Henri Charriere

Here's my take on crypto, something I know next to nothing about... Massive carpet bombing campaigns to stimulate speculator/investor interest... followed by a surge in prices. Precision well-coordinated sell-offs for profit-taking... followed by surgical-strike "buy, Buy, BUY!!!" - Believe the hype campaigns to re-ignite public interest, etc., through the wash, rinse, spin cycles... and repeat. Fair enough. Where do you stand on crypto, and why? Pro, con or indifferent. All comments welcome.

Not trying to retread an "old" thread, but I believe this quandary, this endless equivocating and non-stop speculating was non-existent--and by all means, correct me if I am wrong--before proof coins were being graded. Now we have, "my proof MS-whatever, is better than yours." I am unalterably opposed to anything that fuels the craze for micro-distinctions, but understand the economic incentives at play here. I just choose to allow any circa 1960's Red Book do the talking for me as plainly stated here by at least two distinguished members: the mintage of coins is a process (using specially prepared planchets) and not a grade. Period. Post Mint Damage does not fly in the face of this basic fact. I am glad the OP posed the question, and I am delighted he got crystal-clear responses.

(As one female Mayfly said to her male suitor: "I don't know. I'll think about it and let you know tomorrow." And just like that, all hopes for a chance at courtship was over before it even began. I like your style, Zebo!)

[Just seeing this for the first time. I have to admit, publicly, come what may, that I dislike 👎 these computer-generated fonts and images so much that my thumb instinctively moved to the Trash button on the display to remove this entire desecration from my view failing to realize, much to my horror, that everything was hideously magnified by doing so. Possible die crack? Sorry, but I didn't loiter about long enough to investigate. God's honest truth!]

I would be remiss in my duty as a responsible coin collector if I failed to suggest the specimen in Post Position Nine be hereinafter referred to as the "horseshoe crab, minus tail" variety of unknown vintage and provenance [pending formal authentification and certification]. 😉

Quite the contrary. Some are mesmerized by your gift of oratory. Others, like me, if we are being honest, cannot refute the claims being made, and are intimidated into silence. Great stuff! You've outdone yourself with this command performance!

I think in the world of psychiatry the coin's unnatural look is one that exhibits flat affect. [One would have to observe signs of a wooden gait to render a conclusive diagnosis.] 😉

Now this is an interesting little tidbit. 🤔

[Psst, New Guy... Before you cut and run, that's a helluva moniker you got yourself there. Welcome to the Forum, where congeniality always reigns!]

Unless I am missing something here, these trucks, stenciled U.S. MAIL, look to be little more than open-air, wooden carriages whose flimsy design in the absence of interstate highway systems would make them vulnerable to breakdowns, and worse. The truck that was the target of robbers in 1922 outside the U.S. Mint in Denver looked beefier.

May 27, 1937 (official opening) only 21 days after the Hindenburg crashed. I cannot account for the discrepancy. [Fast (face-saving) edit... Your coin commemorates the opening of the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge; not the Golden Gate.]

No, nowadays colorful descriptors are reduced to discreet acronyms, e.g., FBL = Fat Busted Lip. 😉

With one notable exception (which I assume required special authorization): the introduction of the Kennedy half (1964) which effectively superseded the Franklin half introduced only 16 years earlier (1948).

I see the damage but it is a giant leap of faith to even fathom the possibility that plastic prongs are the culprit where metal is involved.

January 1, 2026, the 250th Anniversary or Sestercentennial of the United States 🇺🇸 and only by an Act of Congress, much in the manner approval was sought and gained for issuance of the centennial Morgan and Peace dollars in 2021.

[Now, to the more pressing matter at hand... In all fairness, TPGS are comprised of different graders at different times. Decades have come and gone and with the passage of time, grading skills and practices have evolved. Graders are human and while many are qualified to be a "Jack of all Coins," each has his own favorite line or area of expertise. Times change, people change and so do their opinions. Only a grader can state unequivocally that "that one was one of mine," graded at a particular TPGS, during a specific interval on a timeline. I do not feel comfortable painting an entire entity with a broad brush when only one, two or three people, ultimately, bore responsibility. Understand, I have never committed the atrocity of compromising the integrity of an encapsulation due to a difference with the opinion rendered thereon. (I am also not going to surrender my 30-power loupe.)] 😉

[Begging to differ, there isn't a lexicographer worthy of the title who would classify spit which hasn't been spat, as spitting. What we have here is a fanciful, protruding tongue--or a suggestion of drooling.]

And that 1957 is what, chopped liver? 🐓 @Lem E Sorry, I pulled the tab on that Pepsi just as you were handing me the 1928. (Good thing it was certified first!) 😉

What's needed are MRI's for coins [and coin experts without hidden agendas].

OBJECTION! Argumentative! One need only take a quick peek at our colleague, seasoned veteran jtryka's latest, quite gorgeous contribution -- preserved for posterity on the "Post your most recent acquisition - US" thread earlier this week, page 682 of 682, 2d post -- to conclude he has provided a substantial, legitimate, substantive claim to his use of a remarkably restrained, tame claim. This coin, my professional brethren and fellow newbies alike, IMHO, captures the very essence of the term "classic" in living color and [minus member Buffalo Head's exquisite photographical skills] has few equals. 🐓

Much obliged; a recurrence is a real possibility.

[A QUESTION FOR VKURTB: How did she pronounce her last name?

E.D. No, not that. Electrolyte Deprived.

[nota bene: view, i before e, except after c...]

@Oldhoopster In point of fact, you're right. I thought I was the target of a drone strike choreographed by Dena, but she is no longer an administrator having since been elevated to a prestigious position--with a title to match. Her legacy endures in a potent phrase: "Be Nice, or Be Gone." (BTW, It warms the cockles of my heart to learn I was sorely missed by you.)