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NGC Journals

Finally My Icelandic Kingdom Era Set Is Complete

I'm the most happiest coin collector in the world right now. I just received my submission results from NGC and was super happy with the out come of the coins I sent in. I only needed two coins to complete this set a 1942 1 Eyrir and a 1942 10 Aurar and both are very hard to find in a grade above 63  that is worthy of sending in. The 42 1 Eyrir is a very common coin but never seen one that would grade above a MS-63.... I had one that would grade higher then a MS-63 put was holding out for someth

Iceman

Iceman

Old Friends, New Friends, Good Times

This year’s annual ANA World’s Fair of Money is perhaps one of the most memorable coin shows I have ever attended. Every show is special in its own way but this one was the first one in which I was a Money Talks presenter.   The annual ANA World’s Fair of Money is a wonderful opportunity for advanced and novice collectors alike to locate those hard to find coins for their collections. For some it is a rare opportunity to roam a large bourse floor filled with dealers from across the cou

coinsbygary

coinsbygary

Good Afternoon May I Help You?

Hi Mike here. I am a member of the ANA. You every get a chance to call NGC customer service. I have many times. And every time they take time to help me out. I call for a problem I may be having with a coin. Every time they take care of it. There all very good and all very nice and very knowledgeable. I don't call because of a grade because they don't grade. They will tell you what to do it you have that problem. I don't call because it was improperly cleaned but they will tell you what they can

MIKE BYRNE

MIKE BYRNE

I think I'm over the cliche souvenirs

My wife's mother is offering to take her on a trip with her to New York City in a couple of weeks. This would mean she'd be taking the baby an leaving me at home with the 3 year old for three days. She was asking me if there was anything I'd like her to bring back and the answer was, honestly, no. I went to New York myself when I was 11 and I got a few things from that trip, one or two of which I still have to this day. Those mean more to me than anything that she'd bring back from a t

Revenant

Revenant

The price swings sneak up on you...

… when you deal with things that are priced close to melt anyway. When I was shopping for an 1877 10G late last year the common dates in the series in MS65 and lower were going for about $275. That's not that much given that the coins had a melt value of about $242 with gold around $1200/oz. I have an eBay saved search for these things that I keep active even at times like now when I'm not really actively hunting. The other day a couple of auctions popped up for an MS61 1875 and M

Revenant

Revenant

Summertime Fun

Every year in August my local coin club sponsors a picnic for the members of the club. Out of a total of just over 100 members, 20-30 people typically come out to the picnic along with their spouses. The club supplies the meat and drink and the members bring a dish to pass. If you have good people and good food you usually have a good time.  If that was all there was to the club picnic, I’d be totally happy. What really sets this outing apart is the bingo games for spectacular numismatic pr

coinsbygary

coinsbygary

1609 Jetson(Token) County of Flanders

Well I tried a few times to get this coin up. Well it's here.. Won it At an auction at a great price. Looked up the history there was so much it actually confused me. I did recognize the different countries on the shield.The Feur di Lis. England, Scotland,and and also on  the shield three Irish Shamrocks. This was something England did. They would put the countries they owned.. It also has the sheep hanging for shearing and for eating. It has the names of Elizabeth and Albert. These were made.at

MIKE BYRNE

MIKE BYRNE

Looks like I’ve won this one: It’s a family thing now

My wife’s parents recently went on a trip to Europe - the Netherlands and parts of Italy / Rome. They asked about ideas of things to bring back for us / Ben. I linked them to the Penny Collector website and brought up the idea of bringing back some elongated cents for Ben’s penny book. They got him a couple of pennies for his book. I’m guessing they used Euro Cent coins for the press because they’re slightly larger than the ones we’ve been getting / making here and they just BARE

Revenant

Revenant

A Slightly Amusing Coincidence:

It’s almost always a little funny when my wife takes notice of something in my collection that she’s never seen, noticed or paid attention to before. She’s never been especially aware of some of the things in my collection because I don’t talk about them much. Other things I talk about all the time and she probably wishes she could stop hearing about. But sometimes she’ll notice something and ask me if it’s new and I’ll just be like, “Nope. I’ve owned that longer than I’ve known you.” Anyway...

