A Quiz With No Correct Answer 0

[Lem E]

On 8/11/2022 at 2:38 PM, CoinJockey73 said:

That's a tough one. You see the condition of those nickels i have coming in. Be very hard for me to tell. The 40 is the more rare? But it's easier to spot? 

It will be very difficult to tell on well worn examples. Like @VKurtB stated above, 39P Rev of 38 is less common than the 40. The opposite holds true for the 39S and the Denver coins are about equal.

[VKurtB]

On 8/11/2022 at 2:16 PM, Lem E said:

There is also a QDR (Quadrupled Die Reverse) for the 39P but it isn’t as popular or desirable as the DDR. In my opinion the 39 S REV OF 40 is one of the true key date coins in the series. You just don’t see them very often. I’m still searching for that one. 

I do have one in BU (raw) but it drove me nuts finding one. The “Holy Grail” Jefferson is the PROOF 1940 with the Reverse of 1938. 

[CoinJockey73]

On 8/11/2022 at 3:47 PM, Lem E said:

It will be very difficult to tell on well worn examples. Like @VKurtB stated above, 39P Rev of 38 is less common than the 40. The opposite holds true for the 39S and the Denver coins are about equal.

With all that excess time I've got, I'll see what i can dig up,

[CoinJockey73]

On 8/11/2022 at 3:47 PM, VKurtB said:

I do have one in BU (raw) but it drove me nuts finding one. The “Holy Grail” Jefferson is the PROOF 1940 with the Reverse of 1938. 

BU? You? BU? How embarrassing! I thought you were mint state Charlie! Haha! Just kidding, just kidding. I'm sure it's the best BU you could find. I don't have anything BU. Mine are all PU, get it? 

Edited August 11, 2022 by CoinJockey73

[VKurtB]

On 8/11/2022 at 2:50 PM, CoinJockey73 said:

BU? You? BU? How embarrassing! I thought you were mint state Charlie! Haha! Just kidding, just kidding. I'm sure it's the best BU you could find. I don't have anything BU. Mine are all PU, get it? 

Here’s how to up your “game”. You collect coins that are BU. You just don’t tell people it means “Beaten Up”.

[Lem E]

On 8/11/2022 at 2:47 PM, VKurtB said:

I do have one in BU (raw) but it drove me nuts finding one. 

SOLD! Do I make the check out to VKurtB? 

[EagleRJO]

On 8/11/2022 at 3:29 PM, CoinJockey73 said:

Holy mackerel. That's the only way to tell, on an 80 year old nickel? Not happening in the wild, sorry friends.

My eyes aren't as sharp as they used to be either.  Sounds like you need a good 40x LED loupe (to go with a 10x LED glass for quick checks). I understand some swear by the USB scopes, but that's not really my style.  

[VKurtB]

On 8/11/2022 at 2:55 PM, Lem E said:

SOLD! Do I make the check out to VKurtB? 

You can haggle with my son when I draw my last. I have all kindsa stuff in the “extra holes” of my 1938-2005 Jefferson Dansco album. Can you believe the 2006 - date is already on Page 2? Time’s fun when you’re having flies. 
 

Seriously, northern Alabama. Having flies. 

Edited August 11, 2022 by VKurtB

[J P M]

Not sure if you can see it CJ but here is my 39S/R40

Edited August 11, 2022 by J P Mashoke

[Lem E]

On 8/11/2022 at 2:57 PM, VKurtB said:

You can haggle with my son when I draw my last. I have all kindsa stuff in the “extra holes” of my 1938-2005 Jefferson Dansco album. Can you believe the 2006 - date is already on Page 2. Time’s fun when you’re having flies. 

My Dansco page 6 in the first volume goes to 2011.

[DWLange]

Don't forget your local source for illustrating varieties with excellent photos: https://www.ngccoin.com/variety-plus/united-states/nickels/

[VKurtB]

On 8/11/2022 at 3:07 PM, Lem E said:

My Dansco page 6 in the first volume goes to 2011.

When Dansco came out with the 2006 - Date version, I adopted it and gained lots of miscellaneous slots in the 1938-2005. 

