Henri Charriere

@Alex in PA. (Hope you got leashes on those dogs)... To begin with, what you've provided us with is a veritable alphabet soup of causes of death extending back five year. We are already halfway past 2021 and the sole figure for COVID provided is 55 or 56% of the figure I cited and nowhere near the 6,000,000 which initiated this exchange. For arguments sake I will assume that figure includes the favelas of Brazil, the slums of Mumbai, etc. (You may now unleash those fearsome creatures.) 🐓

Yesterday, at 3:00 PM, @RWB said, in part: "Nice -- other than the absence of facts and the obvious bias against science." Within the hour, as excerpted above, @gmarguli is happy to oblige rattling off what he distinctly refers to as "facts." I will be the first to admit I did the unethical and unconscionable: I fact-checked what he wrote. A figure, cited as a one Fact cites 6 million official COVID deaths over the past 18 months. Immediately, in my head, I heard the imaginary cry popular with drug dealers: RED LIGHT!!! and consulted Google replete with the latest "to date" figures indicating 34,707,293 CV cases for the U.S., 622,664 deaths and 29,221,947 recoveries. There would be little point in going any further with this arguable vindication of @RWB and his stance on this issue but, as regarding the white ship painted with prominent Red Crosses I challenge anyone who is not a [N.Y.] City resident to state... the ship's specific eligibility for admissions criteria, precisely where it was docked, the role the Javits Center played in impacting admissions and why the vessel left so soon with no patients before unanimously deciding its presence played a role in the pandemic.

The two 🐓 🐓 I practically need a security clearance to discuss, and that no TPGS will acknowledge formally exists are the: 1906, displaying the newer slogan, Liberte, Egalite, Fraternity, the exact mintage of which remain a state secret. (The old slogan (in English) was God Protect France, and the 1915. The 🐓 series officially began in 1899 and ended in 1914. Forget mintage figures; it is the rumored existence of this date that has eluded collectors and confounded the experts many of whom regard it to be simply a counterfeit that is not acknowledged as an official Paris Mint product.

Well they will have a problem now what with the security chips embedded in slabs with Near Field Technology [NFT] One swipe with a smart phone is all it will take. (Plus, for Set Registrants, a 3-day waiting period is mandatory before a slab can be added allowing the previous owner or seller time to confirm the legitimacy of the transfer. Nice Morgan and a nice grade!

I take it the certification number was on the reverse. Nice coin!

He did the very best he could under the circumstances.

What about the redaction? What exactly are you, and other collectors afraid of?

Don't be discouraged. We have all gone thru this one time or another.

You will always be the Great Zadok to me, but you sure know how to hurt a guy.

[My personal opinion is coinage cannot be considered until eradication is acheived. And I am not sure a coin minted and circulated publicly would be an appropriate way to mark a milestone like that. If anything, an individual would be so honored perhaps with a Medal or re-naming of a school.]

Edit: Mr 🐓 short set on NGC's Registry is complete and consistent but I broke my self-made promise to complete both sets at the highest grades possible due solely to lack of availability. Even if I wanted to, I can't. I simply do not know what to do.

At the suggestion of a gentleman who has more than the negative-three experience I have on this subject matter, I have devoted hours to studying the curious anomaly of basic elements missing from an mint state Liberty Standing coin and to my astonishment discovered this was no isolated phenomenon. I have scoured every source commonly known to collectors and when I came across an example equal to if not exceeding Coinbuf's example, minus rivets, I realized I was clearly deficient in the requisite knowledge of the existence of this design deficiency. If I am going to pay $5,000.+ for a Mint State coin, however lustrous and eye 👁 appealing, I am going to get a second or third opinion from those well-versed in such extra-terrestrial phenomenon. My apologies to the OP for derailing your long-running thread, to Coinbuf for unnecessarily grandstanding for the benefit of refugees ATS (who couldn't care less) for the sole purpose of cementing your illusory reputation as self-anoninted shot-caller when common decency suggests a PM would have been a more appropriate forum for a baseless, venomous, personal attack, and, last but not least, My Cousin Vinny who importuned to me to pay heed to the hazard lights ahead and for successfully resisting every attempt made by fellow members to allow them to push his buttons.

