CoinsbyGary

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About this journal

When I was a young boy, my cousin introduced me to the hobby of coin collecting. Because I was also interested in photography, I used to frequent a local camera store. Along with camera supplies, this store had a rotating display case full of coins that I enjoyed scrolling through. My very first coin purchase was an 1881-S Morgan Dollar in BU PL condition; this coin was old, shiny, and inexpensive at just $12! Now 35 years later, I still own that 1881-S Morgan Dollar, even though it is still worth less than $100. I loved looking through the Red Book dreaming of the coins I would buy if I had the money, especially the coins in the back of the book where the gold listings are. As a teenager, I was beginning to show signs of gold fever.

Working through high school, I spent the bulk of the money I did not save on coin purchases. My first gold purchase as a teenager was an 1881 BU Half Eagle for $105 from a mail order ad in "Coins" magazine. Since then I have had this coin graded, and it resides in my Gold Liberty type collection graded at PCGS MS-62.

My next gold purchase as a youth stretched my resources. I purchased an 1858-C VF Half Eagle for $350, and my attraction to this coin was that it had a low mintage from an obscure branch mint. I also enjoy the comradely among fellow coin enthusiasts, and once I invited a kid to attend a coin show with me who was much younger than I was. As fate would have it, this kid happened to be the son of my mother’s boss. This boss always said to my mother how impressed he was with me taking his son to that show. As for me, I enjoy the company of fellow coin collectors, whoever they may be.

Two other purchases I made as a teen were an 1876 20-cent piece and an 1885-CC Morgan Dollar from the Lavere Redfield hoard. Since then my collecting has been sporadic, depending on my life situation. However, the passion has always been there. Gold has still not lost its luster with me, and today I am a very active collector. The cousin that introduced me to coin collecting years ago no longer collects. For a different twist on my collection, visit my website at: coinsbygary.com

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Entries in this journal

Numismatic Dog Days of Summer

Gearing up for an exciting fall season! Late August, or the dog days of summer, signify an upcoming change of season. This time of year finds many of us preparing for another year of school. Some of us have kindergartners getting ready for their first year of school, whilst I have a son entering his senior year of college and a daughter finishing graduate school. Summer with its long days keeps most of us busy outdoors either working around the yard or partaking in some form of outdoor recreat

coinsbygary

coinsbygary

Now That I Am Retired, What of Collecting?

As of December 28th 2018, I am officially retired and am eager to move on into another chapter of my life. Retirement came a little sooner than I expected but when my employer offered me a generous buy out, I realized that I had to take it now or never see that opportunity again. Realistically, at 60 years old I had no more than 4 years left anyway and probably a little less. Now retired, I find myself having to live on a lot less money than I had before. To make things easier on my famil

coinsbygary

coinsbygary

NGC waves 5 coin Modern Special tier minimum order for UHR Double Eagle Submissions!

The hard part now is waiting for my coin to arrive from the mint. When NGC announced how they were accepting submissions for the new UHR Double Eagles I wondered how I would submit mine as an early release knowing I do not have 4 other coins to meet the 5 coin submission minimum. I decided to inquire about this using the link service@ngccoin.com . Good news! For this coin NGC is waving the 5 coin minimum! I got mine ordered 7 minutes after it went on sale! Now the anticipation of waiting to ga

coinsbygary

coinsbygary

NGC Photo Proofs

My experience with a photo proof submission and a cool find in my change. I have recently had the pleasure to submit some of my coins to NGC for photo proofing. Using a five free deluxe photo proof certificate, I selected five coins from my ?Inspirational Ladies? signature set. At the deluxe level, this service is very limited. Coins eligible for submission are all US issues, Canadian coinage since 1858, and British coinage since 1662. The submission form is different also, with Amy having to

coinsbygary

coinsbygary

New Gold Exchanged for Old Gold

Phase 2 of a major re-organization in my collection is complete. A few months ago, I wrote about the beginning of a major shift in my collecting priorities. The first phase of this re-organization involved selling seven ANACS details graded gold coins to purchase an 1893-S Morgan Dollar. In Phase 2 of my re-organization, I decided to liquidate most of my proof ?First-Spouse? coins. With the proceeds of those ?New Gold? coins, I planned to purchase the ?Old Gold? coins necessary to complete the

coinsbygary

coinsbygary

Never taking collecting for granted

Thanksgiving and my most recent collecting experiences. Thanksgiving is one of the best holidays to stop and take stock of your life. Nobody can really say that they are self-made; each of us needs other people in our lives in order to prosper. The term thanksgiving implies that we give thanks TO the ones who have contributed so much to our lives. I give thanks to my parents for raising me, to my doctors for keeping me alive after a life threatening illness, to my employer for giving me a job

coinsbygary

coinsbygary

Never a Dull Moment!

