Gerry's Daily Blog Archives - March 2016

March 31, 2016

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog on the last day of March. Where does the time go?

Wednesday's travels to Baltimore went smoothly and by 4:00pm, GFRC inventory was safely stored at the convention security room. I immediately turned attention to appointments with several wholesale dealers and dinner with the Florida Collection consignor. Viewing wholesaler inventory is always an insightful exercise concerning current market grading standards and the overall quality of coins being offered in various online markets like eBay and Collectors.com. During two wholesaler appointments, I viewed at least 7 double row slabbed boxes and purchased four coins which amounts to less than 1% of the coins inspected. It is this type of selectivity and patience that results in consistently high GFRC quality offerings. Believe me that I paid strong for the four coins purchased since hand selecting the most choice examples that were accurately graded and fairly priced.

Sandwiched in between the wholesaler meetings was a visit with the Florida Collection consignor at his hotel following by dinner at an Inner Harbor eclectic Asian restuarant. The hotel visit resulted in another substantial consignment with several incredible Liberty Seated dimes as the highlight.

Following is a combined summary of the Florida Collection consignment and new purchases. These pieces will be heading to the Baltimore show cases this morning, so if there is potential interest, please email as soon as possible for a price quote.

Seated 5c: 1841 NGC AU58 choice original silver gray; 1858 PCGS PR62 even gray

Seated 10c: 1838 Sm Stars F-101 PCGS AU58 CAC choice original; 1844 PCGS MS63 CAC electric blue patina and rare; 1851-O PCGS AU55 choice original crusty gray and one of the finest original examples I've ever seen; 1852-O F-101 PCGS MS62 choice original with rainbow bullseye reverse; 1856-S PCGS AU58 original gun metal gray and so rare at this level; 1863 PCGS PR65 Cameo with gold toning; 1878 NGC PR63 original gray/blue; 1881 NGC PF64 white mirrors; 1889 PCGS MS66 choice original aquamarine and rose patina; 1890 PCGS MS66 CAC choice frosty original

Mercury 10c: 1939 PCGS MS68 FB CAC beautifully toned; 1939 NGC MS67 FB CAC frosty luster; 1944 NGC MS68 bold frosty luster; 1944 NGC MS66 FB gem original with light rose/gold patina

Seated 25c: 1887 PCGS PR67 gem original with gold toning

Bust 50c: 1807 PCGS VG10 CAC choice original gray; 1827 NGC AU55 CAC choice original gray with crisp strike

Seated 50c: 1843 PCGS EF45 crusty original gray with typical "Gerry Look"; 1843-O PCGS AU58 perfectly original slider with luster and gold rims.

Today's Blog will be brief as inventory must be retrieved from security while the bourse floor opens at 8:00am for booth setup. Add in a hearty breakfast and there is no much time for composing a lengthy Blog.

Have a great day! I will be back on Friday morning with the first Baltimore show report. Please check back.

 

March 30, 2016

It is Whitman Baltimore show time!

Actually, this Blog edition is being written on Tuesday evening. The show preparations are completed and time for a double scotch as a reward for the day's hard work. Wednesday morning brings an early drive to the Tampa airport. Matt has confirmed his show attendance on Friday and Saturday after transport via over night Amtrak from Boston to Baltimore and arriving Friday morning at 6:00am. Where else can you find such a dedicated GFRC table assistant and IT Director?

Before I get much further, the LSCC Baltimore regional meeting will be held Friday morning at 9:00am. Just go to the 3rd floor meeting room area and you will be warmly welcomed as a returning or potential new member. Meeting agenda is straightforward with Gerry Fortin providing a club update, John Frost discussing the ANA Summer Seminar class being taught by John, myself and guest instructor Len Augsburger and an educational session with Trade Dollar expert John Coyle.

You've seen the Baltimore bourse floor layout several times, but here it is again as a reminder on how to quickly located Table 818 and Gerry Fortin Rare Coins. All I can say is please come and take a look at the inventory. After carefully preparing the slabbed and raw coin offerings throughout Tuesday, even I was impressed with the overall quality and originality. There will be a full case of raw Bust and Seated coins that will surprise customers as many could be easily placed into TPG holders after purchase. Please visit GFRC first! So far, two consignment appointments have been made leading to more new coins to be posted next week!

Whitman Baltimore Show - Gerry Fortin Rare Coins/W. David Perkins - Table 818

 

GFRC Client Gallery Voting Results

Let's close the voting and publish the results as the upcoming busy schedule will not allow attention to this topic until well after the Baltimore show. It is best that we capture the feedback and commentary now. Here comes the Client Gallery voting results.....

We have a tie for top honors between Poetic Candy and Pickering Creek as each consignor received eight votes. Congratulations to both individuals for their amazing consignments. Below are the Client Gallery links as these collections deserve a second look!

Pickering Creek                                          Poetic Candy

     

Very few votes separated the next two sets for top honors. Grey Soldier secured seven votes while Central California received six votes. Congratulations to both indviduals for assembling such impressive collections and sharing your wonderful coins with GFRC customers.

       Grey Soldier                                         Central California

       

Wednesday morning update. There is sad news to start the day. Upon opening morning emails, I received an email that Ed Sims (Central California consignor) passed away late last week. Though never meeting Ed Sims in person, we enjoyed many hours of phone conversation. Ed defined the Liberty Seated type coin sets in the GFRC Open Registry and was an avid collector of Seated coinage. His Central California collection was typical of the personal intensity he brought to life and collecting. Ed was a veteran who served and loved his country. Ed will be laid to rest next Monday at the San Joaquin Valley National Cemetery. There will be a Marine Color Guard there to honor his service in the Marines.

Following is feedback for Ed Sims' Central California collection in honor of this individual.

- Amazing collection,well matched and carefully selected highlighted by The 1877CC 25 cent piece a "wow!" coin.

- Has the overall "Gerry Look" to it. Original like they sat in an album or drawer for 100 years. How I want my collection to look when I'm done.

- My single vote goes to Central California. His coins are nicely toned, great looking appeal and rarity on most coins. The strike on his coins is usually great and the overall apperance is outstanding either being a XF or MS coin. Overall an outstanding collection which he should be proud of.

We end today's Blog on this sad note. May God bless Ed's soul as he was indeed a fine individual that will be missed.

 

March 29, 2016

Greetings on a Tuesday morning and thank you for stopping by at the Daily Blog.

Today's primary focus is Whitman Baltimore show preparations. Since attending major coin shows for years as a collector and now, as a dealer, I thought it might be fun and informative to discuss the different perspectives from alternate sides of the bourse table. Having an appreciation for customer and dealer challenges and expectations is important as advanced numismatics is a relationship based business. Let start with the collector perspective and then my own experiences as a dealer.

Collector Experience

As an advanced collector, attending a major coin show meant time off from the regular day job and an important opportunity to enjoy a gratifying hobby and to meet fellow coin enthusiasts. Preparations were mostly travel arrangements, if flying, and stashing away funds for several months prior to the show. Attending an LSCC club meeting or evening dinner was a priority as I relished the opportunity to meet the prominent researchers and personalities in the hobby. Attending a Heritage auction preview was also high on the priority list to continually refine grading skills followed by a free evening meal at the auction. Walking the bourse floor and searching out collection upgrades or attempting important cherrypicks rounded out the typical expectations. If sharing a hotel room with numismatic friends, then the evenings went late while we shared purchases and other personal collection items. Overall, the event was a wonderful break from a professional career and an opportunity to utilize different brain cells for a few days.

Dealer Experience

As a coin dealer, attending a major show requires days of preparations. Since a coin show is part of a day to day business continuum, then attention to details is paramount since the schedule is non stop and exhausting. Each customer has personal service expectations and ensuring that every individual enjoys their visit at the GFRC table takes preparations. Travel arrangements and bourse floor locations were previous settled so the focus shifts to ensuring that nothing is left behind when traveling to the show. Packing the best possible inventory mix is a foremost priority as what may sell well in Baltimore may not be optimum for Denver, as an example. Also important for airflight travel is carry on restrictions which limits the amount of inventory that can be brought to a show. Then there are the business accessories including computer/barcode scanner, extension cords, receipt pads, case liners, business cards and small bill change purse. A check list is best to ensure nothing is left behind. So are the preparations done at this point? Probably not..... Certain customers request that their raw coins purchases be submitted to the TPGs at the show. Other customers request a show pick up of their purchase. TPG submission forms must be prepared along with receipts for the show pick-ups.

Great! Travel day arrives and transport to the airport takes place. Immediately, security becomes the top priority. Transporting inventory means never allowing bags to leave one's control. TSA screening at the airport is unpredictable. Allowing an extra 45 minutes for a private screening is standard procedure if carrying tightly packed larger denomination coins. Once at the destination, then transport from airport to convention center security is the next priority. Finally, the inventory bags are placed in security and then the attention immediately shifts to meeting with wholesalers for gaining "first shot" at their new inventory. Meetings take place with less than optimum lighting conditions and quick purchase decisions are made. If enough time is available, an auction lot preview may be in order for assessing the quality of new coins entering the market via that channel. The day ends typically with an important client dinner and back to hotel room to write the following morning's Daily Blog. Are we tired yet?

Dealer setup day arrives with attending dealer congregating for bourse floor access. Meeting fellow dealers is always a pleasure and then the door opens with the rush to access the bourse floor. Upon arriving at the designated table, a quick inspection determines if the show promoter was efficient. In the signage correct? Are the reserved number of cases and lights available? If so, I count my good fortunes and then immediately move into display case setup. While setting up cases, here come the vest pocket wholesalers asking for prices on coins as they are placed into cases. No pressure here as the coins are exposed to potential theft! These dealers are typically after PCGS OGH, NGC Fatty and ANACS old white holderd coins looking for the upgrades and profit! Finally, the cases are populated and locked. The computer is powered up along with a mobile hotspot. Then the wholesale dealers trailing inventory in suitcases arrive asking "if you are buying". Maybe a collegue asked for a "favor" for a show turn TPG submission which means running to the TPG booth and hoping there is not a long line. All cases must be locked and hopefully, one does not misplace the case keys!

The bourse floor opens to the public and customers arrive. One hopes that the inventory is appropriate and that a profit will be made after all the show expenses and efforts. Manning the GFRC table (Table 818 by the way) will be a lot of fun after setup as many LSCC members will just hang out and share their coins among themselves.

Special Comments......If you attend a coin show as an Early Bird and start visiting dealers during their setup period, then please understand that dealers are not in a position to conduct small talk. If I'm placing inventory in cases, then please respect the fact that this task needs to be done quickly for security reasons. There is always ample time to chat once the bourse floor formally opens for business. And lastly, please don't bring the CDN or GreySheet to the GFRC table. Purchase expectations for quality early type at wholesale or below is unjustified and frankly, indicates a lack of respect for the dealer and all of his efforts.

GFRC News

The Top 3 Client Gallery feedback continues yesterday with more inputs. There is a tight race between four consignors for the Top 3 spots. I will probably announce the results in tomorrow morning's Blog, which will be written this evening as heading to the Tampa airport early.

Jim Poston is express shipping another consignment that arrives this afternoon just in time for the Baltimore show.

All consignments except for a raw Seal Beach lot are now posted on the price lists. Amazingly, I was able to process essentially all coins prior to the Baltimore show.

Financial News

Global financial news remains quiet. It appears that everyone is worn out discussing negative interest rates (NIRP) as this central bank phenonemon becomes commonplace. Spot gold is holding to $1217. Saudi Arabia is struggling with a loss of foreign reserves due to low oil prices. Janet Yellen makes an important appearance today as the financial world anticipates the Federal Reserve's next interest rate moves.

Net foreign assets at Saudi Arabia's central bank dropped 17.3% from a year earlier to 2.19T riyals ($584B) in February, their lowest level since May 2012. The central bank, which acts as Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, has been drawing down its assets to cover a huge state budget deficit caused by low oil prices.

U.S. Fed Chair Janet Yellen is due to speak at a highly anticipated Economic Club of New York luncheon today, and she has some explaining to do. On the heels of a surprisingly dovish press conference at the FOMC's March meeting, where a rate hike path was scaled back to perhaps two this year, a handful of Fed officials over the past week have suggested a rate increase could be coming soon. Other Fed speeches on today's calendar: San Francisco President John Williams and two appearances from Dallas President Robert Kaplan.

Featured Coins

Let's pass on this Blog segment today. There is a substantial amount of packaging and shipping this morning and then the emphasis shifts to preparing for the Whitman Baltimore show.

Thank you for visiting this morning. I look forward to meeting GFRC customers, consignors and friends at the Baltimore show starting on Thursday. Have a great day.

 

March 28, 2016

Welcome to the Daily Blog and Whitman Baltimore Coin Expo week!

As not attending a coin show since Tampa FUN, excitement is building for being back behind a bourse floor table. The Whitman Baltimore shows have always treated GFRC well, so expectations are quite positive. My son, Matt, even emailed yesterday about the possibility of being table assistant on Friday and Saturday, which is much welcomed news.

Sunday was a typical busy day mixing daytime relaxation with serious GFRC business until midnight. On the relaxation side, we visit the Myakka River state park within 40 minutes of our Venice home. Myakka is a natural wetlands area with airboat tours, a canopy walkway, a tram safari and wildlife watching areas. Our priority was the airboat tour and quickly becoming experts on American alligators as the toured "lake" contains over 1000 specimens. Did you know the male/female alligator ratio is 1:6 or that an alligator's sex is determined by the position of the egg in the nest and the amount of heat received during incubation? Neither did I.....

Response to the request for major Client Galleries review and Top 3 selection was most positive with twelve individuals emailing their votes and feedback. Though it is tempting to disclose early voting, all I will say is that four Galleries are nearly tied for the Top 3 spots. More inputs are expected today. One GFRC customer providing the following assessment for his Top 3 selections.

All of the consignment galleries look like each collection assembler really cared about the quality, condition, eye appeal, rarity, etc. Obviously none of the collections were "just thrown together willy-nilly"; lots of pride and quality went into these collections. My 3 faves are as follows:

1) Poetic Candy: Unbelievable collection of very high quality items - very colorful and very striking appearances. Lots of CAC green and gold beans verify the already beautiful collection. Shows how important storage and ongoing "maintenance" of coins is and above all just leaving 'em alone!!

2) Grey Soldier: This large quantity and great quality collection requires infinite patience coupled with great grading skills.

3) Woodlands: That 1853-O 25c sure looks familiar (!) and the rest show what can happen with just a little perseverance to "not settle" and just wait for those "dream" coins.

Honorable mention to Burch's Creek for not succumbing to holderitis; raw coins are very underrated!

2nd honorable mention to Jim Poston - some of his consignment are now members of my collection.

GFRC News

I'm pleased to announce several GFRC news items this morning as these have been in the formulation stage for a few weeks. Yesterday seemed like the appropriate time to bring new ideas into fruition.

GFRC will begin advertising in the E-Sylum, the electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society, effective April 3. I've been an E-Sylum subscriber for the past two years and enjoy the content and easy to read publishing style employed by Wayne Homren. GFRC will be running a simple banner focusing attention on the Daily Blog, the Trading Desk and consignment program. Here is the banner for those who are not E-Sylum subscribers.

Second on the news list, is the complete redesign of the Client Gallery module. Yesterday's Daily Blog illustration of the major Client Galleries morphed into the solution that had eluded me for several weeks. I was unhappy with the old Client Galley page that stacked new galleries on top of each other and then having to migrate those image galleries into separate Client Galleries at a later date. If it sounds unorganized and complicated, it indeed was! With the new Client Gallery layout, consignor collection illustrations in the Daily Blog will also be posted into the individual Galleries. For those who may be new to the Daily Blog, here is the link for the redesigned Client Gallery page.

Financial News

Spot gold continues to tread water in the $1215-$1220 range and I suspect that there are forces attempting to suppress pricing increases. COMEX physical warehouse gold has dropped to under 100,000 ounces which is a ridiculously small reserve amount given the volume of gold contracts being traded. Please see this link to view the ongoing erosion of COMEX physical gold. This is another case of a serious disconnection between electronic trading and physical realities.

Seeking Alpha offers a few headlines worth sharing but in general the world is in a quiet state with no major new events. China's central government is once again working overtime to prop up the Shanghai equity market. China's massive pension fund is considering "investing" in the equities markets. This would be equivalent to the U.S. Social Security Administration being allowed to invest social security fund into U.S. stocks..... I've not paid much attention to Britian's efforts to leave the European Union but will be focusing on this topic as the June 23 referendum approaches.

China's industrial profits returned to growth in the first two months of 2016, despite weakening business conditions and slowing economic growth. Profits in January and February combined rose 4.8% to 780.7B yuan ($119.8B), following seventh straight months of decline. Meanwhile, China's massive pension fund is likely to start investing in the mainland's A-shares this year, a move that could see 600B yuan ($92.1B) moving into the country's equity markets. The fund, which manages almost 90% of Chinese social security deposits, can currently only invest in treasuries and bank deposits.

The campaign for Britain to leave the EU is now being backed by 250 business leaders, including the former chief executive of HSBC, as big bosses debate the economic impacts of a Brexit ahead of a June 23 referendum. Last month, the heads of more than a third of Britain's biggest companies - including Shell (RDS.A, RDS.B) and BT - said leaving the EU would put jobs and investment at risk. British pound flat at $1.1168.

Featured Coins

GFRC Capped Bust dime sales have been slow of late. So let's showcase two quality examples this morning; 1836 JR-2 and 1836 JR-3 die pairing with both pieces grading AU55. On the left (top for smartphone users) is the PCGS AU55 JR-2 from the David Davis Collection with a hammered strike while on the right (bottom) is the JR-3 R3 example housed in PCGS AU55 holder with CAC approval.

 

Thank you for stopping by this morning. I will probably reveal the Top 3 Client Gallery voting in Tuesday or Wednesday morning's Blog so please get your votes in today. Thursday begins the Baltimore show reporting.