[CoinJockey73]

On 8/11/2022 at 3:56 PM, EagleRJO said:

My eyes aren't as sharp as they used to be either.  Sounds like you need a good 40x LED loupe (to go with a 10x LED glass for quick checks). I understand some swear by the USB scopes, but that's not really my style.  

This is my current rig. Never mind those silly coins in the background, just a couple nothingburgers i found this week. Wink wink. I'll look into the 40x. Thanks for the advice, always welcome. 

 

Edited August 11, 2022 by CoinJockey73
Forgot to add the picture

[VKurtB]

On 8/11/2022 at 3:47 PM, CoinJockey73 said:

This is my current rig. Never mind those silly coins in the background, just a couple nothingburgers i found this week. Wink wink. I'll look into the 40x. Thanks for the advice, always welcome. 

So this is it, huh? Niiiice. 

[EagleRJO]

On 8/11/2022 at 4:47 PM, CoinJockey73 said:

This is my current rig ... I'll look into the 40x.

Looks like you have the basics covered. 😉

I think that loupe (although I prefer the glass) and a 100w light (may change) is good enough for a quick check and grade, but found these tired old eyes need the 40x LED loupe to see more detail like maybe the # of steps, corner of the steps, die line vs a scratch, tool marks around a date, etc.  Some swear by the newer USB scopes, so maybe I just can't shake that old school.

Edited August 12, 2022 by EagleRJO

[CoinJockey73]

On 8/11/2022 at 4:49 PM, VKurtB said:

So this is it, huh? Niiiice. 

I told you, I'm a total pro! 

[CoinJockey73]

On 8/11/2022 at 3:57 PM, VKurtB said:

You can haggle with my son when I draw my last. 

@VKurtB, i am in shock! This goes against everything we stand for, well the one thing we agree on, in numismatics! Share! Share with a fellow coin enthusiast! And not just any coin enthusiast, it's freaking @Lem E! He has what, the second best registered set on the planet, or something like that? What a story! @VKurtB sells rare nickel to make the first complete set of blah blah blah. You know what i mean. And you know he's good for it, his reputation is stellar. He's clearly no cheapskate, like me. Why not?! What a feel good story going into the weekend. 

Unless, you, ah, unless maybe, just maybe, and i mean a teeny tiny lower case maybe, just maybe... you don't got it? 

 

Edit*

I don't want anyone offended by this. If you haven't figured out yet, we're all having a bit of fun. I'm not actually calling @VKurtB out to sell his coin to @Lem E. It's just me being a goof ball, at their expense. Sorry fellas. You knows i luvs ya. Have a great weekend. 

Edited August 12, 2022 by CoinJockey73

[VKurtB]

On 8/12/2022 at 1:49 PM, CoinJockey73 said:

@VKurtB, i am in shock! This goes against everything we stand for, well the one thing we agree on, in numismatics! Share! Share with a fellow coin enthusiast! And not just any coin enthusiast, it's freaking @Lem E! He has what, the second best registered set on the planet, or something like that? What a story! @VKurtB sells rare nickel to make the first complete set of blah blah blah. You know what i mean. And you know he's good for it, his reputation is stellar. He's clearly no cheapskate, like me. Why not?! What a feel good story going into the weekend. 

Unless, you, ah, unless maybe, just maybe, and i mean a teeny tiny lower case maybe, just maybe... you don't got it? 

 

Edit*

I don't want anyone offended by this. If you haven't figured out yet, we're all having a bit of fun. I'm not actually calling @VKurtB out to sell his coin to @Lem E. It's just me being a goof ball, at their expense. Sorry fellas. You knows i luvs ya. Have a great weekend. 

All is understood. All is good. What amazes me is that the 39-S / R of 40 has evaded a collector as astute as Lem. I stand aghast. It has sent me back into my loose leaf notebooks to try to ascertain under what circumstances I got mine. Turns out it was an old school coin auction in the mid-1990’s held in a small town in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. (Home of Pennsylvania Dutch brand egg noodles and the farm scenes in the Harrison Ford / Kelly McGillis movie Witness.) I’d bet a lot that I’ll see another next week at Rosemont, IL. I won’t be cowering under my sheets and behind a mask in fear of a “bad cold”. I’ll drive the 1400 miles and meet, greet, and handshake everybody. Anyone who tries to offer me a mask will be shown “the full moon”. 

