Gerry's Daily Blog Archives - November 2016

November 30, 2016

Greetings on the final day of November 2016 and welcome to the Daily Blog.

After heavy rains throughout Tuesday, southern Maine skies are mostly clear to start the day but cloudy conditions and more rain may arrrive shortly. The first snow of the season has melted. I'm looking forward to a health walk at some point today if drier conditions hold up.

The Eye Doctor Visit

At the Westford show, my glasses met with an accident and broke. People close to me well know that I wear glasses for driving and as transitional sunglasses. During everyday GFRC office operations and walking bourse floors, glasses are not needed. With the December 10 drive to Florida, securing glasses was a priority therefore visited the local eye doctor yesterday. The visit revealed much about the state of US health care and government's intrusion into personal life.

The visit did not start well as the office refused to accept EyeMed insurance. The Fortin's are paying over $1000/month out of pocket for health insurance and the eye doctor does not accept the insurance coverage. The visit and glasses must be paid for immediately and a receipt for filling directly to EyeMed would be provided. Great start to the visit and a chance to perform some health care system research...

I ask to have glasses made against my old prescription at this office to save money and also test the response. Absolutely not was the response! My prescription was four years old and the office will not issue new glasses for any prescription that is older than two years. Interesting....I asked if this was a new law. The response was no but simply a best practice by all eye doctors...... So a new pair of glasses required an eye examination at the cost of $170.

The eye "exam" starts with preliminary meeting with the doctor's assistant in a separate room. Then the surprise came....blood pressure check and list of personal questions including those on medical condition, meds being taken, height/weight, smoking, alcohol usage etc. When the alcohol question appeared, I politely asked the assistant if I had an appointment for a liver rather than eye check up and indicated that yes, I did have two normal bowel movements per day if that would be useful for the survey...... Maybe I'm becoming onery in my old age, but the list of personal questions appeared excessive for a simple eye check to secure a new pair of glasses.

Next stop was with the eye doctor, a pleasant and sincere individual. Based on my suggestion, we dropped the usage of progressive lens and went with driving glasses only. He agreed that my reading eye sight was quite good and no need to spend extra money for progressive lens....such a reasonable man. Then I asked why the long health screening questionaire with his assistant. The response was truthful...the questions are a Medicare mandate as the government is collecting data on United States citizens. If the "bubbles", as the eye doctor called the data collection, are not collected and reported, his Medicare reimbursements will be impacted. So compliance is mandatory. We agreed that a blood pressure check is a good idea for ongoing health feedback but questions on smoking and alcohol consumption were not important during an eye exam. But the poor doctor had no choice but to comply and fill this paperwork for every patient seen.....

My eyes are fine and my perscription has hardly changed. I will have a new pair of driving glases before December 10. The visit comes with the neeed to file a claim to my insurance company and an education on government's data collection efforts for its citizenry.

GFRC News

November brings a new GFRC unit sales record with nearly 200 pieces sold at retail across the month. Yes, the Black Friday event along with Shanghai trip enabled this performance along with purchases by the dedicated GFRC community. I would love to actually meet and cross the 200 threshold today, so do please consider a purchase.

I will be in the office the entire day today and the top priority is loading up the price lists! Following are images of new purchases and Part II of the United States Gold $1 set. Look for these coins to be online by mid afternoon.

GFRC New Purchases

    

  

United States Gold $1 Set Offerings - Part II

    

    

    

GFRC Consignment News

The Mountain View Liberty Seated quarter consignment has arrived along with Part II shipment of the Pleez B. Seated half dollars. These shipments will be unpacked during evening hours. First priority is moving new purchases into inventory boxes and making room in the GFRC operational workflow for incremental consignments.

Global Financial News

Spot gold remains flat while the oil production cut drama continuing to play out in Vienna. The UK is pushing back against the European Union's Draghi in a strongly worded statement by Mark Carney. Here, here for the British! News of Turkey's movement into Syria to take down Assad is very troubling. This region of the world could be a flash point for expanding conflicts. Finally, Blog readers should be aware of and paying attention to the Italien banks as the next European financial crisis point. Over $300 Billion Euro in bad loans resides on Italian banks' balance sheets.

Hope is growing for a pact to cut crude output as OPEC oil ministers voice optimism at their all-important meeting in Vienna. Despite some conflicting statements, representatives of Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the OPEC Secretary-General are assuming the group will reach a deal by this afternoon, when members spell out what they have agreed to in terms of supply levels. Oil related stocks are doing well in the session as the price of crude jumps around 6-7% to over $48 per barrel.

BoE Governor Mark Carney has a Brexit warning for the European Union. "The U.K. is effectively the investment banker for Europe... it's absolutely in the interest of the EU that there is an orderly transition and that there's continual access to those services." The remarks follow a recent warning from ECB President Mario Draghi that the U.K. is likely to suffer most from a hard Brexit.

Turkey's armed forces are not just in Syria to battle ISIS and al-Qaeda terrorists, but are on a mission to overthrow the Syrian regime. "We entered there to end the rule of the tyrant al-Assad who terrorizes with state terror," said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, insisting his forces weren't in Syria for "any other reason." Turkish troops entered the country on Aug. 24, launching operation Euphrates Shield.

Italian banks are holding nearly a third of the €990B of unpaid loans at top eurozone lenders, according to the ECB, raising concerns especially if the current government is ousted following Sunday's referendum on changes to the constitution. Central bank sources have told Reuters the ECB is ready to temporarily boost purchases of Italian government bonds if the result of the vote sharply drives up borrowing costs.

Featured Coins of the Day

Since I'm past the 8:00 am publishing target and Bernadette will notice, let's keep the Featured Coin section brief this morning. Following are some nice Seated halves to consider.

  

  

So ends today's Blog. Time for a shower and moving into the packing and shipment department. Thank you for stopping by on the last day of November 2016!

 

 

November 29, 2016

Tuesday arrives much too quickly and time for another edition of the Daily Blog. I'm so pleased you could stop by as November comes to a close tomorrow.

Monday weather was outstanding with highs in the mid 40s and bright sunshine. It was a perfect late Fall Miata day if not for an oil change appointment for the Toyota Florida mobile. The GFRC photography team was out in full force and over 50 new coins were imaged. I'm thankful for the optimum photography conditions given the large queue of new purchases and consignments. This may have been the last photography event before transitioning to Florida. Southern Maine weather will degrade with rain and a slight potential for icing during the middle of week.

GFRC Florida Office Transition

Yes, the GFRC annual Florida migration takes place in less than two weeks. Following are transition details to ensure check payments arrive promptly to the correct GFRC office location and avoid being caught in USPS forwarding loop. We will be traveling and reconfiguring the Florida office between December 10 through December 12. Email and online orders will be acknowledged during late evening hours during those three days.

December 5: Last day to mail payments to GFRC Maine office

December 9: Last shipments from GFRC Maine office

December 10 - 12: GFRC office is closed

December 12: First day to mail payments to GFRC Florida office

December 13: GFRC office opens and shipments resume

GFRC New Purchases and Consignment Updates

Now that the 2016 show schedule is completed, the emphasis moves to populating price lists with a host of new coins. Following are two solid additions to inventory that were posted last evening. The 1795 Flowing Hair dollar is on many collector's list of desired coins at some point in a numismatic career. This Three Leaves exmple is not technically perfect but offers substantial eye appeal and can be held in one's hand for study and speculating on past ownership. Priced at $2395 with the GFRC high resolution images being very accurate concerning surface conditions. Next to the 1795 Flowing Hair dollar is an 1886-S $5 half eagle that appeared on the Westford bourse floor and found its way to the GFRC table. This lovely piece resides in PCGS Rattler holder with GOLD CAC bean.

  

Next up is Part I of the recently acquired United States gold $1 set. The balance (Part II) should be illustrated in Wednesday's Blog. The collector behind this set is no amateur when purchasing quality gold coins. He has an eye for old time surfaces and enjoys building collections and then moving on to a new collecting goal. GFRC has become the outlet for his "completed" sets and I'm so pleased to be handling a large quantity of gold $1 pieces to augment the expanding United States gold price list. I'm sure the 1854 and 1855 Type 2 Liberty Head pieces will not last long as a common want list item.

United States Gold $1 Set Offerings - Part I

    

    

    

    

Global Financial News

The financial world is quiet this morning as gold, oil and equity futures are flat. Even Seeking Alpha headlines are sparse. Global oil producers, including OPEC, are unable to stage meaningful dialogue on oil production cuts as the world has an over supply that may last for years. Q3 United States economic growth is forecasted to be strong when US Commerce releases their figure in a few minutes. A Federal Reserve December interest increase is a certainty as conditions are perfect. Finally, the elites are still struggling with globalization push backs via Brexit vote and Trump presidential election. Mario Dragho warns Britian on forthcoming economic pain.

Oil prices are giving up some of Monday's gains ahead of the official start of the latest OPEC meeting in Vienna tomorrow. Things are looking increasingly shaky following reports that OPEC's technical experts failed to bridge their differences and Russia confirmed it would not attend the gathering. The group is aiming to agree on its first crude output deal since 2008, however, details of a potential accord remain unclear.

The U.S. Commerce Department is scheduled to release its revised estimate of gross domestic product for Q3 at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists expect a slight upward revision to 3% growth, from 2.9% in the earlier estimate, potentially keeping the Fed on track to raise interest rates in December. If correct, it would also remain the best quarter for economic growth in two years.

Speaking at the European Parliament in Brussels on Monday, Mario Draghi warned that Britain, rather than the eurozone, will "first and foremost" feel the pain of Brexit. He also called for clarity over the negotiation process that will govern the U.K.'s departure from the EU, but said that it was impossible to estimate the full economic impact at this stage.

Featured Coins of the Day

Setting a collecting goal takes special consideration and a planning process. Acquisition strategy, historical research for appreciating purchased coins and financial budget are key considerations when undertaking a new collection. My advice to any new collector is setting goals consistent with acquiring at least 1-2 coins per month otherwise one will quickly grow bored and cease working on that collection. Finding a trustworthy source for coins is another significant challenge and please do stay away from eBay even though the thought of picking "value coins" at an inexpensive price might be an exciting idea.

Today's recommended coins are from the Capped Bust price lists. Early open collar strikes in the dime through half dollar denominations are available in the marketplace. The challenge is locating strictly original examples with honest wear and old time patina. GFRC attempts to stock these types of coins as I'm a selective buyer and fussy about the type of coins taken in on consignment. Following are a few recommendations.

  

  

As always, thank you for stopping by and checking out these daily ramblings. Black Friday shipments will dominate the morning hours and then back to loading more new offerings on GFRC price lists. Have a great Tuesday!

And to one charming Blog reader in Florida.....yes Bernadette, today's Blog is published at exactly 8:00am......;)

 

 

November 28, 2016

Greetings once again and welcome to the Daily Blog on Cyber Monday.

This edition is written with a sense of relief after a hectic month that saw GFRC attend Denver, Baltimore, Shanghai and Westford coin show along with a driving trip to CAC. GFRC's 2016 coin show schedule is completed with the forthcoming Florida migration being the last adventure of the year.

Yesterday was a particular long day starting with 5:00 am drive to Westford and wrapping up Black Friday sales activities by 9:30 pm. The basement sound room became mental refuge with David Crosby's If I Could Only Remember My Name being the CD of choice. For those who have never listened to this recording, please consider. It a a transcendental masterpiece so full of frayed song threads; each song is unique with many without vocal and a preview to the modern new age genre. Recorded in February 1971, the musical cast is amazingly impressive and includes Neil Young, Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh, Michael Skrieve, Joni Mitchell and Grace Slick as important names. The Garcia and Slick performance (guitar and piano) on Song With No Words (Tree With No Leaves) showcases both artist in a 6:00 jam session that is much too short.

David Crosby - If I Could Only Remember My Name

Westford, MA Show Report

The numismatics hobby is alive and well based on observations at the Westford show. The show was packed with young and old attendees from 9:00am opening through 1:00 pm. It was heartening to see children carrying the omnipresent PCGS blue box while being escorted by parents or grandparents among the tables. One 13 year old approached me with a slab box of wholesale coins and I cherished the visit. He had mostly slabbed Franklins and Jeffersons but the conversation and sparkle in his eyes was priceless. John Frost stopped by to chat early in the morning and Dennis Weizba brought by some amazing new contemporary Liberty Seated counterfeits for show and tell.

GFRC enjoyed a corner table at the end of the main entrance aisle next adjacent to Joe, a dealer in bullion and coin rolls. It was a contrast as visitors moved from Joe's three tables to mine. GFRC had amazing inventory on display and yes, it felt like a museum at time. Many attendees commented that the United States gold case was the finest display of gold ever seen at Westford and yes, I did sell a few pieces and bought several coins that walked up to the table. The highlight being an 1886-S $5 PCGS MS60 Rattler with GOLD CAC. This is such a pretty offering that would be an excellent numismatic conversation piece. I hope to have images for tomorrow's blog as this one will not last long.

Once back in Maine in April 2017, GFRC will become a mainstay dealer at the Westford show. Smaller regional shows need dealers like GFRC to showcase quality early type and help educate local collectors on the hobby.

