Revenant

I think this is him in the new registry: https://www.ngccoin.com/profile/169678/

It made our home purchase possible/ much easier, but it also definitely helped me to a few extra coins and notes.

I mean... yeah, you might be getting older. I think we're seeing an asset bubble right now. I think a lot of people that had money anyway - white collar people like me that didn't lose a job - got stimulus money and weren't taking vacations and so they have been investing in hobbies. I don't think this spiral upward can continue forever. It most likely won't. I'm just buying things at prices I find attractive when I can and avoiding the overheated stuff for now. There's always a way to have fun collecting something that most others ignore. I'm having great fun with my Z coins and my modern hyperinflation notes and most people don't fight me too hard for those.

I got the new Zimbabwean $5 coins I ordered in a few days ago and... they look a lot more shiny and nice this time. They actually look shiny and nice this time - there are no dark spots or mint green areas of obvious environmental damage. Unfortunately - no pictures for now. They got packed away a few days ago along with all the other raw coins in 2x2s in the binder. We are now 8 days out from when we're supposed to get the keys to the new place and all non-essentials are rapidly getting packed away. Tomorrow the last PMG-graded note I expect to receive in the mail at this house is going to be delivered. I'm hoping I get a chance to scan that in and get that in my Zimbabwe note set before the move but... it's almost immediately going into one of my note boxes with all its buddies and then those boxes and the NGC display boxes are going to get packed up soon for a trip - the first time most of them have moved in a while because they don't get out much. The $2 Bond coins I ordered from a seller in Ukraine recently hit New York. Those will probably arrive in time to have them put in a box - unopened, in their mailer - and they probably won't be looked at good until I'm in the new house. I'm hoping to snag up a $1 Bond coin and some other raw hole filler and maybe have a nice 2nd submission shape up for early 2022, maybe / hopefully getting that Zimbabwe coin collection into proper fighting shape. My descriptions are already drafted up and saved in a word file in my cloud storage. I'm really excited to roll out that set display and extend the Zimbabwe set back into the NGC side, coming back over here with it and coming full circle with it a bit. I always thought building a set of these coins to go with the notes and really complete the collection would be more of a "some day" thing but I think I'm going to be really happy with how this comes together - even if it takes me a while to fill in the last few slots. Speaking of the NGC note boxes - I finally ordered more of them for the first time probably in 10-12 years. I over bought back in the day and had a couple of extras / empty ones and I've finally filled up what spare space I had a little at a time. I'll be getting 5 new boxes soon. One of which will be dedicated just to the new Zimbabwe set when it gets back from grading. After the recent purchase of that 2011 set the Presidential proof coins are filling one box perfectly - I'm thinking and hoping that another of the new boxes is going to go towards more of those and maybe some innovation series dollars which I think I will build a set of as I'm able and inclined. I'm going to keep trying with Ben. I hope he looks at all these things with the same wonder that I had when I looked at Grandpa's old silver dollars, but I'll also be showing him mercury dimes, standing liberty quarters, walking liberty halfs... ... and my wife is reminding me that, as and if I do this, we're also going to have to talk to him about the fact that he's not allowed to tell other people about them... I love her, but she's kind of a buzz-kill some days. But she's right. The kid runs his mouth and repeats everything. In all seriousness though, that's one of the reasons I like this place. The people that "really know me" and who I see face to face I don't talk to about this stuff with and I never have. Shandy has more than once made the comment that she didn't realize at the time how big of a deal it was when we were dating and I allowed her to see all this stuff. Edited to add: Some emerging drama got me to get the Binder out so here's shots:

Yeah. I don't even know that it rises to "nuisance" level as glitches go, it's just not technically correct. Hopefully there's some minor coding error that they can catch and correct. Failing that I couldn't blame them if they just left it for a while and focused on other things - I'm sure most would agree that there are other features and fixes we'd rather have if this isn't a minor fix.

