Mohawk

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!!

Hi Mike, it is nice to see you posting here again. I'm sorry to hear about your recent health issues. You seem to have a good outlook, and it's nice to see that numismatics can remain an important part of your life. I know next to nothing about Napoleonic medals, so I am excited to learn as you share your knowledge with us. Please let us know how the local auction turns out! 

Thankyou - managed to get to look at the lots today - even though I have no hope in ever owning one I got to see a gold 5 guinea and it always amazes me how heavy they are!
Saw this and thought you may be interested - from the catalogue, I tried taking a photo but it was much darker than the listing.

Thank you Tom. I will try this also. Maybe I will get the same results. 

@MohawkThanks, Tom! You may be the only person I’ve talked to recently that has not been impacted by the recent craziness. In full disclosure, I’m a bit jealous! I’ve come full circle in so far as my Soho adventures, but like you, I’ll never come full circle in the grand scheme of things. I don’t foresee myself re-entering the U.S. coin arena anytime soon. I’m far too spoiled by my current collecting pursuits even to consider paying a multitude of the price for a fraction of the quality. If I had an unlimited budget, this might be different.

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

That is a very nice addition, and some great information and background to the piece.   As to your thoughts on prices I too have seen the rapid rise of prices both at the auction blocks and for the retail prices.  It is becoming very difficult for me to want to spend too much more money as I'm worried that this could just be a bubble and I don't want to be caught if the air in this market reduces rapidly.   I bought more this year than I had planned, partly as there were more really nice coins that were brought out as a result of the higher prices, and my desire to finish a couple of sets.   I think that next year will see far less spending on coins and more time enjoying the coins I have.

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

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.

Hi Rick,
I, too, am back after a long absence.  And I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your wife, I really am.  I just wanted to offer my condolences. I had a couple of serious losses myself during my time away.....I lost both my mom and stepmom to cancer in 2020.  It really sucks.....I feel for you, man.
~Tom

Hi Rick,
I, too, am back after a long absence.  And I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your wife, I really am.  I just wanted to offer my condolences. I had a couple of serious losses myself during my time away.....I lost both my mom and stepmom to cancer in 2020.  It really sucks.....I feel for you, man.
~Tom

I received a call today from NGC informing me that work on this submission has officially started! In my opinion, the fact that one of the higher-ups at NGC is willing to take the time to personally reach out to a small-time collector like me says a lot about the character of the company. I am very thankful for their kind consideration, and I can't wait to see how these turn out in the end. I’ll be sure to update this thread as more information becomes available. 

Well, Mike, I think there's an easy answer to this problem......don't buy into the hype.  Say screw PCGS and screw the W quarters and just pursue coins you actually want to pursue and that make you happy when you pursue them.  That's what I've done.  I actually did get a W mint War in the Pacific quarter in change myself.  You know what I did with it?  I gave it to my mother in law because she really liked the design of the coin and it made her happy.  I'm just pursuing my ancients and ignoring all of the modern US Mint hype and I'm very happy doing so.

Well, Mike, I think there's an easy answer to this problem......don't buy into the hype.  Say screw PCGS and screw the W quarters and just pursue coins you actually want to pursue and that make you happy when you pursue them.  That's what I've done.  I actually did get a W mint War in the Pacific quarter in change myself.  You know what I did with it?  I gave it to my mother in law because she really liked the design of the coin and it made her happy.  I'm just pursuing my ancients and ignoring all of the modern US Mint hype and I'm very happy doing so.

Yup Mohawk, I AM A Company Man!!!  Seriously, he always does such a thorough job analyzing his subject but makes it completely accessible to even dullards like me. Very entertaining guy, I also love Great Big Story, Only in Japan, and Curiousity Inc.

Hey William,
Those are great albums that you found.  I use something very similar for my Roman coins and I absolutely love it!  I think you guys will love your albums, too  And, I really agree with Mokie here:
.  It really does   Now, let's hope that Roswell, NM elongated cent doesn't spawn some sibling rivalry in a few years..........
~Tom

Hi Kerry,
I don't believe we ever talked when you were here before, but it's always good when good collectors find their way back.  So, hello and welcome back!  I can relate to a lot of what you said in your entry.  I've been doing some soul searching myself over the past few months myself and I've had some major realizations about myself which have made me a much happier person and collector, much of which pertain to the fact that I've realized that I'm a minimalist.  Like you, I have some main loves which I plan on focusing in on and indulging.  For me they are Silver Roman Empress coins with a focus on Faustina the Younger and her daughter Lucilla, coins depicting birds and coins depicting babies.  Everything else I did was basically clutter that I don't need, so it's being sold off.  I've also decided to pursue my pursuits off of the Registry as I've decided that grading coins for collecting myself wasn't fun for me anymore....like you, I needed to get back to being a collector, in its simplest terms.  So I'm using stock books and 2X2's and I'm having a blast doing it!  There's no wrong way to collect, provided you enjoy what you're doing and you don't damage your coins!  And I think a smaller collection that is well selected is a great thing......smaller goals let you focus more and buy really awesome coins when you do make purchases.
In closing, it's nice to cyber-meet you and I look forward to further entries and discussions with you!
Cheers!
~Tom

I think with Chumlee, you're right, but given his track record with law enforcement off-screen, he's clearly a jack*ss in real life in a completely different way.  His onscreen stuff is still obnoxious to me, though, act or not.  As far as Rick and Corey, I dislike Rick more than Corey but that's kind of like saying I'd rather have a turkey vulture defecate on me when I'm out in the field birdwatching than to have it get scared and vomit on me....you really don't want either option.

Good characteristics and detail strike on that Ancient. Planchet shows some lamination but from strike or something...I like your coin.

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.

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!

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.

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.

This is very well said. It is important to not become a hostage to anything in collecting at the expense of losing the enjoyment. 
Thank you for writing this.

Yeah, Great Collections is great.  I just consigned some coins with them myself that I would make more money on on selling through them than I would selling them on eBay.  Ian's a great guy and he works really hard for you to both promote your coins and get them sold.  I'd recommend them as well.