GoldFinger1969

I saw the CEO of Binance -- "CZ" -- on CNBC earlier this week. His response was basically "We're OK" which doesn't exactly inspire confidence. I'm surprised his hedged and less-than-affirming statements didn't lead to a run on Binance. Yes, ultimately these things are creations out of thin air. Even BitCoin with it's mathematical backing of 21 million tokens maximum....I don't know what that means or why it's important.

Customers should have known what they had on a daily basis. It's the equity owners in FTX who had the "inflated fake wealth." Crypto assets were down 50-75% from their peaks but whatever they were worth should be in their accounts. Remember, Kevin O'Leary said his account was WIPED CLEAN which is different than having something go down in price.

You are allowed to borrow customer assets in certain situations (i.e., short-selling borrowing). This was unregistered and prohibited theft, however. We know it was more than 1 person doing it. Just like Madoff couldn't create fake statements alone, these Millenials and Gen-Z'ers helped SBF. I actually think the money trail will be pretty simple to follow and to explain where it went.

We have to hear from Master Trustee Ray as to the specifics. Kevin O'Leary's focus on the $2 billion used to buy back the Binance stake is critical. That's REAL CASH (and probably some quality and garbage crypto assets and tokens, too) at a time when they needed liquidity. It would be like a bank doing stock buybacks in October 2008.

Imagine being able to calculate the NUMBER of bag marks...the depth of any dents or dings...etc. It would be like the application of analystics to sports. Not saying it would be a good thing or even a necessary thing....but it might provide "guard rails" on human graders.

It's probably covered in FMTM. Might be a YouTube video on how coins were made 100+ years ago, too.

I see that the 62nd HR ball hit by Aaron Judge just sold for $1.5 MM. The holder was offered $3 MM back in September in a private transaction but thought he could get more $$$ via a public auction. WRONG !!

As AI and scanning technology improves I will bet that it will be possible to scan and grade coins within a few seconds using cameras, lasers, etc. If you did sufficient volume, the cost-per-coin should be relatively cheap, too. We may see a CAC-like service in the future that is 100% computerized and either re-grades coins or affirms them with something like the CAC sticker.

Super Expensive GSAs: Just wondering for those of you more familiar with high-end (GSA) Morgans....are there many that sell for 5-figures and up ?I saw one the other day up for sale and bidding was over $20,000....was just clicking around, trying to re-find it now....I believe it was an MS-67 CAC DMPL coin, not sure what year or if it was CC or not.Got me wondering what the most expensive GSAs might sell for.

Well, in the other thread on Franklins we have the anomaly of lots of 66+ coins selling for LESS than 66's even without FBL. Old-timers may also have a soft-spot for the 67 grade since that is the Superb Gem Level and for most of us the highest grade we can afford (assuming many are available to make it affordable) if we do want a coin in that grade.

Hopefully with microchips in the holders and the ability to use Hi-Def scans to ID specific coins.....that will soon be greatly reduced.

BTW, if anybody wants to see that 1908 NM WF MS-66 OGH CAC zoomed-in....I just noticed the pics I attached for size-reasons are not enlarging on my PC. If that is the case with yours, you can find the larger ones on the Wells Fargo Thread....or I can post them here, too.

Thanks Zad.......that makes it clearer. I guess today's machines will NOT strike if they detect no planchet (metal) in between the dies, huh ? The machines couldn't do that 100+ years ago I guess.

Why would you use sawdust to do that ? Why not clean, hospital-like linens or cloth or paper ? What would they use today -- microfiber towels ?

What's the "B" stand for ?

Wow, unreal. That looks like the kind of bubble price spike you see with some "First Strike" coins like the 1995-W ASE which went for $86,000 and now pretty much they go for under $20,000. Now that you mention it, I do. That was some great work you did. I guess you figure that the folks who play in that rarified atmosphere of Top Pop Registry coins can afford to lose if the coins suddenly have company and their Top 3 or Top 5 suddenly becomes Top 10 or Top 20.

I don't think this is a question of those things, Roger. This is just pure greed and sleaze. You almost wish Ebay had an automatic limiter that said you can't ask more than 5-10x the most recent sales price for a comparable coin. I can live with a guy overcharging on the ask price because the coin has other qualities that maybe the TPG didn't see. I can live with a coin that is a 66 TPG-wise but the seller says is certainly a 67 (maybe it is, maybe it isn't). I can live with someone asking $400 for a coin worth $250. But I can't bridge any gap to a coin worth $300 give-or-take and the seller is asking 5-figures. Unless it's to find that person I hypothesized above who thinks if he gets it for a few thousand dollars he thinks he got a steal. It would be a steal. For the seller !!

We can laugh at it...but someone just starting out in this hobby who THINKS he knows the Franklin price market from years ago can be hurt financially or just emotionally even if they "steal" the coin for $2,000. You get burned like that, you don't know who to trust.

Not only did you NOT miss anything, Hog, you actually uncovered what happens at the intersection of hobbyists, grade kinks, price kinks and registry players...combined with Ebay pricing stupidity. Someone will offer the guy $3,000....they'll negotiate....and the buyer will think he got a great deal at $4,500.

So clearly....it's the FBL that will determine if you get the Big Buck$$$. I guess you can have an MS-66 or even MS-67 coin and yet NOT have FBL....you would think that not having FBL would limit you and if you only have 1 or 2 lines of the FBL that maybe you can't get over a 64 or whatever. It's almost like the FBL is an additional grade being reflected in the $$$ price. ROBEC: "One oddity concerns the price difference between the MS66 and MS66+ non FBL. There are 6 of each listed in the GC archive. With the exception of one 66+, which sold for $853, all six 66’s sold for more than every other 66+. Even the lowest priced 66 sold for more than the 2nd highest 66+." That's beyond weird ....unless all the 66's have more lines of the Liberty Bell than the 66+ coins. I've never heard of 66+ costing LESS than 66's from the same TPG unless a coin or two was grossly misgraded or someone bid stupidly. But you said ALL 6 coins.

Is it graded ? Is it an MS-65 FBL ?

You're asking the wrong guy. I am not an expert or even knowledgeable about Franklin pricing, just fascinated by the thread itself and what happened to these top registry players. I just know prices should NOT rise or fall for the same coin by 80-1,000%. Not unless NEW SUPPLY comes out from hoards, SDBs, slow trickles, etc.

If the Morgan afficianados like it, who am I to tell them it's a waste or not worth it ? But some of the varieties do tend to deal in minutae. But hey...anything that keeps interest in the hobby I'm all for it.

As it is looking unlikely I can get down to FUN 2023, NYINC may be a consolation prize. If others from here or in cyberspace are interested, maybe we can all get together during the gathering.

I just assumed it might be related to the fact that MSDs are the #1 or among the top collected coins by Americans.