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Revenant

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Journal Entries posted by Revenant

  1. Revenant
    I am content. - John Quincey Adams, Last Words
    As crazy as things get around here dealing with school and work it's easy to complain about life. This week though I'm pulling up on a bit of a milestone. In 6 days I'll be 22 years old. Because of issues I'm not going to get into, I was lucky to make it to my first birthday, lucky to make it out of high school alive (long story), and sometimes you just have to wonder how you made it through 2 decades. Last year, upon reaching 21, I purchased a particular coin that remains unique and distinct within my collection to try and mark the event. I'm not your average college student, I'm not big on drinking and parties, but I still felt the need to mark the occasion in some meaningful way. That coin traveled with me for most of year thereafter. I've been wondering if I might come up with something similar for this year. A job transition and the short-term budget crunch that's caused would make that a little hard though. Maybe I'm just being silly; I'm 22, not 52. Losing a childhood friend about 2 months ago and now hearing about Michael's son reminds me again that not everyone gets so far.
    My first niece is about 14 months old now. I'm holding on to some coins that I'll give to her when the time seems right (God knows when that will be). They're Jefferson dollars with the FD label, released from the mint within about a week of her birth. Sometimes I wonder if she'll even like me. I look enough like my brother that the first time she saw me she got confused and started crying. Such a look of consternation I've never seen on a baby's face. Maybe I should shave more so we won't both have beards...
    I've never considered myself particularly eloquent, so I hope everyone will forgive me for using quotes from much better writers.
    "And so I'm happy, tonight.
    I'm not worried about anything.
    I'm not fearing any man!
    Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!!"
    -Martin Luther King Jr, one day before he was killed. Sometimes I wonder if somehow he knew.
    "Between the desire, And the spasm
    Between the potency, And the existence
    Between the essence, And the descent
    Falls the Shadow
    For Thine is the Kingdom
    For Thine is, Life is, For Thine is the
    This is the way the world ends
    This is the way the world ends
    This is the way the world ends
    Not with a bang but a whimper."
    ?T.S. Eliot, "The Hollow Men" (1925)
  2. Revenant

    Thanks?

    By Revenant,

    ? It?s an honor.
    Truth be told, I was shocked for a moment when I refreshed my page and saw a new little icon sitting next to my name. I think we all hope that we might receive such recognition but I personally didn?t think I?d get it. There are so many other journal authors that write frequently with a passion and a conviction that I can only admire. It adds a certain force to their writing that?s hard to miss.
    I?ve been kinda lost the last couple of weeks as far as ?where do I go from here?? The new year also brings a certain emphasis on ?looking back.? So for the last week or so I?ve been using my journals for exactly what the name suggests, I?ve been re-reading them to reconnect with and reappraise some of my thoughts and feelings regarding my collection. I have to say I rather enjoyed most of the 2008 entries. It was fun revisiting those memories. I started to cringe when I got back into the 2007 journals though. My god! I was lame! I don?t know how anyone tolerated me. Perception and time are really funny because I honestly didn?t think I?d changed much in the way I write journals. I couldn?t have been more wrong. All I can say is that I promise to never go back to that.
    Well, getting back to the point of this? I would like to say Thank You to NGC for generously providing this venue for our self-expression. My thanks go out to the staff of judges who have given me this honor which I?m not entirely sure I?m worthy of. I now find myself in very good company with the likes of Neverman, and Jackson. Finally, thanks go out of the people that have read my journals and who periodically send me messages to tell me that they liked what I said. That means a great deal. I am equally grateful when something I?ve written offers some small inspiration to another collector or journal writer.
    Congratulations are due to anyone who won a registry award on any level. Yesterday some great guys who are regulars on the chat boards were winners in the ?Best Presentation? category and we were all very happy for them. That is such an awesome achievement. I congratulate Neverman on what is now a very impressive streak and I hope that this weekend finds W.K.F. well. He hasn?t posted any new journals in about 4 months which hopefully just means that he is keeping very busy but is very successful.
    I want to give a nod to some of the other journal authors: NAS Fallon Firefighter, RareSov, Audrop, Michael W Cooper, Stgecko, Yevrah, King of Eagles and many others. You?re all great. This place wouldn?t be the same without you. You make me smile and laugh. You make me think. RBG, namvette68, Low Budget, Appleseed and other new authors that have started posting in the last few months are all showing great potential to contribute to the community. I look forward to seeing what you all have to say in the coming year.
    Wow? did I make that long enough? Well? it was necessary. That?s my story and I?m sticking to it! Catch you all next time.

