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W.K.F.

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Journal Entries posted by W.K.F.

  1. W.K.F.
    The New Orleans Ten Dollar Libertys
    Which is the only Branch Mint Gold I can afford...Greetings Collectors,It has been a while since my last post but I have been keeping myself quite busy trying to single out beautiful examples of my my latest favorite coin series. The $10 Liberty Gold from New Orleans.With the four examples pictured below, I now have all the O-Mint tens for the 20th century and all but two of the New Orleans tens from the 1890s. I have found through a great dealer friend of mine the last two coins from 1890 through the last O-Minted ten from the 20th century which is the 1906-O. I have an absolutely gorgeous 1892-O and 1894-O that my dealer friend and I are trying to come to terms on. He would like to do a trade for these two coins, for one of my other gold $20 Libertys. I may have to do it that way since my funds for coins, have taken a huge hit with the procurement of the four coins pictured below.I have some Saint Gaudens $20 gold that are not one of my favorite series in pre-1933 gold, which include the 1908 No Motto in MS-63, a 1909-S in MS-64, a 1914-D in MS-64 and lastly a 1915-S in MS-62. These four coins, along with my other Indian Gold would be pieces I would definitely trade for scarce date $10 Liberty Gold. Like I have said, the O-Mint Tens are my favorite, but there are a bunch of P-Mint and S-Mint Tens I would like to own also.Anyway I am going to try for an award for best presented $10 Liberty Gold coins for maybe this year or possibly next year. These $10 gold coins minted up until 1907 are now my most favorite coin series on the planet. They have replaced my other most favorite coin series which was the Franklin Half Dollar series. And even though these gold tens are more important now than any other coins that I collect, I still love my Franklin Half Dollars in Mint State and Proof. But with gold being much cheaper now by $500 or so, and silver is still one of my stalwart acquisitions when I can pick up a mint roll of Franklins that I do not currently have, due to the hit silver has taken. So maybe in the next ten years, I will have one roll of 20-Uncirculated Franklin Halves in the years I do not have at present. Right now I only have 16 dates in Unc. Mint rolls of the total of 35 rolls needed to complete the entire set. And there are several dates that are well north of $1,000 each. Needless to say this is a task I may or may not ever complete. But I will continue to try as on some occasions one can snag a deal on a pristine roll for a half-way decent price.But that silver series is one that will always take a back seat to these 1/2 OZ Gold $Tens that I have fallen in love with. But having said that, I still love the Franklin Half and I feel that the series in general is a very Under-Valued group of coins.I am trying to keep up with all the great journals all of you have been writing. I think back when I would write sometimes 3-5 a week. Due to time constraints, those days are over. But I will try to pick up my pace of writing of late. That is if something interesting crosses my mind. I think of all of you often and wish the very best to each and every one of you. And I also pray that you are successful in getting that certain coin that has thus far eluded you. All the best to you and yours in the coming Holiday Season and beyond.Happy Collecting!WKF
  2. W.K.F.
    But they also can be a Double Edged sword. Your odds are much better if you know the series in question very well. But that may not save you...
    Greetings Collectors,
     
    I have been playing the crack out game for some 8-10 years now and have been overwhelmed with joy AND I have been so pissed, I swore that I would never ever do it again. To those of you beginning collectors, it is not a game I would advise gambling on. But if you are very alert to what grade a particular coin should have, and you spot one that in your very strong opinion has two points or better left on the graders table, the rewards can be huge. A collector here posted about his Gold U.S. Grant that went from MS-65 to a very worthy MS-66, gave me the idea of doing this post. I am just sorry it is so long. Maybe it will be interesting to some. I hope so. Maybe I can either help save or help make a collector or two some pesos.
    But again, on the subject of cracking out coins I have been so sure on several occasions, and at least one large submission, and was just positive I was going to strike it rich, but instead, was burned at the stake on five gold coins out of the group, with three coins coming back Improperly Cleaned after all I did was spot grossly under-graded coins, cracked them out of their slabs and then sent them back in. I did not clean the coins and they showed no evidence of being cleaned, yet they (3) came back in purple slabs, while one jumped one notch and the last one remained the same. Two of those five had been in old NGC holders and three had been in PCGS OGH.
    But I will not go into any more detail on that submission because it still rubs me raw. On a really good note I have found an almost fool-proof way of re-submitting coins like that which have now passed and gone up several grades by using a simple method which I may or may not share in a future post. (Not sure who at NGC reads these posts) And I do hardly anything to the coins re-submitted. But I will say that it matters not who graded the coins first off initially. 90% is based on spotting slabbed coins that either the grader was working late in the day or was very tired, or maybe just broke up with his or her boyfriend or girlfriend. Maybe they were ill and should not have even been at work at all that particular day. It could be a myriad of things that caused the under-grades. But bottom line, one could actually make a living hitting every coin show they can and have a vast knowledge of that certain series of coin.
    But again I warn those of you that do not have that vast knowledge of a certain coin series, you can literally be burned to the ground if we are talking many thousands of dollars obtaining those pieces you think are under graded. So please be careful as this type collecting is not for the faint of heart.
    My record stands at just shy of 85% on getting an up-grade of at least one grade up. And I have had the fortune of getting an AU-53 to re-grade to an MS62. And this was a 1910 $5 gold Indian that I purchased sitting in a PCI slab about 7 years ago. Actually I thought I had an outside chance at a MS-63, but a 5-point pop is not only fine with me, but it was my largest jump to date. But the most success has been with PCGS-OGH and obscure 3rd party graders.
    In one of my previous posts I mentioned I was concentrating on $10 New Orleans gold Liberties. The Liberty Gold series in all denominations is one I would like to think I know well. And I was astounded to be lucky enough to purchase an 1881-O $10 in a PCGS Old Green Holder graded VF-35 (OGH for those of you that do not know what OGH stands for). This coin was right at $1,000 and has a total mintage that is much lower than many Carson City (CC) minted $10. Total mintage for the 1881-O is 8,350 coins of which NGC has only graded a total of 162 total coins in all grades. This OGH VF-35 that is pictured below was cracked out and made the grade of a very worthy AU-50. I will be posting close up shots of just the coin after this journal, but I wanted to show you all the insert along with another gold $5 that use to be in an AU-50 OGH that I cracked out some years ago and as you can see the first try came back listing an obverse scratch that was as tiny a scratch as I have ever seen on a soft gold coin 121 years old. Anyway in this latest submission with the 1881-O my 1892-S five came back on its second submission a full 3-points higher to a nice AU-58.
    Now the 92-S $5 is not a rare coin by any means but it closed another notch in my 1892 mint set I have been working on but not very hard for a few years now. But what really got my blood pumping was seeing that 1881-O jump like it did. In my opinion the 1892-S should have only made AU-55. But the 81-O ten I thought had a real good chance of making AU-53 or even AU-55. This will definitely be a coin I will try and get a CAC sticker attached to. It is that nice. And as much as I think NGC left at least one grade on the table if not two grades, this coin will stay right where it is, in an AU-50 holder. Being greedy is something I do not advise being.
    But in summary the 1881-O at NGC has a total mintage of 8,350 coins and only 162 total coins graded in all grades with 103 graded higher than the #26 graded AU-50. In mint state the count is as follows: #8 in MS-60, #5 in MS-61 None in MS-62 and lastly, a single coin graded in MS-63. Not a bad day at the office. Sure wish they could all go this well, because with me in the past, they sure have not.
    Happy Collecting to All!
    WKF

  3. W.K.F.
    Wow it really sucks to start to feel old...
    Greetings Collectors,
    In my last two posts I spoke of the New Orleans mint $10 Liberty set I have been working on for some time. For the life of me I do not remember posting the photos of the last 3-4 O-mint coins I have acquired. But I had some spare time today which for me is a pleasant change from where my life has traveled since late 2010 to early 2011.
    Anyway I found that I had already posted all of those coins but one that are currently slabbed, which the one posted here is the last slabbed ten that was not inside my set here at the C.S. So I am sharing this coin, that is a pretty low mintage piece that looks much nicer than the poor photos that I am able to take.
    But getting back to my point of getting older, this is just one of the sad things that happens to one, which is the mind and the memory. But in most all other things my memory seems to be just as sharp. But this brain snafu has me worried that it could be a sign of things to come. I do know that there is a multitude of Franklin halves I have never posted, just because I feel I have enough posted already. So the only two of those will be posted in a future journal, because of them being somewhat rare die varieties that have been hiding among my sets. so while I was doing almost nothing in my life except sinking further down into despair, I began to look closely at several of my nicer pieces and found at least one fairly worthy surprise.
    I have an MS-66 1953-S NGC non-FBL coin that ended up being a Bugs Bunny FS-401 which if it will cross to PCGS as a 66 I have been told it would be one of the three top pop coins of that variety. This was actually not found by me, but by another collector of the Franklin series that knows varieties like the back of his hand. He also said that it has the faint hint of being an RPM S/D which adds to the coin even more. But having that very brilliant MS-66 along with it being a for sure Bugs is quite the coup. I have the coin posted here and while that variety does not have the buck teeth of the 1955 Bugs Bunny, it most definitely has the separation and break above the upper lip of Ben which is the tell tale sign and the deciding factor. It is too bad that NGC does not recognize that particular variety, but only PCGS. I still have not received an answer as to why that is. But oh well, an MS-66 Bugs in a PCGS slab, if it will cross, would make me one of three on record to have one, which is quite alright with me. Even though I like NGC much better when it comes to the Franklin half series, I will be happy to settle for a PCGS of that variety if it will remain an MS-66.
    Well as usual I have rambled much too long so I will close leaving you a pic of the only slabbed $10 that has yet to be posted. I am kinda glad as now I have only one right now that will need to be cropped, edited, re-sized and posted. Now I will get to that chore of adding a photo of the obverse and reverse to that hole in my set.
    Happy Collecting to all
    WKF

  4. W.K.F.

    1906-O Eagle

    By W.K.F.,

    My Latest Addiction Has Been New Orleans $10 Gold
    Greetings Collectors,
     
    Over the last 18-24 months the $10 Liberty has been the focus of my collecting, along with a nice Franklin Half when a worthy one comes along. In gold I have picked up a total of seven from the New Orleans mint. I think the last time I entered a coin was a $10 Liberty, but it wasn't from N.O. but was just a couple posts ago and it was an 1905-S.
    I'm unsure if other collectors go on a tear with one series for a while, then change gears and go into another series with a vengeance. But that is the way I have always been. Don't get me wrong. I have my favorites which in silver is the Franklin Half in business strikes. But I have been all over the place with several other series of coin sets. Gold has always been a favorite of mine but since the $20 Liberty gold is priced out of my range, the ten dollar gold has been my favorite replacement series.
    I think that at last count I am at #15 now. 13 slabbed and two being sent off as soon as my welcome package arrives. I am very excited to see what the grades will end up being on the two I am sending off, after they return. I, as I am sure many of you have been, very disappointed at times with the grades assigned on certain past submissions. But we get what we get and that is what we have to work with unfortunately.
    So anyway I am going to share just the O-mint coins one at a time that I have at present, which I think you all may have seen a couple out of the six I have slabbed. I have the 1881-O that has been cracked out because the grade was so ridiculously low, I'm almost sure the VF-30 will come back in high XF or maybe even a low to middle AU. It's one of the coins I am going to use my 5-coin coupon on. Several of these tens are of very low mintage's and populations which is pleasing considering what the prices were. I feel very blessed to have acquired them for what I paid considering their rarity.
    Anyway this is a nice 1906-O that has very clean surfaces and as soon as I reduce the file size I will enter it into my set of other "tens". The eye appeal of this 06-O looks far nicer than the grade assigned IMO.
    As always I wish all the best to all of you and I can hardly count all the messages I have received from very dear friends, along with notes from new friends as well. Thank you all very much. The silver to gold ratio this evening stands at 64.766 to 1.
    Happy Collecting,
    WKF