 

 

March 27, 2016

Wishing a Happy Easter Sunday to all GFRC customers, consignors and friends. Easter arrives quite early this year as the Fortins are usually back in Maine for a family get together.

Today's Daily Blog edition will be different and hopefully stimulating. The beauty of being able to custom program one's own website is the opportunity to innovate and explore new ideas. So this morning, I'm using the Blog to remind readers that GFRC enjoys a substantial consignment business that has morphed into the Trading Desk. The thrill of the hunt is a key component of coin collecting while sharing personal accomplishments is a close second. I'm always receiving emails from collectors unknown to me announcing their special finds and asking for advice since actively connected to the collecting community.

Following is a summary display of the major GFRC Client Galleries (typically 20 coins or more) personally selected by me for today's Daily Blog. Just click on the coin icon below the consignor's name to view their individual Client Galleries. Then please consider selecting the Top 3 displays and send along an email with your votes. That's right, please vote on the Top 3 Client Galleries and if time allows, explain the basis for your votes. Responses will be tabulated after the Baltimore show and reported in the Blog during the week of April 3.

When judging a collection, I typically consider eye appeal, color uniformity and rarity as the primary evaluation criteria. So here comes the GFRC Client Galleries on this Easter Sunday morning. Have fun and please don't forget to make selections, at a minimum, and also provide feedback. Responses will be published in a future Daily Blog.

Please note that I've started adding CAC beans on images in the last 60 days so some of the earlier Client Galleries contain many CAC approved coins but do not have the CAC beans on the images.

 

Gerry Fortin Rare Coins - Client Galleries

Please select your Top 3 favorite Galleries shown below

 

Burchs Creek                                       Central California                                         Colorado

        

Florida                                                   Grey Soldier                                               Hamden

        

Hanes Park                                                   Indiana                                                  Jim Poston

        

New Jersey                                                 Osprey                                                         PBG

        

Pickering Creek                                           Poetic Candy                                            Seal Beach

        

Upstate New York                                            Virginia                                            Washington State

        

West Coast                                                  Wisconsin                                               Woodlands

        

 

Thank you for visiting the Daily Blog this morning. It was fun to take a break from the regular format. I hope that you found this edition to be enjoyable and please do consider some feedback.

I will be back bright and early on Monday morning as Whitman Baltimore show preparations start. See you then. In the meantime, please consider a GFRC purchase. Emails will be checked on a regular basis throughout the day.

 

March 26, 2016

GFRC Greetings on this 2016 Easter Weekend. Thank you for stopping by.

Yesterday's Daily Blog was either controversial, informative or the Michigan Collection gallery was popular as Google Analytics recorded over 600 hits, a new Daily Blog viewing record. Hopefully, today edition was be in similar demand.....

GFRC News

The Florida sun broke through the clouds by mid afternoon and I immediately took the opportunity to photograph the Motor City 1838-O F-102 PCGS AU55 Liberty Seated dime consignment along with the Upstate New York 1829 LM-5 NGC MS62 CAC and 1830 LM-7 PCGS AU55 CAC half dimes. The 1838-O dime is fresh to market and has not seen a CAC review but definitely is a strong candidate for approval. Following are images.

    

I'm also pleased to announce that Jim Poston is express shipping another consignment on Monday just in time for the Baltimore show. His recent offerings have been popular and sold quickly. One of the highlights will be this attractive, while scarce, 1801 O-101 Draped Bust half dollar graded PCGS VG8 with CAC approval. Eye appeal is high on this early piece.

Finally in GFRC News, the second Poetic Candy consignment, that was exclusively United States gold, completed CAC review with 9 out of 14 pieces receiving approval including 1 GOLD CAC. Unfortunately, these pieces will not be back in time for Baltimore show display but will be available at Central States and on the price list. Congratulations to Poetic Candy for another excellent CAC review.

Featured Topic

Greg Johnson sent along an insightful article from the London based Economist yesterday that is necessary reading for those worried about global Central Bank efforts to transition the citizenry into cashless societies. The article is entitled, Central banks and digital currencies; Redistributed Ledgers. (Even central bankers are excited about the blockchain). The article discusses potential plans for central banks to issue their own digital currencies and allowing individuals and firms to deposit these digital currencies. The digital currencies would be "guaranteed" by the central bank's country of origin. If consummated, these plans would bring about the total state control of financial holdings and transaction. This is indeed scary stuff that is enabled by the digital age and migrates ultimate financial power to a limited number of individuals. Does this article bring back images of medieval kings and their serfs?

RUSSIA’S central bank has set up a working group. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) is keen. Inspired by bitcoin and its blockchain technology, the world’s central bankers are contemplating digital currencies of their own. Like bitcoin, these would be built around a database listing who owns what. Unlike bitcoin’s, though, these “distributed ledgers” would not be maintained collectively by some of their users. Instead, they would be tightly controlled by the issuers of the currency.

The plans involve letting individuals and firms open accounts at the central bank, a privilege usually enjoyed only by retail banks. Unlike a regular bank account, these would be guaranteed in full by the state, regardless of any limit in the national deposit-insurance scheme. That would make parking cash at the central bank particularly attractive during times of uncertainty.

Featured Coins from the Trading Desk

This morning we feature the Woodlands consignor at the Trading Desk. This individual has a substantial number of attractive coins on consignment that will be well received at the Whitman Baltimore show. Following are two Capped Bust halves worthy of attention. First is a near Gem Original 1825 O-113 half with cartwheel luster and a full strike. This PCGS AU58 CAC example is stunning in hand and under bright light with GFRC photography having some limitations in representing the true quality. Next to the 1825 is an 1832 O-106 also graded PCGS AU58 CAC. This lovely example offers cartwheel luster that radiates through the thin gold patina.

 

That is it for today's edition of the Daily Blog. It is time to move into the packaging and shipping department. Thank you for visiting and I will be back bright and early on Easter morning. Have a great day!

 

March 25, 2016

Glad to have you back at the Daily Blog as we celebrate Good Friday.

Have you noticed that PCGS is expanding its focus on Capped Bust and Liberty Seated varieties? Probably the most obvious signal is via the PCGS price guide. Just check any of the Capped Bust half dime dates at this link and what happens? Each date expands into a set of Logan-McCloskey varieties (LM) that have been certified. Apparently, PCGS is employing an expanded variety attribution strategy to maintain or increase revenue. This step will be a boost to long term variety collecting if PCGS can properly attribute challenging varieties. There are some personal doubts since PCGS has struggled with the designations of 1837 Large and Small Date Seated dimes or not understanding the difference between 1866 Philadelpha dime strikes and the 1866-S F-101 with missing mintmark. Increasing revenue is the obvious goal and the jury is out on if the operations side can accurately conduct variety attributions. Then there are retro labels for soliciting more grading or reholdering fees. Did you receive this morning's PCGS solicitation for custom labeling at the Baltimore show? Yes, PCGS is bringing back the Old Green Label on an anniversary basis. Frankly, this marketing event is not appealing but here is an image from PCGS Customer Service.

Have you noted that GFRC does not offer TPG holder images but only a serial number in the description for validation? The emphasis should be on the coin and its quality rather than the multiple generation of TPG holders. I'm simplistic on this matter. The early TPG holders offer coins with the lowest possibility of being messed with or cracked out umpteenth times for highest potential grade. I love PCGS Rattler/OGH and NGC Fatty holders with CAC approval as these coins are conservatively graded.

Let's step off the soapbox and return to this morning's featured Client Gallery.

The Michigan Collection consignor has been with GFRC since early 2014. His crusty original Liberty Seated dimes and quarters have graced the price lists on an anonymous basis. However, we decided to bring the Michigan Collection consignor out of the shadows and document his latest submission with the following Client Gallery. Crusty original preservation states and better dates have been the individual's long term collecting goal and the gallery does a decent job of communicating this point. All of the offerings are priced so don't hesitate to email or call for a price quote. Already the 1857-S quarter is sold and there are several FRoR on the 1866 PCGS Good 6 quarter.

Michigan Collection Consignment - March 25, 2016

   

   

   

   

   

  

 

The Upstate New York 1830 LM-7 PCGS AU55 CAC half dime with bullseye toning received five FRoR after being mentioned in yesterday's Blog. Florida weather was overcast on Thursday therefore no imaging took place. Instead, here are smartphone images of this lovely half dime.

 

Financial News

China's slowing economy has been in the news for months but the Shanghai housing market still remains blazing hot as wealthier mainland Chinese continue moving into China's banking and business center. Have you ever wondered how many oil drilling rigs have been idled in the United States by the collapse of crude oil prices? Amazingly the U.S. oil rig count has dropped by 77% since October 10, 2014 peak.

Shanghai authorities tightened mortgage down-payment requirements for second home purchases on Friday, in a move to cool an overheating property market and reduce fears of a bubble. Under the new rules, home buyers will need to put down 50-70% of the price of a second home, compared to 40% previously. Shanghai home prices are up 20.6% vs. last year. In Shenzhen, prices are up 56.9%; a research unit under the central bank's Shenzhen branch has asked local banks to stop extending loans to home buyers who have applied mortgage twice in the past two years.

The U.S. oil rig count fell by 15 to 372 after rising last week for the first time following 12 straight weeks of cuts, according to the latest survey from Baker Hughes. The overall rig count, which includes a gain of three gas-directed rigs, fell by 12 to 464 for the 29th decline in the past 31 weeks. The oil rig count marks a 77% decline since its Oct. 10, 2014 peak and a 76% decline in overall rigs from a peak of 1,920 on Dec. 5, 2014

Featured Coins from the Trading Desk

Let's punt on this Daily Blog section as a health walk is calling me followed by typical packaging and shipping before the local post office outlet closes early for Good Friday observance. Thanks for stopping by this morning.


 

March 24, 2016

Good morning once again and thank you for visiting the Daily Blog.

This edition will be short as I'm mentally challenged and unprepared this morning. Wednesday was an incredibly busy day with five figure sales across the Trading Desk and online orders. By 8:30pm, I was in bed and consequently, unable to prepare for this morning's Blog.

GFRC News

The Whitman Baltimore show is only one week away and I'm looking forward to being out of the GFRC office and back behind a bourse floor table. Meeting customers and exhibiting quality coins is a key part of the numismatic business. Though email correspondence is efficient, having the opportunity to meet customers face to face is paramount for relationship building and mutual understandings on consignment business.

Many East Coast customers, who are attempting the show, plan to retrieve recent purchases there. My 1980s era bank money bag is stuff with orders that require receipt writing in the next few days.

As a reminder, Gerry Fortin Rare Coins and W. David Perkins will be occupying Table 818 next to Stacks Bowers and Heritage Auctions. Below is the map for quickly locating our booth. I'm expecting a busy show and attempting to schedule wholesaler buying sessions on Wednesday afternoon to enable more time for meeting and supporting retail customers while on the bourse floor. For new consignment opportunities or drop offs, please contact me in advance to schedule adequate discussion time and appropriate documentation of the numismatic property transfer.

Whitman Baltimore Show - Gerry Fortin Rare Coins/W. David Perkins - Table 818

 

In other GFRC news, the 1854-O Crumbed Die Obverse quarter never reached the price list as sold by early afternoon. Astute collectors recognize the importance of rare varieties when they surface and are making immediate purchase decisions. This is possible as I don't try to place unreasonable premiums on these varieties. Instead, GFRC is looking long term and hopes to be the leading dealer of Liberty Seated coinage varieties for years to come. I seek to have every transaction as a win-win event for the involved parties.

A new consignment arrived from Upstate New York collector yesterday and includes the following eye candy;

Capped Bust 5c: 1829 LM-5 NGC Fatty holder MS62 CAC iridescent rose/blue patina, 1830 LM-7 PCGS AU55 CAC incredible bullseye rainbow toning

Seated 5c: 1870 PCGS PR63 gun metal blue/gray mirrors

Seated 50c: 1846-O Med Date PCGS VF35 CAC old album blues, gold and rose patina throughout obverse and reverse.

Also arriving on Wednesday was a gorgeous 1838-O F-102 Seated dime graded PCGS AU55 without CAC review. This piece is from the Motor City consignor and will not last long once posted on the price list or seen in hand at the Baltimore show. What a great offering!

Finally, I will be working late this evening to ensure that the Client Gallery for the Michigan Collection of Liberty Seated dimes and quarters is available in Friday morning's Blog.

Financial News

Spot gold has taken a hit during the past 36 hours and is down to $1217. There is little news to explain the move other than the US Dollar strengthening due to a new hawkish tone from the Federal Reserve concerning 2016 interest rate increases. Let's look at a few Seeking Alpha headlines supporting this point.

U.S. futures are lower alongside a dip in global stocks. The dollar is notably strong and commodities weak after a series of hawkish Fed speakers in the days since last week's FOMC meeting. Shanghai and Tokyo closed in the red overnight, and Europe is down more than 1% at midday. U.S. stock index futures are off by about 0.4% across the board.

The Fed last week may have slashed its expectation for rate hikes this year by 50 basis points, but public comments since have taken a more hawkish tone. The latest was yesterday, with St. Louis Fed President Jim Bullard suggesting April could work for the next boost in interest rates. The dollar moved nicely higher, and gold sharply lower, with the metal falling to about its worst price in a month. It's off another $8 per ounce this morning to $1,217.

Featured Coins from the Trading Desk

Though the GFRC United States gold price list is dominated by Osprey Collection offerings, there are other consignors who are using this venue for selling their gold pieces. This morning, we feature selections from the Woodlands and Washington State consignments. First up is a lovely 1856 PCGS MS62 quarter Eagle from the Woodlands collection. This piece exhibits original orange patina and a bold uniform strike. Next to the 1856 quarter eagle is an 1840 half eagle graded NGC AU55 from Washington State collection. 1840 is the third year of Liberty head design issue with low mintage of 47,338.

 

Thanks for stopping by this morning (or afternoon) and please check back tomorrow for the Michigan Collection Client Gallery. There will be nice Liberty Seated dime semi key date offerings in this lot.

 

March 23, 2016

Greetings once again and welcome to the Daily Blog.

Tuesday was a day of mixed emotions. The Brussels' bombing left an empty feeling in my stomach given that new friends were about to fly to Europe including spending time in Belguim. Christianity teaches us to respect those that provide shelter and food. But in Europe, it appears that a multi decade infiltration has taken place and consequences are becoming apparent. Europe has enough economic issues without being turned into a military camp. The media seems to enjoy the spectacle with their play by play analysis and unknowingly substantiates the terrorist's goals, which is fear. It does not take a rocket scientist to understand this point......

On a positive note, a host of emails arrived with birthday wishes yesterday. Honestly, the outpouring from the GFRC community was overwhelming and I wish to thank everyone for your kind thoughts and wishes. After working a typical day in the GFRC office, a exceptional dinner was at hand at the Crow's Nest in Venice. A 60th birthday called for a special bottle of wine; Mollydooker Blue Eyed Boy Shiraz 2012. After dinner, an early bedtime was in order rather than working to midnight as is so typical these days.

GFRC News

The spectacular 1851 NGC AU58 Seated half dollar, featured in yesterday's Daily Blog, lasted about four hours on the price list and is on hold.

An important Liberty Seated quarter variety rarity was purchased yesterday; the elusive 1854-O crumbled die obverse in very late die state grading full VF. Please email if there is interest as this offering will be on the price list by end of day.

This variety in included in Greg Johnson's Top 25 Seated Quarter Varieties set. He describes the variety as follows and provides an excellent illustration of the late die state diagnostics;

The 1854-O Crumbled Obverse Die (Briggs Obverse 3) is an interesting and very scarce variety. It is much, much harder to find than the 1854-O Huge O, but much less expensive when one does locate an example. Most examples seem to be in VF – XF condition with the finest known in AU condition and the finest certified an XF. It is not well known, because of the scarcity of the variety, that there are distinctly identifiable die states.

In its earliest states the date appears very nearly normal and the only distinguishing feature is the misshapen right arrow. Later die states show increasing deterioration in and around the date. The 4, in particular, is nearly completely filled in the latest die states.


 

Let's close out the the GFRC News section with some feedback concerning the new COIN reporting to consignors. Matt and I are nearly done the consignor transition to the COIN inventory and reporting system.

The COIN report looks phenomenal--kudos and appreciation for always looking for ways to improve customer experience while streamlining service delivery on the trading desk side.

 

Financial News

Today's opening headline is imporant. We've seen U.S. equities barrelling ahead and approaching record level once again. Why the sudden shift in optimum as Q1 was notably negative? In tomorrow's Blog, I will present an article penned by Mauldin Economic's Jared Dillian suggesting that private equities ownership is moving to record low levels while public sector ownership is at an all time high. In other words, companies are buying back their own stocks to prop up stock prices due to record low borrowing costs. The VIX index is once again at a low risk level of 15. Between you and me, I would not be chasing this market with my precious retirement monies.

Other interesting news from Seeking Alpha include Iran and new foreign investors being unable to close business agreements since most deals are to be transacted in U.S. Dollars. Finally, another country moves to Negative Interest Rate Program (NIRP), this time Hungary.

Wall Street's "fear gauge" has been falling sharply as traders anticipate the current rebound could help propel the S&P 500 to close out Q1 on a winning note. The Vix index, a widely followed barometer of implied volatility, hovered below a reading of 15 on Tuesday, near its lowest level since mid-August when China sparked a period of financial turmoil by devaluing its currency. The long-term average for Vix is 20, and readings below that level suggest greater optimism among investors.

More than two months after international nuclear sanctions on Iran were supposed to have ended, frustration is deepening that few trade deals are going through as foreign banks shy away from processing transactions with the country. Chief among these are rules prohibiting transactions in dollars - the world's main business currency - from being processed through the U.S. financial system. Since January, Iran has struck agreements worth an estimated $50B with the global community, but getting the funding needed to turn the agreements into firm deals seems to be a challenging task.

