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coinsbygary

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Journal Entries posted by coinsbygary

  1. coinsbygary
    Two very different E-Bay auctions.
    The purpose of this post is not to comment on the merits of E-Bay, but to describe two recent positive auction experiences. Many of you know of, and participate in the E-Bay Bucks program. With a fresh grant of E-Bay Bucks in July, I?m sure that many of you, like myself, went shopping for new coins. Two coins that caught my attention were an 1832 MS-61 Classic Head ? Cent and an 1837 XF-40 Capped Bust Half-Dollar. Both coins would have filled empty slots in ?Gary?s Type Set?. The 1832 ? cent would have been the first early copper for my set and the 1837 half-dollar would nearly complete all the half-dollar slots. Both coins went on my E-Bay watch list.
    The 1832 ? cent caught my eye as a very affordable MS early copper that fell well within my VF minimum grade for the set. This chocolate brown coin had a strong strike, with lots of eye appeal.
    When bidding on a coin, unless the coin is a ?must have? coin, I often watch the coin without making a bid until the end of the auction. Then, more often than not, I place my maximum bid on the coin and walk away from the auction should someone outbid me. The only question with this strategy comes in the timing of the bid, which can be critical. Up until four hours before the end of the auction, the bidding on this coin was very promising with the current winning bid well below the retail fair market value for the coin. At this point, I placed my maximum bid based on the fair market value and my E-Bay Bucks, knowing this coin would likely bid higher than the fair market value. My maximum bid became the top bid, revealing the maximums of everyone else and forcing would be bidders to guess my maximum bid. Furthermore, I was encouraged to find that my bid was still well below the fair market value of the coin. Then, with a few hours remaining before the end of the auction, along comes an E-Bay newbie and bids the coin higher with three maximum bids. Typically, when someone new bids on a lot they bid up the price with minimum bids. This person was different though in that they brought the price up with higher bids. Now with my top bid seriously eroded, I found myself in the lead with $21 left on my maximum. At this time, it appeared as if the newbie gave up and unless other bidders showed themselves, I would likely win the coin. Then, with seconds before the end of the auction, another bidder who had not previously bid on this lot outbid me with a single bid. While I would have loved to own this coin, I was not too upset because it cost more than I was willing to pay and the overall cost would have strained my budget.
    The other coin on my list is a gunmetal toned 1837 reeded edge XF-40 Capped Bust Half-Dollar. As a type coin, this coin offered a reeded edge and a reverse with the denomination ?50 Cents? spelled out. The other reeded edge coin with this reverse is the very rare 1836 half-dollar with a listed mintage of 1200.
    The opening bid on the 1837 half-dollar was set high, but still well below the fair market value. For whatever reason, no one had bid on this coin and with a few hours to go, I placed my maximum bid at fair market value for the coin. Then, with seconds to go in the auction, another newbie placed three quick minimum bids, but ran out of time, so I won the coin. I was extremely happy with this coin, since I won it at 17% below fair market value, add on my E-Bay Bucks and my net cost was 34% below fair market value. Additionally, the cost of this coin was almost half the cost of the ? cent and a lot less of a burden on my budget.
    Finally, I hope you are all having a good buying summer. My buying summer is most definitely slower than a year ago, but that is not necessarily a bad thing, because I am acquiring good coins that meet my collecting goals. Happy collecting all!
    Gary

  2. coinsbygary
    Toning on Morgan Dollars can serve a very good purpose.
    Greetings all, I have long admired the 2009 grand prize winning ?Chappell Collection? of proof Morgan Dollars. Frosty devices on unmarked, mirrored fields combine to make this collection of Morgan Dollars a beauty to behold. Morgan Dollars of this quality are extremely rare though, since most have some degree of contact marks. Proofs aside, freshly minted Morgan Dollars were harshly handled. Fresh off the dies these dollars were thrown into boxes for inspection and then run through mechanical counting machines. Before shipment, they were poured into a 57-pound, 1000-coin cloth bag and then heaped on one another for transport to treasury vaults or banks. It is no wonder that most MS Morgan Dollars are peppered with contact marks.
    When I look at a coin in its holder, I like to hold it far enough from my eyes to take in the overall beauty of the coin. Affecting eye appeal on the obverse of uncirculated Morgan Dollars are large unprotected fields around Lady Liberty?s bust that have varying levels of contact marks. Unfortunately, the contact marks on a low-grade (MS-60 to MS-64), blast white, uncirculated coin is very distracting, as my eyes primarily focus on the contact marks rather than the devices. This eye distraction takes away from the overall beauty of the coin, and the effect is even more amplified on proof-like coins. At times, I think a lightly and evenly toned AU-58 coin is much more attractive than a blast white MS-62 with multiple contact marks. Of course, white AU coins have problems of their own and often display an overt amount of hairlines. MS-65 and higher coins have significantly fewer contact marks and allow my eyes to take in the full beauty of the design.
    The fact that affordable Morgan Dollars contain an excessive amount of contact marks has kept me from collecting this venerable series in the past. Of course, this was until I decided to collect a short set of New Orleans minted coins with rainbow-toned coins.
    Sometimes, when a coin doctor wants to cover up surface imperfections, they will artificially tone a coin to try to cover them up. However, when nature over a period of 110 years or so ?Doctors? a coin this is OK and in some instances desirable (There is a NGC star MS-62 1885-O on Teletrade tonight that is currently bid at $825, while the FMV is $39.60). Toning is a process whereby sulfur in the air combines with humidity and chemically reacts with silver to produce a very thin film or patina on the surface of the coin. This transparent film of varying thickness in the order of thousands of an inch allows light to pass through, reflect off the face of the coin, and cancel certain wavelengths of light on the surface. This effect, which is the same effect that causes a sheen of oil on water to have a rainbow ?appearance? is called ?thin film interference?. When I hold a rainbow-toned at the correct angle relative to the light, my eye perceives the different colors reflected through the varying thickness of the patina on the surface of the coin. Distracted by the colors, my eyes often miss the contact marks to perceive the beauty of the devices through the colors on the coin.
    All this brings me to the latest addition to my set. Last week I bought a rainbow-toned 1899-O PCGS MS-62 Morgan Dollar on E-Bay. When I got the coin, I noticed parallel horizontal scratches on Lady Liberty?s cheek from her mouth up to her eye. Furthermore, there was an unsightly contact mark in the coin?s field at 1:00. Now I could clearly see why this coin got its MS-62 grade, but why didn?t I see it in the listing picture? The answer is that my eyes were playing tricks on me through the colors on the coin. I went back to the listing and looked for the blemishes, and sure enough, there they were. All this goes to say that rainbow toning is the eye candy that distracts my eyes away from the surface blemishes and onto the devices of the coin where they belong. Had this coin not had this toning, you can be sure the surface blemishes would have been front and center. Until next time, happy collecting!
    Gary

  4. coinsbygary
    While I am currently concentrating on Morgan Dollars, I have not lost sight of my other goals.
    Greetings all, three of six of my last posts highlighted my latest rage, primarily New Orleans minted Morgan Dollars. With my enthusiasm focused singularly on one registry set, it seems that my other sets were overshadowed. However, it would be wrong to confuse overshadowing with inactivity. With an eye towards all my sets, whenever I have had the opportunity to add to my collection in accordance with my goals, I will more often than not buy those coins.
    One of those other registry sets on my radar screen, but in the background, is a two-pound Silver Britannia set. The British Britannia is the one-ounce silver equivalent of the Silver American Eagle with a few exceptions. One of those exceptions is that typically the Britannia?s mintage is held at 100,000 coins annually. The low mintage coupled with poor handling and packaging at the Royal Mint means that there is only a handful of high-grade certified Britannia?s.
    My goal for this set has been to collect the entire 13 coin series in MS-69 condition. I started the year having six of twelve coins certified at MS-69. Shortly thereafter, I added both the 1998 and 2010 in MS-69 condition and in June, I added the 2004. Suddenly, I moved from six coins in MS-69 to nine coins. Since there are not a lot of certified coins let alone high-grade coins in this series, I consider three coins out of seven in six months good progress.
    Just this past week a MS-68 2007 Britannia came up for auction on E-bay. Normally, with a goal of MS-69, I would not consider buying an MS-68 on the way to MS-69. However, since the 2007 Britannia was the last MS-67 in my set, I placed a bid on the coin. My rational for this decision apart from it being the last MS-67 was that I may not see an MS-69 for a long time and the sale of the 67 partially subsidizes the 68. I ended up winning the auction and while the coin is short of my goal and adds only 28 points to my set, it represents a milestone in my set that no coin grades below MS-68.
    MS-70 coins in this series are almost unheard of and up until now, I knew of only one coin certified at that level between both NGC and PCGS. Then the impossible happened, a dealer in Great Britain had six 2010 PCGS MS-70 Britannia?s listed on E-Bay as a ?Buy It Now? for sale! With less than 10 coins in the entire 13-coin series graded that high, I snapped one up last month.
    Now my set has 1 MS-70, 8 MS-69?s, and 4 MS-68?s, and if I never see another MS-69 with which to upgrade my set, I will be happy to have a top-notch registry set that I am proud to own. This year I have made remarkable progress towards my goal. However, taking nothing for granted, I?ll continue to be on the lookout for the ever-elusive final four MS-69?s to accomplish my goal. May you all achieve your collecting goals.
    Gary

