Mohawk

You're quite welcome and I'm glad I could be of some help to you!

I'm with Jonathan....actual collector's coins are where it's at. Bullion hoarding is most definitely not collecting and you could definitely make an argument that it's even a very poor investment tool. Bullion is always a crapshoot. Let me tell you about my favorite local coin shop. They had a little bit of everything....lots of U.S. classic coinage, moderns, world stuff, some ancients and, of course, bullion. It's near impossible to have a brick and mortar shop these days without getting into bullion. My fiancée and I were regular customers for years. Then, a few weeks ago, we went down to check things out and do some shopping. The owner was inside, packing everything up. He told us that he was closing up shop because he couldn't handle bullion fluctuations any longer. He'd buy a monster box of Silver Eagles, have to pay $5,000 over spot value and if silver went down, that $5,000 could just disappear. And that did happen to him. A few times. So, yeah, bullion killed my favorite coin shop. Since you asked for opinions, I'm going to be honest with you, share my opinion and say this.........stay away from bullion and get into actual coin collecting. ~Tom

Hahaha.....I should have known Quintus!! Well, first off orichalcum is a form of brass, so it's definitely different than the 1860's Indian Cents. There's only negligible nickel in it and the inclusion of the nickel was certainly not deliberate. The Romans likely didn't even know it was in there if they even knew nickel existed. As for the brass 1944 Lincoln, that's tougher to define as both are brass. According to this article https://mmta.co.uk/2015/01/30/the-metal-from-atlantis/#:~:text=The composition of orichalcum is,of nickel%2C lead and iron. Orichalcum ranged from 75-80% copper and 15-20% zinc with trace metals and, to be fair, I don't believe the Romans knew what zinc specifically was, either. They likely just knew that if they combined calamine, charcoal and copper in a crucible, they'd get orichalcum. As for the 1944 Brass Lincolns, the composition was definitely different, with 95% copper and 5% zinc, so a fair bit more copper and less zinc than orichalcum by far. And the U.S. Mint definitely knew what zinc was and that they were using it to make brass. From what I've seen, orichalcum seems much more yellow than either coin you mentioned and, this is just my personal opinion, I find the warm yellow of orichalcum much more appealing than either an C/N Indian Cent or a 1944 Brass Lincoln . But, of course, I'm very biased here. I have to watch you....you're going to keep me on my toes! Which, I love, by the way!

I have to say, you just reminded this crusty, jaded Roman coin guy how beautiful even common date Wheat cents can be!!! Well done and thank you for that!!

I'd say no.....it's a very common date cent that has heavy environmental damage. If it were mine, I'd just spend it.

I know that this has been cleaned at some point (as have many ancients Most of the ones that still exist have been dug out of the ground, so they need it), but look at that great orichalcum color!

Very good point, James. I have some of those myself

Jimbo's correct on both counts.....that's a spender.

So, you're a Saint guy? That's a cool pursuit, but a difficult one, no doubt about it. The 1920-S, 1921, those post 1923 mint mark issues and those 1930's dates are TOUGH and some of them are just killers!!! I wonder how many Saint enthusiasts there are.....I'd imagine there are quite a few, but likely not approaching the numbers of those EAC folks.....you're right.....that's a whole different sub-community within our community. And, you're right about the Faustina set.....it's the only thing I do now because it's absolutely repulsively titanic!! I'd love a meeting of Faustina enthusiasts, but, sadly, I think I'd be sitting at the table for such a meeting all by myself, talking to myself and my coins

What do you collect, Cat Bath? I'm genuinely curious. I'm fairly certain I'm the only lunatic on this Earth who is trying to complete a complete RIC set of Faustina the Younger's copper and silver coins.

Semi-keys are targeted just as often as famous keys. There's a bit of an advantage to the counterfeiter to target dates like an 1870 IHC because an 1870 is likely to be subjected to a lower degree of close scrutiny than an 1877 IHC or a 1909-S IHC. Accordingly, a counterfeiter is more likely to be able to "pass" their 1870 than a more famous key date in the same series. The counterfeiter is doing this to make money, and it's just as easy for them to crank out a few 1870's as it is a few 1877s. If the 1870 is more likely to "pass" and result in a sale and a counterfeiter knew this, then that would be a good target for their efforts and likely an even better one than an 1877 or 1909-S.

Congratulations to everyone!!!

I'm with the others.....definite machine doubling.

And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that!!! If you're having fun, buying good coins and enjoying your coins, you're doing it right

I, too, heavily rely on the Internet for what I collect. I have to buy a lot of my Faustinas from Europe. It's just the reality of it. When you're an ancient collector with as narrow and specialized of a focus as I have living in the Finger Lakes Region of NY State, you need the Internet to have any hope in hell of completing your collecting goals.

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.

That's a nice one Lem!! My fiancée likes Barbers quite a bit, so I have a bit of a soft spot for them as a result. That's a great pickup!! Thanks for sharing it!

Coinbuf nailed it. I see nothing that looks like a "2" on your coin where you said you saw one. When you first start with coins, you can sometimes see things everywhere on them, but typically there's nothing or it's damage of some sort. I know that's a bummer, but it's the truth. I know that I went through that when I started back up with coins as an adult in 1999.

That's a nice one. If you want a nice Lincoln Wheat cent, the 1916 is always a solid go to......I think that's the best the Lincoln ever looked!! Very nice coin!

I've found a few. They're kind of interesting. There's a couple I'll keep (especially the one my Dad found and gave to me and one other one with special meaning) but I may sell the other ones I found soon. There are just too many Faustina the Younger coins out there and I have to fund them somehow!!

I'm with Bob.....definitely PMD. A strike-through is typically much deeper than what your coin is showing.

It's great to be back, Jonathan!!! And I don't worry....my shovel is ready to go!!!

I wouldn't be surprised in the least.....there are companies that slab video games, video game consoles and action figures. Why not expired credit cards? If there's a buck to be made, someone will do it eventually.

What Kurt said exactly. You can definitely submit them in the original capsules. I've done that with many moderns for my little resale venture. And here's NGC's Service and Fees page to help you with the rest of it: https://www.ngccoin.com/submit/services-fees/ngc/ Good Luck!!

One last one for the night......my birthday is tomorrow, but my fiancée said close enough and gave me my present early: