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Mokiechan

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Journal Entries posted by Mokiechan

  1. Mokiechan

    Seduced by the Mint

    By Mokiechan,

    Or how, despite my negative feelings toward the Mint, I still had to purchase a proof set.
    When I looked in my Yahoo mailbox this morning, I found a short email from the U.S. Mint advertising the availability of the 2011 Clad National Parks Quarter set for 14.95. Even though I vowed not to purchase anything directly from the Mint and even though I know I'll be able to pick up the set at a lower price leter. I still logged onto their site, opened my account and bought the Proof Set.
    I think I did it because I still have a part of me that wants to support the mints outreach to collectors and I also think I just want to add to my set of quarters only proof sets without waiting.
    Oh well, I will say that I am generally more pleased with this set of designs than the State designs. Probably because it seems there will only be one landmark on each coin not multiple cluttered elements like the California quarter. I also like the template they are using for the reverse to frame each design.
    should be coming soon.

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  2. Mokiechan

    Senior Momentum!!!

    By Mokiechan,

    Have any of you had this experience?  You are searching for your sunglasses and you find you've been wearing them, pushed up on your forehead the whole time, Or, you can't find your wallet and you suddenly realize it is in your pocket.   If so, you can probably understand how this happened. 

    About a week ago, I started panicking when one of my prize chop marked coins could not be found.  I looked EVERYWHERE, I even spoke to a friend on this board about the lost coin and thought, maybe I left it at the coin club meeting during show and tell and somebody stole it.  I was going crazy, thinking I did not want to buy coins again until it was found and just feeling generally miserable about the lost coin.  As an aside, I even took the coin out of my NGC Collectors Society Custom Set because I did not feel good about having missing, possibly lost, coin displayed to the world.  

    TODAY, I found it, in plain sight, in the very NGC Slab Box where it is always located.  Somehow, I did not recognize it, and just started searching everywhere else after my inventory did not reveal the coin in its normal box.   OMG, I am actually mortified at myself, so much wasted energy looking for something that was never missing.  Thank Goodness I did not contact the Club President and ask her to request an anonymous return of the coin.  It is a small club and I would have never felt good about going there again.  Finally, Thanks My Friend, for giving me some comfort while I was in a major freakout.

    Have you had a similar thing happen?  if so, let me know, so I feel less an insufficiently_thoughtful_person.  
    Later, Mokie
  3. Mokiechan
    And it is lower than I expected
    Folks,
    Saw that Modern C0in Mart have posted prices for their NGC Slabbed 75th Anniversary SAE sets.
    PF69 sets - 199.00
    PF70 sets - 249.00
    That MS69 set price is ALMOST inexpensive enough to get my interest. I will wait a bit though, I want to pay just a little bit less. They begin shipping on 10/03.
    Happy Weekend Everybody,
    Comic Con Beckons,
    Malcolm
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  4. Mokiechan
    Plus I organized all my Slabs.
    My Wife, Daughter, and I went to the San Diego Wild Animal Park Yesterday. I received 2 Shield cents while purchasing Chips and Soda at one concession. My wife received 3 more shield cents when buying popcorn at a different concession stand. Looks like they are in wide release here in the SD area. Oh BTW, the Butterfly exhibit was great and well worth the 45, or so, minute wait. I think it ended its run today or maybe tomorrow.
    This afternoon, I organized everyone of my slabs. I took the top 50 high valued coins and placed them in a couple of padded aluminum slab holders for redeposit in my safe deposit box. All the other slabs were organized by denomination and date then placed in alternate storage.
    It's nice to be organized. I think I will do this once a year.
  5. Mokiechan

    Slowing Down A Bit

    By Mokiechan,

    But not stopping.
    This past Sunday my Wife and I purchased, for me, a 2007 Mustang. I have had a passion for Mustangs since my earliest years and owned a 1966 for a time in the 80's. Until 2005, I considered the last good Mustang to have bee produced in 1972. Long story short, when the 2005 redesign hit the streets, I promised myself I would have a Mustang by the time I was 50 (2008), but with other spending priorities arising, I sort of let the dream go and almost thought it wouldn't happen. Then, about 2 weeks ago, my wonderful wife started pushing me to go ahead and fulfill that dream.
    After a relatively brief search, I found a beautiful windveil blue Mustang at a used car lot in Oceanside CA. I've already bought some extras for her, I plan on purchasing a few more so my collecting efforts will mainly involve finishing my Sacagawea set and submitting currently owned coins for encapsulation for the forseeable future. I Love My Mustang. Thank You Lisa, you're the best.

