Where Was @spence? A Contest With Prizes Hopefully Equaling The Magnitude Of 30,000 Posts

Hi there CCF Family. I've missed you!

I've been away for a few weeks for one reason or another and wanted to mark my return with a contest/giveaway helping to celebrate a pretty big milestone of mine in terms of my number of posts. I have enjoyed my time here on CCF and look forward to continuing to contribute well into the future.

Since I last posted here, I've been to two different places and therefore the goal of this contest is for you to guess where in the world I was. Was I deployed? On vacation? Travelling for work? In jail? Did I leave any hints in posts before I left? That is all for you to figure out. Each qualified participant can make two guesses: list the names of two cities or towns along with their respective states/provinces/cantons/countries. Please be super clear so that I know exactly where you mean to be picking. You can pick two locations that are close together or far apart as you wish. You can pick a place that someone else has already picked, but whoever guessed that location first will be the winner. You have exactly one week to enter your two guesses as I'll close this down this contest on Friday the 5th of April at 5 pm. Then, I'll map out which two participants were closest to the two different locations (as the crow flies) and announce the winners.

For prizes, I've picked up something at least nominally numismatic from both locations. I'll post pics of these two items once the window for guessing is closed. Anyone with at least 50 qualifying posts who is not a forum moderator can participate. I will work on a best effort basis with you no matter where in the world you live to try to get prizes delivered, so if you are outside the US, expect to have some back-and-forth email discussions with me providing recommendations about what might be the best way to ship things to you.

One kicker though! If, when I am figuring out which two guesses were closest to the two locations, I see that the participant is listed as a sponsor or big sponsor of CCF, then I will add in a special bonus prize: this 17th Century Eight Reales minted in Mexico which I bought from a recent SARC auction or this Pomeranian Shilling, minted (and dated) 1499 AD, which I picked up a couple years back from Karl Stephens. Both of these two items are worth more than $100 and may or may not have anything to do with the mystery locations. On the off chance that one person happens to have both of their guesses be the closest to both locations, then they will win both prizes (all four items if they are a sponsor).

My goal, of course, is to stimulate more folks to donate to CCF. These sorts of donations make a dramatic difference in @bobby's ability to keep this site running and I personally think that this is a site worth keeping. I'll pop in occasionally to this thread to answer questions and provide updated summaries of locations guessed.


Mexico under Philip IV (1621-1665 AD):



Pomerania (1499 AD):