Awesome Box Of Foreign Coins

That 2 Real is quite a beauty!

So far, I'd have to say I'm glad I wasn't at that auction with you... I don't think I could have brought my hand down very easily... I suspect you would have been a very respectable adversary...

Continuing with the few remaining silvers..




Bavaria; size = 28.5 mm



Prussia; size 28.5 mm.



Brazil; size = 31 mm. Ironically, just the week before, I had purchased
one of these 1000 reis via ebay for my world type set.



Ottoman Egypt ten quirsh; size = 33 mm. These are typically found very worn..
when you can find them at all. Condition of this one is easily XF.

There are five more coins to go before the curtain is drawn on this mini-exhibition. These will be the crown-size (and larger) silvers.
Four of the next five came not *in* the little box, but as a separate lot from the same estate. All are specimens I would have sought out no matter what the source. To be able to find them locally without having to deal with the vagaries and uncertainties of internet buying, or the built-in profit margins of vendors at shows, was an undeniable treat. I seriously doubt there is anything in this lot that is particularly rare or highly valuable. There are gems here to be sure, but to my eye, and in my -admittedly limited- experience, they are all 'third tier' coins, affordable and available to the average collector like myself operating on a limited budget and willing to spend time searching and networking. Nevertheless the lot taken as a whole is one of a type seldom seen unless perhaps you are a dealer who witnesses a steady flow of desk-drawer mini-collections from previous generations coaxed out of hiding by rising metals prices.
I will post pics of the remainder either tonight if I have any energy left after this busy day, or tomorrow sometime. Thanks so much to all who have provided comments and information thus far.

Thanks for the vote of confidence.
I leave bids on books, tools and furniture, but seldom on collectibles or coins.
Always better to be there in person for the stuff you do not want to see get away, imho.
Of course the world stitches many trousers with deep pockets, so watching things get away can become an alternate hobby.

Hey c'mon, folks. Have some fun with this. It was a lotta work. Pick two favorites, one copper, one silver, from this motley lot and tell us why. And I'll award a free coin from the lot to the first clue spotter who guesses the last coin correctly!

Here are four of the last five for you to choose from.






Evolution of the pillar dollar. Coin has a somewhat rough, greyish brown surface. size = 38mm.




Baby-head! My camera accentuates the blue toning somewhat.
size = 38mm.




Both these Swiss 'crowns' have heavy dark toning in the
form of a brownish-grey sheen. They look like they
could be made from polished slate. size = a hair < than 38mm.



I cannot imagine a more somber coin!

svslav, you must have missed an important clue.
Could not possibly be that one.
Backlog and try again
I'll give you a mulligan on this one

This has been are very enjoyable thread - thanks for sharing your great find.

My "favourite", by far is the 1834 half guilden from the Dutch East Indies

OK gang, no more suspense.

This may not be your choice of favorites.

I like this coin for many reasons, but especially for the way it conveys the mystery of faraway lands, foreign culture, exotic adventure.
Why, this coin is so cryptic, it could have come from another planet!
It's also huge by average modern coin standards: 40mm of decorated silver, with no problem spots, and most of the details intact.
I wonder what it would have purchased back in its day. Half a camel, perhaps?

In the past few weeks a great page has turned in the history of this country. New rule usually means new coins..

Old coins are history frozen in time, fixed in precious metal, able to stimulate the imagination of the armchair wanderer with the touch of a finger. Save me a seat in the theater of silver, where the shining cartwheel family rolls onstage, displaying ages of emperors and kings, demonstrating power and possibility in concentrated form,
enduring the wear of civilization, outliving generations, blessed with intrinsic value and veneration such as is necessary to survive the age-old human impulse to destroy.

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The whole family:

Totally agree with your sentiment. My boys think everything coming out of Egypt is magical.

Note that the copper coin is unique in the sense that it "belongs" to a different sultan. The toughra is supposed to be the unique identifier of the ruler, so you can compare it to the other toughras and find the differences.