Henri Charriere

[Good News! Bad News! First the good: reports of my premature death -- a quote allegedly widely misattributed to Samuel J. Clemens, (pen name, Mark Twain) -- have been greatly exaggerated. Now the bad: despite claims to the contrary a bevy of highly-placed sources within the NGC community -- most notably Administrator, Dena S., that I have not been banned or otherwise deplatformed, I took the liberty of using your apparently unlocked back door to make my presence known and wish all a Happy Halloween!

@Just Bob you certainly know how to get to the bottom of things. The figure provided by the OP is not entirely inaacurate. Fifteen thousand eight-hundred and nine were officially melted. Then one day, I showed up Stack's and the gentlemen, after checking several references, pronounced it a fake as no proofs, or for that matter, prooflikes, were minted thereby confiscating it and either forwarding it to the Secret Service to be dstroyed, or doing it himself, after-hours. Consequently, I believe it safe to say such coin is no longer extant. no

If the minimal amount required for exhibiting individual classes is reasonable, the Treasury ought to clear up that logjam with a simple memo directing Mint Diplomats to simply clear out their voluninous stacks of the newer two-dollar bills most federally-insured banks must have on hand though the last time someone asked for one, a Series 1963, was in 1984 by me. Now what's this I hear about Penicillinase producing Neisseria gonorrhea or PPNG? I never got an award, just a CIA-like business card hand-printed with a name and phone number. No message. Nothing. How do you know you've contacted it? You don't, but a persistent burning drip suggests it might be a good idea, and more so when they stick that long thin aluminun cotton swab deep up inside you and you're sitting there wondering, "But wasn't I just treated here yesterdag.??? I'd rather have rabies. What's that?... PPIE? Ohhh, that changes everything! Never mind.

Dear members, departing from my usual policy of being a compulsive liar, something came over me, and I decided to tell the truth. I was suspended so fast, and with members' expressing their gripes openly on the unforgiving Forum, decided to just let it be. A lot of legitimate members got hurt but there was little I could do. Then, one day, an entire world opened up to me. I found out the back door was still unlocked, pushed it open, and re-locked it. On a table was a list of offenses I committed, incredibly in chronological order and, realizing all this tailing by monitors and chaperones was costing the company a mint, I sat down and wrote a letter of apology, sent it, and even signed out of the site. There are still a lot of kinks to be worked out -- like confidentially extending my suspension another six months, but I'm okay with that. Those who understand me either love, like or tolerate me and those who don't, ignore me, refuse to acknowledge me, or openly despise me. I'm okay with that, too. I'm not a shot-caller. Things will change in '22, and that and the upcoming convention, are the only matters that matter. If I find what I am looking for, and my wife accommodates me by unlocking the steel shackles that physically bind me to her (and cause me much embarrassment) I'll whip out my 30-power loupe, and get to work even if if it means being the G.O.A.T. for just an hour. Good nite to all! And, to all, a good nite. 🐓

As the only NGC member expressly 🚫 barred (forbidden) from complimenting you on your coins, and expressing any comments on members' showcasing theirs per Guideline ordinance, I shall henceforth avail myself of the emoji feature and utilize the long since automated Private Messaging system. I apologize for all past transgressions to you, your coterie of friends, advisers, and well-heeled, white shoe associates, male, e-mail, and female. 🐓

Any farther downtown, south of the Williamsburg Bridge, and you will find yourself in Chinatown.

Whomever had it took special care in handling it. No chaos, pitchforks, lacerations or abrasions. Just plain even wear. Even the denticles smile back at you! And I have a sneaky suspicion it originated out West before automobiles 🚘 and planes forced the horse to go the way of the bison 🦬. Nice coin! 🐓

East Houston & Ludlow Streets, on the now gentrified lower East Side Puerto Ricans 🇵🇷 now call "Loisaida." Even the Bowery, the old Theater District dominated by old tenements, flea bag hotels, the Men's municipal shelter and locomotive-driven elevated trains are clean enough to eat off the ground from and boasts newfangled architecture with sky-high prices.

Why? You volunteering?

Funny how I was thinking the same thing until my thumb scrolled down to your comment. Truthfully, this is not an easy question to answer. Were you around that time when Coin World published their list of the hundred most influential people in numismatics since the 1960's and the dissension began over why A, B, and C were on it while presumably more accomplished, influential people were overlooked? Here in NYC, Thomas Jefferson's Statue was just removed from the rotunda of the city's City Hall. But isn't he the same president honored on the nickel and two-dollar bill? I have a feeling this thread is going to be a long one and I can't wait to hear what @VKurtB has to say.

I am going to resolve to do the virtually unheard of thing and wait very, very patiently for that guy with all the ANA decorations, affiliations and a host of networking contacts, here in the states and abroad, to weigh in on this first, before submitting my own take on this.

True, but you would need two strong men and a pole with a sufficient diameter to lift and move it. I don't remember the museum I saw it in, but have never forgotten it -- and have never known anyone to have one. I'd bet half the people on the Forum never saw one and the other half never even heard of them.

