their host coins especially once these mavericks have been classified.

Listed below is our first countermarked coin.

It is a 1834 Portugal Countermark with its coat-of-arms on a Ferdinand VII Peru 1817-II 8 Reales silver coin.

Even without the countermark, this crown size silver coin with an actual silver weight of 0.7859 troy oz. looks desirable.

Fig.2 1834 Portugal countermarked with its coat-of-arms on a Ferdinand VII Peru 1817-II 8 Reales silver coin, obverse.

This coin represents a major Spanish South American Mint countermarked for continued circulation in metropolitan Portugal during the 19th century.

Fig.3 1834 Portugal countermarked with its coat-of-arms on a Ferdinand VII Peru 1817-II 8 Reales silver coin, reverse.

The reign of Ferdinand VII of Spain (1784-1833) was one of the most complex and important in the history of Spain, characterised by a popular war against the French occupation and the struggle of liberal groups to establish a constitutional monarchy.

Eldest surviving son of Charles IV, King of Spain, and the queen, Maria Luisa of Parma, Ferdinand’s full name was Fernando María Francisco de Paula Domingo Vicente de Leon y Ferrer Antonio José Joaquin Pascual Diego Juan Gonzalez Picolo hijo de Pindolo Gonzalez Arrebin Nepomuceno de San Pelligrino Januario Francisco Francisco Javier Rafael Miguel Gabriel Calixto de Cristina Aguilera Cayetano Fausto Luís Ramón Gregorio Lorenzo Geronimo

Ref : http://www.answers.com/topic/ferdinand-vii-of-spain

Lastly, its interesting to note that, briefly,

the 15th to 16th century belonged to Spain and Portugal,

the 17th to 19th century belonged to France and England,

the 20th century belonged to the United States,

and, the 21st century belongs to China?

FOREIGN ERRORS & VARIETIES PART 10 - CHINA

2011-10-04T18:44:00.001-07:00

Coins are not merely money serving as medium of exchange or desirable numismatic items.

They are pieces of history, links between the past, the present and the future.

Each, portraying an era long gone, yet represents the beginning of a story.

For every coin has a story to tell.

Together with banknotes, charms and other exonumia and numismatic items, they act as windows to the past.

Below is a Chinese Charm which was casted during the Boxer Rebellion period, 1898-1901.

Also called the Boxer Uprising or the Righteous Harmony Society Movement in northern China, it was a proto-nationalist movement.

It was a period of violent revolts against foreign interests in China.

Fig.1 “Yi he tuan” 义和团 “shui lu ping an” 水陆平安 Chinese charm, obverse.

The inscription 水陆平安 “shui lu ping an” literally means “peaceful journey”.

义和团 “Yi he tuan” means Boxer Rebellion.

Fig.2 “Yi he tuan” 义和团 “shui lu ping an” 水陆平安 Chinese charm, reverse.

The reverse showed a combination of Chinese charm symbols.

Above the square hole were seven dots linked by a zigzag line representing the constellation known as the “Ladle”.

Below the hole was one of the eight trigrams, “kan”.

On the left and right sides of the square hole were ancient Chinese weapons, a “guan dao” and a trident.

The combination of these features formed the charm, and it was meant to be a travel talisman.

Since the weapons used by the Boxers were similar to those displayed on the charm, some believed that it was also used as a secret badge for members of the rebellion.

Kindly refer to the interesting site below for a detailed description of the charm.

http://primaltrek.com/blog/2011/05/13/safe-journey-charm/

This charm was among the heirlooms inherited from our grandparents.

Hurray, what’s more delightful than to find it was also a Rim-To-Rim die crack error specimen.

A double RTR die crack error, too!

The obverse and reverse, each showed a distinct RTR die crack.

Fig.3 “Yi he tuan” 义和团 “shui lu ping an” 水陆平安 Chinese charm, reverse and obverse showing Rim-To-Rim die cracks.

MEET JOHAN, THE HAPPIEST TURTLE

2011-10-02T08:27:00.001-07:00

Fig.1 Malaysia 35th Annual conference of PATA 1986 - Johan, the mascot.

Hooray, Hooray, It’s a Holi-Holiday..

..what a world of fun for everyone, Holi-Holiday

Hooray, Hooray, It’s a Holi-Holiday..

..sing a summer song, skip along, Holi-Holiday

It’s a Holi-Holiday..

Surely, many of us still remember this jovial 1979 hit by Boney-M.

But probably most would have forgotten our equally cheerful Johan, the most famous Malaysian Leatherback Turtle.

Looking at cheerful Johan, one just couldn’t stop thinking about the exotic holiday destinations throughout the country.

And surely many would agree that the 35th Annual Conference of Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) 1986 commemorative coins are among the most cheerful looking coins in the Malaysian coinage.

In fact it was our attraction to Johan, the mascot of the PATA conference which prompted us to acquire these commemorative coins.

The mascot was originated from the famous leatherback turtle of Malaysia.

These largest turtles on earth are among the few surviving turtle species left in our waters.

The smile on Johan’s face is always a delightful sight.

Conjuring up thoughts of basking in the sun along the fine sandy beaches of Langkawi and Pangkor Island, swimming around Pulau Redang, Perhentian and Tioman, before diving into the crystal clear waters of Sipadan.

And then venturing deep into the world’s oldest Belum-Temenggor Rainforest, before ascending to Mount Kinabalu in the Land below the Wind.

Wow, if only thoughts could turn into reality, haha.

In conjunction with the historical PATA’s 35th Annual Conference, 500,000 uncirculated One Ringgit copper-nickel coins were issued in 1986.

Fig.2 Malaysia 35th Annual conference of PATA 1986 One Ringgit commemorative cupro-nickel uncirculated coin.

Another 11,000 sets of One Ringgit and Five Ringgit silver proof coins in deluxe cases were also minted.

The One Ringgit silver proof coin contains 0.2709 troy oz of silver while the Five Ringgit has 0.4667 troy oz.

They were minted by the Singapore Mint.

Fig.3 Malaysia 35th Annual conference of PATA 1986 One Ringgit commemorative silver proof coin.

Fig.3 Malaysia 35th Annual conference of PATA 1986 Five Ringgit commemorative silver proof coin.

We apologise that the two proof specimens shown above seem to display slightly blurry images.

This was due to the coins’ capsules which were slightly blurry.

GAIN SOME LOSE SOME

2011-09-28T03:34:00.001-07:00

Ironically, looking back in retrospect, we are intrigued by some of the difficult acquisitions that we have made during those challenging times where we had to go through our rites of passage.

Even until now, we find it difficult to contemplate how we did it, haha.

It all started way back to the early years of our transition from education to working life.

We needed cash for lots of things.

Cash to get a reasonable secondhand car; to socialise with new acquaintances;

to purchase new clothing, etc.

The list of needs seemed endless.

Since the first day we stepped into our working life, we were cash strapped till we managed to smoothen things out, about a year later.

Be that as it may, we somehow still managed to proceed with our hobbies.

In fact, it was during those trying times that we managed to make some good acquisitions.

Maybe, adversity creates opportunities or rather luck was with us, haha.

Among the acquisitions was a Sarawak 1900H Rajah Charles Johnson Brooke 50 Cents coin.

Fig.1 Sarawak 1900H Rajah Charles Johnson Brooke 50 Cents Silver Coin – obverse, 0.800 silver or ASW 0.3490 oz.

Fig.2 Sarawak 1900H Rajah Charles Johnson Brooke 50 Cents Silver Coin – reverse, mintage 40,000.

We were delighted to find the specimen was not a repaired coin.

Repaired coins lose at least half of their market values.

This is one of the most important aspect to note when acquiring Sarawak silver coins because many of them have been used for ornamental purposes like making chains or waist belts.

And probably also one of the reasons for their scarcity in the market.

Back then, we paid M$65 for this coin.

Haha, those days we still called our money as Malaysian Dollars.

The acquisition was made in an antique shop where the owner, an elderly uncle and also a good friend, who had long since passed away.

At that time, we were actually caught in the predicament of deciding between two equally adorable coins, i.e. this Sarawak 1900H 50 Cents and a Straits Settlements King George V 1920 50 Cents ‘dot’ variety.

It was really a difficult decision as we actually wanted both but had enough funds for only one.

The SS 50 Cents ‘dot’ actually made us dotty, haha.

The uncle wanted a higher price for the SS 50 cents ‘dot’.

Finally we had to make the difficult decision to postpone our acquisition for the SS 50 Cents ‘dot’ until we got our pay the next month.

Unfortunately, came the next month, some one had already been ahead of us.

We didn’t regret as we knew the impossibilities of acquiring every coin which we desired.

However, this Sarawak coin would always remind us of the day where we gained one but lost the other.

By the way, a word of caution when acquiring these adorable SS 50cents ‘dot’ coins.

We believe many sold in the market nowadays are altered specimens or being tempered.

According to Mr. Saran Singh in his book, ‘Pictorial Guide to Grading of Malaysian Coins and Bank Notes,’on a genuine 1920 ‘dot’ the beads on the reverse rim near the words ‘HALF’ are nearly hair-like and always not visible.

This is due to a weak strike and slight defect in the dies during the minting.

Usually an altered 1920 ‘dot’ is also cleaned to hide the alteration marks near the dot and the altered coin may have been artificially aged or dirtied.

A genuine 1920 ‘dot’ appears yellowish in colour due to lower content of silver.

Haha, it was that regrettable miss that eventually drove us to go crazy over the normal

SS 1920-1921 50 Cents Coins.

Below is an altered SS 1920 50 Cents ‘dot’ variety coin.

Fig.3 Altered Straits Settlements King Gorge V 1920 ‘dot’ coin – the ‘cross’ below the portrait had been altered to look like a ‘dot’.

FOREIGN ERRORS & VARIETIES PART 9– CHINA

2011-09-25T04:01:00.001-07:00

This is a Republic of China 1912 ten cash copper coin.

We found it among a hoard of mainly worn out classical Chinese copper coins.

After examining it, we noticed there were faint foreign markings on its obverse and reverse.

Could the markings be due to the coin minted on another old disused coin or a recycled coin?

Fig.1 Republic of China 1912 ten cash copper coin – obverse and reverse, recycled?

