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A New IKE for My Proof Set

And other miscellaneous stuff. Yes indeed, my Proof Eisenhower Registry Set is now just one coin short of being complete. I just picked up a 1971S Silver PF69UC IKE for a very reasonable price. It?s amazing what a little bit of patience will do for you in this hobby. Typically, these go for about 50% more on EBay than I paid for this puppy. The only IKE I need to finish the set is that ever pesky 1973S Silver Proof Coin. I?ve seen these things (PF69UC) consistently go for well over $50 on EBa
Dennis B-migration

Dennis B-migration

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A New FT Roosevelt, Expanding My Registry Sets and Getting Ready to Set New Collecting Goals

Or how I?m spending my summer vacation. Well, my $5.00 dime set is continuing to grow. I?m up a coin count of 7 now. I even managed to pick up another FT for the set, 2007 SMS MS67FT. I have to admit that limiting myself to spending no more than $5.00 a coin has turned into great affordable fun for me. My admiration of the Roosevelt dime continues to grow particularly with regards to Full Torch classification. I can see myself really dedicating some serious time and resources to this set at so
Dennis B-migration

Dennis B-migration

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Five New Coins That Didn?t Kill the Budget

Buying coins when the money isn?t there. I hope everyone had a great 4th of July weekend. Around here the 4th of July means getting everything ready for our big BBQ bash. While my wife is making the potato and macaroni salads and doing the perquisite pie backing, I?m out cutting the grass and cleaning up the yard, making sure the pool is up to snuff and making sure there is an ample supply of charcoal for the grill and smokers. Fortunately, it also means everyone sleeps late in the mornings so
Dennis B-migration

Dennis B-migration

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Haunting the Mailbox

In other words, I have too much free time on my hands if that is possible. Two weeks into summer vacation and I find myself haunting the mailbox for the odd coin I manage to acquire and doing all of the little things I have wanted to do with my coins. For the most part that means getting all of the photos caught up in my registry sets. Slowly but surely, the pictures are coming. But me being me I am not content with simply taking a picture of the slab and posting it. Of course I am still stru
Dennis B-migration

Dennis B-migration

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Make Me an Offer

On any or all of the graded coins below Every summer I dump all of the extra coins I pick up during the course of the preceding year. The proceeds go toward (Yes, you guessed it!) my summer coin purchases. If you are interested in any of the following graded coins, I?d be more than interested in entertaining any trade offers or outright offers to purchase. Hoenstly, I'd much rather the coins go to filling holes for the members here because I know people here really appreciate the coins. I typi
Dennis B-migration

Dennis B-migration

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Another Die Variety Combination

Not for the Morgan Dollar but for the IKE Okay, it is summer vacation which means I get caught up on a lot of reading. I decided to start going through all of the Coin World Magazine editions that they have in digital format. (I?ve only had a subscription for a year or so.) It makes for great early morning reading when the entire world is still quiet and peaceful. Anyway, I?m sure not going to remember which volume all of these articles are in so I?m cataloging the articles related to US coin
Dennis B-migration

Dennis B-migration

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Starting The Summer With A PF70UC Lincoln Cent

Definitely a high note but summer is always a two edged sword School is done! The high school baseball season is over. We bowed out in the 3rd round losing to the team that would eventually claim the state title, all of the final exams for the kids are finished and the Class of 2011 walked across the stage to get their diplomas last night. I have one teacher workday left on Monday but rest assured I will out of the school before 1:00 PM and won?t be heading back until mid-August. Summer is alw
Dennis B-migration

Dennis B-migration

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$5.00 Coins

I don?t mean $5.00 gold coins but rather graded coins that can be had for $5.00 or less. I swear my brain works in weird ways maybe it?s because I?m a high school teacher and I spend all day around teenagers. Anyway, school is winding down; the seniors are taking their finals and getting ready for graduation. While the seniors are taking their final exams my room is quiet and my work is caught up so I pull up EBay to see if anything catches my eye. Sure enough, I low ball a couple of bids and
Dennis B-migration

Dennis B-migration

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Somewhere I seemed to have missed the POINT!