  3. Revenant

    Civil War Copper

    By Revenant,

    Then and Now.
    It's a mild understatement to say that the Civil War was a rough time for the country. Grover already provided the "the Civil War was about money" post and I don't really want to get into that. Let's leave the discussion at the fact that, during the war, silver, gold, and eventually the copper-nickel cents were removed from circulation. Say what you want about cents, nickels and dimes now, but back then these coins were essential to commerce and their removal was potentially crippling to the economy.
    I have an immense faith in the people and the spirit of this country to solve problems without the government, and sometimes even to solve the problems created or helped along by the government. True to this spirit, merchants in the large cities of the day made a solution. They started making thin, copper tokens that were the size of a small cent and used them to fill the void. These tokens, while not government issues, were given and accepted as money. There were some made for larger denominations like 10 cents but the vast majority are for just 1 cent. The American people, not the government, solved the problem.
    Some of the tokens are simple, sometimes just naming the company or merchant that made them. Others are quite beautiful and very patriotic in their message.
    In a fashion similar to many governments throughout history, including a very similar case in the UK in the early 1800s, the US government couldn't long tolerate this private solution. In 1864 the government issued it's own bronze cent using the design of the old copper-nickel cents and made the private tokens illegal.
    These coins are a symbol of the ingenuity and resourcefulness of the American people. They also represent a basic freedom and right that I worry that we're forgetting as a country. The freedom and the right to solve problems ourselves, without the government. The freedom and the right to reject the government's solution and tell Congress where to shove it. No law ever written in this country that I'm aware of prohibits or invalidates the barter system. No law ever on the books requires that accounts and debts only be settled in US dollars or "Federal Reserve Notes." If someone offered you a chunk of refined copper in trade, and you accept it, then the transaction is valid. There shouldn't be a thing the government can say about it. Sadly though, I suspect that we're getting too used to choosing without choices.
    Some of you may know of recent attempts by private organizations to mint and circulate gold and silver "coins" as a viable alternative to Federal Reserve Notes. The government raided the organization, seized their records and seized the metal. Whether you agree with what they were doing and how they were doing it or not, I think everyone should think about what they were saying. The government shouldn't have the right or the power to control us half as much as they are. (For my part, I believe they had the right to circulate/trade the silver and gold rounds, they just messed up when they included the words "XX dollars" on the design. If not for that, I don't think there would have been anything wrong with what they did.)
    I personally believe that the real promise made at the birth of this nation was that all men had the freedom to act the way they wanted to as long as it didn't harm others. That simple. Freedom from the opinions and abuses of others. Freedom from the government. We don't have that anymore.
    I have the seller's pictures of a token I just ordered attached below. It's pre-graded NGC AU-55 because that's about the only way I could find one that wasn't corroded. It says:
    OBVERSE: "The Flag Of Our Union."
    REVERSE: "If Anybody Attempts To Tear It Down, Shoot Him On The Spot."
    Amen. Pass the ammunition.
    I'll get off my soap box now.

  4. Revenant
    Upgrades and gap filling.
    Ever since I started getting the 2008 business strike presidential dollars I've been trying to deal with a bit of an inbalance. The 2008 coins were all MS66FD, the 2007 coins were almost all MS65FD. This was partially because in the first part of 2007 the MS66FDs were getting pretty steep prices and I didn't want to pay that much. In 2008 though the MS66FD prices came down rather sharply, even for the 2007 coins. So in addition to adding the 2008 coins I've been slowly upgrading the 2007s to MS66FDs. I managed to upgrade the Washingtons the Jeffersons and the Madisons. The only coins that remained at MS65FD were the John Adams P&D. That's been bugging me over time. The biggest road block though has been the price of those 2 coins. Most dealers want $250 or more for the pair (they have to be graded by NGC too or the set won't match). I found someone selling a set for considerably less than that the other day though and I decided "why not" and bought them! Once they arrive I'll finally have the first 2 years of the set complete and perfectly matched in MS66FD! At the moment I think that would put me on page 2 for that category; not bad IMO.
    My step-father and I also finally tracked down a nice MS66 1956-D quarter that's a nice clean looking non-toner. We've ordered that coin and when it arrives it will finally complete the 1956 year set. Now if I could only find that 1955 nickel that we need in MS66 or better... oh... and if a 1932 double eagle could magically appear at my doorstep... that would be nice too. I won't complain... I promise!

  5. Revenant

    Firing off round #2

    By Revenant,

    The second submission
    I've packed up the second submission. 2 invoices. 1 is just there to correct some mislabeled slabs. The 2nd is an 18 coin submission. 4 coins are from a 1982 souvenier set, a nickel, dime, quarter, and half. I don't really expect all of them to grade remarkably well but my step-father and I are looking for some stuff to put into our 1982 set. That set continues to limp along when most of the others are nearly complete or complete.
    The other 14 coins are a bunch of SBAs. 2 each of the 1979-P, 1979-D, 1979-S, 1980-P, 1980-D, 1980-S, and 1981-S. I vainly hope for some good grades here. If I can get a MS66 on one of the 1981-S coins then that'll replace the MS65 in the 1981 year set. Otherwise, those coins will form 2 mostly complete SBA sets. In all cases, the better of the 2 grades will go to one set and the weaker grade will go to the other. Maybe I'll end up with at least 1 solid SBA set in my registry that I helped pick and grade myself.
    We'll just have to see won't we?
  6. Revenant

    A Complete STEEL ...