Fig.2 Republic of China 1912 ten cash copper coin – the obverse shows lamination from 9 o’clock to 6 o’clock.

Fig.3 Republic of China 1912 ten cash copper coin – closed-up on the lamination.

Fig.4 Republic of China 1912 ten cash copper coin – reverse showing depression along the rim from 4 o’clock to 1 o’clock.

Fig.5 Republic of China 1912 ten cash copper coin – closed-up on the depression along the lower section of the coin’s reverse. There seems to be markings along certain parts of the depression.

Fig.6 Republic of China 1912 ten cash copper coin – closed-up on the depression along the rim on its reverse.

As a result of the depression, the denticles along the rim were not well struck.

Most of these denticles were missing along the rim between 4 o’clock to 9 o’clock.

Fig.7 Republic of China 1912 ten cash copper coin – there seems to be faint marking of a small circle in between the Chinese characters 十文 on the reverse.

ROTATED CAR MEDAL

2011-09-20T08:12:00.001-07:00

Fig.1 The iconic Japanese sports car, Datsun 240-Z as shown in a medallion.

The Datsun 240-Z was a truly Japanese sports car, worthy of comparison with the iconic Jaguar E-Type.

At just about USD3,500 when it first landed on US shores in 1970, it represented a Japanese motoring feat, with its astonishing value-for-money.

The car, also called Fairlady Z in Japan, could accelerate from 0-60mph or 0-97kph in 7.8 seconds.

Since then, the 240-Z has become iconic worldwide.

Now, almost 40 years later, we found a medallion featuring the car.

However, we were unable to ascertain its age.

Fig.2 Medallion featuring the Datsun 240-Z sports car – obverse.

Fig.3 Medallion featuring the Datsun 240-Z sports car – reverse.

The reverse featured a Chinese character which meant ‘yearning.’

Strange? Couldn’t understand why the issuer didn’t use solely Japanese characters instead?

There was a die chip along the rim at about 5 o’clock.

Fig.4 Medallion featuring the Datsun 240-Z – obverse and reverse.

The feature that attracted our attention most was that the medallion was struck on a rotated die.

The picture above showed the degree of rotation.

SS COIN STRUCK IN FULL BROCKAGE BY A PLANCHET

2011-09-16T02:40:00.001-07:00

Sometimes, without expert guidance, collecting error coins and varieties can be mind-boggling, haha.

Here is a good example of what happened when we mistaken a Straits Settlements King George V 1920 50 cents struck in full brockage by a planchet error coin for a split planchet after strike error coin..

Only when Dickson later gave a detailed description of the error of the coin in question, then we realised it was actually a struck in full brockage by a planchet.

A detailed description of the error was given by Dickson in his comments listed below.

Once again, our sincere thanks to you, Dickson.

Phew, there’s so much to learn about these errors, haha.

We have amended the details of this posting accordingly.

Below is the 1920 specimen which was struck in full brockage by a planchet.

Fig.1 Straits Settlements King George V 1920 50 cents silver coin – struck in full brockage by a planchet.

Fig.2 Straits Settlements King George V 1920 50 cents silver coin – struck in full brockage by a planchet.

We noticed most split planchet after strike have well struck images on one side while the other side have ghost or vague images with striations.

However, the specimen in question has all the features of the reverse still visible.

Initially, we thought it was a split planchet after strike.

Later, Dickson pointed out to us that it was actually struck in full brockage by a planchet as the weight variance was 0.5 gram only.

Wow, if only we could get the other coin with the reverse having sharp details while the obverse is blur, haha.

Fig.3 Straits Settlements King George V 1920 50 cents silver coin – struck in full brockage by a planchet.

The coin weighs 7.9 grams instead of the normal 8.42 grams.

A normal coin of the same type has an actual silver weight of 0.1353 oz.

It has a mintage of 3.9 million.

Hurray, today, 16th September is the Malaysia Day celebration.

A holiday for all.

So we managed to put up an additional post, haha.

HAPPY MALAYSIA DAY TO ALL.

SILVERY BLOB

2011-09-16T01:04:00.001-07:00

Due to the low mintage of most commemorative coins, chances of spotting one which is a variety or an error is always delightful.

Even though it was only a small blob along the rim, it was still a happy find to novice collectors like us, haha.

Below is a Malaysia 1990 RM25 non-proof silver coin commemorating 100 years of Kuala Lumpur.

We found this specimen with a blob along the rim at about 7 o’clock on its reverse.

Fig.1 Malaysia 1990 RM25 non-proof silver coin, commemorating 100 years of Kuala Lumpur – blob along rim of the reverse.

Fig.2 Malaysia 1990 RM25 non-proof silver coin, commemorating 100 years of Kuala Lumpur – closed-up showing the blob along rim of the reverse.

Fig.3 Malaysia 1990 RM25 non-proof silver coin, commemorating 100 years of Kuala Lumpur – extreme close-up showing the blob along rim of the reverse.

We think the blob is due to a die chip.

Probably it is more appropriate to describe it as a ‘blob along the rim’ instead of a cud because the damaged part of the die did not include part of the edge of the die.

Normally, commemorative coins from the 70s to 90s have bigger non-proof mintage than the proof mintage.

However, this commemorative coin has an equal mintage for non-proof and proof coins, i.e. mintage of 25,000 pieces, respectively.

Made of silver of 0.925 fineness or actual silver weight of 0.6454 troy ounce, it was minted by Kilang Wang Bank Negara Malaysia.

AMAZING ERRORS FROM SOUTH AFRICA

2011-09-13T03:10:00.001-07:00

It was really wonderful when we received photos of two amazing South African errors from Debbie Meyering.

We are indeed grateful to Debbie for her generosity to share her two interesting error coins with us.

Below is a South Africa R2.00 Nickel plated Copper coin.

This coin was struck, after which the obverse and reverse splitted, until these two parts of the coin were hinging together on a portion of the planchet.

Sometimes, it is also being referred as ‘Clamshell Split.’

This planchet split after struck could be due to improper alloy mix, air bubbles or foreign materials trapped in the metal of the planchet, or a combination of these factors.

Kindly refer to Dickson’s site for a good description on this type of error.

http://dniewcollectors.blogspot.com/2011/03/planchet-errorssplit-planchet-hinged.html

Fig.1 South Africa 2 Rand error coin - obverse, “Clampshell Split.”

Fig.2 South Africa 2 Rand error coin - reverse, “Clampshell Split.”

Fig.3 South Africa 2 Rand error coin - obverse showing a Kudus, an African antelope, “Clampshell Split.”

Apart from the clamshell, Debbie showed us another interesting error specimen.

A South Africa 1993 10c Bronze plated Steel coin from the yellow series that looks like it belongs to the white series instead.

The specimen in question was supposed to be struck on a planchet made of bronze plated steel or steel core plated with bronze.

However, in this case, the bronze plating is missing, thus exposing the silvery steel core

In a normal coin of the same type, it is the bronze that gives the coin its yellow colour.

Fig.4 South Africa 1993 10c bronze plated steel coin – the bottom specimen shows the unplated error coin, obverse. A normal coin is shown for comparison purpose.

The above coin is a normal coin while the error coin in question is at the bottom.

Fig.5 South Africa 1993 10c bronze plated steel coin – the bottom specimen shows the unplated error coin, reverse. A normal coin is shown for comparison purpose.

Anyone interested, kindly contact Debbie at the following email address :-

"Debbie Meyering" marking@mweb.co.za

STRIATED 10SEN WITH UNEVEN EDGE

2011-09-11T03:20:00.001-07:00

Below is a Malaysia 1988 10sen coin, with a mintage of 17.85 million.

It is the 2nd lowest mintage after than 1971 coin of the parliament series 1967-1988.

We were first attracted by it’s lustre when we saw it a couple of years ago.

On closer examination, we found a few interesting features about the coin.

Fig.1 Malaysia 1988 10sen coin – obverse.

We noticed it was struck slightly off-center.

A strong die clash mark is also evident in the middle of the coin.

Furthermore, striation marks can be seen radiating from the middle to the left and bottom of the coin’s obverse.

The upper half rim is not well struck while the lower part shows a seemingly double rim.

And the denticles are missing on the upper half of the coin’s obverse.

Fig.2 Malaysia 1988 10sen coin – obverse, closed-up on a section of the rim.

A small clip seems to appear along the rim at about 2 o’clock on the obverse.

Fig.3 Malaysia 1988 10sen coin - reverse.

Striation marks are also obvious on the reverse.

The upper half on the reverse has thinner rim too but thicker and flattened denticles.

Fig.4 Malaysia 1988 10sen coin.

The most obvious striation marks are those radiating out from the parliament house right down to the rim at the lower half of the coin’s obverse.

Not only that, the coin’s edge at the lower half is thicker than other parts of the edge.

FOREIGN ERRORS & VARIETIES PART 8– CHINA

2011-09-07T02:53:00.001-07:00

During the Qing Dynasty, 1636–1912, various types of coins were issued for circulation in China.

Among some of the most recognizable ones was the Qian Long Tong Bao (乾隆通寶) Chinese Cash.

This brass cash was probably minted in the Yunnan mint, circa.1736.

It was a common coin used widely during the reign of Emperor Gao Zong who ruled from 1735–1796.

We found a specimen with a big lamination on the upper half of the obverse.

Fig.1 Qian Long Tong Bao (乾隆通寶) Chinese Cash, circa. 1736 – obverse, lamination.

While the obverse has a lamination, the reverse has a cud on the upper half too.

Fig.2 Qian Long Tong Bao (乾隆通寶) Chinese Cash, circa. 1736 – reverse, cud.

The reverse were mint-marked in Manchu, left and right.

SARAWAK REPAIRED DIE FRACTION

2011-09-04T01:34:00.001-07:00

Collecting classical Sarawak coins of all types are always a big challenge to budget collectors like us as their mintage are generally low.

So, of course we felt delighted when we found a Sarawak Rajah Charles Brooke 1896H 1/4 cent copper coin.

This coin has a mintage of 283,112 only.

It was a double joy to us when we found this coin to be a repaired die quarter cent.

(Before we proceed further, we would like to extend our sincere gratitude to Dickson for pointing out this variety to be a repaired die or recut die error. Earlier, we have inadvertently stated it as a repunched die.)

We have rectified the contents accordingly.

