Henri Charriere

[Some takeaways... Inefficiency does not equal theft. (Whether the unauthorized seizure of scissel, after scisson, should result in scissure, I leave to others.) The last "pirate". to be executed by hanging occurred in 1860 on Bedloe's (now Liberty) Island in New York harbor. The New York Assay Office, 30 Wall Street --hard by Federal Hall where George Washington was sworn in as President directly across the street from J. P. Morgan Bank (which still bears damage to its facade from the still unsolved "Wall Street Bomb Explosion" of 1920) -- in operation from 1854 to 1982. It, and the other six assay offices around the country are all closed.

If I could, I would ask, From whom did you acquire this coin and/or under what circumstances? [ I am going to hold the "why," in abeyance.]

[The question has been raised [privately] why I would reject a [free] offer to re-holder the coins properly. For the simple reason that a purist with long institutional memory who would know, would reject them as not the "original," notwithstanding the consecutive submission numbers. [Besides, they offend.my sense of propriety. Briefly, that means when you insert a key into a left-hand door, the key should turn counterclockwise; light switches should be turned on by flipping the switch up, not down; and sink faucets are turned on by turning the levers forward for delivery of water and backward to shut them off. That's elementary and standard.] Sadly, there is no doubt these coins will be de-encapsulated -- and graded, too. Is there merit to my argument? No coin is encapsulated in such a careless manner today.

I am gratified to report I have accepted the generous offer of personal assistance from @VKurtB who is evidently acutely aware of the astronomical odds of locating a raw top pop coin. After acquiring such a coin that was deemed to be an FDC, aaFrench range that embraces the U.S. equivalent of the range of grades from MS-65 to MS-70, inclusive -- at considerable cost -- it was submitted and accorded an MS-64+ grade on the West Coast. Today, I received another tip apparently from a private party who offered to forward my search request to two sources unknown to me for consideration. Naturally, I accepted.

Ever walk out of a theater muttering, "I want my money back!"? Same thing. (In the event you make a small fortune of these, please do not quote me for attribution.) 🤣

I cannot wait that long... Irrespective of one's views on "how things were done" back in the early years -- or choice of funereal color made, I strenuously object to the mis-holdering of the coins and therefore reject the lot, out of hand. The obverse, the side with the date, should be installed top-side up, not upside down, and what exactly is the advantage of placing a label providing a date on a coin in a holder which must be turned over to view it? Would I buy the lot if the coins were repositioned to my liking? NO! Why? For the aforesaid reason: it's apparently not the way things were done back then. This is not an error like the Inverted Jenny; this is [barnyard epithet redacted]! 🤣

On a, for me, more serious note... what makes this topic particularly interesting is the fact that the U.S. purchased Alaska from the Russians only 32 years earlier (dubbed "Seward's Folly") and it remained a territory until granted statehood in 1959. Relying solely on memory -- I believe Juneau was, and may still be, accessible only by water up until recent times, making the reference to a "steamer" in the letter, and not rail access, a possible financial consideration though not explicitly stated. Great piece of correspondence!

[The truth is because your offer had been deleted before I had had an opportunity to view it... my attempt at humor misfired. My apologies.]

Pretty tall order. Reminds me of the quote by Orben: "If you think education is expensive, try ignorance." Only problem is addressing obsessions, debunking disinformation and myths, developing literacy and education are all labor-intensive, time-consuming, very often life-long pursuits. Edit: A classic bit of advice from a member as applicable today, as the date it was written... @Woods020 ...read more, submit less, and question everything." (12/15/2020)

There is no finer Forum than this one and if there are a finer group of Moderators anywhere on this planet, I have not found any. I am living proof of that. In the excruciatingly difficult time I have spent in Incommunicado, the place from which few are ever heard from again, my sister is a year older, my wife and I celebrated our seventh wedding anniversary, and quite magically, I was permitted to Sign In! It has been a very trying nineteen days. So just how important can posting privileges possibly be? Let me put it this way... given a shot at tonite's Powerball drawing, pegged at $1B last I heard, or being given a single breath of life on this Chat Board, I would unflinchingly choose the latter. Man I love this place, the Moderators, the members -- lurkers included, and every other person affiliated with it! I am one happy camper!

I was prepared to make you a very attractive offer for your merchandise... triple FMV. I would have preferred you waited to hear my offer. 🤣

To the OP: Happy Birthday RichieRich2020!

Att: @Sandon : You have a number of positive attributes worth noting... a good sense of humor; a fine writing style accompanied by credits and footnotes; a selection style which embraces a wide swath of coins irrespective of condition.

With regard to the former, any chance you can get your money back? 🤣

[With my sincerest apologies to the long-time, record-setting OP... SINCE WHEN HAVE PROOFS -- NOT A GRADE, NOW OR EVER -- RELINQUISHED THEIR SPECIAL STATUS? ONCE A PROOF, ALWAYS A PROOF!!!]

Western Union... unable to attend s.o.b.n....disqualified due to having shorn my head, Rip Van Winkle beard and whiskers for seventh wedding anniversary, day after Fourth of July.... all ther faculties intact. - H.C.

I would be happy to wait.

I hope I do not offend you, but were "GETO" coins used in specific camps, how scarce are they and are there known counterfeits?

FRENCH 20-FRANC GOLD ROOSTER (Or Coq Marianne) KM: 857. F-535. Gadoury: 1064a FDC MS (65 -70); NGC / PCGS-CERTIFIED: MS-67 or 67+ 1910 or. 1913. or 1914.

