Gerry's Daily Blog Archives - July 2015

July 31, 2015

The final day of July is upon us and already the Daily Blog is one year old.

Nearly every morning, I start the day at 6:00am with a two hour session writing personal observations, prepared topics and lots of GFRC news. This behavior may seen amazing to some but is consistent with an article just read on BBC News. The article is entitled, "The way we work is changing - and fast" and summarizes how work has profounding changed in the past several years with technology being the primary driver of a restructured "workplace." The author contrasts five "old vs. new" work approaches within the article; the article is offered in the Blog to stimulate more thinking on the subject though I don't agree with all the points.. I suspect this article was written by a Millennial and not a Baby Boomer. For fun, following is a brief summary.

1. Old rule: you commute into an office every day.

--- New rule: work can happen wherever you are, anywhere in the world

2. Old rule: work is 9-to-5.

--- New rule: you’re available (when you want to work) 24-7

3. Old rule: work-life balance is about two distinct, separate spheres.

--- New rule: for better or worse, the line between life and work is almost entirely disappearing. ......... If you are passionate about what you do, you will never work a day in your life.

4. Old rule: You have a full-time job with benefits.

--- New rule: You go from project to project (several employers at a time)

5. Old rule: You work for money, to support yourself and your family.

---New rule: Your work because you're "passionate about a movement or cause"

To balance the above summary for us traditional Baby Boomers, following is the top Google link when searching on Millennials;

"More Millennials Living With Family Despite Improved Job Market" by the Pew Research Center and is also worth to read.

My thought on the above articles? Nothing in life is free.....Some Millennials are fortunate to have Baby Boomer parents who worked under the "Old Rules". Could Obamacare be enabling Rule 4?

Financial News

Debt remains an emerging global issue. Several noteworthy financial headlines from Seeking Alpha are in order....

Greek theatre continues....More troubles are popping up for Greek PM Alexis Tsipras after the IMF dropped a bombshell stating Athens' high debt levels and current record of implementing reforms disqualify it from a third bailout. The news raises questions over whether the institution will join the EU's latest financial rescue, and if it will be even possible without the fund's backing. IMF staff will still participate in the bailout negotiations under way, but will not decide whether to agree to a new program for months - potentially into next year.

Then there is Puerto Rico.... investors are bracing for Puerto Rico to miss $58M in bond payments in the coming days, as the U.S. commonwealth attempts to restructure $72B of debt. Saturday's deadline could mark the first skipped payment to bondholders since Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla deemed the island's debts unsustainable and urged negotiations with creditors. Because Saturday is a weekend, payment can be made Monday.

How about US jobs creation?...General Electric is taking steps to shift some U.S. manufacturing work overseas now that the U.S. Export-Import Bank will be shuttered at least until September, Vice Chairman John Rice told Reuters. GE is looking to work with export credit agencies in other countries to finance potentially $10B worth of projects, with much of the production going to GE plants in those foreign locations.

GFRC News

The Strong Hands 1884-S PCGS MS64 dime lasted one hour on the price list and is on hold. What an incredible coin!

A Constant Contact mailing campaign was issued at 7:00pm yesterday to remind GFRC customer about the upcoming ANA show and my growing consignment business strategy.

I may take it slow today and work on the LSCC Annual Meeting agenda slide deck and also catch up on Open Registry submissions.

Last point....I don't frequent the PCGS message board as there are just too many profound experts concentrated is such a small space. Their expertise on all matters is staggering....case in point is a comment made by one of the experts yesterday with respect to a post about the 20 CAC Gold display on this website. The expert wrote, I'll never understand the logic behind having a collection like that and refusing to spend a couple hundred bucks to get quality imaging done... ugh, so hard to gauge the coins from those images. Thought you might enjoy that comment as it brought a chuckle this morning......

Featured Coins of the Day

Today's featured coins are duplicates from the Strong Hands Collection. This individual is aggressively building a high grade mint state set of San Francisco struck Seated dimes and consigns duplicates with GFRC. Two dimes arrived on Wednesday and were listed yesterday afternoon. The 1884-S PCGS MS64 piece offered bold cartwheel luster and lovely copper/gold patina and last one hour on the price list. The second is an 1869-S NGC MS63 dime with satiny frosty luster; surfaces are entirely blemish free. I'm looking forward to the next round of duplicates from the Strong Hands Collection.....

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Thank you for visiting with me this morning....we shall see you bright and early in August!

 

 

July 30, 2015

Like most of the United States, southern Maine is experiencing high temperatures and humidity. As a result, Wednesday was spent working and sleeping with an electric fan. Air conditioning in Maine is a low priority as we focus more on wood or oil heating systems this far north. Already the weather forecast indicates cooler temperatures to arrive the middle of next week in parallel with the first week of August.

Have you received the August Coin World issue in shrink wrapping? If so, then please check the supplemental magazine entitled, "Collecting Coins in the Digital Age." An article written by William Gibbs discusses online die variety information and reviews CONECA, VAM and Liberty Seated Dime online information with the latter being my web-book. After years of effort and believing that die variety information should be published online for all to access and enjoy, the web-book has been recognized in the same article along with well established collecting organizations. It has taken eleven or so years, but persistence is a virtue for those who are agents of change.

This morning's web stats review indicates strong download activity for the CAC Gold Gallery...actually, it was the most popular link on the website yesterday with more activity than the For Sale lists. For those who may have not visited yesterday's Blog, below is the link icon to access images of the CAC Gold Seated dimes that will be on display at the Chicago ANA, tables 617/619.

W. David Perkins and I are sharing tables 617/619 and will be offering a spectacular combination of Bust and Liberty Seated inventory for customers and visitors.

A GFRC customer/consignor posted the CAC Gold gallery link on the PCGS message board yesterday....there was a response from individual stating that he would rather see the coins in their holders with gold CAC stickers than just having images. Have you noticed that I've not listed the certifying TPG and the assigned grades of the individual coins? This was done for a reason. Too many people are focused primarily on the grading/certification game rather than appreciating the coins for their beauty and preservation state. When walking through an art museum, do visitors walk around with online value guides by which to assess each painting? Of course not! Visitors will quietly enjoy the artworks for their beauty. Then why is there a fixation on TPG certified grades when it comes to our hobby? I decided to simply provide a gallery of the Gold CAC Seated dimes and let the viewer ponder what the certified grade might be. If someone really wishes to know, then they can take a stroll into the web-book and locate most of the dimes on their variety pages where I list the TPG and grade.

GFRC News

The Strong Hands 1869-S NGC MS63 F-101 and 1884-S PCGS MS64 F-104 consigned dimes arrived yesterday and should be online by end of day. Both are attractive and choice and should be considered by those building advanced Seated dime sets.

I received a consignment inquiry yesterday that includes a Bust half dime (1830 LM13) and quarter (1818 B-7) along with the majority being Liberty Seated dimes. More will be forthcoming as the consignment is finalized.

The two significant Seated half dollar consignments, San Jose Collection Carson City lot and the 27 piece raw lot should be arriving shortly. Please stay tuned on these consignments.

Featured Topic

Here in Maine, it seems that Emergency care clinics are appearing everywhere and becoming more common than McDonalds restaurants. Hospitals and specialty clinics are also aggressively advertising on local news channels along with small for profit "universities." What is going on? Government subsidies may be the answer as health care and education are still experiencing out of control inflation rates. Wednesday's Agora Financial newsletter brought about a startling analysis concerning the out of control growth of United States health care costs. Unfortunately, this newsletter does not have an online version so I will copy and paste a portion of the commentary for Blog readers.

Sometime in the next 20 years, you’ll no longer be able to get treatment for chronic disease in the manner in which Americans have become accustomed. We’re talking conditions like heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, obesity and arthritis. The money just won’t be there. Not if costs continue to rise at their current clip. And Obamacare is only a small part of the story. This is a situation that’s been building for decades.

Before we go any further, ponder this: Under normal conditions of capitalist advancement, you get progressively better results for progressively lower cost. But the modern American health care system does not operate under normal conditions of capitalist advancement. It is a government-protected cartel operated for the benefit of insiders.

Which is why health care is on pace to eat up $1 out of every $5 spent in the United States by 2024.

So say the actuaries at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in a report released yesterday. To be precise, health care spending will account for 19.6% of GDP by 2024. In 2013, it was 17.4%. The percentage had leveled off in the aftermath of the “Great Recession.” Now it’s poised to jump again. And long before today, it was completely out of whack with the rest of the developed world.

  

And then there’s the cost to the taxpayer: The actuaries’ report says by 2024, nearly half of all health care spending will be covered by federal, state or local government. That’s up from 43% last year.

In 2011, the Congressional Budget Office projected federal health care spending would double by 2022. “But for better perspective,” our executive publisher Addison Wiggin wrote in 2011, “examine how much health care spending comprises the entire federal budget. “From 6.2% of total federal spending in 1970, it became 12.4% by 1990,” wrote Addison. “And health care’s portion of the federal budget has very nearly doubled again.”

With this number too there was a “Great Recession” hangover… but if the Medicare and Medicaid actuaries are right, the trajectory is sure to take off again. By some estimates, health care is already approaching 27% of all federal spending. So the percentage doubles every 20 years or so. “Assuming you’re 55 now,” said Addison, “health care spending will eat up half the federal budget by the time you’re 75. Now, looking at a pie chart of the current federal budget, what categories do you think will have to give way to make room for all that health care spending? “If you haven’t already figured it out,” said Addison, “that’s a trick question. Something in the system is going to break long before health care spending eats up half the federal budget.”

 

Featured Coins of the Day

At the Chicago ANA, GFRC will be featuring early bust dollars from the Gentleman's Collection. I have not spoken much on this topic of late, but do wish to remind those that enjoy and collect early Americana pieces that these lovely dollars will be available. Both the 1795 BB-24 NGC VF25 Flowing Hair and 1797 10x6 Stars NGC EF45 pieces are approved by CAC and are choice original.

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Thank you for visiting with me this morning!

 

July 29, 2015

It is already Wednesday as another busy week moves along. Thank you for stopping by this morning.

Yesterday was a most busy and successful numismatic day. GFRC enjoyed its best order day of the month along with a host of phone calls and substantial progress with the 2015 ANA CAC Gold Liberty Seated dime online display. W. David Perkins called to inform that the www.seateddimevarieties.com website is mentioned in August Coin World supplement, “Collecting coins in the Digital Age,” page 11, top right of page. The day ended with an LSSC officers' conference call to solidify the Annual meeting agenda and club auction details.

In between the Tuesday phone calls and meeting, I was able to photograph the CAC Gold Seated dimes and spent the evening processing images. Special attention was paid to these images as I used every photo processing secret learned in the past few years. The results speak for themselves and half of the pieces are online this morning. They can be found at this icon on the GFRC For Sale page or just clicking on the Gold icon here......

A decision was made to post the online images without the PCGS holdered grades. I want Blog readers and GFRC friends to enjoy the coins for their state of preservation without second guessing of technical grades. When building my Liberty Seated dime set back in the 1992 - 2005 timeframe, eye appeal was always an important purchase consideration along with strike and originality. You will note that the 20 CAC coins have full strikes. Which of the first ten is my favorite, you might ask? The 1839-O Small O PCGS MS65 per below.

The balance of the CAC Gold coins will be posted by end of day. Please feel free to post this link on your favorite message board as the Chicago ANA display will be significant for the numismatic industry. No, these coins are not yet for sale. I'm only 59 and still wish to hold on to the core pieces in the Liberty Seated dime date/mintmark set for at least another five years. The entire Seated dime set including these CAC Gold dimes will be on display October 31 and November 1 at the Rochester Numismatic Association show in Rochester, NY. I'm looking forward to attending a two day show and going back to my roots as a collector rather than manning a table and running around a bourse floor trying to cover show expenses and then some.

GFRC News

I spoke with the owner of the large Seated half dollar consignment listed in yesterday's blog and he emailed the contents for announcement. All are raw. This consignment is now in transit. Here comes the contents and FRoR is in order....

1839 ND VF 30; 1840-O WB-104 Large O XF; 1842 WB-101 Sm Date AU; 1845 WB-101 AU; 1845 WB-101 AU; 1846 WB-106 Tall Date AU; 1846-O WB-106 Tall Date VF; 1847-O WB-101 Rev Cud G; 1849 AU58; 1853 A&R XF45; 1855-O WB-102 O/Horiz O XF45; 1856 WB-101 AU; 1856-O WB-102 Double Date AU58; 1858-O WB-105 MPD-004 AU; 1859 Tine 1 Type 2 Rev AU53; 1861 WB-102 RPD "1" AU58; 1862 AU53; 1864 XF45; 1864 Album Toned XF45; 1864-S VF35; 1866-S No Motto F; 1867-S WB-101 V. Sm mintmark AU58; 1868-S AU55; 1872-CC G6; 1874 AU; 1877 AU; 1877-S AU58

If you are considering the partial sale of numismatic holdings, then please pick up the phone and call me at 207-329-9957. Your coins will be well treated with superior photographs, individual descriptions and lots of TLC during the marketing and sales process........

Featured Coins of the Day

Chicago ANA is quickly approaching and building strong cash reserves for new purchases is key. Dealers "make their show" by not only selling but also buying for later sales and servicing customer want lists. Cash is king; therefore I am motivated to sell current items in inventory. So if there is a piece or two of interest, please consider an inquiry email or phone call. Consignors will also be motivated to sell during the summer months.

It has been awhile since I featured World coins in the Blog. GFRC carries a strong inventory and I continue to maintain energy for building up the World coin product line. So let's take a look at two recommendations. The first is an 1824M 1 Real from the Central America Republic. This CAR piece has wonderful sky blue and rose rims on both obverse and reverse. Surfaces do show some wear with the AU grade assignment being accurate. Please remember that CAR designs are popular amoung collectors and the mintages are limited.

The second featured coin is from Chile. This Chile 2 Reales Volcano piece is a one year design type with strictly original surfaces that are covered with gun metal gray patina. The planchet is delaminating on the obverse at 1:00 which adds more character. This is a one year only (1834) design type with obverse volcano. Definitely a piece worth considering in this state of preservation.


 

 

July 28, 2015

Good Tuesday morning to Daily Blog visitors!

Maine skies are clear for the time being and I hope the weather holds for the next few hours. Why? Yesterday, I retrieved twenty Gold CAC Seated dimes from the bank vault and will be photographing today. Many of these are already listed in the web-book, but my refined photography process should bring about improved images. Once the new images are completed, a special Gold CAC Gallery will be added to the website in advance of the floor display (tables 617/619) at the Chicago ANA show. If one walks a major show bourse floor, several Gold CAC coins may be found on a good day. Therefore the GFRC display of twenty pieces at Chicago ANA might just capture attention and help customers/consignors recognize my ability to assess Seated coinage in terms of originality, luster and strike. All twenty pieces were made at CAC and not purchased.......

GFRC News

The consignments are coming...... Four consignments are currently in the USPS transfer loop and should start arriving today. Following is a quick summary for those interested in FRoR.

Strong Hands consignor wishes to sell two gorgeous Seated dime duplicates from his incredible mint state San Francisco set. An 1869-S graded NGC MS63 and 1884-S PCGS MS64 F-104 should arrive today. I have seen both pieces and these are choice additions to GFRC inventory.

A new Denver area consignor is shipping an initial lot to GFRC this week. This individual is developing a passion for finer GFRC offerings and decided to prune older items in his collection for incremental buying opportunities. Included in this eight piece consignment are nice mid grade quarters which have not been sent to CAC; 1874 PCGS EF45, 1876-CC PCGS F15, 1878-CC PCGS F12, 1882 PCGS F12. The balance are raw Seated halves and 1818 and 1819 Capped Bust quarters.

The San Jose Collection consignment of Carson City Seated halves previously mentioned in the July 26 blog should arrive in 1 to 2 days. Already four of the eight pieces are under FRoR.

