The Daily Blog

 

August 26, 2025

GFRC Online Auctions - Heading into the Contemplation Period

and

Rescuing the 30 Day Price List

 

 

Greetings on a Tuesday morning and welcome to another Daily Blog edition. Thank you for stopping by.

Little has changed in the past 24 hours other than the GFRC office being back to normal operations. Our next coin show, the NH Coin Expo in Manchester, arrives towards the end of October which provides for two months of autumn enjoyment at the Raymond, Maine property. After the Manchester show, there is a short break before the "Winter" Baltimore show followed by heading south to Florida. The cycle of seasons and life is unstoppable.

We been so busy that I failed to realize that the coming weekend brings the Labor Day holiday. The current GFRC Online Auction closes on Saturday with invoicing taking place on Sunday. Early ship aheads will therefore be released on Tuesday into the USPS system rather than on Monday.

Speaking of Labor Day, this is an important milestone each year for the locals who have had enough of the summer tourist season. Gone will be the tourists and summer vacation home owners throughout the Lake Region and Sebago area. RT 302, the main roadway from I95 into our area, will again have reasonable traffic flow. This fact was apparent last evening when Diane and I took the 718 Boxster to the Dugout Ice Cream shop in Windham for a delightful treat. Traffic was minimal on the roadway and at the ice cream venue. Upon arrival and parking the Porsche, there were two young adults who gawked at our car and had to meet the owners. What was the horsepower and how fast have I driven the car were the points of interest. Honestly, I pushed the Boxster over 100 mph just a few time and the feeling is no different than 85-90 mph. The main difference is the risk of a felony speeding ticket.

OK, let's move forward with today's numismatic content...

 

GFRC Online Auctions - Heading into the Contemplation Period

Just as predictable as death and taxes, our current Massachusetts and Tenafly Collection auction sale has arrived to the dreaded contemplation period. Yes, it is already Tuesday with the initial bidding behind us. The contemplation period spans from Tuesday through Thursday with bidders now reflecting on the current bid status of their targeted lots. Come Friday, the bidding intensity will increase and culminate on Saturday evening.

As of this morning, there are 82 lots heading to new collector homes. Simple math indicates a 33% sell through rate with a large gap to overcome towards achieving our regular 60% target. Unsold lots, after Saturday evening's finale will be promptly posted to the 30 Day Price List and Collectors Corner. To achieve the 60% sell through rate, another 68 lots must enjoy at least one bid in the coming days. This should be achievable given the number of lots with reserves under $400 and the many CAC green beans.

Please remember that this auction is the final time that a large group of Liberty Seated Dime die variety web-book plate coins will be offered in one session. After this auction event, those lots will be dispersed into the community.

On a sales volume basis, total bids are roughly at $150,000 or a 29% rate against the initial reserves.

 

Rescuing the 30 Day Price List

I must admit that the 30 Day Price List is a skeleton with little flesh on the bones. That will change in the next 48 hours as I am working on 18 lots that were consigned prior to and at the OKC ANA. Following is a group photo of those lots for your consideration.

If looking carefully, you will note an 1849-O Seated quarter and 1853 No Arrows too! The 1891 dime and 1859-O quarter are housed in pristine NGC Gen 4 Fatty holders with the reverse hologram fully intact. Please note the three high end Seated quarters including a GFRC-Gem rated 1859-O NGC MS64, an 1862-S PCGS MS63, and a spectacular 1878-S graded NGC MS65+. The 1859 NGC MS64 Seated half is also really sweet!

First Right of Refusal requests are encouraged for this group, so please have at it.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Today brings the usual morning time in the office with four packages to be shipped followed by preparing a pricing proposal for the above lots. Photography was accomplished on Monday and it will not take long to process the images. I should be in the office through 2:30 PM at which point it is time for some fun on Johnny2.

I continue to watch the precious metals as gold is again pushing up against the $3400/oz ceiling as illustrated in the following Kitco trend chart. Note how gold has traded in a very tight range that technical traders call a "bullish flag" formation. The top portion of the flag is the ceiling at about $3425/oz while the bottom of the flag continues to slope upward toward the top of the flag. An upward sloping trend indicates that traders are buying gold whenever there is any signs of weakness. On the other hand, traders are selling whenever gold hits the $3400+ level. This consolidation is obviously positive for the yellow precious metal with an upward breakout due in the coming 30 days.

Once gold does finally breakout, the long consolidation period is like a coiled spring that will propel the metal much higher as there will be a scramble to ride the new wave.

Thanks again for the ongoing visit.

Be well!

 

 

 

August 25, 2025

GFRC Online Auction Bidders Out in Force!

 

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog on the final August 2025 Monday. Thank you for the visit.

Yes, the month of September arrives in just one week and my favorite time of the year here in Maine. September is typically a dry month which is not good as we are in a serious drought at this point. Today's forecast calls for afternoon thunderstorms which would be a blessing. The conditions are so dry that the driveway maple tree is already changing colors a full month ahead of normal. After working so hard to construct a beautiful landscape, when green, the current brown conditions and dropping leaves are quite disheartening. That being said, there is nothing that can be done when living with a drilled well water supply. We are thankful that the water supply continues to be robust during these dry periods.

Sunday was yet another busy day as Diane and I worked through the post Oklahoma City ANA office admin along with securing groceries. Most of the show inventory has been filed and is sitting back in the safe. There gets to be a point where a slower pace in a life is required as we are feeling tired and need some recovery time. But here I am composing yet another Blog edition and hosting a huge GFRC online auction.

Let's shift the focus to gold and silver for a moment. After Friday's price increases, along with a 1.5+% spike in the equity markets, I was curious as to where the precious metals would open in London trading. The good news is that gold has opened close to Friday's close with the 7:00 AM quote at $3367/oz. Silver, is also holding up nicely and trading at $38.65. Silver is presently outpacing gold, a noteworthy divergence that is in line with many precious metal analysts predictions. The question is now whether silver will break through the $40 mark before gold can exceed the $3500 level.

 

GFRC Online Auction Bidders Out in Force!

Sunday brought a host of auction bidders to the latest GFRC auction event after a somewhat quiet launch on Saturday evening. We are most pleased with the early morning auction tally that indicates yet another sales event that is unfolding in a positive manner. Here are the numbers...

Sunday brought a ton of bidding with the tally at an even 80 lots enjoying at least one bid. That is a 32% sell through rate after the opening weekend. In terms of sales volume, the present high bid tally is a tad over $140,000 against the initial $520,000 reserves, a 27% achievement.

The top dog in this auction continues to be the Port Matilda 1814/3 $5 gold piece. Two impressive maxim bids were realized during the auction open with the lot now positioned at close to a $26,000 sale price. My condolences go out to all the individuals who stopped by the GFRC OKC ANA booth to view this monster lot along with planning their bidding strategy. Two aggressive bidders have pushed this lot to a point where it will take some soul searching for incremental bidding. But then again, anything is possible at a GFRC auction event.

The under performing auction segment is the Tenafly Liberty $5 gold as only the 1839 dated lot has secured a bid. One would expect that CAC approved early gold would be popular in an auction setting. We are hoping for incremental action during the coming days.

There are five notable lots that have secured mid-four figure bids worthy of being showcased next.

    1840-O F-101a PCGS AU58 CAC 10C - Bid at $5500                      1842-O F-105 PCGS MS63 CAC 10C - Bid at $6000    

        

        1843-O F-101 PCGS EF40 CAC 10C - Bid at $5500                    1856 Sm Date F-111 PCGS MS66 CAC 10C - Bid at $5000    

        

    1864-S F-101 PCGS MS64 10C - Bid at $5500

 

 

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Since being a Monday morning, our attention shifts to the accumulated shipping queue that requires attention. Afterwards, the balance of the day will be spent in the office loading the forthcoming October 11 White Pine and Island City auction lots into the COIN system. Since working in the office throughout the day, I would be glad to respond to any auction lot questions or whatever is necessary to secure your bids. Come Tuesday, a much needed break will find me on Johnny2 in the back acreage park.

Actually, today's Blog edition has been a bit of a struggle to compose as we are tired from the many days of family visits followed by an immediate trip to OKC and the ANA event. At some point, an unstructured day with idle time is necessary to recharge the batteries.

Thank you again for the visit.

Be well!

 

 

August 24, 2025

The Massachusetts and Tenafly Collection Auction Sale Is Underway!

The Oregon Beaver Visits the GFRC Booth

and

Ed "Big Daddy" Roth Artistry at the Blake Gibb Sports Car Warehouse

 

Greetings again from the GFRC Maine office and welcome to a Sunday Daily Blog edition. Thank you for the visit.

The autumn temperature transition is now underway in northern New England as daily highs will be peaking in the mid 70s along with overnight lows in the low 50s. This is undoubtedly my favorite time of the year as the cooler temperatures subdue the insect populations. Walking the back acreage trails or working outdoors becomes thoroughly pleasant.

There is a GFRC Online Auction underway with initial bidding arriving on Saturday evening. Let's jump into that headline topic first...

 

The Massachusetts and Tenafly Collection Auction Sale Is Underway!

Yes, the latest GFRC Online Auctions event is now live and seeking your bids. This auction is a Liberty Seated dime centric event therefore we must keep this fact in mind when reviewing the bidding progress. Along with two Liberty Seated dime collections, there are notable Seated quarters and halves to consider. Fans of early United States gold also have some delightful lots to consider given the Tenafly $5 No Motto gold, and of course the Port Matilda Collection's 1814/3 monster $5 gold piece.

As of this Blog composition, 10% of the 250 overall lots have enjoyed early bidding with the bid totals already at $60,129. Total reserves are $520,000 as reference, so we are at a tad above 11% of that figure.

I'm confident that there will be more extensive bidding today so please keep an eye on the online catalog.

 

The Oregon Beaver Visits the GFRC Booth

Let's return to the just completed Oklahoma City ANA show for a few final thoughts and images.

Overall, the OKC ANA was a strong show and well attended. Tuesday was very busy as both dealers and retail customers arrived to the GFRC booth after setup. Active sales continued on Wednesday since being the first full day for general public attendance. Thursday and Friday saw a slowdown with the GFRC team breaking down at 3:00 PM on Friday. At this point, we were tired and cold since our table was directly under an aggressive air-con blower.

On the consignment side of the GFRC business, we took in over 80 coins including the previously mentioned Island City Type Set pieces and the White Pine early $5 No Motto gold. I'm in discussion with Island City to determine if more lots will be added in the coming days.

There were several memorable moments at the show with one being the arrival of the Oregon Beaver. Ron Marek appeared at the booth on Thursday afternoon and returned on Friday morning. Here is an image of the "Beaver" far right with Blake, Diane, and Gerry as another great memory.

 

Ed "Big Daddy" Roth Artistry at the Blake Gibb Sports Car Warehouse

Diane and I are so appreciative for the gracious hosting by Blake and Meliza while at the OKC ANA. We were treated to dinner meals at small local eateries that tourists will not have the pleasure of visiting. Tuesday evening brought Vietnamese food, followed by barbecue on Wednesday and some fantastic Mexican food on Friday evening. After Friday's dinner, we returned to Blake's sports car warehouse for a more extensive building tour including his massive comic book collection. While touring the warehouse, Blake showcased a wall behind his older Ferrari Testarossa, the same model that was center stage in the Miami Vice series.

The wall murals are the artistry of Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, an American artist and cartoonist. Roth is best known for his grotesque caricatures—typified by Rat Fink—depicting imaginary, out-sized monsters driving representations of the hot rods that he and his contemporaries built.

Blake is blessed to have had the opportunity to have Ed Roth on site at this warehouse resulting in the wall murals as featured in the next image. I could not resist the opportunity to document this moment with Blake, Diane, and Meliza enjoying themselves after Friday's dinner.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Clearly, today is an office day as the OKC ANA inventory must be unpacked along with a host of post coin show administrative workload. If there are any bidding questions, please don't hesitate to reach out via text, phone, or email as I will be around all day to help resolve your concerns or questions.

Thank you again for the visit.

Be well!

 

 

 

August 23, 2025

It is Good to be Back Home In Maine

A Six Figure Plus OKC ANA

and

The Massachusetts and Tenafly Collection Auction Sale Opens on 9:00 PM!

 

Greetings from the GFRC Raymond, Maine office and welcome to a really delayed Daily Blog edition. Thanks, as always, for checking in.

My apology for not blogging on Friday and Saturday mornings as there are legitimate excuses.

Friday morning was quite busy on the OKC ANA bourse floor after we opened the GFRC booth at 8:00 AM. There were good intentions to compose an edition, but then I ended up running a lot of consignor coins on the bourse floor in an attempt to move out some higher priced high dollars. Before I knew it, 10:00 AM had arrived and the show was open to the public.

Diane and I had a 6:30 AM flight out of the OKC airport this morning which meant being up quite early leading to an airport taxi pickup at 4:30 AM. The two American Airlines flights back to Maine were uneventful other than the Charlotte to Portland, Maine leg being a baby nursery with the concentration near our assigned seats. At one point I just looked at Diane and reminder her why I hate flying at this stage in life. But we are home and the MDX is unpacked. The first order of business was to power-up the laptop as we have a serious 250 piece GFRC Online Auction opening this evening.

Overall, the OKC ANA was a strong show and GFRC sold into the six figures. We were able to meet a host of new faces and long time clients. More on this topic in Sunday's edition. The only negative was the location of the GFRC booth under a ceiling air-con fan blowing cold air. We were cold for much of the show with Tuesday being so bad that the airflow was blowing dollar bills off of our cases. I had to complain and ask for help to turn down the blowers. By Friday early afternoon, I had a chill down to my bones resulting in the team breaking down at 3:00 PM.

 

The Massachusetts and Tenafly Collection Auction Sale Opens on 9:00 PM!

There is it, the Massachusetts and Tenafly Collection auction reminder headline. At 9:00 PM, our latest auction goes live and we welcome early bids with open arms. We hope that eveyone bids often and strong!

A short auction viewing story is in order. At the OKC ANA, the 1814/3 PCGS EF45 CAC Rattler $5 Capped Bust gold piece was the highlight of the auction lot cases. We must have pulled that coin out of the case more than dozen times on requests along with those that stopped to gawk. Clearly, this coin is going to sell at a number above the reserve. The question is how high will the bidding go come next Saturday evening.. My estimate is $23,000 to $25,000 otherwise, the many collectors who looked at the coin have not stepped up.

While sitting in the Charlotte NC airport as today connection point, an infrequent client sends an email asking if I will accept an offer on the 1814/3 if the coin does not sell at the auction reserve. He reminded me that the reserve was high as CAC guide is $14,500. My response was to the point, "Are you kidding?". Nope, he was not kidding and expected the coin to not sell at the reserve. It is tough to deal with those who are numismatically challenged and exhibting basic skills limited to reading a TPG label and a price guide. Sorry, but I hope the individual learns something from this call out.

As a little window dressing for this Blog edition, here is the 1814/3 $5 gold piece.

How High Will She Go?

1814/3 BD-1 PCGS EF45 CAC Rattler G$5 - Reserved at $19,500

 

Good luck to everyone who decides to place there bids this evening. We appreciate the early participation which will give me something to discuss within Sunday morning's Blog edition.

 

Wrapping Up A Late Blog

It is already after 4:00 PM with most of the day behind me. Will I wait for 5:00 PM to start Happy Hour, or is 4:30 PM acceptable?

Up next is unpacking to luggage pieces full of double row slabbed boxes and reorganizing the price list and auction inventory in the safe. Maybe that can wait until after dinner as all work and no play is no fun at this stage in a life.

Be well, and see you on Sunday morning.

 

 

August 21, 2025

OKC ANA Well Beyond Expectations

and

The Massachusetts and Tenafly Collection Auction Sales Open on Saturday!

 

Greetings again from the OKC ANA bourse floor on an early Thursday morning. Thank you so much for checking back.

The GFRC staff is in a bit of a laid back mode this morning after two busy days, If Summer ANA coin show history repeats itself, Thursday is typically the slowest day of the show week with Friday picking back up before this major numismatic event wraps up on Saturday. As a dealer, the show is a full week of being on the road along with the pre-show preparations and the post show administration.

What is the word on the show? Excellent and well beyond expectations. GFRC came to Oklahoma City with low expectations which have been well exceeded. After setting up on Tuesday morning. the wholesale dealer trade kicked in along with early bird retail. Wednesday was a full day of retails sales as many old friends arrived to our booth. Liberty Seated halves, quarters and U.S. gold were the strongest product lines coincident with the amount of inventory in the cases. The Massachusetts and Tenafly Collection lot viewing cases were also very active, again well beyond expectations. The reason is likely due to the fact that both collections offer coins at a collector "sweet spot" in terms of grades, CAC approval, and reserve prices. The 1814/3 $5 gold piece was by far the most active coin in the auction cases with a constant in-and-out as both collectors and dealers needing to view the piece. The consensus opinion is that this PCGS rattler encased lot is full AU50 and will see spirited bidding.

The day ended with Blake and Meliza taking Gerry, Diane, and Rich Hundertmark to a local barbecue venue that was certainly out of the way with a great menu selection and tasty food. The pork ribs were much large that expected and the spinach salad was close to Diane's creation back in Maine. After dinner, we received a lovely tour of the less than regularly travel locales within the city. By the time we were back in the hotel room, falling asleep was nearly instantaneous.

There were several highlights on Wednesday afternoon with one being good and another being stunningly bad. The Oregon Beaver made his first appearance at a major coin show in a decade with his arrival to OKC and quickly visiting booth #621 to introduce himself. I knew that the Beaver was coming to the show but the appearance was still a lovely anticipated surprise. Now for the bad...

