One of my other hobbies is collecting 17th-20th Century Coins & Currency.  Most of my current collection is devoted to American Morgan Silver Dollars, but I have some earlier pieces as well.  

Anyone else out there have anything they would like to share?  

That two $ bill is awesome!

I got someting a little special left over from my unfortunate purge last year... sold a lot for the baby ... but managed to keep hold of my favourite so will try to post them soon..

Can you tell us a little about the morgan dollar (pardon my igronance, not sure what I am looking at, but I feel they are very special!!)

Absolutely.  The third picture I posted is a Morgan Silver Dollar, so named because of it's designer, George T Morgan.  This coin was pretty much the staple currency for day to day use in the USA from 1878 until 1904 and then one final year in 1921.  They are 90% pure silver (10% copper) and are significantly larger and heavier than any modern coin today(I can't imagine walking around with several of these in my pockets).  They are considered one of the most beautifully designed American coins, and tend to be the most popular among collectors.  

Having said that- (and this is where we get into variants!) some mint marks (location where the coin was minted) make them very rare and thus very valuable.  For example, the Carson City Mint in Nevada produced the smallest number of coins and as such they are highly coveted (I only have one- compare it to a vinyl cape Jawa).  Some coins have the obverse (front of the coin) of one year and the reverse (the back side of the coin) of another year- those are also rare (occasionally- dies were cracked/destroyed and subsequently dies were sent from other mint locations/years)

On the specific example I posted a picture of, you can see what called "toning" around the outer rim of the coin.  This is just a fancy term for oxidation, but it adds eye appeal and to most collectors is considered more desirable.  Most of my coins are graded and sealed, and what makes mine rare is the * star symbol by the grade.  These Stars are highly prized and seldom awarded.  

The highest grades are MS (Mint State-was never circulated- think of a MOC SW Figure) followed by a number.  Generally speaking, grades of MS 63-MS-68 are worth the most and the hardest to find.  For example, if you have an 1893 or 1895 Morgan Dollar with a Carson City mint mark graded at MS68- your talking $100,000 plus.  

I have every year Morgan Silver dollar with the exception of the 1893 and 1895 years-  They go for insane money because most were melted down to pay for WWI, and the US was also in a deep recession during those years and thus few were minted.

I could go on and on down the rabbit hole, but I hope this give you somewhat of a better idea of the hobby.  

I will be happy to post more pictures- Oldest Coin I have is from France (1550 AD).  Pretty neat stuff.  

**Side note** the Confederate $2 bill I posted- each one is hand signed and numbered in Iron ink.

@Theschwartz : beautifuls coins

It is always a good idea to have silver and gold coins, not only for the pleasure of the eyes but also in case of crisis, it is a good investment. I hope that we will not have to use them one day.

I have some gold coins as " Marianne coq " and " Napoleon "
also silver coins but very simple ones ( not a great value ) as Franc turin.
I also have copper and bronze coins from the second empire, Napoleon III but very common.

I took pictures of the net to show you what it looks like. Mine are sealed in plastic bags

I never knew that there were confederate printed bills. Really cool piece of learning there for me. Thank you for helping me understand the significance of the Morgan dollar (pardon my ignorance, I wasn't sure what I was looking at, but I had the feeling that I was looking at something very special!

I got something a little special left over from my unfortunate purge last year... I sold over 30 gold sovereigns to help raise money whilst the wife was off work to look after our little guy ... but I managed to keep hold of my favourite; it’s a 1829 George IV Sovereign - Bare Head & Crowned Shield Back. The coin is in very good condition from a wear point of view. The details are still very clear. It doesn't appear to have been in major circulation, but unfortunately it was drilled through to install a jewellery loop, I think.



I also kept back a Queen Victoria 1899 Sovereign and I have an Edward VII from my pocket watch Albert chain. I post some photos. The rest of the Sovereigns were modern, so expendable to me, I rather had the little guy had his mum there for him 24-7.

@centurio

Those are great pieces too! Agree always good to have a few investments going. I going to need them kids cost a fortune.

Craig T wrote:

kids cost a fortune.

Damn you're right. Thanks to god, kids are away from home now, they have their own lives, so i keep the money for my star wars vintage collection

Centurio:  Thanks for sharing, Gold Coins of that Era are always highly collectable.  In addition to the high grade coins, I also have over 4lbs (or over 2KG) of Pure silver bullion (Silver bars, and American Silver Eagle 1 oz coins).  These I keep for times of crisis.  

Craig:  I've always loved British Soverigns- They are always skillfully struck and very appealing.  Sorry to hear that you had to sell most of your collection, and I truly admire you making the sacrifice for the good of your family. The 1829 Example in your picture looks nearly uncirculated and is in remarkable condition given it's age.  In the numismatic world,it would be classified as "Holed at 12 o' clock (because of the location of the hole- think of a clock).  This was actually a quite common practice along with the "love tokens" 19th century couples tended to give eachother.  Love tokens are basically a coin of the day with exquisite engraving on one side of the coin that typically included monogramed initials or dates.  Thank you very much for sharing and I look forward to photos of anything else you might have.

As far as the confederate note, they are surprisingly common in the Southern USA and not very expensive(if you really wanted one I can make that happen).  I travel quite a lot for work and picked the pictured note up in Texas.  It's interesting that at the end of the Civil war, these notes were pretty much worthless, so you expect people would simply get rid of them.  The confederate States printed their own currency and also took over the New Orleans Mint during the war and began issuing coins (Both US and Confederate- with the latter being of significant value).  

I will post some other photos today that I feel you both will enjoy.  Thanks again for sharing.

So here are a few more pictures I feel you will enjoy.  

