coinsbygary

I've been at this a long time and I'm still obsessed. I don't know if anything can be done about it. If you figure out how to just leave it alone, let me know. 

I know where you are coming from but I disagree. Did the people you are referring to act foolishly? Yes. Were the people you are referring to living above their means? Yes. Are the people you are referring to making rash decisions, especially concerning their children? Yes, yes, and yes.
On the other hand you should be commended for making all the hard choices and toughing it out. Your children are blessed for having you and your wife as their parents. You have made the best choices possible to ensure that you and your family will weather this crisis and I trust that you all will be the better for it when it passes.
Like you I am well positioned to weather this out. When I retired, I drew up a strict budget on an excel spreadsheet to live by. Now a year and three months later I found that I could live comfortably on half my salary without skipping a beat in our lifestyle. When I took the buyout package my company offered, instead of buying my dream coins I paid off my house. Now the chickens are coming home to roost in a good way even after watching 20-25% of my retirement savings go up in smoke in less than a month. Fortunately, I sold some of my portfolio in January and placed it in a cash account. In July this will be supplemented by social security. All good decisions made at the right time because now cash is king. I heard someone speculate yesterday that they are surprised there hasn't been a run on the banks yet. I hope things don't get that bad because in the end, "We are all in this together."
Here is where I diverge from your well written blog. I refuse to compromise my mercy and compassion for anyone suffering through these unprecedented times. Even for those who made unwise choices. The people you talk about are going to a church for help and that is good. I am a Christian and firmly trust in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. Jesus never turned away people who made bad choices and were truly repentant. Just look at the women caught in adultery, the women at the well, and on Good Friday the thief on the cross. As for me I can do no other. After the COVID-19 passes countless people are going to reassess their priorities and make positive changes in their lives. I pray this will bring about real change in our society. Maybe the people buying that furniture and those houses will think twice before mortgaging their future away. However, before any of this can happen we need to get as many people as possible through this crisis, the marginalized of our society and the more well to do.
Finally, I see this crisis as an opportunity. An opportunity to show Christ's love to others. Though I am spending LOTS of time with my wife at home away from others I am looking for ways I can help anyone who seeks it. We'll see, right now I just pray that people who are not currently infected don't get infected and those that are recover. Really that's all any of us can do right now. Coins while fun and important in my life don't light a candle to my faith and family. In the end if I need my coins to live on, then so be it. Gary  

I am wondering when and not if NGC will be compelled to close.

Cute Kid! Happy Birthday! I can see he has the makings of a YN (young numismatist). Sam has certainly come a long ways in a year. 

I can see both sides of this argument and I have a suggestion for NGC at the end.
In  May 2006, I decided to start participating in an online certified registry.  There were only two, so being an engineer, I made a T-chart to evaluate which one to commit to.  The scales tipped towards NGC pretty quickly, but there were two key aspects that really sealed the deal:
In 2006, the NGC registry accepted both NGC and PCGS graded coins in all competitive registry sets, both U.S. and foreign. I had coins graded by both services, so this was very significant.  Going forward, I could buy the coin and not have to be concerned with the plastic surrounding it.  No extra costs for crossovers to get a PCGS coin in the registry.  My main focus is U.S./Philippine (USPI) coins and then, as now, the majority of certified USPI coins are in PCGS holders.  Currently 57% of certified USPI coins are encased in PCGS plastic, but in 2006, I think that percentage was much higher. NGC grading fees were lower than PCGS, and membership benefits were better.  I had accumulated quite a few raw coins at the time, so I wanted to get the most "bang for my buck" getting them graded. Every coin I've had graded has gone to NGC. The die was cast and all was bliss until February 1, 2012 when NGC purged all PCGS graded coins from the world coin registry sets.  Needles to say, I felt betrayed and was not a happy camper, but at least the U.S. (includes USPI) sets were spared. That changed on January 1, 2017 when the addition of PCGS graded coins to U.S. sets was suspended, but any existing coins were allowed to remain.  This was aggravating but my USPI sets were fairly close to being complete by then so having to restrict additions to NGC graded coins wasn't all that painful for me.  It was unfair to others though that were just getting started or had less complete sets. Several collectors did manage to build very fine NGC only USPI sets, but they likely incurred some additional expense to cross coins to NGC holders.  A cost that wasn't necessary prior to 2017 and wouldn't be necessary today.
The rationale for the PCGS exclusion was that their standards had slipped and PCGS grades had become inflated relative to NGC.  If that's the case, why not just discount the number of points awarded for PCGS coins relative to an equivalently graded NGC coin?  NGC could discount the grade to the next lower grade (e.g. PCGS MS62 = NGC MS61) or use a fixed percentage discount (e.g. a PCGS coin only gets 95% of the points of an equivalently graded NGC coin).  This still favors NGC coins, but allows PCGS coins to participate with an appropriately (albeit subjectively) reduced point value.   There's still an incentive to cross coins to NGC, but it's not an absolute necessity to complete a set.  This feels like a reasonable compromise and could apply for both U.S. and world sets.
 

