Henri Charriere

Your voice is missed on this Forum. I am doing just fine; I found all the Roosters I was looking for. Haven't seen your stapler; I'll put out an APB for them straightaway. Good to hear from you!

Q.A.: You give up too easily! C'mon back. All is forgiven.

I believe you are eminently qualified!

Very nice buff', Buff' !

[Q.A.: What're you doing? 🐓 : Grading them. Q.A. Put that lens down, silly wabbit! 🐓: Rooster! Q.A.: Whatever, sheesh!] Welcome, er, back, @Modwriter!

Astute readers may have caught the item, in a recent issue of CoinWeek, regarding the submission of the above coin. Here's the back story, [as I imagine it to be]... Some 222 years after the fact, a collector of culls comes across the above coin in a battered old box in a non-descript coin shop, posts it on a thread, and gets ready for the onslaught: "It's holed!" "It's in deplorable condition!" "Yo, bro, you paid $2.00 for this?" "Submit it, FOR WHAT?" "Body bag city!" "Waste of time and money!"... and so on. Against all odds and contrary to prevailing expert numismatic advice, our intrepid cull-combing collector crosses his fingers and submits it quietly with his remittance... and waits. VERDICT: Authenticated and Certified! -newly-discovered variety! -previously unknown die-marriage; 12th known in series! -first new die-marriage in almost 30 years! -only unique coin by die-marriage within the entire Bust Half Dime series! "Logan McCloskey-5 (LM-5) with Obverse 3; Reverse C!" There's even a punch-line here: the coin "surpasses in rarity [all four other Logan-McCloskeys]" including the: "1801 LM-1 (five known, most with problems)" (Emphasis mine.] Quite frankly, after viewing the photos accompanying the article, I cannot envision any coin with more problems than this one. What's your take? [If someone can provide a link to the article published Oct. 13, 2022, it would be greatly appreciated.] [Edit: Member @Lem E was kind enough to provide a link, in the following post. Go take a quick look-see and judge for yourself. Be honest, gentle reader! Knowing what little you know about this series, would you have submitted it?]

Q.A.: Looks newly-minted! 🐓: It is, Q. (Q wouldn't know because he sent his remittance in late.) Very lovely Morgan!

["...rather be right than nice." Yup, got a long memory!]

How so? There are trophy buildings, like New York's Plaza Hotel (now gone condo) and trophy coins, like the '33. They transcend the hobby and garden-variety collectibles, no? I see them as long-term investments, separate and apart from collectibles subject to the whims of the marketplace. The only way trophies falter is if they stagnate----no downside---- and fail to deliver any "return" on investment.

Only a limited cohort of collectors would be able to advise you on a problem like this. Those who live in the United States presumably submit their coins to NGC here. Those who, like you, live abroad, would submit their coins to NGC's European office. Each would know the turn-around times of their respective submission sites. I don't know that anyone can advise how to expedite the process, absent exigent circumstances. I am truly sorry to hear about your dilemma. Hopefully, a member reading this will be able to offer some helpful advice.

XYZ TPGS: I see here where it says you've been grading for 3 years... tell me, Irene, where do you stand on grading Proofs? IRENE: No opinion. XYZ: Good, good. BTW, any relation to the LANGBORDS of Pennsylvania? IRENE: Pennsylvania? Ten Saints? 1933? Double Eagles? Safe-deposit box? Back about 20 years? XYZ: Yes! IRENE: No, no relation. XYZ: Welcome to XYZ! WATCH OUT!

"....'do' club medals." I tell ya, I'd be lyin' if I said I haven't gotten a big kick out of your comments. One of the inherent occupational hazards of being a grader is getting a submission with your name all over it. Would a regrade be a tacit admission the submitter was right? And the grader called it wrong? Can one expect an honest "second" opinion from he who rendered the first? Off-tangent, but you might know: are there any graders of the female persuasion, or is the profession all-male? Anyone?

To borrow an expression you've used, that would seem to be a bit, "ungrateful." .

