Henri Charriere

[Same problem with the French 20-franc gold roosters. Oh, they will tell you the difference in color between the Originals and so-called Restrikes is due to a change in copper content but what about within the Restrike series, bearing the dates 1907-1914, a significant percentage of which were coined in 1921, the 1950's and the 1960's?] 🤔

I have been re-thinking this post [safe to do when the Moderators are off] and after reading the citation provided thoughtfully by @J P M have come to an unassailable conclusion: the OP himself, I truly believe, would vociferously challenge an assertion such as, "Here is a dime John D himself gave my father with a time and date stamped photograph taken by a roving Daily News photographer to prove it." (Collectors may be aware that, by contrast, few photos of David Rockefeller exist. He would not allow himself to be photographed.)

[If that doesn't tickle your fancy, this might be right up your alley: "Buying Coins for Wholesale Prices at Coin Shows and Other Places," by Mike Thorne. Numismatic News, May 26, 2023.]

I am dismayed by the lackluster response to your query. It's been said, "past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results," but the truth is numismatics and the volatility of the precious metals markets, finer quality and supply of Chinese counterfeits, ordinary supply and demand of the market, and a slew of other variables, including the TPGS to which you will ultimately submit your prized possession to, makes any "informed" speculative observation, just that. While you have included a lot of extraneous information with your post, in the end it will be the call of the Chief Numismatist and Grading Finalizer that counts as well as your decision to seek a second opinion if you beg to disagree. It's still early yet what with the Memorial Day weekend and the unofficial start of summer upon us. There are some remarkably knowledgeable and experienced members here. By all means, give them time to respond and hear them out. I myself am quite interested in what they may have to say. We all hope for the best.

True, but they would have had to pay employees to do it. I would have done it for bupkis. Guess I was born in the wrong century. 🤣

The member who purportedly speaks ex cathedra for the edification of members (and lurkers) here has gone on record as stating that any and all alchemical symbols should have no place in the absence of formal, objective grading. I agree. However, maybe we should simply dispense with all pretension and, in the interim, call a grade an opinion--and all else, including star-like qualities, merely an "of interest" qualifying second opinion. 🤣

Welcome to the Forum! I can see that mere minutes after joining as a member only half an hour ago, you've got it all figured out. I will give you the benefit of the doubt. May the Force be with you!

If it'd've been me, I would have been honored to be offered the privilege to "grind up the sweeps and clean up" the melter's and refiner's department" of the Mint of the United States at New Orleans and would have accepted same and discharged my duties responsibly and "on the arm," i.e., for free, at no cost to the government. Your humble & obedient servant, etc. 🤣 P.S. Great piece of research!

Interesting low-ball choice! G-3 or not, ain' nobody gonna beat dat! 🤣

Lovely example!

It is my understanding six companies under contract with the USG issued "-script" in the form of tokens of various denominations, good for trade only in Boulder City Company stores ostensibly to dissuade workers from gambling their hard-earned money in Las Vegas casinos then in their infancy only 30 miles away. If you own any such tokens, feel free to post them here with any factual or anecdotal information you may have regarding their various compositions, denominations and specifications, as well as the companies that produced them. Note: The Boulder Dam was renamed the Hoover Dam and has been known as such since 1947.

Just thought I would let you know the attribution on your holder had me absolutely flummoxed and in the absence of both Q.A. and his sidekick, 🐓, for guidance, telepathically "heard" the late great Oldhoop's advice to "go look it up," and am glad I did. Now we're all on the same page. Gorgeous coin with a respectable MS grade!

@GoldFinger1969 : Re: The Confident Carson City Coin Collector - Three-Volume (2,500 pp.) Book Set, by Rusty Goe. $629.99 - Amazon $299.00 - Southgate Coins $269. + $9.95 delivery - Wizard Coin Supply. (Refs: ordering details on Google)

In deference to those who attended recitals from the vaudeville era, I will re-state that Shea Stadium was the only ballpark I have ever been in to see The Beatles chopper their way in, sing 12 songs in 30 minutes, and quickly depart the way they came. No opening act and, lacking suitable amplification for a venue that size, do not recall hearing a single word they sang above the noisy din. They raked in $300,000. I got to see Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix later elsewhere, but never caught my favorite, Jim Morrison and The Doors. Now let's see, by my reckoning.. if this Federal debt we keep hearing about is projected to be nearly $33 trillion in FY 2023 and the U.S. population were to be around 330,000,000 how many dollars would each man, woman and child have to ante up to put this matter to rest?

FWIW: Gerrymandering, which probably ought to be called gerrymeandering: With heirloom furniture having falling out of favor with the up and coming generations (who are partial to all things disposable) IKEA developed their first bix box store on the Brooklyn waterfront with a sinister twist in the floor plan they had in mind. They fixed the locations of their wares on what appeared to be a one curvy circumferential floor plan. No one will tell you exactly where anything you are looking for actually is. They force you to behold all of their wares by sending you down one yellow brick road in a U-shape which could very well be a mile long. In my case what I was looking for was in the last ten feet of floor space, but lacking cross-walks, or another level, I had no choice but to run the gamut with happy "helpful" floor folk constantly urging me walk a little "further," or "continue to follow the path." Diabolical! if coin shows do this it would be akin to putting the most popular coins front and center and leaving pedestrian bullion far in the back. Concert venues do this too. Make audiences slog through relative unknowns before seeing the main event: the Beatles or Rolling Stones. I recall viewing the "Treasure Map" (floor plan) of the NYINC Show to which there was no rhyme or reason and decided it would probably better to make inquiry with the handful of dealers likely to have what I was looking for and avoid the time, travel and sales tax of something I can order sitting from the comfort of my home.