Hungary has become the first emerging market to sport negative rates after the central bank lowered its overnight deposit rate by 15 basis points to -0.05%. Despite market expectations for no change at its March policy meeting, the bank also cut its key base rate by 15 basis points to 1.2%. The move comes amid lowered estimates for both growth and inflation.

Featured Coins from the Trading Desk

I'm expecting CAC feedback concerning the most recent Poetic Candy submission within a day or two. The prior submission from this consignor achieved a 90% approval rate with 33% of the pieces being CAC GOLD. Many of the Poetic Candy Part I coins are sold but some excellent pieces remain in GFRC inventory. Following are two CAC GOLD offerings. First is a 1936 Buffalo proof nickel residing in PCGS Rattler holder graded PR65. This is a Type 2 proof strike. Next to the Buffalo proof is a gem 1885 proof Liberty Seated dime residing in PCGS old green holder graded PR65. Not much needs to be said as the images speak volumes on the overall eye appeal and quality.

 

Thank you for visiting and once again, my sincere appreciation goes out to all who sent along birthday wishes. I will be back bright and early on Thursday with more ramblings. Have a great day!

 

 

March 22, 2016

Welcome to the Daily Blog on this Tuesday morning (or Tuesday evening if reading from China).

Today is a special day as I turned 60. Certain individuals may dread this milestone due to the thought of old age knocking at the door. Yes, my knees are not what they use to be but frankly, I'm thrilled to be alive and celebrating this occasion after scary airline flights in the past or spending several days in a Shanghai hospital with terrible food poisoning. Probably the worst flight in my life was a routine business trip from Shanghai to Hong Kong. We were flying through thunderstorms during the Hong Kong approach with severe turbulence. Then lightning struck the left wing. People were praying thinking this was the end. Luckily, the British pilot was calm and the instruments continued to operate and we landed safely else there would be no GFRC.

I view life as a series of opportunities and unfinished goals along with continuous learning. Building GFRC is my latest adventure as there is an obvious need (at least to me) in the numismatic hobby for someone who facilitates collector's love for coins as a first priority rather than leveraging coin as a vehicle for wealth accumulation. Wealth does not equate to happiness but rather building a successful venture and helping others achieve positive feelings for the numismatic hobby brings about personal satisfaction.

So today I turn 60 and am so grateful on achieving this milestone and looking forward to the next 10 years. There is so much fertile ground to be explored in the numismatic hobby including cultivating the next generation of Liberty Seated collectors.

GFRC News

Consignor support for the GFRC business continues to grow. Yesterday, a package arrived from a collector in Michigan containing strictly original Liberty Seated dimes and quarters. Moving forward, this individual will be referenced as the Michigan Collection. All pieces are freshly graded in PCGS 2014 or 2015 style holders. None of these coins have been to CAC for review and I can assure you that many would pass CAC approval given the originality. I am most excited to list the following offerings from the Michigan Collection;

Seated 10c: 1843-O PCGS VG8; 1856-S PCGS XF Details, original gray with few obverse lines; 1861-S PCGS AU53 choice original gray; 1864-S F-101 PCGS VF Details; 1872-S PCGS EF40 crusty gray patina; 1886-S F-101 PCGS VF30; 1890-S PCGS EF45

Seated 25c: 1843 PCGS VF30 choice original Briggs 2-C Lightning Bolt reverse, 1843 PCGS EF40 choice original Briggs 1-A shattered reverse; 1857-S PCGS F15 original gray; 1860-S PCGS PO01; 1865-S PCGS G6 original gray; 1866 PCGS G6 original gray; 1879 PCGS F15 choice original gray; 1891-O PCGS VG8 original gray

I had planned to load the balance of the Hanes Park consignment onto the price lists yesterday but an Auburn Lakes Condo board meeting, a trip to NGC in Sarasota and friends visiting after dinner consumed most of the day. So Hanes Park will be added today.

Several submissions were retrieved during the NGC visit with the following 1851 WB-5 half dollar being the highlight. I knew this choice example would grade at the high AU level and results were not disappointing. Following are the images taken prior to the submission. NGC results? AU58. This piece is completely fresh to market from an old time collection. Noted Liberty Seated half dollar researcher, Bill Bugert, indicates this 1851 die pairing will be labeled as WB-5 within his forthcoming Federal Register for Philadelphia strikes. Bill indicates a rarity rating for R4/R5 for this variety. Offered at $3450 and heading to price list this morning.

Financial News

Unfortunately, Europe has suffered another terrorist attack in the overnight hours. This time it is Belgium. Stopping the carnage is so challenging given the large Moslem population and recent wave of new immigrants. United States gasoline prices are moving upward as demand is reaching new record levels for this time of year. Iran is joining the cartel of oil producers to talk up the price of spot oil. Following are Seeking Alpha headlines.

European shares fell into the red, while safe haven assets gained, after explosions in Brussels this morning raised fresh fears of terrorism. Blasts tore through the departure hall of the capital's airport, and a separate burst hit a metro station shortly afterwards, leaving at least 11 dead and 25 injured. Travel sector stocks including airlines and hotels fell the most, pulling the broader indices down from multi-week highs. Euro -0.4% to $1.1202.

The national average for gasoline prices at the pump is poised to shoot past $2, as fuel demand hits levels never before seen at this time of year. The mean price for a gallon of regular gasoline now stands at $1.983, and has climbed for 25 out of the past 27 days, for a total of $0.28/gallon, according to AAA. Despite the rise in costs, pump prices are still about $0.45/gallon cheaper than a year ago, on average, and are at their lowest levels for late March since 2009.

Iran may join other oil producers planning to freeze production to support prices at a later date, according to OPEC's secretary general Abdullah al-Badri, but the country will not join an OPEC/non-OPEC producer meeting in Qatar on April 17. "They have some conditions about their production," he said at a news conference in Vienna. "Maybe in the future they will join the group." OPEC still expects crude prices to rebound to a "moderate" level even if Iran doesn't join the deal to put a hold on output levels.

Featured Coins from the Trading Desk

Hopefully it is common knowledge that the Liberty Seated quarter denomination is by far, the most challenging series to collect. There are a host of semi-key and key dates including weak strikes from the New Orleans mint and nearly impossible to find early Carson City strikes. The San Francisco issues are low mintage through 1872. At GFRC, I try my best to stock key dates in solid original condition. This morning, let's review several offerings that belong in an advanced collection. First is an 1851-O example graded PCGS VF25. Mintage is only 88,000 as nearly all are weakly struck with "mushy" obverse devices. In my mind, this piece is a minimum VF30 in terms of wear as the scroll edges are sharp and overall devices are well impressed. Then we move to an 1871-S example graded PCGS VF30 and approved by CAC. Mintage is only 30,900 and the survival rate choice is dismally low. CAC population report is 8 total with VF30 (1), EF45 (1) and AU58 (1). Amazing, isn't it?

 

Thank you for visiting with me this morning and also thank you to friends who have already set Happy Birthday wishes via email and LinkedIn.

 

 

March 21, 2016

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog.

Spring has arrived and returning to Maine is becoming an important planning event. At this time, the northern journey will commence on April 8 and allows sufficient time to recover from the Whitman Baltimore show and careful packing of the GFRC business. As done during the Florida migration, we will ask customers to not mail check payments during a five day period prior to April 8 to avoid having payments caught up in the USPS mail forwarding process. Saturday April 2 is probably a safe cut-off day with April 7 being the first date to starting using the Maine mailing address. Please don't worry about remembering all this as reminders will be posted in the Blog and on the GFRC website header.

Today's Blog will be short as the Auburn Lakes Condo Association has scheduled a board meeting this morning. Transitioning the complex to LED security lighting will be one of the hot topics. LED lighting is much more efficient but light color and intensity can be issues when considering the night time esthetics of the complex. The last thing I want is for Auburn Lakes complex to look like a night time baseball field.

GFRC News

Response to Seal Beach Part III consignment has been awesome. Just yesterday, the 1796 PCGS VG8 OGH CAC and 1803 PCGS VF25 OGH CAC Draped bust dollars went on hold along with a host of other coins in inventory. Customers are not waiting and stepping up to purchase quality coins once released from old time collections.

Several consignors including Seal Beach and Upstate New Year emailed positive comments this weekend that warmed my heart. Both individuals indicated that numismatics is becoming lots of fun again due to the Trading Desk and Client Galleries. They are enjoying having their prized coins accurately illustrated online and knowing that the coins are moving into other serious collections. Also the ability to trade into other top quality coins brings new coin collecting pursuits and freshness to their hobby.

After today's Board Meeting, I will be back in the office loading the balance of the Hanes Park consignent to the price list. Then the emphasis will shift to Grey Soldier's magnificant Liberty Seated halves.

I'm also pleased to report the purchase of two beautifully toned Capped Bust half dimes from the Upstate New York consignor. The 1829 example is graded NGC AU55 CAC and offers electric blues and gold patina while the 1830 PCGS MS62 CAC sports rainbow bullseye toning. These should arrive on Wednesday along with an 1870 proof Seated half dime and 1846 Medium date PCGS VF35 toner half dollar. The latter are consignment pieces. The Upstate New York consignor has spent a lifetime assembling a massive collection of beautiful toned early type coins and is starting a slow disbursement process via GFRC.

Dialogue is also in progress with a Maine numismatic colleague and handling the sale of this individual's collection upon returning to northern home. The highlight is a complete set of Capped Bust halves assembled during the 1990's. First step will be TPG grading followed by CAC review process before we take these to market.

Financial News

The financial world has be quiet the past few days. Spot gold is oscillating in the $1245 - $1270 trading range. One Seeking Alpha headlines suggest that oil patch bond defaults and bankruptcies, thought significant, while not be substantial enough to cause a crisis in the U.S. economy. On the other side of the planet, China's corporate debt levels are a macroeconomic risk given that China's foreign reserves are rapidly shrinking. One of the complicating issues, not stated below, is the ongoing capital outflow by Chinese citizens due to fears of further weakening of the Yuan.

It's not likely a wave of oil bankruptcies will lead the U.S. economy into recession, Michelle Meyer, U.S. economist at BofAML, said in a research note. "It is important to note that if defaults rise due to non-macro events – which means without being triggered by a recession – there seems to be somewhat limited feedback into the economy." Meyer also doesn't see signs that oil-sector fears are leading to a broader tightening in credit markets

PBOC Governor Zhou Xiaochuan sounded a warning about China's corporate debt levels over the weekend, stating that the country must develop more robust capital markets. Lending as a share of GDP, especially corporate lending as a share of GDP, is too high," Zhou Xiaochuan told the China Development Forum, adding that a highly leveraged economy is more prone to macroeconomic risk. Earlier this month, Moody's warned it may downgrade China's sovereign rating, a sign of increasing investor concern about Beijing's rising debt and falling foreign exchange reserves.

Featured Coins from the Trading Desk

So far, there have been no coin images in today's Blog and this needs to be rectified immediately! Following are two recommendations from the Capped Bust half dollar price list. First is a wonderful 1807 Small Stars O-113 Capped Bust half graded PCGS F12 CAC with perfect cameo eye appeal. The light main devices are so well framed by the ebony gray fields. This piece is from Seal Beach Collection. Next to the 1807 is a gem original 1817/3 Capped Bust half graded PCGS F15 CAC. This is another case of superior eye appeal due to contrasting light devices with olive gray fields.

 

Thank you for visiting with me this morning. Tomorrow's Blog will bring an important personal announcement so please check in. Wishing all Blog readers a great Monday.

 

 

March 20, 2016

Welcome to the Daily Blog on a quiet Sunday morning.

Venice weather has been stormy with substantial rainfall in the past 24 hours. Hopefully the rains will stop for the daily health walk as exercise is in order after a long Saturday sitting at that laptop.

GFRC News

This morning's major news event is the Hanes Park Collection consignment as shown below. Though the numismatic industry and the Third Party Grading services wish that all collectors would migrate to slabbed holders, there are still collectors who enjoy the pursuit of raw coins. The Hanes Park consignor is an example of a serious Draped and Capped bust coinage variety collector who focuses more on variety rarities than technical grades rendered by the TPGs.

Featured below are a host of R3 through R5 varieties that should gather the attention of early type variety specialists. Attempting to build an Ultimate Capped Bust half dime or Ultimate Capped Bust dime sets to Logan-McCloskey or John Reich numbers is a substantial undertaking that will required a long term horizon to complete. When a offering such as Hanes Park comes to market, then it behooves variety specialist to be diligent with the review of potential candidates for their collections.

Let's review the important offerings shown in the Hanes Park Collection gallery. We start with an 1829 LM-6.3 R5 half dime that is nice and original and a much better variety; then the 1830 LM-6 at R4 and 1803 LM-14 at R3 ratings. Capped bust dimes include an 1820 JR-3 R4 that is difficult to obtain. How about the 1825 JR-4 R3 that is surprisingly elusive. The 1829 JR-1 R4 has been cleaned but still is important. The 1834 JR-6 is well worn but a cool variety with three cuds on reverse and is considered to be R4 when in the multiple cud die state.

The variety opportunities continue with the Draped Bust quarters and a nice original 1805 Browing-1 R4 and 1806 B-7 R5. The latter has been cleaned but is retoning. For Draped and Capped Bust halves, we open this denomination with an 1806 O-114a R4 which is popular due to reverse crack. The 1811 O-113, an important R5 rarity, is a difficult die marriage along with an off-center strike. How cool is this? We close the halves with a choice original 1865-S WB-7 in late die state (d) that is popular due to multiple reverse die cuds.

Good luck this morning review these offerings and please email on those of interest. If all goes to schedule, the entire group will reach the price lists by this evening.

Hanes Park Collection Consignment Part II - March 20, 2016

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

The Hanes Park Collection is the last major consignment in GFRC backlog other than Poetic Candy Part II United States gold which is at CAC review. If you've considered selecting GFRC to handle a small preliminary consignment or a complete collection, then now is the time to take action. No other dealer or auction house provides the level of personal attention and service as GFRC. The Trading Desk concept is increasing in popularity and more active participants are needed to expand the community and available coins for swapping.

GFRC online technology development will lead to new Consignor Collection display options within the next six months if all goes to plan. At this time, ideas and plans will remain confidential as the concepts are ground breaking for a small dealer website. When a life long collector and semiconductor industry technologist teams up with Matthew Yamatin and his team with online gaming industry development experience, the options are amazing. We are working on a Trading Desk website design from "greenfield" perspective including graphic displays and archival searching possibilities. These ideas are substantial and can be tuned specifically for enhancing the collector experience and having fun with our coins.

Thank you for visiting the Daily Blog this morning. Let's wrap up here. As always, Happy Hunting and I will be back bright and early on Monday morning.

 

 

March 19, 2016

Greetings on this mid March weekend and thank you for stopping by the Blog.

The major numismatic news of the day is the discovery of an 1839 F-101c Pie Shattered obverse dime in the New England area. A phone call was received from the individual on Thursday and images arrived yesterday. This is a details example that has been cleaned and is also slightly bent, but never the less, is an important discovery of the Holy Grail variety in the Liberty Seated dime series. The individual is presently overjoyed with his discovery and uncertain if the piece will be for sale in the near term. Congratulations!

GFRC News

Friday was yet another busy GFRC day but I did take the evening off for a fun Italian dinner and conversation with Auburn Lakes condo association friends.

The Seal Beach Collection Part III offerings have been priced and will be loaded on price lists today. Those who asked for FRoR will be contacted with the pricing requirements.

The latest Grey Soldier consignment of Liberty Seated halves has also been priced. Once again, this lot includes the following pieces; 1839 With Drapery PCGS AU58 CAC, 1840 WB-104 RPD PCGS AU55 CAC, 1840-O PCGS AU58 CAC, 1843 PCGS AU55 CAC, 1844-O WB-21 PCGS AU58 CAC and 1848 WB-103 NGC AU58 CAC. Below are images from GFRC files for the 1839 WD, 1843 and 1844-O since these were purchased directly from GFRC. It is always a pleasure to handle such beautiful coins once again. The balance will be photographed today and added to the Grey Soldier client gallery along with an update on today's Blog.

   

Several individuals have responded to yesterday's request for consignments prior to the Whitman Baltimore show. More will be forthcoming on this topic in an upcoming Blog.

Featured Topic

Over the past several years, I have been closely watching developments in Japan's financial markets given their aging demographics and homogenous national culture. Recently David Stockman, from the Reagan administration and now a contributing writer for the Daily Reckoning, published an article concerning the Japanese bond market and its broken situation. The article is entitled, The Case of Japan's Busted Bond Market.

Japan is a financial mess and along with the European Union, is experimenting with financially engineered debt to prolong prosperity. For the last two years, John Mauldin (Mauldin Economics) refers to Japan as a bug waiting for the windshield. During 2015, Japan spent just under 100 trillion yen, but took in hardly 50 trillion yen of revenue (112 Yen = 1 Dollar). Japan is borrowing 50% of government spending with the national debt reaching 240% of GDP. Recent Japanese bond yields have achieved a record low yield of 0.047%. These graphs from the Wall Street Journal well summarize the Japanese national situation. The Bank of Japan and the Japanese bond market are in serious trouble as volume continues to fall. There is no aftermarket for Japanese bonds other than the Bank of Japan.

Aging demographics, low population growth and the lack of immigrants to replace retiring workers are key issues for Japan. If and how the Japanese government can slow deficit spending is an important question for global financial markets.

If you have time today, please give the David Stockman article a read. The article is written with typical drama but the core facts are important for global citizens to recognize as Japan is the 3rd largest economy on the planet.

