Mohawk

Congrats about your club resuming activity, Kurt!!! That's great news!! Sadly, the NGC Boards are the closest to thing a coin club that I have in my life.  There are two coin clubs in my area that I could reasonably got to for meetings.  One is a bunch of grumpy old men who only collect U.S. coins and the other is a bunch of nicer old men who only collect U.S. coins.  Sadly, there's not a place for me and my Faustinas and Egyptian Gods exonumia at either one 

Hi William!!!

First off, it sounds like you have a great relationship with your in-laws, which is really cool.  They even buy you birthday presents!!  I do not have such a thing.  My father-in-law is the greatest guy you'd ever want to meet but my mother-in-law is a Catholic extremist zealot who has Narcissistic Personality Disorder and that combination is absolutely no fun at all.  Either one on its own would be horrible but the two together......*shudder*.  I have no idea how a really super guy like my father-in-law ended up married to her.  To be fair, Candice struggles with her mom, too.  She's the kind of person almost anyone would struggle with.

It's funny you should mention Pawn Stars!! My old boss's former business partner was actually on an episode of that show.  And there's nothing wrong with entertainment that's "fake".  I love zombie movies and t.v. shows and they're definitely fake.  Entertainment doesn't have to be based in reality...it's often a little escape from the real world, which everyone needs sometimes.

Kids can be funny......it's funny that Ben's proclaimed your favorite color to be gold!!! But you're right.....I'm wondering if he has gold and silver mixed up, based on what you've written.  It's entirely possible.  

Congrats on your new pickup....it's something any Pawn Stars fan would love.

~Tom

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My joking / silliness in a recent entry encouraging others to speak up and participate aside

At least you're not the guy who keeps making shark jokes in different threads, as I am, and at least your silliness is inspiring!!! But in all seriousness though, you really do seem to be inspiring some people to jump into the Journal pool William....and that's pretty cool to see.

Hello and Welcome VE Coins!!

You've found a very cool area to focus in on with your collecting.  There are a lot of us here who work within a specific niche, myself included.  And I can completely understand being inspired by Revenant.....he doesn't keep winning those Journal awards for nothing, that's for sure!!! His Journal is great.  Another good one to check out is coinsandmedals.....his Journal is also fantastic.  I look forward to seeing where your collecting journey takes you and I wish you much luck, success and enjoyment during your journey!

It looks like the identity of your mysterious competitor has finally been revealed, William!!! Xan's fighting you in your arena, to make a reference to my dearest Faustina.  But in all seriousness, there seems to be more activity in many areas of the World Coin Registry than there were in previous years.  I know that there are more players in the Ottoman Nickel Para sets that I used to compete it.  I keep my sets up there for posterity even though I'm officially retired from competitive collecting (and Ottoman coinage) and I do check those areas of the Registry out from time to time......though I'm not tempted to get back into that arena again.  It's been interesting to see more activity in those areas and it's interesting to see it in your area of specialty as well.  I wonder what's driving it.....but I think it's wonderful to see people pursuing more diverse collecting interest than they used to.  For the record, I'll always be cheering for Team William in the Zimbabwe arena!!!

~Tom

Another excellent and fascinating entry, Don!!! That Custom Set you're working on is really going to be something....great numismatic items and excellent, well researched write ups!! You can't ask for more than that!! I have to admit to being jealous of the amount of contemporary information that is available for what you collect.  You actually can find sources that cite primary sources from the time.  With what I do, that is certainly not the case, which results in the fact that I'll never know if my collection is actually complete or not.  It has to be extremely rewarding and enjoyable to be able to go back to the time the coins and medals were actually created with your research.  You know what people were saying about your coins and medals at the time.  I do not and I likely never will, but such is the life of the Roman numismatist.  So, how is the new set coming along, anyway?  How much more work do you need to do on it?

