The Daily Blog

 

July 15, 2025

An Interview with USPS Special Agent

GFRC Shipping PCGS Gen 6.1 Holders with Aluminum Foil Protection

and

Porsche. There is no substitute.

 

 

Greetings on at the July 2025 mid-point and welcome to the Daily Blog. As always, thank you for stopping by.

Let's get right to the heart of today's Blog as I'm committed to making substantial progress with description writing for the GFRC Online Auctions August 23 event.

 

An Interview with USPS Special Agent

Yesterday brought a full day in the GFRC office as we attempt to move the August 23 online auction descriptions forward. I was making decent progress for both the Massachusetts and Tenafly Collection Seated dimes and then a phone call arrived from Michael Knoblock, Special Agent with the USPS Office of Inspection General. Yes, the subject was the missing package at the Scarborough, Maine distribution center containing $73,000 of value across four Liberty Seated dimes as presented next.

Last Recorded at the Scarborough, Maine Distribution Center

      1859-S PCGS AU55 10C #3523603                                           1861-S PCGS MS62 CAC 10C #60159874

        

   1863-S PCGS MS63 CAC 10C #30032523 Bender                              1865-S PCGS MS63 CAC 10C #4580332 Eliasberg  

        

Mr. Knoblock had been assigned to the case by his boss after being contacted by Doug Davis of NCIC. I was on the phone for nearly 45 minutes answering a host a questions and starting from scratch with this special agent as he had not taken the time to conduct any prior research. The questions were wide ranging as he appeared to be completing a questionnaire on a computer screen. I received nothing in terms of new information as all this individual did was read the tracking information that Diane, myself, our client, and Doug Davis had reviewed earlier. At first, the special agent thought these were gold coins given the high value and suggested someone might have stolen them to melt down. This led to a long explanation of the historical significant of these San Francisco issued silver dime with a weight of 0.40 ounces. I could go on an on. The call concluded with GFRC sending coin images, a typical PCGS holder image, the client invoice etc. Let's see if anything comes of this as the tracking dies at the Scarborough distribution center. My gut feel is that the package is still in that building but under a sorting machine or comparable. We shipped at least ten packages that day and all exited the Scarborough distribution center except this package.

 

GFRC Shipping PCGS Gen 6.1 Holders with Aluminum Foil Protection

Effective yesterday, GFRC is now special coins encased in PCGS Gen 6.1 "NFC Chip" holders with an aluminum foil wrap.

Why?

Anyone with the PCGS app on their cellphone can scan a USPS package and determine the contents if holdered in the latest PCGS NFC holder. I bet that PCGS did not consider this risk when releasing an Near Field Communications (NFC) holder back in 2020.

To block the access to the NFC embedded chip in the holder, GFRC is using aluminum foil as a radio wave barrier. We are not the first dealer to take this step, but the time has come to deal with the potential risks. For example, one of the four Seated dime in our missing Scarborough distribution center package was the 1863-S Bender dime in a PCGS Gen 6.1 holder. Who knows?

Therefore, GFRC clients should not be surprised when starting to received shipments with aluminum foil wraps.

 

Porsche. There is no substitute.

I can't begin to explain how much I'm loving the 718 Boxster GTS 4.0 purchase. Each time in the car is an absolute thrill beyond words. Porsche sent along an email this morning that accurately captures my feelings and probably that of most other Porsche owners.

It’s the thrill that drives us.

There is no substitute for a spark that ignites the soul. For inspiration that stirs the emotions of both dreamers and drivers. This isn’t just a feeling, it’s a calling. And it’s always been the heart and soul of Porsche.

It’s been a rallying cry for hundreds of thousands, all bound together in the pursuit of something extraordinary and inspiring. A promise of goosebumps every time you slide behind the wheel. Of each drive becoming a cherished moment in time.

It’s precision that is poetry and design that elicits adoration. There is no substitute for the realization of a dream that we gather to admire, celebrate and cheer.

There’s nothing else like it and there never will be. More than a statement, it’s a shared spirit. And right now, it’s truer than ever.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

OK, this is the extend of today's ramblings as I'm immediately moving to August 23 description writing. I'd like to make considerable progress in the near term to allow me to spend time at the back acreage next week finalizing the new stone wall and clearing the area behind it for lawn planting. I'm not a big fan of procrastination, rather being ahead of the curve and then taking a multi-day holiday from the GFRC office to enjoy time outdoors.

Thank you again for the visit.

Be well!

 

 

 

July 14, 2025

A Quiet Homestead

Silver Trading Over $39/oz

and

Is Jerome Powell Resigning as Fed Chair?

 

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog as we start a new week. Thank you so much for the return visit.

As the lead headline indicates, the Maine homestead is uncharacteristically quiet this morning as the Yamatin family is back in the Coolidge Corner, Boston home. There is little else to say other than our guests will be back in three weeks for another extended visit.

Sunday brought August 23 auction description generation and incremental consignment photography. The August GFRC Online Auction event is now complete with respect to posted reserves. From a description writing perspective, those lot with a PCGS number at the end of a description are now finalized and ready for bidding come the evening of August 23. My plan is to write incremental descriptions on a daily basis and have that task wrapped up by early August.

 

Silver Trading Over $39/oz

The precious metal sector continues to be drawing investor attention. As the Blog is being composed, silver is trading a tad over $39/oz while spot gold is trending at $3372 in London. Platinum and palladium metals are also climbing with platinum at nearly $1400/oz. A further look into the commodities sector has WTI crude oil approaching the $70/bbl mark.

 

Is Jerome Powell Resigning as Fed Chair?

Also while working in the GFRC office and preparing today's Blog edition, a news flash appeared on Google stating that Jerome Powell has resigned as the Federal Reserve chair. The news outlet is Mitrade.com which is unknown to me prior to the morning. The announcement reads as follows:

Jerome Powell has agreed to step down as chair of the Federal Reserve following relentless attacks from President Trump and his inner circle, according to a statement released by Billy Pulte, the current head of the U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency.

However, another Mitrade.com post indicates a walking back of the prior announcement with only a comment that Jerome Powell is "considering" resigning.

A check of other news outlets does not confirm the resignation as of 7:00 AM ET.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

There is little else to share at this point. I will be in the GFRC office for the entire day starting with morning shipping followed by auction description writing during the afternoon hours.

Thank you again for the visit. Be well!

 

 

 

July 13, 2025

A Few Seth Godin Blogpost Gems...

Gerry Fortin's Remaining Opportunities for the Advanced Collector

and

Where are Precious Metal Starting a New Week?

 

Greetings on a Sunday morning as we approach the July mid-point. Welcome to another Daily Blog edition and thank you for the visit.

Another southern Maine is upon us with the usual morning fog and afternoon showers. Believe me, I am not complaining as water is nature's lifeline and sustains the green shaded landscape.

Sadly, the Yamatin family heads back to Boston this afternoon. It has been a joy to share the homestead with Matt, Chikae, Natsumi, and Ayumi. On Friday evening, Matt and the two grandchildren did an overnight camping event in the gazebo which was cool. Matt reports that the home wireless coverage easily extended to the gazebo as they were able to stream a movie on a tablet. It has been confirmed, at last evening's dinner, that the Yamatins will be back in August for another several week stay prior to our departure for the Oklahoma City ANA show.

In the numismatic world, the August 23 GFRC Online Auctions continues to see slow progress with nearly all lots having confirm reserves. I'm waiting on approval for the final four lots to place a check mark for this task. Afterwards, the next major task is writing descriptions followed by creating separate PDF catalogs for the Massachusetts and Tenafly Collections.

Not having much for prepared content for today's edition, a visit to Seth Godin's website produced several gem blogpost that should bring about contemplation.

 

A Few Seth Godin Blogpost Gems...

The future does not care

It doesn’t care whether you’re excited or filled with trepidation.

It arrives, regardless.

What an opportunity. Or a threat.

Up to us.

Not smart vs. stupid

Not smart is a passive act, remedied with learning, experience and thought.

Stupid is active, the work of someone who should have or could have known better and decided to do something selfish, impulsive or dangerous anyway.

The more experience, assets and privilege we have, the less excusable it is to do stupid things. And at the same time, the more useful it is to announce that we’re not smart (yet).

 

Gerry Fortin's Remaining Opportunities for the Advanced Collector

Several months have already gone by since the final May 2025 auction session for The Connoisseur's Auction Sale that featured the Gerry Fortin and Newtown Liberty Seated Collections. Both myself and Aaron Heintz wish to see our remaining unsold lots moving to new homes during the balance of this year. Of course, the next major selling opportunity will be the ANA's World's Fair of Money Show in Oklahoma City come the week of August 18th.

In today's Blog, we are presenting a showcase gallery of the remaining Gerry Fortin Liberty Seated dimes with a similar presentation for the Newtown Liberty Seated halves in the coming days. These presentations will be amalgamated into separate links and added to the Daily Blog through the balance of the year or until all these lots are sold. Both Gerry and Aaron are soliciting offers for these lots as they do need to locate loving new homes in advanced collections.

Let's focus on the Gerry Fortin Liberty Seated dime opportunities in today's Blog. Following are facts about each of these lots.

1837 Small Date F-103 PCGS MS66+ CAC - This is the finest 1837 Small Date dime certified at PCGS, with the important Simpson and O'Neal pedigrees, and is the PCGS Price Guide plate coin. The last auction record dates back to April 2014 when sold by Heritage as part of the Jim O'Neal Collection of U.S. Type. This piece was subsequently owned by the Newtown Collection and purchased for my personal set. The offer price is consistent with prior sales. This is a phenomenal type coin for the collection that demands the best.

1837 Small Date F-104 PCGS MS65 CAC - This is the duplicate 1837 Small Date dime that was displaced by the PCGS MS66+. I could not bring myself to sell this piece after the upgrade as was still in love with its warm frosted luster and overall eye appeal. The auction reserve was set at the PCGS Price Guide value and a tad above the CAC Price Guide number. So far, there have been no takers so I'm opening up the playing field to potential offers.

1849-O F-101b PCGS MS64 CAC - I'm still surprised that this Large O dime did not sell at its auction and remains on the price list. It is tied for CAC finest with a single piece finer that has not been to auction. The Tom Bender MS64 CAC, a Small O F-104b with lapped dies sold for $14,400 during August 2024, therefore my reserve price must be too high. However, if you have this piece in hand and under a bright light, the frosted presentation is amazing along with being a very challenging date in near-gem Mint State. Offers are welcomed.

1863 F-101a PCGS MS67 CAC - This is the finest known 1863 dime, plain and simple, along with being the PCGS Price Guide plate coin. This piece has never been to auction prior to the GFRC sale as it was purchased via a private transaction. It is a lot of money for a finest known Civil War Philadelphia issue until placing the dime under a bright light. Then one realizes why this piece secured an MS67 certification and CAC approval. Again, offers are welcomed.

1867 F-102 PCGS MS67 CAC - This is the same situation as the 1863 dime and tied for finest known at PCGS and CAC. My images are unable to accurately illustrate this piece's overall beauty. Since being the PCGS Price Guide plate coin, one can secure an alternate image set for assessing its presentation.

1872-CC F-101 PCGS EF45 CAC- Locating any CAC approved Carson City dimes from the 1871-CC through 1874-CC period is an ongoing challenge for collectors. I was thrilled to be able to finally secure this 1872-CC piece when purchased. There are three approved at the EF45 grade level with a single AU58 finer. The challenge with these types of coins is determining their fair value as so few ever trade. The CAC Price Guide lists $17,500 jumping to $80,000 for the lone AU58. Between you, me, and wall, I paid more for this coin than the auction reserve. The person who sold it to me knew that I needed this dime to finish my CAC "Big Four" Carson City run and brought forth a strong asking pricet. Again, offers are welcomed.

1885-S F-101 PCGS MS65 CAC - Finally, we arrive at an incredibly rare and amazing 1885-S dime. I don't need to discuss the rarity of this date in both circulated and Mint State grades. This piece is the second finest and the PCGS Price Guide plate coin. What is its fair market value? Back in August 2022, the Richard Chouinard Collection was sold by Heritage with an MS63 CAC example bringing a record $48,000. There are supposedly three MS65s per the PCGS population report with one trading back in 2005 for $32,200. The lone MS65 is the Eliasberg-Stellar specimen which sold twice during 2014 for $50,000, then $45,500. You can be the judge if my $36,000 auction reserve is fair. As communicated in the Blog a while back, a dealer offered $30,000 for the coin at the 2025 Summer Baltimore show which means he was looking to sell it at the $34,000 to $35,000 level, maybe more. I passed on the offer as too low and would rather hold on to this dime until the right buyer comes along.

The Connoisseur's Auction Sale

The Gerry Fortin Liberty Seated Dime Collection

 

Remaining Opportunities for the Advanced Collector

Offers Welcomed

      1837 Small Date F-103 PCGS MS66+ CAC 10C - $30,000                  1837 Small Date F-104 PCGS MS65 CAC 10C - $12,500         

        

 1849-O F-101b PCGS MS64 CAC 10C - $19,000                                1863 F-101a PCGS MS67 CAC 10C - $21,500  

        

         1867 F-102 PCGS MS67 CAC 10C - $17,500                               1872-CC F-101 PCGS EF45 CAC 10C - $22,500     

        

       1873-S F-101 PCGS MS64 CAC 10C - $4850                                     1885-S F-101 PCGS MS65 CAC 10C - $36,000   

        

 

Where are Precious Metal Starting a New Week?

The precious metal sector, including gold, silver, platinum, and palladium, saw increasing prices last week with silver breaking through $38/oz. More and more analysts are now calling for gold to reach the $4000 level by year end as the yellow metal has been in a consolidation period for the past three month after spiking to $3500 during late April. Once gold takes out the $3500 level, it could easily run much higher as silver has just demonstrated. I'm certain that those entities that are now importing large amounts of gold into the United States are motivated to keep gold's price at current levels until the acquisition phase is completed.

Come this evening, precious metals will begin to trade in Asia and I will be watching both gold and silver numbers.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

I hope that you've enjoyed this edition and let's close at this point.

There are many new posting to the 30 Day Price List that need new homes. Hopefully, a few Daily Blog readers will be in a shopping mood today and will place orders.

Thanks again for checking in.

Be well!

 

 

July 12, 2025

Final Yamatin Family Day at the Homestead

and

Silver Rips Through $38/oz

 

Greetings on a foggy Saturday morning and welcome to the Daily Blog. Thank you for checking back for new content.

Today's edition will be brief as everyone needs some downtime from their ongoing duties. The Red Sox have won nine straight and are now garnering my early morning attention via YouTube game highlight videos. Then there were several interview videos of interest from the Rick Rule Symposium that also captured my attention. One in particular covered the economic impact of Trump's trade tariffs which I found to be enlightening. Bottom line, I'm just not in a mood for attempting to create content.

Friday was a busy day with Matt taking control of Johnny2 and moving a substantial number of rocks to the new stone wall. Dave Wilkinson made an afternoon appearance with a 16 yard load of loam tailing to continue preparations for planting an incremental lawn behind the newest stone wall. Dave and I took a tour of the Ledge Hill Park, which he helped enabled, and stopped at the pond to discuss how we would approach an expansion. He made it clear that I need to add an aerator pump to keep the water moving towards solving the algae issue.

Silver demonstrated a substantial breakout on Friday and easily broke through the $38/oz mark, closing at $38.32. When an equity or stock gaps up, one of the reasons could be short covering. Those that were betting against a stock must buyback that stock to close out their short positions but losing too much money on the bet. Could this be one of the reasons why silver gapped nearly $1.50 yesterday? Monday morning trading in Asia will be telling.

Today brings the final day of the Yamatin family visit to the homestead. Last evening, Matt took Natsumi and Ayumi for an overnight camping event in the gazebo. I'm still waiting for them to return to the house and hear how their adventure went. Afterwards, it will be a family day with the GFRC business being of low priority.

Thank you for the visit and always remember to be positive and well.

 

 

July 11, 2025

Slow Progress with New Stone Wall Area

Silver Breaks Through $37 Mark

and

Grilling with Ayumi

 

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog. It is a Friday morning at the Maine homestead with a seasonably comfortable weather forecast for the day. Thank you so much for the visit.

GFRC sales have been quiet this week as I'm attempting to restock the 30 Day Price List with newly consigned items. This effort will continue today as we received a quick pricing approval for yesterday's latest consignment preview. Two of the nine lots secured First Rights of Refusal requests with price quotes going out once this Blog edition is uploaded.

Slow progress continues with respect to the back acreage's new stone wall and adjacent area. The cleared ground is replete with rocks, more than one could imagine. How the early settlers were able to clear and farm a portion of this property is intriguing. The rock and boulder density is just incredible as digging down more than a few inches of dirt leads to the discovery of yet more rocks. Here are two images that substantiate the challenges in turning this cleared area into a mow-able lawn. The first is ledge protruding out of the ground which is consistent with this geographical location being named Ledge Hill. The second is a boulder that Matt and I started digging earlier in the week with Johnny2. I spent an hour on Thursday afternoon maneuvering this boulder out of its hole and pushing it aside with the tractor. Note the other buried boulder that is to the immediate right of the freshly dug piece of granite. We will be leaving that monster boulder in its resting place as just not worth the time and effort to extract.

Silver Breaks Through $37 Mark

While this Blog edition is being composed silver has pushed through the $37 mark in a substantial manner with a London quote of $37.50/oz. Gold is also doing its thing with a quote of $3348. We discussed the precious metal situation extensively on Thursday and there is no need to take that discussion further today.

 

Grilling with Ayumi

Yesterday's highlight, beyond moving a boulder out of a hole, was grilling a family dinner with help from Ayumi. I discovered that Ayumi loves contemporary music being played via the Tidal app on my cellphone. She was dancing and enjoying herself on the back deck rocking chairs. At one point, I thought that an Ayumi image would be ideal for today's Blog and snapped a host of pictures hoping to secure a smile. Following is the best of the attempts with those wonderful eyes staring at me. Ayumi will be two and half come September. Diane and I love having her at the homestead.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

I understand that there was no numismatic content in today's edition. Some days bring new GFRC arrivals or the opportunity for a showcase gallery. This morning's ramblings were about other aspects of a regular guy's life and I hope that the content was enjoyable.

I will be working in the office this morning and shifting attention to the new back acreage stone wall come this afternoon. Actually, Matt is looking forward to mastering the John Deere 2038R (Johnny2) tractor and moving a bunch of rocks around with the grapple attachment. Adding a noteworthy stone wall to the property takes time and commitment. Once in place, it will be there for multiple new owners to enjoy into the 22nd century. Yes, the stone walls will be around for a very long time as a testament to the efforts for building a special landscape.

Thanks again for the visit. Be well!

 

 

 

 

July 10, 2025

Staying on Top of Two Substantial Meetings

and

CAC Approved Consignment Arrives!

 

Greetings on a mid-July Thursday morning and welcome to the Daily Blog. Another day means another Daily Blog edition. We appreciate the ongoing patronage.

I've been following two major meeting that are taking place this week. The first is the BRICS summit in Brazil and the second is the Rick Rule Symposium in Boca Raton Florida. Then there are the Red Sox that have been on quite the run since trading away Devers, but that is another conversation. Why am I bring up these two meetings? The long and the short is that both meetings will have an impact on precious metals. The BRICS summit is being under reported by the western media though the BRICS are moving forward with their mBridge system (think SWIFT alternative) along with China taking steps to settle the Yuan in gold. If you don't believe me, then this response from AI CoPilot, when asked if "Has China announced that the Yuan will be settled in gold?", might be enlightening.

Not officially — but China is certainly making moves that suggest a strategic alignment between the yuan and gold.

