Gerry Fortin Rare Coins - Gerry's Daily Blog

Friday January 21, 2022

Newtown Collection Liberty Seated Numismatic Auction Sale - Part 1 Bidding Opens Tomorrow

and

And Yet More New GFRC Purchases!

Old GFRC Friends Return!

1839-O F-103 PCGS AU53 CAC 10C 1875 F-106 MPD 5 PCGS MS64 10C

And Yet More New GFRC Purchases!

1879 PCGS MS64 50C 1885-CC PCGS MS65 CAC $1

1875 Unlisted NGC MS65 CAC 10C 1916-D NGC MS64 CAC 25C 1942 NGC PF67 50C

1937-S PCGS MS65FB Gold CAC OGH 10C 1878-S NGC MS63 CAC $1 1884-O PCGS MS64 CAC $1

Thursday January 20, 2022

GFRC Attains the $10,000,000 Consignment Proceeds Milestone!

Newtown Collection Auction Sale Zoom Presentation - January 20 9:00 PM ET

and

GFRC Cancels Sarasota Coin Show Attendance

Greetings on a Thursday and welcome to a regular Daily Blog edition. Thanks for checking in.

This edition is a combination Wednesday evening and Thursday morning composition as I'm feeling a tad better with energy to write. It is becoming apparent that my "head cold" is most likely Covid. Dr. Tim Cook, sent along an email advising that home Covid test are known to provide false negatives. Tim has had Covid for a second time. We compared symptoms for his recent illness and they matched. Tiredness, headaches, and nose/throat discomfort appear to be the hallmarks of the Omicron variant. Several GFRC clients, who have contracted Omicron, have shared the same stories. If you've not been infected with one of the Covid variants to date, I hope that you count your blessings.

Not mentioned in the Blog until today is the fact that Dan White was infected with Covid at the Winter FUN show. Unfortunately and being unaware, Dan transmitted Covid to Rose Marie. Both friends tested positive last week. I spoke with Dan today and he is feeling much better.

Luckily, Diane is feeling fine as I made a quick decision to isolate in the second condo bedroom for the duration of the illness. We also work at different times in the GFRC office to minimize our contact while I'm no well.

Wednesday morning brought more sleeping until 1:00 PM. At that point, sufficient energy returned allowing GFRC business activities. First was photographing 40 coins that include Winter FUN show new purchases and several queued consignments. Afterwards, image processing moved along nicely. I should be in a position to have a gallery ready for Friday's Blog edition. I'm also positive about moving ahead with the Newtown Collection auction Zoom call though attendees must forgive my deep voice.

GFRC Attains the $10,000,000 Consignment Proceeds Milestone!

I could not be more pleased with the fact that the GFRC business has achieved the $10,000,000 consignment proceeds milestone. This accomplishment took place yesterday afternoon as a few lower priced orders pushed the consignment proceeds total to a new record level. For those who are new to GFRC and the Daily Blog, a counter is present at the top of the Consign page which captures the number of consigned coins sold, consignor proceeds, and % of total sale price returned to consignors. We also include the median number of days for a consignment sale once posted to the price list.

In today's inflationary numismatic market, $10,000,000 may not appear to be that large of a number. However, that number is composed of over 10,000 sales including many coins priced in the $150 to $300 range. As GFRC continues to grow its reputation and client base, consigned coins in the $1000 to $10,000 price range are becoming more mainstream. As with all in life, experience breeds success and the confidential of clients to trust GFRC with ever higher priced lots.

2022 is shaping up to be another exciting numismatic year. GFRC has much competition in the auction and consignment space. All I can say is that our performance speaks for itself. At GFRC, you are working with a collector servicing the needs of collectors with complete transparency.

Newtown Collection Auction Sale Zoom Presentation - January 20 9:00 PM ET

The Newtown Collection Zoom call will be held this evening as I believe it is important to share the background of this auction event. Please have patience with my voice and if I start coughing. The Zoom meeting address is here: Zoom Call Access Link - https://wustl.zoom.us/j/5086565637

At this point, I've received lot review requests from only one individual. Please don't be bashful to ask questions while on the call.

GFRC Cancels Sarasota Coin Show Attendance

Next week brings the Sarasota Winter Coin Show event. GFRC had committed to attend with a strong presence by the front entrance. However, since Dan is recovering from Covid and I'm still sick, a decision was made to cancel our reservation. I spoke with Frank Cox, Sarasota Coin Show promoter, and explained the situation on Wednesday. He agreed that it was best for GFRC to not attend.

GFRC Seeks Your Consignments!

With the cancellation of the Sarasota Coin Show attendance, four unscheduled days of addition consignment processing capacity have materialized. When considering on-hand consignments and the balance of FUN Show new purchases, GFRC's consignment window will be wide open by mid-February.

I can't stress enough the strength of today's numismatic market. The near sellout of the Spring Branch Collection consignment in the matter of a few days is one example of the intense demand for coins ranging in price from $200 to $5000. Of course, quality is paramount as was the case of the Spring Branch offerings which were entirely sourced from GFRC.

Please don't be bashful to email or call on this topic. During 2022, GFRC will need at least $2,500,000 in new consignments to keep pace with 2021 sales results. I'm here to help when the time comes to divest or liquidate a major collection. GFRC commission rates are the most aggressive in the industry meaning that you secure more monies returned during the sale of numismatic properties.

Global Financial News

It has been a few days since checking in on financial markets.

The major news is a sell-off of technology stocks with the NASDAQ down to 14,340. The S&P 500 has also been hit with selling and stands at 4533. Raising interest rates and crude oil prices are apparent in just a few day's time. Inflation will be difficult to tame if crude oil continues to climb into the $90/bbl level. In reality, we should not be surprised with increased crude oil prices as markets are anticipating an end to Covid. Russia, in conjunction with OPEC, see an opportunity to benefit from higher oil prices by controlling production levels. The United States has shot itself in the foot under the Biden administration and handed leverage back to OPEC.

U.S. markets have been selling off during the week with morning market futures indicating little buying optimism.

In Asia, Japan +1.11%. Hong Kong +3.42%. China -0.09%. India -1.56%.
In Europe, at midday, London -0.2%. Paris -0.5%. Frankfurt -0.2%.
Futures at 6:20, Dow +0.1%. S&P +0.15%. NASDAQ +0.35%.

WTI crude prices have increased to $85.23/bbl. Spot gold is also gaining ground at $1840/oz. Bitcoin is caught in a tight trading range at $41,944.

The 10 Year U.S. Treasury yield continues to climb. Today's quote is 1.84%.

Wrapping Up The Blog

It certainly feels great to be back at the laptop on an early Thursday morning with the energy to composed a regular edition. I'm feeling much better this morning and plan to spend most of the day in the GFRC office responding to orders and continuing image processing. If all goes to plan, there will be a new consignment gallery posted to the Blog come Friday morning.

A sincere thank-you goes out to the many people who emailed their well wishes. I'm just one person among many collectors who have struggled with Covid during the past two years. Hopefully, this scourge will finally depart during 2022 and life will return to some level of normalcy.

Thanks for stopping by. Be well!

Wednesday January 19, 2022

Not an Ordinary Head Cold....

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

As today's headline indicates, your blogger is not feeling well. This is no ordinary head cold but won't bore you with symptom details.

I will stage the morning shipping for Diane and then head back to bed. Hopefully, there will be energy to photograph and process new purchases and consignments this afternoon.

The Newtown Auction Zoom call that is schedule for Thursday 9:00 PM ET is currently a question mark. If my symptoms don't improve by tomorrow, it will be canceled.

My apology for the brief Daily Blog editions during the past two days.

Tuesday January 18, 2022

Luscious Draped and Capped Bust Half Dollar New Purchases!

Greetings on a Tuesday morning and welcome to the Blog.

Unfortunately, I've been hit with another bad head cold without energy to compose a regular Blog edition. A home Covid test, done last evening by Diane, was negative. If there was Covid in my nose, rest assured that Diane would have found it with that swab.....

I'm heading back to bed and will respond to purchase orders within a few hours. On a positive note, most of Tuesday shipping was accomplished on Monday. Diane will move the shipping to USPS office in a few hours.

Thanks for checking. Be well!

Luscious Draped and Capped Bust Half Dollar New Purchases!

1812 O-107 PCGS MS62+ CAC 50C 1833 PCGS MS64+ CAC 50C

1806 O-101 Large Stars PCGS VF35 CAC 50C 1818 O-114a R3 NGC AU55 CAC 50C

1822 O-110a PCGS EF45 CAC 50C 1827 O-142 PCGS AU50 CAC 50C

Monday January 17, 2022

Newtown Collection's Part 1 PDF Catalog Has Arrived!

and

Were You Surprised with Spring Branch Collection Offerings?

Greetings on a holiday weekend Monday and welcome to another Daily Blog edition.

Yes, there were tornadoes in the mid-West Coast Florida area on Sunday morning. Ft. Myers and Naples saw several tornado touchdowns while Venice experienced heavy rains and high winds.

My apology for not providing a typical Blog edition on Sunday. The day's project workload was enormous with a quick morning start being warranted. The day's top priority was the construction of the first installment of the Newtown Collection Liberty Seated Numismatic Auction Sale PDF catalog. This activity was planned for the afternoon hours. Most important was the loading of a new consignment from the Spring Branch Collection that arrived on Saturday. Why did this consignment deserve to jump the entire GFRC queue?

The Spring Branch Collection consignment included 24 coins which were exclusively purchased from GFRC. The prior sale recorded were available in the Sales Archive including images and descriptions. Reloading these coins to the price list was a simplistic task. The lot was loaded into the COIN system followed by updating pricing based on recent market increases. The consignor promptly approved the proposed prices which facilitated a late morning price list update. How I wish that all consignments could be that easy to manage and load.

The GFRC community promptly noted the new consignments. A buying wave then ensued into the early afternoon hours. By 6:00 PM, all but six offerings were on hold. The 1892-S PCGS AU58 CAC $5 gold piece has not sold and remains available for astute U.S. gold collectors.

Late afternoon brought a client visit to the Auburn Lakes Condo clubhouse and a cash deal that included the Spring Branch 1907 Barber quarter and the newly purchased 1827 JR-3 PCGS MS64 CAC Capped Bust dime. Post dinner office time saw the posting of the Newtown Collection PDF catalog to the Auctions link along with quoting a four piece deal to a regular Florida client. By 8:30 PM, I was in bed for some much needed mental rest. It had been a non-stop day in the GFRC office.

Yes, the numismatic market is firing on all cylinders. Quality coins are selling at a fierce pace. Collectors who are contemplative typically lose out to those who are decisive.

Consignments and Larger Collections Wanted!

The Spring Branch Collection sale demonstrates the strength of the current numismatic market. The evidence is compelling based on Sunday's sales outcome.

If you have been considering a collecting goal shift and wish to liquidate all or a portion of existing holdings to fund a new project, now is the time to get this done. Selling into periods of high demand allows collectors to break even, or even enjoy a small profit on coins purchased within the past several years. Just imagine the thrill of the hunt and the joy of assembling a premium collection and being able to exit those holdings on a break even basis. Of course, I can't guarantee that each collector will break even. However, if your holdings are CAC approved and/or have been purchased from GFRC, there is that possibility.

If wishing to sell a large collection valued at $150,000 or more, please consider the GFRC Online Auctions advantages. No one in the numismatic business provides the same level of one on one client consultations and integrated auction and price list sale services. GFRC is well positioned to service clients with holdings that are not expensive enough for the likes of the major auction houses.

GFRC's growth trend continues in 2022 due to personalized service, competitively low commissions rates, and a keen understanding for marketing earlier type coins and U.S. gold.

Newtown Collection's Part 1 PDF Catalog Has Arrived!

I'm most delighted to be presenting the first of two Newtown Collection PDF auction catalogs today. Simply click on the below auction catalog cover to download your copy. Once downloaded, the catalog can be saved in your GFRC Online Auctions catalog folder (assuming you have created such). All GFRC Online Auction catalogs are also available at the Newman Numismatic Portal (NNP). Accessing the catalogs via NNP is an simple as going to the NNP website and typing "GFRC Online Auctions" into the top search field.

A reminder that the Newtown Collection auction Zoom call presentation takes place on Thursday evening at 9:00 PM ET. Gerry and Len will be hosting the call. If wishing to have a description of a specific coin in the Part 1 sale, now is the time to send an email with that request. It is much easier for me to compose my thoughts on an auction lot in advance of the Zoom session along with having the coins removed from the inventory boxes and prepared for discussion.

Please check all lots in the forthcoming Part 1 sale that opens this Saturday evening. Embedded in this sale are a host of fantastic offerings that are sure to please selective collectors. Newtown's 1861-O Seated half dollar die variety lot is just one of the sale highlights. Having access to premium Union W-1 and W-2 varieties is indeed a special occasion. Don't forget that GFRC is offering both CAC approved 1853-O Mint State Liberty Seated quarters. The PCGS MS64 CAC specimen is on the price list while the PCGS MS63 CAC example is with the Newtown Collection Part 1 sale.

Newtown Collection's Part 1 PDF Catalog Has Arrived!

Wrapping Up The Blog

Martin Luther King Day is a federal holiday therefore U.S. stock markets are closed along with USPS and banks. As a result, there is no Global Financial News segment today.

My Monday brings yet another busy day. Morning activities include the loading of incremental coins to the price list followed by preparing outgoing shipments during the afternoon hours. Tuesday brings a massive shipping day for Diane.

So yes, I will be in the GFRC office (again) for nearly the entire day. Florida weather should improve and allow that all important afternoon health walk.

Thank-you for being avid Daily Blog readers. Be well.

Sunday January 16, 2022

Winter FUN New Purchases - Part 2

and

Pikes Peak Early Commemoratives to Consider

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

Today's edition will be brief as a vacation day from daily composition is necessary. I'd like to use the early morning hours for an alternate activity.

Up next are new GFRC offerings that will reach the price list in the next 36 hours or so. In the Winter FUN New Purchases gallery, the 1878-CC quarter is already on hold. The balance are available. Ditto for the new early commemorative offerings within the Pikes Peak Collection gallery. Please feel free to tender pricing inquiries.

Winter FUN New Purchases - Part 2

1878-CC Briggs 1-A PCGS MS64+ CAC 25C 1885 PCGS MS66 CAC 25C

1875-S NGC MS63 CAC 20C 1877-S S/Horiz S PCGS MS62 25C 1869 PCGS PR62 CAC 20C

Pikes Peak Early Commemoratives to Consider

1925 Norse - Thick Silver, NGC MS66 CAC Medal

1925 Stone Mt PCGS MS66 CAC 50C 1937-D Oregon PCGS MS66 50C

1936 Boone NGC MS65 CAC 50C 1935 Boone NGC MS64 Fatty 50C 1937-D Boone PCGS MS63 CAC OGH 50C

Thank-you for stopping by. I should be back on Monday with a regular Blog edition.

Be well!

Saturday January 15, 2022

Both Newtown Collection's Liberty Seated Numismatic Auction Sales at Auction Link

Announcing Newtown Collection Auction Sale Zoom Presentation - January 20 9:00 PM ET

and

CAC Approved Winter FUN New Purchases

Greetings on a Saturday morning and welcome to another Blog edition. Thank-you for visiting.

Cold wintry weather will dominate the mid-West down into the southern states before moving northward into the mid-Atlantic and New England region this weekend. We wish GFRC clients the best as this weather system makes life miserable during the Martin Luther King holiday period.

A Happy Birthday wish also goes out to Matt Yamatin!

GFRC Shipping on Hold Until Tuesday

After losing two gold coin shipments to USPS thieves during the fourth quarter of 2021, Diane has taken a much more proactive role with the GFRC shipping department. All USPS Express shipments are monitored on a daily basis to ensure problem free transport. If Diane detects a delayed shipment, she promptly calls USPS to register an alert on the package. I could not be more pleased!

Our Chief Shipping Officer has advised me that a nasty weather system will impact much of the eastern portion of the country this weekend. This fact along with USPS being closed on Monday brought a recommendation to halt the shipping department on Friday and Saturday. I'm listening to Diane and making the following announcement.....

GFRC will delay all outgoing shipments until Tuesday January 18th. We are most concerned for the safe and uneventful transport of customer orders and believe it is best to resume shipping when USPS is working regular hours. By Tuesday, eastern United States weather will have also stabilized.

We are a firm believer is rapid shipping and delighting customers. However, there are times when being proactive will mitigate the possibility of lost or stolen packages. The next 48 hours brings one of these high risk periods. We appreciate your understand given our decision to delay shipments until Tuesday.

Both Newtown Collection's Liberty Seated Numismatic Auction Sales at Auction Link

GFRC clients and Blog readers are invited to visit the GFRC Online Auctions page this morning for a surprise.

Matt Yamatin has installed sorting intelligence in the auction lot presentation table as of yesterday. This has enabled the posting of all lots for the Newtown Collection Liberty Seated Numismatic Auction Sale event. You are invited to visit the Auction link to enjoy the full extent of the Newtown Collection offerings and their reserve prices.

Sunday brings the construction of the Newtown Collection Part 1 Auction Sale catalog in PDF format. This catalog will be posted to the Daily Blog on Monday for your downloading and viewing enjoyment.

Announcing Newtown Collection Auction Sale Zoom Presentation - Thursday January 20 9:00 PM ET

GFRC Online Auctions is pleased to announce a Newtown Collection Zoom call presentation. Gerry and Len will be hosting the call this coming week. So please book your calendars for Thursday evening at 9:00 PM ET to join in and listen to our summary of the forthcoming Part 1 and Part 2 sales.

This presentation will open with a brief discussion of the overall Newtown Collection Sale including the addition consignments that are embedded within the event. I plan to highlight noteworthy offerings and their backgrounds.

The Zoom call will be an opportunity for potential bidders to submit their auction lot questions in advance. Gerry will have all lots with him during the call and will gladly provide his insightful commentaries. Please submit your questions to Gerry via email only (gerry@seateddimevarieties.com) with "Newtown Zoom Call Question" in the subject line. This will allow me to pull coins from the inventory boxes and have staged for my live analysis and responses to your questions.

The GFRC Online Auctions Zoom call can be accessed via this link: https://wustl.zoom.us/j/5086565637. The Zoom call time and link will also be published at the Auction page effective today.

CAC Approved Winter FUN New Purchases

While being consumed with Newtown Collection auction preparations, the Winter FUN Show new purchases have been quietly waiting for their turn in the Daily Blog spotlight. I'm pleased to be showcasing the first installment of many to come.

This gallery has a wide range of offerings starting with a key date 1901-S Barber quarter with CAC approval. Everyone dreams of owning key dates though their elevated costs may preclude many collectors. This 1901-S quarter is fully choice for the grade with just honest wear and unmarked surfaces. This piece would be an ideal filler for completing a Barber quarter date and mintmark set.

Up next in the gallery are wonderful pieces of early Americana. The 1827 JR-3 Capped Bust dime is a near-gem with steely reflective luster and natural rose toning. The 1806 Draped Bust quarter is naturally toned with bold devices for the certified grade. We round out the presentation with three eye appealing type coins with CAC approval.

This lot is already priced and will appear on the 30 Day Price List during the afternoon hours. Pricing inquiries have been received for the 1901-S 25c and the 1877-S Trade $1. The Trade dollar is already on hold.

CAC Approved Winter FUN New Purchases

1901-S PCGS G06 CAC 25C

1827 JR-3 PCGS MS64 CAC 10C 1806 PCGS B-9 VF20 25C

1860 PCGS MS64 CAC H10C 1861 NGC MS64 CAC H10C 1877-S PCGS EF45 CAC T$1

Daily Blog Feedback

Blog In Friday's Blog edition, my perspective on the United States numismatic market was presented. A Blog reader and active GFRC client responded with the following email.

Hi Gerry,

I read your blog. The price trend information is instructive.

What concerns me is evidence of a longer-cycle decline in the rare coin market due to an aging customer base. The big question is to what degree younger collectors are driving the current price increases.

I tuned into a presentation made by one of your competitors earlier this year. They, for one, do not see a material change in the rare coin demographic. That leads me to believe that once Covid retreats and economic demand shifts back to services from “hard” goods, the longer-term downward trend in the rare coin market will reassert itself, with the caveat that registry sets may follow a different pattern.

Bottom line is that selling now might make a lot of sense for many collectors, since these high and increasing prices may not be sustained. That’s my opinion, for what it’s worth!

Well, since not being shy about sharing opinions, let's delve into the ongoing concern that the numismatic market will wither away due to the lack of "younger" collectors.

I've heard this concern for years while operating GFRC and have a different perspective.

The market for early U.S. type and U.S gold is driven by individuals who have the financial resources to collector at this level. These individuals are typically at a stage of life where disposable income is available for their pursuit. The age range of this demographic is 45 to 75 years old. In particular, Baby Boomers control a substantial portion of United States wealth. That wealth will not disappear as the Baby Boomer generation expires. Rather, it will be transferred to the Generation X and Millennials. I'm confident that collectors will emerge from these two generations.

I often hear the term "young" or "younger" collectors used. This term is most subjective with respect to the numismatic market. Are we referring to Young Numismatists, children aged 9 to 12, or those in their 20s? Who are the younger collectors?

From my perspective, "young" collectors are those in the 35 - 45 year old demographic. I returned to the hobby at the age of 33 and become very serious by age 35. Disposable income was a key reason for becoming an active collector. Without disposable income, one is unable to purchase and collect coins. Those in their 20s are busy with other aspects of life. Young Numismatist are mostly pursuing the hobby from an educational perspective with financial support from parents.

Let's take on the next point in this email; the longer-term downward trend in the rare coin market.

The rare coin market is highly bifurcated at this point. There is the raw portion of the market and the TPG certified segment. Furthermore, the latter is also divided into the premium market (CAC approved and other choice coins) and those coins that are average or inferior for the certified grade.

Let's look at each market segment for a moment.

- Raw coins. Most raw coins are raw for two reasons. First are issues that preclude TPG certification. Second is low value that does not justify certification. Demand for raw coins is waning by knowledgeable numismatist. I expect that over time, the value of these coins will remain flat or will drop due to insufficient demand. Yes, I expect this market segment to struggle in coming years.

- Average TPG Holdered coins. Much of the available market supply is average or below average coins. When brought to auction, these pieces will sell below the "retail price guides" as inferior. During a flat or downward market, collectors will hold and not release premiums coins. The majority of trades will be average coins. As collectors become more knowledgeable and gravitate to "premium tiered" coins, demand for average coins will wane resulting in pricing reductions with respect to "premium" coins. The U.S. numismatic pricing slide from 2014 to 2019 was partially driven by average coins selling at auction for lower prices and the lack of premium coins being held by "strong" hands.

- Premium coins. Prices for the top end of the numismatic market have held during the 2014 to 2019 period and are currently accelerating due to unprecedented demand. Take GFRC for example. As a purveyor of CAC approved coins, I struggle to hold on to premiums coins when priced fairly. The demand ranges from collectors in the 45 to 75 year old demographic. Again, those with disposable income see premium coins as both a fun hobby and alternate store of wealth.

Bottom line....

The U.S. numismatic market is segmented. Attempting to define the overall market with a broad brush is a mistake but is often done by those who don't have sufficient insights. I would not give bullion dealers much credence when they attempt to describe the overall U.S. numismatic market. If one of GFRC's competitors believe that numismatics will return to a slow degradation after the pandemic wraps up, they are entitled to that opinion though I don't subscribe.

Secondly, there is and will be an ongoing shortage of premium coins as collectors of all ages become more knowledgeable. I expect this segment of the market to thrive through the next generation as the wealth will be there to enable collecting.

Raw coins probably not...

Wrapping Up The Blog

The 8:00 AM publishing time has arrived. Today brings a long day in the GFRC office loading consignments and new purchases to the price list.

Thanks for stopping by at the Blog. Be well.

Friday January 14, 2022

Awesome CAC Approved Port Matilda Collection Offerings!

Greetings and welcome to the Blog on a Friday morning. The middle of January is already upon us.

The past 24 hours continue to exciting to say the least. Thursday brought a pleasant phone call with one of the PCGS Price Guide staff members. That conversation was incredible insightful concerning price setting methodologies. I walked away with confidence that PCGS is on the top of the current market trend and being aggressive in capturing higher market levels in the price guide.

How strong is the current numismatic market?

Let's respond to that question with a look at the PCGS3000 graph. This graph is always available at the bottom of any PCGS Price Guide page by clicking on that link.

I'd like for Blog readers to focus on the trend line and not the absolute numbers as the PCGS3000 is a broad-based index. This index might not be reflective of your favorite Liberty Seated or Capped Bust coinage series. What is important to note is the dramatic upward shift in market momentum that started during calendar year 2020. Since the PCGS price guide is a lagging index, the steep trend line slope during 2021 is an effort to catch-up with a market that ramped during 2020. Based on my conversation with the PCGS Price Guide staff member, this trend will continue its upward trajectory during Q1'2022.

What is fueling the rambunctious numismatic market? The age old supply and demand equation!

Demand is outstripping supply. When demand accelerates, prices must climb to motivate the supply side of the equation. Collector with strong hands and premium collections must become motivated to sell. Today's market remains out of balance as collectors are holding rather than selling. Demand is to the point that other dealers are approaching GFRC and paying my retail asking prices to secure supply. These dealers are recognizing the market trend and securing inventory for the next six months. Please stop and think about the ramifications of this development as many clients are still in a mindset that equates to the time frame before 2020. As Dorothy so well said, “Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore.”

Thursday afternoon brought the posting of the latest Port Matilda Collection offerings that are featured next. This posting brought a host of price inquiries and prompt responses. Some of those who were first on the coins decided to pass as they believed the prices were too high. Others made quick decisions and purchased. I'm most proud of those individuals who stepped up and bought the Port Matilda lots. These offerings are all gems or near-gems and some of the nicer coins that GFRC has had the pleasure of handling. The release of this lot during a strong upward market was a brilliant move by Port Matilda as he secured his numbers on all coins that were scooped up. Frankly, his numbers was fair and attractive for the premium quality. I have a firm message to clients who had a shot and passed. Please conduct some introspection on the event and your decision process. If you can't bring yourself to purchase the Port Matilda coins at his offered prices, you will struggle to purchase coins during 2022 without a pricing reference adjustment. Again look at the PCGS3000 trend line as feedback.