If was near closing time with Diane, Rich, Blake and Gerry all standing within the booth confines when a dealer walks up to the U.S. gold case and points to one of our CAC approved gold Carson City pieces. No pleasantries, but rather a pointed finger to the coin. As I learned afterwards, Blake has shown this dealer the coin earlier. I took the coin to the laptop to check on what could be possibly be done in terms of a courtesy discount. A number was formulated and the coin returned to the dealer with the offer price. What happened next stunned us. He drops the coin on the case with an ugly face and states that the coin has scratches on the face and CAC does not know what they are doing and boldly walks away as if completely insulted with the offer price. Seriously, we were in shock as to the terrible behavior and just looked at each other to check if this moment had been imagined or was real. At that point we closed the booth and called it a day. This dealer now has the distinction of never again being welcomed at the booth.

 

A GFRC Team Photo!

Here is an image of the GFRC team prior to Rich Hundertmark's depature for the airport.

 

The Massachusetts and Tenafly Collection Auction Sales Open on Saturday!

In just the matter of two plus days, the next GFRC Online Auction will be live come August 23 at 9:00 PM. This is a huge GFRC event with 250 lots to consider including a truly fine amount of Liberty Seated dimes and U.S. gold along with a lovely selection of Seated quarters and halves.

At this point, there is not much else that can be shared that is new. Come next week and being back in the office, I will be blogging a running commentary on the bidding results and continually highlighting my favorite pieces.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

There is little else to share at this point. Rich is back in the booth after walking the floor for the last time as he exits come the late morning for a flight back to North Carolina. Blake is on his way and will immediately light up the booth's energy level upon arrival.

Thank you again for checking in and staying current with GFRC adventures.

Be well!

 

 

 

August 20, 2025

A Robust Oklahoma City ANA Show...So Far!

 

Greetings from the OKC ANA bourse floor and welcome to the Daily Blog on a Wednesday. Thank you for the visit.

Believe it or not, this is the second time that I write a Blog edition today. I'm still going through a learning curve with the Lenovo laptop including a few application hiccups. One was losing this morning's Blog edition as the laptop did not save the new composition. Therefore, here we are on a Wednesday afternoon to write again in between customers arriving to the GFRC booth.

Cutting to the chase, the OKC show has been robust to say the least. We were pleasantly surprised with Tuesday results. After setting up at 8:00 AM, the initial early birds arrived to the floor at 10:30 AM followed by the general public at 1:00 PM. The GFRC booth was pretty much non-stop busy the entire day between dealers looking for wholesale deals across the Newtown Liberty Seated halves and regular collectors securing first shot at price list inventory. Tough GFRC is a smaller dealer, we still are able to garner a reasonable amount of attention with our consignors sure to be pleased.

Here is a late Wednesday morning impromptu image of the happenings at the GFRC booth. Yes, that is Blake being Blake when the camera comes out.

 

That is it for now as the show is still cranking in full force.

Thank you for the visit.

Be well!

 

 

 

August 16, 2025

Heading to the OKC ANA

and

GFRC Online Auctions - August 23 Connoisseur's Sale Approaches

 

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

Another busy day is in the cards as the Yamatin family departs for Boston while Gerry remains at the homestead to pack up the GFRC business for the OKC ANA. Today's Blog edition focuses on two important remainders.

 

Oklahoma City ANA - GFRC at Booth #621

Locating the GFRC booth #621 requires a bit on walking on the bourse. We are on the far left of the UltraPremium section as illustrated next. Being a smaller dealer, we were close to last to select a table in the UltraPremium section, therefore our location. Working at the GFRC table, along with Gerry and Diane, will be Rich Hundertmark (GFRC-Lite) and Blake Gibb as table assistants.

GFRC will have eight cases at the corner table containing both auction lots and normal retail inventory. Since traveling via air, we are limited to the amount of coins that can be transported as compared to Whitman Baltimore and the Winter FUN show. Most of the Massachusetts and Tenafly auction lots will be available for auction lot viewing coupled with our regular price list inventory.

We are looking forward to face to face meetings with long time clients and those new to the GFRC platform.

Oklahoma City ANA - GFRC at Booth #621

 

I will be reporting from the OKC ANA when possible. Therefore, incremental Daily Blog editions will be posted on a best effort basis. There will be no Blog editions on Monday (flying) and Tuesday (8:00 AM) dealer setup. Let's see how the rest of the week plays out.

 

GFRC Online Auctions - August 23 Connoisseur's Sale Approaches

The next GFRC Online Auctions event arrives on the final day of the OKC ANA show, which is Saturday August 23.

The online catalog is available 24/7 for review and your auction bidding strategy setting. Come Saturday evening at 9:00 PM, the auction will go live and another week long bidding session will be underway.

Though being Liberty Seated dime centric, this event also offers a wonderful assemblage of Liberty Seated quarters and halves followed by U.S. gold. The 1814/3 Capped Bust PCGS EF45 CAC $5 gold piece is the standout lot that is sure to garner attention. This lot is a fitting opening for the Tenafly $5 gold run from 1839 through 1894-S.

Based on private lot reviews via phone discussions with several clients, I believe this auction will be well subscribed. The CAC that the majority of the lots are CAC approved should enable our community to bid with confidence. This will be the last opportunity for passionate Liberty Seated dime collectors to gain access to Fortin web-book plate coins in one auction session. With time, those plate coins will continue to be dispersed throughout the collector base.

Of course, there will be auction commentary, in the Daily Blog, starting on Sunday August 24 and throughout the auction week.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

There is little else to share at this point so let's wrap up with a thank you for the visit. If attending the OKC ANA, please be sure to stop by our booth #621 to say hello to Gerry, Diane, along with Rich from GFRC-Lite, and Blake Gibb, our home town host.

Be well!

 

 

 

 

August 15, 2025

A Roadway Shooting in Windham, Maine

First Blog Edition with Lenovo Laptop

and

Preparing for the the OKC ANA

 

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog at the August 2025 midpoint. Thank you for the return visit.

Southern Maine weather continues to be dry, really dry to the point that the birches are turning yellow and certain hard wood species are already moving into autumn colors. Our lawn is a crispy brown at this point and quite a sad situation for someone who prides himself in keeping attractive landscaping. The weather is out of my control and not much that can be done when on a well system. At this point, we should be thankful that the drought has not impacted the homestead water supply.

You might have heard about a shooting in Windham, Maine on Friday afternoon. I was lucky enough to be driving down to the Windham Staple to retrieve the Massachusetts and Tenafly Collection auction catalogs and arrived a few minutes after the event. The shooting took place on busy RT 302 which is the primary artery from I95 to the Sebago Lakes region. When I first arrived into downtown Raymond, there were six police vehicles in front of the "donut shop" across from the Raymond Post Office mall with traffic slowed as everyone was wondering what was going on. My immediate gut feel was that the police were looking for someone in that area.

I proceeded down RT302 to Windham with another three police cars heading north to Raymond. Yes, something big was happening. Once arriving into Windham at the Walmart and Hannaford store area, the reason was clear. Southbound traffic was backed up and being diverted right into a small road behind Walmart as there was a downed motorcycle in the northbound lane with a sheet covered body next to it. A second vehicle, a pickup truck with trailer was also off the road on the opposite side of the motorcycle. The thought at that time was that someone caused an accident and left the scene. Since being a local and knowing the short cuts, I diverted and drove through the Walmart parking lot which connects with the next mall that houses Staples. The catalog were secured and the return home ride took me east to the Town of Gray before heading north to the homestead.

Once home, we received a shelter in place warning on our cellphones as a shooter was on the loose at the Raymond/Windham town line, which is nearby the Raymond donut shop, By early evening, the shooter has been apprehended.

This event is big news for Windham, Maine and I had to share.

Today is the first Daily Blog edition being composed on the new Lenovo laptop as the port is complete. After returning home with the catalogs on Friday, the balance of the afternoon was spent wrapping up and debugging the port. The Lenovo is ready for transport to the OKC ANA on Monday. The quick move off the Dell XPS was wise as that laptop has been erratic since the slow charging event.

 

Preparing for the the OKC ANA

Today brings the final full day for the Yamatin family visit with Diane driving the family back to Boston on Sunday morning. After the Blog is uploaded, my attention shifts to invoicing ANA lots that will be picked up at the show along with starting to sort inventory that will be transported versus staying behind. We are flying with only 9 double row slabbed boxes of inventory with another empty box for the Island City and White Pine consignments that will be insourced at the show.

Rather than ramble on to create more reading content, I'm ending the Blog at this point and moving forward with another busy day. Matt and I have a late morning appointment for working together on a back acreage project with Johnny2.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Thank you for staying close to GFRC and personal happenings during the past week. The laptop port issue was entirely unexpected and consumed time that had been planned with family and OKC ANA preparations. We've recovered, as we always do.

Be well!

 

 

 

 

August 15, 2025

Who Needs A Radio in a Porsche?

GFRC Online Auctions - A Substantial October 11 Auction

and

Classic Silver Guest Blog - Preparing for the the OKC ANA

 

Greetings on a Friday morning and welcome to the Daily Blog. I'm trying to write this edition on the Dell XPS which has new issues and is just crawling along in terms of speed. Therefore, we will hit the high points only.

As the top headline indicates, who needs a radio in a Porsche? Yesterday's to/from drive to the Manchester NH airport was a joy as the 718 Boxster was operating like a charm with an open exhaust valve and beautiful exhaust sounds. I just can't imagine playing XM radio and blocking out those exhaust notes. At this time, the only time that the radio is on is when Diane is in the car. Enough said, again due to a poorly operating laptop.

 

GFRC Online Auctions - A Substantial October 11 Auction

The next GFRC Online Auction event came together in the matter of a few days. Currently, there are 71 lots committed from the Island City Type Set divestment and the White Pine $5 No Motto gold release. Here is the full page ad that will be published in club journals.

 

Classic Silver Guest Blog - Preparing for the OKC ANA

A long time GFRC client graces today's Blog edition with an OKC ANA guest blog. Darrell Low is excited about next week's annual summer event and sent along this commentary on how to prepare for maximizing the fun experience at the show. Please read on...

With the upcoming Summer ANA show in Oklahoma City, I am eagerly anticipating attending one of the two best shows of the year.  I have never been to Oklahoma City before and look forward to seeing what the city offers, especially as a Mickey Mantle fan. Part of what makes the Summer ANA show a must attend event is the social aspect of catching up with friends and dealers that live elsewhere around the country and hearing about the latest news about the hobby. This will be my 26th consecutive summer ANA show! If you are attending the LSCC meeting on Thursday morning, feel free to talk to me as I probably have seen many tens of thousands of Seated coins over the past few decades.

Here are some things to consider when preparing to attend a large coin show.

1.      Research the travel itinerary to the show – If driving, understand where and when traffic could be bad, where to take a break, and know what to expect for parking.  If flying, figure out what options are available from the airport to the show venue.

2.      Check the weather report as some shows have been very rainy or hot.

3.      Identify suitable breakfast, lunch, and dinner places as good food is part of the experience.

4.      Prepare a want list of what you are looking for to fill holes or to upgrade.

5.      Take some time to look at your coins in hand to help calibrate your eyes on grading.

6.      Review the auction lots online from the auction houses, as well as various dealers (including GFRC!) showing auction lots during the show and note the items of interest.

7.      Reach out to friends to see what their itinerary is and plan to meet up.

8.      Look at the online club meeting and presentation schedule – At ANA, several clubs including the Liberty Seated Collectors Club meet and have an educational presentation. They are all welcoming to anyone that wishes to attend whether a member or not. Every specialty club that I am a member of I’ve joined during the Summer ANA show. The hourly presentations are usually worthwhile attending if you have any interest in the topic.

9.      Look at the bourse layout to identify which dealers might have what you are looking for and where they are situated on the large bourse.

10.  Between attending meetings, bourse floor activities, lunch, and auction lot viewing, develop a rough schedule to give you enough time to get the most out of the show.

11.  Ensure you have your phone charger and loupe as they are important to have at a show.

12.  Get ready for a great time!

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Today's office activities are two-fold. First is some morning shipping followed by the rest of the day spent on completing the port from the Dell XPS to the new Lenovo laptop. This morning's Blog composition on the Dell was downright painful, thus the lack of much commentary.

Saturday's Blog will be written on the Lenovo for sure!

Thanks again for the visit.

Be well!

 

 

 

August 14, 2025

Operating with Two Laptops

Ayumi - The Budding Numismatist

Announcing Mid-October GFRC Online Auction Event

and

GFRC Inventory/Auction Lots at OKC ANA

 

Greetings on a Thursday morning and welcome to the Daily Blog. I'm glad to be here with an update being typed on the old Dell XPS. Thank you for the visit.

So what happened on Wednesday morning?

The day started with big plans which were quickly sidelined once arising and walking into the office. There was the Dell XPS with a white screen indicating that the charging circuit was problematic. The laptop was charging at a slow trickle and blaming the battery charger cable for being of insufficient power. Yes, the Dell has done this before, but unplugging the charger cable usually corrected the matter after a few attempts. Wednesday was different as I tried plugging and unplugging the charge cable into all three of the USB-C plugs multiple times without luck. Then came the thought that the OKC ANA is quickly approaching and a laptop is mandatory for operating the GFRC business at the show. I started to type a Blog edition but the battery was drawing down much too quickly and gave up that idea.

The Dell has also become a bit flaky this year with one event when the system went into blue screen mode out of no where and took time to recover after a power down and restart. Let's face it, the GFRC business cannot operate without a reliable computer given the COIN database management, image processing, and Adobe Dreamweaver FTP.

I made a quick decision to drive to the Portland Best Buy for purchasing a replacement laptop. Luckily, this Best Buy location had a host of laptop options across Dell, Asus, HP, Alienwear, and Lenovo to name the primary brands. My luck continued with a very knowledgeable sales person who understood the capabilities of the Dell XPS I9 9520 and how it was being used for processing the COIN database. He walked me to the potential replacement options and after 5 minutes of discussion, I decided to avoid Dell and move to a Lenovo replacement.

Once back home, the balance of the day was spent porting everything on the Dell XPS to the Lenovo Pro 5. The challenge was that the Dell was still slow charging with less than 10% battery power. The copying of large business folders to a flash drive took time with the Dell constantly signaling low batter conditions. It was an intense five hours of effort to move files and reconfigure browsers and all the necessary passwords for the various applications. The key challenge was launching Adobe Dreamweaver and establishing an FTP connection with the Hostway server.

At roughly 4:30 PM, the Dell slow charging issue disappeared and is still stable this morning as the Blog is being typed on the old XPS rather than the new Lenovo. The Lenovo port is still not complete as PhotoScape X software still needs to be located on the Dell XPS and move to the Lenovo plus a host of debugging to ensure that the new laptop is ready for normal office operations.

Call it being saved by the bell as we have a heat pump contractor arriving at 9:00 AM followed by driving the Porsche to Manchester NH this afternoon.

Being a small business owner does have its challenges as the entire port was done without Matt's help, on principal. My computer skills are rather decent at this point.

 

Ayumi - The Budding Numismatist

OK, let's move ahead with the content planned for Wednesday's Blog. The first topic is a lovely image of Grandpa and Ayumi in the office sorting a large pile of change that has accumulated over the years. Ayumi has a grand old time trying to sort the coins by size at first, but then moved to simply load and unload the pile into the cover of a gray PCGS box. She was chatting up a storm which I did not understand other than "coins".

 

Announcing Mid-October GFRC Online Auction Event

On Monday, I received an email from the White Pine Collection, a GFRC consignor/customer who has been with us for years. The time had come to sell his remaining $5 No Motto U.S. gold collection with a request to transfer the coins the the OKC ANA. Of course, GFRC would support this request and plan accordingly in terms of luggage space for the return transport of 31 pieces back to the Maine office.

The final White Pine Collection divestment is substantial with an insured value of $130,000 across 31 lots. All are PCGS and CAC certified with a host of branch mint pieces that will garner much attention. Here is a quick list of the forthcoming auction contents.

No Motto

1841-C P45 CAC, 1844-C P35 CAC, 1845 P55 CAC. 1846 LD P40 CAC, 1847-C P53 CAC, 1849 P53 CAC, 1849-C P45, CAC, 1850 P58 CAC, 1851-C P45 CAC, 1852 P55 CAC, 1852-C P35 CAC, 1853 P55 CAC, 1854-C P50 CAC. 1855 -S P30 CAC, 1856 P58 CAC, 1856-C P50 CAC, 1856-S P45, 1857-C, P40 CAC, 1858-C, P40 CAC, 1860-C P50 CAC, 1861 P58 CAC, 1862 P P40CAC, 1864 P08 CAC, 1865-S P35 CAC

Motto

1867 P45 CAC, 1867-S P40 CAC, 1868-S P55 CAC, 1870 P20 CAC, 1873-S P53 CAC, 1878-S P58 CAC

More details are forthcoming with the targeted auction starting on October 11 and finishing on October 18. There could be more lots based on a phone call from yet another GFRC client yesterday afternoon wishing to divest a $900,000 type set. A portion of that set will also be transferred to GFRC at the OKC ANA.

 

GFRC Inventory/Auction Lots at OKC ANA

Carry on luggage space must be carefully planned for the upcoming OKC ANA event given that GFRC will be transporting several important consignments back to the office. Diane and I can only transport ten double row slabbed boxes which is inadequate for current price list inventory and the Massachusetts and Tenafly auction lots. Then there is the required space for the show consignment drop-offs. Come Saturday, I will be deciding which inventory goes to OKC and what stays behind.

If wishing to see certain lots in GFRC inventory at the OKC ANA, please email me with those requests. My sorting criteria will be primary price point with the entire Massachusetts Seated Dime Ccollection being available for auction lot viewing along with the higher priced pieces in the Tenafly Collection.

 

GFRC-Lite Blog Posting Announcement

Rich Hundertmark sent along the following content on Tuesday concerning a Blog post on the GFRC-Lite website. Rich will be a GFRC table assistant, along with Blake Gibb, at the OKC ANA.

