Henri Charriere

[I changed my mind. I am not inclined to let this observation slide by. A product, formerly sold unsealed, and now "sealed for [my] protection," "changed our country, forever"? Seems a bit grandiose, doesn't it?] I don't have the exact wording of U.S. District Judge Kevin Duffy's statement uttered in an aside to sentencing the defendants at the first WTC trial after the '93 bombing, made all the more memorable because Federal judges rarely lose their composure on the bench, but he sternly lamented the fact that things at all courts, government buildings, military installations, you-name-it, would "never be the same again" because all those intending to conduct business within them would have to present IDs and passes or submit to labor-intensive, time-consuming, searches and re-searches. I agree. And ain' nobody going to move up the demarcation date of moderns up a few notches to commemorate that event. P.S. Who is this oft-quoted N.G.C? How long has he been a member? Why hasn't he ever shown his face?

In the link to the auction listing annotated by RWB beneath a series of double-hyphenated lines may be found a casual reference to a physical defect in the 1928 bag of DEs, as follows: "As one would expect, the bag is slightly soiled after 80 years, and there is a small hole at the top of the front side." My question: What, if anything, is the significance of that hole? Was it accidental and inadvertent or man-made and therefore purposeful? And if intentional, toward what end? (Bear in mind, this has nothing to do with the unaccounted bag of DEs.)

As Robert E. RIPLEY, a world-wide traveller In search of material for his "Believe It Or Not!" series pointed out, a pound of feathers weighs more than a pound of gold or silver [but not copper]. Twelve [troy] ounces for precious metals gold and silver, but sixteen [avoirdupois] ounces for copper and feathers.

This is the first time in my life I heard the Blue book was high on anything, but I've only got 70 in. Maybe I ought to wait a little more.

It seems a bit redundant----I think of a few reasons why you shouldn't----but if it pleases you, go right ahead. [I already know for fact you will never sell it.] But again, if you find the combination of colors inspirational, well, why not?

Here's an idea... I'll drop by the nearest so-called 99-cents store and pick you up a pack of gold stars. You can play Grader of the Day, and put 'em on anything you feel deserves one if it'll make you feel better. Win! Win!

Each 250-count, $5,000 face value, canvas bag of coins weighs roughly 22+ troy pounds. I don't know how often inventory at the Mint must be counted but I suspect a total inventory must be conducted each and every time a cage inside a vault is unsealed and resealed. I seriously doubt any Mint employee would be permitted to execute an order, acting unilaterally, adding or subtracting a bag, or two, on his own, unsupervised. As a superior government official, I would rely on my subordinates to faithfully carry out their duties. In this case, that entails counting (which may require the movement of canvas bags, each of which weigh 22.395 troy pounds (33.43 grams per DE or 1.075 t ounces × 250 = 268.75 t oz ÷ 12 = 22.395 t lbs/bag. The Superintendent did what any human being could be expected to do under the circumstances. Asked to confirm the bag count, likely conducted out of his presence, Dressel reached for his pen. [Gratuitous analogy: Each bag of Domino brand sugar weighs 4 lbs. A canvas bag of DEs weighs five times as much. If you, as a worker, are assigned to that area in the basement on a regular basis, working long hours, you know you and only a few others have regular access to the cages. You may be painfully aware of the Rules, but you are also acutely aware of what shuffling heavy unwieldy bags is like, without sufficient ventilation, day in and day out. You know the cage(s) like the back of your hand. If you must count the bags, it's only for the benefit of the person supervising you who happens to be a stickler for the rules. It may be wrong to cut corners, but that's human nature. Now, a question for all you armchair numismatists lurking about out there in cyberland: are you ready to give me a hand verifying the count of all 3,600 bags in the cage next to this one? ]

What is this... a prelude to True Confessions?

