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W.K.F.

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Journal Entries posted by W.K.F.

  1. W.K.F.
    Well... here goes...
    Greetings Collectors,
    Roughly 7 months ago (actually Oct.17th) I posted a journal titled "I want to buy your help". I had been a CS member for almost 2 years (would have been 2 years that next month in Nov) and I had yet to post a pic with a journal. At the time I had some really crappy pics of my silver eagle collection (they still remain to this day as my thoughts are, once you have seen one MS-69 SE, you've seen them all) but my daughter had pretty much done them and what little I learned during that short period of photography was quickly forgotten. Bottom line, I asked for help and many of you rose to the occasion and offered many tips and advice which I will say I tried each and every thing all of you suggested. There was one who went way beyond the "call of duty" and that was who I describe as a dear friend from Hawaii. His name is Brandon. His "handle" here is RBG. Once I had mastered the art of taking the photo, it was Brandon who, over the phone, & via email walked me through the process of the editing & re-sizing of my pics. If it were not for Brandon, I would not have been able to do what I have done in what was a pretty short period AND I would not be able to do what I am doing now. Thanks again Brandon and I dedicate this study to you and the patience you showed to a real "dummy" at the time I started. I am not a pro but I have learned much and of that, I want to pass that along to those of you that are interested.
    This first post will be a short study on getting "set up" to start taking your shots. The picture you see here is my fancy coin photography studio. I had many of you share how you took your shots and I tried every single one of them. I took pics with flash, without flash, I took photos inside and outside at all times of day. I did cloudy, sunny and all points around those conditions. I took pics in my breakfast room with sunlight coming in through the large picture window (get it? picture window?) and I even got on my roof and took shots up there. I studied my camera manual, spent untold hours on line studying all kinds of ways to take pictures. What I ended up with after many dozens of hours and many thousands of shots was the following:
    (1) I use an end table pictured with two small table lamps set approx. 22 inches apart. The lamps have 60W "new fangled" curly flouresent bulbs (energy savers). It's also handy if you are taking more than a couple of shots, have a little note pad and pen to number the order your pics are taken. (ie coin 1 1943 Walker pics # 1 & 2 (obverse&reverse)
    (2) I have books (3 pictured) 1 1/2 inches thick stacked on top of one another, then the positioning of my tri-pod mounted 8.1 mega pixels Sanyo VPC-E870. It has, for what it's worth, a 2.5 inch LCD monitor and a 3X super zoom lens. Although I tried every combination of light and shutter speed and all other different combo's of every setting on this camera (and there are a bunch of different settings), I will say that now what works best is the "default" settings that the camera is already set with. The "ONLY" thing that has proved important, and I can't tell you how very important this is, is that you will get the very best results with the camera set on "MACRO". Believe me, let everything else alone, set the camera on macro, & leave the other zillion settings just as they come on the camera (default settings) and you are all set.
    (3) When the camera is mounted on the tripod, the camera is 5-7 inches away from the slab/coin. At this distance the slab almost fills the entire screen. I can't tell you how much time I wasted trying to get too close to the coin physically or by zooming in. This you "do not" need to do. If you try to get too close to your coin, you will see that there is a major "focus" problem. This one issue perplexed me more than any other. When you do your cropping later that coin is going to get very close & very large and show all the detail you will ever need.
    (4) On top of the books or whatever you use as a "platform" for your coin/coins place a white sheet of paper. On the books you see in the picture here I have standard printer paper folded once in half. After many uses it will get smudged and dirty and with the detail you will find you are getting, keep that white background (paper) clean. The dirt will really show up in the pics if it's not cropped out (change the white paper as often as needed). Raw coins tend to dirty it up rather quickly. Also I have a cat. You would not believe how ugly a cat hair sitting atop the obverse of a "slabbed" gold coin is 'til you've seen it. It's things like this that has cost me more wasted time as in having to re-shoot that gold coin obverse all on account of a dam very "detailed" cat hair. If you have multiple coins to shoot, you will have to take a book or two away and/or raise your tripod. To shoot a larger area as in multiple coins your table lamp shades will need to be removed and possibly higher wattage bulbs to get the desired effect. Otherwise you will see the glare of the lamp-shades. (to see this glare, look at my post of a little while back of my 4-coin 2008-W gold eagle set. The post was "A gorgeous site to behold". You will see the result of having your lamps too close to the coins being shot. The distance you see in my post here is the right distance for a single coin/slab shot. Add numerous coins, as in 3-4 slabs, remove the shades and/or spread your lamps and/or raise your tripod. You will find that if you can fill your screen with the subject matter (coin) you are at just the right distance. Pretend that your camera does not have a "zoom".
    (5) Always have your camera battery fully charged before taking a multitude of shots. I can't tell you how many times I have had to stop "mid-stream", just when I was on a roll because my battery died.
    (6) The bulbs are at a roughly 60 degree angle and very slightly behind the coin, still at that 20-24 inches apart. Believe me I have tried all kinds of light and at all kinds of positions and what you see here is what I have found to work best for me. If you want, I would like to encourage you to play with each step of the process as in this "set up" and in the next few phases of posts I plan to do.
    Also all of the instructions and tips I plan to share are all based on working with the free download from Irfanview. Those of you that haven't yet, go to Irfanview.com and download their "FREE" program and you will have that out of the way. Those of you that use other editing software like Adobe or Picasa, you really owe it to yourself to try the Irfanview. I swear by it. It's great stuff, it's user friendly, & it's free. If you prefer yours over it, well so be it. Whatever works best for you.
    (7) Once you have taken a few shots you will need to get them onto your PC to get ready for the editing process. Ever how you can do this, just remember you need to have them where you know how to get to them, to be able to crop and re-size them. For those of you that are fairly "computer savy" this is a "no-brainer" but for a dummy like myself, much different. Very early in this whole learning process I took a bunch of pics, downloaded them to my PC and then couldn't find them. Go figure... Luckily I have that part down pat now.
    Anyway thats about it for now. The next post will have to do with the editing & cropping on Irfanview. As I took pictur

  2. W.K.F.
    My duplicates could finance a small war... a very small one..
    Greetings Collectors,
    I am waiting on todays mail to arrive thinking my 1847-O $10 Liberty will come. I have so many sets that are in need, it's makes little sense to buy a gold coin of this cost that fits practically nowhere. I used the justification that I did not own a $10 from the New Orleans mint. Once I made the purchase I thought to my self that this coin could be the start of yet one more mint set. (like I really need to start another one). The ones I have going will take a lifetime to complete if I am to buy at least AU pieces to insert there. But anyway what's done is done and I'm not all that upset and the aformentioned comments are all the justifing I need.
    In the set this coin pictured fits in is one that in its infancy I just wanted a set of MS-64 full bell line coins. I then changed my mind in that I wanted all to be one grade higher to MS-65 FBL. Thus the multitude of Franklin sets. So now, for the record, I have a goal of a premier FBL Franklin set in 66-FBL. (I did this with my Walker halves as well, starting with 64's then moving to 65's & now attempting a full short set in MS-66) I am always watching these coins for a great deal to make itself available and when one does, I never hesitate to get it. It makes no difference that I own maybe 3-6 examples of the same date & mint already. While I have come to the conclusion that I don't have a "coin problem" per se, this repeated buying of coins I already have (date & mint) may be. (a problem) But I'll worry about that later. Bottom line is that I am "on the hunt" for all 66 FBL Franklins that will keep me just south of total financial ruin.
    This 1952 in this grade is the least difficult to obtain out of the coins from 1948-1955. When I say that I mean they have the least "Numismedia" value. Why this is, I don't know because at NGC, the tougher of all grading services, there have only been 535 coins graded in all grades with full bell lines. The coin you see here is one of only 68 in MS-66 and there have been only two coins to make the next grade of 67-FBL. Presently there have been "NO" Franklin halves that have made the grade of 68FBL by "ANY SERVICE". It's unknown to me and others why the value of coins, this scarce are so low. I do love this aspect because this, like the current price of gold and silver, "will not last". And that makes every one of these coins I pick up better than money in any bank or any stock.
    Well it's almost "mail time" so I'm going to walk down to the end of the dirt lane I live on and meet one of my best friends. I hope he brings me what I have been waiting for. Gosh, I love this hobby!
    Happy Collecting!
    WKF
    P.S. Congrats to 4reddawg on his very worthy Franklin sets. It's always nice to see another "Franklin Fanatic" Also Kudos to Bammer on the latest grades from NGC. One final note, "Bammer, if you are not pleased with the 1853-O dollar, you can forward it on to me as I could sure use it. Please write me for my address.