    By Revenant,

    ... cent set that is.
    Well, this weekend one of my hopes has been to get the last coin I needed for a complete 3 coin steel cent set from 1943. Part of my problem has been that I wanted nice looking MS67s. I didn't want MS66s and I didn't want coins that looked like they had "gunk" on them (I know, really specific aren't I?).
    Well, this weekend there were 2 such coins ending at auction and 1 with a Buy it Now. The buy it now was somewhat higher than I wanted to pay (though it did have a Best Offer option). I decided to bid in the auctions. I lost both auctions naturally (winning one would have been too simple). I then decided "what the heck" and put in an 80% offer on the BIN/BO coin (which put it in my "reasonable" range) and about 30 minutes later the seller accepted. The coin had been on the listings for months. He was probably happy to finally move the coin. Hopefully I'll get the coin by the end of the week and get it registered. I still don't have my 1952-S yet.
    That completes my MS67 Steel cent set. Getting this set has had me thinking though. There are a number of people who have 1943 mint sets, late wheat cent sets, wheat cent sets, and lincoln cent (1909-present) sets just so they can show their steel cent(s). I don't blame them. They're cool old coins. However, maybe NGC could make a special set just for the 3 steel cents? Like what was done for the 3 Bicentennial coins. Or maybe a 4 year short set for the steels and the 3 "shell-casing" years (1944-1946)? OR they could make a "WWII" set with those penny years and the silver war nickels? Eh? Wouldn't that be cool?
    I've edited the post to add the sellers picture of the 1943-S I just bought. Sadly, zinc coated steel just doesn't shine the same way Silver does.

  7. Revenant
    and I'm kinda ticked off about it.
    Earlier today I noticed 2 sets of some items I want for a set I'm making. They were ending 5 minutes apart from each other at around 8:30 (my time). They had a reasonable starting price ($49.95, free shipping) and no bids. There were also 2 sets available for a BIN ($69.95, free shipping) from the same seller. I decided to bid on the first set and wait. I bid $69.90 so I wouldn't pay anymore than the BIN sets.
    At about 45 minutes before the set ends, someone else starts bidding. They bid 7 times in 102 seconds and finally outbid me. They're winning the coins for $70.90. That made very little sense to me. Why would they have done that when there were sets with a BIN availabe? The coins weren't ending for another 40 minutes so it couldn't have just been the "heat of the moment."
    I moved to the second set. It still had no bids. So I entered the same bid I used on the first set. In retrospect a smarter man would have waited until closer to the end but I'm not suspicious by nature and I just wanted the coins. Just a few minutes after I bid, the same person starts bidding on the second set. They bid 7 times in about 4 minutes and they're again winning the coins for $70.90. I was stunned. Was this person just stupid?!?! The coins were available as a BIN for cheaper than what he was bidding! and he'd done it twice now!
    Since I'd been outbid, before those auctions had ended, I went ahead and just used the BIN option from the same seller. NGC only graded 105 in this grade with this designation and I want the set to match. I did this before getting a second chance offer. The seller sent me one just minutes after the auction ended. He noticed this shortly thereafter, canceled the offer, and sent me an email thanking me for the business. It would appear that the seller added another set to the BIN auction after I ordered one. (There were 2, I bought 1, leaving 1, suddenly 2 are available again?!?)
    The seller has 100% positive feedback and everything he has said has been polite.
    Now, I'm not the kind of person that normally believes that people are out to get me, but something feels wrong here. I have no proof and I still want the coins, but to the core of my being I suspect that I've been cheated. I'm still debating whether or not I should share my thoughts with the seller. Like I said, I have nothing other than a gut feeling and saying this to the seller, if I'm wrong, would be exceptionally rude. All the same, I'm going to have to think long and hard before I place another bid with him.
    I'm mostly writing this up as a learning experience and as a reminder for later. In the final analysis, I'm not mad so much as frustrated and disappointed.
    Ah well, here's a coin I picked up 2 days ago for a nice price. it'll go into my Lincoln cents set(s). I'm also hoping to pick up a nice 1943 S in NGC MS 67 in the next couple of days. If I can do that I'll have all 3 steel cents in MS67 (not bad IMO).

  8. Revenant
    They've gone too far IMO
    Okay... So, we've had 10 years of state quarters. Then they extended that to an 11th year for places that aren't states, some of which have rejected statehood several times. Meanwhile, we got the Westward Journey nickels, and the Presidential Dollars, and the Sacagawea, and soon we'll get different penny reverses and changing sacagawea reverses. And now this new 10 year joke. What's the deal here? Isn't some of this what the commemoratives and the bronze medals are for? Afterall, they're even using the word "commemorative" in the name of the act. But these aren't commemoratives. They're what's going to be in your pocket. Somebody seriously needs to tell Congress to lay off.
    At this point, if you look at a snapshot from 1998 to 2010, you will find 6 penny designs, 6 nickel designs, 1 dime design, ~62 quarter designs, 1 half dollar design, and ~20 dollar designs. So that's ~95 coin designs from a 13 year period, and that number will increase to include dozens more in the decade from 2011-2020. This is terrible! If this continues it's going to become hard just to keep track of everything that counts as legal tender in this country (assuming the economy doesn't collapse before then). We've gone from a system where we had 1 coin design for 50 years to one where more and more denominations have multiple patterns every year with no end in sight.
    I don't really have a problem with what they're doing with the dollar right now. Those aren't circulating coins and anyone that calls them such is engaging in self-deception. You try and use them to pay a bill and people look at you like you're out of your mind. But just the idea of 106 quarter designs over a 21 year period is staggering and the way this is going you have to wonder if they'll ever stop. I read somewhere that there's the possibility that they could approve a second cycle of 50 national park quarters or something else after the first run ends.
    Who else thinks that this has gone too far?
  9. Revenant

