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RWB

Member: Seasoned Veteran
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Everything posted by RWB

  1. Please....burn, mutilate, destroy, or otherwise get ride of "your app." The dime is just damaged,
  2. Not "probably" but "definitely" fake.
  3. Based on prior experience, the coins resemble what could be found in circulation or by getting coins at a bank during the 1950s. All appear circulated to some extent and have not been cleaned or polished. As others suggested, there might be a few with sufficient value to justify "grading," so post good photos of both sides of the 1892 and other dates members request. They will help you with direct, honest information....Then you can decide what to do. At present, most of the coins are worth silver value plus a little more ($25.16 x 0.77 = $19.37) for the better condition coins.
  4. Suggestion to improve TPG and other results. Simple scientific method approach: 1. Statement of present situation. 2. Research data with citations and quotations supporting the argument. 3. Analysis of the data. 4. Summary and Conclusions. 5. Proposal, Recommendation; Acceptance or Refutation.
  5. "Pulled" as in "taken directly from the press immediately after striking; pushed, pulled, shoved or bullied around, but plucked by gloved hand off the lower die bby someone willing to risk losing a finger or two." An old toggle press can be run at any speed and produces the same force regardless. A few manual turns of the flywheel would have satisfied Louis Comparette.
  6. Member "leeg" can answer your questions about the coin. He has possibly the best info on classic commems anywhere.
  7. No "Special Mint Sets" were made in 1964. Hence, there can be no such coins. Pieces being mis-described in that way are early strikes off new dies -- something that happened hundreds of times in 1964 and every other year. The accompanying tall tales would be worthy of Mark Twain, if they weren't accompanied by greed and ignorance well beyond anything in "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County."
  8. RE: "FINALLY FOUND ME ONE 1958 DDO I LIKE TO SEE ANYONE TEL ME I AM WRING [ sic, 'wrong' ]THIS TIME PERSEVERANCE PAYS OFF" Absolutely not a doubled die. Keep searching, though. When you find one that exactly matches the photo Sandon posted, you can crow day and night.
  9. The pictured coin was not struck on a medal press, was not sandblasted at the Philadelphia Mint, has probably never been in Philadelphia, and could not tell a Philly cheese-steak from a Boston barnacle.
  10. What one "wants" and what one "receives" might not be identical.
  11. So is there any consensus between "unblemished as it was struck," and "perfect in every way" ? The first (Sheldon) is a practical definition, and the second is a Divine intervention.
  12. Pioneer gold imitations made using copy dies. 1908 DE from the "Wells Fargone" hoard.
  13. That would be interesting if the grades were reliable. But TPGs have slipped grades downhill so much that if the Label says "Mint State 62" the coin might really be AU or even EF for wear. There are too many examples of this to make these "grade" labels meaningful opinions. The market can show us meaningful value only if buyer and seller are knowledgeable enough to make informed decisions.
  14. Here's a photo of kegs being loaded on a wagon for transport from a New York bank to a ship. The bank assumed the expense of making and packing kegs, transfer to a ship, loading, and insurance. The men wearing white straw hats (back right, front right) are Pinkerton guards.
  15. However, this is something we cannot know, unless a complete census is taken. That is an extremely rare situation. I agree with Kurt's comment. Also the TPGs have failed to be "neutral, 3rd party arbiters" as shown by grade inflation, inconsistency, attribution irregularities, incomplete data release, and other factors. Except for catching most counterfeits submitted to them, nothing has really improved since they started operation....well prices for coins have been inflated by fee recovery. Registry participants are only a small subset of collectors and collections.
  16. Authentication company populations are not reliable single sources. Among many biases, they do not state the total number of each piece submitted -- only how many were authenticated.
  17. Nope. It must look exactly like the image posted on another thread.
  18. You raise some excellent and practical points. However, it is not as difficult as you suggest. Once done, only basic maintenance is required. Each operation is confined to a separate enclosure. The coining room is the only place difficult to control, so ISO Level 4 or 5 might be the best that can be expected - once cleaned, surfaces sealed, and air flow is controlled a vacuum flush would be done each day. Struck coins go immediately under filtered compressed air onto protective carriers. The real "clean room" (level; 2, >100 μm per meter^2) is packaging which can be done in small vacuum chambers, with renewable sealed surfaces, decontamination of holders and robotic handling (as is currently done at West Point). [Multiple small chambers allow quick isolation of Q/A problems and also electrostatic environment cleaning with minimal investment.] I also recommend dry nitrogen sealed inside the capsules, if possible. Notice that I omitted inspection. That comes after encapsulation. It is more efficient and much easier to maintain cleanliness if exposure time is minimized and transfers from one operation to another are minimized until the coin is safely under seal. Industry already uses surface imaging to detect contamination on surfaces, so this is a current technology, and not overly expensive. This is not really a human occupied clean room, so there is limited access, minimal open space. In a TPG, the original gov capsule should not be opened, but inspected for coin condition, then inserted in the company's holder. This completely avoids the chance of TPG contamination, and clearly points to the place of manufacture if any problems occur in the future. Now this means a few bean counters will go hungry. But most of the cost is up front capital. Maintenance need not be costly, if it is well designed and integrated into the business workflow from the beginning.