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NGC Journals

CoinsbyGary

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Preparing an NGC Submission

There are some things I don’t particularly care to do. When it comes to those things, I usually procrastinate getting them done. Preparing submission forms to send coins and medals to NGC for grading is something I always procrastinate. I just don’t like itemizing the submission form, looking up the market value, separating my medals from my coins, modern vs. classic, etc. Then packing them up and running to the post office is such a pain in the neck. Well, today I finally said, “This is the day
coinsbygary

coinsbygary

8
JAA's Journal

Elliptical Clip Mint Error

Earlier this week I had an opportunity to pick up a number of interesting Republic of the Philippines Mint Error coins in Heritage Auctions Weekly On Line World Coin Auction.  The most interesting of the group is a 1964 5 Centavos with an Elliptical Clip Mint Error.  The Elliptical Clip gives the Planchet a distinctive "Football shape". This is the first time that I have seen this type of Mint Error in a Philippine coin. The coin is graded ANACS MS62. I will need to send it to NGC with my next b
JAA

JAA

3
When I’m Wiser and I’m Older

The Queen's Beasts continue... Ben making out like a bandit

I haven't been posting to this journal as much lately because my focus has been on my Zimbabwe note set the last 2-3 weeks and so I've been posting over on the PMG side - go look if you actually want to see me ramble about that hyperinflation set some more. I think I mentioned this before but I recently convinced my wife to let me violate the normal limits on my budget and use part of that Stimulus check to buy some of the coins I needed for my queen's beast sets - the last 2 Yales I needed
Revenant

Revenant in Family

0
Collecting world coins

Another Discovery

In a vain attempt at sorting out auction catalogues at home I found a small book buried in their midst. This was 'Coins & Tokens of Tasminia 1803 - 1910' by Roger V. Neice. As a collector of British Colonial issues and those of the Napoleonic period it was refreshing to go through this again as it includes all the various types of 'money' that circulated in Tasminia with plenty of historical context conveying the variable fortunes of the island and its people. To say Napoleon's influenc
ColonialCoinsUK

ColonialCoinsUK

2
When I’m Wiser and I’m Older

My Wife Just Used the ANA Money Museum to Tempt Me...

She loves to travel and she desperately wants to get out and take a trip somewhere and is brainstorming all of these ideas about where to go and what to do when this is over. She's looking at taking a vacation for a long weekend to Colorado. In the middle of her research she figured out that the ANA Money Museum is in Colorado and she's trying to use a day there to tempt me into getting excited and agreeing to the idea. Does she know me too well or think I sell too cheap? That is the q
Revenant

Revenant in Family

5
Weekly Coin Club Gains

Gettin' scammed again. 4/26/20

Whelp. Bought another set. This time, 50 2 Bolivar notes from Venezuela..... Wait an minute. It's from turkey? Oh well.   It took an month and an half to ship.   Well, afterwards, I got it and- there's only 49. And there's an huge profit margin for him as well.   Here's the pictures, at least.
AJ2008

AJ2008

1
When I’m Wiser and I’m Older

Oh no… I’m becoming what I collect. Not Fair! I miss my hair…

Around the start of our self-isolation my hair had been getting really long and my wife convinced me to just let her and Ben use the trimmer on me and make it short - finally lean into the hair loss that has been eating into my temples for 10 years. At the time I’d shaved my beard. Recently they did another pass to keep it short and I saw a picture of myself… Then I looked at the coins I collect, and I thought a little… Then I went to Google and Bing for photos…
Revenant

Revenant in Random Nonsense

2
Collecting world coins

Working & coin collecting during lockdown

Like lots of people I am working from home at the moment, although this greatly restricts normal operations I thought that this would be a great opportunity to catch up on the vast amount of paperwork that needs doing and maybe even get ahead. An advantage of no longer needing to commute means I would also gain 2 & 1/2 hours each day which would be an unexpected chance to further research the coin series I collect. My experience so far has been that the 'work' tasks that now need to be do
ColonialCoinsUK

ColonialCoinsUK

4
Darryl A Gomez

What about my 1964-P Kennedy Half Dollar First Day Issue?