~Tom

Looks like Sam is doing much, much better.....that's great to see!!! I also love the shirt.....I'm a firm believer in the power of pizza! It's also great that Ben has discovered disdain for fakes...even if it was likely because he wanted to use genuine articles for Beyblades!  I love that he actually threw them on the ground!! When I bought that fake Ottoman gold piece 9 years ago, I wanted to do that exact same thing, let me tell you!!! And yeah......you don't want Ben speaking of even a silver bar around other people.  And you definitely don't want him calling it a gold bar!!!  That's probably a tough one to cross with a kid his age without terrifying him.  But, yeah, that seems like an issue you're going to have to discuss with him.  Very glad to see Sam with a lot more oomph in him and I'm glad you guys are almost through the quarantine.  

I might have to look into something like this, but for raw coins.....something like an old-time coin cabinet, but smaller.  I think some of my best Faustinas would look pretty nice in such a display.  Coinbuf.....what you posted looks great 

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Sam is home. Weak, shaky, grumpy, angry and recovering but home

I'm so glad he's home!! That's excellent!

On 9/24/2021 at 11:03 PM, Revenant said:

At this point he's improving, he's on room air and off oxygen. He should get to come home tomorrow. The only thing is he has to start drinking more and eating more and taking his meds on his own. He is really the one that's going to decide at this point when he gets to go home. We had to have a meeting with someone today because he was already kind of a lean kid but he's lost weight over not eating because this and they're worried about how to get more calories in him.'

Eh... yes and no. Based on what I'm seeing I doubt I have or will have serious competition for the type set I'm building for a while there. There is some movement mostly focused on a couple of denominations and raw sets but nothing to suggest someone is planning to match me in the registry - at least not yet.

You can still do insane things with attainable goals...

Building this coin set is very attainable, but also fairly bonkers.

Indeed it is!!! I didn't realize how much there is to it......wow!!! That's quite a project you have taken on, my friend.  And, most importantly, I'm glad Sam is improving.  I had pneumonia once as a teenager.....I can't imagine it as a two year old!!!! The eating and drinking thing.....I can see how that would definitely be a problem.  He probably doesn't have much of an appetite from the illness and the meds, but yeah.....if he's lost weight he definitely needs to start getting some calories in him.  Since I am not a parent and have never even attempted to care for a two year old, I cannot imagine the stress of this.  I hope that he comes around and starts eating and drinking on his own.  I'm thinking he probably will, once he's feeling a bit better.

Man, William, that poor kid.....he has had some bad luck.  I feel for him and for your whole family and I hope Sam makes a speedy and complete recovery soon.  It seems like this forum is a good place for you when life throws you curveballs.....I remember when Sam was born and he had all of the health issues he did.  You were here with us a lot then.  And things turned out okay.  This will be the same.

As for the Zimbabwe coins......it sounds like you have some competition there, my friend!! That should make things interesting.....I'll be interested to hear more about that when you get around to writing about it.  It's interesting to see what people have been getting into collecting-wise with the pandemic and everything that goes along with that whole thing.  It's definitely impacted the hobby, though not my little corner of the world with it......most people are looking for attainable goals, not lifelong numismatic insanity.  

I wish you and your family all the best during this tough time.  Hopefully, Sam's luck will change.  

~Tom

Yeah.....it definitely won't be quick.  I'm into selling coins for the long haul, actually.  I've been doing it in some capacity since 2008, so it's not a quick buck kind of thing, and I'm trying to grow right now.  That's where the wait time is a drag....I can only grow as fast as NGC moves, and I'm definitely anxious to keep growing.  Since I want to see how far I can get with it, I'll definitely be sending them in at some point.  In a way, this does work out pretty well......like I said, there's something I waiting to hear from them on before I send the Canadian coins out, so I guess I'll prioritize my U.S. selling lots for now.  The Canadians will keep .  Your entry actually helped me make an important decision regarding what to send off next, and I thank you greatly for that, my friend  

93 DAYS!!! HOLY HELL!!! Well, there goes my idea of making a quick and productive entry into grading and selling Canadian Proof Like coins.  And I'm also waiting for NGC to answer a question on those coins, which I asked on September 12.  It'll probably be another 93 days for that!!!  I actually have a pretty good sized lot of these waiting to go to NGC, but I haven't taken the plunge yet and this backlog is exactly why.  I guess we just have to stay tuned and hope for improvement to happen one of these days.......

