The Daily Blog

 

June 16, 2025

A Brief GFRC-Lite Update

and

Whitman Baltimore Show Week Arrives!

 

 

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

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

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

 

A Brief GFRC-Lite Update

Hi Gerry,

Happy Father’s Day!

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

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

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

Best,
Rich

 

Whitman Baltimore Show Week Arrives!

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

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

Newtown Liberty Seated Half Dollars Available in Baltimore

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

        

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

        

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

 

Summer Baltimore Show - GFRC Online Auctions at Booth #241

Tom Coulombe Liberty Seated Dime Collection

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

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

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

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

Again, thank you for stopping by. Be well!

 

 

 

June 15, 2025

Happy Father's Day 2025

Working in the Homestead Yard

and

GFRC Online Auctions Catalog Continues to Expand

 

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

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

 

Working in the Homestead Yard

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

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

 

GFRC Online Auctions Catalog Continues to Expand

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

Old "Friends" from the Gerry Fortin Reference Collection

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

        

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

        

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

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

Be well!

 

 

June 14, 2025

Summer Time in Maine is Precious....

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

 

 

June 13, 2025

NCIC Aids with Missing GFRC Shipment

and

Gold Becomes Second Largest Global Reserve Asset

 

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

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

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

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

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

Let's jump into today's headlines.

 

NCIC Aids with Missing GFRC Shipment

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

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

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

 

Gold Becomes Second Largest Global Reserve Asset

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

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

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

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

Be well!

 

 

 

June 12, 2025

Homestead Has a New Hot Water Heater

and

Viewing Progress with GFRC Online Auction Sale Catalog

 

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

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

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

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

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

Thanks again and be well!

 

 

 

June 11, 2025

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

and

Announcing Massachusetts Liberty Seated Dime Collection Reserve Prices

 

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

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

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

Missing While in USPS Transit to California

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

        

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

        

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

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

 

Announcing Massachusetts Liberty Seated Dime Collection Reserve Prices

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

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

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

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

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

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

Be well!

 

 

 

June 10, 2025

Presenting the Tenafly CAC Centric Collection Auction Sale

GFRC Online Auction Lot Viewing at Summer Baltimore Show

and

Silver Has Broken Out

 

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

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

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

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

 

Presenting the Tenafly CAC Centric Collection Auction Sale

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

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

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

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

 

GFRC Online Auction Lot Viewing at Summer Baltimore Show

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

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

Summer Baltimore Show - GFRC Online Auctions at Booth #241

Tom Coulombe Liberty Seated Dime Collection

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

 

Silver Has Broken Out

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

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

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

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

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

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

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

Be well!

 

 

 

June 9, 2025

A Delightful 2025 Rhododendron Bloom

Newest Oregon Beaver $2.5 Liberty Gold

and

Dr. Tim Cook's Better Liberty Seated Dime Varieties

 

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

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

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

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

 

Newest Oregon Beaver $2.5 Liberty Gold

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

Newest Oregon Beaver $2.5 Liberty Gold

1876 PCGS MS61 CAC G$2.5 - $5500

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

        

 

Dr. Tim Cook's Better Liberty Seated Dime Varieties

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

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

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

Dr. Tim Cook's Better Liberty Seated Dime Varieties

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

        

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

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

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

Be well!

 

 

 

June 8, 2025

Massachusetts Liberty Seated Dime Collection Reserves Under Review

and

A New Fun "Tool" Joins Johnny2 in the Barn

 

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

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

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

 

A New Fun "Tool" Joins Johnny2 in the Barn

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

 

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

Powertrain & Performance

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

Dimensions & Capacities

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

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

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

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

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

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

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

Thank you as always for the visit.

Be well!

 

 

June 7, 2025

Oregon Beaver and Dr. Tim Cook Consignments Arrive

and

A Thought Provoking Gold vs. Foreign Reserve Graph

 

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

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

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

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

 

Oregon Beaver and Dr. Tim Cook Consignments Arrive

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

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

 

A Thought Provoking Gold vs. Foreign Reserve Graph

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

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

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

Be well!

 

 

June 6, 2025

Hawk Farm Collection Offerings to Consider

 

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

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

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

 

Hawk Farm Collection Offerings to Consider

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

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

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

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

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

        

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

        

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

        

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

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

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

Take is all she wrote for today.

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

Be well!

 

 

 

 

June 5, 2025

A Vision Becomes Reality - Well Done Dave!

Silver Is Exploding

and

Hawk Farm Collection Offerings Arrive Friday

 

A Vision Becomes Reality - Well Done Dave!

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

The Lighthouse Dream

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Silver Is Exploding

It is finally happening...

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

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

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

 

Hawk Farm Collection Offerings Arrive Friday

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

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

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

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

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

Be well!

 

 

 

June 4, 2025

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

and

USPS Screws Up Again with Shipping Notices

 

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

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

 

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

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

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

Day 2 Progress

 

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

 

USPS Screws Up Again with Shipping Notices

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

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

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

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

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

Be well!

 

 

 

June 3, 2025

Day 1 with Dave Wilkinson - Impressive Progress

Dr. Tim Cook Consignment is Well Received

and

Insights into Forthcoming Consignments

 

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

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

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

 

Day 1 with Dave Wilkinson - Impressive Progress

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

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

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

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

Day 1 Progress

 

Dr. Tim Cook Consignment is Well Received

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

 

Insights into Forthcoming Consignments

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

1891-O, 10C, MS63, PCGS 84123260

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

1888, 10C, MS65+, PCGS 33006233

1930, 25C, MS66FH, PCGS 50140174

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

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

1927, $20, MS65, PCGS 37215162

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

1876 $2.5 G PCGS MS 61 CAC

1879 $2.5 G PCGS MS 63

1889 $2.5 G PCGS MS 64+CAC

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

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

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

Be well!

 

 

 

June 2, 2025

Dr. Tim Cook Returns with Important Seated Dime Varieties

and

Day 1 with Dave Wilkinson - The Game Plan

 

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

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

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

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

More Releases from the Dr. Tim Cook Collection

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

        

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

        

 

Day 1 with Dave Wilkinson - The Game Plan

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

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

Day 1 with Dave Wilkinson - The Game Plan

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

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

Thank you again for returning to the Daily Blog.

Be well!

 

 

 

June 1, 2025

Presenting the Massachusetts Liberty Seated Dime Auction Lots

and

The Spring Branch Collection Releases Prior GFRC Purchases

 

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

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

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

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

 

Presenting the Massachusetts Liberty Seated Dime Auction Lots

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

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

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

 

The Spring Branch Collection Releases Prior GFRC Purchases

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

A Delightful Spring Branch Collection Consignment

1876 PCGS MS65 50C - $2800

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

        

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

        

 

Will There Be a Daily Blog Edition on Monday?

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

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

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

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

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

As always, thank you for the visit.

Be well!

 

 

 

May 31, 2025

Selling a Well Preserved 1993 Mazda Miata

Summer Baltimore Show - New GFRC Table Location

and

The 1860-O V-2 Half Dime Discussions

 

Greetings on the final day of May 2025 and welcome to the Daily Blog. Thank you for checking back after our Porsche centric extended vacation.

Friday was yet another non-stop busy day with a return to morning blogging, followed by preparing several GFRC shipments. There was still enough time during the morning hours to wash and vacuum the 1993 Miata before placing a For Sale sign in the passenger side window and moving her to the entrance of our hilltop construction road. Yes, this little sports car is a classic and still looks great as it has never seeing any winter road salt. My evidence is that the original exhaust is still in place after 32 years! Here she is on the top of Ledge Hill hoping for someone to show interest. We decided to be at $9000 firm towards accelerating the sale. I believe this number is fair for the vintage and near-gem preservation condition. What can you buy today for this number that is an automotive antique along with drawing attention where ever driven?

When compared to the 718 Boxster, the 1993 Miata is a just a fun driving toy for those that live in areas with country roads. We've been diligent with ongoing maintenance so there should be no mechanical surprises. Back in 2015, a new radiator and hoses were installed along with new brake pads. At the time, the mileage was about 75,000. Recent maintenance includes new tires last summer along with an oil change. We've averaged about 1500 miles per year of summer driving since 2015.

 

Yes, the rains are back on a Saturday which means a full day in the GFRC office as there is a host of backlogged consignments and auction lots that need attention. Come Sunday's Blog edition, I will share details about another new purchase which took place on Friday afternoon.

 

Summer Baltimore Show - New GFRC Table Location

Friday also brought a Whitman confirmation email with GFRC's new booth location confirmation for the upcoming Summer Baltimore show that takes place on June 19 - 21. GFRC's double corner pretense has been moved to table location #241 which is on the left side of the bourse floor. Gone are the tables immediately right of the entrance at the inside wall.

GFRC has taken a substantial amount of booth space as our entire inventory will be on exhibit along with forthcoming GFRC Online Auctions displays of the Tom Coulombe Liberty Seated Dime Collection coupled with the Tenafly Collection of Liberty Seated Dimes and $5 Liberty Gold, the latter collection being 100% CAC approved. Both collections will be housed in four display cases with reserve price list handouts for those wishing to conduct auction lots viewing during the show.

Summer Baltimore Show - GFRC at Booth #241

Tom Coulombe Liberty Seated Dime Collection

Tenafly 100% CAC Approved Liberty Seated Dime and $5 Liberty Gold Collection

 

The 1860-O V-2 Half Dime Discussion

On Monday of the past week, Diane and I had the pleasure of spending time with Rich Hundertmark (GFRC-Lite) and his wife Susan at their Winston-Salem home. Rich was most excited to be able to share his Indian Cent collection along with his 2 Cent and 3 Cent Silver collections. The two numismatists spent roughly 1.5 hours viewing each of the coins with Gerry providing feedback on where upgrade possibilities might be considered. Rich's Indian cent collection is mostly PCGS MS64RB and MS65RB through the early dates with a strong number being CAC approved. His pre-1880 dates are very strong with a clear indication that the post 1880 dates, being much more common, were not pursued with the same vigor as the fantastic early dates.

The viewing session wrapped up with Rich pulling out a magnificent 1860-O V-2 half dimes with what I believe are unique obverse die diagnostics. Up to this point, I had never seen an 1860-O V-2 come through the GFRC office and was quite taken back by the counterstamp appearance of the "M" in DIME on the obverse with no other evidence of die clashing on either side. My mind was attempting to draw a die maintenance scenario where this type of select die clashing transfer to the obverse die could be possible.

 

After mentioning the 1860-O half dime in Friday's Blog, the current Liberty Seated half dime die variety expert, Alan Welty, contacted me followed by also going directly to Rich Hundertmark for the details. The two gentlemen chatted on the variety with both Alan and Rich reporting back for this Daily Blog report.

Rich shared the following via email and a discussion with Alan.

Hi Gerry,

As follow up to the 1860-O V2 variety, Alan Welty read your blog and emailed me early this morning to see if he needed it, and if it was for sale.  The Daily Blog is POWERFUL!!!!!

He has the variety, see attached, which is an NGC MS66 ex PCGS MS65. (PS- I like my coin better but that's just me).

Alan estimated the variety at 5% of the population. He also said that the only coin listed in Clint's register is his V2.  Alan thought a Gobrecht article on this coin would be a good idea and could add a bit of publicity/excitement to the series.

Alan may stop by and discuss it with you in Baltimore. I also invited Alan to go to the Annandale show to photograph as his images are probably better than mine. Attached is a closeup, but I know this can be improved.

I'm going to also write to Clint Cummins; see what other info he has on the V2 and give him my coin's details so that he can add it to his register.

 

Afterwards, Alan Welty also sent along a report of the conversation which is shown next with a potential explanation for this die variety's unique appearance.

Hi Gerry,

Yeah, Rich's coin is pretty (he sent me photos), but I like mine too.

Where that bold clash of the M of DIME appears is an area that is fairly low relief and flattens out due to lapping in many issues. So it effectively becomes "field" and subject to clash marks. Traces of other letters of the denomination appear in low points of the gown and shield. That said, It does seem puzzlingly strong, and without much of the more common clash marks from the wreath, and without significant clashes on the reverse. Could they have done some peculiar die shaping, akin to basining, for either of those dies to make the obverse more susceptible to clash marks in the center?

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

As mentioned earlier in this Blog edition, today brings a full day in the GFRC office. If all goes to plan, I should be able to showcase Tom Coulombe's Liberty Seated Dime Collection contents via a presentation table at the Daily Blog's upper right come tomorrow morning. I've not used this custom html feature in a while and hope it works again.

Regular consignments are being committed with a new shipment schedule to arrive next week along with a quality four piece Liberty Seated half dollar lot that was delivered prior to our Florida departure.

Bottom line, there is ample amounts of new consignments to process along with two very strong auction lots. Let's see how far I can get today without distractions from the ongoing outdoor gravitational pull...

Thank you again for the visit. Be well!

 

 

 

May 30, 2025

I'm Still Pinching Myself....

Sad News from the Theriault Clan

and

We and the Porsche 718 Boxster GTS 4.0 Are Home in Maine

 

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog on a beautiful late spring Friday morning. The Fortins are back at the Maine homestead after a five day journey to and from Sarasota Suncoast Porsche. Somehow I managed to drive a 1700 mile road trip through a host of states and mountain roads without a speeding ticket that would have been justified.

The once in a lifetime story began on Saturday May 24th with early morning flights from Maine to Sarasota. Suncoast Porsche arranged for transport from SRQ to the dealership with an arrival at 11:20 AM or so. There was considerable anticipation when Diane and I walked into the showroom with our luggage. Our new 718 Boxster was quietly awaiting for its special unveiling as we sat down with Josh to go through the final round of sales discussions and reviewing the many purchased options. Suncoast Porsche had just received a shipment of 18 vehicles, including ours, with the showroom full of wonder cars including a Boxster Spyder and Cayman GT4 RS. The dealership showroom had been recently remodeled with a huge flat screen monitor on one of the walls. Josh was stalling a bit until 11:45 as a special posting on the monitor was scheduled. This image accurately shares the excitement and anticipation prior to the official unveiling.

 

After the photo opportunity, Josh pulled the shroud and exposed our custom built 718 Boxster GTS 4.0 to our amazement. Was this actually happening after months of waiting for the build and transport to the Sarasota dealership? The icing on the cake was no tariff issues to deal with as we paid the original build invoice agreed to in mid-January.

Once the unveiling was complete, Diane and I sat in our Porsche and started the car for the first time. The mid-engine 4.0L roared in the showroom much to our delight. Next came a short walk to the business manager's office to write that all important six figure check. Matt's office was located in a separate annex storage room with many other newly arrived builds. On the way in, Matt tells Diane to put a finger on one of the cars in the annex. After she touched the car, Matt informs Diane, with a smile, that she had just touched a $1,700,000 car! Yes, in the annex was a 918 Spyder Hypercar with eight cylinder engine and electric motors. I had seen a YouTube video of the hypercar and never expected to see one in the flesh, but there it was waiting for its new owner. This was a "I'm still pinching myself" moment among several that day.

While in Matt's business office, Josh moved our 718 Boxster out of the showroom and into a shaded tunnel between the showroom and repair building. After writing the check and taking official possession, Josh and I sat in the car while the our cellphones were connected and the instrumentation was explained with a preliminary configuration installed. At that point, Josh suggested that we drive the car out front of the dealership for this memorable photograph. Yes, two kids with one heck of an amazing car that was a lifetime dream come true. Our hats go off to Josh Zuder for making us feel like part of the Porsche family as he had choreographed the event to a wonderful conclusion. Off we drove down RT 41 back to our Venice condo with perpetual smiles.

 

Sunday brought our usual morning health walk with the Venice temperature approaching 90F during the early morning hours before closing up the condo and starting a five day road trip back to Maine. Our first stop was in Fernandina Beach to introduce the Porsche to Dan and Patti, our long time IBM friends. They graciously moved Patti's Mercedes SUV out of their garage so that we could move the Boxster next to Dan's C8 Corvette. The evening brought heavy thunderstorms and downpours while we drank and ate with plans being developed for a joint extended cruise through Europe or south Asia.

The weather cleared on Monday morning as we started our 7.5 hour drive to Winston-Salem NC for a visit with Rich Hundertmark and his wife Susan. Rich shared his Indian cent, Large cent, and 3 Cent Silver collections before taking the Fortins to dinner. There will be a separate Blog on this visit including a truly special 1860-O half dime variety that I had never seen.

Tuesday was a washout as we drove from Winston-Salem to Wilkes-Barre PA. The original plan to double back to I-77 to catch I-81 through the mountains was scratched, rather we drove mostly back roads to Roanoke before catching I-81 further north. It poured while the 718 Boxster performed beautifully with its traction control. Once reaching PA, the rain let up with a pleasant drive through the mountainous I-81 stretch from the I-81/I-78 junction to Wilkes-Barre. I was finally able to open up the Porsche in winding mountain roads and simply amazed at its handling performance. Yes, a speeding ticket or two would have been justified...

Wednesday brought another trip highlight with a top down drive through Vermont's Green Mountains on Rt 9. The sun was high in the sky and the views was stunning. We arrived into Lebanon NH by mid-afternoon and checked into our next hotel for the evening.

Throughout the trip, Diane was staying close with her family as one of the older brothers, Richard, was in hospice care. A report and picture arrive that Richard had sat up in bed and started drinking water and chatting with several family members after being close to death earlier in the week. Thursday morning brought the sad news that Richard had passed in his sleep during the overnight hours. At this point, our plans for driving the Kangamangus Highway through the NH White Mountains was shelved to a later date. Instead with took highways back to our Raymond home so that Diane could unite with her family after Richard's passing. We arrived to the Maine homestead by 11:30 AM with so much to catch up with. I immediately headed to Windham for groceries along with procuring a double pail washing system with mitt and drying towels. It was cloudy and cool, therefore the best time to wash the accumulated road dirt and insect splats off the Boxster.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

My sincere appreciation goes out to several GFRC clients who called or emailed to check in on our status since I had not posted in a Blog edition since May 23. This is the first time in a decade where I took a vacation without the laptop and feeling compelled to write each morning. It was a true holiday trip for the Fortins.

This morning brings light shipping along with washing and prepping the 1993 Miata for its sale. We will place the Miata at the top of our construction road with a For Sale sign once the car is cleaned and are hoping for a quick sale to clear the driveway. Sadly, the 1993 Miata has lost its garage spot to the Porsche and needs to find a new home just like my Liberty Seated Dime Collection. This afternoon brings a special appointment in Lewiston which will be the subject of yet another Daily Blog announcement.

Thank for returning and we will be talking numismatics at some point this weekend.

Be well!

 

 

 

May 23, 2025

GFRC Office Closed During Memorial Day Weekend

and

The Importance of Self Reliance

 

Greetings once again from southern Maine where are we are experiencing strong winds, 40 degree temps, and more rain. Other than that, life is just great!

As I've often mentioned in the Blog, rain is a blessing as it nurtures life. Our landscaping has transformed it every imaginable shade of green throughout the property due to the ongoing moisture. Weeds are sprouting everywhere too and will need to be address once back from our Memorial Day weekend holiday to retrieve the Porsche 718 Boxster. The anticipation is beginning to set in after a Florida to Maine transition followed by the Session 3 Auction Sale. I've been quite focused on a host of business and homestead activities and attempting to get as much done as possible prior to our departure for a few days. Once we are back home with the Boxster, the following week bring Dave Wilkinson back on site for three days. His presence, with a capable excavator, will again transform the view from the back deck as we are clearing incremental bush/trees towards exposing an original settlers stone wall and building yet another decorative stone wall. Call it an infatuation with stone walls or whatever. Sometimes, I refer to the back acreage as a personal canvas by which a natural painting is being created. Instead of working with different paint colors, the canvas is being shaped with physical attributes. I just find stone walls to be idyllic within the context of a rural Raymond Maine settings. Raymond is well known among local contractors for being a glacial area with excessive amounts of broken up granite.

Changing topics, the U.S. House of Representatives has passed the Big, Beautiful Bill which does little to curb deficit spending in the near term. This fact and the recent Moody's credit rating downgrade have shown a spotlight on the looming credit dilemma that is expanding before our eyes. It appears that "kicking the can do the road" best describes the predicament. The 10 Year U.S. Treasury bond yield has pulled back slightly to 4.53% as the Blog is composed. Spot gold is trending at $3330/oz with silver at $33.11 leading to an approximate 100 gold/silver ratio. To put things in perspective, if you had asked me if gold would be above $3300/oz on year ago during Memorial Day 2024, I would have thought that this could be quite a stretch since gold was trending at $2350/oz at that time. A tad under 50% increase in one year is a substantial feat but there is precedence given Bitcoin's accelerating value. The below Kitco one year gold chart illustrates where we have come in just 52 weeks. Does a $4000-$4500 number seem plausible in the coming 52 weeks given that U.S. deficit spending will accelerate rather than being curtailed?

Let's move ahead to today's headline topics.

 

GFRC Office Closed During Memorial Day Weekend

As indicated in Wednesday's Blog, GFRC will be closing for the Memorial Day weekend effective tomorrow morning. This will be a hard close including a break from composing the Daily Blog. Our focus will be on the 718 Boxster GTS 4.0 unveiling at Sarasota Porsche come tomorrow afternoon followed by writing a substantial check to close the purchase. Saturday evening brings our 45th anniversary celebration at our favorite seafood restaurant in nearby Osprey. Sunday brings the first day of northern driving to Fernandina Beach to hang out with Dan and Patti, our IBM friends dating back to the late 1980s. The new 718 Boxster will be introduced to Dan's C8 Corvette and hopefully it will be love at first sight. The balance of the return trip to Maine has been meticulously planned as we move the Boxster through its break-in period. Hopefully the weather will allow some portions of the trip to be in top down mode.

I will be monitoring GFRC orders and other communications while traveling but typically at the end of day via cellphone.

 

The Importance of Self Reliance

Today's second headline topic was triggered by an email that arrived from a GFRC community member who became motivated by yesterday's wood stove display and the importance of this simple piece of steel in guaranteeing that the homestead is always warm no matter what Mother Nature might have in store for northern New England. Now that the Tesla Powerwall3 centric solar system is fully debugged, we also have a source of electricity to keep the furnace and water well pump operating during a crisis. For Blog readers who are considering some basic backup power, the new Jackery and Bluetti power stations have seen price reductions to the $0.50/KWhr level if purchasing during Memorial Day sales events.

What about a Generac power generator with the need for a propane tank or natural gas connection? Out of curiosity, I asked AI CoPilot a simple question, namely "what are the Generac failure risks during a crisis? Following was the response.

Generac generators have faced reliability concerns during crises, particularly in extreme weather events. A recent class action lawsuit alleges that certain Generac standby generators have a hidden defect that causes them to fail during power outages, despite being marketed as reliable backup power. The issue reportedly stems from slip rings and carbon brushes wearing out quickly, leading to generator failure when power is most needed. Some consumers have reported their generators failing within minutes of activation during hurricanes and other natural disasters.

Additionally, Generac emphasizes the importance of proper maintenance for extended use during major outages. Continuous operation requires regular oil checks, cooling periods, and adherence to shutdown procedures to prevent damage. Without these precautions, generators may experience performance issues or premature failure.

In today's "modern" and internet centric way of life, it is assumed that the power grid will always be functional. That is a reasonable assumptions for those in society who have never experienced an extended grid system failure. For those of us who have been without electrical power for a week of more, the importance of self reliance cannot be understated. Our comfortable way of life experiences a dramatic upheaval in the matter of hours once electrical supply disappears. Factoring self reliance into our lifestyles is a prudent step similar to allocating a small portion of personal wealth to gold.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Today brings an office day given mid-40s and on and off rain in the forecast. I will be available for price list purchases or other related numismatic correspondence.

We will see you on the other side of the Memorial Day weekend. Thank you so much for sharing your numismatic hobby needs with us.

Be well!

 

 

 

May 22, 2025

Maine Life - Burning Wood in Late May

GFRC Office Closed During Memorial Day Weekend

and

Price Reductions on the 30 Day Price List

 

Greetings on a cold and windy southern Maine morning as we barrel towards Memorial Day weekend. Thank you for the visit.

As opposed to the nearly constant Venice Florida sunshine, Maine spring weather has proven to be quite cold this year. I awoke early this morning with the outdoor temperature at 44F under thick clouds. Rain is forthcoming today with the high only reaching 49 degrees. The overnight will bring even colder temperatures at 40F. This is a terrible year for spring farmers as the ground continues to be water logged as there has been little in terms of sunshine and warmth to dry out the earth. The cold and wet conditions will not improve until Sunday at the earliest.

The first action of the day was starting the wood stove and placing a comfortable warmth into the homestead for the next 48 hours. There is an ample supply of dry firewood in the garage with never a worry about replenishing the stock given an entire of forest to work with. During the past several years, we have given away much more wood that consumed in our trusty Vermont Casting stove in the great room. This small stove was part of the 1985 homestead build along with the donation of a firewood storage box from long ago friends. Unless outdoors temperatures dropped below 0F, this small stove is able to heat the entire dwelling since a passive solar and super insulated design.

A quick check of the morning precious metal, bond, and equity markets indicates more volatility. It appears that the U.S. bond market is now the driving factor to be watched. Yesterday brought a weakly subscribed 20 Year Treasury bond auction with yields jumping to 5.1%. The reaction was swift with equities falling by 1.5-2.0% during the afternoon hours. The 10 Year Treasury yield has climbed to 4.62% as of 7:45 AM. Gold and silver are taking a spill with gold back down below the $3300 mark in London trading. Equities, on the other hand, are forecasted to open fractionally higher come 9:30 AM.

Yesterday brought more auction shipments along with loading a portion of the Tom Coulombe Liberty Seated Dime Collection into the COIN system prior to heading to Portland for a dentist appointment. Prior to driving to that appointment, I was on the old Marcy Monster gem in the basement utility room that has come back to life after being unused for several decades. Exercise is a key component of delayed physical aging thus the resurrection of this machine and a new exercising regiment.

I continue to be amazed at the speed of life and how each day is fully consumed. Are the "retirement years" suppose to be like this?

 

GFRC Office Closed During Memorial Day Weekend

I'm not in an overly creative mood this morning, rather feeling a bit relaxed given that the GFRC office will be experience a hard shutdown for the three day Memorial Day weekend. Yes, a hard shutdown with only a cellphone as a communication device while we are traveling.

The GFRC office will be closed from Friday through Tuesday of next week including no Daily Blog being published. After years of consistently preparing a Blog edition like clockwork, I am taking a much deserve break and seeing what life is like without the compulsory early morning time at a laptop keyboard for several days. Sure, I will be monitoring emails on the cellphone and will respond to new orders as promptly as possible throughout the Memorial Day weekend. Response times might be a bit protracted however.

 

Price Reductions on the 30 Day Price List

Another round of price reductions have been posted to the 30 Day Price List for those who enjoy the value shopping process. Among the discounted lots are two CAC approved eye appealing Barber lots that warrant consideration at their reduced levels.

Notable 10% Barber Price Reductions

      1901-O PCGS VF25 CAC 25C - $630                                           1910-S PCGS AU55 CAC 25C - $750    

        

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

OK, I've attempted to ramble along as much as possible during the past hour. Today bring a full day in the GFRC office loading the balance of the Tom Coulombe Seated dimes into the COIN system along with establishing the Fortin die variety numbers and maybe, just maybe, a first shot at reserve prices. Photography is out of the question until I am back into the office next week given the constant overcast.

Let's close with a sincere thank you to everyone who frequents the Daily Blog. I hoped that today's edition would be a bit more exciting but that is not the case.

Be well!

 

 

 

 

May 21, 2025

Gerry Fortin Session 3 Auction 1850-O Dime is on Hold

Spot Gold Back Over $3300

and

US Debt Clock.org - Government Financials on Steroids

 

Greetings from southern Maine on a cold (44F) and cloudy Wednesday morning. Thank you for returning to the Daily Blog for another round of unpredictable ramblings.

Tuesday brought a truly productive day in the GFRC office along with homestead spring maintenance tasks. Let's start with the GFRC office report...

In the matter of three hours, Diane and I were able to pack and ship 18 outgoing price list and auction orders. After working as a team for years, and refining our production process, we've arrived to a point of maximum efficiency in how the individual shipping tasks are allocated between us. The first step is Gerry preparing post it notes with the nature of the purchase and payment approach. Afterwards, USPS shipping labels are purchased, printed, and placed into each shipping box. At this point, Diane takes over with receipt writing and taping the shipping label onto the padded Priority or Express envelopes. The coins are placed into our signature packing method with a hand off to Gerry who then finalizes the outgoing shipment with packing material and taping the padded envelope shut. On days like Tuesday, it is much easier to simply bring the shipments to the local post office than trying to have Doug the Mailman attempt a pick-up.

After lunch and responding to morning emails, the balance of the afternoon was spent outdoors. During the morning hours, Dave Wilkinson delivered a beautiful 16 yards of dark mulch in a newly designated location by the stone lined construction path. 16 yards is a lot of mulch, but then again, there is much surface area within our landscaping that needs to be tendered to. I digressed...

The first task was raking long rows of lawn clippings and moving into our huge compost pile by the barn. Next came moving a water cooler from the homestead winter storage to the barn to ensure that the internal plumbing is not destroyed by the winter freeze. At this point, there is fresh drinking water in the barn. Field mice are an ongoing issue here in the country with twelve large bait boxes strategically placed around buildings. Those boxes were opened and given fresh bait. It appears that we are making progress in controlling the mice population as the baits were only partially consumed during the winter months. Afterwards, I jumped on Johnny2 with chains in the front loader. The goal was moving our backup Honda gas generator from the house to storage in the barn since the Tesla Powerwall3 system is now our full time power backup solution. Yes, I did place gas stabilizer in the tank and let the generator run for 5 or minutes before placing into storage. Using a chain, the generator was lifted by Johnny2's front loader and transported to the barn. Finally, five Johnny2 bucket loads of mulch were transported and spread across the decorative landscaping at the top of our driveway. All of these tasks were completed in four hours as Diane and I have as hard 5:00 PM stop for Happy Hour every day.

Let's move forward with the headline topics.

 

Gerry Fortin Session 3 Auction 1850-O Dime is on Hold

I'm pleased to report that the 1850-O F-103 Small O NGC MS67 Star dime is now on hold after accepting a $25,000 offer on Tuesday with immediate payment. This amazing dime is heading into one of the top two Liberty Seated dime variety collections currently being assembled.

1850-O F-103 NGC MS67 Star 10C - Sold at $25,000

 

Yes, both Aaron and I are willing to deal on the remaining unsold lots in the Session 3 Auction Sale. Our goal continues to be the placement of these magnificent coins into private collections. If discounting lots, our requirement is immediate payment. Please consider accordingly.

 

Spot Gold Back Over $3300

Spot gold has gained over $100/oz since the Moody's downgrade of U.S. debt. This morning's quote, as of 7:00 AM ET, is $3315/oz. If looking at gold from a technical perspective, the near term floor now appears to be $3200. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is trying to dismiss the debt rating downgrade but the 10 Year Treasury yield has increased to 4.5% with the 30 Year bond now at 5.0%. The U.S. dollar is now back under 100 as other global currencies make gains.

For Blog readers who wish to leverage the appreciation potential of gold and silver precious metals in a more substantial manner, please take a look at the mining sector. Global gold and silver mining output continues to slowly decrease as known reserves are consumed while global demand for these metals is climbing. We are well aware that silver has been in a deficit situation for the past several years due to increased electronics industry and solar panel manufacturing demand.

