Gerry's Daily Blog Archives - January 2015

January 31, 2015

The last day of January is upon us and I'm wondering where did the time go? The decision to stay put in Venice yesterday was well founded. I was able to wrap up customer submissions at NGC in Sarasota and to retrieve the key dates from the Maine Collection Indian head set. As a preview of what is to come on the Indian cent price list, following are grading results for the better dates... The less expensive dates will be retrieved next week since using FUN show economy submission. NGC grading was accurate and I'm very pleased with the outcome.

1864-L NGC63 BN rotated die, 1866 NGC55, 1867 NGC53, 1868 NGC55, 1869 NGC45, 1870 NGC58, 1871 NGC55, 1872 NGC45, 1876 NGC40, 1877 NGC40 and 1909-S NGC45.

The Maine Collection 1901 Liberty V nickel proof piece graded NGC PF65 and will be added to that price list today.

Response to the Dallas Collection has been strong. I spent phone time with two GFRC customers describing certain pieces yesterday afternoon. All Dallas Collection pieces are photographed and asking prices are settled with the consignor...remaining is image processing and loading the price lists. This will happen throughout the weekend as I plan to get Open Registry updates posted along with adding the Dallas Collection. The Maine Collection Indian set postings will have to wait until early next week.

I am definitely going to attend the Lakeland Florida show on February 13-15 as a buying show. I need a break from the ongoing handling of consignments and to return to my roots. Walking a bourse floor and searching out nice coins is a pleasure...there was no time at FUN to walk the floor and then I passed on Ocala. So the Lakeland show will be the first time in two months to be on the collector side of the table.

Jim Poston is on a coin shop buying trip out west and indicates another consignment will be forthcoming within the next two weeks.

The weekend is here so today's Blog will be short. I must get to the growing backlog of Open Registry submissions today so that customers can showcase new acquisitions in the context of their Registry sets.

The featured coin of the day is an 1838 No Drapery PCGS AU55 quarter from the Dallas Collection. This piece is one of many to be loaded to the price lists this weekend. The images are unable to capture the bold luster coupled with beautiful old time album toning as seen under bright light.

 

 

January 30, 2015

The Dallas Collection Arrives!

Though I had planned to attend the Ocala Florida show today, a special event made me rethink those plans. Staying in Venice to focus on the arrival of the Dallas Collection consignment, the Maine Collection Indian cent key dates being retrieved from NGC today coupled with building the next GFRC ad for the Gobrecht Journal and Open Registry submissions are immediate priorities.

The significant news for the day is the arrival of the Dallas Collection consignment. This consignment arrived yesterday afternoon and is one of the finest selections of Liberty Seated coins (coupled with other offerings) that I've had the pleasure to handle. I carefully reviewed the single PCGS blue box containing 20 quality coins of which 10 were approved by CAC. Many of the pieces were simply drop dead gorgeous and will garner substantial attention once posted to the price lists. One of those knock your socks off pieces is the 1863-S PCGS MS65 CAC half dime which is a gem with a combination of bold creamy luster and beautiful natural toning. The 1853 A&R 25c graded PCGS AU50 CAC is another of many. Old time album bullseye toning over perfect surfaces. Then there is the 1857-O PCGS VF35 CAC 25c that simply dropped my jaw. Vibrant gun metal gray patina with superior eye appeal is the best way to describe this gem circulated piece. Let's not forget the semi key 1865-S PCGS VF30 CAC quarter too; even gray and so choice for the assigned grade. But there was more in that PCGS blue box. How about an 1861-O Civil War Seated half dollar graded PCGS MS65 CAC to continue the eye candy? An incredible piece with cartwheel luster coupled with soft gold, rose and blue patina that simply floats on the surfaces...it will be such a pleasure to determine the Wiley variety for fans of this New Orleans date. If the 1861-O was not enough, the consignor added more selections....an 1876-S Trade $ graded PCGS VF35 CAC that is gem for the grade and an 1878 7TF Morgan graded PCGS MS64+ CAC that is a toned monster.

I hope that GFRC customers can sense the quality and freshness of the coins being offered in the Dallas Collection. I feel blessed that GFRC was selected to market and sell this magnificent offering at fixed price list . These pieces are fresh to market and would typically be handled by a leading auction house or one of the top national dealers. GFRC customers and friends are in for a real treat....now I believe you might understand the reason for canceling plans to attend the Ocala show. I hope to have the Dallas Collection online by early next week.

Today's featured coin is a lovely 1860 Seated quarter that was added to inventory after the FUN show without fanfare. Properly graded PCGS AU50 and approved by CAC, this quarter offers solid eye appeal and would fit nicely into an advanced date and mintmark set.

 

 

January 29, 2015

Yesterday's highlight was a great lunch with Len Augsburger and completing the image processing and price discussions for the new Bust and Seated consignment (which will be called the Rhode Island consignment for reference). Let's start with lunch.....

Len and I drove to Sharky's at the Venice Pier with temps warm enough to sit outside and take in the ocean view. But when two coin nerds get together, the discussion topics centered around Len's Heritage employment, cool coins and new LSCC programs. One of the topics that I am free to share in the Blog are LSCC plans for an auction at the summer ANA's World's Fair of Money convention. Attendance at the ANA meeting is usually the largest of any show and ideal for a fund raising auction. Leveraging the E-Gobrecht and its website (www.LSCCweb.org), the LSCC will conduct an auction of club member Seated coins with the auction fees heading to the LSCC treasury. A limited number of lots will be solicited from club members with descriptions and images being posted in the E-Gobrecht and on the website. We've already approached one of the best professional auctioneers in the business for the event and he has agreed to help out the LSCC.

There were other discussion topics including my ongoing desire to increase collector education as one of the services derived from an LSCC membership. Grading remains subjective regardless of TPG holdered coins and the only way to learn how to grade and differentiate the best coins from average coins is to train one's eyes by examining thousands of coins or secondly, by having an expert mentor. Where this topic goes remains to be seen.....

Today's GFRC activities include posting the Rhode Island coins, shipping orders followed by a drive up to NGC in Sarasota for retrieving FUN show submission along with submitting more GFRC customer coins. An incremental consignment is expected to arrive later in the day to continually fuel new inventory offerings.

The featured coin of the day is from the Rhode Island consignment. As previously mentioned, this collector has a keen eye for original old album toning and has built a substantial collection. The 1861 half dime date is common....however, this example may be of interest due to the pretty toning and essentially no pricing premium for the eye appeal. My images failed to capture the reflective gold coloring throughout the obverse with faint gold on the reverse center. Attractive coins don't need to cost a fortune as demonstrated here....

 

 

January 28, 2015

Good morning everyone and thank you for making the Blog a part of your day; I am honored.

This Blog issue is a tad delayed as worked until nearly midnight to load the LATAM consignment along while running a virus scan on Venice home computer. Throughout the evening, I could hear the hard drive constantly churning with rouge activities....sure enough, there were trojans on the system that required clean up. Please don't worry about any GFRC/LSCC downloads...my business runs on a 2005 Dell laptop running XP and is clean as a whistle.

One does not appreciate the rarity of certified LATAM coinage until reviewing the NGC populations reports. Take for example the Mexico 1740MO MF 2 Reales that we are offering in NGC AU58. There are only two pieces certified by NGC; an AU58 and an EF45. I received multiple inquiries on this piece minutes after publishing yesterday's blog and the NGC study brought about the explanation. A similar case is the Spain 1808M AI 2 Reales graded NGC MS63 and the finest of four certified at NGC. The $600 asking price seems to be reasonable for the quality and top pop status......I have a few more LATAM pieces to load this morning then will move to yesterday's other consignment.

The Bust and Seated coinage consignment originates from New England. This consignor is a GFRC customer and enjoys early type coins with old album toning. He has a substantial collection and wishes to start pruning a bit. His first shipment included the following;

3c silver: 1861 PCGS AU50 nice old album tone

Seated 5c: 1861 PCGS AU55 choice old album tone

Seated 25c: 1858 VF30 original gray, 1878 VF35 original old album tone

Bust 50c: 1830 PCGS VF35 Small O choice gray, 1832 EF40 old album tone, 1833 PCGS VF35 choice gray

Seated 50c: 1854 VF30 light tone

In other GFRC news, a Seated dime consignment arrived yesterday including a mint state 1876-CC Type II reverse example. More on this consignment in tomorrow's blog.

Finally, discussions are underway with an advanced Bust half dollar collector towards a careful liquidation of his duplicates. This individual collects by Overton varieties and sub varieties and working with him will be an educational experience. John Okerson (not the indiviudal consigning) has been requesting that I add Bust halves to the Open Registry and offering pieces from this consignment may be the catalyst to get that module installed.....I only wish there were 36 hours in a day!

Ok....today's featured coin is one of the consignment LATAM pieces. While many collectors are looking at the Mexico 1740MO MF 2 Reales in NGC58, I've taken a liking to the Guatemala 1758G J 8 Reales residing in NGC VF30 holder. What an amazing piece that has an incredible strike and museum quality patina. Believe me, the piece is much nicer in hand than my images. Tomorrow, we move back to the United States for the Coin of the Day.....

 

 

January 27, 2015

Yesterday was one of those whirlwind days; there were plans and then there were the unexpected events.

As mentioned in yesterday's Blog, a consignor approached me with list of coins available at wholesale prices for cash raising purposes. After back and forth discussions, I bought his entire deal in the evening hours. The deal shifts ownership of existing price list items only; GFRC customers will see pricing reductions to reflect the favorable lot buy-out price. The deal is heavy in Bust and Seated quarters with a few Seated dimes and halves. I was up at 4:30am to update GFRC documentation system and have already executed the price list reductions. Some GFRC customers did ask for quotes in terms of splitting the deal with me but without quick decisions, I pressed ahead to help out this consignor.

Yesterday's other activity was playing quality engineer for the Auburn Lakes Condo building painting and door replacement project. I spent part of the morning inspecting local contractor workmanship. My standards must be too high for this area. Workmanship issues were found, documented and discussed via phone calls to the bosses. It seems that hourly workers strive to get tasks done as quickly as possible without much regard for the end outcome. I've worked in a professional and highly technical environment for most of my career and managing this painting project has been eye opening.

