Henri Charriere

Provide a safe and secure venue for window shopping -- and an opportunity for @VKurtB to demonstrate his photographic skills. 😉

In all fairness, I believe ancients have been accorded their own abbreviated scale and the grade, Mint State, per se, is not one of them. If I am wrong, the experts will jump on the opportunity to have me drawn-and-quartered and the really sad part is any Moderators in attendance will concur in the verdict.

@Conder101 I can assure you the percentage does not approach the number of active coin collectors -- minus one. ME. As my fellow collector @Oldhoopster recently learned, undoubtedly to his amazement, I, Quintus Arrius, do not own, or read, a single book devoted to the hobby -- and haven't since the Red Book devoted a section to the numismatic relics recovered from the S. S. CENTRAL AMERICA. To be clear, this includes newspapers, magazines, pamphlet, treatises, dissertations -- anything in print. If per chance, I happen to come across something in New York's main library (which my sister in California recently informed me is now open) I will follow through. I know this admission is an unmitigated Disgrace, but it is the truth. 🐓

If I attend, it will be for one purpose only: Any French Roosters?... Any French Roosters?... Any French Roosters?... (you get the idea.) If I get a hit, or promising lead, it will have made the entire trip abundantly worthwhile. Having committed the holdings of a handful of major Rooster contenders to memory, I will gladly obtain the business cards of dealers to pass along to collectors who may very well appreciate the gesture to move up a notch or two in either of the two top Set Registries.

You are a seasoned numismatist with discriminating, exquisite taste!

@JKK As someone who has never been to a coin show or convention in my entire life, allow me to weigh in here... Is it possible there may be a valid reason for an early departure? 🤔 Rush hour traffic, compromised nite vision, unfamiliarity with access routes, a wife (or husband's) ultimatum, a noticeable dearth of prospective customers or foot traffic at one's table, general fatigue exacerbated by the prospect of an inordinately long trip home, security concerns? Maybe what's needed is a simple, non-intrusive exit poll. Looking at things from my perspective, come January in New York City, I have one mission: in the absence of the handful of coins the Set Registry gods have determined I require, I will quickly gather information and develop leads. Who knows, it is within the realm of possibility a teenager may be roaming the aisles totally unaware he has a Rooster, certified and encapsulated, with a grade of MS-68 (unique in the annals of TPGS) his grandfather gave him -- and I will happen to be the very first person he runs into. I will get "Just Bob," the undisputed King of "Fair Market Value" on the wire, negotiate a price, thank the young fellow profusely, and head for the nearest exit door. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

Respectfully, I would urge you to open the package 📦 with an open mind and no pre-conceived notions. Pity me, I ordered two Morgans, from a third-party who gloated over his $400-plus windfall (and even had the chutzpah to brag he had seven more left.) You win some, you lose some. The Mint lost me as a customer when dinosaurs last roamed the Earth.

Thanks. I appreciate that!

No, not at all. @RWB enjoys complete immunity. @Coinbuf to my knowledge, does not acknowledge my existence. That is why I heap praise on him in the hope he will soften up. @Alex in PA. is one tough cookie and has an array of "woofs" to make minemeat of me. I believe @Oldhoopster is the real deal. I've heard what he has to say -- entirely with merit -- from my schoolteachers my entire life. He very capably reduced paragraphs I have written -- to a single line! Politely. I could have included my mentor, @VKurtB, the first person on the Forum to mock me, on the first day I appeared, but he is very well liked. And you, @GBrad are also well liked by everyone. Besides, I like your avatar.

I am the most ignorant "coin collector" who has ever had the honor and vicarious enjoyment of gracing these threads. So what exactly is the point of labels that boast, First Srike or First Day of Issue or the hand of the Director who "catches" the First Coin minted in the palm of his hand? I am beginning to think there is absolutely no numismatic significance to that bag of sealed 1964 Kennedy halves that you adamantly insisted its alleged pristine integrity is beyond the realm of "proof" as that word is commonly used and accepted.

That's good news. I still have the 100 Ikes I picked up at a local bank I assume are bi-centennials for no particular reason I can think of and I am told they have more strapped $2 bills than they know what to do with. I have not the slightest idea what to do with them but if I see them, they're all going for face + postage.

I understand and totally sympathize. Incidentally, it was @VKurtB and not @RWB who made the reference to severed digits in a post about the minting process at the Royal Mint. My error.

I hope @RWB, @Coinbuf @Alex in PA.@Oldhoopster aren't lurking around because I'll never live this down: would anyone be kind enough to explain what this "7070" is I keep reading about?

