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BillJones

Member: Seasoned Veteran
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  1. Like
    BillJones got a reaction from Henri Charriere in Has Gradeflation Peaked ?   
    From my observations "grade-flation" continues and CAC as mostly gone along with it. If CAC were not going along with it, the supply of CAC approved coins would be drying up. 
    I bought this Type I gold dollar many years ago from a dealer who was playing the crack-out game. It is in a PCGS MS-64 holder and he figured it would make MS-65 which carried a $2 to $3 increase in value at the time. I paid too much because of that. It's as good as the MS-65 coins are now, but the MS-65 coins are only selling for a couple thousand dollars. So I'm behind the market with the most common gold dollar of all, the 1853-P.
    As for CAC, they dampened my purchases of U.S. coins considerably. I got into British and Roman Imperial coins, and have really enjoyed it. 

  2. Like
    BillJones got a reaction from robec1347 in The 2024 U.S. Proof Set   
    I have a Proof set run that goes back to 1936. So I keep the date run going. I don't buy the clad sets anymore, however. I buy only the silver sets. 
    So far as the "Should be in circulation thing" is concerned, I buy whatever is in the set. Even in the 19th century, there were "Proof only issues." The main thing that bores me are the women's quarters, which really aren't necessary, but they are there for political reasons. 
  3. Like
    BillJones got a reaction from GoldFinger1969 in What would you do, numismatically speaking" if you were to win a mega-millions lottery?   
    I'd like on the augustus Humbert $50 gold pieces that was issued by the U.S. Assay Office. 
    The Rolled Edge $10 gold is one of the patterns that was made during the time that the mint and Augustus St. Gaudens' representative, Herman Herring, were testing designs for the $10 Indian design.
    The King of Siam Proof set was an 1834 set of U.S. Proof coins that were struck for diplomatic purposes. The stars of the set were an 1804 "Original" silver dollar and a Proof 1804 dated $10 gold. The set was once owned by Anna Leonowns who was the inspiration for the film "Anna and the King of Siam" and the Rogers and Hammerstein musical, "The King and I," 
  4. Like
    BillJones got a reaction from GoldFinger1969 in Has Gradeflation Peaked ?   
    From my observations "grade-flation" continues and CAC as mostly gone along with it. If CAC were not going along with it, the supply of CAC approved coins would be drying up. 
    I bought this Type I gold dollar many years ago from a dealer who was playing the crack-out game. It is in a PCGS MS-64 holder and he figured it would make MS-65 which carried a $2 to $3 increase in value at the time. I paid too much because of that. It's as good as the MS-65 coins are now, but the MS-65 coins are only selling for a couple thousand dollars. So I'm behind the market with the most common gold dollar of all, the 1853-P.
    As for CAC, they dampened my purchases of U.S. coins considerably. I got into British and Roman Imperial coins, and have really enjoyed it. 

  5. Like
    BillJones got a reaction from Henri Charriere in The 2024 U.S. Proof Set   
    I have a Proof set run that goes back to 1936. So I keep the date run going. I don't buy the clad sets anymore, however. I buy only the silver sets. 
    So far as the "Should be in circulation thing" is concerned, I buy whatever is in the set. Even in the 19th century, there were "Proof only issues." The main thing that bores me are the women's quarters, which really aren't necessary, but they are there for political reasons. 
  6. Like
    BillJones reacted to VKurtB in Has Gradeflation Peaked ?   
    Frankly, I couldn’t give less of a 💩 what JA thinks or says if I tried to, and I’d tell him so to his face if given an opportunity. Here is my evidence: I do not own even ONE CAC green or gold stickered coin, nor a single CACG coin, and I have no present plans to ever own one.
  7. Like
    BillJones got a reaction from Henri Charriere in What would you do, numismatically speaking" if you were to win a mega-millions lottery?   
    I'd like on the augustus Humbert $50 gold pieces that was issued by the U.S. Assay Office. 
    The Rolled Edge $10 gold is one of the patterns that was made during the time that the mint and Augustus St. Gaudens' representative, Herman Herring, were testing designs for the $10 Indian design.
    The King of Siam Proof set was an 1834 set of U.S. Proof coins that were struck for diplomatic purposes. The stars of the set were an 1804 "Original" silver dollar and a Proof 1804 dated $10 gold. The set was once owned by Anna Leonowns who was the inspiration for the film "Anna and the King of Siam" and the Rogers and Hammerstein musical, "The King and I," 
  8. Like
    BillJones got a reaction from rrantique in Post your most recent acquisition: US   
    I had been looking for an 1802 over 1 dollar for several years. Although there are five die varieties of it, the coin does not seem to crop up frequently. There were quite a few in the Heritage auction that will close shortly, but I spotted this one at the rent Winter FUN bourse. It is an NGC graded AU-55.
    The Bowers dollar book variety is BB 234. It is a die chip to the right of Ms. Liberty's eye which is a characteristic of the variety. I liked it because the overdate is very sharp. 
     

