Got an elusive coin (for me at least) today...

[oly]

Sometimes you find that a seemingly common coin eludes you a long
time...

...for me, one of them was the 1958 dated Vatican 500 Lire silver with
the bust of Pius XII. I've being trying to obtain one, off and on,
for over twenty years it seems.

I've had people going to sell me one, at least one half-dozen times,
and when they fish the coin out, it turns out to be a 1958 dated "Sede
Vacante" (which isn't a bad item to have, it's just a lot more common
than the Pius bust coin).

Or, when people know that you really really want it, they ask the moon
and the stars.

Or, the coin is badly discolored or thumbed or something else is
wrong.

But today, 31 January 2012, I finally got the right Pius XII 500 Lire
coin at a very good price, thanks to ebay and maybe thanks to the slow
economy. I've bid on this coin many times on ebay and somebody always
took the bid a bit too high. Actually, the fellow that sold it to me
isn't even a coin person, but primarily sells lithographs and prints.
But now I got the elusive coin, finally.

Now I need another one, so I can display both the obverse and the
reverse!!!

oly