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NGC Journals

Why I like coins

More coins being rated!! Plans for next year!!

So I just sent in a total of 31 coins on 2 orders (20 in one, 11 in another) to help complete and improve my collection. I spend quite a bit of time deciding what I want to send, sometimes trying to help open up new categories or slots overall. But a majority is to move a few sets up the ladder. Winning last years contest helped me rate some coins and even conserve some of them. I'm working what to send next year as this is the last of my coins..... I have other hobbies to feed (Cruise Trav
ChrisInJesup

ChrisInJesup in New

0
Coinbuf's Journal

When will I be priced out of collector coins

I don't know if other collectors give this much thought, perhaps it is a concern for aging collectors more so than younger collectors.   But I often wonder when will the constant back and forth buying that happens between the dealer middle men drive the prices so far up that average collectors are left by the wayside.   After all each time a coin trades hands from dealer A to dealer B, then from dealer B to dealer C, and then back to the beginning from dealer C to dealer A the price has to be ma
Coinbuf

Coinbuf in Coinbufs journal

9
When I’m Wiser and I’m Older

The Zimbabwean $5 coins look more promising this time.

I got the new Zimbabwean $5 coins I ordered in a few days ago and... they look a lot more shiny and nice this time. They actually look shiny and nice this time - there are no dark spots or mint green areas of obvious environmental damage. Unfortunately - no pictures for now. They got packed away a few days ago along with all the other raw coins in 2x2s in the binder. We are now 8 days out from when we're supposed to get the keys to the new place and all non-essentials are rapidly getti
When I’m Wiser and I’m Older

One day, I will have a full set... maybe.

Recent discussions on the forums had me looking at and thinking about getting some of the new American Innovation series dollars to show Ben and Sam as they get older. I'd initially dismissed the idea of doing this in 2018/2019 because I didn't really have the budget for it, and I was sure it turn into another series I'd never finish - like the presidential dollars. This got me looking at the presidential dollars on eBay. The last time I did this I picked up the 2009 and 2010 sets but
Revenant

Revenant in Random Nonsense

0
When I’m Wiser and I’m Older

What works for the Physical Doesn't work for the Digital I guess

Well, after (finally) putting the time and the energy and cash / credit behind getting them all reholdered I had thought that a picture of the group of coins all in their matching slabs would make a good banner image for my 10G set in the new registry. While I do think the group of coins look good and I'm still happy I got them reholdered, and while I do think the images looked good, I have to admit that they fell a bit flat as banner images. I think they look great in pers
Revenant

Revenant in Registry

7
coinsandmedals's Journal

The medals of Soho near Birmingham - The Board of Agriculture

Here is another sneak peek of a new NGC custom registry set that I am working on. Please feel free to share anything related! Collecting the medals struck at the Soho Mint introduces quite a bit of variety. Although I likely would have admired the artistry of the piece, I find it unlikely that I would have taken the time to procure it for my collection. Beyond the societal level impact of agricultural science, my general collecting interests are unrelated, and as such, this piece would not
Coin Inspector

A Find of a Lifetime

Hello everyone, It's been a long time since I made a journal entry, but I'm back.  I didn't stop adding to my collection, I just got lazy and stopped writing about it.  I had to share this story though.  Earlier this year, my wife and I had been talking about going to our local flea market for a while, and we finally had the chance to go back in May.  We were looking for old stuff that we could use in the new house we are about to start building.  It was a perfect day to go picking, not too hot,
Naked Angel

Naked Angel in Great Find

3
When I’m Wiser and I’m Older

Learning that you're a little right, a little wrong, and a little ignorant...

I'm starting to work on digging into the Zimbabwe coins more to try to build out a nice group of descriptions for that set once the coins clear grading. I am clearly not excited about those coins / getting them back graded or anything. Clearly. I am just front-running working on descriptions for coins I will not get back for a month and a half. Anyway... I finally found out what the KM numbers for all of them were. And found out I was wrong about several of them - some that I thought g
When I’m Wiser and I’m Older

This threatens to raise my hopes...