  5. W.K.F.
    What makes one hesitate?? For me, it's the "fear of the unknown". Even when I feel very strongly I'm certain of something, I still tend to hesitate. In the past this has been both a blessing and a curse. More actually of the former rather of the latter.
    Greetings Collectors of Coins, Silver & Gold,
    There is always opportunity around for whoever has the appetite for the research and homework it requires to take advantage of the said opportunity. I've loved coin collecting forever, or so it seems. Somewhere in the middle to late 1980's I fell in love with buying coins made from the most precious of the precious metals (at least in my book, the only two metals I call precious are gold & silver. In that order) I remember buying 8-12 20 franc gold coins around this time for a little over $50 each. None were graded and I probably could have paid a little less had I shopped around but these were handy and I had bought from this "Coin World" dealer several times before and all were nice trades. I remember these same gold coins from Europe continuing to inch upward in price to where they were touching on $100 each on their almost 1/5th of an ounce of pure gold in each one. I think that seeing that add continue to change almost weekly to a figure just a wee bit higher than the week before, had more to do with opening up my eyes to what could be accomplished financially by continuing to acquire precious metals in not only specific coins but just loading up on the metal itself. Then came the ridicule and the chastisement to the point I quit sharing when I got a new piece or two for the collection. (this going "underground" may have been the single best thing I did besides the actual purchases. Not a sole knew what I had. And that still holds true today.
    You guys here know more about what I may have than anyone who knows me and sometimes I think I maybe share a little too much, but oh well. It just seems that I have always felt I had an inside track to what should be bought and when and for how much. When I can, I have always followed these feelings and haven't been let down yet. Just wish the economy in general was better so that when an opportunity like has presented itself over the weekend and the latter part of last week, I had more of the funds to adequately take advantage of the market at hand. But all I do is what I've always done. And that's to buy just as much as I can at prices that I feel are good and just let the market run its course.
    It's a great buying opportunity for silver right now, one that I don't believe will come again with this much of a correction. There will be others (corrections) but no more 20-25% ones. My 1st buy after this correction began at $44-$45. I didn't have a huge chunk of money so out of the three buys I've made thus far, that 1st one totals about 20% of the total money spent in the last 8-10 days. The second chunk of $$ I bought is what you see pictured here below at what I just knew was the bottom, which was $40.12 But no, it continued lower and I made an equal to the below buy at just off the lows and got in for the 3rd and final chunk at $35.84 Now silver is at almost $38 and the ratio has fallen again to below 40 to 1 and I sure wish I could buy more as I know that this is just a golden (or should I say silver) opportunity to make some easy money for the future. I've never borrowed any money to fuel my addictions except an occasional Amex buy that was paid back in 30 days. But Friday I sold some stock that had done real good and would probably continued to do well, but it's just I know silver will do better. As soon as the three days it takes to settle, I'm dumping that, my final 4th chunk into more "low premium over spot" silver. My latest fetish and one that is still going strong is the allure of the big Ike 40% silver dollars in proof & mint-state. I now have about three hundred blue Ike's and maybe half as many of the proof brown Ike's along with a potpourri of other OGP silver mint products. I always try to stay balanced and diversified and would like to think I have that down pat. It's just I want to push that 20% in metals figure higher to as much as 30-35%. But never having been hurt in any of the other bubbles in the past, I am one to hardly ever follow the crowd or a trend, I'm not about to start now by being greedy in this silver thing. At my latest balance inquiry metals and coins were at 22.8%, this up from 15% in just a few months ago in January. Now I've made some money on paper, actually have done quite well but I know just how fast your money can evaporate if you're not paying close attention to just where it's at. So while a large part of me wants to just sell everything but my coins and my metals and dump all the rest of the funds into more silver & gold & coins, I'm going to resist the urge to do so. This is where greed can take over and cause you to make a horrific mistake. It is so hard for me to try and remain "un-greedy" when I'm quite sure there is a marvelous opportunity at hand.
    But definitely, good luck to all of you out there no matter how you are dealing with this so called incredible buying opportunity. There is definitely some money to be made in short order for those with large gonads. In my opinion, the next 18-36 months may be the best 2-3 years in all the years I've been investing in anything. And believe me, that's saying a lot. And if things pan out like I believe they will, I think I'm gonna cash in my chips and watch the ride from the sidelines sometime within the next 3 years. I want to go back to traveling and I have several adventure trips planned, but am just waiting for the opportune time to make my move. All I can say is that it will come at a time when hardly anyone else will be selling. Just like I really don't think many of you are taking advantage and buying today (damn, I hope you are) many of you want to make sure the slide is over and most will start to trickle back into the market as silver reaches $41-$42, or even as high as $45. And that's sad because of the money left on the table that could have been yours. I will always own a few special coins to leave to the kids, but to continue to have all that I do, well, I just don't want to leave the decision to someone else as far as when the best time, and to whom, to liquidate to.
    But to each his or her own. Good luck again to all of you and Happy Collecting/Investing!
    WKF
    Silver to gold ratio is 39.989

  6. W.K.F.
    anyone else who is interested.
    Greetings Collectors & Friends
    While I have had to sell some of my beloved 999 bars off, I still have a couple. But even though I think that in 3-5 years all of us will look back and remember when silver went to $49+ and backed off to $28 and change. I did sell some furniture and put half towards the bills (which just keep right on coming every month, even though I don't have but a single credit card and it's an American Express used only for an emergency which so far I've refrained from having. It's amazing how much one can save by just being aware of what can be done to cut down on bills. For example, my electric bill went from $204 to less than $60 for this last month I paid a few days ago. I cut off most of my coin publications from the 5 I use to have down to one. Which is Numismatic News. My good buddy who I got into silver when it was just in the high $20's got a subscription to Coin World so if I was to need something from Amos Advantage Coin supplies, I have a connection through Jeff.
    Boy oh boy did I create a monster in him. In less than 5 months he has purchased a gem BU roll of all 35 dates of the Franklin series except the 49-S and the 52-S which those he has been buying BU singles that he needs 3 more of the 1949-S coins and 2 more of the 1952-S examples and he will be done. He did this and will have about $1,000 in the roll of 49-S's which when I have seen full rolls of this date for sale, the buy it now price is over $2,000 and every time one comes up for that price, it sells very quickly. The 52-S coins are not quite as high in price, but according to Jeff, they are harder to find. As most of you remember, I was going to try and get a roll of each date in that, my favorite coin series, but after seeing how hard Jeff worked in putting his 35 20-coin roll set together and him with pretty deep pockets, I'm stuck at 14 of the 35 and that is as far as I will ever get unless a good job comes my way.
    And of course after I sold him about 5 of my not so scarce old pour silver bars, he has morphed into another monster with the buying of old pour silver bars. Now he has gone crazy with them and is buying 2-6 bars a week. I fondly remember those days, and it was quite fun while it lasted. But all of this I've talked about is just "stuff" and stuff is not what's important in this world. God, family and last but definitely not least, friends are the things that are the most important. And in that order too. Really nothing else matters. Good health is nice, but not as important as those three things I just mentioned.
    Anyway Rick as of right now at Apmex.com Gold is at $1677.50 and silver is at $33.04 which pegs the silver to gold ratio at 50.771 which again for those of you with some spare money, this prolonged silver price that has been between $32 and $35 is a gift from God. The market is being manipulated and when that ceases, which it will, silver will still make $200 per ounce before your kids that are in early Elementary school graduate from high school.
    Good luck to all of you all and remember to save every penny you can as you never know when you're really going to need it. Had I not lived that way all my life, I would at best, be living in a tent in the woods or in a homeless shelter, worrying about whether a "WALKER" will get me (and I don't mean a Walker half either). Wow next to coins, "The Walking Dead" rules! Speaking of Rick, "you go man"! You're a leader!
    I wish the best of every thing to each and every one of you. Each and every one of you deserve it. Here is a pic of a few nice bars I use to own. Just a couple left from this group, but I am still so thankful to have enjoyed that ride, and feel so very blessed to have that which I still have. I'm gonna keep on looking and I'm gonna keep on fighting and see if what my ex said about me, is true. I pray that it is. Take care and Happy Collecting to all you dear friends!
    WKF

  7. W.K.F.
    I have met quite a few people down through the years, but none of these "so called" friends come close to the friendships I have developed here at the C.S. There are several of you that I consider being in my top 5 of all time "best friends".
    Greetings Collectors,
    My last journal entry was on June 7th 2011 and wow it doesn't seem like it was that long ago. It was a posting of a coin I bought at the annual Jacksonville Coin show that has always been the last weekend in May. I plan on attending this year as admission is still free, although I'm not a member of the Jacksonville Coin Club anymore. I still know all those guys and it will be good to lay an eyeball on all of them again. I'm sure there will be questions as to where I've been but several of the guys already know my situation and know that I have had to tighten my belt considerably over the last year. Many of them I'm sure are just as bad off, if not worse.
    I have been up many times in my life and I have been down many times as well. And I am fully aware of the old saying that "It's always the darkest just before the dawn". But as my ex-wife who has not been the least bit concerned, and to hear her say her normal thing, quote, unquote. "Kerry you're a survivor"! I've seen you down before and I have seen you battle back and replace all that had been lost and be in actually a better situation, than you were before several times, and have heard of many other times when you have done the same thing. But she has never really known the whole truth as I never wanted to burden her with all the morbid details. Besides all that would do is cause undue stress on her.
    The purpose of this post is to thank Mike (Moondoggy) for his post and his gift, Kent for his purchases, his gift and several personal phone calls. Also gifts from not only Mike Moondoggy, but Gary (Gherrmann) and Don (Amarillo) and again Kent's generous gift. And just Friday I got a note and a gift from Jack R. Thank you all again "VERY MUCH" I'm sure that there are many of you that would take one look at my numerous sets and say to yourself, how on God's green earth can someone feel sorry for the likes of WKF? Well for my many friends that actually like me and for those of you that I have rubbed the wrong way, I would like to to say first off please forgive me for any of the posts that I wrote, that offended anyone. You will never hear such controversial talk coming from me, ever again. On that you have my word.
    And on the sets that I have, and the coins in those sets that I use to have, please know that I quit adding coins to any sets for the most part well over a year ago and that probably well over 50% of that which you see listed, I no longer own, but have just been so busy looking for work or a regular job, I saw no reason to spend the hours it would take to go through all of my sets and then cross reference all of my sales to delete all of that which I no longer have. Points as far as I'm concerned, and I have written on the subject many times are still way outta whack compared to true rarity of other coins that garner many less points. And as far as points go, I'll probably never add another point to my overall. Every coin that I have sold that has had a request to be removed from my sets, I have gladly and quickly done so. I have also removed all of my Walker Halves from the PCGS registry along with every Franklin half dollar from there as well. Those that have been sold and those I still own.
    The only PCGS coins I still own and have listed at PCGS are the Mercury dimes that I was working on a middle set (1934 through 1945) that were all housed in the very old 1st generation Rattler holders which take me back to the first day I ever bought a slabbed coin. The story about those coins if anyone is interested is in my Mercury Rattler Set here. I don't think I have a coin in that set that is worth more than a dollar or two north of $50 and there are many that $30 retail is closer to the true value.
    I hope to one day be back on top again, but thus far so much damage has been done to the sets or I should say the pieces of sets that I still own, the sun is setting on my collecting career and getting health ins and keeping the lights on without a complete liquidation, is foremost on my mind, and not the adding or the filling of more holes in sets that have for the most part been decimated.
    I will say this, in that I have not had to touch my beloved Franklin #1 set or the Mercury dime set I just mentioned, as I still have some coins I can still sell before that dreaded day comes. Maybe I will get lucky and land a job with a large company, with good health insurance, that I can live out my life comfortably with, and possibly get to the point I can add a coin or two here and there. That little inexpensive Mercury Dime Rattler set in 65 or 66 full bands is a doable goal sometime in the not too distant future. At least that is my goal, and is one that does not seem insurmountable.
    I want to wish the best of everything to all of you and hope that those of you that have good jobs will be able to keep them. and never take that security that those jobs give for granted. I also want to wish, or I should say "pray" that for those of you that as things continue to look bleak, will find a massive set of blessings just around the next corner. There are so many others out there that have it so much worse than I.
    And of all things I just wrote about, my number one prayer goes out to Todd Peters who has an 18 year old son who will soon, and may have already been left at that very young age without his father. That whole situation just breaks my heart and brings tears to my eyes every-time I pray and Todd's name comes up in our family prayers. This is an awesome father & son that regardless of the outcome of Todd's health, this family needs our help much, much, more so, than any help I could ever need or wish for. Please let's not forget this family most of all. And one of you were helping him out selling off some coins. Please message me here or email me at wkfine@yahoo.com so that I can take every cent of the spillover that was bestowed on me and turn those funds over to T.Peters. I want to help him/them in any way I can. You that are spearheading that, let me know how I can contribute some mint sets or proof sets to them or to you to sell and then pass the proceeds along to Todd.
    I wish all the best to each and every one of you. Especially the T. Peters family. May Gods grace and his healing power be granted to those that unlike me, those that really need a miracle to happen in their lives. I leave you with one coin I will keep unless my family needs food as it is an early purchase in my collecting journey that means a great deal to me, and I would be hard pressed to sell it until that necessity arrives. A 1956 type two Franklin Proof in 68 Cameo. Happy Collecting to all of you and may God open the windows of Heaven and pour out blessings so great, that you won't be able to gather them all up.
    Sincerely, Kerry aka WKF
    P.S. I was told just lately in the last week or two that I could have always posted to the message boards and was told I should have been able to post journals too with a non paid free membership. But I promise I tried several times to no avail and I tried more than several times to respond to personal messages sent by friends to me here. Again, all to no avail. Now what I'm thinking as I just got off the phone with NGC to get my regular premium membership back that had expir

  8. W.K.F.
    Each year at our annual show I have been able to find a gold coin I could use, and for a price that was right. The raw example below fits the bill on both counts and I feel very fortunate to have acquired it, and to have paid as little as I did for it.
    Greetings Collectors,
    I was going through my raw coins to find at least 5 examples I could send in using my free coupon for the 5 free submissions. I think I have a pretty nice group to submit thus-far. I have picked 5 gold coins and several mint state Franklin halves to be in that group and may find a couple more coins to add before the box is sealed.
    Each year our annual coin show arrives at the last weekend of May and for the last four years now I've been able to find a gold coin that I could really use. (for the prior three years it was a $10 eagle I was able to get) The coin pictured below is the reverse of an 1892-S half eagle that I was able to snag at a price I was very happy with. Total price, $385. I'm not sure if the detail is mint state, but it's damn close. I'm going to guess that it will come back in an AU-58 slab and if I'm lucky, maybe go as high as MS-60-61 Anyway the coin was priced at a point I couldn't pass up. Most of the gold I buy, I tend to try and stick with the pre-1908 "Liberty's". I also try to find top quality coins in the MS-61-62 range. Many times one can find coins of this grade range very solid for the grade and some almost look worthy enough to maybe be a "crack out" candidate for a possible "up-grade". As most of you know, most gold coins really take a huge jump in value beyond the grade of MS-62. I have also found coins that were already sitting in slabs graded AU, but in my opinion felt they should have received a higher grade. These type coins are always nice to have in one's collections. But for the most part, my "crack out" days are a thing of the past, due to having been burned really bad the last time out on such an excursion.
    No matter what the grade, I always go for "solid for the grade" type coins. And it's always been about the coin and not just what the slab says. And in this case, this coin appears very nice and quite attractive. It also shows zero signs of having been cleaned or altered and I believe that without a doubt, it will come back graded "high AU". On a side note, I have several "S" mint gold coins in the $2.50-$10.00 area and without having them in front of me I'm gonna have to go back and check to see if the mint-mark on this pictured example matches others I have. At first glance, the "S" appears to be way further to the left than I remembering others being. Maybe it's nothing, but the one pictured here looks different, to a degree.
    Anyway what ever this coin comes back graded, it will fill one more slot in the 1892 mint set I'm currently working on. I would have liked to have had an MS-62 example but for the almost melt price I paid, this one will work just fine.
    Well summer is upon us and down here in the "sunshine state" the humidity is already sweltering and the rain is scarce. But it's still a great time to be a coin collector, no matter what series you collect. Also I haven't forgotten about the post I promised on rarity comparisons between the Walker & Franklin half and will try to make it my next post in the weeks coming up. Until then,
    Happy Collecting!
    WKF
    Silver to gold ratio is currently at 41.547