A thirty piece Seated half dollar consignment (no consignment name yet) with all being raw and reported to be in EF and AU grades. I have not received a specific date list and hope to be pleasantly surprised when this consignment arrives.

Also....I spoke with Jim Poston last evening and he is preparing another significant offering that will be delivered at the ANA show. Jim continues to aggressively search out quality Seated dimes, quarter and halves. I'm looking forward to introducing Jim to GFRC customers at the ANA show and at the LSCC annual meeting. The GFRC and GFRC-Coins partnership is blossoming with a larger vision of what might be possible in years to come.

Financial News

There is little news of interest this morning.

It seems that the global central bankers have the world financial situation under control with prosperity for the masses. Oil spot price is under $50 and forecasted to potential drop to $40 while gold is struggling to hold onto the $1100 mark. Hedge funds are reported to be extremely bearish on gold with short contracts at a record level. Soon, the major financial publication will be issuing reports on the fact that gold is dead as an investment and a relic.

Attention is shifting once again to the Federal Reserve and when interest rates will be raised.

Featured Coins

July is typically the low point of the year for numismatic sales. GFRC has enjoyed a reasonable July but I would love to end the month with a few strong sales (cash payments and not lay-a-ways or trades) going into the August ANA show. I also spent part of last evening capturing pricing reductions from a consignor.

First up is an superb gem 1865 dime grade PCGS PF66 from the Silicon Valley Collection. This individual's 1865 PCGS PF64 F-102c dime received all the attention upon arrival but GFRC customers might wish to consider this incredible piece also. Mintage is a meager 500 pieces and PCGS pop report showing (8) at this grade level. This example has to be one of the finer in the PF66 population.

Next is a Seated dime grade rarity that is under appreciated by the numismatic community. 1853 New Orleans dimes can be located in Good through Very Fine but become challenging in problem free EF, very scarce in AU and rare in Mint State. The following example is consigned from an advanced collection (type set) and saw a pricing reduction last evening. This F-101 PCGS AU55 example looks much better in hand than on the images. The F-101 die pair is notorious for having weak obverse strikes with flat head and upper stars. This example is about as well struck as one could expect for the variety and is super choice too. I will be re-imaging this piece, along with the twenty Gold CAC dimes today, to hopefully convince someone to place this special dime in their collection. (New images online!)

 

 

July 27, 2015

The last week of July is already upon us and August is just around the corner. This week brings about GFRC preparations for the Chicago ANA show as this is the premier coin show event of the year followed by Winter FUN. Remember that Winter FUN will be in Tampa during early 2016 and not in Orlando.

I spend most of Sunday in a slow pace mode since Maine weather was a combination of fog and rain. Today does not look to be any better but given the nearly perfect summer to date, a few rainy days are welcomed to maintain ground water levels. In rural Raymond, the town is mostly on well water and septic systems so rain is important for replenishing the ground water acquifier. Did you know that we live within 7 miles of the Poland Springs water extraction plant? For those in the Northeast, the Poland Springs brand is omnipresent in stores and we are fortunate to be located on the same water acquifier. Needless to say, our well water is tasty and always refreshing.

GFRC News

There is little to report this morning in terms of new consignments or purchases. I'm waiting for two committed Seated half dollar consignments to arrive and then processed before the ANA show.

At the ANA show, two substantial consignments will be received. The first is the balance of the New Jersey Collection half dime set followed by a large groups of high end Walkers, Mercury dimes and semi key date Seated dimes. If you wish to consign duplicates or a major collection to GFRC, then the ANA show will be the ideal venue for the hand-off. I have a full month between the ANA show and the Gettysburg's National Battlefield show to process and market consignments. After Gettysburg, GFRC will be traveling to Denver, Baltimore and Shanghai to display and sell consigned inventory. The Shanghai trip will focus on high end 20th Century type with Buffalo 5c, Mercury 10c and Walking 50c being the prime focus along with Buffalo $50 gold pieces. GFRC customers will start to see inventory breadth expansion after the ANA show.

Briefly returning back to the 1865 Seated dimes and the very rare F-102c variety/error with medal turn die alignment, a gallery of the four known examples is now available and illustrated on the 1865 F-102c web-book page. This is the beauty of online publishing and collector community sourcing of information. None of this would have been possible prior to publishing the web-book back in 2004. Here is the 1865 F-102c gallery of the four known specimens. Top row left to right are the NGC PF65 Cameo and PCGS PF64 examples; bottom row illustrates the PCGS PF63 and ANACS PF62 examples. The PF62 images were taken at an angle and the only option available.

       

       

 

Financial News

The Shanghai Composite has a nasty ride overnight and fell more than 8% on China economic growth concerns (at least this is the story line from BBC News reporting this morning). The entire BBC article is found here.

Seeking Alpha headlines report the Shanghai Composite situation are follows; Chinese stocks fell sharply today, leading the Shanghai Composite to record its largest one-day drop since June 2007, while bringing down European shares and U.S. futures. Weak manufacturing data revealed that profit at the country's industrial firms dropped 0.3% in June from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said. Chinese investors seem to have also gotten back on the bear train after classifying the government's unprecedented intervention as unsustainable. Shanghai -8.5%.

Greece has not been the top financial headline, but all is not well and deserves ongoing attention; The Athens Stock Exchange will remain closed today, but might reopen on Tuesday after a one-month shutdown. Officials say more time is needed to finalize the details which would allow the market to reopen based on the ECB's opinion. Meanwhile, Greek PM Alexis Tsipras seems to be under pressure due to chaos in the Syriza party. New reports suggest that some members had planned to raid central bank reserves and hack taxpayer accounts during crisis talks to prepare a return to the drachma.

Those companies supporting the oil industry are in for difficult times for the next several years; As oil prices slump for a second time this year, the world's biggest energy groups have shelved $200B of spending on new projects in an urgent round of cost-cutting aimed at protecting investors' dividends, FT reports. Among companies postponing big production plans while they wait for costs to come down are BP (NYSE:BP), Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A, RDS.B), Chevron (NYSE:CVX), Statoil (NYSE:STO) and Woodside Petroleum (OTCPK:WOPEY). Crude prices have now fallen 20% since hitting five-month highs in early May.

Featured Coins of the Day

We will focus on the quarter denomination today. I've previously listed this 1834 Capped Bust quarter graded PCGS EF45 CAC and will illustrate again as such a beautiful piece and atypical of the surviving population. Throw out the price guides on this one as where could you locate a more eye appealing example as a circulated type coin?

Next is a choice original 1859 Seated quarter residing in early PCGS rattler holder and graded MS63. This piece is the Type I/Type I obverse/reverse design combination and has a fairly low population in Mint State though readily available in circulated grades. Fresh to the price list as of yesterday.

 

 

July 26, 2015

Sunday morning arrives and thank you for visiting the Blog. This edition is a tad late (as compared to most days) since attending a lovely Maine outdoor wedding yesterday. Amanda and Andrew's wedding took place on Raymond's Panther Pond with a local band, outstanding food (some prepared in our kitchen) and perfect Maine micro brewery beers. Amanda and my daughter Renee, have been life long close friends since being neighbors when born during 1987. They attended the same primary, middle and high schools together. There is sometime special about rural Maine people and this wedding would have been an excellent marketing event for LL Bean. I commented several times that if a documentary had been made of the wedding and its folksy people, a good portion of Americans would wish to move to our rural town with its five lakes (including Sebago, the second largest Maine lake). An outstanding time was had by all and I slept in a bit this morning.

Before the wedding, I was able to load the balance of Baltimore show Newps and consignments on the price list and felt pleased with the accomplishment. Gone from my desk are the multiple PCGS blue staging boxes with all coins finding their proper home in the larger black slabbed boxes.

GFRC News

While at the wedding, I received an email detailing the initial lot from the San Jose Collection and did a double take. This is a significant GFRC consignment featuring a run of Carson City Seated half dollars from 1870 through 1878. Seated coinage enthusiasts well understand the low mintages and challenge involved with securing problem free Carson City half dollars and now GFRC will be offering all dates. These pieces are already packaged and shipping on Monday. The following list provides a brief description of the San Jose Collection lot. FRoR is in order effective immediately.

1870-CC WB-1 VG8 Original, 1871-CC PCGS15, 1872-CC WB-5 Raw VF30+ light original gray tone, 1873-CC No Arrows WB-1 NGC EF40 (EF45 with AU flash EX: RICHMOND COLLECTION), 1874-CC WB-3 ANACS VG 8+ richly toned original, 1875-CC WB-1 R-6 CH AU, 1876-CC WB-2 ANACS AU50 fully lustrous gold surfaces, 1878-CC WB-1 ANACS VG10 Old White Holder.

Yesterday was also an excellent Seated dime order day including the sale of the 1869-S NGC MS65 example from the Birmingham Collection.

Featured Coin of the Day

Probably one of the most underrated dates in all of Liberty Seated coinage is the 1840 With Drapery quarter. Reported mintage is low at 188,127 pieces and locating problem free original examples is always challenging. Price guides values mostly correspond to the stated mintage with examples selling well above the guides when appearing on the market.

I received the following PCGS VF30 example on consignment and was performing my typical due diligence towards establishing a fair asking price with the consignor. Checking PCGS population reports indicates this example is the ONLY VF30 certified by PCGS. Think about that for a moment. After grading millions of coins since 1986, PCGS has graded only one VF30? It is a bit shocking and indicative of how rare this date actually is. In VF20, the population is four and in EF40, five pieces are holdered. PCGS Price Guide indicates $85 in VF20 and $170 in EF40.......I hope that you've captured my point with this information.

Here is the PCGS VF30 example that reached the price list yesterday. A perfectly original example with medium to dark gray patina that is housed in an old holder. How in the world can you go wrong paying $450 for an original 1840 With Drapery seated quarter with a population of one in VF30? I've seen collectors pay much more and securing much less in value. (On Hold)

 

 

July 25, 2015

Good morning and welcome to the last weekend in July. In one week's time, August arrives and preparations will be underway for traveling to Chicago and the nearly week long ANA convention show.

I took a much needed break from numismatics and GFRC on Friday and feel recharged this morning. The operations component of managing a coin business is significant and requires hours of sitting at a computer. Thank goodness for fast and efficient microprocessors to accomplish multiple tasks essentially without paper and pen. However GFRC does not employ a fully automated Point of Sale systems and bar coding therefore inventory tracking, invoicing and shipping are manual functions along with all the image processing tasks that were described on Thursday. As GFRC sales volumes grow, the amount of operation time increases accordingly and it was the long hours (well beyond a traditional 8 work day) that took their toll since returning from the Baltimore show.

GFRC News

I am proud to announce that GFRC has been selected to handle the sale of the New Jersey Collection. This outstanding numismatist has been collecting for decades and is also an early Liberty Seated Collectors Club member and well remembers Kamal Ahwash. As the Baby Boomer's reach post retirement years, the need to carefully plan the sale of cherished coins arrives. The following New Jersey Collection gallery is just a preview of this individual's entire Liberty Seated half dime set that will be offered through GFRC. These five slabbed half dimes were purchase in the 2003-2004 timeframe at major auctions with the 1849-O NGC AU55 being an important high grade rarity, while the 1850-O V-2 Large O is a gem original piece graded NGC AU58. Then there is the 1864-S NGC AU58 purchased from the Heritage Jules Reiver Collection Sale. The balance of the New Jersey Collection half dimes will be made available after the 2015 Chicago ANA show.

  

  

I am also pleased to announce that GFRC has been selected to sell duplicates from the San Jose Collection of Seated half dollars. More information will be featured in the Daily Blog next week with anticipated arrival of the first 10 piece lot shortly.

But there is more....I spoke with a potential new client on Thursday concerning a large Seated half dollar consignment of 30 or so raw pieces in EF and AU grades. More information will be provided in the Blog as the details are finalized.

The loading of Baltimore show Newps onto price list is completed along with Jim Poston's most recent consignment and a few selections from my Seated dime reference collection. Most individuals take vacations during July and early August so these Newps are staying on the price list longer than during the fall or winter months. But with the ANA show arriving in less than ten days, I expect that some of these new offerings will be scooped up quickly. Already seven Seated half dollars acquired at Baltimore are on hold.

Finally, I've added a Shanghai coin show to the GFRC show schedule. The Yunzhou Antique Mall in downtown Shanghai is a well known venue for Chinese antiques including jade, traditional porcelain, wooden furniture and coins/currency. The mall is located in a seven story building with the 5th and 6th floors dedicated to coins dealers and the 7th floor used for larger displays or shows. This is not your tradtional bourse floor setup but rather a small local three day 50 booth event in mid November with NGC and PCGS in attendance. There are considerable preparations necessary as I have not done an international show before but do wish to continue expanding GFRC presence in the Chinese market and support Harry Zhang's efforts to grow business in Shanghai.

Featured Coins of the Day

Top quality offerings sometimes sell quickly and other times stay dominant on the price lists. The demand side of the business equation is key and I hope the following two lovely pieces can locate homes in advanced collections. The first is an very well struck and original 1848-O Seated half that has been attributed WB-24 by Bill Bugert. There is a story behind this coin. At first, I believe this piece was a new pairing and shipped to Bill Bugert for attribution help and potential inclusion in his reference collection. Much was learned about the subtle diagnostic employed in BIll's Registers when learning this piece was already listed as WB-24. Please also considered the bold device details for the assigned AU50 grade by PCGS.

Next is a marvelous 1875 San Francisco 20 cent piece (double dime) that has been attributed as BF-2 variety. Yes, 1875-S double dimes are quite common with a high mintage of 1,155,000. What makes this offering so special is the old album gun metal gray and blue toning and pristine surfaces. I really don't think a collector could locate a more original or attractive example for the $295 offer price.

 

 

July 24, 2015

Thank you for stopping by this Friday morning as another work week comes to a close.

I've decided to take a much needed mental break and not write a blog this morning.

Please check back tomorrow as a new Seated half dime gallery will be available and my batteries should be sufficiently recharged to return to the normal ramblings on numismatics and global news.

 

July 23, 2015

Southern Maine will enjoy another beautiful summer day with bright sunlight and comfortable temperatures. Taking another long walk will be a priority as I've been much too inactive this week; mostly sitting behind the laptop processing images and loading GFRC price lists. Ensuring a healthy lifestyle is important as we age.

I received a request from GFRC customer concerning my photography techniques as compared to those used by PCGS and Heritage. Then on Tuesday, Bosco Zhang from Zhaoonline.com (Shanghai) also asked for coin photography advice. Therefore, today's Blog edition is mostly dedicated to the "art" of coin photography. I use the term "art" as there are different techniques for producing quality coins images and these are evolving as digital photography and cameras increase in sophistication. The GFRC process has been around for over ten years and continues to be refined as volume increases and Third Party Grading service holders become more complex to photograph.

But first, let's start off with GFRC News items.......

Nearly all the Baltimore show acquisition are loaded on price list and there are some great new offerings to be considered. Following is a brief gallery of those pieces with strong eye appeal. (The 1856 Seated Half is on Hold)

  

 

I've started discussions with my Shanghai agent, Harry Zhang, about the possibitility of taking a booth at the Yunzhou Antique Mall annual coin show on November 13 - 15. This date is a week after the Winter Baltimore show and will bring traveling challenges but the desire to head back to Shanghai for a visit with old friends is growing. Lots of inventory planning and order fulfillment would be necessary to justify this trip as Seated and Bust coinage are not huge sellers in Shanghai.

Given today's perfect photography conditions, I will be imaging the CAC Gold Seated dimes towards having a special Gallery for online display by early next week.

Some of the consigned coins from Jim Poston are heading to eBay today and remain listed on the GFRC price list as a reference; this is opportunity to purchase quality coins at an open auction. Raising working capital prior to the Chicago ANA show is paramount.