  5. coinsbygary
    Two recent purchases and the quality of New Orleans Mint coins.
    Greetings collectors, these past two months have been an active period of acquiring coins for my collection. My New Orleans Morgan Dollar collection now stands at 14 coins, all acquired within the last two months and partially paid for by the sale of existing coins from my collection. My two most recent purchases made just this past week was an AU-55 1886-O and a MS-65 1900-O Morgan Dollar.
    With the 1886-O Morgan Dollar valued at $270 in AU-58 and $630 in MS-60, I determined AU-55 to be the best example I could obtain and remain within my budget. Last week Teletrade had a rainbow-toned NGC 1886-O AU-55 coin up for auction. The toning on this coin, unlike most was not particularly attractive, but then again, I did not expect to acquire this coin with rainbow toning. Thinking I would not win the auction because of the market premium on toned coins, I placed my budget limit as my maximum bid. When the auction ended, I found I won the coin with room to spare. Had this coin not been somewhat of an ugly duckling, I may not have won it. On the other hand, the reverse of this coin is so much more attractive than the obverse with a green, to blue, to burgundy, to orange rainbow transition along the upper left rim of the coin.
    My stated goal is to collect as many rainbow-toned coins as possible, but I know that when my set is complete it will comprise of something less than 100% mint-state toners. Rainbow-toned New Orleans dollars dated 1883 to 1885 are among the most available coins in the marketplace. After these dates, the others are much scarcer. Additionally, due to the cost, rainbow-toned ?star? grades, MS-65, and some MS-63 to 64 toners are out of reach. With all the low hanging fruit picked, future purchases may be a slow go. Conversely, many non-toned MS-65 New Orleans Morgan dollars are affordable and within my budget. Furthermore, a blast-white MS-65 coin could be a representative example for the entire collection because it looks as close to a freshly minted coin as possible. With this in mind, I had several inexpensive MS-65 coins on my E-Bay watch list. Because the year 1900 is the turn of the century and the coin is affordable in MS-65 condition, I targeted the 1900-O Morgan Dollar for my collection. Since not all MS-65?s are created equal, I bought the most appealing ?buy it now? coin on my watch list. What made this coin especially attractive is that it was listed significantly below fair market value. Throw in a fresh allotment of E-Bay bucks and I obtained this coin for almost half of what it was worth!
    I am relatively new to collecting Morgan Dollars, but now with my set beginning to take shape, I see the issues many collectors have with New Orleans minted coins. New Orleans minted coins have a deserved reputation for being weakly struck. The reason for this is not so much in the strength of the strike, but in the spacing of the dies. With the dies spaced further apart than that at other mints, the metal would not always flow into the deepest crevices of the dies. This difference at times can be stark and is most visible in the hair above Liberty?s ear and along her forehead. The picture attached to my post is of two New Orleans minted Morgan dollars side-by-side. Because I like to compare oranges with oranges both are graded MS-64. The 1885 coin is PCGS certified and CAC approved for its grade. The 1903 is graded by NGC. Could the difference be any clearer? On the reverse of these coins, which are not pictured, this difference becomes apparent in the detail of the eagles' breast feathers. I bought the 1885 coin because I liked the toning and the fact that this coin represents my first CAC approved coin. Furthermore, the strength of strike does not detract from the coins? toning. On my future mint-state purchases unless the toning takes my breath away, I will be cherry-picking coins that have strong strikes, gorgeous toning, and a reasonable price.
    Soon I will be highlighting the fascinating history of the 1903-O Morgan Dollar. I just love the 1903-O coin pictured here and it may well be my favorite coin in the set. I think we all can agree, there still is not a better hobby on the face of the earth! Happy collecting all!
    Gary

  6. coinsbygary
    It?s hard to describe the fun I am having assembling my latest registry set based on New Orleans Morgan Dollars called, ?Born on the Bayou?.
    Greetings all, a little more than a month ago I started a new registry set based on New Orleans minted Morgan Dollars. Little did I know at the time that what started as a whim has turned into a source of great enjoyment. Since then, I have learned much about coin collecting in general and the Morgan Dollar in particular. While I cannot adequately describe everything that has happened in the last month with one journal post, I can give a general overview in this post and elaborate more on the details in later journals.
    It is always wise before beginning any endeavor to count the costs. The concept for this set started with determining whether it was financially feasible to complete. Once I determined that it was indeed doable; I set a budget of no more than $200/coin. As with any set, there are always a few budget-busting coins. While most of the dollars in my set can be acquired in choice or gem BU condition for less than $200, some coins are only obtainable in lower circulated grades. For instance, the 1895-O dollar has a Fair Market Value of $16,250 in MS-60. Moreover, the value of this coin only becomes less than $1000 starting in grades XF and lower. Even a Good 4 or 8-graded coin is valued at $219! In the instance of this coin, along with the 1893 and 1903 coins, I determined the minimum grade I will accept is VG 10 or higher, realizing that each of these coins would cost me over $200.
    My strategy for completing any set is to try to obtain the key dates first. The 1903-O dollar in VG condition has a FMV of $288 and $513 in MS-64. Since the difference in the value between the two is just $225, I bought a gorgeous MS-64 example on sale from David Lawrence Rare Coins over Labor Day weekend for less than FMV. Perusing Teletrade and E-Bay listings for 1893-O and 95-O dollars seemed fruitless, and when they were available, they tended to be overpriced. Then last week I located both coins on E-Bay from a single seller. The 1893-O dollar certified at PCGS F-15 had one bid and the 1895-O at PCGS VG-10 had none. I placed both my bids through a snip program at FMV and won the 1893-O at less than FMV. The 1895-O ended without clearing the seller?s reserve, but since my bid was the only bid, I was hoping for a second chance offer. Shortly after the listing ended, I got my offer and immediately seized upon it. Now I have all three key coins at very good prices.
    Desiring to learn all I can about Morgan Dollars I bought a book by Q. David Bowers entitled, ?A Guide Book of Morgan Silver Dollars?. Contained in the book is a complete history and price guide pertaining to the Morgan Dollar. As I was reading this book, I discovered a fascinating story on the 1903-O Morgan Dollar that I will elaborate on in a future post. Along with the stories is an abundance of other useful information that I will use to write owner descriptions for each of my coins.
    Where possible, I thought it would be nice to collect rainbow-toned coins. Even though there is a premium attached to these coins, I find that most fit within my budget. The conditions necessary to tone coins ?naturally? and the science behind it is fascinating. Additionally, the selection of these coins corresponds to my taste, making it much more fun to pick and choose.
    The coin pictured below was listed on E-Bay as a ?buy it now? for more money than my budget allowed. However, the seller was also accepting best offers and I made him an offer at cost plus postage of slightly less than $200. To my amazement, the seller accepted my offer, allowing me to purchase the coin while sticking to my budget.
    As far as budgets go, I am learning that if I am patient and stick to my budget, I will get the coins I want at cheaper prices. The hard part is being willing to walk away from a coin I like simply because it is off budget, as was the coin pictured in my post. When it comes to coins, self-discipline is tough, but I am learning that good things come to those who wait and surprisingly my set stands today at 50% complete! Happy collecting all!
    Gary

  7. coinsbygary
    I think I lost the desire to keep up with the First Spouse gold coins.
    Greetings all, many of you are aware that I have been collecting First Spouse gold coins. In the past, I have opined in my journals on strategies for collecting the entire series in PF-70 condition. The fact that these coins are gold, and they sprang out of a passion for my ?Inspirational Ladies? custom set has kept me buying these expensive coins. Although I did not buy these coins as an investment or hedge against inflation, those thoughts do cross my mind frequently these days. These reasons are not why I collect coins; in fact, they tend to taint my collecting passion.
    Another reason the time may have come to move on is the cost of running in the ?Golden Rat Race?. I recently purchased Buchanan?s Liberty for my collection and one week later the dealer raised the price by $30.00, good thing I got that coin when I did. When I started this series, the coins were selling for around $500 each, today they are getting close to twice that price. Another of those thoughts that props up every time I purchase one of these coins is, ?Is it worth it?? With my collecting passion returning to my ?classic coin roots?, First Spouse coins' drain resources that could be spent on 19th and 20th century classic coins. Furthermore, with the First Spouse series less than half way complete and the price of gold projected to hit $1500/oz the cost of continuing is daunting.
    Fortunately, there is a ?bronze? lining in this. With each new issue is an accompanying, nearly identical, bronze medal. In the event I discontinued collecting the gold coins, I purchased the bronze versions of the First Spouse coins. In spite of my waning passion to continue with the gold coins, I still love the designs and history behind the First Spouse coins, and these medals are an economical way to enjoy that history. Additionally, I purchased the Presidential dollar and First Spouse medal sets mounted in attractive cards from the mint. These sets are a wonderful way to collect the presidents with their spouses housed in the same packaging. Eventually, I will have the medals certified and in a registry set to.
    Another positive aspect is that this year I will achieve one of my stated goals. My goal has been to have the top rated First Spouse gold proof set. The next issue will be Mary Todd Lincoln, set to be released on December 2, 2010. With the registry cut-off date on December 10, there will not be enough time for the mint to deliver the coins and have them graded. Since my set is currently top rated, it will end top rated.
    In all this, there is also a golden lining. As my set currently stands, it represents eight ounces of pure gold. At $1300/oz plus numismatic value, that is quite a chunk of change. Even though I intend to keep the ?Classic Liberty? short set, I am still left with a healthy sum of cash with which to buy some nice 19th century coins. Since I do not currently need to sell the coins in my set, I can wait until gold hits $1500 to begin selling.
    With the next First Spouse release due in three months, I am in no hurry to make up my mind as to what direction to go. When it comes to collecting coins, I have a penchant for being fickle, and three months is a long time to think about it. Add to it, a little ?Gold Fever? and anything can happen. In the end though, I know I will have a collection that will bring me many hours of enjoyment.
    Gary

