coinsandmedals

@Revenant Oh yikes, I hit enough paywalls with apple news. I appreciate the words of encouragement!

@Mohawk Thanks, Tom! Your jealousy is well understood given what you collect. I imagine no such records, or perhaps very few, exist for Faustina, but as you mention, that comes with the territory. I suppose to some degree that the mystery adds a bit of appeal, correct? As luck would have it, contemporary documentation is abundant for the areas I collect as Boulton kept meticulous notes on a wide range of subjects. Most of these documents are publicly available, but generally, you can only inspect them in person (i.e., they have not been digitalized). If I had a spare month or two and the requisite funds, I would love to dig through the numerous archives.

Thanks for asking about the set! Lately, I have been struggling to find time to work on the set. I am teaching two upper-level courses on top of my dissertation and countless other obligations. Most of my progress has been made during odd 15-20 minute intervals in which I have "free time" between meetings. So far, I have completed the introduction and about half of the write-ups for individual medals. I still have another ten or so medals to research and write up, but who knows when I will get the free time to do so. My goal is to have it finished in time for the registry awards next year.

@World_Coin_NutYou bring up a fair point. I did not view the coin in hand, but I do not think it would have drastically changed my opinion even if I had. I have seen enough of these pieces in hand to be comfortable stating that there are nicer raw examples in the marketplace if you know where to look.

Although not recently, I take a similar approach and focus my efforts on one or two lots that I have a reasonable chance of winning. I, too, am no stranger to paying multiples of the high estimate when I really want something. I did just that earlier this year, paying nearly 6x the high estimate, but it was a unique piece that I knew I would likely never get the chance to purchase again.

I wish more auction houses would post videos. That would make assessing the coin much easier as opposed to a photo. Of course, nothing can replace an in-hand inspection. Nice coin, by the way!  

@Mowhawk I appreciate the kind words, Tom! It is nice to see that a few of us have been spared from the current craziness of the market. It appears you have found the perfect niche area of focus to keep you occupied for some time without necessarily breaking the bank.

@ColonialCoinsUK I started as a U.S. coin collector before moving to English and Irish copper, and the “top pop” game was always a bit frustrating to me. I am far more content to have a nice coin than a nice holder (i.e., I collect coins, not holders)! You and I are very much alike in that regard, Mike. 

It seems as though more demand is being placed on world coins in these “top pop” holders in recent years, which makes me wonder if the recent influx of competition is primarily U.S.-based. This may have changed in the last couple of years, but generally speaking, TPGS and thus “top pops” are far less meaningful amongst European collectors, so I doubt their influence is as significant. The odd part about the Irish piece I mentioned above is that it isn’t even a true “top pop” coin!

@coinsbygary As always, excellent picture, Gary! I do not plan to step away from adding additions to my collection, but I do intend to be far more selective. For instance, I have purchased two items from trusted dealers in the last month, both from the Boulton estate. Nowadays, it has to be something truly remarkable to get me to spend money.

His time at the Soho Mint is a dark stain on an otherwise impressive career. There is no disputing that Droz had talent, but the evidence makes it clear that he had no issues taking an Englishman’s money without putting those good skills to work.  

I think it would be pretty cool to own a piece from the Bonaparte family! That said, it is likely a safe assumption that those pieces come with a hefty price tag.  

Whew, what a sigh of relief that both tests came back negative! I am glad to hear all is well on that front.

It appears you have a terrible case of the “wait game” jitters! I am sure many of us have experienced this. You bring up a good point about the bottleneck, and I can only assume that higher tiers are receiving priority (as they should). We likely will never know the complete picture of their current situation, but all of your suggestions seem plausible. Hopefully, your order will start moving through the process again, and your agony will dissipate.

Given Mike’s comment, I can’t help but wonder if that last part was meant for me with my seven multi-holder invoices currently at NGC? Yeah, sorry about that! If it makes you feel any better, those have been there since June 11th. Part of me is excited to get them back, but the other part is very nervous about the resulting bill even after correcting for the $700+ credit I have with NGC. Maybe the world economy tier taking longer will be the delay I need to fully prepare myself for the resulting bill.

In my opinion, having pieces graded is always worth the wait. While I enjoy testing my skills against the professionals, I place relatively little value on the assigned grade. Sure, it is fun to see how things turn out, but for me, the protection provided by the slab paired with the potential market gain by having them graded makes it all worth it.

By the way, you did a fantastic job with the pictures!

This reminds me of something King George III purportedly said when presented proof pence pieces by Sir Joseph Banks in 1797 (Tungate, 2020). Upon accepting the proofs, he also took a business strike example and, while handing it to the Keeper of his Medals, said, “Take care of this. I like one struck for common use better than a fine one”. This quote seems fitting given that the gold medal you mentioned was undoubtedly struck for a specific purpose, while the copper version was likely for “common use”. I am sure that I firmly fall in the minority here, but I would much prefer a finely preserved copper piece to a gold specimen independent of the price.

Assuming my eyes are not playing a trick on me, it appears that Droz engraved the obverse bust. I think it is very cool that despite our areas of focus being very different, we can count Droz as a commonality. Of course, his tenure at the Soho Mint was troubled, but nonetheless, he played an essential role in the early days of its formation.

On any note, I enjoyed the write-up! Thanks for sharing!

