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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

Including The Lower Point Registry Coin

sometimes the registry points don't reflect the better, rarer or higher value coin I'll keep this short as I know the excitement over the arrival of the ASE's sets and subsequent grading results has been the big focus of interest for the past month. After a self-imposed buying moratorium for the past 6+ weeks I had won 3 items at the Stacks/Bowers auction in Nov here in Maryland ( Baltimore). I finally upgraded my 1941 Walker to an MS67 - the MS66 that filled the slot is not going anywhere
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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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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
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Micro-S Walker Variety?

searching and then researching..... First I want to thank everyone who sent me messages and also commented in the coin forum concerning my last journal entry. It really is my friends and fellow collectors at this site that have added so much more to my collecting via the registry in recent years. So last I wrote I had purchased 100 circulated Walker halves. Well there were no major varieties as I studied them--in fact the Walker series actually has very few primary cherrypicks--the 1946 doub
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An Unexpected Cha-ching !!

A nice little score with my ebay gambles... As I've mentioned before I am a bit of an ebay gambler. However now with the current high value of silver the risk is not as much.   For those unfamiliar with my practices--I like to add to my "bullion" holdings by purchasing silver rolls of circulated coins on ebay. Sometimes they are total junky, bent, corroded, heavily worn etc coins that look ready for the smelting pot. Then there are the lots which have some decent coins of album quality and
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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
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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
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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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A Great Way to Finish a Vacation

coming home to a full PO Box and 3 coin packages takes some sting out of a relaxing vacation ending Due to some various circumstances my wife and I did not take our usual February vacation to break up the winter. We both have been at our current professions and companies long enough that we qualify for several weeks vacation per year. Our usual practice is a vacation in mid-winter to break up the doldrums and get away alone together, and then we also take a late summer trip which will include
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Swinging For The Fences

every once in a while you gotta go for the home run My most recent submission has reached quality control. Originally I was going to send a mix of things including my 2010 proof ASE's..but in the end I thought I'd take my 5 submission coupon and go for a long-shot with a potential big return. I sent 5 of my Walker MS66's in for regrade, hoping to get either an MS67, an MS66+ or an MS66*. You may ask what the big deal would be in getting an MS66+ from my MS66?..well I'll give you an example.
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And Then There Were Just 2

an arduous endeavor nears its end First of all, congratulations to all of the registry winners- each and every award is well-deserved and don't let anyone else's frustrated words detract from your moment of due recognition. Your passion for the hobby is evident in the sets assembled by some and the presentations done by others. I have had less fervor this past year myself and have taken a more subdued direction in my collecting. Maybe 12-15 coins added and half of those were upgrades to existi
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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
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I Won What??-OOPS

oops... I received my invoice in the mail today from the recent auction. The auction that I mention was the pre-Long Beach auction by Goldbergs and it was held over several days. I watched the auction on the day that the US half dollars were auctioned and as I wrote in a prior journal-I was thrilled to find myself the winner of 2 of my 4 internet bids ( even though I missed my lots live bidding). Well the next day of the auction was paper money I believe and then the final day was world coin
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When The Going Gets Tough

the tough get going? Times are tough, no doubt, and with encouraging news about the economic turnaround like "Job Loss Rate is Slower this Month"..or "Banks Report Smaller Loss than Expected", it is no small wonder that I have read many posts about fellow collectors selling their collections or leaving the hobby... Chat boards are slower, less journals posted, fewer bids on items at the weekly auctions..... Well you may have noticed that I have been absent (mostly) for a few months. Part o
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Need 2 last French gold 20 Fcs. "Marianne& Rooster" coins to finish cert. Set..1902 &1906..bu+

I have a complete set of 1899-1914 20 Franc gold french rooster's all NGC graded Ms63-65. If you have a bu uncertified or certified 1902 or 1906 20 franc gold coin please contact this member of collector's society. Although I have 3 different #1 ranked registry sets I still have several "odd" collections...because I collect for fun. I love this set..she {Marianne} not only has the long curly/wavy hair of my wife..the name is even spelled the same..I even have the rare 1900 No Arrows by the dat
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My Submission Curse Is Broken

Finally got a super return... I've been a member of Collectors Society and the registry here now for close to a decade I believe--at least 8 years or so. I've written in the journals occasionally for the past 5 or 6 years about my experiences with submissions. My submissions have gone three ways primarily........... 1.) I submit some coins for regrade that are at that " magic level". This is the point at which a $500 coin jumps to a $5000 coin if it could just get ONE MORE POINT on the slab
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Short Set of My Own Parameters

just added coins 25 and 26 to pass the halfway point !! As some of you may know I collect coins with Sailing Ships on them. Most of you who know me or read my journals know that my #1 love is Walker Halves. On a lessewr note I have a few other collections of which I have casually added here and there when I find a deal or get lucky and a low ball bid actually holds up for a win. One of those sets that I build for fun--and definitely not for points, which is obvious by all of the 3 point coin
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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
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Nice Coins Heading For the Melting Pot?

as silver value inches towards numismatic value... Like many of you here I have my little silver hoard stash. My hoard is not in the thousands of ounces where a $5 jump in silver prices would be a nice increase in my assets. With a hundred or more ounces, a hugely significant jump of $5 per ounce would not affect me positively financially--especially when that jump would probably indicate some downturns in other areas of investments. What is of interest to me about potential rising silver is
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A Wild Ebay Ride

cleaned out my "impulse buys" At least once a year I try and take the time to go through my various cubbies, drawers, safe and SDB and pull out all of my impulse buys. It is amazing how many random coins I acquire each year that don't even come close to fitting into any of the sets that I am "actively building." Not just my impulse buys but also doubles from coins in my real sets that I've upgraded, coins I purchased to help a friend out, ones I've been holding until bullion values rose etc.
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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
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TRUTH about the 1941-S WALKER

the "facts" used as an example are not even close to the truth. I have only once ever replied to a journal entry, I try and keep the spirit of what the journal was intended for--A place for us as collectors to share our experience ( joys, frustrations and memories--thank you DM Merrill, simply awesome journal as always). I'm going to straddle the line here by clarifying some really bad misinformation, share an opinion and also share my most recent exciting addition to my collection. First,
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A Bid Finally Held Up for the Win

after 2 straight times of being sniped........ At 2 of the most recent big auctions I have gotten painfully sniped. In one of them, there was a gorgeous 1934-D for my mid-date Walker set. The coin had beautiful, distinctive toning and a full strike of the head area of Ms Liberty. For those familiar with the Walker series, you'll know how flat the 34-D head strike is and how prized a nice strike is. Well I had the high bid for a whole month prior to the sale. The night before the sale I even bu
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Is It Twisted Thinking?

hoping my perspective is not skewed..... I'll keep this one short........ I visited the Stacks-Bowers webpage on Thursday evening when I got home to see if I had won a coin that I had put a healthy bid on. I see 1945-D Walker MS67's here and there, it is not a conditional rarity at MS67. This coin though is not your average 67 ( at least for the "look" that I like in a Walker). Bold strike, satiny luster which pops through some lavender and rose blush fields, and just a bit of rainbow around t
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I'm Lousy at Submitting

I'm going to have to face the facts... I believe that it was Albert Einstein who said, " The definition of insanity is making the same mistakes and expecting different results." ( often misquoted as "doing the same thing and expecting..."). Well I am either hardheaded beyond cure, thick as a brick or certifiable because for years I have been making the same mistakes and inevitably getting the same results. The last I journaled--before the new year I believe--I had my fingers crossed as I sen
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