Featured Topic of the Day: Coin Photography

Omni present smart phones and tablets contain optics and software to capture adequate photographs but when it comes to high resolution imaging for numismatic retail business, more sophistication equipment, software and techniques are necessary. I'm sure that others believe they are experts on coin photography so today's topic is an explanaton of the techniques employed at GFRC. The goal of this discussion is not to judge who has the best images or which photography process is superior. The GFRC process has been optimized over a period of 13 years and I'm still learning new tricks every week.

To bring about high quality digital coin images, each step in the photography and imaging process must be optimized. If there is a weak link in the chain, then the overall chain strength is diminished. The same applies for digital imaging. I see the following parameters as being absolutely critical towards generating quality photographs;

- Lighting

- Camera settings and operation

- Digital Image processing techniques

Then one has to consider the item to be photographed. Raw coins are much easier to photograph than TPG holdered coins. The latest generation of PCGS and NGC edge view holders are very challenging due to new holder designs with multi angled plastic edges that will reflect light at unexpected angles.....

So let's start with Lighting. Lighting selection is a critical parameter as each lighting source option generates its own color bias during photography along with emphasizing or hiding defects on a coin's surface. I believe that natural sunlight is the best lighting source for generating images that most closely capture a coin's natural colors. Have you tried viewing coins under halogen, incandescent, flourescent and natural lighting? Each lighting source produces different results. Therefore it is critical to decide early on which lighting source best fits your publishing needs. At GFRC, I believe in selling coins with beautiful original toning so natural lighting is my selection.

Next is the Camera. Camera technology continues to evolve with super Mega Pixel options. I don't pay much attention to the latest developments as I use an old camera dating back to a 2002 release; the Nikon CoolPix 995 with bayonent mount. This is a large solid camera that is easily mounted on a stereo microscope with adapter that slides over one of the lens pieces. A "photodome" is also available that mounts on the camera and provides a simple but elegant solution for "setting up" the photography bench where ever bright sunlight is available. The "photodome" solves many problems including the proper focal length between coin and camera, eliminating lighting source shadowing and providing portability. Much more expensive photography benchs are common with multiple lightning sources and a stand mounted camera. These bench's are not portable (they remind me of the old time audiophile component racks) and have their limitations though producing incredible images. PCGS TruView is an example of a sophisticated bench mounted system with special lighting sources.

Camera Operation: To capture the best possible images in terms of natural contrast and colors, my rule of thumb is F-Stop > 7.0 and Shutter Speed at 1/500 sec. Today's blog will not go into F-stop or shutter speed explanations....you can Google those topics at your convenience. The best possible image contrast is captured at the highest F-Stop possible in conjunction with the fastest shutter speed. Too much light exposure eliminates (washes out) the delicate details of a high quality coin.

Image Processing: Everyone has their favorite image processing software so use the one you are most comfortable with. But always work with TIFF formated files when processing images. The JPEG format is ideal for publishing due to its compressed format and small file size but is lousy format for image processing as you suffer considerble loss of delicate image details due to compression at each image processing step. You must use TIFF regardless of large file sizes during image processing. So take that fresh camera image and immediately save as a TIFF and when done, save as a JPEG.

My image processing has the following steps; 1) save as a TIFF, 2) rotational aligment, 3) RGB color compensation for lighting and camera bias, 4) contrast and brightness tuning to exacting match the coin in hand, 5) cropping in the white background, 6) resizing to standard website presentation size and 7) saving from TIFF to JPEG format. Within these seven steps, there are lots of subtle tricks that I have acquired over the years....use lots of experimenting and decide what produces the best results for your needs.

Thank you for visiting today's blog and will be seeing you bright and early tomorrow morning.

 

 

July 22, 2015

The recent stretch of high humidity is gone; southern Maine will enjoy several summer days with highs in the upper 70s along with a comfortable breeze. I've not taken daily long walks this week due to the amount of coins needing to be processed and the high humidity. Cooler temps and comfortable dew points will bring some self indulgence starting today.

Thank you for visiting the Blog on this lovely Wednesday. World news is quiet this morning after a quick BBC and NGC News scan revealed nothing of personal interest. Spot gold is trying to hold the $1100 level while silver is priced at $14.70. Now that the Greece debt crisis is no longer a headline topic, one could assume the world is in perfect order and local politics is back in vogue for press coverage as omni present news agencies need sometime to cover.

Another old Shanghai friend recently contacted me and reported a new career with Zhaoonline.com. Zhaoonline is one of the largest private online auction houses in China focused on antique collectibles including numismatic items. Bosco (his English name) previously worked in the Shanghai financial industry and decided to change careers towards his passion....coin collecting. I applaud his bold move as searching for employment in Shanghai is difficult since Chinese university graduates migrate immediately to Shanghai or Beijing as a first step in a professional career.

Have you ever wondered how many students graduates from Chinese universities each year? Probably not but the statistic should help American's appreciate the economic challenges facing the Beijing central government if unrest is to be avoided. This BBC article from July 2014 indicates that 7.26 million students graduated that year. How does this statistic compare with the United States you might ask? The National Center for Education Statistics has a website and indicates that 1.8 million American students received a bachelor's degree during the 2014-2015 school year. Assuming the BBC statistic is for Chinese student attaining bachelor's degree status, then the ratio is 4 Chinese students for each American student. This information along may explain why the world has become so competitive for meaningful employment. This trend will not abate anytime soon either.

Back to the email from Bosco. He was seeking advice on coin photography as he recognized that GFRC images are superior to those of Zhaoonline.com and wondering about the technique for producing higher quality advertising. More on this later as a converse with Bosco over the coming week.

GFRC News

Jim Poston and I chatted for several hours yesterday doing a deal to migrate some of the GFRC lower grade coins to eBay for disposition. During the discussion, we also touched upon the GFRC growth strategy for the next few years and reached consensus that GFRC will continue to expand its quality offerings of better grade Seated coinage and continue to migrate off quality coins via eBay. Within two years, the vision is that Jim will be working full time as the primary GFRC buyer while Gerry handles all the consignment services and operations. More dialogue is necessary but GFRC customers will continue to see this strategy evolving during the balance of 2015. Jim will be attending the Chicago ANA and working the bourse floor as the GFRC buyer since I will be handling table duties throughout the entire show.

Jim's most recent consignment (July 13 Blog gallery) has enjoyed greater than 50% sales in less than 10 days and this is during the traditionally weak month of July. Another Jim Poston express shipment is due next week and I will advise on the contents shortly.

If Blog readers did not catch my earlier announcement, GFRC will be displaying 20 Gold CAC approved Liberty Seated dimes at the Chicago ANA show. No one in the numismatic industry is in a position to bring about this type of display....remember that I made all of the Gold CAC approvals rather than buying in the auction market. I should have a special Gold CAC gallery online by early next week.

Finally, I am starting to take my own advice. Many LSCC friends have approached me and commented on the coin collection life cycle graph posted in the March 31 Daily Blog (featured below again) and agree that selling one's prized collection accumulated over a life time takes careful planning. Yes, there is always the option to consign the entire collection to a leading auction house, surrending control and realizing that many coins will end up in dealer inventories rather than being placed with next generation collectors.

Coin Collection Construction Time = Coin Collection Disposal Time

Therefore, I am starting to release some of my 1600 of so Liberty Seated dimes that comprise the core variety reference set and the PCGS/NGC date and mintmark set. Buried in those 1600 pieces are duplicates that I find difficult to part with for various reasons..some are Greer and Ahwash plate coins while others are just too darn nice to sell as nearly impossible to replace in today's market.

Last evening, I loaded three NGC graded Seated dimes onto the price lists. Two of the three are from my collection and are typical of what may be in store for GFRC customers in the coming months and years. The 1872-CC NGC F12 dime is strictly original and a rare occasion when able to locate a difficult Carson City date in the quality that GFRC is becoming known for. The 1878-CC F-104 resides in an NGC VF25 holder and is the Greer plate coin for Greer 101 shattered reverse variety. If you own Brian's Guidebook, then just turn to page 151 and look in the lower right corner at the shattered reverse plate. This is the coin as purchased from Brian in April 1993 after he released the Guidebook. Finally, the third dime is a crusty original 1880 F-103 business strike only piece residing in NGC AU53 holder. This coin also comes from Brian and was purchased during April 1993 also. How often do you see crusty original 1880 dimes? It might take years to locate another with this type of originality.

  

 

 

July 21, 2015

Tuesday morning arrived so quickly after working until 11:00pm last evening. Luckily, progress is being made on the Baltimore Newps as Monday's imaging process went smoothly and a fair number of nice coins reached the price list.

A good friend sent along an email yesterday suggesting that I use the Blog to explain the handling of consignor coins when placed with GFRC. Knowledgeable collectors that are well informed could make improved selling and buying decision when having a thorough understanding of how their coins might be dispositioned and sold at the retail level rather than wholesale through various channels. I thought this to be an excellent idea and am dedicating today's discussion to this topic.

So you might be thinking of consigning coins to secure cash? What is the process and will my coins be well handled and appreciated?

GFRC Consignment Process

Think of consignment as lending a physical asset to an agent to be sold on your behalf. Having full knowledge of the terms and execution details is paramount for feeling comfortable with the process.

The process starts with the physical transfer of coins from the owner to GFRC. The transfer is accomplished by transport company (USPS, Fedex, Brinks) or can occur face to face at major coin show. Evidence of receipt is provided to the owner and coins are immediately fully insured under GFRC business insurance; I use Hugh Woods which is one of the better known carriers among dealers and also covers my good friend W. David Perkins. Evidence of receipt is either a paper receipt or an electronic Consignment spreadsheet.

The initial task is reaching consensus with owners on a pricing strategy. Each consignor has different objectives with some seeking highest possible net return with time being subordinated to that goal. Others may wish to price coins more aggressively to turn into cash quickly for other needs. To faciliate a consensus decision, I ask each individual to suggest their view of retail pricing and also a minimum net return after GFRC commission. These numbers are provided with the physical coin transfer. Upon receipt, my first task is to evaluate each coin and determine its quality, eye appeal, strike characteristics and arrive upon my own retail pricing suggestion. Retail asking prices are then finalized with the owner via phone or email and documented on the Consignment Spreadsheet.

Below is a screen capture of an active GFRC consignment account and spreadsheet.

I use color coding to highlight separate coin transfers and can easily view how coins are aging within GFRC inventory. The sheet also contains previously agreed to pricing figures, individual coin sales status and a net available credit. I place substantial effort into tracking the status of each coin towards a concise reporting vehicle back to consignors.

Once consigned coins are in my hands, I will immediately sticker each with a unique consignor code. In that manner, I can track all coins in inventory for insurance purposes. After adding a code sticker, all coins are photographed and images created. This topic could be the subject of a separate blog as the GFRC photo process has been refined over a ten year period. When consignor coins are imaged, the goal is to capture in hand natural coin and strike characteristics. To accomplish, all coins are photographed under natural sunlight.

Ok, let's jump ahead to having a full suite of images for a consignor's coins. How are a consigned coins marketed and sold? It depends on the size of the consignment. If the consignment is substantial in quality and quantity, then a consignor is provided his own Gallery (Client Galley on GFRC website) and the collection is assigned a name for marketing purposes. Small consignments, typical less than 5-7 coins are posted directly to the respective price lists but may be featured in one of the Daily Blog as a mini gallery to announce their arrival and availability. Major consignments are announced in the Daily Blog several times to allow customers the opportunity to make s First Right of Refusal (FRoR) requests. Consignments are initially listed at the individual coin level in the Blog followed by a full image Gallery when available. FRoRs requests immediately start to arrive during this process and you would be surprised at the number of coins that get sold before reaching the price list.....

The next step in the process is loading consignor coins onto the price lists. Descriptions are carefully written to explains in hand and bright light viewing characteristics along with other important attributes that customers wish to know about. GFRC customers have been trained to be selective so unlisted marks or problems are the #1 reason for returns and no one wants returns. So I try to be as accurate as possible when writing descriptions.

Consigned coins are featured at major national shows such as FUN, Baltimore and ANA and other smaller shows with a history of strong early type buyers. All consigned coin are fully insured while being transported to/from a show and also while on the bourse floor and even while in storage in a bank vault. Each coin sells at its own pace; some sell quickly while others may take time depending on quality, eye appeal and asking price. For the lower priced or problematic coins at don't find a buyer in a reasonable amount of time, then consignors are offered an option to use GFRC-Coins on eBay as an alternative with sales results fully tracked on their consignment sheets.

If for whatever reason the consignors is not happy with GFRC service or results, they can ask for the return of coins with shipment fully insured with the consignor only paying the shipping charges.

GFRC News

A Liberty Seated quarter consignment arrived on Monday from a consignor who is trying out GFRC service for the first time. This consignment contains some nice collector coins and several better dates as follows....

1839 PCGS UNC Details with bold coloring, 1840 WD PCGS VF30 perfectly original gray; 1840 WD PCGS F15 light gray; 1851-O PCGS VF25 original with old album tone; 1859 PCGS MS63 Rattler holder, original light gray patina. These coins are already photographed and pricing consensus is the next step with owner.

Several coins made it to the price list yesterday with some really nice new offerings. How about an 1876 double dime graded PCGS EF45 and this incredible 1834 Capped Bust quarter residing in PCGS EF45 holder and approved by CAC. Eye appeal is magnificent....this piece would fit nicely into a date set or type set.

 

 

July 20, 2015

Monday morning arrives and I'm staring at the laptop with an empty mind as to today's Blog content. But regardless, thank you for visiting and sharing these ramblings. We do wrap up with some really nice GFRC Newps so reading through today's Blog might be worth the effort.....

Sunday was not one of my better days for imaging a large group of coins. Maine weather was unsettled due to high humidity with showers, fast moving cloud cover and occassional bright sun. With some tenacity, about 15 pieces were photographed. Then the image processing occured only to lose power several times due to close by lightning strikes. So a small subset of new offerings made it to the price list but the process was a challenge.

Today's weather should be an improvement and hopefully, the balance of new coins can be photographed.

Each morning before writing the Blog, I take a quick stroll through BBC News along with an even quicker pass through NBC News to help formulate that day's blog comments. On this morning's BBC site, there is a report entitled, "The criminal ‘trend’ about stealing Confederate flags that isn't really happening". Some black individuals have taken it upon themselves to steal Confederate flags from homes that have them on display and then post the event on YouTube. This story was not seen on the NBC News site but I did locate a gem report on NBC entitled "Your Phone Knows If You’re Depressed". Here is an excerpt....

Your phone may be able to tell if you’re depressed even better than a self-assessment of your own depression can, according to a small new study published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research.

“We found that the more time people spend on their phones, the more likely they are to be more depressed,” says David Mohr, one of the authors of the study and director of the Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. The researchers also found that spending lots of time at home was linked to depression—and that phone data like this could predict with 87% accuracy whether someone had symptoms of depression.

Firstly, I did not realize that there was a Journal of Medical Internet Research and secondly, the Millennial generation must be deeply depressed. Add in that I work from home so I must also be a person suffering from depression.....amazing stuff on a Monday morning.

Sorry for the ramblings....this is what happens when I lack a prepared topic for a Daily Blog. But then checking this morning's Seeking Alpha financial headlines might be cause for mild depression as gold prices are dropping quickly based on China "weak" report on gold reserves holdings. We discussed that topic in yesterday's blog. Read on....

Financial News

Gold prices continued falling today, hitting a more than five-year low early in the session, amid growing expectations for a U.S. interest rate increase that has boosted the dollar. Over the weekend, China also disclosed an update on its gold reserves for the first time since 2009 that was far lower than analysts expected. After plunging 4.2% to $1,086.18 an ounce, bullion for immediate delivery is now trading down 1.7% at $1112.20.

