coinsbygary

I'm loving it Jackson! My own 7070 has brought me countless hours of enjoyment and knowledge. Right now I'm working on potential upgrades such as an arrows date for the obverse legend dime slot instead of the 1876 XF dime I have in that slot now. The 7070 has slots specific to the 1853-55 arrows coins but none for the 1873-74 coins. This is why I'm looking for that arrows dime to represent them all. Your choice of the twenty cent piece to represent the Carson City Mint is an excellent choice. Congratulations on your find. Gary

4 hours ago, Revenant said:

Yeah. This is probably one of the main reasons why that 1875 10G I have is still in a PCGS holder - the risk of cracking it out and losing the certification / grade it has is higher than I want to take.

I don't crack anything out anymore. NGC/PCGS it doesn't matter. If I like the coin, it stays in the holder. If I have an incomplete NGC registry set because the holder is not the right one, then so be it. Because after all, is it not more important that I have a complete set of coins than a complete registry set? Yeah, I wish things were the way they were but they are not. So I have adapted and moved on. I do try to buy NGC holdered coins but if I like a PCGS holdered coin and I buy it, it stays in the PCGS holder. That said, I'm glad for PCGS coins still being allowed in custom sets.

There is another problem with crossing PCGS coins over and its financial. I cannot lie to myself about the market perception of PCGS holdered coins. The market favors PCGS when it comes to classic US coins. That's just my perception. Another thing that I find interesting is that the grading companies guarantee grade and authenticity. With that you are less likely to get a bump because the guarantee will fall to the new company. Prime example and I hated to see these crossed to PCGS was the Newman Confederate half-dollar and the 1854-S half-eagle. They both crossed at the same grade to PCGS. When big money is on the line grading is much more critical and both NGC and PCGS are a lot more careful handing out high grades. 

All

Some of you may or may not know that I also blog on the ANA's website. There are two posts I made there on my Money Talks presentation at the ANA's World's Fair of Money that I have chosen not to post here. In one of the posts I write about my preparation for the talk and the other on the delivery of the talk. If you are interested I am posting the links to both posts.

 https://www.money.org/collector/coinsbygary/blog/the-making-of-this-money-talks-presenter-part-1-preparation-

https://www.money.org/collector/coinsbygary/blog/the-making-of-this-money-talks-presenter-part-2-delivery-

Congratulations Revenant! You most certainly deserve it! Enjoy that cruise with your wife! 

22 hours ago, Iceman said:

I just finished listening your podcast and found it very informative and very interesting. You did a great job.... if that was me I would have been tripping over my own words and not to mention freezing up at every question I was asked.    Your a natural at this......Congratulation  

It all starts with little or no fear of public speaking. After that you'd be surprised. If you are passionate about what you speak of and are well versed in what you are speaking of you'll be amazed by what you can do. I have no doubt that you can speak intelligibly and passionately about your Icelandic coins! (It comes out in your writing). 

BTW, thank you for your kind comments. I must say that when I recorded the podcast I was a little apprehensive about how it would come out. However, after listening to it, I also thought that it turned out pretty good. Gary. 

56 minutes ago, ColonialCoinsUK said:

Gary very interesting observations, there doesn't seem to be many clashes on British coins - or people just do not mention them!

I seem to be moving towards Spanish and Italian coins although from an earlier period, the Napoleonic era in particular as there, surprisingly, seems to be so much to discover. Can I ask how you get such good pictures?

That is a loaded question that is impossible to fully answer in this thread. So instead, I'll list my equipment and recommend a good book. I use a camera stand with two daylight fluorescent lighting sources. My camera is a Nikon D3500 SLR camera with a Venus Optics Laowa V-DX 60mm F2.8 Macro 2:1 lens. Also, I use Photoshop Elements to edit my pictures. The book is the first and most important thing for you to buy. That book is entitled "Numismatic Photography" by Mark Goodman. In it you'll learn most of the tricks of the trade. You'll also be able to determine how much you want to spend on equipment from a basic point and shoot camera to more advanced cameras. Be patient, it takes a while to hone your skills. However, with digital cameras just delete the practice shots and start all over again! I hope you find this helpful. If I can be of further assistance, feel free to IM me through Collectors Society.

Thank you for your comments on my photography. I hope to take my rig on the road to local coin shows to supplement my retirement income!

If that much money moved into the Zimbabwe economy you'd see the exchange rate (Zimbabwe to foreign currency) significantly improve. Revenant, you might be rich then!

Say, now that is a mighty fine coin and RD to boot! At the price you paid when in comparison to the asking price for the ANACS you could almost call the PCGS coin a steal! Congratulations on the find and a new addition to what is already a mighty fine collection. Gary.

10 minutes ago, Iceman said:

I viewed  your set and found it very impressing. I'm eagerly awaiting to here your results from NCS/NGC of the 5 Peseta pattern you submitted. 

Before and after pics coming  

Congratulations Jackson! That is a really big deal! I have the 1974 Bahamas Flamingo $2 coin that I bought raw a very long time ago. As you probably know mine is not silver but the flamingo design is the same. Like you, I was impressed with the quality of my coin. When I sent it in for grading it got an MS-69 grade. With a few other MS world submissions it is the highest graded raw world coin I ever submitted. I was of course delighted with my grade as you are but a 70, its time to do cartwheels! All the best, Gary.

