Art Posted August 13, 2011 Report Share Posted August 13, 2011 Ikes are a good project and not nearly as easy to complete as people think. Roos the same. Good luck with all your projects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ikaros Posted August 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 13, 2011 Ikes are a good project and not nearly as easy to complete as people think. Roos the same. Good luck with all your projects. Yeah, I've already started research on the Eisenhowers. There aren't any killer dates or varieties other than the 1972 Type II; outside of that, it's the silver market that's really messing with it now -- and as usual, errors don't appeal to me. The circulation strikes are all pretty reasonable. I thought about even going slabbed with the Ikes... but I doubt I will. I don't need to pay the tombstone premium, and I only collect them to make me happy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ikaros Posted September 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 5, 2011 Here we go again! Got some lovelies yesterday! Â 2009S Proof: Â 2008P and D Matte Unc: Â 1965 SMS: I would not hesitate to call this one proof-like. The fields are foggy-mirrored and there's a subtle but definite cameo. It's got killer eye appeal that the camera just can't capture. Â 1964 Proof, nice cameo, possibly even a candidate DCAM: Â 1958 Proof, cameo on obverse, not so much on the reverse: Â 1955 MS64 with color all over the place: Â I want to run off on a little rant here. One thing I saw a lot of were Jeff holders marked 'FS' when the swiftest glance showed they weren't. Needless to say, those were dealers I didn't do much business with. Considering that most of the people at a show like the CONA show are well-versed enough to at least know what FS means and what to expect when they examine the reverse, just how stupid do these dealers think we are? Â Anyway, I have reached the point where I completely ignore the grade and notes as written on the cardboard flip. If the coin meets my standard for eye appeal, that's good enough for me. The only thing that I use the handwritten grading and notes for is to gauge the honesty of the dealer. I mean, I looked at one that had FS written on the front... and a gouge that crossed all the steps clearly visible without magnification. I don't think I bought anything from him. Â Anyway, a bonus image -- this is one I got from Allen's a while ago, but couldn't get a decent picture of, until now. It's a 1962 proof, with the most stunning plum toning going on. As usual, the picture doesn't do it justice, but it gives a good idea. Â 1962 Proof, toned: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Posted September 5, 2011 Report Share Posted September 5, 2011 Beautiful Jeffersons. I totally agree with your approach. If I like it then it meets my collection requirement. What the seller may think of condition, etc is at best interesting for discussion and pricing purposes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ikaros Posted September 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 5, 2011 Beautiful Jeffersons. I totally agree with your approach. If I like it then it meets my collection requirement. What the seller may think of condition, etc is at best interesting for discussion and pricing purposes. It's the 'pricing purposes' that bothers me. If they're using premium-inducing terms like 'FS', they may be inflating the price above what's fair for the coin's real condition, but below the price of a real FS nickel, to try to sucker someone into thinking they've found a real steal. I mean, this guy was even marking FS on the proof issues. Uh, no kidding. I'd be more surprised to see a proof Jeff that *wasn't* FS. Â Something else I've noticed -- the matte finish really works well for the modern low-relief issues. Those 2008s look terrific. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccg Posted September 5, 2011 Report Share Posted September 5, 2011 Sometimes I wonder if it's over optimism on the part of some. One store I recently visited had several employees, of which a 20-ish year old, the youngest by far, was the one doing the grading and pricing of world coins. There were Irish coins where the left side of the harp was merging/wearing into the field, yet graded as VF. And also some pieces in older holders where "XF" and the price were crossed out, and in their place, "UNC" and a much higher price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Posted September 5, 2011 Report Share Posted September 5, 2011 I understand your concerns but I think the buyer is responsible to set the price or agree with the asking amount. When I shop at shows or the coin meetings, I look at a few coins and ask the prices. I don't do the haggle thingie. "1950-D Jefferson. Full steps you say. How much do you want for it?" Full steps or not, if I like the coin and the price I'll make a deal. FS and price too high, no thanks. After three no gos with a particular dealer I don't bother at that table again. On the other hand when I find a dealer I like, I go there first and I'm usually willing to spend a bit more because they've made the shopping experience pleasurable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ikaros Posted September 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 5, 2011 I understand your concerns but I think