Mohawk

This is a neat idea and a great tribute to your wife! I am excited to see where this journey takes you! 

I like that photo!  You look relaxed and happy and the coin display in the background is an awesome touch. 

And you are so right that active collecting spurs my journal posting, too.

"...the wife keeps insisting that I look Handsome"
This is the most important sentence in the whole journal entry. 

You have every right to be proud of your all your sets, they show the dedication and work that you (and now Shandy) have and are putting into the collection.   It is kind of sad to see the journal awards gone, I'm not much of a writer myself but have always enjoyed reading the journal entries posted by others.   I hope this will not cause folks to abandon the journals altogether, they add an extra and interesting dimension to the boards.

Good hunting with rebuilding your East German collection, Tom.

It's a nice, simple design that looks good even in F12.  There's something to be said for a simple design like that, I have to say.  I've recently began rebuilding my early East German collection that I had to sell for a car repair when I was finishing up my Ed.D.  Those designs are quite simple, but I find them very appealing in their simplicity.  I feel the exact same way about your Irish Crown, Jack.

Man, Mark does some great work, Coinbuf!! Like William said, those dark copper coins like that are quite difficult to photograph, but the photos Mark did are excellent!

Thanks for the kind wishes, Jack!!! And those are both very nice coins.  I actually don't have anything '22...1822 or 1922!  I may have to change that with something nice from Canada or the Weimar Republic.

It's a deep, dark blue felt.

Well...first of all, these giant blow-ups without full photos of the obverse and reverse are not very helpful at all.  To properly examine a coin through photos, we need good, clear photos of the full coin to place the blowups into their proper context.  Going forward, if you want us to help you, please follow these guidelines:
1. Post clear, cropped photos of your coin, both obverse and reverse.  Any blowups need to be accompanied by these photos or they're useless.
2. Make sure you ask a clear, coherent question in a sentence or two.  Just saying a few words is often not very helpful.  Tell us what you think you have going on and what you want to know.
3. Post one coin per question/thread.  If you have additional coins, make separate threads/questions for each individual coin.  
4. You're likely to get more attention if you post your questions in the Newbie Coin Collecting Question area rather than in a Journal.  Doing this will increase your chances of getting help in a timely manner.
5. Remember that most of us on here are simply collectors who do this without being paid for it.  Most of us do not work for NGC and we are not paid by them to participate here and share knowledge.  As such, it may take time to get an answer and you may not get one at all if we don't have a member that knows the answer to your specific inquiry.  That does happen.  Please be patient with us.  
6.  Please read this thread.  It will tell you all you need to know to be successful here with posting inquiries:
https://boards.ngccoin.com/topic/415185-what-you-need-to-know-about-posting-coins-for-inquiry/
Also, please know that if you do not follow these guidelines, you will likely be ignored.  We do want to help you, so please help us help you.

Thanks, that helps.   There are three important enough DDO's for this date/mm to receive an FS number, and several other very minor DDO's.   However when viewing your photos and the one available via the PCGS website I still only see MD, or strike doubling whichever term you prefer.
Also as you were the one that submitted this coin did you select variety attribution when you submitted the coin?   If you don't ask and pay for the variety attribution you will not get it.   If you did ask for and pay the extra fee then PCGS determined that you have simple MD and no variety, which is what I see also.

Well...first of all, these giant blow-ups without full photos of the obverse and reverse are not very helpful at all.  To properly examine a coin through photos, we need good, clear photos of the full coin to place the blowups into their proper context.  Going forward, if you want us to help you, please follow these guidelines:
1. Post clear, cropped photos of your coin, both obverse and reverse.  Any blowups need to be accompanied by these photos or they're useless.
2. Make sure you ask a clear, coherent question in a sentence or two.  Just saying a few words is often not very helpful.  Tell us what you think you have going on and what you want to know.
3. Post one coin per question/thread.  If you have additional coins, make separate threads/questions for each individual coin.  
4. You're likely to get more attention if you post your questions in the Newbie Coin Collecting Question area rather than in a Journal.  Doing this will increase your chances of getting help in a timely manner.
5. Remember that most of us on here are simply collectors who do this without being paid for it.  Most of us do not work for NGC and we are not paid by them to participate here and share knowledge.  As such, it may take time to get an answer and you may not get one at all if we don't have a member that knows the answer to your specific inquiry.  That does happen.  Please be patient with us.  
6.  Please read this thread.  It will tell you all you need to know to be successful here with posting inquiries:
https://boards.ngccoin.com/topic/415185-what-you-need-to-know-about-posting-coins-for-inquiry/
Also, please know that if you do not follow these guidelines, you will likely be ignored.  We do want to help you, so please help us help you.

