Gerry's Daily Blog Archives - September 2016

September 30, 2016

Greetings on the last day of September and the third quarter of 2016.

Hard to believe, but GFRC office will be conducting its annual Florida migration in just ten weeks. Christmas will be spent in Venice followed by vacation time in Orlando as the Fortin family reunites. Matt, Chikae and Natsumi fly in from Beiing while Renee and Mike drive down from Virginia. Planning has already begun.

Back at the Maine homestead, the house painting project is winding down and should be done by the end of next week. Travis is a meticulous painter resulting in high quaility work. A mobile lift arrives next Wednesday to paint the eastern side peek and trim work leading to project completion.

The stone retaining wall is another story and going at a slow pace. The first course is now in place and hopefully today will bring more visible progress. I'm looking forward to have the property return to "normal" rather than being an ongoing construction site. Once the construction equipment is gone, the first leaf blowing of the season will take place.

GFRC News - Building a Collector Community/Trading Network

Since completing and implementing the COIN system in July, Matt has been quietly working on another substantial upgrade for the GFRC website. I've label this project as "secret" until being convinced that the online software implementation would meet expectations and not disappoint during the release process. Matt's development progress is moving forward at a quick pace with testing starting in a few weeks. Stay tuned to the Daily Blog as I will mostly likely announce the new GFRC online numismatic community module during the next week.

Thanks to the support of so many great customers and consignors, GFRC September sales are well over double that of 2015. The Trading Desk and low commission rate consignment business model appears to be gaining traction in the numismatic market. Many consignors now feel comfortable in realigning collecting objectives and securing reasonable value for those coins that fall outside new collecting goals. For many individuals, it has been difficult to divest portions of a coin collecting due to uncertainties with selling and securing fair financial returns. In the past, some collectors simply sit on less desirable coins to the detriment of fully enjoying their hobby. GFRC is changing this landscape as the newer consignors are indeed divesting and realigning through a faciliated process.

Let's all remember that we are simply curators for our collections. At some point in life, our coins will move on to a new owner. Active collectors can increase their numismatic fun by regularly acquiring new holdings that are funded by selling less desirable pieces or those that have been upgraded. Even raw coins with some minor issues provide value as every coin does matters to someone. My longer term vision for GFRC is a trading network that might include 75 to 100 active collectors whereby top quality coins stay within the network and are exchanged among community members. This lowers the risks for crack out dealers to mess with perfectly original coins towards TPG upgrades. Coins reaching the market through traditional auction house sales are the most susceptible for crack out activities while coins remaining in a collecting network could be better tracked. I already have an idea for implementing the collecting network as another software module on the GFRC website. Conceptual discussions will take place with Matt during the Christmas break in Florida.

GFRC Consignment News

The consignment queue is once again full with more great offerings. Following is what to expect in the next 10 days.

Osprey Collection Consignment - These coins are loaded and fully described on the price list. Let's place a check mark here for completion!

West Texas Collection Consignment - Ditto, done....

PBG Collection Consignment - Photographed and moving into COIN database loading and image processing phase. Be ready for 20 new Liberty Seated halves including better dates and grades.

Wisconsin Collection Consignment - A small eclectic lot that should arrive today.

Port Matilda Collection Part II Consignment - Yes, this collector was pleased with the listing of his initial consignment with GFRC and is sending a second lot.

Tenafly Collection Consignment - Tenafly is well known to GFRC as an active buyer and has decided to start trimming holders as he realigns collecting goals.

Gerry Fortin Top 100 Varieties - I still have many Liberty Seated dime to post but always subordinated to handling other consignors' coins.

We will review individual coins in the Port Matilda and Wisconsin consignments in tomorrow's blog.

Global Financial News

Global equities markets have been flat for months including the United States markets. Spot gold saw an uptick and is trading at $1330/oz. This morning's Seeking Alpha headlines are troubling and readers might wish to pay attention to developments in the financial world. Fear that Deutsche Bank could collapse is starting to spread on a global basis. For all the bond buying and negative interest rates imposed by the Bank of Japan, the Japanese economy is experiencing deflation. Finally, Janet Yellen is admitting that there is a finite amount of US government bonds the Federal Reserve can purchase and may need to move to corporate bonds and stocks. I'm starting to sense that global central bankers are mostly academics and current policies are nothing more than a grand research project.....where is the end game?

Deutsche Bank -4% in Frankfurt, as worrying headlines continue to surface and traders fear contagion due to its position at the heart of world finance. A report yesterday suggested a number of hedge funds were cutting back their exposure to the lender, coming on top of a $14B fine the DOJ wants Deutsche to pay and suggestions the German government won't be helping the ailing bank. In June, the IMF described the institution as "the most important net contributor to systemic risks in the global banking system."

The Bank of Japan may have shaken up its strategy to jump start inflation, but on the ground, there's little sign change is coming. Headline consumer inflation remained negative in August, down 0.5% from the year earlier, making Japan the only major economy still so deep in negative territory. More dispiriting, the central bank's preferred gauge of core inflation likely dropped to 0.4%, the lowest level in 18 months.

Speaking by video to a Kansas City Fed conference, Janet Yellen said the Fed - as has happened with some overseas central banks - might find itself hitting a ceiling on the amount of U.S. government paper it could purchase. In that case, the Fed would have to move on to other assets such as corporate bonds and stocks. There would, she cautioned, be both costs and benefits to such an exercise.

Featured Coins of the Day

Daily Blogs without coin images are indeed boring. Thank goodness for the Featured Coins segment where I can highlight some great pieces. The following coins have seen a decent price reduction after being purchased from the consignor. These are shown below and relisted on the 30 Day New Purchase price list. Happy Hunting!

  

  

Thank you for stopping by today! Hopefully, I will be back with a Client Gallery for Saturday morning's Blog. Have a pleasant Friday.

 

 

September 29, 2016

Welcome once again to the Daily Blog. My sincere thanks go out to those of you who check in frequently.

Today is a special day for my wife Diane. Yes, it is her birthday but we won't mention the significant milestone! Happy Birthday Diane and a wish for continued health and many more to come.

This is one of those mornings where I'm operating on spur of the moment inspiration so hang on for the ride.

As for the Fortin homestead, yesterday was contractor day with Whitney Landscaping, Travis the painter and Doug the contractor all on site. There were three trucks/vans, an excavator, a Kabota tractor and cement mixing station all scattered about the driveway and lawns. Whitney spent the morning cutting a granite outcrop with stone dust swirling everywhere. Through all this, I spent three hours writing the LSCC President's Message towards Bill Bugert's October 1 publishing deadline for the upcoming Gobrecht Journal.

On a positive note, the sun peeked out of the clouds for approximately 30 minutes at lunch time and provided a window for photographing the PBG Collection consignment of Liberty Seated halves.

Featured Thoughts for the Day

When needing short notice inspiration, my first stop is Seth Godin's Blog. Seth's daily ramblings are insightful and stimulating. His September 28 blog caught my attention as entitled Ripples. Ripples is one of my favorite Genesis songs from A Trick of the Tail album. The Genesis song is a story about pretty girls aging and the need to cherish their beauty. Blue girls, as mentioned by Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford, are probably school girls. In this case, Ripples refer to time and the ongoing loss of our youth and beauty as ripples flow away and never come back.

Blue girls come in every size
Some are wise and some otherwise
They got pretty blue eyes
For an hour a man may change
For an hour her face looks strange
Looks strange, looks strange

Marching to the promised land
Where the honey flows and takes you by the hand
Pulls you down on your knees
While you're down a pool appears
The face in the water looks up
And she shakes her head as if to say
That it's the last time you'll look like today

Sail away, away
Ripples never come back
Gone to the other side
Sail away, sail away

The face that launched a thousand ships
Is sinking fast, that happens you know
The water gets below
Seems not very long ago
Lovelier she was than any that I know

Seth Godin has an entirely different interpretation for ripples. Our lives are a positive energy force that impacts others. Our ripples move through friends, colleagues and society....maybe for generations to come. Have you ever consider how your actions impact the lives of others?

The ripples

Every decision we make changes things. The people we befriend, the examples we set, the problems we solve...

Sometimes, if we're lucky, we get to glimpse those ripples as we stand at the crossroads. Instead of merely addressing the urgency of now, we can take a moment to focus on how a quiet insight, overlooked volunteer work or a particularly welcome helping hand moves so many people forward. For generations.

How did you get to where you are? Who is going to go even further because of you?
Thank you for passing it forward.

Global Financial News

Spot gold remains in tight trading range at $1324/oz and oil gaining ground to $47/bbl. Seeking Alpha headlines are a definite read this morning. We start with oil industry news that is favorable for Middle East producers at the expense of the United States exploration and drilling companies.

The world's biggest oil producers have agreed to cap output for the first time since the financial crisis. After hours of talks in Algiers, OPEC members committed to lowering production to between 32.5M-33M barrels a day, marking a drop of nearly 750K barrels from August. Oil prices, however, are currently edging off their highs as some investors take profits on Wednesday's more than 5% surge.

Roughly 100 North American oil and gas companies have filed for bankruptcy since the start of a two-year oil price rout, and the industry may be only halfway done, according to restructuring specialists. Despite OPEC's oil deal, "there's going to have to be more filings just because there's no price out there that's foreseeable that's going to bail these companies out," said Patrick Hughes, partner at Haynes and Boone.

As mentioned in yesterday's Blog, German banks are struggling with Deutsche Bank leading the list. Now we learn that Commerzbank is also in trouble. Negative interest rates are having an unplanned impact on the banking sector.

Slashing more than a fifth of its workforce, Commerzbank (OTCPK:CRZBY) will cut nearly 10,000 jobs and stop paying dividends for the time being as it restructures to become profitable by 2020. Germany's second biggest lender expects restructuring costs of €1.1B as it combines business segments and cuts costs to offset the drag from low loan demand and negative interest rates.

Finally, the United States is losing influence in Asia with the Phillipines turning to China and Russia for investment and trade. Also buried in this headline is fact that United States is once again increasing the number of ground troops in Irag.

Joint military exercises scheduled next month between the Philippines and the U.S. will be the last for the longtime allies, as President Rodrigo Duterte seeks to build stronger trade and investment ties with China and Russia. Meanwhile, the U.S. military is deploying some 600 additional troops to Iraq as part of a campaign to retake Mosul from Islamic State, raising the number of U.S. troops on the ground to about 5,000.

Featured Coins of the Day

Yes, it is starting to happen! GFRC is now expanding its United States copper price list with some quality consignments. Below are four quality offerings for your consideration. The Port Matilda 1899 and 1902 Indian cents are both graded PCGS MS65 with the 1899 reaching Red designation while the 1902 is only Red Brown. Looks like I need a training session with Rick Snow on why the 1902 is not designated as Red......

  

  

So ends another edition of the Daily Blog on international road side trash pick up day. Thank you for stopping by. Hopefully, there will be time to process images today and generate another Client Gallery for the Friday edition. Have a great day!

 

 

September 28, 2016

Greetings on a traditional work week hump day. Yes, Wednesday has already arrived and time for another edition of the Daily Blog.

Clouds and occasional drizzle while dominate southern Maine weather today and through end of week. I'm glad to have promptly photographed consignments and new purchases creating an image queue to pull from while weather is uncooperative.

Progress is slow moving on the stone retaining wall due to ledge issue. During to the extensive amount of granite, we decided to pour a cement footing over the ledge and use that as the wall base. Today should bring visibile progress as stones are laid. The weather is also impacting Travis' ability to complete painting the east facing side of the house.

GFRC News

After a huge shipping day on Tuesday, the order queue is the smallest seen in recent memory. Every order, upon receipt, is placed into a USPS 2 Day Flat Rate box and lined up on the floor in the GFRC office. Each box is marked with customer name and order information. There are three rows of boxes, regular orders, lay-a-ways and special processing. For well known GFRC customers, I'm shipping immediately upon order receipt. Today's small shipping queue allows time to write the President's Message for the upcoming November Gobrecht Journal.

Below are the Westford, MA coin show new purchases. Strictly original coins are straight forward to identify once the eye is trainined. This gallery highlights the uniform gray patina seen on quality coins. Five of the seven pieces have CAC approval as validation. Selecting a favorite in this group is difficult but the 1840-O PCGS EF40 CAC half would have an edge. It is perfect for the assigned grade and probably will not last long in inventory. This lot should reach the price list by end of day.

Westford, MA Coin Show Purchases - September 28, 2016

    

    

The purchase of a large United States modern commemorative $5 gold lot has been briefly mentioned in prior blogs. Well the deal is done and 30 pieces have arrived. Below is a sampling from the lot. Each $5 gold piece contains 0.242 oz of pure gold and were struck with dies prepared with Cameo Proofs or Satiny Mint State finishes.

I bought this lot primarily for the November 11 - 13 Shanghai coin show as modern United States is quite popular if aggressively priced. GFRC pricing will indeed be aggressive and consistence with the lowest Buy It Now offer prices on eBay.

Announcing Modern $5 Commemorative Lot (30 Pieces) Purchase

    

Global Financial News

Spot gold continues to be stuck in a tight trading range and is currently priced at $1329. Seeking Alpha headlines are dull this morning so let's focus on a topic that I'm closely watching. We all remember the collapse of Lehman Bros as the trigger for the 2008 Great Recession. Now German and Italian banks are struggling with capital requirements. The European Union set precedence with the Cypress banking crisis and forcing share holders and investors to "bail in" troubled bank rather than handing out another government "bail out" as done for United States banks during the financial crisis. So the playing field has changed in Europe and their handling of problematic banks should be monitored.

Germany's Deutsche Bank is in trouble and trades at lows last seen in the early 1980s. It’s down 50% just this year as illustrated by this Agora Financial graph.

Following are several paragraphs from Agora Financials' daily newsletter published on September 26. BMP is a venerable old Italian bank on the verge of collapse with only an oil painting gallery remaining as primary assets.

“Italy wants to bail out BMP with taxpayer money. That’s the standard playbook that governments used in 2008. But the rules have changed. At the G-20 Leaders’ Summit in Brisbane in 2014, it was decided that bailouts would be replaced by ‘bail-ins.’ In a bail-in, taxpayer money is not used to recapitalize the sick bank. Instead, bondholders and depositors take haircuts and are involuntarily converted into equity holders.”

You might recall that’s what happened to large depositors at the two biggest banks in Cyprus in 2013; Cyprus was the test case and the elites pronounced it a success.

“The German government under Angela Merkel is telling Italy that they cannot bail out BMP,” says Jim Rickards; “they have to use the new bail-in rules instead. But what’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. If Germany forces Italy to bail in BMP, then Italy will insist that Germany also bail in Deutsche Bank when the time comes. Germany won’t like that, but if they don’t bail in Deutsche Bank, the European Union will come apart because of acrimony between Italy and Germany.

Featured Coins of the Day

Building a new GFRC product line takes capital and patience. The Barber coinage product line is slowly being expanded with choice examples added to inventory when possible. Progress is being made and following are several quality offerings for a type set or even a date/mintmark set.

  

  

  

So ends another Daily Blog edition. Hard boiled eggs are cooked an ready to be peeled as breakfast. Next up is packaging a few orders followed by writing the forthcoming LSCC's President Message.

Thank you for stopping by at the Daily Blog!

 

September 27, 2016

Welcome to the Daily Blog during the waning days of September.

Southern Maine is enjoying much need rains during the morning hours but delaying the stone retaining wall and home painting projects. Life is a series of events and choices. I'll take a good soaking rain regardless of delays to the Fortin projects. Southern Maine rainfall is about 10 inches below normal for the year.

Presidential Debate? No, I did not watch the debate, rather spending the evening processing the latest Osprey Collection consignment images for today's GFRC Consignment News update. There will be opportunities to view debate clips and plentiful analysis during the balance of the week.

