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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

My End Of Year Review

Some holes were filled, and some are still empty... Since the registry year runs from Dec.10th-Dec.10th, I guess it is not too early for me to consider my ups and downs for 2006 as a coin collector.First of all, the only sets I completed were done with 2006 updates to modern sets..ie the Sacagawea proof set and Silver/flag/proof state quarters. I did finish my Franklin half set in my Whitman album but my goal was to have an MS/FBL set..and a few of these are still a bit weak on the bell lines.

jackson64

jackson64

WOW !! AN HCGS BEAUTY bought on ebay

Bet you've never seen an AU58 with this detail.. Bet you've never seen an AU58 with this detail, or lack thereof..lmao..I just wanted to chuckle about this and share a holiday laugh with my fellow collectors who may view this. This standing Liberty Quarter had a Title on Ebay.."Standing Liberty Quarter 1928-Certified AU58 WOW"...first of all I rarely even look at a listing that says "look" or "wow" or even "stunning"..but the price was so low I took a peek..and of course I already knew that it

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DISGRUNTLED ABOUT EBAY?

still deals to be had... About a month ago I ran a listing on ebay for ALL of my old loose coins, some incomplete albums, wheats of course, several bu Peace dollars, some commems in their boxes,a 1999-2005 Silver state quarter set PCGS PF69,random halves-quarters, 2 bu rolls of rosy's dated 53-s and 54-s a bu roll of Jeff's 46-S, and other stuff too....anyhow, the ebay buyers are getting so jaded{especially by the "grab bag" junk sales} that with a $1000 start bid .....NOBODY BID!!! I have 700

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Replica Coin To Fill a Rare Coin Album Hole?

I have found a better solution... As I was filling in my album holes with the new circulated Standing Liberty Quarters this morning that I purchased at the convention yesterday, I took a look at the 1916 slot.As with many of these old whitman coin albums it had the "hole" filled with a cardboard circle saying RARE. I have never had a problem with cracking out a semi-key date coin from a slab to fill a hole in one of my circulated sets, but I doubt I will ever stick a coin worth THOUSANDS into

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jackson64

Attended the Baltimore Coin Convention Today

crowded due to Veterans Day Holiday? I had a great day. It was Veterans Day and the start of the Baltimore Coin Convention and I was off of work, and off to Baltimore{about an hour north of me here in Calvert cty Maryland}..A beautiful 75 degree day, the last of the fall leaf color changes..just glorious. I parked a few blocks away and enjoyed a pleasant walk to the convention. The place was hopping..and huge..tons of tables and stuff to do. I checked out the pre-viewing of a few coins in Bowe

jackson64

jackson64

A Day With the Family and Found a St. Gaudens

didn't even spend a dime for it either... Ok, I'll admit that the title is intentionally misleading. I am writing this to record my own experience and so other colectors may appreciate the beautiful St. Gaudens photo.....My daughter had an art project due the other day and part of it was to pick a piece from the National Gallery of Art here in Wash. DC. I thought this would be great because then maybe I could walk down the street to the Smithsonian and look at the National Numismatic collectio

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Full Head and Full Bands Price Differences

a 99% FH or FB coin can be a fraction of the cost I remember reading a piece written by David Bowers on the "Full Head" Standing Liberty Quarters.It essentially raised the question that I have been struggling with this week. The November event in Baltimore has several coins that interest me, a few of these are SLQ's. One coin in particular does not have an official FH designation on the slab, however it does have a fuller head than many I've seen slide by. In addition to the 99% FH, as David B

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A Hidden Treasure Found!!

pulled a rare/key date out of an old bullion roll!! I am far from being a coin dealer...the extent of my sales are selling off my old coins after I've bought an upgrade or clearing out a whole set to buy a key date-expensive coin for another set.Having said that, I am not above buying a bargain when I see it purely for the sake of a re-sale and a quick, small profit.I saw a nicely toned indian head cent proof on sale at an Amish market here for $50..which I resold for over $200 on ebay. Last w