The Fortins are presently invested in multiple mining companies including PAAS, IAG, AGI, WPM, AEM, and KGC. I've shunned the major ETFs like GDX and GDXJ as these funds contain a broad basket of miners, some with less than stellar performance records. It does not take that much research to learn which miners are above average investments. The key parameters are mine jurisdictions, proven reserves, and all in cost per ounce mined.

As always, please do your own research as the Daily Blog is not meant to provide financial or investment advice. Rather, this is a report on how the Fortins are positioned in terms of precious metals after careful considerations.

 

US Debt Clock.org - Government Financials on Steroids

If wishing to conduct fast paced research of the financial status of the United States, the best approach is to visit the USDebtClock.org website. This website is a gem with respect to government spending and revenues at the national, state, and local levels. The numbers are truly astounding and eye opening. The website continues to evolve with an ever increasing amount of information including the breakdown of individual state GDPs and deficit spending along with precious metal, housing market, and car sales statistics. Moving your mouse over any of the statistic boxes brings about a definition of that statistic within the top US Debt Clock.org box. Look carefully at the bottom of the website to find other important statistics. These boxes have been truncated by my screen capture.

 

I could spend hours commenting on the host of relevant statistics offered by this website but let's leave that for another day.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Today brings incremental shipping during the morning hours followed by a dentist appointment during the afternoon. I will be monitoring the usual GFRC email traffic and orders throughout the day.

Thank you again for hanging out at the Daily Blog. There are days where the content simply materializes out of thin air, while other days are a struggle. This was a good day.

Be well!

 

 

 

May 20, 2025

Burning the Wood Stove in Late May?

and

GFRC Shipping Department in High Gear

 

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog on a Tuesday morning. We appreciated the many readers who frequent these ongoing ramblings.

Let's start with a short recap of yesterday's annual physical. I'm in great health with a blood pressure reading of 136/68. All is fine as Diane and I barrel towards the big 70.

As the opening headline indicates, the 2025 Maine spring has been downright wet and cold. I awoke to a morning temp of 48F with thick clouds. Today's high will only reach 55 degrees with ongoing cloud cover. Immediately after today's Blog edition is uploaded, I'm starting the wood stove to take the chill out of the homestead followed by warming up our thermal mass in the great room for extended warmth. The balance of the week does not look much better. I can't remember the last time that the wood stove was employed this close to Memorial Day weekend. However, when growing up, there are memories of wearing winter jackets for watching the July 4th fireworks. Northern New England weather can be unpredictable as is the case for the spring of 2025.

 

GFRC Shipping Department in High Gear

There is little new to share today as Monday afternoon was dedicated to kitting Session 3 Auction Sale lots into shipping packages and working through payment plans with the winning bidders. At GFRC, we pride ourselves in providing personalized service which was the case on Monday. Several clients are traveling and required delayed shipments. Three winning bidders added incremental purchases from the regular price list or made an offer on an unsold Session 3 lot (which was successfully negotiated). Then there are those individuals who took advantage of extended payment terms which require another round of invoicing documentation. By 5:00, the day's Happy Hour was relished as I was mentally exhausted after an intense five hours of admin and back and forth with clients.

Today's priority is shipping both accumulated price list orders and auction lot ship aheads. We are seeing an elevated usage of Deluxe eCheck payments along with Zelle, PayPal F&F, and wire transfers rather than the traditional paper check route with unpredictable USPS 1st class mail deliveries. These electronic payment methods have facilitated a substantial number of immediate payments with fewer lots going out on a ship ahead basis. Everyone who has tendered an electronic payment will be seeing their auction winnings shipped today unless otherwise instructed.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Let's wrap up today's edition at this point as there is little else to ramble about.

Today brings another busy day as already mentioned along with attempting to remove rows of lawn grass clippings as I was able to mow the lawn on Sunday afternoon in a 2 hour window without rain. However, the rain appeared before I could clear the grass clippings. Hopefully, this delayed task can be accomplished later this afternoon. On a positive note, the cold temperatures are limiting the traditional black fly season.

Thanks as always for stopping by. There are days that bring entertaining content or cool visuals. Sorry, but today is just not one of those days are we are back to basics here in southern Maine.

Be well!

 

 

 

May 19, 2025

Will Moody's U.S. Debt Downgrade Impact Gold?

 

Greetings on a Monday morning and welcome to the Daily Blog. Thank you for returning after the Connoisseur's Session 3 Auction Sale wrap up.

Today's Blog will be brief as there must get done items before a 10:00 AM annual physical.

Firstly, nearly all of the Session 3 invoices have been issued with three remaining to get done as of 6:30 AM Monday. I will try to get these out before heading to the doctor's office. Unsold lots have been posted to the 30 Day Price List.

Secondly, there is no shipping today for the same reason. Rather, Tuesday will bring a substantial morning for the shipping department with paid for orders and auction sale ship aheads.

Let's shift to today's headline topic if we could...

 

Will Moody's U.S. Debt Downgrade Impact Gold?

After Friday's U.S. stock market closing bell, Moody's issued a downgrade of U.S. debt from AAA to Aa1, a one notch downgrade. The move by Moody's should not be taken lightly as the United States no longer has an AAA credit worthiness rating across the three debt rating agencies. The first downgrade came in 2011 by Standard & Poor's followed by Fitch during 2023. Now Moody's is the last of the three to strip the U.S. of its AAA bond rating.

The core issue is the ongoing growth of U.S. debt. As much as DOGE has attempted to locate and cut Federal government waste, the effort has not produced anticipated results. Some notable headlines were generated for the media but the amounts saved are estimated to be between $160 to $300 billion. The "saved" monies will essentially offset the increase in planned U.S. defense spending. Therefore a net net to the overall U.S. budget.

I've been watching the initial impact on the financial markets this morning. The key market to watch is the bond market and pricing of 10 year Treasury notes as this instrument is a benchmark for setting other interest rates within the U.S. economy. As of 6:30 AM ET, the 10 year yield has increased to 4.54% while the 30 year has exceeded 5.0%. The incremental cost to refinance the U.S. deficit up for renewal this year cannot be understated.

Without sufficient fiscal control, the U.S. deficit will continue to climb faster than GDP leading to Treasury bonds being seen as having counterparty risks. Increasing yields result in lower bond values during buying and selling trades.

Since the U.S. dollar and gold are the only Tier 1 monetary assets on the planet, a complete downgrade of the credit worthiness of the United States should be favorable for gold. In the past week, gold has been in a consolidation pattern with several drops to the $3200 level, one of which came on Friday. During morning trading in London, gold has increased top $3240 with silver at $32.53. These numbers are nothing out of the ordinary. U.S. equity markets have turned bearish during premarket trading with the S&P down by 1.23%. Again, this type of move is typical of the recent volatility.

Blog readers should also be aware that the next BRICS Summit takes place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on July 6-7, 2025. I asked AI Copilot for details of the BRICS agenda with the following commentary. The second agenda item should be of keen interest as China, Russia, and India are the main players.

The 2025 BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro will focus on several key priorities, including:

• Global Health Cooperation – Ensuring equitable access to medicines and vaccines.
• Trade, Investment, and Finance – Strengthening financial market reforms and promoting the use of local currencies.
• Climate Change – Launching a BRICS Climate Leadership Agenda.
• Artificial Intelligence Governance – Establishing responsible AI governance frameworks.
• Multilateral Peace and Security Architecture – Reforming global peace and security systems.
• Institutional Development – Enhancing BRICS governance and decision-making.

Brazil, as the BRICS Chair, is also coordinating over 100 ministerial and technical meetings leading up to the summit to solidify collaborative efforts.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

I really need to wrap up today's ramblings at this point given the day's schedule constraint. Things will be back to normal on Tuesday morning.

Thank you for checking in and please be well!

 

 

May 18, 2025

Connoisseur's Session 3 Auction Sale - A Wild Auction Finale!

 

 

Greetings on a post Session 3 Auction close morning and welcome to the Daily Blog. Thank you for returning for another round of numismatic ramblings.

Let's open today's Blog edition with a bit of a twist. I asked AI Copilot to prepare a short discussion concerning "a wild auction finale" since this is what the GFRC community viewed last evening. The bidding for several lots within my personal Liberty Seated Dime collection was indeed "wild". The AI Copilot prose is appropriate...

When the final moments of a high-stakes auction approach, the atmosphere shifts dramatically. What started as a measured exchange quickly transforms into a battle of determination, strategy, and adrenaline. Bidders—once composed—now find themselves locked in a fierce competition, eyes darting between rivals and the auctioneer, each increment raising both the price and the tension.

A wild auction finale isn't just about securing a coveted item; it's about perseverance, quick thinking, and sometimes, sheer audacity. The thrill of outbidding an opponent at the last second, the agony of watching one's budget slip just beyond reach—these emotions fuel the electric energy in the room. Whether it's rare art, vintage memorabilia, or an exclusive experience, the final bids often carry an intensity that keeps spectators on edge.

And when the hammer finally falls, a mix of cheers and groans ripple through the crowd. For some, it's triumph; for others, a hard-fought loss. But in every case, a wild auction finale proves one thing—it’s never just about the item. It’s about the chase.

Yes, based on conversations with several bidders, prior to the auction close, I'm certain that there is a bit of disappointment this morning as several unexpected bidders emerged during the closing minutes and boldly secured sought after lots. Even Diane, who monitors the incoming bids on her cellphone, was amazed at the final bids. What started as a slow final Connoisseur's Auction Sale shifted into a fierce competition. On a very positive note, nearly all of the Session 3 lots are heading into GFRC community collection.

On a personal basis, this morning feels bittersweet. My personal collection has seen three auction sessions with most of the Seated dimes finding new homes. Those that did not will be heading to the price list and I will be open to offers. The unsold Newtown Liberty Seated halves will also be heading to the 30 Day Price List, hopefully by the end of the day.

 

Connoisseur's Session 3 Auction Sale - A Wild Auction Finale!

Let's dive into the closing auction statistics...

When the clock struck 9:00 PM ET, 54 of the 78 lots had secured new homes, an impressed 69% sell through rate. This outcome surpassed the usual 60% threshold by a decent margin and we could not be more pleased.

Total sales amounted to $380,617 which is 53% of initial reserves. The auction sale bias towards lower reserved coins was quite evident during the Session 3 sale. For curious minds, the Fortin dime tally achieved $243,000 at the auction close along with the 1886-S dime being immediately sold at its reserve price within an hour of the auction close.

Four Liberty Seated dime lots garnered intense bidding and deserve a shout out due to their winning tallies. Am I surprised by these numbers? Yes and no. The 1858-O dime was expected to sell for a strong number given its lack of any prior auction records and old time rattler holder. It certainly did not disappoint. The 1861-S dime secured proper recognition of its true rarity at the Mint State level with an appropriate winning bid. The 1865-S dime has been one of my ongoing favorites since acquired during the late 1990s due to a completely full head strike for the F-101 die pairing. Frankly, this dime should not exist with this type of strike but Eliasberg managed to secure this example. Finally, the winning tally for the 1888 Gold CAC dime is sweet and a validation of my numismatic intuition way back during 2007. This piece brought in excess of MS67 CAC price guide monies and deservedly so.

Congratulations to the winning bidders for these four lots, well done!

     1858-O F-101 PCGS MS65 CAC 10C - $15,750                                  1861-S F-101 PCGS MS62 CAC 10C - $20,069    

        

        1865-S F-101 PCGS MS63 CAC 10C - $25,500                               1888 Unlisted PCGS MS66 Gold CAC 10C - $8401    

        

 

A sincere thank you goes out to the many collectors who supported this event and took home some mighty fine 19th century Liberty Seated numismatic lots. May the Fortin and Heintz coins grace your collections for years to come.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Today brings the usual post auction Sunday administrative activities. The first step is loading all winning bids/bidder IDs into the COIN system. Once that task is completed, invoice preparations will take place followed by notifying winning bidders via email. After the winning bidders are invoiced, the unsold lots will migrate to the 30 Day Price List and to Collectors Corner for the next stage of marketing and sales.

There will be no ship aheads on Monday morning as I have an early annual health physical appointment to contend with. The balance of the day will be dedicated to extended payment discussions and documentation. Come Tuesday, ship aheads will probably begin for those bidders who can tender full payments.

Let's close with a final round of congratulations to all the Session 3 Auction Sale winning bidders. Please stay close to the Daily Blog as my attention will shift to the forthcoming Tom Coulombe and Tom Hubschman auction sale event that is just a few months away. Of course, there will be reporting on the 718 Boxster and the early June back acreage developments once Dave Wilkinson is on site with his excavator.

Thanks again and please be well!

 

 

 

May 17, 2025

Connoisseur's Session 3 Auction Sale - The Finale is Hours Away!

 

Greetings on a mid-May Saturday morning and welcome to the Daily Blog. Thank you so much for checking back on this important day.

The Maine homestead will be an absolutely beehive of activity starting tomorrow morning and through late June. Yes, the Fortins will be taking an extended holiday to return to Florida to retrieve the 718 Boxster with an inaugural road trip back to Maine. During that adventure, the GFRC business will have a hard close including no Daily Blog editions as we are traveling lite without the laptop. As you can imagine, the Porsche Boxster has limited trunk space. Sunday brings a full day of post auction administration including the invoicing of all won lots. Come next week, there is an annual physical, initial auction ship aheads, and the documentation of extended payments terms. Once back from the road trip, Dave Wilkinson returns with his trusty excavator for another few days of further improving the coastal horizon view from the back deck. If that was not enough, Diane has hired Pete Theberge (our barn builder) to remove an old hot tub from the sun room towards creating play space for the forthcoming Matt and Renee family visits during early July. Finally, the end of June brings the Whitman Baltimore show and the first round of auction lot viewing for the Tom Coulombe and Tom Hubschmans Collections.

Are we exhausted yet? Being fully engaged appears to be the Fortin way of enjoying a fulfilling lifestyle.

Today brings a huge day for both myself and Aaron Heintz as the grand auction finale approaches in the matter of hours. I clearly remember when Aaron and his son traveled to the 2024 Summer Baltimore show to transfer his Liberty Seated half dollar collection on a Saturday morning. It has been a remarkable one year journey of photography, description writing, reserve price formulations, and auction catalog production with lot viewing session at the 2024 Summer ANA in Chicago, the 2024 Fall Whitman Baltimore show, and the 2025 Winter FUN show. A shout out goes to Len Augsburger for his description writing and overall marketing efforts within his sphere of contacts.

Yes, the Connoisseur's Session 3 Auction Sale finale will be historical for our humble business. Let's move forward with the current auction statistics, shall we?

 

Connoisseur's Session 3 Auction Sale - The Finale is Hours Away!

Friday brought a substantial improvement in the Session 3 auction statistics. Though the sale started at a slower pace than expected, it appears that the community played catch-up on Friday with strong bidding.

As of the Blog composition, 40 lots have found new homes. Of course, which homes will be decided come 9:00 PM ET this evening. We currently stand at a 51% sell through rate with an even odds possibility that the targeted 60% sell through rate might be achieved. If GFRC Online Auctions history repeats itself, we should be able to meet and probably exceed the 60% threshold.

In terms of total winning bids, the Fortin and Newtown lots are running neck and neck within a $1000 of each other. How does this happen? Total bids are presently at $257,455 which is only 36% of the initial reserves. Friday's bidding was primarily for lower reserved lots with most five figure offerings still seeking that initial bid.

Do I have a prediction for how the auction will close in just 13 hours? Let's just say that we will achieve the 60% sell through milestone with a total winning bids approaching $350,000. If we achieve this outcome, there will still be a host of premium Liberty Seated dimes and halves moving to the 30 Day Price List followed by being posted to Collectors Corner come late Sunday. All unsold lots will be for sale at the Whitman Baltimore show and the World's Fair of Money Show, this year in Oklahoma City.

Let's take a look at five Newtown Liberty Seated halves that remain as free agents while definitely warranting a much needed shout out in today's Blog.

We start with a magnificent 1870 WB-7 half that was selected as the Newtown auction banner plate coin. The overall eye appeal is compelling to say the least with an exceptional strike. This example is tied for Finest Known at CAC with none finer and a reserve price that is grounded by a prior Heritage auction record. Passionate Seated half dollar collection should spoil themselves and make a play for this lot. You only live once, right?

1870 WB-7 PCGS MS65+ CAC 50C - $12,500

Gem Original, Newtown Collection. Satiny luster flows from brilliant centers, leading toward attractive rim toning with blue-green and russet patina evident in the stars and legend. The eye appeal is undeniable, and it is hard to imagine a more aesthetically pleasing piece for the grade. The strike is exceptional, with complete detail throughout. WB-7, with a reverse die lump between W and E. The 1870 half is a somewhat scarcer issue in the series, with less than a million pieces struck, but in this case the visual “pop” is the controlling factor, and the next owner will be justifiably proud. CAC has certified 32 pieces, with two coins in MS65 and none finer. PCGS has approved only one higher example, at MS67. The CAC guide value is $10,500. This coin is not inexpensive, but the combination of condition census placement and superb in-hand appeal is hard to beat. Ex. Heritage (August 2023, lot 3595), realized $12,000. Housed in a PCGS Gen 6.1 (2020-2024) holder with CAC approval. PCGS #6327.

Classical eye appeal is readily evident for this 1872 WB-6 half with brilliant radiance. Len discusses the visual "pop" of this coin and he is assuredly correct as I view this lot under my office desk lamp. This is a piece of the discriminating collector and will not disappoint.

1872 WB-6 PCGS MS65+ CAXC 50C - $9500

Gem Original, Newtown Collection. Blazing surfaces reveal hints of maroon color at the rim, and the overall flash of this GFRC rated-Gem example is considerable. Fully brilliant fields exhibit only a few ticks, consistent with the grade. Abundant luster is frosty, with some reflectivity evident as the coin is tilted. The strike is complete, with strong details on both sides. WB-6, with the date punched noticeably to the right. Collecting is always a matter of taste – some numismatists prefer colorful silver coins while others are fanatics about strong strikes. The visual “pop” of the present offering will especially appeal to those for whom luster is the primary attribute of interest. CAC has certified 30 coins in all grades, two pieces in MS65, and two example finer, both in MS66. The CAC price guide is $8,250, advancing to $12,000 in MS66. Ex. Boylston (Legend, Regency Auction 44, April 2021), lot 57, realized $9,106.25. Housed in a PCGS Gen 6.0 (2015-2020) holder with CAC approval. PCGS #6333.

Aaron was most selective with his Seated half dollar acquisitions and scored an extraordinary 1872-S with mirrored surfaces and wild patination. Though not inexpensive, this lot is an unquestionable gem with remarkable visuals.

1872-S WB-1 PCGS MS65 CAC 50C - $20,000

Gem Original, Newtown Collection. This wildly reflective half is a multi-colored headlight and reveals a full spectrum of color atop the prooflike surfaces. A golden obverse skin hosts blue-green and russet shades while the reverse exhibits rings of violet and blue, leading to gold rims. The obverse represents the very definition of "skin," which has the appearance of a foil that one might peel back. Apart from a few light marks in the right obverse field, the surfaces are near-perfect. WB-1, with the 1 in the date centered over three dentils, while the mintmark is small and wide. A strong strike completely defines the stars. PCGS reports three examples in MS65 with a single MS66+ piece finer. CAC notes 20 pieces total, two coins at MS65 (including this) and two examples at MS66. The CAC price guide value is $17,300. While collectors may alternately be drawn toward either Mint State or proof formats, this colorful, flashy piece is a reminder that business strikes can come with highly prooflike finish. Ex. Branch Mint Collection (GFRC, July 2021), at $21,105. Housed in a PCGS Gen 6.0 (2015-2020) holder with CAC approval. PCGS #6335.

Acquiring a series key date is always a sole searching decision due to the financial outlay and ensuring the appropriate selection for appreciation potential in the coming years. The significance of this offering is obvious as locating condition census key dates brings that all important numismatic opportunity that the bold among us will act upon.

1874-CC WB-3 PCGS MS63 CAC 50C - $37,500

Near-Gem Original, Newtown Collection. Along with the 1870-CC and 1878-CC, the 1874-CC is one of the keys to Carson City half dollar set. Few pieces survived from the small mintage of 59,000 pieces and today examples in all grades are highly prized. This piece exhibits even, medium gray toning, with hints of gold, russet, and blue more evident as the coin is tilted under a light. Moderate cartwheel radiates from both sides, a touch more actively on the reverse. WB-3, with a die lump below the curl and a diagonal die line through (STAT)ES. The mintmark is small with close spacing and slopes upward. Well struck with star centers evident and typical softness in the left claws. CAC has approved 47 coins total, a single piece in MS63 (the present coin), two examples at MS64, and a single coin at MS65. PCGS reports three higher pieces in MS64, one coin in MS65 and one example in MS66. The CAC price guide value is $37,400 while PCGS is a tick higher at $37,500. The significance of this offering is hard to overstate, as Carson City pieces are among the most desirable issues in the Seated series. This piece combines the all-important CC mintmark with key date status and a strong technical grade. As if that were not enough, CAC endorses this example as premium for the grade. The new owner of this special coin will be exceptionally pleased. Ex. GFRC (August 2021), at $35,000, previously from the Milford Collection (Heritage 1/2011, lot 5565), realized $26,450. Housed in a PCGS Gen 4.5 (2012-2013) holder with CAC approval. PCGS #6347.

So far, the low mintage Philadelphia issues from 1879 through 1890 have been nicely subscribed in the Session 3 sale. This 1884 lot brings incredible eye appeal and a dual sided finish with frosty obverse and reflective reverse at a fair reserve. The D.L. Hansen pedigree adds importance.

1884 PCGS MS66 CAC 50C - $7500

Gem Original, Newtown Collection. Frosty obverse luster pairs with more reflective flash on the reverse, and one can imagine the coiner lightly polishing the reverse die just prior to striking this piece. The obverse reveals greenish-olive patina framed by intense russet color at the stars, while the reverse exhibits more uniform evergreen shade throughout. The head is completely detailed, while the area beneath the reverse shield is somewhat soft. The Philadelphia Mint coined just 4,400 pieces in this year, a quantity tied with the 1882 issue as the lowest production total during the 1879-1890 low mintage run. CAC has approved 48 pieces total, seven coins in MS66, and eight examples finer. The CAC guide value is $7,500. Ex. Oregon Beaver Collection (GFRC, March 2022), at $8,500. Housed in a PCGS Gen 4.6 (2013-2014) holder with CAC approval. PCGS #6366.

 

I've been blessed with the opportunity to market and sell the Newtown Liberty Seated Half Dollar Collection in conjunction with my own personal Liberty Seated dime collection. It all comes down to the finale that begins at roughly 8:00 PM and concludes one hour later with the usual flurry of bids during the last 15 minutes. At this point, I've done all possible with the outcome resting in your hands.

For the last time, a quick reminder that Aaron and I wish to see our coins transferring into community collections and will work with individuals to achieve this outcome. Friday brought several inquiries for extended payment terms as collectors are finalizing their selections and funding strategies. Bidding on five figure coins takes contemplation and a sound resourcing strategy to pursue these acquisitions. I will be hanging out in the office the entire day for those last minute auction lot reviews and extended payment term discussion. If wishing to trade gold on a bullion basis to fund acquisitions, I am all ears as everyone recognizes that I am a gold bug and will hold physical gold on a long term basis.

Lastly, the Session 2 Auction Sale has a hard close at 9:00 PM. All lots will close simultaneously so please prepare and execute your bids accordingly.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Please make sure to return on Sunday morning for an auction summary as the primary Daily Blog topic of the day. This edition will be composed with a strong sense of completion though there will still much to do on a wrap up basis.

Just a quick note that five Liberty Seated dimes from my reference collection where posted to the 30 Day Price List on Friday with the 1875 F-105 Repunched Date already on hold.

A busy day awaits me as today office project is loading the Tom Coulombe Liberty Seated Dime Collection into the COIN system as a first step for the forthcoming August 2025 auction. Again, I will be working in the office and more than pleased to entertain your last minute Session 3 auction inquiries.

Thank you again for the years of numismatic support and the ongoing Daily Blog readership.

Be well!

 

 

 

May 16, 2025

Connoisseur's Session 3 Auction Sale - Bidding Returns

 

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog on a Friday morning. We certainly appreciate the ongoing readership and GFRC orders. Thank you for the visit.

Friday was a good day on many fronts though one diagnosis will be expensive.

Our Amtrol hot water make continued its erratic behaviors necessitating a technical support visit from Atlantic Heating in Portland. John, the service manager, sent out his best technician given the erratic readouts on the temperature controller. It took the technician several minutes to diagnose the problem. The Amtrol internal insulating shell had been breached with hot water now contacting the outer steel casing. Simply placing a hand on the outside of the tank was enough to determine the issue for this nearly 30 year old tank. The next step is securing a quote for a replacement tank and a different brand than Amtrol with a stainless steel inner casing. The current tank must be drained and removed with little space to work with in our utility closet. In discussions with the technician, we also agreed to add a power cutoff switch at the tank for the winter months while in Florida. This will save fuel oil as there is no need to sustain hot water in the tank with an empty house.

The second positive is that I treated myself to several hours on Johnny2 adding more drainage trenches to a particularly wet location on the back acreage northern trail. Working in that area with a 4500 lbs tractor was tricky as the ground was so water logged but the job was completed. Given the ruts made by Johnny2, that location was resurfaced with 1/2" stone. Maintaining the walking trails is paramount as our neighbors Rick and Sharon along with their nearby Valley Road friends are using the trail daily. In return for the privilege, they maintained the trail while we are away in Florida. It was great arriving back from Florida with the trails free from any branches and in tip-top condition other than settled water in wet locations.

Finally, bidding returned for the Session 3 Auction Sale with the statistics being notably improved this morning. Let's move forward with the headline topic.

 

Connoisseur's Session 3 Auction Sale - Bidding Returns

The grand finale for the final session of the Gerry Fortin and Newtown Liberty Seated coinage sale is in sight with the countdown now underway. Come tomorrow evening at 8:00 PM, I will be hanging out in the office and watching the final hour of bidding through the 9:00 PM ET closing time. A life long numismatic journey has reached near closure with the unsold lots heading to the GFRC price lists and Collectors Corner. Our goal of seeing the Fortin and Heintz numismatic properties transferring to other active collections has been mostly met in a challenging economic environment.

Looking at the Session 3 Auction statistics, the tally for lots heading into new collections has increased to 34 which translates into a 44% sell through rate. We are still well away from the 60% goal but substantial progress with gap closing took place on Thursday. Hopefully today's bidding will bring us that much closure to the 60% mark.

As for the total value of those 34 bids, this morning's tally has climbed to $219,705, a respectable figure with much more room to expand. Currently, the tally is 31% of the initial reserves. The much higher lot tally indicates that lower reserved coins were the primary targets for those bidding on Thursday leaving rare dates and condition census lots still waiting to be selected for bidding.

Yesterday brought several more inquiries for extended payment terms as passionate collectors are assessing the Session 3 auction status and making their final decisions on which lots they will be chasing. Every inquiry is being met with support as I am most serious about granting extended payment terms along with taking gold in trade against these lots.

Let's review some super lots that are still quietly waiting for some much needed love...

For the Gerry Fortin Liberty Seated Dime Collection, there are five very notable San Francisco lots that should be heading into advanced collections. Each one was a personal thrilled when purchased in the day. We open the display with a truly important 1856-S dime that would be the pride and joy of nearly any collection. The 1856-S date is elusive problem free in all circulated grades with few Mint State survivors extant. The reserve price is reasonable and hopefully someone will have the appropriate numismatic economics to bring this lot home.

1856-S F-101 PCGS MS63+ CAC 10C - $17,500

Gem Original, Gerry Fortin Collection. This condition census lot exhibits pale gold iridescence overlaying satiny mint luster. Sharp struck and well preserved warranting a GFRC-Gem quality rating. The initial year of Seated dime production at the San Francisco Mint with only 70,000 struck. An issue that was not preserved given the demand for small change on the western frontier. Problem free survivors in circulated grades are a challenge for present day collectors let alone a prized example certified as Choice Mint State. Only one of two certified by PCGS at grade and beware of double counting between the MS63/MS63+ populations. CAC has approved 17 coins in total, three pieces in MS63, and two examples finer. The CAC price guide suggests $17,300 as fair value. Stack's Bowers, March 2014 Baltimore Sale, Lot #4014. Housed in PCGS Gen 4.6 (2013-2014) holder with CAC approval. PCGS #4613.

Like the 1856-S dime date, the 1861-S issue is the most challenging of all the Civil War dates struck at the San Francisco mint. This date was struck with the Type 1 Obverse hub that features weak devices details and shallow relief. The Fortin specimen offers a view into the Longacre-Paquet design along with its rich frosted luster. To make things more exciting, I've just lowered the reserve from $17,500 to $15,000 towards encourage someone to step forward on a must have date for a Civil War era centric collection.

1861-S F-101 PCGS MS62 CAC 10C - $15,000

Gem Original, Gerry Fortin Collection. The relatively low mintage of 172,500 pieces doesn't even begin to explain the scarcity of this challenging Civil War era S-mint, particularly in XF or better condition. PCGS has certified eight in Mint State while CAC has approved seven within a total census of 23. As a first year of design, the notoriety allowed for a few to be preserved by those curious within the western frontier. Brilliant satiny surfaces are intense, coupled with vibrant cartwheels under a bright light leading to a tremendous viewing experience. A hammered strike provides insights into the short lived Type 1 Obverse design hub. Conservatively graded with no upgrade attempts since acquisition. The CAC price guide lists $12,100 at grade with a jump to $21,600 at MS63. Heritage Auctions, January 2004 FUN Sale, Lot #5614. Housed in PCGS Gen 4.3 (2005) holder with CAC approval. PCGS #4634.

What else can be said concerning the Finest Known 1869-S Liberty Seated dime? The reserve bid is my cost basis.

1869-S F-102 PCGS MS67 CAC 10C - $26,000

Finest Known, Gem Original, Gerry Fortin Collection. Honors for the third "finest known" in the Fortin Collection goes to the 1869-S issue, a scarce date in Mint State. This lone MS67 certified example suddenly appeared within a Great Collections auction during 2021 with no prior auction appearances. The preservation is flawless with deeply frosted luster and swirling cartwheels. Obverse motifs are fully impressed while the reverse shows typical weakness at the upper left wheat grains. A phenomenal specimen with charm that will last a collecting lifetime. F-102 die pairing with a Small Weak S. Utilized as the plate coin within The Definitive Resource for Liberty Seated Dime Variety Collectors online reference. The CAC price guide indicates $26,400 as market value while PCGS quotes $30,000. Acquired April 2021 via Great Collections auction. Housed in PCGS Gen 3.1 (1993-1998) holder with CAC approval. PCGS #4650.

We move forward with this display to the second Finest Known 1871-S dime that has the Tom Bender pedigree. The eye appeal is stunning along with being the F-101 repunched date suitable for entry into a Top 100 Variety set. The 1871-S date is notorious for poor reverse strikes. Honestly, this lot is unimprovable and can be added to a collection with extended payment terms. All I ask for is 40% as a down payment.