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  6. Mokiechan

    Sold some Gold

    By Mokiechan,

    And gained some ground
    I had two old gold rings and a broken gold bracelet burning a hole in my pocket this past Friday so I decided to go to my favorite coin dealer, California Numismatic Funding, and see what they were worth. After the weigh-in, I had a grand total of 426.00 in credit so I promptly bought a CT and a Lexington-Concord half for my commemorative type set. Very pleased with both and I still had 62.00 in my pcoket when I departed.
    I know there's an extra wedding band (long story) and some other stuff gold around somewhere, gotta search this weekend.

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  7. Mokiechan

    Statehood Quarters

    By Mokiechan,

    Posting my thoughts
    Now that we have put the Statehood Quarters behind us and are looking, sort of, forward to the upcoming National Parks series, I just want to weigh in on my top 5 statehood designs, since to go beyond five is to include mediocrity.
    1. Hawaii - The only statehood quarter that really works well with the actual state incorporated into the design. The noble warrior reaching his hand out to those beautiful islands is both simple and striking with more than a nod to the wonderfl 1928 Half Dollar.
    2. Nevada - Seeing those charging Mustangs makes you think immediately of the old west and our pioneer spirit. They could have easily evoked sin city, they chose to take the high and right road.
    3. North Dakota - What can I say, I am a sucker for American Bisons and this design depicts them foraging on the Great Plains, another wonderful American image.
    4. Maine - I love the lighthouse, the rocky shoreline, and the solitary sailboat, it all says Maine with a surprising uncluttered design.
    5. Kansas- Yet another well executed Buffalo.
    Give me your thoughts.
  8. Mokiechan
    Or why in every human endeavour, there are widely varied goals.
    Let me generalize here. Virtually everyone on this Board is a Coin Collector and appreciates both the aesthetics and history of the coins they choose to ocllect. I understand that a few of us might be pure investors just looking for a profit but most of us has some Numismatist in us.
    So after reading a large number of threads over the past couple of years, I believe that we members can be placed into two main collector categories. For simplicity sake, I will call us either outward focused or inward focused collectors. I do recognize that most of us have traits of the other type of collector no matter what our dominent type. So very few of us are pure OF or IF in nature.
    Outward focused collectors are very competitive and are habitually concerned about sudden point adjustments, their overall ranking, and official recognition opportunities (awards, *1 rankings, etc.). OFs are also concerned about any perceived unfairness in the rankings or awards system. At their most extreme, they will prattle endlessly about why they should have won something that someone else won. They are Martyrs to the cause of righteousness.
    Inward focused collectors are the librarians of our hobby with a love for higly detailed knowledge of their particular collecting interest. IFs can very skillfully describe all the subtle nuances of a coin within their collection to include highly technical knowledge of die states, die pairings, branch mint tendencies, and mint mark positions. IFs are the Nerds of the collecting world and they revel in VAM types, etc. At their most extreme, IFs will hijack a perfectly innocent thread and turn it into a heated battle over some irrelevent, but erroneous, comment made during the course of the main discussion. They are Pit Bulls.
    Both types of collector are needed to make our hobby dynamic because both types of collector take some traits from the other to make their own experience better.
    I think of myself as a lazy outward focused collector with a desire to be more inward focused even though I dislike details.
    Who are You?
    Later,
    Malcolm
    AKA BEAWCHAN (my new avatar)

