brg5658's Journal

A journal by brg5658

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Number 1!

For now...likely not for long... I upgraded my State Quarter example from an MS68 Iowa quarter to a 2002-P Louisiana quarter, graded MS69 by PCGS. The state quarters prior to the SMS/Satin releases (which started in 2005) are hard to find in MS69, so I thought this was a good purchase. It's not my favorite design of the series, but it's also not my least favorite. It's what I can afford to have as an almost perfect example in my 21st Century Type Set. It's a happy side effect, at least at
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Gimmick?

Never thought I'd like this one...but I was wrong. A little over a week ago, I ran across one of the First Spouse copper medals. This is the poor-man's version of the First Spouse gold coins the Mint has been releasing. Maybe it was the classic design, but I couldn't pass it up. Let's just say I wasn't expecting much. BUT, I was pleasantly surprised with what I got. I couldn't put this one down for a good 10 minutes today...really stunning. I'm not running out to snag all of these, bu
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Final spot

Last coin in my 21st Century Type Set I'll keep this short and sweet. A couple days ago, I got the last coin to finish my 21st Century Type Set. I hoped for a while that I would be able to fill the 2000-2003 Jefferson Nickel slot with an MS68FS example, but that is well out of my price range for the time being. I picked up a nice 2001-P MS67FS example. It's a little baggy on the high spots, but that seems to be par for the course for these years. I thought the detail and completely unbro
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Here we go again...

Where's the beef? The year was 1984 when Wendy's released their famous marketing "Where's the Beef?" campaign. I'm using an analogy to this slogan in jest as "Where's the Beard?" on the recent Lincoln cents. This post is somewhat related to my previous post about the Mint reverting to the older version of John Flanagan's Washington bust on the 2010-present quarters. This was a welcome reversion for many, based on the feedback I received. Apparently many disliked the "spaghetti-haired" Wash
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Mystery solved...

But I still don't know WHY they did it! So I did a bit more digging after yesterdays post. What I initially surmised is true. The sharp, detailed, and slightly modified obverse of the State and Territory quarters of 1999-2009 has been forgone in the 2010 America The Beautiful quarters. The original bust design of the Washington Quarter Dollar first minted in 1932 was the work of John Flanagan. This classic and extremely recognizable design was a mainstay from 1932-1998 (save the slightly
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2010 Washington Quarter Change??

Why did they go back to the less detailed Washington bust for the 2010 release? When I received my 2010 type coin for the new "America The Beautiful National Parks" series I noticed right away a very striking (no pun intended) difference in the obverse detail quality. Firstly, almost all of the hair detail was rounded, dull, and looked worn. Secondly, upon further inspection, I noticed the obverse bust is all-together different from the 1999-2009 States & Territories issues as is clear f
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A nice snag...

One of my favorites As many of you may have read last week, I'm not the biggest fan of the 50 States/Territories/America The Beautiful (ATB) series of Quarter designs. I am grateful for their effect on the hobby, but I think the series has run its course, and the next few years of ATB quarters will really drag on. However, there are a few beauties among the banal. I can easily pick out 5 designs that I find beautiful and these always catch my eye as truly stunning. In no particular order,
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DC and Territories

Nice addition to 21st Century Type Set The quarter designs post-1998 really haven't piqued my interest too much (Statehood, Territories, and now America the Beautiful). I know the Statehood Quarters series really rekindled a lot of interest in coin collecting, but I could never keep up. And, I'm much more of a traditionalist. I like designs that stick around and become "classic" and part of the fabric of the U.S. culture. I kind of miss that beautiful 1932-1998 eagle reverse. Again, I'm g
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A beautiful lady

Great mail day! So the "bargain" that I hinted at last week came in the mail today. I upgraded my 2009-D Satin Finish Native American Dollar! Yes, I know this is a modern coin, but this baby is hard to find. Between NGC and PCGS, there have been 1,162 of these coins graded. A mere 35 have been graded SP69, with none finer. There have been none available on Teletrade, and there are currently no others available on eBay. From about the same number of 2009-P Satin examples graded (1,261
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Saturday surprise

Common but beautiful! I got my Morgan for my 20th Century Type Set today! I know the 1904-O is a relatively common date in high grade, but I am extremely happy with my new beauty. Cheers! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.
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Coin photography woes

The 6th time is a charm. About a month ago I bought a little point and shoot camera with macro photography capabilities (a macro setting). More importantly, I purchased a fairly nice copy stand that's about 18" x 24" and has a telescoping camera mount that can shoot from distances of about 10" through 24". The camera and the copy stand cost me about $200 combined. The camera is a 12 Megapixel super compact little thing...I can't believe how tiny these things keep getting. I found it on sal
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1913 Type 1 Buffalo Nickel

Even nicer than I thought! I've been looking for a nice example of the Type 1 1913 Nickel for a couple months. I passed up several on Teletrade because they were either out of my price range or I just didn't like the way they looked (I wanted a full-struck date, especially the leading "1"). I found one last week well within my price range, and still graded at PCGS MS65. Upon requesting some clearer and close-up pictures, I decided to pull the trigger. It came today, and it's beautiful by a
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Postman always rings twice (or three times?)

Tag, you're it! After playing a game of cat-and-mouse with the postman for the past 3 days, I finally received my Buffalo Nickel. As many of you know, Teletrade purchases are delivered with signature confirmation. While I really appreciate this peace of mind, sometimes it is difficult to get your items. Where I live, most people work from 730 to 530, or some similar work schedule. The post office is opened from 830 to 530. So the game goes: (1) the postman drops off a slip saying my pack
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Bicentennial coinage

Loving my new 1976-D MS67 Clad Quarter There has always been something about the bicentennial quarters that caught my eye. As a kid, I would always pull them from circulation because they looked different. I probably had $40 worth of 1776-1976 quarters separated out in a Tupperware container by the time I graduated from high school. I just thought they were "cool" and they must be inherently more rare than all of the eagle-reverse quarters out there. As I've gotten older, these quarters a
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Snow day...

Two beautiful satins came today! This will be a short but sweet journal. I wasn't sure if the mail was ever going to come today, but the postman finally showed up at 5:45pm. I got two new MS69 satin finish beauties for my 21st Century Type Set. Hope everyone is having a good weekend. The obverse pics are below. The larger pictures and the reverses are posted in my 21st Century Type Set. Cheers! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below
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Things that make you go hmmmm

Highway robbery or really a modern rarity? After much patience, I finally got my hands on a 2009-D Business Strike Sacagawea (Native American) Dollar graded MS67. Surprisingly, this modern issue is hard to find in this grade and particularly from the Denver mint. The last one to sell on Teletrade went for $130 back in September 2010 (after the buyer?s fee, $150). There have been two recently posted for auction on Teletrade, but they are opening at $150, and they have cycled through at leas
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My first post

Buried in snow, so why not scribble a few thoughts... I have been a regular reader of the journals for quite a few months now, so I thought I'd try my hand at a brief post and share a picture. To kick off the start of 2011, I decided to start putting together a non-proof, non-gold 20th Century Type Set. I have no intent on the set being more competitive than possibly top 20, as it is well out of my budget to compete with the sets containing MS67FH quarters and strictly top-pop coins! Mores
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