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CBC

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Journal Entries posted by CBC

  1. CBC

    Here's a pic for Rick

    By CBC,

    Maybe this will "liven things up" a little....
    OK Rick, I'll add a pic of my latest addition, a NGC MS-63 1935-S Peace dollar. Not a huge rarity or even a vety good photo, but the next to last slot to fill in my Peace set. The 1934-S will just have to wait because my first grandchild is due in a couple of weeks and our spending money seems to be going for baby clothes, toys, strollers, books....... it's all good.
    Dena says we have some changes coming in the Journal area. I'm hoping that means responses are returning. That alone would help "liven things up".
    Happy collecting, everyone.

  2. CBC

    Need A Response Option

    By CBC,

    Too much chatter
    With the series of journal posts and counter-posts involving # in the last few days, I sincerely hope NGC will bring back the response option - and soon!
  3. CBC

    A picture is worth.....

    By CBC,

    An ACCURATE picture is worth a lot more.
    I just received my latest ebay purchase, a 1921 Peace dollar. The photo from the ebay listing shows what appears to be some light, fairly even toning on the obverse, with a dark spot near the last digit of the date.
    That's not what I saw when I opened the package. Here's the ebay photo.

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  4. CBC
    Latest round of (mostly favorable) results
    The status of my two recent submissions changed to "Finalized/Imaged/Shipped" today. My previous results have been mixed (most of us can probably say the same) - some grades as expected, some higher, some lower, and a few purple labels or, years ago, "body bags".
    I submitted four GSA Morgans with my "free" Collectors Society coupon. I didn't have a fifth GSA so that slot went to waste.
    The first coin was a 1880-CC Reverse of 1878 I bought recently. Like most GSA's this one had bag marks and I was expecting it to grade MS-62 or so, and hit it exactly.
    The scond one was a 1882-CC I bought about a year ago on eBay. The eBay photos were terrible but the coin looked pretty good and the final price was low. It looked much better upon arrival, and I guessed MS-64 or better. Surprise - MS-65+!!!
    The third one was a 1883-CC I bought over 20 years ago while on a business trip in Reno. I looked through about 40 CC Morgans in a coin shop there and picked out one that looked Proof-Like. NGC agreed with a grade of MS-63 PL.
    The fourth one, another 1883-CC, came from a local estate sale a few years ago, and as expected got a MS-62 grade.
    So, three of my guesses were on target and a pkeasant surprise on the fourth.
    I also submitted three Walking Liberty halves for variety attribution. All three were purchased recently in NGC slabs without the varieties noted.
    First, a 1939-D DDO FS-101, graded MS-65. Current population of two, one MS-65 and one MS-62
    Second, a 1942-S Small S, MS-64. Only three graded, but not because of rarity - it's one of the slots in the "Walking Liberty With Varieties" set.
    Finally, a 1944-S/S FS-502 in MS-64. So far, the only one of is variety graded at NGC.
    Wrong photo attached but I can' get it deleted. I'll post a real photo next week when the shipment arrives.

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  5. CBC

    GSA Set

    By CBC,

    Tough set - is 100% achievable?
    GSA Carson City Morgan dollars are an interesting and historically important subset. Other collectors have fairly extensive writeups on the history of the Carson City mint, the silver mines and the GSA sales in the 1970's, and I won't try to repeat them here.
    I started the GSA subset as part of my Morgan set. My objective with the Morgans was to get as many dates in MS-65 as I can afford (while also limiting the search to nice, appealing examples). Same for the GSA's. I have been fortunate to find MS-65+ examples for the 1881, 1882, and 1883 dates and very nice MS-65's for the 1884 and 1885. The rest will have to be lower grades, starting with the 1880-CC Reverse of 1879 that was recently added.
    The 1878 and the 1880 Reverse of 1878 won't be too difficult. The remaining three, 1879, 1890 and 1891 are rare in GSA holders, with populations under 600 for each date, and only nine of those at MS-65. Those three will be tough to afford in any grade. For comparisin, there are over 4,000 1884-CC GSA MS-65's.
    The obverse of the 1885-CC is attached. Looks like a candidate for PL to me but apparently didn't quite make it.