Black Friday Sales Results

The GFRC Black Friday sale is finished and I'm so glad to have undertaken this promotional event with Matt's IT support. We sold nearly 40 coins over the three day period with many being lower priced consigned items. Inventory rotation was accomplished and there should be many pleased consignors as sales were broad based. The Black Friday price list is gone and if you procrastinated and missed an offering, just email me today for a pricing quotation.

GFRC News for the Upcoming Week

A busy week lies ahead in the GFRC office.

- Top of the list is contacting individuals with FRoR on Pleez B. Seated half dollar collection. I'm sure there will be many quick sales here.

- Photographing and posting the United States Gold $1 collection pieces

- Insourcing and setting prices for the Saw Mill Run 50 piece Capped Bust and Liberty Seated type set that has been sitting in the bank vault since Baltimore show.

- The arrival of Mountain View Seated quarter consignment.

- Black Friday shipments and writing more consignment checks.

Global Financial News

Equity markets and the US Dollar are taking a breather after a sharp increase since Trump's election. Spot gold opens at $1190 this morning and let's hope the trend can move back above $1200 threshold. Below is Kitco's 8 year technical chart. The 60 day moving average is resting on the 200 day moving average line as the last opportunity to avoid a new bear market. Let's hope for a bullish rebound into the low $1200 range this week.

In other Seeking Alpha global financial news, oil producing nations continue dialogue to bring about some unified production cuts while the world remains in a strong over supply situation. We may be enjoying sub $50/bbl oil for several years, especially if the United States moves forward with an energy independence strategy.

Oil prices are bouncing around the $46 level as traders bet on whether OPEC will slash output at its closely watched meeting on Wednesday. While Libya has announced it won't take part in any OPEC cuts and Saudi Arabia hinted that the oil market would rebalance itself, some still feel the group will be able to rein in global oversupply. Venezuela's oil minister will also meet his Algerian counterpart later today before the two meet with Russia to seek support for a production cut.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) based in Paris, France is backing Donald Trump's economic plans this morning.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump's economic plans have received strong backing from the OECD, with the international organization predicting the President-elect's infrastructure policy and tax cuts will fire up the U.S. economy. It forecast growth at 2.3% in 2017 and 3% the following year. That would in turn drive the unemployment rate in the world's biggest economy down from the current 4.9% to 4.5% in 2018.

This China headline brings mixed feelings. China's industrial companies are showing pricing recover but the growth is in traditional high polluting industries. Global warming needs a global solution and China remains the key focal point.

Profit at industrial companies in China picked up last month as prices recovered, but growth was skewed towards high-polluting heavy industry. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, profits in October rose 9.8% to 616.1B yuan ($89.1B). The biggest gains were seen in the traditional raw material production sector and smaller returns in high technology and equipment manufacturing.

Featured Coins of the Day

At the Westford show, several coins received considerable attention from dealers and attendees. Following are several top GFRC quality offerings to consider on this Cyper Monday morning.

  

  

That is a wrap for Monday's Blog. Time for hard boiled egg breakfast and moving quickly into the packaging and shipping department followed by coin photography. Thanks for stopping by and please do consider a purchase on Cyber Monday.

 

 

November 27, 2016

Sunday brings the Westford, Massachusetts Coin Show and a rather early start to the day. A late Daily Blog edition will be published after returning from Westford show.

Please remember that Sunday is the last day of Black Friday price list discounts. These discounts will be available on Black Friday price list coins at the Westford show.

The Mountain View consignors spilled the beans via email on his mostly new Liberty Seated quarter consignment. Here comes the new Mountain View coins that will arrive mid week. All are PCGS graded and in this consignor's typical grade range.......

Capped Bust 25C: 1819 B1 VG08; 1835 B8 VG10

Seated 25c: 1841-O F15, Reverse F with die break by UNITED; 1850 F12; 1854 F15; 1855-O F15; 1857-S F15; 1859-S F12; 1866-S F12; 1870-CC AG Details Surface Damage due to a small pit on the front; 1878-S F12 CAC; 1890 G06 CAC

Thanks for checking in today. I will be back by late afternoon with a Westford show summary.

 

 

November 26, 2016

Welcome to the Daily Blog on Small Business Day Saturday!

It is 6:00am as yet another edition of the Daily Blog is being composed. The house is quiet and the coffee tastes mighty fine to kick off a new day in the life of a coin dealer. I'm unable to comment on Maine weather as darkness abounds. There was no snow overnight which is a good thing.

Friday was one of those non stop busy days as Black Friday sales were well beyond expectations. Google Analytics indicates over 850 hits on the Black Friday price list, in the past 30 hours, with nearly 20 coins being sold. 20 coins may not appear as a large number but every coin sold means that a consignor will be pleased to have converted duplicate material into cash. Emails and phone calls were constant throughout the day and I decided to not even think about burning the brush pile in the back yard.

Please accept my apology for the slow Black Friday download speeds as the number of coins on the list was beyond expectations. Many of the coins have images that pre-date the COIN system implementation and are only in high resolution format. These images take longer to download, expecially on handheld devices. Much has been learned during this event and the technology will be improved for Black Friday 2017 sale.

GFRC News

Westford Coin Show - Sunday November 27

The Westford, Massachusetts show arrives tomorrow morning. GFRC will be set up at a main aisle corner table and with four cases of quality coins. This will be the largest inventory display to date at Westford and the last until May 2017 timeframe given the annual Florida migration. So if in the area, please stop by to say hello. Some Black Friday discounted items will be in the cases as the reduced prices. With some luck, I will have the recently purchased 23 piece $1 gold set in the cases.

GFRC New Purchases

On Tuesday prior to Thanksgiving, I received a phone call from my favorite local coin shop. The courtesy call indicated a substantial amount of quality type coins had been purchased including Flowing Hair type along with a broad selection of United States gold. So immediately after completing the Daily Blog on Black Friday, I drove to the shop, was let in 30 minutes before opening time, and spent a record sum of money buying up new inventory. When an opportunity presents itself, one must take advantage. Following are the new purchases with the highlight being an attractive 1795 Flowing Hair Dollar (Three Leaves) grading VF20 that will be priced right for a Dansco or Whitman album type set;

Shield 5c: 1883 MS64+ with super crisp strike

Barber 10c: 1893 PF64 faint gold over active mirrors, a gorgeous piece

Draped Bust 50c: 1803 Lg 3 V30+ even gray with crisp devices

Capped Bust 50c: 1824 VF30; 1825 F15; 1829 EF45 all choice original gun metal gray

Flowing Hair $1: 1795 VF20 even light gray, very faint obverse porosity under 10x but what eye appeal as a type coin

Morgan/Peace $1: 1878 8TF EF40; 1883-S EF40; 1884-S EF45; 1885-S VF35; 1890-S MS64; 1904 MS62; 1926 MS63 with pretty gold toning

$1 Gold: 1854 Type 1 MS63

$2.5 Gold: 1878 NGC MS64; 1878 PCGS MS64; 1908 AU58

$5 Gold: 1880 MS61; 1880 AU58; 1881 MS62; 1881 AU58; 1899 NGC MS63

$10 Gold: 1885 AU58

Pleez B. Seated Half Dollar Set - Consignment Status

Nearly 40 pieces from the Pleez B. Seated set have been loaded into COIN database, assigned quality ratings and priced. I'm waiting for pricing approval, from Alexandria consignor, followed by contacting those with FRoR. Customer contacts will most likely take place later on Sunday and then on Monday. The balance of the set will be shipping this week.

New Mountain View Consignment - Liberty Seated Quarters

The Mountain View consignor is an important source of quality Liberty Seated quarters. An email arrived yesterday, from this individual, that another box of Seated quarters will be shipping today. The contents were indicated to be a surprised, but that I would be pleased with the new inventory. More to follow on this topic upon arrival.

Featured Coins of the Day

Today's featured coins are once again taken from the Black Friday price list. There continues to be some excellent offerings at discount prices. A careful review may just be warranted.

  

  

  

So concludes the Daily Blog on Small Business Saturday. I'm off to the shower, then the shipping and packing department followed by a drive to downtown Raymond to place packages into the USPS system. I might just burn that brush pile this afternoon and then prepare for Westford this evening. The days go by so quickly!

 

 

November 25, 2016

Greetings on Black Friday and welcome to the Daily Blog!

The Black Friday price list button went live at 12:00 am and already the email buy requests are arriving. A sincere thank you goes out to everyone who visited the Black Friday price list for a look. A quick check of Google Analytics shows over 300 page clicks since midnight. One apology is in order as the consignor response was so dramatic that nearly 250 coins were loaded to the Black Friday list resulting in slow download speeds for the list and individual images. Those using Android cellphone reported significant difficulties. All feedback will be taken into consideration for the 2017 Black Friday event.

Turkeys Visit on Thanksgiving Day

Yes, the wild turkeys were about on Thanksgiving Day morning. Diane captured their visit from the western facing window of the GFRC office.

In other GFRC news.....

The 1877-S Trade dollar opium box was sold to a special individual building a substantial love token collection. This collection initially started with only Seated dime pictorials but has quickly expanded to broader denominations and topics. GFRC is proud to be aiding the development of this outstanding collection.

Nearly forty pieces from the Pleez B. Seated half dollar collection arrived and were reviewed during the evening hours. The overall quality and eye appeal is excellent and those seeking FRoR will be pleased with their forthcoming purchases. Most of the Pleez B. Seated collection will be sold before the FUN show based on overall quality and the high demand status of the Liberty Seated half dollar market. I hope to have offerings, in this initial shipment, priced by the weekend.

GFRC price lists are finally caught up in terms of Baltimore show new purchases and consignments. November has been such a busy month!

Global Financial News

Even though the United States is on holiday and folks are focused on early Christmas shopping, the economic world remains active. This morning's edition of Seeking Alpha highlights contains some positive news for the United Kingdom and negative news for Japan. The US dollar continues to soar upward after Trump's presidential election. The goal of United States energy independence from Middle East suppliers will have a profound impact on the availability of "petro dollars" that circulate across the globe. Global entities and currency traders are rushing to purchase US dollars resulting in strong near term appreciation. The casualty is spot gold (now at $1190) when priced in US dollars. The Euro could shortly be at parity with the US Dollar and time for a European holiday.

Despite a minor pullback overnight, the dollar continues to climb past more of last year's peaks against the euro. Only the March 2015 high of $1.0457 is now standing in the way of a push towards parity that banks are again saying is on the cards. The greenback is currently worth more than 7.5% against a basket of major trading partners than it was three months ago.

Consumers and businesses increased their spending in Q3 as the U.K. economy registered a resilient performance following the Brexit vote. Household spending rose 0.7% from the second quarter and business investment increased 0.9%, according to the Office for National Statistics. Growth overall was unrevised at 0.5%, with trade providing the strongest contribution.

Japan's core consumer prices marked their eighth straight month of annual declines in October, illustrating the sheer scale of the BOJ's struggle to beat deflation and stagnant growth with diminishing policy options. The nationwide core consumer price index, which includes oil products but excludes volatile fresh food costs, fell 0.4% from a year earlier, keeping policymakers under pressure.

Faced with a rapidly sliding currency in the wake of the U.S. presidential election, the Turkish central bank raised interest rates yesterday for the first time in almost three years. The lira bounced higher after the decision, which included a 0.5 percentage point rise in its benchmark one-week rate to 8%, but reversed course swiftly, hitting a record low. The currency now stands at 3.42 to the dollar, down 15% this year and over 9% in November alone.

Featured Coins of the Day

Today's featured coins are taken from the Black Friday price list as there are some excellent deals to be had.

  

  

  

  

Time for a quick shower and then off to secure an outdoor burning permit. Today will be perfect to burn the residual brush piles in the back yard as light snow is forecasted.

 

 

November 24, 2016

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in the GFRC numismatic circle and Daily Blog readers.

Thanksgiving Day 2016 arrives with much to be thankful for this year.

- Health is always on top of the list along with a successful and growing family. Natsumi is an energetic grand daughter and we look forward to having her home starting December 17. We are so proud that our daughter, Renee, has completed course work and clinical rotations at Virginia - Maryland School of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech.

- So much personal energy has been dedicated to expanding the GFRC business and building a large numismatic circle. The development and implementation of Matt Yamatin's COIN system was a remarkable event that faciliated step function productivity improvements. Working with my son on a common business vision was beyond special.

- The LSCC is at record membership level in its long history and offers one of the finest publications in the numismisatic industry. Our inital course offering at the ANA Summer Seminar was a huge success. The LSCC leadership team is an amazing group of passionate volunteers.

- Expanding friendships must also be mentioned. 2016 saw new relationships with Osprey and other great numismatists that love our country.

Today's Blog is being written at sunrise. The sky outside the office window is transitioning from dawn to day with lovely orange and white hues on the horizon. Handling and describing toned coins has raised awareness and appreciation for subtle colors in the environment.

Black Friday Sale Status

The Black Friday sale is ready to launch at midnight. Nearly 250 coins are loaded on the special Black Friday price list at discounted prices. The consignor support has been overwhelming. The Black Friday sale can also be viewed as a price discovery exercise as slower moving coins are discounted to an appropriate pricing level. I do hope you will take the time to click on the red Black Friday price list button in the next few days and determine if a purchase makes sense. Consignors wish to sell coins to rechannel monies into other collectibles. Developing and executing an efficient sales process is paramount for the hobby to remain vibrant as funds are typically spent on new collecting goals.

