Star City Homer

On 12/4/2019 at 11:43 AM, kbbpll said:

Perhaps a bit off the mark there.

"Certified Collectibles Group Files Lawsuit Alleging Tens of Millions of Dollars in Damages Caused by Failures of Software Consulting Firm Globant S.A. and its US Subsidiary"

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190808005907/en/Certified-Collectibles-Group-Files-Lawsuit-Alleging-Tens

 

Whoa!  Sounds pretty crazy...and makes a few things make more sense.  I still hope for the day my custom set gets an upgraded appearance.

Can I ask how you contacted a specific person about a special slab?  I have something I'd like slabbed in an oversize holder.  It's a rectangle, and smaller than medals that are housed in the larger holders.  And, yes, there is a coin involved :D. It's just I'd like it preserved as is...and the one time I talked to someone they didn't quite understand (I don't think) and/or might not have been the right person.  I hesitate to send it in because if it's removed from the current holder then the uniqueness is completely lost.

To make this a little more clear, the label on this Ministry of Finance holder is getting smudged and I'd like to protect it.  Basically I want to slab the slab.  Side by side with another NGC slab for size.  I do NOT want the coin removed from the MoF holder under any circumstances.

I don't buy too many CAC coins seeing as I'm primarily a non-US collector. 

That said, I do have a 7070 I occasionally buy coins for, and I like putting in decent coins.  The last CAC coin I bought was the gold Eagle (Indian headdress).  I wanted a nice one.  Found a reasonably common date one I liked and it happened to be in a PCGS MS-63, green bean slab.  Told the seller (at Baltimore) I was going to take it home and hand it over to my slab cracker and stick it in my album.  His eyes kind of bugged out at that one, but it was a generic (okay nice) one so so what? IIRC I was swapping bullion so it didn't matter on the 'price' so much given gold fluctuations at the time.  

I don't seek out WINGS stickers but have checked them out at shows and have bought a few.  He does have an eye and the ones I've gotten I've been pretty darn pleased with.  Nothing wrong with second opinions and that guy's a good one to get it from.

World coins and low mintages go hand in hand.  I do have some French Territory essais where the mintages are in the low 100s.  At one point I had a Uruguay essai of the 1930 10 cent in gold, mintage was 60.  I loved it, but never truly delved into the Uruguay coins and finally sold.  It did spark my love of art deco medals though as the designer of the coin did many medals, and in the usual rabbit hole fashion I've ended up with more than a few medals where the only explanation is 'well, it's art deco and I like it'.

As for what I currently have, and not including essais, provas, or proofs (the French would win here in my current collection), I can turn to Albania.  The circulation base metal and silver coins generally were in the 500,000-2,000,000 range IIRC.  The gold coins had much smaller mintages.

For one of the first types, the overall mintage was 6000, however the first 100 and the last 5900 had a design change.  Of the 100 minted, 90 were documented as melted (and this is reasonably supported by auction appearances....though I suppose you never know what might be buried in a European collection...).  On the revers, by the prong at the 8 o'clock position, you can see a fasces.  After the first 100 were made, the fasces was removed.

For the larger denominations the mintages were in the mid 2000s.  By 1937 and 1938 the largest 100 FrA had mintages of 500.  These last did have reverses that were noting events (anniversary  of the King's reign, marriage), but the silver ones contemporaneously produced did share this and were circulating coinage.  I 'presume' the same for the gold as well, at least as much as gold 'circulated', which wasn't much.

On 11/23/2019 at 1:27 AM, JKK said:

Normally the suggested plan is one coin per pic and thread, but in a mass identification case I can see doing nine at a time in a tic tac toe format. I'd draw the octothorpe # on a piece of paper, lay out nine coins, shoot, flip all in place (careful of alignment--we aren't going to rotate them ourselves), shoot, post the pics. We can probably rip through them if you take good sharp shots, and that would save you a ton of work. If you wanted to do it really smart, you'd sharpie a number in each cell of the octothorpe, so that people could say, "number 4 is an Italian 50 lire" or "number 9 is a Vichy 50 centime piece." 