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  6. CBC

    Slow Season

    By CBC,

    Not a lot of journals lately on CS
    Seems like there have been few journals on the board lately so I will add one, as I so infrequently do.
    I guess summer is here, at least according to the thermometer (90 today in SC), even if the calendar says three more weeks of spring. My collecting has slowed down this year as the price tags for the coins i'm looking for are geting pretty high. I added another GSA Morgan dollar to my set early this month I got a mixed bag of results from my last NGC submission - one raw Walking Liberty half variety (1941-S/S) and a raw circulated CC Morgan came in as expected, an ANACS graded Walker (1946 DDO) variety came in one grade lower as expected, but two disappointments. A 1893 Morgan came back in the dreaded purple slab "cleaned" and a PCGS Walker "did not cross" at MS-64 (it's also a FS-501 S/S variety).
    I'm looking for affordable examples of the remaining GSA Morgans. I have had bids in on a couple but always get outbid at the last minute. One of these days......
     
    Below in the 1880-CC i just added (MS-64)

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  7. CBC

    GSA Morgan #2

    By CBC,

    A Golden Eagle, not a Gold Eagle
    My second certified GSA Morgan finally arrived today, a 1884-CC graded NGC MS-65, from kryptonitecomics via ebay. I must have looked at a thousand GSA 1884-CC's, graded and raw, on ebay, Heritage, other websites and coin shows. When I started chasing GSA's about a year ago, another CS member, Mr Bo Jingles (who has a spectacular GSA set of his own) advised me to be patient, that there were lots of MS-65's out there.
    This one stands out from the MS-65 pack in my opinion. The obverse is clean, very few noticeable bag marks, one on the cheekbone and one in the hair beside the ear. The fields are proof-like with a little toning, mostly around 4:00 on the rim. It's the reverse that grabs my attention. The eagle's wing is toned bright gold, the breast is reddish-gold, and the rest of the reverse varies from white to green to red to blue - I can't get a photo that shows it well, but here is my attempt.
    My challenge now is to find the other nine to make a set.

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  8. CBC
    An arrest has been made
    Update on my previous post:
    "Albemarle police say they have made an arrest in the Halloween robbery and slaying of an 81-year-old coin shop owner.
    Police say Ryan Anthony Efird was taken into custody earlier Wednesday without incident. Efird, 45, of Albemarle, is being held without bond in the Stanly County Detention Center.
    He has been charged in connection with the death of Eldridge Roger Gibson.
    Gibson, longtime owner of B&G Coins on West Main Street, died late Oct. 31, a few hours after being shot inside his store. Police obtained surveillance video of a man who they said was inside the store for about 20 minutes.
    Video showed the man leaving B&G Coins with two bags, then getting into the victim's white pickup truck. That truck was found abandoned a few days later in an Albemarle park.
    State prison records show a Ryan Anthony Efird of Albemarle has a lengthy record of arrests on various larceny and breaking-and-entering charges. He served an eight-month prison term in 2011 for felony breaking-and-entering, according to state records."
    I hope they got the right man, and that he never again sees the outside of a cell.
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  9. CBC

    Sad News

    By CBC,

    Albemarle, NC
    "A Concord real estate company owner said Tuesday he wants to start a reward fund to help find the person who killed an 81-year-old Albemarle coin dealer during a robbery last week.
    Police say Eldridge Roger Gibson was shot during a robbery around 5 p.m. Thursday at B&G Coins, the West Main Street shop that he operated for decades. Gibson died of his wounds late Thursday night.
    Albemarle police say the man suspected in the robbery and killing drove off in Gibson's 2010 pick-up truck. That vehicle was discovered Saturday at City Lake Park in northwest Albemarle.
    Lancaster said Gibson, whose wife died several years ago, continued to operate his shop on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. He said Gibson told him he'd run the shop for 30 or 40 years."
    More details are available on the Charlotte Observer website.
    I didn't know Mr. Gibson. Whoever did this is the lowest form of life on the planet.
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  10. CBC
    It's been an eventful week
    Two good things, actually.
    Good thing #1. After months of searching ebay, Heritage and other auction sites, several coin store visits and two local shows, at last I found the last PCGS FBL Franklin I needed to complete my set. This was only the third 1963 MS-64FBL I had seen in over six months, and the previous two went for way more than I wanted to pay. I entered a bid on it. Within hours after this one came up for auction, another one also appeared. Several bidders got into a bidding war for the other one, and it also sold for way more than I would pay, but my bid held up and the coin arrived early this week.
    Good thing #2. I also won a couple more MS-65 Morgans, and they put my Registry point total over the 250,000 point mark. Doesn't mean much but it's a nice round number and at least looks impressive.
    Now for the bad. When I tried to enter the 1963 Franklin in my PCGS set Wednesday morning, I got the dreaded "Another user has this coin in their set" message. If it's sold, paid for, shipped, and you have confirmed that the new owner is satisfied, release it already.
    And the "huh???" I have given up trying to make sense of the Registry scoring system. I just gained about 2,000 points in my Morgan set without making any more changes. I looked at the details and found that the scores on several of the most common dates jumped. They now have scores higher than much less common dates in the same grade. My 1921-P, one of the most common in MS-65, now has a score of 551 while my 1921-D, which is much less common in MS-
    65 has a score of 507.
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  11. CBC