GFRC Consignment News

My relationship with the Osprey Collection consignor began in early January of this year. This individual is a true numismatist along with enjoying traveling throughout the globe. During the past nine months, I've handled a substantial number of his coins including the 1859-O NGC AU50 $20 double eagle that brought $40,000. Osprey and I manned the GFRC table at Summer FUN and enjoyed each other's company during evening dinners and scotch nightcaps.

Recently, Osprey and his lovely Belgium wife, went on a long roadtrip through Georgia and Tennesse. Osprey visited coin shops and antique markets along with taking in the Dalton show. His initial United States gold consignment, from that trip, was featured in the September 14 Daily Blog edition. Today brings another group of new purchases from the same trip along with few pieces from the bank box. I hope you enjoy viewing this consignment as much as I've enjoyed handling the individual coins and processing images toward accurate representation.

Osprey Collection Consignment - September 27, 2016

    

    

    

    

There are important highlights as GFRC enters the high end Morgan and Peace dollar toner market with the above offerings. The 1878 Morgan is an 8 Tail Feather and grades PCGS MS65. The MS65 grade is the last "collectible grade" as prices jump dramatically at the MS66 level. The 1898-O resides in NGC MS67 Star holder and is an obvious end roll piece with folded paper toning; a magnificent example. Vibrant colors are found on the 1924 Peace dollar that is housed in early NGC MS64 Fatty holder. Astute collectors understand the substantial challenge in locating Peace dollars with deeply toned surfaces. The United States gold offerings are also noteworthy. The 1874 Type III $1 is dramatic with mirrored obverse and satiny reverse and graded PCGS MS64. The 1842-O $10 eagle is a borderline piece and designated EF Details - Cleaned by PCGS. How about the 1903-S $10 eagle that is graded PCGS MS65+ with CAC approval? The luster is amazing when viewed under bright light.

Today's challenge is settling down asking prices and loading the COIN database with the new Osprey Collection offerings. It is such a blessing to be handling coins of this caliber.

In other GFRC Consignment News, the PBG Collection of Liberty Seated half dollars arrived on Monday. USPS provided expedited transfer as these were mailed on Saturday morning. Packages have not be opened but will be in the queue for today.

The Wisconsin Collection consignor contact me last evening about yet another consignment. Those pieces were discussed and itemized via email. They will be shipping later this week.

Global Financial News

Spot gold remains at the $1340 level while oil's recent rally took a hit due to failure of Saudis and Iranians to agree on production levels. Following are a few Seeking Alpha headlines that may be of interest. The WTO also has a economic forecasting mission and has dramatically cut its forecast for world trade. Lastly, minutes of the September 21 Bank of Japan meeting documents the realization that QE style bond buying has not produced desired results and now, (negative) interest rates will be the primary tool to sustain the Japanese economy.

Saudi Arabia and Iran have dashed hopes that OPEC oil producers could clinch an output-limiting deal in Algeria this week as sources within the exporter group said differences between the kingdom and Tehran remained too wide. Ministers have also called the gathering a "consultative meeting," saying "it wasn't time for decision-making." A formal OPEC meeting will take place in Vienna on Nov. 30, when a supply agreement may be reached.

The figure should be a wake-up call for governments, Director-General Roberto Azevedo declared, after the World Trade Organization cut its forecast for global trade growth this year by more than a third. The new figure of 1.7%, down from the WTO's previous estimate of 2.8% in April, marked the first time in 15 years international commerce was seen lagging behind the growth of the world economy.

"Members shared the recognition that risks to Japan's economic activity and prices remained skewed to the downside," according to the minutes from the Bank of Japan's July meeting. At its rate review last week, the BOJ switched its policy target to interest rates from the pace of money printing, after years of massive asset purchases failed to jolt the economy out of decades-long stagnation.

Featured Coins of the Day

Liberty Seated quarters are, by far, the most challenging denomination of the 19th Century silvers to collect. Low mintages and survival rates lead to availability issues. Locating choice better date examples requires substantial patience and a long term horizon. But I'm pleased to report that new collectors are taking on this series as GFRC ramps inventory. Below are recommended Type I obverse design pieces that offer choice surfaces, originality and would be an excellent launching point for starting a Seated quarter date and mint mark set.

  

  

  

Thank you for visiting this morning. The ongoing readership provides the energy necessary to arise at 6:00am, brew that first cup of coffee, and then write these daily ramblings. The Daily Blog is also a community effort as without Poetic Candy's poems and the numerous consignments, I could not be creative enough to maintain interest levels. So a sincere thank you to everyone who supports the Daily Blog.

I'm off to the packing and shipping department as a substantial number of checks arrived on Monday. Have a great day!

 

 

September 26, 2016

Greetings on yet another Monday morning. We are running out the September clock as autumn transition is in full force.

Where is Poetic Candy for today's highly anticipated political event? Let's substitute the following from Emerson, Lake and Palmer's Karn Evil Number 9.

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

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

Right before your eyes we pull laughter from the skies
And he laughs until he cries then he dies then he dies
Come inside the shows about to start
Guaranteed to blow your head apart

The Fortin homestead will be a super busy place today as Whitney Landscaping starts laying the retaining wall foundation, Travis, the painter, continues his job along with Doug wrapping up his work.

GFRC News

What a great time at the Westford, MA show! Ernie Botte is really the best at promoting and executing New England coin shows.

A 7:00am arrival allowed ample time to setup and then walk the floor searching out new purchases. Dealer attendance was the who's who in New England region; David Wnuck, Coin Rarities Online, Gerry Fortin Rare Coins, MintProducts, Northeast Numismatics and David Kahn were all in attendance. Public attendance was good but not as strong as the August show. Then a surprise occurred as my favorite wholesaler made his debut at Westford. This brought about some serious coin dealing given his double rox slab box of new purchases. By 1:30pm departure time, GFRC had sold into five figures and bought a decent number of attractive new CAC coins.

Following are Westford new purchases with FRoR being appropriate!

Seated 25c: 1874 PCGS EF45 CAC choice original gray

Draped Bust 50c: 1806 O-117 R4 PCGS VF35 CAC, previously handled by GFRC

Reeded Edge 50c: 1838 PCGS EF45 CAC crusty original gray

Seated 50c: 1840 Rev1839 PCGS EF40 original ebony/gray patina; 1840-O PCGS EF40 CAC perfectly original gray; 1844-O PCGS EF45 CAC choice gray; 1855-S PCGS G6 CAC and so choice, hurry on this one; 1881 PCGS VF30 choice gray

Gold $5: 1899 PCGS AU55 CAC old time orange gold

Not mentioned previously is a large modern $5 commemorative deal that I've purchased for the upcoming Shanghai show. 26 $5 gold pieces have arrived and present an excellent assortment of modern United States commemoratives in MS/PF69 and MS/PF70 grades. These were purchased near gold spot and will be aggressively priced. A list needs to be prepared for Harry Zhang to start the Shanghai show marketing process.

GFRC Consignment News

The latest Osprey consignment is in the image processing queue while Port Matilda descriptions must be added to the price lists.

A 20 piece Liberty Seated half dollar consignment from PBG Collection arrives on Tuesday leading to over 175 quality halves in inventory for upcoming Denver and Baltimore shows!

Global Financial News

Spot gold starts the week nicely at $1340/oz. Could this be the week that we see an uplift approaching $1400? I mention this as Asian global equity markets took a hit overnight to start the week. US presidential debate and oil production dominate the Seeking Alpha headlines;

Stocks are getting jittery ahead of a week that could shake up the financial markets. The presidential debate and OPEC could spur some volatility, while a rush of consumer, manufacturing and other data may reveal whether the U.S. economy is really beginning to struggle. After holding off on a rate hike last Wednesday, the Fed will also keep itself on the radar, with testimony from Janet Yellen and a fresh round of speeches from regional presidents.

Oil producers will not come out of this week's International Energy Forum "empty-handed," according to Algerian Energy Minister Noureddine Bouterfa, who stated that "all options" were on the table. Participants of the informal gathering, which will be held from Sept. 26-28, include energy ministers from OPEC nations and Russia. While internal divisions make an agreement to cut oil production very unlikely, a cap seems like the most effective way to stabilize prices.

Liquidity squeeze? Saudi Arabia's central bank has injected 20B riyals ($5.3B) into its banking system as lenders in the Arab world's biggest economy grapple with the effects of low oil prices. The Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency is also introducing seven-day and 28-day repurchase agreements, as part of its "supportive monetary policy."

Growing globalization awareness is impacting TTIP viability and a strong Donald Trump showing in this evening's debate may further impact possibilities.

TTIP negotiations will almost certainly not be finished during President Obama's presidency, European trade ministers concluded after a two-day meeting that ended Friday. Prospects for completing the deal have suffered from weakening political support in Europe as well as anti-globalization sentiment that has gained traction on both sides of the Atlantic. A planned round of negotiations in New York is still set to take place during the first week of October.

Featured Coins of the Day

It seems that I've been ignoring Liberty Seated dimes lately given the growth in Seated quarter, half dollar and overall Capped Bust inventory. I have two double row 2x2 boxes of Seated dimes (web-book referenece collection) that eventually need to reach the price lists. Question is that of time to process all these coins. Following are some quality slabbed Liberty Seated dimes for consideration on a Monda morning.

  

  

  

  

Thank you for visiting the Daily Blog this Monday morning. The media will be at a fervor pitch for the next 48 hours. It should be the greatest show on earth!

We will be back bright and early on Tuesday. Have a great week.

 

September 24, 2016

Welcome to the Daily Blog on the last weekend in September.

Temperatures are dropping quickly. Morning temperature is only 45 degrees with frost risk for the coming overnight. Maine foliage season is underway as burning bushes have completely turned crimson red. My estimate is that 2016 peak color season is only two weeks away due to ongoing drought conditions.

Houston, we have an engineering problem!

The Fortin home is located on the southern facing side of a 950' hill (above sea level). The coastal view is excellent at night as lights from Portland up through Brunswick are visible including the tall power generating station smoke stack on Cousin's Island. The hill, and adjacent road, were named Ledge Hill by the early settlers due to massive granite outcrops. When locating the Fortin home, during construction, the foundation was set directly on ledge resulting in a daylight basement design with substantial gravel backfilling around the foundation. We've never had a settling issue with the home due to being placed on solid granite.

On Friday, Whitney Landscaping easily removed the old timber retaining wall and cut a 4' section of the asphalt driveway for setting the new Genest stone wall. As I expected, ledge was exposed. The contractor hoped to have at least 6" to build a crushed stone pad for setting and leveling the first course of stone. That is obviously not the case per the below image. The asphalt driveway was paved directly over granite in certain locations resulting is settling and cracking as the years went by.

So we have an engineering problem to resolve this morning. The first course of the Genest stone blocks must be placed directly on the highest ledge point and leveled accordingly as cutting or jack hammering the granite to install a trench would be too costly. At 8:00am, a meeting with the contractor to set strategy will take place. One idea is to drill holes into the ledge for rebar insertion and then epoxy or cement the first stone course (as an anchor) where sitting directly on ledge. We know that the granite will never move so settling is not an issue. Since the driveway will be renovated in 2017, the driveway height, where it meets the new retaining wall, can be adjusted to hide a portion of the first stone row......that is my thought going into the morning meeting.

Poetic Candy provides a poem for the occasion entitled Architect. I would suggest you give this one a read as very well phrased.

THE ARCHITECT

I too am an architect, who builds on wavering sand,
With words and sentences that make up thoughts,
Which flow forth from my pen filled hand,
A structure that will ne’er be moved,
With exception of a sturdy steadfast mind,
Of a woman in some far-off land,
With another softer and yet warmer,
And much more steadying hand.

I travel light yet weighted down,
With years of pictures in my mind,
Years of heartfelt memories,
Of which again I seek to find.

Buried somewhere, lost in time,
Lost perchance within a rhyme,
Waiting to be reassembled but once more,
This time upon a firmer floor,
To be preserved and seen by all,
Perhaps forever more.

An architect you ask? Yes, an architect I say,
For with my words and thoughts I build,
While others much like children,
But with bricks and mortar play.
(poeticalways)

GFRC News

The Client Gallery portion of the GFRC website is fully updated for consignments arriving and posted during August and September timeframe. Simply click here to access the Client Gallery module and enjoy viewing the many consignments handled by GFRC during 2015 - 2016 timeframe. New to the Client Gallery module are Massachusetts, Port Matilda, Saw Mill Run, West Texas and Woodbridge displays!

If attending the Westford, Massachusetts coin show on September 25 (tomorrow) please stop by the GFRC corner table immediately opposite the entrance door. I would be pleased to bring coins from inventory on a requested basis. So please email me by 6:00pm today if there is potential interest in any inventory item.

GFRC Consignment News

Working into Friday evening allowed me to load the Port Matila Collection consignment onto the price lists. Pricing has been settled for West Texas Part 3 and those listings will also be uploaded today. Lots of new quality offerings for customers to consider in the next 24 hours.

Osprey's latest consignment currently sits in the photography processing queue but will not be able to work through these images until later on Sunday. Sunday morning brings the Westford, MA show with Saturday evening preparations and a 5:30am departure time.

Featured Coins of the Day

GFRC's September sales have been impressive thanks to the many consignments and quick turn loading onto the price list. Last evening, I gave Matt, GFRC IT Director, a compensation increase for his impressive software development. The COIN system has provided a substantial productivity improvement while enhancing website aesthetics and ease of use. Once Matt's "secret project" is launched, GFRC will be a truly collector centric community portal.

To fund Matt's raise, more coins need to be sold.......;)

Following are some favorite recommendations on this Saturday morning. Enjoy the images and do consider a weekend purchase for your advanced collection. The GFRC lay-a-way queue has been drawn down by timely payments. I'm open to adding more piece in that queue to aid collectors acquire coins that require several months to pay off.

  

  

  

There will be no Blog on Sunday morning due to the Westford, MA show. I will be back on Monday morning with more GFRC and retaining wall construction news. Have a great weekend!

 

 

September 23, 2016

Greetings on a Friday morning and welcome to the end of another traditional work week.

Rain is forecasted for southern Maine today and everyone is hoping for a substantial amount given the growing drought conditions. Whitney Tree and Landscaping pushed back the retaining wall project start date to today.

For those who are curious, this image captures the remains of a 31 year old pressure treatment 6x6 timber wall that is 4' in height. Wood is fully disintegrated and fortunate that the wall is not tall enough to collapse. This image was taken early Thursday morning with a low sun angle that washed out some of the timbers. The wall is on the northern side of the house.

GFRC Website Development News

Matt and family have settled into a nice Beijing apartment that will be their home for the next two years. His wife, Chikae, is teaching at the Beijing International School while daughter is attending Japanese daycare mostly to maintain social connections. Matt continues his environmental consulting business, numismatic industry benchmarking and GFRC website development work. Just this week, we conducted a project review. The "secret" project is moving along nicely and is on schedule for a Thanksgiving timeframe release. Once the entire platform is developed and integrated, beta testing takes place during middle of October. As mentioned in a prior Blog, a GFRC customer, who has a vested interest in the project, has agreed to help with the testing and debug phase. Once I'm satisfied that the new module is production viable, it will be announced here at the Daily Blog. These capabilities have been a long time coming and will enhance the numismatic community experience at www.seateddimevarieties.com. Stay tuned.....

GFRC Consignment News

I worked late into Thursday evening to complete the Port Matilda Collection image processing and display in this morning's Blog. This offering is from a new consignor who reported studying Heritage, DLRC and GFRC as candidates for marketing and selling his extraneous coins after realigning collecting goals. GFRC was selected due to the Daily Blog marketing efforts and close working relationships with consignors. We are so pleased to have Port Matilda joining the GFRC community. One look at the below Client Gallery clearly indicates that this collector has been selective with purchases. FRoR is once again in order as I've already received a request to hold the 1914-S Barber half.

Port Matilda Collection Consignment - September 23, 2016

    

    

    

    

    

  

Today's primary goal is to settle down pricing for West Texas Part 3 offerings and have these loaded to the price list on Saturday. And yes, I need to prepare a GFRC full page ad for the November Gobrecht Journal.....

