Gerry Fortin Rare Coins - Gerry's Daily Blog

July 23, 2019

GFRC Buys Out New Hampshire Collection Consignment!

Quality GFRC Type Coin Offerings at Reduced Prices

1818 B-2 PCGS AU50 CAC 25C - Reduced to $2375

1829 JR-6 PCGS AU55 CAC 10C - Reduced to $635 1869 PCGS PR64 CAC 25C - Reduced to $1025

1902 PCGS MS64 CAC G$2.5 - Reduced to $595 1907 PCGS MS64+ CAC G$5 - Reduced to $895

Jim Poston Consignment - Part 3 - More Vintage Holders with CAC Approval

1925 Stone Mtn PCGS MS65 50C 1945 NGC MS64 CAC Gen 2.1 Fatty 50C 1946 PCGS MS65 50C

1946-S PCGS MS64 CAC OGH 50c 1880-S PCGS MS65 CAC OGH $1 1880-S PCGS MS65PL CAC Rattler $1

July 22, 2019

GFRC's August 2019 Activities - A Most Busy Month!

Greetings and welcome to the Blog as the last full week in July is upon us.

Renee's baby shower event is in the Fortin family history book and southern Maine temperatures have subsided. Life is good! This Blog edition is being written at 5:00 am after heading to bed early on Sunday. It had been a long day with party preparations followed by a productive day in the GFRC office. The 30 Day Price List is starting to look fresh once again with great new offerings. Today's challenge is to keep that momentum going since there are many coins waiting to be loaded.

With the last week of July upon us, my attention shifts to the month of August. August brings one of the busiest GFRC timeframes of 2019 and it's best to start planning and communicating early with clients and GFRC community friends. But before I take us through the August schedule, I'd like to share an magnificent editorial from Seth Godin. Godin takes a bold step and calls out the modern media for what it truly is. Corrosive is a fitting description...

Seth Godin Blog: Where will the media take us next?

Three cheers to Seth Godin for confronting this pressing issue!

Where will the media take us next?

Since the first story was carved on a rock, media pundits have explained that they have simply given people what they want, reporting the best they can on what’s happening.

Cause (the culture, human activity, people’s desires) leads to effect (front page news).

In fact, it’s becoming ever more clear that the attention-seeking, profit-driven media industrial complex drives our culture even more than it reports on it.

Thoughtful people regularly bemoan our loss of civility, the rise of trolling and bullying and most of all, divisive behavior designed to rip people apart instead of moving us productively forward.

And at the very same time, reality TV gets ever better ratings. So much so that the news has become the longest-running, cheapest to produce and most corrosive TV show in history. Increase that exponentially by adding in the peer-to-peer reality show that is social media, and you can see what’s happening.

Imagine two classrooms, each filled with second graders.

In the first classroom, the teacher shines a spotlight on the bullies, the troublemakers and the fighters, going so far as to arrange all the chairs so that the students are watching them and cheering them on all day.

In the second classroom, the teacher establishes standards, acts as a damper on selfish outliers and celebrates the generous and productive kids in the classroom…

How will the classrooms diverge? Which one would you rather have your child enrolled in?

We’re not in elementary school anymore, and the media isn’t our teacher or our nanny. But the attention we pay to the electronic channels we click on consumes more of our day than we ever spent with Miss Binder in second grade. And that attention is corrosive. To us and to those around us.

The producers of reality TV know this. And they seek out more of it. When they can’t find it easily, they search harder. Because that’s their job.

It’s their job to amp up the reality show that is our culture.

But it’s not our job to buy into it. More than anything, profit-driven media needs our active participation in order to pay their bills.

It’s an asymmetrical game, with tons of behavioral research working against each of us–the uncoordinated but disaffected masses. Perhaps we can find the resolve to seek out the others, to connect and to organize in a direction that actually works.

The first step is to stop taking the bait. The second step is to say, “follow me.”

I'm doing my best with writing the Daily Blog and attempting community building as an alternative to a corrosive media that is destroying civility. How I feel for the younger generation who are being consumed and twisted by all the online media clickbait crap.

GFRC August 2019 Schedule - Non-Stop Activities

The GFRC August schedule features three important numismatic events and forthcoming birth of our second grandchild. At Sunday's baby shower, it was announced that Renee and Mike are expecting a little girl and have chosen the name Ivy. With the month of August bringing non-stop activities, now seems like a prudent time to communicate what GFRC customers can expect during the upcoming five weeks or so.

August kicks off with a quick trip to Shanghai for another sales delivery and meeting with local GFRC clients. I'm back to the office on August 7 and will immediately be preparing for the Chicago ANA show.

Chicago ANA World's Fair of Money Show - Booth 1634

The Chicago ANA World's Fair of Money is a week long event and takes place from August 12 thru August 17. GFRC will be located at Booth 1634 in the Premium area. GFRC is pleased to confirm three special table assistants as follows;

Daniel White

Dan is well recognized as GFRC's United States gold expert. If all committed consignments arrive on schedule, GFRC will have two cases of quality United States gold offerings at the ANA show along with six cases of early silver and copper type coins.

Harry (HuiJun) Zhang

Harry has been my long time Shanghai numismatic friend and currently functions as GFRC's China sales agent. Harry and Gerry staff the GFRC booth each year at the Shanghai Yunzhou show. GFRC sponsored Harry for his United States entrance visa during 2019. Now Harry and his son (ZhengXian) will be working as table assistants at the Chicago ANA show.

ZhengXian Zhang

Harry's son is a budding numismatist and plans to attend university education in Canada or the United States. GFRC is pleased to have ZhengXian on staff as a Young Numismatist helping out at Booth 1634. This will be an opportunity for ZhengXian to improve his English skills, United States coinage knowledge, and also learn how Americans conduct numismatic business.

Gerry Fortin Rare Coins - Booth 1634 - Chicago ANA

Christmas in August Sale 2019

The much anticipated annual Christmas in August sale will take place from August 23 through August 25.

This is an opportunity for GFRC and its consignors to discount aging inventory by at least 8% for sale participation. Large discounts correlate well with increased sales during the event.

Discounting inputs are due to GFRC by no later than August 20th ET noon time. Please use a separate email for Christmas in August discounting instructions and also, please write Christmas in August Sale in the subject line. Come August 21, I will update the COIN database with everyone's discounting instructions and debug accordingly on August 22. Every consignor, who participates in the sale, will receive a confirmation email once their coins are loaded.

Matt Yamatin will post the Christmas in August sales banner and countdown clock around August 13 (during the Chicago ANA show) as a reminder to the GFRC community of the upcoming sale.

Central Ohio Numismatic Association (CONA) Show - Dublin, Ohio

Attention will quickly shift from the Christmas in August sale to the CONA coin show held on August 29 through September 1. GFRC will be located at its usual Table 323 within the larger ballroom. My plans is to arrive early on Thursday August 29 afternoon, quickly set up, and then walk the bourse in search of potential inventory. GFRC will be attending the show through Saturday August 31.

As usual, if you're wishing to view certain coins in GFRC inventory, it is best to email in advance to ensure those pieces are packed for the journey.

The CONA show is always a great venue for insourcing consignments. Please contact me in advance if you plan to drop off new consignments to ensure I bring enough double row boxes for the return trip to Maine.

CONA Coin Show - GFRC at Table 323

August 29 - August 31, 2019

Are we tired yet? Come September, I will be able to slow down and work in the office the entire month as no coin shows are scheduled. September brings cooler Maine weather along with the outdoor gravitational pull. There will be winter fire wood to cut and move into the garage among other activities.

New GFRC Eye Candy on the Price List

How about more great offerings on a Monday morning?

We open this segment with a gorgeous 1829 LM-13.1 Capped Bust half dime acquired at the Summer FUN show. This piece was languishing in the inventory boxes until being remembered and photographed. The Newtown Collection consignor sent along a three piece consignment that received GFRC's Quick Turn Around Time (QTAT) processing. As expected, the 1856-S PCGS EF45 CAC Seated dime has two FRoR already. This is a really difficult date when CAC approved. There are only two approved in EF45 and one at AU58. This offering is an important opportunity for the Liberty Seated specialist.

Capped Bust Half Dime Eye Candy

1829 LM-13.1 NGC MS64+ CAC 5C

Newtown Collection - Fresh Quality Consignments

1839 F-101 PCGS MS64 CAC 10C 1856-S PCGS EF45 CAC 10C

1874 Arrows PCGS AU58 50C

Global Financial News

Another financial week arrives with ongoing Iranian tensions and United States earning reports. So far, global markets and commodities are flat. Indeed, we are in a traditionally slow period of the financial year as many traders are on holiday.

Looking at commodities and the long bond rate, crude oil is quoting at $57/bbl while spot gold is trading at $1426/oz. The 10 Year U.S. Treasury bond yield is flat at 2.04%. Bitcoin is priced at $10438/coin.

There is a Seeking Alpha headline that immediately captured my attention and is worth sharing. China kick starts its version of the United States Nasdaq technology stock exchange but with a very low entry bar. The STAR looks awfully risky at this point.