BRICS global influence is growing while the US is enjoying political drama. Entangled in Greek politics, few European policymakers had time or interest to pay attention to the recent summit talks between the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, collectively known as the BRICS. The hotly discussed New Development Bank was reported to have just held its first board meeting and will soon be lending internationally. The BRICS Bank will start off with capital of $50B which will be hiked to $100B in two years. Meanwhile, the combined economic output of the BRICS last year almost matched America's GDP. Back in 2007, the U.S. economy was double that of the five nations.

GFRC News

The rate of new consignor requests is increasing as last week alone brought two more inquires and both were from well known advanced collectors.

Some quality Newps did manage to reach the price list and following is a small gallery illustrating these. Please note the 1872-CC dime that is tacked on to the end of the gallery. This Carson City dime resides in an NGC F12 holder and is perfectly original.

  

  

  

 

 

July 19, 2015

Welcome to another Blog edition on this lovely Sunday Maine morning. Summer marches right along as August is less than two weeks away and the Chicago ANA well be held in three weeks. I hope your summer vacation plans are in full force or have been a pleasant experience. At GFRC, you might say that I am on a perpetual vacation, building a hobby business that is a joy to execute and key part of my psyche or soul.

I was mentally exhausted by Saturday evening after a long Friday followed by yesterday's focus on administrative work and contacting customers with FRoR status. By 9:00pm, I was in bed and awoke this morning at 4:30am. There are always multiple items in my backlog of "things to do" and the quiet house and early morning hours allowed for a peaceful interval to update the Bust Half Dollar price list with cross links into Dave Cinquina's Early Half Dollar Information Site. I've decided to sponsor Dave's efforts and have non exclusive rights to link each GFRC Bust half offering to the respective variety page on Dave's website. This approach is consistent with linkage of Liberty Seated dime varieties between the GFRC price list and my own web-book. In the future, I hope to provide more linkage as the Eric Newman numismatic portal project matures.

GFRC News

As indicated in the July 17 blog, the Baltimore show resulted in numerous quality acquisitions. Sitting on my office desk are nearly 50 new quality coins with three consignments due to arrive this week. I recognize that collectors have multiple dealers from which to secure prized coins for their hobby pursuits. My goal is to offer the broadest range of strictly original Liberty Seated coinage in all denominations coupled with the collector to collector trading system via well faciliated consignments.

Today's primary activity is to photograph the 50 or so new pieces and start the image processing later in the day.

All individuals who sent FRoR emails have been contacted and given an assessment of their position on requested coins. Once I have images at hand, you will be again contacted with the images and asking prices. Those coins without FRoR will be heading to the price list starting on Tuesday at the latest.

GFRC Blog Feedback

One of my close friends sent along a short but insightful response to my pre Baltimore show Bank of America cash withdrawal commentary. He wrote....I saw your commentary on banking and cash. It seems clear that money is turning into a virtual thing that exists only as electrons. It’s no longer even as tangible as a bank note!!!! Same goes for debt. That seems potentially dangerous and the beginning of a trip off into uncharted territory. My email response was phrased as....Yes, money will be nothing but electrons as you point out. It is kind of scary as one is entrusting a life's fortune to an electronic system controlled by government and banks. All the technology advances have lulled us to sleep like the frog in the pan of warm water. Those of us who see risk are considered to be extreme or ancient thinkers these days.

It is interesting that I choose the word "lull" in the response back to my friend. Checking Google for definitions brought the following which is so consistent with the point being made. Just food for thought....

- cause (someone) to feel deceptively secure or confident.... "the rarity of earthquakes there has lulled people into a false sense of security"

- allay (a person's doubts, fears, or suspicions), typically by deception.

Featured Topic

While at the Baltimore show, China ended a six year silence on its accumulation of gold reserves. China's central bank announced that gold reserves increased to 1,658 tonnes (53.31m fine troy ounces) as of the end of June 2015. In April 2009, reserves were 1,054 tonnes. More details can be found at this Financial Times online article. Spot gold price is now sitting at $1133 per ounce while silver also quietly dropped to $14.90 leading to a gold/silver ratio of 76.

As with most information announced by the Beijing Central Government, one has to view the number was caution and the near certainty that the number is manipulated for political goals. China has three accounts where they keep gold -- the People’s Bank of China, PBOC; the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, SAFE; and the China Investment Corp., CIC. On July 17th, China announced the reserves held at the PBOC to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). As we have discussed in earlier blogs, China is attempting to have the Yuan become part of the IMF's global currency reserves. China can still hide a portion of its gold holdings in the SAFE and CIC until there is a time to announce and leverage those holdings.

The following graph from GoldSilver.com tells the true story about the amount of gold residing in China. Note that the estimated total China gold holdings at the end of 2013 was 7,000 tonnes (right axis label) while the "official" China announced reserve was ~1,000 tonnes. As of Friday, the "official" number increased to 1,658 tonnes.....really?

Gold holdings and spot prices are one of the most manipulated numbers on the planet......but gold is not money and is a relic, correct?

My personal conclusion? Precious metals are equivalent to the canary in the coal mine. Central bankers and governments wish to maintain gold and silver spot prices at "quiet" levels while driving global prosperity through debt creation. In parallel, tangible money is slowly being removed from our society leaving individuals dependent on electronic money. Electronic money aka "fiat monies" are only viable if guaranteed by a stable and benevolent government. If all goes well, then prosperity is maintained but if the system develops cracks...then I wish to have financial insurance in the form of physical precious metals to protect myself and family.


Featured Coins of the Day

Featured coins will be returning on Monday after Baltimore show Newps are photographed and available. There will be many new exciting offerings so please check back tomorrow.

As always...thank you for visiting with me this morning.

 

July 18, 2015

Greetings from Maine and pleased to be home after a grueling 12 hours drive. I left Baltimore at 12:00 noon and was optimistic on being able to avoid some of the New Jersey, New York and Connecticut highway congestion. This might have been possible for the March or November Whitman shows but definitely not for the summer event. Attempting to get through the eastern highway corridor on a July Friday afternoon turned out to be challenging with I-84 through Connecticut being the worst followed by a one hour delay on I-290 Worcester at 10:00pm due to highway repairs. Luckily, I had a Grateful Dead three disc concert on the disc changer with Going Down the Road and Feeling Bad being comfort for my tired mind.

So I'm physically present at the keyboard this morning but not running on all cylinders. Today's Blog will be brief as a result. Sorry but no in depth topic or financial stuff...... a double scotch and sleep were the priorities upon arriving home.

Baltimore Show Day 2 Report.

The day started with an LSCC strategy breakfast with Len Augsburger that immediately moved into the LSCC regional meeting. Our session was well attended for the summer Baltimore show with approximately 25 people. Len explained the Heritage system for auction lot cataloging and description writing followed by my presentation on the 1865 F-102c proof medal turn pieces brought to the meeting. There was a lively discussion as to whether the F-102c was a die state or error, as one attendee insisted this special anomaly be called.

The bourse opened at 10:00am to the general public and attendance was reasonable. I spoke with several dealers and they reported having a decent show on Thursday due to the smaller show footprint (the program directory indicated about 220 tables with many being currency and ancient coin folks)......some collectors were out in force spending and had fewer options for sourcing their coins. Based on my own judgment and feedback from others, GFRC will be taking a table at the 2016 Summer Whitman show. The forthcoming challenge is to locate staff that will allow me to walk the floor for buying while still being able to support retail customers. There is one year to consider alternatives as GFRC continues to evolve.

GFRC News

Customer response and the amount of FRoRs were well beyond my wildest imagination and I thank each of you for taking the time to reserve coins listed in the July 17 blog. Some coins received multiple requests and there are also Want List considerations to go through. It will take me the better part of today to sort through the emails and Want Lists before responding to each FRoR. So please have patience with me as I work through this unexpect amount of reservations and organize the offering of the Baltimore purchases.

Rain and clouds are forecasted for today while Sunday will bring back the sun. Therefore Newps photography will be completed tomorrow and I should be in a position by Monday afternoon to start sending images on a one on one basis and then illustrating the full scope of Baltimore Newps in the Tuesday Blog.

Several more consignments will also be arriving early next week; these are new consignors who are excited about trying out GFRC services.

And with that my dear friends, customers and consignors, I must take a shower and grab a second cup of coffee to start the day.

Thank you for visiting the Blog each day and sharing my numismatic journey.

 

July 17, 2015

Baltimore Show Report Day 1....... Being an dealer without a bourse floor table does have its advantages as I learned today. When working behind a table, one is primarily focused on displaying inventory, hosting customers and wholesale buying that walks up to the table. Displaying inventory on an active bourse floor is paramount for generating exposure for the business and consignor coins. Conversely, being free to walk the floor searching out top quality coins brings me back to collector roots. The experience acquired as a collector of top quality Seated dimes easily translates into other Seated and Bust denominations with the buying scope being much broader as a dealer.

I'm pleased to report that Thursday was the best single buying day since starting the GFRC business. The first deal of the day was done sitting outside the bourse waiting for early bird entry at 10:00am followed by a substantial 13 piece Seated half dollar deal with a Baltimore dealer plus other coins. This individual had fresh Seated half dollar and early commemorative sets and I just happened to be standing at his table while he was loading the cases. Given my recent efforts to enhance GFRC Seated half dollar inventory, pure luck was at hand both from timing and quality perspective. Immediately after this purchase, I was approached by an LSCC member who is known for his eye appealing coins. We took a walk to the meeting room area and another deal was done. The day closed out with coffee meeting with another long time LSCC friend who decided to use GFRC to handle the disbursement of his Seated half dime and dime sets. I walked away from that meeting with five quality Seated half dimes to prime the pump.

Otherwise, how was the Baltimore show? The bourse was quiet at the 10:00am early bird opening time and picked up steam during earlier afternoon with a healthy "buzz" until about 4:00pm. By 5:00pm, many dealers were closing up. Remember that the bourse only opened at 12:00 for general public.

Following are the 13 +2 Seated half dollar Newps....none of the 13 pieces have been sent to CAC as an FYI.

1840 Rev 1839 WB-104 PCGS AU55 CAC and so choice; 1840-O WB-102 PCGS AU53 light gray; 1842-O Rev 1842 PCGS 45 choice gray; 1844-O PCGS AU50 frosty white; 1845-O PCGS EF45 light gray/gold; 1848-O PCGS AU50 choice light gray; 1852-O PCGS VF20 and so rare; 1856 PCGS EF45 eye candy; 1859-S PCGS EF45 light gray; 1863 PCGS EF40 light gray; 1864-S PCGS EF45 choice light gray; 1865-S PCGS EF45 with triple reverse cuds and choice original; 1866 Motto WB-103 PCGS EF40 CAC; 1870 PCGS AU55 creamy white luster; 1877-CC PCGS EF45 choice original gray.

Other important Newps include the following....

10c: 1835 JR-4 PCGS VF35 CAC even gray, 1836 JR-2 PCGS AU55 David J Davis Collection; 1850 NGC EF40 choice gray; 1872-CC NGC F12 and strictly original; 1875-CC IW F-112a PCGS AU55 and choice....please note that I have rarely stocked any 1871 through 1874 Carson City dimes since unable to locate strictly original examples. Most holdered examples do not meet my originality standard until seeing this 1872-CC today.

20c: 1876 PCGS EF45 choice original

25c: 1834 B-1 PCGS EF45 CAC and a pure gem with gun metal gray/blue; 1838 PCGS EF45 CAC choice original

50c: 1819/8 Lg 9 PCGS VF30 CAC eye candy; 1829 PCGS EF45 choice gray

Then the initial Seated half dime consignment....we are still considering a name selection for collection/consignor.

1848 V-7 ANACS AU50 OWH and choice; 1849-O NGC AU55 frosty white and rare; 1850-O NGC AU58 choice frosty gray; 1857 NGC AU58; 1864-S NGC AU58 Jules Reiver Collection

Friday brings the LSCC regional meeting at 9:00am Room 301 and I will have 2/4 known 1865 Proof F-102c dimes at the meeting along with a normal F-102 graded PCGS PF64 CAC. I will be returning back to Maine during early afternoon. Talk about a short Baltimore stay but most fruitful.

 

 

July 16, 2015

Greetings from Baltimore! The 9 hour drive was pleasantly uneventful with no congestion other than the I-495 corridor. After checking in at the Days Inn, the Stack's auction lot preview was the next order of business. Whitman moved the summer show to the familiar Hall A location since there is a large Firehouse convention in the other convention building. Hall A was deserted when arriving at 4:00pm while the Stack's auction lot preview had walk up open seating.

I was pleased by the quality of coins in the the Stack's auction. The Douglas Kaselitz collection, in particular, offered impressive early silver type with massive eye appeal. The balance of the Stack's lots were a typical mixture with the TPG grading being mostly accurate. Eye appeal was hit or miss and this is why lot previewing is always recommended before bidding. Buying coins at auction via internet may be straightforward but the trade off is relying on auction house supplied images and descriptions. Using a trusted dealer for lot previewing is always recommended.

GFRC News

Unfortunately, the balance of the Jim Poston Seated halves have not reached the price list yet. Tuesday ended up being consumed with TPG submission preparations and a long visit to the bank vault plus packaging and shipping orders.

I will have the 1865 F-102c PCGS PF64 and PCGS PF63 examples with me at Friday morning LSCC meeting. Please plan to attend.

The Chicago ANA show is approaching quickly with W. David Perkins and I sharing tables 617/619 in the Ultra Premium section. To commemorate this event, I have decided to display twenty CAC Gold Liberty Seated dimes from my personal collection in one of the cases. Typically dealers are proud to have one or two CAC Gold coins in inventory therefore a display of twenty pieces will be noteworthy and lots of fun too.... Some of the highlights include 1839-O PCGS MS65 Gold, 1841-O Large O - Transitional Closed Bud - PCGS AU55 Gold, 1845-O Pittman PCGS AU55 Gold, 1863-S PCGS MS64 Gold, 1867-S PCGS MS64 Gold and 1888 PCGS MS66 Gold. At the moment, my personal collection contains twenty-two CAC Gold pieces and I believe this validates my ability to recognize quality coins in terms of strike, originality and eye appeal.

Several new consignments are in transit and will be retrieved this coming Monday and then announced next week.

Financial News

Western media is covering the Iran nuclear deal as a significant breakthrough. There are those that believe the deal will be the start of another Middle East arms race since Iran will have funding to grow its military capabilities and to further influence instability in the long standing Sunni-Shia conflict. Investing in United States defense industry companies may be prudent as weapons sales to Middle East countries will be on the increase.

From Seeking Alpha, there are a few headlines worth reading this morning. The first concerns China and its volalite stock market.

Although China's economic expansion beat analysts' forecasts in the second quarter, the country's debt levels have increased at an even faster pace. Outstanding loans for companies and households stood at a record 207% of GDP at the end of June, up from 125% in 2008, data compiled by Bloomberg showed. "If you look at the Chinese financial system, shadow banking, amount of leverage...how desperately they worked to keep the stock market up. It looks worse to me than 2007 in the U.S," Pershing Square's Bill Ackman said, dubbing China a far bigger global threat than Greece. Hedge fund managers Paul Singer and Jeffrey Gundlach have also weighed in on the crash, calling it "way bigger than subprime" and "far too volatile to invest in."

Moves are underway to allow Puerto Rico entities to declare bankruptcy.....U.S. senators have introduced a bill to allow Puerto Rico's public entities to file for bankruptcy under federal laws as the commonwealth starts negotiations with creditors to restructure its $72B in debt. "What we are proposing is that those public corporations and municipalities in Puerto Rico be given the same access to Chapter 9 as any similar entities in the U.S.," Senator Richard Blumenthal declared.

Featured Coins of the Day

The summer months typically see a slow down in hobby activities with July being the sales low point. GFRC is no different with quality coins starting to age in inventory. I spoke with the Birmingham Collection consignor last evening and he is willing to entertain offers and wishes to continue liquidating the collection for other priorities. Following are some of the remaining Birmingham Collection pieces for your review. If you've been considering the potential purchase of a quality Liberty Seated dime from Birmingham, then please don't hesitate to contact me concerning terms or an offer price or both.....this is an excellent time to secure quality coins at a discounted price.

