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Iowa Silver Baron Bammer

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Journal Entries posted by Iowa Silver Baron Bammer

  1. Iowa Silver Baron Bammer
    I've turned the corner finanancially, bodes well for my coins & currency.
    Well, things are lookking up. To make a long story short, cash flow has improved a little. So the result of this is, my coin and currency budget has grown, so I may be able to add a few more sets on the coin side.
    One thing I do want to do is make a type set, so it has been started. I'm still planning on doing mainly western mints, but now I have more latitude to collect a few other coin interests. What this means is I will be including a few "mother mint" coins in my collection now. I haven't decided where to add them for sure, except for the one typeset I'm making. I might decide on a few gold coins but not for sure yet.
    The main reason I'm not sure is I just received the upcoming Lyn Knight Currency auction catalogs today. So, I will still need to budget money, but there's a little more to budget now thankfully.
    Anyway, I wanted to share the news and show my newest acquisition for my type set, an 1822 Capped Bust half dollar. Guess I should mention the main bulk of purchases the next few months will probably be working on my Silver Proof State Quarter set, my Sac sets and my Westward Journey sets.

  2. Iowa Silver Baron Bammer
    had several emotions run through me the last few days.
    Hi all,
    I really hate to write this journal. I feel I must, if only to vent a little bit and get things off my chest. Right up front, I will admit to feeling let down by NGC, and if they want to take away my journal awards for saying what I am going to say, then so be it. I can recall after my first journal award, talking to someone at NGC (I think maybe Joisey Girl but must confess I do not remember for sure) about a question or something. I remember making a comment about how I liked the fact that both NGC and PCGS coins were allowed. So I asked, will this every change??? I was assured it would not. Well, for my world coins, it did. I feel this is one reason our society to me was special, we were free to "Buy the coin and not the holder";. This is still good advice. But now I feel I must buy NGC only. I will admit there are going to be some PCGS coins in my custom sets, so I guess not all is lost.
    While I never set out to be No. 1 competitively, I do have a competitive spirit. Now I feel that U.S. coins won't be too far behind world coins, so tonight I yanked out all of my PCGS graded U.S. coins except for 2 Trade Dollars, 2 or 3 Morgans, a couple of New Orleans minted minor coinage and a Kennedy half and a Morgan dollar that have sentimental value to me, as they were from my mom and dad. But this sure shot some of my U.S. sets all to hell.
    I am sorry NGC, I feel I had to say all this. I am going to stay here rather than go to PCGS, they do not even have journals. But I will be damned if I am going to cross any coin over. I really figure that is what is driving all of this, and while I cannot complain about the American economic system, I feel we (Collector& society members) are the ones getting the short stick.
    Thank you all for reading, and letting me get this off my chest. There was 1 good thing, looking through all my PCGS coins, I did notice a few that had some toning spots and other things wrong, so I can upgrade the coins. :-) I guess there is always a silver lining to even the darkest cloud.
  3. Iowa Silver Baron Bammer
    There is no dark side in our amazing hobby.
    This journal entry is overdue, it's been a busy year already with longer hours at work and eye surgery. The good news is my eyes are a lot better, at least the left one is. I had surgery (laser) today on my right eye, and I have a follow-up appointment tomorrow to make sure everything is ok. I am still going to be needing glasses (to read with) but that's a small price to pay for overall better eyesight.
    First for the thanks, thank you NGC for my 2011 best journal award. Honestly, I don't really think about the award as I write my journals. I do love our great hobby and I guess my only goal is to try to show it with my writing. I am flattered that someone (the judges??) like my entries.
    I've thought about my goals for this year. As most of you know, I've been fiddling around with my competitive coin sets. I think I finally have them at a point where I won't be messing with them anymore. One big change (and I must admit I got this idea from looking at another members sets) is my Morgan dollar sets. I have the Carson City set, plus I made 2 one per date sets for the other western mints. One set will contain New Orleans and the one Denver coin, and the other will be San Francisco coins only. I still would like to see New Orleans, Denver and San Francisco mint coin sets, the same way it's done with the Gold. However, I'll make do with what we have until the day comes when the mints are broken down for silver like the gold is.
    So, with all of this said, my goals for this year are:
    1. Keep my silver ATB Quarter set current.
    2. Work on my silver State Quarters set.
    3. Work on the Morgan western mint sets as I find coins
    that fit the sets, these coins must meet my eye-appeal
    test and pricing epectations.
    4. Finally, purchase more currency!!!!!!!!
    This last goal is most important as I do love currency. The last 10 days or so I've been rescanning my notes, as I'm using a different software program now to keep track of them. So this brings me to the explanation part of this journal entry.
    This all came about from a journal entry from another member here. In it, he congratulated me on my journal award, and was kidding me about going to the "dark side" with my currency. And before anyone misunderstands, I do know he was teasing me. We have messaged each other in the past, and I consider him a friend here. I messaged him back after his journal entry appeared and thanked him for the kind words about my award, and then gave him an explanation, and I did remark that this explanation "would make a good journal entry". So here it is.
    I look at coins, currency, stocks, bonds and other financial paper as parts of a unified whole I believe our American economic system has a place for everything and there is no "dark side" to any of the parts. Really, as I've always said, it's whatever flips our switches as to what we collect. I know I can sure look at a set of gorgeous Buffalo Nickels (someone just wrote a short entry on his newest Buffal purchase) just as I can also look at a nice Morgan Dollar set, etc. But I also love nice currency sets also, the Educational notes from the late 1800's are gorgeous sights to behold. Also, there is a $10 legal tender note with a buffalo on the front (and I think Lewis and Clark on the back; and a $5 silver certificate with an American Indian on the front. These are beautiful pieces of currency and of the engraver's art.
    I think I have mentioned a lot of this before, but I used to be in the printing business for almost 20 years, although I worked in a very small job shop, I feel I do have an appreciation for the skill, patience and craftsmanship of the engravers art. So I guess I'm asking for understanding when I talk about currency, I'll still be writing about coins too.
    My picture this journal entry is the back of a $10 Canadian note. I feel the U.S. could do something with their currency to upgrade the beauty factor. Not that I don't like our notes, maybe it's I'm getting tired of the same designs. Let me know your opinions of our paper money.