HI Gerry,

I just published an extensive blog on the Lite site that covered lots of ground including:

• Lite's July CAC and Annandale show report (catch-up)
• New Lite show schedule going forward
• ANA OKC show preview
• New 1946-D 50C PCGS MS64 CAC Doily offering

If you can mention this in your next blog that would be great.  It's getting close to the ANA and I'm pretty pumped for this show. Look forward to seeing you and Diane soon.

Best
Rich

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Today brings a heat pump contractor visit during the morning hours followed by a 5 hour to/from 718 Boxster drive to Manchester NH. After yesterday's intensive computer porting day, the time in the Porsche and the soothing open value exhaust sound will be medicine for the soul.

Once back home and in the office, I will be catching up on email correspondence and GFRC orders. There is also a need to prepare a full page ad for the Fall CENTINEL issue, the publication of the CSNS, by end of day to meet Barbara Gregory's deadline.

Come Friday, I will still be debugging the new Lenovo laptop towards transport to the OKC ANA rather than the Dell XPS.

Thank you for the visit. Be well!

 

 

 

August 13, 2025

A Full Computer Port is Underway

 

Greetings with a late Blog edition.

My Dell XPS laptop has developed a serious charging port issue. Maybe there will be a Blog on Thursday and maybe not as I'm limping along trying to port to a new Lonovo laptop.

Wish me luck.

 

 

 

August 12, 2025

It is Quite Dry in Southern Maine

Ayumi - The Climber

Hawk Farm Consignment Items to Consider

and

Another Fortin Seated Dime Web-Book Plate Coin Release

 

Greetings from southern Maine as we face yet another hot summer day as the National Weather Service has already issued a heat advisory. Thank you for the visit

Day by day, the homestead lawns are turning a tannish-brown as there is no precipitation in the forecast. My cherished landscaping is entering a period of drought induced stress with the lawn grasses moving into a dormant state, but remaining alive. Checking with AI Copilot, I learned that dormant lawns need only minimal water, about 1/2 to 1 inch of water every three to four weeks to survive. There is a chance for thunderstorms on Thursday and we can only hope for some precipitation. Following is an image from the back deck taken at 7:00 AM that illustrates the lawn conditions along with progress with the back acreage park building efforts. Clicking on the image provides access to a higher resolution version.

 

Ayumi - The Climber

Our granddaughter Ayumi is a climber. She loves to climb where ever possible and touts her ability to scale new heights. On Monday, Chikae took Ayumi to the "park" and let Ayumi experience the thrill of climbing the newly constructed rock wall. Afterwards, they returned to the top of Ledge Hill with Ayumi climbing up the pine and birch trees adjacent to our driveway. Here are some memorable images to document the event.

 

Hawk Farm Consignment Items to Consider

The latest Hawk Farm consignment is ready to post to the 30 Day Price List. Following are the lots with offer prices for consideration. At this time, there are no First Right of Refusals, therefore all are fair game and ready for immediate sale. Each piece is fully choice or GFRC gem rated. The 1911 $10 Indian is really nice, but then again, there is no quality weakness among the lots.

New Hawk Farm Collection Offerings

      1880 PCGS PR66 CAC 3CN - $825                                           1871 PCGS MS66+ CAC H10C - $1550  

        

  1814 O-17 PCGS AU55 50C - $1350                                           1911 PCGS MS64+ G$10 - $3995    

        

 

Another Fortin Seated Dime Web-Book Plate Coin Release

As promised, here is another random release of Liberty Seated dime web-book plate coins for your consideration. This time around, there are no Greer or Ahwash plate coins, but don't fret as the next tranche is already photographed with three Greer plate coins in the mix.

I've not had time to update the Liberty Seated Dime web-book with these new images, so please don't send me an email to remind me that this task is incomplete. Yep, I do get emails from collectors who feel compelled to remind me of this "oversight". Anyways, there are several important lots in this release. The 1875-CC BW F-107 is the precursor to the very rare F-107a with a retained cud below the date. On this lot, the die crack at the bottom of the date is quite pronounced. The 1875-S BW is a lovely example with minor doubling on the N in ONE. The jewel in this lot is the 1890 F-117a with a full reverse retained cud and the only example I have seen. Terminal die state collectors should take note. Yes, there are two reverse scratches as shown in the images.

More Web-Book Plate Coins to Consider

      1839-O RPM F-104 VF20 10C - $150                                                 1875-CC BW F-107 AU50 10C - $450     

        

                1875-S BW DDR F-111 MS62 10C - $225                                1890 R7 Rev Retained Cud F-117a AU50 10C - $495       

        

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Today brings more shipping as sales have been robust followed by a full afternoon in the office loading the above lots to the 30 Day Price List. I will also be working on the release of other nine Liberty Seated dimes, nearly all being web-book and/or Greer plate coins.

Come Thursday, the 718 Boxster is heading to the Manchester NH airport cellphone lot where I am meeting the client who purchased the 1849-O PCGS AU58 Liberty Seated quarter for a direct hand-off. This individual will also be passing along a Seated quarter consignment including his duplicate 1849-O quarter.

That is a wrap for today's Blog edition. Thank you so much for staying close to GFRC events. Please remember to be happy and well!

 

 

 

August 11, 2025

Final Week Before 2025 Oklahoma City ANA

and

30 Day Price List Sales are Robust!

 

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog on another summer Monday morning. Thank you for the repeated visits.

Unfortunately, today's edition will be brief as I had a start-up problem with Adobe Dreamweaver which took some time to resolve. The application is finally stable and I'm typing as fast as possible to publish close to the typical 8:00 AM release.

The anticipation is building for next week's annual summer ANA show being held in Oklahoma City. It is an infrequent occasion when Diane and I fly with GFRC inventory but there is no choice this year. I was surprised to learn that Diane booked a Portland, Maine to Dallas flight with a subsequent connection to OKC. The Portland flight leaves at a reasonable morning time rather than the typical 5:00 to 6:00 AM flights to connecting hubs in Baltimore, Chicago, NYC, or Charlotte. This will be Diane's first visit to OKC and my second.

The Yamatin family has truly settled into the homestead and we are living as a three generation family for another week. Last evening, Meme took Natsumi to a drive-on movie, a new experience for our 11 year old granddaughter. Matt, on the other hand, jumped on Johnny2 and is working on a back acreage beautification project. He is quickly mastering the backhoe and his efforts are much appreciated.

Come Thursday, I will be in a serious OKC ANA preparation mode. In the meantime, we are supporting a host of new orders and will be loading the new Hawk Farm lots to the 30 Day Price list.

 

30 Day Price List Sales are Robust!

We could not be more pleased with the robust sales currently being experienced. Most of the Hoosier Collection quarters have sold including the 1838 Closed Claws in a Doily holder that was claimed during the overnight. Also being ordered during the overnight was the Running Boar 1881/0 $5 gold piece.

On Sunday, I posted four more raw Liberty Seated dimes from the 2x2 double row box including an Ahwash plate and a Greer plate coin along with the usual Fortin web-book plate coins. Three of the four quickly sold with multiple orders arriving. Please don't worry as I will be loading more web-book plate coins during the coming week.

Given the robust sales, the number of new offerings on the 30 Day Price List has dipped to a level that needs some serious attention. Actually, this is a great problem to have as new listings are selling as quickly as I can post them.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Today's agenda is typical for a Monday. There is a decent amount of morning shipping followed by an afternoon in the GFRC office posting the Hawk Farm consigned lots (prices have been approved) and adding more Seated dime web-book plate coins to the price list.

Southern Maine weather is hot with daily highs in the low 90s. This limits working in the back acreage to late afternoons into dusk. Matt reported that there were no mosquitoes last evening which is a testament to how dry the land has become.

Thank you so much for the ongoing visits and the many purchases. We appreciate your ongoing patronage.

Be well!

 

 

 

August 10, 2025

Hoosier Liberty Seated Quarters Finding New Homes!

 

Greetings on a southern Maine Sunday morning and welcome to the Daily Blog. Here comes another edition for general consumption. Thank you for the visit.

As I start composing, Natsumi walked into the office for her daily "good morning" hug. How I enjoy this ritual of being so respected as a grandfather where a morning hug is offered. Natsumi is only 11 years old and is now as tall as Diane. Otherwise, the homestead is quiet as Ayumi is still sleeping. When Ayumi arises, everyone is well aware of her presence.

My day started early at 5:00 AM with a wonderful view of both Venus and Jupiter in close proximity in the eastern sky.

Saturday brought the purchase of the 5 ton electric wood splitter with all the excitement of a new adult toy. Unfortunately, the barn's solar system inverter is not strong enough to handle the motor's start-up surge current and errored out. So much for splitting wood behind the barn. We will try connecting the splitter to the homestead power source to verify that the issue is the barn's inverter and not the newly purchased unit.

Also on Saturday, the afternoon brought a father-son project in the back acreage. We cleared a small brush section along the stone path heading down to the trails. Matt operated Johnny2 and learned how to move material with the front loader along with further working experience with the backhoe. Key was learning how to drive into a material pile in an efficient manner with the front loader to ensure a full bucket. Sorry, but I did not take any pictures.

Let's move into numismatics...

 

Hoosier Liberty Seated Quarters Finding New Homes!

The Hoosier Seated quarter debut has gone well with three of the seven coins already finding new homes. The 1871-S sold immediately followed by the 1886 low mintage issue. We are pleased to also report that the rare 1872-S quarter has found a new home with the purchase being finalized at the Oklahoma City ANA show. Our congratulations go out to the City By The Collection for taking this huge step and upgrading his current mid-circulated grade 1872-S.

There were inquiries on the 1838 Closed Claws and the 1849-O too. Asking price was the issue for the 1838 in a Doily holder and I made it clear that the offer price was fair for the combination Closed Claw rarity in a Doily holder. There are those that have trouble paying up for rarity.

Let's talk about the 1849-O for a moment. I really like this coin and cannot explain why it does not have a CAC green bean. This lot remains in its original PCGS Gen 4.0 (1998-2022) holder. The fields are steely reflective and 100% original. with natural patination. IMHO the grading is spot on. Let's remember that CAC review is not flawless based on the experience with the 1885-S NGC MS65 Seated dime in my personal collection. The first CAC submission in its original NGC holder resulted in the coin not being approved much to my amazement and frustration. After crossing the dime into a fresh PCGS Gen 6.1 holder, the next submission resulted in CAC approval. My gut feel is that the 1849-O quarter should be reholdered with another CAC attempt by the new owner. I can never guarantee the outcome, but maintain that the 1849-O is fully choice and deserve another shot by whomever desires this key date piece.

 

Another Hawk Farm Consignment Being Processed

I'm quite pleased with the steady flow of small consignments that have arrived during the past week along with the strong sales. For example, I contacted the Beaver to see if he has more Liberty Seated halves to offer and we are in a discussion for another smaller consignment.

Here is a four piece consignment that arrived late last week from the Hawk Farm Collection. These will be photographed and processed today.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Northeast weather has been warm and sunny with the trend continuing through next weekend. Unfortunately, the lack of rain is taking its toll on the vegetation with the back lawn moving into a dormant crispy brown. Already, the birch tree by the construction stone path is starting to turn yellow as being stressed by the lack of water. If these dry conditions continue, the autumn foliage season will be early this year.

Thanks again for the visit. I will be in and out of the office today.

Be well!

 

 

 

August 9, 2025

Hoosier Liberty Seated Quarters Ready to Sell!

 

Greetings on a tranquil southern Maine Saturday morning and welcome to the Daily Blog. We appreciate the ongoing community support.

Today's edition will be on the brief side with the Hoosier Liberty Seated quarter showcase gallery being the main feature. Let's move right into this topic.

 

Hoosier Liberty Seated Quarters Ready to Sell!

Opportunity knocks this morning as one does not often see an AU58 lot of better date Liberty Seated quarters reaching the marketplace. The Hoosier Collection has been pursuing AU58 Seated quarters across multiple decades as his primary numismatic passion. Our consignor is a purist and typically leaves his purchases in their original holders, similar to my own experiences with the Seated dimes.

We open the display with a key New Orleans date 1849-O quarter that has secured a GFRC-Choice quality rating and is housed in a Gen 4.0 (1998-2002) holder as purchased from Jim O'Donnell during that period. This lot comes highlight recommended as close, if not equal, to CAC standards. If stickered this lot would be a $20,000 to $23,000 coin. The 1866, certified AU55, is partially mirrored with the Childs pedigree with rub and faint lines in the right field. The 1871-S is a real sweetheart and has already sold. The 1872-S is an important offering with brilliant frosted luster and vibrant cartwheels. Some rub in the fields holds this one back from being CAC approved.

In the lower priced group is a rare 1838 Closed Claws, per Briggs, housed in a PCGS Gen 2.0 (1989) Doily holder. This piece is strongly reflective as being struck from freshly polished dies. The 1852 is Briggs 2-B and a premium example with Choice quality rating and purchased from GFRC. Lastly is the 1886, also in the GFRC Sales Archive, and the lowest mintage Philadelphia date.

At this time, there are FRoR on the 1838 and 1872-S lots. If having the funds, or needing a layaway, a wise collector would select the 1849-O key date as it comes with my recommendation. Have fun considering this important Hoosier Collection release.

Hoosier Liberty Seated Quarters to Consider

      1849-O PCGS AU58 25C - $17,500                                                   1866 PCGS AU55 25C - $2950           

        

       1871-S PCGS AU58 25C - $7500                                                1872-S PCGS AU58 25C - $17,000    

        

1838 Cl Claws PCGS AU58 25C Doily - $2250          1852 Br 2-B PCGS AU58 25C - $1850                   1886 PCGS AU58 25C - $1650                 

                      

 

Massachusetts and Tenafly Auctions Catalogs Being Printed

Just a quick note the August 23 auction catalogs are now being printed at our local Staples store. Jennifer has handled a host of GFRC catalog orders and will get these done well before we depart for Oklahoma City on Monday August 18th.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Another small consignment arrived on Friday and will be presented in tomorrow's Blog. Otherwise, Matt and I are heading to a local Harbor Freight store and plan to purchase a 5 Ton electric log splitter today. I've always wanted a log splitter and this low priced electric model is ideal for splitter just enough wood for homestead needs.

The Yamatin family continues their summer vacation at the homestead and are enjoying themselves. Diane's home cooking has been fantastic along with a well stocked bar of aperitifs. Chikae brought a wonderful plum wine (Japanese sake) that we opened last evening. Life is good.

Thanks again for the visit and please remember to let stress go and just be well.

 

 

 

August 8, 2025

Oregon Beaver Seated Halves Sold Out

and

Hoosier Liberty Seated Quarter Consignment Arrives

 

Greetings on a Friday morning and welcome to the Daily Blog. Another week moves along much too quickly, but we do appreciate the ongoing visit.

The buzz in the gold market this morning is a function of a "supposed" 39% tariff being imposed on Swiss manufactured 1 kilo and 100 ounce gold bars. Here is the story line from Market Watch as breaking news.

Gold futures prices soared early Friday on a report the U.S. has ruled that gold bars would be subject to tariffs. On a continuous basis, gold futures GC00 +0.60% jumped $40.40, or 1.1%, to $3,494.40 an ounce, reaching an intraday high of $3,534.20, which takes out the previous April 22 intraday record of $3,509.90 an ounce. The futures price could indicate a new record close to eclipse $3,452.80 reached on June 13. Sending prices surging, the Financial Times reported that it saw a July 31 letter from the Customs Border Protection Agency stating that one-kilo and 100-ounce gold bars should be classified under a customs code that subjects them to tariffs.

So far, gold is trading at $3390 on the LBMA.

Otherwise, it is a quiet start to the day, so let's move to today's headlines.

 

Oregon Beaver Seated Halves Sold Out

That did not take long.... Last evening brought two orders for the remaining 1874-S PCGS MS63 CAC half leading to a quick sell out of this fresh consignment.

The newly posted Running Boar consignment has already seen two of the three lots going on hold.

There is nothing better for all parties than seeing fresh consignments selling quickly.

 

Hoosier Liberty Seated Quarter Consignment Arrives

Up next in the GFRC consignment queue is a seven piece Liberty Seated quarter lot from the Hoosier Collection. These quarters were photographed on Thursday along with a pricing proposal submitted to the consignor for consideration. Following is a desk top image of the seven lots taken at an angle to avoid lightly reflections from the afternoon sun in the office window.

The 1852 and 1886 quarters have been previously handled by GFRC with records in the Sales Archive. The 1838 is the rare Closed Claws reverse in a PCGS Doily holder. This coin was struck from freshly basined dies as die polish lines are readily evident under a 10x along with a few scattered hairlines. The key highlight is the 1849-O quarter graded PCGS AU58 and securing a GFRC-Choice quality rating. So far, there is one FRoR which will be dispositioned once the offer prices are settled.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

This is the extent of today's content as I was quite busy in the GFRC office yesterday. So how about today?

There is light shipping coupled with heading down to Windham Staples for the August 23 auction catalog printing job. The latter did not take place on Thursday as I was catching up on background office administration tasks without any time in the back acreage.

All is well with the Yamatin family visit too. Eleven year old Natsumi joined Diane for a grocery shopping trip in Windham and was treated to her first brushless car wash experience on the way home. I've offered Natsumi a ride in the 718 Boxster this morning, but that might be a bit to "scary" given the loud exhaust sound.

Thank you again for the ongoing visits.

Be well!

 

 

 

August 7, 2025

Revealing a Weathered Ledge Outcrop

Oregon Beaver Seated Halves Sell Quickly

and

Running Boar Consignment Arrives

 

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog on a Thursday morning. Thank you, as always, for checking back on a another day's ramblings.

