What do you guys think of coins replicas ?
I just got one for $2.00. The coin is in Krause for US $700 at the
lowest grade.LOL.
I would never buy such a coin.
The "Replica" mark is very discreet, it does not take away from the
coin.
Thanks
Patrick
It's your money and your collection. Do what makes you happy. Owning a
replica would not make me happy, so I don't buy them.
James
I have one. I was looking at a bunch of goudentientjes and attracted
to a couple of the 1892 Wilhelmina ones when I noticed one that was
ridiculously cheap. Then I notice that the cardboard hold said in
bright red, "vals".
I asked the dealer about it and he said that it was a replica (with a
loupe, I noticed that it said "copy"). As it was very cheap, I
decided to buy it to remind myself how easy it is to be fooled.
A replica coin or a replica impressionist painting would do nothing for
me personally. But I could easily get excited over a quality replica 1953
Corvette or Colt Peacemaker. Whatever interests you........
I've got a decent size collection of older Taler replicas; about 70-80 or
so. Most of these are of extermely rare pieces where I would never be able
to acquire the "real thing". Others, tho, are of more common types where I
do own a genuine piece. However, almost all of my replicas are perfect
proofs (or excellent UNC-types), so the very conditions scream that they
aren't real.
They are pretty, interesting and "low cost". At the very least they are
much better than looking at low-quality pictures in a book.
Nick
I once bought a Gallery Mint Museum replica of a New Jersey copper.
It was not that interesting to own. I did, however, buy several of
their "novodel" ancients -- modern coins in the ancient style, ANA
Attendance Medals, that sort of thing, again, cut in the ancient
style, but clearly different objects entirely, not replicas.
Several problems haunt replicas.
It has happened that dishonest people have removed the word COPY and
then tumbled the coin with lapidary media to wear it down. They then
toned the coin and passed it off to a dealer as real. Maybe _you_
would not do that... but what about the next person? So there is that
problem.
Perhaps even deeper is the question of integrity. I cannot afford a
Mona Lisa or a Last Supper. Will a replica do? Should I hang them in
my living room and dining room along with replicas of Blue Boy, Wreck
of the Medusa, Guenica and Warhol's Marilyn? Instead of a picture of
Einstein, can I have a publicity still of Walter Mathau in "IQ"?
"How good a replica?", one must ask. Why not just write the words
"1804 Dollar" on a piece of paper, like Popeye's picture of his
father?
Mike M.
Michael E. Marotta
"... banks that look like the Parthenon
and hotels that look like the Reims Cathedral."
I appreciate all the answers.
I have decided to get some. My motto will be if I can't afford the
original ones even in the worst condition, I will get a replica.
The only thing I will make sure is the size. I want the original size
to be respected, it seems some replicas are mini coins.
Thanks to all
Patrick
Anyone who can demonstrate proper pronunciation of "Reims" will receive
extra credit.
James
In the context of Champagne, It seems that you don't say "reems" or
"reams",
but it may "ryhme" with ryhmes, d'habitude - at least much of the
time,
or mostly it seems???
I own a few replicas, but I feel they lack the "spark" of owning or
holding a historic contemporary coinage artifact.
Without having the actual experience to compare to, one supposes that
replicas are to numismatics as "blow-up" latex ladies are to sex.
oly
IMHO, "Fantasy coins" (like the silver pieces issued for "Pope Matthew
I" and sold by Mr. Allan Berman a few years back) can actually be more
exciting than a replica coin.
oly
That is correct.
> but it may "ryhme" with ryhmes, d'habitude - at least much of the
> time,
> or mostly it seems???
That is not correct.
James of the Red Pen
Anybody who can make up a mythical kingdom and pose as its king at major
numismatic conventions just *has* to have something going for him.