Shares rocketed as much as 520% on China's new Nasdaq-style board that debuted Monday, with the first batch of 25 companies seeing major gains. The Science and Technology Innovation Board, or "STAR Market," is a pet project of President Xi and part of Beijing's effort to revitalize a slowing economy and sharpen its edge in the fight for global tech dominance. Firms going public on the new STAR bourse merely need registration, compared to the regulatory approval needed to list on the Shanghai A-share market.

Wrapping Up The Blog

Whew! This has been a long Blog edition and I'm already feeling mentally tired. Since it is early and temperatures have cooled, I'm off for an overdue health walk following by the usual morning packing and shipping. This is the last full week for the Yamatins at the Fortin homestead. How time flies.....

Yes, I will be in the office the entire day loading Jim Poston's recent consignment to the price list and taking your orders. July has been a decent sales month and just a few more orders will allow me to meet the forecast!

See you tomorrow at the Blog with more ramblings.

July 21, 2019

Murphys Collection Consignment - Carson City Collectors Take Heed!

Greetings and welcome to the Blog on a Sunday.

How hot it is at the Fortin homestead to start the day. Thank goodness for that floor-standing office fan and the cool daylight basement sound room. Being born and raised in Maine, my body is much more comfortable with cold winter weather than the hot humid dog days of July and early August. Case in point was Saturday's nap in the basement to escape the heat. Today's weather forecast is promising with a cooling trend during evening hours followed by clouds and rain to start a new week.

Matt Yamatin did well at Saturday's Yarmouth Clam Festival 5 mile road race. He finished first in the 30-39 year old age group and fourth overall. The race winner was a professional runner who beat the entire field by over 2 minutes. Second and third places went to college runners. Matt reminds us that marathon training is designed for endurance and not short distance speed. I've never considered five miles to be a short distance until Matt brought that perspective.

Updated GFRC For Sale Page Debuts

Another GFRC website upgrade is realized and I could not be more pleased with the outcome. Blog readers are invited to visit the For Sale Page and the newest software automation by Matt Yamatin. Gone is the need to write monthly introduction statements that no one probably read. Instead, some of the best quality and value coins in GFRC inventory are constantly showcased each time a customer downloads the For Sale page.

Product line icon shuffling was also overdue as the GFRC business continues to evolve. Gone are the Liberty Seated Top 100 Variety and Contemporary Counterfeit links. A Google Analytics check revealed few clicks for these links and it's best to remove what does not work for customers. The new Just Buy It Now price list icon appears at the upper right and forms a symmetrical bookend across from the 30 Day New Purchases icon. Based on much feedback, I suspect the Just Buy It Now price list will be quite popular.

There is still work in progress to cement one final upgrade. If one scrolls to be bottom of the For Sale page, there is a Dansco image icon that will become the basis for raw coin offerings from several Dansco collections. One of the coming week's priorities is to start populating that list towards activiting that link. If you click on the link today, it simply returns customers to the For Sale page.

Another AU58 Twin Lakes Collection Consignment Arrives Next Week

There is no question that the AU58 grade level is very popular with collectors. This topic was previously discussed in the Blog. I shared that during 2019 to date, 20% of GFRC sales are at the AU58 grade level. Therefore, when the Twin Lakes Collection consignor comes knocking on my door with another AU58 consignment, I'm there with open arms. Following are the latest consignment contents for your consideration.

Indian 1c: 1886 Variety 2 AU-58

Liberty 5c: 1874 AU-58; 1884 AU-58; 1885 5C AU-58

Buffalo 5c: 1924-D 5C AU-58

Seated 5c: 1872-S Mintmark Below AU-58

Seated 10c: 1839-O AU-58; 1888 F-105 RPD AU-58

Seated 25c: 1846 AU-58; 1859 AU-58; 1860-O AU-58; 1877-S AU-58

Capped Bust 50c: 1807 Small Stars AU-58

Seated 50c: 1854-O AU-58; 1858 AU-58; 1861-S AU-58; 1962 AU-58

Barber 50c: 1904-S AU-58

Morgan 50c: 1892 $1 AU-58; 1899-S $1 AU-58

Murphys Collection Consignment - Important Carson City Dates

Within the Liberty Seated coinage arena, there are niche collecting areas. One of the most popular is Carson City coinage due to the allure of the United States Wild West frontier. The dime, quarter, half dollar, and dollar denominations are equally popular and actively collected by date. Then Carson City die variety collectors arrived on the scene during the active years of the Carson City Coin Collectors of America (C4OA) club. The C4OA club was the brain child of noted Carson City expert Rusty Goe.

Locating quality Carson City inventory for GFRC price list is a constant challenge. I'm absolutely pleased with the latest Murphys Collection consignment. Offer prices are finalized with individual pieces reaching the price list this morning. By the way, none of the Murphy Collection offerings have been submitted to CAC by the owner or GFRC. Please keep this in mind when viewing.

The Murphys Collection highlight is a choice original 1870-CC Liberty Seated dollar with classic crusty gray patina. Yes, one can locate the 1870-CC is lower circulated grades, but at the EF40 level, this date is very scarce. There is one FRoR on this piece and that individual will be contacted today.

Next to consider is a high grade 1878-CC Type 2 Reverse F-104 dime with heavily lapped and shattered reverse. The F-104 die variety is an important entry in the Top 100 Varieties set. How about four 1875-CC Liberty Seated halves to consider ranging in grades from EF45 to MS61? The NGC EF45 has seen an old cleaning and garners a Market Acceptable rating. But it is the rare (R6) WB-1 die variety with large die blob on the obverse shield lines. The NGC MS61 offering is a sweet piece along with the PCGS AU55 and AU53 graded specimens. To round out the consignment, there is a crusty original 1877-CC WB-1 R5 half and a raw 1892-CC Morgan dollar with lovely original toning.

Murphys Collection - Important Carson City Dates

1870-CC NGC EF40 Seated $1

1878-CC F-104 PCGS AU55 10C 1875-CC WB-2 NGC MS61 50C

1875-CC WB-10 PCGS AU55 50C 1875-CC WB-5 PCGS AU53 50C

1875-CC WB-1 R6 NGC 50C 1877-CC WB-1 R5 PCGS VF30 50C 1892-CC Raw VG08 $1

More Love Tokens to Disposition

I still have an action item to wrap up the sale of a substantial love token collection. These images illustrates a sample of the residual pieces that are left in the consignment. Some highlights include Liberty Seated half dollar cuff links, Morgan and Seated half dollar in nice bezel, an 1807 Draped Bust half with love message inscription (not pictured), some US and British coppers along with more Liberty Seated dime and quarter love tokens. Here is a quick cellphone images of some of the better highlights to consider. Please click on the images to access higher resolution versions.

Please contact me for more information and/or a price quote as the consignor wishes to wrap up this sale.

Wrapping Up The Blog

The time has come for a cold shower to cool off before loading the Murphys Collection pieces to the price list. Yes, I will be in the GFRC office the entire day; especially during Renee's baby shower. There will be too much estrogen flying around....

Thank-you for checking in at the Blog!

July 20, 2019

GFRC Website and Price List Upgrade This Weekend!

Greetings and welcome to the Blog on a Saturday morning.

Unpleasantly hot and humid weather is in store for southern Maine today. Current temperature stands at 74F with a forecasted high in the mid 90s. Factoring in the humidity, it will feel like 102 degrees during afternoon hours. Since the Fortin homestead lacks air conditioning, my strategy is to work in front of the floor-standing office fan and just keep moving forward. One does not create a sweat processing coin images or writing descriptions on a keyboard.

Matt, Chikae and Natsumi are already off to the traditional Yarmouth Clam Festival. Matt is participating in the 36th annual Five Mile Road Race and should do well given his constant marathon training.

GFRC's Improved For Sale List Page

GFRC customers and Blog fans have come to expect website improvements twice per year. Those improvements appear during mid summer and around Christmas. They coincide with Matt Yamatin and family visting our Maine or Florida homes.

Customized software development is best accomplished when the customer and programmer are in close proximity. Ideas can be brainstormed and tested on a visual platform. Early version upgrades are viewed, optimized, and debugged. Upon arriving in Maine, Matt was given a vision for the next round of website improvements and his been quietly developing. Debut of a significant change to the GFRC For Sale page should go live on Sunday. For those who might be curious, please click here to view the new and improved GFRC For Sale page.

A few screen captures and explanations are warranted. First up is the replacement of the For Sale page introduction with a JUST BUY IT NOW Featured Coins display. I've grown tired of constantly updating the introduction and it'd be best to replace it with an automated gallery. This gallery is refreshed each time the For Sale page is loaded or reloaded. Matt's software scans all available price list coins and searches for those with the JUST BUY IT NOW text string in the long description.

GFRC was the early developer and user of the JUST BUY IT NOW descriptor. Then other dealers jumped on the concept and are using as part of their website displays. The time has come for GFRC to make the concept front and center on its own website.

Revised GFRC For Sale Page - JUST BUY IT NOW Featured Gallery

The For Sale page icons have been re-organized with the addition of a Just Buy It Now price list icon at the upper right slot. Many customers have been asking for a separate Just Buy It Now price list and it was time to respond to the feedback. Following is a screen capture of the top portion of the revised For Sale page.

