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Coinbuf

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Journal Entries posted by Coinbuf

  2. Coinbuf
    Lol, So some context to this great feat of mine.   I recently asked for the registry team to include a new Lincoln set that does not require the varieties to be included in it.   Nothing against those who like collecting the varieties but its just not my thing.  To my surprise today I noticed that NGC created the set that I had asked for!    So I jumped in and created the very first set and am sitting in the number one spot; I have no doubt that as soon as the big guns spot the new set they will leapfrog over me and I'll end up in the 6 or 7 spot as I am in most of the Lincoln sets.   But I can say that for once I have the top Lincoln set in one category no matter how short lived that claim ends up being.   I think I should be drinking a brandy in a sniffer glass with a big stogie, tomorrow its back to beer.  
  3. Coinbuf
    Ok instalment 3 of 12, I have already posted this coin once or twice but just for the sake of completeness I'll add a journal entry for this one too.   I am a long time dedicated Lincoln collector and love the coin/series partly as I like the original wheatie design, but mostly for the historical significance of President Lincoln.    I own many books written about him and enjoy learning about him, visiting the Ford theater the first time I went to DC was a real thrill for me.
    While most of my collection is focused on high grade registry quality red and red/brown coins I do enjoy rich lustrous brown coins like this.   In some ways the details of the design are almost even more highlighted on coins like this vs full red examples.   As many of you may know there has been much discussion in the collecting world dedicated to the blue toned Lincolns and IHC's, much of that discussion about the origins and originality of the blue color.   While I know that blue on copper coins can be created it is my belief that it can happen naturally also, and in my opinion this is one of those original coins.
     


  4. Coinbuf

    New photos to share

    By Coinbuf,


    Coinbuf's Photos taken by Mark Goodman
    I continue to work and getting better at taking my own coin photos and slowly am getting better.   But when I want some really good photos, like the kind I want for the coins in my three first place registry sets; I go to the professional Mark Goodman.   I have used three or four pro photographers in the past and a couple others were very good, but I have always felt that Mark was the very best of all those I have tried.   Anyway here are a couple of compilation photos of some of my registry coins that I wanted to have better photos of than I was able to produce.    All together I sent Mark 12 coins to image and as usual could not be happier with the results.   I'll add new entries to show each coin from this group and I plan to keep this going as I have plans to send Mark more coins in the first part of 2022.
    Ok enough with the hype lets get to the coins.   First is a new addition this year to my 1st place 1940 year set, this is one beautiful walker if I say so myself.   Mark was able to bring out the subtle color and showcase the luster perfectly.   This MS67+ CAC green bean coin is really stunning and a great addition to my set.

  5. Coinbuf

    I received my invite

    By Coinbuf,


    Coinbufs journal
    Yesterday I received my invitation from NGC to attend the members only event at the upcoming Jan FUN show.   I wish it was economically feasible to attend that show and this event but sadly it is not given the costs to fly across country, lodging, and food.   Hope that some of you are able to attend the show and this event.
  6. Coinbuf

    Top ten goal made, is top five possible or not

    By Coinbuf,


    Coinbufs journal
    This year I have been slowly adding Lincoln memorial coins to my collection and was able to move the memorial set into the top ten slot.   I think I could over the next few years move up a few slots but I do not know if a top five set is in the cards for me.   Anyway here is a snapshot just for posterity sake as I could just as easily be pushed out of the top ten soon too.
     

