Henri Charriere

Speaking with anonymity using a User Name because I am not authorized to speak for attribution, I would venture to say, anecdotally, that the number of formal, certified Rooster collectors has virtually exploded in the less than two years I have been a member. The number of current collectors at NGC, just seven, used to coincide with the seven G.O.A.T. The last time I looked, it ballooned to 37 and now stands at 40! I do not know to what that may be attributed to. Maybe it's my big mouth or nose which never found a thread it did not like. 😉

Now hold-on wait-a-mi-nute... Are we talking about two coins, virtually look-alikes, same denominations, displayed in close proximity to each other -- possibly even in the same display case -- and encapsulated by the same TPGS? 🤔

[Unsolicited editorial comment]: Someday, preferably before rigor mortis sets in, I would like to chime in on this somewhat derogatory tune: "Buy the coin, etc. I am in New York City. To my admittedly limited knowledge, I must depend on experts with experience relying on what that are able to see in an encapsulated coin. One, upon confidently taking possession after bestowing a bribe, wrote me, "She is beautiful," the assumption being her reference was to the obv- verse of an NGC MS-67 graded Rooster. I wired her for that coin, and three others, sight unseen. I never saw her, spoke to her or her coin emporium -- in fact, in her haste, she neglected to give me an order number, etc. proceeding strictly on faith. Upon receipt, I beheld something I had never set eyes upon -- near perfection, with none graded finer. Granted, I had to cross-grade it because all my top-tier coins reside in my PCGS Set Registry. I understand my revered colleague's admonition, @Coinbuf, but unfortunately demand provided by the likes of me, greatly outstrips supply. If my gem lies in an encapsulation, there is a simple procedure one can utilize to achieve uniformity. I am not risk-averse. If it does not measure up, all I have to do is my darndest to make sure our resident critic, @VKurtB doesn't get wind of it. Easy-peasy. Would he have done what I did? Not on your life!)

You are aware, that this hubblesque contraption includes -- according to what I read here -- a 30X feature as a standard part of the equipment.

My black-and-while primary school composition book, in which I ptacticed my a,b,c's was jettisoned along with everything else just 10 days before Hurricane Sandy wreaked havoc in New York City. My brother had a storage unit and I passed all my valuables to him. As luck would have it, I was not listed as a co-renter, my mother died and my father, 96, went back to his native Turkey. The my brother died. I lost everything. I have a wife now, married in 2016 and I began collecting Roosters in 2018.

[In response to my tepid, quite embarrassing admission that in my twilight years, I no longer own a SINGLE book, member @Oldhoopster responded incredulously with a photo of two bookcases chock full of Red Books and every manner of other books and coin enclopedias to my enduring shame.]

[Funny how it occurred to me, just reading this rapidly unspooling thread, that if you were to substitute Saint Gauden's for those 20-franc gold roosters, the experience would be comparable at a fraction of the cost.]

Would anyone agree that minus a suggestion of an appearace of barely discernable, questionable wear, quite a few AU-58's miss enjoying Mint State status?

Did they ever catch the guy who stole the edges, or did you lend them to Mr. Spud?

@Mohawk. If am a firm believer in courtship. The best of luck to you both!

This missed me the first time around... Did you say microscope? What was wrong with that 5 to 7 monocle, excuse me, loupe. It cracked? Do you recall eviscerated, nay, disemboweling member, ME, for using a mere 30-x loupe? No further questions, your Honor (and don't even think of pulling a fast one by claiming, It's only a ten-power,...what?)

Good thing I sprung for 🐓. Only 16 in the kit kaboodle.

[Oviously be an offer, or trade, you could not refused! Abd who cab blame you?]

Very nice, full head (I sez so!) fully detailed breast feathers, inact, well-defined, legivle shield encicled with Rosie the Riveter rivits, well-defined Federal shield, formally dressed denticles, sharp and elusive but inclusive Maimonides scuptor's mark, M, but last but not least a comparatively rare and an embarrassindly intact embossed date on the pedestal. To die-hard fans of this Type 1 issue, look and weep! Very well done, Mr. SPUD!!! Highest award: 🐓 🐓 🐓 🐓 🐓

I hope the collectorate-ar-large takes these words to heart as indisputable, unassailable truth. My filters do not accommodate any 🐓 that reflects less than Mint State status but it disturbs me to no end to see the standards of the hobby so cavalierly disregarded and compromised.. Kudos to @RWB for continuing to sound the alarm to the dismay of the guilty, complicit parties. To those who may be curious, I am merely a competitive hobbyist who prefers playing on a level field. There is much talk on these Forum posts about counterfeiting, and the like. I dislike manipulation, dishonesty -- and what amounts to undisguised contempt.