  4. Iowa Silver Baron Bammer
    But have been meaning to write this entry for about a month.
    Happy New Year everyone. I hope you all had a joyous holiday season with family and friends.
    I have been spending my holiday days off either enjoying the season with my family and friends; also by enjoying our wonderful hobby. That's why I've been meaning to write this entry for a month.
    For starters, I have been trying to make more meaningful sets, either by tweaking my competitive sets, or by making more meaningful custom sets. I feel I've made a good start with this. One of my ongoing goals is to upgrade photos, descriptions to make my custom sets more informative. (And yes, it's been in my mind to try and make a custom set to have a chance at a "Best Presented" award. I've looked at some of the previous award winners in this category, and I must admit, I have my work cut out for me. There are some really awesome and VERY informative sets here.
    However, I have also come to the realization just how much I like currency. So the bad news to all of this is I will be selling some of my coins so I can really start picking up some Mexican specimen notes especially, plus I really love some of our (US) early currency. So, if any of you are in the market for some nice coins, let me know. There are some of my coins (Morgans, Buffalo nickels, Westward Journey nickels etc.) that aren't for sale, there are a lot of others that are (especially the Canadian quarters, the Voyager dollars, my satin Lincolns and Sacs). Message me if you're interested.
    I've changed direction with my obligatory journal entry photo. The photo today is a Mount Rushmore print put out by the BEP about a decade or so ago. I love these; and engravings are why I love currency so much. I invite you all to look at my Mexico Specimen custom set over in the Notes. I've started to add some scans, and I think the engravings on these older notes, along with the colors will captivate you also.

  5. Iowa Silver Baron Bammer

    HK-338

    By Iowa Silver Baron Bammer,

    obverse photo
    Here's the other obverse picture. I also want to comment about the size of pics we can put in our journal's. I have the feeling the size has been increased by NGC, as I don't have to compress my pictures with the email choice in Picture Manager. Would this perception be correct?

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  6. Iowa Silver Baron Bammer
    both sets and photos.
    I'm slowly and surely starting to update my sets and photos. I've cut out several comepetitive sets, most notably the full Buffalo Nickel set and Indian Head Cent set because I can't see myself finishing them (due to cash constraints). However, both coins will be featured either in a short set or one per year set and in some of my custom sets.
    My custom sets, I'm starting with New Orleans silver, will cover a wide range of silver and gold coins. However, I can safely say that silver will be the bulk of the coins listed. I'm going slow with these custom sets, as I want to make better descriptions to rank up with a few other members superb sets. Please bear with me on this, and please don't be shy on giving me constructive feedback as I go.
    The custom sets will cover the gamut of my other interests; the west, railroads and WW2. I'm also going to make silver sets from the Americas (USA, Canada, Mexico and Central and South American countries) and Europe. Europe will be lumped in one custom set while the Americas will probably be grouped by Canada, Mexico and everybody else.
    Along with updated descriptions, I'm also working (as I noted in a previous journal entry) on my photographs. I really, REALLY feel I'm on the right track with my pics. I"m slowing down, working on just a few coins at a time so I get them right. Personally I've made a lot of improvment. Here again, constructive feedback will be appreciated. As an example, this entry's picture is the obverse of 2 so-called dollars. This entry will feature the obverse of HK-336, commemorating Zebulan Pike's Southwest Expedition. This one is minted in oxidized silver. The second coin (I'll put it in a separate entry) is the bronze example of the same medal, HK-338. please let me know what you think.
    Thanks for reading.

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  7. Iowa Silver Baron Bammer
    to show off my 1878CC Morgan
    I have to take a few minutes tonight to show my 1878CC Mogran Dollar. I won it in a Teletrade auction early last week and just received it yesterday. I cleared off my camera tables so I could take pics. It's only XF45 but I love it. And while I will probably upgrade to hopefully a gem, I feel I can't have too many CC coins. Attaching a pic of the obverse.

