jto

A journal by JTO

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About this journal

Updates and Improvements in the Registry and Forum

Entries in this journal

Registry and NGC

I am at #7 Overall and no idea how I got here

I have been collecting since I was 8 years old and turn 61 in 2 weeks.  I had the usual starts and stops but for the most part my collecting was always there for me.  I got more serious about a few series in 2013 when I got a new job and needed to escape to my coins.  By way of back ground I am a Trauma Surgeon and have seen suffering, death and dying on a daily basis.  Coins have ben my escape, my safe place, after God it is were I go for peace (this sounds weak and whiny but it is what it is.)
JTO

JTO in Registry and NGC

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Harder coin to find than one might think

I finally found an acceptable 1860 P $5 half eagle to add to my 1860 mint set.  Oddly the 1860 D (Georgia) issue if far more available.  By mintage figures for the two issues, ~20k vs.~15k, are comparable.  The Charlotte is in the 15K range and rarely seen while the San Francisco is at 21k specimens minted and a tough find.  Here is my new addition... John
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Confluence of Collectors

This coin is not a top pop, nor a high value or even a coin of striking beauty.  Why would I buy it?  It is an intersection between a man who was one of the most infamous collectors and a man who was the most accomplished US coin collector. The infamous man is King Farouk of Egypt who conspicuously collected coins en-mass.  He is responsible for the legality of the only 1933 double eagle that is legal to own.  That particular 1933 double eagle was exported by Farouk who actually applied for
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NGC Please Don't Leave U.S. (us) for the World Market

There seems to be a growing corporate strategy for NGC to focus on the Non-US market over the US and leave the US to PCGS.  I may be wrong and this is in no way a dump on NGC (you can read my laudatory comments about Mark Salzberg and NGC in the "A SLQ Problem Coin's Journey to Righteousness" journal thread.)  https://www.ngccoin.com/boards/blogs/entry/292-a-slq-problem-coins-journey-to-righteousness/   It appears that while NGC is increasing its investments in the international market
JTO

JTO

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PCGS NEVER make mistakes, because of superior QC

Here is a coin that I paid a whopping $360 for, obviously in 2002.  I was proud of my find because all the other bidder appeared to be bidding on the holder not the coin.  The value of a 1908 with "Motto" is, or was higher than the no motto variety.  I paid $40 under greysheet for th coin which was about par for the with motto variety at the time.  I took it to the PCGS booth at Long Beach and they aggressively offered to reholder the coin for free, I passed.  So the coin sits misunderstood by i
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A SLQ Problem Coin's Journey to Righteousness

What a journey this coin has had.  I bought it from Stacks in March 2012 as: "1923-S Standing Liberty Quarter. AU Details--Environmental Damage (PCGS)."  I looked at the coin as said I just don't see the damage but I do see a full head.  I bid up to $1,375.00 for the problem coin and took it home.  Then I CAREFULLY conserved to coin.  About a year later at Long Beach I took it to PCGS (because NGC had no at show grading) and  show graded it.  It came back in a PCGS AU-58 FH.  I was quite pleased
JTO

JTO

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My Gobrecht Original or Unknown

This is truly an original original. There has been a great deal of study on the sequencing of these dollars. One of the relatively early revelations was that the name below base, which was always assumed to have preceded the name on base, actually was a re-strike. During the original striking in December 1836, the first coins were struck. Only those of the earliest group are free from diagnostic die cracks and clash marks. This coin is free of one of two of the earliest die state changes. The fi
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Updates and Improvements

The "journals" are worse not better.  The registry is also worse and I have cut my time there by 80% (maybe a good thing?)  NGC has taken the "high road" out of town and left us, the collectors, behind.  Why do I have to go to page 4 to find my U.S. coins?  The time is ripe for a Third, Third party to open a user friendly Registry for us "the collector" that serve as the fuel for the hobby.  Maybe the ANA, hint , hint... A good registry is like a virtual Dansco or Whitman album, with hol
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Why the comments were removed

Was this done to damped the dissatisfaction with NGCs recent changes? It occurs to me that one reason that the "comments" option was removed was to dampen/minimize the voice of those of us who are unhappy with the changes that NGC has made recently. Most significantly the decision to no longer allow PCGS coins on the NGC registry. This was obviously a business decision made at the top level of NGC. Presumably the thought is that people will start crossing
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Agreed; We need reply option on Recent Journals!

The number of replies gives a barometer of the value of the journal post. I too was saddened by the removal of the reply option on the Recent Journals section that were posted on the left side of the registry screen. I would gauge the quality of one of my posts based on the number of replies it received. I don't want to go searching through the chat rooms nor will I. I really enjoyed some of the posts, especially those with pictures, There on the left of my registry Control Panel screen ea
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Here is the grade for the 1893--S Morgan dollar

Has NGC begun net grading coins? First, I apologize for the delay in posting the results, I am a working guy and cut busy with my "day job". Thank you all for your thoughtful and insightful comments. Many of you identified correctly that there are rim bumps at the 11 o'clock position and 2 o'clock position. My dilemma is this: Based on all of the grating standards that I've been able to find this coin should grade VG and could possibly even grade Fine. My understanding is that the grad
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What grade is this coin?

I bought this coin and I wanted your opinion: what numerical grade would you give (1-70 Sheldon Scale). This coin is certified by NGC (not a Problem, Details, or No Grade coin). The grade assigned puzzles me and I would be interested in the collective wisdom of the group. I will post the grade, photo of the coin in holder, once I give you all a chance to vote on the grade you would assign as a grader for NGC or PCGS. If you think that the grade would be different between the two major servi
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Competitive sets for So-Called Dollars?

