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danny0603

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Journal Entries posted by danny0603

  1. danny0603
    Pleased With Morgan Results
    For the time being, I have started sending in some of my US coins for certification opposed to the world coins I have sent in the past.
    I just got the cert report on a handful of my Morgans I sent in and as a result, I am motivated to send in more. I had been carrying these on the books as MS60 but was thrilled that many of them graded higher.
    001 1878 8TF S$1 UNC DETAILS IMPROPERLY CLEANED
    002 1882 CC S$1 MS 63
    003 1883 CC S$1 MS 63
    004 1884 CC S$1 MS 64
    005 1887 S S$1 UNC DETAILS OBV IMPROPERLY CLEANED
    006 1889 S S$1 AU 55
    007 1890 CC S$1 AU DETAILS REV SCRATCHED
    008 1891 CC S$1 UNC DETAILS IMPROPERLY CLEANED
    009 1892 O S$1 MS 63
    010 1898 S S$1 MS 62
    011 1899 S$1 MS 62
    012 1900 S S$1 MS 61
    013 1880 S S$1 MS 64
  2. danny0603
    Submission #3 is a Tweener
    The results of my 3rd submission of world coins to NGC is a "tweener"- better than the first but not as good as the second.
    29 coins submitted: PF70 (11), PF69 (15), PF68 (2) and PF67 (1).
    Pictured are my new PF70s.

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  3. danny0603
    ADVICE PLEASE
    I am getting ready to send in my first US coins (19th century type set) for grading.
    I have many rolls of what appear to be uncirculated coins all of the same date that were my fathers. Pictured below are a few of these examples. (1956P Washington Quarter, 1956 Dimes, 1958D Dimes). Most of these rolls are from the 50s with the exception of a roll of 1964 halves.
    My question is this: What would be the best way to handle these? Have the rolls certified (and what does that mean)? Have each coin certified? My dilemma is that there is such a huge difference in price between the grades. I would hate to pay $15.00 to have a $9.00 coin graded but I may be missing a higher grade worth several hundred dollars.
    I believe my father each year went to the bank to buy a roll as soon as the new coins came out and then he put them away.
    Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

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  4. danny0603
    2nd Submission Much, Much Better
    I am so excited that my second submission turned out so much better than my first. 28 coins submitted- 16 PF70 and 12 PF69.
    Happy, Happy, Happy

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  5. danny0603
    The Journal is Finished BUT the Journey Continues
    For the rest of the year I plan to:
    1. Get the 2016 US Mint Silver Proof Set (14 coin). I forgot to mention that I collect these.
    2. Get the next 1 oz PAMP gold Lunar Series bar.
    3. Send in my remaining 150 or so coins to be graded.
    4. Create a Custom Set that combines my travel experiences with coins. I will name the set Travelogue and will keep you posted when I make it public.
    The picture below describes my life perfectly.

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  6. danny0603
    What Goes Around, Comes Around
    Two years ago I sat down to write my memoirs and family history. I covered over 100 subjects and the tome ended up to be 865 pages. One of the chapters in my book was coin collecting and it is that chapter that I have shared with you in what will be 20 parts. Thanks for reading and commenting both privately and by replies.
    I intend to leave my collection to my 3 nieces, 3 nephews, 5 great-nieces and 5 great-nephews. Hopefully in the future each will be receiving one 20 slab box of coins. They can do with them what they want. They can sell them, trade them with each other, save them or decide to use these as a starter for their own collections. But the most important thing for them to do is to read the print-out accompanying their box entitled "Chapter 85- Coin Collecting". This will give them the history of my collection and an insight into their grandfather and great-grandfather (my Dad) who made it all happen.
    He would have loved that I passed it along to future generations.
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  7. danny0603
    Finding An Alternative Solution
    In part 8, I told how enthusiastic I was about combining my travel hobby with my coin collecting. BUT- the America the Beautiful series was not working out for me.
    I discovered another series called "World of Wonders" minted by Palau. There have been 60+ of these coins minted and I have visited about 70% of them. I decided to collect those coins for the places that I have visited.
    Pictured below are some of the photos I will post in my trip/coin collection blog to go along with the coin photos.
    Sydney Opera House in Australia, Terracotta Army in China, Colossi of Memnon in Egypt, Kizhi Pogost in Russia, Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, and Hagia Sophia in Instanbul.

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  8. danny0603
    My Ten Commandments for Buying Coins on EBAY
    95% of the coins I buy are off EBAY. Below are the 10 Commandments I follow:
    1. Thou shalt not bid on auctions from a seller with less than a 99.8% positive feedback rating.
    2. Thou shalt read the description of the coin carefully.
     