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The Last Coin in a Set

2 years on a 20 coin set and still 1 to go Well, another chance to acquire the final coin in a year set that has been my primary focus slipped by.Actually, far from slipping by, I made sure I got home in time to get final bids in on the internet portion of the auction. I logged in and with no surprise saw that my earlier bid had been outbid. Five minutes remaining and I had to decide quickly how much I wanted this coin. As any collector knows this is a tricky spot...finally fill that hole in t

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FOUND MINNESOTA QUARTER WITHOUT A "DOUBLED DIE" !!!!!!!

By the time they have determined the dozens and dozens and dozens of varieties...mine may be rarer!! I just finished reading another article on the Minnesota doubled tree-doubled die-doubled rock-random blob-floating speck- quarter dollar.I actually went and looked at the 2 I own, one in a fold album that I fill with change recieved quarters..and my PF69DCAM silver set I get each year with the flag on them and it takes a 10X loupe and serious eyesight to see the details of those tiny trees.The

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jackson64

EBAY Feedback Needs Some Changes

the angry reply system doesn't work I have been buying and selling coins on occasion on Ebay for several years now. Far from being a dealer, I usely sell my old coins after an upgrade or if I see an item being sold for well under its value I warily might purchase it and re-sell for $20 or so profit. I have 878 positive feedbacks from 633 different ebayers of which 300 are sales.I HAVE 4 NEGATIVE FEEDBACKS. One was sorta my fault..sold a vg/f barber for $13 and guy didn't like it and emailed me

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working on my sets

a labor of love spent a few hours this morning adding some of the coins I just got back from NGC to my Signature set....I know that I probably spent a few dollars more encapsulating a couple of them than the coins are actually valued at. Their worth to me is a different subject though...worth every penny to slab them and become part of my High Seas signature set...Of the 8 coins I added today {half dozen to add later} I included my first 2 gold coins for this set; 2 coins from the Middle East;

jackson64

jackson64

Small Local Coin Shows

sometimes some very nice coins can be found.. I just got back from a small coin show{around 30 tables} in Ocean City Maryland. What a great chance to get away, alone with my wife, for a few days to the beach. Although the weather was a bit wet for the first half of our trip, it was a great relaxing time together and I went to the coin show at the convention center for a couple of hours while she looked for end of summer bargains at the clothes stores.I found most items being sold at above tren

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jackson64

Coins make me bi-polar...

What a difference a day makes Yesterday I was bummed about the grades I received on my submissions and frustrated with the whole thing. I am probably not alone when I get feelings that my coins may not get the same consideration as someone who has submitted 200-300 coins at a time or who pays for the top tier for his 5 $10,000 coins. Anyhow, my entire attitude changed with one trip to the post office. My coin from American Numismatic Rarities came today...and it is even better than I hoped. Th

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no topic

boring stuff..not worth reading Well I finally got my grades for the 12 coins I sent in to add to my signature set.They were recieved at NGC on Sept 5th it is now Oct 6th..a lttle long but I'm not that concerned about that.I am a little disappointed in the grades..only 1 69{no 70's} out of 12..the proofs range from 64-68 which is the disappointing part since 5 of these 6 coins were taken from the mint box/felt case and never removed from the plastic capsules...the other 6 were mint state coins

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The COIN!!!!

Buy the Coin that Looks best to YOU!! I just finished reading a lot of my fellow collectors' journal entries and can't believe there is even a debate. A little history from an old-timer: before the TPG's we bought coins based upon their value to US-the collector..at my local coin shop I would ask if my dealer could do better on a price if it was a lower grade filler, if the coin had attributes I liked I would never ask...I probably would have paid more. I like white coins and full strikes..ton

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Finally....

won one I wanted badly Well I finally had a winning on-line bid of a really nice PQ coin{just my biased opinion}..I have had a tough time finding this 1917-D reverse Walker in an MS60-63 grade. The ones I see usually have the typically weak strike through the centers{common for this date with any of the 4 mintmarks} and very little, if any, feather detail on the eagles' chest on the reverse.There often seems to be an inconsistency to the grading of these coins...clean coins with toning and the

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All my bids lost...

