Henri Charriere

The gentleman has just posted a 1925 gold coin, of the incused persuasion, which you may wish to scrutinize in lieu of a suggestion he consult Basic Resources and What collectors need to know...

Hello there! I suppose Guess the Grade has its entertainment value, but there is a reason why coins are submitted to TPGS. Ideally, what you ask for cannot be done via pixelated images. I see some areas of concern which would warrant in-hand, personal inspection. I do not believe any ball park figures would do your coin justice. Hopefully, someone will weigh in with some valid observations of their own.

🐓: Hey Q! Get a load of this precious gem: ".... before I was super-active on the coin threads)..." Q.A.: Whoa Nellie! That's before we got here five years ago! Back then, he was a "mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper." Hard to believe... I wonder what changed... Tempus fugit.

I have revisited this topic (since my last post earlier today) wondering whether "truly rare" is any more, or less, subjective than "grading." I believe the above excerpt captures the essence of the "je ne sais quoi"-like quality of defining the otherwise indefinable, "truly rare." Another masterful stroke of articulated jargoning! There are some posts that ought to be preserved, in perpetuity. This is one of them.

🐓: You know what? He's right!... How did you know he'd know? Q.A.: I didn't... beginners' luck is all...

While I can appreciate your noble intent, had this been mine I must confess, I would have thrown this on a thread soliciting validation from fellow members that I had just found this lovely Morgan with lovely copper toning, denticles intact, believe it to be genuine, but just wanted a second opinion... then sat back in my chair to await the anticipated backwash. "C'mon Quintus! Silver dollars are just that. Silver, duh! "An insult to the House of Morgan! I am in league with those who don't want this out there! No, you may not have it! I absolutely forbid its display! "You are outright rejecting 150 years of knowledge and experience on this forum. You feel you know better? Send it in and post the result when you get it. Sheesh! To the Newbies: Don't say, [It will] "Never happen!" It did and it does. Some of you can recall the time a mischievous member (long gone) had members responding to his talking Rooster -- with one demanding it retract a comment it had made!!! Ah Mike, ... missed opportunity... 🤣

I am not going to touch this. Cheerio, mate!

Good question! (My uncle z would likely know. 🤣 ) The coin's composition is 90/10, gold/copper. The overall weight is 1.3397 ozs; 41.67 gms. The precious metal content, or actual gold weight (AGW) is 1.2057 ozs; 37.5 gms. BUT gold, a precious metal, is weighed in troy ozs; copper, a non-precious metal is weighed in avoirdupois (avdp) ozs. This coin is an alloy. The "operative" word (to quote my Top Follower) is "weight." But which scale is used is for far greater minds than mine to "weigh" in on.

Correctamundo. Just under a fifth of a troy ounce as compared with the 50-peso 1.2057 troy ounce [AGW] Centanario de oro of Mexico, first minted in 1921, commemorating its 100th anniversary of independence from Spanish rule.

Ahhh, First Day of spring! And here are a few stats I dug up overnite re Certifications of the earlier, "original" French 20-Francs gold rooster (1899-1906) series. To recap, there were about 33 million originals of the 117 million minted, and from the inception of TPGSs going on 40 years ago to the present, here is how the breakdown looks. All Mint State grades, 60 and up, totals: NGC 395/PCGS 508; All grades below MS-60: NGC 93/PCGS 56. (The lowest "low-ball" was graded adjectivally, as Fine.) On the high end, MS-65 to MS-70 (FDC in French) Totals: NGC 16/PCGS 46. (MS-66: NGC 2/PCGS 8; MS-67: Zero (none) at either. Bear in mind, these stats are for the "originals" only! The pickings are sparce. 🐓

According to Google and associates, seismic tremors did occur fairly recently and rapidly which apparently did not register on your technicolor scale. Our instincts tell us No, but an anomaly did occur... I better go check my set registry and see if I am still #1 on the left coast. 🤣

Well, that rules out @Mike Meenderink 's The Merchant Royal, mentioned upthread with a bounty north of $1.5 B. There were reports of a shipwreck off the Dominican Republic and Ecuador or Chile and another off Europe, but what seems to happen is legal squabbles tie up recovery efforts until all the claims by insurers are settled.

I didn't think it could be, so I fact-checked it (behind the OP's back) 🤣 and, sure enough, it was! The trajectory of production was roller-coaster erratic, but it is hard to believe any nation could surpass the outputs, individually, of the U.S., China, Russia, India or Australia. This would be an interesting bit of trivia for one of those quiz shows.

