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brg5658

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Journal Entries posted by brg5658

  1. brg5658

    My first NGC submission

    By brg5658,

    A good experience
    For my first 14 months on the NGC Collectors Society webpage I had only the free membership. After those first few months, I decided that having a paid membership was worth the information available in the census reports. When it came time to renew that basic membership, I went one step further and decided I would get the premium membership so that I could submit my first 5 coins for grading to NGC. That certificate was set to expire on 1/13/2013, so I had to get my act together and get that submission made.
    I have a fairly large group of raw horse-related coins, and so I decided to send in a selection of 5 coins from among those. Nothing high dollar here -- just some coins that I'd like to add to my horse custom set. I thought for a while, and in the end I sent 5 coins, but only 3 different types (I sent a single of one design, and a pair of two other designs). The turn-around from my door round-trip back to my door was 20 days. In particular, the dates were:
    1/2/2013: Sent via Registered Mail to NGC
    1/7/2013: Received by NGC
    1/8/2013: Scheduled for grading
    1/15/2013: Graded and passed quality control
    1/15/2013: Finalized/Imaged/Shipped from NGC to me
    1/22/2013: Received the coins back from NGC
    Overall it was a good learning experience, and I'm happy with the results of this undertaking. I'm posting below my favorite coin of the bunch, and I'll post images of all 5 of the coins (with grades) on the Chat Boards.
    I am hoping this year to submit a dozen or so coins in addition to my 5 coins for my premium membership certificate. Now that I've experienced the process and realize how painless it is, let the fun begin!!
    All the best, and I hope everyone is enjoying their 2013 so far!
    -Brandon

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  2. brg5658
    Doesn't get much better than this one...
    When I started my horses collection 2 years ago, one of the first resources I browsed was the Dalton & Hamer (D&H) reference for Conder Tokens. There are many designs featuring horses, and I have a list that I regularly look for. Well, about 10 days ago, one on that list came up for sale on eBay, and I was determined to get her home to my collection!
    The token in my sights was a Lancashire (Rochdale) 1792 issued piece. The obverse features the Arms of the Clothworkers' Company with a lovely detailed ram crest. The legend reads "ROCHDALE HALFPENNY 1792". The reverse shows a mounted dragoon (infantryman) with sabre galloping to the left -- the legend reads "PRO REGE ET PATRIA" (translated as "for King and County"), and the text "QUEENS BAYS" is in exergue. The edge is inscribed with "PAYABLE IN LONDON" with the reminder engrailed.
    This token is listed in D&H as "scarce", with an estimated mintage of between 75 and 150 tokens. The real wow factor for this piece is its level of preservation. It survives in almost original state, and is graded by NGC at an almost unbelievable MS66RB. It exhibits surfaces of lovely browns interspersed with lustrous red areas.
    Of interest is that the dragoon (horse) design is used on pieces from several counties, not just this Lancashire token. Among them being:
    Norfolk DH-7, 46, and 47
    Somersetshire DH-87
    Warwickshire DH-60 and 61
    Yorkshire DH-64
    This token will take a spot among the herd as my 177th certified numismatic item featuring a horse. She will be one of my most treasured items for many years to come. As always I will post larger images on the Chat Boards.
    Happy collecting!!
    -Brandon

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  3. brg5658

    A new undertaking

    By brg5658,

    A lot more work than I thought...
    About 2 weeks ago, I started thinking about creating a website to display some of my raw (ungraded) horse-themed coins. I've amassed quite a few, and I don't think I will be able to get them all graded in the near future. However, I still wanted to be able to show them off and also keep an online index of which coins I have acquired and which ones I may still be missing.
    Well, after a lot of investigation, and deciding to err on the side of "simplistic" instead of "bells and whistles" I finally have a site up and running where I have posted some of my collection. Of course, a large part of the work was also imaging my raw coins, and compiling the photos. I also decided to host the images on a site separately from the site itself because of size limitations. Long story short, I'm excited to post here and get some feedback from all of you.
    You can explore my site and check out some of my horse-coins at this website:
    http://sites.google.com/site/brg5658/
    ----------------------------------------------
    On another note, I added a graded coin from Mali this weekend. It is an MS65 graded 10 Francs coin. I wasn't expecting to find one of this particular coin graded, but I stumbled upon this and decided to pull the trigger. It's a gorgeous yet simple coin. Below is the horse side of the coin, and as always I'll post the full coin picture on the Chat Boards.
    I hope everyone had a good weekend.
    -Brandon