  3. W.K.F.
    Is there no end to the "Madness"?
    Greetings Collectors,
    Since my last post where I was crying about having a "problem", well it's confirmed. I do. And you know what? I don't give a rats a--. As long as there is electricity on at the house, gas in the trucks & Heaven forbid, the major auction houses are still in business, well, I'm fine.
    I just finished posting a few more pics to several gallerys and wanted to share several of the latest aquisitions. I picked up the coin you see pictured here at a very good deal and was torn between this AU-58 and two others I had been watching. One was an MS-61 and the other a 62. What made up my mind was the "eye-appeal" of the three coins. I was debating between going for one of the higher graded pieces and this one but had to go with this "58". The others would have only been around $100-$125 more and the points of course were a little more but I went for the coin that looked the best. For what it's worth, I'm glad I went this way. It will now be the start of yet another gold set and a very important piece to my recently started 1853 mint set. I am glad gold has pulled back a tad because the way things had been going, these little "gold pieces" were starting to be the only denomination within my reach. I fear I have purchased my last "double eagle".
    Two other coins I purchased fit nicely into my two favorite coin series in silver and gold. The first was a nice 1952 Franklin NGC MS-66 FBL that went into set #1, replacing a PCGS MS-65 FBL that I moved down the line into another Franklin set. This FBL-66 came today and it puts yet another NGC coin into that set #1. I want to end up with all NGC coins in that set if possible. I think I am somewhere around "50-50" at present, NGC to PCGS.
    The last purchase was an "outstanding" $10 Liberty, a 1847-O in an NGC AU-50 slab. This coin looks a whole lot better than the "50" grade on the slab. It's also my 1st New Orleans "ten". I now have a $2.50, a $5.00 and this $10 from this affordable "southern branch mint". The "type one "O" twenties are anything but affordable. A $20 example may be a long time coming. The 47-O ten should be here tomorrow and when it does arrive, I will share a photo of it. I couldn't beleive the points it had. With that entry I moved into the "top 250" overall. My next "milestone" will be to push through 200,000 points. And then after that it will be to make the "top 200" and then.... Anybody else relate to these types of goals? Oh well, it's just another exciting aspect of this great hobby. I am having a "blast" with my coins. I hope all of you are as well.
    Happy Collecting!
    WKF

  4. W.K.F.
    Duhh.. Dumb question...Would it be this bad if I collected "comic books"??? probably...
    Greetings Collectors,
    All this "Gold Fever" that has been sweeping the world got me thinking about the past. I started collecting in the early-mid 60's and even still have a "Red Book" from that period. My two most valuble coins at that time was a 1916-D Mercury dime AG-3 and an 1810 over 9 Classic Head Large Cent in XF-45. The former was lost in time and the latter I still own. I remember the large cent was worth $35 for years and years and the dime not a whole lot more. Gold was $35 per oz. and nice gem mint state $20 Double Eagles were around $100 ea. Wow to only be able to go back and do it all again. My want list would be several hundred coins strong... at least. But we are here now and prices are what they are.
    As I approached graduation from high school (1972) The war was starting to wind down and coins were put on the "back burner". Surfing/traveling & girls quickly replaced the urges that coins once held. I actually, for the most part, ignored coins from the mid 70's-1990. When I wasn't traveling to some remote part of the tropics in search of the ultimate ride, I was planning my next trip and deciding which female friend I would take with me. It was a great life and I could write volumes on places I went and people I met. This life lasted a dozen years or so and then marriage, three kids, a business took that which I loved and replaced it with something I loved even more. My faith, my children, business and then coins began to consume my every waking moment. The 1st 3 starting in the mid-80's & coins around 1990. I am in a "third cycle" of life now and have been since my first slabbed coin purchases in 89-90. Even then gold was still very cheap after correcting from the 80's high of $800 per oz. I remember that gold was between $200 & $300 per ounce for what seemed like eons. That was when I started buying.
    I think back now and while I bought all I could afford, I still can't get the thoughts outta my mind that the 1st cycle of the 60's into the mid 70's I should have been a "bigger" buyer. At a very young age (8-12) all I did was do jobs for neighbors & relatives in order to earn money to buy coins. I caught snakes and sold them to the local pet shops and even on our family trips to see my paternal grandparents in N.W. LA. I would take all my available cash (usually $70-$100) and invest it in nickle packs of "Black Cat" firecrackers. I would buy these ciggarett size packs that had 16 firecrackers in each and would bring them back to Florida (where they were against the law to sell or have) and sell them for $.25 each. All of these funds were used to buy mostly silver & copper coins but I bought a few gold coins as well. And not only then, but I should have bought some (or I should say bought more) in the late 80's - the mid 90's. It wasn't 'til 1995 when my 1st son was born did I really start aquiring all I had any extra money for. And I have been that way even to today. I just can't help but think what kind of holdings I would have today had I just been consistant, kinda like the tortoise compared to the hare. It is amazing how crystal clear hindsight is. But I firmly beleive all things happen for a reason but that ole, "shoulda woulda coulda" continues to rear its smart head.
    For the last almost 20 years I have bought anything and everything gold and silver. I would get on a tear with one type of coin and go like crazy, only to replace that one with yet another. But still most all have been about gold & silver (and in that order). I have scolded myself for what I would think was spending way too much and it even played a major reason that my second marriage failed. My statement was always the same when my "so called" better half would say, "that's the third gold coin this month", don't you think you need to tone it down a tad?" Actually that is putting what she said and how she said it mildly. My standard "come back" was always the same, "but honey, I can always sell it if I need to". And her standard reply to that was always the same... "but you never do".
    Looking back I am somewhat pleased although I always think I could have done better in not only the rate at which I bought but the quality of what I bought. But I think I have finally put to bed the demons that have caused me to kick myself for not having bought more. I have had on too many occasions to count, said to myself, stop, take a break. Try to go 30 or 60 or heck, even 10 days without buying something. It does no good. I am an addict, plain and simple. I have finally owned up to that fact. I am through worrying about it.
    My latest tear of the last 3-6 weeks has been buying gold to fit into several mint sets I have decided to build. And wouldn't you know it, as my luck would have it, the ones I have chosen are gonna probably kill me. (there are several other mint sets in the 1890's I am going to attempt in addition) The two I would really like to complete are the 1853 & the 1901. Both have CS members in the #1 spot that will be near imposible to even get close to, much less knock off. And when you look at some of the coins needed to complete these two, the task is even more daunting. (1901-S Barber quarter & Morgan dollar, both P&S and the 1853 C&D gold)
    So anyway here is an example of a pretty nice New Orleans mint gold half eagle for my 1893 mint set (one of 452 total in all grades at NGC). Boy I can't wait to see what the San Francisco Morgan dollar will set me back for this particular year. I do beleive that the aforementioned mint sets will end up with a few "empty slots".
    Please pray for me as the problem I have is a serious one...
    Happy Collecting
    WKF
    P.S. Can you beleive a Half Eagle with a reverse this nice resides in an AU-58 holder? What Liberty Gold collector in their right mind could pass on a southern Branch Mint coin like this one? Maybe I'm not as ill as first thought...

  5. W.K.F.
    Buy it at any time & in any form! JUST BUY IT...
    Greetings Collectors,
    In the past I have posted several journals about the wisdom in buying gold and silver. All of you see & hear the commercials on TV & radio about this. I posted a journal on 3/19/09 with the same title. Afterwards there were those who said that at $950 gold may have gotten a little ahead of itself and the better time would have been several months prior when it had corrected back to $750-$775. I then made another post which I still agree wholeheartedly with and said in so many words that no-one can pick a bottom and that yesterday, today & tomorrow is the best time to make a purchase. I still think this exact same way.
    Six months later I posted a journal that read with this same title and with the added suffix "six months later". At that time which was 10/6/09 gold was up another 18% to $1195 and silver had advanced 25+ %. I said in that post that we would look back and remember when gold pushed through $1000 and for a very brief time it could have been bought for between $1000 & $1100. How long do you remember it staying between these two figures? Not long. Well, here we are today and over the weekend gold was trading intra-day for $1289 & silver was close to $20 per oz. I can't begin to stress that these prices are one hell of a deal. Any corrections going forward are going to be small and few & far between.
    The entire world has been on a path of massive public spending and even more massive public debt. Gold usually runs with the dollar. When the dollar is going down, gold is moving up and vice-versa. One thing that most of you do not know is that our American dollar is only as "weakly" strong as it is now because every other currency, and I do mean "every one of them" are in the toilet. Even with our massive debt/spending the U.S. dollar is ONLY the lessor of all the other evils/choices. Once this facade is broken, gold & silver and other precious metals will take off like a dam breaking. Our dollar is not strong. It only appears stronger than all the rest. This "WILL NOT LAST"!
    I once again implore you. I beseech you to buy as much gold and silver as you possibly can. We all love coins. Coins are good. Gold & silver coins are great. But it would be wise to every now and then, buy a roll or two of just plain old 1964 Kennedy halves. Or buy a roll of silver dimes. The former can be had for around $170 and the latter for about half that. Or you can go on ebay and buy "wearable scrap" for between $18 and $21 per gram for 14k. All of these kinds of purchases will reward you handsomly in the not too distant future. And if you have 10, 20 or more years 'til you retire the sky is the limit.
    Gold to silver for a couple hundred years has been 20 to 1. A $20 gold double eagle to a silver dollar. This ratio has gone way outta whack. I do think it will narrow from the 65 to 1 that it is at present. For this to come back into line, gold at $1250 would mean $65 silver. One last thing to remember is that gold for the most part is "reclaimable" silver for the most part is not. The massive increase of uses for silver is ripping the world silver supply apart. And gold, well gold is the favorite metal from many thousands of years ago to this very day and more and more indiviguals and governments see this and are buying all they can afford.
    So if coins are your choice, fine. But it may prove valuble to consider other forms of gold & silver to "salt away" for that rainy day that is surely coming. I still think with all my heart that this "ride is still just beginning". Remember, buy it in any form, whether it's a 19.2 ounce brick of 999 silver, a silver or gold chain or ring or some generic 20-Franc gold coins. Kennedy halves in either 40% or 90% or cull silver dollars. just "Buy It".
    Happy collecting/investing/hoarding
    WKF