By midday, I spoke with NGC in Sarasota and confirmed that FUN show submissions are moving along nicely. The regular submission containing the Maine Collection Indian Cent set key dates will be ready for pickup on Wednesday along with a few pieces being reholdered for consignors. The economy submission (balance of the Indian cent set) was already in the grading room! Thank you NGC for the excellent service.

Also midday, I received an email for one of my favorite GFRC customers and had a hearty laugh. As a serious fan of the astrophysics nerds on the Big Bang Theory, I can appreciate how non collectors might view us numismatic nerds. This image says it all..........yes, I sold the customer this coin.

In the late afternoon, my favorite Venice postman arrived with two more consignments. This individual is an avid collector and we always chat about coins whenever he brings packages that require signature confirmation. As predicted, the LATAM consignment arrived and talk about eye candy! Also in house are the Bust and Seated half dollar consignment mentioned in the January 25 blog....the included 1861 3 cent silver piece is also very nice.

After dinner, I received a pleasant surprise via email. My good friend and LSCC Vice President, Len Augsburger, arrived in Ft. Myers yesterday and suggested with get together for Wednesday lunch in Venice. Len is now working full time in the numismatic industry after a long technical career in the wireless communications field. We are heading to Sharky's at the Venice Pier to catch up and discuss several strategic LSCC projects.

I will close today's blog with a preview of the LATAM consignment and will do same for the Bust and Seated consignment tomorrow. Here comes the the eye candy.....there are two raw pieces in the group that are rare and will be discussed later.

Guatemala: 1758GJ 8R NGC VF30 gun metal gray/blue; 1768P 4R NGC VF30 choice gray; 1809NG M 4R NGC EF45 choice original light gray + luster

Mexico: 1740MO MF 2R NGC AU58 a wow coin; 1825DO RL 8R NGC VF35 gray/blue/rose patina; 1853PL MC 8R NGC AU55 choice light gray; 1856P MC 1/2R NGC MS64 bold luster

Spain: 1808M AI 2R NGC MS63 another wow coin

The featured coin of the day is another monster piece from the Birmingham Collection. This 1880 F-102a dime resides in PCGS Old Green Holder with an assigned grade of MS66. As with all the Birmingham coins, none have been to CAC for review. This piece is just down right gorgeous with bold cartwheel luster and rich gold/rose patina. Sometimes, I wish I was still actively collecting the series as these jewels appear. Call or email me if there is potential interest. I also have an NGC MS63 example that was part of yesterday's consignment deal and have lowered the asking price. I'm in a dealing mood to recover some of the monies spent.

 

 

January 26, 2015

Welcome to the last week in January and, as always, thank you for visiting with me each morning at the Blog.

My thoughts go out to customers in the Northeast corridor who are dealing with blizzard snow conditions. Having lived in Maine for a good part of my life, I've experienced a few blizzards. Normal life stops for a few days while snow removal takes place. National news channels love to raise our anxiety levels with headlines like, "Crushed with Snow: Monster Blizzard to Bomb Northeast". Experiencing a blizzard is fairly harmless as compared to the destruction causes by hurricance, landslides and earthquakes. Maybe I'm growing more cynical as I age....the internet and news media are increasingly overhyping the news. Case in point was an NBC reporter sent to drive from Philly to Massachusetts to experience the poor weather first hand and reports from her car while driving interstate highways. During her "live news report", she indicates the main roads in MA are clear of snow but the side streets remain full of snow....the image from her camera person went turning into a side residential road was hilarious...there were some snow drifts on the road that probably measured 1-2 inches deep. Have we become a bunch of wimpy people in the Northeast?

There are more important happenings occuring in the world recently. One is the election of left wing candidate Alexis Tsipras as Greece's new Prime Minister. The NBC headline screamed, "I'll End Years of Humiliation" which sent a chill up my spine.....students of the Third Reich will understand. The Euro remains under pressure and the Saudis are talking down the price of oil.

Shifting back to GFRC, one of my major consignors is in a cash raising mode and sent a list of coins with wholesale buyout prices last night. These prices would be quite attractive for GRFC customers since at the wholesale level. If you are interested, I would be happy to discuss the pieces that are involved in this price reduction event. These will not be posted to the discount list as I would rather work one on one with GFRC customers who have ready cash in hand for purchases. The group consistents of mostly Bust and Seated quarters.

Lastly, I had an interesting discussion with a consignor last evening. One of his coins has been on the price list for awhile and has not sold at current PCGS trends asking price. However, the coin always secures attention when displayed at a major show. The issue is that most buyers now walk the bourse floors with their tablets and CoinFacts. Their goal is to buy accurately graded coins at prices at or under recent HA auction records. As I've mentioned in prior blogs, PCGS grading variance with current reverse hologram holders is wide and the overgraded coins go to HA, Stacks or GreatCollections for auction. These coins sell to dealers or naive internet collectors at "bargain" prices and become records on CoinFacts. If one simply reads recent auction prices and does not inspect the actual coins behind the price records, then one would think the market for nice original coins is weak and dropping. This my dear GFRC customers is an important issue facing the hobby and making it difficult for many dealers to sell choice coins at fair prices.

The featured coin of the day is a choice original antique gray 1825 bust half dollar graded PCGS EF45 and approved by CAC. This is one of the coins available on my consignor's reduced price list...so please email me to discuss a potential purchase at an attractive price.

 

 

January 25, 2015

Today is Sunday and a day of rest? Well here I am at 6:30am in the GFRC office and typing today's Daily Blog edition and responding to overnight inquiries.

The past few days have flown by considering the amount of new inventory that required processing. Nearly all of Birmingham Part II is online with just two more Seated halves to load (the 1861-O PCGS35 CAC 50c sold before hitting price list). I've managed to load some love tokens from recent lot purchase but many more to go. These ARE NOT the Eric Streiner pieces. Eric's hoard remains in what seems to be a perpetual queue. Finally, I am still loading world coins from the initial consignor and have another 5-6 pieces to go. To date, the response to World Coin offerings has been underwhelming. Our initial approach has been like the Rio Grande river.....very wide assortment of countries, but shallow in any one geographical region. Your feedback would be appreciated as I fine tune this product line for customer relevance. There is a need in the world coin marketplace for a collector consignment exchange...the challenge is to locate the right product mix and attract active customers.

Looking ahead to the coming week...three consignments should arrive on Monday/Tuesday.

1. Group of Bust and Seated halves, Seated quarters and 3 cent silver from existing GFRC customer. He is trying out the consignment service and has an excellent eye for natural silver toned pieces.

2. A lot of more challenging Latin America (LATAM) reales with fractionals denominations and natural toning.

3. A substantial 20 piece consignment of top end Seated coinage. Highlights include 1862 PCGS66 CAC and 1863-S PCGS66 CAC half dimes, then 1838 PCGS55, 1841-O PCGS35, 1853 A&R PCGS50 CAC, 1855-S PCGS15, 1862-S PCGS45 and 1865-S PCGS30 CAC quarters. There is a lone seated half dollar....1861-O PCGS65 CAC and several other surprise pieces.

Lastly in today's blog is a brief discussion about coins that are nice and original but are aging on the price lists. These pieces need to find a new home for consignors to continually upgrade their collections and for me to freshen GFRC owned inventory. To that end, customers will shortly see a second Discount Price List. The current list will be limited to coins up to $200 retail (typically raw) while the new list will focus on more expensive pieces (typically holdered). The sales philosophy will be the same for both price lists. Discounted pricing with the request for Best Offers. Best offers will be forwarded to consignors for consideration. Every coin has an appropriate price point based on quality and demand. My goal is to install a system to handle aging coins that is predictable and fair to all parties.

I remember promising in a prior blog that I would get to Open Registry updates this weekend. Since today is Sunday, then my time is limited to keep this promise.

The featured coin of the day is another offering from the Birmingham Collection. Several awesome pieces have already sold and there are more to go. Included in Part II is this 1852-O dime graded PCGS AU58. What immediately jumps out at the viewer is the hammered strike and the bold luster. New Orleans 1851 and 1852 dates are really scarce in AU or better and this offering is an opportunity for individuals building registry quality date/mintmark set or who focus only on New Orleans coinage......Have a great day!

 

 

January 24, 2015

Good morning to Daily Blog readers and thank you for joining me today.

This morning's new is important for Liberty Seated dime collectors. The Birmingham Collection 1843-O dime graded PCGS EF45 without CAC review is now on hold. I worked throughout the day yesterday to match this incredible dime with an important GFRC consignor/customer and good friend. The deal was sealed late in the evening. Now is it time to properly reflect on the significance of this sale.

I have incredible respect for the 1843 New Orleans date after years of searching. My first purchase came in 1990 from Bob Levi at Maine Gold & Silver. Bob was breaking up his set and I was the there at the right time. When purchasing his 1843-O (a VF35 piece), Bob looked at me and said that I would appreciate this purchase and have one heck of time finding an upgrade....oh so true. Fast forward to April 2003...Kevin Zeitler had been an important contributor to the Seated Dime web-book project and we became close friends. Out of the blue, Kevin offers his 1843-O PCGS AU53 and 1845-O PCGS55 Pittman Seated dimes for purchase towards the construction of my PCGS Set Registry set. This was an incredible friendship gesture and those two pieces moved from California to Maine. The Fortin Collection now had a high grade 1843-O dime but I still kept searching for yet another upgrade but none could be located. The New Orleans 1843 date was an extreme grade rarity in AU or better. Yes, I saw several AU problem pieces over the years. Jim O'Donnell tried to sell me one around 1997 and another AU details example appeared in the Bunker Collection during December 2005 on eBay. In the 2006-2007 timeframe, I carefully researched and published an article in the Gobrecht Journal indicating that the 1843-O was a grade rarity in AU or better and incredibly under valued and under appreciated at that time. The article compared the PCGS population of 1843-O dimes in AU or better against the big four Carson City dates with the 1843-O being a close match to the 1871-CC. Around 2009, an Atlanta Georgia LSCC member named Ed Zimmerman walked up to me at an LSCC meeting and provided images of his PCGS MS65 example and the right to use his piece for the web-book plate coin. Fast forward again to November 2013 and the New Hampshire Coin Expo.....Gene Gardner and Gerry Fortin team up to display their Liberty Seated dime collections. This was the first opportunity to view Gene's PCGS MS62 1843-O example in the flesh and with considerable admiration. That same piece sold for $140,000 the following June to the amazement of the entire Seated coinage community.

