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Entries in this journal

Through Virgin Eyes!

There is nothing like working with a new collector to get new focus. My 24 year old son came home from work the other day. He was quite excited, almost electric. He promptly produced 3 $2 bills he had traded out of the register. They we relatively new issues (I think 1976 and 1995) and in circulated condition but not terribly worn. I sort of chuckled because I had seen $2 bills before but these were his. I didn?t take long for me to figure out that he had that same look in his eyes that I had
Dennis B-migration

Dennis B-migration

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"The time has come," the Walrus said,

"To talk of many things: ...of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--of cabbages--and kings--and to pay a price much too high for coins and other things.   All literary parodies aside, the time has come for me to take one of my rare splurges to buy I coin I feel is a key for my collection. There are very few of these so called key coins in my collecting dreams. I can admire and enjoy all coins without actually owning them. But I have come to the realization that the coin on which I have my sig
Dennis B-migration

Dennis B-migration

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Way To Go Idaho!

A boy and his toys (proverbially speaking) I once heard that he who dies with the most toys wins. Given that condition, I doubt I will ever win. But my coins are, in a very round about way, my toys. Usually, I feel very happy to pick up one or two very nice graded coins and/or fill a couple of holes or upgrade a few coins in my albums over the course of a month. But October has been an unusual month so far for me and we are only about half way through it. I must, by necessity refrain from chas
Dennis B-migration

Dennis B-migration

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Slow and Steady

One coin at a time Another quiet Sunday morning and I?m back immersed in my coins. Oh don?t get me wrong, I pretty much have my coins around 24/7 but Sundays provide me with the time, free of the distractions of the everyday world, to thoroughly enjoy my small but growing collection. As it is the beginning of a new month, I wanted to look at my progress against my collecting goals. I was pleasantly surprised to find I had made more headway that I thought. The Eisenhower set is complete. So muc
Dennis B-migration

Dennis B-migration

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It Doesn?t Take a Rocket Scientist

To figure out that you can?t get a real MS70 for $2.00 As a rule, I stick to NGC or PCGS when buying graded coins. I prefer NGC for appearance but it is the coin on which I ultimately make my decision. For recently minted coins, I almost exclusively buy NGC. After having looked at several coins and compared them side by side, I cannot see the difference between a NGC and PCGS PF70UC/DCam and I cannot, in my mind, justify the premium that PCGS seems to command. I am somewhat dubious of all othe
Dennis B-migration

Dennis B-migration

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The Ikes are Complete

After a year of looking I finally got a reasonably priced 73S Silver Ike to complete the set I completed my first set of coins EVER! This week I was able to pick up a Proof 1973S Silver Eisenhower Dollar to fill the last hole in my set. After a year of looking for the coin that wasn?t grossly over priced, I got it! (And yes, I cracked it out of its proof case and immediately put it in my set.) It was the last coin I needed to complete the set and I mean a complete set! My set has all three 19
Dennis B-migration

Dennis B-migration

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This Too Shall Pass

There is more to this hobby than paying through the nose for new coins. Well, it looks like the economy is raising hell in the metal markets again. Gold is at an all time high and silver is not much further behind. Of course this translates to some people paying outrageous prices for coins, raw and graded, because they see it as a safe haven. You just have to love John Q. Public! Now is definitely not the time for me to be chasing coins on the auction sites or trying to negotiate lower prices
Dennis B-migration

Dennis B-migration

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A New Member to The Family

Actually, a couple of new members Payday has come and gone, everyone is still asleep, the coffee is hot and the morning is cool. It?s the weekend and a long weekend on top of that. I?ve been up for a couple of hours and I?m immersed in my coins once again. With the first payday of the school year comes my re-entrance into active acquisition of coins for my sets. So far, my budget is still good. Let?s just say the budget of $50 a month is more of a guideline than a hard and fast rule. This ye
Dennis B-migration

