What's Your Nicest Coin?

Best by looks, grade, cost? Actually I'd say my 2009 UHR Eagle. I love the St. Gaudens design, there's not a mark on this coin, and the price was right when I bought it.

I once had an Adelaide Pound of 1852, Australia's first gold coin in good VF. About 200 or so exist today. That item would be worth perhaps $20,000 on the market today. It is much rarer than the king of Australian coins the famed 1930 Penny.

The Adelaide Pound has an integral part in Australia's history. The Governor of the (then) Colony of South Australia, Sir Robert Richard Torrens, authorised it's release. He was also responsible for a completely different system of land tenure, known as Torrens Title, which is used in many countries today.

It had all of the attributes to make it a coin: A statement of value, ('value one pound') a statement of it's weight ('weight 5dwt 15 grs'), which is 5 pennyweight 15 grains, a statement of it's purity ('22carats'), and the issuing Authority ('Government Assay Office Adelaide'). There was also a crown depicted on the coin, helping to give it an air of authority.

There was only one problem regarding it's issue: It was issued without Royal Assent from Queen Victoria in Great Britain. Because of this, about 18 months after it's issue, they were recalled, and almost all of them were melted down.

The gold for the coins came from the Bendigo / Ballarat gold fields, in State of Victoria, in the early period of the Gold Rush days in Australia. It was transported on the backs of mules under police guard over a distance of 500 or so miles, in country that had no roads at all.

I had to sell it; it came part of the deposit on my first house.

Beautiful token!

@yarm >>> Very Nice Brotha. Lovely example. Thumbs up.

1cent, that's an outstanding coin!

Just curious, what's the grade?

1cent: The cameo effect shown is nicely acceptable to me. Proof coins do not necessarily have to have a cameo effect. The 1902 British matte proof set is an example. To be honest, I am not particularly keen of the presentation of these coins. As far as I know, this is the first and last time The Royal Mint produced matte proof coins.

On the other hand, I am also not keen of presentation of current proof coins by the Royal Australian Mint. The ultra high polish of the fields looks OK but the details in relief are so heavily sand blasted to produce the ultra cameo effect, that much of the fine detail is removed. I find that quite disappointing.

The earlier proof sets produced during the period of pre decimal coinage in Australia reveals a much finer detail of the relief surfaces. The problem with this series is that the fields were not polished, and so makes it difficult at first glance to distinguish an MS65 FDC coin from a genuine proof. I have a 1959 proof Florin of this series.

I also have a nice example of a British George 1V proof 5 Pounds of 1937 in FDC. This coin has mild cameo relief, with all of the fine detail remaining and with moderately polished fields.

Mine is a LDS 1923-P VAM-1C "Tail on O" Peace dollar. (actually I have 2... but 1 is MUCH nicer)
Notice the big break on the O of DOLLAR on the reverse!