I think starting competitive sets for so-called dollars would be a win-win for collectors and NGC alike. Coins that are at the top grades for their type, date, and mint mark are becoming quite expensive, whether they are modern issues or 18th Century coins. So-Called Dollars have remained relatively affordable even or top population coins. NGC is a leader in grading these coins in assigning the appropriate Hibler and Kappen (HK) designation. By opening repetitive sets in So-Called Dollars NG
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Shattered

A shattered 1797 Half Cent Here is s coin with a well recognized repunched date (1 over 1). I am curious as to what the markings are to the right of the upper 1. Are they the remnants of the re-punched date? There does not appear to be anything on the reverse to explain them as die clashes. It also has evidence of several major obverse die cracks. Die crack #1 that runs from just before 12 O'clock to Miss Liberty's hairline. A second die crack (#2) from just after 12 O'clock runs in a w
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Photo Take II

I have tried for years to crop circles, that is Coins... Here is the corrected version of the previous photo. I have corrected the die rotation. The coin was slightly rotated clockwise obverse ~1.7 degrees. This did not account for the full reverse counterclockwise rotation of 7.2 degrees. 17601.TIF To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.
JTO

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My first Photoshop succcess

I have tried for years to crop circles, that is Coins... Finally I have got cropping the circular coin down. To those of you who are Photoshop savvy this is dumb as dirt, but I just could not get my programs to do the job. All computer/digital picture are saved in pixels which are square. So cropping a square is easy but a circle is another issue. I tried to search on line a couple of years ago and got a ton of hits on "crop circles"... like aliens and corn fields. But I finally got the r
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What is this? take 2

Is this a US Mint issue? Did the mint really sellout to the big marketers with no public release? I found this on MCM for an obscene amount. It appears to be a US mint issue and NGC has certified it giving it credibility. On the US Mint website there is no mention of this coin on the product schedule. can anyone tell me is the really what is? It seems to be a direct to marketers sellout by the US Mint completely cutting out the public. On the competitive set under the national park service t
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What is this?

Did the mint really sellout to the big marketers with no public release? I found this on MCM for an obscene amount. It appears to be a US mint issue and NGC has certified it giving it credibility. On the US Mint website there is no mention of this coin on the product schedule. can anyone tell me is the really what is? It seems to be a direct to marketers sellout by the US Mint completely cutting out the public. On the competitive set under the national park service this is listed with no
JTO

JTO

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Was there a GSA Gold Hoard and subsequent distribution?

I've never heard of a GSA gold hoard release is this just a marketing ploy? I was browsing the auction archives at Heritage and came across a group of coins that I had never heard of. They were 2-1/2 dollar Indians slabbed in an NGC holder with the GSA attribution. This makes no sense to me in view of the fact that when gold or bullion was recalled by the federal government in 1933 it was melted into ingots for storage at Fort Knox. I know that in the past dealer's with enough coins to grad
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JTO

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Is a Wire Rim a Manufacturing Defect? What is your opinion?

When describing the diagnostic wire rim on a 1911-D $2.5 Indian I was told that it was just a manufacturing defect (See bought a pig in a poke) In a previous thread about my purchase of a set of gold $2.5 gold Indian coins a pithy comment was made that the "wire rim on a coin is a manufacturing defect". With due respect to RWB, a wire rim is not, in my opinion, a manufacturing defect. First, if it were it should be listed as a Mint Error, it is not. The most well-known example of a coin cat
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Bought a Pig In a Poke, $2.5 Gold Indians and the grades are just in..

I bought a set of $2.5 Indians in a capital plastics holder where they have been in my bank until now... I agreed to buy a set for 10K form a "friend" who had bought them from an estate. When it came time to do the deal, I looked at the coins and what the $%#&*! I said I remembered them in a black holder and in better shape. Now I find out that there were 2 sets and the first set, the one that got me worked up, he said had already sold. I was not happy. The second set was not at all
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Fake 1893-S

Let's move on... What is the difference you ask? Okay I will again play the straight man and set you up for some insane response. Long Red Arrows show tight cluster of curls on the real coin with wide rivers between on the fake Short red arrows show fine detail in the hair on the real coin Gold arrows show sharp lettering on the real coin and fat lettering on the fake. There are so many OBVIOUS sign that this is a fake it is sad. But as a collector who values this forum I 1) want to
JTO

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Remembering Mr. Jay H Cline

From his formal top hat to being the foremost seller of the two bit coin, he will be missed. I bought this coin at the Long Beach show in 2010 from Mr Cline. Although not a standout even one of the weakest coins in the set and I paid a premium to it "buy from the master" it was well worth the experience. He was willing to talk with me when, at the time, I had not yet read his book and did not have a good knowledge of Standing Liberty Quarters (SLQ). As you can see he was also willing to autogr
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1916 Mint Set Finished!

1916 a great transitional year. I finally finished my 1916 mint set. It has two great 20th century Key date coins, the Liberty Standing Quarter and the Winged Liberty (Mercury) Dime. I have pictures for each of the coins. Although there was no ranking benefit to adding pictures, I personally enjoy looking at my fellow collectors' sets more when the included pictures of the coins. As the saying goes "A picture is worth 1000 words". I don't know if this link will work but I'll give it a tr
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New PCGS Holders Don't Fit In NGC Boxes

PCGS does it again making their "New" holder Worse than their old ones. Sometimes I wonder if the people at PCGS are just mean spirited, greedy or maybe both. The new PCGS holders which were introduced a few months ago have added security feature on the bottom of the slab. This consists of a series of capital letters. Presumably to accommodate this feature they made their slabs fatter. Okay... Also, NGC lead the collecting community with the edge
JTO

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