A cautionary tale.. The current MA-SHOPS advertisement features selections of what appears to be scores of French 20-franc gold roosters in various grades of condion. The novice is obliged to tread this two-page listing cautiously. There is a question as to whether I found a date I need because of the way the coin is decribed. EF/AU or AU/FDC is meaningless. I shun half grades because experience has taught me a full-grade offering is inevitable. This leaves me with a coin described, I kid you not, as what I refer to as a hybrid. Remember, they use their own grading system. For my purposes, a grade of FDC which fully embraces six (6) grades, the equivalent of our MS 65-70 is unhelpful. I'd have a better shot at playing roulette. Now when FDC is combined with AU or EF, you've got a real problem on two fronts: paying $500 - $600 for a coin gambling it will complement similarly hard-won coins on your Set Registry. There are collectors who would be delighted with the offerings made of a number of "originals" (1899-1906) and I would not hesitate to urge them to take a look, particularly those at more moderate prices. It grieves me to say this but the availability of older dates in the higher Mint State grades are a rumor I have spent the better part of two years attempting to track down without success. I wish my fellow 🐓 collectors the very best of luck!

To the OP: At the risk of incurring the wrath of the entire membership -- usually when one heavy-weight speaks, every one of the thousands of members in good standing fall in line -- would you be so kind as to divulge the extent of the "research" you've done, cite an authoritative source or reference book or two featuring this coin, and elaborate further on the "few simple gold tests you've performed."

Not for nothing, but I bought two Roosters. Both were PCGS-graded at MS-63 and MS-64 and neither could be further from a legitimate opinion. The former was gorgeous, catter-free example with a suggestion of original mint luster I was happy to own it. The latter was eligible for Federal Disaster Aid and appeared to be actively involved in a drunken bar room brawl. All the legends bore well-placed Haymarket shots incurred during an extended brawl. What to make of this? After all, these are Mint State graded coins. They lie encapsulated in my loose-leaf slab album as a testament to the art -- not science, of grading.

Note: As noted on another [somewhat related] thread elsewhere, my active coin collecting days will come to a close on Constitution Day, September 17, 2021, when I attain the ripe old age of 70. This will endow Set Registrants the rare opportunity of experiencing "hope" first hand. My standing at PCGS was purely accidental. I dispensed with endless upgrades, including halfgrades (+), and set my sights like the Hon. PARTRICK at the top, regardless of prohibitive cost, conversions to USD from euros, and negotiating languages I do not speak (French, German, etc.) and am not fluent in. 🐓

It may be heresy to suggest this, but if I were renting a table at a coin show, I would want someone with me, preferably a woman to help me keep an eye on things. I am rather firm but my own sister, not much younger than me would be the perfect foil. I have.never been to a brickand-mortar store that wasn't staffed by two or three salesmen. Even Stack's employed an armed security guard. (Paramount, which has since changed its name but still on West 57th Street, was robbed twice. A single salesperson however vigilant, is insufficient

Curses! Just when this thread got really interesting, the contributor faced a Gatling gun. Now I'll never know. (Maybe his hairdresser knows for sure.) And where's @Alex in PA.? He loves rebel gold.

On the other hand, you will never want for oxygen.

[I need to go back to an ophthalmologist. I see double of the two finest quarters I ever laid eyes on! Who's to say this wasn't among the first ten minted on the First Day of Issue? Where's RWB? Any record of finger amputations on the First Day?]

You are a very responsible, cautious collector. The prevailing melt value of a Rooster is above $300. Get a load of this: I have never seen any buyer, never spoken to any buyer, never actually seen a Rooster unpixelated. I used my wife's phone and pressed SEND or sent a bank wire (once to Serbia) again, an individual I never met or spoke to -- and only found out much much later that FREE delivery in a landlocked country invariably means over-the-road travel, transfer to an unnamed tramp steamer, and eventual delivery. The raw coin I received, beyond an eBay photo representation and Western Union transmittal, ultimately was graded MS-65 (1903) and there was only one other like it, with none graded higher. I believe the actual retail price I paid was $289.+ a very minor fee. Clearly, the seller, did not appreciate the significance of what he had, and neither did I.

Yes. The VKurtB school of thought requires in-your-hand inspection which virtually guarantees never having to say you're sorry.

If you were to look at the dates they joined per their profiles, you will see what I mean. My latest "survey," more out of curiosity was undertaken in April. I will take another look here, and ATS, in September. Funny thing is there are a few 🐓 collectors who dropped out. No. 3 at NGC is the collector to watch. I have spot-checked registrants various acquisition histories and no other collector in Set Registry history comes close to making a debut with top-shelf coins, in one fell swoop, the way this one has. HE IS A CONTENDER! I have been asked about my intentions. I have climbed Everest once. I see little point in doing it twice. Barring extraordinary developments, I plan on retiring [from coin collecting] on Consitution Day, September 17, 2021 at which point I will turn 70. (Now, as my good friend @GoldFinger1969 would say, Back on Track!)