• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

mpsamus1

Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    1

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Journal Entries posted by mpsamus1

  1. mpsamus1
    Your not alone.
    I seemed to have missed something also. I haven't been able to find out anything about the winners for the Signature Sets either. I would like to think that my Signature Set is at least worthy of consideration too. I happen to be quite fond of it, but I could be a little prejudiced about it:)
    This is an 1882 Shield Nickel graded MS-65 from the Richmond Collection.
    1882 5 CEN
  2. mpsamus1
    A while ago I wrote about a gentleman that needed some help with cataloging his coins so that he could sell them....
    Well, we are finished and they were shipped to the auction company today. This guy had (at least to me) some very special coins. It's not very often that someone like me has the opportunity to handle some early American Draped Bust coins without someone watching me very closely to make sure that his coins aren't going to disappear or worse. I don't blame them, after all these are very important Numismatic pieces and can be can be worth a considerable amount of money. They should be protective of them.
    The highlights of his collection were a 1795 1/2 dollar, a 1796 Silver Dollar, A 1799 Silver Dollar, A 1853 .900 U.S. Assay Office $20 Gold Piece, An 1858-D $1 Gold Piece.
    He was also nice enough to let me purchase a few coins from him for my own collection. One of which is my AU-58 1837 Bust Half Dollar that I am waiting on it to get back from NGC.
    This has really been a wonderful experience for me and hopefully one day I will be able to own one of these Early American Beauties myself but for now I will have to be content with having been able to hold these wonderful pieces in my gloved hands.
    Mike
    Below is a picture of the 1795 Flowing Hair 1/2 dollar. It's a little dark but it's still a nice coin.
    [attachment=:name]
  3. mpsamus1
    I did better than I thought I would and the turnaround was great!
    The invoice date for these two submissions was May 15th and they were finalized and shipped on May 22nd! That's probably the best turn around time that I've had for an Earlybird submission! Way to go NGC!
    I sent in three coins, two to get graded and one for a crossover. I wasn't sure that any of them would make it through but two did. The one that didn't was the ANACS crossover. (Anyone surprised?!) The two that did make it were an 1837 Bust Half (An absolutely beautiful coin) and an 1873 Seated Dime. Both graded an AU-58. I can't wait to get them back so that I can get some pictures of them. Hopefully I can get some pictures of the Half that will do justice to the toning that it has. If all goes well I'll have them up before the weekend. Now all that I am waiting for are the rest of the ones that I sent to NCS. Three of those were shipped yesterday, two of them were coins that didn't make through NGC's grading process that I am just getting slabbed for my Signature Set and the third was a Mexican 2 1/2 Peso gold piece that I sent in just because I wanted it in a slab. They are easier for me to keep track of that way. Besides, it graded an MS-65. The last invoice that I'm waiting for has seven coins on it. After that I'm done with my submissions for a while. I have spent too much money lately and my bank account is beginning to complain. I've got plenty that I want to send in--I just can't afford it right now. Oh well, such is life. I guess there are worse things to be addicted to! At least with this one I've got something left in the end to show for all of the money that I have spent!
    Mike
  4. mpsamus1
    Answers to a Couple of your questions. Something to try to help with your pictures and your member contact question.
    I am not the greatest with taking and posting pictures but I'm learning. I'm not sure if this will work with a scanner but it works pretty well with digital cameras. You can try getting a picture editing program. I use "Adobe Photoshop Album". After the pictures are loaded in to your computer then transfer them to the Photoshop program. After you have them in the photoshop you can edit them by cropping the original photo and adjusting the light levels etc. After you crop the original they will be small enough to transfer to the Collectors Society. It's not quite as easy as it sounds but with a little practice it works rather well. I've got about 94% of my coins pictured so far. Of course I've got to go back and do a few over again because of my lack of photography skills but I'll get there eventually.
    To contact members of the Collectors Society you have to go through the Collectors Society web site. You can not send a reply through your email. Go to the Home Page of the member that you are trying to contact and find the header that says "send message" or "contact member" and click on one of those, then you can send a message to that person.
    I hope some of this helps you out,
    Mike
    This is my recently acquired 1909-S Indian. The picture is a little fuzzy but it will work for now. I'll fix it after I get the rest of my coins photographed.
    [attachment=:name]
  5. mpsamus1