@zacharis425 

I am not sure what is going on at NGC. It might be a shortage of staff, or an unprecedented volume of submissions, or maybe a combination of the two, but regardless of the cause, they have a significant backlog at the moment. This spans the entire process, from receiving your coins to mailing them back to you once they are graded. That said, the delay you mention with your first submission might not be that uncommon depending on what you submitted (e.g., coins, tokens, medals - U.S. of foreign) and under which tier (e.g., modern, economy, early bird). The delay with your second submission in opening your package and marking it in the system seems to be the norm at the moment because of the backlog. From their provided records, it looks like they are just now opening mail that was delivered the week of August 14th, so I would assume your package will be entered relatively soon if it was delivered around that time. 

I've been directly involved in thousands of submissions, either through my account or that of my dealer friend, and I have experienced very few issues. When an issue did arise, they were quick to correct it, and I always walked away satisfied with the service they provided. I know these delays can be frustrating, but to be honest, this also appears to be an issue at the other major TPG. 

On 9/8/2021 at 8:06 AM, Revenant said:

I would say that's true of everything except the World Modern and World Economy tiers. My Zimbabwe coins have been in Grading / Encapsulation for over 2 weeks at this point.

Side note: But that 17 has to be a typo that someone was trying to put a 71 in for. Which is a bit hilarious. 

The economy tier submission I sent along with the other items is currently in the "scheduled for grading" stage. That invoice will likely delay the shipping of the rest. If the others get done quicker, I might reach out to NGC and ask them to ship it separately. I think it would be worth the extra $25-30 to have the others back sooner. 

On 9/8/2021 at 5:22 AM, Fenntucky Mike said:

Glad your coins are moving through quickly Don, can't wait to see the results. 

I fear my own submissions are going to linger for quite a while. When I saw the turnaround time for the Modern tier go from 64 to 85 days and the Economy from 54 to 71 yesterday I pretty much relinquished any hope of seeing the coins before the end of the year. At least 2022 will start off on a good note. 

 

Oh wow, I did not check the turnaround times for the modern and economy tiers. I submitted an economy invoice to be shipped with the larger order, so we may get our things back at the same time. I suppose 2022 might start well for both of us! 

Update: I received another call from my contact at NGC last week, and things are starting to progress quickly now. Three of the invoices are already in the grading/encapsulation/imaging stage! I will be sure to update this journal as more information becomes available. 

Side note: Things seem to be moving pretty quickly at NGC now. A dealer friend just submitted a medal on my behalf under the early bird tier. Including shipping to and from it only took 29 business days. The published turnaround time is 36 business days, which doesn't include shipping time to and from. It still hasn't been 36 business days, and I now have the coin in hand after being shipped to me from the dealer. Now that's a pretty quick turnaround! 

@ColonialCoinsUK I’ve never had the chance to inspect one in hand, but I imagine it makes quite the impression. There have been some genuinely remarkable gold pieces up for sale recently. They are just a bit out of my budget, so I watch in awe as the bidding wars commence. 

The Irish Penny looks like a nice example, but my already nonexistent budget is gone for the foreseeable future. That said, I may PM you for more information on the auction. I’m always on the lookout for good trading material. With funds being a bit tighter, most of my recent additions have been acquired this way. 

I really appreciate you thinking of me! It’s always nice to have a fellow collector keeping an eye out for me. Hopefully, I can return the favor at some point! 

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! 

@Just BobBob, admittedly you’ve given this way more thought than I have. That said, your description seems to be the most plausible that I can come up with. Otherwise, it would be difficult to explain the obverse rotation paired with the relatively severe reverse rotation. I assume that this was done on purpose by Taylor as he could often charge more for “collector” pieces.

@coinsbygaryGary, your kind words are much appreciated! I can’t say that I consider my collection a world-class set, but I certainly aspire to that level of achievement. In my opinion, although our sets differ in that regard, they are similar in terms of what motivated them. It is clear from the introduction of your Fraser set and the accompanying descriptions of the pieces within it that you are captivated by the relevant historical, artistic, and social circumstances that gave rise to their existence. I echo these same sentiments in my set detailing the Soho Mint.

Like you, I have also been helped along the way by several good friends. Unfortunately, many have since passed away, but they certainly left a mark. My most recent project, “The Medals of Soho near Birmingham”, is a tribute to one of those friends. As soon as my most recent submission comes back from NGC, I hope to make that new registry set available. We are merely temporary curators of history, but our connections with fellow collectors are likely something to last a lifetime. I have come to form some truly amazing friendships with people whom I otherwise would not have likely encountered. I find it amazing how easily numismatics can bring people together!

@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.

@Coinbuf Some of the prices realized in the recent Stacks Bowers auction were ridiculous. If these high prices become the new normal, I may be forced to reevaluate my approach. My current budget can not support these prices without sacrificing quality, which I am unwilling to do. That said, I get just as much if not even more enjoyment from researching the items, which is often far cheaper than obtaining them. 

Wow, that appears to be an absolute beauty! I look forward to seeing the close-up images once you get it in hand. Congratulations! 

@Mohawk I sincerely hope you'll share your submissions with us at some point. I always enjoy seeing what others submit. Should you come across any Soho pieces keep me in mind. The opportunity to buy from a trusted source is always much welcomed event!  

Thanks, @coinsbygary. I hope all is well with you and yours! 

Although it’s nice to know I’m not alone, I wish circumstances were a bit better. It’s never fun to get destroyed at auction. 

@Fenntucky Mike so the 1813 IoM piece caught your eye? That coin really pops in hand, but for some reason, the pictures I took look flat. I listed it with the hope of raising funds for another purchase, but as it turns out, I didn’t stand a chance. It’s interesting to see that the market for raw notes is behaving similarly to raw coins. Maybe it’s a good time to take advantage of those situations. 

@Six Mile Rick best of luck with the auction! In this market, I’m sure you’ll do well.