On December 20, 2023, China recorded its first-ever cross-border settlement for gold using the digital yuan (e-CNY). The Bank of China’s Shanghai branch facilitated a $14 million transaction via the Shanghai Financial Exchange International Board. While this doesn’t mean the yuan is formally backed by gold, it signals a growing willingness to use gold as a settlement medium in international trade.

Beyond that:

• China has been aggressively accumulating gold reserves, with estimates suggesting it may hold far more than officially reported.
• The Shanghai Gold Exchange recently launched contracts allowing physical gold delivery in Hong Kong, making yuan-denominated gold trading more accessible to foreign investors.
• China is also promoting yuan-based gold trading platforms to reduce reliance on the U.S. dollar and SWIFT system.

So while there’s no formal announcement of a gold-backed yuan, the infrastructure and policy direction suggest China is quietly positioning gold as a pillar of its monetary strategy — potentially paving the way for broader adoption of the yuan in global trade.

Of course, the issue of how China's gold and Yuan strategy could impact the U.S. dollar as the globe's reserve currency is key, in other words, the U.S. dollar's dominance. AI CoPilot offered this response.

Impact on USD Dominance

China’s pivot toward gold and the yuan is a quiet challenge to the dollar’s supremacy:

• Reserve Diversification: Central banks are increasingly shifting away from the dollar. In 2025, the dollar fell to 7th place in reserve preference among surveyed banks.
• Yuan’s Rise: Over the next decade, central banks expect the yuan’s share of global reserves to triple to 6%, with many favoring it over the dollar.
• Gold as a Hedge: China’s gold accumulation acts as a buffer against dollar volatility and sanctions. It’s a strategic hedge, not just a monetary asset.
• Digital Yuan Infrastructure: China’s e-CNY, potentially linkable to gold, offers a non-dollar settlement system that appeals to countries wary of U.S. financial influence.

Impact on Central Bank Reserve Strategies

The ripple effect is already visible in how central banks manage their portfolios:

• Record Gold Buying: In Q1 2025 alone, central banks bought 244 metric tons of gold, well above the five-year average.
• Long-Term Shift: A net 40% of central banks plan to increase gold holdings over the next decade.
• De-Dollarization Momentum: BRICS and ASEAN economies are formalizing local-currency trade settlements, reducing dollar invoicing by up to 15% within five years.
• Trust in Tangible Assets: Gold’s appeal lies in its universal value and immunity to manipulation, especially as fiat regimes face inflation and debt concerns.

Strategic Implications

• Symbolism & Sovereignty: Gold-backed or gold-supported currencies signal monetary independence, especially for nations under Western sanctions.
• Multipolar Future: We may be heading toward a multi-bloc currency system — with the dollar, yuan/gold, and crypto each serving different geopolitical spheres.

The second meeting that I am monitoring is the Rick Rule Symposium for the precious metals and mining sector. Gold and silver are trading at or near record levels with keynote and guest speakers attempting to assess where the precious metals are heading given the BRICS strategic steps and Trump's ongoing tariffs agenda. Before composing today's edition, I took in a YouTube video with Andy Schectman, at the conference, who has been one of the visionaries concerning the global financial system reset away from the U.S. dollar and towards a multipolar trading system. If having 20 minutes of spare time, you might want to watch this video from beginning to end. Andy Schectman is a hard working regular guy and has been way out in front of the events we see unfolding in real time today. Just recently, he has been monitoring and reporting on the draining of physical gold out of the LBMA and the COMEX by major market players on behalf of central banks or sovereign wealth funds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGD5PlU-y-A

Let's shift the focus to numismatics.

 

CAC Approved Consignment Arrives!

Wednesday brought the arrival of a premium consignment that should garner considerable attention. Following is a preview image of the consignment contents. At this point, this is the final arrival since closing the GFRC consignment window through the end of July. First Right of Refusal requests will be honored for this lot.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

I will be in the GFRC office for most of the day loading the balance of the LaSalle Liberty Seated quarters to the price list and beginning to write August 23 auction descriptions. With the inclusion of the six LaSalle quarters to the auction event, the lot total has expanded to 249 lots with 78% being CAC approved. If a Liberty Seated coinage fan and desiring premium examples for a collection, this is your auction event!

The homestead continues to be full of life as Matt, Chikae, Natsumi, and Ayumi are staying with us through Sunday. Ayumi has a way of making her presence felt, but is a good way! Come Friday, Matt will be helping me finalize the newest stone wall that is under construction. Dave Wikinson laid the wall's skeleton with increments efforts necessary to add its outer "skin". Father and son will be transporting a fair amount of incremental rock with Johnny2 on Friday. I am looking forward to this activity.

As always, your visits are welcomed and appreciated. Yes, the Daily Blog content can vary based on my early morning energy levels and creativity. I believe today's edition was quite solid.

Be well!

 

 

 

July 9, 2025

LaSalle Collection - Liberty Seated Quarters to Consider

 

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog on a Wednesday morning. Thank you so much for the returning visit.

Today's edition will be brief and will focus exclusively on the LaSalle Collection and his new Liberty Seated quarter consignment. We worked throughout Tuesday afternoon and evening to complete image processing and settling down the offer prices. There were focused discussed on several coins. I was up very early this morning, specifically 4:15 AM, as the images still needed to be uploaded to the Hostway server before the following showcase gallery could be assembled.

Not featured today and posting to the August 23 auction event are the following Seated quarters; 1849-O PCGS VF35, 1850 PCGS VF35 CAC, 1850-O PCGS VF35 CAC, 1852-O PCGS VF20 CAC, 1853-O A&R PCGS EF40 CAC, and a major rarity, the 1873 No Arrows, Closed 3 PCGS VF25 CAC. These lots are now posted to the online Auction catalog with their reserves.

The below offerings are immediately available for a first shot request and will be loaded to the 30 Day Price List later today and into Thursday. Simply click on any of the images to gain access to the usual GFRC higher resolution versions. Many of these lots were previously purchased from GFRC with the sales records available in the Sales Archive.

 

LaSalle Collection - Liberty Seated Quarter Showcase Gallery

1842-O Sm Date Br 1-A PCGS F15 25C - $2300                                   1847-O Br 2-C PCGS AU50 25C - $2100      

        

       1856-S PCGS EF45 25C - $3150                                                    1858-S PCGS VF30 25C - $2500    

        

 1861-S NGC VF35 25C - $3500                                                    1867 PCGS EF49 25C - $1950    

        

1867-S PCGS VF20 25C - $1600                                                    1869-S PCGS VF30 25C - $1000 

        

1839 Br 2-B PCGS VF35 25C - $500                1840-O Br 2-B PCGS VF35 25C - $525                1841 Br 2-A PCGS VF35 25C - $375

                      

1843-O Br 1-D PCGS VF35 25C - $695                1848 Br 2-B PCGS VF30 25C - $300                 1852 Br 2-B NGC EF40 25C - $775    

                      

      1854-O PCGS AU55 25C - $700                  1860-O Br 1-A NGC EF45 25C - $350                1862-S Br 2-A NGC VF35 25C - $1000

                      

  1864 PCGS F15 25C - $400                              1865 PCGS EF40 25C - $550                         1868-S PCGS EF40 25C - $900

                      

1870 PCGS EF40 25C - $550                1873 PCGS AU53 CAC 25C - $650                1879 PCGS AU58 25C - $700

                      

1879 PCGS EF45 25C - $550                            1888 PCGS EF45 25C - $825

           

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Let's close this Blog edition here as another busy day awaits me. I will be monitoring emails throughout the day for potential LaSalle Collection orders.

Thanks again for checking in and please make sure to be well!

 

 

 

 

July 8, 2025

Saying Goodbye to Renee, Mike, Ivy, and Miles

A Substantial Shipping Day

and

Waiting for LaSalle Liberty Seated Quarter Pricing Approval

 

Greetings on a Tuesday morning and welcome to the Daily Blog. Thank you so much for staying current with the Fortin family adventures and the GFRC business.

As the opening headline indicates, the Maine July 4th vacation period must always come to an end with Renee and her family departing for Austin today. It was a non-stop busy visit for Diane as lead hostess and thoroughly enjoying the grandchildren. Last evening was particular special as for once, only the adults gathered around the dining room table to enjoy chatting and jokes. Early teenager Natsumi was in charge of the other grandchildren in the TV room and did a great jog keeping them there. Wine and specialty liquors were enjoyed along with a decision that the next family reunion will be Christmas at the Maine homestead. Yes, the Fortins will return to Maine, from Venice Florida, to host an old fashion Maine winter Christmas to wrap up 2025. Afterwards, we will be back in Florida for the 2026 Winter FUN show.

As the sun began to set, Chikae took the following picture of Matt and Renee on the back deck with the coastal horizon color transition in the background. We could not be more proud of our two adult children with their successful professional careers and wonderful families. For those new to the Daily Blog, Chikae and Renee were roommates at Wesleyan in Middletown, CT. Chikae confided to Renee that she was struggling to find a good American man for a relationship. Her wish was realized when Renee brought her older brother Matt into the picture. During the Maine visit, Matt and Chikae Yamatin celebrated their 13th wedding anniversary with many more to come. Additionally, Matt is the architect and software creator of the GFRC numismatic platform that we enjoy using on a daily basis.

 

A Substantial Shipping Day

Traditional summer Maine thunderstorms are expected by noon time, so the immediate priority after completing today's Blog will be shipping customer orders. Diane will be busy with Reene's family breakfst and sent off while I will be writing invoices and packing shipment. Monday's mail brought 11 check payments and a final online PayPal F&F payment for one of the Newtown Liberty Seated halves from the first January Connoisseur's auction event. These arrivals translate into a host of orders heading to clients.

 

Waiting for LaSalle Liberty Seated Quarter Pricing Approval

Much progress was at hand on Monday with the new LaSalle Liberty Seated quarter consignment as there are many better dates that will bring additional flavor to the August 23 auction along with a much needed injection into the 30 Day Price List. All 31 quarters were photographed along with being loaded into the COIN system. A pricing proposal was submitted to our consignor with 6 of the 31 lots heading to the August auction and the balance for the price list. Remaining is hearing back from the LaSalle Collection with a pricing approval or modifications. Once that milestone is achieved, the 6 lots will be added to the online auction catalog, thus closing that build. Next will be posting the balance of the Seated quarters to the price list.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Let's close today's edition at this point as a quick shower is in order followed by hugs and saying goodbye to Renee, Mike, Ivy, and Miles before their drive to Boston's Logan airport.

As always, thank you for the visit and feedback. The Daily Blog is much more than just a numismatic publication, rather the documentation of one family's adventures as we move annually around the sun.

Be well!

 

 

 

July 7, 2025

Touring Ledge Hill Park - The Take a Hike Club

and

Massachusetts Liberty Seated Dime Collection - All Auction Lots Posted

 

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog on a Monday morning. Thank you so much for the ongoing visits.

Another warm summer day has begun in southern Maine with the Fortin family still sound asleep as this Blog edition is being composed. One of the these days, I will be doing the unthinkable of sleeping in too. At 7:00 AM, the outdoor thermometer is reading nearly 100F in direct sunlight which is certainly an overstatement for this time of day. The heat pumps have been operating constantly this weekend with the solar panels providing nearly all the required energy.

Sunday brought a combination of family fun and time in the GFRC office during the warmest parts of the day as will be share next. Let's get to the details without a long preamble.

 

Touring Ledge Hill Park - The Take a Hike Club

What a pleasant surprise by Diane when I learned that she had organized a family walking tour of the back acreage trails. To mark the occasion, special "Take a Hike" T-shirts were ordered for the grandchildren. Let's open today's visual presentation with a photograph of Meme with granddaughters Natsumi and Ivy modeling their new "Take a Hike" apparel. These three hikers were leading the group as the balance were lagging a bit due to guiding toddlers Ayumi and Miles along the steep Hill trail towards the pond. Every hiker needs a walking stick, right?

 

The pond turned out to the hiking highlight as the grandchildren were excited about poking their walking sticks into the water. This image captures that special moment at the pond entrance steps as the "Take a Hike" club is enjoying the water view in the deepest part of the forest. We can help be note everyone's fashionable hiking hats for keeping the bugs away.

 

This final image was taken by Chikae Yamatin as she was so excited to have captured a Fortin family picture that includes the two grandparents (Gerry & Diane), their children (Matt & Renee), and the four grandchildren (Natsumi, Ivy, Ayuni, and Miles). Again, placing those walking sticks into the water was the cool thing to do for the grandchildren.

 

Massachusetts Liberty Seated Dime Collection - All Auction Lots Posted

Once back from our hiking adventure, the temperature quickly rose to 90F with everyone finding air conditioned shelter in the homestead. There was a 718 Boxster trip to Raymond's Fisherman Catch seafood market to secure 2 lbs of scallops for dinner which was a reminder why one should not venture into town during the 4th of July holiday weekend. The roadways were crowded with tourists and locals attempting to negotiate through the RT 302 traffic.

I'm pleased to report that the afternoon hours brought the posting of the final Massachusetts Collection Liberty Seated Dime lots into the August 23 auction catalog. With bright sunshine, the last of these Seated dimes were photographed along with all of the LaSalle Liberty Seated quarters as showcased yesterday.

Let's review several August 23 auction statistics for fun:

- The total number of lots has climbed to 243 with a few additions placed from the new LaSalle Liberty Seated quarter consignment.

- The CAC approved rate is huge with 77% of the lots having a green bean along with a single Gold CAC 1859-O Seated quarter.

- This auction is also replete with Liberty Seated dimes formerly from my reference collection, many of which are plate coins within The Definitive Resource for Liberty Seated Dime Die Variety Collectors online reference. This is most likely the last time that such a large number of plate coins will be assembled into one auction and made available to the community.

A reminder that most of the August 23 auction lots will be available at the Oklahoma City ANA show for viewing immediately prior to that event opening for bidding on the final day of the show.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

The National Weather service has issued an Extreme Heat advisory which means that I will be working in the GFRC office for most of the day. This is the final full day of Renee's family staying at the homestead with flights back to Austin scheduled for Tuesday morning. Hopefully their outgoing flight will not be disrupted by thunderstorms that will roll through the region starting Tuesday noon time.

So ends today's Blog edition. I will be in the office processing the LaSalle Liberty Seated quarter images and loading this entire lot into the COIN system followed by preparing a pricing proposal for our client to approve. A few of the CAC approved quarters will be placed into the August 23 auction given their significance.

As always, thank you for the time taken to visit with me and taking in the Fortin family adventures. Diane's Take a Hike T-shirts were way cool and a complete surprise.

Be well!

 

 

July 6, 2025

July 4th Weekend Holiday - Hanging Out at Androscoggin Lake

and

Presenting the LaSalle Liberty Seated Quarter Consignment

 

Greetings on a July 4th weekend early Sunday morning and welcome to the Daily Blog. Thank you for checking in on a long holiday weekend.

Southern Maine weather has been picture perfect for this weekend's July 4th holiday activities. After a thoroughly busy Friday for the grandchildren, the Fortin clan headed to Androscoggin Lake on Saturday for the annual Theriault family summer party. The venue is Rachel and Mike's summer "camp", a venue that has been in the family for several generations. Rachel is Diane's younger sister. So off we went in two cars for a one hour drive to Leeds, Maine for an afternoon of lakeside activities and catching up with the extended family. During the drive back to Raymond, we stopped in Auburn and purchased a 2+ lbs piece of salmon that turned into our grilled dinner. By 9:00 PM, I was in bed knowing that Sunday would bring an early start for a more "normal" Daily Blog edition.

Here we are with the day's ramblings....

Let's open with an image taken by Chikae Yamatin, Matt's wife, of the family relaxing by the lake. Little Ayumi and Miles continues to be the main attraction as their first playtime visit to the Theriault camp.

 

Presenting the LaSalle Liberty Seated Quarter Consignment

GFRC is pleased to be presenting a new consignment from the LaSalle Collection for your consideration.

The LaSalle Collection consignor has been a client since 2016 with an emphasis on Liberty Seated quarter set building. Today brings a preview of his recently transported consignment that includes a wide range of better dates with consistent originality. Seated quarter collectors may wish to conduct a close inspection of the preview images as there are many important offerings.

The early dates of note include a lovely 1840-O No Drapery with a complete strike and natural coin gray surfaces followed by an 1842-O Small Date lot at an affordable PCGS F15 grade. The key date, within this consignment, is of course the 1849-O quarter graded PCGS VF35 that should draw considerable attention. The New Orleans mint continues to be well presented with an 1850-O that is a sweet crusty original example, a perfectly original 1852-O, and a very choice 1853-O, all with CAC approval. The first group photo closes out with a lovely 1856-S quarter with antique coin gray toning followed by a nicely detailed 1858-S. As with all GFRC preview images, clicking on the image will provide access to a higher resolution version.

 

Moving into the Civil War era, there are 1864, 1865, and 1867 Philadelphia issues with the latter warranting close scrutiny. The 1867-S is a difficult date with this VF20 graded specimen being quite desirable. This release also features the challenging 1868-S and 1869-S issues. The second major consignment highlight, after the 1849-O, is a wonderful 1873 No Arrows Closed 3 graded PCGS VF25 with CAC approval. I'm certain that this date will draw substantial attention given its mid-circulated VF25 grade certification along with a CAC green bean. The surfaces are unquestionable original with old dirt in the protected areas.

 

At this point, I have yet to make a decision on which of the above Seated quarters will be added to the August 23th GFRC Online Auction and which will be heading directly to the 30 Day Price List. This decision will be made in the coming week of so as the August 23 online auction catalog is finalized.

With today's preview presentation, it should be apparent as to why it was necessary to close the GFRC consignment window given this LaSalle consignment, the Cleveland Collection Liberty Seated dimes and yet another consignment that ships this week along with preparing a nearly 250 lots auction. Let's not forget that it is summer time in Maine and I do relish working outdoors in the back acreage park.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Another wonderful Maine summer day is in the offing with a morning family walk through the back acreage trails being on the agenda.

Photography of the final Massachusetts Collection Liberty Seated dime lots, for the August 23 auction, is also planned as the coins are staged. Once those dime images are process the closing segment of the Massachusetts collection will be posted to the online catalog. I will also photograph the LaSalle Seated quarters today.

We've covered a bit of ground in today's edition and best to close at this point. Thank you for making time for a visit to the Daily Blog during a holiday weekend.

Be well!

 

 

 

July 5, 2025

July 4th Weekend Holiday Continues

 

Greetings on a July 4th weekend Saturday! Today's Daily Blog edition will be very brief as I'm in a laid back summer holiday state of mind. Yesterday brought a host of activities with our family guests and that of the Dodson neighbor's family too.

This image sums up the day as the gang is hanging out around our back deck fire pit and cooking marshmallow prior to the coast fireworks display.

 

I hope that Blog readers enjoyed similar good times. Today brings more activities and fun as the Maine weather is ideal for the long holiday weekend.

Be well!

 

 

 

July 4, 2025

Happy July 4th 2025 Holiday!

Cleveland Collection Consignment Arrives

and

GFRC Online August 23 Auction Climbs to 212 Lots

 

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog on the July 4th 2025 holiday. The Fortin clan wishes the entire readership a wonderful holiday weekend.

Let's be honest... My blogging motivation is low this morning but there is no where I can go in the homestead to hang out other than the GFRC office. Everyone else is sleeping in various locations and until the occupants arise, I'm pretty much confined to office. Therefore, let's provide some basic updates starting with a lovely picture taken late Thursday afternoon. Here is Tractor Grandpa with two young ladies heading for a Disney like tour of the back acreage trails that I fondly call Ledge Hill Park. From left to right is Sadie, our neighbor's granddaughter, then Ivy, Renee's daughter, and of course the tour director.

