Amoulsda12

Today I received this beautiful QB 1/4 oz Gold Coin Collection in Presentation Case. Thanks so much @Amoulsda12 for this amazing treasure trove 😍

 



I am one happy chappie 😁

Today (recently, lol) I received...
This fantastic and scarce coin which for the time being is the crown jewel of my LMU collection.
The coin is an 1848 Republic of Venice (San Marco) 20 Lire. A one-year edition only, as the revolutions of 1848-49 sweeping Europe generally, and the Italian States in particular, turned out to be fairly short lived.
A total of 5,210 of these absolutely breathtaking 20 Lire coins were minted (I believe in Turin, but I haven't confirmed). The obverse is the Lion of St. Mark, and value within wreath on the reverse.
One thing that I have noticed with graded pieces is there is a prevalence of Prooflike designations for these coins. I've tried to capture the reflective, prooflike nature of this coin but its really difficult to do in photos. In hand, it is amazing to see. A very, very beautiful mirrorlike finish. Angle it in the sunlight the right way and you could signal an airplane with it! One of the nicest coins I've had the privilege to add to the LMU collection and one of the very few raw coins I would consider sending off for grading to validate and conserve it.
 
 

Recieved today two belters for the collection 
1825 Ms63 1/2 sovereign 
1809 MS63 third guinea 

I have been blown away by the communities kindness and generosity of late on atleast 4 different occasions all of which unprompted.
I have decided to pay it forward in a similar style to something i had done a few months back in the form of a give away. Anyone can enter wont cost you anything and no particular knowledge of coins needed just good old fashion luck.
I have been saving loose change in 50p,£1 and £2s for a few month now to put towards a dated sovereign for a run.
Il attach pictures of daughters piggy bank in question, closest guess to amount wins and no multiple guesses of the same number if i dont clock 2 of the same numbers claimed il take the 1st person who called it.
Prize is a free 1oz silver britannia i cover 1st class recorded.
I did recorded a time lapse of the coins being counted but phone slipped and caught none of it and im not counting them out again haha. 
 
Draw ends friday so enough folk have time to enter say 9pm 
Edit *to promote the random surprises life sometimes throws you*

Finally got hold of a rare Spanish coin 
 

This might be boring for some but this 1871 100 Pesetas specimen just allowed me to understand the relationship between the LMU denominations and the metric system:

As it states in the legend: there are 31 pieces of 100 Franc (or here 100 Pesetas) in 1kg.
And indeed, if we divide 1,000g by 31 we get 32.2580g as stated on this 100 Bolívares or Pachano:

So if your aim is to stack/collect 100g of fine gold, you will need 310 Francs or equivalent. 

 
There are a few odd outliers like some of the 5 Peso in South America which are 25 Pesetas equivalent; the 2.5 Peso Argentino equates to 12.5 Pesetas or Francs. 


The 5 Roubles 1884-1896 and 1897 7.5 Roubles are 20 Francs; the 1897 15 Roubles corresponds to the 40 Franc pieces. 
 

 
1897 onward 5 Roubles are 2/3 of 20 Franc and 10 Roubles and modern Chervonets are 4/3 of 20 Francs so 30 Roubles equate to 80 Francs or quatre-vingt Francs.  



So the Soviet Union has been producing up to the 1980s as one of the last countries yearly several tons of LMU trade coinage. 

Today I received this beautiful rarity courtesy of @SVcollector.
An 1894 Bulgarian 20 Leva (20 Franc, LMU equivalent - 0.1867AGW). 100,000 of these pieces produced at the Kremnica, Slovakia mint (one of the oldest existing mints in the world - it has produced coins continuously since the 1300s).
A very, very nice specimen of eastern European gold coinage that is difficult and expensive to locate in AU or above.
 
 

I've posted my little how I got into gold story in prior years, but it seems relevant to this thread today. Here's it again 
 
I'm 45 now and through my twenties, i guess I must have staked and wasted around £75k-£100k at a rough guess through bookies, FOBTs, online poker and land based casinos.



Some good days but it all quickly went back as losings in the end.



I went cold turkey at 30-31 and managed a few months until i relapsed again.



Told myself never again.



It was this time I found about gold, since 2008-2009 I have bought investment gold every month, a gold sovereign here, a half sovereign there, 1/2 oz on a good month, a full oz of fine gold when bonus from work.



