Henri Charriere

[🐓: Me thinks 🤔 this member, having just perused Charmy's dispatch from FUN in the sun, confused herloin with sirloin. For the sake of your lovely journal, the word is "heirloom."] 😉

@B.C Realistically, to effect the scam you must set the bidding price low to whet the appetites of those who don't know better, in the hopes of starting a bidding frenzy. If you set the price at melt, you've shot yourself in the foot. Time will run out on the clock as buyers weigh their options, with some even checking spot silver. That's the last thing a seller of cleaned coins wants. Experienced buyers, of course, will steer clear of problem merchandise. [The entire cyberworld set-up is interesting. When you view unusually low prices accompanied by interest, the assumption is someone knows something you don't. As a buyer, you have to be ever-vigilant and do your due diligence.]

Q.A.: Resolution? 🐓 : Not yet. Not sure. I will keep you posted...

Observation: Interesting that membership can be paid by credit card only. No coin or cash, certified check, debit card, PayPal, or bank-wire tranfers. 🤔

They once had a Q subway train in NYC, so how about a V for Denver?

Honestly, I have never given it a thought. It's just me, aged 70, my wife, a smidgen younger than me, and my raucous Roosters. Most regrettably, my wife wouldn't know a loupe from a cantaloupe, so right there I'm pretty much dead in the water. There was no plan in the beginning, only compulsion. Now that that feeling has left me I feel dazed. I have no plan, and as I have been counseled, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Wow, you sure know how to hurt a guy with a simple question! 😉

[Fleeting thought... do you recall when I opined on a member's thread that I could not grade a coin without knowing who the owner was? 🤔 Well, I believe that dynamic is an innate prejudice with buyers. If a dowager alights from her chauffeur-driven RR Silver Ghost with a few heirloom coins, jut in her strut, and a commanding bearing, how will she make out as compared with a hobo or rag- picker in raggedy clothes, with the very same cache? C'est la vie!] 🐓

@R_Rash: This is a tough one. You have to know where to look, and I don't. First '26-S I believe I have ever seen. My only comment is a question: why is the eagle crying? 😢 (With a crisper, cleaner image, I'd be willing to try, but the veil or film prevents me from doing so.) 🐓

Alternate (face-saving) theory... The coin was an unauthorized minting that, over time, was worn down by an untold number of people who were urged to touch it with their thumbs 👍 to confirm its presence: "Whaddya mean it ain't real? Here, run your fingers over it... Even Danny (the blind newsstand owner) says it's so and he can read Braille!" 😉

@RWB The only problem with the alibi is it does not support my conviction you are over a hundred years old, and still going strong! 😉

Q.A. I'm not sure what all we're supposed to be looking at on the MS-63 below, but do me a favor and "like" his post because this guy looks like he means business! 😉 🐓: Your wish is my command, boss!

Correct! It's been quite a while since I have bid on anything and when I did I didn't find out what an acceptable increment was until my bid was rejected and the pattern set adhered to. Two bids and no activity. I'd say the seller's got a long row to hoe. The coins were just fine the way they were.

@GoldFinger1969 You have your work cut out for you. Unrelenting research, intermittent auctions and auction records, archives, the discovery of bank "hoards," TPGS authentifications and certifications woven into a fluid and ever-evolving thread. There is no other thread like this in the world! 🐓

The tense used here is curious and a tease. You did not say "I haven't checked newspaper accounts..." Instead, you state "I didn't check newspapers at the time..." implying you had boots on the ground then. Yours is a unique voice and writing style! ✍

@Buffalo Head Exceptional coin! And a superb display of photographic skills! I would have no problem buying a coin literally sight-unseen, solely on the strength of your photography. Top-notch, great stuff! 👍 🐓

Same with airports... The former Idlewild became JFK, after the president's assassination. North Beach became LGA, after former NYC mayor LaGuardia. And Newark, seemingly inexplicably, was dubbed EWR, presumably because the more obvious choices were already assigned.

🐓 : Legal or not legal tender? 🤔 Q.A. I believe a quick three-party conference call 📞 is in order to settle this once and for all.

It would be a great comfort to me if you would be willing to concede there appears to be something there that mimics the famed designer's initials, however improbable. Otherwise, my lying 🤥 eyes will continue to deceive me.

[I think it should be noted that the 1933 St. Gaudens' $20 gold piece was authenticated and certified and returned to its new owner, unencapsulated, at his request, which the TPGS chose to honor. It is one publicized exception the OP may be unaware of.] If there were something to be gained from the surreptitious, however subtle, minting of this coin, surely it would have come to the attention of someone in the intervening 100+ years.

I am not familiar with the website, ClickBait, pardon, PicClick, but there are a few things worth noting. Firstly, the seller in his listing, uses the term "semi-PL" which can mean whatever he chooses it to mean. To add insult to injury, he dispenses with the Sheldon Scale, probably because he deems it to be too restrictive for advertising purposes, hence the five +++++. Secondly, he starts the bidding at ground level. Spot silver is north of $20 presently, so if he manages to get just four or five more bids at the mandated $3.50 bidding increment (it's oddly at $3.25 now) his once quite lovely coins, pre-cleaning/polishing, will exceed melt. Thirdly, I do not believe it prudent to post a coin in the questionable condition #3 in the line-up [1898-O] exhibits so prominently. And, no, let's not talk acetone or vinegar. Or die erosion. Enough damage has been done. [Personally, I fail to see how the PMD[dropping] deposited squarely at what a fellow member may describe as a prime focal point could survive polishing.] These were once beautiful coins. 🐓

The U.S. MINT dates to 1792. Your Fugios and "Continental Currency," coins both of which appear to share a similar, if not identical reverse, precede that date. I wonder if a simple request to accommodate the Fugio in a PCGS Set Registry prompted this decision.

I believe a lot more than people realize -- or for those who've done so, care to admit. 🐓

That's quite a "cache." Do let us know if you find anything interesting.

🐓: At least the rats were good for something. Q.A. That's easy for you to say.

I can go with the OP, or rely on my own lying eyes. The fact that this may not have been seen in well over 100 years means nothing. But we still need to hear from other members. That ghostly presence on the reverse is the best news I have heard since Seattle Slew won the Belmont Stakes and the Triple Crown at Belmont Park in 1977. The return on a favorite to win was minimal, but with this example, it is abundantly clear to see "something" familiar is there to see for people from all walks of life.