Henri Charriere

I, perhaps, bit off more than I could chew. What the young gentleman, who specializes in Ancients at NGC was saying was whatever the auction prices realized at sale at an auction house like Heritage's dictated because they appeal to a vast audience rather than an unusually high price that just happened to have been realized in one sale. Come to think of it, that was what the NGC expert was maintaining, and it made sense. Yes, you, and I, may have been prepared to go higher but our stratospheric bid is not FMV, only a benchmark of what had been achieved for a specific coin on a specific occasion under what very well may have been a fluke situation. Cooler heads usually prevail and it is their incremental bidding that counts in auctions -- rather than the price for a coin that just happened to wind up way out there because someone just "had to have it." In consideration of how FMV is really determined, I must withdraw my objection. There will always be an upper limit set but it by itself does not establish market value. I suppose the same could be said for the reverse case where no one's bidding approaches the reserve price af which point lack of sufficient demand is reflected in the negative prices a perfectly good coin fails to achieve and the coin may very well be withdrawn from sale.

[Agreed; incidentally, now that I have less Ignorers than VKurtB's got followers, can we bury the hatchet and become friends?)

Not to belabor the point but if I purchase a certified coin from a European consortium of dealers and a proof-of-purchase and/or physical ownership is demanded before it can be placed in a collector's Set Registry should not that price paid -- even if prices run higher elsewhere -- count for something in the Realm of the Goddess of Fair Market Value? The alternative is monopolistic. Am I to believe that numismatics begins and ends at one auction house's door? Where do you, RWB and VKurtB stand on this.

This little number has a lot going for it. How many coins bear italic writing? Rumor has it I was born on the 17th day of September, today called Constitution Day. Quick Quiz: Q: name one site where your constitutional rights as enshrined in the amendments enumerated in the Bill of Rights do not apply? A: this Forum. Don't believe me with three Warnings to his credit? Check the Guidelines, and take it from me: they mean business! Anyone who ends their spiel with, "This stops now," means business!

Hard to believe those three little Capitalized letters (with periods) on the bottom reverse caused such a furor. For those new to the hobby, see if you can spot them with the unaided eye recessed.(incused) bas-relief, deep within the truncated ridge of Lincoln's right shoulder at the bottom of the obverse side..Now think, would you be able to do such a magnificent job of producing hundreds of thousands of them speedily, under great pressure? The 1909-s V.D.B. in what was known then as Gem Brilliant Unciculated condition was the first coin I ever0 bought with earnings as a delivery boy, aged 15, at $1.25/hr. + tips from Stack's for $200. Needless to say, my mother was incredulous: "You paid two hundred dollars -- for a penny!" I certainly did. A bright red beautiful one cent piece in a paper flip which I sold years later after they had taken silver out of coins, and the thrill for me, was gone.

I wish I had something nice to say about this 2016 Mercury Dime Centennial Gold Coin which arrived in a nice presentation box and dust cover, but I do not. My objection? Two things: its finish, described as a "Business Strike," a fancy term meaning a regular strike for circulation and a disappointing lack of detail. Forget the cigar. I took one look at this and thought, I want my money back! Now I live, breathe and dream Roosters... exclusively!

Thanks. When a customer told the NGC guy Rick from Pawn Stars relies on for an expert opinion that he believed the piece he brought in for examination was worth much more than the assessment offered, the NGC guy (specializing in Ancients) cited reliance by the numismatic community on prices realized at auctions -- he mentioned Heritage -- as a determinant of FMV and not starry eyed people [like me] for whom price, at times, is no object. You cannot argue with common sense.

I am a firm believer in denticle insurance for both coins which sport them and classic buildings which incorporate them as appropriate in their facades awash with architectural details.

Nice early find!

There is absolutely nothing I do not like about this coin. There is a strong suggestion of Mint State-ishness but to what tenth of a degree, I don't know. One side rates a solid + in my book. You really do love your Lincolns!

I may be into Roosters now but I have always liked copper. I can't tell you what variety it is -- I will leave that for the experts but you've got yourself one helluva early piece there and the date and legends appear to be legible.

You are right. I don't know what I am so worried about. I do not know whether TPGS is catching on in Mexico, but they are definitely catching on in Europe. Only time will tell. Your coins, incidentally, are true masterpieces of the engravers' art!

Well, I'll be... Who'd've thunk? I didn't know because I'd been emasculated. All I could do up until fairly recently was sit and watch helplessly while duplicate comments were spawned in attempting to clear, i.e., edit earlier ones. Sometimes it's hard determining who is responding to what. Ever since that disable cookies incident thrust me into the Twilight Zone, I've been afraid to touch anything. (Now Google is informing me an email address I abandoned years ago has been compromised in a series of security alerts -- all day long.) Mystery cleared. Thanks much!

Perfection, period.

If God created anything better, He kept it for himself. Attn: VKurtB. Surely you cannot find anything truly objectionable with the comparatively mild toning of this Denver example? (No one denies the scuff mark on the right ear of the wheat stalk is unfortunate.)

[These are British Gold Sovereigns all. Excuse my impertinent tone and language, but I demand to see VKurtB's scores on this thus far!] 😉

As to the opening comment, that is a cold shot. Guidelines prohibit me from elaborating further. Maybe Just Bob will break with tradition and chime in with a simple, I don't know what you're talking about, or, That may have been true at one time but no longer is. Who doesn't trust Just Bob? As to the final comment, two things... a). we, the collector community will be very curious as to whom you entrust your treasures to, and b). no one reading this will feel confident either some form of nepotism or favoritism will not be involved. To avoid the appearance of impropriety, I would look elsewhere. I wonder where our VKurtB, personalities aside, stands on this.

Whattaguy! Whattaguy!

Very considerate of Zebo to re-state the questions before providing the answers (to eliminate unnecessary scrolling.) My score? You already know the answer. That's why I am a rank amateur. Illuminating, nonetheless!

Tentatively. I have a French 20-franc gold rooster, one of 4.4 million minted. But where are they? When I lst checked, only 1 was graded a modest MS-64 by NGC (and in the Twilight Zone of the numismatic universe, two were similarly graded by PCGS.) None were graded higher by euther. So where does this leave us? Unassailable logic indicates our finds are not going to increase in value as more and more mint state examples come to market. Killer combination indubitably, but subject to change in an eye blink.

Probably not the nicest way to put it but I am in so deep there is no way up except through upgrades.