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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

Ultra Cameo's-Worth Every Point

it's the desirability As has been said many times in journal entries, "the demand creates the value of a coin"-and also the number of points a coin is worth. Many people wonder about how NGC comes up with the points for particular coins...how do they weigh market value, versus mintages, versus condition rarity etc etc. Let's look at the Jefferson nickel proofs for example: almost all of the 1980's -2006 are worth only 3 points for a PF69UCAM, which makes sense since there are tens of thousan

jackson64

jackson64

Albums Are Still Great Fun

I will always be working on 1 or 2 album sets Like many numismatists I started my collecting with an album/folder. It was actually 2 seperate folders for lincoln cents, one with dates from 1909-1940 and the other with dates from 1941-present {which was about 1975 then}. I can still see my youthful -script of putting the dates under the undated holes for the late 70's years as they were released. I am an enthusiastic registry collector...in fact it has revitalized my passion for coins. I lov

jackson64

jackson64

The 2007's ARE HERE !!!

received from the mint in only 4 days from ordering In 2005 the first issue of Canada's yearly Tall Ships $20 Hologram coins came out and I got one for my set of themed coins. A little reluctant at first because of not particularly liking the "cheap" look of painted coins or colored picture coins, I bought that coin because of the superb design and detail. I was realy surprised to find how beautiful the coin was when it arrived, and what a great medium a partial hologram image is for a ship-th

jackson64

jackson64

If At First You Don't Succeed..

sometimes patience is forced upon you.. Several times over the past year I have seen a coin at auction that I REALLY wanted. I'm sure many of you can relate. For me it is usually a coin that fits my signature set of ship coins. I usually was not even aware of the coins existence, but once I see it at auction-whether from the big auction houses or even ebay- I become enamored. I can already picture how great it's going to look in my set. However, it doesn't always work out. Most of the time

jackson64

jackson64

Memorial Day and Thoughts of My Dad

approaching holiday has me reminiscing As the Memorial Day holiday weekend approaches I have seen some great articles and programs on the remarkable men {and women} who have given so much to insure the liberty and freedoms that we have in this great nation. My father was one who served, and among my treasures are his 2 overseas service medals and a purple heart. Amazing to me was that he got the second overseas medal AFTER he got the purple heart. I have been asked many times about my pas

jackson64

jackson64

My First Try With NCS

wary of coin conserving It is going to be a bit lengthy journal entry because I have had a lot of activity in my collecting recently--for those who read these please bear with me.......... First of all, I have been so busy, not because of any uncontrolled spending or any financial windfall--but mainly by trying to get some things in order and several coins that I have been waiting for became available simultaneously. I have decided to try out NCS mainly because of a wonderful ship coin t

jackson64

jackson64

Parting with My Collection

have been doing some thinking... Ok, first of all, I'm not parting with anything for a long while. I have just been thinking about that day in the future.... I have been re-hashing some thoughts recently after reading the journal entry by AEAGLE01...who is selling his #2 ranked Buffalo Nickel set at Heritage this month. As much as I enjoy numismatics-and it truly is a hobby foremost to me-the objects of our collecting endeavors have VALUE. When I see a fabulous set of buffalos like AEAGLE0

jackson64

jackson64

Imperfect Art of Grading

beauty is in the eye of the beholder? I'm sure that most serious collectors realize that grading is an imperfect science, the system of using multiple graders and taking the average is probably as effective as it can get. Grading standards have changed over time--a PCGS coin in an old rattler or green label usually has a much higher chance at an upgrade than other coins. Well my journal is supposed to be about my collecting experience..the bad as well as the good. My luck has been down late

jackson64

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TEN COINS BACK FROM NGC

this set just keeps growing... I finally got enough time to go by the post office and pick up some packages..among them were my submissions to NGC. A great turnaround-exactly 10 days, just as listed for the tier on World Coin submissions. Just a fabulous group I sent this time-with coins from Andorra, San Marino, Iceland, Congo, Ghana, Somalia etc etc..since I purchased the Krause catalog I have found dozens of coins that fit my signature set of sailing ship themed coins. Now comes another

jackson64

jackson64

My Holy Grail Coin !!!

At long last.. I finally bought the "holy grail" coin for my signature set-High Seas. It is the Hudson Commemorative from 1935in a nice MS grade. I started my signature set of coins with sailing ships on them several years ago-and the set was originally just going to be US coins with ships. I had purchased every American coin {and even a few Hard times tokens and so-called dollars} that fit my criteria except the Hudson. I expanded the set to include World Coins and it has taken off like c

jackson64

jackson64

Reading About Coins..

Knowledge may be power, but it can save a person money too I have not written in my journal in a while-except for my little April Foll's prank about the gold formula. The main reason is that I have purchased several books on our great hobby recently and have been doing more reading than writing or collecting. David Bowers book "The Experts Guide to Collecting and Investing in Rare Coins" has been a real eye-opener. It seems that I have done several things naturally correct, and really blown it

jackson64

jackson64

Gold Formula Found !!