Considering this background, I was thrilled when the Birmingham Collection 1843-O arrived on Thursday and immediately recognized how special this piece was. The surfaces were absolutely original and the strike was all there. Few people on the planet understood how rare this piece was. How would I set a fair value for the consignor well above PCGS trends and "not bury" a GFRC customer in this coin? I knew what fair value should be as a PCGS AU50 CAC example had sold last year for over $10,000 at auction. The Birmingham piece was 100% certain for CAC so a $6000 firm price was proposed to the consignor and he agreed. This morning that piece is sold and heading to an important Liberty Seated dime collection (LSD) as my dear customer calls the series in jest. Here is this condition census 1843-O dime.

There is an important point to this monologue. The Birmingham Collection has incredible dimes that have been off the market for over a decade and should be immediately scooped up at current prices. I have priced these dimes in the same manner as the 1843-O; a fair price for the consignor and the buyer given the quality. GFRC customers will probably not see this level of quality again in the near term considering the lack of fresh seated coinage on the market.

Last night, I added the 1886-S PCGS MS63 and the 1889-S PCGS MS63 dimes on the price lists. The asking prices are $1150 and $1100 respectively. Both pieces have not been to CAC and my assessment is that both will easily CAC with the 1889-S having a possibilty for Gold CAC. (Please remember that I have 23 Gold CAC stickers in my collection). Following are images for both pieces. My suggestion is to move quickly on these pieces as the quality will be long appreciated after the purchase price is forgotten.......Have a great weekend!

 

 

January 23, 2015

I feel good and highly energized this morning...why?

Yesterday saw the arrival of ELFA mesh steel shelving and filing units and a year's supply of Avery small stickers. I worked into the late evening bringing the Venice office into the same state of organization as the Maine office and feel that the inventory management portion of GFRC is now under optimum control. With more consignments arriving weekly, it was an imperative that a well organized inventory management system be installed for moving new arrivals through spreadsheet documentation, evaluation and price setting, photography and filing/storage functions. The packaging and shipping functions were organized in a similar manner a week ago. If one steps back and thinks about the GFRC inventory flow, it is comparable to the handling of coins by major auction houses.....the major difference is no printed catalog and auction event.

Gold is holding around $1300/oz this morning after the European Central Bank (ECB) announced its 1 trillion Euro dollar QE program through September 2016. World stock markets are off to the races this morning in anticipation of more free money moving through the global financial system. Those individuals or corporations with substantial existing capital or borrowing power will continue to do well in this environment......I believe we are witnessing the construction of a massive global financial bubble as mentioned in an earlier blog. How this will end in several years is anyone's guess. Personally, I am out of the market and holding cash or precious metal stocks.

Closer to home....the first of four negotiated consignments arrived late yesterday. This is Birmingham Collection Part II and I was so impressed with the quality of these Seated dime and halves....and proud to share this morning. These are hand selected coins by a sophisticated collector that have been off the marketing for many years. Many dealers/collectors complain about the lack of fresh material to reach the market, well here it is via GFRC! Following are the consignment pieces, please don't hesitate to request a first right of refusal while these coins are processed and the photography is completed. Reasonable lay-away terms will be available.

3c Silver: 1873 PCGS PR65 and what a magnificent little gem

Seated 10c: 1843-O PCGS EF45 choice original for grade; 1852-O PCGS AU58 choice and rare, 1880 PCGS MS66 OGH and gold gem; 1886-S PCGS MS63 F-101 beautiful toning; 1888-S PCGS MS63 hammered strike and choice; 1889-S PCGS MS63 Medium S beautiful toning.

Seated 50c: 1861-O PCGS VF35 CAC W-9 CSA choice original, 1867-S PCGS EF40 choice original, 1868-S PCGS EF45 choice light gray, 1875 PCGS VF30 and 1876 PCGS EF40 original ebony/gray

The featured coin of the day is a wonderful Seated dime for the advanced collector. This 1874-S dime has been in my collection since 2002. Graded PCGS MS63, this piece illustrates the F-102a variety since the 2004 web-book release. The obverse presents a contrast between frosty main devices due to rusted die while the field a proof like. The reverse is blast white and struck with late die state die that is cracked. The result is die cracks throughout the reverse with the most notable between 9:00 and 10:00. This dime presents superior luster and it would be difficult for an advanced collector to locate an example with more eye appeal at the assigned grade level.

 

 

January 22, 2015

Good morning everyone and welcome to the January 22nd Daily Blog. January is moving along much too quickly as each day is "filled to the brim" with activities.

Before we discuss GFRC news, I wish to share that the LSCC website has a new Educational Presentation link. John Frost is leading the LSCC's educational program development and outreach. At the FUN show meeting, John video recorded three presentations; LSCC club update by Gerry, Gobrecht Dollars by W. David Perkins and Seated Love Tokens by Chris Pilliod. The video and audio for those presentations are now available at the educational link and you are invited to visit and view the initial postings. Please understand this is our first effort and improvements will come as John becomes more adept with the recording technology and posting formats. Already, we are receiving feedback that the video screen is too small and does not resize well. There are trade-offs in video file sizes, user internet download speeds, browser types and video players. As the LSCC moves more educational content to the internet, its volunteers will face the challenges that all content providers deal with when offering online products. I'm proud of the club's first step....a first step leads to second and third steps.

Back to GFRC in Venice, I'm pleased to announce that a serious numismatist in Texas has agreed to start working with GFRC to disperse his quality Seated coinage duplicates. The individual previously employed Heritage for this task and decided to work with me on an initial lot of Seated half dimes through half dollars, many with CAC approval. It is rewarding to see a vision for a small business being realized and my challenge is to meet all consignor expectations for quality photography, accurate descriptions and reasonable sales leadtimes. Readers may not realize that I will photograph some consignor coins multiple times until the images achieve my quality standard and well represent the product being sold........... I'm expecting this quality consignment early next week.

It has become painfully obvious that the amount of workload I've taken on with GFRC, being LSCC President and the Auburn Lakes Condo Association painting manager leaves no time for writing E-Gobrecht or Gobrecht Articles and maintaining the Open Registry on my website. I must apologize to those of you who have submitted updates that sit in a queue. These are not forgotten and will be addressed with a target by the end of this week (late night Saturday).

Today's featured coin is from the World Coins price list and exhibits choice original lustrous surfaces and pretty gun metal gray/blue patina that I have come to admire on early United State silver coinage. This piece is an 1812 Bank of England token denominated as 1S/6P and listed as ESC-972 Bare Head. It resides in a new NGC MS 63 holder. According to the consignor, these are difficult to locate this choice and the offered example is an opportunity for those interested in 19th century British coinage.

 

 

January 21, 2015

Yesterday's blog brought email feedback directly from Geneva. A GFRC consignor is working in Europe these days and happened to be in Geneva immediately after the SNB action removing the Swiss Franc peg with the Euro. He hoped to locate some nice coins at reasonable prices while in Geneva but the sudden action by the Swiss National Bank and currency value change altered his plans.

Overnight, gold broke through $1300/oz in Asia and is now positioned at slightly under that mark for this morning's open. Increasing gold prices will be positive for bullion dealers and the overall numismatic market....Also the gold mining stock sector will benefit considering their energy costs are at recent lows driving a lower cost basis for extracting the precious metal. Silver is once again above $18/oz.

GFRC continues to gain visibility in the marketplace. Just yesterday, I was approached by two individuals concerning consignment opportunities and discussions are underway. Collectors are realizing the advantages of working with a senior numismatist who also understands the power of online marketing for dispositioning their duplicates in a low risk manner....every consigned coin has its well done images and detailed descriptions for the world to see.

Today will be a substantial shipping day along with attempting to load the balance of Jim Poston's consignment and the world coins that are still in process. Yesterday, an 1883 NGC MS64 seated quarter with cartwheel luster reached the price list along with other quality offerings. I'm adding love tokens at the rate of 3-4 per day with a substantial backlog to load through this week and next.

At this point, I'm pretty much a blank for blog comments and planning to go for an early walk before becoming immersed with GRFC tasks for the rest of the day. I'm always available by email or phone to take orders or discuss your numismatic interests.

The featured coin of the day is an 1815 (first year of issue) bust quarter graded PCGS VF25 and approved by CAC. The fields are a nice light to medium gray and provide good contrast to the main devices. For a VF piece, the surfaces are essentially blemish free and attractive. This date is not common and hopefully a GRFC customer will be inclined to give this piece a nice home.

 

 

January 20, 2015

Let's start this morning's blog with a quick look at world financial market news that is worthy of attention. Last week, the Swiss National Bank removed their Swiss Franc currency peg with the Euro resulting in a 15%+ loss to holders of Swiss bonds or other instruments denominated in Swiss Franc. On the same day, gold jumped $30 per ounce with both gold and silver quietly starting an upturn.

Today, the European Central Bank (ECB) is due to announce its own QE version to the tune of equivalent $635 billion. Overnight, the Shanghai stock exchange (which is up greater than 50% in a few months) increased margin requirements resulting in an 8% fall. This morning, world stock markets are projected to be rising again on the ECB money printing news. Gold futures continue to climb with a projected open of nearly $1300/oz.

What we are witnessing are currency wars among major economic countries coupled with deflation in Japan, China and the Eurozone. The central bank tool of choice is money printing as made famous by the United States Federal Reserve. Japan has been printing in an all out war to devalue its currency and win back overseas markets for domestic industries. The Japanese yen is plunging. The ECB action will most likely lead to parity between the Euro and US dollar.

As a result of the above, the US dollar will continue to be the world's safe haven currency and will strengthen further. Typically, when the US dollar is rising in value, gold falls since denominated in $US. But the opposite is occuring with gold climbing nearly $100 per ounce in just two weeks. My opinion is that world wide currency devaluations will continue to drive gold prices upward. Why? Gold is an international commodity and mankind's oldest safe haven for wealth preservation during unsettled times. The world population outside of the United States is many times larger than in the United States. Americans have not known wars on their homeland in recent times and therefore are not as aggressive in holding gold as individuals in Asia followed by Europe. Accelerating global fiat money printing is unprecedented and will lead to new world wide financial bubbles. Low and even negative interest rates lead to substantial leveraging by aggressive investors with associated risk of large losses if bets become unraveled. Those individuals seeing risk during global currency wars are once again embracing the precious metals as their safe haven.