It has been some ten years since @RWBpenned his account regarding bag #94 which has long since been sold. To put this matter in some perspective, I restate the essential facts as follows: There were $18,000,000 in 1928-dated double-eagles (among many other coin denominations) stored in [3,600] standard-sized canvas bags each containing 250 coins with a face value of $5,000 weighing 233.9 troy pounds, in the aggregate. (As anyone who has carried a 100 troy ounce [8+ troy lb.] bar of precious metal knows, any reference to thief, singular, is being overly optimistic. Even a 1,000 troy ounce bar [80+ troy lb.] is virtually impossible to move without assistance and a conveyance. This theft, if it occurred, required the assistance of more than one person. What the USG should have done was offer a reward for the arrest and conviction of the perpetrator(s). (With the passage of time, it is still not too late to offer an incentive today, if only to clear the case and put the matter to rest.) Some questions: 1- How many vaults were there in the Philadelphia Mint? 2- How many cages were there in each of the vaults of the Philadelphia Mint? 3- Approximately how many canvas bags of all denominations could be accommodated in each cage? 4- How many canvas bags could be accommodated, in total, in the vault in question, at the time the bag was unaccounted for? 5- How many cages comprised the "main gold vault?" Other thoughts... As mentioned elsewhere on this thread, there is nothing to distinguish a "stolen" double-eagle from a "regular" one, absent unique die features. [Side note: I believe the sewing department employing women sewing canvas bags was disbanded and the entire operation farmed out to Federal Prison Industries sometime after it was founded in the summer of 1934. There may or may not be something in the historical record to support this assertion.] According to the account, Edwin Dressel, Superintendent of the Philadelphia Mint was cleared of "financial responsibility" for the irregularity uncovered via a private bill passed by Congress in 1945. To date, no one has been held accountable for the missing bag. The following may not sit well with some members, but the unaccounted for $5,000 bag of gold double-eagles represents, by my figuring, one three-thousand six-hundredth (1/3,600th) of the total bag-value of the $18M in 1928 gold double-eagles stored in that cage, inside that vault, at that time, exclusive of all other denominations of gold stored at that location on the date in question. What enquiring minds would like to know is what the investigation of this matter has cost the Government thus far? FINAL DISPOSITION: UNKNOWN. FWIW... The well-orchestrated "insider" theft in 2017 of a 100-kilogram (220-lb.) gold "coin" worth $4.3M [USD] dubbed the "Big Maple Leaf," dated 2007, was solved in due course and its quite young participants sentenced to serve between 3 and up to 4-1/2 years in prison. The coin, never recovered, was presumed to have been melted down. Nearly a hundred years have passed since the bag of double-eagles was discovered missing. All of the original "usual suspects" are long gone. It is quite possible the entire contents of the bag had been quietly dispersed, apparently amiably among the principals involved and barring a spontaneous declaration on the deathbed of a descendant, or relative, or friend of a friend of a friend, the matter will continue as just another open enduring mystery.

Failing that, they can fall back on First Strikes, Early Releases, etc., or go the private route by unveiling "Sealed Gold Vault Bricks containing the only State Gold Bank rolls known to exist with the exclusive State Restricted Design and each loaded with rarely seen U.S. Gov't issued Buffalo Nickels layered in valuable 24 Karat Gold by National Mint and Treasury," a paid advertisement I intend to critique before the year is out.

Respectfully, it is easy to dismiss an entire thread----not even a day old, after one studiously decides he is unwilling to venture an answer. What's your take on this most pressing issue of the day? Enquiring minds want to know!

This is key; @RWB has maintained from the outset, that this was an official non-Mint related term [and likely yet another clever, catchy marketing ploy engaged in by TPGS]. On the NGCX continuum, such coins would dwell, without comment, in the 9 to 10 range.

It could have been worse: Special Pattern, Special Planchet (specially-prepared, of course) or plain Special.

Truly regrettable discovery. Who'd've thought the Error guy would show up in tow with a treatise on the matter ready to fling it, unannounced into the faces of Forum naysayers? As a certifiable coward, I am going to do the only responsible thing and wait until he is who is learned in such matters is afforded an adequate interval with which to peruse this arcane matter adequately and is ready to launch forth ex cathedra to bring mere peons like me up to speed.

