finally got my submission back

Exactly one month after it was posted as received I got my 27 coin submission back. I must admit to some impatience--they seemed to sit in "received" for 3 weeks--but I'd rather have the feeling that they were taking their time and really looking at the coins they get instead of just whipping through them and mailing them back. Plus I was told that the World Coin grading was a bit longer right now and throw in the fact that it was a really mixed 27 coins--and I have no complaints with the expeditiousness of NGC.

Concerning grades there were highs and lows---ever the optimist I will look at the highs first. The big one was a raw SC$1 I bought from Heritage as an AU58--graded as an MS63 !! ( I really thought it was mint state all along and am glad the pros agreed) This is especially nice that it got a good grade because it was easily the most expensive/valuable of all 27 coins..My 1933 China "Junk Dollar" is not only authentic but got an AU55...very good news...My 1948 St Pierre 2 fcs got an MS62 and my Israel sheqel got a 66...I was worried cause both had a touch of milkiness..my 2 ANACS crackouts came back as the same grades (one even got a cameo)

OK, the downers or mild disappointments--first I sent in 7 Canadian silver dimes (with the Bluenose sailboat) all still in their mint cellophane, got 2 67's 4 66's and 1 65...not bad judging by the pop reports on these coins--but not great ( I have no complaints regarding the grades since I couldn't get a good idea of the condition in the cello)...I also tried for a *star designation on 1 coin that I find exceptionally attractive with a lavender tone--they didn't agree. I still am being shutout on my tries to get a *star. I also am still being shutout on my efforts to get my first 70 on a submission. I sent 7 coins in their original mint capsules-3 were sent with the complete packaging (minus the COA) hoping this might help sway them to my side (I doubt by the time it gets to the graders the coins were still in their packaging, but I'm getting desperate seeing evryone else getting 70's) In the end all 3 packaged coins got 69'UCAM's and the other 4 in mint capsules got 2-68's and 2-67's. Although I may not be completely in agreement with the results--the shaking of my head is mostly directed at the packaging of these foreign mints. Many of the coins are free to rattle in the plastic and some get rim bruises...oh well

I'm really excited to have them back...I'll spend weeks adding images, researching the history and after I get them all listed and up to date-then I'll move them around within my High Seas signature set (example-putting the 2007 Tall Ships series coin with the 2005 &2006 )..

For those who haven't looked at my set for a while, I have been upgrading my imaging skills and replacing the pics...I'm about page 4 in the gallery. It's a lot of fun working on other aspects of my hobby: pics, research, reading etc... and it saves me money also since I am not constantly in the "buy more" mode

With so many to choose from, I can hardly decide which coin to include a pic of with this post--here's something a little different..from North Korea--a dragon ship