Henri Charriere

THAT'S  A DAMNABLE  LIE. Besides, as I have pointed out out recently, gold spot is risng suddenly in fits and starts.  If dealers monitored them they'd have time for nothing else. You're in scrap and consequently on the prowl. While you are not required to keep close track of irregularities, you would do unto others what others do, or should do, unto others.  I have NEVER compromised my principles for.money, least of all filthy lucre.  One more reason why I turned out as well as I have.
 
 

The so-called and misnamed 1964 "SMS" coins don't have mirror surfaces like your coin, which is obviously a proof strike, one of 3,950,762 issued in proof sets.  It is now believed that what are now described as 1964 "Special Strike" coins "consisted of ordinary coinage of the type made for circulation, but the dies were fresh and sharp, retaining the satiny fields characteristic of new dies, along with the fine, irregular polishing lines also typical of new currency dies."  1964 50C SP | Coin Explorer | NGC (ngccoin.com) (Emphasis added).  Without this satin finish and die polish, like that shown on the image of the coin in the NGC Coin Explorer, any "die markers", assuming your coin has them, are meaningless.
   It appears that all of the known 1964 "Special Strike" originated from a specific source from which they were distributed in the early 1990s, and none has been found elsewhere. A number of claims of having found examples, which usually turn out to be ordinary circulation strikes, have been made on these forums, and none has been validated to date. Ongoing research may reveal that even the authenticated pieces really shouldn't be regarded as "special" either. See Comprehensive Research on the So Called 1964 "SMS" Coins Is In the Works - What Questions Do Members Here Have About these Coins? - US, World, and Ancient Coins - NGC Coin Collectors Chat Boards.
 

British Petroleum [BP] ain't got a da-ned thing to do with it!  
Revisit the figures I provided upthread.
Gold Rooster melt, then, was $429.82.  [Spot gold was $2302.02.]
The gold bullion dealer with the least expensive gold roosters was APMEX: $445., exclusive of dealer premium and sales taxes, where applicable.
The gold bullion dealer with the most expensive gold roosters was Money Metals Exchange: $488., exclusive of dealer premium and sales taxes, where applicable.
That was then, yesterday. Today is today, and tomorrow, may be further up or down.
One thing I have to give @zadok credit for was opening my eyes up to the fact that F20FR GR are bullion. Of course, gold spot price is less of a consideration the higher you go up the Mint State scale.  The owners of the finest examples, I believe it safe to say, do not fret over fluctuations.

1879 25C PF58

#1) It’s ANACS (modern ANACS), so the grade of 70 doesn’t mean a darned thing.
#2) it’s part of a bulk grading, which also reduces its value.
#3) Even if it were done by NGC or P¢ğ$, and not a third tier grader, the grade of 70 is pedestrian. And it’s ANACS for crying out loud. 
 
#4) Stop spamming.

A splendid tribute!

THAT'S  A DAMNABLE  LIE. Besides, as I have pointed out out recently, gold spot is risng suddenly in fits and starts.  If dealers monitored them they'd have time for nothing else. You're in scrap and consequently on the prowl. While you are not required to keep close track of irregularities, you would do unto others what others do, or should do, unto others.  I have NEVER compromised my principles for.money, least of all filthy lucre.  One more reason why I turned out as well as I have.
 
 

FYI:  French 20-francs gold rooster melt is: $429.82. (Gold spot was $2302.02, as of an hour ago.)
What it costs, presently, to own one... from lowest to highest prices:
BULLION DEALER, PRICE, DEALER PREMIUM:
1. APMEX, $445.22, $15.90.
5. MONEY METALS EXCHANGE, $488.93, $59.09.
Note:  For the majority of Set Registrants interested in acquiring an older "original" at these prices -- regardless of state of preservation -- the time for entertaining that silly notion is long past.  Only 5 years ago, fistfuls of gold roosters could be had raw for between $259. and $289, minus sales taxes which were yet to be imposed on platforms like eBay.   🐓 
 

A dork nozzle, where, up my schnozzola?  I regard everyone who carries a nozzle or muzzle as an abject loser.  The brains - - - has give me has held me in good stead.  Through thick and thin, I have always prevailed.  And if something happened, and I were dispatched suddenly, what would I have left to fear about? Nothing.  Death tends to reduce things to their losest common denominator.  Most people worry about living, not dying. Besides, I have a  🐓 collection to complete.  There's always a time to die.  Capiche?

No. Stop it!  
We lost our way when silver was taken out of coinage and Big Pharma decided to flex its muscle. (My wife's psychiatrist told me if you feel she no longer requires psychotropic drugs -- she no longer needs me presumably because her primary job is to prescribe medicines. Education relies wholly on what you read regularly, what channel you listen to, from whom or what (school, college or university) you get your education, and ultimately what you choose to do with it when you get it.  Nothing more complicated than that.
The fear of [tetragrammaton] is the beginning of knowledge.
(Posted at the discretion of moderators.)

I don't consider myself a pessimist because the price level doesn't have anything to do with actual coin collecting.  This was the context of my post.
My posts are long sometimes, but that's not what I said.  I'm not questioning the future of coin collecting or even collecting of US coinage.  
I'm writing about the price level.  I could be wrong but the reasoning I use isn't unrealistic.  That's about the only reason anyone actually cares how many collectors are in the US.  
For purposes of this thread, it's sufficient to state that it's any movement toward rejection of "traditional" culture however demonstrated.   In the context of coin collecting, it would be where it becomes "politically incorrect" to prefer the culture represented by the coin and therefore own it.

1937-S Lincoln cent, PCGS graded MS 66RD:


 

I'm not sure....Major changes occurred when price controls were lifted on silver and then later on gold. (I think (?) silver certs could be turned in for silver bars, not just the little capsules of silver grains, up to the end of the redemption period.) The government got into the "assay office" business to supply gold for coinage, and to ensure that miners had a place to get full value for their products. The system also obviated export of raw gold during which "hidden charges" in other countries ate into American profits.

"Vindication" is not necessary. VKurtB's photo comments have been consistently accurate and reliable. Further, an analog recording (mag tape, optical turntable - sound; silver halide emulsion - image, etc.) preserves data that is much closer to the original than any digital system.... Limitations are physical not a product of arbitrary sampling. A practical outcome is that an analog recording retains far more information than a digital recording and includes a much wider usable dynamic range than digital. A few years ago NASA went back to its original film of lunar photos and discovered that there was a lot more highlight and shadow detail than in its modern digital images of the same surface features. The entire project plan had to be revised so that the "new" old data could be accurately captured. Today, we think of digital grayscale images as either 8-bit or 12-bit per pixel, but NARA had to use 48-bit grayscale to get acceptable results.
I have B&W coin photos made back in the 1960s that have more detail than anything I can do today with a DSLR.

The best part of the BBC article is this headline:
“Digital technology is de-skilling us”
Amen.

My Speed Graphic is in my sister’s home in Pennsylvania. My view camera is a Cambo, and is about 15 feet away as I type this. 

Also won another WW1 silver German medal of Wilhelm II last King of Prussia Zetzmann #4020 has some nice toning as well . 

I won in an auction a very very nicely toned 1913 (3 mark) PF-65 German commemorative 100 years anniversary when Germany defeated Napoleon at battle of Leipzig 1813

🐓:  I thought coming-out parties for debutantes were off-limits for Debbie downers. I would resign my commission here forthwith with nary another thought if you would look at the brighter side of life just once and retire that sad emoji I have been told has been rehubbed three times to date, immediately.  

Stupid spell check