An AU-59 grade unequivocally and definitively separates the pretender, the Almost Uncirculated coin, from the contender: the coin that is without question, an uncirculated [Mint State] example without so much as a hint of back-room gossip concerning possible wear, evidence of wear or the virtually impossible, spurious claim of the conspicuous absence of wear. I see AU-58 as affording a coin with a provisional tentative grade, and wiggle-room which unnecessarily detracts from the discussion which results in irreconcilable differences as to the seemingly arbitrary point of no return which demarcates a true uncirculated coin from its unfortunate twin. The owner of the 1913 Liberty Head nickel, known today as the McDemott Specimen, was in the habit of showcasing his coin, unprotected, to interested parties from his pocket. It apparently reached a point of no return with continual showings. In the end, his coin was no longer an MS-60 coin. A grade of AU-59 would decisively drive that point home. IMHO.

No, not particularly, but as an ode to your fascination with such peculiarities, why not?

Fine with me, the more the merrier, but how would you define these to those members who are adamantly, unalterably opposed to such subjective attributions?

Regardless the grade, this coin deserves authentification and certification----and a home it can call its own.

If you check out the listings provided for the 1913 Liberty Head nickel as compiled by Wikipedia, you will find all five extant coins referred to as "specimens," with different "pedigrees." Some are proofs and others are theoretically Mint State although one, the McDermott specimen clearly, according to the account, shows signs of wear (circulation). Overseas, in France, SPL (Splendide) or SP for short, is equivalent to the U.S. grades of MS-63 and MS-64. In Italy, oddly, there are two SPL's (Splendido) used, one to denote the U.S. equivalent of from AU-55 to MS-62; the other to denote coins graded at MS-63 and MS-64. (There are no descriptors used to denote Brilliant Uncirculated or Proof coins, as such.) Note: I deeply regret I have never been accorded the luxury of assuming the stature of those licensed to speak ex cathedra as arbitrators, self-anointed or not, my station merely being messenger to the stars on the Forum.

It depends. Do either sport a die crack? Seriously, it all boils down to supply and demand----and the ever elusive, ever fickle Fair Market Value of the coin, the date and the series.

Any explanation as to what caused this pmd and colorization to occur?

I know what your thinking. I stand guilty as charged. I don't know whether this die state is working, or still on strike, but I do believe this nearly two hundred year old bust half dollar depicts the ravages of time as any other would expect to if allowed to freely circulate in its raw state. Why not submit it for a complete diagnostic to see that all its parts are in good working order. If re-cuttings are present, perhaps a nice numismatic balm will do the trick, allowing it to cure and protect against further injury.

🐓: Forsooth Q, what do you make of this Guth? Q.A.: Negative. He, too, gives short shrift to my favorite [still non-existent] grade: AU-59. A Hundred gradations, and yet, in addition to the thresholds cited by member gm above, there's still no room in the inn for a Fifty-Niner. Sheesh!

Here's my take on NGCX. Some are under the impression that it is for everyone. It isn't. This is for people with short, uncomplicated, attention spans and the need for immediate gratification. This is a cohort that runs younger. Forget coin shows. These folks have never stepped foot inside of a coin shop. They know we've been to the moon; they don't know why. (Some can't remember where they were when J.F.K. died.) These new collectors differ from the older ones in only one way. With rare exceptions, they never knew a time when they didn't have to pay for their acquisitions. The die-hards among us hunt through coin rolls the way beachcombers search for seashells at Sanibel. But the newer ones want everything laid out for them. NGCX solves that problem, on a 1 to 10 scale. What, after all can one expect from a generation that's dispensed with penmanship, writing (serious research) and prefers sound-bite-sized tweets in lieu of essays. The younger generation is all about the next new big thing. That's NGCX. The only thing they want to know is who's got it, where is it, and what it's going to take to get it in hand. I don't believe agonizing over shades of grades will hold their interest. History is out. If it's longer than a web page it will be relegated to the "List of Things I Must Do Before I Die." They will, for the most part, go for the Big Kahuna. These are folks with leisure time and disposable income. NGCX fits very nicely into their plans. I forsee a time when encapsulations will dominate all facets of human endeavors. The winner? That's the contender, not the collector, who's lined up his slabs, predominantly in the Nines, with decimalized numbers inching toward the pinnacle of perfection: the unsurpassable TEN. Be interesting to see how this plays out...

Interesting article, but where exactly, does that leave the Lincoln Head cent?