Staff Picks
Each of the 5 of us (Dan, Greg, Liz, Clark & Bob) who work at our shop has a specific area of responsibility that entails different interactions with the coins, products and customers that give us our reason for being here. We also each have our own unique interests that draw our attention to particular pieces. Below you will find what each of us has found most striking or curious in the past week.
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Dan Lewis: Owner, Diplomate of Numismatics Cook Is - Seeds of Love with Swarovski Ruby Proof Silver Coin & Unique Display Box
 "Truly a unique legal tender five dollar coin issued by authority of the Government of the Cook Islands. When the wood display box is opened, the reflection of the coin in the mirror image creates the other half of the coin and a perfect Swarovski element heart! Comes as shown in its original mint packaging with a Certificate of Authenticity. Total mintage on this coin was limited to 2,500 pieces worldwide. Ingenious!"
Price: $124.99
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Greg Capps:
Shop Numismatist
United States 1875 s Error Seated Liberty Quarter Dollar with Rotated Reverse!
 "Great type coin from a short-lived series that saw it's demise by being too close in size and appearance to the U.S. Quarter. Also, the die is rotated approximately 80 degrees. A bit of Trivia: In the Seated series only the 20c denomination has LIBERTY raised on her shield rather than incuse"
Price: $249.99
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Clark Chapin:
Numismatic Photographer
France - Emp. Louis XVIII - Teachers Award - Bronze Medal by Andrieu F. - 1818 50mm - 2.4 Ounces
 "Considering all the flack that teachers have gotten lately this 1818 French Teacher's award foots the bill for me as my pick of the week. It's big, Bronze and right on the edge of my collecting range being just post Napoleonic."
Price: $49.99
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Bob Manis:
Customer Service
USA - Siver Certificate - Onpapa - Chief Running Antelope - $5 - 1899 - PMG 30 - FR-274
 "I wish it were mine. This 1899 Chief Running Antelope $5 Silver Certificate is one of the most beautiful U.S. banknotes I've seen. Gorgeous!"
Price: $1,199.99
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Liz Duncan:
Shipping
WWF - Malaysia - Rhinoceros Hornbill - 25 Ringgit - 1976 - Proof Silver Crown
 "Little about this coin makes sense to me except that it's beautiful, odd and pricey. They tell me that it's pricey because only 8,008 were ever minted. That's fair enough, but I've never heard of a stranger animal than this Rhinoceros Hornbill. There are some mighty odd birds in this world."
Price: $159.99
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Greetings!
We've got a lot brewing over here and never enough time lately to accomplish it all. For this reason I ask your indulgence of our repeated Staff pics. This week's newsletter really just needed to get out without pulling Clark in an extra five directions. I still need him to get those Wheaties photographed and posted. I made a number of interesting acquisitions at the Anderson South Carolina Coin Show. Any Civil War aficionado should be satisfied with one lot of tokens we'll be posting soon. Keep your eyes peeled for other additions to our site. I want to give a big birthday shout out to an esteemed fixture in the Numismatic World. Eric Newman just celebrated his 100th birthday on May 25th. Happy Birthday, Eric!  |
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 We're glad to offer our Newsletter Readers this special Texas Hold'em Deal! When you purchase our special Texas Hold'em World Poker Tour Coin and Cap Set you can claim a discount of 50% by using this coupon code when finalizing your order: TEXAS Our Texas Hold'em Special World Poker Tour Deal includes 1 Red Queen "Spade Card Designs" official WPT playing cap with WPT certifying tag and 1 Set of Four (4) 2008 Palau Poker Dealer Buttons of $1 denominations. These Brilliant Uncirculated Coins are Legal Tender Crowns. Almost two inches in diameter, these coins double as dealer buttons for poker games of Texas Hold'em. The card corner you see is an actual piece of a card used in a Las Vegas Tournament. This is a great gift for a poker-playing buddy or as your very own lucky Texas Hold'em Deal! Normally priced at $99.99, we're making this special set available to our Newsletter readers for 50% off! |
Visit us and see our full line of Casino Memorabilia!
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Birds are one of the subjects most frequently found as devices or in effigy on coins. Typically the avian has been found as an element of a nation's armorial bearing or crest, much as eagles have long been embraced as national symbols, but the numismatic depiction of birds increased in frequency, species, style and reason for inclusion alongside the proliferation of nation states, the expanding scope of taxonomic knowledge and the dramatic increase in commemorative strikes worldwide. Birds have long been associated with freedom. Because the natural fauna of a region is so closely identified with the culture and as birds have, with common frequency, been equated with the people and temperaments of places it is no wonder why they have come to grace so many of the world's most beautiful numismatic contributions.
Birds have often become so identified with specific denominations of coins that the currency itself has been transformed in nomenclature. Clear examples of this can be found in the U.S. in Silver Eagles, Quarter Eagles, Half Eagles, Gold Eagles and Double Eagles. In New Zealand "Kiwi" has come to be the moniker of both the people and coinage. Other international examples may be found in the Australian Kookaburra, the Lundy Puffin and the Guatemalan Quetzal.
The visual association of certain denominations and birds is even more prolific - take the Flamingos of the Bahamas, The Sea Eagle of Singapore, the Irish Hen & Chicks penny (so emblematic to the Irish) or the iconic Monal Pheasant issuance from Nepal. Root through any random collection of world coins and you're bound to find birds depicted with uncanny frequency. Often it is the case that those who handle these coins most have grown so accustomed to avian numismatica that they don't think twice about the presence or association of the subject and the coin. Take a look in your own pocket, at your coins and banknotes, and remind yourself of how complete your feathered acclimation has become.
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