1871-S F-101 PCGS MS65+ CAC 10C - $16,500

Second Finest Known, Repunched Date, Gem Original, Gerry Fortin Collection, Ex. Bender. This 1871-S repunched date example is close to unimprovable given its status as the second finest known at PCGS and CAC. Rich granular frosted luster is brilliant with faint gold at the obverse rims. The reverse radiance is equally captivating with beautiful blue and mauve patina and swirling cartwheels. The design elements are sharply struck, including Liberty's head, the denomination, and the grains in the corn and wheat stalks, areas that are often weak. A few minute chatter marks on the reverse above ONE account for the grade while the obverse is unquestionably pristine. F-101 with bold repunching above the 18 digits and a Small Weak S mintmark. The PCGS price guide plate coin. CAC reports two at the MS65 grade with a single finer. The CAC guide lists $15,800 as fair value without a value for the (+) grade. Acquired via private treaty. Ex. Heritage Auctions, February 2023 Long Beach Signature Sale Lot# 3656 (Tom Bender), Jason Carter (5/2009), and Eugene Gardner Part II (Heritage 10/2014), Housed in PCGS Gen 6.1 (2020-2024) holder with CAC approval. The label documents the Bender Collection pedigree. PCGS #4655.

Yes, this 1885-S dime lot is the second Finest Known. Every astute Liberty Seated coinage collector is well aware of how challenging the 1885-S date is in problem free circulated grade let along a full gem condition validated by CAC approval. This lot would be the centerpiece of any collection being assembled. To make this lot that more enticing, I've just lowered the reserve price a tad and now consistent with the CAC Price Guide. There is this example at MS65 and a lone MS66 with a $65,000 price guide number.

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

Second Finest, Gem Original, Fresh CAC Approval, Gerry Fortin Collection. A remarkable condition rarity 1885 San Francisco strike and one of the highlights of the Fortin Collection. That year's mintage was anemic at 43,690 pieces with nearly all entering circulation. This date is undoubtedly the rarest Mint State date from 1873 through the design's termination in 1891. Even choice original circulation strikes are prized by collectors given the date's scarcity. This gem example exhibits shimmering frosted luster and swirling cartwheels with a stunning visual presentation. A transparent copper-gold patina is uniform on both sides while the strike is deeply impressed and meticulously detailed with partial wire rims. Immaculate surfaces provide undisturbed eye appeal. F-101, a single pair with usage as the plate coin within the Fortin Liberty Seated dime online reference. The CAC census indicate a sole example at MS65 (this lot) and a single finer. December 2021 via private treaty. Fresh cross into a PCGS Gen 6.1 (2020-2025) holder with CAC approval.

During Saturday's Blog edition, I will be providing the same review for what I believe are the special Newtown lots in the Session 3 Auction Sale.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

The GFRC shipping department has the day off today as Diane is heading to Lewiston for a Theriault family sibling breakfast. Since all five siblings live in the Lewiston-Auburn area, making it possible for the family to stay closely net. On a different note, many of you have asked for the correct pronunciation of Diane's maiden name that is seen on our outgoing shipments. Theriault is a French name and is correctly pronounced as "Terrio" in English.

Today bring an office day as I will be loading some low priced web-book plate coins to the price list along with responding to a fair number of overnight orders. If needing special terms for the Session 3 Auction Sale, I am just a phone call away.

Thank you again for today's visit. Please make sure to be well!

 

 

May 15, 2025

Connoisseur's Session 3 Auction Sale - A Quiet 24 Hours

Cool 1873 Arrows F-125 Die Variety Web-Book Addition

and

The Tenafly Collection Joins August/October 2025 Auction Sales

 

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

I've got to say it...

Being back in the Maine office is just heaven given the ability to reflect and compose while enjoying the front landscape view via the large office window. The green landscape brings an enticing contrast with the blue sky backdrop. Though being zoned as rural, the morning commuter traffic is obvious as Valley Rd has become an east-west highway of sorts between the Sebago Lakes region and Lewiston-Auburn.

Yesterday afternoon brought the arrival of the last pieces of the Echo Pro Attachment series from Home Depot. It took a few minutes to fix an improperly configured paddle broom attachment before connecting to the gas-powered head unit. Then the paddle broom came to life and proved its capabilities during the removal of winter road sand at the top of the homestead driveway. This broom is a beast and best for cleaning up large amounts of sand. I would still recommend an old fashion broom for fine cleaning since the paddle broom throws sand in all directions.

As for announcing the sale of the 1993 Mazda Miata, images will be forthcoming after the car is washed and polished for the final time. Both the Oregon Beaver and Sooner personalities could not resist inserting numismatic grading into the sale equation. Since the "Beaver" owns a 1994 Miata with 40,000 miles, he judges his car as AU53 while mine must be EF45. Blake Gibb initial proposed AU53 for my car which was too generous as I countered with AU50. The Beaver is probably correct with his EF45 grade, though the car is a near-gem at that grade.

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

 

Connoisseur's Session 3 Auction Sale - A Quiet 24 Hours

"Quiet" best describes The Connoisseur's Session 3 Auction Sale on Wednesday with no need to update the statistics. There was a lone bid on Aaron's 1873-CC No Arrows half.

More importantly, I received two inquiries on extended payment terms which received favorable response. At this point, the goal is placing these auction lots into advanced collections with Gerry and Aaron willing to work with fellow collectors towards that end goal.

Many wonderful lots are still without bids. Here are two Liberty Seated dime highlights that deserve serious consideration though not being previously discussed.

The 1837 F-104 Small Date dime has been in my collection for decades and was upgraded during the 2022 Newtown Liberty Seated Dime Collection Sale held by GFRC. After the upgrade, I studied this coin and just could not bring myself to part with the duplicate. This is a true gem with old time eye appeal and superb luster that would be ideal as a type coin. Though held back during 2022, it is now on the auction block. During multiple auction lot viewing sessions, prior to this auction sale, this piece always generated favorable comments. The 1891-O F-113 dime is a lot of coin for the reserve price. Sure, it is a common date but the gem nature of this piece ranks with those one grade higher. Being tied for CAC finest speaks volumes for its importance.

        1837 F-104 PCGS MS65 CAC 10C - $12,500                                   1891-O F-113 PCGS MS66 CAC 10C - $2750      

        

 

Cool 1873 Arrows F-125 Die Variety Web-Book Addition

Yesterday also brought a rare occasion where a new die variety was added to the Liberty Seated Dime die variety online reference. During the middle of 2024, an individual approached me with a high grade 1873 With Arrows dime that was unlisted in the web-book. The diagnostics were substantial and warranted inclusion. Yes, it took months before I found the time, or remembered that this piece was in the queue. Following is the new 1873 Arrows F-125 listing for your information.

1873

With Arrows

Variety 125

 Obverse 15: High Level Date, Partial S, Die Defects On Liberty, Left Arrow DR 0C

Reverse X: Spaghetti Type Defect at Upper Rim, Reverse Rotated Right 15 Degrees

        

Obverse 15                                               Reverse N

 

Obverse Diagnostic Point(s)

              

Comments: During mid-2024, Michael Dustin reported the discovery of an incremental die pairing with bold die markers. He was able to identify Obverse 15 being paired with a new reverse die which is labeled as Reverse X. Liberty's neck area exhibits a vertical irregular die line type defect along with two small die pits on the left facing leg immediately above right of the shield.

Reverse X can be easily identified by a long spaghetti type die line at the top of the reverse. Please note that the reverse die is rotated right by 15 degrees which is captured in the above illustration.

Plate Coin: Courtesy of the Michael Dustin Collection, PCGS MS64

 

The Tenafly Collection Joins August/October 2025 Auction Sales

GFRC is thoroughly pleased to announce that the Tenafly Collection has also decided to divest his numismatic holdings and will be joining the GFRC Online Auctions August 2025 event.

Some history is in order. The Tenafly Collection is none other than Tom Hubschman who grew up in Tenafly, New Jersey. Tom played in minor league baseball as a pitcher and also had a serious love for numismatics. Tom became a GFRC client during late 2016 after attending a Liberty Seated class at that year's ANA Summer Seminar. I was one of the instructor during that year's class. Afterwards, Tom became an active client with a keen focus on CAC approved Liberty Seated dimes, quarters, and $5 U.S. gold.

As a long term consignor, the Tenafly Collection sales are recorded at the Gallery link with an invitation to review the coins that Tom has sold via GFRC. During early 2025, Tom contacted me and indicated that the time had come to liquidate his holding, again via GFRC. We did the shipment preparations behind the scenes as Tom's collection would be added to the Massachusetts Collection Sale and therefore the need to probably go with two auction sessions. Now that the Tom Coulombe Liberty Seated dime collection is in the office, the next step was to facilitate the shipping of Tom Hubschman's collection.

The Tenafly Collection has two components namely Liberty Seated dimes along with a 21 piece lot of $5 and $10 Liberty gold. Tom's Liberty Seated Dime collection will nicely enhance the Tom Coulombe's offerings as the two collections are complementary. Trust me, the forthcoming August, and probably October sales will be a watershed for those collectors that wish to assemble a premium Liberty Seated dime collection on a restricted numismatic budget as the set is missing the Big Four Carson City dates and other key dates. Some of the sub $300 Tenafly dimes will move directly to the 30 Day Price List.

 

Soliciting Other Consignments for August/October 2025 Auction Sale

Now that the two primary consignors for the GFRC Online Auctions 2025 auction sales has been announced, we are also soliciting other consignments for the two auction sessions. If wishing to sell your coins via GFRC, it might behoove you to jump on this important occasion.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

This has been a "beefy" edition and I hope that you've enjoyed the content.

BTW, the fact that I've added a new listing to the web-book should not be seen as open season for incremental web-book updates. It took me nearly 9 months to get this update done among everything else that I have going on in a life. I took on this listing due to the easily recognized diagnostics that make the 1873 F-125 variety significant and worthy of listing. My appetite for listing common dates with new date positions is nil!

Today being morning shipping followed by time outdoors on the tractor patching up some moderating washout areas on the back acreage trails.

Again, thank you for today's visit. Be well!

 

 

May 14, 2025

Near Gem 1993 Miata MX-5 is For Sale

Connoisseur's Session 3 Auction Sale - Collectors Rendering Decisions

An Initial Massachusetts Liberty Seated Dime Collection Preview

and

Second Major August 2025 Auction Announcement on Thursday

 

Greetings on another beauty southern Maine spring morning and welcome to the Daily Blog. We are so pleased with the fact that you've stopped by to take in the latest GFRC ramblings.

Today brings another day in a life with much taking place. Yesterday brought a tops down 1993 Miata ride to the infamous Gerry Fortin and Tom Coulombe meeting spot, the New Hampshire Wine and Liquor Outlet right over the Maine state line. Tom's 30 year collecting journey was transferred in a lock Pelican case with highlights being shown shortly. I'm certain that it was an emotional moment for Tom as it was for me when the decision was made to sell a life long pursuit.

Rest assured Tom, your collection is in great hands....

On a separate note, my near-gem 1993 Miata is now for sale as we need the garage space for the forthcoming 718 Boxster GTS 4.0. Why not offer the car to Blog readers in the New England area first before placing on our hilltop with a For Sale sign? The Miata has just turned 90,000 miles with brand new tires and has been garaged since being purchased. In other words, the Miata has never seen any winter road salt and runs perfectly. The asking price will be $9950, a number that is less than many of the coins being offered in the Connoisseur's Session 3 Auction Sale. Yes, "fun"can be subjective, right?

Let move on to today's headline topics.

 

Connoisseur's Session 3 Auction Sale - Collectors Rendering Decisions

The Session 3 Auction Sale continues to make incremental progress as each day brings collectors rendering purchase decisions. I'm most pleased to see a higher sales volume and dollar tallies each morning.

This morning's tally indicates that 24 lots are moving into other advanced collections which takes us to a 31% sell through rate, now half of our 60% goal. Total bids have reached the $180,000 level which is 25% of the initial reserves. Yes, there is still much ground to be covered between now and Saturday's 9:00 ET closing time. I'm positive that the auction statistics will continue to improve in the coming days.

Of note is the fact that the Eliasberg 1865-S dime secured a bid yesterday. This piece has been in my collection since January 1997 and is amazing given a fully struck F-101 survivor. I hope that the winning bidder will enjoy this dime as much as I have.

 

An Initial Massachusetts Liberty Seated Dime Collection Preview

Today's Blog will be brief as Diane and wish to secure a three lap walk on the back acreage trails before she heads out to a morning appointment. Rather than ramble about Tom Coulombe's Liberty Seated Dime Collection with a host of details, let's take desktop images of the forthcoming 1837 through 1856 offerings to whet everyone's appetite. There are a host of super dimes at the PCGS certified grades for consideration. Those collectors with inquisitive minds can also visit Tom's set on the Open Set Registry by clicking here. As usual, clicking on the below images will provide access to higher resolution version.

 

Second Major August 2025 Auction Announcement on Thursday

I hope that everyone checks back tomorrow morning as GFRC Online Auctions will be making a serious announcement concerning a second major collection for the forthcoming August 2025 event. The stage is now set as a long time GFRC client and friend has made the decision to divest his holdings. More on the topic in 24 hours. Just a hint... The entire collection is 100% CAC approved and ships to the GFRC office in the next few days.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Today brings and in and out of the office day as Diane has a morning appointment while I have an another afternoon dentist visit, just some minor restoration work for what I recently learned is tooth "notching". Wear and tear on the body takes different shapes as we age.

Shipping will resume on Thursday morning. Thank you again for the ongoing visits.

Be well!

 

 

 

May 13, 2025

Connoisseur's Session 3 Auction Sale - And the Beat Goes On

and

Preparations for the GFRC Online Auctions August 2025 Sale

 

Greetings on an especially pleasant spring Maine morning and welcome to the Daily Blog. After blogging for eleven years plus, saying thank you to the readership becomes that much more important.

Homestead spring clean-up is moving along well with today bringing the delivery of the final tranche of Echo Pro Attachment Series including the gas powered head unit. By tomorrow, the on site Echo system will include a string trimmer, a rubber paddle broom, and a small brush cutting saw. Though the market is driving towards electrification, I'm still in a time warp and investing in gas powered outdoor tooling due to the property size and its need for rugged equipment.

As with any spring in Maine, the chipmunks are back which means that hunting season will soon be underway with the Gamo air rifle and my father's 0.22 long barrel pistol and shot shells. Some things never change.

Let's open today's Blog content with a piece from Seth Godin that is sound advice for fellow business owners. The key point is that increasing the yield of whatever you are managing is wiser than a constant expansion mindset. As usual, Godin has a way of making a point.

Seth Godin Blogpost - Activation is not a secret

…but it’s often overlooked.

A farmer might yearn for twice as much land. But it’s far more efficient to double the yield on the land he already has.

Marketers often hustle to get the word out. To reach more people. And yet, activating the fans you already have–the ones who trust you, who get the joke, who want to go where you’re going–is far more reliable.

If you want to win an election, don’t waste a lot of time persuading people who have chosen to oppose you and your work. Instead, simply create the conditions for those who agree with you to choose to actually show up and vote. And, along the way, to bring their friends.

This is the overlooked secret of my book streak. I write books for my readers instead of trying to find readers for my books.

Marketers face a choice every day: hustle for new people or serve the ones who care. Activation is much more productive than persuasion.

 

Rich Hundertmark has posted a new GFRC-Lite blog on his website and invites Daily Blog readers for a visit...

GFRC-Lite blog; Fayetteville Show recap & new Classic Commemorative coin arrivals

Hi Gerry,

I’ve finally posted a belated Fayetteville show report blog.  The event, although slow from a sales perspective, can work out long term with future show scheduling changes now in the works. 
Lite has also received in a fantastic Early Commemorative series consignment. A few of the new arrivals are highlighted in the blog with others now posted and available for sale.

Lite is now looking forward to next month’s Raleigh show, which is a flagship regional 4-day event for the Carolinas with over 150 tables. 
I invite the blogamaniacs to visit the Lite site, the offering in the Classic Commemorative category is a good indication of the quality of type coins now in inventory.

Rich

 

Connoisseur's Session 3 Auction Sale - And the Beat Goes On

I'm in a music kind of mood this morning with respect to the daily Connoisseur's Session 3 Auction Sale update...

Bidding continued on Monday with the usual metrics showing improvements. As of today's Blog composition, 21 lots have now found a new home, of course, which home will be solidified come Saturday May 17 at 9:00 PM. We are now at a 27% sell through rate with the Newtown Liberty Seated halves leading the charge.

In terms of the overall sales tally, my trusty calculator indicates that $153,190 is now in the books which is 21% of the initial reverses. There is still a long way to go between now and Saturday evening but as I've always said, let's trust the process and hope for the best. Let's remember that rare and high grade Liberty Seated coinage is not fungible, rather each piece being unique in its own right. Those lots that do not sell will be posted to the 30 Day Price List followed by being offered at the upcoming Summer Baltimore and the ANA World's Fair of Money shows.

I would be remiss to not mention the flexibility for payment terms. GFRC offers extended payments terms along with accepting gold bullion or U.S. gold pieces in trade as another payment option.

 

Preparations for the GFRC Online Auctions August 2025 Sale

As one Connoisseur's Liberty Seated coinage auction comes to a conclusion, work on the next sale actually began last evening. Remaining cognizant of various small publication advertising deadlines are just one aspect of operating a specialty auction platform.

Last evening found me in the graphic design department as a post dinner time activity. Today brings a Miata driving trip to New Hampshire to retrieve the Massachusetts Liberty Seated Dime Collection that becomes the anchor offering for our next major auction event. Following is the new full page ad that will be placed in the CSNS Centinel, the Liberty Seated Collectors Club Gobrecht Journal, and the Barber Coin Collector's Society's journal.

So far, there is a second potential collection to be added to this event along with other potential consignments. Please be aware that I am soliciting incremental auction consignments effective today.

 

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Today brings a busy GFRC day with morning shipping followed by the New Hampshire road trip. Once back in the office by mid-afternoon, a consulting phone call appointment is on the books concerning a personal evaluation of Liberty Seated dime lots within the present auction event. Of course, this will be a fun event as I can't help but be excited to discuss the dimes in my personal collection.

I hope that today's Blog visit was enjoyable. Thank you so much for taking the time to check in on these ramblings.

Be well!

 

 

 

May 12, 2025

Spot Gold Drops on China Tariff Headlines

and

Connoisseur's Session 3 Auction Sale - Slow But Steady

 

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

I awoke this morning to the usual routine of checking the spot gold pricing trend along with U.S. morning market futures given the Scott Bessent and Trump have announced progress during the U.S. and China trade discussions in Geneva. Mutual tariffs are being slashed as a first step towards productive discussions. As expected, U.S. equities are in rally mode on the headline news with the S&P 500 up nearly 3% at 6:30 AM. The CNN Business meter has shifted to "greed" being the driver of current equity action. The NASDAQ is up nearly 4.0% with Tesla up 22 points alone to $320. Even crude oil is rising on the news at $63 per barrel.

Of course, with a shift to a risk on trade now underway, monies will flow out of safe assets including gold and Treasuries. Spot gold is trending at $3220 and will probably drop even more today while silver is trying to hold the $32 level. The 10 Year U.S. Treasury yield has increased to 4.46% in sympathy with gold.

Wild market swings are opportunities. The key is controlling and managing one's fear and greed instincts during periods of volatility. Keeping an eye on the long game is paramount which includes the United States deficit spending. Money pouring back into equities will refuel personal IRAs but a 10 Treasury bond yield above 4.4% is trouble for U.S. debt refinancing. It is a balancing act for personal investors, especially those who are in their retirement years. Though I am not officially retired, since waiting until age 70, the structuring of our assets for balance during market volatility leads to a wealth account with minimal top line swings. At this point in life, there is no need to be swinging for home runs. Many baseball games are won with effective use of timely singles.

One final comment in warranted concerning silver. Silver has a dual personality but also a dual liability as we've seen play out recently. When equity markets dropped due to tariffs, silver was treated as an industrial metal. When precious metals drop, silver is viewed as a precious metal. It simply cannot win due to a split personality.

I'm sitting back and awaiting the details of the China-U. S. trade discussions as Xi is a fox like Trump. I don't see the CCP surrendering that easily under Xi's rule. Jumping into today's equity trade should be done with careful consideration for where the long game is headed. We have become conditioned to instantaneous gratification with our ubiquitous cellphones as an example.

 

Connoisseur's Session 3 Auction Sale - Slow But Steady

Yes, there is a GFRC Online Auctions underway with slow but steady bidding. The Connoisseur's Session 3 Auction Sales is evolving slower that the prior two sessions. Sunday brought some light bidding as a few more lots found new homes. Hopefully, today's jump in equity prices will have collectors breathing a sigh of relief in terms of their personal finances and facilitating more numismatic acquisitions.

This morning's auction tally was quick...

We now have 15 of the 78 offered lots heading to new home with Newtown's Liberty Seated halves being in demand. The sell through rate is presently 19% with a substantial gap to our typical 60% level. Hopefully more bidding will appear during the coming days.

In terms of cumulative bids, that numbers has been tallied at $104,300 which is 15% of the overall reserves. More lower priced lots saw action on Sunday as compared to the initial bidding.

 

Indiana Collection Issues 10% Pricing Reduction

Over the weekend, Dr. Tim Cook sent along a price reduction notice which has been executed. If checking the 30 Day Price List, you will note Tim's coins being repriced and located at the top of the price list. He hopes that a few lots will find new homes in the near term towards financing incremental upgrades. Raising numismatic capital via selling duplicates is a key part of the collecting journey as I've stressed countless times here in the Blog.

 

Consignments are Being Solicited

The month of May is one of focus on the Maine homestead and preparing for the summer months. However, there is time to squeeze in a few consignments onto the price list. If considering the divestment of some numismatic assets prior to the summer coin show season, now might be a good time to tender that decision. Maine weather looks downright wet and cold starting on Thursday with rain and clouds in the forecast moving into Memorial Day weekend. High temperatures for the coming weekend are only forecasted at 57F with lows in the 48-50 degree range. With this type of weather, I'll be sitting in the office and working on the GFRC business for sure.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

That is the extent of today's ramblings. Your ongoing visits and numismatic purchases are always appreciated as are the ongoing client relationships.

Thanks again and be well!

 

 

 

May 11, 2025

Connoisseur's Session 3 Auction Sale is Underway

 

Greetings on a bright sunny Sunday morning and welcome to the Daily Blog. Your ongoing patronage is most appreciated.

Finally, the rains have concluded here in southern Maine with a beautiful clear blue sky outside the office window. The homestead has a long lush green lawn that is still too wet to be cut today. The first lawn mowing of the season will take place on Monday once the ground has dried out a bit. Instead, a pile of oak branches from last summer's tree cutting needs an appointment with our trusty Husky chain saw. This out of the way space, by the stone construction path, is targeted for a 16 yard mulch load to be soon delivered by Dave Wilkinson.

Let's keep the preamble short this morning and focus on opening bidding for the Connoisseur's Session 3 Auction Sale.

 

Connoisseur's Session 3 Auction Sale is Underway

Preparations for the Connoisseur's Auction Sale began nearly a year ago, therefore this Session 3 event brings closure to a long numismatic business journey. As mentioned often, this sale also brings additional closure on a personal basis for the years taken to locate suitable candidates along with securing the associated financial resources. Both Aaron Heintz and I have placed out hearts into assembling the presently offered coins. Once the Session 3 Sale wraps on Saturday May 17, the numismatic trek is still not over as unsold coins must still find new homes. Patience is paramount if we are to locate the appropriate collections for placing the final pieces.

Bidding promptly appeared at 9:00 PM last evening with two nearly simultaneous bids on the Newtown 1873-CC No Arrows half. I am not surprised as the demand for No Arrows 1873-CC halves is ongoing when properly graded examples reach the GFRC price list. For the Gerry Fortin Liberty Seated Dime Collection, the first piece to sell was the 1859-S dime, a very challenging date in AU considering the extreme rarity in Mint State.

Let's look at the initial bidding statistic against the Session 3 baseline...

There are 78 lots in this event with a total reserved value of $716,000 as a starting point. As of this morning 12 lots have already found new homes which is a 15% sell through rate, a decent start with the Newtown Collection leading the charge. Of course, Aaron's Carson City dates have seen immediate interest along with the challenging 1855-S PCGS AU58 CAC half dollar.

At this early auction stage, the bids total stands at an even $97,000 which is 13.5% of initial reserves. This is great to see as usually the lower priced lots see the initial bidding action with the five figure lots selling near the auction close.

My sincere thanks go out to the handful of bidders who jumped into the auction during the first hour of bidding. I'm certain that more individuals will appear today to stake out their targeted lots as there are a host of premium Liberty Seated dimes and halves to consider.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

There is little else to ramble about at the moment, so let's wrap up at this point. Thank you again for the visit.

Be well!

 

 

 

May 10, 2025

Connoisseur's Session 3 Auction Sale Opens Today at 9:00 PM

and

Gerry Fortin Liberty Seated Dime Highlights

 

Greetings from a waterlogged southern Maine and welcome to the Daily Blog on a Saturday morning. We appreciate the ongoing readership.

The end of a multi-month auction sale process arrives this evening at 9:00 PM with bidding lasting one week. Yes, the Connoisseur's Session 3 Auction Sales opens in a little over twelve hours with much anticipation by all involved. After a strong opening Session 1 auction (January 19 - 26) and a well subscribed Session 2 auction (March 22 - 29), the final auction session arrives this evening with much suspense. In yesterday's Blog edition, full coverage was provided for the Newtown Liberty Seated Half Dollar Collection. Today brings the same for the Gerry Fortin Liberty Seated Dime Collection but with a different twist since I am so personally interment with each dime.

The Session 3 Auction Sale will close next Saturday, May 17th at 9:00 PM. At that point, both Gerry Fortin and Aaron Heintz will have completed a full circle collecting journey that spans much of our lives. There will be a host of positive memories associated with our extended numismatic journeys along with looking forward to seeing "our" coins reappearing on the market for years to come. Though neither Aaron nor Gerry chose the pedigreed holder label route, the GFRC Gallery site and also the GFRC Sales Archive will continue to document these pedigrees items.

 

Session 3 Auction Sale Reminders

This list of reminders might appear to be repetitious to those that are avid Daily Blog readers but it is best to again review several key GFRC Online Auctions housekeeping items.

- GFRC Online Auctions are a bid centric system with no tie back to a bidder number. Each bid is unique to itself. This requires some discipline with noting your bids and not placing incremental bids on existing bids which will trigger the earlier bid. Not to worry if there is a desire to increase a maximum bid. Simply call or email Gerry and I will delete the early bid enabling the placement of a higher bid.

- All GFRC Online Auction events have a hard close for ALL lots at 9:00 PM. The final hour sees increased bidding activity with the final five minutes becoming quite intense. If sniping is your bidding approach, be aware of the risk of opening a bidding screen too early as the existing lot bid is that at the time the screen in opened and not at the time of placement.

- For the Connoisseur's Auction Sales, GFRC has been authorized to offer extended payment terms up to one year after the auction close. Gerry and Aaron desire that collectors secure our cherished coins, therefore, we will extend payment terms to fit your numismatic budgets. It is recognized that some collectors may already find themselves with payment terms from the Session 1 and Session 2 sales. There are only a few cases where bidders are actually using a full twelve months to pay down their auction balances. If requiring special terms to enable Session 3 Auction Sale lots, don't be bashful. Simple email or call Gerry for a discussion of your needs. All conversations are strictly confidential as by now, everyone recognizes that GFRC operates a thoroughly professional numismatic business.

Good luck to everyone who jumps into the Session 3 auction ring this evening. We will be back on Sunday morning with initial commentary on how the opening bidding faired.

Let's move forward with highlights from the Gerry Fortin Liberty Seated Dime Collection as there are a host of stellar lots to consider.

 

Gerry Fortin Liberty Seated Dime Highlights

As with most mornings when the Daily Blog is composed, I'm sitting in the office attempting to decide on a presentation approach as there are a plethora of wonderful Seated dimes being offered in this final auction sale. Let's start with those lots that are CAC finest known, tied for finest known, and second finest known.

My 1849-O Large O dime is an amazing example that is tied for finest known. Locating gem 1849-O Mint State dimes could be a multi-decade pursuit for New Orleans centric collectors, thus the importance of gaining access to this exceptional lot.

1849-O F-101a PCGS MS64 CAC 10C - $19,000

CAC Tied Finest, Large O, Gem Original, Gerry Fortin Collection. The challenge in locating gem Mint State New Orleans dimes continues with the 1849 date. Of the 300,000 struck, few Mint State survivors are known. The PCGS population stands at eleven certified with four CAC approved. The struggle is further exacerbated by poor mint workmanship, including weak strikes coupled with rusted and lapped dies. Based on research background, this example was acquired during May 2006 via Legend Numismatics as one of the finest survivors to arrive at the market in modern times. The preservation is exceptional with steely-frosted luster that is consistent on both sides. Natural rose, aquamarine, and blues shades are a testament to the strict originality. F-101 with a Large O mintmark and a die pairing notorious for partial strikes. Though Liberty's head is not fully struck, this example is likely condition census for strike robustness. Tied for finest at CAC with a price guide value listed at $17,300. Housed in an as acquired PCGS Gen 4.4 (2005-2011) holder with 2014 CAC approval. PCGS #4592.

 

The Fortin 1850-O dime is the finest known Small O with magnificent ring toning and a hammered strike. Again, this lot is a prize for those attempting to build the most advanced New Orleans Seated collections.

1850-O F-103 NGC MS67 Star 10C - $27,500

Tied Finest Known, Exceptional Gem, Gerry Fortin Collection. The Fortin Collection presents the finest 1850 Small O dime which shares the title with a PCGS certified Large O example. Granular mint frost dominates the obverse while the reverse mint bloom is in the steely realm. Once again, a hammered strike was a purchase imperative. All devices are intricately detailed with sharp hair curls and facial characteristics. The overall eye appeal is exceptional, thus being recognized with an NGC Star designation. Photographing this dime proved to be challenging due to the intense center luster that is framed by darker peripheral copper-gold. F-103, the lone Small O die pair of that year. Greer indicates that the Small O is the scarcest of the three mintmark sizes followed by the Medium O, and finally the Large O. Acquired August 2004 via Carter Numismatics as a present to me upon releasing The Definitive Resource for Liberty Seated Dime Variety Collectors online reference at that summer ANA event, A well hidden break in the right obverse field luster precluded CAC approval. Housed in NGC Gen 14 (2003-2004) holder. PCGS #4594.

 

Little needs to be said for the finest known 1869-S dime extent. This is a flawlessly preserved example with deeply frosted luster. Wow!

1869-S F-102 PCGS MS67 CAC 10C - $26,000

Finest Known, Gem Original, Gerry Fortin Collection. Honors for the third "finest known" in the Fortin Collection goes to the 1869-S issue, a scarce date in Mint State. This lone MS67 certified example suddenly appeared within a Great Collections auction during 2021 with no prior auction appearances. The preservation is flawless with deeply frosted luster and swirling cartwheels. Obverse motifs are fully impressed while the reverse shows typical weakness at the upper left wheat grains. A phenomenal specimen with charm that will last a collecting lifetime. F-102 die pairing with a Small Weak S. Utilized as the plate coin within The Definitive Resource for Liberty Seated Dime Variety Collectors online reference. The CAC price guide indicates $26,400 as market value while PCGS quotes $30,000. Acquired April 2021 via Great Collections auction. Housed in PCGS Gen 3.1 (1993-1998) holder with CAC approval. PCGS #4650.