Gone are the Liberty Seated Dime Top 100 Varieties and the Contemporary Counterfeit price lists. The price list icons have been re-positioned to bring all Liberty Seated coinage together followed by Barber and Morgan icons. The Capped Bust price list icons are also clustered together.

Importantly, a new price list will be rolled out in the coming week. This price list will provide access to raw coins residing in multiple Dansco albums from the Dr. Glenn Peterson, Newtown, and recent Palos Verdes consignments. My thought process is this: Market Acceptable and Cleaned type coins in Dansco albums will most likely migrate to other Dansco albums at value pricing. Investing precious time into photographing these coins is currently not feasible. Instead, GFRC will provide an "old time" raw coin price list with GFRC quality rating, brief description and, variety attribution but without images. If a customer is interested in certain listings, the coins will be photographed on demand, and moved to the regular price lists. Sales will be captured in the Sales Archives.

Optimized Positioning of Price List Icons

More Summer FUN New Purchases

Friday was a long busy day in the GFRC office with two important highlights to share.

First was the arrival of the 1891-O PCGS MS66 CAC dime from my favorite wholesaler. What an amazing Liberty Seated dime, and the finest 1891-O strike I've seen. This dime will fit perfectly into my core date and mintmark set. Many readers are probably wondering who is this mystery favorite wholesaler? All I can say is this individual is young and has a bright future in the numismatic industry. It is my pleasure to work closely with this individual.

Second is the sale of my 1869 F-104a Short Flag 1 PCGS MS63 plate coin into the Indiana Collection. Arriving at a fair selling price was challenging, given the date, die variety rarity, and eye appeal. In the end, a fair offer price was extended and the buyer agreed. That is all that matters in our community. Everyone must feel like the transaction was win-win.

Here are more Summer FUN new purchases with most on the price list as of this morning. The 1806 O-121 Draped Bust half warrants special attention, given its above average eye appeal.

Quality Summer FUN New Purchases

1806 O-121 PCGS VF25 50C 1878 NGC AU58 CAC G$3

1900 NGC MS62 Fatty G$10 1852 NGC AU53 CAC G$20

Wrapping Up The Blog

The 8:00 am publishing time has arrived and it's best to get on with another day in the GFRC office. Today's emphasis shifts to the recent Murphys Collection consignment. You can expect a client gallery by the end of the day.

As previously mentioned, I will be in the office the entire day in front of a floor-standing fan. Every purchase order is sincerely appreciated. Emails orders will be quickly responded to as the GFRC office is nice and tidy and I'm feeling less stressed. I'm one of these people that can't function properly in an unorganized and unkempt workspace.

Enjoy the weekend down time and thank-you for visiting the Blog!

July 19, 2019

New Chicago ANA Consignment Announcements!

Greetings on a Friday morning and welcome to the Blog.

Another fantastic southern Maine day arrives. Current temperature is a cool 59F but will increase to 85 degrees under clear sunny skies. Humidity levels are on the increase but still reasonable throughout the day.

The Fortin homestead is a beehive of activity as a baby shower takes place on Sunday. Renee's due date is late August immediately before the Central Ohio Numismatic Association (CONA) show. The Raymond home is being decorated with the usual baby stuff and games are being prepared. Hiding in the GFRC office on Sunday is the current operational strategy. Sorry but there is little interest for baby talk and associated emotions among a large group of women.

Spot Gold Touches $1450/oz Thursday Afternoon

While working in the GFRC office, I typically check FOX News every few hours for the latest political dissing or world events. Yesterday brought news that a United States warship had shot down an Iranian drone in the Strait of Homuz. The increasing tensions probably would impact spot gold prices as a thought, but I was so busy with image processing and just moved on. Two hours later, Dan White calls to report that gold is quoting in the high $1440s after touching $1450/oz: no surprise given the geopolitical news.

Spot gold is now in a substantial multi-year breakout with $1500/oz being possible before the Chicago ANA. If the Middle East situation continues to degrade due to Iranian hostage taking or blatant oil tanker attacks, my forecast is for gold prices to run beyond the $1500 level. The following Kitco five year chart illustrates a healthy price trend with a new trading range established at $1415/oz. Rather than a rocket ship pattern, price increases are controlled. Let's not forget that major United States banks are not sitting idle during this period. It is well known that gold prices are quasi-controlled by a handful of major players with U.S Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin probably well aware of the increases. It would take substantial Asian, Middle East and India demand to overcome Western bank control.

GFRC has repriced its bullion senstive $20 double eagles on the website and Collectors Corner. My minimum price for a $20 double eagle currently stands at $1525. Following is the Kitco five year gold technical chart. The breakout is capturing much attention.

Chicago ANA Consignment Window is Closed

I'm pleased to report that three incremental consignments were committed on Thursday resulting in the need to close the Chicago ANA consignment window. Given a forthcoming trip to Shanghia prior to the ANA's World Fair of Money show, there is limited operational bandwidth. To ensure that all commitments are honored, it is best to halt consignments until the middle of August.

Following are three newly committed consignments that will be arriving next week. Let's just say that gold is the operative word!

Alexandria Unites States Gold Type Set - Rhoda Mattox will be shipping Mark's 20 piece gold type set to GFRC this coming weekend. Also in the shipment is a Mercury dime set with 75% holdered and most having Full Band designations. The 1916-D is PCGS G04. The 1921 and 1921-D dates are not available.

As background for new Blog readers, sadly, Mark Mattox passed away three years ago from a massive heart attack. Mark left a note in his bible with instructions to his wife Rhoda for the divestment of his Liberty Seated half dollar and Type Gold coin collections. GFRC was entrusted with the responsibility and current working closely with Rhoda to ensure she recovers the financial benefits of Mark's pride and joy.

Following is an itemized list of the Alexandria gold type pieces.

1853 $1 - Type 1 Liberty Head MS63 PCGS CAC
1855 $1 - Type 2, Small Head AU55 PCGS CAC
1874 $1 - Type 3 Indian Princess MS63 PCGS CAC
1836 Script 8 $2.5 - Classic Head EF45 NGC CAC
1905 $2.5 - Liberty MS64 PCGS CAC
1927 $2.5 - Indian MS63+ PCGS CAC
1874 $3 - Princess AU55 NGC CAC
1836 $5 - Classic Head EF45 PCGS
1847 $5 - Liberty No Motto AU58 PCGS CAC
1905 $5 - Liberty Motto MS64 PCGS CAC
1909-D $5 - Indian MS63 PCGS CAC
1847 $10 - Liberty No Motto AU55 NGC
1901-S $10 - Liberty Motto MS63+ PCGS CAC
1907 $10 - Indian No Motto MS62 PCGS CAC
1915 $10 - Indian Motto MS62 PCGS
1932 $10 - Indian Motto MS62 PCGS CAC
1853 $20 - Liberty No Motto AU53 PCGS CAC
1876-S $20 - Liberty WM TWENTY D AU55 PCGS
1899 $20 - Liberty WM TWENTY DOLLARS MS63 PCGS
1910-S $20 - St Gaudens MS62 PCGS CAC

GOLD CAC Collection from an Anonymous Consignor - I've been in discussions with this individual for several months concerning the sale of his nineteen piece GOLD CAC collection at the Chicago ANA. Thursday brought a firm commitment with shipment taking place early next week. For those who enjoy collecting early holders with GOLD CAC beans, this consignment presents a major opportunity.

Here is an impressive list of the forthcoming GOLD CAC consignment contents.

1857 Flying Eagle 1c PCGS OGH MS60
1860 C/N Indian Head 1c PCGS OGH AU55 - (Total Pop 12, 1860 Pop 1)
1865 Three Cent Nickel PCGS Rattler MS63 - (Total Pop of only 7 total 3CN)
1938-D Buffalo Nickel PCGS Rattler MS65
1854 WA Seated Half Dime PCGS MS63 - (Total Pop 8)
1872 Seated Dime (Proof) NGC Fatty PF62 - (Total Pop 23 Proofs)
1882 Seated Dime PCGS AU55
1892 Barber Dime PCGS Rattler MS64
1945-S Mercury Dime NGC Fatty MS66
1958 Washington Quarter PCGS MS66+
1936 Bay Bridge Comm. Half Dollar PCGS OGH MS62
1946 Iowa Comm. Half Dollar PCGS Rattler MS63
1926-S Oregon Trail Comm. Half Dollar PCGS MS65
1936 York Maine Comm. Half Dollar PCGS OGH MS65
1943 Walking Lib Half Dollar NGC Fatty MS65
1946-D Walking Lib Half Dollar PCGS Rattler MS63
1881-S Morgan Dollar PCGS MS65
1874 Indian Princess Gold Dollar PCGS Rattler MS61
1900 Liberty Head $5 Gold Half Eagle PCGS Rattler MS60

Denver Collection Consignment - I've also enjoyed several email and phone call discussions with my good friend in Denver. This individual attended the first LSCC ANA Summer Seminar course several years ago and has been a consistent client. A special need requires some fund raising and results in a small but awesome consignment. All offerings were previously purchased from GFRC. The 1870 NGC MS64 half is a gem piece of eye candy.