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  4. brg5658

    8 horses, 1 coin

    By brg5658,

    New addition to my set
    This coin has been on my list for a while, and one finally popped up on eBay for sale at a reasonable price.
    Mintage: estimated 100,000 pieces
    Composition: 92.5% Silver
    Identification: KM# 965a
    This coin was issued by Great Britain in Copper-Nickel as both a BU coin (mintage 1,835,000 coins) and proof coin (est: 100,000 coins). It was also issued in a Silver Proof coin (which is what this one is; est 100,000 coins). Finally, it was issued in a small mintage of only 2,500 coins in Gold.
    The obverse of the coin features a young bust of Queen Elizabeth II surrounded by 8 horses with bugling riders. The reverse features a Crown in the center surrounded by 40 bugle bells commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. It exhibits stunning cameo and frosted devices on both the obverse and reverse. A great design!
    I'm expecting a couple more deliveries between tomorrow and Saturday, so I'm hoping to be able to work on my pictures and descriptions a bit this coming weekend. As always I'll post a larger compilation photo of the obverse and reverse on the Chat Boards.
    Cheers,
    -Brandon

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  5. brg5658

    Shifting gears...

    By brg5658,

    Updated my Sacagawea MS/SMS set
    I'm a relative "newbie" to the CS registry sets. I purchased my first slabbed coins a mere 2 years ago or so. Just last October (2010), I decided to complete a certified, slabbed set of uncirculated Sacagawea dollars. I had been collecting (or amassing) the Sacagawea dollars by purchasing a roll of each year and mint mark, along with obtaining the U.S. Mint sets from 2005-2010 to get the SMS (satin) versions. But, instead, I decided to shift gears and obtain the nicest single coin I could afford/find for each year and mint mark. That task was not terribly difficult to complete, as there are MS66 or better examples of every year and mint mark readily available on eBay, Teletrade, and from various other online (non-auction) retailers.
    Along the way, I was able to pick up some extremely nice examples. I have been lucky enough to even obtain every SMS coin in MS69 except for one (11 of 12 isn't bad!). But, I have been saving up for an MS69 business strike for some time. Outside of the SMS Satin Finish coins, a business strike Sacagawea graded MS69 is a "modern rarity" if such a thing exists. Long story short, I was able to snag a 2011-D Sacagawea Dollar graded MS69 (Early Releases) by NGC. It is the *only* Early Releases coin graded MS69, and one of only 2 graded MS69 so far for the date/mint mark. The only other one sold for $4000 (yes, four - THOUSAND - dollars!!!!) on eBay BIN back at the end of April. I stayed within my budget and picked this one up for about 1/7th of that.
    In closing, I'm happy to say my Sacagawea set is up to date for another year. This nice MS69 will also be added to my 21st Century Type Sets and will hold a special place as the representative for the Native American "type".
    Happy collecting!

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  6. brg5658

    New addition

    By brg5658,

    Beautiful 1828 horse
    This post will be quick and short. The past week I have acquired a couple new coins to add to my horse-themed topical set. The one that I have been waiting for most to arrive in hand came today. It was everything I thought it would be, and I'm happy to add it to my set.
    The coin is an 1828 16 Gute Groschen, a part of the German States issues for Hannover. It has exceptional luster, some reverse toning, and great eye appeal. I just love the detail in the mane and tail of the horse, and it is the third coin in my set with a rendition of the Saxon Steed. Some form of this design has been used on the coinage of the Saxon States of Germany as far back as the 1600s. Below is a zoomed in view of the horse image, and as always I'll post a large compilation photo on the Chat Boards.
    I hope everyone has a great weekend.
    Cheers!

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  7. brg5658

    Snow day...

