For those anonymous users on the forum!!

[bsshog40]

Do anonymous users online know that there isn't a charge to join the forum boards?? I think the more collectors, opinions, and comments we would have would really make things more interesting and helpful around here.

[rrantique]

Do anonymous users online know that there isn't a charge to join the forum boards?? I think the more collectors, opinions, and comments we would have would really make things more interesting and helpful around here.

 

Absolutely Bobby

[Zoins]

From the complaints about this board ATS, it seems like a number of people don't like certain aspects of the technology used to run the board. I think they're pretty much the same myself so I don't remember the specific issues.

[JKK]

I only sign onto boards if I plan to participate a fair amount. Otherwise I won't create yet one more login and password, and take one more batch of cookies. In this case, I scanned the board for awhile before signing on. I decided to join because it looked like a fine combination of knowledge, civility and organization.

 

One thing I look for is how a board treats newbies. Most boards have at least one or two members (sometimes a whole pack) who are complete jerks, but they are accepted because they've participated so long everyone has gotten used to them warts and all. Those members love nothing more than to rip on any new member who has feet of clay, even if that member means no one any harm: the newb initation squad. I'm a admin/moderator at a college football board, and I've even had to enjoin my fellow mods from slipping into that.

[physics-fan3.14]

I've never seen a newbie mistreated on this board. Stupid posters, yes, but we let them prove themselves first.

[Dan Marinelli]

I'm a newb! Post 'em if ya got 'em. Lurked for awhile just to see what's up. Much nicer than RCC!!

 

Dan

[bsshog40]

Welcome Dan

 

Looks like we're gonna get a few newcomers. glad to have ya!!

[Dcoin]

I lurked for months before I actually signed up.

 

For me, a big part of it was that I felt I did not the knowledge to contribute, even though I've been collecting for a while.

 

Also my collecting budget was an issue. I know its silly, but it’s intimidating to see coins worth hundreds of dollars and you only have some crusty coins to reference. Not jealously just slight intimidation.

 

After the first couple of postings I got over it and I hope I’ve contributed slightly to our hobby.

[cpm9ball]

Welcome to the neighborhood, Dan! Where in Maryland do you live? I grew up in Rockville, but have been in Florida since '78.

 

Chris

[Dan Marinelli]

Chris, Bobby,

 

Thanks for the welcome. I hope to contribute, but the most I will probably have is what I'm buying or selling. I'm currently focused on upgrading my circ linc set (09-40) to AU/UNC, but maybe I should get the SVDB first. Also want to slowly upgrade my circ walkers (early ones mostly). I like SLQs a LOT, but reading this board has gotten me interested in Busties, seateds, and the other early stuff. I don't do this for a living. I find that the longer I keep a coin the less I want to part with it, even the crappy ones. I don't want to lay the crappy ones off on someone unsuspecting, and the valuable ones give me comfort just knowing I could sell them. Maybe later in life when I can't see so good I'll be willing to part with 'em.

 

Been in MD since 83, grew up in WI. Packer fan. I live in Beltsville, but in a few years (more than I would like) hope to retire to FL. Where in S. Florida are you Chris? I understand it is hard to keep coppers in Florida.

 

Dan

[rrantique]

Welcome Dan

[Bruceswar]

Dc.. never feel as if you cannot post anywhere. You seem to be doing fine. If you ever feel embarrassed to ask something to the forum PM with it. DC lets see some of the coins ya got

 

Dan Welcome!

 

When I started on this forum, I was not a newbie to coins, but I had alot to laern about grading etc. The forums have really helped me out alot. Now some people see me as an "expert" ya right... I am still an amatuer at all this.

[DC Dawg]

Been in MD since 83, grew up in WI. Packer fan. I live in Beltsville

Dan... welcome to our little corner of the world.

 

Let me take this opportunity to invite you to the Montgomery County Coin Club. Yes, I know Beltsville is in PG county, but we're open to everyone. MCCC meets every second Tuesday of the month in Silver Spring. Our meetings include an educational session, exhibits by club members, door prizes, a gold raffle, and an auction that includes about 30-35 items. If you are interested, please visit our website at www.montgomerycoinclub.org.