Well, you are young; I am old. It's easier for you to get around. You have eight legs; I've only got two, minus the chunk I lost when @Alex in PA. sicced his dogs on me. 🐓

Yap stone? Why haven't you ever disclosed this before? I've always speculated on what that lawn ornament in your front yard was. Sure beats talking about metal. And you've rocketed to the top of my list of serious collectors to keep up with. (I would say "follow" but I my user name on this Forum, affiliated with a respectable numismatist like yourself would be akin to the kiss of death.

I don't know from G.S.A., but at least we know C/C or not, the presence of the typee/tipi/teepee on a Morgan, is assessed at one point, though I suspect our straight-as-an-arrow, mince no words, highly regarded Mark Feld would beg to differ. Nice grade, nice coin, and a highly coveted mint-mark.

When I went to school, teachers dressed for business: suits and ties for men and Lois Lan outfits for women or long dresses, with sensible shoes. Now, anything goes. I have never abandoned the simple No. 2 pencil ✏ A few years back, Henry Petroski wrote a book solely devoted to this pencil. I doubt anyone on this Forum has endured the abuse and ridicule I have in life for simply carrying one. Their hexagonal shape, color, length, crimped eraser using rubber (not plastic) and graphite (not lead) make them the greatest invention since the feather and quill. (Obviously, exceptions must be made for Chinese scribes, Hebrew scholars -- and pictorial cave dwellers.) 🐓

Respectfully, the very same could have been said about investors in silver -- before the fictional Dukes Brothers pulled the plug on them in the 1980's.

Great One: the plural of zero, is "zeroes." The plural form of potato is "potatoes." (There is a reason for it, but @Oldhoopster may be watching and the chaperones have indicated my time is up.) 🐓

When Mark Feld and Just Bob join him, I'm all in. I seriously doubt the Great Zadok is a risk-taker. 🐓

If what you say is what you truly believe, you may already be a winner. On the other hand, I like to get to the bottom of things and unfortunately for me, that's going to involve a lot of footwork. Then again, maybe someone at the NY convention can explain it all to me in language I can understand.

Minus the typee I/F/O Liberty's schnozzola and some very very minor distractions, I would've requested your permission to proceed with conservation using the cutting-edge technology available. I used a small amount of Pepsi-Cola on my '66 Kennedy and contaminants I didn't even know were there, particularly in the reeding, simply bubbled to the surface. (Fortunately, for me, when 99.44% of the membership insists what you have, regardless of eye appeal is worth no more than melt, the Mad Scientist which resides in us all, asserts itself.) Very nice coin 'buf!

I would like to preface my remarks by stating your direct, to-the-point comments are leaving me with very little room to maneuver with diluted foolishness. Now, as to the second part of your response, as an avid reader, I became aware of the dot.com bubble the way one would become aware Madagascar is losing its forests and the polar bears are losing their ice floes. Looking at the positive side there are now scores of domains in use: .org, .tech, .edu, .gov, .mil, .intl, even .xxx, and over 300 country code top-level domains, beginning with the U.S. about the time TPGS were conceived. To me, privately, for fear of being verbally assaulted by the prominent protractors of provenance, the distinction between the two is easy if you are amenable to an alternate viewpoint. Provenance refers to the "birthplace" of a coin whether it be country or region that then existed. By my skewed way of thinking, the present classification being used is fine. The first coins were produced in Lydia (present-day Western Anatolia) in Turkey. Pedigrees are the progeny of the original owners of coins of note, whether plain, mint-marked or bearing a privy. The ultimate fate of that curio, the cryptic crypto, remains to be seen. I feel there's a lot more to this than meets the eye.

A lot of classy coins in this coin. Maybe "Godiva" chocolateought to spruce up their line.of dark, delectable delicacies with classic patterns from the past. (I'd bet they'd become very popular-- and quite tasty, too! It wouldn't be an innovation. Chanukah gelt (at least here in NYC) probably dates back farther than the triangular pastry, hamantaschen.

I wish I could say something, but what? Then again, there is a sizeable number of people to whom cryptic currency -- the entire mysticism is too attractive to resist. I wish my [deceased] brother were around to explain this. I don't believe he ever graduated from school was an accomplished mechanic who could take apart and put together a 1957 Buick Special at age 16 and park substantial funds in funds his own broker advised him adamantly against -- and best of all was a career criminal with no socially-redeeming factors. whatever. A year older than me, there is no doubt in my mind, having mastered high-stakes game plans at casinos, he would have no problem admitting, "No," to cryptology as one member volunteered early on in this thread was premature at best. If the CCP offers you a glass of Stolichnaya, courtesy of Comrade Putin at a crypto convention, that's when you ought to be alarmed and think like my dead brother, "I wonder what this guy's angle is?"

It is my understanding the Peoples' Republic of China 🇨🇳 has banned it some manner, if they haven't already done so. My guess is they dislike things they are unable to exercise complete control over.