Henri Charriere

I see a more pragmatic problem. The last time anyone tried to corner the silver market, driving the spot price to nearly $50/oz., we know how that turned out [Hunt bros./1980]. And publicizing your strategy on a nationwide Forum before a live studio audience, well, it only takes one attentive member to muse, "Hey, wasn't that the passenger pigeon that flew the coop one day only to return and regale us with a similar tale?..." 🙄

@Tigerbait: To paraphrase a phrase used at the Watergate hearings, What did @Tigerbaitknow, and when did he know it? I am inclined to believe you have the real McCoy because it bears evidence of having gone thru the trials and tribulations of the past 139 years in circulation. Anyone who suggests otherwise is a certified party pooper! D*na: I'll allow it, but bear in mind every member is entitled to an opinion. Fine, it's all good! 👍

🐓: Wait, what? Q.A.: Classic z-speak. Surely, he must know I maintain my rankings, unchanged, in two sets... One here, #7 "Herostratus Hoard," (a name he not only Googled, but shared the results of with other members) and the other, over "there," #1 "Rooster Roster" a member here, unprompted, helpfully provided a direct link to... Man, I love this place!

No, nobody's resurrecting anything here. I should just like to direct the kind reader's attention to this post which I believe----standing alone----speaks for itself and is deserving of more than its fair share of attention. If you agree, honk your horn!

@LINCOLNMAN: You'll kindly excuse my tittering over your tantalizing tidbit. Encapsulation logically follows authentication and certification. Here, you have turned the natural progression of things on its head. One can only assume your halfpenny's inauthenticity was verified and thereby, in a fanciful way only an outlier of the hobby can appreciate the humor of, AUTHENTICATED and CERTIFIED! Nice catch! That's one example of "questionable" provenance even a hard-boiled anti-counterfeitist on this Forum will lose no sleep over. Should the irresistible urge to post a pic of the coin seize you, by all means do so.

Junk pile? No official post-mortem? Not surprisingly, I have never had the good fortune of coming into possession of a genuine counterfeit, such as a work of Hemming's, a fine work of art if it fooled me what with the discriminating eye I have for detail (and buying sight-unseen). I have, however, picked up a ready-made reply to any Treasury agent who were to summon up the audacity to command me to surrender one: MOLON LABE! To quote the old-school rapper, Kool Moe Dee: "How ya like me now?" A member on this Forum explicitly expressed his desire to own one. Don't worry, Hog! I got your back. Now let's total up the damage: possession of a counterfeit article exacerbated by sending it thru the mails. In the interests of promoting Numismatics, and having survived the punishments meted out to me by moderators, I believe I have the mettle to withstand meddling by those intent on interfering with my right to life, liberty and the enjoyment of artistically-rendered alloys.

@RWB: I don't know... I don't know. How, pray tell, does this "show-up" even begin to meet your exacting standards as set forth, repeatedly, elsewhere on other threads. We already have a suspect in custody. Why not prevail upon the OP to produce adequate photos with better resolution. Only then can we proceed to make an informed judgment vis a vis the fine example on file with NGC. 🤔 [IMHO]

Q.A.:. FOURTEEN MONTHS to comment on a post I made concerning Lord knows what? 🐓: Relax, Q! He's relatively new here. He'll get the hang of it. Q.A. In that case, WELCOME TO THE FORUM!

I hope not... his presence will be sorely missed.

[To any newbies (and curious lurkers loitering about): This is what we mean when we say save your money for something you can really be proud of. These fifty-year-plus old coins comprise the best of the best of all such coins evaluated to date. Their universe is fairly finite. Their mintages as proofs are known. Not all 1970 U.S. coins from proof sets can grade as highly. A common problem with many vintage sets was carbon-spotting. Many, too, were improperly stored. These are truly magnificent in every sense of the word.]

@EagleRJO: You want 'em at spot? No problem. Wait awhile till they drop precipitously [in the near future] then you can have all you want at today's [then-outdated] spot price.