[Lem E]

On 8/12/2022 at 3:16 PM, VKurtB said:

All is understood. All is good. What amazes me is that the 39-S / R of 40 has evaded a collector as astute as Lem. I stand aghast. It has sent me back into my loose leaf notebooks to try to ascertain under what circumstances I got mine. Turns out it was an old school coin auction in the mid-1990’s held in a small town in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. (Home of Pennsylvania Dutch brand egg noodles and the farm scenes in the Harrison Ford / Kelly McGillis movie Witness.) I’d bet a lot that I’ll see another next week at Rosemont, IL. I won’t be cowering under my sheets and behind a mask in fear of a “bad cold”. I’ll drive the 1400 miles and meet, greet, and handshake everybody. Anyone who tries to offer me a mask will be shown “the full moon”. 

I believe I have limited myself a bit with only looking for NGC graded examples. My set is all NGC and with me being the consistency weirdo that I am, that’s what I look for. The pops are fairly low for the 39Rev40. 
 

                66       66+     67

5 FS        9         2         3

6 FS        5         0         1

There are always more submissions and higher pops ATS and they may not be quite as scarce, but like I said I’m looking for an NGC example and there are not many to chose from. If I can find a raw example and submit myself I will if that opportunity presents itself. Worst case scenario is find a PCGS example and do a crack out and resubmission but that would be extremely costly to do. I hope to fill that slot along with a few others that have been elusive. But hey, the fun is in the hunt right?

 

 

[VKurtB]

On 8/12/2022 at 5:53 PM, Lem E said:

I believe I have limited myself a bit with only looking for NGC graded examples. My set is all NGC and with me being the consistency weirdo that I am, that’s what I look for. The pops are fairly low for the 39Rev40. 
 

                66       66+     67

5 FS        9         2         3

6 FS        5         0         1

There are always more submissions and higher pops ATS and they may not be quite as scarce, but like I said I’m looking for an NGC example and there are not many to chose from. If I can find a raw example and submit myself I will if that opportunity presents itself. Worst case scenario is find a PCGS example and do a crack out and resubmission but that would be extremely costly to do. I hope to fill that slot along with a few others that have been elusive. But hey, the fun is in the hunt right?

 

 

If I see one of them in Rosemont, I’ll holler. I’ll hook you up with whomever has one. I have no need to be an intermediary. 

Edited August 13, 2022 by VKurtB

[VKurtB]

On 8/12/2022 at 5:53 PM, Lem E said:

But hey, the fun is in the hunt right?

Amen. 

[EagleRJO]

On 8/12/2022 at 6:53 PM, Lem E said:

If I can find a raw example and submit myself I will if that opportunity presents itself.

@Lem EI think I recently saw a raw 1939-S Rev 40 5C claimed to be Unc or BU I think on eBay if you are even considering eBay which can be dicey for raws. Maybe they have an unconditional return policy and you can check it out and return if not what you expected.

Edit: I found the listing I recall seeing. I know nothing about these coins, but many of the steps don't appear to be very clear ... bad photo? Who knows.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/155050528406?hash=item2419bb4e96:g:aU4AAOSwompiq2qp

Edited August 13, 2022 by EagleRJO

[Lem E]

On 8/12/2022 at 7:34 PM, EagleRJO said:

@Lem EI think I recently saw a raw 1939-S Rev 40 5C claimed to be Unc or BU I think on eBay if you are even considering eBay which can be dicey for raws. Maybe they have an unconditional return policy and you can check it out and return if not what you expected.

Thanks. I appreciate the heads up. I don’t trust anything raw on ebay. If I went the raw route I would definitely have to see the coin in hand and under a loupe. Especially when it comes to differentiating the 2 reverse types. I have seen several people claim to have one reverse and it is the other. I was burned by a mislabeled slabbed coin that said it was a 39P REV of 38 (pop 2/1) and it turned out to be a REV of 40 coin which is much more common. So that pop of 2 is actually a pop of 1 and the other isn’t correct. Makes me wonder if any of them are correct. That was an expensive lesson and that’s when I became well versed in telling the reverses apart.