    By brg5658,

    Two beautiful satins came today!
    This will be a short but sweet journal. I wasn't sure if the mail was ever going to come today, but the postman finally showed up at 5:45pm. I got two new MS69 satin finish beauties for my 21st Century Type Set. Hope everyone is having a good weekend.
    The obverse pics are below. The larger pictures and the reverses are posted in my 21st Century Type Set.
    Cheers!

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  8. brg5658

    RE: Points System

    By brg5658,

    I disagree with WKF, and here's why...
    Firstly, I would like to just say that I really love the Journals on NGC. I love reading them, I love hearing other people's opinions, and I am glad to be a part of this forum. However, that doesn't mean I have to agree with everything said or everyone posting here, even if they are my "elders". That being said, I'm offering below only a few counter-thoughts to those offered up by WKF in his post.
    ------------------------------------------
    WHO IS A COLLECTOR?
    I mostly collect (yes "collect") modern coins for many reasons. For one, I can afford them. Secondly, I don't care how many total coins were minted (millions, billions?). I care about finding that specimen coin that is the best of the series for a given year and/or mint mark. Thirdly, I don't care what point values NGC assigns to my coins in the registry, because I don't collect for NGC, or to brag, or to be #1 in a certain set. I mainly use this website because they offer great collection management tools, their customer service is stellar, and because I enjoy the community.
    WKF offered up an un-named example of someone who he does not consider a collector, because he/she had multiple sets of all modern coins just to attain more registry points. I agree that it makes no sense why someone would want 10-20 Proof sets of the state quarters. But, similarly, it makes no sense to me why someone would want 500 Silver Eagles all dated 2009. This behaviour is what psychologists call "hoarding". In closing, I note here only that WKF has 9 listed sets of Franklin Halves and often posts pictures of bulk purchases of many duplicate coins. Apparently, this "hoarding" is justifiable as "collecting" because the coins happen to be made of some fiat metal (silver or gold).
    In summary, I think a "COLLECTOR" is someone who would acquire, examine, study, admire, and cherish the beauty of coins EVEN if the registry didn't exist. If you hoard fiat metals because of some fear of the "end times", then you are one of two things: an investor or a lunatic (or both).
    I appreciate the advice of my elders. But, I refuse to collect only silver and gold coins. If you want to invest in silver or gold, then buy bars. If you care about art history, the coinage process, the examination of detail, and having a discerning eye, then be a numismatist. If these coins so happen to be made of silver or gold, then so be it. If not, then so be it. For those of you who can't figure out what you are, think about it this way -- if silver and gold prices BOTH dropped to $5/oz tomorrow, would you still be excited about the hobby? If not, then you are probably not a "collector".
    As a disclaimer, I was born 15 years after 1964, so my opinions may be of questionable value! :-)
    Just my 2 cents...happy collecting (or hoarding)!
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  9. brg5658
    A new horse coin and presentation style...thoughts?
    Hello everyone,
    I picked up a very nice new coin for my horse-themed custom set. It is an example of the Austrian 5 shilling proof coin, with very nice cameo effect on both the obverse and the reverse.
    While browsing a registry set, I also ran across a style of picture composition that I found attractive, but I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. It's a beautiful presentation style, but I can't decide if it takes away from the focus on the coin. Again, this isn't my creativity; I have merely duplicated the style of another's photos to the best of my ability.
    Any feedback for the "nay" or "yay" would be appreciated!
    Happy collecting,
    Brandon

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  10. brg5658

    One of a kind

    By brg5658,

    At least, for now...
    A couple weeks ago I snagged another beautiful world coin featuring an absolutely stunning horse image. The coin commemorates the 2000th anniversary of the death of Virgil (the historic Roman poet, best known for his Aeneid).
    The coin was minted in 1981 by the Republic of San Marino, an independent country with a very interesting history. With a land area of about 24 square miles, and a population of around 30,000 inhabitants, San Marino mints coins primarily for collectors. Because San Marino is completely surrounded by the country of Italy, it has historically used the same currency and both countries recognize the currency of the other. At the time this coin was minted, the Lira was still used in the area, and thus this coin has a face value of 1000 Lire. It is minted in 83.5% silver, and is about the size of the U.S. Half Dollar. I don't have my Krause handy, so I can't quote a mintage number, but in general, the coins of San Marino are minted in relatively small numbers compared to most modern coins.
    This particular coin is the ONLY of its type graded by PCGS or NGC. It is graded a spectacular MS67, and as you can see it is absolutely stunning. I will post a large and sharper version of the image on the Chat Boards.
    Have a good weekend every one! Happy collecting!
    -Brandon