  6. W.K.F.
    Basicly the final part...
    Greetings Collectors,
    Once again I am late. My dad had a slight setback and I am with him about 90 miles from my home. I am using the computer I urged him to get under the guise he needed to keep track of his stocks etc. But I must admit there were some personal needs of my own that kept me nagging him 'til he finally agreed it would be a good thing for him. You really don't apreciate what you have until you are forced to use another system. But even though the screen is much smaller and here he has "dial up" rather than a broadband cable modem, it is way better than when we had nothing out here in the Florida forests on the Swannee River.
    This post will be just the basics on combining two photos into one. Sometimes called a panorama view. This will come in hady for those of you that want to share an obverse & a reverse in a single journal. My buddy Brad who taught me most of what I know sent these instructions several months ago but I have to honestly say, I have not attempted this process. I will share "word for word" his info email to me concerning this task. It doesn't sound too difficult and I feel really lazy for not having tried it yet. But oh well, I am the "king of procrastinators". To join 2 or more photos together:
    (1) Launch Irfanview
    (2) Select the "Image" menu
    (3) Select "Create Panorama Image"
    (4) Horizontal will be selected by default ( If you want the pics vertical (one on top of the other) choose that way instead)
    (5) Click "Add Images" then browse to the image on your computer that you want to be on the left side and click open.
    (6) The image you picked will show up in Irfan in the "Input Images" list.
    (7) Repeat steps 5 & 6 for the image you want on the right side.
    (8) Click "Create Image"
    (9) Irfan now displays the new composite (Panorama) Image.
    (10) Then you can "crop & re-size" the image for gallery or journal posting.
    (10) You can select file/save etc and save your new photo to your computer.
    Play with this feature and see what happens. I'm sure you can figure it out.
    My last post will be a collection of tips that were shared with me when I was learning. Each is only a few sentences long and I will share the CS member whose idea it was. I am also going to sponsor a contest to those of you who used Irfanview and the tips I have shared and the only stipulation is you have to post a short journal saying how you took your pic and of course, the/a picture as well. This contest is for those of you that had previously not posted any pics in either your gallery or jounals by yourself up 'til now. The second rule is you have to be a collector with less than 100,000 total points here at the CS. And the final rule is at the time of your posting you have to mention in that jounal posting, the pic you want to enter into the contest. Your fellow collectors will email me with their choice of who the winners are. I would also like the winners to post pics of the coin they win to finish off this entire learning process.
    There will be three prizes. 1st place will get his or her choice of a PCGS MS-64 Brown 1909-VDB Lincoln cent or a PCGS MS-68 1986-S George Washington commemorative half dollar or a "Gem Brilliant" uncirculated Silver Eagle (one of several dates I have "ungraded". 2nd place will get their choice of the two items leftover and 3rd place will receive the final coin of the three just mentioned. A "Panorama" view pic will receive "extra consideration". The meter starts now and will end at the end of the month of July, voting the 1st five days of August and the winners announced on Aug 7th. Coins mailed out on August 8th.
    If only a couple people learn to take pictures of their coins by what I have done, then I will think it a success. Please everyone who can, try and win this thing. If more people participate than I am imagining I will add another one of each of the above coins to the pot.
    The photo I leave you with is one that kinda sybolizes how sad it is that the hobby we all hold so dear is one we can't share with very many and one that requires us to keep our beloved coins locked away in some bank vault where in order to see them we either have to have some good pics or we have to go sit in some small room at the bank to play with them. This is two of the six boxes I have at present at $110 a pop per year. ouch!
    Happy Collecting!
    WKF

  7. W.K.F.
    Another Slot filled in an Important Mint Set...
    Greetings Collectors,
    Just wanted to share a new coin that came today. This MS-62 was won at auction on eBay for a very fair price for the condition it is. As most of you know my favorite silver coin set is the Franklin Half Dollar in mint state and to round out my "top three" in silver is the Walking Liberty Half and coming in third is the Mercury Dime. These latter two sets are ones I am trying to complete in what some call the "middle set" (1934-1947 & 1934-1945) respectfully. But my real love is pre-1908 Liberty Gold in the $2.50, $5.00, $10.00 & $20.00.
    For the majority of April & May I have been on a Franklin tear and have added approx. 20-25 coins with most being duplicates but did plug a few holes in some MS-65 Full Bell Line coins I did not have in my Franklin set #1. Many of course were 65-FBL coins that looked way too nice to pass on but ones I already owned. In set one I had most in PCGS holders and I have been slowly aquiring NGC examples to replace those PCGS coins in set one so that I may have a shot at an award for a "best presented" as I don't stand a chance for anything else with some of the sets I am competing against. I have the beginnings of a very nice set but ranking in the high 30's is a far cry from a set as nice as the guys who are in the "top ten or twenty". "Dave100" is ranked #5 in mintstate & #11 in the Franklin proofs and has a great bunch of coins. Most are all MS-66 FBL and he even has a few 67's as well. If you get the chance, take a look at Daves sets. They are absolutely awesome.
    But as far as my buying of late, I started at our coin show here in Jacksonville the last weekend in May picking up a few gold Liberty's (a $5 & a $10) and have spent the rest of this month of June up to present picking up a few more $10's and $5's along with one $2.50. This is my "next to the latest $5" that arrived today and I have an 1893-O $5 on the way from Teletrade, a very nice low-mintage coin that appears "undergraded" sitting in an NGC AU-58 slab. I am certain that I need to get a handle on my spending as it has gotten to the point I am close to being "out of control". I was very proud that I "just said NO" last night on Teletrades Wed night auction as there was a very nice 1879-S $2.50 in AU-58 that went for less than $300 and I sat there with my finger on the trigger but watched as 10:00 pm passed without me clicking on the next increment. It's odd but I have to admit that it felt just as bad as it did good for my refraining from picking up yet another gold piece.
    The coin pictured here fills one more slot in my 1901 mint set which commemorates my great grandfathers 1st store opening. (better close up pics of just the coin are now in the gallery of this mint set) My grandfather opened store #2 in the mid-30's. The year 1901 was a very important year for our family along with 1935 and of course the year 1853 was as well as this was the year we had our Irish start in America. The mint set this coin pictured will rest in will be a very expensive set to complete if I were to finish it, with the likes of a 1901-S Barber Quarter and the two hard Morgan Dollars (1901-P&S). But the 1853 mint set consists of what looks like a zillion coins with lots of "branch mint" C&D gold along with gold and silver pieces from New Orleans. I could probably spend the rest of my days completing these two mint sets. I am going to try and "chip away" at them a few coins every year to the both and may end up lacking at least one coin for the '01 set and probably several in the 1853 set. But oh well, that's what this coin collecting is all about. Happy Collecting! to all of you.
    WKF

  8. W.K.F.
    re-ducing the file size of your photos.
    Greetings Collectors & Photographers,
    I apologize once again for being tardy in my continued posts of this very tedious art of coin "picture taking". Before I start I want to say that while there are many of you who have their own personal tips on "how they do it", for those of you who are as new to this task as I was last fall, with all due respect, try to ignore, just for the time being, urges to get too fancy too quickly. Again I can only speak from experiance that the thought of having to buy "polarizing filters" and other gadgetry is way too intimidating if you are just starting out. The tips offered by other members of late were shared with me and when I get to the end of this series of posts, I want to share all of these "over and above and beyond" tips that were shared with me and who the member was that shared them. If at that time once you have the basics down to a comfortable degree, then if you want to invest the time (and the money) to obtain some of these items, then by all means, "go for it"! But for the sake of you beginners all you need is "Irfanview", a half way decent digital camera with a "macro" setting, a cheap $15 tripod and a couple of small-medium table lamps along with the few misc. items such as the white paper for the background and some items to set your coins on such as a few books etc.
    When I started I got so mad at the site here because it would not accept a pic unless it was a certain "file size". I thought in my selfish lazy way that the Collectors Society should be advanced enough to allow us to simply take a picture, get it straight, and crop off the excess and post it. In retrospect I am glad they did not make it that easy as it forced me to learn something that I otherwise may not have learned.
    For posting to ebay, you don't have to worry about the size. Here you do. For your gallery shots in your indivigual sets, the pics have to be less than 120kb. For pictures included with a journal posting, the pics have to be less than 75kb. I want to say right now that having a pic to post in a journal that is very close to 75 (say 74), for some reason is not accepted many times. Why? I have no idea. This has bugged the out of me on many occasions. Same with the gallery. A pic that is 119 will not always be accepted. So I don't try to nudge right up to the limit. On a gallery pic, most of my shots are 110-117kb and I never go over 73kb for a journal pic. This way they are always accepted.
    So to reduce the size of your pics, and I always have a few at the time when I do this, I roll my cursor over the thumbnails and group the photos in several groups (on paper). I will for instance have 4 or 5 that are 2.35mb and then I may have 3 or 4 more that are bigger or smaller (3.11mb or 1.98mb) To group these will help speed things up when you are deciding what % to "chop off" "size wise".
    (1) To start just "double click" the big red "Irfanview cat icon" and then in the upper left of your screen, "left click" on "file" and then click "open".
    (2) Then select the file of the group of pictures/thumbnails you have already cropped and wish to reduce in size. You can left click the file once and then click "open" or you can just "double click" the same file and all of your thumbnails will appear.
    (3) If you have your pics already somewhat organized according to the size they have become after the cropping step, then choose a pic to reduce and again, either single click the pic and then click open or just "double click" the same pic to get the same results.
    (4) Once the coin photo is displayed, in order to reduce the size, click "image" at the top left and from the drop-down choose "resize/resample".
    (5) From the box that appears, hit your "back-space" key to erase the 100% and this is where you will have to experiment. What I do is start at the middle of the % spectrum and type in say 65% and then click "OK".
    (6) Next from the upper left of your screen, click file and then from the drop-down click "save to original folder". Once you do this, two boxes will appear like when you were cropping your photos. (Once again this is for irfanview and in order for this to work for you beginners, you will have to have read the previous posts on this photography series) What these two boxes mean is that you are about to add another photo to your group of photos or you are about to replace one with this reduced size example. The problem is you don't know if you have the right size yet so you want to keep the previous photo "AND" this one you are reducing. A simple way to do this is to go to the bottom of the large box where it says "file name" and click on the end of the line of text. I always just type in the letter "A" (actually any letter or number will do). I then go back up to the small box at the upper right and take the scale down to the same 65% you used on the previous step. Once you have the letter "A" in the bottom left of the big box next to file name and you have 65% in the upper small box, then at the bottom of the large box you want to click "save".
    (7) Once you have done that go back up to the upper left of your screen and click "file" and then click "open". You will now be able to run your cursor over the reduced in size photo and see if you are on, or at least getting close to the size you need whether it be for your gallery (less than 120kb) or for a journal posting (less than 75kb). Depending on how far I am off, I either have written down what I just used such as the 65% in both places. (having a scrap piece of paper showing what you used when your pic started out at say, 2.35mb and then doing the 65% both times gave you what? Then say the pic is still too large for your gallery but you did get it down to say 147kb (still too large for your gallery pic limit of less than 120kb) Delete that pic that's 147kb, double click your original photo & then go back through step 5 & 6 and go down to say 60% on each of the two steps in 5 & 6. The more you play with this the faster you will be, and beleive me in just a little while you will get pretty darn quick.
    (8) An important thing to remember and it is what I have always done is that say you use the 65% in both steps 5 & 6 and your pic is still too large or it may have put you pic way too small, always take that size which is not acceptable to you and "delete" it. To do this just "right click" on the photo that you just changed the size on and on the drop-down click delete. You will then be asked if you want to delete that pic and it will show you the size of it so you can make sure you are deleting the one you don't want. Then click "YES". By doing this, you dont end up with a half dozen examples of the photo in sizes you don't need. This also enables you to use the letter "A" when saving that photo that you are unsure if it's going to be the correct size. If you didn't add that letter "A" or you can use any letter or number or character as this just changes that file name slightly so you won't see a box pop up that is asking if you want to "replace" that file with this changed version.
    (9) But as you keep changing the size of that photo, trust me, every time you attempt a size reduction and it's not the size you want, then delete that example and try another combo of % (percentages) until you land on the right one to get your desired size. You can also try doing 65% on step 5 and 55% on step 6. Play

