Gerry's Daily Blog Archives - October 2016

 

October 31, 2016

Happy Halloween to everyone! Today's Daily Blog edition will hopefully bring many treats and absolutely no tricks. Thank you for stopping by.

Maine weather will be seasonal during the next few days including the long Baltimore drive on Wednesday. Days are growing short and it is pitch black at 6:45am as the Blog is being composed. Hopefully there will be sufficient sunshine to wrap up the photography of Denver Coin Expo new purchases today or Tuesday.

We open the Blog with a thought provoking poem from Poetic Candy entitled SURREALISM. This piece is his finest to date and so grateful that Poetic Candy decided to publish and share with Blog readers. I've read the composition multiple time and still finding new subtleties with each review. This is not Halloween prose but a much deeper statement of current affairs and maybe, just maybe, a media with an online canvas that is lacking the intention of logical comprehensibility.

SURREALISM

A feather floats across a darkened room,
As politics upon the walls,
Depicts an ever darkening gloom,
But shows us not the picture,
Of what just ahead does loom.

Broken bones, distorted eyes,
Half a heart and all that cries,
A host of horrible affectations,
O’er which we must now agonize.

Such darkness artists cannot hide,
Have they themselves no heart? No pride?
To fill our canvas with such horrors,
So that others too must take their ride?

A psychiatrist perhaps,
Would do best to see these works,
For the artist hidden in these canvases,
Out there in the public lurks.

They are of course of a different kind,
Each within some twisted mind,
And need to show some different colors,
To paint for those of us now looking,
Those of us that are still blind.
(Poetic Always)

GFRC Consignment News

Two significant announcement are at hand this morning.

I am so pleased and honored to announce that GFRC has been selected to market and sell the Pleez B Seated Liberty Seated Half Dollar collection on PCGS Set Registry. The owner is our own Alexandria Collection consignor. The Pleez B Seated Collection is the 4th finest Retired set in the Liberty Seated Half Dollar Circulation Strike with Major Varieties category. This collection has already been disassembled with GFRC handling several pieces in the early 1840s along with 1873-S and 1875-CC. However, a substantial amount of the collection remains intact and will be offered at the Fort Laudersale FUN show including the 1844-O Double Die obverse and 1850, 1851 and 1852 Philadelphia strikes.

The second announcement concerns a single coin offering from a new consignor. Moving forward, this individual will be known as the Denver Collection. Following is an incredible Gem 1802/1 B-1 BB-231 Close Date Draped Bust Dollar graded PCGS AU55 with CAC approval. The Denver Collection is being constructed by an individual with a keen eye for the finest numismatic properties. His love has always been Liberty Seated coinage and United States gold. This 1802/1 Draped Bust Dollar is no longer central to his collecting goals and is now available for purchase. One view of the images will easily allow appreciation of the gem surfaces, complete strike and superb eye appeal. An important numismatic opportunity and offered at $19,000.

Denver Collection Consignment - 1802/1 Draped Bust Dollar PCGS AU55 CAC

There were a few moments of bright sunshine on Sunday sandwiched in between thick clouds. It takes patience to stand in the homestead driveway and wait for those bright moments to occur towards capturing Denver Coin Expo new purchases. Following are some of the new purchases photographed before clouds fully obsured the sun. More will be photographed today and offered on Tuesday.

Denver Coin Expo New Purchases - October 31, 2016

    

    

Two Day Halloween 5% Sale

A reminder that GFRC is offering a 5% off sale on all inventory during October 30 and October 31. Purchases must be via check payment and lay-a-ways are not included in this sale. This is not Trick or Treat, but rather an opportunity to catch a quality coin at a small discount before they are offered at the Baltimore show.

Global Financial News

Spot gold opens the week at $1274 while oil remains slightly under $50/bbl. Let's walk through a few Seeking Alpha headlines worth noting. The significant financial news of the day is General Electric's acquisition of Baker Hughes, a major oil field services company. GE is betting on an oil price recovery else this acquisition will be a huge mistake.

Banking on a recovery in crude prices, General Electric is merging its oil and gas business with Baker Hughes, creating a large, listed player, that could compete with rivals like Schlumberger. GE will own 62.5% of the new company, which will have combined revenue of $32B, while Baker Hughes shareholders will own 37.5% and get a special one-time cash dividend of $17.50 per share after the deal closes (expected in mid-2017).

Halloween celebrations continue to grow in the United States with a $8.4 billion value to the economy.

More than 171M Americans plan to celebrate Halloween this year and will have spent about $8.4B this October for costumes, candy and parties, according to the National Retail Federation. That's an all-time high since the retail trade association first began tracking Halloween spending 11 years ago. Reasons for the increase include the likelihood of adults to dress up during an election year and greater spending by millennials on the holiday.

Canada and the European Union have signed a landmark free trade agreement that removes nearly all tariffs. A similar agreement with the United States is pending the presidential election.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has finally signed Canada's free trade agreement with Europe at a ceremony in Brussels. CETA will remove 98% of tariffs - and officials hope it will generate an increase in trade worth $12B a year. What about the much-debated trade deal between the U.S. and EU? "TTIP is not dead," EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom declared, adding that negotiations will continue after the November election.

And finally, the Japanese economy continues to be stuck in neutral as it has been for years. Negative interest rates and massive bond purchases are not producing desired results.

Japan's industrial output was unchanged September, falling short of forecasts, in a worrying sign for the economy as the BOJ board gathers to consider monetary policy. Separate data showed retail sales fell more than expected last month, dropping 1.9% from a year earlier, providing further evidence that private consumption remains a drag on growth.

Featured Coins of the Day

We close today's Daily Blog with some great featured coins from the Barber price list. GFRC is methodically expanding its Barber inventory and following are some recommended pieces for your consideration. Please remember that today brings a 5% price reduction for check payment.

  

  

  

So ends today's Blog. There is a substantial amount of packing and shipping this morning along with more consignment checks to be written. A sincere thank you goes out to everyone who supports the GFRC business model and the Daily Blog. I'm so pleased with Poetic Candy's offering and can't thank him enough for sharing with the readership. Have a great week and I will see many of you in Baltimore starting on Thursday.

 

 

October 30, 2016

Welcome to the Daily Blog and Happy Halloween to young and old!

More congratulations go out to Dale Miller as the Cleveland Indians look to be unstoppable in the World Series. I arrived home just in time to view the first few innings of Game 4. John Lackey pitched a typical game for the Cubs consistent with his days with the Boston Red Sox.

More kudos go out to Southwest Airlines and Baltimore's BWI airport. Returning flights were smooth and, once again, the exit row seating with no one in the middle seat made for a comfortable journey. Stephen King's The Bazaar of Bad Dreams provided excellent company.

GFRC Consignments News

While at the Denver airport, a phone conversation occurred to finalize the headline consignment for the Fort Lauderdale FUN show. Details of the consignment were discussed along with cementing the marketing strategy. Upon firing up the laptop this morning, a spreadsheet was in my Inbox itemizing the contents. Here are a few bullets points to wet your appetite as this consignment will bring significant demand on a fixed price list basis.

- An amazing Capped Bust and Liberty Seated offering covering half dime through half dollar denominations and assembled between 2006 - 2015. .

- 52 pieces, of which 96% are CAC approval

- Grades ranging from VF30 through AU55 with 96% PCGS holdered

- Emphasis was acquiring Choice and Gem original pieces with superior eye appeal

Why is the set for sale? The consignors is adjusting his long term collectiong goals and wishes to reallocate the monetary value of this collection. He believes that GFRC is the ideal avenue for marketing and offering top quality late date Capped Bust and early date Liberty Seated coinage.

Please consider GFRC for your potential consignments and debut at the Fort Lauderdale FUN show. It will be an exciting event indeed.

The Presidential Election Blues...The state of current numismatic market.

Blog readers well know that GFRC markets and sell quality coins without hype. Being straight and honest is part of my DNA and God fearing Catholic upbringing.

The last two weeks have brought a notable slowdown in online orders and the only plausible explanation is the fear being permeated by the media concerning the United States presidential election. The constant negativity and drama is creating pessimism to a level not seen other than during early teenage years when the Vietnam War raged on and the media provided weekly body counts on the evening news. Folks, I quite serious on this point. The polarization is blatant even including challenging emails that I've received if daring to mention politics in the Daily Blog.

Another key issue at play is the ongoing market stratification for quality versus average coins. There is a growing pricing gap between CAC approved premium coins and the balance of the market. The price guides are unable to differentiate the gap and tend to reflect the general market rather than CAC quality. Casual collectors use the guides as a benchmark for purchases and are confused when seeking quality coins. Major auction houses become the target for disposing of average or inferior quality pieces (GFRC original/market acceptable ratings) much as eBay has become the land of inferior and problem coins. Unfortunately, the various pricing guides are reflecting prices for average quality Capped Bust and Seated coins and not the choice pieces. My approach for determining choice pricing is careful inspection of CoinFacts auction records, specifically for CAC approved pieces and viewing individual coin images to ensure that GFRC retail prices are supported by auction records for top quality coins.

Two Day Halloween 5% Sale

Regardless of weak online sales, consignors wish to see their coins converted to monies for other collecting or personal goals. GFRC has had a decent October and is within spitting distance of its monthly sales goal. As an incentive to purchase that special offering that you might be considering, GFRC will offer a 5% off sale on all inventory during October 30 and October 31. Purchases must be via check payment and lay-a-ways are not included in this sale. This is not Trick or Treat, but rather an opportunity to catch a quality coin at a small discount before they are offered at the Baltimore show.

Featured Coins of the Day

Let's wrap up the Daily Blog with some of my favorite CAC approved smaller denomination coins for your consideration. These are priced from $115 upward.

  

  

  

Once again, Happy Halloween and thank you for making the Daily Blog a regular part of your online numismatic experiece. I'll be back with more ramblings on Monday morning.

 

 

October 29, 2016

Denver Coin Expo - Show Report Day 3

Greetings on a Saturday morning and welcome to the Daily Blog. This edition is being written on Friday evening as I don't wish to get up at 5:00am for a fourth day in a row and hope to secure an extra hour on Saturday morning.

Could we have imagined the current state of the presidential race, and new political development concerning Wiener emails with only ten days before the election? The Clintons could sell rights to a movie script when the elections are over. Nothing would surprise me at this point.

In terms of the Denver show, there was quiet hope that Thursday's good fortune would continue into Friday but results were disappointing. Show attendance was down with about ten people lining up for the 10:00am show open and probably three of those making a run for the bathroom. Show attendance was tepid throughout the day with GFRC and David Perkins selling a few coins and meeting new customers.

On a positive note, the LSCC (me) gave a repeat presentation on Liberty Seated halves on Friday with another six people in attendance. I'm becoming quite comfortable with discussing Liberty Seated halves since handling a substantial volume this year and gaining my own sense of overrated and underrated date. Attendees always enjoy the 1861-O date discussion since 1861 New Olreans halves were struck under three governments; USA, State of Louisiana and CSA. The actual rarity of the Union and CSA strikes is not generally well understood by many collectors. The January 1861 Union strikes are much more challenging than the March/April timeframe CSA strikes.

The balance of Friday afternoon was spent filling want lists for the Shanghai Yunzhou Antique Mall show and results were quite favorable since mostly Morgans and Walkers. Harry Zhang has done a great marketing job GFRC in Shanghai and Jiangsu province area via coin collecting message boards and, as a result, order rates continue to grow.

The Whitman Baltimore Show - November 3 - 5, 2016

Next up on the GFRC calendar is the Whitman Baltimore show. This event is significant as a bell weather for the winter collecting season that officially kicks off in 2017 with the FUN show. GFRC and W. David Perkins will be at their favorite location (Table 818) with 12 cases of quality coins. Our repuation for variety, depth and quality will be reinforced with Whitman show offerings. So here is the Whitman Baltimore bourse map and how to quickly locate our booth.

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

 

So the Indians are now up 2-1 over the Cubs after a 1-0 shutout in Game 3 of the World Series. Our favorite guest poet (Peotic Candy) wishes to share his perspective on the game of baseball and it is definitely not about taking me out to the ballgame.....

WHO KEEPS SCORE?
A double header is really a no brainer to me,
‘Cause I abhor baseball as you can see.
Once there I thought I could take a small nap,
But when I awoke, others called me a sap.
So I asked what had happened just to be really cool,
But they continued to make me look like a fool.
They continued to harass me and called me a bore,
But the difference in games was only the score.
(poeticalways)

So concludes the Saturday Blog. I'm looking forward to the return flights and a new Steven King book of short stories to occupy the time. A sincere thank you goes out to everyone who reads the Blog.

 

 

October 28, 2016

Denver Coin Expo - Show Report Day 2

Friday 5:00am arrives in Denver and time to write another edition of the Daily Blog.

Day 1 of the Denver Coin Expo was a busy and successful event at the GFRC/W. David Perkins table. The day started with breakfast email reservation for several coins and wrapped up with a closing sale of three Seated halves at 5:30pm. Throughout the day, your dynamic duo were busy engaging customers and selling quality coins. Thursday felt more like a Baltimore rather than Denver show based on customer presence and sales volume. Six Liberty Seated halves found new homes along with the 1806 NGC AU53 CAC Draped Bust half dollar as examples. United States gold also sold well. The 1921 MS63 CAC Peace dollar and 1929-S PCGS MS63 Walker also found new homes. Several customers along with a California dealer indicated that GFRC/Perkins had the best quality and product range on the bourse floor. There in lies the reason for ongoing GFRC growth in a slow overall market. Collectors are becoming better educated as to originality and eye appeal with CAC green and gold stickers becoming mainstream. Off quality coins continue to be weak as collectors shun these pieces.

The 1839 Pie Shattered Obverse dime (PCGS EF45 CAC) drew considerable attention and came out of the case on many occasions for viewing. But it remains unsold and available as of this morning. If not sold in Denver, it will move to Baltimore next week.