Bottom line, those who systematically build premium collections will be rewarded in the long term. Those who jump in and out of the market searching for values will build a collection that reflects that purchasing strategy.

Awesome CAC Approved Port Matilda Collection Offerings!

The newest Port Matilda consignment is a top of the ladder premium lot. The 1856-S G$2.5 and 1851-O G$20 easily garnered Gem quality ratings along with the 1876 Indian and 1826 Capped Bust half. Also add in the 1863 Indian and the 1904 Barber quarter securing Gem ratings.

As of this morning, the 1856-S G$2.5, the 1851-O G$20, and the 1840 G$10 are sold. The balance will load to the price list this afternoon.

Awesome CAC Approved Port Matilda Collection Offerings!

1856-S PCGS AU58 CAC G$2.5 1851-O PCGS EF40 CAC G$20

1876 NGC MS65RB CAC 1C EPN 1826 O-107 PCGS AU50 CAC OGH 50C

1862 PCGS EF45 CAC G$2.5 1840 PCGS EF45 CAC G$10

1863 RPD PCGS MS63 CAC 1C 1864 Bronze PCGS MS64BN CAC 1C 1904 PCGS MS64 CAC 25C

Global Financial News

U.S. equities struggled on Thursday with the NASDAQ losing 2.5%. The DJIA and S&P 500 kept losses at the 0.5% and 1.5% level respectively.

Volatility will be with us during the next six months as inflation continues with no clear policy actions by the Biden administration. Yesterday was a particularly bad day for the President and his credibility. The Supreme Court overturned his OSHA vaccination mandate. Krysten Sinema dealt a death blow to Biden's attempt to eliminate the Senate filibuster. The John Lewis Voting Act and Build Back Better are dead initiatives. Geopolitical tensions could be ramping in February as the Beijing Olympics arrive. If checking the time frames of Russia aggression in East Europe, you might be surprised to learn that those were staged during Olympic periods. Once the Olympics are completed, the million dollar question is mainland China's action with respect to Taiwan.

Morning market futures are flashing light buying optimism that could reverse course in a heartbeat.

In Asia, Japan -1.3%. Hong Kong -0.2%. China -1%. India flat.

In Europe, at midday, London flat. Paris -0.6%. Frankfurt -0.6%.

Futures at 6:20, Dow +0.3%. S&P +0.2%. NASDAQ flat.

Once the Omicron variant moves through the U.S. population and the pandemic lessens its grip on American psyche, inflation will continue to be a substantial issue. Crude oil continue to gain pricing power with a morning quote of $83.15/bbl.

Paper gold is flat at $1822/oz. The recent pricing action suggests that the powers to be are slowly allowing gold to rise in price against a serious inflation backdrop.

Bitcoin has lost recent recovery momentum with a morning quote of $41,921.

The 10 Year U.S. Treasury bond yield is flat at 1.74%

At 10:00 AM, a meeting takes place with my Merrill Lynch financial manager. The discussion will be most interesting as I've already challenged Carlo to convince me why I should stay invested in U.S. equities given inflation and the potential for unfavorable geopolitical developments.

Wrapping Up The Blog

Another consignment proposal appeared on Thursday which I have agreed to handle.

The GFRC office is swamped with fresh coins and I could not be more pleased. During a strong upward market, inventory is king.

Today brings the posting of more Pikes Peak Collection coins, the Port Matilda Collection offerings, and a Blog gallery that will showcase six Winter FUN show new purchases.

Thank-you for checking in at the Blog! Be well.

Thursday January 13, 2022

GFRC Welcomes the Newtown Collection's Liberty Seated Numismatic Auction Sale

Part 1 Lots Posted at Auction Link

and

Mighty Fine Seated Halves - Pikes Peak Collection

Greetings on a Thursday morning and welcome to another Daily Blog edition. I'm pleased that you could stop by!

RELIEF!

Yes, the readership probably does not understand yesterday's mental relief once posting the first portion of the Newtown Collection Liberty Seated Numismatic Auction Sale lots to the Auction link. Though appearing as a regular GFRC Online Auctions event, this sale breaks new ground with multiple consignments embedded within the headline Newtown Collection sale. As mentioned to Len Augsburger earlier this week, I will be writing a process specification to capture this implementation within the COIN system to ensure that the next similar event is just execution based rather than a process development effort.

Upon opening the GFRC office this morning, I sent an email to Matt Yamatin at Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) requesting addition table sorting capabilities for the Newtown auction catalog. Matt has already started employment and will be guiding TMO's sustainability program strategies. I digressed as a proud father. Matt will be adding sorting intelligence to the auction table which will allow us to also load the Newtown Collection Part 2 Sale lots into the table on a preview basis (after the Part 1 lots). We will correct the fact that the Indian and 2 Cent pieces (Part 1 Sale) are listed behind the Liberty Seated halves and will position them at the top of the table.

Finally, the posting of the Newtown Collection auction sale allows me to shift focus to consignments and FUN Show new purchases. The GFRC community should stay close to the Blog during the coming ten days as a host of premium offerings will be appearing. The numismatic market remains red hot as other dealers are now coming to GFRC to source coins at my asking prices. What does this say about GFRC fair retail pricing policy?

GFRC Welcomes the Newtown Collection's Liberty Seated Numismatic Auction Sale

The Newtwon Collection's Liberty Seated Numismatic Auction Sale includes 103 lots with reserves totaling approximately $180,000. Liberty Seated halves dominate the sale including most of the major varieties (1840-(O), 1846 6/Horizontal 6, 1849 Dramatically Doubled Date, 1876 Large/Small Date, and the rare 1877/6). An amazing 1874-CC PCGS AU55 CAC half and a near complete 1861-O Liberty Seated Half Dollar die variety set are additional reasons to carefully review the Newtown offerings.

This auction is much more than Liberty Seated halves however. Newtown has released 1864 and 1865 type Indian cents and Small and Large Motto 2 cents pieces, again all with CAC approval. Newtown and the Sooner Collection combine for an exciting Seated half dime selection. The Liberty Seated dime segment features Newtown duplicates and incremental plate coins from Fortin's The Definitive Resource for Liberty Seated Dime Variety Collectors online reference. Not to be forgotten, a small Liberty Seated quarter group is headlined by an 1853-O PCGS MS63 specimen, one of only two approved by CAC. The other also happens to be found on the GFRC price list.

This sale is CAC treasure trove with the majority being awarded the coveted green bean.

Newtown Collection's Liberty Seated Numismatic Auction Sale

A Two Session Extravaganza

Session 1 - Opens January 22 9:00 PM - Ends January 29 9:00 PM ET

Session 2 - Opens February 5 9:00 PM - Ends February 12 9:00 PM ET

GFRC Inventory Contains Both CAC Approved 1853-O Liberty Seated Quarters

Please excuse me for a moment as I wish to brag a bit while showcasing the two CAC approved 1853-O Mint State quarters currently in GFRC inventory. Yes, this is a big deal as a noted dealer of Liberty Seated coinage. The first piece, as illustrated next, is the Branch Mint Collection Sale specimen graded PCGS MS64 CAC. The Newtown Collection Sale is presently offering the PCGS MS63 CAC specimen. How cool is this?

Might I suggest that die hard Liberty Seated quarter collectors seriously consider the acquisition of the Branch Mint Collection example at $24,000 offer price. This is the finest CAC approved specimen and fairly priced. You might be thinking that $24,000 is a huge sum for this piece. Well, this was the purchase price paid by the Branch Mint Collection. My gut is that this amount will appear as a bargain in the coming two years as top population coins continue to move up in demand. This is not marketing hype but rather advice from someone who is paying at this level (or higher) to acquire pieces for my core Liberty Seated dime collection.

The 1853-O PCGS MS63 CAC example is being offered in the Newtown Collection Part 1 Sale at a reasonable reserve of $11,500. Fair value should be at the $14,000 level.

1853-O CAC Approved Mint States Seated Quarters

1853-O Briggs 1-B PCGS MS64 CAC 25C 1853-O Briggs 2-C PCGS MS63 CAC 25C

Mighty Fine Seated Halves - Pikes Peak Collection

GFRC kick-starts its return to consignment offerings with a longer overdue posting of Pikes Peak Collection offerings. Today brings a gallery of Liberty Seated halves at the highly collectible EF-AU grades. All offerings are strictly original with most garnering a Choice quality rating. Look for these new offerings to load to the price list today. If wishing to secure a price quote, simply send an email. Let's remember that the first person who says, "I'll buy that coin!" secures the offering.

Mighty Fine Seated Halves - Pikes Peak Collection

1858 PCGS AU53 50C 1858-S WB-12 NGC EF45 50C

1860-S WB-2 PCGS EF40 50C 1871-S WB-6 PCGS EF45 50C

1854-O PCGS EF45 50C 1877-S PCGS EF45 50C 1878 PCGS EF40 50C

Global Financial News

Yesterday's U.S. inflation report was indeed ugly. On an annual basis, inflation is running at a 7.0% rate and will certainly bring about a Federal Reserve interest rate increase in the March time frame. One has to stop and think for a moment about the impact of an interest rate increase as there are pro's and con's to consider as an investor. Sure, an interest rate hike will increase the cost of borrowing on credit and for housing loans. Heavily leveraged corporations will find that the cost of replacing short term debt to be more expensive. On the positive side, higher interest rates will lead to a strong U.S. dollar as monies flow in from overseas into U.S. bonds and equity markets. Higher interest rates are a positive for investors while a negative for debtors.

On Wednesday, U.S. markets were up marginally. Today's morning market futures are essentially flat as investors find themselves in a wait and see mode with Q4'2021 earning seasons starting tomorrow and through next week.

In Asia, Japan -1%. Hong Kong +0.1%. China -1.2%. India +0.1%.
In Europe, at midday, London flat. Paris -0.4%. Frankfurt +0.1%.
Futures at 6:20, Dow +0.1%. S&P +0.1%. NASDAQ +0.1%.

The commodity space is heating up with prices quickly rising for crude oil, copper and nickel. WTI crude has gained again with a price quote of $82.65/bbl to start the day. Paper gold has improved to $1822/oz while Bitcoin has also recovered to $43,756.

The 10 Year U.S. Treasury bond yield increased slightly to 1.75%

Wrapping Up The Blog

The Nikon CoolPix 995 camera battery is in the charger as I'm anticipating a busy photography day. Now that the Newtown Collection auction lots are posted, my attention shifts to FUN Show new purchases and a huge pile of consignments.

Please check back later this afternoon as you won't want to miss the latest Port Matilda Collection offerings. This lot is consistently awesome and will sell rapidly once posted as a Blog gallery.

Adding to today's productivity is the lack of shipping duties. While at the FUN show, GFRC online sales suffered a sharp drop-off resulting in no check payments appearing yesterday. My gut feel is that community members are waiting to see FUN new purchases before committing more numismatic funds.

Thank-you for stopping by at the Blog. Be well!

Wednesday January 12, 2022

A GFRC Consignment Wave in Progress

Newtown Collection - Part 1 Auction Sale Lots Forthcoming

and

Nature's Artistry from Yucca Valley, California

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog on a Wednesday morning. Many thanks for visiting!

A mid-January cold wave is blanketing the Northeast with our Maine homestead surviving through single and negative digits during the next 72 hours. The cold wave is extending southward with Friday's Venice overnight temperature forecasted at 47F. The benefits of being a snowbird are readily apparent during the heart of the winter months.

For consistent GFRC customers, the eerie silence of the 30 Day Price List is atypical following a major show. Usually, I am prompt with loading new purchases and kick starting another round of post show sales. Discipline is in order for finalizing the Newtown Collection auction preparations. More on this topic shortly.

Tuesday also brought the finalization of a $95,000 deal for six better date coins in GFRC inventory. As I continue to ramp the business into higher value coins, sales are following. I'm looking forward to the day when GFRC routinely handles $25,000+ coins.

A GFRC Consignment Wave in Progress

There is absolutely no hype with respect to this update! The re-opening of the GFRC consignment window has brought about a rush of new consignment arrivals, commitments, and inquiries.

Tuesday saw the delivery of yet another Port Matilda Collection divestment that is frankly awesome. Our consignor had quadruple bagged the USPS Express shipment to insure its security. Cutting through those layers exposed exceptional offerings that brought a consistent flow of "wow" exclamations. I've learned through experience to not make mention of a single coin as the outcome will be community individuals being unable to control themselves. The emails will arrive with requests that I must respond to. Nope, I'm not saying a word about the amazing contents. Rest assured that this consignment release will garner much attention for its silver type and early gem U.S. gold.

During the overnight hours, a GFRC client has decided to shift collecting objectives and wishes to part with a significant portion of his numismatic properties to fund a new passion. Many of these properties were purchased from GFRC including a significant portion being U.S. gold. Our good friend is about to become a consignor with my consulting.

These are just two examples of consignment inquiries and deliveries that are beginning to mount for the February time frame. Other smaller consignments are also being favorably responded too including a lovely collector grade Capped Bust half dime and dime proposal.

Please stay close to the Daily Blog for ongoing updates. Once the initial Newtown Collection auction is fully published, my attention shifts to FUN show new purchases and consignments. The next 60 days will bring a treasure trove of new offerings for everyone.

Newtown Collection - Part 1 Auction Sale Lots Announcement Forthcoming

Newtown Collection preparation momentum is accelerating and will peak today!

Len's authoritative descriptions are complete and are being loaded into the COIN database this morning. Last evening brought a finalized reserve pricing proposal to the consignor. Today brings the separation of the lots into two auction events.

Please check back on Thursday morning for a Newtown Collection - Part 1 Auction Sales announcement. If all goes to plan, the online catalog will be published with the PDF catalog version to be finalized by the weekend.

I'm well aware that many in the community have been patiently waiting for these auction events. Your patience is appreciated and will be rewarded once the first of two auction sales is published.

Nature's Artistry from Yucca Valley, California

Dr. Durazo was kind enough to send along several sunset images taken in Yucca Valley California. She and the Tenafly Collection consignor are close GFRC friends and consistent Blog contributors. There is nothing else to say other than thank-you for sharing these pieces of nature's artistry.

Global Financial News

U.S. equity markets were down during Tuesday morning trading but rallied by end of day. Fed Chair Jerome Powell was testifying before Congress and attempted to reassure the Senate Banking Committee that he will do all that is necessary to bring inflation under control. Following is an excerpt from a Seeking Alpha report out.

Eyes on Powell: In his confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, the Fed Chair emphasized that he will use all the tools of the central bank to get inflation back on track. "If we have to raise interest rates more over time, we will," Powell told the Senate Banking Committee. "The economy no longer needs or wants the very accommodative policies we have had in place." He also expressed hope that the alleviation of supply chain bottlenecks would bring inflation down, as the economy returns to "normal supply conditions," but admitted that it has taken much longer than expected to get the problems under control. The price pressures could also impact the other side of the Fed's dual mandate, or "maximum sustainable employment." "To get the kind of very strong labor market that we want with participation, it's going to take a long expansion. To get a long expansion, we're going to need price stability," Powell explained. "In a way, high inflation is a severe threat to the achievement of maximum employment and to achieving a long expansion that can give us that."

The S&P 500 improved to 4713 while the NASDAQ is back over the 15,000 mark. Optimism controlled the narrative, at least for the day, though this morning's December inflation report is expected to be ugly.

Morning market futures indicate a flat trading open at 9:30 AM though Asia markets are booming.

In Asia, Japan +1.9%. Hong Kong +2.8%. China +0.8%. India +0.9%.
In Europe, at midday, London +0.7%. Paris +0.5%. Frankfurt +0.3%.
Futures at 6:20, Dow +0.1%. S&P +0.1%. NASDAQ +0.4%.

There are two fundamental components to the inflation equation; energy and wages. Unfortunately, WTI crude oil supplies are decreasing as the U.S. economy continues to recover from the pandemic. Crude pricing jumped to nearly $82/bbl as of this morning. I spoke about the insidious nature of wage inflation yesterday.

With prices for nearly everything that we purchase or consume continuing to rise, one would expect gold prices to stage a rally. The yellow metal has been fighting its way above the $1800/oz mark and is quoting at $1818 this morning. Physical gold is a different story as $20 Saints are selling for at least $2300 in low Mint State grades. That is roughly a 25% premium over spot. Major banks might be able to control spot gold prices on the COMEX, but physical gold is a different story and more reflective of the true value of an inflation hedging asset.

Bitcoin pricing has stabilized at $42,804, at least for the time being. There is concern that Bitcoin could drop further into the $30K range.

Finally, the 10 Year U.S. Treasury bond yield stands at 1.74%.

On Friday, I meet with my Merrill Lynch financial manager to discuss investment strategies for the next 3-4 months. The million dollar question is whether the forthcoming March 2022 interest rate hike is already baked into the cake or will investors react on the downside.

Wrapping Up The Blog

The 8:00 AM publishing time is upon me and best to run the Dreamweaver spell checker followed by hitting the upload button.

Thanks for visiting with me at the Daily Blog. Be well!

Tuesday January 11, 2022

Flow (and progress)

and

Presenting the Newtown Collection's 1861-O Liberty Seated Half Dollar Die Varieties

Greetings on a post FUN Show Tuesday morning and welcome to more Daily Blog ramblings.

Monday brought a major gear shift from the FUN Show to finalizing the latest GFRC Online Auctions event that features the Newtown Collection and other premium numismatic properties. You are invited to visit the Auction link to view the forthcoming offerings that will be divided into two auction sessions. Len Augsburger is back at work finalizing his lot descriptions while hanging out in the Florida Keys for a respite from the upper Midwest cold temperatures.

Yesterday's call for incremental consignments was also heeded leading to two commitments being received. I'm pleased with both new offerings.

Before moving further in today's edition, let's share a Seth Godin blogpost for numismatic contemplation. This post might need to be examined several times to fully capture Godin's point. Flow and progress could be synonymous with the thrill of the hunt and those competitive registry sets.

Seth Godin Blogpost - Flow (and progress)

A flow state is priceless. It happens when we lose ourselves in the work, simply connecting with the task, without commentary or doubt. When we’re in flow, time slows down, satisfaction rises and we feel fully engaged.

An easy way to end a flow state is to see how well you’re doing. Are you ahead of the other runners? Are you progressing according to the milestones? Do you have more social metrics now?

The irony, of course, is that the best way to make progress is to find flow. But if you’re using progress as a yardstick, it won’t last long.

Presenting the Newtown Collection's 1861-O Liberty Seated Half Dollar Die Varieties

One of the Newtown Collection auction highlights is a nicely populated 1861-O die variety set. By now, I hope that Blog readers are well aware that the New Orleans mint moved through three different administrations before ultimately being closed at the end of April 1861. January 1861 saw the New Orleans starting the year under Union control, but that soon shifted to the State of Louisiana during February. The U.S. state of Louisiana declared that it had seceded from the United States on January 26, 1861. It then announced that it had joined the Confederate States of America leading to CSA control of the mint during April of that year.

This a fascinating period of Civil War numismatic history that has been thoroughly researched by Randy Wiley with support from Bill Bugert. As a result of their efforts, modern day collectors have an opportunity to collect 14 of the 15 die 1861-O pairings during a four month time frame. Of course WB-12 is the four piece CSA half dollar strikes that are not collectible.

The Newtown Collection has managed to locate 11 of the 14 available die pairings in grades ranging from EF to MS62. All are PCGS certified with three pieces being CAC approved. The extremely challenging Union W-1 and W-2 varieties are well represented by EF45 and AU58 specimens. I'm certain that these rarities will experience spirited bidding.

Please take a brief moment to study the following 1861-O Seated half dollar die variety gallery. The W-1 image will be added around noon time as this half dollar somehow escaped the photography process.

For those who wish to explore the 1861-O die variety set in more details, please visit the LSCC website (www.lsccweb.org) and Bill Bugert's Liberty Seated half dollar reference book page (http://www.lsccweb.org/BillBugertBooks.php). Detailed information for the 1861-O date is located at the end of the second New Orleans reference. This reference is a downloadable PDF file that can be saved on your computer for future usage.

GFRC Online Auction Presents the Newtown Collection's 1861-O Seated Half Dollar Die Varieties

1861-O Union W-1 PCGS EF45 50C 1861-O Union W-2 PCGS AU58 50C

1861-O LA W-3 PCGS AU55 50C 1861-O LA W-4 PCGS AU55 50C

1861-O LA W-5 PCGS MS62 CAC 50C 1861-O LA W-7 PCGS AU50 CAC 50C

1861-O CSA W-9 PCGS AU53 50C 1861-O CSA W-11 PCGS EF40 50C

1861-O CSA W-13 PCGS AU58 CAC 50C 1861-O CSA W-14 PCGS EF45 50C

1861-O CSA W-15 PCGS EF40 50C

Finalizing the Newtown Collection Auctions

The next 48 hours will bring the last of the Newtown Collection auction preparations. Reserve pricing recommendations will be determined and shared with the consignor for approval. In parallel, all auction lots will be carefully split into two separate auction events. Once the latter is completed, attention shifts to auction banner and PDF catalog construction.

Look for the GFRC Online Auctions forthcoming schedule by Thursday of this week. These auction events will be truly special for Liberty Seated coinage collectors given the wide range of premium offerings.

Global Financial News

Honestly, I'm starting to feel a bit edgy concerning U.S. equity markets. Our country is experiencing a labor shortage along with a host of individuals quitting current jobs towards locating better employment conditions. The end result is growing wage pressure to secure staffing. Wage inflation is hideous as it cascades through the economy as higher prices for goods and services. Once wages move up, there is no turning back other than automation. Periods of high inflation are typically battled by the Federal Reserve with interest rate hikes and the withdrawal of stimulus (bond buying).

Friday brings a serious chat with my Merrill Lynch financial advisor to hear his perspective on the potential for economic growth and geopolitical risks during the next six months.

Morning market futures indicate an upward bias for today initial U.S. market trading. Let's hope that the optimism sticks through the day.

In Asia, Japan -0.9%. Hong Kong flat. China -0.7%. India +0.4%.
In Europe, at midday, London +0.6%. Paris +1.2%. Frankfurt +1%.
Futures at 6:20, Dow +0.3%. S&P +0.5%. NASDAQ +0.7%.

WTI crude oil pricing has inched up to $79.40 per barrel which is bullish economic indicator. Gold is back over the $1800 mark and quoting at $1806.

Bitcoin continues to struggle at $41,753 and is approaching a technical chart death cross milestone. A retreat below $40,000 could bring further losses to the cryptocurrency crowd. A Bitcoin breakdown will not happen in isolation due to leveraging.

Finally, the 10 Year U.S. Treasury bond yield has pulled back to 1.73%.

Wrapping Up The Blog

Unquestionably, I will be in the GFRC office the entire day other than a late afternoon health walk. The cellphone is always in my pocket even if out of the office.

Starting Thursday of this week, I will begin rolling out Winter FUN show new purchases and a Pikes Peak Collection consignment. Please continue to check the Daily Blog during late afternoon and early morning hours for the latest new offerings previews. If a coin has been posted in a Daily Blog gallery, it is priced and immediately available for purchase. Price quotations do not guarantee an automatic First Right of Refusal. I will be selling coins to the first person that makes a firm purchase commitment.

Thanks for checking in and please be careful out there. A GFRC consignor and client has reported being severely ill from Covid just yesterday. We wish him well with what appears to be an extended recovery.

If you have not been vaccinated and boosted, please consider getting this done. What I love about America is an individual's choice to be vaccinated or not. We live in the land of the free. However, those who select to remain unvaccinated are taking risks especially if over weight or with diabetes.

Be well!

Monday January 10, 2022

Restarting GFRC Office Operations

Presenting the Newest Gerry Fortin Liberty Seated Dime Set Upgrade

and

U.S. Numismatic Market Is In a Boom Cycle

Greetings on a Monday morning and welcome to yet another Daily Blog edition. Thanks again for stopping by.

The month of January is moving along quickly and much faster than I had hoped. There is always much to be done with competing priorities.

Restarting GFRC Office Operations

Sunday brought the tail end of a coin show event, the post show administrative workload. No, coin dealers don't arrive home from a coin show and put their feet up on a desk to chill out. How I wish that were the case for GFRC. Instead, I spent nearly the entire day recovering from the show with support from Diane. Sales must be loaded into the COIN database as recorded financial transactions. Sold coins are removed from the price list. Checks and cash are tabulated and prepared for depositing at BoA. Inventory is re-inserted into plastic sleeves to protect the holders from scratches. Afterwards, unsold inventory is merged with those coins that remained in the office. Each show brings a different inventory profile with consideration for the type of clientele and their spending targets. Did I mention that new purchases must be removed from the inventory boxes for photography once all is sorted? That task will be handled in a few days.

GFRC is again blessed with consignments that transferred at the FUN show and arrived to the office while I was away. An outright purchase shipment also appeared. Towards the end of Sunday, I stickered each holder with the consignor's ID and merged the lots into a double row slab box. PCGS blue boxes continue to accumulate in the office as everyone favorite coin transfer method. A review for potential consignment CAC submissions is next along with loading all pieces into the COIN system for tracking purposes. Are we exhausted yet? By 8:00 PM, I was in bed recognizing that Monday brings early morning shipping duties for check payments that arrived while at the FUN show. The window is tight as Diane has an HOA board meeting at 11:00 AM. Let's not forget that the Blog must be composed at 6:00 AM.

Sunday was such a busy day that I failed to secure a one hour health walk; shame on me.

Today's top priority, other than morning shipping, is placing my GFRC Online Auctions hat on and processing the balance of the Newtown Collection auction images. Once those images are posted to the Auction link, Len Augsburger will be able to finalize his descriptions.

Presently, GFRC has over two double row slabbed boxes (~130 coins) of new offerings to process and post during the next 30 days. Those coins must wait for the Newtown Collection auction preparations to be finalized and posted. Therefore, please don't email me with questions about the Newtown Collection auctions and when certain new purchases will be posted to the price list. I will be diligent in moving inventories into the public domain as quickly as possible.

Presenting the Newest Gerry Fortin Liberty Seated Dime Set Upgrade

Along with all the previously detailed Sunday activities, a brief period of time was allocated to photographing the newly purchased 1863 Liberty Seated dime and conducting an update to my Open Registry sets. This finest known example certainly fits in well within the existing regular and CAC only sets. I am so fortunate that the dealer who owned this piece determined that I should be first person to have a shot. He could have easily walked the coin to another dealer at the FUN show that represents a billionaire with endless funds and huge aspirations. The dealer made it clear that he wished for this exceptional piece to move to a true collector that will appreciate the piece and eventually return it to the market in the next decade.