As the ultimate compliment a collector can pay a new member (who joined first thing Monday morning) eagar to get his matter dispatched with due diligence, I asked my wife to view your coin. Thing is, she's got cataracts and glaucoma. I have those two and a third, macular degeneration. So what better people to ask than those whose vision is inpaired, right? I unhurriedly displayed each of the photos you've provided and it grieves me to no end to say i spoke as she were a witness in the dock and she magnified the images every which way, turned, looked me directly in the eye and firmly but quietly pronounced each digit in her native French: Un-Neuf-Quatre et Doux. One- Nine- Four and Two. So there you have it. I see the "sickle" you've mentioned, but better it be in this deplorable, pitted and anorexic condition as a 1942 than a 1943. [I once had an 1894-O Barber dime in Very Fair condition. True, that grade does not exist, but I insisted it was better and closer to Good than Fair.. Problem was a pizza slicer-type tool was used to diagonally cross the upper obverse, rather prominently, destroying what otherwise would have been a rare coin easily valued at $20 or $25. So I sympathize with your plight.] It would not hurt to keep it and solicit opinions as to why it's in the shape it's in. I urge you to continue to explore this site; you will see and hear things I don't think you find elsewhere. Happy hunting!

Ultimately, the correct answer will depend on whether the OP "read" the reference somewhere, or heard it "verbalized" in conversation or heard it articulated on a device. Moumental difference! Until then, let's just say I am deferring judgment. @RWB: the ball is in your court.

Dealer or not, I believe--by whatever name known, instinct, gut reaction, first impressions or simply having a discriminating eye bolstered by experience--that, if selling, the dealers will be all over an apparently uninformed pauper (first impressions count) and likewise quite deferential and unhurried in receiving the well-dressed, quite knowledgeable gentleman or dowager interested in buying. Without oversight, inter-dealing amongst dealers is a given. If you are a regular patron of shows, or better yet, recognized as an on-site "promoter," I would imagine the dealers with whom you are most familiar with on a first name basis, may very well have something of interest they have set aside for your eyes only. Conspiratorial price-fixing across the board would be unlikely as every coin displays its own attributes, some quite prominently. Howard Hughes skirted the legal requirement of making a personal appearance where and when mandated by law or making any public statements (at least until Clifford Irving showed up with an authorized biography, resulting in a nominal prison term) but while I am out from behind a walker and back on a cane my doctor described my circumstance as waiting for the Larsen ice shelf to deprive me of an underpinning. To the OP: interesting observations rarely spoken of or presented in print.

The former TV newscaster, Roger Mudd, who died two years ago, was a distant relative.

Or as MM would have put it, "I stopped reading after '1943 copper'..." [Punctuation has gone the way of penmanship. Just isn't being taught anymore, hence the run-on sentence.] The one unasked question is, What would it be worth in the condition it's in? I do not believe it can be certified. P.S. And the post title is WAY too long. 🤣

I am very impressed with what you've done here. I didn't even know there was a "short set." True you rank # 40, but that puts you in the top 7-1/2 % of all 315 set registrants in this series and you've managed to snag one for the larger herd. Good for you! Like me, you joined in '19 and waited (with upgrades) a year to jump in. Fourteen coins. Nice ones, too! Happy hunting!

I feel as though someone is trying to pull a fast one on me here... How do we go from Richmond Dime to The Rich Man Dime? Even a computer engineered to consider all the permutations and combinations possible could not come up with a source that, frankly, makes no mention of either. Only a Ratzie-like racketeer could ratchet up those odds. I, for one, ain't buyin' into this. No way, Jose! 🤣

There is a complex dynamic at play here with a mix of members on one side and a panel of moderators on the other. Each ideally practices a carefully orchestrated and choreographed "performance," that is under intermittent or continual review tempered by the climate created in its wake. Some are given wide berth and others, contrary to what the late great oldhoop may have believed, are kept at bay on a short leash. I fall squarely into the latter group. I wish I could revel in the luxury that I am "back by popular demand" or that senior mgmt. leaves the door askew to permit my antics when the various forums stagnate, but the truth is I am dispensable. If I forget my place or overplay my hand all Moderation has to do is go back to the videotapes... and push a button. One unassailable truth is regardless however one may feel about it: all niceties aside--and it's right there in the Guidelines--any member can be discharged for cause, or for no reason at all. So, for some, the high wire act continues. For others, Moderation is of little or no concern. The Forum is honored by their presence and affiliation. Your longevity here speaks for itself.

Not to belabor the matter any further than necessary and acknowledging the high regard and esteem you have for all members, I should like to point out that the historical figure you cited was pardoned, much like Alfred Dreyfuss decades earlier and the literary world knew nothing of him until he published his book. As to the other figure you've alluded to, he was neither a Praetor nor a Consul and was formally addressed as Tribune, or at least he was in the 1959 epic Ben-Hur starring Charlton Heston. My thanks to the Moderators for their patience and indulgence. Back on Track now (minus the political commentary). Man I love this place! 🤣

If memory serves, that option elicited vociferous opposition from one member and was rejected. I honored my pledge to stay clear of the W.C. As to the allegation tossed in with malice aforethought that the O.P. "posted in the coin forum to create problems," is categorically baseless. Every member knows I am not smart enough to plan that far in advance with a purposely negative result. Edit: If I had a choice, I would have posted on the OFF TOPIC thread, but true to the website coordinator's word--and to her everlasting credit, she decimated it but kept "French 20-franc gold rooster" which clearly was not the appropriate choice for this topic.