It just seems every time I turn around, there is yet another auction, and yet another top price realized at auction. I was curious to know whether Asian money has been parked to any noticeable extent in collectibles, generally, and Saints, specifically. It was noted many years ago that 50% or more of commercial real estate in New York City is owned/managed by Asians.

To all fellow members, uncertified lurkers (and registered ignorers who are within the sound of my voice): I have received an explanation from Top Management I am inclined to accept and apologize for my premature and intemperate post. What Dena suggested I may have done, was in fact, exactly what I did do. NGC is entirely blameless. [My old boss from 40 years ago was right. He said, "Get the Facts First!"] Does that solve the problem? Truthfully, No! I am on an obsolete android (whatever that is) and the proposed remedy is for computers. No matter. I have the rest of my life to figure this out. Special note to @Mr_Spud: For simply acknowledging my plight with an emoji, you ought to be permitted to go to Orlando!

[I only regret my application to assume my real calling in life: benevolent, charitable philanthropist (No, not filanderer!) was rejected on the merits----I simply do not have the capital now, and it is increasingly doubtful I will be able to accumulate any before I am unexpectedly summoned to the Upper Room. How so? Well, it appears we have all made mistakes in our personal approaches to practicing numismatry. [Yes, I made that term up.] My plan would have been to set up a foundation, and acting like the High Court, consider applications for grants to help collectors out with errors in judgment any one of us could have made, and have made. Let it never be said ol' Q.A.'s heart ❤️ was not in the right place.]

If there is a more cringe-worthy, evidently after-the-fact question any member can ask another on this Forum, it's a query regarding the edge... Bear in mind, the OP has already acquired the coin from an unresponsive source from a region boasting a history going back millennia. In view of other comments made, this is: too little, too late. IMHO.

🐓: Yes, it's called a fee.

🐓: Are you going to tell him, or should I? Q.A.: How old is it? 🐓: The last reply: two years; the thread, ten. Q.A.: He just got back. Everybody's happy to see him. He's just adding to the conversation. Let it ride!

🐓: I've finished my investigation, Q. Q.A.: And your findings? 🐓: The OP appeared one day, fifteen (15) years ago, and promptly flew the coop. The very same day! Q.A.: And the conversation on this thread has never ceased? 🐓: But for the occasional intermittent flare-ups, No. Q.A.: I tell you this thread's, got legs. . . 🏃‍♂️

Frankly, I liked your '33 double eagle better. [How does it feel to own the second finest known example?] I don't know if this Forum is a factory for refining skills or what. What is it about this coin that would make you question the judgment of professionals at a major auction? Where is the Certificate of Authenticity that accompanied this acquisition? Why aren't you satisfied with that? Where did you get this from? From whom did you buy this? What representations were made to you----character, reputation----at POS to instill enough confidence in you to proceed with this purchase?

As JB would say, it's too early in the morning for this. It sure ain' Philly. 😉

Special member greeting: 🐓: I told you he'd be back! Pigeons always come back! Q.A.: LOVELY INDIAN! WELCOME BACK!

Really NGC Chat Boards? For some time now, as regular lurkers well know, I have been publicly lamenting the fact that my notifications have been disengaged. Did I really believe that? 🤔 How could I prove it? I couldn't. COMES NOW QUINTUS ARRIUS, following unremarkable prompts: Sign in!... which I proceed to do when, suddenly, in a spasm that can only occur in a time warp, I am confronted with the above "notification" which elicits a series of unsettling thoughts... But wait, wasn't I on the Forum only an hour ago? Thanks, NGC. You've only confirmed my basest suspicions. Thanks a lot!

There is a simple explanation for that----there weren't any... at least not by Henning. My error, my apologies to you, @Hoghead515 and@The Neophyte NumismatistThe year "1953" stuck in my mind, but Hog's post refreshed my [skewed] recollection. Apparently, Henning produced "several hundred thousand and perhaps as many as a half million coins (dimes, quarters and half dollars)----bearing dates 1939, 1944, 1946, 1947 and 1953." So detailed was the account provided by the author of "The Strange Story of the Henning Counterfeit Nickels," (2020) that he ended it with the advisory: "Note: All my coins are in a safe deposit box. I keep nothing in my home." I apologize for the confusion.