Please allow me to present the finest known 1863 Liberty Seated dime for your viewing enjoyment.

1863 F-101a PCGS MS67 CAC 10C

A final note while on this topic is in order....

Sunday brought four email requests for the duplicate 1863 dime which is graded PCGS MS63 CAC. Let's remember that the First Right of Refusal process is long gone.

The duplicate 1863 dime is located back in Maine within a secure bank box and will only be accessible come the May time frame. Once retrieving that piece, I will be deciding who is offered the coin first based on a host of parameters. Rewarding a long term consignor or cultivating a relationship are worthy objectives. Or, I might place this coin within a forthcoming GFRC online auction since the demand will bring competitive bidding.

GFRC Consignment Window is Open

I wish to confirm that the GFRC consignment window is fully open along with seeking a major collection for the GFRC Online Auctions platform. However, there is sufficient consignment backlog in place to keep me occupied through the end of January. New consignments will be processed on a first come first serve basis starting February 1. If waiting for February 1 to make a consignment commitment, you might find yourself deep in the GFRC backlog queue.

If planning to ship consignments to GFRC, please contact me post haste to secure your position in the processing queue. The Spring Whitman Baltimore show is already on my radar screen along with searching for a major GFRC Online Auctions event to be displayed and marketed at that show. The Baltimore show takes place on March 31 - April 2. GFRC will be traveling to Baltimore earlier that week to attend the pre-show.

U.S. Numismatic Market is in a Boom Cycle

Unquestionably, the United States numismatic market is currently in a generational boom cycle. A host of factors are enabling today robust market.

- The Covid pandemic and necessary isolation of baby boomers has brought many collectors back to the hobby. With endless available hours, many colelctors have rediscovered their earlier passion and are presently engaged with specific set building goals.

- The Covid induced demand is placing pressure on limited supplies in the market place leading to increased prices. The price guides are doing their best to update prices consistent with today's elevated sales levels.

- A hot market brings about higher prices. Many aging collectors with substantial collection have been waiting for a boom market to arrive as an opportunity to exist their collections with a profit. Their challenge is how to divest a collection towards maximizing their return on a long term hobby investment.

- The globe is experiencing a post Covid pandemic inflation cycle as supply chains are unable to support growing economic demand. Inflation is readily evident at the grocery store, for building materials, automobiles, and in the hotel and entertainment industry. The coin market finds itself at the beginning of a boom cycle with prices having much room to rise.

- Early type coins are in short supply with further pricing increases necessary to bring more supply into the market.

Bottom line, I am expected 2022 to be another strong year for the numismatic hobby. GFRC bought premium CAC approved coins at the FUN show with a sense of urgency consistent with this outlook. During the next twelve months, I am expecting further increases and new record prices being set at auctions for not only the top end of the market ($100,000+ coins) but also for key date collector coins in the $10,000 to $100,000 price range. Please remember that price guides are a lagging indicator during a boom cycle and will eventually catch up with the true market. Don't let a fixation with price guides stop you from chasing the truly premium pieces as they appear on the GFRC price list. Many of you may have noted the pace at which my personal Liberty Seated dime set is being upgraded. When finest known pieces appear, I am not hesitating to add to the collection even at record prices. Gaining access to these coins is the imperative.

Global Financial News

2022 will be a year of financial turmoil as the Federal Reserve battles with a shrinking labor pool and higher wage inflation. Wage inflation along with higher energy and raw material costs will ripple through the economy throughout the year. Small business owners will be struggling to survive while the largest of corporations will be challenged with elevated cost structures. The net effect will be increased prices for most goods and services.

As interest rates begin to rise, monies will flow out of equities into the safety of Treasury bonds. Today's 10 Year U.S Treasury bond rate is already at 1.81% and should continue to climb during Q1 in anticipation of the first of several Federal Reserve rate hikes.

In Asia, Japan closed. Hong Kong +1.1%. China +0.4%. India +1.1%.

In Europe, at midday, London -0.1%. Paris -0.3%. Frankfurt -0.3%.

Futures at 6:20, Dow flat. S&P flat. NASDAQ -0.2%.

WTI crude is consolidating its recent gains and stands at $79/bbl with gas pump prices starting to reflect recent increases.

Paper gold is flat at $1800/oz while Bitcoin continues its pullback to $41,649.

Wrapping Up The Blog

I hope that you've enjoyed today's Blog edition. Another busy day awaits me therefore best to get into the shower followed by preparing shipments for Diane's processing and transport to the satellite USPS location.

Your ongoing patronage is appreciated! Be safe and well.

Sunday January 9, 2022

Winter FUN Show Wrap-up

A Sunday GFRC Office Day

and

Matt Yamatin is Back in the USA

Greetings from Venice and welcome to the Daily Blog on a Sunday morning. Thanks for checking in.

Winter FUN Show Wrap-up

The 2022 Winter FUN show is in the history books for GFRC. Dan and I said our good-byes to Rich Hundertmark on Sunday afternoon and returned to mid-west coast Florida. We arrived home in time for dinner and an evening of relaxation. Rich was heading north to North Carolina.

It give me great pleasure to announce that Rich Hundertmark will be joining the GFRC coin show team. Our next team event will be the Whitman Baltimore show that takes place at the end of March. Dan and I thoroughly enjoyed having Rich behind the table and as part of the GFRC team.

How would I rate the Winter FUN show in terms of buying and selling you might ask?

Winter FUN turned out to be a great buying show due to being prepared to aggressively buy during Wednesday dealer setup along with incremental purchases on Thursday. We bought only CAC approved coins to reload GFRC inventory for the first quarter of 2022. The team searched long and hold and swept the bourse for early type and U.S. gold that was attractively priced along with the quality being all there.

Selling was a different story. Let's remember that GFRC does not conduct wholesale business with other dealers as we are primarily an online retailer. We strive to locate the best possible coins with our thin margins being treated as a finders fee. Again, GFRC operates with a low cost structure which facilitates thin margins. If you visited the GFRC booth at Winter FUN, this would be apparent. There were three gentlemen conducting a no frills operation and moving coins to new homes. Most of the time, there were only two people behind nine cases of coins since one person was out trying to buy. We worked hard but had fun since the team treats GFRC as a retirement activity to remain fully engaged with the hobby. Handling great coins is so cool.

Thursday brought a great retail day. Friday was slower. Saturday was typical for a FUN show. Many tire kickers with Greysheets looking at CAC approved coins. As they say, oil and water don't mix. Neither does CAC green beans and a Greysheet. We sold all of two coins on Saturday for the expended efforts. By 3:00, we closed down the booth and were on the road by 4:00 PM. Traffic was light on I-4 to Tampa and ditto on I-75 down to Sarasota.

My FUN show presentation went well with the video to be posted to the FUN show website. During the question and answer session, I did misspeak once concerning the importance of CAC to the numismatic hobby. I made mention of inflated TPG grading standards during the mid 1980s and how John Albanese saved the hobby by launching CAC during 1986. The time frame was wrong and should have been the mid 1990s and CAC being started during 1996. Unfortunately, I can't correct the video.

When returning to the GFRC booth after the FUN show presentation, my mind was already moving into the booth shut down mode. As I scanned the security case and my work space, it became evident that the checkbook was missing. Oh crap! The next 45 minutes brought a frantic search through computer bag, the security case and under the tables. The checkbook was nowhere to be found. The only alternative was to call Diane and have her speak with Bank of America to put a stop payment on all checks after the last written check (which was for the 1863 dime). About 5 minutes after speaking with Diane, a phone call arrives from the adjacent dealer who had already packed and was at the Orlando airport. With a bit of humility, the dealer shared that he had my checkbook. It appears that my checkbook had fallen between our tables and they mistakenly packed the checkbook as they hurried for their ride to the airport. The checkbook would be returned via FedEx on Monday. I promptly called Diane back. Luckily, she was on hold with BoA waiting for the next available agent for working through the stop payment process. What a relief!

Table location also plays an important role in how well the selling side of the business goes. If located close to the entrance door, the higher the probably of better sales. The GFRC booth location at Winter FUN was to far back on the bourse and was disappointed with the assigned location. An additional factor for overall sales being below expectations was the lack of GFRC clients flying into the show. Every client that had commuted to be at the show called to inform me of their attendance cancellation. Airline flight chaos was the obvious reason.

A Sunday GFRC Office Day

Today brings yet another long day in the GFRC office. Unsold inventory that was packed for the FUN show must be unpacked with new purchases separated and staged for photography. All sales must be recorded in the COIN system. Once that process is completed, sold coins will be removed from Collectors Corner. Recovering the office will take most of the day along with responding to email purchase requests and responding with invoices. Attending to details is paramount when selling about 250+ coins per month.

I do plan to photograph the newly purchased 1863 PCGS MS67 CAC Liberty Seated dime and add to the GFRC Open Registry set.

Matt Yamatin is Back in the USA

Finally, I could not be more pleased to announce that Matt Yamatin is back in the United States on a permanent basis. Matt has taken a position with Thermo Fisher Scientific in the Boston area and starts work tomorrow.

His journey back to the States from China to Boston was arduous to say the least. There are very limited flights out of China due to the Beijing "Zero Covid Tolerance" policy. Few people are flying into China due to strict entry quarantine regulations. With few incoming flights, there are limited options for outgoing flights. Matt's return trip was a global ping-pong adventure taking him from Beijing to Shanghai to Seoul, then to Dallas, and finally to Boston. My hat goes off to Matt for surviving the journey and we wish him the best of luck as he embarks on a new career with Thermo Fisher.

Chikae and Natsumi will remain in Beijing until the end of the winter and spring school year. They will be joining Matt come the May 2022 time frame.

Diane and I are incredibly excited that Matt, Chikae, and Natusmi will be only a two hour+ drive away from the Raymond homestead. We look forward to having Natsumi spending a week at the country homestead with Meme and Grandpa during this coming summer.

Wrapping Up The Blog

There is little else to share at this point and best to hit the upload button.

Thanks again for stopping by at the Daily Blog. Be well.

Saturday January 8, 2022

GFRC Purchases Finest Known 1863 Liberty Seated Dime

and

A Moderate Friday at FUN

Greetings on a Saturday morning from Orlando. Winter FUN wraps up today (for GFRC) and I'm looking forward to returning to Venice to chill out this evening.

Friday brought a notably slower day on the Winter FUN show bourse. GFRC sold about 60% that of Thursday sales with on and off periods of busy table activity coupled with quiet periods. The wide receiver team (Dan and Rich) roamed the field with very limited success as the bourse had been picked over with respect to CAC approved coins. Remaining CAC coins were fully priced at retail+ and untouchable.

Overall two day sales total is reasonable with the hope for a few incremental Saturday sales prior to closing down. Gerry will be presenting at 12:15 PM. The present title is Liberty Seated Quarters - An Underrated Series and Denomination.

GFRC Purchases Finest Known 1863 Liberty Seated Dime

The primary Friday highlight was a walk-up purchase opportunity.

Luck abounded when a dealer walks up to the GFRC table with the finest known 1863 Liberty Seated dime graded PCGS MS67 CAC. This piece is absolutely amazing in terms of eye appeal and can be viewed at the PCGS Price Guide as the primary plate coin. The whereabouts of this piece was previously known to me with a request for first shot if the piece were to become for sale.

The current 1863 dime in my core set is an MS63 CAC specimen that was long overdue for an upgrade. The purchase of this finest known example certainly rounds out the Fortin Civil War Liberty Seated dimes.

Wrapping Up The Blog

There are other notably developments at FUN that are worth a quick mention before closing down today's edition.

- Coin World has approached me concerning a pod cast presentation during the latter part of January. I've agreed to be interviewed with an undefined topic at this point.

- GFRC has agreed to act as a consultant with the PCGS Price Guide staff for updating Liberty Seated coinage pricing. Introductions were made at the show with a follow-up engagement in the coming weeks.

This concludes the GFRC news from the Winter FUN show. Though Friday sales were not to expectations, the arrival of the 1863 dime was a special event.

Thanks for stopping by at the Blog.

Friday January 7, 2022

A Fantastic Thursday at the Winter FUN Show

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog written live from the Winter FUN show bourse. GFRC is at Tables 636 and 638.

Let's open today's edition with a Thursday photo of the GFRC staff taken at 5:00 PM. Can you find the bottle of Jose Cuervo Reposado tequila in the image?

A Happy GFRC Staff - Rich, Gerry, and Dan

What a fantastic Winter FUN show based on two day results (dealer setup Wednesday and Thursday's general public attendance).

After the bourse opened at 10:00 AM, it took about 20 minutes for attendees to make their way to the third group of tables. Once they arrived, the GFRC staff was non-stop busy until 5:30 PM. This show rocked with a constant roar that dealers love to hear. Yes, we were still selling coins through the late afternoon as this show had incredible legs. It just would not quit. GFRC sales rose into the middle five figures with nearly all product lines being active. U.S. gold sales kicked in hard during the afternoon hours. Collectors were searching for quality pieces and better dates.

The GFRC buying strategy continued to be executed throughout the day. During any "slow" moments, GFRC would release one of its wide receivers onto the bourse to continue buying. Gerry, as the quarterback, remained in the booth the entire day and wrote check and receipts. Other than going to the bathroom, I've not been on the bourse looking to buy. This was accomplish by Dan and Rich. By day's end, GFRC had purchase about 55 coins from the bourse and from several dealers who were shopping coins via their walk around agents. Most GFRC purchases are CAC approved.

Along with buying and selling, GFRC also insourced two excellent consignments. I just could not be more pleased with Thursday's happenings and outcomes. On top of the results, the GFRC team had lots of fun!

At 5:30 PM, the time had arrived to open the bottle of tequila. We invited Ken from Alexander's Estate Coins to join us as yet another expat with extensive time in Europe and Asia. We drank tequila and told our "war" stories. It was a fitting close to a fantastic day.

The time is now 9:18 AM with Rich and Dan already working the bourse for new purchases. Rich has already struck gold on a premium large sized Capped Bust dime with CAC approval. As an indication of GFRC's buying, we have spent about $70,000 on the first day and hope to up that total into six figures today.

So concludes today's Blog as I shift into the new purchases processing mode. Every newp is loaded into the COIN system, priced, and place in the show cases. We are locked and loaded for another super day at Winter FUN!

Thanks for checking in at the Blog.

Thursday January 6, 2022

Rip Roaring Good Buying at the FUN Show

Greetings from the Winter FUN show on a Thursday morning.

Carefully planned strategies often work out and produce positive results. This was the case during the FUN show setup on Wednesday. Your host made a decision to have Dan and Rich promptly move to the bourse floor on a buying binge while Gerry remained at Tables 636 and 638. Dan and Rich were instructed to search the floor for fairly priced CAC approved early type and U.S. gold. That they did with a passion. It took nearly three hours to fully assemble the GFRC booth on a solo basis. The strategy worked with 20+ top quality CAC approved coins added to inventory in the span of four hours. Highlights include a beautifully toned 1850 Seated dollar and a rare 1872-S quarter. Dan brought some exciting new collector gold inventory while Rich leveraged his dealer strength with early silver type.

This is the extent of today's Blog as I have only 40 minutes to begin loading the new purchases into the COIN system before the bourse opens to the public. Welcome to the life of a busy coin dealer with a most capable support team. I could not be happier with the FUN show so far.

Thanks for checking in an be well!

Wednesday January 5, 2022

On the Road to Orlando - GFRC is Attending the FUN Show

and

GFRC Consignment Window is Wide Open

Greetings on a peaceful Wednesday morning and welcome to the Daily Blog. Thanks for making these ramblings and updates a part of your day.

The GFRC office is quiet at 6:00 am as today's commentary is contemplated. Checking the PCGS message shows a growing list of FUN show dealer cancellations. There is a post quoting Laura Sperber estimating that 40% of the dealers will not attend the show. Most, but not all of the GFRC clients who were flying into Orlando for the show have decided to cancel their trips. NGC has moved its on site grading back to the Sarasota office as the latest news event.

Attending the FUN show brings known risks. Since being an optimistic person by nature, I tend to ignore the risks and focus on the positives. Let's not forget commitment. A commitment was made to Cindy Wibker that GFRC will attend the Winter FUN and that commitment will be kept. Cindy was most responsive with adding Rich to the GFRC dealer list as a last minute change.

Even if 40% of the dealers do not attend, that still leaves 60% of the dealers attending. 500+ dealers is a big show at any venue.

The GFRC team is ready for the FUN show. Rich Hundertmark has already arrived to Orlando. Gerry and Dan will start their road trip this morning. Coins and accessories are packed. GFRC will be displaying nine cases of top end Liberty Seated, Capped Bust, and U.S. gold inventory. With many of the larger dealers not attending, the GFRC tables should garner a reasonable amount of attention. There are two major consignments to insource by appointment.

As I sit here and type today's Blog, there is uncertainty for what to expect on Thursday and Friday. In the business world and in battle, a Plan B is necessary if Plan A does not pan out. If FUN bourse traffic is slow, GFRC will shift into an inventory building mode. It really is that simple as the online sales platform will continue to grow while the Covid pandemic accelerates a continuing shift in collector buying habits. Online sales for better date and higher end coins have thrived during the pandemic. However, this trend was already underway for years as the major auction houses have adapted their business models to collector internet buying. eBay has been around for how long?

It is predictable that the GFRC community will be curious as to FUN developments and experiences as the show unfolds. I plan to publish the Daily Blog from the bourse with our perspective of the event. Therefore please check back each morning between 9:00 - 9:30 AM for stories and reflections from the bourse.

GFRC Consignment Window is Wide Open

While packing inventory for the FUN show, it became apparent that GFRC inventory levels have receded during 2021. The numismatic market was red hot during 2021 (a good thing) which took its toll on GFRC inventory (a significant challenge).

Rebuilding GFRC inventory profiles will become a top priority during the first half of 2022. The forthcoming Newtown Collection auctions will be a first step but more insourcing will be necessary.

I'd like to be clear that the GFRC consignment window is wide open. New consignment will be staged in the order received. As of today, the Peak Pike Collection consignment and Newtown Collection auctions will be top priority after the FUN show. Once those two consignments are processed and posted, subsequent consignments will be carefully attended to on a first come first serve basis. Now is the time to contact me concerning your potential consignment ideas and marketing strategies. Ideal consignments range from 10 to 40 pieces. The Whitman Baltimore show takes place at the end of March as one opportunity deadline for exhibiting a major auction event with a GFRC Online Auctions catalog.

Global Financial News

U.S. equity markets were mixed on Tuesday with the DJIA setting a new record while the NASDAQ continues to struggle.

Toyota has taken the top spot away from GM for U.S. cars sales during 2021 for those for care.

Morning market futures are flat to start the day while Chinese markets are showing negative sentiment.

In Asia, Japan +0.1%. Hong Kong -1.6%. China -1%. India +0.6%.
In Europe, at midday, London +0.2%. Paris +0.4%. Frankfurt +0.5%.
Futures at 6:20, Dow +0.1%. S&P -0.1%. NASDAQ -0.3%.

Spot gold pricing has quickly recovered from Monday's drop and is quoting at $1820. This resilience should be noted as I'm expecting gold to make a move during 2022. Uncertainties abound during 2022 on a geopolitical basis along with the state of the nation here at home.

WTI crude is flat at $77/bbl along with Bitcoin at $46747.

The 10 Year U.S. treasury bond yield stands at 1.65%.

Wrapping Up The Blog

There is little else to share. I'm heading to the shower followed by packing personal items. This morning brings a road trip to Orlando.

Thank-you for stopping by at the Blog. Be well.

Tuesday January 4, 2022

Winter FUN Show Packing

and

Final New Purchases Going into FUN Show Inventory

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog on a Tuesday morning. Once again, your daily visits are appreciated and provide the personal power to keep marching forward with this publication. Writing on a daily basis certainly brings challenges.

As you might expect, there is no prepared content for today's edition. My entire focus is on Winter FUN show preparations.

GFRC sales have been rip roaring robust since the first day of 2022 as the operating methodology is to offer coins first to the GFRC community before they are destined for the FUN show bourse floor. In just three days, GFRC has sold 37 coins. That sales rate obviously consumes much time that might otherwise contributed to a more casual preparation effort. I'm to the point of declining trades or special service requests that consume too much valuable time. Just yesterday a phone call arrived from an unknown person requesting a video presentation of a gold coin in inventory. Diane was in the room in the shipping department and tried hard not to laugh as the call was on speaker phone. I politely declined and the morning went on.

Winter FUN Show Inventory Packing

Today brings Winter FUN show inventory packing. Non-dealers might be wondering why it takes a full office day to pack for a coin show. Don't you just move inventory boxes into luggage and travel to the show?

How I wish it were that simple....

Embedded within the inventory boxes are coins that are on lay-a-way and hold. Today's first priority is going through the COIN system and methodologically checking every hold and lay-a-way item to ensure these are separated in their own boxes. Some of you might be clever and suggest that I immediately pull inventory at the order point. What an excellent idea if the floor standing safe was large enough to hold all the USPS shipping boxes. Again, there are subtleties within a coin dealer's operation that collectors might not comprehend. Keeping all coins in a locked safe is paramount and first priority.

Once hold and lay-a-way coins are safely isolated (no coins are not subject to the Covid virus), the next step is to determine which coins will be brought to the show. GFRC has more inventory than that exhibited at coin shows. Depending on staffing size, I will determine the amount of inventory that will be transported. In the case of FUN, GFRC is operating with only three people along with a need to buy fresh inventory on the bourse. If GFRC's display cases are downsized a tad, this might be the reason.

Finally, there are show pick-up orders that must be invoiced in the office for smooth transfer during a busy coin show event.

Final New Purchases Going into FUN Show Inventory

The following gallery illustrates the last of GFRC new purchases that have yet to reach the price list. I found time on Monday afternoon to post this lot to Blog as a preview and to the price list. I believe the images speak for themselves in terms of overall eye appeal and quality. Sadly, I forget to include the 1826 Capped Bust half into the recent CAC submission. If this coin would not be CAC approved, then I might go bald from all the head scratching..... Rather than hold the coin back for the next post FUN show submission, this piece is going to the price list as if it is CAC approved and priced accordingly.

Final New Purchases Going into FUN Show Inventory

1826 PCGS AU53+ 50C

1841 DDR Briggs 1-A NGC MS61 25C 1843 Briggs 3-D NGC MS63 25C

1832 LM-7 NGC MS61 H10C 1837 Sm Date NGC MS64 H10C 1909-D PCGS MS64 25C

Global Financial News

A new trading year began on Monday with investors in an upbeat mood. The S&P closed just short of the 4800 mark and Apple becomes the first company in history to attain a 3 trillion dollar valuation. Avi Gilbert, a popular analyst on Seeking Alpha, is forecasting that the S&P will hit 5500 by the end of 2022 and advises investors to not fall prey to those who continue to peddle that an overvalued market will see a huge pullback during 2022. He is pessimistic for equity markets starting in mid-2023.

Morning market futures are pointing to another day of positive trading gains for U.S. equities.

In Asia, Japan +1.8%. Hong Kong +0.1%. China -0.2%. India +1.1%.
In Europe, at midday, London +1.4%. Paris +1.3%. Frankfurt +0.7%.
Futures at 6:20, Dow +0.3%. S&P +0.4%. NASDAQ +0.3%.

Monday brought another increase in the 10 Year U.S. treasury bond yield to 1.63%. As U.S. treasury interest rates continue to rise, more overseas monies are being attracted to dollar denominated assets. This leads to a stronger U.S. dollar.

Spot gold suffered a set back on Monday with a $25/oz drop in the matter of 30 minutes. As of this morning, gold has recovered some of the loss and is quoting at $1806/oz.

WTI crude continues its slow upward recovery to just under $77/barrel to start the day. Bitcoin is quoting at $46,683.

Wrapping Up The Blog

One final note before we wrap up today's Blog edition.

Collectors should be paying attention to financial news and the rate of inflation. My morning reading located an article that the average price of a used car has climbed to $29,000. Forget trying to locate used pick-up trucks.

If collectors believe that GFRC asking prices are too high, just wait another 3-6 months to see higher prices. As equity markets continue to ramp to higher and higher levels, a small portion of that windfall is being re-allocated into collectibles. It does not take many wealthy collectors to enter the Liberty Seated coinage market to drive prices higher. Adding in demand for those coins with CAC approval could lead to serious price appreciation during 2022. Personally, I am so pleased to have one of the finest Liberty Seated dime sets assembled resting quietly in the bank box as inflation moves prices upward.

If you hold a substantial collection and are contemplating divestment, the coming year will be an excellent opportunity. It always makes sense to sell during a strong market as a rising tide floats all boats.

Thanks for visiting with me on a Tuesday morning. I'm off to the shower followed by a day of packing for the FUN show.

Be well and safe travels to those who are flying into Orlando for the FUN show. My sympathies to those trapped on I-95 within the Washington DC into northern Virginia corridor due to a 6-14" snowstorm and high winds.

Monday January 3, 2022

Winter FUN Show Week Arrives

and

Top of the Ladder Upstate New York Collection Consignment

Greetings on a Monday morning and welcome to the Daily Blog. Here we are in 2022. Why does it feel like an extension of 2021?

Winter FUN Show Week Arrives

Yes indeed, this is the week that the numismatic industry has been waiting for; the restart of the Winter FUN show in Orlando Florida.

Many of us had hoped for clear sailing for the 2022 Winter FUN show. Covid clouds have brought the potential for air travel chaos leading to a fair number of GFRC clients canceling their planned trips. Covid concerns, at any large gathering, continue to be a headwind for the FUN show. GFRC is moving forward with its plans to attend the entire show through Saturday. We will be actively buying and selling to kick-off a new numismatic year.

I'm pleased (and relieved) to report that my FUN Educational Forum presentation was completed on Sunday. There will be no last minute heroics or a mad dash to the final line. Per the Randy Campbell schedule on the FUN website, my presentation takes place Saturday at 12:15. The FUN website list the presentation title as “An Overview of Liberty Seated Coinage: My Favorite Issues,” by Gerry Fortin. "My Favorite Issues" provided ample room to return to the past and resurrect a Liberty Seated quarter presentation that was shared on several occasions including Central States and Whitman Baltimore shows. The presentation has been updated and is ready to go. The presentation will cover Liberty Seated coinage history from a quarter denomination perspective.

