Revenant

I guess I'll go for photoshopping and incorporate this image, which looks like it was at the same stage of life for the portrait they used for the coins.  

Oh... I love that beard, man.

4 minutes ago, Fenntucky Mike said:

That ranking banner in the upper right corner is an image killer, I wouldn't mind seeing that moved above or to the side of the main set image.

Yeah… I can't say I'm a fan of how that was implemented. I mean, I guess if you have occasion to complain about it you have a #1 ranked set, so maybe a good problem to have but that placement is a bit unfortunate.  

I may do something similar to that... I may steal Coinbuf's idea from his 1940 set and modify it to suit what I'd want for that set...

12 minutes ago, RWB said:

Nice slabs -- can't see anything meaningful of the coins. Which aspect is the most important to you?

Well, my thinking had been to let the pictures on the individual coins do the heavy lifting on showing the coins and having the banner image show something about / of the set.

In the past I've just reused an image of the obverse of one coin for the banner image. I think that idea / approach works in some ways but I think it also makes the banner image about 1 coin and not the set / collection. 

I think this will probably work better all things considered.

I was wanting and hoping to make a new Banner / Set image fo
r my 10G set that would take advantage of the effort and money / credit that when into getting all 8 of these reholdered in pretty, scratch-resistant holders that all have matching labels.

I had this idea, setting them up on little easels and having them on NGC coin boxes...

The problem I'm running into is how this actually looks on the site and how the ratio for the image is very different on the computer screen vs my phone.

What I see on the computer: 

What I see on my phone:

Having that Rank 1 banner almost perfectly covering one of the coins on my phone kinda kills me... All that empty space on the computer view also seems less than ideal... 

I'm wondering if I'd be better served by a more square image...

11 hours ago, Coinbuf said:

I very much enjoy viewing your sets and reading your journals and am happy you continue to enjoy and enhance the registry experience. 

Thanks. Keep posting yourself. It's nice to see you and Coinsandmedals posting this year and I see you both as being in the running if NGC decides to continue the Journal Award this year..

On 7/10/2021 at 11:38 AM, Crawtomatic said:

I think the major mints would avoid any type of coinage commemorating the "Defeat of Covid" since most of the major countries have similar discourse amongst their citizenry as we've had the last few pages.  Sales would be miserable.

But I do expect there'd be some sort of commemorative to nursing professionals, essential workers, or vaccine production.  The Caduceus symbol is timeless, detailed, and would lend itself well to a large format medal.

Yeah. Even illnesses that weren't as controversial have never generated commemorative coins. You don't see Spanish Flu commems. I don't expect to ever see a SARS or MERS commemorative. Though it could be nice to see a commem for Dr Salk and the landmark work he did with testing the polio vaccine, control groups, and double blind studies 

So, I'm a bit late to this party but this comes from some recent discussions between me and Mike on the PMG side.

I would love it if one day we could have cross-platform sets that let us have PMG-graded notes AND NGC graded coins displayed together in one place.

I would love this with what I'm working on with extending my Zimbabwe note set into coins. I'd love to make one, unified, set with the coins and the notes together.

Is it practical / readily doable? No idea. Probably not. But I have to think there would be interest and demand out there. I can't be the only person that collects coins and currency from one country or as part of one thematic collection and would love to do this as some kind of custom set.

Nothing about that sounds fun to me, Bob.

2 hours ago, USAuPzlBxBob said:

However, Coinbuf, there are people coming into coin collecting who can — and will — displace anyone who has any kind of coin collection that is graded, because they will have "moon money" to spend, while the rest of us, all we have are the coins they will want

Just don't play that game. 

I get it. I've had some recent painful experience with this. Someone has been repeatedly thumping me in the skull / pounding me into the dirt on the PMG side. It's not fun. But you only win that fight by not playing - by building the set you want to build and enjoying it and taking.pride it what you made and just letting them enjoy collecting icons. It doesn't hurt them for you to be miserable because you can't keep up with them. 

It sounds like you aren't playing the game anyway though. 

2 hours ago, Coinbuf said:

 I have 30+ bet in catagory awards from the NGC registry, yes they are nice and I'm proud of those sets and what they represent.  But I really hope someday that I will win a best presented set, that would be a very special award. 

1. I hope you get one - maybe even this year. I think you've done some great stuff. Yours is a name I look to see / look for in January - I did in 2020 and I'll be looking again in 2021.

2. As someone who has been fortunate enough to take 2 over the years- one from NGC and one from PMG - they really are just an awesome recognition of a labor of love.

Between the Best Presenteds and the Sig Set awards and the journal awards and now the "Best New" awards I do think NGC does a lot to reward people that don't have "moon money" but who show love for what they collect and who contribute to this community.

