Henri Charriere

[You are overlooking the fact, despite your many years here, that some members look forward to hearing what this gentleman has to say whether it be good, bad or indifferent. He is a contender. Matter of fact, I believe he superseded my standing on the Leader board recently! He is a force to be reckoned with.]

The pound sign (£) and for that matter, the euro sign (€) and the dollar sign ($) and Jehovah's name as written in the earliest Hebrew Aramaic texts (removed on orders of King James on or about the year 1611) appeared as a tetragrammaton, none of which is pertinent to the point I was making in my reply to @Zebo. FYI (Note: an acronym which is, without exception, always capitalized): The first class prize for the correct answer, submitted by Moi was a free, one-year subscription to a [an otherwise prohibitively expensive] journal covering such matters as personal privacy, warrants, search and seizure, wiretaps, surveillance, the FOIA and a myriad of other subjects relating to their application in law. Aside: "Dialing a phone number" and "dropping a dime" on someone shall continue to be used long after we are both gone. Submitted for your approval, in my never-ending quest to "broaden the body of knowledge."

[I do not know know the gentleman, only some of what he's written. But I can speak for myself and if someone were to ask me a question like that, regarding a possible hoard, I hate to say it but I would respond in true Noo Yawk fashion, demanding to know: WHO WANTS TO KNOW???] 🤣

Evidently, you have what it takes. With the OP's thumbs-up, I hereby pronounce you the Grand Master of coin video aficionados. (Addict sounds too judgmental) 🤣

Contrary to what you may been told, the Regulars on this Forum are no longer amused by run-on sentences.

Mike, I have what it takes but I am sorry to say I am not a happy camper. When I was but a teenager in the 1960's, I visited the Chase Money Museum down in the Financial District. Admission was free. I was delighted to see what I saw. I was greeted cordially. Fast forward to the future. I am married. I read an article in the N.Y. Times a few years ago informing readers of a move of the American Numismatic Society (ANS) from midtown to the lower West Side (SoHo) My wife, having little interest in coins, had to be cajoled into going with me. As it was a new experience for me, I did not know what to expect. Their entire move, heavily guarded, to 75 Varick Street took place in the dead of night and resembled a military operation to match. It took all night. I waited until they were all settled in, and months later decided to pay them a visit. From the moment I stepped foot into their new address, an isolated area (not far from Canal Street and the Holland Tunnel) my wife and I were treated with suspicion as intruders. We were interrogated at length by a number of unsmiling people. It is no exaggeration to say we were both asked to surrender our ID and had our mugshots taken... ( I would not have been surprised in the least if they insisted on having our fingerprints taken and ordered us to undress for a search.) We were forced to stand for hours (there was no seating as there was no waiting area) and after an interminable wait, was asked why we were there. I told a succession of people we were there to see a single coin: one of their oldest, a Lydian electrum explaining my interest as my father was born were they were made. This only made them more nervous. They asked me what I could tell them about it. All I could say was it was small and believed to be one of the earliest coins made by man. After more back and forth punctuated by long periods of non-communicative waiting, they sent a young woman out to "suggest" we become members @$20 apiece for a total of $40. In most "museums" in NYC, you are simply asked to make a contribution. This was more a demand, with papers to fill out. Incidentally, their "gallery," which is unavoidable as it stands inside the entrace, contains a few cabinets and miscellaneous coins accompanied by small cards with illegible writing in unlit glass display cases which must be viewed from a distance of one foot. (This is analogous to some of the coins Newbies post on our forums, unfocused and uncrowded.) Ever the gentleman, I accepted the application forms, retrieved our Identification, and bid all adieu. Mike, while I wouldn't characterize my interest in coins as "addictive", I am innately curious about them, but allergic to bad form. Had it been me, I would have ushered the two visitors into a room of the fortress otherwise known as the ANS, and informed my guests "While we do not ordinarily make exceptions, and do not entertain many guests, I would be pleased to show you what you've come to see us for." And I can assure you, I would have gone home, read the brochures, and remitted our membership fees. What were the membership fees? (The entire kit and kaboodle may be found at: numismatics.com) summarized as follows: Organization'l Membership $660-$950 Lifetime Membership 49 and under: $3,800 50-64 $3,150 65. + $995 Individual Membership Established member: $195. (Age 36 and over) Young member: $140 (Age 35 or older) Emeritus: $140 (10+ years, Age 35 and under; age 60 and older) Recent Graduate: 35, 1+ year student member (available for one year following graduation.) Student Membership. Active undergraduate or graduate student 35. 🐓

Given the choice of a grade rarity such as a 1995-W-CDAM, which number in the scores, the true "rarity," which in my view (tongue-in-cheeek) would be a designated "lowball" which to date does not as yet exist. I