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  8. Iowa Silver Baron Bammer
    and other ramblings.
    Since I posted my last journal entry, the days have flown by. Between work, home improvements and really doing some thinking on my collection.
    First off, I have 2 more competitive sets to add. I decided my name here (Iowa Silver Baron Bammer) should be one of two components of my collection. However there will be some gold (for example my Carson City type set and a little foreign gold). The second major focus will be the west, as evidenced by my (soon to be updated) Wild Wild West custom set and my western mint custom sets. The mint custom sets will only be in existence until (or if) NGC decides to do by mint sets for silver as they do now for gold (my New Orleans gold set). Included in all of this will be a 19th century type set, so a little copper and nickel will show up, as willa very few clad coinage (half dollar type set and a few satin finish Lincolns and state quarters).
    I will be continuing with some currency also, so if any of you are also interested in currency, check my sets from time to time. I have no timetable for any of this, so please don't get discouraged if you see no additions in certains sets for a period of time.
    And finally, I'll be updating the quality of my pictures. I feel I've got the hang of getting good coin pics, as evidenced by my attached photo for this journal, the obverse of the 2007P Jamestown commemorative. (By the way, the silver commem dollars and the silver state quarters and ATB quarters will show up in my competitive sets.)
    My first main goal for the rest of the year is to redo my custom sets and get a good start with the photos.
    Thanks for reading.

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  9. Iowa Silver Baron Bammer
    ...just when you get ahead, some problem rears it's ugly head.
    I think I jinxed myself. Back in May, on the 23rd I think, I wrote a journal entry saying how my financial situation had improved and I had some extra cash to spend on my coin passion. Well wouldn't you know it, something always happens to me to muck up my plans.
    We've been getting a lot of rain here in southeastern Iowa, and of course, my roof started to leak (although only in one place). Well, I knew this time would come, as my brother had told me a couple of years ago to start thinking about redoing the roof. We were hoping to get by till next spring, in fact I already had gotten myself on the work list of one contractor. Well, to make a long story short, he got me in this week and I was lucky enough to have the lumber yard have some good shingles (30 year guarantee) available at a good price. So bright and early this morning, work started on my roof. They really got a lot accomplished today, when I came home from work tonight, there were a bunch of shingle bundles up on the roof. So hopefully they'll have it finished in a couple of days.
    Anyway, that extra money is no more, we had some in our farm account to pay most of the bill, it's going to take my extra to take care of the shingles.
    I know this isn't a coin entry per se, but it does affect what can be spent on coins. So I'll work on photographs and keep watching auctions for lower price coins till we can get a stash built back up.
    Picture of the entry is the reverse of my 1942-D Merc.

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  10. Iowa Silver Baron Bammer
    ...still happy on my set choices.
    2011 is practically half over so I'd thought I'd look back on the year so far. First, I'm happy with the sets I have right now. The only new one I might add is Mexican 8 Reales minted in Mexico City. Like my Centavo set, if I do make the 8 Reales set, I don't know how finished it will become. But I do love silver so that may make a difference.
    Secondly, I've almost finished my Ike dollar proof set. I needed 2 to have a full set, and I received the 1977S clad today. So I just need the 1974S clad to have the set complete.
    I have also bought a few coins for my western mints silver. I believe I wrote about the 1841-O dime I purchased a few weeks ago. Today I received a nice 1942-D Merc, graded 66FB, and I have a 1945-D graded 65FB coming. For right now, I've decided just to do the silver sets I like (example, I don't know why, but I don't care for the Roosevelt Dime or the Washington Quarter). However I do like the state quarter and ATB silver proofs. Go figure I guess.
    I'm still looking for currency. I've bid on 3 pieces in the last month, but all went for strong prices, so I didn't get any of them. Not that bothers me I guess, strong prices in auction means better prices for what I have.
    Well, I'm going to post the obverse of 42-D Merc as my pic of the journal today.

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  11. Iowa Silver Baron Bammer
    Believe I've made a decision I can live with.
    Hi all,
    First, a belated Happy Father's Day to all the dads.
    2 posts ago, I was wondering if I was wrong in not wanting to make a full set of Indian Head Cents, Buffalo Nickels and Oregon Trail Commems. Well, I've made my final answer (decision) now and this is my story and I'm sticking with it.
    As all of you must know, I'm a western fan, and I'm wanting to stick with mostly western mints. And if you've been watching my sets, you've seen me bouncing around with them. I'm also trying to stick with silver and gold, and losing the clad coinage and as much base metal coinage as I can.
    Well, I now have what I believe to be a good mix of sets to mirror my interests. First of all, the Indian Head cents, Lincoln commemorative cents, Buffalo nickels, Westward Journey nickels (both mint state and proof), and Sac dollars are being kept as full sets. Every other competitive set will be either silver or gold. Now, I'm still keeping them with just western mints until NGC starts making sets of silver like they do gold from specific mints. Personally I would like to see each denomination and type have their own western mint competitive set. For example, PCGS has a New Orleans dime set, but they do include (I believe) Seated Liberty and Barbers in the same set. I would like to pick and choose what I would want to make a set of, for example I love Liberty Seated and Standing Liberty quarters, but don't really like the Washington quarter. This is just personal preference, as I tend to lean towards 19th century coinage.
    I"m going to star another Franklin Half set, but not FBL and just D's and S's. I also plan to make a Canadian Commemorative Dollar Mint State set, as I believe from reading Charlton, they're silver while the Voyager design is clad.
    I did put my clad half dollar commemoratives in a custon set rather than a competitive set because there are just going to be a handful of them in my collection.
    So, I'm happy with this, like I said, NGC could make me very happy by making silver sets by mint and denomination/type.
    Picture of the entry is the reverse of my 1841O Liberty Seated dime.