The Raymond homestead has a special feeling when the Yamatin family settles in for a two week urban Boston escape. Matt continues to conduct his day job remotely while Grandpa operates the GFRC business. Granddaughter Ayumi is the center of attention and adds a unique flavor to the homestead. Yesterday, Matt took Ayumi for a Polaris UTV ride across the trails while Diane and Ayumi did a slow trail walk along the short loop crossing trail. Bottom line is that everyone is happy and enjoying life.

As commented in yesterday's Blog, the morning was spent outdoors preparing more of the newly cleared area for potential seeding once we see a period of rain on the horizon. The morning focus was uncovering and cleaning a weathered ledge outcrop that had been buried by vegetation. Once the outcrop was properly broomed, I was able to appreciate its potential history given the weathered gray color and deep cracks. The surface conditions indicate that this piece of ledge was exposed to the sun for centuries before being covered by dirt and brush. Below is an image of the outcrop. Once we can secure some heavy rains, the remaining fine dirt will be washed away to expose the rich gray colors.

 

Oregon Beaver Seated Halves Sell Quickly

The newest Oregon Beaver consignment has been well received as its should! The three Mint State Seated halves are premium lots that have been finally released by the Beaver. The 1871 is a gorgeous GFRC-Gem rated offering along with the 1876-S that were promptly scooped up by two existing clients. Both of these clients did pass on the 1874-S regardless of its tiny CAC stickered population to the benefit of the remaining Liberty Seated half dollar collectors in our community. I'm certain that the 1874-S will sell at the Oklahoma City ANA if not sooner.

Available

1874-S PCGS MS63 CAC 50C - $5250

Immediately Sold

     1871 PCGS MS64 CAC 50C - $3700                                           1876-S PCGS MS64+ CAC 50C - $2750    

        

 

Running Boar Consignment Arrives

The Running Boar Collection returns with a lovely three piece consignment that was photographed on Wednesday afternoon but has yet to be priced. Following is a quick desktop image of these lots with the 1869 half enjoying a FRoR. The 1835 Classic Head $5 was previously sold by GFRC with that record being available in the Sales Archive. We can expect to see these lots posted to the 30 Day Price List by end of day

 

Gold and Silver Prices Remain Strong

The two primary precious metals continue to trade at the upper end of their consolidation ranges during the early morning hours. Kitco reports that gold is quoting at $3380 on the London exchange while silver has climbed back to $38.38/oz.

My YouTube watching continues to focus on geopolitics and precious metals. This morning brought an interview with Eric Sprott, a billionaire investor and founder of the Sprott precious metal ETFs with his physical stored at the Royal Canadian Mint. Eric Sprott made his monies investing in a host of gold and silver miners. The interview was candid as Eric was operating during the 2000 dot.com bubble collapse and the 2008 financial crisis. During both of those events, gold did spectacularly well as monies flowed out of equities into the safety of precious metals. He now sees the highly elevated Mag7 pricing levels as yet another bubble in the making with some traders playing one day options as an example of the risk level that is embedded in the markets. His recommendation is to avoid the allure, or the FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) of the ever increasing S&P 500, driven by the Mag7, and instead move monies into gold for safety. When the market does pullback, those in gold will be handsomely rewarded.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

I will be working in the GFRC office for most of the day along with heading into Windham for initiating an August 23 auction catalog printing at Staples. The Running Boar consignment will be priced and posted to the price list.

Yesterday brought a late afternoon arrival of a seven piece PCGS AU58 Liberty Seated quarter lot, courtesy of the Hoosier Collection. This arrival will also be processed and showcased within Friday's Blog edition.

Thanks again for the ongoing visits.

Be well!

 

 

August 6, 2025

Finally! The Tenafly Collection Auction Catalog Arrives!

and

Oklahoma City ANA - Where is GFRC's Booth?

 

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

Finally, the new Tenafly Liberty Seated Dime Collection and $5 Gold Sale auction catalog arrives after considerable effort. The PDF formatted catalog is available by clicking the below auction cover to gain access to another Liberty Seated Collectors Club member's numismatic journey as told by his Liberty Seated dime acquisitions. This collection is a cavalcade of circulated better dates and Top 100 Varieties, all with CAC approval. Both the Massachusetts and Tenafly Collection auction catalogs are also available at the Auction link which features a 250 lot online catalog of wonderful offerings.

 

Oklahoma City ANA - Where is GFRC's Booth?

The annual summer numismatic event of the year arrives in less than two weeks. Yes, the ANA World's Fair of Money Show is being held in Oklahoma City this year and provides an opportunity for collectors and dealers to visit an American city that we might not otherwise travel to. As trivia, Oklahoma City is the HQ for Hobby Lobby and the current residence of the Sooner Collection. I had the opportunity to visit Oklahoma City last October courtesy of Blake Gibb as we attended Hallet Racing School located in Jennings, OK. Some of the take-aways during that visit were that OKC is flat, has many warehouses, with a gorgeous old mansions area set up on a hill. Blake was kind enough to pick me at the airport with his yellow Porsche GT4 and provided a driving tour of the entire city including the convention center where the ANA Summer show is being held.

The GFRC booth #621 is on the far left of the UltraPremium section of the bourse has illustrated next. Being a smaller dealer, we were close to last to select a table in the UltraPremium section, therefore our location. Working at the GFRC table, along with Gerry and Diane, will be Rich Hundertmark (GFRC-Lite) and Blake Gibb as table assistants.

GFRC will have eight cases at the corner table containing both auction lots and normal retail inventory. Since traveling via air, we are limited to the amount of coins that can be transported as compared to Whitman Baltimore and the Winter FUN show. Most of the Massachusetts and Tenafly auction lots will be available for auction lot viewing coupled with our owned and consignment inventories.

Diane and I are looking forward to the event with this being Diane's first time to OKC.

Oklahoma City ANA - GFRC at Booth #621

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Now that the Massachusetts and Tenafly auction catalogs are completed, the last task is heading to our local Staples store for printing copies. This task will take place on Thursday for one simple reason. After spending Sunday through Tuesday building the Tenafly auction catalog, I'm taking a partial day off from the GFRC office and heading to the back acreage park to work outdoors. The weather forecast is calling for temperatures in the mid-70s which is idle for moving dirt, digging rocks, and chain saw activities. Come the weekend, temperatures are forecasted to back in the low 80s.

Offer prices have been approved for the new Oregon Beaver consignment. Since Tuesday was cloudy, photography will take place today along with quoting offer prices to those with FRoR.

Thank you so much for returning to the Daily Blog and staying current with our numismatic and outdoor park development activities. I will try to remember to take pictures today for Thursday's edition.

Be well!

 

 

 

August 5, 2025

Tenafly Collection Auction Catalog Publishes Today

and

A Premium Oregon Beaver Consignment Arrives

 

Greetings and welcome to a short Daily Blog edition. It is a Tuesday morning and all is quiet at the Fortin homestead, at least for the time being. Thank you for the visit.

Relief is the operative word this morning as the Tenafly Collection auction catalog is done after a nearly full day in the GFRC office focused on this accomplishment. Sure, I must still conduct the proof reading task followed by creating a PDF file and posting the auction cover at the Auction link. That posting will also include the Massachusetts Collection auction cover towards wrapping up the August 23 auction preparations. Once these deliverables are posted, there will be a sense of relief with the reward being some time on Johnny2 for back acreage construction work on Wednesday.

After reviewing all of the Tenafly auction lots, there are some standout offerings that come highly recommended for their die variety or plate coin historical significance concerning Liberty Seated coinage or rarity in the United States $5 Liberty gold realm. Please consider the following highlights when conducting your auction analysis.

Tenafly Collection Auction Highlights

      1840-O F-101a PCGS AU58 CAC 10C - $5500                                 1851-O F-101 PCGS EF45 CAC 10C - $950        

        

   1854-O F-102 PCGS VF25 CAC 10C - $1250                                  1855 F-108 PCGS MS63+ CAC 10C - $1350  

        

1859-O F-103 PCGS MS63 Gold CAC 10C - $2150                                1860-O F-101 PCGS VF25 CAC 10C - $3950      

        

    1867-S F-102a PCGS EF40 CAC 10C - $1600                              1876-CC F-131 PCGS MS64 CAC 10C - $1500    

        

   1887-S F-107 PCGS VF35 CAC 10C - $550                                   1891-O F-119 PCGS AU50 CAC 10C - $300    

        

  1852-C PCGS AU55 CAC G$5 - $7000                                           1862-S PCGS G06 CAC 10C - $7000    

        

 

A Premium Oregon Beaver Consignment Arrives

Monday brought the arrival of the first of three new GFRC consignments. Leading the charge is a premium three price Liberty Seated half dollar consignment from the Oregon Beaver Collection. All three San Francisco struck lots are CAC approved Mint State with frosted (1874-S, 1876-S) and steely-frosted (1871) luster. The 1871 half, per the CAC census is pop 5 at grade with only two finer. Then there is the 1874-S with an overall CAC census of only 11 examples. The Beaver MS63 is the lone approved at grade with three finer. The 1876-S with its MS64+ certified grade is close to the top of the CAC condition census and should also garner significant attention.

 

These three important halves will be photographed today and loaded into the COIN system with a pricing proposal to our consignor by end of day. If wishing to secure a First Right of Refusal, then have at it.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Today brings another office day given the Tenafly auction catalog publishing task, morning shipping, and the Oregon Beaver consignment. Come Wednesday, I am planning to spend time in the back acreage and thoroughly enjoying time away from the GFRC office as a break from the laptop is needed.

Gold is once again range bound with a morning London quote of $3352. The Red Sox took the first game of their three game series with the Kansas City Royals and are now only three games out of first place in the AL East. Now you know what I am watching....

Thanks you again for the visit. Be well!

 

 

 

August 4, 2025

A Full House

Missed Another Daily Blog Anniversary

and

Completing the Tenafly Collection Auction Catalog

 

Greetings on the first Monday in August 2025 and welcome to another Daily Blog edition. Thank you for the visit.

As the top headline indicates, the Raymond homestead is now in full house mode and we are enjoying having the Yamatins here for the next two weeks. As previously communicated, granddaughter Ayumi has a way of making her presence known and felt in a good way. As I predicted in Sunday's Blog, their arrival was 15 minutes before happy hour and well timed. My kudos go out to Diane for driving a five hour round trip to central Boston and back as a special chauffeur.

As the today's Blog edition is being typed, the house is quiet but that will change shortly. During the early morning quiet period, I was able to prepare my regular breakfast and catch-up on the gold and silver trading over in London along with the Red Sox sweeping the Houston Astros at Fenway. The Red Sox are the hottest team in baseball and certainly fun to cheer on a winning team.

Yesterday's Liberty Seated dime web-book plate coin release was a sell out and then some. We could have sold most of these lots multiple times. Please don't worry if missing out as there are many, many more dimes to be released in the coming months.

There is no prepared content for today's edition so let's talk about random thoughts, shall we?

 

Missed Another Daily Blog Anniversary

I'm terrible with remembering anniversaries, just ask Diane!

Can you believe that the first Daily Blog edition was published July 5, 2014? Since that date, I have never remembered to write an "anniversary edition" including the all important 10 year milestone. As expected, I missed the 11th anniversary this year.

11+ years of sitting at the laptop during the quiet early morning hours has become much more than a GFRC marketing tool. The Daily Blog has become a personal lifestyle and online diary. On the laptop and backed up on the Hostway server is a record of 11 years of building the GFRC platform along with the development of the homestead property. Day by day, the micro step for both initiatives are highly detailed.

How I wish that I would have kept the same level of detail on the many years operating in Asia including the six years in mainland China. The experiences and lessons learned were priceless and shaped me for the better.

Here are two images taken while leading a Joint Venture Fab construction project in Jilin City, China for Fairchild Semiconductor during 2004 as a bit of Monday morning nostalgia. The first image is Gerry with Charles Siu, leading the JV transfer for Jilin Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (JSMC). This was an impromptu image outside the new fabrication building with fab tools being moved into the middle floor via cranes. A semiconductor fab is typically a three story building with the middle floor being an open ballroom where the semiconductor processing equipment is installed and operated. The top floor is dedicated to HVAC and air exchangers while the bottom floor holds vacuum pumps and supporting systems for the fabrication tools. Fairchild had shipped excess equipment from its South Portland, Maine and Mountaintop, Pennsylvania facilities into China through the Dalian entry port. I could write a book on the hurdles that were overcome towards clearing China import barriers and customs obligations for our older manufacturing equipment. All that you have heard about unprincipaled approaches to get stuff done in China was experienced first hand. The second image is Charles with his staff.

 

Completing the Tenafly Collection Auction Catalog

Much progress was made with the Tenafly Collection auction catalog on Sunday while Diane was transporting the Yamatin family. After morning shipping, I will be returning to this project and striving for completion at some point on Tuesday. Once this catalog is completed, both the Massachusetts and Tenafly cover pages will be posted at the Auction link. At that point, the only remaining task is having a catalog run printed at Staples for the quickly arriving ANA World's Fair of Money that starts on August 19th.

 

Wrapping Up the Blog

There is little else to share other than the positioning of gold and silver for the new week. Gold is trading at $3368/oz while silver is quoting at $37.26. There is more negativity on YouTube concerning an extended gold consolidation and the inability to hold the $3400 mark. The YouTube prophets are still very bullish for silver.

I will be in the GFRC office for most of the day other than a delivery to the Raymond post office.

Thanks again for stopping by.

Be well!

 

 

 

August 3, 2025

GFRC Consignments Update

Another Liberty Seated Dime Web-Book Plate Coin Release

and

Working on the Tenafly Collection Auction Catalog

 

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog on a peaceful Sunday morning. Thank you for checking in.

"Peaceful" in the morning's operative word as the Yamatin family returns to the homestead for another two week stay come mid-afternoon. Diane and I are looking forward to have the house full of life again as 2+ year old Ayumi has a habit of making her presence felt. Diane is an absolute sweetheart as she heads to Boston this morning with the MDX to act as the family transport back to Maine.

Yes, there was no Blog edition on Saturday and thank you for not reminding me of this fact. I plainly needed a break from the morning routine and enjoyed the extra time to relax and shift focus towards other matters both within and outside numismatics. The day ended with a lovely 718 Boxster top down ride to Falmouth for dinner at the Sicilian Table, a marvelous eatery that has become out favorite place to dine. I continually am amazed with the Porsche performance. The day's final moments were spent sitting in the gazebo with a tiny glass of Jameson's Black and Black whiskey and listening to tunes on the cellphone. There is a magical feeling of sitting among the many stone walls and watching dusk arrive with the solar lights turning on within a minute or two each other.

Let's move into today's headline topics, shall we?

 

GFRC Consignments Update

Now that the GFRC consignment has been reopened, there are already three lots shipping to the office this coming week. Following is a list of what is in transit or about to be shipped. My apologies, but there are no First Rights of Refusal on these incoming coins.

Liberty Seated Quarters

1838 Closed Claws PCGS AU58, 1849-O PCGS AU58, 1852 PCGS AU58, 1866 PCGS AU58. 1871-S PCGS AU58, 1872-S PCGS AU58, 1886 PCGS AU58

Liberty Seated Halves

1869 NGC EF40 CAC, 1871 PCGS MS64 CAC, 1874-S PCGS MS63 CAC, 1876-S PCGS MS64+ CAC

U.S. $5 Gold

1835 PCGS AU50 CAC, 1881/0 PCGS AU50 CAC OGH

 

Another Liberty Seated Dime Web-Book Plate Coin Release

In lieu of composing a Blog edition on Saturday, I took the time to rummage through the double row 2x2 raw boxes towards selecting some incremental Liberty Seated dime web-book plate coin offerings. Nine coins were pulled and photographed during the noon time hour. Following are five of those lots that are available for immediate purchase. All have some interesting aspects for the various die variety collectors in the audience.

The 1875-CC lots offer well defined rim cuds while the 1875-S F-114 has a boldly struck obverse paired with a shattered and eroded reverse die which is symptomatic of 1875 San Francisco dime production of that year. The 1876 F-104 Double Die Reverse exhibits pretty toning, luster, and both the doubled reverse and heavy die clashing. Last is the 1876 Type 2 reverse F-101a with perfect coin gray patination and also being the plate coin within Brian Greer's The Complete Guide to Liberty Seated Dimes reference, page 140.

Where appropriate, I have already updated the Liberty Seated dime online reference with these improved images. This is your opportunity to acquire web-book plate coins as acting as the next curator. All of these, except for the 1875-S, were purchased during the 1994 through 1996 time frame. Though not posted to the 30 Day Price List yet, these lots are immediately available for purchase and requiring little in terms of a description.

 

Liberty Seated Dime Die Variety Reference Plate Coins

    1875-CC IW F-111a Cud at 12:00 AU50 10C - $325                           1875-CC BW F-109 Cud at 12:00 AU50 10C - $435    

        

      1875-S BW F-114 Shattered Rev EF45 10C - $85                             1876 F-104 DDR Top 100 #68 AU55 10C - $175      

        

1876 Type 2 Rev F-101a Greer Plate Coin AU50 10C - $145

 

Working on the Tenafly Collection Auction Catalog

Today's primary focus will be on moving forward with the second of the two PDF auction catalogs for the upcoming August 23 online auction event. Yes, my attention shifts to the Tenafly Collection catalog that features a substantial amount of CAC approved Liberty Seated dimes and United States $5 gold.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

There is little else to ramble about at this point other than the fact that the Red Sox are now in second place in the American League eastern division. It is always great to see the Red Sox ahead of the NY Yankees in the standings.

Thank so much for the returning visit. Be well!

 

 

 

August 1, 2025

Lawn Seeding During Light Rain

The GFRC Consignment Window is Open

and

Working on the Tenafly Collection Auction Catalog

 

Greetings on the opening day of August 2025 and welcome to the Daily Blog. Thank you for the visit.