How the diversity of collecting brings richness to our hobby! What is it in the mind and heart of the individual collector that causes them to collect one variety of coin over another? What is it that draws some people to this year?s Lincoln cents and others to choose First Spouse gold coins? Of course, value and cost have something to do with it, but I would argue that what motivates the individual collector most are their individual tastes regardless of cost. In my case, I?d go head over hee

coinsbygary

coinsbygary

My Worst Numismatic Nightmare

Suffering the consequences of mistakes made years ago. From my journal post on March 1, I described many of the lessons I learned over the years on building a quality coin collection. In that journal, I documented a desire to get my entire collection certified. Foolishly, I sent the bulk of my raw coins to NTC (Numistrust Corp). In the past year since joining Collectors Society, I discovered the joy of building registry sets. With the registry accepting only PCGS or NGC graded coins (NCS accep

coinsbygary

coinsbygary

My UHR Double Eagle

Looks as if the earliest ship date is Feb. 6 The order for my UHR Double Eagle chimed in at 7 minutes after the hour, meaning that mine should be amongst the earliest ship dates. I have an expected ship date for the coin and book of Feb 6. I will post a new journal when it arrives at which time I will send it off to NGC for grading and early release designation. It may be a blessing in disguise that mine has not been shipped yet. If my coin ships on Feb 6 it will fall into a much more convenie

coinsbygary

coinsbygary

My Two Cents (for what its worth)

Chiming in on the hot issue of the day I am not judging the merits of what "namvette68" is proposing. Neither am I unsympathetic to the plight of other collectors forced to sell their collections to make ends meet. The economy is as it is and we are all in it together. All of us, if we are not selling coins to live, have at least thought about the circumstances that would force us to sell. What I am suggesting is that Collectors Society has other forums where this kind of thing should be taken

coinsbygary

coinsbygary

My response:

Re:Buy coins for love, not as an investment The following is my line-by-line reply to Augustus, but first I wish to preface my response by saying that I buy coins because of my passion and love for the hobby and I only buy coins that fit into my collecting goals. I also recognize that coins as an investment are highly speculative. However, I am comforted to know that for the most part my collection is not a depreciating asset like my car. 1) Technically speaking coin collecting or for that m

coinsbygary

coinsbygary

My Own Photography Experiments

Absolutely nothing takes the place of good pictures on the front end. First, I want to give kudos to W.K.F. on all his hard work in documenting his photographic experiences. Then I want to thank Bammer for the tip that will yield sharper, neater, more consistent coinage images in my registry sets. I have spent countless hours trying to take perfect pictures of my coins, getting somewhat better along the way, but never entirely satisfied. One of the things that annoy me most about my picture

coinsbygary

coinsbygary

My most recent purchase

Just came in the mail today! I love collecting firsts and lasts, whether the first or last year of issue, a new composition or variety, or a new mint. Today I received my latest purchase, and a first to the newly opened Denver Mint; a UNC details 1906-D half-eagle. This coin is a nice addendum to WKF's recent journals concerning the Denver Mint. The coin has scratches that are apparent, but in my opinion, does not distract from the overall look of the coin. Enjoy my photo, and as always, happy

coinsbygary

coinsbygary

My Most Recent NGC Submission

Lately, there has been much criticism and suspicion about the length of time it takes to get your coins graded. And my recent submission is no different. Like me, at the end of the day, when all your coins have been returned, you will probably ask yourself if it has been worth it? In the end, I weighed my worth against the grades I got, the price I paid, and the wait I had to endure. On April 22, 2021, I mailed a 13-coin submission to NGC. On August 10, I received the last of my coins back

coinsbygary

coinsbygary in NGC Submission

My Life as a YN

Today as a 58 year old coin collector I occasionally think back on my years as a YN (young numismatist). I have very fond memories of those days and the coins I collected, many of which I still proudly own today. Those were the days when I could spend the lion's share of the money I earned doing odd jobs on coins. At no other time in my life could I do this as I did when I was a YN because my parents provided the cloths on my back, a roof over my head, and plenty of good food to eat! The only

coinsbygary

coinsbygary

My Latest NEWP from the CSNS Show for my Type Set

I will have more to say on this very different show experience later but I couldnt wait to display the newest addition to my 7070 basic type set. I have always loved Indian Head Cents and this one charmed me from the git-go. I had spied out this particular cent from Gary Adkins and Associates website but felt I needed to see it in the hand before I bought it. When I got to the show I went to his table where he had a very nice MS-61 example and I asked him if he brought the coin from his websit

coinsbygary

coinsbygary

My Latest NEWP and Shes a Dandy!