  9. W.K.F.
    Many of you may already know this from the series of posts I wrote close to a year ago. It was a 4-part series & it had lots of interesting facts about this type coinage from this time period and why high grade proofs are so scarce in the period between 1950 through the 1960's. If this type coinage interests you in the least, it would definitely be worth your while to go back and read that series of posts. I myself learned a great deal just from writing it.
    Greetings Collectors,
    I did a series of posts about a year ago about proof coinage from this time period and went into great detail about how rare high grade proofs from this time period really are. It was due mainly because of mint employees failure to do his or her job in the many stages of the proof minting process all the way from planchet preparation to the maintenance of the presses and most importantly, the care put forth in the prep and maintenance of the delicate proof dies. During the 1950's proofs were produced exactly the same way they were produced in the 1800's. So many things had to be correctly in place to achieve a cameo finish on both the obverse and reverse. Hardly ever were both dies replaced at the same time thus many coins may have a cameo obverse and a reverse that was well off the mark. I have seen coins that had an "ultra or deep cameo" finish on one side and a flip-side that didn't even rise to the level of cameo, much less "deep cameo". Starting in the 1970's the mint started sandblasting the dies and also started using "chrome plating" of them as well. They also got into the habit of when one die needed to be replaced, they changed out both the obverse and the reverse.
    Here are a couple of 1954's that did rise to the level of "cameo" and even going one further, they are strong cameos on both the obverse & the reverse. Another issue that had a lot to do with the end result quality of proofs from this time period was the way the proof coins were packaged and shipped.
    The two NGC coins pictured are just two examples of the 1,337 in "all grades" graded to date in cameo by NGC. (and this picture here doesn't do justice or show the high degree of cameo contrast that these two coins actually have. they are gorgeous) There are 494 at NGC in proof-67 Cam with only 137 coins graded a single point higher in proof-68 Cam and 3 lone examples that made it to the top pop of proof-69 Cam. While I wouldn't call these two coins rare, they are damn scarce when compared to other "mid 20th century" modern coins and each of these 1954 Franklins garner 633 points in the registry. Less than one year ago before the series was adjusted "points wise" the coins you see here were less than 100 points each. Now they are a little more in line with where they should be in the points category.
    Our annual coin show was this last Memorial day weekend and all I could find for the prices I wanted to pay was more coin silver, a single 10-ounce Engelhard silver bar and last but not least was a very nice raw half eagle dated 1892 from the San Fransisco mint. It will be a lower mint state example filling the slot in the mint set I am working on for that year. I still have my 5-coin coupon and plan on getting a few coins ready to send off. And when I do, this half eagle will definitely be one of the 5 that I submit.
    I hope everyone is taking advantage of the pull back in silver as these low prices will not be here forever. I'm sure everyone has noticed that gold is continuing to move up and is closing in on $1,550. There has been little if any correction in the yellow metal and I continue to like it at these prices.
    I also hope everyone's week is going well and that all of you are closing in on that elusive date that you have been searching for. The current silver to gold ratio is 42.315
    Happy Collecting!
    WKF

  10. W.K.F.
    I have touched on many issues concerning our hobby via journal posts here and there always seems to be just "ONE" person who can't seem to read between the lines and grasp the point at hand. Instead they choose to lash out, not by sending me a private email, but here publicly like they are looking for recognition or applause or something??? Warning this post is long and may contain language that some find offensive. And this will be my last comment on this subject.
    Greetings Collectors,
    I'm sure my recent posts on points will not be my last ones, just like it's been not my 1st on the subject. Others have touched on this subject, many with passion, so I know that the whole subject, rightly or wrongly means a great deal to many here. I have shared several times that when I joined this site back 5 years or so ago, points starting out, were not an issue at all, but just grew into something that I actually became consumed with. Then somewhat like a "flash" similar probably to a rock band who ends up being a known as a "one hit wonder", this whole points thing went from being an adored obsession, to one that I really could care less about. Then the next stage following the dis-interested stage became engulfed with questions as to "what the hell is this all about"???... type attitude.
    I wanted to wait a little while before I responded to the insufficiently_thoughtful_person that seems to be incapable of reading between those proverbial lines. And that is who this post is primarily addressed to. I have always respected every collector here and have never attacked one publicly or privately...FIRST. But in this case just like in most all cases I've experienced during the course of my collecting life, I have tried to put myself into that other person or company's position. I do this not only for another personal perspective, but I really try to go a little further and try to ascertain just what is the actual "mind-set" of the individual now at the heart of whatever controversy was/is at hand. There is a good possibility that BRG has already hit the ignore button that he so graciously and respectfully reminded us all of. (BRG who don't you just hit that tab if you don't want to hear what I have to say) and will be unable to read my response. If that's the case, maybe if he has a friend here, they can share this post with him.
    An average week for me consists of making money to support my children and their education, along with the basics of life, ie food, clothing, shelter, entertainment etc. Once the demands & needs of the family is covered, the vast majority of my free time goes to helping other collectors with their questions and I offer free advice to anyone who is in need of it. Here at the Collectors Society among many other venues. On a slow week it may be only 1 or 2 here at the CS. On a busy week, which has basically been happening for the last 6 months to a year, I am in back and forth contact with as many as 3 or 4 or even 5 different coin collectors just here. The questions asked run the entire spectrum of our hobby. Most deals with issues that the person feels I may have direct knowledge about, but many times there are questions about a coin or a series that I don't feel I'm an expert on by any means, but will always take the time to try and find the answer, or at the very least, try and help the best I can. There are those of you out there that know this to be true. But still this "majority" of the assistance goes to those either new to the hobby and just starting out. And there are many times it's from you that are far from being a newbie or one that is in rookie status. Bottom line is that, without question, other's needs come way before my needs or wants. Coins are pretty much my life and I enjoy doing my posts here. If fact I trust its common knowledge I do these journal posts solely because the "money" is so good". That disclaimer needs to be put out there post haste.
    Now please everyone, try and understand this, you all think about what really started this whole modern coin, points, Sac dollars, Walker vs Franklin thing. It was supposed to be a simple post (or should I say an attempt on a post) on Why I thought that the Collectors Society point totals,... when given in a specific case, this one being "Modern Coins" and the total points assigned to many, most are simply "out of balance" when compared to a truly scarce pre-1965 coin. Or should I say, instead of scarce,... not near as common as maybe a Sac dollar. This was all I tried to say in a nutshell. I would like all that will listen to know, that there exists today, at this moment, a vast majority of the older wiser collectors who see this whole issue of "Modern Coins" as a major scam orchestrated by many to fleece the collecting community much like the major coin collecting TV selling shows do. Not at all unlike people who buy gold from hotel rooms do. This is a problem and one day when people wake up and see how they were led to believe, that what they were doing, was a good thing, FINANCIALLY. These are the same ones who are going to wake up one day and see all their hopes and dreams dashed. Only later realizing that which they obtained is practically worthless. I mean really, all of those that bought the thousands of sets of plated state quarters in gold and platinum really thought the exact opposite that these would never be worth anything?? When they bought, did they think "A", Were the sets gonna stay the same or go down in value?, or "B", Were the sets going to increase in value? All of you know the answer to that. Now they may have thought, I've wanted to collect coins in general for some time. Maybe this gold plated set of state quarters is the way to go, or at least the way to get started. Buuuuuut they really bought 'em to make MONEY TOO. You have to know that deep down they did. How do they feel now? How many future collectors did we lose because of platinum plated state quarters??? You all see them for sale. What are they bringing? All the people that bought these have, are a bunch of defaced coins worth little if anything above face value. Again how do they feel? How would you feel?
    We all have opinions. I'm not gonna just say "we all SHOULD have opinions". We all have them. Period. I have always been one to speak my mind, but have always been able to respecfully disagree with those that shared a different point of view. But by the same token, I'm not gonna let someone take a cheap shot without a come back of some sort. I'm just not. I'm sure there was a guy like me in every one of all your neighborhoods. I was kinda the quiet one (really), not the one in the forefront, but not the one in the farther-est background either. Not a leader or a follower. I was never one to start something, but could always be predicted & counted upon as to just what I would do in any given situation. And never one that would walk away from a confrontation. Ever. I was just the guy that you were very glad that if things got a little dicey, that I was on your side. I am so glad that getting a little older has enabled me to lose some of those entrenched characteristics.
    I just want to say that for the life of me, I can never understand why lately there is always "ONE" who wants to attack me personally. BRG5658 is one of these people who is my latest "run in". And yes he is one that may have got his collecting underwear in a wad due to my statements about points, modern coins and the correlation of this comparison or that. I just happen to think he is one who said to himself, Self, are you just gonna just sit back silently, while this guy trashes your beloved Sacagawea dollars? Your "Number Two" ranked dollars?? I don't think so. I almost feel as if I should follow my daughter and go back to law school just so I don't use what, at the time, I thought to be just a blanket example of a date on a Sac dollar that ended up being one that was possibly "not so common". Again when one is dealing w

  11. W.K.F.
    I didn't even plan on doing the post on points, but once again I was looking to add a coin that I have owned for over a year, and again found that another here still thinks they own it a year later. Then I saw the multiple sets of coins in the modern era that this person owned, so the ownership, the ranking and the points were all thrown into my face all at once. And then in the confusing aftermath I feel that a side bar note in a previous post was taken out of context, which really doesn't bother me as much as the other things mentioned. Soooooo...
    One last time guys,
    I did a post a year or two ago on this points thing and I did my homework and I had the facts and the figures and the pops on several of the key dates in the Walker series to back up 110% of what I said. I then compared the dates to dates in the Franklin series as far as total mintage, populations at both NGC & PCGS and the point I was trying to make, actually it made itself. Now when it comes to the Walker series, this so called guru knows about 1/100th of what someone like Jackson or Gilmore knows. In fact I would surmise that Jackson has read and studied and forgot more than the vast majority of collectors of Walker halves will ever know. The date 1941 from San Fransisco is pretty much known as the key date for the short set. When I mentioned this date, I was vaguely remembering that the dates I looked at much more closely a year or two ago had much higher pops. (I forgot the dates of the Walkers I used but the 1938-D was one that comes to mind and I think I had all three coins from 1921 and a few others too) I'm not gonna get into a back and forth about my last couple posts but I would like to think the bottom line of my thoughts were understood and would not be taken out of context.
    The Walker half is by far the more popular of the two half dollar sets in question. It use to be by far, my favorite coin series. It still is in my top five of favorites of all coin series. Actually in my top two of half dollar coin series. I don't portray myself as an expert on anything. Some coins I know more about than others but I'm still a novice when it comes to the Walker series, but I would like to think I know a little more about them than many here. But still there are others that have vastly superior knowledge and Jackson is maybe the top one I know.
    Now I have said before I love an argument (of the friendly sort) as long as it's based on facts. I'm not prepared with the facts right now but I will try and find the time to do the research I did before and give the examples why I think that for the most part, when comparing just the two coins, the Walker & the Franklin. There are numerous examples where a Walker half will have populations in the census of the big two, along with the points assessed to that particular date, that when compared to the dates I had spoken of before in a long ago journal, there was a great degree of difference as to (1) how many were minted, (2) how many exist according to the census of the top two grading services (and I'm very aware of the counts being off due to crack outs and resubmissions from those looking to get the jump from 66 to 67) and lastly (3) the points given out for that perspective coin in that perspective grade. What I found was that there was a huge difference between the Franklin & the Walker half. With the Walker being given higher dollar values, much higher point totals on coins that were not even close in comparison in the rarity dept. I'm not stupid and I do know a coin is worth "X" because of several big reasons. How many survive period, out of a mintage of "X". And in what condition. The collector base of any coin series is huge when calculating value and there are few coins that have the sizable collector base that the Walking Liberty Half has. Now in my last couple posts, I had no data in front of me when I just named the 41-S Walker. It just came to mind because of it being one of the main keys to the short set. I need to go back and re-read that last post just to see how much my "off the cuff" comment was taken out of context concerning that key date in the Walker short set. I will say that the vast majority of the entire Franklin series is by far the rarer coin series between the two half dollar sets.
    What I will do is give a number of examples where coin after coin in the Franklin series have to begin with: (1) lower overall mintage figures. (2) Very few total coins graded compared to the mintage. (3) And of these coins graded, very, very few coins that grade north of MS-65. Bell lines or not taken into consideration, fewer coins across the board in all areas mean just one thing to me, and please tell me I'm not being naive in my thinking here. This spells rarity pure and simple. But for example if there are only 5 collectors and there are six coins, you don't have rarity. There is sufficient coin examples for all. Maybe scarcity, but not true rarity. But collector base aside there is really no comparison as to which series in the rarer of the two, if you want to talk just plain simple census numbers.
    Just so there is no question as to how I think and what is my feelings toward all that has been written about lately. I think every collector should collect exactly what they want to collect. I own hundreds of slabbed modern coins. I own hundreds more that are raw. I use to think differently about the whole modern spectrum. Now I am of the mindset that I wasted a pile of money getting all these mint sets and proof sets and commemorative coins. Am I going to throw them away? Absolutely not. Am I gonna buy more? Well unless they are minted from silver or gold, the answer is "absolutely not" again. My reasons for this mindset have been very clear and I digested many facts on this subject before I came to the conclusion I've come to. The whole point thing is a mute point to me really because I don't care or give a flying flip about how many points I have or don't have. My problem with the whole thing is how far whop-sided the way the points are assessed. That was it. Bottom line. I think Jackson (I think it was Jackson) hit the nail right on the head when he made mention that a great fair way to do the whole point thing, that is for the ones who give a s--- about the points, is to do a point for every dollar in value. The value already has the rarity thing down pat. And to assign points this way is one way that I don't see how it could be improved upon. This way definitely has my vote to do it that way.
    So to summarize: (1) I dislike modern coins. I don't dislike modern coin collectors. I have just come to the realization I have no room for them in my collections. (2) I think the whole point thing is about as screwed up as any one thing can be. (3) IMO the Franklin half dollar in mint state is a far rarer coin than the Walker half series in mint state. (4) We all are collectors here. Some maybe for somewhat different reasons than others. And I have untold amounts of respect for each and every collector here or at the ANA, PNG or anywhere a collector of coins happens to be. I don't hold myself or anyone above anyone else and have always shown respect to a collector of any stripes ranked at the top, or one that is ranked at the bottom. All the same in my book. (5) As I have said before I'll discuss/argue facts with anyone anytime anywhere when challenged. (6) And lastly I don't ever want to be perceived as some high and mighty guru because that I'm definitely not and have never even hinted that I was, EVER. (7) The thing that bothers me the most here at the Collectors Society is those that have coins in their sets they don't own now and may have never owned in the past. Liars & thieves. Not sure which one I dislike more, but those of you that have coins in your sets that you don't own, well, a liar & a thief is exactly what you are. (8) And lastly for the record, silver is still a screaming buy!
    Happy Collecting!
    WKF

