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About this journal

This journal was originally to record my thoughts on collecting and building my Netherlands Wilhelm III Gold 10 Gulden Set and other projects like  my modern silver bullion NCLT sets. When it got started in the summer of 2007 I was single, in my early 20's, and working on my B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering. Starting in 2016, with my marriage and the birth of my first son, Benjamin, much of my writing has focused on raising my sons to have a love of collecting coins and exonumia and discussing how my collecting occurs in the context of my marriage and life overall.

Entries in this journal

Venezuelan Coins and Currency

Finally Ordered That 20 Bolivar Coin Last Night.

Back in October I mentioned that I was getting the green light to order another of my small Gold coins because of a mixture of money coming in from a bit of OT and a few other sources and I said at the time that I’d probably order a Venezuelan Gold 20 Bolivar from the early 20th century / pre-WWI era. Well… 5 months later, I finally ordered it. I was holding off for the longest time because we were simultaneously spending a fair bit of money on things we needed for the house, we were s
Zimbabwean Coins and Currency

The persistence of half cents and half pennies.

I always thought of the half cent as something of the distant past. The United States didn’t produce any after 1857. However, I’m increasingly aware of the fact that other countries have made half cents and half pennies of and on until relatively recently. I have a set of Rhodesian pennies and half pennies from the 1950s and 1960s. Finding out that these half pennies existed was surprising but when I think about it I can understand it. For a long time there the UK pound
Zimbabwean Coins and Currency

Oh no.... Oh this (coin) is horrible. lol

So... Saw this... Just wanted to share and laugh and have this to remember this later for the lawls... I was looking for a nice 1956 Rhodesian Half Penny... It's the last date I'd need to have a complete set of the Giraffe design from the 1950s and 1960s during the pre-UDI, Federation period (assuming I get the raw 1955 I bought graded). I see a new listing that shows a raw coin and says in the title "Collectable Grade." And then I look at the pictures...  And... O.M.G..
Random Nonsense

The problem with collecting modern coins in type sets with many countries...

The problem with collecting modern coins in type sets with many countries is that the coins look rather the same across the board. South Africa for example: Russia (I think this is Russian coinage anyway... if I remember right) Uruguay: Mexico: Others: Interestingly, when I've posted images in the past of the Zimbabwean Bond Coins and had people point out that they look like arcade tokens or make similar disparaging remarks,
Revenant

Revenant in Random Nonsense

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World Coin Price Guide?

Honestly, I don't know. I've thought about getting a reference and trying to price them and if I find something I like I'll let you know but right now you probably know as much as I do. Most of the foreign coins I have mean more in a sentimental sense than anything else so I've never tried to price them. Most of what I have falls into 2 categories. 1) Coins from my grandparents' trip to South America and Europe when my mother was a little girl and 2) Coins given to me from a friend of my mothe
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The Rule does need to change

I really think that the rule should be 90%. It's always seemed to me that in order be #1 a set should truely be complete. The registry points are an arbitrary system designed by a group of people that thought they knew the best way to rank coin sets using a function of (supposedly) multiple variables. I've never seen their algorithm and it may be the best ranking system that can be realistically achieved, but it may not be. However, no matter the case, it is extremely short sighted to say that
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My first MS 70

The allure of perfection... I think the idea of "perfection" features really prominantly in the thinking of coin collectors, not just in the concept of MS70s, but more abstract standards of perfection. Building the "perfect" set, and finding that "perfect" coin (that's rarely an MS70) is the thing we're all after. As a collector I'm not usually very concerned with MS70. The only things that can even be found in MS70 are modern proof/uncirculated strikes that were never even meant for circula
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Coin Collecting: A Guy Thing?

It always seems to be the men... Is it just me, or does it seem like it's always the males the are into coin collecting? And even when a couple collect coins together it seems like it's usually the guy who's REALLY into it and the woman considers it a simple point of interest. Now, I'm not saying that there aren't/can't be female coin collectors that are just as serious as the guys, but it just seems like it doesn't happen nearly as often. If this indeed is the case then we must ask ourselve
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No smooth edge proofs

You won't find a smooth edge presidential proof Unlike the presidential business strikes, which are made with a 2-strike method, the presidential proof coins are made in a single strike process in which the edge-letters are added at the same time the obverse/reverse designs are added. As such, it isn't possible to find a presidential proof that has 'accidentally skipped a step' in the process and avoided having the edge-lettering added. Even so, I wonder if we'll see people trying to remove
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2 months on the registry

6/12/07 to 8/12/07 Well I've been on the registry for 2 months now. I've gone from having 1 set for 5 certified SAE's to having 11 sets, 21 certified coins, 6 more certified coins on the way and constantly building up. I initially thought I'd just sit back and watch but I ended up being rather vocal (in a written sense) in the journals and the forums. Thanks guys for building a great online community which I'm happy to now be a part of. Since I joined the registry has grown by about 100 a
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Everything fluctuates

Nothing is constant Everything varies within certain limits. It's one of the first principles of understanding nature. Even equilibrium is dynamic, almost never static unless you're talking about mechanical equilibrium. My point is that there are lots of variables to be considered in online auctions, not the least of which is who's online at the time the auction is closing (since on eBay the last hour is generally the most important). When I won my MS64 1976 Eisenhower I participated in 3 au
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NGC vs PCGS? Whatever

Same old song. We can sit in front of our computers and debate NGC versus PCGS for weeks with both sides of the arguement having valid points and stories/examples. I see no purpose in even discussing the point. The people refered to who pay more for PCGS plastic than NGC plastic are doing just that, being stupid and paying for the plastic. Personally, I prefer NGC, not for the name one the label (that is a factor though since I don't buy XYZ affairs) but because I like the look of the NGC slab
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re: Family Time

Time with the family, in a different way. I've always loved coin collecting although my family didn't support the idea. My mother, grandmother, and siblings all view it as being interesting but ultimately a waste of time, effort, and most especially money. I finally said to hell with it all last year and started actively building a coin collection and I met with a lot of resistence from all sides save 1. The man who entered my life 3 years ago and who will likely soon be my step-father was als
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Time to start shopping again...

