Henri Charriere

I see two possibilities. One plausible; the other incredible. In Plan A, collectors or hobbyists (or dealers who've grown weary of my plaintive cries for assistance to BOLO for exceptionally grade-scarce coins) cannibalize a TPG's holdings to facilitate cross-grading to another's. If that is unproductive, they resort to outright bribery. I am guilty of that crime. Plan B entails convening a special blue-ribbon committee to review and reconsider opinions previously rendered resulting in mass decertifications and a bumper crop of "new" coins sporting superseded grades. Cross-grading on the scale I have proposed resulting in dramatically disparate numbers are only possible if the written records reflect it. I am going to defer to members RWB and z on this before someone influential questions my tenuous grip on reality. You, gentle reader, are welcomed to chime in with your own theory as the mood moves you.

Buy low; sell high. No? If not now, when? If not here and now? Where?

[The state of the hobby is such that if you were to list this on eBay as a scarcely seen Barber oval rarer by far than the Washington "squared" quarters, with a sale price of $3.7 million, OBO, you'd get a few takers.] 🤣

You're right! I appreciate the clarification. [It's beginning to look like I am past "pre-diabetic" and well beyond the "onset of dementia."] Thanks! 🤣

It seems most if not all would be ideal candidates for submission. I would be curious to know how Doug Winter feels about these. (Comment submitted: 0330 hrs., EDT).

[I believe a fast-one was pulled here relative, to the OP's position, but am not sure, why or to what end. A metallurgical analysis was provided indicating four elements were present, the dominant one being copper [Cu] and to a lesser extent tin [Sb] silver [Ag] and lead [Pb]. @RWB stated helpfully that the post I responded to was five years old. Both the OP's membership date and succession of posts contradicted this. This was quietly cleaned up with no Edit note, but silver stuck in my mind as Sandon had mentioned it. My reply to @RWB, as well as his contention, were excised. I was unaware of these developments until I revisited the thread and found my comment had been surreptitiously parked on a siding for review. I mention this because another comment I made nearly an hour ago elsewhere has similarly been sidelined. Other members may have experienced much of the same. It is an ever-present possibility.

Having graduated from elementary school with highest honors (a boast that sounds nice but is laughable on its face) I thought I would conduct a survey of the census as it relates to 20-franc gold roosters in the MS66 and MS67 ranges. Recently (before my latest expulsion from NGC) I was apprised of a nice cache of gold coins found in Europe and anticipated the inevitable dump both here and elsewhere. But something funny happened on the way to the Forum. The numbers here did not increase or stay the same; they decreased! The figures cited, spanning less than 90 days, illustrate my point: MS66 old / new / diff. 1907 74 / 65 - 9 1908 95 / 81 -14 1909 108 / 107 - 1 1910 74 / 70 - 4 1911 60 / 59 -1 1912 66 / 57 -9 1913 61 / 57 -4 1914 126 / 102 -24 Note: I will present the MS67 figures as opportunity avails for both top TPGS.

As the Forum's sole dues-paying lurker with intermittent posting privileges, I should like to offer two bits of helpful advice. First, while I am in no wise (in the archaic/scriptural sense) fit to dust off or tie another member's shoes, I would strongly advise knowing something about the person to whom you are directing your remarks. If that means reviewing the comments and longevity of a member here, do so. I believe Sandon has exhibited remarkable restrainst in stating his position whether one agrees with it or not. Bear in mind, members have a tendency to be skeptical after wading through untold reams of spurious claims and outrageous uncorroborated evidence. The second point, entirely my own is, if a purported rarity is "accessorized," it is usually because it's lost the lion's share of its value. Worse, it's damaged and exposed to the elements including oily, perspiring human hands. To the O.P.: if you would be so kind as to produce the suggested documentation, we can give your pterodactyl a decent burial.

and a requirement all users speak Esperanto. 🤣

The last time I paid a visit to the main building of the New York Public Library (now encumbered with the name, the Stephen A. Schwartzman Building) all the card catalogues had been removed and the storied "Rose" Reading Room tables were filled with people staring at lap tops. Any available books were used as decorations for the massive walls. No one touched them. It is my understanding newspapers have been dispensed with in favor of on-line subscriptions. Last I heard, books were relocated to underground stacks (among great controversy.) When's the last time anyone heard the expression, "Publish or Perish?"

[@roadbike: Pardon my impertinence, but as someone with a life-long intermittent familiarity with publishers who edit at will, excise entire chapters--and even have a say in the title you choose and how many pages your book must have, how would you feel if you walked into a bike shop and it were suggested (as Henry Ford famously said) you could have any color bike you want as long as it's black?]