James the Bermanian Serf
We are at great disadvantage here in the Midwest in certaim matter of
pronunciation (the only person I know who has ever heard of the place
was an Uncle who visited it for several months in 1944-1945) but I've
always worked with ri:mz.
oly
I don't think Mr. B actually made the "Pope Matthew I" coins, but he
sold a lot of them. They are exceedingly well-done for a recent
fantasy coin.
Now that Allanus I REX has a dauphin or "dauphine" (I forget which),
the fine metal begins its test in a real crucible.
oly
If a person owns very many replicas at all, the accumulated money
could have bought an original something or another.
If a kid buys a coin or banknote replica in a gift shop, hopefully it
is a very brief way-station on the road to avidly collecting the
genuine stuff.
oly
Unfortunately, even the announcers on university PBS radio mess it up when
they're jockeying Rossini's "Voyage to Reims" Overture. If the piece
weren't so beautiful, I'd take my 12-ga. to the receiver when that happens.
James the Blaster
______________________
One of the items that cemented my early interest in coins and money was a
set of replica Confederate bills offered as a cereal premium by Cheerios in
the mid-1950's. It came with a tri-fold descriptive album and I still have
it. The one thing that confused me back then was that people always claimed
that Confederate bills weren't worth the paper.....blah...blah. That
actually discouraged me from looking into buying one, not that I can recall
what a common bill would have brought back then. Why pay money for a
worthless bill. I wish I had pursued it further.
One of my favorite "replicas" is a fake food plate of sticky buns. Bought
this a few years ago because it looked so deliciously real from inches away.
We keep it visible in our kitchen and often get asked if they were freshly
made. A replica well worth the money, IMO, and one that cost more than the
real thing.
I was thinking more in terms of the money laid out for a couple of
Gallery Mint Fugio Cent replicas could buy a genuine Seated Half
Dollar in low grade.
You're a freakin' fifth-class pencil-dick, Reek.
Indeed, I can also remember when real Confederate currency was
inexpensive (although at the same time, I was acquainted with old-
timers who cautioned me that they had seen or owned barrels of the
stuff thirty-years earlier and that one shouldn't go overboard).
In retrospect, I should have kept 98% of the collector coins that
passed through my hands since 1970 or so - I was always reaching for
better stuff, selling the more common stuff and maybe today I have 50%
of the bulk of what passed through my hands over forty years time.
Based upon what bullion has done versus numismatics, I would have been
better off (financially) to have kept almost all of the early
collector stuff. The venture into elongating and making some tokens
seems expensive at this moment too, though we produced some very good
stuff.
One must content one's self with the pride of ownership of a few good
things and shake one's head over the rest. I find little pride in the
replicas, though.
oly
oly
________________
As much as I would treasure owning an expensive high grade 16th or 17th
century thaler and/or crown, the appeal of a high quality replica of one
just wouldn't be there for me. In a way, the current Maria Theresa thaler
is a faithful replica of the identical(?) original. I enjoy it for it's
classic beauty but it doesn't generate the awe of owning one of the
originals. Part of the appeal of the real thing is the mystique of where
it spent it's life over the past four or five hundred years, who might have
held or even seen it, etc. Those cheezy TV gold mil plated limited-offer
tributes to our "rare historical coinage" should scare most novice
collectors away from better quality "replicas".
>> "How good a replica?", one must ask. Why not just write the words
>> "1804 Dollar" on a piece of paper
>I knew it! I was waiting for someone to come along here and write
>something really stupid about replicas. It took a dozen responses, but it
>finally happened. Whew! Well, this response wasn't quite as dumb as,
>"Replicas are just forgeries and are uncollectable," but it was close.
Yeah, while I've killfiled Michael, someone went ahead and quoted more of
his drivel and I actually read some of it. My first thought was "what a
dork!"
I started to conjure up some analogies to match his, like how drugs are
sometimes abused, so all drugs must be bad, or how cars are sometimes used
in criminal acts, so all cars should be eyed with caution. But I think my
very original thought is a good enough counter for such silly logic. So
I'll spare you my comparative analogies and stick with that :)
Nick
I think your example of the Maria Theresa is excellent. You can go
big time into this area as a collectible, and there have been several
excellent recent books on this coin.