GFRC Consignment Sales Reaches 2000 Coin Mark

Yes, the GFRC consignment sales counter on the Consignor Value page reached the 2000 coins sold mark yesterday. Since the GFRC start-up in late 2013, 2000 consignor coins have been handled and sold resulting in nearly $1,300,000 being returned to consignors as sales proceeds. If one does the math, the average retail price of a GFRC consignor coin sold is $700. GFRC is well positioned with a full time senior numismatist and COIN operating system to support collectors who don't have large value collections that can command leverage at the major auction houses.

Cool GFRC New Purchases

As GFRC exposure grows, so do the offerings from private collectors. Case in point is a special deal that took several months to close due to price discovery and my busy travel schedule. I'm so pleased to showcase two items that were purchased as a trade deal on Wednesday. The first is a magnificent 1877-S Trade Dollar Opium Box with incredible workmanship. Occasionally one will come across an opium box on the market but most have been mishandled over the years. This example is in perfect working condition with smooth hinge and a nearly undetectable appearance. Subtle pressure on the date will unseat the cover. The original photo of someone's cherished sweetheart remains in the box.

  

The second item in the trade is a wonderfully toned 1923 Peace dollar. One rarely sees Peace dollars in this state of preservation. This piece will be submitted to NGC at the FUN show; it would be so disappoining if this lovely Peace dollar do not receive a Star designation.

Other GFRC News

Two Express shipments arrived on schedule yesterday. The first is the initial transfer of Pleez B. Seated halves from the Alexandria consignor. We agreed to transfer all the halves that had received FRoR requests. During the coming week, I will be pricing these pieces and then contacting the individuals who made requests. Photographs on the PCGS Set Registry for the Pleez B. Seated set will be used for the transaction as Maine weather and sunlight are no longer conducive for quality photography.

The second shipment was the 23 piece United States $1 gold set previously mentioned in the Blog. These pieces will be heading to the price list before leaving for Florida with images added after December 12.

Finally, on Wednesday, I bought a small deal of quality coins from my favorite wholesaler. These will arrive on Monday.

Fresh material is paramount for a numismatic dealer to retain a loyal customer base and GFRC strives to constantly offer a broad array of numismatic products.

Global Financial News

Spot gold pricing has been recently crushed and sits below the $1200/oz this morning. In tomorrow's Blog, I will try to share what caused the sharp drop in gold prices after the Trump election.

Featured Coins of the Day

Toner Morgan sales have been on hot recently and I will be looking for more quality dual sided toners during the December timeframe to continue this trend. Below are a few of the higher priced toners with outstanding eye appeal or a combination of a better date with attractive toning.

  

  

  

So ends the Thanksgiving Day blog. Thank you for visiting on this special day and do please consider shopping at the Black Friday sale at midnight. Who knows what deals will be among the 250 coins listed at discounted pricing? Wishing everyone a great day with family and friends.

 

 

November 23, 2016

Greeting from the Maine GFRC office!

Yes, the perpetual motion man is back in the GFRC office this morning after a longer than expected return drive. Northern holiday travel was already underway on Tuesday afternoon on the Merrit Parkway (through CT) and on I-91. Add in several single lane chock points for randon construction and the mix provided enough delay to place me on I-495 above Boston at rush hour. On a "normal day", this trip would take 5.5 to 6.0 hours but last night, it turned into 7.5 hours. On a positive note, I stopped at the NH Liquor store for a fresh bottle of White Label Dewars and yes, did not open until arriving home. GFRC clients, who had coins in the CAC submission, received a phone call to announce results, while sipping the Dewars. Another day in a coin dealer's life was done.

Black Friday Sale is On!

Before heading to bed, Matt and I chatted via email. The GFRC IT department genuis has done it again. Please note the red Black Friday Sales buttons on the Daily Blog and For Sale pages as of this morning. These button will automatically come alive at exactly 12:00 midnight Thanksgiving day. It is the closest GFRC could come to emulating a physical store front opening their doors to the hoard of midnight shoppers. Once clicking on that button, a special Black Friday Pricelist will appear. On that price list are the coins being offered by consignors and GFRC at reduced prices. The sale will finish exactly at 12:00am Sunday evening. Simply click on the Shopping Cart icon to launch an email purchase request. Emails will be opened and processed in the order received on Friday morning.

Price reductions are strictly up to the consignors and GFRC. Whatever is received for discounting and new prices will be loaded into the COIN system and made live at Thanksgiving midnight.

A quick note on price reduction expectations. GFRC is having fun with the Black Friday promotion and many coins will be offered at a reasonable discount. GFRC does not have large mark ups in order to offer deep discounts. I believe in pricing coins at a fair markup to be rewarded for the services provided based on a very cost efficient operation. Gem and Choice quality rated coins always maintain strong market value while those with lower quality ratings may see larger discounts.

GFRC Office - Winter 2016 First Snow Images

After Monday's early departure for CAC adventure, Diane took pictures of the Fortin homestead to document the first snowfall of the 2016-2017 winter season.

  

  

Global Financial News

We start the Thanksgiving holiday with spot gold at $1211, spot oil at over $48/bbl and the United States equities markets at record levels.

Seeking Alpha headlines offer a host of positive points to consider. I am so pleased to see Trump softening his rhetoric on global warming and recognizing the connection between human activities and climate change. Increasing Eurozone economic growth is also postive news. Finally, Russian sanctions for the Ukrainian war are under discussion at a Brussels summit. My gut feel is that the sanctions will last for another 6 months and then be removed as a Trump-Putin Ukraine neutrality agreement is reach.

The four major U.S. stock market benchmarks closed at all-time highs again on Tuesday, with the Dow ending above 19,000 and the S&P 500 finishing above 2,200 for the first time, and the Nasdaq and Russell 2000 posing new record closes. Futures markets suggest U.S. equities will stabilize today, as oil steadies after an impressive run. Investors are also looking toward U.S. reports on jobless claims, durable goods and consumer confidence.

The clean energy sector may get a boost after President-elect Donald Trump told the NYT he thinks "there is some connectivity" between humans and climate change, stating he was keeping an "open mind" on whether to pull out of the 2015 Paris climate agreement. Meanwhile, Ben Carson has been offered the post of Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. The former Republican presidential candidate said he'll consider the offer over Thanksgiving.

Eurozone business expanded at the fastest rate this year in November, thanks to strong activity at manufacturers and a spike in new orders, even as firms generally held prices steady. IHS Markit's flash composite PMI rose to 54.1 from 53.3 the previous month, giving some welcome news to the ECB. Is the central bank still likely to announce an extension of its massive stimulus program in December?

Russian sanctions will hang over an EU-Ukraine summit in Brussels tomorrow as Donald Trump shapes his future relationship with Vladimir Putin and puts in place a new American foreign-policy team. With the penalties due to expire on Jan. 31, EU governments are likely to prolong the measures for another six months because the main condition for lifting them - ending the Ukrainian war - has not yet been met.

Featured Coins of the Day

Yes, I recognize that all GFRC customers are holding on to their monies for the Black Friday sale. However, it is tradition to offer a few featured coins to close out a Daily Blog edition. How about some coins in GFRC inventory that received CAC approval yesterday? Yes, I took some coins out of GFRC inventory that I thought would have a good shot for CAC approval (consignor/GFRC pieces) and did rather well. If you order any of the below coins before 12:00 noon today, there will be no price increase to capture the CAC submission and costs. Do GFRC customers see the common theme in the following images and why these pieces received CAC approval?

  

  

  

  

  

Thank you for stopping in at the Blog. There is so much to get done today but I will be back Thanksgiving morning with more ramblings.

 

 

November 22, 2016

Greeting from Far Hills, New Jersey!

Yes, GFRC is spending the night at a local hotel while a CAC submission is being processed for Tuesday afternoon pickup. Monday started early with 4:30am departure and arriving at CAC a bit before 11:00am. It was nice to see Michelle and Yvonne again; those friendly CAC faces as one walks into the office. The large submission, including more Gerry Fortin Collection Seated dimes, was smoothly recorded and transferred to CAC boxes allowing for a quick departure and early lunch. .

I would like to call out Paul Stolzer, a GFRC customer, for suggesting dinner yesterday evening. Paul provided transport from my hotel to a local Cheesecake Factory eatery resulting in a pleasant and memorable dinner. Dinner chat allowed us to share similar collecting passion but with different fields of study. He's invitation was appreciated.

Back at the hotel, the solitude provides a chance to load the Blueberry Cove Collection pieces to the price list. Though most of these pieces are not strictly original or have minor problems, they still remain relevant to collectors of early Americana and are priced accordingly. My favorite is the group is the 1797 BB-71/B-3 10x6 Stars example residing in SEGS EF40 holder. Overall appearance is that of a circulated cameo with light devices nicely framed by original olive gray fields. The 1796 Small Eagle Bust dollar should garner some attention also.

Blueberry Cove Collection Consignment - November 22, 2016

    

    

Black Friday Sale Preparations

The idea for a Black Friday sale has been met with strong consignor support. It seems that every consignor wishes to offer a discount to enable increases sales before the end of year holidays.

Matt and I have discussed an approach for building separate Black Friday Sale price list. Now the challenge rests with Matt to prove that the concept is feasible and can be implementated quickly. Once Matt gives the green light, then more details will be provided. For the time being, the promotion will be targeted to start at 11:00 pm on Thanksgiving Day and continue through end of day Sunday. There is not much time to pull the sale together as today is consumed with a return trip to Maine office. Stay tuned for updates.

Other GFRC News

I'm pleased to report that two Express shipments are on the way to Maine and arrive Tuesday. The first is the 23 piece United States $1 gold collection itemized in the November 18 Blog coupled with approximately 20 Seated halves from the Pleez B. Seated collection that are under First Right of Refusal (FRoR). The Alexandria consignor is motivated to sell his Liberty Seated half set and offered to immediately ship those pieces with early FRoR requests. These shipments will receive attention starting next week.

Here are three nice Morgans reaching the price list today. The 1881-O has pretty rainbow toning and nice luster which is not well captured by GFRC images. The 1879-S is a bold strike with frosty luster. These are inexpensive and will not last long.

    

Featured Coins of the Day

This morning, let's feature quality GFRC offerings for under $200. Coins at this pricing level are affordable for many collectors and always in demand. Having a budget or financial means to acquire expensive coins is a blessing but numismatics is for everyone of all means. This is the reason that GFRC continues to stock coins from $100 up in order to enable a broad range of collectors to enjoy their hobby.

  

  

  

That wraps up today edition of the Daily Blog. Hotel check out time will arrive soon followed by retrieval of coins submitted to CAC and then another long drive to Maine. As mentioned to one consignor this morning, via email, I'm starting to feel like a man in perpetual motion.

Thanks for stopping by and please do consider a coin purchase today. There are many wonderful coins in inventory between $100 - $200 and well above that threshold. At GFRC, I strike to support the broadest range of collectors and consignors possible. Have a great day.

 

 

November 21, 2016

Good morning and welcome to the Daily Blog on Thanksgiving week 2016.

As mentioned in Sunday's Blog, I am departing quite early for a CAC visit in Far Hills, NJ. Given forecasted snow in parts of Massachusetts and Connecticult, the departure will be very early so an early bedtime is in order. This means that plans to write a detailed blog this evening have been shelved.

Consignor feedback on the idea of a Black Friday sale has been quite positive. Generating a separate Black Friday price list where consignor coins can be listed on Friday-Saturday-Sunday at discount prices is the concept. The implementation via the COIN system will require some thought and Matt's feedback. I will continue to communicate on a potential implementation.

Unfortunately, there was insufficient time to prepare the Blueberry Cove Consignment Draped Bust dollar images for this blog. This work will take place while in Branchburg NJ along with the posting of more GFRC new purchases. Please check the Tuesday morning blog for the latest update and Client Gallery.

In other GFRC News, I spoke with the Watch Hill consignor on Sunday and we agreed to lower prices on his 1862-S, 1863-S and 1864-S $20 Double Eagles. All are graded AU58 and approved by CAC. Following are the three gold offerings with new prices.

Watch Hill Consignment - $20 Double Eagle Price Reductions

1862-S - $10,250                                                                              1863-S - $8,250

  

1864-S - $8,950

So ends Monday's brief Daily Blog. Thank you for stopping. Do please consider a coin purchase or two. Offers are always welcomed.

 

 

November 20, 2016

Greetings on a Sunday morning.

Today's Blog will be short as there is little prepared in terms of new coin images or featured articles.

Southern Maine weather was picture perfect on Saturday. More coins were photographed including the Blueberry Cove collection. The balance of the day was consumed with leaf blowing followed by dinner in Lewiston. Each year, the tree grows larger and yield more Autumn leaves to be disposed of. Leaf blowing for one side of the property turned into a four plus hour event with nearly three tanks of gas consumed. Evening brought a seaford dinner and a visit to my parents home to go through their personal items. Lucille's salt and pepper shaker collection is massive and located throughout the basement and first floor. A strategy for disposing of this collection remains elusive at this time.

We arrived back to the Raymond homestead late and little energy left for preparing coin images for yet another Client Gallery. Sometimes, life trumps work.

As mentioned in yesterday's Blog, GFRC is heading to CAC early on Monday morning for an over night submission. Already, a local GFRC customer has suggested dinner that evening and I'm grateful for the invitation.

