I always use the registry and point system to compete with myself. I can't compete with expensive registry sets, but I can always strive to make my sets the best they can be. The registry and the points assigned to the coins in the registry help me to improve the quality of my collection. In the end, I may not have all the top pops, but I do own several snazzy looking sets like my 7070 type set.  https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/73886/

3 hours ago, coinsbygary said:

I always use the registry and point system to compete with myself. I can't compete with expensive registry sets, but I can always strive to make my sets the best they can be. The registry and the points assigned to the coins in the registry help me to improve the quality of my collection. In the end, I may not have all the top pops, but I do own several snazzy looking sets like my 7070 type set.  https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/73886/

 

I like that set you have, especially the coin's round pictures. Still working on the photography as lighting is the issue on my end. I especially like seeing the gold coins in your collect. I kind of do the same thing with the points, use them to improve my collection. 

I just have the Basic US Type with no gold:
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/249753/

Few gaps still in that set, but happy I have those coins in my collection. I'm in no rush at the moment. 

But I'm working on getting coins rated and putting them in two collections, Solomon Islands and the British Virgin Islands (https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/300413/).  Both island sets should be completed by end of Summer this year.

Nice looking type set! I enjoy photography as a second hobby akin to collecting coins. If there is anything I can help you with, feel free to message me and I'll be more than happy to help! Lighting is a key aspect of photography, but the good news is that it is one of the least expensive tools used in photography. The hard part is getting it right! Gary 

Chrisln,

 You can do the round crop pics with PhotoScape. It is a free download and fun to mess with.

3 hours ago, Six Mile Rick said:

Chrisln,

 You can do the round crop pics with PhotoScape. It is a free download and fun to mess with.

Thanks Six Mile.... I'll look into it!

On 2/18/2021 at 9:18 AM, coinsbygary said:

I always use the registry and point system to compete with myself. I can't compete with expensive registry sets, but I can always strive to make my sets the best they can be. The registry and the points assigned to the coins in the registry help me to improve the quality of my collection. In the end, I may not have all the top pops...

 

Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't you still curb-stomping the competition in the Wilhelmina 10G category? Seriously love that set. Makes me jealous but I'm not touching Wilhelmina until I get finished with Papa's set and get a few more type coins I want.

Seriously, Gary, I know you don't do this to "compete" per se but I think you do just fine in some areas. 👍 

On 2/18/2021 at 6:25 PM, coinsbygary said:

Lighting is a key aspect of photography, but the good news is that it is one of the least expensive tools used in photography.

It can be - but there are also $2,000 a piece studio strobes used in portraiture that I'd love to own. I find that strobes can be expensive but always-on lighting (often called "hot lights") tend to be cheaper. You probably use hot lights more for coin photos - as do I - because it's easy to get a good image of a coin when you can actually see the lighting and luster you're gonna get. Strobes tend to suck for coins.

22 minutes ago, Revenant said:

Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't you still curb-stomping the competition in the Wilhelmina 10G category? Seriously love that set. Makes me jealous but I'm not touching Wilhelmina until I get finished with Papa's set and get a few more type coins I want.

Seriously, Gary, I know you don't do this to "compete" per se but I think you just fine in some areas. 👍 

 

Wilhelmina has a lot going for her. First, the set is small at only 11 coins. The set has one key, the 1898 that is not all that difficult to obtain in lower MS condition. It is however difficult to obtain in high MS condition. My 66 is the top pop and the most expensive coin I purchased for the set. Next, it is not all that well known in the collecting community which means that demand for her coins is lower. Finally, high grade coins can be had for less money than other foreign gold coins like, for instance, sovereigns. Many of the coins I bought were not much more than spot gold priced. With all that going for me why can't a little guy go for the best and obtain it! If you remember I ran against a guy we used to call "money bags". Huh! when he couldn't beat me he dropped out! That makes a little guy like me feel kind of good! Every little guy should have an area of interest in numismatics where he or she can claim to be close to, if not the best, in their area of numismatic interest! Gary

On 2/28/2021 at 2:10 PM, coinsbygary said:

Wilhelmina has a lot going for her. First, the set is small at only 11 coins. The set has one key, the 1898 that is not all that difficult to obtain in lower MS condition. It is however difficult to obtain in high MS condition. My 66 is the top pop and the most expensive coin I purchased for the set. Next, it is not all that well known in the collecting community which means that demand for her coins is lower. Finally, high grade coins can be had for less money than other foreign gold coins like, for instance, sovereigns. Many of the coins I bought were not much more than spot gold priced. With all that going for me why can't a little guy go for the best and obtain it! If you remember I ran against a guy we used to call "money bags". Huh! when he couldn't beat me he dropped out! That makes a little guy like me feel kind of good! Every little guy should have an area of interest in numismatics where he or she can claim to be close to, if not the best, in their area of numismatic interest! Gary

That Wilhelmina set is a nice set, just saw it a couple days ago. As you were saying about sets that are not well known, that was kind of what happened when I was picking up British Virgin Isle coins.... not a popular coin to pick up 10 years ago. But the last couple years the prices have jumped up. Sterling silver proofs for BVI have gone past the 150% above spot price for raw and 300+% outrageous slabbed prices. I still have coins trickling in from last years from overseas and they're still a little pricey, but not common. Metal prices and reintroducing this island with newer coins hasn't not helped either LOL. I have a few BVI coins that don't show slots that will make their debut this year.

I just need those scarce Kennedy world coins and medals though. I already broke my promise about "not buying a coin this year" because a rare one on my search engines showed up and I had too buy it before it disappeared. Damn the internet LOL!!

On 2/24/2021 at 8:54 PM, Six Mile Rick said:

Chrisln,

 You can do the round crop pics with PhotoScape. It is a free download and fun to mess with.

Thanks Rick, I'll give it a try!!

On 2/24/2021 at 8:54 PM, Six Mile Rick said:

Chrisln,

 You can do the round crop pics with PhotoScape. It is a free download and fun to mess with.

The problem is the site wants you to modify your search engine.... unless you know where to find the download without this change.... I can't use it.