Henri Charriere

[Letter of President Theodore Roosevelt to Secretary of the Treasury Leslie M. Shaw, Dec. 27, 1904] White House, Washington "My dear Secretary Shaw: I think our coinage is artistically of atrocious hideousness. (emphasis mine) Would it be possible, without asking the permission of Congress, to employ a man like St. Gaudens to give us a coinage that would have some beauty? Sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt" (ref: RWB, in Jan. 9, 2012 issue of Coin World, and book under discussion in this thread by Goldfinger1969)

Congratulations on your thirteen thousandth post!

In the absence of an ability to express myself more eloquently and absent contemplated violent objections from the principals involved in this discourse, I should like to propose Moxie15, with his permission, speak for me.

I can see history is repeating itself here. One hapless soul who had the temerity to disregard super star Fred Weinberg's pronouncment -- the equivalent of a SO ORDERED as issued by a federal judge (which I take to mean is a major faux pas in polite society) was run out of town on a rail -- and I was excommunicated for simply insisting he should has his say however repetitious it had become. One enterprising lad went so far as to insist that I, whose lack of formal schooling could not be substantiated beyond the first grade, introduced malware that prevented numismatists, many notably prominent in their profession, from utilizing the scroll-on mechanism on their state of the art cyber-devices. So, by all means, present your errors in your own likeable, inimitable style but beware too that at some point you will tread dangerously close to that hidden threshold of the Twilight Zone from which there is no return as an appeal mechanism has as yet to be devised permitting the disfellowshipped from rejoiningn their former congregations. Wait! You can't be serious! Over a damaged coin? Yes, sir. For nothing more than offering a seemingly plausible, alternative explanation for an explicable error.

Aside from the gentleman's religious convictions, which are neither here nor there, I would suggest the coin I would be inclined to pay a pretty penny for should be appraised. I believe it is universally accepted at this juncture in the numismatic pursuit that making such a request, while necessarily adding to the buyer's cost is by now routine and not unreasonable. Considering a recent unrelated thread determined $50. to be the upper limit a buyer would consider spending on a raw coin, I do not believe such a request would be regarded as unusual.

The United States Government owns my coins. They are simply blissfully unaware of that fact. I have two choices, neither agreeable. Provide proof I relinquished my holdings irrevocably, or continue subsisting at less than one-half the Federal poverty line -- my wife's social security check is exactly $119.35/mo, mine is marginally higher; she is not eligible for disability payments though she was deemed as such by medical professionals; we live in subsidized housing and I have used a free Lifeline phone for the past five years though I suspect I am no longer eligible for one. No one I know approaches the actual cost of my living.

Mr. BATH, I extoll your humble demeanor to all who will listen but, how does patronizing a collection of coins (and high denomination currency) assembled in a single location under one roof compare to the prospect of traipsing through every continent in the world at presumably geat time and expense? Are you aware, last I checked, it costs $65,000 to Summit Everest? How 'bout we give Go Fund Me a shot and set up shop in Sanibel Island, Florida?

For what it's worth, I again requote Lord Bertrand Russell: "It is the pre-occupation with possession, more than anything else, that prevents man from living freely and nobly."

When I was very young, my mother would take me to places that no longer exist anymore one of which was the Chase Manhattan Bank Money Museum. And she said something that stuck with me all these years: "Everything you could possibly want is right here. You don't need to spend money on it. You can come visit it any time you want." I never forgot that.

This fellow is eminently qualified to be a bill collector or marshal suitably attired to effect residential evictions in Kings County (Brooklyn) in New York City.

[expletive deleted.]

I like my version better. Unfortunately, an official autopsy conducted by an oversight committee of Congress held in Executive session was ordered kept under wraps in the National Archives for a period of thirty-seven years. As the story was related to me, the damage resulted as a result of an accident involving Victor David Brenner's daughter, an [unnamed] friend and a tricycle she had received for her seventh birthday. The physical injuries sustained by both victims far outweighed the minor damage incurred by the coins which were not discovered or the subject of speculation until 1949.]

To All Concerned: I neither need nor require a signature line. (Why would anyone need or require a signature line for a made-up user name?) The very suggestion of the dissemination of signature lines is highly suspect. If you really want to introduce a little excitement in your life, why not also include your birth date, social security number and right thumb print? There is not a single person frequenting this site who is unaware I am the one and only Quintus Arrius. What most members, including my favorite, VKurtB, may be unaware of is, quoting Shakespeare, "Who steals my [change purse and wallet] steals trash. So act accordingly.

Why? Are safe deposit boxes prettier than they used to be?

