Mohawk

Congratulations!! I'm so glad to see that Sam finally made it home!  And as far as your USPS problems are concerned.......it's amazing what kinds of inefficiencies and delays they can produce when the urge strikes them.  There was this one guy at the Post Office where I used to live who could not grasp the difference between a numismatic coin and a negotiable, circulation item......very frustrating for a guy who sells coins online and sometimes has to ship them overseas with customs declarations!  But the people at the Post Office where I live now are the greatest!  Just depends on where you are, I guess.

It's so funny how that happens sometimes and it makes you think.  I just bought a Faustina the Younger denarius which is almost 1,900 years old and it's absolutely gorgeous and problem free.  That coin made it almost 2 millennia intact but that poor cent likely didn't even make it a whole year. 

I'm also sorry that it's been such a hard road for Sam...it's sad when anyone has to go through a struggle like that, but there's something about it happening to a newborn which makes it even harder.  It sounds like he's a tough little guy though and a fighter.....I think he's going to keep you on your toes a few years down the line!

It also sounds like Bob did have a nice sendoff and it has to be something of a relief to have that part of things completed.  Now the mourning and healing processes can continue without that added source of stress on top of everything else that has gone on with you and yours over this last span of time.  I'll look forward to seeing your updates in the 1932 set.  As many of you know, I'm typically anything but a US coin guy, but I have to admit that set is compelling.  I think for me with that set it's more your set building and writing that I find compelling than the actual coins and the meaning that the coins have to you and Choya.  You have a way about you when you build things that I really enjoy, as I think you already know with our talks about your Zimbabwe Dollar set over on PMG......that set is amazing and it's one I really enjoy looking at and reading the write ups.  And those are some really gorgeous notes, especially those of the First Dollar....total eye candy!

It's always nice to get that coin that you've been desiring for a long time.  And that coin is very attractive indeed.  Back when I was more into Victoria issues, I was strongly considering getting one of those myself but I never did.  Even though my collecting interests have changed, it's still nice to see one of these, especially one that is so beautiful!  Congrats on your new pickup!

On 4/8/2019 at 6:33 AM, MIKE BYRNE said:

Thanks Tom. It's hard keeping up with everyone's opinion. If they took time to comment must also. Yes a very hard time. But the day I re gained consciousness I told my wife no sympathy that does not heal. Prayers do. We all have our problems. Many worse than mine But We have to adapt to the world I have tried. But I was a member of a group going back to the fourteen hundreds. Two gentleman were coming back from war.. Both had lost there legs. We have each one fifty thousand dollars to get started and then we rebuilt there homes to make things easy for them. Back then the legs were of  poor quaility. We even lowered there entire kitchen and bath room. It did not  make the papers we do things for all sorts of charities doesn't matter if they needed it that got it. Just think of how better the world would be if that was done every were what a great world. Thanks for your kind words Tom but many others need more help than me. Mike

Well I'm not religious and I don't pray, but I do wish you all the best.

~Tom

2 minutes ago, Revenant said:

I think you're just going to have to remember that:

1) graded coins / notes work well for some projects and not others, even for those that like them (some don't).

2) There tends to be a natural ebb and flow to life. If I recall correctly from your past posts, you've already "retired" from the registry once and come back (haha - you aren't that old yet). You'll probably have something that has you wanting to use it again later - even if later is 3-5 years from now. I was hardly on here at all from 2012-2017. That's just life.

As far as the stuff? You can only have so much before it's a burden.

I love a line from Orange is the New Black. "Collectors curate their collection. Otherwise you're just a hoarder."