Completely off topic, but I learned a new word today.  And yet another name for #.  Pound.  Number.  Hashtag.  Octothorpe.  Totally cool.

@Tridmn Learning to do photos is time consuming, fun, and worthwhile.  And most basic photomanipulation programs, including whatever you are opening the photo with on a chromebook (caveat, I don't have one), has a menu item somewhere saying 'resize'.  So, after cropping the extraneous, you can also resize the image to one more suitable for posting on a webpage like this.  Generally a square of 800x800 or a rectangle of 800x1600 is more than enough to fill a computer screen.  These aren't the super high quality images from the pros but will be more than enough to ID.

Agree with @JKK that if you do have multiples of this kind of quality, several in a shot is a great idea.  If you can't find something in Krause, or on Numista.com, someone might be able to help.  Also, the old paper Krause used to have a few pages of 'identifier' pages where you could narrow a type based on imagery.  Plus, there is 'an app for that' it turns out.  I haven't used it, and can't tell how complete it is, but it's a cool idea.

Apple

Google

and a couple websites I just googled and will have to look at now...

http://worldcoingallery.com/Inst-ID/page1.html

https://coinscatalog.net/identify

I fear doing this, especially on a custom set where it would be trickier to re-create, and where I would lose the old formatting.  Hope you can re-build it without too much trouble.

Could you look into filling out the modern and current Japanese mint state sets?  Off the top of my head I think there is one for the 50 yen coins, but not the 1, 5, 10, 100, or 500.  There are type sets for the 100/500, but not the date runs.  My little OC heart just wants to see them all even though I have barely any of them.  Even so, my 'official' type set really needs to add a couple Emperors, so I will end up with a few   

Thanks!

I have almost zero interest in Morgans/Peace dollars, but if I suddenly got 1500 I would begin to get interested! 

As there is no rush I would do what you have done, sorting by dates/mint marks and then keep them in tubes. 

Next up, 'buy the book' and start learning about VAMs.  Any treasures by condition, eye appeal, value (over $200 is a good metric IMO) send in for slabbing.  Otherwise keep an album for the interesting coins (or a row box with inert flips and labels), keep the rest in tubes. 

If I ever felt the need to sell for cash, the tubes would be the first to go. 

You might find you are now interested in the coins, or at least can sell them at your leisure.  Shoot, you could probably sell the 'junk' ones to fund any buys if you do decide to make it a collection.

You already have a collector mentality, you just might find you are sucked into coins after all!  Or, the bullion is a nice little hedge.  Shoot at current prices, you have a tidy little sum there!

@Iceman, I am a big fan of Japanese coins.  I started with a Dansco album, but ended up wanting better coins.  Now I have a virtual Dansco (well and a lot more sets too) type set.  Japanese type custom set  edited to add:  I hit enter to quickly.  In any case, there are many appealing coins!

6 hours ago, DWLange said:

NGC no longer has any of the non-Edge View cores. You could submit the coin for reholder service and request clearly on the form that it be rotated slightly to not obscure the fasces. NGC does this sometimes with Mint Error coins to avoid covering up a key feature of the error.

Thank you!  I will consider it.  Rotation may hurt my OC sensibilities though.  

3 hours ago, Just Bob said:

If your collection ever goes to auction in my lifetime, I REALLY want a copy of the auction catalog(s)!

I'm not sure there are enough people interested in Albanian coins to make that happen....a few would go on in a 'better auction' and the rest would get dumped in a non-impressive venue.    Otherwise that would be cool except I'll probably be dead first     I'm so buried in these I will have to BE buried to let go.  

Is it possible to get a coin re-slabbed into a holder without the prongs (ie the old style)?  I have a very rare coin and the design feature that is the distinguishing feature happens to fall right where the prong hits, partially obscuring and very much distracting from it.  The coin has nothing of interest on the rims to require visualization with the prongs.  