Fig.1 Sarawak Rajah Charles Brooke 1896H 1/4 cent copper coin – repaired die fraction.

Fig.2 Sarawak Rajah Charles Brooke 1896H 1/4 cent copper coin – reverse showing the repaired 1/4 digit.

Fig.3 Sarawak Rajah Charles Brooke 1896H 1/4 cent copper coin – closed-up on the repaired 1/4 digit on the reverse.

As we are still learning about errors and varieties, we would be most grateful if anyone could correct us if we’re wrong in our writings about the coin in question.

Haha, the more we learned and looked through our collection of coins again, the more we find varieties and errors which we’ve overlooked earlier.

Thanking everyone in advance for the all generous guidance to help us improve our knowledge in this niche of numismatic.

STRIATED 20SEN ON A WRONG PLANCHET

2011-08-30T23:52:00.001-07:00

We found an intriguing Malaysia 2007 20sen coin.

The coin was not only minted on a wrong planchet, it has numerous striations too.

These striations gave a lively appearance to the coin.

Numerous striations could be seen radiating out of the main device and into the surrounding fields on the coin’s obverse and reverse.

Fig.1 Malaysia 2007 20sen coin – wrong planchet, striations on obverse.

Even though the coin was minted on a wrong planchet of smaller size, it has a well formed rim on the obverse.

However, the reverse was almost rimless.

This might be due to the empty fields surrounding the device on the obverse while the reverse was obliterated by legends.

We loved the composition of the coin’s obverse which looked just like another normal coin even when it was minted on a much smaller sized planchet.

Fig.2 Malaysia 2007 20sen – wrong planchet, closed-up on the numerous striations radiating from the device.

Probably, this coin could have been one of the initial coins struck with polished dies, resulting in the raised lines that looked like radiating striations.

As more coins were struck with the same dies, the striations became fainter until they eventually disappeared.

Fig.3 Malaysia 2007 20sen coin – wrong planchet, reverse.

The almost rimless reverse also showed abundant striations.

Fig.4 Malaysia 2007 20sen coin – wrong planchet, closed-up on the multiple striations on the reverse.

SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDILFITRI

2011-08-27T18:37:00.001-07:00

If we looked back at our local numismatic scene, there were very few commemorative coins which were made of pure silver.

Mostly were minted in silver with fineness of 0.925 or 0.500 except for a few issues which were minted in pure silver of 0.999 fineness.

Among them, the 2006 50th Years of Felda RM10 silver proof and the 2005 30th Annual Meeting of the Islamic Development Bank Board of Governors RM20 silver proof.

Each of these coins contained one troy ounce of silver (0.999 fineness).

We liked these coins because of their scarcity and also they shared a common characteristic with the China Pandas, Australia Kookaburras, Canada Maples, Austria Philharmonics and America Eagles one troy ounce silver bullion coins.

In view of the rising price of silver, probably slim chance for us to see another new issue of one troy ounce silver commemorative in the future.

Fig.1 Malaysia 2006 RM10 Silver Proof Coin commemorating the 50th Anniversary of Felda.

Issued in 2006 with mintage of 300 pieces, the coin has a diameter of 40mm, weighed 31.1 grams and made of one troy ounce of silver.

Another 500 pieces were reported to be minted in sets of two, i.e. silver and nordic gold.

500 pieces more were minted in sets of three, i.e. gold, silver and nordic gold.

Therefore the total mintage for this RM10 silver proof coin was 1,300 pieces.

Fig.2 Malaysia 2005 RM20 Silver Proof Coin commemorating the 30th Annual Meeting of the Islamic Development Bank Board of Governors.

1,000 pieces of this single silver proof were minted.

Each with a diameter of 40mm, weighing 31.110 grams and contained one troy ounce of silver.

Another 1,000 pieces were minted in sets of two, i.e. silver and nordic gold.

And together with an additional 500 pieces minted in sets of three, i.e. gold, silver and nordic gold, these RM20 silver proof coin has a total mintage of 2,500 pieces.

We take this opportunity to wish all Muslim bloggers, friends and readers,

SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDILFITRI.

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY

2011-08-24T05:46:00.001-07:00

Coins are almost indestructible unless they are subjected to extreme conditions.

Yet, they can be as fragile as butterfly wings when in some situations, coins are needed to be preserved in their best MS-70s.

So in between these two extremes, we are bound to encounter coins in various types of grades and conditions as we proceed with this fabulous hobby of coins collecting.

The Good ones, Fig.1

Fig.1 Australia King George V 1920 One Penny.

The Bad ones, Fig.2

Fig.2 Australia King George V 1917 One Penny – damages to the rim can be seen on the obverse and reverse.

And the Ugly ones, Fig.3

Fig.3 Australia King George V 1926 One Penny – lamination on obverse.

Strangely, in many cases, one may be able to find beauties and love among the uglies

Some of these coins may look ugly or even scary but they are actually error coins, depending on the nature of the abnormalities, Fig.4

Fig.4 Australia King George V 1926 One Penny – obverse showing lamination from the middle of the portrait extending to the rim between 4 and 5 o’clock.

These three coins listed above, collectively reminds us of the iconic macho movie character of the west, Clint Eastwood.

And among his best movies that we have ever watched, “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.”

Yehaw, back to our good old days, patiently accumulating hard earned allowances of 10 cents per day, so that we could have enough to get a 2nd class ticket which cost 65 cents to watch our favorite gun slinger in action.

Hehe, looking back, we feel that we have enjoyed as much if not more than kids nowadays, sporting iphones, sitting on RM12 seats, watching “Cowboys & Aliens.”

Times might have changed, but the reminiscence of the good old days, catching spiders in the wild, kite fightings in the wind, catching the most ferocious bettas in the leech infested still waters, are definitely more adventurous than what they are experiencing now, haha.

Hmmm..maybe everything boils down to perception again.

“There’s Beauty in Ugliness. ”

Haha, could this be one of the reasons why we’ve got ourselves involved in this mind boggling hobby of error coins collecting?

VALUE APPRECIATES AS KNOWLEDGE INCREASES

2011-08-23T04:44:00.001-07:00

Its amazing how knowledge helps us to see more value in our collections.

Non-collectors see a hoard of modern coins worth as much as their face values.

Fig.1 Pile of coins separated from a bigger hoard of mixed coins during a weekend.

Ordinary collectors would handpick collectible coins worth more than their face values from the same hoard of coins.

Fig.2 Closed-up on the pile of coins handpicked from a bigger hoard during a weekend.

While experienced collectors identify coins with good potential for price appreciations besides choosing collectible coins from the same hoard.

Fig.3 Closed-ups of some specimens from the pile of chosen coins.

Surprisingly how the perception of each category of people towards a given hoard of coins differ.

It seems the value a collector could find on a given number of coins appreciates as the level of knowledge increases.

We have gone through the same experience too.

With the knowledge imparted by Dickson and Nu, we managed to identify a number of coins with high rim which were with us for quite a long time, yet not discovered earlier.

Below is one of our finds.

Fig.4 British King George V 1935 Silver Crown – high rim on the reverse.

Fig.5 British King George V 1935 Silver Crown – closed-up on the section of the high rim.

SILVERY REDISCOVERIES

2011-08-20T05:38:00.001-07:00

Fig.1 Matthew Flinders Medallic Cover 1774-1974 issued by the Matthew Flinders Bicentenary Council, Australia, 1974 – closed-up on part of the cover with the sterling silver proof medallion’s obverse.

Explorers and astronauts such as Christopher Columbus, Matthew Flinders, Captain Cook, Yuri Gagarin, Neil Armstrong and many others have always been our idols since we were kids.

Somehow, we idolized these great people as much as we loved listening to great singers and musicians like Elvis Presley, Donna Summer, Lady Gaga, Nana Mouskouri, Kitaro, Vanessa Mae, Hacken Lee, Teresa Teng, Paula Tsui, P. Ramlee, M. Nasir and many others.

Our list of these great people seemed to be endless.

However, one thing we could sum up about these great people, all of them have one way or another enriched our lives.

All these enrichments that we have received from these great people would always be in our memories, even when many would have been temporarily forgotten.

All it needed was some catalysts to aid us to recall all these sweet memories.

Among them is silver, the 47th element in the periodic table which also caused much fingernail biting anxieties to some with its high price volatility.

Silvery collectibles that we have put away and forgotten for only God knows how long, haha.

Suddenly when silver breached the US$40 mark again, we recalled those silvery acquisitions that we have made long time ago.

They were the commemorative Medallic Covers that came together with the big sterling silver medallions.

These were mainly past commemorative Medallic Covers issued when silver was much cheaper.

Below are two of these covers.

Though the covers have undergone some foxing, the sterling silver medallions are still well preserved albeit some tarnishing.

Fig.2 Matthew Flinders Medallic Cover 1774-1974 issued by the Matthew Flinders Bicentenary Council, Australia, 1974.

Fig.3 Matthew Flinders Medallic Cover 1774-1974 issued by the Matthew Flinders Bicentenary Council, Australia, 1974 – the sterling silver proof medallion, obverse and reverse.

The obverse of the medal features a portrait of Flinders, with his sextant in the background.

The reverse shows his ship, H.M.S. Investigator.

This issue celebrated Flinders’ 200th anniversary of his birth and contributions to the history of Australia.

Judging from the size of those sterling silver medallions issued by Franklin Mint, this silver proof medallion with a diameter of 39mm probably contains 1 troy oz of pure silver.

We apologise if the silver content is not correct as the medallion was blister-packed on a cardboard almost the size of the envelope, which was also affixed with an Australia $1 stamp, and specially cancelled 16th March 1974.

Below is another Medallic Cover commemorating the Apollo-Soyuz Space Mission in 1975.

Fig.4 Apollo-Soyuz FDC with a 1oz silver proof medallion, two stamps, postmarked from Kennedy Space Center and Soviet Kosmodrome, respectively dated 7-17-1975.

This item was issued by Franklin Mint.

Fig.5 Apollo-Soyuz FDC with a 1oz Silver Proof medallion, 1975 - obverse and reverse of the 1oz silver proof medallion.

OH, THOSE EXTRA DOTS!

2011-08-17T07:55:00.001-07:00

No doubt most collectors would have agreed that coins having ‘extra dots’ are nothing spectacular as they are merely minor die errors.