Some of my Roosters have extended tails, most noticeably on the nines in 1914, but this is this is the first time I have seen them on 19th century Half Cents. In fact, I do not recall seeing them on any coin, U.S. or foreign. Copper was my first love.

First time I saw a fish, with taste, wearing a ring of pearls. Classy fish!

Coming from your lips, that means an awful lot.

Duplicate post, my apologies!

Much obliged.

Not really. Remember, I never laid eyes on any coin or slabbed I bought. I put my implicit trust on the top two TPGS. My only mishap occurred when I bought an MS-67 encapsulated by NGC from a reputable Cailformia dealer with instructions to forward it directly to PCGS, which declined to cross-grade. My only recourse was to study the coin carefully as depicted among the dealer's wares on-line It was then that I learned, relying solely on my experience, that the coin was grossly overgraded. (In point of fact, I believe you yourself would have agree.) In any event, my money was refunded, I paid all related costs ahead of time, and oddly, never held the coin (slab) in my hands. I concured wholeheartedly with PCGS' call. Note: It was a 1910 MS-67. -- which I still have not acquired. Price, as our Great Zadok, would say, is a moot point. I have wired funds ($50 via JP Morgan Chase) coverson fees to euros, (what I call bribes, which were inducements to relinquish private ownership) and, if it comes to it, as it already has (Customs fees) which our Conder, citing chapter and verse, stated was unwarranted. I don't know what Fair Market Value is. It seems to depend on who wants what at any given moment. What I learned from experience is if you do not act quickly, someone else may, and you opportunity is lost. I have my APB's AND BOLO's out there everywhere they ought to be. Unfortunately, the dates I seek are in Europe, primarily, where the prices run higher. I appreciate your interest.

[If you would kindly ask your avatar to put his six-shooters down (know he has them) I would like to offer the ask the following questions, apparently near-twenty years after the fact: a). Why the contrast in light source colors, and b). Why the use of a magnifying glass of clearly zero-power? The right hand bearing it is "flat" with not a semblance of three-dimemsionality, and worse, the Franklin half appears to be the size of a nickel or quarter. The eagle, by contrast is superbly detailed.

]Not so fast. 1951 was special, first and foremost because that was the year your [older] protégé was born.]

On balance, I am all for it. And based on your comments, heretofore, on the Forum, you strike me as being a knowledgeable, at times fesity, discriminating collector with an eye toward quality.. And who knows, if you had a French 20-franc gold rooster dated 1914 in MS-67 condition -- a coin neither TPGS has yet to certify, I would dispense with its examination and buy it from you, in cash, sight unseen -- solely on your word. 🐓

@Woods020. I would have to be honest with you, that thought has never occurred to me. By way of analogy, I know prosecutors hone their skills as members of the district attorneys office in NYC, and then leave to become defense attorneys, a common practice, but the gulf between them is wider. Sam Leibowitz defended th nine Scottsboro boys in Alabama, but became a hanging judge in Brooklyn. Earl Warren, too, was a noted liberal as California governor, but made an about face on the U.S. Supreme Supreme Court. There are parts of the Deep South that have never gotten over his activism. If a girl scout were to come by with a gaping whole in her Whiman album, no way I am going to hit her with a snarky remark regarding Fair Market Value. I don't now if dealers have Bargain Boxes handy but if they don't they probably ought should. There's a store owner who's downsized to renting a booth in his old age who has long past realized he cannot afford to turn away business in his twilight years. There is a seismic shift and chasm between being a buyer and seller. They've never had any problem from me. They -- I am talking years ago -- will be firm in their pricing but will make a concession if you put down a nice deposit indicating your continued interest in a sale and intent to follow through. I don't know if I have what it takes to be a dealer. It is easy to speculate what you would do if you were, but I wouldn't want to speculate as to the outcome. Coins, after all, are a business. The easiest to get along with are the retired seniors. They enjoy the attention and helping those just starting out. I've met some great, down-to-earth dealers over the years with great stores of knowledge who are only too anxious to share it with young folks. I have my sights set on the big show in Jan. 2022 emphasizing world coins.