Only 48 hours remain before traveling to Orlando. Today brings a huge amount of shipping via the Quick Ship program as I wish to clear the office of orders prior to leaving for the show. With the posting of the Sooner and Upstate New York Collection consignments during the weekend, orders poured in and continue this morning. It is best to get as many orders ship today leaving Tuesday for invoicing FUN show order pick-ups and packing inventory. Yes, I worked throughout the weekend and did not take a break. Come the week after the FUN show, I plan to slow down and work a few half days to recover from a non-stop schedule leading up to the FUN show. Foremost will be wrapping up the Newtown Collection auction preparations and online catalog.

The GFRC staff of Gerry, Dan, and Rich look forward to an exciting event in the coming days. Please remember Tables 636 and 638 is where collectors will find a host of Liberty Seated, Draped/Capped Bust, and U.S. gold along with other growing product lines. Please stop by and say hello.

Top of the Ladder Upstate New York Collection Consignment

The final consignment presentation arrives today with top of the ladder offerings from the Upstate New York Collection.

Our dear friend has been a GFRC client and consignor since the early days of starting the business. This collector loves toned silver coins across all denominations. The more colorful the toning, the better as long as surfaces are original.

The past few years have brought a vigorous battle with cancer for our friend. He is a tough outdoorsman and continues the fight. I could not be more pleased to be showcasing some of the finest pieces that Bart has decided to return to the marketplace. All of the following offerings have been posted to the 30 Day Price List. Overnight orders have appeared and will be responded to once morning shipping is completed.

Top of the Ladder Upstate New York Collection Consignment

1830 LM-14 PCGS AU58 CAC H10C

1829 Sm 10C JR-4 PCGS AU55 10C 1839 F-106c NGC MS62 10C

1876 Type 2 PCGS MS65 10C 1889 PCGS MS66 10C

1832 LM-5 NGC AU55Star H10C 1837 Sm Date PCGS AU50 H10C 1838 Lg Stars PCGS AU58 H10C

1840 ND NGC MS61 CAC H10C 1860 PCGS MS63 CAC H10C 1861 PCGS MS64 H10C

Global Financial News

A new trading year starts with morning market futures being solidly positive for the event. Tesla had a blow-out 2021 year and continues to spearhead the EV market with its new Giga Berlin and Giga Texas factories starting operations during 2022.

Following are morning market futures courtesy of Seeking Alpha.

In Asia, Japan closed. Hong Kong -0.5%. China closed. India +1.6%.
In Europe, at midday, London closed. Paris +1.2%. Frankfurt +1%.
Futures at 6:20, Dow +0.6%. S&P +0.6%. NASDAQ +0.7%.

WTI crude continues to hold on to the $76/bbl mark as we start the trading day. Spot gold pricing is showing strength at $1827/oz. Bitcoin is flat at $47301.

The 10 Year U.S. Treasury bond yield continues to slowly climb with a morning quote of 1.54%

Wrapping Up The Blog

I'm not in a mood to ramble on today as there is much to do along with still feeling the effects of that head cold. Therefore, let's wrap up today's Blog edition here.

Thanks again for checking in. Be well!

Sunday January 2, 2022

GFRC Confirms Winter FUN Show Attendance with Modified Staff

GFRC at FUN Show Table 636 and 638

and

GFRC 2021 Stakeholders Report

GFRC Confirms Winter FUN Show Attendance with Modified Staff

Greetings on a Saturday afternoon. After a fair number of emails and phone calls, I'm pleased to report that GFRC will be attending the Winter 2022 FUN show but with a modified table staff.

Dan White and I will be traveling and manning GFRC tables 636 and 638 along with Rich Hundertmark. Rich is attending the show and has offered to help as table assistant. Diane and Rose Marie will be staying behind in Venice and Osprey.

Dan, Rich, and Gerry are fully vaccinated and boosted. We are die hard numismatists and can't miss attending the huge Winter FUN show event.

Now that Doug Winter and Witter have canceled their Winter FUN show attendance, this leave GFRC with one of the largest U.S. collector gold offerings on the bourse. We will have two full display cases filled with U.S. gold pieces for review. GFRC is also an aggressive buyer of better date gold including those with CAC approval. Please visit with GFRC with your U.S. gold and asking prices. We are known for making quick purchase/pass decisions and will not tie up your time.

GFRC at FUN Show Tables 636, 638

FUN show week has arrived with a host of preparations remaining.

Sunday brings a full day to prepare a FUN show presentation that will be delivered during Saturday lunch time. The final transfer of coins to the FUN show inventory boxes takes place on Monday along with the usual morning shipping activities. Packing show inventory and generating invoices for show pick-up items will consume most of Tuesday. GFRC travels to Orlando on Wednesday morning for the bourse setup opening to dealers at 2:00 PM.

Once again, GFRC will be located at Tables 636 and 638 will a substantial inventory. Your patience will be appreciated as we operate with a three person staff instead of four.

Since there was no formal pre-show this year, GFRC is HUNGRY to buy quality coins or do trades. We will pay fair prices for quality coins.

The GFRC consignment window is being opened at the FUN show and will remain open throughout January. I will be aggressively sourcing consignments, therefore please contact me with your divestments needs. You will find me to be flexible and creative in designing a sales plan that maximizes your net returns.

GFRC at FUN Show Tables 636, 638

GFRC 2021 Stakeholder Report

Starting for the 2019 fiscal year, GFRC issued its first "Stakeholders Report" via the Daily Blog. I wish to continue this tradition for the 2021 fiscal year.

GFRC enjoyed a robust start to the 2021 numismatic year regardless of major numismatic shows being closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Coin show revenues were fully offset by the GFRC Online Auctions platform and a string of quality auctions throughout 2021.

For those of us who own stock in publicly traded cooperations, the receipt of an annual report takes place after the end of each fiscal year once the company's financial are closed and audited. The company president presents a summary of financial performance and the usual outlook for the coming year.

GFRC is far from a public cooperation, rather a basic Limited Liability Company (LLC). However, GFRC does serve the numismatic public and has a host of stakeholders. I believe that the same larger corporation accountability is warranted regardless of being a small LLC. The GFRC community continued to expand during 2021 with nearly 225 past and present consignors and countless customers. Accountability is important as a growing number of clients are counting on GFRC's ongoing business prosperity for handling collection duplicates divestment or sadly, the liquidation of a client's coin collection per instructions within their estate. From a market perspective, GFRC has become well known as a leading dealer for both Liberty Seated coinage and United States gold along with CAC approved quality coins.

Private coin dealers don't place their financial or business strategies in the public domain. But then again, GFRC is a far cry from a traditional coin dealer and seeks to work with complete transparency. I believe that transparency builds trust. Trust enables continued business growth. Based on my prior years of semiconductor corporate experience, GFRC is tactically and strategically managed as a large cooperation thought the staffing is diminutive.

It is my pleasure to share the following GFRC 2021 highlights along with several 2021 vs. 2020 fiscal year comparisons in today's Blog.

Overall, GFRC's 2021 sales revenue grew by 31% over that of 2020. This significant performance took place after growing sales revenues by 29% for 2020 as compared to 2019. Stated differently, during a consecutive two year period, GFRC has increased sales revenues by 70%.

GFRC consignment sales, including those realized via the GFRC Online Auctions platform, accounted for 75% of 2021 revenues and were a primary driver for yet another successful business year.

Next, let's review sales revenue by major product lines.

GFRC 2021 Sales Revenue Breakdown

Product Lines	2021 % Revenue	2020 % Revenue

Liberty Seated	56%	62%
U.S. Gold	24%	24%
Draped/Capped Bust	10%	7%
Barber	3%	3%
Others	7%	4%

GFRC's 2021 sales by major product lines capture the results of a planned transition to a broader product line mix. Draped and Capped Bust product line revenues increased as GFRC stocked higher priced coins via an increased AU and Mint State mix.

During 2021, GFRC continued to ramp the United States gold coinage product line though the year on year comparison remained flat. GFRC was able to capitalize on ever increased CAC approved U.S. gold pricing during the year. Unfortunately, Dan White could not travel to western Europe for his three time per year gold buying trips for a second year. Regardless of this fact, both Gerry and Dan worked diligently to increase collector gold inventories and sales via domestic sourcing from favorable wholesalers.

Barber coinage sales revenues remained flat on a percentage basis but actually increased by 30% year on year. Stocking quality Barber coinage is an ongoing challenge though some progress is being made as GFRC's supplier base continues to broaden.

Finally, the "Others" category captures all other product lines in the GFRC portfolio including 20th Century coinage and Morgan dollars. Sales revenues grew as GFRC expanded its early copper product lines. The growth of the "Others" category is a positive development and reinforces efforts to move away from being primarily dependent on Liberty Seated coinage product lines.

GFRC 2021 CAC Sales Grow Incrementally

	2021 % Revenue	2020 % Revenue

CAC Approved	54%	50%
Non CAC Approved	46%	50%

GFRC's CAC approved sales revenue continued to expand during 2021 and increased to 54% of sales. CAC approved coins are a key element in the GFRC business model given my commitment to offering the highest quality coins possible to clients.

During 2021, GFRC maintained its emphasis on CAC sales across all product lines. The sourcing of CAC approved coins at competitive prices remains an ongoing challenge as prices continue to increase at the wholesale and retail levels. Consignments to the GFRC Online Auctions platform were key to CAC approved growth as most auction events brought a high percentage of CAC coins. Securing CAC approved consignments is conducted by marketing GFRC as a leading retailer of CAC approved coins.

GFRC PCGS 2021 Sales Flat Year on Year

PCGS is clearly the market leader for grading United States coins. NGC has limited United States market share with U.S. gold remaining a strong point. GFRC continues to focus on marketing accurately graded coins with CAC approval. Purchased and consigned inventory sales during 2021 were heavily skewed towards PCGS certified coins.

The GFRC raw coin shrinking sales trend has bottomed out during 2021 and will shrink further during 2022 as GFRC is not accepting raw coins unless part of a substantial consignment from Top 10 consignors. GFRC continues to support raw coin sales as a courtesy to larger consignment clients only. I am NOT ACTIVELY purchasing raw coins for sale on the GFRC price list.

TPG	2021 % Revenue	2020 % Revenue

PCGS	82%	82%
NGC/ANACS	16%	16%
Raw	2%	2%

Summary

In summary, the GFRC business is being strategically managed with distinct product lines and marketing efforts. The sourcing of larger consignments improved during 2021 as the GFRC Online Auctions platform continues to gain credibility as a niche auction service for clients with collections ranging up to $500,000. The continued availability of larger consignments, during 2022, will have a material impact on forthcoming year sales results.

If existing clients believe that GFRC is provides excellent services, your aid with incremental duplicates divestments or referrals (for larger collections) would be most appreciated.

Saturday January 1, 2022

Happy New Year 2022!

FUN Show Dealer Cancellations Begin

and

Sooner Collection Offerings Reaching Price List

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog on the first day of 2022. Happy New Years everyone!

The numismatic industry managed to navigate its way through a challenging 2021. Just one year ago, the coin show circuit was fully closed due to Covid. Slowly, smaller shows began to appear during the spring months with Summer FUN marking the first major show event of the year. GFRC was there and enjoyed an exciting event. A command decision was made to not attend the Chicago ANA show as I'm done using commercial air flights to attend a coin show. Driving from Maine to Connecticut (retrieving Dan White) and heading westward to Chicago just made no sense one month after driving from Maine to Orlando, Florida and back.

The Fall of 2021 brought the first Whitman Baltimore show which was also an excellent GFRC event. Immediately afterwards, the Fortin's conducted their annual Florida migration right before Thanksgiving. We survived the journey, conducted the best Black Friday Sales event on record and moved directly into the GFRC Online Auctions' Tennessee Collection Liberty Seated Dollar Auction Sale. That sale was well subscribed with records falling for better date CAC approved dollars.

The first day of 2022 arrives with deja vu. The Covid Omicron variant appeared out of no where and quickly migrated to the United States. This virulent strain is moving through the population at lightning speed along with the more lethal Delta variant. The first victim of the new year is air travel as airline staffing is being hit hard by the winter flu season plus Omicron and Delta strains. Everyone with a cold is now suspected of being infected by Covid including yours truly this week. Testing kits cannot be found here in mid-west coast Florida due to the level of the Omicron outbreak. Being vaccinated and booster is the best defense against this scourge.

The Winter 2022 FUN show is just four days away in terms of dealer setup on Wednesday. Yesterday brought several phone calls from those who had made appointments with me during the FUN show. Both individuals were canceling their trips to Orlando due to the state of air travel and Covid risks. Immediately afterwards, I was informed that FUN management had canceled a formal dealer pre-show event. Phone calls were made to two major dealers in Florida for confirmation. Affirmative was the response. Gerry and Dan will be staying home on Tuesday rather than traveling to Orlando to purchase new inventory.

Next came the announcement of dealers pulling out of the FUN show. A thread on the PCGS message board lists 17 dealers who have fully canceled their attendance. Here is that list as of this morning. Along with these firms, there are partial cancellations by Heritage and PCGS.

Full Cancellations

U.S. Mint
Brad Rodgers of Numismatic Emporium Inc.
CDN Publishing
Doug Winter
Eagle Eye Rare Coins (Rick Snow)
Fred Weinberg
GreatCollections
Harlan J. Berk (Aaron Berk and others)
Harry Laibstain Rare Coins (HLRC)
Julian Leidman
Kevin Lipton
London Coin Wholesalers
Mike Byers
Paradime Coins
Sheridan Downey
Tampa Bay Gold and Silver Corp
Witter Coins (Seth Chandler and staff)

Here we stand at the beginning of 2022 with pressure mounting on yours truly to make a decision about GFRC's attendance at the FUN show. After working endless hours attempting to have every consignor's coins available for the FUN show display cases, the mental anguish begins concerning the fundamental decision to attend the show.

Looking at those who have announced their cancellations, I suspect that unpredictable air travel is a major reason. All of these dealers are traveling to Orlando via air travel. Dealers with canceled arrival and return flights while traveling with expensive inventory are simply taking too much risks. If GFRC required air travel to attend the FUN show, I would do the same.

Yes indeed, welcome to 2022 and deja vu for the numismatic industry. I had hoped for an upbeat Daily Blog edition on the first day of a new year. However, transparency is best as to the challenges facing coin dealers in the Covid era.

Sooner Collection Offerings Reaching Price List

Much of Friday was spent finalizing the latest Sooner Collection consignment for price list loadings. Pricing approval was granted during early afternoon followed by loading a reasonable number of Liberty Seated half dimes and halves.

The response was frankly overwhelming with multiple orders for popular items. I'm still battling that head cold and when to bed at 7:30 PM to gain ground on this flu or whatever it might be. This morning brings confirmations to those who were first on their selected items.

Wrapping Up The Blog

In yesterday's Blog, I made mention of providing a 2021 stakeholders report for the GFRC business in today's edition. That announcement was a tad premature as it will take time to sort the COIN database multiple time to secure the necessary information for 2021 vs. 2020 year on year comparisons. At the highest level, the GFRC business grew revenues by 31% during 2021 after growing 29% from 2019 to 2020. This type of grow rate is function of a unique business model and the ever growing awareness of the GFRC differentiated service. Customer loyalty also plays a huge role in the growth equation.

OK, it is Saturday. I will be closely watching the PCGS message board for signs of incremental dealer cancellations along with checking in with GFRC staff concerning our FUN show attendance. I'm a natural risk taker and wish to attend the show since fully vaccinated and boosted. My staff may feel otherwise.

If there is one thing that Blog readers can count on, it is transparency.....

How I wish the first day of 2022 could be more positive for a change.

Thanks for checking in and be safe.

Friday December 31, 2021

2021 Comes to an End - Back in the GFRC Office

Seth Godin Blogpost - Which Errors to Focus On?

and

Sooner Collection - Liberty Seated Half Dollar Preview

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog on a Friday morning and the final day of 2021.

You can rest assured that I will not be celebrating New Year's eve, rather heading to bed early to fight off a head cold. Most of Thursday was spent in bed with a sore throat and fatigue. Actually, I'm feeling better today and hope to spend a fair amount of time in the GFRC office. Much effort remains for having all consignments available for the FUN show cases starting next Wednesday.

There were no advanced preparations for today's Blog edition. Luckily, Seth Godin has come to the rescue with an important blogpost that I fully subscribe to. Godin's blogpost is another variant of the classic saying can't see the forest for the trees but with a twist.

There are collectors that easily fall into the trap of over analyzing the financial aspects of a numismatic purchase to a fault. Their energies are applied to securing the best deal and hard negotiations. They attempt to secure free shipping or have the seller absorb credit card costs towards securing 2% cash back. They pursue a hobby as if every financial transaction is a life or death situation. Their personal satisfaction results from being on the winning side of each win-lose deal. Their temperament can be easily bruised with the thought of over paying for a coin since the mistaken transaction will be repeatedly analyzed each time the coin is viewed.

Frankly, I feel sorry for these types of individuals as they are pursuing the wrong hobby. Win-win transactions leads to relationships. Relationships lead to special insights that would otherwise not be available. Can you put a price on special mentorship from an industry expert? Making mistakes is a critical element in a learning process. When in elementary and high school, did you always score 100s on test? Of course not! Errors were made and the brightest quickly learned the basis for those errors and moved forward to more challenging content. There are fundamental reasons why certain individuals can move ahead to a CEO position while others remain stuck at a first level management position.

Today is the final day of 2021. Please consider a new year's resolution to let go some of the details as a first step. Shift your attention to understanding the complexities of the numismatic market in terms of shades of gray rather than black or white. Subjectivity rules in the numismatic market regardless of the pletora of pricing guides, grading services, and green bean stickers. Letting go the details and expanding relationships will kick start a numismatic career with an increased probabilty for rewarding opportunities during the year to come.

Seth Godin Blogpost: Which errors to focus on?

So many missed opportunities. Decisions not made, errors in judgment, opportunities lost.

Perhaps you didn’t buy Google stock at $80, didn’t buy ETH at $5, didn’t buy that winning lottery ticket… You also didn’t take that course in college, or go out of your way to meet that person on campus or learn Spanish when you had the chance.

But most of the time, those aren’t the things we’re obsessed about. Instead of these huge opportunities not seen, we think about the near misses, the ones we had some sort of proximity to. As if the emotional proximity to a choice is the thing to feel badly about. So, instead of thinking of the $10,000 we didn’t make by buying a certain equity, we think about the $10 we affirmatively lost by leaving it on a counter. Instead of thinking about a breakthrough paper we didn’t write, we worry about a typo we made in a brief years ago.

One is thousands of times more expensive than the other, and the amount of effort in each is the same, but our minds focus on the one where we feel like we had more responsibility. Which causes us to focus even more on the wrong sort of decision in the future.

The roads not seen almost always matter more than the potholes we hit along the way.

Sooner Collection - Liberty Seated Half Dollar Preview

My recent CAC submission is back with mixed results. Among the various consignments that were in the submission, the Sooner Collection secures the CAC approval prize with 5/12 pieces being stickered.

Following is a quick display of several of the Sooner Collection Liberty Seated half dollar highlights that will be reaching the price list once the GFRC pricing proposal is approved by the consignor.

Sooner Collection - Liberty Seated Half Dollar Preview

1878-CC WB-1 NGC AU55 50C

1843 WB-14 ANACS AU58 50C 1844 WB-12 NGC AU58 CAC Fatty 50C

1859-S WB-3 NGC AU58 50C 1860 PCGS AU58 50C

1872-S PCGS VF35 CAC 50C 1875-CC WB-5 PCGS AU53 CAC 50C

Global Financial News

Wall Street is open on the New Year's eve holiday but with a short trading session that ends at 2:00 PM. The kind folks at Seeking Alpha are taking the day off as a holiday. Therefore, there are no morning market futures to publish.

U.S. markets were fractionally down on Thursday.

Paper gold trading continues with an upward move to $1820/oz. WTI crude oil pricing stands at $76.34/bbl.

Wrapping Up The Blog

Today brings as much time as possible in the GFRC office. The goal is to load a large amount of new offerings to the price list in the next four days. If I'm not able to load to the price list, at minimum, the coins will be priced and added to the FUN show inventory boxes.

Please check back tomorrow morning, as I will be providing the traditional GFRC 2021 annual business report. 2021 brought a fantastic year with 30% growth rate over 2020. It will be my pleasure to dive into the details for the GFRC community.

Thanks for checking in at the Daily Blog. Be well.

Thursday December 30, 2021

A Brief Daily Blog Edition

More GFRC New Purchases Heading to Winter FUN Show

Greetings on a Thursday morning and welcome to the Blog.

Today's edition will be quite brief as I'm not well and heading back to bed.

Thanks for stopping by.

More GFRC New Purchases Heading to Winter FUN Show

Please Email for Price Quotes - Loading to Price List on Thursday

1818 PCGS EF45 25C

1833 JR-5 PCGS EF45 10C 1892 PCGS MS62 25C 1890-O NGC MS64 $1

Wednesday December 29, 2021

Covid Strikes GFRC Holiday Dinner

GFRC Adds Sarasota Coin Show to Schedule

and

Presenting the Newtown Collection's Liberty Seated Half Dollar Die Varieties

Greetings on a Wednesday morning and welcome to another rambling Blog edition. We appreciate the many collectors and readers who make the GFRC website a top ranked numismatic destination.

What is the world is today's headline all about will be the first questions asked by visitors. Did any of the GFRC staff test positive for Covid? Fortunately, the response is negative to that question.

Here is the story concerning last evening's quiet holiday party at Dan and Rose Marie's home in Osprey, Florida.

Since mid-December, the GFRC staff had made an appointment for a holiday get together before traveling to Orlando for the Winter FUN show event. Drinks at Dan's place in the Oaks Club followed by dinner at the clubhouse restaurant were the planned evening activities.

Diane and Gerry arrived on schedule on Tuesday afternoon. My hosting gift to Dan was a top shelf bottle of Casamiggos Mezcal. Neither of us had ever experience the finest of sipping tequilas, therefore this dinner party brought that opportunity. Rose Marie, as usual, was a gracious hostess as we relaxed around a table with hors d'oeuvres and drinks. The Casamiggos Mezcal lived up to its reputation as incredibly smooth with a rich smoky flavor. From online reading, the mezcal liquor results from being cooked inside earthen pits that are lined with lava rocks and filled with wood and charcoal before being distilled in clay pots. This ancient artisan method results in a smoky flavor permeating into the end product.

Time always move along too quickly when having a great time with friends. Our dinner reservation at the Oaks Club restaurant was approaching and off we went. Upon arriving to the club house restaurant, we noted a number of cars parked by the entrance with staff attending to customers. Every staff member was wearing a mask which appeared odd. Was the club offering valet parking? Nope. Dan and I exited Rose Marie's car and approached the attendants to learn that a new staff member had just tested positive for Covid. Therefore the clubhouse restaurant must be closed to dining that evening. For Oak Club members with seating reservations, meals would be provided on a take-out basis.

Menus were passed around and orders taken by the staff. Dan and I brought the ladies back to the house to prepare for a spontaneous take-out dinner followed by driving back to retrieve our food. The evening dinner was perfect though served in plastic covered dishes.

The entire affair was a fitting end and so representative of the unpredictability of the 2020 - 2021 Covid era. Let's hope that Omicron burns out quickly followed by a quiet spring and summer that enables life returning to normal. The ongoing question is what might be the new normal?

GFRC Adds Sarasota Coin Show to Late January Schedule

GFRC is pleased to announce that it will be attending the restarted Sarasota Coin Show scheduled for January 27 - 29 at the Sarasota Municipal Auditorium. Dan has been in contact with Frank Cox, the show promoter, with our three table reservation confirmed. We are moving to Table #10 which is immediately left upon entering the bourse floor.

More information and a bourse floor map will be published after the Winter FUN show.

Presenting the Newtown Collection's Liberty Seated Half Dollar Die Varieties

GFRC is pleased to be presenting the second Newtown Collection consignment installment to the price list. As mentioned in Tuesday's Blog, the gallery would be constructed during the afternoon hours along with accepting requests for pricing quotations. That approach worked well with several quotes being tendered.

Today brings the posting of the Newtown die varieties to the price list along with image processing for a large Sooner Collection Liberty Seated half dollar lot.

Newtown Collection - Liberty Seated Half Dollar Die Varieties

1844-O Doubled Date WB-12 PCGS VF35 50C

1849 DDD WB-16 PCGS VG10 10C 1851 MPD WB-8 R6 PCGS AU55 50C

1840 WB-2 PCGS EF45 50C 1842-O WB-13 PCGS AU50 50C 1843 WB-30 PCGS VF30 50C

1845-O DDD WB-16 PCGS VF30 50C 1845-O WB-18 PCGS VF35 50C 1846-O MD WB-12 PCGS EF45 50C

1850-O RPM WB-11 PCGS EF40 50C 1855/54 PCGS VF35 50C 1855-O O/Horiz O WB-1 PCGS VF30 50C

1856-O RPD WB-11 PCGS EF40 50C 1858-O WB-6 PCGS EF45 50C 1858-O MPD WB-19 PCGS VF35 50C

1858-O WB-39 PCGS AU55 50C 1858-S WB-12 PCGS EF45 50C 1859-O MPD WB-2 PCGS AU53 50C

1866 Motto PCGS EF40 50C 1873 DDO WB-109 PCGS VF25 50C 1875-S WB-1 PCGS AU58 50C

1876-S WB-42 PCGS VF35 50C 1877-S WB-8 PCGS EF40 50C

Global Financial News

Tuesday's early morning market futures optimism resulted in a mixed trading day overall. The DJIA was up marginally while the S&P 500 remained flat for the day. Today's futures are again positioned with a slight upward bias. Trading during the Christmas to New Year holiday week is typically light as most investors are on vacation.

In Asia, Japan -0.6%. Hong Kong -0.8%. China -0.9%. India -0.2%.
In Europe, at midday, London +1%. Paris flat. Frankfurt -0.4%.
Futures at 6:20, Dow +0.1%. S&P +0.2%. NASDAQ +0.3%.

WTI crude is holding the $76/bbl mark to start the day. Sadly, paper gold has slipped below the $1800/oz mark with an early morning $1797 quote. Bitcoin has dropped to $47,696.

The 10 Year U.S. Treasury bond yield stands at 1.49%.

