"The FEAR of the Unknown is a Massive One"...

Greetings Collectors,

On Oct. 17th I posted a plea for help. This help I needed was to obtain the knowhow of coin photography and even more so, the art of editing and cropping/resizing. I am pleased to announce that on a day which has always been a "Lucky Day" for me, Friday the 13th November 2009, is the day I feel very comfortable in saying, "I got this s--- down pat!" And I finished school ahead of my "self alloted" 30-day time frame. It has been an up & down journey and there were times I thought I was gonna say, "screw this... but.. I didn't. So now I am pleased to say the lighting and distance has been figured out, the camera settings are ones I am somewhat happy with at present, but the "one" funny, little, simple thing that has helped me more than I ever thought could is.... I spent around $13+ tax on a ajustable "tripod". Wow "who wudda thunk it?" This little jewel of a tool is worth its weight in gold? "naw"... but it's close. It completely eliminates blurred images and a broken back from all the "leaning over". Before all of you zip off an e-mail asking me about my secret methods, I plan on doing a post, just describing what little basic stuff that has been working for me. I will say, if you are going to take mutiple shots, as in dozens (or hundreds and hundreds in my case), "come off" less than $15 and go to Walmart and pick up a tripod. I think you will be very glad you did. Please do not think as I once did. Put this "fear of the unknown" away, get an inexpensive camera, AND a TRIPOD, and take part in this hobby you love. I know you feel this way or you wouldn't be here. You and your fellow collectors will be the "better" on account of it.

So far I have "imaged" the following along with the editing:

Walker Half Short Set #1

Walker "middle set"

Franklin Half Set #2 & #3

Franklin proof sets ( partial completion but have to re-shoot some)

All Pre-1933 Gold with the exception of a few smaller denominations that need to be edited & resized.

All modern commemorative Silver Dollars

I also have "finished product" shots of all $5 modern gold, MS & Proof, Australian and British gold soveriegns, and a few other shots taken & posted and a few others taken but not "edited/resized" or posted.

I have enclosed a shot of something "old" and something "not so old". The Spanish "cobb" came from the Spanish Galleon "Nuestra Senora de Atocha which sank in a hurricane off the Florida Keys on September 6th 1622. She had just left Havana Sept. 4th, which this late into Hurricane season, was a big mistake. The ship was new, sailing for the first time and was enroute back to Spain. She was one of two heavily armed Galleons in a 28 ship fleet. There was always a galleon in the lead of the fleet called the "Capitana" and one in the rear called the "Amaranth". The Atocha was designated the "Amaranth" of the "Tierra Firme Fleet". She along with 4 other ships in the rear were slammed onto the reefs in "the Keys". The bulk of the fleet was blown into the safer waters of the Gulf of Mexico, away from the path of the storm. Since she was new, and heavily armed, she was the favorite of the most wealthy passengers. Their "riches" along with the Kings vast "Golden Cargo" made her ride very low in the water. The massive weight worried no one, and all thought they would be very safe aboard this brand new, 110 foot long ship. In addition to being new, she also had a full company of 82 infantry men on board along with dozens of cannon. While this weaponry and soldiers would take care of most any "man made" threat, such as pirates, it may have hastened the demise of the ship & crew on account of the added weight. Out of the 265 crew and passengers, only five were picked up the day after the storm, still holding on to the main mast of the ship where she went down in 55 feet of water. All of the rest of the passengers and crew were lost and more than likely drowned. For days and weeks after the wreck, they tried to salvage the vast cargo of gold silver and emeralds but could only work underwater for as long as one could hold their breath. No-one was able to get into the sealed hatches, and before additional equipment could be brought in, another storm battered the site and erased any hint of her whereabouts. But when Mel Fisher found her in 1986, she was still sitting in 55 feet of water just like the salvors of 1622 left her.

There are some other neat tidbits of info concerning rare "1st year" silver from a newly opened mint in Categena Colombia. Fisher found 160,000 silver coins at the Atocha wreck site along with vast amounts of silver bars, gold bars, emeralds etc. but those freshly minted coins from the mint in Cartegena & Bogota have never been found... yet...

Whenever a private indivigual set sail from the "new world" with any amount of treasure, small or large, taxes to the "King" had to be with-held. This was called "The Kings Fifth" 20% was due the king and anyone attempting to evade this tribute would be "put to the sword". Bars and coins owned by those other than the government are often found with a chunk or 20%, AKA the "Kings Fifth" chopped off. (The Govt. gold and silver "ALL" belonged to the King) Men, (and women) would often cut off the portion known as this Kings 5th, but not surrender it and try to "smuggle" their 80% and the Kings 20% and only if caught, they would then say they had the "Kings "$$" Sometimes this "tax evasion" ploy would "fly" and there were times they would lose the "fifth", their 80%, and their head.

Anyway, don't know why I just went into all that but all of you know how I like to "ramble. The Krugerrand has a whole 'nother story that I won't go into now but simply, this 1979 year was a first (I think) that could be legally owned as we (the US) were not doing business with South Africa due to their nations treatment of the "black majority". AKA Apartied (or this could be an ilegal year to own? just don't remember)

So anyway, can you tell I'm having fun with my coins or what? Happy Collecting! WKF

P.S. This cobb is beleived to have come from the "Potosi" mint, although due to a crude strike & saltwater corrosion, an asayer mark and/or a mint mark is not visible. You can however, see where someone was going to "take care of the King" with the "Kings fifth", or was he? Looks to me like, he lost it all, along with his life. Also I thought it kinda cool that the "common" mint was the "P" as in Potosi and the rare mint mark is the "S" for Seville (Seville was a mint in Spain but coins from this mint were found also, likely "pocket change" from a wealthy passenger) for coins recovered from this wreck.. That little bit of info made me think of our "P" mints and "S" mints. Also the rare coins from the two new mints in Colombia (that have not been found) were "C" for Cartegena & "B" for Bogota ( Spanish Branch mints?) I should have made this a whole nother post... But... oh well...