I had bids in with 4 different auctioneers... well, the Long Beach event has come and gone...and since I'm not able to go to many ANA events out of the state, I am reliant on internet bidding. On 4 seperate items being auctioned by 4 different Auctioneers I was the leading/high bidder entering the floor auction....the results?..a big 0 for 4...sigh...two were coins that I had placed modest bids on, hoping to win and upgrade my sets without investing too much. One bid was for a hole in my set t

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jackson64

American Eagle Anniversary Gold Set-Sold Out in 24 HRS

Missed out on getting one and feel like venting OK, I will admit off the top that this is purely sour grapes but what else is my journal for if not to write my thoughts on my hobby.I do not like the constant bombardment of special LIMITED sets....it creates false rarities in my opinion. In 1995 the mint made a Proof American Eagle Silver coin with a "W" mint mark as part of a 10th anniversary set...recently a PF70 sold for $32,000 at auction!!!!...an 11 year old coin selling for more than most

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Sending to NCS?

Dilemma because of my lack of knowledge I recently purchased the coin pictured below, an 1853-O with arrows and rays Seated half dollar. The coin has been artificially toned {very well and attractive...but not original}but it does not appear to have been cleaned under high magnification. It seems that whoever owned it before tried to hide a die crack at 3'oclock on the obverse and a die clash under the right wing on the reverse by artificially toning this beauty...It is in an ANACS holder as M

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A Lesson Learned

sometimes a hasty buy is worth the lesson learned Early in 2005 I had a Jefferson nickel proof set {1965-date} that was ranked #1. When the final 2 westward journey nickels came out and were appearing at auctions and ebay in PF70UCam I bought them to update my set. By July those coins were selling for half of what I paid..{and now even less}. I only collect a few modern sets now-and none of these are top-registry grade sets.I have learned the lesson, however, of waiting for that newly minted a

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My PERSONAL Journal Musings

although thinking with questions.... Again I sit here with my thoughts...I sometimes peruse other peoples journal entries..I HAVE NEVER...directly responded to what someone else has written except by the member contact form and questions that I pose are ALWAYS self directed and of a rhetorical nature, never soliciting a direct response VIA someone elses journal entry.I do enjoy when someone who may have read MY entries into MY journal may have some pertinent information or knowledge and shares

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jackson64

Grading Standard Exceptions

should there be different standards for grading coins from within the same series... First let me say that I think the Third Party Grading system is great{meaning the top 3or4 companies of course}.They add security to your purchase, help set an industry standard, preserve these works of art, and they get the grading right most of the time{except for my coins which are all under-graded..}.I was thinking about how certain coins within a series..ex: the 1917-S obv and rev Walkers...have consisten

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$100,000 "Coin/s Purchase Only" gift certificate

redeemable at any coin dealer/ auction as cash OK..so I'm a dreamer. I correspond via email with a few other collectors who recently posed this question with each other. "What would you buy if you had a $100,000 gift certificate that you could use for the purchase of any coin/s?" The answer is...I'm not sure. Would I fill holes in existing sets, buy 1 dream coin {a $100,000 coin IS a dream for most of us}...3 or 4 really nice coins in the $25K range...hmmm...so far my list goes like this{usin

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Year sets..enjoyable collecting

Older years almost all have a few"scarcer" dates/mints I have a few modern sets that I have finished and add the yearly new addition to it. I have 2 signature sets...1 which is complete and one which is endless{sailing ship themed coins}. I also still like to start an album or folder and fill them with problem-free upper grade coins that still have nice eye appeal.I have been working on a 3 cent nickel collection of unslabbed, AU, circulation issues, for what seems like forever.I love silver h

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