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The things that change while we're not paying attention...

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Revenant

Entry posted by Revenant ·

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About a month ago I was surprised to see that all the coins in my Presidential dollar set had been removed from the set and the score had gone to Zero.

When I looked into it, I saw that there was a new category for "First Day of Issue" dollars and my coins weren't eligible for the set / category they had been in before. I also saw there was a lot of screaming and bemoaning the unfairness of it all. lol For me, it was no big deal - I deleted the old set and started a new one. That set had never won anything and it wasn't that big a deal anyway. All it really did was reset my view count to 0. But... that and another recent journal got me wondering if I need to go back and have a look at some other sets.

When I made my Lunar dollar set some 14 years ago - I think - the set / category didn't include varieties. Then they were added. So, my 17-coin set was only about 17% complete - which was miserable and demoralizing. However, at some point - no clue when - NGC made a new category that included only the series 1 & 2 coins in mint state with no varieties. Which is pretty much perfect for me. I deleted the old set, made a new one, and got the exact same score. I went from being 17% complete to 68% complete with less than 10 holes to fill in a close-ended set. That is something I like a lot more and something I might actually want to (and be able to) finish.

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The Lunar coins are now also among the latest beneficiaries of my efforts to improve the pictures in some of my older sets and give them banners to improve the overall presentation in my registry.

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I've also re-imaged my Chinese Panda's and other NCLT rounds. (Shandy called this one cute! :D )

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In (kinda) related news, my wife encouraged me to get a new Kookaburra for the first time in like 12 years. She said she has been thinking I might need something new to work on soon - I've mostly wrapped up my Zimbabwe note and coin sets except for sending them off to grade and the Venezuelan note set Is also mostly done - and this is her way of "voting" for the kookaburra set, which I already have a solid foundation on, and she seems to like.

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Adding that coin got my set to exactly 50% with 16 of 32 slots filled. That means I’m eligible, right? That’s totally what that means, right? lol I mean, it’ll actually win a major award when pigs fly but I can dream about it really loud. lol

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I like these but I'm not sure they're going to “win” and be the next thing I work on finishing - even with her vote. I'm also really tempted to try to build out the Lunars, the Koala, or the Kiwi sets. Or I could end up doing none of the above. I've been away from the Silver NCLT for quite a while but going back and looking at them and taking pictures of them again has gotten me remembering why I like them. Any or all of those 4 sets could be fun to work on again and it could be fun to make most or all of 2022 a NCLT focused year. After she encouraged me to get this I went out and accepted an offer on a 2012 Koala. I guess that’s my protest vote / way of showing I’m not 100% sold on the Kookaburra’s as my next focus.

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Then her brother unexpectedly gave me a gift card as a belated birthday present and I used that to buy a 2014 Kookaburra. So that’s 2 new Kooks and a Koala. But I would need 15 more Kooks to get my set fully up to date and 8 more Koalas… hm … but only 4 more kiwis… hm Choices… hm

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I guess we’ll see if that 2014 makes it here in time for the 1st and some last-minute pictures.

Whenever I'm not heavily focused on one thing I do seem to go through these periods where I pick up a lot of random odds and ends, but, at least right now, I'm mostly getting things that add to old / existing sets and I'm not picking up random things that are going to sit alone in "sets" that go nowhere. I'm trying to avoid that.

But these sets do 1 problem that does give me pause. I'm not a fan of the problem with coins spotting post-encapsulation, which is sometimes a problem with these series too. Here's an image of one of my Philharmonics, a coin that did a lot to sour me on these Silver NCLT rounds for a while because it showcases just how bad the post-encapsulation spotting can be and just how bad of a job the various mints do at cleaning these blanks before annealing and striking in some cases. If I do decide to buy a few more of these coins I’m likely to restrict my purchases to 2016 and before, just so I have a higher degree of confidence that any spotting / hazing they’re likely to do has already occurred and that I’m not going to get too many more ugly surprises like these.