For context, the 1932 set I built with my step-father is only 6 coins and "only" cost about $6,000-7,000. That is definitely not cheap by any stretch of the imagination but I think it's very reasonable being in the mid-4-figure range. It is not a $100,000 or even a $10,000 set.

My Zimbabwe note set at the time I won had only cost me about $2,500 - and literally hundreds of hours of research and writing and editing and searching - that I continue to this day. But, in terms of out of pocket cost, that set was a shockingly cheap, low-budget, award winner. The grading credit they gave me was more than 20% of what I'd spent building it. I am amazingly proud of that set as much as anything because it was and is 100% heart and it's "claim to fame" is not the rarity of the set or how many Benjamins I was willing to put down for it.

On 7/2/2021 at 2:48 PM, GoldFinger1969 said:

You telling me that PCs and laptops don't have USB drives ?  CD's and DVDs I understand although I think most PCs (desktop or laptop) still have a Blu-Ray option.

My wife's new MAC only has 2 thunderbolt (micro-USB-C) ports. Not one full USB port and no optical Bay

My last couple of laptops have had only 2-3 USB ports and no optical Bay. One did come with a CD reader that plugs into a USB and I use that when I need to read off a disk.

PCs still have them, but I haven't bought a desktop/ tower in 12 years.

On 7/5/2020 at 3:21 PM, cowbaby said:

As I said, some pieces were taken directly by the mint people straight from the dies.

Even a coin fresh from the mint isn't promised an MS67. Even if one came right off the dies and was handled with care and didn't go in a bag or hopper, 1) it doesn't mean the coin survived the next 100 years in near perfect condition and 2) it doesn't mean those coins have been sent in for grading.

3 hours ago, EdG_Ohio said:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/jay-zs-roc-nation-joins-blackstone-in-takeover-of-24500-million-collectibles-company/ar-AALHG7D

"Blackstone seeks to develop CCG's digital presence, add employees, and branch CCG's geographic reach."

That "digital presence" sounds like that could get the new Registry for NGC finished - with Custom sets again - and get a new PMG registry up and out there and maybe more.

I'm not sure how I feel about this yet.

My own small employer was bought 80% by a larger company that has subsequently been sold/ remerged with another group. At my level it has made little difference and we carry on. I hope that will be the case here - they get resources but get left alone.

On 6/23/2021 at 7:19 PM, Old Dominion Boy said:

WE USED TO BE ABLE TO ADD PERSONAL NOTES ABOUT THE PURCHASE PRICE AND PURCHASE DATE, ETC. FOR INDIVIDUAL COINS WITHIN OUR REGISTRY SET. THESE NOTES WERE HIDDEN FROM PUBLIC VIEW. I AM TRYING TO ACCESS THAT PERSONAL INFORMATION NOW ON SOME OF MY COINS AND CAN NO LONGER ACCESS THAT INFORMATION. WHY CAN'T WE ACCESS OUR PERSONAL NOTES RELATING TO PURCHASE PRICE NOW ?

You need to go to "Collection Manager" at the top of the Collector's Society Page, find the coin you want, and hit "edit." That gets you back to the old page.

1 hour ago, alexbq2 said:

Thank you for trying to explain this to me. I am new to the Registry, and have just started using it for the purpose of keeping track of my collection. I can't say I understand the logic here. To me it would make sense if coins of the same type received comparable number of points. But thank you for your responses.

I think you make a solid point there, honestly.

If I assume I'm right in my prior conjecture, based on Maribeth's response, I do think it would be reasonable and fair if your rarer variety received the same points in that set and slot as the non-non-competitive (?) coin in that slot. Since there is a competitive option for that slot it seems like, for that slot, your coin should get to compete. Other people without deep pockets are still allowed a chance to compete and complete the set in that case. But that's just my 2 cents.

4 hours ago, Rigs said:

Are you folks who keep defending false advertising and poor services compensated for your comments? That's the only logical answer.

Oh, Man. I can honestly say NGC/PMG/Whatever 3 letters you want have never cut me a check.

4 hours ago, Rigs said:

You're submission is opened and handled by any warm breathing body that will take the job, and then stored until examination by an expert for a few seconds.

I don't know if you have been following the news, but finding a warm body willing to take a job for traditionally low wages for menial labor has been more challenging lately. And it doesn't matter how many warm bodies you have opening boxes if you don't have the bandwidth on the graders to deal with the volume and do the 2-3 checks and the QA/QC, and the graders need to have more vetting than checking for a pulse. I would hope you would demand this given that its their opinion that you're ultimately paying for. They're also working on physically expanding they're facilities, because, for security, you don't want your stuff leaving the building, and you need space for those warm bodies with a pulse to have IN THE BUILDING to open those boxes and then room in the vault / cage / whatever to store the coins. 