    RE: Flea Market

    By mpsamus1,

    I've known a couple of people that have set up in Flea Markets in the past.
    One of them sets up on a regular basis now. From what they tell me and from what I have seen, the clientele that frequent the Flea Markets are not the type of people that will be willing to spend alot of money on "scarce or rare" coins. They will be the type that are not very knowledgeable or are looking for a bargain. The guy that sets up regularly around here buys all of the common date,low grade Morgan dollars that my local dealer can get his hands on because that is one of the things that he sells the most of. They are both inexpensive and popular--everybody loves Cartwheels! Once you get set up and are considered a "regular" where people can expect you to be there consistently you will very likely start getting some customers that are or will be true collectors. But this is at the Flea Market in my town. It is a decent sized one but by no means could it be considered huge. It could be very well be considerably different where you are. I wish you the best of luck and please let us know how you are doing.
    Mike
    This is one of the coins that I have going to NCS. It's a 1912 D V Nickel and is graded an MS 63 but I think it can do better with a little conservation.
    [attachment=:name]
  6. mpsamus1
    I didn't do too bad on the one's that I got back.....Definitely not what I expected.
    Two were no-grades. The other five graded and didn't have any problems. This is what is surprising to me. One of the ones that didn't make it I thought for sure that it would grade and two of the ones that did grade I thought would be body bagged without question. This just reinforces that I am not as adept in the "Art" of grading that I would like to be. The ones that did grade were an 1894-S Morgan that graded a VF 20, a 1922 Peace Dollar that graded MS 61 (I was hoping for a VAM). The other three were Peace $ Vams. One was an MS 62 1923 DDO Tiara, one an MS 63 1924 DDR Eagle (Not bad for the junk box at the coin shop, huh?!) The other was an XF 45 1924 Broken Wing. This one was a gift from a Gentleman that I helped out a while back. I thought for sure that the Morgan and the Broken Wing VAM were going to come back as cleaned. That just shows that if you never ask the question you will never get an answer.
    I had 13 coins go out in the mail today. Three went to NGC and one of those is a crossover. We'll have to see what happens with that one. I am afraid that none of these will make it through the grading process but I have to try. The rewards outweigh the risks considerably.
    Ten went to NCS for various reasons from details grading to conservation by NCS then certification by NGC. That 1819 Bust Quarter was one of them.
    This is a picture of the 1924 Broken wing VAM. It was graded XF 45. It's the lowest graded one on the population report but on the bright side there have only been 13 of them graded so far by NGC.
    [attachment=:name]
  7. mpsamus1
    I went to the coin shop a few days ago. I got there shortly after he purchased some items from a "walk in" and
    I went to the coin shop a few days ago. I got there shortly after he purchased some items from a "walk in" and as he usually does he pulled out some of the more interesting coins that he had recently acquired. Among them was this Bust Quarter. It is dated 1819 and appears to have a distinctly repunched denomination on the reverse.
    Early American/Bust coins are not my forte and I don't have access to any reference materials for them so I was hoping that someone might be able to clue me in on this one.
    I will sending it off to NCS on Friday to get an attribution and details grade on it. (It has been rather harshly cleaned) In the meantime my curiosity is about to drive me nuts!
    Thanks,
    Mike
    [attachment=:name]
  8. mpsamus1
    Grading is definitely an imperfect art. Sometimes I wonder how much of an artist that I am.
    I've gone back and forth with my successes and failures. Sometimes I do very well and sometimes I feel like I couldn't get a coin to grade if my life depended on it.