 

In terms of stellar eye appeal, this 1871-S F-101 repunched date dime is unimprovable. Formerly from the Tom Bender Collection and gladly added to my personal collection. Who will be the next pedigreed owner?

1871-S F-101 PCGS MS65+ CAC 10C - $16,500

Second Finest Known, Repunched Date, Gem Original, Gerry Fortin Collection, Ex. Bender. This 1871-S repunched date example is close to unimprovable given its status as the second finest known at PCGS and CAC. Rich granular frosted luster is brilliant with faint gold at the obverse rims. The reverse radiance is equally captivating with beautiful blue and mauve patina and swirling cartwheels. The design elements are sharply struck, including Liberty's head, the denomination, and the grains in the corn and wheat stalks, areas that are often weak. A few minute chatter marks on the reverse above ONE account for the grade while the obverse is unquestionably pristine. F-101 with bold repunching above the 18 digits and a Small Weak S mintmark. The PCGS price guide plate coin. CAC reports two at the MS65 grade with a single finer. The CAC guide lists $15,800 as fair value without a value for the (+) grade. Acquired via private treaty. Ex. Heritage Auctions, February 2023 Long Beach Signature Sale Lot# 3656 (Tom Bender), Jason Carter (5/2009), and Eugene Gardner Part II (Heritage 10/2014), Housed in PCGS Gen 6.1 (2020-2024) holder with CAC approval. The label documents the Bender Collection pedigree. PCGS #4655.

 

An extraordinary gem 1882 dime that will provide the winning bidder a lifetime of viewing enjoyment. Tied for finest known at a fair opening bid. I suspect there will be keen attention on this lot with a few strong bids.

1882 F-104 PCGS MS67+ CAC 10C - $3750

Tied Finest Known, Gem Original, Gerry Fortin Collection. A marvelously superb gem that is tied for finest known at PCGS. A razor sharp strike and enchanting frosted radiance are quite compelling and the basis for inclusion in the Fortin Collection. Blended cobalt blue and rose-gold peripheral toning floats on pristine surfaces. In-hand viewing is recommended for enjoying the dramatic cartwheels and overall presentation. A lot that is equally well suited as a top quality type coin or inclusion into date and mintmark set as is the case here. F-104 with broken top 2 digit and die cracks in the left reverse wreath. With a mintage of 3.9 million, the current CAC approved tally of 93 examples is not surprising. The CAC price guides suggest $3,000 as fair value while PCGS lists the MS67+ level at $5250. Acquired October 2021 via private treaty. Housed in PCGS Gen 6.1 (2020-2024) holder with CAC approval. PCGS #4690.

 

Potentially the most important and historically significant Liberty Seated Dime in the Session 3 Auction Sale, this 1885-S dime is in a remarkable preservation state with transparent copper-gold patination and pristine surfaces. I'm most interested in knowing who will be the next curator of this exceptional gem.

1885-S F-101 PCGS MS65 CAC 10C - $39,500

Second Finest, Gem Original, Fresh CAC Approval, Gerry Fortin Collection. A remarkable condition rarity 1885 San Francisco strike and one of the highlights of the Fortin Collection. That year's mintage was anemic at 43,690 pieces with nearly all entering circulation. This date is undoubtedly the rarest Mint State date from 1873 through the design's termination in 1891. Even choice original circulation strikes are prized by collectors given the date's scarcity. This gem example exhibits shimmering frosted luster and swirling cartwheels with a stunning visual presentation. A transparent copper-gold patina is uniform on both sides while the strike is deeply impressed and meticulously detailed with partial wire rims. Immaculate surfaces provide undisturbed eye appeal. F-101, a single pair with usage as the plate coin within the Fortin Liberty Seated dime online reference. The CAC census indicate a sole example at MS65 (this lot) and a single finer. December 2021 via private treaty. Fresh cross into a PCGS Gen 6.1 (2020-2025) holder with CAC approval.

 

This 1886-S F-101 lot might just be the sleeper in the Session 3 auction event with its tied for CAC finest status. This "luster bomb" is accurately illustrated by GFRC photography.

1886-S F-101 PCGS MS67 CAC 10C - $8750

Exceptional Gem, Tied CAC Finest, Gerry Fortin Collection, Ex. Gardner. A close to perfection gem with aesthetic appeal with Gardner pedigree. Soft golden-brown peripheral toning otherwise the surfaces are ever so lightly toned. Once again, the term "luster bomb" arrives to characterize the intense radiance and spinning cartwheel with angled lighting. The design elements are sharply defined with each side being impeccably preserved. In-hand auction lot viewing is strongly recommended for cultivating an appropriate bid as potentially superior to the Eliasberg specimen. F-101 with the second 8 digit centered under the pendant. Acquired February 2022 via private treaty. Previously Heritage Auctions, October 2014 Eugene Gardner Collection II Sale, Lot #98282 where it realized $8,813 as PCGS serial number 4598339. The reholdering under a different PCGS number and CAC approval brings the current CAC census in question as three are listed at the MS67 level with none finer. The CAC price guide suggests $8,250 as fair value. Housed in PCGS Gen 6.0 (2015-2020) holder with CAC approval. PCGS #4697.

 

Sure, an 1888 Philly dime is no big deal right? Not this 1888 dime with out of this world eye appeal and Gold CAC approval. One of my absolute favorite dimes in the Fortin Collection. This lot will bring viewing joy for years to come.

1888 Unlisted PCGS MS66 Gold CAC 10C - $6850

Exceptional Gem, Potential Finest Known, Gerry Fortin Collection. Exceptional eye appeal with claims to finest known, this 1888 Philadelphia strike completes the listing of seven Gold CAC approved lots in the Fortin Collection. A simply amazing strike with sparkling luster overlaid with vivid blue-green and lemon-gold patination. The bright light presentation is extraordinary including swirling cartwheels. Purchased at the Heritage Auctions August 2007 Milwaukee ANA Sale, Lot #444 at MS67 money given the marvelous portrait with a CAC Gold bean validating that decision during late 2014. The CAC census lists two at the MS67 level with a fair price estimate of $7500. Housed in PCGS Gen 4.1 (2002-2004) holder with Gold CAC approval. PCGS #4700.

 

And finally, an honorable mention to one of my long term favorite dimes, the 1865-S Eliasberg specimen with a complete F-101 strike. Astute Liberty Seated dime collectors understand the rarity of this piece when located with a full head. Let's see what the winning bid will be for this lot come next Saturday...

1865-S F-101 PCGS MS66 Gold CAC 10C - $17,500

Rare Complete Strike, Gem Original, Gerry Fortin Collection, Ex. Eliasberg. Astute students of the Liberty Seated dime series should immediately note the differentiated strike offered by the Eliasberg 1865-S. Nearly all strikes from the F-101 die pairing will exhibit partial, and worse, missing heads. When acquired January 1997 via private treaty, this specimen exposed the beauty of a complete Liberty portrait coupled with a brilliant obverse with deeply basined die, polished to provide a prooflike surface. Partially mirrored reverse fields are also noted with frosted motifs while surfaces are unabraded. No auction records are available since the Bowers & Merena May 20-22, 1996, New York City Eliasberg Sale. Featured as the F-101 plate coin, with Small Weak S, within the Fortin Liberty Seated Dime online reference. Tied at the MS63 level within the CAC census with two finer. Housed in PCGS Gen 3.1 (1993-1998) holder with CAC approval. The label documents the Eliasberg pedigree. PCGS #4642.

 

Lastly, let's not forget the 1866 F-102b New England Museum Collection lot that was recently discussed in the Daily Blog. I continue to be in awe of this incredibly well preserved dime!

1866 F-102b PCGS MS66 CAC 10C - $12,500

Gem Original, Gerry Fortin Collection, Ex. New England Museum Collection. The well recognized New England Museum specimen with splendid gunmetal blue and russet toning along with peripheral gold on both sides. Bright light exposure reveals sharp reflectance consistent with proof strikes. A fully executed strike is apparent on all the devices. F-102b with lightly clashed dies as a circulation strike with only 8,000 produced. Held in a New England museum for generations and first auctioned by Stack's & Bowers at the May 2013 ANA National Money Show Sale, Lot #207. An incredibly original and condition census example that warrants in-hand inspection prior to bidding for appreciating the reserve that is consistent with the 2013 record auction price. Six examples have been CAC approved at the MS66 grade with a single finer. The CAC price guide stands at $4,900 while PCGS quotes $6,250. Housed in PCGS Gen 4.6 (2013-2014) holder with CAC approval. PCGS #4643.

 

Parting with these revered Liberty Seated dimes does bring about a fair amount of seller's remorse. This remorse is balanced by knowing that these coins will be enhancing other substantial collections that are presently under construction.

Again, good luck to all bidders as we launch the Session 3 Auction Sale. If there are any questions or special needs, please do reach out!

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Today brings morning shipping followed by posting the last round of U.S. gold offerings to the 30 Day Price List. At this point, the GFRC consignment queue is barren. If wishing to employ GFRC towards selling your coins, I'm all ears.

Our next major bourse event will be the Summer Baltimore show which is just two months away.

Thank you again for the visit.

Be well!

 

 

 

May 9, 2025

Connoisseur's Session 3 Auction Sale

Newtown Liberty Seated Half Dollar Highlights

 

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

Well, the Fortins new 718 Boxster GTS 4.0 has been officially landed at Sarasota Porsche as of yesterday. Josh, our Sales Ambassador, indicates that the Port Jacksonville shipment contained 18 cars! He promised that our vehicle will be unwrapped today with the first images being sent later in the day. Diane and I are both excited at this point in time to see the new car in the flesh.

Today's edition is wholly focused on the forthcoming Connoisseur's Session 3 Auction Sale with bidding opening tomorrow evening at 9:00 PM. This final sales event concludes the release of both the Gerry Fortin Liberty Seated Dime Collection and the Newtown Liberty Seated Half Dollar Collection. In today's edition, we will visit highlights from the Newtown Collection as this auction session allows access to Aaron's Carson City dates and the low mintage 1879 through 1890 issues solely from the Philadelphia Mint. Therefore let's move forward with this presentation.

 

Newtown Liberty Seated Half Dollar Highlights

We open today's Newtown Collection highlights with the Carson City Mint lots. Outside of the Civil War period dates, collectors show a strong affinity to those issues with the "CC" mintmark.

The Carson City Mint was established in 1863 to process silver from the Comstock Lode, one of the largest silver strikes in U.S. history. However, construction was delayed, and the mint did not begin operations until 1870. It produced gold and silver coins marked with the distinctive "CC" mint mark. The mint operated intermittently, shutting down in 1885 due to political reasons, reopening in 1889, and finally ceasing coin production in 1893. In 1899, its formal mint status was withdrawn, and it functioned as an assay office until 1933. Today, the historic building houses the Nevada State Museum, where visitors can see Coin Press No. 1, which is still used to strike commemorative medallions.

Its impact on numismatics, frontier commerce, and American history makes it a fascinating piece of the nation's past. One of the most influential figures behind the Carson City Mint was Abraham Curry, often called the "Father of Carson City." He played a key role in establishing the mint, recognizing the need for a local facility to process silver from the Comstock Lode. Curry also served as the first superintendent of the mint until 1870, when Henry Freeman Rice took over.

Another notable figure was Thomas Fitch, a congressman who helped push for the mint’s construction despite political opposition. Their efforts ensured that the mint became a vital institution for Nevada’s economy and the broader Western frontier. The mint boosted the local economy by minting coins locally and reducing the need to transport raw silver to the San Francisco and Philadelphia mints. As a result of local coinage, the mint provided hard currency for miners, merchants, and settlers thus fueling commerce in the developing western portion of the United States.

The Newtown lots provide the community with a special opportunity to acquire premium examples with extended payment terms. As mentioned many times, GFRC extended payment terms are available to those who contact me prior to the auction start on Saturday evening. Please don't be bashful about pursuing premium upgrades to your existing collections as Aaron Heintz and GFRC will work with you to facilitate those special purchases.

The Historical Carson City Dates!

    1871-CC WB-3 PCGS AU55 CAC 50C - $15,000                              1872-CC WB-5 PCGS AU55 CAC 50C - $11,000   

        

     1873-CC No Arrows WB-1 PCGS VF35 CAC 50C - $3750                      1873-CC Arrows WB-8 PCGS MS63 50C - $17,000             

        

    1874-CC WB-3 PCGS MS63 CAC 50C - $37,500                             1876-CC WB-2 PCGS MS62 CAC 50C - $4150      

        

    1877-CC WB-15 PCGS MS66 CAC 50C - $11,200                           1878-CC WB-1 PCGS MS63 CAC 50C - $22,500    

        

 

The Philadelphia Mint's Liberty Seated half dollar mintage saw a significant decline between 1879 and 1890 due to several key factors including the U.S. economy transitioning towards gold and paper currency, therefore reducing the need for large silver coin production. In addition, the Bland-Allison Act of 1878 and the Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890 influenced silver coinage priorities towards Morgan dollars. Between 1879 through 1887, less than 10,000 pieces were struck annually, with the 1881, 1882, and 1884 dates all seeing mintages of only 4,400 pieces. During 1889 and 1890, mintages increased to 12,000.

1879 - 1890 Philadelphia Low Mintage Period

      1879 PCGS MS66 CAC 50C - $6000                                          1880 PCGS MS65+ CAC 50C - $5350    

        

  1881 PCGS MS66+ CAC 50C - $12,500                                             1882 PCGS MS65 50C - $4500      

        

  1883 PCGS MS64 CAC 50C - $3300                                             1884 PCGS MS66 CAC 50C - $7500    

        

  1885 PCGS MS66+ CAC 50C - $12,500                                           1886 PCGS MS63 CAC 50C - $2250    

        

  1887 PCGS MS67 CAC 50C - $25,000                                           1888 PCGS MS66+ CAC H10C - $8250    

        

1889 PCGS MS66 CAC 50C - $10,500                                             1890 PCGS MS65 CAC 50C - $4950    

        

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

It is Friday with little shipping to move into the postal system, therefore we will be kitting incremental orders for shipment on Saturday morning. The extra time will allow me to head down to Raymond center to restock our gasoline and diesel cans along with recharging our grill propane tank. Call it an energy procurement morning!

On another note, planning of the next GFRC Online Auctions event is now underway. Yesterday brought a call with the Massachusetts Collection with a transfer date being set for next week to enable earlier cataloging of Tom Coulombe's substantial Liberty Seated Dime collection. Come next week, I will be announcing the date for the August and October auction sessions.

Let's wrap up the this Blog edition at this point and move forward with another busy day in a life.

Thank you again for staying current with GFRC events. Good luck to everyone who is planning to bid in next week's Session 3 Auction Sale.

Be well!

 

 

 

May 8, 2025

China's Overseas Gold Storage Facilities - Why?

and

Connoisseur's Session 3 Auction Sale - The New England Museum 1866 Dime

 

Greetings once again from the GFRC Maine office on a sunny early morning. Thank you for the ongoing visits.

Well, two dentist and doctor appointments are out of the way which is a good thing. Remaining is today's trip to the dreaded Lewiston Dept of Motor Vehicles to renew a driver's license along with securing Real ID status. Older drivers must take an on site vision test which precludes securing a new license via online means. Fortunately, Central Maine Motor Sports is nearby the DMV location which will allow an initial look at the Polaris Kinetics XP UTV while in the area.

On the numismatic side of things, a substantial portion of the newly consigned U.S. gold lot has been posted to the 30 Day Price List with the 1902 $10 piece already on hold. There are some great offerings to consider at your leisure.

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

 

China's Overseas Gold Storage Facilities - Why?

In the May 6 Blog, I made mention that China is establishing a physical gold facilities network outside of the mainland. Why would the Shanghai Gold Exchange take this step? One potential reason is the ability to establish a gold back Yuan as a settlement currency for the ASEAN member countries. This topic has been expanded upon by David Jensen in a May 5 Substack article which is being shared next. As always, this information is food for thought as the global trading order is under intense pressure via the Trump tariffs, in particular China.

China Rapidly Moves To Global Yuan-Gold Trade Settlement With New International Gold Facilities

On April 21, 2025 China released a joint statement by the People’s Bank of China, the National Administration of Financial Regulation, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange and the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government.

That statement contained the following sentence:

“We will explore the internationalisation of physical delivery for specific products [traded] on the Shanghai Gold Exchange by establishing offshore delivery and storage facilities.”

According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the joint statement reflects that “China will allow certain products traded on the Shanghai Gold Exchange to be delivered overseas by establishing storage facilities in other countries – part of a broader effort to promote the Yuan and reduce reliance on the US dollar and US financial systems, according to top regulatory agencies.”

The SCMP article further notes that total cross-border Chinese Yuan receipts and payments totaled the equivalent of US $4.1 trillion (T) in 2024.

By establishing a global network of gold delivery and storage facilities where Chinese Yuan can be directly exchanged for physical gold, China is moving to make the Yuan more widely accepted globally as a medium of exchange and also allowing Chinese purchases of oil and food, currently paid with US Dollars (USD), to be made with Yuan.

So, We’ll Take The Gold

The use of Yuan as a medium of exchange will likely not last a long time. As Alan Greenspan himself noted “Gold still represents the ultimate form of payment in the world. Fiat money in extremis is accepted by nobody. Gold is always accepted.”

However, because of the scale of global trade, this use of gold to settle trade payment, even at the margins, can rapidly create enormous demand for physical gold.

This step-change in global physical gold demand would spell a final lights-out for the London gold and silver price fixing scheme using largely unbacked promissory notes that has been in operation since 1987 - physical gold delivery demand is kryptonite to a leveraged promissory note scheme as is used in London, the world’s largest gold market.

To illustrate the impact of gold trade settlement on global demand, consider that total annual global trade currently amounts to 33T USD.

If 1T USD of global trade is settled in gold, at the current gold price this equates to 303 million (M) oz. of added physical gold demand compared to 2024’s global gold demand of 160 M oz.

In that event, you can add zeros to the fiat price of gold.

International trade settlement with naked fiat currency will become very difficult in the future.

Best regards,

David Jensen

 

Connoisseur's Session 3 Auction Sale - The New England Museum 1866 Dime

One of my absolute favorite dimes in the Gerry Fortin Collection is being auctioned via the Connoisseur's Session 3 Auction Sale. Yes, this is the dime that has been employed for the Session 3 banner at the top of this page. Following are large images for your viewing enjoyment.

1866 PCGS MS66 CAC 10C - The New England Museum Specimen

 

During May 2013, Stack's Bower's sold lots from a New England Museum as part of its New Orleans ANA auction sale. One of the lots was an incredible 1866 dime graded PCGS MS66 with CAC approval. I had my eye on the coin, that was for certain. However, I had just returned from a six year employment period in mainland China and was taking steps to launch a numismatic retirement business. My bids on the coin were woefully inadequate as the piece climbed to a record $13,000 price. Here is the lot description from the 2013 catalog.

1866 Liberty Seated Dime. Fortin-102b. Rarity-6. MS-66 (PCGS). CAC. Rare in all grades with a mintage of a mere 8,000 pieces for circulation, the 1866 dime is very difficult to find in Gem grades. The attractive surfaces are graced by splendid gunmetal-blue and russet toning on both sides. Held in a museum collection for generations, this coin was recently consigned to our auction and sent to PCGS, where it was graded as one of the finest seen by that service. A sharp and full strike is apparent on all the devices and both dies show light clashing evidence in the fields. An incredible quality coin.

Time went by with an intense focus on building up the GFRC business and pretty much forgetting about this dime. Come mid 2018, I was approached by an intermediary for the owner of the New England Museum 1866 dime. The 2013 winning bidder had decided it was time to sell the piece with yours truly being the most likely buyer. Discussion lasted for several months before we finally settled on a purchase price that was close to the 2013 record level. The deal was struck during July of that year and this absolutely amazing dime moved to the Gerry Fortin Collection. Astute collectors and dealers, who have previewed the coin, easily understand why this is no ordinary MS66 graded example. This piece is a "67" though I have not gone through the process of attempting an upgrade. This piece is holdered as originally sold during the Stack's Bowers May 2013 sale.

I've set the reserve at $12,500 which is pretty much my cost basis. Yes, this is well beyond the current CDN CAC price guide number at $4900. If this piece does not find a new home come May 17th, I will just hold onto the coin in GFRC inventory until a knowledgeable collector appears in the future.

Many of the coins in the Gerry Fortin Collection have these types of noteworthy stories. When assembling one of the finest collections extant, one has to purchase the coin and not the holder. I just can't stress this fact enough.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

As mentioned earlier, this will be an in and out of the office day with the shipping department being on holiday. By end of day, the balance of the recent U.S. gold consignment will be posted to the 30 Day Price List. Afterwards, my attention shifts to the Connoisseur's Session 3 Auction Sale with bidding beginning on Saturday evening at 9:00 PM. There will be more auction lot discussions within Friday's Blog.

Thanks again for the visit.

Be well!

 

 

 

May 7, 2025

$10 U.S. Gold Galore Plus More...

and

Connoisseur's Session 3 Auction Sale Opens This Saturday!

 

Greetings from the Maine homestead and welcome to the Daily Blog on an early Wednesday morning. Thank you so much for the ongoing readership.

Life is moving along at a fast pace as with a host of items on my plate at the moment. Operating GFRC is only one aspect of what consumes time in a day. Once back in Maine, there are a steady stream of appointments and the usual spring yard clean-up work that is on the "to do" list. Today brings a doctor's appointment for cortisone shots for my left hand along with stopping at Home Depot to retrieve a portion of the previously ordered Echo Pro Series attachments and gas powered head unit that will enable a much easier road sand removal project this year.

Maine weather is best described as cloudy and wet. There is no shortage of water for the wells come the summer months.

Shifting attention to the 718 Boxster, my dream sports car has been released from the Jacksonville Port and is being transported to Sarasota Porsche for its final preparation. I've decided to invest in a PPF (Paint Protection Film) for the full frontal area of the vehicle. Often times, sports car owners will add a black "bra" to the front of their car to protect the paint from chipping and insect spots. The PPF is a more elegant and invisible solution for this issue. The film is about 8 mils thick and entirely transparent with self healing properties when heated by the sun. Key is the application quality with Sarasota Porsche employing a trusted local vendor to get this job done properly.

Diane is also planning a significant sun room improvement project that requires the removal of an old jacuzzi that has not been used for years. The jacuzzi must be dismantled in place and taken out in smaller pieces. This means that the fiberglass unit must be cut into movable sections to fit through available egress points. This will be a messy project, with the benefit being a substantial amount of incremental space (grandchildren play area) in the sun room for the upcoming Matt and Renee family visits during July and August.

Finally, spot gold has seen a strong rally during the past 48 hours to $3435 now that the Shanghai Gold Exchange is back in operation. There has been a small pullback to the $3390 level, during LBMA trading, as the Blog is being composed. Some early morning online financial research indicates that the Treasury bond refinancing process is not being well subscribed internationally, thus the Federal Reserve is stepping in as the buyer of last resort. I've seen a report that the Federal Reserve purchased $30+ billion in 10 year Treasuries in the past 48 hours. This type of activity is a behind the scenes QE.

Let's move to the numismatic portion of today's Blog edition.

 

$10 U.S. Gold Galore Plus More...

GFRC is pleased to be presenting the following U.S. gold showcase gallery on behalf of a consignment who is slowly liquidating his massive gold holdings.

Today's offerings are primarily $10 gold centric with a a host of Liberty dates. The recent consignment also includes a very popular 1911-D Strong D $2.5 gold lot which should not last long on the price list. You are invited to check the reverse image to note the well formed and bold Denver mintmark.

The primary highlight of today's gallery are two 1892-CC $10 gold pieces with CAC approval. This is a challenging Carson City date with the AU58 lot offering strong frosted luster. Our consignor has also included several double eagles to consider. The 1852 Type 1 lot, graded PCGS VF35 is priced a tad over CDN bid and should not last long at this offer level.

This lot will start posting to the price list this morning followed by later during the afternoon hours.

 

$10 U.S. Gold Galore Plus More...

   1911-D Strong D PCGS AU55 G$2.5 - $4750                                        1847 NGC AU58 CAC G$10 - $3250       

        

      1892-CC NGC AU58 CAC G$10 - $6250                                         1892-CC NGC AU55 CAC G$10 - $4850  

        

      1905-S PCGS MS62 CAC G$10 - $3750                                          1906-D PCGS MS64 CAC G$10 - $2850     

        

    1898 PCGS MS62 CAC G$20 - $4850                                           1922 PCGS MS64+ CAC G$20 - $4950    

        

1834 Plain 4 PCGS AU55 G$5 - $1850                     1870 NGC AU50 G$3 - $2750                           1852 NGC AU58 G$10 - $2450      

                      

1853/2 NGC AU53 G$10 - $2600                      1892-S NGC MS62 G$10 - $2250                      1900 PCGS MS64 G$10 - $2700

                      

1901 PCGS MS64 G$10 - $2100                         1902 PCGS MS62 G$10 - $1950                      1852 PCGS VF35 G$20 - $3550

                      

 

Connoisseur's Session 3 Auction Sale Opens This Saturday!

The countdown clock continues to move forward with the Connoisseur's Session 3 Auction Sale being a tad over 72 hours away. Following is a reminder that the Gerry Fortin Liberty Seated Dime Collection has several finest known or tied for finest known lots in this last auction session.

My 1869-S is the best of the best at a lofty PCGS MS67 grade with blazing luster and spinning cartwheels. The eye appeal of the 1882 F-104 lot is tantalizing with a reasonable reserve number.

 

    1869-S F-102 PCGS MS67 CAC 10C - $26,000                                  1882 F-104 PCGS MS67+ CAC 10C - $3750     

        

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Like yesterday, I will be in and out of the GFRC office today. There is the usual morning shipping followed by contacting the Massachusetts Collection to decide on a transfer date for his complete Liberty Seated Dime collection. This lot becomes the anchor for the next GFRC Online Auctions events taking place in August and October. If wishing to sell your coins with this marquee collection, now is the time to contact me for making transport arrangement. The Massachusetts Collection dime set will be on display at the June Summer Baltimore show along with other auction bound consignments that arrive between now and early June.

Thank you, as always, for stopping by at the Daily Blog.

Be well!

 

 

 

May 6, 2025

Already Settled In....

The Brief Spot Gold Price Dip is Done

and

Connoisseur's Session 3 Auction Sale Opens This Saturday!

 

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

Monday brought a whirlwind day here as the Maine homestead was brought back into regular operating condition. I won't bore you will all the details, just the fact that all the mechanical vehicles started smoothly including a quick 15 minute drive in the Miata just for fun. The gazebo furniture was restored for the summer and autumn seasons along with the barn floor being swept. I took Johnny2 out for a spin, with the grapple, and removed the boulders that were blocking the the construction road down to the back acreage. The GFRC business is fully operational with ongoing shipping this morning. Our early check payment destination shift has worked like a charm as a pile of check payment letters were delivered yesterday.

Remaining is grocery shopping to restock the frig and cupboards. Today also brings a dentist appointment followed by a doctor's appointment tomorrow. All is well which allows me to focus on the upcoming Session 3 Auction Sale which begins this coming Saturday.

 

The Brief Spot Gold Price Dip is Done

Astute gold bugs in the GFRC community probably noticed that gold prices dropped into a brief consolidation phase last week. The dip took spot gold down to $3220/oz consistent with China's May 1 through May 5 Labor Day holiday. That's right, China markets were closed during that time frame and the price of gold was driven down by the western big banks. There is speculation that the big banks drove the gold price down to unwind their short positions on the COMEX before Chinese markets reopened and kick started a recovery in gold's price rally. Sure enough, once the five day May Day holiday concluded, spot gold has returned to rally mode. As the Blog is being composed, gold is trading at $3380 while silver is a tad below $33 per ounce.

Since understanding how the China markets are now driving the gold price, I took incremental positions in gold and silver miners before the weekend drive to Maine. That move was perfectly timed.

For community members with inquisitive mind, might I suggest that the you research the latest news from the ASEAN Chiang Mai Initiative [Multilateralisation]. The ASEAN block, which includes China, Japan and South Korea, are working in a closer fashion for local trade outside of the the U.S. dollar hegemony. Dedollarization is happening before our eyes and the pace appears to be accelerating. China is working towards establishing Shanghai Exchange gold holding facilities outside of its borders with ASEAN partners. That is right, China is laying the groundwork for a physical gold trading based settlement system that will be ASEAN centric.

I continue to be quite bullish on gold with $4000/oz not surprising me by the end of summer and maybe $4500 by the end of the year. This is a personal opinion and should not be deemed as financial advice. I'm staying close to the international gold market and sharing those items of importance that could influence the long term price of the yellow precious metal.

 

Connoisseur's Session 3 Auction Sale Opens This Saturday!

The countdown to the final auction session of the Gerry Fortin and Newtown Liberty Seated coinage collections is now underway. After two successful auctions sessions, the divestment of both of these magnificent collection will wrap up next week. Bidding opens this Saturday (May 10th) and closes the following Saturday (May 17th).

Rather that construct new visual galleries of specific Liberty Seated coins being offered, let's bring back the official bidder's guides for the balance of the Gerry Fortin and Newtown Liberty Seated collections. A quick scan will revealed that the later dates are being featured including the all important Carson City dates in the Newtown Collection.

This may sound like a "broken record", but I will once again stress that both Aaron Heintz and Gerry wish to see our prized coins transferred into other community collections. Given this overriding goal, we will work with other collectors on payment terms as necessary. One year payments terms for the Session 3 auction means that the winning balance could be paid off through May of 2026. Key is a 40% upfront payment on won lots with the balance due across 12 months. I will ship lots consistent with the amount of monies paid across the extended terms.

Simply click on either bidder's guide to download a PDF version that can be saved on your hard drive and which can also be printed for reference when contemplating your Session 3 bids. If there are any questions, please don't be shy about emailing or calling me. I'm here to make things happen for all parties.

Wrapping Up The Blog

Other than a dentist appointment for a semi-annual cleaning, I will be operating in the GFRC office today. There is morning shipping to get done followed by completing image process for the newly consigned U.S. gold lot that was featured immediately prior to our departure from the Venice office.

Let's wrap up today's ramblings at this point. A sincere thank you goes out to the many readers who consistently return day in and day out to check on GFRC business activities and our constantly evolving inventory.

Be well!

 

 

 

May 5, 2025

GFRC Maine Office is Open for Business

 

Greetings from the Maine homestead and welcome to the Daily Blog. How sweet it is to be home! Thank you for checking in.

What a joy to be sitting at my desk in the Raymond office overlooking the front landscaping and watching birds flying in and out of the pancake hemlock by the homestead entrance. That alone is worth the two day 1550 miles back to Maine. At this northern latitude, the sunrise was early at 5:28 AM exposing mostly bare trees. The forsythias are a bright yellow while the maples and oaks are just beginning to show budding leaves. It will be another week before the trees are fully leafed out. A quick visual inspection of the property found little tree damage or down limbs this year. Following is a quick cellphone snapshot of the back acreage and the cool cloudy conditions.