    Congrats to Everyone

    By Revenant,

    Ending this off right
    This has always been an interesting time of the year for me. It so happens that the last set of finals to be taken at Texas A&M this semester end within 1 hour of the registry deadline. Wednesday is a pretty cool day I guess. I'll be taking my last final on Tuesday though (and boy do I feel the pressure). But getting back to point:
    I think everyone that has a #1 set in the registry deserves some congratulations. At the same time though, everyone that has a nice #2 set should also feel proud, even if they won't receive the same level of recognition. I don't really think that we'll be seeing many upsets in the last 80 hours or so before the deadline. Even so, I have a certain admiration for those out there who have been fighting to improve your sets down to the last minute. I was aiming for last minute #1 status in a particular set but the coins just weren't available right now.
    All the same though, it looks like my registry will win 3 awards. These will be for the 1932, 1986, and 1992 mint sets. The 1986 and 1992 sets have just eeked into the #1 position with leads of 33 and 20 points respectively. Both of those sets still have room for improvement and I hope to see them improve in the next year hopefully to more secure #1 positions. I am proud to say though that both sets are at 100%, and I think they're the only ones in those categories with every slot filled.
    *** I have to edit this in fairness to SeanHaynes. His 1992 mint set is also complete and a very nice looking set and he has actually imaged it (something I'm hoping to do soon).
    The real winner for this year though is the 1932 set. As I've said in previous journals, this set was made in memmory of a family member that passed in the last year. I worked with my step-father to hunt down coins for a set that wouldn't easily be matched. There had been no real competition in this category for 3 years. The previous #1 set had 3 or 4 times the point total of the next set. I'm proud to say that my family and I have done him one better and I think it may be a few years before the set that we've built is challenged, and I'd still like to improve upon it if given the chance. On another note though, since I happen to live in the same area as the owner of the now #2 set, I got a chance to meet him and talk with him at a show once. He's a great old collector and I really encourage everyone to check out his WWII signature set. He's done a very impressive job with it. And while my family might win out in this one area, he has a much larger, much more impressive collection that I'll have to try and match one of these days.
  10. Revenant

    Four quarters make...

    By Revenant,

    ... (almost) an ounce.
    Just for fun I've been putting what money I could towards adding some gold coins to go with my silver. I have about 60 ounces of silver and until October I only had 1/4 of an ounce of gold. This is of course because of the expense of the gold but the gold is so pretty and nice... so I decided that I just had to get some more of it.
    Well, I got myself the Constitution commem for my birthday initially thinking that that would be my gold purchase for the year, right? Then I got to thinking and it occured to me that it might be fun to get 2 more quarter ounce coins (ok, technically the commems have 0.24185 ounces of gold, that's where the ALMOST comes from) and have (almost) a full ounce of gold. I then ordered the San Francisco "Old Mint" commem and now I've just placed an order for the James Madison/Bill of Rights Commem. That'll get me up to an ounce of gold (okay, it's about 0.97555 but who's counting) for the first time. I also really like having the Constitution bicentennial and the Madison coin that emphasizes the Bill of Rights together. 2 coins that honor the documents that state the founding principles of our nation.
    My 1/4th ounce gold Eagle is MS70 but these 3 newer commems are all PF70. Though I'm not sure why I buy everything else in MS but usually only buy the commems in PF. It's just how I do things. I have 3 of the 4 coins with me at this point and they are so pretty. Gold is such a nice metal to look at, especially in Ultra Cameo. I may get a MS70 Constitution commem though... that coin design is freaking awesome!
    Others would probably disagree but I like to get my silver and gold slabbed and in collectable forms (MS69/70 Silver eagles, 1 ounce art bars, etc). Yes getting it in this form means much bigger premiums, but I'm not just in this for an investment; I'm in it for something I can enjoy... and if the market goes ka-blewy then I have a "hard" asset. Also, I worry about a repeat of the gold seizure order of 1933. By the end, only artistic/numismatic pieces were protected from the government. Maybe I'm just paranoid, but I worry that if the dollar becomes worthless bullion might not be as big of a safe haven as some hope. The government has already shown that they'll say "hand it over" if it becomes convenient.
    On another note, with 39007 registry points I'm now very close to reaching the top 1000 in the overall ranking (currently 1003). It doesn't matter much but it's still fun to think about.
  11. Revenant
    The worst week in 4 years of college...
    Well my friends, this week has been truely painful. I've been working on a term paper in Process Safety Systems and projects in Process Dynamics and Plant Economics. I had a test on Friday that I didn't have time to study for (care to guess what that grade will look like?) and I have another one on Monday. Tuesday is an oral exam and my last lab report is due. Everyone in all my classes agrees, this is the worst week in 4 years.
    It's so strange that the week before Thanksgiving is the week where college students look our most pathetic. My classmates and I are deprived of sleep and catnap whereever a couch or bench can be found, baths sometimes become a luxury, and in projects where you're in a team, tempers can get short.
    It seems interesting that it's times like this were I make some of my more interesting and more meaningful coin purchases. Friday was payday and I decided to purchase a cool new coin: an NGC PF70UC 2006 $5 San Francisco "Old Mint" gold commemorative. That building survived the earthquake that nearly destroyed the city, just as I hope to survive this week which threatens to destroy my GPA...
    I'm hoping that the coin will get to my house while I'm on vacation so I can see it before going back to school for finals. I'm also looking forward to more rest.
    The registry awards happen to coincide with the end of the semester. My last final is on the 9th if I recall correctly and the awards close on the 10th. I should still be home enjoying a nice break when the ribbons are handed out. I still think I have a shot at a couple of #1 ranked sets. We'll just have to wait and see though.
  12. Revenant

