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About this journal

I am now in my later 40's as I write this bio and finally have reached a point in life where I can set aside some money monthly for my "coin allowance."

It was not always this way.

My fascination with coins started at a very young age--although the exact age I am not sure. I would guess I was between 7 to 10 years of age when my mother showed me her silver coins. As a child in the mid 1970's, the sight of a mercury dime design, walker or franklin half and even the old buffalo nickels were somehow exciting and mysterious. Compared to the pictures of the busts of presidents, the older designs were fantastically beautiful in their art and sculpted design...I was hooked!
The only problem was that I was a kid and had no money. My mom and dad got me some thumb busters of Lincoln wheat cents and Jefferson nickels. Oh what a prize to find a wheatie in my dad's change of a date before 1940! Of course I could not just take the coin--I had to do some extra chore to earn that prize, this made the enjoyment all the more.

Later I would have the pleasure of trips to a local coin shop in Rockville (MD)-called Coins of the Realm--I don't even know if it still exists or not. As the holes in my thumb busters became harder to fill, I figured out that I could find many of them at the coin shop. I would cut the grass of the older families in the neighborhood during the summer and if we had a snow in the winter--me and the other kids in the neighborhood would be out early knocking on doors to make that $5 for shoveling a sidewalk and driveway.
The difference was, my friends would spend that money on candy, sports cards or slot cars--for me it was a trip with my mom to the coin shop.
Eventually my mom even gave me her old silver coins--circulated and common date, nonetheless, they were quite possibly the most exciting coins I ever received.
After many years of hiatus from numismatics--about 12 to 15 years ago I rediscovered my passion for the hobby of kings--and with the discovery of the Registry here at NGC--and the ability to hunt for treasures on the internet, I foresee coin collecting being a part of my earthly pleasures until the day when I will leave it. 

Entries in this journal

Maddening Modern Collecting

Numismatics has been a part of my life for decades, sometimes very involved and others not so much. I repeat this tired, old mantra for the simple point that collecting has REALLY changed over time. From brick and mortar coin shoppes to coins in the Sears catalog, thumb busters at the bookstores and finding silver or wheaties in pocket change, we've really come a long way- and much of it for the better. One thing I do find maddening is the collecting of a simple modern "set." Those of you w

jackson64

jackson64 in Moderns

Building a 7070 Leads to First 20c Piece

I'm really enjoying building my first serious type-set. In the past I have made a Half Dollar type set and a 5c type set but both pale in comparison to the fun and increased knowledge I'm getting with my 7070 set. I have gotten some bust coins for half dime, dime and quarters which I've never owned. I also added several of the varieties ( so far) of the half cents and large cents.  I've never owned a Seated Dollar or 3-cent silver so I've had fun reading up on them, figuring out which coins

jackson64

jackson64

Single Finest of Series

Well I barely got it under the wire but I remembered to utilize my $150 submission credit for my Premium Membership before it expired this year. I decided to use it to just add the final 5 silver $1 coins for my BU Bahamas sets. The Bahamas BU silver series running from 1966 through 1973 has long been a favorite side-collection of mine. I had already completed the 50c coins with the dancing Marlin and the silver dollar sized $2 coins with the Flamingo couple in front of a setting sun ( both

jackson64

jackson64

After 3 Years, Finally The Right One!

I'm not going to make this journal overly wordy. It has been, amazingly, over a year since I last posted a journal entry. I have been busy collecting though. I won't go through all of my activities of the past 12+ months but I will say that I am building, piece by piece, a highly-discriminatory 70/70 type set. The type set building has been the most fun I've had in a while for collecting as I get to acquire examples of so many different coins, have lots of hunting opportunities and even hav

jackson64

jackson64

Four Nice Pick-ups in one Shot

I've been so busy lately with work, family, yard work and pre-Christmas activities I've barely had any time for hobbies. Even after I made a purchase last Sunday evening it took me 3 days before I even had time to swing by the post office box and pick up my new additions-- and this was because I had gifts for family out-of-state to mail. I've gotten into replacing some slots in my Washington album with mint state coins if the price is right and I found a nice 4-coin lot of all MS64 PCGS coi

jackson64

jackson64

Numismatic Displays

Along with the random silver trays of coins, I have also used numismatics to inspire some release of my limited artistic expression. About 3 years ago I did an ink and watercolor drawing of a 1933 St Gauden's. If you look closely you can see quite a few little errors in the design but overall I think it turned out well since I usually use oils for the few paintings I've done. Also when I was hunting for bear coins for my granddaughters Bear-themed custom set I came across these beautif

