jgenn

Graders do the grading, someone else is in charge of generating the label.  Always, always, always check your submission as soon as you see it on-line and call or email for corrections as soon as possible.  Whatever happens in quality control does not involve catching mistakes on the label.

Have great fun with your new camera lens!  How is your photography on the road project going?

Dan Carr impresses me as a savvy businessman, positioning some of his issues just within the legal boundaries but close enough to generate considerable discourse and plenty of attention.  I think he is an expert technician and has a pretty good design sense, his original work is no worse than what comes out of US mint these days.  I would consider collecting some of his hologram strikes.

Thanks for your comment but your question doesn't fit with the theme of this journal entry.  I suggest that you start a new thread in the Chat Forum for each coin that you have a question about.

The graders are not responsible for typing up the label.  There is a separate QC at the end of the process but apparently it doesn't involve looking at the labels.

I'm sorry if my post seems too critical.  I own some modern commemoratives too and realize that it's a popular collecting area.  Let me just close by saying that actual daalders from the 16th and 17th centuries are not difficult to find.

You probably don't want to hear my opinion because I don't consider any mint issue that wasn't intended for actual circulation (or proof strike made during the production of a coin intended for circulation) to be a coin.  Restrikes, replicas and non-circulating commemoratives all fall into the non-coin category for me.  There are, of course, official definitions for coins but I think these just serve the mints that make money by repackaging bullion for collectors and the TPGs that make money grading these things.

I don't collect medals but I imagine they have a definition that doesn't automatically include non-coins.  That place in-between coins and medals I just call "tokens".

Maybe I could answer some of your questions, but it is very difficult to understand what you have written. Do you have some specific question about competitive set awards or custom set awards or journal awards?

The power of the written word magnified by the world wide web!  It's so wonderful to hear about the dissemination of positive journaling in this time of rampant fake news.

Great show write-up.  Thanks for sharing and it sounds like you had fun being a host, too.  I imagine you would have found the NGC vs. PCGS ratio for world coins to be different.  I usually see more of the former than the latter in the shows I go to.

I think it's unlikely that anyone would get fooled unless the seller was deliberately misrepresenting the nature of the fantasy issue to a new collector. Otherwise, who would buy that type of coin with zero knowledge of the series that the fantasy represents?

Two points: it is important to recognize how today's technology, coupled with a skilled individual, and period appropriate equipment, can reproduce such a good copy of an original (please, Dan, continue to use your powers for good ;).  And the artistry of his unique pieces are really outstanding -- he is quite an accomplished designer.

To answer your question: "New Silver Good or Bad Idea?"  I would say it really doesn't matter -- current mint (US or others) precious metal output for collectors will not have much of a difference in numismatic value no matter what % of precious metal content they want to play with.  They will always be worth the bullion content when sold, assuming you can get someone to pay the spot price, plus whatever premium you can convince the buyer to pay for.  You can assume the premium will stay as high as the day you buy it but you really won't know until you try to sell it.

But of course, collect what makes you happy.  I have a few modern mint products that I like because they have designs that appeal to me and I know I probably will lose some money when I eventually sell them but I'm Ok with that.  But is that the lesson you want your kids to learn?

Fascinating!  Thanks for another great journal entry.

I now have the envelope and it does not use the term "pistareen" so I now know it was the cataloger who used that less than appropriate description.

That's a wonderful collage, Gary.  At first glance it looks to be accurate to the scale of the individual coins.  That must have been difficult to assemble.

Thanks for the informative post!  I'm a fan of secular imagery, myself.

Gary, I think you have a great plan for continuing in this hobby.  I am just a few years younger than you but I was asked to switch to part-time two years ago.  I was afraid it would be half time but after the dust settled it has become 80% which is fine by me.  I've only been serious about collecting for the last 10 years and with retirement coming soon I have become more focused on what I collect.  This January I finally got two coins which I think will complete the last set I plan to work on, although as a custom set it can still grow a little if opportunity knocks.

Here's an écu from my collection featuring the "winged genius" as well as the king of France -- clearly a transitional period.  Louis XVI was called Citizen Louis Capet during the four months before his appointment with the guillotine.  He was beheaded on January 21st, 1793 so this coin was possibly minted during the brief period of that year when he was still alive.

I look forward to reading your future posts on this topic.  As for me, I'm in too far to do a reset now (or to put in another way, the bitter taste of my realized financial losses would likely keep me away for good).  My major mistakes were underestimating how deeply I would end up exploring this hobby and not having a solid collection goal in mind from the start.  They are sort of connected in that if I had foreseen how much I would end up spending, I certainly would have done a better job at focusing my collection efforts.  But my experiences trying to fill Whitman coin albums as a kid did not provide a good guide for the adult with actual disposable income.

This great hobby attracts those that only search through circulating coins to those that invest in coins as an asset class with lots of room in-between.  To me, enjoying this hobby means finding a comfortable spot in that spectrum that accommodates both your budget and numismatic interest.

Are you starting from scratch, having sold your earlier collection or will you bring a legacy collection forward? 

After my last update, I though I would try to see if I could determine the position of the nice person who called be about the missing envelope.  It turns out it was Heritage's Director of Numismatics.   She mentioned that she would ask the catalog group to conduct a search and just tonight she called back to say they found it and will be shipping it out ASAP.  Thank you, Sarah!  I'll post a picture of the envelope when it arrives.

On 1/21/2019 at 11:48 AM, gherrmann44 said:

It's in my house somewhere and since I am retired as of 12/31/18 I'll have plenty of time to find it

Gary, it sounds like your early retirement has become a reality.  I hope you got a nice golden parachute!

I posted a summary of this to several other forums and although it's only been a few days I have already got some attention.  I received a nice phone message from a Heritage representative who said they would launch another investigation into this.

Quote

Not to brag but I totally hit it out of the park on her gift.

I wonder what her blog said about that?

I generally lack the patience to wait for the right coin, in the right condition at the right price.  In fact, when I have jumped on a scarce issue, one that I haven't seen offered in a few years, I almost invariably see a slightly better one appear in the next few months. Just my luck I guess.  From my experience, I would suggest that you not try to fill an empty slot just because one shows up for auction unless you really think it fits your criteria for appearance, condition and price.

Mansfeld01 deserves a great big thank you for giving us such a wonderful overview of the Mansfeld region, history and a fantastic display of its thalers.  Huzzah, Huzzah, Huzzah! 

I had to look up the definition of mediatisation -- when the former immediate vassals of the Holy Roman Emperor became instead vassals of other immediate states.

Hopefully we'll see more posts as new thalers come into Mansfeld01's collection.