Zebo

Very nice. Love buffalo coins.

It's interesting that CIT who is located in Liechtenstein contacted the Tower Mint in England that produces circulating and NCLT coins for the Isle of Man for permission to mint the commemorative. In coordination with the Isle of Man government, CIT was allowed to mint the coin. The Tower Mint took over minting coins for the Isle of Man from the Pobjoy Mint and earlier the Royal Mint. The use of Isle of Man circulating coins are on the increase on the island. And although the coins are the same size as many of the English coins - they cannot be used in England, even though many find there way there similar to Canadian coins used in the U.S. 

https://www.coin-invest.li/coins/manannan-1st-king-of-mann/

Bill - Good to see you back on this side - even briefly. Nice!  Also glad you found the choose files for multiple photos. Works great for me. 

I'm not big on NCLT offerings or most anything modern for that matter, but I do collect coins, both circulating and NCLT, from the Isle of Man. A small relatively unknown island in the Irish Sea. It is. British dependency. Below describes the offering. 

I like the art and the offering, but I cannot call it a coin. What do you think? Do you like it? Is it a coin? 

The highlight of CIT’s coin portfolio at World Money Fair 2019 is a breathtaking three ounce silver issue for the Isle of Man (often referred to simply as Mann). While depictions on modern coins often lack a significant connection to the country of issue, Manannán – 1st King of Mann – is a treasure of folklore and cultural identity.

The coin, struck with smartminting technology in the shape of an ornamented celtic cross shows Manannán mac Lir “son of the sea” kneeling in knight’s armor clutching a shield and his sword Fragarach “the retaliator”. The polished Fragarach is adorned with the characteristic three-legged Manx triscelion.

Manannán derived his name from the Isle of Man and is said to be the first king and defender of the island. He is a vital part of Manx, Irish and Scottish mythology and folklore. Aside from his famous sword, Manannán is said to have possessed a cloak of invisibility and the Wave Sweeper, a ship able to cross the seas without sails.

The outstanding numismatic tribute to Manannán measures 55 mm in diameter, features an antique finish and nominal value of 5 £. Only 999 pieces will be struck of this Isle of Man issue. As a self-governing Crown dependency, Queen Elizabeth II is the head of state holding the title “Lord of Mann”.

What do you think of the 2019 American Liberty? I don't care for it.

Artificially Toned? LG - low glow

I purchased a glow in the dark Canadian (Wolf), I forget the series. I wanted to see it in hand - didn't like it and sold it. Luckily a made a couple of bucks on it.

Poll results are:

1) type collectors beat out date/mint collectors 12-11

2) collectors prefer MS coins by a wide margin over the runner up AU 19-6

3) collectors wanted to create a visibly attractive set slightly more than completing a series 13-12

4) silver out distanced gold 15 -7

5) U.S. Collectors out distanced World Collectors by a margin of 19 - 9

The results yielded no real surprises. It is not meant to be a scientific poll, just a snapshot in time for this forum. 

Looks interesting - 

Post something that honors those on this special day

Update - poll ends on 1 June:

1) type has overtaken Date/mint by one vote - outdistancing the other choices

2) MS by a long shot, AU passing VF/below followed by XF bring up the rear

3) collecting a visibly attractive set with a one vote lead over completing a series followed by a distant financial gain

4) Silver has a large lead over gold followed by copper and other

5) U.S. Over World by a bit more than 2-1

I've always thought that the Krause numbers were very limiting compared to Spinks and Marsh for the series that I collect. I've never purchased one of their catalogs, but have relied on others for the same content.

The archive feature will be nice. i never used their platform to bid, almost did a couple of times - but the St. James folks handled my bids for me. 

Even with the flaws in this poll - it is providing some interesting results. It still has a little over a week to go, but ...

1) Completing a series is leading followed closely by Type and Other (other surprises me)

2) collecting MS is leading by a good margin followed by VF or below - no love for XF or AU???

3) Completing a series and collecting a series that is attractive are tied, with a distant third of financial gain

4) silver leads by a long shot. Copper has overtaken gold for second place (Where are all the gold bugs???)

5) U.S. Is leading 2-1 vs. World. World had the initial lead. 

