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Mr Bo Jingles

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Journal Entries posted by Mr Bo Jingles

  1. Mr Bo Jingles
    Husband's bent thinking improves two sets!
    I never meant my posts to be a weekly feature of the NCS Journal Page, but apparently it looks as if I have been doing just that.
    So, Mrs. Jingles' birthday is coming up in April. I never know what to get her and often lament over it and end up with flowers and dinner or some such thing. This year she has probably been wondering what she is going to get since I have been spending our money on coins. Then a brilliant idea entered my head....
    BUY HER A COIN!
    Ok, so I have to be honest. I bought myself a coin to upgrade our #1 set and in doing so have an extra coin in a particular year slot, so.....TADA! Mrs. Jingles gets a new(ish) coin for her set! YAY! She has a great poker face too. I know she is bubbling with excitement, but she is holding it in so well.
    My now good friend Glenn Smick and I chatted again this week and another piece of his set has found a new home. I am very proud to be able to add this beautiful 1884 to the set. It is my second DPL coin and this one is CAC certified as well! I have included a photo, but it does not do the coin justice. I am going to have the entire set professionally photgraphed later this month.
    As proud as I am about the set in general, more specifically I am proud of the provenance of the set as I have obtained several of the coins from some of the hobby's top collectors. This makes the fourth coin from the Glenn Smick Collection that I have added and have decided to rename my #1 set to pay homage to the person who has helped me the most in not only finishing my set, but helping me improve it AND start a second set (yeah Glenn, Mrs. Jingles really thanks you for that).
    As of this morning my #1 set was renamed The Boglen Gems. I chose Boglen because it is the name of a hybrid of the Terrier family of dogs. A beautiful creature that came to be as the result of combining two bloodlines: A Beagle and Boston Terrier. As I was researching names I thought this was perfect as the Boglen Gems set is a hybrid as well. It was pretty odd that the name fits almost perfectly too!
    Oh yeah, my wife's birthday present. Could I be anymore thoughtful or romantic? Ok, to be honest she will still get a bouquet of flowers (even bigger this year) and I will let her pick the restaurant for her birthday dinner. Golden Corral was getting a little old anyway...
    The journey contines.

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  2. Mr Bo Jingles
    .... but it was great speaking with you Glenn!
    Ok, so I just penned (does anybody actually "Pen" anything anymore?) a journal letting everybody know my journey was finally over on my quest to complete my Morgan GSA Holder set. I elaborated on how I finished the set quite by chance and had no real intentions of adding the final three coins I needed in one year (five years would have been a stretch) but opportunity called in the person of fellow collector Glenn Smick who was parting with his stellar registry set and so it came to be my set was finished and I was happy as a lark forever and ever....Until this morning.
    I noticed Glenn had this beautiful 1883 up for sale on ebay and I just couldn't take my eyes off of it! There are very few DPL exemplars of an 1883 in GSA Holders out there. I believe the NGC population has it at 73 with 6 DPL examples graded higher.
    My wife and I talked this through and after running some numbers decided we needed it to be in our set (did I mention Mrs. Jingles is a keeper?).
    I may have just started my second set... did I just say that?
    Glenn, next Sunday let's just talk about the weather!