Key strokes... Originals: roughly 33 mil. Restrikes: roughly 84 mil. Total: roughly 117 minted. All agree far more of the latter survived. The Originals were beset by mass meltings, exports, losses, thefts, etc. largely exacerbated by wars. There is no bullion dealer presently known to civilized man who will sell you an Original gold rooster at melt + a nominal premium. None. Restrikes are readily available; the Originals are birds of a different feather. My theory as regarding certifications is any grading less than Mint State were accidents submitted by optimists. It simply isn't cost-effective but increasingly becomes so as gold rises higher. In another hour EDT, it will be spring (printemps, Fr.) I will tally up certification breakdowns by the top two TPGSs and post them on this thread, manana. 🐓

Troo dat! You have inadvertently stumbled onto... The Truth. Here, the wall of resistance is erected astride the 66/67 Line of Partition. It is translucent and porous. Over "there," the wall of resistance, erected astride the 66/67 Line is opaque and impervious. One is wooden; the other is made of concrete reinforced with rebar. I crossed the Finish Line. Incidentally, should you wish to cross-dress the 64+ with more suitable raiment, you have my express blessing to do so.

The Turkish Mint? In Ankara? Who knew? How come GoldFinger1969 did not include that fact in his fancy colored graphs? I have millions in old Turkish lira (currency) which dissolved/deteriorated/disintegrated/depreciated into nothingness via devaluation -- and now this? Gold bullion? You know, if it weren't for bad luck I wouldn't have any luck at all. Oh, I forgot. It's Turkiye now. Sheesh!

Blast from the Past! 🐓 : Maybe he (uncle z) knows something the other two don't. Q.A.: Is that your quaint way of referring to the owners of the two finest, Top-Ranked sets of French 20-franc gold roosters ever assembled on the Set Registry? 🐓 : They are both missing one date. Q.A.: Yes, the one our benefactor dismissively refers to as "semi-key." (About as "semi-key" as an '09-S-VDB.) And not for lack of effort or funds either. These are numismatic connoisseurs with discriminating tastes. Only the very finest will do. They are artists-in-waiting. Awaiting the keystones in completion of their respective loves of labor. They are a credit to collectors of the series, NGC forums, and hobbyists at large, worldwide.

Seriously, in terms of what it costs to have a plain, otherwise non-descript coin certified, it was a bargain, or as you put it, a good deal.

I don't. (No way am I going to ask this guy what does UAP stands for!)

I hate to echo Hillary, but "what difference, at this point, does it make? Suppose I said, No. Then what? Now, off the record, I would have gotten two rolls of quarters for that "twenny" bucks. 🤣

Q.A. I don't see any eye goughed out. 🐓: Die- not eye-gouge! Q.A. All I know is a comet streaked by beneath the lettering... one thing for sure: @EagleRJO knows.

For the prices the Mint demands, regardless of reason, the cents minted for Proof sets ought to be pure copper. That's right. They are not minted for circulation so durability should be of no concern. If I were to shell out the filthy lucre, give me something for my ducats, not painted metal.

... don't mention it ... without your invaluable assistance, i never would have been elevated to LEADERBOARD status ... he who laughs last, laughs best ... is this place great, or what? ... man, I love this place! 🤣

A very touching and considerate gesture.

The following is my critique of an article, to which @GoldFinger1969provided a helpful link to in a comment posted upthread within the past 24 hours. "Bargain Collector: French Rooster Popular Gold Coin," Numismatic News, Dec. 26, 2023." 1. "The French Rooster -- a 20-franc gold coin -- has a far shorter life span, having been coined from 1899 only until 1914." (The Originals, 1899-1906, were coined as dated. The Restrikes, 1907-1914, were coined, in large part, in 1921 and again during the 1950's and 1960's.) 2. "Virtually all of the Roosters qualify as common." (Patently false and a baseless assertion. A quick review of all mintages and Set Registries at the top two TPGS, indicate otherwise. The Originals are anything but common; five of the oldest, consecutively-dated eight Originals, which include the two rarest in the entire series, are elusive. There is a reason why bullion dealers like AMPEX advertise Roosters using the term "random date" or a date of our choosing to exclude ALL the Originals.) 3. "... several of the French Roosters reprised -- if we want to say that using a polite term --" (The French term is refrappe, as opposed to frappe. In the USA, the term used is restrike. It would appear 99.44% of Rooster devotees have been using an impolite term. For sticklers of proper terminology, the term for total mintage used by the French translates into "key strokes.") 4. (continuing from Point 3 above) " -- and have been produced at times quite a few years later than their dates would suggest." (Effectively contradicting an earlier comment. And the use of "quite a few years later" is imprecise and of no probative value to the collector.) 5. "....Whatever the case, though, it is never hard to find a gold Rooster." (A gratuitous claim that would likely apply to all coins minted now, as well as in the 20th century.) 6. ".... it seems that the gold French Rooster minted at the turn of the 20th century comprise a short series that does have some bargain potential." (Again, an overly broad generalization considering ALL were minted at the turn of the 20th century, but only the Restrike series is universally recognized as the "short series" which is easiest to acquire and compile though the finest grades are chronically unavailable.) Note: As of this writing, I have posted a "Wanted: Dead or Alive" listing on the Coin Marketplace forum offering a standing $500. Reward for any one of three 20-franc gold Roosters I have sought for some time, irrespective of selling price. To date, I have received not a single response. 🐓 Posted, as always, solely at the discretion of Moderators.