Closer to home in Venice, I am still adding more Seated, Bust, Love Tokens and World Coins to their respective price lists. I have a feeling that top quality United States numismatic properties (since valued in $US) will continue to gain in value during the next few years.

Today's featured coin is an 1870 seated quarter just back from PCGS and graded EF40. This is a scarce Philadelphia date with a meager mintage of 86,400 pieces and indicative of how challenging the Seated quarter series is to collect. This example has crusty original patina on the obverse with lighter toning on the reverse. Struck from a single pair of rusted dies so the devices are impacted by die steel pitting. A fresh piece to market and reasonably priced.

 

 

January 19, 2015

How about those NFL games yesterday? As usual, I worked a good part of the day with the World Coins price list start up but did take a break to catch the last two passing plays in the Seattle-Green Bay game and then the first three quarters of the Pats-Colts game. This year's Super Bowl should be exciting with former Patriots coach Pete Carroll up against Bill Belichick and Tom Brady duo.

The World coin price list is taking shape with some interesting pieces from the initial consignment. One challenge is understanding European grading standards as compared to the United States Sheldon scale. The European approach is more descriptive, less numerical and technical for raw coins. The Sheldon scale, on the other hand, is ideal for the Third Party Grading services as numerical and allows grading differentiations to smaller increments, for example VF20, VF25, VF30 and VF35 just for coins grading VF. The European approach is simplistic with About VF (VF20), VF (VF30) and Good VF (EF40). On my list of things to do this week is to add an informational header table on the World Coin price list which illustrates the differences between these two grading approaches.

Yesterday, I moved a consignor's remaining Seated dimes from regular price list to the Discount List with small price reductions and Best Offers. This strategy worked well as nearly half of the coins sold within hours of the transfer. The GFRC Discount list is a popular shopping venue and, if well managed with more inventory, could be an alternative to the eBay route for dispositioning coins under $200. More thought is required here.

I'm pleased to announce that more consignments are in transit. The first is about 10 pieces of LATAM coinage from a demanding collector. This individual also sees the potential for a vibrant World Coin consignor marketplace if the online system is well structured along with clear photography and accurate descriptions. The second consignment is Round 2 from the Birmingham Collections and includes excellent Seated dime and Seated half dollar offerings. My heart felt appreciation goes out to these two consignors for continuing to enable GFRC business with top quality coins.

Lastly for GFRC's 24 hour news highlights.....prices for the Morgan toners and high grade Walking Liberty halves are settled with FUN show consignor and listed. Again, my sincere appreciation goes out to this individual for helping start the Walking Liberty halves price list and broadening the Morgan dollar offerings with stunning toner examples.

As usual, today will be another busy day. There are several priorities includes securing retail pricing agreements with Jim Poston for his consignment and starting the posting process, adding more World Coins and also working on the LSCCweb.org website update to add new page and link for regional meeting presentations. I've been delinquent with this update given my considerable workloads and the LSCC website also needs some TLC in the next 48 hours......

The featured coin of the day is from the World Coin price list. This 1847/6 Central America Republic 8 Reale, KM4 and grading Good VF, caught my eye while working through the consignment. The obverse has eye catching artistry with a circular face peeking from the string of mountain peaks. Is that face a rising sun or the man on the moon? The long rays emanating from the face suggest that it is the sun or is it? This is a heavy silver coin with pristine original surfaces. It is a wonderful piece and I am pleased to showcase here.

 

 

January 18, 2015

Another day means another blog.....today is Sunday and should be an enjoyable Venice weather day.

Saturday was a huge photography day that covered Jim Poston's coins, the love token group and a second round of the world coins. Ensuring top quality photography is critical to selling coins; coloring and contrast must be accurate. The most difficult coins to photograph are either all white or deeply toned gray pieces. For all white coins, the camera tends to over expose washing out the contrast while the opposite occurs for deeply toned pieces. Medium gray coins are simplistic to image with little post processing required. Raw coins are much easier to photograph than those in holders. TPG holders bring reflections inside the photodome with PCGS being the most challenging due to the clear pastic and raised stacking edges.

Also on Satuday, the consignor's spreadsheet for world coins was completed with pricing recommendations. Those of you who are GFRC consignors well understand the consignor's spreadsheet for ongoing documentation and reporting purposes. My goal is to firm up the world coin retail prices today and have a reasonable portion of this consignment loaded by end of day. Also on the agenda is completing Jim Poston's consignment sheet update and setting asking prices on those pieces. At GFRC, consigned coins are carefully imaged, reviewed with pricing recommendations and then documented back to the owner before they reach the price list. Once on the price list, descriptions are added and then the sales process starts.

I am transferring the balance of the New Mexico collection Seated dime to the Discount list today. Owner asked to move his remaining pieces to new homes at reduced prices.

Today's blog will end here as much to do and also looking forward to a long walk this morning.

The featured coin of the day is a preview of the quality inventory to be loaded on price lists during the upcoming 48 hours. I am in love with this 1849 NGC MS63 CAC seated quarter as incredibly original with proof like fields that are covered with light gray, rose and blue patina. Strike is all there and the eye appeal is superior for those who cherish originality in their collections. A review of Briggs and Greg Johnson's monthly E-Gobrecht columns indicates this is 3-B; the obverse has a downward sloping date while the reverse is B with the 45 deg die polish lines through QUA. There is a die crack through the bottom of the date digits on Obverse 3. Obverse 3 is improperly described in Briggs. Pricing for this magnificent quarter will be announced shortly.

 

 

January 17, 2015

Welcome to the weekend and thank you for visiting today.

Friday was beautiful in Venice with blue skies, a few clouds and a temperature approaching 70F. My sympathies to readers in the cold frozen tundra of New England and the upper mid West. Though Florida is highly populated, a small condominium is a wonderful sanctuary for running a personal coin business. It seems I rarely leave the condo other than to mail packages and secure groceries and supplies. Tonight brings a fun dinner at local seaford restaurant and a few well deserved drinks.

Building a business from scratch takes persistence and the ability to multi task. Activities like careful financial management, timely customer service, inventory management, developing marketing strategies, designing web pages and establishing strategic partnership mostly sound like they belong to a larger corporation. In today's competitive world and internet environment, even a successful small business owner must execute all of the above well besides working with the core product. Small business owners must be careful to avoid becoming the employee rather than the owner. A balance between product handling and ownership activities is paramount.

I'm already receiving positive feedback about the International Coin consignment and pricelist concept. Besides the 29 piece consignment (that is being processed), another potential consignment which is LATAM (Latin America) centric is under discussion with new individual. The immediate acceptance and positive feedback for this concept is exciting and I look forward to discussions with other collectors who may wish to participate. The International coinage field is massive and I could easily envision a separate For Sale page dedicated to World Coins with price lists segregated for LATAM, Europe and Asian pieces. The web has a host of information and adding recommended links to the individual price list pages would enhance "the Collecting Experience" for world coins.

Back to basics for a moment....I've posted more selections from the Maine Collection and starting to load Jim Poston's new arrivals. Please note the addition of Walking Liberty and Early Commemorative price lists on the For Sale page link. Shortly (once I can work through the initial world coin consignment), an Indian Cent price list will also be added to faciliate breaking up the Maine Collection Wayte Raymond set. The key/semi key dates are at NGC for grading and the balance are here and will be listed within a week or two.

Finally, I would enjoy selling a few more coins to raise cash for the upcoming Ocala Florida show in two weeks. I have made arrangements to view a large bust half dealer deal being brought out of Maine bank box at the show. This is a cash only deal therefore some sales are necessary to be a serious player on this deal.

The featured coin of the day is from the Maine Collection half dollar type set. This 1853 Arrows and Rays half dollar just returned from PCGS graded EF45. The With Motto seated half in the same type set was an 1875-CC that graded NGC AU58 at the October Baltimore show and immediately sold to a favorite customer in NH. This 1853 A&R half is a gem piece and close to AU with considerable eye appeal. Any lighter shades are due to PCGS plastic reflections during photography and not on the coin. I believe my asking price is reasonable as this piece should easily CAC. This half is sold as of 9:35am EST!

 

 

January 16, 2015

Happy Friday everyone! I'm glad to be back on normal Blog schedule this morning.

Response to the Constant Contact mailing has been strong and I sincerely appreciate the orders that resulted. Readers will see a number of coins being marked Hold this morning. The individual who purchased the 1861 F-105 dime is also a consignor and has instructed that his remaining Seated dimes be moved to the discount list to help defray the 1861 purchase price. This action will occur by end of day. Also, I will be updating the Top 100 Varieties Pricing link to reflect the new 1861 F-105 pricing structure.

Jim Poston's consignment arrived yesterday. I am so proud of Jim's transformation from an eBay seller of volume 20th Century material to locating choice original early type coins. This change only took a year's time. Following are the contents of Jim's consignment....these should be photographed and posted by Monday but don't hesitate to email for a first right of refusal.

Seated 10c: 1861 PCGS58 Type I obv, light gray; 1875-CC PCGS40 IW even gold, 1876-CC PCGS15 DDO F-107 undergraded; 1877-CC PCGS30 choice gray

Bust 25c: 1815 PCGS25 CAC even gray and choice; 1834 PCGS30 choice gun metal gray, rotated reverse; 1836 PCGS30 original gray, shattered obverse

Seated 25c: 1849 NGC63 CAC choice original gray, superb; 1855 PCGS53 choice gold patina, 1860 PCGS50 CAC choice light gray, 1870 PCGS40 choice gray, 1883 NGC64 cartwheel luster and choice

Seated 50c: 1853A&R PCGS40 choice gun metal gray; 1856-O NGC40 original, 1865-S NGC45 CAC Newman, 1861-O NGC Shipwreck WB-14 speared olive

Also coming to the price lists are selections from the Maine Collection's Wayte Raymond type sets that I sent to PCGS for grading. Those include;

Barber 25c: 1908-D PCGS55, previous Coin of Day with eye appeal

Seated 50c: 1853A&R PCGS45 gem example

Walking Liberty 50c: 1917 PCGS63 old antique tone

Early Commemoratives: 1920 Maine PCGS64 light rose, 1926 Sesquicentennial PCGS63 even light gold, 1936 York PCGS66 frosty white

Growing quality inventory for GFRC customers has become my passion. My wife Diane is working hard to help organize the Venice home office and is handling all the packaging and shipping tasks. This will allow me to focus on photography, listings and customer service.