Today's edition will be brief as there is much on the agenda. The lawn needs to be mowed prior to the Fortins hosting a dinner party come the late afternoon and the Yamatin family returning to the homestead this weekend. I've held off mowing during dry and hot summer spells so as to not further stress the grass. Yesterday brought a full day of rain with the soil now moist at least through the weekend.

Thursday's rain brought an opportunity to complete the grass seeding of the topmost section behind the newly constructed stone wall. I had been waiting for the right moment when there would be sufficient rain to justify placing seed into the ground and yesterday worked out just fine. The below image was taken while composing the Blog at 7:30 AM, thus the long shadows from a low sun in the eastern sky. The beautiful clear blue skies at the top of Ledge Hill providing for a lovely contrast to the yellow-green landscape and the brown dirt. If looking carefully, you will note that three feet of crushed stone, with weed mat underneath, was first installed against the stone wall before the final leveling with Johnny2 and hand removal of the remaining stones and exposed roots. The crushed stone nicely fills the space between the rocks and also simplifies weed management. The entire task was accomplished during the morning with light rain underway. The final step was hand spreading two straw bales to cover the newly seeded area in an attempt to hold the moisture in the ground. Now that this section is seeded, my attention shift to the sharply downward sloping area and the exposed ledge outcrop for cleanup along with a sloping ground management solution. There is an idea percolating in my mind.

Of course, the irony in the story is that a substantial flock of wild turkeys has decided to move into the Fortin and Dodson backyards immediately after this area was seeded. Now comes the stress of monitoring the flock to ensure that they don't decide to visit this newly seeded plot.

 

The GFRC Consignment Window Is Open

Yes, the GFRC consignment window in now open. However, I must temper consignor expectations if wishing to consign larger lots of 15 or more coins. The month of August will be busy with the Oklahoma ANA show and corresponding preparations. So far, I have received two smaller consignment commitments with those coins arriving next week. The two consignments total six coins, but all being premium Seated and U.S. gold offerings.

 

Working on the Tenafly Collection Auction Catalog

My attention now shifts to preparing the Tenafly Collection auction catalog as the top GFRC priority. Once this catalog is completed, a small print run of both the Massachusetts and Tenafly Collection catalogs will be accomplished and ready for the ANA show.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

There is little else to share at this point, so let's close today's Blog edition.

I will be in and out of the office the entire day with the previously mentioned lawn mowing and dinner party preparations. There is no shipping today as we will ship orders on Saturday and Monday.

Thanks for the visit. Be well!

 

 

 

July 31, 2025

Massachusetts Collection PDF Auction Catalog is Available

and

Tom Coulombe's Liberty Seated Dime Numismatic Journey - In His Own Words

 

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog on the final day of July 2025. Thank you so much for the visit.

Today edition is dedicated to Tom Coulombe and his new completed Massachusetts Liberty Seated Dime Collection auction catalog. The PDF formatted catalog has been uploaded to the server just in time for today's presentation. You are invited to click the below auction cover to gain access to the outcome and accomplishments of Tom Coulombe's three decade numismatic journey.

 

Tom Coulombe's Liberty Seated Dime Numismatic Journey - In His Own Words

It is my honor to publish the following "in his own words" essay by Tom Coulombe as he accurately relates the many years of interactions and camaraderie between two enthusiasts of the Liberty Seated Dime series. There is little else that can be added other than I've always chuckled a bit when Tom employed the acronym "LSD" in lieu of writing out Liberty Seated Dimes. Enjoy!

It is now 2025 and my turn, as a steward of Liberty Seated Dimes (LSD), to release my collection.

While growing up, I was lucky ... as I had the experience of growing up very close to a popular coin shop. I could observe the mayor of my hometown, my mailman and others thronging into this shop to look over the glimmering displays of everything from half cents and colonials to silver dollars and commemorative coins. My earliest purchases were towards amassing a type set, starting with an 1864 two cent piece and an 1850 Liberty Seated dime (LSD). While silver dollars were the rage in the 1960's, I had to buy what I could afford ... which was very little and not very often. But as a teenager, I secretly vowed to myself to someday collect the entire LSD series.

In the 1990's, bidding on eBay became very exciting. LSDs on eBay were plentiful and starting prices were reasonable. It was tons of fun .... until I eventually encountered Gerry Fortin, aka: “dismeguy”, who was routinely outbidding me in virtually every ‘worthy’ eBay LSD auction. After introducing myself on-line to him as an ‘liberty seated dime enthusiast’, Gerry sent me an email telling me about his important and extensive LSD research, the LSCC and his willingness to introduce me to John McCloskey. Eventually, when Gerry started posting on eBay his own occasional auctions of his duplicates, I became a regular customer and my collection momentum was rolling. The ‘quality’ and photography of Gerry’s offerings were highly reliable.

Quickly, I needed to move these well-preserved LSDs out of folders and into a Whitman album to protect them. In the early 2000s, my local mentors were Ed Levanthal and Myles and Liz Coogan at JJ Teaparty in Boston. They recommended: “stay focused on one series”; “buy the very best ones”; and that relentlessly started happening when my job required working every Friday very close to Bromfield Street.

Finally, I tracked down and introduced myself to Gerry ‘in person’ at the Boston ANA in 2010. By then, I only needed ten Liberty seated dimes to complete my mostly ‘raw’ set. Gerry advised and assisted me toward ‘upgrading’ my collection into about eight blue boxes. I chose PCGS as my grading service and eventually became captivated with the mission of CAC toward reaffirming the validity of ‘grade correctness. With Gerry’s advice, quality was no longer a nebulous concept ... as the more and more coins that I examined and evaluated, the more confident I became towards amassing my satisfying and complete set of LSDs.

Starting in 2014, I was reading the GFRC blog every morning. In 2015, I traveled to Rochester, NY and brought my wife, Margaret, to meet Gerry and to view his LSD collection and, most importantly, to listen to various presentations by Gerry and John Frost at an autumn LSCC meeting. Suddenly, my wife was captivated and ‘all in’ towards the completion of this LSD collection. From that point on I was ‘upgrading’ almost monthly.

In subsequent years, Gerry asked me to be a ‘table assistant’; and I got to perform that role in Manchester, NH and in Philadelphia, PA and in Baltimore, MD. At SeatedFest II, I had the opportunity to meet Tom Bender and Dell Loy Hansen and to hobnob with them and some other “stellar” collectors who were amassing complete sets of LSDs. It was such great fun! Gradually, I was purchasing some lofty “CAC”-ed Carson City LSDs minted in the early 1870's. The 1874-CC arrived somewhat unexpectedly in 2023 via a GFRC auction with one last minute ‘wishful bid’. And after a few lay-a-way payments, I rendezvoused with Gerry in New Hampshire to hold it in my own hands. WOW! “Fait accompli!!”, I finally had the last one!

I am most grateful for all the valuable lessons and ‘hands on’ learning experiences which Gerry has bestowed upon me. In total, my pursuit of completing this LSD collection took almost thirty years. But now ... now that I am closer to ninety rather than to sixty years old, it is time for me to relinquish these mint state, “CAC”-ed and other motley toned lusty items to the next generation of striving collectors and stewards. It has been a highly satisfying, educational and rewarding journey!

Thank you, Gerry Fortin!

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Again, thank you for the visit and sharing in this impressive event and special moment in time.

Now my attention moves to seeding the newly prepare area behind our incremental stone wall as rain is forecast for late afternoon and through the overnight.

Up next is the construction of the Tenafly Collection PDF auction catalog.

Be well!

 

 

 

July 30, 2025

Raw Liberty Seated Dime Web-Book Plate Coins Selling Quickly

Massachusetts Collection PDF Auction Catalog is 50% Complete

and

Seth Godin Blogpost - Most unreasonable

 

Greetings once again and welcome to the Daily Blog. Thank you for the ongoing patronage.

Another warm southern Maine day is in the cards as we close out the month of July come tomorrow. Life is a continuum as each day brings a routine here at the homestead and the GFRC office. There is no need to go into details but I find a personal routine to be satisfying. Meals are predictable as to timing and ingredients leading to a healthy lifestyle. The 5:00 PM happy hour is a reward for working through another office day and simply relaxing on the back deck in Maine or in the lanai if we are wintering in Florida. Another example of a lifestyle routine is composing the Daily Blog each morning after a YouTube breakfast. There is a chance to catch-up in overnight global news, the latest Red Sox game highlights, and the going chatter about if/when gold will be formally revalued by the United States.

There is not much fresh content for today's Blog edition, so let's move forward with the headlines.

 

Raw Liberty Seated Dime Web-Book Plate Coins Selling Quickly

Since the GFRC consignment window is close through tomorrow, this has been an opportunity to move through the August 23 auction preparations at a stress-free pace. The downside is that fact that I'm out of new purchases and consignments for keeping the 30 Day Price List fresh. My backup plan is to dip into several 2x2 double row boxes replete with raw Liberty Seated dimes accumulated during the 1992 through 2004 research period with many being plate coins within The Definitive Resource for Liberty Seated Dime Variety Collectors online reference. To provide a sense of the number of remaining raw Seated dimes that need to be sold, here is visual proof.

 

From a financial perspective, it is much more lucrative to focus on selling these remaining Seated dimes than working through several large consignments. The individual return for these raw dimes is typically higher than the commission rate on consigned coins. This gets down to maximizing the value of my time, therefore I will continue to process and post more of these web-book plate coin Seated dimes through early August coupled with the opportunity to update the very old web-book images.

So far, the newly posted dimes are receiving strong demand and finding new homes quickly.

 

Massachusetts Collection PDF Auction Catalog is 50% Complete

Tuesday brought a hot Maine day that kept the Fortins indoors. Today's weather forecast is for similar conditions thus the likelihood that I will be working in the GFRC office the entire day. The seeding of the new area by the incremental stone wall will need to be delayed until Thursday.

Since working in the office, much progress was made with the Massachusetts Collection's forthcoming PDF catalog. As of this morning, the catalog is about 50% complete and will be finalized today. Once done, I will post the cover image to the Auction link that serves as an access point for downloading the PDF file.

Next on the agenda will be the Tenafly Collection catalog.

 

Seth Godin Blogpost - Most unreasonable

I had to chuckle when reading today's Seth Godin's blogpost. Was he referring to the Daily Blog? Please read on...

It’s tempting to go to an extreme. Unreasonable design standards, quality or hospitality are an effective way to gain share, delight customers and spread the word. To be unreasonable in service of your customers is a practice and a commitment.

Along the way, though, reality sets in. The boss has multiple priorities. The uncompromising edges of unreasonable are truly expensive. They take time and effort and money… and they’re unreasonable.

And so, we pull back a bit. We go much of the way, but not quite to ridiculous.

The thing is, rational, compromised unreason has a name: it’s called normal.

If you want the benefits that come from being unreasonable on behalf of your customers, you’re going to have to pay the price as well.

Unreasonable works precisely because most people aren’t driven to go all the way there.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

OK, it looks like another GFRC office day is in store until the 5:00 PM happy hour. I've already discussed today's projects so let's close at this point.

Come August 1, the GFRC consignment window will be reopened for those that wish to consign coins. However, there are no promises that the coins will be ready for display at the Oklahoma City ANA show. With Matt and family returning to the homestead on Sunday, there will be an opportunity to spend time with Natsumi and Ayumi along with letting Matt become more proficient with Johnny2. During the last visit, Matt quickly mastered the John Deere 2038R and helped build out the newly constructed stone wall. Here is an image of Matt working with the tractor.

 

Thanks again for the visit and please remember to be well!

 

 

 

July 29, 2025

Building PDF Auction Catalogs

Ray Dalio's Perspective on Holding Gold

and

New 30 Day Price List Additions

 

Greetings from southern Maine and welcome to the Daily Blog. Thank you so much for the returning visit.

It is another beautiful early morning in the Pine Tree state with blue skies and lush green landscaping outside the office window. Today high temp will peak at 92F while the overnights are cooling down into the low 60s.

So what is on the agenda for today? Do I work outdoors and plant grass in the newly prepared area or do I sit in the GFRC office and build a PDF catalog for the Massachusetts Collection. My heart wishing to go outdoors but my commitment to the GFRC business and clients translates into another day in the office. At some point, that pendulum needs to swing closer to the outdoors.

Shifting the discussion to gold and silver, these precious metals are once again in consolidation mode. Silver is trading between $38 and $38.50 while gold is trending between $3300 and $3375. I continue to monitor the latest news and rumors on YouTube to stay abreast of the precious metal market and also for fun. Yesterday brought a rumor that the Chinese Communist Party has raised its gold holding target from 1% to 2% for its massive insurance industry. The 1% increase is equivalent to 25% of the world's annual gold mining output. Other news being reported is that major gold holders like central banks and sovereign wealth funds are now bypassing the LBMA and COMEX, and instead working directly with mining companies for sourcing precious metals. The less hands that handle a commodity, the lower the purchase price as everyone wants a cut for their involvement.

Here is an fresh article from Ray Dalio, a billionaire investment and founder of Bridgewater Associates. Dalio has become active on the financial interview channels with a recent interview with Tucker Carlson where he exposed Tucker's naivety concerning how the global financial system operates in conjunction with nation states and geopolitical interest. I'm seeing more YouTube videos featuring Ray Dalio, and even my own Merrill Lynch money manager is referencing Dalio.

With that background, here is a fresh Kitco website article discussing Dalio's interview as part of the CNBC Master Investors podcast series. The key point is that gold is a hedge against the devaluation of fiat money. Everyone who reads the Blog should be operating with this understanding as inflation eats away at the value of our savings. Unless we have investments that are appreciating 5-6% per year, we are falling behind in terms of the value of those investments as measure in current dollars.

Billionaire investor Ray Dalio continues to sound the alarm over the health of the global economy, citing unsustainable government deficit spending. He is advising investors to allocate around 15% of their portfolios to alternative currencies such as gold or Bitcoin.

The founder of Bridgewater Associates shared his dire economic outlook during an appearance on CNBC’s Master Investor Podcast on Sunday. Focusing on the U.S., he pointed out that while the government collects approximately $5 trillion in income, it spends $7 trillion.

“It’s spending 40% more than it takes in, and it can’t really cut spending because so much of it is fixed. It’s accumulated a debt that’s six times its income…,” he said. “The credit system is like a circulatory system that brings nutrients—buying power—to different parts of the economy. If that buying power is used to generate income, then the income services the debt, and it’s a healthy system. But when debts, debt service payments, and interest rates rise, they begin to crowd out other spending—like plaque in the circulatory system—creating a problem akin to an economic heart attack.”

His comments come as U.S. government debt has surpassed $37 trillion.

Dalio noted that due to its persistent deficit spending, the U.S. government will likely need to issue nearly $12 trillion in Treasuries next year to service its debt.

“We are at the point of no return,” Dalio warned, adding that the only remaining option is for the government to borrow more and rely on central banks to print money. He also cautioned investors that indicators such as the emergence of capital controls are beginning to flash warning signs.

Although Dalio focused on the U.S., he emphasized that all Western-led economies face similar challenges.

“Just like in the ’70s or the ’30s, they will all tend to go down together. We’ll pay attention to their relative movements, but they will all decline in value—relative not to fiat currencies, but to hard currencies. And that hard currency is gold,” he said.

Dalio pointed out that gold has already become the world’s second-largest reserve currency, surpassing the euro earlier this year.

In addition to gold, he identified Bitcoin as an attractive monetary asset. However, he noted that it is still not in the same category as gold, primarily because he does not expect central banks to adopt it as an official reserve asset.

“I can't say exactly how effective it is as a form of money, but it’s being perceived by many as an alternative,” he said.

Regardless of the debate between Bitcoin and gold, Dalio emphasized that the key objective is to own assets that protect against broad-based currency depreciation.

He added that a neutrally balanced portfolio should include about 15% exposure to gold or Bitcoin.

“In my own portfolio, I hold gold and a small amount of Bitcoin,” he said. “I strongly prefer gold to Bitcoin—but that’s up to the individual. The real issue is the devaluation of money.”

New 30 Day Price List Additions

The 30 Day Price List is in need of attention. Yesterday brought the purchase of a nearly perfect 1898 $2.5 gold piece graded PCGS MS66+ with CAC approval. I also decided to visit my double row 2x2 box containing a host of raw web-book plate coins and selected eight Seated dime for the price list. I was able to get four piece ready for the 30 Day Price List including the 1898 $2.5 gold piece. Here is a quick gallery of the new offerings for today.

The 1850-O F-105a features a rotated reverse and is an R6+ rarity. This one is already on hold. Next is the 1871 F-105 which is the web-book plate coin with the image updates having taken place last evening. Finally, the 1872 F-102 is the Kamal Ahwash plate coin and a truly special offering for those that wish to preserve Liberty Seated numismatic history. There will be more web-book plate coins dimes being released today.

1898 PCGS MS66+ CAC G$2.5 - $3750

1850-O F-105a VF35 10C - $395                           1871 F-105 MS62 10C - $375                            1872 F-102 MS62 10C - $350  

                      

 

Wrapping Up the Blog

Light shipping is the first order of the day followed by an intense day at PDF auction catalog building. I will probably head outdoors on Wednesday morning to plant that newly prepared area as the temperatures are due to subside bit and rain is in the forecast for Thursday or Friday. Maine weather is quite erratic this time of year as one really never knows if rain will materialize. Planting grass if best done in early spring or early fall seasons. I'm pushing my luck by planting at the beginning of August but let's hope for the best.

Thank you again for stopping by.

Be well!

 

 

 

July 28, 2025

Ready for Grass Seeding!

and

Creating GFRC Online Auctions PDF Catalogs Week

 

Greetings on a beautiful southern Maine morning and welcome to the Daily Blog. The final Monday of July 2025 is upon us with August being right around the corner. Thank you for the visit.