The latest Osprey Collection consignment arrived on Thursday and the PBG Collection Seated half dollar lot (18 pieces) will ship on Saturday.

Global Financial News

Spot gold has returned to the $1340/oz level after the Federal Reserve interest rate drama ceased. The rally in precious metal prices is alive and well. Saudi Arabia and Iran are dancing on oil production levels per Seeking Alpha headlines. If Saudi Arabia and Iran do reach a deal, then higher gasoline prices may be at hand during 2017.

Saudi Arabia has offered to lower its oil production if Iran agrees to cap output this year at its current level of 3.6M bpd. The proposal was made earlier this month, sources told Reuters, and would be a major compromise ahead of talks in Algeria next week. Ironic? The last two OPEC meetings held in the country - in 2004 and 2008 - led to unexpected production cuts to prop up prices.

Featured Coins of the Day

Let skip this module as Whitney Landscaping has just arrived and is unloading their excavator! Another renovation project kicks off.....

Thank you for the GFRC support and visiting the Daily Blog each day. We work hard to win your trust and loyalty while promoting the numismatic hobby. Have a great Friday and please do consider a purchase from our growing inventory!

 

 

September 22, 2016

Hard to believe it is already roadside trash pick up day at the GFRC office. Welcome to yet another edition of the Daily Blog!

Morning Coffee Observation

Morning coffee is starting to have an effect as online media is scanned concerning Charlotte riots and other morning "news". I've come to the conclusion that the internet and social media have raised the judgmental nature of human beings. There use to be wisdom associated with the proverb live and let live namely, you should tolerate the opinions and behavior of others so that they will similarly tolerate your own. Similarly, I was taught to mind my own business at a young age. Today with cellphone camera and video, the opposite is talking place. Social and online media provides the Amplification Factor so an event somewhere in the United States is posted immediately for 350 million people to provide judgment in the Court of Public Opinion. Where this is leading is an unknown but I suspect the path will be paved with risks for modern society, as a whole, and for individuals who are unable to walk away from their cellphones and omnipresent media.

Back to numismatics.......

GFRC News

The folks at Whitman Publishing contacted me on Wednesday and requested that I join the Red Book pricing staff on an ongoing basis. I'm honored with the request and will provide an affirmative response today.

Ernie Botte also contacted me yesterday and offered a corner table by the front door at Sunday's Westford, MA show. This is the same location that GFRC enjoyed last month. I'm in and will be setting up this Sunday. So if you are attending the Westford show, please stop by the GFRC table as I will have an entire case of United States gold and still deciding how to populate the other two cases......

GFRC Consignment News

Most of Wednesday was spent in the photography and image processing department. Below are outcomes. We start with the Seated halves from Tuesday's Seal Beach consignment. When top quality coins arrive at the GFRC office, customers immediately take notice. The 1847 NGC MS63 CAC Newman half is sold and shipping this morning. There is discussion with a client concerning the 1846-O Med Date PCGS MS62 CAC example. Do readers realize the grade rarity of the 1846-O Med Date in MS63 and MS64? Wow!

Seal Beach Collection Consignment - September 22, 2016

    

  

 

Part 3 offerings from the West Texas Collection consigment are shown next. West Texas is an old time collection that has been off the market for several decades. The offerings include semi key dates and a wide range of surface conditions from Choice Original to Market Acceptable. If one looks carefully at the Client Gallery, there are opportunities to add important dates to a Whitman or Dansco album set.

West Texas Collection Consignment Part 3 - September 22, 2016

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

Today's goal is to have the above pieces loaded onto the price lists but first I must evaluate each coin in terms of Quality Rating, perform attributions, set recommended pricing and secure the consignor's approval. Then there are the new consignment arrivals....

Port Matilda Collection - the overall quality from this consignor is very high! This individual has a keen eye and I suspect there will be many Choice and Gem quality ratings assigned when working through his consignment. Photography is done and maybe, just maybe, I might be able to have a Client Gallery ready for tomorrow's Blog.

Osprey Collection - The latest consignment from the Osprey Collection arrives today via USPS Express. Following are the contents that GFRC customers should pay close attention to;

Seated 5c: 1838 PCGS MS63
Draped Bust $1: 1796 B4 PCGS XF40 Sm Date Lg Letter; 1801 B4 PCGS VF20
Toner Morgans/Peace $1: 1878 8TF PCGS MS65; 1896 ANACS MS62/64 Photograde; 1898-O NGC MS67 Star; 1924 NGC MS64
Gold $1: 1856 NGC MS63 CAC Slant 6; 1874 PCGS MS64
Gold $10: 1842-O PCGS EF Details; 1903-S PCGS MS65+ CAC; 1908 PCGS MS62; 1910-D PCGS AU58

Global Financial News

Spot gold is back to $1336/oz this morning since the Federal Reserve decided to maintain interest rates at current levels through end of 2016. For all that has been written on this subject, it was a non event. In Europe, the globalization tide is shifting as the Germans and French want no part of TTIP. The US romance with Saudi Arabia is over on the issue of potential 9/11 lawsuits. Frankly, it should have been terminated two years ago as the Saudis destroyed the United States oil industry. And finally, if you are a oil giant supplying energy to the globe, get ready for climate change lawsuits as implied in the last Seeking Alpha headline.

U.S. futures are heading higher after the Federal Reserve left rates unchanged and lowered its forecasts. The Fed's decision shouldn't be interpreted as a lack of confidence in the economy, Janet Yellen said during her quarterly news conference, but gave a fairly strong indication that a hike will happen before 2016 is over. She also rejected the suggestion that the central bank bases its decisions on partisan politics.

With enthusiasm for global trade deals waning across the globe, EU ministers are beginning a two-day informal meeting in Bratislava to discuss CETA and TTIP. Recently, German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel said that TTIP talks have failed and French Trade Minister Matthias Fekl announced that France will demand the negotiations be suspended. The question now, say European officials, is whether these objections can be surmounted in the coming weeks.

Cooling to a long alliance with Saudi Arabia, Congress is preparing to override a presidential veto and push through legislation allowing families of Sept. 11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia for any role in the terrorist attacks. Riyadh strongly opposes the bill and President Obama is expected to veto it tomorrow, but lawmakers are poised to override his veto for the first time since he took office.

The SEC's investigation of how Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) values assets in a world of increasing climate change regulations is eliciting sharp reactions, with some investors seeing it as a tipping point, while others are calling it a politically motivated attack. But many agreed on one thing: It's a potentially transformative moment for U.S. companies, which now have to worry about regulators' scrutiny of future climate change impacts more seriously than before.

Featured Coins of the Day

GFRC is becoming one of the leading dealers for Draped and Capped Bust halves in VF through AU collector grades. Bust halves are incredible popular with many individuals deciding to collect at the Overton variety level. The challenge is locating choice original examples as so many have been cleaned and retoned over the years. I'm most selective about GFRC offerings. Here are some of my recommended pieces for your consideration.

  

  

  

Thank you for visiting this morning. It will be another busy day indeed!

 

 

September 21, 2016

Welcome to the Daily Blog on a Wednesday morning.

Maine weather has been wonderful, for this time of year, with daytime temperatures close to 80 degrees. Today will probably be the last abnormally warm day of the Autumn season. Normal for this time of year in southern Maine is 68 degrees. Frost warnings and daytime highs of 58-62 degrees are forecasted for the coming weekend. As October is around the corner, it is time to start moving firewood into the garage. The first woodstove fire of the season usually starts in mid October unless we hit a cold rainy patch of weather.

Tuesday brought the exterior home renovation project to the east side.... Below is an image of Doug removing dried out cedar clapboard after Travis spent Monday power washing the exterior. The reflective light from the sunroom ceiling generates heat upon hitting the adjacent clapboard and accelerates the wear out process. While Doug was pulling down clapboard, I was priming and preparing material for today's installation. You can see the saw horse paint station to the far right near the garage wall. 35 pieces of 12' and 16' length clapboard are primed and ready to go this morning.

Fortin Home Renovations - East Side

On Thursday, there is a firm commitment that Whitney Landscape and Tree Service arrives with their small excavator to remove 4-5' of asphault driveway and start stone retaining wall installation. Then a multi pallet delivery of diamond cut stone arrives on Friday. Thank goodness for the sale of some of my Top 100 Liberty Seated Dime varieties to fund all this work.

GFRC Consignment News

I'm pleased to report that all Upstate New York consignment images were posted Tuesday evening. This consignment is a wonderful old time lot and just the tip of the iceberg according to this collector. He is slowly pruning a life long collection and holding back choice and gem pieces. How about this two lovely pieces? The 1831 Capped Bust half resides in old NGC EF45 holder while the BTW resides in very early ANACS old white holder with serial number LP0249 (this one is already on hold).

  

West Texas Part 3 (Seated Quarters, Bust and Seated Halves) images will be processed today and hopefully a Client Gallery will be available for Thursday morning's Blog.

Another consignment wave started reaching the GFRC shores on Tuesday. The first shipment is from Seal Beach consignor and is new news! This advanced collector has decided to strictly focus on an all AU58 (CAC if possible) Liberty Seated Half dollar set and sent along some mint state examples to be sold by GFRC. Also included in the shipment were more strictly original raw Seated and Bust pieces from his early collecting days. Today's Seal Beach Seated half dollar consignment list is short but the quality is high! I'll highlight the 17 raw pieces once graded and attributed.

Seated 50c: 1846-O Med Date PCGS MS62 OGH GOLD CAC; 1847 NGC MS63 CAC Green-Newman; 1865-S PCGS VF35; 1877 PCGS MS64 CAC; 1887 former ANACS MS61, now raw

Port Matilda consignment should arrive today.

Osprey sends his latest consignment via Express Shipment today and indicates that several quality Draped Bust dollars will be included!

PBG Collection ships his 18 Liberty Seated halves this weekend.

GFRC New Purchase Highlight

Stocking a quality 1839 No Drapery Seated half dollar is always an important event for any dealer. Here are images of a choice original NGC AU53 CAC piece that reached the price list yesterday.

Global Financial News

Spot gold moved up overnight to $1324. The Bank of Japan meeting results announcement, as presently as a Seeking Alpha headlines, reads as if BOJ is increasing central bank experimentation. Please note the statement of eliminating the maturity range of bond purchases and abandoning monetary base targets. The US Federal Reserve reports out this afternoon....

Japan's central bank held rates steady at -0.1% following its latest meeting, but announced it would modify its policy framework, marking the latest attempt to boost prices and goose economic growth. Among the changes, the BOJ said it would introduce yield curve controls, eliminate the maturity range of its bond purchases, abandon its monetary base targets and confirmed that cutting rates further remained an option. Nikkei +1.9%

Featured Coins of the Day

GFRC continues to expand its Draped and Capped Bust coinage product lines as the consignment business model is also pertinent to date and variety collectors at the turn of the 19th Century. Following are some quality Capped Bust quarter offerings for your consideration.

  

  

Thank you for visiting with me today. After packing a few orders and writing a few more consignment checks, I'll be focused on West Texas image processing and moving firewood into the garage. Have a great day.

 

 

September 20, 2016

Greetings! So Tuesday has already arrived? Where in the world did Monday go?

Time management and focus are becoming important as my calendar continues to be packed with GFRC activities, LSCC deliverables, home renovations and now ailing parents. If emails are not promptly answered or I need a kind follow-up reminder, then please forgive me.

Today's Blog will be a different and focused on behaviors; in particular, a reminder on the habits of successful people. These habits are documented, this morning, as a reminder to myself and were obtain from Quora.

I subscribe to Quora and attempt to read pertinent questions/responses each day as a self improvement and awareness tool. The following introduction is taken directly from the Quora website......Quora’s mission is to share and grow the world’s knowledge. A vast amount of the knowledge that would be valuable to many people is currently only available to a few. The heart of Quora is questions — questions that affect the world, questions that explain recent world events, questions that guide important life decisions, and questions that provide insights into why other people think differently. Quora has only one version of each question. It doesn’t have a left wing version, a right wing version, a western version, and an eastern version.

What are the habits of highly successful people?

They say what they mean and mean what they say. They are impeccable with their own words. Successful people don’t make you guess what they mean. They tell the truth and make it simple for other to understand their objectives.

They are self-aware. They know who they are, they have defined vision, and they know their strengths and weaknesses. Successful people understand their responsibilities, roles, and identity.

They manage their time by managing their emotions. Everyone can plan for the next day by allocating tasks into their schedule, but successful people go beyond that. They do what they need to do even it makes them uncomfortable.

They start before feeling ready. They do procrastinate, but they know how to deal with it. Successful people never wait for the perfect timing to take action because they understand that there is no such thing as the perfect timing. They make decisions and take actions fast.

They eliminate choices and options. Successful people are focused. They create systems to eliminate the need of making choices; they reduce their options before they even need to think about it. Highly successful people make a lot of decisions, but they make sure those are really important ones.

They contribute before they ask. This is exactly what made them successful. They find ways to provide value to others (their partners, team, customers) way before they even ask for anything in return.

They time-travel by picking others’ brain. They read to learn ideas that took the author 20 years to figure out, in 20 minutes. They value mentorship to skip through unnecessary mistakes and challenges that are coming in their way. They hire people who are smarter than them to compensate their weaknesses.

Successful people are consistent and put in the work day in and day out. They understand that results never appear from nowhere on the first day. They have faith in the power of tiny actions, and always aim for the long-term results. They won because they’re playing a long game while everyone else goes short.

They value true relationship. I haven’t found a successful person who messed up the relationship with everyone around them. Successful people know that they won’t achieve what they had today without their mentor, friends, partners and team members.

They think they are lucky. We’re experiencing hundreds of incidents and events in a day, a slight change of any outcome is going to turn your life to a very different path. And successful people believe they are lucky to be successful and feeling grateful for that.

GFRC Consignment News

A substantial number of new offerings reached the price list on Monday from the Upstate New York and West Texas consignments. Hopefully, I will have Upstate New York images posted by end of day as there some really cool pieces in that consignment.

More consignments inquiries are arriving and being committed for the week of September 26. Beyond the Port Matilda consignment, listed in Monday's Blog, there will be new shipments from existing consignors.

First is another lot from the Osprey Collection. This individual has a keen eye for offering numismatic gold and silver pieces that are consistent with GFRC customer needs. Osprey is now GFRC's top consignor in terms of sales revenue regardless of the slow start with World Coin offerings. We've also become great friends.

The PBG Collection consignor returns with a 20 piece better date lot of Liberty Seated halves that will ship later this week. These are mostly graded EF and AU by PCGS/NGC.

Grey Soldier also visited the bank box and retrieved some outstanding offerings for GFRC customers. More to follow on this topic in an upcoming blog.

Global Financial News

Spot gold is flat at $1318/oz while spot oil sits at $43/bbl. The financial world is awaiting news from Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan meetings with the primary focus being on interest rates. Oil prices are now sub $45 due to oversupply from Saudia Arabia. Britain's new Prime Minister, Theresa May, is already focused on maintaining historical United States/United Kingdom relationship as she deals with Brexit. And finally, package shipping rates will be increasing in 2017 at FedEx and UPS. I expect that USPS will also take the opportunity to increase their rates slightly.

U.S. futures are heading higher as traders focus on the upcoming policy announcements from the Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan. While the Fed is widely anticipated to leave interest rates unchanged, expectations for the BOJ are more mixed, with investors split on whether it will cut rates further into negative territory, alter its bond purchase program or signal a shift in monetary policy. Both decisions will come tomorrow.

Oil prices are trading lower amid fears of oversupply in the crude market. According to Venezuela's energy minister, global supplies will have to come down by around 10% from a current 94M bpd for output to meet consumption levels. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia keeps pumping... the world's biggest oil exporter produced 10.6M bpd in July, rising by more than 120K from June and hitting a fresh high, but the kingdom's output may have dipped slightly in August.