I am committed to working on the Foreign coin consignment today and launching that product line in ernest by early next week. Already two other GRFC consignors have committed to ship their duplicates to help populate this price list launch. My sincere appreciation is expressed to these individuals and good friends.

The featured coin of the day is....drum roll please.....an 1827 Capped Bust half dollar grade PCGS AU53 CAC and so choice. It is the O-104 variety and more suited as a type coin selection. Please note the white shades on obverse at Stars 8, 9 and 10 are plastic holder reflections, ditto on the reverse. This coin has beautiful even patina.

 

 

January 15, 2015

My apology to Blog readers for being so late with today's edition. It has been one of those mornings with multiple priorities and a surprise.

I'm sure that most of you saw the GFRC Constant Contact mailing sent yesterday at 7:00pm EST. My plan is to issue one of these mailings every few months as a market and new purchase update after major show events. I sincerely do not wish to flood your Inbox with more emails than necessary and will gladly honor customer requests to be removed from the mailing list.

The timing of the mailing was terrible as my Internet Service Provider (ISP) decided to schedule a server upgrade without informing customers. So I awoke this morning to my website being unavailable until 9:00am and decided to delay writing the Daily Blog and focus on the Venice condo association building painting project and update the project management page on the website. This decision resulted in scheduling discussions with the onsite painting foreman and Board President before the online update could be made. If there is interest, this is the link for the Auburn Lakes Condo Association website and painting project that I am managing.

As of 11:00am, all is back to normal and I am writing the Blog. The mailing produced results and several exciting coins are on hold or have been granted first right of refusal until more detailed discussions take place. The exciting news is the Top 100 1861 F-105 dime graded PCGS EF45 going on hold to a set builder in the Open Registry. This is an important purchase as the 1861 F-105 is much rarer than initially envisioned and frankly, I believe a good buy at current price.

I'm really trying to make time for evaluating the foreign coin shipment that is in the queue but unsure if this will be done by end of day. Today, there is one shipment bound for Shanghai and Venice post office requires an online Customs form completion which is not standard procedure in Maine.......life is always interesting.

So with that last thought, I will end today's blog early. Thank you for visiting each day and I should be back on normal schedule tomorrow morning.

The featured coin of the day is another acquistion from the FUN show. This 1867 Seated quarter screams originality and resides in an older NGC AU58 holder. This lovely example is accurately graded, sports light to medium gun metal gray patina in hand while exhibiting grays, blues and gold coloring under bright light. This piece is completely blemish free.

 

 

January 14, 2015

Yesterday was a very busy day with nine GFRC shipments, attempting to load more FUN acquisitions and several evening meetings. I finally called it a day at 12:00am and already back to the laptop and writing this morning's blog.

I'm so blessed to have an outstanding Liberty Seated Collectors Club (LSCC) staff. Let's remember that the LSCC is a non profit and staffed by volunteers who give freely of their time.....a considerable amount of their time. Len, Bill, Craig and Dennis are four of the most committed individuals that I've had the pleasure to work with. In the past, I've served on the board of other non profits with poetry readings to start meetings and lots of navel gazing. Not with this group of guys as we are professional managers, engineers and scientists. Last evening's meeting lasted one hour; we discuss a host of issues and development of new club services and programs. I'm personally excited about the new innovative club logo for branding our organization with the next generation of Seated coinage collectors. Innovation is also forthcoming as the club continues to build strategic partnerships; plans for the August 2015 annual meeting and club auction will well demonstrate this point. Attaining a goal of 700 LSCC members by end of 2015 may appear lofty and out of reach but one never knows what might be possible without setting aggressive goals.

Back to GFRC...the first foreign coin consignment has arrived and hopefully will be photographed today. I'm still working through the balance of FUN newps and consignment and should have those fully loaded on price lists today.

Jim Poston's consignment, love token deal and various medals that need research are due to arrive today.

The October Baltimore economy submission has finally arrived and I'm in the process of shipping out customer coins in between all the other activities.

Finally, please consider a purchase from GFRC inventory or FUN show acquisitions. I'm available throughout the day to discuss your selections and will always entertain reasonable offers or extended payment options on expensive pieces. My goal is to be your preferred supplier of quality numismatic items and all I ask for is a reasonable profit to justify the amount of work being placed into this business. The market is presently going through another transition....cherry picking varieties on eBay and on dealer price lists is becoming much more difficult as the untapped supply disappears. Eventually, I believe there will be a strong market for Liberty Seated varieties similar to traditional date and mintmarks. At GFRC, sourcing quality inventory for Top 100 Seated dime variety collectors is very challenging and current Top 100 guide prices will need to move up to bring out more offerings.

The featured coin of the day is from one of my new emphasis areas....beautifully toned Morgans. This 1881-S example, is graded by PCGS and resides in early generation old green holder with dot matrix label. The cartwheel luster is magnificent and well illustrates the rainbow obverse toning. My photography is inadequate for capturing this dollar's beauty so please use your imagination.....

 

 

January 13, 2015

Happy Tuesday everyone and thank you, as always, for visiting GFRC Daily Blog. I received a considerable amount of positive feedback for yesterday's essay. Well experienced collectors commented that the essay clearly explained the current market phenomenon with too many "dreck" coins dragging down prices for the choice pieces. More recent collectors to the market were grateful for a simplistic explanation of TPG induced dynamics to the overall market place.

Other feedback also confirmed my observations that PCGS variance on their "reverse hologram" holder generation is wider than the past. One by one, die hard PCGS customers are starting to believe that NGC is more conservative and grading with smaller variance.

Today's blog will not be long as newps backlog and shipment queue is growing and need to make progress due to the following great news.....read on!

A GFRC consignor is so pleased with recent sales of consigned coins at October Baltimore show that he proposed a partnership to build up my Foreign silver coin price list. This kind gesture is well appreciated. His USPS Express shipment of 30 Latin America and European crowns arrives today. Another consignor and good friend also offered his Latin America reference books and services to get this product line up and running. I am so excited about this new venture as a learning opportunity and an avenue for expanding GFRC customer base. Shortly, there will be foreign coins listed as Featured Coins of the Day in the blog.

On top of the foreign coin shipment, I purchased a 92 piece love token deal from my partner Jim Poston yesterday. This is incremental to the Eric Streiner 350 piece hoard and will be processed first. Jim is also sending along another large consignment of quality Seated and Bust TPG holdered coins with the "Gerry Look" in the same shipment along with some medals that need more research and will be marketed in a new "Tokens and Medals" price list.

At the Heritage FUN show auction, I bid on and won only one lot. It is the 1891-O NGC MS65 CAC dime with incredible old album ring toning. This piece arrived yesterday and I am thrilled with the NGC grading and the eye appeal. This dime is heading into my personal Seated Dime set.....one 2015 goal is to display this set at a smaller regional show in support of the Liberty Seated Collectors Club marketing effort. My initial thought is the annual Rochester, NY show since the LSCC was so well received and supported by the show promoter last year.

Also on today's schedule is our Venice Florida condo association annual board meeting followed by the LSCC officer's monthly program management conference call. It will be a very busy day but please don't hesitate to email or call on potential coin purchases. I appreciate your selection of GFRC as a provider of quality coins.

The featured coin of the day is a piece acquired at the FUN show. Though the 1858 date is common, this example is incredibly original with eye catching luster under the attractive toning. Trust me, I guarantee that the buyer will be super pleased with this purchase....this half dollar is just so pretty.

 

January 12, 2015

Sunday should be a day of rest but in my case the day was used to settle FUN show finances and consignor sales documentation. I'm happy to be done with the admin stuff and also managed to photograph all Newps and consignments yesterday. Several coins mentioned in the Daily Blog are already under first right of refusal and images have gone out to those interested collectors. One must really love coins to work seven days a week......

A Daily Blog reader and customer suggested that I kit all FUN show acquisitions on one price list and then move those listings to their respective denomination price lists. This is an excellent idea as building a FUN show price list as staging area for copy and paste into main price list benefits customers and me. Let's see if this concept is workable during the next two days. For the time being, I will first post the new coins within a FUN show table as images are completed.

I would like to discuss a serious topic in today's blog; the negative impact of TPG over grading on the numismatic hobby. Over Grading is a slow growing issue that builds up over many years and leaves a legacy of problem coins in the marketplace and degrades prices for the outstanding coins.

Before I go further, we need to consider the entire TPG grading process and what we as dealers or collectors are paying for. Processing coin grading submissions requires lots of logistics and quality control that fundamentally don't add value and are done primarily to protect the grading services against liabilities. The primary value provided by TPGs is that brief period of time when a grader examines a coin and renders his decision about originality and grade. We hear stories of graders having 30 seconds to grade a coin...those 30 seconds are the value proposition of the TPG service but is executed with variance.

Graders are human beings and conduct their jobs with a certain amount of variance. That variance can result from many personal or on the job parameters.....inexperience with strike characteristics of certain series, the inattentive day, having a cold, under stress or looking at modern coins all day and then faced with an early type submission. One coin, if graded 100 times with grading occuring every second day among other submissions, may have a grading distribution that looks like this. In statistics, we call this a normal or Gaussian distribution. If we look closely, the normal distribution has tails....those coins that are Under Graded (UG) and those that are Over Graded (OG). In an ideal world, the TPG graders would produce a very tight distribution without tails and for some reason, the collecting public makes this assumption as fact. Those of us who submit and resubmit coins frequently see the variance first hand.

So what happens to Under Graded coins? Of course, they are cracked out to secure the proper or average grade with financial benefits for the person taking the risks. The hobby has an automatic mechanism to deal with UG coins and dealers/collectors are more than willing to remove these from the market, resubmit until the coins reside in a higher graded holder. So the life span of an UG TPG coin is typically short. Once the market self corrects, then the remaining distribution might look like this as some of the average coins have been over graded via resubmission.

