Mohawk

Lol Well, I think the "Samuel Likes Money" post, which I found rather funny and amusing, was torpedoed by what went down with the baby but that was more one of my posts about fatherhood-and-the-coins. There will probably continue to be a mix of those and ones like this as I go forward.

Revenant,
I'm so glad to hear that Sam is improving and is out of the most immediate danger......that's a great relief!  He sounds like he's a fighter, so he's going to get through the rest of it, too.  Thanks for letting us know!

Thanks for the update Revenant.  I don't know what to say.....I cannot imagine how hard this is.  It has to be absolutely terrible.  As you know, I'm not religious and I don't pray, but my thoughts and best wishes are still with you and yours all through this, my friend.  If I were in your area of Texas and not just some guy sitting in New York State thousands of miles away, I'd do anything I could to help you and yours through this.  As it stands, all I can do is offer you my best wishes, which I do again, wholeheartedly.

Thanks for the update Revenant.  Sorry to hear that Samuel had to be intubated.......you're right, that sucks.  But it'll help him heal....he won't have to work so hard to breathe now, so his body will have its energy for other things.  How's Shandy doing?

Everything is going to be fine.  Sending my best wishes and good vibes to you guys!

Congrats on the birth of Samuel!  The doctors and other medical professionals will take good care of Samuel and Shandy.  With the expertise of their medical teams and the love and support of you and the rest of your family, they will get through it.  The waiting is over and now the recovery process can begin for your wife and son.  Once again, my thoughts and well wishes are with you and your whole family!

And Jack, may I compliment you on a very beautiful coin!  Thanks for sharing that one with us!

Well, Revenant, you have completely changed my mind on the French Freedom coin!  I used to really dislike this coin because I thought it really was an angel and I really dislike religion (not any particular religion mind you, all religion, so I'm not picking on anyone!) and all things connected to it.  It's sometimes very hard to be a non-believer in a Christian majority nation and that's something I've lived with my whole life being a non-believer from a non-believer family.  I have dealt with some horrible bigotry and intolerance from Christians in my life.  I'm not trying to stir up any trouble or upset anyone who is Christian but is a good person by saying that, I'm just saying it because it's been a true fact in my life and something I've had to struggle against.  My fiancee has it even worse as she is a non-believer with a mother whose devotion to Catholicism sometimes reaches levels that, I don't know what else to call it aside from unhealthy.  But after reading your write-up, I see that the French Freedom coin is something very much akin to the Young Turk Ottoman Nickel Para coins that I love so much.  Those coins, minted by another bunch of revolutionaries who were absolutely fed up with religion (among other things) and what it was doing to their society, feature the Young Turk motto of Freedom, Justice, Equality on the obverse, above the Tughra.  I think that Dupre was trying to send that same message with an image rather than words.  Now, I see a coin that I used to despise in a new light as a beautiful image with an equally beautiful message.
Another great entry Revenant!  Keep them coming. 
Cheers!
~Tom

And Jack, may I compliment you on a very beautiful coin!  Thanks for sharing that one with us!

Now that's interesting and altogether different.  If the coin depicts an allegorical representation of freedom, then that's definitely something I can get on board with.  We should try to rename the coin the Freedom instead of the Angel and reclaim the coin's true identity.  Knowing that the French Revolution was a part of the influence for the coin further confirms the Freedom identity in my mind.......many of the French Revolutionaries didn't like religion any more than the Young Turks did. 

A big thanks goes to Revenant for injecting some life into these Journals!

Oh, I know! A previous comment you'd made is one of the main reasons why I stuck the word "usually" into the title of this post. 

Hi Revenant,
First off, I'd like to send my best wishes to you and your wife as you guys get through what is sounding like a difficult pregnancy.  My fiancee and I do not have any children and we've decided to adopt when we do, so I cannot imagine how hard it can be.  However, I do know how it is when someone you love is going through a major health issue.  In the past couple of years, my fiancee's father has been treated for prostate cancer (he's cancer free now), my mom was diagnosed with Hashimoto's Thyroiditis (a very nasty autoimmune disease, but she's doing well now) and my sister had major gallbladder problems which led to her having her gallbladder out (thankfully, she too is doing well now also).  It's scary stuff, but I know you guys will get through it.  I'm sending good vibes your way!
Thanks for the kind words on my unexpected win as well (I actually finished that set years ago!).  And congratulations to you on a well-deserved win for your journals and on the acceptance of your paper!  I'm in academia myself (I'm writing my dissertation for my Doctor of Education degree currently), so I know how big of a deal that is.  I'm planning on publishing my work once my dissertation is completed and accepted.  I changed fields from history to education (more opportunities and better pay), so I'm not as accomplished as you are in the publishing area but someday, I hope to be!
It sounds like you have good goals for 2019 going forward.  As for me, I'm going to use my NGC grading credit from my win to work towards expanding the little coin sales venture that my fiancee and I have been working on for the past four or so years......I can undertake some experiments with grading different things for resale with that, something I'm looking forward to.  We'd like to expand out into doing more World coins, and the grading credit will help us grade some things that have been sitting around for a bit, waiting for the right moment.  As for collecting, I think I'm going to keep working on my paper money collection and possibly trying to hunt up the pieces I need to finish my other Ottoman Nickel Para collections.  I want them in Mint State though, so that's going to be a very slow go!
Congrats again on the well deserved win, and on the upcoming new addition to your family!
Cheers!
~Tom
 

Hi Mike!
Damn!  I was so hoping you'd get no Details grades this time, but you're moving in the right direction with fewer of them!  Overall, looks like you did pretty well though.  Lots of straight grades and MS coins with some older issues.  I think if you do keep selecting coins and grading them yourself, you'll do quite well in the long run.  From what I've seen from this submission and your first one, you're definitely developing an eye and you're learning to see what the graders are seeing when they grade your coins....this is the key to success with submitting yourself!  I'll tell you honestly, my first two submissions were not nearly as good as yours have been.  But, I stuck with it and learned and now I mostly get positive surprises in my submissions, recent Friendly Eagle issues aside .  There are some people who will never be able to develop an eye that will allow them to have successful submissions on their own that need to buy things already slabbed and there are those who absolutely have the potential and skill to develop into a successful slabber......from where I'm standing, you're strongly in the second group! 
Keep it up, you're doing great!
~Tom

Hi Mk,
Looks like a great submission....some very interesting pieces in that lot.  I'll be extremely interested to see how this lot goes for you.......I, too, am hoping for no details grades for you!  I want to see you win one all the way!
Keep us posted!
~Tom

I think you have a good attitude here.  It's one thing to learn to grade raw, and another to learn NGC's standards for grading and the process of learning NGC's standards often means taking some lumps......I know I've definitely had my share since I started submitting to NGC in 2010.  I don't know anything about Thai coins, but I'd say 11 straight grades vs. 8 details is a pretty good first submission, and the details grade coins can serve as great learning pieces to help hone your eye to detecting problems in the future.  I think if you keep buying coins that you think are nice and you keep honing your eye, you'll do quite well going forward.  I've definitely known of far worse first submissions!

Awesome entry!
Really made me think about my ways of buying.