  12. W.K.F.
    I guess there's one like me in most every crowd. Believe me when I say I can't stand strife. But I love a good debate as long as both party's agree that facts are key. And that they want to argue their case with facts & not fantasy.
    Greetings Collectors,
    Nothing like a good controversy to take one into the weekend. I have spent most of the entire week raising cash from every available source to put into one pile and to be used to snipe as many silver deals as I have the money and the time to do over the next 72 hours or so. I will also be on the lookout for coins that I have had on my wish/want lists for what seems like eons. I want to thank those of you that wrote me personally who were in agreement with me based on what I said in my previous post. My opinion on the "points" system in general has been all over the page over the last 5 years of being a member here. At 1st the points meant nothing. Then as I would add each additional coin to my sets, I would see my ranking change and for a while, the lure of points began to cloud my collecting & buying judgment. When this aspect reared its ugly head, I viewed "The Points" as the enemy. Once my mind displaced previous thinking that would have me adding a newly purchased coin to my sets just as soon as I could possibly get to it. I mean I would be at Teletrade from 10:01 to sometimes 11 pm, or later, refreshing the "track & bid page" just so that I could see when the word "pending" change to the most beautiful 4 words "you won this lot". Then to quickly add that particular coin to its respected set even before the ink dried on the Pay Pal transaction. I have even added coins that I knew I had won before there was any confirmation of the "win". I actually left two Morgan dollars in my set for a couple days after I found I "DID NOT" win them, just because I felt like I should have (won them). I did however remove the two silver dollars because the other thing that upsets me more than anything is that people who don't own the coins, have them listed in their sets just like one that did own the coins. It was around this time that I was running into instance after instance of buying certain coins, only to find that the person who sold them, didn't want to delete them from his or her set. Then seeing a Sac dollar get 600-800 points while gorgeous proof coins I owned from the early 1950's garner in some cases less than 50 total points. The NGC CS did address the imbalance to the Franklin proof series a year or so later which kinda put out that numismatic forest fire. But the more I delved into more and more purchases, I began to see a pattern I did not like.
    One of my fellow collectors wrote me earlier today or last night after my previous post and said something that made a lot of sense to me. Both NGC & PCGS make a pile of money on grading modern coins. And to pay those back for their devotion, I'm quite certain that the high points are just one of the ways they re-pay those collectors/customers. I've never thought about it that way but it does make a lot of sense. Someone had just mentioned and made the comment as to "what if" they actually used "rarity" and actual census populations as the base for which all points were allocated. Wow! Wouldn't that be refreshing. I think that would be great. My whole "BEEF" in a nutshell has ALWAYS been, I can't for the life of me see, how a coin that costs nearly $2000 is on equal footing with one that's worth $100 And "points wise" that coin is not made from precious metals, and is a coin that was minted 100 years later and lastly is a coin that unlike the older gold coin, this cupro nickel piece has seen tens of thousands graded at the same grade whereas in comparison the older coin is one of 16 in the same grade with 57 graded higher by all grading services. Also lastly, the fmv of the over rated modern piece is one "twentieth" of the other comparison piece. Comparisons like this run rampant across the registry and it is only issues like this that really gets me to screaming, "It's just not right".
    I'm a collector. Have been for many years. Actually I have graduated with many degree's down through the years, studying many different series of coins, some series of coins more so than others, all the while attending the various schools of "hard knocks". I try to always learn from my mis-steps and mis-haps that I run into along the way. But having been a collector for so long, as much as I don't want to admit it, I'm not only a collector, but an investor too. And you may as well throw the title "hoarder" into the mix too. I mean really, what's wrong with the concept of wanting to buy that which will appreciate, while passing on those coins that will not. I love all of my coins. Some more than others. Yes, the modern ones too. I think my reasons for buying the mint issue stuff was originally an admirable one. For about 25 years there, I wanted to have one of each of those mint items to be able to leave one of each to each of my three kids. Of course, I would count myself and the wife in the mix if it was something I needed justification in the buying of FIVE of any said item.
    For the last 10-12 years, hoarding has played a roll in my purchases. What spurts of hoarding I exhibited prior was accidental, but thinking back, it was really the same kind of mindset. If one coin was nice and was worth "X", then two or three would be that much nicer and be worth 2 or 3 "times" "X". I think the term greed has a place in the whole scheme of things and really always has. I just was not that aware of it many years ago.
    As far as the "multiple sets" go, yes I'm guilty of having six different sets in the Franklin MS series and two in the proof. I really think this hardly compares to having 10 or 20 sets of Sac dollars. Half of them or better in MS-69 and the remaining in MS-70. I guess I mean, what is the use of having 15-20 2002 Sac dollars in MS-69? A couple of Franklin dates that come to mind that has been partly responsible for my having multiple sets is the 1955 which is the lowest mintage half of the entire series (this date I own 6 examples in MS-65 FBL & 1 in MS-66 FBL), along with the 1958-D which is probably the most common of all Franklin's in grades north of MS-65 (this date I may own 15-20 different examples of, buttt... only have 6-8 counted in my overall sets thus leaving aside a half dozen examples that if the points were that important, I'd have another 1/2 dozen Franklin sets with just the one coin I have 12 of inserted. Again all different and all having something about the piece that caught my eye and vied for a portion of that particular weeks coin budget. I continue even to this day, with my never ceasing buying of ANY Franklin half that is solid for the grade, just because I know just how scarce and rare these halves really are. Having multiple graded examples of the same date coin has been part of my collecting life for as long as I can remember. Both in the Franklin & the Walker half I originally started the sets with a goal of getting the entire set in MS-64. But this goal was up-graded to wanting the sets in MS-65 and then one last time wanting the best set I could muster by going for "all in" with MS-66's in both of these half dollar sets. So one can see why someone would end up with several different sets to one series. In the Walker halves, I have a short set number one. And for duplicates and upgrades made the need for an additional short set along with a Walker middle set (1934-1947) That's three sets. But every coin entered is not a duplicate, but a separate individual choice coin, that stands alone on its own merits. The numerous Franklin sets, the same thing. Each coin was carefully stu

  13. W.K.F.
    The way points are assessed on any given "Modern" issue coin is for the most part, just friggin ridiculous. These modern coin registry sets are far from what could EVER be considered rare, and don't even come close to the scrutiny of even being considered scarce. While I own quite a bit of these type coins & sets, I classify all of them, with just a few choice exceptions, nothing more than "modern day" garbage. But sadly they're many collectors that don't know that these coins they think so much of, are worth so very little today, and that even after 30-40 years from now, they'll still be pretty much "worthless" cupro nickel trash. I've asked myself this same question many times? Why waste money on worthless junk?? Mark my word, that most of what I say in the following post is dead set on. Collectors are daily wasting literally millions of dollars on "Wishing Fountain" fodder. Some of these coins are not even worthy enough to toss in a wishing well or skipped across a flat calm lake.
    Greetings Collectors,
    My buying habits of the last 18 months or so has caused me to not even enter new coins into already well established sets. And there was a time years ago that I listed 4 different sets of Silver Eagles just so I could take advantage of the extra points I got by listing all 4 of the 1996 date that I had sent into NGC for grading. I had a mint roll of what I thought to all be perfect coins, but went ahead and sent 4 in to assure myself of at least one MS-70. Well, I ended up with all 4 coins grading out at MS-69 each. So I went and added a silver eagle set number 2, a set number 3 & lastly a silver eagle set number 4. The only reason for the added sets, was, you guessed it. "The added points" from having 4 MS-69 1996 silver eagles rather than just the single example. So my total points here at the registry use to be important, but not any more. Whatever formula that is being used now to determine points, is oh so flawed and really needs lots of adjustments so that the points mean a little something when you look at them, wanting to see some kind of reflection as to where the piece stands, when stacked up against its peers. Boy is this present system screwed up, or so that's my strong observation, for whatever it's worth.
    I know many of you love the modern coins. The State quarters, the Sac dollars, the Presidential dollars, the state Park quarters and all of the other abundance of what actually is "modern ". I too use to buy these coins & sets religiously. There are millions and millions of coins minted from 1999 onward that are MS & PF 70 & 69 and NONE OF THEM are rare now. Nor will they ever be considered even remotely scarce. And unless they are the actually 90% silver issues, they won't have ANY value to speak of EVER. As in, for the remainder of time that planet Earth is part of the actual solar system.
    I use to buy one of each of everything the mint put out but no more. I actually quit that type of buying long before silver left single digits and while gold was barely $600 an ounce. The issue that I use more than anything else when it comes to buying coins for my collection is foremost: Do I like the series? "How large was the mintage"? And out of that, just how many are figured to be around today. And in what condition is the majority of the known pieces? Ever how many silver Delaware quarters are out there in MS-70 right now dated 1999 is beside the point as to how many of them could possibly be out there. Thousands & thousands & tens of thousands of 1999-S silver Delaware quarters. I mean, collect what you enjoy, but just know beyond any shadow of doubt, the coin is for all practical purposes, worthless. It is now, and the only thing that's gonna change is that 10 years from now, there will be several hundred thousand other exact examples that will forever be worth very little over the actual melt value of the coin itself (which in most cases the melt is less than the actual face value).
    I have collected coins since the early to mid 1960's with a lull from 1970 up to the late 1980's which is when I came back into collecting with a vengeance. The points assigned to modern coins are so far inflated "off the charts", it's borderline pathetic. I still can't get over a member here that while I won't name his user ID, he knows exactly who he is. I haven't looked for a while but the last time I did look at his collection, he had like 10-20 sets of almost every modern coin set around. Or at least the biggies. Better than a dozen sets of state quarters, in both proof & MS. 15-20 complete sets of Sac dollars. The same with the Presidential dollars, state park quarters and on and on and on. I think he had like well over a thousand coins listed with an average point value of about 100-150 points for each coin from the thousand or so. I mean really, a thousand coins and 99% are less than a dozen years old. I'm not sure what the guy thinks, and I'm not sure exactly what he would like to call himself, but a "Collector" he is sadly NOT.
    I just wrote a long email to NGC to see if I could get them to address the way points are assessed to these modern issues. Even though the points are very close, you just can't park a Sac or Presidential dollar on the same street as a 1899 $10 gold eagle. One is a very scarce to rare coin while the other is a piece of "Copper ". And I'm so sick of all the hype and the lies the mint uses when trying to peddle all of this modern numismatic nonsense. I'm done with the mint because of their greed. They make sometimes billions of pieces of garbage and they won't even distribute the coins nationwide to let those that DO want to collect the coins, a chance of getting a roll or a few of the coins at face value from their local bank. No, they charge $8.95 for a dollars worth of pennies that will never be worth the face value, much less anything north of that. But yet look at the points these modern coins are assigned. There needs to be a serious haircut "points wise" from every state quarter and every modern dollar coin of the last dozen or so years. This actually goes for everything minted after 1964. That was the year the hobby changed from "Coin Collecting" to " Collecting". I know some of you are not at all liking what I'm saying but sadly it's pretty much true. All you have to do is just take any mint issued product like I have mentioned, slabbed or raw, and take them to your local coin shop or a coin show and try and sell what you have, and see what you get. Chances are is that you won't be able to recoup the issue price, much less any appreciation. Now unless you are someone who could care less if whatever you buy ever increases in value, you or your heirs will be sorely disappointed when the time comes for you or someone else to sell and you see just how worthless all of this modern junk really is. I own a lot of these "so called" coins and I know what I'm saying is the "gospel truth". This has to be "hands down" the worst moves I've made in all of my years of coin collecting. I have a mint set and a proof set of every year from 1950 to the mid 2000's and in many of those, I have as many as 4 or 5 of each of those. I wished I knew then just a little of what I know now and I could erase all of those previous bad buys from the U.S. mint. Every rule has its exception and some of those buys ended up being good moves financially (the 1999 silver proof set or the 1996 silver eagles to name just a couple). But only when you think of just the very few that have ended up that way, it has been far from "worth it".
    The letter I wrote to NGC about the "points" specifically was in reference to the point value assigned to a $5 or $10 gold coin from prior to 1933 and the comparing these truly rare or scarce coins to one from the dollar series of the "modern realm". Points for the two are close but the rarity and worth of the gold coin in comparison to the Sac dollar is like comparing apples to goat dung. They just can't be compared. Not now. Not never. And the last two coin series's that are also outta whack in total points given for most any Walker half in comparison to the Franklin half dollar series. There has never been a Franklin half that made the grade of MS-68 FBL And less than a dozen coins total from all years 1948-1963 that have made MS-67 FBL. The 1960-D Franklin has seen the highest coin graded by anyone to date sitting in MS-65 FBL. Not even a lowly MS-66 FBL. None! The highest is

  14. W.K.F.
    I know of no one. I just need to get a handle on the things I do collect...
    Greetings Collectors,
    I've been busy of late as I lost my dad a couple weeks ago and there has been much to do. Even when one knows that old people (or young people) especially one who has been so sick for a couple of years, will not live forever, you're never ready when that day comes. I'm unsure of what the subconscious is thinking when the thoughts of what else can be done to prolong life even when you know the end is nigh and they are probably going to be much better off. I guess it just boils down to not wanting to let them go. My dad was born in 1928 and got to celebrate one last birthday on the 6th of Feb and did so in grand style. We went out to eat at his favorite restaurant and had a couple beers the last time I saw him. I also got to share the instrument pictured here with him ("born" one year before him in 1927) after I had the restoration done. (new calfskin head, new bridge and a lite cleaning)
    This was a piece he had taken in pawn back in the 70's and had given to me just last year. When he and his brother sold the two pawn shops in the early 80's they divided up the last of the items between them. Lots of really neat stuff. This is one of the items my dad ended up with.
    This is a "custom" Ludwig banjo-ukulele that was "top of the line" in its day because of the 24 carat gold plated ornamentation. It was made by the Ludwig company out of Chicago IL in 1927. It sold for $50 new and $12.50 extra for the shaoed velvet lined custom case. This was a huge amount of money back in the day. The other base models of that year were $18.50. Again a fairly large sum of that time. I just wish I knew who had the piece "custom made" for them. If I were to give it a "numismatic" grade, I would say MS-67+.
    I have had the instrument appraised (over the net) by George Gruhn of Gruhn guitars out of Nashville Tn. and in his appraisal he said that "I've never seen a Ludwig banjo-uke with this degree of ornamentation" and he appraised the piece "conservatively" at mid single digit 4-figures.
    Just another collectible to go with all of the rest of my insane collections. Like I really need to start collecting something else. I think that this particular collection will have only one piece in it. I thought it to be a very cool piece and wanted to share it with everyone.
    I hope all is well with you all. I am almost caught up on all of your very interesting journals. I am happy to see that the hobby still has a very strong heartbeat. It's a shame that our own "heartbeats" will one day cease to beat. The silver to gold ratio continues to drop and now sits at 41.388 It was only back in Sept. 2010 that it took 62 ounces of silver to equal one ounce of gold. Now it takes only a little over 41 ounces. FYI silver is still a "screaming" buy.
    Happy Collecting!
    WKF
    Happ

  15. W.K.F.

    What A "Gift"!

