Henri Charriere

@GoldFinger1969: It is a modern, Federally-subsidized building for senior citizens which was advertised only once in a free local paper, and never again. I grabbed my wife and reminded her there were 60,000 homeless people in the city. We picked up an application, filled it out, mailed it immediately and later received a very low number. I told my wife the really sad thing about this is vacancies develop only when previous tenants expire. A certified skeeter in the seedier parts of town offered, with a straight face, to help speed up the process. I politely declined his invitation.

Funny, I stopped dropping by when it finally dawned on me all they want to do over there is talk about coins. 🐓

Laugh if you want, but I discovered the best investment vehicle for my wife. Something safe and uncomplicated. No not U.S.S.B., but U.S.P.S.M.O.s. They never go up. They never go down. (They don't even go sideways.) And best of all, whomever holds them,, owns them. The majority of intelligent investors eschew them: they don't earn interest. As stated before elsewhere on another thread, money you don't spend, is money you save. Nobody would have criticized a former crypto holder for simply setting money aside. The lack of dividends don't interest me. We have no bad habits. None. We're seniors, we ride the subways half-fare, get exercise walking and the postal money orders never expire. Roosters and paper; that's me to a T. That flies in the face of 99% of the investment/collector strategies pursued by members on this Forum. That's okay. I don't own a car, a plane or bike. My rent is $220., in Manhattan. I believe our joint income (rounded to make it easier to remember) is $999.99. I don't even need that. I "dine" at church soup kitchens and take my wife everywhere she wants to go. I do have health issues but so do the rest of us. I hope the heavy artillery our hosts sent to my door remember to come back and remove the duct tape. It's embarrassing enough to go check out Stack's. Properly dressed. I'd rather walk in without being cuffed to.my wife like a normal human being.

@ Sandon: Very helpful and considerate of you to post your fine example! This gives the OP and viewers like me a good idea of what a copper cent is supposed to look like at its best!

[I know that but when the doorbell rang, I opened it and next thing I know two guys duct-taped my hands behind my back and ordered me to give the Forum a rest.]

Where did you say your bank was?

F Y I: Among the comments made in a recent (July 20, 2022) article published by P---, entitled: "Why Did the U.S. Mint Stop Making the Half-Cent?" by Joshua McMorrow-Hernandez, appear the following: "...those that are problem-free with original surfaces are highly desirable. Most trade for about $50. and up in grades of [P---] G-4 and are usually collected as components of type sets." Irrespective of condition, locating one with a metal detector, anywhere, is quite a feat you can be rightly proud of. [I do not recall ever having seen one.]

No, those newfangled, quite often mangled, cents.

[Buried deep in one of your gazillion comments--which apparently made you top dog on the Leader Board recently--was a reference to Arab.]

[I forget the S.Ct. justice involved (Anthony Lewis caught the off-hand remark) but he said, in substance... "This is the United States Supreme Court. We do not submit to interviews, appear at press conferences or as guests on television talk shows. We issue OPINIONS." (emphasis mine.)]

No, no... my wrist was slapped. Most people I know don't like -footing around. As they say in Noo Yawk: "GIVVITAMEESTRAIGHT."

Breaking News! This is B.S. "Beyond Sheldon" and "Beyond Salvage." Unsalvageable! I don't even collect this series, but if you hand me a copper coin that's been underground for over a hundred years, I am not going to suggest there is a new and improved cure that will magically restore it to "AU - Details," at best. My suggestion is rinse it off, allow it to dry and either put it in a paper flip and place it in a drawer or give it a decent re-burial. Anyone suggesting anything else is being mean-spirited, flippant, and unhelpful (as it relates to the condition exhibited by this coin).

[1955... 96 years old?... My wife lied to me! Now I want my old job back!]

From my vantage point, sitting in the financial, publishing and entertainment center of the world, 5,000+ businesses have gone under, seemingly 90% of all bookstores have folded and of the four newspapers published daily, it appears to me the only reading being done is by older people who read books. Everyone appears to have been ensnared by social media platforms on their latest cellphones. Books are no longer being photocipied; they are being digitized. Coin collecting? Is anyone aware at least six banks have introduced "kiddie plastic" to promote managing their teenage's (and in many cases) sub-teenage"s money "responsibly." One young lad racked up $16,000 on "his" debit card playing a video game.

Ha! Ha! Ha! It's true! It's true!

You've probably heard of Bishop Whitehead who was robbed Sunday of $1M in high-end jewelry he routinely wears while delivering a sermon in a Bklyn church--that was being live-streamed. It later developed he had swindled a parishioner out of her life's savings years earlier. Oh, and he drives a Rolls-Royce. You can see that with your eyes. Crypto, I don't know. So all that money is gone and what do some presumably intelligent people who "invest" their money after asking all the right questions, say now? Guess I'll have to go back to work. At age 78? Sad.

The latest... "DEATH OF A CRYPTO COMPANY" "The downfall of Celsius Network tells the story of an industry that became the thing it was trying to reject." (July 25, 2022) This was a podcast one could access (for me by simply pushing a button) but having encountered people who were similarly defrauded, I chose to pass. I believe the losses involved $20 billion. There have been other spectacular crypto failures but they were always announced in muted fashion. I don't revel in other people's misfortunes. My condolences to those whose stories, for obvious reasons, will never be known.

[Can't find my loupe. Should distinguished veteran member @DWLange choose to render an opinion, I will concur, by default.]

Agreed, for coins, but now I need it for well-tarnished spoons. (My wife's of no use; she said there's nothing there. But there is.) I'LL BE BAHCK!

Now the heavenly bodies surrounding it look like it's being stopped for a traffic check. The only thought now is without the "scrape" and having been previously deemed "wear-free," what is the best grade anyone could have hoped for? The laceration in and of itself was most unfortunate.

[I feel emasculated without my trusty, vintage, forbidden 30x loupe.]

[I think we ought to refer to one as satinized, and the other as satanized. Skeptics, or sticklers for formal terminology may prefer to refer to either as sanitized. Sandblast carries with it the suggestion of damage.]

I never would have guessed!

Not sure what your question is as prolonged exposure to environmental damage has effectively precluded the necessity for protection encapsulation provides. And if the date were discernable, the next question would be, How much is it worth? If a CoinStar or similar device used to redeem coins, rejects it, you'll have your answer. Caution: some members can be unnecessarily abrupt when reviewing other collectors' coins dismissing them outright using one-word epithets. There is no call for that, but don't take it personally. I attribute it to fatigue brought on by the continual, seemingly never-ending exposure to artifacts posted by starry-eyed collectors who truly believe they have something rare, unusual or valuable. The genuine collectors pick and choose with care and assemble collections within their ability. Don't give up!

That's a cold shot! The gentleman's User Name, "diploma," ought to count for something...