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  3. Mr Bo Jingles
    Presenting: The Bo Jingles Carson City GSA Holder Collection
    In my last post I introduced you to the "Big Sister" of my Morgan Carson City GSA Holder set. A beautiful 1879 that I honestly thought would be a stretch ever owning. I was stunned to be able to obtain it and I certainly felt that was the last addition I could make to the set for quite a while. So many things had to line up just right including a deal that fell through on an 1891 three days earlier to make the acquisition a reality.
    I was (and am) so ecstatic to become the custodian of "Big Sister" that it didn't matter if it took me ten years to find the other two coins. Then I saw a listing on ebay from a fellow collector and NCS member and everything changed.
    I read the description of the coin and in that description this fellow stated he decided to let the coins go because he didn't have any children to pass them to and I could read between the lines that this person spent a LONG time assembling a high end GSA set and I could feel the sadness he must have felt as he typed the description of this beautiful coin and hit the go ahead button to start the auction.
    The person I am speaking of is fellow collector Glenn Smick.
    I sent Glenn an email asking questions about the coin and initially I was going to try and negotiate a lower price on the coin. It's a habit I cannot help doing even though I loathe when somebody tries to talk down my price anytime I let part of my collection go in the past.
    We chatted for a while. Glenn told me a little about himself and his set and I told him a little about myself and my set. Glenn didn't want to sell the coin to a dealer to flip. I can imagine how he felt. Watching a beautiful registry set broken up in pieces to be sold has to be tough. It would tear me apart.
    I really wanted another coin Glenn owns that had not hit the auction block yet and after some hesitation, Glenn sent me photos of the coin and I told him I was extremely interested. He was hesitant and again I could tell how much the coins meant to him and how hard it was to let them go.
    It was then I knew my fate was sealed and my set was complete.
     
    I understand Glenn. He's one of us. He transcends collecting. He is a caretaker just like me. I know in my heart me looking at his auction was meant to be. I don't know the why behind the what. I just know that was the way it was supposed to happen.
    I bought them both. It was the easiest negotiation I have ever been a part of. I asked him what he wanted and I bought them. No tug-o-war back and forth. Just two collectors, custodians, historians, high end hoarders, whatever you want to call us getting to know each other and passing the torch, because at that moment Glenn came to the realization he did have somebody to pass these coins to. Maybe not in the way he thought it would happen, but I think it was comforting for him to know where these two beauties were going.
    I am proud of this set on so many levels. I know I will never be able to compete with CT's set or Norman Fitzwater's set or many, many other sets. It doesn't matter. I am the custodian of one of the rarest short run sets in the world. Most collectors will only get the chance to see a complete set in a book or on the NCS set listings page and never in person. I hold these in my hands almost every day.
    So the Bo Jingles set is complete. Its journey has made a stop here for now. I am happy with it and although the collector in me will forever be afflicted with "MSitis" (the disease of always looking for the next grade up) I am cool with this set just the way it is.
    My hope is my wife and I will always be in the financial position that we never have to part with this set. When we go to the happy coin hunting ground in the sky I would like to see the set passed on to our God children and they pass it to theirs and so on and so on.
    Someday our great, great, great nieces and or nephews will see these beautiful 400 year old coins (by then) and get to know their Uncle Bo and Auntie Allison and hopefully they will accept the responsibility of being the custodians of the set until it is time for it to continue its journey through history.
    They will learn of Richard "Silver " Bland, William Allison, the Comstock Lode, Carson City, and the wild west.
    They will also know of Glenn Smick. The caretaker of the final two coins that made this set more special than I ever thought it could be. I will make sure of that.

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  4. Mr Bo Jingles
    Sometimes things present themselves when you least expect it.
    All I can say is I hope I am still married this time next week. She said she would love me forever no matter what.
    I hope she was telling me the truth!
    More to come this week.....
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  5. Mr Bo Jingles
    Big Sister is Coming Home!
    First, thank you for the emails, looks and prods from my last post on something special coming my way.
    I am a bit of an anomoly when it comes to collectors. I am not a rich man. Quite the opposite. I started my Morgan Carson City GSA Holder set later in life than I should have because now instead of just cracking open the checkbook I have to move things here and there and it isn't always easy as many of my fellow collectors will agree, but sometimes when things present themselves you have to make a move.....so I did!
    I have been given the good fortune to be able to add this beautiful 1879 to my set and with its addition I finally feel like I am a part of the elite group of GSA collectors. I have no delusions of ever cracking the top 10 in this category, but just to be in the same "general location" of some of the most stellar sets in the world makes it tough to get the smile off my face.
    What a journey this is! I love Morgans and to me there is no better way to collect them than in the GSA holders. What provenance! What history!
    Two more coins remain out there somewhere waiting to be a part of this set. Eventually they will all meet and my happy family will be complete.
    Although they are mine for now, I am but the lucky steward of this coin as it makes a stop on it's journey. Someday people will read a journal from an excited collector adding this coin to their collection. That's how this goes and for now it is my responsibility to keep this part of history safe and enjoy it every day along the way.
    Happy President's Day and Happy Collecting!