  8. coinsbygary
    Borrowing from a term in W.K.F?s recent post, there is no better way to describe learning that your coins have been ?improperly cleaned? than ?blindsided?.
    Greetings all, have you ever gotten your hopes up about a submission, only to discover your coin is ?not-gradable, improperly cleaned?? I?m sure that for many of you, myself included, this has happened on multiple occasions. I wish there were some way to take the risk out of submissions, but alas, there is none. To sum it all up in a familiar clich?, ?You win some and you lose some.? That said, I think the best any of us can hope for is to reduce the risk by educating ourselves about our coins before submitting them.
    Through painful trial and error, I have found that dipping removes a coin?s luster, making the relief look dull and flat. Concentric hairlines across the face of the coin, visible when tilted towards the light, indicate cleaning, Washed out or shiny fields with toning shadows around the dentils, lettering and devices or uneven toning are warning signs of a possible cleaning. Eraser marks that appear as clouded toning in the fields of large silver coins or evidence of polishing on gold coins are a reasonable cause for hesitation. Fortunately, with education and experience, the average collector can identify these conditions. Unfortunately, as I will prove with my latest submission, identifying ?improperly cleaned? coins is NOT an exact science, even among professional numismatists.
    My latest submission consisted of coins previously identified by NGC as improperly cleaned. Because some of these coins are somewhat valuable, I wanted to have them encapsulated to fill vacant slots in my registry sets. The following is a comprehensive list of the improperly cleaned coins and their final grades and detail grades.
    1. 1877-S Trade Dollar AU details, improperly cleaned.
    2. 1859 3-Cent Silver AU details, damaged (This coin previously returned damaged).
    3. 1835 Half-Dime XF-45
    4. 1876 20-Cent Piece XF-40
    For any of you who have seen the recent movie ?The Blind Side?, I was blindsided in a positive way when two of my previously un-gradable coins returned with full grades. This begs to question, why didn?t my 20-cent piece and half-dime grade last time? Obviously, in the end, ?improperly cleaned? is subject to opinion. All this goes to show that as long as professionals cannot agree, the collectors cannot be 100% certain their submitted coins will grade. I think the collectors that PAY to have their coins professionally examined for grade should be given the benefit of the doubt. On the other hand, I can see NGC?s side in that they warrant their grades and mistakes can cost them money and respect in the marketplace. After all the warranty IS part of what the collectors are paying for.
    Sometimes, the hardest thing for me to do is trust my gut, because I want to believe the best. For instance, my submission also included four raw coins, two of which my gut said were problems. One blindside, and one grade. They are:
    1. 1854 Half-Dime Arrows XF details, improperly cleaned.
    2. 1859 Indian Head Cent VF details, improperly cleaned.
    3. 1832 Capped Bust Quarter F details, improperly cleaned.
    4. 1853 Seated Liberty Dime Arrows XF-40
    The 1859 Indian Head Cent that my gut told me ?cleaning? based upon clear fields with toning shadows around the relief was confirmed by NGC. My original mistake was buying the coin in the first place, with my gut saying ?no?, and my heart ?yes?. I think I need my gut to win more of those arguments. The 1832 quarter had serious carbon spotting that NGC ignored, while finding improper cleaning that I missed. Upon closer examination, I could see a change in the toning around the date that easily could be construed as cleaning. The half-dime is a true blindside and I still cannot see the evidence of cleaning. In this case, the coin is not valuable enough to crack out and resubmit, so for now it will remain a mystery until I further educate myself. Happy collecting all!
    Gary

  9. coinsbygary

    A Sentimental Journey

    By coinsbygary,

    In a story that has all the elements of a good drama; follow the journey of my lowly 20-cent piece from the time I purchased it until its crowning glory!
    To lay a little groundwork to this story, misfit coins have always intrigued me. You know the type, the half-cent, two-cent, three-cent, and 20 cent pieces. Moreover, coins minted at out of date branch mints such as New Orleans, Charlotte, Dahlonega, and Carson City captivates my imagination. At my very first coin show as a youth in the mid 70?s, I remember purchasing a XF 1828 ? cent for around $30. In those days, mail order was a popular venue in which to purchase coins. Through the mail, I acquired a Lavere Redfield 1885-CC Morgan Dollar and an 1858-C half-eagle. Another of those mail order coins from the mid 70?s was an XF 1876 20-cent piece. The 1876 20-cent piece has a low mintage of 14,640 and as a coin was a perfect fit in my collection, combining low mintage with a peculiar coin.
    When my 20-cent piece arrived, I was quite disappointed. The advertised condition of the coin in the magazine ad was XF, but the coin I received seemed closer to VF than it was to XF. I called the dealer and they stood by their assessment of coin. Since I ordered the coin sight unseen, it was my word against his. For whatever reason, I decided to keep the coin anyway and thus began a long ownership that continues to this day.
    After I graduated from high school in 1976, I joined the Navy. This began a long lapse in my collecting activity. However, I did try to collect a complete set of circulating coins at every port I visited. Meanwhile back at home my 20-cent piece sat idle in my mother?s safe deposit box. When I left the Navy in 1982, my collecting activity picked up with the purchase a 1984-W Olympic Gold Eagle. Then I was married and lived in Europe for a year continuing my custom of collecting each country?s circulating coinage. When I returned home, I retrieved my coins from my mother?s box, thus re-uniting me with my 20-cent piece. It was a joy to hold and examine my coins again after a long hiatus.
    About five years ago, I thought it would be nice to have all my coins certified. I choose NTC (Numistrust Corp) to certify my coins, and felt somewhat vindicated when my 20-cent piece received a grade of VF-20. Little did I know at the time the troubles I would have with my NTC graded coins. Then, a little more than two years ago, I joined Collector?s Society and decided to cross over my NTC graded coins to NGC. I cracked out my 20-cent piece along with some other coins and submitted them for grading. My 20-cent piece came back to me un-gradeable, improperly cleaned. Disheartened, I thought to sell all my un-gradeable coins since at that time NGC did not do details grading.
    Before I listed my 20-cent piece on E-Bay, I opined about my dilemma in a journal post. A fellow Society member responded to my post, suggesting I should reconsider selling my coins because it sounded to him as if the coins in question were heirlooms. Moreover, he went on to detail several other options I might consider. When I thought about my coins as heirlooms, my attitude towards them decidedly changed and my 20-cent piece was spared from auction. Unfortunately, my un-gradeable, first coin show purchase, 1828 ? cent was not. To this day, I regret letting that coin go.
    For the next year and a half, my 20-cent piece lay in my safe waiting for me to resubmit it for a purple label and inclusion into my type set at half-points. With a 5-free coin certificate from my annual renewal, I submitted it for grading along with other un-gradeable coins and a few raw purchases. My submission hit quality control early last week. For the next three days, I checked multiple times each day to see if NGC released the grades. This seemed a bit odd, since I never had coins in quality control that long before. Finally, my coins cleared quality control Friday morning. Even though there were a few disappointments, my 20-cent piece got a full grade of XF-40! I could not believe it, how could a coin graded VF-20 by a lower tier grading company and un-gradeable by NGC, now have a full grade of XF-40? What an unexpected comeback, and to think I very nearly sold this coin. Now my 20-cent piece will take its rightful place in the registry with FULL points. Maybe the dealer who I purchased the coin from really did know something I did not, even though I still think the coin is somewhere in the VF range. Nevertheless, today I am one happy camper, and it is quite possible I will own this coin until the day of my death. Happy collecting all and may you be delighted with your submissions!
    Gary

  10. coinsbygary

    Here I Go Again!

