Saw some great coins at the Smithsonian today.
Museum Coins
- Thread starter CC-Hunter
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huntsman53
Gold Member
Cool and those two Rarities sure are pretty! I wonder if the folks there clean them??!!
Did you happen to see the largest Aquamarine specimen from North America? The 25+/- pound crystal beauty was found by a gentleman that I knew while he was working at the Ray Mica Mine outside of Burnsville, NC. Sadly, he sold it for a couple of bottles of booze and a $20 dollar bill. The gentleman passed on some time ago and even worse is the fact that although we had many conversations when I traveled there to prospect for Aquamarine, I can no longer remember his name! I do remember the Mine shaft/hole he told me that the crystal came from but the NFS (yep, the Mine is now in a National Forest) has changed the rules for collecting there and I am not sure as to whether prospecting is allowed near the shaft/hole.
Frank
Did you happen to see the largest Aquamarine specimen from North America? The 25+/- pound crystal beauty was found by a gentleman that I knew while he was working at the Ray Mica Mine outside of Burnsville, NC. Sadly, he sold it for a couple of bottles of booze and a $20 dollar bill. The gentleman passed on some time ago and even worse is the fact that although we had many conversations when I traveled there to prospect for Aquamarine, I can no longer remember his name! I do remember the Mine shaft/hole he told me that the crystal came from but the NFS (yep, the Mine is now in a National Forest) has changed the rules for collecting there and I am not sure as to whether prospecting is allowed near the shaft/hole.
Frank
Vdubguy
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I saw those same coins there last year. I got yelled at for taking photos, haha. Great looking coins.
Very neat coins and your photos are very well done too ! When my wife and I visited the Numismatic Gallery and saw the coin exhibits the first thing I wanted to see was the mint state 1793 Chain Cent. It is a great coin, but in my opinion needs brushing, so I don't think they do any cleaning or anything like that to the coins after they are displayed. The Eli Lilly gold collection is fabulous to say the least. It was all good! I want to go back sometime soon.
The 1933 Double Eagle is a more recent display, and I want to ask you what you thought the three clips are made of that hold the coin in place. They look like metal of some sort? I can see the 1913 Nickle is being held by large clear plastic clips, and I wonder why they didn't use an inert material on the gold coin. The Smithsonian is an amazing place ! Thank you for sharing,
Phil
The 1933 Double Eagle is a more recent display, and I want to ask you what you thought the three clips are made of that hold the coin in place. They look like metal of some sort? I can see the 1913 Nickle is being held by large clear plastic clips, and I wonder why they didn't use an inert material on the gold coin. The Smithsonian is an amazing place ! Thank you for sharing,
Phil
coinsareawesome
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It definitely appears to be a darker metal, probably bronze or brass or copper, so the clips don't stand out as much and make you focus more on the coin.
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