Henri Charriere

@VKurtB: Absolutely not true! The "Rooster Roster" 🐓 is still #1. What do you think I had been doing for well nigh two years? All my spies were well-positioned. All the gathering of information and developing leads were for naught. I resorted to underhanded bribery! Customs seized a parcel and held it for ransom. Our Conder101, citing chapter and verse, helpfully advised me what they did was flat out wrong! But what could I do?: FedEx, acting on behest of CBP, said pay up, or the fancy collectibles go back. They were right here at EWR! I could hear their raucous crowing! What would you do? I paid the ransom. What enquiring minds want to know is: How did you know I could not compile an otherwise unremarkable 16-coin set in 90 days? Money was no object. How does someone with practically no knowledge of an obscure series nevertheless know it could not be done? ["Funny how? Like I am a clown here to amuse you?"] HOW DID YOU KNOW? And now when all is said and done, you infer I didn't do everything humanly possible? I upgraded as far as I could, kept my feelers out--and nothing! And, not to rub it in, but what about that promising lead (business card) you said you had for me from the time before the last time you went to Rosemont? Pffft! If, as you claim, there is something out there AVAILABLE AND ACCESSIBLE, it would have been in my hands yesterday. 😉

It's the thought that counts and I appreciate the gesture!

To the OP, and membership, I do know how to hold a coin properly. That's got to count for something. I have good reason to believe the consensus among the heavyweights on this Forum is Quintus Arrius doesn't know a lick about coins, and justifiably so. I do not own a single Red Book. I have a vague notion as to what grading is. I am still undecided about fluorescents vs. incancandescents. A highly-respected member politely suggested I have no real understanding of what certification figures and population counts signify (and probably never will). And the most unconscionable sin I ever committed was not buying coins from places overseas I never heard of sight-unseen, but worse: solely on the strength of the certified grade allegedly assigned it. I daresay nobody, certainly not a full-fledged numismatist, or even a lurker, has ever done that! But I have the coins--and the paperwork substantiating my incredible claim. The damage is done, I'm all worn out. And my wife never not once asked me, What exactly are you doing? I have successfully deluded myself into believing I never once made a mistake. I'm retired. Man, I love this place! And as Henny "take my wife, please" Youngman said, "I LOVE THIS CROWD!" 😉

@GoldFinger1969Greetings! All this time I thought you had no idea who the OP was--my recollection was you said, "Who's NS&G? To which I responded, "There's been a hullabaloo on this Forum concerning this member, who unabashedly took on all comers, for a week no less, and you didn't even know he was here and now he's gone!--and it turns out you did have contact! I was ostracized for simply saying the guy was harmless. No need to reiterate. It's all here. I alienated everybody. EVERYBODY. In my mind, RR2020 was my downfall. I had all but forgotten this gentleman. Later, I am going to come back and re-live the good old days! I trust all is well with you.

I believe expressing the closing comment got me banned once. If I were a Moderator, I would have done the same.

@Jason Abshier: Retread guy here, reviewing your old post. I should like to reiterate (as I have spoken up on this before) I cannot speak on World coins, even generally but, the ONLY reason why the majority of French 20-franc gold rooster set registrants' collections end abruptly at NGC--and you need not take my word for it, you can see this for yourself--is because PCGS appeared to have a lock on the earlier "originals," i.e., 1899-1906, while NGC appeared.to have a lock on the later "restrikes," i.e., 1907-1914. I do not know if this continues to be true. [To the eternal joy of my many detractors (all of whom covertly but avidly follow my musings) I suffered a fall, and am now retired, soon to be among those members active members shall one day inquire, "I wonder whatever happened to Q.A?"] The term I use, here, "short set," is made up. I simply have an incomplete set. The use of the name "Herostratus Hoard," is preposterous. @zadok accurately researched the name, discovered a few facts, and while he didn't come right out say it, correctly deduced it could not possibly have anything to do with gold Roosters. A well-respected member and numismatist who embellished his post recently elsewhere with a glossary of "numismatic terms" commonly used, inadvertently and unintentionally drove the point home that my use of the term, "hoard," was improper. I accept it. I own up to it. I only want to clear the air. Anyone inclined to find out who Quintus Arrius really was need only peck out "Ramming Speed!" on his keyboard which will take him to a YouTube video snippet from the 1959 film Ben-Hur, starring a young Charlton Heston as a galley slave, an hortator steadily thumping on a drum, and Jack [I forget his last name] calmly giving orders. That's Quintus Arrius. Absolutely none of this has anything to do with French 20-franc gold roosters. I believe my ranking here is within the Tp Ten, and last I heard, #1 "over there." A gentleman here was kind enough to post a link to it, and I was gratified with the response. @VKurtB whom we all love and respect, allowed that any collection that can be compiled in just 90 days was [questionable.] He evidently sensed something I didn't and it took me 18 months to find that out. In the end, it turns out I am not a collector, a numismatist, or even a hoarder. Just an ordinary person suddenly seized with the inexplicable, irresistible impulse to assemble as good a collection of gold Rooster as humanly possible. Aside: I cannot prove it, the venerable @RWB insists on solid replicable, empirical facts but at least two collectors here were forced to buy their wares, in part, "over there" because that was the only option in the face of grinding unavailability. I know this because at one time I was monitoring population reports assiduously. Great hobby! Great membership! 🐓