    My First GSA Morgan

    By CBC,

    Started off with a good one
    For the past dozen years or so, my collecting focus has been first completing and then upgrading my Walking Liberty half set, with Franklin half sets and a few Mint sets to keep things interesting. I pretty much ran out of Walker upgrades within my budget so I recently started working on Morgan dollars.
    105 (!!!) slots to fill! Some of them easy,some difficult, some I'm sure will prove to be impossible (again, within budget). However, i'm trying to be very particular about what I buy. One decision, influenced by the journals of Mr. Bo Jingles, is to try to find the CC dates in the original GSA holders.
    My first entry in that subset (photo below) is not one of the "easy" ones, but I found a very nice coin at a very good price. This is an 1881-CC in the GSA holder, with the original box and certificate, and graded MS-65+ by NGC. I have to work on better photos but the coin looks fantastic.

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  12. CBC
    NGC set is complete!
    About two years ago I decided to split my Franklin half dollar set by grading service. The criteria for Full Bell Lines is quite different at PCGS compared to NGC.
    Other than the 1953-S, my objective was to complete a NGC set in MS-64 FBL or better (the 53-S is virtually unobtainable in FBL). Last week, the last one appeared on ebay - a 1962-P in MS-64FBL. It's not exactly "rare" but NGC has only graded 63 of them, with 15 graded higher in FBL. It was only the second one I have seen on ebay, Heritage or Teletrade in over a year so I jumped on it.
    Now I'm three away from finishing the PCGS set - a 1953-D (MS-65 FBL), a1958-P (MS-66 FBL), and a 1963-P (MS-64 FBL). If anyone out there has these for sale or trade, I'm interested.
    Of course, other sets also keep begging for attention. Here's the latest adition to my Quarter type set -a1917 Type 2 in MS-64 FH. I already had two MS-64 FH quarters in my 1930 Mint set, but the detail on the head and shield on this one make the 30's look poorly struck in comparison.

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  13. CBC
    NGC set is complete!
    About two years ago I decided to split my Franklin half dollar set by grading service. The criteria for Full Bell Lines is quite different at PCGS compared to NGC.
    Other than the 1953-S, my objective was to complete a NGC set in MS-64 FBL or better (the 53-S is virtually unobtainable in FBL). Last week, the last one appeared on ebay - a 1962-P in MS-64FBL. It's not exactly "rare" but NGC has only graded 63 of them, with 15 graded higher in FBL. It was only the second one I have seen on ebay, Heritage or Teletrade in over a year so I jumped on it.
    Now I'm three away from finishing the PCGS set - a 1953-D (MS-65 FBL), a1958-P (MS-66 FBL), and a 1963-P (MS-64 FBL). If anyone out there has these for sale or trade, I'm interested.
    Of course, other sets also keep begging for attention. Here's the latest adition to my Quarter type set -a1917 Type 2 in MS-64 FH. I already had two MS-64 FH quarters in my 1930 Mint set, but the detail on the head and shield on this one make the 30's look poorly struck in comparison.

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  14. CBC

    Last "Upgrade" of 2012

    By CBC,

    ...or is it?
    I entered my last upgrade for 2012 in my Walking liberty sets, replacing a NGC VF-20 1921-S with a VF-25. The Registry points are the same, so it didn't change the set score. This VF-20 was the lowest grade I had in the set so it improves the set enough to be worth it to me.
    I don't expect to do much with that set in 2013. There aren't many (if any) affordable upgrade opportunities left. The "+" grades may be a possibility, along with a high-end AU or low-end MS in some of the early dates, but even those are hard to find at an affordable price. All of my Walker sets are now in the Top Ten, at least temporarily, so it's time to focus on other sets.
    I have two Franklin FBL sets, one NGC and one PCGS. The only gap in the NGC set is the 1962; I have been looking for a MS-64FBL for a long time with no luck so far. I'm missing five in the PCGS set but they are more plentiful so I'll probably complete that one this year.
    The other set I will actively pursue is Morgan dollars. There are at least 25 or so dates readily available in MS-65 at relatively low prices. That should keep me occupied for a while.
    I will also keep looking for pieces for my 1889 Mint set (my grandfather's birth year). I have most of the easy ones; now for the tough (quarter, half dollar, CC silver dollar) and real tough ($3 gold, $5 gold, P $10 gold, CC $20 gold) pieces.
    I hope every collector in the Society had a successful year in 2012 and has another in 2013. It was a pleasure to meet and/ordeal with several of you last year, and to read all of the journals.
    Here is one of my recent additions, my 1882-S Morgan dollar, NGC MS-65*.

