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NGC Journals

When I’m Wiser and I’m Older

Ben's First Pressed Penny and My Wife Trolling Me

We went to the Houston Zoo as a family yesterday with my son, wife, and her parents. The zoo here is full of those old penny press machines. I'm sure most of us in the US will be familiar with them but I don't know if they're common outside the United States. For those unfamiliar with the concept: You feed the machine $0.51 (2 quarters and 1 penny) and turn a press-wheel. The quarters go to pay the machine / the company that owns it. The penny... gets smashed. The machine presses / rolls th
Revenant

Revenant

13
CoinsbyGary

Now That I Am Retired, What of Collecting?

As of December 28th 2018, I am officially retired and am eager to move on into another chapter of my life. Retirement came a little sooner than I expected but when my employer offered me a generous buy out, I realized that I had to take it now or never see that opportunity again. Realistically, at 60 years old I had no more than 4 years left anyway and probably a little less. Now retired, I find myself having to live on a lot less money than I had before. To make things easier on my famil
coinsbygary

coinsbygary

11
My World Crown Affair

Philip II, King of England

This coin caught my attention, when it came up for auction recently, and I checked on the type in CoinFacts wiki and read that the obverse legend for this daalder included Philip's title as King of England.   With a little more research, I can say that the July 25th, 1554 marriage of Queen Mary of England to King Philip of Spain brought about a short period where Philip gained the title of King of England and Ireland and was deemed co-ruler by an Act of Parliament.  The terms of the marriag
jgenn

jgenn

3
When I’m Wiser and I’m Older

That’s No Angel

As I’m sure many of are aware, there’s a series of French 20 Franc coins that were made from 1871 to 1898 that feature a winged figure writing on a tablet. In the US, I’m assuming because we’re a Christian majority country, most of us see a winged figure and think “angel.” As a result, these coins are usually called French Angels or something similar and even the name of the Registry Category references these coins as Angels. But the man that designed the coin probably wasn’t trying to depict an
Revenant

Revenant

8
Let me try this again, for the first time

Let me try this again, for the first time

The title of my Journal, and this specific entry, is a takeoff on a series of old Kellogg's Corn Flakes commercials from when I was a kid. In those commercials, someone who had tried the cereal before, and maybe not enjoyed it or appreciated it, tried it again and really did like it. The tagline for the commercials was: "Try them again, for the first time".    In late 2018, I was on another forum where I responded to a thread about 2019 numismatic resolutions. My response was that I wa
thisistheshow

thisistheshow

12
When I’m Wiser and I’m Older

Met Another Society Member and Other Updates

I met another Collector’s Society member face-to-face over lunch today. The other collector and I recently realized that we live in the same city and our offices are only about 5 miles apart from each other – Houston is big, so, in relative terms, that’s pretty close. But I put out there what (geographically and population-wise very large) city I live in and he doesn’t so I ‘m not going to name names. The discussion and the plans to meet kicked-off when he realized that we both have Chemi
Revenant

Revenant

8
When I’m Wiser and I’m Older

Koalas of Opportunity

I’ve been debating for a few weeks now which silver bullion series I might want to focus on getting caught up on this year. The Kiwis and the Koalas have both been in contention. I’ve been a little reluctant to commit to building out the Koala set this year because I had the first four sets in the series in MS70 and, if I went for the rest of that set, I knew I’d probably want to continue with 70s. This is one of the few of these sets that I’d originally been going for in MS70 – the Kookaburras,
Revenant

Revenant

8
My World Crown Affair

Missing Newman Envelope from Part XI Auction

Last November, I noticed that the latest round of deaccessions from the Eric P. Newman Numismatic Education Society, billed as the Eric P. Newman Collection Part XI US Coins Signature Auction, also had a few world coins mixed in.  I won this nice upgrade for the 1733 klippe 8 reales that I mentioned in a previous journal entry.  But, I was also curious because of the lot description that included: "A scarce-to-rare example of the Philip V 8 reales pistareen with cut sides, struck on a screw
jgenn

jgenn

9
When I’m Wiser and I’m Older

Why our spouses usually shouldn’t buy our collectables…

Tomorrow is my 3rd Anniversary with my wife. We decided to exchange gifts yesterday because I wanted to give her an opportunity to use her gift. She’d been secretive about my present. Lately she’s been getting me mostly practical gifts but we’re practical people. As I’ve transitioned into my 30s and fatherhood, I find I have less and less desire for random stuff in my life. My coin collection is one of the few things in my life these days that falls into a special category of “it’s mostly u
Revenant

Revenant

14
When I’m Wiser and I’m Older

Thank you! Congratulations! & My Hopes for 2019.

Thanks to the judges at NGC for the journal award – 10 years exactly after I won it in 2008. I really appreciate it! I also wanted to say congratulations to the people who won the Best Modern, Best Classic, Best Presented, Best Custom and Overall Achievement awards – especially ColonialCoinsUK, Mohawk, Coin928 and some of the others I’ve talked to in the forums lately. Friday turned out to be a really good day for me on a writing front. I found out that an old paper I submitted in Dece
Revenant

Revenant

6
Collecting world coins

Upgrade or new addition to the collection?