The LSCC educational session on Liberty Seated halves was a success as Chuck Hayes provided an HDMI adapter to enable use of their projector and screen. I was able to plug in my laptop and start the presentation with ease. Six people attended Thursday's 1:00 pm session with a repeat session planned for today, also at 1:00pm.

Friday is our last day at the Denver show with return flights to Maine on Saturday morning. A short blog will be written before starting the day's travels.

GFRC Consignment News

I'm pleased to announce that GFRC took in a substantial consignment on Thursday from a local customer with the possibility for more similar consignments in the future. The initial consignment is a gorgeous 1802/1 Draped Bust dollar graded PCGS AU55 with CAC approval. This original example is well struck and covered with golden gray patina. The eye appeal is substantial and believe me, this is not dealer hype. I will study the piece more closely today to determine if a Choice or Gem quality rating is warranted.

Once again, a reminder that it is not too early to consider consignments for the Winter FUN show that moves to Fort Lauderdale this year. GFRC committed consignments continue to increase in overall value and on a price per coin basis.

Global Financial News

Spot gold and oil prices are range bound and holding steady. Seeking Alpha headlines are starting to turn slightly positive concerning United States and European economic growth. If this is indeed the case, then the Federal Reserve may have cover for an interest rate hike in December.

U.S. economic growth likely accelerated in the third quarter amid a rebound in inventory investment and a surge in exports. If that's the case, the market could see another spike in bond yields as traders cement expectations for a Fed rate hike in December. The report, which will be published at 8:30 a.m ET, could also be the first in eight quarters where growth topped 2.6

More data from the eurozone: French growth rebounded in Q3, after contracting in the previous period, as part of a start-stop expansion that leaves Europe's second-largest economy lagging its neighbors. GDP in France expanded by 0.2%, compared to Spain, which grew 0.7% during the period. How about inflation? The French preliminary CPI figure for October came in at 0.0% M/M, flaming the fire for critics of the ECB's stimulus program.

Featured Coins of the Day

Given the Colorado Collection price reductions on consigned Walking Liberty halves, the 1929-S PCGS MS63 sold on Thursday. More attractively priced Walkers remain in GFRC inventory and time to showcase these pieces for potential sale.

  

  

  

So concludes another edition of the Daily Blog. Time for a shower and hotel buffet breakfast before W. David Perkins arrives for pickup. Thank you for checking in and staying abreast of GFRC adventures. The Baltimore show arrives next week immediately followed by the Shanghai Yunzhou show. It will be a busy time period. Have a great Friday.

 

 

October 27, 2016

Denver Coin Expo - Show Report Day 1

Welcome to the Blog on an early Thursday morning in Denver. It is 5:00am and composing the Blog without a strong cup of black coffee is rather difficult. We'll give it our best shot.

A slow Denver setup day allowed David Perkins and I to enjoy each other's company for a change. Usually, we are operating at different ends of our Baltimore, FUN and Central States booths and busy meeting with respective customers. Denver dealer to dealer wholesale traffic was quiet which allowed ample time for chatting on a host of topics. Wholesale traffic at Table 210-212 was limited to one New England area wholesaler who stopped by with lots of fresh material. I did manage to purchase a few items and those are already posted on the 30 Day New Purchase price list without images. Purchase highlights include a wonderful 1839 Drapery PCGS AU53 CAC Seated half that is so choice along with several dual sided toner Morgans that are CAC approved. There is also a new 1862-S PCGS EF45 Seated half that was purchased at a reasonable price and I'm offering at an inexpensive asking price.

In speaking with other dealers, the consensus is that the current numismatic market is quite slow but no one could offer an explanation or theories. Is the negative presidential election weighing on people's confidence? Price modifications to the CDN Greysheet by new ownership is causing some issues and confusion according to several dealers who do substantial wholesale. For early type some "wholesale" prices have jumped to current retail levels.

For some reason, the Denver Coin Expo management team scheduled the LSCC education session for Thursday at 1:00pm in the printed dealer directory while we had agreed that it would be held on Friday at 1:00pm. As a result, I will be giving a presentation on Liberty Seated Halves on both Thursday and Friday at 1:00pm. This presentation is a condensed version of the Liberty Seated Half dollar module from the ANA Summer Seminar.

The balance of the day was all about building relationships and enjoying the company of good friends. David and I went back to my hotel for a beer and while sitting in the bar, one of ANA Summer Seminar students walks in. I knew this individual planned to attend the Denver show but the coincidence of his arriving into the bar with ours was timely. We chatted until I had to run out to dinner with the Colorado Collection consignor who was waiting curb side.

Dinner with the Colorado consignor was relaxed as we watched the Chicago Cubs take it to the Cleveland Indians in game two of the World Series. Of course, we chatted about coins among many topics. Towards the end of the evening, the conversation turned to the 1839 Pie Shattered Obverse dime that is sitting in a Denver Coin Expo case on sale. My dinner host would love to own this coin but the asking price is a bit beyond his budget. Since he is still quite young and in tuned with how Millennials tend to rent rather than own items in today's modern society, he jokingly mentioned that I should rent out the 1839 Piece Shattered obverse on a monthly basis so that many individual could say they "owned" this rarity if only for a short period of time. We laughed at the idea initially but was there sheer brilliance here?

Global Financial News

Spot gold and oil are flat against Wednesday's opening numbers. Seeking Alpha headlines have a few noteworthy items including a follow-up to China's published GDP numbers and a significant consolidation in the semiconductor industry. One of the parties (NXP) was my client while working at CSMC Technology in Wuxi. This consolidation will position Qualcomm as a major player in the global automotive electronics market.

Remarkably steady growth rates for three straight quarters in China had some economists suspicious, but the country's state media agency said Beijing is not "data smoothing" its GDP numbers. "The reality is that the government simply has no incentive or necessity to whitewash the real economic picture," according to Xinhua. Separately, China's industrial profit growth slowed in September as several sectors showed weak activity.

Qualcomm has agreed to buy NXP Semiconductors in a deal that values the chip maker at $110 a share, or $47B, including debt, as it seeks to expand the reach of its chips from phones to cars. "The combined company is expected to have annual revenues of more than $30B, serviceable addressable markets of $138B in 2020 and leadership positions across mobile, automotive, IoT, security, RF and networking," Qualcomm said in a statement.

Featured Coins of the Day

GFRC has a substantial inventory of attractive dual sided toner Morgan dollars and added four more pieces yesterday. Many are CAC approved. So let's feature several highlights in today's Featured Coins section.

  

  

  

  

That is a wrap for today's Blog. Time has come to jump into the shower, then a quick breakfast and David Perkins pickup at 7:45am. The Denver bourse opens to early birds at 8:00am and cases must be unstacked and prepared for the day's business.

Please do consider an online GFRC purchase regardless if I'm operating at the Denver show today. Thank you for your ongoing support and checking in on the Daily Blog. I'm be back tomorrow with another Denver Coin Show report.

 

 

October 26, 2016

Greeting from Denver and thank you for stopping by the Daily Blog.

Tuesday's travels were relaxing and uneventful as I've almost forgotten how to enjoy a slow paced day when so consumed with business and life. Southwest Airlines secures five stars for service, comfort and on time performance. The minimal Early Bird boarding fee landed me in the exit row on both flights with an empty middle seat on the longer Baltimore to Denver flight. The day wrapped up with a quiet dinner, a few innings of the first World Series game and early bed time. Batteries are recharged this morning and ready for Denver setup day and wholesale trading.

Congratulations go out to Dale Miller on Cleveland's first game victory. Corey Kluber was masterful on the mound and Cubs could never bring the offense around.

GFRC Consignment News

Folks, it is not too early to start thinking about major consignments for the Winter FUN show. Winter FUN takes place in Fort Lauderdale on January 5-8. The dynamic duo of Gerry Fortin Rare Coins and W. David Perkins, Numismatist will have combination corner/regular table with 12 cases of quality coins spanning early silver type, Capped Bust, Liberty Seated, United States Gold, World coins and growing 20th Century inventory.

Before leaving for Denver, a GFRC consignor called to discuss a major course correction in his collecting objectives. As a result of that collecting goal change, a substantial lot of top quality CAC approved silver type coins will be may available and offered first at the Winter FUN show. GFRC has worked with this individual in building a small portion of this long term collection. Enough said as GFRC will take transfer in November and start the marketing preparations after the Shanghai show.

The Osprey consignor heads to Europe shortly and will be once again searching out quality United States gold with Winter FUN also being the targeted sales event.

GFRC's market presence and business model is now recognized as an alternative sales channel for advanced collections. If you've been considering a collecting goal course change or wish to divest a major collection, then please contact me at your earliest convenience on potential options. I thoroughly enjoy working with advanced collectors since being one myself and divesting my own Liberty Seated dime collection through GFRC.

Global Financial News

Spot gold sits at $1272/oz while oil has dipped below the psychological level of $50/bbl. It is corporate earnings reporting season with initial results being tipid. There are several Seeking Alpha headlines worth reading this morning. We start with ECB President Mario Draghi admitting that ZIRP and NIRP programs could be causing market distortions if in place too long. This is a refreshing statement but how do global central bankers undo these programs and return to historical interest rates? There appears to be no answer to this question.

In a speech at a think-tank event in Berlin, ECB President Mario Draghi defended his of policy of ultra-low rates, but voiced concern about "distortions that can result" if they are "in place for too long." He also declared victory in the bank's fight against deflation, saying the ECB had "succeeded" in removing the threat of a vicious spiral of falling prices and ever weaker demand.

The People's Bank of China is extending regulatory control over banks for off balance sheet activities. One must understand that the Chinese people make a national sport of circumventing central government taxation and house market control regulations.

The People's Bank of China is making changes to its so-called Macro Prudential Assessment risk-tool to broaden its regulatory oversight to include wealth management products often sold by banks and not counted on their balance sheets. The move marks another step in the PBOC's efforts to control rising leverage in the nation's financial system and underscores worries that unsustainable credit could dent an already slowing economy.

This headline is worrisome as Generation X and Millennials have no memories of World War II and the Cold War.

NATO will press allies today to contribute to its biggest military build-up on Russia's borders since the Cold War, as the U.S. looks for binding commitments from Europe to fill future deployments.The battle groups have taken on greater symbolism since Russia pulled out of several nuclear disarmament agreements in the past two months, moved nuclear-capable missiles into its Baltic exclave and strengthened its military presence in Turkey.

And finally, the U.S. is admitting that stopping North Korea's nuclear program is a lost cause. The reality is that China does not wish to see a unified Korea that is pro western on its border and will tolerate the regime. The ongoing political answer from the White House that China needs to do more to reign in North Korea is hollow and defensive.

The U.S. policy of trying to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons "is probably a lost cause" and the best hope is to cap its capability, according to U.S. National Intelligence director James Clapper. In September, the country carried out its fifth and largest nuclear test, and has conducted two atomic explosions and more than 20 ballistic missile tests this year.

Featured Coins of the Day

When packing inventory for the Denver Coin Expo, many wonderful offerings were reviewed including a growing number of Mint State Liberty Seated halves. GFRC has built a reputation for stocking quality EF/AU examples and is now expanding into the Mint State market. Following are several offerings that would like to find a new home in a superior collection.

  

  

  

As always, thank you for making the Daily Blog a part of your online readings. I will be back tomorrow morning with a Denver Coin Expo show report. Have a great day!

 

 

October 25, 2016

Tuesday is Denver travel day so there is no "official" Daily Blog today. Rather I'm writing a few comments before shutting down the laptop and packing it for transport to Denver.

Monday was a flat out busy day with one huge accomplishment. We found a family to take in my mother's dog, Fluffy. Since Lucille's passing and Roger's placement into Woodlawn assisted living, the poor dog has been staying in the house alone with walks and food twice a day. Luckily, an inquiry to a local shelter resulted in good fortune for Fluffly. He was officially signed over to a new home this afternoon.

GFRC Consignment News

Maine weather was quite unsettled throughout Monday but there was about 1 hour of clear skies at noon time. Again a day with good fortune. I was able to photograph the Fort Lauderdale consignment along with GRFC new purchase. All coins on price lists now have images. Complete descriptions will be written on Tuesday evening after arriving to Denver hotel. Following is a lovely Fort Lauderdale Collection Client Gallery. Please pay special attention to the 1858-O PCGS AU55 Seated half and 1885-S PCGS MS64 Morgan. Both coins are likely candidates for CAC approval.

Fort Lauderdale Collection Consignment - October 25, 2016

    

    

    

Please look for the October 26 Daily Blog edition from Denver, Colorado. Have a great day!

 

October 23, 2016

Welcome to the Daily Blog during the last week in October with Halloween just days away.

Southern Maine foilage is winding down with strong Sunday winds stripping many trees of their leaves. Even the mighty oaks, that will hold leaves until December, were impacted by the brisk winds. The Fortin homestead has that late October seasonal appearance as the front yard is buried in leaves. I don't anticpated blowing leaves until middle of November however due to upcoming coin show schedule and workload.

The woodstove is officially operating for the season. Burning wood takes preparations and effort, but the continuous heat from a warm stove is unmatched as compared to baseboard hot water or forced air from oil or propane. The woodstove is also a life saver during extended electrical power outages. Below is our Vermont Casting's Resolute stove circa 1985. This little stove will heat the entire Fortin homestead even during sub zero days. This image was taken at 7:30am and note the bright sunshine hitting the brick thermal mass and adding more warming energy.

LSCC News

I'm please to announce that John Albanese will be offering CAC funded one year LSCC memberships for CAC Collector members who are not already LSCC members. Promoting the numismatic hobby and ensuring that collectors are well educated are several of John Albanese's many priorities. This offer is consistent with his operating philosophy and I do hope that many individuals in the CAC network will take advantage of a trial LSCC membership. LSCC offerings have expanded significantly including our flagship all color Gobrecht Journal, the monthly E-Gobrecht and numerous national club meetings and educational sessions. In the soon to be publish November Gobrecht Journal, I will be announcing preparations for an LSCC convention (SeatedFest II) to be held at the Whitman Baltimore show during March 2018.