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  12. Iowa Silver Baron Bammer
    Whitman Boxes
    Hi All,
    I believe Six Mile Rick has a good idea with the coin storage boxes. I use the Whitman boxes as they can hold both PCGS and NGC slabs. I order from JP's Corner, they're located in Monroe City, Missouri. Their service is great, and their prices are reasonable. I also order the Air Tite coin holders from them. JP's carries all three boxes that has been discussed here. Their prices for the boxes are: NGC box $8.95, PCGS box $6.95 and the Whitman box is $7.95.
    I've placed several orders with them in the past and haven't had a bit of trouble with them and have always gotten great service. Shipping time has been great but I should say I only live about a half days drive from them. They're in Missouri and I'm in the southeast corner of Iowa.
    Hope this helps.
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  13. Iowa Silver Baron Bammer
    With my interest in the West, am I wrong to not want to make a full set of Buffalo Nickels, Indian Head Cents and Oregon Trail Commeoratives?
    Hello all,
    In my last journal entry, you may recall I wrote my financial situation improved somewhat. Even though I haven't received all of the money yet, I'm at the point where I really want to improve my collections. As I've been pondering what sets to make and how I want to proceed with my currency, I came to a stunning revelation.
    This revelation is: "I'm having so much trouble deciding on sets and how to proceed came about because I FAILED to plan." My next thought was hearing my grandmother quoting one of her favorite sayings; "Plan your work and work your plan."
    So, last night a change has come over "collecting central" (my basement). I got out pen and paper and have begun to make a plan. Here are my "givens and druthers". Or to put it plainly, what I like and don't like. :-)
    Likes:
    Silver & Gold
    most 19th and early 20th century American coins
    The west and western mints
    Currency
    There are several series (Liberty Nickels, late date 1/2 and
    large cents) that I like enough where type sets could be
    an option.
    Dislikes:
    Anthony Dollars
    Presidential Dollars
    Lincoln cents memorial reverse
    Shield Nickels
    18th century coins (however these could be inbetween)
    So based on these, a lot of type sets are out, because practically all of my disklike are included. So my first dilemma I need to work out is: am I weird to like the Buffalo Nickel, Indiah Head Cent & Oregon Trail commems, but not want to do a full set? What I would really like to do are sets just of the western mints. And in the western mints, just do silver and gold, and include only those coins minted before 1964. But nowhere in the NGC list of registry sets can I find something like this, the cloesest I've come is one-per-year sets, that would work to some degree, but there are some coins I like where that isn't an option. This leads to my next dilemma!
    Which is, while I'm not all that hung up on registry points, I still have some competitive instincts picked up from playing baseball, here is my thought, if I do a one per year set, a lot of series have for example O and CC mints, or O and S, or O & D, and finally D or S mints. So I thought about making some custom sets, but would receive points for the aproximately half I would use in a 1 per year set.
    I guess I've rambled enough. But I WOULD love to hear opinions from some of you collectors.
    Finally, yes I got to it, I've had a wonderful Memorial Day, and to all the veterans here in the collector's society, Thank you very much for your service and sacrifice. And thank you to all the veterans (both past and present) in this great coundtry for all you have done for us. I'm breaking my tradition of a coin picture tonight, I'm instead adding a picture of my dad, who served in Europe in WW2 in an Antiaircraft battalion. TTHANKS DAD FOR ALL YOU HAVE DONE FOR ME AND OUR COUNTRY!

  14. Iowa Silver Baron Bammer
    ...an explanation!
    Well, probably everyone has noticed the wholesale (to a point) deletion of sets. I know I've touched on this in a few journal articles over the past year or so. Well, I've finally took some action.
    I really had to ask myself what my main interests are and how to achieve them on a limited budget. Well, the answer was to delete some sets so I could concentrate on my currency and what's really important to me. For example, while I like the clad Commemorative halves, the key word here is CLAD! So out they went, I will be keeping a few (Civil War and the Bald Eagle come quickly to mind) and the rest will be sold to raise some cash. I'm keeping the dollar commems, as my main interest has always been the historical aspects of coins and our great country. While my main interest has always been the West, I do enjoy all American history. Same way with my Canadian dollars, I do love the voyageur (did I spell that right???) and I do enjoy the historical ones in the set, so I kept it.
    Except for the Indian Head Cent and Buffalo Nickel, you may notice most all of the other sets are coins of either silver & gold. I think (while copper & nickel older coins are going to hold value, the large cents & half cents for example) I had to draw the line somewhere. The Indian Head Cent & Buffalo Nickel fit into my western theme. All in all, I"m happy with the way things are shaping up, I'll probably keep tweaking things throughout this year. I did remove the older commem set, as quite frankly, some of them I do not like even though they do represent some history. I"ll probably get a few more (Antietam & Stone Mountain for example) and put them in custom sets.
    Well I guess this is long enough. Picture for this journal is the reverse of the raw 1907 LIberty nickel I recently acquired.
    Thanks for reading.