    By W.K.F.,

    What a welcomed occurrence. This correction is a gift from God.
    Greetings Collectors,
    I've been waiting on this correction in silver for sometime. It's just not healthy when prices go parabolic like they've been the better part of the last month. I thought the correction had "played out" when it reached a little above $40 so I jumped on a large pile pictured below. Well, neither myself or anyone can call an absolute bottom so I just decided that $40-$41 was my entry point. Well I just jumped again for about the same amount, only this price was $36 and change.Wow do I hate to buy what I think to be the low, only to see the low go down by another almost 10%.
    But I'm glad I did it. Both buys, that is. I wish I could raise some additional money to maybe do one or two more "like-size" groups before prices are in the mid $40's range again. Below I have close to a dozen proof silver eagles in the boxes. Also have a great selection of silver commemorative dollars & halves. Also snagged a bunch more blue & brown Ike's along with 2 dozen older silver proof sets.Of these old proof sets I have 10 that are un-opened. (one 1959 & 9 1960) The other 12 or so older proof sets consisted of a couple dates in the late 1950's and the rest were 1963 & 1964 proof sets. These old proof sets have 85 cents in face value 90% silver and can be had often at spot or even less. Also I would like to think that I am safe to say that if we only knew just how few of these old silver proof sets there really were, because of the vast number that have been broken up/open, spent, and mostly having been melted over the last 30+ years, each of us would grab a hand-full or two to save for the rainy day down the road. I've been told by experts in the hobby that of all the silver proof sets made from 1960-1964, there is less than 1-2% left in their intact govt packaging. Kinda makes one think? Huh?
    So anyway, if you have the extra funds, try to get all the silver you can afford up through the $30's and into the lower to mid $40's. I'm certain that there will be other corrections during the coming months & years, but I don't believe a drop of being practically "cut in half" will ever come again. That is unless, we have another period where silver just continues to shoot skyward. Only if we saw silver go from $35 to $95 in just a few short months, would we see a correction of maybe $20-$30 an ounce haircut, ONLY after another meteoric rise like we have just witnessed over the last 30-45 days. Nothing can continue to keep going straight up without periodic pauses. NOTHING!
    I hope the weekend finds you at your favorite desk or table with a good light and a better pair of "magnifiers" and a table full of coins. And of course all of this accompanied by a large cup of good coffee or depending on the time of day, maybe a nice glass of wine or an ice cold beer. All of the above sound good to me. And that pretty much describes what my weekend will end up looking like.
    Silver to gold ratio has climbed due to the higher percentage sell-off in silver compared to gold, and now stands at 41.854
    Happy Collecting!
    WKF

  16. W.K.F.
    This is something you really ought to check out if the yellow metal interests you in the least. It's a site to behold. Also just fyi, I have listed a couple other good sites that would be of interest to you all in my last couple posts.
    Greetings Collectors & Gold Lovers
    First of all this may be the shortest post in history for me. Just wanted to say that I know this is a "coin collecting" site, but I don't believe there is a person among you that would not be at all interested in someone who is digging up gold in his own back yard. Also when I recommend a site here at the C.S; it's one that I'm fairly confidant 90%+ will learn from and at the very least, find interesting. And will be a site that, most coin collectors can use in some way. The article is not long. Actually much shorter than I would have liked, but still very exciting & interesting. To me anyway. The site again is Wealthwire.com and it was the email that they sent me today. This is a site I would join just to get the informative & interesting emails they send out periodically. It's totally free, and they don't share your email with anyone.
    Also this big nugget is not the only one this guy found. Check it out and see what you think. There is a nice pic of the big boy nugget there right now. Also I followed all of the other links in the article for additional info on the find.
    Below is a coin that has come back twice from NGC as having been improperly cleaned. Once (the 1st time) it was the whole coin. The 2nd time they said just the obverse had been cleaned. So I decided to put the damn thing in a new 14k bezel and wear it. The coin ($20 1905-P) use to sit in an AU-58 older Anacs slab and has details that rival any MS-62's I have at present. In fact it looks almost as good as the 1904 NGC MS-63 I have in one of my current sets. I guess I better go before this ends up being NOT my shortest post. Take care all.
    Happy Collecting & Prospecting
    WKF
    The silver to gold ratio is 33.032 after the much needed 4% correction in silver. Definitely a buying opportunity, of which will come along very rarely. Oh, and also, ain't gold great!

  17. W.K.F.
    You all should add this additional site to your favorites or bookmarks along with Wealthwire.com & Coinflation.com The name of this new one is broad-based and very informative and the name is "The Daily Reckoning".
    Greetings Collectors,
    From time to time I mention other investments that kinda go hand in hand with our hobby/investments of coin collecting. All of these sites I mention, have had in the past, and continue to have, very informative articles about general investing, silver & gold and occasionally coin collecting. The new site that I have been a subscriber to for some time is called the Daily Reckoning, located conveniently at Dailyreckoning.com It's also like the other sites I've recommended in the past, it's free, and they do not share your email with anyone and you can "un-subscribe at any time you choose to do so.
    A great way I have found to fuel the financial coffers in order to add certain coins to my sets is to read and study and sometimes take advantage of ideas these sites have to offer. I have recommended many times Apmex.com as a site one can at least check out for many individual dates one may be looking for, to make additions to sets we collect. Also they are, not just by my recommendation, but by many others the place to go when buying any type bullion item that you may want. And believe me when I say, I have checked and compared many dozens of online sites for the purchase of these same type items, and Apmex beats all the rest, "hands down". They are by far the site with the least "mark-up" above the actual spot price of any bullion item you may be interested in. If you continually "re-fresh" the page there, you will have up to second metals prices along with many coins from the most popular sets we collect. I will say that from the time the metals markets close on Friday until they re-open Monday morning, the metal prices do not change. Their inventory is constantly changing so it would pay to check them out often, or at the very least, take a look before you buy elsewhere. Everyone likes to get a bargain, even more so in these times we are in presently. They will also buy most any coins you may have for sale and I have found that sometimes, and I mean quite often, Apmex will net you more money that you would have otherwise netted had you say, sold on eBay or to a coin shop and even in many cases, more will be received for that coin or group of coins in comparison to selling to another collector.
    Our hobby is an expensive one and I am forever trying to minimize my total outlay for that particular coin I have been wanting. So anyway if you have the time, check out these latest sites I've talked about and see if they can teach you as much as they have taught me. I have no relationship with any of them as far as getting a "finders fee" or anything like that for referring you to them. It's just a way that I want to share where you can possibly save or make a few extra dollars in a hobby we all hold so dear.
    A good way I have found to make money doing something I love is to buy a certain coin or date in bulk and then sell off every example but the "choicest" one, retaining that one for my set or sets. Below is a sampling of three groups I have bought or traded for lately. I have, as I've said in recent posts, bought other larger groups of coins that I plan on liquidating all but one of, in order to better my sets that are currently under way.
    Below is pictured three groups of the latest coins I have either traded for or purchased outright. There are the #5 2010 PCGS Pf 70 DC 1st Strikes silver eagles, #5 of the lowest mintage Washington quarter from the 1950's out of the Philly mint (1958-P NGC MS-66's) and lastly a group of #5 absolutely gorgeous impeccable 1953-D Franklin half dollars graded PCGS MS-64 with bold and distinct "full bell lines". This latter group I have looked at closely and the lines are so bold that I'm certain they would cross over to NGC and their "ultra strict" guidelines for the full bell line designation and if someone were to take a good second look, these conservatively graded PCGS coins are very close to gem 65, if not even nicer. And several could very easily regrade to such "gem status". One of them looks to be a very solid MS-66 FBL example.
     
    With the sometimes vastly increased value from a MS-64 to a MS-65 and from even a MS 64-65 to a MS-66, the rewards can be very great. As I have said many times, one must know the series and one must study the individual coin in making an assumption that a coin either may be, or most certainly is, an under-graded specimen. But the bottom line to me is that all of this type buying and trading is something I absolutely love, and could actually do it all day and all night and never really tire from it. So good luck to all of you in the continuous hunt for that particular coin and do check out these sites I've mentioned along with the latest called The Daily Reckoning. I'm fairly certain you will enjoy and use the knowledge you will be able to attain from there, in not only your personal families financial investments, but in the hobby we know as "coin collecting". So happy reading, happy studying, happy learning and....
    Happy Collecting!
    WKF

  18. W.K.F.
    I have mentioned many times as to getting on a "tear" with this series and that one, constantly mixing it up to where I feel very good as to where I'm at presently. And have pretty much ignored statements by others that I was a fool and an insufficiently_thoughtful_person. I mean really, what in the hell do they know?
    Greeting Collectors,
    First of all I want to thank the multitudes who have written me over the last week or so. I know my posts are long, and believe it or not, I re-read them several times trying to condense them to an acceptable length.I got no emails saying this but it is something I'm very well aware of. But the notes of appreciation were many in thanking me for the pieces on the PCGS OGH along with my personal opinion as to where we are headed as far as metal prices. I do work pretty hard on these posts and I'm not a fast person on the keyboard by any means, so when I get a note of thanks, well, every person likes to receive those. A heartfelt thanks to all of you who have written. But another reason I write so much, is that the money is so good. Yea right.
    Down through the years I have collected many types of coins with some favorites that stand out and of those, most of you know what they are. I have also taken a hiatus to other areas of collecting like a year and a half ago, I added many silver bars to my already large collection. I spent a pile of money on silver bars and probably 3/4 into that surge of buying, I thought to myself. Should I be spending this much money on just one thing? Silver was in the $14-$19 per ounce range and had just gotten there once on that high end of $20 only to have corrected back into the mid teens. Anyway my worries were short-lived and I usually don't pay any attention to myself, or when I was married, to the ex when it came to any purchase pertaining to coins or precious metals. Damn, I'm so glad I've been like that. Because now it has assured me of what I think will be a very comfortable retirement, if and when I do retire. That's a good 15-20 years out because unfortunately, I still love to work. I think I like working for the simple reason is that it fuels my many addictions and that in turn, makes me very happy.
    So anyway so far this year I have been selling vintage gold jewelry on eBay in my store and have been pouring the funds back into low premium silver products. I have traded for and bought over 400 of the 40% "Blue & Brown Ikes" in all of the years, with most being the blue ones and 3/4 of them dated 1972-S. I also in the last few days, taken proceeds from high premium old pour silver bars, and bought a little over a dozen proof silver eagles in the original govt packaging along with three 10-lot groups of various commemorative silver dollars, with maybe 6 of the 30 coins being silver half dollars. All of these were bought for a total of 2% below melt on the commemorative's and about FMV on the proof SE's.
    So now studying in retrospect, I really don't see how I can lose on these latest purchases and trades. I mean, all of everything is just like it came from the mint and I will probably be able in the future, to re-sell at a reasonable amount above spot. And I am confidant the spot price at the time I sell, will be much higher than the spot price was at the time it was originally bought. But like I said, selling a silver product for sometimes as much as 40% above the melt price, along with the fact my purchase price was way back in the day when silver $8 or $9 and up to about $15 an ounce. That coupled with then turning around and buying other silver for melt and a little below are deals that really can make one's day.
    What I mean is that it has always been very hard for me to sell ANY COIN or any precious metal bar or round without taking the proceeds and plowing it right back into more of like product, in this case, more silver coin items. This is the one thing that allows me to sell something without having a horrible feeling in the pit of my gut as I am addressing the parcel and packing it up, to be sent away.
    So I've been on many "tears" down through the years. There was the slabbed gold tear in the late 90's up to about 2003, when I bought many of my $20 double eagles. Then there was the tear on getting all of the rolls of the back dates of silver eagles I needed after buying my 1st roll in 1996. And and of course maintaining a new roll every Jan when the new date would come available. There was the buying $500 face bags of silver quarters and half dollars back in the 90's. The 1st bag was $500 face in quarters and I paid a huge $675 for it. Wow, to only be able to go back in time. Then the last couple-three years was spent getting all of the $5 gold eagles from the mint and other back dates til that interest waned. Then there was my bout with my Franklin halves and slabbed MS-64 Morgan dollars. All the while chipping away at my little "rattler" collection of Mercury dimes. And then the last couple years up to about a year ago when I was on a tear with old pour silver bars. Then there was the fling with the 40% Kennedy halves, right on up to the present in trying to corner the market on Blue Ikes, and lastly the foray into older mint products in silver with all of the boxes and papers. This "Ho" can really get around huh?
    Whew! Each of those times over the years there was a nagging voice whispering in my ears, to no avail, as I'm deaf in one and can't hear outta the other. But still the faint whisper to not go "overboard". But I always ignored all hints and the screams. Also the words from the ex went un-heeded, so that all I could do was go "full steam ahead". So you know what I think now, looking back? "F" that little voice. Had I listened to it, I would not be near as far along in my collections or my silver & gold. That is "way better" than I would have been, had I listened to it, ... or my ex-wife. I am beginning to think that I know more about what I'm doing, when I don't know what I'm doing. If that makes any sense.
    I leave you with a wish for a Happy Holiday Weekend, and hope everyone has a great safe Easter with your family and with your God. And I leave you with two examples of yet another tear I embarked on "back in the day". PCGS "old green holders" from the 1990's that are currently holding a couple of sweet, and very hard to locate this nice, FBL Franklin halves. Silver to gold ratio is unchanged for the most part due to today being "Good Friday" but still a wee bit lower. It stands at 32.298
    Happy Collecting no matter what it is, you collect!
    WKF