    (Before I made this a commandment I purchased a slabbed coin and when I received it, the holder had a 1" crack in it. I was going to send it back but when I read the description, the crack was mentioned. Lesson learned.)
    3. Thou shalt not assume that if you purchase several coins from the same seller that they will combine shipping costs. Ask before bidding.
    (Most will but I have found a couple that will not and so I have crossed these sellers off my list.)
    4. Thou shalt only buy coins that are located in the U.S or Canada.
    5. Thou shalt not buy any coin on "Buy It Now".
    (This is a personal preference. I prefer auctions but I have bought coins on BIN when a seller has made a mistake on listing a coin. I bought a PF70 for the same price that the seller had listed the raw version and I bought another PF70 for $39.00 instead of the $139.00 the seller had intended to list the coin as.)
    6. Thou shalt research all listings for the same coin you are interested in to determine your maximum bid.
    (I search all of the listings for like coins and then find the LOWEST Buy it Now price. I then subtract 20% from the lowest BIN to come up with my maximum bid. I end up winning more than half the coins I bid on using this technique.)
    7. Thou shalt bid only once on a coin (preferably in the last few seconds.)
    (After you have determined your maximum bid, just wait for the auction to get close to closing and then make your bid. If someone has bid higher than you, don't be tempted to get into a bidding war.)
    8. Thou shalt add coins to a watch list. Every day I check my watch list to see which coins will be closing that day and to see if I should delete any from this list that have already surpassed my maximum bid. EBAY will send you a text message 15 minutes before the items on your watch list are set to end.
    9. Thou shalt not whine, cry, cuss, etc. if you do not win because you were outbid. There will always be others that come along.
    10. Thou shalt always leave feedback for the seller (positive, neutral or negative) depending on your experience. The feedback rating is what makes doing business on EBAY a safe experience.
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  9. danny0603
    Submission #1- In the Books
    I was so excited to receive back my first submission to NGC. It took several hours for me to scan all of the bar codes into the NGC app and then take four screens shots of each coin.
    Fortunately, I had created a custom set of all of the coins submitted using the "Raw" designation. They were all in one location. All I needed to do was redefine the coin by putting in the certification number. I then replaced the stock photos I had used with the actual photos.
    I was very pleased that two of my World Heritage Icons that I submitted had serial numbers stamped on the edge of the coin and that these numbers were included on the label.
    I also use the custom sets for my storage designation. I write on each box's lid and on the end the box number. Now all I had to do was change the name of the custom set from "Sent for Grading 1/25" to "Storage Box 8".
    I have submitted (and they have received my second submission) and I am preparing my third batch for submission.

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  10. danny0603
    Trying to Master the "My Collection" Database
    For the past few months I have been trying to master the "My Collection" database. I spend several hours each week entering both my graded and raw coins. I like being to have the reports that I can produce.
    I have run across several snafus along the way and have had to improvise.
    1. Under "Item Description", I have not figured out what the Catalog Number field is all about.
    2. Since I collect coins with low mintages, I wish there was a field for total mintage. For now, I have been entering this info under owner comments, along with the coin serial number if the COA is serialized. ie. 048/999
    3. Most of my coins are initially entered as "Raw" until they are sent in for grading. Many of these are not listed in the NGC database and so I have to enter them manually. I cannot understand why when entering manually and it asks for country that the country I want to enter ie. Palau, Andorra and others are not available on the list to select.
    4. I have been adding the photos, but don't know if I am supposed to add a photo of my actual coin or whether I can just use stock photos.
    5. Under Owner's Comments, I usually put the coin specifications such as size, composition, mintage, etc.
    Under the Purchase/Sale tab Purchase Notes I usually note whether I have the original mint packaging.
    Of course, the graded coins are easy to enter.
    Open for suggestions.
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  11. danny0603
    Innovative Mint Packaging
    I find all of the new and innovative mint packaging interesting. What will they come up with next? I realize that some are gimmicks but like with all products on the market, these are marketing strategies.
    These are just a very few examples of recent purchases I have made with interesting packaging including a coin that comes in a matryoshka doll, one that is 3D and comes with 3D glasses, heart-shaped boxes and boxes with swinging wooden lids.

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  12. danny0603
    Time to Replenish
    After selling my 1/2 oz gold Pandas, I felt the need to replace the 14 1/2 ozs of gold, especially since the price was so low. I considered quite a few replacement possibilities such as the Canadian Maple Leaf, Australian Kangaroo, etc.
    While trying to decide I ran across some gold bars that I really fell in love with- the PAMP Lunar Series. Because the series started four years earlier, I purchased the 2012 Dragon, 2013 Snake, the 2014 Horse and the 2015 Goat (pictured below).
    For Christmas this year I received the 2016 Monkey and this will become an annual gift.
    One side of the ingots depicts the animal from the front and the other from the back. They are really different and you know that's what I like.