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Just to end on a slightly more positive note, here are some new shots of my Chinese Unicorn and Peacock rounds, which are still some of the prettiest, most interesting and unique rounds in my Silver NCLT collection.

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… and here are some pictures… some from a recent family photo session with the boys and some from some shots I took later that day of Shandy in a new evening dress she bought for a wedding we’ll need to go to in a couple of months.

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Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!

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coinsandmedals

Good job on the new set cover images! I plan to redo the banner for my custom sets at some point, but who knows when I will get around to doing it. 

I feel your pain on the Philharmonic. A few years ago, I had a small collection of NCLT and had a few issues like that. Now I almost exclusively collect copper, and I am more paranoid than ever! Copper is such an extremely reactive metal that you have to be very careful when storing it. There is nothing worse than watching an RB coin turn BN in a holder over a few years. 

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Revenant
On 11/24/2021 at 10:00 AM, coinsandmedals said:

Good job on the new set cover images! I plan to redo the banner for my custom sets at some point, but who knows when I will get around to doing it. 

I feel your pain on the Philharmonic. A few years ago, I had a small collection of NCLT and had a few issues like that. Now I almost exclusively collect copper, and I am more paranoid than ever! Copper is such an extremely reactive metal that you have to be very careful when storing it. There is nothing worse than watching an RB coin turn BN in a holder over a few years. 

Funny that you say that in that I have a group of Lincoln cents and I find that RDs, that come as RD and look bright RD, tend to stay RD, where RBs tend to continue turning. I have a 1927 RB that at this point is pretty much a BN with some red around the rim.

Edited by Revenant
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coinsandmedals
On 11/24/2021 at 10:12 AM, Revenant said:

Funny that you say that in that I have a group of Lincoln cents and I find that RDs, that come as RD and look bright RD, tend to stay RD, where RBs tend to continue turning. I have a 1927 RB that I this point is pretty much a BN with some red around the rim.

This has been my experience as well, but I have seen plenty of red pieces also turn RB in slabs. My favorite is when the dealer tries to market a clear  RB as a red because the holder says it is. This isn't as much of an issue for me now, as generally speaking, red examples in my area of focus are rarely seen and often way out of my budget.

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Revenant
On 11/24/2021 at 10:21 AM, coinsandmedals said:

My favorite is when the dealer tries to market a clear  RB as a red because the holder says it is.

Just remind them that NGC says the guarantee on that grade is void after 10 years! lol 

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coinsandmedals
On 11/24/2021 at 10:28 AM, Revenant said:

Just remind them that NGC says the guarantee on that grade is void after 10 years! lol 

They don't tend to respond well to that. :roflmao: I have a low threshold for deceptive practices like this, so I take my money elsewhere. 

Edited by coinsandmedals
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Revenant
On 11/24/2021 at 11:02 AM, coinsandmedals said:

They don't tend to respond well to that. :roflmao: I have a low threshold for deceptive practices like this, so I take my money elsewhere. 

So, slightly random, I was thinking about making a separate rant post about this and some of this will be touched on later when I post about this shopping / these purchases, but my favorite pet peeve at the moment is sellers of raw coins / lots saying, "I'm not a grader! Use the pictures and grade for yourself! What you see is what you get!" Except what you see is low res photos of a group / pile of coins from which no meaningful grade / wear judgement can be made on individual coins and you're taking a wild shot in the dark.

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coinsandmedals
On 11/24/2021 at 11:11 AM, Revenant said:

So, slightly random, I was thinking about making a separate rant post about this and some of this will be touched on later when I post about this shopping / these purchases, but my favorite pet peeve at the moment is sellers of raw coins / lots saying, "I'm not a grader! Use the pictures and grade for yourself! What you see is what you get!" Except what you see is low res photos of a group / pile of coins from which no meaningful grade / wear judgement can be made on individual coins and you're taking a wild shot in the dark.