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  11. brg5658

    A history lesson

    By brg5658,

    Who knew collecting coins would be so informative!!
    Last weekend I placed a bid on a coin, and didn't think about it again until I found the email in my box that I had won it. It was a coin that I hadn't really seen before, but fit my horse-themed set. I did some research before placing a bid, and I knew I probably wouldn't find another one for a while as it was only a two year type coin, from 1741 and 1742.
    Nonetheless, it came in the mail today, and you can read a great deal of detail about the history of the man on horseback on this coin in my Horse set description. As always, I will post larger and complete photos on the Chat Boards.
    I hope everyone is having a good weekend.
    Cheers,
    -Brandon

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  12. brg5658
    Been far too long since my last journal.
    I realize it has been months since my last journal post. Despite this, I still regularly read all of the journals here, and I have enjoyed seeing everyone's collections grow. I can't believe it's May already...where the first 4 months of this year went I'm not sure.
    For this post I just wanted to share a little good news. When I first started my thematic horses set last year (on April 1, 2011 I believe), one of the first things I did was go through my 1901-2000 Krause Standard Catalog of World Coins. I sat down with post-it arrows and flipped through the almost 1500 pages marking coins that featured horses. There are a lot...I don't dare count them...
    Immediately I started on the journey of adding coins to my watch list of auctions, picking up some of the easier to find pieces right away, and learning the virtue of patience for many others.
    Well, one piece that alluded me for several months was the 1 Drachma Greek coin minted for only two years in 1910 and 1911. I knew the 1910 was the piece that I would likely target, as the 1911 is significantly more expensive and scarce. Despite the 1910 coin being minted in a quantity of more than 4.5 million coins, I was dumbfounded at how hard it is/was to find a piece grade AU or better. Finally, back on the 23rd of April I was the high bidder on an NGC graded AU55 example for less than $100. This was quite a feat considering an MS62 examples goes for around $300 at the low end, and often nice AU coins can have better eye appeal than lower MS coins anyway. It arrived from Greece today (I always find it cool to get a coin in the mail from abroad!) Though the sellers pics were not stellar, it was clear that the coin had nice luster and toning -- and, in hand it did not disappoint.
    Below is the newest member of my herd. The slab is scuffed worse than any other coin I have ever owned, so even after a good 10 minutes of buffing and polishing, a few of the marks are still visible. The obverse features the bust of King George I of Greece who reigned from 1863 to 1913. The reverse features what is described as a "Mythological figure Thetis with shield of Achilles, seated on sea horse". Both the obverse and the reverse have a bit of a gold tone/patina, with just a blush of orange toning above the sea horse on the reverse.
    I hope all are well, and Happy Collecting!
    -Brandon

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  13. brg5658
    Horses galore...
    Saturday of this last weekend was my first time to the MOON Show in the Minneapolis, MN area. I went with no particular idea of what to expect, but after my normal "one-time-through browse", I stopped back at the few tables that caught my eye. In the end, I only purchased one coin for the day, but it was one that was on my want-list for quite some time.
    I found a nice example of a Half Crown that features the small rendition of St. George Slaying the Dragon on the reverse splitting the date (see close-up image below). The fact that St. George is on a horse is one draw for my collecting niche -- another draw is that I simply have a hard time saying no to a coin with this amount of eye appeal that also pictures Queen Victoria. It was a nice perk that it was also a better date of the small half crown Jubilee Head series.
    This coin also marks a pretty significant milestone in my horses collection -- number 200! I'm glad to have such a striking coin as the 200th addition to my custom collection. As always, I will post the full size images on the Chat Boards for all to see.
    Thanks for looking!
    -Brandon

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  14. brg5658

    Reining in the herd...

