With New Years Day, the Hollywood Coin Club meeting on the January 4th, followed by the Hollywood Coin Show which Mutt runs on Sunday once a month, they were both very busy the first part of January. Then came the Ft Lauderdale Coin Club Installation dinner on the 12th, rescheduled from December to get their favorite location.
So January 19th was the first Thursday they could get together. Meeting at the church, as is now the routine, Jeff jumped into Mutt's auto for the mile ride to the flea market, arriving about 7:30 AM. The Swap Shop looked very sparse of both venders and visitors. They quickly headed for the garage sale section. Jeff had misplaced his "Marlboro" hat somewhere and was wearing a Boy Scout cap, until he came across a French Canadian vendor who had a couple of the ORIGINAL hats. Mutt and Jeff had not seen an original one in two years. The last one Jeff bought, was a Chinese knockoff, so he added the under chin string from his first hat, which was kind of falling apart.
Using his talent with languages Jeff offered "un" when the vendor said "deux" Mutt spoke up and said the budget would only allow one U.S. Dollar. The nice lady agreed with the $1. price and Jeff walked away carrying his new straw hat.
The boys ran into BoBo for a minute. BoBo said he had earlier run around the market for a while with Harvey to get his heart rate up. Soon they went in different direction.
GERMAN - TWO MARKS 1989
Mutt was looking for foreign coins and medals. His first purchase for fifty cents was a 1989 German 2 Marks with the portrait of Dr. Kurt Schumacher 1949-1979. J mintmark is for Hamburg.
A little while later a Latino lady had a Caesars Place dollar token Mutt always looking for bargains offered quarter. The woman counter offered a "dollar". Mutts reply "I would have to go to Las Vegas to use it at that price". So the vendor came down to fifty cents and the bargain was consummated. Two coins down and $4. left in the budget for Mutt. Thinking of his wife he bought a small swan plant holder for the next dollar.
Click on panels for large views
The real interesting item came along when Mutt was looking at a mess of junk costume jewelry piled on a card table. He saw something of interest and quickly bought it for $1.
It took all the rest of the morning and several friends back at the church, over 5 cent coffee, before if was finally identified - a brass, formerly silver plated 7 panel bracelet with the theme of Don Quixote. Left and right are small panels with three flower blossoms and leaves above. Next panel - Sancho Panza on his donkey, tree to left, fiery pot to right. The next panel - Don Quixote in suite of armor holding a sword & shield taming the lion in an open wagon cage. The third panel - Don Quixote on horseback with sword tilting at windmills. The final bracelet panel - Don Quixote with sword knocking down the windmill, small chair to right, stands on brick pavement. Hanging free on the right side is a medal with image Don Quixote, taken from a famous painting. Much of the silver-plating on this one is intact. Each panel had three flowers, top and bottom and the medal has three smaller flowers, left and right.
Everyone at first thought the bracelet depicted views from a circus. Then someone realized it was from the story by Cervante's 1605 book of the adventures of Don Quixote.
Before finishing their four hour walk, they ran into the another new member of the coin club. We haven't given him a name yet, but I think the watchman would fit.
