Henri Charriere

THE DEFENSE: OBJECTION, YOUR HONOR! Speculative and immaterial! THE: COURT: SUSTAINED! The witness is directed to confine his remarks to the facts and refrain from engaging in hearsay. The final remarks of the witness are to be stricken from the records as nonresponsive and the jury is directed is directed to disregard them. [Aside: One cannot confirm with any degree of certainty whether one subscribes to an identity as being of the Caucasian persuasion much less of the traditional cisgender sex.]

I haven't been to Kennedy in years. One thing that sticks out in my mind in an interview that was done with a gentleman who, trapped at the airport for unspecified reasons, i.e., lack of money, required documents, etc., chose to simply make do with what he had and had apparently been living at the airport for years. Getting stuck at the airport is not an unusual occurrence, but "residing" there is. He was resigned to his fate without complaint.

Museum quality.

After giving every member's comment, including the OP'S rather provocative topical assertion, my complete and undivided attention and extended rumination, I have come to the inescapable conclusion that every participant who has weighed in thus far is correct. Despite my meticulous note-taking, monitoring the galloping progression of certifications, more-than-just-rumored Rooster dumps----including something I alone suspect though I have nothing to substantiate my claim: NGC Set Registrants stalled at the original 1906/restrike 1907 demarcation line are forced to engage in overseas acquisitions of PCGS-slabbed dates and take chances at cross-grading them to complete their sets. Why were the two Roosters graded MS-68 by PCGS, cross-graded by NGC if not to appear in an NGC set Registry? I rest my case. As we speak, there are one hundred (100) 1910 Gold Roosters graded at MS-66. This compares glaringly with the paltry six (6) awarded with the virtually impossible to get at any price, MS-67.... one more reason why I plan to devote my time to writing a treatise, entitled: "The Inexplicable Vagaries [Myth] of 'Fair Market Value.' " Gentlemen, you have more than confirmed what I have only strongly believed up until now. And, at this juncture, all I have to say is, based on your musings, you sure know how to hurt a guy.

Truth be told the unanticipated enmity has gotten so potent that there are members who refuse to cite their acronyms (including me on occasion). I am not the least bit concerned. I have just completed my date by date analyses of all Mint State 20-Franc gold roosters. A few of my Top Pops, are no longer so. But I am in too deep. There's no turning back now. I sold thirteen (13) gold coins and received a check just this morning). I wish that gentleman, who extended every courtesy to me including providing me with a well-reasoned rationale, and his business all the best in the New Year! I will be writing my review shortly. For those who absolutely must know it was NorthEast Numismatics.

Looks like you haven't been through Penn Station in awhile. It's like walking through Kolkata, when it was still spelled Calcutta. One giant homeless encampment, only this time the people who dwell there openly, using the sidewalks and streets as they wish, are dangerously mentally ill, speak out loud to themselves and are prone to act out violently and unprovoked. Are you sure you could manage to live just fine without that sort of impromptu street revelry,? .

C'mon now, Kurt! We're talking millions of people. If it'll make you happy, I'll be like that Cohen guy: I'll take a bullet for you. . I guess I'm different from you. If I so much as hear of a dangerous location I can't wait to go there and see what's going on. What you usually find are people loitering amid an air of menace. Beats sitting on a porch in a rocking chair.

Not coin collecting: coin collectors who acquire coins a cut above the rest, whatever the cost, are coin investors. [I am simply a knowledgeable dues-paying.lurker.]

Doesn't bother me in the least. I am old; the up and coming whippersnappers are young. It's their ballgame now however they want to conduct it.

My slabs are pre-NFT. If I submit them for reholdering solely for a mugshot array, it'll just be my luck the 66+ would remain a 66+, but a 67 routinely submitted would be rediagnosed a 66. Curses! All this brouhaha over a bunch of pictures! You know what, there are so many things that can go wrong that I am going to re-attempt to take my own pictures. I have purchased coins based on TPG encapsulations, but I don't believe I would purchase a coin on photo alone, with or without a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed description.

These MS-67 grades routinely pull in over $1,000. You're probably right, the + may very well supersede professional analysis, except for one small problem. Somewhere along the way----nobody I am aware of is similarly afflicted----I just can't see myself as going on record that de-slabbing is an incredibly rude sacrilege, and just bring myself to do it. It is a character defect I haven't been able to account for.

