Just Bob

Well, you have proven that you are no slouch when it comes to picking out nice coins to send in, so I will be surprised if they come back with low grades.

Were the turtle coins Ben's idea?

If you get high enough grades to win back the top spot, will you wait until the last minute to enter them into your set?

I am normally not a fan of collecting labels instead of coins, but, in this case, I really like the idea. This isn't one of those sets that can be assembled in a short time if you have plenty of money. This one looks to be a real challenge. It may, in fact be impossible, as some of these coins/slabs may not even exist. Congrats on having such a great idea, and good luck with your hunt.

Very nice medal, and a great reason to buy it. It was very fortunate that you were able to find one in such good condition.

Interesting fact: Although the Pacific Ocean lies to the west of the Atlantic, the eastern end of the canal ends in the Pacific Ocean. 

On 12/4/2022 at 9:44 AM, J Brown Collection said:

Its NGC's way of taking your money but not doing the work they are paid to do, if they are going to do this and send it back in a flip then they should refund a portion or all of the grading fee.  On the bright side you paid $30 for a cool little piece of paper that says NGC, your coin info and "Altered Surface".  With so many details descriptions out there, why not put that on it?   I will not certify coins with NGC after they gave +20% of my submissions this label.

If 20% of your coins came back with "altered surfaces" or some other "details" grade, it sounds as though you need to do a lot more studying and examining  coins before you send in any more - regardless of where you send them. Sorry to be so blunt and harsh, but it appears the problem is not with NGC, but with your experience and expertise. Being able to determine if a coin has been cleaned or otherwise messed with normally takes lots of practice and requires viewing many coins in hand. I realize this is not what you want to hear, and I certainly will understand if you get mad at me and refuse to heed my advice, but I do believe what I wrote is true.

Well done!

That little guy has been through so much in his short lifetime, as have all of you. I hope he is back to 100 percent health very soon, and you all have a wonderful, stress-and-sickness free holiday season.

Did Shandy get a laugh out of this?

Anytime I can cause my wife to laugh, even if it's at my expense, I feel like it's a win.

I just sit and shake my head in amazement every time you post a new batch.

Welcome back, Big Guy!

Congrats on scoring the MS69 for such a good price. That is a really good looking coin.

I hope everything is ok with Sam. Keep us updated on his situation, please.

Is the '83 500L hard to find in grades above 65?

One other thing: you need to crop, print, and frame that picture of her pointing at the coin. That look that she is giving you is cuter than a basket full of puppies.

Well said.

She's hooked, for sure. 

It is great that you two can share this love of collecting. Don't ever take it for granted.

Where do you see doubling that leads you to believe that this is an example of FS-101? And where do you see a "P"?

The pictures look good.

The dollar value of the coin does not equal the cost of grading, so I would not have it graded unless it was for sentimental reasons. 

Congratulations.

The Medallic Art Company has produced some gorgeous high relief and extra high relief medals over the years. Artists like French were one of the reasons why.

I love that obverse portrait. Simple, elegant, beautiful.

"...the wife keeps insisting that I look Handsome"

This is the most important sentence in the whole journal entry. 

Wow! 

It's nice to see you having so much fun with these sets. 

I'm still trying to wrap my head around how this was done. I thought I had it all figured out last night, but then I realized It could not have happened the way I thought. 

I think I have finally figured out one way it could have happened:

Assuming the reverse (Britannia) die was the lower (anvil?) die, and using your estimates of the degree of rotation, it appears that it (the reverse die) rotated clockwise 18 degrees (viewed from the top), and the coin rotated counterclockwise 3 degrees. That would give the second strike the 21 degree counterclockwise rotation of the reverse, and 3 degree clockwise rotation of the obverse. This assumes that the obverse die did not rotate.

I think you should go with this one:

Keep us informed.