GFRC News

The long anticipated Denver Coin Expo arrives this week followed by Whitman Baltimore and Shanghai Yunzhou shows during consecutive weeks. It will be an exciting three weeks away from the Maine GFRC office as coin shows provide an opportunity to reconnect with old friends throughout the world. Business wise, GFRC inventory is in excellent shape and I'm hoping for decent sales along with new purchases.

As a reminder, following is the National Western Complex bourse floor layout in Denver. Dealer setup starts 12:00 noon on Wednesday with the balance of the day being dealer wholesale. Thursday and Friday bring retail business along with an LSCC meeting and educational presentation on Friday at 1:00pm. The show continues on Saturday with GFRC returning home that day. Show reports will be published in the Daily Blog.

Denver Coin Expo - GFRC at Tables 210 - 212

Monday priorities are photography along with preparing GFRC inventory for tomorrow's flight. Orders have slowed in the past week and hope to see a recovery during the week regardless of Denver show. Orders arriving via email and phone will be shipped on Monday, October 31.

Westford Coin Show Report

Westford had the typical dealers and was not a great buying event. Locating coins to service Shanghai show pre-orders was a priority along with searching out quality early type. Within the first 30 minutes, an 1859-S PCGS VG10 CAC Seated quarter was found followed by lots of circling of the bourse hoping I had missed some great coins during the initial walk through.....wrong. By the way, the 1859-S is already sold and will not reach the price list.

The last hour was spent getting to know John Agre of Coins Rarities Online. Though our business models are different, our eyes for top quality coins run in parallel. I thoroughly enjoyed the conservation.

The Massachusetts Collection consignor arrivat at 11:30am to retrieve a purchase for his advanced Liberty Seated dime date/minmark set. He dropped off 1864-S VF20 and 1866-S VF30 raw duplicate dimes as another consignment. These are already on the price list with images arriving this afternoon.

GFRC Consignment News

All new consignments are posted and the queue is empty. Actually, this is a good thing with GFRC focus shifting to major coin shows during the next three week. For those wishing to consign coins, let's communicate by phone or email and set the transfer stage during the second week in November. The Winter FUN show arrives quickly and more consignments will be needed to maintain healthy inventory levels. GFRC will be busy with FUN show preparations after an early migration to Venice, Florida during mid December.

Featured Coins of the Day

Let's conclude today's Daily Blog with another visit to Bust half dollar price list. GFRC has a broad range of quality Capped Bust halves for casual through advanced collectors. Following are several of my favorite pieces during the 1807 through 1824 timeframe.

  

  

  

Thank you for stopping by at the Daily Blog. Tuesday morning brings early transport to the airport with no time to publish a Daily Blog edition. I shall be back on Wednesday morning from Denver with more ramblings. Wishing everyone a great week and please do consider a GFRC coin purchase.

 

 

October 22, 2016

A quiet Saturday morning arrives and time to write another edition of the Daily Blog.

Friday was consumed with a personal matter that I am now free to share. My sister, Terry, her husband, Paul along with Diane and myself moved my father, Roger, into assisted living at a wonderful new facility for those suffering with Alzheimer. Roger is a gentle man who left school at 16 to work in the textile mills and spent his entire life closing down the various mills in Lewiston. Roger has difficulty remembering events during the past 24 hours while being able to recount his life at Continental and Bates mills along with his days serving in Korea. Our father worked long laborious hours to ensure a decent life for his family. This incredible man would walk long distances to work or take the bus, if they were available, and finally purchased the first family car when I turned 17.

The newly built Woodlawns facility is marvelous with Roger's room overlooking a beautiful walking garden with gazebo. Staff is caring and supportive. Diane and I spent Friday afternoon with Roger as he attempted to deal with the emotions of leaving his home of 58 years. Then a miracle happened. It was dinner time and the staff wished to introduced Roger to a French Canadian couple living at the facility. Roger sat at the dinner table and met his teenage years hunting buddy, Mark, and Mark's lovely wife. It was a reunion made in heaven. We immediately saw Roger's emotions changing and feeling safe and comfortable. At that point, Diane and I left the facility. Terry returned after dinner and found the three of them chatting in French and "having a party" in Roger's room. It was a miracle indeed......

And so ends today's Daily Blog.

A short closing note....I will be attending the Westford, MA coin show on Sunday morning but will not be setting up. There is a host of shipping, consignment check writing and new consignment pricing tasks that require priority attention today. Therefore, there will not be a Daily Blog on Sunday morning.

 

 

October 21, 2016

Greeting on a Friday morning. Unfortunately today's Daily Blog edition will be brief due to a personal issue that arose yesterday and requires early morning attention.

On a positive note, I'm pleased to report that Liberty Seated dime recommended pricing is loaded in the Whitman Red Book price list database. There were many price increases including the Civil War Philadelphia and San Francisco dates. If the price list finalizer (Jeff Garrett) accepts the recommendations, then a group of problematic Redbook vs. marketplace pricing gaps will have been resolved. Next up are the Liberty Seated quarters for input.

GFRC Consignment News

I'm always excited when am email arrives from the Washington State consignor due to the above average quality of his submissions. This week's consignment features many choice pieces to consider. Most are freshly graded at PCGS with no CAC attempt. I believe several of the Washington State piece will be easy CAC approvals.

The offering starts with a beautifully toned 1867 two cent piece graded PCGS MS64BN. The 1838 F-101a Sm Stars is a superb example and grade PCGS MS61. I'm also excited about the 1855WA PCGS MS62 offering as this date is quite underrated in mint state. The 1853 A&R half is perfect at the assigned EF45 grade while the beautifully toned 1869 half resides in NGC MS64 holder. We wrap up with two gold $2.5 pieces. The 1836 Classic Head has a high 6 date punch, is raw with some very faint hairlines but has excellent overall color. We close with a lustrous 1861 Civil War $2.5 graded PCGS AU58.

Washington State Consignment - October 21, 2016

    

    

In other consignment news, the Fort Lauderdale consignment has arrived and will be processing later today. Clouds and rain will dominate southern Maine weather through Sunday therefore there will be no photography until Monday.

So ends today's GFRC news and ramblings. Saturday's Blog should be back to normal. Thank you for visiting.

 

 

October 20, 2016

Greetings as roadside trash pick up day arrives along with another day in the GFRC office. Thank you for checking in.

Southern Maine weather has been quite amazing as the latter part of October arrives. Wednesday brought a high temperature of 77 degrees at the Fortin homestead enabling a daily health walk that was a joy among the colorful foliage and failing leaves. Today will cool down a bit but still warm and sunny with pending rain on Friday. Summer attire and open windows are in order as the house is quite toasty from solar heating.

I'm sure that readers are familiar with the term "comfort foods". These are foods that provide positively feelings and/or to relieve negative psychological effects. When conducting management rotations in Penang, Malaysia during the early 1990s, I quickly learned that a basic hambuger and fries were a comfort food as my body endured Malaysian and Indian cuisine for weeks at a time. Nasi lemak was the national dish along with spicy soups (laksa, fish head curry) and assorted mystery meats comprised local island diet. If one was adventurous, then taking in a banana leaf lunch was in order. Surviving those Malaysia trips without severe food poisioning was a blessing. There was only one McDonalds on the island (in Georgetown) and a weekend trip to Batu Ferringhi (holiday oasis on northern shores) meant a stop at that McDonalds. That meal was comfort food.

After working typical 12-14 hour days in the GFRC office, the basement soundroom is a place to relax and forget numismatics. Last evening was one of those sessions and I've realized that comfort music also exists to soothe the tired brain and spirit. There are certain CDs that are played repeatedly without becoming bored. The realization set in that certain music is not for critical listening but rather for comfort like those visits to the lone McDonalds on the island of Penang. In particular, Aimee Mann's I'm With Stupid has been in the CD player this week. Aimee Mann was the heart and soul of Til Tuesday before moving to a solo career. West Coast readers may not be familiar with this artist but she is well known in the New England and mid Atlantic states area.

Comfort Music - Aimee Mann - I'm With Stupid

GFRC Consignment News

The Woodlands Collection consignment arrived on schedule and was immediately photographed. Below are three Liberty Seated dimes for consideration. The 1838-O F-102 PCGS VF35 CAC is perfectly original gray while the 1853-O PCGS AU58 CAC has to be the best struck F-101 example seen other than the Eliasberg PCGS MS63 in my date/mintmark set. The lot closes out with a choice original 1876-CC F-111 Misplaced Dates graded PCGS AU55 CAC. These are no question top quality offerings that should not last long on the price list.

Woodlands Collection Consignment - October 20, 2016

    

An unannoucement consignment also arrived from the Washington State consignor. It had been awhile since receiving coins from this individual with the consigned coins being worth the wait. Following are new offerings from the Washington State Collection;

Copper 2c: 1867 PCGS MS64BN choice original surfaces and eye appeal

Seated 10c: 1838 F-101a Sm Stars PCGS MS61 superb for grade; 1855 PCGS MS62 very choice

Seated 50c: 1853 A&R PCGS EF45 choice original light gray; 1869 NGC MS64 radiant luster and coloring

Gold $2.5: 1836 Classic Head AU50 old light clean; 1861 PCGS AU58 New Reverse Hub

GFRC New Purchases

New purchases remain important for augmenting the consignment business and ensuring broad inventories in popular series. Below are several new purchases for consideration. These three pieces were posted to price list on Wednesday. The 1842 Med Date PCGS AU58 half is already on hold and shipping today.

GFRC New Purchases - October 20, 2016

    

Featured Coins of the Day

We wrap up today's Daily Blog with a visit to the Draped Bust portion of the Bust half dollar price list. Following are 1806 dated offerings that provide consistent originality and plenty of eye appeal.

  

  

So ends another Daily Blog edition and now time to move into the packing and shipping department. There is lots of "to do items" on my plate today including the 2018 Red Book pricing submission. There are simply not enough hours in a standard day to accomplish all that is desired.

Have a great Thursday!

 

 

October 19, 2016

Welcome to yet another edition of the Daily Blog and more numismatic ramblings. Thank you for stopping in.

The third presidential election debate arrives this evening as the general election season approaches a climax. Negativity abounds for Maine's 2nd District congressional race along with New Hampshire's Ayotte's Senate re-election bid. Luckily, Maine is not a presidential battleground state and is being spared the onslaught of negative television ads that Pennsylvania and Florida citizens must endure. How do parents explain democracy to young children when evening television is filled with negative advertising?

LSCC News

An ANA Summer Seminar feedback package arrived yesterday with evaluation results for "Developing a Passion for Liberty Seated Coinage." As expected the course received top marks from attendees and the ANA wishes the LSCC to provide a repeat session during 2017. John Frost is working with Susan McMillian towards planning the upcoming session. We are suggesting class size be increased to 18 students with a U shaped classroom to simplify the movement of coins. The LSCC will target the Summer Seminar's first session that begins on June 18. Once again, Len Augsburger, John Frost and myself will be the 2017 instructors.

GFRC News

From the GFRC mailbag....CAC is raising rates effective December 1. High value coins ($10,000 and above) are now $27 while regular coins are priced at $13.50. CAC has also defined a Walk-Through Tier at $30 and $15 respectively. Walk through service will require an appointment.

Unfortunately, GFRC must add more language to its Consignment Policy. I discovered that a GFRC consignor is listing his coins on eBay in parallel with GFRC consignment and is using GFRC images in the eBay listing. This situation was a surprise but there is always a first time for everything. The Consignment Policy changes will be as follows;

- A definition of GFRC image copyright and allowed usage of images. Forcing GFRC to add a watermark to images will add more processing time and costs that must be passed on as higher commission rates. Adding watermarks is a step that I wish to avoid. GFRC customers can download images as part of the purchase process. However, consignors are not allowed to use GFRC images to market coins in alternative market places.

- Consignors agree that GFRC will have the exclusive right to market and sell consigned coins during the timeframe when consigned to GFRC. A disincentive will be developed for those who might consider violating this agreement including the elimination of their Client Galleries.

GFRC Consignor News

Another consignment shipped yesterday and will arrive shortly. This individual provided an initial test consignment was only several coins. GFRC was able to sell two of the three pieces, therefore the relationship is being expanded. Following are the contents of the Fort Lauderdale Collection that include five Barber coinage pieces.

Seated 10c: 1872 F-105 DDR PCGS VG10

Barber 25c: 1894-O PCGS EF45; 1907 PCGS AU55; 1908-D PCGS AU55; 1909-D PCGS MS64

Seated 50c: 1841-O WB-2 Baseball Die Crack lightly cleaned AU; 1858-O PCGS AU55

Barber 50c: 1899-S PCGS VF35

Morgan $1: 1885-S PCGS MS64 nice toning.

The new Woodlands Collection consignment should be arriving today and, given the ongoing great Maine weather, will be photographed and online by this evening.

Finally, more consignor checks will be issue today to keep up with recent sales volumes. The Trading Desk business model is being well received in the marketplace and a steady flow of new consignments is paramount.

Global Financial News

Spot gold is perking up a bit and being quoted at $1271 overnight. Seeking Alpha's key morning headline concerns China and reported GDP growth of 6.7%. No one should view this number with much credence as the economy is state controlled. Beijing could publish any number they wish and round up a supporting cast of economic professionals for justification. Please note that China's continued economic growth is fuel by debt and credit and is dependent on hot property markets. Being fair...the United States economy is also fueled by debt and ZIRP in many cases.

China's GDP growth remained at 6.7% on year in Q3, as expected, boosted by yet more government spending, record bank lending and an over-heating property market, all of which are adding to the massive debt in the country. "Economic activity seems to be holding up reasonably well," said economist Julian Evans-Pritchard. "Nonetheless, the recent recovery is ultimately on borrowed time given that it has been driven in large part by faster credit growth and a property market boom, both of which policy makers are now working to rein in."

Featured Coins of the Day

I'm pleased to report that there is value with the Featured Coins section of the Daily Blog. The 1875-S IW F-101a PCGS MS64 Top 100 Seated Dime featured in Tuesday's Blog was sold to a client.