  15. Iowa Silver Baron Bammer
    But a wonderful day.
    Hi all,
    Yes, miserable weather here in SE Iowa. Really it sounds like miserable all weekend into Monday. However, I took a day of vacation today, so I could go down to the semi-annual coin show in Keokuk.
    And again, I had a wonderful time. After being able to sleep in on a Saturday morning (I work Tuesday thru Saturday), I did the normal morning chores, plus I had to do some usual errands (bank, post office etc.) So when I was finished, I drove down to Keokuk to the mall to check out the coin show. There were more dealers there today, I guess they had a nice day to be inside looking at coins. When I go to this coin show, I normally look for sets I like, but ones I don't want to as a registry set. Mainly, the sets are older coins, and once you get up close to the mint state grades, they get really pricey (a thou or more). So a couple of years ago, I decided I go back to my roots and childhood and make raw sets. I had taken along my checklist book, didn't really have a set to work on, I just kinda followed by fancy.
    I purchased 2 main things, another 1882 GSA hard pack Carson City Morgan. It's bettern than the one I bought oh 6 months or so ago. But I feel if you're a Morgan fan like I am, you can never have enough of these. (Seriously, I'll probably sell the other one before too much longer.)
    The second main purchase was an 1832 Capped Bust Half Dollar. This is one of those sets I mentioned earlier, this particular coin runs about $315 in AU and $1000 in MS60. So, since I still want some money left to buy some currency, I'll keep buying the lower grades. And really, I enjoy the raw coins, they bring back memories of my youth when I first started collecting coins. How many of you also like to do a few raw sets??
    I also bought 3 Morgan Dollars for a raw AU set I'm putting together. Plus I bought 3 silver bars. All 3 have western theme designs on them; one is a stagecoach, one is a quarter horse and the third is an Indian portrait.
    Plus I got to chat with a couple of dealers I have purchased from; both today and in the past. While I make use of the internet to find coins, I still like the personal interaction a lot.
    After I left the show, I had a nice early supper and tonight I'm able to do a few thins on this site and have time to watch a movie on my big screen.
    All-in-all, a great day away from work.
    Coin pic of this entry will be the obverse of the Capped Bust half.

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  16. Iowa Silver Baron Bammer
    ...at a reasonable price
    Hi all,
    Well, I broke the ice this weekend. I finally found a piece of currency which didn't go way over estimate. I was browsing Teletrade Monday night and found a 1928F Small $2 Legal Tender note. The note was very nice, EPQ and most important right around FMV. So it's now on it's way to collecting central here. I'm ready to add it to my set. Thanks Rick, I'll scan it so you can see it! :-)
    While I was browsing Teletrade, I also found a 1978S proof Ike Dollar I needed, and also bought a First Day silver ATB quarter. I only need 2 more Ikes for my proof set.
    I'm hoping for a silver only ATB quarter set, like the state quarters set. PLease NGC will you make one?
    All for now. Pic of the entry is the reverse of the gold plated silver medal I recently purchased.

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  17. Iowa Silver Baron Bammer
    even though I haven't added any currency yet.
    Hi all,
    Yes, I'm happy. First, I need to give thanks to Kerry & Rick. Thank you both for helping me out.
    I'm happy with the direction my collection is going, even though I haven't purchased any new pieces of currency yet. I had hoped to bid on a couple of items in the just completed Bowers/Stacks auction, but didn't. I believe I've noted before that it seems like currency is slowly rising in price. That's good as far as I'm concerned, as there are some gorgeous notes out there, both US and world. However, the notes I was interested in went way over estimate, so I held off from buying. But that's ok, I'll keep looking, and I've found some notes here that need to be sent in for grading, so I'm thinking I may do that first, all the while watching auctions. I do have a couple of lots on my watch list in next Monday's Teletrade auction. Maybe I'll have better luck with those.
    However, all is not lost on the purchasing front. I don't know if I've mentioned, but I am tryint to emulate Kerry by buying silver. Well, today I hit the jackpot, I purchased $39 worth in the minor denominations, plus a junk Peace dollar, and 16 40% Kennedy halves. I paid a little higher price than I wanted, but if silver keeps going up like it did today, I'll be ok.
    A month or so ago, I did purchase this medal (silver round?). I did it more on a lark than anything, as it certainly fits in with my western theme collection. I've attached a pic of one side. I'll try to be a little more regular with my journals, so I can post the other side.

