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The Red Book, my 2013 copy, received free of charge from Austin Rare Coins while accompanying my first-ever rare gold purchase, a $10 1881-CC Eagle… WELCOME TO NUMISMATICS (page 34) (midway down the page citing the SS Central America wreck) "The ship was swamped, and the captain ordered the American flag be flown upside-down, a signal of distress."

As I have an 1857 US gold quarter eagle minted in San Francisco — an important piece of my Puzzle Box Gold type set — my Owner Comments for the coin includes the mention that it pays homage to the SS Central America and that the ship had "its Stars and Stripes flag flown upside-down to signal the steamer’s dire distress." That info was garnered from Wikipedia, but there is no reference cited there. Literary License? Could be. One of my current research projects is determining the truthfulness of the flying of the flag upside-down. The famous painting depicting the ship's sinking does not help. Gary Kinder's Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea may be a future purchase of mine.

There's a funny story in this video that begins once you click the central red/white YouTube icon. Enjoy.

Began to wonder if the ANA had released a video on this subject, so typed into YouTube: ANA What and how to collect coins? The ANA descriptor below the lesson contains your words almost verbatim: This informal class will help you decide what to collect and how to store your collection.

Roughly speaking, to obtain my 14 coin collection, mailings of various coins — to and from me — occurred 50 times, and there was never a problem. A few of my mailings involved coins of considerable expense. For these reasons, I find it difficult to believe that victor382 has experienced his coin getting lost or stolen. Looking through my paperwork of purchases, it looks like when I returned coins I didn't like, I always used USPS Registered Mail. There was one time that a package took longer to be delivered on one of my returns, and I wondered if someone may have stolen it. The package did turn up eventually, but it was a little unnerving until it did. It was when using a Priority Mail Flat Rate Small Box, and adding Registered Mail, and Insurance. After that experience, I considered going up to the Priority Mail Flat Rate Medium Box that USPS offers, instead of the Small Box, but a copy of an enclosed letter to the dealer I made a return to shows "it costs much more to mail the medium box with Registered and Insured, too." One thing I like about USPS is they're a proud bunch of people. Their history goes way back: old-time engraved postage stamps: Regular Mail, Air Mail, Special Delivery, Priority Mail, and all the while delivering the mail daily throughout their existence. NEITHER SNOW NOR RAIN NOR HEAT NOR GLOOM OF NIGHT STAYS THESE COURIERS FROM THE SWIFT COMPLETION OF THEIR APPOINTED ROUNDS (unabashedly, I guess I had to get the Tay-Tay "plug" in)

"Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown." Enjoy your Super Bowl Sunday morning.

Knowing little about this coin, went to NGC's World Auction Archives and found it. Really beautiful coins can be seen there, but they cost an arm and a leg when they have the bluish iridescence. Damn, they're gorgeous. I can live without one, though, when photos can be seen for free.

What I like about the resurrection of this thread is that it got me reading the DWN articles again, and they're really enjoyable. The Fairmont Part II blog by Richard Radick showcases some of the most ingenious detective work. A lot of hours were put into it; both research and actual write up. While looking around, also came across Doug's gold collecting tips. Warmed my heart. A 20-minute interview from five years ago that seems as though it will "never get old."

I've got one of these, too. It got moved to the Registry Chat Board, now page 2. I go visit it because I like the colors. I love it!

Thanks, Sandon. I'll have to drill down on this a little more, see where my Points are coming from. It sounds like what you are saying is that because I have the adjunct sets — e.g. Denver Mint Gold Issues, Complete — in addition to my Gold Type Set 1834-1933 (Puzzle Box Gold), I have garnered much higher Points because each of the adjunct sets I created have made my coins reflect rarity since they are not Type Sets, and for that reason only. I have not looked at any of my Competitive Sets in over six months. I just look at My Competitive Coins. The only reason I made the adjunct sets was so that I could include a cover-photo of the Puzzle Box Gold Strongbox "solve" at various times in the "solve" ordeal, for a total of seven extra photos. I had no idea there would be a fringe Points benefit, not that I'm much of a competitor for Top Collectors. This is a very interesting research project. I'll have to do some experimenting, like remove the 1839 $2.5 MS 61 from the Philadelphia Mint Gold Issues, Complete Circulation Issue but leave the coin in the Gold Type Set 1834-1933, and see if the SCORE in that type set plummets by 4,844 points. I'll be following up with yet another question, slightly related to all of this, but I have to be careful, so as not to step on any toes. Good thread, Henri. I would never have learned any of this without it.

