RWB

On 5/20/2024 at 6:18 PM, zadok said:

...fortunately there isnt enuf space on cert labels for footnotes....

"Truth" is not a footnote; it's the story.

Nice find -- you might say it's "Outstanding in its field."

Imagine it's travels until it was lost.

OK....interesting coincidence. Would results be the same in base 12; base 16; base 20? (Hint: "Nope.") 

Great!

Let's hope that honest, truthful research will push the TPGs to perform detailed, public examination before adding opinions and unsubstantiated titles to slab labels. (Once a TPG makes such an error, and someone pays a large premium for a coin with such a label, the mistake is extremely difficult and expensive to correct.)

This whole special title on slab labels needs to revert to the pre-1990 process where multiple people contributed to public discussion before a consensus was reached.

EF is a reasonable grade. These are readily available so there's no monetary incentive to spending $50+ to have a "grading" company tell you what you already know.

Sounds like you're beginning to organize your coins and that's an excellent way begin. Also, pick up a copy of the Guide Book of US Coins (any year within the last decade will do) to learn more about your coins. That will help you form and ask questions here and learn from the members.

According to the internet, the "Minnesota Collection" was established by a swarm of Minnesota mosquitos (extra large) who learned to attack people during very late ice fishing season. They not only sucked their victims dry but stole everything the people had with them. These were later put into various plastic containers labeled "The Minnesota Collection," and sold to fund the Lake District "Young Larvae Home." The organization went out of business after the last hard freeze.

Well....I suspect the core difficulty with "...keep it "in the spirit of Christmas..." is that your offer was made on Arbor Day.

Also: "MA-SHOPS offers one million coins." Did they quote a price for the entire lot?

So long as you're happy, that's what's important.

Acetone is an organic solvent. If something stuck to a coin is not organic, acetone will do nothing. Be sure to use ONLY pure USP acetone in a well ventilated place. Do not smoke, vape, light flares, or BBQ near the stuff.

Common "cleaning" alters the surface, and that can never be reversed.

The technology and proper usage of an ERF are way beyond the ability of most owners without professional training on calibration, use and limitations. Accurate results require a depth of knowledge and experience within controlled laboratory conditions that is not found among coin collectors or collector-oriented businesses.

As Sandon mentioned....Knowledge and your brain are the best common defense.

The proportions of coin weights to alloy density (as posted) should be the same, but they are not. Also, as mentioned above XRF cannot give bulk composition for plated materials.

On 5/17/2024 at 2:39 PM, Henri Charriere said:

@RWB : While my reply may suggest political and religious overtones, the ONLY point I wish to make is:  there are two (and sometimes many more) sides to every story.  I am going to set forth some indisputable facts which I would appreciate your reviewing, followed by a single question and references (which if posted, or moved to "Unsolicited comments," will appear tomorrow, after you, and our armchair historians have had a chance to view it).

● He ordered an attack in 1946 on British military and administrative personnel headquartered at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, Mandatory Palestine which resulted in the destruction of the building's southern wing and the deaths of 91 people, mostly British, Arabs and Jews, soldiers -- and 3 policemen; (46 people were injured.)

●  His face appears on a 1940 prison mugshot I believe taken in Russia; he was born in Belarus.

●  The Palestine Police Force placed him FIRST on its Most Wanted Men list, along with nine others being sought. Throughout the period of unrest, the British MI-5 placed a "dead or alive" bounty of £10,000 on his head.

●  During the 1950's, he was banned from entering the U.K. as the British Government regarded him as "leader of a the terrorist organization -----."

There is much much more but this will suffice and I do not wish to take advantage of Moderation's hospitality.

MY ONLY QUESTION IS:  WHO WAS THIS MAN?

Donald Trump?   Naw -- the mug shot would have been with Stalin....

If you refer to the real Farran Zerbe, better go back and learn some more about the slimy Zerbe -- there are good reasons ANA pulled his name from their "top" award. Treasury people privately blasted him as untrustworthy and a "screw-up" (my words) for ruining the PPIE coin and medal program. The beat goes on.... " Read RAC 1909-1915 for some of the letters before you spout off.

This excerpt, written May 1, 1915 by director Robert Woolley, explains in part why our modern coin design and creation information is so poor. The recipient was the slimy Farran Zerbe.

[RG104 E-235 Vol 409]

On 5/16/2024 at 1:06 AM, Just Bob said:

Click here for a link to a SP61 piece that was sold by Stacks  

Use of the word "Specimen" on the slab insert is specious and not explained or justified. The variations in tone are a result of common "antiquing" applied to most medals of that era.

PS: John Brown and company did not have a "fort." They captured the US Armory and Arsenal, and the Rifle Works.

Here's what happened.

https://www.nps.gov/articles/john-browns-raid.htm

On 5/16/2024 at 10:46 AM, numisport said:

However I'm not so concerned with die varieties, more so what original skin should look like on higher grade circulated pieces.

Your best available analog is the standard silver dollar. Planchets received identical treatment before striking including the "whitening" process which removed part of the copper from the planchet surface. There is no great reserve of pristine Trade dollars. The U.S. Mint Bureau melted all it had for recoinage into subsidiary silver pieces.

Chemical replacements for cyanide (i.e., thiosulfates) in bulk leaching have made passive extraction from certain tailings and low grade ores practical. (Several of the popular TV gold mining shows have mentioned this but it's not a dramatic or visually interesting process.)

Silver medal for the 18th shooting festival in Heidelberg, Germany July 14-21, 1901. The obverse has a portrait of Grand Duke Friedrich I von Baden (1826–1907). Your medal is worn and has noticeable edge damage.

The change in gold price to $35/oz stimulated an even greater surge in mining, including mines that were only marginal before 1934. The present open market price has had a similar effect although it is spread over a decade or more.

Here is the Medal Dept. Cuban proof coin records.

Well, the "hua-ha-ha-ha" part is appropriate.

Fortunately, this was one of several large collections that survived the Nazi occupation. Records of the Tripartite Commission list several private collections that did not make it through intact.