  9. Like
    BillJones got a reaction from powermad5000 in Post your most recent acquisition: US   
    I had been looking for an 1802 over 1 dollar for several years. Although there are five die varieties of it, the coin does not seem to crop up frequently. There were quite a few in the Heritage auction that will close shortly, but I spotted this one at the rent Winter FUN bourse. It is an NGC graded AU-55.
    The Bowers dollar book variety is BB 234. It is a die chip to the right of Ms. Liberty's eye which is a characteristic of the variety. I liked it because the overdate is very sharp. 
     

  10. Like
    BillJones got a reaction from powermad5000 in What would you do, numismatically speaking" if you were to win a mega-millions lottery?   
    I would buy an 1802 half dime, a 1794 Dollar, a $50 gold slug, a 1907 rolled edge $10 gold and if it came on the market, the King of Siam Proof set. 
  11. Like
    BillJones got a reaction from Jason Abshier in Post your most recent acquisition: World   
    It was a couple months ago, but here is an 1813 British guinea, which is known as the "Military Guinea." This piece was struck for Lord Wellington's forces when he was fighting the French and Spanish in Spain during the Napoleonic Wars. The Spanish locals would not take silver coins which made these pieces necessary. 
    These pieces bring strong prices although they are not overly rare. It is a one year type coin. 
    I bought this one from a London coin dealer who had 11 of them on his site. This one is graded AU-58. He had an MS-62 that I did not like as well. He also had an MS-63, but that was out of my price range. 

  12. Like
    BillJones got a reaction from GoldFinger1969 in What would you do, numismatically speaking" if you were to win a mega-millions lottery?   
    I would buy an 1802 half dime, a 1794 Dollar, a $50 gold slug, a 1907 rolled edge $10 gold and if it came on the market, the King of Siam Proof set. 
  13. Like
    BillJones got a reaction from Henri Charriere in What would you do, numismatically speaking" if you were to win a mega-millions lottery?   
    I would buy an 1802 half dime, a 1794 Dollar, a $50 gold slug, a 1907 rolled edge $10 gold and if it came on the market, the King of Siam Proof set. 
  14. Like
    BillJones got a reaction from Mike Meenderink in Post your most recent acquisition: US   
    It has been my observation that they have gotten a little tougher on scratches than they used to be. I see ”scratched” on the holder and have to look for a while to find it. They used to be more obvious. 
  15. Haha
    BillJones got a reaction from Henri Charriere in Post your most recent acquisition: US   
    It has been my observation that they have gotten a little tougher on scratches than they used to be. I see ”scratched” on the holder and have to look for a while to find it. They used to be more obvious. 
  16. Like
    BillJones got a reaction from robec1347 in Post your most recent acquisition: US   
    I had been looking for an 1802 over 1 dollar for several years. Although there are five die varieties of it, the coin does not seem to crop up frequently. There were quite a few in the Heritage auction that will close shortly, but I spotted this one at the rent Winter FUN bourse. It is an NGC graded AU-55.
    The Bowers dollar book variety is BB 234. It is a die chip to the right of Ms. Liberty's eye which is a characteristic of the variety. I liked it because the overdate is very sharp. 
     