Downing Street met Wall Street late Monday as Theresa May landed in New York to consult with some of America's largest firms over how her country should proceed with Brexit. The prime minister held two gatherings: a roundtable discussion with big investors in the U.K. including Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), BlackRock (NYSE:BLK), IBM, and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN). She then hosted a reception for about 60 American executives, as well as British businesses that invest in the U.S.

FedEx will raise shipping rates starting next year, including an average increase of 3.9% at its air-shipping Express division and 4.9% for its ground and home-delivery services. The shipping giant's plan comes after UPS unveiled an average rate increase of 4.9% to help pay for system upgrades and expansion. Starting in February, FedEx (NYSE:FDX) also will adjust its fuel surcharges weekly instead of monthly.

Featured Coins of the Day

We head back to the United States gold price list this morning to showcase small denomination gold with CAC approval. The GFRC gold price list has grown substantially with nearly 120 coins being offered.

  

  

  

Thank you for visiting the Daily Blog today. I'm off to deal with overnight email orders, then packing and shipping, issuing consignment checks and then priming 30 pieces of red cedar clapboard along with more coin photography. Oh, GFRC consignors would enjoy some incremental orders also if you are so inclined. Have a great day!

 

September 19, 2016

Another Monday and work week arrives at the Daily Blog as we move deeper into Autumn.

Southern Maine days are growing shorter with darkness outside the GFRC office window while writing this Blog edition. Much needed rain is at hand but the timing is less than optimum. Whitney Tree and Landscaping should arrive shortly towards replacing a disintegrated pressure treated wood retaining wall with specially fabricated stone system. Travis, the painter, is scheduled to power wash the eastern side of the Fortin home. Once the power washing is complete, we can determining the amount of red cedar clapboard replacement, start ordering bundles and then priming for Doug's installation. The GFRC Maine office will be a beehive of activities this week.

Unfortunately, there is no Client Gallery to illustrate today's Blog edition. I took a much needed Sunday evening off to watch a portion of the Red Sox - Yankee game and then listened to music in the sound room. Living a fast paced life with a constant list of things to do does impact one's psyche. Watching a slow pace baseball game with between inning commercials was downright boring. I made it through the 3rd inning before moving on to the sound room for some critical listening and the mental stimulation that it provides.

GFRC Consignment Update

West Texas Collection Part 2 prices have been settled so a nice lot of Capped Bust dimes, Seated dimes and Capped Bust quarters will be reaching the price list today. The Upstate New York Collection consignment has also reached the top of the priority list and will be receiving my attention.

More consignment proposals are arriving. In particular, I'm pleased to announce that the Port Matilda Collection consignor joins the GFRC community this week. This is an individual who followed the familiar path; collecting as a child and quiting when a teenager. He starting collecting coins again about five years ago and went through the typical learning cycle of mistakes; overpriced and cleaned coins but realized that slabbed coins with CAC approval minimized risks and brought peace of mind. With a certified collection of over 200 pieces, this collector wishes to realign his collecting goals and will employ GFRC to sell his unwanted pieces.

Following is the first offerings from the Port Matilda Collection. Please note the substantial amount of PCGS Old Green Holders and CAC approval. This is an important opportunity for GFRC customers.

1/2c: 1826 PCGS VF25
Indian 1c: 1902 PCGS MS65RB CAC
2c: 1864 Large Motto PCGS MS63BN OGH CAC (OGH)
Liberty 5c: 1907 PCGS MS63 OGH CAC
Bust 10c: 1834 Lg 4 PCGS PCGS EF40
Draped 25c: 1806 PCGS F15
Capped 25c: 1821 PCGS VG8 CAC
Seated 25c: 1853 A&R PCGS AU55 CAC
Standing 25c: 1917 Type I PCGS MS65FH
Draped 50c: 1807 PCGS F15
Seated 50c: 1853-O A&R PCGS EF40 OGH CAC (OGH) XF40
Barber 50c: 1914-S PCGS VF30 CAC
Trade $1: 1877-S PCGS VF35 CAC
Gold $2.5: 1903 PCGS MS63 OGH CAC; 1926 PCGS MS60 GOLD CAC

GFRC New Purchases

More collectors are starting to also contact me with outright purchase opportunities. During the weekend, a GFRC customer offered 1846 (Good 4 with bold rims and strictly original) and 1881 (VF20 crusty original gray) Liberty Seated dimes. Both were sold to the customer in ANACS Yellow holders but were cracked out for album insertion. A purchase deal was reached and these will arrive this week. If interested, please contact me as favorable pricing will be offered for a quick sale.

Global Financial News

We start the week with spot gold at $1317/oz. Global bond debt is exploding as companies take advantage of "rock-bottom borrowing costs." Germans are also starting to use the political route to express anger with globalization, taking an anti-immigrant position and protesting TTIP. Isn't it interesting that the citizenry of two of the most productive countries on the planet are expressing fears for increased globalization and massive trade deals? Finally, China also continues to experience excessive credit growth according to the Bank of International Settlements. Oh and yes, today starts the two day Federal Reserve meeting; to raise or not to raise interest rates.....

Global bond issuance is running at its fastest pace in nearly a decade as companies, countries and U.S. agencies such as Fannie Mae (OTCQB:FNMA) and Freddie Mac (OTCQB:FMCC) binge on debt. According to Dealogic, a total of $4.88T of debt has been sold since the year began as issuers take advantage of rock-bottom borrowing costs. The figure is a hair below that of 2007, when $4.91T of bonds were issued during the same period.

Angela Merkel's CDU party has suffered its second electoral blow in two weeks, slumping to its lowest level since 1990 in a regional state election in Berlin. Voters turned to the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany, which with 12.9% of the vote will enter its 10th regional assembly among the country's 16 states. Ahead of the election, hundreds of thousands of Germans took to the streets in seven cities throughout the country, in protest of the TTIP and CETA trade deals.

Excessive credit growth in China is signaling an increasing risk of a banking crisis in the next three years, according to the Bank of International Settlements' quarterly review. The central bank of central bankers also called the recent equity rally "more stick than carrot," but stopped short of warning of a bubble, with policy makers questioning whether market prices fully reflect potential risks.

Featured Coins of the Day

Back to the Liberty Seated half dollar price list this morning to feature some great offerings from the United States Reconstruction era. Locating and selling quality coins is paramount at GFRC.

  

  

Travis has arrived and time to wrap up today's Daily Blog edition. Thank you for visiting and wishing all readers a great week.

 

 

September 18, 2016

Welcome to the Daily Blog on a quiet Sunday morning. I'm so pleased that you could drop by and view the latest GFRC Client Gallery and read these ongoing ramblings.

We are in for a treat this morning as Poetic Candy has consigned an eclectic group of gold pieces for your consideration. Now is the time to be building up gold holdings as personal financial insurance. GFRC is so pleased to offer this beautiful array of early commemorative gold, Martha Washington First Spouse proof and business strikes, United States gold eagles including an 1925 NGC MS65 double eagle and even an Isle of Man gold one Angel. Most are graded by NGC which has a proven record with gold certification. Following are 12 of the 18 Poetic Candy offerings. The balance will be added to the Client Gallery throughout the morning. All offerings are priced and will be found on the GFRC price lists later this afternoon. It is with great pleasure that the following Poetic Candy Gold Store Consignment is presented!

Poetic Candy Gold Store Consignment - September 18, 2016

    

    

    

    

In honor of the release of the Poetic Candy Gold Store, the poet himself forwarded the following thoughts for the occasion.

FORTUNATE

Good fortune we are taught,
Comes to those who toil and strain,
And work their whole life through.
I will not ever doubt that,
Because I’ve seen it happen,
And I believe that it is true.

They take a wife, and children,
And their fortune grows into yet a larger pile.
And I’ve seen when they come home from work at night,
And fall right into bed, each with a tired smile.
People toiling, struggling,
And enduring endless hours of strife,
To pick up that good fortune and have a better life.

And with that fortune they had gathered, near the very end,
They seemed to die of happiness,
With good fortune that they could not spend.

Well, as for me, it is so sad, for I have never worked or toiled,
And have had much too easy of a life,
I have never had good fortune,
Or had to go through any strife.

My life was filled, ----- with nature, art and culture,
And things like that I had to bear,
While those whom had good fortune got to suffer for their share.

My good friends now, unfortunately,
Are buried and quite dead,
I wish I had not won that lotto,
I could be with them instead.

Thoughts on Poetic Candy Consignment

As I photographed and processed the Poetic Candy gold pieces, it became clear that even though all pieces were struck on gold alloy planchets, the coloring and surface finishes could be so different. Die preparation techniques and finishes have a significant impact on the beauty of the struck product. For example, I have the 2007-W proof Martha Washington (.999 gold), the 1999-W Washington proof $5 (0.900 gold), and the 1984 Isle of Man proof one angel (0.917 gold). Each were struck with proof finished dies but the coloring is different, especially the Isle of Man one angel. Business strikes also present different finishes along with United States gold bullion pieces.

Photographing modern proof cameo silver and gold coinage is especially challenging due to the contrasting dark fields and lighter main devices. Any aberration on the TPG holder (plastic haze or spot) immediately transfers directly to the dark field as a white spot. As a result, I must carefully compare each coin and image and then manually edit out the spots to provide a true view of the numismatic item. For the Poetic Candy Gold Store consignment, I did my best to remove the most obvious TPG holder issues.

Closing Summary

Once again, thank you for stopping by at the Daily Blog this morning. I arose early to complete the Poetic Candy image processing and building the above Client Gallery. It is already 8:30am and time for a second cup of coffee and maybe time to relax for a few moments before taking on another GFRC project of the day. Being a sole proprietor is fun but one can get caught up in the business leaving little time for relaxation. Listening to one passage from Poetic Candy's morning poem may be in order.... And with that fortune they had gathered, near the very end, They seemed to die of happiness, With good fortune that they could not spend.

Take care, have a great Sunday and I will be back on Monday morning with another edition of the Daily Blog.

 

 

September 17, 2016

Greetings on a Saturday morning as September moves us deeper into the Autumn season.

Today's Blog edition will be brief due to a early morning commitment that arose Friday evening.

GFRC News

GFRC recognition as a leading dealer in quality Capped Bust, Libery Seated and United States gold coinage continues to grow. Friday brought three inquiries; a new consignment and two outright purchase proposals. A favorable response was provided to the consignment proposal (early type coin set being broken up) and these coins will be arriving within a week. In terms of purchases, I'm pleased to announce the purchase of an 1839 No Drapery Liberty Seated half graded NGC AU53 CAC. Surfaces are uniform medium gun metal gray on this important type coin. FRoR is in order.

Consignment Update

After the morning commitment, the balance of the day will be focused on completing pricing recommendations (and consignor approval) for West Texas Part 2 coins and loading the balance of Osprey Part 2 silver coinage to the price list. If time allows, I hope to have a portion of Poetic Candy's gold consignment prepared as a Client Gallery for the Sunday Blog. As you can imagine, Poetic Candy has provided several poems for the occasion.

Featured Coins of the Day

Only two coins are featured this morning due to time constraint. These two United States gold offerings are important pieces. The 1914-D PCGS MS64+ CAC quarter eagle is an excellent value given that examples graded MS65 are selling at auction for double the GFRC asking price. A coin graded MS64+ with CAC approval definitely overlaps the MS65 grading distribution. In hand, this piece is simply spectacular. Speaking of spectacular, the 1862 PCGS MS64 CAC $3 Princess is a wonderful gem. Yes, this piece has been in GFRC inventory for some time. If there is potential interest, please make me an offer as the Woodlands consignor would like to redirect monies into building his Liberty Seated Dime collection.

  

Thank you for stopping by. I will be back on Sunday morning with a more comprehensive Blog. Have a great weekend.

 

September 16, 2016

Welcome to the Daily Blog on a beautiful Autumn day in southern Maine. Another week flies by but considerable progress on multiple projects.

I'll start the Blog by pointing out that if/when mentioning politics during the morning composition, emails arrive to the Inbox concerning the conservative position. Some are supportive while others challenge the commentary. The Blog is available for the planet to read and everyone is welcomed. I have a belief that being true to one's self is paramount and will express thoughts, on occasions, consistent with a conservative nature; but apply caution given the polarized nature of United States politics driven by the media. I respect the right of every human being to believe in what they wish and do not seek to alienate any GFRC customers.

Having said that....

The homestead renovation project made great progress this week. If you scroll down to the September 10 Blog and compare with the following image, the progress is dramatic. Travis and Doug are well known as being two of the best contractors in the Sebago Lakes region. The eastern side of the house will undergo inspection this afternoon for clapboard replacement needs. Both Doug and Travis have other customers to service and developing a concise plan to complete the east facing side of home is today's priority. Also note the beautiful blue Maine sky that frames the house.....

 

GFRC Consignment News

Good progress is also being made on the multiple consignments that arrived last week. All consignments are loaded in the COIN database and are photographed. I spent Thursday processing West Texas Collection Part 2 images and the balance of the Osprey Collection consignment images. Osprey pricing recommendations are completed and expect approval today. Below are the West Texas Collection's Capped Bust dimes, Seated dimes and Capped Bust quarters for your review and potential FRoR. These will be priced today and loaded to price list during weekend.

West Texas Collection Consignment Part 2 - September 16, 2016

    

    

    

    

Ernie Botte contacted me concerning taking a table at the Nashua, NH show this Sunday but decided to pass due to the consignment backlog and simply needing some time off after a thoroughly busy week.

Global Financial News

Yesterday brought a number of weak economic index reports for the United States economy with the pendulum moving towards no interest rate increase at next week's Federal Reserve meeting. Stocks were in a rally mode as a result.

Consumer price inflation and consumer sentiment are on tap for markets today, the last in a series of economic gauges ahead of the Fed's closely watched September policy meeting. Stocks posted a broad rally on Thursday as traders decided that disappointing August retail sales, a flat reading on producer prices and weaker-than-expected industrial production dimmed the likelihood of an upcoming rate hike.

We don't often hear much about the state of the Russian economy but inflation is a important issue driving 10% interest rates.

In a widely expected move, Russia's central bank has cut its main interest rate by 50 bps to 10% amid a slowdown in inflation. Russia's economy has been hit over the last couple of years by economic sanctions as well as a drop in oil prices. The ensuing capital flight and drop in the ruble caused consumer prices to rise dramatically; however, inflation has recently gotten closer to the Bank of Russia's target of 4%.

Spot gold is being quoted at $1315 this morning. A quick look at the KITCO 5 year technical chart indicates gold's current pricing has touched the 60 moving average and remains well above the 200 day moving average. This chart remains typical of an upward moving rally.

Featured Coins of the Day

Let's try something different today for the Featured Coins segment. How about a sneak peak at two awesome Liberty Seated "Philadelpha Civil War" offerings from the Osprey Collection. On the left is a rare 1867 half dime graded PCGS MS65+ CAC and, on the right, is an 1864 PCGS MS64 CAC half dollar. Either peice would fit nicely into the finest numismatic cabinets.

  

OK, that is a wrap for today's Blog. As always, thanks for stopping by. I'm off to the packing and shipping department as a host of checks arrived yesterday. See you tomorrow morning and have a great Friday.

 

September 15, 2016

Greetings on the half way point mark in September and Thursday roadside trash pickup day.

As mentioned in Wednesday's Blog, the Maine foliage season is ahead of "normal" schedule due to the long dry summer. While taking the trash can and recycling to the top of driveway, I snapped a few images of a maple tree along the driveway at sunrise. The camera's shutter speed was only 1/60 so details will not be crisp. The image illustrates the bright red coloring and the long shadow of the house. Resurfacing the driveway will be a 2017 project after home painting and the stone retaining wall are completed this year. More Top 100 Varieties need to sell to fund the property improvements!

GFRC Consignment News

Unfortnately, the five day string of posting Client Galleries at the Blog comes to an end this morning. Last evening was consumed with an Osprey consignor call (finalizing gold coin pricing) followed by a call with the Saw Mill Run consignor and then posting the Flowing Hair and Draped Bust half dimes from the West Texas Collection. By 10:00pm, it was time for a double scotch and relaxation in the sound room as the day had started at 3:30am.