 

Maine weather can be most unpredictable as we know. After driving the young ladies back to the Dodson neighbor's house, I just had enough time to race to the barn before the sky opened with a huge downpour. Just imagine if my tour timing was off by just 3 minutes of so. Everyone would have been soaking wet!

To celebrate the July 4th holiday at the Ledge Hill Park, there will be more Polaris UTV rides, a wet slide event, and finally, a model rocket launch before everyone settles in for the evening coastal fireworks that can be view from the back deck.

 

Cleveland Collection Consignment Arrives

GFRC's Liberty Seated dime inventory will again see refresh as the Cleveland Collection has decided to release a PCGS blue box loaded with duplicates. This release is die variety centric and will post to the 30 Day Price List at some point in July. Please note the host of old PCGS blue label holders in this offering with each lot being a better or Top 100 variety. It is certainly an opportunistic time to be a Liberty Seated dime collector given this Cleveland Collection release and the Massachusetts and Tenafly Collection offering in the forthcoming August 23 auction.

 

GFRC Online August 23 Auction Climbs to 212 Lots

Regardless of the Fortin family visit, I was able to spend a few hours in the GFRC office wrapping up the Liberty Seated quarter and half dollar lots for the August 23 auction. Those lots are now posted with a subset having listed reserves.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Today brings seasonal Maine temperatures with a decent breeze. The latter is important for keeping the bugs away when hanging outdoors.

My first task of the day is heading to the barn and searching through many plastic totes to locate suitable model rockets for today's launch. Flying model rockets on a small lot is always challenging in terms of retrieval. Sure, blasting off large rockets with D engines is way cool, but the possibility of retrieval is limited. A wholesome launch requires that the full loop is achieved, therefore finding the right rockets with streamer recovered and powered by smaller Estes engines will be the goal.

So ends today's Blog edition as the family members have arose and are ready for breakfast. Your blogger has been up since 5:00 AM, and now that the Daily Blog is published, I'm heading for a shower and then the barn to prepare for the outdoor day.

Thank you as always for the visit.

Be well!

 

 

 

July 3, 2025

GFRC Online Auctions - August 23 Auction Catalog Reaches 195 Lots

How Large is the August 23 Auction Event?

and

Silver Makes Another Run at $37 Mark

 

Greetings on a Thursday morning and welcome to the Daily Blog. Thank you for staying close to our ongoing numismatic and personal adventures.

The Fortin clan, other than yours truly, is sound asleep here at the homestead. The transition from a quiet house to one filled with grandchildren was dramatic. The new KICK Triplex gaming table was a major hit as the foosball platform saw much initial usage. As good as I thought I was, Matt is that much faster and better. After dinner, Matt and I retreated to the sun room to catch up on his Thermo Fisher Scientific career and what lies next. Spending one on one time with Matt is always priceless.

Before the clan's arrival, the afternoon was spent loading another tranche of Liberty Seated Dimes from the Massachusetts Collection. At this point, the big four Carson City dates are posted and featured next. Every complete Liberty Seated dime collection is judged by the quality of these four dates. In his set, Tom Coulombe choose quality surfaces over label grades for the his additions. Note the strict originality of these circulated pieces that resulted in CAC green beans being awarded for the 1871-CC through 1873-CC issues. As for the 1874-CC date, I know first hand the struggles to locate a suitable piece to finally complete his lifelong hobby project. The availability of CAC approved 1874-CC dimes is very limited and further complicated by a targeted price range. Tom ultimately decided to purchase the Steve Vitale Collection specimen from a March 2023 GFRC Online Auctions event. At that moment, decades of effort to assemble a premier Seated dime collection had been concluded much to his excitement.

Massachusetts Collection - Seated Dime Carson City Dates

    1871-CC PCGS VG08 CAC 10C - $9500                                           1872-CC PCGS VF25 CAC 10C - $7000    

        

1873-CC Arrows PCGS F12 CAC 10C - $8500                                           1874-CC PCGS VF25 10C - $23500       

        

 

How Large is the August 23 Auction Event?

For giggles, I did a quick tally of the remaining August 23 auction lots that still need attention and posting. That number is 45 incremental lots that will be added to the online catalog within the next week leading to a 240 lot event. This number does not include any pieces from the LaSalle Liberty Seated quarter consignment that recently arrived. I have full discretion to pick and choose which lots will be placed into the auction and those that will post directly to the 30 Day Price List.

 

Silver Makes Another Run at $37 Mark

One of the mainstay website links on my Google browser is the Kitco Metal website, specifically the real time monitoring of silver and gold prices. Though I am not a bullion dealer, my investment in precious metal ETFs and mining stocks is substantial, therefore price movements are always of interest.

Silver peaked at $37.05 on June 16, 2025 followed by retreating to the high $35 level afterwards. This morning's London trading sees silver moving back to the $37 level with a 7:00 AM quote at $36.85.

Gold is oscillating around the $3350 level with Trump placing incremental pressure on Jerome Powell to resign as Federal Reserve Chair. It appears that a new tactic is being employed to encourage Powell to resign his post. Trump's housing regulator, Bill Pulte of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, is accusing Powell of lying to Congress over a $2.5B renovation to the Federal Reserve HQ in Washington DC. Such is life inside the I-495 Beltway.

Finally, the U.S. dollar is in trouble as this morning's quote is down to 96.80. A sharply falling dollar will have positive impacts on overseas revenues and profits for U.S. companies. However, foreign investors in U.S. equity markets are taking a substantial FX hit and could decide to reallocate their money to other countries. A falling U.S. dollar is also bullish for precious metals as it takes more dollars to purchase the same ounce of gold or silver. Let's remember that the value of gold is not incrementing but rather that the U.S. dollar is falling.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Honestly, today's Blog was a fairly spontaneous affair as the homestead was quiet. Now that the 8:00 AM publishing time is approaching, our guests are starting to arise from their overnight rest.

Tomorrow brings the July 4th holiday with great fireworks viewing from our back deck once darkness sets in.

Thank you again for the visit.

Be well!

 

 

July 2, 2025

GFRC-Lite - Raleigh NC Show Report

A GFRC Consignment Preview

and

GFRC Online Auctions - All Tenafly Collection Lots are Posted

 

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog. It is a Wednesday morning with just hours remaining before the Fortin clan reunites at the Raymond homestead. Thank you for the visit.

The stage is set with the refrigerator completely stuff along with the pantry holding dry goods. Sleeping bags are airing out in the basement and the 718 Boxster is has a new indoor car cover along with being protected by Styrofoam panels. Do you think the latter is overkill? Think again, as our neighbor's granddaughter, Sadie, decided it would be a good idea to use a rock as a drawing instrument on the side of his mother's and grandparent's cars. I'll take being proactive against the potential ridicule.

Much was accomplished in the GFRC office on Tuesday so let's move forward with today's headline topics.

 

GFRC-Lite - Raleigh NC Show Report

We are thoroughly pleased to hear that Rich Hundertmark enjoyed record breaking sales at the just completed Raleigh NC show. Here is his perspective.

Hi Gerry,

The Annual Raleigh show is now in the books and I'm very happy to report record show sales for Lite.

This show is held annually at the Raleigh show grounds in a large building facility that can easily accommodate 100+ dealers that are mostly from the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions.

I arrived around 3:30 PM, and I guess I knew right at the "get go” that this would be a good show as more than one dealer asked for me to let them go through my inventory boxes. That didn't work for me, so after about a 30-minute setup, the Lite table was descended upon by multiple dealers, either Early bird or bourse table holders. What would be a good analogy? Maybe when I was fishing the Long Island Sound years ago and would witness the water "boiling over” with a bluefish feeding frenzy on bunker bait fish. 

By 6 o'clock gaps could be seen in Lite's inventory cases, most notably in the large denomination silver case which houses Seated, Bust, Morgans and Classic commemoratives material. At that point finally I was able to enjoy a bit of the great barbecue spread that the Raleigh Club provides for dealers. Thankfully, things then slowed, I secured the Lite table and headed for my nearby Hyatt hotel room.

Heading into Friday and Saturday I wondered how well the show would be attended by the public with temperatures headed into the high 90's. As it turned out, there were no worries, as the public came out in numbers. The bourse had a steady traffic flow with a solid Friday followed by an amazing Saturday.

By my count Lite sold over 50 coins, 30 of which I've just now taken down from the Lite website. What made this show so successful is that Lite's Average Selling price has more than doubled since its' inception, a testament to the inventory's increased quality.

On the buying side, Lite was able to make a few key purchases. How about this CACG MS67+ Iowa GEM commemorative offered at $450. It's just one of 3 to receive this lofty grade by CACG and displays full strike with lustrous russet gold toning accented by hints of sea green. Lite will be posting additional show purchases over the next few weeks so please kindly stop by. The recently added "New Purchases Last 30 Days" category on the Lite home page will make it much easier for visitors to find the new additions. I'll also add a blog or two, topics TBD.

The only downside to the show is that the raw inventory showed slower sales, and I take full blame for that. With only one smaller case allocated to this inventory I decided to employ vinyl pages ring binder style. This decision was a failure, as collectors weren't curious enough to see what was underneath the top page. Lesson learned! On Saturday I purchased 4 display trays to house raw coins in both 2" and 1 1/2" flips. At the upcoming July Annandale show I will dedicate a large case that will efficiently display almost 200 raw coins.

Next up for Lite is the Annandale show in Northern Virginia followed by the Oklahoma City August ANA where I will be a table assistant for GFRC and will spend time on the bourse buying and selling for Lite and my own collection.

I'll end with a "feel good" story. On Friday a Lincoln Cent collector located the key date 1914-D PCGS VF-35 in the Lite case. It was one of only 3 coins left for his set. He kindly asked if he could leave a cash $100 deposit and pay the balance early Saturday afternoon. I pulled the coin from the display inventory and told the client absolutely no problem, the coin would be waiting for him the next day. On Saturday the collector promptly showed up. His facial expression, as he moved his new prize under the table lighting is what this hobby is all about, and a good part of the payout I receive for my efforts.

Wishing all the blogamaniacs a great 4th of July, God Bless America, and many thanks for reading.

Rich

 

A GFRC Consignment Preview

Yes, the GFRC consignment window is presently closed but there are still two incremental shipments heading to the office. I'd like to showcase a nicely diverse consignment with most of these forthcoming arrivals having CAC approval coupled with a fair number being sourced from GFRC. Those can be researched in the Sales Archive.

25c 1805 PCGS VG08 CAC

25c 1882 PCGS F12 CAC - GFRC

50c 1834 PCGS AU58 CAC

50c 1841-O PCGS EF40 CAC - GFRC

50c 1844-O Seated Liberty PCGS VF30 CAC

$1 1847 Seated Liberty PCGS AU58 - GFRC Online Auction

$2.5 1855 PCGS AU55 CAC - GFRC

$10 1907 NM PCGS MS61 CAC

$20 1908 NM PCGS MS63 CAC

 

GFRC Online Auctions - All Tenafly Collection Lots are Posted

Ongoing progress is being made with the construction of the August 23 online auction catalog. Simply click on this link (Auction) for a quick transfer to the catalog and its present status that includes 171 lots.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the entire Tenafly Collection lot has been posted including a wonderful run of $5 Liberty gold that is worth the time to preview.

Today brings attention to the balance of the Massachusetts Liberty Seated Dime Collection plus photography of lots that were sourced outside of GFRC.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

A nearly full office day is in the cards as we attempt to make incremental progress with the August 23 auction lot postings before Matt and Renee's families arrive during mid to late afternoon. Diane left early for Boston to spend the day with Renee's family as they visit the Children's Museum followed by transporting the Yamatins to Maine since our Boston urban dwellers do not own a car.

As for Thursday morning's Blog, I'm certain there will be an edition but the content may be limited.

As always, we appreciate the visit along with GFRC purchases. Thanks again and be well moving into the July 4th weekend holiday.

 

 

 

July 1, 2025

The 1993 Miata Has a New Home

The Stage is Set for Fortin Family Visit

and

S&P 500 at Record High - Gold Consolidating

 

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog as July 2025 is upon us. Yes, we are officially in the third quarter of the year for investors and business managers. Thank you for the visit.

My apology for yesterday's spur of the moment need to pass on composing a Blog edition. I won't go into details but the time taken to resolve the sudden issue was well used. By 10:00 AM, shipping was delivered to the Raymond post office. Once back home, a fine young adult from Old SayBrook, Connecticut appeared to close on the 1993 Mazda Miata purchase. Yes, we located this buyer on Facebook with both parties happy with the transaction. I took the Miata for one final drive before handing over the keys and title for cash payment. Life moves on with one less vehicle in the driveway along with the need for scheduled maintenance and upkeep.

Monday brought a wonderful Maine sunny day which was ideal for incremental August 23 auction photograph. The last of the Tenafly Collection's $5 Liberty gold was imagined and will be posted today. At this point, all the Tenafly lots will be online for your review. Incremental Liberty Seated quarter and half dollar lots, for the same auction, were also photographed. Before processing these, I will be returning to the Massachusetts Collection and posting the remaining lots in his noteworthy collection. The August 23 auction event is not that far away.....

 

The Stage is Set for Fortin Family Visit

After closing the Miata sale and photography, the balance of my day was spent outdoors preparing the grounds for the Fortin family reunion. While this was taking place, Diane was busy preparing the bedrooms and converting the TV room is a play area for the two youngest clan member, Miles and Ayumi. Since having a large storage area above the garage, we've held on to a portion of Matt and Renee's toys for the next generation. Those were retrieved and washed.

For an outdoor activities perspective, the delayed badminton set is due to arrive tomorrow and will be promptly installed. The new Polaris Kinetic Ranger UTV is fully charged and the trails are mostly fool proofed from rocks and overhanging branches. The pond area has been cleaned with the water quality being transparent to the bottom rocks. Remaining is washing Johnny2 and sweeping the barn today as grandson Miles is a huge fan of construction equipment toys. This will be his chance to sit in Tractor Grandpa's lap and operate the Johnny2's backhoe.

 

S&P 500 at Record High - Gold Consolidating

For all the talk of an over valued equities market and potential recession in the works, the S&P 500 is now at a new record level of 6205. Gold, on the other hand, has been in a consolidation channel between $3300 - $3400 during the past weeks. In terns of precious metals, silver is trading above $36/oz with the upward trend appearing to stall out at the $37 mark. Those of us who are dreaming of silver at $40 will need to dream for a bit longer. Platinum has been on a strong rally with the morning quote at $1346/oz. Do you remember the time frame when gold and platinum were roughly priced the same?

What is my take on the current investment situation along with the United State fiscal matters?

To be succinct, the worry about finding buyers for U.S. debt has been resolved. The Federal Reserve and the to big to fail banks will be stepping in to absorb U.S. deficit spending. All the talk of potentially higher 10 year Treasury bond yields has resulted in the opposite with the current quote being 4.2%. Buying a bond fund at 4.5% would have been a wise move in hindsight.

U.S. fiscal policy will not change much with ongoing deficit spending being a given. Deficit spending and the Federal Reserve printing money to absorb the debt will increase the money supply. Past history indicates that this newly created money will be heading into the equity market. Therefore, U.S. stocks could go on another bull run.

However, creating more money will drive inflation, the extent being unknown. The U.S. dollar is falling, a plan by the Trump administration, to stimulate exports. However, a weak U.S. dollar is bullish for inflation as the cost of imported goods will climb.

So how does gold fit into these new realizations.

Firstly, if investors believe that equities will continue to rally, monies will move from bonds and gold into equities. The name of the game is momentum with the sector having the higher momentum attracting the most money.

Secondly, gold is still being supported by central bank buying and sovereign wealth funds purchases. The amount of available physical gold on the LBMA and COMEX continues to shrink to support their paper market casino. Over the longer term (into 2026), gold should still do well with revised forecasts of $3700 to $4000 being seen.

The wild card is China and BRICS and their push to establish an alternate financial trading system with settlements back by physical gold. China plays the long game and has begun to establish gold storage facilities outside of the mainland with Hong Kong being the first gold vault. Already in place, is the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) as a direct competitor to the London Exchange (LBMA) and COMEX here in the United States. The fact that China is building infrastructure for gold trading signals its intentions to eventually back the Yuan with gold. Gold is also a major financial holding of the Chinese citizenry which means that the Chinese Communist Party must carefully manage the price of gold upward to ensure that the population has a go to investment vehicle.

Investment choices are a function of age and expected lifespan. Personally, at age 69, I'm no longer in the equity markets to hit home runs. Minimizing risks while keeping up with inflation are the imperatives.

While composing this Blog edition, gold has moved up $45/oz to nearly $3350 on the first day of Q3'2025 during LBMA trading. This is certainly bullish for the next few hours before U.S trading kicks in. If researching the gold trading patterns, gold will typical move up during overnight trading in Shanghai and be knock down when trading during United States business hours.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Yes, I know that there was little mention of GFRC offerings in this edition. Hopefully tomorrow Blog will have some new content as several consignments are in transit along with the LaSalle 31 piece Seated quarter lot quietly sitting on my desk and seeking attention.

Today brings mostly an office day as showers are forecasted throughout the day with thunderstorms due by early evening.

Thank you again for making the Daily Blog a regular part of your online presence.

Be well!

 

 

 

June 30, 2025

Taking a Pass on Today's Daily Blog

 

 

Greetings on a Monday morning. An unforeseen situation has arisen that needs early morning attention. Therefore, I must pass on composing a Daily Blog edition. Please don't worry, all is fine from a health perspective. There are days in a life when things don't work out as planned and extra efforts are necessary for correcting the situation.

Rich from GFRC-Lite reported a record Raleigh NC show and will have an update for us on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Today's weather will be sunny which will allow for much photography. Morning shipping is an track.

That is it as I need to head to the shower at 6:00 AM.

Thank you for checking in.

Be well!

 

 

June 29, 2025

NCIC's Doug Davis Conversation - Counterfeit Explosion

and

Another August 23 Auction Preview

 

Greetings on a late June Sunday morning and welcome to the Daily Blog. Thank you so much for stopping by as we prepare for the forthcoming July 4th holiday week.

Here at the homestead, the preparations of the Fortin family reunion are visibly underway. Diane has gone grocery shopping twice in several days resulting in the refrigerator being loaded with food along with dry goods in the pantry. When the homestead population grows from two older adults to ten including four grandchildren, food consumption will spike along with hot water usage among other items. Originally, the Yamatin family was due to arrive today but a chance of plans has the entire clan traveling to Maine on Wednesday. The extra days have provided a bit more time to bring together a host of planned activities. For example, I spent Saturday afternoon on the trails with a goal of removing partially exposed rocks that could be struck by novice Polaris Ranger drivers. The removals varied from simply loading into Johnny2's front bucket while others were the typical tip of the iceberg rocks that required extensive digging with the backhoe. After four hours of effort in a light rain, the trails are safer which is was the end goal.

Other preparations include the ordering of a quality badminton set with poles and netting from Amazon that has a UPS delayed delivery to July 2. Two weeks ago, I ordered lower power Estes model rocket engines to enable a model rocket launch in the back yard allowing the grand children a chance to chase down the rockets at end of flight. We also sourced a blow-up bed for the gazebo for those that might wish to "camp out" for a night or two. The finale is a thorough lawn mowing on Monday after a rainy weekend. Diane has still not made a decision on where everyone is sleeping so I've provided a draft plan to keep things simple including restricting toddlers from my basement sound room. We grew up with a common French-Canadian habit of having old beat up furniture in the basement as a place for kids to go play and sleep. That is not the case at the homestead.

