Undecided as to if I am doing the right thing? I do think I may be ill...

Greetings Collectors,

As of this writing I have three submissions at NGC, with one showing, received and two "scheduled for grading". I finally got my three unc. & two proof Lincoln silver dollars last Thursday and sent the five off on Friday, looking for those "elusive 70's". I have not seen or heard of an increase in value for these in the "secondary" market. I do expect them to rise on account of the sellout. I anticipate the release of the special set with the proof Lincoln dollar along with the four special proof cents to go along with it. If and when any of you hear of that release date, please let the rest of us know. Also while I am on the subject of the Mint, I just got an e-mail last night that my #2 two-roll sets of Lincoln cents are on the way. That was nice to hear.

A few moments ago I saw "gold" punch thru $900 again after backing into the 800's of late. I had been talking to a dealer friend in N.J. and he said that prices for type three double eagles along with common "Saints" had dropped over 30% in the "mark up"/spread (the differance in price between the spot gold price and going rate for the coins) and he was taking advantage of the dip and advised me to do the same. I joked back that my pockets were not near as deep as his and that mine had "holes" in them. I talk to this person most every month and it is uncany the way this "old guy" can read the markets. Anyway last week I had put a couple of gold coins on "layaway" with him. A third coin, a 1906-p $20 liberty, I was able to beat the price he gave me by a little over $150 and got the same grade, an MS 60 and got it in an "old green" PCGS holder that looks as good as a couple of 62's I currently have. The ones I can't wait to get from him is the 1898-P $20 and a 1907-P "no motto" $10 Indian, both NGC MS-61's.

As of late I found I did not owe Uncle Sam as much as I thought so what did I do? did I build up my money market funds? or my "cash mad money"? Noooooo, I picked up more coins. The latest buys consist of a couple of $2.50 liberties, an 1861 type two AU 58 and a real nice NGC-62 1901. The latter being the next lowest mintage 20th century $2.50. Also I am trying to "chip away" on my "Walker Middle Set" ('34-'47) by picking up a well struck 1935, PCGS-64. This particular set consists of "the spill-over" from upgrades to my "Walker short set". I will try to complete the set with MS-64's on the rest of the dates. There will be a few dates that 64 may be a little high on the wish/want list so I will have to settle for a few points down the scale. The '38-D is one that I may have to shoot a little lower on, among a few others.

As I have mentioned on numerous occasions, I feel as if I have a problem in my coin purchases. I do not let the bills suffer or go unpaid. In fact I hate "late fee's" and go out of my way to keep from paying them. It's just that I take a large percentage of my extra income and dump it into new coins, scrap metals, not to mention, grading fee's. I have said to myself time and time again that I will hold off on "newps" (new purchases) and try to build up my savings/emergencyfunds to no avail. It never fails that while the promise starts off well, a week or two goes by and then I see a coin on one of my favorite auction sites that just begs to be bought. I then say a "feable" no to the urge that wells up inside of me only to give in moments before "hammer time". It's just that I can not beleive that the particular coin in question is actually about to be sold for "THAT". It happens most every time and I have found that the only time I can exhibit any control is when I have a "legit" big expenditure looming on the horizon. I write about it, talk about it and even laugh about it but it's not funny. I do find that when I put "thoughts to paper" it helps a little. I do think that maybe the only thing that would really get my attention would be if I had something really big come up that would cause me to have to sell some of my "beloved coins" Now that would be the ultimate eye opener & the ultimate "bummer".

Anyway I hope I don't ever get to that point but something here has really got to give. I would hate the thought of going into "rehab" as this would cost money that could be put to alot better use! as in a few more gold coins... Happy Collecting to the insane and the sane liars... WKF