    Invest or Save....

    By Revenant,

    I'm not sure what to do.
    Well friends, I live the life of a poor college student. I live most of the year in a small dorm. My parents pay for my tuition, phone and car insurance. I work a part time job to pay for my food, medicine and most anything else I want while I'm up here. What's left after I pay for the necessities becomes my coin budget (coin collecting crowds pretty much everything else out of the discretionary budget).
    1 other thing does manage to complete with the coins though. I set aside a little money with each paycheck (usually $50 or $100) that I promise myself that I will not spend. And I haven't. I've gone from being broke at the end of the summer to having about $900 "in reserve." That then becomes my problem. That $900 would buy some of the coins I really would like to get. I could even finish a set or two that are close to being finished. But the coins aren't particularly rare. There will definitely be opportunities to get them later. So I think I can afford to wait. Though I find that I have increasingly little faith left in the future value of the dollar and I get basically no interest on any of it. So it sits there shrinking in value... man, how I do hate inflation...
    So what to do then? Do I break that promise to myself and "raid the piggy" so to speak, or do I continue to save it and not augment my coin budget with this savings?
    hmmmm.... what to do, what to do....
    I'll probably hold on to the money. At least a while longer. That's what I said I'd do. I like having the financial buffer and I hate to lie to myself.
    I'll have to content myself by living vicariously through the boards and the journals.
    As a small update to my last entry, the missing coins and camera have not yet been found... still.
  13. Revenant
    A cool new purchase and the worst kind of magic trick.
    Well, as I meantioned in a previous post I was wanting to get something special for my set for my birthday. Last year I purchased the 1 gold coin in my set (a 2007 MS70 $10 gold Eagle). It occured to me that it might be fun to get another gold coin of a similar size and make it MS70 and maybe make this a yearly tradition for myself (heck, why not?). I had thought about getting myself one of the new factional Buffalos but the demand around those seems a bit intense right now. Then I thought of something much cooler: The 1987 Constitution commemorative (in PF70). This coin looks awesome. I love the eagle design it uses. The first time I saw a picture of it I wanted one I just don't normally get to spend enough on one coin to buy gold. Well, I decided to do it anyway. This is basically the only new purchase I get to make for about a month but I ordered it. I had to wait for Friday (10/24) though for payday to come. Now that I have the Constitution coin coming I think that I might save up a bit and order the Congress and/or Bill of Rights coins around Christmas.
    I'm somewhat less happy about this next bit of news. About 2 months ago I ordered 4 out of the 5 coins for a 1965 SMS set. All of them were MS66 or MS67 Cameo. The set ranks about 11, I was hoping to make it into the top 10 with the addition of the 5th coin. 1 Month after they arrived Hurricane Ike hit Houston. The coins traveled with my step-father and the collection stayed safe. Well, in the aftermath of the storm these 4 coins and his camera went missing from my step-father's desk. It took a while for us to notice because of trying to get power and drinking water back and dealing with trees falling on houses. No other items are missing. Coins don't walk off. The entire house has been turned upside down looking for these coins (they weren't cheap) and they haven't been found after a month. My mother and I think they've been taken. My step-father doesn't want to think about it because there's only 1 other person that had a good opportunity to take them. I won't go into all the problems we've had on THAT front. For now I'm leaving the set in my registry, but if the coins don't show up I might feel the need to just say that they're gone and remove it. I'm not happy about it though.
    I'm looking forward to the possibility of getting a couple of registry awards this year. They'll be for year sets with 6 to 10 coins, so there are some that would knock the accomplishment but I really don't care. Taking #1 in some of these year sets is no small task. I didn't join to rank #1 but it is nice for the ego to get a little bit of bragging rights.