  9. W.K.F.
    Cropping/Editing your Photo
    Greetings Collectors,
    Sorry for the delay in getting to part two. I wanted to get this done Friday night, as I am sure most of you are very busy during the week, and the weekends probably give you a little more free time. As I continue this series I plan on doing one post per week and would like to have it done by Fri. eve. Saturday at the very latest.
    Some of you have your own brand of software you like to use when editing your photos so bear in mind that these instructions are for the use of the program by "Irfanview". If you have not done so already, go to Irfanview.com for a free download.
    Once you have your photos taken and have successfully transfered them to your pc you will then do the following in Irfanview:
    (1) Out of your photos click and open the thumbnail or "double-click" the thumbnail of that you wish crop. This is in order to have that photo appear before you.
    (2) If your photo is not as straight as you would like in the vertical/horozontal (and this becomes very important when you start the "cropping" process) then in the upper left of your screen click on "image" and on the dropdown, click on "custom fine rotation". When the box appears you will see a blue "highlighted" area. Hit your "backspace" to make that disappear. Now in order to align your photo which may not be that far from what you are wanting, you need to type in a % of whichever way your pic needs to go. If the top is tilted slightly to the right then start small by typing a -.67 or however much the top needs to tilt back to the left to be perfectly vertical. Be sure to put the "negative minus sign" (-) followed by point (.) and then the amount. Then click ok and watch your photo take that step to making the top of the pic back to the left. If your photo is already tilted too far to the left, you need to go the other way. Start with small increments but without the (-) sign ie .67 or .48 or . whatever. Play with this feature and you will end up having a "perfect" photo to crop.
    (3) In the upper left corner of your screen click on "edit" and on the drop-down, click on the 3rd down from the top (create custom crop selection)
    (4) Once the box appears, click the "red X" and git rid of that box. You are now ready to crop your photo. I put my cursor in the upper left corner of exactly where I imagine my vertical and horozontal lines to be and then hold down on my mouse, I drag my cursor from top left to the top right 'til I reach the point where my right side boundary is and then downward to where my bottom horozontal boundary is and then release my mouse. This will be something that you will steadily get better at and even after you have released your mouse, and your boundary lines are not where you want them, you can adjust any of the four lines by rolling your cursor over any line to be adjusted until the "double arrows" appear (either left-right or up-down) Again play with this and before long you will get good enough to start at the top left and drag to the right and downward all in one step and end up with the perfect box around your coin or around your whole slab. Before you start this step, decide whether you want the end result to be of "just the coin" or of the "entire slab".
    (5) Now go back to the top left of your screen and click on "edit" once more and on the drop-down click on "crop selection" (8th item down on the drop-down) You will now see an image of just your coin or slab.
    (6)Now what you have is the finished shot of your coin and the original shot you took is of "no more use to you". You then in order to replace that original shot with this one you have just cropped, go back up to the upper left of your screen and click on "file". Now on the drop-down click on "save(original folder). A screen will appear with your coin/coins in a large box & a Jpeg/gif save option smaller box to the right of the large box. For now, forget everything but the "save quality" and on that you want to make sure that the slide scale from 1-100 is all the way over to the right (on 100) (good). Now at the bottom of the large box click "save". Once you do that another small rectagle box will appear and ask if you want to replace the existing file/photo/pic. Click "yes" that you do want to replace the existing photo in that file. You have just replaced your original photo with your "new cropped photo".
    As I said in a previous post and this one as well, I use Irfanview and for thoses of you who don't, I don't know how much help if any these posts will be. Also You may just take one pic at the time (maybe two if you count the obverse & reverse) or you may take numerous pics. I am showing you the order I have learned and what I have found after many hours of "trial & error". Through this whole process I was always searching for a better & quicker way of doing all of this, because I had several hundred slabs to shoot, crop & resize. And this is the way I found that was the fastest and ended up with the very best results of all that I tried. Believe me when I say, I made a ton and a half mistakes to get where I am today. And the way I found best was:
    (1) Take all pictures 1st, and if a whole set was to be shot and on every set there are "holes", I would shoot all the coins in the order they appeared in the set (you will find this one tip the most valuble later when you are actually putting the finished product Cropped&Sized into your gallery) In that order I would shoot the obverse 1st and then the reverse (pic #1 & #2)
    (2) Then after all the shots were taken, I would then crop each and every one, both obverse & reverse. (If you are like me you will find that by doing several shots, as in ever how many coins you have in that set, you get very good and fast with that particular step the more you crop)
    (3) Then I would re-size each and every one, there again getting better & much faster as I would proceed along. I do alot of buying and selling on ebay and the size there is no problem unlike it is here at the Collectors Society. So I would have two sizes, one that was just the finished cropped coin and an "additional" shot (same shot, just sized smaller for here at the CS) And then if this was a coin pic that you wanted to include in a journal posting, a third example sized at the "less than 75kb" that is needed for the journals. So... (A) Full size cropped photo (B) Photo sized at less than 120kb for gallery posting © A yet smaller photo at less than 75kb for journal posting.
    I really hope that this will help those of you that are in the same boat I was in last fall when I knew nothing. When these series of posts are through, please share some of your photos in your journals. I know that I not only speak of myself when I say, we are looking forward to your coin photos.
    I leave you with one of three $10 Liberty gold coins purchased in the last couple weeks. I don't know what the population is at PCGS but I was surprized to see that at NGC, only 280 have been graded in "all grades" 67 in MS-61 82 in MS-62, 20 in MS-63 and one lone example in MS-64 with none higher. There are 110 coins in MS-60 and lower. Thats not very many out of a mintage of 115,500. Now I need to take a serious break from spending. Happy Collecting & "picture taking".
    WKF

  10. W.K.F.
    What a coin, to say the least...Does this look AU-58???
    Sorry for "hogging" the journals but I promise to "give it a rest" 'til the next post on photography. But I just had to share this "flip side" of this 05-S. Actually I may sleep with this coin tonight... but then again, maybe not. I fear the "coin fairy" may steal it and give it to a more worthy recipiant...
    I hope every one enjoys what weekend you have left. Me, I have to work tomorrow. Until next time, Happy Collecting!
    WKF
    P.S. I don't do "chat boards" and I was unable to delete that part of this post. Sorry if any of you try to "chat" with me about this coin, but I won't be there...

    To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.
  11. W.K.F.
    This coin is absolutely "Amazing"
    Greetings,
    I am just sitting here in "awe" over this $10 I got today. For the last hour and a half I have been comparing the Obverse & the Reverse to over 30 different coins on Teletrade, eBay, & Heritage. Also I looked at the few $10's I have pics of here at the CS registry. None of the mint state 61's or 62's I own even come close. This 58 is "hands down" far superior to all of my $10 Libertys.
    The PCGS grader had to have seen something to give this coin a 58 but I'll be dam if I can see what? I have seen "under-graded" coins before but this one tops them all. Do any of you see what the grader saw & that I missed? I have the obverse and reverse now in my set listings but I have the whole slab showing. I think I am going to go back and replace the pics showing just the coin so all can see the detail I see. Those of you that have time and feel like it, please LMK what you think. Thanks, Kerry