Wrapping Up The Blog

On Tuesday, I emailed Michelle at CAC to learn the status of that 38 piece submission. Michelle responded that the lot results will be published today along with shipment. For consignors who have been concerned with posting delays, this CAC submission was caught up in holiday USPS transport delays and CAC holiday breaks. The coin will be back in time for the FUN show.

Today brings a substantial amount of shipping after a most atypical Tuesday. Credit card purchases were the rule throughout the afternoon, which is completely out of line with the normal GFRC payment profile.

With so much to get done today, let's promptly wrap up this Blog edition.

Thanks again for checking in. Be well!

Tuesday December 28, 2021

Newtown Liberty Seated Halves Posting to Blog Today

and

Reminder to Clients Using Payment Processing Services

Greetings and welcome to the Blog on a Tuesday morning. Your ongoing patronage is appreciated.

What a weather contrast between Maine and Florida! It is presently 27F in Raymond with snow falling. Here in Venice, the early morning temperature is 59 degrees with a high approaching 80F. Sunny conditions will prevail allowing spontaneous photography.

After a three day run of posting fresh consignment galleries in the Daily Blog, this morning's edition brings crickets. I've exhausted the prepared pool of consignment images and will be reloading today with Newtown's Liberty Seated halves that are moving directly to the price list. The loading process will occur throughout the day with 27 new offerings for your consideration. The inventory preparation race to the Winter FUN show continues.

New price list postings have ramped to 89 coins even with robust sales of fresh offerings. The White Pine consignment has been well received with only three of the nine items still available. I suspect that the 1890-CC $20 gold piece will be scooped up prior to the FUN show leaving only the 1836 Reeded Edge half and 1856-S $5 gold piece in inventory.

Hopefully by tomorrow, the 30 Day Price List will be back to the 100 listing mark and a substantial recovery effort.

Otherwise, there is little to share. Monday brought a thoroughly busy office day including skipping the daily one hour health walk.

Newtown Collection - Liberty Seated Half Dollar Die Varieties

GFRC is pleased to be presenting another segment of the broad based Newtown Collection consignment. Today's gallery features a substantial lot of Liberty Seated half dollar die varieties for consideration. The following gallery will be assembled throughout the day and will wrap up by 4:30 PM ET.

Requests for pricing quotations will be responded to once pricing approval is granted by Newtown. All coins are on a first come first serve basis. Prices quotes will be provided but the first person who replies with a purchase requests gets the coin. As reminded by a client yesterday, I must be careful to no revert to the FRoR process again.

Newtown Collection - Liberty Seated Half Dollar Die Varieties

1844-O Doubled Date WB-12 PCGS VF35 50C

1849 DDD WB-16 PCGS VG10 10C 1851 MPD WB-8 R6 PCGS AU55 50C

1840 WB-2 PCGS EF45 50C 1842-O WB-13 PCGS AU50 50C 1843 WB-30 PCGS VF30 50C

1845-O DDD WB-16 PCGS VF30 50C 1845-O WB-18 PCGS VF35 50C 1846-O MD WB-12 PCGS EF45 50C

1850-O RPM WB-11 PCGS EF40 50C 1855/54 PCGS VF35 50C 1855-O O/Horiz O WB-1 PCGS VF30 50C

1856-O RPD WB-11 PCGS EF40 50C 1858-O WB-6 PCGS EF45 50C 1858-O MPD WB-19 PCGS VF35 50C

1858-O WB-39 PCGS AU55 50C 1858-S WB-12 PCGS EF45 50C 1859-O MPD WB-2 PCGS AU53 50C

1866 Motto PCGS EF40 50C 1873 DDO WB-109 PCGS VF25 50C 1875-S WB-1 PCGS AU58 50C

1876-S WB-42 PCGS VF35 50C 1877-S WB-8 PCGS EF40 50C

Reminder to Clients Using Payment Processing Services

A small number of GFRC clients employ payment processing centers to issue their payment checks for coin purchases. These services are convenient if the payee's mailing address is static.

Unfortunately, GFRC operates out of two locations based on seasonal considerations. This requires those who use payment processing services to update their "send to" address for GFRC payments. We have had multiple cases of checks being significantly delayed due to mailing to the incorrect seasonal address. Case in point is a fresh concern from a client on a lay-a-way where his first payment failed to arrive on a timely basis. He was worried that the check was lost in the mail. The check arrived yesterday after a month's delay through the USPS holiday forwarding loop. Diane promptly deposited the check and I pray that the client did not issue a stop payment which will result in bank fees for GFRC. As you can see, mis-addressed processing center checks bring hassles for both parties.

If using payment processing services for numismatic purchases, please remember to check the address BEFORE issuing payment. This is no different than GFRC working with clients who live in two different seasonal locations for order shipments.

Thanks for the consideration and attention.

Global Financial News

The year ending Santa Claus rally has arrived based on Monday's equity market performance. Investors are optimistic for 2022 and moving monies back into stocks even as the Omicron variant continues to capture media headlines. Let's remember that the stock market is a forward looking vehicle with investors anticipating a ramp down or stabilization of the Covid pandemic during 2022.

Yesterday saw the S&P 500 climbing to 4,791, a new record along with the DJIA at 36,302.

Morning market futures suggest additional optimism when markets open shortly for another trading day.

In Asia, Japan +1.4%. Hong Kong +0.2%. China +0.4%. India +0.8%.
In Europe, at midday, London closed. Paris +0.5%. Frankfurt +0.8%.
Futures at 6:20, Dow +0.3%. S&P +0.3%. NASDAQ +0.5%.

Economic optimism is further corroborated by WTI crude oil pricing which has moved from $73 to $76+/bbl in 24 hours. Investors are betting that Omicron will burn itself out quickly in the next two months.

Paper gold has also found year end lift with a slow price ramp to $1816/oz. Bitcoin continues to oscillate at $49061.

The 10 Year U.S. Treasury bond yield stands at 1.47% to start the day.

Wrapping Up The Blog

After not exercising on Monday, I will definitely find time for that all important health walk today.

Otherwise, today brings yet another long day in the GFRC office working through the Newtown Seated halves that are destined for the price list and FUN show inventory.

Thanks for visiting with me at the Blog. Be well!

Monday December 27, 2021

The GFRC Race to FUN Show Finish Line

Quality GFRC New Purchases to Consider

and

Newtown Collection - Fixed Priced List Offerings

Greetings on a Monday morning and welcome to the final week of 2021. Thank-you for checking in.

The GFRC Race to FUN Show Finish Line

Yes, FUN show preparations are taking center stage this coming week and through next Monday.

Preparing for a successful FUN show includes more than showing up and selling coins. There is the pre-show next Tuesday to attend. Dan White will be adding more U.S. gold to inventory tomorrow. A fair number of clients have requested show pick-up and payment for recent orders. Organizing the Newtown Collection Early Type and Seated Liberty Half Dollar Auction Sale lots and separating into two session must be completed before displaying the Part 1 sale items at the show.

There is much on a my plate to accomplish for a smooth event. Let's not forget the FUN show presentation (Saturday - please check FUN website for time) that has yet to be started.

With so many must get done tasks on my mind, I'd like to remind GFRC clients that this is not the week for proposing complex trades or requesting favors and/or special services. I will be posting a host of new offerings to the price list towards loading the inventory boxes for the FUN show. While working through inventory preparations, you will find me in a transactional mode. Transactional means a simple purchase without special requests. A coin is offered, a purchase commitment is made, and a check in mailed leading to the coin being pulled from GFRC inventory prior to the FUN show. Sorry, but there will be no approval shipments this week as GFRC needs as many coins as possible for the FUN show exhibit. If you are ready to make a firm purchase commitment for newly published offerings, I'm all in and will service those on a priority basis.

Increasing the level of difficult for the FUN show is a 38 piece CAC shipment that has an unknown return date this week. USPS delayed the Express shipment into CAC which translate into return shipment delays back to the GFRC office.

A word to the wise! If wishing to gain first shot on any newly posted coin in the Blog, please use email for communications. When completely consumed in the GFRC office, there is no time to stop what I am doing to check the arrival of a text message on my phone. First shot priority will be awarded to those who contact me via email since I can see the arrival of each email while working at the laptop.

White Pine Consignment Posting Update

Sunday brought a host of initial requests for the newly consigned White Pine Collection offerings. I've responded to all requests including providing price quotes to those who are first with their requests. A prompt play/pass decision would be most helpful if you are first. This allows those who are second or third on a coin to have a shot today.

The White Pine Collection lots will be posted to the price list this afternoon with holds where purchase commitments have been tendered.

Quality GFRC New Purchases to Consider

At the moment, there are between 15-20 new purchases sitting in the preparation queue or at CAC review. As with consigned items in backlog, the new purchases must reach the inventory boxes and price list prior to the FUN show. Each day will bring the offering of several pieces via Daily Blog exposure.

Today's new purchase offerings include a sweet 1856 Liberty Seated dime graded PCGS MS64. This piece is quite high on the eye appeal scale. Since having no idea if the coin has been to CAC, this piece will be priced for what it is. Also being offered is a lustrous 1833 O-104 Capped Bust half for your consideration.

Quality GFRC New Purchases to Consider

1856 PCGS MS64 25C 1833 O-104 PCGS AU55 50C

Newtown Collection - Fixed Priced List Offerings

The latest Newtown Collection consignment is best described as massive. I've been working through this consignment since Thanksgiving time frame. A portion of the consignment is heading directly to the GFRC price list and FUN show inventory boxes. A larger group forms the basis for two forthcoming Newtown Collection auctions. Decisions were made concerning where certain coins might sell more promptly; fixed price list or inclusion in a GFRC Online Auction.

Today brings the first lot of Newtown Collection offerings that will post to the price list and be available at the Winter FUN show. We open the gallery with several important key dates including a scarce 1836 Reeded Edge half and truly rare 1884 and 1885 3 cent nickel circulation strikes. An important 1864 half dime (ex. Jules Reiver Collection) and a CAC approved 1889-CC Morgan round out the marquee offerings. Offer prices have been approved which means that I can promptly provide a price quotation if approached via email.

Newtown Collection - Fixed Priced List Offerings

1836 Reeded Edge PCGS EF40 50C

1884 PCGS EF40 3C Nickel 1885 PCGS EF45 3C Nickel

1864 NGC AU58 H10C 1889-CC PCGS VF30 CAC $1

1922 No D NGC VF20BN 1C 1861 PCGS MS64 1C 1863 PCGS MS64 CAC 1C

1862 PCGS AU50 OGH 3CS 1887 PCGS MS61 OGH 25C 1836 50/00 PCGS AU50 50C

1981-S Type 2 NGC PF69UCAM $1

Global Financial News

Are we in for a continued Santa Claus rally during the coming week and the first few days of 2022? It history does repeat itself, we will see new highs for the S&P 500 in the coming days. The primary headwind is the Omicron wave that is quickly moving through the states. Though less virulent than the Delta strain, Omicron still brings about quarantine needs against existing guidelines for many employers.

Actually, I'm currently bullish for markets up through the Beijing Olympics.

Morning market futures indicates a slightly positive bias to today's equity market trading.

In Asia, Japan -0.4%. Hong Kong closed. China -0.1%. India +0.5%.

In Europe, at midday, London closed. Paris +0.2%. Frankfurt +0.2%.

Futures at 6:20, Dow +0.1%. S&P +0.2%. NASDAQ +0.3%.

WTI crude pricing is holding recent gains at slightly under $73/bbl. Paper gold pricing appears to be holding above the $1800 mark with a morning quote at $1807/oz. Bitcoin is regaining interest with an increase to $50,880.

The 10 Year U.S. Treasury bond yield stands at 1.48% and is indicative of optimism for higher yields investment vehicles.

Wrapping Up The Blog

Monday brings a long day in the GFRC office with several priorities. First is a substantial amount of post holiday shipping that was held back to allow the USPS distribution system to recover. Second is loading the White Pine Collection consigned items to the price list and moving unsold coins into FUN show inventory boxes. Third is loading today's featured Newtown Collection offerings to the price list.

Thanks again for stopping by at the Daily Blog. The GFRC website's current Alexa.com ranking is mind blowing. Our online ranking is currently ahead of nearly all numismatic competitors with the exception of the two largest auction houses. The ongoing support of the GFRC community is much appreciated.

Be well!

Sunday December 26, 2021

A Walk Along the Blackburn Canal

and

Top of the Ladder White Pine Collection Offerings!

Greetings and welcome to another Daily Blog edition. The Christmas holiday weekend continues as these ramblings are composed on an early Sunday morning. The Venice condo is certainly quiet at 5:30 AM.

One of the positive aspects of time in Florida is new music discovery. Each day, Tidal streaming service operates as a background Dell laptop process with Bluetooth connection to a electrified BOSE speaker. Tidal offers a daily new music service that allows exploration of multiple genres. Ear catching new music is saved in a separate play list with Tidal altering programming based on saved songs. After a month of listening to Tidal and culling out favorable pieces, the end of 2021 play list is becoming comprehensive. For those who are curious concerning what a 65 year old music junkie is listening to, the primary bands are Riverside, Lunatic Soul, Airbag, Anathema, Blackfield, IQ, and Porcupine Tree. Once back in Maine, this long list of new music discoveries will become a critical listening event on the Focal/Naim sound system.

A Walk Along the Blackburn Canal

Each Venice brings a one hour health walk. Last winter, I discovered a long walking trail that runs along the Blackburn Canal. This canal is a drainage path for rains to flow back to the nearby ocean. The path is well maintained and scenic. Each day brings new local habitant surprises including snakes, turtles, and a host of birds fishing in the canal. This past week brought the hoots of an owl when passing by and a hawk swooping by in front of me. The wingspan on the latter was huge. Following are several images of the private walking area. The uneven ground certainly beats walking on HOA adjacent concrete sidewalks with the need for ongoing vigilance to avoid stepping in unmanaged dog poop.

A Daily Walk Along the Blackburn Canal

Top of the Ladder White Pine Collection Offerings!

There is a concerted effort underway to have all consignments loaded into inventory for debut at the Winter FUN show. Today brings a Top of the Ladder offering from the White Pine Collection. This individual continues to dig ever deeper in his bank boxes and is submitting premium quality silver and gold type coins.

We open today's gallery with a crusty 1836 Reeded Edge half and a superb 1839 No Drapery Seated half. The second marquee line features an exceptional 1843-C Large Date $2.5 housed in PCGS Rattler holder with a certified EF40 grade and CAC approval. This piece has all the bells and whistles and is already committed. Sorry...

High on the cool list is an 1839/8 Type of 1838 $10 gold piece, the first of its kind handled by GFRC. The obverse vertical lines are scratches on the holder.

Today brings the loading of the White Pine offerings into the COIN system followed by pricing and client approval. Please go ahead and email me for price quotes on a first come first serve basis.

Top of the Ladder White Pine Collection Offerings!

1836 RE PCGS EF45 50C 1839 No Drapery PCGS AU53 CAC 50C

1843-C Large Date PCGS EF40 CAC Rattler G$2.5 1839/8 Type of 1838 PCGS F15 CAC G$10

1884-CC PCGS VF30 CAC OGH G$10 1890-CC PCGS VF35 CAC G$20

1840 ND NGC VF30 CAC H10C 1861 PCGS EF40 CAC G$5 1856-S PCGS AU50 G$5

Wrapping Up The Blog

Today brings another day in the GFRC office other than a Blackburn Canal health walk. The balance of the Oregon Beaver lots will be posted to the price list as a next step. Already, a substantial portion have been sold as one large lot to an important GFRC client. Building up FUN show inventory is proving to be challenging as new offerings are selling immediately via the price list.

Thank-you for making the GFRC business an important success during 2021. Only six days remain during the calendar year before greeting 2022.

Be well!

Saturday December 25, 2021

Merry Christmas Day 2021

Awesome Oregon Beaver Consignment Arrives!

and

Dr. Durazo Christmas Artistry

Greetings on Christmas Day and welcome to another Daily Blog edition.

Today's ramblings are a tad delayed due to the holiday and a FaceTime call with the Yamatin family in Beijing. Please continue checking the Blog as there is an important announcement forthcoming concerning the Yamatins.

Before moving further, Diane and I would like to wish the entire GFRC community and close friends a Merry Christmas Day. We are blessed with an outstanding family and excellent health and hope the same is true for the Blog readership.

Awesome Oregon Beaver Consignment Arrives!

I could not be more pleased with today's Oregon Beaver gallery presentation of his latest consignment. Like many GFRC clients, Oregon Beaver has been captivated by the numismatic hobby and actively upgrades his U.S. gold $2.5 and Liberty Seated half dollar collections. Routine upgrading leads to the release of premium duplicates as collections mature and become ever more sophisticated.

Today's Oregon Beaver Christmas Day display presents a host of important offerings for your consideration.

For Liberty Seated half dollar collectors, the display opens with a choice 1878-CC WB-1 specimen. This piece was previously from the Cumberland County Collection, another GFRC client, and is one of only three certified by PCGS at the AU58 grade level. Might I suggest that you visit CoinFacts and view the auction records and images for the other two certified examples. That brief research may convince you that this offering is the finest of the three certified and warrants careful inspection and contemplation.

For U.S. gold collectors, today's $2.5 quarter eagle display is noteworthy for the high grades and premium nature of the offerings. Rare and challenging dates abound coupled with some awesomely beautiful type pieces. Mintages for many of this pieces are tiny along with low CAC approved populations. There is insufficient time to discuss each of these offerings in the Blog. Rather, detailed discussions will be offered once the descriptions are prepared this afternoon.

A pricing proposal has been tendered to Oregon Beaver. Hopefully, I will receive his go ahead to start quoting lots by end of day. If interested in gaining first shot at a price quote, simple email me. I will be responding to emails later today and not immediately. Let's remember that it is Christmas Day....

Awesome Oregon Beaver Consignment Arrives!

Please email for price quotes - Quotes available later today

1878-CC WB-1 PCGS AU58 50C

1847-C PCGS AU55 CAC G$2.5 1852-C NGC AU58 G$2.5

1857-S PCGS AU58 G$2.5 1869 PCGS AU58 CAC G$2.5

1872 PCGS AU55 G$2.5 1876 PCGS AU58 CAC G$2.5

1843-O Sm Date NGC AU58 CAC G$2.5 1871-S NGC AU58 G$2.5 1887 PCGS MS62 G$2.5

1890 PCGS MS61 G$2.5 1895 NGC MS63 CAC G$2.5 1902 PCGS MS65 CAC G$2.5

1907 PCGS MS63 CAC OGH G$2.5

Dr. Durazo Christmas Artistry

This past week brought a Christmas season prescription from none other than Dr. Susan Durazo. Our contributing artist continues to watch over my well being with her timely artistic prescriptions.

The following image certain captures a host of subtle graphics concerning the ongoing ramblings of the Fortin family as we enjoy the many blessings of the past year and current holiday season. Seated Liberty, Buddy the Dog, the JD2025R and back acreage trails are all captured as a statement of personal Blog commentaries. Yes indeed, I continually enjoy Maine life and the privacy of the homestead and back acreage. Soon the focus will shift to barn construction with initial site preparations starting in May.

Dr. Durazo Christmas Artistry

Wrapping Up The Blog

That is all that is worthy of sharing on Christmas Day. Next is a one hour health walk followed by spending the afternoon in the GFRC office. Preparing White Pine Collection images and Oregon Beaver descriptions are on today's calendar of must get done items.

The Winter FUN show is rapidly approaching and the reason for working on Christmas Day. I am committed to having every consignor's coins loaded into the GFRC display cases come January 5.

Be safe and well on this special day.

Friday December 24, 2021

Merry Christmas from the GFRC Staff

and

GFRC Online Auctions Preview - A Two Session Extravaganza

Newtown Collection's Early Type and Seated Half Dollar Auction Sale

Greetings on Christmas Eve and welcome to the Daily Blog. Please accept our heart felt wishes for Happy Holidays to everyone that frequents these daily postings.

Today's Blog edition is filled with optimism.

Though the Omicron variant is receiving the majority of opening media headlines, I believe that the worst of the pandemic is behind us. Life is beginning to return to normal especially for the numismatic hobby. Coin shows are restarting throughout the country with a successful Whitman Baltimore show in November and the massive Winter FUN show taking place in less than two weeks. GFRC has already made commitments to the Whitman staff for the Spring (March 31-April 2) and Summer (June 9-11) shows. It appears that the Sarasota Coin Show will also restart with the first event scheduled for the end of January. GFRC will be taking three tables and exhibiting most of our inventory including Winter FUN new purchases.

Closer to home, the Fortin and Yamatin families are healthy including two wonderful grand-daughters. Please continue following the Blog as early 2022 will bring an important announcement concerning the Yamatins! Meme and Grandpa could not be more excited with the pending developments.

The GFRC business has become much more than selling and buying coins. Long term relationships have been formed among extended staff, and with a host of clients. Numismatics can be a quiet personal pursuit or a venue for meeting like-minded individuals that evolve into new friendships. Hopefully, the GFRC online presence has brought about a renewal of the collecting passion for those who follow the day by day commentaries here at the Blog.

Once again, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to those in the GFRC community from Gerry, Diane, Matt Yamatin and our extended staff that includes Dan, Rose Marie, and Len Augsburger.

Newtown Collection's Early Type and Seated Half Dollar Auction Sale

GFRC is pleased to be presenting the Liberty Seated half dollar lot from the forthcoming Newtown Collection's Early Type and Seated Half Dollar Sale on Christmas Eve.

Please take the time to carefully study the following gallery to gain a sense of the Liberty Seated half dollar offerings that might enhance your personal collection. Yes, there are many pieces still at CAC (marked accordingly) with review results arriving early next week....

The Newtown Seated half dollar auction sale is a die variety treasure trove along with many lots being CAC approved for the "selective" clients in our community. Die variety collecting is challenging considering the degree of difficulty is much higher than constructing a date and mintmark set. Not only must a collector locate a very specific die variety, but also face the demanding task of locating those varieties with choice original preservation.

The Newtown Collection has been aggressively building a Top 100 Seated half dollar variety set along with attempting to source all of the 1861-O die pairings that span the first four turbulent months of 1861 when the New Orleans mint transitioned from Union to the State of Louisiana administration before shifting control to the Confederate States of America. Eleven of the fourteen "collectible" pairings are presented in this auction. Of course, W-12 is the CSA Half Dollar with only four pieces known.

This sale features many major die varieties including the popular 1840(O) no mintmark reverse, the 1841-O with reverse baseball die cracks, the 1846 6/Horizontal 6, the rare 1847/6 overdate, a high grade 1849 Dramatically Doubled Date, and the elusive 1876 Large/Small date variety.

Date and mintmark collections should relish the opportunity to secure a beautifully toned 1874-CC half with CAC approval along with the challenging 1872-S date, also with CAC approval. Let's not forget how challenging the 1861-O Union W-1 and W-2 varieties can be.

Yes, I am aware that the same image is illustrated for 1861-O W-5 and W-14. This will be correct this morning. The preparation of today's gallery has been a substantial undertaking and will be fine tuned during the next 48 hours.

Though the overall Newtown Collection gallery is nearly complete, much work remains. These offerings must be divided into two auction sessions per Newtown's request followed by setting the reserve prices for review and approval. GFRC Online Auctions banners will be assembled with auction date announcements. The complete list of Newtown Collection lots is now available at the GFRC auction link.

GFRC Online Auctions Preview - A Two Session Extravaganza

Newtown Collection's Early Type and Seated Half Dollar Auction Sale

Initial Session Bidding Targeted for Mid-January 2022

Liberty Seated Halves

1874-CC WB-3 PCGS AU55 CAC 50C

1839 No Drap WB-2 PCGS AU53 CAC 50C 1840(O) WB-12 PCGS EF45 50C

1841-O BB Die Cr WB-2 PCGS AU50 10C 1846 6/Horiz 6 PCGS AU58 50C

1847/6 WB-9 PCGS EF45 50C 1849 DDD WB-6 PCGS AU Details 50C

1851 WB-5 PCGS MS60 50C 1861-O Union W-2 PCGS AU58 50C

1872-S WB-2 PCGS AU55 CAC 50C 1876 Lg/Sm Date W-106 PCGS EF45 50C

1840-O WB-5 PCGS EF45 CAC 50C 1840-O WB-7 NGC AU58 50C 1842 WB-11 PCGS MS62 50C

1842-O MD WB-9 PCGS EF45 50C 1844-O WB-3 PCGS AU50 50C 1845 WB-1 PCGS EF45 50C

1845 WB-2 PCGS EF40 CAC 50C 1845-O WB-2 PCGS AU55 50C 1845-O No Drap WB-6 PCGS EF45 50C

1847 WB-5 PCGS AU55 CAC 50C 1847-O WB-8 PCGS EF45 50C 1847-O WB-22 PCGS AU55 CAC 50C

1848 WB-7 PCGS AU53 50C 1851 WB-2 PCGS EF45 50C 1851 WB-7 PCGS AU55 CAC 50C

1851-O WB-5 PCGS AU55 50C 1853 A&R PCGS EF45 CAC 50C 1853-O WB-18 PCGS AU53 50C

1856 WB-102 PCGS AU58 50C 1856 PCGS EF40 CAC 50C 1856-O DD WB-9 PCGS EF45 50C

1856-S WB-6 PCGS EF40 CAC 50C 1858 PCGS AU55 CAC 50C 1858-O WB-1 PCGS AU58 CAC 50C

1858-O WB-12 PCGS AU55 50C 1858-O WB-22 PCGS MS62 CAC 50C 1858-O PCGS AU53 50C

1860-O WB-2 PCGS AU55 50C 1861 PCGS EF45+ CAC 50C 1861-O Union W-1 PCGS EF45 50C

1861-O LA W-3 PCGS AU55 50C 1861-O LA W-4 PCGS AU55 50C 1861-O LA W-5 PCGS MS62 50C

1861-O LA W-7 PCGS AU50 CAC 50C 1861-O LA W-9 PCGS AU53 50C 1861-O CSA W-11 PCGS EF40 50C

1861-O CSA W-13 PCGS AU58 CAC 50C 1861-O CSA W-14 PCGS EF45 50C 1861-O CSA W-15 PCGS EF40 50C

1865 WB-102 PCGS VF30 50C 1865-S WB-7d PCGS EF40 50C 1866 Motto PCGS AU55 50C

1866-S Motto WB-2 PCGS AU58 50C 1866-S Motto WB-5 PCGS AU50 CAC 50C 1866-S Motto WB-11 PCGS AU55 50C

1867-S WB-10 PCGS AU58 50C 1872 PCGS AU58 50C 1873 Arrows PCGS AU50 50C

1874 PCGS AU55 50C 1875-S WB-2 PCGS AU58 50C 1875-S Micro S WB-19 PCGS VF35 50C

1876-CC WB-2 PCGS AU55 CAC 50C 1877/6 PCGS MS64 50C 1877-CC WB-12 PCGS MS62 CAC 50C

1882 PCGS VF20 CAC 50C

Global Financial News

U.S. equity markets are closed today for the Christmas holiday observance resulting in no morning market futures display.