Speaking of the West Texas consignment, did readers noticed the collection introduction that accompanied his Client Gallery? I've made this option available and encouraging consignors to share their thoughts, acquisition history and pedigrees with GFRC customers as part of the divestment process. Whenever I purchase a coin, there is always that curiousity concerning the former owners. A GFRC customer picked up on this point and sent along the following observation. I could not have said it better.....

Just a quick note to say how much I am enjoying seeing the West Texas Collection roll out in the blog. The introduction that the consignor wrote was especially enjoyable, as it gives a nice window into how the collection was brought together and the provenance of some of the pieces. Even though I've never met this collector, if I were to buy some of the coins I would feel like I know him already. That makes the coin buying experience "feel" different than walking up to a stranger at a show or shopping online. It is one of the great things about the business model you have created - bringing collectors together like this. Thanks for your hard work!

Travis, the painter, brings a tow behind 55' lift to paint the western facing house peak and Doug needs to continue replacing red cedar clapboard above the sunroom.

Suggested Reading: Byron King's A Historical Gold Reversal Just Occurred. Here’s What it Means...

Byron King is one of the Daily Reckoning contributors. His expertise is mining and oil exploration and will comment frequently on emerging trends for precious metals, uranium and the oil patch. In Tuesday's Daily Reckoning newsletter, he published an article that caught my attention and is definitely worth reading if actively purchasing gold as a financial hedge. The article is entitled A Historical Gold Reversal Just Occurred. Here’s What it Means... and points out that Western demand for physical gold has increased for the first time in two years as the West has been exporting its gold to the East (China and Russia). Bryon makes this point with a supporting graph.

In May, the U.S. imported more than 50 times the monthly average amount of gold, as compared to the past. The most interesting thing?

This year, investor demand was the largest component of gold demand for two consecutive quarters (Q1 and Q2) – the first time this has ever happened. This means that more and more U.S. investors are diversifying their assets into gold. They are looking for ways to protect themselves from the monetary tricks that central banks are experimenting with around the world.

We’re familiar with those tricks here at the Daily Reckoning. The biggest two are the war on cash (see yesterday’s DR issue on that topic) and negative interest rates. The truth is governments don’t want people holding currency on the sidelines of the economy. Governments desperately want people to spend their money as fast as they make it. They know that the global economy is fundamentally weak, even as they try to convince the rest of us otherwise.

Byron then provides a graph that I had not seen before; the alarming trend in the amount of global debt that yields negative interest rates.

I would invite you to read the entire article as the global complex is complicated and having basic knowledge of physical gold movement trends is important. Byron also goes on to discuss the "peak gold" concept and his belief that the mining gold supply will continue to become more costly to explore and extract leading to a reduction of new supply in the coming years.

Featured Coins of the Day

Liberty Seated dimes continue to be the primary GFRC product line. Probably no one in the numismatic business (other than the auction houses) sells more Seated dimes than GFRC. Following are some excellent examples from the AU-Mint State pricelist seeking new homes.

  

  

Thank you for stopping by at the Daily Blog. Another busy day lies ahead so best to get into the packaging and shipping department early. I will be back tomorrow with more ramblings. Have a great day!

 

 

September 14, 2016

Welcome to the Daily Blog on a Wednesday morning.

Autumn foliage colors are quite noticeable this morning as I peer out the office window. Birchs are starting to show some patches of yellow as temperatures continue their cooling trend. Thursday high temperature is currently forecasted at only 68 degrees with the potential for more high 60s during the weekend. I love this time of year as the air is crisp and the insects are quickly disappearing.

Lots of progress has been made this week on the exterior renovations. The mobile lift schedule shifts to Thursday/Friday as the reserved lift broken down on another job and an alternate from Bridgton was reserved at the last minute. Yes, I spent Tuesday afternoon priming more red cedar clapboard but this may be the last batch.

GFRC Consignment News

The consignment backlog is a reminder of the trust being placed in me to execute the GFRC business model. Each consignment is a precious opportunity and delivering quality images, descriptions and, of course, sales results are paramount. I arose quite early this morning (3:30am) and processed the gold portion of the Osprey consignment. Memories of very late night and early morning conference calls with China staff were going through my head as I tuned the images to perfectly match the coins in hand. The images turned out well as more subtle optimization tricks are acquired and installed into the image processing flow.

This is another top quality gold consignment from the Osprey collection. You will note that most pieces are CAC approved including the 1839-O PCGS EF45 CAC $2.5. I really like the 1849-O NGC AU58 CAC $1 piece and the 1891-CC NGC AU58 CAC half eagles due to the old time color along with being the perfect AU58 collector grade. Prices have not yet been finalized but hope to close this action item by end of day.

Osprey Collection - Gold Consignment - September 14, 2016

    

    

    

  

GFRC Consignment News Continued

I'm pleased to report that asking prices for the Part 1 offering of the West Texas Collection have been settled. This lot will be heading to the price list during the afternoon hours. The Flowing Hair and Draped Bust half dimes, thought having issues, are still an opportunity collecting opportunity and will be priced fairly to sell. The consignor and I are realistic concerning the technical impediments in today's market.

If all goes to schedule, Thursday will bring attention to the Poetic Candy gold consignment along with Part 2 of the West Texas Collection (Capped Bust dimes and Bust/Seated quarters).

The large gold deal mentioned in yesterday's blog has been completed and I'm anticipating the shipment to arrive before the weekend. This gold deal is approximately 40 pieces of modern $5 commemoratives in MS/PF69 and MS/PF70 grades with Shanghai being the targed market. Already, I've received a substantial order from one new customer located by Harry Zhang.

Global Financial News

There seems to be a momentum shift in the United States presidential election and the upcoming initial debate could be one of the most watched events in political history. The "basket of deplorables" statement is the epitome of the polarized candidates and electorate. It is common place and acceptable for candidates to insult each other but extending those insults to the citizenry is a significant milestone.

Seeking Alpha headlines are less than exciting this morning. Spot gold sits at $1326/oz. The Bank of Japan is touting its negative interest rate program and planning more of the same as it exhausts asset buying options. Greece is back in the headlines with compliance issues concerning IMF bailout monies. We've seen both the BOJ and Greek movies many times over. Have you ever wondered what the global central bankers see as the end game for ongoing debt proliferation? Capitalism is being turned upside down with ZIRP and NIRP. The old philosophy of saving/investment has been replaced with debt/consumption. The debt bubble will eventually burst; the question is when.

The BOJ plans to make negative interest rates the centerpiece of future monetary easing, promising to weigh further cuts as expansions to its already massive asset buying near their limits, the Nikkei reports. The central bank adopted the controversial policy in February to hit its 2% inflation target, but the move's unwelcome side effects have been a stronger yen and pressure on financial institutions from thinner margins.

Greece will tell creditors it cannot comply with labor reforms demanded by the IMF as a condition of its support for the country's third bailout, Labor Minister George Katrougalos told Reuters. At issue is a ban on the right of workers to negotiate wages and conditions on a collective basis. A breakdown with the IMF could jeopardize its financing of the €86B bailout and undermine overall confidence in the accord.

Featured Coins of the Day

GFRC has been actively bulking up its Capped Bust half dime price list with numerous quality offerings. These minor silver pieces are a great value when considering mintages and market prices. Following are a few recommended pieces.

  

  

So ends another edition of the Daily Blog. I'm off to the packaging and shipping department followed by another day of writing description and processing images. Thank you for stopping by.

 

September 13, 2016

Greetings on a bright sunny Tuesday morning and thank you for visiting with me this morning.

The Boston Red Sox are on an offensive tear and have a two game lead over Baltimore and Toronoto towards winning the AL East. Big Papi hit his 33rd of the season and career 536th to tie Mickey Mantle on the all home run list. David Ortiz is having an amazing year and will he really retire after the 2016 season? I can't imagine the Boston Red Sox without Big Papi as an incredible home town favorite and so instrumental in healing Boston after the marathon bombing.

Closer to home, the external renovations are moving forward. More red cedar clapboard was primed yesterday and another bundle arrives today. The mobile lift is back on Wednesday and Thursday with substantial progress expected by end of week. I still need to find time to finish burning the massive brush pile and then start moving firewood into the garage for another winter season.

GFRC News

The numismatic business continues to fire on all cylinders even though we find ourselves in September. As mentioned previously, September and December are the two slowest months of the year and GFRC is working hard to overcome those dips in the schedule. Discussion are underway for a substantial $5 modern commemorative gold deal targeted for the China market and ideal for the upcoming Shanghai show. More to come once the deal is completed.

Matt, our IT Director, is making good progress on his secret development project while in Beijing. If all goes to plan, we will target the release of a ground breaking collector friendly application by Thanksgiving timeframe. A GFRC customer has volunteered to be the early adopter and will debug the application with Matt. No numismatic dealer, other than GFRC, will have this function and capability. Once this application is completed and stable, Matt will begin work on yet another online application that will differentiate GFRC from traditional coin dealers.

GFRC Consignment News

So far this week, there have been no new consignment proposals. I'm breathing a sigh of relief as the current backlog is being absorbed and processed. Great progress is at hand as the Osprey consignment is in the pricing evaluation phase and the West Texas Collection starts rolling out today. The West Texas Collection is so large that I've decided to separate the Client Gallery marketing into three phases. First are the 3 cent silvers and half dimes. Second will be dimes and Capped Bust quarters and the final group will be Seated quarters, Capped Bust an Seated halves and a lone Seated dollar.

Below is the first installment of the West Texas Collection including a high grade run of Flowing Hair and Draped Bust half dimes. The consignor wrote the following introduction and wishes to share with GFRC friends.

The West Texas Collection is a large accumulation of Bust and Seated coins formed by a Professor who has been collecting for over 30 years. Many of the coins were assembled in the 2000-2010 time frame in the northeastern states before his career took him to the Lone Star State. This consignment consists of some duplicates and several coins in series that he no longer intends to collect, as he has decided to focus his efforts on building better sets in three particular series. The early half dimes featured in this consignment were obtained from an old estate collection. They have likely not been offered for public sale since some time before 1960. The prospective buyer with a good numismatic library might enjoy researching old auction catalogues dated prior to 1960, as some of the coins in the accumulation were obtained from famous sales like the Anderson-Dupont sale of 1954. While these coins have some issues, it is unusual to find a group of Flowing Hair and Draped Bust half dimes with this level of detail. The group of half dimes featured was housed in an old Wayte Raymond album for decades, and the 1794 and 1795 have acquired the classic Wayte Raymond album toning as a result. The astute collector should note the inclusion of an 1803 Small 8, LM-1 (V-3), an R6 variety that does not price much higher than a common 1803. In addition, the 1805 is a well-detailed example of a surprisingly rare date that is seldom offered for sale. While these coins have some damage, a lot of collectors might prefer an AU58 details coin to a well-worn specimen at the same price. They will be priced accordingly, presenting an opportunity to acquire some truly rare Early Type material that looks like it should have cost a lot more. The consignment also contains some lower priced items that were obtained from various sources over the years that no longer fit into the consignor's collection.

West Texas Collection Consignment Part 1 - September 13, 2016

    

    

    

   

Global Financial News

Spot gold remains range bound at $1331 this morning while crude oil sits at $45/bbl. The lead Seeking Alpha headline is more of the same; will the Fed raise rates at its September 20-21 meeting? China's economy appears to be avoiding "the hard landing" as the country shifts from export centric model to internal consumption. Finally, oil demand is slowing according to the International Energy Agency. Oil prices may be stuck at the sub $50/bbl for some time to come.

So what happened at Fedspeak yesterday? Fed Governor Lael Brainard said she wanted to see a stronger trend in U.S. consumer spending and evidence of rising inflation before the Fed raises rates, while Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart said that economic data warrants a serious discussion about the speed and path of future hikes. The result: Policymakers will go into the September meeting pretty divided.

China's economy picked up steam last month, as demand rebounded thanks to higher government spending and a year-long credit and property boom. Industrial output rose 6.3%, retail sales expanded by 10.6% and fixed asset investment was unchanged at 8.1%, beating expectations across the board in August. While economic activity in China has cooled this year, it now appears less at risk of a hard landing than feared in 2015.

Global oil demand growth is slowing at a faster pace than first thought, according to the International Energy Agency, which warned that investors would have to wait "a while longer" for markets to rebalance. "For 2016, a gain of 1.3M bpd is expected," the IEA said in its latest market update, equating to a downgrade of 100K bpd from its previous forecast. The prediction will be worrying for oil markets at a time when a delicate rebalancing of supply and demand was thought to be taking place.

Featured Coins of the Day

Adding $20 gold double eagles to a numismatic portfolio can also be a wise move in terms of financial insurance. A simple PCGS blue box will hold approximately $30,000 in gold at current spot prices plus the numismatic premium. I believe the upside potential is significant while the down side is limited at this time. Following are some combination numismatic and bullion $20 pieces on GFRC price list.

  

  

Once again, thank you for stopping by at the Daily Blog. Wishing everyone a pleasant Tuesday. Cheers!

 

September 12, 2016

Welcome to the Daily Blog on a beautiful Monday morning. Maine weather has settled into a seasonal Fall pattern will cool evenings. As I write, it is only 45 degrees with cloudless blue skies. Given the ongoing lack of rain this year, I expect that Fall foliage colors will arrive early along with being bright. The large maple along the driveway is already showing crimson reds and red brown leaves cover the top portion of the burning bushes (winged euonymus). The next round of Maine and New Hampshire tourism (leaf peeping) may be early this year.

In terms of the Fortin homestead, Travis and Doug return today. Doug will complete more red cedar clapboard replacement while Travis becomes the main actor through the end of September. A mobile lift arrives again on Wednesday and Thursday. Next Monday brings a small excavator to remove 4-5' of driveway asphalt to enable the installation of a stone retaining wall.

GFRC Consignment News

Posting of the Saw Mill Run Seated quarters and the Seal Beach halves was the weekend highlight. Response was solid as many of the FRoR targets are sold. Regardless of initial sales, there are many remaining quality offerings to be considered. The Saw Mill Run 1845 PCGS AU55 Seated half is an example of an underated date worthy of serious consideration.

Progress continues to be made on consignments sitting in the GFRC queue. All consignments are photographed therefore sunshine is no longer an issue to slow down processing and posting. There are some incredible and diverse silver and gold coins arriving to the price list this week when considering the West Texas, Osprey, Poetic Candy and Upstate New York consignments. My sincere thanks go out to these individuals for trusting GFRC with their valuable holdings.

The Woodbridge consignor is new to GFRC and submitted a small Liberty Seated quarter lot. What became immediately appearance is the originality of pieces graded at the Fine level. These coins are atypical in today's market. Below is the initial Woodbridge Client Gallery. Please note the uniform medium and darker gray colors on better dates including 1848, 1851-O, 1852, 1867 and 1872-S. These will reach the price list today after morning packing and shipping.

Woodbridge Collection Consignment - September 12, 2016

    

  

 

Featuted Articles: John Mauldlin's Calling an Economic Audible and Mohamed A. El-Erian's This Market Selloff May Be Different

The equity markets had a sell off on Friday that did not garner much attention in the mainstream media given the 15th anniversary of 9-11 terrorist attack and the Hillary Clinton health event. The sell off was rather sharp given the current market's abnornally low volatility (just look at the VIX index). Also please remember that September and October are traditionally high risk months for the market. The sell off was a tributed to ongoing Federal Reserve banter about an interest rate increase. Why have interest rates, at ultra low levels, become such an issue?

Two articles arrived in my Inbox this morning. One is from an astute GFRC customer who has captured my concerns, voiced in the Daily Blog, for ongoing debt accumulation and the supporting ZIRP and NIRP environment. The other was an atypical newsletter from John Mauldin, whom I read religiously and respect. Both articles need to be shared this morning and we start with John Mauldin.