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  9. Mokiechan

    Submission Hopes

    By Mokiechan,

    Or how I hope to close out my Winged Liberty Head (WLH) date set.
    I sent 8 coins to NGC yesterday for grading. Three of them were WLH dimes intended to complete my year set. The three dimes, 1918 (AU), 1921 (VG), and 1925 (AU) have been very elusive at a decent price and condition on both Teletrade and Ebay. They are either overpriced or overbid, everytime one appears. So, I decided to go raw and take my chances with the fine NGC grading staff.
    The other coins I submitted yesterday are:
    1. 1932-S Washington Quarter, est: VF condition
    2. 1936 Arkansas Half, est: MS63
    3. 1936 Rhode Island Half, est: MS64
    4. 1893-CC Morgan, est: VG
    5. 1921 Peace, est: AU
    Hope my grading estimates hold up, wish me luck.
    BeAW
  10. Mokiechan
    While the East got drenched the West sweltered.
    I know the burning desire to acquire new coins will return soon but these last couple of months, I've had a certain disinterest in the research process that normally goes into any new purchase either big or small.
    I've made a few half-hearted bids on Ebay, mostly trolling for bargain purchases, but I just haven't had the desire to really do the hard statistical analysis that normally occurs when the days get shorter. This happens to me every summer but THIS summer seems more ennui-ridden than in the past.
    On the plus side, both my current NGC submissions are finally scheduled for grading so I anticipate a bump in my collection in the September/October timeframe and I also plan on finishing that pesky Wartime Jefferson collection before the end of 2011.
    Hope all your collecting endeavours are bearing fruit and I hope all my Eastern Seaboard colleagues weathered Irene without any major problems.
    I leave you with a picture of a beautiful Proof Walking Liberty Half Dollar to remind us how artistic U.S. coins can be.

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  11. Mokiechan

    Tattoo Tale

    By Mokiechan,

    Or How I Managed to Turn A Visit to A Tattoo Studio into Coins.
    Every year, around the time of my birthday, I get another tattoo. Sometimes I use the available flash, sometimes I use my own design. This year, I had my own design and had gone to two separate studios and gotten quotes of 180 and 200. For that reason, I had accumulated 300 dollars to easily cover the tattoo and a 20 dollar tip. On a lark, I went to a third studio in downtown Oceanside and got a quote of 120. WOW, I couldn't believe it. Since I had to wait an hour and a half for my appointment, I decided to take that extra 80 dollars and go to my favorite coin shop. I ended up buying a VG 1921 Mercury Dime (to be sent to NGC for grading and inclusion in my registry set), a 1967 Canadian Centennial Coin Set w/silver medal, in a nice leather case, and a set of 2009 Lincoln Cents in a whitman display holder (for gift giving). So an excellent day, more coins, more skin art, can't be beat.
  12. Mokiechan
    Keep your quote fingers crossed unquote
    Folks,
    Here is a picture of my 1923 Peace Dollar, same source for both, an illustrious member of our Forum and Board. The 1923 is a little baggier than the 1924 although they both graded MS65
    later,
    Malcolm

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  13. Mokiechan

    Thank You NGC!!

    By Mokiechan,

    What a pleasant surprise.
    Well today had been kind of a disappointing day. I had originally planned on taking my Mustang to the muffler shop for dual-exhaust installation but our toilet broke, and I mean literally, and I needed to stay around waiting for the plumber to come by. Luckily the muffler shop is open on Monday so I will just go then.
    I did get accomplish one very good thing today in my constant goal of having a completely organized collection. I took my top 50 coins, value-wise, and plucked them from the main herd to be taken to the bank for more secure safekeeping. Normally this would be kind of difficult but with NGC Collection Manager and some persistence, I was able to tease those beauties out.
    However, this is not the reason for my post today. The Mailman just stopped by and delivered a very nice plaque from NGC for my 2010 literary award. Although I think there are many better writers out there, I do truly appreciate the award, and now plaque, and will place it on the wall in my study.
    Hmmmm, maybe my collection of Chopmarked Trade Coins will win next years Unusual (or whatever its called) set award. Dare to Dream.
    Peace,
    Malcolm

