Contest - Win Morgan $ - Ancient - Bag Of Tokens - Bag Of World - US Commem

CCC, dig your write up about composition. Interesting and informative!

Thanks for the compliments everyone!

@scopru and spruett001,






I really like that idea and that's something that I will be looking into down the road but before I pursue anything like that I'm going to need to do a bit more research to try and sure up some of the unconfirmed data and to try to figure out whether or not I am missing any materials before I'm willing to try to have something added as an official reference material.

6 Winners and 5 awarded no prize was a terrible way to spend the last couple hours. I enjoyed all of the 11 contributions, and I suppose I can feel good about 6 prizes instead of only one, which is more often encountered for contests.

Contest winners will be PM'ed in order so each winner can pick the remaining item they like best.

Please note that I really did dig into each article as I said I would. As I name each winner I will also have a few notes to share that might be of benefit for us all, me included. Please, if any of my suggestions seem trite, understand that I really am offering those comments as positive observations - not as a negative toward anyone.

#1 First Place Winner - casualcoincollector for Materials Used in Circulating Coins and Tokens. Note that part of boosting this to a first place position was a goodly number of PM's that I received that championed this article. Obviously since you are #1 I have nothing bad to say. I do think you can progress with this article to the point that it could serve as a stock reference for this subject.
I have but three suggestions. First, make sure everything is in exact alphabetical order. While I realize that might already be your intention, it's good to take care of that when you have a free hour. Collectors are notoriously incensed by things out of order.
Second, I believe having the photos followed directly by that items written descriptions would be preferable as one can view the example as they read.
Third, I did not spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about it, but I did notice some materials that were not included. Brass, bronze, plastic (Not the Keeling-Cocos type, but "regular" plasticized plastic), Bakelite, Steel, and Electrum.
If you decide to form this into an article I would be happy to proof read it for you.
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#2 Second Place Winner - oih82w8 for Cherry Picking Coin Varieties. Excellent introduction into a giant field. I might suggest an article that deals directly with the most common finds for today's average roll hunter. It would be great to have a condensed version of what dates and mint marks to look for with the keys for finding them. I realize that there are a billion site photos available, but such an article might cover ONLY those varieties that have some true collector value.
In other words, we don't need to know about a doubled die that you need a billboard size photo to see. More in line of those that are more obvious and usually more valuable. I'd sure use such a "cheater's list".
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#3 Third Place Winner - Crazyb0 for Die Deterioration Doubling and VLDS Effects.
You obviously know your subject matter intimately. Your examples and photos are first rate, as are your example displays. You know all the words and have a great vocabulary, but the sentence and paragraph structure could use a few tweaks here and there. I love how you make something very complex very simple. If you would ever like a second set of eyes to read through your work I'd be happy to do so.
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#4 Fourth Place Winner - ElonU for The Elder.
I really wasn't sure where you were going. I was even confused by your initial inclusion of "diamond". You kept an air of mystery that kept me reading, trying to get to the answer. When it came, I must say I was surprised by my own emotional response. The last line was spine tingling. The only single suggestion I could make would be to include a photograph of an older person (you?) with a younger person across the table, both with magnifying glass in hand.
The only problem with the photo would be that it would tell us where you were going too soon. Forget the photo. I loved it just as it was.
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#5 Fifth Place Winner - Earle42 for A Whole Half Disme.
It was just plain fun. Silly and fun. I have no suggestions. I just enjoyed it. You were able to take something that really couldn't be made into something fun and did it anyway.
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#6 - Sixth Place Winner - Dennman for My Most Prized Collectible.
Short and sweet. Whenever we see your name, we will remember what you have said and where it came from. Attaching an inanimate object like a coin to a special feeling and remembrance isn't something done easily. We can only hope that when others read your article they will be able to stop and remember too.

I'll be sure to think up some more contests as time goes by so that I can happily relocate a few hundred pounds of "stuff". Thanks to you all, again.

First place winner has been PM'ed.

Well done to every entrant!

Too cool! Congrats everyone!

Wow. That's a seriously cool item. I hope you will have someone to pass it on to.

I have my grandfather's big giant heavy glass magnifier too, but I sure can't stick it in my pocket. Definitely an at home use monster.