Let's move forward with today's numismatic content.

 

NCIC's Doug Davis Conversation - Counterfeit Explosion

On Thursday, Doug Davis of the Numismatic Crime Information Center called in to provide a brief update on our four missing Liberty Seated Dime shipment to a California based client. He confirmed contacting the USPS Office of the Inspection General and provided his name in the event that I am called for more information. During the conversation, Doug shared that he is presently slammed with a host of criminal offenses taking place on eBay and the Google marketplace, in particular an explosion of Chinese counterfeits being sold online. Doug indicated that both eBay and Google are moving to AI driven systems for the posting of merchandise. These AI systems have been exploited by unscrupulous sellers resulting in a sharp increase in numismatic counterfeits being sold to unsuspecting buyers. The counterfeit source, of course, are Chinese manufacturers who are not regulated by the Chinese Communist Party. Producing counterfeits is just another Chinese export business.

From the GFRC perspective, there has been no response other than Diane speaking with the intended delivery location's postmaster. All other search requests for the missing package have resulted in crickets. On Wednesday, Diane filed a claim with USPS as the first step for moving towards a Hugh Woods insurance claim. As a reminder to those in the community who frequent other numismatic sales portals, these are the four missing dimes.

Missing While in USPS Transit to California

      1859-S PCGS AU55 10C #3523603                                           1861-S PCGS MS62 CAC 10C #60159874

        

   1863-S PCGS MS63 CAC 10C #30032523 Bender                              1865-S PCGS MS63 CAC 10C #4580332 Eliasberg  

        

 

Another August 23 Auction Preview

The GFRC Online Auctions August 23 event is going to be massive and a playground for Liberty Seated coinage collectors. Here is an image of an initial twelve forthcoming Liberty Seated quarter and half dollar lots that are in the photography loop. The LaSalle Collection Liberty Seated quarter consignment also arrived this past week with 31 Seated quarters. I will be making a decision on which to add to the auction versus those that will post to the 30 Day Price List during the coming week. Like I said, this will be a huge auction and the basis for closing the consignment window in Saturday's Blog.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Initial sales for the Evergreen State and New Hampshire Collection offerings, as showcased yesterday, have gone well. Today brings the posting of the final five lots to the 30 Day Price List.

My plan is to work in the GFRC office this morning followed by heading outdoors during the afternoon hours. There are two remaining old mulch beds that need weeding and the application of fresh mulch. I've also promised our neighbor Rick and his granddaughter Sadie a trail ride in the new Polaris Kinetic UTV.

That is all she wrote on a Sunday. I hope that you've enjoyed staying current with our many activities. Thanks again and be well!

 

 

 

 

June 28, 2025

Quality Evergreen State and New Hampshire Consignments to Consider!

and

Closing the Consignment Window Through July

 

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog as we enter the final weekend of June 2025. It is hard to believe that next week brings the 4th of July holiday, a traditional summer mid-point for northern New England.

Thank you, as always, for making time to visit with the Fortins and our ongoing business, homestead, and family adventures. Speaking of family adventures, I've been riding the new Polaris Kinetic Ranger XP on the back acreage trails for fun but to also discover the potential trail obstacles that a less than experienced driver might encounter. The trails were constructed for walking and wide enough for Johnny2 to move around. The Polaris Ranger feels wider than Johnny2 and provides limited visibility to the trail edges where exposed roots and hidden rocks are lurking. When driving around the trails, it became apparent that several rocks must be promptly removed to make the trail riding safer. If today's rains abate, this will be my top priority with Johnny2's backhoe.

Yesterday also brought a long overdue cleanup of the pond and surrounding area. Much has been learned from the pond building attempt including over estimating the amount of leaf and pine needle debris that accumulates at the bottom of the pond resulting in constant algae growth. It has become apparent that the pond area must be cleared of overhanging trees that discharge their leaves right into the water. Secondly, the pond must be dug deeper and expanded. Finally, a solar powered aerator solution must be devised. The idea of stocking trout in the pond is a non-starter as the water becomes too stagnant and warm during the hot summer months. Dave Wilkinson will be back this summer for another three day session and I'm leaning towards working through the expansion as the next initiative.

Let's move forward with numismatic topics....

This Saturday edition is consignment centric. We open with two consignments from the New Hampshire and Evergreen State Collection. Yesterday also brought the arrival of a 31 piece Liberty Seated quarter consignment. If that was not enough to keep away from working outdoors, other consignment proposals appeared in my email Inbox. Frankly, the situation is overwhelming and leads me to close the consignment window at least through the end of July and maybe longer. After years of working and returning nearly $19,000,000 in consignment proceeds to clients, there comes a time when priorities must be examined and honoring my aspriations rise to the top of the list. More on this as we move through today's headlines.

 

Quality Evergreen State and New Hampshire Consignments to Consider!

GFRC is pleased to be offering a new showcase gallery that consists of two newly arrived consignments. This morning's presentation features selections from the Evergreen State Collection, a regular GFRC consignor along with offerings from an old friend in New Hampshire.

Leading the display are two important lots. The 1839 No Drapery half warrants serious attention for its challenging No Drapery type status along with being crusty original and CAC approved. Previously from the Oregon Beaver Collection, GFRC last sold this lot during 2021. Next is a super gemmy 1926 $2.5 gold piece that would be ideal for a United States gold type set. This little beauty offers shimmering satiny luster and a well detailed strike that exemplify the Bela Lyon Pratt design. During the early 20th century, Pratt introduced a bold and unconventional design in 1908 that featured an incuse (sunken) relief which was different than other U.S. coins, where the design is raised above the surface. The obverse shows a Native American chief in full headdress, while the reverse features a standing eagle.

      1839 No Drapery PCGS EF45 CAC 50C - $3600                                     1926 PCGS MS65 CAC G$2.5 - $3350            

        

 

The balance of the lots are Seated quarter and half dollar centric as originating from a type set. I'm certain that there is something for most collectors of these series to consider. Look for these offerings to post to the 30 Day Price List at some point this weekend. For those collectors who are comfortable in purchasing based on GFRC images and offer price, you are more than welcomed to submit purchase requests in the interim.

1840-O ND PCGS AU58 25C - $1750                  1853 A&R PCGS AU55 25C - $600                 1854 PCGS AU58 25C OGH - $575   

                      

1858 PCGS MS62 25C - $550                      1873 Arrows PCGS AU55 25C - $650                      1891 PCGS MS62 25C - $435

                      

1842 Med Date PCGS AU5 25C - $675                  1849 PCGS AU58 CAC 50C - $1575                  1853 A&R PCGS AU55 50C - $950  

                      

1854-O Arrows PCGS AU55 50C - $400                    1874 PCGS AU55 50C - $625                              1876 PCGS AU58 50C - $365       

                      

 

Closing the Consignment Window Through July

Honestly, I have a difficult time refusing consignments from clients who have supported the GFRC business since its 2014 inception. Over the years, GFRC has supported the consignment needs of nearly 260 collectors. The past few days have brought a host of consignment requests that will be unsustainable given the workload for the upcoming August 23 GFRC Online Auctions event. In these types of situations, it is easy to over commit and have coins sit in the processing queue for months. Rather than letting this happen, the responsible approach is to close the consignment window through the end of July and maybe a bit longer depending on auction preparation progress.

Therefore, as of today, I will not be accepting incremental consignments. Those that were agreed to on Friday will be supported.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

The Raymond weather forecast is calling for rain throughout the day. I will be in the office during the morning hours working through the shipping queue and starting to load today's gallery lots to the price list. Come the afternoon, if the rain is spotty, there is a need to remove rocks along the walking trails to ensure a higher degree of safety for novice Polaris UTV riders. Isn't interesting that every new initiative always has a debug phase that must be addressed?

One of my goals with purchasing the Polaris Kinetic Ranger UTV was utilizing the solar power being generated at the barn location. Having a quiet gas free machine is quite novel along with operating on solar power. Friday brought a bright sunny day with the Ranger batteries by charged from 50% to 100% directly from the output of the four pole mounted solar panels. I must be careful when charging the UTV on cloudy days as the barn batteries hold 7.5 Kwh of power while the Polaris has a 14.5 Kwh battery. I could easily exhaust the barn batteries if not paying attention leading to the electric door opener not being powered.

Thank you again for the visit.

Be well!

 

 

June 27, 2025

Preparing for the Fortin Family Visit

and

Initial GFRC-Lite Raleigh Show Update

 

Greetings on the final Friday of June 2025 and welcome to the Daily Blog. Thank you for staying connected to GFRC during the summer months.

Today's Blog edition will be brief as there are multiple priorities between the GFRC business and the forthcoming visit (invasion) by Matt and Renee's families. For example, Diane and I spent much of Thursday assembling a Kick Triplex foosball, air hockey, and pool gaming table that should garner much attention with the grandchildren. This was a complex two person assembly resulting in minimum time in the coin office. Today brings much needed attention to the back acreage pond for its clean-up as there are downed trees and branches plus much algae to be scooped out. Another round of ant spreading is also on the list of things to get done.

Consignments continue to be delivered with more arrivals expected today. I'm to the point of closing the consignment window come this weekend as the August 23 auction workload takes priority. It is difficult to respond with passes on consignment proposals, but I'm to the point of over committing my precious Maine summer time only to spend hours sitting in the GFRC office processing coins on sunny days.

Let's share an initial Raleigh NC show report from GFRC-Lite's Rich Hundermark as the day's primary content.

Hi Gerry,

 

I’m pleased to report that Lite is off to a rollicking good start at the Raleigh show.

 

Early bird dealers and collectors found the Lite table, most of which were repeat customers.

 

Seated halves and dollars, Morgan dollars (wow !!) and Classic commemorative sales were exceedingly strong, with the overall tally well over the five-digit dollar hurdle.

 

From the time Lite set up at 3:30 until around 6:00 PM, I was dealing with up to four customers at a time. Given I man the table on a solo basis, it was rather busy. When sales abated, I certainly enjoyed the barbecue dinner that the Raleigh club provides to dealers on set up day.

 

Doors open to the public today at 10 AM. Here in North Carolina temperatures have slightly eased from the sweltering high 90’s to the more tolerable low 90’s.  

 

It will be interesting to see what the attendance is for Friday and Saturday given the heat wave. I’m hopeful that the pre-show momentum carries over. 

 

Lite does not plan to be at the show on Sunday, so if planning to attend, a fair warning has been given. 

 

A full show will be posted on the Lite site early next week. 

 

Rich

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

That is it for today. Again my apology for being brief. Thank you and be well!

 

 

 

June 26, 2025

Exploring Maine's Coastal Islands

and

Evergreen State Consignment Arrives

 

Greetings on a Thursday morning and welcome to the Daily Blog. We are pleased with the returning visit.

The heat wave has finally broken with cool seasonal temperatures now covering northern New England. Today's Raymond high temperature will peak at 71F and drop to the mid 60s by Saturday. This is outdoor working weather with a strong possibility that I will be tackling a landscaping project for a few hours this afternoon to test out the gravel hauling capabilities of the new Polaris Kinetics XP UTV. Good progress continues on the August 23 auction catalog with more listings to be added today.

Spot gold continues to consolidate in a tight trading range with the morning London quote being $3342. Silver, on the other hand, continues to solidify its recent gains with incremental attempts to break through the $37/oz level. The current quote is $36.53.

 

Exploring Maine's Coastal Islands

By mid-Wednesday afternoon, the GFRC shop was quietly closed to enable a wonderful coastal Maine boat ride with the Lyn and Terry Traver. The Travers are what we call "boat people" as they find joy when being on ocean waters. The day's plan was to launch from their Falmouth mooring at the Handy Boat Marina and cruise to the Dolphin Restaurant in Harpswell. I learned that the Handy Boat Marina is the third largest on the U.S. east coast in turns of mooring capacity with water shuttles moving boaters from dockside to their boats throughout the day and closing operations at 9:00 PM.

Our cruise took us by a number of coastal islands including Long Island, Chebeague Island, Hope Island, and Cliff Island as the ladies chatted in the back in the boat while Captain Terry and Gerry discussed our current and anticipated new purchases. Terry is planning to purchase a full restored 1980s vintage 34' cruiser boat in North Carolina during the coming weeks.

Here is an image taken from our outdoor dining table at the Dolphin Restaurant with an excellent view of Horse and Little Birch islands. The fish chowder was fantastic as was the seared tuna.

 

Evergreen State Consignment Arrives

While we were out on the ocean, USPS finally came by and dropped off the newest Evergreen State consignment. The Raymond carrier simply left the package at our door step. Thank goodness that we are in a rural location with only delivery people coming down the driveway. Packages could sit at our front door for days and essentially be invisible.

As previously communicated, our client has decided to sell his Liberty Seated quarter and half dollar type sets. These new lots will be photographed today and loading into the COIN system as a first step.

Following is a quick desktop image of the newly arrived lots. Please forgive the lighting reflection across the 1853 and 1854-O halves. Clicking on the below image provides access to a high resolution version for closer inspection.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Today brings light morning shipping and time in the GFRC office through the mid-afternoon. Afterwards, I will be heading outdoors to tackle more homestead perimeter landscaping clean up and fresh mulch application. A trip to the neglected pond is probably warranted with the chain saw and weed wacker to clear that area before the family visits. The Polaris electric UTV will be ideal for getting this task completed while minimizing the hours on Johnny2.

We are expecting another two consignment arrival today if the Raymond post office staff operates on a timely basis.

I'm out of things to share, therefore let's wrap up another Daily Blog edition at this point. Thank you again for the visit.

Be well!

 

 

 

June 25, 2025

Johnny2 has a New Barn Playmate

GFRC Online Auctions August 23 Catalog Expands

and

Price Reductions from the City By The Bay Collection

 

Greetings once again from the Raymond homestead as we navigate through the first 2025 heat wave. Thank you so much for returning for another edition.

The grand visit by Matt and Renee's families is now less than a week away with a host of preparations in full swing. Having the homestead population jump from two grown adults to four adults and four grandchildren will take some getting use to including improvised sleeping arrangements. One of the new fun attractions was delivered on Tuesday evening. Yes, Johnny2 now has a new barn mate moving forward. Below is an early morning image of the new Polaris Kinetics XP UTV modeling outside of the barn. The Central Maine Powersports service department was finally able to identify a loose connection in the wiring harness after installing the electric actuator for the dump bed. Richard, the manager, followed up with a prompt delivery much to my delight.

 

Once delivered, I took the Kinetics XP for a full tour of the back acreage trails to assess how it responded to the terrain. This machine has a huge amount of torque even in the ECO+ drive mode which is the lowest setting for battery demand. Afterwards, Diane was retrieved from the homestead for her first ride across the trails too. After these two trips around the trails, I can see why this machine is unpopular in the trail riding market segment. Those two round trips (ECO+ mode) consumed 6% of the battery power. At that power consumption rate, I can probably secure 20 round trips to the pond area, before charging, which is sufficient for moving gravel and stone throughout the trail system. Key is having a charging source within the barn for when the UTV is not being utilized. Finally, the extra PV solar panel power being generated for the past two years will be going to good use.

 

GFRC Online Auctions August 23 Catalog Expands

Much of Tuesday's office day was dedicated to the expansion of the August 23 auction catalog with on emphasis on the Tenafly Collection Liberty Seated dimes and $5 gold lots. As of the time morning, there are now 119 lots posted against a full auction offering that should reach close to 250 lots. Today's focus will again be on adding more lots to the Auction page.

 

Price Reductions from the City By The Bay Collection

Tuesday email arrivals also brought a price reduction request from the City By The Bay Collection for his remaining price list lots. This request was timely as the Daily Blog is a great opportunity to visually showcase those lots with lower prices. Here goes...

City By The Bay Price Reductions

      1856 Small Date F-113 NGC MS66 10C - $3600                                      1868-S F-101 PCGS MS63 10C - $2300               

        

    1874-S Arrows PCGS MS62 10C - $1700                                           1891-S CACG MS66 10C - $2050         

        

      1836 JR-1 NGC AU55 10C - $550                1840-O F-109a NGC AU53 10C - $950                1867-S F-102 PCGS AU50 10C - $1350

                      

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Today brings another office day plain and simple. Once the temperatures abate on Thursday, I will be spending time outdoors cleaning up the trails and pond area prior to the family arrivals. There is always something to do in the back acreage which is a good thing.

One final note in that the Raymond post office is a basket case whenever Doug the Mailman takes a vacation week. I am still waiting for the delivery of the new Evergreen State Collection consignment after being promised it would arrive yesterday. I drove the 718 Boxster to the post office yesterday morning specifically to secure this package and was blown off by the counter attendant refusing to dig out the package. This morning brings another visit with a bit more confrontational attitude and probably an escalation to the postmaster Linda. It is so sad to see the shape of local USPS offices with their inability to hire competent staff.

So ends today's ramblings. Thanks again for the visit and please remember to be well!

 

 

 

June 24, 2025

The GFRC Story in Seth Godin's Words

and

Summer Baltimore New Purchases are Posted

 

Greetings from northern New England and welcome to the Daily Blog on a Tuesday morning. Thank you so much for the visit.

Yes, we are in the middle of a heat wave with the National Weather Service issuing an extreme heat warning for Maine and New Hampshire. The forecasted high temperature for Raymond today is 99F, which is quite hot at this latitude. To cope with the high heat and greater than 90% humidity, the Fortins will be staying put in the homestead with the heat pumps keeping us cool. This is a perfect day for extended GFRC Online Auctions image processing and further expanding the online auction catalog for the Massachusetts and Tenafly Collections lots. The extended forecast indicates a sharp cooling trend come Thursday with Saturday's high only being 68F with rain. Bring it on as they say....

Let's stay away from geopolitics as the world is consumed with the Iran-Isreali situation. Rather, I'd like to share an insightful Seth Godin blogpost that 100% describes how I went about building the GFRC business. Focusing on a small select customer base with superior service could be seen as too limiting for those in the business realm that have high aspirations. Here is how Set Godin explains the wisdom of keeping it small with excellence.

Seth Godin Blogpost: Big scale, big impact

The Beatles changed music. Starbucks changed coffee. Perhaps your project is aiming to reach a large audience.

Consultants call it market share. What percentage of the available market have you reached with your idea? No one hits everyone, but many organizations seek to be a monopoly, or perhaps noticeable in scale.

This flies in the face of embracing the smallest viable market. When we’re seeking scale and market share, we need to think about everyone. We need to aim for the middle, sand off the edges, and become the normal, practical, popular choice.

Along the way, hard-working leaders think, “Hey, if we shoot for 40% market share and end up with just 3%, we’ll still be fine.”

The thing is, you don’t get to 3% of the market by trying for 40% and failing.

You get there by embracing the 1% and doing such a good job that the word spreads.

The smallest viable audience gives you focus, traction and positive direction. The smallest viable audience takes humility, guts and responsibility.

Instead of seeking to fail your way to enough, it makes more sense to commit your way to better.

Godin's closing thought is priceless....

 

Summer Baltimore New Purchases are Posted

Immediate sales of Summer Baltimore new purchases have gone well as can be seen by visiting the 30 Day Price List. I've posted all new purchases with the Monday, June 23 date with a fair number of those lots being on hold. Some dealers would just take the quick sales and simply move on. But at GFRC, I took the time to photograph and load images for those sales so that the clients will have access to their images in the Sales Archive. It is just another aspect of providing superior service given how often the Sales Archives are employed for researching past sales.

Following is a quick showcase gallery for the unsold Summer Baltimore lots.