Featured Coins from the Trading Desk

Let's face it, GFRC is not immediately recognized as being a major supplier of quality Capped Bust coinage but rather Liberty Seated denominations. However, I am working diligently to change that situation and continually adding more quality Capped bust inventory. The recent Seal Beach consignment is an example of consignors believing that GFRC will be an important player in this market. So this morning, let's feature two quality Capped Bust dimes that won't break the bank. First is an 1821 R-7, R2, Large Date, Center Dot, gem original dime graded VF30 with well balance contrast between darker gray fields and the lighter main devices. Next is an 1832 PCGS VF35 JR-2 dime that is so crusty original fromt the West Coast Collection. The patina is thick with deeper concentrations surrounding stars and reverse legend.

 

Thank you for visiting with me this morning and I will be back bright and early on Sunday. Have a great weekend.

 

March 18, 2016

Good morning and welcome to the Daily Blog. Spring 2016 arrives in just two days as the Northeast prepares for a potential major snowstorm. Here in Florida, temperatures are creeping into the low 80F range with air conditioning now being required.

This morning's Blog will focus on early silver type coins after working past Thursday midnight to process the latest Seal Beach offerings along with variety attributions.

GFRC News

Thursday was a busy GFRC day. The day started with the Osprey consignor stopping by for a morning visit, some great numismatic chatting and purchase of the Poetic Candy 1875-S PCGS MS64 CAC Trade Dollar. It was gratifying to see this piece's ownership moving between advanced collectors with my role being the match maker. Immediately after the Osprey visit, it was time to pack up the Poetic Candy gold coin consignment and ship to CAC for review followed by photography of the Seal Beach Part III coins. The afternoon was dedicated to the transition of Jim Poston's account to the new COIN system then a quick dinner. Evenings hours were consumed with processing Seal Beach images and building his Client Galley at close to midnight.

Oh, did I mention that Grey Soldier's CAC Seated halves also arrived? This my friends, is the life of an online coin dealer working with minimal staff. Up in Boston, Matt continues to port GFRC consignors onto the COIN system and our goal is to have this project phase completed prior to the Baltimore show. Already the Florida Collection consignor emailed yesterday indicating a substantial consignment will be transferred at Baltimore and I'm sure others will appear.

Consignment Deadline.....If you are considering or wish to consign coins to GFRC in time for the Baltimore show followed by Central States and Denver displays, then please have these coin into me no later than March 25! Please email or call to discuss using priority shipping labels to enable a quick transfer.

Back to the Seal Beach Collection Part III consignment.....Wow, Wow and Wow! Talk about originality and eye appeal. As the Seal Beach consignments continue to arrive, I gain a better sense of how this individual collected coins. His target was gray toned original coins whether they were Morgan dollars or Draped Bust quarters, halves and dollars. As he reaches deeper into his bank box, more CAC approved pieces are appearing much to the enjoyment of GFRC customer. Following is the Part III gallery. Asking prices will be strong given the quality and CAC approval, so please be prepared. As usual, First Right of Refusal is in order this morning. Asking pricing have not been set and will be settled today....please remember that these arrived on Wednesday and are already displayed online as a gallery in less than 48 hours.

My favorite pieces in this lot are the 1805 O-104 R4 PCGS VF20 CAC OGH draped bust half and the 1803 PCGS VF25 CAC OGH draped bust dollar. Close on their heals are the 1817/3 PCGS F15 CAC and 1830 PCGS AU55 CAC OGH capped bust halves. The latter exhibiting strictly original frosty luster and so eye catching. Don't forget the 1795 Flowing Hair dollar residing in PCGS F12 CAC OGH either. There is much to consider this morning if you enjoy quality early type silver coins......Have fun viewing the higher resolution images!

Seal Beach Collection Part III - March 18, 2016

   

   

   

   

   

 

Financial News

The only important news of the day is spot oil moving back to $40/bbl as budgetary realities are setting in for oil producting countries. Oil production must be slowed to lift prices into an economically viable level for countries dependent on oil revenues to fund economies and social harmony. Following is a Seeking Alpha headline covering the topic.

Crude prices are flirting with new 2016 highs, as U.S. oil heads for a fifth week of gains, marking the longest rising streak in about a year for the benchmark. The run has brought WTI above $40 per barrel, surging more than 50% from 12-year lows in February, on the back of a weaker dollar and growing optimism that major producers will strike a production freeze deal. Crude futures -0.1% to $40.16/bbl, after advancing as far as $40.55 - its highest level so far this year.

Featured Coins from the Trading Desk

Let's not forget that the GFRC still has some amazing Liberty Seated dimes from the Pickering Creek Collection in inventory. Below are the 1860-S F-102 PCGS MS63 CAC and 1863 F-101a PCGS MS65 CAC specimens. Both are conditionally rare and of exceptional quality. These will be on display at the Baltimore show, Table 818.

 

After sitting for hours at the laptop, it is time for a four mile health walk and then back to numismatics and the Hanes Park and Greg Soldier consignments. Thank you for visiting this morning and wishing all GFRC friends a great day.

 

 

March 17, 2016

Happy St. Patrick's Day to the Irish and to those who enjoy being Irish at least once per year!

Not having a prepared topic for the Blog this morning, let's check on Irish American statistics and facts as a learning opportunity. As usual, Wikipedia is a bountiful source of information on most any topic.

- Self identified Irish Americans totaled 34,587,835 during the 2013 Census. That is 11.1% of the United States population.

- Irish immigration increased rapidly during the 1820s due to the need for labor in canal building (Erie Canal), lumbering, and civil construction works in the Northeast. Important Irish communities developed in growing cities such as Philadelphia, Boston, New York and Providence.

- From 1820 through 1860, nearly 2 million Irish immigrated to the United States with 75% coming after the Great Irish Famine of 1845-1852.

- During the Civil War, Irish Americans volunteered in high numbers for the Union Army with at least 38 Union regiments had the word "Irish" in their title. 144,221 Union soldiers were born in Ireland.

I was pleasantly surprised to learn that many United States Presidents have direct Irish and Scot-Irish lineage. More from Wikipedia.

Andrew Jackson (Irish)(Scots-Irish) - 7th President 1829–37: He was born in the predominantly Irish and Scotch Irish

James Knox Polk (Scots-Irish) - 11th President, 1845–49: His ancestors were among the first Ulster-Scots settlers, emigrating from Coleraine in 1680 to become a powerful political family in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina

James Buchanan (Irish)(Scots-Irish) - 15th President, 1857–61: The Buchanans were originally from Deroran, near Omagh in County Tyrone, where the ancestral home still stands

Andrew Johnson (Irish) (Scots-Irish) - 17th President, 1865–69: His Mother was a McDonough, His grandfather left Mounthill, near Larne in County Antrim around 1750 and settled in North Carolina.

Ulysses S. Grant (Scots Irish) - 18th President, 1869–77: The home of his maternal great-grandfather, John Simpson, at Dergenagh, County Tyrone

Chester A. Arthur (Scots-Irish) - 21st President, 1881–85: His election was the start of a quarter-century in which the White House was occupied by men of Ulster-Scots origins

Theodore Roosevelt (Scots Irish) - 26th President, 1901–09: His mother, Mittie Bulloch, had Ulster Scots ancestors who emigrated from Glenoe, County Antrim, in May 1729. Roosevelt praised "Irish Presbyterians" as "a bold and hardy race."[1

John F. Kennedy (Irish) - 35th President 1961–63 (Limerick and County Wexford) First Catholic president, Irish Catholic

Ronald Reagan (Irish Catholic) - 40th President 1981–89: He was the great-grandson, on his father's side, of Irish migrants from County Tipperary who came to America via Canada and England in the 1840s

George H. W. Bush (Irish Catholic) - 41st President 1989–93 (County Wexford):

GFRC News

The new Seal Beach and Poetic Candy consignments arrived yesterday and all I could say was Wow! while unpacking the shipments. Early silver type coin originality was on full display for the Seal Beach coins and I am in love with the 1803 PCGS VF25 CAC OGH Draped Bust dollar and the 1805 PCGS VF20 CAC OGH Draped Bust half dollar. What absolutely splendid coins. The Poetic Candy consignment is just as important and exclusively original orange patina gold pieces. The most amazing coin in the lot is a common date 1904 Double Eagle in PCGS MS63 OGH that has bold luster well beyond the assigned MS63 grade and perfect orange color. The Poetic Candy pieces are immediately heading to CAC for review.

Substantial progress is being made with the COIN system transition and shortly, Matt begins working on the second GFRC Information Technology system upgrade. Our goal is to dynamically generate individual price lists from a cloud database, thus eliminating the countless hours spent manually building and editting each price list table. If goals can be met, then GFRC will be able to handle a substantially large consignment business and further expanding the Trading Desk business model.

All of the Poetic Candy Part I coins are now loaded and sales have been strong. A nice lot of circulated semi-key date Morgans from Seal Beach was also loaded yesterday.

Financial News

Central Banks throughout the world continue to be dovish on interest rates as deflation remains the ongoing issue. If one steps back and considers global population growth, aging demographics in Japan, Europe and United States along with rapid technology advances in manufacturing and communications, then it should be apparent that the world will lack sufficient consumer demand and "traditional jobs" to employ the ever expanding populations. Deflation will be an ongoing issue facing the global economy as wealth continues to shift from the developed countries to the emerging countries under free trade agreements. Capitalism means manufacturing shifts to the lowest cost regions on the planet. The response of Central Banks, in the developed countries, is to fund prosperity through debt creation. The spector of eliminating free trade by Donald Trump to protect American jobs has resulted in his candidacy, for United States President, being listed as one of the 10 risks facing the world, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit, a British think tank. The BBC article can be found here.

Let's check a few Seeking Alpha headlines this morning.

U.S. futures are indicating a lower open on Wall Street, despite a dovish statement from the Federal Reserve Wednesday afternoon that boosted stocks and sent the S&P 500 to its highest level of the year. The Fed held rates between 0.25%-0.50% and cut its projection for the number of rate hikes this year from four to two, pointing to "global economic and financial developments" that will keep inflation low for the remainder of 2016. The announcement sent the dollar plummeting, and the currency continued to drop sharply overnight to an almost three-week low against the yen.

More central bank news: The Swiss National Bank has kept its deposit rate unchanged at 0.75%, while lowering its inflation outlook for this year to -0.8%. Norway's central bank cut its key policy rate by 0.25 percentage points to an all-time low of 0.5%, and raised the prospect of a move into negative territory. An interest rate decision from the Bank of England will be released at noon local time (8:00 a.m. ET) alongside the minutes from its latest gathering.

Japan's exports fell for the fifth month in a row in February, suggesting the world's third-largest economy could dip into its fourth annual recession in the past five years. Exports last month fell 4% Y/Y, but less than January's 12.9% slump, due to the bounce in sales to China as factories resumed operations after the Lunar New Year. Japanese imports further decreased 14.2%, bringing the country's trade balance to a ¥242.8B surplus.

Featured Coins from the Trading Desk

Let's take a look at several well circulated but nice original Morgan dollars from the Seal Beach collection this morning. The Morgan lot is in a raw state and perfect for inclusion in a Dansco Album. Let's face it, not all coins have to be encapsulated in TPG holders if one understands originality and knows how to properly grade. Shown below is a lovely 1886-S Morgan graded AU53 with ample luster and original surfaces along with an light gray 1893 New Orleans strike.

 

Thank you for visiting with me this morning. I will be back once again on Friday with more thoughts. Take care on St. Patrick's Day!

 

March 16, 2016

Welcome to the Daily Blog on another post Super Tuesday morning. Clarity in the American political landscape is apparent though the news media continues to bring about speculations to hold ratings. Rubio is officially off the island and Kasich lacks the delegate math to remain viable. It is in the best interest of the media to continue raising scenarios and reporting on the trivial at this point....which is a certainty. On a positive note, American politics keeps Kim Kardashian in the background.

Yesterday brought about a lovely visit by a new GFRC customer and long time collector. We initially met at the Tampa FUN show since this individual is a Sarasota resident. Our parallels were remarkable with overseas business activities and life long research and collecting. It is such a pleasure to meet other professionals who share the share collecting passion whether it be fine art, antiques or numismatics. After considerable discussion, this individual purchased three CAC approved Capped Bust quarters and the 1855-O PCGS VF20 CAC Seated quarter. This was an insightful purchase given the difficulty in locating quality specimens in the Bust and Seated quarter denominations.

GFRC News

The response to the latest Grey Soldier consignment post was short of amazing. Emails and phone calls immediately arrived placing FRoR requests on most of the listed items. Let's face it, properly graded and CAC certified coins are in strong demand as the market is awash in mediocre inventory. GFRC customers and friends grow more astute each day and realize that the great coins are held in private hands. Having access to those coins, when a collector decides to shift collecting emphasis or simply liquidating, is paramount to building a superior personal collection.

Unfortunately, there was insufficient time to load the Hanes Park halves onto the price list yesterday. I'm targeting for these to be offered today.

Seal Beach offerings continue to sell well and this consignor informed me yesterday of yet another consignment. His incremental consignment announcement was simple and to the point....You will enjoy these. Only three of the sixteen are NOT CAC approved. Following is an itemized listing of the latest Seal Beach consignment that arrives tomorrow.

Draped Bust 25c: 1806 PCGS G6 CAC

Draped Bust 50c: 1805 O-109 PCGS VF20 CAC OGH; 1806/5 O-101 PCGS VF25 CAC; 1806 Pointed 6 No Stem PCGS F15 CAC; 1807 PCGS F12

Capped Bust 50c: 1807 O-113 Sm Stars PCGS F15 CAC; 1811/10 PCGS EF40 CAC; 1817/3 PCGS F15 CAC; 1830 PCGS AU50 CAC OGH

Seated 50c: 1858-O PCGS AU55; 1864-S MS60 raw; 1871-S PCGS AU50 CAC; 1873 Closed 3 PCGS AU50 CAC

Flowing Hair $1: 1795 Two Leaves B-1 PCGS F12 CAC

Draped Bust $1: 1796 Lg Date, Sm Letters PCGS VG8 CAC OGH; 1803 Large 3 PCGS VF25 CAC OGH

 

Daily Blog Reader Feedback

An email arrived yesterday from a new Daily Blog reader, located in New York City, who felt compelled to write after reading that Google is petitioning Congress to act and set national safety standards for self driven cars. Following are his thoughts;

I enjoy reading your blog regularly simply because it is valuable to read. I look at your coins but have yet to make the jump as I've never really been happy buying coins through the mail, and prefer to see them first. You do encourage a good deal of trust!

I needed to respond to your comment on the blog today: "In this "new technology world", we can no longer read maps and soon, we will no longer remember how to drive a car....."

There is much more than that. We're not going to just 'no longer remember' but we will not be allowed to drive. The implications are deep. Every movement will be recorded by the State. In addition, the transnational corporations will get a piece of your every movement in the same way they are looking to get a piece of all your transactions by forcing the move towards a "cashless" society. There's a secret no fly list, and a secret no gun list, soon there will be secret "no drive" and "no money" lists. I, a US citizen from birth, still need to get US treasury approval to be employed here.

I sincerely doubt either party candidate has much interest in dealing with these issues in anyway other than to encourage and expand them. The only markets left to expand into are the total slavery of the population! The elite grew it to some extent with the prison-industry complex, now they need to expand this into the general population.

Financial News

Once again, these is little to report in the financial news sector. The financial media is taking its cues from the political media and increasing coverage of Federal Reserve policy meetings. The sages are forecasting no near term interest rate increase. Moving to the Middle East oil patch, oil producers are desperate for some type of agreement to limit oil supplies and support prices.

Global shares are holding steady as markets await the outcome of the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy meeting. While no rate move is expected at the Fed's gathering, it does include updates of members' economic projections and a news conference with Chair Janet Yellen, events that have caused violent market reactions in the past. Analysts generally assume Fed projections for interest rates - widely known as the "dots" - will indicate only three hikes this year instead of four. Yet the market is pricing in just one move of 25 basis points for 2016.

Oil producers including Gulf OPEC members are backing an April 17 meeting in Qatar to discuss an output freeze deal even without the attendance of Iran. "It's a setback but it will not necessarily change the positive atmosphere that has already started," OPEC sources told Reuters. A preliminary deal to freeze production at January levels, reached last month by Russia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Venezuela, has already helped to support prices. Crude futures +2.2% to $37.12/bbl.


Featured Coins from the Trading Desk

This morning's featured coins are from the recent Poetic Candy Collection consignment. Already, the Seated quarter and Seated half dollar proof are sold and the 1875-S PCGS MS64 CAC Trade $ is on hold for review tomorrow. However, there are still several wonderful pieces to be considered if you are a type coin or proof coinage collector. How about an 1879/8 Shield Nickel graded PCGS PR65 CAC and 1894 Liberty Nickel graded PCGS PR64 GOLD CAC? Both reside in early "squishy" PCGS old green holders. These holders are characterized by sharp stacking edges and will have occasionally have some flex when squeezed.

 

Thank you for visiting this morning and, as always, I will be back on Thursday morning with more ramblings. Have a great day.

 

 

March 15, 2016

Greetings once again on another Super Tuesday. Living in a cave without electricity is probably the best way to avoid the ongoing deluge of political news and negative advertising. Come Wednesday, the car dealer and lawyer ads will be in full force on Florida 's major network affiliates.

GFRC business continues to chug along thanks to the ongoing support of wonderful consignors and great customers. Today brings a visit from Sarasota based customer to view selected coins and a purchase decision. Then the Osprey consignor visits on Thursday. The Auburn Lake Clubhouse is becoming a convenient numismatic meeting point.

GRFC News

Skipping the regional Dallas ANA show appears to have been a wise decision as the show reports are not flattering. Rather the time was well spent back in the GFRC Venice office as online business continues to ramp. Some customers have commented that GFRC has lost some focus on the Liberty Seated dime series as other product lines are expanded. Please rest assured that there will be a wave of new Seated dimes once returning to Maine. I'm going to practice what I preach and starting thinning out Seated dimes in the personal collection. Many die variety plate coins will populate the price lists come the May/June timeframe.