[I recall a banner headline in one of Robert Ripley's Believe It Or Not books, published in the late 1920's. It read: LINCOLN WAS WRONG! The President, as quoted from his 1863 Gettysburg Address, said: "The world will note nor long remember what we say here...." Notably, his words, on that solemn occasion were long remembered and never forgotten -- 150 years later. As far as can be determined by psycholinguists, and the like, who engage in analyzing blocking, censorship, disfellowshipping, defiling, destroying, detonating, blotting out, "collapsing comments" -- and not content to simply "ignore" but threaten to do so, and childishly make public pronouncements proclaiming their impotence are, in the word of today's chief executive officer of the United States, "losers," incapable of engaging those they mistakenly believe to be superior to them in some way. To quote the late, great Jerry Rubin, one of the Chicago Seven conspiracy trial defendants, "The motto of my school was, 'Rise to the Highest.' I got myself a federal indictment. How much higher can you go?" I defy anyone to prove to me they have been X'd out by more than 37 members! So, numismatically speaking, how does one nip being "ignored" in the bud? Simple. You scroll through comments and arbitrarily pick one of the thirty-seven people you know has not ignored you and has demonstrated the mettle needed to engage you with civility and maturity.] I was accorded the top honor (by those who continue to agonize over a decision which unbeknownst to them continues to give me unfettered access to the best of the best with nary a care in the world on my part) -- and truth be told, they find that intolerable. Happy collecting, collectors!

I am delighted to hear the buyer was able to get a refund. I am, however, a little hesitant about throwing the term criminal around, after all, nothing was proven. The seller very likely told the buyer if he was unsatisfied for any reason, he was free to send it back. Due to my own disinclination to exercise rudimentary due diligence, I am now the unfortunate owner of an item I was led to believe was the earliest ticket sold for the new subway whose inaugural run took place in 1904. It did not occur to me that elevated trains had been running since the 1870's and the subway lines built since were all privately owned. I do not have it in me to pass my error to others -- even alleged trolls have values -- so my only option is to offer it for Exhibit in New York's Tramsit Museum. Willie Sutton was an accomplished professional bank-man. The illiterate demand note-passers you have today are inept drug addicts who give criminals a bad name. I am glad there was a happy ending to this story. All things considered, I have been extraordinarily cautious -- and lucky, using eBay.

[Aside: With all due respect to Prof. HILL, I would certainly like to know why the single most recognized numismatic expert who can rightfully claim, legally or otherwise, to have subjected or visited upon coins unspeakable horrors others are reluctant to even hint at -- in the interests of an advancement of knowldge, has yet to render a diagnosis as to what happened to these coins which have apparently lain around, unmolested and out of circulation for at least the past sixty years, or more.]

Relying heavily on my negative-three Intelligence Quotient, which has been documented frequently and reliably by numerous accredited authorities, I feel confident in making the following outrageous assertion universally ridiculed by the experts: the reign of the Classic copper cent lasted only a half-century when a pair of wheat ears was substituted for a pile of stone. Any penny minted before the advent of the Lincoln cent is exempt from this condemnation for obvious reasons: with few exceptions they were made using real copper which produced an unmistakable authentic ring when dropped or spun on a smooth surface unlike the copper-colored mascara applied to the pseudo pennies of the past sixty years.

And what about old dinosaurs like me who sit on a bed, raise both legs simultaneously, whilst pulling both through a pair of trousers? [Nothing personal, zadok. It's just that all the other participants on this thread conspired (publicly, of course) to block me in one well-coordinated attack.]

Well, let's see... those who are not of the Caucasian persuasion will take offense at the mere suggestion of blacking out a background some have described as the "rambling nonsense" I have produced on occasion and, without knowing which thirty-seven have adopted the religious doctrine, "Thou shalt ignore those who have incited you to mutter incoherently under your breath," it will be impossible to determine with a degree of scientific certainty who among those with an aggregate 150-plus years of professional numismatic experience you may have inexplicably gotten to agree with you. Anybody in the market for gaudy psychedelic slabs?

As a sometime Troll and unapologetical rank amateur, I find the very fact such an unseemly matter requires discussion. Remember Joseph N. Welch's query: "Have you no decency, sir, at long last?" Numismatics ought to be above such goings-on.

My dear Prof. Hill: If I may be so bold as to ask, Was this coin returned to you and, if so, what was the explanation provided by the gentlemen who graded or refused to grade it, which acompanied its return? The only Good News here is it is a common date with a common grade. I have an identical coin with lovely toning (minus the scar left by inguinal hernia surgery) which I estimate to be worth thirty-seven cents, exclusive of the money clip it was unceremoniously glued to.

Reply deleted due to a pronounced lack of surgical precision members frequenting this site have grown used to and become accustomed to.

Postscript... I wonder what those guys who ferociously debated the pros and cons of incandecence vs. fluorescents have to say about this right about now? One thing you can say about coin collecting, if you have the colossal nerve to hint at something totally unscientific like mere "personal preference" you will be accorded high billing on someone's ignore list. They won't "block" you, they will simply pretend you never existed citing obscure historical Pharoahs, pylons and obelisks. Never mind Herostratus, a name that lives on in infamy was similarly stricken by official decree, enjoys a position on a Top Ten Set Registry as maintained by no less a recognized authority than NGC.

[To think I, a rank amateur with an antique 30-power loupe was castigated and virtually disemboweled by a highly-respected, universally admired, regular contributor and a seasoned veteran to this Forum who glosses over the use of -- get a load of this! -- a generic X-1600 Chinese digital magnifier with eight built-in lights. Will wonders never cease?