Those Franklin Mint sets can have some nice coins in them, William.  One thing I was working on a while ago was a set of Chilean 5 and 10 Pesos coins.  I actually got some of those sets and got some nice coins out of there.... MS66s and MS67s.  It could be worth your while to submit the nicest coins you have from them to NGC, my friend.....it could really end up paying off for you.  But I'm with Bob.....I'm loving seeing you just having fun with these sets and getting back to basics!! There's something to be said for simplicity.......which is the name of the game in my collecting life now....no Registry Sets, no TPG grading.....just me, my notes and coins and my albums.  But what's even better to hear is that you and Shandy are working on it together.  You really can't beat that part of it.  It has to be nice to be able to work on your hobby with your wife.

Everything in its time and place. I've said before, I like the registry, I like this place and the competition and the awards and all that, but it's not Everything, shouldn't be Everything, and it shouldn't be allowed it get in the way of the fundamental enjoyment of the journey and the experience. Like I said, a lot of this is being done in service of building 2-3 registry sets down the road, but I'm loving the hands on, do it myself approach to this vs buying pre-graded coins.

Hi William!!
I can confirm one thing for you.....the 1888 you mentioned was definitely graded recently.  My last sales lot to NGC that I received back the other day had an invoice number that started with 579.  As for the Specimen Z coins....sounds like you have a bit of a mystery on your hands, my friend.  I'm sorry that dealer would not check dates for you on the 10Gs.  That sucks.  I ran into that a couple times back when I was more active with non-ancient coins than I am now.  Some dealers just don't want to expend the extra effort.  One question though: did you make sure to tell them that you weren't looking for the discount price on the dates you needed?  If you didn't, telling them that might make a difference.  Many sellers are much more willing to expend that extra effort if you're willing to forfeit the discount price for them to check dates for you.  It might be worth a try.
~Tom

I don't know that it was clear to them at first. I had thought it went without saying that if I wasn't wanting random date I wasn't expecting a random date price but I think I sent back another message say, "If you do find one, let me know." The problem I think with these is they're mostly treated like Bullion, and for an 1875 or 1876 I think that's fine but an 1885-1888 is a massive pain to find amongst all the 1875s.

Hi William!!
I can confirm one thing for you.....the 1888 you mentioned was definitely graded recently.  My last sales lot to NGC that I received back the other day had an invoice number that started with 579.  As for the Specimen Z coins....sounds like you have a bit of a mystery on your hands, my friend.  I'm sorry that dealer would not check dates for you on the 10Gs.  That sucks.  I ran into that a couple times back when I was more active with non-ancient coins than I am now.  Some dealers just don't want to expend the extra effort.  One question though: did you make sure to tell them that you weren't looking for the discount price on the dates you needed?  If you didn't, telling them that might make a difference.  Many sellers are much more willing to expend that extra effort if you're willing to forfeit the discount price for them to check dates for you.  It might be worth a try.
~Tom

Very nice, Coinbuf!! Congratulations!! I, for one, would be delighted to see your set move up and maybe win a big award someday.  Who knows what may happen in the future?

I think I'm going to start being active over there, William.  A new participant always helps in some small way.  What's the troll situation like on that side of the house?  Any Slicks or Ratzies?

If only I had an unlimited budget to match my aspirations! 

I know the note you're referring to and it's a great one!!! British notes are some of the best.  It may be a good addition to your collection at some point.

Come on over, there is more spambots than posters at the moment. 

I think I'm going to start being active over there, William.  A new participant always helps in some small way.  What's the troll situation like on that side of the house?  Any Slicks or Ratzies?

@MohawkI know this to be a true statement when it comes to this hobby! I would have never predicted my current obsession with the Soho Mint when I was still big into EAC. 

I'll definitely do so, but I should probably do so over on the PMG boards.  I don't want to bore you guys to death with German replacement banknotes and Canadian star notes