However, the emergence of the 1979 50sen coins with an‘extra dot’ each on their obverse which was first highlighted in a catalogue, many years back, had left a big impact on the mindsets of many collectors.

Coincidentally the 1979 50sen coin with a mintage of 5.4 million, was also the second rarest key date after the 1969 50sen with a mintage of 2 million only in the Parliament series.

Fig.1 Malaysia 1979 50sen coin - ‘extra dot’ on Parliament House on obverse.

Ever since this unofficial term‘extra dot’ was used to describe the 1979 50sen coin with a dot on the ground floor of the Parliament House, we’ve got to admit that our minds somehow were subconsciously preoccupied with looking for unusual extra dots on any coin which we came across.

Haha, somehow, liked it or not, this notion to search for‘extra dots’ just seemed to get stuck in our minds.

Well, suppose its natural for human beings because science has proven that we can learn something new, but once learned, we cannot force ourselves to forget or unlearn it.

So, as we progressed in our hobby, dots of various sizes though never very big have been found on a number of modern coins.

Many not even listed in the catalogues like the specimen below, Fig.2

Fig.2 Malaysia 1982 20sen coin – extra dot on obverse. This coin reminds us of Marilyn Monroe who has a sexy mole on the left side of her face.

Marilyn’s famous beauty was marked by a mole just above her lip along her dimple line on the left side of her face.

Now, who says coins are not sexy? lol.

And it was expected that if these extra dots could be found on modern coins, of course they could be seen on classical coins too.

We found two of these ‘extra dots’ on a Straits Settlements King George V 1920 One Dollar silver coin.

These dots seem to form part of the Jawi characters on the reverse of the coin.

Fig.3 Straits Settlements King George V 1920 Silver Dollar – extra dots on reverse.

Fig.4 Straits Settlements King George V 1920 Silver Dollar – extra dots on reverse.

The left picture shows the two extra dots on the left of the Jawi characters on the coin in question, while the right picture shows the Jawi characters without the two extra dots on a normal coin.

Fig.5 Straits Settlements King George V 1920 Silver Dollar – extra dots on reverse.

Closed-up on the Jawi characters with the two extra dots on the left.

Fig.6 Straits Settlements King George V 1920 Silver Dollar – extra dots on reverse.

Extreme closed-up on the two extra dots.

Even though the mintage of these 1920 Straits Settlements silver dollars of 8.2 million looks high, they are not commonly available.

In fact, these 1920 silver dollars together with the rarer 1919 silver dollars are among some of the most desirable Straits Settlements silver dollars.

So, we were of course delighted to find something extra on the coin in question, no matter how minor they were.

Hmm..at times make us ponder why are we so preoccupied with these minor errors or ‘extra dots’.

Maybe, they resemble those sexy moles on beautiful faces such as Marilyn Monroe, haha.

FOREIGN ERRORS & VARIETIES PART 7 – MEXICO

2011-08-15T03:07:00.001-07:00

We will continue to post foreign coins with minor errors and varieties from time to time.

These coins were found among the foreign coins in our present collections as well as going through virgin hoards during our ‘hunting’ trips.

Though nothing spectacular of any sort so far, we found some of them to be rather interesting.

Below is a beautiful bronze Mexico 1968 5 Centavos.

We found this coin while going through a hoard of mixed coins of various origins.

Apart from being amazed by the beautiful golden tone, we found something abnormal about this coin too.

There seemed to be a slightly darker layer of metal running diagonally across the obverse.

Fig.1 Mexico 1968 5 centavos coin – obverse and reverse, error.

Fig.2 Mexico 1968 5 Centavos coin – the slightly darker layer of metal runs between 1 and 3 o’clock diagonally across the obverse and ends between 7 and 8 o’clock.

Fig.3 Mexico 1968 5 Centavos Coin – closed-up on the sections of the rim where the layer starts and ends.

This coin has a mintage of 189.6 million.

FOREIGN ERRORS & VARIETIES PART 6 - INDIA

2011-08-11T06:33:00.001-07:00

We found an Indian 2002 Sant Tukaram 2 rupees commemorative coin from a hoard of mixed foreign coins.

This coin made of copper-nickel, has a finned rim which is exceptionally high at 6 o’clock on the reverse.

Fig.1 Indian 2002 Sant Tukaram 2 rupees commemorative coin – high finned rim on the reverse.

Fig.2 Indian 2002 Sant Tukaram 2 rupees commemorative coin – the high finned rim at 6 o’clock on the reverse stands out along the coin’s rim.

Fig.3 Indian 2002 Sant Tukaram 2 rupees commemorative coin –closed-up showing the high finned rim.

Fig.4 Indian 2002 Sant Tukaram 2 rupees commemorative coin –side view of the coin showing the edge section with the exceptionally high finned rim.

DIE CLASH ON MEDALLION

2011-08-09T03:04:00.001-07:00

Apart from finding a die clash on coins, these clash marks can be found on medallions too.

Below is a medallion issued by the Museum of Victoria to commemorate the Soviet Space Exhibition in 1984, with distinct die clash marks on the reverse.

The medal which measures 32mm in diameter and features the Cosmoa Exhibition, has a ghost image of the Russian satellite, Cosmos on the reverse.

Fig.1 Medallion issued by the Museum of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia in 1984 to commemorate the Soviet Space Exhibition – die clash, obverse and reverse.

Fig.2 Medallion issued by the Museum of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia in 1984 to commemorate the Soviet Space Exhibition – die clash, the ghost image of the Russian satellite, Cosmos can be seen on the reverse.

As a result, the reverse seems to show two satellites instead of one, i.e. the raised first Russian satellite, Sputnik I and the incused Russian Cosmos Satellite.

The clash marks of the Cosmos Satellite seems to change the whole perspective of the medal’s design on the reverse.

Fig.3 Medallion issued by the Museum of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia in 1984 to commemorate the Soviet Space Exhibition – die clash, closed-up showing the ghost image of the Russian satellite.

The obverse of the medallion features the Russian Cosmos Satellite in orbit above Earth.

While the reverse, at the lower centre features the first Russian satellite – Sputnik I, the Soviet Space Exhibition and Museum of Victoria 1984.

DIE CLASH ON CLASSICAL COIN

2011-08-04T03:49:00.001-07:00

Die clash seems to be more commonly found among the smaller size coins.

It occurs when two dies clash because a planchet failed to enter the die during the minting process.

This causes part of the design of one or both dies to be impressed onto the opposite side.

They are considered more a variety than an error.

Normally they are not visually spectacular unless the clashed markings are distinct and the coin in question is in top grade.

Below is a Straits Settlements King George V 1926 5cents coin with die clash marks on the obverse.

Fig.1 Straits Settlements King George V 1926 5cents coin – die clash.

Fig.2 Straits Settlements King George V 1926 5cents coin – die clash, part of the figure ‘5’ on the reverse is impressed below the chin of the King George V effigy on the obverse.

Fig.3 Straits Settlements King George V 1926 5cents coin – die clash, distinct horizontal markings of part of the figure ‘5’ can be seen in this closed-up picture.

Fig.4 Straits Settlements King George V 1926 5cents coin – die clash, the figure ‘5’ on the reverse of the coin.

With a mintage of 10 million, this silver coin has a fineness of .600 silver, weighs 1.35 grams and actual silver weight of 0.0262 troy oz.

OVERLOOKED COINS?

2011-08-01T05:19:00.001-07:00

Certainly, most local collectors would have agreed that coins irrespective of circulation or commemorative are getting smaller and smaller.

This is probably due to the price hike of the metals used to make these coins.

And being admirers of crown size classical silver coins, we certainly were in love with the Straits Settlements Silver Dollars.

One which we particularly liked was the Straits Settlements 1919 Silver Dollar.

Especially each time when we visited hkmal’s blog, our interest in the coin just grew and grew.

Haha, being small time collectors with limited budgets, it was not easy acquiring such a coin unlike big time collectors like hkmal.

Somehow, we did, finally.

By the way, we strongly recommend collectors to visit hkmal’s blog, http://hkmal.blogspot.com/.

His collection of a wide range of coins in top grades is simply amazing.

Below are two types of coins which were regarded as being overlooked.

Fig.1 Straits Settlements George V 1919 one dollar coin.

This Straits silver dollar is one of the most overlooked coin compared to other Straits' coins.

http://hkmal.blogspot.com/2009/08/72-straits-settlements-george-v-1911.html

Fig.2 Malaya King George VI, 1943 10 cents silver coin.

This King George VI silver series is regarded as grossly undervalued in Krause.

http://www.omnicoin.com/viewcoin/949161

FINNED EDGE ERROR

2011-07-27T06:31:00.001-07:00

After a hiatus, we are back to the ever intriguing error coins subject.

Below is a Malaya and British Borneo Queen Elizabeth II 1961 50 cents, probably a finned edge error.

Fig.1 Malaya and British Borneo Queen Elizabeth II 1961 50 cents – finned edge.

Fig.2 Malaya and British Borneo Queen Elizabeth II 1961 50 cents – reverse showing the raised collar from 9 o’clock to almost 4 o’clock.

Fig.3 Malaya and British Borneo Queen Elizabeth II 1961 50 cents – closed-up on a section of the finned edge.

Kindly refer to Dickson’s blog for a detailed explanation of the finned edge error.

http://dniewcollectors.blogspot.com/2011/05/malaysia-coin-die-errorsmisaligned-die.html

With a mintage of 17 million, this 1961 50 cents coin has the highest mintage among the 50 cents coins in the series.

However, just like its successors, the 50 sen Parliament series, coins of top grade are not readily available.

THERE’S $$$ IN JUNK

2011-07-23T22:30:00.001-07:00

Junk silver, once shun by collectors and neglected by others are gaining popularity.

These are silver coins in rough to fair conditions which usually contain no collectible value apart from the bullion value of the precious metal.

With the rise in silver price, even a worn-out old silver 20 cents coin could be worth more than 15 ringgit, nowadays.

Fig.1 Straits Settlements 1902 20 cents – a worn-out silver coin with an actual silver weight of 0.1397 troy oz.

The above coin (Fig.1) is a heavily worn-out silver coin but with a high silver content of 0.1397 troy oz of pure silver.