Collecting or keeping score? I love reading the journals that people post be it a quick snippet of a member?s experience in the world of collecting coins or a doctoral thesis on a topic related to this hobby. Whether I agree or disagree with what is written I can honestly say I have never been offended or upset with anyone?s entry. And so it is with the recent discussion on the point system here in the registry. In fact, the ongoing discussion about how points are assigned has brought a smile
Dennis B-migration

Dennis B-migration

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Redefining an Acquisition Strategy

Silver and gold prices are creating quite the challenge Indeed, it is a rare day when I can sit down with my coins in the middle of the week. Silver and gold prices continue to climb and we are most definitely in the middle of a feeding frenzy for precious metals. In fact, it seems that many coin collectors have moved from collecting coins to amassing metals. Well, I don?t have the resources or the inclination to do anything other than collect coins. The problem arises when trying to fill thos
Dennis B-migration

Dennis B-migration

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One Coin at a Time

Scrimping, saving and scratching for every spare dollar then finding coins I can afford It?s a perfect Saturday morning for working with my coins. Spring break started so I don?t feel the need to get anything special done today. The morning is gray and blustery with a light rain falling so everyone is getting caught up on some much needed sleep. I figured it was a good time to pull up my list of collecting goals and take inventory of how I was doing so far. I am still at only 5 of 10 goals met
Dennis B-migration

Dennis B-migration

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At Last a Quiet Sunday Morning!

Coins, Whiskey, and the Weather It?s hard to believe that it?s been a month since I?ve really spent any serious time working with my coins. I haven?t worked my registry sets of which to speak. I haven?t seriously gone looking for any deals. I even skipped the local coin show last month. Oh my interest in collecting isn?t waning; it?s just that sometimes life gets in the way. (That sounded strange.) With the start of High School Baseball Season, my 16 hour days make finding the energy to do muc
Dennis B-migration

Dennis B-migration

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Early American Copper Cents and Other Musings

The Agony and Ecstasy look and not acquiring I can?t even begin to tell you how many pictures of Early American Cents I?ve looked at in the last few weeks. Unfortunately, looking is all I?ve been able to do. Even in good condition all of the early coins have been out of my reach this month. Compounding the situation is I?m still not sure exactly at what I?m looking. The number of varieties is a bit overwhelming. Of course, that hasn?t deterred me from looking. I am beginning to develop a set o
Dennis B-migration

Dennis B-migration

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The Money Is Gone This Month!

When the heat goes, so do any funds to buy coins. It was just one of those things. Two weeks ago the heat pump here at the house rolled over and died. Thank goodness I don?t live in New England anymore; still North Carolina does get cold in February. But when you need to come up with a big chunk of pocket change to repair the heating unit for the house, buying coins doesn?t seem quite so important. So any money I had set aside for coins this month got diverted to the cost of the repair of the
Dennis B-migration

Dennis B-migration

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Completing a Set

And all the coins are PF70UC to boot! Not often can most of us complete a set let alone a set where every coin in the set is a top pop but as of this morning the very high likelihood that I will complete my first registry set very soon is staring me right in the face. Okay, I will admit it is not a difficult set to complete and there are at least 35 other registered top pop complete sets but this one is mine. After close to three weeks of limited success of adding coins to my registry sets bec
Dennis B-migration

Dennis B-migration

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Finally, Some New Coins!

Or a day at the local coin show... The boys, Steven and Alex, and I headed to the local coin show yesterday. It was a first for both of my sons. Steven, 24 yr old, bee lined for the dealers with paper currency. He was thrilled to get a good look at a large note Black Eagle. The large notes really have caught his fancy. Sadly, neither he nor I had enough money for him to purchase one but he is on a mission now. He?s never really made a big dollar purchase for anything like this before and he i
Dennis B-migration

Dennis B-migration

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A Christmas Present That Has No Equal

2011 looks to be an awesome year! The Christmas decorations are all down. All the visitors have made their way home. But this Christmas will forever be one of the very best I have ever had. Oh, Santa was great and there were presents a plenty under the tree for everyone. I got my new Lincoln Cents Albums and my 2010 Mint and Uncirculated sets for which I had been hoping and I got a gift I never dreamed I would get. The weekend before Christmas my wife and I drove 2000 miles (non-stop, round tr
Dennis B-migration