the buyer is responsible to set the price or agree with the asking amount. When I shop at shows or the coin meetings, I look at a few coins and ask the prices. I don't do the haggle thingie. "1950-D Jefferson. Full steps you say. How much do you want for it?" Full steps or not, if I like the coin and the price I'll make a deal. FS and price too high, no thanks. After three no gos with a particular dealer I don't bother at that table again. On the other hand when I find a dealer I like, I go there first and I'm usually willing to spend a bit more because they've made the shopping experience pleasurable. Oh yeah. I'll definitely go back to the guy I got the Five Kings and the Elizabeth I pieces from. Great selection (if a little disorganized, but I'm a disorganized person), no questionable grading, and the prices were already what I deemed fair--and he gave me a discount anyway, unasked. I will be seeking him out next year, and I will be prepared to spend more with him than I did this year. The other guy, with the non-FS "FS" nickels, no. I won't shop with him again. I found two nickels that were fairly priced and graded, but I won't go back. Â I usually won't dicker either. I would like to assume that these are professionals and that they have marked a price that fairly reflects the value of the piece and a suitable profit for themselves, and are not trying to get more out of it than there is. Â The advantage of a show, of course, is that you have a lot of dealers to choose from and if you don't like one guy, there are scores of others to check out. And I suspect word of mouth gets around on these guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedeadpoint Posted September 6, 2011 Report Share Posted September 6, 2011 Anyway, I have reached the point where I completely ignore the grade and notes as written on the cardboard flip. If the coin meets my standard for eye appeal, that's good enough for me. The only thing that I use the handwritten grading and notes for is to gauge the honesty of the dealer. Â Same here. I have my standards for eye appeal and grade. It makes "dumb purchases" in hindsight far less frequent. I also use their notes to assess them. Do they grade high or low? Do they own up that a coin is cleaned? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ikaros Posted January 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2012 Still alive! Â I made a milestone yesterday: the Jefferson Project is now 25% complete. Not counting errors and going only with major variations like the 1939 T1 and T2 issues and the 1979 and 1981 T1 and T2 proofs, I count (including 2012) 246 individual coins, treating proof and business strikes separately. I currently have 55 coins, almost all chosen individually based on whether or not it made me happy. Â Pictures to come, of course. I got the 2011PDS (no 2012 available yet), the 1981S T1 and T2, then filled in a few uncs from the 60s and 70s and 61 proof. The 73D is stunning; the 64 and 64D pointed out the problem of finding strongly struck issues from the late 50s and early 60s -- almost all of them had more softness than I really like, but I located a couple I was happy with. Â The star of all of them is probably the 81S T1, which has got the most unusual olive-green toning going on. I don't know where the color is going, but I like where it is. Â The set so far seems evenly divided between blast white, and unusual toning. Few of the coins (other than the most recent) are just plain coins. I may end up leaning more towards toned coins. I'm getting more and more interested by the variations in color, and nickels of course tone differently than other issues. The set could end up bifurcating into white and toned sets, but I doubt it will if only because an untoned coin may tone eventually, but a toned coin will never untone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art1.2 Posted January 10, 2012 Report Share Posted January 10, 2012 Glad your quest is still alive. Can't wait to see some photos of what are surely really nice nickels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedeadpoint Posted January 11, 2012 Report Share Posted January 11, 2012 Wow! Congrats! Why don't you buy in small sets? Just curious. I'd consider that cheating too. I'm just wondering why you don't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ikaros Posted January 11, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2012 Wow! Congrats! Why don't you buy in small sets? Just curious. I'd consider that cheating too. I'm just wondering why you don't. I usually do, in my own random way. I needed the 64/64D to go with the proof I'd picked up at the CNS show last September, for one. The 73D had killer eye appeal, so I thought I'd get some more from the early 70s while I was at it. And of course, the 2011PDS all in one fell swoop. But there wasn't an appealing 73 (more accurately, there wasn't *any* 73 in the cabinet) to go with the 73D, so that's waiting until later. Â BTW, the dealer mentioned that the 2009s are even harder to find than before; they've been offering $4 *apiece* for them, and can't get any. They've had outstanding orders for unc rolls for months that they just can't fill. People aren't breaking up their mint sets to make them available, and there were so doggone few released in the first place... glad I already have 'em! Â In twenty years