What happens to Over Graded coins? These are the poison that build up in the market place year after year seeking a home. Many OG coins languish in dealer stocks until a naive buyer comes along and believes the assigned TPG grade is a guarantee of the actual grade. The collector buys the coin and it is removed from the market place. If the market is weak, then the number of inexperience collectors drops and dealers are stuck with these OG pieces they may have made or purchased by mistake. If dealers need to raise cash, then higher value OG coins are consigned to a major auction house and losses are taken. Lower value coins will end up at 2nd tier online auction houses....but the problem remains until OG coins end up in collector hands.

What happens to Over Graded coins at auction houses? Of course, they bring lower prices than the Trend Guides at the TPG assigned grade. Let's consider this scenario.....three TPG AU graded 1842 Seated quarters are consigned to an auction house. One is accurately graded while the other two are over graded or have problems that TPG graders ignored. The accurately graded piece will attract dealer and collector attention but the inferior pieces will be primarily targeted by the dealers as inexpensive or by inexperience collectors wanting to score a scarce piece at a cheap price. So the inferior pieces sell below the Trend Guides. If enough OG coins are processed through the auction house, a trend develops and the Guides are adjusted down to a lower level. Is this indicative of what an accurately graded coin is worth? Of course not! But the Trend Guides are gospel to most collectors and dealers for conducting normal business.

Bottomline is that Over Graded coins degrade the value of accurately graded coins with only astute dealers and collectors willing to pay well above the guides for accurately graded coins. Now financial risk management enters the equation. Many people become shy about paying strong and above the Trend Guides. If the TPGs become loose, then the problem is magnified.....Trend Guide prices decrease since the market is saturated with OG coins. No knowledgeable collector with accurately graded or UG coins wishes to sell in this environment as they demand fair value for their holdings.

Though I am a small dealer, this essay highlights why I am so vigilant about accurate TPG grading and remind collectors about grading variances or problem coins being certified. TPG lack of consistency (a tight Gaussian Distribution is what the hobby expects) has a negative long term impact on the hobby including a degradation of grading standards.

The featured coin of the day is a FUN show purchase. This lovely 1860 Seated quarter is about as original as one could expect of a 155 year old silver coin. It resides in an NGC AU50 holder, is approved by CAC and sports nice luster under the toning. Please email me if you might have an interest.

 

 

January 11, 2015

2015 FUN Final Report:

This was GFRC's first FUN show and the initial event in the 2015 national show circuit. Since my humble business is less than two years old, I am grateful for the rapid inventory build up progress, consignor support and the great customers and friends that I've had the pleasure to meet during this start-up phase. Adding in great working partnerships with W. David Perkins (he is the man for early bust and seated dollars) and Jim Poston (an eBay pro), I've been blessed and look forward to an exciting 2015 business year.

Saturday brought a completely different show clientel and GFRC sales were minimal. The advanced collectors who had flown in for Thursday and Friday show days were gone and replaced by local area collectors. Many had limited budgets and a $500 or more purchase was substantial. We serviced many shoppers who were taking notes before rendering a careful purchase decision. Others dealers made similar comments. The slower pace did allow more one on one time and I enjoyed a mentoring session with one GFRC customer who extended his Friday visit and is approaching that point that so many collectors face; purchase of key date pieces at four figure prices. We discussed grading services, CAC, pricing and originality. If I were starting out as a collector again, the coin hobby would appear complex due to so many parameters to be considerd. But my advice remains the same.....numismatics is about coins and learning how to grade and to recognize unblemished silver metal is paramount. Locating a mentor should be one of the first steps before spending any substantial amounts of money.

Saturday also brought out an interesting and at times frustrating shopper breed....the Grey Sheet people. These are individuals who have the CDN in hand and believe they can purchase properly graded and holdered Seated or Bust coins at or near CDN wholesale levels. Their behavior is typical as they locate 1-2 nice original PCGS or NGC graded coins in the case, study the coins and then pull out their CDN sheets and wonder why my asking prices are so high as compared to wholesale level. I've not seen this behavior at the Baltimore shows or 2014 Chicago ANA but Saturday at FUN was definitely enlightening as to the mindset of certain individuals.

I received a substantial and high quality consignment on Saturday and grateful to this individual for the ongoing use of GFRC to disposition his duplicates. The consignment contained a broad amount of denominations and helps expand the breath of GRFC inventory. This consignment alone included the following pieces;

Seated 5c: 1854 PCGS MS62 CAC date into base, even gray and pretty

Seated 10c: 1863 PCGS PF63 CAM even copper gray and undergraded; 1889-S PCGS AU53 eye appeal and choice toning

Seated 25c: 1847 NGC VF30 even medium brown/gray original

Walking Liberty 50c: 1941 PCGS MS66, 1943-D PCGS MS66, 1944-D PCGS MS66 CAC and 1945-D MS65

Morgan $1: 1879-S MS64 Star obverse rainbow arc, 1880-S NGC MS65 Star CAC rainbow gem and prooflike, 1881-S PCGS MS65 OGH rainbow gem, 1885 NGC MS65 Star CAC, obverse color gem, 1904-O PCGS MS65 reverse toner.

The above Morgans will definitely expand GFRC's toner Morgan offerings as I place more emphasis in this area.

I'm still recovering from the FUN show and need breakfast and a second cup of coffee to start the day. Please check back for Monday's blog as all Newps and other consignments will be highlighted.

One last bit of news......the Baltimore show PCGS submission arrived on January 8 while I was at the FUN show and will be retrieved on Monday. There are more GFRC inventory additions in that shipment and it is well recognized that customers will be happy to know that their coins are safe and will be shipped back shortly.

The featured coin of the day is an atypical Liberty Seated 1860-O dollar. The New Orleans 1860 date is common in the market while this piece is a stand out due to originality and lovely toning. It resides in NGC MS62 CAC holder and is worth consideration by advanced collectors.

 

 

January 10, 2015

Day 3 FUN Show Report:

Friday was another strong FUN show day as the collectors continued to be out in force. Aisles were filled with collectors carrying want lists and seeking out their favorite dealers. Attendance was enhanced by local Florida coin clubs who provided bus transportation for their members. This is not surprising as Florida is now the third most populated state in the nation and a strong numismatic market. I spoke with other bust/seated dealers as they also reported having a good show.

At table #1528, W. David Perkins and I were busy throughout the day without time to walk the floor for buying. GFRC sales highlights include the 1885 NGC62 Liberty V nickel, 1867 NGC PF65 CAC dime and an 1841-O PCGS VG10 Transitional Large O dime along with a host of other slabbed and raw Seated material. Bust sales have been quiet at the show. It was fun to meet with several collectors to review their Dansco album set building progress.

The LSCC regional meeting was well attended and Blog readers will be able to view the group photo in the Februrary E-Gobrecht issue. W. David Perkins gave an excellent overview of Gobrecht Dollars with large color images and discussed the background surrounding the ANS Juluis Korein collection. The presentation was timely as Simpson/PCGS had 23 Gobrecht Dollars on display coupled with David's 12 pieces. Chris Pilliod wrapped up the LSCC meeting with a Seated love token presentation based on coin shop acquisitions during his business travels.

GFRC acquired Newps and consignments as other dealers and collectors recognize we are the specialists in the Liberty Seated market. The highlight came at the end of day....a raw 1874-CC dime graded VG10 with full Liberty and rich old album toning. As far as Newps, I was very selective with material that walked up to the table and purchased those pieced that had unquestionable originality and were fairly priced. Some new inventory highlights include;

Seated 10c: 1870 MS63 super original patina and into NGC for grading, 1871 AU with bold strike and 1874-CC raw VG10 with nice surfaces and old album toning.

Seated 25c: 1842 PCGS50 choice original/eye appeal, 1867 NGC58 choice gray, 1875-S NGC58 and 1890 NGC58 light gold with lots of luster.

Seated 50c: 1840 ND Rev 1839 PCGS53 and fully PL, 1844 PCGS45 CAC choice gray, 1858 PCGS53 super eye appeal and others that we failed to write down as so busy.

Finally, I visited Wizard book supply and purchased four Krause World Coin books covering the period from 1600 to 2000. One consignor saw me walking back to the table with this massive amount of paper and commented that I was serious about entering the Foreign coin market given these purchases.......

We are wrapping up the FUN show later today and will be back in Venice this evening.

The featured coin of the day is an 1873 No Arrows Open 3 quarter graded PCGS AU55 and one of three pieces in inventory. Given how scarce this date/variety is, three pieces could be considered a small hoard! Seriously, this is a wonderful example with light gray coloring and much residual luster. If your collection requires an Open 3 1873 quarter, then GFRC has PCGS AU55 and PCGS EF45 examples for consideration along with an AU Details piece that is well priced.

 

 

January 9, 2015

Day 2 FUN Show Report:

After a slow start during show opening hours, GRFC enjoyed its best one day sales record by a wide margin. Within hours, we sold 1855-S ANACS58, 1871-S PCGS58 and 1872-CC PCGS EF Details Seated quarters, the 1873 No Arrows Open PCGS55 dime purchased yesterday and the 1873 With Arrows PCGS EF45 half (January 8 Coin of the Day) along with a host of other quality coins. The collectors were out in force seeking key dates and better quality pieces. We met customers from all regions of the country with Table #1528 being the meeting place for LSCC and JRCS members.

My NGC show submission was handled in one day (thank you NGC!) with the 1885 and 1886 V Nickels grading NGC MS62 and AU55 respectively. As usual, my raw grading was conservative with these two key dates being under priced in raw condition. I've adjusted prices based on NGC grading results while the balance of the pieces in the Maine Collection remain as is. Also submitted was the 1875-CC BF-2 20c listed as raw AU55. It returned as NGC AU55. These results should confirm to GFRC customers that my grading is conservative and buying raw coins from GFRC is a safe proposition. The same cannot be said for some other dealers.

I was so busy behind the table that there are few Newps to report today. More show consignments rolled in but those will take time to process before being listed. Important new consignments include a selection of Morgan dollar toners that have been off the market for years and owner decided it is time to sell along with more choice Seated quarters. If you have duplicates or a complete collection and wish to raise cash, then please contact me to discuss options. At the FUN show, I was approached by a major auction house cataloguer who would like to handle consignment lot descriptions and price list posting to simplify my workload. These are very exciting times for GFRC......

A decision has been made to break up the Maine Collection Flying Eagle and Indian Cent Collection with the better dates heading to NGC for grading along with more Seated dimes from my personal collection and customer coins.