    By coinsbygary,

    Is there any cure for this disease? I hope not!
    Just the other night, while I was reading the owner description on my 1907-O Barber Quarter, I thought (thinking can be dangerous) wouldn?t it be nice to start a complete set of Morgan Dollars based on the New Orleans Mint? There has always been an attraction for me in the New Orleans mint ever since I learned of its history. Discovering that the New Orleans Mint may not have reopened after the Civil War had it not been for the Bland-Allison Act and a return of the silver dollar in 1878 only increases the allure of this once venerable branch mint. Therefore, since the New Orleans Mint coined Morgan dollars from 1879 to 1904, I thought it would be nice to start a Morgan Dollar year set based on the New Orleans Mint.
    Having come up with this on a whim I needed to do a little homework to establish the feasibility of such a collection. With 26 coins in the series, I decided on a budget of no more than $200 per coin. Encouraged by what I found, 15 of 26 coins in MS-63 to MS-65, and 8 in AU 50 to MS-62 have fair market values of less than $200. The 1893 1895 and 1903 are the key dates in the series and exceed my budgetary constraints, leaving me to decide what my minimum acceptable grade would be. On these three dates, I will accept coins as low as VG and while each of these coins exceeds $200, they are still somewhat reasonable.
    On another whim, because a large number of coins in this set are collectable in mint-state condition, I thought I would like to collect rainbow-toned coins. Currently, a large supply of certified rainbow-toned Morgan Dollars affords me the opportunity to collect coins that align with my aesthetic tastes. Coins with steely toned cobalt blue, teal, burnt orange, and burgundy coloring are preferable, although I will collect some coins with ?carnival? color toning. Typically, most rainbow-toned coins display toning on either the obverse or the reverse. Generally, I prefer toning on the obverse, but for variety, my set will also include reverse toned coins.
    Although rainbow-toned coins are popular with some and not with others, they still command a premium. While perusing several E-Bay listings, I noticed the price range on rainbow-toned coins covers a wide spectrum, from a small premium over fair market value to thousands of dollars for a common date. Nevertheless, I have found eye-catching rainbow-toned coins grading MS-63 for MS-65 money at less than $200. The hardest aspect of collecting rainbow-toned coins will be passing on coins I really like because they are simply too expensive.
    As always, key dates will be challenging to collect. In the case of the 1893 and 1895 dollars, I will have to settle for coins grading from VG to VF. MS coins with these dates are rare and worth thousands of dollars. The 1903 dollar is a bit of an oddity though, with a fair market value of $288 in VG and $500 in MS-64. With a gap of only $212 between VG and MS-64 on this ?condition? rarity, I recently purchased an MS-64 example on sale for less than fair market value.
    Financing this set as always will be tricky. Either I add this set onto my current collection, or I sell portions of my collection to finance my new set. In light of my present financial state, I will be selling coins to finance this set. When it comes to selling, decisions on what goes and what stays are always tough. Since my passion is returning to my roots in classic coins, it is likely that many of my modern coins will be sold to finance this set. In any case, I will not be making the final decision anytime soon. For now, my excess coins and duplicates will finance my current purchases.
    Here I go again, just at the time I pat myself on the back for sticking to my goals, I go ahead and start yet another set. Now I ask myself, ?Is there a cure for this collecting disease?? I hope not, but I do need something to keep my ?disease? in check. For this, I find my wife the perfect prescription to keep my collecting in check and that is a good thing.
    The first coin I purchased for my Morgan Dollar year set entitled, ?Born on the Bayou? is an 1879 MS-63 dollar costing less than fair market value AND within my $200 budget. It does not get much better than this. In my next journal, I will be chronicling the journey of a coin very near to me that I purchased as a youth, until then, happy collecting all!
    Gary

  11. coinsbygary
    We?d all love to assemble mint-state classic coin sets, but realistically, it ain?t gonna happen for most of us.
    As far as I am concerned, there is no coin more beautiful than a large, 19th Century, high-grade cameo proof, add a touch of teal toning, and I?d think the coin came from heaven. Nonetheless, coins like the one I just described only come at a hefty price. For a good portion of us, including myself, to collect 19th century coins we have to settle for something less than proof and mint-state coins. A possible exception may be to collect high-grade 19th Century mint sets rather than collecting a series or type. What makes a mint set doable is the limited number of coins needed to complete the set coupled with the numerous amount of years available, otherwise, the cost for many of us is prohibitive. Even so, to have a top rated mint set is still extremely expensive.
    Like most things, the law of supply and demand governs the price of coins. With a few exceptions, when I assembled my 20th Century type set, I found I could collect lower mint-state coins at reasonable prices. This is directly attributable to a good supply of coins meeting the demand. Now go back 100 years or more and you find far fewer coins in a good state of preservation, and now the supply cannot keep up with the demand, so the price increases. Except for unknown hoards, the supply of coins is a finite number, allowing them to hold and increase in value as long as the demand (the only real variable) remains high. For example, the person who spent 7 million dollars for a 1933 St Gaudens double eagle cannot possibly be happy about the prospect of ten more coins, in what amounts to a hoard, entering the market place. In this case, because the supply will increase by 10 fold, the 7 million dollar value will not hold. Even so, I do not think I?ll be bidding on any of those 10 coins should they come to auction.
    This leaves me to decide what level of preservation I will accept to populate my classic coin type set. Fortunately, there are attractive coins grading VF and higher that I can populate my set with that will not set me back financially. For the most part, coins on the high end of the VF scale have devices that are sharp, but show signs of even wear. Details on the VF coin are usually worn, but visible. Therefore, 19th Century coins grading VF or better give me the balance I am looking for between value and eye-appeal. Naturally, if I can achieve this balance with a mint-state coin, I?ll buy that. For instance, I can buy a low-grade MS three-cent nickel coin for around $100.
    To prove my point I am posting a side-by-side photo collage of a MS-64 Indian Head cent and a one-year type 1859 Indian Head cent. The 1859 cent is currently with NGC for grading, but I estimate the grade to be in the VF range. Both coins were reasonably priced with the MS cent costing me slightly less than $100 and the 1859-cent, $50. With a fair market value of $1090 for an MS-64 1859 cent in this instance, the VF coin achieves my value/eye-appeal balance objectives rather nicely. In a side-by-side comparison, the 1859 coin has sharp devices, but lacks detail in the ribbon, hair, and feathers. Liberty is worn, but visible. The main device is strong and evenly worn and the details, though worn are outlined clearly. Except for the tips, much of the detail on the feathers remains. Overall, for $1040, I think this coin is a fair trade-off.
     
    In summary, you gotta love a hobby that allows players of any financial means to get in the game. As for my love of high-grade 19th Century proof coins, I will always enjoy looking without owning. Happy collecting all!
    Gary