[Back on Track, briefly... In re-reading the post from beginning to end, I just now discovered an error I made that is sure to give those tuned in, a sleepless night. On the French 20-franc gold rooster series 🐓 (1899-1914) it is the 1900, that is the rarest with a mintage of 615K, and the 1911 so-called "restrike" which is the 2nd rarest with a mintage of 5.34M. I sincerely regret the error and looking back over the past two years and-re-reading the criteria the OP provided as a yardstick, I cannot consider the 🐓 to be a contender on any 100 Greatest Modern Coin list. They are beautiful, popular, have an interesting story but do not even begin to approach "greatest" in the sense that that word is commonly used. To the faithful of the Forum, my sincerest apologies for ruining your evening.]

@VKurtB If your county or state roads are anything like those I have ridden on in rural upstate New York they are primarily asphalt and banked for drainage. It is the natural inclination of drivers to drive close to the center. When I noticed the type of driving behavior you described upstate, I wrote a letter to the local department of transportation complaining of fading white and yellow, single and double lines, they attended to it immediately and wrote me back thanking me for bringing the problem to their attention and letting me know it was attended to, which it was. I wonder if this is a problem where you are.

If your friend is abroad, he may wish to check out "MA-Shops - The World's Most Trusted Numismatic Marketplace," a consortium of coin emporiums in France and Germany (ma-shops.com) and Chards coin, based in Blackpool, UK, both of which maintain an on-line presence.

@gmarguli Considering the staff turnover and the exiting comments made by key figures upon exiting the last Administration, I am inclined to give Dr. Fauci the benefit of the doubt. If you place loyalty above everything else, either you toe the line -- or walk. I believe Dr. Fauci simply did not have the luxury of speaking frankly and freely. What you regard as flip-flopping was, IMHO, an Academy Award winning performance to please the boss, not generate hysteria or a panic while straddling the fluid line between TRUTH and its cousin, the more palatable version which would get the work done quickly, cost-effectively and with the necessary resolve required.

@RWB Not necessary. My acquiescence to Mighty Conder is unequivocal, unconditional and irrevocable. Thanks for the interesting exercise! Man, I love this place.

There is. Food. But to be effective, you must undergo inoculation at regular intervals.

To refresh your recollection, I refer to @zadok as the Great Zadok, and you should too regardless of what side of the bed you got up from. I will attribute your failure to extend to this member the courteous respect he is deserving of to a simple mechanical malfunction: your antennae are still retracted.

New York County? New York City? New York State? When you came here, where did you go? And what happened?

[Readers may wish to scroll back up to a comment I made only 48 hours ago, to which the OP not only thanked me personally but made a cryptic reference to a desire to reveal his reason for creating the post some 15 years ago.]

I don't think that will be a priority under this Administration but it does raise serious questions about the reliability of the Census, those doubled-up illegally in public housing developments and the homeless in general. Little-known fact: vaccinations are not "free" and cannot be obtained without ID. Incentives to vaccinate have already back-fired with unknown numbers of people undergoing any number of additional vaccines for various gifts 🎁. If you apply for vaccination, supposedly "free," you will be asked for ID. If you produce medical insurance ID, the Red Carpet will be rolled out for you. Exactly what type of documentation is required to obtain a "free" vaccination has never been made clear. I am not aware of any place that will vaccinate you without some form of ID. Right now, the Delta variant predominates and prior vaccination does not insure future success. I continue to wear my mask but if My Cousin Vinny shows up with his Speed Graphic or Leica, I will not hesitate to take it off for him.

Aw, simmer down, Coinbuf! What're we talking about here? Rivets? Attack? Your collection is mah-ve-lous. Don't get all bent out of shape over anything a mere chiffonnier has to say. Instead of embarrassing your standing here with a temper tantrum, try using a more civil tone when addressing other members in non life-threatening matters. What happened to "Be Nice or Be Gone"? Tell you what, ask nicely and I'll give you back your rivets. Bet? 😉

@RWB with all due respect, I believe I deserve a Special Mention for narrowing the possibilities to the pertinent 16-2/3%, contained in paragraph #6, containing the line: "all such persons are expected to refrain from dealings in this line, or affording aid to friends and dealers outside." While not as earthshaking as the revelations a few years back allowing USSS agents to cavort with prostitutes in Cartagena, Colombia, still, any Rules which provide wiggle room for mischief at the Federal level, deserves scrutiny. [The CIA, DEA and DoD, among others are exempt due to the fog of war that never lifts.]

@Conder101 I cannot believe the breadth of knowledge you have regarding such arcane details all of which make perfect, common sense. Thank you very much for the courtesy of your reply!