  7. Coinbuf

    Another registry year comes to a close

    By Coinbuf,


    Coinbufs journal
    Wow hard to believe that the registry cutoff is just a week away, this year has certainly gone by quickly.   As I look back I had no specific goals other than to try and add or upgrade to my existing sets in order to hold onto as many of my first place awards as possible.    Looking at my sets now it seems like I have actually lost some ground in that regard and will have fewer awards for 2021 than I did in 2020.   Partly because I spent some time and money adding some memorial and shield Lincoln coins which was (and is) not a major focus, yet still my OCD gets the better of me at times as I would really like to finish the full date/mm run from 1909 to current.   An insane number of coins that is currently at 293 coins and counting, absolute insanity to complete the entire run and a goal that I would abandon if I had any smarts.    I also spent more and upgraded more coins in my 1940 date set than I had planned to do, but the friendly competition from the former 1st place set; who wants to be back in 1st place; had me doing more to defend the set.    That is a good thing as I added some amazing coins to the set, but it also diverted some funds that I would have used to improve other sets.
    I did lose ground on a few sets as it seems that a few gold bugs put together some sets in the early 20's year sets, well not really sets as most of those sets only have one two or three coins in them.   But those high grade $50K gold coins really rack up the points and it makes competing with them next to impossible as I do not have an unlimited budget.    That is unfortunate in a way as I now have to decide what to do with those coins, I could keep them and just leave the sets as they are.   Or should I sell those coins and move on to something else, tough call and I'm just not sure how I'll proceed just yet.
    All in all it was another nice year and I am blessed to care and provide the stewardship of the coins I have in my collection.    Like many I am grateful that I have my health, too many have been lost to Covid and other diseases over the past year.   And whatever the next year brings I will continue to enjoy the friendships that I have made within the hobby and the coins in my collection.   For sure there is still much to be done in the way of better photos and descriptions for many of the coins in my collection and that will be a continuing focus each and every year.
    Happy Thanksgiving and a joyous Christmas season to everyone here.
  8. Coinbuf
    While I don't have a must do or list of things that I feel are must do items for my numismatic journey, I have some goals for my collection.   One such goal has been to include an uber high grade classic coin to the collection.   This has never been a high priority or something that I felt I "had" to do just a want list item that I figured I would find someday that would not only fit this minor goal but be very nice upgrade to one set or the other.   I think that I always expected that would be a new coin for my Lincoln set, given that it is a very large, long set I guess that it seemed the most likely set to find one that was within financial reach.  There are tons of MS68 and MS69 graded modern Lincoln coins but the most available MS68 classic coins in that series are the steel cents and they still sell for right around 1K on average, doable but not really the coin that I was motivated to go after at those prices.
    However recently on GC I saw an auction for a 1940-D Mercury dime in MS68FB, not only is this a great classic design coin but it was also a numerical upgrade for several sets.   So I did as usual and threw in a $20 bid to place the coin on my watchlist, I check recent auction results for this grade and figured that it would likely sell for more than I was prepared to go.   A couple of days before the end of the auction I checked on the status and was surprised to see the price still rather low.  Ok that does happen sometimes and then a flurry of action in the last hour pushes the prices up near or beyond average.   So I decided what I was willing to go, which was below the recent averages; and place my final bid fully expecting to be out bid in those last hours.   I checked my emails after the auction deadline and low and behold I had won for just under my high bid!
    I thought that is great, and then the doubts start to creep in.   Why did I win for less that recent average sales; did I miss something that others saw?   Did I just buy a dog coin, what did I just do!   Well nothing to do but wait for the package to arrive and see the coin in hand.   Fast forward to yesterday when the package came, I can now say that I very happy with my new coin, not a dog at least in my opinion.  I suspect that because this coin is blast white played some part in the lower than average selling price, had it been toned I expect it would have been much more expensive.  Also the lack of a CAC bean may have been a factor to some buyers at this grade level, not a deal breaker for me.
    So there it is, a minor bucket list item checked off with what I find to be a very beautiful coin with one of the most attractive classic designs.  The only photos I have are the GC one's for now.


  9. Coinbuf

    Time to begin the chase again

    By Coinbuf,


    Coinbufs journal
    Well the 2020 registry awards are in the books, it was a good year for me with 6 best in category awards one better than last year.  Hopefully I'll be able to make a couple of additions and hang on to those for next year, that task may be much more difficult depending on if the launce of the ANA registry brings in more heavy hitters from the PCGS registry.  But maybe with a couple of adds here or there I can keep up on most of last years wins.  Time to begin planning and chasing once again to further my collection and hunt down a few new coins for 2021, thanks to  fellow forum member Six MiIe Rick I was able to add a few zincoln coins to my 09 to date Lincoln set already this year including my first shield cents.
  10. Coinbuf