Having only 14 coins in my Puzzle Box Gold collection allows for critical testing on this website. Here is an interesting peculiarity that I uncovered today. If you are logged in and go to the Registry side of things, and you have a Registry Set, you'll see at the top left a blue banner showing your Points and Rank. Your Points can be tallied individually by adding together all of your 'My Competitive Coins' and the total will match the 'Points' total. But here is the peculiarity: Where do these point values come from? The knee-jerk answer would be that they come from the NGC Coin Explorer because when you look there you can find SCORES vs. Grade. Notice that NGC doesn't describe things as Points there… they're SCORES. So, I tested how Points and SCORES compared for every one of my coins. Coin Type Coin Explorer NGC My Competitive Coins Delta REGISTRY SCORE Points (Comp - Explor) 1834 $5 Crosslet 4 AU 58 2,190 5,818 3,628 1839 $2.5 MS 61 2,233 7,077 4,844 1849 D $1 AU 58+ 3,576 3,576 0 1854 O $3 MS 61 9,588 9,588 0 1855 C $1 AU 55 5,515 5,515 0 1858 S $2.5 AU 58 CAC 990 2,985 1,995 1862 $1 MS 64 CAC 1,658 2,033 375 1876 CC $20 MS 60 5,702 6,753 1,051 1881 CC $10 AU 53 2,960 2,960 0 1891 CC $5 AU 58 CAC 507 2,401 1,894 1908 D MOTTO $20 MS 65 3,817 7,960 4,143 1914 D $5 MS 64+ CAC 4,606 4,606 0 1925 D $2.5 MS 65+ CAC 3,444 3,444 0 1932 $10 MS 64+ CAC 2,355 2,355 0 Now, in the Top Coin Collectors section, NGC states: NGC Registry participants receive an overall ranking based on the total score of all coins registered in their competitive sets. Coins entered in multiple sets are counted only once. (If a coin has received different point scores, the highest score is counted.) Use the filter below to see rankings for all coins, US coins or world coins. This statement is somewhat bewildering. Look at the disparity for some of the individual coins. Over two times higher for some of the Competitive Coins compared to the Coin Explorer SCORES. Very puzzling.

That head gasket… blew years ago. Aggravation is my nemesis these days. Case in point: Thursday night, foggy as could be, printing taxes at Staples, reached down to the tray before the print had finished and caused a paper jam. Had to go to another machine, and the attendant would print my first machine's receipt… but at the main copy section, other side of the store. To add to my confusion, he hands me the receipt just as I was packing up. Get to the Bottle King, three miles later, paying in cash, check my pockets for correct change, and something seems amiss. Where's my thumb-drive? Retrace my steps around the liquor store/parking lot. Nowhere. Drive three miles back up the hill to foggy Staples, go in and there is the thumb-drive on top of the machine I had been at. Oh, forgot to mention, my gasoline tank, its yellow low-level light… it had been on before I even left the house. Blow a head gasket on these boards? This is child's play compared to real life.

Mailed State & Federal 1040s, Certified Mail, Friday afternoon. Already both have arrived at their destination Distribution Centers. Owed close to $1,000 total. Lots of hours of re-familiarization and $30 for printing, Certified Mail, gasoline.

If a coin from the mint has a mint mark, it is an error—if the coin does not come from the mint nor have a mint mark, that is also an error. If a coin from the mint has a mint mark, it is an error if the coin does not come from the mint, nor have a mint mark… that is also an error. If a coin from the mint has a mint mark, it is an error if the coin does not come from the mint, This portion of the sentence suggests obvious logic. It purports that the coin actually did not come from the mint, and surreptitiously is being passed off as something it is not. "Error" in this case has little to do with coin manufacture, and more to do with hoodwinking an unsuspecting bystander. It is a prank. nor have a mint mark… that is also an error. Here we have furtherance the sentence's first part, but only for the sake of completeness in the hoodwinking… perhaps to divert possible critical thinking.