  12. W.K.F.
    Anual Greater Jacksonville Coin Show
    Greetings Collectors,
    I just got home a few minutes ago and wanted to share the only two purchases I made at the show. The two coins pictured is the "reverse only", and were two of the nicest coins for the grade that I found today. I was busy with work yesterday and was not able to make it down to the show until today. This was actually the first Saturday of this yearly show I have ever missed. To try and make myself feel a little better, I thought that maybe that the dealers, if it was like most past shows, would have had a busy day buying on Friday from each other and from the public on Saturday and that there may be some decent deals to be had.
    I am always on the lookout for Franklins and saw a real nice 1949-D, a key date in a PCGS holder graded MS-65 FBL. The coin had some attractive golden toning but could not come to what I believed to be a good enough deal. I would have had to pay around $600 & change and with my budget being what it was, I wanted to leave those funds intact for a couple of gold purchases. I also took a few coins to trade, one being that wonder deal I got on the 2008-W reverse of 07, from a month or so ago, part of a 5-coin lot purchased on eBay for around $150 for the five raw coins. 4 proofs and 1 mint state all in the mint boxes with the one Unc. being the semi-rare 08-w. That SE ended up being an even trade for the 1886-S $5 Liberty in an NGC-62 holder. The other coin I have pictured here was the "under-grade" of the century. The $10 Liberty you see here is a 1905-S in a PCGS AU-58 holder. The obverse of this $10 is just as nice as the reverse and for those of you that know this series, I'm sure will agree, (as did most other dealer friends I showed it to) is a very solid MS-62 or better coin. But having said that, I am done with the "cracking out" deal after being burned several times lately. I will say that at most, I will send this to NGC, intact in its PCGS holder and see if they will "bump" the grade a notch or two or more... This is yet another case of "buy the coin" and not the "graded holder" because I am convinced this coin is way better than AU-58. I was very lucky that the dealers wife, whom I was dealing with on this purchase was given instructions on how far she could come down % wise on any given coin as her husband was not present at the time I was at their table. So I ended up paying 15% less than gray sheet bid on a AU-58 piece for AU-58 money. I felt like I stole the coin or at worse, just got an absolutely "killer deal" on it.
    The 1886-S $5 is a common date with 3,268,000 minted while the 1905-S is the best date of all $10 Liberties for the entire 20th century, and actually going back to the early 1890's with no coin surpassing its worth in this AU-58 grade and above except the 1893-CC. This $10 is a coin I am very excited about and one that I feel very fortunate to have aquired, for the money paid. Each time I go to a show, I come away with a coin that to me appears to be an "awesome" deal. This 05-s is a prime example of a deal, like other deals, that are just waiting for someone to come along and take advantage of. This was a great day to be a "coin collector". Oh, BTW, I have just entered both of these gold coins into their respective sets in case you want to see what the obverse of each looks like. I hope each of you has been having loads of fun with your coins and are "zeroing" in on the pieces that have been eluding you. Happy Collecting to all!
    WKF

  13. W.K.F.
    For those of you without a tripod or copy stand...
    Greetings Photographers,
    I have had several of you write thanking me and looking forward to "round two". Thanks to all! One who wrote telling of a method he has used in the past without the use of a tri pod or copy stand. It actually reminded me of some of my "trial & error" days early on.
    I had alot of trouble keeping my camera still which now the tripod fixes that. I used 4 NGC 20-coin boxes. For closer shots I would stack them two high long wise on the surface of my table and bridge my camera across them with my coin below. If that was too close of a shot I would use just two of them standing on their ends. This latter method worked better because of the shadow the boxes would make stacked two high and running end to end whould not let enough light onto the subject piece. But this worked quite well except that my camera was not wide enough to have enough of it sitting on the edge of the boxes thus it kept falling and I knew that couldn't be good for the unit.
    The tip I just got from X2rider was basicly the same concept but instead of the camerea "bridged" across the gap, he advised the use of a very clean clear piece of glass to bridge between the two books/boxes etc. You would then set the camera on top of the glass and he didn't say but maybe the use of the timer on your camera would keep the movement to a minimum.
    Going back and taking a trip down "memory lane" the pic you see here was done with my camera bridged across those NGC boxes. But to tell you the truth... I am going to stick with my trusty tripod. Good luck to all of you. Happy collecting and picture taking!
    WKF
    P.S. This is one of my latest additions which will reside proudly in my Franklin set #2. While this is just as nice as the same grade coin I have in set #1, the other 65-FBL 52 is an NGC coin which is what I am trying to populate set one with.

  14. W.K.F.

    A $10,000 Question???

    By W.K.F.,

    Should I, or Shouldn't I??? Only God knows for sure...Dam I hate when I have to make a decision such as this...Puts a whole new meaning to "the other side of the coin".
    Greetings Collectors,
    Pictured here is a ring I bought off eBay and ironicly it is from the same very large seller of whom I bought the 5 silver eagles from, for a total of less than $150. In my previous post a "Lottery win on eBay", one of those "raw" silver eagles turned out being the "so-called" rare 2008-W with the reverse of the 2007-W. This seller is not a coin dealer per se but has coins from time to time but knows not what is rare and what's not.
    My issue at hand is whether or not to destroy this almost 3/4 ounce 14k gold ring in order to find out if this 1911 Indian quarter eagle has a "D" mintmark on the reverse? If it does have the very scarce Denver mint mark, this coin may be worth up to $8-$10,000.
    The issue at hand is "three-fold". #1 Is if the ring could be "carefully" disected without harming the coin? (this would retain the greatest value) #2 If the surgery did not go well, a 1911-D even in a slab that was labled "ex-jewelry" would still be a very valuble coin indeed. #3 And this is by far the worst case, would be that the quarter eagle turns out to be a "no mint mark" Philadelphia coin in which an "AU" and possible an "ex-jewelry AU" would be a melt price coin. However I guess you could throw a 4th senerio in and that's to leave the dam thing alone and have a nice $800-$1000 ring that I could maybe swap for a pre-1908 $10 liberty.
    I am still undecided as to what to do and if kept the way it is at present, the ring is a huge "hunk of gold" and a very attractive piece of jewelry. It also appears to be rather old, as in maybe as old, as a ring made in the 40's or 50's. This tends to have me thinking that if the piece is that old, a 1911-D "would not" have been a "super valuble" coin at the time, thus one that someone would not have hesitated to have made into a "coin-ring". A coin, mind you, worth a little more than others, but not like the difference the same deal would have amounted to in todays dollars.
    I have had the ring now for about 6-weeks and I am no closer to making a decision today than I was at the time I received it in the mail. Whoever made the ring did an awesome job in the construction as far as being sturdy and "well put together" along with being a very attractive piece as well. ("eye appeal wise")
    I am convinced that no matter what the verdict is as far as the mint mark, the ring will get destroyed in the process of getting the coin removed. Another part that makes it such a "tease" is that the reverse is only partly obscured. It only less than a 1/4 inch more was visible, I could see if it was a D or a P.
    For now I am going to leave it be and just wear it from time to time because the ring is so attractive. One option I have is to re-sell it on the bay and let the curiosity kill some other "cat". But then I would probably get an email from the buyer at $7-$800 and read him saying, "you're not gonna beleive what I found when I had this ring taken apart"! This is definately something I don't want to hear. Anyone out there have any advice/suggestions? I am open to any and all ideas. In the meantime "Happy collecting" to all. Me, I'm just gonna sit here and stress over "What to Do"???
    WKF

  15. W.K.F.

    A "Pair" of 66's...

    By W.K.F.,

    These look alot better up close in person...& even more so on the reverses...
    Just wanted to share a couple of the more common dates in the Franklin series. Of course that term is relative when you have only a few hundred that grade this high. So I guess a better term would be a couple of "not so common" common dates. Both of these coins have some beautiful reverse colors which are fairly common for mint set coins from this time frame. It is hard to see in these photos but the "greens" & "pinks" on the obverse of these two coins is quite impressive as well.
    Back "in the day", actually up until 1959 the mint issued their "mint sets" in cardboard holders that had a high degree of sulfur in that paper which often produced the most amazing "Peter Max" colors of the entire rainbow. For the mintage year 1959 mint sets were then housed in the cellophane packets much like the ones seen today. The only coins that compare to these earlier mint sets "color wise" were some of the more colorful Morgan dollars from the sulfur laden canvas mint/bank sacks (for the most part, these aformentioned bags each held 1000 Silver Dollars) of the late 19th century and to a lessor degree, the early 20th century.
    Take care all,
    WKF
    P.S. I had made mention a post or two ago when I showed an "awesome" 1959-P MS-65 non-FBL Franklin that I had a 1951-S, also a MS-65 non-FBL that looked like...well, I won't say what, because there could be little people watching/reading, but it looked so bad I did not even want to take the time to photograph, crop & edit such a piece of garbage so I just sent it back and will use that $77 towards a much more worthy specimen. Trust me, you didn't want to lay an eyeball on such a coin. The only reason I mention it again here was that I wanted to share that 51-S to show the difference between two MS-65's by the same grading service and the fact that the two could be so far apart in the quality and "eye-appeal" category.

