KOTCT
Castle Courtyard => General Discussion / Questions => Topic started by: CoinCrusader42 on April 10, 2009, 08:26:12 PM
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This section is supposed to be about anything other than coins.
Well, it's about a coin, and I don't know where else to put it.
It's a true story with no end at present.
I hope someday it will have an end.
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The Mystery Coin
I don’t think this true story belongs in the pickel barrell section, or in a sections consisting of funny falsehoods.
It really happened and it continues to happen. Just coincidence? Probably so, but what would be the odds.
Thirty-nine years ago I was both a history teacher at Delta Middle School as well as the Sports Editor of the Delta County Independent. I developed a strong friendship with a man who worked for the newspaper, and also had a daughter in my class.
My friend had learned I was a numismatist, and so one day he stopped by my classroom to show me a coin – the mystery coin he called it. About the size of a U.S. half dollar, it weighed a little less. I did not recognize the language used on either side of the coin. There were some numbers and I honestly don’t think it was a badge or a medal. To me, it looked like Old English.
I told him I would keep the coin, and study up on it for a while and see what I could learn. It was toward the end of the school year, and I lost track of the coin.
The next year we were moved across the track to the old High School building. It had its share of “character†as well ghost stories. No one paid attention to the srories, but interestingly enough, no teacher worked in the building after dark.
My desk, and the students’ desks were all brand new. In face my drawers hadn’t even been opened, although there were small keys taped to the top of the desk. I opened up the “belly drawer†using the new key, and lying in the middle of the drawer was the Mystery Coin.
I remember thinking at the time that I would keep close track of the coin, since it wasn’t mine, and try and find some answers for my friend.
There was no one on the faculty who could help, and my search through books brought no new knowledge. Finally I just decided to return it the first chance I had. The chance never happened as the man and his family moved out of town.
The weeks turned to months, and the months to years as My Mystery Coin just sat in my desk drawer.
As the 19999-2000 school year ended, and I retired, I faced a tremendous task of taking all the stuff home which I had colleced.
I hired four students to help me, and it took four pick-up loads to move my “stuff†from my classroom (the largest classroom in Delta County) to my garage. My desk had been cleaned out, with one clean circle in the middle drawer where a coin had collected dust for years, and was now lost once again.
Just as I was about to lock my classroom door one final time, one of my helpers walked into a little side room and exclaimed “What’s this!!†Lying in the dark, against the wall, was the Mystery Coin.
The Mystery Coin came home with me, and and I had toughts of getting it posted on my computer so “experts’ could see it and make a guess as ti what it was. However the coin was misplaced and once again became a Mystery.
I have always given away more coins that I receive, and have made little kids happy lately giving away the last of the coins I think they might like.
I was working on that task yesterday with a large paper bag brimming full of foreign coins. I peered in, and there it was, found one more time, The Mystery Coin was sitting at the top of the pile.
I hollered for the grandkids to come in and I would show them something special. I scooped down in the bag and came up with probably 200 coins which I pressed against my chest. The kids got close and the great moment arrived. Unfortunately the coins spilled all over the floor, and under the bed and dressers. We started the task of picking them up and the process took nearly an hour.“ Each handful bringing the possibility of the Mystery Coin being found once and for all. It didn’t happen. The Mystery Coin is GONE once again, and maybe for good this time.
I assure you, if I get my fingers on it just one more time, It will get posted, and we’ll find if it’s a great discovery or just a waste of time. But perhaps I’ve had all the chances I’m gong to get, and the Mystery Coin will remain a Mystery forever.
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That story is almost spooky.
Can't wait to see what it is.
If you ever find it again.
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Find the coin, display the coin, bring in Sap. Problem solved???
regards, Muckeye.
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Wow! Thats weird.
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The Mystery Coin has re-surfaced!!
The night I couldn't find it, the coin evidentally landed on the bed and then got wrapped up in a blanket.
Discovered by accident today as I was stacking blankets.
I will attempt to take pictures of it, and then my 12-year-old granddaughter thinks she can post the pictures.
All these years, and finally an answer may be near.
:) :) :) :)
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Great news, I can't wait to see what this coin is.
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Sounds like it has anti-gravity properties. Hope you get to post a pic of it before the black helicopters land in your yard. ;D
What's the date on it?
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Somehow I think that coin is more clever than it is given credit for and will disappear once more in the pursuit of not being imaged so that it may remain an enigma. ;D
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The pic will turn out white or black I am sure :)
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I'm certain Aleister Crowley has imprisoned LAM in that coin and he's trying to get back to his own dimension.
http://www.excludedmiddle.com/LAMstatement.html
Notice the nuclear mushroom inside LAM's head?