Following are the contents of the latest Denver Collection consignment.

1870 P Seated Half NGC MS64 - gem eye candy
1904 S Liberty Head $20 NGC MS64 CAC
1843 P Liberty Quarter Eagle $2.5 PCGS EF45 CAC
1893 P Liberty Head Eagle $10 PCGS MS62 CAC
1906 D Liberty Head Eagle $10 PCGS MS62

GFRC Consignments Arriving to Price List Today!

Let's start this segment with an apology for my slow response time to many customers and clients. The current volume is taxing with limited time to response to emails. I can either spent time loading coins into the COIN system plus processing images, or responding to the many emails that continuously arrive. Obviously, coins need to keep moving through the GFRC system as a priority. Again, my apology for delayed responses and your understanding is appreciated. I will get to everyone's requests.

As mentioned in Thursday's Blog, Gerry Fortin is consigning several important Liberty Seated dimes from his reference collection. The time has come to continually reduce the number of Seated dimes accumulated during the 1990 - 2004 die variety research timeframe. Following are two special offerings to consider.

First is the 1860-S plate coin from Kamal Ahwash's Encyclopedia of United States - Liberty Seated Dimes - 1837-1891. This dime has been in my collection for over 18 years! It was purchased during May 2001 from Jason Carter with full understanding that it was the Ahwash plate coin. There is a tiny dark piece of verdigris between the cap and star 9 that validates the pedigree. Please check the following images.

Important 1860-S Seated Dime Offering - Kam Ahwash Plate Coin

1860-S F-101 NGC MS64 10C

Here is another wonderful Liberty Seated dime to consider. This 1878-CC Type 1 F-101 is a pure joy to view. It is housed in pristine NGC MS64 Fatty holder. Both sides are heavily clashed with rich frosty luster under the colorful toning.

1878-CC Type 1 Reverse - Pure Eye Candy

1878-CC F-101 NGC MS64 Fatty 10C

Latest Woodbridge Collection Consignment

CAC approved Liberty Seated quarter demand is on fire based on the requests for the following Woodbridge Collection consignment. The following pieces are so so well matched with crusty gray surfaces. All but the 1844-O, 1858-S, and 1874 With Arrows have multiple First Right of Refusal requests.

I will be pricing these today and securing Woodbridge's approval before contacting those with initial FRoRs. Please understand if I do respond to every FRoR that arrives. Your emails are being read but just unable to write responses to each.

Crusty Choice Original Seated Quarters - Woodbridge ANA Consignment

1878-CC Briggs 2-B NGC EF40 CAC 25C

1840-O ND NGC VF25 CAC 25C 1841-O PCGS EF40 CAC 25C 1842-O Lg Date PCGS VF25 CAC 25C

1844-O ANACS EF40 OWH 25C 1858-S PCGS VG10 25C 1874 Arrows NGC EF40 CAC 25C

Global Financial News

This Blog edition probably sets a record for length and content. So let's wrap up this segment quickly.

Global equity markets are upbeat due to more Federal Reserve signals of potential interest rate cute. The markets have baked in a 2019 rate cut into current trading levels so the Federal Reserve has little room to move.

Looking at commodities and interest rates, crude oil is down to $56.20/bbl regardless of Iranian behaviors at the Strait of Homuz. Spot gold current quotes at $1439/oz. Bitcoin is back over the five figure mark with a price of $10326/coin. The 10 Year U.S Treasury bond yield is stable at 2.05%.

Thank-you for checking in at the Blog. Yes, I will be in the office the entire day after taking a quick health walk in a few minutes.

Please stop by on Saturday morning for more numismatic ramblings.

July 18, 2019

New Seal Beach Collection Seated Halves!

Greetings on a wonderful Southern Maine morning. Welcome to the Blog!

Finally, unpleasantly hot Maine temperatures and humidity dissipated during the overnight hours. The day starts at 68F with a brisk breeze and much lower dewpoint. Cooler temps bring an opportunity to enjoy a health walk after completing today's Blog edition.

Focal Kanta Speakers Opening Up?

Yes, we've all heard of fine wines needing time to breath and open up, exposing their rich flavors. High end audio speakers are no different.

Upon installation, Bernie from the Audio Store reminded me that it would take 200 hours of loud usage to properly condition the low and med range speaker suspensions. He was not kidding! After maybe 50 hours of usage, the Focal speakers are coming to life and producing mind blowing bass response. The response is so powerful that sound waves can be felt on my chest at loud but reasonable volumes. Reasonable is a highly subjective term. No, I've not been smoking funny stuff in the basement sound room. For readers with high end sound systems, might I suggest dialing up Blues Image's Clean Love or Jimi Hendrix's Hear My Train Coming as recorded at the Fillmore East. The Focal/Naim audio system has no tone controls. Sound quality is a function of the recording. I'm having so much fun exploring a massive Tidal music catalog towards locating the best possible recordings that showcase the new audio system. So far, some exceptional recordings include Enigma's Mea Culpa along with Peter Gabriel's We Do What We Want.

Visting the GFRC Bank Boxes

Wednesday morning brought a visit to the Windham bank boxes to extract my former 1856-S PCGS MS62 CAC Seated dime (The Frog Run Collection specimen) for an Express shipment today. The new 1856-S PCGS MS63+ CAC dime went into its spot in the double row box and currently rests peacefully with the balance of my core collection. Also retrieved was the 1891-O NGC MS65 CAC dime from the set. A GFRC customer is awaiting a quotation for the piece. Hence, this offering will not last long on the price list.

While visiting the bank boxes, I pulled out a few other high end duplicates that should garner serious attention in the coming days. How about an 1860-S Liberty Seated dime graded NGC MS64? This piece is the Kam Ahwash plate coin for his groundbreaking 1979 Encyclopedia. I remember purchasing this dime from Jason Carter years ago with a strong message; please sell back to me when the time coins to divest! Yes, I still have some amazing pieces hiding in the bank boxes. Another forthcoming offering is an 1878-CC F-101 dime graded NGC MS64. This piece is pure eye candy. We wrap up the numismatic teasing with an 1869 F-104a Short Flag graded PCGS MS63. This is the web-book plate coin and an R6+ or better die variety. It is the only Mint State Short Flag I have ever seen. The Indiana Collection consignment has been requesting this piece for months and his wish is about to be granted. But the asking price will not be inexpensive.

Seal Beach Collection Seated Halves on the Price List

The GFRC office is back to normal operation. Wednesday afternoon brought a round of image procesing and new offerings. As promised, Seal Beach's latest Liberty Seated halves were given priority and are immediately available. There are two JUST BUY IT NOW designations across six pieces. Please pay very special attention to the 1873 No Arrows Closed 3 PCGS AU53 CAC half. This piece originated from the Grey Soldier Collection and is a pure gem. GFRC images are underwhelming but in hand viewing is spectacular. Trust me.... Oh, the 1868-S half is already on hold and Quick Ships today.

Quality Liberty Seated Halves - Seal Beach Collection

1858 PCGS AU55 CAC 50C 1859-O WB-16 PCGS AU53 CAC 50C

1861 PCGS AU58 CAC OGH 50C 1868-S WB-4 PCGS AU53 50C

1873 NA Closed 3 PCGS AU53 CAC 50C 1878 PCGS MS62 CAC 50C

Up next in the image processing queue are Summer FUN new purchases, some great pieces from the Murphys Collection, and residual offerings from Jim Poston. Please keep monitoring the Daily Blog during late afternoons and early mornings for more client galleries.

Global Financial News

The financial world is moving to safety or, as the official lingo goes, in a risk-off mode. Overseas equity markets are flashing red futures as a number of economic issues are bothering investors.

The flight to safety is easily seen across commodity prices and the long bond interest rate. The 10 Year U.S. Treasury yield dropped to 2.05% overnight while spot gold prices jumped to $1422/oz. Crude oil prices have eased to $57.36/bbl and Bitcoin continues to receed at $9856/coin.

Seeking Alpha headlines provide important insights on a Thursday morning.

Let's face it, major governments don't like financial systems that they cannot tax or control. Facebook's Libra digital currency initiative is being scrutinized for taxation approaches and ensuring controlled global capital flows.

In addition to warning on the "serious risks" posed by Facebook's Libra and other digital coins, G7 finance ministers agreed to tackle digital tax challenges at a meeting outside of Paris. "Ministers agreed that a minimum level of effective taxation, such as for example the U.S. GILTI regime, would contribute to ensuring that companies pay their fair share of tax," according to a draft of the chair's summary. The 'global intangible low-taxed income' regime aims to subject overseas intangible income to 10.5% to discourage companies from shifting profits abroad instead of the nominal U.S. corporate tax rate under the Trump tax cuts of 21%.

This headline casts insights into the beginning of the end for the U.S. dollar as the world's reserve currency. Countries under U.S. sanctions will probably unite around an alternative global trading system that does not rely on the U.S dollar and the SWIFT transactional system.

Russia is prepared to join an EU payments channel designed to circumvent U.S. sanctions banning trade with Iran, but has called on Brussels to expand the new mechanism to cover oil exports. The vehicle, known as Instex, intends to allow for imports and exports without direct financial flows. "The more countries and continents involved, the more effective will the mechanism be as a whole," the Russian foreign ministry told the FT.