I believe that this half-dime combines both eye appeal and value. As such it is a perfect candidate for my 7070 type set. Most of you that follow me know that among other things Im a type coin collector. Well My latest new purchase for that set is a single year 1837 no-stars/small-date PCGS AU-55 half-dime. With this coin I believe that I balance eye appeal and value which are now the prime objective for this set. Furthermore, this coin is as close to a Gobrecht Dollar as I am likely to come e

coinsbygary

coinsbygary

My Latest Acquisitions

Two beautiful coins that will grace my collection. I receive a free newsletter in my E-mail featuring numismatic news and information from numismaster.com. Periodically, they feature articles on foreign coin designs and provide links to foreign mints. Frequently, the Perth Mint buys advertising space on the newsletter. Many times, I have perused the Perth Mint?s website to see what?s cooking in Australia. One particular newsletter highlighted coin designs from France and provided the web li

coinsbygary

coinsbygary

My First Teletrade!

Winning my first Teletrade lots and buying "certified" vs. buying "raw". Many of you may be surprised, but in 35+ years as a coin collector, I made my first purchase through Teletrade last Sunday. To be fair to myself, I have been a collector for longer than Teletrade has been in business, but barely, a mere 12 of 35 years. In fact, until I joined Collector?s Society, I had never heard of Teletrade and only heard of Heritage in passing. Because of your enthusiastic reviews of Teletrade, I thou

coinsbygary

coinsbygary

My First Podcast Interview

As a result of my Money Talks presentation at the Words Fair of Money I came into contact with Coin World writer Chris Bulfinch. Chris wanted to talk with me about an article he was working on concerning Laura Gardin Fraser. At the end of that conversation he asked me if I would be willing to do a podcast interview with him of which I was only too happy to do.   Last week that interview was posted on Coin World's website as episode 027. After listening to the interview I think it went

coinsbygary

coinsbygary

My First Multi-coin Holder submission

Multi-coin holders are a great way to present coin sets that have sentimental meaning. Several years ago, I thought to buy proof sets to mark my children?s birth years. As a result, I purchased a 1984 set corresponding to my daughter?s birth year and a 1988 set for my son. As far as cost, I do not remember how much I spent for the sets, but it could not have been more than $15.00 each. However, to get them into the NGC registry, I would need to submit them for grading. When I started submit

coinsbygary

coinsbygary

My First Heritage Auction

It may seem strange, but the 7/3/11 internet auction is my first with Heritage Auctions. Most people are creatures of habit, as they lean towards the familiar and shy away from the unfamiliar. However, in order to move ahead in life, one has to take risks and venture outside their comfort zone. This force of habit manifested itself in me by my exclusive use of E-Bay to add coins to my collection. For many years, I thought E-Bay was the greatest thing since Mom?s apple pie. I loved being abl

coinsbygary

coinsbygary

My First Great Collections Consignment

My first consignment with Great Collections is a success despite the recent fall in the gold market that depressed my bottom line. About a year ago, I decided to discontinue collecting First Spouse gold coins and liquidate my collection. Three weeks ago on consignment through Great Collections, I sold four First Spouse coins. With those four coins were six other coins; they were an 1881-CC PCGS rattler Morgan Dollar, three Eisenhower dollars, and a common date Roosevelt Dime and Washington Qua

coinsbygary

coinsbygary

My First Coin of the Month in 2012

January's coin of the month is a PCGS MS-65 1896 Morgan Dollar. Greetings all and Happy New Years, there is nothing unusual about January's "Coin of the Month". However, the date and obverse design of this month's coin is representative of the life and times of the "Silver Dollar Girl", Miss Anna W. Williams, whose story I will attempt to retell in the body of this post. The Morgan Dollar is one of only a few coins to have the distinction of being named after its designer George T. Morgan. M

coinsbygary

coinsbygary

My Day at the CSNS Coin Show in Chicago

My day at the Central States Numismatic Society nets two new coins for my collection and a whole lot of fun. It is a rare treat for me to attend a major coin show, so when the opportunity arises, I usually try to make the most of it. Since I live a little less than 3 hours? drive from Chicago, my latest opportunity presented itself a couple of weeks ago Friday at the annual Central States Numismatic Society coin show. With every show I attend, the experience of the previous show helps me to

coinsbygary

coinsbygary

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