Fenntucky Mike

On 5/1/2024 at 8:47 AM, Revenant said:

The name PAJKCoins strongly suggests this is the case.

Ha!  I didn't notice the seller name. 

Just saw several Zim coins dropped on ebay last night, one would be an upgrade for you. Maybe your competition dumping their duplicates? 

Interesting that they already nixed the lower denomination notes in favor of coins but not surprising. I also saw/read that some coins were issued yesterday as well but I didn't see which denominations. 

I have to assume that the lower denomination notes were printed since they were flashing them around at the press conference a few weeks ago. I wonder how many, if any, will escape onto the collectors market.

On 4/20/2024 at 7:46 PM, Revenant said:

Huh, I guess I've been sleeping on the "Zimbabwe Gold" stuff. I hadn't seen anything about it until this post. The new coins and notes will be interesting additions to what I've built on the NGC and PMG sides, but I'm not seeing any images of the new notes so far. Maybe we'll see more when they start hitting the streets in 10 days or shortly thereafter. But I think they're fooling themselves if they think this will work or the 5th or 6th time is the charm.

I guess we'll see if we only get the quarter and half  ZiG coins or we get a 1 ZiG, 2 ZiG, or 5 ZiG as the currency drops but they aren't quite willing to call it a flop yet.

Sounded like they got themselves some gold, 250MM or so, and are backing the notes and coins with it. So it is not a fiat currency.? 250MM is not much, these notes and coins could be hard to come by if they are capping the release of all notes and coins to that number. 

I see that NGC corrected the points for the bond coin. 

Worse case you could have jumped on the ZiG coins when they come out, might not be to long of a wait since they have put the ZiG banknotes into circulation now or at least plan too on April 30th.

3,600 points! 

Guess I was wrong about Xanno not being a threat. 

Seems like an obvious mistake which I'm sure will be corrected very soon. 

On 12/1/2023 at 5:43 PM, Zebo said:

Just finished the book on Gillick, I will have to go back and read the section on the portrait. I just started the Machin book, but it should be interesting as well. 

I haven't gotten around to reading these yet, both are sitting in my "yet to read" pile of books at home. I was thinking of reading through a couple of short works on Bolton next but may move one of these to the top of the pile. 

On 11/28/2023 at 4:38 PM, Revenant said:

Sounds like my initial impression was correct though, which is kinda cool.

Correctamundo. 

On 11/27/2023 at 4:12 PM, Revenant said:

Good to know. Though I like the idea of having and seeing both. If my pictures and comments on the Venezuelan coins are any indication, I think that die and strike flaws can be interesting and add a little character. Of course, some of those Venezuelan coins have a lot of "character."

Refreshed my memory of the problems with the, Mary Gillick, QEII portrait this morning and while the points noted can be indicative of a weak strike it seems that the main issue in causing the loss of detail was die wear. The original Gillick design was first seen on coins of G.B., AUS., CAN., N.Z., S.A., and RHO. & NAZ. in 1953, by 1954 there were sufficient complaints that the master dies were recut and the design slightly altered to help with the loss of detail, the newly altered design was used for all the previously mentioned countries except for S.A. and RHO. & NAZ.. The Gillick portrait was eventually replaced with the Machin portrait in 1964 if I remember correctly. 

If you look at the '55 proof sets the 1/2 crown and 2 shilling coins typically show loss of detail in the areas mentioned while the smaller coins, denominations, are normally crisp with full detail. This could be due to the larger diameter mater hubs and dies, for the larger size coins, not transferring fully or as well to the working hubs and dies as the smaller diameter ones? This could have been an issue with the circulating coinage as well. 

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There's a pretty major difference between the level of detail in the hair on the 1955 vs the 1957. I don't know if this is a die state issue or a strike quality issue. Were the details missing from the die at that point or did the coin just not get hit hard enough to transfer them? Overall, looking at the rest of the coin, I think the strike was solid but the die just didn't have the details to transfer.

Common for that design, typically associated with a weakly struck coin. I always look for the dress shoulder fold and neckline/collar, and hair part when picking out coins with this effigy, if those points are not visible I'll typically walk.  Nice pics. 