4 hours ago, Rigs said:

Makes one wonder what else goes on behind the curtain. Seems like y'all are in cahoots with the television dealers to me. You trolls support the effort by rushing in to defend poor services while NGC opens new programs and services while we wait and wait and wait, but TV dealers are cashing in and flooding markets with over priced NGC graded coins in the top grades 

Oh gosh. I wish I made that kind of money instead of designing fire and gas detection systems for a living.  

4 hours ago, Rigs said:

I'm out. 

Rock on! Have a nice life, my friend. 

23 minutes ago, Alex in PA. said:

Perhaps I did not make myself clear; perhaps you misunderstood.  I meant this for people who ship coins via USPS, FedEx or UPS raw or slabbed.  If you seal your package as well as NGC or PCGS you have no worries.  Accidental destruction your package would take what amount of force?  If it arrives open you know for sure it was THEFT.  PCGS is now returning your graded coins in those plastic slab boxes wrapped with heavy brown paper and with every inch covered in reinforced tape.  I knew I would find a good use for all those old NGC boxes I have kept.  Remember, this is nothing more than a suggestion to share how I have not had any problems.  Cheers.

I guess really you're talking more about theft / tampering / package destruction where my thinking was more about the packing in the box and the coins surviving the trip - which admittedly is not what the thread is really / originally about.

My main concern Is that the contents are packed in a way that pads and cushions them when the box takes a hit.

I almost never worry about full-on package destruction/ loss of contents. I've received many boxes over the years where the exterior box was visibly abused but the contents were 100% fine thanks to being well padded. I've also received boxes that looked fine but the contents had small / delicate parts broken off because the seller put no effort into protecting those inside the box.

6 minutes ago, Alex in PA. said:

The key to a successful shipping. People:  When you get your coins back how well does NGC or PCGS package your coins?  If you package and tape up your coins as well as they do you have no worries.

I worry more about shipping raw than I ever would about shipping graded coins just because those NGC slabs seem to be built like tanks. lol.

On 5/26/2021 at 8:21 AM, FroggyHopper said:

Hello NGC, 

With all the recent thefts taking place with shipping companies - are you checking contents upon delivery or do we have to wait the month it takes you guys to open the box before we are alerted that our coins and sensitive information on our submissions forms have been stolen? 

Thank you! 

This was probably 13 years ago now, before all the CoVID stuff and the back-ups in opening mail, but...

I sent in a bunch of coins - probably like 50-60 and didn't use registered mail. I get a call from NGC. The box had arrived soaked and in such sad shape that the post office shrink-wrapped it so it would hold together. They took a look at this thing and actually called me to talk to me about what I wanted to do and if I wanted them to try opening it and grading the coins still.

It worked out. I'm guessing the outside got soaked but we packed it well and the coins are okay on the insides. Grades came back mostly fine. But, short of dementia / alzheimers, I don't know that I will forget that call as long as I live.

On 5/28/2021 at 8:35 AM, Brian Mclendon said:

Now I'm having the same issue with the NGC coins coming off of eBay over half look like they've been resealed

Lisa points out that it isn't unusual but, in my experience, with some types/ generations of holders it is almost more rare to find one that doesn't have something like that on one or more sides.

On 5/28/2021 at 4:57 PM, boybacon said:

(and possibly getting longer), but costs are holding steady (for now).

They do seem to be getting longer but they are going to have to up costs at this rate if they're paying a ton of overtime and paying sign-on bonuses. They even included a hiring add with a coin submission I received recently. 

They're slammed. The price you pay for being good. 

They have my thanks for continuing to tolerate us and communicate with us as we constantly beat them over the head with the same questions while they come out with new tools to let us get more information faster. They really are doing what seems to be the best and everything they can - while providing a free public place to vent their spleen and disappointment at them.

On 6/1/2021 at 8:18 AM, LISA B said:

Hello,

Just to let you know, we have our own Post Office on site with postal workers.  All mail is delivered to us directly, we do not pick up the mail.  We have a big back log of mail.  We are behind scanning orders as delivered.  If you package shows "Delivered" I'm sure it is here in the building waiting to be opened.

Wow. I had no clue. I'm not surprised you have a special set-up with them - maybe even special deliveries - but I wouldn't have expected that.

4 hours ago, alexbq2 said:

And this person got 1174 points for the same exact coin - https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/260031/

Well, they aren't exactly the same. That is an inverted L type and yours isn't from what I can see.

I think there are a lot of coins that just have generic / place holder point values from when NGC was building things out that just never got updated. Sometimes these never get updated until someone adds a coin of that type to a set and starts asking questions because something seems off. 

It could also be that She's right, but because some sub types are more attainable than others that some subtypes are non-competitive (yours) and some aren't (his) and so the 1 point score is a way of knee-capping your coin while not making the whole slot non-competitive.

Just me guessing.