We open with a 1914-S Saint that walked up to the GFRC table and was immediately purchased given its superior eye appeal and rich orange-gold luster. Adding to the appeal is the old NGC Gen 5 Fatty holder. For some reason, $20 gold looks the best in these old NGC holders. The 1859 Indian is a popular one year design type and will always be added to inventory when located choice. The 1840-O Drapery half dime is crusty original and worthy of consideration as a tough date this nice. The 1881 F-102 proof dime offers exceptional eye appeal with placement into the Liberty Seated Dime die variety online reference as a plate coin upgrade. It has been awhile since GFRC has handled a solid 1854-O Huge O with this lot walking up to the table on Friday. Finally, the 1873 Arrows and 1878 quarters are old friends returning to the price list for another appearance. The 1878 date is far from common with CAC approval so don't be surprised by the asking price.

1914-S NGC MS64 CAC G$20 Fatty - $4000

               1859 PCGS MS63 CAC 1C - $1050                                  1840-O Drapery V-7 PCGS EF40 CAC H10C - $1200

        

   1881 F-102 CACG PR66 10C - $1650                                           1854-O Huge O PCGS F12 25C - $1250    

        

   1873 Arrows PCGS AU53 CAC 25C - $715                                           1878 PCGS AU53 CAC 25C - $450    

        

 

Evergreen State Quarter and Half Dollar Type Set Arrives Today

The Evergreen State consignor is becoming a regular inventory supplier of late. He called in yesterday to indicate that his 19th Century quarter and half dollar type sets were shipped late last week as a fresh consignment with arrival to the GFRC office expected today. This is all that I know and will be looking forward to opening the shipment and exploring the contents.

 

Cleveland Collection Releases Liberty Seated Dime Varieties

I was not kidding yesterday when indicating that a fresh consignment wave is about to wash up on the GFRC shores. The Cleveland Collection has also decided to release a substantial number of Liberty Seated dime die variety duplicates that will be shipping this coming week. More on those lots later in the week.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Given today's elevated temperatures, the first act of the day is to move the 1993 Miata to the barn and out of direct sunlight in the driveway. My former sports car is on hold and best to insure that nothing goes wrong with the car prior to pickup at the end of the month. I hate seeing this near-gem Miata baking in the hot sun.

Tip Line Tree Service failed to appear yesterday and did not bother to call. Not following up with an appointment or even having the courtesy to call in advance for rescheduling is a bad signal. Supposedly, they will appear this afternoon, but with the high heat, who knows.

So ends today's Blog edition. I hope that the visit was worthwhile. I will be in the GFRC office the entire day processing images for the forthcoming August 23 auction.

Thank you again for the ongoing support. Be well!

 

 

 

June 23, 2025

Shipping and Posting Baltimore New Purchases

A Consignment Wave

and

Two Incredible Liberty Seated Dimes to Consider

 

Greetings again from the GFRC Maine office on a summer Monday morning. Thank you for the ongoing patronage.

Like most days in a life, Sunday brought a healthy balance between post Baltimore show admin workload followed by spending time outdoors during the afternoon hours. Here is Raymond, each day is lived to its fullest including a post dinner 718 Boxster drive to our local ice cream stop in Windham. Since acquiring the Porsche, there have been more evening drives for ice cream as a way to celebrate busy days and their accomplishments. There is no need for summer time in the basement sound room when the throaty open valve exhaust sound of the Boxster can be modulated during these dinner dessert forays.

Today brings Tip Line Tree Service back to the homestead for an evening visit to review the next step ideas for further clearing of the coastal horizon. As much as I like working with Dave Wilkinson for clearing land, the dropping of huge oaks and maples should be done by tree service professionals. They bring the advantage of chipping all of the resulting brush rather than the need for substantial burning events that risk the ire of the Raymond Fire Department.

Now that readers are up to speed on homestead activities, let's move forward with the day's numismatic content.

 

Shipping and Posting Baltimore New Purchases

Today brings a full day in the GFRC office regardless of the great summer weather. There is a decent amount of morning shipping followed by spending the afternoon processing Summer Baltimore new purchases images and moving unsold lots to the 30 Day Price List. The poor 30 Day Price List is in need of serious attention with some remedy by the end of day. Though not mentioned in the headline, writing consignment checks is also on the agenda as the majority of sold lots at the Baltimore show were consigned.

 

A Consignment Wave

The next two weeks will bring a fresh wave of new consignments with Liberty Seated quarters and dimes being the primary shipments. For curious minds, following are the Liberty Seated quarters that are due to arrive this week. I'm sorry, but there are no First Right of Refusal opportunities at this time for the simple reason that we have not decided which lots will go directly to the price list and those that will be held back for the August 23 auction. There is sufficient information here for those collectors who wish to research the upcoming offerings.

Seated Quarters
1839	PCGS	VF35		12782423
1840O	PCGS	VF35		39317831	GFRC
1841	PCGS	VF35		35526277
1842O	PCGS	F15 small date		34664351
1843O	PCGS	VF35		82944415
1847O	PCGS	AU50		33424166
1848	PCGS	VF30		35525187
1849O	PCGS	VF35		21763379	GFRC
1850	PCGS	VF35	CAC	30990881	GFRC
1850O	PCGS	VF35	CAC	30390486	GFRC
1852	NGC	XF40		6062264-004	McCloskey
1852O	PCGS	VF20	CAC	31729407	GFRC
1853O	PCGS	XF40	CAC	14551348	GFRC
1854O	PCGS	AU55		39317838	GFRC
1860O	NGC	XF45		6062438-017	McCloskey
1856S	PCGS	XF45		13440253
1858S	PCGS	VF30		13427067
1861S	NGC	VF35		4239784-010
1862S	NGC	VF35		6062413-005	McCloskey
1864	PCGS	F15		44571059
1865	PCGS	XF40		30456136	GFRC
1867	PCGS	XF40		34642410
1867S	PCGS	VF20		11626087
1868S	PCGS	XF40		34643256
1869S	PCGS	VF30		38189136
1870	PCGS	XF40		30932682	GFRC
1873 No Arrows	PCGS	AU53	CAC	14255409	GFRC
1873 No Arrows	PCGS	VF25	CAC	38189144	GFRC
1879	PCGS	XF45		83230503
1879	PCGS	AU58		34029467	GFRC
1888	PCGS	XF45		11358466

 

Two Incredible Liberty Seated Dimes to Consider

At the Whitman Baltimore show, two more unsold lots from the Gerry Fortin Liberty Seated Dime Collection found new homes. Gone are the 1874-S and 1877-S dimes with sale prices available by checking the Sales Archive. I'd like to sustain this momentum by showcasing two amazing lots that are still in inventory but should be scooped up by knowledgeable collectors. Special acquisition terms are always available as I don't have an immediate need for the monies.

Let's start with the 1849-O F-101b PCGS MS64 CAC dime...

For some unexplained reason, I sense that the 1849-O date has struggled to secure its deserved respect among other notable New Orleans peers including the 1843-O, 1845-O, and 1851-O. These three dates are well known for being rare in Mint State and close to unobtainable for nearly all fans of the series.

The 1849-O date has a reported mintage of 300,000 with the CAC population census indicating four in Mint State. There are lone examples at the MS61 and MS62 grades with two stickered at MS64. Smaller denomination coinage from the New Orleans mint was in high demand in the Deep South with the entire mintages entering circulation. Those that survive today in choice and gem Mint State could be considered freaks of that era as their survival is nothing but pure luck for present day collectors.

This 1849-O F-101b specimen was struck with the single Large O die pairing and is notorious for being weakly struck with partial heads. This die pair was employed for a substantial portion of the overall mintage with progressive cracking of the reverse die. The Fortin specimen is a historical artifact given its preservations state. Yes, the images portray a dime with a combination of center frosted luster and rose-gray toning. Bright light viewing is where this dime absolutely excels as is the case with true gems. My asking price is a tad above the CAC Price Guide, but then again, this piece is tied for finest known. If the TPG label somehow was improved to an MS65 opinion, then the price premium would close to double. I know of several major collections that would benefit from the inclusion of this dime and if you are so disposed, we can work out extended payment terms or your first born child....

1849-O F-101b PCGS MS64 CAC - $19,000

 

Next is the monster 1885-S F-101 PCGS MS65 CAC dime which saw some attention at the Summer Baltimore show. Liberty Seated dime enthusiasts are well aware of the overall rarity of this late date San Francisco issue given a low mintage of 43,690 with three Mint State survivors approved at CAC plus a recently certified CACG MS63. This example is the second finest with a CAC price guide value of $40,000 and now featured as the PCGS Price Guide plate coin. When researching what this dime is actually worth, the only reference point is the Eliasberg-Stellar PCGS MS66 CAC specimen that sold twice during 2014 for $50,000 and then $45,500. That was full decade ago. At the just completed Whitman Baltimore show, a fellow dealer offered me $30,000 for the piece which was graciously declined. This is a coin that I'm still in love with and have no desire to wholesale out to another dealer. It must find its way eventually into the right collection thus today's showcase in the hopes that one of the major Liberty Seated dime collectors will step forward. Extended payment terms are fine. How often will a dime of this importance be available on the market with generous payment terms?

1885-S F-101 PCGS MS65 CAC - $36,000

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

All that needs to be said in today's Blog edition has been shared so let's wrap up the morning ramblings. I need to get a quick shower in before moving into the shipping department followed by writing a few consignment check for those who enjoyed Summer Baltimore sales.

As always, I thank you for the ongoing readership and support. There are many choices in the numismatic business for your hobby dollars and relationships. I'm just glad to know that GFRC rises to the top of the list for many 19th century collectors.

Be well!

 

 

 

June 22, 2025

Summer Baltimore - Sleepy Friday and Early Exit

Road Rage Theatre on Maine I-95

and

The 1993 Miata is on Hold

 

Greetings from the GFRC Maine office and welcome to an early Sunday morning Daily Blog edition. Thank you for circling back for coverage of the latest Fortin adventures.

Little needs to be said concerning the geopolitical event that occurred on Saturday evening as history will be the judge. At a minimum, one must admired President Trump for being decisive. Enough said...

Let's get into today's headlines.

 

Summer Baltimore - Sleepy Friday and Early Exit

Thank goodness that GFRC enjoyed a strong Thursday at the Summer Baltimore show as Friday's retail activity is best described as sleepy. For all the efforts, Diane and I sold only two coins throughout the day. On positive notes, the GFRC Online Auctions lot viewing was active along with online orders. Several more of Wednesday's new purchases sold promptly after being quoted. By 3:00 PM, I made the command decision to close down the booth and start the packing process towards securing an early Saturday start to the nine hour drive back to Maine.

Overall, we are pleased with the Summer Baltimore outcome as I went into this show with low expectations. Friday turned out to be a "low yield" day with a number of collectors stopping by, but with few opening their wallets. There was one particular discussion with a seasoned collector that was memorable as he viewed the Tenafly auction lots. We noted that there is still an opportunity to cherrypick superior lots among those with CAC green beans. There are average CAC approved Liberty Seated dimes in the Tenafly Collection along with some unquestionable gems mixed in. Those of us with keen eye sight and knowledge of the series are in a position to "cherrypick" the best of the best with CAC approval. Frankly, this is was separates the truly seasoned collectors from the advanced hobbyists.

The next GFRC show will be the ANA World's Fair of Money during mid August.

Today brings the repositioning of retail inventory and staging Monday morning shipments. New purchases will be be culled out for photography and posting to the 30 Day Price List before returning to the Massachusetts and Tenafly Collection auction posting project.

 

Road Rage Theatre on Maine I-95

Our decision for an early 8:00 AM Saturday departure from Baltimore was well founded as the traffic was light into southern New Jersey. We were over the Delaware Bridge at 9:00 AM and reached the Oranges on the NJ Garden State Parkway a little after 11:00 AM. All was moving along smoothly until reaching the ongoing I-287 choke point heading east to the Mario Cuomo Bridge. One of the I-287 lanes was closed for construction which brought a 30 minute delay for crossing the Hudson River. Afterwards, I-84 in Connecticut had its problematic areas too before reaching I-90 in Massachusetts which was its typical weekend afternoon parking lot. I thought that the worst was over once merging onto I-90 through Worcester but I-495 north turned out to have it jam points due to accidents. This is the peril of summer driving on the East Coast. A few accidents by careless drivers can lead to an extra hour or more of road time. For a regular nine hour drive, an extra hour or more does make a difference on concentration and energy levels. There is nothing worse that being in accordion driving with the constant stop and goes and lane shifts by impatient drivers.

Once crossing into Maine, Diane and I witness a full fledge road rage event directly in front of us. Two vehicles were literally engaged in a fight by accelerating around each other and then slamming on the brakes. It was an ugly sight, but luckily, the road rage was taking place into a stretch with no other cars at immediately risk. I placed my warning flashers on and braked to warn others behind me to also slow down and let these two drives fight it out as modern day theatre on the Maine highway. All it would take is contact between the two vehicles to send them spinning out of control across the highway into other cars. The two vehicles kept up the rage and ran up the highway into heavier traffic. The Fortins remained well back of these hooligans in the event that they did bring about a major accident. Fortunately, there were no accidents and we arrived home at nearly 6:00 PM after stopping in Gray for some fresh scallops for a grilled dinner. A "small" glass of tequila was a welcomed reward for a long day behind the MDX wheel.

Another memorable Baltimore show road trip was in the history books.

 

The 1993 Miata is on Hold

Let's close today's Blog ramblings with an announcement that our cherry 1993 Mazda Miata is on hold. The buyer is a nice 28 year old individual from Connecticut who viewed the car a week ago with his mother. He happened to be in Maine visiting relatives and noted our posting on Facebook. The visit was pleasant as this person was clearly a "car guy" and understood the older Miata generations.

At 9:30 AM yesterday, my cellphone rang with Truett calling to purchase the Miata. We agreed on a final price and initial Zelle deposit to hold the Miata until he could return to Maine for pickup on June 30th.

I believe that the Miata went to the right person who will enjoy this car given its strict maintenance and premium condition.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

After driving over ten hours yesterday and working at a coin show for several days, the last thing on my mind is spending much of the day in the GFRC office. Sure the inventory will be unpacked and repositioned in the office safe along with preparing tomorrow morning's shipment. You can bet that I'm heading down to the barn and will be spending part of the day on Johnny2 along with weed wacking growth on the walking trails.

Matt and Renee's family visits are just a little over one week away with a host of preparations to get done for the eight person invasion of our quiet homestead. I need to stage many outdoor activities as the grandchildren should have an opportunity to explore the outdoors rather than being urban dwellers on computers while in a rural country setting. I'll give it my best, but as the old saying goes, you can bring a horse to water but you can't make drink.

Thank you again for checking in. Be well!

 

 

June 20, 2025

A Robust Summer Whitman Baltimore Show

 

Greetings again from Baltimore and welcome to a second Daily Blog edition from the Summer Whitman bourse floor, specifically booth #241. Thank you for staying current with GFRC happenings.

As today's headline indicates, the 2025 Summer Baltimore show was quite robust on Thursday regardless of only a partial day of general public attendance. There was a notable early bird presence at 10:00 AM followed by an above average attendance come the noon opening hour.

Over at the large GFRC double corner booth, Diane and I were non-stop business for the entire day along with Greg Johnson helping out as our table assistant for the day. When I can finally start consuming a Jimmy Johns sub for lunch at 2:00 PM, it is a clear signal that the GFRC table has been well attended.

The early hours brought the usual dealers who will review GFRC inventory at every show. We did well with these individuals and moved along a host of consigned coins that needed to find new homes well returning numismatic capital to our clients. Early bids converged at the tables along with a steady flow of collectors once the bourse opened. I like the new table location as we have a huge amount of operating space along with the ability to place display cases in a horizontal manner, the safest option as as the case locks are opposite the customers. Sure, the large space is more expensive, but sometimes it is worthwhile to spend a bit more for bourse space to have a pleasant and high security presence.

When Thursday wrapped up sales were close to the six figures with more anticipated today.

On the consignment front, another Liberty Seated quarter consignment was insourced for the upcoming August 23 auction along with several Seated pieces from the historical 2013 Eric P. Newman. Sale.

I was able to quote several of Wednesday's new purchases which were immediately sold. There are still two more requests that will be responded to today.

Concerning the online business. a substantial Liberty Seated quarter consignment was offered with the shipping logistics being discussed in between customer visits.

And lastly, the Massachusetts and Tenafly Collections lots also received attention with one individual leaving book bids as a first step.

Overall, Diane and I are quite pleased with the initial Summer Baltimore results.

OK, my first dealer visit of the day has just arrived, therefore need to conclude this show report.

Thanks again for checking in.

Be well!

 

 

 

 

June 19, 2025

Live from the Summer Whitman Baltimore Show

CAC New Purchases for Quoting

and

More Seated Lots for August 23 Auction

 

Greetings from Baltimore and welcome to a Summer Whitman show Blog edition. Thank you for returning and staying current with GFRC adventures.

Here we are at the classic summer numismatic event in Baltimore Maryland. GFRC is located at a new location with tons of table space and our entire inventory display. If you are a GFRC consignor, your coins are assuredly in Baltimore for the show. Following is a quick snapshot of the GFRC booth taken during dealer wholesale trading. Yes, that is Diane and Greg Johnson behind the table. Greg is working as a taken assistant but also taking the opportunity to study the forthcoming lots in our August 23 auction.

 

CAC New Purchases for Quoting

It goes without saying that GFRC is well known for handling premium coins. During Wednesday's dealer room activity, a small number of top quality lots were purchased at a price level that is consistent with the needs of the typical GFRC customer. Here is a quick snapshot of the new purchases. The photo is a bit angled due to severe lighting reflections from the overhead convention center lights. Please pay special attention to the 1840-O No Drapery quarter as GFRC-Gem rated with a very scarce complete strike.

If which first shot and a price quote, please email me. I should be able to respond with a price quote by later today as these must be first loaded into the COIN system and priced. As usual, clicking on the image will allow access to a higher resolution version.

 

More Seated Lots for August 23 Auction

The forthcoming GFRC Online Auctions slated for August 23 continues to expand with a new consignment from the Saw Mill Run Collection. Here is a quick snap shot of those lots. The 1843 and 1859 I/I quarters are fantastic lots!

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

As I'm about to wrap up the Blog with some closing comments, Diane and Greg are cleaning up the dealer flyers that find their way on our cases. I still question why dealers take the time and expense to prepare and print these flyers that go immediately into the circular file. Anyways, there is not a whole lot to comment upon at this point. We are hoping for a good show with one of the remaining Gerry Fortin Liberty Seated Dime Collection dimes selling in the past hour. Every sale of the Fortin and Newtown Seated pieces is important at this point. Offers are welcomed too along with necessary payment terms.

OK, I've rambled enough and need to focus on other dealer activities. Thank you again for checking out these ramblings.

Be well!

 

 

June 16, 2025

A Brief GFRC-Lite Update

and

Whitman Baltimore Show Week Arrives!

 

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog on a mid-June Monday morning. Thank you for the visit.

Father's Day was a great day as Diane and I took the 718 Boxster into the White Mountains for a five hour driving loop starting with the Kangamangus Highway into Lincoln NH. We stopped for a Mexican lunch and then proceeded up I-93 for more scenic vistas before turning off on Rt 3 towards Bretton Woods and the majestic Mt. Washington Inn on Rt 302. Famous for the site of the Bretton Woods Agreement, reached in July 1944, which established a new international monetary system based on fixed exchange rates pegged to the U.S. dollar, which was in turn convertible to gold. The balance of the drive brought us through more mountains and into North Conway before crossing back into Maine and heading home. The Porsche certainly did not disappoint, rather it was an opportunity to demonstrate and absorb its raw power and planted feel while attacking sharp curves. Switching between the Normal to Sport driving modes allowed for an understanding of how the suspension stiffens with a notably more aggressive driving opportunity to navigate mountain curves as even higher speeds. I' still leary about moving up to the Sport+ mode which is the race track setting. There were a few white knuckle moments for Diane but she was a good sport and enjoyed the adventure.

