GoldFinger1969

Nice Type 1, Timely....where did you get it ?

He has about a page on Striking (p. 46-47) and mentioned those things....I thought it might be a brief summary of stuff covered in-depth and more detail in FMTM. It explained some stuff that had been fuzzy to me. Re-reading the GUIDE BOOK and then going to hit chapters in FMTM. Should make a re-read of key sections of the SAINTS book clearer with all the different striking qualities on various dates and mintmarks.

Roger, I know you are listed in the ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS section of Bower's DOUBLE EAGLES GUIDE BOOK....did you discuss with DB striking quality, planchets, and die spacing ?

I meant in terms of enjoyment and learning about coins, history, etc. But if they are smart, they'll do some DD and learn and maybe even make some nice well-timed purchases. I've seen it happen alot in my field of investing and money management where someone ends up paying high fees (or mutual fund "loads")....gets tired of it....and does their own DD and becomes a successful investor.

What do you collect now ?

Well, they might see the infomercials.....dislike the price...and do a little research. Ya Never Know !! The information on the "European Bank Hoard" is a bit oversimplified but still might hook potential collectors.

Hey, I don't LIKE the prices but if someone who is totally unfamiliar with our little hobby gets exposed to it by paying a 1-time exorbitant price, they'll make it back in spades.

I haven't seen any Coin Vault infomericals...but plenty of Rick's with gold coins.....he's about 30% over FMV. Good shows, though....informative. If they get people into coins, worth the admission price.

I plan to check it out but from what I hear it is very high-end and exclusively foreign/ancient coins. No high-end U.S. still like Saints or Liberty's, Busts, etc except a stray here or there. I emailed one of the organizers and he was very clear on that.

Not sure I understood the question, but I know the NY International Coin Show is held in Manhattan. Last time was last January.

Can't FUN mandate a minimum stay if dealers set-up ? We do that with my club's annual big event. It's 2 days (Sat/Sun) and too many vendors were packing up early-Sunday afternoon as folks who paid for attendance that day would come in. Well that's the only non-work day as of now so I think attendnace would hold up. Remember, from what I saw on Sunday (albeit my only time to FUN) it was really dead on Sunday. Not sure how Bingo enters into the equation and I think the "death spiral" might be exaggerated...but you do raise some fair points. From a cost perspective, it probably doesn't cost more $$$ to stay another day what with cheaper flights departing on Sunday and/or Monday. Keeping a 4th day is a small price to pay if it prevents the Death Spiral you fear. For myself, I think 3 days of a show (plus any earlier events like courses) is more than enough. I saw everything by Saturday and did all my buying by then, too. Who knows, maybe there ARE some people who need all 4 days or come later and use the Sunday finale. But it really was dead Sunday esp. compared to Friday and Saturday.

I would be shocked if those go away. I only went to FUN last year for the 1st time, but I am definitely going to now make it a regular occurrence. Florida in January -- Orlando ! -- is a no-brainer. Only thing is if they need to keep the 4th day Sunday as part of the event. Judging by the traffic and activity I saw, I'd say no. Make Saturday a bit longer -- 6 PM ? -- in place of it. Never been to ANA or Whitman but will hit the Baltimore Whitman show this November assuming it's a go. Can make it a 1-day thing from my parents with no need to stay overnight.

Roger, have you ever met/interviewed any of these guys who used to go over to Europe to scour for American gold coins in European banks, including Saints ?

A few vets here and at CT. There were looser/tighter periods during the 1986-2000 period but not to the same extent as happened around 2004. As I understand it, it is when market grading took over from technical grading.

The amazing thing is that Goldfinger (the bad guy, not me ) said that his associates could get 10x their gold holdings once his plan went into effect. Had he just waited 10 years until about 1974, gold went up about 5-fold and then 20-fold in 15 years.

Is there a reason why some catalogs (mostly non-Heritage) do NOT include the grade of the coin in the headline description ? The Dallas Bank/Browning (2001) catalog I got uses pre-TPG terminology like "Gem Uncirculated" in the 1st sentence leading off the commentary. Sometimes, grade is mentioned later on esp. if there are other competing coins and they rank them. Heritage leads right off with the TPG and grade. BTW, I presume that the coins were in fact graded (I was looking mostly at the Saints' listings, but the same abscence of TPG and grade applied to other coins, too).

I could EASILY see some shows cutting back on length. For instance, I can easily see FUN dropping the 4th day, Sunday. Maybe other shows drop the Sunday, too, esp. if they had 2 or more days prior. I think some of the regional shows might be squeezed by the really small local shows plus the Big 3 (FUN, Long Beach, and ANA). I will be interested to see how Whitman Baltimore does going forward (I've never been, hoping to go this Novembere). I'm most curious about the TINY local shows....these have 4-15 dealers. I've gone to a few and they were a TOTAL waste. They're usually held in Knights of Columbus Halls, American Legions, etc. The costs of going must be so low that they make enough $$$ to cover their expenses (whatever they are) and still make a profit. As for the bigger shows....remember, most of the dealers go to do dealer-to-dealer trades. I've been told that 80% of their business at these shows is this kind, not with people like me (collectors) or the public at-large.

Maybe not when CAC first started...or maybe with restrictions. Clearly, he was implying that PCGS's founders could be inviting conflict-of-interest with their SPECIFIC dealings. It's like when you are in the financial industry. You can invest...even trade AGAINST your clients....so long as you disclose the nature and timing of it.

Can't see what Travers wrote...can you summarize ? EDIT: Never mind, it appears PCGS principals were dealing in coins in a way that presented conflict-of-interest situations. Or something like that.

If WHAT'S true, Kurt ?

Nice !! What is your favorite or most scarce Saint in your collection, Cat ?

I'm getting it.....are the chapters on Saints, the UHR, High Relief in RoAC more in-depth than the SAINTs book or do you mean you just have some additional information in RoAC that isn't in the SAINTS book ?

Yesterday, it was. Back in the 20's today.......

By then we should be WELL into the vaccination. No need to cancel I would say earlier than August/September and by then we should be well into high vaccination numbers. I also think that Whitman relies more on local, East Coast, drive-to-the-event types than FUN or Long Beach with air travel. So they should be less impacted by reluctance to fly even later this year. JMHO. It's early, but I'd say the November show is more likely than not.

Ultra High Relief Auction: A 1907 UHR pattern (technically not a coin) is on sale over at Heritage....sale ends in 2 days so hurry and get your bids in. https://coins.ha.com/itm/proof-high-relief-double-eagles/1907-20-ultra-high-relief-normal-edge-lettering-pr68-ngc-jd-3-low-r7/a/1327-3802.s?ic=ih-clickButton-1907-$20-ultra-high-relief-viewItem-1327-012921 Roger's chapters on the UHR and 1907 HR were outstanding. Learned a TON about the coins. Heritage's descriptions of the history of the UHR and the different "varieties" which are out there borrow heavily from his research.