Henri Charriere

[Penny-Wise and Pound-Foolish are related in some way.]

Not to wax nostalgic, but I pine for the good old days when both men, distinguished in their own right, would have been invited to the White House to hash out their differences over a mug of iced brew. Unsolicited and wholly gratuitous editorial comment: Lots of violations of the Guidelines evident in this thread. I missed my calling in life. I should have been a guest moderator.

And I believe we should all be able to post an opinion without being personally attacked.

The thread has performed its primary function: it has [tentatively] cleared the air of matters which needed to be said. Now everyone knows where Roger and everyone else stands on the most pressing issues of the day. I'll go get the cat litter.

[Is there anything worse than walking into a room and it suddenly dawns on you that the reason you were totally unaware anything of moment had transpired is because you had been officially disinvited from the party and were on forced furlough? (Then again, on reflection, had I participated in these discussions, I likely would have been banned. I cannot live with the Forum; I cannot live without it.)] Only three things stick out, to me, in this ongoing drama, and none were broached: 1- whether you want to or not, it's adviseable, nay mandatory, you keep a score card illustrating who's on good terms with whom--and precisely where you stand amongst the myriad alliances made with respect to all combatants; 2- forget all the missing Saint hoards and concentrate on the make or break stuff, like remembering Roger dislikes cats; 3- do not provoke VKurtB into proving my opinion that he enjoys unconditional immunity on the Forum is a monumental, gross error in judgment.

The laser-like detail on that 2020, obverse and reverse, is astonishing! I am going to guess the grade: MS-71+ conservatively speaking. ❤️

BUY-SELL-TRADE COINS & CURRENCY. No, I am not going to be able to make it, but how 'bout you? 1,000+ dealers; lots of coins. End of the month. Even Halloween "Kids Korner Trick or Treating."

❤️

@VKurtB : Whether CoinTalk, as many have alleged, is truly a scam remains to be determined. In the meantime, you have two things going for you much to the consternation of some members... a way with words, and an undisputed grant of unconditional immunity to use them judiciously that makes the president's pardon powers seem tame by comparison.

@Sandon: As long as you've posted the 1850, for comparison purposes, interested members should try to Guess the Grade. Unless this series is graded differently, I am going to stick my neck out and award it a very respectable MS-67 though I see no evidence of any flaws warranting demerits.

Looks like your "hook" served its intended purpose. In all fairness, the OP requested an opinion on his coin, and got one. Two actually. As regarding your artificially enhanced coin, I cannot for the life of me understand why anyone would try to enhance a "coin with no wear's" appearance. I take it nothing can be done to reverse that "damage." Maybe we should dub it a "contemporary counterfeit" and assess its FMV at $2,000. I may be out of my league here but I like that coin. If the old stand-bys, acetone and vinegar baths are out of the question, how about a spritz of WD-40? I fail to understand why psychedelic toning is okay but artificial coloring is not.

@rrantique: Fact: This appears to be a very lovely proof ultra cameo Franklin half dollar with a purposeful die crack. That being the case, and wishing to avoid any emoji dedicated to water closets, I am going to defer to your friend and mine, member @erroristthe "proof die crack" resident expert for an appropriate assessment.

I would refer to it as as "the Mexican one real, unreal seven variety."

I am sorry to hear that. If I hadn't fallen at home, I never would have been taken to the hospital and routine testing would never have disclosed my wife and I had been exposed to it. We were both asymptomatic. Today, I saw an orthopedist. He suggested I ditch the two-wheeled walker, and upgrade to a nice four-wheeled model, with a seat atop a storage compartment--and brakes. Then, he gave me the Good News: in a pleasant, cordial manner, using an unintelligible and impenetrable medical dialect, he referred to my x-rays to explain why I will never walk again [unaided by a walker.] I am going to be spending a lot of time on CT with a view toward confirming the assertions heretofore made the past [almost] two years , or refuting them, out of hand. I will keep an open mind. [Note to the Moderators: I am not defecting; I am not a traitor. I am simply checking out some 381 allegations. That takes time.]

It's been two years since I even thought about HiBid until someone brought it up last week and upon investigation I am sorry to say my opinion of it remains unchanged. Numismatists have a love of the hobby. What I saw depicted there was akin to someone turning to an assistant with no knowledge (or love of coins, bars, etc.) saying, Here, get what you can for these. Translation: Here, get rid of this! Truly sad.

[This is the kind of inattention to detail that gives counterfeiters, some of whom are master craftsman, a bad name. The individual responsible for this inartistic mess should concede he simply doesn't have what it takes, and rely on the beggar's approach made popular by J. Wellington Wimpy: "I'll gladly pay you Tuesday, for a hamburger today."]

@edteach : Not a minute after you arrived this past Monday, at 4:24 p.m., you posted your allegation without providing any substantive evidence. You were gone a minute later and haven't been back since. What gives? Who's zoomin' who? Enquiring minds want to know!

Coins thrown into public fountains in the City of New York are illegal to retrieve except by those on the Parks Department payroll tasked to remove them. I tell you there is something sinister here. I live in El Barrio. It is arguably a high-crime area. I'm up on the second floor. I leave my door unlocked. What me worry? But I cite an area comprised of two counties 125 miles long and all hell breaks loose. Gold roosters vs degraded coins, with an occasional War nickel thrown into the mix. Where is the perceived threat? You kiddin' me? "Funny how? Like I'm a clown here to amuse you? What the ---- is so funny about me?" There's more to this...