What this did was separate actual cash i could gamble and move it into another tangible thing with value that i couldn't easily spunk away or spend.



Slowly but surely, my gold stack has grown, every month, as i would buy a another gold coin every fortnight or so.



The ancient Aztecs called Gold 'the sweat of the sun'



Blood, sweat, tears and toil getting it out of the ground.



YOUR blood sweat and tears represents how hard you have worked to get this coin you now hold, and continue to hold ongoing.



Your pile of gold increases monthly.



Gold is also a little bit of a gamble, it will never go to zero, it has been money for 5,000+ years, and can also go up in value



Currently im now VERY nicely up in £ terms if i chose to cash in and take some profits.



A quote stuck with me quite prophetically, as i've never believed in loans or credit cards.



“Gold is the money of kings, silver is the money of gentlemen, barter is the money of peasants – but debt is the money of slaves.” ― Norm Franz, Money & Wealth in the New Millennium: A Prophetic Guide to the New World Economic Order



The bigger my gold stack grows the more satisfied I become and want more. A positive kind of addiction.



I have not yet cashed in one single coin for gambling and my investment pile has grew.



I have cashed gold in here on the forum and realized better than dealer prices to increase my business and expand/buy new vans/staff/tech



This degree of separation that takes place between the gold coin and actual cash i can spunk gambling is awesome.



Yet i know at a glance my total gold grams i have on any given day, and know how much it is worth should i cash in.



When money is in a bank AC it is just like figures on a screen to me, cash in my hand just gambling token/betting voucher credits.



I could never hold onto money while it was in a bank account, savings account would be were there for good intention but the money came out for gambling.



Gold doesn't do that for me, the degree of separation between between the time and effort it takes to cash in a gold coin, packing posting, sending, waiting for bank transfer for payment etc. is a few days minimum.



By which times my urge to gamble has long since past.



whilst i will always have that gamble bug inside me, i cant extinguish that flame as i like to to take risks, i'm self employed and risk = reward. and i have done well working over the years.



I still have my monthly little gamble, but as my priority with my spare cash is always to buy a minimum amount of gold, i'm never exposed to loose mega money EVER, fact these days, as the money isn't there because it has been converted from one asset class cash into another asset gold.



The small amount i assign myself to have a gamble is minimal, £100 or £200 for a month. should i win, i actually treat myself to some more gold coins for my stack.



With doing this approach and putting what used to be gambling stake money cash into gold, i've got my good nest egg of gold if i cashed it in from my safe deposit box.



I purposely store the gold in a safety deposit centre in a city that is hours drive/train ride away to resist the sudden urge to gamble/cash in.



A financial advisor would tell you it is stupid and daft to put all your eggs in one basket with one asset/investments, but to a gambler?



would i sooner have this,  lots of gold is much better than having nothing at all, **** all to show for it - so it works for me



Knowing this fall back of savings is there for any of lifes eventualities makes me sleep wonderfully at night.



This approach may not be for everyone but if you can never hold onto money it has worked wonders for me.



Sorry for the rambles length here today but to those nodding their head to this and this life course maybe sounds a familiar path to yours, if my narrative resonates with you, give gold a try. please try it, you might just like it, or start just buying gold with your big wins.

https://www.thesilverforum.com/topic/32375-your-gold-story-how-it-happened/?do=findComment&comment=416089
 
 
 

Hi BYB,
Many years ago, I remember looking around the magnificent Alhambra Palace in Granada and marveling at the exquisite craftsmanship that festooned every wall and ceiling. I overheard one of the tour guides telling their group that all the tiles in every room - of which there were many thousands (tiles, not rooms!) - were hand made and that on all of them, somewhere, there is a deliberate flaw - albeit very small. The reason for the imperfection is that only god is perfect and it would be an insult to him/her if something made by a mere wo/man was 100% perfect! That concept has always tickled me and I've used it ever since as an excuse for everything I do in life which always falls short of the standard I set for myself and that others expect of me. With regard to your purchase, it would appear that The Royal Mint also subscribes to this view, perhaps not for religious reasons, but for philosophical ones. Namely, that perfection is a worthy goal that everyone should strive for - but that no one should ever achieve. 😉