There are tons of breakaway regions in the former Eastern bloc countries and I collect most of them. One of my favorite pieces of recent vintage is a 2023 note from Abkhazia, a breakaway region in Georgia, I've posted it across the aisle in the past. Russia loves funding new coin and currency for these areas. I have several Transnistria coins but not the turtle, very cool. 

Side note: Pobjoy mint is currently having it's going out of business sale and there were several turtle coins for pretty cheap last I looked. 

On 11/14/2023 at 4:13 PM, Revenant said:

Not sure. It has a lower mintage but not the lowest mintage of the series. But there are some things I'm seeing that suggest it could be rarer specifically in higher grades.

Yeah, doesn't look like there is much available online. Seems like there won't be many choices as far as raw unc candidates for submission go. Yuck, '62 & '63 seem to have even fewer unc examples, like zero. 

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There currently are no pictures that are up to my normal standards for these coins and sets, but one thing that you might be able to notice from looking at NGC’s pictures of the coins in the slabs is that these 3 pence coins in particular are quite small. At 16.3 mm in diameter, they are a fair bit smaller than even a Roosevelt dime, which clocks in at 17.9 mm. The 6 pence coins come in a little larger than a US penny, with a diameter of 19.4 mm. I have to wonder a little WHY did they make these so small given that they’re not silver – they’re copper-nickel – so it wouldn’t have been an issue of keeping the silver value / melt value down.

Those 3p coins are miniscule, not only is the diameter tiny but they are Über thin as well. If one is laying on a flat surface I couldn't pick it up by the rim with my fingertips, I have to scooch it to the edge of the table, slide it onto something, or use both hands just to pick one up.  Lovely coins though. I wonder why they have such a high point value on the '56?

The thrill of discovery and the agony of the realization that it was right in front of you the whole time. 

It's great that you found a solo already graded, you really couldn't hope for anything better. Typically I miss out when I wanted something but didn't know it yet. 

On 10/20/2023 at 10:12 AM, Revenant said:

I mean... you say that... but... I still don't see you with a Zimbabwe type set, or a penny set... or a half penny set...  You're in the game on the notes side but you have not made an appearance on the coin side.  

Remind me what your mailing address is sometime soon. Maybe I can send you some of my extra Zimbabwe type coins and you can join me and Xano.  

I'll get that type set started soon, just so you can dream of taking shots at me.

I'm lying in wait , at least till after the end of the year, before I create any Rhodesian sets. Then.  I have a few Rh coins, probably around a dozen in NGC plastic, but they are pretty spread out across all periods and denominations, my Rh coins are an eclectic lot and are a long way from being a cohesive set. I could probably muster up a Federation type set with what I have now and what I can pick up in the next year, but anything beyond that I'm not ready. Maybe it will be 2 years before I start a new set, or I might feel compelled to start a new set sooner depending on what happens. I don't think there is a Federation type set at the moment so I'll have to request that when the time comes, I'm not sure that they would even go for a type set from that period. We'll see I guess. 

On 10/20/2023 at 10:12 AM, Revenant said:

I don't pay attention to PCGS coins at all just because I don't like buying them because my artist brain likes for things to match and visually seeing a mix of slabs is like nails on a chalkboard for me. You're talking to someone that paid over $100 in credits to reholder a gold set just so all the slabs would look the same.

I usually take a look at PCGS coins once in a while to see if there are any deals to be had or coins I like at the right price. I'll cross them if I'm building a registry set, if not, then they stay in the plastic they arrived in. 

On 10/20/2023 at 10:12 AM, Revenant said:

Have I seen an increase in participation? I guess it depends on what set you mean. In the 10G set I think I was THE first set created and for a while there were under 5 sets. Now there's over 30 sets competing. In the modern Italian and other sets I participate in? No. Zimbabwe - it's still just me and Xano, even after I made a splash by winning a major award with it. 5 Lire set? - I'm the only set. 10 Lire set? - Me and 2 other people. 200L Set? - I'm the only set. 500L type set? - I'm the only set. 500L date set? - me against 1 other person with 1 coin. Austral set? - Only me. Peso convertible set? - Me against 1 person with 1 coin.

Hmm, it is opposite for me, a lot more participants in most categories. Of course, I have a mainly NCLT sets going at the moment and that's probably what's driving some or most of this. My standard/circulating coinage sets have not seen as much growth, but still more than what you're describing. 