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  15. CBC

    New "Focus"

    By CBC,

    Actually a new camera (iPad variety)
    I have about run out of affordable upgrades in the Walking Liberty half series. The addition of '+' grades opened up a few possibilities, and I will add another 66+ as soon as it arrives, but there aren't many more upgrades in my budget.
    I have one slot open in my NGC FBL Franklin set (the 1962-P in Ms-64). I have only seen one of these for sale in the past year and i was outbid on that one at the last second. So, it's time to start something new. I'll never complete the set, but for now I'm working on NGC MS-65 Morgan silver dollars.
    There are at least 25 dates In the series that are available for $200 or less in MS-65. I have added a few already, including a MS-65PL and three others that look like PL but are not labeled as such. There are also a lot of Morgans with nice toning, something you don't see much of in the Walking Liberty or Franklin series (and when you do find one, the price is usually sky-high),
    Here is an example of my newest series, taken with my newest toy, the iPad I got a couple of months ago. I need to play with the lighting some more but the results so far look better than I expected. This is the reverse side of my 1878-S.

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  16. CBC
    Finally went for the gold.....
    I have been working on a 1932 Mint set (the year of my mom's birth) for several years. 1932 was an unusual year for the Mint. Deep in the Depression, there wasn't a lot of demand for circulating coins. Cents were produced at Philadelphia and Denver, and the first Washington quarters at all three mints. No nickels, no dimes, no half dollars, no silver dollars. The Washington quarters were supposed to be a sort of commemorative issue of the 200th anniversary of George's birth, therefore the small mintages at Denver and San Francisco, but by 1934 became the new design, replacing the Standing Liberty.
    So, two cents and three quarters were all the "normal" circulating coins produced. But 1932 was also, for all practical purposes, the last year for US gold coinage, as essentially no 1933 gold coins were ever released.
    The 1932 $20 is a rare piece, with a total of only 69 graded by NGC, and a price tag far above my means. But there have been over 46,000 of the 1932 $10 coins graded by NGC. After getting outbid numerous times, I finally came up a winner in a Heritage auction a few weeks ago and completed (as much as I ever will) my 1932 set with the MS63+ shown below (also my second coin with a "+" grade, this one from PCGS).

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  17. CBC

    No Longer Top 10

    By CBC,

    I didn't expect it to last forever
    When I made my last post, I had just achieved a Top 10 ranking in all of the circulation strike Walking Liberty half dollar categories. I said at the time I was sure it wouldn't last. So congratulations to mkm4mkm who recently bumped me out of the #10 spot in the full set listings (by 26 points!).
    My only collecting action in the last six weeks was the Heritage auction the first of June. I won one Walker (a 1946, NGC MS-67) and a couple of PF-70UC silver eagles. THe Walker is pictured below.
    Interesting that the Mint has sold about 125k two-coin sets of the San Francisco Silver Eagles in the first week. Last October, they sold out of 100k five-coin sets in less than eight hours. Taking the limit off of the mintage seems to have reduced the interest (speculation?) in the coins. I haven't ordered any of the new sets - the price looks high for "unlimited" mintage coins. By the time you add postage and NGC grading fees, I can probably do just as well buying them already graded later this year. We'll see.
    Congratulations to the new #10 (mkm4mkm) and good luck to the rest of the Society.