Wrapping Up The Blog

As long as the sun stays out, there will be another round of new GFRC offerings before the end of day.

I will be in the GFRC office the entire day other than a quick morning health walk. I've not exercised for over a week and I'll be best to get my act together before heading to Shanghai on July 31.

Please remember that consignors wish to sell their coins and you are invited to help them out. A GFRC numismatic purchase would be sincerely appreciated during the summer months.

So ends the Blog. See you tomorrow morning.

July 17, 2019

Just Crazy Busy and Another Liberty Seated Dime Set Upgrade

Greetings on another lovely southern Maine morning. Thank-you for making the Daily Blog regular reading.

Tuesday was one of those non-stop catch-up days, followed by falling into bed exhausted. The day started at 6:00 am, with Blog composition, and wrapped up at 11:30 pm. The GFRC office is back in order with inventory sorted and in the safe (thanks Matt for helping out). The homestead lawn was mowed. A forty piece CAC submission was organized and shipped. Regular orders were shipped. The phone rang throughout the day with many customers and friends checking in. My 1856-S Frog Run PCGS MS62 CAC Seated dime duplicate found a new home. The day even brought a second Liberty Seated dime set upgrade in a single week. More on this topic later.

Not completed was Seal Beach image processing, hence the lack of a client gallery for today's edition. My response time for email inquiries has been protracted. Requests for numismatic advice and die variety attribution were mentally placed into the get to it folder. I'll do my best to respond today.

Seth's Blog: Paid to learn

Seth Godin is back with sound advice. Continuous learning is paramount in today's modern society and information age. If an individual is not learning new skills or mastering advanced technology, that person is falling behind by default. Godin suggests that employers encourage and fund continuous learning for their employees. The concept is sound, but there is one caveat that I learned the hard way while managing a semiconductor operation in Penang, Malaysia. As local employees acquire new skills, the company must have an ongoing career path that utilizes those skills and rewards them with increased compensation. If not, employees will jump ship to another company for higher pay.

On a personal note, the GFRC business could not operate at its current level without continuous learning. Mastering Excel is an example. Most individuals utilize less than 20% of modern software capabilities. Delving into advanced features can bring huge productivity improvements or even self satisfaction.

Paid to learn

The rationale for traditional education is that more learning gets you a better job, and a job gets you paid, which makes the learning a worthwhile investment.

But what happens after you get that job?

In some organizations, that’s the end of that. You might pick up experience and wisdom on the job, but the short-sighted organization may view ongoing learning as too expensive.

The insight is to realize that stuck employees are far more expensive than educated ones.

More and more organizations have come to understand that paying their employees to learn, to really dig and learn something, is a bargain. An inspired and insightful employee is going to produce far more value than one who’s simply being ignored.

And employees are beginning to understand that the time and effort they put into continuing education comes back to them for the rest of their careers, because once you learn it, it’s something you can use again and again.

Gerry Fortin Core Liberty Seated Dime Set Upgrade

It is difficult to believe that two Liberty Seated Dime set upgrades were made in a single week after a long period of inactivity. Yesterday brought a phone call from my favorite wholesaler towards securing a Summer FUN show perspective and also to congratulate on the 1856-S PCGS MS63+ dime acquisition. Then the conversation shifted to Chicago ANA and his new purchases. He proudly reported the acquisition of a gorgeous 1891-O dime graded PCGS MS66 with CAC approval that might be an upgrade for my core Liberty Seated Dime collection. Following are PCGS TrueView images. This dime is one of the CoinFacts plate coins and superior to the Eugene Gardner specimen. Why would I not purchase it?

Gerry Fortin Liberty Seated Core Dime Set Upgrade

1891-O PCGS MS66 CAC 10C

As a result, my 1891-O F-106a NGC MS65 CAC is immediately available for sale. Here are images for collectors with potential interest.

1891 New Orleans strikes have proven to be difficult to locate in gem MS66 with superior eye appeal. I've made several upgrades for this date and believe the new acquisition is the final improvement.

GFRC Wednesday Activities?

The GFRC 30 day price list is well below the 100 coin threshold that makes me feel comfortable. Today's primary goals are to process the new Seal Beach Collection consignment and add more new purchases to the price list. There will be a trip to the Windham bank vault to retrieve the 1856-S and 1891-O duplicates and also placing the 1856-S PCGS MS63+ in safe keeping. More consignment checks also need to be written and mailed.

Please check the Blog later today for a lovely display of fresh Seal Beach Liberty Seated halves.

Global Financial News

The world-wide trading day opens with equity markets flat and Bitcoin getting whacked below the $10,000 level.

Crude oil pricing starts a slow retreat and is currently quoted at $58.05/bbl. The yellow precious metal remains is a tight trading range at $1403/oz. Yes, Bitcoin was whacked overnight with a current quote of $9359/coin. The 10 Year US Treasury bond yield is flat at 2.1%.

This Seeking Alpha headline should not come as a surpirse: Turkey is ejected from the F-35 fighter jet program

Putting new strains on NATO, the U.S. will begin withholding sales of the advanced F-35 to Turkey after Ankara received the new S-400 missile defense system from Russia. Lockheed Martin, which derives around 30% of its sales from the F-35, has played down the impact of Turkey's potential expulsion from the program in recent weeks, saying other countries are awaiting planes that would have been sold to Turkey. The development stands to affect the Turkish economy, however, with many local companies manufacturing hundreds of parts for the fighter.

Big technology companies are moving through an antitrust hearing process.

Legislators also demanded explanations from Apple about charges for apps and in-app purchases, Facebook for its rapidly changing privacy policy and Google over whether its rivals are demoted in search results. Other congressional panels focused on Facebook's plans to bring out its Libra cryptocurrency, with Bitcoin sliding 8% below $10K during the session and losing almost a third of its value since last week. President Trump separately said that his administration should look into Google's ties to China, elevating the political risk of the company’s yearslong effort to build a presence in that market.

Wrapping Up The Blog

So ends another Blog edition as I'm out of commentary. Other than a quick trip to the Wndham bank vault, I will be in the GFRC office the entire day.

Don't be bashful with a phone call order!

See you tomorrow at the Blog.

July 16, 2019

A Rare Date Liberty Seated Dime Upgrade!

Greetings and welcome to the Blog on a gorgeous southern Maine morning. It is wonderful to be working from the office and enjoying the lush landscape from the window facing the front yard.

Recovering the GFRC office has proven to be challenging after Summer FUN due to a substantial amount of online orders that arrived while driving back from Orlando. The coin business is that way. Going into Summer FUN, online orders had been in the doldrums and I was naturally a little worried about the summer numismatic market. Then wham-bang, orders exploded this past weekend. One large order includes 26 coins across silver type and commemorative gold! United States gold is on fire with daily requests from collectors and Collectors Corner dealers trying to fill their want lists. My philosophy is that orders always receive priority attention. Therefore, the repositioning of Summer FUN inventory must wait. You should see the office as I'm filling orders from stacked double row slabbed boxes on the floor along with safe contents.

Today's must get done goals are a fairly large CAC submission and loadings all Summer FUN payments into the COIN system. If time allows, there will be more photography and darn, the lawn needs to be mowed after two weeks of growth.

The Yamatin family has truly settled in. It is a wonderful feeling to have a full house including Natsumi helping Grandpa with basic administrative items. She loves to unpack consignment boxes and place contents into PCGS blue boxes for staging. We are nearly out of USPS 2 Day Priority shipping boxes, so another task for Natsumi this morning.

Let's close today's preamble with a clear statement that the United States numismatic market is very active and robust. Now that collectors are back from the July 4th vacation period, order rates are above the 2018 level and appear to be accelerating. Our economy is booming with collectors having disposable income for hobby pursuits. I firmly believe that future numismatists will view this timeframe as the golden age for the numismatic hobby.

A Rare Date Liberty Seated Dime Upgrade!

One reason behind my optimism for the current numismatic market is the reaction to images of Saturday's Summer FUN new purchase. Already two GFRC customers have come forth requesting first shot for this spectacular 1856-S Liberty Seated dime graded PCGS MS63+ with CAC approval. Disappointing customers is not something I enjoy doing but will make an exception here. This dime is heading into my personal collection as an upgrade for the PCGS MS62 CAC Frog Run Collection specimen purchased at the Baltimore 2004 American Numismatic Rarities auction.

When adding a piece to the Fortin core Liberty Seated dime set, I still use the same purchase criteria that has served me well for 25 years. To add a dime to the core date and mintmark set, the candidate must meet three criteria; full strike, substantial eye appeal and no question originality. The 1856-S date is brutal towards meeting this criteria since mintage was only 70,000 and nearly all went into circulate for much needed small denomination transactions. If only this dime could tell its preservation story!

Gerry Fortin Liberty Seated Core Dime Set Upgrade

1856-S PCGS MS63+ CAC 10C

My PCGS MS62 CAC duplicate (Frog Run Collection) has already been promised to an important GFRC customer and friend. I must make a trip to the Windham bank in the near term to retrieve this piece and move the newly purchased MS63+ specimen into their vault for safe keeping.