    When will I be priced out of collector coins

    By Coinbuf,


    Coinbufs journal
    I don't know if other collectors give this much thought, perhaps it is a concern for aging collectors more so than younger collectors.   But I often wonder when will the constant back and forth buying that happens between the dealer middle men drive the prices so far up that average collectors are left by the wayside.   After all each time a coin trades hands from dealer A to dealer B, then from dealer B to dealer C, and then back to the beginning from dealer C to dealer A the price has to be marked up a bit on each of those transactions.
    This thought occurred to me after reading stories from other collectors who describe the actions on dealer day; and from my own experiences at coins shows both local and larger shows.   I cannot recall a time at any show I have attended that I have not witnessed this almost constant back and forth between the dealers.   I even setup as a local show once and saw first hand this action between the dealers.
    So the question I am always left with is at what point am I going to be priced out because all the meat that was on the bone has been picked clean because all the middlemen transactions which push the prices higher and higher until the golden goose is plucked.
    Maybe I'm just getting old.  
  11. Coinbuf
    I very much enjoy a nice cold coin especially many of the early designs, but even some of the modern designs are very nice and present well.   As the price of gold has jumped up significantly I have curtailed most of my buying on the hope that what goes up must come down, at least that is what I am hopping for anyway.  However a couple of nice opportunities did present themselves over the past year and I did pull the trigger on a nice XF $3 gold piece and just a week ago on an AU $1 Liberty Head coin.  As a side note I cannot fathom what anyone was thinking by coining such a tiny coin, I see no way in the world that these could have circulated without being lost constantly.   The $3 coin is graded by PCGS and on a whim I sent it in to CAC with a group of coins where it was blessed with a green bean.   The most recent $1 coin was bought raw to place in my raw AU gold type set, I actually have a PCGS holdered example but just couldn't bring myself to break it out of the old green label holder to put in the raw set.  So now I need just three coins to complete the set; an Indian head $1 (which again I have one in an old holder just not willing to break it out), an Indian head $10 coin, and a double eagle.
    But two of those are rather expensive at current levels and prices would drop quite alot if the spot price continues to slide down as it has been doing recently and were to approach the levels we were at a year or two ago.   So what are your thoughts, are you buying at current levels or are you like me and for the most part taking a wait and see stance on buying gold coins.
  12. Coinbuf
    Today while working I had the unfortunate encounter with one of the most ugly (I am talking the persons character not physical looks) and nasty individuals for quite some time.  I had such a very nice weekend spending time with my family over the weekend, my youngest daughter was unable to come home for Christmas so this was a second celebration for the family.  And then today BAMM!! this jerk slaps me in the face with the most despicable display of rude, dishonest, and awful behavior; really a downer after such a fantastic weekend.
    For those that do not know I own a small vending company and while servicing a car dealership account today I had placed a items on a table next to the vending machines.   An older service customer came in and sat down at this table and immediately began to spray the table down with some antiseptic spray and wipe the table off.   I was busy at the machine but was going to move the items off the table for him when he just pushed a case of energy drinks off the table onto the tile floor damaging several.  He then proceeds to turn around and give this smug smirch and say oh I'm sorry but those shouldn't have been there anyway; what a jack knob!!   I mean it was 7AM this tool had the entire waiting room and could have sat anywhere.   Needless to say I wanted so badly to pound on this guy, but as a vender in another business I have to bite my tongue and control my urge to cream this jerk.  
    I usually tend to think that people over the age of 60 have better morals and ethics but every now and then I meet one that reminds me that disrespectful nasty people come in all ages.    Phew, ok I'm better after venting, back to your regular programing.  
  13. Coinbuf

    2020 a personal and numismatic reflection

    By Coinbuf,


    Coinbufs journal
    2020 what a ride, some ups and lots of downs.  The year started off promising enough and then covid covered the world with a wet blanket like we have not seen before.  A rough year of many especially those who lost loved ones to the pandemic, but a boon to some that were able to continue and even profit due to it.  As I look back my life was not terribly affected by it overall from either a personal or numismatic perspective.  As I do every December I looked back as what I did, what I bought, and what I sold and reflected on how I feel I did with my numismatic journey throughout the entire year.  As I resorted my spreadsheet by date I realized that I had spent more than I had thought; don't tell the wife ; maybe a few too many impulse buys.  But as I looked back I don't have any regrets for any of the purchases, some were to further a few registry sets, some like the $3 gold coin were to satisfy an itch for a type, but all were good coins and I can enjoy looking at each one.
     
    As I look forward to the new year I am wondering what direction will next year take me, should I scale back after buying more than expected in 2020, are there any sets or projects that I should focus on or just do what I usually do and move on a purchase when the time and mood strikes me.    Ever since I finished my Lincoln 09-58 date/mm set in 2017 I have not felt the same sense of purpose or direction with my collecting.  I've bounced the idea of selling some sets like the Morgans or Mercs, but have not been really motivated to do so yet.  Part of me says that would be a good way to kick start a new collecting direction or set, and part of me isn't ready to let go of those.
     
    I am also having trouble getting excited about the new year knowing that at least the first half of 2021 will be much like 2020, the vaccine rollout is taking much longer than many had hoped and I really do not see an end to the silly mask restrictions and other big brother oversights for several months at best, sigh.  Well enough of that I'm going to pull up my boot straps and find a way to enjoy myself this next year, and I feel confident that I will find a few special coins to purchase and enjoy in the new year.  To all my collecting friends have a safe new years and I hope everyone enjoys 2021 first from a family perspective but also from a hobby/numismatic perspective.  As a sendoff to 2020 here are my two favorite purchases made during 2020.  Get it two purchases from a year with two twos in it,I crack myself up.!   Both are type coins, first is this beautiful 1876 seated dime purchased from Gerry Fortin.  This is a great looking coin and filled a hole in my type set, but it also fits into my holder generations custom set theme, this holder is the first one used after the last old soap style and was a transitional one that was only used a very short time.  And the second coin is the only gold coin I bought in 2020, I was not looking to buy any gold in 2020 due to the high price of gold but a longtime collector on the PCGS forum was selling his collection of $3 gold coins and it is a type that I've wanted for a very long time.  Apologies for the different photo styles, I have not gotten around to taking photos of the gold coin yet. 