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jackson64

A Fortuitous and Artistic Side Effect

I have had several of these old silver trays and bowls on shelves in my office for years. At various times I have displayed them as a sort of artistic presentation filled with world coins, Ike dollars, Sacagaweas and classic coin mixes. My granddaughter loves to rummage through the world coin tray with its strange coins of odd shapes, holed coins, different metals and strange writing. It can be quite educational for her when she selects one that has caught her eye and asks about it. I use my Kra

jackson64

jackson64

Gotta Love the "Brown" Designation

I just added another MS64 Brown Indian Cent to my collection. This 1892 leaves me with just the 1890 and 1894 to complete my self-styled Indian Short Set 1890-1909. I'm wavering but I think I'll go ahead and expand it to the 1880's as well since most of that decade can be had at a reasonable price and there are no key date, expensive issues that will be needed.   If you wonder why I decided on brown instead of the (usually) more coveted red or RB coins--I just feel like the brown coins

jackson64

jackson64

Is My Coin "Too Good"

Okay, I may have screwed up a bit. I have bought a few of the coins for my Washington album already slabbed and have had to liberate them for my album. The primary reason for this is that a few of the pricier ones I was able to get at a very good price in the grades I wanted and as a plus I got the added insurance with the purchase of knowing they weren't cleaned or had issues I couldn't see with the seller's pictures. I am down to just the final 3 or 4 holes in my Washington album. The fin

jackson64

jackson64

Nice Pick Ups for the Semi-keys

Well it seems I picked a great set to build a quick and easy album. Already I am down to just ten holes. I also finished page 4- the 1957 through 1964 silver Washington Quarters in BU at barely above melt costs for these coins. Although I have a few scattered S mint dates of the 1930's and a smattering of 1940's, I found 2 quality examples for the series "key date" 1932-D & S coins. I was able to get the 32-S for under $120 plus a $12 discount for ebay bucks. The 32-D I got for exactly

jackson64

jackson64

In Our Thoughts Southwest FLA, Sarasota and NGC Family

I am not going to post a long journal full of virtue-signaling and fake compassion. I just wanted to extend a heartfelt message to all of the Coin collecting community who lives in the Houston area and the state of Florida. I especially wish to extend my hopes that all of those at NGC and their families in Sarasota stay safe throughout this ordeal. Submission tracking, guff with grades and mislabeled holders have a way of becoming trivial and returned to their proper level of unimportance a

jackson64

jackson64

Will The Cashless Society Decimate Coin Collecting?

Will the coming cashless commerce system be the end of numismatics? Certainly it will affect the number of "business strike" issued coins but will the hobby continue to persevere with Bullion issues and the dozens of commemorative and proof issues annually?   I was perusing some news headlines recently and 2 separate but seemingly related stories caught my attention---     The first story had to do with a new record-low physical currency decline worldwide.  The global, physical cu

jackson64

jackson64

58 of 83 JUST FROM SILVER ROLLS

While I wait for the right 1916-D Mercury dime to become available ( and at the right price) to finish the final hole in my last album, I decided to start the next one. I decided on a relatively easy set- an 83 coin, Silver Washington Quarter Dollar, Whitman album of 1932 thru 1964 coinage. I call it easy for 2 reasons. The first reason is that I had 4 rolls of mixed-date silver quarters already in my stash. Besides 2 heavily worn Barber's, one holed Seated liberty quarter and a scor

jackson64

jackson64

And Then There Was Just One Needed

Well my Mercury Dime album set has been a lot of fun to assemble. I have ( for the most part) avoided my usual trap of assembling a set and then "just" upgrading this coin and that coin for another with a little more luster/detail/tone etc etc. I have upgraded about 3 coins of the teens and early 1920's for coins that have a touch less wear. For Page 1 of my Whitman, the general goal is full rims and dates--Page 2 I'm looking for some fasces details/lines and Page 3 ( the late 1930's and th

jackson64

jackson64

Back To My Numismatic Roots

After some recent frustrations with registry sets slots, I have decided to take a hiatus from Grading coins, submissions, NGC vs PCGS and even removed almost all of my Registry "competitive" sets. The frustration has long been building with the politics in the hobby and not just with trying to get through the myriad of confusion associated with collecting any modern series and their innumerable annual issues. Whether it is SP's listed as MS or as PF's, multiple slots for the same coin but w