A mint mark is a mark on a coin from the mint that made it. If a coin from the mint has a mint mark other than that mint’s mark, or it came from Philadelphia, so no mint mark would be present, an error has occurred. Most all coins reflect what the dies that created them intended. However, sometimes a double-die image (improper manufacture) can happen, which may make a coin worth more. (a 1955 Lincoln penny double-die date is a good example of this) Double-die errors can be obverse (DDO), reverse (DDR), cuds (broken die planchet striking), and can be found in the old ANACS holders, too. These various “error coins” are easy to identify because they are different in appearance. Sometimes they’re “one of a kind” errors. You have to be careful with certain seller’s raw coins that have not been Third Party Graded. They may tell you a coin has been certified when the coin's certification is nothing more than the seller’s opinion.

The mark is not from a suction cup. Consider other scenarios that could have caused the malady. Accidents routinely happen on assembly lines, but to small enough extents that the processes are deemed profitable. Your coin "slipped" through quality control, you bought it, but then it was up to you to be the final arbiter of its acceptability… and in a timely manner. Live and learn. P.S. Good thread. Thank you.

Roger, above the photo of Brigadier General Billy Mitchel, the exemption of numismatic gold is mentioned in your article. It would be interesting to see this exemption in the executive order. Can you display the executive order in this thread, for us to see? That would be really something.

"Oh, I'm sorry Miss Metcalf."

Since my collection is complete already, and I've described my buying criteria thoroughly in my Registry Comments for each coin, this is my overall buying logic going forward: Do I feel like upsetting an apple cart? Will the seller accept one of my coins plus $$$? Is it worth plundering my entire Roth IRA, and then some? Although I don't want to follow in the footsteps of Pat Hingle's Ace Stamper, Natalie's Deanie has its cautions, too. "Though nothing can bring back the hour Of splendor in the grass, glory in the flower We will grieve not; rather find Strength in what remains behind."

Yes. In a science class, 7th or 8th grade, many, many years ago, when a teacher demonstrated the reactivity of sodium and water. The memory prompted me to search YouTube and I was amazed to see that fairly common Li batteries have near-equally-incredible reactive inner-makeup. No wonder we're hearing so much about E bike battery fires. Warning: Don't try this yourself. Just enjoy the video for its educational content.

When you tap the edge of the holder, look for the direction of rotation early on. If it rotates in the wrong direction, then tap the opposite edge. There's play in the holder and you've got to figure out how to take advantage of it. (if it got this far out of whack, it can definitely be rotated back) I had great success a year ago using the edge tapping method. Granite center island in the kitchen, large bath-towel spread out on it, and a cutting board to work over to aid with making my taps have more smack to them. The holder edge would sometimes hit the cutting board resulting in an unintended secondary carom that worked to my advantage, occasionally. (sometimes the shark, he go away… sometimes he wouldn't go away) Work over a towel covered area or you may find yourself picking the holder up off the floor.

If you go to the Top Coin Collectors page, click the last column header twice so that the highest Avg Score comes to the top, and why do we not hear the Lost in Space robot say 'It does not compute.' for the Top Avg Score listing?

I bet it had to do with your iCloud. When my two computers are synced with iCloud, I can type one letter extra (character) on my downstairs computer in Notes, walk upstairs to my office computer, and it will show the nuance already. Just the other day I had to get both computers "talking to each other" because my Router passwords were different with my provider on each computer. Took me a full day to solve. The person who finally got it solved, during the troubleshooting, told me she could only help me to a certain extent because she was in a different country. Our world these days is near impossible to navigate.

He'll be back. (simply) Surreptitiously? Maybe. Last I looked, his Rooster collection is still here… Ranked 6th. First, he was a Roman praetor (Jack Hawkins), then he morphed into a butterfly… Papillon (Steve McQueen) — first escapee from Devil's Island. Maybe he'll morph yet again, possibly as a Mockingbird? Boo Radley (Robert Duval) We need to get to springtime first, after the dark days of winter are behind us.