Birmingham Collection - Liberty Seated Dimes

  

  

  

  

  

 

 

July 14, 2015

Tuesday arrives along with another beautiful summer day in Maine. As always, thank you for stopping in and checking today's commentary.

Monday brought another business and personal finance lesson at local Bank of America branch. Being in a Baltimore show preparation mode, there was need to withdraw cash for pending transactions. Knowing that a request for over $10K would immediately trigger the fire alarms and have the FBI jumping out of the ceiling, an amount between $5K and $10K was requested believing this would not be a problem....but I was wrong. The teller looks at me with fear in her eyes, then calls the manager who immediately informs that cash withdrawal requests over $5K will not be honored unless booked one week in advance. BOA has a policy of keeping minimal cash on hand at their branches. She would gladly issue a bank check for the requested amount. The story ends with being handed $5K in paper currency and a "goodwill" temporary $1K withdrawal limit via the ATM.

This event was a wake up call that accessing personal savings via hard currency withdrawal in an emergency is no longer possible. Even the daily ATM withdrawal limit of $700 was eye opening...... The Millennials are comfortable living life with electronic monies and minimal usage of cash. Growing up in another era where taught to be self sufficient and ready for most emergencies, I bristle at the concept of surrending personal well being to an electronic financial system with the opportunity for subtle government or banking policy changes "in the best interest of the people." After the Baltimore show, personal steps will be taken as a result of yesterday's learning.

GFRC News

The Jim Poston consignment garnered substantial attention yesterday and already eight of the fifteen pieces are on a "strong" hold awaiting payment. Given the ongoing GFRC workload and pending Baltimore show, only the remaining pieces will be posted to the price lists along with descriptions and asking prices. Yesterday's gallery event clearly indicates that quality Liberty Seated coins are in strong demand when fairly priced.

Today's GFRC priorities are focused on Baltimore show preparations. I have a substantial number of coins heading to NGC and PCGS at the show along with a long bank vault visit at a local banking institution other than BOA.

There will no Daily Blog on Wednesday as the drive will start before 6:00am to hopefully avoid some of the I-495 corridor congestion and arrive into Baltimore with sufficient time for auction lot preview and meeting with wholesale dealers. The next Daily Blog will be posted on Thursday morning.

Financial News

The past several weeks have been noteworthy for global financial news. The Greece debt issue is far from over and the Puerto Rico debt crisis will impact US bond holders. Oil prices are dropping once again on the news of an Iranian deal that will lift sanctions and allow Iran to sell oil openly on the world markets. Seeking Alpha provides the following headlines....

First the Greek drama continues....Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras appears to be facing open rebellion in his coalition as he attempts to push creditor reforms through Greece's parliament ahead of Wedneday's deadline. With dozens of MPs in Syriza threatening to defect, Tsipras will need the support of the opposition to pass the €86B package, putting the future of his government in doubt. European stocks are little changed awaiting the outcome of the vote. Meanwhile, Athens missed another payment due to the IMF late Monday, slipping further into the debt morass (about €2B in arrears) that's devastated the economy.

Then the Puerto Rico unpayable debt situation...In the first meeting with investors since calling its $72B debt pile "not payable", Puerto Rico said it was still premature to discuss how creditors would be affected, but made the case for a restructuring. The island's crisis is being broadly felt because Puerto Rico bonds are held by many U.S. investors, who bought the securities because they’re tax-exempt nationwide and offered higher yields than comparable debt.

An finally crude oil prices dropping to nearly $50 per barrel...Sending oil prices lower, Iran and major world powers have sealed a historic nuclear accord after more than two weeks of negotiating in Vienna. The deal will curb Tehran's nuclear program in return for an easing of sanctions, enabling the oil-rich nation to ramp up its energy exports, access international finance and open the doors to global investors. Full implementation of the agreement will likely take months and is contingent on the pace at which Iran meets its obligations. Crude futures -2.1% to $51.13/bbl.

Daily Blog Reader Commentary

A blog reader sent along the following thought yesterday....Europe and Greece haven’t accomplished much. The current agreement does little more than “kick the can” down the road. Meanwhile, the Greek population will continue to suffer under austerity and resentment of the European lenders will increase. I can’t see this ending any other way than loan defaults and Greek exiting the euro. But everyone seems to want to put that off as long as possible, in the name of European unity.

Thought for Day...Coin Dealers are individuals who sell a product (and associated services) while attempting to make a fair living.

Throughout my business career, I have always believed in "win-win" relationships. Checking Wikipedia for general definition of "win-win" resulted in....A win–win game is a game which is designed in a way that all participants can profit from it in one way or the other. In conflict resolution, a win–win strategy is a conflict resolution process that aims to accommodate all disputants.

However, I have dealt with individuals in the semiconductor sector and now, numismatic business who believe in the "zero sum game". Wikipedia defines this term as.... a zero-sum game is a mathematical representation of a situation in which each participant's gain or loss is exactly balanced by the losses or gains of the other participant(s). If the total gains of the participants are added up and the total losses are subtracted, they will sum to zero. Thus cutting a cake, where taking a larger piece reduces the amount of cake available for others, is a zero-sum game if all participants value each unit of cake equally.

My point? Honest coin dealers do not have an infinite amount of time to service individual collector needs without financial return for the time committed. There are individuals who lack the understanding of "win-win" and believe that securing the upper hand on relationships and transactions, the "zero sum game of I win, you lose" is part of normal American business practice. If you value the relationship and service provided by a certain coin dealer, then please remember that the longevity of that relationship is based on "win-win" dealings. Some dealer service aspects may be knowledge and mentorship which might be difficult to evaluate by the average or advanced collector but take considerable time on the part of the dealer.

Thank you for stopping by on this Tuesday and once again, the next Blog will be published on Thursday.

 

 

July 13, 2015

Good morning and welcome to another Daily Blog edition. This is Whitman Baltimore show week and already preparations are underway. GFRC will not be setup at the show but rather I will be walking the bourse on Thursday and Friday searching out Newps for online sales and the ANA World's Fair of Money show in a few weeks.

GFRC News

I worked diligently this weekend and am very pleased to showcase the new Jim Poston consignment as shown below. This consignment is heavy on quality Seated half dollars and also includes a raw gem 1875-S BF-2 double dime grading EF40 and a choice original 1878 Briggs 3C quarter. Individual varieties are listed in the image file names so simply click on any of the image icons and the file name listed in your browser will provide the variety attribution. Overall Liberty Seated half dollar quality is very high as all are graded by PCGS or NGC. Many have proof like surfaces and/or choice original toning.

All efforts will be made to load consignment pieces on price list before leaving for Baltimore this Wednesday morning. Several GFRC customers have already made FRoR requests and those will be followed up upon later today once asking prices are finalized with Jim.

Liberty Seated Double Dime and Quarter

 

Liberty Seated Half Dollars

  

  

  

  

 

Financial News

The global financial turmoil of the past few weeks appears to be resolved. Greece has a new European bailout plan while the Shanghai Composite recovers its upward momentum. China exports also appear to have reach bottom and may be recovering slightly. Seeking Alpha headlines cover the Greece and China news items as follows.

Selling Greece piece by piece? The eurozone and Greece have agreed in principle to a third bailout that will keep the beleaguered country in the currency area, for now, after almost total capitulation from Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. Greece will have to put €50B of state assets in a trust fund so that they can be sold off and the proceeds used to repay debt. The government will also have to get further austerity measures through parliament, a tough ask given the "no" vote in the recent referendum.

Shanghai Composite is recovering faster than Chinese exports. Chinese exports grew for the first time in four months in June, rising 2.8% on year after dropping 2.8% in May and easily beating expectations of -0.2%. Imports slumped 6.1%, although that represented an improvement from a plunge of 18.1% previously. Still, the weak imports indicate that domestic demand remains tepid and adds to the feeling that the central bank could further loosen monetary policy.

Featured Topic

A Daily Blog reader sent along an excellent online article published in The Economist. The article is entitled, "China embraces the markets" and offers deep insights and explains that a Shanghai Composite setback or crash has little reflection on the overall Chinese economy. If a sharp sell off in Chinese stocks is not a financial crisis for Beijing, then why was there so much intervention? The article is a short read...here are key excerpts.

If economic stability is not in peril, the best explanation for the interventions is politics. When the stockmarket was soaring, the press cheered the bull run as an endorsement of the economic reforms of the Xi-Li team. Now that it is falling, regulators want to shore up the leadership’s reputation.

It is not just the motive that is dodgy; the nature of the intervention is also unwise. Cutting interest rates as support for the economy when inflation is so low is fair enough. But regulators capped short-selling; pension funds pledged to buy more stocks; the government suspended initial public offerings; and brokers created a fund to buy shares, backed by central-bank cash

Featured Coins of the Day

I'm going to pass here as the Jim Poston consignment provides ample selections for GFRC customers to consider this morning.

Thank you for visiting with me and I do look forward to hearing from you on potential purchases......Gerry.

 

 

July 12, 2015

A quiet Sunday morning arrives with only the sound of birds outside the office window being heard. Maine continues to enjoy an incredible summer with ideal weather. The weather forecast for Baltimore later this week is reasonable also with mid 80s for highs. Speaking of the Baltimore show, I am driving on Wednesday and will be walking the floor on Thursday and Friday morning searching out new inventory. The LSCC regional meeting is scheduled for Friday morning at 9:00am in Room 301. Len Augsburger will be hosting and presenting while I'm planning a short discussion on the 1865 F-102c Seated Dime variety with two of the four known examples in hand for viewing.

GFRC News

The 1865 F-102c PCGS PF64 dime featured yesterday is on hold.

It is with pleasure that I announce an advertising agreement with Dave Cinquina of the Bust Half Nut Club and his informational website on Overton Bust half varieties. The website domain name is www.busthalfaddict.com. Dave is working diligently to optimize formats and improve content. As part of the advertising agreement, I will be linking to Dave's individual Overton variety pages from the GFRC Bust half dollar price list as an aid for customer research and purchase decisions.

Jim Poston's Seated half dollar consignment is photographed and images processing is nearly completed. If all goes well, the gallery will be available in tomorrow morning's blog.

A GFRC customer has changed collecting course and offered several quality pieces for purchase. Agreement was quickly reached and the following Seated items will arrive later this week.

- 1876-CC 25c NGC MS63, 1846 50C PCGS AU50 CAC, 1855-O 50c PCGS AU55 CAC

The 1876-CC NGC MS63 was purchased from GFRC and below are the original images employed for the 2014 sale. This incredibly original Seated quarter had been off the market for years while residing in an old Maine collection.

 

Baltimore show preparations will start on Monday along with order shipments. There are a substantial number of TPG submissions planned for the show.

Featured Topic

The BBC is once again the source for today's featured topic. I took keen interest in an article entitled, "Living in: The world's safest cities" with the by line....In these five cities, residents can rest easy walking home late at night and leaving their laptop unguarded. But they also know that safe doesn’t have to be boring. None of the cities are located in the United States which is understandable given our gun culture and crime issues. Before reading the list, I speculated on which global cities might be chosen based on personal experiences. My thoughts were Singapore and probably 1-2 cities in Japan as these countries offer harmonious societies. The results were not surprising......

Osaka, Japan - I've visited Osaka several times coupled with Kyoto, Hiroshima and of course, Tokyo. Osaka is a city with nearly 3 million inhabitants but has been selected as the safest city on the planet. This is a beautiful city with keen respect for the environment and for people. Fasionable women are one of the visual highlights along with well kept nature in a busy city setting. One returns from Japan with a keen sense for respect for others and humility.

Amsterdam, Netherlands - I've only visited Amsterdam once and the time there was much too short. It is an amazing place with tall beautiful people riding bicylces, canals, the dining district and of course, the red light district. Old architecture and nature are well intermixed. I hope to return to Amsterdam to just hang out for a week.

Sydney, Australia - Unfortunately, there is no semiconductor industry in Australia so there was never an opportunity to travel here.

Singapore - The selection of Singapore is no surprise. Singapore is a city/country with three different races; Han Chinese, local Malays and Indians. The rules in Singapore are strict and those who violate are fined or for serious offenses are caned. People understand the need for racial harmony and follow the rules. The rules are structured to protect the citizens and the environment. Chewing gum was removed and people are fined for not flushing toilets in a public place. I would walk the streets during early morning hours and one would see the city workers hosing down sidewalks to maintain cleanliness. Singapore is a beautiful place and living there for months at a time was enjoyable and very safe. Let's not forget the outdoor hawker stands and the incredible Indian and Malay dishes. Singapore is a dining paradise for those who enjoy spices!

Stockholm, Sweden - Maybe this is on my short list to visit after Amsterdam?

Thank you for visiting with me this morning and wishing all loyal Blog readers a great Sunday!

 

 

July 11, 2015

Welcome to a mid summer weekend and another Blog edition. Maine is enjoying another perfect day with blue skies, low humidity and a forecasted high of 85F. The summer of 2015 is turning out to be one of the best in memory with sufficient rain to keep lawns green coupled with the absence of long stretches of high humidity days.

I'm a tad slow writing this morning as Friday evening turned out to be a wonderful time. It started with beer, clam chowder and lobster rolls at one of the best local eateries followed by the balance of the evening sitting in an outdoor screened in tent drinking more beer, watching the fire flies, listening to the Grateful Dead and chatting about being near 60 years old and feeling out of touch with selfie sticks, social media in general and the lost hard work ethic of earlier generations. My friends are students of the game of baseball and dismayed with how oversized salaries have impacted the true national sport. Can you believe there were player/coaches in the "old days?" Then there was the Pete Rose vs. A-Rod discussion on who has done more harm to the game.....

Following, in gallery format, is the Silicon Valley Consignment of 1865 proof silver coinage. The consignment features three special offerings with superior eye appeal and pure rarity when contemplating the 1865 PCGS PF64 F-102c dime with 180 degree rotated reverse. The "normal" 1865 PCGS PF66 F-102 is a glowing gem with rose centers and blues through the balance of the surfaces...a double Wow! coin. But the 1865 Briggs 3B proof quarter is my favorite. Graded PCGS PF65 Cameo, this silver piece offers classic old album bullseye toning and radiates its beauty from most any viewing angle. These three pieces have been priced and will be reaching the price list by mid afternoon.

Silicon Valley Collection/Consignment

  

The 1865 F-102c dime is a variety/die state rarity and is illustrated below in larger format. I'm please to announce that this piece along with my PCGS PF63 example, the web-book plate coin, will be traveling to Baltimore next week and showcased at the LSCC regional meeting. Attendees will have the opportunity to view, in hand, two examples of the few known. (This piece is sold)

 

GFRC News

Jim Poston's Seated half dollar consignment arrived on schedule and currently resides in the photography queue. This consignment is by far the best from Jim with the 1844-O PCGS AU58 CAC offering thin light gray patina over lustrous surfaces. GFRC customers will not be disappointed when these pieces are first illustrated in gallery format on Monday followed by loading on price list. Already many FRoR have arrived with four alone for the 1844-O example.

More consignments are coming.....just yesterday, one customer received his coins back from grading and will be shipping them this week. An advanced collector also made contact about consignment terms and the possibility of employing GFRC for handling his duplicates.

I've also been selectively buying with emphasis on improving the quality and depth of the Liberty Seated quarter price list. Several pieces arrived yesterday and should also be loaded today. The overriding goal is to offer strictly original and attractive pieces in this most difficult series.

Today's Blog will be brief as there is much to do.....thank you for visiting with me.

 

 

July 10, 2015

Has Friday already arrived? It does appear to be true as another busy week comes to a close.

Today's Blog will feature a mixture of numismatic news, the usual financial updates and a feature article located on BBC News this morning. The latter article views the United States from a global perspective and is well researched, written and thought provoking.