    I've submitted quite a few coins for crossovers from several grading companies with only two successes. One was an ANACS coin that didn't upgrade but it did cross. The other wasn't even a crossover--it was a designation review for a full steps war nickel. I've had both ANACS and PCGS graded coins come back, both of which were improperly cleaned or artificially toned.
    It seems that my greatest successes have been with buying raw coins and getting them graded. I don't know--maybe it's that I tend to let my guard down a little when I look at a Third Party professionally graded coin. After all they are the ones that do this for a living. They grade more coins in a month that I could ever hope to own. It just gets frustrating, not to mention expensive, when you find out that the coin that you just purchased has been altered in some unsavory way. But I'm a gambler as well as a glutton for punishment. I just purchased an ANACS graded MS 61 1934-S Peace Dollar and guess what I'm going to do with it I'll probably send it out the beginning of next week. Lets see what happens.
    In fact, due to my many disappointments, I recently began a new Signature Set on just this subject. It's only got three coins in it right now but give it time, I'll have more coins body bagged sooner or later. (I've gotten rid of most of my failures until now) After they get Bagged I'll send them to NCS and have them slab them and then I will put them in my set. It will be a little expensive but maybe someone else will be able to get something out of my failures.
    This one is one my successes. It's a coin that I have wanted since I first saw one when I was about 12 or 13 years old. I bought it raw. It was graded an MS 62--I took one look at it and knew that it was better than that. I was extremely surprised when I found out that it graded out as an MS 65. I was only hoping for an MS 64 at best. That just goes back to my opening remark. Sometimes I wonder how much of an artist that I really am.
    Mike
    [attachment=:name]
  9. mpsamus1
    Ultimately what it all boils down to is that something is only worth what someone else is willing to pay for it and that is certainly true for coins and coin collectors. Like it or not we have all got to pay attention to the value of a coin because sooner or later all of us are either going to buy one or sell one (or more).
    Otherwise there would not be such great price differences between coins with similar mintages and grades(in many cases). There are extenuating circumstances that may have caused the demise of any given date/mint coin(s). The 1933 gold pieces are good examples and there are many others that don't go quite to that extreme.
    There are many different price guides out there. Numismedia, PCGS, Coin Worlds Coin Values, and The Grey Sheet to name a few as well as the various auction companies like Teletrade and Heritage. I personally have found Numismedia values to be a little low on many coins for the "retail" market. PCGS is a little high on some. The Grey Sheet is a wholesale buy and sell guide for dealers. And the auction companies archives are prices that they have realized from their auctions. I try to use as many of these as possible to keep me abreast of the market. It also depends on whether I am buying or selling. As an end consumer I can't expect to pay Grey Sheet prices. I can try but it doesn't always work that way. When I'm selling I can't expect to get full retail for my coins. The dealer has to make money or he can't make a living for himself. The Auction companies have their selling fees etc.
    The whole gist of this is that there are many different sources for putting a value on your coins and the well informed buyer/seller will be the one to get the best prices whether he or she is buying or selling but you still have to remember that something is only worth what someone else is willing to pay for it.
    Below is the newest edition to my Signature set. It's a 1917-D Mercury Dime from The Pittman Collection
    Mike

