jtryka

So much of this reminds me that you have many more manifestations of the madness of crowds when the currency becomes disconnected with economic reality, as we have today. Then when you have a set of folks that benefit from infinite currency printing, they start buying things to make themselves happy or to make themselves look better to their peers. You have this with many situations in the art world, where people want to buy that new art for millions so they can say they spent millions on that new art, and you must be a rube if you don't recognize the value. The same is true in memorabilia, or even coins - how often to very wealthy people build the finest graded sets of coins just so they can say they have the #1 set? Meanwhile there are others of us that are just happy with more simple things. Like the Lincoln penny book I've had since I was in grammar school, that's still missing the 09-S VDB and 22 plain, or my extensive art collection that consists of paintings I've bought at thrift stores at a maximum price of $20. None of them are museum quality, and none will be sold at auction by Sotheby's, but I like them and am happy they are one my walls so I can look at them whenever I like. And if I ever want to see those million dollar pieces of art, the Art Institute isn't too far away!

That is stunning.

I think the '33 will break $10M easily and might get to $20M. Not sure what "place" that makes it, since for me and likely many others, the "greatest" coins are determined by more than price.

If I recall correctly, the original reason for the TPGs note guaranteeing copper for extended periods had more to do with coins certified as RED turning into something less than RED in the holder.

You know copper degrades too, which is why red coins turn redbrown and eventually brown. They can also corrode pretty nastily too...

Great find and welcome back!

Found it, this is from the NGC guarantee: Coins made of copper, bronze and brass or are copper-plated can change over time. Accordingly, with regard to copper, bronze, brass or copper-plated Coins, the grade portion of this Guarantee will no longer apply after the 10-year anniversary of their date of encapsulation. The expiration date of the grade portion of this Guarantee can be found by entering the Coin’s certification number in the Verify NGC Certification section of the NGC website or by contacting NGC Customer Service.

Don't the TPG's have stricter limits on guarantees on copper coins, which would presumably cover plated cents?

Even without the print, based on those photos I would not want to own this coin (unless maybe if I got it in change).

I can't seem to get your link to work.

This seems to me like a base metal reproduction that they used to put in framed displays to show what the old coins looked like. I had one when I was a kid, had some gold and silver and copper coins, all reproductions painted gold or silver. It was a nice display, but I would guess if I buried it the coins would look a lot like the one above.

Are the correct answers posted somewhere?

Picked this one up over the weekend.

Very cool, I bought a set a while back that came in the original envelope, which I think I still have around here somewhere!

That nickel looks like a polished coin from the pictures and I would not submit it. The 09 Lincoln is common, but popular and looks to be in good shape. The large cent looks pitted and should not grade without caveat. What does the weak D look like? Still might be worth submitting if it's good.

You might also consider coins that would benefit from slabbing, for instance, heavily counterfeited or altered coins, like a 1922 no D cent, that would be a big step up authenticated vs. a raw coin.

Congrats on the Morgans and the car!

I don't think that was Ben Franklin...

I presume so since that was the household limit right? I know they sent an e-mail last week saying something about not allowing changes 2 days before release and making sure your credit card and shipping info was correct.

Some of these might have been bought with subscriptions too, I know I received an e-mail confirming my order at 5:18 yesterday morning! Glad I didn't have to stress about waiting until noon though.

That was a good one, sad how it all blew away like that...

This is all due to the way collectors collect. For example, I have dansco albums for pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters and halves, but I only include proofs in the pennies, nickels and dimes. So I order one proof set and break it up for the pennies through dimes and sell off the quarters, halves and dollars. This math makes sense since the clad set might cost $27, but if I bought those three coins separately I might spend $20, so I can usually sell the extra quarters, halves and dollars and get more than the $7 difference and I'm ahead. I used to do the same with a silver proof set, until the price of that set became insane, so now rather than buying a silver set just for the dime, I just buy the dime separately for $8 or $9 on ebay, which is higher than it might warrant from a set price standpoint, but for me, $9 for the one coin I need is better than $83 for the one coin I need and 8 or 9 that I don't need, and I wouldn't need to deal with the hassle of selling the extras.

I hope so, since I have a subscription.

If it was struck on an undersized planchet (perhaps a foreign one) then it would be weak on both sides, not just one side.

I recall many people telling my I was crazy for paying $90 - $110 for a roll of silver eagles back in the 1990s since silver was only worth $3.50 an ounce and I was paying a ridiculous premium for them. I just buy silver opportunistically and I sleep well, if I want excitement and speculation, there are many options out there, including fun in the pink sheets!