And had I not kept records — mailing invoices, copies of written letters, NGC Submitter Copies — I would have scant recollection of what had transpired.
This brings me back to my first rare coin — a rare gold coin — and I’ve always been bothered by my records not revealing if it really was the first rare gold coin I had ever seen or held.
The mystery involves a tale between two dealers — Austin Rare Coins, Inc. and Thomas M. Pilitowski & Assoc. — and how their different Invoices could reveal — or obscure — the truth, forever.
The two coins involved are an 1881-CC $10 Eagle (Austin) and an 1891-CC $5 Half Eagle (Pilitowski), and both were procured at roughly the same time: June 2013.
I had always been certain that the 1881-CC coin was the first because I talked the dealer into throwing-in a free copy of the 2013 Red Book as part of the deal. But the Invoices left me in doubt ten years later.
Here is what their Invoices reveal:
Dealer Date Ship Date Additional Notes
Austin Rare Coins, Inc. 06/28/13 Not Stated PRE-PAID BY CHECK; CHECK#: 1794
Thomas M. Pilitowski & Assoc. June 21, 2013 July 2, 2013 Due by: PAID
From this information it would appear that I ordered the 1891-CC $5 Half Eagle first — a week earlier — but there was the possibility that the 1881-CC $10 Eagle was ordered first, and 06/28/13 was its ship date.
Long ago, I had disposed of my payment records — written checks, credit card receipts — and all I have left are these two Invoices.
Or so I thought…
Although I do not have the cancelled checks anymore, or even my monthly statements, over the years I do retain The Secretary Register(s) for all of my checks. These are not little one-check-per-page checkbook Secretaries, these are 3 checks to a page checkbook Secretaries, the best way to involve yourself with check writing.
Twelve pages deep on one of them, there I found written in dark blue ink, two entries among twenty-eight others:
1794 6/18 ARCI
1796 6/21 Thomas M. Pilitowski & Assoc.
I would have written the checks, and mailed them their following mornings on the way to work.
The Austin Rare Coins, Inc. Date is ten days after I wrote the check. The Thomas M. Pilitowski & Assoc. Ship Date is eleven days after I wrote the check.
By keeping my checking book Secretaries throughout the years, I can finally put this mystery to rest: the 1881-CC Eagle was definitely the first rare coin,
… and I still have it today.
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