  16. W.K.F.
    Many Thanks for the huge outpour of support for "photo help"...This, the "prelude" to that tutorial...
    Greetings Collectors,
    Thank you to all who wrote me, encouraging me to do a series on picture taking. I had many who have yet to post pics but want to and I had some of you that have but are open to picking up a tidbit of info to further their already worthy skills. I had those of you write that have been what I consider friends for some time and those that I had never heard of/from before. People from across the U.S. and two from Australia, one from Great Britian, and even had a fairly young collector from China. All eager to learn. Boy, I hope I haven't bitten off more than I can chew...
    I just want to re-inerate that a "pro" I am not, so please understand that the tips I will share are a summary of that which was shared with me during my quest to become at least "fair" in the not so simple art of coin photography. The series will consist of several posts, the number of which at this point I am unsure. I am going to try and make each section short and to the point fully expecting those of you to experiment and "play with" that which you pick up.
    I was going to wait about another week to give several more people the chance to get their tripods and there is one who will be getting her camera a week from today which is "payday". If I start a little earlier she and whoever else can always go to the "more journals" tab at the bottom left of collectors journals and pick up and read and/or print out any part that is missed. I will number each so that you will be able to tell if one has been missed.
    I want to take the time in this prelude to have those of you that are in need of a simple to use "free download" to assist you in the editing of the pictures you will be taking. Some of you may already have editing software you are happy with and if you are, by all means stay with it. I was a "complete rookie and my friend Brandon from Hawaii turned me on and walked me through what is now my "mainstay" for all my cropping & re-sizing and the name is "Irfanview". Go to Irfanview.com and download the free version that is most compatible with your operating system. Once you have done that, play around with it if you want or you can wait 'til I walk you through the cropping/editing part followed by the most important, which is the re-sizing of your pics so that they will be under the 120KB size for posting pics to your sets and then you will have to reduce them further to less than 75KB for any that you want to include in a journal posting. For those of you that are just starting out, the Irfanview program along with the understanding as to the "limits" of what will be accepted "size wise" to our site here at the Collectors Society" is most important.
    Lately I have been going "nuts" buying most every Franklin half dollar that gets within $10 of me along with picking up a few more silver bars. The ones you see here are from Lawrence & Son Refinery and from what I understand these bars are from the late 50's and are very very scarce. I already had the "rougher" looking large bar on the right, along with the small "one ounce" version (very rare size) but was able to snag a second 500 gram, 1/2 kilo bar just last week from some very dear friends who also happen to have an enormous hoard of many "one of a kind" very scarce to rare "old pour" bars. I know not what I will do when their stash finally runs dry. They have not said just how many unique bars they have left. 80% of my rarest bars have come from them. Forgive me for keeping their name secret.
    So thank you to all and I hope everyone's weekend will be a very safe, "coin filled" weekend at that. Our anual 80-90 table coin show is up-coming the last weekend of this month so I am going to try and curb my auction spending and save a couple dollars for the show. I never have gone to one yet (a show) but what I didn't see something in gold that I just had to have, Thanks again to all of you out there in "Numismatic land" & as always, Happy Collecting!
    WKF
    P.S. My latest Franklin "buying binge" has pulled me to within 4-slots of you Harvey but your collection is still much more impressive with your average coin point total trouncing me almost two to one. Anyway I feel real good at 267. I may pass you this weekend. I wonder if I could get a few points for some of this 999 silver???

  17. W.K.F.
    The Quality of this coin is far superior to any other mint state 65 or 66 I own in the Franklin series!!!
    Greetings Collectors,
    I am out of town this week but this coin arrived on Saturday but since I wasn't home last week either, until after mail time on Sat, I had to take my little "pink slip" & pick up this package from the post office this morning. When I mentioned this eBay buy in a previous post I used about 4 or 5 different adjectives to describe it, among them, awesome, amazing, stunning, but was only going by the pic the seller had in the listing. I knew it would look good in person but not in my "wildest dreams" did I think it would look as good as it did when I opened that "bubble mailer" this morning. Even now seeing the resized scan, this photo does not do justice to what this piece actually looks like, up close and personal. I have received coins that looked better in person than the pic indicated and I have had it go the exact opposte too. Why even today I packed up a 1951-S MS-65 non-FBL Franklin that appeared one way in the listing and when I opened the package, the coin looked like someone took the coin and set it on the concrete "tails up" & "heads down" and then pressed their foot direcly on top of the coin and then slid their foot & the coin across the pavement several inches. Franklins cheek and the fields to the left and right were beat to *@#*
    Now I am talking about two of the exact same coin with both graded exactly the same, MS-65 & both slabbed by the same grader, PCGS. But the difference is like night and day. In fact I have not sealed the 51-s up in the mailer yet so I can still take a picture and share the obverse with you all. Now I am certain that the seller knew this 51-s did not measure up and it's funny now looking back that this awful looking coin was the only one this seller had listed, in that the pic was not clear & crisp. Also it was the only coin he had listed that did not include a large image. So, "blurred image", coupled with no "enlarged image" either means only one thing to me. This guy knew this coin looked like but he thought that someone would just buy it because PCGS said it was a 65 and he was right. But at least I don't have to keep it. This case in question really drives home the point that you should "ALWAYS BUY THE COIN & NOT THE SLAB" That 1951-S was barely mint state with the scrapes and scratches it had. It really looked as if someone treated it like a "garbage man" treats a "garbage can". When I post a pic in the next day or two of the " coin", remember what this 65 looks like in comparison. It's way more than "night & day" difference. Even though the two both were graded 65, and by PCGS no less, a company that does not just "hand out" MS-65 grades without the coin being worthy of such. But this time they did.
    I have lost track of how many Franklins I have bought in the last 72 hours but it has to be approaching a "double digit" number. Maybe even more. This "TEAR" I've been on of late reminds me of the way I was jumping on little silver bars with "both feet" not too long ago. This is how I am. When I think of it in retrospect, it's kinda scary. But Oh well, this addiction I have with so many things in the collecting arena is a way better habit than some folks have. I have learned to just "live with it" and have come to the conclusion that it's not "all that bad" and it's definately something I can live with. "Live much poorer, but live with non the less.
    Back to this coin pictured here, the reverse may even surpass the obverse that you see. I don't know that I have ever seen perfection on this scale with a slab reading any less than mint state 67-68. This '59 absolutely "rocks"! The more I look at it, the more it looks like a non-cameo proof with the way it shines & glistens. A truely remarkable coin.
    Happy Collecting!
    WKF

  18. W.K.F.
    If the want/need is out there, I will do a short series of journals to help out...
    Greetings Collectors,
    This Fall will be a year ago when I posted a "plea" that I needed help in learning how to take "basic" coin photos. Ones that were good enough to post here at the Collectors Society in journals and also to have photos of my many coin sets that I am so proud of. I am fairly certain there are those of you that post journals from time to time that would love to share a picture with the rest of us here. I know that I don't just speak for myself when I say that all of you that post "tid-bits" of various collecting experiances, and tell all of us about this coin and that set, I/we would love to see a "pic" of that particular coin. I can speak from 1st hand experiance that before I learned to take basic coin pics, it had gotten to the point that I just about did not want to post another journal if I could not have a photo to attach with it. That old saying "A picture is worth a thousand words" is oh so true!
    Anyway I asked for help and there were those of you that came to my aid and now looking back, I can't believe just how easy it would have been all along to shoot some fairly decent shots. I will say this, in that after several thousand photographs, I have just made it to the point where I feel "somewhat" comfortable. There is still not a day that goes by that after taking a dozen or so shots, I don't learn a little something new. Or I am able to do that which use to take 20-30 minutes, now I can do in 2-3 minutes.
    If I do this I will "turn you on" to the basics and get you to the point where you can actually set your coins up in position to take the shot, as in lighting and distance and settings on your camera and once your shot has been taken, inform you of some really good (and easy to understand) software where you can then edit your pics and get them to the size where the site here will accept them. (this is a free download) (this editing process was the most difficult for me but if I could do it, well I am sure that any of you can) I thought then and still think now, that the "fear of the unknown" and getting beyond that was the hardest.
    I am going to share in this 1st posting on the subject, what you will need to make all of this you are about to learn, easier. Once you get the basics down you can then experiment around and find what works best for you. But without going into fancy lighting and outdoors/natural light and setting the camera to different shutter speeds etc. this is all you need to get started.
    (1) Just a half way decent digital camera that has a "Macro setting". (a must)
    (2) An inexpensive tri-pod. (this also is a must) You can buy a pretty decent one at Walmart for around $15 and it fits all digital cameras of the last 5-10 years.
    (3) Two small-medium table lamps with those "new-fangle" curly "Q" flouresant 60W bulbs. (another must)
    (4) Then you will need a few medium size books so that you can adjust the height of what you are shooting in relation to the distance from your tri-pod mounted camera to the surface you are using to place your coin/coins on. (my camera is a middle of the road "Sanyo" that has 8.1 megapixles and has "MACRO".
    (5) And lastly but very importantly, a couple sheets of "brite white" printer paper, maybe even folded in half depending on the size of the books you have stacked up about 2 or 3 high. (your coin slab or "raw" coin will show up much better on the "finished product" if they are lain on top of a white sheet of paper. (remember that once your paper starts to get dirty, change it. If you don't, the high quality of your shots will show all the dirt/smudges on that white paper (unless of course you "crop" that out).
    Anyway, that's it. Once you have those items you are ready to start "taking your best shot". Some of my pics in my sets are better than others but with well over 400 slabs that have been shot, the ones that could be improved on, may never get re-done. The picture you see here is what you can expect, "quality wise" with the equipment I have just mentioned. If this "baby buffalo" looks good enough, well then you are all set.
    This will be some work on my end to do all of this as with each posting, I will include a photo pertaining to that step. What I would like is to get some feedback and see if there are enough of you that are interested in something like I just mentioned. I sure don't want to do it if no-one is interested. So just LMK (let me know). ALL THAT ARE INTERESTED, MESSAGE ME HERE AND IF THE INTEREST IS THERE, WELL, I'M THERE!
    Happy Collecting & picture taking!
    WKF

