Anyone remember the Seinfeld episode where George says 'an egg is an egg!'?

Well, when I'm examining a coin, and I take it out of the bank's Vault (and I only keep them there because the insurance is cheaper and the box doesn't cost much...even though it's one of the 'larger' boxes), I have two places in my house where they usually end up. Except of course if I absentmindedly put it down somewhere, like on the piano or something like that and then wonder where the ____ did I put that coin?

The two places are either my desk (where I keep my computer and two OTT lights, one on each side, or my 'other desk' where I work on clocks as a hobby, grow some moss under a huge bell jar, and photograph and examine my coins. Sometimes I use this huge bell jar to spread the light in an interesting way by placing a reveal bulb right on it. It spreads the light down at a perpendicular line down the side of the jar and diffuses gently into whater touches it and thereby responds the light reflection of the blessed object. All makes for interesting photography.

So how does this all tie in to 'a good coin is a good coin.'?

Well, sitting on my desk now is a recent purchase, a silvery-golden, bright beauty, an 1809 50C Overton 103 with loads of interesting details that I have yet to write about...but will. And I finally photographed it, on my 'other' desk, where my 'other hobby' tends to dominate.

Keeping a coin, just one, on your desk, or an area where you work alot, spend a lot of time at, well lit (as with my OTT lights), you get to see the coin now and again, at different angles, during different moods, and you can determine at that point of your obsession, your appreciation, your love of that coin. That gorgeous swirling golden lust-rous shine which changes as you move about doing your thing and then glance down at it now and then at a different angle. It's almost alive.

The ROUNDNESS becomes part of the picture, certainly it's the FRAME, and certainly it forms the bounderies of the luster, in fact, it celebrates it, it lets it live and breath. There is LIFE in the coin.

You see the LIFE and then that symmetrically semi-ciruclar embrace of the punched out stars, with or without centrals, points stretched to the edges of oblivion, or spindly stars with a sort of faux-great strike due to extensive die lapping.

And then the central Bust. Oh what a beautiful form she takes, thank you John Reich...you made her...she stood the test of time. Hail to the Great One, the serveant who may have lived a somewhat miserable life but creat such eternal beauty. She could only be modified by future engravers forced to take your place after you resigned. All added or took away from your basic structure, but the basic structure remained...except for when Gobrecht took it over and brought it artistically almost a century ahed of it's time, but that's another story. Such is Genius, even if you don't like his design. It became less human, and more like a female from outerspace who had some relationship to Egypt, ballet, and nun-hood. What a combo. Really!

Oh Gosh! Did I go on. On and on about a coin that's just that, a coin. And one helluva coin it is, thank you!

I wonder how these gorgeous creations of John Reich would have looked had they been created with a steam press and a collar. WOW! is all I can say. Here's a chance to use your mind. It's all up to you ... all power to you. Dream away!

So you see, as I occasionally, repetitively look down at this golden glistening jewel of a creation that was made for the purpose of circulating as MONEY, and here it is, encapsulated in protective plastic with a number on top, patiently waiting for me to return it to it's dark, cold, home at the bank, where it can finally rest and sit in the dark, sleeping away until I once again retrieve it and expose it to bright lights for the camera, or my own personal observation.

Well, that spells out a good coin, and a good coin, is just that, a good coin. Can't get your eyes and mind of off it!

So photograph and/or scan the darned thing, and post it on this registry set for you or anyone else to see and try to fathom it's beauty so poorly renderd by a two dimensionsl digital photograph.

What exactly do you SEE in your coin. Is it adequate? More than adequate? Less than adequate? and WHY?

In this process, there will be many let downs, but there will never be a let down on a coin that makes it to survive you're own discernment so that finally you can honestly say to yourself: 'this is a GREAT coin'. And a great coin is just that, a great coin! And all the others can be gotten rid of, begrudgingly or happily and with endearment for the visit and learning you obtained from it...as you structure and develop your collection into that artistic thing of beauty you find in your heart and your mind!

The coin that does it ALL for you. THATS the good coin. And a good coin is JUST THAT, a GOOD coin!

Well, maybe it's not entirely like 'an egg is an egg'. But it rang that danged bell in my head that goes off now and again.

More on this coin later.

1809obvers