  12. coinsbygary
    A number of collecting irons in my fire.
    Greetings everyone, I pray that summer is going well for you as you plug away at your collecting goals. For me the summer of 2010 is a decidedly slower one than 2009. For the fun of it, I applied several filters to my collecting spreadsheet to discover a few eye-opening statistics. From May 1, 2009 to August 15, 2009, I bought a whopping 36 coins. During the same period this year, I bought 6 coins spending 42% less than last year. Sticking with my 2010 collecting goals is the primary reason for this year?s slowdown. For instance, this year my focus is on upgrades and filling slots in existing sets. These past months, there have been few opportunities for me to upgrade. Furthermore, I am taking my time to populate empty slots in my sets. Last year I started several new sets and worked feverously to populate those sets to compete in the annual awards. Was it worth 42% more in expenditures simply to compete, in some cases yes, in others, eh, maybe? At any rate, I thoroughly enjoyed building each set, especially my 20th Century Type Set.
    As of June 1, I renewed my Collector?s Society membership and received my coupon for five free submissions. A few years ago, I had as a goal to have all my raw coins certified by NGC, so yesterday I combined the few coins I had left in my collection with three coins I bought at a coin show and mailed them to NGC today. In total I have eight coins in circulated grades that when graded will populate my US Type Set. My ultimate goal for this set is for every coin to grade VF-20 or higher. 19th Century coins in MS condition can get quite pricey so I am focusing on handsome circulated coins for this set. Even at that, the early coppers in VF will run me a pretty penny and in some cases, I may have to settle for VG.
    Speaking of those eight coins, several of them may return with details grades. For instance, I previously sent many of the coins in this lot to NGC to be crossed over from other holders and NGC sent them back to me as no-grades. Others coins I sent raw with the same result. At the time I sent these coins to NGC, NGC had not yet started detail grading. Today all the coins are going back to NGC raw. However, this time I will take any that do not grade in purple label holders and place them into my set anyway. Still, with all this, I do not consider any of these coins to be unattractive. It will be interesting to see if any of the previous results change, I?ll report the results in a journal when they are graded.
    One of the skills I hope to improve on is grading. Correctly grading my coins may be the single most important factor in protecting me from being ripped off. Last year I bought a copy of the grading guide entitled, ?Making the grade?. While this book has photos and descriptions on MS grades, I find learning to grade is easier with circulated coins. When I grade a coin using this guide, I typically go to the lowest photograph that clearly does not represent my coin and move up the scale. Getting close can be tricky since there may not be much difference between one grade and the next. However, when I go to the lower picture, I know my coin is one to two grades higher. To get more practice with grading, I have graded each of my eight submissions using this guide before sending the coins off to NGC. I?ll post the findings between my grade and NGC?s in a journal later.
    As I stated earlier, my goal this year is to upgrade my existing sets. With a couple of my foreign sets, it is very difficult to find highly graded certified coins. However, I spotted a raw coin for one of my foreign sets on E-Bay displaying a strong strike that clearly looks as if it was struck using fresh dies. The seller in the item description claimed the coin was MS-65, and having examined many coins in the series, I agreed with him. Therefore, I placed my bid using a ?snip? website referred to me by another Collector?s Society member. The snip site placed my bid with six seconds left, and I won the auction. This coin is also on its way to NGC. There is a small caveat to this though in that there is a hairline scratch over the main device on the obverse. This scratch was visible on the listing photo, but I was so impressed with the coin I decided to take a chance. The scratch when the coin is rotated and examined under a loupe in the light is not visible from certain angles, so I hope that it is minor enough for NGC to grade it. I?ll fill you in on the result and post photos when the coin is returned. Until then, happy collecting!
    Gary
  13. coinsbygary
    In a take-off from an old Clint Eastwood movie, my first impressions of the new Collector?s Society website.
    Before I get into the details of my first impressions of the new Collector?s Society website, let me say that I am generally impressed with all the new features. However, as with anything of this scale there are a few irksome quirks to go along with the bells and whistles, thus the title of this post.
    First the good; I love the new expanded collection manager and the ability to catalog literally all my coins and wants. Entering new coins is easy and universal for all coins, regardless of their holder or lack thereof. One of the coins I entered was a raw foreign coin. By typing the country, denomination, and date, the description line automatically updated. From there I had the capability of entering all types of information under the tabs. Having the valuation of most of my coins update on the collection manager is a real plus along with the custom columns available for the collection manager. The ability to pull reports is something that I find very useful. From the collection manager, I have the ability populate all my custom sets. I successfully added the aforementioned raw coin into my ?Inspirational Ladies? custom set, but true to the integrity of the sets, only NGC, NCS, and PCGS coins appear on the public view of my set. The line on top of the collection manager columns makes navigating and finding any coin in my collection fast and easy.
    Then the bad; and there is not much bad I have to say about the new features. However, because fair portions of my coins do not automatically populate a value under the guide column of the collection manager, I use the customizable owner estimate column to enter a value and typically, I use the purchase price for many of my owner estimates. Both the guide and owner estimates give a sum on the bottom of the collection manager thus giving me a total valuation for all my coins. Up unto this point I do not have a problem, but when I go to generate a report, none of the reports highlights the owner estimate column. In the future, it would be nice to generate custom reports to include things like owner estimates. On another note, the guide will not populate a value on ANACS coins graded less than XF-40. I have a few half eagles graded less than 40 that will not populate. However, I have an ANACS $3 gold coin details graded XF-40 that automatically populates the guide column. All my US coins in PCGS or NGC holders graded less than XF-40 all populate and probably will populate down to good.
    Finally, the ugly; to tell you the truth from the standpoint of such a radical change, this change is relatively painless and almost all the quirks are on the custom set side of things. First and foremost, my ?2008 most creative? signature set icon was zapped, and I want it back! Now that I got that off my chest, the other issues are minor and include how the set listing is displayed on custom sets as opposed to competitive sets. Then there is a problem with the enlarge feature on the custom set gallery tab. I like to enlarge multiple coins from the gallery at the same time, using click and drag to pull the pictures across my monitor. The gallery on my custom sets does allow me to move an enlarged coin window, but will not let me click on another without shrinking the current window. On competitive sets, this functionality works fine. Lastly, whenever I edit a coin with an owner description that has carriage returns, and I try to click on anther tab to enter information, I get an HTML unrecognized character error. After I removed the carriage return characters from the main ?edit coin? window, I was then able to click the other tabs and enter my information.
    In summary, I also maintain a spreadsheet inventory of my coins, and it will take some time to transpose all the information from it to my collection manager. Additionally, at least until I have confidence in this new format, I will maintain both the collection manager and the spreadsheet. Since I developed and debugged my spreadsheet, I am the most comfortable with it, and I will use my collection manager as another layer of redundancy and protection that I did not have before. Kudos, to NGC for taking this monumental and risky leap, and please can I have my icon back?
    Happy collecting all!
    Gary
  14. coinsbygary
    If you settle for Proof 69, you can get our latest commemorative for a great price!
    Today I received a NGC PFUC-69, 2010-W Disabled Veterans Commemorative Dollar in the mail that I bought from a dealer for $50.00 postage paid. At $50.00, the cost was much less than I could expect to pay had I bought the coin from the mint and sent it to NGC. Let me explain, to buy the coin from the mint will cost you $44.90 with postage. Then to have the coin graded will cost you $12.50 for a total of $57.40. Add postage to and from NGC and the cost easily goes over $60.00. Furthermore, I got the coin in my hands much quicker than I would have otherwise.
    At $50.00, how does a dealer make money? The answer is he doesn?t. I suspect dealers buy the coins in bulk directly from the mint and send them to NGC, probably at a negotiated rate. Finally, they sell the PFUC-69 dollars at or near cost and those that are PFUC-70 at double cost or more. The dealer I bought this coin from was willing to sacrifice the 69?s to make his money on the 70?s. For the collector that can settle for a 69, this is a great deal. I will be on the look out to see if the same dealer offers a similar deal on the Boy Scouts Centennial Dollar.
    This coin pays tribute to those brave men and women in our armed forces who are permanently disabled. The obverse of the coin shows the legs and boots of three soldiers with one soldier missing a leg, lost in war. On the top rim of the obverse is a banner with the phrase, ?They Stood Up For Us?. The reverse features an oak branch wreath tied by a ribbon with a ?forget me not? at the base. The blue ?forget me not? flower gets its name from World War I when soldiers noticed them growing on the graves of their fellow comrades killed in battle. The oak branches tied into a wreath represent strength. In the middle of the wreath is the phrase, ?Take This Moment to Honor Our Disabled Defenders of Freedom?.
    The people that know me know that I am supportive of our armed forces. Today?s soldiers are thrown into extremely difficult situations and asked to do a job that appears nearly impossible to do, yet I believe what they are doing is necessary and important. A young man that I have worked with as part of a drama team is getting ready for deployment to Afghanistan. Randall, our prayers are with you and may God bless you and keep you from harm. Though you are not a disabled veteran, you are most certainly standing up for us as the banner on this Disabled Veterans Commemorative Dollar states. Know that we are behind you 100%.
    Gary

  15. coinsbygary
    The ideals of Freedom on our coinage.
    As a youthful 17-year-old collector in 1975, I remember my excitement over the Bi-centennial coins commemorating 200 years of independence. At that time in our history, these coins had raised quite a stir, since the only collector products available from the mint were the annual proof and uncirculated sets. As far as silver coins were concerned, the 40% silver clad proof and uncirculated Eisenhower Dollars were the only coins available to the collecting public. Changes in circulating coinage designs were unheard of, and the mint had not issued a commemorative coin in years.
    The biggest news of the time was the proof 1975-S Lincoln Cent made famous by the mint moving all its circulating coin production to Denver and Philadelphia that year. I remember paying over $20 for a 1975 proof set because of the 1975-S cent and then boasting that this coin was rare, and would go up in value. At any rate, hindsight is 20-20!
    As you can well imagine I was thrilled when the bicentennial coins finally hit the street. When the half-dollar was released, I went to the bank to pick up a few after which I then showed them off to anyone who would listen. With the Quarter, Half-Dollar, and Dollar available in 40% silver clad, I bought both three-coin silver proof and uncirculated sets. Apart from the Eisenhower Dollar entering circulation in 1971, these coins were the first design changes I witnessed as a collector. Despite all this, it is the allegorical message on these coins that still speak to me today 34 years later.
    The coin of particular allegorical interest to me is the 1776-1976 dated Eisenhower Dollar. On the Eisenhower Dollar?s reverse is the Liberty Bell superimposed over the moon. The popular interpretation at the time was to show how far we as a nation had come in just 200 years, from independence to men walking on the moon.
    The beauty of the allegory though is that the interpretation is in the eyes of the beholder and when I look at this coin, I have somewhat of a different take. Being influenced by the cold war and the space program, I see the Liberty Bell representing freedom and the moon representing a national dream. When people are free to pursue their dreams the potential for innovation and growth are near endless. Therefore, I believe that only through freedom could we have accomplished such a technically difficult task as going to the moon. Only now do we know that the former Soviet Union was nowhere near landing on the moon.
    In closing, freedom continues to differentiate us from other nations. We are blessed to be born in the USA! Let us never take freedom for granted, but use it to better others and ourselves.
    Happy Fourth of July to you all!
    Gary

  16. coinsbygary

    One Cool Coin

    By coinsbygary,

    An 1860-O half-dollar with a fascinating pedigree.
    I have often wondered how coins minted decades ago found their way into my collection. I try to imagine who might have spent the coins in my collection and for what purpose the coins were used. I enjoy speculating on every place my coins may have been and the circumstances that caused them to be removed from circulation after many years of use.
    With coins directly purchased from the mint this sense of romantic charm is lacking. Not that I do not enjoy owning coins purchased from the mint, but I miss the wonderment and imagination that older coins bring me. My fascination with coinage history is one of the more enjoyable aspects of coin collecting for me.
    This is why my most recent purchase of an 1860-O half-dollar recovered from the shipwreck SS Republic sparks my imagination. The SS Republic left New York en-route to New Orleans with $400,000 in gold and silver coins to finance reconstruction in the South shortly after the civil war in 1865. On October 25, 1865, the SS Republic sank in a hurricane, 100 miles off the coast of Savannah, Georgia and up until 2003, my coin laid untouched in the deep dark waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Knowing my coin?s significance in American history, in that it was meant to finance the reconstruction of the South is icing on the cake. With all this, this coin still has some mystery to it. How did my coin get from the mint at New Orleans to New York one year before the Civil War? Perhaps the Union in anticipation of the war wanted to remove hard currency from the South. It is also possible that my coin remained in government control, never circulating, up until the time it was loaded into the cargo hold of the SS Republic. Even with this, it does not answer how coins minted in New Orleans, under Louisiana control and Confederate control made their way to New York during the Civil War.
    From the perspective of the coin itself, it is clearly uncirculated. NGC grades most shipwreck coins that are uncirculated as ?Shipwreck Effect (A), (B), or © UNC?. ?A? coins are the least affected by salt-water corrosion and ?C? coins the most. My coin, conserved by NCS, has sharp devices with most of the saltwater damage confined to the fields of the coin, and the more significant damage being on the reverse. My coin received a ?Shipwreck Effect © UNC? grade filling the ?Seated Liberty Half, no motto? slot in ?Gary?s Type Set?. Furthermore, my coin was awarded full MS-60 points. Since I am a type collector, I try to collect coins with a bit of a story to populate my slots and this coin more than meets that criterion.
    From a conservation standpoint, the apparent corrosion on the coin?s fields does not distract from the coin?s beauty. Unlike in my last post where I wrote that conservation harmed my coin?s appearance, conservation has enhanced the eye appeal of this coin. However, if this were any other coin, it would clearly be a details-grade, but since the reason for the corrosion can be accounted for, it contributes to the coin?s charm.
    I purchased this coin on E-Bay for slightly more than Numismedia fair market value, making it almost impossible to resist. Included with my coin are a neat wooden presentation box, a COA, a small booklet, and a National Geographic DVD documentary on the SS Republic and its artifact recovery. Additionally, there is a website where I may register my SS Republic artifact. Enjoy the pictures I am posting of a piece of American History. Happy collecting!
    Gary