Have you received the latest Gobrecht Journal issue along with the LSCC ANA benefit auction catalog? Bill Bugert's publishing capabilities are incredible as he harnesses the writing skills and creativity of LSCC members. Jim Macor's cover design for the auction catalog is competitive with those of major auction houses and I just learned that Jim will become involved with the design of the 2016 Gobrecht Journal cover. This is truly amazing progress for a non profit organization. If you are not an LSCC member, might I suggest that you email me today to discuss becoming one.....being an LSCC member is the Best Value in Numismatics.

GFRC News

A good GFRC friend enjoyed yesterday's commentary on being an advanced collector and posted a link to the PCGS message board forum to share. In upcoming weeks, other numismatic topics will be explored in the Blog given the positive response.

The Silicon Valley consignment arrived yesterday and all I can say is Wow! The 1865 PCGS PF65 Cameo Seated quarter is a stunning piece with classic proof bullseye toning...this piece could be explored under bright light for an hour as so beautiful. Then there is the 1865 PCGS PF64 F-102c with bold mirrored fields and the 180 degree rotated reverse. This is the first mirrored F-102c I have seen and what a thrill to study this piece....I just might bring this condition census variety to the Baltimore show for a show and tell at the LSCC regional meeting. The lot closes out with an 1865 PCGS PF66 colored gem that would be noteworthy on its own....

Jim Poston's seated half lot will arrive today via Express mail....after posting the contents in yesterday's blog, I received a flurry of emails requesting FRoR on many of the new offerings.

A crusty original 1851 Seated quarter graded NGC VF35 also arrived yesterday and we will know how challenging this date is in any grade let alone when located choice.

If the Maine weather cooperates, my primary tasks for the day are photographing the Silicon Valley and Jim Poston consignments, the 1851 Seated quarter and attempting to load a bunch of 1861-O circulated halves onto the price list. These are the remaining pieces from the large hoard.

All I can say is that I'm so lucky to be operating GFRC and handling such incredible coins along with communicating with great customers and consignors on a daily basis.

Financial News

Someone on the PCGS message board commented that numismatic blogs should not be cluttered with financial news.....my only comment is that visiting the Daily Blog is much more than just numismatic commentary.

From Seeking Alpha headlines.....

So the Greeks blink first....Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras appears to have offered to meet most creditor demands in exchange for a new €53.5B bailout, after submitting an 11th-hour proposal to get fresh funds and avoid bankruptcy. Stocks across the globe are all toasting the news. The package of spending cuts, pension savings and tax increases almost mirrors that from creditors on June 26, which was rejected by Greek voters in a July 5 referendum. Eurozone decision makers are set to assess the plan during crisis meetings on Saturday and Sunday. Euro +1.1% to $1.1162.

Shanghai Composite is recovering now that Beijing is taking control of a capital market... Chinese stocks rose sharply for a second day today, as Beijing's tightening grip on the market encouraged investors to load up on shares. Regulators on Friday ordered listed companies to submit plans to stabilize their stock prices, via measures such as share buybacks and employee shareholding plans. However, it still remains to be seen whether the rally can overcome the steep declines that wiped out trillions of dollars in value from Chinese equities over the past four weeks. The Shanghai Composite closed up 4.6% (although it's still off 24.5% from its June high).

Driving may be inexpensive for at least one more year.....the International Energy Agency has warned in its widely followed monthly report that the rebalancing of the oil market that started last year has yet to run its course and a bottom in prices "may still be ahead." In a bearish assessment of market conditions, the IEA said the adjustment process would "extend well into 2016" as demand growth slowed. Oil prices on both sides of the Atlantic fell sharply this week, but staged a minor comeback since yesterday.

Featured Topic

Each morning before writing the Blog, BBC News is quickly reviewed for the latest global updates. This morning brought an article concerning the United States written from an "outside looking in" perspective. I usually don't read long articles before writing the Blog but this piece was so well written, unbiased, concise and factual that I stopped and explored the essay from beginning to end. The article is entitled, "The decline of US power?" by Nick Bryant and I hope you might take the time to read this morning.

Following is short excerpt from the introduction...

Over the past 15 years, America's fortunes have changed with dizzying speed.

First came the tremors: the dot-com bust and a disputed presidential election in 2000. Then came the massive convulsions: the destruction of the Twin Towers in 2001 and the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008.

Long wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have exacted an enormous blood price - the lives of 6,852 American military personnel - not to mention immense financial expense, estimated to be as high as $6 trillion (£3.9tn).

The detention centre at Guantanamo Bay has undermined American ideals, just as the NSA and Wikileaks spying scandals have undercut American diplomacy.

George W Bush, a president with a Manichean worldview, was widely seen as over-eager to project America's military might, without adequately considering the long-term consequences.

Barack Obama, who campaigned in 2008 on a platform of extricating America from its unpopular and exhausting wars, has drawn criticism for disengaging too much.

Under both presidents - the first an impulsive unilateralist, the second an instinctive multilateralist content sometimes to lead from behind - America's global standing has been diminished.

Featured Coins of the Day

Our opening coin is high on the cool scale for those who enjoy terminal die states. The 1853-O WB-3 VLDS Seated half from the Grey Soldier consignment is graded NGC VF25 with original gray surfaces. All the obverse diagnostics are fully evident including the internal cud in the right field and a second forming between Stars 11 and 12. The large O mintmark has no internal rays as incremental diagnostics. According to the Bugert Register, this is an R6 die state...

The second coin of the day is from the World Coin price list. This 1770 Bolivia 4 Reales piece is most attractive in hand and even more exciting under bright light. It is well struck with intermixed blue and rose centers that transition to golden hues at the rims. Toning is light and transparent and allows the underlying luster to reflect through. However, there is evidence of some old tooling under QUE to remove initials or the like. Priced accordingly and still a lovely example for those who wish to own early Spanish Colonies silver.


 

 

July 9, 2015

Good morning and thank you for stopping by as always. Today's Blog will focus on numismatics as lots of information and commentary to share.

GFRC News

Response to the Grey Soldier consignment has been strong as three of the eight halves are already on hold and I encourage other Seated half dollar collector to check in on these. Choice coins don't drop out of the sky but rather are carefully assembled by advanced collectors. More on advanced collectors later in the blog.

Jim Poston sent an email last night (he is a night owl) with a list of Seated halves being express shipped today. As mentioned previously, we are collaborating to build up GFRC Seated half dollar offerings and Jim has been working overtime to assemble a noteworthy consignment on the heels of the Grey Soldier pieces. Following are the halves that will arrive tomorrow and hopefully be featured in a new Blog gallery by Sunday. Here comes the list and please note the later date Philadelphia pieces that will be a welcomed addition.....

1840-O 50c PCGS VF30; 1840-O 50c NGC AU53; 1844-O 50c PCGS AU58 CAC; 1849 50c NGC AU58; 1860-O 50c PCGS AU58; 1861-S 50c PCGS VF30; 1869-S 50c PCGS XF40; 1877-CC 50c PCGS AU55; 1879 50c PCGS MS62; 1883 50c NGC AU58; 1888 50c PCGS AU55; 1889 50c PCGS AU55

Financial News

The Shanghai Composite Index saga continues with short sellers being labeled as "illegal market activities". From Seeking Alpha, The stock market sell-off in China abated today as Beijing stepped up its barrage of measures to boost liquidity and calm investors following days of sharp declines. China's securities regulator banned shareholders with stakes of more than 5% in a company from selling stock over the next six months, and vowed to "punch back" against illegal market activities by investigating "malicious short selling." Dozens more companies have also requested their shares be halted from trading, adding to the list of more than 1,400 that have suspended their stock. Shanghai +5.8%; Shenzhen +4.3%; ChiNext +3%.

Back in the US, the "will the Fed raise or not raise interest rates" drama continues....this one is almost laughable as an interest rate increase would move global monies into the US dollar, cause liquidity issues in emerging countries and impact US exports. But the financial news channels need something to talk about, right? Fed officials struck a dovish tone in their most recent discussions about monetary policy, while at the same time setting the groundwork for future rate hikes, according to minutes of the FOMC meeting in June. All but one of the 10 voting members said they needed more evidence that "economic growth was sufficiently strong and labor market conditions had firmed enough to return inflation to the Committee's longer-run objective over the medium term."

As for Greece, let's wait and see what happens in the next 24 hours.....

Featured Topic

I received Blog feedback yesterday from a GFRC customer and consignor. Included in the email was an important question concerning what I believe to be an Advanced Collector since this term is frequently used when writing individual coin descriptions. This question is simple but yet the concept of an Advanced Collector could be interpreted in a host of ways depending on the GFRC customer's numismatic experience. Therefore, today's Featured Topic will focus on what I believe constitutes an Advanced Collector.

Let's start the essay with a Google search for the definition of "advanced"....Dictionary.com provides the following definitions;

1. placed ahead or forward:

2. ahead or far or further along in progress, complexity, knowledge, skill, etc.:

3. pertaining to or embodying ideas, practices, attitudes, etc., taken as being more enlightened or liberal than the standardized, established, or traditional:

4. far along in time:

The second definition well summarizes my perspective on the personal characteristics of an Advanced Collector. This is an individual with years of collecting experience and most likely, a numismatic library with concentration on topics of interests. However, collecting may be an inappropriate word choice with respect to experience. Rather knowledge accumulation better expresses the capabilities of a collector who possesses the necessary skills to evaluate individual coins in terms of rarity, surface conditions and striking characteristics. Let's explore this thought further.....

Rarity - Numerous printed guide books and online resources are available towards pricing ranges for graded coins. But these publications fall short when rarity comes into play. Does a high guide price translate into rarity...in many cases yes, but it takes years of knowledge to recognized when the guides are inaccurate. Collectors of Liberty Seated coinage have learned that the guides are not well maintained and a deep understanding of the individual dates and their grade rarity are paramount to locating fair prices and value.

Surface Conditions - The grading services have done a reasonable job is sorting out the problematic coins from those that are unmolested original. But the entrance of "market acceptable grading" to maintain the TPG business model requires that collectors look beyond the TPG holder label and develop some working expertise in metallurgy. There are silver coins in holder that have never been cleaned and others that have pretty secondary toning. Many coins in TPG holders have been dipped to secure the highest possible grade. Advanced collectors have developed the visual skills to quickly identify those coins that have original patina. Many original coins may not have the best eye appeal so there are trade offs to consider.

Striking Characteristics - This is probably the most challenging for collectors to understand when deciding to move into the early type denominations. There are a host of variables that impact the striking of an individual coin. Working die hubbing quality, die preparation and maintenance, planchet quality and striking force are not often considered by those collecting 20th Century coinage. But for Bust and Seated collectors, these parameters will vary across mints and dates. It is a complex situation that requires years of study and the inspection of hundreds if not thousands of coins to have the expertise in recognizing the best possible struck specimens for a personal collection.

When I use the term Advanced Collector in a coin description, my mindset is that of.....

An individual with years of numismatic experience inspecting coins of the design and denomination being pursued on my price list. Armed with this knowledge, the individual is able to properly evaluate coins towards being a source of personal pride coupled with being a sound long term financial acquisition.

Having strong financial means is also helpful but working knowledge is the primary consideration with I use the term Advanced....

Featured Coins of the Day

Selections from GFRC inventory will return tomorrow as already after 8:00am and time to get down to daily business tasks. Thank you so much for stopping by today.

 

July 8, 2015

Wednesday arrives and time for another Blog edition. My appreciations go out to regular readers and those who are starting to contribution commentaries in support of the featured topics. There is lots to discuss this morning and the coffee sure tastes fine.

I'm pleased to report that the porch support structure rebuilding project went smoothly yesterday morning and able to return home by 1:30pm. The immediate priority, even before unloading tools, was photographing the Grey Soldier's consignment with the hope of illustrating in this morning blog. Sunshine was ample and the image processing was wrapped up by early evening.

Following, in gallery format, is the Grey Soldier's Collection of Liberty Seated halves. Though only eight pieces, the uniform eye appeal and essentially flawless surfaces became apparent upon opening the registered postal shipment. This sense of near perfection was reinforced during image processing and finalizing retail pricing with the owner. Carefully selected for originality and eye appeal, the Grey Soldier's consignment is a significant offering for GFRC customers with combination of attractive mint state examples and several R6 varieties. One highlight is an 1861-O W-1 Union half graded NGC MS62 and absolutely beautiful.... My plan is to start loading these to price list later today or tomorrow due to substantial order shipments in the queue for morning and early afternoon.

Grey Soldier Collection/Consignment

  

  

  

 

Financial News - Seeking Alpha Headlines

The Shanghai Composite slide continues regardless of Beijing central government efforts to intervene......Chinese shares plunged again today as investors shrugged off a series of regulatory support measures, including a PBOC statement this morning that affirmed it would support market stability by providing liquidity, while guarding against financial risk. Nearly half of all Chinese listed companies have now suspended their shares from trading to insulate themselves from the meltdown. The panic in mainland markets also rippled across the border, knocking Hong Kong down 5.8% and Japan 3.1%, and across the Pacific - U.S. index futures down by about 1.1%. Shanghai -5.9%; Shenzhen -2.6%.

Greek drama continues while citizenry is dealing with capital controls....After five months of drama, false dawns and unpleasant surprises, are Europe's leaders finally ready to show Alexis Tsipras the door? Yesterday, eurozone officials gave Greece until Friday morning to come up with viable reform proposals, while the ECB provides enough liquidity to keep Greek banks afloat. All 28 members of the EU will then meet on Sunday to decide whether to accept the deal. Economists are now speculating what currency Athens would turn to if a Grexit becomes a reality: Return to the drachma, develop a parallel currency, a euro pegged currency, or keep the euro only as a monetary agreement (like Andorra and Vatican City).

Blog Reader Feedback

First commentary of the day is from the Daily Blog's own European reporter while on ex-pat assignment. It is important to hear from those living in Europe during this financial crisis as they have access to local media. Our good friend writes....

The point which goes unappreciated in the focus is on the Greek insolvency is the benefit that Germany experiences from the effect that the weaker players in the Eurozone have on depressing the relative value of the Euro, thus boosting German exports and GDP. Arguably no one benefits more economically from the Eurozone than Germany who would experience a significant reduction in relative competitiveness if they were back on the Deutchmark. So while the German politicians are under pressure at home from popular politics, they are also under pressure economically to hold together the periphery lest they put their own economic growth in peril.

The big thing that needs to be watched is the July 20th deadline. Over the next few days the opportunity exists for a political agreement to be made which is a 50/50 chance at this point. If that does not occur then July 20th is the date in which a €3.5B loan repayment to the ECB is due. If Greece misses that payment, the ECB will have no choice but to withdraw emergency funding, the banks will collapse and the drachma returns.

Another close friend and GFRC consignor writes about the unprecedented debasement of fiat currencies by individual countries but also touches upon an important fact....precious metal prices are dormant during the debasement process. This is a thought provoking essay and worth to read. Emphasis is mine.

The financial markets are really confusing right now and I find it hard to take the piles of information and condense them into a mental framework that makes sense.

I think we discussed a while back a book that I saw reviewed about the history of money that indicated it started out as a medium of exchange with no intrinsic value. Then, as the British industrialized the production of money in the 17th/18th centuries it took on a dual role as both a store of value and a medium of exchange. This was the state of affairs for around 300 years until we went off the gold standard and the world has been decoupling the two functions again since that time. So, the various government’s and central bank’s production of competing medium’s of exchange are now turning into a new chess game with the rules being made up as we go. It seems clear that all financial or “paper” assets are suspect now as stores of value due to the manipulation of value of the currencies in which they are denominated. So called strength of the US dollar is really just relative weakness of other currencies. Governments now ALL just run around spending money they don’t have and only the worst of them really end up suffering because all the other countries can just say “we’re not as bad as they are” and then “pay” their debts through a real or manufactured devaluation of the currency to pass their debts on to the taxpayers. The fiat currencies just seem like they are now a way to tax citizens without explicitly taxing citizens.