  14. Revenant
    A few hours in a room with a few dozen people and tons of coins.
    It might seem funny, but I finally went to my first coinshow today, 2 years after getting into collecting. It has just always been my luck that when I'm at school, there's a show back home, when I'm at home, there's a local show near school.
    Well today my step-father and I got up early and made the trip (2 hours each way) to a small local show. I think there were about a dozen or so dealers. We were mostly after some nice mint sets from the 1980s that we're going to pick through to find good coins to submit for filling out some registry year sets. That was a solid success. We found 13 nice sets to go through including 3 1981s, 2 1986s, 2 1989s, 2 1990s, 1992s, and 2 1993s. Depending on what we find when we take a closer look at them we may go to another show in 2 weeks (only 1 hour from home)to find more sets. The hope here is to find MS67 coins to fill the sets. Wish us luck. I'll probably be upping from a free to a paid account in a couple of days so we can start the ball rolling on some direct submissions.
    I also went looking for some more nice additions to my 20th Century Type set. I found a couple of nice coins that I'll probably talk about more in later posts, probably tomorrow. (I love teaser trailers, don't you?) I can't remember for sure but I think the merc and these 2 coins together cost more than the other 10 coins currently in my type set, but some of those are likely to be replaced with upgrades in the coming months.
  15. Revenant

    Buying Euros!

    By Revenant,

    1.5 of them to be precise...
    A few days ago I ordered a pre-graded MS69 Austrian 2008 Vienna Philharmonic coin. It's a 1 oz 0.999 fine silver round just like the Silver Eagles. This is the first year that they've made them. It's really nice to be getting in on the ground floor with one of these series. The coin was given a face value of 1.5 Euros. That's indicated on the label as $1.5E so I guess NGC can't make that funny little E either.
    I ordered it for the signature set I'm working on that's dedicated to these various government issued bullion coins. With the additon of this one the set now has coins from 4 countries (the United States, Australia, China, and Austria) but I'm hoping to have that increase with time (by adding Canada, Mexico, the UK and any others that are available). I think it's great to be able to see the different approaches that each of the countries approach the same basic concept. I think it says a lot about what each country values and their culture. Ideally I'd have nice pictures of every coin in the set but the semester is interfering with that... ah well, something to look forward to in December!

  16. Revenant
    Keeping busy.
    The last couple of weeks have been interesting. I kinda just fell into a new job. Last week I had to wade through a bit of a rough transition that's not quite over yet but I'm hoping to get back to a more normal schedule with a few more hours per week. The good news though is that the new job pays 60% better so once my hour count comes back up I should have more money, more discretionary income, and be able to get some more of the coins I want for my sets. So that'll be good.
    I recently ordered an Australian Lunar Rat for my set. When the package arrived yesterday it had a 2007 Australian Kookaburra (not a bad looking coin though). Someone else had ordered the Kookaburra on the same day and the seller had gotten the coins switched (the paperwork that arrived with it was for the right coin). I contacted the seller and he's sending the Rat out Monday. Apparently when he sends the wrong coin he lets you keep it. I haven't seen many people that would let you do this, but I'm getting to keep a coin worth nearly $40. The person that ordered the Kookaburra obviously will get the coin he paid for as well. Writing off $80 in inventory because of an honest mistake? How many eBay sellers do you know that would do that?
    I hadn't been sure whether I wanted to order a few more coins through him or another seller. After this I think he'll be getting more of my business in the future.
    below is te seller's pic of the 2007 Kookaburra

  17. Revenant

    Not liking Ike

    By Revenant,

    Or the United States Postal Service
    Well, the postal carrier left a notice at my house Wednesday about a package that they weren't able to deliver. I live in the Houston area. By the time we made it to the Post Office on Thursday they'd closed early and sandbagged the place. So a Top Pop coin is sitting in the Post Office during a hurricane. And I needed that to make a play for the #1 spot in a category. Joy.
    My family has left the area as we were required to. Next week I'll have to look into getting that coin, if it survives the storm.... Did I meantion that it's a copper coin and the power is out all over town?
    It may seem silly to be stressed over a coin, but I can't even bring myself to consider the possibility of something happening to my home.
  18. Revenant

    Grades are back.