The collecting family video on the kidzone page is pretty cool!

I'm on the sell coins to buy coins agreement with my wife. I've bought several coins this year already and just completed a $2000.00+ coin sale with a few pleasant surprises and some not so pleasant. I'll post about the whole experience soon. Gary

From the pictures you post that is a very attractive coin with lots of mint luster. While not a fatty, the coin is slabbed in an older style NGC holder. I am so glad to hear that your wife has the opportunity to visit her mom with Sam. After following your posts concerning him earlier this year, it's nice to see that he is traveling and taking it so well. Gary

On the selling and buying of gold in the current market I found the following youtube video from a dealers perspective kind of interesting even though it may not match the fatty holder seller you described. It does however match my experience when I tried to sell a gold coin to a dealer and thought that I should have gotten more.

4 hours ago, Iceman said:

I'm trying to make plans for next year to visit ....maybe I'll drop in on the wedding unannounced....LOL... its a small country and not much doesn't get by unnoticed. Congratulate Your daughter and her future husband for me And with all best happiness for them in the future. 

Guðni

I'll see you at the Hotel Budir then  

My congratulations also on the grades you got. They are a reflection of a discriminating eye, and in particular your eye. It's just nice to have NGC agree with your assessment. BTW, my daughter is getting married and wants to have her wedding in Iceland. It seems that I will be traveling to Iceland in October of 2020. Have you been there before? Gary

24 minutes ago, JRs Coins said:

Just curious, did they give you the proof "W" cent in the plastic bag with your proof set?

Nope

In all seriousness, I don't know what NCS can do with this coin since it looks to me as if it has two serious rim dings on it. Rim dings are something that conservation cannot fix since NCS will not do any tooling on the coin to change the surface. Never mind I see what you are talking about.

Today I received back those two moon mission coins, the Kennedy half dollar and the 50th anniversary half dollar coins I sent back to NGC with crossed labels. All is good now. The friendly person on the phone recognized the original problem and told me what to do. It happened just as she said and I am a happy camper. Furthermore, this was at no expense to me. NGC sent a credit to my credit card for postage back to Florida.

This has been painfully apparent to me as I own several gold coins that I bought during the last peak that I have wanted to sell for quite a while. Fortunately, I have not needed the money so I have held them all this time. That said I still have a little ways to go before I will break even. On the other side of the coin (pun intended) I have used the low prices of the last couple of years to complete my gold type set. 

Go get em Ben! Nice ones!

The place my father worked is the largest employer in the county of the state I lived and grew up. Every year they would host a company picnic for each of their business divisions on separate weekends during July. As an 11 year-old they hired me to clean up the grounds after the picnic. As a benefit I was allowed to attend all the picnics and get paid in cash after the work was done at the end of the day. I looked forward to these picnics every year because they had a carnival like feel to them complete with carnival rides. (All this was free to me)! They had a band and everything! As a young lad just beginning to notice the young lasses this was the place to be. (Sorry I digress, I have so many fond memories attached to this event). 

At any rate, the day the eagle landed I was working on the picnic grounds. The moment the eagle landed they announced it on the loudspeaker. I'll never forget it, that and everyone cheering! As a young boy I wanted to be an astronaut when I grew up. I was a space nut and soaked up everything NASA. My mother purely in jest told me I didn't have to wait to become an astronaut to go to the moon, she'd send me there with one swift kick! (I knew it was in jest because she chuckled every time she said it! (Sorry, I digress again).

I never lost my love of anything associated with space. My vacation project last year was to build a Lego Saturn V rocket. Even today the completed Saturn V is proudly displayed on a stand in my living room! Unfortunately, my dream to be an astronaut went by the wayside years ago, I guess I didn't have the right stuff!

For your viewing pleasure, I have a number space related numismatic coins and medals. In fact as I speak, I am waiting on most of my Apollo 11, 50 year anniversary flight week submissions to NGC with the moon mission releases label. However, I can say my 5oz silver dollar got a 70, whoo-who! To give you a perspective of the size of the Lego Saturn V, I stood it up in relation to my front door. All the stages come apart and everything, it's really cool. Gary    

5 hours ago, jgenn said:

Have great fun with your new camera lens!  How is your photography on the road project going?

My main concern for taking my photography on the road is the security of those coins left in my trust to photograph. After that its logistics, if I can't get all the pics edited on site, I need another way to get the customer their photos, mail/e-mail? The lens I bought is one piece of the puzzle because I never have to change lenses. Starting out I'll probably do local coin shows. Finally, I haven't decided what I will charge along with discounts for bulk orders. I want to make sure all my i's are dotted and the t's crossed before going on the road. I think I need to do more free trial runs for my local coin club. Gary 

Whew, that was a close call! I'm so glad that you're still here posting your insights. Congratulations on the twins! I have a friend who says that we should listen to our bodies, pretty good advice especially when it determines the difference between life and death!

There is a lot of gimmick stuff out there and the CC half is slightly tempting to me. Earlier this week I ran across something else slightly tempting and kind of neat looking that will have a limited edition of 1969. With that you can probably guess what it will be without too much imagination. Oh, and BTW it is way overpriced! Just shocking! At least there is a real dollar here.  

Somehow I am disconnected from this latest fad. Up until this post I had never heard of Funko Pops. I guess I'm not missing much while quality coins will always be in demand.