Welcome to the Forum! I have always felt "scam" was incorrectly used by the OP of this column. Not a single member here, or ex-member there, has ever stepped forward to claim he had been gotten by a CT scamster. It costs nothing to join. [Why a rudimentary background check of yours truly failed to reveal I was a fugitive from NGC, wanted neither dead or alive, is a complete mystery to me.] But this only begs the questions who's buying, who's selling? Who's pitching, who's catching? Where is the scam? Nothing ventured, nothing gained. You weren't denied the privilege of joining; you weren't even denied the privilege of disembarking? There are a few headstrong members here who were honored with a disinvitation or disfellowship, but that's the extent of it. [One member here, who LIKES! me, cordially suggested if I had something to say non-numismatically, to do it elsewhere at my own expense.] No, not MF or OH. I have many doctors' appointments this week. I give every member within the sound of my voice my sacred oath that, one way or the other, I will get to the bottom of this. 🐓

@Coinbuf: Your 1883, if memory serves, was the year gold-platers practiced their art. The picture is vintage, absolutely up to par, and the coin is deserving of a high grade reflecting evidence of original mint luster. I love the way the A and M in AMERICA have joined hands.

[Two unrelated tidbits... One, the Royal Mint waited a respectable interval before announcing the effigy of King Charles III would soon be gracing coins and currency in due course, and Two, I believe the Perth Mint has already minted a very limited run of King Tut in gold bullion coins in observance of the 100th century of the discovery of his tomb. (I will observe the occasion by watching Steve Martin's rendition as performed on an old Saturday Night Live clip now on YouTube.)]

[I could laugh this off and quote "Tommy" (Joe Pesci) in "Goodfellas," in substance... "You embarrass me i/f/o my friends... and you don't think you're being out of order? You know 'Sonny,' you're a real ---- ." I thought the O.E.D., and every other authoritative source was on my side, but noooooooo, my nemesis, the Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary, one of those references I obliquely referred to as being among those which cite "enough current usage," so as to make the alternative spelling acceptable, pulls the rug right out from under me re-injuring my bad leg. To add insult to injury, (Ricky [ 🐓 ] advised me against running the topic, and it turns out the Rooster was right!) Curses!]

Seriously, for some time now, Asians have been buying up some of the choicest real state and properties in New York City. There are four Chinatowns. Flushing in Queens has a prominent Chinese presence. Their public library, one of the largest in the Queens system and rebuilt to accommodate demand is huuuge! But their presence is undeniable in numismatics and most noticeably in auctions like those conducted by Heritage. Where did all these consignments come from? Who went and bought them? Who sold them? How many mints do they have? Does each province have their own? If counterfeiting is as bad as we have been led to believe, how come not a reputable dealer here has issued a statement saying, "We do not accept consignments from the following countries [led by Red China]"? 🤔

Like it or not, a great deal can be said about a writer who misspells words on these threads. I am not talking about the occasional typo; we all absent-mindedly commit that error. Recently, a family member called me out on "venting." But a cursory check revealed it to be a valid word. A prominent member here called me out on my use of "worser," but Shakespeare (of which there are a dozen or more different spellings of his name) absolved me. Agreement of verb and tense is an entirely different matter; few have mastered the King's English and I regret to say language as spoken and expressed by the upcoming generation is clearly lacking. This is compounded by the fact that standard dictionaries report usage and meanings of words as currently used and no longer as intended. I was taken aback when I learned the popular old song, "Yankee Doodle Dandy" was actually used by the British derogatorily to insult and ridicule Americans. That aspect has been lost to history. But I digress. The words I wish to single out are "affect" vs. "effect," "walla!" ("voila!") "fluorescent" and "collectible." There are some who resort to "enuf," and I use "nite" and "lite. Much in the manner a New York paper refers to a borough president, as "beep." It may interest members to know the reason why a paper of record dispensed with the use of periods in acronyms, such as, FBI and CIA, was purely economical. Space costs money. I seriously doubt you will find "laser," which stands for light amplification by simulated emission of radiation, or L.A.S.E.R., in common usage. The New York City Housing Authority, is always refererred to as Nycha. By extension, I may not use "sawbook" to refer to a ten-dollar bill because z says so. I am sure our members will refer to hundred-dollar bills, as such, and not C-notes, or Benjamins. Rather than confront a member directly over what clearly is not an inadvertent typo, or dashing off a PM which would be poor form and do little to enlighten the membership, I suggest a brief mention utilizing this dedicated space. And if you wish to showcase your five-cent pieces, by all means do so, but bear in mind they're "nickels," not nickles! 🤔

There are a few all of whom the Guidelines prohibit me from mentioning by name... One member roundly denounced my area of interest, early on, as a "niche" corner of the numismatic universe, unworthy of attention. Another, sniffed my coins were mere bullion and never minted for circulation and [accurately] surmised it would be impossible to compile [a low-ball collection] because little or none exist in those grades. The most biting commentary came from a dear friend who should know. He argued how valuable can a compilation be if it could be assembled so rapidly with ease in such a short period of time. The one criticism I have never gotten is the dates reflected on eight [effectively half the series] are factually misleading. They are the so-called "restrikes," which despite being dated 1907 to 1914, were minted in 1921, and the 1950's and 1960's. [Although I have stated publicly I am no longer in the hunt, I am seriously considering acquiring both the 1910 and 1914 French 20-franc gold roosters in MS-67 grade and divesting myself of those graded MS-66 whose dates have been superseded by finer examples.]