Revenant

Revenant

20 July 1969

It's hard to believe it has been 50 years since Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin first landed on the Moon.  In the summer of 1969, I was an 11-year-old living in Mt Lebanon, PA and feeling the excitement of the impending Moon landing.  Back then, the Space Program was a really big deal and dominated all 4 TV channels, Mad Magazine, and of course our two daily newspapers.  There was no internet, there was no social media, or YouTube, or all the other things we expect in our daily lives toda

Mokiechan

Mokiechan

LET'S HAVE A LITTLE FUN

Hello Everyone, I received my latest order from NGC two days ago with yet another mislabeled coin inside.   This was the second time I trusted what customer service had told me, "the graders will catch the mistake". It is also the second time they did not catch it.  Leaving them now with a perfect record of zero for 6.  And as you probably already guessed they had entered my newest order with 4 mistakes again (not understanding that the "S" is very important when it comes to clad

THE WELSH DRAGON

THE WELSH DRAGON

The Very First Coin I Purchased and a New Toy!

Recently I bought a new macro lens for my camera. The lens is a Laowa V-DX 60MM F2.8 Macro 2:1. Now I know I already have a macro lens but if I am ever going to take my coin photography on the road, I will need a much more versatile lens. For versatility this lens is it. I can focus in as close as 18.5cm and as far as infinity. At 18.5cm I have 2-1 magnification. The only drawbacks are that I have to focus manually and set the aperture manually. No big deal on those since I already do that.

coinsbygary

coinsbygary

Deja Vu??

As a result of a recent post, I did some research on the ATB Quarter Series and found out that when it's completed in 2021, the legislation requires the return to the original Washington Quarter Obverse (I wish it were Laura Fraser's Washington Bust) but changes the reverse to depict General Washington crossing the Delaware River before the Battle of Trenton.  This all sounds wonderful until I was reminded that Washington Crossing The Delaware has already appeared on the reverse of the 1999 New

Mokiechan

Mokiechan

Couple of Speedbumps of Late...

Hello Collectors, I have been outta pocket for a bit as when you’re 65, you don’t do, look, or act like a “65” should. Feel like more of an au-55 at best. And I’m not talking about the age. Talking about the body grade.  I had a skateboard accident recently  and was prodded to take a trip to ER the next day by my girlfriend. Against my wishes of course. She actually witnessed the crash. Said I appeared to be airborne for minutes. Like a typical stupid guy, I turned down her offer for a

W.K.F.

W.K.F.

PCGS. Paying For 25 Cent Quarters With A W!!!!!!!

Hi everyone. Well I received my New Numismatic Magizine. July 2,2019.. They had an article in there that I was shocked with. If you find one of these quarters and it gets to P.C.G.S fist you get Paid!! How dumb is that. I find one the same day but because I live further away I lose out on Two thousand dollars. I saw prices of 667.00. In was so disgusted I stoped reading it. How low can a grading company go. They had corporate problems. Graders left. There very liberal with there grading. Just Lo

MIKE BYRNE

MIKE BYRNE

An Interesting Comparison

Revenant's recent post about FUNKO POP figures has me thinking about the many parallels between the current numismatic market and the comic/pop culture market.  Earlier today, I saw a press release from Coin World about plans to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the Carson City Mint.  According to the Press Release, on 01 August, The Carson City Mint Building will fire up one of its Coin Presses and mint 200 copies of the 1870-CC Half Dollar (with the word COPY stamped in the field, in pure sil

Mokiechan

Mokiechan

Funko Pops: The Plastic Scourge

I was looking around at pop-culture news on the internet recently as I sometimes like to do, as nerds like me sometimes like to do, and I found an article saying that there’s going to be a Funko Pops movie - it’s going to try to piggy-back on the success of the Lego movies. This has me in the mood to rant a bit. So this is me being my best “super-judger,” as my wife would put it – anyone reading this is forewarned now. It has been interesting to me that Lego sets have become collectable in

Revenant

Revenant

The Forgotten Eagle

There has been a tremendous amount of excitement associated with the West Point Mint in recent months due to the release of the FIRST EVER W Mint Lincoln Cents and the release, into the general economy, of 10 Million W ATB Quarters.  But there is a largely forgotten W mint product that has been slowly dwindling in mintage. Back in 2006, the 20th anniversary year of the silver eagle, the mint started producing, what they describe on their website as the American Silver Eagle One Ounce Uncircula

Mokiechan

Mokiechan