Now the focus shifts to a brief GFRC-Lite announcement and a busy numismatic week...

 

A Brief GFRC-Lite Update

Hi Gerry,

Happy Father’s Day!

I published a Lite blog today. I was able to get the 2nd planned Lite Site enhancement completed - a Category for “New Purchases Last 30 Days” was added to the home page. This was much needed as it further aligns with the GFRC site’s look and feel.

I’m very happy that the targeted improvements to the Lite website (Blog and New Purchases) have now been completed. If you can mention this, that would be great. 

Have a wonderful Balt show. The following week I have the Raleigh NC show, Annandale in July & then will see you at the Oklahoma City ANA in August.

Best,
Rich

 

Whitman Baltimore Show Week Arrives!

Yes, it is time for the summer Whitman Baltimore show with booth setup at 5:00 PM on Wednesday. Today brings morning shipping followed by preparing and packing show inventory along with the usual booth accessories. For the final time, following is the Baltimore show bourse map and GFRC's location at #241. The auction lot viewing handouts for both the Massachusetts and Tenafly Collections have been finalized, and printed with all lot reserves. A total of ten copies of each will be available at our booth for attendees wishing to inspect these substantial collections.

Along with the GFRC Online Auction lots, our regular inventory features the remaining Liberty Seated dimes and halves from the Gerry Fortin and Newtown Collections. Both consignors are motivated and hope to see their residual collection lots moving into other advanced collections. For example, here are four Newtown lots for your consideration.

Newtown Liberty Seated Half Dollars Available in Baltimore

 1839 Drapery WB-5 PCGS MS65 CAC 50C - $25,500                             1840 WB-1 PCGS MS64+ CAC 50C - $8000         

        

    1840-O WB-11 PCGS MS63+ CAC 50C - $6500                                      1849 WB-11 PCGS MS64 CAC 50C - $6000         

        

We hope to see the usual Baltimore show familiar faces in the coming days at our new booth location per next.

 

Summer Baltimore Show - GFRC Online Auctions at Booth #241

Tom Coulombe Liberty Seated Dime Collection

Tenafly CAC Approved Liberty Seated Dime and $5 Liberty Gold Collection

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Today brings a busy office day with a host of preparations and the usual Monday morning shipping tasks. If looking for me, I will be in the office. There will be no Daily Blog edition on Tuesday for obvious reasons along with Wednesday as little to discuss other than a nine hour Maine to Baltimore road trip.

I wish there was more to share on a numismatic basis other than today's brief ramblings. Rather, I'm heading upstairs for an early morning shower and securing an quick start to a long office day.

Again, thank you for stopping by. Be well!

 

 

 

June 15, 2025

Happy Father's Day 2025

Working in the Homestead Yard

and

GFRC Online Auctions Catalog Continues to Expand

 

Greetings from southern Maine on Father's Day 2025 and welcome to another Daily Blog edition.

Firstly, a happy Father's Day wish goes out to the many fathers in the GFRC community. This is a day that celebrates fathers, the steady hand that guides children through life's twist and turns. Our role is that of protectors, teachers, and sources of wisdom for those we love. Certainly, fathers offer a different perspective to life as compared to mothers. We speak less than mothers and often times remain silent as dad jokes and their intended wisdom can be misunderstood. Key is that fathers show up and believe in their children's ability be strong as demonstrated by patience and kindness while striving for long term goals. Yes, a father's most important character is being a role model for the next generation. The important of father's in the nuclear family cannot be understated.

 

Working in the Homestead Yard

As mentioned in Saturday's Blog, summer time in Maine is precious with my favorite activity being sustaining the existing landscaping while expanding that in the back acreage. After nearly six months living in a small Florida condo, the ability to operate in wide open space with Johnny2 and plying the earth is as good as it gets. This photo was snapped while maintaining the landscaping adjacent to the office and TV room side of the homestead. The old mulch has pretty well disintegrated with a thick fresh coat being applied. Our spirea, also known as meadowsweet, is in full bloom this year along with the rhododendrons. The Japanese maple is nicely contrasted by the various shades of green in the background.

The Maine summer of 2025 is odd is certain aspects. The flowing shrubs are blooming to a level no seen in many years. On the other hand, there are no chipmunks this year to disturb my early morning Blog compositions. Also missing in action at the hawks and crows which have been a regular feature on the property. The wood tick population is also notably missing, a blessing for those of us who enjoy being in the woods. Does Mother Nature move through cycles as the spring weather conditions were not extraordinary in terms of precipitation though a bit seasonally cool. . I will be pondering this question through the balance of the summer and attempting some online research as quite curious as to potential explanations.

 

GFRC Online Auctions Catalog Continues to Expand

Incremental images were posted to the GFRC Online Auctions catalog as the presence of the Massachusetts and Tenafly Collections continues to expand. As of this morning, there are roughly 80 Liberty Seated dime lots posted with most having images. Among the 80 are some great old friends from my personal collection that have come "home" for another visit.

Old "Friends" from the Gerry Fortin Reference Collection

      1840-O F-101a PCGS AU58 CAC 10C - $5500                                       1847 F-103 PCGS AU55 CAC 10C - $1000        

        

 1860 Type 1 F-103 PCGS MS63 CAC 10C - $800                                       1864-S F-101 PCGS MS64 10C - $5500      

        

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

There is little else to share at this point, so let's thank everyone for returning for today's edition. Again it is Father's Day and the calm before the storm as the Summer Whitman Baltimore arrives this coming week. Today will be a chill out day.

Be well!

 

 

June 14, 2025

Summer Time in Maine is Precious....

 

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog on Father's Day weekend. We appreciate the ongoing visits.

This is one of those mornings where I am drawing a blank with respect to content creation. Life's pace, as multiple priorities and tasks are executed, leaves little time to sit back for Daily Blog content creation. We are attempting to sell the 1993 Miata and working with USPS towards locating our missing California shipment as just several activities among many. Now the Whitman Baltimore show is on the horizon with the associated preparations. After returning from Baltimore, there is a single week to prepare for the arrival of Matt's and Renee's families. The homestead population will increase from two people to ten including two toddlers.

The new Polaris Kinetic XP UTV has yet to be delivered as an electrical actuator was added to the vehicle and being installed by the dealership. In other words, I've added an electric lift for the dump bed. The first actuator arrived to the dealership and did not work when installed. A replacement was ordered, then arrived, and was found to have the same issue. After addition debugging, the dealer service department learned that the Kinetic XP wiring harness has been modified as compared to the gas powered versions. This was never specified on the Polaris website when the actuator was listed as a standard upgraded. So now, the wiring harness needs to be updated to power the actuator. With our trip to Baltimore next week, the UTV delivery is now delayed until the week of June 26 and hopefully will arrive in time for the family visits.

On a positive note, the old jacuzzi is gone followed by Diane ordering a combination Foosball, air hockey, and pool table for the newly created space. Yes, this is a three sided invention that can rotate on its center axis. I'm sure that the grandchildren will enjoy have this gaming option in the sun room allowing a respite from their laptops. I pray that no assembly is required but checking the product website indicated a $250 assembly charge for a $900 product. It appears I will be spending part of day putting this gaming platform together....

As you can tell, there is no numismatic content for today's edition. More of the Massachusetts Liberty Seated Dime Collection was photographed yesterday and that was the extent of the GFRC activities.

Today bring occasional showers and a day in the GFRC office to catch-up on orders along with preparing receipts for the many Whitman Baltimore show pickups following by image processing. Hopefully, the online auction catalog will see incremental postings.

Thank you for the visit and please understand that there are days where numismatic content is hard to come by due to other priorities in a life. Summer time in Maine is precious for activities outside of the GFRC business.

 

 

 

June 13, 2025

NCIC Aids with Missing GFRC Shipment

and

Gold Becomes Second Largest Global Reserve Asset

 

Greetings on a Friday the 13th early morning and welcome to the Daily Blog. Thank you so much for the return visit.

It is a beautiful day in southern Maine as a strong breeze is flowing through my office window. Thin white clouds are floating over the Ledge Hill top towards the homestead, a common weather pattern.

Two homestead contractor days are behind us. First was the water heater replacement on Wednesday followed by the removal of an old sun room hot tub on Thursday. The house is back to normal for a few days prior to our departure for the summer Whitman Baltimore show. Today's outdoor tasks include mowing the lawn and washing the 1993 Miata as it is covered with pine pollen. Yes, we are struggling to sell the Miata and have lower the price to $8500. Selling the Miata is no different that selling an aging numismatic item on the GFRC price list. The price will continue to drop until a buyer is located. The first generation Miata is simply a fun little sports car for the right person who has garage space. In our case, the 718 Boxster has taken over the Miata's spot in the garage but is still loved.

Speaking of the 718 Boxster, this car is utterly amazing and a joy to drive. "Planted" best describes how the Boxster drives on the road while the 394 hp 4.0L offers a substantial growl when RPMs reach the 4000 mark. Redline is 7800 RPM and I can only imagine what the exhaust sound would be like at that engine speed. For some odd reason, Diane and I going out for a post dinner ice cream more often these days.

Finally, the GFRC Online Auctions catalog continues to be fleshed out with incremental listings and images. Yesterday brought another photography session with more Seated dimes in the image processing queue effective today. You are invited to visit the current Massachusetts and Tenafly Collection posting status at the Auction link.

Let's jump into today's headlines.

 

NCIC Aids with Missing GFRC Shipment

It is starting to look bleak for the California bound shipment of three condition census San Francisco dimes from the Gerry Fortin Liberty Seated Dime Collection and the Tom Bender 1863-S PCGS MS64 CAC dime as time goes by with no feedback from USPS. Dealing with USPS is a disappointment....

On Wednesday, I contacted Doug Davis at the Numismatic Crime Information Center (NCIC) with our situation. NCIC is the primary contact point for crimes and missing packages for our industry. Doug responded and requested the shipment tracking number and Missing Package Search number which were promptly provided. After receiving this information, he responded and indicated that the matter had been submitted to the USPS Office of Inspection General who will forward the missing package report to the inspector in the Scarborough Maine distribution center. Doug also indicated that he will be sending out a national alert to the NCIC contact list.

In terms of USPS tracking information, nothing has changed. The entire process is quite frustrating for both our long term client and the GFRC staff. Yes, there is insurance coverage but the core issue is locating these historically important Liberty Seated dimes. My request to the Blog readership is to key your eyes open for these pieces if visiting the various numismatic website including eBay, Collectors Corner, and other dealer websites. Once NCIC issues their nation wide alert, I will feel better that the eyes of the entire numismatic industry will be aware of the missing dimes.

 

Gold Becomes Second Largest Global Reserve Asset

Gold moved through the $3400/oz mark later Thursday once it was announced that Israel had struck Iran's military infrastructure and a nuclear site. As of the Blog composition, gold is trending at $3418 after consolidating above $3300 during the earlier part of the week. At this point, I have absorbed enough YouTube videos on the precious metal topic for a lifetime and have a reasonable grasp on what is taking place within the global monetary order. My advice is to add physical gold to your numismatic holdings along with diversification in a financial wealth portfolio. There will be potential push back as I have experienced with our Merrill Lynch money manager simply due to most of the American citizenry being ignorant of the historical role of precious metals as a monetary asset. We have been conditioned by the "investment industry" to chase the Magnificent 7 stocks for wealth appreciation.

Yesterday brought a Kitco article announcing that gold has now surpassed the Euro as the second largest global reserve asset. This announcement is further validation that gold is regaining it pre-1971 global status as the primary monetary asset that can be traded without fear of sanctions or tariffs. Just the opposite is taking place as certain states in the Union have returned gold and silver to legal tender status, Florida being the latest. Following is the Kitco article that is worth the read and subsequent reflections.

Gold passes euro as second-largest reserve asset, central bank demand likely to impact future supply, prices – ECB

Gold has now surpassed the euro to become the number two reserve asset held by central banks, and sustained sovereign buying will likely impact the growth of the global gold supply going forward, according to new data published by the European Central Bank (ECB) on Wednesday.

In Gold demand: the role of the official sector and geopolitics, ECB Team Lead Economist Maurizio Michael Habib and his coauthors noted that gold holdings by central banks in 2024 reached 20% - compared to the euro’s 16% - levels last seen during the era of the gold standard.

“Adjusted for inflation, real gold prices in 2024 surpassed their previous peak seen during the 1979 oil crisis,” they wrote. “Meanwhile, gold reserves held by central banks stand at levels close to those last seen in the Breton Woods era, although they now account for a far smaller share of total gold supply.”

“This stockpile, together with high prices, made gold the second largest global reserve asset at market prices in 2024 – after the US dollar,” they added.

Central bank gold demand also reached record high levels in 2024 – representing more than 20% of global demand – compared to an average of around 10% in the 2010s.

“Gold demand for monetary reserves surged sharply in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and has remained high,” the authors noted. “However, gold purchases for jewelery consumption and investment continued to account for the bulk of global gold demand. In 2024 the decline in demand for jewelery consumption, particularly in China, was offset by higher demand for investment. The combined share of both categories remained at 70% of the global demand for gold.”

And the ECB said that central banks are buying gold not only for diversification purposes, but also to hedge against geopolitical risk.

“A survey of almost 60 central banks conducted by the World Gold Council between February and April 2024 identified the following three key drivers of central banks’ gold holdings: (i) a long-term store of value and an inflation hedge, (ii) (good) performance during times of crisis, and (iii) an effective portfolio diversifier,” they wrote. “Additionally, respondents pointed to default risks, geopolitical diversification and political risk as factors influencing their holdings.”

“Overall, the responses indicate that gold is valued by reserve managers primarily as a portfolio diversifier to hedge against economic risks, including inflation, cyclical downturns and defaults, and secondly as a hedge against geopolitical risk,” the authors added.

Central banks in emerging and developing economies also cited sanction concerns and the possible weakening of major currencies. 

“One out of four such central banks referred to “concerns about sanctions” or the “anticipation of changes in the international monetary system” as determinants of their investment exposure to gold,” the ECB said. “The recent accumulation of gold reserves by official institutions tends to be concentrated in very few countries. Türkiye, India and China, for instance, top the list of the largest purchasers, jointly accumulating more than 600 tonnes of gold since the end of 2021.”

Going forward, the ECB said that the impact of rising central bank demand on gold prices is likely to depend on the relative growth potential of the gold supply. 

“It has been argued that gold supply has responded elastically to increases in demand in past decades, including through strong growth in above-ground stocks,” the ECB concluded. “Therefore, if history is any guide, further increases in the official demand for gold reserves may also support further growth in global gold supply.”

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

With GFRC heading to Baltimore on Tuesday, the next major task will be receipt creation for a host of show Session 3 auction lot pick-ups. As demontrated by the missing California shipmnet, a person to person hand-off is a superior alternative to placing rare coins into the USPS transport network.

I will be in an out of the office today as outdoor activities will have priority.

Thank you for the time taken to read through today's Daily Blog edition.

Be well!

 

 

 

June 12, 2025

Homestead Has a New Hot Water Heater

and

Viewing Progress with GFRC Online Auction Sale Catalog

 

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog on a Thursday morning. Thank you for the return visit.

Today's edition will be brief as there is simply too much taking place at the homestead for a long edition. Yesterday brought the installation of a new Bradford-White indirect water heater that took most of the day. There was a quick trip into Windham to secure a new whole house water filter while working through the construction of the GFRC Online Auction banners that you see posted today. Once the plumbers were gone, the basement sound room and bathroom required tidying. Immediately afterwards, all the sun room furniture was moved into the house since Pete Theberge arrived shortly to start the demolition of an old fiberglass jacuzzi and its removal to create play space for the forthcoming grandchildren visit come early July.

The balance of the day brought a notice to Maine Gold & Silver for the missing San Francisco Liberty Seated dimes in the event these might turn up in Norm Pullen's coin and jewelry shop. A submission to the The Numismatic Crime Information Center was also completed. The balance of the day was spent photographing coins and constructing the online auction catalog for the upcoming Massachusetts and Tenafly auction sale come August 23, 2025.

Today will be a repeat of Wednesday with Pete Theberge working in the sun room. My plan is to hide in the GFRC office as much as possible, but there is always something that requires my attention.

That is the extent of today's Blog. I'm off for an early shower before Pete arrives followed by GFRC shipping and more attention to fleshing out the online auction catalog. Please feel free to click on the above banners to access the online auction catalog that is presently under construction.

Thanks again and be well!

 

 

 

June 11, 2025

A USPS Nightmare - Condition Census San Francisco Seated Dime Shipment is Missing

and

Announcing Massachusetts Liberty Seated Dime Collection Reserve Prices

 

Greetings on a Wednesday morning and welcome to another Daily Blog edition. Thank you for every returning visit to these ongoing GFRC and personal updates.

The sun is back after another long day of rain on Tuesday. We find ourselves approaching mid-June with the back acreage walking trails still not dried out in certain problematic locations. That is how wet it has been in northern New England this year.

Let's jump right into the headline topics for the day. Sadly, I must announce that Diane filed a missing package claim with USPS on Tuesday as a substantial purchase from my personal Liberty Seated Dime collection auction has gone missing. We've waited with patience for the USPS Express package to find its way to its California destination but with no progress in over a week's time. This is a substantial issue with the insured value of the package being nearly $73,000. Yes, we are covered by Hugh Woods insurance but there it not the immediate concern. We must find this package as it contains the following Liberty Seated dimes.

Missing While in USPS Transit to California

      1859-S PCGS AU55 10C #3523603                                           1861-S PCGS MS62 CAC 10C #60159874

        

   1863-S PCGS MS63 CAC 10C #30032523 Bender                              1865-S PCGS MS63 CAC 10C #4580332 Eliasberg  

        

The USPS Express shipment arrived into the Scarborough, Maine distribution center on June 2 at 6:48 PM and has seen no further tracking updates. I will be contacting Maine Gold & Silver in South Portland today in the event the package might have been stolen locally and could be fenced at this well known bullion and numismatic business. The appearance of these dimes into a coin shop should be a red flag for any dealer.

Let's cross our fingers and hope for a positive outcome to this issue. Hope is not a strong plan but it is all we have at the moment.

 

Announcing Massachusetts Liberty Seated Dime Collection Reserve Prices

I'm pleased to report that the reserve prices for the forthcoming Massachusetts Liberty Seated Dime Collection auction sale have been settled with an update to the following lot viewing handouts available at the Summer Baltimore show. Clicking on either image will bring about a PDF file download which can be saved to your local hard drive or can initiate the printing of the two pages.

Again, the lots shaded in orange were purchased from GFRC as reference.

As of last evening, the online auction catalog construction process was underway. At this point in time, there are no auction banners to provide access to the catalog web page. Now that a sunny day is upon us, I will be able start photography of both the Massachusetts and Tenafly Collection lots which will enable the preparation of new auction banners.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Today bring light shipping coupled with Atlantic Heating working at the homestead and replacing our old Amtrol hot water heater with a new stainless steel model. Once the shipping is done, it will be photography time for the aforementioned auction lots followed by constructing new GFRC Online Auctions banners towards providing access to the under construction online catalog.

Thank you for the return visit and I would appreciate help with spreading the word about the missing Liberty Seated Dime USPS Express shipment to your contacts.

Be well!

 

 

 

June 10, 2025

Presenting the Tenafly CAC Centric Collection Auction Sale

GFRC Online Auction Lot Viewing at Summer Baltimore Show

and

Silver Has Broken Out

 

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog on a Tuesday morning. Thank you so much for returning for another edition.