    By Revenant,

    1st Submission
    Well, the grades are back on those 2 invoices and 61 coins. I'm not going to say that I'm thrilled with how everything turned out but on the whole I guess it turned out ok. There were some highs and there were definitely some lows.
    The lows:
    A 1986-P Quarter and a 1981-D Half received grades of MS63 and MS62 respectively. Ouch. A 1886 Morgan which I compaired to several NGC MS63s (and it compaired very well IMO) was given a MS61. Again, Ouch. Not to be out-done, a 1992 Half came back body-bagged for "Obv Scratched. Always Fun. 1 quarter came back labeled as a half dollar and will be going back to be re-done. I'm not going to grumble too much over 1 coin out of 61. There were also a few more MS64s and MS65s than I would have liked.
    The Highs:
    My step-father purchased a raw 1935-S Texas Comemm half dollar for $125. That came back as an MS66 (Numismedia: $475). 2 1992-P "Wide-AM" cents came back as MS68RD and MS67RD. 9 out of 12 nickels submitted were given either 5FS or 6FS. 1 of them in particular, a 1993 D, was graded MS66 6PL or "6FS PL." It is only the second 1993 D nickel to get the 6PL designation and as a MS66, it beats out the other coin which is a MS65. However, because these labels are so rare, NGC didn't code the site to accept them in the registry set slots so I'm having trouble getting this coin in it's intended registry set. I'm having the same problem with a MS66 PL half dollar.
    One of the main goals of this submission was to fill out some mint sets. Except for 1 BB'd coin and some that the registry won't currently allow in sets, this was accomplished. Now that the sets are filled out, I'll be looking to upgrade starting with any coin that graded below MS65 and going from there.
    These coins are almost all for sets that I'm building with my step-father. I snuck a few strickly for myself in though. I had a 1898 and 1908 Indian Head go in. Those recieved AU58BN and AU55BN respectively and go into my 19th and 20th century type sets (At least until I can get MS examples). I bought those 2 back when I was just getting started and getting them graded was mostly just to see if I actually got AU coins when I was paying AU money back then. I'm also likely to get the extra 1992-P cent that got the MS67RD for my cents set(the MS68RD will obviously go to the mint set).
  19. Revenant
    Grades soon, yes?
    My first submission (2 invoices, 61 coins) just went to quality control today. Maybe I could have finalized grades available tomorrow? Maybe? Little hope? Nah... I just hope it doesn't spend 5 weeks in QC like a coin that a dealer submitted for me. It kinda surprised me when BOTH hit QC today. They were on different tiers and one invoice had gone to "scheduled for grading" 2 or 3 days ahead of the other.
    This week also saw some really impressive delivery times for USPS. Maybe they'll be as fast when NGC ships my coins home.
    I'm going through a bit of a cash crunch now that summer is ending but I'll finally start pulling a paycheck again from my student job in a few weeks. Hopefully I'll be able to fund a project I have in mind by the end of September or Mid-October.
  20. Revenant

    What a week....

    By Revenant,

    From Friday to Friday, oh what "fun" has been had.
    1 week ago on the 15th the Postal Service finally delivered a package they had had for exactly 4 weeks. For a shipment from Austin to Houston that's just terrible, but it arrived.
    Both invoices in my first submission to NGC have switched to "scheduled for grading" on different days this week. I'm checking daily in vain hope. I must admit that I'm really excited by this and I'm really hoping for at least a few good grades.
    A childhood friend of mine passed-away this week. We were the same age, 21. He didn't go like most people our age; it wasn't drugs or a car accident or drinking. It was at home with family. He was always ill and we always knew he wouldn't make it to be very old. I'm sorry to say that I hadn't really spoken to him in several years and now I'm never going to. I was stunned when my mother called to tell me.
    My insufficiently_thoughtful_person step-brother made an "honest mistake" and totalled one of the family cars by backing an 18-wheeler into it. insufficiently_thoughtful_person... I had been hoping to get that car to use at school in a few weeks. Now? That car is ruined, his truck conveniently just got back from the shop today and now I'm still the only one without a car... that's fair...
    I just placed an order for a nice looking MS69 Australian Lunar Snake (2001). It's kinda hard to find these things on the Bay in MS69 for a reasonable price. Everyone either has an MS70 which while I could buy them is not what I'm looking for, or they want so much for a MS69 I might was well buy the MS70. I got this for about 3 times the current spot price of silver (currently $13.46). I had initially planned to go after the Rat but that'll wait for a few more weeks. The Snake is usually much harder to find at the price I want.
    I've made a new signature set for modern world 1 Oz silver bullion. Right now it's limited to American Eagles, Australian Lunars, and 1 Chinese Panda. Later I'll be adding some Australian Koalas and Kookaburras, Canadian Maple Leafs, Mexican Libertads, A German Philharmonic, some britanias and hopefully some more Pandas. So just watch; it'll grow into what I hope will be a very impressive international set.
    All and all, I'm glad the week is over. Classes start Monday. Wish me luck as my Senior year begins.

  21. Revenant
    I have started sending in submissions, and other updates
    I just sent in my first submission. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed but I'm not going to bother with speculation on the grades I'll get. There are 2 invoices on the submission. 1 is a 56 coin modern submission and the other is using the 5 coin freebie coupon for some older material (mostly 19th century). I say "started down the crazy road" because of all the twists and turns and ups and downs to grading, especially went it comes to older coins.
    My summer vacation is coming to an end. I'm pleased with the progress some of my sets made this summer. The sets I'm making with my step-father are also doing quite well in some areas. The submission will fill in a lot of holes in the sets from 1981 to 1993 and we'll upgrade from there. The 1932 set is complete in high grades except for the Double Eagle and is now #1 in the category, a great tribute to the first woman in history to be licensed to navigate large ships through the ship channel. The 1955 and 1956 sets are only a few coins from completion. I also have 2 MS67FT dimes on the way, a 1955-S and a 1956-D. After those upgrades are in hand the 1955 set will me much more solidly in the #3 position and the 1956 set will edge into 3rd place in it's category. These sets weren't built with competition in mind but it's still fun to think about. Breathe easy Paul, I'm not coming after you and your precious dimes.
    I'm also waiting on a really awesome looking 1976-S Silver quarter for my 20th century type set. That coin has a really unique look to it. After that purchase though I'm going to slow down for a time while I make the switch back to being a school and getting other work done.
  22. Revenant
    Sorry for the double post today....
    Well, I order a very big coin for a very big set and the seller sends in out the very next day, express mail. The package should have arrived yesterday. When it didn't, and it didn't arrive today, we started asking questions of the local post office. It turns out that they had in fact tried to deliver the package on Thursday..... just at the wrong house.... on a different street.
    A $3000 insured package and they take it to the wrong house... there are days when I really start to distrust the United State Postal Service.
    Well, we have it now so I guess I shouldn't complain too much...
    Here it is; the 1932 D 24C NGC MS64.