Another great entry, Don!

I love that even though you're tending to other things currently, you're still keeping your finger on the pulse in your collecting area.  As for me, with what I collect, I haven't experienced anything like this and I probably won't for a couple of reasons.  The first is that most of Faustina the Younger's coins are very, very common.  Even 1,891 years after she was born, her coins remain extremely common.  I think I said this in another of your entries but I'll repeat it here....Faustina the Younger coinage is almost like the 1980's baseball cards of Second Century CE coinage.  Secondly, most people who collect Roman coins aren't collecting them the way that I do.  I only know of a couple of other people trying to build a comprehensive collection of the coinage of a single ruler and none of them are chasing Faustina.  As far as I know, I'm the only one collecting her coinage with the goal of a full set, or rather, as much of a full set as we know of.  You can never be sure you have everything with ancients and, likely, you don't and never will.   So, most people buy a single Faustina and move onto another person whose coin they do not have yet.  As a result, my little numismatic world hasn't changed much with the rising prices.  I'm actually very happy about that.  I don't chase Faustina for money.  I chase her out of love.  But, for you guys who are collecting in areas that are crazy, I do hope things settle down some for you.  I can imagine that this price craziness has been something of a drag for many of you.

~Tom 

Man, I'm sorry to hear about the COVID exposure, William.....that's awful.  I sincerely hope you guys don't contract it and the tests come back negative.  But I won't go on and on about that.....I'm sure you're thinking about that one enough as it is.  As far as the submissions go....man, they are backed up!! I really only submit coins for my little resale venture now (gotta fund those Faustinas somehow....... and Faustinas don't go in slabs in my little world), so I've seen some of that myself.  I've got a bunch of nice Canadian Cameo Proof Like coinage and I know I'd have buyers for it.....but I've been sitting on them, wondering if I want to add more to the backlog.  I guess I probably should, because I have to take the plunge sometime.......but the waiting, man the waiting!!! It drives me nuts and it probably doesn't help that I go on VCoins and MA-Shops, chasing my Faustina addiction while I wait for the coins I'm going to sell to fund it once I get them back from NGC!!! But, I guess we have to play the game if want stuff graded.  But the waiting still sucks!!

Best of luck with your sell-off Randy!!!  I'm in the process of selling a bunch of my odds and ends off so I can put the funds into my Faustina the Younger Roman coin collection and it's a great time to sell.....especially silver dollars.  Morgans and Peaces are hot right now for sure!!

ColonialCoins...I know we haven't talked before, but I wanted to say I'm really sorry to hear that you're having a life-changing kind of health problem.  That's just awful.  I hope that your diagnosis is something that you can find a way to live with which would also allow for a reasonably good quality of life, in the long run at least if not right away.  I hope that you're feeling better soon.

Well......it's been a while, but maybe I can help.  What I did when I was submitting these coins was to mark Uncirculated Set Issue on the submission form where you mark varieties and errors for those services, but without checking the box for Variety Plus or Error service.  When I did this, I wasn't charged for the attribution and sure enough, Uncirculated Set Issue was on the label.  I hope that this helps you!!!

Best of Luck!

~Tom

I see you're still bringing the awesome with your journal, Don!!! What a fascinating read!!! And, like Coinbuf, I've seen the price increases on things, too, but it really hasn't affected what I collect yet.......Faustina the Younger coinage is almost like the 1980's baseball cards of ancients.....her coins are very common, even after over 1,800 years (at least her lifetime issues.  Her posthumous series can be a bit of a different story), so I'm not anticipating much of the craziness impacting me much.  But like Coinbuf said.....I've wondered if some of this has been a bubble, too.  If I didn't collect what I do and for the reasons I do, I'd probably be thinking about backing off more, too.  