Taking a break from composing a Daily Blog edition on Sunday was just what the doctor ordered. I'm in a much happier place this morning after enjoying a 7:00 AM outdoor working start on Sunday with much accomplished before needed rain appeared during the afternoon and evening. Other than the sale of an 1868 NGC AU58 CAC $2.5 gold lot, the GFRC business was quiet throughout the day allowing focus elsewhere.

Of course, Diane is back home after a one week stay with Renee and family. Ivy is doing much better and learning how to operate with a cast on her left arm. Luckily, she is right handed.

Let's open today's Blog with an image just taken at 6:30 AM of the newly constructed stone wall and the adjacent area that was finalized for grass seed planting on Sunday morning. If there is one thing in life that I'm capable of doing well, it is planting grass that turns into a reasonably nice lawn. From the time I was a youngster, I was helping my father and grandfather with landscaping tasks which were mostly focused on preparing lawn beds. During my later teenage years, I worked part time for a contractor with a CASE tractor who did a host of jobs including planting lawn for newly constructed homes. Preparing and seeding a new lawn is just second nature, kinda like riding a bike.

Here is an uphill looking image with both the Fortin homestead and our neighbor's new home at the top of Ledge Hill. This prepared area straddles our mutual property line with full support from Rick and Sharon to take my park building efforts into their back property at will. The ledge outcrop, at lower left, will garner its own beautification attention at some point this week with a small shovel and broom for exposing the pure granite after decades of being buried in vegetation.

 

Creating GFRC Online Auctions PDF Catalogs Week

I'm both pleased and relieved to report that the August 23 online auction catalog is done with all descriptions in place. Now comes the task of building PDF auction catalogs for the Massachusetts Liberty Seated Dime Collection and also a second catalog for the Tenafly Seated Dime and $5 Gold Collection. Preparing these two catalogs is roughly a four day task if working diligently. If not being so diligent and distracted with new lawn planting, the task could extend into the coming weekend. At that point, Matt, Chikae, Natsumi, and Ayumi will be back at the homestead for another two week vacation from their downtown Boston condo.

While wrapping up the descriptions on Sunday, there were incremental lots noted that deserve a shout out in the Blog. Please remember that the August 23 auction lots will be available at the ANA Oklahoma City World's Fair of Money show for review prior to bidding opening the evening of the final show day.

We open with the 1838 F-105 Reverse Flaw dime which is previously from my collection a web-book plate coin. The 1842 dime is very pretty in hand and should be examined during ANA lot viewing. The 1853-O quarter is not a huge coin but offers superb circulated eye appeal. The sleeper lot in this auction is the rare 1873 No Arrows Closed 3 quarter with CAC approval. Please do your research on this undervalued lot. The 1851-O half is a marvelous piece with strong mirrors and pretty toning. Finally, the 1852-C half eagle is a condition census lot that deserves attention.

     1838 F-105 PCGS MS64 CAC 10C - $3000                                        1842 F-107 PCGS MS65+ CAC 10C - $3750    

        

                1853-O Br 2-C PCGS EF40 CAC 25C - $500                           1873 No Arrows Closed 3 PCGS VF25 CAC 25C - $2350    

        

     1851-O WB-2 CACG AU53 50C - $2000                                           1852-C PCGS AU55 CAC G$5 - $7000    

        

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

It is a Monday morning which means queued shipping has the priority followed by heading into Windham towards locating a notary. Hugh Woods has agreed to pay our claim for the four lost Liberty Seated San Francisco dimes with a final Proof of Loss document requiring my signature executed in front of a notary. While in Windham, there is the opportunity to stop at Lowe's for purchasing grass seed, fertilizer, and the all important two hay bales for covering the newly seeded area. We still occasionally see a large flock of wild turkeys roaming the back acreage and I'm certain that once the grass seed is planted, those turkeys will arrive on the scene. The Gamo air rifle will be readied if that occurs.

That is it for today's ramblings. Gold and silver are back in a consolidation mode after a failed breakout. Equities are slowing grinding upward as more trade deal are announced. The U.S. equities market is again over valued historically and at bubble level but passive investing by Americans into their 401K plans just keeps new money flowing into major ETFs which drives the equities market. It is a trend that is unavoidable so I'm moving some monies into equities.

Thank you for the visit.

Be well!

 

 

 

July 26, 2025

GFRC Online Auctions

August 23, 2025 Auction Sale Highlights

 

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog on the final weekend of July 2025. Summer time is moving along much too quickly but this is how life happens. Finding time to execute our aspirations is paramount. Thanks for the visit.

There is little to report concerning my Friday other than a full day in the GFRC office wrapping up auction descriptions. By the 5:00 PM happy hour time, all the Tenafly and Massachusetts Collection descriptions had been finalized along with most of the incremental Liberty Seated quarter lots. The small remaining balance will be wrapped up this weekend at some point.

Now that we've moved through the description generation milestone, let's take a step back and review the significant of this forthcoming auction event. Here goes....

 

GFRC Online Auctions - August 23, 2025 Auction Sale Highlights

- The August 23 auction is one of the largest attempted in terms of the number of lots being offered. Last evening's count arrived at a total of 250 lots with two very impressive Liberty Seated dime collections, a noteworthy run of $5 gold that starts with a monster 1814/3 Capped Bust lot and wraps up with an 1894-S, and a host of important Liberty Seated quarters and halves.

- In one auction session, GFRC will be offering 192 CAC approved lots as an indication of the premium nature of this event. That is a 77% CAC approval rate or superior lots graded by CACG. Where else can collectors find this amount of green and gold bean lots in one auction event?

- The total reserves now exceed $520,000, an impressive number for an auction event being staged on the GFRC online platform. All offerings can be viewed and enjoyed by simply clicking on the above auction banners, or by clicking on this Auction link.

- The Massachusetts Liberty Seated Dime Collection presents a complete set with all key and semi-key dates. The lot count is 122 with reserves ranging from $425 to $23,500.

- The Tenafly Collection includes both Liberty Seated dimes and $5 Liberty gold with a total of 102 lot and reserves ranging from $125 to $7000. The Tenafly offerings bring a Liberty Seated dime die variety treasure trove that should garner substantial attention.

- Those collectors wishing to own plate coins from The Definitive Resource for Liberty Seated Dime Variety Collectors online reference will be happy to learn that there are 30 lots to consider. The distribution is 20 within the Massachusetts Collection and the balance in the Tenafly Collection. I suspect that this will be last major auction offering of plate coins from the Liberty Seated dime web-book. Over time, these dime will continue to be dispersed.

- Finally, there are a number of marquee lots that deserve serious attention. Here is a showcase gallery for some of my favorite Liberty Seated dime and quarter lots.

 

The Cataloger's Favorite Lots!

    1840-O No Drap F-101a PCGS AU58 CAC 10C - $5500                            1843-O F-101 PCGS EF45 CAC 10C - $7500           

        

    1859-O F-103 PCGS MS63 GOLD CAC 10C - $2150                           1860-O F-101 PCGS VF35 CAC 10C - $5000         

        

      1866-S F-101 PCGS MS64 CAC 10C - $12,500                                   1867-S F-102a PCGS EF40 CAC 10C - $1600      

        

    1873-CC Arrows F-101 PCGS F12 CAC 10C - $3150                                1874-CC F-101 PCGS VF25 10C - $23,500              

        

    1875-CC BW F-103a PCGS MS62 CAC 10C - $1650                           1877-CC F-123 PCGS MS64 CAC 10C - $1600        

        

        1843 CACG MS64 CAC 25C - $5500                                           1843-O CACG AU58+ CAC 25C - $4950   

        

        1849-O PCGS VF35 25C - $4850                                          1859-O NGC AU53 Gold CAC 25C - $2700

        

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Today brings a catch-up homestead day since Diane returns from Austin this afternoon. There is another round of grocery shopping necessary along with cleaning the untidiness of a bachelor's lifestyle. I will be stopping into Home Depot for more 30% Vinegar as a weed herbicide and weed mat for the newly cleared area. There will be more on the weed mat strategy in a future Blog edition.

Will there be a Daily Blog edition on Sunday morning? Right now, it is doubtful as I'd like to be on Johnny2 by 7:00 AM while the temperatures are still reasonable.

As always, thank you for taking the time to visit with me and these ongoing numismatic ramblings. If you always wanted to be a coin dealer, then I hope that this publication has shared insights into what it takes to be successful!

Be well!

 

 

 

 

July 25, 2025

Wrapping Up August 23 Auction Descriptions Today - For Sure!

 

Greetings on a southern Maine Friday morning and welcome to the Daily Blog. Thank you for checking in.

Another heat advisory is in effect for Maine and New Hampshire today which means that I will be staying indoors with the heat pumps keeping the homestead cool.

As much as I had hoped to wrap up the August 23 auction descriptions on Thursday leaving Friday as an open day for a 718 Boxster ride, the goal was not met. There was some morning shipping, a USPS drop-off and grocery shopping that pretty much consumed the morning. Good progress was being during the afternoon hours, but then several client phone calls arrived and before long it was time for the 5:00 PM happy hour on the back deck followed by grilling dinner. During the day, I was offered 100 and 10 ounce silver bars from a local clients which I passed on as my focus is adding more physical bullion to the gold stash. The news of losing Hulk Hogan after the passing of Ozzy left me in a bit of a reflective mood as life seems so precious once crossing the 70 year milestone.

Dave Wilkinson came by with his 16 yard "wheeler" dump truck and delivered separate loads of 3/4" crushed stone and another pile of loam tailings. There is now enough material to wrap up the leveling of the area behind the new stone wall. Once the weather cools down, I will be back on Johnny2 moving material around.

The GFRC order rate has been slow, been then again, I am not posting much into of new offerings to the 30 Day Price List. Once the August 23 auction preparations are behind me, then we can re-open the consignment window.

Finally, Thursday brought the purchase of a really sweet 1898 $2.5 Liberty gold piece graded PCGS MS66+ with CAC approval. This lot was offered during the afternoon from a long term client with a quick favorable response given the fair offer price.

That is the extend of today's ramblings as I'm heading to the shower for an early start to an all day session in the GFRC office. I WILL get the August 23 auction descriptions wrapped up today since Diane returns from Austin tomorrow.

Thank you for the visit.

Be well!

 

 

 

July 24, 2025

Wrapping Up August 23 Auction Descriptions Today

 

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog. Thank you for the visit.

The routine of composing a Daily Blog edition can be demanding at times, especially with being cognizant of content creation. There are days when potential image opportunities magically appear in the course of a day. At other times, the focus is outside of creating content and moving forward with projects beyond the GFRC business. Defaulting to regular topics like precious metal updates is easy but has it limitations in terms of audience relevance.

So here I am on a Thursday morning will little to share other than what I ate for breakfast or current YouTube viewing. Both are not worth the time to discuss.

 

Wrapping Up August 23 Auction Descriptions Today

Tom Coulombe called into the office yesterday to report that is he enjoying reading the descriptions of his Liberty Seated Dime Collection pieces. During the conversations, we both realized that the auction opens in exactly one month's time. A quick schedule check indicates that I have three weeks left to complete the descriptions, build PDF catalogs, and finally, head to Staples to have a small number of paper catalogs printed for our consignor's fond memories and the Oklahoma City ANA show.

With that realization, and the forthcoming return visit of the Yamatin family come early August, it dawned on me that the description writing project phase needs to get wrapped up promptly as life always throws a curve ball or two at us.

Therefore, I will be working in the GFRC office throughout the day until those auction descriptions are done. Working outdoors will have to wait another day as there are no critical projects at this point.

That is it for today's Blog.

Be well!

 

 

 

July 23, 2025

Ozzy Osbourne Dead at 76

Gold and Silver Experience Technical Breakouts

and

A Marquee Addition to the GFRC August 23 Auction Event

 

 

Greetings on a Wednesday morning and welcome to the Daily Blog. We appreciate the ongoing visits.

It is another fine southern Maine weather day as we move into the final week of July 2025. Before long, August will arrive and the Yamatin family will be back to the homestead for another extended visit. We are so looking forward to having Ayumi here with her ongoing vocal energy and engaging personality.

Yesterday brought a decision to work in the GFRC office the entire day with the goal of making substantial progress with the August 23 auction descriptions. This decision was wise as there is a sense of relief this morning that the forthcoming auction preparations are now ahead of schedule. As of this morning, the descriptions for both the Massachusetts and Tenafly Liberty Seated dime collections are complete through the early 1880s. Preparing the remaining descriptions will be straightforward later this week. At this point, I am feeling good about spending time on Johnny2 and working outdoors today.

At the 5:00 PM happy hour mark, which is still observed though being solo at the homestead, the usual nuts and adult beverage were secured and I headed to the back deck for mental relaxation. FOX News was checked on the cellphone only to learn that Ozzy Osbourne had passed at the young age of 76. This was indeed a sad moment as another iconic musician, from the early 1970s, is no longer with us. As a teenager and young adult, I was a fan of Black Sabbath and Ozzy's unique voice. Yes, the music was loud and raunchy to many ears along with demonic lyrics. However, if sitting back and conducting critical listening of the first two Black Sabbath albums (Black Sabbath and Paranoid), one realizes that these four British lads were quite the studio musicians. The initial Black Sabbath album has been a favorite for decades. In honor of Ozzy, that album was streamed on our new Marshall sound box in the sun room while I contemplated memories of past teenage years.

 

Gold and Silver Experience Technical Breakouts

While working in the office, I was watching gold and silver precious metals experiencing a technical breakout to the upside via the Kitco website. As Blog readers are well aware, I've been a strong advocate for owning these two precious metals either as physical bullion, numismatic items, or via ETF or mining stock equities. Yesterday brought a gold breakout to $3430/oz after being in a consolidation pattern for several months. Silver also experienced an upside breakout to $39.20 with the $40 threshold now in sight. Silver continues to show more upward movement, as the Blog is composed, while gold is holding on to Tuesday's gains.

Last evening, I took in a fascinating Kitco interview with Judy Sheldon. Judy was President Trump nominee for the Federal Reserve board during his first term, but since being a firm critic of the Fed, her nomination did not succeed in the Senate. The interview was quite revealing concerning present Federal Reserve operations and liability risks. The video can be found on YouTube at

https://www.kitco.com/news/article/2025-07-22/fed-payouts-quiet-subsidy-congress-must-reassert-constitutional-power-over

 

A Marquee Addition to GFRC August 23 Auction Event

Yesterday also brought the arrival of a truly special gold lot addition to the forthcoming August 23 auction event. A long term GFRC consignor continues to slowly release his holdings and decided to "let go" a special Capped Bust $5 gold piece. Since not having the opportunity to photograph this new arrival due to its late Tuesday afternoon arrival, following are images from a prior Stack's Bowers auction appearance during August 2022 where it realized $24,000. All I can say is this is an exceptional example in a PCGS Gen 1.2 (1986-1989) holder with CAC approval. We are currently discussing the auction reserve with the consignor and should have this lot posted to the online auction catalog by Thursday morning.

1814/3 BD-1 PCGS EF45 CAC G$5 Rattler

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Since making much progress with the online auction catalog, I will be heading to the back acreage this morning to continue preparing the areas near the new stone wall for grass planting. Loam tailing fill needs to be transported into low spots along with a host of smaller rocks being removed. Getting the surface rocks to go is paramount as every rock that remains behind will impact the eventually lawn mowing. The problem with surface rocks in Maine is the winter frost. Winter frost has a habit of pushing these rocks upward to the point that that are struck by the mowing tractor deck blades.

That is it for today's ramblings and updates. I will be in the office during the later afternoon hours to catch up with the day's email correspondences and potential orders. The shipping department is closed today.

Once again, we thank you for the time taken to stop by at the Daily Blog. And yes, today's date at the top header is accurate.

Be well!

 

 

 

July 22, 2025

Cleveland Collection Seated Dime Varieties are in Demand!

and

Spot Gold Makes $3400 Attempt, But Rejected

 

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog on a Tuesday morning. Thank you so much for checking back in on my regular ramblings.

It is going to be a beautiful Maine day with sunny skies and a high temperature in the low 70s. What is a temporary single guy going to do on such an ideal weather day? Here are my options;

- Work in the GFRC office and continue to move towards completing the August 23 online auction catalog descriptions?

- Head outdoors and utilized Johnny2 to finish ground preparations in the new cleared area adjacent to the new stone wall towards planting a grass lawn?

- Jump in the 718 Boxster and drive solo to the Owl's Head Transportation Museum as was planned for this past Saturday?

The context is that I'm 69 and should be fully retired, but instead have decided to hold off retirement until age 70 which makes sense from a financial perspective. I love the GFRC business and the many client relationships. But time keeps moving on and there are many other aspects of life that can't be explored when sitting in a numismatic office processing coins or writing auction descriptions. If Diane was home, she would choose the third option.

If you were in my shoes, what selection would you make? Just food for thought as coming up with daily content for the Blog requires occasional transparency and a little fun.

After checking the Raymond weather forecast, a plan of action was formulated. I'm going to write auction descriptions today and hopefully make considerable progress by the day's end. On Wednesday, the GFRC office will be opened but I will be spending a full day working in the back acreage with Johnny2. The trip to the Owl's Head Museum will be considered for later this week or when Diane returns from Austin.

Now we can move on to the headline topics....

 

Cleveland Collection Seated Dime Varieties are in Demand!

Monday brought a banner sales day for the new Cleveland Collection Liberty Seated dime consignment. As of this morning, six of the thirteen dimes are already on hold and die variety collecting is alive and well on our community. After this Blog edition is uploaded, a 30 Day Price List refresh will be conducted to illustrate those lots that are on hold and those that are still available.

Congrats to our consignor as the proceeds will help secure early access to one or more of the Gerry Fortin Liberty Seated Dime Collection lots that are on extended payment.

This is the secret of those who build substantial collections over a long term basis. The release and sale of duplicates is a core step towards upgrading. The released duplicates head back into the marketplace and provides another collector with an opportunity to enjoy their hobby. It is a win-win for everyone!