Here is the view of the reverse.  The fasces mark near 8 o'clock is what makes this a big deal.  The auction house I bought it from had imaged it before slabbing and whenever I think of the unlsabbed photo I get a little wistful.  It would be lovely to have that mark visible fully while still in the slab.

The coin in question

Original mintage for the total series 6000.  100 were produced with the fasces.  90 were melted.  Total pop 10.  So, seeing the fasces would be fantastic.

I hang both places plus 'around the corner' at one of the non-TPG message boards.  Same icon, different user name here once there was a melding collector society names/board names --  I started doing the registry here as the sets were more my speed but used the Homer name as that was the website I started noodling around with and I stuck with it here.  In any case, still have the registry stuff here as these align more with my collecting.  NGC customer service has always been outstanding and though the message boards are slower, they are still fun enough.  Just need to be patient if you are waiting for a response from a fellow board member.

Agree.  Decimals.  And when starting a few weirdo sets I knew there'd be gaps so I used non-contiguous numbers as well to leave more room for later add ins.  

Like the Shooting Talers?  They are gorgeous!  I only have one, and it's something I look at and wonder if I should keep it.  No reason to sell it, but it's the only shooting taler I've got.  I keep thinking I need to downsize and 'focus'

I woke up this morning thinking that 'clearly the first King of the Isle of Man was a time traveller or alien...the cloak of invisibility and the boat moving without sails sound like technology at work'.  Must have been having odd dreams...

NCLT is tough.  Technically 'money' as they are 'legal tender' and have denominations.  Though I really like the design and story, it's appealing to my exonumia/medal collecting heart, not my numismatic heart.  Really cool looking.  I have plenty of 'pretty bullion', commemoratives, and NCLT myself, but in my heart of hearts, it's just not money or coins to me.  

18 hours ago, ilLOminatus said:

Nice pickup, you really love Japanese coins don't you . Enjoy your latest acquisitions, cheers

Yes-my true core collection :).   Add in Albania and medals and I am (quite literally) all over the map.  Medals are nice as they can be anything.  My last haul (eBay and Stephen Album auction sourced).  It always amuses me to put a few together and see if I had a theme going.  Other than females, these don't really have much other than tracking from Art Nouveau to Art Deco.  

Two new coins I'm happy with, both in NGC slabs with relatively modest grades.  They were lumped together as a discount (?) lot at a Heritage weekly.  But both are very interesting variants for their respective year.  One was even labeled with the variety.  Not totally overlooked as I paid about double the estimate, but certainly not what I expected them to go for.

The first is an MS-62, 1873 50 sen with the 'long year' variety.  My only other one (and one I was thrilled to have the opportunity to get at the time) is a details AU with environmental damage.  Never thought I'd see a straight graded one (I have an MS-65 slab but that coin is actually the short year...and next time I'm at a show it's coming with me to get a corrected label).  Many multiple value of the regular 'short year', even at circulated grades which is less common with the Japanese catalog.

The second coin is an 1897 50 sen.  Like several years there is a difference between the 'stem cut facing up' vs. 'down' version.  For this year the 'stem cut facing up' is a scarcity.  I've seen the variety for at least one year labeled, so I suspect the variety option was not chosen when it was submitted.  

Neither coin is superb, but as varieties they got me excited.  My pictures do suck as the overhead lighting has been changed in the basement...it's messing with my lamp set up and neither is quite as ugly as its photo.

Nothing wrong with a nice toaster   Nice Toaster

On 7/8/2019 at 8:11 PM, MarkFeld said:

I understand. And believe me, I can relate and empathize!

On most days, I receive multiple inquiries of the type you mentioned. I’m an expert...unless or until I tell someone something they don’t want to hear. You know, like that their coin with random circulation marks isn’t covered with letters, numbers or amazing images. And/or that their pocket change isn't worth hundreds, thousands or even millions of dollars. At that point, I”m sometimes told that I don’t know what I’m talking about.😉

...