Which I think refers to the fact that you don't just have to code the feature, you have to design the UI, and then there's a good chance that someone high up has to approve that UI.

So, this may be one of the things we had in the CS system that didn't carry over but I thought we could always send each other emails through the site. I've had people message me through the CS site many times over the years.

I would agree that their system is a bit dated and they're honestly probably already working on a new version, but it's easy enough to use the online submission system. That's what I do.

He keeps referring to it as his #1 set - except it looks like in the NGC registry he's only 50% complete and not in the Top 3. I get the impression that seeing that #1, if he can get it, means a lot to him. I think if he does it, it all crosses and he gets his #1 he'll feel like it was worth every penny when that award icon shows up in January. If his grades come up short and he is a few points shy of winning after downgrades I suspect he'll be playing a sad song. I mean, for what it's worth, I spent about $140 in grading fees + shipping both ways just to get my 10Gs reholdered to make them look pretty together, so I kinda get it, but I think for him it's more of a gamble since I wasn't crossing.

It's only in the archived ones when you click on the award years for 2016-2020. The "live" set hasn't been showing them. I noticed it when I was using that to see old versions of the set and how it developed over time.

Nope. The closest I have in that set to a Top Pop is a coin with 7 in grade and 1 finer.

When I look at the "old versions?" of my 10G set that won the "Best in Category" award in 2016-2020, all of the coins, on every year, say they are "Top Pop." Except - I'm pretty sure none of these things have ever been Top Pops in the entire time I've owned them and they are not now - they weren't when I won in 2020, but they show that way in these screen caps. Is this a "problem" - No. Not really, and I can't imagine fixing it should be a very high priority for NGC, but it does seem to be an error. I say "Seems to be" because I can't rule out that you did this on purpose in the winning set display and I'm just wrong/uninformed.

I rarely find that one-true-way-isms are helpful. While I don't think it's good to be overly concerned with points and rank or to let that / the registry be more important than enjoying what you collect, I think most people involved in a competition or ranking process like to know how that process works and want that process to be fair and consistent. That said, I've never found the system or NGCs explanation of it hard to understand.

Blackstone is happy to make money. The Registry is a marketing tool at the end of the day. NGC does us the favor of letting us put PCGS coins in US sets and even splits out awards for those sets for NGC-only vs sets with PCGS coins included. It is not necessarily in NGC's interest to bend over backwards more to make things more inclusive for their competitors and people who mostly support their competitor. It is not necessarily in their interest to show that they're willing to spend vast sums of money to do this. What message does this send to PCGS? Try complaining on the PCGS boards about how they should allow NGC coins - which they don't. At all. They will probably ban you suggesting it.