No, Zebo, I did not. I tell you I was so laser-focused on a comment our Grand Master made in a Topic regarding the fate of that missing coin that Eagles and Half-Eagles were the only thing on my mind. My apologies. I did not even check back right away reasoning no one would be able to come up with an answer right away. I knew France and Germany had many more mints than we had, but I certainly did not know England was had even more and was notably prolific in that regard. If I had it to do over again, I certainly would have made my question clearer. I apologize for the confusion. I have on occasion corrected Wikipedia and even book and newspaper publishers. Much to the surprise of a prominent author of the history of German zeppelins, and having studied the subject exhaustively in my teens, I was successful in proving one such rigid airship was mislabeled; I was the winner of the contest insisting the official name of the symbol, #, was not "the pound sign," but an "octothorpe," and I also resurrected the rumor proving the Daily News inadvertently printed the term "bull----" in the heat of a courtroom argument by citing date of volume and issue number, which had escaped the notice of censors. It remains a novelty. Your point is well-tKen. I do appreciate your input, as aways.

"... curiouser and curiouser," as Alice in Wonderland would say. Or, to borrow from the irrepressible Kurt: "No. Stop it." To paraphrase the Queen of Mean (the late Leona Helmsley) "the non-Mint State coins are for the little people." If what you say is true, let it be. The market decides everything but the level of water which always seems to seek its own level. I am not qualified to weigh in on EF/AU affairs. In my series, I have never set my sights on any example marooned at that level of drought. Now, suggest MS-67 really ought to be worth twice as much as an MS-66, and dem's fightin' words! But again, I am weak and the Market is strong. (Quiet is kept... the reason my F20FrGR set is short, is quite simple. The powers-that-be on high, ruled that World Gold certified by other TPGSs is genetically incompatible with the NGC Set Registry. I decided early on to hew to the MS-66 grade line until it dawned on me MS-66 graded examples had yet to be certified for the older Originals, a fact that, with only 3 out of 8 exceptions, remains true some five years later.) I do not know if the point has been raised, but even if my series were certified under a new scale, either a new set registry would have to be devised, or a suitable conversion table supplied. As I have maintained all along, all of this newfangled stuff is for the benefit of the uninitiated. Those of us who've been around will leave well enough alone.

I am. I would not characterize it as misinformation willfully committed. That distinction is reserved for those who practice journalism. 🤣

[TO MY LEGIONS OF DETRACTORS, @zadokCHIEF AMONG THEM... IT GIVES ME GREAT PLEASURE TO PRESENT TO YOU A SINCERE, NO-HOLDS-BARRED COMPLIMENT FROM A MEMBER WHOSE TENURE HERE PRECEDES MINE, AND NOT A FEW OTHER MAJOR CONTENDERS. TO THE OP: BY VIRTUE OF YOUR LONGEVITY HERE, IT IS ALL THE MORE REMARKABLE YOU WOULD RISK YOUR REPUTATION AND CREDIBILITY TO CONCUR WITH SOMETHING I HAVE WRITTEN. YOU ARE IN POSSESSION OF A NUMBERED HISTORICAL ARTIFACT. I DO HOPE YOU, AND YOUR HEIRS, FULLY APPRECIATE THE SIGNIFICANCE OF WHAT YOU HAVE AND TREASURE IT ALWAYS!] 🐓 (Posted at the discretion of Moderation.)

Three hun'red thirty-three million people in this country, and not a one could be found who had mastered the art of simple penmanship. So now: Behold! Poor penmanship mangled by machinery. Nice.

You are either a Mexi-CAN, or a Mexi-CAN'T. I use provenance, not because our Grand Master may be watching, but because applying pedigree to an inanimate object doesn't seem proper. I have spoken. So let it be written, so let it be done.

So, you feel this was a missed opportunity, huh? Not me. Having successfully deluded myself in truly believing I never bid that much at auction, I believe the angels were on your side. Clinically, you did not see any more of the coin than I did. Another member gave you a background check on the seller. What I saw that disturbed me was the inexplicable color contrast which I assume we were all supposed to disregard. The overriding question which was never answered -- had I spotted the item on eBay, with nothing to lose, I would have dared to ask it, was: "If submission were cost-effective, why haven't you certified it?" Put another way, How could certification hurt? After all, considering the entire universe of realistic bids that could have been placed, are not they all recoverable? Mike, I believe you dodged a bullet; in the face of unrelenting pressure you performed well and exercised great discipline.

