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 Replies: 34 / Views: 3,290 |
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Valued Member
United States
161 Posts |
Some of you have expressed a desire to do this, so... Let's do it!  You have a Time Machine. But it's a "disposable" time machine...one of the cheapies. It's only good for ONE round trip. You can go to ONE place, in ONE year. ANY place, ANY year. And come back to NOW. You're allowed to take with you $100 in contemporary money, to do some "shopping". What YEAR and PLACE would you go to, and what would you buy?  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2797 Posts |
What ... no one wants to play? Since I don't live on the darkside, I can limit my possibilities. How about San Francisco in March of 1893. The first minting of the new Morgans are available at the bank. If I picked up 100 of these pristine babies, I could afford any other coins on my list today.  OK ... who's next? |
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Moderator
 United States
187582 Posts |
I'd visit 1916: 1908S and 1908S IHC1909S, 1909S VDB, and 1914D LHC. 1913D T2 and 1913S T2 Buffalo nickels. And of course, the 1916D Mercury dime! I might try to score a stash of pre-1880 IHC as well! If I cannot get to 1916, I might settle for 1922, then add the 1922 no-D LHC and a few 1921 and 1921 D Mercury dimes for good measure! |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
533 Posts |
I'll limit myself to US History because US coins are all I really collect. So, I would go back to the New Orleans mint and get all of the coins I could during the Civil War era. As a Georgian I really like items from the Confederacy and have always been fascinated with the coins produced. I know that for most coins there is no way to tell if it was produced under Jeff Davis's government but that "What if..." pops up whenever I get them out. Keep in mind that I came up with this spur of the moment and didn't really consider the modern value but rather my personal historical interest. I'm sure there are many more that would be of more value but base on the question, this is what I would do. |
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Valued Member
United States
263 Posts |
I would place myself outside the mint in 1794 and trade for 100 flowing hair dollars. Since this is a fantasy....I would also make myself favored politically so that my order would be granted!
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
This subject has appeared on several coin forums previously. It usually ends up with people discussing all the improbabilities of time travel. Note even in the movies lately with a time traveler coming back from the future, they come back naked. The reason is the clothing they had on wasn't invented yet. They have no money to buy anything since not made yet. Even worse, in reality, a person from the future would not have been born yet so when they poped into the past, they would cease to exist. Now in spite of all this, even if you could go back in time the Earth itself would not be there since it is constantly moving in space. Poof, you'ld be in outer space. If for some reason this would still be possible, you go back and find many 1916D Mercury dimes brand new. You stash them somewhere where you can find them today. Unfortunately everyone throughout history that ever touched one of them is now without that experience and that throughs the time continum out of wack. Poof, now you ended the entire Universe. If I could I'd go back and convince the ancient Romans to put BC after the dates on their coins. That would drive many people nutty today. |
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Valued Member
United States
330 Posts |
Knowing how many expensive coins I would love to own today, I think my motivation would be to get the most modern day bang for my hundred bucks. I would go back to San Fransisco in August of 1909. I would cash my $100 for 10,000 1909-S VDB's. They should all grade high mint state so at $2000 plus each that should in the neighborhood of $20M. They should be easy to move with the popularity of the series and the demand for nice examples. The price tag for each would make them easier to sell than say 10,000 1922 plains.
$20M would fund a very nice collection... Where do I get this time machine?
Jim
Edited by justjimrob
01/25/2008 1:39 pm
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Moderator
United States
187582 Posts |
just carl, this is "fantasy" not "sci-fi", so Temporal Mechanics does not apply! Jim, you can get one from this guy: http://timetraveler.ytmnd.com/Safety not guaranteed!  |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
965 Posts |
quote:
I would cash my $100 for 10,000 1909-S VDB's. They should all grade high mint state so at $2000 plus each that should in the neighborhood of $20M.
Except the market would be flooded with MS state 1909S VDB's and wouldn't be worth near that amount. You'd be stuck selling only a few each year for the rest of your life if you wanted to maximize what you could get. Hmmm... On second thought, that's not such a bad idea, as long as you release them slowly and carefully.... |
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Valued Member
 United States
161 Posts |
Hey jbuck, While you're back there in 1916, it might be worthwhile to get a couple bucks' worth of them new "hussy" quarters! |
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Moderator
United States
187582 Posts |
 How could I have forgoten that? |
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Valued Member
United States
204 Posts |
How about Philadelphia 1934, just before the stop giving out $20 double eagles at the cashier's window? I'm not that picky - I would exchange the $100 for one each of any of the previous years coins (they had many of each of the preceding years coins on hand from what I have read). The hard part would be coming back and trying to fill in the rest of the set  ! |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1106 Posts |
1921. I would go to the mint in Ottawa and buy all the year sets I could get my hands on to get the 5 cent silver and 50 cent coins.
Today 1921 5 cent..SP65...$75,000, 50 cent SP65...$150,000
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5318 Posts |
Since I'm currently thinking of IHCs, I'd pick Philly in 1877. I would buy as many MS 1877 cents as possible; I'm not too greedy--1000 would be fine. With my remaining $90, I think I could get about 15 1856 Flying Eagle cents--or then again, 1793 might be an even better year? I'm torn  Edited by KurtS
01/25/2008 5:56 pm
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Valued Member
United States
51 Posts |
Since I collect for historical reasons only and the fact that I love silver I'd go back to lets say 1310 London and get as many hammered pennies, shillings, and whatever else I could find. I would be in my glory. Of course, technically then they would have less historical value since they skipped 600 years of circulation. I'd just sell the new ones and buy ones I left behind.
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Valued Member
United States
161 Posts |
SeatedNut has a very interesting time trip! By getting his 1893-S Morgans in San Francisco, those coins are going to have few, if any, bag marks. He will not only be obscenely rich, he will probably have the finest known 1893-S Morgan. Maybe even an MS69 or MS70. Now, what might that be worth? |
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Replies: 34 / Views: 3,290 |
Posted 01/25/2008 11:33 am