  10. mpsamus1

    RE: TIME TO MOVE ON

    By mpsamus1,

    When I was younger I thought very much the same thing. I was starting out a family and I had no time for coins. My fiance', who was wise beyond her years, told me not to sell it. She told me that I would regret getting rid of it in later years.
    When I was younger I thought very much the same thing. I was starting out a family and I had no time for coins. My fiance', who was wise beyond her years, told me not to sell it. She told me that I would regret getting rid of it in later years. She was soo very right! Now that I am a little older and handicapped I am trying to get back into collecting again. It's an addiction that never completely goes away and I sure wish that I had some of the coins that I sold so many years ago!
    Now, I'm only 41 years old and I still have kids in the house. One will be graduating this year and going off to college soon. But I do have M.S. and I can't go camping or much of anything else "outdoors" with them. I don't blame you for wanting to spend time with them. I wish I could do some of those things with my kids. I have to find other ways. Just remember that some day the family will be gone and the body will give out. The only things that you will have left will be you and your wife with the occasional visits from the family. Everyone needs something to fill their spare time.
    My advice, which comes from my own experiences, is that if you want to set it aside then do so. But don't sell it. If you are truly addicted like I am you will most likely regret it like I do. Some of what you have you may be able to replace easily, some at great expense and some not at all. I know that some of what I had back then I may never find a gain and if I do it will cost me dearly. It gets expensive replacing what you had and why should you have to purchase the same things a second time just to get back to where you were when you when you stopped collecting in the first place.
    This is just a few of my thoughts. It's your life and your decision. If I had it to do all over again---I would't sell.
    Thanks for listening.
    Mike/mpsamus1
    1898 $1 NG
  11. mpsamus1
    Last night I went to the monthly meeting of my local coin club and I met a gentleman that, some years ago, had inherited some coins from his grandfather. He knows almost nothing about coins and
    was looking for someone to help sort and catalog what he has. I told him that I would be happy to help him and boy am I glad that I did! Now you have to remember that I am a man of somewhat limited means financially so I don't have the opportunity to see coins like these very often. I certainly can't afford many of them. This guy has some real gems. I got to actually hold a 1796 and a 1799 Draped Bust Dollar(s). He's got some really high grade seated coins as well as some very nice Bust coins. He's got hundreds of coins and I just did the first part of them tonight which included an AU 58 1833 1/2 Cent, an Unc. 1864 Lg Motto 2 cent piece, an VF 1858-D $1 gold piece and an 1853 US Assay Office $20 Gold Piece. He is going to come back Sunday so that we can go through some more. I feel as giddy as a school boy after his first kiss! Now, I understand that many of these coins need to be authenticated and graded but considering that these coins have been in his family for several generations, I think that there is a better than average chance that most of them are genuine. We'll soon see. After I catalog everything we will be sending in the better coins to be graded and/or anthenticated but, for now, what a blast!
  12. mpsamus1
    Let it not be said that the only place that I buy coins is on eBay.
    I found another Vam today! It's a duplicate, but I think that it may grade a little better than the one that I have in my set. It's a 1924 VAM 2 Doubled Reverse Peace Dollar. I got it out of my local coin dealers common box. He doesn't take the time to search through them for varieties when he buys them so I have a perfect opportunity to find that "diamond in th ruff". This is the third one that I have pulled out of his common and junk silver boxes in the last two weeks. So far I've gotten about seven from his inventory. None of them have been extremely rare ones but for the price who can argue? I'll have more money tied up in getting one of the three graded and attributed then I have in actually buying all of them.I've gotten some other very good buys from him also and although eBay has provided the bulk of my collection it's not the only place that I look for coins. I go to coin shows, shops, and flea markets. I'll buy from friends, family, etc. as well as online auctions like eBay, Heritage and Teletrade. I'm not very picky. Just as long as it's legal, I'll go there. It just goes to show that "luck" is what you make it and where you look for it. If you take the time to learn the coin(s) and how to grade them and sometimes are willing to search where others don't want to you might be surprised what you can find.This is one of my most recent "good" buys from my local dealer. I bought it as an AU.Happy HuntingMikeCollectors
  13. mpsamus1
    If coin collecting is not an addiction then
    If coin collecting is not an addiction then why do they call the people that sell them "Dealers"?
    If it is an addiction when are they going to start forming local chapters of CCA ? (Coin Collectors Anonymous) or NA (Numistmatists Anonymous)
    If having this much fun is wrong, I don't want to be right.
    Below is another of my better eBay purchases. I bought it raw for $108.00.
     