 

The temperature shift from Venice Florida to southern Maine is quite noticeable as the morning temperature is a cool 52F under thick clouds. So far, there are only two items requiring repair attention. The most pressing in our Amtrol hot water tank has gone into error mode and is not sending a shutdown signal to the oil furnace to stop sending heated water. A repair call into out oil heating company will be done at 8:00 AM. On a less serious basis, our roadside mailbox stand has been pretty banged up by winter snow plowing. I'm prepared for a few more minor issues to be found as we start unpacking and checking all aspects of the homestead and the barn.

So how was the two day drive?

Saturday's drive from Venice to our overnighting point in Virginia was mostly uneventful other than a half hour delay in Georgia due to a roadside crash involving a tractor trailer going off the road in a major way. Sunday was a different story due to rain and the overloading of Northeast interstate roadways due to population growth. There were multiple crashes due to the heavy rains from Virginia into Delaware with some relief in New Jersey and New York. The usual choke points continue to become more "choked" including merging onto I-287 from the Garden State Parkway followed by another traffic mess when exiting I-684 onto I-84 towards Connecticut. As the years progress even the merge from I-84 onto I-90 in Massachusetts is becoming progressive worse. We can't image how bad these bottleneck points will be during the peak summer travel months. Once reaching New Hampshire, the rain again appeared for the final travel leg on Maine's I-95.

But we are home with the Acura MDX being an incredible driving machine.

As you can imagine, there is much to be done today with respect to unpacking the GFRC office and staging order shipments for Tuesday morning. A reasonable number of online orders have also been received while traveling. These will be responded to this morning after the call in to Atlantic Heating for repairing out hot water tank. But first, the wood stove will be fired up to take the chill out of the house.

Come the afternoon hours, I will be reconnecting batteries to the Toyota Rav4, the 1993 Miata and Johnny2 in the barn. Hopefully, all will start up without issues.

That is it for today's Blog edition as there is much to get done in the next 24 hours. Thank you for checking in.

Be well!

 

 

 

May 1, 2025

Final Office Day Before Maine Transition

Connoisseur's Session 3 Auction Sale Begins May 10

and

AI Generated - Stereo Equipment and Numismatics

 

Greetings on the first of May 2025 and welcome to the Daily Blog. Thank you for returning for another edition.

Already, the fifth month of 2025 is upon us as a reminder of how quickly time moves forward. The younger generation might be oblivious to time as there is always ample amounts to look forward to. On the other hand, those of us who are pushing 70 might have a different opinion with time being a precious commodity. It is all a matter of perspective as many aspects of life are. If I'm being a bit philosophical this morning, there is probably an underlying basis for thinking in the manner. I'll leave that basis for your speculation.

Today brings the final day in the GFRC office with some light morning shipping. Then the Venice condo closing effort begins in earnest. Fair warning that there will be no Daily Blog editions for the next three days as a vacation from morning composition will be welcomed while traveling.

On a positive note, the 718 Boxster has landed at the Jacksonville Florida entry port just in time for our northern departure. More on this topic in the future once we understand the time requirement for the vehicle to clear customs followed by transport to Sarasota Porsche. Yesterday's visit to the dealership resolved the communication issue and brought about a target date for the Fortins taking ownership.

 

Connoisseur's Session 3 Auction Sale Begins May 10

Speaking of time moving forward so quickly, the final session of the Connoisseur's Auction Sale arrives next Saturday evening at 9:00 PM and will last through the following Saturday. The set is staged with a host of wonderful Liberty Seated dime and half dollar lots to be acquired by those actively pursuing those series.

As a reminder, GFRC continues to offer extended payments terms as it is recognized that finest known and tied for finest known lots come with substantial reserves. Those reserves could be taxing to numismatic budgets on a short term basis, thus the willingness to let winning bidders extend their payments over a 12 month period. At this point, I'm pleased to report that all Session 1 lots with extended payment terms have been fully paid for other than two individuals.

My stated goal of seeing both the Gerry Fortin Seated dimes and the Newtown Seated halves moving directly into other collections has been satisfied at this point. Let's remember that coin collecting is a continuum both from the buying and selling perspective if striving to build a differentiated collection. It does take time to locate and finance the truly superior coins. The reciprocal is that divesting these coins is no different with time being necessary to locate the appropriate new curators. Offloading a collection at a substantial discount into a wholesale market would not give these collections the appropriate level of positive closure and respect. Again, time is a precious commodity but persistence in closing the final chapter of a substantial collection is necessary for ensuring a historical hobby legacy.

 

AI Generated - Stereo Equipment and Numismatics

So far, this Blog has been on the serious and contemplative side. Let's shift gears towards an AI generated article thanks to a new submission from Len Augsburger. Len reports feeding an AI model with back dated Daily Blog issues that discussed both stereo equipment and numismatics. The opening paragraph is spot on with respect to subtleties, either the fine details of a numismatic piece or the special listening experience on a high end audiophile system. Len might also consider attempting a Porsche 718 Boxster driving experience with numismatics in the future. My expectations are for a similar themed output from the AI model.

There’s something uniquely rewarding about immersing oneself in high-quality sound. Much like a coin collector appreciating the subtleties of die varieties, an audiophile treasures every nuance in music—tonal clarity, instrument separation, and dynamic range. Good stereo equipment isn't just a luxury for the enthusiast; it's the gateway to hearing a recording as it was meant to be heard. A well-mixed album played on quality gear becomes a transportive experience, not just background ambiance.

Listening through subpar gear is akin to examining a rare coin under poor lighting—it’s possible, but the essence is lost. Good stereo components, carefully selected and matched, reveal the depth and soul of a recording. From the delicate brush of a jazz cymbal to the precise resonance of a cello string, great gear exposes the artistry hidden between the notes. As with numismatics, attention to detail makes all the difference.

Selecting stereo equipment requires the same patience and discernment as assembling a fine coin collection. Not every expensive component is the right fit; synergy matters. An overly bright speaker paired with a cold amplifier can produce lifeless sound, just as mismatched toning and grade can diminish a coin's appeal. Seasoned audiophiles know that chasing the right sound can be a long, iterative journey—one that rewards persistence and curiosity.

The audio world, like numismatics, has its cycles and trends. Vinyl has returned not simply for nostalgia, but for the warmth and texture it brings. Tube amplifiers, with their glowing valves and organic timbre, continue to captivate. These aren’t just nods to the past—they’re acknowledgments that, sometimes, the older ways still offer unmatched richness. Shows and meetups reveal a community of enthusiasts speaking the same passionate language, whether it’s about rare albums or rare coins.

Beyond the gear and technical talk lies something deeper: emotion. A good stereo system doesn’t just play music—it stirs something in the listener. It’s the chills from a perfectly timed harmony or the weight of silence between notes. These moments are intimate, personal, and impossible to replicate on low-end setups. Just as a collector may never forget the moment they acquired a key date coin, an audiophile remembers the first time they truly heard their favorite song.

In the end, quality stereo equipment is about respect—respect for the artist, the medium, and the experience. It’s not about brand names or wattage wars; it’s about connection. The same mindset that leads someone to seek out original surfaces and early die states also draws them to the unfiltered clarity of analog playback. In both hobbies, there’s a constant striving for authenticity. And when that pursuit yields results, the reward is as profound as it is personal.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

The GFRC office is technically opened throughout the day though my response time might just be a bit longer than normal for obvious reasons. All new orders will be shipping from Maine starting on May 6 after we complete this morning's final shipping round.

There is little else to share at this point. Thank you for the visit and we look forward to reengaging with the community starting on May 5th. There is much that will transpire during the next 72 hours or so.

Be well!

 

 

April 30, 2025

A Substantial U.S. Gold Consignment to Consider

and

Feel Free to Issue Check Payments to Maine Office

 

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog on the final day of April 2025. Thank you for returning for another edition.

In just 48 hours, the Maine transition will be underway. Once again, a reminder that the GFRC office is closed from May 2 through May 4. We will reopen the GFRC business on Monday May 5th.

Tuesday brought a second office inventory packing session with all types of inventory and hold lots being nicely organized and accounted for. There is regular price list inventory, the Session 3 Auction Sale inventory coupled with regular layaways and also, the extended payment auction lots. Yes, there will be no coin left behind in Florida as that would be quite the pity.

Today sees me driving to Sarasota Porsche to drop in on my Sales Ambassador Josh, a friendly individual who does not respond to emails. Yes, the Porsche brand is quite exclusive, but one would expect some basic communications courtesy even thought not purchasing a 911 level vehicle. Key is mapping out how we will communicate after our arrival back to Maine. Between a host of doctor and dentist appointments the first week back coupled with the Connoisseur's Session 3 Auction Sale, starting May 10th, the Fortins will be unable to return to Florida until after the auction sale administration workload is completed. The current plan is to fly to Sarasota and drive the 718 Boxster back to Maine via a multi-day journey through western VA and PA mountains and hillsides, followed by heading north into eastern NY and traversing the scenic White Mountains in northern New England. Once again, the GFRC office will be closed for the length of this Porsche inspired holiday to celebrate our 45th anniversary. Of course, this plan assumes that the car is processed through U.S. Customs in a fairly expedient manner. Life is always full of uncertainties but basic planning is essential.

Let's move forward with today's important consignment announcement.

 

A Substantial U.S. Gold Consignment to Consider

Like clockwork, USPS Express Priority Mail delivered a substantial U.S. gold consignment yesterday. The lot was promptly loaded into the COIN system with a pricing proposal completed just in time for 5:00 PM Happy Hour. Once concluding dinner, an email check revealed that our client had agreed to my proposed pricing numbers. Therefore, we are in a position to quote prices today for those that wish to secure first shot. Photography is also on today's agenda as the bright Florida sun is so conducive for high contrast imagery.

As always, clicking on the below image will provide access to a higher resolution version portrayal.

The consignment opens with a very popular 1911-D Strong D $2.5 Indian graded PCGS AU55 and assigned a GFRC-Choice quality rating. The 1834 Plain 4 Classic Head $5 piece adds more diversity as do the 1854 and 1870 $3 Indian Princess pieces. The latter is a rare $3 gold date and the first example handled by GFRC. This consignment is replete with $10 gold including not one but two 1892-CC AU pieces, both with CAC approval.

Since being in and out of the office today, I will respond to your pricing inquiries when possible, but definitely after 3:00 PM. The completion of transactions will take place from the Maine office. Thank you for considering these lots.

Quality U.S. Collector Gold in Search of a New Home

 

Feel Free to Issue Check Payments to Maine Office

The check payment mailing transition is now underway. All payments must be mailed to the Raymond, Maine office address which has been updated on the GFRC website and also on my email signature line. The Raymond address is....

GFRC, 225 Valley Road, Raymond, Maine 04071-6163

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

So ends another Daily Blog edition. I hope that the visit was enjoyable.

Be well!

 

 

 

April 29, 2025

A Ho-Hum Blog Edition

 

Greetings on a Tuesday morning and welcome to another Daily Blog edition. Thank you for returning to these ongoing ramblings.

What can I possibly ramble about today as there is a lack of predefined content? That is a difficult question as I sit at the laptop in search of inspiration. We've discussed gold almost to the point of exhaustion. The 718 Boxster will chart its own journey to Sarasota Porsche regardless of my cheer leading. Finally, the GFRC numismatic platform continues to perform well with a wide ranging customer base. April sales have been strong and above forecast without attending the Central States show.

I was on the phone with Rich Hundertmark yesterday and he noted that my desire to be back in Maine did not go unnoticed when reading the Blog. This is quite true as I've already made the mental shift towards May's property cleanup followed by Dave Wilkinson's excavator arrival in early June. The plan is to cut that bisecting trail to increase the amount of walking and trail riding options in the park. A Polaris XP Kinetic Ranger UTV will be one of the first major purchases once back home. An electric UTV will fall into the sustainability realm along with being a fun vehicle for touring the back acreage trails when both Matt and Renee's family visit in early July. I've learned that urban dwellers don't like bugs, especially wood ticks. This results in a lack of desire, or is it fear, for utilizing the walking trails on a cool Maine morning. A battery powered UTV may help that situation and then it might not. The younger generations have become so accustomed to living in a cellphone or laptop digital world, within an urban setting, that hanging out in the woods with only one's senses for stimulation might just be too foreign of an adventure. All I can do is provide the trails and the exploration opportunity. The rest will be up to our family members to decide on a course of action. Regardless, I will be up early each morning walking the trails after the day's Daily Blog composition as my senses enjoy the sound of crunching footsteps on stone paths or hearing the crows calling out. Unfortunately, the background road noise is inescapable as the 23 acre lot is position on a heavy traveled road during the morning commuting hours.

Monday afternoon brought a successful effort towards organizing the various GFRC inventory items into distinct packing groups for transport. My motto is always "no coin being left behind" when preparing to move the office from one part of the country to the other. All layaway orders were organized along with extended payment auctions lots. Of course, there will be new orders shippable from the Maine office though I am doing by best to issue as many ship ahead orders as possible through Wednesday.

Today brings the arrival of a major U.S. gold shipment as the final consigned lot while in Venice.

There you have it.... A Ho-Hum blog edition without relying on Seth Godin or Kitco gold news for content. Yes, I am looking forward to being back in Maine and on the "land" with dirt and tractor grease on my hands. Let's not forget the smell of diesel fuel too!

Thank you again for the visit. Some days bring stimulating content while others bring a honest conversation between us.

Be well!

 

 

 

April 28, 2025

GFRC Mailing Address Change to Raymond Maine Office

Port of Jacksonville Vessel Arrivals

and

New Orleans Collection - Special Insights from the Sarasota-Bradenton Airport

 

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog as the final week in the Venice Florida office arrives. Thank you for the visit.

Yes, it is time to ramp down the GFRC Venice office as my mindset quickly shifts towards returning to a rural Maine lifestyle. For example, last evening was spent studying the different brands of gas-powered head units that will drive a string trimmer, brush cutter blade, and paddle sweeper. When the research was completed, a decision was made to go with the Echo brand and the PAS2620 power head. Why not electric? So far, I've purchased several battery powered outdoor power tools and was disappointed each time in the build quality and operating performance. These will be junked upon my return as I plan to stick with commercial grade gas-powered tools given the size of the Maine property and its maintenance requirements.

Again, as a reminder, the GFRC office will be closed from May 2 through May 4, and will reopen in Maine at some point on Monday May 5. I have a busy appointment week once back home and doubt that there will be much in terms of new coin postings other than marketing the Connoisseur's Session 3 Auction Sale that begins on May 10th.

It was decided on Sunday to change the website mailing address to the Maine office. Please hold back mailing payment checks to the Maine office until Wednesday. Thank you.

 

Port of Jacksonville Vessel Arrivals

For giggles on Sunday, I googled the Port of Jacksonville Florida website to see if I could locate a vessel arrival schedule at the harbor. Sure enough, I was able to confirm that the "Emden", a Volkswagen owned vessel will be arriving at 4:30 AM on Wednesday carrying our new 718 Boxster GTS 4.0 vehicle. Isn't ironic that the ship will be docking just several days prior to our Maine departure?

Here is a screen capture from the Port of Jacksonville website with the "Emden" arrival among those from Carnival Cruise Lines. Clicking on the below image provides access to a higher resolution version.

 

How long will it take for our new Porsche to be unloaded and to clear U.S. customs? This is an unknown, especially with the Trump tariff situation. I've been scanning the Porsche website for new 718 Boxster GTS 4.0 listings throughout the United States with roughly a $10,000 increase in offer prices being noted during the past 45 days. .

Back in Germany, it took one month for the car to be loaded onto the Emden sea going transport. Once the Boxster is released, it will be transported from Jacksonville to Sarasota Porsche with the dealership requiring two days to unwrap the car and readying the vehicle to be sold. Unfortunately, it is close but no cigar as they say....

There is presently a Plan A and a Plan B for closing out the purchase and moving the 718 Boxster to our Maine home. Please stay current with the Daily Blog to learn how this story ultimately ends...

 

New Orleans Collection - Special Insights from the Sarasota-Bradenton Airport

Sunday's 8:00 AM special meeting with a GFRC client took place on schedule with three lots from the Connoisseur's Session 1 Auction Sale being transferred. The New Orleans Collection took possession of three serious "O-Mint" lots from that session including the finest known 1852-O dime. Later in the morning, a touching email arrived into my Inbox.

My addition to Gerry’s blog is not meant to become any regular occurring event, but a therapeutic recording of recent events that we all will inevitably face as life certainly has its interesting twists and turns. This past week found us in Gerry’s winter backyard -Venice Beach, FL. For those who are not familiar with the area, Venice is known by many as a winter retreat for snow birds and ‘God’s waiting room’ by others as many retirees settle here for year-round warm southern Florida temperatures. My wife’s favorite aunt could be included in both categories as she was raised in Connecticut, lived in New York, and retired to Florida. We attended her memorial service this past weekend - truly an experience as unique as she. 

Sarasota Bay has a 20-acre area designated as a site for deposition of cremains. Thousands before her have taken advantage of this burial at sea over the decades since its inception. We boarded a Yacht large enough for the 20 of us and had a lovely serene service right before sunset on Friday afternoon, including adult beverages. The captain led us through a touching  ritual as we deposited her ashes along with long stem red roses and rose petals. After this moving tribute concluded, we enjoyed the scenery of multi-million dollar homes that lined the water. Several still had devastating evidence of nature’s fury from last year’s gulf hurricane season. Despite the shoreline’s scars, there’s certainly no doubt that life is good for many in Florida. Our visit concluded with a rendezvous for lot pickup from Gerry’s auction of his and Aaron’s seated coins. Finally, as I sit in the airport awaiting our flight back to Louisiana, I am reminded that we are but stewards of the coins we collect. Just as we have taken care of these precious items for the next generation, it’s important to remember to take care of your family by having a well-outlined exit strategy. Once again I say there could be nothing worse than seeing the fruits of your collecting labor not get their full value for your heirs. Thanks to Gerry for being transparent and a straight shooter.

Happy collecting, The New Orleans Collection. 

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Today's primary task is to clear out a substantial amount of shipping followed by responding to many orders for the Poor Man's Collection offerings. Afterwards, I will slowly start to prepare GFRC inventory for the Maine transition.

Tomorrow brings the arrival of a substantial United States gold consignment along with some bullion gold to be added to the Fortin holdings. Working through the photography process, under bright Florida sunshine, will be the next priority prior to pretty much winding down office activities. I will be keeping up with orders with the final shipping day being on Wednesday.

Thank you, as always, for visiting and staying current with GFRC happenings.

Be well!

 

 

April 27, 2025

Connoisseur's Session 3 Auction Sale is Two Weeks Away

Printable Auction Lot Guides

and

Please Hold Mailing GFRC Check Payments Until Wednesday

 

Greetings on a Sunday morning and welcome to the Daily Blog. Thank you for returning for another round of GFRC updates and regular ramblings.

A portion of this edition is being prepared on Saturday evening due to a special 8:00 AM meeting with a GFRC client. Yes, GFRC works seven days a week to meet the needs of our community. Therefore, I'm in the office after Saturday dinner preparing useful content concerning the forthcoming Connoisseur's Session 3 Auction Sale that arrives in just two weeks. To aid all potential bidders, printable bidders guides have been assembled for both the Gerry Fortin and Newtown Collections lots. At GFRC, we never stop being creative in terms of the marketing power of the Daily Blog.

I'm certainly looking forward to being back in Maine on a temperature basis. Already, the daytime temperatures here in Venice are just too warm for me. I'd much rather be working outdoors when it is 55F to 60F than dealing with mid-80s. Diane, on the other hand, is just the opposite which makes for differing opinions on living locations. So far, the time in Maine versus thee time in Florida is working though the April and May transition months bring their temperature adjustments.

By this time next week, the Fortins will be well on their way up the I-95 corridor towards our annual relocation. Once back home, there are a host of appointments to work through along with property spring clean-up which I look forward too. Unfortunately, May brings black fly season and the need to wear head nets on calm days. There is nothing like a stiff breeze to keep the black flies away from your head.

Finally, the Poor Man's Collection consignment sale is moving along nicely with the majority of the lots being posted to the 30 Day Price List. At GFRC, we just keep moving the ball forward and take pride in helping clients with their buying and selling needs.

Let's move into numismatics....

 

Connoisseur's Session 3 Auction Sale is Two Weeks Away

It is difficult to believe but the final Session 3 Auction Sale event is now less than two weeks away. I'm quite pleased with how the first two session have gone with substantial sell through rates for both collections. Can we hold this momentum through Session 3? I'm certainly optimistic and will work with collectors for extended payment terms as done with the first two session. Successful bidders have been paying down their extended layaways on schedule. Case in point is this morning's 8:00 meeting here in Venice to hand-off three Session 1 lots to a client visiting the area. A personal hand-off is much preferred to placing rare and irreplaceable coins in the USPS transport system.

Following are the official bidder's guides for the balance of the Gerry Fortin and Newtown Liberty Seated collections. Simply click on either image to download a PDF version that can be saved on your hard drive and which can also be printed for reference when contemplating your Session 3 bids.

Please Hold Mailing GFRC Check Payments Until Wednesday

The window is now closed for mailing check payments to the Venice office. Please do not mail any check payments to GFRC until Wednesday with the Maine mailing address.

I will probably start updating the GFRC website with the Maine office mailing address later today as the risk of someone mailing a check payment to Maine is limited. Trisha, our Raymond postmaster, and Doug the Mailman are both aware that we return home in early May and will hold our Maine for pickup come May 5.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Given the hot Venice weather, today will find me in the GFRC office which also doubles as my entertainment center. The balance of the Poor Man's Collection lot will be loaded to the price list, and maybe a few more raw Liberty Seated dime from my reference collection.

Monday brings a substantial shipping day with the office packing starting on Wednesday.

As a reminder, the GFRC office will be closed on May 2 through May 4.

As always, thank you for the daily visits or whenever there is time to return to these online ramblings.

Be well!

 

 

 

 

 

April 26, 2025

Immediately Available - A Poor Man's Collection's Consignment

and

Final Day for Mailing Check Payments to Venice Office

 

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog on the final Saturday of April 2025. Can you believe that we are already 33% through another year in a life? Thanks for the check in.

The countdown for the Maine transition continues as Diane has already begun to pack. While she is carefully assessing what to transport back to Maine, I'm hanging out in the GFRC office and keeping the 30 Day Price List updated with new offerings. Yesterday brought a visit from the Poor Man's Collection consignor with a 19 piece lot to sell. I've worked with this local collector on multiple occasions and was happy to provide help with his latest capital raising project to fund an acquisition in another hobby realm. This is the beauty of owning coins as a store of wealth. If being careful with numismatic acquisitions, these properties can always be converted back into dollar bills to fund alternate initiatives.

After a huge rally, spot gold has settled back into a consolidation phase which is necessary and healthy for extending further gains. My morning YouTube viewing, over breakfast, suggests that the United States is already in recession though the top 10% of the population continues to keep spending and is holding the equity markets together. What I've learned is the top 10% of the United States citizenry owns 88% of the equity market and accounts for 49% of overall consumer spending. These are staggering statistic that acknowledge the tiered nature of American society. Back to gold, I checked a few coin shop videos indicating that the general U.S. public is a net seller of gold at current levels as folks are cashing in on their gains.

Changing subjects, please be wary of text messages from unknown parties. Two days ago, I received a text message from "Research-Polls" which was conducting a study on local issues in Maine. I promptly opted out by typing in STOP. Immediately afterwards, I received eight SPAM phone calls across two days from Maine 207 originated phone numbers. The cause and effect could not be a coincidence. It appears that once my phone number was validated, the spammers jumped on the bandwagon with their automated dialing and transferring you to a call center in the event that you are foolish enough to answer. These people are xxxx in my book.

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

 

Immediately Available - A Poor Man's Collection's Consignment

Today's featured consignment is from the Poor Man's Collection. Our GFRC friend hopes to raise some cash for purchasing an expensive camera lens for his photography hobby thus the release of the following coins. Please don't hold the lack of CAC green beans against this individual or taint your assessment of his offerings. This lot features consistent originality with essentially all coins receiving GFRC-Choice or Gem quality ratings. For example, the 1900, 1902, and 1911-S Barber halves have secure Gem quality ratings but the economics don't support the costs for CAC to/from shipping and evaluation fees. Please pay special attention to the 1878-S CACG EF45 Trade dollar as probably the finest EF45 Trade dollar that I've handled and securing yet another GFRC-Gem quality rating.

All coins are immediately available with offer prices having been approved by our consignor. When the GFRC consignment queue is empty, a new consignment can move quickly through the process as all coins are photographed and about 50% of the way through the image processing loop. If tempted, please contact me for a price quote.

Of course, clicking on the below images provides access to a higher resolution version.

Poor Man's Collection Consignment

Priced and Immediately Available

 

Final Day for Mailing Check Payments to Venice Office

Today is the final day for mailing check payments to the GFRC Venice office address. Come Monday and Tuesday, no payments should be mailed to either office location. On Wednesday, checks can be mailed to our Maine office address as follows:

GFRC, 225 Valley Rd., Raymond, Maine 04071-6163

Thanks for working with me to avoid a check payment being captured by the USPS 1st class mail forwarding system.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Little changes here as the Fortins begin to slowly prepare for next weekend's northern trek. I will be mostly in the office today finalizing the Poor Man's Collection images and posting lots to the 30 Day Price List with short descriptions. There is only so much that can be said for an original VF30 Barber half dollar....

Thank you again for stopping by.

Be well!

 

 

 

April 25, 2025

Substantial U.S. Gold Consignment Arrives Next Week

Saturday is Last Day for Mailing Check Payments to Venice Office

and

Oregon Beaver Price Reductions

 

Greetings on the final Friday of April 2025 and welcome to the Daily Blog. We appreciate the ongoing readership.

The Maine transition countdown approaches its final week with a keen anticipation for being back home in Maine. Yes, I'm beginning to envision new projects for the back acreage park including the purchase of a battery powered UTV. The Polaris Ranger Kinetic XP is the leading candidate as an all-electric utility vehicle designed for durability and hauling/towing capacity. This UTV offers 140 lb-ft of torque which will be useful for towing the double wheeled Polar cart along the walking trails while loaded with gravel or crushed stone. The Ranger's bed alone can handle 1500 lbs saving the countless trips taken by Johnny2 to deliver a single bucket load of material at the far ends of the property. Any attempts to expand the pond will require the movement of substantial amounts of rip-rap stone and gravel with the anticipated wear on Johnny2's front axle along with the time required to travel about one mile on a to/from trip. An electric Ranger will be ideal for this situation.

The 718 Boxster continues its journey across the northern Atlantic Ocean with an April 30 forecast for arriving into Jacksonville port. Sadly, we are leaving on May 3 which requires new plans for conducting the vehicle's buy-off, purchase closure, and transport to Maine. Those plans will be formulated next week with a visit to Sarasota Porsche. .

Let's move forward with GFRC numismatic content, shall we?

 

Substantial U.S. Gold Consignment Arrives Next Week

It was just a matter of time before a client committed a new consignment. Yesterday brought the commitment of a 19 piece U.S. gold consignment with an insured value of $70,000. The majority of the lot is $10 Liberty and Indian gold with some notable early Liberty dates including 1847, 1852, 1853/2, 1892-S, and two 1892-CC pieces. The consignment also includes an 1834 Classic Head $5 and an 1852 $20 Liberty piece as being worth sharing at this time. Grades range from AU50 through MS64 with both PCGS and NGC holders being present. Finally, 42% of the lots are CAC approved.

This new consignment will certainly garner considerable attention once posted to the price list. The current plan is to accomplish photography in Florida with the roll out taking place after our Maine transition. If all goes smoothly next week, we may get a few of these lots to the 30 Day Price List before leaving for Maine.

 

Saturday is Last Day for Mailing Check Payments to Venice Office

Just a quick reminder that today and Saturday are the final two day for mailing check payments to the Venice office. There will be a quiet period between April 27 - 29. Starting April 30, payment checks should be mailed to the Raymond, Maine address. The Maine address will be posted on the GFRC website come early next week.

 

Oregon Beaver Price Reductions

The "Beaver" sent along an email on Thursday providing guidance for several Liberty Seated half dollar pricing reductions. Following are those lots for your consideration. The 1856-S is a super cool coin with a peeling planchet error, as made, along with its conservative grading. I'm really surprised that this piece has not been sold to date.

Oregon Beaver Pricing Reductions

1877 PCGS MS66+ CAC 50C - $6700

1856-O Doubled Date WB-9 PCGS MS64 50C - $2200                                  1856-S WB-5 PCGS AU55 50C - $4100             

        

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

The shipping department has the day off on Fridays which means more time in the office towards processing new listings.

A small local consignment arrives mid-morning at the HOA clubhouse followed by an afternoon of image processing and more lots being posted to the 30 Day Price List.

That is the extent of today's ramblings. Thank you so much for the visit.

Be well!

 

 

 

April 24, 2025

Powerlessness

and

A Brief Gold Pullback With Silver Shining

 

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog on a Thursday morning. We appreciate the ongoing visits and continue to underestimate the size of the readership.

Unfortunately, there are no new showcase galleries to share in today's edition as the consignment queue is empty. Friday brings the drop-off of a small local consignment that will be acted upon quickly.

Let's move directly into the headline topics and open with a thought provoking piece by Seth Godin. Our lives typically move in cycles with certain times or events leading to a feeling of being powerless to affect conditions that we might be experiencing. Today's geopolitical uncertainties or closer to home, the degradation of Maine's quality of life due to northern and southern state political divides along with a substantial increase in narcotics trafficking, overdoses, and crime can bring a sense of hopelessness and a thought of moving out of the state. These are real issues that many of us will face during a lifetime. Godin reminds us that power is a continuum and should be considered in that manner. Each of us can make a difference even in a small way.

 

Seth Godin Blogpost - Powerlessness

Not a lack of power, but feeling as though we have none. Some people have been indoctrinated to prefer a life with no agency, as it also brings no responsibility. At the other extreme, some folks have decided that they have more power than they actually do.

Video games offer people a chance to experience virtual power–an opportunity to feel a lack of powerlessness. Click the mouse, something happens–power is in your grasp. By giving players agency, the games allow users to feel something they might be avoiding in real life.

Everyone is on a spectrum. No one has absolute power, and no one is powerless. But our expectation and experience of power is always a choice.

Choosing the attitude of powerlessness is self-defeating as well as self-negating. The fact that the attitude can be chosen is in itself a form of power. We can find control over our attitude and our actions, gaining priceless power as we do.

No one can change everything, but everyone can change something. If you choose to live a life with impact, it’s in your control to do so.

 

A Brief Gold Pullback With Silver Shining

Turbulence is the operative word for what we are experiencing in the precious metal and equities markets.

The equities markets have shown a propensity to react to every statement by President Trump. One day the markets drop at the thought of Trump attempting to fire Jerome Powell, the next day the markets rally when reassured that the opposite is the status quo. Yesterday's equity market rally with the S&P 500 climbing to 5,395 is an example.

On the other hand, the gold rally experienced a notable two day drop after a huge 2025 rally and briefly struggled to hold support at $3,200. This was a significant profit-taking event and the largest selloff of the precious metal in five years. All is better this morning as spot gold is back to $3340/oz during early morning trading on the LBMA.

Throughout the gold rally, silver has struggled and was written off as a industrial metal and could not break through the $33/oz mark though gold was approaching $3500. Now that gold has corrected a bit, monies might be flowing into the silver market as the morning quote stands at $33.42. If silver can break the $35 mark, there is no further overhead resistance to the $40 level.

