Revenant

1 hour ago, Fenntucky Mike said:

Both. The Zimbabwe signature set is amazing, I have a lot of respect for that set and I tend to hold signature/custom sets in higher regard due to the added thought and work in constructing them. I have been and still am focusing more on notes these days, so I probably am showing a little favoritism at the moment. I've shifted away from coins as my prime focus for the moment due to the increase in spot, along with a lot of people joining in on modern NCLT series that I collect which ramped up prices considerably, which is both good and bad. I'll be shifting back to the coin side of my collection shortly as I have aspirations of constructing some IoM sets yet this year and I need to use up the ol' credits as well. PMG plaques number fewer in total but plaque per capita hadn't really entered into my mind until now. 

As always - Thanks, that means a lot.

Now that I think of it, I may do some background work and make this a PMG journal about this later but a great thing (to me) about that set is that it's actually not that hard to build or that expensive to build. I think at the time I won I'd spent $2,000-3,000 on it (I wasn't keeping close tabs in the end as I made my final push in the 2nd half of last year). Which is only 4-6 times the value of the grading credit you win and not much at all compared to what some people spend on just one note for some sets. That set stands completely on the presentation and the message of it and, having won, it undermines that narrative that money and deep pockets trumps everything in the registry awards.

Good luck with yours. Take your time with it and enjoy it. I've been enjoying taking a bit of a step back after the win but I'm finally moving again to use some of these credits, get some things to fill in holes and bolt on a coin set to what has been a note-based affair.  I need that break but I'm increasingly excited again to get some of these things done and... maybe... pick the next big project. I have several ideas. I just need to decide what my focus going forward is going to be.

3 hours ago, coinsbygary said:

Today I have a Nikon Z-5 mirrorless, full frame camera, and now I'm finally back to shooting 35mm pictures.

Most of my coin photos these days are done with a D600 and a 105 mm VR macro lens. It's heftier than the Z-5 but I like DSLRs.

19 hours ago, coinsandmedals said:

Once again, congratulations! You have a rather impressive set of plaques there. For the record, the Morgan I received was number -036, but it would be interesting to see who received the first and last number. 

Congrats to you again. I'm sure you'll have more coming your way in the future.:)

1 hour ago, Fenntucky Mike said:

Looks great! I like that PMG plaque the best.  

I am a little curious as to why you say that. Is it appreciation for the set that its linked to, do you like PMG / notes collecting more these days?

Interestingly, I think the PMG plaque (PMG plaques in general and the PMG Best Presented more so) are rarer / fewer in absolute number than most NGC awards just because PMG gives so many fewer, but I think there are more of them per registered user on the PMG side because the PMG user base is so much smaller.

1 hour ago, Fenntucky Mike said:

All well deserved and congratulations again.

Thanks and congrats to you. It'll be great to see your Ukrainian note set recognized with a "Best Presented" or similar honor - and I see that as being inevitable unless they just stop giving them out in the next couple of years. You're on track to build that into one of the great sets on the PMG side.

7 hours ago, coinsbygary said:

Say, I just noticed the camera you have on your bookshelf is much like the first camera I owned as a youth interested in photography. My parents gave it to me for Christmas one year. The yellow focus adjust window connected to a gear that manually focuses the lens is exactly the same as on my camera. The only thing I wish is that I still owned that camera. I don't remember when I lost or sold it but I sure regret it. Gary 

The camera is an Argus C3. I'm a photo nerd so in addition to coins and other things I collect vintage and antique cameras- sorry if those words wound you 🤣.

Get on eBay and search Argus C3. If you want one you can have it probably for $40-50.

Trivia here but Collin Creevy (sp?) Uses an Argus C3 with the flash in the Harry Potter film series.

4 hours ago, coinsbygary said:

 

1. NGC sent the 2020 registry winners a choice-uncirculated coin.
2. NGC sent the 2020 registry winners a 140 year old coin.
3. At 38.1 mm in diameter, NGC sent the 2020 registry award winners a large coin.
4. Finally, NGC sent the 2020 registry winners a silver coin!

It is also one of the most graded and most collected series and popular in the Registry. How many categories can claim registered sets in the THOUSANDS?

You seem to have a lot of strong feelings over a mintmark on NCLT.

17 minutes ago, coinsandmedals said:

Congratulations to you as well! You make several excellent points, which are even more impressive when considering how many they gave out. I am thrilled with the coin I received, although it will likely remain the only Morgan dollar in my collection for some time. 

Honestly, the sheer number that they had to give away - and the unstated expectation that everyone would be getting the same / mostly the same thing - is the main reason I was REALLY expecting the coin to be 2020 NCLT, just because those would fit because of the year and would be easy to get in an arbitrarily large number in the same basic grade / condition (69/70).