  14. Coinbuf
    And I'm tired of writing, phew.    Now I do not consider myself a natural when it comes to writing, I don't live on facebook or any other social media platform nor do I do much writing for my job so it just is not easy or natural for me the way it is for some.  But I spent a great amount of time over the last month updating descriptions, writing new ones for both individual coins and for the sets themselves.  I am quite sure that none of that will go down as great works of writing art  but I'm very pleased with the results overall.  Time to take a break from all that and enjoy, soon it will be time to go back and refine what I have done and work on better photos.  Good thing I enjoy this hobby.  
  15. Coinbuf

    I'm eligible!!

    By Coinbuf,

    Ok down you animals I'm already spoken for,  no what I'm referring to here is that this year for the first time ever I will have a registry set (multiple sets in fact) that are eligible for NGC major awards.  My 1936 mint set has 10 of the fifteen slots filled and all the coins are NGC certified, yep not one PCGS coin in this set.  And I expect that I will have high quality photos and descriptions for all of the current ten coins in the set by Dec 4th.  I have set a goal for myself to have this set 100% complete by 2023 so that will be one of my collecting areas of focus going forward.
     
    My 1940 set is the one I'm most proud of as this set was put together to celebrate my mothers birth year.  The 1940 set does have three of the 14 slots filled with PCGS coins and while it would be nice to have this set also all NGC it would be impossible to replace my 1940s dime, while only graded as MS65FB this coin has been awarded a gold CAC bean and I believe that it would at least grade as an MS67FB coin today.
     
    Also this year I have restructured my 1909-1958 Lincoln set in order to meet the 75% rule, sadly I had to reduce the overall score with some under graded coins.  And while this set is actually 100% complete I will also have to remove three of the PCGS coins to meet the 75% rule so for this years competition it will appear as though it is not complete.  However my set is the only set to have 100% nice high quality photos; and 100% full complete descriptions (well it will as I am finishing up the last of the photos now).  There is not another set in this category that can even come close to this claim, most have a few of the stock NGC photos and a handful of comments; and most of those comments are a word or two at best.
     
    This is not hold the press crazy amazing news, but for the first time ever a few of my sets are over the 75% NGC coins in the set rule and the at least 50% complete rule.  While I do not expect to win any major awards its nice that at least I have something that can be considered.  
  16. Coinbuf
    Just added new pics to my Lincoln sets and a couple that are not yet availible to view.
    In keeping with my desire to have nice high quality pics of my registry coins thru 1958, I sent another group of coins to Mark Goodman as his pics are wonderfull. As usual he did a fantastic job so now I have high quality pics of all but a few coins thru 1937. Most of these new pics are of the coins in the mid 30s thru 1937 and are your basic red coins, but if you decide to browse these new ones I especially like the 1937-S and this 1927-D, enjoy.

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  17. Coinbuf
    Great photos of common and not so common date Lincolns
    For those of you that are following me I apologize as I am not much of a writer or blogger as you can see as I only post one journal entry a year . I once again have new pics that were taken by Mark Goodman. Every time I send Mark coins to be imaged I am amazed by his skill. This time I added 14 sets of obv/rev photos (all Lincolns in this group) to coins in my inventory and sets. I say inventory as two or three of the coins I have not added to any sets just yet. I hope to have the entire set from '09 to '58 imaged by the end of the year but we'll see how that goes. The date list of new coin photos:
    1916-S, 1918, 1919, 1919-S, 1921, 1923, 1924-D, 1925, 1925-D, 1926, 1926-D, 1927-S, 1934+ grade, and 72/72.
    I really like most of the coins in this group but my favorite has to be the 1919. Coins from the Phily mint in 1919 are some of the very best for the entire Lincoln series and this coin is what all Lincoln cents should be like.

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  18. Coinbuf

    New pics added

    By Coinbuf,

    New Mark Goodman pics
    Man I received an email from Mark today with new pictures of 12 coins, its like christmas morning everytime Mark takes new pics for me. The following is a list of this group; huge shout out to Mark for the excelent shots.
    Lincolns:
    1911
    1917-S
    1918-D
    1920
    1933-D
    1940
    1940-S
    1950
    Dimes:
    1940-D
    1958
    Quarters:
    1940
    Also imaged but not visable is my 1930 Lincoln in an old PCI MS67RD

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