 

 

 

 

2 hours ago, coinman_23885 said:

I had an interesting thought that might simplify the process.  Skip Fazzari, a former NCS/NGC grader and now ICG grader, posts as Insider2 on the CU Forums.  Skip likes this sort of thing to show off (not a snide remark - he's a nice guy, but he likes to impress others).  This would be right up his alley. Post this with the NGC results, better images, and then make a "contest" thread to see if you can convince Skip to do all the work for fun (read as free) based on the images/diagnostics.  If he is successful in authenticating it, print Skip's notes and submit to ICG.    You'll know ahead of time before spending submission fees and all of the postage and insurance.   If he can't tell you based on the photos, I'm sure he'd love to examine it under his electron microscope if you submit it to ICG.    Either way, if you pique his interest, I think he would spend far more time on this than the average TPG/TPG grader would.

@GW He posts as Insider over at CT as well if you have an account at one and not the other.  I am worse than useless when it comes to these...my first thought was 'make it a pocket piece'.  Obviously there is more here going on than that 

I can think of one dealer specifically that has made a great deal of noise beating the PCGS is the "ONLY" way to collect and it darn well better have a "CAC" sticker.  ANYthing else is inferior and clearly not good enough.  . 

Basically picking a segment of the market and packaging it a certain way and yelling from the rooftops it's their way or the highway (ie good enough vs. second rate).  Honestly drives me nuts.  Yes the material is gorgeous and high end, but guess what, no one gets to pick for me what/how/the level/the material I want to collect...and no, you don't get to tell me what is the 'right' way to enjoy MY HOBBY.

Honestly it feels slimy and reminds me of a slick talking annuities or whole life salesman trying to tell me that only he knows how to manage my money.  Um no, no one cares as much about my money as me and yes the returns will be great, but the great returns are those going into your pocket not mine.

Don't get me wrong, I love my PCGS coins, I love my NGC coins, I love my ANACs coins (and I even have a SEGS or ICG running around too).  What ties it all together are the COINS.  And my registry game is NGC as it suits my collection.

I've said it once and I'll say it again.  It makes SENSE for NGC to run an NGC only registry.  And the out of proportion ire if not outright fury I've seen directed at NGC is irritating.  Lets say company A sells puppies.  Company B sells puppies and kittens.  People see room for both companies.  But when company B decides to focus only on kittens suddenly there is outrage they 'only' sell kittens now.  Puppies are still available.  Kittens are still available.  Why should only one company be in trouble for being exclusive?  Shouldn't company A been feeling the same heat?  It's so odd.  

And adopt from shelters/rescues/reputable breeders, spay and neuter.  Don't buy REAL puppies and kittens from stores.  This was just an example.  Shoot, go get an adult greyhound (or other dog and after doing your homework) or an adult cat.  Who needs puppies and kittens anyway...your rugs will thank you. 

Maybe things are different for collectors of elongated cents?  Perhaps a gently worded email to her to suggest that she leaves the cleaning to the buyers would be well received.  Or not and she might block you   

I was looking for the Great Britain Queen’s Beasts in platinum. Specifically the 100 pound mint state. Despite my resolution to separate my bullion from my collecting, somehow I’ve ended up adding a couple more ‘prettybullion’ coins. I guess Great Britain is my exception to that rule...

Also there is a discrepancy between the registry and part of the census. One uses Great Britain and the other uses United Kingdom as the category name. 

Edited as I’m on my phone and it appears as though it’s either different app vs website or the categories are being edited. 

6 hours ago, Maribeth said:

Hello Laymantao, 

Thank you for bringing this to our attention.  Any necessary updates have been complete.  Please email registry@ngccoin.com if you need further assistance.

Out of curiosity, do the emails to registry@ngccoin.com typically get a response if it's just a slot/new set request?  I've always gotten very positive responses here, but don't want to clutter up with what I consider a trivial set request.  But then I'm not sure if my request went through