There will be a Monday edition of the Daily Blog that will be prepared this evening. I'd like to feature several more galleries including the Blueberry Cove Draped Bust dollars and other GFRC offerings.

GFRC Update

Saturday sales were strong including the 1856-S Seated half dollar that lasted only minutes after being featured in the Daily Blog. Three individuals requested this example within a several hour time span.

Will GFRC have a Black Friday sale this year? Absolutely! Several consignors wish to move along their coins and are willing to provide discounts to enable a Black Friday event. Maybe Matt can build a separate Black Friday price list page for those coins?

GFRC will be attending the annual Thanksgiving weekend Westford show this coming Sunday. Ernie Botte indicates that a corner table on the main aisle is open and I'm hoping to stock four cases with top quality coins. This will be the last Maine coin show event until May 2015.

Is it too early to plan for Summer FUN? Not really..... Yesterday brought a conversation with Cindy Wibker for booking a corner table at Summer FUN (July 9 - 11) and scheduling an LSCC regional meeting on Friday.

Featured Coin of the Day

GFRC continues to offer the broadest selection of Liberty Seated coinage in the numismatic industry. From half dimes through dollars, the price lists are loaded with quality pieces. Let's feature a few CAC approved offerings today.

  

  

  

  

So ends another Blog. Time for late breakfast and then more image processing. Thanks for stopping by and do please consider a purchase.

 

 

November 19, 2016

Welcome to the Daily Blog once again. I must say that it has been nice to be the GFRC office and not traveling for a few days.

Can Thanksgiving week be upon us already? Maine weather is inconsistent with that thought. On Thursday and Friday, a top down Maita was transport mode to post office and bank vault. Today will bring temperatures close to 60 F. Yes, the upper Midwest is suffering through the first snows of the year and those will arrive to western Maine on Monday.

Monday brings an early morning drive to Far Hills, NJ and a CAC over night submission. There will be no Daily Blog on Monday morning as leaving quite early to avoid the Boston/I-495/I-95 corridor traffic.

GFRC Consignment News

The 30 Day New Purchase/Consignment price list is looking better as nearly twenty quality coins were added on Friday. Initial sales have been robust as attempting to price coins fairly and maintain sales volumes into year end. More will be forthcoming today.

Osprey just returned from his Europe buying trip and called last evening along with his lovely Belgium wife. Our friendship continues to grow and we look forward to sharing dinners and scotch once the Fortins migrate to Venice. Early double eagle Liberty gold including several Carson City pieces were located and immediately heading to PCGS for grading. Our target is to showcase the new gold inventory at FUN show.

A new Maine consignor, which will be known as the Blueberry Cove Collection, visited the GFRC office on Friday. This individual has been collecting for decades with attention for Draped Bust dollars. Like so many other collectors in retirement, he has decided to start thinning the herd and referrals led him to GFRC which is only an 8 minute drive from his home. Following are the initial offerings from the Blueberry Cove Collection. These are mostly raw and with some technical issues but still offering decent eye appeal. Collecting early dollars is financially challenging therefore this individual attempted to balance acquisition costs with rarity and eye appeal.

Draped Bust $1: 1796 Small Eagle, B-4 Small Date, Large Letters, VF30 even gray, faint clean; 1797 Small Eagle, 10x6 Stars, B-3/BB-71 SEGS XF40 with substantial eye appeal, to be crossed to PCGS at FUN if not sold buy then; 1799 ANACS OWH AU details, Net VF30, reverse punch; 1799 8x5 Stars, Rarity 4, raw VF+, even gray, small reverse punch at 3:00; 1799 B-22 R5 F15, bisecting reverse die break, cleaned.

Seated $1: 1859-O AU55, well struck, pretty reverse frosty luster, faint obverse hairlines, to be priced according.

The latest Port Matilda consignment, which was transferred at Baltimore show, reached the price list late last evening. Following is the Client Galley with full descriptions being added at some point today. Already the 1815 Capped Bust Quarter is on hold.....amazing that a GFRC customer was shopping before 6:00am on a Saturday morning.

Port Matilda Collection Consignment Part 3 - November 19, 2016

    

    

Walter Breen, in his Complete Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins, makes mention of reference Breen 3399 "1876-CC Double Obv Die....Usually in low grades. Deceptive cast counterfeits exist; authentication recommended." For years I had dismissed this reference as never having seen a contemporary counterfeit for the Double Die Obverse variety. Well guess what walked up to my Whitman Baltimore table two weeks ago? Please see the following images. I've not weighed the piece yet but the coloring is typical of transfer die struck contemporary counterfeits in some type of copper alloy.

1876-CC DDO Reverse A F-106 Seated Dime - Genuine or Counterfeit?

 

Featured Coin of the Day

At the Baltimore show, I took in a single coin consignment from a customer and did not fully appreciate the significant until listing this 1856-S Seated half dollar on the price list. This piece is graded by PCGS at AU55 level and obviously designated as a lamination mint error. However, the PCGS grading is ultra conservative as both myself and Bill Bugert, who was working at the Rich Uhrich table next to GFRC, believe this piece is fully mint state. Has anyone checked the PCGS population reports for the number of certified mint state 1856-S halves? That number is only 5 with one being in MS60. This date is a grade rarity in mint state with few known and prices in the mid four figure to five figure range. This lovely example is priced at $2100 and would be one heck of a conversation piece for any advanced collector. Though you might want to know.......

That is a wrap for this morning's Daily Blog. Blowing leaves and raking pine needles is the day's imperative as the weather will be perfect for outdoor work and exercise. Blueberry Cove consignment will be photographed at high noon and I should have images posted in Sunday's blog. Thanks for stopping by.

 

 

November 18, 2016

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

Southern Maine landscape enters the stark winter period where trees are barren and the days are short. Luckily warm temperatures and sunny skies have dominated the past few days and the wood stove continues to be idle. This coming weekend brings temperatures into the low 50s and a full day task of blowing leaves and clearing the property before first snow.

GFRC Office Migration to Venice, Florida

Is it possible that the GFRC office is migrating to Florida in just three weeks? Yes indeed, the southern migration will take place during the weekend of December 10-11 in preparation for Matt, Chikae and Natsumi's return to the United States for the Christmas holiday season. In upcoming Daily Blogs, I will outline the schedule for transitioning purchase payments from Maine to Florida office location.

The early migration to Florida is also necessary to maintain GFRC numismatic photography standards as Maine sunlight grows weaker by the day. Obtaining shutter speed and F-stop camera performance for optimum image quality is most challenging. Once arriving in Florida, GFRC will have a backlog of photography work including the amazing Saw Mill Run type set consignment and the 90 piece Pleez B. Seated half dollar collection.

GFRC Purchases Partial $1 Gold Set

After selling nearly all $1 Gold pieces in GFRC inventory at the Shanghai show, I'm pleased to announce the purchase of a twenty-three piece United States $1 Gold set from an East Coast customer. This set offers $1 gold in the popular AU53 through MS62 collector grades. Following is an itemized listing of the set contents. First Right of Refusal (FRoR) is in order. Photography and price list update will take place during or after Thanksgiving holiday.

United States $1 Gold:

1849 Open Wreath PCGS AU55; 1849 Closed Wreath PCGS AU55; 1849-O PCGS AU53 CAC; 1850 NGC AU55; 1851 PCGS MS63; 1851-O PCGS AU55; 1852-O NGC AU55; 1853-O NGC AU58; 1854 Type 1 PCGS AU58; 1854 Type 2  NGC AU55; 1855 Type 2  PCGS AU53; 1856 Slanted 5 PCGS AU58; 1856 Upright 5 PCGS AU58; 1857 NGC AU58; 1859 PCGS MS62; 1859-S NGC VF35; 1860-S NGC AU58 CAC; 1861 PCGS AU55; 1862 NGC MS62; 1874 NGC MS61; 1885 PCGS Unc Details; 1886 NGC MS63 CAC; 1889 PCGS MS61

Other GFRC News

I'm still in a catch up mode concerning Whitman Baltimore show new purchases and consignments. Attending three major coin shows during three consecutive weekends has been demanding and a sincere thank you goes out to consignors who are patiently waiting for their coins to reach the price lists.

Below are nine new purchases that will reach the price list by end of day. The 1838 dime grades PCGS AU50 CAC and is formally from the Central California Collection sold by GFRC. Interestingly, the 1843 PCGS MS62 dime is an unlisted die pairing between an early Obverse 4 die and a badly eroded reverse die that remains unidentified. If in the market for an 1853 With Arrows type coin, then the below piece graded PCGS MS64 CAC should fit nicely. The 1876 double dime is always in demand and grades PCGS EF45. Once again, this piece was sold and repurchased by GFRC for a second trip through the price list. Please pay special attention to the lovely toning on the 1839 Reeded Edge half graded NGC AU58. We close this group with a wonderfully original 1849-O PCGS AU53 CAC half dollar.

Whitman Baltimore Show New Purchases - November 18, 2016

    

    

    

GFRC took in single coin consignments at the Baltimore show and following are three pieces that are worthy of consideration. The first is a perfectly original 1837 Large Date F-101b dime that was cracked out of a PCGS EF45 holder for inclusion in an album type set. This raw piece is so choice for the grade. Next is a very late die state 1876-CC Double Die Obverse F-107b example struck from badly eroded dies. The three pieces conclude with an important 1856-S Seated half that is so undergraded at the PCGS AU55 assigned level. This is also a mint error with obvious planchet delamination on the upper obverse. This piece is definitely mint state.

New Consignments at Baltimore - November 18, 2016

    

Another Port Matilda consignment was taken in at the Baltimore show and has been photographed. I'm hoping to feature these coins in Saturday's Daily Blog as a additional client gallery presentation.

Global Financial News

Spot gold continues to be weak (quoted at $1208/oz this morning) and the prime explanation is the strengthening US Dollar. Global fiscal policies are beginning to diverge with the United States and Mexico raising interest rates while Europe remains focused on stimulus. The Federal Reserve's December interest rate increase appears assured at this time. Seeking Alpha headlines offer insight into shifting financial policies. (One does have to remember that normalizing interest rates is a good thing as capital becomes fairly valued and retirees with savings can reap some reward for their life's efforts).

Mario Draghi has sent a strong signal that the ECB will extend its €1.7T bond purchase program next month, warning that the eurozone's weak economy remains clouded by risks and heavily reliant on the central bank's stimulus. "We cannot yet drop our guard," he said at the European Banking Congress in Frankfurt. "The ECB will continue to act, as warranted, by using all the instruments available" until inflation picks up sustainably.

Fedspeak will continue today with speeches from James Bullard, Esther George, William Dudley, Robert Kaplan, Charles Evans and Jerome Powell. Yesterday, Janet Yellen's congressional testimony took the spotlight. The Fed Chair signaled a December move, suggesting a rate hike could come "relatively soon," and downplayed rumors that a Trump administration could push her out of her job early.

Mexico's central bank hiked interest rates to their highest in over seven years on Thursday and warned that the election of Donald Trump had cast doubt on the direction of Latin America's second-largest economy. The decision to raise its key rate by 50 bps to 5.25% "seeks to counteract inflationary pressures," Banxico said in a statement, adding that it stood ready to take further action if needed.

Featured Coins of the Day

Yes, the Featured Coin of the Day segement is back now that the GFRC office operations have stabilized. Many outstanding coins remain in GFRC inventory. United States gold and toner Morgans, in particular, continues to be selling well. Following are some of my favorite pieces that are recommended for a Thanksgiving treat or an early Christmas gift.

  

  

  

So ends another edition of the Daily Blog. Time for a shower, some quick order packing and then a new consignor visit to the GFRC office at 10:00am. I'm glad that the Blog is back to normal and appreciate your visits.

 

 

November 17, 2016

Welcome and thank you for visiting with me this morning. Today's Daily Blog will be unconventional so be prepared.

Maine weather and temperatures remain well above normal with an idle wood stove. In prior years, there would be snow on the ground at this point in time. Thursday and Friday highs are forecasted at 57 degrees; simply incredible.

For the past several weeks, the GFRC business has been traveling, even on an international basis, and still maintaining customer service and communicating via the Daily Blog. Layered upon the GFRC schedule was a contentious United States presidential election that has occupied the mind of most GFRC friends and my own family. Add in a polarizing media into the mix and one definitely felt stress as the election was omnipresent. To cope, the basement sound room becomes a sanctuary with comfort music to take the edge off of a long day. Peter Gabriel's Up, released during 2002, became the ongoing vehicle for relief of a tired mind continuous through the return from Shanghai.

Peter Gabriel - "Up"

One of the notable tracks on Up is Signal to Noise and so reflective of current technology that enables social and traditional media with their ability to enflame/stress out United States citizens who are unable to walk away from the "noise" and determine a sense of the true "signal" through life's own experiences. You know what I am talking about; conservatives vs. liberals, open vs. closed borders, Trump vs. Clinton without a middle ground per the polarizing media machine. Peter Gabriel well captures the situation and opins for us to turn up the signal and wipe out all of the noise......