Really interesting, but hopefully exciting times ahead with all Registries.  May just be another step in the maturation of the hobby. 

I was wondering if you were going to get that coin! The Symphony Set rocks on!

These videos keep getting better. Very well done. I think I'll subscribe to you on youtube!

Modern Coin Mart is based in Sarasota, Florida where you guessed it NGC is home based. They can hand carry their submissions back and forth from NGC to save on postage. Next, since they are a regular bulk customer I have to believe that their grading costs are negotiated. Finally, they can sell their coins through their website and bypass E-Bay altogether. Next I have noticed that some sellers that sell on e-bay and their website offer in some cases a discount to the people who buy from the website. In some cases I have bypassed e-bay to reap a discount from a dealers webpage. Other dealers give a discount for check and cash transactions to save on the credit card fees. Though I believe the profit margin is thin and can't be more than 10% that all the large dealers make the difference up in volume. Additionally, some dealers do not do free postage. You're right on this, the little things do add up. Gary 

Let me start my post by saying that I prefer NGC coins and when I submit coins for grading, they all go to NGC. I like their holders, their grading standard, and their customer service.
I started with NGC's registry in 2008 mainly because I didn't understand or like PCGS's registry format. Secondly, I felt that NGC was more inclusive by allowing both NGC and PCGS United States and world coins in their registry. When NGC refused world coins they were all removed from the competitive registry. The reasoning was that world coins were much more labor intensive to verify for inclusion. I understood this reasoning and though unhappy, went along with it. Subsequently, I seem to remember posts suggesting a future PCGS purge of US coins and NGC said that they had no plans for it at that time.
The most recent PCGS ban included US coins but with a twist and that was the grandfathering of all existing PCGS coins in the NGC registry. With one foot still in the door one can almost make the argument that this return to PCGS inclusion was inevitable.
The following is in part what I believe caused this reversal. First, and perhaps most important is that in the marketplace PCGS coins are much more respected. As such, they typically command higher premiums. I don't like it but the market environment favoring PCGS coins can't be denied. I don't know whether it is clever or more effective marketing or just a rabid PCGS following. Furthermore, it seems as if all the rare and visually appealing US coins go to PCGS for grading. This also means that far more coins are cracked out of NGC holders then are PCGS holders. This has made nice NGC coins much scarcer in the marketplace. Therefore, if I am buying the coin and not the holder, then my coin is most likely slabbed in a PCGS holder. If I pay a premium for PCGS coins and crack them out, and if NGC assigns a more conservative grade, I risk losing my shirt just to make them eligible for NGC's registry. This makes no sense. In fact I did this for a handful of my world coins and the best I got is the same grade. Most of the PCGS world coins I crossed went down a grade. If I can't find NGC holdered coins in the grade and eye appeal I want, I will and have become frustrated. Most of the upgrades for my competitive type-set have been PCGS holdered coins and since I could not enter them into my set I uploaded upgraded pictures onto existing coins. I know that this is a work around but the coins I bought will never have to be upgraded. 
Now to grandfather some coins and not continue allowing PCGS coins in the registry is more unfair than this simple reversal which I like because now all my pictures and more importantly my coins are in-sync again. Yes I understand the rational of this post but for very selfish reasons I like the reversal and I wish NGC had never banned United States PCGS slabbed coins to begin with. Gary  

Well if you post it on ebay, you can get NGCs best guess fake or real service from the listing pictures!  

I like it, especially when you show the coins luster. The historical context with a picture of the Liberty Bell is especially compelling. Perhaps a few more pictures along with the artifacts you show would better give the viewer an idea of how big this event really was. The only other thing I noticed was a technical error. You stated the coin was struck in pure gold, technically speaking the coin is only .900 fine. Otherwise, it looked very professionally done. Gary
One other thing after watching the video the second time I noticed that you said that MS coins of this coin are rare. I think what you really meant was that Gem BU coins (MS-65, 66) of this coin are scarce.