    1934-S $1
  14. mpsamus1
    My local coin dealer says that I'm lucky for getting some of the good buys that I have gotten on eBay.
    Luck is involved but that's not all there is to it. My local "Dealer" and his mentor (the real owner) have attemted purchasing coins on eBay and have had less than satisfactory results. Me--I've done rather well. I spend alot of time watching and studying the coins that I am considering buying and I've seen and heard some of the horror stories that have happened. Yes, I have made some poor purchases myself but, by and large, I've come out well ahead of the "game". Some of my best coins were bought on eBay. If you take your time and search around you can find some very good buys. I've found that I do the best when I'm just scanning the listings for what ever looks good. When I find something then I put it in my watch list and wait. I'm often watching 20 or more items at any given time. I've found that if I go looking for a specific coin I can never find anything good and I either end up paying too much or I end up with something that isn't that great. I've also found that a good picture program helps alot. With it you can modify the picture that is with the listing (many of which are terrible) to make it easier to see the coin(s) in question. After I've done all of this then I have to formulate my own opinion about the grade of the coin(s). Then I'll make my final decision based on the current bid in the final minutes/seconds of the auction. Even with all the searching, watching, studying, etc. sometomes you have to play a hunch and roll the dice. Sometimes you get the Bear and sometimes the Bear gets you. Personally, I like getting the Bear before he gets me.
    Sooo, Is it Luck, Skill, Knowledge, Experience? All of these. None of these. I don't know--I'm just having a heck of alot of fun doing it. If I lose a little money doing it it's no worse than playing the lottery. At least this way I've got more than just a little piece of paper to show for my money.
    This is a little gem that I picked up on eBay. I bought it as an MS 64. I sent it back in and it came back graded MS 65.
    Collectors
  15. mpsamus1
    Take a look at my Signature Set "Mike's Pedigrees". It's got a little write up about LaVere Redfield as well as a few other of the more prominent pedigrees of our time. And if you get a chance, shoot me an email and tell me what you think of it.
    Happy Holidays to all.
    MikeThis is my Redfield Dollar.1891-S Red
  16. mpsamus1
    I went by my local Coin Dealer today just for a visit
    and when I got there he was going through a recent purchase. As I started nosing around and going through what he had just purchased (generally making a pest of myself)there was a roll of pennies that the seller/original owner had purchased from the bank on April 15th, 1943. I know this because he wrote the date that he purchased it on the paper roll. This roll hasn't seen the light of day for over 60 years! I didn't think there were any Original Bank Rolls of Steel Cents left. I'm not a big collector of Lincoln Cents but this is one that I just had to have so I handed him a check for $50 and headed for the house! I didn't think that $1.00 per coin was a bad price. I figure the collector value is worth more than that but the historical value is priceless! What a great find!
  17. mpsamus1

    RE. easier first

    By mpsamus1,

    By no means am I happy with the way that NGC grades all of the time.
    But, with that being said, I think that they do a good job overall.
    Yes, I've had some coins bodybagged that I think should have been slabbed but I've also had some coins slabbed that I thought would get "bagged" for sure. The one thing that I have learned through all of my experiences with getting coins graded is to ask myself "why did they do this" before I jump to the conclusion that these people are nuts and haven't got a clue. Usually after I examine the coin(s) in question and ask myself that question I can (on an average) figure out why they did it that way.
    When it comes to cleaned coins. If there is even a chance that a coin has been cleaned they will "bag" it. They do have a reputation to uphold and they can't take the chance of risking that. After all that is what each one of us pays for--getting our coins graded by one of the most reliable grading companies in the business!
    As far as turn around times, one must consider all of the steps that are included in the grading process as well as the sheer volume of coins/customers that NGC has. My own Collector Society number is over the 10,000 mark and my last submission was about 20 coins. You do the math and I'm still a little guy. There are some collectors and dealers that submit coins by the hundreds. At one time or another all of us tend to overlook these factors. The GSA coins do not have to go through some of these steps. After all, there is little to no chance that these coins have been counterfeited, altered or cleaned so these steps can be omitted and they can go straight to grading and where they do not have to be slabbed they can be labled and shipped. Any raw coins that are submitted will have to be put in line behind all of the other raw coins that still have to go through these steps. And let's face it, the majority of the coins that are submitted are raw. Coins like the GSA coins are, by far, the minority.
    I hope this helps explain a few things.
    Mike
    This is an 1893-O Morgan Dollar that I didn't think would make the grade. It's got a couple of bumps on the reverse rim and I thought it would get bagged for rim damage but I guess it wasn't that bad. It graded out at G-4. It's not a spectacular example of a Morgan Dollar but with a mintange of just 300,000 it's a tough one to find.
    1893-O $1