You bring up very good points.  I did retire once before, but for different reasons than this time.  I had just moved to a new place, I was staring a Master's Thesis in the face and I was dealing with some serious family related stress, so I'd call that retirement more forced on me than voluntary.....with everything going on, I just didn't think that the Registry was something I could maintain.  I didn't really want to quit then, but I felt I had to.  But things settled down, my coin selling gig took off, things got better with me and my family so I came back and gave it another go .  I'm glad that I did.  It was a great experience and I did manage to achieve my goal of winning a big award.  However, this time I've given the idea of Registry retirement a lot of thought and I'm making the decision from a place of strength and happiness rather than one of duress.  I also hadn't discovered my minimalist streak yet in 2014.  That's only become apparent since I've entered my late 30's.  But, I've also learned that with me and this Registry, I should never say never .  Who knows what the future holds?  I may gather a good collection of raw Faustina the Younger coins and decide that I want them slabbed and on here.  It could happen.  It could not.  Who knows?  But with my new focus on ancients I have to consider the cost of grading ancients and the turnover time for them......it's something like 52 working days for Economy and $25 a coin.  I really don't have the patience for that kind of wait and most of Faustina the Younger's silver coins range in price from $50 to $120 in nice higher circulated grades.  Buying graded ancients also costs considerably more than buying them raw.  A denarius that costs $100 raw in VF could easily cost you twice that or more if it's in an NGC slab.  I guess I'd rather buy more coins than pay for grading at this point in my collecting life.  Life is full of transitions and I feel that I'm going through a transition now.  Simplicity appeals to me more than it ever has.  So does the idea of fewer things, but better and more fulfilling things.  But I still plan to curate my collection, believe me!  My coins will be attributed with all of the proper reference numbers and they will be handsomely housed together in a nice album which will allow me to fit the 63 or so coins in a small space rather than in a huge box, which I'd need to do if they were slabbed.  It's funny.....I'm on the verge of earning my doctorate, which in turn means that I'm headed for a position with greatly increased earning power, but the impending increase in earning power makes me want less stuff though I could afford more stuff.  I don't know.....but I like it and I'm going with it.  I may have something that brings me back to being an active Registry participant, but as of right now I cannot imagine what would be able to compete with my desire for simplicity and minimalism.....those things have become very important to me.  I guess we'll have to wait and see!

I can so relate to many of the things stated in this entry.  I think of where I was in 2010, 2011, 2012 etc....and I think of my interests and what I was collecting and it really is like looking at a different person and their interests.  Back then, I was collecting a lot of German and Ottoman coins.  When I first started on NGC in 2010, I was even still collecting some US coins, though it was definitely the waning days of that phase of my collecting life.  I don't even know who that person was anymore.  Then I moved onto Canadian coins, largely in part because I started collecting with Canadian coins when I was a kid.  Now, I'm doing almost nothing with any of those pursuits.  Instead, I pursue coins with birds on them, coins with babies on them and Roman coins with a particular focus on Faustina the Younger and other empresses.  But it's interesting to look at how I feel about what I do now compared to how I felt about what I was doing with collecting back then.  It's almost like I kind of knew that those pursuits were a temporary thing in a subconscious way.  They were part of the journey along the road to somewhere else.  On the other hand, where I am now with collecting feels like home.  I think I finally found where I belong in the hobby.  I finally found an area that can sustain me for the long run.

However, it's been weird for me.  As someone who has an advanced degree in history, I thought for a long time that I had to keep things from my past as they were a part of me.  After all, history teaches us that understanding the past is key to understanding the present.  However I had a dream not too long ago which I interpreted as my brain telling me that it's okay to let go, that it's a healthy thing and that shedding one's skin is a part of growing.  This has also combined with the realization that I have a pronounced minimalist streak within myself, so I'm actually selling off a lot of my old coins from past collecting pursuits and renovating my collection.  I want a leaner collection which reflects me now, and this will help accomplish that.  As far as the embarrassment factor goes, there is some of that, too.  I've realized that I've grown and changed a lot since I started collecting again in 1999 and since I started on NGC in 2010.  I was 19 in 1999 when I started back up collecting and I was 30 when I started on NGC.  I think for me, the worst thing I did was my attempt at a US Type Set.  To make the project exciting, I decided I had to go after all of these weird dates that were not typically seen in a type set.  The best example I can think of is my desire for one of the proof only dates of the 20 cent piece.  Needless to say, this actually made the project even less fun.  The real answer I needed to arrive at is that the project actually bored me and nothing was going to make it work for me.  I needed to abandon it, not make it some super weird set that would have been difficult financially to obtain.  I needed to realize that a US 20 cent piece wasn't going to make me happy whether it cost $100 or $3000. 