 

Anyone who is in the area at the time of the meeting is invited to attend.

 

Scott

[cpm9ball]

Where in S. Florida are you Chris? I understand it is hard to keep coppers in Florida.

 

Dan

 

I live in Cape Coral which is about 130 miles south of Tampa on the Gulf of Mexico. Nah, it's not hard to keep coppers here. The rednecks dump them in the parking lots all the time, but a/c is a necessity.

 

Chris

[Dan Marinelli]

Thanks Irvin, and Bruce, and Scott,

 

I may take you up on the Montgomery CCC. You're over by Sligo Creek? That's not far. I belong to the Bowie CC because I used to live there. You ever go to that one? They auction about 300 lots each month. On May 15 they are having an annual dinner at Jaspers in Crofton. If you join it will cost you 20 bucks, and you are in the drawing for a quarter eagle and 3 Morgans (door prizes just for showing up).

 

Chris, we have a condo (or actually the bank has a condo) on Marco Island. We are going down in 2 weeks. Looks like you are by the big river that goes into Fort Meyers (according to mapquest). Nice down there, eh? Someday we will be there, too, permanently.

 

Dan

[cladking]

A lot of lurkers are just people following links on Google searches I believe.

[Big Daddy]

I lurked for years until I decided to have some comics graded. My next step is to have some coins done. But hearing people talk about getting coins back in body bags makes me kind of leary. I'd hate to pay the fee just to get it rejected. But this is my first post on the coin board.

[bsshog40]

Welcome smithy. All ya have to do is post pics here and you can get some pretty good opinions of what you might be thinking of getting graded.

[Zoins]

I lurked for years until I decided to have some comics graded. My next step is to have some coins done. But hearing people talk about getting coins back in body bags makes me kind of leary. I'd hate to pay the fee just to get it rejected. But this is my first post on the coin board.

Welcome smithy. If you are concerned about body bags, you have (at least) two choices to limit the financial damage:

• post photos of your coins here first to get some opinions
• get them slabbed by ICG. ICG will refund most of your grading costs for body bagged coins (they won't for counterfeits)

[rrantique]

Welcome to the forum Robert

[Big Daddy]

Thank you for the welcome. Is it true that they won't grade damaged coins?

 

[bsshog40]

Thank you for the welcome. Is it true that they won't grade damaged coins?

 

 

It is true, but you would probably need to be more detailed about what type of damage you are talking about. And is it actual damage and not mint or strike related.

[Big Daddy]

No it's actual damage. It's a gouge in the face of a 1858 flying eagle penny. I bought it in 1982 when I was a kid. I think I want to have it graded more for sentimental value. It was the first coin I ever bought.

[Big Daddy]

When you submit a proof set to be graded do you have all of the coins graded or can you just have a couple out the set slabbed? I have a couple 1981 and 1979 clear "S" sets that I want the dollars and quarters slabbed.

[bsshog40]

First post, more than likely you can get the FEC graded, the gouge will just cause it to not be graded very high considering the extent of the gouge. Your second question on proofs. You can have individual coins graded from the sets but I think there is a charge to remove them from the US Mint holder. I don't think they charge to remove them if you have the whole set graded at one time. I'm pretty sure of this but you may want to see if someone else can verify this.

[cpm9ball]

Chris, we have a condo (or actually the bank has a condo) on Marco Island. We are going down in 2 weeks. Looks like you are by the big river that goes into Fort Meyers (according to mapquest). Nice down there, eh? Someday we will be there, too, permanently.

 

Dan

 

That's the Caloosahatchee. The Calusa Indians were one of the early tribes in Florida, and "hatchee" meant river in their language. The river flows southwest from Lake Okeechobee to the Gulf of Mexico and it separates Ft. Myers (Mapquest still spells it wrong) from Cape Coral. In some places, the river is more than three-fourths of a mile wide, while in other places, you can throw a stone across it. I was told that when the eye of Hurricane Donna came directly over Ft. Myers in 1960, it caused a huge outflow from the river and you could actually walk across a half mile of river bottom from one side to the other.