I wish I could joke about this or dismiss it out of hand, but between viewing this topic as a threat to the powers that be (or perhaps something for them to keep a watchful eye on) I am left with the quandary of upgrading an MS-66+ coin to an MS-67. I explain my problem to someone unfamiliar with psychiatric disorders of this type: Me: It's a compilation of coins that's not quite the best yet. He: Who cares? What's the difference between the two? You yourself say the experts can't even agree. They base their opinions on subjective factors. Are they licensed professionals? Me: I am in too deep to quit. He: What's all this costing you in time and money? Me: You don't want to know. He: So what happens when you--what's that word you used-- Me: --upgrade. He: --So what do you do when you've upgraded it? Me: That's the thing. There's no end to upgrading. Every time you get to one grade, or half-grade, you have others to upgrade. He: How many? Me: In my case, sixteen. It never ends. New and improved examples keep coming up and you have no choice but to get them. He: So where does it all end? Me: It doesn't. It can't. There're always more... Maybe until you run out of money? He: And what happens when interest evaporates? Me: You find something else to do. It's a sickness. It's organized hoarding. You spend your whole life collecting all the top pops, and then find out no one could care less. You're left holding the bag. The musical chairs are over. You're left standing there with bupkis. He: Not to be judgmental, but have you ever been seen by a psychiatrist? Me: Why, you think that's something? There are guys that collect mistakes. They glorify flaws and defects. There's one guy who doesn't just collect cracks on coins. He collects die cracks! Then there's the guy who collects Proof Die Cracks! You want to know what those are? He: Not especially. I guess it's okay until you become a danger to yourself or others... Then it's GAME OVER!

Marxists? Just down the block from the Waldorf-Astoria? Now if you'd've said the old Speed Graphic were on the fritz, I could go for that but... then again, maybe you're right. The Leninists are partial to East 49th Street. Good thing you told me. I don't want to pick up a rare Rooster from some guy in a trench coat only to be charged with "providing material support to the enemy." The problem of crime in the city is strictly one of perception. Crime is still way down overall from the peak crack epidemic years, but don't forget there were no cellphones, cameras all over the place (even on the trains and buses) and license plate readers at all the bridges and tunnels. On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd put the area around Grand Central and midtown conservatively at 9.7 after you throw in everything else in all five boroughs.

You want to talk Roosters. Fine, let me relate something I did within the past week that ought to pique someone's interest... I made a gentleman an offer I was absolutely convinced he would not refuse. As you may recall, I have eight (8) Restrike Roosters on my NGC Set Registry. My compilation is "complete" for my purposes. But I am an impatient collector. If I can't go get something, I rely on an old stand-by: my crafty mind. There is a coin another collector has that I want. It's a Top Pop (here anyway) so he's not going to give it up. I then made him an offer: I will upgrade 3 of your restrikes to MS-66, for his coin. He did not deem my offer worthy of a reply. To put this in perspective: I was offering him 3 coins very lovely MS-66 coins, for no more than its melt value for his coin which could never exceed the total list value of mine. (No response.) The # 1 guy here added a coin, same make and model as mine, leaving him with only one "hole" left to fill: the 1900 which is the rarest, by mintage in the series. I had already rather successfully deluded myself into believing it was he who acquired the two mystery Roosters which were both graded an unprecedented MS-68 on the West Coast, only to be swiftly submitted and successfully cross-graded at NGC, and was biding his time to acquire the two finest examples with which to fills his "holes" for the scarcer two earliest years. Apparently, I misjudged. He got one; but that was it. I concluded the Great z was right. I should forgetten about them. However, re # 1 Rooster collector here. Am I his equal if not his superior? Possibly. Yesterday, I wrote PCGS and confided the problem I have: the rather amateurish photos accompanying my compilation in my inventory and album have made me the laughingstock of collectors everywhere. Determined to change my lot, I inquired as to how the problem could be resolved amicably, and they told me... First, membership: the cheapest, last I checked, is $69. [Faithful viewers will recall that that was one of the pet peeves of NS&G (my spirited defense of whom had be exiled from the Board once)]. But I digress. My entire collection would have to be "submitted" to the very folks who graded them! it's entire contents, cracked out, photographed and re-holdered. There is also the small matter of the "gold shield" which is not an option. Display is mandatory. Okay, $69 + (18 x 16, or $288 for re-encapsulation (sporting the new computer chip anti-counterfeiting NFT w/ photos, gold shield (16 X 5, or $80, for a grand total of $437. exclusive of the sundry things like, postage, handling, insurance, etc. I assume this picture-taking gambit, when thru, will soar north of $500. and the only thing on my mind is: WHAT IF THE SHIPMENT IS IRREPARABLY DAMAGED OR IRRETRIEVABLY LOST? THEN WHAT? For lack of anything better to do, I shifted my focus to NGC. If I am successful and come up with a substantial addition to cement my reputation as the chief custodian of the finest 20-franc gold rooster series, what would it cost to make the transition here? Well, it would necessarily entail cross-grading all 16 coins. And photos? Shipping? Insurance? Loss? Damage? And what if a big-ticket item fails to cross? So you see my friends, nothing comes easy. Mind you, whatever I decide, regards little more than visual esthetics. I am undecided on what to do. In the meantime, I will be keeping my eyes open for top-tier Roosters. If I acquire one or two, I will have accomplished one major goal in my life. Will I forgo NYINC? It'll all boil down to whim. I even have a strategy frequent show-goers may find off-putting: Arming myself and my quiet-as-a-church house mouse with a photograph of a F20FGR, and a simple query: Top-Pops, Yes? or No? Simple.