Other than a good excuse to take the Porsche 718 Boxster into Windham for dropping off shipping and procuring several home items, the bulk of Monday was spent in the GFRC office focused on the forthcoming GFRC Online Auction lot viewing that arrives at next week's Summer Whitman Baltimore show. I'm pleased to report that the Massachusetts Liberty Seated Dime Collection reserves have been finalized and will be presented in Wednesday's Blog.

Loading the entire Tenafly Collection into the COIN system was Monday's next top priority. I am most pleased to be presenting an absolutely premium Liberty Seated dime and $5 Liberty gold collection that will certainly enhance the forthcoming late August 2025 auction event. Liberty Seated dime collectors should start building up their numismatic capital for this auction as the offerings will be compelling. Fans of CAC approved early $5 U.S. gold will also enjoy this forthcoming opportunity to add premium CAC approved gold to their holdings.

Today's Blog bring an announcement of the Tenafly Collection offerings.

 

Presenting the Tenafly CAC Centric Collection Auction Sale

It is with keen pleasure that we share the Tenafly Collection auction lots within two concise pages in an Excel spreadsheet. Below are two JPEG images, that when clicked, will download a PDF file that can be saved on your computer or subsequently printed.

The Tenafly Collection auction lots include 84 Liberty Seated dimes, 19 $5 Liberty gold pieces, and a lone $10 Liberty gold lot. What is amazing is that 98% of the lots are CAC approved with a single Gold CAC lot, the 1859-O PCGS MS63 dime. Furthermore, 72% of the lots were purchased directly from GFRC primarily between 2018 to 2021. Those lots are shaded and can be investigated in the Sales Archive. There are plate coins from the Liberty Seated dime die variety online reference to be had if checking carefully.

Please take the time to review the Tenafly Collection Liberty Seated dimes as there are many important die varieties to be found. I clearly remember that Tom Hubschman was selecting better die varieties, with CAC approval, as the representative for each date or mintmark. It was cool approach to building this truly noteworthy collection.

Today bring the long task of developing the reserve prices for each these lots followed by securing a closing approval from our long term client. Once that approval is received, the Excel pages will be updated and republished later this week. This PDF file will be printed and available at handouts along with those for the Massachusetts Seated Dime Collection during auction lot viewing.

 

GFRC Online Auction Lot Viewing at Summer Baltimore Show

GFRC has taken a substantial amount of booth space as our entire inventory will be on exhibit along with forthcoming GFRC Online Auctions displays of the Tom Coulombe Liberty Seated Dime Collection coupled with the Tenafly Collection of Liberty Seated Dimes and $5 Liberty gold. If considering attending the Summer Baltimore show, these opportunity to view these two collections and conduct individual lot viewing should be compelling. Diane and Gerry will be staffing the booth by ourselves this time around.

We hope to see you next week in Baltimore with some delightful viewing treats along with our usual inventory!

Summer Baltimore Show - GFRC Online Auctions at Booth #241

Tom Coulombe Liberty Seated Dime Collection

Tenafly CAC Approved Liberty Seated Dime and $5 Liberty Gold Collection

 

Silver Has Broken Out

It happened quickly last week! Silver has finally broken through it overhead resistance of $35/oz and continued to move upward on Monday with a close at roughly $36.70. Those gains are holding in early morning trading at the London exchange. Finally, it appears that true price discovery is starting to appear after years of price suppression on the COMEX. Silver is in a substantial deficit supply vs. demand position with both India and China being huge buyers. India views silver as a store of wealth with the jewelry application being predominant. China, on the other hand, needs silver for its industrial needs and favors gold for wealth accumulation.

The YouTube precious metal experts have been predicting this breakout for some time and are now forecasting that silver could run to $50 to $60 per ounces at some point during 2025.

On a personal basis, I have been long silver ETFs since the $28/oz level along with the PAAS silver miner and adding more to the positions as prices move upward.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

It is raining again here in northern New England which translate into another full day in the GFRC office. My end of day goals are to post the Oregon Beaver and Dr. Tim Cook consignments to the 30 Day Price List along with developing a reserve pricing proposal for the Tenafly auction lots. If both can be accomplished, it will be a good day.

Tomorrow brings Atlantic Heating to the homestead to replace our Amtrol water heater with a new stainless steel model. This is a substantial undertaking as the house water filter plumbing must be removed to gain access to the old water heater. Thursday is just as complicated, if not more, as our several decades old sun room hot tub will be sawn and removed in pieces through limited egress points. This will be a dirty and messy project with fiberglass dust everywhere. Therefore, the imperative is to get Whitman Baltimore show centric tasks out of the way today.

Thank you as always for returning to the Daily Blog for another update on the GFRC business and homestead projects.

Be well!

 

 

 

June 9, 2025

A Delightful 2025 Rhododendron Bloom

Newest Oregon Beaver $2.5 Liberty Gold

and

Dr. Tim Cook's Better Liberty Seated Dime Varieties

 

Greetings on a Monday morning and welcome to the Daily Blog. We appreciate the ongoing visit.

Another week arrives before GFRC travels to the Summer Whitman Baltimore show. The next seven to eight days will bring more homestead projects including the replacement of our Amtrol water heater on Wednesday and the sun room hot tube on Thursday. Life is never boring here in Raymond as I try to balance the demands of the GFRC business with a host of get done projects before our family reunion that starts the weekend of June 28. The 4th of July week brings Matt and Renee's family to the homestead with the population jumping from 2 to 10 people including two toddlers that will attempt to get into everything that is not tied down. Wish us luck with the sleeping arrangements as I've yet to see a concrete plan.

Yesterday brought light landscape maintenance including the gazebo being cleaned and readied for entertaining or as an outdoor camping location for when the family arrives. The Maine spring pine pollen season should be about over at this point, therefore washing the outdoor deck and gazebo was timely. We did manage to take a 10+ mile ride in the Porsche Boxster for an afternoon ice cream break. The Boxster hates to go slow on the back country roads...

This year's garage side rhododendron bloom is quite beautiful and is worthy of being shared.

 

Newest Oregon Beaver $2.5 Liberty Gold

Sunday brought a pleasing sunny day and the opportunity to photography recently arrived consignments. Pricing proposals were promptly issued and approved towards enabling this morning's dual showcase galleries. We open with a three piece Oregon Beaver $2.5 Liberty gold lot with the highly being an 1876 dated specimen that is CAC approved. Mintage is a low 4,170 pieces with the date being rare in Mint State. The CAC census reports 23 approved in all grades with a lone MS61 at that grade level and six finer. Today brings the opportunity to gain access to this CAC approved MS61 example which is being offered at the CAC price guide. The Oregon Beaver also included 1879 and 1889 $2.5 Liberty gold lots for your consideration.

Newest Oregon Beaver $2.5 Liberty Gold

1876 PCGS MS61 CAC G$2.5 - $5500

             1879 PCGS MS63 G$2.5 - $950                                              1889 PCGS MS64+ CAC G$2.5 - $2600    

        

 

Dr. Tim Cook's Better Liberty Seated Dime Varieties

To continue funding his recently purchased Seated dime lots from my personal collection, Tim Cook has been releasing duplicates for raising incremental numismatic capital. Today brings the release of two challenging die varieties.

The first is an 1871-S F-102 dime with Mint State certification. The F-102 die pairing has an R5 rarity rating and is always found weak at the denomination and at the lower inner left and right leaves. This reverse die was previously employed by the San Francisco mint to strike coinage in 1869 and in 1870. Before re-use in 1871, the reverse die appears to have been polished or lapped as the fields are partially mirrored with lightly frosted devices.

The second important die variety is the 1886-S F-102 die pairing with my rule of thumb being a 10:1 ratio between F-101 and F-102 seen. This lovely example is strictly original and warrants a trip to CAC by the new owner as my understanding is that Dr. Cook is not an active CAC submitter.

Dr. Tim Cook's Better Liberty Seated Dime Varieties

      1871-S F-102 PCGS MS62 10C - $2650                                         1886-S F-102 PCGS AU58 10C - $750    

        

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

It is a Monday morning which means accumulated shipping will be the first priority of another office day. Afterwards, my attention shift to the Massachusetts Liberty Seated Dime Collection reserve prices and getting those finalized by end of day. Once this auction lot is ready for lot viewing at Summer Baltimore, the Tenafly Liberty Seated Dime and $5 gold will become the next office priority.

Let's wrap up today's Blog edition at this point.

Be well!

 

 

 

June 8, 2025

Massachusetts Liberty Seated Dime Collection Reserves Under Review

and

A New Fun "Tool" Joins Johnny2 in the Barn

 

Greetings on a very early Sunday morning and welcome to the Daily Blog.

Actually, this edition is being composed at 4:30 AM. Yes, this is dedication to the GFRC business and the community that returns on an ongoing basis to view these ramblings. I have a busy day awaiting me in terms of property maintenance and have also promised Diane a Porsche ride this afternoon at some point. My goal is to be outdoors no later than 7:00 AM with a sprayer on my back conducting the first round of ant control. This is the reality of managing a large property in a rural environment. As much as I've tried over the years, one can never eradicate the entire ant population. These pesky insects will always return if allowed too especially in the barn area given the surrounding land with decomposing wood mass.

It rained again on Saturday which precluded any outdoor work. Rather the entire afternoon was spent developing the reserves for the Massachusetts Liberty Seated Dime Collection auction sale. Those reserves have been forwarded to Tom for his review, approval, and/or changes. Once that step is completed, the Excel auction lot handout sheets will be updated and posted in the Blog along with copies printed for auction lot viewing at the Summer Whitman Baltimore show. Remaining in the queue is the Tenafly Liberty Seated Collection and $5 Liberty gold that will experience the same process this coming week as both collections will be on display at our Baltimore booth.

 

A New Fun "Tool" Joins Johnny2 in the Barn

Since not having any fresh numismatic content today, let's shift the focus back to homestead and the debut of as recently purchased 2024 Polaris XP Kinetic Premium all electric utility terrain vehicle (UTV). This particular model, with a 14.9 kWh battery system, is ideal for the Fortin homestead since there is ample electrical generation with the barn solar panels to power the UTV on a daily basis.

 

For those who are curious about the Polaris XP Kinetic specifications, following is a list of powertrain, performance and capacity parameters. Since an all electric machine, the reported torque in sport mode is fantastic for trail racing. In my case, the high torque will be useful for moving material up the steep trails.

Powertrain & Performance

• Engine Type: Internal Permanent Magnet AC Motor
• Battery System: Lithium-Ion, 14.9 kWh Nominal
• Horsepower: 110 HP
• Torque: 140 LB-FT
• Cooling System: Active Air and Liquid
• Drive System: High Performance On-Demand True AWD/2WD/VersaTrac Turf Mode
• Transmission: Gates Synchronous Belt H/L/N/P (Electronic Forward/Reverse), Shaft

Dimensions & Capacities

• Overall Vehicle Size (L x W x H): 120 x 62.5 x 78 in
• Wheelbase: 81 in
• Ground Clearance: 14 in
• Payload Capacity: 1,500 lbs
• Towing Capacity: 2,500 lbs
• Bed Box Dimensions (L x W x H): 36.75 x 54.25 x 12.5 in
• Box Capacity: 1,250 lbs

The XP Kinetic Premium version has been a weak seller for Polaris with prices falling considerably since being introduced during 2023. The issue is range with the 14.9 kWh battery in sport mode. This unit is not suitable for extended trail riding due to its limited range. Rather, it is an ideal machine for quiet property management and perfect for our 23 acres environment. The intended usage is two-fold.

Moving gravel and 3/4" stone throughout the trails has taken its toll on Johnny2 usage hours. A round trip transport of one front loader bucket of material to the pond is a one mile round trip which eats up diesel fuel, tires, and stress on the front axle. The John Deere 20238R was not intended to be a transport machine. The Polaris XP Kinetic will be ideal for this application. The second application is just a fun machine for riding the trails once Matt and Renee's families visit in July and August. Both are a huge proponent of sustainability with the Polaris UTV being an ideal demonstration of a sun powered vehicle. This Polaris UTV can accommodate three people with seat belts.

Currently, the XP Kinetic remains at Central Maine Powersports in Lewiston as an electric actuator is being installed for the dump bed. In other words, the dump bed will be raised and lowered with a switch in the cab, again since planning to move material throughout the trails and pond area.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

The sun is forecasted to return today which means that the Oregon Beaver and Dr. Tim Cook consignments will be photographed today along with being loaded into the COIN system. I should have a pricing proposal done by Monday.

As mentioned earlier, today brings a host of targeted goals to accomplish with time in the GFRC office being quite limited. GFRC emails and purchase orders will be responded too during the lunch hour and after dinner. It is a Sunday after all...

Thank you as always for the visit.

Be well!

 

 

June 7, 2025

Oregon Beaver and Dr. Tim Cook Consignments Arrive

and

A Thought Provoking Gold vs. Foreign Reserve Graph

 

Greetings on a Saturday morning and welcome to the Daily Blog. Thank you for the visit.

Yes, it is a Saturday morning with a several hour break in the forecasted rains for the day. The view out my office window is just amazing as the early morning sun lights up lush green shades forming a beautiful portrait.

Let's recap what keep me busy on a Friday. Most of the morning was spent in the GFRC office as the Hawk Farm Collection consignment reached the 30 Day Price List. Already, the three Liberty Seated dime are spoken for. The afternoon brought lawn mowing followed by finally clearing the entire driveway of winter road sand. The new Echo Pro Attachment series with a paddle broom worked like a charm. The shift from the originally intended focus on the Tom Coulombe Liberty Seated dime auction reserves to mowing the lawn was a function of the weather forecast as rain is expected for much of Saturday. It is best to work in the office on a rainy day...

The overnight brought more online orders as GFRC sales continue at a steady pace heading into the Whitman Baltimore show that arrives on June 19.

 

Oregon Beaver and Dr. Tim Cook Consignments Arrive

Friday brought the arrival of two incremental consignments. The first is a three piece $2.5 Liberty gold lot from the Oregon Beaver Collection. This lot features a challenging 1876 PCGS MS61 CAC quarter eagle that is certain to draw considerable attention once posted. Along with the Oregon Beaver gold, Dr. Tim Cook has also released two recently upgraded better San Francisco date Seated dimes for your contemplation. The 1871-S is the rare F-102 die pairing with a left over reverse of 1869-S and 1870-S.

First Shot Opportunity - Oregon Beaver and Dr. Tim Cook Consignments

 

A Thought Provoking Gold vs. Foreign Reserve Graph

Investing in physical gold requires an understanding of macro economics as this vehicle is a long term play. As spot gold prices continue to climb, certain portions of the financial media are providing updates and analysis on the day to day movement in spot gold prices. Sure it can be tempting to active trade the precious metals and corresponding mining stocks. However, I view the precious metals as a balance to equities which are the forte of our money manager. Again, the precious metals are a wealth instrument and will cushion any sudden economic upheavals or other surprises in the U.S. financial system while providing longer term wealth growth as inflation continues to erode the U.S. dollar's purchasing power.

The following set of graphs speak volumes concerning how physical gold is again becoming an integral part of global central bank reserves. As a brief tutorial, I asked AI Copilot what is the purpose of central bank reserves with the following response.

Central bank reserves serve several crucial functions in the financial system. They are the minimum cash holdings that banks must maintain, either in their own vaults or in accounts at the central bank. These reserves help ensure that banks can meet unexpected withdrawal demands, preventing financial panic.

Additionally, central banks use reserve requirements as a tool for monetary policy. By adjusting reserve levels, they can influence lending activity—lowering reserve requirements encourages banks to lend more, stimulating economic growth, while raising them can slow down lending to curb inflation.

Of course, central bank reserves are typically held in local currencies along with the U.S. dollar, and now a growing level of physical gold.

The top graph illustrates, through 2024, the amount of total global central bank reserves broken down into foreign exchange reserves and gold. The bottom graph is a simple calculation that presents gold ratio with respect to the total reserves. The latter graph provides a key insight. Until the 1990, gold reserves made up a substantial portion of global reserves. Then came 1971 when Nixon removed the gold backing of the U.S. dollar launching an acceleration in money printing that ramped after the 2000 tech crash and exploded as a result of the 2008 financial crisis. Covid brought another money expansion during 2020. The rate of fiat money printing overwhelmed gold as a reserve asset with gold bottoming at 10-12% from 2000 to 2020. In the past few years, an upward trend in gold reserve holdings has again begun with the 2024 ending tally at 19%. As world wide debt levels continues to spiral out of control, central banks are again moving into physical gold as an insurance policy.

Bottom line, on a macro basis, physical gold demand by central banks is driving the spot gold price higher, as a trend, as the annual global supply is limited. We might be on the cusp of gold's bright future as a sound alternative to the constantly depreciating primary fiat currencies.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

While sitting in the office and composing today's Blog edition, my old and worn out office chair finally broke. Diane has been after me for two years to junk this old swiveling chair without much luck. Now that it has been taken to failure, I will be heading down to our local Staples store to purchase a replacement as the first act of the day. Afterwards, I will be in the GFRC office the entire day working on Tom Coulombe's auction reserves.

As always, we appreciate the ongoing patronage here at the Daily Blog along with price list purchases.

Be well!

 

 

June 6, 2025

Hawk Farm Collection Offerings to Consider

 

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog on a Friday morning. Thank you for returning for another GFRC centric edition.

It has been one of those weeks where every day is chocked full of must get done activities and goals. Thursday brought a productive office day as we were able to catch up on administrative tasks, shipping, and loading about 60% of the Tenafly Collection auction consignment into the COIN system along with image processing for today's Hawk Farm Collection consignment display. The 1993 Miata was posted on the Facebook Marketplace with images and a video after another washing. Our air travel from Maine to Oklahoma City, for the Summer ANAN show, was also booked and not as straight forward as it might seem due to airlines again using smaller regional jets that will not accommodate our rollaboard carry on luggage in the overhead space. Flying with coins is something I loath to do but there is no choice for attending a western coin show.

So here we are on a Friday morning with Dave Wilkinson returning to retrieve his excavator after some minor clean up activities which I need to be present for. As a result, this Blog edition has to be brief as I did not arise at 4:00 AM. A slower pace is definitely in order for today after a hectic week.

 

Hawk Farm Collection Offerings to Consider

GFRC is pleased to be presenting a debut consignment from the Hawk Farm Collection. This collection is presently posted within the PCGS Set Registry with position #7 for the Basic Liberty Seated Dime category for reference. There are definitely heavy hitters at the top ranks for this category with yours truly now gone from this registry.

We open the gallery showcase with a GFRC-Gem rated 1907 Saint that offers superior eye appeal for its certified grade. This lot is the full package with CAC approval and a Gen 3.1 Old Green Holder. Given where gold spot is currently trending, this offering brings both a numismatic and bullion play for the right collector. Moving into Liberty Seated dimes, the first offering is a superb gem 1882 F-104 lot with eye catching toning and CAC approval. Next in this numismatic cavalcade is a lovely 1888 F-112 dime with cracked reverse. For those that are into die varieties, the 1891-O PCGS MS63 lot is yet another unlisted example in an issue that is replete with overworked dies. Though this piece does not have a CAC green bean, I would recommend it as compelling at the offer price.

The 1930 Standing Liberty quarter presents brilliant frosted luster with a no question full head as illustrated followed by a 1943 Walking Liberty half with glowing mint frost and antique toning shades validated by the green bean. Lastly, we are offering a gem certified 1927 Saint for only $400 over spot. The price compression on double eagles up through MS65 is now becoming quite apparent per the CDN Greysheet with bid for this coin being about $3635. How can you go wrong at the offer price?