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longnine,
No helicopters, but there has been a couple black SUV's parked nearby since yesterday.
Next, I'll get decent pictures, get them printed at WalMart, and then tonight or tomorrow we'll see if my granddaughter can post them.
Can't distinguish a date.
Mystery coin is staying right where I put it, so hope we will have an answer soon.
:) :) :) :)
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We are so close to identifying the "Mystery Coin."
It is sitting in front of me at this time, just waiting to be scanned and posted.
Problem is that it's a very dark coin.
I thought if I photographed it, maybe my daughter, or one of the grandkids, could post it for me. Unfortunately, the picture didn't turn out well.
So, here we are, just two steps away from solving the mystery -- my posting an image of the coin, and then a Knight or Knightess identifying what it is.
Any siggestions as how to proceed?
:) :) :) :)
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Post it anyway - we'll see if we can brighten up or manipulate the pic from our end. 8)
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OK, I'll give it a shot tomorrow.
:) :) :) :)
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My disappointment continues.
Went to WalMart and got prints of the coin. Too dark to scan.
Next attempt tonight. Will use available light, time exposure, and a tripod and maybe have better luck.
I do so want to identify this.
The more I look at it however, the more I think it's a token. Can't see a date.
At any rate. it's one of the most interesting "round metal things" I've ever owned.
:) :) :) :)
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I think my granddaughter got a usable picture of the coin/token, so tomorrow I'll go to WalMart and see if they can enlarge it (I don't have a close-up lens), and then we'll post it, and perhaps the decades-old mystery will be solved.
:) :) :) :)
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why not scan the coin directly at maximum resolution
if you got capabilities of 300 dpi or better it should be workable in photoshop
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One step closer to solving the mystery.
my granddaughter got a decent shot of both sides of the coin today. I then took it to WalMart and enlarged it.
My daughter hopes to come by tomorrow and post it for all to see,
Just a token?
Or an important coin missing for many years.
Shouldn't be long know.
:) :) :) :) :D :D :D :D
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I really do have the mystery coin.
It's lying here on my desk.
My daughter was going to scan it for me tonight, but something came up.
Maybe tomorrow.
Then, somebody can ID it, and the mystery will finally end.
:) :) :) :)
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You're pretty cool C C. I know of the bet you made that you would string all of us along (since Apr 11th) with your 'mystry coin' for at least 90 days. Well it looks like you might win your bet with only 16 days to go. And your 90 days ends, when else, on July 4th. I gotta hand it to you, this was a great ploy......you had all of us anxious.
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Goose,
I swear it's not a ploy.
Every word has been true.
I couldn't make this stuff up. And, it's nowhere near April 1.
Believe me.
I hope it gets scanned tomorrow, and the mystery coin put to rest.
:) :) :) :)
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C C, my above comment was a joke. BUT, your 1st posting of this coin was April 11th, and at the end of 90 days will be July 4th, which happens to be just a COINcidence.
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I really do want the coin/token posted. My daughter didn't have the right wires to hook up her camera to the computer, and neither did I.
May have to go down to the newspaper and talk with the production manager and see if he will do it for me.
Hang in there. The coin sits in front of me, and I wish it were in front of the members of the Castle.
:) :) :) :)
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This really is becoming one of those never ending tales.... :(
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Nah, it will end.
And, who knows, maybe discovery of the coin's identity will be worth the wait. Or not.
:) :) :) :)
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It'll be worth it alright. Simply knowing what it is will be worth it! This is better than a TV drama.
If all else fails, you could ship it to one of us, who could photograph and post it for you?
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Maybe "Mystery Coin" can replace "Jon and Kate + Eight" on American television? At least we hope CC42 will not divorce from the coin.
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Maybe "Mystery Coin" can replace "Jon and Kate + Eight" on American television? At least we hope CC42 will not divorce from the coin.
I never heard of Jon etc
Blissfully I only watch filmnet ; a paid filmdistributor without any adds in between or anywhere . :D
But Jon etc suggests a cheap production going on forever (untill the ratings drop too much )
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I have never watched show either, and cannot here in Ukraine. But I hear about it through news, even here. I have cable television here, but I never care to watch it. I get all news through internet.
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I have never watched show either, and cannot here in Ukraine. But I hear about it through news, even here. I have cable television here, but I never care to watch it. I get all news through internet.
On glasfibre "cable" I got like 35 different channels in half a dozen languages including spain and italy
They have one thing in common , advertissements and cheap "talkshows or reality shows or cooking programs or 10 -15 year old fims or filmflops
On paid Filmnet I got 4 filmchannels and sportchannel and got knows what else ; like another 20 channels . I watch one film every day and get my news from internet
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PLEASE SHOW THE MYSTERY COIN--MY HORSE CAN'T STAND THE SUSPENCE ANY LONGER!