  17. coinsbygary
    Be careful what you ask for you might get it.
    A few years ago, I purchased a US Administration, 1903-S Philippines 1 Peso coin featuring the allegorical Lady Liberty for my ?Inspirational Ladies? signature set. The coin looked to be a nice AU grade with even gunmetal toning. However, the coin exhibited what appeared to be carbon deposits primarily on its reverse near the coin?s rim. Thinking the coin would return as a no-grade, I thought to submit it for conservation and grading.
    Highly graded coins in this series are hard to come by, with few grading MS-64 or above. Therefore, when the opportunity came, I bought an attractive NGC PF-62, 1904 50-Centavo piece with the same design for my signature set. Now despite having another coin for my collection in the place of the 1 Peso piece, I still thought I might like to conserve it. This, however, was a low priority, since the cost of mailing and conserving the coin approached the value of the coin. The chance to submit my coin came a few months back at the Central States Numismatic Society convention. Bypassing postage costs, I submitted the coin for conservation and grading directly to the representative at NGC?s table.
    Conserving coins with environmental damage is generally a good thing. In the past, I have submitted copper coins displaying carbon spots and silver coins with PVC deposits with pleasing results. However, when you conserve coins you cannot simply remove the harmful damage without affecting the rest of the coin. This is an important consideration, because once conserved you are stuck with the results, whether you like them or not.
    This is the first coin I have submitted that I question whether conserving is such a great idea. For instance, I had not noticed before that my coin was riddled with hairlines hidden underneath the coin?s gunmetal patina. The conservation process removed the offending deposits AND all the coins toning to reveal every defect. To hold the coin in my hand and look at it without magnification is not that bad, but photographing the coin with magnification looks awful. To be fair, as I have stated before, there are very few pleasing coins with good eye appeal in this series. I had hoped for an AU-58 grade, but received an AU-53 that under the circumstances is fair.
    Now here?s the catch-22. Without conservation, this is a no-grade, but with conservation, it is eligible for NGC encapsulation. Now let us say I submit the coin raw as it currently is cracked out of its holder, does NGC return it as a no-grade cleaned? One can only conjecture, but since the coin is known to be conserved, rather than cleaned, it is eligible for encapsulation. The moral of the story is this; some coins must go through NCS to be graded. Beware though, even with this, there are no guarantees. All coins are first evaluated for conservation before conserving and then after conservation your coins still may not be eligible for grading.
    All the cost aside, you be the judge, should I or should I not have conserved this coin? More importantly though should you conserve the coins in your collection? For the most part, this has been a good decision that has brought forth the true beauty in my coins. However, conservation cannot make beautiful what is already not. Conservation can only bring out the beauty OR the flaws in coins. Happy Collecting to all.
    Gary

  18. coinsbygary
    Absolutely nothing takes the place of good pictures on the front end.
    First, I want to give kudos to W.K.F. on all his hard work in documenting his photographic experiences. Then I want to thank Bammer for the tip that will yield sharper, neater, more consistent coinage images in my registry sets.
    I have spent countless hours trying to take perfect pictures of my coins, getting somewhat better along the way, but never entirely satisfied. One of the things that annoy me most about my pictures is not just the quality of the coin?s photo, but the presentation aspect in my sets. From what I can tell there are two primary ways to present images of the coins in your sets. You can either display your coins with their holders or crop the holder, showing only the coins. My own personal preference is to display just the coins. That said, I had to find a way to deal with those hideous looking prongs on NGC holders OR the goofy colors PCGS holders sometimes assume through the eye of the camera. With that, I have been searching for software that will effectively mask out those defects and accentuate the coin against a solid color matte background. None of the free downloads does this for me, leaving me to crop or doctor the pictures the best I can. To make matters worse, NGC introduced the slide show feature that showed the inconsistencies in my pictures. I simply could not let this stand, as my slide shows were awful.
    About a week ago, I noticed in Bammer?s post that his ?56? Franklin had a matte around it, so I sent him a note asking what software he used to get this effect. He replied that he used Microsoft ?Picture It Premium 10?. A quick Google search revealed that this software didn?t seem readily available for my Vista operating system, (I HATE Vista). Bammer also suggested Photoshop might do what I want, but that he wasn?t sure. With that, I decided to take a chance and purchase Adobe ?Photoshop Elements 8? at Staples for $99 with a $20 manufacturer?s rebate.
    When I got the software loaded on my computer, I spent many frustrating hours trying to figure out how to make this complex software do the one thing I wanted. Then by pure chance, I stumbled upon it. The first thing I thought was, ?What did I just do?? after which I spent the next 10 minutes figuring out what keystrokes I made to get the desired effect. Now I am in the process of editing all my pictures, and while I am not quite finished, please check out the slide show feature on ?Gary?s 20th Century Type Set? and see what you think. Notice the difference between the finished coins and the ones I have yet to fix and you will come to the same conclusion I have, that for the slide show to look good, the coins need to be presented consistently. As for Photoshop, now that I discovered how to do the one thing I want, I am discovering all the other neat things it does. From my perspective, the expenditure for this software is well worth the $79 I paid after rebate.
    The teaser on this post suggests no substitute for well-taken pictures. For example, if your pictures are blurry to begin with, there is not much the sharpen feature on your editing software will do to improve your pictures. I have had no end to trouble trying to get the color, lighting, and contrast on my coins precise. Frequently, the color of my coins comes out un-natural and I have to spend a considerable amount of time correcting my pictures. With editing software, I can improve the appearance of my coin, but never get it quite right. I have tried every kind of light imaginable in my quest for the perfect picture without being fully satisfied. Usually, when I take my pictures, I use the macro feature on my camera and get as close as possible to the coin. While I have had good results with the focus on my pictures, I still had trouble getting the right colors. Afterwards, I tried using the flash, but at that close range, all I got was a bright flare on my pictures. Then I thought, ?Why not set my tripod higher, zoom in as far as I can with the macro setting, and use the flash.? I reasoned that with a high-resolution 10-megapixel camera I could crop off 90% of the picture and still be left with a sharp, in-focus picture of my coin. Additionally, I can set the power of the flash on my camera if bright flares become a problem. I was literally amazed with the results. Not only were the colors' right, but with the flash the auto focus of the camera worked better to produce even sharper pictures. When you view the coins in Gary?s 20th Century Type Set take notice of all the cents, the nickels except for the type 2 Buffalo Nickel, and all the dimes except for the Barber Dime. Each of these pictures was taken with a flash and has no edits except for the matte and cropping. Simply amazing.
    The photo I am attaching has been doctored by photoshop. With July 4 coming, I am attaching a photo of an MS-66 Bicentennial Quarter. Happy collecting all!
    Gary

  19. coinsbygary
    Collector?s Society members are the best!
    Many of you know that I collect Britannia?s, the United Kingdom?s version of the Silver American Eagle with a goal to collect the entire series in MS-69 or 70. The biggest problem I have in collecting this series is that Britannia?s in MS-69 are rare and almost unheard of in MS-70. Additionally, the United Kingdom limits the mintage to 100,000 Britannia?s annually, meaning the supply of coins is significantly lower than with ASE?s. Currently, I lack five MS-69 coins for my collection that has 13 total coins. Part of my collecting strategy is to purchase the best raw coins possible and submit them to NGC for grading. Consequently, early this year I purchased three 2010 coins from APMEX and one from E-Bay to submit to NGC for grading. My logic in buying four coins is for at least one of the four coins to grade MS-69.
    Before I sent my coins to NGC for grading, I received an unsolicited offer from another Collector?s Society member asking if I was interested in purchasing an extra 2010 MS-69 Britannia from him. My response was a quick and enthusiastic, yes! I asked him how much money he wanted for the coin, and he offered it to me close to the cost of purchasing and grading. For an MS-69 in this series to go at cost is a steal, and I accepted his generous offer thinking one MS-69 in the hand is better than four in the raw.
    Now months later with four coins in hand and a need to sell excess coins from my collection, I found myself deciding whether to sell the coins raw OR first have them graded. As I was examining the NGC population report, I found one 2010 Britannia graded MS-70, and thought I might get lucky. Furthermore, graded Britannia?s command a premium on the open market based on their grade and I figured, why not, what could I lose? Deciding to submit the coins for grading, I mailed them off to NGC with the result of my submission being 2 MS-69?s, a 67, and a 68. On a side note, if you collect bullion related coins, APMEX is an excellent supplier; theirs was the 68 and 69?s in my submission.
    With four coins to sell, what do I do with the 69?s, especially since I got such a great deal on the one in my collection? The only answer for me was to turn around and offer the same kindness extended to me, to another Collector?s Society member. Knowing of another member who might be interested, I offered one of my 69?s to him at the identical cost to me. In thinking about Collector?s Society, I am so thankful to be a part of an organization that is not as much about NGC, as it is the people in it. Your collections and posts enrich my enjoyment of the hobby as I enter my third year in the Society. Every trade, purchase, or sale I have made with other members was done with integrity, honesty, and fairness. The journal posts are full of collecting experiences, information, and tips and I look forward to W.K.F?s journals on photography and your experiences as collectors. Thank you all for enriching my collecting experience.
    This Memorial Day take time to honor those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.
    Gary