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  13. danny0603
    WHO'S NUTS???
    Last April I discovered the NGC website and I decided to check the value of my Chinese Panda coins. I was in shock to discover that the half ounce gold 1995 Panda that I had paid $404.00 for was selling for $7200.00 and many others were selling in the thousands of dollars. I thought to myself, are these people nuts? It's only 1/2 ounce oz gold and only 20 years old. I decided I would be nuts not to sell. I sold all 29 years of my 1/2 ounce Pandas (keeping the 1 oz, 1/4 oz, 1/10 oz and 1/20 oz).
    I guess I was the one who was nuts for selling 10 months ago instead of waiting for today because these are today's prices for the same coin:
    1995 LARGE DATE GOLD PANDA 50 YUAN MS $ - - 19,000 20,500 22,000 23,500

  14. danny0603
    The Good, The Bad???, and The Ugly
    Last month I joined as a paid NGC member. I have so many coins in their original mint packaging that are taking up so much space and are hard to organize. I immediately prepared a shipment of 26 of my coins to be graded.
    THE GOOD- I got word today that my graded coins have been shipped back to me and I will soon be able to add them to my phone app to share with my family.
    THE BAD??- I am not sure if this is bad because my expectations may have been too high and I don't know if the following is a good or bad ratio. There are 4/26 PF70, 1/26 PF68 and 21/26 PF69. I guess I was hoping for about 7 to be perfect.
    THE UGLY- One of the coins I submitted was 40mm by 40mm and I thought it was within the limits but since it was square, they put it in an over-sized holder. And you know from a previous one of my blogs how much I hate that.
    Well, I have to go now to prepare my next shipment.
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  15. danny0603
    Discovering the NGC App
    I was very excited last Spring to discover the NGC app for my iPhone. It was probably designed for a different purpose but this is what I use it for.
    Every time I receive a slabbed coin I scan the bar code with my phone. Our family has a 35+ year tradition of going to breakfast every Sunday morning. Every week those attending want to see my new coin acquisitions for the week. It is great to bring up the app on my phone and show them the new photos. Kind of like having my collection with me at all times.
    Below is also an example of how I print my coin photos from the app.

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  16. danny0603
    Buying Frenzy
    About a year ago I went a different direction with my coin collecting- World Coins. I was very much intrigued with all of the new colored, enameled, 3D, holograms, jeweled, odd-shaped, stained glass, etc. coins available.
    I really like the Niue, Canadian, Cook Islands and Australia coins. I rarely buy any that have a mintage of more than 3000 and many of the ones I have purchased have a mintage of less than 1000.
    Some of my purchases have been NGC graded but many are raw. I have been on a buying frenzy.

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  17. danny0603
    Combining Hobbies
    I decided in 2011 to start collecting the America the Beautiful 5 oz series. I had looked at the advanced list of 56 coins and discovered that I had been to about 70% of the places on the list. I thought it would be fun to combine photos of the coins with my trip experience and try to visit the other 30% of the places I had not been.
    Since the series had started the year before, I needed to catch up and buy the five 2010 coins and decided to buy NGC certified. I was in shock when they arrived and I saw how big the over-sized holder was. I immediately looked to find a storage box to hold this collection- NO LUCK.
    To this day, 6 years into the series I just cannot believe that NGC still does not make storage boxes for their over-sized holders. They must have graded thousands of over-sized coins and there is a real need for them. It just cannot be that hard to design and manufacture them.
    In the meantime (half-way through), I am suspending collecting these coins because I just do not like having to stack the slabs and then shuffle through them every time I want to look at one of them.