Summer FUN New Purchases and Osprey Collection Consignments

Frankly, I've lost track of the total number of Summer FUN new purchases along with insourcing Osprey's lastest consignment lot. Most are buried in the Summer FUN inventory boxes and will be extracted today for photography. Please keep a close watch on the Daily Blog as I attempt to rollout new offerings as quickly as possible. I'm heading to Shanghai prior to the ANA World's Fair of Money show to support my Chinese customer base and will be most busy prior to that trip.

Here are four great new purchases to consider. For some reason, the 1855 PCGS MS63 look so familiar to me as could have been part of my collection in the past. It is a choice frosty example and should not last long on the price list. Next is a lovely 1877-S Trade dollar with a single obverse chop mark that is well hidden in the wheat grains. Then there are two fabulous United States gold offerings both graded PCGS MS64+ with CAC approval. Dan and I were most active with United Sates gold purchases at Summer FUN.

Summer FUN New Purchases - Arriving to Price List

1855 WA PCGS MS63 10C 1877-S PCGS AU58+ T$1 Chop Mark

1884 PCGS MS64+ CAC G$1 1908 PCGS MS64+ CAC G$2.5

Consignment Status

Just a quick update on consignments. The Seal Beach and Murphys Collection consignments have arrived. Both will bring more great offerings to the price list in the coming week.

Monday brought two more conversations concerning incremental consignments. The Denver Collection consignor has decided to raise capital and will be transferring some awesome Mint State silver and gold pieces purchased from GFRC in the past four years. Another collector has approached me with a broad mix of circulated Capped Bust and Seated type coins.

Global Financial News

It is Q2 earning reporting week for the financial markets. The markets are quiet and in a wait-and-see mode.

Commodities and interest rates are also flat. Now that Barry has moved through the Gulf of Mexico, oil production has returned to normal. Crude oil prices have receeded to $59.58/bbl. Spot gold is flat at $1417/oz while Bitcoin still remains in the five figure territory at $10708/coin.

The 10 Year U.S. long bond yield is flat at 2.1%

There is little to share from Seeking Alpha headlines and will take a pass for the day.

Wrapping Up The Blog

Thank-you for checking in at the Blog. There is no question that I will be in the office the entire day attempting to catch up after Summer FUN.

I'm doing my best to keep up with phone and email orders. If my response times are a tad slow, then please understand the huge workload until the GFRC office returns to a normal operating state.

If wishing to discuss a potential consignment, I'm all ears!

Finally, please check back later today as I hope to post the latest Seal Beach consignment as a fresh client gallery. His Liberty Seated halves were photographed on Monday.

See ya tomorrow!

July 15, 2019

Summer FUN News and Wrapup Plus Tales from the Road

Greetings from the Maine GFRC office and welcome to a fresh edition of the Blog. It is great to be home and sleeping in my bed!

Thank-you for checking in and my apology for the lack of a Blog edition on Sunday. Two long days of solo driving from Orlando, Florida to southern Maine along with carrying GFRC inventory can be mentally exhausting. Saturday's departure from the Orange County Convention Center took place at 2:15 pm with an arrival into a Virgina hotel at midnight. Then the journey resumed at 7:30 am after a brief sleep and breakfast.

Sunday's drive was a bit arduous upon crossing into New Jersey. I arrived home at 8:00 pm to a lovely grilled salmon dinner by Matt. Once the coins were safely in the house, it was time for nuts and a small pre-dinner scotch glass on the back deck. Have you ever experienced the feeling of perpetual motion? Well I did. My body and mind felt like I was still in motion though standing still. Due to unrelenting driving attention for hours, the mind is conditioned into believing the body is still behind the wheel. The scotch was calming medicine. Dinner time was special as Natasumi appeared to grow mentally in just one week of absence. Her wit is extraordinary for a five year old.

Summer FUN Day 3 and Overall Summary

Was Summer FUN worth the time and efforts expended? The response is a definitely yes! Saturday was the most important of the three days at the show.

Conventional bourse flooor wisdom has it that Saturdays are primarly focused on wrapping up any unfinished business and entertaining customers who are mostly in a casual viewing and shopping mode. Saturday started with that mindset. Dan and I planned to close the booth at noontime towards my being on the road an hour later. A local Thursday customer called indicating that he would be back early Saturday morning to purchase more Liberty Seated coins for his type set. Therefore, we knew of at least one potential sale. By the time the bourse opened, the double row slab boxes were neatly stacked in numerical order for unloading the cases. For the final time, I rubbed the lucky jade stone while Dan went off on a final buying effort on the bourse. Then good fortune arrived!

Dan returned to the booth and strongly suggested that I immediately go to booth XYZ. This dealer had a rare Liberty Seated dime graded PCGS MS63+ CAC and it could be the finest known. The dime was well hidden among a variety of random type coins with many being in detailed holders. I immediately went to the identified table and my goodness, Dan was right. This dime is indeed a near pop-top specimen that would be a long-awaited upgrade for my core Liberty Seated dime collection; or, for that matter, for any of the top Liberty Seated dime sets in the GFRC Open Registry. Upon identfying myself (I don't wear my trademark Gerry Fortin Rare Coin polo when traveling), one of the three dealers recognized the name from the Fortin attributions used by Heritage and Stacks. I requested their best price. After a brief group huddle, the offer price was given. My response was an immediate sold and will you take my check? This special purchase will be announced in Tuesday Blog edition after I offer my duplicate to a GFRC client today.

Once the purchase was completed and GFRC was recognized as a serious buyer, Dan returned to their table and worked a deal for five United States gold pieces. A Charlotte $5 gold piece is among the group. We also purchased a gorgeous 1886 Seated half graded PCGS MS66 for inventory.

After this most fortunate buying, several customers arrived to booth #827 and we sold five additional Liberty Seated coins before closing down.

How would I rate the 2019 Summer FUN show?

Selling: B-

Buying: A+

FUN Organization, Faciliaties and Marketing Efforts: A

Hanging Out with Dan White: Priceless.....

GFRC probably has at least 40 or more new purchases and consignments to photograph and load to the price list from Summer FUN along with consignments that arrived while traveling.

Tales from the Road...

Driving a round trip between Maine and Florida is not for the faint of heart when carrying inventory. Bio management is critical; pit stops are to be avoided and carefully planned. Food (Cliff Bars) is prepurchased and consumed while driving.

On these long journeys, there are always cases of bad drivers, traffic delays, and just the bizarre sights. Following are observations from four days on traveling the eastern seaboard.

- I've never seen the southbound lane of the Garden State Parkway empty above the Oranges while driving north on Sunday. It was the most bizarre sight. First came the police on motorbikes with flashing lights. Was the Pope or Trump in town? Who could have the clout to close the Garden State Parkway? How about a parade of hundreds of bikers? It was definitely a sight to see.

- Sunday afternoons are just perfect for transporting huge oversized loads on a major highway. Southbound I-295 in New Jersey, before the Delaware Bridge, was used to transport a massive piece of factory equipment that took both lanes. Southbound traffic was back-up for miles following this special transport and escorts.

- One can always count on certain choke points unless passing through at midnight or early morning hours. The top prize goes to I-287 between the Garden State Parkway and the Tappan Zee Bridge. Interestingly, New York has changed their signage to read Mario Cuomo Memorial Bridge while New Jersey still has their Tappan Zee signs.

- I've never seen the Mass Pike (I-90) so backed up that it caused a 3/4 mile access delay on I-84. I took Rt 20, that runs parallel to I-90, to get to Worcester and ran into other back road delays. Sometimes you just can't win.

- Matt will be pleased to know that more Teslas were seen during the journey. Model S and Model X styling is rather distinctive and easy to pick out. I followed a Model S in the passing lane for a quite awhile on Sunday.

- I wish people would put their cellphones down and just drive. There is nothing as aggrevating as a person in the passing lane with cellphone in hand that causes erratic driving. It is downright dangerous.

- Finally, there are selfish drivers out there. These are the drivers that see a mile long queuing line to exit a major highway and cut the line right before the exit. This was the case exiting the Merritt Parkway to I-91 in Connecticutt and again exiting I-91 to I-84 at Hartford. Did your parents not teach you respect for others?

Global Financial News

Asian markets are starting the week on an upbeat note as Chinese industrial production and retails sale numbers continue to be strong regardless of the United States trade war.

Looking at commodities and interest rates, crude oil is quoting at $60.44/bb while spot gold is solidly above the $1400 level at $1417/oz. Bitcoin continues to oscillate at $10318/coin. The 10 year U.S. Treasury bond yield is now up to 2.14%.

Seeking Alpha captures China's Q2 economic reporting.

Weakened by trade tensions with the U.S., China's economic growth decelerated in the second quarter to its slowest pace since 1992, growing by 6.2% and prompting expectations of more stimulus. The data was weighed down by an impasse in negotiations that shattered hopes for a trade deal in late May, though President Trump and Xi Jinping got discussions back on track by the end of June. Separate economic figures handily topped forecasts as the country’s industrial output grew 6.3% in June from a year earlier, while retail sales surged 9.8%. The Shanghai Composite closed up 0.4% following the news.