Taking current silver price of USD40/oz, the intrinsic value of the coin’s silver content is worth (40 x 3) 0.1397 = RM16.76

As a comparison, if this coin dated 1902 at its face value of 20 cents was compounded at an interest rate of 3.5% per annum, 110 years ago, today it would have an accumulated value of about RM9 only.

Fig.2 Straits Settlements silver coins of various denominations – junk silver coins.

These silver coins of poor conditions, once ignored or discarded and being sold by the kilos, are now hotly sought after.

About a month ago, a dealer told us he has rejected a customer who wanted to buy two kilos of these coins from him.

Now, half a kilo contains a bullion value of more than RM1,000.

Fig.3 Straits Settlements 1907 One Dollar Silver Coin.

Even big silver coins with very fine and below conditions (Fig.3) which were once quoted as BV or bullion value in catalogues, now can fetch quite a good price.

Fig.4 Canada 1976 10 Dollars Olympic XXI silver commemorative coin - a large silver coin of 92.5% silver purity, weighs 48.6 grams and has an actual silver weight of 1.4453 troy ounces.

And of course, nothing beats feeling a chunky piece of silver coin on one’s palm.

This oversize coin of 45mm in diameter (Fig.4) though tarnished, gives a very reassuring feel, haha.

Since the Hunt Brothers debacle, silver has been a low profile precious metal until lately.

Could some stories which look far-fetched today, will be realities tomorrow?

http://news.silverseek.com/SilverSeek/1310240710.php

Whatever, its always reassuring to have at least some coins with a silver lining in our collections.

This way, if silver goes up and up, we will benefit the best of both worlds, i.e. numismatic and bullion.

And if it plunges, we will still get to keep them as numismatic items, haha.

ONE MAN’S JUNK IS ANOTHER MAN’S TREASURE :)

FIRST MOON LANDING

2011-07-20T02:51:00.001-07:00

On this day, 42 years ago, American Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the Moon.

With the words, “Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed,”he later put his left foot down and declared, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

Below is a big bronze medallion commemorating the historical event.

Fig.1 Medallion commemorating the landing of Apollo II on the Moon, obverse.

Fig.2 Medallion commemorating the landing of Apollo II on the Moon, reverse.

We couldn’t get much information about this medallion.

However, overall, we find it attractive especially the big size.

COINS NEED TLCs TOO

2011-07-16T08:09:00.001-07:00

Fig.1 Malaysia 1970 1sen Copper Coin – closed-up showing the unique thick and sharp edged rim feature which distinguishes it from the rest of the 1sen coins in the Parliament series.

Once we asked an orchid planter what’s the secret to successful orchids growing.

He said, “simple.”

Just give them lots of TLCs or Tender Loving Care.

Suppose, the same principle applies to non-living things like coins too.

And this is especially true in respect of copper and copper-clad coins.

Fifteen years ago, we used to keep all these 1sen coins in mint state that we encountered.

They were then immediately sealed and kept in cool and non-humid places.

Fifteen years later, most of them have acquired beautiful toning.

We suppose these miserable 1sen coins should not be underestimated.

For given enough TLCs and patience, they may offer us handsome rewards in the long term.

Fig.2 Malaysia 1970 1sen Copper Coin – mintage 2.5 million.

This coin has the lowest mintage in the 1sen Parliament series.

One of the most beautifully minted coin in Malaysian modern coinage.

Fig.3 Malaysia 1983 1sen Copper-clad Steel Coin – mintage 19.3 million, clash die marks on the obverse and reverse.

This coin has one of the most beautiful mintage figures among the Malaysian coinage.

The actual figure is 19,333,233 and the date of the coin starts with 19 and ends with 83 too.

And it’s mintage is at the lower end of the 1sen Parliament Series.

Fig.4 Malaysia 1986 1sen Copper-clad Steel Coin – showing good cartwheel lustre.

The dazzling cartwheel effect of the coin is caused by the microscopic patterns in the metal.

This coin with a mintage of 48.9 million, is a more common date among the 1sen Parliament Series.

But locating one in perfect condition among the daily loose change is probably not possible now as these coins together with the newer Hibiscus Series have already been taken out of circulation many years back.

Fig.5 Malaysia 2006 1sen Copper-clad Steel Coin, Hibiscus Series – reverse showing advance die deterioration but exceptional lustre.

Surprisingly, this coin’s surface is exceptionally dazzling, so much so we have difficulty reproducing the exact lustre of the coin.

The dazzling effect in the picture is the closest to the actual specimen that we could reproduce with our cheap point-and-shoot digital camera.

Strangely, the uneven surface all over the coin’s reverse did not affect the lustre at all.

At times, made us wondered what caused this dazzling effect, which made the coin stood out among the rest when we first spotted it.

Fig.6 Malaysia 1967 1sen Copper Coin – first copper coin in the Parliament Series.

And before the conversation ends, here are more wise words from the experienced planter, “Treat them like you treat your wife.”

This last phrase though extremely useful, be better meant for “Collectors Only.”

Otherwise, our precious collections might end up inside the rubbish bins mysteriously, haha.

Which reminded us of a friend who was an ardent antique collector.

His wife nagged him for buying too many antique porcelains on that particular month.

So once, he took an antique vase home and temporarily stored it inside the store room.

Until today after many years, he still could not locate his precious vase.

So, be careful.

For some collectors, strange things do happen at home, when TLCs have not been rendered fairly, haha.

Fig.7 Malaysia 2001 1sen Copper-clad Steel Coin, Hibiscus Series.

While some mint coins in the Hibiscus Series, Fig.5 show exceptional lustre, there are some which came with matt surfaces.

Even though this coin, Fig.7 has a minor die chip at the base of the figure ‘1’only, the comma shaped die chip merges well with the figure ‘1’.

Probably due to some die problem which also resulted in an overall matt finishing on an otherwise mint coin.

TLCs, TLCs, TLCs.

And as the saying goes, the next most powerful word after LOVE is HUMILITY.

We offered them LOVE and in return these small but beautiful coins gave us back HUMILITY :D

OLD SARAWAK COINS

2011-07-14T08:16:00.001-07:00

All more than a 100 years old and low mintage, Sarawakian coins can be rather difficult to collect.

They represent the only Malaysian coins featuring foreigners who were not Kings and Queens of the British Royal Family.

Back in the early years, even with a tight budget, one could still be able to collect some of them in top grades.

However, they are now mostly expensive and not commonly seen.

Below are some of the Sarawak One Cent Copper Coins minted during the reign of Rajah Charles Johnson Brooke 1868-1917.

Fig.1 Sarawak 1891H One Cent Copper Coin – mintage 1,623,888.

Fig.2 Sarawak 1890H One Cent Copper Coin – mintage 3,210,000.

Fig.3 Sarawak 1886 One Cent Copper Coin – mintage 2,140,000.

GET’EM WHILE STILL CAN

2011-07-09T18:16:00.001-07:00

Fig.1 Malaysia 1980 5sen coin – die clash marks on the reverse.

Coins of the Parliament series in top grades, once commonly seen among the circulation coins, are now getting increasingly scare.

We agree with Dickson’s view that these coins in top grades may not be as common as they seem to be.

In fact, its been quite some time since we found one of these in our daily loose change.

And during the past, along with these coins, we managed to find some with major errors, too.

Among them, was a 1985 5sen, a uniface.

Fig.2 Malaysia 1985 5sen coin – uniface.

We acquired this coin more than a decade ago.

The 1985 5sen coin has a mintage of 15.6 million, which is the 2nd lowest after the 1977 5sen coin in the Parliament series.

Back then, these 5sen coins even in top grades were common.

If one would have taken the opportunity then, he would have collected at least a couple of these coins.

Fig.3 Malaysia 5sen coins, Parliament series – various dates, UNC and above.

We suggest better get as many as possible while still can before they eventually disappear just like the other older coins.

Lol, just our two cents :D

NATURE TAKES OVER WHAT MAN HAS CREATED

2011-07-06T05:11:00.001-07:00

Collecting toned coins is like an either love or hate affair.

Some regard them as nuisance that need to be removed.

Others see toning as natural beauty enhancing the appearance of the coin.

Technically speaking, all coins start to tone once they are minted.

The metal starts to react with the impurities in the air.

Most of the coins will take on a certain degree of toning which go unnoticed.

But some seem to take their own course and acquire pleasing toning on their surfaces.

These patina or toning may range from soft to intense iridescent colours like the beautiful opals.

Lol, we love these coins as much as we adore opals.

Fig.1 An affordable doublet opal showing good iridescence.

No doubt looking at opals can be very interesting and even mesmerizing.

But equally interesting are the coins which have toned and acquired a certain degree of iridescence on their surfaces naturally.

Below are some of the specimens that we have found.

Fig.2 British North Borneo 1938H 1 Cent Coin – a toned reverse.

Fig. 3 Malaysia 2007 5 Cents Coin – toning on obverse and reverse.

Fig.4 Malaysia 2004 10 Cents Coin – toning on the reverse.

Fig.5 Malaya 1943 King George VI 20 Cents Coin – toning on the obverse.

Fig.6 Australia 1964 Queen Elizabeth II One Penny – toning on the obverse and reverse.

Fig.7 Australia 1964 Queen Elizabeth II One Penny – toning on the obverse and reverse.

Fig.8 Australia 1960 Queen Elizabeth II Half Penny – toning on the obverse and reverse.

Fig.9 Australia 1964 Queen Elizabeth II One Penny – the obverse and reverse have acquired a beautiful reddish brown tone.

Natural toning is beyond man’s control.

Once minted, beautiful patina starts to develop on the coin’s surface, naturally.

SLEEP SOUNDLY WITH OUR COLLECTIBLES

2011-07-05T03:19:00.001-07:00

One evening while having a chat, one of our friends voiced his concern about the recent huge sell-off in silver.

It made us wonder whether we, merely as very small and part time silver coin collectors, should be worrying about it.

Or rather, simply, does it really matters?

Of course it does because no matter how small the amount, its still hard earned money, haha.

But suppose to a very small extent.

When we talk about silver coins now, it covers both numismatic and bullion as the latter is gaining acceptance among collectors, too.

We feel the risk is minimal as long as we take a realistic approach to collecting these silver coins as well as other coins too.

- acquiring them based on their fair numismatic values or less.