This morning, let's visit the United States Gold price list and feature some attractive mint state Type 3 $1 gold pieces. Though small in size, I find this design to be most attractive due to the cameo effect between fields and the central device.

  

  

So concludes another Daily Blog edition. I'm passing on the last presidential debate as my time is better spent preparing Client Galleries for tomorrow's Blog. Have a great Wednesday.

 

 

October 18, 2016

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog.

October is turning out to be uncharacteristicly warm in southern Maine. Monday felt like late August with bright sunshine and temperatures reaching the mid 70s. Typical October weather would require the woodstove to operate but instead the house was over heating due to low sun angle and solar energy. Windows were open throughout the day. These temperatures will be around through Wednesday. The combination of peak foliage and summer like temperatures has everyone in a pleasant mood!

Congratulations go out to Dale Miller as the Cleveland Indians are just one win away from the World Series!

Featured Article: The Economist -The Business of Outrage

We've discussed the news media frequently in the Daily Blog and not in a postive manner with respect to the presidential election. Creating controversies or raising fear to attract audiences is now commonplace. A typical example is NBC News' weather reporting on major storms traversing the United States. They make a point of determining the population within the potentially affected region and continually indicate that "X million people could be impacted."

A GFRC close friend sent along an Economist article entitled The Business of Outrage in PDF format. If interested, please click on the title link to download. The Economist is a British weekly publication and typically stays neutral on political matters. The article postulates that some Americans are getting rich by pushing American politics to extremes by leveraging fear and outrage. The article opens with the following....

ONE of the gentler quips uttered by the writer and thinker H.L. Mencken was that nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public. By the same token, nobody ever went broke overestimating the anger of the American people. The country is in an unusually flammable mood. This being America, there are plenty of businesspeople round to monetise the fury—to foment it, manipulate it and spin it into profits. These are the entrepreneurs of outrage and barons of bigotry who have paved the way for Donald Trump’s rise.

GFRC Consignment News

A consignment arrived on Monday from new GFRC consignor who wishes to be known as the Crystal River Collection. Like many other collectors who discovered the Trading Desk business model, this individual decided to refocus collecting objectives and is offering pieces that are no longer mainstream to new goals. Following is the first Crystal River Client Galley with some cool offerings that one does not typically see at GFRC. The 1909 VBD Lincoln is graded PCGS MS65RB and screams originality along with being a Cherrypicker's DDO variety. The 1935-S Buffalo is a DDR variety with number FS-801. Then there is a lovely run of 2 cent pieces all graded MS64RB or MS65RB. This new offering should reach the price list by end of day.

Crystal River Collection Consignment - October 18, 2016

    

    

Several more Liberty Seated dimes from the Gerry Fortin die variety reference collection reach the price list yesterday. These are all web-book plate coins and have been in the family since the 1990s. Please don't ask how I'm deciding to release certain pieces as the process is more emotional than logical.

Gerry Fortin Collection Consignment - October 17, 2016

    

Global Financial News

Spot gold and oil prices have moved up during the overnight. Gold is presently quoted at $1263 while oil has climbed to over $54/bbl.

Is inflation starting to perk up? We recognize that there is ongoing inflation in food prices, medical costs and college tuitions but little of this has reach the government's offical CPI calculations that drive social security cost of living increases. A change may be at hand based on this morning's Seeking Alpha headlines. The inflation increases are tiny when compared to historical norms but still worth noting. Central bankers need a strong bout of inflation to monetize the ever growing global debt.

Global equities were higher at the time of writing as a weakening dollar helped strengthen oil prices, thereby boosting global sentiment, and ahead of U.S. CPI data this morning. Inflation is expected to have risen to 1.5% on year in September from 1.1% in August. The figures will come after Fed Vice-Chair Stanley Fischer said yesterday that the central bank is "very close" to its targets of full U.S. employment and 2% inflation. Fischer also expressed concerns about low interest rates.

U.K. CPI reached its highest level in almost two years in September, rising to +1% on year from +0.6% in August and topping consensus of 0.9%. The U.K.'s Office of National Statistics says it hasn't seen explicit evidence that the pound's weakness has been affecting CPI, although it has had an impact on producer prices. "Even though 1% is still some way off the Bank of England's 2% inflation target, the impact of currency changes works with a lag so further rises in CPI should be expected," said Fidelity investment director Tom Stevenson. The pound was +0.4% at $1.2238 at the time of writing.

Featured Coins of the Day

Someone recently asked how I go about picking featured coins for each edition of the Daily Blog. The response was that of momentary inspiration. After spending an hour or more each day composing Blog content, arriving to the Feature Coins section becomes a mindless exercise. There are always so many great coins in GFRC inventory to discuss. This morning, we visit the Liberty Seated Dime Top 100 Varieties price list for some Gerry Fortin set offerings that remain unsold. These pieces will be on display at the Denver and Baltimore shows. Offers will be entertained as these amazing dimes are indeed for sale.......

  

  

  

As always, thank you for visiting the GFRC website and another Daily Blog edition. Can you believe that I've been continually writing the Daily Blog for nearly 2.5 years? There are some benefits..... writing skills have improved and I've developed the ability to quickly read and monitor a host of newsletters for staying abreast of global and economic developments.

I'll be back tomorrow with more ramblings.

 

 

October 17, 2016

Welcome to the Blog on another Monday morning.

Daylight hours are decreasing quickly with Daylight Saving time ending late on November 6. Southern Maine weather and sunshine will be once again be superb as October temperatures remain well above average. This situation is ideal for GFRC photography and turning consignments quickly.

This is the last quiet week before GFRC returns to the road and attends Denver, Baltimore and Shanghai coin shows during three consecutive weeks. I'm looking forward to spending time with good friends W. David Perkins and Harry Zhang along with meeting the growing number of GFRC customers and consignors.

On my must do list for the coming week is 2018 Red Book pricing inputs and exploring Matt's new Open Registry software module coupled with the usual consignment insourcing.

GFRC Consignment News

As mentioned in yesterday's Blog, divestment of the Gerry Fortin Liberty Seated Dime reference collection is a substantial project. Many of the Top 100 Varieties are sold and now brings the individual plate coins in The Definitive Resource for Liberty Seated Dime Variety Collectors (simply referred to as the Web-Book). The passing of Lucille and my sister placing our father, Roger, into assisted living, leaves me with financial power of attorney and the need to assemble and manage their scattered finances. This responsibility is a reminder that dispositioning the Liberty Seated dime reference collection is my responsibility and should be conducted in a periodic manner. The collection took 20 years to build therefore it is time to get started as 10 years may be required to sell all but the PCGS Set Registry date and mintmark set. On a positive note, GFRC will not lack nice Liberty Seated dime on the price lists.

Below is a tiny fraction of what will be released over time. There will be gems along with problem coins since building a die variety reference set is different than assembling a high grade advanced collection. One buys die varieties when they appear since rarity is not immediately known. Much upgrading took place while many pieces remain just as purchased in the 1990s. Below are three such pieces, all purchased during the 1990s and now seeking new homes.

Gerry Fortin Collection Consignment - October 17, 2016

    

More consignments will be arriving this week. Arrival and posting schedule will be discussed in Tuesday's Blog.

GFRC New Purchases

With a lull in consignment receipts, there was time to complete the processing of a recently purchase $5 modern commemorative gold deal. Below are six more pieces that reached the price list on Sunday.

GFRC New Purchases - October 17, 2016

    

    

Global Financial News

Let's cover two important topics in the Blog's Global Financial segment. The first is spot gold's technical trendchart and secondly, is a thought provocating post on Seeking Alpha's Wall Street Breakfast concerning the peak of globalization.

Spot gold sits at $1253/oz and mostly unchanged since its dramatic take down. The takedown left the gold trend resting on its 200 day moving average with the upward trend in a precarious position. During gold's last bull run during 2008 - 2011 timeframe, there were several occasions when the price dropped down to the 200 day moving average and then recovered. The next 30 days will be important for gold bugs as prices must climb back closer to the $1300 level to technically maintain a bull market trend. Isn't is interesting that gold's takedown left it sitting right on the 200 moving average? There are major forces at play in the gold market.....

Has globalization peaked? Following is a Seeking Alpha headline worth reading as the answer may be yes given slowing global trade and the Brexit outcome. Please read this paragraph carefully as slowing global trade will be a strong headwind for stock and favorable for bonds.

"We believe globalization has probably reached its peak," says a fund manager at Barings. "The market won't like it." The team at Barings gets together once a year to discuss its 10-year investment forecast. At the next one, they expect to mull reducing or even eliminating their "globalization premium" from stock price estimates. In more concrete terms, it means directing assets at the margin towards fixed income at the expense of equities. Globalization premium? Barings figures U.S. stocks trade at a P/E ratio one full number higher than they otherwise would have, thanks to this generation's boom in global trade. At issue now is a slowing in global trade this year - the weakest since 2007 - just as protectionist policies are on the rise and efforts for further open trade treaties have stalled. A continuation of the trend, says MSCI, could lead to near-20% declines in U.S. and European stocks. “Globalization is increasingly coming under siege,” says a senior strategist with Allianz Global.

Featured Coins of the Day

Today's featured coins are Liberty Seated dollars. I believe this denomination is under appreciated by the collecting community and good values abound outside the common dates. Below are quality pieces in GFRC inventory including the 1846-O NGC AU58 example. Only 59,000 piece were struck in June 1846; the first time silver dollars were struck at the New Orleans mint. In the new Q. David Bower's book entitled, The Guidebook of Liberty Seated Silver Coinage, availability of the 1846-O is described as "In Mint State, the 1846-O is very rare; just how rare is not known with certainty".

  

  

Time for a shower and then heading into the packing and shipping department along with writing consignment checks. Thank you for stopping by at the Daily Blog. Of course, I will be back tomorrow with more GFRC News and other ramblings.

 

 

October 16, 2016

Greetings on a Sunday morning and welcome to the Blog.

Partly cloudy skies and cool temperatures will dominate Southern Maine weather during the daylight hours and therefore time to start the wood stove. The heating season has begun and burning wood will only last for two months prior to departing for Florida.

Today also brings the Nashua, NH coin show but decided to pass given the very busy week and the need to catch up with leaf blowing and pine needle raking today. Working outdoors on a cool crisp Maine day will be a change from the long hours in the GFRC office.

I'm been negligent in congratulating Dale Miller on the Cleveland Indian playoff victory over the Boston Red Sox in prior Blogs. Cleveland sweep Boston in the three game series. The Boston Red Sox will never be the same without Big Papi in the DH spot.

GFRC News

It is with great pleasure that I announce the Liberty Seated Dime 1860 - 1891 G - EF price list conversion to the COIN auto generation system. Yes, I was determined to get this long overdue task behind me and spent Saturday evening wrapping up remaining dimes to be transferred. You will note that about 15 or so of the later date raw dimes in the $30-$50 range were not ported. These listings remain in the database and will be a "get to it" item when time allows.

So the COIN database and system conversion is completed. I can't thank Matt enough for designing and constructing such a powerful numismatic business tool in a short period of time.

GFRC Consignment News

More consignments are being committed or are in the the discussion phase. The GFRC Trading Desk community requires a continuous flow of new material to maintain "trading velocity" among the members. At this time, smaller lots "duplicates" are being consigned which is an excellent first step. Hopefully during 2017, GFRC will be able to locate several significant Liberty Seated coinage collections to augment the continuing influx of smaller lots. Now that the Seated Dime price lists are fully converted to COIN, there are over a 1000 Liberty Seated dimes from my own Web-book reference collection that must be be photographed, priced and loaded to the price list.

As for new consignments arriving this week, Woodlands Collection ships a small but important Seated dime lot on Monday. Following are the contents;

Seated 10c: 1837 Sm Date PCGS EF45; 1838-O PCGS VF35 CAC; 1853-O PCGS AU58 CAC; 1876-CC F-111 MPD PCGS AU55 CAC (Top 100)

The initial consignment from the Crystal River Collection should arrive on Monday. Contents were outlined in the October 14 Blog.

I've also been offered two beautiful PCGS AU58 Seated coins for purchase and these will arrive middle of week;

Seated 10c: 1838 F-106a PCGS AU58 CAC multi color patina (Top 100)

Seated 50c: 1842 Med Date PCGS AU58 gem original toning

Finally, discussion is underway with the Upstate New York Collection for his next consignment. He's sent along images and I'm excited! Upstate New York is well known for his old album toned coins that typically don't last long on the price lists.

Featured Coins of the Day

In recognition of the 1860 - 1891 Liberty Seated dime price list conversion to COIN auto generation, let's feature a few offerings from that price list. Key and semi key date Seated coins are migrating to GFRC as the go to dealer for handling these type of coins. Below are GFRC offerings for just the 1860-O and 1862-S dates. The 1860 New Orleans date is always a challenge due to most pieces being problematic. Mintage is low at 40,000 with a poor survival rate. Many examples are discovered at Civil War battlefields by metal detector enthusiast and surface porosity being the rule. The 1862 San Francisco date has been hoarded for years along with 1861, 1865 and 1866 dates. Recently, a fair number of 1862-S examples reached the market and probably resulting from the divestment of one of more small hoards.

If interested in any of the following 1860-O or 1862-S example, please don't hesitate to contact me.

  

  

  

So concludes the Sunday October 16 edition of the Daily Blog. Thank you for stopping by and please do consider a numismatic purchase. I'm always available to discuss individual coins when considering potential purchase. Have a great day!

 

 

October 15, 2016

Welcome to the Daily Blog on a seasonal Maine weekend. Foliage is at peak color and falling leaves are starting to accumulate. At 6:30am, Raymond temperature is a crisp 35 degrees.

This has been a "feast or famine" week at the Daily Blog with respect to Client Galleries. Today brings a feast of new GFRC offerings and images that include Osprey, Alexandria and Indiana Client Galleries and GFRC new purchases. But first, let's cover some items in more detail from Friday's Blog.