It is beyond debate that this is going on (i.e. currencies can no longer be any store of value) quite simply because there are not nearly enough tangible assets to go back to “hard” currency. So the current “soft” currency can be only a medium of exchange, period, the end. Add to that the low/zero interest rate environment and you also have a debt-fueled asset bubble. People are running around buying all kinds of stuff, including high end art, on credit because they end up paying next to no interest. That lack of interest drives up prices - hence bubble.

So to me the elephant in the room comes down to one fundamental question (in four parts): Who is manipulating commodity prices? How? Why? And what does that mean long-term?

Once again, thank you for visiting the Blog. Tomorrow, we will explore the Chinese management of the Shanghai Composite in more detail. Beijing has worked for years to elevate the Yuan to world reserve currency status and is presently losing face on the global stage with its premier stock market in tatters......

 

 

July 7, 2015

Good morning everyone and thank you for visiting once again. Today's blog will focus mostly on GFRC News as I spent a good part of Monday afternoon purchasing lumber and preparing to rebuild the support structure on my parent's front porch.

Bill Bugert passed along that the summer Gobrecht Journal and ANA Annual Meeting auction catalogs were mailed on Monday. Bill and his wife, Judy, spent a good part of the holiday weekend preparing 663 (to be exact) packages and those were delivered to Gettysburg post office yesterday. LSCC members should start receiving the Journal by end of week.

GFRC News

The GreySoldier consignment arrived yesterday and is a superior offering of eight Liberty Seated half dollars. Individual pieces will be highlighted in tomorrow's blog while photography will take place on Thursday.

I'm pleased to announce that another consigner has decided to employ GFRC for selling important numismatic properties rather than using the traditional auction house approach. Offerings from this individual will be labled as "being from the Silicon Valley Collection". Shipping today are three important Seated coins; 1865 PCGS PF66 F-102, 1865 PCGS PF64 F-102c and an 1865 PCGS PF65 Cameo quarter. The 1865 PCGS PF66 dime and PF65 Cameo quarter proofs are toned beauties. I am absolutely excited and thrilled at a chance to offer an 1865 F-102c dime as few are known.

I have seen images of the Silicon Valley 1865 F-102c dime with 180 degree rotated reverse and the surfaces appear to be nicely mirrored as compared to my example purchased from the Frog Run Collection during December 2004. The origin of the F-102c die state remains unexplained so having another piece for study is an important development for Seated die variety research. For those not familiar with the 1865 F-102c dime, this variety/die state was first listed by Kam Ahwash as A-2b in his Encyclopedia but without images. Greer makes brief mention of this variety/die state also but without images. When building the Seated dime web-book, I made it a priority to locate an example for the reference collection. Luckily the Frog Run Collection provided a purchasing opportunity shortly after publishing the web-book. There will be more discussion on this topic after the Silicon Valley Collection shipment arrives.

I also spoke with Jim Poston yesterday....his Seated half dollar consignment shipment will be going out tomorrow.

Being a business owner that believes in continuous improvement, a new marketing campaign will be launched shortly to communicate that GFRC is not only a supplier of original Liberty Seated coins but also stocking quality Draped Bust and Capped Bust coinage. I put the GFRC art department to work and this new banner will be appearing shortly on a specialty bust coinage website and may also migrate to larger numismatic publications.

Finally, I received a substantial amount of order payments yesterday as the July 4th holiday weekend backed up postal deliveries. Checks will be deposited today and orders will be shipping on Wednesday and Thursday....so another busy week at GFRC.

Financial News

Oil spot prices have been dropping this week and the explanation is that Iran has stockpiled a considerable amount of oil in floating tankers in anticaption of a deal that will lift UN sanctions. If a deal is reached, then new oil inventories will immediate reach a market that is struggling with excess supply. Following are several Seeking Apha news headlines.....

Crude oil prices steadied this morning after posting one of their biggest sell-offs this year in the previous session due to bearish factors including Greece, China's uncertain economy and a new flood of Iranian oil. Monday's fall took the U.S. crude market down by 7.7%, or $4.40, to close at $52.53, almost rivaling the price decline in the aftermath of OPEC's decision to not intervene in oil markets last year. Crude futures +0.7% to $53.25/bbl.

Then there is Greece.....Greece faces what many call its last chance to stay in the eurozone today when Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras puts proposals to an emergency eurozone summit a day after Greeks overwhelmingly voted to reject more austerity. Tsipras will have to persuade the bloc's other 18 leaders for a major new loan to rescue his country, while failure to reach a deal would increase the likelihood of a Grexit. Other updates: The Athens stock exchange will remain closed until tomorrow, Greece has appointed a new finance minister - Euclid Tsakalotos, and the ECB has maintained its emergency loan cap for Greek banks. Euro -0.8% to $1.0966.

Featured Coins of the Day

Let's start today's featured coins with a choice original AU 1835 JR-9 Capped Bust dime. Yes, this piece is holdered by ANACS and not PCGS or NGC. If one believes in buying the coin and not the holder, then one will recognize that this piece is perfectly original and attractive...the reasons for being added to GFRC inventory. This dime comes with delicate obverse devices along with light gray obverse center toning that transitions to rose/gold at the rim. The reverse has considerable luster under the thin gray center patina. There are no blemishes either.

The second featured coin of the day is from my own reference collection and a web-book plate coin. As mentioned in a prior blog, I need to start dispositiong the large number of Seated dime in the reference collection and finding them new homes. If one does some basic math, selling a 1600 piece collection of important dimes will take time....for example, if I sold pieces out of the collection at the rate of 10 per month, then it would still take 13+ years to accomplish the task. This is a reminder to those collectors who have amassed a substantial collection; selling a noteworthy collection will take years if the owner wishes to realize maximum value via retail sales.

This 1838 dime has sat in the bank box for years since being purchased in 1992. It is the F-103 Repunched Date plate coin. In hand, the surfaces are toned with gun metal gray/blue patina throughout obverse and reverse. Under bright light, the surfaces are highly reflective and accentuate the toning with rose centers and sky blue rims. This piece is not perfect as there is a tiny mark on O(N)E that is fully toned over and not distracting.

 

 

July 6, 2015

The first full week of July arrives with the Whitman Baltimore show taking place next week. How about the United States' women's soccer team World Cup victory last night? Even the Boston Red Sox took 2 out of 3 from Houston this weekend.

The Greeks decisively voted no to reforms this weekend and are opening a new chapter towards default and European contagion. China central government is treating its stock market as too big to fail. Lots to cover today coupled with a new Liberty Seated quarter consignment in the gallery. Thank you for visiting this Monday morning.

Greece Update

Yes, the Greek people have spoken and voted to ignore German reform mandates for incremental debt bailouts. BBC News coverage is thorough and providing up to the minute insight into European political responses. Here are current summary points.

- Angela Merkel spokesman: 'Door remains open' for Greece talks
- Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis to stand down
- European Central Bank governing council to meet via conference call
- Euro falls, stock markets down following Greek referendum
- A summit of eurozone heads of states has been called for Tuesday
- Greek voters decisively reject terms of international bailout in referendum

One the major headlines is Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis "insulting Europe" while steeping down.

Michael Fuchs, a senior MP in German Chancellor Merkel's CDU party, says Yanis Varoufakis "insulted the whole of Europe last weekend telling us we are terrorists". He was speaking to the BBC World Service soon after Mr Varoufakis resigned as Greek finance minister. "We spent more than 300bn euros on Greece and then telling them 'you are terrorists' - I'm sorry, this is not a way to talk to each other." He said even with Mr Varoufakis's resignation, the Greek negotiating position was untenable and there couldn't be any further assistance without credible reforms.

Daily Blog Reader Commentary

Upon opening emails this early morning, already one Blog reader sent in a commentary concerning the Greece default.

The outcome in Greece is going to set the tone for many years. With all the profligate government debt, other countries are sure to fall into the same mess. I see Greece’s lenders referred to as “terrorists” because they won’t keep throwing good money after bad. “You lent us money all those years” they seem to say, and “to cut us off now would be inhumane.” The Europeans are in an awkward spot – there is no assurance aid to Greece will be fruitful, but on the other hand, the symbolic meaning of Greece leaving the euro creates its own problems. The Greeks have voted “no” against the terms of latest aid package. Fine. Let them default, and move back to drachma. They better be careful what they wish for. No one will be lining up to invest in Greek debt. The international community can give them humanitarian assistance if it comes to that. Right now I’d much rather give money to the Red Cross than the politicians in Greece.

Shanghai Composite Index Update

Once again the BBC offers a well prepared analysis of Beijing Central Government's struggles with the erratic Shanghai stock market. Beijing is treating its premier stock market as "too big to fail" similar to current US Federal Reserve operating procedures. Have we reached the point where free capital markets are relegated to the history books and large financial institutions are falling under governmental control? This article is well worth the time taken to read.

Financial News

With all the debt turmoil in Europe and an erratic Shanghai Composite index, what about gold prices? Spot gold price is unchanged at $1163 per oz. Does this strike Blog readers as being odd? Either precious metals are indeed a relic of the past or there is serious under the table pricing controls between London and New York banks.

The European bond market is mostly ignoring the Greek vote though there is some movement of assets to safer markets. Seeking Alpha reports with this headline. So where are bonds going following the referendum? Investors are still selling off riskier assets, although the declines are muted compared with a week ago on increased hopes for a deal with Varoufakis gone. As expected, money is flowing into the U.S. and Germany's fixed-income markets, and out of Spain, Italy, Portugal and Greece. 10-year bond yields: U.S. -0.8% bps to 2.30%; Germany -6 bps to 0.73%; Spain +10 bps to 2.31%; Italy +10 bps to 2.34%; Portugal +11 bps to 3.02%; Greece +48 bps to 14.82%.

GFRC News

The GreySoldier Liberty Seated half dollar consignment should arrive today with exciting offerings.

I spent Sunday evening processing the Liberty Seated quarter consignment images and also conversing with the consignor towards retail asking prices. These tasks are completed....following is the consignment gallery for your consideration. The consigned quarters are in low to mid circulated grades with many being PCGS certified. The highlight is clearly the 1871-S PCGS VF30 CAC offering along with an 1857 Flying Eagle cent clashed reverse example, an 1872-CC with porosity plus 1881 and 1888 low mintage dates. The 1853-O Briggs 3-E filled mintmark is fully closed. There is even a 1943 Double Die Obverse FS-103 Washington in the lot. I hope to have the all pieces posted to price list by end of day Tuesday.

  

  

  

 

 

July 5, 2015

I trust that Daily Blog readers are well and enjoying our Independence holiday weekend. Thank you for taking holiday time to visit with me this morning.

The Fortins traveled to Boston yesterday and it was a great time. Immediately after publishing the Blog, we drove to Portland and caught a relaxing bus ride to Boston's South Station. Meeting us were Matt, Chikae, Natsumi and our daughter Renee, who is spending several weeks in an internship role at a Boston veterinarian clinic. For new Blog readers, Renee just completed her second year at Virginia Tech's School of Veterinary Medicine and is already contemplating where she wishes to practice after degree completion.

Boston was teeming with locals and tourists and is such a great American city. We stopped for lunch at Magawama in the Quincy Market and enjoyed authentic Asian cuisine while watching the street performers followed by time at the park and carosel for Natsumi. Our visit end much to soon with a walk to the North End, gelato and then returning to South Station for the Portland bus ride.

Considering it was the 4th July holiday, GFRC still enjoyed a good sales day as multiple orders arrived for the 1875-CC F-112c dime and other inventory.

In yesterday's blog, I stated that the summer Gobrecht Journal edition had been mailed by Bill Bugert. This was a misunderstanding on my part as the Gobrecth Journals (all 650 of them) and the annual meeting auction catalog were retrieved from the printers and ready for mailing this coming week. So my misunderstanding here. While on the latest Gobrecht Journal topic, following is the printer ready image (front/back cover art) for the ANA Annual Meeting auction catalog with graphics credits to Jim Macor. The LSCC leadership believes in the club's mission and hopes the membership will support our cause with generous early email bids and during the actual auction. The Annual Auction is an important funding vehicle for our treasury.

 

Financial News

I've pretty much given up on NBC News for meaningful reporting. Instead this morning's BBC News provides insight into Chinese central government efforts towards bringing some sanity to the Shanghai Composite index. The article entitled China share slump: Dealers to spend $20bn to halt slide reports that Chinese brokerage firm will jointly invest 15% of net assets amounting to 120 bn yuan, in blue chip exchange traded funds. This is a dramatic move by Beijing central government to steady the country's financial situation given that the housing market remains weak along with the export sector.

Greece residents are voting on the "austerity" (Greek view) or "reform" (German view) ballot today and I will be watching the results closely as Greece is not a debt island to itself. There will be global implications for however the Greece debt crisis is handled.

Have you been watching the gold to silver ratio as of late? Though both gold and silver appear to be priced in a tight trading range, the ratio (gold price divided by silver price) deserves some attention. The ratio is currently at 75 and below is a historical graph of the ratio dating back to early 1900s. The ratio has spent much more time below 75 than above...silver may be the better option of the two precious metals at the moment. Bill Bugert sent along this commentary via email after visiting a local Gettysburg jewelry/coin shop... On the purchase of gold. Yesterday, I was in our local coin (actually jewelry) shop. The owner does a large business with bullion coins and he was telling me that a few days ago, he got in 10-100 oz. bars of silver, some pre-1964 common silver coins, and 10 oz. of gold bullion coins. All sold immediately. He had no bullion products in stock. He said he has never seen it like this before and that people are very nervous of what is coming.

GFRC News

Today's goals are limited.....photography and pricing of the Liberty Seated quarter consignment that arrived on Friday and being in a position to post starting on Tuesday.

I've also decided to start releasing some of my personal collection Seated dimes to the price list as it will take years to release the 1600 or so dimes amassed while building the variety reference set. Please see the Featured Coins of the Day for two nice dimes that just went to the price list.

On my list of things to do today is also loading the Tom Bender Liberty Seated Dime collection onto the Open Registry. This is an incredible accomplishment and I'm pleased to have this listing on the GFRC website.

Featured Coins of the Day

I'm going to be randomly selecting raw seated dimes for awhile and adding to the price list. Many are web-book plate coins and will be photographed once again to ensure that critical diagnostics are captured and listed online before each dime is sold. Today's offerings include the 1838 F-103 plate coin with a repunched date digits along with a lovely 1856 Large Date F-104 dime that I bought from Brian Greer during 1993. Most of the lower grade seated dime were purchased during the 1988 through 2000 timeframe while I was conducting variety research and building the database that eventually become the web-book published during 2004. Please see the Liberty Seated Dime AU-MS price list for individual descriptions and pricing.

 

Wishing everyone a great remaining 4th July weekend!

 

 

July 4, 2015

July 4th holiday arrives and wishing everyone a restful and fun holiday weekend. GFRC is officially closed as attention shifts to the great Maine outdoors and lobster rolls. If you are in a shopping mood on July 4th, then please send inquiries or orders via email as I will be checking these on Sunday morning.

The summer Gobrecth Journal issue is in the mail per Editor Bill Bugert. LSCC members will be receiving their Gobrecht Journal issue shortly along with a lovely auction catalog featuring lots being offered at the ANA annual meeting. Thanks to Jim Macor for designing the catalog's front and back covers and to Bill Bugert for preparing and printing our first formal auction catalog. Auction descriptions were written by the one and only Len Augsburger while I handled the photography. This is an LSCC fund raising auction since the club has no active donation or sponsorship programs. All LSCC activities and services are funded through membership dues and the annual auction. So please consider bidding often and strongly as you are aiding a group of passionate volunteers as they continue to introduce Liberty Seated coinage collecting to young and old throughout the United States.