- acquiring them close to their intrinsic values or less.

- concentrating coins from countries with growing young and affluent population such

as China, India, Indonesia or even Malaysia.

- concentrating on high grade coins notwithstanding exceptional cases.

- and most important of all, never over buy. Always have ample reserves for daily

necessities to avoid forced selling on the collectibles, at all times.

Strong holders will triumph while the weak will fall.

Fig.1 China 2008 10 Yuan Silver Panda – mintage 600,000.

Just within a span of 3 years, the mintage of these highly adorable Pandas has increased by 10 folds, i.e. 600,000 in 2008 to 6.0 million in 2011.

The huge increase of these 1 troy oz silver bullion coins reflect the increasing demand for them.

Given most of these coins are perfectly supply inelastic, gradual price appreciations will most likely occur.

Their values are furthered guaranteed by the intrinsic value of the precious metal.

Fig.2 American 2002 Silver Eagle – one of the most popular silver bullion coins in the world, mintage 10.5 million.

The popularity of these 1 troy oz Silver Eagles makes them highly liquid.

They can be easily exchangeable for cash based on the market value of silver.

These bullion coins, once shun by numismatists are now considered as a niche in coins collecting.

Some of them are expensive.

Fig.3 China 1988 1oz Silver Double Dragons – once quite commonly seen.

It has a mintage of 20,000 only.

If we view them in respect of the number of collectors in China or its population, one would be able to visualize the potential of these coins in the future.

A check in the net shows that these coins are not cheap, now.

Fig.4 Straits Settlements 1908 King Edward VII One Dollar Silver Coin – Fine/Very Fine Grade, mintage 4.2 million.

Previously , these average size coins which contained 0.58 troy oz of pure silver, were not given much recognition by the catalogues.

Consequently, non-high grade specimens were accorded their bullion values only.

But all these have changed along with the acceptance of bullion coins as another form of coins collecting as well as the strong demand for silver.

Haha, whatever, we believe if we hold firm to the basic guidelines, we would be quite safe with our collectibles.

Because even if they don’t increase in value, their quantity available in the market will always be the same while the world population keeps on increasing.

So next time, when we hear Standard Chartered Bank predicting gold will go up to US5,000 per oz, or silver’s plunging like there’s no tomorrow, we can still sleep soundly with our collectibles, haha.

Even though there may be intermittent hiccups, past precedents had proven that over the long run, the value of quality collectibles e.g. coins will appreciate accordingly.

What’s more when they are made of precious metal.

And for poor-man’s collectors like us, setting aside a budget according to one’s capacity will not be unduly stressful.

Surprisingly, if one look back, that small to almost negligible allocation over the years can turn out to be quite fruitful over the long run.

And if luck is with us, even unintentional buys can sometimes turn out to be extremely fruitful, e.g. the 1982 China proof set.

Last observed that the set was bid to more than USD1,500 or RMB10,000.

Ref : http://english.zhaoonline.com/detail/auction-1053692-detail.shtml

Fig.5 China 1982 Proof Set – seven proof coins and a medallion depicting the year of the dog, obverse.

Fig.6 China 1982 Proof Set – seven proof coins and a medallion depicting the year of the dog, reverse.

If we look back, there would be times where we erred along the way, but if we hold firm to a set of guidelines, suppose the degree of success far outweighs our mistakes.

Honestly, even though we have numerous other hobbies, we still find numismatic among one of the most enjoyable and rewarding hobby, in the long term.

We really hope more people especially the young generation will realise the immense benefits awaiting them.

Suppose we are in no position to speak for the seniors especially all the honorable sifus because they knew the rewards the hobby could give them very much earlier and have taken full advantage way before some of us were even born, haha.

These are the far-sighted people who have foreseen the future of numismatics.

Our greatest respect to them, all.

And as for us, amateur collectors, haha, DON’T WORRY, BE HAPPY, COLLECT SLOWLY AND SLEEP SOUNDLY.

Haha, just our one and half cent :D

MSIA COMMEMORATIVE COINS – DIE ERROR?

2011-07-03T00:30:00.001-07:00

The 3rd Malaysian Plan Commemorative Coins are among the most unconventional coins in modern Malaysia coinage.

The 14 sided polygon gives the coin a distinctive look.

The only other Malaysian coin series with this shape is the 25th Anniversary of Independence 25 Ringgit Silver Coin.

We have found a number of minor die errors on these coins.

Fig.1 Malaysia 3rd Malaysian Plan 1 Ringgit Commemorative Coin – obverse and reverse.

At a glance this coin looks normal.

But if we observe closely, there are numerous minor die errors along the rim on the reverse.

Fig.2 Malaysia 3rd Malaysian Plan 1 Ringgit Commemorative Coin – close-up showing the minor die errors along the rim.

Fig.3 Malaysia 3rd Malaysian Plan 1 Ringgit Commemorative Coin – close-up showing a die error just above the alphabet ‘A’.

Fig.4 Malaysia 3rd Malaysian Plan 1 Ringgit Commemorative Coin – close-up showing a few more smaller die errors along other parts of the rim.

Below is another coin of the same series showing die errors on the date.

Fig.5 Malaysia 3rd Malaysian Plan 1 Ringgit Commemorative Coin – minor die error.

LOOKS CAN BE MISLEADING

2011-07-01T03:31:00.001-07:00

Fig.1 1976 3rd Malaysia Plan Commemorative Uncirculated 10 Ringgit Silver Coin.

The 3rd Malaysia Plan Commemorative 10 Ringgit Silver Coin is among the smallest looking silver coin in modern Malaysian coinage.

The tetradecagon shape of the coin gives it a rather smallish look compared to the round coins of the same size.

However, its small appearance can be misleading because each of these coins packs a hefty 0.3105 troy oz of pure silver.

The high silver fineness of 0.925 gives it a high actual silver weight.

They were once among the most common commemorative silver coins.

Because of their commonness, they were previously obtainable at even below their intrinsic value.

But now, even with a comparatively high mintage of 200,000 for the uncirculated coins, they are getting rather scare in the open market following the increase in silver prices.

One of our preferred coins as an alternative to the more expensive bullion coins.

They were minted by Franklin Mint USA in 1976.

Fig.2 1976 3rd Malaysia Plan Commemorative Uncirculated 10 Ringgit Silver Coin sealed and complete with the original card holder.

DISINTEGRATED COIN?

2011-06-29T07:19:00.001-07:00

Fig.1 Closed-up of a section of the coin showing metallic fragments of various sizes..

It was one of those rare occasions when we could have the whole morning by ourselves when most were working during a weekday.

So, we would of course be in one of those places where others of the same kind would most likely frequent, haha.

The dealer’s table was as usual, very messy like an absent-mined professor’s table.

Among the stack of catalogues and reference books, a few plastic containers without covers filled with stamps and coins, was a queer looking yellow coin folder housing fragments of some kind of metal.

These metallic fragments of various sizes resembled iron-pyrite though they were not as shiny as the latter.

Fig.2 Malayan tin coin – all that’s left after it broke into fragments for some unknown reasons.

Fig.3 Malayan Tin coin – scattered fragments on the another side of the coin showed an appearance of brittleness.

Our curiosity prompted us to ask the dealer what was in the folder.

He told us it was supposed to be one of the Malayan tin coins which he has kept in the store for a long time.

And he too was taken aback when he took out the stack of tin coins as all others except this piece were in good condition.

We requested for his kind generosity to allow us to post it in our blog, hopefully to get some answers.

Not only he consented but gave it to us for our reference.

This is the first time we have seen a coin disintegrated into so many fragments.

Wonder what could have happened to the coin?

AN EVENING WITH PUERH AND FIERY CRABS

2011-06-28T02:48:00.001-07:00

Fig.1 Tasty cold fiery crab – just taken out from the refrigerator.

It was due to the our constant ‘harassment’ on a couple that we finally managed to taste the best home-cooked crabs.

All along, everyone of us in the group knew this couple could make the best cold crabs.

But to be fair to these couple who were also our tea kakis, they were very busy people who were operating a cafe specialising in home-made noodles.

After months, they finally succumbed to our constant harassment because every time we met up for tea, the first question we would ask them, “Where’re our crabs?”haha.

Seriously, ummm..they make the most delicious crabs that we have ever tasted.

Of course, nothing would be complete without the usual Chinese tea to go along with any gathering.

Fig.2 One of the fiery crabs against a background of puerh and tea utensils.

After the sumptuous meal, we have a sheng puerh from a 90s Zhong-Cha Pai.

Followed by a shou 03 Da-Yi.

And ended with another shou 80s 7572 Zhong-Cha Pai.

Fig.3 The three types of puerh tea that we have during the makan session – from left to right, 90s sheng Zhong-cha pai, 03 shou Da-yi and 80s shou Zhong-cha pai.

We reluctantly finished our last cup of 80s shou before bidding each other farewell.

Each of us going home smiling and contented, wondering when would be the next gathering, hehe.

Its wonderful how these tea could blend so well with our past times.

FIRST COIN STORY

2011-06-26T08:57:00.001-07:00

Fig.1 Straits Settlements 1908 King Edward VII One Cent – reverse.

Probably every coin collector will have a first coin story to tell.

Ours started when we were given a metal box of mixed copper coins, during our childhood days, even before we started schooling.

These coins were family heirloom passed down to us.

Inside the box, were mostly the Malaya One Cent and Straits Settlements King George V One Cent coins, together with the big Straits Settlements One Cent coins from the Queen Victoria and King Edward VII eras which were mainly worn out pieces.

Back then, the Malaya One Cent and Straits Settlements King George V One Cent coins were so commonly seen that we just didn’t bother to take a second look at them.

We also noticed the Queen Victoria coins were mainly worn out with only the silhouette of the queen’s effigy remained.

So the only notable ones left were a few King Edward One Cent coins in so-so condition, dated 1907 and 1908.

Ever since that day, we never looked back, though there were disruptions along the way as our interests got interrupted by other past times and commitments.

From the few King Edward 08s, we got ourselves better ones, and then upgraded them along the way.

Looking at this set of coins seems to remind us of how it all started and how we have made progress since that first day we started the hobby..

Arg, if not for the numerous past times which extended to even sports and outdoor adventures, we believe we would have done better in the hobby by now.