GFRC News

Daily Blog vs. Mailing List New Purchase Announcements?

There were numerous responses to the Mailing List question in yesterday's blog. Everyone offered the same feedback; stick with the Daily Blog for new purchase and consignment announcements. Periodic email updates are no longer timely and essentially have been made obsolete by the Daily Blog concept. Censensus is that serious collectors have become accustomed to visiting the Daily Blog as part of their daily routine and enjoy the First Right of Refusal (FRoR) option when coins of potential interest are seen. One astute individual suggested that the Daily Blog could be sent by email similar to how Seeking Alpha issues their Wall Street Breakfast headlines via email. . This is an interesting concept but probably is not practical from a workload perspective. I've stopped updating the Chinese Daily Blog version due to lack of bandwidth.

The collective feedback indicates that GFRC should not bother with mailing lists and periodic New Purchase emails given the "community" nature of the GFRC business model. A sincere thank you goes out to everyone who took the time to respond with their advice.

Customer Managed Open Set Registry

Immediately after publishing Friday's Blog, I received an email from Matt suggesting that I clarify the near term Open Registry deliverables versus those options that will be developed and added in the upcoming months. In particular, the linkage between the Open Registry sets and the COIN database is not part of the current release. I mentioned the ability to click on a date in any Open Registry set to launch a table of available GFRC offerings as one of the new functions. Development of custom extracts against the COIN database will enable many cool new features and customer options. However, developing custom extracts is the next project after the Open Registry module is complete and fully debugged.

Sometimes I get a bit too excited about what is possible but Matt has reeled me in and asked that I clarify this morning. We had an excellent discussion about the ongoing alignment challenges between Marketing and Operations functions within most companies....

GFRC New Purchases

Following is a gallery of recent new purchases. The 1850 PCGS EF45 CAC Seated half dollar is already sold while the 1855 $1 gold piece is on FRoR. All other new offerings are currently available.

GFRC New Purchases - October 15, 2016

    

    

    

    

 

GFRC Consignment News

Friday's weather was ideal for photography. As a result, the GFRC consignment backlog has been processed and I'm pleased to present several impressive Client Galleries. The new Osprey Collection United States gold is simply awesome with the 1851 PCGS MS52 $20 double eagle warranting special attention. The new Osprey gold will be first displayed at the Denver Coin Expo. The Liberty Seated halves from the Alexandria Collection are also impressive from a color consistency perspective. The 1875-CC half is already on hold. Finally, the Indiana Collection offers several important Top 100 Liberty Seated dime varieties that should garner lots of attention. Major Top 100 varieties, at these grade levels, are infrequently offered and now is the time to consider adding to an advanced collection.

Osprey Collection Consignment - October 15, 2016

    

Alexandria Collection Consignment - October 15, 2016

    

Indiana Collection Consignment - October 15, 2016

    

 

Featured Coins of the Day

There are times when consignors wish to quickly sell certain coins to raise cash for other purchases. This is the case for the Strong Hands consignor and the email received on Friday. He asked that I entertain offers for his gem original 1890-S F-116 NGC MS66 dime. So why not post in the Daily Blog as a news item and offer to the readership? This piece is presently located on the Liberty Seated Dime AU-MS price list with complete description and a $2500 asking price. I am soliciting serious offers this morning and don't be shy about take a shot at this lovely dime.

 

That is all she wrote for another early Saturday morning. Thank you for stopping by and please do have a great Autumn weekend! A GFRC purchase would also be appreciated!

 

 

October 14, 2016

Greetings and thank you for visiting the Daily Blog on a Friday morning.

There will be many topic this morning now that the focus shifts back to GFRC and numismatics.

The United States presidentail election is the ugliest that I can remember and therefore, have effectively tuned out from online and evening news. Life is too short to be subjected to gutter politics. It really is sad as America is the land of hope and opportunity. Enough said as optimism will be the rule in today's Blog.

GFRC News

Customer Managed Open Set Registry

I'm so pleased to announce that the Customer Managed Open Registry software development is completed and ready for testing. Matt issued his announcement last evening and we've invited John Okerson to start entering/editing his sets. The GFRC set registry software will enable users to independently manage their accounts and sets. Coins will be entered into the system one at a time and will be automatically placed in all available sets that contain that coin. Our challenge is updating the COIN database to include more parameters for describing varieties. For Liberty Seated dimes, the Fortin (F-10X) numbers will be employed and for Liberty Seated halves, we will use the Bill Bugert (WB-x) numbers for placing coins into sets. Seated half dimes and quarters will be more difficult given the lack of a modern reference where individual die pairings are carefully numbered. For Capped Bust series, we are in good shape with half dimes (Logan-McCloskey: LM), dimes (John Reich: JR), quarters (Browning: B) and halves (Overton: O) numbering and corresponding references.

Matt has created an entirely new Open Registry access page and we hope to make this link public by end of October. Since we are replacing an old system with a newly designed version, one of the primary challenges is migrating the old content to the new system. This will take time and customers will be encouraged to reload their sets into the new Open Set Registery once the individual set formats and background set ratings calculations are implemented.

Finally, while on this topic, I'm also pleased to announce that each Open Registry coin entry (in all defined sets) will be linked directly into the COIN database for coins currently available on the GFRC price lists. By clicking on the coin/date link, customers will be able to access a price list table of current GFRC offerings. This is so cool.....

Matt has worked diligently on this project while transitioning his family to Beijing and still supporting his Decoding Sustainability clients on environmental policy strategies and implementations. I can't thank him enough for turning another numismatic dream into a working system.

Daily Blog vs. Mailing List New Purchase Announcements?

Recently, I was approached by several individuals asking that they be added to the GFRC mailing list. I was flattered, but GFRC does not use emails and mailing lists to stay in contact with customers. Yes, this is a non traditional approach as mailing lists have been the mainstay of most numismatic dealers. Personally, I received enough emails on a daily basis and believe that sending out GFRC emails with new purchase and consignment news would be a duplication of that already published in the Daily Blog.

What are your feelings on this topic? Would GFRC customers rather receive emails instead of visiting the Daily Blog? Since the Daily Blog is updated daily, email notices (every two weeks) would contain old information with many coins already on First Right of Refusal (FRoR). Please take the time to consider and send your comments along.

GFRC Consignment News

Another consignment wave has arrived with more first time consignor discussions underway. The GFRC Trading Desk community is expanding at a quick pace as the mechanics and benefits are being understood by the numismatic community. During the past 24 hours, two more first time consignors committed to join the Trading Desk.

Following is a list of new consignments and their status;

Osprey Collection - This amazing lot of early United States gold, including a choice 1851 PCGS MS62 $20 double eagle, has arrived. All piece are freshly graded at PCGS. Prices were settled via conference call on Thursday and listings are already posted to the price lists. Images and full descriptions to be added today! Pricing for the new Osprey Gold will be firm through Denver and Baltimore shows and if unsold, these selections are heading to CAC immediately after Baltimore.

Indiana Collection - A three piece Top 100 Seated Dime Varieties lot from the Indiana Collection that will garner serious attention by advanced Seated dime collectors. Coins have arrived and pricing is settled. Photography will be done today with price list postings by end of day.

Alexandria Collection - A three piece Seated half dollar lot that is perfectly matched in terms of original gray patina. These pieces are already posted to the price list without images. Photography happens today. Please pay special attention here as I love the originality and overall quality; you will too!

Crystal River Collection - This is a new GFRC consignor employing the Trading Desk to sell unwanted coins towards funding new collecting goals. Following are the coins being shipped today.

Lincoln 1C: 1909 VDB DDO FS-1102 PCGS MS65 RB
Copper 2C: 1864 Large Motto NGC MS64 RB; 1865 PCGS MS65 RB; 1868 PCGS MS64 RB; 1869 PCGS MS63 RB
Buffalo 5c: 1935-S DDR FS-801 PCGS XF40

GFRC New Purchases

If not already busy enough, I've been quietly making new purchases including a quick visit to my favorite Maine coin shop yesterday. Following are some new GFRC owned offerings reaching the price list in the next 48 hours. There is something for all types of collectors here.

Capped Bust 25c: 1818 B-8 R3 PCGS F15 choice original gun metal gray/blue
Capped Bust 50c: 1812 O-110 EF40 choice original gun metal gray/blue; 1812 O-110 VF25 original gray; 1824 F15 original gray, 1832 EF40 original gray
Seated 50c: 1842 Med Date PCGS AU58 toned gem; 1850 NGC EF45 CAC choice original gray
Morgan $1: 1880-S MS63 and 1883 MS63+ a matched pair with antique gray patina; 1884-S EF45 choice original with claims to AU50; 1897-S AU53 original gray
Gold $1: 1855 AU50, scarce Type 2 design offering with original surfaces and residual luster
Gold $10: 1932 MS62+ so choice with strong luster

Featured Coins of the Day

Unfortunately, this has been another edition of the Daily Blog without coin images. This will change tomorrow as consignor Client Galleries are posted. In the meantime, here are a few nice Flowing Hair and Capped Bust half dimes to consider from GFRC inventory.

  

  

  

Thanks for stopping by the Daily Blog and reading through this long edition. It will be a lovely Friday in southern Maine with bright sun and lots of GFRC photography. I will be back tomorrow morning.....have a great day.

 

October 13, 2016

Welcome to the Daily Blog as we approached the middle of October....say it can't be true? Where did time and life go?

Seriously, I'm glad you found time to stop by at the Blog. This is one of those mornings where inspiration will guide the writings as my mind is devoid of prepared content.

My mother is buried and now the real work starts with placing Roger in assisted living and then dealing with the dispersal of their home and contents. Everyone has this challenge in life's "to do list" and my time has arrived.

Sincere thanks go out to every friend, consignor, customer etc. who sent along condolesences via email. GFRC business model is that of a numismatic community and the outpouring of support from the community was beyond imagination. Again, thank you so much for the support, which meant so much.

Featured Essay: Seth's Blog - Cable News

For once, I'm glad to not be alone with growing concerns that the online media has moved from simply reporting news to attempting to shape the news. Americans appear to be unhappy and polarized during this election season. We are safer than at any other time in recorded history but the news media wishes for us to believe othwerwise. Their mission is creating an audience that constantly monitoring online media postings to stay abreast of ongoing risks..... Every click on a new media website means more advertising revenue.

Seth Godin confronts this issue in his October 12 Blog. I'm shamelessly copying and posting the entire blog for all to read.

Seth Godin - Cable news

What if the fear and malaise and anger isn't merely being reported by cable news...

What if it's being caused by cable news?

What if ubiquitous video accompanied by frightening and freaked out talking heads is actually, finally, changing our culture?

Which came first, the news or the news cycle?

We seem to accept the hegemony of bottom-feeding media as some natural outgrowth of the world we live in. In fact, it's more likely an artifact of the post-spectrum cable news complex in which bleeding and leading became business goals.

There's always front page news because there's always a front page.

The world is safer (per capita) than ever before in recorded history. And people are more frightened. The rise of the media matches the rise of our fear.

Cable news isn't shy about stating their goals. The real question is: what's our goal? Every time we hook ourselves up to a device that shocks us into a fear-based posture on a regular basis, we're making a choice about the world and how we experience it.

They want urgency more than importance. What do we want?

[I wrote this months ago, and every time I'm about to post it, I hesitate because recent events make it look like I'm writing it for that reason. Finally, I realized that it's never a quiet moment in the media cycle any more, is it?]

Global Financial News

Spot gold is holding at the $1260 level after its recent takedown. Seeking Alpha headlines are mostly filler in nature and not worth sharing. There is a report on China's shrinking export trend that continues in September. (I tried to find a China export trend chart online but those located were not current for 2015-2016)

Chinese trade data for September came in well below expectations as anemic global demand dealt another blow to the world's second-largest economy. Exports tumbled 10% in dollar terms and imports fell 1.9%, resulting in a trade surplus of $42B. The data came against the backdrop of a recent decline in the yuan, which touched a six-year low against the greenback this week, and is putting pressure on global shares.

Featured Coins of the Day

GFRC is back to normal operations today. If you've been considering a purchase, then please phone, text or email me as I will be in the office most of the day.

Below are a few random cool coins for your consideration. The Daily Blog without coin images is rather dull...... This is a wrap for today's Blog. Thanks for stopping by and please do consider a numismatic purchase on one of the many GFRC price lists. Have a great day!

  

  

  

 

 

October 12, 2016

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog on a Wednesday morning.

Days are quickly growing shorter with this morning's Blog being composed while viewing a rose and orange sunrise. Trees are glowing with copper, apricot orange and tawny brown, all contrasted with the bright red burning bush that is oftened mention in the Blog. After writing hundreds of coin descriptions and attemtping to capture toning color variations in words, I've become much more sensitive to environmental colors.

This morning brings Lucille's funeral followed by restaurant reception lunch. The next major personal life project is convincing my aging father (Roger) to move to assisted living. Last evening's wake was a quiet event as few French Canadians of the Lewiston-Auburn textile mill worker generation remain alive. The solitude allowed one on one time with Roger to discuss the future. After spending 58 years in the same house, it would be difficult for any human to give up a sanctuary that provides familiarity and emotional safety.

A special call out and thank you goes to the Massachusetts Collection consignor for their flowers. My sister and I were deeply touched by T & M's generosity.

GFRC Coin Show News

The Whitman Baltimore show table assignment arrived promptly on Tuesday and pleased to announce that GFRC and W. David Perkins will be in their familiar location; Table 818 across from Heritage, near Stacks and the Whitman Publishing sales booth. The Baltimore show is less than a month away and arrives on November 3. Locating our booth is straightforward per the following map. David and I hope you will visit with us first to view a broad offerings of Draped Bust, Capped Bust, Liberty Seated and United States Gold. GFRC will also have a case full of quality World Coins for your consideration.

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

GFRC Consignment News

A small consignment from the Indiana Collection arrived on Tuesday along with another being committed by email. Quality consignments are the life blood of the GFRC business model and your ongoing support is truly appreciated.