Seller screwed me out of the coin. I've hated this week. A week of trying to get a seller to send me a coin I won at a nice price 3 weeks ago. I had to use PayPal today to force them to give me a refund. Now I get to start over trying to get another 2001 Silver American Eagle in a NGC holder graded MS 69. 3 Weeks of waiting and no coin! Oh well, I'll be able to buy another one within another day or two... Since some others have been discussing coin alterations, I offer the following penny. I
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Bulgarian Coins!

On a more positive note than what I've been reading here all day... My mother's co-worker (who originates from Bulgaria) just left for here trip home this weekend. She had to delay her trip several weeks because these lawyers she'd paid a mountain of money to help her obtain permanent residency status still hadn't gotten their acts together. She's going to try to bring me back lots of new and old shiney Bulgarian coins for my collection of foreign coins (I think I have coins from about 17 di
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Don't panick Jack

Probably not counterfiet. So far there are no known cases of counterfiet ngc slabs. Now, as with all things it takes a little while before a coin that has been slabbed recently to be added to the database. I would contact NGC if you haven't already seen something saying they're checking on it. I'm sure they'll sort it out for you and get your coin added to your set. I ran into the same problem with one of the first few coins I wanted to add on the day I joined the registry. Within 24 hours N
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Re: Lesson turns to indignation

Strike vs Wear? I think NGC makes a distinction between the quality of the strike (which I don't think counts against the coin too much) vs the amount of wear/scratching (which does count against the coin). Could that be throwing off your expectations?
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Re: Is it just me? Making the connection

It's always nice but not always attainable. I like to be able to handle coins, have the coin actually in my hand but it's something I very rarely get to enjoy, even with my raw coins. My system is very hard on metal. I have to wear a watch that's made of stainless steel. Anything else and I'll cause any metal pieces to rust over in 2 to 3 months. I love coin collecting but I've long since learned that if I have a nice coin and I want it to stay nice then I can't touch it.
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Re: Metal 9 "Bruce is right"

Not a reverend, but Mom really appreciated the note. I'd like to start off by saying that I'm very sorry if I gave you the idea that I'm a reverend but I'm not. I'm a 20 year old junior Chemical Engineering major a Texas A&M University. I use Revenant is a username because it suits my personality and that often gets shortened to "Rev" by others and myself to make typing easier. Maybe I need to go back to using Visitant? I had missed your "Bruce is right" Journal entry, until Mom showed me
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Re: OUTRAGED WITH PCGS!!

Why that angry? The presidential coins aren't THAT expensive and as Yevrah pointed out you should be able to return it. Why get so mad about it? If you're going to give yourself a stroke at a young age at least have it over something more meaningful, right? I'm just saying calm down. The anger won't help you resolve the problem.
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Census updated weekly?

I don't think so. I don't know about the rest of you but I'm still waiting for them to update the census with data about the 2007-W Silver American Eagle. Speculation about the number of those things that are going to be available have been inflating the price and encouraging speculation on those coins since mid-June.
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1881 Bulgarian Coins

Given by a friend of the family. Well, apparently there was some kind of dig or excavation and a few Bulgarian Coins from the time when that country was ruled by a Monarch were found. It seems they had a few extra ones and the the curator at a museum (I don't know which one) gave 2 of them to a friend of my mother who is from that country. Well, she knew that I collect coins including some foriegn coins I've found over time and so she gave them to my mother to give to me. The coins are black
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Re: $50 Buffalo Gold Coins

I don't think they're going away completely. You're probably right to think that the gold buffalos will take a pretty good part of the Gold AEs market share but I kinda doubt that the Gold AEs will go away completely. There are quite a few people that like the gold eagles that will either stick with the eagle or collect both. Also, the gold buffalos are just that, gold. I'm not aware of any program to expand them into silver or platinum and until that happens the silver and platinum eagles wil
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Re: Why do we put bad guys on coins?

Lack of options I think one flaw in your arguement is that you're assuming that the people of these countries decided to put them on the money. In the cases which I think you're refering to, the person in question wasn't a 'bad person' or even a leader, they were a ruling dictator. While alive a dictator gets what they want whether the people like it or not. 2nd, I would point out that our standard of a bad leader does not necessarily coincide with other peoples' definitions of a bad person,
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Re: Talk about embarassing

Patience and restraint prevents embarrassment. Websites can't think. I think that it is unfair to say that the site tries to think for you. While the site never says this explicitly (Though it probably should), by entering in the cert# for the coin you are making the statement that you own that coin, that you have it in your possession. I guess the assumption was made that you wouldn't know the cert# and coin type unless you owned the coin. They probably just didn't factor in that people would
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