The point is to have "fun". I'm here because I am having more fun than I could possibly have ATS. The prizes for the sets here are mostly subjective like "Best Presented" which is why people of more modest means like myself can and do win major awards over here. The following is what the judges wrote of one of my winning sets (2009 "Best Presented" 20th Century type set):
Assembling a type set is a wonderful learning experience and can guide one toward a favored area of specialization. The owner of this collection truly appreciates the beauty of our coinage and loves the history behind it. While this set includes some really pleasing coins, each one illustrated, the intent was to investigate the history of coinage rather than to dazzle with high grades. A few pieces yet remain to be added, but what has been achieved already makes for a very satisfying experience.
Especially note the highlight "dazzle with high grades". This makes things here fun because I know I'm always in the game. This year I added a new set and maybe I'll win a prize and maybe I won't. However, this much I know and it's that I had fun doing it. Gary

The point is to have "fun". I'm here because I am having more fun than I could possibly have ATS. The prizes for the sets here are mostly subjective like "Best Presented" which is why people of more modest means like myself can and do win major awards over here. The following is what the judges wrote of one of my winning sets (2009 "Best Presented" 20th Century type set):
Assembling a type set is a wonderful learning experience and can guide one toward a favored area of specialization. The owner of this collection truly appreciates the beauty of our coinage and loves the history behind it. While this set includes some really pleasing coins, each one illustrated, the intent was to investigate the history of coinage rather than to dazzle with high grades. A few pieces yet remain to be added, but what has been achieved already makes for a very satisfying experience.
Especially note the highlight "dazzle with high grades". This makes things here fun because I know I'm always in the game. This year I added a new set and maybe I'll win a prize and maybe I won't. However, this much I know and it's that I had fun doing it. Gary

Good times, happy birthday, and thoughtful gifts! I got coins for my birthday once from my daughter. She ordered me the 2013-W West Point SAE set with the enhanced finish and reverse proof.

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

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

I'll see you at the Hotel Budir then  

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

Kerry
Your post reminds me of the evolution in grading referred to as "gradeflation". There is sufficient evidence to prove that gradeflation has occurred with coins graded by both PCGS and NGC. For instance, I own a NGC AU-53 1853-D half-eagle with a very distinct look. As is a frequent practice of mine I like to research auction archives of the coins I own to see if my coin has appeared in an auction. Because of the distinct look, I found my coin in a XF-45 PCGS holder with a green bean. To tell the truth I think my coin appears more AU-50 than 53. However, because of the strike and toning, I bought the coin not the holder. Regardless my coin leap-frogged two grades. This has been a disturbing trend over the years because the standards of grading have loosened up. Gary 

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

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

Kerry
There's a sinking feeling in me that the "SS Good Old Days" set sail some 50+ years ago. There's anther part of me that says our perspective of the 1954 market is skewed. For instance, when you list the coins and their purchase price in 1954 we tend to think in terms of 2019 dollars. Granted, I believe there is some increase in real value but factor in inflation and the perceived increase in value is not as much as we think. Consider this, my father working a full time job earning a living wage would not have been able to afford the 1954 priced coins you list. I still hear the story of my parents spending $50 for a special pair of shoes because I had flat feet. They had to make sacrifices to afford those shoes in the early 60's. Today, I'll drop a grand for a coin without batting an eye. Overall, I'm happy with the number of great coins that can still be bought today at affordable prices. Thus, there is no such thing as "good old days". In this respect it's all relative. As for the $4 Stella that will be out of the reach of every average collector in any era.
Gary

Kerry
There's a sinking feeling in me that the "SS Good Old Days" set sail some 50+ years ago. There's anther part of me that says our perspective of the 1954 market is skewed. For instance, when you list the coins and their purchase price in 1954 we tend to think in terms of 2019 dollars. Granted, I believe there is some increase in real value but factor in inflation and the perceived increase in value is not as much as we think. Consider this, my father working a full time job earning a living wage would not have been able to afford the 1954 priced coins you list. I still hear the story of my parents spending $50 for a special pair of shoes because I had flat feet. They had to make sacrifices to afford those shoes in the early 60's. Today, I'll drop a grand for a coin without batting an eye. Overall, I'm happy with the number of great coins that can still be bought today at affordable prices. Thus, there is no such thing as "good old days". In this respect it's all relative. As for the $4 Stella that will be out of the reach of every average collector in any era.
Gary

I've been at this a long time and I'm still obsessed. I don't know if anything can be done about it. If you figure out how to just leave it alone, let me know.