As United States power grids continues to age, the probability of a massive electrical blackout grows. Saturday's NYC blackout was the tip of the iceberg.

A chunk of New York City plunged into darkness Saturday evening as 73,000 customers on Manhattan's West Side, as well as subways, stores and Broadway theaters, lost power. While the city’s main utility, Con Edison, restored electricity within hours, Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered an investigation into the incident, saying he would hold "all parties accountable." No deaths or injuries were reported due to the outage, which occurred 42 years to the day from a major 1977 blackout that sparked looting and rioting across NYC.

Wrapping Up The Blog

Monday brings a very busy day as the past week's orders must be packaged and shipped. Summer FUN show inventory needs to be sorted for extracting new purchases and amalgamated with existing inventory that remained in Maine office. A CAC submission will be shipped on Tuesday. Sunday online orders must be acknowledged and responded to.

I believe you get the point...

Thanks again for checking in at the Blog.

July 13, 2019

Thank Goodness for the English Pub

Greetings on a Saturday morning and welcome to the last Florida originated Blog until early December.

Summer FUN Show Day 2 Report

I hope today's headline captures the day's sentiment. It was tire kicker Friday at Summer FUN with moderate attendance and limited purchases; very limited. Dan did his best to stay busy walking the bourse while Gerry loaded Thursday's sales into the COIN system along with new purchases and consignments. We managed to buy two coins on Friday. First was a nicely toned 1834 Capped Bust half dime graded PCGS MS65 during dealer opening time. Later in the day, a frosty original 1855 With Arrow dime accurately graded PCGS MS63 was located on the bourse and moved to GFRC inventory. I make a habit of purchasing every better grade 1855 dime since being much scarcer than 1853 and 1854 counterparts but priced at the same level. One of these days, prices for the 1855 With Arrows date must be adjusted up for some differentiation.

GFRC enjoyed a total of three sales on Friday with one being a $20 Liberty gold bullion flip. It was that kind of day.

Dan and I decided to close up early and head back to the English Pub for happy hour. Those Smithwick Irish ales tasted great. Then came shepherds pie as the main course followed by traditional wings with Markers Mark sauce for desert.

Our expectations for Saturday are non existent with a planned late morning booth closure. Dan is heading back to Sarasota while Gerry starts his return trip to Maine.

New Woodbridge Collection Consignment

While at dinner, an email arrived from the Woodbridge Collection consignor suggesting a Liberty Seated quarter consignment. Hell yes I replied; please ship asap to allow time for staging for the Chicago ANA show. Woodbridge is another GFRC client that quickly transfers his duplicates to GFRC towards capital recovery. Following are the new Woodbridge Collection offerings with five of the seven pieces being CAC approved.

Seated 25c: 1840-O No Drapery NGC CAC VF25; 1841-O PCGS CAC EF40; 1842-O PCGS CAC VF25; 1844-O ANACS EF40; 1858-S PCGS VG10; 1874.NGC CAC XF40; 1878-CC.NGC CAC XF40

Wrapping Up The Blog

Please don't expect any profound thoughts from yours truly in this Blog edition. It has been a long two weeks between the Alaska cruise, the one day GFRC office turnaround followed by a two day drive to Orlando. Now the Maine return trip looms for tomorrow and best to get a good night's sleep. Saturday will be a long day with booth tear down and a northern journey to a mid-way overnight stop. I can't wait to get home on Sunday evening and immediately go to the sound room for an hour of bliss. Unpacking coins can wait until Monday morning along with mowing the lawn....

Thank-you for checking in and sharing my ongoing GFRC numismatic adventures.

There may not be a Blog on Sunday morning as an early start to the second leg of the northern drive is warranted.

July 12, 2019

Collectors Out in Force at Summer FUN

Greetings once again and welcome to another Orlando edition of the Daily Blog. It has been a hectic day. This edition is being written on Thursday evening due to another early start to the day on Friday. The Summer FUN bourse opens at 8:30 am leaving just enough time to write the Global Financial News segment followed by breakfast and walking to the Orange County Convention Center.

Summer FUN Show Day 1 Report

I'll be honest; my fears of a weak Summer FUN show were unfounded. Online orders are in the mid summer doldrums with that situation translating into concerns for a below expectations Summer FUN show. I was definitely proven wrong today. The bourse opened at 10:00 am with an immediately wave of collectors pouring onto the bourse floor. How I wish that every show could have this type of opening attendance.

The GFRC Booth #827 location turned out to be positive situation since collectors walked up through the end of the first aisle before veering off to other aisles. As a result, many collectors stop at the GFRC tables to view our broad early type and United States coin offerings. Many collectors took notes on potential purchases and returned a few hours later to secure their identified coins.

The GFRC corner table was non stop busy from 10:30 am until 4:30 pm when the bourse activity finally slowed and the favorable "buzz" quieted. Dan and I were fully consumed throughout the day without time for a lunch break. We were either selling or buying with a excellent balance of both. Sales were well into the five figures with sales across all product lines. The day started with two Draped Bust halves finding new homes followed by several United State gold pieces being sold. We sold coins across all Seated coinage denominations and a decent amount of copper. Overall, I could not be more pleased with first day sales.

Stacked in between sales was walk-up buying opportunities and the insourcing of consignments. One dealer, who sets up adjacent to GFRC at the Central Ohio Numismatic Association show, appeared at the GFRC table with forty raw $20 St. Gaudens and offered to us first. Dan spent time examining this dealer's newly purchased lot and hand picked ten pieces. These are being submitted to PCGS tomorrow. Every wholesaler on the bourse made a point of stopping by the GFRC table which provided an opportunity to review nearly a thousand coins. As usual, Dan and I were very selective with inventory additions. The new purchase highlight of the day was an 1876-CC Trade $1 graded PCGS MS61 with three Chinese chopmarks. We are incredible proud of our purchase of this rare Trade dollar date in Mint State with non-distracting chopmarks.

Following is a complete list of new purchases and consignments to consider. I was thrilled with an AU and Mint State Barber quarter consignment after a GFRC consignor read the Blog and understood that I wish to expand the Barber coinage product lines.

Barber 10c: 1892 PCGS MS62 with frosty luster and choice surfaces

Seated 25c: 1858-S PCGS VG10; 1873 Closed 3 PCGS VF25 OGH

Barber 25c: 1896 PCGS AU55; 1904-O PCGS AU55; 1908-S PCGS MS64; 1909-D PCGS MS64

Draped Bust 50c: 1806 Pointed 6, Stem PCGS VF25 with lovely circulated cameo eye appeal, a choice example

Seated 50c: 1842 Sm Date NGC MS63 freshly graded with attractive toning

Seated $1: 1859-O PCGS PO01 CAC

Trade $1 Chopmarked: 1876-CC PCGS MS61, rarest Trade dollar date with frosty luster and two obverse chops along with one reverse chop, all are chinese confirmed characters; 1877-S PCGS AU58+ lightly toned with one obverse chop

Gold $2.5: 1856-S PCGS AU55 low mintage early San Francisco date with choice surfaces and frosty luster

Gold $10: 1912 PCGS MS62 Indian choice original with orange-gold patina

LSCC Medals: 40th Anniversary proof and matte finish medals - 1 oz silver each housed in Coin World slabbed holder. Original issue price was $90 each. Please email me if interested in these important LSCC heritage items.

Global Financial News

Global markets are solidly in the green as the Dow Jones average closes above the 27,000 level. Fed Chair Jerome Powell is telegraphing an interest rate reduction in the coming months and the markets are reacting.

Another day, another record. The Dow rallied 200 points on Thursday to close above 27,000 for the first time ever as Fed Chair Jerome Powell cemented his view that rates have room to go lower in the coming months. "We're learning that interest rates - that the neutral interest rate - and the natural rate of unemployment is lower than we thought," he said in the second day of semi-annual testimony on Capitol Hill. "So monetary policy hasn't been as accommodative as we had thought." Futures contracts tied to the DJIA are extending gains, up 89 points ahead of the open, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq are ahead by 0.3%.

Crude oil is barely holding the $60.00/bbl mark though the IEA is forecasting excess oil output during 2020. I believe short term price actions are driven by trader speculation no different than that of Bitcoin. Seeking Alpha comments as follows;

Crude prices are headed for their biggest weekly gain in three as simmering Middle East tensions, shrinking U.S. crude inventories and Tropical Storm Barry in the Gulf of Mexico threaten the supply outlook. Despite the developments and recent rollover of an OPEC-led output cut, the IEA is forecasting another oil glut in 2020. "This surplus adds to the huge stock builds seen in the second half of 2018," the agency declared, adding that "market tightness is not an issue for the time being" but predicting growth of 1.4M barrels per day next year (from 1.2M bpd in 2019).

Spot gold is quoting at $1408/oz and maintaining its new trading range. Bitcoin is also holding its new level at $11650/coin.

Why are U.S. Treasury 10 year bond yields raising? Today rate has increased to 2.13%. Could it be efforts to weaken the U.S. dollar?

Wrapping Up The Blog

That is all I have to share on a Friday morning. Time to head to the Rosen Plaza hotel for a buffet breakfast followed by another 8:30 am bourse floor opening time. Hopefully Friday activity will be similar to Thursday's performance.