The Santa Claus rally continued on Thursday with the S&P 500 moving to a new record at 4,726 while the DJIA closed at a near 35,951 record level. U.S. investors are bullish for 2022 as the year comes to an end.

Paper gold has also awaken with current pricing at $1810/oz. WTI crude oil continues to recover with a $73.80/bbl quote to start the holiday period.

Though the online and cable news headlines might be pessimistic with an Omicron emphasis, the U.S. economy is in recovery mode with a bright 2022 on the horizon.

Wrapping Up The Blog

The GFRC staff has decided to not operate the shipping department until Monday. We have become extremely sensitive to leaving GFRC shipments within the USPS system for any period of time. The close attention to shipping risk is for both the benefit of GFRC and our clients. No one wants the hassle of a loss or stolen numismatic item.

Otherwise, I will be in the GFRC office until 4:00 PM today preparing the Sooner and Oregon Beaver consignments for the 30 Day Price List. The pressure is on to complete all consignments (and that FUN show presentation) in the next eleven days.

Once again, I would like to close today's Christmas Eve Blog edition with a sincere Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to the entire GFRC community. Without you, the GFRC business would not exits.

Be safe and well during this year ending holiday season.

Thursday December 23, 2021

Winter FUN 2022 Arrives in Two Weeks!

Greetings on a Thursday morning and welcome to the Blog.

The Venice condo is quiet again. Gone are the sounds of a little girl chasing after Buddy the Dog or voicing her opinions on daily meals. Renee and Ivy's pre-Christmas visit was much too brief. Ivy was just beginning to settle into a routine but found herself on an outgoing flight. Renee's schedule is constantly busy with a need to be back in Austin to host husband Mike's parents for the Christmas holiday.

The GFRC business continues to move along with a strong year ending performance. Yesterday brought the sale of a five figure gold piece along with regular orders. The balance of Wednesday, after our Tampa airport travels, was focused on wrapping up photography and image processing of Newtown Collection's Liberty Seated halves. Quiet progress is also being made for other consignments in backlog.

My top challenge, at this point, is having all backlogged consignments prepared for the Winter FUN show display cases. Two weeks might appear to be sufficient time and I'm hoping that is the case. One challenge is a 38 piece lot currently sitting at CAC. The arrival was delayed by USPS holiday volume. CAC is also taking Friday off as a holiday. This means submission results and the return shipment will take place early next week including 10+ Seated halves from the Newtown Collection.

Wednesday evening also brought good news for our return to Maine. The barn construction project is on after approving a Pete Theberge quote for a 24x30 structure. Text messages with Dave Wilkinson ensued for lining up his services for site preparations. Dave has worked through a host of structural site preparations projects and assured me that this one can be easily handled.

Winter FUN 2022 Arrives in Two Weeks!

After a two year break, the Winter FUN show arrives in just two weeks.

This will be a massive numismatic event for kicking off the 2022 calendar year. The bourse floor is so huge that I recommend that everyone secures a show directory for locating their favorite dealers.

GFRC will be located at Tables 636 and 638 with ten cases of quality inventory and freshly consigned offerings. I will be more than pleased to insource new consignments at this venue. If considering the sale of a larger collection, I would be pleased to discuss the merits of the GFRC Online Auctions platform and the customized marketing that might be possible. Let's not forget that the Spring Baltimore show is only three month away. GFRC will have its usual double corner booth location with plenty of case space to preview a substantial auction sale.

Back to the Winter FUN show, GFRC is located on the main entrance aisle though positioned far back on the bourse. Following is the FUN show bourse layout and GFRC's location. Again GFRC is located at tables 636, 638 or look for the huge center column on the bourse. You will find GFRC next to that column.

Feel free to click on the below bourse image to access a higher resolution version.

GFRC at FUN Show Tables 636, 638

Global Financial News

Wednesday's market action is indicative of a Santa Claus rally as major U.S. indices have recovered from the near term sell-off. The S&P 500 is hair below the 4700 mark while the DJIA is positioned at 35,754. Morning market futures are pointing to incremental optimism for today's trading.

In Asia, Japan +0.8%. Hong Kong +0.4%. China +0.6%. India +0.7%.

In Europe, at midday, London +0.2%. Paris +0.3%. Frankfurt +0.5%.

Futures at 6:20, Dow +0.3%. S&P +0.2%. NASDAQ +0.1%.

Equity market optimism also extends to WTI crude which has increased to nearly $73/bbl. Paper gold is showing some life with a morning quote of 1807/oz. Bitcoin is priced at $48,440. The 10 Year Treasury bond yield stands at 1.44%.

Wrapping Up The Blog

Up next is a long morning of USPS Priority shipment preparations. We feel comfortable that the holiday shipment and delivery rush is waning and ready to start moving orders into the USPS system. Afterwards, it is back to image processing and loading the Newtown Collection Liberty Seated halves to the Auction page. Len has already completed the descriptions for the smaller denominations.

Thank-you again for being regular Daily Blog readers. Be well!

Wednesday December 22, 2021

A Daily Blog Holiday Exclusive

Numismatic Santa's Christmas Wish List

Greetings on a pre-Christmas Wednesday morning and welcome to a numismatic Santa edition.

Today brings the last few hours for enjoying Renee and Ivy's visit to the Venice condo. Wonderful times always pass much too quickly. Meme and Ivy have had a chance to bond which was a joy to watch. Ivy is still hesitant with that tall serious guy with white hair and I'm not speaking about Santa Claus.

While the Fortin family was bonding, Grandpa was busy processing more Newtown Collection lots and images, including those from the supporting consignments. Much progress has been realized with about 20 "in office pieces" remaining to be photographed and resulting images being processed. Hopefully today's weather will be conducive for this task. Len Augsburger has also jumped into the project with his description writing. Last evening, we discussed the 1868 F-106a Liberty Seated circulation strike dime and its starkly different characteristics from regular proof strikes. Most notable are the weaker strike, the dull steely fields, and the reduced amount of radial lathe lines (obverse lower gown) are compared to that seen on proof strikes.

Tuesday also saw the arrival of another for purchase lot that includes Capped Bust and Liberty Seated coinage.

I've made a command decision to stop shipping GFRC orders for 48 hours to allow the USPS distribution centers to clear out their Christmas volume. There were no shipments made on Tuesday and again none today. The logic is straightforward. The USPS system is loaded with holiday shipments that must be delivered by December 24th. The excessive volumes result in a doubling of Priority shipment delivery times at best. Placing GFRC orders into an overloaded USPS system occurs risk as packages will sit in distribution centers for longer periods of time awaiting their turn to be transported onto 18 wheeler trucks or airline flights. By waiting for 48 hours for the system to clear out, GFRC packages should see more "normal" processing conditions come Thursday and Friday. USPS Express shipments are being held until December 27 for smooth sailing during the quiet period between Christmas and New Year.

Numismatic Santa's Christmas Wish List

Yesterday's numismatic Santa question hit a chord with the Daily Blog readership. Responses arrived throughout the day and well into the evening hours. Most readers were nice and followed Santa's instruction to select one coin valued up to $25,000 as Santa's sled is overloaded this year. There was one naughty client who gave Santa a long list of Liberty Seated halves with high rarities. Sorry, but this individual will not be included into today's summary.

Here comes Santa's numismatic wish list for the Christmas of 2021 in no particular order. I hope that a few clients will be able to locate the financial resources towards acquiring these pieces during the upcoming year. Dreaming and fantasies play an important role in our hobby.

- An early date Walking Liberty half dollar in condition rarity: Santa can pick but must have superior eye appeal.

- Oregon Beaver requested an 1864 PCGS VF25 G$2.5, the worst one known to exist. He assured Santa that he has been good for much of the year.

- A mid-West client hopes Santa can locate an AU graded 1839-O Large O half dime.

- A California client is requesting a circulation octagonal California Gold Rush $50 slug and provided Santa with an image to help with shopping

- A new client provided Santa a long discussion of his collecting objectives and requested an 1853 Liberty Seated dollar grading EF45, a modest piece.

- The AuburnNY Accordian consignment only wants a piece that does not exist; an 1867 Seated dime certified PCGS EF40 CAC; good luck on this one Santa!

- Another Blog reader requested an 1855 AU55/AU58 CAC approved Liberty Seated dollar

- Over in Copper Harbor MI, a client is flexible and requests any of the 1871-CC to 1874-CC dimes but must be CAC approved!

- Santa will have a difficult time here. The Massachusetts Collection is requesting an 1874-CC dime between G6 and F12, but it must be CAC approved!

- An early GFRC client requested an 1863 PR66CAM CAC Liberty Seated dollar. Sorry but Santa says this one is now priced at the $40K level.

- Another client was flexible and would enjoy any circulated grade Gobrecht dollar.

- The Sooner Collection was also flexible and simply asked Santa for a pretty early gold piece.

- A Capped Bust half dollar fan has asked Santa to locate a Draped Bust dollar with small eagle reverse.

- Those 1871-CC through 1874-CC Seated dimes are so tough. Another Seated dime collector requested a top end 1871-CC dime for the holidays.

- Our IC Insights consultant was specific. He wants the 1861-O CSA half sold by Heritage during August 2015. He reminded Santa that this one is in the $10K range leaving plenty of money for the annual reindeer chow bill.

- A good Texas boy asks Santa for an EF40 1870-CC Liberty Seated half with CAC approval. Santa will need to spend time in Far Hills NJ with John Albanese to "make" some of these gifts.....

- Another requests for a Gobrecht dollar appeared, specially an 1836 PR 60 - 62 with coin alignment.

- This request was seller remorse and hoping Santa can alleviate the pain; a 1796 Small Eagle early dollar graded VF35 with dark charcoal surfaces and bright silver relief.

- A numismatic couple from PA made it easy for Santa; just bring a basket of CAC approved U.S. gold for Christmas. Looks like John Albanese will be promoted to the head elf position.

- Back to U.S. gold, a Blog reader hopes Santa will bring a 1907 High Relief $20 piece graded PCGS MS63.

- The Running Boar consignor was most specific... a late die state 1833 B1 Capped Bust quarter with extensive rust pitting on both obverse and reverse.

- Down in Georgia, a client hopes Santa can bring an 1840-D G$2.5 graded PCGS AU55 with CAC approval.

- Santa should move his office from the North Pole to Far Hills NJ for sure! Another client requested a VF 1873-CC Seated dollar with CAC approval.

- Several requests were made for a low grade 1878-S Liberty Seated half dollar that falls in Santa's budget.

- Yes, even Morgan dollars made a list; an 1884-CC MS65 CAC with DMPL certification.

- Twin Lakes is petitioning Santa for a 1916 PCGS AU58FH Standing Liberty quarter. CAC would be a plus!

- And this wish list all started with Gerry dreaming of the 1839 Pie Shattered Obverse dime (PCGS EF45 CAC) finding its way back into his collection.....

Yes, it is certainly fun to dream about owning major rarities or the key dates within a date and mintmark set project. These dreams are critical for sustaining our hobby.

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to dream and respond to a numismatic Santa's question.

Global Financial News

Mr. Equity Market is taking and giving back to end yet another volatile year. After Monday's steep losses, equity markets came roaring back to recover most of those losses on Tuesday. Today's morning market futures have settled down as we approach the Christmas weekend.

In Asia, Japan +0.2%. Hong Kong +0.6%. China -0.1%. India +1.1%.

In Europe, at midday, London +0.1%. Paris +0.2%. Frankfurt +0.2%.

Futures at 6:20, Dow +0.1%. S&P flat. NASDAQ -0.1%.

It appears that the Omicron hysteria is giving way to a more rational analysis of the lethal nature of this latest Covid variant. Those of us who are "vaccinated" should not worry about Omicron as the symptoms are reported to be mild. In reality, the term "vaccinated" is a misnomer. Everyone who has been "vaccinated" can be infected with and spread Covid. "Vaccination" is not a full proof guarantee that one will not be infected by Covid and suffer symptoms. The new technology "jabs" should be better described as immune system enhancers and not vaccinations.

Looking at commodities, WTI crude is back to the $71+/bbl level. Paper gold is the most boring investment on the planet with a quote of $1792/oz. Bitcoin has moved up slightly to $49,085.

The 10 Year U.S. Treasury yield stands at 1.47% as money exited bonds in a big way on Tuesday and was repositioned into equities.

Wrapping Up The Blog

Yes, I will be in the GFRC office for most of the day. The Winter FUN show is approaching with a ton of preparations to get done, plain and simple.

Thanks for stopping by at the Daily Blog! Be well.

Tuesday December 21, 2021

Numismatic Santa's Question of the Day

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog on a Tuesday morning. I'm stretching for a Blog topic after exhausting the usual idea pools. Seth Godin is of no help as his blogpost are becoming unremarkable and lacking impact.

There are certain moments in a life that are precious. Yesterday brought a chance to spend time with Ivy and Renee as their holiday visit is much to short. Renee has a tight schedule, therefore they will be flying back to Austin on Wednesday.

Having Ivy running around the condo was a delight. Buddy the Dog needed a good night's rest after being chased about for much of the day.

A one on one evening conversation with Renee about careers, life, and children was entirely memorable. Having children does shifts one perspective on the meaning of life. The Fortin family decision to move back to Maine, once Matt was born, is an example where children bring about an alternate mindset and shifting priorities. Families bring support systems at many levels.

Back in the GFRC office, Newtown Liberty Seated half dollar image processing was the day's primary activity after manning the shipping department on a solo basis plus the mandatory one hour health walk. Len Augsburger has jumped on the Newtown description writing portion of the upcoming sale and hopes to have all done by December 31.

The GFRC shipping department will be closed today. I believe it is best to allow the holiday shipping rush to play itself out immediately prior to the Christmas weekend. Regular Priority packages are experiencing volume delays and best to not leave numismatic items hanging out in USPS distribution centers as much as possible. Come Thursday, GFRC will resume normal shipping with Express packages being held back until December 27 for clear sailing.

Numismatic Santa's Question of the Day

Let's conduct a numismatic survey as a thought provoking exercise. What if a numismatic Santa could bring you any coin that your heart desired up to a retail value of $25,000? Yes, Santa's gift sled is overcrowded this year so you can only select a single coin. What might that coin be?

Think seriously for a moment before responding to this question. $25,000 may appear to be a large sum for a numismatic gift but is it in today's inflationary environment? Would you select a very rare key date or ask Santa for a monster gem for a type set?

I'll start off the response with the first coin that came to mind. If I could request any coin as a Christmas gift, the answer would be simple. My heart has never forgotten the sale of the 1939 F-105c Pie Shattered Obverse (PCGS EF45 CAC) to a client years ago to pay for Renee's graduation present upon completing her veterinarian studies at Virginia Tech. She was transitioning to the next phase of a life and needed fresh wheels (Honda CRV). Her aging Honda Fit was no longer viable for the journey from Blacksburg VA to Austin along with everyday use as a professional career person.

There you have it. If Santa could bring any coin for Christmas, it would be that 1839 Pie Shattered Obverse dime.

What say you? Please email your selection for Santa. I will tally the responses and post in tomorrow's Blog.

Global Financial News

Year ending volatility is the rule for global equity markets. Monday saw across the board losses as the Covid variant induced turmoil has returned. The S&P 500 dropped back to the 4568 mark while the DJIA retreated to just below the 35,000 level.

Today's market futures are swinging positive after gains in European markets and substantial rallies in Asian markets during the overnight hours. The 10 Year U.S. Treasury bond yield is being modulated as monies flow back and forth between equities and Treasuries.

Morning market futures suggest a partial recovery of Monday's losses at the opening bell.

In Asia, Japan +2.1%. Hong Kong +1%. China +0.9%. India +0.9%.

In Europe, at midday, London +0.8%. Paris +0.6%. Frankfurt +0.8%.

Futures at 6:20, Dow +0.7%. S&P +0.7%. NASDAQ +0.8%.

WTI crude prices are also swinging as a result of Covid volatility. This morning's pricing is back to nearly $70/bbl.

What is not volatile is the price of paper gold and Bitcoin. Both alternative investment and inflation hedges appear unfazed by recent equity market turmoils. Paper gold opens the day at $1797/oz while Bitcoin is trading at $48,693.

The 10 Year U.S. Treasury yield stands at 1.45%.

Wrapping Up The Blog

Today brings regular manning of the GFRC office with primary attention on Newtown Collection image processing along with time with Renee and Ivy. Special moments are always too brief.

Thank-you for stopping by at the Blog. Be well!

Monday December 20, 2021

GFRC Online Auctions Preview - A Two Session Extravaganza

Newtown Collection's Early Type and Seated Half Dollar Auction Sale

and

Renee and Ivy Visiting with Meme and Grandpa

Greetings on a Monday morning as we head into the Christmas weekend holiday period. A sincerely thanks for making the Daily Blog one of the most viewed online numismatic publications during 2021.

Today's edition is special.

I could not be more pleased to share the results of several weeks of diligent and balanced efforts between the GFRC retail business and the GFRC Online Auctions platform. Hours upon hours of planning and image processing have been underway since the beginning of December while recovering from the Whitman Baltimore show and the annual Florida migration.

The Newtown Collection is GFRC's top long term client, plain and simple. When I was approached to handle a substantial divestment opportunity from this collector, the immediate response was yes. Our client expressed a desire to employ the GFRC Online Auction platform as an initial step for marketing and selling his numismatic holdings. His desire was to raise capital for larger and more costly collecting goals. He loved the idea of having upside bidding potential for his holdings rather than moving directly into a fixed price list sale environment. My role was to study the scope of his planned divestment and design a selling strategy that would maximum his realized prices, especially now that we are in an inflationary market. His final requests was a two session auction event similar to that conducted with the Oregon Beaver auction sales. His requirements were clear and straightforward but brought challenges due to the broad range of divested items.

Never being one to shy away from a challenge, I saw the Newtown Collection requests as an opportunity to take the GFRC Online Auction platform to the next level. Since inception, each auction event has been limited to a single client's holdings. To satisfy the Newtown requirements, a broader auction sale would require consigned items from other consignors to build "pockets of lots" that would attract sufficient bidder interest and involvement. What do I mean by "pockets of lots"? Staging an auction with a single one of kind type piece will attract little if any attention for that lot unless it is a monster coin. To insure adequate attention to all lots in the Newtown auction sale, GFRC must locate comparable lots from other consignors to build a group of coins or a "pocket of lots" for each denomination and series being offered. Behind the scenes, I began to recruit auction lots from other consignors towards building a comprehensive auction event under the Newtown Collection marquee name. This practice is no different than that employed by major auction houses. The time had arrived for GFRC Online Auctions to evolve its business by establishing marketing and selling capabilities consistent with larger numismatic firms.

Now that I've shared the overriding strategy for the forthcoming Newtown Collection auction sale, it is with pride that the following auction preview gallery is published. All lots up to but not including Liberty Seated half dollars are illustrated today. As the auction sale title suggests, the Liberty Seated half dollar component will be substantial piece of the overall sale. Image processing continues for this denomination and will be completed before Christmas weekend. Once the Seated halves are fully illustrated, the entire lot will be posted separately in the Daily Blog and also added to the existing display at the GFRC Online Auctions link.

When will the two session Newtown Collection auction sale take place? Those dates are pending the availability of Len Augsburger's time to prepare his usual authoritative descriptions. Of course, Len has been waiting upon me to finalize the lot images. We also find ourselves in a holiday time frame with Christmas, New Years, and an early Winter FUN show as further challenges. Once Len's schedule is understood, I will be in a position to announce the schedule for the two Newtown Collection auction sale sessions.

GFRC Online Auctions Preview - A Two Session Extravaganza

Newtown Collection's Early Type and Seated Half Dollar Auction Sale

Initial Session Bidding Targeted for Mid-January 2022

Indian and Lincoln Cents

1955 Doubled Die Obverse PCGS AU58 CAC 1C

1864 CN PCGS MS64 1C 1864 Bronze PCGS MS65RB CAC 1C 1864-L PCGS MS64RB 1C

Two Cent Pieces

1864 Small Motto PCGS MS65BN CAC 2C

1864 Lg Motto PCGS MS64RB CAC 2C 1865 Fancy 5 PCGS MS65RB CAC 2C

Liberty Seated Half Dimes

1861 PCGS MS67 CAC H10C

1846 NGC EF45 H10C 1853-O No Arrows PCGS EF40 H10C

1866 PCGS AU58 CAC H10C 1866 PCGS PR66 CAC H10C

1845 V-5 PCGS MS64 CAC H10C 1863-S PCGS AU55 CAC H10C 1865 PCGS AU50 H10C

Liberty Seated Dimes

1838-O F-102 NGC AU58 CAC 10C 1839-O F-106a PCGS MS61 CAC 10C

1853-O F-101 PCGS AU58 CAC 10C 1868 MPD F-105a R7+ PCGS AU55 CAC 10C

1873-S Arrows F-101 PCGS MS64 10C 1878-CC F-101 PCGS MS64 10C

1838 F-101 PCGS AU53 CAC 10C 1842 F-105 PCGS MS63 CAC 10C 1873-S F-102 PCGS AU58 CAC 10C

1874 F-112 PCGS MS62 CAC 10C 1875-CC F-103a BW PCGS MS62 CAC 10C 1875-S IW F-101 PCGS MS64 CAC 10C

1877-CC T1 F-109 PCGS MS64 CAC 10C 1889-S F-102 PCGS MS63 10C 1891-O Unlisted PCGS MS65 10C

Liberty Seated Quarters

1853-O Briggs 2-C PCGS MS63 CAC 25C

1850 Briggs 1-A PCGS AU53 CAC 25C 1876-S PCGS MS63 CAC 25C

Liberty Seated Halves - Many More Lots to Come!!!

1874-CC WB-3 PCGS AU55 CAC 50C

Renee and Ivy Visiting with Meme and Grandpa

The long anticipated Christmas visit by Renee and Ivy is currently underway.

Last evening brought a drive to and from the Tampa airport to retrieve our precious arrivals. Renee and Ivy enjoyed a comfortable flight from Austin though Renee faced challenges with bags and car seat transport by herself along with tending to Ivy (a two year old). Unfortunately, Mike had contracted a flu (not Covid) and decided to remain in Austin.

As the Blog is being composed our guests are sleeping in considering their biological clocks are dialed to Central Time. Only Grandpa awakes at 4:30 AM ET to begin preparing each Daily Blog editions at 5:00 AM.

As one can imagine, Meme (Diane) is thrilled to be spending several days with Ivy. I will be taking over the daily shipping duties while Renee and Ivy are visiting.

Global Financial News

Here we go again.... Or I've seen this movie before.

Panic is setting in with respect to the Omicron variant in certain global regions along with notable "blue" states within the United States. The ever present clickbait media is not losing the opportunity to leverage Covid fears. Omicron headlines are omnipresent though this variant is less severe than Delta. From what I am reading, the Delta variant is responsible for the recent rise in hospitalizations and not Omicron.

Global equity markets are promptly reacting to economic fears resulting from another winter season of lock downs. It is interesting how Florida continues to navigate through the current Delta/Omicron event without lock downs and a Winter FUN show that is only several weeks away.

Following are morning market futures that appear dismal.

In Asia, Japan -2.1%. Hong Kong -1.9%. China -1.1%. India -2.1%.
In Europe, at midday, London -1.1%. Paris -1.1%. Frankfurt -1.8%.
Futures at 6:20, Dow -1.1%. S&P -1.3%. NASDAQ -1.4%.

WTI crude oil prices are falling again consistent with expectations for an economic slowdown during early 2022. This morning quotes stands at $68.16 and down about $3/bbl from Friday.

Paper gold remains flat at $1798/oz while Bitcoin has dropped to $46,058. I'm becoming suspicious that gold pricing is being controlled by the major U.S. banks (on behalf of the U.S. government). The lack of movement in the face of serious inflation and now, another round of equity market volatility just does not add up. The true price of physical gold will be readily evident at the Winter FUN show.

The 10 Year U.S. Treasury bond yield has receded to 1.38% as monies move from equities into government bonds.

Wrapping Up The Blog

Today brings a light shipping day as orders continue to slow going into the Christmas holiday. I will be using USPS Express for three shipments to ensure that clients receive their coins prior to end of week. Regular Priority shipments may be delayed a few days consistent with the end of the holiday rush. I'm not excited about leaving Priority shipments within USPS distribution centers during a holiday period.

Otherwise, today brings time with Ivy and continued processing of the Newtown Collection's Liberty Seated halve dollar images. My goal is to have all Seated half dollar lots posted to the GFRC Online Auction link display by Thursday. At that point, I can begin developing the Winter FUN show presentation.

Thank-you for stopping by at the Daily Blog.

Sunday December 19, 2021

Newtown Collection Auction Preview - CAC Approved Incremental Lots

Fresh Early Type Offerings from the Sooner Collection

and

GFRC Consignment Window Re-Opens at Winter FUN Show

Greetings on a Sunday morning and welcome to a regular Blog edition.

After a week of preparations, Renee, Ivy, and Mike will be arriving later today for a three day visit. The anticipation has been building for the joy of having a little girl running around the Venice condo. Diane has done a marvelous job with Christmas decorations including family member stockings, a Christmas tree, and other traditional items throughout the living room.

Back in the GFRC office, Saturday brought another long image processing day. Finally, I'm starting to feel good about the forthcoming Newtown Collection sale on the GFRC Online Auctions platform. Image processing is about 60% complete including a subset of Newtown lots that will post directly to the price list.

The Newtown Collection auction sees the GFRC Online Auctions platform expanding its capabilities and attempting a multiple consignor auction across two sessions. I'm getting my "big boy pants on" concerning the complexities of sourcing auction lots from five separate consignors across a host of coinage series. The challenge lies is kitting the lots into two cohesive auction events. Designating the lots within the COIN system must be carefully accomplished with colored cells in the Excel database for simplified sorting. For those who know me well, this auction progression is typical of a person who enjoys the challenge of visioning an outcome and assembling the pieces towards that goal. Once the auction methodology is proven out in the January time frame, the GFRC Online Auctions venue will be consistent in capabilities with that of other major players in the space.