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jackson64

One of These Is Not Like the Others

One thing I feel that is needed in coinage is a uniformity on deciding what is an obverse and what is a reverse. Almost all US coinage is quite simple as we declare that the side with the Bust or Lady Liberty is usually the obverse. There are some instances with modern and classic commemorative issues where there remains inconsistency with opinions on which is the obverse and which the reverse. Things are far less clear with world coins. Many nations don't use busts at all but have National

jackson64

jackson64

Fantastic Variety of New Custom Set Additions

Along with my recent submission which finished 2 of my Bahamian Silver MS sets, I also added 8 more coins to my granddaughter's growing " bear coins" themed collection. She really does enjoy these coins I find and is not just humoring her pawpaw with the ooohs and aaahs. It is fun to see her loop the 20x loupe around her little finger and stare down at all the small details--shifting and turning to get the right light and focus to get the clearest image ( just as I taught her!) This submiss

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jackson64

Finished Two Sets With This Past Submission

My most recent submission is worth at least 3 separate journals after some issues I had, some newly discovered info, to discuss the coins and overall grades ( 8 of the coins were for custom sets) and of course, the completion of 2 of my Bahamian Silver Registry Sets......... The Bahamas Mint State silver coins had a relatively short lifespan. There are just 6 years of these issues with quite limited mintages ( it is a smallish island nation so 10's of millions would have made no sense.) The

jackson64

jackson64

Added coins 4 and 5 to my Jersey 1/12 shilling set

Please do not add any "likes" to anything I post on journals ( or the chat boards). I find the whole facebook phenomenon to be a sad indictment of our self involved society. An entire aspect of modern society focused on self-centered, "hey look at me, what I did, ate, drank, vacationed" etc-- in desperate need for some petty validation by being "liked".  Thank You............   Now to you, journal.... One of my strategies I've had with collecting is to keep several sets in the pro

jackson64

jackson64

A Nice Score !

I have certain rules that I always (most always) hold on Ebay purchases but none of them are fully iron-clad. I do on occasion buy coins from sellers with low feedback numbers if it "feels right" that a small lot or group of coins really does look like somebody's cigar box collection. Sometimes I will purchase coins from overseas. I avoid Chinese fakes and those with export/import issues, but I have gotten some nice coins at pretty good prices from Portugal, Spain, the UK etc. One must alwa

jackson64

jackson64

My Procrastination Has Left Me Swamped

It may be time to show some discipline and get things in order. I am not a procrastinator by nature. I am usually the polar opposite. In fact, if I am being honest in my self assessment, I am a bit compulsive with my desire for order in a universe ruled by the ceaseless tides of entropy. For example, if a bill arrives in the mail I will almost immediately pay it, write the date and amount on the invoice and then file it in the appropriate folder. I am never satisfied to rinse a plate and le

jackson64

jackson64

My Procrastination Has Left Me Swamped

It may be time to show some discipline and get things in order. I am not a procrastinator by nature. I am usually the polar opposite. In fact, if I am being honest in my self assessment, I am a bit compulsive with my desire for order in a universe ruled by the ceaseless tides of entropy. For example, if a bill arrives in the mail I will almost immediately pay it, write the date and amount on the invoice and then file it in the appropriate folder. I am never satisfied to rinse a plate and lea

jackson64

jackson64

First "Set" coin of the New Year

finally filled a registry slot I just added a nice little 1893 Indian Cent to my 1890-1909 Indian Short Set. It's not exactly an eye popper but it is an attractive coin with an aged look, very clear of any ticks, nicks or dings, and retains quite a bit of underlying orangish/red luster for a "brown" designation. It may actually be close to an MS65 RB so I'm pleased to find it in the MS64BN that my set parameters entail ( surely a 65 for its freeness of hits alone.) I added a photo that I w

jackson64

jackson64

A Lot Harder Now

Filling holes in classic US sets is a tough registry task. I suspected that the change in policy by NGC to not allow PCGS coins would make registry participation harder. I primarily collect classic US coins and was just finishing up an SLQ one-per-date set and an 1890-1909 Indian Head Cent Set. With just a few holes left in each of these sets, it seemed relatively certain that I would fill these shortly and could start thinking about which series I'd like to pursue next. Most often I have to

jackson64

jackson64

A Simply Beautiful Coin Design

another "setless" purchase As I have posted and written about over the years, sometimes I make a purchase for the simple reason that I love beautiful coins. There is no "collecting" involved as there is no higher goal than ownership and enjoyment. I got pretty lucky with this purchase also. The British Virgin Island bullion coin is an attractive design and I purchased the silver addition some months ago for a small case I have with ungraded, large silver coins. The gold gilt with rhodium fin

jackson64

jackson64

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