Recent discussions on the forums had me looking at and thinking about getting some of the new American Innovation series dollars to show Ben and Sam as they get older. I'd initially dismissed the idea of doing this in 2018/2019 because I didn't really have the budget for it, and I was sure it turn into another series I'd never finish - like the presidential dollars. This got me looking at the presidential dollars on eBay. The last time I did this I picked up the 2009 and 2010 sets but couldn't find any of the later years for a price I liked. Still, going from 8 coins to 16 got me up to Lincoln and it was a step in the right direction. This time I found the 2011s - and decided to snap them up. They were at a good price, and I really wanted to get them because this at least gets me to 50% complete and gets me to having all the Civil War era presidents - including Grant. Why is Grant important? When we were assigned presidents to do research papers on in the 5th grade, I got Grant and I read his bio from the library. So, I wanted that one and it bothered me that I didn't have it. Yes. I still remember what president I did a report on in the 5th grade, but I sometimes struggle to find my keys. I feel you judging me. We can now move on. Maybe one of these days I'll actually finish that set. I may try to pick up one or two more year sets of these soon and move a little closer. It seems like it may be possible to snag a 2015 or 2016 set at a reasonable price soon. I'd rather go for 2012 but I'm going to prioritize low hanging fruit and I'm not seeing any good deals on the 2012 sets currently. And I may yet get the innovation series coins and maybe finish those or maybe not. Even if I don't get them all the boys may get some enjoyment and value from them and they may prove to be another way to get the boys to connect with coins. And that polio vaccine coin is interesting to me. Being a PhD engineer, and a researcher, some of them relate to some cool history. I think I got up to having four each of the first 9 Queen's Beast coins before everything went insane and bullion prices went crazy. I would love to finish those and get the new "completer" coin, but I just am not in love with paying $75-90 for a 2-ounce coin. I was happier paying $40-45. I just don't know when or if I'll be able to swallow that pill. For that money I'm just having more fun with other projects - like the Zimbabwe coins. Small aside but, after ordering these I decided at the end of a stressful afternoon to try to find the other 16 so I could get them all together and have them in a box together. I got frustrated with hunting through boxes to find what I wanted, snapped a little and started some red-neck labeling with printer paper and tape. Maybe this will help me after the move is finished in a couple of weeks. I need to work on getting more boxes soon I guess. I tried to show the coins to Ben and just didn't get much response at first. He wanted to watch his Lego movie and had no time for my nonsense talk of guys on coins. The next day he did come up to me while they were out, and we talked about them some. I'm going to try to keep encouraging interest in history and coins with him. Sam still isn't ready. I don't really think Ben gets it yet either - I don't think he really understands who the president is yet - but he'll get there soon enough. Speaking of Ben, he just hit a new milestone. He lost his first baby tooth last night - it had gotten super loose and was hurting him, so he stood very calmly while I pulled it out. Apparently, his cousin gets notes / letters from the tooth fairy so I had to write one for him. I never got letters. I just got cash! I used to get $1. These days the norm appears to be $5. I think it will be used to buy yet another beyblade. The size of his collection these days is both shocking and impressive.

Yeah. For sure. I'd known for a while that I really wanted to get them all matched up in the same type of holders for a good visual presentation of the group. It probably would not have happened before getting the 1885 and 1886 if not for getting the credits but that chance was too good to pass up when I just don't know when or I those last 2 coins will come.

There have been times in the past where I've tried to enter a coin and, while the coin was okay for the slot, it hadn't been input/configured. They fixed it within a few days and emailed me to let me know they'd fixed it and automatically added it. There have also been times when my cross-eyed self tried to put the coin in the wrong slot and I got an email saying my addition was rejected. (aka the nice version of "get your eyes checked and get it right, loser" - joking of course). You might want to check your spam folders or anything else and see if you are getting follow-up emails that are getting eaten that would explain what's going on.

Are there sets / slots it can compete in? Sounds like a great coin to have but it might be hard to place in a category. If it can't compete, is it competitive?

Ha. Nope. Not doing it.

70 is perfect under 5x IIRC. The pop numbers on the 2021s will probably increase over time. They do tend to get a 3 or 4x mark up over 69s. They are nice - for when people want to spend the money on them.

I've seen a couple of times when I strongly suspect someone was shilling to get a few extra bucks out of me on a $30, but there's really no way of knowing for sure. I stopped bidding early on that seller and started sniping at the end and all of a sudden the other bidder didn't come in with 24 hrs to go anymore.

At least for eBay, I find that I get attached to the idea of getting something as I wait for days to get to see it and that sometimes makes me want to bid more to not give up on "the dream." But I usually stick to my guns because I know buyers remorse stinks.

I don't know. I have an MS65 Zimbabwe dime that is a TOP POP and I would not expect that to hold up if there was enough demand to get more graded. It is the only one graded so it is the best! At the end of the day I think it's all just marketing and comparing sticks.

I would think muzzer more likely as he has the only proof set of Zimbabwe coins. Even then, I think it unlikely as his only one is a 1996 NCLT issue. More likely it's the same non-registry person that has the other proof and pattern issues.

Thanks. It's easier when there are no scratches! 🤣 The wife also voted for the prongs so I think the prongs stay. 🤣