  19. W.K.F.
    REALLY!
    Believe it or not, this ride is far from over with. And if one were to break down the individual components, it's very plain to understand.Greetings Collectors,This will be the 4th time I've posted a journal with this title. But this time more than the other two postings I'm sure there are some dissenting persons out there in "numismatic land".My 1st post was on 3/19/09 and gold was $950. There were dissenters then which posted almost immediately after mine that this would not be a wise move and several months before would have been the time to buy when gold was $750. I agree that would have been a great time to buy. Along with a month later at $830 and a month after that at $865. But you can never go back in time because if we could we would have mortgaged the house and bought all we could at $250-$275 an ounce and silver was at $3. Well my next post was on 10/06/09 and gold was up another 18% to $1195 and I was pleading with all who would listen that we would all look back and fondly remember the event when gold pushed through $1000 for the 1st time and for a short period it could have been purchased for between $1100 & $1200.A little over 8 months later on 6/28/10 gold was at $1289 and silver had just breached $20 and I mentioned the ratio of silver to gold for the 1st time and it was right about 65 to 1. I went into great detail sharing how just a short while back, the ratio was over 100 to 1 and I tried to explain why this ratio would continue to drop and also shared that for century's the ratio had been 20 to 1 and that we were heading back toward that ratio. I said that gold would do very well but silver would fare much better on a percentage basis. But I was incorrect in saying the ratio for many many years had been 20 to 1. Actually for several hundred years the ratio was pegged at 16 to 1. And shared that we were heading back to this long time tested ratio. And that the time which will have passed when this ratio was finally at that point was not far off.I made my last post with this title on this subject on 10/14/10 and gold was at $1379 and silver was at $24.52 and the ratio had fallen from that 65 to 1 figure to 56 to 1 on another post dated 11/4/10 I mentioned that the ratio had fallen again in less than a month to 53 to 1 with gold at $1384 and silver at $26.03. I have been ending every post, regardless of the subject matter, with that days current ratio of silver to gold since late Sept 2010 up to present day.Now gold and silver had been rising back in the late 1970's and early 1980 and finally on January 21st 1980 gold was at an "all time high" of $825.80. From there $50 silver and $825 gold crashed to $3 and $250 respectfully and actually was stagnant for many years with silver going back and forth between $3 and $6 and gold between $250 & $350. This went on for more than a half dozen years, before both started creeping up. The both of them have been doing the same upward creep for over 20 years now. If gold would have stayed at $825 in 1980 and we would have just allowed for inflation at the very modest rate we experienced, gold right now today should be $2163.62 per oz. And if silver was at its normal ratio it had for several hundred years, it would be $135.22 an ounce today.This time when prices will be at this level is coming. And it will be here before you know it. In fact $135 silver is much closer than one would think. I predict silver will hit $135 before gold hits $2100. That would represent about 40% upside from here on gold and 300% or thereabouts for silver. People that believe that $47 silver is way too high. It's not. It's way too low. Why you say??The breakdown today for what silver is used for is this:Industrial use- 44%Jewelry & silverware-32%Photography-18%Coins-4%Bullion/investments 2%So you see that this hasn't even got off the ground good yet. Silver is among the most conductive of all of the metals known to man. From photography to compact discs to semi conductors to medical equipment is just a few of its uses. Basically if it's something "hi tech" it contains silver. But for over 60% of its uses, silver is just plain "gobbled up" and can't be reclaimed. Once it's used, it's gone, forever. Only jewelry, silverware, coins and bullion is reclaimable. And that is only 38% of its consumption. The Chinese and the government in India are encouraging their citizens to buy silver (and gold). Whereas in China, just a few short years ago, mere possession of the yellow metal could land you in prison.So you see where I'm going with this. There is no bubble. Very few people in America even own one ounce of bullion. Any silver they have is in heirlooms like grandma's silver tea set or sterling flatware. Once just a few %-points of the investing public in North America get involved, and start purchasing silver in an amount that is anywhere near the amount, percentage wise that experts recommend one should have in precious metals ( usually this amount is between 7 & 10%), that alone is worth $40 to $60 an ounce on top of today's current price. When people of financial means overseas get involved in a similar amount, and to a similar degree, tack on possibly, double that per ounce "upside" potential, in addition to the $40-$60 per oz. upside we will see in the price of silver from where it is at today. Bill gates & Warren Buffet have for the last 18months been acquiring millions of ounces of silver. Check it out. It's public knowledge. One of those guys is as about as conservative an investor as they come, and rarely bets huge amounts of money on anything remotely resembling a "long-shot bet". It is generally always a certain "for sure" "can't lose" type of deal or else he won't put HIS money there. Central banks all over the world have just starting their buying of gold, and more so, silver. Only one or two started over a year ago. And as they increase their now almost "non existent" positions, "percentage wise" to something that represents something more than just a percent of a percent, this trend which is in nothing remotely resembling a bubble, will tack on at least another $30 to $75 an ounce to what ever the price of the metal is at the time. Now this $30, $40, $50+ tack on, to the current price of silver, will not come all at once. It will be gradual just like the buying. But it will be consistent, and it will be orderly, and it will be continuous for some time to come. So maybe you can see a little of what I am talking about when it comes to the price silver is today, which is $46.71, and why even though this price seems high, it's really no where near where it should actually be.Those of you that are interested and would like to read and hear more, and in much greater detail why silver prices at $45-$50 is not high, and the reason why silver at current levels is certainly not a bubble, check out a site called Wealthwire.com Also you all may or may not know, but there is a site that has up to the second, real time current coin metal contents and how much value just the metal has at any given time. (the quotes are not "streaming" so you will need to refresh the page to stay up to the minute) This is a great site for those of you that are thinking of maybe grabbing some silver at auction or from somewhere else, and you need to know how much a coin is worth, "metal value wise". This site will also tell you for instance how much a pre 1982 Lincoln cent is worth "copper wise" in comparison to its "face value". This i
  20. W.K.F.
    I don't necessarily think that's the case. But there are many that do. You have to know the coin series in question and YOU HAVE TO look at the darn coin itself. And you have to study it closely, and more than once. Maybe more than twice or three times.
    Greetings Collectors,
    I have pondered this assumption that is held by many in our hobby. From the little guy just starting out, right on up to the real "big boys" many, whether they are in the know, or not, swear by PCGS. In fact I've known collectors that would not own a slab graded by anyone other than the almost "God Like" super humans with the keen eagle eyes located at PCGS. While we're on the subject, there is a large following, of which I've known a couple that swear by the gang at the oldest third party graders on the planet, and is the very respectable company called Anacs. Of course there is a very devoted following, including myself, that root for the guys and gals at NGC. Is any one of these "top two", or three, if you throw in Anacs, third party grading company's better than the other, or not? Well, me, I am one of those that straddles the fence and depending on how much I've had to drink, and depending on just how hard the wind is blowing, I've been known to fall on both sides of that numismatic fence on different occasions. I like PCGS. I own a lot of coins in those slabs. But, I like NGC too. I have many of these as well. I even own a few coins in both the older & newer slabs by that "oldie" but goodie Anacs. I am of the mindset, and always have been, one that really could care less, to a certain degree of course, who the grader is or what name adorns the top of that piece of hard plastic. To me, it's always been about the coin. And it always will be. Not the company who has graded the coin. The old timers say, and I totally agree, "buy the coin" and forget about the slab, as to which one is supposedly better. But having said that and having portrayed myself as to being all over the place on the subject, I've been collecting long enough, that it depends on something else that's very important to me, and I believe this to be true with many other collectors as well. It depends a great deal on just what coin series that we're talking about.
    It's a fact that most of you know, my favorite coin series in silver, is the Franklin half, in both mint state & proof. And for the mint state coins, I think NGC is much more strict, as far as the coins having the full bell line designation. That means that I would rather own the coin graded by the company that's gonna be really tough on that particular series of coin. I don't want to have serious doubt coming in to a deal about that company before I even look at the coin itself. The coin is ultimately gonna sell itself, not the folks that press the plastic together. So when I'm checking out a piece and seriously considering making a purchase, I want to feel that a certain company has a head start and "IS NOT" gonna call a coin "Gem MS-65", if there's a chance, even a remote chance, that the coin is no better than a strong 64. Liberal graders have destroyed certain 3rd party grading companies, and temporarily somewhat crippled others. Just remember that it always boils down to the individual coin. So I think NGC is tough on calling a Franklin half with full bell lines, a full bell line coin, and from looking at hundreds, even thousands of these coins, I know that if NGC says it's an FBL, well then it's definitely a FBL. Does this mean I don't have to look at the coin and would blindly buy an NGC FBL just because it says so on the slab. Hell no. But knowing the series and knowing NGC when it comes to that series, I've got kinda like a "head start" on the coin in question and really all I'm looking at is how strong are the bell lines, but almost as importantly, how strong is the actual grade of the coin itself. On this part of the equation, PCGS is known for being the tougher, more strict grader, on the actual grade-grade of the coin. Every FBL NGC coin would cross to PCGS as a full bell line coin. However having said that, there is a possibility that an NGC MS-66 FBL coin may cross to PCGS as "only" a FBL MS-65. Now in the Franklin proof, IMO PCGS holds the advantage, and is much more strict when it comes to giving a proof coin a cameo or deep cameo designation. And having that reputation of correctly calling cameos and deep cameo coins, most sale/auction prices show that a PCGS 1953 proof 65 cameo Franklin half will just about always bring more money when sold, than an NGC 1953 proof 65 cameo. And throw in one that resides in an OGH, well the price usually is up even higher, depending on the individual coin.
    Why? I don't know other than that is just the reputation PCGS has. Like it or not, we all know how hard it is to change a deeply entrenched reputation, whether it's good or bad, or true or false. And this reputation holds true for coins that are holdered in those OGH from PCGS. It is my strong belief that for just a very short time NGC had a grader or two that were not so conservative in their grading, but actually quite liberal to put it bluntly, thus for a period of time, some graders there were handing out some MS-65's when the coins were not quite gem. And for that reason alone, I believe the feeling is, PCGS over NGC.
    Like I said, a reputation, good or bad is very hard to overcome. And a bad reputation may never see the day when that perspective is overcome. As of today I think NGC has gone the other way, maybe in part to make up for that short stint when they were not "tough enough" or more plainly put, not "right on the money" literally. I think a coin graded by NGC today and yesterday and even as much as a few years ago is very solid for the grade. Maybe even too solid, as in possibly "under-graded". It's almost like they have to, or are trying to, make up for those few months to a year or so when they were off their mark. This is why I think PCGS coins today, bring more money on average, than their NGC counterparts. NGC is still trying to live down the old "bad" press. All the more reason to "always buy the coin" and not the slab.
    It would pay for all collectors to pay very close attention to all coins that are slabbed in old green holders from PCGS. (and the old "six digit" prefix numbered slabs by NGC AKA "Fatty's) You will find that many times it will be a coin solid or even better than solid for the grade assigned. Of course like most things, there are exceptions to that rule. On my little set of Mercury dimes in the rattler holders, this is a set I wanted to be a minimum of MS-65-66 and the coins had to have full split bands. From time to time I have bought a "better than average example Mercury dime slabbed in the second generation OGH for a particular slot, but always looking for a replacement to that slot & holder with a rattler as soon as an example could be located. I love this little set of dimes I have, and the main stipulation in addition to the slabs being green, and preferably rattlers, the coins had/have to appear "under-graded", or at a bare minimum, very solid for the grade. And again, in my opinion, each example I own here in that set is indeed that. An "under-graded" example. In fact, I feel there are a couple of dates that the slab says MS-65 FB but the coin may very well be a MS-66 FB example, or even a 67, were it to be "cracked out" and re-submitted. Now I know this little set like the back of my hand, but in the slabs and grades I currently have, which are all 65 & 66 they are not worth a pile of money. But these little dimes hold a special place in my collecting heart and are a set I will continue to work on, til it's complete. I know that locating the 1945-P FB and th