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  6. Mr Bo Jingles

    Wait for it.......

    By Mr Bo Jingles,

    I am experiencing anticipation anxiety!
    I am expecting a wonderful addition to my Carson City GSA set next week. I think I might actually see light at the end of the tunnel and I never thought it would happen.
    Check back next week and share my joy!
    Have a wonderful weekend!
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  7. Mr Bo Jingles
    I thought NGC would help me understand grading better. I guess they are too busy with slabbing a couple million Silver Eagles for the shopping channels......
    I recently purchased an 1884 Morgan CC MS66 originally graded by NGC. When I received this coin it was so far and away better than any other MS66 Morgan I own my first thought was to send it in for another look. This coin looks as good as any MS67 I've seen.
    Now granted, I am new at collecting after re-entering the hobby. It has been 35-40 years since I purchased my first coin and when I was a lad they went into a folder, not a slab!
    The game is different now. I am trying to not only put great coins in my set for investment, but also to see how far I can move up in the world rankings (at least the world of NCS!).
    So I submitted my coin for a regrade at MS67. I received the coin back a couple weeks later with nothing written on the invoice but "remains at MS66". Now I KNOW the good people at NGC are busy raking it in with the (In my opinion useless) grading of Silver Eagles for all the shopping channels and as such they do not have the time to treat every member like, well.....a valued member, but would it kill them to write two or three sentences as to why the coin didn't even move to a + grade? I have other NGC graded MS66 Morgans that look at LEAST a grade lower than the coin I re-submitted. I am trying to learn and I used the grading instructions from the ANA Grading Standards book and I just don't understand where this coin is not a grade higher.
    If they would have taken just a couple minutes to add a narrative as to why the coin graded as it did I would have accepted that and felt like I learned something. All I feel now is frustration.
    I am not going to the "Chat Boards" to post this and ask for feedback. I wanted feedback from the pro that graded my coin. I really wish I could have had the coin in hand at the FUN Convention to have Mr. Salzberg give me his two cents on it. He was way under utilized on the opening day of the show and I would have loved to spend five minutes with him.
    This one instance may be the deal breaker for me to renew my membership when it is up this year. I probably won't be missed at all.....I just finished a survey from the US Mint and from the looks of it they are considering going the way of the Royal Canadian Mint and becoming the worlds next Franklin Mint. That will keep the peeps at NGC busy!
  8. Mr Bo Jingles
    First year collecting the fabulous Carson City Morgan set very satisfying and frustrating at the same time!
    Hey All-
    Well, I am very proud of the progress made YTD on my Morgan CC collection. My goal was to crack the top 75 my first year of collecting my personal favorite coin of all!
    Now, this wouldn't be a big thing if I were deep in the pockets, but nothing could be further from the truth! My wife and I have made decisions like "go away for the weekend or look at this coin" and others like give up going out for dinner or stay at home and watch a movie instead of going out..... These weren't just handed to us.
    One thing we did that either was planned well or we got lucky is we picked up several GSA holdered Morgans and had them graded. Some we only made a couple bucks on, but some really helped to improve our set via trades.
    Yesterday the addition of a MS63 1892 CC put us at the rank of 73!
    Now the bittersweet process begins as we are going after the BIG GUNS of the set and my goal and dream of high MS quality is going to end on a couple! When I look at the prices of a couple year's issue and what it will cost for an XF example I get a bit depressed. On the positive note, there is no rush! I love that about coin collecting!
    If you get a chance, take a peek at my set. It's def a work in progress, but I feel like I am archiving history and to me it's pretty exciting.
    Have a great weekend!

