The Abbeville messenger. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1884-1887, 1886-06-15
RARE COINS.
$40 Prices that are Paid for
Some Specimens.
An American $40 Gold Piece that
Brought $4,000.


"Coin collecting is not q matter of
fashion or STYLE" said a Chicago dealer
to Il Ne10s reporter. cit is not q transient
craze. Rare coins cannot become plenty,
and as they find place in collections, ono
by one, the increased difficulty of sccur-
ing them enhances their value. Then the
supposed scarcity of some coins causes
industrious searching and they become a
less exclusive article. For instance,
United States half-dollars of 1862 and
1886 have decreased % per cent. in price
because CT the number which have been
brought to light and the Macmillan dol
lar has declined from $3.50 to $1.25.
The decline in silver has resulted in a re-
duction of about 25 per cent. in all for
eign coins of that metal and in many of
the United States pieces"
"What is most wanted now in collect
ingw
"Picccs of different dates to fill out
the series of large United States coppcrs,
from 1893 to 1857 Inclusive. The few
pattern pieces of the 1856 nickel cent
gave the cumbersome copper its death
blow. While these cents were of limited
issue in tho year of their experimental
introduction, they arc not worth as much
as many people believe. I buy them at
81 in good condition."
"What is the rarcst and most valuable
coin e~xtant" asked the Neus.
"Thc $40 United States gold picco of
1949. There arc understood to be but
two of thcm-one in the possession of the
United States, and the other owned by
the King of Sweden, who is an enthusi-
asst. He paid So, 900 for this specimen.
The SIS gold piece of 1901 is quoted at
$25, and that of 1922 is about Us valua-
bic. The 1873 2-cent piccc-thc last of
the serics-is worth ST..
"Somc very old coins come far from
bringing fancy prices, even when in good
condition" and the coin-dcalcr displayed
a lot of Roman coins of the early centu-
RIGS, which were green from the corosion
of time, several of which could be had at
from go cents to 81. About the oldest
coin was that of Mctapontum, belonging
to a period between four and five hun
drcd years B.. c. 1t sells for So. The
more rare United States coins arc the dol
lars of 1886 and 1880, which sell at from
$40 to $50; the half-dollars of 1867,
selling at from $50 to SIS; the quarters
of 1928 and 1897 bring the Same price;
the dime of 1904 worth $40 to $12; the
half-ccnts of 1886 to 1910 inclusive, each
selling ut $13 to SIS, and tho colonial
coins of 1867, worth from $50 to $50.
"Here are some women's coins" con-
tinucd the numismatist, as he threw down
one bearing the bust of Faustina, wife of
Marcus Aurclius, whose reign began in
ISL A. D., and of Agrippina, wife of
Caesar G~ermanicus, rcigning in so A. D.
To the unapprcciative critic devoid of
generation for the relics of other peoples,
hallowed by tradition and smelling of the
must of centuries, there was ono leading
feature which stood out on the embossed
surfaces of those old coins-onc opportu-
nifty for modern comparison. It was the
graceful disposition of the back hair of
Faustina and Agrippina-thcsc royal wo-
men fresh from tho boudoirs of the first
and second centurics-in contrast with
the twists and s~narls, punches and braids
exhibited by the womankind of to-day.
1t cannot be seen that fashion has
wrought any improvement in back hair
during sixteen or seventeen hundred
years. Faustina's smooth trcsses reach
gracefully to the neck, where they are
gathered in a simple, bewitching knot.
Divine must have been the era when
crimp and bang, paper and pufs, waves
and switches were not.
"Agrippina's hair falls lower before it
IS gathered, but is not less attractive in
appearance. No matted masses mar her
chiseled for~ehead--no twists of paper
ever decorated her Uranium. She was a
best girl of whom the risky Caesar in his
early day might we'll be proud, as side
by.side they mingled with the elite in the
old Roman skating-rinks, or in the gaily
lit saloon she scoopcd in the vanilla ice
cream"