Starting from the top:

1 . An 8 reale (ever heard of "pieces of eight") This is a shipwreck coin from the El Cazador (spain) that sank in the gulf of mexico in 1784.  It truly is a hunk of silver, one of the largest and heaviest coins I own.

2.  The reverse side of the 8 Reale coin

3.  A shipwreck coin from the East India Trading company which was lost on the Admiral Gardner which sank off South Foreland on the Goodwin Sands in 1809.  Bound for India.

4.  Not sure of the denomination of this one but its from 1550 in France and is in Almost uncirculated condition. I ask myself how it survived and in this condition.  

5.  An 1899 British Trade Dollar (India) - Craig this one might be up your alley.

6.  An 1885 Morgan silver dollar exhibiting "square" toning.  because of the pattern/shape of the toning, this coin was most likely at the end of a bank issued roll, with the square area being exposed to the elements.

7.  I had not posted the back side of a Morgan Silver Dollar so I figured I would.  Note the "O" Mint mark that corresponds to the New Orleans Mint.  

8.  An 1882 Morgan Silver Dollar minted at the famed Carson City Nevada mint.  Note the CC.  Very rare.

9.  An 1899 Morgan with partial toning.  One of the cleanest coins I own- just a "bag mark" on the cheek.  This should help give you a better idea of how rare/perfect high graded coins are.  

Cool coin collections and nicely displayed/presented. I have the Luke Skywalker X-Wing Pilot / Jedi Knight small size prototype coin, which originally came from Craig. Its one of my fave SW collectables. Have a 1977 UK Queen's Silver Jubilee commemorative coin, and some old pre-decimal British coins like sixpences and tuppences. Also have some 90s Action Man coins and 80s football coins, but I think these might be classed more as medallions?

Artoo- Those prototype coins are awesome, great pictures and thanks for sharing. If you have a chance to take some pictures of your British Coins I would love to see them.

Very neat coins. I have a few but they are buried away in a closet. I will dig them out. not sure I have anything of to much value other than a gold one.

Tex- Thank you. When you have time to dig them out I'd love to see them. Gold is always good! $1270 an ounce right now. Historic gold coins are always very valuable.

I will get tem out asap. Most are wheat head pennies, I keep a lot of those when I find them. No special value to them other than I like the way they look. The gold one is called a krugerrand and is from Africa I think. It is an old one that my father had gotten in the 90s. It is a 1 ounce gold piece. I know it is an authentic one because I had it evaluated in 2014 and it was vaued over $1000 then. It has sat in a closet since.

Great thread!!

I love currency, and collected as a kid. I've done a little collecting on the side but it's been quality over quantity. I don't have the room to do anything, so its all in a drawer.

I'll take some pics

Left row:

1899 $1    Silver Certificate
1914 $5    Federal Reserve
1913 $10  Federal Reserve
1922 $20  Gold Note 

Right row:

1896 $1 Educational Note
1862 $1 Bill (1st year we had national US paper money)
1928 $20 Federal Reserve Note
1934 $500 Bill
1934 $1000 Bill




Left Row:

1909 $5 Gold Coin
1928 $20 St Gaudens Gold Coin

Right Row:

1908 $5 Gold Coin
1909 $2.5 Gold Coin

Darth- That's an absolutely awesome collection, I am super impressed!!!

Your gold coins are in amazing condition and are quite valuable.

The Notes are also impressive; everything from the black eagle 1899 $1 to the $500 & $1000 notes. Those are rare and were mainly used for bank to bank transfers. That was huge money back in the day.


Sidenote: I also noticed you live in Dutchess County. I work in Orange County NY.

my goal was to get a $5000 but they're incredibly scarce and crazy expensive

where in Orange are you? I was just at farm in Washingtonville (I think) had these huge SW bales

you are absolutely correct about the $5,000 notes- super rare and expensive.

Thanks for sharing your collection- once again very impressive.

Great Pictures! I drive through Washingtonville on my commute.

My office is in Florida NY (about 15 minutes north on route 17 from Washingtonville)

They made gold coins in 1990 or is it a mistype? The coin holder says 1909, so assuming it is a mistype. Neat coins. I did not even know some of these exist. Also pretty cool bales of hay made into star wars characters.

I've been a coin collector for 42 years. I'll add pics when I get to my office.

But a fraction of the stuff I have. I don't even know why I took these pictures a few months ago. Most of what I have is locked in a fireproof safe along with my massive gun collection (including suppressors owned legally):

Broke- Glad I started this thread. I'm certainly impressed so far. Nice Confederate notes and fractional currency. Looking forward to seeing more pics.

I grew up going to the shooting range with my Dad and Uncles. We sold quite a few but still have:

S&W .44 Mag Chrome
S&W .357 Mag chrome 7'' barrel.
Colt 1911- my grandfather's from WWII.
.22 Scoped Marlin Rifle.
8 Browning/Remington 20 Gauge Shotguns (over-under/side by side)
SKS Rifle (7.62x39)

I think I have 8 shotguns
3 AR-15s
4 .22
Enfield
Marlin 1894 from 1903 (beautiful lever action rifle in .32 special)
Sig Sauer P226
Sig Sauer P238
S&W Shield in 9mm
Taurus TCP
Ruger SR 22
Browning A bolt .270
7.62 SKS
And I can't even remember the others

Oh and 17,300 rounds of ammunition

Nice coins and bills. Would be nice to see closer views and possibly what they are. Still need to find the time to dig mine all out. With coaching youth football my time is tied up at least through October.

I have a ton of guns also. Was a peace officer for many years and still carry my peace officer license in case i want to go back into it one day (though I lost the passion for it and don't view it as the same profession as I used to). Probably should start a new thread for those if people want gun talk to continue though.