No Two Alike

One of the definitions of collecting (versus accumulating, or worse, hoarding) is the rule: No Two Alike.
     Each coin in a collection plays a specific role. Consequently, the collector strives to find the best player. Once the best is found, no duplicates are needed, as they do not add to the collection. A duplicate is just that: a coin without a role of its own -- except to trade for a coin that is needed for the collection.

This cent shows a thick green patina, probably malachite
bronchantite, exfoliating to reveal cuprite and maybe
a bit of bornite just under the chin. Gotta love it!

     We have seen that marvelous coins are singular. They have been elevated from their utility value to the outer-worldly category of collected objects. A duplicate, however, has utility: it can be traded for another coin or be held as an investment to sell later at a higher price. Hence, a duplicate is useful, not singular. No matter what you say, it is not. Duplicates are the stuff of accumulators and hoarders.
     One way to increase the breadth of a collection is to assign new roles to coins so that they do play a unique role. In this regard, we have mint marks that differentiate cents of the same date. We also have die varieties and die states. All of these categorizations make each coin unique, allowing us to follow the rule: No Two Alike.
     It is important to understand this rule in order to appreciate how coins become marvelous, and more specifically, how they become singular in the act of collecting them.
     Of course, it depends on how we define "alike." If you collect relic-coins, then the pattern of corrosion itself is the differentiating factor. Such coins, although shunned by many numismatists (undeservedly so), are unique in the way that they corrode. Even then, it depends on how the collection is organized. And so, consider the marvelous coin pictured here: an Indian cent in full bloom. It was in the ground for years. This one is steeped in history: it circulated, was lost, was probably searched for, and eventually found with a metal detector with much delight, and now you are viewing it.
     It is marvelous, and certainly singular.
   

How Coins become Marvelous (Part 2)

Coins become marvelous the moment they are collected.
     Beforehand, they were used. They were money. But once the decision is made by a collector (any collector, not just a leading authority in numismatics), the coin becomes special -- it become symbolic, as it plays a specific role in a collection. And, we all know that collecting is a personal endeavor, steeped in the aspirations and hopes of the collector. In short, the  collected coin is possessed, not used.
     There are several attributes to marvelous coins. In this post, I will explore the first attribute. These attributes (all four of them) are attached to a specific coin once it is placed in the collection. After all, the decision to add a coin to a collection is not a random decision: a certain amount of contemplation (on the part of the collector) comes first.
     The first attribute: The coin is Singular. This means that is has been judged to have some superlative quality that makes the coin desirable beyond its utility-value as money. Beauty, rarity, or survivorship are typical qualities that contribute to its unique status. Once collected, a coin is revered for its unique role in the collection.

This CC dollar is singular. Of course the mint mark is on
the reverse, but sharp-eyed collectors can tell this one from
the obverse. Hint: check-out the second 8.

     It is easy to consider that a silver dollar from the Carson City mint is special. It is more than just bullion, and it is certainly more than a dollar. It is a survivor of the Wild West. In this regard, it conjures up images of late-night poker games in the saloon where heaps of cartwheels are contested by Kings, Queens, and Jacks. Or, perhaps you prefer to imagine a strongbox of CC dollars rattling on the top of a stagecoach making its way north to the Dakotas -- with bandits in hot pursuit (you gotta have bandits!).
     Either way, the Carson City dollar is a touchstone for history. It is a survivor from a past that we only know through fantasy. Such a coin is obviously singular, as it plays a unique role in the collector's pursuit of history. Sure, there are many other CC dollars out there, but each plays a supporting role in the context of a particular collection.
     As you can surmise, any coin -- even a lowly cent darkened by soot and corrosion -- can be singular in the context of a specific collection. Singularity is defined by the collector. It is not defined by a numismatic guidebook, mintage figures, condition grading, and so on. This is also true for other objects. A die-cast toy car, a wooden clothespin, an unusually shaped river stone -- all of these objects become singular in the collector's hand.
     Singularity is the first attribute of The Marvelous Object. I will explore the other attributes in future postings.

Sweet Corrosion on a Lowly Cent

Grounders have a certain charm all their own. Yet, they are generally shunned by most coin collectors.
     We all know the credo of numismatic correctness: Buy the best you can afford -- and its corollary: Avoid corrosion like the plague. But the plague -- in this case, the corrosion and its salty products -- is where it is happening.