Another thing I'm saying goodbye to isn't something I'm embarrassed about in the least: my active participation in the Registry.  I really wanted to win a big award here.  It was never about competition for me that much, it was about proving to myself that I could do it.  And I did, twice.  The one I'm the most proud of is the Most Creative Custom Set of 2017 for my Avians: The Dinosaurs Among Us Set.  That one was amazing because I won for something that is one of my current pursuits.  It's something that the present incarnation of myself built and that I'm very proud of.  If I was to win for anything on here, I would have wanted it to be for that set.  My win in 2018 was somewhat strange as it was for one of the Ottoman sets that I haven't actively worked on since 2015.  For a brief fleeting moment after that win, I considered going back to pursuing Ottoman coins.  But I realized that would be moving backwards, not forward, and that was the exact thing that I was striving to get away from in my life.  Instead, I'm viewing that award as a fitting epitaph for my old self and collecting interests and a high note to go out on.  I'm now using 2"x2"s and a nice album for them.  I've realized that while the Registry once made me happy, it doesn't any longer.  It was just complicating my collecting.  These days, I'm striving for simple.  Don't get me wrong, I think the Registry is still a great thing and I really enjoy seeing what everyone builds on here.  I enjoy selling graded coins to help people who collect on the Registry achieve their goals.  And, of course, I love the boards here.  But the Registry isn't for me any longer.  I've accomplished my main goal for being there and it's best to go out on a high note like a big win.  The boards are all I need these days.

Sorry for such a long response here.......you're a very thought provoking writer Rev!

6 hours ago, MIKE BYRNE said:

I was born in a socialist country which i am proud of my heritage. I did not mention third world they need our help and help from others. Well it's about coins everyone has an opinion. You did not offend me. I started collecting in 1995 when an 82 year old man driving a truck broad sided my company car I was unconscious for three months. I still suffer today if not for my neurosurgeons one who  collected coins. He said it would slow the dementia it worked for a while.Coins kept me going. To a point where I had to stop collecting. He also fractured three bones between two and three so I'm home bound. My job my college education gone in a second. My wife left because 65% of men wit brain damage there wives leave them. I lost everything but I fight back everyday. I have the ANA and NGC to keep me going. I learned along time ago never never put anyone down you treat people with respect that's meqns no matter were they live. Thanks again have a good one. Did you see the set of tokens I put together from Britain? One of a kind. Enjoy have a great weekend. Mike

Wow....you've really been through a lot.  I've been told before that you never know what someone else may be going through, and I'm definitely having one of those moments with you right now.  I'm very sorry all of that has happened to you, I really am.  I see that coins have been a lifeline for you and that you have waged a difficult and brave struggle and that you continue to do so everyday.  It's admirable and a lot of people would have just given up.  But you didn't.  Knowing this about you now, it puts some things in a different perspective.  Coins have been a lifeline for me, too, though in a different way.  And we both love coins, so we do have that in common.  I did take a look at your British tokens, and I found that collection of yours to be very enjoyable.  Sorry I was so sensitive about you initial post and I'm glad that I didn't offend you. 

Have a great weekend as well.  Thanks for the kind and well thought out responses.  Keep on blogging......you have people who really enjoy what you do.  It's great to do something that makes people happy.

