World Crowns Gems & Rarities (Crowns); Post Your Gem Crowns Here

Paul, did DHL ultimately find the coin? This is the first issue/"loss" I've experienced on hundreds of deliveries. I agree, it's eventually bound to happen but of all purchases, it had to be this one? This was one of my largest purchases. Again, I wasn't too concerned about the money as it was covered, but much more so for the coin itself.

Zohar - First of all, that's some stunning pieces! Secondly, that is very interesting research! I never would have imagined that there were SO MANY variants of the Ferdinand thalers.

due to this thread, I've started my crown sized collection.......36mm and up, I'll try and post pic, have got many countries so far. Loving this thread as it gives me ideas for certain countries

@MKMAN - we live to serve! Glad to be a source of inspiration to someone. Definitely do share some of your crowns. Last I recall you focused mainly in Thai Bahts; glad to see you branching out. There is some great material out there (just look at the stuff posted by Zohar, WCG, Paul, as well as others) and it is always extra heartwarming to be in a circle of close friends with similar taste and appreciation for little (or not so little as is in our case) silver treasures.

@cableguy815 - the wolfenbuttel 2T is outrageously nice. I really like that piece. I took a spin back through this thread and had to stop and admire the 1747 2 Speciedaler also. Really a spectacular piece.

Adding a couple of Munster talers that I don't think I posted previously.

1706 Munster - sede vacante - NGC MS-63; planchet flaw on reverse typical to the issue


1761 Munster - sede vacante - NGC MS-64

Thank you for the lovely pics of some truly beautiful coins!

A nice looking trio you have posted.

cableguy815 - Many thanks for the kind words. Approximately half of the pieces I have purchased were raw and I sent them to NGC. The ones picked up from Germany were almost all raw, and the ones purchased in the US have almost all been previously graded. Getting started, I am not ashamed to admit the grading was a bit of a crutch. Today I prefer it simply for the liquidity in resale, objectivity of grade and authenticity, and protection for family if something happened to me. The 1706 was purchased raw from a German dealer's inventory, the 1761 came in an old generation NGC holder from a collector, and the 1719 Paderborn came from a Goldberg auction.

As for the sede vacante theme, I guess you can say it fell on me. I spent hours paging through old outdated Krause guides learning about the different states, histories, and taler designs. The variety of the themes and motifs of the different states is what drew my attention. The sede vacante designs were of particular appeal due to the distinctive designs and exclusivity of the 1 year issues. After purchasing one on a whim in an auction (1787 Regensburg belew which was sold this past year), I was hooked. Perhaps one influence that led me down this path was impression that several cathedrals had on me during a visit to Europe many years ago. There is something special about sitting quietly in a 600+ year old cathedral studying the architectural and sheer scale, and imagining how outrageous it must have been at the time it was built. The intricate stonework, stained glass, carved wood, historical figures entombed, enormous scale.....it all struck me as something that seems infeasible in our modern world. As an American raised on Disney world, the authenticity of it all was awe inspiring. I suppose the sede vacante theme for me captures a small part of this mystique. Ken Follett's 'Pillars of the Earth' is my favorite fictional novel series of all time. Perhaps off topic, but if you have read it, you know how it fits squarely into this cathedral theme.