An awful beauty that is captivating. Flying Eagle cents
were 88% copper but they were still called "nicks."
They were prone to corrosion, as the copper was reactive,
particularly when the alloy was poorly mixed.

     Even the large cent master, William Sheldon, swooned to the color of his old coppers. In Penny Whimsy, he wrote "... rich shades of green, red, brown, yellow, and even deep ebony; together with blending of these not elsewhere matched in nature save perhaps in autumn leaves." He liked patina. Yet, I doubt that he was talking about cuprite and bronchantite deposits!
     These deposits are lovely -- and they add texture. They reflect a color palette that only mother nature could provide.
     Such colors strike us in the gut. They evoke an emotional response -- like a Rorschach card with red splatter: Blood! Our limbic system is triggered. We are excited. Yes, this flying eagle cent hits us deeply in the primitive part of our brain. You cannot turn away until you examine the patterns of corrosion: how the layered minerals hug the tail-feathers and collects between the lettering. Our fingertips are drawn to coins like this.
     Some collectors have learned to suppress all this nervous chatter. They suck-in their gut and tighten their facial muscles. They enlist the frontal lobes to remind them of the credo. Repeat after me: Corrosion is bad, bad, bad. 
     Too bad these collectors are missing out on the best relics (while increasing their risk for stomach ulcers) -- not to mention a collecting life full of mediocrity. I submit that this is what history looks like in the hand. Not new and shiny, not smooth, not evenly worn ... those coins have never been lost and looked for.
     Is this a marvelous coin, or what?
   

How Coins become Marvelous (Part 1)

The coins we choose to collect are Marvelous!
     So, how do they become that way? I think we need to start with a definition. Marvelous means astonishing on the one hand, and excellent on the other. As a verb, the phrase -- "to marvel" -- suggests that one feels surprised or wonderment.
     During the age of discovery (1500s-1600s), many well-to-do folks (e.g., princes, barons, and the like) had cabinets of curiosities prominently displayed in their homes. These cabinets were filled with all sorts of unusual objects such as fossils, feathers, relics, and so on. All of these items had one thing in common: they stimulated wonderment -- that is to say, they enticed their owners to draw near, with a sirens call, and reach out fingertips first. In short, they were marvelous. It comes as no surprise that these cabinets were called Wunderkammers (meaning "wonder room" in German).
     Nowadays, and particularly in numismatics, the phrase marvelous -- if used at all -- implies that the coin is excellent (the second meaning given above). And we all know what excellent means: it refers to condition grading.  MS-65! In fact, most of what is written in the numismatic press is associated with condition grading -- full details, unbroken luster, and a lot of ranting about over-graded coins selling at inflated prices. Indeed, the numismatic marketplace is an anxious arena of buying and selling and speculating, ugh!

To most, this is just a piece of money.
To many, this is a small hunk of silver to be melted.
But to a lucky few, this is a Washington quarter from an
era when intrinsic value was real & weekly allowances were
greatly anticipated (after mowing the lawn, of course).

     All of this, is far removed from the experience of wonderment that some collectors -- who are the fortunate ones -- feel when they take the time to enjoy a non-slabbed, collector coin, whose only claim to being marvelous is that you just can't stop musing about it. And yes, these collectors touch there coins, feeling the cool metal, picking at it as if trying to get inside the rims where the secrets of history reside. To do this, without a hint of self-reproach, is to discover true collecting: no markets, no competition, just collector and object: face to face.
     So, how do coins become so marvelous?
     Consider this as our starting point: Coins -- like all objects -- can either be used or possessed. Coins that are spent (that is, used) are known by their function: they are money. In this light, a quarter is no more than half a newspaper or a plastic toy from a gumball machine. Such quarters are dateless and without variety -- just money.
     But, at the very moment that we decide to collect a particular quarter, that is to say, remove it out of its functional role, and place it into our collection, then we are possessing it (not using it). We have transformed it into something symbolic. The possessed quarter is no longer pocket change; instead, it is a Washington quarter with a meaningful date and variety. We have elevated the coin to an outer-worldly status. In short, the collected coin has become Marvelous!
     The whole process is kinda magical isn't it? And think about the magician here: it is the lowly collector who decides -- not some expert or taste-maker.