 

Spot Gold Makes $3400 Attempt, But Rejected

The old saying, close but no cigar, comes to mind after watching spot gold trading on the Kitco website while working in the office on Monday. It was a strong day for precious metals and the mining sector as gold made a run at the $3400/oz mark. By end of day, several attempts to pierce the $3400 level had been rejected by sell orders that were staged directly below the $3400 threshold. Gold close at $3398/oz and has slipped about $10 during early LBMA trading.

Silver was not to be ignored as it made a run for the $39 mark on Monday and can up about $0.15 short. Morning LBMA trading has silver at $38.76/oz.

The same fundamental issues that were in place on Monday remain today. Global gold and silver demand is outstripping supply while the major banks continue to attempt price control via an over leveraged paper market in London and Chicago.

Have readers noted that all of the talk of auditing the gold in Fort Knox has disappeared? Sure, as U.S. citizens we are constantly reminded that the gold is there. However, my gut feel is that this gold has been leased via rehypothecation and may not be fully available. A detailed Fort Knox audit could be embarrassing if this is the case and would cause a run on physical gold if acknowledged. What is rehypothecation and its risks? Let's ask AI Copilot for some help as a learning exercise.

What Is Rehypothecation?

Rehypothecation occurs when a financial institution uses assets pledged by a client as collateral for its own borrowing or trading activities.

In the gold market, this means that gold held in custody—often in vaults—is used by the custodian (like a bank or broker) to secure its own obligations, even though the gold technically belongs to the client.

How It Plays Out in the Gold Market

Allocated vs. Unallocated Gold:

Allocated gold is stored in a vault under the client's name and cannot be rehypothecated.

Unallocated gold is pooled and not specifically assigned to any client, making it vulnerable to rehypothecation.

Execution Process:

A client stores gold with a custodian, often under an agreement that allows rehypothecation (usually buried in the fine print).

The custodian lends out that gold to other parties—sometimes multiple times—often in exchange for lower storage fees or other financial incentives.

The same gold bar may be pledged as collateral for several different transactions, creating a layered web of claims.

Paper Gold Instruments:

Futures contracts, ETFs like GLD, and other derivatives often represent claims on gold that may be rehypothecated.

These instruments can multiply the number of claims on a single ounce of physical gold, leading to systemic risk if many holders demand delivery at once.

Risks and Controversies

Ownership Confusion: If a custodian defaults, clients may become unsecured creditors rather than rightful owners of the gold.

2008 Financial Crisis: Rehypothecation played a role in the collapse of firms like Lehman Brothers and MF Global, where client assets—including gold—were used to cover institutional debts.

Audit Challenges: Countries like Germany have faced delays when requesting repatriation of their gold, raising concerns about whether the gold is physically available or has been rehypothecated.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

OK, let's move forward with another office day and making substantial progress with the August 23 auction descriptions. This means I will be in the office the entire day grinding it out at the laptop.

So ends this morning's ramblings. Thanks again for visit.

Be well!

 

 

 

July 21, 2025

Cleveland Collection Seated Dime Varieties to Consider

GFRC August 23 Auction - Seated Dime Descriptions Completed Through 1870

and

London Exchange Close to Exhausting Physical Silver Float

 

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

Sunday brought an unannounced holiday for the Daily Blog as I just felt like enjoying a mindless lazy morning. Diane's sudden Austin trip upset a planned schedule and thus the decision to simply chill out for once. The writing break was overdue and welcomed. Now we are back with decent content and a regular edition.

Let's open today's edition with a picture taken on July 11 by Chikae. Chikae has been the Daily Blog staff photographer when the Yamatin family is visiting the homestead and provides much needed new content. The backstory is that Matt had planned to go "camping" in the backyard gazebo with older daughter Natsumi before returning to Boston. Time was running out and the decision was made that the evening of July 11th would be the special day for going camping. Matt was brave and took not only Natsumi, but also Ayumi for the overnight adventure. He reported that our homestead wifi signal was strong enough for streaming a movie as entertained before all three retired in two sleeping bags.

This image captures the backyard with the campers inside the gazebo on a full moon evening. The careful placement of solar lighting to accentuated the barn and gazebo view, from the homestead, becomes readily apparent via this picture.

 

Let's move on to today's numismatic content, shall we?

 

Cleveland Collection Liberty Seated Dime Varieties to Consider

The Cleveland Collection is one of the most prolific Liberty Seated dime die variety collections in our community, and probably on the planet. Our long term client was a substantial buyer in the recent Connoisseur's series auction sale of the Gerry Fortin Liberty Seated Dime Collection and needs to sell duplicates to keep the upgrading process moving forward. We are pleased to be offering a lot that is replete with Top 100 Varieties and also Ultimate Set candidates. Both sets can be viewed on the GFRC Open Set Registry.

The gallery showcase opens with a super nice 1840-O Medium in an early die state with the reverse vertical crack at 12:00. The originality is superb and will please the most demanding collector. Next is a wonderfully original 1858-S F-103 dime with CAC approval. This date is nearly always problematic due to circulation in California mining towns, therefore the CAC population is tiny. A real treat is the arrival of an strictly original 1870-S dime with crusty gray surfaces as the date's mintage is only 50,000 with few survivors. The marquee display closes with an important 1878-CC Type 2 reverse F-104 with a heavily polished reverse die. I've seen few of this variety with the PCGS MS64 CAC specimen, in my personal collection, selling for over $10,000.

 

 1840-O F-106 PCGS EF45 CAC 10C - $1350                                    1858-S F-103 PCGS EF45 CAC 10C - $3250

        

   1870-S F-101 PCGS VF35 10C - $1500                                         1878-CC F-104 PCGS AU50 10C - $1600

        

 

Incremental Cleveland Collection offerings include an 1837 F-101c with very bold die clashing and die crack diagnostics. The 1855 F-101a is most likely the rarest dime in this entire showcase as few examples have surfaced in my decades of studying the series. A few circulation strike were coined from the original proof dies that exhibit bold die doubling on the date. The 1868-S dime is the F-101a variety with strike doubling in the lower wreath. For those pursuing the Top 100 Variety set, the 1887-S F-104 is quite difficult to locate with this lot being inexpensive.

1837 LD F-101c PCGS AU50 10C - HOLD             1850-O F-103 PCGS VF30 10C - $325               1855 F-101a PCGS EF40 10C - $450      

                      

   1858-S F-103 NGC F15 10C - $675                  1868-S F-101a PCGS AU53 10C - $825               1880 F-102a PCGS MS64 10C - $750

                      

       1887-S F-104 PCGS VF35 10C - $150        1889 DDR F-106 PCGS MS63 CAC 10C - $600     1891-O O/Horiz O ANACS EF45 10C - $485

                      

 

Nearly all of these lots are now posted to the 30 Day Price List and available other than the 1837 F-101c while was immediately purchased on Sunday afternoon.

 

GFRC August 23 Auction - Seated Dime Descriptions Completed Through 1870

The southern Maine rains arrived late Sunday morning and continued with a constant flow of thunderstorms during the afternoon. The wet weather kept me in the GFRC office the entire day with the Cleveland Collection consignment having initial priority followed by completing more descriptions for the forthcoming August 23 Auction event.

At this point, the online auction catalog, which features the Massachusetts and Tenafly Liberty Seated Dime Collections, now has descriptions completed through 1870 as this was my focus into the 5:00 PM happy hour. During the coming week, the balance of the descriptions will be completed followed by building separate PDF catalogs for our two long time friends.

 

London Exchange Close to Exhausting Physical Silver Float

Gold is trading at $3370/oz in London while silver is holding recent price gains at $38.40. The mining sector has been weak as of late as gold's consolidation period is unable to draw new monies into the miners. Key is that gold breaks through the $3400 level again and starts a new consolidation phase between $3400 to $3500 for the miners to gain renewed traction. The more I learned about how the LBMA and COMEX, the more evident it becomes that both precious metal pricings are manipulated by endless paper trading by the major banks. The 2025 gold breakout was due to the Shanghai Gold Exchange finally exerting pricing discovery for Asia buyers that could no longer be suppressed by western banks and the U.S. Federal Reserve. Now silver is positioned to seriously breakout as the LBMA float (physical silver for delivery) is down to 90 millions ounces. As Asian buyers continue to take delivery of what remains on the LBMA, the highly leverage paper market will run out of physical silver to leverage. Once this manipulation is terminated, silver could easily rise to $50/oz or higher.

For giggles, I asked AI Copilot this question, "are there any forecasts for when the LBMA will exhaust its physical silver float?" with the following response as validation of thoughts shared in the prior paragraph.

There’s no official forecast from the LBMA itself predicting an exact date for exhaustion of its physical silver float—but analysts and institutions are sounding alarms about tightening supply and potential short-squeeze risks.

Key insights from recent reports:

• TDS (TD Securities) warns that only about 90 million ounces of silver remain in the LBMA’s “free float”—the amount available for daily OTC trading. If ETF demand surges or the Fed eases monetary policy, this buffer could be entirely eroded.
• ANZ Bank highlights a historic supply dislocation in the London market. LBMA silver inventories have dropped by 128 million ounces since November, while borrowing costs spiked to 7% in January. The LBMA silver-to-ETF holdings ratio has fallen to 1, signaling extreme scarcity.
• Scottsdale Bullion & Coin and other analysts expect silver prices to surge toward $45/oz in 2025, driven by central bank activity, geopolitical risks, and U.S. monetary policy. These factors are increasing demand while supply remains structurally tight.

Structural deficit outlook:

• Global silver mine production is expected to rise only 2% in 2025.
• The market remains undersupplied by 180 million ounces, continuing a multi-year deficit trend.
• U.S. domestic production covers less than 30% of its demand, with tariffs threatening key import sources like Mexico and Canada.

In short, while no one’s putting a date on it, the writing’s on the vault wall: the LBMA’s physical silver float is under serious pressure. If investor demand spikes or geopolitical tensions escalate, a squeeze could materialize faster than expected.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Since Diane is in Austin for the week, all aspects of the GFRC operation falls back on me. This morning brings time in the shipping department followed by a 718 Boxster ride to the Raymond PO to discharge those packages. Afterwards, I will be again focused on the August 23 auction catalog as will feel incredibly better once all descriptions has been completed.

The GFRC consignment window continues to be close and will remain this way through the end of July 1. Once August arrives, I will re-open the window and start soliciting new consignments that will be processed after the Oklahoma City ANA show along with new purchases from that event.

So ends today's Blog edition. Thank you again for the ongoing visits.

Be well!

 

 

 

July 19, 2025

Granddaughter Ivy Breaks Arm - Diane Flies to Austin

and

1885-S PCGS MS65 CAC 10C on Hold!

 

Greetings on what is planned to be a short Daily Blog edition as I was up quite early transporting Diane to the Portland airport. Life is never dull!

Diane and I had planned for a laid back 718 Boxster drive to the Owl's Head Transportation Museum near Rockland today as the Maine weather is ideal for a top down drive. However, our plans changed quickly after Meme's help was needed caring for granddaughter Ivy after having surgery to repair a badly broken arm. Ivy was at a friend's home and doing twirls on a bed and fell to the floor after losing her balance. The break was near the elbow and required surgery and pins on her left arm. Ivy is now back home from the hospital and will need special help while her parents are working.

Diane is already on her way to Austin Texas as the Blog is composed leaving me as the solo GFRC operator for the week.

 

1885-S PCGS MS65 CAC 10C on Hold!

The major numismatic news of the day is that the amazing 1885-S PCGS MS65 CAC dime from my personal collection is now on hold. The same client who purchased my 1874-CC PCGS EF45 CAC dime has decided to add the 1885-S to his superb collection. If checking the price list, this lot has not been marked on hold as of yet. This will take place during the next website upload today.

1885-S F-101 PCGS MS65 CAC 10C

 

Our congratulations go out to this GFRC client for his noteworthy acquisition of what is possibly the finest 1885-S extant. Those of you who have seen this dime may concur.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

My apology for the today's brief edition. Sunday will bring regular ramblings.

Thank you for the visit. Be well!

 

 

July 18, 2025

Platinum and Palladium Prices Surging Higher

Ledge Hill Park Expansion Progress

and

More CACG Custom Label Documenting Liberty Seated Dime Web-Book Plate Coins

 

Greetings on a July Friday morning and welcome to the Daily Blog. Here comes another round of random ramblings that hopefully will make the visit worthwhile.

Let's open with the precious metals if I may...

The big story is no longer gold and silver, but platinum and palladium. These latter two metals are on a valuation tear and appreciating quickly. For example, palladium has increased from $1000/oz in early June with this morning's quote being $1325. That is an amazing appreciation in less than two months and warrants an explanation. Let's bring in AI Copilot to help understand the fundamentals that are driving prices dramatically higher. The question was phrased as, "Why are platinum and palladium prices increasing so quickly since June 2025?"

Following is the response:

The sharp rise in platinum and palladium prices since June 2025 is being driven by a mix of supply constraints, industrial demand, and investor sentiment. Here's a breakdown of the key factors behind the surge:

Platinum: A Perfect Storm of Scarcity and Demand

1. Supply Disruptions - South Africa, which produces ~70% of global platinum, has faced severe output declines due to: - Mine closures - Labor disputes - Power and water shortages - Recycling volumes have also dropped, tightening overall supply

2. Industrial and Jewelry Demand - Automotive sector: Hybrid vehicle production is rising, increasing platinum use in catalytic converters - China’s jewelry market: Demand surged 26% in Q1 2025, as consumers shifted from gold to platinum due to affordability - Hydrogen fuel cell tech: Emerging applications are boosting long-term industrial demand

3. Investor Appetite - Platinum is seen as undervalued compared to gold, prompting a 300% increase in investment demand in Q1 2025 - Tariff fears and geopolitical uncertainty have led to precautionary stockpiling in the U.S. and China

4. Price Performance - Platinum hit $1,432.60/oz in early July, up 40% in H1 2025 and 28% in June alone

Palladium: Riding Platinum’s Coattails

1. Substitution Effect - Palladium is a substitute for platinum in catalytic converters. As platinum prices rose, palladium demand increased by association

2. Supply Deficit - Despite long-term forecasts of surplus, palladium is currently in a supply deficit, with mine output lagging behind demand - Russia’s Norilsk Nickel, a major producer, delayed furnace upgrades due to sanctions, reducing supply

3. Price Surge - Palladium rose from $908.50 in January to $1,304.00 by mid-July, a 44% increase

Forecasts suggest it could reach $1,572 by year-end, a 73% annual gain

 

Ledge Hill Park Expansion Progress

At this point, Daily Blog readers have recognized that I am committed to building a "park" within the confines of our back 20 acre lot. For new Blog readers, the Fortins purchased this 23 acre lot way back in 1985 for roughly $1000/acre. The lot shape was odd with a 3 acre access plot to a rectangular shaped 20 acres parcel without an road frontage. The 3 acre plot was ideal for constructing a passive solar/super insulated home, while the rest of the land was a bonus for future usage. The deed had a restriction that the lot could not be further subdivided which ruled out a housing development buyer. Luckily, we came along and feel in love with the coastal views from the top of Ledge Hill and moved within 48 hrs on the purchase.

For the past four years, my summer enjoyment in Maine lies with developing those back 20 acres into a "park". A John Deere 2025R tractor was purchased and Dave Wilkinson was hired to start the clearing process. Any project of this size requires what I call infrastructure or access paths to the areas being cleared and developed. Primitive paths were cut and before long, we had a nearly 1 mile walking loop at the 20 acre parcel's perimeter. The JD2025R tractor was much too small for the challenges and was traded in against a JD2038R with comes with a 3-Series frame size and turbo charged 38hp diesel motor. The barn was constructed followed by burying a former burn pit with countless loads of cheap fill before constructing a number of new stone retaining walls and adding the gazebo.

This spring brought the next expansion with the clearing of the left side of the property and adding yet another substantial rock wall. In today's Blog, several progress images are shared. We open with a view of the property as I am facing mostly northwest. The newly constructed rock wall is now taking shape as more and more stones are added to increase the girth and height. We have an endless supply of granite on the property so the only limiting factor to rock wall building is the transport of the stone to the wall. Behind the new wall is a cleared area that is quite steep. The goal is to turn this area into lawn as I've learned that a lawn (with crushed stone drainage channels) is the best form of ground cover that is easy to maintain.

This image was taken at the intersection of the newly constructed wall and the original settler's stone wall that runs perpendicular to the homestead. The new wall's width is evident in this image along with the just cleared soil. The downhill slope is considerable and not accurately illustrated in this image. I've been spending several hours per day moving the cleared brush, roots, and stumps from the left side of the expansion down to a long term compost dump site further down the property.

This final image is a straight ahead picture of the newly cleared area and better illustrates the slope. The exposed rock about midway is a large piece of granite ledge that will be further cleaned and will become a nice highlight for the forthcoming lawn. The residual brush can be seen opposite the exposed ledge and is on today's menu for incremental removal.

 

The next major step is filling in low spots with last week's loam tailing delivery by Dave Wilkinson along with tractor backdragging to expose the last of the surface rocks and roots for removal. I'm hoping for a major rain event that will map out how water will flow downhill in this area. The erosion channel will be filled with rip-rap sized stone and regular 3/4" crush stone before moving to the lawn seeding phase. .

 

More CACG Custom Label Documenting Liberty Seated Dime Web-Book Plate Coins

Yesterday's Blog segment concerning CACG and new customized labels with Fortin die varieties and web-book plate coin designation was responded to by a long term Liberty Seated dime collector in upstate New York. He reminded me that the Fortin web-book label designation is not a new development as he has been at it for the past year or so. He sent along the following images for several Seated dime plate coins in their customized CACG holders.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Today brings light morning shipping that enables a 718 Boxster ride into Raymond. Afterwards, Johnny2 comes out of the barn for more progress on the newly cleared land and the removal and transport of the remaining brush pile. At some point, I will be swapping out the front grapple and going with the front loader to start moving the loam tailings into low lying spots and depressions made by rock removal.

