Interesting Old Coins

When I first found all the WWII era German coins in the folders from my Dads collection I was quite excited. While I didn't expect they were exceptionally rare -- I'm sure many were brought to the states as war trophies -- it's pretty disapponting that market just isn't very strong. They're quite simply neat coins that represent a dark, landmark period in our worlds history. I rushed to get them listed for eBay's 20 cent listing sale... they end tomorrow night. Maybe we'll have some last minute bidders.

What's going up tonight... well I do have a few more of the German Reich coins, this time the pfeinnigs, and a pre-WWII 2 German mark coin. I also tossed in a few good early American coins. 3 capped bust dimes, a rare 1918 Illinois Centennial silver commemorative, a lot of 1996 proof and silver proof sets, and a well worn 1864 2 cent piece.

That 2 cent piece was exciting because the flip it was in said "Small Motto" which, even in the poor condition it is in, is shown at $110 in the 2006 red book. Wow, might be some real money there I thought... well, I got to looking at photos of the 2 types and I am not convinced it really is a small motto version. The bids should tell us...

I'm getting better at taking coin photos too. The light I have with an intigrated magnifier works really well for illuminating them. I am still trying to get rid of the shadows behind the rim, but the colors and details are showing up really well in the photos. The camera really provides significantly better overall image quality and the flow is faster than the scanner.

Tonights auctions are starting slowly as I type this. Thanks for paying attention, and thanks to everyone who has trusted me with your business.

Time away...

Well, it's been a couple weeks since I've really even looked at the coins. I got through many of the items that were, well, easy and now it's down to the brass-tacks. I knew it before I started, but this is like... real work.

Not much to report, but I do have a handfull of mid-20th century German coins, a nice 1903 German 5 Mark coin, and a 1925 silver commemorative going up on eBay tonight. I might have been able to move the German coins individually, but the modern German coin market just doesn't seem that strong on eBay. (or maybe the coins just aren't desireable) For those interested, I do have quite a few pre-1945 German coins as well. I may wait till later in the summer or into the fall for them. Too many folks have too many other things to do than eBay in the summer, and I'm not convinced they will sell as well as I think they should.

Thanks for looking.
-Jeff