Wait, you mean you don't have the superpowers needed to make a meaningful estimate of the grade in those instances? I would rank this as my biggest pet peeve when trying to buy coins online, either raw or graded. It is less annoying for graded coins because I can often use the certification verification images, but it still bothers me. With raw coins, I usually pass unless it is a bargain or I feel like testing my luck. This has played in my favor more times than I care to admit, but I've also had my fair share of strikeouts. Maybe after your post, you can create a guide for inspiring sellers and ask it to be pinned to the top of one of the main forums. 

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Revenant
On 11/24/2021 at 12:54 PM, coinsandmedals said:

Wait, you mean you don't have the superpowers needed to make a meaningful estimate of the grade in those instances? I would rank this as my biggest pet peeve when trying to buy coins online, either raw or graded. It is less annoying for graded coins because I can often use the certification verification images, but it still bothers me. With raw coins, I usually pass unless it is a bargain or I feel like testing my luck. This has played in my favor more times than I care to admit, but I've also had my fair share of strikeouts. Maybe after your post, you can create a guide for inspiring sellers and ask it to be pinned to the top of one of the main forums. 

Sometimes when sellers are selling sets / lots of "uncirc" coins I'll make a smaller purchase and see what I get. I've tried this with 5 sellers. One ended horribly on a Zimbabwean purchase with Environmental damage on "Mint" coins, 3 have produced great, TPG worthy, shiny coins in the mix (and you always get some with ugly bag marks) and for one my trial purchase is coming in the mail today.

I'm going to be trying to focus more and more such purchases on the sellers that have proven themselves already as my available pool expands enough to get me the options I need.

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coinsandmedals
On 11/24/2021 at 1:17 PM, Revenant said:

Sometimes when sellers are selling sets / lots of "uncirc" coins I'll make a smaller purchase and see what I get. I've tried this with 5 sellers. One ended horribly on a Zimbabwean purchase with Environmental damage on "Mint" coins, 3 have produced great, TPG worthy, shiny coins in the mix (and you always get some with ugly bag marks) and for one my trial purchase is coming in the mail today.

I'm going to be trying to focus more and more such purchases on the sellers that have proven themselves already as my available pool expands enough to get me the options I need.

That seems like a more than reasonable approach. There are few things worse than finally receiving a much-anticipated package only to be disappointed with the quality of its contents. 

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Mohawk

Hi William!!

Change can be an interesting thing, for sure.  It sounds like NGC did change the game on you with your Presidential Dollar set, but I'm glad it wasn't a big deal for you.  It sounds like you have a lot of projects going on, which can be cool and fun, but sometimes a little frustrating deciding which direction to focus in, at least if you're me!! Speaking of change, I've actually shifted focus lately myself.  In the past, I used to collect banknotes.  I got around to looking at my old currency albums a little while ago, and I've decided I want to get back into currency for at least a little while.  I've actually been looking at a lot of German banknotes lately.....many of them are absolutely beautiful.  I'd forgotten how beautiful they are.  And many of them are super affordable, which also makes them fun.....you can get a lot of bang for your buck there.  I guess none of us really ever know where life will take us next.

 

 

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Revenant
On 11/24/2021 at 2:38 PM, Mohawk said:

It sounds like you have a lot of projects going on, which can be cool and fun, but sometimes a little frustrating deciding which direction to focus in, at least if you're me!!

Yes and no. Most of these NCLT coins are things that used to be a major focus of mine 10 years ago. For the last 3 years I've mostly just had the one focus, which has been Zimbabwean banknotes, which expanded to include Venezuelan hyperinflation notes and now Zimbabwean coins and maybe soon Venezuelan coins - mostly in a raw state, some of which I have graded or will grade later to make a complete Mint State type set. But since those are mostly complete now I am looking at a bunch of mostly long abandoned sets and thinking about what's next, and thinking about going back to something old rather than go off on some wild, random, tangent again.

 

But... there is another tangent building. But more on that later.

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