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  14. Mokiechan
    Well almost save for a minor glitch (I Hope).
    Hi All,
    Picked up a very nice NGC MS65 Gettysburg Half Dollar today in a straight trade with my local coin dealer. He got a slabbed 09-S VDB and I got the Gettysburg Half. BTW, the 09-S VDB has already been removed from my NGC registry.
    I saw this beauty back in December during an earlier trip to the dealership and I couldn't get it out of my mind. It has beautiful blast white surfaces with just a hint of toning along the edge. Those beautifully rendered portraits of the old Union and Confederate veterans are (IMHO) the finest portrait renderings on any U.S. coin. The reverse depiction of the Confederate and Union Shields separated by fasces, like the one on the Mercury Dime, is also quite attractive.
    Growing up in Pennsylvania and visiting Gettysburg makes the coin that much more meaningful for me. I tried to add this beauty to my registry set today but some kind of error ensued that an admin person has to resolve. The coin does show up when when search the registry so I am not concerned.
    Hope all of you are having similar personal collecting triumphs.
    I truly love this wonderful hobby.
    Later,
    Malcolm

  15. Mokiechan
    As you're all aware, the US Mint is giving us all an incentive to purchase their proof sets, and uncirculated set in the form of 3 different Lincoln Cents with a West Point Mint Mark.  One of the W Lincolns, standard proof, is already in the wild and will soon be slabbed by the tens of thousands, the other two, a reverse proof, and an uncirculated version.  This is a very smart marketing decision by the Mint, they have guaranteed themselves higher sales for each of the three sets and they have also created some needed excitement in the collecting world.
    My problem, and I speak only for myself, is the idea that the mint is creating a scarce (rare) coin in an unnatural way.  When you look at the history of the Lincoln Cent, certain rarities stand out, the 09-S VDB, the 22 w/o visible mintmark, the 55 Double Die and a few others.  In each case, some unplanned set of circumstances led to the creation of the rarity, it did not occur due to some prior decision by the Mint.  Now obviously the W Cents are going to have a mintage of several million for each coin, but most collectors of the W Cent will want all three and, at least in the early stages, these Cents are going to be pricey.  How high they go and how far they eventually drop is something I cannot speculate about.  I do want to get one of them or my Lincoln Type Set, representing another mintmark, but I am going to be patient and wait for that, hopefully, large drop. 
    So Mint, please do not start making this a habit, I don't want to see a series of W nickels next year, etc.
     
     
     


  16. Mokiechan
    Or is it still just a Dinosaur (unable to compete with forums, blogs, and other methods of social interaction)
    I have been an American Numismatic Association (ANA) member for many years. My original membership number was 92124 but I quit for a few years and now have a number in the 300000's.
    The ANA is the kind of organization you join because you have a vested interest in the success of the hobby and because you thinks its desireable to have a powerful organization giving voice to the collector, lobbying congress, liaisoning with dealers, hosting conventions, providing education, and maintaing the Library and Museum.
    I am very pleased with the recent success of the President and Board in righting the ANA ship and returning the ANA to financial solvency. But, I see a trend as the membership continues to drop and the average member age continues to increase.
    In this day and age where most of us take to the internet for our fellowship and information, is the ANA truly needed anymore? Is there anything the ANA can do at this point to become relevent again? Or,is the ANA on the slow but ineviteable rode to dissolution.
    I don't pretend to know the answers to the questions I've posed but I suspect there is a real possibility the ANA will become irrelevent in the decades ahead as the pool of young collectors continues to use the internet for their collecting fellowship and the current membership continues to age.
    I confess my only real reason for membership anymore is the opportunity to read the very fine "The Numismatist" publication and do direct submissions to NGC. Without those two benefits, I would no longer maintain my membership. I guess the ANA has already become largely irrelevent to me. Kind of sad in a way.
    Beaw
  17. Mokiechan
    Nowadays, a lot of us, including me, buy most of our coins via the internet.  This is way different from when I started collecting back in the late 1960's.  In those days, even Department Stores had a coin and stamp counter, Heck even the local Woolworth's had a section of the store where you could buy a Red Book, a Lincoln Cent Folder, and all the other associated supplies.  Local coin shops, at least in the Pittsburgh area, were plentiful, and there was always mail order through a dealer you might have spotted in Coins Magazine, or the Numismatic News. Those days are gone, for the most part, but the local, regional, or national coin shows are still around and are still one of the best ways to fill your want list, meet your fellow collectors (I really do feel completely at home surrounded by my fellow hobbyists), and even learn a thing or two.   The Pennsylvania Numismatic Association (PAN) is hosting their Fall show this week, 17-19 October, in beautiful Monroeville PA. There will be about 120 dealers, ANACS will take your coins for grading, and there are a number of speakers, to include Clifford Mishler, holding forth on the 18th.  As if that wasn't enough, here are the top 11 reasons you should attend the Fall PAN show:

