At least the strapless penny was right.

Hello everyone!

It all came to pass. If you've followed my last two weeks of journals, you,ll be right on top of this.

My KM13-A NZ, 1d Penny, is now just a plain 1945 penny. That's two they blew.

I sent either a PL or PF, 1945, to NCS for fingerprint removal. They did a great job. It does look nice, however, it's got a purple slab.....yup. It's polished. Gee, my eyes are playing tricks on me. I guess I have to send all my proofs back to be relabeled? They're polished too. New Zealand did have a proof penny in 1945. Krause says so. That's number two.

Third travesty is a 1942, NZ, 3d "one"dot", three pence. I sent it to NCS because it had a black spot on the reverse. Again, they did a great job. The spot is gone. The coin looks VF-AU. It got the VF. OK....no problem there. The problem is, I sent it to be evaluated and conserved. It was($20). It was sent to NGC for grading.

Guess what? Yup, the rubber stamp "excessive surface hairlines"

excuse. They work wonders on 1000 year old, half eaten away, corroded, coins they can't identify, and all of a sudden it is graded by NGC in a real label? I was born at night, but NOT LAST NIGHT!!

The upper left corner is out of the slot too. Gee, send it back, and we'll fix it "no charge." Another $12-$20 in postage, and the chance two lemons, and a lipstick show up for reholdering....no thanks.

Next, I try to enter this beauty into the Registry. I tried from 11:00 this morning. Not in their data base? I have the coin in my hand, but they don't have it listed?

Minor setback. I know Lisa and Amy will fix it.

OK, next! My 1965 NZ 6d(yes 6d, these are not British 6P)"broken wing" was evaluated and"conserved." You got it! Another VF and the same rubber stamp. Time to clean the cobwebs off the magnifying glass. They seem to be stuck on the VF too.

WOW! Now we come to the tough one. I could argue the grade, but won't. It's the last one. A 1956, NZ 1D,"no shoulder strap." Hey, they got it right this time. It looks good, and it is registered in my set. I took images for all to see.

Now,lets go back a few journals, and look at predictions. I said the label would get changed. I said I was at the mercy of NGC because these are all"variety" coins. I not only paid for conservation, but paid again for "grading." It's about $40.00 without the $40 postage both ways. All that came true.

I mentioned when the system went down on Friday, that they'd ship out my coins with no imaging, and before I could complain.

Bingo! Friday was the 11th. Postmark on 2 boxes- 9/10 and 9/11.

Well, the Post Office delivered them this morning. All five slabbed coins. Now for the best part. Another premonition?

I rush in to image these beauties for everyone to see. I did this first. Next I enter the Registry(finally working) to get them registered. I put in the number and ooops. Not in the data base. I do it again to make certain dyslexia isn't to blame. Same thing, nothing. I tried all the rest. Same thing. I can't register, image, or enter a description. That's odd, I never had this problem. I go to the NGC certification checker, and the number is no good there either. I got the grades off the slabs.

No wonder. I now check "Order Status." They are still scheduled for grading. Now I dial the phone.

A pleasant voice named Lisa......thank goodness for Lisa answered, and here we go. She has to make a call to check. That didn't work, but now it has to go to Amy. Thank goodness for Amy too. Within a few minutes, I was typing and uploading images.

Finally! The sun came out at my house......until.

I get to the 1942, and here we are again....not in the data base.

That will be OK tomorrow.

Now comes the reason for this essay.

Not counting the cost of five major variety coins, this cost me about $200.00. Five coins, and four aren't what they are? One, they adamantly refuse to grade, unless it's pristine. Why are there points for lower than MS then? Hmmmmmmm?

I liked the body bag system. Now I have to use the vise and hammer method. A few of you asked if I was having problems. Not really. I have solutions.

I will do like some members. Buy the coin graded. Don't submit anything that is less than pristine, or not in OGP. It's amazing that the 2009 proof pennies got "environmental damage" right out of the box. They're terrible.

I still have about 20 Canada coins to grade, and chase Greywolf, but I think he's safe. I'm out of grading bucks.

It's time for me to re-evaluate too.

I hope none of you go through this disaster. I know some have, and some others still are.

I look at the odds. If I sent 100 coins to NCS and only 20 graded, I could have retired.

I will finish my set. 100% is just that. It's a shame some don't have a clue what 100% is.

On a bright note, maybe. I am happy Todd didn't have to pay for his coins not getting graded. I've been there too. The COA is as important as the coin sometimes. I tried to get a few with the extra line for description, but that line is reserved for vain collectors, or details descriptions.

Excuses with no results.

Have a great week folks.

You earned it if you read all the way to here.