They really surprised me with this one, managing to give 50+ people MS64 Morgans from San Francisco from just a couple of years, but, as Gary said, they are more common dates. Even then, I really wonder if it was at all "interesting" to round them up and how they went about it - Did they go into the market for RAW coins until they had enough MS64s? Did they buy some of their previously graded MS64's on the market? A little of both?

55 minutes ago, coinsandmedals said:

The first part of your response really made me chuckle! I’m sure I have it coming if I keep up at this pace. 

Oh, Michael’s is a good thought. I purchased my last one at Hobby Lobby, but the closest one is over an hour away. I may check Michael’s if we find ourselves in that area this weekend. I appreciate the tip! 

Thank you! Likewise, you’ve amounted a good number yourself over the years. How many are you up to now? 

The thing about Michael's is they don't have a section for coin stuff - at least not here - where Hobby Lobby does so you can't buy flips and albums there. But I like the stands I get there. They have other ones of course but I like the clear plastic ones I get - partially because they're like bigger versions of my coin stands, which will help make a nice display. But I'm an art nerd that loves floating mount frames.  They have a 5" and 8" version. I use the 5" version.

I'm up to 6 total - 5 NGC (4 Journal, 1 Best Presented), and 1 PMG (Best Presented). The side-eye from the wife has increased drastically since #5 arrived I find.  My joke about going for the tri-fecta and winnign something in the Comics Registry was ... not well received.

Side note on Micheal's: Remember that they do 40% of 1 regular price item a lot. Always check and print that coupon before going if you go!

13 hours ago, ColonialCoinsUK said:

Congratulations - I have several #1 sets but for most of them mine is the only set!Quite easy to do in the 'World coins' - move to the dark side the possibilties are endless

It seems to very much depend on the coin / set / category. If you go with something fairly popular like the French Roosters, the "Angels," British Soveriegns or anything decently popular or know then you're likely to have at least 1 or 3 strong competitors.

It didn't used to be this way but there's 20 ranked sets in the Willem III 10G category! 20! Back in the day (13 years ago?) I think I was one of 3 or 4 sets.

I find that sticking to agreed budgets goes a long way in securing and keeping support and goodwill.  

Give it time. As they increase in number she'll probably roll her eyes more. It's even better when they tease you for how you win awards for how you write about how much of a nerd you are.

I pick up my stands at Michael's. They have a nice, simple clear plastic one that's a really good size for these plaques and I've been able to have them all on the same exact stands over the years even though I've needed to add more stands over a span of years now. Where do you go for yours?

Congrats on two awards in two years - quite an accomplishment there!

31 minutes ago, Fenntucky Mike said:

I've never found the shipment from my mailbox to NGC to cause much angst. Waiting for the the coins to be received, then the descriptions added to the online submission tracking, scheduled for grading, shipped with grades now viewable and finally their arrival to you. During those steps is when my mind is racing with possibilities/scenarios, all worst case. The wait is never easy. Would love to see the Bahama's gold and CW tokens when they are done. 

 

Absent a prior bad experience I think I'd be the same but that bad experience combined with how important those 10G coins are to me makes problems for my risk-management, loss-prevention-focused brain.

I had once though the Bahamas coin would be the 20th graded gold coin that filled tbe gold box but now it's going to be the 23rd I think. This dragged on for me that long. Lol

You never know! There's someone on the PMG side that beats me in Zimbabwe notes now but I still have some #1 sets because they don't compete / list in every category. Of course, PMG doesn't do certs or ribbons, so there is that major difference.

7 minutes ago, deposito said:

US Mint has nothing I want.  I'd take those gold 1916 rehashes from 2016 if I found them in a parking lot, but that's about it.

Ah, man. I'd love a set of those in part because I was married in '16 and had my first kid in '16, but the prices on those is steep. There's just other things I'd rather have.

Part of what I'm seeing is that the gold coins I've been wanting to buy lately are usually treated and sold as bullion with somewhat higher premiums - usually spot +20-30% - and they float up or down with spot. However, when the pandemic hit spot prices dropped and premiums exploded. Even when spot came back up the premiums never fully went back down, and a year plus later you still get much higher premiums on even new NCLT and that has also jacked up the premiums on the older gold coins.

7 hours ago, ColonialCoinsUK said:

The list is not strictly LMU but the specification is the same. Then there are all the silver and copper issues too and a full set of gold coins of the German States is probably even more of a challenge!

Going for full sets of just about anything gold is out of my budget and beyond my current ambitions. I'm just going to keep adding these as I get a chance at prices I can tolerate. 😅

1 hour ago, coinsbygary said:

Don't forget about the Spanish 20 peseta gold coin which went into circulation in 1890 through 1904 with restrikes of the original dies dating 1961 and 1962. The number engraved into the obverse stars denotes the year of striking. (For example, 19 in the left star and 61 in the right star stands for 1961 and 18 in the left star and 90 in the right star for 1890). The date on the coin denotes the year of its authorization. When Spain adopted the peseta, they did so with the intention of joining the Latin Monetary Union. This never came to pass but their coins were all aligned with the other "20" gold coins nonetheless. The weight of the 20 peseta is exactly that of your 20 lire coin at 6.4516 grams. The Danish 20 kroner and Netherlands 10 Golden are in a class all by themselves. The Danes were aligned to the Scandinavian Monetary Union with Sweden and Norway. Their 20 Kroner gold coin has an AGW of .2593oz pure gold. 