@Lem E: I've come back three times to re-examine the bicentennial quarter... is it just me or, under close examination encapsulation, notwithstanding, do the legends and mottoes appear to v-i-b-r-a-t-e ?

@Lem E: Nice acquisitions, all. I want you to level with me, since I've never had an MS-69, anything, were you at all curious to find out exactly what the culprit was that resulted in the one-point deficit on the quarter?

[Curious, are there any surviving examples of the gold-plated 1883 No Cents V-nickels you may be aware of?]

[This is a five-by-five line-up. Total 25 images. One is missing? Which one?]

[You do realize the gentleman @pigeonman333rd was directing his comments to was last heard from four years ago today. To be fair, if the patron Saint of Numismatics finds it in his heart to forgive my trespasses, and shows me favor via Powerball, with a drawing few hours nigh at 11 p.m. to-nite, I shall be in a most benevolent mood. Gotta be in it to win it!]

My sincere condolences on the death of your father earlier this year. The ten-gallon milk can he left you turned out to be an inter-generational Time Capsule! (Unbeknownst to your average person, while a thick one-quart glass bottle can withstand the weight of metal, an old-fasioned 5-gallon glass water bottle, or green-glass wine-holding demi-john, cannot, particularly if lifted by the neck.) While I can certainly appreciate the use of a metal can as a large piggy bank, I would resist your repurposing it as a bank for all but coins no greater than face value. (As you have no doubt discovered, the can at some point will be difficult if not impossible to move or lift.) I know that practice is common, but there is a reason why wooden kegs and canvas bags were used to transport coins. Two good habits you can adopt as a newly-minted collector are holding coins by their edges, using your forefinger and thumb, and protecting your coins in flips or holders designed for that purpose. [Rare coins may be submitted for authentication and certification.] It is quite possible your forefathers may have inadvertently left you something special. Good Luck and Happy hunting!

I have personally polled the owners of every such truck, and combed through the archival records. Regrettably, not one reported missing a letter p or d, misshapen or otherwise. Keep hunting!

I do not know if this has been studied in any meaningful way----I may just consider a dedicated thread on this topic----but I would imagine what whet the appetites of coin collectors of yore was something they found in change. They got themselves albums; they starting filling holes. At some point, whether filling one album or a series of such display formats, they evolved: they began upgrading and in so doing specialized, limiting their collecting to a single type of coin, or a series. Today, of course, collectors have choices. The pickings in change may seem limited, but it has not deterred the determined collector from attempting to complete a series based on what they can find, either in change or on the internet. [A childhood friend of mine acquired a 1795 scrawny eagle in the 1960's from Stack's (for no particular reason I can recall, and moved on to other pursuits.) There are collectors of Proof Sets, and little else. [If asked, I would volunteer I have not acquired a stone coin from Yap due to "practical considerations," but the truth is with my luck I'd get mugged rolling it home from the subway, so why bother? The above excerpt from member @Sandon is as good a distillation of sage, time-tested advice one collector or investor can give another which exemplifies the spirit of congenial coin collecting.

🐓 : Pick and choose. Q.A.: How so? 🐓: Provision 2 of the rules as promulgated by @Lem E is: "Made from a nickel alloy." Q.A.: So why do you suppose he allowed it? 🐓: Two reasons readily come to mind: 1. The novelty of a "nickel" featuring a prominent member's name on it, on one side... Q.A.: And 2? 🐓: The prominent nose of the Indian on the other.

Yes, there's nothing like a little dishonest commercial wear to put a damper on a collector's day.

I have taken a little literary license here. I do not know the name of the formal term used.

[🐓: Where's that guy who said Roger isn't a collector? Q.A.: Come to think of it, yeah?... Very rugged and plenty of character; I love the exploding stars!]

🐓: Big noses? Q.A.: Self-esteem, Ricky. Ah, you wouldn't know...

Good example of an attribution----that became an attribute. [If OH is watching, "how ya like my wordsmithing skills now?"] Man I love this place.