  20. coinsbygary
    Spring and graduations are in the air with a numismatic tribute to my daughter.
    Spring is a special time of the year, as the cold of winter yields to the warmth of spring and new life blossoms up from the earth. Spring is also a time when young and old alike begin fresh chapters in their lives as they graduate from one phase of their life to another. This spring is especially significant to me, as a week from yesterday my daughter will graduate from Virginia Commonwealth University with a master?s degree, and I could not be prouder of her for the hard work she invested in earning her masters.
    Since I am well past graduating from anything, I always enjoy it when someone close to me graduates. For instance, since I work with youth, just about every year I am attending one graduation party or another. When someone really close to me graduates, I buy them a card and give them a little money with a small gift. Since I believe that gifts should represent both the giver and the recipient alike, I usually give coins. As a gift, coins represent me as a collector. For the recipient, the date of the coin or coins corresponds to the year of their graduation.
    In the past when my nieces or nephews were graduating from high school, I bought them silver proof sets. I remember my sister talking about which state quarters my nephew would get, since being from Wisconsin her son was getting the Wisconsin state quarter in his set. For other kids that are significant in my life, I bought Silver proof American Eagles (too bad that avenue has been cut off to us the last few years, oh well). Of course, both my children got silver proof sets as part of their graduation gift also.
    This time around, I am not quite sure what to get my daughter, so I want to leave her a special numismatic tribute. When my daughter was a little girl, she loved to play with Barbie dolls. One time I noticed her and her friend playing church with their Barbies. They had a Ken doll as pastor and several Barbie dolls sitting in the pews. This event became one of those many touching moments you cherish about your kid?s lives as they are growing up, and one of many proud Daddy moments that I will always cherish (She still calls me Daddy). Based on this memory, I have chosen the Tuvalu 2009 Barbie 50th anniversary dollar to commemorate my daughter?s graduation. This coin also populates my ?Inspirational Ladies? signature set representing my daughter as one of a handful of special ?Inspirational Ladies? in my life.
    Christina, I am so proud of you because of what you have accomplished against all odds, but more importantly, I am proud of you because I love you. I pray that God will bless your life with joy and success as you seek your first professional job. Enjoy your special tribute you deserve it. I hope that you like the coin I have chosen to represent you in my set; it will always remind me of you. Love Daddy

  21. coinsbygary
    My day at the Central States Numismatic Society convention.
    I had a wonderful time at the Central States Numismatic Society convention last Friday. I arrived with a 1908 Austrian 100 Corona gold coin in an old NCS holder to cross over to a purple holder and 2 coins with which to barter. The bartering coins were an uncirculated details 1906-D Half Eagle and a MS-69 1989 Russian Ballet 25 ruble palladium coin.
    The moment I got there, the first place I went was NGC?s table. I queried the representative about NGC?s proof 70 definition and found exactly what I expected, that die and planchet defects count against a coin when grading. This still does not explain how they miss-graded my Abigail Fillmore first spouse coin at PFUC-70, but at least the term ?post-production? is a bit of a misnomer. If I had thought about it, I wished that I had brought the coin in question to show the representative.
    I came to the show prepared with a list of coins I still needed for my basic US type set. My first priority was certified early coppers, and I was looking for XF or AU graded coins. What I found were certified MS coins and raw circulated coins. This was not only true for the early coppers, but for all the other coins as well. It appears that dealers love to bring their big-ticket coins when they travel to major coin shows.
    While browsing from table to table, I came upon a dealer who specialized in Seated Liberty Halves. One of the coins I still needed was an 1853 arrows and rays half and I asked him if he had any. He had three, an XF-40 and two AU?s, all certified. I told him I was interested in the XF-40, but that I still wanted to look around a bit more.
    As I went from table to table, I eventually decided that I wanted to purchase the 1853 half, and I looked for anyone interested in buying my 1906-D Half Eagle and Russian Ballerina. The first dealer I came to offered me a decent price for the Half Eagle, but I wanted to see if I could get more. To my dismay, details graded gold is like an anathema, and no one was willing to give me a good price. I went back to the first dealer and found his table swamped with people making deals and repeated visits yielded the same results. Not willing to wait in line, I thought maybe I could get a better price on e-bay.
    No one there knew what the palladium coin was worth, but one dealer told me details about the coin I had not known before. It seems that when palladium was over $1000/oz, most of these coins were melted making my already low mintage coin that much scarcer. He told me to check the population reports and I would see how scarce my coin was. I did, and PCGS grades less than 10 and NGC grades 53, with my coin being the top pop. Re-thinking whether I wanted to sell the coin or not, I decided to keep it.
    This left me scurrying around for ATM machines since the dealer with which I wanted to purchase the 1853 half could not process my debit card. After making withdrawals from two separate ATM machines, I paid cash for the half. Then, as icing on the cake, the dealer pointed out that my coin was a double die. I hope the photo on this post shows the doubling, as it looks neat when examined with a loupe.
    The rest of the day I spent drooling over the coins I could purchase if ONLY I had the money. Oh well, they were a sight, and anytime I can view true rarity is a treat. Since I was on the arrows kick, I bought a raw 1853 dime and 1854 ? dime along with an 1859 Indian Head Cent that I will submit for grading later. In all I had a lot of fun and that is really what it is all about. Happy collecting all!
    Gary

  22. coinsbygary
    Judge for yourselves, 70 or something less.
    NGC defines MS or PF-70 as having no post-production imperfections at 5-X magnification. I understand what imperfections at 5-X means, but I have always had a question as to what post-production means. By this definition, it seems that most any coin should be a 70 when it first comes off the dies and that imperfections come in the form of contact marks and hairlines as the coins are bagged and rolled. I also understand that collector coins receive special handling, which explains why a good portion of these coins grades either 69 or 70. Other instances of coins grading less than 70 can occur when the dies become worn and the imperfections on the dies are transferred to the coins. Furthermore, defects on the planchet visible after striking will also grade less than 70. Now I am not making the case for coins with defects caused by either of the two aforementioned instances to grade 70, but I am confused as to what is meant by the word ?Post?. It seems that defects on coins in these instances come ?During? production and therefore, are not ?Post? production imperfections.
    This brings me to my coin in question. I recently purchased an Abigail Fillmore First Spouse coin from the mint. When I received the coin, I noticed small defects on the reverse of this otherwise well struck coin. On the heel of Abigail?s hand and the book she is holding are what appears to be a small crater and crevice. I wondered how these defects could have appeared. Perhaps the dies were dirty and there were small metal shavings on the dies harder than the gold that transferred to the coin. Certainly, these defects would disqualify the coin from receiving a 70 grade, and I bought another one previously graded for my collection with the intention of selling the one I bought from the mint. This was until I sent the so-called, ?Defective? coin to NGC for grading and subsequent re-sale. To my amazement, the coin cleared quality control with a PF-70 grade. Now what do I do? I am not complaining about my dilemma because having a 70 strengthens my hand when it comes time to re-sell, but I cannot sell a coin as a 70 when I think it is something less. Without second guessing NGC?s graders, I will probably add the so-called ?Perfect? coin to my registry and sell the other. It seems when you think you have something nailed down a monkey wrench gums up the works. Judge for yourselves based on the picture I am attaching on this post, 70 or not?
    Perhaps I will ask NGC to clarify their position when I stop by their booth today at the Central States Numismatic Society convention in Milwaukee. This should be a lot of fun even though I do not have a lot of money to spend, but I do have coins I am willing to sell or trade to populate my registry sets. Until next time, happy collecting all!
    Gary