I'll keep that in mind.  

These coins are nice to collect type coins of and they've largely replaced the Silver NCLT as my passion and graded coin / registry / "higher-end" collecting focus. 1) They're gold. 2) They're pretty. 3) There's a lot of nice, fun variety and 4) they're big enough to be enjoyable and not teany-tiny like a US gold dollar and they're still cheap enough to be reasonably affordable in nice grades.

I have a Swiss 10F and I've wanted a 20F for a while but it hasn't happened yet. That'll probably be next. Then I might look into the 20 Kroner or the Peseta since you're bringing those up for me. I've been focused on Europe but maybe one of these days I'll branch into Latin America, like some of the Colombian gold issues from this period.

1 hour ago, deposito said:

I think at least for the late 1800s italy and friends were in a "Latin monetary union" that broke down when it turned out the vatican was quietly debasing its coins

kaiser is collectable always.  made a great coin say whatever else you want about him.  I sold one of those 1900 20 marks 2 years ago and sort of regret that. 

That would make sense and explain why they all have the same agw. Clearly I need to look into this more. 😅 But, yeah, Italy, France, Switzerland and I think the Netherlands too are all the same and the British Sovereign, the US $5 coin and the Prussian 20 Mark all seem to be roughly equivalent.

Now that I have more than 3 coins I think I want to build out a custom set for these because that set would take all of my 1-coin registry sets and present them in the way that I think of them.

Edit: I take that back. The 10 Golden is about 5%ish more than the 20 Franc/Lire.

5 hours ago, coinsbygary said:

Believe me, the thought has crossed my mind to sell the Una and the Lion coin. What holds me back is that I am a collector, not a dealer or an investor. Collectors have a mindset to hang on to their coins like they are precious treasures. Yes, at some point in my life my entire collection will be sold. But for now, I really like that coin. Therefore, a profit is not realized unless you cash in and I won't be taking out a coin equity loan on it anytime soon. In other words the coin will remain what it was worth to me when I bought it until I sell it. It just feels good to have my coin go up in value like that. Gary

I hear ya,  and I'm not an investor or dealer,, but there's a number of good coins you could get for that kind of money and I suspect you could buy it back for less later, if you're patient. I seek to maximize enjoyment more so than wealth. Lol

I think the mintage caps on some these things and the artificial rarity is a bit silly. Most of these things come way down in price just a few years later. I don't think I'd pay hype-prices either. If I were you I'd be sorely tempted to sell the one if I could get $4K for it. It doesn't feel like that's going to stick long term - they usually don't.  

16 hours ago, deposito said:

yeah when I saw your post headline I was afraid I'd learn that NGC slabs disintegrate after 25 years or something.  so much for "conservation."  glad to hear that's not the story

Yeah... that implication occurred to me after I made the post. 🤣😅 I felt a bit silly for it in hindsight, but they say that is 20/20. Lol

Edit: There. I've made changes to the title and added a banner image to make it clearer!  

9 hours ago, deposito said:

It does feel good, incidentally, to lean your head back and put a silver dollar on your forehead for a while.  Hope it helps, and the FDA has not evaluated these comments 

I keep a 10-coin tube of 1 oz silver Buffalo rounds at my desk and mess around with them sometimes when I'm (rarely) not trying to make something work or personal happen.

6 hours ago, deposito said:

but Legos are forever

There's some truth to, "not all plastic is created equal." It just happens that toys tend to made of cheaper plastic that will degrade - but it is cheaper than longer-lasting plastic like what NGC used in these slabs I have from 1993 that are still going strong. Lol

On 3/6/2021 at 2:42 PM, Coinbuf said:

The one I have is from Lighthouse so that may be where you have seen it, it is the three tray (the bottom tray is the bottom of the case and does not remove) display box.   I really like it as it holds both sets with a couple of slots for extras, in case lol.  No issues with the lid opening or closing and it stays open with no problems, here is a shot of it with the top two trays pulled out (note you can see some of my imposter coins ).  If I was only doing one set or a sub set I probably would have gone with one of the glass top designs.

Yeah. I'm seriously thinking I'm going to get a 5-8 coin glass top case and put some 100-140 year old European gold in there.

Admit it... you just like making things harder on yourself. 

2 hours ago, Coinbuf said:

 

I've seen these. Does the lid stay up well / easily to display the coins? I'd been leaning towards something with a glass window for the lid so I could be sure I could actually see the coins in the case. That had me seriously thinking about this Lighthouse case.