John's brief newsletter is entitled Calling an Economic Audible (fitting since the start of NFL season). This opening paragraphs well captures Mauldin's message but will be dismissed by many as simply alarmist and providing drama for his next newsletter.

I’ve spent the last few days working on what I think will be one of my most important newsletters ever. The more I researched and wrote, the more concerned I got at the direction our monetary and political authorities want to take us. The words I wrote led me to conclusions I could not believe.
Trying to prove myself wrong, I’ve spent hours on the phone and in person with some of my best sources. They think I’m right – which doesn’t make me feel any better.
The long and short of it is, our central bankers have set themselves up as the high priests of an economic religion. They hold certain doctrines on faith, and nothing will shake that faith. That’s the same impulse that drove ancient religious leaders to “policy decisions” like human sacrifice. The gods demand it, so it must be done. Too bad for all the victims.
The high priests of the global economy are so confident in their anachronistic dogma that they seem intent on sacrificing all of us, or at least those of us who depend on our savings and investments.
Time will prove the wizards of central banking wrong, but by then a lot of people will have been hurt.

Now we move to a Bloomberg News article by Mohamed A. El-Erian. Mohamed is an economic heavyweight as chairman of the President’s Global Development Council, and former chief executive and co-chief investment officer of Pimco. His article is entitled This Market Selloff May Be Different and provides a warning that global central bank ZIRP and NIRP programs have run out of gas. The ongoing liquidity (or stimulus) has been been leverage by corporations for stock buyback and dividend programs towards elevating equity markets to an unsustainable level. El-Erain summaries the article with the following closing statement;

Without a significant improvement in fundamentals, investors would be well-advised to remember that there is an impending limit to how much liquidity injections can protect markets from the underlying economic reality.

He makes four important points concerning the stimulus (debt) induced equity market prosperity since the 2009 Great Recession and ongoing pressure on central bankers to continue providing stimulus with NIRP and ZIRP. Global economic growth is anemic and stimulus programs offer dimishing returns for the risk.

1. It is unlikely that (economic) fundamentals will improve significantly any time soon. IMF Director Managing Director Christine Lagarde signaled last week that the IMF is again likely to revise downward its forecasts for global growth, a confirmation that the world economy remains fragile and uneven.

2. Politics and geopolitics aren't helping.
The political context in many Western countries is far from conducive to good and calm economic policy: The U.S. is in the final stretch of a contentious presidential election; in the U.K., the consequences of the Brexit vote in June have yet to become clear in terms of policy and institutional changes; Italy is facing its own defining referendum; Spain is struggling to form a government, and in Germany, the governing party of Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a humiliating local election defeat to the anti-establishment AfD party.

3. The usual antidotes to such market episodes are no longer as much of a certainty. The main reason is not that stock valuations have been ultra-cheap. They have not. It is that downward trends have been more than offset by liquidity injections, particularly those from share repurchases by corporations, including those with large amounts of cash on their balance sheets, and unconventional central bank policies that have involved sizable asset-purchase programs. Such liquidity injections, and the incremental market demand that comes with them, have delivered to investors a lot more than a boost in asset prices. They have consistently repressed volatility, encouraging many to take on more market exposure for each unit of allowable risk. And they have reduced the drag to risk-mitigating portfolio diversification. That's because both stocks and bonds have benefited from these purchases, thereby helping simultaneous price increases for both risk assets (such as stocks and high-yield bonds) and “risk-free” ones (such as U.S. and German government bonds).

4. The private antidote may also be less notable from now on. Stocks have benefited from enormous corporate cash injections, including $1.7 trillion in U.S. stock repurchases from 2012 through 2015, according to Goldman Sachs data cited in a recent Financial Times article. The windfall for investors has been amplified by consistently higher dividend payments.
Now, however, there are partial indications that slowing growth in both buybacks and dividends may become less of a potent force. According to Bloomberg data, average corporate cash cushions have shrunk to their lowest in three years as earning growth slows. The appetite of companies for financial engineering, including issuing bond to fund buybacks, may also be restrained by rising yields and uncertainty about future prospects.

Featured Coins of the Day

Today's featured coins do not have a theme rather this is just a nice group of quality coins that you might consider adding to your cabinet. All are priced under $350.

  

  

This has been a long edition of the Daily Blog but I do hope you were able to read through the entire offering. My goal is not to be an alarmist when offering economic commentary but rather raising awareness that current prosperity may be unsustainable in the longer term. Every reader should consider risks and take appropriate actions to mitigate those risks. For example, I am completely out of equities except for gold and silver mining stocks regardless of equities marching to record levels this year.

Have a great week! I'll be back tomorrow with more rambling and another consignment update.

 

 

September 11, 2016

Greetings on a Sunday morning. Fog draps the Raymond landscape with some occasional rain during early morning hours. Hopefully the weather will clear later in the day for more red cedar clapboard priming along with coin photography.

I was up early at 4:30am to complete image processing for the Seal Beach Collection halves. A commitment to get stuff done is taken seriously at GFRC even if it means adjusting one's schedule. Saturday brought a niece's (Emily) wedding, a lovely event, with the reception lasting until 9:00pm if you are over 50. As a result, the Seal Beach image processing was delayed requiring an early start this morning.

Just a few notes on wedding reception music. I am getting old as these events mostly feature hip hop or disco type bar music whereby everyone consumes ample alcohol and jumps up and down on the dance floor. It is rather entertaining for a few hours but then gets old. Modern day wedding DJs are in tune to those under 40 years of age while 1970s rock and roll is mostly ignored. So be it. Renee's wedding is currently being planned for 2018 and the Fortins plan to hire a well established Portland area 5 piece band. I'm looking forward to meeting with the band, in advance, and discussing the set lists to ensure music that is well balance for all ages. I can't wait to hear them play Guns and Roses' Sweet Child of Mine.

Back to coins....

GFRC Consignment News

The latest Seal Beach Liberty Seated half dollar consignment is featured in the following Client Gallery and is also posted on the price lists. There are multiple FRoR on these spectacular halves. My apology for using Choice and the occasional Gem quality ratings but these pieces are deserving. When a well establish advanced collector decides to move along some duplicates, the outcome is mostly choice and gem pieces reaching GFRC. One glance at the Seal Beach Client Gallery will confirm my evaluations. There are some outstanding Seated halves in this lot. Look closely at the 1849-O OGH CAC that is a gem along with the 1862 PCGS AU55 CAC that is so underrated at this grade level. How about an 1857-S PCGS AU53 CAC example from the Strawberry Fields Collection to add a touch of rarity to the mix? Then there is a really sweet 1871-S graded PCGS AU55 CAC. What an offering this morning....

Seal Beach Collection Consignment - September 11, 2016

    

    

    

In Saturday's Blog, the Saw Mill Run Liberty Seated quarters were featured. This consignor also added several quality Seated halves to the shipment and I decided to feature those today with the Seal Beach Client Gallery. Below are two strictly original quality halves for your consideration. The 1840-O is crusty original and graded PCGS EF45 CAC while the underrated 1845 example is graded PCGS AU55. Just more great Liberty Seated halves for your consideration.

Saw Mill Run Collection Consignment - September 11, 2016

   

Next steps?

Writing descriptions for the Saw Mill Run and Seal Beach consignments is the immediate priority. Then my attention shifts to loading the West Texas consignment into the COIN database and starting the pricing evaluation. I'll also try to get the new Woodbridge consignment of Liberty Seated quarters priced and the images processed.

Finally, the Upstate New York consignment arrived on Saturday and will be unpacked today. All of my PCGS blue boxes are consumed with staging many consignments so to unpack the Update New York consignment, the Saw Mill Run and Seal Beach consignments must move to the inventory boxes. GFRC is starting to feel like a semiconductor factory shop floor. Pretty soon, I will need to implement Kanban work flow methodologies as GFRC continues to grow. Ok, what is Kanban Work Flow you might ask? Wikipedia defines Kanban as follows;

Kanban is a method for managing knowledge work which balances the demand for work to be done with the available capacity to start new work. Intangible work items are visualized to present all participants with a view of the progress of individual items, and the process from task definition to customer delivery. Team members "pull" work as they have capacity, rather than work being "pushed" into the process when requested.

Featured Coins of the Day

Let's pass on this Daily Blog segment this morning. Orders continued to arrive while at the wedding and those must be processed following by writing descriptions. Today will be another busy day.

Thank you for stopping by the Daily blog and for all the personal emails on various topics discussed during the past week. It warms my heart to know that so many of you are reading these rambling on a regular basis. I really need to get back to translating the Daily Blog into simplified Chinese but the workload is just enormous. We will see you on Monday morning with more offerings and commentary. Have a great Sunday.

 

 

September 10, 2016

Welcome to the weekend and another edition of the Daily Blog. There is much to share this morning and as always, thank you for stopping by.

Sunshine finally returned on Friday and I was like a kid at Christmas. Over 100 coins were photographed in multiple session and there are still another 70 to go today! Maine weather will returned to seasonal temperatures after an abnormally warm day on Friday with a high of 91 degrees.

Substantial progress is being made on the Fortin homestead as shown below. That is Travis on the great room roof (applying oil based primer on boards with peeling stain) and Doug with his back to the camera as a little shy. The image shows the southern facing side of the house and the amount of red cedar clapboard replacement that is taking place due to 31 years of constant sun exposure. The front deck is also in terrible shape from sun exposure and will be fully rebuilt as part of the project.

After several decades of international travel and living overseas, our homestead had been neglected and needed considerable attention. The Top 100 Seated Dime collection divestment is funding the project. The week of September 19 brings a stone retaining wall installation in conjunction with the painting project. More images will be forthcoming in the Blog.

GFRC Consignment News

The Saw Mill Run Collection of Liberty Seated quarters has arrived to the price list and the feeding frenzy is underway. Students of Liberty Seated coinage well understand the significance of having so many high circulate grade examples in one offering including rare Top 25 Varieties. Previously, one would see this type of lot at an major auction but the GFRC business model and process allows for an orderly fixed price list sale at market prices. Evaluation by a seasoned numismatist and GFRC quality ratings ensure that collectors have a low risk opportunity to upgrade their sets and return duplicates back to GFRC for divestment. Below are the Saw Mill Run quarters.

Sale Status as of Saturday morning.

The 1847-O and 1849-O quarters are sold with the 1840-O With Drapery Large O and 1856-O under FRoR consideration. The 1855-O is graded PCGS EF45 and is the CoinFacts plate coin with a market acceptable quality rating. Just try to find another at the EF or AU grade level! Please pay special attention to the 1858-S and 1860-O offerings as these are so original and worthy of consideration.

Saw Mill Run Collection Consignment - September 10, 2016

    

    

    

    

Continued GFRC Consignment News

The beautiful 18 piece Poetic Candy gold consignment arrives on Thursday and I was scolded by Doug, the mailman, upon delivery. To make a long story short, the Poetic Candy consignor is not technology savvy and printed the GFRC shipping labels undersized followed by using odd sized small boxes for transfer rather than standard USPS 2 Day Priority boxes. Of the three boxes, one had the label attached to the tiny box with a rubber band! OMG was the expression on my face and Doug's when he pulled the delivery out of his truck.

Poetic Candy wrote a poem for the occasion and shares today.....as a group, coin collectors are definitely special!

STUPID-SATISFACTION
There are those who’d say I am Savant,
And know not what I am or want.
A scholar, genius, pundit, sage,
Or from some odd old funny page.

There are others, who would call me guru,
But I with these would choose to argue.
And although At times I’m in a fugue, or distant daze,
My brain sees clearly,
Through the overhanging haze.

Though seemingly bedazzled, befuddled,
Or in some thoughtless trance,
I’ll trust you’ll stay here long enough,
And will not look askance,
For it is not by any happenstance,
That I have found you here,
For some intriguing strange romance.

Indeed, you too stand out,
And for me hold some strange attraction,
Proving that I still can see,
Although my brain is still befuddled,
And in a state of stupefaction.

Am I an idiot? Perhaps a moron?
A spent and fleeting nucleon?
Shot from some explosion?
And left to wonder on and on.

So be it, we might just call it fate,
But regardless what we call it,
You and I were meant to mate

The Seal Beach consignment is next in the queue for Client Galley posting and another feeding frenzy. Look for these beautiful halves on Sunday. After Seal Beach, we will move to the West Texas consignment of raw early type coins including Flowing Hair and Draped Bust half dimes. Other smaller consignments will also be fit into the process and featured early next week. The next 10 days will be quite exciting at the Daily Blog and no need to mention anything political.

Featured Coins of the Day

Today's featured coins are recent new purchases. GFRC is constantly looking for new purchases but against strict quality standards. Purchases for inventory must be strictly originality and garner a Choice or Gem quality rating. The 1830 Capped Bust dime is graded PCGS MS62 and offers incredible bright light viewing along with bold strike. The 1813 is the O-107 "Comb in Hair" variety with heavy die clashing and perfectly original surfaces. It is graded PCGS AU50 and heading to price list today. I'm in love with the 1871-S WB-2 PCGS AU58 CAC half as so original and attractive. We close out the group with an old time copper gold 1873-S NGC AU58 CAC $20 double eagle. This piece is an excellent value as prices jump dramatically in mint state.

GFRC New Purchases - September 10, 2016

  

  

It is great to have you visiting the Daily Blog. Have a great weekend and hopefully, the Seal Beach halves will be published on Sunday morning. Take care.....

 

September 9, 2016

Greetings on a Friday morning as another work week comes to a close.

My gratitude goes out to all of you for making the Blog a part of a daily routine. There are days when creativity is low and developing a morning theme is more on the spot inspiration rather than preparation. Discussing politics in never a good idea as the forthcoming election is so polarized. Responding to emails concerning alternative positions or challenging my comments would take away time from the core business of marketing and selling consignor coins. So I try to avoid any comments that could be political in nature.

But I do wish to share on observation on the political topic. I scan a considerable amount of news reports (NBC, FOX and BBC) each day to stay abreast of alternate views and positions. The content is taken in and internally evaluated given the ongoing media biases from both sides of political spectrum. I have my own view points, based on personal experiences while living on this planet and will occasionally express some concerns or even frustrations in the Blog. My ramblings are no different than the content provided by the media outlets....a view point to be considered or discarded. Those who feel the need to challenge my perspective via email are welcome to do so as another data point. But I don't have time to respond or engage on these topics. Every reader is free to ignore my comments if inconsistent with their own.

In terms of the Fortin homestead, Doug the contractor is making some progress on replacing nearly all the red cedar clapboard on the southern facing walls. He brings staging today to tackle replacement on the third story from ground level. More bundles of red cedar will also arrive for another priming session. I'll probably take some pictures today for tomorrow's Blog. Travis, the painter, is also due to spend the day priming the eastern portion of the house as clapboard replacement is completed.

GFRC Consignment Update

Maine weather is not cooperating and providing a cloudless days with bright sunshine. Frankly, I would be thrilled with a partly cloudly Friday even if it meant sitting around and waiting for breaks in the clouds to secure a portion of the required images. In the meantime, new offerings are being loaded with pricing and descriptions only and I will catch up on images when Mother Nature is supportive. One thing I will not do is degrade photography standards given the trust of so many consignors.

Following is a report on the consignments I've received this week given the many FRoRs. Your patience is appreciated.

Massachusetts Collection - This Seated dime lot is loaded on the price list with images and available for immediate purchase. Massachusetts coins were photographed prior to CONA trip. Please pay special attention to the 1878 Type I Reverse F-102 offering. This is a scarce and choice example and well worth the asking price. Already the 1864 PCGS PR62 dime is on hold.

Saw Mill Run Collection - These semi-key date Seated quarters are priced and ready to be loaded on the price list today. Several pieces are on FRoR.

Seal Beach Collection - Ditto here. Prices have been settled and will be loaded onto the price list today. Many of these are on FRoR as the quality is very high. The last time Seal Beach provided a consignment, there was a feeding frenzy with multiple individuals chasing the same halves. This time will be no different.