  19. W.K.F.
    My "faith" in NGC may be somewhat restored...a little...
    Greeting Collectors,
    I just came back from the Post Office a little while ago with my last 4-coin submission from NGC. In a previous post I kinda let them have it with "both barrels" for a very bad job they did on some pre-1908 Gold. While I still think the results on those 4 coins were as wrong as wrong can be, I feel somewhat better getting these 4 "modern" gold coins back from them today.
    My construction business has been suffering to say the least so I decided to start a coin and jewelry business on eBay and in the process I am always buying and selling both of those types of items. A short while back I got a very good deal on a 2008-W Uncirculated 4-coin gold eagle set. I then sent the four coins along with the older gold group to NGC for grading. I could have looked at the grades this last Friday but as in the past I always wait to see the grades when the box holding the coins arrives at my house. So when I opened the box today I was "stoked", as in "very pleased".
    This very low mintage year has a small group of coins that will do nothing but increase in value and will probably do so very quickly. Gold and silver along with the other two "white metals" continue to have BBL which in this case does not mean "Bold Bell Lines" but rather means "Bold Bull Legs". I have bought and sold nearly a dozen of the 1/10th ounce gold eagles in the last few months along with some other denominations and still marvel at the fact that even though the little gold eagle has a much lower mintage and what I believe to be a much larger collector base, it is still several hundred dollars cheaper than the "Baby Buffalo" of the same size. Factually the G E has a total Unc. mintage of 12,657 compared to the 1/10th Buffalo which rings in at 17,429. Now I understand that this is the "ONLY" year a Buffalo of this size was minted but still the overall numbers tell me that there is something wrong with the "value figures".
    Anyway I am very proud of these 4 coins with their NGC numbers on the "suffix" going "one, two, three & four. I bought this set with the intentions of re-selling it but now that I see how nice they look together along with how truely scarce/rare this year was, I think for now, I will hang on to them. The total mintage numbers on the other three are as follows: (This is the grand total of single coins along with those minted for the 4-coin sets)
    2008-W Unc. one ounce 11,908
    2008-W Unc. half ounce 8,060
    2008-W Unc. quarter oz 8,883
    These are "scary low" totals and along with, not all will grade out at a "perfect 70". The sum of these two calculate in my book, that they are much too scarce to get rid of no matter how much I need the funds.
    Lastly I am pleased that I seem to be solidly in the rank of the "upper 200's" a mere 12 spots above my friend TPETERS and breathing down the neck of another dear friend YEVRAH. The former being at 287 and the latter at 266 and I sit comfortably in between at 275.
    I have been having alot of fun with my coins lately getting my 1959-D NGC MS-65 FBL Franklin yesterday and my coveted 1951 PCGS MS-65 FBL today. That leaves just a couple of "non FBL" Franklins left to receive. A 1951-S purchased a couple days ago and an absolutely "Stunning" Incredible, Awesome, Blast White 1959 PCGS MS 65 purchased last night. Wow, the "coin fairy" has been really good to me as of late. Way better than a "sharp stick in the eye". I hope she has, "at least", been treating you all better than a "baby treats a diaper". Take care & Happy Collecting!
    WKF
    P.S. Sorry about the quality of this pic. I have the lighting and distance down pat on the "single coin" shots but when doing multiple coins or a coin and a silver bar, I have to raise the tri-pod and adjust my distance which throws my lighting off and one sees my double lamps glaring in the photo. I will perfect this soon and will be doing a short series of posts to share all that I have learned in the photo taking dept. It really has turned out to be quite a simple process for all of you that have wanted to take shots of your coins to share with the rest of us and also to include in your set "listings". Be patient as "help is on the way".

  20. W.K.F.
    I really need to get a life...other than Franklin halves & silver bars.
    Greetings Collectors,
    There is nothing like working in the yard all afternoon and then coming in and winning a coin you have been searching for years for. Lately I have had a couple of good sources for FBL Franklins and actually the ones pictured here are from a source I bought around a dozen coins from over a 10 day period. All were auction buys and I have never seen such an abundance of ultra high quality NGC FBL coins in one place in all of my years. This seller evidently bought an entire collection from an indivigual who he or she had sent off all at one time because of the "pre-fix" NGC numbers on the slab are all the same. To have this many different dates and all being such high quality, it smells of original bank rolls put away years ago and then "cherry picked" for the finest of them for submission. Anyway, that's my guess. This ebayer still has coins up every week from the same "batch" but all that I see leftover from this, of what apparently was a "large submission" is MS 64 FBL's and some regular MS 65's (non FBL). I wish there were more 65 FBL coins but there does not appear to be any more coming.
    These three brilliant gems are absolutely awesome coins and unless the grade goes to 66, (which very rarely happens) these are some of the finest I have ever seen. Brilliant white coins are in-between scarce and rare and probably more the latter than the former. But the coin I have been waiting several years on, exposed itself a week ago and I came in at 5:15 this afternoon to "snipe" it out from underneath someone. I feel kinda bad doing it that way but "what the heck" I really have been needing this coin for some time and today was the day. I finally filled the 1951-P slot with a PCGS MS-65 and yes, it had FBL's. I moved a very nice 64 FBL to my #2 set. Now all I have to do is wait about three days and it will be here. Now I am waiting on three coins to arrive, a 1959-D NGC 65-FBL, this 1951-P PCGS 65-FBL and a really sweet 1951-S PCGS 65 non-fbl. Once they arrive I will be able to take some photos to add to the description I have already done.
    Slowly but surely I am chipping away at finishing this set with all 65's and full bell lines. I now lack some really tough ones which are the 1949-D, 1952-S, 1960-D, 1961, 1961-D, 1962, 1962-D & the 1963. All of the dates in the sixties are super rare because when the "master die" was reworked for the 1960 year minting, the first time this had been done since the series started in 1948, the detail was enhanced greatly everywhere "BUT" the bell lines. So everyone of those dates just mentioned are very hard to find for decent money. Only the first few coins struck from a new "working die" would strike up in the bell line area and then if the coin started out GEM, those dam "coin counting" machines would "do them in". So much for "modern Technology". Oh well, the hunt will continue but the purchases will be very few and far between because of the $ needed to aquire what I have left to get.
    So I just wanted to share these three little "Denver Beauties" with you along with some of the rarest silver bars on the planet. These three are from "Consolodated Mines and Metals". I have these and a 10.23 ounce example and I have not seen any before I got these or since purchasing them. They are very very scarce. If any of you ever see one, you owe it to yourself to try and pick it up. Of course you may be betting against me when you do. So now it's "mailman watching" time for the three Franklins and also my 2008-W Unc. 4-coin Gold Eagle coin set that was "finalized, imaged & shipped" this last Friday. I still don't "peek" at the grades even though they are available for viewing. It always seems more fun to wait and open that "sturdy rectangular cardboard box" when it arrives from S. Florida.
    I trust everyone had a good weekend with their moms and here's hoping that this week the metals market continues with these "legs" it has grown. Happy Collecting!
    WKF

  21. W.K.F.
    Where is the "cut off"?
    Greetings Collectors,
    Years ago while my parents and I were cleaning out the attic of my grandparents house to ready it for sale a few years after my "Me Ma" died we came across an old trunk that was filled with lots of old, mainly worthless items. But in the bottom was an old cigar box and inside was found a small "mini hoard" of coins. My great grandfather was a small time coin collector and I do beleive some of these items were his because the dates would have been while my grandfather was a very small child. In the group was several dozen silver dollars, all common dates and then coins from a later time after my great grandfather had passed away. The most notable was a 1916-D well worn Mercury dime, one of several dozen Mercury dimes, an Au 1921 Peace dollar along with a well worn 1934-D and a broke open roll of 1909 VDB Lincoln cents. (This is the only item that my grandfather probably didn't put back as he would have been 11 at the time of minting and putting "50" of something away would have been a stretch. In 1909 fifty cents was a good bit of money for an adult, much less a kid) A couple other coins of note were the two early keys out of 30-40 Washington quarters. A 1932-D & S. The former in not so good shape but the latter was an AU. There was of course many Indian head pennies, Buffalo and Liberty nickles and Barber quarters and halves and a dozen or so Walking Liberty halves. There were a scattered group of other coins, such as two and three cent pieces, again nothing special except the keys mentioned which I have graded and in my sets at present. It was kind of neat looking at what was put away many many years ago. It was almost if it was the makings of a "well worn type set" of mostly common dates.
    Many years later I came across this old roll of VDB cents again and out of the fifty I picked out twenty of the nicest ones and sent them off to PCGS. Many had "tape residue" on them from where someone had tried to tape the roll back together. The paper from the roll was very brittle and would almost crack and crumble at the touch. I don't know this series well but I have seen coins that had no more red on them called "Red & Brown" but yet all 20 came back brown. This picture does not do justice to the amount of red this coin has and the pic in the listing shows a little better but I do think that several of the coins should have got the red & brown desig. The cent pictured here has a fair amount of red on the obverse but even more on the reverse. It also is an example of what the other 19 look like. Anyway as I have been going through old boxes and containers, Whitman folders etc; I came across these cents and just thought I would share that story.
    I also found another Franklin half tonight on eBay. Not anything real special but a good snag non the less. It was a very "brilliant" example of a coin that when gems do surface, they usually come from mint sets, and the vast majority are toned. This one looked as if it was minted yesterday. It has full bell lines but PCGS did not think so but their very fussy graders at least gave it a grade of MS-65. And again it is a very "bright white" specimen which are very scarce graded this high by PCGS. The coin was a 1951-S.
    And on a final note, just wanted to share the "big brother" of the last bar I posted. This is the 10 ounce example from "Sandoval Jewelers & Refiners". A very handsome example of an old "hand poured" and "hand stamped" silver bar. One with a great clear strike which like on coins, is a very important aspect. Note the far superior strike on this bar compared to the 5-ounce example from my last post.
    I hope everyones weekend has gone well thus far and that all of you enjoy time with your Mothers tomorrow. Happy Collecting!
    WKF