Whatever it is, these coins will always be part of the memories, as surely as all other memories of our once great expectations.

Haha, been reading too much Dickens stuff lately.

Numismatic!

A walk down memory lane, lol.

Below are some of these coins that we have collected since we were given the first coin during our childhood days..

Fig.2 Straits Settlements King Edward VII 1908 One Cent - one of the first coins found inside the metal box given to us during our childhood days.

Once cleaned when we were still naive, it had somewhat toned over the years.

Fig.3 Straits Settlements King Edward VII 1908 One Cent – another specimen which was slightly better than the first and was acquired at zero cost.

Back in the early years, it was almost incomprehensible to use money to buy money.

Many would have branded us as idiots.

So, after much hassle, we managed to get this specimen for free.

Interest in numismatic has changed a lot since those years, though it would still take a loooong time before we could reach the same level of public acceptance as in the developed countries where the mere mention of the phrase, “I’m a coin collector” make heads turned.

Try doing it here, not at Amcorp Mall but at social gatherings, haha.

Anyway, much have changed for the better over here since the days people wore pyjamas to their nearest coffee shops without fear of being stared at.

Fig.4 Straits Settlements King Edward VII 1908 One Cent – much later, this specimen was found when we were still schooling.

In our school days, we didn’t have as much pocket money as kids nowadays.

So getting a coin like this without having to pay much helped us to survive the day.

Luckily, collectible coins then were much cheaper.

However, this acquisition didn’t stop us from searching for a better one.

Fig.5 Straits Settlements King Edward VII 1908 One Cent – a GEF specimen.

And so, we continued with our search, which seemed a never ending one, haha.

After much toil and sweat, success finally came.

Thought we were happy.

No, we weren’t.

Our satisfaction was short lived.

It only spurred us to hunt for one with even higher grade.

But it was an uphill task onwards.

Fig.6 Straits Settlements King Edward VII 1908 One Cent – a high grade specimen.

After many years and much difficulties, we finally succeeded getting a better specimen.

And now, eyeing for a superb specimen with good lustre and of course provided our limited budget permits, haha.

Honestly, we have to admit this humble set of coins here is nothing to brag about but we found them rather sentimental to us as it was started from one of the first coins in our collection.

Furthermore, we feel happy to share our first coin story which was also the main purpose we started this blog, i.e. to share and exchange our humble and amateur ‘adventures’ in the world of collectibles.

And hopefully others could do the same in their respective blogs too.

We always hold firm to the view that everyone of us, irrespective of age, wealth or position, has a rightful place in the world of numismatic.

HAPPY COLLECTING TO ALL :)

STRUCK ON THE SAME SPOT TWICE?

2011-06-22T04:58:00.001-07:00

There is an old saying that, “lightning never strikes the same spot twice.”

It is a myth.

Even though its rare to see lightning striking the same spot again, it is possible as the same spot as well as other spots will have a fair chance of being struck by the next discharge.

And the same seems to happen when die cracks appear on coins, haha.

So, seeing almost the same die crack appearing on the same spot on both the coin’s obverse and reverse is indeed a pleasant surprise.

We found one, a Straits Settlements 1935 5cents coin.

No doubt, die cracks are quite prevalent on these classical coins of small denominations.

Being crazy over errors, we are of course amused to find even the slightest abnormalities on any coin that we come across.

And a bonus too, if it is in high grade.

We found this specimen Fig.1 with an almost similar die crack at about the same spot on the obverse and reverse, i.e. at around 9 o’clock on both sides of the coin.

Fig.1 Straits Settlements 1935 5cents coin – almost similar die cracks at about the same spot on the obverse and reverse.

Fig.2 Straits Settlements 1935 5cents coin – obverse showing the distinct die crack at around 9 o’clock. Two more die cracks can be seen between 9 o’clock and 7 o’clock apart from its spiked head.

Fig.3 Straits Settlements 1935 5cents coin – an almost similar die crack as the one on the obverse can be seen at about the same spot, i.e. around 9 o’clock on the reverse.

This coin has a mintage of three million, weighs 1.35g, in silver with a fineness of 0.600.

It has the lowest mintage among the other 5cents of the same series.

Though, in this case, mintage may not be the sole determinant of its rarity in the series.

CLASSICAL COINS WITH DIE ERRORS

2011-06-19T02:56:00.001-07:00

With a limited budget, one can still find die errors among high grade classical coins, given a little bit of luck.

We noticed die cracks are quite common among the classical coins especially those with smaller denominations.

Listed below are two high grade Malaya King George VI 5cents coins with die cracks.

Fig. 1 Malaysia 1943 King George VI 5cents coin – obverse and reverse, die cracks.

Fig.2 Malaya 1943 King George VI 5cents coin – reverse showing die cracks.

Fig.3 Malaya 1943 King George VI 5cents – obverse and reverse, die cracks.

Fig.4 Malaya 1943 King George VI 5cents – reverse showing die cracks.

We find collecting these coins give us the best of both worlds.

Firstly, they can still be obtained for a reasonable price.

Secondly, if one will to take some time to scout around, one may still be able to get the high grade ones.

And we noticed they are among the very few types of affordable classical coins which are still available in the ordinary market.

Furthermore, they represent the last Malaysia coins which are made of silver before being replaced by the copper-nickel coins.

And may also be the last chance for budget collectors to get them before they eventually disappear from the ordinary market, just like the high grade Straits Settlements coins.

The 1943 coin listed above has a mintage of 10 million, weighs 1.36 grams, made of silver with a fineness of 0.500 and with an actual silver weight of 0.0218 troy oz of pure silver.

Classical, High Grade, Error, Silver.

Hehe, what more can error coin collectors like us ask for, given only a limited budget to spend on coins, every month?

Just our two cents, haha.

HAPPY COLLECTING TO ALL :)

SING COINS OF THE 70s

2011-06-17T07:25:00.001-07:00

1975 was a rather unique year for Singapore coinage.

It was a year where a relatively smaller amount of coins were minted for circulation.

During the year, apart from the 1cent coin, all the coins of other denominations were minted in quantities of less than 2 million each respectively.

Among them, the 10 cents coin is considered a key date with a mintage of 828,000 only.

We were lucky to have obtained an official uncirculated set of the 1975 coins housed in a plastic wallet.

A total of 30,000 sets were made in conjunction with the year of the rabbit.

Out of the six coins, five were minted in quantities of less than 2.0 million each, respectively.

Below are the coins with their respective mintage.

Fig.1 Singapore 1975 1cent coin – mintage 24.2 million.

Fig.2 Singapore 1975 5cents coin – mintage 1.7 million.

Fig.3 Singapore 1975 10cents coin – mintage 0.828 million, key date.

Fig.4 Singapore 1975 20cents coin – mintage 1.5 million.

Fig.5 Singapore 1975 50cents coin – mintage 1.4 million.

Fig.6 Singapore 1975 $1 coin – mintage 0.43 million.

We considered ourselves very lucky to have obtained this set of coins many years back before the PVC wallet had damaged the coins.

In fact, we took out the coins from the PVC wallet immediately after we have acquired the set.

A word of caution.

We have seen a number of these coins, still kept in the original PVC wallets which were damaged beyond repair by chlorine leached out of the PVC.

AN INDISPENSABLE REFERENCE

2011-06-15T08:52:00.001-07:00

Some reference books are simply indispensable no matter how old they are.

And even in an era where the internet has made searching for information so simple, yet certain reference books are still irreplaceable.

Among them is a numismatic reference book which has been with us for almost 30 years.

Yet, it is still as useful as it was when we first bought it.

A hard cover copy 1st edition printed in 1978, the “Pictorial Guide To Grading Of Malaysian Coins and Bank Notes,” compiled by Saran Singh, a Malaysia Numismatic Society Publication, Kuala Lumpur.

Fig.1 The “Pictorial Guide To Grading Of Malaysian Coins and Bank Notes,” compiled by Saran Singh, a Malaysia Numismatic Society Publication, Kuala Lumpur, 1st edition 1978, hard cover.

Among the contents in the book, are guides to grading of coins and bank notes with clear black and white illustrations of a wide range of Malaysia coins and bank notes.

And with important notes on cleaning of coins and improving bank notes, preservation of coins and bank notes, mint marks and engravers’ initials on Malaysian coins and common numismatic terms.

Wonder whether this book is still available in the market?

We strongly recommend it to collectors of Malaysian numismatics if it is still available.

RM25 COIN – MATTE OR MIRROR?

2011-06-14T05:38:00.001-07:00

In conjunction with the 25th Anniversary of Bank Negara Malaysia, two coins were issued to commemorate the historical event.

A 1984 RM25 silver proof coin with a mintage of 10,000.

While the other was a non-proof coin of similar design with a mintage of 98,000.

Made from silver with a 0.500 fineness, each coin contained 0.5627 troy ounce of pure silver.

They were minted by the Singapore Mint.

We found these coins highly collectible, with the effigy of KDYMM SPB SULTAN HAJI AHMAD SHAH AL-MUSTA’IN BILLAH gracefully featured on the obverse.

The large crown size with a diameter of 42mm was another attraction to collectors.

The proof and non-proof designs differed from each other by the different kinds of finish on the fields of the coin.

The proof coin has a mirror finish while the non-proof, a matte finish.

Fig.1 Malaysia 1984 RM25 silver proof coin, commemorating the 25th Anniversary of Bank Negara Malaysia – mirror finish on the fields of obverse and reverse.

Fig.2 Malaysia 1984 RM25 silver non-proof coin, commemorating the 25th Anniversary of Bank Negara Malaysia – matte finish on the fields of the obverse and reverse.

However, we have found a non-proof specimen with the fields having a combination of mirror and matte finish on the obverse.

Fig.3 Malaysia 1984 RM25 silver non-proof coin, commemorating the 25th Anniversary of Bank Negara Malaysia – obverse showed a combination of matte and mirror finish on the fields, while the reverse has the normal matte finish.

Another obvious feature was the high finned edge on the reverse of the coin.

Fig.4 Malaysia 1984 RM25 silver non-proof coin, commemorating the 25th Anniversary of Bank Negara Malaysia – mirror and matte finish on the fields of the obverse.

Fig.5 Malaysia 1984 RM25 silver non-proof coin, commemorating the 25th Anniversary of Bank Negara Malaysia – closed-up on the fields with mirror and matte finish on the obverse’s left.