Yeah! The 1964-D FDI Kennedy half dollars graded by NGC has a population of 2000. My lonely 1964-P FDI Kennedy half dollar deserves to be graded and attributed as a FDI as I have a President Johnson letter! I purchased this gift set from the Congressman's estate. I also have a provenance letter (not shown) showing the full-chain of legal ownership (Congressman (estate) to DrDarryl).  1. The date on the letter is the FDI. 2. The text of the letter states "...among the first...".
DrDarryl

DrDarryl

3
Darryl A Gomez

Special Medals for US Government Agencies

I have not submitted any of my special Government medals (sGm) to NGC since there are no catalogs that lists them (body bag bait), however I did write a paper that was given a copyright. This paper is ongoing research and only represents a snapshot in time of my research. Before I took on this research project I was amazed that these medals were not catalog at all as these medals were struck by the US Mint in the late 1940s.     What  is a special medal for U.S. Government a
DrDarryl

DrDarryl

7
When I’m Wiser and I’m Older

A Proof 2016 SAE for Ben - Aiming for fairness.

I just picked up a 2016 Proof SAE for Ben’s birth year. My mother-in-law gave me a 2019 proof that she bought when she visited the mint at the end of last year. That gave me one for Sam’s birth year and I got a 1986 - for our birth year - years ago. Ben smashing the capsule for the 1986 the other week - forcing me to go shopping for replacement capsules - was what got this back on my mind, but it had been on my collecting agenda since I was given the 2019. Cash was a bit tighter back then a
Revenant

Revenant in Family

2
jto

Confluence of Collectors

This coin is not a top pop, nor a high value or even a coin of striking beauty.  Why would I buy it?  It is an intersection between a man who was one of the most infamous collectors and a man who was the most accomplished US coin collector. The infamous man is King Farouk of Egypt who conspicuously collected coins en-mass.  He is responsible for the legality of the only 1933 double eagle that is legal to own.  That particular 1933 double eagle was exported by Farouk who actually applied for
JTO

JTO

3
When I’m Wiser and I’m Older

Possible Die Cracks and Thoughts on Die Life and Die Pairings

In looking at that 1880 10G coin I picked up a couple of weeks ago now one thing kind of stood out to me. There’s something on the left side of the Obverse that looks a lot like a die crack that runs between the K and one of the stars. Unlike a lot of the things you see people posting about in the Newbie forum you can actually see this with a naked eye and I think it really is a die crack and not a scratch - but I could be wrong. Looking closer under high magnification it looks l
Revenant

Revenant in Gold

8
When I’m Wiser and I’m Older

USPS: Keeping those standards high!

Well, I've been wondering when the certificates were going to arrive this year since the plaques are already in - the plaques almost never arrive first. I go to the mailbox with the family this morning and I'm treated to this: All I can do is just sit here and shake my head and think, "Really? For Serious?" I know those folks aren't having the best time right now but... really? Yeah. Technically, NGC didn't stamp "do not bend" on it, but, why else would you ship
Revenant

Revenant

3
CoinsbyGary

Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery

It’s been a long time since I've written an original blog here. It's not that I didn't have anything new to say but that I've had other responsibilities and distractions getting in the way. However, behind the scenes, I have been accumulating bits and pieces of news about my Laura Gardin Fraser collection. The first big bit of news came to me in the form of an e-mail from my LGF go-to guy. It seems that my friend is moving and wanted to lighten his load. Then as I read further into the body
coinsbygary

coinsbygary

0
When I’m Wiser and I’m Older

I love him, but he just kind of breaks… everything.