What used to be called carbon spots?

If I never said a word, nobody'd know better, but I gotta say ya got me good on that one! There was a member here who casually mentioned FS do not apply to Proofs (and I have used FBL to denote Fat Bruised Lip to the Moderators' annoyance) but this had me frozen in my tracks: 🐓: How come you never heard o' these, Q? You're nothin' but a legend in your own mind! Yeah, Hog, ya got me good!

Don't look at me! I'm still trying to figure out the Great One's reference to "Water displacement formula # 40," and its significance to PL. Now I am onto "basined" dies. The WD-40 I have no problem with (ignorance is bliss) but "basined" feels like RWB is pulling my leg with a term so daring in its application that to disagree with it would be to risk exposing one's ignorance on a nationwide forum and, THAT, I am not prepared to do.

Bernie Madoff got hit hard (150 years) because he knew at his age, he didn't have much longer to live. This guy's gonna spill his guts and get a nominal term, for ahem, "cooperation." Sammy the Bull pleaded to 19 murders and wound up serving about 5 years. The Government is primarily interested in assets and forfeitures. I don't think this guy ever had a Plan B.

My considered opinion: he is not smart enough to be Evil. This schlub will tell them everything they want to know. The real shame of all this is a lot of people lost a lot of money on something they cannot even begin to explain.

I have been sitting here on the sidelines very patiently for years and have come to the conclusion that the vast majority of coin collectors*----many having expressed as much themselves (though they would like to think differently)----have no intention of selling their coins off, ever. *the figure I arrived at after much rumination is 99.44%. That figure, coincidentally, coincides with the figure of all collectors who pretended to be delightfully satisfied with the prices of coins realized after being solicited by dealers for their "ballpark" sell figures. To my knowledge, only one member, RWB, wisely suggested that where one's family members have shown a disinclination to pursue the hobby, the best course of action would be to sell and leave their heirs with something far more negotiable: currency of the realm.

When you come right down to it, he hasn't many options to consider: roll over and spill his guts on everyone and everything he knows--or become a long-term resident, courtesy of the U.S. government.

It seems not enough of the more pristine, problem-free examples have surfaced (wherever they may now reside) but as far as the hundred million pieces minted, one's guess is as good as anyone else's. Nobody knows or those who do, aren't talking.

I came across a grade earlier today, in an NGC advertisement, which has to rank right up there with all the greats. A coin, a number of them actually, carrying the same unnumbered descriptive label pertaining to the recovery of coins from the wreck of the S.S. REPUBLIC. The coins are all labeled: "UNC - Shipwreck Effect." It is assumed if you were to inquire further you would expose yourself for the buffoon you clearly are and unworthy of being in the company of greatness when you see it. Great marketing ploy!

Cryptomogul: "Well, see, that's the thing. It's not "nothing." It's just something that you do not understand, or is beyond your comprehension. That's where we come in. We do all the thinking for you. Certainly, you don't think all these investors, graduates of some of the finest higher institutions of learning, would sink their hard-earned money, much of it presumably inherited, into "nothing," do you? Here, (sotto voce) I am not suppose to show you this, but look at some of our clients. These are people with name-recognition. Prominent people, from all walks of life. These are people who didn't get to be who they are by making rash, ill-informed decisions. Have you seen how high crypto has gone? So what's it going to be? You in or out?..." And that's how it all happened, in a nutshell.

"Funds"? You mean these "now you see it, now you don't" things were actually tangible? Me thinks it was a good thing this was nipped in the bud comparatively early on. It was an embarrassment to me to hear so many people talk about something I knew (and still don't know) anything about.