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  18. CBC

    Top 10

    By CBC,

    Top Ten in all of the Walking Liberty categories.....for now
    This probably won't last more than a few days, but my latest auction win (a 1944, NGC MS-67) puts my Walker set in the Top Ten for all of the Circulation set and subset categories:
    1916 - 1947: #10
    1916 - 1947 with varieties: #2
    1916 - 1933: #6
    1934 - 1947: #9
    1941 - 1947: #8
    One Per Date: #5
    Of course, the #1 in each of these sets is at least double my point total, and I'm about out of affordable upgrade possibilities. So, I'll enjoy the Top Ten status while it lasts and congratulate the collector that eventually bumps me back down the ranks.
    I'll be listing a few duplicates (primarily Walkers) on the chat board in a couple of weeks, so if you're interested, keep watching for them.
    Here's a pic of my latest:

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  19. CBC

    Stack's Auction

    By CBC,

    Upgrades, upgrades.....how many can I afford?
    Some of you mat have seen and/or participated in the recent Stack's auction. They sold one of the most extensive collections of high-grade Walking Liberty half dollars ever - hundreds of lots, multiple SETS of MS-66 and MS-67 graded short sets (1941 - 47), dozens of single MS-67 coins.
    I bid on several lots, expecting to be outbid on most or all of them (as typically happens on ebay or Heritage). Sure enough, the "You've been outbid!" e-mails started arriving almost immediately and kept coming right up to the date of the auction. I had originally bid on about a dozen lots, and as some of them were bid out of reach I placed bids on other Walkers in the same date and grade, fully expecting most of those to also be bid out of reach.
    Apparently the quantity of high-quality coins overloaded the supply of bidders: I was very surprised to get an e-mail last week informing me that I had won FOUR of these coins! I was hoping for one or two. The box arrived in the mail today and I added the following to my sets:
    - 1941-D NGC MS-67 Essentially all white, sharp strike (except for the usual lack of thumb detail), and almost no marks on the reverse side, even with a 10x glass.
    - 1943-D NGC MS-67 A little toning, very sharp strike, and one of the most extensive die cracks I have seen on a Walker. It starts near the bottom center (between the A & R in DOLLAR), follows close to the tips of all of the wing feathers, around the top of the wing and ends at the very top of left wing.
    - 1944-D NGC MS-67 Some toning on the obverse periphery, the usual soft hand detail, very clean reverse surfaces.
    - 1944 NGC MS-66* Not a great strike, obviously from a worn die, but spectacular toning. The photos don't begin to show it.
    These four upgrades move my short sets back into Top 10 range - temporarily, at least. Enjoy it while it lasts.
    Of course, there's a down side to this success: as lehigh reported on his 1944-P Jefferson, I spent more than I had counted on. I never expected to win all four of these!
    Here's the reverse of the 1944 half.

  20. CBC

    2011 Review, 2012 Goals

    By CBC,

    Hope everyone had a good year.
    2011 has been a good year for me, and I hope everyone else inthe Society. A few (collecting) highlights from 2011:
    - Found a few upgrades I had been searching for:
    (1) a 1947-D Jefferson in MS67 5FS. Very tough to find; only 4 exist in MS67 5FS and 2 in MS67 6FS, none better.
    (2) 1918-P and 1933-S Walking Libertys in MS-64, both at affordable prices in the same Heritage auction.
    (3) 1932 $10 Eagle in MS-63+
    (4) Five 25th Anniversary Eagle sets from the Mint, graded by NGC, yielding two complete MS/PF 70 sets. One set is in my registry list, one set I traded for some early date PF-70 Eagles to upgrade that set.
    (5) 1946-S/S Walking Liberty. I won it in a Heritage auction in a NGC MS-66 slab, then sent it in for variety attribution. For a brief period I had the only NGC certified 1946-S/S (there are 10 now; MS-66 is still the highest graded).
    A few (collecting) goals for 2012:
    (1) Finish my NGC Franklin FBL set. Eight more to go.
    (a) Easy - 1953, 1954, 1959. I'm hoping to find affordable MS-65's for these slots.
    (b) Not so easy - 1954-S, 1961, 1962. Probably will have to go with MS-64's for these.
    © Tough - 1952-S. This one may cost me, but I'm holding out for a MS-64.
    (d) Forget about it - 1953-S. FBL is out of the question. I'll have to fill this slot with a MS-66.
    (2) Fill some slots in my 1889 mint set. The easy ones are done; the quarter, half dollar, CC Morgan and gold are left.
    (3) Upgrade my Walker sets when I can find affordable coins; there aren't many more possibilities.
    (4) Upgrade some of the early Proof Eagles
    Probably more goals than funds available but that keeps it interesting.
    It was great to meet a couple of you in person this year. Again, Merry CHristmas to everyone and hope you have a good 2012.
    My latest (and last 2011) addition:

  21. CBC
    Not as good as some have reported, but not too bad...
    Results are in, and while I didn't get 23 out of 25 in the "70" category, there are two complete sets of MS/PF 70's.
    001 2011 W EAGLE 25TH ANNIVERSARY SET S$1 MS 70
    002 2011 W EAGLE 25TH ANNIVERSARY SET S$1 MS 70
    003 2011 W EAGLE 25TH ANNIVERSARY SET S$1 MS 69
    004 2011 W EAGLE 25TH ANNIVERSARY SET S$1 MS 69
    005 2011 W EAGLE 25TH ANNIVERSARY SET S$1 MS 70
    006 2011 W EAGLE 25TH ANNIVERSARY SET S$1 PF 70 ULTRA CAMEO
    007 2011 W EAGLE 25TH ANNIVERSARY SET S$1 PF 70 ULTRA CAMEO
    008 2011 W EAGLE 25TH ANNIVERSARY SET S$1 PF 69 ULTRA CAMEO
    009 2011 W EAGLE 25TH ANNIVERSARY SET S$1 PF 70 ULTRA CAMEO
    010 2011 W EAGLE 25TH ANNIVERSARY SET S$1 PF 70 ULTRA CAMEO
    011 2011 P EAGLE REVERSE PF 25TH ANNIVERSARY SET S$1 PF 70
    012 2011 P EAGLE REVERSE PF 25TH ANNIVERSARY SET S$1 PF 69
    013 2011 P EAGLE REVERSE PF 25TH ANNIVERSARY SET S$1 PF 69
    014 2011 P EAGLE REVERSE PF 25TH ANNIVERSARY SET S$1 PF 69
    015 2011 P EAGLE REVERSE PF 25TH ANNIVERSARY SET S$1 PF 70
    016 2011 EAGLE 25TH ANNIVERSARY SET S$1 MS 70
    017 2011 EAGLE 25TH ANNIVERSARY SET S$1 MS 70
    018 2011 EAGLE 25TH ANNIVERSARY SET S$1 MS 69
    019 2011 EAGLE 25TH ANNIVERSARY SET S$1 MS 70
    020 2011 EAGLE 25TH ANNIVERSARY SET S$1 MS 70
    021 2011 S EAGLE 25TH ANNIVERSARY SET S$1 MS 69
    022 2011 S EAGLE 25TH ANNIVERSARY SET S$1 MS 70
    023 2011 S EAGLE 25TH ANNIVERSARY SET S$1 MS 69
    024 2011 S EAGLE 25TH ANNIVERSARY SET S$1 MS 70
    025 2011 S EAGLE 25TH ANNIVERSARY SET S$1 MS 70
  22. CBC
    PF70? PF69?
    Have any Collectors Society members received a grading report from their 25th anniversary sets?
    The population report for the regular issue proof 2011 SAE's shows about 70% were graded PF70UC. I'm wondering if this trend is holding true for the 25th Anniversary sets. My five sets arrived in Sarasota yesterday so I'm not expecting a grade report before early December.
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  23. CBC

    25th Anniversary SAE

    By CBC,

    Anyone else having a problem with the Mint's website?
    I logged in on the Mint's website at 11:55 and tried to place an order for the 25th Anniversary SAE sets at 12:02. As of 12:21 the website hasn't even placed them in my cart, much less let me check out. Has anyone successfully placed an order?
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  24. CBC

    What to do....

    By CBC,

    about an incorrect label
    I just received the latest addition to my NCG Franklin FBL set - or not.
    I bid on and won an auction for a "1951-S NGC MS-64FBL" Frankiln half. The photos in the listing weren't high resolution, but the label information was clear and the coin looked good.
    It arrived today; the label is 1951-S, MS-64FBL. The coin inside is a 1951-D. Does anyone attach any value to an incorrect label such as this, or should I just send it back?
    The original photo from the ebay listing is attached.

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  25. CBC

    NGC Franklins

    By CBC,

    Are all FBLs created equal?
    Based on my Franklin collection, I believe the answer is "No". NGC seems to be much more strict in granting FBL status that PCGS is. I have read journals from several other collectors (WKF for one) that seem to support this.
    I know my NGC FBLs seem to have stronger bel llines than most of my PCGS FBLs, and I believe several of my PCGS coins would not cross over to NGC with a FBL label. I decided to work on an all-NGC set of Franklins with the objective of completing all except the elusive 1953-S in at least MS-64FBL. My completed Franklin set is about 70% PCGS so I'm splitting the NGC and PCGS coins into two sets to concentrate on the NGC coins. Maybe I'll eventually fill the holes in eth PCGS set; maybe I'll sell the PCGS coins to generate funds to fill holes in other sets.
    Here's my first NGC upgrade, a 1950-D NGC MS65 FBL. 21 more to go!

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