  17. Thanks
    BillJones reacted to Henri Charriere in Post your most recent acquisition: US   
    Very lovely example!
  18. Thanks
    BillJones got a reaction from GoldFinger1969 in Die Polishing Lines, Like, Dislike, Indifferent?   
    Yes, all of the dies are polished before they are used to strike coins. The Proof coins get special attention.
    Sometimes the Proof coin dies are re-polished to extend their useful life, and sometimes the results can be really bad in my opinion. Proof coins are supposed to have perfectly mirrored fields. When you have a bunch of polish lines on a Proof coin, which are raised BTW, they can look very much like hairlines. I avoid those coins, regardless of the grades a TPG might put them. This was a bigger problem in the 1950s and than it is today. 
    Sometimes Proof coins lose design features when they are re-polished. This was a big problem in the 1940s. The Walking Liberty Half Dollars that are missing the designer's initials on the reverse are an example. Once more I prefer not to buy those coins, but error collectors think they are cool. 
  19. Like
    BillJones got a reaction from ldhair in Post your most recent acquisition: US   
    I had been looking for an 1802 over 1 dollar for several years. Although there are five die varieties of it, the coin does not seem to crop up frequently. There were quite a few in the Heritage auction that will close shortly, but I spotted this one at the rent Winter FUN bourse. It is an NGC graded AU-55.
    The Bowers dollar book variety is BB 234. It is a die chip to the right of Ms. Liberty's eye which is a characteristic of the variety. I liked it because the overdate is very sharp. 
     

  20. Like
    BillJones got a reaction from Sandon in Post your most recent acquisition: US   
    I had been looking for an 1802 over 1 dollar for several years. Although there are five die varieties of it, the coin does not seem to crop up frequently. There were quite a few in the Heritage auction that will close shortly, but I spotted this one at the rent Winter FUN bourse. It is an NGC graded AU-55.
    The Bowers dollar book variety is BB 234. It is a die chip to the right of Ms. Liberty's eye which is a characteristic of the variety. I liked it because the overdate is very sharp. 
     

  21. Like
    BillJones got a reaction from Mike Meenderink in Post your most recent acquisition: US   
    I had been looking for an 1802 over 1 dollar for several years. Although there are five die varieties of it, the coin does not seem to crop up frequently. There were quite a few in the Heritage auction that will close shortly, but I spotted this one at the rent Winter FUN bourse. It is an NGC graded AU-55.
    The Bowers dollar book variety is BB 234. It is a die chip to the right of Ms. Liberty's eye which is a characteristic of the variety. I liked it because the overdate is very sharp. 
     

  22. Like
    BillJones got a reaction from Rod D. in Post your most recent acquisition: US   
    I had been looking for an 1802 over 1 dollar for several years. Although there are five die varieties of it, the coin does not seem to crop up frequently. There were quite a few in the Heritage auction that will close shortly, but I spotted this one at the rent Winter FUN bourse. It is an NGC graded AU-55.
    The Bowers dollar book variety is BB 234. It is a die chip to the right of Ms. Liberty's eye which is a characteristic of the variety. I liked it because the overdate is very sharp. 
     

  23. Like
    BillJones got a reaction from The Neophyte Numismatist in 1936 York County, Maine Tercentenary Half Dollar   
    These coins generally come in high grades, like MS-65 and 66. I located one of the sales devices which came with the coin when it was issued. 
     


    This coin came with it, but it was not the original piece. Since I already had a certified example, I sold the coin and kept the York Country holder. 
     
     


  24. Like
    BillJones got a reaction from CIII in Counterfeit Detection Seminar at January 2024 FUN Convention   
    Here is the handout I gave at the end of the presentation. Here are the important points:
    Go to the certification verification pages at PCGS and NGC. Enter the serial number on the slab.  If the response comes back "invalid serial number," there is probably a problem. There is an outside chance that the slab label has a mechanical error, but that is very unusual.  If you get a response PCGS and NGC verification responses will have pictures of the coin or the slab for newer slabs. If there are no pictures, PCGS might have one or more citations where the item has been sold in a major auction. The auction site will have pictures. If the item in the slab does not match the picture, it is probably a counterfeit. If you get no pictures or auction responses, you can got to PCGS Coin Facts to compare the item with pictures of genuine coins. This is not as good as getting a pictures of the actual coin in the slab. Jack D. Young has posted many pictures of counterfeits with tips on how to spot them under his name in the “CoinWeek” site. You may got there to sharper your eye for spotting counterfeits.

  25. Like
    BillJones got a reaction from Henri Charriere in I cannot log into the NGC blog with my iPad   
    I have gotten the log-in straighten out on both devices.