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  9. Mr Bo Jingles
    What Price Guides Are Available For These Issues?
    I am not 100% sure this is a journal entry and not a chat board, but this was easier to do, so that is what I went with!
    I am changing direction with my Carson City Morgan Dollar set. I want to put a set together with as many GSA holder (original, not a re-holder with the term "NGC"on the label as to me that is NOT a GSA coin) coins as possible.
    The trouble I am having is one can get a value from NGC's price guide, but I cannot find other sources such as the Grey Sheet listing GSA holder prices.
    Can somebody point me in the right direction? Until now it has been my best guess based on help from NGC's list.

  10. Mr Bo Jingles
    The rarest of the rare GSA issues finds a new home with Mr. Bo Jingles!
    I am so stoked over last night's auction win that I had to get right up and let everybody know! If you follow my set quest, you know I am not a rich guy. I am retired and when I say I am on a fixed income I mean LOW! To even have this dream of completing a quality competitive Carson City Morgan Dollar set was out there for me, but with a loving (and patient, and tolerant) wife and some lucky finds I just moved up a few notches in rank!
    I was so happy to find a GSA exemplar of an 1890 CC coin and in MS62! The main reason I was able to obtain this was the former owner upgraded his own GSA coin to MS63.
    This is the rarest issue of the GSA hoard with less than 4000 coins(about .17% of the total mintage)discovered in the hoard and who knows how many are even left after dealers and collectors alike cracked so many cases early on to have the coins slabbed.
    I have no good quality photo yet, but will post as soon as I can!
    Exciting times!
  11. Mr Bo Jingles
    Going back to the basics-GSA Holders: The way these gems should be collected and revered.
    I have been collecting Carson City Morgan dollars for a few years now. I have changed directions on my collection more times than my lovely wife wants to hear. I don't blame her...I have a bit of OCD running through my grey matter.
    I have always loved trying to get real nice GSA holder dollars for my collection because of the history and provenance of the mint, the Comstock Load, and the coins themselves. Add to my passion (obsession?) for collecting GSA Holders the fact that many dealers and grading services cracked THOUSANDS of these coins out of their holders to be graded equals an issue that is most likely more rare than anybody really knows at this point.
    Well, I have decided to part with all my Carson City Morgans that were slabbed in NGC and PCGS holders and pursue the GSA Holder set. Being on a strict budget makes this pretty tricky. I am retired and kind of picked the wrong set to attempt to collect considering my last name isn't Trump!
    I look forward to this journey. I just recently acquired an 1881 MS66 that is a beauty and an 1885 MS65 (really want a MS66! Someday...) and that puts my set at 63% complete and it now sits at #52 on the NGC set ranking.
    I am four coins away from the complete set. Of course, the last four coins are pretty much a long and winding road away from my set right now with me needing the 1878, 1879, 1880R78, and 1991 to finish my dream set.
    It's going to take a bit of doing, but with any luck my wife will have a nice set when my collecting days are over.
    Sorry for the poor scan on the 1881 I attached. I need to get some sharp images of all my beauties taken soon. Thank you to NGC for lifting the 200KB limit on registry pix! That will make things a bit easier for me!
    HAPPY COLLECTING!
    Bo

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  12. Mr Bo Jingles
    Beautiful Addition to Morgan GSA Registry Set.
    Major thanks go out to Norman Fitzwater for helping me move up several spots in registry ranking by selling me one of his 1880 Rev 78 GSA Morgans. This beautiful MS65 Exemplar is now the current cornerstone of my set.
    Norman has two of the most beautiful Morgan GSA Registry sets and I am very fortunate and proud to be able to obtain a coin from his collection to add to mine.
    Thank you Norman! A pleasure to meet you indeed!

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