Those of us who have an affinity for the precious metals must become use to "turbulence" but realize that there is an overriding upward trend due to the erosion of fiat currencies including the U.S. dollar. Governments can print their fiat currencies to infinity while the amount of available physical gold is quite limited with annual mining supplies being constant.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Please accept my apology for the lack of GFRC centric news in today's edition.

Today brings a full day in the GFRC office working on raw Liberty Seated dime web-book plate coins with new 30 Day Price Postings towards the afternoon hours.

Thank you again for the visit.

Be well!

 

 

April 23, 2025

In Just 10 Days....

and

How Rare is a CAC Approved 1870-S Seated Dime?

 

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

Yes, I am itching to get back to the Maine homestead. There is no question at this point in time. After spending months hanging out in the combination GFRC office and entertainment center, the thought of a large basement sound room and workshop in the barn is quite enticing. Of course, firing up Johnny2 (John Deere 2038R tractor) and listening to the diesel engine will foreshadow a summer and fall season in the back acreage park. Daily Blog readers should prepare for weekends without their favorite numismatic ramblings as I do plan to take some extended downtime from the GFRC business towards early morning back road drives in the 718 Boxster or simply enjoying the solitude of the pond during sunrises.

The winter of 2024/2025 has been satisfying in terms of the GFRC business and the number of news clients that are being served. Remaining is the final auction session for the Connoisseur's Auction Sale with bidding opening on May 10 and wrapping up on May 17. At that point, the Gerry Fortin and Newtown Liberty Seated Dime and Half Dollar Collections will have seen their first offering to the community. Afterwards, the balance of 2025 will be dedicated to selling those lots not meeting reserves along with a huge summer and early autumn auction sale of the Massachusetts and Tenafly Collections. Just collecting my thoughts indicates that the next nine months will be fully consumed with back acreage projects, several Porsche road trips, multiple visits by Matt and Renee's families and sustaining the GFRC business.

In just 10 days, the transition will be underway.

Let's again review the transition schedule as the final day for mailing check payments to the Venice office arrives on Saturday. Each year, we publish a transition schedule to ensure that customer check payments are not captured in the onerous USPS mail forwarding loop.

- Final Day for Mailing Payments to Venice Office - April 26

- Online Mailing Address Change to Maine Office - April 29

- First Day for Mailing Payment to Maine Address - April 30

- GFRC Office Closed - May 2 through May 4

- GFRC Office Reopens - May 5

- Connoisseur's Session 3 Auction Sale Bidding Opens - May 10

As for the 718 Boxster delivery at Sarasota Porsche, our new car is about 40% of the way across the North Atlantic Ocean towards a Jacksonville Florida destination. At the current ocean transport rate, it should arrive into Jacksonville early next week. As they say, close but no cigar! By the time the vehicle is unloaded, clears U.S. customs, is transported to Sarasota, and prepared by the dealer, we will be in Maine. As mentioned previously, the Fortins cannot extend the Florida stay due to a host of personal appointments that start on May 6

How will we handle the buy off and purchase? There is a Plan A and a Plan B based on how long it takes the car to be unloaded and to clear port of entry customs. More on that topic later next week as we have better insights.

 

How Rare is a CAC Approved 1870-S Seated Dime?

This past weekend, GFRC was fortunately to gain access to a CAC approved 1870-S Liberty Seated dime. For the uninitiated, this might not appear to be a substantial event. For those of us who have a keen understanding of the Liberty Seated dime series, the opportunity to secure this dime was huge.

So how rare is a CAC approved circulated 1870-S dime? The answer is very rare! So rare that there are more CAC approved 1871-CC through 1874-CC circulated dimes than the 1870-S date. Following are images and description for this piece as now posted to the 30 Day Price List.

1870-S F-101 NGC VF30 CAC 10C - $2850

So Rare This Choice! Natural Coin Gray, CAC Approved. The 1870 San Francisco issue is unquestionably in the same league as the 1871 through 1874 Carson City dates in terms of locating strictly original examples that have been properly handled. A limited mintage of 50,000 is the starting point for explaining the date's present day rarity in circulated grades as nearly all saw extensive usage in western frontier commerce. Confirmation is easily obtained when checking the GFRC Sales Archive with a single piece being CAC approved, That piece is the recently auctioned PCGS MS65 specimen from the Gerry Fortin core dime collection. Fortunately, GFRC has gained access to one of the four CAC approved examples across all circulated grades with two being only VG10 and a lone AU50. This choice survivor is toned a natural coin gray with near pristine surfaces. The CAC price guide requires a serious amount of reconsideration, however the lack of any reported sales by the major auction houses provides no basis for an update. An incredible opportunity for those building a choice Liberty Seated dime collection. Housed in new large font NGC holder with CAC approval.

As evidence for my claim, following are the CAC approved statistics for the "big four" Carson City dates.

1871-CC - Total Approved is 13 with all being circulated. Yes, there are no CAC approved Mint State examples of this date

1872-CC - Total Approved is 17 with all being circulated. Same situation as 1871-CC in Mint State

1873-CC Arrows - Total Approved is 18 with all being circulated except for a lone MS65 specimen

1874-CC - Total Approved is 16 with 13 being circulated and 3 found in Mint State

How about the 1870-S?

1870-S - Total approved is 12 with four being circulated and 8 being Mint State. The large number of Mint State pieces is due to a hoard being released in at some point between the late 1980s and early 1990s.

This piece should not last long at the offer price.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

There is no shipping today as the queue is somewhat empty or we are waiting for check payments from new customers. Instead, my day will be focused on photographing and processing raw Liberty Seated dimes that are mostly web-book plate coins. Revising web-book images and selling these raw dimes is quite time consuming but needs to get done on some point.

A small local consignment has been committed and will be dropped off at the Venice office either on Thursday or Friday to allow a few new posting to the price list this coming weekend.

At this point, the entire Pikes Peak Collection consignment as been posted to the 30 Day Price List other than a single coin that needed an image rework. The Pikes Peak quality is obviously above average given all but one coin without CAC approval. This release should be capitalized upon by sophisticated collectors.

Otherwise, I am mentally preparing for countless 718 Boxster rides on quiet early morning Maine back roads and the usual spring cleanup projects to beautify the homestead landscaping and clear the walking trails of downed branches,

Thank you again for the visit.

Be well!

 

 

April 22, 2025

Spot Gold Opens at $3480 in London

and

Connoisseur's Session 3 Auction Sale

Looking at Final Tranche of Gerry Fortin's Liberty Seated Dimes

 

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

Well, it looks like we are not in Kansas anymore with respect to the gold market. Spot gold opened at $3480 in London, during the overnight, and peaked at $3495. We are at the point of $100 price moves in a single day.

What is going on you might be asking? The long and short appears to be an international flight from U.S. dollar denominated assets with the monies moving into gold and other assets outside the United States. Longer term, the world financial system is in the early stages of being restructured. For those with curious minds, sparing 30 minutes to watch this David Lin interview of Luke Gromen and James Thorne will provide insights into what the future might bring. This interview is a no holds barred discussion of what Trump and Bessent could be planning for restructuring the United States financials given the $2 trillion deficit spending that will appear in 2025 alone.

Honestly, I believe that we are still in the early stages of gold's price movement to a much higher level. For those who think I am suffering from gold fever, simply look at a Bitcoin trend chart where prices rose from $10,000 in late 2020 to $60,000 by mid 2021. This was a sixfold increase with the current gold price action beginning to mirror this event.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFhs32AYi0k

Sadly, the United States population is still a net seller of gold at these higher prices when they should be holding on to their gold and buying more. We've been conditioned to believe in the U.S. equity market and the Magnificent 7 at highly inflated P/E levels. That bubble is now deflating. Chinese citizens are doing the opposite and buying gold to build personal wealth and currently being rewarded.

I'm still a buyer of bullion gold at these levels and if interested in raising numismatic capital or cash, just call or email me. I would rather see you sell directly to me rather than going to a coin shop to liquidate your physical.

 

Connoisseur's Session 3 Auction Sale - Looking at Final Tranche of Gerry Fortin's Liberty Seated Dimes

May 10 brings the final auction session for the Gerry Fortin and Newtown Liberty Seated coinage collection lots. There are a host of fantastic numismatic pieces to consider in this sale. Frankly, the auction reserves are looking less and less expensive by the day, as spot gold continues to increase, with these lots might being seen as bargains.

Let's take a look at the final tranche from the Gerry Fortin Collection in this Blog edition with an emphasis on the "common dates" that were meticulously selected for their exceptional eye appeal. Not every MS66 or MS67 CAC approved Seated dime is created equal. Many on the market are technically sound at these grade levels in terms of originality and luster. However, my goal was to locate and acquire the best of the best common dates to close out the final years of the Liberty Seated dime set.

 

Gerry Fortin's Liberty Seated Dimes - Late Date Auction Offerings

1885-S F-101 PCGS MS65 CAC 10C - $39,500

1888 Unlisted PCGS MS66 Gold CAC 10C - $6850

  1882 F-104 PCGS MS67+ CAC 10C - $3750                                     1883 F-119a PCGS MS67 CAC 10C - $3000    

        

    1884 F-109 PCGS MS66 CAC 10C - $1500                                      1885 F-110 PCGS MS67+ CAC 10C - $5500    

        

     1886-S F-101 PCGS MS67 CAC 10C - $8750                                   1889 Unlisted PCGS MS67 CAC 10C - $4500    

        

        1890 F-112 PCGS MS66 CAC 10C - $1450                                    1891-O F-113 PCGS MS66 CAC 10C - $2750    

        

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

A quick update on the Porsche 718 Boxster is that the car is now in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean heading to Jacksonville, Florida. My guess is that the transport vessel will arrive next Monday into port. The next question become how long will it take for the Boxster to be unloaded and to clear U.S. customs? Given our departure from Venice on May 3, which cannot be delayed, it is doubtful that there will be a dealer delivery prior to our northern transition.

Today brings another office day with light morning shipping and again working on price list offerings.

Thank you, as always, for the visit.

Be well!

 

 

 

April 21, 2025

Spot Gold at $3395

Price List Consignments Being Solicited

and

Tenafly Collection Joins Tom Coulombe'a 2025 Seated Dime Collection Auctions

 

Greetings on a late April Monday morning and thank you for checking in at the Daily Blog. We appreciated the ongoing readership.

Unfortunately, today's Blog edition will be brief as I have an early morning appointment to contend with. Therefore, let's jump right into the headline topics.

 

Spot Gold at $3395

Let's start with a peek at gold trading over in London. Spot gold has climbed to $3395 and shows no signs of slowing down.

This gold rally has strong legs with an underlying move by nation states and sovereign wealth funds to repatriate their physical gold. In actuality, gold is not rallying, but rather the U.S. dollar is losing global trust and value. I've spoken about gold revaluation and the BRICS settlement currency back by gold in a host of Blog editions which are the more overt suggestions for gold's current price movement. However, there is much more that is being learned as I dig deeper into the matter. Key is what is taking place in China which undoubtedly has the globe's largest gold stash. I could write a long article on that topic, but not today. Calls for $4000 and maybe $4500 gold by the end of 2025 are becoming more prevalent. Sadly, the United States retail market is still in a liquidation mode with private ownership decreasing rather than increasing. We can thank the financial news media and its biases to equities among other factors. At that point, I am proud to be called a "gold bug".

 

Price List Consignments Being Solicited

Sunday brought the addition of more Pikes Peak consignment postings to the price list with decent sales continuing to occur. If you've not taken a good look at the Pikes Peak lots, then please do as the quality is well above average.

There are a few more early silver commems and Morgans to load today. Afterwards, the consignment queue is exhausted. If seeking a quick turn on a consignment, now is the time to strike by shipping me some coins.

 

Tenafly Collection Joins Tom Coulombe'a 2025 Seated Dime Collection Auctions

It is now official! The Tenafly Collection has made a decision to liquidate his numismatic collection, most of which is CAC approved and was acquired via GFRC.

Sunday's discussion has confirmed that intent as we begin to plan the physical transfer of the collection to the Maine office at some point in May. Of interest is the better date $5 Liberty gold holdings that were slowly acquired during the 2021-2022 time frame along with a host of Liberty Seated 10c and 25c pieces.

Once again, the targeted time frame for the next GFRC Online Auctions events will be August (after the OKC ANA) and October.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Today brings another round of heavy shipping as GFRC sales continue to be robust. The balance of the day will find me in the Venice office posting the last of the Pikes Peak Collection lots to the 30 Day Price List. Afterwards, due to an empty consignment queue, I will be ramping up the release of raw Liberty Seated dimes that are web-book plate coins. There is sufficient inventory to last me well into June if solely focused on that task. However, I do expect someone to come forward with new consignments.

That is it for today. Tuesday's Blog will focus on the forthcoming Connoisseur's Session 3 Auction Sale that begins on May 10th.

Thank you again for the visit.

Be well!

 

 

 

 

April 20, 2025

A Time of Renewal - Happy Easter 2025

and

Pikes Peak Consignment Rollout is Underway

 

Greetings on Easter morning 2025 and welcome to the Daily Blog. Thank you for the continued visits.

The Easter holiday is an important time of renewal for many individuals as it coincidences with the arrival of the Spring season. As flowers begin to bloom and trees begin to bud and release their leaves, we are reminded of nature's annual cycle and the beauty of starting fresh. I have fond childhood memories of Easter, not only from the Easter bunny and chocolates, but also the end of a long cold Maine weather and some new clothes for attending services at Holy Family church. Even today, Easter marks the forthcoming transition from our winter shelter in Venice Florida to our ancestral home in northern New England.

So transformation is in the air and I'm mentally ready to spend two days driving the I-95 corridor to return home. Once back in Maine, the trees will still be bare as spring arrives late at northern latitudes. By the second week of May, the maples and birches will be well on their way to adding color to the landscape followed by the mighty oaks.

For 2025, the major question mark is will the new 718 Boxster arrive before we depart for Maine? As of this morning, the automotive transport vessel is off the coast of Morocco and has made a turn for the southern United States. Diane and I have a Plan B for securing the car in event that we are already in Maine once it s ready for official transfer. We are unable to delay our Maine return further as a host of annual wellness appointments are in place for the weeks of May 5 and May 12. Let's not forget that the GFRC Online Auctions Session 3 event opens for bidding on May 10 too.

 

Pikes Peak Consignment Rollout is Underway

Saturday brought the initial posting of the new Pikes Peak consignment to the 30 Day Price List. At this point, the Barber coinage and Trade dollars have been listed with a decent amount of initial sales. As an FYI, several overnight purchases have yet to be flagged on the price list.

As this point, the remaining lots to post include early silver commemoratives and several Morgan dollars.

Afterwards, I will be returning to raw Liberty Seated dimes from my web-book reference collection to keep the 30 Day Price List active.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

There is little else to ramble upon this morning as I'm in a low energy state on an important Christian holiday.

Again, we appreciate the ongoing visit to the Daily Blog and our various price lists.

Thank you and be well!

 

 

 

April 19, 2025

Looking Ahead During 2025...

GFRC Online Auctions - The Massachusetts Liberty Seated Dime Collection

 

Greetings on a peaceful Saturday morning as the month of April moves towards closure. Yes, we are mentally transitioning to the upcoming Maine relocation. Thank you for the visit.

Today's Blog edition focuses on the balance of 2025 with an important GFRC Online auction announcement as a result of yesterday's conversation with Tom Coulombe. Tom and I have shared our passion for Liberty Seated dimes since the mid 1990s. Back in the early days of my die variety research, duplicate dimes would be offered for sale on eBay. One of my constant clients was Tom as we both found enthusiasm for the series and numismatics in general. This friendship has endured for decades with more to be discussed at the appropriate time.

As a result of yesterday's confirmation, the die is cast to use a numismatic metaphor. GFRC Online Auctions is excited to announce the forthcoming sale of the Massachusetts Liberty Seated Dime collection in a two part event during August and October of this year. The Massachusetts Collection will be the anchor offering with incremental consignors already wishing to become part of this major auction event.

Once back in Maine, Tom and I have already made a tentative appointment for the physical transfer of his dime collection to GFRC that will kick off the preparation and marketing process.

To whet everyone's appetite for the forthcoming sale, Tom sent along the following image that showcases his collection at literally a high level. Of course, clicking on the image will provide access to a higher resolution version.

 

The Massachusetts Liberty Seated Dime Collection

 

For Blog readers who wish to take a deeper dive into the Massachusetts Collection, the 100% complete Coulombe Family Collection can be view at the GFRC Open Set Registry by clicking on this link:

Coulombe Family Collection.

Tom's collection has attained a 59% CAC approval rate coupled with a 57.2 average grade, a substantial feat for his decades long collecting journey. Again, more will be shared once the collection has been transferred to GFRC during the first half of May.

This announcement should also serve notice to other clients who may wish to become part of the planned August and October 2025 auction events.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Today brings a substantial amount of morning shipping followed by the balance of the day in the GFRC office.

The Pikes Peak Collection consignment, as illustrated yesterday, has been loaded into the COIN system with offer prices approved. Since a fair number of lots were purchased from GFRC in the past, those lots will be immediately posted to the 30 Day Price List to initiate this new offering.

Otherwise, this is little else to share as I don't wish to move back in the gold and silver topic this morning. There are developments in this realm that will be kept for another day.

Our sincere thanks go out to each and every Daily Blog readers for the ongoing visits and GFRC price list purchases.

Be well!

 

 

 

April 18, 2025

GFRC Attains $18,000,000 Consignor Proceeds Milestone

GFRC is Again Soliciting Consignments

and

Type Coins Galore - CAC Approved Consignment - Pikes Peak Collection

 

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog on Good Friday 2025. The entire GFRC staff is pleased with your ongoing visits to these daily ramblings. Thank you so much for returning today.

Where shall we begin today? How about an insight from Seth Godin that I subscribe to?

Seth Godin Blogpost - Charged by the word

In a hurried world with infinite content, it’s worth considering that you’re no longer paid by the word when you write, in fact, you should pay for every extra word you use.

Be as brief as is useful.

 

Let's put Godin's advice to use in today's Blog edition, shall we?

First up is a 718 Boxster GTS 4.0 status. My dream car is taking a holiday cruise from Emden, Germany to Jacksonville, FL via a scenic route along the European coast per the Porsche cellphone app. It is rather cool to see the vehicle transport ship's (it holds 5000 to 8000 cars) journey being mapped in real time. Presently, the vessel is off the coast of Portugal and might be making a stop in Lisbon.

The precious metals markets are idle today due to observance of Good Friday. Yesterday brought a new Life in the Vault YouTube video from Andrew McGuire which clarified the changes and dislocations in the gold market with Basel III rules and regulations compliance reaching the United States in early July. The long and the short of Basel III is that allocated gold (physical) will be treated as a Tier 1 asset (real money) while unallocated gold (paper ownership) not so. Just imagine going to a bank for a substantial loan with collateral. On one hand, a 100 oz gold bar is presented while on the other hand, a stock brokerage account statement with ETF gold fund investment is offered. As a banker, which piece of collateral would you find more compelling for lending? Basel III may drive a stake through the paper driven COMEX heart within a few years.

Andrew McGuire also "went on a limb" and forecasted $4500 gold by the end of 2025. Major bullion banks (JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, BoA) are also moving into this higher forecasted direction.

Let's get on with numismatics...

 

GFRC Attains $18,000,000 Consignor Proceeds Milestone

When launching a small retirement hobby business in 2014, who would have thought that it would have grown into its current size and importance to the Liberty Seated collecting community?

Yesterday brought the sale of two substantial lot (1891-O PCGS MS63 25c and 1861-O W-11 CSA Obverse PCGS MS60 50c) which pushed our consignment proceeds metric past the $18,000,000 mark. I'm certainly pleased with this new milestone being achieved and look forward to reaching the next million dollar threshold by the end of 2025. Of course, consignments are required, so let's issue a call for more consignments.

 

GFRC is Soliciting New Consignments

Once again the cupboards are almost empty with the next headline consignment being the last to process before I return to raw Liberty Seated dime from my reference collection. If interested in working with GFRC (or GFRC-Lite) for the sale of your numismatic items, I am just a phone call or email away.

 

Type Coins Galore - CAC Approved Consignment - Pikes Peak Collection

Though many of the follows newly consigned lots are on the lower side of our typical price scale, I could not resist handling this new offering due to the premium quality and nearly 100% CAC approval rate. All of the following Pikes Peak coins have been photographed and will be moving into the COIN database loading and image processing phase today. I'm sorry, but there are no First Rights of Refusal this time around due to the volume and lower price points. I will announce when there are loading to the 30 Day Price List in an upcoming Blog edition.

As usual, clicking on the image will provide access to a higher resolution version for more detailed inspection.

 

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Time moves along quickly with just two weeks remaining before the Fortins move back to Maine. April 26 is the final day for mailing payment checks to the Venice office.

Today finds me working in the GFRC office the entire day. Therefore, don't be bashful about placing a numismatic order or proposing a consignment shipment.

That is all she wrote in a succinct manner on a Friday morning. Thanks again for the visit.

Be well!

 

 

 

April 17, 2025

Rich's "On The Lite Side" Blog

and

The New Orleans Collection Visits CACG Virginia Beach - Part 2

 

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog on a mid-April Thursday morning. Your ongoing readership is truly appreciated.

Other than spot gold attaining the $3359/oz level and GFRC sales remaining robust, there is not much to discuss this morning. Therefore, let's turn this Blog edition over to two contributors. The first piece is major news as Rich Hundertmark has launched his own Blog web page on the GFRC-Lite website. Our second contribution is the New Orleans Collections follow-on installment concerning his visit with John Albanese and the CACG grading staff at their Virginia Beach location. Let's get right to it....

 

Rich's "On The Lite Side" Blog

Welcome to GFRC-Lite’s 1st published blog on the Lite website!! As many know, I’ve previously published show reports on Gerry’s Daily blog but will now publish directly to the Lite website.

In making this move I will now be able to add more pictures of the venues attended along with new coin purchases.  Additionally, I’ll expand pre-show coverage by reporting results of new business developments including grading submission results and new consignments received, etc.

Blog readers can anticipate that I will write 1 or 2 blogs per month that focus on Lite’s show results, new purchase activities, market insights and any other observations or experiences that I feel readers will find of interest. 

With that said, let’s start with reporting that at the Baltimore show I made a small submission of raw coins to CACG. Submitting raw coins to grading services now takes a good understanding of surfaces, originality and market pricing to be successful. I’ll now discuss the two copper cents submitted that I felt were original and “CACG worthy”. I have a pretty good eye for copper and wanted to see how my grading married up to CACG.

1- A 1874 Indian cent I thought was an original brown AU55 - AU58 straight graded AU55. This was a consignment coin taken in at FUN that the consignor had bought at a very good price. He thought it was Uncirculated, but I informed him that I thought AU. After discussion it was decided to submit at the AU level.

2- A 1808 half cent that straight headed F15. I had purchased this coin as part of a collection and felt that the surfaces were original and unabated. The CACG grade of F15 met expectations.
These two coins are now listed on the GFRC-Lite website under the "Early Copper & Small Cents" Category as follows:

As to upcoming show activity, the Fayetteville show run by the Cape Fear Club is but 2 1/2 weeks away and Lite is in the early preparation stage. Miss Vicky from the club
 called a few days ago to confirm Lite’s attendance as a first-time dealer. I thanked her for the follow up and assured her that I was looking forward to attending this event.

I would like to thank all the blogamaniacs that read my previous reports and especially Gerry for allowing me to use his forum.

Happy collecting!

Rich

Thanks Rich, we are looking forward to seeing your forthcoming Blog page on the GFRC-Lite website.

 

The New Orleans Collection Visits CACG Virginia Beach - Part 2

Let's continue the our client's recollection of his visit with John Albanese and the CACG grading staff at their Virginia Beach facility with this Part 2 article.

After a morning tour of the facility and also meeting John Butler and Ron and even John’s son Michael, we met for lunch-it was certainly a bonus to have Ron join us for lunch. He has a big personality and some great grading room stories as well-including his decision to leave a FL based TPG and join JA in starting CAC.

There has always been a bit of uncertainty in my mind about the future of numismatics-are we doing enough to bring up the next generation of collectors to buy our coins? I’m not sure I have a better answer for that after last week. But, I feel much better about what CAC/CACG are adding to stabilize the TPG industry.

I thought I was a moderately sophisticated collector and I used to put a lot of trust in a certain west coast TPG. And even in the early days of CAC, I didn't think I always needed that reassurance of the green bean. I will say not every entry in a collection requires beaned/CACG coins, but the best coins will eventually end up there. Market grading probably has established firm footing due to set registry competition and those that continue to chase plastic, but CACG isn’t interested in that game. They also made it very clear that gradeflation has continued to hold back the full value of the top coins within a grade validating why CAC was born almost 20 years ago. Initially, I didn’t understand the importance of hearing that these graders don’t continue to collect coins—how best to eliminate personal bias in the grading room. It’s been a dirty little secret in the industry that lots of money has been made by graders assigning a lower grade in the grading room to facilitate purchasing a coin on the cheap, then later turning a profit with the inevitable upgrade. Imagine how terrible this is for the collector/seller to be taken advantage of…and then find out later you were screwed. Wonder how many collectors left the hobby over the years with dishonest tactics like this. This attitude to provide technical grading (not market grading) and these graders’ integrity help make me optimistic for the future of our hobby.

Overall, this was an enjoyable as much as educational trip for me-probably the highlight of my numismatic year! 

Happy collecting, The New Orleans Collection....

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Today brings a full day in the GFRC office along with a quick retrieval of our Acura MDX from a local dealership. What was anticipated to be just an oil change and correcting an erratic right blinker turned out to be a leaking shock and replacement of both front end shocks and a full alignment. Florida does not have an annual inspection requirement as Maine, but a visit to our Acura dealer is an excellent substitute for ensuring that the GFRCmobile is in tip top shape for the long drive back to Maine in a few weeks.

There are a far number of overnight orders to be serviced. Please keep those coming!

Let's close today's Blog at this point and move along with another day in a life. A special thanks goes out to Rich and the New Orleans Collection for handing today's content creation burden.

Thank you again for the visit. Be well!

 

 

 

April 16, 2025

Evergreen State Collection - Early Silver Commems to Consider

The New Orleans Collection Visits CACG Virginia Beach - Part 1

and

Diane Locates Missing Chicago Shipment...Whew!

 

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

Spot gold is at it again. During London trading, gold has crossed through the $3300 mark with a peak trade at $3318. The fact that gold continues to gap up is telling. I could go on and on concerning this topic but will leave it to you to decide why gold continues to shoot upward at an unprecedented pace. Silver, on the other hand continues to trail gold and is attempting to hold the $33 mark. Key for silver is breaking through $35 at which time we could see similar upward gaps as gold.

Today's Blog will cover considerable ground so let's get started as I have an early MDX oil change appointment to contend with.

 

Evergreen State Collection - Early Silver Commems to Consider

Our Evergreen State client has been numismatically busy with a substantial collecting goal shift. GFRC has recently handled a host of his no longer core holding including a Liberty Seated dime proof set. Now, our client has decided to liquidate his early silver commemoratives set with the higher priced coins being provided to GFRC while the lower priced dates are heading to GFRC-Lite. Today brings a lovely gallery showcase of the better dates in that collection with high grade Mint State pieces being offered.

Opening the showcase is an exceptional 1936 Gettysburg that will secure a JUST BUY IT NOW recommendation once posted to the 30 Day Price List. Yes, I've priced this one a tad higher than the CAC guide for a good reason. Simply stated, this is an incredible gem and our client should be rewarded for owning this piece. The balance of the lots speak for themselves.

If interested, please email me asap for first shot. These lots will post to the price list during the afternoon hours.

Evergreen State Collection - Early Silver Commems to Consider

1936 Gettysburg PCGS MS66+ CAC 50C - $1300

    1925-S California PCGS MS6 CAC 50C - $1250                            1926 Sesquicentennial PCGS MS65 50C - $1125     

        

        1915-S Pan-Pac AU58 50C - $525                  1920 Maine PCGS MS66 50C - $650              1925 Vancouver PCGS MS65 50C - $785 

                      

1935 Connecticut PCGS MS66 50C - $625            1935 Hudson PCGS MS65 50C - $1100         1935-S San Diego PCGS MS67 50C - $625  

                      

1936-S Columbia PCGS MS67 CAC 50C - $575           1937 Antietam PCGS MS67 50C - $1250        

                 

 

The New Orleans Collection Visits CACG Virginia Beach - Part 1

Another major GFRC client has a great story to tell after being invited to visit the CAC Grading facility in Virginia Beach and spending one on one time with John Albanese. Our client was truly honored for the opportunity and asked if I would publish his story in the Blog. Today brings the first part of his visit recollections.

Greetings from warm Louisiana.

This past week, I was fortunate to be invited to Virginia Beach to have dinner with the wizard of Bedminster himself-yep, John Albanese. This was likely the culmination of doing business the last 15 years (mostly one sided-him providing me coins for my set). The purpose of the trip was to tour his new CACG facility (I had never been to a TPG) and meet in a casual (not the bourse floor) setting to discuss all things related to numismatics. If you know John, then you know he is a tremendous wealth of knowledge and a straight shooter complete with a dry wit. John picked us up for dinner in his bullet proof car and thank goodness he's a better grader than driver—that’s a story for another time. We mostly discussed recent auctions and individual coins with a few interesting stories to boot. At one point, I asked him about a certain rare date seated dime that I had at the top of my want list and he knew who owned the best 2 examples-and text them on the spot to see if they still owned and were willing to broker a deal…stay tuned! His recall was incredible.

JA could recount 40+ years of ownership of an individual coin-that was not recorded in any auction house catalog-it was satisfying to hear that one of my recent seated half purchases (no pedigree listed) had been owned by the late collector and sculptor Stewart Blay, whom I rank as one of the sharpest non-professional coin graders of the modern era-arguably as good as the top pro’s. To own a Blay coin should be regarded a real prize as he was very picky. In fact, I would go so far as to buy any Blay coin sight unseen-as that’s as good as a green bean to me. I showed him a few crappy iPhone pics of auctioned coins that did not sticker, and he was quite often able to remember their flaw. Pretty remarkable for someone who sees ~1000/d in the grading/stickering room. As Gerry says, pay attention to the upper obverse/reverse fields on seated coins as these are areas where surface manipulation occurs-John certainly validated that more than once.

As you might imagine, there’s nothing about the CACG building that identifies it to the outside world. As you enter, it becomes infinitely clear that there’s incredible security everywhere. Even in the lobby, there’s nothing that identifies it as a coin grading company. After passing through a few more badge-access points, we entered the vault and grading area. It was a remarkably efficient process watching John Butler, Ron Drzewucki and JA grade multiple coins each minute. Most of what they saw was surprisingly low end stuff that was raw, many cleaned, and required no discussion (There was a small box of coins that required more thought, but only 1-2% of the total). Ron said the fun is seeing a bunch of mundane material and the very next coin could be an 8-figure masterpiece like the recently graded 1794 $1 now in CACG-67. I guess coin grading is like a box of chocolates …as a memorable movie line stated. After grading, the coins go to photography with several photo stations set up for various image capture techniques depending on the coin type, and then on to encapsulation. 2 special pieces of equipment had been developed to deal with encapsulation/crack-outs. One smaller apparatus resembled a tabletop paper cutter with a powerful arm to cut through any slab, but especially the more malleable plastic of CACG slabs. A second type of machine was used to sonically seal the 2 plastic halves of the CACG slab, such that high frequency sound waves melt the plastic together in a split second. The noise was very unpleasant and I would have to wear headphones to be in that area for any length of time. After quality check, newly slabbed coins are off to shipping. As a side note, I learned there are currently no more plastic CACG boxes going out as an identified flaw in design makes it nearly impossible to open with other TPG slabs in the middle portion-a new design is supposed to be available soon. 

