MarkW's Journal

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The Endless Journey

Morgan Madness I?ve collected coins since the mid 50's when my mom gave me a few Indian Heads, 1 Flying Eagle, and a very worn 1868 2 cent piece. My interest in numismatics has had peaks and valleys since that time, but I still have those coins. I delivered newspapers between 1959 and 1965 and managed to salt away some silver halves even though part of me was fighting the ?saving? part. Eventually, I started to collect in earnest and Morgan Dollars became my favorite. These huge, silver dis

MarkW

MarkW

Mea Culpa

Can't sleep It's 3:30 AM. Earlier I "dissed" some of my fellow CS members. I apologize for a rant that I never should have posted. My only excuse is stupidity. I'll continue to read all posted journal entries. Now, so that I don't have to put myself in my ignore list, I will post a short journal. My collecting bent is Morgan Dollars. I completed my registry set in 2006 ranking 36 of 485 sets. Now, over 50,000 points and 76 upgrades later, I rank 37th. There are, however, almost 1700 sets in

MarkW

MarkW

Terse?

Perhaps It could be that I was somewhat terse in my last rant. Maybe I shouldn't have automatically eliminated most of those that had a certain letter in their name. My point was that this is a JOURNAL page, not a page that calls for any little thing you have. NGC offers us a chat page with chats concerning U. S. Coins, Numismatic Tangents, What you Need to Know, ETC. Maybe we should use it!

MarkW

MarkW

I think I've figured it out

How to eliminate the that some of our members think are "journals" To those of you that think any thoughts about coins or your collections are journals, please read the description of "journals". To those of you that have won "journal awards" in the past, please realize the definition of "journal". Most of the stuff that appears on the journals here belongs on the chat boards. My guess is that these posters do not even know that the chat boards even exist. Therefore, I have determined that

MarkW

MarkW

A tip of the hat!

Fellow Morganmaniacs On December 14, 2007 the number of Morgan Dollar sets in the NGC registry reached 1000. It is amazing to see the number of registered collectors of these huge chunks of silver reach this milestone. For a set requiring 105 coins ( only 3 of which are less than 103 years old ) to gain 1000 followers is quite amazing. The only set with a higher number of registered sets is Silver Eagles. The Silver Eagle set requires 25 coins ( currently ) and holds no coin over 21 ye

MarkW

MarkW

Another year passes

It's renewal time again with NGC. Another year of ?numismania? has quickly slipped by with only slight ?branching out? from my main interest (Morgan dollars). Upgrades to my Morgan set have grown into large investments, thereby making changes few and far between. The looseleaf binder shown in my February ?07 journal entry has had only 11 pages replaced with upgraded coins. I?m still constantly checking Ebay, Teletrade, Heritage, and elsewhere for the few ?affordable? upgrades I can still ho

MarkW

MarkW

Added 36,000 points, dropped 1 in rank

Journal? As any one who has read any of my journals over the past couple of years knows, my collecting priorities lie in Morgan Dollars. Since completion of my Morgan set in April of 2006, I?ve added over 36,000 points and I?ve managed to drop only one notch in the rankings. Approximately $20,000 and one less position. SMOOTH! I?m not upset. My set is much higher quality than it was 15 months ago. However, I seem to be swimming upstream against an ever increasing current. WARNING!

MarkW

MarkW

I must be gettin' old....

Saturday night and I'm writing a JOURNAL entry. It?s been 4 months since my last entry. In that entry I mentioned upgrades to my Morgan Dollar set. I also stated that the torrid coin buying pace I had been setting must slow down. I have upgraded 7 more members of the set, but I have not bought a coin for a month. That is, of course, if I don?t count a couple rolls of GW$. BTW, the rolls here were in rough shape also. The withdrawal symptoms are getting a little rough. Hence, I?m writing

MarkW

MarkW

NGC Anniversary

A year of victories, defeats, growth, and insanity I just passed 1 year of membership in NGC?s Collector?s society. Initially, I made journal entries on a fairly regular basis. While I have been a coin collector for over 45 years, my activity in the hobby would come and go. Occasional catalysts would crank up my interest for a short time and then finances or other ?real life? priorities would push numismatics to the ?back burner? for a time. I?ve had my collection on the ?front burner? no