1907 Saint-Gaudens PCGS MS64 CAC G$20 OGH - $4500

 1882 F-104 PCGS MS66+ CAC 10C - $1500                                           1888 F-112 PCGS MS65+ 10C - $750     

        

 1891-O Unlisted PCGS MS63 10C - $375                                             1930 PCGS MS66FH 25C - $1350    

        

 1943 NGC MS67+ CAC 50C - $1685                                             1927 PCGS MS65 G$20 - $3750    

        

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

As mentioned in the preamble, I need to slow down a tad today instead of having 4-5 goals for targeted completion. The one key office goal is developing reserve pricing proposal for the Tom Coulombe Liberty Seated Dime Collection that will be on display at the Summer Baltimore show along with the Tenafly Collection. Determining reserve prices for 121 Seated dimes will take time.

Looking briefly at silver and gold, silver has now punched through the $36/oz mark and who knows where it might peak. $40 is not out of the question given the multi-year supply deficit. The rumor on YouTube is that China is buying up all the silver it can find globally including partially refined silver ore. Gold has settled down with trading around the $3350/oz level.

Take is all she wrote for today.

Thank you for taking the time to visit as we appreciate the ongoing readership.

Be well!

 

 

 

 

June 5, 2025

A Vision Becomes Reality - Well Done Dave!

Silver Is Exploding

and

Hawk Farm Collection Offerings Arrive Friday

 

A Vision Becomes Reality - Well Done Dave!

There is nothing more satisfying in life that when having a vision turned into reality. A vision can span a host of activities and goals. For example, I asked AI Copilot to write a story about a vision being turned into reality. The response is as follows:

The Lighthouse Dream

For as long as she could remember, Ellie had dreamed of building a lighthouse—not just any lighthouse, but one that stood in the heart of the city. People laughed at the idea. “Lighthouses belong by the sea,” they’d say. But Ellie believed otherwise. She saw it as a symbol—a beacon of hope guiding people through life’s storms.

Years passed, and she never let go of her vision. She studied architecture, drew endless sketches, and worked tirelessly to gather support. Investors turned her away, skeptics told her it was impossible, but she pressed on. With sheer determination, she found a team who believed in her vision. One by one, obstacles fell away.

Then came the day of construction—the foundation was laid, the walls rose, and slowly, the lighthouse took shape. When the final stone was set, the city stood in awe. The tower glowed, casting light not over the ocean, but over the streets and alleys, reminding everyone that even in a bustling city, there could be guidance, warmth, and direction.

Ellie had turned her vision into reality. And as she stood at the top, watching the light cut through the night, she knew it had all been worth it.

Though my vision for the back acreage improvements is less dramatic than this AI generated story, there is a keen sense of satisfaction when sitting on the back deck with a adult beverage and taking in the beauty of multiple stone walls. This view is my design approach to natural art when working with rocks, crush stone, and dirt being the design elements.

Below are two images of the newly constructed stone wall along with the uncovering of a circa 1900 settlers' stone wall at the upper left tree clearing. The top image is the typical wide view of the back acreage from our deck. The second is a closer view of the newly assembled stone wall and the uncovered original settlers' wall. I'd hope to uncover this back stone wall for years and that dream has come true. The next visioning step is to imagine that all the brown dirt is green, A well done shout out goes out to Dave Wilkinson!

 

Silver Is Exploding

It is finally happening...

Silver has begun its rally after lagging gold from the beginning of 2025. This morning's LBMA trading has silver spiking to $35.81 at 7:00 AM. That is a $1.34 move in one day.

For months, the precious metal experts had predicted this event as the gold/silver ratio was trending at 100, an extreme historical level.

Gold is also in rally mode at a $3395/oz quote as the Blog is composed. The positive financial market press for gold continues to ramp as the U.S. dollar loses ground. This morning's DXY reading is 98.7 with the potential for the dollar to fall even lower as foreign investors start extracting monies out of U.S. investments. Equities are trading mostly flat in premarket activity with the S&P 500 attempting to regain the 6000 mark.

 

Hawk Farm Collection Offerings Arrive Friday

A new Liberty Seated dime collector has joined the GFRC community as a recent active client, and starting on Friday, as a consignor. Let's welcome the Hawk Farm Collection which can be found on the PCGS Set Registry. Our new consignor's coins have been priced approved with image processing wrapping up today. Come Friday's Blog edition, there will be a debut showcase gallery for your consideration.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Today brings a partial office day as the key goal of the day is preparing the 1993 Mazda Miata for placement on the Facebook Marketplace. Once the Blog is uploaded, I will be heading outdoor to photography the Miata in multiple poises along with taking a walk around video. Diane will handle the Facebook placement. The one person who looked at the car did not even have the courtesy of providing a buy/pass response. What is wrong with people these days/

Since southern Maine afternoon temps will approach 90F, I will be spending time in the GFRC office and out of the sun. As my years advance, I am finding it more difficult to be outdoors in the high sun.

Thank you, as always, for the returning visits. I hope that today's content with worthwhile.

Be well!

 

 

 

June 4, 2025

Day 2 with Dave Wilkinson - Let's Build A Stone Wall!

and

USPS Screws Up Again with Shipping Notices

 

Greetings from southern Maine on an early Wednesday morning. Welcome to another Daily Blog edition where we discuss a variety of topics!

I've been so consumed of late given that Dave Wilkinson has been on site for two days along with spending time with the Theriault family clan in Lewiston-Auburn given the passing of Diane's older brother Richard. Today brings Richard's funeral while Dave moves to the finale stage and constructs a substantial new stone wall. GFRC orders continue to be processed and shipped on a timely basis along with new consignment correspondences and shipments. Undoubtedly, this week is flying by.

 

Day 2 with Dave Wilkinson - Let's Build A Stone Wall!

Tuesday brought a partial day on Johnny2 in support of the master, Dave Wilkinson. Maine summers would not be complete without an outdoor project or two with Dave as he is such a pleasure to work with. There we were again yesterday with Dave wrapping up the ground clearing process along with mining for incremental material for the new stone wall. In particular, there was a massive four trunk maple tree stump that was excavated and took all of Dave's skills to move into an out of sight location for the time being. These massive stumps can either be buried, allowed to decompose over years, or burned. Seeing Dave manhandle a massive stump with a small 35 hp excavator is what exceptionalism is in the landscaping world. My role continued to be moving smaller stumps into a compost location along with transporting rocks to the wall building staging points.

The Day 2 progress is portrayed in this snapshot from the back deck at dawn. I can easily visualize the end product when all the disturbed brown area is lush green as yet another landscape layering. Of course, there are incremental steps before this vision can be realized. The three major steps are burning the inescapable brush that a project of this magnitude generates along with grading the earth and removing the smaller sized rocks. At least there will be a fresh stone wall for placing many front bucket loads of smaller stone. The final step is preparing the lawn beds with fertilizer, then seeding and covering with straw, given the sloping terrian.

Day 2 Progress

 

Today brings the construction of the wall as the final step. More tree clearing, towards gaining access to the coastal view, is in the planning stages. That clearing is on my neighbor's property and will need discussions concerning a joint effort and funding.

 

USPS Screws Up Again with Shipping Notices

USPS is one of those necessary elements of the GFRC business that can drive me mad at times. Our business is so reliant on USPS executing their end of the transport agreement when purchasing labels.

I'm again receiving emails that USPS is not sending email shipping notices after supposedly correcting their issues. There was a period of time where I would send every GFRC order recipient a personal tracking number email to compensate for the USPS shortfalls. Well it appears that I need to return to this practice now that two customers have informed me that no USPS tracking number emails are being received.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

At this point, there is no numismatic content to share. Spot gold is trending at $3350/oz while silver is consolidating above $34. The bond market is where investors should be watching as the 10 Year Treasury yield is trending between 4.45 and 4.5%. The weakening U.S. dollar is evident by checking the DXY index with a morning number of 99.2. Regardless of these parameters reflecting the impact of U.S. deficit spending, the equity market is being pushed upward and could crest the 6000 mark for the S&P 500. At this point, I remain bearish and glad to be positioned in gold, silver, and mining stocks as a counter balance to the equity positions advocated by our Merrill Lynch money manager.

Thank you for checking in this morning, or whenever you might find time to read the Daily Blog.

Be well!

 

 

 

June 3, 2025

Day 1 with Dave Wilkinson - Impressive Progress

Dr. Tim Cook Consignment is Well Received

and

Insights into Forthcoming Consignments

 

Greetings on an early Tuesday morning and welcome the Daily Blog. Thank you for checking in.

Today's edition will be brief as there are a host of activities to contend with. Firstly, Dave Wilkinson will be back today along with Wednesday for the new back acreage project. Tuesday's availability was not anticipated. Second is the viewing of Diane's older brother Richard later today followed his funeral tomorrow. Lastly, the GFRC order rate, for new consignments, is robust with more consignments due to arrive today and tomorrow. With focused efforts and attention to the clock, all priorities will be attended to, including composing a Blog at 5:00 AM. At this northern latitude, sunrise was at 5:01 AM providing for an lovely view outside the office window as we settle into a new day.

Let's move forward with today's headline topics.

 

Day 1 with Dave Wilkinson - Impressive Progress

One of the highlights of each summer in Maine is working with Dave Wilkinson on incremental property improvement projects. Dave and I are both 69 and just a few months apart in age. Dave has a enviable mastery of his excavator and has been my mentor with respect to increasing the effectiveness of what is possible with Johnny2 (JD 2028R).

Yesterday brought a full eight hours of two machines working hand in hand towards completing the game plan that was shared on Monday. Both Dave and I operated our machines in a coordinated manner without lunch. Dave did the heavy work of tearing up the surfaces and removing boulders/rock, digging stumps, and moving cut up trees. My role was that of handling chain saw duties, backfilling a construction path with gravel, moving stumps to a hidden composting spot, and staging rocks at the stone wall building site. Eight hours flew by so quickly with the end of day progress being quite impressive

Here is an image taken at about 5:30 PM after Dave and I called it quits for the day. All the trees in the clearing zone are gone and stacked as a firewood log pile or nicely arranged as brush piles for a future burn. A wonderfully original settler's agricultural stone wall has been exposed now that the clearing is done. Look carefully at the image by clicking below to secure access to a higher resolution version for catching a glimpse of the uncovered stone wall. Secondly, two substantial rock piles can be seen to the immediate left of the gazebo. These piles are the result of surfaces clearing and removing the easily accessible stone without digging into the sub-surface.

Today brings a second day of surface clearing as we continue to move left of where Dave's excavator is parked. Once that area is cleared, then the next step is building a 5' foot pad for where the serpentine stone wall will be constructed. Part of the wall will be built on top of a ledge outcrop with Dave already having a strategy for handling this situation. Please check back tomorrow for a Day 2 progress update.

Day 1 Progress

 

Dr. Tim Cook Consignment is Well Received

There is something to be said for the power of the Daily Blog as three of the four new offerings from Dr. Tim Cook are already on hold without being posted to the price list. All but the 1875 MPD F-107 dime are already spoken for.

 

Insights into Forthcoming Consignments

As mentioned earlier, two new consignments will be arriving today and on Wednesday. Following is a quite preview of these new offerings. The first is an initial consignment from yet another customer turned consignor.

1891-O, 10C, MS63, PCGS 84123260

1882, 10C, MS66+ (CAC), PCGS 50708540

1888, 10C, MS65+, PCGS 33006233

1930, 25C, MS66FH, PCGS 50140174

1943, 50C, MS67+ (CAC), NGC 6815283-004

1907, $20, MS64 (CAC) OGH, PCGS 4819724

1927, $20, MS65, PCGS 37215162

The second consignment is courtesy of the Oregon Beaver as he is sending along three more $2.5 Liberty U.S. gold pieces.

1876 $2.5 G PCGS MS 61 CAC

1879 $2.5 G PCGS MS 63

1889 $2.5 G PCGS MS 64+CAC

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

My final task before Dave Wilkinson arrives is staging today's outgoing shipments for Diane to work through along with securing a shower and fueling the chain saw and Johnny2. I will be on the tractor working with Dave until roughly 2:00 PM.

Thank you again for making the Daily Blog a regular part of your online reading.

Be well!

 

 

 

June 2, 2025

Dr. Tim Cook Returns with Important Seated Dime Varieties

and

Day 1 with Dave Wilkinson - The Game Plan

 

Greetings a Sunday evening and welcome to Monday's Daily Blog edition. With the arrival of Dave Wilkinson at 7:30 AM for a day of excavator work, there will not time to compose a regular Blog. So here we are on a Sunday evening with two headline items.

We open with a new consignment from Dr. Tim Cook. Tim has been an active buyer in the Connoisseur's Auction Sale with a primary focus on my Liberty Seated dimes. Like all collectors, we must sell duplicates or the least painful coin to release back to the market place. Such is the case with Tim, as he has sent along four choice original Liberty Seated dimes with several being really cool die varieties.

Following is a showcase gallery with Tim's four dimes The first is a high grade example of the 1838 F-106a with heavy bisecting obverse die cracks. The F-106 die pairing was employed for a reasonable number of strike with progressive obverse die cracking. The most desirable is the F-106a die state with dual die cracks surrounding star 7 down through Liberty. Next in the release is in a lustrous 1839-O dime and the F-105 early die state die pairing. Moving along to the second gallery row, Tim is offering an 1875 F-107 with huge top of 1 digit misplaced in the lower denticles. This is one of the most dramatic misplaced dates in the entire Liberty Seated coinage era. We close the release with a rare 1890-S F-104 die paring with the double die obverse matched with a reverse that has a repunched mintmark. Please check the GFRC Sale Archives as this Tim Cook offering is the only F-104 that has arrived to market since launching the GFRC business back in 2014. My R4 rarity rating will be pushed up to R5 as locating the F-104 die pairing is a brutally difficult task.

A quick Monday morning note that the 1838 F-106a is on hold!

More Releases from the Dr. Tim Cook Collection

    1838 Large Stars F-106a PCGS MS61 10C - $675                                      1839-O F-105 PCGS MS62 10C - $1400          

        

      1875 MPD F-107 PCGS MS62 10C - $950                                        1890-S RPM F-104 PCGS AU58 10C - $295    

        

 

Day 1 with Dave Wilkinson - The Game Plan

For several months, I've been on Dave Wilkinson's calendar for excavator work during the first week of June. So here we are with Dave arriving on Monday morning with his trusty excavator.

I've been mulling over what would be the end project goals for his visit. Currently, Dave has committed to Monday-Wednesday-Friday of this week to be on site. Below is the game plan for the forthcoming three day of excavator work. The first imperative is constructing a new access road to the brush and treed area to the left and behind the gazebo. Please note the black outlined box which indicates which trees we will be cutting down on Monday. Our first step is to always clear the surface of trees and brush before beginning the boulder mining process. Next, please note the serpentine shaped line that designates where the next stone wall will be constructed This wall will be near the property line with neighbors Rick and Sharon but with fully support to clear trees on their side of the property. Both of us benefits from the effort to remove more trees that are blocking the coastal horizon view. Let's see where everything stands at end of day Friday with more back deck images documentating the progress.

Day 1 with Dave Wilkinson - The Game Plan

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

We hope that you've found the visit to be worthwhile regardless of the Monday Blog being prepared on Sunday evening. Come Monday morning at 7:15 AM, I must be down to the barn to prepare Johnny2 for the day's workload. The front loader must be removed and replace with a hydraulic grapple for moving tree stumps and brush piles into a composting area. My trusty Husky chain saw also needs to be prepared and readied for dropping a fair number of reasonable sized trees as indicated on the Game Plan illustration.

Thank you again for returning to the Daily Blog.

Be well!

 

 

June 1, 2025

Presenting the Massachusetts Liberty Seated Dime Auction Lots

and

The Spring Branch Collection Releases Prior GFRC Purchases

 

Greetings on the first day of June 2025 which is now upon us. Thank you for returning to the Daily Blog and its ongoing ramblings on a host of topics.

Well, it does not feel like summer here in southern Maine as I awoke to a 55F temperature this morning with overcast skies. On the positive side, the landscape outside of the office window is a myriad of rich green shades due to the ongoing rains.

Today brings a particularly busy day for a Sunday since Dave Wilkinson and his trusty excavator arrive on Monday morning. A substantial amount of Monday morning shipping must be processed today in order to free me up for a full day of back acreage work. On top of the shipping, the newest Spring Branch consignment will be posted to the badly neglected 30 Day Price List. At 9:30 AM, the first potential 1993 Miata buyers arrives to review the car. Finally, Johnny2 must be prepared for Monday's back acreage work by removing the front loader and installing the grapple attachment. Tomorrow brings the transport of a fair number of smaller sized tree stumps to a designated composing pile via Johnny2.

Let's move forward with the numismatic items of the day.

 

Presenting the Massachusetts Liberty Seated Dime Auction Lots

GFRC Online Auctions is pleased to be presenting the following images that capture the full extent of the Massachusetts Liberty Seated Dime Collection auction lots. Rather than enabling a scrollable table at the top right of the Daily Blog page, it was decided to simplify matters with two image files compiled from an Excel worksheet. All of the Tom Coulombe Liberty Seated Dime lots are individually defined with the shaded orange colored lots being those dimes that were purchased from GFRC. Every shaded orange lot has a prior sales record in the Sales Archive with online images. Clicking on either or both images with provide access to a PDF file for potential download and printing. The formatting has already been done for a print job setup.

Yes, we are aware that the 1870-S dime is missing in the tables. This lot is presenting at CAC NJ and will be shipped to the Raymond office come early next week.

Remaining is the establishment of auction lot reserve prices that will be determine during the coming week. Once completed and approved by Tom Coulombe, the Excel table will be updated accordingly and reposted in the Blog. Paper handouts will be available for auction lot viewing at the Summer Baltimore show that arrives on June 19th.

 

The Spring Branch Collection Releases Prior GFRC Purchases

GFRC is quite pleased to be offering a delightful lot from the Spring Branch Collection. Our consignor was active during the Connoisseur's Session 3 Auction Sale and has decided to raise some numismatic capital to further extend his passion for the hobby. All five lots were previously purchased from GFRC and will be posted to the 30 Day Price List at some point this morning. In the mean time, all lots are immediately available for first shot access at the posted offer prices.

A Delightful Spring Branch Collection Consignment

1876 PCGS MS65 50C - $2800

  1856-O WB-9 PCGS AU55 50C - $635                                               1858 PCGS AU58 CAC 50C - $785    

        

  1875 PCGS MS62 CAC 50C - $1800                                               1932 PCGS MS62+ G$10 - $1800    

        

 

Will There Be a Daily Blog Edition on Monday?

Yes, this is a good question since I am typically outdoors preparing the chain saw and Johnny2 quite early as Dave Wilkinson typically arrives between 7:30-8:00 AM with the excavator. Once the excavator is unloaded and the project work is defined, we will be fully consumed for the balance of the day through 4:00 PM.

The current thought is to take a baseline image of the coastal horizon view this afternoon prior to the newest clearing and construction of yet another stone wall. This image will be posted before heading to bed as your Monday morning Blog content with any other relevant comments.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

The morning hours will find me in the GFRC office followed by time outdoors during the afternoon. Diane will be wrapping up Monday morning shipping along with transport to a local USPS office as we have one large Express box that must be shipped at the counter based on weight and distance.

I've been teasing the announcement of another important purchase for this year's outdoor activities. That announcement will be delayed until Tuesday's Blog so please make sure to return for more insights into the homestead's landscaping and back acreage improvements efforts.

As always, thank you for the visit.

Be well!