West Texas Collection - This broad offering of Flowing Hair, Capped Bust and Seated type coins is unpacked and will be loaded in COIN database today. This lot is completely raw and requires grading and transfer from consignor 2x2 and flips to GFRC flips.

Woodbridge Collection - This is a strong consignment at the F12/F15 grade level. These are loaded into COIN system with evaluation and pricing recommendations being the next step in the consignment sale process.

Osprey Collection - This consignor's lot is simply outstanding in terms of quality and arrived yesterday via Express mail. Next step is to load into COIN system.

Poetic Candy Collection - This consignment is in the shipping loop or close. There were some technical issue with printing and utlizing GFRC labels.

Global Financial News

Not a lot to share this morning other than the correlation between central bank stimulus programs and higher equity prices. Spot gold is back to $1338/oz. Here are a few Seeking Alpha headlines with some value.

Global equities are also lower after the European Central Bank held interest rates at record lows and refrained from adding new stimulus. While President Mario Draghi said the ECB was looking at options to continue its money-printing program, investors were looking for more immediate action, including an extension or expansion of the current plan, or at least clearer hints of future actions.

China's consumer price inflation slowed to its weakest pace in almost a year in August, although an encouraging moderation in producer price deflation added to growing evidence of a steadying economy. The CPI climbed 1.3% from a year earlier, compared with a 1.8% increase in July, while the PPI slipped 0.8% on-year, the slowest pace of decline since April 2012.

Wells Fargo fired 5,300 employees for running a bank account and credit card scam? How about the CEO given the magnitude and longevity of the deception?

Federal regulators say employees at Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) created millions of fake bank accounts and credit card numbers over the past five years in an illegal bid to boost their sales figures. The bank has been fined $185M for the practices, including a record $100M by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Wells Fargo has also fired at least 5,300 employees who were involved in the scam, sources told the NYT.

Featured Coins of the Day

Locating nice original better Liberty Seated quarters is most challenging. GFRC has been fortunate with several consignors offering quality pieces to continue fueling the growing collector base for this denomination. Following are Seated quarters that have a "choice" quality rating and are worthy of consideration.

  

  

  

  

So ends another edition of the Daily Blog. I can see some blue skies out the office window and pray for some clearing weather to allow for a substantial anount of photography. The Daily Blog without coin images can get rather boring...... See you tomorrow morning.

 

 

September 8, 2016

Good morning! Yet another roadside trash pick up day arrives as the weeks simply fly by.

Southern Maine is once again blanketed in dense fog with forecasted cloudy conditions throughout the day. Friday brings the first opportunity to photograph consignments and new purchases. The old Nikon camera is ready to go!

Yes, all of the red cedar clapboard is primed and will be installed today. Travis returns on Friday, once the damp air moves out and better painting conditions are at hand. The clapboard priming took five hours and glad to have this task behind me. But I'm sure they will be more clapboard replacement as the external renovation project moves along.

LSCC Update

The monthly LSCC leadership team meeting went smoothly, thanks to Len Augsburger's program management skills. The numismatic community will see wide ranging club outreach activities starting in October and ongoing through the balance of 2016 and early 2017. Here are some of the leadership team meeting and outreach highlights.

- The club is approaching 650 members after a strong recruitment effort by CONA President and LSCC Central Director, Stephen Petty at the annual CONA coin show.

- The LSCC, via Grey Soldier, will become a regular contributor to FUN Topics magazine. Look for the first Grey Soldier article in the next FUN Topics edition.

- Dennis Fortier and John Frost are hosting club tables at Rochester, Whitman Baltimore and Manchester NH shows.

- Gerry Fortin will be conducting educational seminars at Denver Coin Expo (Seated halves) and Winter FUN (Seated dimes).

- Whitman Baltimore regional meeting is in the planning stage with Len Augsbuger and John Frost attempting to coordinate a Liberty Seated denominational theme between the club table and the education portion of the meeting.

- The next Gobrech Journal will be published in November and includes club member dues renewal form, LSCC officer ballot and the annual Kam Ahwash best GJ article ballot. The LSCC officers are running for another term on an uncontested basis.

GFRC Consignment News

Given the large number of consignments that have or will arrive shortly. I will be working in a FIFO (First In First Out) basis to ensure that the leadtime from arrival to price list publishing is as short as possible. Today's Client Galley features a small Liberty Seated dime consignment from the Massachusetts Collection. This consignment was transferred at the recent Westford MA show and was photographed before traveling to CONA. Please note the 1864 PCGS PR62 dime and the 1878 Type I Reverse offerings.

Massachusetts Collection Consignment - September 8, 2016

    

    

This morning's consignment feature is from the Upstate New York Collection. I've spoken about this collector on several occasions as his specialty is Capped Bust and Liberty Seated coinage with pretty old album toning rather than key dates. Once consigned, his coins typically sell quickly as the eye appeal is high. This individual has launched a divestment program with GFRC given his age and the substantial collection size.

Following are the contents of the latest Upstate New York Collection consignment. I'm expecting shipment arrival on Friday.

Capped Bust 5c: 1837 NGC EF45
Seated 5c: 1842-O PCGS EF40
Liberty 5c: 1910 NGC MS63; 1912 PCGS MS61
Buffalo 5c: 1913 Type I PCGS MS64
Seated 10c: 1858 PCGS AU50
Capped Bust 25c: 1835 PCGS VF25
Standing Liberty 25c: 1917 Type 1 PCGS AU58
Draped Bust 50c: 1803 Lg 3 PCGS F12
Capped Bust 50c: 1812 ANACS VF20 OWH; 1822 PCGS VF25; 1828 PCGS EF45; 1831 NGC EF45
Early Commemorative 50c: 1934 Maryland NGC MS64; 1936 Arkansas NGC MS64; 1946 BTW ANACS MS65 OWH; 1952 Wash-Carv PCGS MS65

In Friday's Blog, we will showcase the upcoming Poetic Candy gold consignment. This consignment will be a high grade offering of modern commemorative gold along with some world gold coins. Please check back as the consignment will arrive on Friday.

Global Financial News

Spot gold is being quoted at $1353 this morning. Otherwise, the Seeking Alpha headlines are dull and not worth the time to share and comment upon. Global economic conditions do not change much on a day to day basis. Political jockeying concerning interest rates and stimulus efforts tend to secure the bulk of headlines and I grow bored sharing these.

Featured Coins of the Day

Let's close today's Blog with some early United States commemoratives. US Commems are a specialized collecting area with artistry and specialize themes. The market does not lack blast white examples in high grades. Instead, GFRC continues its efforts to purchase, or secure through consignment, more attractive toned examples. Following are some nice offerings for your consideration.

  

  

  

This concludes the Daily Blog and thank you so much for visiting with me. Writing a blog that remains interesting day in and day out is quite challenging. Sometimes, I will cross the line into political commentary and immediately the emails start pouring in. During the coming days, there will be so many consignments arriving, that the focus will remain on numismatics and global financial news. Have a great Thursday and yes, I'll be back on Friday morning with more ramblings.


September 7, 2016

Greeting on a Wednesday morning and thank you for stopping by the Daily Blog.

Maine weather continues to be influenced by Hurrican Hermine with thick clouds lasting through Thursday. At 5:30am, the Fortin homestead is surrounded by dense fog. GFRC photography is on hold for the next 48 hours as Friday is forecasted to return to bright sunshine. The Nikon Coolpix995 battery is charging and ready for a very long photography session that day.

Yesterday, I visited my favorite Portland coin shop after receiving a phone call from the owner. He has just purchased a small gold deal and is providing GFRC first access moving forward. Visiting with this individual and his staff is always a pleasure as the shop is one of the largest silver and gold buyers in Maine. The following group is a nice lot for collectors who still enjoy raw coins. These will be added to the price list during the coming week along with the substantial number of consignments. Here comes new purchases;

Seated 5c: 1872 EF45+ strickly original with frosty surfaces
Barber 10c: 1908 AU53 choice light gray; 1910 AU50 ditto...a nicely matched pair
Seated 25c: 1838 No Drapery ANACS EF40 accurately graded and so original; 1846 F15 perfectly original
Barber 25c: 1915 AU58 light golden toning and choice
Capped Bust 50c: 1827 O-120 R3 AU53 gorgeous old album toning
Seated 50c: 1871 EF45 perfectly original gun metal gray/blue
Morgan $1: 1898 MS64 with bold frosty luster
Gold $1: 1852 MS61; 1856 Slant 5 AU55
Gold $2.5: 1856 AU58 choice; 1873 AU58
Gold $5: 1909-D AU58 choice
Gold $10: 1913 AU58 choice with claim to higher grade

LSCC News

The LSCC leadership team conference call is scheduled for this evening. There will be a substantial announcement made at the meeting. The membership will be made aware of this development in the President's Message when published in the November Gobrecht Journal edition.

GFRC Consignment News

Time to feature the forthcoming Osprey Consignment contents as shipment will arrive by end of week. As usual, the Osprey consignor provides a broad range of quality offerings including small denomination CAC gold. Osprey is now the top GFRC consignor and his ongoing support and friendship is sincerely appreciated. His ability to dig out quality gold and silver pieces continues to evolve as demonstrated here.

Seated 5c: 1867 PCGS MS65+ CAC...wow!
Seated 10c: 1839-O F-104a PCGS MS63 RPM and horizontal die crack; 1850 ANACS AU50; 1889 PCGS MS65 CAC
Seated 25c: 1860 NGC AU55
Draped Bust 50c: 1806 PCGS EF40
Capped Bust 50c: 1829 O-108a ANACS AU50
Seated 50c: 1850-O PCGS AU50; 1858 PCGS AU50; 1864 PCGS MS64 CAC
Gold $1: 1849-O NGC AU58 CAC
Gold $2.5: 1839-O PCGS EF45 CAC; 1878 NGC MS62 CAC; 1905 NGC MS64; 1914-D PCGS MS64+ CAC; 1914-D PCGS MS63 CAC
Gold $5: 1891-CC NGC AU58 CAC; 1908 PCGS MS65 CAC; 1909-D PCGS MS63
Gold $10: 1893 NGC MS62
Gold $20: 1877-S PCGS AU55

Featured Topic; Liberal Media and Today's Boston Globe Edition

At times, it is difficult to be a conservative when daily newspapers, including the New York Times and Boston Globe, are published with a liberal biased. What is called "reporting" these days is a blatant bias towards liberal agenda. I opened today's Boston Globe electronic edition and there were the usual negative Trump stories (at least 1-2 per day) and a column discussing Elizabeth Warren's expectations when Hillary wins the presidency. But what really caught my attention was an article demonizing physical cash in circulation. The article is entitled The Case against Cash by Kenneth Rogoff. The usual justifications for removing cash from society were made; cash based crimes (bribes), tax evasion followed by employers paying illegal immigrants in cash. Yes, this author actually said the following....

Moreover, cash payments by employers to undocumented workers are a principal driver of illegal immigration. Scaling back the use of cash is a far more humane way to limit immigration than building barbed-wire fences.

I'm a tad sensitive this morning as Diane visited our local Bank of America branch to deposit CONA show cash and checks. Her experience is consistent with mine. If one walks into this branch, the tellers overtly behave as if you are criminal during a cash deposit. Diane had to provide her driver's license and social security number to make the cash deposit into GFRC account. But more disconcerting is the attitude of the tellers. Each check was inspected and if not made out exactly to Gerry Fortin Rare Coins, then they were refused for deposit but the same checks will be accepted via mobile or ATM deposit. I really don't know what is wrong with this branch office and hate entering the building. If not for the convenience of Venice Florida branches, I would be moving away from Bank of America as fast as possible.

Global Financial News

The "weak" United States job report appears to have lowered expectations for further interest rate increases during 2016. As a result, the dollar has weakened and spot gold is back to $1352/oz this morning. Can you imagine what would happen to gold prices if a full blown financial crisis were to occur given the ongoing debt bubble?

Today's leading Seeking Alpha headline is from none other than San Francisco Federal Reserve President John Williams as he advocates for interest rate increases. He predicts 2017 unemployment at 4.5% and increasing inflation. Really? Australia has not seen a recession in 25 years when "recession" is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative GDP. Per the definition, a major country's economy could be on a continuum with calculated GDP of 0.1 - 0.3% and officially not be in a recession. At that rate of growth, it would take 360 years to double the size of a country's economy but technically no recession....... Yes, I am so cynical this morning and my apologies!

It "makes sense to get back to a pace of gradual rate increases, preferably sooner rather than later," San Francisco Fed President John Williams announced late Tuesday in prepared remarks to the Hayek Group. He also said the economy was in "good shape," predicting unemployment, now at 4.9%, to fall to 4.5% in 2017 and inflation to rise to the Fed's 2% target in the next year or two.

Australia has now gone 25 years without being in recession, the second longest streak in the developed world. "But it is no time for complacency," said Treasurer Scott Morrison. "We continue to fight for every inch of growth." Official numbers from the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed seasonally adjusted Q2 GDP growth of 0.5%, a shade under forecasts of a 0.6% increase.

Let's wrap up the Daily Blog at this point. I have over 10 packages to ship followed by priming 45 pieces of 16" red cedar clapboard. It will be another busy day including the evening LSCC conference call. Have a great day!

 

September 6, 2016

Welcome to the Daily Blog on a short work week. Maine temperatures are seasonal with warm days in the high 70s. Unfortunately, the remnants of Hermine will bring cloudy conditions for the next several days and will delay new consignment photography. Instead of starting individual consignment marketing with a Client Gallery, I may have to load the consignments onto price lists with descriptions and catch up images when the weather improves.

After a long Monday, the GFRC office is caught up from the CONA show and emphasis will be on processing new consignments during the balance of the week. The Fortin home painting and clapboard replacement project restarts today (pending weather) and I will probably be priming more 12' red cedar clapboard throughout the week. Mid September also brings the stone retaining wall project. September will pass in the blink of an eye.

GFRC Consignment News

The recent Jim Poston consignment is available on price lists. Please note the nice run of choice $1 United States gold including an 1851-O graded PCGS MS62 CAC. Below is gallery of the Jim Poston offerings and the balance of Westford, MA show new purchases. Please pay attention to the lovely 1885 $1 gold piece that is accompanied by an old ANACS Photograde certificate and accurately graded as MS63/MS65. Surfaces are lightly mirrored.

Jim Poston Consignment & Westford New Purchases - September 6, 2016

    

    

    

 

The Woodbridge Collection Consigment

I'm pleased to announce a new consignor joining the GFRC fold. The Woodbridge Collection's focus is Liberty Seated quarters. This individual is in the upgrading process and is transfering the following duplicates today.

Seated 25c: 1848 PCGS F12; 1851-O PCGS F12; 1852 PCGS F12; 1867 NGC F15; 1872-S Reverse B, PCGS AG 3, CAC

Seal Beach Collection Consignment Update

Seal Beach has decided to add more offerings into his shipment and corrected one of the pieces. Two of these lovely forthcoming halves are already on FRoR. Following is an updated listing for your review;

Seated 50c: 1843-O PCGS AU58; 1843-O PCGS AU58 (yes there are two pieces); 1849-O PCGS AU50 OGH CAC very choice; 1850-O PCGS AU50 so underrated; 1853-O PCGS AU50 CAC choice; 1854-O PCGS MS63 untoned; 1856 PCGS AU50; 1857-S PCGS AU53 CAC an important opportunity; 1862 PCGS AU55 CAC superb toning and underrated; 1871-S PCGS AU55 CAC

Following are in process or planned consignments during September. Lots of quality coins to consider for your ongoing numismatic hobby. More Gerry Fortin Top 100 Liberty Seated dimes will also be intermixed with these consignments. September will be an exciting month for new inventory going into the busy Denver, Baltimore and Shanghai shows.