This morning is the LSCC meeting at 9:00am in Room 224C and looking forward to meeting old friends and new members

The consignor of the 1864 NGC MS66 Seated dime called last night and wishes to sell this grade rarity for other purposes. We have lowered the price to $13,750 and please contact me to discuss if there might be potential interest.

The featured coin of the day is the 1875-CC BF-2 Seated 20c piece that graded NGC AU55 yesterday. I bought this piece raw at a recent Westford, MA show with confidence in my grading skills. This is a gorgeous piece with light copper/gold patina and worthy of an advanced type collection.

 

 

January 8, 2015

Day 1 FUN Show Report:

Wednesday was dealer setup day along with dealer wholesale business. W. David Perkins probably had sore legs by 7:00pm as there was a non stop line of individuals viewing his Gobrecht Dollars from setup through close. His display/offerings are most impressive!

Since GFRC is a retail dealer, we were business buying new inventory with the selective criteria that defines the GFRC brand; strictly original seated and bust material with even gray patina that provides long term value. Several wholesale floor walkers recognize that I will pay strong money for nice original coins and came by early to offer their boxes. By 5:00pm, I walked the floor searching out coins with the "Gerry Look" and located a few pieces. Following are Day 1 Newps. All Newps are immediately available; please email, text or call for descriptions/prices as many of these will not last long.

Bust 10c; 1832 AU55 choice gray and well struck

Seated 10c; 1873 Open 3 PCGS55 gem original and nicest example I've owned, 1877-CC PCGS30 choice original gray

Seated 25c; 1845 NGC30 CAC even gray, 1860 NGC55 CAC gray/rose/green with remaining luster

Bust 50; 1819 O-111 NGC25, choice ebony/gray

Seated 50; 1857 NGC62 light original gray, 1867-S PCGS30 CAC even light gray, 1877-S choice EF40

Morgan $1; 1897-S PCGS63 with uncharacteristic gray/brown patina and so pretty...a true collector coin.

I submitted the 1872 Two Cent, 1885, 1886 Liberty V Nickels and 1875-CC Seated 20c to NGC for show turn grading and should have these back by this afternoon.

We are back on the floor by 8:30am with a long day ahead of us. If attending FUN, then please make a point to stop by Table #1528 and say hello. Finding us will be a bit of a walk but well worth the effort. This is an opportunity to view an amazing display of Gobrecht Dollars and one of the strongest offerings of quality Seated inventory at FUN.

The featured coin of the day is in the Seated half dollar denomination and an important focus area at GRFC. This pretty 1873 With Arrows half resides in an older PCGS EF45 holder and has old album ring toning.....a nice type With Arrows type coin.

 

 

January 7, 2015

Good morning from Kissimmee, Florida as we prepare for FUN show dealer setup in a few hours. Though everyone thinks of Orlando as the home of Disney World, the parks are located on the west side of I-4 above Kissimmee. After an uneventful drive and nice dinner at Bonefish, I spent the evening relaxing and reviewing Heritage auction lots. After the past few days of working until 11:00pm processing consignment lots, a quiet evening on the bed with laptop and checking auction lots was "relaxing".....only fellow numismatist can appreciate this point.

In general, the Heritage auction is lacking in nice EF-AU level Seated coins; I saw primarily Mint State or Details pieces. One Seated dime lot caught my attention since being in the Fortin collection for years before selling during 2014 via GFRC price list. It is gratifying to see Heritage cataloguers using the Fortin number on most Seated dime lots. A strong bid was placed on a single lot for personal collection as a potential upgrade. I will let readers consider which dime has all the right characteristics to be an date/mintmark set upgrade.

Jim Poston at our eBay subsidiary continues to be aggressive with quality inventory expansion. Please note this lovely 1815 early Capped bust quarter graded PCGS25 CAC which we could not dual list due to FUN show timing. Jim is pursuing more great coins to be published shortly. Jim and I will be sharing a table at the May 2015 Denver show.

W. David Perkins confirmed our Central States corner table yesterday. David and I will be sharing tables at FUN, Spring Baltimore and CSNS with ANA and Summer Baltimore in the planning stages. Just two years ago, I had not envisioned becoming part of the national coin show circuit and so grateful for this development and working with such a professional individual as David.

Finally, while on the show circuit topic, I am in discussions with Ernie Botte concerning the June Manchester show (NH Coin Expo) and potential taking two tables to showcase both current GFRC inventory and also upcoming foreign silver expansion. I'm hoping to convince one of my earliest Maine numismatic mentors to be table assistant as he has an incredible knowledge of foreign coins.

Today's featured coin is a magnificent 1855 San Francisco surviving quarter with frosty gray silver surfaces. I am convinced this piece is perfectly original due to the bold natural luster resulting from late die state dies. This quarter currently resides in an AU58 ANACS old white holder and yes, it has been to PCGS once in a cross over attempt. Does this mean that the coin is not an AU58? PCGS is well known for not crossing semi key dates in NGC and ANACS holders. This piece and other wonderful Seated quarters will be for sale at Table #1528 starting today.

 

 

January 6, 2015

As busy as I've been during the past few days preparing for FUN, there are no complaints given the nasty but seasonable New England weather at hand. Raymond is -2F this morning while Orlando is 56F and this disparity while hold for the entire week. Today's high is forecasted at 75F and looking forward to some relaxing time by the pool this afternoon before Wednesday's dealer setup and then three days of bourse floor activities.

Once again Gerry Fortin Rare Coins and W. David Perkins will be at Table #1528. Since we are newbies to FUN, our table is far right off the entrance and near the Exhibit area. I hope that you hold some monies in pocket while trying to locate us. I will have four cases including three slabbed coins and one with raw coins. People sometimes ask why GFRC still has so many raw coins and the answer is always the same.....many collectors are building Dansco sets and need nice original raw coins to fill those slots. Raw coins are just as desirable and valuable as slabbed coins. They are easier to carry and take much less space in a display case too! For those individuals who have confidence in their grading skills, coin collecting is still about the coin and not the plastic slab. For inexperienced or casual collectors, then purchasing coins in reputable NGC and PCGS holders and with CAC approval (when possible) is the prudent step.

Have you seen the development of self driven cars that is being featured at the Las Vegas Consumer Electronics show? Can you imagine stepping into your car (a Mercedes luxury lounge) in the future, speaking an destination address to the robotic vehicle, then sitting back with your electronic device connected to wi-fi and traveling to the destination? Innovation is coming and this one may have great appeal to the masses but I'm still in love with my Miata on a rainless day.....I'm sure that William Shockley had no idea of the revolutionary changes that his 1948 Bell Labs triode transistor invention would bring in the future.

My laptop is traveling with me to FUN so there will be show updates via the Daily Blog. Please check in to learn about Newps and other happenings.

Today's featured coin is a pretty 1811 O-105 bust half dollar graded by NGC as AU50 and CAC approved. Don't you wish that all surviving early type coins could have this type of eye appeal?

 

 

January 5, 2015

FUN Show week has arrived with much anticipation. This is the second largest show of the year only behind the ANA's summer World Fair of Money show. I worked a marathon day yesterday starting at 4:30am and finishing at 11:30pm with a healthy five mile morning walk as the main non numismatic activity. All customer orders are packaged and going out today other that one shipment tied to the arrival of PCGS submission.

Speaking of the PCGS submission, I must apologize for the PCGS difficulties. What appeared to be a smooth plan has turned into a major headache. Checking PCGS online account indicates the order has not be shipped and I will be calling again today to learn its current status. An important GFRC customer has been waiting an extended period of time for new purchase shipment as we planned to kit with his returned PCGS coins.....I truly appreciated his patience.

GFRC orders has been strong at the start of New Year. Consignors are pleased to see duplicates finding new homes while purchasers are actively adding to their collections. Just yesterday, I sold several seated dimes and quarters along with multiple bust halves. The Sarasota Bust dime lot purchase was photographed and is posted. Included in the group are several choice original CAC pieces.

Today's task list includes a major USPS shipment and preparing for tomorrow morning's drive to Orlando. Wednesday afternoon is dealer setup and traditional wholesale activity. Please remember that GFRC is sharing corner table #1528 with W. David Perkins and his magnificent offering of Gobrecht and Bust dollars. We look forward to meeting GFRC customers who are able to attend the show. Reviewing GFRC online inventory is one thing, while being able to inspect individual pieces in hand for potential purchase is coin collecting at its finest. Hopefully, I will be able to spend time on the bourse to do some GFRC buying as that collecting experience of inspecting dealer cases for nice original pieces is missed when behind a table.

As soon as NGC opens for business at the show, I will be submitting key dates from the Maine Collection Liberty V Nickel and Two Cent piece Wayte Raymond sets. The balance of these collections will be available in old album pages in our cases while I anticipated the key dates to be available on Friday.

GFRC will be accepting consignments at the FUN show. Please stop by to discuss how I might be able to help you disperse a collection in a low risk manner or help you rechanneling several valuable pieces into a new collecting area. At GFRC, customer service and the "collecting experience" are paramount; consignors work directly with me as a true partner rather than sending coins into a system for disposition via some type of auction method.

Finally, a reminder that the LSCC meeting is schedule for Friday morning at 9:00am and should not be missed. After brief LSCC announcements and updates, attendees will be treated to educational presentations by W. David Perkins (Gobrecht Dollars) and Chris Pilliod (Seated Love Tokens).

Closing today's blog is the featured coin of the day; an 1833 JR-5 Last 3 High bust dime graded PCGS EF45 and approved by CAC. Surfaces are strictly original with rich gray patina. This is an ideal coin for a bust date set or even a type set as many collectors seek out EF graded pieces.

 

 

January 4, 2015

I'm in the office early this morning trying to catch up with recent consignment shipments. Birmingham Part II is photographed and retail prices are settled with consignor. Yesterday's Venice lunch with the Seated quarter consignor was enjoyable and took possession of his coins. Having higher grade Seated quarters in hand is much better than working from images.....I immediately photographed these and now replacing the earlier images as descriptions are being written. These quarters are well worth serious consideration once in hand with my favorite being the 1873 NA O3 PCGS EF45. Please don't think too hard on this one at the $600 asking price; new images are posted and well illustrate the choice original surfaces. Several of the Detailed coins are attractive (1891-O for example) but have technical issues. Please check my thorough descriptions carefully to secure accurate insights.