Peter Gabriel - "Signal To Noise"

you know the way that things go
when what you fight for starts to fall
and in that fuzzy picture
his writing stands out on the wall
so clearly on the wall

send out the signals deep and loud

and in this place, can you reassure me
with a touch, a smile - while the cradle's burning
all the while the world is turning to noise
oh the more that it's surrounding us
the more that it destroys
turn up the signal
wipe out the noise

send out the signals deep and loud

man i'm losing sound and sight
of all those who can tell me wrong from right
when all things beautiful and bright
sink in the night
yet there's still something in my heart
that can find a way
to make a start
to turn up the signal
wipe out the noise

So in this edition of the Blog, I'm sending out a loud signal to wipe out all of the growing noise within my own family....

I traveled to China immediately after election day and returned on Tuesday. News inputs were limited to Bloomberg News on hotel monitors during breakfast coupled with Internet reading when possible. Days were long and busy which allowed me to avoid the media noise and focus on the true signal of the United States presidential election. Our choices were far from perfect during this election cycle and the contrasts were stark. The future of the United States Supreme Court and upholding a conservative Constitutional interpretation guided my vote. The vote came with disagreement and remorse on other aspects of the candidate's viewpoints. Lack of support for the Paris Climate Agreement was the most disturbing in my mind as weather data clearly indicates a warming trend throughout the world and the United States must lead on this issue. Otherwise China and India, with much larger populations, will overrun the planet with carbon as their econonies continue to growth faster than the United States. Given's Trump's many priorities and a world already awash in oil, I truly hope that the integrity of the Paris Climate Agreement is preserved. Already, a loud voice is building in the United States on this issue and my gut feel is that Trump will relent given other priorites.

Featured Article: This Week In Geopolitics - Russia, the United States, and Donald Trump

Again there was much noise with respect to Russia's Putin during the United States presidential election. George Friedman published a well thought through essay on November 14 entitled Russia, the United States and Donald Trump. He attempts to explain Russian intentions in Western Europe and the differences between Putin and Obama philosophies that resulted in a poor relationship. Putin has signaled a desire for Trump to win the presidency and improved relationships with Russia. Friedman opens his essay with the following;

All of that is done now. Russia is Russia, the United States is the United States, and serious matters must be dealt with. To begin, we need to understand what real issues exist between the US and Russia. And at the heart of the matter is Ukraine.

The Russian view of what happened in Ukraine is that the US engineered an uprising in Kiev that drove out the legally elected government. The US says it did not engineer a coup, but it did support human rights activists opposed to a corrupt government in Ukraine. The Russian response is that the current government is no less corrupt.

I believe Friedman hits the nail right on the head with a historical perspective of wars and insecurities in Western Europe.

Historical Buffer

A level beneath this also existed. Russia had survived for almost three centuries because of strategic depth. Historically, control over the Baltics, Belarus, and particularly Ukraine had been essential for Russia’s survival. Without this buffer zone, Napoleon, Kaiser Wilhelm II, and Adolf Hitler would have destroyed Russia.

The US move into Ukraine was therefore a fundamental challenge to Russian strategic interests (the Russians were less concerned by Europeans). Further, because the US knew it was a strategic challenge, it increasingly seemed that the Americans sought to destabilize Russia itself. A pro-US government in Ukraine (with forces trained and supplied by the Americans) was not acceptable.

The essay closes with this conclusion that is fully credible given the Russian need for a Historical Buffer.

Putin’s interest in Trump derived from Trump’s lack of interest in foreign adventures and indifference to creating liberal democracies around the world. Trump’s argument is that the US needs an overriding interest in an area to engage. Given this position, he likely would acknowledge that Russian hegemony over Europe is unacceptable, but he would not plan to engage so early and so deep in a region of Russian interest. For Trump, a neutralization of Ukraine would be acceptable. The personal dimension, Putin hoped, would eliminate Obama's desire to see him fall.

GFRC Update

I'm pleased to report that the GFRC office is reassembled and functioning. The last of the backlogged shipments will be in today's mail. Consignment checking need to be written and new purchases must be loaded on price list. There has been a significant amount of inventory rotation during the last month. Following are new activities that will lead to incremental inventory and broadening of product lines.

- Friday brings a meeting with a Maine based consignor who has a significant lot of Draped Bust dollars to be reviewed.

- Discussions have initiated to purchase a United States $1 gold collection that is all TPG graded and in the AU/low MS grade range.

- The Pleez B. Seated collection transfers immediately after Thanksgiving.

- Osprey returns from his Europe buying trip with a substantial infusion of large denomination United States gold

GFRC Office Migration

A reminder to GFRC customers, consignors and myself that the GFRC office will migrate to Florida before Christmas this year. In less than one month, GFRC will be back in Venice office. We will use the same communication process as done during 2015 to keep customers aware of the migration and where/when to send order payments.

This has been a long Blog with much needing to be said. Thank you for your ongoing readership and plodding through today's commentary. Friday will bring a return to numismatics and hopefully some coin images.


November 16, 2016

Greetings from Maine GFRC office!

Today's Daily Blog is a tad behind schedule as arrived home at 1:30 am and garnered some much needed sleep. There is little to discuss on GFRC business matters and specific consignments. First priority is returning the office to normal operations and getting shipments out the door by end of day with the balance going out first thing on Thursday morning.

GFRC Consignment News

While on the Shanghai trip, GFRC was approached by two potential new consignors. One individual is an advanced collector and ardent GFRC customer. Like so many other GFRC customers, his duplicates are accumulating and the time has come to employ the GFRC Trading Desk to pass along to others in the community. The other potential consignor is a referral. More forthcoming on this topic in the coming days.

Global Financial News

Spot gold is once again locked into a tight trading range at the $1230/oz level. The US Dollar continues to trend upward after the historic Trump presidential election with gold maintaining at this price level. Bond yields are climbing in anticipation of inflation as infrastructure spending ramps.

During this period of transition in United States policies, it is important to stay abreast of global developments and reactions. Following are several Seeking Alpha headlines worth reviewing. The first requires careful reading and indicates that certain market segments for fossil fuels will continue to grow and continue to place upward pressure on oil prices. New names are appearing as potential members of the Trump cabinet and require some research to assess their business resumes and capabilities. Finally, it appears that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates at December meeting. I believe this will be a positive step towards returning the US to a credible interest rate policy whereby capital is properly rewarded. The challenge will be a strong US dollar and capital outflows from emerging markets.

Oil rose around 6% yesterday, its best one day performance since April, on renewed hopes of an OPEC deal to cut production. But prices are now dipping lower after the IEA left its supply and demand forecasts unchanged despite the 2015 Paris Climate Change Agreement entering into force. "The difficulty of finding alternatives to oil in road freight, aviation and petrochemicals means that, up to 2040, the growth in these three sectors alone is greater than the growth in global oil demand," the IEA said in its annual World Energy Outlook.

Longtime Donald Trump supporter and activist investor Carl Icahn has confirmed the president-elect is considering Wall Street veteran Steven Mnuchin and billionaire Wilbur Ross for Treasury and Commerce Secretary, respectively. Meanwhile, Paul Ryan was unanimously chosen for another term as House speaker by his Republican colleagues as he called for his party to unite behind Trump.

"A single policy-rate increase, possibly in December, may be sufficient to move monetary policy to a neutral setting," St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said at a UBS conference in London. "There were a lot of predictions that if the election went the way of Republicans and President-elect Donald Trump, then there would be great deal of volatility, but that has not materialized so far."

So ends today's Daily Blog. I'll be back at the traditional 8:00 am publishing time on Thursday. Thank you for checking in.

 

November 15, 2016

Greetings from the Shanghai Pudong airport Air China lounge. I'm waiting for UA87 return flight to Newark with connecting flight to Portland, Maine and wrapping up the latest Shanghai coin show trip. I was originally scheduled to return through Chicago but inbound US835 flight is 3.5 hours delayed and would have missed Portland connection. Luckily I checked cellphone messages early this morning and saw the announced delay and immediately rerouted via Newark.

A sincere thank you goes out to Matt for conducting the Daily Blog uploads while I stayed at the Equatorial Hotel and unable to connect to Hostway server via hotel internet service. The Air China lounge has plenty of bandwidth and able to load a quick update for November 15.

GFRC News

GFRC office will re-open on Wednesday morning. First priority is shipping out orders that have accumulated while traveling. To all GFRC customers who have experience delayed shipping; please accept my apology and gratitude for your patience. GFRC is known for quick shipping with the exception of long coin show trips.

The balance of the week will bring attention to loading Baltimore show new purchases and consignments to the price list. I have at least another 40 coins to be loaded and the 30 day New Purchase price list is growing a tad thin.

Voice messages and orders while traveling with be attended to starting on Wednesday. Again your patience on GFRC response time is appreciated.

While opening emails in the Air China airport lounge, I received an email from Daniel and a photograph taken at the GFRC booth on Saturday. Daniel is standing to my immediate left. This image also provides a peek in the GFRC numismatic offerings.

LSCC News

By now, LSCC members should have received the Fall 2016 Gobrecht Journal issue. Bill Bugert, LSCC Publishing Guru, continues to refine Gobrecth Journal layout and graphics. I've received several emails from club members commenting on the overall article quality and presentation approaches. A sincere thank you goes out to Bill for his dedication to our noble cause.

In the Fall issue are several items that require club member attention; Kam Ahwash best article ballot, Club Officer ballot and Due Renewal Notice. In particular, please pay special attention to your due renewal status and handle this matter promptly. The club officers are very busy people and wish to minimize the amount of follow-up contact with club members to secure 2017 dues payment.

FUN-LSCC Cooperation

The Liberty Seated Collectors Club has launched a close cooperation program with the Florida United Numismatic organization. Gerry Fortin will be presenting an educational session at Winter FUN show in Fort Lauderdale and is discussions for LSCC regional meeting at Summer FUN. Benny Haimovitz has agreed to write an ongoing series of articles highlighting Liberty Seated coinage including historicial perspectives and collecting approaches. Benny sent along an email on November 13 sharing the latest FUN Topics cover art since I was the Shanghai coin show. FUN has moved to graphic cover art for their magazine and the Liberty Seated seated design was chosen given the LSCC launching a series of articles over the next year. In this issue, Benny Haimovitz has the lead article that provides an introduction to Liberty Seated coinage.

The is more great LSCC News forthcoming but will be shared after the LSCC Leadership time meeting on Thursday.

Global Financial News

The financial and precious metal markets are moving quickly in response to the surprise Trump presidential victory. More will be forthcoming on this topic once I am settled back into the Maine GFRC office.

Ok, time to conclude this Daily Blog edition as my flight boards in 30 minutes. Thanks for stopping by.

 

November 13, 2016

Greetings from Shanghai once again. It is Monday morning and taking time to recover from a successful and busy Shanghai show. A decent night's sleep finally arrived on Sunday evening and feeling refreshed. 12 hour jetlag is always difficulty to overcome and I'm not looking forward to returning to Maine and going through the process once again.

Shanghai Yunzhou Show Report - Days 2 and 3

The annual Shanghai Coin and Stamp Exposition Show for 2016 is in the history books. GFRC results were beyond expectations due to a combination of customer pre orders and show sales. Relationship building was the highlight of the show as the "China collector circle of United States coins" continues to expand. GFRC customers flew into Shanghai or drove long distances to attend the show and along with a post show numismatic dinner just like the Baltimore show. Ricky flew in from Beijing and is congratulated for completing his set of United States early half dollar commemoratives, all in PCGS or NGC MS65. GFRC supplied Alabama, Hawaiian, Monroe and Missouri commemoratives to complete the set. Below is a photo of Ricky, Gerry and Harry taken inside the GFRC booth. Ricky is all smiles.

It warmed my heart to see the development of a United States coin collecting circle in China and GFRC being the enabler. Below are two images taken on Friday as the "circle" congregated at the GFRC booth reviewing coins and chatting to no end. We agreed that at the 2017 Yunzhou show, GFRC should provide an educational presentation on a United States coinage topic at the Antique Mall facility. Where and how to stage this event will take some discussion but everyone was serious about expanding the "the circle".

What sold at the Shanghai show? United States gold ($1 period gold and $5 modern commemoratives) and also the Isle of Man 1 Angel gold from Poetic Candy finding a new home. Early United States commemoratives were very popular with GFRC being cleaned out of better offerings. Buffalo nickels sold along with several other type coins and toner Morgans. What did not sell? Liberty Seated coinage.....I have an educational challenge here.

Let's wrap up today's Blog with several images taken outside the Yunzhou Antique Mall. During Saturday and Sunday, the Mall rents ground space to small merchants to display and sell their merchandise. Each space is well marked with a painted square and number. Caution is always advised when buying from these merchants as the coins are mostly counterfeits but inexpensive. As for the other items, I am unable to comment.

This wraps up the Shanghai Yunzhou show reports. In tomorrow's Daily Blog, the focus will shift back to US return flights and some exciting news concerning FUN and the LSCC. Thank you for visiting the Daily Blog. The presentation format will be back to "normal" by Wednesday of this coming week.



November 11, 2016

Greetings once again from Shanghai. It is 3:00am with usual jetlag so up early to write another edition of the Daily Blog.

A reminder that my United States phone is powered down and phone calls will go directly to voice message. Email remains the best option for reaching me concerning purchases or FRoR on the Pleez B Seated Collection of Liberty Seated half dollars.

Shanghai Show Report Day 1

Before I start the show report, a special thank you goes out to Harry Zhang for being an incredible table assistant. Harry handles translation and helps facilitate the sales process with local customers.