@ShinyObjects: I have just one 5-oz. Your accumulation is the largest I have ever seen in one place at one time.

I believe it safe to say, at this juncture, that you have "acquired immunity" to post here, at will. Your thread is lively, refreshingly different from the customary fare and very entertaining. A few members have been accorded "unconditional immunity." Some have it, and aren't even aware of it. While it is doubtful I will ever earn that honor, I do thank our hosts for having me. You've managed to make common coinage interesting--a remarkable feat in and of itself!

To an extent, eBay may be considered an auction site. And I readily concede, owing to the quality of the photograph of the coin put up for bid amid inflexible time constraints, you're either in or out. I obtained a gold 🐓 before I knew anything about them convinced it would grade MS68, then a grade never attained by any TPGS until then. A photograph wouldn't do it justice. Not even my illegal 30-power loupe (which I am sill unable to find) disclosed no PMD of any kind, with complete original mint luster. Tremendous eye appeal! I rushed it off to P---. My long-awaited result: MS64+. Instead of feeling disappointed, I examined it carefully with similarly graded coins to learn from experience. I keep it handy and look at it occasionally. It would most assuredly sit at the pinnacle of my registry set, but its grade automatically disqualifies it from inclusion. It has become on of those enduring mysteries all coin collectors have experienced at one time or another.

Melting. MELTING? You are neither a collector nor hoarder. You are a scrap dealer. No Roosters for you, my friend!

Drat, cataracts. Curses!

The one thing that sticks out in my mind, re: coin width, was the time a Connecticut commuter inadvertently used a CT turnpike token in a NYC subway turnstile at Grand Central Station, and found much to his astonishment, that it worked! There was a great brouhaha about it. The disparity in price was enormous. They had to reconfigure the turnstiles, primarily at G.C., to reject them. There was a tremendous run on turnpike tokens. Someone was arrested and another commuter came to his defense producing a 10-pack of subway tokens in! an official MTA plastic sleeve--with one CT turnpike within it. I am sure it's on Google somewhere, going back about 35 or more years ago. Anyway, the width of a gold Rooster is officially 22 mm. (but actually 22.1 mm) or something like that. Between a dime and nickel. I joke about my wife a lot, but with my loss of mobility, I am considering things I never thought of before. As a matter of fact, every time I see this topic heading pop up, it makes me feel uncomfortable. Tomorrow, thanks to @Woods020 I am going to sit down and get a basic life insurance policy. For me. I can subsist on my fixed income, but I need to get my wife a parachute. This is the first time a seemingly innocent topic/post/thread got me to stop what I was doing and look ahead. It's uncomfortable to dwell on, but it's real and must be dealt with. I am going to get that policy, make a copy, and send the original to the one financially savvy sister who, with the others, looked out for her for her entire life. They know the task I assumed when I married her was daunting and they have all been nothing but 100% supportive. 🐓

Man I love this place. Thanks for the tributes, guys!

Just caught this now! Maybe I ought to hand them off to you and make my problem yours? . . .

@GoldFinger1969: Again, with the OP's indulgence... Fine, now how do I explain that to a French-speaking woman with the mind of a child. As it stands, my wife is going to insist she should be able to feed them into a Laundry machine and the Chinese owner who understands very little English will insist otherwise. [Unless, of course, he decides to volunteer to exchange each gold Rooster for four (4) quarters. Hmm.]