  21. W.K.F.
    Oh, and by the way, who ever is still trying to hang on to a coin that's been sold for a week now, do me a favor and delete it from your set. I just got this 1941-D in the mail today but I've owned it over a week. It's a 1st generation PCGS "Rattler Mercury dime graded MS-66 FB.
    I don't understand why people hang onto coins they don't own. I would bet big money that there are many here, that have coins in their registered sets, that they don't own any more, and probably a lot of coins that guys have here in their sets, they HAVE NEVER OWNED. It doesn't make you look like anything but a greedy dishonest insufficiently_thoughtful_person. Just get em the hell out. I'm way past sick and tired of this. Come on, really, get friggin honest how bout it.... NOW... I feel much better...Greetings Collectors.One final time on this "OGH" subject. And yea I know. It's too damn long, and surprise! I'm still not finished with this post. But, as I said in a previous post, I bought my very first slabbed coins in 1990. I don't think I'd ever seen a slabbed coin until that time. Anacs, the oldest of the 3rd party graders, had been out several years by the time I held my first slabbed coin in my hand. And again it was a group of coins a salesman from Blanchard & Company out of New Orleans La. insisted I should at least consider. The group consisted of about a half dozen each of Mercury Dimes & Walker Halves. Well me, not ever being one for making real quick decisions when it came to spending money, I had to sleep on this idea for a few days before I decided to pull the trigger and take a step into slabbed coins. It was a medium size group of Mercury dimes in the old Rattler holders and about the same number of 6-8 coins in the Walker half series, housed in the second generation standard size PCGS OGH. In the assorted potpourri of coins, was a nice sampling of some late 1930's and other short set examples of both the Walking Liberty half dollar & Mercury Dime "short sets". There was even a 1941-S Walker in the group, graded a very strong MS-64, along with several other "mint marked" coins from 1938-39 up to 1945 in the dimes and 1947 in the halves. All of these dozen or better coins were PCGS OGH's, and are coins I still have today. I am convinced that these 1st slabs "jump started" my interest in the next level of my coin collecting. It was about this time, actually within weeks, I was talked into buying my first $20 gold double eagle. An NGC MS-63 in the "Liberty" series, dated 1904. I paid a little less than $600 for it and that was several "firsts" for me. It was my 1st slabbed NGC graded coin. It was also my 1st double eagle gold coin, actually my 1st graded gold coin period. And lastly, it was the most expensive coin I'd ever purchased, up to that point. It was in one of those NGC "fatty" slabs that don't stack worth a with other NGC slabs, which I still find aggravating today. But it was, and still is, a very nice, and what I would like to think, an "under-graded" gold double eagle. Besides looking like a MS-64, what stands out to me is, this coin for years was only worth $600 in the "Redbook". This upset me to the point, it was a few more years before I bought another slabbed/graded gold double eagle. But today I'm very glad I picked up that coin, and at the time, it was the largest gold coin I'd ever handled. Thanks to that huge expenditure, it kinda "broke the ice" and the double eagles that followed, were much cheaper by several hundred dollars, but were raw & not third party graded coins. Wow to only be able to go back to the early to mid 1990's again and back up the truck and load it up with "raw" $275-$350 $20 Gold Double Eagles. Now those same coins today that are "raw" are $1600-$1700 and better. Also that 1904 that was worth $600 for ages, is now closing in on $3000 value wise.There are just a couple more facts I want to share as far as to the proverbial PCGS OGH. One, they are highly sought after by a large collector base. Two, they tend to bring more money when sold at auction or to dealers, for whatever the number of reasons. And lastly and more importantly to me, it has been my personal experience to find that many coins in these OGH "appear" to be under-graded. Some worthy enough to jump as much as 1 or 2 points on the grade scale. And others are nice enough that they would grade bare minimum of at least a PLUS/+ to the grade already assigned. The Rattlers were around just a couple short years at the end of the 1980's until 1991-92. Then for another couple years from late 1992 to just about the mid 1990's you had the regular size holder you see today but the inserts were a light green followed by a shade darker green, also known as old green holders, followed again by the same regular size slab, but with the light blue paper insert we are use to seeing today. These final changes to the color of the paper insert to light blue, occurred around 1995. The first 5-7 years of the 1990's was really when I started to spend some serious cash on coins. 1996 was the 1st year I started buying a mint roll of silver eagles and fortunately for me, the '96 was the key year. That started me buying a roll for each year and finally today, having slowly picked up the back dates, along with the new dates available each new year in January, I have a roll from each year of the silver eagle series starting in 1986 through 2011, for a total of 25 different date rolls and counting.The 1941-D below in 66-FB replaces a MS-65-FB coin & the 1943-D pictured below replaces one of a grade higher, but it was in a 2nd generation old green holder. Now as of this date, each of these coins in this set are the 1st generation "rattlers. (I think) Now all I have to do is fill in the remainder of the few empty slots with rattlers. But this may take years because of the scarcity of the rattlers. My feelings are, I've been at it for about 20 years so far, I would like to think it won't take 20 more years to finish it.And as i mentioned, I still didn't quite finish on what all I wanted to say on this subject. I have just a wee bit more plus I want to share why I think that PCGS is supposedly a better grader than NGC. I don't personally adhere to that mind-set, but all of you that have been around a while know that as a general rule, on the same date and grade of coin, more times than not, a PCGS coin brings more money when sold. I don't agree with that, but I just want to continue in my next journal post, why I think that's the case. So this is the conclusion, but then again, it's not. If that makes any sense. Thanks for putting up with my "long winded" dog gone ramblings.Happy Collecting!WKFSilver to gold ratio is 34.589 at present.
  22. W.K.F.
    The fascination and demand, rightly or wrongly is what it is. And actually seems to be growing. This second journal post stops "mid-stream" because of the length, so please read part three which is the final part coming later today or Saturday. Thank you in advance for reading this. This has always been a very important topic for all serious collectors, and one that I'm sure will continue to be. I know it is for me.
    Greetings Collectors,
    The debate between who is the better grader in all of numismatics has all but eliminated everyone but the top two. PCGS & NGC have for years now been the "go to" slabs that most collectors prefer their coins to be housed in. There are fanatical supporters for both of these top tier 3rd party graders. As far as who is best, as in, who is the "tougher", as in who is when a grade is finally put on the slab, the masses can be satisfied that the MS-65 that the slab says, is indeed a truly "GEM" example is constantly being debated. Of course grading is, as I'm sure each of you have heard, subjective. It is just one persons opinion of what grade the coin should have. But actually for many years now, it's been for the most part, what two persons opinion is, of the coin in question. Whether this actually goes down the way PCGS & NGC and Anacs and virtually all the rest say it goes down is: The coin is submitted, a grader assigns a grade and then it is looked at once again by a different grader (or quality control person??) to make sure the 1st grader got it right. This is what makes today different from the early years and in my opinion, still makes it exactly the same as the early years.
    In those early years (late 1980's through the early 1990's) slabbed coins were just starting to catch on. Of course there were the "old timers" that resisted the whole concept. "I mean really, you mean to tell me that I'm gonna have to own and look at my coin through this rectangular piece of plastic"? "Not being able to actually hold and touch my coin"? "I don't need this plastic slab to protect my coin". "I'm not an insufficiently_thoughtful_person". "I know to hold the coin by edges, and not use an ice pick and sandpaper to remove residue and/or encrustation". "I've been collecting since Biblical times". "Well, not really that long, but I have been collecting a while". "Long enough to know when the day comes that one can no longer hold a coin in one's hand, well then, this hobby will be dead".
    This has ended up being so far from the truth, with the vast majority of these stubborn old timers, being now the same ones that are getting graders to grade the graders, as in, the concept of the CAC "green bean". What happened early on in the embryonic stages of third party grading was that only one person would look at, and assign a grade to a particular coin. And if that person was very conservative and their mindset being, the coin had to be a super specimen to attain a gem MS-65 status. Many times these old original graders would throw coin after coin under the bus. I mean it took one hell of a coin to make MS-65 and 66. And a very tough grader coupled with the fact no one looked over his shoulder to see if he called the grade correctly, meant that many times there were MS-65-66 coins masquerading in MS-64 slabs. And lower mint state coins by the dozens sitting in AU-53 & 55 holders. Thus you end up with crack out candidates and/or coins worthy of a "green bean" or better.
    You know what I think? I think that today there are still graders out there that have a real hard time assigning higher grades to coins. They always want it to be known that if they looked at the coin and said it was a MS-65, or a 66 or 67, well then, you could definitely take that "65" or better, all the way to the bank. It was "for sure" solid for the grade. Maybe "cast iron" would be a better adjective than "solid". And in addition to that, I think that the top two or three grading companies are so damn busy, a grader assigns a grade and that second individual either does one of three things. Number one, he doesn't even take that "second glance" or "post grade" inspection. Number two, it's not enough of an inspection that would catch anything less than a VF-30 sitting in an AU-58 holder or vice versa. Or finally, number three, it's gonna take a blatant error by the grader of the 1st part to gain an "overrule" of the grade assigned by the grader of the second part. (these guys and gals do not want to have their professional toes stepped on) Thus you still, even after all the quality control safeguards installed, along with extra sets of eyes, still will have a coin slabbed that is only one man or woman's opinion of that particular coin's grade. Thus the need and the growing acceptance of CAC, which stands for Certified Acceptance Corp.
    This is the end of part two. I had the entire piece completed on what I wanted to say about the old green holders from PCGS, but it was way too long and I know many of you lose interest with a long journal post so I split this one directly in half. Please read part three if you have the time and are interested in the least. I will wait to post it til after "mail time" when I will hopefully have my two little Mercury dimes to share with the final part conclusion. Thanks for reading.
    The coin pictured below is one I have shared before in a past journal a year or two ago but one that is worthy enough to share again. In my opinion I have not seen a type two 1956 Franklin proof in cameo that looks as good as this coin. I got it from an auction many years ago when there weren't anything else to be had but PCGS OGH and "fattys" by NGC. And I paid well in excess of gray sheet along with well in excess of FMV at the time. I think this is just another example of an old green holder coin being very solid for the grade, if not under-graded. I have studied photos of this coin in comparison to what it looks like when it's sitting on the table in front of me, or better yet, when I have it in my hand looking at it under the magnification of my "opti-visors" and I will tell you this. This is one awesome looking coin. As near to perfect as one could get. And from a time when the archaic methods of the U.S. Mint makes many in the know wonder how we can have any decent proof coinage from the 1950's at all in existence today. This coin has frost that is caked, caked, caked. And mirrors you could shave in. To say this coin in person is "eye candy" would be an under-statement. As I said when I posted this pic before, "The moon, the sun and the stars" all lined up when this coin was produced, and one that I would be very hard pressed to find another to replace it with. At least one that would rival this piece in "eye appeal". This coin in my opinion is just one "kick " PCGS OGH Proof. And one I'd never part with. Oh, and by the way, The black you see in the pic on the left, is me and my camera being reflected in the deep mirrors. Thanks again for reading and for looking, and please stay tuned for part three, the conclusion.
    Happy Collecting!
    WKF
    Silver to gold ratio is currently at 34.871 That's just a wee bit lower than just yesterday. WOW silver at $42.70 & gold at $1489 even. What a ride!

  23. W.K.F.
    It is "every bit" of what it's cracked up to be. Or should I say what it's "cracked out" to be. But then again, be very careful.
    Greetings Collectors,
    Most of you that have been collecting coins for over 3 or 4 years have seen, owned or at least heard of slabbed coins in OGH or if you're not familiar with the OGH abbreviation, it stands for a coin that's in a holder that was used early on by PCGS (Professional Coin Grading Service). There are two generations of these OGH's with the 1st generation commonly known as "Rattlers". This term is used for the simple reason that the coin appears loose inside the holder and subsequently rattles when shaken. The 2nd generation OGH is the same shape and size as the clear PCGS holders of present day. These second generation green slabs will also stack perfectly with the newer styled PCGS slabs. The only difference is that these PCGS 2nd gen. slabs have a green paper insert rather than the light blue of the regular ones of today. And actually if one wants to get very technical, there are two different types of these 2nd generation OGH's.
    For many years I would look for these 1st & 2nd stage holders from PCGS because more times than not the coins held inside are under-graded, and are sometimes better than the slab indicates by as much as 2 or 3 grades. If you are very familiar with a certain coin series, you can take a close look at any coin and spot whether the coin is solid for the grade or in some cases you will think, "Wow, what kept this MS-64 from making MS-65 or in some cases even an MS-66. Now granted a two point jump is the exception rather than the rule, but many times those of you "in the know" realize what a mere + to the indicated grade would mean "value wise". Much less (or should I say more) a full one grade jump. Value wise, this can be huge.
    I was hooked on the crack out of some of these OGH slabbed coins for several years until one submission about a year ago cured me. Believe me, there is a downside that I had never experienced until my last and final time I did this. Before I share the heartbreak, I'll share a couple of the victories. Now it has not only been PCGS OGH's that I have cracked out. I have successfully cracked out the older smaller Anacs holdered coins. PCI was a grader that never really caught on and probably the reason being is, they rarely got the grade right. Of all the graders I have seen, there are more PCI coins graded incorrectly. I've seen more over-grades with PCI, but by the same token, I've seen several that were under-graded. My very best "crack out" ever, came with a $2.50 gold Indian. The coin sat in a PCI holder with a grade of AU-55. I saw it at a coin show and when I asked to look at the coin among a few other various gold coins, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. This coin was as solid a mint state coin as any I'd seen. And for AU-55 money, I knew there was little downside risk. It's all about the risk. But if you know the coin series well, and own a few, and have seen a few more in certain grades, and you know what you're looking for, you have a pretty good chance of hitting "paydirt". Now my series that I feel I know the most about is, the Liberty gold coin series. $2.50 $5.00 $10.00 or $20's, I know what to look for because I own quite a few and have looked at way better than a thousand others. The $2.50 & $5.00 Indian series are ones I'm not near as strong on. But when you spot one that is so outta whack, you gotta take the shot as you really feel there is zero downside risk. At worst the coin comes back still graded AU-55. Well the 1910 $2.50 Indian was cracked out, and sent with a large group of other coins to NGC and they too agreed. This coin now sits in my small $2.50 Indian collection in a nice MS-62 slab by NGC. I actually thought the coin would do better, maybe MS-63, but I graciously accepted the 62. That was a jump of 4 points. That was by far, my best ever "crack-out". But without writing a book here, it's my opinion that for several years in the late 1980's up to the 1st couple years of the 1990's there were some very tough graders at PCGS. Not all of their graders but a few. And like I said, if you know what you're looking for, you may hit a nice one like I just mentioned.
    Now without a doubt, not every OGH coin is an under-graded example. If fact I've seen just a "very few" that I doubt would make the same grade again if they were cracked out. Some I think would go down a 1/2 point or so. I'm not sure how the rest of you feel, but I like a coin that has a CAC green bean. Kinda like when a MS-64 getting a green bean is, to me, just a wee bit better than having that 64 re-holder-ed in a 64+ slab. But the last large submission I made was a group of 17 coins. Six were crack out gold coins and two of the six were $20 Liberty gold. This particular time, I was "Pearl Harbored". Of the one old Anacs, two NGC "fat holders" and three OGH from PCGS and one of those being a "rattler", all six came back in purple holders. With 4 of the six having been "improperly cleaned" (3) and the 4th labeled as "obverse improperly cleaned". The other two gold coins, both $20's had one with an obverse scratch (that was there when it resided in the OGH it was originally in and probably had been there since it skipped down the steam conveyor belt at the mint) and the other was labeled as having "residue". I'll tell you, I had my reservations because all were very nice coins and I would have much rather had an MS-62 $20 Liberty in an OGH than getting back an MS-62 in a new NGC slab. But it ended up being, even way worse than that. I was sick. I did the math on what I had, compared to what I thought I would receive, compared to yet again, to what I got. Well let me just say that my greed, for a lack of a better word, cost me well into 5 figures. (about $12,000) I could not believe what had just happened. I was so excited when I signed for that registered mail at the post office. I looked at that heavily taped sturdy box fifty times on the 4 mile trip to the house. Got all set up with a glass of wine at my desk and carefully cut into the box, only to find what I found. That was it for me. Seriously I'll probably never crack out another coin unless it's 4 or 5 points under-graded and that particular dog will never hunt again. It was a fluke the 1st time and highly improbable that it would ever happen again.
    Now I don't say I won't be tempted. I have two coins right now that are sitting in 2nd generation old green holders that are screaming "crack-out" at the top of their "high AU & mint state lungs", but "sit they will" in their AU-50 & AU-58 OGH's One is a 1905-S Ten Dollar Liberty and the other is the coin pictured below. First year of issue and from the New Orleans Mint, no less. An AU-50 1892-O Barber Quarter. Which looks AU-55-58 minimum. The scratches you see here are on the old plastic slab.
    Tomorrow I am expecting a couple Mercury dimes I bought from a Teletrade auction last Sunday night. The two are for my 1934-1945 Mercury middle set as I call it. Others may call it the expanded "short set". Regardless, I have a few more things to share, in general about these old green holders from PCGS. But,... I will share that, along with pics of the two new Mercury dimes tomorrow or Saturday. And yes, both of these "Merc's" are in OGH from PCGS. (actually 1st generation OGH rattlers)
    Happy Collecting!
    WKF
    P.S. Silver is still doing it's continuous orderly rise and just a few minutes ago it was $42.36 with the silver to gold ratio now having dropped to 34.903 From 62 to 1 in l