Massachusetts Collection - Eight piece lot of quality Liberty Seated dimes

West Texas Collection - Nearly fifty pieces of early type coinage, all being raw

Saw Mill Run Collection - Twelve PCGS certified semi-key Liberty Seated quarters as defined in the August 30 Daily Blog edition

Osprey Collection - A strong mix of United States gold $1, $2.5, $5 along with early type silver. The highlight is an 1839-O F-104a PCGS MS64 with bisecting reverse die crack and repunched date for advanced Top 100 collectors.

Poet Candy Collection - Eighteen gold pieces with dates being announced shortly in the Blog

Upstate New York Collection - In the definition phase and looking forward to consignment list. This collector's specialty is nicest toned Capped and Seated coinage.

Grey Soldier Collection - Forthcoming towards the latter part of September and always a pleasant surprise as to what emerges from the bank box.

Within a few weeks, it will be time to start soliciting consignments for the October timeframe.

 

Global Financial News

We start a short work week with spot gold being quoted at $1333/oz and resting on the 60 day moving average line per below Kitco 5 year technical chart. Gold's breakout remains technically sound.

A quick check into Seeking Alpha headline reveals that the much touted September interest rate increase is probably on hold due to a slightly below forecast United States job report. I'm always amazed at how US government statisticians and the Federal Reserve believe in the precision of their models and monthly reports. These are models created with a host of assumptions and a slight shift in an underlying assumption can cause substantial changes in the end calculation. So now an interest rate increase appears off the table before the elections. Are we surprised?

Shares across the globe have started the week in a positive mood after Friday's muted U.S. jobs report fueled expectations the Fed may refrain from raising interest rates later this month. "The unemployment report was not weak enough to completely undermine the Fed's hawkish bias since Jackson Hole. It was probably enough to see fence-sitters on the FOMC wait until December before voting to hike interest rates," wrote analyst Jasper Lawler at CMC Markets.

Communication from the closing G-20 summit in Hangzhou China had all the right words. This communique was probably written before the summit opened.......I'm in a cynical mood this morning.

We are determined to use all policy tools - monetary, fiscal and structural - individually and collectively to achieve our goal of strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth," heads of the world's top economies declared in a joint communique on Monday following a summit in Hangzhou, China. G20 leaders also reiterated their support for "international tax cooperation, a transparent financial system, environmentally sustainable growth strategies, and opposition to protectionism on trade and investment in all its forms."

Then there is Europe where the European Central Bank (ECB) is running out of suitable bonds to purchase along with no inflation in sight. If a program is not functioning as planned, then rational thought might be to diagnose the lack of response and consider fundamental changes. In Europe's and Japan's situation, it is double down time. And finally, Greece is slow to implement political reforms to secure more bailout monies.

The ECB has passed the €1T mark for its controversial purchases of government bonds, putting pressure on policymakers to address the scarcity of available assets when they meet in Frankfurt this week. Despite being well beyond the halfway point of the €1.7T program, inflation remains virtually non-existent. The latest figure from Eurostat showed euro area prices rising by 0.2% in the year to August - well below the central bank's inflation target of just under 2%.

The eurozone won't release additional bailout money for Greece at a meeting in Bratislava this month, sources told Germany's Handelsblatt Global. According to EU diplomats, Athens has only implemented two of 15 political reforms that are conditions for the bailout money. Above all, they said, Greece had been slow to privatize state assets.

Featured Coins of the Day

Let's close today's Blog with some $5 United States gold. As global debt mounts and central bankers along with politicians (who've passed the buck to the bankers) double down on stimulus and negative interest rates, holding gold in all denominations may be a wise move for any spare cash. At GFRC, I try to pick out quality pieces with a combination of numismatic and bullion value for customers.

  

  

This has been a long Daily Blog and time to quickly move into the packing and shipping department. We will see you bright and early on Wednesday morning with more ramblings. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your day!

 

 

September 5, 2016

Greetings from Maine on Labor Day Monday and thank you for stopping by the Daily Blog.

This morning's Blog edition is late thanks to Microsoft. Foolish me decided to allow Microsoft access to the laptop for their latest update. Well, this update took over an hour! Couldn't Microsoft provide a forecast for the amount of time necessary for their ongoing updates? Thank you for your patience this morning.

Sunday's return flights to Maine were uneventful. The Southwest early bird program worked like a charm and allowed exit row seating throughout the trip. Sunday's memorable experience was driving the Petty Maserati on Columbus I-270 and I-70 while returning to the airport. Below is a photograph of Stephen's car before the journey. It is an incredible feat of automotive engineering coupled with beautiful styling. I've seen a number of Ferraris in Shanghai and they were noisy and simply screamed race track. The Maserati is an elegant automobile with the same type of horsepower as a Ferrari but with sophistication.

Relaxing is the best way to describe the drive to the Columbus airport except for one moment of pure exhilaration. Securing a speeding ticket was not a priority, especially when heading to the airport with a flight to catch, so I drove at or slightly above the speed limits. Can you imagine a 4000 lbs vehicle cruising at 65 mph with the engine idling at 1500 rpm? Yes, this was the case. Stephen was growing a little bored and encouraged me to punch the gas pedal on a straightway to truly appreciate 550 hp. I touched the pedal with mild force and the Maserati accelerated from 65 to 100 mph in a heartbeat and still felt like the engine was idling. Amazingly, there was no feeling of being pushed back into one's seat as experienced in those older big block Chevy Cameros. The Maserati acceleration was silky smooth.

My life will never be the same after this experience. Driving the Toyota Avalon back home, with its powerful V-6, was a reminder of the special event in Dublin. Maybe I can trade some of my key date Liberty Seated dimes for a Maserati......;)

GFRC Consignment News

The consignment queue is overflowing with coins and will keep me busy for the next few weeks. While driving back from the Portland airport, I received a phone call from a new GFRC customer who decided it was time to sell his duplicates and wished to utlize the consignment program. More on his forthcoming consignment in Tuesday's Blog.

This morning, let's showcase the upcoming Seal Beach consignment of quality Liberty Seated halves. Seal Beach has an incredible eye for originality and eye appeal at the AU grade levels. Following are the halves that will arrive this week and your attention is recommended. FRoR is in order as these will sell quickly.

Seated 50c: 1843-O PCGS AU58; 1843-O PCGS AU58 (yes there are two pieces); 1850-O PCGS AU50 so underrated; 1857-S PCGS AU53 CAC and important opportunity; 1859 PCGS AU50; 1871-S PCGS AU55 CAC

Wrapping Up the Daily Blog

Let's end the Daily Blog at this point since I must unpack inventory and get the office back into operating condition. CONA show new purchases will be featured in Tuesday's Blog along with a schedule for processing and listing the numerous new consignments that are sitting on my desk. They include Jim Poston's consignment, the Saw Mill Run quarters, the massive West Texas consignment along with finalizing Silicon Valley descriptions and postings. Osprey and Seal Beach consignments will be arriving during the week. So best to get the GFRC office organized towards loading a substantial number of new offerings.

GFRC August sales exceeded that of 2015 and I expect that September will also be a strong sales month given the outstanding CONA show as a starting point. I will be updating the GFRC show schedule on the home page also along with individual Client Galley links today. There is so much to do!

Have a great Monday and look forward to seeing you bright and early on Tuesday morning. There will be no Microsoft laptop update so I should be back on regular schedule. Take care!

 

 

September 4, 2016

Welcome to a short edition of the Daily Blog for this Sunday morning. Today is a travel day with the journey starting late morning.

Saturday's highlight was driving Stephen's Maserati to the coin show. The distance is only three miles with the speed limit never exceeding 45 mph. By the way, the Maserati engine is a Ferrari V-10 and not a V-8 as previously stated in an earlier Blog. At one of the intersections where a right turn was required, Stephen placed the Maserati into sport mode. From a standstill, I touched the gas pedal and started the turn. Within 2 seconds, the car jumped to close to 4000 rpm and 50 mph in he turn. What an amazing experience......;)

Central Ohio Numismatic Association Coin Show - Day 2 Report

Saturday was a strong contrast to Friday CONA show attendence. The Ohio State football game was the primary event of the day and drew attention from the coin show. GFRC sold a few items regardless of the weak attendance and used the idle time to catch up on COIN system administrative workload. Bill Bugert attended the Saturday session and spent time at the GFRC table attributing Liberty Seated Philadelphia halves. It was great to see Bill again since not attending the Anaheim ANA.

The CONA coin club is an amazing group of people. They are warm, friendly, supportive and just plain great people. I spent the evening in the CONA hospitality suite with Stephen and Lexa along with a number of local dealers and club members. We enjoyed each other's company with some great story telling. The best of the evening was Stephen Petty recalling the three months, while moving from Ohio to Pompano Beach, Florida and believing he had lost his 1870-S Liberty Seated dollar. The stimulus for the story was my belief that I had misplaced a PCGS blue coin box on the bourse floor. Lexa caught me looking under the table clothes and wondering what was going on.... After awhile, I remembered that Dale Miller had taken his GFRC Top 100 Liberty Seated purchases and placed them in one of the two PCGS boxes I had brought. Relief was at hand with Lexa sharing my short term worries to Stephen at the hospitality suite. This resulted in the, oh don't worry that was nothing story about misplacing his 1870-S dollar for three months and mentally accepting a substantial mistake. The story ends well with Lexa discovering the 1870-S dollar in a moving box with miscellaneous items and a PCGS blue box containing low value tokens...... I felt much better and we all had a enjoyable laugh.

GFRC Consignment News

I received an email from Seal Beach concerning a forthcoming consignment of Liberty Seated halves. This is wonderful news as 13 quality Seated halves were sold at the CONA show and inventory must be replenished. As much as I enjoy selling great coins, there is always that quiet sadness with quality pieces leaving inventory and the ongoing challenge to locate replacements. But this is the nature of the coin business as GFRC is simply an intermediate curator for quality coins as they are relocated among collectors.

Today's Blog will be short as Stephen Petty and I have planned a breakfast to chat before transport to the Columbus airport in the Maserati.

Thank you for stopping by during Labor Day weekend.

 

September 3, 2016

Greetings and happy Labor Day Weekend. Summer is officially over as we move into the Fall season. September and October are my favorite months of the year in Maine. Cool comfortable days and low humidty will arrive along with those pesky evening insects disappearing. Out of state tourists and residents are returning home resulting in quieter roadways and restaurants.

Central Ohio Numismatic Association Coin Show - Day 1 Report

Strong, outstanding and well above expectations best describe the GFRC Friday experience at the CONA show. The day started early with an regional meeting hosted by LSCC Central Regional Director and CONA President, Stephen Petty. Below is a group photograph prior to the meeting start with several more attendees arriving after the group photo. Gerry Fortin gave a brief LSCC club mission introduction followed by Stephen Petty providing an in depth review of Gobrecht Dollars. Of the nine attendees, three individuals became new LSCC members at the meeting; let's remember that most of the other attendees where already LSCC club members. What a great start to the day and the CONA show!

The CONA bourse opened at 10:00 am and immediately GFRC was swamped with active buyers. Gerry, accompanied by Dale Miller as table assistant, greeted and helped multiple customers arriving at the table throughout the morning. Local customers indicated viewing GFRC inventory online and were pleased to see us at the CONA show. Sales were brisk during the first few hours including more double eagle gold and a five figure Liberty Seated half dollar lot sale including the 1850 and 1851 dates. During the afternoon hours, the emphasis shifted to buying as collectors and wholesalers offered coins. GFRC was selective but did add new inventory to replace the strong show sales. The Saw Mill Run consignment of semi key date Liberty Seated quarters was also transferred with some excellent new offerings. By 5:30, it was time to close the booth and head to dinner with close friend and E-Gobrecht Quarter of the Month author Greg Johnson who also traveled to CONA show.

What was hot at the CONA show? Liberty Seated halves, Bust halves and United States $20 gold. On the flip side, toner Morgans, small denomination gold and Bust/Seated half dimes were quiet.

The day wrapped up with a quiet reflections with Stephen and Alexa Petty before calling it a day. What a day it had been.....

GFRC has already committed to return to the 2017 show given the amazing CONA people and sales results that well beyond expectations. New show purchases will be listed starting on Tuesday as I plan to take Monday off to relax and recover.

Featured Coins of the Day

Daily Blog editions without coin images can quickly become boring. Let's jazz up today's blog with a reminder that GFRC stocks some attractive toner Morgan dollars including better dates.

  

  

  

Thank you for stopping by the Daily Blog on this Labor Day weekend. I'll be back on Sunday morning with another CONA show report before heading to Columbus airport and return flights to Maine. Have a restful and fun weekeend.

 

September 2, 2016

Greetings from Dublin, Ohio and the Central Ohio Numismatic Association coin show.

Lexa and Stephen Petty are such gracious hosts as staying at their home while attending the CONA show. Stephen is CONA President and his detailed planning imprint on show preparations were witnessed today. CONA is being held at the Dublin Crown Plaza hotel in two ballrooms and connecting hallways. Tables, cases, lighting and power grid were installed by CONA club members and ready well in advanced of the 3:00pm dealer setup time. I could not believe the amount of CONA club members, of all ages, who were working diligently on show preparations and will do the same on Sunday afternoon after the show closes.

Upon arrival at the Columbus aiport, I was met by Alexa Petty driving a 2007 Maserati coupe. This is an incredible vehicle with 550 hp and 21 solid aluminun wheels. I had forgotten the roar of large V8 block engines until sitting in this most amazing vehicle. Yes, I did have an opportunity to drive the Maserati and immediately feel in love with this car. Who won't?

Back to the CONA show.... GFRC was able to setup prior to the official 3:00pm opening dealer time allowing me to walk the bourse searching out new inventory as dealers arrived. Unfortunately, Morgan dollars and world coins were the dominant products in dealer cases with little early type coin selections. When attractive early type coins were encounted, asking prices were for all the money and little chance to purchase. Since CONA offered limited purchasing opportunities, I mostly remained behind the GFRC cases and was rewarded with strong early sales including several Osprey $20 double eagles, the Burch Creek 1876-CC ANACS MS62 half and an 1869-S PCGS VF30 Seated quarter. Since GFRC's business model is clearly not wholesale, this level of retail sales during dealer setup was most welcomed and hopefully a good omen. It certainly was as later in the afternoon, I received an email from an ANA Summer Seminar student who had expressed interest in building a mint state Seated coinage type set with a high degree of difficulty based on the sole use of branch mint strikes. This individual decided that my 1839-O F-103a Cobweb Shattered reverse graded PCGS MS63 Gold CAC would be an appropriate starting point and purchase this incredible example.

Friday is the official opening of the CONA show including an LSCC regional at 9:00am and educational presentation by Stephen Petty on Gobrecht Dollars. Dale Miller, LSCC Secretary/Treasurer, is traveling from Cleveland and will be the GFRC table assistant.

Please check back on Saturday morning for a full CONA show report.

Global Financial News

Spot gold is at $1315 this morning and may have bottomed out for the time being. Beyond the Federal Reserve interest rate drama, there are several other Seeking Alpha headlines to consider this morning. The G20 summit is taking plae in Hangzhou, China while Japan and Russia are working a deal in the energy sector. Why are United States allies moving towards Russia?

World leaders will descend upon Hangzhou this weekend for the G20 summit to reaffirm their dedication to global growth. Developing an open financial system, promoting an economic recovery and coordinating monetary policies are among the main topics to be discussed under this year's theme of "building an innovative, invigorated, interconnected and inclusive world economy." The meeting will be President Obama's last big event on the global stage.

Japan will propose a broad cooperation in the energy sector with Russia today that could include a nearly $10B investment in state-owned oil giant Rosneft (OTC:RNFTF), the Nikkei reports. In other Russian news, companies building a multi-billion dollar bridge to link the mainland with annexed Crimea have been targeted by the U.S. in an updated sanctions blacklist, including several subsidiaries of Gazprom (OTCQX:GZPFY).

Thank you for visiting the Daily Blog this morning. It is time to head to the CONA show with Stephen Petty.