Alas 2013! You are a welcome sight for my weary eyes.

My last Journal entry was in July when I finally completed my Eisenhower Dollar Proof set. For the year, I'd have to say that was the high point of my collecting. I continue to scour the auction sights, bottom fishing as always for those really exceptional deals for my collection. In doing so, I've managed to add a number of PF70UC Lincoln Memorial Cents to my set. My graded sets are still primarily modern coins but they have expanded somewhat. I used to holiday break to get reorganized and now I have an up-to-date listings of my extra coins which I am willing to sell or trade. I will also be renaming my MS Dime set in honor of Todd Peters who was the 1st person to greet me when I joined 3 years ago and who proved to be both an invaluable mentor and inspiration to my collecting.

I've spent a large part of the last several months reading and looking at coins particularly pennies both Lincoln and Indian Head. I wouldn't say I'm expert but I've certainly become much more familiar with the grading standards and with the various idiosyncrasies of pennies, from the development of their designs to the indicators determining the quality of the strikes and how all that factors into their grading. I find myself being extremely critical now when I look at raw coins. I'm not sure if maybe I'm too critical, if that is possible, but it certainly has added a much greater spectrum to my acquisition of raw coins. Oddly enough, I still do not favor toned coins but I also understand that it is inevitable and understand the chemical dynamics of toning; it is much easier to determine if coins have been cleaned. Sometimes, though, it is virtually impossible to determine if a coin has been cleaned but a bright older coin certainly raises an immediate red flag.

In this whole process, I have found an invaluable tool, the IPad! I've never been a big fan of IPads or IPhones, in fact, I'm not a big fan of phones in general, cell or home, but in the IPad I have found an incredible tool. I am one of those readers that will mark a book up to no end with my own comments. The Notes App on my IPad now has all of my comments and my summation of key descriptions specifically about the critical aspects of how to grade coins. I give the grading details for each coin its own page so I can quickly reference my notes without having to flip through a book. If that wasn't enough, The Coin World and Photograde Apps provide very nice pictures of the coins in each of the grades. But what, there's more! (Now I sound like an Infomercial. ) A quick check of available price lists, NGC Verification App, and auction listings lets me garner the information I need to make a more informed decision on what I am willing to pay for any given coin. Sadly, my eyes are not what they used to be so an IPhone is out of the question. The screen is just too small. However, I suspect that an IPhone if you can handle the small screen size will do all of the same things.

But I digress; I did manage to achieve the 8 of the 10 goals I set for myself. Given the turmoil of the year, I am generally very pleased with my success. I set my goals for this year and I hope to have similar success or maybe even more.

#1 -- Add at least 4 MS IKE Dollars to my registry set.

#2 -- Fill at least 2 holes in my Raw Lincoln Cents collection. -- Holes to Fill: 1909 S VDB, 1909, 1914 D, 1922, 1924 D, 1931 S, 1955 DD0, 1972 DDO

#3 -- Upgrade all of my Raw Lincoln Cents back to 1934 to MS/BU status. -- Wanted Upgrades:1934, 1934 D, 1935 D, 1935 S, 1936, 1936 D, 1936 S

#4 -- Add at least 6 Proof Lincoln Memorials to my registry set.

#5 -- Add at least 6 MS66 or better Lincoln Cents to my registry set.

#6 -- Add at least 6 PF70UC Roosevelt Dimes to my registry set or in lieu of PF70UC a suitable grade for the early years.

#7 -- Add at least 10 MS Roosevelt Dimes to my $5.00 set.

#8 -- Add a combination of 6 Sacagawea Dollars to my Proof and/or Circulated Sets.

#9 -- Fill 5 holes in my raw Indian Head Cent Collection. -- Holes to Fill:1859, 1860, 1861, 1862, 1864BR, 1864L, 1866, 1867, 1868, 1869, 1869/9, 1870, 1871, 1872, 1873, 1874, 1876, 1877, 1878, 1879, 1880, 1883, 1884, 1885, 1888, 1892, 1908S, 1909S

#10 -- Fill 5 holes in my raw Liberty Nickel Set. -- Holes to Fill: 1883 w/c, 1884, 1885, 1886, 1887, 1888, 1889, 1891, 1892, 1893, 1894, 1895, 1912S

My Ikes are still on top of the list. I was incredibly fortunate to pick up two very nice coins to add to my Mint set last year, a 1976 T2 and 1976-D T2, both MS66. (MS 67 is the top pop for both coins and they each carry a price tag in excess of $4,000.) The price on the MS66 coins was just too sweet to pass up so I managed to scrap the money together. For some reason, bottom fishing for Ikes is one of the most difficult tasks. More often than not MS Ikes seem to sell very close to FMV or at a premium to FMV or in other words a price I am not willing to pay for them. I have managed to pick up a number of OGP Silver Ikes over the course of the year particularly when the price of silver takes its little dips. I'm still working on developing what I feel are adequate skills for being able to grade Raw Ikes.

Finally, in the "Did You Know" Column, we always hear about Indian Head Pennies with 3 or 4 visible diamonds in the ribbons. This is only an indicator of the quality of the strike and is not used in determining the grade of the coin.

So I will leave you with a picture of one of my bargain basement finds. This is my 1st SBA and I was quite surprised that my low ball bid stole it from the masses.

I do want to take this opportunity to wish each and everyone a very happy and prosperous New Year. May it be a far sight better than the last year.

Dennis