The Indiana Collection consignment offers three important Liberty Seated Dime Top 100 Varieties as follows;

Seated 10c: 1837 PCGS AU55 F-101c original light gray with bold die clashing and obverse die cracks; 1838 PCGS AU50 F-103b choice original silve gray with bold bisecting reverse die crack; 1856 Small Date PCGS MS62 F-108 Double Die Obverse East choice original and fully struck.

The Alexandria Collection announces the following three Seated halves are in transit and should arrive on Friday. More commentary once the pieces are in hand.

Seated 50c: 1868-S PCGS XF45; 1873-S Arrows PCGS VF30; 1875-CC PCGS VF35

Global Financial News

Spot gold sits at $1257 while spot oil is quoted at $50.6/bbl. Seeking Alpha headlines provide little to discuss. After reading John Maudlin's Federal Repression System essay and internalizing the Federal Reserve interest rate forecast versus actual behavior, I've become immune to the ongoing headlines concerning the Federal Reserve interest rate topic....just more financial media content to populate their daily newsletters.

There, I believe lies the issue. The Internet age and social media have transformed the global citizenry's mindset (or at least those with internet access) towards short term gratification and problem resolution. Unfortunately, those who profess short term solutions are often false prophets. Solving complex problems takes thousands of small steps and unification towards the goal. I see the opposite (via online and social media) occuring as the vox populi becomes more fragmented. Would John F. Kennedy's challenge to America to place a man on the moon by the end of the 1960s decade be possible in today's social media age? Something to consider this morning.

Featured Coins of the Day

Liberty Seated halves continue to be popular among collectors. GFRC is currently selling more Seated halves than other denominations. So why not feature a few from inventory for your consideration. Also, if thinking about moving along some duplicates, please contact me to discuss how those pieces can be converted into cash or GFRC Trading Desk credits.

  

  

  

Thank you for stopping by on a Wednesday morning and supporting the Daily Blog and GFRC business model. I shall be back bright and early tomorrow with more ramblings. Have a great day.

 

 

October 11, 2016

Welcome to the Blog on a beautiful but cold southern Maine morning. Maine foliage colors are at peak level this week and the country side is so pretty. The burning bush, outside the GFRC office window, is a bright red as the sunrise shadows move across the leaves.

Today's Blog will be brief due to a full calendar of activities. I worked into late Monday evening, in the packing and shipping department, and caught up on all orders. These will reach the Post Office this morning since Monday was Columbus Day holiday.

GFRC Coin Show News

The Denver Coin Expo is just around the corner. GFRC will be in attendance on October 26 through October 28 and located at Tables 210 and 212. GFRC is sharing Table 212 with partner W. David Perkins, Numismatist. These two tables will feature eight cases of top quality United States Draped Bust, Capped Bust, Liberty Seated and Gold coinage. On behalf of the Liberty Seated Collectors Club educational outreach program, I will be presenting a class on Liberty Seated half dollars on Friday at 1:00pm in the auction room portion of the restaurant/break area. Please see the below floor map for location.

This will also be an opportunity to consign coins to GFRC in person rather than having to ship via USPS. With the upcoming Whitman Baltimore show in early November, GFRC will be active with consignment procurement and floor buying.

GFRC Bourse Floor Location - Denver Coin Expo

GFRC Consigment News

I'm pleased to report that all consignments have been processed and are posted to the price lists. Indeed, it has been a busy several months with GRC ready for three important coin shows in four weeks; Denver, Baltimore and Shanghai.

The Osprey United States gold consignment, mentioned in the October 8 blog, will arrived on Thursday and will be online by the weekend. I'm excited with the possibility of handling 1851 PCGS MS62 and 1852-O PCGS AU53 $20 double eagles and having in time for Denver Coin Expo display.

Otherwise, the GFRC consignment queue is EMPTY and there is still time to absorb incremental consignments if arriving by early next week.

Featured Coins of the Day

The Woodlands consignor is considering inventory rotation with respect to his gem 1859 PCGS MS67 CAC Liberty Seated half dime and 1862 PCGS MS64 CAC $3 Princess. These are indeed special offerings for a truly sophisticated collection. Woodlands would like to see both pieces placed with a collector rather than moving these into the auction process and having them appear on another dealer price list. If these two pieces are not sold after Whitman Baltimore, they will be heading back to the bank box. So now is the time to consider acquiring incredible pieces of United States history in gem condition. Offers are welcomed!

Woodlands Consignment - 1859 5c PCGS MS67 CAC

PCGS Pop 12 - Priced at $3950

 

Woodlands Consignment - 1862 $3 Gold Princess - PCGS MS64 CAC

PCGS Pop 7 - Priced at $21,500

Thank you for stopping by this morning and also for the ongoing emails concerning my mother's passing. The large number of sympathy emails was staggering and truly appreciated.

 

 

October 10, 2016

Greetings on a cool and windy Monday morning in southern Maine after soaking rains on Sunday. Residents could not be more pleased to see day long rains that finally softened soil and started the process towards replenishing our rural wells.

The out pouring of sympathy and condolescene emails for Lucille's passing was beyond amazing. A special thank you goes out to everyone who took the time to write and express their thoughts. Today brings funeral mass planning at Holy Family Church with the funeral taking place on Wednesday.

No, I did not watch the 2nd Presidential debate but quickly viewed highlights this morning. The winner in this presidential process is the media and not the American people. Respect between candidates and the moderators within the debate framework is gone as these events are now prime time brawls. The VP debate was no different. True visionary leadership is such an important attribute for a forthcoming president and world leader. Unfortunately, the 2016 election cycle lacks this type of candidate. The election will be more about who is least unfit to hold the office.....when in the corporate world, I remember attending damage control meetings where all options were distasteful but management had to move forward with an option that provided the least short term risks to buy time for sustaining the product line in the long term. In the case of American citizens, we are making a decision and must live with the outcome for four years.

Featured Article: Maudlin Economics - Federal Repression System

Daily Blog readers well understand that I am a fan of John Mauldin and read his commentaries closely.

In his latest newsletter, Mauldin has reached the point of anger and distrust for central bankers and is openly calling them out for mismanagement. The article is entitled, Federal Repression System and opens with a quote from Winston Churchill, “However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.” which elegantly makes his point with respect to the Federal Reserve's mismanagement of interest rate policies.

This article is a long read and will require a full 15 minutes to digest. But I do hope you can allocate the time as the points made by Mauldin are thought provocating. He opens the article with a mention of negative interest rate policies and the negative impacts to bank balance sheets. Then he let's out.....

I must confess, the more I think about where the “monetary policy community” of academic elites has brought us, the angrier I get. It has been a long time since I have been this passionately upset about something. And not merely because the policies are stupid. If I got passionately upset about every stupid idea I come into contact with, I would soon require serious blood pressure medication. Having been intimately involved in the political process for almost 25 years in a prior life, I daily came into contact with stupid ideas and thought myself somewhat immune.

No, what the Fed has done is to destroy the retirement hopes and dreams of multiple tens of millions of my fellow US Boomers, and when we include the effects of the destructive policies of the rest of the world’s central banks, the number becomes hundreds of millions. The secure and protected world our central bankers live in is far removed from that of the American or European middle class retiree. The purity of their theory and the clarity of their economic thought is evidently far more important to them than people’s wellbeing is.

However, numerous thoughtful scholars and those in the business community are mounting a serious pushback. They may be considering the wisdom of Winston Churchill’s remark, “However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.”

Central bankers of the world look around them and see nothing but confirmation of their brilliance. Mostly they see it reflected from the stock markets, but some of us are beginning to think they are going blind.

Maudlin provides the following Federal Reserve report card in a section entitled, "How Do You Mess Up the Easiest Prediction in the World?" Please take a look at the following chart to see that the ongoing interest rate increase drama, by the Federal Reserve and financial media, is so disconnected from reality. When running marketing and sales at CSMC, if I had produced these ongoing forecasts with corresponding results, my employment would have been immediately terminated as would any other executive. But the Federal Reserve is different as Congress can wash their hands of managing the economy and leaves the issue to the Federal Reserve as the ongoing scapegoat.

Enough said on this topic and again, I encourage the reading of this Mauldin article.

GFRC News

I spent Sunday evening packing shipment and issued USPS tracking emails (to recipients) that the packages would ship on Monday. However, I just realized that today is Columbus Day and USPS is closed due to government holiday. Therefore shipments will be brought to the post office on Tuesday morning.

Today's goal is completing descriptions for the Tenafly Collection offerings and returning to the Liberty Seated Dime G-EF 1860-1891 price list transfer to COIN system. I am way behind on this task but committed to getting it done.

GFRC Consignment News

An incremental consignment arrived on Saturday from the Wisconsin Collection. Though small at two pieces, the consignment is important. Following are two new offerings reaching the price list today.

Capped Bust 5c: 1832 NGC MS61 CAC Fatty holder...MS63 eye appeal and luster with a few tiny marks

Seated 50c: 1840(O) Rev of 1838 PCGS EF45 that is fully AU50

Featured Coins of the Day

The Denver Coin Expo and Whitman Baltimore shows are coming up soon. Many of the GFRC coins will be sold at these shows and now is the time to secure coins of potential interest.

Following are recently added offerings for your consideration on Columbus Day. Happy Hunting......

  

  

  

Thank you for visiting on this Monday morning and also, thank you again for the kind expressions of sympathy for my mother's passing. I will be back bright and early on Tuesday morning with more ramblings. Have a great Columbus Day!

 

October 9, 2016

Welcome to a brief Sunday Blog edition.

After being in poor health for years, my mother (Lucille) passed away at approximately noon time on Saturday. I spent the afternoon with father (who has Alzheimers) to enable my sister (Terry) to secure some rest after 36 hours of bedside caring for our mother. Terry is an incredible angel.

This Blog edition is being prepared on Saturday evening as Terry and I have early morning visit with father and then a meeting with the funeral home for arrangements.

Your condolescenes and kind emails are appreciated but not necessary. At 85, Lucille suffered for years with a variety of health issues including severe rheumatoid arthritis and broken bones. Her passing is a blessing thought the last few days were difficult to watch as infections spread through her body. As a society, we terminate pain and suffering for pets with more humane approaches as compared to human beings.

The "collecting gene" was definitely passed down from Lucille as she was an avid collector of porcelain dolls and salt and pepper shakers. The living room, in their home of 58 years, is a museum for her porcelain collection.

I will be back on Monday with a "regular" edition of the Daily Blog as another small consignment arrived on Saturday morning.

 

October 8, 2016

Welcome to the Daily Blog on a lovely southern Maine weekend.

Local weather has been simply incredible and typical of late August and not the first week of October. Friday's high was 76 degrees with bright sun. The weekend brings similar conditions and is ideal for those wishing to be in the great Maine and New Hampshire outdoors during peak foliage season.

Dale Miller is probably gloating in Cleveland as the Indians hammered the Red Sox yesterday. I had hoped for better during the last days of Big Papi's baseball career.

On a personal note, responses to phone calls and emails may be slow or intermittent as the situation with my mother is reaching a conclusion. She is at a hospice with loving care from my sister.

GFRC Consignment News

There are two important consignment announcements this morning. First is another significant early United States gold consignment from the Osprey Collection. While at the supermarket on Friday, I received a phone call from Osprey and his lovely Belgium wife. They were obviously excited and we enjoyed a long chat as I walked the aisles and attended to purchases at the seaford counter. A new Osprey consignment is being expressed on Monday and includes some important early United States double eagles that were sourced from Europe. Following are the new gold pieces that will be available at Denver and Baltimore if not sold before those shows. None of these pieces have been to CAC for review since being freshly graded at PCGS.

Gold $2.5 - 1848-D PCGS AU50

Gold $20 - 1851 PCGS MS62 rare grade; 1852-O PCGS AU53; 1902 PCGS MS62

These Osprey Collection offerings will be priced and posted to the price lists by middle of next week.

The second GFRC consignment announcement is the Tenafly Collection Client Gallery. Tenafly is a serious advanced collector with early roots in New Jersey, thus the Tenafly Collection name. This individual has been an active GFRC customer and decided it was time to focus set building efforts and take advantage of the GFRC Trading Desk function. Below are fifteen quality Seated dime, quarter and half dollar offerings for consideration on a Saturday morning. Close inspection of the Liberty Seated quarters is recommended as there are important dates in the lot. FRoR is in order. Given an unpredictable schedule, the Tenafly Collection offerings should reach the price list by early next week.

Tenafly Collection Consignment - October 8, 2016

    

    

    

    

    

Today Daily Blog edition will end here. There are a substantial number of pricing reduction requests to loaded on the price lists followed by breakfast and the uncertainties that the balance of the weekend will bring.

Thank you for stopping by and wishing everyone a great weekend.

 

October 7, 2016

Greetings on a Friday morning and welcome to the Daily Blog.

Dale Miller is smiling in Cleveland as the Indians out lasted the Red Sox in their first playoff game. I'm not in panic mode yet....

All eyes are on Florida as Matthew hugs the east coast. We feel very fortunate that Venice condo is on the west coast and will only experience rain and wind gust to 25 mph. Let's pray that Matthew continues to stay off the east coast shore and spares the I-95 corridor population centers its wrath.

Today will be quiet at the Maine homestead. Whitney completed the stone retaining wall yesterday along with site cleanup. I am incredibly pleased with the workmanship and end product. Travis also wrapped up the painting project on Thursday. Finally Doug, the contractor, stopped by during evening hours to collect payment for his efforts. What a difference in conducting renovations projects in Maine versus Florida. In Maine, a relationship develops with each contractor rather than just having a hired hand on site. All parties are proud of the results.

GFRC Consignment News

On Thursday, the Tenafly and Grey Soldier consignments arrived. Both are photographed with Tenafly consignment entering the image processing queue. I should have Tenafly coins featured in tomorrow's Blog.