Happy collecting, The New Orleans Collection....

 

Diane Locates Missing Chicago Shipment...Whew!

Yes, I cried "wolf" to soon on a waylaid shipment to a Chicago client but regardless, we are thrilled to report that the shipment was located inside the USPS system and was retrieved late yesterday afternoon. I'm relieved that three dimes from my personal collection have been properly settled into another emerging collection along with a marvelous 1853 With Arrows dime.

A grand shout goes to Diane and the time spent on the phone with USPS customer service to locate the package and have it placed in a appropriate retrieval location in a primary Chicago post office. Diane is the master when it comes to asking the right questions and guiding problematic packages through their recovery process.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

As mentioned earlier, this morning brings an oil change appointment while the afternoon hours will find me working in the GFRC office. Today's goal is to post the Evergreen State Collection early silver commemoratives to the 30 Day Price List along with photography of another newly arrived consignment. This new consignment is wide ranging and exclusively CAC approved with a fair number of lots under the $500 level.

Of course, I will be watching how gold fairs today along with the equity markets in general.

As always, thank you for returning for another Daily Blog edition.

Be well!

 

 

 

April 15, 2025

USPS Finally Admits...

and

Session 2 Auction Lots Gone Missing in Chicago

 

Greetings and welcome to a USPS centric Blog issue on tax day. Thank you so much for the returning visit.

Yes, this is a USPS issue with some good news and definitely, some bad news.

The good news is that USPS has finally admitted that their new Enhanced Click N Ship system is not issuing email notifications to both addressees and to the sender. For the past several weeks, GFRC has been receiving complaints that customers were not receiving the usual shipment tracking number emails. In my heart, I knew that USPS had an issue but since being a proactive and reflective business owner, I crawled through all the Enhanced Shipping screens and toggled the notifications buttons towards hopefully finding an error on my part. During the past week, it was blatantly obvious that USPS had an issue, therefore I started sending daily notifications via personal email to ensure that clients were properly notified.

Yesterday brought the admission from USPS on their Enhanced Shipping access screen per below. Talk about a weak admission with the words "some" and "may" per the message outlined in a black box by me.

 

Session 2 Auction Lots Gone Missing in Chicago

Now for the really bad USPS news....

During the years of operating GFRC, Diane and I have seen the various ways that packages disappear in the USPS system and how those packages are reported. On Wednesday of last week, Diane noted that a Session 2 Express Priority auction shipment to a Chicago client received a "No Access to Delivery Location" alert. Our shipment arrived on schedule into the Chicago distribution center but then was flagged as undeliverable due to an issue with the delivery location. Nothing had changed at our client's premises with the successful bidder waiting several days for the package to arrive. There were no pink slips as notice of a delivery attempt. Once Diane noted the status code, I instinctively knew this was the kiss of death for that package.

Now comes the challenge of dealing with a USPS system where no one takes accountability. Our client went to the post office yesterday and was told to not worry, the package would be delivery that day. Nope, the package was not delivered with our client securing the classic USPS counter person head fake. Move on sir and everything will be alright as I don't want to deal with the problem was the implied message that only seasoned shippers can understand. Since the package did not arrive, our client was told to call a number for support. Isn't this so convenient as more deflections into the myriad channels of the USPS colossus?

Poor Diane must now step in from Venice with her 45-60 minute on hold calls into the USPS contact system with a high probability of filing a claim. If I've cried "wolf" too soon and the package is found, then I will still be overjoyed. But my gut tells me otherwise. Hugh Woods is not going to be pleased with the size of this potential claim once USPS acknowledges that the package has gone missing. I will be turning this gallery into a PDF file that will be sent to dealers attending the CSNS show next week as a warning of stolen goods that might be fenced on the bourse floor. I will also contact Chicago area dealers with the same document as a warning that these are stolen goods if being offered for sale.

 

Session 2 Lots (and More) Gone Missing in Chicago

1846 NGC EF45 CAC H10C - Cert #3813006003

      1853 PCGS MS66 CAC 10C - Cert #3622223                                     1856 PCGS MS66 CAC 10C - Cert # 45824402    

        

1856-O PCGS MS64 CAC 10C - Cert # 21700875                                   1860 PCGS MS66+ CAC 10C - Cert #25649466   

        

 

Given the specialty nature of these high grade or rare date Liberty Seated coins, their appearance back into the market should be easily noted. The key is raising dealer awareness as no dealer wishes to purchased stolen coins. I will be preparing a printable PDF flyer today and emailing to fellow CSNS attending dealers on Thursday.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

There is little else to discuss in this edition. It is crickets with respect to the 718 Boxster status with another visit to Sarasota Porsche being necessary come Thursday.

The Evergreen State early commemorative halves will see a pricing proposal today along with wrapping up image processing. If my day goes as planned, we might have a lovely showcase gallery for Wednesday's Blog edition.

Otherwise, I am starting to plan initial activities once being back at the Maine homestead. After a winter of working nearly seven days a week in the GFRC office, I can't wait to get back to the basement sound room, the barn with Johnny2, and the back acreage trails. There is more to life that selling coins and watching gold's price action.

As always, thank you for visiting the Daily Blog.

Be well!

 

 

 

April 14, 2025

Premium Seated Dimes from the Sheffield Collection

 

Greetings and welcome to another round of Daily Blog ramblings and a showcase gallery. We are truly pleased with your ongoing visits.

Thoughts of Maine and the homestead back acreage were running through my brain on Sunday. I reached out to my excavation partner, Dave Wilkinson, to ensure that he has recovered from thumb replacement surgery and is still in business. The good news is that Dave is well and excited about returning to our Ledge Hill Park project with his trusty excavator for indulging my ideas for the next enhancements. What are these potential projects you might be asking?

The first priority will be cutting another walking trail. This time, we will cut a bisecting trail from the northern loop down to the southern edge of the property line. The vision is a meandering walking trail that will take the path of least resistance in terms of disturbing larger trees and rock formations. Of course, the trail will be cut on a sloping terrain which means more loops perpendicular to the slope than straight downhill sections which are subject to severe erosion during heavy late summer thunderstorms. The second major project is finalizing the area behind and to the left of the gazebo area. I'll share more concerning this project once we are back in Maine with images. Lastly, is the pond expansion which is a huge challenge for Dave's excavator and Johnny2. The summer of 2025 will not be boring.

Let's move on to gold for a moment.

As everyone knows at this point, spot gold rocketed upward on Friday and peaked at $3245/oz. Quality gold mining stocks also shot up consistent with the price of gold. Finally, we are starting to see that the retail investment sector is starting to appreciate how gold has been the lone asset that has perform as a store of wealth during the current equity market drop. This graph, from the World Gold Council, illustrates the fact that investment capital is moving into gold ETFs in a big way during Q1'25 with North America leading the way. As monies pour into gold ETFs, those funds must purchase physical gold, in the open market, for their vaults. Undoubtedly, these purchases compete with global central banks which are still adding physical.

 

During the weekend, I spent free time watching a host of YouTube videos on similar topics including the gold market, global economic conditions, and specifically, the battle between United States fiscal and monetary policies. There were several themes that emerged from the many presentations.

- The U.S. is in a recession or heading into a recession as the M2 money supply is contracting. That fact that WTI crude oil is trading at $62.32 is a good indication of expected lower demand.

- The common assumption that tariffs will increase inflation could be misguided as higher prices will discourage consumption. We must acknowledgment that much of the America citizenry will be unable to afford higher priced good for the sake of consumption.

- United States fiscal policies are core to the fate of the equity markets and gold prices. Fiscal policies control the long end of the U.S. Treasury bond yield curve, IE. the 10 and 30 Year notes. As much as the Federal Reserve can try to stimulate or suppress the U.S. economy with its monetary policy, the Fed only controls the short end of the yield curve which is targeting bank to bank lending.

- If the United States slips into a notable recession, the Federal budget deficit will only increase further placing upward pressure on the 10 Year Treasury bond yield (currently at 4.46%). The amount of U.S. debt refinancing during 2025 is staggering along with the incremental deficit spending that continues to pile up. Trust in the U.S. dollar is waning as deficits continue to rise along with aggressive sanctions, and now tariff actions. Many countries are substituting gold and moving away from U.S. dollars for their foreign reserve holdings.

- Probably the most important point to understand is how the Federal Reserve monetary policy is becoming a weaker tool when the government is unable to curtail deficit spending. There reaches a point where all the Federal Reserve can do is to buy U.S. debt by issuing more "money" and raising the money supply.

I hope these bullet points were useful.

 

Premium Seated Dimes from the Sheffield Collection

The Sheffield Collection was an important player in the Session 2 Auction Sale, and subsequently has released the following Liberty Seated dimes back to the marketplace. Look for these little beauties to post to the 30 Day Price List this afternoon.

 

Premium Seated Dimes from the Sheffield Collection

          1838 F-111a NGC MS66 10C - $4950                                       1880 F-102a PCGS MS66+ CAC 10C - $2400  

        

1860 F-101a PCGS MS64 10C - $950               1882 F-101a CACG MS65+ 10C - $875                1883 F-109 CACG MS64 10C - $625

                      

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Monday mornings always bring accumulated shipping and today is no different. Afterwards, I will be spending the balance of the day in the office.

Thank you so much for the return visit. We hope that you've enjoyed this edition.

Be well!

 

 

 

April 13, 2025

Mapping The GFRC Maine Transition

and

Connoisseur's Session 3 Auctions Sale - Reminder and Highlights

 

Greetings on a mid-April Sunday morning and welcome to another Daily Blog edition. Thank you so much for returning,

With our Maine transition now less than three weeks away, my attention is being drawn to New England weather conditions and what can be expected upon our arrival home. So far, it is a typical spring in the Northeast with daytime highs in the upper 50s to low 60s along with colder evenings in the 40s. Rains has been predominant during the first half of April, while the 10 day forecast suggests a dryer second half of the month. Therefore, there is nothing out of the ordinary at this point.

Once home, the typical spring clean-up chores will need to be addressed along with annual physicals and returning dentist visits. We well know the busy May routine once settling back into the homestead.

Let's walk through the forthcoming Maine transition schedule together plus a reminder that the Connoisseur's Session 3 auction sale will begin not long after relocating back to the Maine office. Each year, we publish a transition schedule to ensure that customer check payments are not captured in the onerous USPS mail forwarding loop

- Final Day for Mailing Payments to Venice Office - April 26

- Online Mailing Address Change - April 29

- First Day for Mailing Payment to Maine Address - April 30

- GFRC Office Closed - May 2 through May 4

- GFRC Office Reopens - May 5

- Connoisseur's Session 3 Auction Sale Bidding Opens - May 10

Where does the new 718 Boxster fit into the Maine transition? At this point, the assumption is that the new sports car will arrive into Sarasota Porsche after our Maine departure. If prior to the departure, at least we can experience an unveiling ceremony at the dealership followed by writing a substantial check. The car would then be transported to Maine via a carrier recommended by the dealership. If the car arrives after our departure, Diane and I will fly back to Sarasota at some point in late May to buy-off the car and drive back to Maine in a more casual manner. At least, that is the current plan. The alternative is just having the car shipped to Maine and wiring payment to the dealership.

 

Connoisseur's Session 3 Auctions Sale - Reminder and Highlights

Even though it feels like the Session 2 auction event has just wrapped up, the third and final session for releasing the Gerry Fortin and Newtown Liberty Seated coinage collections back to the marketplace is approaching rather quickly. Session 3 bidding opens on May 10 and closes one week later on May 19.

As a reminder to the community of the ongoing release of great lots from both collections, following are several highlights.

 

Gerry Fortin - Session 3 Liberty Seated Dime Collection Highlights

      1850-O F-103 NGC MS67 Star 10C - $27,500                                1856-S F-101 PCGS MS63+ CAC 10C - $17,500     

        

     1861-S F-101 PCGS MS62 CAC 10C - $17,500                               1865-S F-101 PCGS MS63 CAC 10C - $17,500      

        

    1869-S F-102 PCGS MS67 CAC 10C - $26,000                                  1885-S F-101 PCGS MS65 CAC 10C - $39,500     

        

 

Newtown - Session 3 Liberty Seated Half Dollar Collection Highlights

        1870 WB-7 PCGS MS65+ CAC 50C - $12,500                              1871-CC WB-3 PCGS AU55 CAC 50C - $15,000    

        

          1874 Arrows PCGS MS66 CAC 50C - $34,000                             1874-CC WB-3 PCGS MS63 CAC 50C - $37,500    

        

 1878-CC WB-1 PCGS MS63 CAC 50C - $22,500                                   1887 PCGS MS67 CAC 50C - $25,000       

        

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Little changes here in the GFRC Venice office on a Sunday. Other than our daily health walk, I will be hanging out in the office and processing new consignment shipments. It is doubtful that there will be a new showcase gallery on Monday morning's edition, but we should have something for you on Tuesday.

All eyes will be on the equity market and the precious metal sector come tomorrow morning. Those of us who are focused on gold and silver will have a preview later this evening as trading opens overseas in Shanghai followed by London.

Thank you as always for the visit.

Be well!

 

 

April 12, 2025

An AI Generated Daily Blog Edition

The Best Car to Own: Why I'm Buying a Porsche Boxster

and

Early Silver Commemoratives are Back Courtesy of the Evergreen State Collection

 

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

Today's edition features a reflection of advancing microelectronics and computing technology. Since being both a technologist and a numismatist, (and gold bug), personal time trade-offs are made. Presently, the numismatist and financial market researcher aspects of a life are dominating and leaving little time for delving deep into the world of emerging AI. Sure, AI Copilot is a new go to information interface to help with Daily Blog composing efficiency. However, that is the extent of AI exploration.

Our GFRC Online Auctions cataloger, Len Augsburger, steps into the AI realm with an email that arrived on Thursday. Len fed my old Daily Blog editions into AI and requested that the application prepare a fresh composition. Following is an AI generated Blog for your reading enjoyment. I'm quite impressed to say the least as to the integration of a host of Porsche ownership facts with personalized numismatic commentary.

 

The Best Car to Own: Why I'm Buying a Porsche Boxster

Let’s drift away from coins this morning—just briefly—and talk about another lifelong passion that brings joy, curiosity, and sometimes a bit of risk: cars. For collectors like us, it’s not just about horsepower or price tags—it’s about the story, the feel, the craftsmanship. After a good stretch of research, test drives, and long thoughts on Maine backroads, I’ve come to a decision: it’s time to buy a Porsche Boxster.

Why the Boxster? Because it strikes the perfect balance. It’s not over the top like a 911 or inaccessible like some exotic that breaks down every other weekend. The Boxster is composed, elegant, and engineered for the kind of pure driving experience that’s increasingly hard to find. Think of it as the automotive equivalent of a well-preserved 1856-S Seated quarter—something that stands the test of time with grace and subtlety.

What really sets the Boxster apart, and what’s drawn me in, is its mid-engine layout. That balanced weight distribution translates to a confidence in corners and a connection to the road that feels almost analog in nature. And as someone who spends most days looking at rim nicks and strike sharpness under a loupe, I appreciate that kind of precision. Driving a Boxster feels deliberate, much like the joy of uncovering an underappreciated die marriage tucked away in a show case.

Add in the styling—and it’s hard to look away. The early Boxsters have a kind of understated European charm, while the newer 987 and 981 generations feel tight and modern without becoming too complicated. I’m leaning toward a 981 with a six-speed manual, ideally in a more traditional color. Yes, I want to drive it, not just admire it. I want to take the top down on a late summer morning, drop a few orders off at the post office, and maybe take the long way home for no good reason.

Now, I know what some of you might be thinking. A Porsche? Isn’t that overkill? The answer is no—at least not for me. I’ve always believed in making room in life for something that brings a spark. Whether it’s a rare Seated half that completes a tough year set or a roadster that makes every errand feel like a mini vacation, it’s these small indulgences that give our routines color. Besides, after years of dependable Mazda Miata driving, I’ve earned the upgrade.

Maintenance won’t be free, but neither is preserving a 19th-century coin collection. Timing chains, oil changes, tire wear—it’s all part of the ownership experience. And much like curating coins, half the joy is in the stewardship. The plan is to find a well-kept example, ideally with documented service history and a prior owner who loved the car, not just used it. That’s where the overlap with numismatics really shines—provenance and care matter.

What excites me most, though, is the community. Porsche people are passionate, just like Seated coin collectors. Forums, club drives, weekend meetups—all familiar territory, just on four wheels instead of two sides of silver. I’ve already been soaking in YouTube videos, Reddit threads, and owner blogs. The anticipation reminds me of when I was first hunting for key-date Seated dimes—there’s energy in the search.

So that’s where we are: one foot still firmly in numismatics, the other edging toward a garage upgrade. The Porsche Boxster, for me, feels like the right car at the right time. It’s the best car to own because it will be more than just a machine—it’ll be part of the daily rhythm. A reward for hard work, a reminder to enjoy the ride, and a pretty nice way to get to a coin show now and then. I’ll keep you posted.

 

Emerald Collection Seated Halves are Selling

So far so good concerning the new Emerald Collection Seated halves! Within 12 hours of featuring the these lovely halves in the Daily Blog, five pieces have already been spoken for. That is a 25% sell through rate with hopes for more sales today as the balance are posted to the price list today. The sold lots have been posted to the 30 Day Price List along with a few other offerings that were previously sourced from GFRC and easily reposted.

 

Early Silver Commemoratives are Back Courtesy of the Evergreen State Collection

Yes, GFRC is not well known for handling early silver commemorative but this lot was just too good to pass up. Clicking on the below image provides access to a higher resolution version. Look for these new offerings to start appearing early next week.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

That about does it for today's Blog edition. Yes, I will be in the office for most of the day posting the balance of the Emerald Collection Liberty Seated half dollar lots along with photographing incoming consignments.

Just three weeks remain, at this point, before the Fortins return back to the Maine homestead. Come Sunday's Blog, we will define the transition schedule for incoming check payments.

Thanks again for the visit.

Be well!

 

 

 

April 11, 2025

Gold at a Record $3225/Oz

and

New Emerald Collection Consignment - AU58s Galore!

 

Greetings on a mid-April Friday morning and welcome to the Daily Blog. Thank you for returning after our brief holiday with cherished IBM friends.

It is rather amazing that three couples have been able to stay connected since 1978. During September of that year, Gerry, Dan, and Ron all started employment at IBM East Fishkill, NY on the same day and within the same engineering organization. A friendship developed and blossomed to the point that Ron married Diane's college roommate, Donna, who happened to live in nearby New Jersey and become part of the trio of friends. Decades moved along with Diane, Donna, and Patti staying in contact. Sadly, Ron and Donna divorced but Ron found a new soon to be wife, Gina, who fits in well with the group. We started to reconnect about five years ago at Dan and Patti's home in Massachusetts. Then Dan and Patti moved to Fernandino Beach, FL and built a marvelous home on a lagoon. There was a fresh reunion at their home in January followed by this week's get together at our Venice condo on Tuesday through yesterday. There was so much fun that composing a Blog edition was the last thing on my mind. Readers must also realize that Dan and Patti and Ron and Gina are retired and enjoying a relaxed lifestyle. This leaves Gerry and Diane who are still operating GFRC.

Once our guest had departed on Thursday morning, my focus immediately went back to the GFRC business, retrieving a new consignment from the Venice Post Office, and then going to work on today's gallery showcase, the latest offerings from the Emerald Collection. I did manage to get the pricing proposal completed and approved by the consignor following by fast paced image processing. My apology, but there was no time to conduct attributions for the Liberty Seated halves.

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

 

Gold at a Record $3225/Oz

The past few days have seen extreme equity market volatility due to the Trump tariffs. On Wednesday morning, it was immediately apparent that the Trump-Bessent gambit had backfired. Rather than seeing U.S. Treasury yields fall due to the panic rush out of stocks and into the safety of bond, the 10 Year yield spiked to 4.5%. Some entity had decided to sell Treasuries en masse forcing the yields much higher during a period of U.S. debt refinancing. Trump had no choice but to pause the tariffs, other than China, to avoid further bond market carnage. Equity markets experienced an emotional super rally followed by giving up half the gains yesterday.

So where are we this morning? The 10 Year Treasury yield stands at 4.40% with gold finally seeing substantial demand. As the Blog is being composed, spot gold is trading at $3220 after setting a new record of $3225 during the early morning hours on the London exchange. Again, some entity is dumping Treasury bonds and buying gold as the likely scenario.

Additionally, investors are finally starting to move capital into the gold market with gold ETF seeing sufficient investment inflows to warrant physical gold purchases. This Kitco article sums up the situation.

Growing fears that the U.S. economy will see lower growth and higher inflation have finally pushed investors off the sidelines and into gold in a meaningful way, according to the latest research from the World Gold Council.

While the gold market has seen solid inflows into gold-backed exchange-traded funds since the start of the year, the March flow data from the WGC showed a broad-based increase in all major regions.

According to the report, North American-listed funds represented 61% of total inflows, while European markets accounted for about 22% of demand and Asian markets represented 16% of global inflows.

European demand has been the missing piece, underperforming within the gold market for the last few months compared to other regions. However, the WGC noted that these funds are starting to catch up.

“First quarter flows in Europe of US$4.6bn stood out as the strongest quarter since Q1 2020,” the analysts said in the report.

In total, 92 tonnes of gold, valued at $8.6 billion, flowed into global ETFs last month. Meanwhile, 226 tonnes of gold, valued at $21 billion, flowed into ETFs in the first quarter, marking the second highest quarterly level in dollar terms, only behind the second quarter of 2020.

In a regional breakdown, North American ETFs saw their gold holdings increase by 67.4 tonnes last month. The analysts said that demand continues to be driven by the usual factors, including solid momentum coupled with economic chaos and geopolitical uncertainty.

“Additionally, equity pullbacks, due to growth concerns and market liquidity worries amid ongoing quantitative tightening, further pushed up investor demand for safe-haven assets,” the analysts said.

Meanwhile, European-listed funds saw inflows of 13.7 tonnes. The report said the UK, Switzerland, and Germany all saw an increase in gold holdings.

“Although the Bank of England made no changes to its benchmark rate during its March meeting, a cloudy growth outlook further weighed by US tariff concerns, weak stock market performance, and the gold price surge drove demand higher in the UK,” the analysts said. “Equally, despite a jump in the 10-year German Bund yield in early March amid Germany’s massive spending plan, investors in Europe continue to add gold ETFs to their portfolios as the ECB’s March cut encouraged further easing expectations and US tariff risks loom over the growth outlook.”

Finally, Asia-based funds saw inflows of 9.5 tonnes last month.

“China and Japan dominated demand in March, both likely driven by rocketing gold price performances, which dwarfed other assets in the month, and roaring global trade policy risks,” the analysts said.

Although there is a risk that gold’s rally becomes unsustainable, the WGC said the market is backed by solid momentum.

“The extent and speed of gold’s rally have drawn out comparisons to previous peaks. While there are headwinds that the gold market will naturally face in this environment, our analysis also suggests that current macroeconomic conditions are quite different from prior periods when the gold market reached previous highs,” the analysts said in the report.

“The willingness to hold and reluctance to sell – given current extreme policy uncertainty – could generate real momentum,” they added. “By historical standards, the current rally isn’t particularly large or long. And comparing the current rally to the recent 2011 and 2020 peaks highlights that, relatively speaking, fundamentals look more solid.”

What about silver?

After experiencing a sharp drop during the stock market plunge, silver is slowing recovering value and is quoting at $31.40. The gold/silver ratio now stands at 103 which is one of the highest ratio points on record. Yes, silver is still being viewed as an industrial metal rather than a monetary metal as the reason behind the inflated gold/silver ratio. I suspect that silver will continue to move up and be back to $33/oz by the end of next week.

Bottom line, the "gold bugs" may finally be vindicated as the world economic order appears to be going through an upheaval as the U.S. dollar sinks rapidly. I've been advising Blog readers to consider gold as an investment for some time and hope that you've been listening. On a personal basis, I am adding another four ounces to the physical stash today.

 

New Emerald Collection Consignment - AU58s Galore!

GFRC is pleased to be showcasing the following Emerald Collection consignment gallery with a host of AU58 graded lots. There are a few First Rights of Refusal that will be honored today but don't let that fact stop you from asking for first shot via emails or text messages. All phone lines are open for your orders!

If my day goes as planned, these lots will begin posting to the price list during the later morning hours. Those with FRoR will be emailed next as a reminder to tender a pass or play decision towards keeping the sales momentum moving forward.

 

New Emerald Collection Consignment - AU58s Galore!

                     1879 F-102 PCGS MS67 25C - $5500                                           1873-CC No Arrows PCGS EF45 50C - $3950             

        

 1879 PCGS PR66CAM 10C - $1500                                                1851-O NGC MS62 50C - $3650    

        

         1859-S NGC MS62 50C - $2350                                             1862-S PCGS AU58 OGH 50C - $2000    

        

    1868 NGC PF64CAM 50C - $1950                                                1876-CC PCGS AU58 50C - $1850    

        

1849-O NGC AU58 50C - $1150                          1856 PCGS AU58 50C - $585                              1867-S NGC AU58 50C - $900

                      

   1870 PCGS AU58 50C - $1000                           1871-S PCGS AU58 50C - $925                        1874 NGC AU55 50C OGH - $725

                      

1874-S NGC AU58 50C - $1685                           1880 PCGS AU53 50C - $1150                           1882 NGC AU55 50C - $1150 

                      

1885 PCGS AU58 50C - $1850                            1887 NGC MS62 50C - $1500                           1889 PCGS AU58 50C - $1550

                      

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

The shipping department is idle today as the equity market volatility has been a distraction for nearly everyone. Coupled that fact with the lack of new posting to the 30 Day Price List resulting in a quiet order period during the week. Let's see in today's showcase gallery restarts the order rate....

Yes, I will be in the office the entire day working the phone, buying more physical gold, and loading today's gallery to the price list.

More consignments have arrived including a very strong, yet inexpensive 26 piece CAC approved type coin lot along with better dates from the Evergreen State early silver commemorative collection.

The time has come to wrap up and jump into the shower before starting a new day. Please check back tomorrow for a really cool Blog edition as composed by AI courtesy of Len Augsburger.

Thank you so much for returning to the Daily Blog after our brief holiday period.

Be well

 

 

 

April 8, 2025

Reflections on Turbulent Times

 

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

I must admit that composing Blog editions on a daily basis necessitates a keen time commitment outside of the early morning 1.5 hours to actually type out each edition. There is little to share today given Monday's extended time in the shipping department followed by preparations for the visit of our IBM friends. Just to complicate matters, the latch on the lanai screen door broke due to strong winds and required a repair. Days are just flying by. I did manage to insource another consignment from the Sheffield Collection along with moving forward with Emerald Collection Liberty Seated half dollar image processing. Unfortunately, the end of the work day arrived without any organized content for today's Blog. Such is life.

Today's headline is entitled Turbulent Times for a reason. Obviously, the volatility in the equity markets is difficult to dismiss if having substantial investments. As the proceeds from the Connoisseur's Session 2 auction sale continue to be realized, the equity market drop appears to be an opportunity for fresh investment. However, as I warned last week, attempting to catch a sharp knife can leave you bloodied. Conversely, Warren Buffets likes to invest when there is blood in the streets. There is a psychological battle between fear and greed playing out on a personal basis and throughout America.

One thing is for certain related to gold and numismatics. Gold and premium rare coins have been a steady asset during this notable equities pullback. Probably one of the reasons is that physical assets are much more difficult to sell during panic times as compared to sitting at home at a brokerage account trading screen and hitting the sell button. Enhanced communications and computer systems have enabled equity market volatility due to the buying and selling ease. Why do I get a sense that the modern day equities market is much like going to a casino?

For giggles, I asked AI Copilot for a definition of the word, "investment". Following is the response. Note that the key point is putting effort in the present to reap rewards in the future.

The term "investment" refers to the act of allocating money, time, or resources into something—such as a project, asset, or business—with the expectation of gaining a positive return or benefit in the future. Investments can range from financial (like stocks, bonds, or real estate) to personal (such as education or skill development). The key idea is putting in effort now to reap rewards later.

Precious metals and rare coins, along with other collectibles, can be excellent investments if held over a long horizon. The sale of my Liberty Seated dime collection is an example as the prices realized are indicative of premium pieces being held for decades.

So where are we with respect to gold and silver this morning? Gold has performed incredibly well during the past week and is trading at $3015 on the London Exchange. Silver, on the other hand, took a spill and is attempting to hold above the $30 mark. The gold/silver ratio stands at an even 100 which is quite bullish for silver from a monetary metals perspective. The recent $4/oz drop is related to silver being viewed as an industrial metal by many investors. Let's not forget that silver has been is a negative supply deficit for the last four years due to solar panel manufacturing requirements which is bullish.

Turning back to gold, I'm not anticipating any upward movement in the near term as there will sector rotations based on appreciation potential. Some investors with paper gold positions (SLV, SGOL) could sell to move monies into discounted stocks like Amazon and Google. Investing is all about "alpha" and beating a standard index. Here is AI Copilot's perspective on "alpha".

In the context of investments, "alpha" refers to the measure of an investment's performance relative to a benchmark, typically a market index. It's a way to gauge how much better (or worse) an investment has performed compared to the market or its expected return.

If an investment has a positive alpha, it means it has outperformed the benchmark, while a negative alpha indicates under performance. Alpha is often used to assess the skill of fund managers and their ability to deliver returns above what could be achieved by simply following the market.

The next few days will be exciting as a number of countries have already signaled an intent to negotiate tariffs. I suspect that China will be the exception given the cultural addiction to "face". Xi will not wish to lose "face" with Trump. Let's see how the next 48 to 72 hours play out.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

The last of the Session 2 auction shipping will be accomplished this morning prior to the arrival of our guests come the early afternoon hours.

As a reminder, the GFRC office will be closed on Wednesday. Please feel free to send along purchase emails or other correspondence, but understand that those communications will be responded to early on Thursday morning or later in the day once our guests have departed.

Thanks again for taking the time to visit the Daily Blog.

Be well!

 

 

April 7, 2025

A Magnificent 1877-S F-111 Gem Dime!

and

GFRC Maine Transition

 

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

Like many investors, I've been watching how the equity markets will open today. The best tracker of morning market futures that I use is cnn.com/markets.premarkets along with Kitco's website that tracks spot gold and silver prices on a live basis. As of 6:45 AM, I'm feeling a bit relieved as gold has held the $3000/oz level and is trading a tad above $3040. Much more important is silver which has recovered to close to $30.50. The fact that the two monetary metals are holding their ground is quite positive for future appreciation as investors realize the power of holding a portion of the wealth in metals rather than fiat currencies coupled with investments denominated in those currencies. Also positive is the increased demand for 10 Year Treasury bonds as the yield has broken below 4.0%.