Yet, owning one of the genuine pre-1780 MT thalers (where her portrait
and titles are slightly different) would be more exciting than owning
several rolls of the "restrikes". There are also genuine MT
"restrikes" in Gold, not so easy to find. Yet, all the restrikes lack
a certain historical "spark" in my mind that is an important factor in
the desirability of a genuine coin.
I have two Ethiopian/ Coptic crosses with loops that are made from MT
thalers. Realistically, they are probably about 70-80 years old. The
image of the Empress is worn but visible. These are pretty neat.
As for the recent copies of the 1933 Double Eagle: I know of at least
two coin dealers with shops who retired partly as a result of these
things. They were getting telephone calls all day long about them,
and every caller "just knew" that theirs was worth seven million
dollars. You couldn't tell them otherwise without extremely loud
noises coming out of the telephone!!!
oly
This is a story offered up to kill time. Please don't draw any
conclusions about my attitude, because I haven't thought it all out
myself.
I know a banker whose parents bought a boatload of "Defranzia" prints
about 1965 or 1970. These prints feature the "Sad Indians", you see
the prints here and there in older homes and businesses from time to
time. There is even a website for this artist; somebody is still
trying to cut a fat hog on these atrocious things.
Mr. Banker has only a little sentimental attachment to the artwork.
Mr. Banker speculates that his parents could have stretched and bought
one original work for about the cost of the "boatload" of prints (and
his parents very clearly had the money to buy an original if they had
wished; they could have bought as many originals as they bought
prints, if they had wished - they really and truly had the jack).
Today, the prints could be sold for about their original 1970 cost
(with no adjustment for the decreased purchasing power of money); the
original could be sold for 50 times+ its 1970 cost.
oly
I collect military medals and have many replicas of harder to find ones.
> Today, the prints could be sold for about their original 1970 cost
> (with no adjustment for the decreased purchasing power of money); the
> original could be sold for 50 times+ its 1970 cost.
This speaks to the motivation behind any given collector's collecting.
Do you collect as an investment? If so, sure, buying replicas, or
anything inexpensive, isn't the way to go. If I were collecting to make
money, instead of buying maybe 40 coins a year I'd buy just one, or
maybe one coin every three years.
But most collectors collect for other reasons. There's enjoyment in
seeking out that specimen or deal, reveling in the satisfaction of
buying or trading for what you've found, glomming over a coin's
physicality or the completion of whatever set you've constructed for
yourself, learning about a context and history of a coin or a series,
and sharing with others what you have and what you've learned. You can
do that with anything that others collect.
>Hi
>
>What do you guys think of coins replicas ?
>I just got one for $2.00. The coin is in Krause for US $700 at the
>lowest grade.LOL.
> I would never buy such a coin.
>The "Replica" mark is very discreet, it does not take away from the
>coin.
>
>Thanks
>
>Patrick
I bought a few Gallery Mint replicas of early US dollars. I know I'd
never be able to afford the real things, but the replicas were well
done and manufactured using the appropriate antique technology. So if
they're well done, I like them. Obviously I'd rather have the real
thing, but that's not always possible.
I just wish I knew of a good substitute for the Gallery Mint, since
they've closed down.
Here's an example of a modern piece that's a variation on a theme. The
last piece on this page:
http://rg.ancients.info/owls/medals.html
What a goofy pairing, an owl and a dodo, the one a symbol of wisdom, the
other of extinction. One other person bid on it, and the person who runs
Wildwinds.com, Dane Kurth, also has one, so there are at least three of
us in the world who find it collectable. So it's therefore collectable.
Anybody recognize it, know where it came from, what it was used for?
I've got several counterfeit bust and trade dollars i have aquired
while traveling throughout Asia. The Bust dollars are easy fakes to
spot, but the Trade dollars look very good.