  23. coinsbygary

    Crazy EBayer's

    By coinsbygary,

    What in the world are all these crazy people thinking?
    Many of you know that one of my goals is to assemble a collection of gold First Spouse coins in PF-70 condition. Over the last year, I have managed to keep the collection current only lacking Louisa Adams and Jackson?s Liberty in PF-70 condition. This past February, I was able acquire Louisa Adams in PF-70 directly from a coin dealer?s web site for a good price leaving Jackson?s Liberty left to upgrade. Unfortunately, I only saw one Jackson?s Liberty come up for sale on my dealer?s web page and someone else got to it before I noticed it.
    Like it or not, one of the best sources for purchasing coins is Ebay. Currently, I maintain several email notifications for coins I desire to add to my collection. One of those coins of course is Jackson?s Liberty. For months, I have been keeping a single coin on my watch list with a ?buy it now price?. The coin would always expire without any buyers and then the seller would re-list it. I saw the price of this coin go up and down as I watched it for months without any notification of new coins being available for sale. The price this seller wanted for their coin always seemed too high for me, so I patiently waited for other coins to come up for sale.
    This past week another ?buy it now? coin posted with a price $10 less than the other seller, so I added it to my watch list. Often BIN prices are a bit inflated and for the most part, unless a coin is rarely available, I prefer the auction. A week ago, yet another coin posted, but this time as a true auction. Immediately, I placed the coin on my watch list and thought about my buying strategy.
    Halfway through the listing with numerous bids on the coin already, I posted my highest bid based upon postage costs, EBay bucks to redeem, and the asking price for the lowest BIN. More often than not, this has always been a winning strategy for me. Soon after I placed my bid, a few bidders tried to test my best offer as the bidding went up, but my bid held at a price with which I was happy. For the next few days, there was no further activity on the coin. However, near the end of an auction with several bidders, there is often what I call an end of auction ?feeding frenzy? when people go crazy bidding up an item. This lot was no different, and I found myself outbid before the end of the auction.
    What I find crazy in this is the final price of the auction item sold for $39 MORE than the lowest BIN item! I wonder if the human instinct to win sometimes trumps good old-fashioned common sense. Certainly, the other bidders should have been aware of the BIN coins.
    Now, knowing the market would bear the higher prices and with a few EBay bucks in hand, I pulled the trigger on the lowest BIN. When I think about it, I can only smile at the lunacy of this entire episode and laugh all the way to the bank. My only hope now is that lunacy will be the order of the day when I sell the coin my most recent purchase is replacing. Until next time, happy collecting all!
    Gary
  24. coinsbygary
    What I wouldn't give to know the criteria by which my coins are graded. At least I have some solace knowing my coins are consistently graded.
    In December of 2009, I bought a MS-64 1917 Type 1 Full Head, Standing Liberty Quarter. I remember my glee when I reported the same in a post and suggested that I might submit it for a re-grade. My SLQ is blast-white and has good luster. Additionally, it has extremely sharp devices with very few contact marks. To go with a full head, are full toes and fingers, it just had to grade better than MS-64.
    The reasons for re-submitting my coin are simple; first, based on my impressions of the coin, I felt it was under graded. With my coin in a 10-year old holder, I thought I had a good chance at a higher grade. After all, were not grading standards to have supposedly slipped in recent years? Next, a one-point gain represents a near doubling of my coin?s worth and a $527 increase in value between 64 and 65. Finally, my 20th Century Type set would see a net gain of 835 points.
    Because the market relies so heavily on their professional opinions, I see why graders have to be above reproach. NGC?s graders or PCGS?s for that matter, have the power to cause a coin to increase in value by hundreds and thousands of dollars based on ?their? opinion. That?s scary stuff when you think about it, leaving in the hands of a few people a multi-million or billion dollar industry.
    I recently submitted my SLQ for re-grading, and as you may guess by the title of my post, I am somewhat less than pleased with the results, as there was no change in grade. To me this was a no-brainer for at least MS-65. The picture collage I am attaching to my post features my MS-64 type 1 SLQ alongside my MS-64 type 3 SLQ with a recessed date. As you can see, the type-1 has a much sharper strike with more eye appeal. My only guess as to why my 1917 SLQ is the same grade as my 1930 is that I am comparing apples and oranges. It seems that NGC grades the quarters separately based on the merits and unique features of each type.
    In this case, whether or not I agree with the grade, the silver lining is that NGC appears to be consistent with their grading over time. Take into account these factors; first NGC cracked my coin out of its old holder, suggesting that the coin went to the graders raw. Secondly, with a ten-year span between submissions, it is very unlikely that the same trio of graders examined my coin. While I cannot comment on the facts surrounding recent posts regarding grading standards on SAE?s, I can take comfort in knowing that my coins will be graded fairly with consistency. As far as my MS-64 SLQ goes, it is worth keeping no matter what the grade, as I said before, I will say again, my SLQ is ?absolutely stunning?.
    In the future, I will think long and hard before submitting a coin for a re-grade. While I am happy to have spent what I did to verify my coin?s grade, it gets very expensive to do this on a frequent basis. In the mean time, I will focus on honing my own grading skills. The best way to increase my skills is to read up on grading. I am thinking of buying a book by AMOS Publishing called ?Making the Grade?. I?m a little hesitant to buy it though, because it costs $30.00. If any of you know this book and can recommend it, please let me know. Until next time, Happy Collecting!
    Gary

  25. coinsbygary
    To sell, not to sell, or trade is one of the toughest decisions a collector can make.
    For me, decisions about buying coins are relatively easy, since there are few coins I see that I do not want. However, financial constraints more often than not take those decisions out of my hands. The real decision comes when I have the resources, and I have to decide on whether a coin fits into my collection, and whether it is worth what the seller is asking. Furthermore, it is always exciting to add new coins to my collection. This is not true when it comes to selling or trading coins from my collection. This is because I am deciding on the fate of a coin that at one time I wanted. Maybe it is the finality of the sale, sentimentalism, or a packrat mentality that makes these decisions tough for me, the truth is the decision on whether or when to sell is always difficult.
    At various times, we all have had portions of our collection in which we lose interest. At one time I wanted to assemble an uncirculated Silver American Eagle set and I enthusiastically added coins into the registry. Now after more than a year without adding new coins to the set, I realized I was no longer interested in collecting SAE?s. My choices when this occurs is to hold on, hoping my interest would be rekindled or to sell. In light of my collecting goals, I decided to sell the coins and use the proceeds to purchase coins more in line with my interests. At other times, I will decide to sell, but hold the coins for a while hoping for a better sale price. Since selling my SAE?s, I have not looked back. This is a good sign that I have made the right choice. After selling any coins, the most important thing is to move forward and never look back.
    One of the easier selling decisions to make is when you upgrade coins from within your collection. The real difficulty in this comes when the upgrade is worth significantly more than the coin currently in your collection. At this point, you have to decide whether the upgrade merits the money that you will pay. For instance, NGC lists a silver Delaware quarter in PFUC-69 for $60.00, the same quarter in PFUC-70 lists for $3750.00. Even if I had the money to purchase that bad boy, it makes no sense for me to shell out that kind of money for an upgrade. However, if I can upgrade a coin by one or two grades at 20 to 30 percent of the original coin?s value AND the upgrade meets my collecting goals, then I will often make that decision to upgrade the coin. The good part about all upgrades is that the lower graded coin subsidizes the higher one. Of course, if your goal is to collect silver state quarters in PFUC-70, then you buy the Delaware quarter in PFUC-70. The key here is to stick to your goals by whatever criteria you used to establish them.
    Trades can be a lot of fun because no money changes hands except for the money you are trading. When I was a youth, I bought a series of Canadian coins commemorating the 1976 Montreal Olympics. At that time, my collection had no goals, I just bought whatever caught my eye. With the 1976 Montreal Olympic coins, I liked the designs, the allure that these would rise in value, and having coins weighing more than two pounds of pure silver ASW when the series was complete. About twenty years ago, with the coins never realizing a rise in value and with no interest to hold them any longer, I traded them for an 1842 Seated Liberty Dollar. I have since had this coin graded PCGS VF-35 and the coin currently resides in my type collections. One thing to consider when you trade coins is you have to know what the coins you are trading for are actually worth. I have always considered this a good trade because I traded coins I no longer had an interest in for a coin that meets my collecting goals.
    At one time, I loved to collect Olympic coins and when the United States issued gold commemoratives in 1984, I snapped them all up. For a while the P, D, S commemorative eagles soared in value, rising to almost $900.00 each at their peak. I thought I was in numismatic heaven because I bought them thinking they would go up in value. Looking back, I should have sold them then because the bottom has since fallen out on these coins, and now they sell for close to melt value. In an effort to cut my losses to acquire a coin I really wanted, I traded them all for a 1904 Liberty Double Eagle. One thing I will never forget about this trade was the counsel my wife gave me. She said, ??Be careful, because the coins you trade, you cannot get back again?. Now years after, I still think of this counsel ANYTIME I want to sell coins from my collection. The regretful part of this trade was that I later found this coin was cleaned, nevertheless, the dealer traded it as an AU coin and ANACS gave it a MS-60 details grade, so it was not all too bad. Today this coin still resides in my collection, and when I cross it over to a purple label, I will post it in my registry. If you do trades, try to trade for certified coins so that you know what you are getting. As far as Olympic coins go, I no longer collect them, unless they fit into one of my collecting themes, because I find them very expensive, over-hyped, and under achieving.
    The most difficult of decisions comes when you have to sell coins because of financial hardship. When you are selling coins under duress, you almost never get the price you want because you often have to sell short to meet your immediate financial needs. Since we may all face hardship at one time or another, I am in the process of prioritizing my collection as to what to sell first should I fall upon hard times. This type of planning ALWAYS should be done when things are going well so that when things go sour you have a plan in place to deal with the situation. Preparing in advance also assures that you are thinking with a clear head. I hope no one ever has to face selling his or her coins against their will, but I know this is not realistic, so be prepared.
    Finally, there are items of sentimental value I will most likely never sell. One of those items is a Wall Street Mint ten-ounce silver bar. Even though I do not collect these, a friend gave me the one pictured in my post during a time of personal bereavement at the death of my father. This bar will always remind of my friend and my father, in that, though they did not know each other; they are linked together in this bar. I hope all your selling decisions are good ones.
    Gary