Best Regards

~Tom

7 hours ago, MIKE BYRNE said:

Know problem. I do not put any countries down. I was born in Ireland. But I'm a proud American nothing wrong with being proud in a country here we have so many freedoms. I studied to be a Catholic Priest a Missionary I would be in the terrible ways some people are forced to live in I just wanted to help as many as I could. I respect life everywhere always will this is only about coins. That's the bottom line. Thanks again as always I respect all opinions and always will. Thanks take care. Mike

 

You summed up why I was bothered........life isn't one size fits all, and what works for one person, or group of people, or society may not work for another.  I felt like the ways other societies work were being put down, that's all.  As someone who has degrees in historical studies and who teaches Modern World History at the college level, I'm sensitive to things like that and find it to be a dangerous way to think.  Some of history's worst atrocities have been committed by those who think their way of life is the only way, so they go out and attempt to force their way on others.  So I responded to this in the way I first interpreted it.  You say you didn't mean it that way.  That's fine and I accept it.  Though I will stay away from your journals and threads going forward.......I think you and I are way too different to have much in the way of positive discourse and I also find that to be true of others who have responded here.  I did want to respond this last time, however, because you did respond to me in a respectful way and I wanted to respond to your respectful response in a respectful way as well.  Like I said, life isn't one size fits all and that's one of the main tenets I live my life by.  But I also know when people are too different in certain ways to be able to get along in the long term, which is what we have with you and me and likely me and some of the others who follow your blog and respond to it.  But you guys can have your US thread back without anything further from me.......I'll go back to my Roman coins and enjoy them with my fellow ancient people and leave you US guys to it. 

Thanks for the well thought out and respectful response.  I was honestly and pleasantly surprised to receive such a reply to this one. 

Guess I was too sensitive about the tone of this entry according to some members.  I didn't like how you were throwing the word socialism around like it was a dirty word and the implication that countries who have a socialist system are beneath the US in some way along some other things about this entry.  I'll just stay off your journals going forward.  That's the best solution, I think.

Guess I was too sensitive about the tone of this entry according to some members.  I didn't like how you were throwing the word socialism around like it was a dirty word and the implication that countries who have a socialist system are beneath the US in some way along some other things about this entry.  I'll just stay off your journals going forward.  That's the best solution, I think.

Wow.......political much?  I thought we weren't supposed to get political on here.  I think we could talk about potential changes to American coinage without promoting American Exceptionalism.  I'm reporting this one to the mods.

10 hours ago, Mokiechan said:

Probably so, but the show seemed to be heavily skewed toward U.S. Coins.  I understand the attendance was considered a bit low.  I also heard that NMS has not been a moneymaker for ANA so the subpar attendance surely doesn't change that concern.

That's a shame that the show was heavily skewed toward U.S. coins.....there would have likely been very little there of interest to me.  But, it's kind of good in a way.  I was feeling kind of sad I missed it.  Now, I'm not so much.  Probably no Faustina II or Lucilla silvers there .  That PCGS to NGC ratio says a lot about what was there.

Man, I'm really sorry to hear about Choya's dad.  As you mentioned it is the cycle of life and it's a part of nature.....but it's the part of it that sucks.  I'm not religious, as you know, and I view death as the greatest mystery of all but you and yours have my deepest condolences.

Maybe this is a good time to revisit the 1932 set with Choya and revamp the photos and description as you mentioned.  I've seen the set, and it is very nice and it is a great tribute.  Now, as you said, it will be pulling double duty, so it may be nice and cathartic to do some work on it, even if you do not add anymore coins right now.  The coins you have are great!

I know what you mean about the cycle of life.  My fiancee's grandmother is 90, and we've noticed some cognitive decline happening with her in the past few months.  That's been really hard on her dad (it's her paternal grandmother), and it's really made me think somewhat too.  It's crazy for me to think that my dad is going to be 70 this year and my mom will be 70 next year.  I'm feeling the number 40 looming for me in 2020 as well.  No matter what we do, the seasons pass and we get older and move along the path nature has for us. 