    1.  Parking is Free, Admission is Free, Spending time at the traveling Burns Library is Free, Distinguished Speakers are Free, and the KidZone is Free (for all YNs under 18).
    2.  Clifford Mishler is going to speak about the remarkable Chet Krause on Friday afternoon.  Cliff is a personal Numismatic Hero of Mine.
    3.  The weather should be excellent with no rain, or snow, or other natural calamities in the forecast.
    4.  Monroeville is conveniently located off the Pennsylvania Turnpike for those of you coming from other parts of Pennsy.
    5.  Monroeville is just a Parkway, a tunnel, and a Parkway from beautiful downtown Pittsburgh.
    6.  The concession stand in the convention center actually has moderate prices, an excellent breakfast burrito, and a $5 soft drink you can refill for free all day long.
    7.  The convention center is adjacent to the Monroeville Mall, which is WORLD FAMOUS for being the Mall featured in George Romero's Dawn of the Dead.
    8.  Clubs including the Harrisburg Coin Club, the West Penn Coin Club, the Liberty Seated Collectors Club, Western Pennsylvania Numismatic Society, PAN, and the Barber Coin Collectors Society, will be present to answer your questions and solicit your membership.
    9.  There will be outstanding competitive exhibits available for your viewing pleasure and you can vote for Best of Show.10. Did I mention Ben Franklin?  Ben Franklin, His Honourable Self, will be appearing throughout the show to provide wisdom and selfie opportunities.
    11. Finally, the bourse floor is populated by a number of dealers selling slabbed coins, raw coins, medals, ancient coins, currency, books, and supplies.  If you want it, you will find it.

    I hope to see you there, if you do make it, stop by the KidZone table and say Hi, I will be there all day Saturday. 

     


  18. Mokiechan
    because the bottom line is price when all other factors are equal.
    Long before I knew this venue even existed, I started an earnest effort to update my raw coin collection to slabbed for a number of reasons but mostly because of my advancing age and my desire to pass a manageable collection to my daughter Hana.
    Pretty early on I decided that I preferred NGC slabs. But, a preference is not blind-devotion and if the coin is available in a PCGS slab, at a moderately lower cost, I will buy the PCGS coin without any hesitation.
    The recent decision by NGC to exclude PCGS foreign coins from registry sets and the possibility this mandate will extend to U.S. sets in the future hase ZERO effect on my buying habits.
    So do what you will NGC, as long as your boards are populated with friendly and knowledgeable folks, I am a happy happy camper.
    WE ARE THE NGC FORUMS AND BOARDS. THEY CAN NEVER TAKE THAT AWAY.
    Later,
    Malcolm
    My latest purchase a PCGS 1973-S Clad Ike to be added to my newest registry set.