time, the 09P&D may well have joined the 39D and 50D as additional keys to the series, though I should be surprised if they get much above $10 each in BU -- the 50D is something like $15 to $25 in unc and only starts to get obscene when those magic letters FS appear (and even then, it's not too horrible -- a 50D graded MS65FS by PCGS went for $44 on Heritage earlier this month), and even the 39D is still under $100 even in MS65 and 66. Still, since most of the rest of the series barely reaches $2-3 in unc, it's still a premium coin, if in a relative way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ikaros Posted January 11, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2012 Glad your quest is still alive. Can't wait to see some photos of what are surely really nice nickels. I really need to capture the color on that 81S-T1. I mean, it's *green*, and it's a *pretty* green. I can't recall ever seeing a color quite like it on a coin before (anodized NCLT notwithstanding). As soon as it was in hand, I knew I needed it, especially since there wasn't anything more impressive (I couldn't tell a PF65 from a PF70 anyway). Â I think it's probably fair to say that I'm no longer agnostic about toning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ikaros Posted January 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2012 Pictures! They had to come eventually!  1972 nickel  1972D nickel  1973D nickel  1981S Type 1 nickel -- doesn't capture the really remarkable toning. It's an odd olive green, just gorgeous.  1981S Type 2 nickel  2011P nickel  2011D nickel  2011S nickel  I really need to spend some time just taking pictures and learning what I'm doing wrong... my photo quality is just too variable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art1.2 Posted January 19, 2012 Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 It is difficult. Proofs are way harder to capture than MS and circulated coins. Toning -- I have not idea how folks get the wonderful color renditions that they do. BUT I too am trying to learn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ikaros Posted January 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 I think I'm going to jerry-rig a polarizing filter in there, to see if that moderates the glare. I dunno, it's all about the experimentation now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ikaros Posted March 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 More Jeffs from my recent foray to the LCS. Â Complete 1948PDS: Â 1959 Proof: Â 1960 Proof: Â 1968S Proof: Â 1969S Proof: Â 1970S Proof: Â 1976D: Â End of batch one... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ikaros Posted March 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 Second load! Since there's a limit of ten images per post. Â 1979PD: Â 1981D: Â 1987PD: Â 2008S Proof: Â 2010S Proof: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art1.2 Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 Nice lot of Jeffersons. They're all in great condition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ikaros Posted March 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2012 'Great condition' is kind of the point of the collection. Â Anyway, talking with my dealer, he says that they still can't get the 2009 issues. They're offering like $6 to $8 apiece for them, and they have standing orders for rolls at $10 per coin. About the only ones they're seeing are the matte issues from the annual sets. Anyone going to Puerto Rico would probably do well to get several rolls from the banks there and see what they can find... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ikaros Posted September 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 7, 2015 Wow, I haven't updated here for a while. Â Picked up a few for the Jefferson Project; mostly recent BUs and proofs, but one older one, a proof 1954 with very very subtle rose and blue toning on the reverse that I'll never be able to capture photographically. Â I've decided that I'm going to end the collection with the end of the classic Schlag portrait. I just can't work up any enthusiasm for the current Miss Hathaway nickels. So I consider the Jeffs to be a closed series which I shall complete, rather than one that needs to be maintained annually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art1.2 Posted September 7, 2015 Report Share Posted September 7, 2015 Nice update Ik. I can understand that. I'm not very pleased with the new design either. I've gotten the coins to update my set for recent years but haven't put them in my albums. Maybe much the same reasons. I think I might concentrate on finishing out the slabbed war nickels . It will probably be the end of next year before I feel I can reasonably spend money on coins again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedeadpoint Posted September 25, 2015 Report Share Posted September 25, 2015 You both are making me nostalgic for the pre-statehood quarter designs (when all series had the designs we knew for 50 years). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ikaros Posted September 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 28, 2015 Yeah, it's going to be weird to see the eagle back again. Unless they embark on another project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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