I looked today and my 13 coin Zimbabwe submission is now fully entered in the system and "scheduled for grading."  This has me hopeful that I could maybe see grades by the end of this month - maybe 2-3 weeks sooner than I'd been expecting based on the turnaround times listed at about 49 days... but I'm basing this on how quickly other things - not world moderns - have gone from scheduled to in grading. So that hope may be dangerous. I could just in in for 3-4 weeks of them sitting as "Schedu
When I’m Wiser and I’m Older

Someone's bitter pill - the things that shouldn't have been graded.

I have a saved search still on eBay for "ngc Netherlands 10G," so I get notified when one pops up without having to search myself all the time. I continue to hope an 1885 or 1886 will pop up one day to help me complete that set. But... 90% of the time I get an email and it's an 1875... or an 1877. I just got an email for my 10G search and it's an AU55 in a new holder, and I just can't help but shake my head and think, someone was REALLY disappointed when that posted the grade results.
Revenant

Revenant in Gold

3
coinsandmedals's Journal

I can’t keep up!

I can’t keep up! I am sure many of you have noticed how insanely active the world coin market is lately. Even the super common coins that I could have picked by the dozens for a few hundred dollars are suddenly selling for 2-3 times what they were. This usually translates into me picking up my jaw off the keyboard as I watch otherwise unremarkable pieces fetch extremely strong prices auction after auction. This, of course, is expected for the truly exceptional pieces, but geez, when did the
When I’m Wiser and I’m Older

A cute, dopey, derpy set full of TOP POP coins?

My submission of Zimbabwe coins, as of yesterday, is officially “received” at NGC, but it’s that weird new kind of “received” where you cannot click on the invoice number and can’t see any of the line items. They just took them out of the box and put the invoice number in to say, “See! We got it! Now go away and stop bugging us about your box!” Joking! Said with love, folks! Anyway… I have been thinking about my MS65 10C coin, and the fact that it’s a TOP POP - that I got for $21 after it
coinsandmedals's Journal

The medals of Soho near Birmingham - The Westminster Fire Office

So far, most of the medals I have presented have been the work of one of Soho's most prolific engravers, Conrad Heinrich Küchler. Luckily, a lot of the original correspondence relating to those pieces has been detailed in numerous publications and online databases, which has served to further my investigation. The same cannot be said for this medal, as it was engraved by a less well-known yet still influential Soho engraver, John Phillip. Given the lack of digitalized contemporary documents and
Vincent Bellman

Madison County (AL) Coin Club is BACK!

On Tuesday evening, June 22, 2021, the Madison County Coin Club of Huntsville, Alabama rose Phoenix-like from the ashes of COVID shutdowns. For now, it has a new home, and for the retro-members, a “newish” meeting night. “Funny, you don’t LOOK newish.” The meeting place had been firmly established only 7 days prior. The club now meets in the same building as the Huntsville Gem & Mineral Society, on the site of the former Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom Middle School at 7901 Bailey Cove Road SE in Hu
VKurtB

VKurtB in Coin clubs

16
When I’m Wiser and I’m Older

New Storage and Display Options

My father's day gifts this year hit the PMG and NGC sides of my activities, with Shandy and Ben giving me a new green note storage box and a new display case for graded coins. This follows up on a couple of previous posts in my journals. These note storage boxes come in 4 colors and I'd gotten 3 of them a while back - black, blue and red, but not a green. Why? The others were $20 each and you couldn't get a green for under $30-35. No clue why, as I said at the time on the PMG sid
Revenant

Revenant in Coin Displays

2
When I’m Wiser and I’m Older

So.... WHY are they slammed?