Dennis B-migration

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Coins, Coffee and Quiet

Sunday mornings while most of the world is asleep It seems like it has been forever since I last sat down on a quiet Sunday morning and dedicated time to enjoying my collection. Fortunately, I am the only early weekend riser in the house. I?m sure there are a thousand other things I could be doing but I don?t. This quiet time is perfect for updating my registry descriptions and photos or just working with my raw sets. I?m not distracted with the mundane activities and noise of the everyday as
Dennis B-migration

Dennis B-migration

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Coins on a $50 a Month Budget

Taking bottom fishing to a new level My budget for buying graded coins is $50 a month. During the summer, June through August, it is $0. I blew the budget this summer and bought three graded coins all of them PF70UC. I spent less then $50 total including shipping, handling and transaction fees. (Let?s face it going 3 months without adding to my collection is pure torture!) I add a 2008S Clad PF70U DC Quarter, a 2008S Clad PF70UC Roosevelt Dime, and a 2007S Clad PF70UC Kennedy Half to my collec
Dennis B-migration

Dennis B-migration

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Time For A New Set of Goals

My annual collecting cycle starts on Labor Day As summer winds down, the excitement of once again being solvent has elevated my anticipation of my annual collecting cycle. Summers are spent living on budgeted savings. There is only enough money to get by and acquiring coins is put on the back burner in favor of the mortgage, bills and food. In fact, I very often sell the extra coins I get during the year to help the budget. This year has been particularly good for selling coins. My bottom fish
Dennis B-migration

Dennis B-migration

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Collecting With A 13 Year Old

Summer magic through the eyes of youth It has been a while since I posted a journal entry. My two youngest sons spent the summer (two months) with me so needless to say the summer has been wild. Both, unfortunately, have returned to my ex a 1000 miles away, literally. Now there is just silence in the house and my time is once again mine. Having very little disposable income during the summer months slows my collecting down but does not stop it. In fact, my youngest son and I were able to make
Dennis B-migration

Dennis B-migration

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Coins of Summer

Coins, Kids, and the Lack of Funds Wow, it seems like it has been forever since the last time I?ve had a quiet Saturday morning to play with my coins. There is only a week left to school, baseball season is over, and I have extricated my two youngest sons from my ex-wife in Louisiana and they are here for the summer. I even managed to get a decent night of sleep last night. Money or rather the lack of money has brought most of my collecting activities to a painfully grinding crawl. My regis
Dennis B-migration

Dennis B-migration

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Money Is The Only Object And Obstacle

Coins or food ? more difficult choices. Well, I cannot say my collecting has slowed down any but the additions to my collections have been rather slow in coming. As always, lack of resources is the biggest obstacle. I won?t by coins on credit. We?ve worked to hard to get ourselves out from under the credit cards. I will not even begin to talk about all of the deals I?ve had to pass by for lack of funds. But true to my nature, I have not been idle and my collection is still growing albeit slowi
Dennis B-migration

Dennis B-migration

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An Army of Eyes Looking for Coins

Kids will do the strangest things At last, I have the weekend mornings to myself. I think it?s been about a month since I have been able to sit down on both Saturday and Sunday morning and enjoy some quiet time. Well, I haven?t added much to my registry sets this month, another thin month for financial resources. I did add a 2009D LP4 to MS66 Lincoln Cent set. For the life of me I sure cannot see why people are driving the price of this one coin into the $15-$20 range. At that price, it is
Dennis B-migration

Dennis B-migration

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A Quiet Month of Coin Collecting in My World

No great deals to be had Ahhhh, at last a quiet Sunday morning, even the dog is not bothering me this morning. The coffee is hot and the time is mine! It has been a very quiet February for my collecting. I only managed to pick up one addition to my registry sets, a 2009 D LP4 MS66. Fortunately, I managed to get it at a reasonable price. I refused to pay more the $10.00 for the coin and people are bidding them up into the $15 to $18 range on Ebay. If that didn?t amaze me, the price a MS66 2010
Dennis B-migration

Dennis B-migration

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Re: Buy coins for love, not as an investment

In my humble opinion I?m not sure whether there are any valid arguments for or against the six points Augustus raised and, quite frankly, it really doesn?t matter one way or the other. Oh they are good talking points but are they really relevant? I would argue they are completely irrelevant. First of all, change is the only thing that is constant in life. Just when we get comfortable and used to the way things are, they change. So in that context I offer the following for your consideration.
Dennis B-migration