  18. Iowa Silver Baron Bammer
    One benefit possibly will be higher grades.
    Hi all,
    Well, I know I've been waffling on this for the last year. On Wednesday night (? I think it was) I took the big plunge. Some of you who have followed my sets have probably already noticed my Franklin FBL set is gone, along with several other sets. I've decided to delete them, sell a major portion of my coins so I can afford some more currency. I've come to the conclusion that my interests I've held long term is the way to go.
    What I'm going to do is concentrate a lot more on top graded currency (65EPQ and better) and coins that fit into my Western theme. There will be some coins included which fit in with my other major interests, namely World War 2 and railroads.
    Silver and gold will be my major focus, I see NGC has gold registry sets by mint, so I will be paying attention to these, and then putting silver coins in Custom sets grouped by Western mint. Of course, these mints will be New Orleans, Denver, Carson City and San Francisco. A few PHiladelphia coins will be found in various custom sets. One example is a 1964 Kennedy half my mom gave me, it will be included in my "Brian's Beauties" custom set.
    My major world interests will be Mexico, South America and Germany (and states) gold and silver. They will be ound in various custom sets also.
    This decision will also give me time to really work on my custom sets. I know I've given my major set "The Wild, Wild West" hardly any attention this past year. This will definitely change. I've look at some other member's set which have won "Best Presented" awards and really want to try to go up to their level. There are some AWESOME sets here, and I applaud the member's efforts. I hope I'm good enough to try to emulate them.
    I'll also still be working on my photography skills. I've noticed some other members here also that have some gorgeous pictures. This is one thing I love about the Collector's Society, the desire to have superb sets, and it spurs me on to try to make mine better.
    Currency of course will be a major part of my collecting hobby. I'm watching a Stack's/Bowers auction along with Lyn Knight. I don't know how many notes I"ll be buying right off, financial constraints for probably the rest of the year will slow me down, but I hope to keep plugging away.
    Well, enough for now. My photo this entry is a coin I came across as I've been sorting through everything, trying to sort out a bunch to sell. Anyway, the coin is a Peru 20 Soles commemorating a naval battle centennial.
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  19. Iowa Silver Baron Bammer
    currency, raw indian head cent, another photo of a Stack's lot etc.
    I've been meaning to write this entry for about a week now I guess. I've put it off, it's a lot more fun to be looking at currency auctions at Teletrade and Denly's currency inventory rather than writing a journal. :-)
    Thanks to Rick's & Kerry's generousity, I'm ready to pull the trigger and place some currency bids this comming week. I hope I can win at least one lot, but we'll have to wait and see. The only downside I can see about getting back on track with currency is I think I'm getting back in during a rising market. It seems to me (and I must admit, this has been a very unscientific survey) that currency is starting to take off big time. Seems like lots that used to bring $100 to $125 are now bringing anywhere from $200 to $250, and so on for higher value notes. Oh well, I guess that's good in a way, it means the notes I already have are possibly going up in value too.
    I have 3 lots in my tracking list in next Monday's Teletrade auction. One of the notes is a $2 legal tender for my registry set. Another is a Bahama 4 shillings note that I think is pretty. The final lot is a $1 silver certificate with the Hawaii overprint. These notes (along with the Africa silver certificates) intrigue me, as they're intertwined with WW2 history. I may make a denomination set of the Hawaii ones, will have to see how values run on them first before I deicide for sure.
    I see silver is back down a little bit today. High $35 range. I know yesterday it was well up into the $36 range, and while I was at the coin shop late yesterday afternoon, the lady there said it was pushing $37. That's ok with me, my 61 ounces is looking better and better, even at $35/ounce. Speaking of the coin shop, I was glad to be able to stop in yesterday afternoon after my doctor's appointments. I've been having foot problems and pain, and I'm trying to get them fixed as I'm tired of having to take vacation days because they're hurting so bad. Anyway, I did pick up a raw 1907 Indian Head cent for my raw collection. I think it has been cleaned in the past, but it still looks nice, so I'm ok with a cleaned coin for my raw set. It's nice to have the coin shop fairly close by (22 miles). It seems they always have something for me to look at and possibly purchase, even though it' only an Indian Head Cent.
    I don't know how the Stack's and Bowers-Merena merger is going to affect me. Stack's has always had lots that really interest and intrigue me. I don't know if they'll keep having these lots (especially ABN plates and proofs etc.) Guess I'll have to wait and see.
    Well, I guess this is enough for now. My photo this entry is a pic of one of the lots I won at the recent Stack's auction. It's an Adam's Express stock header, I think it's really cool.

  20. Iowa Silver Baron Bammer
    Westward Journey Circulated Registry Set
    Hi Everyone,
    First off, I must start by giving thanks to a very helpful lady at NGC. I would put in her name, but I"m afraid I would really mis-spell her name, but she knows who she is. Anyway, I had called a few weeks ago to inquire if a Westward Journey Nickel circulation and proof sets could be added to the registry. Well, today, while I was out doing my errands, my cell phone rang. It was this very helpful lady calling to let me know the circulation Westward Journey Nickel set would be added by the end of the day. When I got home, I checked, and sure enough, there it was!!! So, I immediately made a set, and I'm a very happy camper right now. :-) So, THANK YOU to NGC and their wonderful staff.
    I've been musing and thinking about registry sets also today. As many of you who have been following my journals know, I'm a big Western buff, and my coins reflect this interest. But there are a handful of registry sets I do miss. A prime example is modern commemoratives. Now here's my problem; or maybe I should say dilemma. While registry points aren't a top priority, I still to some extent like the competition. So, I've been musing about adding a commemorative regsitry set, but the problem is, it will never be complete because quite frankly, there are some I just plain out don't like. Some examples are some of the Olympic issues. While I enjoy watching the Olympics (both summer and winter) I think some of the designs are, well boring to say the least, plus there are a lot of them. Except for the baseball half, I don't care if I have any of the others. Now, what does everyone think about registry sets which will never, ever be complete. All I would be doing is going for points. Well, guess I will keep thinking on this.
    My picture of the entry is a teaser for Jackson. I know how you like ships Jackson, so feast your eyes on this gorgeous engraving of Nelson's ship on this advertising piece from Bradbury, Wilkinson & Co. Ltd. This firm is (was) an English concern, who (as the piece says) designed, engraved & printed bank notes, etc. etc.
    Hope you all like it, I think it's stunning! I purchased it from a (who else?) Stack's auction a year or so ago, just getting around to scanning it.