The porting of GFRC consignors into Matt's COIN system is accelerating as is the new efficiency from using a single Trading Desk database that integrates inventory, sales and payment records. Consignor reports are compiled with a single mouse click while generating and emailing PDF reports is straightforward. Now if Matt could only find an automated solution for cropping and color balancing images!

An email arrived from Grey Soldier yesterday indicating that another consignment was forthcoming before the Baltimore show. This lot may be small but is worthy of considerable attention due to ongoing Grey Soldier quality; every coin has CAC approval! Following are the new Liberty Seated halves that will arrive shortly.

Seated 50c: 1839 ND PCGS 58 CAC; 1840 Rev1839 PCGS 55 CAC WB-104; 1840 O PCGS 58 CAC; 1843 PCGS 55 CAC; 1844 O PCGS 58 CAC WB-21; 1848 NGC 58 CAC WB-103

Yesterday saw the attention of a lovely 1878-CC Briggs 1-A Canceled Die Obverse quarter that is freshly graded PCGS MS62. The luster and strike are all there rendering this an important potential acquisition for an advanced Top 25 Varieties set.

Last evening's attention shifted to the Hanes Parks consignment. This is a diverse 23 piece consignment filled with bust coinage die varieties. All pieces are raw and have been off the market for years. Following is a brief Client Gallery preview of the halves heading to the price list by Thursday; die varieties are 1806 O-114a R4, 1810 O-104 R3, 1811 O-113 R5, 1812/1 O-102a R2 1812 O-109a R2.

Hanes Park Collection Consignment Preview - March 15, 2016

   

  

Poetic Candy Part II consignment arrives tomorrow. In honor of his latest consignment, here is a poem from the individual.

PHRASER
I must admit that I’m a lowly poet,
When perhaps instead I should have been a printer.

On the other hand, if you get the point, I like to spend a dollar,
So I should have stopped to open up and think,
And thought to be a minter.

Printer, minter, splinter, squinter,
I’ll leave you not in dead of winter,
Nor will I leave you in a daze,
Or in some strange poetic haze,
‘Cause you can see now just what happens,
When a poet tries to coin a phrase.

Financial News

There is not much to report this morning from the global financial sector. Spot prices continue to be stuck in a sub $40/bbl trading range and global impacts are starting to set in with Saudi Arabia and Russia feeling the pain. We all know that prescription drug pricing is accelerating. Why else is Big Pharma spending millions on advertising drugs on the major networks and in print magazines targeted for senior citizens? A report indicates that branded medicine prices rose, on average, 16% last year. Finally, self driving cars are close to becoming a reality. Google is petitioning Congress to act and set national safety standards. In this "new technology world", we can no longer read maps and soon, we will no longer remember how to drive a car......

With its finances strained by low oil prices, Saudi Arabia is opening a fresh austerity drive by ordering ministries to cut their spending on contracts by at least 5%, Reuters reports. The government ran a record budget deficit of nearly $100B last year and has been seeking ways to narrow the gap. It is laying plans to boost non-oil revenues with taxes, but that will take years to have much impact, leaving spending cuts as the main way to bring state finances under control. Crude futures -2.7% to $36.17/bbl.

The average price of branded prescription drugs in the U.S. has doubled in the past five years, a finding that threatens to fuel the political backlash against high prices. Express Scripts (NASDAQ:ESRX), the country's largest pharmacy group, said the average wholesale price of branded medicines (which are protected by patents) rose 16% last year and was up a total of 98% since 2011. High drug costs have become a persistent theme in the current U.S. election campaigns, with both the Democratic and Republican frontrunners, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, pledging to crack down on elevated prices.

The head of Google's self-driving car program will urge Congress today to grant national auto safety regulators authority to speed the introduction of autonomous vehicles on American roads. "If every state is left to go its own way without a unified approach, operating self-driving cars across state boundaries would be an unworkable situation and one that will significantly hinder...the eventual deployment of autonomous vehicles," Google's (GOOG, GOOGL) Chris Urmson will tell the Senate Commerce Committee, according to a preview of the testimony.

This has been a long Blog so let's skip the Featured Coin section this morning. A health walk is of importance after spending most of Monday sitting at the laptop. Thank you as always for visiting the Daily Blog.

 

March 14, 2016

Welcome to the Daily Blog on another Monday morning.

It is such a pleasure having Renee hanging out with us in Venice after her Sunday noon time arrival. Renee is wrapping up formal veterinarian studies at Virginia Tech in May with an additional year of clinical rotations. At this time, her targeted destination is Austin, Texas.

I'm growing so weary of the United States political season with 7 months still to go before the November elections. The media is feeding on every word and action by the candidates and elevating the process into the ultimate reality show. It is now Marco Rubio's turn to be voted off the island as he falls to third place in Florida polling. My condolences to younger generations who must endure this process during their lengthy lifetimes.

Seeking respite from the American media, I'm spending more time reading the BBC. This morning brings an insightful article entitled, How many people can our planet really support? with a subtitle, We do not know if today’s population of 7 billion is remotely sustainable, or what the limit is. An opening paragraph well summaries the article's key point.

"It is not the number of people on the planet that is the issue – but the number of consumers and the scale and nature of their consumption," says David Satterthwaite, a senior fellow at the International Institute for Environment and Development in London. He quotes Gandhi: "The world has enough for everyone's need, but not enough for everyone's greed."

As it stands now, though, the world's population is over 7.3 billion. According to United Nations predictions it could reach 9.7 billion people by 2050, and over 11 billion by 2100.

There are several challenges facing the planet in terms of population growth with food, water and energy consumption standards reaching parity between the developed and emerging populations centers. Increasing populations drives incremental energy consumption and emissions. Agriculture is a huge consumer of water along with daily personal needs of individuals. Consumerism must be re-examined as the world can tolerate only so many factories and petroleum and chemical usage and associated discharges. Population growth and climate change are key issues facing the planet. Just a topic to ponder this morning.

GFRC News

The transition to Matt's COIN inventory and consignor reporting system is moving along nicely. We are over 50% complete with consignor transfers and most consignors are receiving their updates via the new system. Migrating up to two years of sales and payment records from old to new system takes time and considerable effort in between image processing and sales order management. The goal is to have the transition completed before the busy Baltimore, Central States and Denver coin show schedule starting beginning of April.

Response to the Upstate New York Collection consignment has been strong...why not, when these coins are so beautifully toned and fairly priced? The Upstate New York consignor reports that there is much more to be sold after this consignment.

Today's emphasis will be on the Hanes Park Collection and its bust coinage die varieties.

Financial News

It seems that the doom and gloom in the financial markets has evaporated during the last several weeks with global markets turning to the upside. Morgan Stanley is forecasting no Federal Reserve interest rate increases during 2016. Gold continues to hold it upward trajectory with the technical charts looking favorable for more gains. Let's check in on several Seeking Alpha headlines.

Global shares are trading higher across the board, buoyed by last week's gains on Wall Street that saw the Dow and S&P 500 close above their 200-day moving averages for the first time this year. Investors are also shaking off initial skepticism over the ECB's latest stimulus package and are increasing bets that oil prices could be bottoming out. Cautious sentiment could prevail following today's session though, with policy decisions by the Bank of Japan on Tuesday, the U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday and the Bank of England on Thursday.

Morgan Stanley, one of the Wall Street banks that deals directly with the Federal Reserve, has cut its bond yield forecasts for 2016, saying the U.S. central bank will wait until December before raising interest rates. "The global backdrop for rates markets looks so supportive that 2016 may become known as the 'Year of the Bull,'" according to the company report. Treasury 10-year yields will fall to 1.45% by the end of September, analysts wrote, approaching the record low of 1.38% set in 2012.

Even with a turnaround in global equities and signs of a more robust U.S. economy, investors are still piling into gold. Money managers are holding the biggest net-wager on a rally in more than a year, with net-long holdings climbing 21% to their highest level since February 2015, while holdings in bullion-backed funds have advanced for 10 consecutive weeks, their longest streak since 2012. All this comes as Goldman Sachs, the bank that foresaw the yellow metal's collapse in 2013, continues to stick by its prediction that prices will start to retreat.

Here is the Kitco 5 year gold technical chart. The 60 day MA has crossed through the 200 MA. This is a substantial signal for those holding longer term positions. Below is the gold:silver ratio chart which stands at slightly above 80. At 80, the ratio is at its historical high which indicates that the silver metal should be primed for more gains in the coming months.



Featured Coins from the Trading Desk

This morning Trading's Desk featured coins are special pieces within GFRC inventory. My goal is to rotate the featured coins between those in the several $100 range to those that are solidly five figure pieces. Since spot gold is on my mind, then a reminder that GFRC is offering two very special gold pieces. The first is an 1862 $3 Princess graded PCGS MS64 and an absolute beauty; mintage is a tiny 5,750 with most being used as jewelry pieces. The second is the very rare 1859-O Double Eagle residing in NGC AU50 holder. For the latter, about 30 pieces are known in AU and 70-100 in all preservation states. Please email or call me for questions or general inquiries on either pieces. Both consignors are motivated to sell and will be flexible with terms for the appropriate GFRC customer.

 


Thank you once again for starting the work week with me. I will be back bright and early on Tuesday morning. Have a great day and please consider a purchase from GFRC inventory.

 

March 13, 2016

Greetings on a Daylight Saving time Sunday morning and welcome to the Daily Blog. Our daughter, Renee, arrives in a few hours from Virginia for a brief holiday and 2017 wedding planning.

Florida is ground zero for negative politcal advertising given Tuesday's primary voting. It is quite painful to watch television for even an hour as the negative ads are constantly thrown into your face. I thought that Florida car dealer and lawyer advertising was excessive but would gladly take those back at this time.

This edition is a tad later than normal as I worked into the early morning hours processing the Upstate New York Collection images. It was a real pleasure and lots of fun attempting to perfectly match image colors with those of individual coins. I hope that you will agree that the outcomes are quite good!

We start the day's Blog with a wonderful Client Gallery. As mentioned previously, offerings from the Upstate New York Collection are known for attractive toning as this collector has spent the better part of his collecting life focus in this area. Most of his coins were purchased raw and are being processed through the grading services. This Part II consignment just begins to scratch the surface on what might be forthcoming in other consignments. I don't believe it is necessary to call out or discussion any particular coin as the images will speak for themselves. First Right of Refusal (FRoR) is once again advised for gaining access to the lovely silver pieces.

Upstate New York Collection Part II - March 13, 2016

   

   

   

GFRC News

The Poetic Candy proof coins are back from CAC submission. Those pieces that remain unsold are heading to the price lists today and into Monday.

I am also so excited to announce that Poetic Candy Collection Part II consignment is shipping on Monday. The emphasis shift from 19th and 20th Century proof type coins to gold. The consignor reports that this shipment will also feature early PCGS and NGC holders. Expectations are high as more wonderful offerings will be available after another CAC submission. Following is a listing of United States gold that will offered shortly.

Early Commemorative Gold

1903 $1 Jefferson Commemorative PCGS MS64; 1916 $1 Mckinley Commemorative PCGS MS64; 1926 Sesquicentennial $2.5 PCGS MS64

$2.5 Gold

1925-D $2.5 NGC MS64; 1929 $2.5 PCGS MS63

$5 Gold

1904 $5 PCGS MS64

$20 Gold

1904 PCGS MS63; 1911-S PCGS MS65; 1925 NGC MS63; 1927 NGC MS64; 1927 PCGS MS65; 1927 PCGS MS64; 1927 PCGS MS63; 1928 PCGS MS64

The Hanes Park Bust coinage consignment will be this evening's priority for image processing. I'm looking forward to working with scarce bust coinage varieties and sharing these with GFRC customers in the coming days.

Featured Coins of the Day

Let's shift the emphasis this morning to 1806 Draped Bust coinage as GFRC continues to expand early United States silver coinage inventory. First up as a nice original 1806 B-3 quarter residing in PCGS VF20 holder. This example is accurately graded and has decent eye appeal due to contrast between the darker fields and lighter main devices. The PCGS holder has considerable wear and this results as haze on the top obverse and within the reverse center. Next is an 1806 O-118a, R3, half dollar graded PCGS VG8. This is a choice original piece from the Seal Beach Collection that features a bisecting reverse die crack and die bulging.

 

Have an enjoyable Sunday and I will see you bright and early on Monday morning with more numismatic and financial ramblings.

 

March 12, 2016

Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends
We're so glad you could attend
Come inside! Come inside!
There behind a glass is a real blade of grass
be careful as you pass.
Move along! Move along!

Come inside, the show's about to start
guaranteed to blow your head apart
Rest assured you'll get your money's worth
The greatest show in Heaven, Hell or Earth.
You've got to see the show, it's a dynamo.
You've got to see the show, it's rock and roll ....

Karn Evil #9 1st Impression - Brain Salad Surgery - Emerson, Lake and Palmer

It is indeed another sad day for those of us who deeply appreciate British progressive rock. It seems like just days ago that David Bowie passed and now the news of Keith Emerson's apparent suicide is on the news outlets. Emerson, Lake and Palmer along with Pink Floyd and Genesis (Peter Gabriel/Steve Hackett era) were critically important during my formative teenage years. Personal roots as an electronic engineer can be attributed to the transition from coin collecting to becoming a passionate British progressive rock junkie and delving into the construction of stereo amplifiers and loudspeakers. As a senior in high school, I won that year's science fair after designing and building high efficiency passive reflex loudspeakers. There I was on the St. Dominic's High School stage with power amp, quality turntable and the loud speaker demonstrations with Emerson, Lake and Palmer's classical Toccata and the magical, Still... You Turn Me On.

Back in the Maine GFRC office hangs a Greg Lake signed lithograph of the Brain Salad Surgery cover art as a testament to the importance of this band's influence on my life. Hours have been spent just staring at this cover art appreciating the intricate beauty as was the band's music. RIP Keith Emerson.........

 

Welcome to the Daily Blog on this Saturday morning and thank you for visiting once again. During the past week, the Daily Blog hit rate has been solidly over 500 per day and I am honored that so many collectors and numismatic friends are stopping by to read my ramblings. I'm one of those people who takes life seriously with that ongoing passion for continuous learning and building organizations and communities. The GFRC business is much more than just another coin dealer throwing his hat into the ring. It is about building a collector community and taking care of each other within the shadows of the business goliaths...the grading services and the major auction houses.

GFRC News

The response to Poetic Candy and Jim Poston consignments has been well beyond expectations. All of the Poetic Candy proof Seated quarters and half dollars are sold. Many of Jim's Seated halves are also spoken for after being posted in yesterday's Daily Blog. Astute collectors seek quality coins and having a trusted numismatist prescreening coins for quality and then offering at a fair competitive price is appreciated. Honesty and integrity are such important attributes in a collectibles hobby were there are no formal professional entry requirements.

The remaining Jim Poston Seated halves are now on the price list. Within his shipment were several beautiful dual sided toner Morgans. I was able to photography those yesterday and here they are. The 1880 NGC MS64 Star is absolutely gorgeous and offered at a reasonable price while the 1886 exhibits lovely rose and deep gold toning with blue rims. See below.

 

Have you noticed that the CAC green and gold emblems are being added to GFRC images? So far, the feedback has been most positive and it will take another week to catch up all of the images within GFRC inventory.

This weekend's priorities are the Hanes Park and Upstate New York consignments. The Hanes Park consignment will be a treat for those who seek R4 and R5 die marriages within the Capped Bust denominations. Upstate New York emphasizes beautifully toned silver coins with many have old album bullseye toning. So please check often and also please consider a purchase towards making this Trading Desk a vibrant success.

Featured Coins from the Trading Desk

While Seated halves are hot sellers, Liberty Seated quarters have been fairly quiet since the beginning of 2016. Selling some quarters is a near term priority for inventory rotation. So let's feature a few recommended pieces this morning. First up is the just added 1870 PCGS EF40 from Jim Poston. The 1870 date is not challenging within the Seated dime and half dollar series but for quarters, the story is different. Mintage is only 86,400 and locating problem free and original examples will take considerable effort. Offered here is a lovely example with gun metal gray/blue patina and exciting bright light performance. Next to the 1870 is a lustrous 1876 FS-305 Misplaced Date example graded PCGS AU53. This coin's descriptions starts with, This is an mighty fine looking AU53 in my humble opinion. Enough said on this Saturday morning.

 

Wishing everyone a great weekend and please don't be bashful to stop by to the price lists or email concerning inquiries. The GFRC office will be open throughout the weekend while I set my Pandora station to Emerson, Lake and Palmer and relive my younger years.

 

March 11, 2016

Good morning once again and welcome to the Daily Blog. The middle of March is just a few days away and amazingly, the planning of GFRC transition back to Maine needs to commence. There will be more on this topic in the coming week. GFRC mailing address will once again shift to Maine and a 4-5 day period of holding back mailed payments to avoid the USPS forwarding loop will be necessary. GFRC customers have likely noticed how quickly shipments are turned once a check arrives. By not using credit cards or Paypal, customers allow me to eliminate fees resulting in lower prices for quality coins and secondly, reasonable Trading Desk commissions for consignors. Let's keep our precious monies within the numismatic community and not give a portion to the banking institutions for every transaction made.

Presidential debate fatigue is setting in and even the news media appears exhausted with the ongoing reporting. All that can be said has been said and hopefully the primary season will end soon.

Finally, Sunday brings about Daylight Savings Time. There are online articles and even NBC Nightly News featuring a segment that doctors are reporting higher cases of strokes and heart attacks during the Daylight Saving change period. After enduring years of jet lag from multi continent business travel, a one hour time change is trivial. Maybe the higher incident of illness is related to the fact that many American's are in poor health and over weight and a minor schedule change is enough to push those individuals into difficulties.