How so? I see 11 hrs., 11 hrs., 10 hrs., and 10 hrs., followed by my own now... unless you mean this matter had been addressed before with less than a satisfactory response. 🤔

A guy comes up with an ingenious plan to make millions despite the imposition of sanctions and is honored for his creativity. A collector tries to list legitimate certified coins on a well-known platform and he risks being charged with giving aid and comfort to the enemy. Lovely world we live in, on the other hand I have read "warnings" from sellers saying they are unable to ship to [restricted] areas., e.g., China, North Vietnam, Cuba [Russia] and Nigeria. I believe if you include that advisory in your listing under "further discription," you should make out just fine. Good luck!

Cannot help you with the I.D., but I am willing to bet an embarrassingly small minority of collectors can name each of those elements. One wonders why, if Iron comprises so little of the coin's composition, anyone would bother to even include it. (Maybe this hybrid alloy could be used to mint new cents, more economically.) Nice piece!

I am doing swimmingly well, thank you (but the gauntlet of eggshells mgmt is forcing me to run thru are killing my feet!) Any credentialed numismatist wish to offer a diagnosis on the ailment bedeviling the OP's cent?

🐓 : Yes!

Shush! You're going to ruin everything for Alex from who-knows-where, and pi-guy!

To those of you, members, seasoned veterans--and lurkers, who've welcomed me back with open arms, drones, blimps, passenger pigeons, and light planes trailing banners over my house, my heartfelt gratitude! Is Moderation great or what? (Man I love this place!) Not one given to gloating, I thought I would mention as unobtrusively as possible two developments regarding my specialty. One, I never paid much attention to it at the time but a pattern, a unique 1898 "essai" with a rendering on one side--the reverse side left blank--on an octagonal gold plate is available for acquisition for roughly $30,000 from a well-known "Rolls-Royce of coin sellers" in Europe who makes getting into the NSA by comparision a breeze, what with checks, counter-checks, bank references and the like. The other concerns something unexpected: the re-emergence of the first two Roosters, a 1908 and 1912, ever graded MS-68, at least to my knowledge, first at PCGS, and almost immediately cross-graded thereafter by NGC. Neither has yet to appear in any Set Registry. There are those who will recall that a prominent gentleman here stated they would never be seen again. But quietly withdrawn from both the census and population, they have both recently reappeared on the NGC census without fanfare. I think I should mention that [likely] unbeknownst to the member who posed the question a few years back, in substance, What preparations have you made for your heirs, one member did something that can only warm the cockles of one's heart: he had begun set registries presumably for each member of his brood. His compilations occupy 4 of the top ten plus eight others. A record number of 47 individuals presently are compiling French 20-franc gold roosters. And with gold hovering tantalizingly at the $2,000/oz. level earlier this week (Rooster melt at barely a fifth of an ounce hovers at $350.) now may be as good a time to BOLO for those who may wish to engage in profit-taking. Truth be told, despite an international dragnet, I have been unable to acquire a single Rooster for upgrading purposes.

As an in-perpetuity newbie whose elevation based on previously rendered prognoses is likely to remain poor for the duration, absent critical-mass wear, I would deem your coin to exhibit a standard EF grade, at best. [I regret I am unable to offer a comment on seismic tectonic activity and shifting plates.]

Thank you! And a very Happy, healthy and prosperous New Year to you, and yours as well. With me it was firearms and fireworks all nite long, followed by Roosters crowing in the morning. Happy Twenty Twenty Three! Q.

I am afraid I am going to have to break with tradition here and take exception to the insidious insinuation seamlessly slipped in here, as illustrated with the following dialogue: Q.A.: This [fortin 108 varieties] one of yours? 🐓 : Yeah, why? Q.A.: You saw the memo! Any damage to these [108s] must be avoided entirely or, absent that, kept to an absolute minimum. No exceptions! To what authoritative source do you attribute this highly subjective conjecture masquerading as fact? Not even a coelacanth has been around long enough to have conducted a personal inspection of every member of this sub-fraternity known to man, to date. How would we know a proof die crack devotee hasn't similarly developed an affinity for this variety and accumulated a multi-generational hoard of same.

Proof-like... it's gotten to the point where unless such symptoms as adequately exhibited here are confirmed with a diagnosis rendered by a gentleman a member has characterized as speaking ex cathedra on behalf of the congregation and verified via authentication and certification by an assorted amalgam of acronyms wielded by men of influence and affluence, all is idle speculation.

[Q.A.: While half as many people spell it collectable, collectible remains the Gold Standard in the King's English]. 🐓: What about the chopmarks? Q.A.: If Eagle' insists, get me the pile we have in the old cedar chest. We'll chop 'em up any which way he wishes. 🐓 : You intend to keep your New Year's resolution? Q.A.: I do. And if there are members around still spoutin' that Sleepy Hollow rubbish, they haven't seen nothin' yet... ]

On the negative side, expect to spend a lot of time revising your lists, country by country. On the plus side, the 1933 DE will retain its standing for the foreseeable future.

I haven't a clue, but one thing for sure: it'll cost you a lot more for it today. No, not the slab (which would rub anyone the wrong way for its overstated simplicity: what else would you expect to find on the reverse of a Lincoln Head cent? ) but the box with its texture suggestive of an endangered species.