A discourging word.

I decided to go to the annual Whitman Coin show held in Atlanta yesterday. I specifically went to see if I should send a particular coin in for grading or if they someone thought it was "cleaned". Some of the prominent grading services were there like ICG, ANACS, and PCGS. Could not find a grader among them and NGC did not "show". I was told NGC went to the Sarasota show. I did not realize Sarasota had a larger market than Atlanta. After 20 minutes I decided to make myself a no show.

On another note, I can't believe the US Mint held the cost of the Jackson Spouse at $619 and $599, the same as Louisa Adams. After all gold has come down about $130 an ounce. I can't afford to grade at these prices, especially since people won't even pay the mint's cost for a 69 Louisa Adams - they generally want to pay closer to melt. Take into account the grading fees and the other poster's e-bay fees you can lose up to $200 for every one that comes back in a 69.

As some may recall, I was very discouraged with hobby before yesterday and yesterday just affirmed my discouragement. NGC still has not responded to a question that ask about a month ago. For those who don't remember, NGC supposedly issued an 2006 "Early Releases" Bullion Silver Eagle in November of 2006 well after the 30 day cut off period. If you remember Early Releases in 2006 were not available until the second half of 2006 - the first half they were First Strike. How could a 2006 Bullion silver eagle have ever been graded in Early releases since they were released in January of 2006 and a 30 day cut off period? - Check the Census, somewhere about 62 for this coin, and valued at over $4,000 over a First Strike.

On the bright side, since my last post I have been collecting notes and now have about $1,500 of them in the bank!!