Saturday also brought attention to the latest Sooner Collection consignment with a subset being featured in today's Blog and ready for price list inclusion.

Even with all these activities underway, I did manage a one hour health walk along the Blackburn Canal plus a brief hand weight workout. The daily one hour exercise period is paramount as the balance of my days are spent sitting at a desk. I'm well aware of the coin dealer disease (weight gain) that is prevalent in our industry since processing coins requires only mental exercise and little physical exertion.

Newtown Collection Auction Preview - CAC Approved Incremental Lots

To illustrate the forthcoming size and scope of the Newtown Collection auction, following are five lots, from incremental consignors, that should garner substantial attention.

The 1861 and 1866 Seated half dimes along with the 1853-O Seated quarter are contributions from a new client who owns a coin shop. These three pieces walked into his shop in raw condition after being discovered in a bank box. The client accomplished the PCGS grading while GFRC secured CAC approval for the lot. These pieces are amazingly original and 100% fresh to the market. GFRC customers will have first shot for these newly discovered historical artifacts. All are unquestionably gems.

The 1863-S and 1866 Seated half dimes are from a separate consignor. These lots feature very low CAC populations and best to sell via the auction route for fair price discovery in today's hot market.

Trust me, the Newtown Collection auction will be a huge event that the GFRC community will thoroughly enjoy.

Newtown Collection Auction Preview - CAC Approved Incremental Lots

1861 PCGS MS67 CAC H10C 1853-O PCGS MS63 CAC 25C

1863-S PCGS AU55 CAC H10C 1866 PCGS AU58 CAC H10C 1866 PCGS PR66 CAC H10C

Fresh Early Type Offerings from the Sooner Collection

The Sooner Collection is back with more choice offerings from his massive collection. Like so many others that become GFRC clients, the Sooner Collection is moving through an upgrading processing and releasing accumulated duplicates back to the market via our price lists. This individual is wholly focused on the coins themselves rather than collecting via a specific TPG brand. His new consignment includes a fair number of ANACS old white holders and older PCGS holders. I'm quite pleased with the image quality as illustrated next. The 1853 half dime wins the award for the longest header line ever; 1853 Arrows PCGS MS65 Gold CAC OGH H10c.

Offer prices are available allowing me to provide email quotations prior to price list loading later today.

Fresh Early Type Offerings from the Sooner Collection

Price Quotes Available Via Email

1853-O NA PCGS EF40 H10C 1853 Arrows PCGS MS65 Gold CAC OGH H10C

1795 O-117a PCGS F12 50C 1814 O-105 PCGS EF45 CAC 50C

1837 Sm Date ANACS AU55 OWH H10C 1838 Lg Stars NGC EF40 CAC H10C 1858 Inverted Date NGC AU58 H10C

1868-S ANACS AU58 OWH H10C 1871 PCGS MS62 CAC H10C 1817 O-107 NGC EF45 50C

GFRC Consignment Window Re-Opens at Winter FUN Show

The Winter FUN show takes place in 2.5 weeks. By January 5, I will be in a position to re-open the GFRC consignment window as the current backlog will have been processed. Already, I am aware of two consignments that will be transferred at the show.

Please feel free to contact me with consignment proposals in the near term. Shipments can take place starting after Christmas holiday though I will not be working on fresh consignments until the mid-January time frame. Once the Winter FUN show is in the history books, my focus will be the Spring Baltimore show that takes place March 31 - April 2.

1885-S Liberty Seated Dime Acquisition Update

Saturday also brought progress concerning the newly purchased 1885-S NGC MS65 dime and the sale of the PCGS AU58 OGH duplicate from my personal collection.

The newly acquired example is in-transit to CAC for a review and should be back prior to the Winter Show. Sale terms were reached with the GFRC client who had first shot on the AU58 duplicate. This piece is now considered sold with a 10 day return policy once the dime is shipped to the client in early May 2022.

Wrapping Up The Blog

Sunday finds me again in the GFRC office with two goals; loading the Sooner Collection new offerings to the price list and continued processing of Newtown Collection auction images. Once the entire auction image portfolio is finalized, I will post all lots at the Auction link to enable Len Augsburger's authoritative descriptions.

GFRC sales have seasonally slowed this past week both due to collector distractions with holiday festivities and the lack of fresh loadings to the 30 Day Price List. Hopefully, the addition of the Sooner Collection lots will spark a few sales. The seasonal increase in Covid variant hospitalizations is indeed disconcerting going into the Winter FUN Show. All I can do is encourage everyone who attends the show to be fully vaccinated including booster shots. Life must go regardless of this scourge.

Thank-you for checking in at the Daily Blog. Be well!

Saturday December 18, 2021

Taking A Daily Blog Holiday

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog on a Saturday.

I decided to take the day off and not compose a lengthy Blog edition. The two plus hours of extra time are sorely required for image processing. Progress must be made with the Newtown, Sooner, Oregon Beaver, and White Pine consignments before the Winter FUN show. Every hour in a day is becoming increasingly precious.

Please check back later this afternoon as I hope to post an image gallery showcasing new offerings.

Thanks for the understanding. Be well!

Friday December 17, 2021

A New Addition to the Liberty Seated Dime Registry Set

and

Pricing an 1885-S Seated Dime Duplicate?

Greetings on a Friday morning as the Christmas season is upon us. Honestly, it is difficult to feel the vibes of a traditional winter holiday when walking around in shorts in 80+ degree weather. Diane has done her utmost to decorate the condo with holiday themes and lights for the upcoming Renee family visit.

Days continue to fly by in the Venice office as we are short staffed given the substantial amount of consignments in the processing queue. Thank-goodness the consignment window was closed two weeks ago. Along with consignments is the increasing number of trade proposals that are being entertained and executed for fresh offerings. Express shipments have arrived each day this week.

Sadly, the most recent CAC shipment is hung up in the Tampa distribution center. The late arrival to CAC along with holidays will mean an additional week before CAC results are known for portions of the Newtown auction lots, Sooner and Upstate New Year consignments, and even a few GFRC new purchases. A repositioning of new offerings will be necessary after I confer with consignors.

I'm still giddy and in amazement with the new 1885-S dime addition to a personal collection. Where in the world did this piece come from as there are no prior records of its existence other than the NGC grading images. Let's move on to that topic.

A New Addition to the Liberty Seated Dime Registry Set

Yesterday brought the photography of the new 1885-S dime under bright Florida sunshine. The conditions served this piece well as the natural contrast and colors are promptly evident when viewing the below image. As beautiful as the coloration might be, the luster and cartwheels are downright spectacular.

Please look carefully at these image for a moment. Contained within the toning are subtle fingerprints. These can be seen the obverse left field and in the reverse center. All I can say is that this gem survivor brings an incredible amount of character to a personal collection. I've added the dime to my Open Registry Set. You are invited to view the entire set by clicking here.

A New Addition to the Liberty Seated Dime Registry Set

1885-S F-101 NGC MS65 10C

Pricing an 1885-S Seated Dime Duplicate?

Yesterday also brought multiple email requests for access to the current 1885-S PCGS AU58 OGH duplicate. This piece is safely wintering in a Windham, Maine bank box along with the rest of the core Liberty Seated dime collection. The duplicate would be sold with the understanding that delivery will take place once back in Maine.

As mentioned previously in the Blog, I promised first shot to the 1885-S duplicate to the individual who pointed out the NGC MS65 specimen that facilitated the prompt purchase. Pricing my duplicate was a most difficult exercise with the determined asking price being potentially viewed as too high. Pricing a date at a grade level that does not trade is challenging. Why not be transparent and conduct the pricing analysis in front of the Blog readership as yet another educational moment (from a dealer's perspective)? Here is a very old and obsolete image of the current 1885-S PCGS AU58 duplicate taken prior to 2004. From the image, we can determine that this example is fully struck and toned. Obviously, it should be re-imaged before being sold but then again, it is 1550 miles away in Maine.

1885-S F-101 PCGS AU58 OGH 10C

Following is a screen capture of the 1885-S PCGS Price Guide page for grades from AU58 to MS64. This page is essentially the entire basis to price the AU58 duplicate. A quick look at the auction records should bring about an explanation. The fact that this date DOES NOT trade at grades between AU58 and MS66 should be readily apparent.

Please look carefully at the records and forget the price guide numbers for a moment. The last record is 3/20 for a Stack's Bowers sale at $5520. I was the buyer of this piece with Stack's staff taking the piece back due to improper description in their catalog. This piece had a filed rim and explains why it remained in its PCGS Rattler tomb since being certified. No one would dare a crack out as the piece would be properly certified as MS Details, Damaged. Next in the records are PCGS sales in 2/14 and 4/12. If viewing the auction records, both pieces are certified MS but dipped white. Auction records earlier than 2010 typically lack images.

1885-S 10C - PCGS Price Guide/CoinFacts - AU58 to MS64

Total PCGS population in the AU58 through MS62 grades is all of seven pieces. We know the lone MS61 is a problem coin. That leaves six valid pieces. We also know that one of the two MS62s is dipped white.

Would it be reasonable to conclude that this date simply does not exit in any quantity, at the above grades, for validating a price guide? Yes, is my conclusion. The price guide numbers are questionable as there is no recent data by which to validate. While the PCGS staff is busy pushing up other prices in the Liberty Seated dime series to reflect today's inflationary market, the 1885-S date is ignored due to lack of auction and sales records.

Let's use some common sense and consider what other rare Seated coins are selling for in today's market. How about an 1878-CC half with PCGS AU58 population (3) followed by (5) in MS63. That date trades at $10,000 in AU58. Sure, it is a Carson City date and probably not a fair comparison. I could spend lots of time looking for a comparable date based on certified populations to make the point but will leave this exercise to you.

My conclusion is that the PCGS price guide numbers are obsolete and do not reflect current market value for the AU58 duplicate. I bought the NGC MS65 in a heartbeat for the same exact reason as it was priced below the PCGS price guide. I firmly believe that the current price guide understates the true value of this date.

The next thought process was that of placing the duplicate AU58 into a GFRC Online Auctions event and letting the community decide what pricing level is fair value. Would it sell for the current price guide or higher given that four people have already approached me for a shot at the duplicate? I would bet with anyone that the AU58 duplicate would sell for more than $5500, probably lots more given today's hot market.

Since making a promise to an individual and granting first shot, I kept that promise and formulated an asking price that is consistent with what I believe this piece is truly worth. If the individual passes at that number, I will not entertain other first shot requests. Instead, once back to Maine in late April, the 1885-S dime will be retrieved. Updated images will be prepared with fresh photography followed by placing the piece is a special GFRC Online Auctions along with several Green and Gold Liberty Seated dimes that still remain available. This will be the best approach for true price discovery.

I must learn a lesson from this exercise. Fellow collector friends and clients will always ask for first shot as my duplicate Seated dimes become. This is a predictable behavior. My heart is to support fellow collectors and say yes. However, this practice relies on my ability to determine a fair price for each duplicate. There are times when this is not possible and best to go directly to a GFRC Online Auctions platform with a duplicate Seated dime.

Global Financial News

Once again, morning market futures will not always forecast where markets will trade once open. Thursday optimistic futures were quickly reversed once the trading day started. Markets were down throughout the day with the NASDAQ dropping 2.5%. It appears that traders were not pleased that the Federal Reserve would be removing the stimulus punch bowl come early 2022. The following graph speaks volume for the amount of cash that has been injected into the U.S. economy since 2006. In just 13 years, the Federal Reserve has added $6,000,000,000,000 into the system. That is certainly a lot of zeros.... Where does this money move to once in the U.S. financial system? How about the stock market and larger banks? Just something to think about when traders begin to panic at the thought of the Fed removing the punch bowl.

Morning market futures are next for what they are worth.

In Asia, Japan -1.8%. Hong Kong -1.2%. China -1.2%. India -1.5%.
In Europe, at midday, London +0.3%. Paris -0.8%. Frankfurt -0.8%.
Futures at 6:20, Dow -0.1%. S&P -0.2%. NASDAQ -0.7%.

Paper gold has moved up to $1810 while Bitcoin is trading down to $47,082. Crude oil is essentially flat at $71/bbl.

The 10 Year U.S. Treasury yield dropped predictably to 1.41% as market volatility is again upon us.

Wrapping Up The Blog

Yes, I will be in the office the entire day other than the usual health walk.

Thanks for checking in at the Blog. Be well!

Thursday December 16, 2021

Patience and Persistence: A Decades Long Wait is Over!

and

Some Awesome New Purchases!

Greetings and welcome to another Daily Blog edition. Today's GFRC news includes some wonderful additions to a personal collection and the price list.

Wednesday brought yet another fast paced day here in the Venice office. Promptly after morning shipping, Diane and I drove to the Trader Joes in Sarasota to stock up on granddaughter Ivy's favorite foods. Yes, Renee, Mike, and Ivy arrive in a few days for a Christmas celebration visit. We are looking forward to their stay, though brief.

The afternoon hours brought a two package USPS Express delivery. The first was six U.S. gold pieces that were a trade for three better date Liberty Seated quarters on the price list. The second was a major event in a collector's lifetime. More on the latter package and contents shortly.

Progress continued with the Newtown and Sooner Collection projects. All coins have been photographed and are at various points in the image processing loop. Image processing for 160 coins is a substantial undertaking that consumes days.

Along with the Newtown and Sooner efforts, I managed to sneak in five new purchases towards stocking the Daily Blog with cool new offerings. Feeding the 30 Day Price List with new listings is another parallel effort along with all else that goes on in the office.

Let's end the preamble here and moved on to some exciting news!

Patience and Persistence: A Decades Long Wait is Over!

The Gerry Fortin Liberty Seated Dime set has been a work in progress since the mid 1990s. Much of the set was assembled prior to 2005 with a hard stop that year. Why? Eugene Gardner entered the market. His presence made it impossible to conduct further upgrades as the Seated Dime candidates for my collection were scooped up by Gene. When Gene desired a coin for his collection, there was no outbidding the man. The Eugene Gardner Collection was sold by Heritage during 2014 as I was in the process of assembling financial capital for the GFRC business. I did not play in those auctions but the current top two individuals on the PCGS Set Registry leader board did since having the available resources. Many of Gene's Liberty Seated dimes moved into those collections while I was on the sidelines. During the past five years, DL Hansen has also entered the scene with his endless resources and buying whatever he can to complete his dream of owning a complete set of all U.S. coinage.

My seated dime upgrading strategy is best described as stealthy. Since being engaged in the numismatic market on a daily basis, I've been able to secure personal collection upgrades through a host of private sale opportunities rather than the auction circuit. Yes, I did purchase the 1864-S and 1869-S upgrades at auction, but that is the extent. Case in point is the latest addition to the seated dime collection that is illustrated next.

1885-S F-101 NGC MS65C

I've been waiting decades for a chance to upgrade the 1885-S dime in my collection. The current PCGS AU58 OGH example has been in the set from day one, therefore about 25 years.

Last week, an NGC MS65 appeared on a dealer price list and was purchased with about 30 seconds of contemplation. The dime looked to be all there for the grade and the price was right. With heightened anticipation, the purchase arrived on Wednesday. After several minutes of close inspection with a 10x along with studying luster and cartwheels under a bright light, I'm thoroughly pleased with the upgrade and believe the piece is accurately graded.

What is startling is the lack of a prior provenance for this example. I've searched the Heritage Auction archives without locating a similar example that might have been "enhanced" and reholdered (a really good thing!). Based on years of examining Liberty Seated dimes, I've come to the conclusion that this piece is 100% original and is worthy of a CAC attempt in its current holder. That attempt will take place before the Winter FUN show with high hopes.

The numismatic hobby can be rewarding to those who play the long game. It took patience to wait for this upgrade to randomly appear on the market. Key was being in a position with numismatic capital to conduct an instant purchase and not losing the opportunity.

Some Awesome New Purchases!

Following are five new purchases for your consideration. These will be posted to the price list by end of day.

I could not be more pleased with the opportunity to acquire this gem 1852 Charlotte $5 gold piece. This historical artifact looks much better in-hand than per the images. Why do I suspect that its tenure on the 30 Day Price List will be brief? The balance of the new offerings are equally pleasing. Please email for a price quote.

CAC Approved $5 U.S. Gold

1852-C PCGS AU55 CAC G$5

1894 PCGS MS64 CAC G$5 1907-D PCGS MS64 CAC G$5

Premium Barber Quarters to Consider

1910-D NGC MS63 25C 1912 PCGS MS65 25C

Global Financial News

Here comes the Santa Claus rally for U.S. equities. Who is playing Santa Claus this year you might ask? The Federal Reserve is by being transparent as to their tapering plans for bond purchases and raising interest rates. Investors love certainty when risking their monies. Since inflation has become a substantial issue for many Americans, the Fed has made it clear that near term actions will be taken to slow inflation.

Wednesday trading brought the S&P 500 to within two point of a new record high at 4710. Morning market futures are forecasting a solidly positive day with the potential for new DJIA and S&P 500 records.

In Asia, Japan +2.1%. Hong Kong +0.2%. China +0.8%. India +0.2%.

In Europe, at midday, London +0.9%. Paris +1.6%. Frankfurt +1.8%.

Futures at 6:20, Dow +0.7%. S&P +0.8%. NASDAQ +0.8%.

While the markets are moving into record levels, the commodity and precious metal front is quiet. WTI crude is priced at $71.72 to start the day while gold rests at $1786/oz. Bitcoin is up slightly to $49,189. The 10 Year U.S. Treasury stands at 1.45%

Wrapping Up The Blog

Today brings another long day in the GFRC office with image processing being paramount. If interested in purchasing a coin or two, I'm just a phone call or email away.

Thanks for stopping by at the Blog. Be well!

Wednesday December 15, 2021

How It All Started

Greetings on a Wednesday morning and welcome to another Daily Blog edition.

Unfortunately, there is nothing prepared in advanced for today's Blog. Structuring large auction and consignment lots for the GFRC Online Auctions platform and regular price list takes endless hours. I'm working diligently on these projects against a FUN show deadline but progress is slow.

Insourcing large lots impacts the publishing of fresh image galleries in the Blog and also slows the posting of new offering to the 30 Day Price List. How I wish to have a full time person handling the imaging role at GFRC. By adding a single person to staff, I could essentially increase sales volume by 50%. Sadly, that will not happen since we operating out of two seasonal locations and within our Maine and Florida homes. As with many aspects of life, compromise is paramount. The GFRC business is a passion and not the end all. Already, I am in the Johnny2 (JD2038R) anticipation mode and mentally planning back acreage site preparations (with Dave Wilkinson) for spring pole barn construction.

How It All Started

Recently, a newer Blog reader sent along an email asking if I could share my numismatic roots. How and why did I gravitate to Liberty Seated dimes and what was it that enabled the massive die variety research project. These are excellent questions. This Blog edition seems like the ideal time to respond given little else is prepared.

Some background is necessary so let's time travel back to 1984 and Dutchess County, New York.

My IBM career is fast paced and exciting as I'm in my late 20s and already managing a complex semiconductor test operation with a staff of about ten engineers and technicians. The Fortin's have had their first home constructed in East Fishkill with energy efficiency being a goal. The house design includes passive solar features. The house faces south with a brick floor for the living room (thermal mass) along with much front side glass. A coal stove is installed in the downstairs game room with vents to the upper floor. Much effort is placed with the outdoor landscaping and beautification of the one acre lot.

1984 brings the birth of our first child Matthew. Diane's entire family remained in Maine leading to constant driving trips for the holidays to stay connected. For a host of reasons, we made a decision to leave New York and return to our French-Canadian roots in Maine. Raising Matt is quiet rural environment along with designing and building a dream home were too enticing. A resume was prepared and sent to the only credible semiconductor house in Maine; Fairchild Semiconductor in Portland. Yes, I easily landed the job as Fairchild had just introduced Fairchild Advanced Schottky Technology (FAST) with the manufacturing taking place at the Portland facility. Start-up yields was terrible and if not solved, a second factory would be necessary to support the growing demand. Fairchild did not have the financial capital to build an additional factory so the start-up yields issues had to be remedied and quickly. My arrival was incredibly timely given the IBM expertise in test engineering and yield management.

1985 though 1987 brought a whirlwind period. Our new home was constructed. I was focused on ramping factory yields with little if any information system tools. Our test floor was primitive without a data network. The only recording of yields and failure loss categories were paper printouts. There was the usual office politics given the local staff not wanting the outside hire to be successful. Through the utmost determination and very long hours, I manually built a test floor information system on a home IBM PC AT and solved key yield problems. Management was amazed leading to a promotion to Fairchild's factory yield czar and a funded staff to build an automated factory information collection and analysis system. Numismatics was the furthest thing on my mind at the age of 31.

The Christmas of 1987 arrives with the traditional Theriault family (Diane's maiden name) celebration. All five Theriault children received a special gift from mother Annociade (Ann for short). That gift is a roll of Morgan dollars that she probably purchased on the Home Shopping network or similar. Diane looks at the gift and hands it to me. That Christmas evening brought the numismatic spark that reignited my passions for coin collecting from earlier years as a kid.

1988 brought an initial interest in building a Morgan dollar set. I resubscribed to Coin World and bought Morgans from the full page advertisers (yes, BU sliders). I started attending local coin club meetings and met the Maine dealers. There was a disappointing visit to my first coin show with the realization that Morgan dollars were so common. There was no challenge in collecting this series other than funding a few "rare" dates. Boredom quickly ensured within months. Then came the decision to move my collecting interest to an "earlier series".

As a child, I love reading books about WWII and the Civil War. Why? My father served in the Korean War and brought back a host of 2x2 Kodak slides from Korea. My father also enjoyed building Revell plastic model kits of the great WWII fighter planes and tanks. Soon I was also hooked on building plastic models and learning the history behind these military artifacts.

Returning to 1988, one day the RedBook is retrieve from the bookshelf and studied for a possible new U.S. coinage series to collect. Liberty Seated coinage spanned the Civil War. So the intersection of coin collecting and a passion for studying military conflicts brought me to Seated coinage. But which denomination would be the best for me? The half dime series was too short. Seated quarters looked to be too expensive and challenging as there were a host of key dates. Seated halves were too expensive also along with Seated dollars being out of the question. Remaining was the Liberty Seated dime series. I believe that a completed date and mintmark set could be assembled at the Fine grade level given my current disposable income. The decision was made and that was that. Those who know me well will understand that when I commit to a goal, it is with sincerity and passion.

The initial step was locating books on Liberty Seated dimes to learn the details of the series. I found a Coin World ad for a book by Kam Ahwash and ordered it. His encyclopedia arrived promptly with an evening spent studying the images and realizing that there was more to collecting Liberty Seated dime by date and mintmark. There were really cool die varieties including the 1839 Pie Shattered Obverse and the 1868 proof dime with misplaced digits in the gown. How cool was this? I was hooked line and sinker (yes, I fished a lot with my grandfather as a kid).

Next came a letter to John McCloskey requesting membership in the Liberty Seated Collectors Club to enable further Liberty Seated dime learnings. John replied with a well written letter and stated that a person named Brian Greer would be contacting me. That Brian did and soon I found myself working on a Liberty Seated dime club survey project and handling the tabulation task that Brian was only too pleased to offload. Yes, I was paying my early dues loading survey responses into a spreadsheet along with co-authoring one of the Gobrecht Journal articles on survey findings.

The early relationship with Brian Greer continued to grow as I was off collecting Liberty Seated dimes by date and mintmark along with studying die varieties. Let's end the story here. There is much more to share in a second installment.

Wrapping Up The Blog

Let's skip the Global Financial News segment as equity market are trading flat as the holiday season approaches.

Yes, I will be in the GFRC office the entire day processing Newtown Collection image along with new purchases. Of course, the one hour health walk is paramount. Thank-you for checking in and absorbing these ongoing ramblings.

Tuesday December 14, 2021

Working on Newtown Collection Auction Images

and

Is Pricing for Low Population CAC Approved Dates Becoming Flat?

Tuesday arrives and time to extend a happy greeting to all that visit the Daily Blog. Your patronage is the fuel that keeps this publication moving forward.

Talk about a fast-paced Monday for Diane and me. Shipping began on Sunday evening and extended into Monday morning with Diane having a hard stop deadline due to a Auburn Lakes Condo board meeting at 11:00 AM. By 10:00, Diane was off to the satellite USPS office with eighteen packages.

While Diane was at her board meeting, I was photographing the latest Sooner Collection consignment and conducting a decent sized U.S. gold trade for three expensive Liberty Seated quarters. Afternoon brought Newtown Collection image processing and helping Diane with preparing insurance claim documentation for the stolen 1856 $3 and 1852-D $5 gold pieces. Believe it or not, each claim required seven pieces of documentation including two statements from USPS for each theft event.

The afternoon hours also brought the arrival of a new Upstate New York Collection consignment. Wow! My hat goes off to Bart as this is by far his finest consignment during the six years we have been doing business. Much of his consignment is worthy of a CAC submission which could not be more timely. There are pieces in the Sooner and Newtown Collection consignments that should also see a CAC attempt. Bart's wonderful consignment provides the foundation for staging a full PCGS blue box submission today.

I hope that Blog readers realize that there is no mystery to being a coin dealer. The challenge is the many hats that a responsible coin dealer must wear to win the loyalty of his/her clients. Maximizing returns for consignors is an imperative by ensuring that the premium coins are properly recognized as just one aspect of provided services.

Pre-dinner drinks were delayed until 5:30 PM given our whirlwind day. While taking a break on the lanai, Diane looks at me and asks how in the world did we achieve the substantial Ledge Hill walking trails progress while still operating GFRC at current sales levels? This was indeed an excellent question that brought a pause and another sip of Hornitas Black Barrel tequila that was well earned.

Working on Newtown Collection Auction Images

GFRC office emphasis has shifted to completing image processing for the upcoming Newtown Collection auction and price list additions.

It has become tradition, in the Blog, to showcase my laptop screen with images under preparation for major auction events. Let's stick with that tradition by previewing the first image lot that is in the processing station. As usual, clicking the below illustration provides access to a high resolution download for those that wish to gain a sneak peek at Newtown's forthcoming offerings.