Something caught my ever-roving eye. I would appreciate it immensely if we all agree to agree where gold, a precious metal is concerned, Troy weight and not Avoirdupois weight is used. As a practical matter, that would mean those 1804.59 oz. weigh a bit over 150 pounds. [If it were copper, that would be an entirely different matter.] The last time I brought this up, I was put before a firing squad. I don't want to have to go through all that again, particularly when my Guardian Angel at NGC intervened and resurrected me. Where do the numismatists on the Forum, with a purported 150 years' of professional experience stand on this? Briefly, 12 oz vs. 16 oz. 🐓

I, for one, ain't buyin' it. Me thinks you weren't even born then. Nice try though!

@tigerbait Or @tj96 I cannot remember which of you gentlemen asked me for a photo of a French 20-franc gold rooster. May I kindly direct your attention to @Cat Bath's superb coin posted above, in this thread, on May 20.

Not to mention serial numbers are checked before any watch, men's or lady's, is serviced. That is a fact. Unless, of course, they are spirited out of the country. I would guess any "fence" involved would offer them a fraction of their total worth due to the heat of publicity and those pesky serial numbers. If the coins were slabbed, that's an additional hurdle. Then again, the $500,000 art heist at the Gardner Museum in 1990, to my knowledge, remains unsolved.

You will be delighted to learn that due to a lawsuit filed on behalf of two New Yorkers, the U.S. Supreme Court declared illegal a law dating back to 1909 requiring applicants for carry-permits provide proof of need in support of their request. The NYPD declared anyone who had previously applied, and been denied a carry-permit, may reapply and the fee would be waived. "Start spreading the news," as Sinatra once crooned. [I can't wait to see a guy pull out a gun on the subway and bark: Turn the volume down on that rap , or I'll let you have it!"] I love New York and I love this Forum!

It's too bad it's unlawful and illegal to mention the user names of the members whose opinion you really respect. One such fellow, went thru all the trouble of disengaging the "ignore" option, hastily said what he had to say, and promptly re-engaged the ignore! I gave him an E for effort. On another unrelated forum you are not permitted to make a comment and then disable comments. I don't care. He only confirmed what I already suspected. He, and a few others, are my biggest fans. Your coin roster is out of this world. I seriously doubt any numismatist, spotting the tell-tale darker shading on Jefferson's shoulder doesn't know it's a war-time nickel. I don't know from "rare" but these 35% silver content nickels are uncommon.

That's a cold shot! True, but a cold shot, nevertheless. The theft will be solved, no doubt about it, but the Great z is probably right. Disclosing the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, would expose vulnerabilities which would be against interest. This has not been broached before, to my knowledge, but this is beginning to sound more and more like an "inside job." There are simply to many things you would have to know to pull off something Iike this. And the most telling clue is the lack of time available to test-drive a scenario. Now we learn the public wasn't even in attendance yet! Cats are very observant. I believe "Penny" saw something, but she can't say something. Besides, how do you interview, interrogate and cross-examine a cat?

With all due respect, I am going to stand my ground on this one. NOBODY WAS HELD UP! All the guns and artillery shells are superfluous against a criminal act carried out in stealth. The theft was discovered after the fact. I harbor not a doubt it will be solved. Unless, of course, the guy we all know and love insists on a quid pro quo: "Yes I took all the picture ID'S. But what's in it for me? Free lifetime attendance privileges?" I just couldn't help myself. And before I scurry off, a hearty hello to @Hoghead515

Books? Books, books, books... Oh, BOOKS! I remember those! I had quite a few once. In fact I had worked at bookstores. No E-books for me. I like the real thing their texture, scent and use of different fonts. Many years ago, my mother, hearing I was going to hear Dr. Spock speak, gave me a book to have him sign. Something about baby care. He took the book and commented it looked barely read. I was 17. I told him this was my mother's third copy. The others, all paperbacks were dog-eared and the bindings had fallen apart. He smiled, asked me her name and signed it with a date, personal message and a great flourish. What would the owner of an E-book do? No comparison.

@80s Kid: I'll be the first to admit it. I cheated! Using my thumb and forefinger I enlarged the one coin, raw, which cannot be seen. Holy cow! And you make no mention of it at all as though it were found in a parking lot. You are a contender, my friend! Everything else, nice, as they all are, took a back seat to that Lincoln Cent whose date I dare not mention! Congratulations!