Today will not be an office day as good progress has been made this week with the August 23 auction cataloging effort.

Thank you so much for the returning visit and staying abreast of GFRC and homestead developments.

Be well!

 

 

 

July 17, 2025

GFRC August 23 Auction - Descriptions 50% Completed

Additions to the 30 Day Price List

and

CACG Custom Label Documents Liberty Seated Dime Web-Book Plate Coins

 

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

It is a seasonally beautiful morning here in southern Maine with clear blue skies and temperatures in the mid-70s to start the day. A chance of thunderstorms arrives this afternoon.

Unfortunately, I've not spent much time on Johnny2 of late given the August 23 auction description writing workload and sustaining the general GFRC business. That fact will change on Friday and Saturday as enough progress has been made with auction preparations that I can afford a two day working stint in the back acreage park. Let's move forward with today's headlines topics.

 

GFRC August 23 Auction - Descriptions 50% Completed

I'm pleased to report that the forthcoming GFRC Online Auctions' August event is in good shape in terms of preparations. There have been long hours in the office with double row slabbed boxes containing the Massachusetts and Tenafly Collections. Writing descriptions is all about searching available information and distilling those findings into a concise paragraph. In the case of these two major collections, there are several points of investigation before preparing a lot's evaluation.

The first is the GFRC Sales Archive where prior sales history can be investigated and often yields a match as both clients were strong GFRC buyers when assembling their collections. The past descriptions concerning luster, surfaces conditions, eye appeal, and quality ratings are just as valid today as during prior sales. Ditto for rarity comments as little changes in a span of five to ten years.

Next is checking The Definitive Resource for Liberty Seated Dime Variety Collectors online reference for detailed die variety information and whether a lot is a plate coin in that document. Since the majority of the Massachusetts and Tenafly Collection lots are CAC approved, then the CAC population and price guide link is a constant reference point for citing census data and current fair market estimates. For Liberty Seated coinage, the CDN driven portion of the CAC price guide can be conservative as their models do not capture sales and auction activities at a smaller niche dealer like GFRC. This is why the GFRC Sales Archives are worth checking to assess the true market values based on realized prices during the past three to five years.

Information from all these source is assembled towards generating a description. It is a time consuming process if one wishing to prepare insightful numismatic prose.

Presently, the August 23 auction descriptions are fully complete through 1860 for the main Liberty Seated dimes auction segment. If the Maine weather plays out as forecasted, with afternoon thunderstorms, the description generation process with continue through the Civil War years. Once hitting the early 1870s, I will be feeling confident that the end game is in sight including creating the PDF auction catalogs.

 

Additions to the 30 Day Price List

Wednesday's first priority was refreshing the 30 Day Price List with several price reductions and incremental new offerings. Dr. Tim Cook reduced prices on two of his Liberty Seated dimes and those sold immediately during the afternoon hours. How about that for cause and effect?

Following is a brief showcase gallery of the new lots added to the price list yesterday with the 1834 Capped Bust half securing a JUST BUY IT NOW recommendation as quite nice. The 1844-O $10 gold is the lowest approved grade at CAC and really a bargain at the offer price. This coin is not a bullion play, though the 1907 No Mott $10 Indian and 1908 No Motto $20 Saint do fall in that category with heavy pricing influence from their bullion content. If you believe that gold spot prices will move up in the second half of 2025, then these are excellent bullion and numismatic purchases.

1805 B-2 PCGS VG08 CAC 25C - $935                                              1868-S PCGS EF40 25C - $900       

        

          1834 PCGS AU58 CAC 50C - $950                                           1844-O PCGS VF30 CAC G$10 - $2300    

        

1907 No Motto PCGS MS61 CAC G$10 OGH - $2250                          1908 No Motto PCGS MS63 CAC G$20 - $3850    

        

 

CACG Custom Label Documents Liberty Seated Dime Web-Book Plate Coins

The Mountaineer Collection has been on a mission to properly document and identify the Liberty Seated Dime web-book plate coins in his collection. He approached CACG for the possibility of preparing custom labels with these designations. John and I are most please to announce that CACG will now document the plate coins within The Definitive Resource for Liberty Seated Dime Variety Collectors online reference. Following is an image of the newly encapsulated and graded 1868 F-107a plate coin that was also upgraded to MS65 during the crossover process.

Congratulations John on this achievement!

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

The shipping department has the day off as regular price list orders have been weak of late or that we have shipped ahead those orders that were eligible. Therefore, today's emphasis is writing a few consignment checks and returning the August 23 auction cataloging process. There is one remaining Liberty Seated dime consignment, from the Cleveland Collection, that is waiting to be loaded into the COIN database followed by a pricing proposal. This is a die variety intensive lot with the photography already completed.

I'd really like to get outdoors today, even for a few hours as the Maine summer is moving along much too quickly as the thought of spending the winter months in a small condo office/den is not appealing.

In terms of equity markets and precious metals, little is changing as we are in the mid-summer doldrums.

Let's wrap up at this point and thank our readers for their returning visit.

Be well!

 

 

 

July 16, 2025

GFRC August 23 Auction - Descriptions 35% Completed

 

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

Here we are sitting at the laptop at 6:30 am without much to say. Tuesday was mostly spent in the office given the hot outdoor temperatures that continue into today. The emphasis was completely descriptions for the forthcoming August 23 auction event. Progress was made as both the Massachusetts and Tenafly Collection Liberty Seated dime descriptions are completed through the 1855 date.

As a dealer and now an auction cataloger, the numismatic benefits are to be envied by many collectors. Imagine sitting in an office with a bright light and two double row slabbed boxes loaded with mostly CAC approved Seated dimes that have been painstakingly assembled by our long term clients. Having researched and handled 1000s of Seated dimes, the exercise is second nature in terms of recognizing die varieties, strike characteristics, and how well the surfaces are preserved. There is also the opportunity to view the variations in PCGS grading and also the difference between a CAC approved gem or average piece. Working through these dimes is consistent with evaluating a multi-dimensional puzzle as we are dealing with a host of variables that takes years of experience to properly evaluate and turn into numismatic prose.

Let's highlight a few GFRC-Gem rated Liberty Seated dime lots from both collections to fill out today's Blog content. These are amazing lots that will be cherished by successful bidders.

We open with the 1838 F-105 Reverse Flaw dime that was previously in my personal collection and is a web-book plate coin. This piece was in an old NGC holder and was crossed into a fresh PCGS holder by Tom. This dime looks way better in the new PCGS holder with incredible luster. The 1840-O Large O F-101a dime is a historic piece from the Greer Liberty Seated dime guidebook along with the Fortin web-book. This one sold years ago into the Tenafly Collection and is returning for another sales event. I hope that a very serious and experienced collector secures this piece. The Massachusetts Collection 1843-O dime is super sweet. At this point, I don't need to opin on the date's rarity when located in such a superior preservation state and with a full strike.

Massachusetts and Tenafly Collections - Gem Rated Lots

1838 No Drapery F-105 PCGS MS64 CAC 10C

Large Stars, Reverse Die Flaw, Gem Original, Massachusetts Collection. This1838 F-105 reverse die flaw example is an unquestionable gem with intense frosty luster decorated by rose-gold coloring. Cartwheels sizzle with the slightest holder rotation during bright light inspection. A hammered strike and pristine surfaces enhance the eye appeal. This lot sports an important legacy as the F-105 plate coin within The Definitive Resource for Liberty Seated Dime Variety Collectors online reference. CAC has approved 125 in all grades with 28 finer. CAC pricing is $1950 in MS64 and jumping to $3150 at the full gem level. Housed in PCGS Gen 6.1 (2020-2025) holder with CAC approval. Ex. Gerry Fortin Reference Collection and previously sold May 2021. PCGS #4568.

1840-O No Drapery F-101a PCGS AU58 CAC 10C

Large O, Ex. Greer Plate Coin and Gerry Fortin Reference Collection, Gem Original, Tenafly Collection. An exceptional 1840-O F-101a dime with a history dating back to a Gerry Fortin purchased directly from Brian Greer during May 1995. This lot is the Large O Greer plate coin within the 1992 DLRC Press "Guidebook to Liberty Seated Dimes". Thick frosted luster radiates consistently from both sides. Gray, rose, and golden shades compliment the obverse while the reverse exhibits darker shades, especially at the periphery. The F-101a die pairing is one of two reverse dies with a Large O mintmark and being the more available of the two die pairings. For an unknown reason, the F-101 die pair was promptly lapped after initial strikes resulting in weak motifs and date punch. Please consider this fact when examining the images. A plate coin within The Definitive Resource for Liberty Seated Dime Variety Collectors online reference. Housed in PCGS Gen 4.3 (2004) holder with CAC approval. PCGS #4574.

1843-O F-101 PCGS EF45 CAC 10C

Rare Grade, GFRC-Gem Original, Massachusetts Collection. One of the many highlights of the Massachusetts Liberty Seated Dime Collection is the 1843 New Orleans piece. Astute collectors understand this date's rarity in EF through AU when fully choice as any Mint State example is extremely rare. Now is the opportunity to achieve a premier example with a GFRC-Gem rating for its incredible originality and overall presentation. Images accurately illustrate the natural coin gray surfaces with light gold and the rims. Surfaces are essentially pristine and the strike is complete, Worthy of aggressive bidding as opportunities of this kind are infrequent to the market. The CAC census reports 27 in all grades, but the key point is that there are only three finer. The CAC price guide stands at $5500 but is outdated based on other GFRC Online Auction sales results. A visit to the Sales Archives is necessary to properly research current value. Housed in PCGS Gen 6.1 (2020-2025) holder with CAC approval. PCGS #4584.

1854 With Arrows PCGS MS64 CAC 10C

Arrows Type, Hammered Strike, Gem Original, Massachusetts Collection. A superb 1854 With Arrows dime that warrants a GFRC-Gem quality rating for its well balanced presentation. A uniform and hammered strike is immediately evident. Bright light assessment reveals frosted luster and the predominance of pastel blues and gold. Wire rims are nearly complete on both sides. Unquestionable originality rounds out the positive attributes. CAC has approved 57 in all grades which is only 25% of its prior year counterpart. Regardless, the price guide lists $1000 for both dates. A compelling lot that should garner competitive bidding. Housed in PCGS Gen 6.1 (2020-2025) holder with CAC approval. PCGS #4605.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Today brings a heat advisory for southern Maine and a good reason to spend another day in the GFRC preparing incremental auction descriptions. The shipping department workload is light as orders are seasonally show coupled with my nearly exclusive attention to the August 23 auction catalog. After today, I'm hoping that the catalog descriptions will be completed into the Civil War years allowing for a pivot to adding more consignments to the 30 Day Price List.

Looking at precious metals. gold remains in a consolidation pattern since May with a London quote of $3335/oz. After touching $39, silver has retreated to $37.90 as the Blog is composed. We must remember that precious metals do not move up in a straight line. There are large financial entities that subtlety manipulate prices to their advantage though unable to stop the long term upward momentum. Also working against gold is the shift of monies into Bitcoin as this instrument is presently in rally mode.

The 10 Year U.S. Treasury bond yield continues to increase as is currently at 4.47% with the 30 Year at an even 5.0%. Yesterday's inflation report indicates that inflation continues to be sticky with little reason for the Federal Reserve to cut short term interest rates.

That is the extent of today's commentary. We are grateful for your ongoing patronage. Thanks again.

Be well!

 

 

 

 

 

July 15, 2025

An Interview with USPS Special Agent

GFRC Shipping PCGS Gen 6.1 Holders with Aluminum Foil Protection

and

Porsche. There is no substitute.

 

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

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

 

An Interview with USPS Special Agent

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

Last Recorded at the Scarborough, Maine Distribution Center

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

        

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

        

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

 

GFRC Shipping PCGS Gen 6.1 Holders with Aluminum Foil Protection

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

Why?

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

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

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

 

Porsche. There is no substitute.

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

It’s the thrill that drives us.

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

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

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

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

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

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

Thank you again for the visit.

Be well!

 

 

 

July 14, 2025

A Quiet Homestead

Silver Trading Over $39/oz

and

Is Jerome Powell Resigning as Fed Chair?

 

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

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

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

 

Silver Trading Over $39/oz

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

 

Is Jerome Powell Resigning as Fed Chair?

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

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

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

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

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

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

Thank you again for the visit. Be well!

 

 

 

July 13, 2025

A Few Seth Godin Blogpost Gems...

Gerry Fortin's Remaining Opportunities for the Advanced Collector

and

Where are Precious Metal Starting a New Week?

 

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

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

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

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

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

 

A Few Seth Godin Blogpost Gems...

The future does not care

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

It arrives, regardless.

What an opportunity. Or a threat.

Up to us.

Not smart vs. stupid

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

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

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

 

Gerry Fortin's Remaining Opportunities for the Advanced Collector

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Connoisseur's Auction Sale

The Gerry Fortin Liberty Seated Dime Collection

 

Remaining Opportunities for the Advanced Collector

Offers Welcomed

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

        

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

        

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

        

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

        

 

Where are Precious Metal Starting a New Week?

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

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

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

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

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

Thanks again for checking in.

Be well!

 

 

July 12, 2025

Final Yamatin Family Day at the Homestead

and

Silver Rips Through $38/oz

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

 

July 11, 2025

Slow Progress with New Stone Wall Area

Silver Breaks Through $37 Mark

and

Grilling with Ayumi

 

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

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

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

Silver Breaks Through $37 Mark

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

 

Grilling with Ayumi

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

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

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

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

Thanks again for the visit. Be well!

 

 

 

 

July 10, 2025

Staying on Top of Two Substantial Meetings

and

CAC Approved Consignment Arrives!

 

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

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

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

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

Beyond that:

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

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

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

Impact on USD Dominance

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

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

Impact on Central Bank Reserve Strategies

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

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

Strategic Implications

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

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

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

Let's shift the focus to numismatics.

 

CAC Approved Consignment Arrives!

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

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

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

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

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

Be well!

 

 

 

July 9, 2025

LaSalle Collection - Liberty Seated Quarters to Consider

 

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

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

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

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

 

LaSalle Collection - Liberty Seated Quarter Showcase Gallery

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

        

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

        

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

        

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

        

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

                      

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

                      

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

                      

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

                      

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

                      

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

           

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

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

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

 

 

 

 

July 8, 2025

Saying Goodbye to Renee, Mike, Ivy, and Miles

A Substantial Shipping Day

and

Waiting for LaSalle Liberty Seated Quarter Pricing Approval

 

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

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

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

 

A Substantial Shipping Day

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

 

Waiting for LaSalle Liberty Seated Quarter Pricing Approval

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

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

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

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

Be well!

 

 

 

July 7, 2025

Touring Ledge Hill Park - The Take a Hike Club

and

Massachusetts Liberty Seated Dime Collection - All Auction Lots Posted

 

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

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

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

 

Touring Ledge Hill Park - The Take a Hike Club

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

 

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

 

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

 

Massachusetts Liberty Seated Dime Collection - All Auction Lots Posted

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

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

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

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

Be well!

 

 

July 6, 2025

July 4th Weekend Holiday - Hanging Out at Androscoggin Lake

and

Presenting the LaSalle Liberty Seated Quarter Consignment

 

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

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

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

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

 

Presenting the LaSalle Liberty Seated Quarter Consignment

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

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

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

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

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

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

Be well!

 

 

 

July 5, 2025

July 4th Weekend Holiday Continues

 

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

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

 

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

Be well!

 

 

 

July 4, 2025

Happy July 4th 2025 Holiday!

Cleveland Collection Consignment Arrives

and

GFRC Online August 23 Auction Climbs to 212 Lots

 

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

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

 

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

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

 

Cleveland Collection Consignment Arrives

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

 

GFRC Online August 23 Auction Climbs to 212 Lots

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

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

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

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

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

Thank you as always for the visit.

Be well!

 

 

 

July 3, 2025

GFRC Online Auctions - August 23 Auction Catalog Reaches 195 Lots

How Large is the August 23 Auction Event?

and

Silver Makes Another Run at $37 Mark

 

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

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

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

Massachusetts Collection - Seated Dime Carson City Dates

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

        

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

        

 

How Large is the August 23 Auction Event?

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

 

Silver Makes Another Run at $37 Mark

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

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

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

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

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

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

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

Thank you again for the visit.

Be well!

 

 

July 2, 2025

GFRC-Lite - Raleigh NC Show Report

A GFRC Consignment Preview

and

GFRC Online Auctions - All Tenafly Collection Lots are Posted

 

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

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

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

 

GFRC-Lite - Raleigh NC Show Report

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

Hi Gerry,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rich

 

A GFRC Consignment Preview

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

25c 1805 PCGS VG08 CAC

25c 1882 PCGS F12 CAC - GFRC

50c 1834 PCGS AU58 CAC

50c 1841-O PCGS EF40 CAC - GFRC

50c 1844-O Seated Liberty PCGS VF30 CAC

$1 1847 Seated Liberty PCGS AU58 - GFRC Online Auction

$2.5 1855 PCGS AU55 CAC - GFRC

$10 1907 NM PCGS MS61 CAC

$20 1908 NM PCGS MS63 CAC

 

GFRC Online Auctions - All Tenafly Collection Lots are Posted

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

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

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

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

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

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

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

 

 

 

July 1, 2025

The 1993 Miata Has a New Home

The Stage is Set for Fortin Family Visit

and

S&P 500 at Record High - Gold Consolidating

 

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

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

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

 

The Stage is Set for Fortin Family Visit

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

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

 

S&P 500 at Record High - Gold Consolidating

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

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

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

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

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

So how does gold fit into these new realizations.

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

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

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

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

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

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

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

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

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

Be well!