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  19. Mokiechan
    Sometimes your Birthday makes you ruminate about the past
    After reading Bullys excellent writeup on Coin Security/Preservation and DM Merrills nostalic walk back in time, I had to provide my own experiences (circa 1968-1970).
    Silver had already all but disappeared from circulation except those stealthy war nickels and the occasional Kennedy Half, but wheat-back cents were still in abundance to include dates as early as the Teens. Like many of you, the earliest album I had was a Whitman tri-fold for Lincoln Cents, then as my collecting interests evolved, I got the Jefferson Nickel album and managed to get most of the coins out of circulation although I had to buy the 1950-D somewhere along the way.
    Coins that were not in albums, duplicates, or other denominations, including foreign coins, were kept in a plastic sewing box with those nice half circle troughs for spools of thread, or in my case, coins. Since thread came in different sizes, the sewing box accomodated coins up to quarter size without any problems. the lower portion of the box was for magnifying glass, Red Book, whitman albums, and coins that did not fit in the spool slots.
    I carried that box to Scout meetings, Friends houses, and even school show and tell. What a time, I sometimes miss those heady early days of collecting.
    44 years of collecting, time flies when your having fun.
    Later,
    Malcolm

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  20. Mokiechan
    Or how I lucked out on Ebay before someone else snapped up the slightly overpriced dime.
    Well I was cruising through Ebay today for kicks and for future possible purchase, when my latest sale to FNG is consumated. Anyway, as I was typing in various searches, I tried 1918 Mercury PCGS and up popped a nice AU 53 1918-S for the BIN price of $55.00. According to the NGC price guide, this is worth about $10.00 less. But with my experience with Ebay auctions for 1918 Mercury Dimes, I knew I better snatch this up for my dime collection immediately. Yay, gone is my AU details 1918 to be replaced by my AU53.
    I am very pleased!!! Now just got to finish my Walker short set and my work is done, except for the occasional upgrade.
    Happy Collecting Everybody,
    Malcolm

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  21. Mokiechan
    There has been a tremendous amount of excitement associated with the West Point Mint in recent months due to the release of the FIRST EVER W Mint Lincoln Cents and the release, into the general economy, of 10 Million W ATB Quarters.  But there is a largely forgotten W mint product that has been slowly dwindling in mintage.
    Back in 2006, the 20th anniversary year of the silver eagle, the mint started producing, what they describe on their website as the American Silver Eagle One Ounce Uncirculated Coin.  This rather generic title implies the coin is no different than the silver eagles you can by in bulk at your local coin dealer.  Why would someone pay a premium for something they can get, in bulk, for spot plus a small %?  

    What makes these Silver Eagles so special is their Burnished finish.  Burnished coins have a soft matte finish that harkens back to the Matte Proofs of yesteryear but without the double strike. To produce a burnished finish, the silver blanks are cleaned then polished in a drum, similar to a rock tumbler.  By doing this, the planchets are smoothed and all surface scratches, blemishes, etc. are removed.  This process also gives each planchet the trademark soft matte finish, which remains true after the coins are struck.    The 2019 Burnished Eagles have been released.  I think this special issue deserves attention for both its beautiful appearance as well as its increasing rarity.   Consider buying one for your collection before the coin community catches on.

    In 2006 the mint sold 468,000 of these Uncirculated Eagles and mintage peaked the following year but has been in decline since:
    2007- 621,333
    2008- 533,757
    2009 - None Produced
    2010- None Produced
    2011- 409,776
    2012- 226,120
    2013- 222,091
    2014- 253,169
    2015- 223,879
    2016- 216,501
    2017-176,739
    2018- 131,935
    2019 -  Still Lower??