  23. Revenant
    I filled the last hole in and "completed" my 21st Century Type Set.
    I put the quotes around completed because I have all the coins that are currently part of the set (as NGC defines it) but I know there will be more coins added on later that I'll have to get as they come out. 2009 could bring 2 or 3 slots because of the new pennies, the change in the Sacagawea and the moving of the mottos in the Pres bucks. There might be a 4th new one in '09 is the territorial quarters get their own slot. In 2010 we might see another new slot for a new series of "national park quarters." And the song goes on.... the curse of collecting the modern series. But for now I have the satisfaction of having the set show a "100" in the "%" column.
    I'm actually quite proud of what I've accomplished with that set. It is a complete business strike set. I said from the outset with that set that I didn't want any SMS coins filling any slots. I wanted coins struck for circulation.
    Yes this means that I had to go for lower grades because you just don't find MS69 business strikes every day and yes this means I never had much of a chance of being competitive in the category (with the way the points system is structured), but that's not really the point. I wanted what I wanted; And every coin is still a MS66 or above which is not too shabby in my opinion.
    Now that this set is done I'm going to be working harder on my 20th century type set (33%) and then I'm going to be giving some more thoughts to the idea of building a 19th century type set, and/or a USA type set, but I might be getting a little ahead of myself.
  24. Revenant
    The Great Depression resulted in a great disruption in the mintage of several American denominations
    As we head further into what several predict will be hard times, there are many who look back to the Great Depression for a point of comparison. Something that I don't think all coin collectors think about though, is the impact that this event had on our grand hobby.
    The penny is the big winner. It was produced, usually by 2 mints, every year through the early 1930s. This is most likely because the penny truely was the basic unit of our currency back then. The other denominations weren't so lucky.
    No nickels or dimes were struck at any mint in 1932 or 1933. An entire series of quarters fell to the depression. The last standing liberties were struck in 1930. There would be no more quarters until 1932 with the introduction of the Washington quarter. Even then, the Denver and San Francisco mints produced less than 950,000 quarters between them, making the 1932-S and 1932-D the key dates of the series (worth thousands of dollars in mint state). Half dollars suffered a three year interruption from 1930 to 1932, and then in 1933 only the San Francisco mint made any. Dollars, ever unpopular, were not minted from 1929 to 1933.
    Every one who does their numismatic history reading knows that no more gold coins were released to the public after 1932, except for a very limited number of eagles and double eagles. However, the quarter eagle and half eagle didn't make it that far. They weren't minted after 1929.
    Fast forward to today. We're facing a new round of financial hard times. People are debating whether or not mintage of cents needs to be discontinued. Some want the nickel done away with to, and if you read our forums there are some who would even like the dime to get the axe too.
    History doesn't repeat itself but it sure does rhyme. Last time we had a severe economic distruption, almost EVERY denomination skipped a beat; what will happen this time? Will 2010 be the cent and nickel equivalent of what 1932 was for the gold coins? I hope not. I love my pennies.
  25. Revenant

    A Type of Peace

    By Revenant,

    Coming to terms with the Peace dollar?
    I?ve read the posts by more than one person on more than one occasion talking about how much they love the peace dollar. When asked, my step-father (fellow collector) will tell you that he prefers the Peace dollar to the Morgan. Sometimes I almost feel like I?m the only one who prefers the Morgan (though, based on the number of registry sets, I can't be).
    There are several historical reasons why I tend to dislike the idea of the Peace dollar. I look at and see a textbook example of government waste. Over 200 million perfectly good Morgans were melted to create an artificial need to mint more Peace dollars. I look at it and I see the likely reason that there are no more 1895-P Morgans, all lost to the furnace. In conception, the coin is a circulating commemorative coin, a strange creature in American numismatic history. How many commemoratives do you see with over 100 million produced? In a historical context, the only thing that?s appropriate about the Peace dollar (at least in my opinion) is that it died with the peace. No more were minted after 1935; the second Sino-Japanese war began in 1937. Some herald this as ?the beginning of World War II in Asia.?
    Aesthetically, the Peace dollar is a shallow coin. Many of the major details are very shallow and very easily lost in the event of a weak strike or wear. I?ve often thought that the Peace dollar could be beautiful in mint state, but on many other occasions it could be a real dog. I like the design, but it doesn?t hold up well.
    Well, anyway, I found a coin that I actually really like just the other day at the show. It?s an NGC MS65 1923 that the dealer gave me at a nice price. He?d bought it from someone else just 2 days prior and I was basically offering him an instant turnaround on it. This is now one of the stars of my developing 20th century type set.