Sometimes the answers just fall into your lap

Holy Cow! Today will be a story I will tell for a long time to come.

My wife and I are both teachers as such money is tight. I?ve actually seen Lincoln cry a couple of times I have squeezed him so hard. To that end, coin collecting is much of a challenge finding coins for my sets as it is a challenge finding the funding to purchase the coins. I save my nickels and dimes for a very long time to afford key coins.

Just recently, I started building graded sets. I cannot afford to pay top dollar to populate the sets. With disposable income being almost nonexistent, I have become quite adept at bottom fishing. I scour the on-line auction sights for those coins that seem to be overlooked. I also have taken to picking up mint and proof sets looking for that coin that has the potential to grade out on the top of the scale. I typically don?t pay very much for the sets and every now and again I get a really nice set. When I get a nice set, I tag that set and put it aside for grading considerations at a later date, i.e. when I save enough money to afford a submission for grading.

Lately, I?ve dedicated a good bit time to looking at my mint and proof sets searching for those coins that are the top potential candidates for my very first submission. On one day, I lean heavily toward my high MS caliber Eisenhower Dollars, the next day it?s the top Proof Ikes, and another day it?s an entirely different group of coins. This has been going on for the last couple of weeks. The Christmas break from school gave me extra free time to spend with my coins. The break also gave me a bit more time to spend fishing the on-line auctions. There are definitely some times that are move profitable for bottom fishing than others, early mornings come to mind. New Years Day morning proved to be one of those extremely slow times on EBay. There was a 1981 Proof Set languishing and begging for attention. I put my usually low bid in on the set and moved along looking for other opportunities slipping through the cracks. I went back later to check on my bids, I rarely if ever chase coins at auctions. I register my bid and move on to the next coin. Anyway, when I went back to check on earlier bids, I found the auction on the 1981 Proof Set had ended and I had the highest bid at the close. I had just picked up a 1981 Proof Set for less than $8.00, shipping included. I had pretty much written it off as a Type I set and was hopeful it might have some gradable coins contained within it.

Anyway, today was the first day back to school after the break. It wasn?t a bad day as school days go. It was cold as a son of gun this morning though. We had a faculty meeting after school so I stayed pretty distracted all day. When I got home, I checked the mail box to see if the mail had run yet. It had not. I went into the house and got to my afternoon work before dinner. I went back out to the mailbox a while later to find my mailbox stuffed with mailers of coins I had bought over the break and on a bright note there were no bills today. When I opened the mailers, I pulled out the coins I got, checked them over and carefully put them aside one by one. Then I pulled out the 1981 Proof Set. I opened and was pleasantly surprised to see I had bought an Ultra Cameo set. When I looked more closely at the coins in the set with a magnifying glass, my jaw hit the ground. The 1981 Proof Set was an Ultra Cameo Type II set! I really got exited and my poor wife looked at me like I was nuts. I usually get excited when I get new coins in the mail but never like I did today. I guess I looked like a football player doing a happy dance after scoring the winning touchdown in overtime in the Super Bowl.

Needles to say, I pretty much have had my mind made up on which coins I will send as my very first submission to be graded. Yep, you guessed it, the 1981 Proof set. Will the coins be PF70? Maybe one or two of them but that is only if luck is on my side. (I?m a realist.) I?ll be the first to admit, I just do not have the experience in grading coins to call the difference between grades over PF66. Whether or not the 1981 set has Proof 70 coins or not will have to wait until I can save up for the submission. While I am filled with the excitement of having something really special, I am no longer torn in the lament of which coins will be my very first submission for grading. For now, I just play the waiting game until I can afford the submission and revel in the excitement of what might be. Life is full of simple pleasures.

Now, the only thing I am left wondering is whether NCG will extract the coins from the goverment case or is that my responsibility.