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It's very funny in the registry to have sets like the Morgan dollars where there are literally thousands of sets and building a set that gets anywhere near the top can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and then simultaneously to have quiet little, "backwater," modern categories where a couple of guys can "slap it out" a little with 10% complete sets for a couple of hundred bucks.  

Have you been seeing an increase in participation with your "backwater" sets? I have. It's not been a rapid increase, but the number of participants in pretty much all of my sets has double, tripled, or more in the past 1-2 years. In some sets there were maybe 2-4 of us now, 10-20+. An increase was not unexpected but I was a little surprised by the number of new sets. 

I've also noticed a sharp increase in the number of World coins in PCGS slabs, I'm not sure if this is due to perceived turnaround times, U.S. collectors getting priced out, sellers seeing an opportunity, etc.. As you can guess most have asking prices that are completely bonkers and are sitting there rotting. I guess I don't get why people think there is a premium for PCGS World coins, especially when they don't have a registry/sets to support most of these coins. 

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For my birthday, Shandy got me an MS66 Rhodesian 6 Pence coin from 1955

Hmm, this coin sounds familiar and I'm not seeing the one I was looking at on ebay anymore.  You may have some additional competition in that type set my friend. 

Hoping all goes smoothly with Sam's upcoming in-patient, and that you're all out of there as quickly as possible. 

I wonder if NGCX was the brainchild of previous ownership or current? In either case I don't think it moves the needle too much, that is until the X coins are allowed in the registry. If that ever happens. 

Good results if you ask me, 65-66 is pretty dang acceptable for coins that didn't come direct from the mint or that were broke out of a mint set. Coins in higher grades may not exist for some of these.

I don't have a dog in this fight, having no CAC coins, but I agree with removing the added points for CAC beans. NGC and PCGS are given equal points for the same coins in the same grade I believe, also fair IMO, and I wouldn't mind seeing the CACG slabbed coins being allowed in the registries and treated as equal either, when the time comes. 

The real question is, do you agree, disagree, or are indifferent with the scoring change? 

Congrats on reclaiming the top spot! 

Seems like a good time to send off a submission, turnaround times are relatively short, I don't think NGC was at the Long Beach show, the U.S. Mint Morgan and Peace dollars haven't hit yet, and you'll beat the ANA WFM/end of the year rush. 

Good luck with the submission. 

FWIW, I've always shipped priority, mainly for the convenience of being able to walk out to the mailbox, and it's not like I'm sending in four figure coins. 

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I like Ben's paint job better, looks like his has seen some action and stomped on some other mechs. 

On 2/27/2023 at 6:05 PM, Sandon said:

I think that these "BRILLIANT UNCIRCULATED" coins would be scored as at least MS 60s if the administrators were asked to do so, but apparently @Captainrich doesn't want them to.

They would be scored as 60 if a score was requested, as NGC assigns the adjectival grade of BU to coins that would grade in the 60-70 range and they would stick to the low end. Cap' better hope no one reads this a wants to pi.. in his Wheaties by requesting a score for one of these. I like that the OP is finding unique ways to collect but this one is a gamble, especially since they have no control of points being assigned. Being a Futurama fan, I also enjoyed his Feature Photo at the top of the Journal Entry. 

Congratulations @ChrisInJesup, what's that two years in a row or more?  

On 1/8/2023 at 6:20 PM, Revenant said:

The fact that it would be a signature set and that I'd have to build it in that archaic system is probably the main reason I'd have for not wanting to do it. 🤣😭🤣

I would love to fully build out my "Golden Nickel" world gold coin set but I just hate that system so much... 😖

Anyway... if I did the turtle set I think I'd want to focus on coins struck for circulation. I wouldn't want it to be just modern NCLT. And modern NCLT is most of what I see. Feel free to let me know anything you come across. I can start taking notes regardless. 

I like to collect "thin" areas, where I can stretch my legs, and I think you have similar tastes. That being said I'll PM you some of the areas that I think you might find interesting,  but I think you'd still be miles ahead if you could find "common ground" with the kiddos and get them "invested". Some of my personal favs are island countries.