Article from the Journal of Metallurgical sciences.. A recent article in a reknowned Scientific Journal reports that researchers have uncovered a complex stoichiometric formula that can transform higher grade bauxite metals into 24 carat gold. The process which involves an intricate operation enables bauxite to shed up to 3 valence electrons thus changing the polarity of the bauxite. The result is a change in the density of the mass of the metal, giving it the same electrical compatability as

jackson64

jackson64

My Collecting Origins

I found my old Lincoln Cent album Like many people I have moved several times in my adult life. Some moves have been because of work, some to cut down on commute time, and even once for just a 3 year hiatus in my early 20's to south Florida for the heck of it. As a result of these moves I have boxes of stuff that have followed me in my travels and usually end up unopened in an attic, garage, basement or closet at my new location. I have been at my current address for over 10 years now and deci

jackson64

jackson64

My Fabulous New Coin

superb new edition to my set All this talk of TPG's got me thinking recently- and thinking is not always one of my strong suits. Some may consider me insane, especially since NOBODY collects anymore..only buying for the investment value-but I rely heavily on NGC, PCGS, and ANACS for my coins--the ones I crack out of their slabs and place in my album sets. I can always count on a top-quality coin being within a point either direction, of accurate grading. They are the best coins PERIOD to crack

jackson64

jackson64

Plenty of Room For the Little Guys

Got my 2 NGC Award Plaques today... I almost opened the package in my car..it was a box from NGC and could be only 1 thing, the Awards that I was granted for best Collectors' Journal and the other for Most Creative Signature Set. I am writing this in all humbleness and gratitude because I am one of the little guys. I often see coins sold at some of the big auctions that are worth far more than my entire collection and although I love to look through the catalogs I get in the mail, most of t

jackson64

jackson64

Bigger is Not always Better

too large for slabbing Since the start of the signature sets here at Collectors Society my ship-themed coin collecting has gone overboard. I collected coins with ships before the signature sets started but I kept most of them raw and was planning on building some sort of presentation case for them..now I get them slabbed to include in my High Seas Signature Set. Sometimes the cost of slabbing is greater than the value of the coin, but I want it as part of my collection because of its uniquenes

jackson64

jackson64

Alphabet Soup

if you think there's any good I usually restrict myself to only using the journal as a place to record my experiences and thoughts as a Numismatist. There are plenty of coin chat boards for discussions on various issues. Having said that-I'm breaking the rules!! The preponderance of self-slabbing by anyone who wants to buy some slabs and a label maker can in no way help the hobby.That few dollars one might get a decent deal on is going to be off-set in the long run by the de-valuation of

jackson64

jackson64

HE WHO HESITATES...

of all the times to curb my impulse buying.. OK, I do a lot of impulse coin buying, that is probably why I have dozens of coins that don't fit any particular"set" but they caught my eye at the time. Well this time I should have jumped. I was perusing ebay yesterday, using their advanced search option to check out coins that fill holes in my albums or that elusive 1 I need to finish the main set I'm working on. My buffalo nickel album is just 3 coins shy of completion {criteria is full rims

jackson64

jackson64

Nothing Like A Full Mailbox

got back from vacation and had 6 coins waiting for me, a great way to kick those post-vacation blues I just got back from Florida with the family and instead of the usual "back to the grind blues" I was anticipating my trip to my po box. Waiting for me were 6 great coins that I had bought in the week/s before I left. First were 2 nice ship coins, one from Tonga and a superb 1938 silver Swedish 2 Kronor-still in its original mint cello!!{NGC here they come} also a 1948-D bu FBL Franklin to fini

jackson64

jackson64

Finished !!!

completed a set..unbelievable I just love coins for various reasons..their art, history, design, value, and sometimes just because they are very shiny it seems. Anyhow, I have trouble finishing sets because I will get a chance to acquire a nice coin that does not fit one of the sets I am building and then I go off on a tangent and start collecting that new series. Well I know it's not a large valued set, but I am pleased to finally add the final coin to my France 20 Gold Francs Marianne/Rooste

jackson64

jackson64

NGC's 48 Hour Service took...48 Hours!!

sorry for cutting in line but.. I was very pleased with NGC's 48 hour service this week. I thought there might be hold ups because of the Holidays but on Wednesday I checked the site and my coin was listed as received. Yesterday it was already in Quality control and when I checked this morning it said finalized/imaged/shipped...wow..A++++++ Sorry for cutting in line, for all of you who have been waiting for long periods of time-but this was a final coin for a set I have been working on for a

jackson64

jackson64

Received coins in mail today

My order status still shows them in quality control I received my coins back today from NGC. They are the submissions I sent in of ship themed coins to add to my registry set-High Seas.I know that this site has been having trouble lately due to upgrading, but I hadn't realized that it appears to have trickled into other areas of the site. I was pleased with the grades, mostly because there were no bodybags. Since this is a non-competitive set and grades aren't that important-just slabbing and

jackson64

jackson64

Quick Shipper

Got my Coin in the mail... After the long wait to find it, I received my coin in the mail today...only a few days after its purchase { I nervously inspected it for signs of cleaning, jewelry removal etc..and it looks great}. Being the final one to complete my set I think that I may go ahead and fork out the money for 48 hour service which still shows a 48 hour turnaround time. I know that NGC is busy and with all of the recent anniversary and commem releases they must be swamped with modern, e

jackson64

jackson64

Christmas Comes Early!!!!

2 years of searching and found it by luck Christmas came early for me. I finally found-and won-the final coin for one of my sets. The set is not a registry set, just a signature set that I started before there were signature sets. I started collecting a few years ago the France Gold 20 Francs Marianne and Rooster series dated from 1899-1914 {my wife is named Marianne and has unruly curly/wavy hair that I love}. The coins are mostly considered bullion coins by many people and are quite common a

jackson64

jackson64

How Many Coin Designs For 2007?

If a complete collection of every mint produced coin in 2006 cost $15,000..how much next year? I recently read an article stating that had you bought 1 of every coin/set released by the USMint in 2006 it would have cost you a few bucks shy of $15,000...wow. I will be the first to admit that I love the new coin designs but this seems a bit much. I get frustrated also because there is no way that I can keep up with them and collect the coins for the sets that I have been working on for years. I

jackson64

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