I seem to have spent many pleasant hours going through the listings for the various January auctions and have identified 100's of fantastic coins that would be great to add to my collection. Unfortunately the reality of my available funds has now kicked in so 4 or 5, or maybe even just one missing coin is a more realistic proposition however this does present an interesting dilemma. Do I upgrade an existing coin or fill an empty slot in one of my sets? Even within the lower denomination co
ColonialCoinsUK

ColonialCoinsUK

13
When I’m Wiser and I’m Older

My new, younger, flightless bird

A little less than a year ago I joked about the 105-year-old bird in my house when I got my 1913 French Rooster. Right around Christmas I found another coin featuring another flightless bird that I wanted - a 2009 New Zealand One Ounce Silber Kiwi in MS69. Normally, I wouldn’t have been game to buy another big coin this quickly after getting the 1877 10G. I try to space these things out and savor them a little more, but these coins just don’t come up very often. For context, the 2
Revenant

Revenant

0
Which way to go??

Just catching up

Just thought I would try to catch up with folks.  I have been away for awhile as many of you know.  Health reasons.  My tests are finally in the normal + range.  But in February I had my 4th back surgery which left me much worse off than what I went in as.  But in July we got my next hobby to keep me waking up for something to do each day, being disabled and retired, in no particular order, and waiting for Mrs. to retire in 1 1/2 yrs. It is a 1972 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme with matching numbers
RMK-Collectibles

RMK-Collectibles

1
When I’m Wiser and I’m Older

A Final Note on the 1877

When I left things off with my last entry talking about this coin, the one unknown, the one X-factor, was, how nice was this coin going to be in-hand and which of the two coins I’d been looking at would have better eye appeal in-person, the MS65 or the MS66. As is required by the nature of online shopping, I’ll never get an answer on the second point. I didn’t buy both coins. I’ll probably never see that MS66 in person. I’ll probably never know if I would have liked it better. As to th
Revenant

Revenant

1
When I’m Wiser and I’m Older

Possibly Some Thwarted Optimism with the Queen's Beast Series.

When I found out that the UK Royal Mint was going to be releasing the Queen’s Beast series a few years ago I got really excited. My mother was always really into family genealogy and the coat of arms and family / clan patterns from Scotland and all of that fun stuff. My family originates mostly from England and Scotland and I’ve always thought the coat of arms was cool. I loved the fact that they were going to be big, thick, 2 oz, high relief rounds and I loved what the artist had done with the
Revenant

Revenant

10
When I’m Wiser and I’m Older

Revisiting an old project.

I was really excited to collect the presidential dollar series in 2007 and 2008 when they were just starting out. The US History buff in me loved the idea of the set even though they were mostly a naked effort by the US Congress and the US Mint to keep the music playing as the statehood quarters series was winding down (which they did with the America the beautiful quarters). Then, of course, the effort got promptly dropped but not quite entirely forgotten in 2009 when I had to start getting rea
Revenant

Revenant

2
When I’m Wiser and I’m Older

Sometimes you hate the game and especially the player…

I’m always amazed by the games some people try to play in conducting business, even the ones that, at least on paper, you shouldn’t need to worry about because they have 100% positive feedback with scores in the thousands… Find an auction for something you like, check it out, see it has free shipping with nary a word anywhere about shipping insurance or anything else. You bid, win the item and, within minutes, the seller sends an invoice for it. Now, if you’re like me and you pay throu
Revenant

Revenant

9
Collecting world coins

An unexpected challenge in collecting world coins

The recent thoughts by Revenant1 on their choices following the eventual appearance of not one but two examples of a long sought after 1877 Netherlands 10 Gulden coin prompted me to post my first journal entry although the nature of my dilemma is somewhat different. As a collector of world coins one of the challenges over the years has been to improve the quality of my collection, however, the number of suitable examples appearing at auction here in the UK is extremely limited with the conseq
ColonialCoinsUK

ColonialCoinsUK

4
Looking Back on MY 70 Years of Coin Collecting

Looking Back on my 70 years of coin collecting

Chapter 8 The Five Coins that never were and are worth a Fortune Anyone who has followed the trials and tribulations related to the 1933 Double Eagles in private hands knows simply possessing a coin does not mean you have the legal right to own it. I am no expert on what exactly the procedure is for coins and bank notes to become legal tender. From what I can gather from news articles the first step is that an order be placed for the coins or bank notes be produced. Once produced is this ne
RAM-VT

RAM-VT

3
When I’m Wiser and I’m Older

Looks like the MS65 is coming home to me!

Well, when I made the last entry I was really leaning towards the MS66. By the time I went to bed on Saturday I had pretty much convinced myself that the MS66 was the way to go and that I should bid aggressively to make sure I got that coin. So then why am I writing this, saying that I bid on and won the MS65 tonight and why am I so stinkin’ happy about it that my wife is snickering about it at my expense? Well, my basis for thinking that the MS66 was the way to go was thinking it look
Revenant

Revenant

2
Dynasty Collectors' Cabinet

FINALLY THE BEAUTIFUL PORTRAIT HAS A NAME

"Mrs. Thomas Leiper and Her Daughter, Helen Hamilton Leiper" as shown on Oil on Canvas, 1794 by Charles Willson Peale. Do you recognize the features in the little one's face or perhaps on her mom's face? She would have been roughly two years old in the picture, having been born on April 20th 1792.      After having grown up in Philadelphia, in 1814 she married Robert Maskell Patterson M.D. and had seven children. Philadelphia in 1792 was home to our first Mint. Mr. Patterson's dad was Rober
Dynasty

Dynasty

3