We'll see if these change over the next week.

It appears that SixBids, the on-line auction platform was hacked and the criminals are sending out false invoices.  This is reportedly happening in conjunction with the most recent Baldwins of St. James auction.

If you are going to use the SixBids platform In future I'd question them on their security. I say appears and reportedly above because of the possibility that the email sent out by Baldwins is fake. It's a shame when you cannot trust anything digital.

There was a company that was on Shark Tank that added content behind the scenes so that the reader who had an interest in a place, thing or reference could select the reference in the book and it would open additional content over the Internet - such as photographs, maps, background. It seemed like a very neat concept, but it also had it draw backs. First - cost, the burden for the additional content would be with the author. So you have to figure if the additional content would be worth the effort and cost? Don't know. Second - it's for digital books only. I prefer hardcover books with high resolution photographs/images. For digital readers - it would be very nice and I would probably pay a bit more for the additional content. Not that Roger doesn't fill his books with enough information - far from it. Roger - you probably collect large amounts of information that does not go into your books. Do you think that any of this research would appeal to the vast majority of your readers? 

I also have a few of Roger's books and enjoy them. I just wish I had more time to read them. 

I'm new playing with these polls and already see improvements to be made. Thanks for the feedback.

Poll 

8 1/2 X 11 hardcover

Or --- start slow, learn a little about what you have. Then come up with a plan. why not keep some as a collection in tribute to your father. Sell some, buy others and build your set. Learn as you go. Your father has given you the seeds for a fantastic journey - if you put forth the effort. You'll be surprised to find out where it takes you.

Thank you!

 

I just added a custom set for the 1945 - 7 "American sovereign" which was a gold coin the Philadelphia Mint made for Saudi Arabia. I could post a picture and write-up box for my 1947 one pound piece that is PCGS graded, but now I can!

 

I looked at your "American Sovereign" set and found it fascinating! I had no idea that we made payments to Saudi Arabia after WWII with Philadelphia minted gold disks. The irony of it is that while our government could pay it's debts in gold, the American people were forbidden from even owning gold, let alone pay anyone with it.

Gary

I have placed a few bids on both of the American Sovereigns with no luck (yet). Interesting history and they would go nicely with my soverign sets. For now - I can look at Bill's.

If what he says here is true

 

 

That is an enormous *IF*

 

And that is where Mark and I disagree.

 

NGC and PCGS have both changed their standards over time. It's inevitable, it is unsurprising, and everyone knows it. NGC has not remained perfectly constant over 30 years - it just isn't possible.

 

There are 2 other fallacious assumptions embedded in this announcement:

 

1. PCGS has had a serious decline over the past couple of years. I'm not sure this is true. You can pick a half dozen examples and try to build a case that PCGS is slipping, but I can pick a half dozen overgraded, cleaned coins in NGC holders. Shoot, I'll bet someone could find enough cleaned/AT/problem coins with CAC stickers to make a case that they are shoddy as well.

 

2. NGC is better than PCGS. No, actually, y'all are pretty much equal. There are areas that one of you is clearly better (I've said it many times before), there are areas where one of you is worse. On average, you were pretty much equal. The thing that set NGC apart, their openness and willingness to listen to the customers, have both pretty much been obliterated by this announcement.

 

In fairness to NGC, however, Dena responded to my request to cancel my membership and give me a refund. They are going to refund my membership, and she said that all feedback is being forwarded to Mark Salzberg. I really hope he listens and rescinds this announcement. If NGC rescinds this decision, I will immediately renew my membership and restore my Registry sets.

On a positive note -- Dena is great to work with and she represents the company well.

After digging into a few registry sets I see that even though your PCGS coins are given a score in the NGC registry they are not included in the total. Therefore there has been no advantage with PCGS coins except for show. Example I note is Dr. Mark Dixon set of proof Franklins. His PCGS coins are scored but not tallied for totals.

I disagree - my PCGS coins have points that count towards the total score. As for the custom sets - I agree with most everyone. It is nice to have them included. If PCGS is over grading their coins (again) then do not nclude the grade. Over grading is a great way to increase business of resubmitting for higher grades. Too bad!