[EagleRJO]

I hear you Lem, I have had a mixed experience with raw coins, and even some slabbed ones, from eBay with some of both types ending up being returned.  Its why I look for reputable sellers with an unconditional 7-day/30-day return policy so I can actually get the coin/slab in hand and simply return it if not what was expected.

On 8/12/2022 at 9:30 PM, Lem E said:

I was burned by a mislabeled slabbed coin that said it was a 39P REV of 38 (pop 2/1) and it turned out to be a REV of 40 coin which is much more common. So that pop of 2 is actually a pop of 1 and the other isn’t correct. Makes me wonder if any of them are correct.

Ouch, I would be pretty upset by that.  Just curious, did you get your money back?  And don't the TPGs have a guarantee on their labels?

 

[Lem E]

On 8/12/2022 at 8:46 PM, EagleRJO said:

I hear you Lem, I have had a mixed experience with raw coins, and even some slabbed ones, from eBay with some of both types ending up being returned.  Its why I look for reputable sellers with an unconditional 7-day/30-day return policy so I can actually get the coin/slab in hand and simply return it if not what was expected.

Ouch, I would be pretty upset by that.  Just curious, did you get your money back?  And don't the TPGs have a guarantee on their labels?

 

Aside from a few coins from another website, my whole collection has been bought from ebay. I have a lot of reputable sellers I deal with and it has worked out well for the most part. Everything is slabbed though. I have bought some raw stuff from ebay, but I knew that I wasn’t looking for coins to submit. They were basically purchased to simply see the coin in hand. I am still fairly new to the hobby and haven’t  seen or been around coins as much as a lot of the members here. I don’t have a great story of coin collecting as a kid or anything like that. As for the other question, no I didn't get my money back because I didn’t notice what I even had before it was much too late to send it back. I took the info on the label for granted. That’s on me. Lesson learned.

[EagleRJO]

On 8/12/2022 at 9:58 PM, Lem E said:

no I didn't get my money back because I didn’t notice what I even had before it was much too late to send it back. I took the info on the label for granted. That’s on me. Lesson learned.

I would still contact whoever certified that coin, no matter how long ago it was as things do happen where you sometimes much later realize there may have been a mistake.  Prolly worth the time of sending the TPG an email with good pics, and maybe sending it in.  But that's just my thoughts and 2 (Indian Head) nickels. 

[Lem E]

On 8/12/2022 at 9:29 PM, EagleRJO said:

I would still contact whoever certified that coin, no matter how long ago it was as things do happen where you sometimes much later realize there may have been a mistake.  Prolly worth the time of sending the TPG an email with good pics, and maybe sending it in.  But that's just my thoughts and 2 (Indian Head) nickels. 

I could send it to them and it would be corrected. I have no doubt about that. The fact is that it is still going to be the wrong coin. I thought I had a very tough slot filled. It is a very nice coin. Just the wrong reverse. I will probably send it to be fixed one of these days and then maybe they can correct the population numbers as well. 

[EagleRJO]

True I won't solve the issue of there being a hole in your set, but don't they have a money guarantee, like refund of the purchase price with a receipt if they made a mistake?

[CoffeeTime]

Since @VKurtBis from Philly I’d expect less Ds. 
 

where I’m located I would expect less 1939-p, as we mostly get Ds here in general.   I need a cheesesteak field trip for P coins (I’m a Philly native)

[VKurtB]

On 8/13/2022 at 6:31 PM, CoffeeTime said:

Since @VKurtBis from Philly I’d expect less Ds. 
 

where I’m located I would expect less 1939-p, as we mostly get Ds here in general.   I need a cheesesteak field trip for P coins (I’m a Philly native)

Please don’t tell me you fall for that Pat’s vs. Geno’s nonsense. Cheese Whiz does NOT belong on ANY steak sandwich. It just doesn’t. The true cheesesteak war is fought in Reading, PA. Sammy’s vs. V&S. Real cheese SLICES. Provolone. Cheese Whiz? /GAG! It’s like adding sugar to a fine Cabernet Sauvignon. 

Edited August 13, 2022 by VKurtB