 

The average year-round temperature in our area is 76 degrees, and we may have one or two weeks where the temperature will frop into the 30's but that is rare. Normally the lowest temperatures hover in the 45-55 degree range for two or three weeks of the entire "winter" season. Sometime in the early 60's, there was a report that someone actually saw snowflakes but I can't confirm that. We also average 56" of rain each year with most of that occurring June - September. You can grow almost anything, here, although I will admit that the $20 bill I buried never did sprout. Many of the snowbirds who visit here annually say adjusting to the humidity is the hardest part of our climate.

 

Of course, hurricanes are a fact of life in Florida. I've been through 11 in my lifetime. But, Donna was the worst when we had a summer home in Ocean City, MD. It collided with a northeaster off the Maryland coast and nearly cut the island in two at 45th Street. One of our neighbors lost their 1956 Ford Station Wagon. It was found in the top of an oak tree 2 miles inland. I remember when Hurricane Agnes caused severe flooding on the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. The I-495 bridge on the western side had to be closed due to high water. Hurricane Andrew was another bad one. I recall looking skyward in Cape Coral and seeing the counterclockwise movement of the clouds while it was still 300 miles off the coast of Miami. Originally, it was tracking to head across the state right for us, but when it made landfall in Miami, it veered slightly WSW toward Marco. In 2004, we weathered Hurricane Charley. Its track was almost the same as Donna's in 1960 and the highest winds were 130 mph from the southeast, but when the eye was about 50 miles away in the Gulf of Mexico, it veered slightly NNE. We weathered 140 mph winds from the "backside" as it made landfall in Charlotte County about 30 miles north of us.

 

The biggest down side to the hurricane season is the fairweather friends..........the insurance companies. In coastal areas, it is not unusual to have a $10K annual premium which carries a 3% deductible for hurricane coverage. If you have a $300K home, you will have a $9K deductible for hurricane damage. And, all of the major insurers will drop you in a heartbeat in the aftermath of a hurricane. Are you sure you still want to retire to Florida?

 

You don't have to go far in our area for fishing. Cape Coral has 400 miles of canals, of which 60% are saltwater and 40% are freshwater. For the freshwater fans there is bass, bluegill and crappie. For the saltwater fans there is tarpon, snook, speckled trout, redfish, snapper, grouper, tripletail, cobia, drum, pompano and shark. Tarpon is a sport fish which must be released, and there are closed seasons for taking snook.

 

Lee County is also the spring training home for the Boston Red Sox and the Minnesota Twins. We even have a hockey team, the Florida Everblades. Unfortunately, Florida State and Miami didn't fare too well in the ACC this year, but how about them Gators, NCAA National Champs in football and basketball.

 

Geez, I must sound like I work for the Florida Tourist Council.

 

Chris

[JKK]

Heh, I'm native Floridians' dream out-of-stater. I'd emigrate to a new country if my only U.S. residential option was living in Florida, so there is no chance at all of me joining the hordes that have overrun your state.

[bochiman]

Do anonymous users online know that there isn't a charge to join the forum boards?? I think the more collectors, opinions, and comments we would have would really make things more interesting and helpful around here.

 

I was "anonymous" and reading these boards for about 1-2 years before I signed up.

 

Reasons were varied....

* Many of the same topics here and at the PCGS boards

* Slow on posts here (faster since PCGS booted some people...some deservedly and some not so )

* Some people here like to constantly say how much better they are here, and this place is, compared to people on the PCGS boards. I don't come to a coin board to hear that kind of childish chest beating...I just want to learn and share in coins and knowledge

* Sometimes, someone may forget their password and being on another PC...and just want to read....will catch up with folks later.

 

I am sure there are other reasons....the above were mine when I was anonymous (and the last one on occassion as well)

[bsshog40]

BTW, I would like to thank our new members that have joined us and hope I didn't miss welcoming any of you!!