Dennis B-migration

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One Ike Left To Get

The 72 var. 2 is in hand. So far this month I haven?t picked up one graded coin! Oh they are out there but I?m not willing to pay the prices some people are asking. I probably could have picked up one or two but part of this journey is NOT to spend money hand over fist. For me the challenge is not getting the coin, the challenge is getting the coin at a very reasonable price. Let?s face it, if I won the lottery tomorrow I could pretty much fill many of my sets with top end coins but then where
Dennis B-migration

Dennis B-migration

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Waxing Philosophically

Doing it for fun and relaxation Of late, there seems to be a lot of discussion on the nature of competition in collecting registry sets. Bear in mind I am incredibly competitive and live by the credo that if you are not keeping score, it?s only practice. But I also recognize the reality of life. There is no way, I as a small time collector, will ever compete with the power collectors of the world. I collect coins for fun and relaxation. And as strange as this may sound, even to me, it does not
Dennis B-migration

Dennis B-migration

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Playing With My Coins

Or doing school work As luck would have it, 5 to 10 inches of snow in Central North Carolina means the schools are closed today. I really do not have anywhere to go but I do have a long list of things to get done for school. Unfortunately, the motivation is just not there. I would much rather update the photos and descriptions of my coins for my registry sets. That is where the guilt starts to come into play. If I could just figure out how to get the work done quickly which is unlikely, there
Dennis B-migration

Dennis B-migration

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A Nice Start to 2010

Or how to collect coins on a budget From a money standpoint January is always a thin month. Between a teacher?s salary and the cost of Christmas, there is usually very little money left for anything other than rent, bills and groceries in January. This year was no different. My darling wife cheerfully allows me to indulge in collecting coins with just a few rules. 1) Do not spend money we do not have, 2) do not dip into our summer savings and 3) do not use any credit cards. Given the fact that
Dennis B-migration

Dennis B-migration

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A New US Mint Press Release

Kennedy's will be available on the 29th Bags and Rolls of 2010 Kennedy Half-Dollars Available January 29   WASHINGTON - The United States Mint announced today that it will offer 2010 Kennedy Half-Dollars for sale starting at noon Eastern Time (ET) on January 29, 2010. The 2010 Kennedy Half-Dollars will be available in bags of 200 circulating quality coins that include an equal number of half-dollars with "P" and "D" mint marks. Each bag is marked with both a "P" and "D," representing
Dennis B-migration

Dennis B-migration

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I Hate That Darn 10X Loop

But not as much as I hate my failing eye sight! I guess I chalk this one up to inexperience and a learning lesson. When I got the 1981 S proof set in the mail, I got very excited. My eyes and magnifying glass had me convinced I had picked up a Type II set. Well, last night I was looking at the set more closely with a 10X loop and it became very obvious that the set was Type I. That made the decision to crack the set because the coins were not mounted properly and rubbing on the plastic case a
Dennis B-migration

Dennis B-migration

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Quandry of Quandries

My inexperience is showing again. Hot Dog!!! I picked up a 10x loop today. Wow! the things you can see on a coin. There in lies my problem. I have a a 1981 TII Ultra Cameo Proof set so naturally I wanted to take a good look at it since I have ideas of sending it in to be graded. As it tuns out, the coins are not mounted properly in the holder and the edges of the coins have been rubbing on the inside of the plastic case. Do I crack the case, remove the debris from the coins and put each coi
Dennis B-migration

Dennis B-migration

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Cross-over Grading Question

How do the others fair? Being relatively new to collecting graded coins, I have played it safe and stuck to getting only NGC and PCGS graded coins. I figured since they are both recognized in the registry their grading is fairly similar. How do the other grading services (i.e. ANACS, ICG, SGC and others) compare when crossing coins over to NGC grading so the coins can be added to the reistry? Is it worth incurring the cost of having the coins re-graded? Thanks
Dennis B-migration

Dennis B-migration

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