What a great story!  Though, I cannot think of Chuck E. Cheese's without thinking of Five Nights at Freddy's anymore (yes, I'm also a video game nerd to a degree!)......but I guess as long as Golden Freddy and Springtrap didn't show up and wreck the joint, it's all good!  But I remember Chuck E Cheese's as a kid and I think that you're having more success with getting Ben into collecting than most parents would, especially at his age.  I think there's some definite hope there that it will take with him.  I still remember collecting Canadian Small Cents out of circulation with my dad when I was 8.   I still have the set we built, though in different Whitman folders, and I'm STILL trying to complete it out of circulation.  I fell away from collecting for a few years in high school, but got back into it at 19 and I've been solidly doing it ever since.  These things will stick with Ben for the rest of his life, and he'll always remember collecting as something he did with his dad.  I know I do.  I think you're doing a great job of providing opportunities for collecting with Ben but letting him naturally go for what he likes and chooses.  I think you may have a future collector there yet!  And, even if it doesn't take with Ben, there's still Sam when he gets old enough.........

1 minute ago, Numismatic, A.A.S. said:

This was the subject of debate (one subject of several) at the PCGS Luncheon last year and I heard a dealer support the fact that the first strike and multiple eagles were the big ones for the future. I have to laugh now, look at those years I quoted you on...we didn't need them and the marketing/thinking behind them...maybe a large scale dealer flipper needs it...example, one coin in the set first strike sold before even released at 399.99...today's value, can be bought for....24.99...certain market makers are responsible for the demise in youth, new collectors woes, concerns and fears....can't blame them.......peace

I'd agree with you.....those Eagle sets were good for certain dealers and the grading services, but that was about it.  They were the definition of taking a good idea and then killing it by overdoing it.  Anyhow, I don't let it get me down......I just enjoy collecting my Canadian coins from 1959 to 1989......those are already made and it doesn't matter what insanity any modern mint gets up to.  The set parameters don't change .  The RCM can be as insane as it wants to be.  So can the US Mint, I guess.

On 3/16/2019 at 6:22 PM, Revenant said:

It's been years since I heard / read this, but a while back I read something saying that the mint had issued so many coins / designs in such a short period of time between the statehood quarters the ATB quarters, the Lincoln 2009 specials, the new reverse, the Jefferson nickel redesign, the presidential dollars... that some people were finding it hard to tell the difference between real and fake coinage - there were so many designs floating around in such a short people of time people just didn't know what was what anymore. Kind of crazy to think about really and it goes to show you just how much I think they've overdone it in the 21st century.

In my last year of undergrad someone asked me if they could have a dollar to buy a scantron because they'd forgotten theirs at home, didn't have time to go back and needed to get to a test. Maybe I'm a sucker but I gave them the dollar - but it was a dollar coin. She took it at first, then stopped and asked me if it was a quarter or a dollar. I had to explain that it was a dollar.

The mint has really just muddied the water in a bad way.

Indeed they have.  It's gotten pretty crazy!  I'm all about freshening up US coinage, but they've done it in the wrong way, in my opinion.  They need to get rid of the bland, decades old Presidential depictions and try something all new for all of the coinage denominations.  That would be pretty cool and would likely bring more collectors into the US coin market.  And what they really don't need to do is make a new depiction of the same guy who has been on the coin for over 80 years (new Jefferson Nickel, I'm looking at you).  The Westward Journey and 2009 Lincoln Cents should have been send offs, the last of their designs with something brand new for the cent and nickel coming the next year.  That would have been exciting.  What the US Mint is doing now is not, in my opinion. 

8 hours ago, Numismatic, A.A.S. said:

Definitely winners there...got a hold of many & proved wise....on other things I'm glad I passed....

Yeah, the 2006 sets were pretty neat and they continue to be.  They were sets that actually commemorated a significant milestone in their respective series.  It's all of the crazy sets that came after them that really turn me off.  In my opinion, it would have been better to have let the 2006 sets remain unique than to keep pumping out sets that were just the US Mint milking a cash cow to death.  We really didn't need the 2011, 2012 or the 2013 sets at all.