Another Seated dime consignment arrived yesterday including a monster 1849 PCGS AU58 F-104 RPD and raw 1890-S AU50 F-109 MPD and 1889 VF20 F-126 MPD in Shield.

Probably worth noting is an offered coin via email yesterday....1890-S NGC AU55 F-112 Die Gouge obverse that is 15% off center. The owner, who is unknown to me, requested $7500 for this rare variety. Definitely a conversation piece being struck off center and original but at a steep price. If you have interest, then please email me. At his asking price, I am not a player.

The PCGS saga continues as still waiting for the shipment to arrive. This is most frustrating as some of my coins in the shipment were targeted for FUN show sales including the Maine Collection early commemoratives. I will call PCGS on Monday morning to determine status and pray the coins were not sent to Maine address. In the future, I must question if PCGS certification is worth the headaches.

Today's activity is driving to Sarasota and purchase of a nice original Bust dime lot from customer. The individual is making a collecting course correction and decided to sell his Bust dime accumulation. This is a quality rather than quantity situation so the Newps amount to only five pieces.

I promised Bill Bugert an article for the Gobrecht Journal concerning the Eric Streiner love token hoard. However trying to allocate a quiet two days to focus on these 350 pieces has been impossible with pre FUN consignments and newps.

Today's blog will be brief due to workload. The featured coin of the day is one of the two beautiful early Bust dollars posted yesterday. Photographing dollar sized coins continues to be challenging but after several attempts, I was able to capture the coloring of this 1800 dated piece that currently resides in ANACS VF25 holder.

 

 

January 3, 2015

Welcome to the first weekend in 2015! I'm pleased to report that Daily Blog readership achieved the 150 download milestone for several days in a row. It is heartening that so many individuals enjoy visiting each day.

I received four express/priority shipment boxes yesterday as more consignments and coins being offered for purchase arrive. Of key personal significant is the addition of two absolutely beautiful bust dollars to GFRC inventory. If I were still actively collecting, these would immediately enter my collection for years of enjoyment. The two draped dollars are dated 1800 and 1803 and are far from what is typically seen on the market. Both pieces are gem VF with perfect surfaces and rims plus have natural residual luster under bright light. They were stored in Wayte Raymond holders for decades and acquired rose/gray/blue gun metal patina. The 1803 is the Large 3 BB-255 B6 variety. Both are currently residing in ANACS holders which is irrelevant as they will be cracked out at FUN and submitted to either NGC or PCGS after an evaluation by W. David Perkins.

Speaking of W. David Perkins....have you seen his Coin World ad on page 94 of the monthly magazine issue? FUN table #1528 will be the hot bed for Gobrecht Dollars and Bust Dollars along with GFRC's growing Seated inventory and smaller denomination Bust material. I'm already excited about the upcoming show as table #1528 demonstrates what is possible when two former IBMers team together to offer rare and quality early U.S. coinage. Both individuals share a professional intensity and discipline with respect to building differentiated inventories.

Sales of the Birmingham Collection pieces have begun with the 1840WD PCGS50 OGH and 1887-S PCGS MS65 on hold. No one has stepped up on the 1851-O PCGS AU53 yet.....

As if not busy enough, I had a wonderful conversation with a NJ consignor of top quality Seated and Bust material. He is pleased with sales results and asked that GFRC consider handling his Latin America and European crown and fractional pieces. A strategy was defined during our phone call and an initial stocking consignment of 20 pieces will be shipped after the FUN show. I am very excited with the opportunity to further expand my numismatic knowledge and become proficient with foreign silver.

Today's activitiies include lunch with a Liberty Seated quarter consignor and transfer of his important pieces. Then it is photography of yesterday's arrivals including more selections from the Birmingham Collection. I will try to photo the 1800 and 1803 bust dollars and have those posted on Sunday for sharing; prices will be determined once they are reviewed by W. David Perkins.

Let's close this blog with a featured coin. This choice original 1829 O-114 R3 bust half has the eye appeal that collectors pursue. The images speak loudly about the quality and choice surfaces.

 

 

January 2, 2015

We start today's blog with comments about its 11th publishing year....the January 2015 E-Gobrecht issue. My hat goes off to Editor Bill Bugert and a great supporting group of authors for bringing about an E-Gobrecht transformation in recent months. What was envisioned 11 years ago is coming to fruition; an online publication that would capture club member's collecting passion via less formal expression than the research based Gobrecht Journal.

In today's high tech world, online social communication is omni present. These Twitter and text messaging communications are short and crisp and not well suited for discussion of in depth numismatic topics. The E-Gobrecht has proven to be a hybrid; a platform for LSCC members to socialize and chat about important topics via an informal medium that captures and shares ideas and conversations. I believe the moderated conversation between Jim Laughlin and Dave Ginsburg in the January 2015 issue's Subscriber Correspondence section is ground breaking. Two numismatic researchers have an insightful exchange on silver bullion deposits to the Mint during 1851 and the entire club is invited to read and contemplate. This exchange was great reading and so informative! Let's do more of this and openly share with the LSCC membership and numismatic industry subscribers.

Moving back to GFRC.....

Feedback started arriving in this morning's Inbox concerning potential improvements for GFRC offerings. I really appreciate the time taken to formulate and express ideas. My 2015 goal is to continually enhance the "collector experience" and position GerryFortinRareCoins.com as an enjoyable platform for buying and selling quality early type coins. In today's market, the large auction houses have fees and infrastructure designed to support major named collection and do execute those well. The average bust or seated coinage collector however, needs a trusted friend and sales systems by which to dispose of duplicates or even a significant holding when a collecting course change occurs. Fixed price lists and mail bids have been around for years but implementing these sales methods in an online medium as part of an overall "collector experience" is the logical approach. To date, I've managed to install the fixed price list module on top of the www.seateddimevarieties.com web-book and operate as GFRC. Could the next step be an online mail bid module using the same "collector experience" capabilities? Stay tuned for developments.

Please keep the feedback coming and I am grateful for your time and ideas. Since the FUN show is next week, it will take a few weeks to digest feedback and then some implementation time before improvements are visible on the website.

Yesterday, I was able to post most of the Birmingham Collection pieces that arrived on Wednesday. The consignor indicates another shipment will arrive today or tomorrow. On Satuday, I'm having lunch with consignor of the advanced Seated quarter pieces posted in mid November and will take possession of those coins. Online descriptions will be added on Sunday to complete the listings. Finally, I meet with a GFRC customer in Saratosa on Sunday for purchasing some nice original Bust dimes. The time between now and FUN show will be very busy indeed!

The featured coin of the day is the Birmingham Collection 1851-O dime graded PCGS AU53. This date is so underrated in AU or better grades and GFRC customers should serious consider adding this dime to their holdings. Please remember that high grade 1851 New Orleans dimes are not seen with frosty surfaces since the obverse die was lapped/reconditioned during usage and produces weak obverse strikes that have PL surfaces.

 

 

January 1, 2015

Welcome to 2015 and wishing everyone a properous and healthy New Year. Thank you for visiting today's blog on this holiday.

For readers who still do not know me well, my personality is that of constantly looking forward and envisioning what might be possible balanced with potential risks that may arise. I'm comfortable with life when knowingly working towards short and long term goals. In yesterday's blog, I briefly mentioned some major 2014 activities and that will be the extent of reflections on the past year. Now, I would like to focus on 2015 and what this year and the next few may bring.

As I watched the NBC broadcast from NYC Times Square and local Florida news, the abundant local car commercials seem to forecast what might be in store for the U.S. economy in the next few years. Have you noticed that strong car sales are being driving by aggressive debt financing? No down payments with zero interest rates coupled with 6 year loans is a great deal for consumers and everyone in the car manufacturing and sales supply chain. Car sales have become a major driver of current economic recovery along with the crash in oil prices. But I see risks as the younger generation is encouraged to continually add debt to their household balance sheet (credit cards, student loans, car loans etc). If the ZIRP situation continues for several more years then young adults (Generation Y) will have no sense of what "normal" 5-7% interest rates are like. Instead, life styles are presently structured around and funded by inexpensive credit. George Santayana, a Harvard educated philosopher, essayist, poet, and novelist is known for the famous saying, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it". Fiat money and debt accumulation are the new "normal" but can this economic stimulus approach last for another 20 or more years? Once indebted, the U.S. legal system for personal debt recovery can be cruel leading to bankruptcies and significant reductions in the quality of life. As a numismatist and student of history, my approach is to minimize debt including that of GFRC to ensure forthcoming years will be predictable and comfortable. Tangible assets such as a high quality coin collections have always provided for a measurable level of long term financial security while debt leads us down an unpredictable path. Maybe I'm just older and out of phase with the new world economy but would enjoy hearing GFRC customer thoughts on this subject.

PCGS finally released grading results yesterday and I shared those with customers during the New Year's eve hours. The results were inconsistent with too many coins being designated AU Details Cleaned (10% of submission) when they were decent EF pieces. The more submissions I make to PCGS, the more I am confused about their execution of established grading standards. For some customer coins, it is taking up to 3 submissions to secure what I believe to be the proper or accurate grade.

The Seated dime portion of the Birmingham Collection arrived via Express delivery yesterday and kudos to USPS for the overnight transfer. This consignment is indeed significant as I immediately reviewed each piece with keen curiousity of an auction lot preview session. I will be proposing retail prices to the consignor today for feedback. His dimes will be posted to price list no later than tomorrow with descriptions and POR designations until asking prices are finalized. The 1851-O PCGS AU53 and 1861-S PCGS AU55 are my favorites in the group while the overall consignment quality is consistent. My hat is off to the consignor for assembling a collection with this level of originality and eye appeal.

Finally in this blog.....How can I make the GerryFortinRareCoins.com website and its informational modules more useful to collectors during 2015? Please consider this question as I would appreciate feedback about what you seek from a leading early type coin dealer who is committed to enabling "the collecting experience".

The first featured coin of 2015 is a Liberty Seated dime that I previously showcased and still wonder why it has not sold. Trust me, this 1858-O dime graded PCGS MS63 is a quality piece for the astute collector building a registry level set. Original surfaces and strike along with strong eye appeal are the highlights of this New Orleans dime.

 

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