    By brg5658,

    Updating all of the information in the horse set is a LOT of work!
    It has been quite some time since I have written a journal. This is for a number of reasons, but needless to say I have continued to add a few coins to my horse-themed set. Besides a few new additions, I have been systematically updating the coin descriptions and compiling the coin composite photographs and the accompanying historical photos. The past three days have been particularly fruitful for this task, as I have been jet lagged. This journal comes as I sit in a lecture hall in Sicily, for a course I am helping to teach.
    I have made it through 60 of the horse coins thus far, and the remaining 8 will hopefully be completed by the end of this week. This has really given me a new respect for all of those sets which I look at where there have been detailed and extensive comments given. This part of a custom set is particularly enjoyable, as you have the opportunity to draw together all of the coins to one common theme. December 1st will mark the 8 month mark since I started the horse set, and it has been an educational and unique experience, quite different from type-set collecting or series-set collecting. If you have not created a custom set, I really do encourage you to do so. The options are limitless, and I have to give credit to gherrmann44 (Gary), as his "Inspirational Ladies" set has been one of the many "inspirations" for me along the way.
    This will likely be my last journal until after I return to the US next week, but I wanted to include here a couple of the new additions to my herd.
    One I am particularly in love with is a new MS65 1865 Hannover 1 Groschen. The rearing Saxon Steed is represented on many many coins over the years, but I am simply drawn to this design as a beautiful and simple one. The obverse of the new addition is shown below, and as always I will include a larger photo on the Chat Boards.
    I have also added three Civil War era tokens to the set recently. Three of them are Civil War tokens proper, with the fourth being a store card for the Hussey's Post Service (all 4 are dated 1863).
    If you haven't checked out the herd for a while, I welcome you to and also please feel free to offer comments and suggestions for additional coins. The set has grown faster than I thought, but it seems to be harder and harder to find new additions as I snag the more readily available coins.
    Without further ado, I will end the journal here with a picture of that new Hannover 1 Groschen.
    Happy collecting,
    -Brandon

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  15. brg5658

    A milestone...

    By brg5658,

    100th coin added to my horses set
    This will be a short post, but an exciting one for me. Today I received my 2012 Sacagawea Dollar proof coin in the mail. I have been excited for this new design for several months, and it was fun to finally see one in hand. It seems fitting that this coin also happens to be coin #100 in my horses themed set!
    I truly love the Sacagawea dollar design, and it is one of the few coins that I collect as a series. I opted for the proof version for my horse collection, and when I find the MS examples they will of course be added to my complete set of Sacagawea dollars.
    I hope everyone is having a good week.
    Happy collecting!
    -Brandon

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  16. brg5658

    A new coin

    By brg5658,

    Been on my radar for a while
    I was able to pick up a coin that has been on my radar for quite some time. Namely, Ireland released a silver 15 Euro coin in 2010 that pictures a mare and her foal. It was issued in a quantity of 15,000 pieces, and the image of the horse is a flashback to the Irish half crown from 1928 through the 1960s. It is quite a stunning coin in hand (I posted pictures below).
    I was reflecting today on how much difference a year makes in the collecting world. Last year at this time I was finishing up the descriptions, pictures, and making the final touch-ups to my Horse Themed custom set. It was a set that was 69 coins strong at the time of the NGC Registry awards cut-off. One year later and the set is up to 146 coins, and the coming winter will make a perfect time for me to fully describe all of the set additions.
    I have met many great people on this forum, and I am thankful to have such a place to share this great hobby of ours. As we go into the coming week, I wish you all a very wonderful Thanksgiving.
    All the best,
    -Brandon

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  17. brg5658
    Where did they go?
    I am trying to view my custom sets (including my horse set) and they are not showing up tonight. Even from collection manager, when I click on the set, it shows that there are no coins in it!!! Can this really be? I hope this is just a fluke...I have spent hundreds of hours on putting that set together and organizing it.
    In a bit of a panic...

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