  24. W.K.F.
    But past history shows they bring the "higher dollars". And facts are a good thing to deal in when it comes to our coins. Check out a couple facts in the journal here. I hope you will find it interesting.
    Greetings Collectors,
    It's really refreshing in this current age of scams and rip offs to continually have awesome transactions with those that just several weeks ago, I had no clue even existed. I met a guy on eBay who lives in L.A. and he was interested in procuring some of my silver bars. I mentioned in my last post a deal he and I struck for 100 "blue Ike 40% silver dollars. Christopher bought these a long time ago and had $3 in each one of them. He made an offer of which I accepted and gave details of in my last journal post. Well, there were two other small bars he wanted of mine and he proposed another offer. This time it was for 20 more Blue Ikes in the OGP along with five 2010 PCGS Proof 70 Silver Eagle 1st Strike coins. He sent them to me 1st & they arrived a few minutes ago. For this I gave him one 10 ounce bar and one 5 ounce bar of 999 fine silver. I was hesitant to trade for the silver eagles because of my disinterest in any modern coinage that wasn't dated 2008 and was not made of gold or platinum and any that did not carry the West Point mint mark. I have since changed my mind on this and thus he and I are both very pleased with our latest trade.
    I have used the precious metals company Apmex as a benchmark as to what to sell for, and what to consider as a purchase price for modern precious metals coins, along with bullion coins and bars. This company usually has a "buy price" and a "sell price" undated by the minute for items such as these just mentioned. For instance, lately when they have had the 2010 proof 70 1st strike silver eagles in stock, their sell price has been $168 and they would buy the same 1st strike date for $100 each. Other proof SE of this date and mint without the 1st strike designation go for just about $100. I have read and studied many hours on the pros & cons concerning 1st strike and early release (NGC version) coinage. Personally I would never pay a premium for either so called early issue coin. But... there are those that do. And I may have softened my stubborn stand on this. In fact there are "rabid" buyers of 1st strike coins, especially the Silver Eagles. Upon investigating, there are a few dates that less than 100 coins that have this 1st strike designation coupled with reaching the lofty grade of "proof-70". And the kicker is, there will never be any more of these in a slab with a designation such as this. This goes right to the heart of the issue when it comes to the mentality I have personally when it comes to just how scarce/rare a certain coin is.
    The Franklin half series has a few dates that have never seen an MS-67 coin. (currently there never has been a Franklin that has graded MS-68) Throw in "full bell lines" and I know of one date that has never seen an MS-66 (the 1960-D has not seen a MS-66 with full bell lines yet) If one is wanting true rarity, it has always been about, number one, the total mintage. Number two, how many survive today? Number three what is the condition and number of coins considered "top pop" for that particular date & mint. Now I'm not about to start seeking out PCGS proof-70 1st Strike Silver Eagles, but if one is considering a buy or a trade, for coins labeled such as these, it would be foolish to ignore the facts and the history.
    On most coins, the total population of known pieces can change overnight. Case in point. The 1924 Saint Gaudens double eagle minted in CA, was for years thought to have had the entire 2,927,500 mintage melted, with the exception of just a couple of coins. In the mid 1940's when there was a rise in the number of collectors that were starting to collect by date AND mint, it was stated by no less a name in numismatics, than B. Max Mehl, who stated there were only three examples of the 1924-S Double Eagle in existence. At that time, no one took anything B. Max Mehl said lightly. After all Mehl knew more, and handled more rare coins than anyone. What made the 24-s so rare and where did all of the almost 3 million coins that were minted go? Well after they were minted 99% or better stayed locked inside mint and Fed bank vaults and when the gold recall came in 1933, all of these were melted.
    Now back in the day, anyone could stroll up to any U.S. mint in 1924, in San Francisco, Denver or Philadelphia and get a 1924 Saint Double Eagle for face value. But this was long before collectors had to have, or even wanted to have, one of each date and mint. In 1924 our country was still a young country and what few collectors that collected coins, and even reduced further by saying, "whoever collected gold coins" were probably for the most part, residents of the eastern U.S. Big cities like New York, Chicago, Philadelphia Boston were the big centers of commerce and business in the east and for those privileged few that could afford to set aside a $20 gold coin, would have more than likely set aside an example from the "Philly mint" and not one from the other side of the country. And only coins with very low mintage's were put back and saved by collectors anyway. As for the 1924-S, with almost three million coins minted, for a double eagle this was far from a low mintage, so even a wealthy collector would have never dreamed of setting even one example aside. So the 1924-S was not a low mintage. Actually it was one of the highest, so no one wanted an example for their collection period. Plus we're talking $20 here. This was a massive set aside "dollar wise" and 99.99% of the public didn't have that kind of money to just put back, and especially not for a coin that there were 3 million coins minted. This date, even in the mind of collectors would never be worth more than $20. And what few coins that may have left the mint, once the gold recall was announced, legally the mindset was that only rare gold coins could be legally owned and the few that may have grabbed a 24-S sure did not have this particular coin at the top of their "to keep" list. So those few were probably turned in as well because most people really feared the law and went out of their way to obey it, whether they agreed with the law of not. It was just the way it was back in the 1920's & 30's. This date and mint like several other dates had so much going against it, when the collecting community in 20-25 years started looking for examples of this date, there were none to be found. Thus another rarity was born.
    Well, starting around the end of world war two, a small number of American dealers began going to Europe to see what they could find in those numerous bank vaults. What they found was a literal "gold mine". Sitting in European bank vaults were millions of U.S. gold coins exported long before the gold recall of 1933.Having cheerfully been out of the country, the coins were just sitting, and included in their numbers were many good dates, and large quantities of mint state coins. Now it's unclear as to how many of this 1924-S date was found, but we do know today that an example of the 1924-S in VF-20 can be had regularly for less than $3000 and a mint state 60 for only a couple to three times that. Only in MS-65 does the coin exceed $150,000. And mind you, this was a coin that "THE AUTHORITY" on rare coins said there was only three examples of. Total, in existence. Pretty wild if you ask me. I love to read about "hoards" found of any coins, more so of gold ones. But just imagine if you were one of the three people that owned a 1924-S Saint when this hoard news broke and examples started to

  25. W.K.F.
    But I'm not gonna share all of it. Just gonna touch on a couple of the more important issues, that affect each and every one of us as collectors of coins, and buyers/sellers of bullion...
    Greetings Collectors,
     
    First of all, I want to thank all of you that wrote me notes of condolences. I appreciate them more than you know. This whole estate thing when someone passes away is for the birds. I wanted to also clarify that it was my "step-dad" I lost, and not my real father. I lost him in 1986 at age 66. But quickly what I'm having to deal with is that Val, my step-dad had two biological children he had no use for and they none for him. He also hadn't seen either for over 25 years. But guess who comes outta the woodwork now that he's gone and they know he had a few bucks. Actually way more than a few. But anyway that's where I've been and it's not nearly over yet. He left me everything because I was the only one who ever looked out for him and was the one who took care of his investments, house, health, vehicles, shopping etc etc. But it's a great time to remind all of you to make sure you have all your affairs in order and that your parents do as well. Believe me, it'll save you a lot of grief.
    I have tuned in here on several occasions and tried to keep up with all the journals but boy oh boy, you guys are burning up those keyboards. Very interesting reading. A few things I want to touch on is that 1st, if you're thinking about selling or trading your silver or gold, make sure you obtain the money you deserve. A collector friend here recently told of a trade where he got $1100 for $75 face in silver and I almost cried. I had to write him immediately. Of course it ended up he sold a little earlier than his post and got a little more money for a little less in face value that his post said. This made me feel so much better. These metals prices are soaring and as I've said before, it hadn't really even started good yet. So all of you that may be considering selling, make sure you receive what your silver (or gold) is worth. Today you can sell silver for 25 X face and if you're buying it's 28 X face.
    Another thing I want to touch on is PCGS vs NGC. There have been some spirited comments on both sides of that coin. I personally like NGC on anything with "full bell lines". Full split bands goes to PCGS. Full torch or full head, I haven't a clue because I don't collect these coins. I will say this, just as I always have said, "ALWAYS" buy the coin and not the slab. I would need more than 4 hands to count all the PCI & Anacs coins I've bought, then cracked out and re submitted to NGC. And of all of those I only lost ground once, by a single point, stayed the same grade once, and the rest were up grades. Most were two notches. A couple were a single move up. One 1910 gold Indian I bought in a PCI AU-55 holder was way nicer than 55, and when I sent it to NGC, they thought so too. It came back MS-62. Where I've had the problem is cracking out NGC coins and one lone OGH PCGS gold piece and all 4 came back in purple slabs. That last experience ended my "crack out" shenanigans. No more. I will say in closing on this subject, that I absolutely love the consensus held by many, that NGC is inferior to PCGS. Many times I have gotten a coin in an NGC slab that was 30% cheaper and 30% nicer than an exact same grade coin in a PCGS slab. But I've sold PCGS coins for way more money than I though they would bring. I have seen coins by all grading services that were one, two and sometimes three grades off what I thought they should have been. Another reason to always buy the coin.
    My purchases have been few with the exception of some bullion. Like what else is new? I have successfully traded 999 silver bars on several occasions, that I had purchased back in single digit silver price times. Most bought for between $4 & $7 an ounce. The old pour bars sell at a price that's always at least 20%, and sometimes 30%, or more above the current spot price, and I have used that to my advantage in trades for other silver. What is pictured below is my latest trade for two small bars of 999 fine silver. One was a 9.97 ounce bar and the other was an even 10 ounces. Both were the "old pour" type bars. For that, I received the 100 1972-S blue Ikes pictured below. These 40% silver coins from just a sampling I looked at, would not surprise me, if I were to submit them, to all come back at MS-68. Bare minimum MS-67. They are that nice. All of the ones I looked at, and mind you, I've only inspected maybe 10 or 12, are all absolutely spot free and pristine. I am "TOO" happy with this trade. The guy was extremely happy because he had paid $3 for each 2-3 years ago. I didn't share that I had less than $150 total in those two bars totaling 19.97 ounces. Those kinds of deals where each party thinks they are the ones that got the killer deal, is the way all trades should go down.
    Anyway I'm glad to see that all of you still have a great passion for this hobby. It shows in the posts of not only the regulars, but I see many new faces as well, since it's been exactly a month since my last post. I've been busy with family issues and also have landed quite a few jobs so far this year and I'm actually booked up for two months out. Also been doing real well on eBay too. It's been a couple years since I could say I was hitting on all cylinders. Hopefully it will have some "staying power". Silver is just a couple cents shy of $38 an ounce and we'll see $50 before this time next year. For those of you from "Rio Linda" that's another 30+% from current levels and actually I wouldn't be surprised to see more than that 32% rise from here, by April fool's day in 2012. Since I have 50 on the brain, I will go out on a limb and say, 50% upside from here, which would put silver at $57, or more, one year from today. That is not an unreasonable expectation for those of you that are focused & tuned in, to world markets and the current, steady, rising demand that really can't go anywhere but onward & upward. Anyway my next big event is the annual 75-80 table coin show coming to my town at the last weekend in May. I'm saving all my shekels for that 3-day period so I can maybe find a nice FBL Franklin in 66 that I don't have already. Or possibly some more silver...
    Take care & Happy Collecting!
    WKF
    P.S. Silver to gold ratio was 62 to 1 in Sept 2010. Just a few minutes ago, it was 37.699 Has this figure come a long way or what? But just remember, it still has a very long way to go. Good luck to all of you with whatever acquisitions you're after.