GFRC News

The latest Seated quarter consignment arrived yesterday with contents as listed in the July 2 Blog. Already there is much attention towards the 1871-S PCGS VF30 CAC offering and it is indeed warranted....a perfectly original example and so rare at this level. Pricing proposal will be established on Sunday, confirmed with consignor on Monday/Tuesday and we should be loading offerings by mid week.

The noteworthy 1839-O V1 (Large O, Reverse of 1838-O) and 1840-O No Drapery V-1 (Large O, Reverse of 1839-O) half dimes are on the price list. Following are quick access images. Both pieces are nice and original with the 1839-O having considerable device details and strong rims. Please remember the 1839-O V1 is an R6 rarity with few coming to market. These pieces are reasonably priced to enable locating new homes in variety collections.

 

I was fortunate to locate a high grade example of the 1875-CC In Wreath F-112c variety/die state recently and published this coin's existence at the New Discoveries link and F-112c webpage yesterday. The piece grades AU55, features the heavily cracked reverse while the obverse has the large die blog on Liberty's mid section. Years of searching are necessary for locating this types of late die states examples for documentation purposes. Here is the new acquisition which is heading to the price list this weekend.

Featured Coin of the Day

Let's go back to the Seated half dime price list for the featured coin of the day. While photographing the 1839-O and 1840-O ND half dimes, I also took opportunity to re-photograph this 1837 Large Date with heavily repunched date which is housed in PCGS AU50 old holder. This piece has incredible toning and is a little gem but the initial images simply did not convey this feeling or appearance. Below are the new images which better represent the overall eye appeal. Bright light viewing is lots of fun due to the bold luster that accentuates the ring toning. In today's market, this example is conservatively graded.

 

Thank you for visiting with me this morning and wishing all Daily Blog readers a wonderful 4th July weekend.

 

 

July 3, 2015

Friday arrives with most of us either on holiday today or mentally preparing for the 4th July weekend. Thank you for taking a few minutes to visit with me this morning.

Though I was probably well versed in global news in years past, writing the Blog brings an increased awareness of global news and life style topics as I continually read each day to locate meaningful topics for subsequent blogs. Topic need to pass personal criteria for relevance and credibility and as a result, elevate my own awareness about society, finances and ongoing cultural changes. Before moving on into today's featured topic, let's start with GFRC News.

GFRC News

Two important Liberty Seated half dime varieties arrived yesterday and will be photographed and loaded onto price list today.

1839-O Large O V-1 which was struck using a left over reverse from 1838 and grades a full original Good 4. I asked the LSCC's noted half dime expert for background on the V-1 variety; Steven Crain writes, "The 1839-O V1 Large O Reverse of 1838-O (and various other descriptions) is perhaps the rarest Liberty Seated half dime other than the 1870-S. It has retained its rarity over the years, and remains extremely tough to locate. Most collectors who seek one give up on an AU (just 2 known), or even an EF (perhaps 5 or 6 known ... maybe), and settle for a G or VG. I have never seen a VF example, and there are, to my knowledge, no mint state examples."

1840-O V1 Large O No Drapery graded PCGS VF35 and stricty original. Steven Crain provides additional comments, "The 1840-O V1 Large O No Drapery in VF-35 is quite scarce (not as rare as the 1839-O V1, but very scarce). Any of the 1840-O ND Large O varieties are perennial favorites, and you should have no problem selling it. If it has eye appeal it's a keeper. When considering something like that I always ask myself "Where would you ever find another one?".

In yesterday's Blog, I made a request for substantial Barber coinage consignments towards ramping up this product line. Already one GFRC customer approached me on this topic and discussions are underway concerning the consignment of a Barber quarter set as he wishes to aggressively pursue a Liberty Seated half dollar set. It really is about the thrill of the hunt, right?

A surprise Open Registry submission arrived from Tom Bender yesterday. Tom Bender's Liberty Seated dime set is an incredible undertaking and features pieces formerly from the Eugene Gardner Collection. Tom's collection will be posted to the Open Registry during the weekend.

I will be loading more selections to price list today including the raw 1861-O halves from the 36 piece hoard along with random other coins. Please consider a purchase this holiday weekend!

Featured Topic

Benjamin Franklin is well known for this 1789 quote in a letter to Jean-Baptiste Leroy , "Our new Constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes." Ben Franklin did not anticipate the rise of the legal and insurance industries else he might have added insurance to the statement. How many different types of insurance does the average American carry today? Let's see; health, car, home, business, personal liability, life, title, flood etc. Considerable monies are spent protecting ourselves from robbery, a variety of man made or natural crises and of course, lawsuits. But what about financial insurance?

A recent and brief newsletter from Mauldin Economics arrived at my Inbox and is worth to read. The article is entitled, "It Could Never Happen Here" by Jared Dillian and connects the dots from the Greece debt crisis back to our personal lives here in the United States. Here is an excerpt to wet your appetite.....

Of course, not everyone in Greece is hurting. Many people saw this coming and took action. They took all their money out of the banks, put it under the mattress, or maybe stored it in a safe. Maybe they bought gold, or diamonds, or something else. These people aren’t standing in lines at ATMs. They aren’t going to go homeless or hungry.

But these people get a pretty bad rap—at least here in the US, where we call them “doomsday preppers.” Or “bunker monkeys.” Or “conspiracy theorists.” Or “gold bugs.” They take a beating.

Jim Rickards tweeted the other day, “I’ll bet there a lot of Greeks saying, ‘I wish I had bought some gold.’” Truer words have never been spoken.

This week’s issue of The 10th Man is not a gold promotion, but rather a broader discussion about how you can prepare for financial catastrophe. People keep fire extinguishers and first aid kits in their cars. They test their smoke alarms twice a year. They purchase flood insurance or, in my neighborhood, hurricane shutters.

Why would you do all these things but just leave your money in the bank and hope for the best?

I have studied all kinds of financial crises in all parts of the world, from depressions to hyperinflations. The thing they all have in common is that people who do not prepare get crushed. People who are not appropriately paranoid get crushed.

There is such a thing as being too paranoid (if everything you own is in gold and hard assets, you can miss out on some meaty returns in financial assets), but a little paranoia is healthy. For a few years, I had a pretty concrete escape plan, with assets, just in case.

So carefully holding physical gold or other monetrary instruments is a wise form of financial insurance regardless of the stigma associated with this type of behavior.....sometime to think about in the digital age with nearly all of our financial assets being numerical entries on a bank statement or 401K account. As Jared Dillian states....let's hope there is never a need in our life times to use financial insurance.

Financial News

The Seeking Alpha daily headlines have not arrived yet. But BBC News reports that the Shanghai Composite was crushed again yesterday and now Bejing in initiating manipulation investigations.....

Featured Coins of the Day

Sales of Capped Bust halves have been slow as of late and I'm trying to determine the reason why. GFRC offers a large selection with many being nice gray original pieces with CAC approval. Following is a gallery of the CAC approved Capped Bust halves for your consideration.

  

  

Wishing everyone a fun filled 4th July weekend!

 

 

July 2, 2015

Greetings to loyal Blog readers as we approach the July 4th holiday weekend. Thank you for visiting.

I'm pleased to announce that Daily Blog downloads broke through the 300 milestone on Wednesday. A substantial collector community is assembling daily for financial news, global market updates and commentary and of course, the latest GFRC consignments and new offerings. Could Wednesday's elevated interest have been the result of GreySoldier's featured lobster roll as several customers called about having a good laugh with this posting.....

Bill Bugert published the July E-Gobrecht issue Wednesday evening and it is another great issue. The E-Gobrecht has received the ANA Outstanding Publication Award in the Electronic category...congratulations to our great editior Bill and to the many monthly column writers and other feature article contributors. I've not posted the July E-Gobrecht to the LSCC website link yet but it is available for download here. Please check out Len Augburger's Auction Cataloging for Dummies article as it provides insight into the daily life of those who write auction lots description for a living. The LSCC club member spotlight column features Mark Verbeck with early membership #317. Then there is a brief article about GFRC and the Daily Blog at the request of Bill Bugert.

GFRC News

The 1865-S PCGS VF35 Seated quarter posted to price list without images yesterday lasted only 2 hours before being placed on hold.

Another eleven piece Liberty Seated quarter consignment is heading to Maine and is already in transit. This new consignment is from an existing consignor, therefore working out the details was smooth and brings a diverse group of circulated pieces to GFRC inventory. Here are the details.....

1850-O PCGS VG8; 1851 NGC VF35; 1857 Flying Eagle Clash VF; 1863 PCGS G6; 1864S PCGS AG3; 1871 G6; 1871S PCGS VF30 CAC; 1872CC PCGS G Details; 1875-S F Details; 1881 PCGS VF25; 1888 PCGS VF20

GFRC business continues to grow in China via my good Shanghai friend and agent Harry Zhang. We've been in discussions of late about my heading back to Shanghai in late 2015 or early 2016 to take a booth at the Yunzhou Antique Market coin shows. How I foundly remember these coins shows on the antique mall's 6th floor.....spending a few days offering choice United States coins could be an adventure.

Do you have nice Barber coins that you might consigning with GFRC? If so, then please email or call as I'm interested in expanding the Barber product lines and a seed consignment would be appreciated. Special commission rates could be a nice incentive for a larger consignment.

Financial News

The Shanghai Composite is in trouble after recent drop and Beijing is "turning the financial policy knobs" in an attempt to right the ship. Seeking Alpha reports.....Chinese stocks fell again today in another highly volatile session despite regulatory efforts to put a floor under the sliding market. Late on Wednesday, the China Securities Regulatory Commission relaxed rules on using borrowed money to speculate on stocks, letting brokerages set their own tolerance level on margin calls, and allowing the roll-over of margin lending contracts. In addition, China's main exchanges said they would cut transaction fees effective Aug. 1. Shanghai closed down 3.5%, taking losses since mid-June to more than 20%.

Daily Blog Field Reporting!

One of our readers is a full time ex-pat in Europe and reported yesterday that he might need to be in Athens today to deal with company fallout from the debt crisis. Luckily, he remained at home base but sent in this report from colleagues who are on the ground in Athens....

Getting good updates from our CFO and finance director from our Med/Middle East business on the ground in Athens.

- Situation seems to be improving...

- Banks opened yesterday for pensioners to take larger withdrawals

- The "Yes" vote is polling at 66% and will likely continue to increase as the pressures on daily life become more severe

- The new Greek proposal accepts the majority of EU demands and the proposal will be sent out to the Eurozone FinMins to take a decision

- Demonstrations are swinging in composition, roughly 2/3rds for yes, 1/3rd for no

It will be interesting to see if the government can hold on to power after the referendum though.

Featured Coins of the Day

I'm in the middle of breaking up the Maine Collection Barber dime set with a large group heading to the TPGs at the Baltimore show. Remaining pieces will be sold raw or, for the G-VG items, sold wholesale via GFRC-Coins on eBay. This Barber set is complete and features a nice mix of grades. Following are two pieces from the collection which are not rarities by any stretch of the imagination but still nice collector coins.

 

 

 

 

July 1, 2015

Good morning to friends and visitors as we start the month of July. Thank you for visiting the Blog this morning.

GFRC News

Supporting the Open Registry has been a serious issue of late. I believe that the industry needs a platform for individuals to proudly showcase their collections without having to spend monies for PCGS or NGC grading fees. One can only imagine the amount of monies that are spent attempting NGC to PCGS cross overs so that owners can add coins to the PCGS Set Registry and take advantage of their new display applications. Now PCGS is adding more variety attribution sets to increase revenues from attribution services.....maybe I should go into this business for Seated dimes at a minimum?

Seriously.... collectors are spending significant monies to encapsulate, reholder, cross over and attribute their coins. All of these monies could instead be used to purchase coins.....which have intrinsic and numismatic value.

Establishing a "free" Open Registry that handles certified and raw coins requires funding for development costs or a team of volunteers to execute the program manually. I am pleased to announce that Jon Potts has volunteered to help administer the Open Registry. As a first step, Jon will be taking over the Excel spreadsheet data entry workload for calculating Set Ratings and Weighted Grades etc. The next step will be providing Jon with the ability to use an HTML editor to perform the online website editting and moving the entire Open Registry maintenance to him. Jon has been a dime collector for many years and is known for his comprehensive Capped Bust, Seated and Barber sets under the name "Dimeman" on the PCGS Set Registry. Like many of us who volunteer our time towards supporting the numismatic hobby, Jon's motive is to give back to the hobby and ensure that we mold programs that will attract next generation collectors.

More will be forthcoming on the Open Registry topic as I plan to discuss options for low cost HTML editing software and the purchase of a package for Jon and myself to use. Small donations to fund Jon's software package may be requested as an avenue for other collectors to participate in the Open Registry expansion.

Financial News

BBC News provides in depth reporting on the Greece debt crisis including the European Commission document that clearly states the "austerity" or "reform" terms to be accepted by Greece for new bailout funding. The document is in pdf format and can be downloaded here. The BBC article summaries the key European Commision demands as follows;

VAT (sales tax): A new system to come in from 1 July, with three rates, aimed at boosting annual revenue by 1% of total output (GDP)
Most goods to be taxed at top rate of 23%, including restaurants and catering and processed foods
Reduced rate of 13% for basic food, electricity, hotels and water
Super-reduced rate of 6% for medicines, books and theatre
End exemptions and eliminate VAT discounts for Greek islands
Create strong disincentives to early retirement
Move retirement age up to 67 by 2022
End Ekas "solidarity" top-up grant that some 200,000 poorer pensioners get - immediate Ekas cut for wealthiest 20% of recipients, and cut completely by 2020
Pensioners' healthcare contributions to rise to 6%, from 4%

As I study the details of the Greece debt crisis as it unfolds, there is a key learning. Unsustainable debt will lead to enslavement by one's lenders.

From Seeking Alpha financial headlines....

First a World Bank report (remember that the World Bank is a United States controlled entity).... China must take urgent steps to reform a "distorted" financial system in its transition to a more balanced economic model, the World Bank warned in its latest review of the country's economy. The Chinese government retains effective control over almost 95% of bank assets, which allows state-owned enterprises to secure a disproportionate share of available credit at the expense of small and medium-sized companies, especially in the private sector. Karlis Smits, a senior economist at the World Bank and lead author of the report, also warned of the potential dangers from a sharp correction in China's roller coaster stock market.

More on China....China's vast manufacturing sector remained lackluster in June, fueling calls for additional stimulus measures to boost the world's number two economy. The country's official manufacturing PMI remained unchanged at 50.2, while HSBC's final PMI came in at 49.4, below a preliminary reading of 49.6. The Shanghai Composite, which entered a bear market on Monday, ended the day down 5.2%.

GFRC Blog Feedback

GreySoldier sent along an email reminding me of an important recent announcement. He writes....

I just wanted to make sure that you were aware of the newest addition to the McDonald's Menu ~ McLobster (lobster rolls), but available only in the New England area. Since we won't be able to get any here in Florida, I may get you to bring some when you come to FUN in January You may want to include this important information in your blog for tomorrow since it is probably as financially important as Greece. Image attached.

Featured Coins of the Day

There are many beautiful coins on the GFRC price lists. Of course, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder..... For me, perfectly original 19th Century silver coins are a source of beauty. Here are two inexpensive offerings that I would recommend.

First is a choice original 1861/0 half dime that is raw and graded EF45. This piece has even gray patina throughout obverse and reverse. Diagnostic loop to the left of the 1 digit is obvious under 10x loupe. Surfaces are completely blemish free. Under bright light, this piece turns golden with hints of blues on the reverse center.

Next is a steel gray toned 1835 Capped Bust quarter that resides in PCGS VF35 holder. I bought this piece raw and fully expected the coin to grade EF40. This piece is choice and attractive with above average strike complimented by steel gray surfaces. Some medium gray toning partially covers both obverse and reverse.