YOUR SERVANT--THE TEMPLAR! ;D ;D ;D
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PLEASE SHOW THE MYSTERY COIN--MY HORSE CAN'T STAND THE SUSPENCE ANY LONGER!
YOUR SERVANT--THE TEMPLAR! ;D ;D ;D
You realise that ANY coin would answer the mystery , since there is no description . 8)
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I pledge to not post again until I can actually show the mystery coin.
I was just looking at it, and it doesn't appear to be perfectly circular. I guess that could mean it's a hammered coin?
Can't see a date, so perhaps it's a token.
My personal quest to identify the coin should be coming to a conclusion. I will go to the newspaper soon and try and get the production manager to scan and post it. If I don't make it by Thursday, it will have to wait until after my wife's family reuinion in New Mexico.
It will get posted and hopefully then a Knight or Knightess will be able to identify it, and I sincerely hope the identification justifies the lengthy buildup.
Stay tuned!!
:) :) :) :)
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Yep, only 11 days to go 'til you win your bet. How much are you going to collect on July 4th?
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Yep, only 11 days to go 'til you win your bet. How much are you going to collect on July 4th?
How can he win a bet when the cat is out of the bag ?
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FINALLY!!
Here is the mystery coin.
See, It Really exists.
Just click to magnify it.
I don't know which is the obverse and which is the reverse.
Now, please, someone, tell me what it is?!
:) :) :) :)
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FINALLY! All I can say is that it's old. I can't see the date, but look at 1 o'clock on the lower picture.....it says 'B C'.....so it's old.
Did I 'getcha'?
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Ya got me Gary! I'm stumped! ::)
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I'm guessing, but maybe Mexican.
Looks like, maybe a shield on one side and a bird clutching arrows on the other side.
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I don't think it's Mexican. It looks a little similar to the Morelos coins, but I don't think so. I'm leaning more toward possibly Spanish, with the coat of arms on the one side.
I hope I'm wrong, but I think this is probably a fantasy/copy mishmash of something else?
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It appears to be a German reckoning jetton from the 17th century, likely struck in Nuremburg. They are not uncommon pieces, but unfortunately they are not well documented either, and pretty much all information on them is conjecture. Like your particular piece, the whole issue of them is rather enigmatic - but indeed they are old and they were most likely used as counters, a place keeper for counting large numbers of coin in transactions.
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I THINK I RECOGNIZE THE COIN--IT LOOKS LIKE AN ANCIENT BABALONIAN TOKEN---SOLD TO VISITORS WHO WANTED TO GO INTO THE HANGING GARDENS--THE GARDENS WERE OPEN EVERY DAY FROM NOON TIL 4:PM--THE COST WAS THE EQUIVALENT OF 1/8TH OF A PENNY BY TODAYS STANDARDS----AND YOU GOT TO KEEP THE TOKEN---THE REAL PROBLEM WAS WHEN THEY STAMPED YOUR HAND---SO YOU COULD COME AND GO---THEY USED A LARGE HAMMER NAMED AFTER HAMMARABI---YOU COULD COME BACK OVER AND OVER UNTIL YOU HAND HEALED--THEN YOU HAD TO BUY ANOTHER TOKEN----OF COURSE I COULD BE WRONG--BUT IT WOULD BE THE THIRD TIME THIS YEAR!
YOUR SERVANT--THE MUCH CONFUSED TEMPLAR
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Other opinions?
:) :) :) :)
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Opps!!
What I thought were both sides of the coin, was only one.
I'll try and get the other side posted soon. It's considerably different.
:) :) :) :)
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This is the coin that the jetton is a copy of:
Reyes Catolicos Real 1469-1504 (http://www.vcoins.com/world/civitas/store/viewitem.asp?idProduct=13932)
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Wow!!
Thanks Scottishmoney.
:) :) :) :)
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I don't think it's a jeton. It's a modern "pirate coin" tourist copy of a Spanish silver 8 reales, sold at pirate-themed tourist traps and theme parks in the US. Often found with thoroughly garbled lettering, this particular type is a much more faithful reproduction.
The lack of "COPY" stamped on it implies it was either made before 1975 or made by people ignorant of the Hobby Protection Act's requirements.
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I think I will agree with Sap on this one. I bought something similar in a gift shop when I was in St. Augustine Florida 2 years ago. Only mine was stamped "COPY". ;D
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The differing opinions on this one kind of add to the mystery, lol.
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Adam, you're right.
Looks as though the mystery coin will remain a mystery coin.
I will eventually get the other side scanned, and perhaps that will shed more light on the mystery.
Meanwhile, thanks to everyone who supplied opinions.
:) :) :) :)