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  18. danny0603
    Cashing In
    When 2011 rolled around I was dismayed at the price I was going to have to pay for my Chinese Panda set and was told that gold and silver prices were way up. I had never really paid attention to these prices.
    I decided that after 14 years of storing and toting the heavy "Secret Collection" from part 3 that maybe I would sell. I found a place in my city that had good Google reviews and went to get an estimate. I was shocked to find that I would be given 28 times face. I will never forget when the proprietor held up one thin dime and told me it was worth $2.80. I did not sell at the peak but pretty close.
    I took my 4 bags down and they were put through a coin sorter and it was determined that there was approximately $4300 face. It did hit a nerve when he called it "junk silver". Little did he know that I had spent 2190 hours collecting that silver from my Dad's cash register drawers. I was just grateful for the inheritance my Dad had left for me.
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  19. danny0603
    TWO FIRSTS
    In 2006 I joined EBAY and my very first purchase was my very first NGC graded coin a 1/10 oz 2005 Platinum China Panda. I even purchased one of the NGC storage boxes. The little coin I bought and put in the storage box would be awfully lonely because it was nearly 8 years between buying my first slab and buying the second. (I am now up to 8 storage boxes, but more on this in later blogs.)
    Since joining EBAY, all of my coin purchases have been made there. I have never been to a coin show and the coin dealer I used to go to is long out of business.
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  20. danny0603
    From Silver to Gold
    In 1982 a friend showed me her birthday present, a 1/4 gold Chinese Panda made into a necklace. I just loved it and went to our local coin store to inquire about them. I was shown a complete set with a 1 oz, 1/2 oz, 1/4 oz, 1/10 oz and 1/20 oz coins. I was told that every year the reverse would change. The set was pricey but after thinking about it I decided I really loved it and bought the set.
    It was at this point of my collecting career that I decided that collecting U.S. coins was not for me. For some reason realizing that U.S. coins would stay the same design for decades and that millions of each coin were minted, I decided that I wanted the variety of change each year and to only collect coins that I really loved.
    Because I could not afford to buy more than the Panda set each year, these were the only coins I collected from 1982-2010. I would really look forward each year for the announcement of the new design.
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  21. danny0603
    Pre-EBAY- Bid Boards
    In the 70's I continued collecting coins. Our local coin dealer would have a bid board and every week would attach a file card to about 20 coins. People could write their bids and the "auction" would close at 2:00 pm every Saturday afternoon. This is the way I purchased coins long before EBAY was around.
    I had purchased a 10" x 12" Type Coin plastic holder from Capitol Plastics. My goal was to bid on and fill all of the holes in the holder. (Goal accomplished)
    In the meantime I ended up with over 100 excess coins a sample of which are depicted here.
    I have a question for all of you experts (because I am new to NGC). What criteria does one use to decide to send coins in for grading? I would hate to pay to have these coins graded if the cost is more than the worth.
    Thanks for looking and sharing your expertise.

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  22. danny0603
    The SECRET Collection
    As I mentioned in yesterday's blog, we moved to a small town in 1967 because my father had purchased a small grocery and variety store. This was the summer before beginning high school and only three years after the advent of clad coins.
    My Dad and I came up with a SECRET collection. We were not to tell anyone else in the family, employees or friends about it for fear they would start doing the same thing. Every day during the summer and after school, I would go to my dad's store and go through all of the coins that had come from the cash register drawers the day before and pull out all of the silver dimes, quarters and halves. The "real" silver coins were placed in canvas bank bags and placed in the store safe.
    It was amazing that in 1967 more than half were pre-clad coins. By the time I graduated from high school in 1971 we could only find about 10% silver coins in the drawers.
    After graduation, I moved away to go to college and eventually got married and over time basically forgot about our SECRET collection.
    A few days after my Dad passed away in 1997 (thirty years later), my Mom called me to help her with something. She said my Dad wanted me to have something and presented me with the four large bags of our SECRET collection that were long forgotten by me. I was so touched that he had kept HIS secret so well.
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  23. danny0603
    Devastated
    When I was about 9, my mother emphasized the importance of savings. She set up a bank savings account for me and explained that the bank would pay me interest every quarter. I had my own passbook and would take it into the bank periodically and the interest was recorded and I watched it grow.
    There was a problem and lesson learned. I had a great aunt that worked at a bank and every year for my birthday she would sent a brand new, crisp $2 bill. My father for his job as a salesman would have to travel to Las Vegas once a month and every month he would bring me back a Morgan silver dollar. I dutifully took these items to the bank and deposited them into my savings account (thinking that they would put them into a box for safe keeping).
    When I was 13, we were going to move to a new town and I needed to close my account. I was devastated to find out that I would not be receiving my 13 brand new, crisp $2.00 bills and 75 Morgan dollars that I had so carefully saved.
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  24. danny0603
    The Very Beginning in 1960
    When I was 7 my father bought me blue cardboard coin holders (one each for pennies, dimes, nickels and quarters.) Every day when he came home from work I would be waiting for him to take the change out of his pocket to search for coins to add into my slots. We did this together every evening and it was great father/daughter time. It was such a thrill to find a "new" coin to add. To this day I still have my nearly full (very well circulated) first coin collection.
    Little did I know at the time how heavily involved I would become in collecting in the future.

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