Dennis B-migration

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Out of the blue

I?m honored and floored Well, it?s a typical Saturday morning. I had plans for today but they got scuttled because of the threat of winter weather which afforded me the unusual option of staying in bed this morning. Granted sleeping until 7:30 is sleeping late for me since I?m usually up at 4:30. The house is still quiet and my eyes are barely open. I turn the coffee on as pass on my way to fire up the computer. Okay, coffee in hand, computer booted up, eyes still having trouble focusing, it?
Dennis B-migration

Dennis B-migration

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And So The New Year Is Upon Us

The adventure in collecting continues The excitement of Christmas has passed and I find myself sitting here on a quite morning with my coffee and my coins about me. I got my new Lincoln Cents Albums, both the 2010 Mint and 2010 Uncirculated sets, and a 2011 Red Book. More than I could have asked. My 24 year old son was most pleased with the 1923 Large Note Silver Certificate we got him and he has been pouring through the Standard Catalog of United States Currencies he found under the tree. He
Dennis B-migration

Dennis B-migration

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What Can You Do With $100?

If you are patient, you might just be surprised! Christmas break has finally come. With no school until after the New Year, the next 10 days or so are mine. Five of my six kids are already home for the holidays and my oldest daughter and her guy will be arriving Friday for the Christmas festivities on Saturday. Need I say that chaos reigns supreme in my house right now? My youngest son and I have already started pouring over coins to fill the holes in his albums and I have been on the hunt for
Dennis B-migration

Dennis B-migration

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CHRISTMAS COMES EARLY

December starts with flurry of sweet acquisitions. It?s probably not the best time to be forking out extra money to add to my collection especially in the heart of the holiday shopping season but I learned a long time ago you have move quickly when an opportunity presents itself. December is proving to be a month of opportunity so far. Just since Thanksgiving my sets have grown with some very nice acquisitions. I?ve added a couple of nice Lincoln Cents including a top pop 1976S PR69RDU and a
Dennis B-migration

Dennis B-migration

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It?s the Little Things That Make This Hobby Great!

Or how a simple MS66RD penny reminded me of my youth. The mail came yesterday afternoon and expecting nothing more than the usual barrage of holiday sales flyers, the short walk down to the end of the driveway started out as nothing more than the daily ritual. With the Thanksgiving holiday weekend in full swing, I did not expect any of my recent acquisitions to arrive until early next week. My wife and I had just finished decorating the Christmas tree and we had begun our usual transformation
Dennis B-migration

Dennis B-migration

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Happy Thanksgiving to One and All

Time to write Santa a letter about COINS! I love this time of the year! With the celebration of Thanksgiving, my thoughts always turn to my letter to Santa. Yes, I still believe in Santa! I?m sure this year like last year I will find some new collecting surprises under the tree. I particularly love finding rolls of coins in my stocking. My kids have me figured out as well and I am certain they will also be wrapping rolls of pennies for me so I spend Christmas afternoon scouring through them af
Dennis B-migration

Dennis B-migration

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Collecting Milestones

Victories along the way though the be small Here it is, yet another quiet weekend morning with my coffee and my coins. With the holidays coming down the tracks like a runaway locomotive, I am relishing this time in the sanctuary of my quiet and my coins. The last few weeks have been thin for acquisitions. To be honest, as hectic as things have been, I have not had the time to devote to finding many additions to my collection. My efforts in the last few weeks have netted me only a 2006S PF69UC
Dennis B-migration

Dennis B-migration

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I Did Not Get The Coin!

But I did get a partner in crime? Well, the coin on which I wanted to splurge, an MS66 1971D Ike did not happen. Sadly, it was the budget that got in the way. Such is the life of a bottom fisher even when going out on a splurge. And while there was the bite of disappointment, it did not last. I have come to learn that everything happens for a reason and in its own time. So, all I can only say is that it wasn?t the right time. (This wonderful piece of wisdom is a precious gift from my wife.) A
Dennis B-migration

Dennis B-migration

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