  22. W.K.F.
    I have a hard time passing up a good deal on a coin or a silver bar...
    Greetings Collectors,
    I just picked up another example of a scarce Full Bell Line Franklin and while I already owned this same coin in 64, this very brilliant "blast white" P-mint was for sale rather than auction and I was able to get a great deal on it. The 1960-P is the easiest P-mint from the 60's to aquire but when they reach MS-65 and coupled with bold bell lines, common is a term that is way more than estranged. In fact when it gets to this leval of grade, the adjective "scarce" is stepping aside as the term rare is entering the building. I am very proud of this upgrade to my number 1 set. I don't know about PCGS but NGC has only 71 coins this grade with none higher and PCGS is much tougher on the actual grade so I would think that they have very few as well.
    Also just a few minutes ago I was able to snag my 4th 1959-D, this one in a NGC holder grading MS-65 with Full Bell Lines. This 59-D will rest in my Franklin set #2 and I moved a PCGS MS-65 FBL to set three and the "lone 64-FBL" now resides in set number 4. I will never pass up a chance to pick up another one of these coins if the price is right and I can't beleive some of the deals that are making themselves available. All of these coins are so nice that it's beyond me that anyone would want to part with such specimens. At NGC I now own two of the 405 coins grading MS-65 FBL and they have 16 that grade higher by one point and then there is a "lone MS-67" example. Wow these FBL Franklins are scarce.
    On a final note, even though I have stopped buying silver bars on a mass scale, this "Sandoval Refiners" 5-ounce old pour bar reared its beautiful head and screamed "Take me, I'm yours", so I did. It will go nicely with the 10 ounce bar from the same refiner that I already own. I prefer bars with a decimal point in the weight tally such as 5.32 or 9.96 etc. but this particular refiner was a small time operator and very few of these almost "home-made" looking bars exist today. Again I feel very fortunate to have procured this 5-oz. piece.
    I hope everyone had a good week even though the stock market "fell off a cliff". Although it has done wonders to keep the rally going in Gold & Silver as the former has broken well above $1200 per ounce and Silver is over $18. ( At present(6:48 pm EST) the "ask" on both is $1210.30 & $18.42 respectfully) That makes all of our coins (and bars) more valuble. I do hope everyone has a great safe "coin filled" weekend and that all of you that have Mothers, do spend as much time with them as possible. May 17th will be 4 years that mine has been gone. Happy Collecting to all!
    WKF

  23. W.K.F.
    A "Cameo Proof" from my birth year...
    Greetings Collectors,
    I was just fumbling through a few coins when I came across this one. I actually own two examples of this date, and both are 67-Cameos by NGC. Now this is a series that those "in the know" would much rather have a PCGS coin because it's widely known they are "more strict" when it comes to grading cameos in general. If I were to send this exact coin to PCGS it's doubtful it would "cross". (For those of you that don't know, that means PCGS would probably "NOT" put this coin into a PCGS slab with a grade of Proof 67 cameo) While I do know a great deal about the Franklin series in general, the proofs have been alot harder to understand as to why one grader would call this a 67-Cameo and another would not. I own Cameo proofs from both of these top two companies and I have seen what appears to be "overgrading" & "undergraded" coins in both kinds of holders.
    Having said all that, it just drives the point home that you would never want to buy any coin from the "top two" or the "top three" graders "sight un-seen". I know many collectors who do just that. They are of the mindset that an MS-67 "red" Lincoln cent is "THAT" grade if it has NGC or PCGS on the slab. This could not be further from the truth. Also that while older slabbed coins from PCGS (old green holders) and the old "6-digit" pre-fix numbers from NGC are sometimes under-graded and if "cracked out" could possibly jump a notch or two. This my friends is a "double edged" sword. Always you should "buy the coin" and not the "holder". (And as you read on, you should also leave the dam coin in the holder you bought it in)
    I know this all too well as I just got a 4-coin group back from NGC that were all "cracked out" of holders that I purchased them in, the reason being that they were all vastly "under-graded". Well, two of the four were in "Old Green Holders" from PCGS and the 3rd was previously in an old "6-digit" NGC holder and the 4th coin in a 1st generation Anacs holder. Both PCGS coins came back with one being "improperly cleaned", the 2nd was labled "obverse improperly cleaned" The previous NGC holdered coin came back "obverse scratched" (this scratch was more of a small "nick" and what 120 year old coin made of... duh... soft gold with "Unc details" doesn't have a nick/scratch or two?) The last coin that use to be housed in an "Anacs" holder said "Unc Details" but was "purple holdered" due to "residue" (this is a new one on me???).
    Each one of these coins were in holders that previously said they were from AU-58--MS-61. All were minimum "solid MS-62's) and one, the Anacs coin was a solid 63 that should have been worthy of a star or a future "CAC" sticker. Anyway this was a "major burn" as far as I am concerned. None of these coins had any problems and I am "dam sure" none have ever been cleaned. I know what a "cleaned coin" looks like. I will say this that as soon as NGC started this "Details grading" every one of the graders there are too dam quick to "purple slab" a coin. I can't begin to express how disappointed I am with the gang in Sarasota. I love the girls down there but henceforth I will have nothing else to do with the graders. These coins in question have been submitted twice with my thoughts being that the grader that looked at them the 1st time had to be on a particular type of drug and on this last submission, I even included a long note with the inserts from the original slabs for whatever they would be worth but "NADA". Still the same old blanket "improperly cleaned" crapola. Now had these 4 come back the same grades as before, yes I would have disagreed and been disappointed but not pi----. I would love to just get 15 minutes with the grader that looked at these and then another 15 minutes with the person who supposedly looks to see if he/she agrees with the grades given. I have never felt this way before towards NGC. The first time these coins were submitted, I just blamed it on an insufficiently_thoughtful_person. Now its happened for the second time with the same coins, it's borderline insane. There are even differences as to what was cleaned (the whole coin or just the obverse???) and now the residue coin was labled with a different problem than before. Absolutely "no consistancy". After I received them back "purple holdered" the 1st time I took them to two very old time dealer friends (one who has had a large coin shop since the 50's) who have forgot more about grading and "cleaned coins" than 95% of the graders in the business today even know, and "BOTH" said from what they could see, the coins were not cleaned & I got "robbed". I don't know if this post will even be up long but I wish someone would contact me concerning these 4 coins, but I sure don't feel like re-submitting them again to the same grader/graders for the 3rd time. I think it's time for a new "set of eyes". In addition, I have, in the past, submitted two pre-1908 $2.50 & $5 Liberties which came back "improperly cleaned" and then by accident the same two coins were part of a later submission, and both came back in regular slabs with grades of 61 on one and 62 on the other?? Go figure??
    Anyway I'm done with my rant but I still don't feel any better. In closing I just wanted to share a beautiful job on grading that NGC "use to do". I was born the year this Franklin was struck and I only wish I looked this good at 56. I blame my looks on too much "salt water" & too much "sun". Or maybe I should say "TOO MUCH RESIDUE". Happy Collecting to the lot of you...
    WKF

  24. W.K.F.
    The number of modern coins rarer than this one can be counted on just a few fingers of "one hand".
    Greetings Collectors,
    Modern coins are not a passion of mine. Silver Eagles in mint state & proof once were but no longer. I don't dislike them. It's just that none of them can be considered rare or even "scarce" for that matter. It's pretty much the same with 97% of the gold issues as well. But the one modern issue that has some truely "very rare" pieces is in the Platinum Eagle series.
    I am just going to share the pops for the "burnished" issues of the 1/4 & the 1/2 ounce coins at NGC which are as follows:
    2006-W Unc.1/4 oz. Total of 925
    MS-69 234 coins
    MS-70 691 coins
    2007-W Unc.1/4 oz. Total of 978
    MS-68 1 coin
    MS-69 288 coins
    MS-70 789 coins
    2008-W Unc.1/4 oz. Total of 716
    MS-69 98 coins
    MS-70 618 coins
    The total number of 1/2 ounce coins for '06, '07 & '08 respectfuly in the "Burnished" finish are 907-coins, 1041 coins, & for 2008 is a mere 625 coins with 62-69's & 563 70's.
    As most of you know, none of the burnished finish coins have been produced since 2008 and there are no plans to resume production any time soon. All of the "W" Platinum coins are very scarce, to downright rare and even more so in the 1/4 & the 1/2 ounce sizes.
    The coin pictured here had a total mintage of 1,198 single coins and an additional 1,283 coined to be included in the "4-coin sets". That is a total mintage of 2,481, the lowest ever. The only other year that comes close is the 2006-W "Burnished" 1/4 ounce which saw a total mintage of 2,676. These mintages are not just for the U.S. This is the total for the "entire planet". Do you think they possibly will rise in value? Yeessss!
    For those of you who not only like to collect for the fun of it, but would like to purchase a truely rare coin every now and then. One that will end up being worth a "small fortune" in the not too distant future, consider one or more of these little 1/4 ounce uncirculated West Point fractionals. These along with almost anything from 2008 that is an "UNC" and has a "W" mintmark. Whether they be Eagles or Buffalo's, you can't go wrong and one day you will only wish you had "backed up the truck" and bought a bunch more.
    Continue to have fun with your coins but don't forget you can make a pile of money on them at the same time. "I checked! and they say, it's OK!" Happy Collecting/Investing
    WKF

  25. W.K.F.
    A "questionable fact" to some but "downright true" when it comes to this series.
    Greetings Collectors,
    First off I would like to thank all of you who emailed me with their thoughts on the "possibe" 11-D Indian. I have answered a few of you but having received 24 emails thus far and being the slow typer/pecker I am, I beleive a "blanket" thank you is in order.
    In our hobby I am sure that the vast majority of you are aware that coins that are graded by PCGS on the average, bring more money at auction than their NGC counterparts. I could not disagree more with that assertion. The slabbed coins I own that are slabbed by NGC vastly out-number PCGS coins. I am only aware of "one series" that people that are in the know, prefer NGC coins over PCGS. That series is the "mint state" Franklin half. They are "by far" the more strict of the top two. Unfortunately in that, my favorite series, I own more PCGS slabbed coins than NGC. But in the same series, those same "in the know" people would much rather have a proof Franklin graded by PCGS rather than the same grade coin in an NGC holder. Again it's not because the one is much tougher than the other or as I like to say, "more strict", they are just thought to be.
    But anyway I own both and I like both. I just like one a little more than the other. NGC takes the "top billing" spot for several reasons and one is that they allow we collectors to share our PCGS graded coins here on their NGC site. Very cool if you ask me.
    And since I am able to do just that, I leave you with a, "what I beleive to be" a very handsome pair of a couple more "full bell line" Franklins in MS-65. I do like the "old green holders" much more than those of late. This pair of 1950 coins were bought at different times during my quest to obtain a set of mint state 65 FBL coins over the last 1/2 dozen years. I hope all of you enjoy the rest of your weekend. Happy Collecting.
    WKF