Coinbuf

Wow! 

All good questions that I have zero answers to.      I guess these are the issues a collector faces when collecting coins from other countries.

Makes sense when dealing with coins that expensive though I rarely do. The closest I come to is the 1932 set I helped my step-father build.
I have the kind of set-up you talk about with the VR macro lens, but I didn't buy it for coins and probably wouldn't have if it was just for coin photos. That 105 mm Nikkor VR G macro alone was a Grand when I bought it some 7 years ago. I have no clue what they go for now but I love it.
Side note but I'm seriously thinking about getting one of those USB coin microscopes. They aren't super expensive and seem like they could be good for some stupid fun. Maybe hook it up and look at pocket change with Ben! 🤔🤣

My hearty congratulations on that 1940 Walker; the MS67+ CAC is  next best thing to an actual MS-68. You really stole a march on me with that one....
You'll pardon me if I don't let you rest easy on the throne...
I'll just have to send my stuff to Mr. Goodman for imaging; the images I have are all from NGC and the CAC stickers on many of my specimens don't show them in the pictures.

I just don't  think I could ever talk myself into paying someone to image my coins. Through years of trying and doing and redoing I keep slowly getting better... 🤷‍♂️

I would really like to attend the reception and am seeing if I can rearrange my schedule to attend. On top of it - I would like to attend the FUN show. 

Congratulations, top 10 is rather impressive! 

Your kind words are most gratefully accepted, sir.
Good luck on trying to find an NGC-certified MS67  '40-S Walker at anything close to a reasonable price.
Currently, the only one I see for sale in ebay right now is going for just under $9K.
Congrats also on snagging that 1940 Merc in NGC MS67FB+ CAC; the next-best thing to NGC MS68FB, I say....

In its own way I think it can be freeing to know that #1 is not in the cards and you can just build it the way you want it, that makes you happy and which maximizes your value/ enjoyment without the pressure.

Thanks for the kind words fellas.   I have not run the numbers but getting to the 6 slot (assuming those four in front don't improve) I am guessing will cost $2,500 to $3,500; so not a huge investment but not cheap either.   I did not include the number five set in the photo but it is almost exactly double the points of my set, so getting to and passing that five slot would require spending double or more what I currently have in the set.   That does start to add up to a lot of dough, and from there I would need to double that point and dollar total to even get to within shouting distance of the top slot.   A very big task to be sure and one that I know I'll never be able to achieve.   I know that none of my Lincoln sets will ever win any awards, but I love the series so I collect them anyway knowing that its the enjoyment that drives me not the awards.
But I think that being in the top ten here in the NGC registry puts my set(s) in the top 50 of all Lincoln sets that are out in the hands of collectors.   And that in of itself is not too shabby and I'm very happy with that.

Thanks for the kind words fellas.   I have not run the numbers but getting to the 6 slot (assuming those four in front don't improve) I am guessing will cost $2,500 to $3,500; so not a huge investment but not cheap either.   I did not include the number five set in the photo but it is almost exactly double the points of my set, so getting to and passing that five slot would require spending double or more what I currently have in the set.   That does start to add up to a lot of dough, and from there I would need to double that point and dollar total to even get to within shouting distance of the top slot.   A very big task to be sure and one that I know I'll never be able to achieve.   I know that none of my Lincoln sets will ever win any awards, but I love the series so I collect them anyway knowing that its the enjoyment that drives me not the awards.
But I think that being in the top ten here in the NGC registry puts my set(s) in the top 50 of all Lincoln sets that are out in the hands of collectors.   And that in of itself is not too shabby and I'm very happy with that.

Congrats on top 10,  but that screen cap makes just moving up to 9 sound expensive and hard.
When I first joined here in 07/08 I bought like 25 graded Lincolns with dreams of a set, then I looked at all those slots and did some basic math and gave up.  So you get props from me on it. I don't even want to reimage mine... 

Excellent.  Thats a very tough set to have a high rank - very widely collected!

Very nice, Coinbuf!! Congratulations!! I, for one, would be delighted to see your set move up and maybe win a big award someday.  Who knows what may happen in the future?

Like you, I got sidetracked by a few other projects. One of these side projects turned into my primary focus this year, and it looks like it will remain a primary focus for the foreseeable future. The competitive side of the registry is now foreign to me, but I enjoy reading about the experiences of others. I wish the custom sets were available on the same platform as the competitive sets. I like the look of the new format. 