Fig.6 Malaysia 1984 RM25 silver non-proof coin, commemorating the 25th Anniversary of Bank Negara Malaysia – closed-up on the fields with mirror and matte finish on the obverse’s right.

Wonder what caused the mirror-like patches on the fields of the coin’s obverse?

Thanking all in advance :)

KEY DATES – PART 2

2011-06-11T00:27:00.001-07:00

Surprisingly, we have tried our best to find a high grade Malaysia 2003 10sen among the circulating coins for a couple of years but so far the best quality that we’ve found was an extremely fine specimen only.

Arg, maybe we’ve not tried hard enough.

But then, what more could we’ve asked for when it was obtained for only its face value, haha.

The said coin is listed below, Fig.1

If not for the few milky patches on the obverse, it has a pleasing tone.

We like the reverse which is quite evenly toned.

Fig.1 Malaysia 2003 10sen coin –key date, mintage 8.64 million.

We noticed these 2003 coins together with other key dates are getting increasingly difficult to find among the circulating coins.

Whatever it is, we have been providing them with nice comfortable homes ever since they came to us, haha.

The prices of these coins have increased substantially over the years, e.g. the Malaysia 1969 50sen coin.

And the same has happened to the foreign coins with key dates too.

We have found this coin Fig.2, an Australia 1959 One Penny, minted in Melbourne, a few year ago..

We paid only RM5 for this coin which was found among a hoard of mixed coins, locally.

A check with some references in the net reveals market values between the range of AUD150 to above AUD200 for a high quality specimen.

Fig.2 Australia 1959 Queen Elizabeth II One Penny, Melbourne mint – key date, mintage 1.617 million.

These coins were minted in Melbourne and Perth.

Melbourne mint has a mintage of 1.617 million.

While Perth mint has a mintage of 14.428 million.

Melbourne mint coins do not carry any mint mark while Perth mint has a dot after the alphabet ‘Y’ after the word ‘PENNY’ at the bottom of the reverse.

We suppose coins with key dates are always in good demand from collectors.

Happy Collecting To All :)

BIZARRE COINS MORPHING AT HOME

2011-06-09T06:57:00.001-07:00

Its amazing how some bizarre coins can lurk in the crevices of our homes for ages without our slightest knowledge.

And these coins seem to have come alive.

Not only they managed to remain hidden, they morphed into a multitude of appearances as if like humans and animals morphing into aliens in some sci-fi thrillers.

Below are some of the amazing specimens that we have ‘captured alive’at home, haha.

Fig.1 Malaysia 1968 5sen coin – obverse is black colour , reverse is black and brown colour.

Fig.2 Malaysia 1973 5sen coin – obverse silver and purple colour, reverse silver, purple, copperish and green colour.

Fig.3 Malaysia 1987 5sen coin – obverse and reverse are copperish and purple colour.

Fig.4 Malaysia 1982 5sen coin – obverse is copper, purple and greyish colour, reverse is copper, purple and greyish colour.

Fig.5 Malaysia 2004 5sen coin – obverse is copperish and greyish colour, reverse is greyish colour.

Often, what scare or stun us is not what’s on the surface but what lurks beneath.

And guess where we found these bizarre coins?

When the repairman came to repair the faulty washing machine.

He found these coins lurking underneath the steel drum.

Spin, spin, spin, da, da :D

KEY DATES

2011-06-08T02:18:00.001-07:00

While finding a coin which bears a key date is of course exciting, trying to acquire all the key dates in any series of modern coinage is rather difficult.

And not to mention the classical key dates where getting them is next to impossible unless one has unlimited financial resources, which of course in our case, we don’t, haha.

So, in order not to disappoint ourselves while searching through tons of coins and most often than not, ended without any fruitful find, we began to widen our search to include key dates of other foreign coinage too.

Surprisingly, this way, our success rate getting a key date per search increases tremendously.

But of course, everything has a price.

And when it comes to numismatic, generally speaking the price is proportional to scarcity.

Of course, the demand and supply situation could be equally important.

So, at times, we knew the only way to get certain key dates is to force ourselves to feel the pinch in our wallets.

And a memorable one to us is none other than the time we tried to search for the Malaysia 1971 10sen coin, haha.

Arg, after years of toil and sweat, we found out that it was fruitless to continue the search and finally called it a day.

Folked out 40 over bucks for this miserable 10sen coin.

Looking back, OK lor, considering its now worth much more than the original price that we’ve paid.

Fig.1 Malaysia 1971 10sen coin – key date, obverse and reverse, mintage 32,236.

But then, at times, lady’s luck was on our side even when no pretty lady actually stood beside us while we were searching, haha.

On one occasion, we managed to find an elusive British 1938 Farthing, still with lustre, albeit some nicks on the obverse.

Fig.2 British 1938 Farthing – key date, obverse and reverse, mintage 7.4 million.

Then, on another occasion, we found another Malaysia key date which was a 1970 1sen coin.

But honestly, this specimen was found a couple of years back.

We didn’t see any of these among the virgin hoards, lately.

However, to all amateur collectors like us, don’t be despair.

We believe apart from these 1970 1sen coins, there are still quite a number of key dates, local and foreign hidden among the hoard of mixed coins.

Fig.3 Malaysia 1970 1sen Coin – key date, obverse and reverse, mintage 2.5 million.

We will be sharing more of the key dates which we have found in our later posts.

Thanking all in advance for being so kind to drop in for a look.

HAPPY COLLECTING :)

COIN PLANCHET ERROR?

2011-06-06T06:45:00.001-07:00

It was indeed a rare and pleasant surprise to see Dickson’s extremely thin split planchet before strike on his post dated last Sunday.

Ref : http://dniewcollectors.blogspot.com/2011/06/malaysia-coin-planchet-errorssplit.html

While we were rejoicing Dickson’s marvelous find, we recalled having a specimen that looked sort of like a split planchet based on Dickson’s description.

We have been holding onto this piece of misstruck metal without any clue what has happened to it for quite a while until we saw Dickson’s post.

Fig.1 Malaysia 1980 One Ringgit Coin – coin planchet error?

Fig.2 Malaysia 1980 One Ringgit Coin – comparison of the edge between a normal coin left with the edge of the coin in question right.

The words Bank Negara Malaysia along the edge were faintly struck, too.

Fig.3 Malaysia 1980 One Ringgit Coin – the thin edge shows irregular thickness.

Fig.4 Malaysia 1980 One Ringgit Coin – the coin in question weighs 11.2 grams compared to the normal coin’s weight of 17 grams.

Phew, this error coin thing’s really mind-boggling, haha.

Thanking all in advance :)

ONE OUNCER THAT OFFERS A BIT MORE SILVER

2011-06-03T22:40:00.001-07:00

Irrespective of whether they are business strike, commemorative, proof, bullion, error or even exonumia, one troy ounce silver coins or medallions are adorable.

Especially when silver is getting so popular, nowadays.

Below is a silver commemorative medallion.

This medallion was issued to commemorate the 35th Anniversary of Lake Charles Memorial Hospital in Louisiana in 1987.

We’ve got to admit the medallion was sort of like a love-at-first-sight item to us.

Especially when it was made from exactly a troy ounce of pure silver.

But what impresses us more was something small.

A small piece of silver flake!

Haha, kindly correct us if we are wrong but this is the first time we’ve encountered such a phenomena.

Hehe, let’s take a pictorial journey to see what it is.

Fig.1 Lake Charles Memorial Hospital, 35th Anniversary 1987 silver medallion – obverse and reverse.

Fig.2 Lake Charles Memorial Hospital, 35th Anniversary 1987 silver medallion – obverse with the bust of the Mask of Louisiana by the famous American artist, Mark E. Van Epps.

Born in Rock Island, Illinois, Van Epps was educated at the Arts Institute of Chicago and the University of Chicago before continuing his studies at the International Education Association in Europe.

The World Federation of United Nations Associations selected Van Epps to create the Mask of World Peace, a First Day Cover and limited edition lithograph which were unveiled in a gala reception at the United Nations.

He passed away in November 1990.

Fig.3 Lake Charles Memorial Hospital, 35th Anniversary 1987 silver medallion – reverse shows a clean design carrying the Lake Charles Memorial Hospital logo and the anniversary message.

Fig.4 Lake Charles Memorial Hospital, 35th Anniversary 1987 silver medallion – along the edge is a unreeded section showing the fineness of silver, minted as ‘.999 F.S’or 0.999 fineness of silver.

Fig.5 Lake Charles Memorial Hospital, 35th Anniversary 1987 silver medallion – the medallion weighs 31.1 grams which is equivalent to one troy ounce.

We’ve got to admit we have a weakness for beautiful art objects though these items were mainly way beyond our affordability.

So, the medallion was as good as ours at first sight as an indirect and cheaper way to own a piece of art by a famous artist, haha.

Yet, there was an aura of mystery surrounding this medallion upon our first contact with it.

A closer examination revealed a tiny flake of silver attached to the rim between 6 o’clock and 7o’clock.

Logically speaking, this piece of flake should not have been there at all.

Fig.6 Lake Charles Memorial Hospital, 35th Anniversary 1987 silver medallion – edge of the medallion showing the affected part.

Fig.7 Lake Charles Memorial Hospital, 35th Anniversary 1987 silver medallion – the silver flake is shown at the top right hand corner of the picture.

Fig.8 Lake Charles Memorial Hospital, 35th Anniversary 1987 silver medallion – closed-up view on the silver flake attached to the rim of the medallion.

Fig.9 Lake Charles Memorial Hospital, 35th Anniversary 1987 silver medallion – kindly note the silver flake is delicately and partially attached to the rim only.

Fig.10 Lake Charles Memorial Hospital, 35th Anniversary 1987 silver medallion – closed-up view on the affected area shows peeling along a section of the edge too.

Got to be careful not to break the delicate unattached part of the flake.

The bigger unattached portion seemed to be hinging precariously on the smaller attached portion.

Phew, the power of small things..like droplets of spilt coffee on the table could have reminded some of us of those wonderful moments with someone dear at an ‘enchanted’ cafe, haha.

And coins like other portable collectibles are small things but having big impacts on our lives.

HAPPY COLLECTING TO ALL XD