MarkW

MarkW

Certification deleted

?? In my April journal entry I mulled my options about what step to take in my numismatic quest. I had completed my Morgan Dollar registry set and, knowing I could never climb much higher in the ranks, was undecided in whether to upgrade or move on to another goal. I decided to work on upgrading those coins that wouldn't rush me to the Poor House. I've managed to slide a few coins up a grade or two. However, I've hit a snag. I recently purchased a nice 1885 NGC MS66 to replace a very nice PCGS

MarkW

MarkW

"Poor Man's Insanity" 100%

What Next? The acquisition of an 1895-S Morgan in XF40 completes my registry set of Morgan Dollars. Currently, the lowest ranked 100% set of Morgans at #36. This number is not too bad considering the fact that Morgan Dollars are the #1 collected set at over 550 registered. I?m in somewhat of a quandary as to my next numismatic adventure. If this set remains untouched, I know that this ranking will only slip further down the list as time passes. I don?t have the funds to ever climb

MarkW

MarkW

Grading Gripes?

Live and Learn! In some of my previous journal entries, I?ve done my share of beefing about the long wait only to receive ?body bags? containing coins that wouldn?t grade. My ?contributions? to NGC have paid for a lunch or two in Sarasota. When I joined The Collector?s Society last fall, I was new to the ?graded, slabbed coin? thing. Basically, for the 40-something years I had leisurely collected coins, coins came in plastic flips, cardboard flips, or totally naked (ready to fill a spot in

MarkW

MarkW

"And Now...

The End is Near..." The delivery Gods are smiling on me. Morgan Dollars are appearing on my doorstep and in my mailbox at a headspinning clip. I race home from work daily to beat the mailman to my home so I?ll be there to sign for my next treasure. Some days, I find only the evidence of the attempted delivery of one of these registered and insured packages and I?ll jump back into my truck and chase down the delivery person further along his or her route. I?m sure my local representatives o

MarkW

MarkW

One Road Completed

Another Road Grows Smoother THEN Grows Potholes The completed road is actually one leg of the journey through the completion of my Morgan dollar set. The final piece to my GSA Carson City Morgan dollar set is on its way. The 1879-CC is the ?King? of this set. Only 4100 79-CC?s were sold in the GSA auctions of 1972-1974. Two varieties exist, the Clear CC and the Capped Die CC. I didn?t know when, or even if, I?d find one on which I would be willing to spend a small fortune. Done, now I?m

MarkW

MarkW

The road to completion

Gifts from NGC? As I look at and admire some of the top Morgan Dollar sets, I can only imagine what kind of outlay was necessary to accumulate so many pristine examples of George Morgan?s legacy. I?m just a typical working stiff who has enjoyed coins, especially Morgans, for more decades than I care to remember. I had completed a set of ?raw? business strike Morgans and decided that my next logical step was to leap into a registered set. There?s a reason that my Morgan registry set

MarkW

MarkW

"Magic"?

Disappearing journal Is David Copperfield somehow affiliated with this site? Can someone make journal entries disappear? Island Antiques made an entry claiming that he (or she) received the incorrect coins back from grading at NGC and stated that he (or she) was finished with this site and NGC. That journal entry has vaporized. If, in fact, NGC screwed up that badly, I am rather uncomfortable. I have coins in for grading at this time. If Island Antiques was wrong, I will not worry.

MarkW

MarkW

"PQ"

"FRESH" & "Double Sharp" Like VUMC409, I have also purchased many of my coins on eBay. I?ve found that some dealers use their own terms to describe their offerings. ?PQ?, I believe, means ?Proof Quality?. Says who? One eBay seller who sells mostly raw coins loves to use the term ?FRESH?. Fresh from what? Another likes ?Double Sharp?. What the !#** does that mean? I find that NGC and PCGS slabs are the safest bet. I examine the Numismedia and PCGS price guides before maki

MarkW

MarkW

Matched "TheCoinGuy"

Images, folks! Matched ?TheCoinGuy?. While my sets do not reach the scope of TheCoinGuy, I too have finished imaging my sets in the registry. Much experimentation with a new digital camera was necessary and I?m sure I can improve on some of my photos. But, like TheCoinGuy, step one is complete. We coin nuts should be able to enjoy each other?s sets. Come on folks, image those sets. [attachment=:name]

MarkW

MarkW

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