GFRC is the only dealer on the bourse floor selling United States coins. You might ask about the popularity of U.S. coins in China and why I attend this show? United States coins are collected for several reason. First is Chinese collectors view U.S. coins in the same manner as world coins from Europe and South America. Other collectors love the Morgan dollar and Walking Liberty designs and attempt to build complete sets by date and mintmark. Some United States gold is use in jewelry making (pendants with bezel) resulting in the Indian $5 and $10 designs being popular.

GFRC opened for busy on schedule Friday morning. Collectors lined the Yunzhou Antique Mall entrance for the 9:30 opening time. There was a surge of morning sales to Yunzhou dealers, seeking United States coinage inventory, along with several collector customers. One dealer bought all the Type 1 and Type 3 gold dollar pieces as a single transaction along with an 1807 Draped Bust half in PCGS F12. The show had a healthy buzz since Chinese people are known to speak loudly and the bourse size made for plenty of excitement. Like clockwork at 11:30 am, attendance disappeared as Chinese people take lunch time seriously. Then at 1:00pm, floor traffic kick in hard once again with more sales including Morgan Dollars and the 1878-S NGC AU58 Trade dollar on price list. Old friends dropped by the say hello and Harry took pictures of the GFRC booth for posting on China numismatic message boards in the hopes of attracting a strong Saturday show crowd. The show closed promptly at 5:00pm with much security in the room as dealers exited.

Morgan dollars and US gold were the most popular items on Friday while the type coin case become more of a museum for local collectors.

There are images to share of customers and Harry with me behind the booth. I will try to have these ready for November 12 blog.

Global Financial News

While writing the Blog, I've noticed that spot gold is down once again during Asia trading hours and the U.S. Dollar continues to strengthen. Seeking Alpha headlines continue to focus on the Trump election and far reaching impact global reaction.

The Dow closed at a new all-time high on Thursday as investors continued to embrace the Trump Trade, putting the index within striking distance of 19,000. But is the recent rally build to last? That's the question traders are now asking. While shares were heavily mixed across the globe in overnight action, U.S. futures are now starting to fade.

Central banks from India to Indonesia have stepped in to stabilize their currencies on deepening concerns that Donald Trump will pursue policies that spur capital outflows from developing economies and weaken their exports. Meanwhile, the dollar is on course for its best week in a year, racking up another round of gains against the yuan and peso and steadying just off the previous day's highs against the euro and yen.

Wrap Up Time

Thank you for stopping in at the Daily Blog. I'm responding to purchase inquiries Asia evening and early morning hours so please do not hesitate to place an order. Time to return to bed towards securing a few more hours sleep before a busy Saturday at the Yunzhou show.



November 10, 2016

This edition of the Daily Blog was written at several time points during the trip to Shanghai. Matthew will be loading the Daily Blogs through next Monday since the Shanghai Equatorial Hotel internet is not allowing connection and FTP transfer.

Greetings from United Airlines flight UA835 somewhere over the China and Russian border. I'm busy processing Baltimore show new purchase and consignment images.

The Shanghai flight is over fourteen hours on a venerable Boeing 747-400. Economy is sparsely populated so the ride is comfortable with many open seats in Economy Plus and even open rows in the back of the plane. A flight attendance indicated that United will be retiring all 747s by end of year except for the San Francisco - Shanghai route. It is sad to think that this GFRC round trip will be my last on a Boing 747 as so spacious and smooth.

So the election is behind us and Donald Trump is the president-elect. Upon arriving in Shanghai, FOX news reported the historic transition of power meeting between President Obama and President-Elect Trump. Already, I am being questioned during Yunzhou coin show setup on the meaning of the Trump election. The world will be watching closely and the United States moves through a transition of power from liberal ideals and globalization support to a more conservative approach to domestic affairs and international relations.

GFRC Consignment Update

An email report arrived from Osprey on Tuesday. He is in Europe and actively acquiring early and semi key date Liberty $20 double eagles on current buying trip. His yields versus time spent has been substantial and I look forward to handling Osprey's latest acquisitions. This new gold lot will reach GFRC inventory in time for the Ft. Lauderdale FUN show.

Transfer of the Pleez B. Seated half dollar collection occurs after Thanksgiving while the Saw Mill Run type set collection is in GFRC possession. I've photographed most of the Saw Mill Run coins but may conduct a second imaging session after the annual Florida migration.

Already, GFRC will have over 170 new coins to offer at FUN and I'm sure there will be more consignment appearing between now and Christmas.

I've scheduled an overnight CAC submission after returning from Shanghai as many pieces in GFRC inventory need to be reviewed for approval. Part of that submission will be more Liberty Seated dime from my reference collection.

Shanghai Yunzhou Show

GFRC is setup at the same booth as last year. I've already handled a substantial pre-order lot and several customers are flying in from Beijing and other locations to attend the show and review coins that have been brought over.

The Shanghai show is similar in length and activities to a larger regional U.S. coin show. Setup take place on Thursday afternoon with many pre-orders being retrieved before the show officially opens on Friday. Friday brings advanced collectors and Yunzhou dealers. Some collectors are flying to Shanghai for the event. Saturday is the busiest in terms of general public floor traffic while Sunday morning brings some local collectors. GFRC will be wrapping up by mid Sunday afternoon. Then comes the need to exchange RMB to US dollars through a local money changer on Monday.

GFRC inventory is a nice cross section of type coins across all denominations plus, Walking Liberty halves, toner Morgans and Modern Gold Commemoratives. Since flying United Airlines out of Portland Maine, my carrying capacity on a small regional jet is limited to only several hundred coins slabbed coins but did bring another 50 or so raw coins.

Global Financial News

Equities and gold have bounced during the past 48 hours but settling down quickly. Following are several Seeking Alpha headlines. My apology if some of this may be old news given the time difference between Shanghai and US. The issue of China vs U.S. initiated free market trade pact is worth noting. Also, Mexico is wise to quickly engage in discussions with pending Trump administration.

U.S. shares stage a dramatic comeback yesterday, led by banks and healthcare stocks as investors bet on the prospect of less regulation under a Trump administration, while Treasury yields rose to their highest level since January. The broad move higher in stocks is continuing across the globe today, though the speed of the reversal is leaving some market watchers scratching their heads.

China will seek support for a Beijing-led Asia-Pacific free trade area at a regional summit in Peru later this month after Trump's election win dashed the likelihood of a U.S.-led free trade pact. Obama had framed TPP, which excluded China, as an effort to write Asia's trade rules before Beijing could, while Trump has taken a more protectionist stance on trade issues, labeling the pact a "disaster."

While Foreign Minister Claudia Ruiz Massieu reiterated that Mexico will not pay for Trump's proposed border wall, President Enrique Pena Nieto did call to congratulate him and agreed to meet before he takes office. As Trump strode toward victory, the peso plunged 13% to lifetime lows, but officials held back from taking action to support the currency.

Closing Comments

In just a few hours, the Yunzhou show will be open here in Shanghai. I'll try to capture images for tomorrow Blog. Thanks for checking and thank you for Matt for posting the Blogs during the next five days.

November 9, 2016

GFRC is currently traveling to the Shanghai Yunzhou coin show. Please check back on November 10 for an updated Daily Blog.

 

November 8, 2016

Election Day finally arrives! Thank you for visiting the Daily Blog on this much anticipated day.

Let's pray for a resounding win by either candidate so that the American pysche can return to a positive outlook. A 1-2 point victory margin in the electoral college will only enable the media to exploit polariziation with more rhetoric and questioning. None of this would serve our country well. As a small business owner, I pray that customers will refocus attention to their numismatic hobby and place some orders.

There will be no Daily Blog on Wednesday but I'm pleased to report that Shanghai Yunzhou coin show reporting will be reliably covered in the Daily Blog starting on Thursday. If I'm unable to secure a FTP connection at Shanghai hotel, then Matt will perform the uploads via his internet connection in Beijing.

Liberty Seated Die Variety News

As mentioned in the Baltimore Show report, an exciting terminal die state walked up to the GFRC table on Saturday.

The 1839-O Liberty Seated dime date has always garnered my attention and also that of many collectors attempting to piece together the die variety puzzle. It is an exciting date with the Shattered Cobweb reverse, Huge O reverse and other rare die pairing. In terms of grade rarity, obtaining 1839 New Orleans strikes in choice AU or better is most challenging.

The F-105 die pairing is the most available variety for the 1839-O date. This variety is easily attributed since Star 1 on Obverse 3 is positioned close to the rock and below the crease. Reverse D has a large O mintmark is that positioned right. Early die states have large obverse rim cuds but those disappear on later die states. In later die states (F-105b), the obverse exhibits die cracks that connect most stars while the reverse appears eroded.

Below is the latest die state seen and labeled as F-105c. The reverse die is severely degraded with internal cuds on the lower right wreath leaves and also forming on wreath devices to the right of U(N)ITED. Please note the loss of wreath details at 3:00 and 9:00 along with a bold die crack from the right stem to denticles. How this die state escaped me for all these years is unexplainable. This piece was sourced from Germany according to the seller. The preservation state is magnificant.

1839-O F-105c Discovery Piece - Terminal Reverse Die State

 

GRFC Consignment News

The Watch Hill Collection consignor is a new GFRC friend and I look forward to growing business with this gentleman. His collecting specialties, United States gold and toner Morgans, are a perfect match with GFRC product lines. We agreed to work together at the Baltimore show after an initial meeting at the Winter FUN show earlier this year. Watch Hill is a serious student of United States gold and will have more offerings in the future. His Baltimore consignments are collection duplicates that had been accumulating and time to turn these into monies for more upgrading. GFRC is so pleased to have been chosen by Watch Hill for duplicate divestment. Below are the remaining piece offerings after several $10 Carson City eagles were immediately sold at Baltimore. An 1872-CC PCGS VG8 $5 half eagle is also not shown. This lovely piece was immediately shipped in approval yesterday before photography of the balance of the Watch Hill Collection. Though expensive, the 1862-S, 1863-S and 1864-S double eagles, all certified AU58 CAC, should also garner attention.

Watch Hill Collection Consignment - November 7, 2016

    

    

The Port Matilda Collection consignor also dropped off some great coins at Baltimore. These have been photographed with image processing to be done on the long Chicago to Shanghai flight tomorrow. Following are the latest offerings from the Port Matilda Collection.

1/2c: 1807 PCGS VF35 nice planchet and deep gray/brown

10c: 1837 PCGS VF35 JR-4 choice original gray; 1839 PCGS VF30 F-106c original gray

25c: 1815 PCGS F12 B-1 choice original with uniform gun metal gray patina; 1879 PCGS EF45 CAC near gem for the grade; 1897 PCGS MS64 Teich Family Collection with steely gray/blue luster

50c: 1871 PCGS AU58 CAC - near gem original with lovely gun metal gray patina

Finally, the Alexandria Collection consignor and I discussed the transfer of 91 pieces of the Pleez B. Seated Collection in the PCGS Set Registry. This transfer will take place after Thanksgiving.

GRFC News

Yes, tomorrow brings an early start to the day and flights to Shanghai. There has been no rest since the Baltimore show and I'm looking forward to some down days after returning from the Yunzhou show. Following are some awesome Baltimore show new purchases for your consideration. More new purchases will be forthcoming as images are processed while traveling.

GFRC Baltimore New Purchases - November 7, 2016

    

  

Global Financial News

Seeking Alpha headlines are focused mainly on economic impacts of either a Clinton or Trump victory. Mixed into this morning's reading is more bad news for the Chinese economy and caution on any recovery in oil prices due to excess world wide supplies. Following are a few headlines worth reviewing.

Traders expect markets to fall sharply if Trump wins, with Mexican stocks and bonds likely to suffer the most. There are some, though, who think that his low-tax policies and his promise to invest in infrastructure would eventually spur market sentiment. A victory by Clinton would likely lift markets in the short term, but there is little certainty that the rally would last, especially if her victory is a narrow one that increases polarization in Washington.

Strategists are also cautioning that a victory for either candidate could carry risks for Treasuries and the greenback. A Clinton triumph would cement the already high expectations the Fed will raise rates in December, putting upward pressure on yields, while a Trump presidency is expected to see Chair Janet Yellen excused from a second term. With a path cleared for a Fed rate hike, the dollar is likely to gain momentum, but the full effects on the currency have been more ambiguous. Other areas to watch... commodities, energy and the emerging markets.

Chinese trade data for October came in below expectations as weak demand continued to weigh on the world's second-largest economy. Exports contracted by 7.3% on year, while imports fell 1.4%, resulting in a trade surplus of $49B. The data could spark fear about a broader recovery in China and complicate efforts by Beijing to shore up economic growth and reduce reliance on trade and investment.

Crude prices will rebound much less than expected in the next four years, according to OPEC's annual World Oil Outlook, forecasting that oil demand won't rise as quickly as once thought and petroleum supplies will be resilient. The 14-nation group will account for much of the world's growing oil production, however, its share of the global market will increase as U.S. output from shale fields slows down.

Shanghai Trip Preparations Underway

This concludes the Daily Blog for the next 48 hours. There is much to accomplish in a short period of time. All orders with payment as of yesterday will be shipped today.

Please don't hesitate to place online orders via email only. While in Shanghai, my U.S. phone will be powered off and will not be responding to phone calls and text message. Again, email will be the only method for contacting me.

Have a great election day!

 

November 7, 2016

Welcome to election week and yet another Daily Blog edition. Thank you for stopping in on a regular basis.