It seems like one of our favorite things to do lately is complain about turnaround times at NGC. The popular narrative amongst the unhappy is that this is clearly NGC slipping but NGC says the problem is they're just slammed. They aren't blaming the problems on logistics - like not being able to get enough slab parts or inserts. They're just getting 800+ packages a day and that working 6 days a week, 12 hours a day isn't keeping up. That suggests that they're dealing with double or more the
Revenant

Revenant in Random Nonsense

14
When I’m Wiser and I’m Older

I will get no end of grief over that joke…

A few entries ago I jokingly referred to my 10G set as my “golden babies.” I thought was being silly and a little tongue-in-cheek, but my wife has given me no end of ribbing about this, so I think I’m going to be continuing to catch grief about that for a while every time those coins come up in conversation. I think this cements the Zimbabwe set as my “pride and joy” and the 10G set as my “golden babies” whenever my wife feels the need to tease me. They do look good in the new holders
Revenant

Revenant in Gold

2
coinsandmedals's Journal

My most recent NGC submission - it only took me 3 months to mail it off...

It took me nearly six months to decide what to send, but I have finally convinced myself to submit a few of my better raw pieces for grading. This submission is a bit complex as it spans seven invoices and requires a few special requests. Luckily, my contact at NGC was more than willing to help. As many of you know, I have a fair number of Soho pieces that have retained their original shells. When possible, I have made an effort always to have the shells encapsulated alongside the coin in a mult
When I’m Wiser and I’m Older

The Z Coins away, the 10Gs back home.

I finally took a minute, filled out the rest of the paperwork and printed the shipping label and the Z coins are scheduled for pick-up. Doing a bit of a deeper dive on this than I have in previous entries, I am sending in 13 coins: KM-1b: 1 cent KM-2: 5 Cent KM-8: 10 Cent KM-9: 20 Cent KM-10: 50 Cent KM-11: $1 KM-14: $10 KM-15: $25 KM-16: 1 Cent Bond Coin KM-17: 5 Cent Bond Coin KM-18: 10 Cent Bond Coin KM-19: 25 Cent Bond Coin
Why I like coins

That vicious circle of collecting

So here I am saying I have a good set of British Virgin Islands (BVI) coins, and someone (Shoedt) finds a nicer set of coins! Ugh.... competition!! LOL Shoedt actually found a coin I was looking for (2018 Piedfort Pegasus no error) AND got lucky on a BVI coronation and silver proof sets as well!! Well Done!! LOTS of PF70 ratings he got!! Personally I have a Coronation set that needs to be rated still.... but I may set that aside.... Because another competitor has shown up.... Coin Maes
ChrisInJesup

ChrisInJesup in New

10
When I’m Wiser and I’m Older

Grade results and closing on the house - Turning into a solid week!

So, if it seems like I am more quiet lately know that it is only because Fenntucky Mike and like 5 other people on the PMG side have gotten to witness a lot of manic babbling about near-worthless hyperinflation novelties - feel free to check that out to be as bored as my dear wife.   So, I got grade results back yesterday evening. No stand-out wins and some minor disappointments. On the CWTs I had expected like 55-58 but part of me had hoped for a 61-62. I got an XF45 and a AU 55 BN. T
coinsandmedals's Journal

My newest addition and a completed goal!

When I first started collecting Irish copper, I set a goal to complete a “type set” of the coinage struck at the Soho Mint. This set would only consist of three coins (i.e., an 1805 penny, 1805 halfpenny, and 1806 farthing). I limited myself to the business strike examples as I thought they would be more attainable given my budget. Within a year, I had a solid set built, and I have since been upgrading to nicer examples as they come up for sale. For instance, I recently upgraded the farthing fro
Michael Garrity

Different sets, same ranking

How in the name of Eric P. Newman is it possible for different sets to have the same ranking? I am referring to my 1940 year set (which has been the #1 set in the registry for six out of the last seven years) and Coinbuf's 1940 set. My set has the #1 ranking for 2020, and so does his. Yesterday, my set was in the #1 position, and now it is #2. How is this at all possible?  
Legionary1

Legionary1 in Set Problems

25