Below are the latest Grey Soldier offerings....yes, eye candy indeed. Already, the grade and pricing requests are arriving since posting these images Thursday evening as a preview. Pricing has not been settled; grades are....1839-O V-5 half dime PCGS MS64 CAC, 1838-O dime NGC MS62 F-101 Repunched Mintmark is new NGC Top 100 holder and finally, 1875-CC double dime NGC MS62 CAC BF-1 R5 and only known mint state example according to author John Frost. For those researching CoinFacts, the 1838-O dime appears twice at HA auction; July 2005 and January 2008. Grey Soldier pricing should be settled by end of day along with price list posting.

Grey Soldier Collection - Eye Candy Consignment - October 7, 2016

    

Port Matilda and Alexandria consignments reached the price lists on Thursday and already sales are kicking in. Description will be added today to enabling filings these coins into the GFRC inventory boxes.

Global Financial News

First it was spot gold taking a significant hit on October 4th and now the British Sterling currency also suffers a dramatic 9% drop overnight before recovering. Speaking of currencies, the Chinese Yuan continues to slowly weaken to 6.72 RMB to 1 USD and decreasing Chinese foreign exchange reserves are to blame. I don't buy this explanation as the Chinese have achieved their goal of being included in the IMF's SDR basket and can now carefully devalue their currency to sustain their export manufacturing. Crude prices are increasing and sit above $50/bbl this morning.

The pound took a dive overnight, tanking as much as 9%, as traders scrambled to assess the cause of the heavy selling. Possible reasons? A fat finger, an error, a low liquidity sell-off, algorithmic trading, fears of a "hard Brexit," etc. Sterling fell as far as $1.1491, striking its lowest level since 1985 - a year when it hit $1.0520 amid an acrimonious mining industry strike - but later recovered to hover at the $1.24 handle.

The offshore yuan is at its lowest level against the dollar since January, weakening 0.15% to 6.7166 in Hong Kong, after data showed a sharper-than-expected decline in Chinese foreign exchange reserves. Figures from the PBOC showed the currency reserves falling by $18.79B in September to $3.17T, marking their largest monthly drop since May.

Crude prices have topped $50 a barrel once again, as OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers head to Istanbul for an informal meeting to discuss how to implement the production deal reached in Algiers last week. The gathering will take place between Oct. 8-13. OPEC members committed to lowering production to between 32.5M-33M barrels a day, marking a drop of around 750K barrels from September.

Featured Coins of the Day

The United States Trade Dollar has suffered a checkered past. Designed primarily as a foreign exchange piece to allow West Coast merchants to conduct exchange with Asia without having to purchase Mexico Pesos at a premium. Mexico pesos were already recognized by the Chinese and had a slightly heavier silver weight than US Seated dollars. Trade dollar production started in 1873 but unfortunately, silver prices started a long decline with the Congress revoking legal tender status in 1876. By 1886, a Trade dollar was selling for 75 cents on the east coast. Fast forward to the 21 Century with Trade dollars being one of the primary counterfeiting targets for Chinese enterprises. Purchasing raw Trade dollars on eBay is a high risk adventure.

GFRC Trade Dollar inventory continues to grow as consigned pieces arrive. Trade dollars offer consistent surfaces and toning and building a set is doable other than the late date proofs. Following are several pieces in inventory for your consideration.

  

  

Wishing GFRC customers a pleasant Friday as the work week comes to an end. All eyes will be on Florida East Coast today as the media raising the anxiety level. Luckily, we are experience a respite from political reporting brought about by Matthew. Have a great day.....

 

October 6, 2016

Another Thursday arrives as Maine autumn foliage continues to progress towards peak colors. Thank you for visiting and welcome to yet another edition of the Daily Blog.

So the European and American weather models were completely incorrect for predicting Matthew's storm track. As a result, Maine will be enjoying another 10 days of dry weather conditions and bright sunny skies. The positive aspect is that the Fortin home will be self heating through mid October. The negative is that southern coastal Maine is experiencing severe drought conditions and is 10" short of precipitation for the year.

Major League Baseball playoffs are underway with the Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians meeting this evening in Cleveland to kick off their five game series. On Wednesday morning, the following email entitled "Parting of Ways" arrived from Dale Miller, LSCC Secretary/Treasurer, and brought an early morning smile. Dale just happens to live in Cleveland Ohio......

Hi Gerry,

We have been friends for a long time and have done many things together.
We built sets together, entered registry results, worked together for LSCC, sat tables at coin shows, and more.
We brush aside that we probably support different candidates for President. It is not important.
But now we part company. We have an irreconcilable clash of desire and intention.
No amount of reason or negotiation can bridge the gap.
For now, the Indians play the Red Sox in the American League Playoffs!

Regretfully,

Dale

Today also wraps up the stone retaining wall and home painting projects. What seemed like endless renovations will cease and tranquility will return. It has been a busy five week period.

GFRC Consignment News

GFRC finds itself in the middle of another consignment wave and I'm managing to keep up with the individual lots. Below are new offerings from Port Matilda and Alexandria Collections to consider.

The newest Port Matilda consignment includes a 1909-S Indian cent graded NGC MS62RB and approved by CAC followed by a choice original 1818 B-2 Capped Bust quarter graded PCGS VF25 and also approved by CAC. This 1818 quarter would be a perfect type coin as attractive and wholesome. The 1855-O half is graded AU50 and is a near gem with incredible bullseye toning under bright light. We close this offering with a choice original 1875-CC Trade dollar that is accurately graded as PCGS EF40 and approved by CAC. These are quality pieces that will sell at Denver and Baltimore shows so please consider an earlier online purchase if in the market.

Port Matilda Collection - Part 2 Consignment - October 6, 2016

    

  

 

Liberty Seated halves are the focus of the latest Alexandria Collection consignment. This individual is building an advanced set and is constantly upgrading. Therefore, like the rest of us, he must sell duplicates to fund incremental purchases. Please help this noble set building cause by purchasing one of his halves. All are graded PCGS EF45 except for the 1840(O) Rev 1838 which is graded PCGS VF35. My favorites are the 1843 and 1847-O pieces while the 1841 date is underrated and should be snatched up quickly.

Alexandria Collection Consignment - October 6, 2016

Liberty Seated Halves

    

    

The Tenafly Collection consignment should be arriving today and I hear a rumor that Grey Soldier will also be sending along a few new pieces too!

GFRC News

No progress was made yesterday on the Liberty Seated Dime G-EF 1860-1891 price list conversion. Between shipping, photography, onsite construction and consignment Client Galleries, the day came to an end much too quickly. I will be back on this task today and hopefully will make substantial progress as the morning shipping queue is empty.

Global Financial News

Gold's price drop has stabilized with the precious metal being quoted at $1268 this morning. Let's remember that China is on a week long National Holiday so there is no buying from the East. Concerning Tuesday's sharp price drop, the following commentary arrived in the Daily Reckoning newsletter published by Agora Financial. Yes, this is Jim Rickards' commentary and we must be aware that Jim has been tauting gold ownership due to a pending financial crisis resulting from excessive global debt levels. His explanation does appear to be credible and provides insight into the gold futures trading market.

Tuesday's drawdown in the gold price was also a reflection of "weak hands" getting washed out of the market. The weak hands are those in the paper gold markets such as gold futures and ETFs that are using margin or derivatives (such as options).

Their losses are magnified by the use of leverage, and they are forced to put up fresh margin money or face liquidation. Often, these weak hands dump their positions as fast as possible. That selling begets more selling, which feeds on itself and so on until the market finds a new level.

London-based gold guru Andrew Maguire said this last night:

Close to a staggering 1,000 tonnes of paper gold has been rinsed out in the paper gold markets today… This takedown is a complete joke, and the wholesale market is all over this paper takedown. This is a desperate effort by Western officials to cover massive pre-Brexit short positions put on by their agent bullion banks near the $1,275 level.

Maguire hammered the point that “Western officials” deliberately waited for a Chinese holiday before smacking down on gold-silver prices. Still, China will be back to business on Sunday night, buying gold and surely capitalizing on the gold discount. Meanwhile, the ever-vigilant People’s Bank of China (PBOC) is not asleep at the throttle, and was yesterday actively buying gold into this dip.

On Maguire's last point, can I say that I told you so? The timing with yet another Chinese holiday was too suspicious......

Featured Coins of the Day

With all the great coins continuing to arrive at the GFRC office, there is no shortage of candidates to be recommended. Today's focus shifts to Shield and Liberty Nickels as GFRC is no longer just a dealer in quality Capped Bust and Liberty Seated coinage. Consignors are providing quality coins throughout all denominations and series and it is my responsibility to locate new homes for these pieces. Offers are welcomed.

  

  

  

Thank you for stopping by the Blog and hoping your Thursday is filled with good fortune. For those on the Florida east coast, we hope that Matthew's course will be glancing rather than a direct landfall.

 

October 5, 2016

Greetings on another lovely southern Maine morning. Based on current Matthew storm track predictions, this may indeed be the calm before the storm.

Substantial progress is at hand on the stone retaining wall. The granite ledge issue added several days to the construction schedule with the base layer being completed on Monday and then the balance of the wall being positioned yesterday. Below are images of the new wall taken facing east (top) and west (bottom). The bottom image also provides a glimpse into autumn foliage colors, especially the bright red burning bush on the right.

Whitney is back today to place the capstones and back filling behind the stone wall while Travis arrives with a mobile lift to wrap up the eastern side painting. The Fortin property will be quite congested with all this construction equipment. .

 

GFRC Consignment News

Tuesday's bright sunshine was an ideal setting to photograph the many on hand consignment along with another two piece Seal Beach consignment that arrived early morning via Fedex. We start today's consignment news with images of the Seal Beach Liberty Seated half dollar offerings. I'm so pleased to present a gem 1870 PCGS AU53 OGH CAC half plus a choice 1872-CC PCGS AU55 half for your consideration. The 1872-CC half resides in an old PCGS probably dating back to the mid 2003-2005 timeframe. It is accurately graded. Please email or call for a price quote.

Seal Beach Collection Consignment - October 5, 2016

  

The Wisconsin consignment lot is a lovely type coin collection in itself. The images turn out well but working with quality coins makes the photography and image processing so easy. Several of these pieces are already under FRoR but do please email me on coins of interest. Prices will be settled today with the consignor.

Wisconsin Collection Consignment - October 5, 2016

    

    

    

    

Global Financial News

Spot gold took a substantial drop on Tuesday to $1270/oz. There were no credible explanations for the drop in the media. Seeking Alpha headlines do not touch upon the sudden drop. Was this drop the result of normal market forces or another JP Morgan orchestrated event to knock down the price of gold? If we look to Asia, the Chinese are on a National Golden Week holiday and the perfect time to drive the price of gold downward. Call me skeptical, but I was in China when JP Morgan orchestrated its well known attack on gold (during the run up to $1900/oz) on a Friday evening Asia time after China trading had closed and the following Monday was a Chinese holiday.

The balance of Seeking Alpha headlines are mundane as compared to the drop in spot gold. One has to wonder about the powers of the elite bankers on a world wide basis when seeing this type of price action followed by a lack of plausible explanation. On a positive note, gold is at $1270 and appears to be attractively priced as a new entry point.

Closing Thoughts

Let's wrap up the Blog at this point as there is much on my plate today. I made some progress on converting the Liberty Seated G-EF 1860-1891 price list to COIN generated format but will still need another 48 hours to wrap this one up given all else that is going on at the Fortin homestead and consignment arrivals.

There was no mention of the Vice Presidential debate as I grow exhausted with the political season and look forward to November 8 and an end to this media madness. Electing a leader has been turned into a grueling nasty personal event that no human being should have to endure. Why would the finest or most capable people in our country ever try to ascertain this leadership position when the internet age subjects a human being to minute inspection of every prior spoken word, written document along with political manipulation of those facts. It is indeed madness......

 

October 4, 2016

Greetings on a lovely Tuesday morning as southern Maine moves into a quiet weather pattern. Bright sunshine will dominate through Thursday until Matthew's path is better defined. The American weather model is current predicting Matthew to pass directly over Maine bringing substantial amount of rains.

Fortin homestead renovations are nearing completion. I will be taking pictures during the day to share in Wednesday's blog. Travis brings a mobile lift for the last time to complete painting the eastern peak and trim. Whitney completed the base layer of the stone retaining wall and will assemble the balance of the wall today.

GFRC News

There is conversion progress to report for moving the Liberty Seated dime G-EF 1860 - 1891 price list to COIN system generation. Now I know why this task was delayed for two months. The effort is painstakingly slow with dates up through 1874 completed on Monday. The conversion also requires an inventory check to ensure that all coins present in the inventory boxes have corresponding listings and images. This project must be completed by Wednesday in order to catch the consignment waves that is arriving; please see next for that update.

GFRC Consignment News

The consignment wave is crashing upon the shores of the Maine GFRC office. For consignors and GFRC customers, following is a report on the increasing backlog of new offerings before Denver and Baltimore shows. I will continue to update progress on each consignment in subsequent Daily Blog editions.

Wisconsin Collection - These offerings are loaded in COIN database and hopefully will be photographed today.

Port Matilda Collection Part II - Another great offering from this new consignor. Following are the pieces that arrived yesterday and will be photographed today.

Indian 1c: 1909-S NGC MS62 RB CAC choice original patina
Bust 25c: 1818 VF25 CAC choice gray
Seated 50c: 1855-O PCGS AU50 gem bullseye toning; 1868-S PCGS F15
Trade $1: 1875-CC PCGS EF40 CAC choice gun metal gray

Alexandria Collection - This consignor is building an advanced Liberty Seated half dollar set and continues to send along duplicates to GFRC for building up Trading Desk credits. Again these halves should be photographed today.