Upon starting breakfast in the GFRC office, morning market futures were forecasting another 3.5% drop in equities. That drop has been reduced to less than 2.0% as the blog is being composed. If markets can hold somewhat flat to start the week, then this is a positive signal that panic selling is coming to a close.

Let's shift focus to GFRC and numismatics....

 

A Magnificent 1877-S F-111 Gem Dime!

First, the Lakeland Collection consignment has been posted to the 30 Day Price List with two initial sales. Also added to the same price list is a recently acquired gem 1877-S dime. The 1877-S date is an enigma given its mintage of 2,340,000 but only 22 approved in all grades at CAC. This new inventory lot is one of three with a CAC green bean at the MS65 grade with only three finer. GFRC has previously handled one of the other MS65 CAC examples where it realized $5400 during the Newtown Liberty Seated Dime auction sale held during January 2023.

1877-S F-111 PCGS MS65 CAC 10C - $4950

 

Magnificent Gem, Granular Frosted Luster, Vibrant Cartwheels, Rare Die Pairing. GFRC is thrilled to be offering one of the finest 1877-S dimes extant along with being a rare R5 die pairing per my research as published in the Liberty Seated Dime die variety online reference. This is a magnificent gem with granular frosted luster and vibrant cartwheels. A speckled natural gray patina overlays the obverse while the reverse is a lighter uniform gray with gold and rose shades appearing under angled lighting. The surfaces are meticulously preserved too! Now let's move on to the importance of this die pairing in terms of rarity. The F-111 variety is the last of the three different reverse die pairings (F-109, F-110, F-111) with Obverse 7. Reverse C, which was previously paired with the F-103 obverse, shows die wear and erosion at the denticles. There is considerable weakness in the lower left ribbon end and wreath leaves. The reverse die may have been polished after the F-103 die pairing. This is only the fourth F-111 example handled by GFRC with the next finest being a PCGS MS62 CAC example sold during May 2018. Clearly, the finest known F-111 extant. CAC has approved only 22 examples in all grades with three finer. The estimate CAC market value is currently $4900 which recognizes the 1877-S date rarity in full gem. An important offering that belongs in one of the finest Seated dime collections being assembled. Housed in PCGS Gen 6.1 (2020-2025) holder with CAC approval.

 

GFRC Maine Transition

April is moving along quickly with so much that is taking place. Honestly, I can't imagine living life otherwise.

The Maine GFRC office transition is not far away and probably best to take a first crack at a schedule. The Fortins have been considering returning to Maine during the final weekend in April or the first weekend in May. Complicating the return date is the delivery timing of the 718 Boxster at the Sarasota Porsche dealership and scheduling an automotive transport for moving the car to Maine. We wish to be present for the unveiling ceremony followed by a first drive and buy off process. Therefore, it makes sense to buy as much time as possible by returning to Maine during the first weekend in May which is May 3-4. It is not possible to delay the return further as we are running up against long standing doctors and dentist appointments.

If this is the case, then the prior week of April 26 through May 1 becomes the blackout period for mailing payments to GFRC. A quick check of the calendar indicates that we have three weeks remaining for regular price list sales and consignment shipments into the Venice, Florida office.

A detailed schedule will be forthcoming come next Monday.

 

GFRC Office Slowdown This Week

As mentioned previously, the Fortins are hosting our long time IBM friends here in Venice starting on Tuesday afternoon and wrapping up by midday on Thursday. The office will be definitely closed on Wednesday April 9 following by catching up on orders and other GFRC business starting on Thursday afternoon. I'm uncertain if there will be Daily Blog editions on Wednesday or Thursday, and frankly I could use a break from preparing content for two days.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Our Monday morning will be dominated by a substantial amount of time in the shipping department. Many of the Session 2 auction lots will be heading into the USPS system today.

To ensure that every client has a USPS tracking number for their shipments, I will be manually sending out emails with this information. What I previously thought was the fix on the new Enhanced USPS Click n' Ship website might not be the solution for ensuring that USPS does its job of issuing tracking number emails to addressees. Yes, this is quite frustrating but again, I will take responsibility and will issue those tracking number emails myself.

Otherwise, the emphasis shifts to a 20 piece Liberty Seated half dollar lot from the Emerald Collection during the afternoon hours. There are a fair number of First Rights of Refusals on the books for these new offerings and best to move forward quickly.

During the coming few days, I am expecting at least three consignments to arrive to the office. Each will be announced upon their arrival.

That is about it for a Monday morning in terms of GFRC ramblings. We appreciate the ongoing readership and patronage.

Be well!

 

 

April 6, 2025

GFRC-Lite Baltimore Show Report and a Fire Drill

and

A New Lakeland Collection Release to Consider

 

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog on a quiet Sunday morning. The month of April is rapidly moving along, isn't it? Thank you so much for the visit.

Today's breakfast was a tad later than normal as I overslept a bit with respect to preparing another Daily Blog edition. Can you image oversleeping on a Sunday morning? Anyways, breakfast always take place in the GFRC office along with viewing YouTube videos concerning world news and/or global financial market discussions. This morning's treat was an interview of Michael Oliver from Momentum Structural Analysis. I've been following Michael Oliver closely as his equity market and precious metal forecasts are based on momentum charting along with analysis of current trends with respect to prior market cycles. So far, Oliver has been quite accurate on the equity markets topping out in February and breaking down prior to the tariff induced sell off as witnessed on Thursday and Friday.

Oliver's key message is that investors are making a significant mistake with silver. During the Thursday and Friday market panic, silver was treated no different than an industrial commodity and dropped consistent with copper and crude oil. However, Michael reminds us that silver is primarily a monetary metal and should be behaving similar to gold. So far, gold has shined with only a 3% drop from its all time high during the market panic. His belief is that silver may drop another dollar before rebounding back over $32/oz. He is also quite bullish on gold to move higher in the coming months.

His key message was to watch the banking sector which appears to be in trouble. If bank stocks continue to unwind, the Federal Reserve will need to step in with another round of QE and lowering interest rates. If the Federal Reserve does follow this path, then the money supply is again increased leading to U.S. dollar devaluation with a higher reciprocal move in gold and silver. I'm taking Michael Oliver seriously at this point based on his demonstrated market calls that are being substantiated with sound technical analysis.

Blog readers well recognize how I've been advocating for gold ownership. I believe that current market events substantiate that viewpoint.

 

GFRC-Lite Baltimore Show Report and a Fire Drill

Rich Hundertmark sent along a timely GFRC-Lite Baltimore show report along with sharing a fire drill with respect to the Midland, SC coin show. Please read on...

Hi Gerry,

It’s certainly been an interesting 2 weeks for Lite starting with the trek to the Baltimore Whitman show.

As I was walking this show as a dealer for the 1st time, I chose to bring a select inventory that would be tailored to dealer sales. I settled on bringing a good portion of Lite’s raw seated inventory and a box of 20 that I thought priced attractively enough to appeal to dealers. Overall, I did well with the raw coins, the Seated Half Dollars led the way, however the certified box only resulted in a few sales. This wasn’t unexpected as Lite’s certified coins are priced higher than Greysheet, thus limiting dealer sales. I also must admit that I wasn't keen on walking the bourse with a large inventory, I hadn't done this before at a large show and was risk averse in this situation

The good news was that this was a quick trip with a Wednesday afternoon arrival and early Friday morning departure that allowed me to get back home at a reasonable hour,

While walking the bourse, (which looked to have just decent floor traffic on Thursday, definitely no buzz), I located a lovely 1806 Large 6 with stems half cent graded AU58 PCGS CAC for my 19th century type collection. CAC stickered early copper is tough to locate and it’s worth the hunt to locate these premium examples.

Now for the Fire drill. Monday evening, I got a surprise call from the Midlands Show bourse chairman who advised me that the upcoming (in 4 days) Columbia, SC April 4,5 Friday - Saturday show was canceled due to a scheduling error between the club and the hosting arena venue, Apparently the venue switched event booking software and dates got jumbled. The bourse chairman “fell on his sword” for not following up with the venue in advance to confirm the date. I didn’t give him too much grief as my mind went directly to damage control mode,

The first thing I did was cancel my hotel reservation. The Hilton reservation system would not allow me to make the change, so I immediately called the hotel directly and the rep was able to cancel my reservation - thank you!

Next, I wanted to see if it was at all possible to add a substitute event. At the FUN show I talked with the Cape Fear, NC club and discussed the potential for Lite attending at some point. I called the bourse chairman and was able to get a table. The show is smaller, 30 tables, but just a 2-hr. drive and the one-night hotel stay was low priced. This show is a bi-annual event, in May and December, and if I do decently, I will strongly consider attending again. 

As this is a smaller show, I will bring a selection of coins concentrated in the $50- $250 range and maybe more Morgans and 20th century material than normal. All in all, I think I recovered well from an unexpected situation, After the Cape Fear show I look forward to the large Annual Raleigh Club June show that's a 4-day event at the state fairgrounds with 150+ dealers. This show kicks off my summer schedule which also includes Annandale, Va, in July and a trip to the August summer ANA in OKC, let's see..., coins ??, cowgirls??,  prime beef??? - I'm in!!

In the next few weeks, I'll be steadily adding inventory to the website. I'm also meeting with my webmaster next week with a few gfrclite.com changes and improvements  to be discussed.

Wishing all the blogamaniacs continued collecting success!

Rich

 

A New Lakeland Collection Release to Consider

The mother and son collecting team is back again with another Civil War centric consignment release for your consideration. I hope that you will carefully examine each of their new offerings for potential purchase. Today's showcase gallery opens with three San Francisco half dimes and a Seated half dollar. The 1864 Philadelphia struck Seated quarter is also quite attractive. Capped Bust half dollar fans should note the 1830 O-112 die variety that carries an R4+ rarity rating. The attribution is easily accomplished via a boldly doubled LIBERTY on th headband.

 

Civil War Era Offerings Per the Lakeland Collection

      1864-S PCGS MS61 H10C - $1475                                                1864-S NGC AU58 H10C - $1000    

        

         1865-S PCGS AU58 H10C - $1300                                              1865-S WB-1 PCGS AU55 50C - $1750 

        

      1864 NGC EF45 25C - $850                      1830 O-112 R4+ NGC AU55 50C - $850                1836 O-101 NGC AU53 50C - $360

                      

1861-S WB-4 PCGS EF40 50C - $475                      1862 PCGS EF40 50C - $500       

           

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Consignment proposals continue to arrive at a steady pace. The Sheffield Collection has shipped another Liberty Seated dime consignment that should arrive on Monday. The Evergreen State Collection is shipping the higher priced dates/grades from a nearly complete United States early silver commemoratives set with the balance heading to GFRC-Lite. Finally, another 25 piece consignment of assorted type coins should arrive by mid-week.

As for today, I will be working in the GFRC office other than a quick drive to Home Depot to replace that leaky propane tank in time for the arrival of our IBM friends on Tuesday.

Thank you, as always, for stopping by at the Daily Blog.

Be well!

 

 

April 5, 2025

Gerry's 718 Boxster is Heading to the U.S.

GFRC Business Remains Robust

and

GFRC Office is Closed on April 9th

 

 

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

Where do we start with today's edition? Yes, equity markets are in a state of fear and chaos. The past 48 hours have demonstrated how fear is an incredibly powerful emotion. Equity markets take several years to climb in a structured manner but can be demolished in the matter of hours when panic sets in. Such was the case on Friday as market selling was driven more by fear and panic rather than logic. After having experience multiple market crashes in a lifetime (the wisdom that comes with age), the tariff induced crash is no different than the Covid event. Global supply chains collapsed due to countries attempting to quarantine themselves from the virus. The current tariff induced crash does not involve a global health issue, thank goodness. Rather, there is fear on how the global supply chains will be modified in the near term to deal with the tariffs. Demand for certain products could wane as is the case for solar panels produced in China and India leading to silver prices being hit hard. Throughout the "tariff crash", gold has performed quite well as a vehicle for preserving wealth.

What is Trump's master plan or goals? The most obvious is to open markets for U.S. goods with our trading partners. The removal of trade barriers will end up being negotiated under duress rather than taking years of discussion. However, I believe there is a more strategic issue at play, namely China's rapid military buildup. The United States runs a massive trade deficit with China. During 2024, the deficit was nearly S300 billion. Coincidently, China's annual military spending for 2024 was approximately $300 billion. Do you see the relationship? The U.S. trade deficit is essentially funding China's military expansion. There are two paths for dealing with Chinese expansionism. One is to spend more on U.S. military technology to counter Chinese expansionism. The other is to starve China of excess trade surpluses. Unfortunately, the first path of military technology development is very expensive with the results ultimately being stolen by covert means. At $850 billion per year, the expansion of U.S. military spending to counter China is unsustainable given our annual budget deficits and the ongoing trade deficits with major trade partners. This commentary is just food for contemplation as to the probable long term goal of the current tariff "war".

Let's move on to other topics...

Friday brought a visit to Sarasota Porsche along with restocking the Fortin bar, in anticipation of our IBM friends get together starting on Tuesday afternoon.

The Sarasota Porsche visit was an attempt to secure a handle on when the 718 Boxster might be ready for pickup as our Maine transition is quickly approaching. Secondly, I hoped to secure an understanding on Porsche's tariff pricing policy concerning cars being transported to the United States after the April 2 deadline.

The good news is that the 718 Boxster has been loaded on a transport ship as of April 4 per our sales person's internal Porsche tracking system. This is great news with a possibility that the car might be into the Sarasota dealership before the end of the month. On the tariff topic, Josh, our sales ambassador, does not have any news from Porsche on how the 25% tariff will be handled. He mentioned that Ferrari has made an announcement on the matter with a 10% price increase. To validate what I was told, here is AI Copilot's response to the question.

Ferrari has announced price adjustments in response to the U.S. 25% import tariffs on imported vehicles. Starting April 2, 2025, Ferrari plans to increase prices by up to 10% on certain models. However, models like the 296, SF90, and Roma will not see price hikes, regardless of their import date. Cars imported before April 2 will also maintain their original pricing.

For example, the Purosangue SUV and 12Cilindri models are expected to see significant price increases, potentially adding tens of thousands of dollars to their cost. Ferrari has stated that it will absorb some of the additional costs for specific models while passing on a portion to customers.

This move reflects Ferrari's strategy to navigate the impact of tariffs while maintaining its competitive position in the U.S. luxury car market.

Josh did confirm that Porsche has announced that the Boxster and Cayman platforms will be converted to EVs come the 2026 model year. Here is my check of this information via AI Copilot.

Porsche has confirmed that the 718 Boxster and Cayman will transition to an all-electric platform for the 2026 model year. These electric sports cars will be built on the Premium Platform Electric (PPE), which is shared with other models like the Macan EV.

The electric versions are expected to maintain Porsche's signature performance, with base models producing at least 300 horsepower and high-performance variants exceeding 400 horsepower. Additionally, they will feature advanced battery technology, offering a range of approximately 288-315 miles on a single charge.

Bottom line, the decision to build a 2025 718 Boxster GTS 4.0 during the final year of gas powered motoring appears to have been wise from a depreciation perspective as there should be long term demand for the vehicle by Porsche enthusiasts.

 

GFRC Business Remains Robust

Regardless of the financial turmoil in the equity markets, GFRC business continues to remain robust. April retail sales are ahead of forecast while consignment proposals are appearing on a near daily basis. There is something to be said about pricing stability for a physical asset like quality numismatic items.

 

GFRC Office is Closed on April 9th

In just a few days, our long time IBM friends will be spending several days in Venice as our second reunion of the year arrives.

There will be shipping on Tuesday morning, afterwards the office will be closed through April 9th. Emailed orders and other correspondence will be responded to later in the day on April 10th. It is not often that I take a brief vacation but this reunion is very special and warrants shutting down the cellphone and enjoying the moment.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Today brings a long office day with morning shipping and more image processing to enable a Lakeland Collection showcase gallery for Sunday's Blog edition. A pricing proposal has already been approved. The Emerald Collection Liberty Seated halves, as illustrated on April 2, were photographed yesterday along with being loaded into the COIN system.

As for new consignment proposals, I am entertaining two volume consignments, both from long time clients. More information will be forthcoming as the ship dates are finalized.

So ends another Blog edition. We certainly appreciate the ongoing readership and support for the GFRC business.

Be well!

 

 

 

April 4, 2025

Shifting Attention to the Connoisseur's Session 3 Auction Sale

Missing USPS Tracking Emails Issue Resolved

and

Evergreen State Collection Releases to Consider

 

Greetings and welcome to a thank goodness it is a Friday edition of the Daily Blog. It has been quite the week. Thank you so much for stopping by.

Between running solo for a few days after the Session 2 auction sale close, and now the precipitous drop of silver and equities, life is certainly not boring. As much as the GFRC business consumes me, there is a positive aspect to staying fully engaged with clients and fellow numismatic friends. With the financial markets and news media focused on Trump's tariffs, one's personal anxiety level could be maxed out. Instead, we continue to chug away in the office and working through a new consignment wave.

I'm certain that every Blog reader has their opinions on Trump's tariffs and we will not go down that rabbit hole today. Last evening, while enjoying a happy hour tequila pour, I sat quietly in the lanai and contemplated what the true end game is for the newly announced tariffs. If one asks "why" enough times, then the ultimate goal might become apparent. We will discuss this personal conclusion in another Blog edition.

Let's focus on numismatics...

 

Shifting Attention to the Connoisseur's Session 3 Auction Sale

Now that the Session 2 Auction Sale is in the GFRC history books, attention is already shifting to the final Session 3 event that arrives on May 10th. The middle of May is not that far away and arrives promptly after the GFRC Florida to Maine transition is completed.

To remind everyone of the next auction sale, the Session 3 auction banners were prepared on Thursday and will be cohabiting with the Daily Blog headlines until May 18 or so. At that point, the sale of the Gerry Fortin and Newtown Liberty Seated coinage collections will have been completed with unsold lots being marketed through the balance of 2025.

There are some fantastic lots in the Session 3 sale to consider. Within my Seated Dime collection, there are the 1856-S PCGS MS63+ CAC, 1861-S PCGS MS62 CAC, 1865-S PCGS MS63 CAC, 1866 PCGS MS66 CAC (New England Museum), and 1869-S PCGS MS67 CAC (Finest Known) dimes to consider. The Newtown Seated Half Dollar Collection also does not disappoint with an incredibly beautiful 1870 PCGS MS65+ CAC half that has been selected as the banner plate coin. Carson City fans will be intrigued with the 1871-CC PCGS AU55 CAC, 1872-CC PCGS AU55 CAC, 1872-S PCGS MS65 CAC, 1874 PCGS MS66 CAC, and 1874-CC PCGS MS63 CAC Seated halves.

Clicking on the above auction banners will take you directly to the Session 3 auction lots.

 

Missing USPS Tracking Emails Issue Resolved

Many customers have been reporting the lack of USPS tracking number notifications for the recent auction shipments. As a result of the feedback, I went back into the new Enhanced USPS shipping system to investigate. Sure enough, the problem was located and I need to go back to button selection school. USPS allows shippers to customize tracking notifications by addressee. In our case, USPS was auto filling the notification options for every new addressee. However, there are options for email or text message notifications that must be selected to enable the notifications. With this finding, the tracking number email issue will be resolved starting today.

 

Evergreen State Collection Releases to Consider

Yesterday's focus on new consignments results in six new offerings to consider this morning courtesy of the Evergreen State Collection. Liberty Seated dimes and Capped Bust halves are today's theme as illustrated next. Moving along duplicates becomes that more important as the Connoisseur's Session 3 Auction Sale requires additional numismatic capital to fund new purchases.

The 1838 and 1839 dimes were sold into the Evergreen State Collection with the prior sales records being available in the Sales Archive. The 1853 No Arrows offering is a tough date in any grade while the 1853 Arrows dime is an unquestionable gem and perfect for type collectors. We wrap up with two mighty fine PCGS AU58 CAC Capped Bust halves, the perfect grade level for those building an advanced date set.

 

Evergreen State Collection Releases to Consider

1838 Large Stars F-104 PCGS MS63 10C - $995                                        1839 F-106c NGC MS63 10C - $725       

        

     1853 No Arrows PCGS AU55 10C - $1250                                       1853 Arrows PCGS MS66 CAC 10C - $3150

        

 1825 O-108 R3 PCGS AU58 CAC 50C - $1150                                  1833 O-105 PCGS AU58 CAC 50C - $985    

        

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

There will be no shipping today as my focus is on a combination of personal errands and continuing to work through a new consignment round.

How I miss owning my own outdoor grill propane tank here in Venice as compared to Maine. Here is Venice, we must swap tanks at Home Depot or 7/11 with a hit or miss adventure for leaky tank valves. Sometimes I will secure a robust valve and other times, the valve will leak badly. The most recent swap resulted in a blatantly leaky valve with the tank lasting less than a month. Every time I grill, I can smell some gas escaping from the open valve. Therefore, I'm off again to Home Depot today for another swap and hoping that we secure a properly functioning valve.

The Fortin bar also needs to be restocked as we are hosting a second reunion with our IBM friend come next week. Yes, Dan, Patti, Ron, and Gina are traveling to Venice for a few days of fun and old time friendship. Diane is preparing the condo and working through the event plans. Like I said in the opening preamble, there is never a dull moment here in Venice.

To conclude, I will be in an out of the GFRC office today running errands and loading today's showcase gallery to the price list.

Oh, for Liberty Seated dime fans, I've just purchased an incredibly original 1877-S F-111 PCGS MS65 CAC Seated dime with only three finer. This new purchase will be photography today.

Thanks again for the visit.

Be well!

 

 

April 3, 2025

Catching a Falling Knife?

and

GFRC Office Returns to Normalcy

 

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog on a Thursday morning. Thank you so much for continuing to support our online numismatic mom and pop business.

Between you and me, Venice high temperatures are already reaching the point where I'm ready to pack up and head back to the Maine homestead. Today and Friday's high temperature will be 90F and only dropping into the mid 80s during the weekend. This Yankee just does not do well with these types of high temperatures. Back in Maine, typical wet spring weather is the rule with highs in the low 50s. How I look forward to heading down to our little pond once being back home in less than a month's time.

Here we are on a post United States reciprocal tariff morning watching the financial market repercussions. So far, major U.S. equity market futures are down 3-4% on the uncertainties. Gold is hanging tough at at $3100/oz while silver is taking it on the chin with a drop to $32.30 as the Blog is composed. Extreme financial market volatility will be the rule today. My advice is to let this volatility settle out before pumping fresh capital into the markets. There is an old saying that attempting to "catch a falling knife" is a risky proposition. Let's hear AI Copilot's perspective when asked about the term "catching a falling knife".

In investing, "catching a falling knife" refers to the risky strategy of buying a stock or asset that is experiencing a sharp and rapid decline, hoping to profit from a potential rebound before the price continues to fall. Here's a more detailed explanation:

The Situation: A "falling knife" describes a stock or asset whose price is plummeting quickly, often due to negative news, poor performance, or market sentiment.

The Strategy: "Catching a falling knife" involves buying the asset at its low point, anticipating that the price will soon stop falling and start to rise.

The Risk: This strategy is considered high-risk because the price could continue to fall, leading to significant losses for the investor.

Why it's risky: Continued downward momentum: The asset may continue to fall, even if there's a temporary reprieve, making it difficult to identify the bottom.

Market psychology: Fear and panic selling can cause prices to drop rapidly, and it's difficult to predict when this downward trend will end.

Underlying problems: The sharp decline could indicate fundamental problems with the company or asset, which may not be resolved quickly.

Alternatives: Instead of "catching a falling knife," investors may consider waiting for the price to stabilize or for more positive news before investing.

There is little to add to what has been communicated by AI Copilot. The best thing to do is to go on with life while the financial markets experience a swoon due to investor panic. The markets will readjust once the panic stage of human emotions subsides.

There is something to be said for having built a personal gold stash including adding seven ounces this week as several Session 2 auction purchases were paid in gold. Gold may also drop today as some individuals will need to sell to cover losses brought on by margin calls but the dip will be temporary.

 

GFRC Office Returns to Normalcy

The GFRC office recovery from the Connoisseur's Session 2 Auction Sale is about complete with a single extended payment term document needing to be solidified. Otherwise, the Gerry Fortin and Newtown Seated dime and half dollar lots have been kitted in their shipping packages or have moved into the auction layaway box for safe keeping. Now the focus shifts to the Session 3 auction event that begins on May 10. One of today's deliverables is fabricating the new Session 3 auction banners that will take residency right below the Daily Blog headlines.

Wednesday brought three incoming consignment shipments which is great news. There are presently 35 or so fresh coins waiting to be photographed and loaded into the COIN system for subsequent processing. Liberty Seated and Capped Bust coinage dominate the consignment shipments for those with curious minds.

Since Monday, GFRC has shipped nearly 30 packages composed of both regular retail orders and Session 2 auction ship aheads. I'm inclined to give the shipping department the day off today and Friday as the focus returns back to consignment processing towards reloading the 30 Day Price List with a host of great new offerings.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Today sees your blogger working in the Venice office with strong air conditioning. There are plenty of newly consigned coins to keep me out of trouble through 5:00 PM happy hour.

For those that enjoy purchasing raw Liberty Seated dime from my reference collection, I will commit to adding 4-5 of those pieces to the price list by mid-afternoon. This will spark some attention by the die hard Seated dime collectors.

At this point, there is little else to ramble about. I'm still watching Porsche 718 Boxster and Cayman videos dreaming of the day when our newly built GTS 4.0 finds its way to the Sarasota Porsche dealership. Who knows when that will be given the newly announced tariffs. Being anxious about this situation is unwise, as remaining calm and letting geopolitics and global finance work themselves out is best. I still have the 1993 Miata sitting in Maine as an alternative for some adult driving fun come late April and will certainly appreciate that car more than in the past.

Thank you again for returning to another rambling edition of the Blog.

Be well!

 

 

April 2, 2025

Making Progress with Session 2 Auction Admin

GFRC Retail Sales are Robust

and

Emerald Liberty Seated Half Dollar Consignment Arrives

 

Greetings on an early April 2025 Wednesday morning and welcome to the Daily Blog. Thank you for sharing your precious time with us.

The good news is that Diane is back home in Venice. The bad news was her late flight back to Ft. Myers and returning to Venice close to midnight. My body clock did not fathom the late hour to bed, rather I was wide awake at 4:30 AM towards starting another day. Maybe a short early afternoon nap will be in order.

Excellent progress is being made with the post Connoisseur's Session 2 auction admin. Monday and Tuesday brought heavy shipping along with working through the extended payments for those winning bidders that requested such consideration. There are a few more auction invoices to rewrite today, but overall, I'm pleased with the progress as we should be wrapped up by Thursday.

Some winning auction bidders might be wondering why I've asked for confirmation of their ship to addresses. The explanation is straightforward and takes us back to the recent forced USPS Click n' Ship migration to an "enhanced" platform. I did my best to move the GFRC client address database from the old to new system and initially, it appeared to be a successful transfer. However, there have been too many cases of missing addresses recently in the new database. This fact is on top of a number of clients indicating that they are not receiving their usual shipments tracking number emails. Believe me, during the generation of shipping labels, I am validating that the customer's email address has been provided to USPS for issuing tracking information. However, complaints of missing tracking information continues to be reported. One would think that a massive enterprise such as USPS would be able to develop robust shipping applications.

 

GFRC Retail Sales are Robust

Slowing down the post Session 2 auction admin has been a great problem to have. GFRC has noted robust demand for our regular retail price list offerings with Liberty Seated coinage dominating the purchases. Most important is a number of newer collectors who are becoming more aggressive with their set building purchases. I've been doing my best to balance the retail service demands while still getting the auction invoicing and initial ship aheads being executed on a prompt basis.

One particularly successful product line has been Liberty Seated dimes with both the raw Gerry Fortin reference collection pieces selling briskly along with higher grade specimens. It has become apparent that several serious collectors having made this series a collecting objective. Liberty Seated quarter and half dollar sales are presently limited by quality inventory. Now is the time to consign Seated coinage as the demand is robust.

 

Feedback for the Spring Baltimore Show

Out of curiosity, I've been checking in with both dealer and collector friends on their perspective of the Spring 2025 Whitman Baltimore show. The feedback consensus is two-fold and a matter of perspective.

Several dealer contacts reports a vigorous show with respect to dealer to dealer business levels. Tuesday afternoon saw a host of dealers mulling about the Baltimore convention center's third floor area in search of coins to buy. This buying demand extended into Wednesday, the traditional day that most dealer wholesale business is accomplished in the trading rooms.

The opposite was reported for retail traffic once the bourse opened on Thursday for early bids at 10:00 and for the general public at noon time. The bourse never achieved a "buzz" which is a subjective benchmark for an active show. I received feedback that some dealers started closing up at Friday noon time.

Overall, it appears that the ongoing migration of the numismatic hobby to online sales continues. Larger shows outside of FUN and ANA events are seeing reduced attendance. Noteworthy is the closure of the Long Beach show for this exact reason. If collectors do not flock to large bourse events, then dealers will rethink the time and expenses of a booth setup. Rather, some dealers are now just working their dealer to dealer relationships for sourcing new inventory.

 

Emerald Liberty Seated Half Dollar Consignment Arrives

The Emerald Collection was an active bidder in the just completed Session 2 auction sale and spent well into the mid-five figures for his targeted Seated half dollar lots. Consequently, our client has released a host of accumulated duplicates which arrived to the office on Tuesday. Following is a preview of that wide ranging consignment. Please note that the 1885 PCGS AU58 half is evenly toned and does not have a "banded" toning pattern as illustrated. This band is lighting reflections from my makeshift photography bench.

Clicking on the image will facilitate access to a higher resolution version for curious minds.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Let's see, we've not discussed precious metal and the Porsche 718 Boxster in today's edition. The 718 Boxster continues to be stranded at the Emden Port and waiting for a transport vessel to the U.S. How Trump's tariffs will play into that delivery is anyone's guess at the moment. All I know is that the Fortins have a signed contract with a fixed purchase price and a non-refundable deposit. The completed vehicle also has its own VIN number.

Spot gold is coasting at $3135/oz during London trading. Silver is trying to hold $34/oz but I suspect that there are forces in the precious metal space that are continuing to manipulate the price. From recent YouTube viewing, I've heard that the LBMA only has about five months of physical silver (its operating float for futures contracts) left in the vaults before physical delivery demands have exhausted the supply. It will take time, but silver is going higher with my price target being $40.

Otherwise, today is yet another office day with heavy morning shipping and finalizing the Session 2 extended payment terms during the afternoon hours.

Yes, consignments are being solicited if you are so inclined as GFRC needs Liberty Seated coins across all denominations. U.S. gold also continues to be popular.

Thanks again for taking the time to visit with us at the Daily Blog.

Be well!

 

 

 

April 1, 2025

April Fool's Day Arrives

but

Taking a Pass on a Blog Edition

 

Greetings on April Fool's Day 2025 and welcome to the Daily Blog.

As the headline indicates, I'm taking a pass on composing today's edition. The explanation is straightforward.... The GFRC office is overwhelmed with post Session 2 auction admin workload along with a brisk retail order rate. Holding down the fort on my own is fully consuming leaving no time to just sit at the laptop to ramble about spontaneous topics. To maintain our well known service levels and also secure some mandatory exercise, something has to give.

I expect the present situation to stabilize by Thursday.

Thank you for checking in and be well.