It always seems like what we say we're going to do isn't what we end up doing, to the point where I sometimes wonder why we bother making these plans if not just to laugh at ourselves after the fact. I really thought I was just going to tie up loose ends on my Zimbabwe set early this year and then move on to other things, but I think I spent over half of this year still focused on that note set - and then I got far more focused on the coins than I thought. Those were supposed to be a quick throw-away project to tag onto the notes. Now they're going to be continuing into next year with another submission and they've become quite an undertaking.
All that to say... we make plans and the world laughs - but most of all, our wives.  

The 40-D will be tough unless you can find one that has just been made or crossed.   The NGC census shows 3 in 67+ and one in 68, however I have not found even one of those four coins listed in any of the NGC registry sets I've looked at.    Perhaps they are in private sets where the coins are not shown or listed, or they have been cracked and crossed for use in the PCGS registry.   Either way you will have quite a challenge to find one in NGC plastic; but I hope you are able to find one.
Not a coin that I really have any interest in chasing myself.   Most of the time these sell for around 1K and up vs an MS67 which usually sells around $125 and the registry only gives you a 20 point bump from MS67 to MS67+, too much expense given the low reward imo.

Thank you, I hope to have some photos of it up soon as I think it has a very nice look.   And it certainly was not inexpensive at close to $1,400 it is twice as expensive as any other coin in the set.   I am sure that little green bean was responsible for pushing the price up in the GC auction where I bought it, but I really wanted it so I sold off a couple of Morgan dollars to make it happen.
Going back to the 40-D, I do not really understand why the point bump is so low for the 40-D in 67+ when both the P and S coins have a very large spread in the points.   I would guess that its an oversight on the part of the registry team and one day they may decide to change that.   If that does change in the future then perhaps it might be worth taking a second look at.   I have only one coin that I really want to upgrade and that is the 40-S half, I would really like one day to have a 67 in that slot.   This is another coin where the registry point values seem very skewed, 1500 points for the MS66 to 6000 points for one grade higher.   And its not like 67's are rare as the NGC pop report shows 21 in 67.   However given the hefty price tag of around $5K I may never be able to afford one.
In the past I have been critical of the dual award system that NGC uses, but in this case I am happy that your set will receive a first place award too, you have a magnificent set and it deserves to be recognized.   Congratulations in advance as I fully expect you to win the NGC only 1st place award.  

I purchased the coin back on August 29th of this year, and it was already slabbed as a 67+. I presume that it had been submitted for certification by a previous owner.
I am looking for a 40-D Linc in NGC 67+, but the few I have seen are PCGS, not NGC.
 

Congrats on making that 40-S Lincoln in 67+, I noticed that the pop increased when you added it to your set so I'm assuming you or someone you know made or crossed it.

I have now increased the lead of my 1940 mint set over that of my worthy competitor Coinbuf via the purchase of a 1940-S mercury dime in the grade of NGC MS67 CAC.
 
All that remains for me to complete the set is a 1940 Walker in NGC MS67.

My 1943 set is still in the #1 spot in the NGC registry; however, I've dropped to the #2 spot in the overall registry thanks to Chancey MS60+, who has more than a few MS68 specimens in his '43 set...

I think I'd recommend the newbie forum or the US coins forum over the journals for asking for help, since I think you'll get more responses there.
I can't personally help on RPMs though.
 
Well, drat. Tricked by an old post and a spam-bot.

Yup... I saw all that... it's unfortunate that that is so often how it seems to be, and honestly, Reading between the lines, I don't think it would be much different here. But it is a shame that it's that way.

...pretty much echos my experiences as well, so many varied reasons for registrants to avoid discourse its diff to pin down....a large part of it is security n privacy, n just plain distrust...these days many people do not even know the name of their next door neighbors, couple that with all the online hacking n folks just plain reticent to divulge any public info or exposure...n then theres the competitive part of becoming palsy walsy with the person trying to take ur spot on the registry, e.g. look at all the questions William has bout the new Z registrant competitor, sort of like always looking over ur shoulder....of course this is just a hobby n not life or death issues, unless u outbid me on that one particular coin im looking for  , i guess the camaraderie is best found at local coin club show n tell nites.....