GFRC News

Feedback for yesterday's 1861-S PCGS AU58 Liberty Seated quarter provenance demonstration was positive. The coin doctors believe they can operate with anonymity while slipping their handiwork through the major grading services and auction houses. The doctors win and eventually, the collectors or major grading services lose when the enhancements are discovered. I welcome more provenance research similar to that published on Thursday as the evidence is now available in online auction records. Before purchasing a key date Liberty Seated coin in any denomination, collectors should do their homework when the coins are freshly graded. I'm much more comfortable purchasing key date coins in older holders and will not cracked out or attempts upgrades for the Liberty Seated dimes in my personal collection.

I'm pleased to report that the Poetic Candy Collection Proof Seated halves (1881, 1882, 1883, all NGC MS64 CAC) are on hold. A GFRC customer bought the set as hoped. A sincere congratulations and thank you goes out to this individual for maintaining these three lovely halves as a set.

The Upstate New York consignment arrived yesterday and all I can say is Wow! This consignment offers a broad range of Bust and Seated coins with beautiful toning. More on this consignment in the coming days.

Following is a gallery of this week's consignment from Jim Poston. Not all coins are shown including the lovely toner Morgans. These still need to be photographed and processed during the weekend. The 1842-O WB-13 PCGS AU50 CAC and 1881 PCGS AU58 Seated halves are already on hold. This is by far the best offerings to date from Jim. The 1845 grades PCGS AU55 and is so original while the 1876-CC also resides in PCGS AU55 holder and offers substantial luster. The 1863 NGC EF40 half should also garner attention as a scarce Civil War Philadelphia date. Please email for prices if there is potential interest.

Jim Poston Consignment - March 11, 2016

   

   

   

  

Financial News

This morning's financial news is a bit of odds and ends but worth considering to stay informed. China is pursuing a new program to convert corporate bank loans into equity stakes. Since the Chinese central government owns majority stakes in most mainland companies, then it is possible to undertake this type of maneuver to reduce the amount of non performing loans on the balance sheet of Chinese banks. Next is report on the normal state of federal debt in the United States. The U.S. budget deficit was only $193 billion in February and near a seven year low....great job to our law makers! Finally, Evercore ISI managing directore makes a bear call for the equity markets and plans to move into gold. I'm reading a fair number of articles citing the ongoing financial engineering by U.S. corporation to enhance earnings and also downplay expectations. One example is the shift from GAAP to Pro Forma earnings reporting. Pro Forma is a looser standard and subject to more creativity towards earning upsides. Isn't it interesting how our traditional measures of inflation, employment and now corporate earnings are being "engineered" to show more favorable results?

China is drafting rules to make it easier for lenders to convert bank loans into equity stakes of debtor companies, a move that would help authorities clean up the nation's highest levels of soured credit in a decade, sources told Bloomberg. The swaps will be based on market principles, though details of the new regulations are not yet finalized. Meanwhile, the onshore yuan overnight erased its entire decline for the year, after the PBOC raised its daily reference rate by the most in four months (+0.34% to 6.4905).

The U.S. budget deficit was little changed in February, leaving the gap between government spending and revenue near a seven-and-a-half year low. The government recorded a $193B shortfall last month, a period in which expenditures typically exceed revenue as tax refunds are mailed. According to the Treasury Department, that was up only slightly from a $192B deficit last February.

"Sell stocks and buy gold" is the new theme at Evercore ISI, after Managing Director Rich Ross disclosed the end of his bullish call in a note titled, "I'm out." "While we have repeatedly highlighted (S&P 500) 2,030 as our upside target, the rapid post-ECB reversals in the cross-asset technicals dictates that we abandon our tactical view at this time in favor of a far more defensive posture. Our structural bear market call with downside to 1,670 remains intact. We would sell global equities and commodity currencies on the back of recent countertrend strength and buy gold."

Featured Coins from the Trading Desk

Small denomination gold, mostly half eagles, are selling well during the past few weeks as customers add to their gold holdings. GFRC also offers a nice selection of Eagles ($10) and Double Eagle ($20) coins for consideration. Following are two pieces that provide good value. First is an 1842 Small Date Eagle graded PCGS EF40 with a low mintage of 18,623 with the last PCGS graded EF40/EF45 example offered at auction during December 2009. Pricing has been reduced to $1,100 early this month. Sitting next to the 1842 Small Date piece is a lustrous 1893 Eagle graded NGC MS61. This is one of the Osprey consignment pieces that has been repatriated from Europe during the past year.

 

Please remember that Daylight Saving time begins on Sunday, March 13 and please take care of your health! I will be back on Saturday morning per usual. See you then.

 

 

March 10, 2016

Welcome to the Thursday edition of the Daily Blog.

There is much to discuss this morning therefore the preamble will be short. Google Analytics indicates a record number of 578 Blog page hits yesterday as a result of the Poetic Candy client gallery. The amazing run of Liberty Seated quarter proofs was the talk of the day as email inquiries poured in. The Poetic Candy Liberty Seated quarter proofs were sold as a lot by 10:00am yesterday. The buyer asked for a quote and immediately made a purchase decision with no pricing negotiations. This individual is an astute advanced collector and understood the old time quality and the value of the gold CAC results and did not take a chance on losing the opportunity. To those with subsequent emails making soft inquiries contingent on favorable pricing, this should be a lesson learned. When numismatic properties of this caliber reach the market, having the first shot is the priority. Hope you catch my point here.

GFRC News

Jim Poston's consignment and Draped/Capped Bust purchase on my behalf is the lead news story today. Let's jump immediately into the Draped and Capped Bust quarters that will reach the price list by end of day. As mentioned in an earlier Daily Blog, GFRC is committed to expanding early Bust product line offerings but will only be stocking quality and eye appealing coins. These four pieces are consistent with the GFRC stated goal. Please note that the 1806 B-3 PCGS VF20 CAC offering has considerable wear on the holder, especially on the reverse center area. This is a choice piece with uniform gray patina and eye appeal. The 1806 B-7 is a rare variety offering with huge appeal and CAC approval. Click on the images to view higher resolution versions.

   

The Jim Poston Consignment has a wonderful selection of Liberty Seated halves. Seated halves are under strong demand and I'm sure that many of these pieces will sell within the first 24 hours. Please email me for a price quote and follow-up images. This lot has been photographed and hopefully will have its own Client Gallery on Friday morning. Jim's keen instincts for searching out top quality inventory is a blessing for GFRC customers.

Liberty Seated 25c

1870 PCGS EF40 choice original with bright light eye appeal

Liberty Seated 50c

1839 No Drapery PCGS F15 original gray; 1839 Drapery PCGS AU53 choice original light gray and so pretty; 1842-O PCGS AU50 CAC Rev1842 so choice; 1845 PCGS AU55 choice and eye appeal; 1851-O NGC VF35 original medium gray; 1853 A&R NGC VF35 CAC gem for the grade; 1855-O PCGS EF45 choice original gray; 1863 NGC EF40 original gray and problem free; 1874 PCGS AU55+ original pastel gray/gold; 1876 PCGS AU58 CAC frosty luster; 1876-CC PCGS AU55 gem original; 1881 PCGS AU58 choice original and eye appeal.

Toner Morgan $1

1880 NGC MS64 Star and pure eye candy; 1883-O PCGS MS63 duall sided electric rose/blue; 1886 PCGS MS64 CAC rose/blue eye appeal

 

Featured Topic; Enhanced 1861-S Liberty Seated Quarter - PCGS AU58

An astute GFRC consignor and customer took my comments in the March Gobrecht Journal to heart. In that issue, I wrote an article concerning the increasing amount of key date Liberty Seated coins, particularly Seated quarters, that are being "enhanced" by the coin doctors. Researching provenance is paramount these days for buyer protection as the major grading services are unable to detect and stop the coin doctors. Following is the provenance of an 1861 San Francisco quarter that is most disturbing. This 1861-S piece originated at Heritage September 1999 Long Beach auction in raw condition and was described as "Obviously cleaned at one time". It reappears in a PCGS AU55 holder and then is doctored with incremental toning and today is the PCGS CoinFacts plate coin at the PCGS AU58 grade level. I've highlighted the key diagnostics on all three images that validates the provenance. Click on the images to view higher resolution versions.

Heritage Lot #5158 - September 1999 Long Beach Sale - Realized $1495

"Obviously cleaned at one time, each side has since taken on several layers of dull gray, blue, and golden-olive patina."

 

PCGS AU55 - #30174419 - Removed from PCGS Database

 

PCGS CoinFacts Plate Coin - PCGS AU58 - #25628460

 

Financial News

We close today's Blog with international financial headlines from Seeking Alpha that are worth noting. European Central Bank's Mario Draghi will use all available financial tools to kick start the EU economy....this posturing borders on being desperate. New Zealand cut its interest rates as the global currency war continues. Chinese inflation is running ahead of plan but frankly, this is no surprise to me. During Chinese Lunar New Year, merchants will raise prices to leverage holiday demand. The question becomes that of restoring prices after the holidays are done. And finally, Saudi Arabia is looking for bank loans as low oil prices are resulting in a record budget shortfall.....I almost feel bad for the Saudis.

"Whatever it takes, whatever we must, without undue delay, no limits," are some of the words ECB President Mario Draghi has used regarding more stimulus over the last several months, but today we'll see if he's ready to put the money where his mouth is. Expectations the central bank will announce additional easing measures are running high, and Draghi has an arsenal of possible support measures at his disposal. Among them: Pushing the deposit rate further into negative territory, an expansion of the bank's trillion-euro bond-buying program, and a new or revised low-interest, long-term loan program.

An unexpected rate cut by New Zealand's central bank (by 25 bps to 2.25%) triggered a big slide in the kiwi today and sparked talk of a global currency war as countries look to revitalize their economies in a world of slow growth. The move follows the BOJ's historic decision in January to adopt negative interest rates and comes hours ahead of the ECB's policy review. Meanwhile, South Korea's won weakened slightly after the Bank of Korea opted to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 1.5%, although that decision was mostly anticipated.

Chinese stocks fell 2% overnight as investors interpreted data showing consumer inflation rising faster than forecast as being largely negative for an economy struggling to find momentum. Consumer inflation advanced 2.3% in February, accelerating at its fastest pace since July 2014, but producer prices remained stubbornly weak. "Higher inflation in a weak economy is not a good thing, because it limits the room for monetary easing while increasing people's living costs," said Yang Hai, strategist at Kaiyuan Securities. Separately, the PBOC is preparing regulation that would allow commercial banks to swap bad company debt for equity in those firms.

Saudi Arabia is seeking a bank loan of between $6B-$8B, in what would be the first significant foreign borrowing by the kingdom's government in over a decade. Riyadh has asked lenders to submit proposals to extend it a five-year U.S. dollar loan of that size, with an option to increase it, to help plug a record budget shortfall caused by low oil prices. The kingdom's deficit reached nearly $100B last year.

Let's skip the Featured Coins of the Day segment this morning. A health walk is in order before sitting at the laptop the balance of day loading coins on the price list. Thank you for visiting once again and hope the content was enjoyable. I'm looking forward to seeing you bright and early on Friday. Have a great day!

 

March 9, 2016

Good morning and welcome to the Wednesday Daily Blog edition. Let's immediately jump into GFRC News after working until 2:00am.

GFRC News

Today we have an amazing consignment to showcase. Working with a new GFRC consignor is always a pleasure but in the case of the Poetic Candy Collection, this is downright fun! When opening the USPS priority boxes containing the Poetic Candy consignment two weeks ago, I immediately knew this collection was special, really special! The proof Seated quarters and halves screamed old time quality and conservative grading along with being a matched set. Everything, or nearly everything, was in NGC Fatty, PCGS Rattler or Old Green Holders. So you know, this collection was assembled before PCGS and NGC started business.

Once the consignment was in hand, I immediately packaged and sent to CAC for review wondering how many Gold CACs could be secured as Green CACs were assured for the majority of these coins. When the CAC results arrived by email yesterday, expectations were met. The CAC rate was a robust 18 out of 20 with only the two Seated half dimes not receiving a sticker. Those poor half dimes just don't get any respect! Gold CAC stickers were concentrated within the nicely match Liberty Seated proof quarters, all in NGC Fatty holders and with consecutive serial numbers....simple awesome!

Below is the Poetic Candy Client Gallery. Please enjoy this superb collection as I've worked quite hard to provide the most precise images. Prices should be finalized by end of day Wednesday. Selling the Seated quarter proof lot intact is a personal priority as so well matched.

Poetic Candy Collection Consignment - March 9, 2016

Proof Type Coins - 90% CAC Approval with 33% Gold CAC

   

   

   

   

   

   

  

 

Also important news in the arrival of Jim Poston's latest consignment. It is by far the best today with important Liberty Seated halves. Included in the shipment are the Draped Bust and Capped Bust quarters purchased outright for product line expansion. Jim's consignment will be itemized in Thursday's Blog.

So the GFRC consignment queue now includes the following; 1) remaining raw coins from Seal Beach, 2) the Hanes Park consignment, 3) the Jim Poston consignment and finally, 4) the Upstate New York consignment arriving today.

Guest Commentary

This is the first time that a poem has been featured in the Daily Blog. Following is a timely poem from our consignor concerning the United States political and election process. This poem was published in the Harvard Law Review about ten years ago and is now shared for Daily Blog reader enjoyment.

POLLY TRICKS by Poetic Candy

The nuances of politics,
The monetary games and terrible tricks,
Have never really touched my fancy,
In fact they have discouraged and mostly just disgusted me,
And helped to make me antsy.

The party system, to my dismay,
Has been going on for years,
To sit, to eat, to smoke, to talk, and say so little,
While consuming many beers.
I think instead of smiles and parties,
If they could only shed some tears,

It might allay my skepticism and help to cast aside my fears.

Regardless of our preference or type of party we prefer,
They will always take our money,
And just say thank you sir.

Why do we sit and listen to the music,
But still not hear the band?
Perhaps because we’re deaf to things we do not understand.
I no longer wish to have my many thoughts derided,
When I know that back before the party even started,
Everything had been decided.

So now I’ve given up,
I’ll no longer sit around and gloat,
Thinking that I play a part,
Because so few have given me,
Such a useless vote.

I don’t go to parties any more, but to have a little fun,
I look into their windows when I want my head to spin,
While they talk and spend my money,
Deciding who will run and who will win.

Now those who hold the parties know the system well,
For they perfected it down in that fire filled law school,
Before they brought it up from hell.

I know that it will never change,
While all those lawyers hold the reigns,
And continue having parties,
For those of us who have no brains.

Featured Coins from the Trading Desk

Let's wrap up today's Blog with two choice original Trade Dollars. This series is so under appreciated and among feared by some collectors due to the number of Chinese counterfeits that have entered the market during the past 20 years. Locating perfectly original and genuine examples does take effort and I will add specimens to inventory when possible. Below are 1876 and 1877 San Francisco that make a lovely matched pair. The 1876-S is graded PCGS EF40 while the 1877-S is raw and also graded EF40. Please consider a purchase!

 

Please check back tomorrow for the contents of the Jim Poston consignment and other surprises. Have a great Wednesday.

 

 

March 8, 2016

Greetings on this Tuesday morning and thank you for visiting the Daily Blog.

This morning brings the afterglow after setting eyes on the March Gobrecht Journal. If you are not an LSCC member, then read on and please consider joining our club as we printed 70+ extra copies in anticipation of strong post release demand.

March 2016 Gobrecht Journal

Readers in the eastern United States most likely received their Gobrecht Journal issue yesterday. Mine arrived late in the day and all I could say was amazingly well done by Editor Bill Bugert. I was so pleased and immediately called Bill to congratulate him on his MS68 gem! I'm incredibly proud of this issue as it demonstates what is possible when a leadership team is motivated to innovate. Exploring new publishing concepts is critical for the Liberty Seated Collectors Club to be viewed as one of the leading numismatic organization in the hobby with members being proud to be part of their club.

Without opening the issue, the cover graphic sets the stage with an antique appearance consistent with the numismatic artifacts that we cherish. I call this the "Gettysburg Cover" as the artistry brings the same sense of historical importance felt when walking the Gettysburg's battlefield last September. Article quality is consistently high while the centerfold display of the Classic Silver Collection far exceeded expectations. There were multiple reasons for adding a centerfold to the Gobrecht Journal. Bill Bugert, in his opening comments, touched upon two; highlighting inventory selection from club members for the community to enjoy and secondly, fostering club member pride through a display of their hobby. But there is a third reason for the centerfold and that is education. Showcasing quality original coins is an important educational tool for the membership.

Already the favorable email comments are arriving and here are two excerpts.

From the GFRC Massachusetts consignor: The cover is certainly classy. The selection of contents is remarkably diverse; and the new centerfold concept should be embraced by all our matured colleagues, certainly mostly refined gentlemen, for what it is......breathtaking and almost priceless. Please thank 'Classic Silver' for pioneering this new concept, but I could almost swear that I have heard of this concept from some where else.

From Jim Macor, GoldFinch Design Studio: I think the Journal came out quite well. As an artist, I can only try to visualize the actual "printed outcome," and the printing is top notch (great job Bill)! It has that ole "journal" look and feel (something I was striving for, somewhere between an old treasure map and an ole' coin journal.) After all, I think coin collecting is a lot like that - kind of a journey of enlightenment in the treasure hunt... and the goodness of friendships shared along that journey of the adventure.

GFRC News

I'm also pleased this morning to announce that the Top 100 Liberty Seated Dime Varieties Set will be installed into PCGS Set Registry. BJ Searls emailed yesterday with a few variety questions as she prepared the set for inclusion into their Registry.

On the consignment front, the Upstate New York collector shipped his first major consignment yesterday. This individual is a passionate collector of bullseye toned Bust and Seated coinage and has decided to start thinning the herd and using GFRC for disbursement. Working with his silver pieces will be lots of fun!