Southern Maine weather will be clear and cold (high of 45 F) today and ideal for photography. A quiet Sunday allowed for consolidating inventory just in time to pull offerings that will be traveling to Shanghai on Wednesday and the balance heading to the bank vault. Much accumulated shipping lies in front of me this morning along with issuing consignment checks and updating consignor COIN reports for insourced coins at the Baltimore show. The GFRC business brings together numismatic knowledge and relationships coupled with operations and technology expertise.

This week brings the Shanghai Yunzhou Antique Mall show but first the long 14 hour flight from Chicago O'Hare to Shanghai Pudong airports followed by an exciting 45 minute taxi ride from airport to 88 Damuqiao Lu in the southern Xuhui District located in Shanghai Puxi. GFRC local agent, Harry Zhang, will be meeting me at the mall for setup and translation support. Below is an image the of the Yunzhou Antique Mall and please allow me to elaborate about Shanghai for readers who have not traveled to this marvelous city.

Shanghai Yunzhou Antique Mall - 8th Floor Coin Show - November 11 - 13, 2016

Shanghai is divided into two major sections; Puxi and Pudong. Xi translated to west and Dong translates to east. The two city regions are separated by the Huang Pu river. So Puxi is west of the Huang Pu and Pudong is the eastern side. For history buffs, Shanghai was divided into regions by the French, Americans and British prior to World War II. The Japanese Imperial Army and Republic of China National Revolutionary Army, under Chiang Kai-shek, found fierce battles for Shanghai with the Japanese eventually occupying the city after heavy losses. The Japanese punished Chiang Kai-shek by taking the Chinese captial Nanjing coupled with a huge civilian massacre. Wikipedia provides a detail review of the Battle of Shanghai. During WWII, the Puxi section of Shanghai was the area of fighting while Pudong was mostly undeveloped.

Fast forward to the 21st Century.....Shanghai parallels New York City as the Chinese center of capitalism, finance and access to the mainland for interntional companies. Beijing parallels Washington DC for politics and stern government control including the military. The Pudong section of Shanghai is newly built and home to much of China's semiconductor and electronics industry. The Pudong airport is massive and constructed during the late 1990s. I remember being on one of the first United Airlines flights into Pudong airport after it opened. We arrived in the evening to a eerie deserted airport; this is definitely not the situation today.

There are two major coin centers in Shanghai Puxi; Yunzhou Antique Mall and Lu Gong Coin and Stamp market. Both are located in Xuhui District within several blocks of each other and within walking distance. Lu Gong is mostly modern Chinese silver and gold coins while Yunzhou targets local and international collectors for coins, paper money and stamps. Yunzhou holds its annual coin show during November and GFRC is the only American dealer at the show.

Shanghai Puxi Map - Yunzhou Antique Mall Location in Xuhui District

Global Financial News

The financial world breathes a sigh of relief as FBI Director Comey indicates that Hillary Clinton will not be indicted over the ongoing email scandal. Global equity markets are up and spot gold is down to $1288. Following are pertinent Seeking Alpha headlines to start the week.

U.S. futures and the dollar are posting big gains, along with shares across the globe, as bullish sentiment returned to Wall Street following the largest streak of losses on the S&P 500 since 1980. "Based on our review, we have not changed our conclusions that we expressed in July," FBI Director James Comey said in a letter to Congress, standing by an earlier recommendation that no criminal charges were warranted against Hillary Clinton over her email practices.

While Japan secures much attention for its massive fiscal deficits and debt burden, China is also in the same league at 250% of GDP and this probably does not include the shadow banking industry. There are reasons why wealthy Chinese continue to move monies into Canada, Australia and the United States. Frankly, I don't believe that Beijing government would allow foreign firms to set up independent companies in China without joint ventures or some form of internal Communist party oversight.

China has appointed a new finance minister, Xiao Jie, as concerns grow over the country's rising fiscal deficits and mounting debt, which has jumped to more than 250% of GDP. China is also considering allowing Wall Street banks to run their own investment-banking businesses on the mainland, WSJ reports, dropping a requirement for U.S. banks to operate as minority partners in local joint ventures.

I don't understand the headlines concerning NATO military buildup for possible Russian aggression. The Russia economy is weak due to low oil prices while Putin continues to build a small buffer zone on its western border with NATO. The toppling of the pro Russian government in the Ukraine by the West was a strategic mistake. Now the West is spending monies to defend itself from the Russian bear that it awoke while pushing western democracy adjacent to the Russian border.

Military buildup: Hundreds of thousands of NATO troops will be put on a higher state of alert amid growing tensions with Russia, according to Jens Stoltenberg, the alliance's secretary-general. Separately, operation "Euphrates Anger" has begun to liberate Raqqa from ISIS. The offensive, which comes two weeks after a campaign to clear ISIS from Mosul, will be supported by U.S. air strikes and involve 30,000 fighters.

Featured Coins of the Day

Hopefully after the presidential election is settled, collectors will move aware from online social media and return to their hobby. The latter part of October was a slow sales period and I'm looking forward to an exciting November before the traditional slow down in December. Given the vaste GFRC inventory, I will be running special sales during Thanksgiving week this year.

This morning's featured coins are from the Draped and Capped Bust price list. During 2017, GFRC will be expanding its offerings within these early denominations and seeking more consignments to augment GFRC's owned inventories. We start with an original 1795 LM-6 R4 Draped Bust half dime with minor obverse scratches. Offers are solicited as the consignment wishes to sell and will be reasonable. I really like the 1832 LM-1 NGC MS61 CAC half dime in Fatty holder. Choice original silver coins look great in the those old holders along with the bold green CAC sticker. Have you even considered building a Bust coinage type set in NGC Fatty holders with CAC approval? It would make for an attractive display and GFRC can help!

  

  

  

  

Thanks for stopping by on a Monday morning. There will be a Daily Blog on Tuesday and then afterwards, Daily Blog postings will be a function of quality internet access in Shanghai. During the 2015 Yunzhou show, the Equatorial Hotel internet bandwidth was bad and I could not connect to Hostway server in US for uploading Blog reports. Let's hope the situation is different this time.

 

 

November 6, 2016

Greetings from Maine on a seasonal November morning! Southern Maine foliage is mostly on the ground as the landscape is stark. The first snows of the 2016/2017 winter could come at any time.

Thank goodness for the end of Daylight Saving Time and the extra hour of sleep as the GFRC mobile arrived home at 12:30 am. The northward drive was uneventful and relaxing after four days of non stop action at the Whitman Baltimore show. The I-83 and I-81 route through Pennsylvania and into New York is optimum for avoiding the NYC corridor traffic. There was substantial deer roadkill on I-81. I was on guard for deer movement with high beams and luckily one doe, on the right shoulder, did not jump out in front of me between Scranton and Milford, PA.

Before discussing the Day 3 report and overall impression of the Baltimore show, I would like to recognize three individuals for their incredible commitment to the numismatic hobby; John Frost, Dennis Fortier and Carl Feldman. Each day started with breakfast with John, Dennis and Carl, then we went down separate numismatic paths. These incredible individuals manned the LSCC and BCCS table throughout the show and shared their knowledge with collectors while I manned the GFRC table. Coin collectors must understand that the Baltimore LSCC/BCCS club table was not a one time event but an ongoing passion that finds these gentlemen at club tables throughout the United States. No one in numismatic hobby does it better than John, Dennis and Carl!

Baltimore Show Report - Day 3 and Wrap Up

The numismatic dealer profession can be a complex undertaking when offering customers a broad range of services. Typical dealer roles are buying and selling at a table or walking the bourse floor and buying for inventory or want lists. The November Baltimore show was notable as GFRC added auction lot evaluations for important clients and a first attempt at building a wholesale channel to move out stale inventory. This includes coins on consignments that are not quick sells. Daily Blog readers should understand that GFRC is a one person operation to keep administrative costs down. All dealer services are personally provided or coordinated through a growing relationship network.

Saturday turned out to be a great day for GFRC to close out the show. Usually Saturday is slow paced with an eye on the clock for packing up and departing. This was not the case yesterday. Here are the highlights;

- A gorgeous 1851 PCGS MS63 CAC Seated half dollar arrived to the table and was taken in on consignment.

- An older gentleman who buys coins from the German numismatic market walks up to the GFRC table and offered three Seated dimes and two half dimes. This individual had previously contact me via email concerning a very late die state 1839-O dime. He pulled out a choice original EF45 1839-O with terminal F-105 die state never seen before!!!! I was so excited to view the reverse with internal cuds and heavy die cracks. This one is going into the Seated Dime Web-Book as F-105c. Yes, I bought the lot and so excited with his discovery.

- A dealer walked up to GFRC table with PCGS blue box of beautifully toned type coins hearing about GFRC's interest in toner Morgan and Peace dollars. In the box was a gorgeous 1839 Reeded Edge half graded NGC AU58 that is now in GFRC inventory.

- GFRC sold half of the Carson City gold $5 and $10 pieces on Saturday morning thanks to the kind help from a wholesale dealer who made an important connection for me. This individual may be playing a more active role in the GFRC wholesale channel....details and strategies must be worked out.

- I managed to walk the floor prior to show open and located more Shanghai Yunzhou show pre-orders. Thank you Dennis Fortier for manning the GFRC table and allowing me to get this task done.

Whitman Baltimore Show Summary

The show was active but not strong. Dealers had to hustle and move coins through retail and wholesale channels. Those individuals who actively worked across the floor spoke of a great show. Those who sat mostly at their table waiting for retail trade had a weak show. The presidential election was a prevalent topic with election outcome uncertainy and post election concerns weighing on people's psyche.

The Bob Hammond Collection sale via Stack's appeared to go well with Bob's coins reaching the bourse floor on Saturday.

GFRC had a strong overall show thanks to Saturday's gold sales. Consignment and buying wise, GFRC had an incredible show. By Monday, GFRC online customers will see inventory rotation. I hope to get photography done on Monday and Tuesday and load Newps and some consignments before leaving for Shanghai.

 

 

November 5, 2016

Saturday arrives with GFRC winding down its presence at the Baltimore show and driving back to Maine. The past two days have been fast paced with non stop numismatics.

Baltimore Show Report - Day 2

Friday was pretty much a replay of Thursday with a slow start and active collector traffic after 11:00am. GFRC table traffic was steady with a decent sell through rate for the number of customers serviced. Liberty Seated coinage continued to dominate sales along with United States gold. Overall results across the two days were quite reasonable and consistent with expectations.

I'm pleased to report that a GFRC client won the 1851-O PCGS MS62 Seated quarter in the Stack's Sale. This sale featured the numismatic properties of long time LSCC member Bob Hammond. The 1851-O quarter was Bob's prized piece according to Shirley Hammond, Bob's widow, when visiting the GFRC table after the auction. This piece brought ~$19,000 with buyer's premium and is heading into a superior Liberty Seated type set that is under construction. The 1851-O quarter fills the With Drapery slot in that set.

As for bourse floor activities.....Friday's brought the receipt of two important consignments. The first was a United States gold consignment as mentioned in Thursday's Blog. This new consignor will be known as the Watch Hill Collection moving forward. The second was a 50 piece lot from the Saw Mill Run Collection that was previously announced on October 30 with debut planned for the Fort Lauderdale FUN show.

Following are the contents of the Watch Hill Collection consignment of United States gold that is comprised of half eagles and eagles from the Carson City mint plus three Civil War era double eagles from the San Francisco mint (all CAC approved). First right of refusal (RFoR) is in order as these will not reach the price list until after my return from Shanghai Yunzhou trip on November 15. The Carson City offerings are ideal collector coins whereby low mintage dates can be purchased for a fraction of the cost of higher circulated grades. I've included mintages for each Carson City offering below.

$5 Gold: 1871-CC NGC VF20 (20,770); 1872-CC PCGS VG8 CAC (16,980); 1874-CC NGC VG8 CAC (21,198); 1881-CC PCGS EF40 (13,886)

$10 Gold: 1874-CC PCGS F15 CAC (16,767); 1883-CC PCGS VF20 (12,000); 1892-CC PCGS VF30 (40,000); 1893-CC PCGS VF35 (14,000)

$20 Gold: 1862-S NGC AU58 CAC; 1863-S PCGS AU58 CAC; 1864-S NGC AU58 CAC

Near the end of the day, I had a chance to review individual pieces in the Saw Mill Run Collection consignment. This collection is a superior offering with probably 30% being at the Gem Quality Rating level and the balance being Choice. All Seated denominations are present with a predominance of half dimes and half dollars along with Capped Bust pieces from the 1837 - 1839 timeframe. Nearly all are CAC approved. It will take time to photograph and process this collection but the rollout in late December is assured. Stay tuned here.

After a short Saturday bourse floor day, attention immediately shifts to Shanghai Yunzhou show preparations.

LSCC Update

Friday morning's LSCC meeting was well attended with a headcount of 32 members. Bill Bugert, Gobrecht Journal Editor, presented Dennis Fortier the Kamal Ahwash award for best article during 2015 published issues. Dennis Fortier and John Frost provided regional meeting and educational effort updates. The meeting closed with Len Augsburger sharing a quick tutorial on Liberty Seated quarters.

Evening brought our traditional LSCC dinner event at the M&S Grill at Inner Harbor. Attendance was about 14 people.

