Caesar Speaks!!

Here's the story..........

Of some Statehood Quarters...............

This is the story of my Chow-Chow Caesar's state set.

It all began on a dark and stormy March 4, 2009, with the purchase of a 2005 Silver state set. The first clad purchase was on March 7, 2009 with an Arkansas quarter. As the days went by, I bid on E-bay on other quarters I needed. Man, what a blast! I had so much fun, I didn't know how to act!!! I won some, lost more, and slowly put this set together. Along the journey, I met lots of nice folks who helped me gather the coins I needed for Caesar's set.

I bought only NGC PF-70 coins as I went along. Might as well gather the best I figured!!!

I completed Caesar's clad set on May 13, 2009, with the purchase of the 1999 Georgia and Delaware.

Caesar's silver set was complete except for the 1999 Delaware the first part of May, 2009.

I picked up a couple 99 Silver proof sets on E-Bay for a super price, and sent one in to NGC for grading. The tension was high as I opened the NGC box, and lo and behold, 3 70's and two 69's!!! Guess what? The Pennsylvania and Delaware were the two 69's!!! Bummer!!! The 99 Connecticut, Georgia, and New Jersey from that proof set are part of Caesar's registry set. The Penn I had already won on E-Bay.

I went ahead and picked up a 99 silver Delaware on June 16, 2009, and completed the set.

I sent 47 silver and 47 clad quarters in to NGC for grade check and re-holdering into new NGC scratch-proof Edge-View holders.

I like the holders, and wanted all my holders in the set to match.

Caesar is very proud of his set, and the day I completed it, he didn't bite me!!! (He did bite me the next day!!)

All Caesar's coins are stunning examples. They are all absolutely perfect!! Even though they look gold, grey, and such, they are perfect!! There is no toning, hazing, spots, or defects of any kind on any of the coins. My photos do not do them justice!! Getting better at pics, but will never be a pro-old camera, etc. I did buy a photo shop program and hope to use it to improve my crummy photo taking.

This set was loads of fun to assemble. I have made some great friends in the process, and that is what it is really all about!!!

10-30-09 Going through and replacing my photos with scans. What a process!!!! Photos are a lot better, but still need to get the toning look out of the coins. Playing around with hue and saturation, hope they get better as I go!!!!

11-1-09 Still scanning away. The 08 Arizona clad came out pretty good. Rest of 08 coins need help!!! Will continue to mess around. The scans are a lot better than my photos, but.....

11-2-09 Scanning continues. Have the 03 and 04 coins done. The scans are a bit better-still getting tone look here and there. Will keep trying to improve. I guess I better understand I am not a pro!!!!

11-3-09 Scanning continues. 05 silver coins done. Going to try to finish the silver coins today. Only 5 years to go!!! Scans are not perfect, but boy, they are 1000% better than the photos they are replacing!!!!!! I will get this down, and can re-scan this winter if I get it perfected!!!! Fun looking at each coin as I mess with the scanning!!!

11-05-09 Down to 2002 silvers for scanning-then the silvers are done!!! Will get going on clads next. Need to get this set done!!!!!

11-5-09 Part Deux O.K. the silvers are all done. Finished the 02 set a few minutes ago. My scans are ok. They have gotten a bit better-still room for improvement. As I get a better handle on the scanning process, I can always go back and re-do some of them that need work. It will give me an excuse to play around with the state quarters some more!!!!!

11-6-09 Scanned in the 03 clad set. Not too great. Better than photos, but.... Going to make a couple calls for help before I continue. Really want to get these babies done!!!!!

11-7-09 Scanning plods on. Down to the 99-02 sets to do. Hope to finish today. Waited on tech line for editing help yesterday for 45 min. still no help. Had to go to work, so......I will do the best I can, and guess that's the way it is!!!!

11-8-09 It is done. Finished scanning all the coins in the set. All 100 of them. My scans are not perfect, but are a vast improvement over my photos. When I have scanning down pat, I can re-do them and make them better. It will give me a chance to get all the quarters out again and look them over. That was the fun part-laying them all out and looking at each one again. I really did enjoy that aspect of the scan project. They look really cool all laid out in the new holders. 100 quarters takes up some floor space!!!!! Anyway, been real!!! Off to begin scanning other coins in my registry sets.