Jim Poston called and his express shipment should arrive on Wednesday. Included in the shipment are more nice Draped Bust quarters that Jim purchased on my behalf from an old time Kansas collector. GFRC is becoming serious about offering quality Bust coinage and seeks better examples for purchase or consignment.

A new individual also emailed yesterday about a potential consignment and shared several PCGS TruView images to showcase the quality of his coins. More on this opportunity in a subsequent Daily Blog.

Let's close this section with a teaser from the Poetic Candy consignment which is currently at CAC for review. I'm expecting CAC results in the next 48 hours but have already photographed the individual pieces and will move forward with the Client Display in tomorrow's Blog. Don't you love this 1885 Liberty Seated quarter graded NGC PR64 and residing in early NGC Fatty holder? You ain't seen nothing yet as Poetic Candy offers 1881, 1882, 1883, 1884 and 1885 Seated quarter proofs that are consistently matched in color and grade plus all residing in pristine NGC Fatty holders with consecutive serial numbers...awesome!

Financial News

Spot gold continues its slow methodical climb towards $1300 and once again sits at $1276 this morning. China exports are dropping significantly and one can only wonder about the internal Chinese economic ramifications and also the health of global consumption. Japan bond rates continue to fall with investors scooping up 30 year bonds for some assurance of yield. The ongoing flight to safety means incremental demand for United States treasuries. Finally, the issue of further United States interest rate increases in 2016 remains unsettled.

China's February trade performance was far worse than economists had expected, days after top leaders at the National People's Congress sought to reassure investors about the world's second-largest economy. Exports fell 25.4% from a year earlier, the biggest drop since May 2009, while imports slumped 13.8%, leaving a trade surplus of $32.59B. "It's easy to blame Chinese New Year distortions, but there is a much deeper malaise that is becoming apparent in the numbers," said Frederic Neumann, co-head of Asian economic research at HSBC.

Longer dated Japanese government bond yields declined to new depths overnight, with the 7-, 10-, and 30-year benchmark yields all setting new record lows. Although the JGB market figures are not unusual since the BOJ cut interest rates below zero, the scale of the rally for the 30-year bonds was pronounced, suggesting investors are scrambling for yield against a backdrop of poor economic data and deflationary pressures. U.S. treasuries gained with the Japanese bonds, as stock-market declines drove demand for the relative safety of sovereign debt. 10-year treasury yield -6 bps to 1.84%.

After a long wait for inflation to accelerate, Fed officials face a complex and possibly divisive debate over whether recent evidence of rising prices is strong enough to move ahead with planned rate hikes. In separate statements on Monday, policymakers at the core of that debate staked out starkly different views, with Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer saying economic data now points to the "first stirrings" of inflation, while Fed Governor Lael Brainard countered that the evidence was not yet so clear cut.

Featured Coins from the Trading Desk

This morning's featured consignor is Seal Beach. This individual has blessed GFRC with a broad range of quality coins. Below are two examples. On the left is a lovely 1840 Reverse of 1839 Seated half dollar graded PCGS EF45 while on the right is an 1846 Tall Date half with lovely golden surfaces. This piece is graded PCGS MS63 and resides in an early holder. GFRC continues to offer one of the broadest selections of quality Seated halves in the numismatic industry.

 

Thank you for visiting this morning and I will be back bright and early on Wednesday morning with the Poetic Candy consignor gallery. We may even be treated to a poem from this individual! Wishing everyone a great day.

 

March 7, 2016

Another week begins as Monday arrives much too quickly after a busy sales weekend. I wish to thank all existing and new GFRC customers for their purchases throughout the past few days. Demand for quality Capped Bust and Seated coins is robust as collectors enjoy their hobby.

This morning's Blog is a tad delayed as the Dell laptop was not behaving well after returning from sleep mode. There was time to drink the morning coffee as the Restart and Updating screens just stared at me. Don't you hate it when Microsoft injects a system update into your personal computer's start-up without warning? But we are back for another exciting day at the GFRC office and online business.

Last evening's tasks resulted in a 1:00am bedtime. There were the HughWood business insurance renewal application preparations followed by image processing for the balance of the Mountain View Collection consignment. Yes, GFRC is fully insured so consignors should feel secure while their important numismatic properties are with me. Below are the Liberty Seated quarters in the Mountain View Collection consignment. Please note the 1872-S PCGS AG3 CAC quarter as an important opportunity to acquire this rare date. The Mountain View quarters will be heading to the price list today so please check back during late afternoon hours.

Mountain View Collection Consignment - March 7, 2016

Liberty Seated Quarters

   

   

   

   

  

Financial News

Spot gold is holding to the $1270 level this morning and looks poised to challenge the $1300 later this week. Seeking Alpha headlines are generally quiet as the world watches the United States presidential primary process. Last week's "better than consensus forecast" jobs report has the question of 2016 interest rate increases on the table once again while the equity markets are moving ahead. The recent coupling of spot oil prices with equity markets is no longer being discussed. China is working to stem an outflow of foreign reserves as its citizens are relocating monies abroad due to fears of more Yuan devaluations. Lastly, negative interest rates remain an unexplored experiment in the land of financial engineering. The long term ramifications are an unknown and cause for worry.

It looks like the bulls have gained the upper hand in the U.S. stock market, with shares advancing for their third straight week in a row, following an impressive jobs report on Friday that showed recent economic worries were overblown. The S&P 500 has now gained in 10 out of 15 sessions since its Feb. 11 low, and closed last week above its 100-day moving average for first time in 2016. But the question remains - where will equities go from here? Further gains are possible if the ECB expands its stimulus measures this week, but more upbeat U.S. data could bolster prospects for an upcoming rate hike from the Fed and weigh on shares.

China's foreign currency reserves dropped for the fourth consecutive month in February, falling $28.75B to $3.2T (the lowest level since 2011), but a slower pace of decline suggested that the recent stability of the currency markets has eased pressure on the central bank to intervene aggressively. The country's forex reserves have come under close scrutiny in recent months for clues on the size of capital outflows as well as the ability of policymakers to support the yuan.

Negative interest rates are not always being passed on to businesses and consumers, and could ultimately undermine the models of banks, pension funds and insurance companies, the Bank for International Settlements has warned. The BIS, known as the central banks' central bank, says the longer reference rates are set at zero or below, the higher the risk of hitting a "tipping point," where no one benefits. The warning comes as central banks around the world increasingly look to sub-zero short-term rates to stimulate economic activity and fight off deflationary pressures.

Featured Coins from the Trading Desk

This morning's featured coins are from the Osprey Collection consignment. With spot gold prices continuing to move upward, the numismatic premium on certain quality eagle and double eagles is evaporating. Owning United States gold coins that are TPG certified is a wise diversification strategy. Here are several possibilities that offer good value based on quality and prices. First is an 1881-S $10 Liberty housed in PCGS MS61 holder with the numismatic premium being less than $100 following by a choice original 1897-S $20 graded PCGS MS62. Both pieces are freshly graded and repatriated from Europe during the past year. Building a United States gold type set is probably a wise investment decision at this time.

 

Thank you for visiting with me this morning. Tuesday's Daily Blog should return at its normal time and I will hopefully see you then.

 

 

March 6, 2016

Greetings on this Sunday morning and thank you for reading the Daily Blog.

Today's Blog will feature a variety of topics outside of the United States presidential primary process. Fatigue has already set in and I can't wait until early November arrives to be rid of the daily drama. If only issues like global warming received similar amounts of news coverage. But then again, the global warming topic lacks elements that drive media readership; power, self-importance and wealth.

LSCC News

Bill Bugert, Gobrecht Journal Editor, sent along the following brief announcement.

I would like to report that I mailed the new improved issue (#125) of the Gobrecht Journal yesterday morning from the Gettysburg post office. I expect members will start receiving their copies on Monday. I hope it will be well received.

As Bill mentions, Gobrecht Journal issue #125 reflects several improvements. First is the front and back cover artistry of Jim Macor presented in full color. Each year, the cover art will be changed rendering the annual three issues as their own collectible. Secondly, is the collector centerfold concept whereby LSCC members will be able to display collection highlights within the Journal. Issue #125 features impressive selections from the Classic Silver Collection along with quality numismatic research articles and other commentaries. I'm looking forward to receiving issue #125 in a few days.

Let's not forget the amount of volunteer hours necessary to prepare, print and mail the Gobrecht Journal. The role of Gobrecht Journal Editor is the most critical within our club and we are blessed to have noted Liberty Seated half dollar researcher, Bill Bugert, handling these responsibilities along with the monthly E-Gobrecht.

GFRC News

Saturday brought a substantial amount of sales as advanced collectors continue to add choice offerings to their collections. Important Seated dimes sold including the 1837 F-101c PCGS MS63, the 1838 F-106 NGC MS64 CAC and the 1860-O PCGS VF20 along with the 1871-CC NGC VF30 Seated half dollar as highlights.

The Mountain View consignor's COIN report was prepared including pricing recommendations. Already, I've received feedback and will be in a position to start posting these pieces to the price list today. Back in Boston, Matt is working diligently to transition all GFRC consignors to the new COIN inventory system while I focus on imaging and loading consignments that wait in queue.

Three more consignments were discussed yesterday. The Upstate New York consignor will be shipping a nice slabbed lot of Bust and Seated coins this week. Jim Poston continues to add to his forthcoming consignment that will be expressed shipped on Monday. Finally, a GFRC customer approached me with potential consignment that will be transferred at the Baltimore show.

Daily Blog Guest Commentary

The following well written commentary concerning United States and British news media arrived yesterday and pleased to be sharing with Blog readers.

Your assessment of BBC's merits is much the same as mine. It was the only website I found with straightforward state-by-state results for Super Tuesday. That's rather pathetic, actually. Reuters is mostly reliable too, if one steers clear of "sponsored content."

Back when it was a hot topic, I heard a retired British diplomat discuss President Obama's Syrian "red line" on BBC Radio during the wee hours of the night Central time. He explained that the huge refugee camp just over the border in Jordan, holding thousands of young men with nothing much to do, was a natural recruiting ground for the Syrian opposition. This fact had not escaped Assad's attention, and he seemed perfectly capable of using biological or chemical weapons to quell opposition to his regime. The speaker went on to opine that genocide on that scale was something that even Putin couldn't contemplate, and the risk might explain the muted response to localized violations. At that point he stopped himself in mid-sentence, as though he might have said too much already.

My point isn't that this scenario is necessarily true, or that Obama's posturing and inaction are beyond reproach. But we are seldom provided this degree of complexity and nuance in our "25 words or less" society.

Daily Blog Follow-Up - The 1858-S Seated Quarter in Heritage Dallas ANA Sale.

Just a quick follow-up on this topic. The 1858-S Seated quarter that original sold in the Heritage Houston December 2015 auction graded ANACS AU53 Details Cleaned example for $1146 was sold at the Dallas ANA for $2820 in PCGS EF45 holder. After "the upgrade," this quarter was being shopped privately for offers but finally ended up in the Heritage sale. The buyer was a mail bidder.

Featured Coins from the Trading Desk

This morning, we shift attention to Motor City Capped Bust halves. Many GFRC clients and consignors are multi decade collectors and are using GFRC consignor program to test the retail market outside of traditional major auction houses. The Motor City consignor is a typical example of an individual with raw holdings that have sat is bank boxes for decades. A sample of the holdings are sent to TPG before being offered publicly. GFRC customers should be paying close attention when old time collections are sold as this is a source for choice original coins that have not been through the enhancement or TPG upgrading game. Below are two examples; 1831 O-111 PCGS AU50 gem original and 1833 O-106 NGC AU53 choice original pieces from the Motor City Collection. Please enjoy and consider a purchase. You will not be disappointed.

 

This has been a long Blog and time for a health walk. Thank you so much for visiting this morning. Our numismatic community continues to grow!

 

March 5, 2016

Greetings and welcome to another edition of the Daily Blog.

Friday was indeed a special day as I took time off from the GFRC business and enjoy a wonderful afternoon hosting dear friends. Tom, and his wife Margaret, are spending a week in Florida and staying in the Orlando area. Last fall, while at the Rochester Numismatic Association show, Tom and Margaret hosted me for a oustanding meal and wine at local venue. So when Tom called and mentioned their Florida visit, we made plans for lunch at Venice's top attraction; Sharkey's at the Venice Pier. Weather was perfect for outdoor dining while enjoying the richly colored Gulf of Mexico waters. For Blog readers who are curious, Tom is known as the Massachusetts consignor on GFRC price lists and has been a Liberty Seated dime student and customer going back to the 1990s on eBay.

GFRC News

Sales during the first few days of March have been brisk and spread across all product lines. A sincere thank you goes out to returning customers and also to the increasing number of new friends that are learning about GFRC quality and service.

Yesterday evening's focus was on the Mountain View Collection. Up until this point, I had not assigned a collection name to this consignor but the time had arrived given his most recent consignment. As a specialist is early quarters including Draped, Capped Bust and Seated, this individual takes his hobby seriously and is quite active. Within the February 18 Daily Blog, the contents of his recent consignment were listed and last evening, Matt and I completed his consignment transition to the COIN system. Following are the lovely Capped Bust quarters from the Mountain View consignment. All are CAC approved and offer excellent eye appeal at the VG10 and F12 grade levels. Seated quarters images will be processed today and illustrated in tomorrow's Blog.

Mountain View Collection Consignment - March 5, 2016

Capped Bust Quarters

   

 

Featured Topic

The BBC website is heads and shoulders above its United States peers in terms of quality reporting and insighful articles. Each morning, while preparing thoughts for the Daily Blog, the FOX, NBC and BBC websites are reviewed. I save the BBC review until last as so refreshing after struggling through the political biases of American news media. Recently, I've added the Boston Globe to the quick list for closer to home reporting.

This morning, the BBC offers an article entitled, Cheap oil is taking shipping routes back to 1880s, and discusses international shipping and changing economics due to low oil prices. Major shipping companies are no longer using the Suez canal for transport between Singapore and Europe, rather sailing the addition 3,500 nautical miles around Africa's Cape Horn. Costs and regulations for using the Suez Canal are more troubling than sailing the additional 11 days around Africa. Oil pricing arbitrage is also a factor as explained in the article.

Featured Coins from the Trading Desk

Carson City Seated halves are always available in lower circulated grades except for the 1870-CC and 1874-CC which are challenging in any grades. 1872-CC halves are the most common. Attempting to located strictly original examples in VF or better for any of the dates is a different story however. Patience will be required to ensure favorable value for the purchase price. At GFRC, I work hard to stock better grade and attractive examples that would nicely into customer collections. Following are two Carson City halves that are recommended. First up is a choice original 1871-CC WB-6 residing in NGC VF30 holder (On Hold) and accurately graded. I bought this piece at the 2016 FUN show from an old time collector in up state New York as I really liked the coin from a collector perspective. Next to the 1871-CC is a lovely 1873-CC from the Woodlands Collection. This example is the WB-4 die pairing and resided in PCGS VF30 holder with CAC approval. VF30 is an ideal value grade given the remaining device details versus pricing. Lay-a-ways are available for those collectors who need time for a purchase of this size. Don't be bashful to contact me!

 

Please check back tomorrow (Sunday) as I will have the balance of the Mountain View client galley completed and available for Daily Blog readers to enjoy. Wishing everyone a great weekend.

 

March 4, 2016

The first Friday in March arrives and once again, thank you for visiting the Daily Blog.

When will the Republican party madness stop? Democracy can be an ugly at times based on our country's history. The insertion of a 24/7 online media and viral videos has amplified the hideous discourse for the world to view. Yes, I did watch the Romney speech and the subsequent Trump campaign stop in Portland, Maine. Enough said on this topic.

GFRC News

Thursday started with an email from the Whitman Baltimore staff announcing the GFRC and W. David Perkins table location. I'm pleased to report that we are located in the same easy to access location as the 2015 Fall show. David and I will be surrounded by Stacks, Heritage, the U.S. Mint and Whitman Books and will be offering the best and broadest selection of Draped/Capped Bust and Liberty Seated coinage on the bourse floor. It should prove to be an exciting event; below is the bourse floor map guiding customers to Table 818. Please visit us first and often!

Whitman Baltimore Show - Gerry Fortin Rare Coins/W. David Perkins - Table 818

 

I am also pleased to report that my son, Matt, has taken over the GFRC consignor client migration to the COIN system. The transfer process is lengthy and impacting my ability to quickly process consignments heading into the Baltimore and Central States shows.

Please remember; Consignments Wanted for Baltimore and Central States shows!

Finally for today's GFRC News, Matt has located a skilled resource in the online gaming industry to execute my vision of dynamically created price lists on the GFRC website. First step is locating a suitable Internet Service Provider (ISP) that can handle the existing www.seateddimevarieties.com web-book and the GFRC online sales database that will include all images, prices and descriptions. Conceptionally, GFRC will be able to create an app similar to Heritage Auction archives along with the dynamically updated price list for the Trading Desk. The possibilities are so exciting.

Financial News

Spot gold took the next leg up overnight and currently sits at $1274. As pointed out in this morning's Seeking Alpha headline, the next major resistance is $1339. Japan continues to stress its commitment to achieving a 2% inflation rate by using all available financial tools including NIRP and more QE. Let's remember that inflation has two significant components, 1) the amount of money in circulation and 2) the velocity at which money circulates. Global central bankers are struggling with the second component of inflation due to changing demographics and individual debt loads. Finally, it is a sad day for the United States; the General Electic appliance division sale to China's Haier Group has been approved by U.S. antitrust authorities.

Gold prices are heading higher, up 1.2% to $1,273.60 per ounce, after closing at their highest level in more than a year on Thursday. Where's the next stop for the yellow metal? Bulls may aim for the January 2015 high of $1,307. Above that level, there is not much obvious resistance until the 200-week moving average, currently at $1,339. Trouble is also a possibility if today's employment report is a strong one, but for now the doves at the Fed have the upper hand.

Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda is not considering lowering interest rates deeper into negative territory at this time. Speaking to lawmakers in Tokyo, Kuroda said he would use the "three dimensions" of qualitative and quantitative easing and negative rates to ensure a 2% inflation target is met soon. The BOJ stunned markets and has faced a serious backlash since its Jan. 29 decision to charge commercial lenders on a share of the cash they park at the central bank.

General Electric's (NYSE:GE) proposed $5.4B sale of its appliance business to China's Haier Group (OTCPK:HRELF) has received approval from U.S. antitrust authorities.

Featured Coin of the Day

Buried within GFRC offerings are some incredible deals if one takes the time to research rarity. The Liberty Seated Quarter denomination is by far the most challenging to collect as choice pieces infrequently reach the marketplace. Many collectors are forced to build sets at the Good to Fine grade levels simply due to lack of availablilty of higher grade pieces. Last evening, I researched the rarity of choice 1874 With Arrows Seated quarters in AU or better. The results were shocking! The 1874 date is common for Seated dime and halves and I had the same mindset for quarters....I was so wrong. Mintage is lower at only 471, 200 but still high enough to have ample supply of nice AU and Mint State pieces, right? Not exactly...... Following is the CAC population for the 1874 date along with images of the lone PCGS MS62 CAC approved example...the Larry Briggs plate coin.

CAC Population - 1874 With Arrows

Total Certified - 12, VF30 - 1, EF40 - 2, AU50 -1, AU55 - 1, AU58 - 2, MS62 - 1, MS64 - 2, MS65 - 1, MS66 - 1

The above piece is consigned from the Grey Soldier Collection at $1350 and is an excellent value at the asking price. An advanced collector can capture numismatic history, rarity and beauty all with one purchase that will not break the bank.

It is always my pleasure to have numismatic friends visiting the Daily Blog. I will be back bright and early on Saturday morning. In the meantime, wishing everyone a great Friday.

 

 

March 3, 2016

Greetings on a Thursday morning and thank you for stopping by the Daily Blog.

The Republican party is in all out panic mode with respect to Donald Trump or at least the United States media wishes you to believe this point. Seeking an alternate opinion on this matter, one can visit with the BBC for a fresh perspective from across the Atlantic Ocean. A well researched and written article entitled, US election 2016: How Donald Trump compares to Ronald Reagan, might be worth the few minutes to read.

While quickly searching through "news" websites this morning, I ran into a Boston Globe article that has ramifications for the numismatic industry. Advanced mobile technology and instant information access results in people having less patience for normal life activities. There is a growing lack of appreciation for activities that require longer periods of time before gratification is achieved. Essentially, immediate self gratification is becoming the norm for modern society with Millennials and younger people having no experience with long term cause and effect. The article is entitled, Instant gratification is making us perpetually impatient, and is suggested reading this morning. Please remember that patience is a virture in life as without patience, farmers would not realize the benefit of turning seed to produce and sustaining their lives and those of their community. Building a high quality coin collecting takes patience and a long term horizon. The impatient collector goes online and buys TPG holders. This brief article will lead to more personal contemplation concerning the Liberty Seated Collectors Club and approaches for attracting the next generation collectors. Finding collectors with patience and the love for historical artifacts remains the challenge in a growingly impatient world.

GFRC News

Most of the slabbed Seal Beach coins reached the price list yesterday but not all. The choice original 1839 No Drapery Seated half graded PCGS AU50 only last 3 hours before being sold. This piece is heading into the collection of a GFRC consignor using the Trading Desk. Having a business concept turn to reality is rewarding when the results are satisfied numismatic sellers and buyers.

An email arrived from a new Daily Blog reader with questions that are probably best answered so that all Blog readers can share in the response. The new Blog reader wrote;

First off, I wanted to let you know that I've recently started reading your daily blog and really enjoy it. It's definitely become one of the sites I hit and look forward to each day. I was curious about one thing though, I've noticed a couple of coins that I'll see mentioned in the blog or see in a client gallery that don't seem to make it to the price list. For example, today there was an 1806 Draped Bust Half from the Seal Beach gallery that never made it to the price list. Also, a while back (looks like February 18th now that I look back) you mentioned a consignment including the following bust quarters: 1819 Small 9 B4 VG10 CAC; 1820 Small 0 B4 F12 CAC; 1825 B2 VG10 CAC...I don't think I ended up seeing those either. Was just curious how come they didn't make it to the price list.

Since GFRC is a one person operation, the marketing of coins in the Daily Blog and the posting on price list is a function of the energy and available hours that I have in a day's time. Preparing a large Client Gallery like the Seal Beach slabbed coins or the Osprey gold coins will take many hours. These galleries are typically constructed after dinner in preparation for the following morning's Daily Blog. After the Client Galley is published in the next day's Blog, some coins will immediately go on hold based on client email correspondence with the balance reaching the price list that day. Then again, life's demands may require my attention on multiple issues and some of the Client Gallery featured coins may take 48 hours to be posted.

In the case of the Bust quarters that were listed on the February 18th Daily Blog, there is a lag due to shipping time and my priority queue. The referenced coins were photographed yesterday and image processing will take place today and hopefully become the featured Client Gallery for Friday's Blog.

There are complicating factors in this process including the consignor conversion to COIN inventory system which requires rebuilding all 2014/2015 consignment sales activities in the COIN system. Those consignors who joined GFRC during 2015 are easier to convert than those dating back several years. The consignor of the Bust quarters is a long time consignor and I've delayed his COIN conversion and processing his coins due to the time that will be involved. Please understand that each day's work is structured in a manner that allows for fresh information to be posted in the Daily Blog so that the Trading Desk and supporting community receive "nearly instant gratification"...;) Please see the above Boston Globe article.........

Financials News

Spot gold price continues to consolidate in the $1230-$1250 range. Let's have a look once again at the Kitco.com 5 year spot gold technical chart. Please remember that the 200 day Moving Average (MA) is the green line and 60 day MA is the blue line. The 60 day MA is just about to cross the 200 MA as gold consolidates at new pricing level. A full fledge bull market will occur if daily gold spot prices continue to increase and fluctuate above the 60 MA. The 60 MA become the "floor" for an upward gold pricing trend.

Seeking Alpha headlines have a few items worth considering this morning. European and Asian businesses are rushing into Iran with the United States being left behind. European Union economies are still within deflation's grip while Turkey and Greece are becoming Syrian refugee camps as the rest of the EU stops accepting these people.

European and Asian investments are moving fast into Iran, leaving the U.S. in the dust as some sanctions continue to keep American money out of the Islamic Republic. The U.S. is "nowhere in terms of trade" due to remaining penalties over Iran's human rights policies and concerns about terrorism, said David Grayson, chief executive of brokerage Auerbach Grayson. Broad Western sanctions against Iran were lifted in January after the government agreed to curb its nuclear program.

More deflationary pressures in the eurozone are surfacing, raising the chances ECB President Mario Draghi will increase stimulus at a central bank meeting next week. Markit's composite Purchasing Managers Index fell to 53 from 53.6 in January - its lowest level in 13 months - while the firm's measure of output prices across manufacturing and services fell further below the key 50 level. The slowdown in business activity, slower hiring and price declines "suggest that the region’s recovery is losing momentum" said Markit's Chris Williamson.

The refugee crisis is a "manifestation of the disintegration of the European Union," Greece's controversial former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis told CNBC, as he warned against Turkey and Greece becoming a "large concentration camp for hapless refugees." According to the United Nations, 131,724 refugees and migrants made the risky journey across the Mediterranean Sea during January and February, while the EU (of which Greece is a member), has struggled to agree to a strategy to deal with the waves of people.

Featured Coins from the Trading Desk

Today's Featured Coin focus shifts to the Liberty Seated quarter denomination and several nice PCGS certified offerings. First is a choice original 1867 quarter graded PCGS EF40 with old time gray patina. This piece was recently acquired from a GFRC customer. The second offering is an essentially perfect 1876 quarter for a type coin set. This piece resides in a PCGS AU58 holder and is CAC approved. A recent pricing reduction by the consignor makes this piece an attractive value. Your consideration or a potential purchase of these GFRC coins and others on the price lists would be most welcomed!

 

Thank you for the ongoing visits to the Daily Blog and I will see you bright and early on Friday morning! Have a great day.

 

March 2, 2016

Welcome to the Daily Blog on a post Super Tuesday morning.

Clarity in the United States presidential campaign is starting to emerge with the Clinton and Trump victories. Trump continues to surprise many with his general election campaign strategy and especially his presidential style new conference in Palm Beach, Florida last evening. With the impressive number of state victories, Trump was able to call for Republican party unification given the unprecedented voter turnout resulting from his campaign.

GFRC News

Closer to home, most of last evening was spent processing images for the slabbed portion of the Seal Beach Part II consignment. Following is a nice treat of early Draped Bust quarters and halves along with Capped Bust halves and a lone 1839 No Drapery Seated half dollar residing in PCGS AU50 holder that is simply magnificent. Please pay attention to the 1839-O Reeded Edge half graded PCGS VF30 and the adjacent 1839 Reeded Edge PCGS EF40 that is so choice for the grade. There was insufficient time to attribute all the early halves to Overton varieties with this task taking place during price list loading. Hopefully, I will be able to load most of these onto the price list today towards generating initial sales. Seal Beach is an active Trading Desk participant and the conversion of these pieces into consignment credits facilitates the pursuit of his current collecting passion.

Seal Beach Collection Consignment Part II - March 2, 2016

   

   

   

   

   

I'm also pleased to report that the Seal Beach 1893-S PCGS VG10 key date Morgan sold within a few hours of being listed in yesterday's Featured Coin section of the Blog. Congratulations to the individual who purchased this piece as a personal reward for an important academic achievement!

More consignments are intransit as GFRC customers and consignors continue to take tactical steps towards downsizing or reshaping their collections. Due to arrive today is another installment from the Hanes Park Collection for those who collect Bust coinage at the die variety level. This consignment is predominately Capped Bust coinage and fully attributed with an important number of R4 and R5 varieties. Here comes the consignment breakdown with FRoR in effect:

Capped Bust 5c: 1829 LM-6.3 R5 F15; 1830 LM-6 R4 VF20; 1830 LM-14 R3 VF20; 1834 LM-4 R1 EF40

Capped Bust 10c: 1820 JR-3 R4 VG10; 1825 JR-4 R3 VG10; 1829 JR-1 R4+ F12; 1834 JR-6 R2 VG8

Draped Bust 25c: 1805 B1 R4 VG10; 1806 B6 R5 VG8; 1806 B7 R5 F12

Draped, Capped Bust 50c: 1806 O-114a R4 VF30; 1810 O-104 R3 VF30; 1811 O-113 R5 F12; 1812/1 O-102a R2 VF35; 1812 O-109a R2 EF45; 1823 O-101 R3 VF35; 1834 O-108 R2 EF45; 1837 GR-14 R1 EF45

Financial News

Global markets are recovering recent losses with the United States stock market taking the lead. Australia reports a 3% GDP expansion during the fourth quarter of 2015. Following are a few Seeking Alpha headlines.

Australia's economy expanded more than anticipated in the fourth quarter, a hopeful sign the worst of the global commodity rout may be over for the resource-rich nation. On an annual basis GDP grew 3%, back to its long-term trend rate and ahead of economists' consensus estimate for 2.5% growth. "Today’s GDP results confirm the resilience of the Australian economy, thanks to a rebalancing of activity away from mining investment into the services sectors," said Jasmin Argyrou, senior investment manager at Aberdeen Asset Management.

Yesterday turned out to be Super Tuesday for the stock market too, as investors bought equities with gusto. The Dow popped 349 points (+2.1%) for its second best day of the year, the S&P 500 surged 2.4%, while the Nasdaq logged its greatest day of 2016 with a whopping 2.9% gain. Despite the additional certainty from the primaries, traders may have more on their minds than the elections: The U.S. economy is picking up (last month's manufacturing data, durable goods and auto sales all came in better than expected). It's more unlikely the Fed will raise interest rates in March (Bill Dudley's latest speech), and oil prices appear close to a bottom. Although up overnight, U.S futures are now down 0.2%.

Featured Coins from the Trading Desk

Sales from the Birmingham Collection of Liberty Seated dimes were strong during 2015. This consignor has a long term perspective and hopes that GFRC call sell the balance of his Seated dimes within the next six months. Within this consignment are several key or semi key dates that warrant attention this morning. First is the Birmingham 1860-O dime residing in PCGS VF20 holder and carefully selected for in hand eye appeal due to ample remaining details and an even light rose/gray patina. There is no funky toning or faint surface porosity on this example. Next is the Birmingham 1861-S graded PCGS AU55 and definitely a choice original example with light rose/gold patina throughout obverse and reverse. The 1861-S dime does not photograph well but is a no question original piece worthy of an advanced collection. Best offers are solicited and welcomed including favorable lay-a-way terms.

 

A sincere thank you to all numismatists who visit the Blog on a daily basis and are supporting this start-up business.

 

March 1, 2016

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog as March rolls in.

Today is also Super Tuesday with the Republican party drama being excessive and ugly. Establishment money has been on full display and the losers are the American people. Just consider the size of the United States annual budget for a moment and its potential to corrupt those in the private sector who ultimately will benefit from access or allocation of these monies base on the policy decisions of government officials. The military/industrial complex is just one example an of industry engorging itself on public funding. Enough said.

LSCC News

Bill Bugert published the March E-Gobrecht issue yesterday evening and is commended for being perfectly prompt with the latest LSCC publication. This is Bill's twelve year as E-Gobrecht Editor and he is congratulated for another well prepared issue. I do wish to share some background on the opening article concerning Liberty Seated dimes being located in Western Australia. The author, David Hafeli, contacted me in early February with images of his discovered Seated dimes and a brief background. When reading his email, my first thought was to share the discovery and discussion with the entire Liberty Seated Collectors Club. The preservation state of these Seated dimes is simply amazing while their discovery in Australia leads to many questions for incremental research.

The March 2016 Gobrecht Journal is just days from being mailed. The dues renewal process has ended and it appears that LSCC membership will be approximately 615-620 as we start the 2016 year. A sincere thank you goes out to the club leadership team including Len Augsburger, Bill Bugert, Dale Miller, Dennis Fortier, John Frost and Carl Feldman who contacted non renewing members with one last reminder for paying 2016 dues.

GFRC News

Thanks to many great customers and consignors, GFRC realized strong sales during February and continued its year on year revenue growth. The hours have been long including the COIN development project and ongoing consignor migration to the new system. Just yesterday, the Seal Beach consignor was successfully transitioned to COIN and a portion of his massive Part II consignment will be heading to the price list today. Please check back towards late afternoon to see the new listings that include a lovely 1839-O Reeded Edge capped bust half graded PCGS VF30 and a gorgeous 1839 No Drapery PCGS AU 50 Seated half that is priced to not break the family budget.

As a reminder, GFRC now offers a broad range of United States gold with most being eagles and double eagles. As bullion prices start to move upward, numismatic gold becomes very attractive from a precious metal perspective let alone the numismatic value. I'm still surprised that no one has purchased this crusty original 1884-S double eagle graded PCGS AU50. Believe me, you will not be disappointed with the originality.

Financial News

Spot gold remains strong and the breakout looks more convincing as morning quote is $1241. I would not be surprised to see gold testing the $1300 level later this month before more consolidation. Seeking Alpha headlines continue to highlight a slowing global economy and individual Federal Reserve members singing the same song that further 2016 interest rate hikes are most likely off the table. Unfortunately, this signal will re-ignite the corporate bond market as companies continue their leveraged engineering of individual stock performance.

NY Fed President William Dudley sees downside risks to his U.S. economic outlook, an assessment that could flag a longer pause before the central bank's next interest-rate hike. "At this moment, I judge that the balance of risks to my growth and inflation outlooks may be starting to tilt slightly to the downside," he said at a conference in Hangzhou, China. "On balance, I am somewhat less confident than I was before." Dudley is a close ally of Fed Chair Janet Yellen and a permanent voter on U.S. monetary policy.

The Japanese government is now getting paid to borrow money after selling benchmark bonds with a negative yield for the first time. The upside-down auction follows three years of aggressive monetary easing by the BOJ, which has driven interest rates lower in a bid to fuel lending. The move previously pushed the yield on existing 10-year JGBs into minus territory, but 10-year securities had never been sold with a negative yield at auction.

Meanwhile, eurozone factory activity expanded at its weakest pace for a year last month as deep price discounting failed to put a floor under slowing order growth. The final manufacturing PMI fell to 51.2 in February, from 52.3 in January, bolstering the case for another strong dose of ECB stimulus next week. "Concerns are growing that the region is facing yet another year of sluggish growth in 2016, or even another downturn," said Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit.

Exxon Mobil sold $12B of new bonds on Monday, pushing the investment grade corporate bond market to the second busiest February on record, totaling $104.3B. Exxon's (NYSE:XOM) move is all the more impressive considering the market volatility that had frozen the credit market for the first half of the month. When the situation calmed down, the stability allowed a string of big name issuers to come to market, starting with Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) $12B offering on Feb. 15.

Featured Coins from the Trading Desk

The Seal Beach Part I consignment offers a broad range of of coins for GFRC customers. I was reminded of this as the account was being ported to the COIN system. Why not showcase a few of the Seal Beach offerings that need to find a good home? In the Liberty Seated and Morgan dollar denominations, Seal Beach offers several circulated key date pieces including 1870-CC PCGS F-12 and 1893-S PCGS VG8 (On Hold). Both are quality coins and fairly priced but still a substantial purchase for many collectors. I would be more than happy to work out special lay-a-way terms on either piece to help an individual acquire a key date for their collection. Others have done the same for me when assembling my Liberty Seated dime collection.

 

Thank you for visiting on this Super Tuesday morning. We will see you bright and early on Wednesday with more numismatic ramblings and consignment news.