Seated 50c: 1840(O) Rev 1838 PCGS VF35 late die state cracks; 1841 PCGS EF45 under rated date and choice; 1841-O PCGS EF45; 1843 PCGS EF45 choice; 1847-O PCGS EF45 gun metal gray/blue; 1850-O PCGS EF45 even gray/gold

Tenafly Collection - Tenafly is a well known GFRC customer who has decided to work on increasingly focused collecting goals and, as a result, is consigning previously purchased coins from Heritage and GFRC that are no longer consistent with new goals. I am so appreciative of the opportunity to handle Tenafly's coins and GFRC customer should be excited too due to the top quality that will be arriving shortly. Following is the initial listing of the Tenafly Collection consignment. FRoR is in order.

Seated 10c: 1840-O F-106a Med O PCGS EF40; 1849-O NGC VF30 CAC; 1850 NGC AU55; 1857 PCGS EF45; 1866-S PCGS VF30; 1868 ANACS EF40; 1871 PCGS EF40
Seated 25c: 1845 PCGS VF30 CAC; 1848 PCGS AU55 Top 25; 1862 PCGS AU55; 1868-S PCGS EF40; 1870 PCGS EF40; 1874-S PCGS VF25; 1879 PCGS F15
Seated 50c: 1891 PCGS AU53 CAC

Global Financial News

Spot gold has weakened a bit and sits at $1312/oz while oil prices have improved to the $49-$50/bbl range. There is little substance in today's Seeking Alpha headlines other than the Bank of India dropping interest rates due to perceived global economic weakness.

The Reserve Bank of India cut its benchmark interest rate by a quarter point to 6.25%. The move caught economists by surprise. The central bank cited a slowdown in global growth and a cool outlook on inflation in justifying the rate action.

Oil prices are down in early trading after reports of increased production out of Libya and Iran cut into some of the enthusiasm over the OPEC deal from last week. The market is also anxious over tomorrow's read on U.S. commercial crude after surprise drawdowns the last few weeks. Brent crude is down 0.59% to $50.59, while WTI crude futures are 0.90% lower at $48.37.

Negative interest rates in Europe are enabling the insurance industry on that continent. Why? Monday's Agora Financial newsletter pointed out the hoarding of fiat currencies in Europe to avoid negative interest rate losses. Following is the brief commentary....

Meanwhile, the world of negative interest rates has fostered a strange new phenomenon — insurance policies for piles of physical cash.

“You’ve heard a lot about negative interest rates in the past year,” Jim reminds us. “That’s where you put your money in the bank and the bank pays you ‘negative’ interest by taking some of it away. You end up with less than when you started. Your hard-earned savings go up in smoke. This is already the norm in most of Europe, Ireland, Japan and elsewhere.”

And in Switzerland — where the central bank went negative early last year — asset managers and large companies are opting to keep large sums of cash outside the banks and in private vaults. We’re talking amounts north of $100 million.

Doing so entails a certain amount of risk, and the insurance industry is stepping forward with policies to protect that cash from theft or damage. According to Bloomberg, one outfit charges about 1,000 francs a year — about $1,028 at today’s exchange rate — to cover 1 million francs.

Featured Coins of the Day

The internet has revolutionized the numismatic hobby. Thousands upon thousands of coins can be found by sitting in one's pajamas and surfing the net. The challenge, whether online or at a coin show, is selecting choice and gem examples for monies spent. It is the value equation. Shopping online comes with risk as the purchase decision is based on images. There is a substantial amount of image variability based on lighting conditions and photographer skills. This is why I launched the GFRC Quality Rating system; to augment my images and provide another assessment perspective. Following are several Gem rated coins currently available at GFRC.

  

  

  

So concludes another Daily Blog edition. It will be a busy day with shipping, photography and price list conversion activities. The daily health walk is always a priority with the last of the 10-15 lb weight gain, due to 6 years of China business lifestyle, slowly disappearing.

Thank you for checking in. I'll be back on Wednesday morning with more ramblings..... Have a great day and do consider a GFRC numismatic purchase.

 

 

October 3, 2016

Welcome to the Daily Blog and thank you for visiting with me on a Monday morning.

The first week of October is upon us. October is a transitional period in northern New England. We enter the month with the remnants of summer including warm day time temperatures and a mixture of green, yellow and red colored landscape. By the end of October, the trees are barren and night time temperatures will be below freezing. The Fortin wood stove begins operation about the second week of October though over heating the house is an ongoing issue. Halloween was my milestone for the first snow of the season. I distinctly remember, as a child, going out for trick or treating at Halloween with a heavy jacket and frozen puddles in the streets. With global warming, first snow expectations have moved to mid/late November.

Featured Topic: The United States Debt Load and Moving Some Dirt

Mauldin Economics (John Mauldin) issued another well prepared newsletter that every American should read. The article is entitled, Start Moving Some Dirt, and focuses on our ailing economy and the forthcoming debt crisis that mainstream media do not wish to discuss. Funding national infrastucture renovations continues to be a pressing issue that must be addressed and would help to reinvigorate the United States economy.

John brings attention to three key points, 1) The US economy is due for a recession and key indicators are signaling the possibility, 2) the annual defict will grow to $1.3 trillion and crowd out ability for infrastructure and stimulus spending and 3) the state of US infrastructure is appalling bad. As usual for a Mauldin article, his research is well done and communicated and will take 10-15 minutes to read and digest. Since many of us do not have that type of attention span due to multiple priorities, the following two graphs and one table should make the point.

IF the United States does not experience a recession in the next 10 years AND the economy grows at 2% annual rate, then fundamental debt will exceed tax revenues starting in 2019. Please note that government discretionary spending is NOT SHOWN on this graph.

IF the United States experiences a 2008 type recession in the next 10 years then tax revenues will only cover entitlements and the United States must borrow to fund a portion of defense spending and all of the debt interest.

Rating of United States infrastructure by the American Society of Civil Engineers...OK, let's assume they are a pessimistic bunch but there is a trend here.

If after reviewing these three pictorials, you wish to learn more, then please read Mauldin's entire article. This may have a bearing on who you might select as the next United States President; a builder or a life long politician.

GFRC News

Many GFRC customer have probably noticed that the Liberty Seated Dime G-EF 1860-1891 price list is still using the old table format and has not been updated in two months. This issue will be resolved in the next 72 hours to complete the COIN system transition that took place in July. My apology for not addressing this price list sooner and the time has come.

GFRC Consignment News

The PBG Collection Part II debut was a success on Sunday with five of the twenty pieces going on hold. I'm waiting for someone to purchase the raw 1868 and 1873 NA Closed 3 halves are so darn original and choice.

A new wave of consignments will be arriving this week including coins from Seal Beach, Grey Soldier, Wisconsin Collection, Port Matilda Collection Part II, Alexandria and some Liberty Seated dimes from New Jersey Collection. Processing all of these consignments in time for the Denver and Baltimore shows will be a personal priority!

Featured Coins of the Day

Later date Liberty Seated dimes are not receiving much attention these days. So let's bring some attention to this series and some nicely toned With Legend Seated dimes.

  

  

  

Thank you for stopping this morning at the Daily Blog. There are so many other internet portals that compete for your attention that I'm so pleased that the Daily Blog was chosen. Have a great Monday!

 

 

October 2, 2016

Greetings on a quiet Sunday Maine morning. Thank you so much for stopping by!

There is a considerable amount of GFRC news to discuss but first let's share a short letter received from a GFRC customer that arrived yesterday. The comment really hit home and was so appreciated that I felt compelled to mention. The customer writes; Your blog is so interesting that when I write to you by email, sometimes my messages get a little wordy because, through the Blog, you are communicating with us individually.

This customer's feedback was most insightful about my own behaviors. When dealing with customers on inquiry and orders, my email responses are short and concise due to the sheer workload operating GFRC business. There is little if any time to write long response emails. Rather, the Daily Blog is the primary conduit for sharing personal life, thoughts and philosophies with GFRC friends, customers and consignors.

A sincere thanks goes out to this New Jersey customer for crystalizing this point in my own mind and sharing with the GFRC community.

GFRC IT Development News

For several months, I've made mention of a "secret" IT development project being conducted by Matt. Saturday evening (Maine) and Sunday morning (Beijing) brought our weekly video conference call so Diane and I could spend time with grand daughter Natsumi. At the end of the video, Matt and I conducted a project review and based on that discussion, I am pleased to unveil his "secret project" this morning.

GFRC is taking the next step towards building a special community unlike any other business in the numismatic industry. We are targeting the release of a Customer Managed Open Set Registry by Thanksgiving. Matt has redesigned the existing Open Registry whereby GFRC friends will be able to direct manage their own sets without my involvement. For those who are active PCGS or NGC Registery participants, then the same online publishing experience will be available at GFRC but on a completely open basis. The GFRC Open Registry will allow inputs of raw coins along with those from any Third Party Grading service.

My good friend, John Okerson, has volunteered to work with Matt towards debugging the Set Registry user interface. Those efforts should begin during the second half of October with full release by Thanksgiving.

Many of you will have immediate questions about whether existing sets, in the Open Registry, will be ported to the new system etc. Please hold those questions as Matt will be writing a functionality announcement in several weeks along with a user's guide. Questions will be answered at that time.

As stated in the September 30 Daily Blog, GFRC is committed towards building a unique Collector Community and Trading Network for the numismatic hobby. The Customer Managed Open Set Registry is another piece of the Collector Community and Trading Network. Following is a simplistic break down of the community applications and features.

GFRC Collector Community - Trading Network

COIN System Foundation

Consignor Trading Desk

Consignor Client Galleries

GFRC Quality Ratings

Customer Managed Open Set Registry

GFRC Sales Archives Access - Planned 2017

GFRC Consignment News

I worked into late Saturday evening to complete image processing for the PBG Collection consignment of Liberty Seated halves. This is the second installment of Seated halves from the PBG consignor and so pleased to be offering to GFRC customers. Please pay close attention as there are many Civil War era dates and choice pieces. My favorites are the 1865-S WB-7 reverse die state (d) and the 1873 No Arrows Closed 3 halves. There will likely be many requests for FRoR once this important lot is viewed and appreciated. The PBG Collection is now posted on the price lists....

PBG Collection Consignment - October 2, 2016

Liberty Seated Halves

    

    

    

    

    

    

  

More and more consignments are being committed and will arrive in the coming week. Given the scope and importance of announcements in today's Daily Blog, let's end it here so everyone can take time to digest the news.

Please consider a purchase from GFRC inventory. A portion of GFRC profits are being re-invested into developing the GFRC Collector Community and without sales, the IT development cannot occur.

Thank you for visiting with me this morning. Yes, I will be back bright and early on Monday with more ramblings.....Have a great Sunday!

 

 

October 1, 2016

Welcome to October 2016 as the year continues to race forward.

Halloween is only 30 days away and GFRC travels to the Denver Coin Expo in a little over three weeks.

LSCC News

Today's important news is the arrival of the October E-Gobrecht to everyone's email Inbox. Bill Bugert continues to be a publishing monster with outstanding monthly E-Gobrecht issues along with the Gobrecht Journal due out in early November. The club is blessed to have a person of Bill's caliber driving the publication effort. Not only does he layout each issue, but he also solicits articles followed by working closely with each author for editing articles consistent with a professional publishing standard. We also should appreciate that Bill coordinates Gobrecht Journal printing followed be packing 650 issues and then arriving to the Gettysburg post office with boxes of mailings. All this is done on a volunteer basis due to his strong belief in the numismatic hobby.

The October E-Gobrecht is available by downloading here. The LSCC is blessed with another incredible volunteer, namely John Frost. John is President of the Barber Coin Collectors Society, a national club, along with operating as the LSCC's Educational Director. John is married to numismatics and has made expanding the hobby his life's calling. The huge LSCC course success at the ANA Summer Seminar was driven by John Frost. Please download the October E-Gobrecht to learn that John gave five presentations at the Virginia Numismatic Association coin show. This is simply amazing and a demonstration of the caliber of individuals on the LSCC Leadership team.

Also found in the October E-Gobrecht are monthly columns by Craig Eberhart (Auction News), followed by Dennis Fortier's LSCC Regional News. Len Augsbuger adds another excellent The Curious Collector column entitled Beistle's Other Interest. Greg Johnson's Quarter of the Month feature article is a lengthy and well prepared discussion of the 1854-O Huge O variety. Benny Haimovitz highlight the 1843 WB-23 Liberty Seated half dollar in terminal die state with a massive amount of reverse die cracks. Our Club Member Spotlight column focuses on Lee Faucher within the October issue. And finally, Jim Laughlin close out the issue with another gem research article entitled, Suspension of Coinage at the Philadelphia Mint, July 19, 1855 thru January 1856. Jim provides important insights on the use of slanted 5's on the date punch logotype.

GFRC Consignment News

The Seal Beach consignor is well known for consigning Liberty Seated halves in AU and Mint State grade. Along with the halves, he has been on a divestment program for accumulated raw coins across many denominations. The common theme is originality as Seal Beach has a strong eye for well preserved silver coins. In one of his recent shipments, he includes a group of lower value coins to be sold on the GFRC price list. I spent Friday afternoon processing those images and below is a new Seal Beach Client Gallery for review. The half dimes thru capped bust quarter reached the price lists last evening and the balance will be loaded this morning.

Seal Beach Collection Consignment - October 1, 2016

    

    

    

    

    

  

In other GFRC consignment news, the PBG Collection pricing has been settled with consignor and today's task is image processing for a Client Gallery display in Sunday's Blog.

Featured Coins of the Day

Today's featured coins are six modern commemorative gold $5 pieces. I like these $5 gold pieces since containing 0.242 ounces of pure gold and trading at small premiums to their bullion content. This is yet another approach for adding bullion gold to a numismatic portfolio. Some of the modern commemorative designs are well executed and then there is the challenging of locating PCGS PR69DCAM or NGC PF69UCAMEO graded specimens with no visible defects to justify the "69" grade rather than "70" grade level. Frankly, I'm learning much about modern gold commemoratives as GFRC inventory is expanded. Following are six nice offerings to consider at very competitive prices.

  

  

  

Thank you for stopping by on this October 1 morning and wishing everyone a restful weekend. I'm heading out immediately for a health walk followed by time in the packing and shipping department since Doug, the mailman, arrives later on Saturday mornings.