6 hours ago, gherrmann44 said:

I think the mint does this because collectors generally want it. This kind of thing goes back to at least the 70's when the silver 1970 Kennedy Half was only available in mint sets. I think collectors really want coins that at least aren't run of the mill and a little scarce. They want coins with lower mintages over the coins that are produced in the hundreds of millions. That said, the argument of too much of a good thing can be made concerning the frequency of manufactured rarities.

That is undoubtedly part of it.  But I think you are also right on with too much of a good thing happening here.  The 1970-D Kennedy was a pretty cool thing.  So were the 1981 Anthony Dollars.  But most things since the advent of the State Quarters have been overkill and they've gotten progressively more ridiculous. 

1 hour ago, Beijim said:

It is a cynical bald-faced money grab of the worst sort.  This does not rejuvenate numismatics but rather degrades it.

But then again, what would you expect?

 

Indeed it is.  This is quickly what the US Mint is becoming well known for.  Not that all modern mints aren't guilty of it to varying degrees.  I just think some of this stuff from the US Mint is so easily seen through for what it is.......a blatant, unapologetic cash grab.  And to make it more insulting, they try to make this thing sound like a gift to collectors!  They don't want to give anyone a gift, they want to sell more proof and mint sets, which have both been having lagging sales numbers since the end of the State Quarters in 2008.  While other modern mints can easily be accused of making too huge of a number of products, at least they appear to be trying to make appealing products that reach varying customer bases with varying numismatic interests and, on some products, they do work to keep mintages decently limited.  To me, the US Mint appears to be saying "Screw you.  You'll buy it.  If we make it, you'll buy it.  Even if it's complete garbage.  We'll make a huge number of them and they won't have a shot of holding their value, let alone rising in value, but you need it for your sets. So you'll buy it."  And they don't care.  At all.  They're making money.  Now that I think of it, I said something similar about the attitude of another institution beloved by numismatists..........Etsy.  Wow.  That's a sobering thought.

Well.....if these W cents result in a significant rise in the sales of the various sets offered by the US Mint, I think that the US Mint will continue to issue these manufactured scarcities in future years.  Look at the behavior of the US Mint over the course of time.  The State Quarters Program was a success.  Rather than letting that successful program stand on its own, the US Mint had to beat the idea to death and then there were President Dollars, ATB Quarters and now American Innovation Dollars.  They made admittedly neat sets in 2006 for the 20th Anniversary of the Gold and Silver Eagle programs, but then they beat that idea to death by expanding the ASE program offerings to ridiculous levels with further special sets in 2011, 2012 and 2013 and we're now at a point where ASEs without mint marks are certified as being made at different mints based on the strapping bands that the big green boxes are held together with, an uncirculated coin with a mint mark and two proof coins with two different mint marks a year.  They made one curved coin program in 2014, and now this year, we get another curved coin program including a ridiculous 5 ounce curved silver "dollar".  The point I'm arriving at is that once the US Mint identifies a cash cow, you can be sure that they will milk the thing to death.  If these W cents create a huge rise in the sales of annual US Mint sets, which they will, I think that those W nickels or something like them are sure to be on the way. 

Quote

my gut says it's time to go based on everything I'm seeing.

Then definitely listen to it.  I've had situations in my life where I had a bad gut feeling that I didn't listen, only later to realize that I really should have.  But I've never had a situation where I listened to my gut and ended up regretting it.  I think starting a new job hunt is the exact thing to do here.  Also, you are so right that sometimes you just have to take the kick, take a moment to regroup and move on.  It sounds like you have a good plan for that.  Best of Luck!

First off, I'm so glad to hear that Sam and Shandy are both doing better health wise.  That's very good to hear.  That said though, I'm also very sorry to hear how things are going at your job.  It sounds like you have taken on more duties and responsibility, but your employer is not noticing it or that they are pretending not to notice in order to keep you performing those duties at little extra cost to them.  I've worked for several places like that, and it sucks.  I mean, why do we work?  There are many different reasons, but ultimately one of those reasons is to get paid and to get paid fairly for the work we do.  I think if you're seeing red flags at your employer, you should definitely act on that and start looking around for something else.  If nothing else comes of it immediately right now, you will at least know what's out there and what options may be available to you in order to make a move to a better place of employment.  I also think your plan to discuss things with your boss is a good one.  Maybe you guys can come to an understanding after all. 