  21. Iowa Silver Baron Bammer
    and I'm beginning to scan them
    I'm really happy tonight. Not because I received my lots I won in the recent 52 Collection auction at Stack's. What I'm really happy about is finding out a great local connection to one of the lots.
    I suppose technically this journal entry should be over on the currency side, as the main lot I wanted was used on Iowa obsolete currency. The lot in question was lot number 3860 in the 52 Collection sale. The lot consisted of a die proof vignette printed on India paper. The vignette is entitled "Iowa Arms". The catalog description noted the vignette was used on "State Bank Of Iowa $10 branch issue notes". Well, I pulled out my book entitled "Iowa Obsolete Notes and Scrip" by Dean G. Oates to check these notes out. Well, wonder of wonders, this vignette was used on State Bank notes issued in Dubuque, Des Moines, Burlington, Fort Madison and Keokuk. Possibly other branches as well, but I haven't gotten that far yet.
    Why haven't I gotten that far yet?? Well, I started reading about the Burlington, Fort Madison and Keokuk issues. These 3 cities are within a 40 mile radius of where I live, with Fort Madison being the closest at 14 miles, and is where I've worked for many years.
    It was also interesting to note (pun intended I guess) the people who signed (as President especially) the Fort Madison notes. Philip Viele signed as President, and there used to be a flag stop on the Santa Fe, named Viele. I'm really thinking the little town was named for the Viele family.
    Well, all for now, I really had to share my excitement on this lot. I've included a scan of it.
    Thanks for reading.

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  22. Iowa Silver Baron Bammer
    ...and we've had our 6 more weeks of winter in a day and a half. But this is a coin journal entry!
    Hi everyone,
    Well, it's a very, VERY white Groundhog's day here in southeastern Iowa. And before I go any further, my sympathy to the mideast and east who are probably getting the storm now that we had late Monday and yesterday.
    I have finally (with a little help from a friend) cleared some snow in front of my garage and a path made to my side garage door. We received somewhere around 16-18 inches the last day and a half. Of course, the wind was awful, and my deck has a 3 foot drift covering it. I don't really use my front door, so I figure it can sit and melt, but I needed to be able to back my cars from the garage, and a path for the paper lady and anyone who comes to visit. The wind swirls around my deck and driveway, so there were BIG drifts. I took a couple days vacation, fortunately where I work hasn't been too busy, so everything has worked out.
    The good thing about snow storms and blizzards is I can sit warm and snug in my house (I was worried about a power outage for about a half hour last night, fortunately it didn't happen). And what better thing to do than look at my coins and currency, take pictures and enjoy our wonderful hobby. (See, I said this would be a coin journal entry.)
    In my journals last week, I told about my purchases. One coin I forgot to mention was an 1879S Morgan dollar graded MS64. I have and 1879S already (MS65) but this particular coin was a Gold Reward perk from Teletrade. My points were getting up there, and after a year you lose them if you don't use them. So I redeemed some for coin, and promptly put it in my Wild West Silver & Gold from San Francisco custom set. I'm very happy with it, but I do need to say I love Morgan dollars.
    Also, I've been working on scanning my currency. I'm going to straighten some more images today, and hopefully within a few days have a custom set of World Currency set up. One of the first items that will be added is my 1908 German 100 mark note I purchased from Teletrade.
    The pic of the entry today is the reverse of the Morgan dollar, you can see both sides in my custom set.

  23. Iowa Silver Baron Bammer
    ...but I didn't share purchases leading up to Tuesday.
    Hi all, I'm still on a high from my good day on Tuesday. What I didn't talk about though, in that journal entry, was purchases leading up to it.
    I do purchase some raw coins and one good company I've found to purchase from is Halan J. Berk in Chicago. I have bought several items (maybe even more than several) from them in the last couple of years. It came as a surprise to me though, the week between Christmas and New Year's, to get a $50 gift certificate from them to thank me for my business. Well, I think this was a very kind and thoughtful gesture on their part, I certainly wasn't expecting anything. Anyway, last Saturday I was browsing their newly listed coin section and spotted an 1882-S Morgan dollar. Well, their pictures of the coin were awesome. The coin is graded MS-63, and there was an extreme lack of contack marks. So I debated all weekend, on Monday morning I called them up, asked if it was available. They said it still was, so I asked if the coin was really as awesome as their pictures showed. The gentleman I talked to said "well, there are a few slight marks, but yes the pictures was a good representation in his opinion". So I used my gift certificate, as they had the coin priced at $50, just the amount of my certificate. I had to ante up the shipping but that's ok as I'm not that far from Chicago. Well, I'm here to tell you, it's an awesome coin, all the more so for being a 63. I'll post pictures of it soon.
    Well, then Monday night on the Teletrade auction I had a 1908 100 Mark note from Germany on my watchlist. The more I looked at it, the more the vivid colors (red serial numbers especially) popped out at me. Well, you all know I'm trying to pick up more currency, and Germany is one my countries I look for, as my ancestors came from there in the mid 1800's. Well, needless to say, the note has a new home, I haven't received it yet, but hoping to get it yet this week. Again, I'm planning on posting pictures
    Well, that's all for now. Don't know what I'm going to do for an encore.
    Picture of the entry is the reverse of my 1882 CC dollar.
    Thanks for reading.