Closing Comments

This concludes the Daily Blog as I have a host of pre show items to take care of including packing and preparing the car for a quick and secure departure this afternoon.

GFRC attention now shifts to preparations for the Shanghai Yunzhou show.

Thank you for checking in.

 

 

November 4, 2016

Welcome to the Daily Blog on a Friday morning. I'm sure readers are curious about the Baltimore show mood and attendance. So let's jump immediately into the report.

Baltimore Show Report - Day 1

GFRC and W. David Perkins enjoyed a strong opening day at the Baltimore show. Below is an end of day image with W. David Perkins, Gerry Fortin, Greg Johnson and Andy Lustig (left to right) enjoying Glenlivet Founder's Reserve scotch to wrap up a successful first day. Our end of day scotch has become a tradition at Table 818!

GFRC sold into the five figures, took in five consignments and did some excellent United States gold buying with highlights being an 1836 Script 8 NGC EF45 CAC G$2.5 quarter eagle and 1853 PCGS AU58 CAC G$20 double eagle. Another large pre-order arrived for the Shanghai Yunzhou show that must be filled on the bourse before heading back to Maine....there is never a dull moment at GFRC!

Floor traffic at Table 818 was continuous from 10:00 am (Early Bird entry) and ramped hard after the general pubic arrvied at 12:00 noon. Seated halves continued to be hot with a four piece sale valued at $6500 to kick off the day followed by a good number of individual coin sales until 4:30 pm. Collectors are recognizing that GFRC is the go to dealer for 19th Century type consignments. The Port Matilda consignor visited the GFRC table, retrieved a consignment check, and dropped off another 10 piece lot of choice original type coins. Single and multiple coin consignments from collectors and dealers continued to arrive. Some include an 1856-S PCGS AU55 Seated Half with strike planchet delamination. This piece is so undergraded and is closer to MS61/MS62. I took in a choice original 1837 F-101b Seated dime in EF45, an 1843 dime graded PCGS MS62 and gem 1853WA graded PCGS MS64 CAC on consignment too. Then a seven piece World Coin lot consisting of South American 8 Reales, 8 SOLS and 960 Reis arrived as a consignment; all are graded by NGC in AU55 - MS62 range.

I'm also pleased to announce that a third substantial consignment targeted for FUN show walked up to the table. I previous met this individual at the 2016 Winter FUN show. He has just retired and decided to start divest his numismatic holdings. We are meeting at lunch time tomorrow to view the consignment that is predominately United States gold including many Carson City dates.

How was overall attendance at the show? When not engaged with customers and/or consignors, I would scan the floor to gain a sense of floor traffic for this report. Early Bird traffic from 10:00 to 12:00 was slow as the bourse did not have the "buzz" that I equate with strong attendance. The "buzz" started immediately after the general public arrived in early afternoon and slowed by mid afternoon.

The day closed with Greg Johnson (GFRC table assistant) and I having a quiet dinner at the M&S Grill. We discuss a host of subjects and thoroughly enjoyed each others company. Back at the hotel room, it was time to write a portion of the Daily Blog before updating the COIN database with sales activity and removing sold inventory from the online prices lists.

Baltimore Day 2 brings an LSCC meeting at 9:00 am and a quick return to the bourse at 10:00 to catch the show opening. A coin dealer's life is a myriad of tasks, each needing careful execution to ensure the best possible customer and consignor service.

Global Financial News

Spot gold is once again trending at $1300/oz and I'm quietly hopeful that we see continued recovery to the mid $1300 level. Political anxiety is quite high as the presidential appears to be a close horse race. Some financial newsletters are predicting inflation on the horizon regardless of which party wins. Trump will bring about tariffs on imported goods to protect United States jobs while Clinton will increase regulations and compliance costs to business. If "official inflation" does start to perk up, then look for more strength in the bullion markets.

Seeking Alpha headlines have two items worth noting. Global stocks are in a sell off mode including the United States equities market. Eight consecutive "down days" is a significant negative hanging over the markets as there is little positive news from the presidentail campaign. Mexico is also making plans for a Trump win.

The global stock selloff has extended into Friday trading as crude oil holds near one-month lows and investors shun riskier assets ahead of next week's election. "One thing markets are not particularly good at pricing is political risks," said Ashley Perrott, head of Asian fixed-income at UBS Asset Management. The S&P 500 logged its eighth straight decline yesterday, marking its longest negative stretch since October 2008.

Mexico is readying a contingency plan for an "adverse" result in the U.S. presidential election, according to central bank governor Agustin Carstens, who previously stated that a victory for Donald Trump would hit his country like a hurricane. "It's a contingency plan that we're discussing with the Finance Ministry," he told Milenio television. "We hope we don't have to use it."

Featured Coins of the Day

Though GFRC has many coins priced over $1000, I still believe in stocking quality collector coins that are priced in the $200 - $500 range. Following are more quality coins available at Table 818 and I do hope that you attend the Baltimore show if in the area.

  

  

  

Time for a showever, breakfast and then the LSCC regional meeting at 9:00am in Room 301. Stack's auction of the Bob Hammond collection also begins at 9:00am today. An LSCC dinner is also planned for this evening. It will be a busy day at the Whitman Baltimore show.

 

 

November 3, 2016

Greeting from Baltimore!

My sympathies go out to Dale Miller this morning. Cleveland made a valiant attempt to snatch victory in game 7 of the World Series. To all Cub fans, congratulations on a historic victory. Unfortunately, the long Baltimore drive and numismatic day left me exhausted and needing sleep. I missed this game.....

The Whitman show has arrived and hopefully, the numismatic market will catch an updraft during the next three days. Online sales continue to be anemic.

After a 5:00 am start and an uneventful drive, GFRC arrived into Baltimore a bit before 2:00 pm. Upon checking into hotel, my favorite wholesaler arrived to ride shot gun and escort GFRC inventory to the convention center security room. GFRC will have over 600 quality coins on display including broad based Liberty Seated, Draped and Capped Bust, Toner Morgan/Peace Dollars, United States Gold and World Coins. Barber inventory is growing along with early copper. The GFRC cases at Table 818 will be full and waiting for Early Bird customer at 10:00am and general public at 12:00 noon. Please make sure to visit Table 818 first.

On a most positive note, Harry Zhang continues to secure more pre orders for the Shanghai Yunzhou show. Overnight, another large order for United States silver commemoratives arrived to the Inbox and will be sourced in the upcoming 48 hours.

Baltimore Dealer Trading Report

Moving back to my favorite wholesaler, after dropping coins off at security, we moved to the convention center third floor and did our first deal of the day. Many dealers were active in hotel rooms or lobbies and attempting to rotate inventories prior to the show. Based on the active dealer to dealer trading seen today, I have a positive outlook for the next several days.

Following are new purchases for your consideration.

Capped Bust 5c: 1835 Lg Date, Large 5c PCGS AU55 CAC choice with shattered reverse die (I don't have the Logan-McCloskey book with me)

Seated 50c: 1849-O PCGS AU53 CAC choice with typical Gerry Look

Early Commem 50c: 1928 Hawaiian PCGS MS65 CAC choice and heading to Shanghai next week

Gold $10: 1853 PCGS EF45 CAC choice with natural old time color

I've also brought a double row box of aging inventory to sell and spent several hours with wholesale dealers attempting to move this material. As much as I wish to be right on every coin purchase, mistakes that become long term inventory fixtures must eventually be wholesaled. Some of the inventory is gone and the cash flow helps to facilite the aquisition of new and better quality inventory.

Wednesday wrapped up with Stack's auction lot preview followed by analysis and phone calls to clients. Yes, GFRC also conducts auction lot viewing and evaluations for larger revenue customers and consignors.

LSCC News

The Baltimore regional meeting will be held on Friday at 9:00am. The venue is Room 301. Immediately after the meeting, Stacks will be offering selections from the Bob Hammond Collection. Bob and his lovely wife Shirley, have been fixtures at Baltimore meetings for years.

Global Financial News

The major news of the week is increasing spot gold prices. In the past 24 hours, gold moved through the $1300 level and is slight below that threshold as the Blog is being written. The electronic newsletter people are indicating that increasing personal stress over the election coupled with the volatity of outcome expectations. Trump appears to be gaining momentum with less than a week to go as more headlines are appearing on past and current FBI investigations. During mid October, most media outlets were acting as if a Clinton victory was an assured outcome but no more.

In prior Daily Blog editions, I suggested that gold had to move up to $1300 to stay ahead of the 200 day moving average and preserve its technical upward momentum. Whatever the reason, strong gold prices will provide some optimism for Whtiman show sales.

Featured Coins of the Day

Once again, GFRC will have an incredible offering at Table 818. It will probably take over an hour just to load the cases with 600+ coins. The Baltimore show is a must attend event for fans of quality 19th Century coins including key days from the Gerry Fortin Top 100 Liberty Seated Dimes Varieties set. Following are a few highlights on some great offerings.

  

  

  

  

Thanks for stopping by at the Daily Blog. Time for a shower, then breakfast and, hopefully, a busy initial bourse floor day at the Baltimore show. I'm be back tomorrow morning with Day 1 show report.

 

November 2, 2016

Heading to Baltimore; sorry but no Daily Blog edition today.

 

November 1, 2016

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog as November has arrived.

The Whitman Baltimore show launches on Thursday which means a long drive to Baltimore tomorrow followed by mid afternoon auction lot viewing for clients and dealer to dealer trading. Also thank you to those who took advantage of the two day Halloween sale. October was a strong GFRC sales month with positive contributions from Shanghai Yunzhou show pre-orders.

Today's Blog will be a series of short topic highlights given Baltimore show preparations and also a Auburn Lakes Condo Association board meeting during early afternoon. The timing of the latter meeting is definitely a distraction.

Whitman Baltimore Show - November 3 - 5

GFRC will be at Table 818 with six cases and a massive amount of inventory for your shopping pleasure. Inventory will include Bust, Seated, Barber, United States Gold and World coins. Since driving to Baltimore, I will be bringing much of the online inventory. As usual, Whitman Baltimore daily show reports will be published each day. I'm quietly hopeful for strong show sales but also realistic since the ongoing presidential election distraction that has become a source of stress for many Americans.

LSCC News

The 142nd issue of the LSCC's electronic newsletter, the E-Gobrecht, was published yesterday evening by editor Bill Bugert. Sincere thanks go out to Bill and the contributing authors for their dedication.

The November issue opens with an article preview for the upcoming Gobrecht Journal that will be arriving to club member mailboxes shortly. Len Augsburger provides an insightful discussion on historical nomenclature for designating obverse (head) and reverse (tail) dies. Greg Johnson follows with a discussion concerning past and current 1867 Seated quarter availability. The current market place has many more 1867 offerings than one would expect. Moving to Seated dimes, Benny Haimovitz illustrates the 1838 F-106 major die characteristics for those new to the series. As usual, Jim Laughlin wraps up the issue with a long research article entitled, A Tour of the San Francisco Mint Part 1 that is a must read.

GFRC Consignment and New Purchases Update

Several Blog readers caught the fact that GFRC has been selected to market and sell the Pleez B. Seated Liberty Seated half dollar collection on PCGS Set Registry. FRoRs poured in yesterday and over 10 pieces are already spoken for. As for Denver Coin Expo new purchases, following are the balance. Please pay special attention to the 1923-D Peace dollar. GFRC images are mediocre at best. This PCGS MS65 example is simply gorgeous with dual sided toning and huge obverse die cracks. Hand viewing is highly recommended.

More Denver Coin Expo New Purchases - November 1, 2016

    

Global Financial News

Following are several Seeking Alpha headlines that caught my attention and worth sharing. It is important that American stay abreast of foreign economic developmnets during this contentious presidential election.

Spot gold increased overnight and is now quoted at $1287. Gold's upward pricing trend remains intact, though precarious, at the 200 moving average (MA) trend line on the 8 Year Kitco chart. Will we see a return to $1300 at the Whitman Baltimore show?

There is positive news concerning the Chinese economy this morning as indicators should improving conditions in the manufacturing sector. China's manufacturing sector could be a leading indicator for global economic trends.

Three fresh activity surveys have reinforced hopes of stabilization in the world's number-two economy. China's official manufacturing PMI came in at 51.2 for October, snapping two months of flat readings, while Caixin's private survey recorded the same print, showing the fastest rate of improvement since March 2011. Strength wasn't only seen in manufacturing. The government's official services PMI soared to 54.0, giving equities a boost on the mainland.

Saudi Arabia is taking steps to diversify its economy from oil production and seeking direct foreign investments.

Saudi King Salman has replaced the country's long-serving finance minister Ibrahim al-Assaf with Mohammed al-Jadaan, the chairman of market regulator CMA. The change comes as the kingdom tries to diversify its economy and cut its dependence from oil revenue. Al-Jadaan was a force behind opening the Saudi stock market to direct foreign investment last year and oversaw plans to further ease restrictions.

Featured Coins of the Day

Let's close today's Blog with some attractive World Coins that will be available at the Whitman Baltimore show.

  

  

  

  

Thank you for stopping in at the Daily Blog. Time for packing and shipping to catch the arrival of Doug, the mailman, and then preparing GFRC inventory for transport during early morning hours. It will be another busy day! Do please consider an online purchase and I'm superstituous and a few solid orders on November 1 would be a strong omen for the balance of the month.