Ben came into my office the other day and found the 1986 Silver Eagle I have that’s in the original mint packaging. He’s always coming into my office wanting to take things from there or from my desk. Apparently, I just have all the best… everything! And he just wants to play with and take all of it. So, he decides that he needs to take it downstairs and show it to momma. Of course, he trips on the tile in the kitchen and drops it and breaks a chip off the mint capsule for the coin… Great!
Revenant

Revenant

5
Michael Byrne

Condor Tokens

Hi everyone its been to long. For that i apoligize. I realized what happened to me, i got old. After 27 years of studying sets complaing about the mint. Studing sets and putting them together time has caught up to me. I know it was the Condor tokens that took the most out of me. Die sinkers plachants,designs detail reserch history. The Soho mint the Birgmingham mint all has caught up to me. The Coventry set did take allot i mean five years looking for P..Kempsons wonderful art on copper was amaz
MIKE BYRNE

MIKE BYRNE

0
When I’m Wiser and I’m Older

Dirty Gold

I like watching documentaries and docu-series and I’ve become quite a fan of “Dirty Money.” I don’t know how popular it is, but I must not be the only one that likes it because it just got a 2nd Season. It reminds me a lot of “The Smartest Guys in the Room,” about Enron. I’m also a big fan of “The Big Short” and other documentaries on the financial crisis of a decade ago like “Overdose.” In particular with “Dirty Money,” in the first season I was a big fan of the episode on Volkswagen and the on
Revenant

Revenant

9
When I’m Wiser and I’m Older

Ants and Grasshoppers

My wife has an acquaintance she’s known for a number of years. This friend and her husband go on about 3 Disney Vacations a year. A couple of weeks ago, on the same day we were starting our self-isolation - with coronavirus cases already increasing in our area - they decide to go on an impromptu / unplanned trip to Florida to go to Disney World. The park started shutting down while they were there, and they stayed in their hotel a few more days before coming home. Instead of picking up su
Revenant

Revenant

8
Weekly Coin Club Gains

3/27/20: The Good, The Bad, and the Fakes

my package arrived 1 day early, what i thought was an authentic 1861 $1 note, turned out to be what might be the worst counterfeit ever. it was smaller then modern bills, in full black and white, and just looked fake right away. but, the other bills still make the money. they are all (with Iraq as an exception) before 1990. the oldest being from 1920, the German notes. but the mystery note, its odd. seems to be Greek, but, at the same time, the letters on the note are in Latin.
AJ2008

AJ2008

8
When I’m Wiser and I’m Older

Crackin’ Slabs… What am I missing?

It is Day 13 of our Coronavirus Self-solation. Frequent walks help make it not so bad with the stir craziness now. We’re taking the cars for short drives and driving out to the woods to walk around so that the cars don’t sit idle for too long. I thought it was a good day to have a bit of fun. A few years ago I ended up with two graded 1883-O Morgans in my collection. One is an NGC MS63 that I bought. One is a PCGS graded AU58 that another member here gave me when I bought a coin
Revenant

Revenant

14
Weekly Coin Club Gains

3/21/20: well, this isn't cool.

ah, the Caronavirus. it's cancelled my club. how great.     But, i just bought something! its an lot of bills, including (possibly) an 1862 $1 bill. also with an lot of older German, Austrian, Iraqi, danish, french,  and Canadian notes. is it an good deal? yes. is it kinda scummy? maybe. is it an scam? well im going to find out.   here's the link: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Lot-of-10-World-Money-Iraq-Canada-U-S-Germany-Austria-Denmark-France/392734913513?hash=item5b70d333e9:g:P
AJ2008

AJ2008

2
Reflections spurned by another journal entry

What else do you collect? Beer coasters anyone?

I was teacher for 33 years so didn't have much money to spend on things. When we traveled we drove and camped. Two of my favorite "souvenirs" that were always affordable was pressed pennies or elongated pennies which cost 51 cents. Plus you got to turn the gears to squeeze the penny and imprint the option you liked best.   The other one  which is the subject of this entry was picking up the coasters from the many different microbreweries that we would stop at and have lunch or dinner.  Bein
rons

rons

7