Here's a comparison Koban This one is a replica - it's from a Japanese theme park, I think. Not gold.
Not made of a precious material, but sculpted by an artist whose work I admire very much! (Haven't yet made the purchase but intend to ) *********************************************************************************************************
Luker is on a roll! Are those antiqued brass? Or bronze? And you're going to have to share with us, who & where.
I got this not long after I got my koban, just arrived, it's all the Meiji era gold and silver ingot coins, life sized in gold and silver plated metal mounted with their japanese names. It's pretty big and I wasn't planning on buying more japanese ingot coins but having this board on my wall is making me feel like I gotta catch 'em all.
Heidi Wastweet (Sculptress/ Medallic Sculptor) "Heidi Wastweet is a leading American Medallist and sculptor who specializes in bas-relief bronzes. In conjunction with a wide variety of private mints she has produced over 1000 coins, medals, tokens and rare coin replicas since 1987. She was chief engraver for Sunshine Mint for 11 years and lead designer/sculptor for Global Mint for 5 years. In 2001 she opened her own studio and relocated from Idaho to Seattle Washington in 2003 and then to San Francisco Bay in 2013. She serves as vice president for the American Medallic Sculpture Association and is former president and founder of Seattle Sculpture Guild as well as a member of FIDEM. She has been shown in Coin World and Coinage magazine and exhibits her non-commission work regularly including the National Sculpture Society in New York and the Bellevue Art Museum in Washington. In 2010 she was invited to serve a four year term on the Citizen's Coinage Advisory Commitee for the US Mint in Washington DC and is now serving her second term. Medal and coin credits include a 7 coin set issued by the Sultanate of Darfur, Asian Hall of Fame Award medal, the Dean's Award for Seattle University School of Law, Alumnus Award for Stephen F. Austin University, Mayo Clinic visiting physicians medal, Stanford University Alumni medal and Island records Willie Nelson portrait. In addition to medalic art she has also created a number of public art pieces including a recent commission for the University of Washington's Medal of Honor Monument in Seattle and eight bronze relief panels for 12 foot high church doors for St. Paul's in Pensacola, Florida." http://www.wastweetstudio.com/resume.html 20 numbered limited edition artist's proof Dante medals (not sure whether she has any left as her post on Facebook generated a lot of interest ) This was made from her larger Dante bronze relief with added unique reverse. ( http://www.wastweetstudio.com/ss_Dante.html )
This week I bought 10oz RCM bar, 1oz 1993 Kookaburra, 1oz x10 American Silver Eagles and 1oz x10 2011 Koalas! Awesomeeeeeeee
10 oz. Fine Silver Coin 100th Anniversary of In Flanders Fields Mintage: 500 (2015) I purchased this coin today- Admittedly quite pricey, but I really like the design and that it is low mintage for an RCM product (The most recent/? first ever RCM 10oz coin (Einstein) had a mintage of 1,500) , but also since I grew up on McCrae Street (the namesake of the poem writer) in my hometown. Cheers, Luker In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. - In Flanders Fields, John McCrae (1872-1918) Specifications No.147042 Mintage500 Composition99.99% pure silver Finishproof Weight (g) 311.5 Diameter (mm) 76.25 Edgeserrated Certificateserialized Face value100 dollars ArtistTony Bianco (reverse), Sir E. B. MacKennal (obverse)
1886 M Sovereign [imgz=http://forums.silverstackers.com/uploads/1403_australian-50c-coin-round-in-pure-silver-c1966-very-rare8u9kg6wx.jpg][/imgz] [imgz=http://forums.silverstackers.com/uploads/1403_australian-50c-coin-round-in-pure-silver-c1966-very-raretnf4sgi3.jpg][/imgz]
Here are pics from the world wide web of my personal PM curiosities (bought quite a while back). The real things would NOT be affordable to me so I am happy to have modern day official mint reproductions... Early kobans (c.1600) weighed 18 grams of 842 fine gold. Kobans made in the mid-1800s weighed 11.2 grams of 600 fine gold. And the last koban made in the 1860s weighed only 3.3 grams of 600 fine gold. Below is a modern day reproduction of the 1600's Japan Keicho Koban (pic from Panda America)... 1990 struck BU Japan Keicho Koban. This recently issued Japan Mint Keicho Koban commemorative is an impressive size of 75mm x 38mm and weighs 19.5 grams of pure (9999 fine) gold. They are made in the classic way, hand struck with a number of punches indicating the denomination, authority under which it was issued, the mint and the era during which it was produced. In ancient times, the Chinese emperors kept Vault Protector coins to bring them good luck/fortune and to protect their treasures. Below is a modern day gold reproduction of the Bao Yuan Vault Protector coin (pic from Panda America)... Undated, 1990 minted, proof China 1+ troy ounce (1 tael) .999 gold Bao Yuan Vault Protector coin (the only 1 troy ounce gold Vault Protector coin minted by the China Mint to date).
Bought this for just a few euro. Turned out to be number 8 known in the world Can you spot why? Going to sell it after slabbing in exchange for bullion I think...
I was at my local branch this morning & an old lady was cashing these in So I had to quickly borrow some $ for a couple of hours