Feedback on Accuracy and Precision in Numismatics

Monday evening brought an email from Greg Kitchen concerning yesterday's Blog commentary on the applicability of the accuracy and precision concept as it might apply to numismatics. I'll let Greg take it from here...

Hi Gerry

I was delighted to see the discussion of accuracy vs. precision in your daily blog. If you'll pardon a brief detour into nerdville, it immediately reminded me of the first lesson I learned in my initial freshman level physics course on the way to a degree in applied physics. Namely, that the solution to any problem is only as accurate as your least accurate data point, no matter what precision you are measuring with. If you have five data points and four of them are accurate to three decimal places but the fifth data point is only accurate to one decimal place, then your final solution is only accurate to one decimal place. My professor bent over backwards trying to convince us that this could not be overemphasized and that many of us would make that mistake anyway multiple times before we learned our lesson. He was right, and it was very sobering to realize how true it was, especially when doing real-world physics labs. It's just as true in the business world too. That lesson has stuck with me ever since. It was fun to see it applied to numismatics.

Is Pricing for Low Population CAC Approved Dates Becoming Flat?

Price guides have existed for decades under the premise that coin pricing is linear as a function of grade. Of course, a VF must be worth more than a Fine and ditto for an AU55 being worth more than an EF45. How could it not be a linear situation if collectors are willing to pay more for a coin with less wear?

Frankly, the linear pricing concept is simplistic and a convenience to those who manufacture pricing guides. Companies that prepare guides are content to use linear models. But are linear pricing guides still applicable to today's bifurcated market given the impact of CAC approvals?

I would like to argue that linear pricing is no longer the end all and should be viewed with caution in certain cases. Several situations that come to mind include:

- Low population CAC approved dates. For example the recent Tennessee Collection auction with an 1861 PCGS AU53 CAC dollar realizing a price at the MS62 level. Does the auction result make the MS62 piece more valuable? Or, are we seeing a flattening of the pricing curve when only a few CAC approved specimens exist to support growing collector demand?

- CAC Approved Low Mintage Liberty Seated Halves (1879-1889). As GFRC handles and sells more Seated halves from the low mintage 1879 through 1889 time frame, it is becoming apparent that mid-circulated grades are selling for as much as AUs. If curious, I suggest that you visit the CAC Price Research application and with a few clicks, the answer will be readily apparent.

- Low Mintage Civil War Era Liberty Seated Dimes (1862-1867). Circulated examples of these dates are a bear to locate and don't last long when reaching the price list. Realized prices for pieces in the mid to upper circulated grades have flattened since GFRC has been in business. Again using the Sales Archive and CAC Price Research tools will allow you to analyze if pricing is linear or leveling out.

What is my gut feeling? This topic was broached after visiting the new CAC messages boards and reading conversations between initial members and John Feigenbaum (CDN CAC Price Guide). The collector who purchased several of the Tennessee Collection's CAC approved Seated dollars was asking if John would capture his prices paid in the CDN CAC guide. John faces a dilemma with linear pricing algorithms.

Global Financial News

Monday brought an example where morning market futures were not an accurate forecast for the day's trading. Slightly positive market sentiment, at the opening bell, transitioned to a moderately down day for equities. The NASDAQ has been lagging the DJIA and S&P 500 of late.

Following are morning market futures for what they are worth.

In Asia, Japan -0.7%. Hong Kong -1.3%. China -0.5%. India -0.3%.

In Europe, at midday, London +0.4%. Paris +0.1%. Frankfurt flat.

Futures at 6:20, Dow flat. S&P +0.2%. NASDAQ +0.6%.

WTI crude, paper gold, and Bitcoin are trading essential flat at $71.26/bbl, 1785/oz, and $47809. What is going on in a high inflationary environment? The 10 Year U.S. Treasury bond yield has dropped slightly to 1.44%.

Since having a few minutes before the 8:00 AM publishing time, I'd like to go back to early November where I called a breakout point for gold pricing. Following is the 1 Year Kitco technical chart that clearly illustrates the breakout followed by a swift beat down of gold back to its prior trading range.

Kitco 1 Year Gold Pricing Chart

Let's remember that COMEX gold trading is now a paper event with no bullion actually passing hands at settlement time. Large firms are trading gold contracts without the movement of physical gold. If I was the United States Treasury Secretary and facing a high inflation period, the last thing desired would be a breakout of gold prices to the $2000+ level. A sustained breakout above $2000 would further reinforce, to the citizenry, that inflation is substantial with the need to move monies into physical assets for protection. Our government does not wish for citizens to be moving monies into a non-traceable asset like gold coins and bars.

I'll let you consider that thought for a moment while viewing the abrupt beat-down of gold prices after a ten day run at the $1850-1860 level.

Wrapping Up The Blog

I hope that you've enjoyed today's edition and a few thought provoking topics.

Yes, today brings another day in the GFRC office with more morning shipping and a CAC submission. Once the shipping is complete, the balance of the day will see incremental photography and image processing.

Thank-you for checking in and being part of the GFRC community. Be well!

Monday December 13, 2021

Accuracy and Precision in Numismatics

and

The Historical Significance of 1872

Greetings on a Monday morning and welcome to another round of daily ramblings. Thanks for stopping by.

Catch-up day best describes Sunday activities. If visiting the 30 Day Price List, the number of newly posted coins should be promptly apparent. Two smaller consignments (Seated half dimes and dimes) were posted along with more U.S. gold and other lower priced pieces that have been accumulating in the office. Organizing the consignment backlog queue was important for gaining a fresh start to a new week.

The catch-up efforts also included the shipping department where ten outgoing packages were prepared for today's transfer to our satellite USPS office. Unfortunately, there are at least six additional shipments to package this morning before the last of the Tennessee Collection auction lots are cleared from the shipping queue. Come 1:00 PM today, shipping backlog will be back to "normal" after working through the Black Friday and GFRC Online Auctions sales.

2021 has been an amazing growth year for our humble business. The numismatic market is firing on all cylinders. GFRC's unique business model along with stocking premium coins and providing responsive customer service have enabled a substantial growth in the customer ranks. As mentioned to Brenda Wye during a recent Coin World marketing strategy conversation, GFRC does not need to take full page advertisements in major numismatic publications due to the loyalty of its client base. Servicing all who trust GFRC to handle their duplicates and collection divestments is a full time job and then some. I would be reckless to the point of negligence if attempting to advertise at the same level as the larger dealers in our hobby. Come January 1, I will be issuing the usual GFRC stakeholder report on how the business has grown including product mix sales and CAC vs. non-CAC breakouts.

The coming week brings a major consignment push with the Newtown and Sooner Collection image processing being front and center. There is a huge amount of image processing to get done along with plenty of photography. I hope that my fingers are up to the task.

Oh...I must relate a story so that readers understand how coin dealers can be abused by those who have enough numismatic knowledge to be dangerous.

I received a call from an unknown person who has an 1873-CC Seated dime. He was inquiring if there were any known counterfeits for the date since I am the "expert" on Liberty Seated dimes. This individual went on and on with the conversation. Finally, I asked the caller to send me cellphone images of the coin in question towards ending his ramblings. That was on Friday. On Saturday, the images arrive via text message. Sure enough, his 1873-CC dime was a No Arrows counterfeit with needle-like denticles on the reverse. The fact that the piece had No Arrows should have been sufficient evidence for the person's own determination. This person who hoping for a big payday on his discovered piece. My reply was to conduct basic online research for a No Arrows 1873-CC dime. The fact that only one exists should be readily apparent. His coin was a counterfeit. That response did not sit well with the individual. He reverted with an online finding that five No Arrows 1873-CC dimes were struck and his piece must be one of the missing four. He ended the text message by calling me a scammer. Such is the life of a coin dealer....

Accuracy and Precision in Numismatics

A recent Seth Godin blogpost captured my attention as being a different spin on the old expression missing the forest for the trees. Following is Godin's blogpost.

Seth Godin: Accuracy and precision

They’re not the same.

Precision brings granularity to measurement. You can drive around 50 miles an hour, or you can drive 54.7 miles an hour with precision.

But accuracy is how we describe doing what we intended to do. Driving in the wrong direction with precision isn’t much help, when accuracy in describing the goal would have been a better plan.

Most organizations spend their time on meetings about precision, instead of taking a few cycles to choose to be accurate instead.

Godin's message also applies to numismatics. Some individuals become so involved with a tiny piece of the numismatic market that they lose sight of the overall hobby. Specialty coin dealers and die variety researches can also fall into this trap. For the latter, a die variety researcher who digs deeper and deeper into documenting variety characteristics but loses sight that his work is only valuable if others can make use of it. Data must be transformed into simplified information to be appreciated by a larger segment of the hobby.

As a collector, do you spend enough time understanding the direction of the overall numismatic market, the weaknesses of price guides and traditional grading standards/services, or are you wholly focused on plugging holes in a registry set to be top dog on a leader board? The first significant digit after the decimal point can becomes one's entire focus to a fault. The response to that question will forecast if your selling experience (whenever that occurs) will be rewarding or distasteful. Coin collecting is a full circle event. Every purchased coin must eventually be sold. Initial targeting and accuracy are paramount.

The Historical Significance of 1872

Let's return to the forthcoming Winter FUN show presentation and my request for help with defining historically important events that could became the basis for a special Liberty Seated coinage type set.

A GFRC friend sent along the following research concerning the numismatically important year of 1872 with special emphasis on Liberty Seated dollars since his collecting passion. I thought his comments would be appreciated by the community as they connected the dots for me.

Gerry, I continue to be an avid reader of your daily blog and always enjoy both the thought and commitment put into your daily wisdom. It sounds like you are getting plenty of great suggestions for your FUN presentation and I really enjoyed Tom’s inclusion in today’s blog. I am adding one additional thought if helpful. I wanted to highlight the year 1872 which was the year that the United States established its historic first, of many, National Parks at Yellowstone. Next year will be the 150th anniversary celebrating the establishment of our wonderful and beautiful National Parks system. Given your love of nature and appreciation for the outdoors, I thought it both notable and also worthy of mentioning within the seated timeline of 1837-1891. As for notable seated connections to 1872, I believe you know I am an avid seated dollar fan and collector. The 1872 seated dollar is notable for being the most minted denomination of any of the 1840-1873 years at 1,105,500 from the Philadelphia Mint. Ironically, it also is the most mintage of the Carson City seated dollars at a meager 3,150 and the second most of San Francisco minted coins at 9,000, only to the 1859 at 20,000. It is really the only year available to collect three of the four key mints in the same year of Philadelphia, Carson City and San Francisco. All other years that this could be a possibility are very difficult if not impossible for collectors. Note 1870(only 9-12 San Francisco seated dollars known), 1871(no San Francisco mintage) and 1873(700 reported San Francisco minted coins, but none known to exist). Hope the thought is helpful and thank you for all you do for the liberty seated community. We collectively appreciate your continued leadership.

Happy Holidays!

Global Financial News

A new week arrives for capital markets. Foremost on investor minds will be Friday's inflation report. The headline number of 6.9% using the CPI-U measurement method is understating the real life pricing increasing facing consumers. John Williams' Shadow Government Statistics is reporting that inflation is at the 15% level when calculated using the pre-1982 method. Here is a graph from the the Shadow Government Statistics website that illustrates how those in the Labor Statistics Bureau have managed to model inflation calculation methods downward to save the Social Security system. Can you imagine ongoing 8-10% COLA (Cost of Living Adjustment) for retirees during the 2010-2020 time-frame? This would be a fiscal disaster for the country.

Back to morning market futures where U.S. equity markets are forecasted to open with a positive bias. Markets appear to be shrugging off high inflation as equity are one of the few places to hold monies that will keep pace with inflation (Bitcoin is also in that league).

In Asia, Japan +0.7%. Hong Kong -0.2%. China +0.4%. India -0.9%.

In Europe, at midday, London -0.1%. Paris +0.3%. Frankfurt +1%.

Futures at 6:20, Dow +0.2%. S&P +0.3%. NASDAQ +0.4%.

Thank-goodness that WTI crude is holding at the $72/bbl level and providing a small amount of relief at the gas pump. Paper gold continues to trade in a very tight range at $1788/oz. Bitcoin continues to hold at its new lower level of $48,677.

The 10 Year U.S. Treasury bond yield is also trending flat at 1.48%

Wrapping Up The Blog

I hope that today's ramblings were worth the visit. My apology for the lack of coin images. Hopefully, there will be a gallery for Tuesday's Blog.

Thanks again for visiting with me. Be well!

Sunday December 12, 2021

Newtown Collection's Amazing Numismatic Properties Auction Sale Preview

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog on a quiet Sunday morning. Your ongoing visits are truly appreciated.

Images of the destruction throughout Illinois, Kentucky, and Arkansas are close to unimaginable. This event is historic for the size of the storm system and tornado intensity. Several GFRC customers are reporting heavy snows in the western states. Back at the Raymond homestead, the weather is seasonally cold with limited precipitation in the 10 day weather forecast.

Down in Venice Florida, we are enjoying an unseasonably warm December with Saturday's high peaking at 83F. The next seven days will be similar with highs averaging in the low 80s.

Shifting to numismatics and the GFRC business, Saturday brought the posting of the Whitman Baltimore new purchase finale to the price list and more immediate sales. The balance of the day was allocated to preparing the forthcoming Newtown Collection auction sale. Much progress has been made to the point of being able to announce the sale contents in today's Blog.

Otherwise, life in Venice is pleasant and fully consumed as I try to catch-up on pending consignments before the Winter FUN show.

Newtown Collection's Amazing Numismatic Properties Auction Sale Preview

The forthcoming Newtown Collection auction sale brings a new milestone for the GFRC Online Auctions platform. Since launching the auction application in late 2019, all auction events were dedicated to a single collection and consignor. This is about to change with the forthcoming Newtown auction sale as offerings from multiple consignors will be assembled under the Newtown Collection pedigree. This is a significant step for the new GFRC platform as it's internal management system is updated to support multiple consignor auctions.

I've enable the auction preview table at the upper right corner of the Daily Blog to showcase the forthcoming Newtown Collection auction sale contents. The sale is primarily focused on Liberty Seated halves including a host of better dates and varieties. Newtown is a student of Seated half dollar die varieties having assembled the Top 100 Set and also collecting most of the 1861-O die pairings that span the Union, Louisiana, and CSA administrations of the New Orleans Mint prior to its closure on April 30, 1861.

Also contained in the forthcoming sales are other denominations including an important group of Liberty Seated dimes, many with CAC approval. The overall sale will be broad-based and designed to appeal to a wide swath within the GFRC collecting community.

Following are a few Seated half dollar highlights that showcase previously purchased coins from GFRC that are returning via the auction platform. Since having images in the Sales Archive, this display was easily assembled. Non-GFRC acquired coins are presently in the photography and image processing loop.

Newtown Collection's Amazing Numismatic Properties Auction Sale - Several Highlights

1874-CC WB-3 PCGS AU55 CAC 50C

1839 No Drapery WB-2 PCGS AU53 CAC 50C 1840 WB-10 PCGS AU55 CAC 50C

1846 6/Horiz 6 PCGS AU58 50C 1861-O W-7 PCGS AU50 CAC 50C

1872-S WB-2 PCGS AU55 CAC 50C 1877-CC WB-12 PCGS MS62 CAC 50C

The Newtown Collection sale will be divided into two sessions several weeks apart to allow collectors an opportunity to recharge their numismatic wallets between the events. GFRC will be willing to work with individual collectors to insource their consignments and/or conduct outright purchases to help with raising numismatic capital. At this point, the GFRC business is well capitalized and able to help clients achieve their collecting goals.

I'm presently targeting online catalog availability for the first Newtown Collection auction sale prior to the Winter FUN show with bidding opening on January 15. The second sale will take place two-three weeks later.

GFRC Consignment Queue Update

Starting today, GFRC will no longer be accepting consignments through end of year. I will certainly be insourcing consignments at Winter FUN and afterwards!

The current consignment queue contains the following major submissions:

Newtown Collection - Forty or a tad more coins that will not be featured in the forthcoming auction due to lower price point.

Sooner Collection - A forty piece consignment consisting of Liberty Seated half dimes and half dollars

Oregon Beaver Collection - About twenty pieces with an awesome thirteen piece $2.5 Liberty gold lot, most with CAC approval.

Upstate NY Collection - Ten nicely toned Capped Bust and Liberty Seated offerings that are expected to arrive to the GFRC office on Monday.

White Pine Collection - An eight piece consignment consisting of better Liberty Seated and U.S. gold dates. White Pine approached me right before the consignment cut-off deadline. This lot will ship this week.

These submissions bring another 120 or so coins to be added to inventory prior to the Winter FUN show. Obviously, I will be intensely busy during the next four weeks with a ton of photography and image processing.

Wrapping Up The Blog

Today brings another day in the GFRC office regardless of being a Sunday. There are several smaller consignments that will loaded to the price list along with a few new purchases.

There is little else to share at this point. Thanks again for making the GFRC website one of the most popular online destinations within the numismatic industry.

Be well!

Saturday December 11, 2021

Historical Periods of Seated Coinage by Tom Coulombe

and

Whitman Baltimore New Purchases Finale - CAC Approvals Abound!

Greetings on a Saturday morning and welcome to the Daily Blog. Thank-you for checking in.

The Daily Blog is best described as a blank sheet of paper that is transformed with daily ramblings. Each morning brings the same routine. Breakfast is at 5:00 AM while checking online headlines and watching the prior evening's Gutfield show highlights for a good conservative laugh. By 6:00, each Blog edition is individually created on a spontaneous basis. The blank sheet of paper is filled with thoughts of the moment. Creativity can be variable based on events in a personal life and those in the national "news". There are times when guest blogs help with thought diversity.

Of course, numismatic is the foundation of the Daily Blog since being published by a coin dealer. Some days bring more numismatic content that others.

In Friday's Blog, I asked for ideas towards building a presentation for the Winter FUN's educational seminar sessions. To quote myself, following is that request for help.

Let's try something completely different for the FUN Show presentation. How about a GFRC community effort to select the 5 - 7 historical significant events/periods between 1837 and 1891 along with important Seated issues that are representative of those eras?

Many emails arrived in support of this request. The ideas were wide ranging and thoroughly appreciated. An approach suggested by the Tenafly Collection consignor called out to me for its simplicity and will be most likely employed.

Friday afternoon brought an email from Tom Coulombe, a GFRC table assistant at the Whitman Baltimore show. Frankly, I was stunned and amazed at the effort that was placed into his response. His review of the Historical Periods of Seated Coinage is worthy of being published in its entirety for the community to enjoy.

Hi Gerry:

My thoughts on your project:

1830's period: The national wearisomeness of the Greek/Roman bust figure led to full figure seated design which then resulted in design adoptions such as adding various types of stars and curvy numbers and even drapery to dress up the new appearance. Certainly, there were critics back then who looked at the coin and thought liberty was either under nourished, too young, and/or needing more adornment.

1840's period: Maturation and stabilization of the liberty design figure meant that the economy was flourishing and that this 'seated figure' was emblematic of our nation being 'comfortable' with this image and could feel confident with using various denominations coinage as 'spending money'. IMHO: The more the coinage of a 'geographical area' was worn down may have been indicative of the people using the coins having confidence in their local economy and moving around as needed with means of trade that bought the essentials.

1850's period: With silver availability being 'in demand', valuations in silver varied, so design changes lead to arrows; the sizes of monetary transactions became more variable (regionally) such that pure copper transactions were fewer and more silver transactions were required and therefore the two cent coinage and three cent coinage became practical but mostly towards the East and North and less so in the South and West. Since the nation was spread out the branch mint concept was necessary and instrumental in proliferation of the national transactional symbol: pocket change. The transplanted population arriving on the West coast from the East coast saw the same national pocket change. Certainly the prices of necessities were different and gold was flourishing, but 'seated symbolism' may have signified unity of the national economy and bolstered confidence. There was comfort from coast to coast with the design and the branch mint concept was necessitated to maintain this stability and the mining activities and discoveries were the underpinning to advancing capitalism where populations were growing.

1860's period: The dichotomy of the nation's struggles led to gyrations in demand and probably made moving valuable shipments of silver and gold with great care and in unexpected directions. The West coast economic growth remained real, but without a wartime economy, coins got used and worn through expansion of the population into new territories and the total acceptance of coins for commerce, but the small change was probably used the least as prices were 'stable' but perhaps inflated from what the buying power would be for the same coin on the East coast. Everyone into seated coinage knows something about the New Orleans Mint debacle of the early 1860's but it really just signifies that transactional coinage was a stable necessity for a 'comfortable' economy. As the 1860's were ending the idea of useful two cent pieces and three cent pieces and half dimes was 'wearing thin' as prices to make even coinage was increasing. The Union survived the 1860's but the 1870's would mean redefining the Nation and its coinage.

1870's period: The branch mint concept was flourishing (except in the South) where the economy was destroyed and would take decades to get reinvented, restored and revitalized. The expansiveness of the economy and the advent of the transcontinental railroad would again cause metal value fluctuations and would necessitate the use of adding arrows again. This was because government legislative action was necessary to micro-manage aspect of the economy to restore being 'comfortable' at being one nation again. This regulation would eliminate two cent pieces and three cent pieces, put nickel into play as a precious metal and find a very temporary necessity for a twenty cent piece to create busy work at the all the mints. IMHO the idea of the USA Centennial requiring a celebration of national unity in 1876 was best illustrated by having all the mints produce as much coinage as it was capable of producing to illustrate the 'material success' of being manufacturers of all kinds of goods. This would reverberate in the late 1870's as there was a superabundance of all small change from nickels to half dollars and future mintages of these denominations would be suppressed for several years to come.

1880's period: With the fallout of the high mintages of the mid-1870's the image of the coinage was perhaps changing as paper currency existed. The footprint of the nation was however still expanding and territories were being granted statehood; and with outposts like Hawaii, special small coinage denominations was envisioned and created. And even Alaska was part of the USA requiring seating coinage to circulate there while the mining for more precious metals ensued. Probably at this point in time the image of a seated lady on our coinage was becoming old-fashioned and out of place as women were action figures in the mills, in classrooms, etc. And women were seeking their rights and privileges as voters as they were no longer interested in being treated like property. At this point in time, as prices had shifted, small change did not buy as much as previously and there was a new symbol in the biggest city, NYC ....... the Statue of liberty.

1890's period: Insofar as many immigrants arriving in the USA were symbolically 'welcomed' by a statue in the New York City waterfront, what better symbol to have in your pocket than the Barber coinage, which to me was a knock-off of likely the countenance of Lady Liberty. So in the fullness of time, a new 'comfort' symbol needed to be recognized to welcome the new citizenry and bolster their participation in the flourishing economy. The branch mint in New Orleans was being restored, a symbol of national recovery and advancement, despite scars that last to our current period, but a new period of enlightenment was needed to symbolize the new inventions and perceived grandeur of the late nineteenth century. This 'consciousness' restored the acceptance of bust imagery to our coinage. And this 'trend' has lasted into the modern coin era that we live in today.

So the seated liberty image was supplanted and gone forever .....

Well, maybe some of this will help you

It somehow stimulated my brain rather unexpectedly this morning .....

Tom

Whitman Baltimore New Purchases Finale - CAC Approvals Abound!

Finally, the last installment of Whitman Baltimore show new purchases is being offered to the GFRC community! It took nearly a month to catch-up on an excellent buying session at this noteworthy show.

Following are a host of cool new purchases to consider while starting a day. Gerry and Dan continue to be fervently committed to our U.S. gold business and managed to locate several important pieces including an 1856-S $10 and an underrated 1890 $5. All offered gold pieces are CAC approved as clients are becoming more selective and trust the reputation of the CAC green bean. As an FYI, the 1890 NGC AU58 CAC $5 is already sold along with price quotes on the 1856-S $10 and 1853 $5. Also check the 1889-S PCGS MS64 CAC $5 as a potential sleeper opportunity given the low CAC populations at the Mint State level.

Whitman Baltimore New Purchases Finale - CAC Approvals Abound!

U.S. Gold

Rare 1856-S NGC AU58 CAC G$10

1843-C Large Date PCGS AU50 CAC G$2.5 1912 PCGS MS64 G$2.5

1853 NGC AU50 CAC G$5 1890 NGC AU58 CAC G$5

1899-S PCGS MS64 CAC G$5 1901-S PCGS MS65 CAC G$5

Here are the last of the silver type coin offerings for consideration. The 1883 PR66 CAC Seated quarter brings monster eye appeal that is well beyond that shown in the below image. Obverse aquamarine peripheral toning, under a light source, is absolutely stunning. The 1890 Seated quarter is an unquestionable gem though the upper obverse holder is a bit hazy. The 1838 dime is a Top 100 Varieties Set entry while the 1855 quarter is already sold. Finally, the 1892 Barber quarter is truly luscious and would be an excellent choice for a type set at an affordable price.

Nicely Toned Silver Type

1883 PCGS PR66 CAC 25C 1890 PCGS MS65 CAC 25C

1838 F-111 PCGS AU50 CAC 10C 1855 PCGS AU58 CAC 25C 1892 PCGS MS64 25C

GFRC continues to be committed to growing its early copper product line. We are being very selective with new additions as is illustrated next. All three new offerings are CAC approved and perfectly original pieces. I hope that these will begin to resonate with GFRC clients.

Choice Original Copper Offerings

1855 PCGS MS64BN CAC OGH 1/2C 1820/19 N-3 PCGS VF30 CAC 1C 1867 PCGS MS62BN CAC 1C

Wrapping Up The Blog

The 8:00 AM publishing time has arrived and best to get on with another day in the GFRC office (as if spending two hours preparing the Blog does not count!)

GFRC has just completed an outright purchase with those pieces being photographed today. Otherwise, I will continue to work a huge Newtown Collection lot with the first step being a decision on which coins go to the GFRC Online Auctions platform and those that will go directly to the price list. That milestone will be wrapped up today followed by image processing.

Wishing everyone in the GFRC community a pleasant December weekend. Be well!

1924 PCGS MS64 CAC G$20 $2700	1904 PCGS MS66+ CAC G$2.5 $2100	1890 Unlisted PCGS MS66 CAC 10C Newtown $1100
1869 PCGS EF45 CAC 1C $575	1806-/5 O-101 PCGS VF35 CAC 50C $1750HOLD	1900 NGC MS63 CAC G$5 $875

Gerry's Daily Blog

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