But, but... the value of a coin lies in great part on the grade bestowed upon it. Some collectors are partial to tasteless toning, debilitating die cracks -- even machine doubling. But the baseline begins at grading. If your '09-S VDB is pitted and corroded, you have my condolences.

🐓: Where do you stand on that '95-W ASE, Q? Q.A.: I am going to guess this is one of the very few coins minted in low numbers that have all survived, if not individually accounted for. In my lifetime, there were basically only two rarities, dictated by mintages and/or grade. The 95-W is what I regard as a "premeditated production rarity." It's rarity was "manufactured." It's initial distribution was "restricted." Like it or not, it is a genetic showpiece. It was not produced for circulation; there weren't even enough made for collectors. It was a key date in the year it was minted. It shall remain a key date for the foreseeable future.

There are a great many assertions and observations offered best left to the other combatants to sort out. I would like to address just the excerpt I have singled out. It's the late 1980's. You have just been recruited as a freshly minted, anointed grader. The bulk of TPSs submissions, I would imagine, would comprise coins that have experienced circulation. (Bear in mind, the virus that causes the afflicted to submit perfectly good Proof coins still lodged in OGH had not yet been isolated and identified.) Your tendency, possessed with unchecked powers, is to allow your emotions to supersede your training. But The Company men are there to stress to you that if you freely assign lovely coins higher grades, what will you do when the real McCoy comes along? @Coinbuf who knows a thing or two about stellar examples, dropped a jewel here. IN THE BEGINNING, man had to tread easy. Once overgraded, there's no going back. So coins were conservatively graded and in later years experienced collectors with discriminating eyes would spot them and resubmit them for a higher grade. I have no problem with this. It is, in fact, the first time a plausible explanation has been aired here as credible fact. 🐓

Fine lineup... Of what transgression was it said he was responsible for?

A prophet is not without honor save in his own country and in his own house. Happy Easter, all!

Yes, this is known as Steward's Folly. A once Uncirculated example loses only its standing on the totem pole. Not so the Proof. It is obliged to change its religion. There is no such thing as an unobservant Proof. It either is, or is not.

Aside from Proofs, which are presided over by their own coterie of Principal Keepers, this is a very simple concept. If a coin exhibits "wear," whatever the cause, it has irretrievably lost its claim to its birthrite: "uncirculated." It is condemned as circulated. If it be an otherwise uncirculated coin but was assaulted, that fact is noted by AU-59. That lets the collector know there is NO wear save for the intrusive disqualifying mark, it is NOT circulated. It is an uncirculated coin that, through no fault of its own, encountered a hit-and-run. If a coin exhibits no "wear" whatsoever, regardless where it was found (in circulation, or not) it retains its birthrite, "uncirculated." Unfortunately, bag marks on old silver dollars, punched Trade Dollars, and the like, have been granted exemptions, to a point, as have otherwise exemplary examples which are granted variances from the tables of preservation, for cause. In some quarters, this is known as the time-tested Charrier's principle. No coin can aspire to AU status. That can only be achieved by default from higher grades and only by invitation and acclimation. Bear in mind, rendering an opinion is not an actionable offense. Like it or not, the grade of a coin is what its owner says it is. This goes for price as well.

The only provision eBay provides basically says the iitem I was sent was not as described. With or without this, I would still be hesitant about sending any seller that kind of money. A member upthread brought up a good point: why wasn't the coin certified? And doubly-so for dealers who enjoy bulk submissions rates. A certification provides a yardstick. Without it, the coin collector is wholly dependent on flowery words and trick photography exacerbated by a ticking clock.

Bear in mind, I am merely quoting Wikimedia. I am only the messenger.

T-B/SOL (note to myself) One valid piece of advice: regardless or age or provenance, bargain box or Cracker Jack box, accustom yourself to holding ALL coins, regardless of known or perceived value, properly, by their edges. This will hold you in good stead as you rise through the ranks of the hobby.

... I do not think I can be a part of anything that sees nothing wrong with this ... if there is any truth to this whatever, it bodes ill for the hobby, ten and twenty years hence ... (Reminiscent of the 2001 movie, "Training Day," where Denzel Washington turns to Ethan Hawke, and says, in substance, Forget about everything you learned in the police academy.) This is one of the reasons why prices I saw in the Red and Blue Books, various newspapers and sheets, as I discovered early on, had no bearing in New York City. From the 1960's on, the city's dealers always marched to the beat of a different drummer. One of the questions assiduously avoided on the Forum is: "What do you reasonably hope to get for the coin you bought when it comes time to sell?" Fortunately, the inexorable rise in gold has effectively wiped out whatever mistakes I made or misgivings I may have had in compiling one of the finer collections of certified, century-old, French gold coins. 🐓