I also understand what you're saying about having kids. I'm not meaning to get political but the United States can really be a terrible place to have any major medical thing happen at all if you don't have the right insurance.  I have a medication that I have to take every single day for the rest of my life.  If I didn't have insurance, this medication would cost me about $750 a month.  That's more than our rent for our apartment, which is the whole top floor of a good sized 1850's house.  In the past couple of years, both my stepmom and my fiancee's dad have fought cancer.  They are both cancer free now, that is the good thing, but the medical bills for both of them are absolutely hideous.  They're basically being punished for getting sick.  Don't get me wrong, there are many things about the US that are great, but there are also many areas where we need a lot of work, and healthcare is among the worst of those areas.  Because of the systems we have in place in the country, I'd say you could definitely make a case that you are being financially punished for having kids.  Once again, I'm glad I live in NY, because we have it a bit better with the health care situation than many other areas of the country, but we still need work here too.  But, at least, I feel like our state is trying to do something about it.  There are many which appear to be doing nothing about this pressing problem.  This is another reason that we're seriously considering emigrating to Canada if my fiancee and I can find work up there when we finish our degrees.

I'm really sorry that you're going through a rough patch, my friend.  I really am.  But it sounds like you have a good perspective about it, and the love and support of your family, which is the most important thing.  I hope that the rest of it improves quickly.

2 hours ago, Mokiechan said:

I guess my only counter would be, and this is purely a personal preference, the 90% US standard gives me a feeling of continuity with the pre 65 issues.  Now that they've gone all silver, I feel they've become purely bullion coins with no connection to my aforementioned continuity.  Having said that, it is only a passing concern, I am onboard with the change. 

I can understand how you'd feel that way regarding the 90% silver alloy.  I guess I view it somewhat differently because I don't collect US classic coins at all and I only collect US moderns when they work in my thematic collecting projects.  I likely wouldn't have the same feelings on this issue as you because of this.  But I am glad to see that, based on the change to .999 silver, that the US Mint seems to be adopting a more global mindset regarding its offerings.  If this mindset extends to the designs and the themes of the coins and not just the composition, this will be a good thing for everyone I think.

21 hours ago, Mokiechan said:

Still wondering why they made that switch after literally spending the last 200 plus years using the .9 (or thereabouts) silver standard.  Must be a marketing ploy and possibly a means to save a little on production of each coin.

I think they did it because that is the standard that collectors are coming to expect.  If you look at the many offerings of different World Mints, the silver coins are .999 fine.  The 90% silver alloy was actually an archaic relic that, it could be argued, the US Mint clung to for way too long.  If the US Mint wants to modernize and compete in the global modern coin market, this was a necessary change.  Is it a marketing thing?  Yes.  But it's a necessary one. 

1 hour ago, Mokiechan said:

Maybe he is surreptitiously making them and selling them to a hidden group of collectors so they can feel special?   Not me, I don't have any desire or criminal instincts but you bring up an interesting possibility.

There was actually nothing surreptitious about Daniel Carr's handling of his 1964-D dollars.  He sold them right on his website, just like his other creations and, indeed, seemed proud both that he made it and that he felt that he had a legal loophole in order to prevent marking them with the word Copy, which is a point that could definitely be debated on this particular creation for sure, if not his other "fantasy restrikes"  There was nothing underground about it.  As I understand it, Mr. Carr has production logs on his website.....if you look through them, you may be able to see the 1964-D dollars he made and how scary they actually are.  I'd encourage you to try to get a look at these "coins"......it may change how you feel about Mr. Carr a bit, it may not.  But I think you should have all of the available information on this particular subject, as any numismatist should.  It was actually seeing the 1964-D dollar that made me feel that Mr. Carr was guilty of counterfeiting in at least this one case.