NGC Journals

VE Coins Journal

The Beginning of something

Hello, and welcome. I will be using this journal to chronicle my adventures with the registry and my collection. I’ve been active on the registry now for almost a year and have started working on many sets, the main area that I would like to focus on is Eastern Europe. Mainly Latvia and Ukraine but I would love to expand into other countries eventually. I’ve been working on my Latvia 5 Euro set and I’m looking forward to getting my most recent submission back to work on that. I’ve been read
VE Coins

VE Coins in The East

10
When I’m Wiser and I’m Older

A (dirty?) 1980 Z Cent

So, it's a Sunday, morning at the time. Ben has had a friend over all weekend and the bickering has been constant all morning and we're both just short of the point of sending the kid home to just get some peace because they're driving us insane and we're tired. About a week prior I'd seen a 1980 Zimbabwean cent up for auction in "Mint State" with a $2.99 starting bid with $1.50 shipping. The seller's pictures weren't the best, but it looked promising at first glance. 1980-1989 cents f
Revenant

Revenant in Zimbabwean Coins and Currency

0
When I’m Wiser and I’m Older

Well, Xan gave me my answer... or part of it anyway. lol

Xan Chamberlain must have gotten a box in the mail yesterday. This set popped up last night with just one coin and now the other 7 coins from that submission that got added to the census about 2 weeks ago have been added. It also looks like he has a $2 coin that popped up in the census the following week when my coins were added.But I'm not seeing in his set (yet, anyway) a 1999 10C in MS64 or an older-type $1 coin that popped up in the census the same week as my coins and that $2 coi
coinsandmedals's Journal

The medals of Soho near Birmingham - Boydell's Shakespeare Medal

Here is another sneak peek of a new NGC custom registry set that I am working on. Please feel free to share anything related! The Boydell Shakespeare medal is so named because of the gentleman who commissioned its production, Alderman John Boydell. Saving any historical tidbits for the section below, it is worth mentioning that this medal is a notable exception to those typically struck at the Soho Mint. The design directly violates the guidance Boulton provided to Droz in a letter fifteen
When I’m Wiser and I’m Older

I don't really NEED all those but at that price I'll take them...

I've referenced in previous entries that I've been having trouble sourcing some $1 Bond Coins at a reasonable price. All the other sellers I found offering the $1 coin were calling it "rare" (nonsense!) and asking $10-15 each for them. I've been trying to acquire multiples of all of these - usually 3-5 of each denomination - to have a better chance of getting a really nice one. But $10-15 each felt... rough. $6-7 is about the max I'll pay for these raw right now. But the other wee
When I’m Wiser and I’m Older

Not sure when or how, but the grades have posted at long last…

I was checking last night, and these still showed as being in quality control. This afternoon I opened my laptop, and the submission tracker page was open in a tab I left open last night when I shut the laptop. It auto updated / refreshed, and I saw “shipped” flash across my field of view as I was closing the tab, and then I frantically re-loaded the page, wondering if I had finally gone crazy. I’m guessing this is the result of some back-office people in the shipping department workin
CoinsbyGary

Contrasts in Lighting

A few days ago, I was contacted by a friend concerning a medal that he had photographed by someone other than me! 😊. To be exact, he didn’t like what he got and wanted to know my thoughts on the photography. Now, if a person asks me questions about photography, they will always get more from me than they asked! The pictures my friend sent lacked details. The devices were hazy and had a strange blue hue. The fields on the medal were basically flat. Because the medal had a reverse proof finish, I
When I’m Wiser and I’m Older

A little cuteness and positivity for the day...

Sam though quite recovered is serving out the last days of his quarantine because we have to go by 10 days from his positive test even though I'm pretty sure he'd been fighting it for a while at that point and he probably stopped being contagious days ago. As sometimes happens, he rediscovered some replica Morgans and Silver Eagles that another member here gave me for them, which he and his brother like to play with on occasion. At that point, for the next half hour or so at least a couple
Revenant

Revenant in Family

5
When I’m Wiser and I’m Older

It is 100%, for sure FOR SURE, someone else is submitting these too…

So today saw another census update and another big increase in the Zcoin population. Last week we saw an increase from 33 to 41. Today we saw an increase to 57. At the start of the year I think it was only 29 total - including 12 NCLT S$10 coins. The MS population increased from 9, to 17, to, now, 33. Interestingly, looking again, I actually don’t think the update last week included my coins like I thought and I think this week's update does - especially based on the dates and the
When I’m Wiser and I’m Older

I think Sam really has the worst luck...

Well, shortly after I made my last post we went to pick up Sam from daycare and we found out he'd been lethargic and sick all day and was running a fever again. He's been home since then but lethargic and increasingly unwilling to eat or drink. Today we too him back to the doctor and then later in the day had to give up and take him to the ER because he wasn't peeing anymore.  Turns out he as pneumonia... at two and a half... and his O2Sats are low and he'll probably be getting admitted again fo
Dan Hughes's Journal

No First Release/Early Release Labels for New Zealand Mint Coins

The New Zealand Mint completely shut down its operations on August 17th of this year because of a covid outbreak in the country. Easier for New Zealand to do than most countries because it is an island nation. Yesterday they reopened and began shipping orders again. During their shutdown they were still taking orders on new issues they had scheduled for release. I had a concern because all of the coins I buy from the New Zealand Mint I submit, as soon as I get them, for the First Release label.
When I’m Wiser and I’m Older

I wonder...