As far as full circle for me, it'll likely never happen.  I started with U.S. and Canadian coins when I was 8 and I've bounced around a lot from that time, taking on many different coins and coin series.  But once Faustina came into my life, she was it and will remain so.  Collecting her coins, along with the occasional ancient of someone else, is all I actively pursue now.  When I lost my mom and stepmom in 2020, I was knocked around a lot by that and I stopped collecting for quite a while.....but when I came back to coins (and to the boards), it was Faustina I came back to.  She's the other lady in my life, though Candice is okay sharing me with her .  But it was really cool to read about your full circle experience!! Thank you for sharing that and your newest addition with us as always!!

~Tom

So true.  And I agree about the Yu-Gi-Oh! cards...some of those are very cool.  I do like the artwork on them.  But you're right about the history component......that is lacking with the cards.  I couldn't remember anyone who did both gaming cards and coins from my time at the brick and mortar, but there were several customers who did collect both sports cards and coins.  And I even have a few Garbage Pail Kids cards myself, not many, but some.  Mostly for nostalgia.  I guess for me, once coins came along, they overtook everything else.  The cool thing is that there are so many paths to follow in life......and it's gotta be cool to watch your sons find the right ones for them  

Congrats on your 2020 wins, William!!! That's awesome!!!  While I do not know Zimbabwe's coins and notes like you do by any stretch of the imagination, it would seem that there are some tough issues lurking in that area......but if anyone can complete this set, it's you!!!

I've been looking at your journals and things to catch up on what you've been doing during my time away and I just want to say it's amazing to see how your boys have grown!!! And I'm sorry the coin bug hasn't seemed to catch with Ben yet......but the Yu-Gi-Oh! cards at least show he's interested in collecting something.  When I worked at the brick and mortar coin store, we also sold cards and we did indeed have a few younger collectors who started with Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh! cards "graduate" into collecting coins......but, then again, some of them also "graduated" into Magic; The Gathering cards!!!  But I'd say there's still hope  

Hi William.....guess who's back!!

I'm so sorry you had a bait and switch with your Bond Coins......I've had that happen to me in the past when I used to collect things that are a lot more recent than what I do now.  But that really sucks and it definitely says something that they're filtering their reviews like that.  Very shady and, once again, it really sucks.

Though I'm probably restating the obvious here, but I see you've moved into Zimbabwe coinage as well as the notes......very cool!!!  I hope you have better luck with your next purchase, though and I definitely hope that your submission does very well!!

And, to you, sorry I disappeared for a while.....I lost both my mom and stepmom to cancer within months of each other, and I stopped collecting and was all kinds of messed up for a while, so I'm very sorry if you wrote me any messages or anything I didn't reply to.  

I'm glad to see you're still here, though  

~Tom

Enjoy your report to the moderators!! If I get COVID, I'll call you for some herbs....oh, wait, no, I won't.  I'll go to a real doctor and get real medicine.

Nice pickup Coinbuf!!! But I know your worries about getting a good deal.....you do worry about it.  I won a Faustina the Younger limes denarius (a weird base metal Roman denarius which there are several theories as to why it exists) for like $30 recently and that was a really good price for one.  Then, I too got scared.....I was like "Was I just that sucker who just bought a tourist coin?!  Man, I hope not!!".  Then, I got it and all was well!! I'd say you just had a lucky day and got a good deal...that does happen from time to time .  It's always good to cross something off the bucket list, even if it's a relatively minor something.  Enjoy your coin, it looks like a good one from here!!  I like Mercury Dimes...they're like the closest thing design and size-wise there is to a modern denarius, which makes them very cool in my humble opinion.