A SUPERB ADDITION TO MY 1923 MINT SET...

Greetings Collectors,

I have somewhat recovered from a physical week helping others and had time to sit and read all of the postings of late. Always very interesting reading. A comment on "Moondoggy's post in that I think the person who was trying to list a coin in his/her set is one of those that "pads" their sets with coins they wished they owned & need to own but don't.(own)

I have seen people rise quickly in the ranks and from past posts and their sharing numerous times that they are retired or on a retirement/disability income, and times are pretty hard, yet they zoom from nowhere into the low 200's on such a limited budget leaves me suspect that they own the coins they claim to own. I'm not calling anyone a liar but if it "walks like a chicken" "clucks like a chicken" "has feathers like a chicken" and looks like a chicken", well, it pretty much is a.... Just an observation, for what it's worth. If I were still a betting person, I would bet Moondoggy's coin was trying to be lifted, if only in spirit. Being honest is something that is a "must" for me and in life there are only two kinds of people I despise, and that's "liars & thieves". Don't know which I despise more, as that's a "tossup". Both are just as distasteful.

But to answer his question, no, I have never had it go down like that before. I have had in the past, tried to list a coin in my sets that was supposedly owned by someone else and when I start to do the "math" as to how long that coin was gone from that persons set and sitting in some auction house's up-coming auction and then the auction comes, and then there is the lag for the delivery, but yet I have to wait a few more days before it can be added to my set because that person wants to keep that coin & those points hopefully forever yet the coin has long been gone from their collection. In my book that's downright dishonest if not thievery. Now this has not happened a huge number of times but it has happened more times than I can count on one hand.

Tonight I was seriously looking at two coins on Teletrade and tried to "snipe" both at 15 seconds before "hammer time". I lost the 1853 dime with arrows in a PCGS AU-55 slab but was successful in nabbing a gorgeous 1892-O Barber Quarter in a very early 2nd generation "old green holder" graded AU-50. I can not see how a coin that looks as nice as this one does, and is "brite white" can have enough "rub" to be in a "low AU holder". Just seems to me that the coin would have marks or be toned or something. I don't have a degree in the Barber series by any means, but this coin looks as though it was minted yesterday. I can't wait for it to arrive so that it can be photographed and added to my mint set of that year along with a few more type sets that it will fit nicely into.

This is a close-up of the Mercury Dime I bought to fill the slot in that years mint set. A MS-65 that the pops say 23 this grade at NGC with 23 higher. PCGS has seen 24 at MS-65 with 17 graded higher. This is just the kind of coin I like to buy. It seems that the "pops" across the board for most all coins minted between 1920-1925 are very low and very expensive. I don't know why this is. Our country at the time was in a very good state with most folks doing well, pre depression and mintages were not ridiculously low for the most part, so the savings rate of these coins should have been fairly high but they weren't. Many coins from this 5-year period are very "high dollar" pieces in most any grade of middle "mint state" & above, and more so with the coins from the Denver & San Francisco mints. Why each year has some very worthy & quite expensive examples, such as all 1921 Walkers and Mercury's, the 1922 Lincolns, the 1923 SL Quarter and not to forget any mid-high mint state D&S Peace Dollars and Buffalo Nickles. I am just very pleased to own this example of one of my very "first collected" and one of my favorite series of all time.

I hope everyone is having loads of fun with their coins. I know I am. For some of the dates and mints and the costs, we damn sure should. In addition, this "IS" a coin that I really own. "Scouts honor".

Happy Collecting!

WKF