What you’re looking at here is an 1826 Capped Liberty Bust Solid Silver Half Dollar SLABBED into a circular coin-friendly acrylic capsule and foam shockproofing, then mounted on a handpainted fibrecraft box, then cleverly daubed with glitter-glue.

DO THE MATH — This coin was made and issued in 1826, only 14 years after the War of 1812 when the British marched on, and burned, the White House, along with some of the city of Washington, until the rainstorm came along to stop it.

So where the hell are the British today? Are they any better off? Think about it! Only fourteen years after the war of 1812, and how many after the War of Independence, often incorrectly referred to as the “Revolutionary War”, just as “The War Between the States” is often quite wrongly called the “Civil War” — it was anything but civil.

We’re now on the eve of the Second Civil War, and I’m trying to get a handle on which coins will be collector’s items in the future — I only know of the few examples that have survived into the 37th century, which is where I actually am, communing with this ever-so-quaint  21st century SIM of Planet Earth which you call “The Real World”.

Pardon me, while I laugh. (ref: Twain, “Connecticut Yankee” op cit.)

There’s more to all this than meets the eye, but you need to know a little history in order to successfully collect, trade and/or deal coins, and if you’re making the coins into coin-topped snuff boxes, stash boxes, trinket boxes, notion boxes, collectible boxes or super-saturated overdecorated mini-treasure-chests, I have the answer. Continue reading →