  22. Mokiechan
    Is this the rarest dime of all???
    One of my favorite coins is the Mercury (Winged Liberty Head) dime and I am currently working on a one-a-year registry set of Mercury Dimes. It is complete except for the 1918 dime which is currently a placeholder Details graded coin. I have been using Teletrade and EBAY for many months now to find a Mercury to add that is within my budget, say less than 150.00.
    A 1918-S in AU58 appeared on Ebay a few days ago and I kind of noticed it was attracting a great deal of attention (bids) early so I thought I would blow through its 60.00 book value and just bid 100.00. Well with a little over a day to go, I have already been outbid. Amazing, how can a coin be so thoroughly undervalued by EVERY price list when EVERY time one in AU to MS63 comes on the market, the bidding blows the book value out of the water.
    I currently have my EBAY account set to flag any new PCGS, NGC, or even ANACS (for resubmission) coin that is made available. Keeping my fingers crossed but I will probably have to find a very reputable dealer with a raw 1918 I can submit. I tried that once before and the coin coin came back ungradeable due to ink residue(?).
    Wish me luck.
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  23. Mokiechan

    The Long Journey

    By Mokiechan,

    Is nearing its end.
    Sometime in 2007 I decided to take my huge mishmash of a coin collection and turn it into something fully organized, quite a bit smaller, and quite a bit more manageable for myself and my beautiful little heiress.
    This was no easy task as my collection consisted of everything under the sun from the wonderful issues of the Republic of Marshall Islands, through various Franklin Mint issues (Thankfully bought on the secondary market for a fraction of their issue price), to a set of British Farthings in Whitman Folder, to tons of Canadian mint eets, and untold numbers of raw U.S. Coins.
    This collection was spread all over the place from my Mom's home, to the Bank, to secret places in my home. Very Very disorganized and so unfocused that I would literally run into things I never remembered purchasing as I went through various K-Mart strong boxes.
    The long journey is almost over and that old mess of a coin collection is 95% gone to be replaced by all those NGC and PCGS coins you see in my registry sets (plus few score more of un-registried slabs).
    I have retained my sets of Proof Statehood Quarters and most of my beloved Chopmarked Trade Coins (from all over the world) but the rest is mostly gone. I still have one roll of mixed half dollars and a partial roll of dimes to cash in. Those proceeds will be turned into slabbed coins.
    I am delighted!!!!

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  24. Mokiechan

    The Mint Beckons

    By Mokiechan,

    And I Yawn!!!!
    Folks,
    Returned from the mailbox today and found our US Mint had sent me information about the 2012 Infantry commemorative Dollar. I took one look at the new Dollar and i just said no way I am ever going to want that. Something about the design is just plain pedestrian. It looks like it was designed for the sole purpose of producing large, bright, flawless, PF70 fields.
    If you look at coins from the early 20th Century or the 19th century, you notice a lot more detail, a skilled engraver actually used his or her artistic skill to create a piece of art. For example, the Lincoln Cent, which has now become a spaghetti haired mess, was once a beautiful piece of art. I am so tired of Roosevelt s uninteresting head, and Washington s lifeless bust. I would like all our coins to return to allegorical designs. I would like a second Renaissance of American Coinage.
    Am I asking too much? thankfully there are lots of older coins and even some newer ones with interesting designs. The Sacagawea and SAEs are bright spots in the modern era. I just wish all the lights were turned on.
    Later,
    Malcolm
    PS-Nothing like a good rant to clear the old noggin.

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  25. Mokiechan
    By Hollywood, of all places.
    Hi All,
    Recieved my 1923-S PCGS MS63 Monroe Doctrine Half Dollar in yesterdays mail. This is another addition to the 50% Is Good Enough set and is also another great example of first generation commemorative half boondoggery.
    Obverse shows the conjoined busts of President James Monroe, and Secretary of State, John Qunicy Adams. The reverse depicts two female forms representing North and South America.
    The Monroe Doctrine was promulgated President Monroe in 1923 and its purpose was to basically place all of Central and South America under U.S. protection. The reason that John Q. Adams also appeared on the coin is because he actually drafted the Monroe Doctrine. For the 100th Anniversery of the Doctrine, Hollywood film interests sponsored an exposition in Los Angeles that had as its theme, U.S. History. Hmmmm, sounds a little contrived to me.
    The reverse design is very interesting in that Chester Beach turned North and South America into you ladies who join hands in "Central America". Although the design is innovative and appealing, the low relief diminishes its artistic impact.
    Hope you Enjoy,
    Happy Holidays,
    Malcolm