Now the "flash" has worn off...

Greetings Collectors,

I have been deep in study and thought for several weeks now. As I have been tweaking my various sets and re-doing a photo and/or a description here or there, I have been thinking heavily about how long it has been since I bought a "real slabbed coin" of any significance. I actually became quite sad at the realization that the many hundreds of dollars I have spent in the last three months has netted me practically nothing when it comes to filling slots in some of my favorite coin series. Sure I've been able to get some silver but there is nothing that takes the place of getting that coin that you have been waiting on for, in my case, is going on several years. I know that the reason is that I am too wrapped up in thinking about my retirement and what little bit of a "nest egg" I have accumulated.

So I've made the decision to sell all of my "old pour" silver bars. This would free up cash that has appreciated tremendously over the two year period of most of the purchases. My problem is that while the task of listing each bar is time consuming enough, I run the risk that "silver prices" just may accelerate to the point, I'll be selling at below melt before I could revise several hundred listings. This has happened to me in the last three months when it comes to the jewelry items I listed on eBay back when gold had just pushed through $1000. I have tried to take the heaviest (gold content wise) and revise them 1st and then go on down the line, but items have been selling before I could get to revising them. I know that when I listed them the figure was one that if sold, I would be happy with the proceeds. But now it's really not sitting well with me when I sell an item and I've left 20-30% on the table. I revert back to an old saying from the movie "Wall Street" when Michael Douglas AKA Gordon Gecko told Charlie Sheen AKA Bud Fox that "nothing upsets me more than losses". So here I am trying to run a fledging construction company in a horrible economic environment, buying and selling gold and silver, and leaving piles of money on the table. And this hobby I love so much, is needing with one hand and wanting with the other, and I have not bought a single coin for what seems like years.

But anyway I'm still going to keep plugging along and set some of these recent goals on the "back burner" and get back to what means the most to me outside of family & friends. The quest to having a roll of each Franklin half date and each silver Kennedy is going to be temporarily suspended. And I'm going to try to devote all available financial resources into the completion of my Franklin and Walker half sets. I want to finish my Walker short set in coins that are MS-66. I want to then finish my Walker "middle set" with coins that are left missing after moving the replaced upgrades from the short set to the middle set. The MS-64's and 65's that a MS-66 will replace will go a long way into filling a few holes in that middle set. That will leave just a few dates from the 30's I will have left to acquire. And last but surely not least, I have several holes in my Franklin half set #1 that need filling.

It never ceases to amaze me how I can get on a tear with this that or the other, completely forsaking that which previously had my full attention. I have said in previous posts that I sometimes feel like a whore the way I jump around. It will be very hard to let go of all these little silver bars that I was once so excited about, but I guess that's just the way it goes. One can not collect everything, nor can one have one of a zillion different kinds of sets. I really admire those of you that are devoted to mostly one series whether it be "early mint state copper" or modern state quarters. I do believe that those of you that do, are the "true collectors". Hats off to all of you.

The silver to gold ratio stands at 50.029

Happy Collecting!

WKF

P.S. This is one coin slot that I won't have to look for an upgrade. A very scarce example of the "lowest mintage" Franklin half dollar. There are only two on the planet graded higher. And my pockets are way too shallow to even consider trying to procure one of those. With this one, I'm one of 32 at NGC that has an example graded this high. In retrospect, maybe I'm pretty lucky after all...