So, the Zcoins still haven't been finalized... but the Census did go up by about 9 coins today, all mint state, and 8 of those line up with the 8 pre-hyperinflation coins in my submission… So I may have just gotten a sneak peek at some of my grades… and the grades are pretty consistent with what I would have expected from those coins… but no way to know for sure. But, while I can’t talk grades officially yet, I have little better or more interesting to do with my socially-isolated, work-fro
Revenant

Revenant in Random Nonsense

10
C'MON NOW!

OWNER COMMENTS

Every time I receive a new addition, I fill out all of the form, including owner comments on the registered coin. Reviewing my #1 set is has slipped to #2. How? I check, and the owner comments have been deleted. For 20 minutes I have tried to edit it and replace the missing comment. I fill in the box, hit save, and absolutely nothing. Anyone have a clue? Maybe it's got a virus?
namvette68

namvette68 in SACAGAWEA SET

4
coinsandmedals's Journal

It sold for how much?!?

The current market, especially for certain world coins, is absolutely insane. As I alluded to in my earlier journals, I have decided to slow down a bit to focus my efforts on more pressing personal matters, but I have kept a close eye on the auctions out of pure curiosity. As a mere spectator, I place a few lots on my watch list and resist checking on it again until after the auction is over. I have made an early Saturday morning routine of making a cup of coffee and relaxing while I see how my
Collecting world coins

Copper is good

Napoleon had a fascination with the Roman Empire and this is reflected in everything he did, most notably on the medals of the period. I have an example of the medal depicting the Vendome column in Paris, this was erected in 1810 as tribute to the Grand Armee and the Victory at Austerlitz in 1805. This was Napoleon's take on Trajan's column in Rome. Both columns show a spiral relief of important military events, the major events of the 1805 campaign for Napoleon and in this case of Trajan
CoinsbyGary

My Most Recent NGC Submission

Lately, there has been much criticism and suspicion about the length of time it takes to get your coins graded. And my recent submission is no different. Like me, at the end of the day, when all your coins have been returned, you will probably ask yourself if it has been worth it? In the end, I weighed my worth against the grades I got, the price I paid, and the wait I had to endure. On April 22, 2021, I mailed a 13-coin submission to NGC. On August 10, I received the last of my coins back
When I’m Wiser and I’m Older

So we wait...

Well, no grades yesterday. So that’s three weeks almost / 13 working days in “Grading/Encapsulation/Imaging” without getting grades back. When the submission arrived on 6/7/21 or 6/8/21 the listed turnaround was 49 working days and the coins have now been at NGC for 65 or 66 working days as of Monday. And I really don’t care if the turnaround now is 85 working days - it was 49 when mine arrived, it was 49 for over a month of the time they’ve been there, and it was only later raised to 61, and we
Revenant

Revenant in Family

15
When I’m Wiser and I’m Older

Artsy Coin Photos

Well, I'd really thought that after my Z coins hit grading on Tuesday of last week I'd get grades this week almost for sure and I'd be getting to post about the results. Sadly, this was not the case - I'm still waiting. But hopefully they'll finish soon. But I won't see grades before Tuesday now with Labor Day coming up. Gosh... I'm really wanting to know the results and hoping to not be massively disappointed. This is dragging on and turning into a nail-biter! In the mean time, I thou
Michael Garrity

Relative scarcity and value of later-date Walking Liberty half dollars

Can anyone venture an opinion as to why the '40-S to '45-S Walkers in NGC MS67 are going for so much more than the '39-S Walker in the same condition? For example, there's a '40-S Walker going for just under $8,900 on e-bay right now, and we all know how scarce a '41-S Walker is in the same grade.  By way of comparison, I've seen '39-S Walkers for sale at under $1,000...
Collecting world coins

Dealing with the unexpected

I agree with everyone that prices, and certainly those in my areas of interest, seem to be going forever upwards - I think I was a bit in shock watching my selected lots go through at the MDC Monaco auction, the Paramount Collection and the latest Heritage and Stacks sales, needless to say I didn't get anything!! As a result I have bought very little lately, although I did pick up some more Napoleonic medals - in copper/bronze as the more elusive silver strikes are now achieving prices in the th
When I’m Wiser and I’m Older

To the Moon!

On January 18th 2021 I got the blessing from Shandy to pick up a 1 kilo silver bar. The spot price had recently come down from about $27 / oz to $25 / oz and I was able to find a Perth bar from a good dealer for $875. Relatively shortly there after the "Reddit Raiders" temporarily spiked the price to $30 / oz and you couldn't get anything physical hardly unless you were paying $35 / oz or more. Those kilo bars started going for over $1050... I guess I should have sold then... I was pretty c
My submission gave me a black-eye

Submitting Canadian Uncirculated Sets

Hello Everyone,  I would like to start submitting my Canadian Uncirculated Sets and I was wondering if there is a certain way they need to be sent in. The reason I ask is because if one was to cut the coins out of the cellophane wrap and send them in to NGC in plastic flips then how would they know that the coins came from a set and not from pocket change? How do you make sure that the term "Uncirculated Set Issue" gets on the label? Any help on this would be greatly appreciated. 
coinsandmedals's Journal

Déjà vu – A recent purchase brings back fond memories

I think I have officially hit the point where I can no longer justify the expense of new additions. There have been some stellar coins offered for sale already this year, but more often than not, these pieces realize prices that are just a bit out of my comfort zone. Consequently, I have only added four new noteworthy pieces to my collection, which pales compared to last year. On any note, I am delighted with my latest purchase which brings back memories of a much simpler time. A time before COV