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  24. Iowa Silver Baron Bammer
    appreciate the feedback
    I hadn't really planned on writing another entry tonight. I have a journal started in my head for tomorrow or Friday, as I had other good (at least to me) purchases before I even started bidding in the Stack's auction.
    What I really want to do tonight is to thank everyone for the VERY positive feedback, both on my journal entry and my purchases. I do appreciate the replies on the forum, I just finished reading them, and even though I've been a member here now for several years, I'm still amazed at the breadth of knowledge of our members, and how willing everyone is to share their knowledge. I especially appreciated the toning info.
    Also, I appreciated the feedback from W.K.F., J Lloyd YOung and others who sent me messages. I don't mean to slight anyone, so to all of you who messaged me, posted a message in the forum, or whatever, here's a big THANK YOU!!!!!!
    That's all for tonight, I'll try to post a pic of the obverse of the Morgan in the next few days. Keep on the lookout for at least one more journal entry this week.
    Thanks again to all.
    Bammer
  25. Iowa Silver Baron Bammer
    ...won not 1, not 2, but 4 lots!!
    Hi everyone,
    Wow, what a great day! Several things were added to my collection today. First, I added 63 40% Kennedy halves to my silver hoard. The day I agreed to buy these halves (at $4 each), silver was up in the mid to high $28 dollar range. Consequently, I would have been up 25 cents per coin. I had to convert some stock into cash so I could pay for them (along with covering my bids in today's Stack's auction). Well, I silver closed down in the $26 range today, so I'm down 2 cents per coin. But that's ok, as I feel this is just a downward correction, I'm still very, VERY bullish on silver the next few years. We'll see what happens, I'm really in no hurry to sell any, this is more a fun thing for me to do as I have at least 4 years and 9 months till I can retire (at 62), and more years if I decide to wait until my full retirement age (66). So, I feel have time to speculate on silver, and it's (at least to my mind) always going to be worth something no matter what.
    The second purchase today (from the same gentleman I purchased the Kennedy's from, was a 1882 CC Morgan dollar in the GSA hard pack. I couldn't afford one of these back when they were originally being sold, so it's nice to be able to have this piece of numismatic history (although recent history to me). I would like to hear any suggestions and the reason for the suggestion from anyone here in the Society as to how I should handle it. I'm tempted to just leave it as it is. But then I wonder as how a NGC grade (even left in the hard pack) would affect value. After studying the coin tonight with a glass, I feel it would grade in the AU50 - MS62 range. The only downside to the coin is some toning (rather unattractive to me) on the lower right quadrant of the obverse. It looks to me possible from a bag covering it, but I could be mistaken. Normally I stay away from toned coins, so really have no comparison as to what caused the toning. Again, suggestions and reasoning would be appreciated.
    Now on to the Stack's auction. For those of you who are in my friend's list, and follow my journals, I've sold some of my coins, so I could return to one my big loves, currency! I love a crisp piece of currency, especially older currency and older foreign currency (Mexico and Latin America and Europe mainly). I also love adjunct pieces; engravings, proofs, stocks and impressions from the engravings. Well I got really lucky tonight. Today was Part 2 of The 52 Collection at Stack's. The 2 items I really wanted were Lots 3841 and 3860. Lot 3841 is an Archival Specimen Teller Order Certificate from the First National Bank of Deadwood, Dakota. This would be the Territory then, and as most of you probably know, I'm a huge Western history fan.
    Lot 3860 is a Die Proof Vignette of "Iows Arms", used, and I'm quoting the Stack's catalog, "on State Bank of Iowa notes".
    I was really afraid I wouldn't make it home from work in time to bid using Stack's live, so I left substantial maximum bids (substantial to me anyway). The max bids totaled $1300 for the pair. Well, to make a long story short, by the time I got home from work, did some things here that needed to be done and then got down to the computer and logged in to Stack's, it was 8 pm. I got really lucky, as they must have been running behind, they were about 9 lots before the first one on my watch list. So I got my mouse ready to bid, but I didn't have to, as my max bids stood up, and I won both lots for LESS than the max.
    So, I was able to bid on 2 other lots. First was lot 3876, which was titled "Die Proof Vignette of untitled Indian attack". I'd have to go back through my watch lists and catalogs, I really think I had a chance to by the actual ABN plate for this scene, but it went way more than I could afford when it was offered.
    The second lot was #3884. This lot consisted of 2 items, a Die Proof Vignette and a matching proof bill head from the Adams Express Company. Needless to say, both of these items fit in with my western theme, and I'm very happy to get them.
    I'll quit now, hope I haven't bored all the coin collectors with this.
    I'll attach a pic of the obverse of the 1882CC Morgan to make up. :-)
    Thanks for reading.

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