ikaros

I think it probably says something about my age and mindset when I can't look at Devil's Tower without expecting to see the Close Encounters mothership coming up over it...

Whups! Well, what I said was )_@&^_%(#HF [9uhp[9G_8f7g#9ub(_&@T_(!BVPbvc [DISCONNECTED]

I've bought coins from eBay, mostly foreigns for my birth year set where circulated condition is just fine, or mid-range slabbed Ikes. I don't think I would buy a really high-value coin over eBay, I'd want to see it in hand before pulling out my wallet — and I have trouble believing wheat rolls are really 'unsearched'.

Heh. Me and that coin were made the same year, and I think it's in better condition than I am. Nice find!

Considering what happened to us in Nashville with that &*)#^%*)&#$% _(#$^*()%#*(& @&*(%^*)#&ing #$(&*) of a #)&%^#$*) *@*%^% cloud, I take great comfort in eclipses and comets not actually being once-in-a-lifetime events!

Interesting Halley's Comet token - I am always terrifically amused by 'once in a lifetime' events that come back on a regular and incredibly predictable schedule. Okay, 76 years is a bit of a wait, but I've seen three much better comets than the disappointing view of Halley we got in '86. And the "once in a lifetime" total solar eclipse that just occurred? The next one is in less than two years (there's an eclipse every year and a half, two years or thereabouts), so I want to see their actuarial charts—heck, the next one in the US is only six and a half years away, and I definitely plan to live to be older than (current age + 7).

I couldn't resist having some fun when I saw this bridge...

Ikes are the only coins that I'm collecting slabbed (so far). That's a beauty.

We shall honorably agree to disagree, then.

That clip is actually the very end of about five to ten minutes of that guy incessantly harassing Dr Aldrin after having lured him to the hotel under false pretenses -- Aldrin thought he was there to be interviewed about space travel for a Japanese childrens' program. Buzz held it together until the words 'liar' and 'coward' came out, and then -- very rightly, in my opinion -- brought the incident to a close. The local authorities declined to prosecute after watching the tape and agreeing that the moon landing denier was clearly being aggressive and a threat. Ironically, the tape was provided to the police by the guy who got punched, as he later admitted he had been trying to provoke Aldrin. And I'm deliberately not using his name because people like that don't deserve even the limited exposure of a friendly forum. I'm not going to provide him the oxygen of publicity when I'm not especially pleased that he's got the oxygen of oxygen. I can think of a couple places to go in the Short North, too! Alas... better luck next time. Have a Coccia House pizza while you're there, at least!

I had not -- I generally don't follow local news closely, and what I have over the last week has been mainly about that accident at the state fair. I hope they catch whoever it is before they melt it down for the gold. And also, they should let Buzz Aldrin have a go at the perp.

The Gagarin medal, the last one, is the first really decent picture of a coin I've gotten in some time -- although obviously it's not the camera, it's the cameraman, and judging by the other five, I still need some work. These were all done with my 'new' D40. Also, I updated the image for the Apollo XI/John Glenn medal, so the post previous reflects the new image now.

Here's several I haven't gotten around to posting before: Three from COSI, the local science museum: Two from an unknown series of space-themed medals: And one from a melt that included metal from Vostok 1, which put Yuri Gagarin in space:

Oh, I like that first sketch, with the hand holding the design elements! That would have made a lovely dime.

It's a 1977.

Canadian quarter. I forgot the date. Standard mooseback.

Welcome back!

Right now, "Ooo, shiny!" Actually, I did pick up the US Mint's medal honoring both the Apollo XI mission and John Glenn, and I'll be getting the ones they issued in honor of Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Byron Nelson. The local science museum has three, all of which I've picked up. And there's a Yuri Gagarin medal I picked up that includes metal from Vostok-1, as well as a diminutive Franklin Mint issue that includes metal from one of the Apollo missions -- by includes, I mean they put some in the melt, not that there's a specific embedded chunk. So, space, science, and golf. There's a combination. Although I know ultimately my criterion is "Ooo, shiny!"

You know, I am getting more and more enamored of medals. They cover so many different subjects, things that coins don't.

Looks like the 'P' is a one-off thing, specifically to mark the Philadelphia Mint's 225th anniversary. And they deliberately didn't publicize it so they could see how long it took for someone to contact them and ask if it was a real thing or not.

It just looks so weird with that P. Then again, so did all the other denominations when they added it. It just seems kind of random to have it happen now.

I got my first 2017 cent in change today. Scratch that. I got a 2017-P cent in change today. Philadelphia-made cents are now mintmarked. News to me -- I hadn't heard they were adding a mintmark to the penny. Is this a known thing and I'm just not paying attention?

No one's had any interesting circulation finds since January? Anyway, FDR Presidential dollar. I thought those weren't released for circulation.

I've got one of the 2017 NP quarters. No other change yet.

1984 Canadian dime, 2000 UK one penny.