(Truth be told, you could have filled those two holes and no one would have been the wiser.) 🤣

Absolutely, positively one of the finest, intricately sculptured hub-caps I have ever seen! 🤣

It's been said, there will always be suffering, trial, temptations, pain and situatuons we won't be able to handle alone.... but - - - will never give you more than you can handle.* Members have experienced incalculable losses due to hurricanes, "atmospheric rivers," wildfires, extreme temperatures, fires, thefts, even unexpected deaths of loved ones... you name it. I have faith in you. * Reference and quotation marks removed as providing same would be a Violation of the Chat Board Guidelines.

I know not the first thing about this coin, but I have uncovered a few purported facts... Chief among them is: "GOOD is the worst grade a 1793 Large Cent can receive." Both coins, the OP's, and the one featured in Photograde, appear to be holdered, but the latter has no suggestion of a date. All vestiges of the encircling chain on the reverse (which the public objected to) have been worn down. There would be little point in insisting on a shot of the edge. I trust it is lettered, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. As is, the OP's copper cent, in its present state, is worth a little more than four (4) troy ounces of pure gold. One can safely deduce being one of the very first produced by the U.S. Mint for its inaugural run and its scarcity, make this coin special.

Beyond the basics: dates, mintages and values assigned (which the alert collector will realize are all identical at the FDC grade, or Fleurs De Coin which embraces every Mint State grade from -65 to -70, inclusive, the values of which bear no relation to reality and are therefore inapplicable and of little use to the U.S. collector.) Imagine attenting a coin show and being told the purchase price of any Mint State Gold Rooster restrike within an assigned grade is the same irrespective of its FDC [MS] status, FDC €450 or USD 490. Intragrade distinctions: strike, preservation, luster, color, eye appeal are irrelevant! Other countries have their own grading systems. @World Colonial has elsewhere stated that the French have capitulated to U.S. collectors and Sheldonized their scales to accommodate the [crazy] nit-picking American collectos; @zadok recognizes the disparity and notes the Top Ten serious collectors pay enormous premiums for those top tier/Top Pops, wirh many surpassing the 500% premiums routinely charged. The standard resource, Monnais, Francais, 1789-2021, in its latest editon written and dedicated to Victor Gadoury, commonly referred to as The French Redbook (written in French) is comprised of 584 pages. The bottom half of page 285 is devoted to the Originals, 1899 to 1906; with references to earlier patterns and the top half of page 286, the Restrikes, 1907 to 1907, provide a sterile grocery list of the series. Member @zadok's claims of "feeble and limited knowledge" are quite modest as his grasp of the subject matter bespeaks an intimate knowledge of Or Coq Marianne which suggests more than a passing interest in the subject and happens to be completely accurate. I commend my learned colleague for taking the time and trouble to weigh in on an arcane subject the specifics of which continue to elude me. For example we know just under 117.5 million such coins were minted, but the certifications remain statistically insignificant. The total number of certifications performed by NGC for the series total 7,798, to date. If its 70 current set registrants were to complete each of their 16-coin circulated sets, that would total 840 coins, or only a fraction of the certified coins out there -- [PCGS, with a dozen set registrants, is markedly lower: 460 Originals + 2,953 restrkies for a total of 3,413 certifications; if all 12 sets were complete, that would amount to 12 X 16 or 192 coins.] If there are any Gold Rooster "clubs" or threads, I am unaware of any. And, as the business of most coin outlets is business, there is no time for pen-pal-type relationships. @GoldFinger1969 mentioned enthusiasts. There probably are, but someone out there in the world would have responded to my overtures in the past 2-1/2 years of unrelenting drought. Regarding the originals, the field remains sparce. Nobody knows how many were melted, officially or surreptitiously, and the number taken out of the country remains unknown. Hits, runs errors, die cracks, and oddities such as too much or too little starch in collars, as well as "open" or "closed" 9's, particularly in 1914, though they appear in other dates, while acknowledged are not ascribed any additional value. One more thing: one asterisk (*) next to restrike date 1914, and no other, indicates 6.72M were minted "dont" (French for, among other things) "of which" 202,359 were restruck and presumably redistributed in 1921. Next to a double-asterisk (**) is a notation that a total of 37,483,500 examples of restrikes were minted between 1951 and 1960 and are distinguishable from the Originals (par une coleur plus rouge) or "by their redder color." No mention of how much copper was added or silver subtracted to produce this result. My theory is the composition of the later restrike series was tweaked resulting in a visible change evident whe they were restruck.aftey they were initiallly minted and re- distributed. In every source consulted. The percentages given are 90/10. I welcome all corrections. A special thanks to @VKurtB for bringing to my attentiin the existence of The French Redbook by Gadoury, whose abbreviated name and catalog number (Gad-1064a) appear.on coins encapsulated by.a TPGSs European outpost. A special.mentiin goes to the late, great @Oldhoopster who urged all serious collectors.to.put in the necessary legwork, and "look it up." Sound advice. .

The immortal words of the website coordinator, continue to ring in my ears... no contentiousness and Be Nice of Be Gone. The OP made it clear he was interested only in reading good books in Colonial Counage History. Not writing essays or dissertations on the subject. All of what members have said could have simply been politely pointed out to the mature gentleman, a newcomer to the site, minus the threatening language. The entire affair could have been handled better to the credit of the membership and Forum.