jtryka

Well, the slab says MS-63, but the bag mark on the reverse alone would limit it to MS-62 in my opinion, then there is the black spot on the obverse somewhat obscured in the folds of liberty's robes.

The Mailman was sort of good to me yesterday, I am certainly pleased with this: Unfortunately I wasn't so pleased with this:

I got this one last week from Blackhawk:

It's been a pretty good couple of days, I got some wheaties to fill holes in my album from Art, then I got some more holes filled from my recently started Onza collection. Yesterday I received the 1990, 1991 and 1994: Today I received the 1989 I bought on eBay, the last of the lettered edge variety: Still have 2 more to go, was outbid on both on eBay this morning! Then I need to decide whether to pursue the proofs!

That's a lotta lira! I thought I was doing good with the 18,000 lira I brought back from Rome in 1995!

Fast delivery of a wonderful note, thanks Bill!

Let's just call it an opportunistic buy.

Well, Thursday I got my renewal membership kit for NGC, and they have a free gift each year, so I got this: Then yesterday, the UPS man arrived with this: And today I got an envelope with an 1899 Black Eagle silver cert I bought from Blackhawk. It will fit perfectly with my other large size notes. Not a bad 3 days of mail!

Hmm...maybe I ought to put those Swiss francs in my jar up for auction...

yesterday I got these: But they are very strange compared to every other roll of eagles I've purchased, as these have this semi-arc of frost on the top that make them look like someone painted them! I think you can see it a little better on the following photo. Has anyone else noticed this on the 06 ASE?

Yesterday I got a big box of coins from Jorg from the guess the weight contest, just in time for my coin club meeting tonight! The YNs are gonna have a field day with this! Thanks Jorg!!!

Well, the mailman was good to me today! I got a plaque for my 2005 NGC best presented set, as well as a peace dollar from Dad's Stuff. And I got this: Sometimes it's nice to have raw gold to see all three sides! This one I bought off eBay for about 10% over melt, so not bad!

There are only 2? What about the 27-D and 34-S?

Today I got a series 1988A $20 bill.

Ouch! For some reason, I can't remember the last two peace dollars I bought to complete my whitman folder, but I don't think it was either of those dates. I have two of each of those two dates, one circulated example in my whitman and one slabbed MS example for my slabbed set (which is a work in progress!).

The Lincoln cent.

It's actually not silly at all, but rather makes sense since the model 1911 was named such since it was adopted by the army as the standard sidearm that year, or so I've read.

In my experience, Saints are graded on an issue by issue basis, not even by year as the Philadelphia issue might vary greatly from the Denver or San Francisco issues (or vice versa) in a given year. This coin has one distracting rim ding on the reverse between the M and E in America, which I believe is not actually a rim ding but a planchet flaw as minted. Otherwise it is free of major distracting marks. It does have a very granular surface which may at first appear as a lot of chatter on the coin, but this is quite typical of the 1911 Philly issue. A lot of research has been done on the typical strike, luster and surface characteristics of each issue (much of it done by Akers in his difinitive work on the series in 1988). In addition, there are also considerations made for the rarity of the issue involved. Most grading companies and collectors are not at all forgiving for marks or other distractions on the common dates, like the 1924, 1927, 1928 or 1908 NM, but they can overlook quite a lot on the rare coins like the branch mint issues of the 1920s. I once saw a 1927-S Saints at auction by Heritage one graded MS-64 with a major set of scratches right across Liberty's torso, three in a row, like a cat scratched her. That type of mark would put a common date no higher than MS-60 or MS-61, but for a coin like the 27-S where NGC has graded only 107 compared with over 103,000 for the 1927, or more than 221,000 for the 1924, you can see how they might be a little more forgiving. That may not be right, but it's just the way it is with this series.

Yes, you are correct, this coin is a 62. 1911 is such a horrible date when it comes to finding nice looking coins. The luster is typically average at best and very often well below average. I've seen so many examples from MS-60 to MS-64 that look completely dull and lifeless, like they've been covered in 95 years of dust and dirt. This coin I would say has about average luster for the series, but above average for the date. Good luck with your set, it sounds pretty interesting! Why did you pick that year?

Filled me another hole!

Burks, I am not sure what you are looking to buy or spend etc., but I have bought a lot of coins from Heritage. I also like Steve Estes out of Portland, he has a terrific philosophy on the coins he sells rating them in eye appeal. I've also bought from Northeast Numismatics and John B. Hamrick. Here are a listing of their websites: http://www.northeastcoin.com/index.jsp http://www.steveestes.com/cgi-bin/site http://www.johnbhamrickcoins.com/ http://coins.heritagegalleries.com/ Not sure if they have what you are looking for, but at least they have a lot of great coins to look at!

That always seems to happen! I was looking for a particular date last fall, and saw loads of examples priced at below $700, now I can't find a descent looking example for less than $900! Though one thing I've learned in my years of collecting gold is to be patient above all else. In the past I've jumped on a coin only to find a much nicer and cheaper example a few months down the road! It may take you a while, but this is a worthy set. I would advise you to be patient and buy the nicest coins you can afford, even if it's not just a Christmas present, but several Christmas presents stretching to 2010 and beyond!

Thanks Art! This one is actually a pretty nice example (photos always exaggerate the marks and planchet flaws). I still need a 25 and 23-D among the commons in the 20s, but the 23 is usually a bigger challenge. It's certainly common in MS-63 and lower, but tougher when you get to MS-64 and MS-65, and almost impossible above MS-65 (Akers rated this issue an R-1 in MS-60 to MS-62, R-3 in MS-63 jumping to low R-6 in MS-64 and high R-6 in MS-65). Generally these are fairly well struck, though most have weakness around the Capitol building and nearby stars, though this one has nice details in the Capitol with moderate weakness by the stars, a little better than usual, however there is some weakness in the torch and hand. Like many other examples of this date, this one has a partial wire rim (unfortunately obscured by the holder), you can see a little of it in the photo above the IBE in Liberty on the obverse, and a large section of the reverse extending from the I in United almost to the eagle's tail feathers.

I got this in the mail today to fill one more empty slot:

I don't know why, but lately I've had a hankering for junk silver dollars. There's a nice vest pocket dealer that comes to our coin club meetings, and he had some nice AU/BU peace dollars, and then he pulled out his "culls" at a low price but he wanted to sell the whole lot. So after the meeting I came home with 39 silver dollars! And the culls weren't too bad, there was one 1923 with a hole in it, but most were nice well circulated coins, a few morgans with full rims, and even 2 1924-S peace dollars in AG.