Please check back later this evening to learn of GFRC new purchases and consignments. Saturday brings a short day on the bourse following by a long day of northward I-95 driving.

Thank-you for checking in at the Blog.

July 11, 2019

A Host of GFRC Summer FUN New Purchases

Greeting once again from Orlando and welcome to the Blog.

For those readers that might consider Summer FUN to be a smaller regional show, those thoughts might need to be re-evaluated. Why? Well known dealers from throughout the United States arrived today for setup. While conducting a quick bourse walk through, I saw Legend, Carter Numismatics, JJ Teaparty, Witter, Reeded Edge, West Coast Oregon, Dalton, several dealers from the Denver area, and of course, yours truly. Summer FUN is definitely not a sleepy regional show composed of mainly Florida area dealers.

The million dollar question will be answered on Thursday morning; bourse floor attendance? Wednesday's early bird attendance was weak with mostly dealers walking the bourse searching for something to buy.

GFRC Summer FUN New Purchases

Your dynamic GFRC team of Dan White and Gerry Fortin have booth setup to a science. The FUN bourse opened for dealer setup at 2:00 pm. By 3:30 pm, the GFRC booth was operational and displaying eight cases of quality early type and United States gold. GFRC is not known as a wholesale dealer; therefore, we did not experience dealer traffic. Instead, Dan White spent most of the afternoon walking the bourse on a buying mission while Gerry remained behind the table. My presence at the table resulted in multiple wholesale dealers arriving and offering coins. Dan and I are always careful buyers and very patient. We can always locate nice coins, but strive to find those well above average pieces in terms of originality and eye appeal. Many times, asking pricing do not work and we must walk away from a purchase. I'm pleased to report that Summer FUN brought multiple buying opportunities and we were not shy about adding new coins to inventory.

Following is a list of new purchases to consider. All have been priced and are loaded in the COIN system. Whatever does not sell at FUN will be photographed next Monday and quickly added to the price lists. If any of these new purchases strike your fancy, please email or call me. I will quote the coin and send cellphone images as a first step.

Summer FUN New Purchases

3 Cent Silver: 1851-O NGC MS65, a golden-rose gem with bold luster, the only New Oleans striking of 3 cent silver pieces.

Capped Bust 5c: 1829 MS64+ CAC approved gem with golden-rose patina on both sides

Reeded Edge 50c: 1838 NGC MS62 Star, I'm going with an immediately JUST BUY IT NOW as this piece offers gorgeous eye appeal with rainbow bullseye toning. We were thrilled to have first shot at this piece.

Seated 50c: 1873-CC Arrows NGC EF40 original steely gray surfaces; 1886 PCGS MS65 lightly mirrored, aquamarine-rose coloring, a beautiful no question gem.

Peace $1: 1926-D $1 PCGS MS66+ CAC a superb frosty gem with full strike and essentially unabraded. Dan White bought this one!

Gold $10: 1900 NGC MS62, a nice original piece with frosty luster priced aggressively with spot gold currently at $1420/oz

Gold $20: 1852 NGC AU53 CAC with frosty original surfaces and ample residual luster; 1873 Open 3 NGC AU53 a bullion play and priced accordingly.

Chicago ANA Consignment Update

Today also brought discussions with the Alexandria Collection consignor's widow. Long time GFRC customers will remember that Mark Mattox passed away unexpectedly several years ago. He left a note in his bible to his wife concerning the residual Liberty Seated halves at GFRC along with his United States gold type coin collection. The Alexandria gold type set is currently the All Time Finest at the GFRC Open Set Registry and can be viewed by clicking here.

Mark instructed his wife to stay close to GFRC and wait for Gerry's signal for the "right time" to sell his gold collection. With strong CAC gold premiums and spot gold at or above $1400, the time has indeed come to sell and raise incremental funds for his widow. More information will be forthcoming shortly.

Global Financial News

There are several "big news" items to share concerning financial markets and commodities.

The S&P 500 set a new high watermark after crossing the 3,000 point milestone for the first time. Jerome Powell's testimony before Congress was sufficient to convince equity markets of forthcoming interest rate policy easing. This Seeking Alpha headline captures the action.

Building on yesterday's momentum that vaulted the S&P 500 over the 3,000 level, U.S. stock index futures are extending gains by a modest 0.2%. Although Jerome Powell's congressional testimony merely underlined the Fed case for easing policy to insure against the economic effects of a trade war and sub-target inflation, it was enough to get futures markets back pricing in a 1-in-4 chance of 50 bps cut later this month. Powell is back in the spotlight today, testifying before the Senate Banking Committee and likely emphasizing his dovish outlook in the Q&A with senators.

Crude oil is back over the $60/bbl mark and presently quoting at $60.82. News of an Iranian attempt to block a British tanker has markets on edge.

Continuing yesterday's big advance that brought crude over $60, oil prices extended gains overnight by 0.7% to $60.82/bbl amid the latest Persian Gulf tensions. Three Iranian vessels tried to block the passage of the BP-operated British Heritage through the Straits of Hormuz, but backed off after the HMS Montrose - an escorting military ship - "pointed its guns" and "warned them over radio." The incident comes almost a week after British Royal Marines boarded an Iranian tanker, Grace 1, off Gibraltar and seized it on suspicion that it was breaking sanctions by transporting oil to Syria.

Bitcoin dropped 11% in a single day and currently quotes at $11,417/coin. The reason? A statement by Fed Chair Jerome Powell that Facebook's Libra should not move forward without addressing concerns.

Are 10% moves for Bitcoin still newsworthy? They might not be, but uncertainty in the crypto space definitely made headlines after Jerome Powell said Facebook's Libra offering should "not go forward" without addressing concerns. Those include privacy, money laundering, consumer protection and financial stability, the Fed Chair declared during his semi-annual testimony before the House Financial Services Committee. The crypto shed close to $1500 to the mid-$11K level following the comments, which echoed a growing chorus of doubts about Libra from authorities around the world.

Spot gold remains strong in the face of potential oil market and global trade issues. This morning's quote is $1424/oz. The 10 Year U.S. Treasury yields is flat at 2.06%

Wrapping Up The Blog

It is breakfast time here in Orlando. Summer FUN bourse opens at 8:30 am for dealers and to the public at 10:15 am after an opening ceremony. Please check back tomorrow to read about the day's sales and new purchases. Who knows how this show will turn out? The lucky jade stone will appear early and may be worn out by the end of the day....

Online orders are most welcomed as I will be watching emails throughout the day.

See you tomorrow at the Blog!

July 10, 2019

Summer FUN Show Setup Day

Greetings from Orlando Florida and welcome to several Blog editions from the 2019 Summer FUN show.

Tuesday's road trip from Virginia to Florida was uneventful and relaxing. Siruis XM radio is great company while alternating between the New Age Spa music station and FOX News. I left Virginia hotel slightly before 9:00 am and checked in at the Rosen around 9:30 pm therefore twelve hours on the road with a dinner stop at Florida's Palm Coast. South Carolina wins the prize for lowest gas prices. A stop in Florence yielded 93 Grade Premium at $2.89/gallon. The MDX is designed to operate on Premium grade and I'm taking great care of this amazing long distance vehicle.

Sadly, no one called with a coin order on Tuesday. The summer sales doldrum is upon us as many clients are on holiday or placing their hobby on hold during the mid summer months.

The life of a coin dealer, when traveling, is always that of caution and being proactive. Case in point is my current status. I would love to go out and secure coffee and breakfast but eleven double row slab boxes must accompany me at all times. This is physically impractical therefore I planned in advanced with Clark bars and fresh cherries for breakfast while waiting for Dan White to arrive in a few hours. Fresh cherries are a great snack food while driving too! Just remember to bring napkins for disposing of the seeds.

Being in need of something profound for the Blog, Seth Godin is being monitored. His recent blogs are lengthy and broad based topics that just don't ring a chord with me. So I'm passing. You are stuck with my normal ramblings again this morning.

Expections for Summer FUN?

Honestly, there are none. Dan White and I are going into Summer FUN with low expectations. Our booth location is no conducive for general public walk by traffic. Sales orders are dramatically down for the last five days or so. One key issue is my inability to post new offerings. Being on an Alaska cruise followed by one day of shipping/Summer FUN preparations and two days of long distance driving does not allow for regular work to get done. This is the life of a sole proprietor business operation. If I'm not constantly processing images and loading new coins to the price list, then customers quickly move on to others in the same numismatic space for their daily coin fix. All I can offer is the Daily Blog!

Readers can rest assured that there will be daily updates from Summer FUN starting tomorrow morning. Hopefully, there will be several exciting new purchases to kick start orders.

Today brings dealer setup at 2:00 pm followed by the usual wholesale business opportunities. I suspect the day's highlight will be dinner at our favorite English Pub on International Drive and a healthy dose of Scottish ales.

Correction on Murphys Collection Consignment

In Tuesday's Blog, it was shared that an 1878-CC F-101 Liberty Seated dime PCGS AU55 was being consigned by the Murphys Collection. An email arrived with a correction during the day. The 1878-CC dime is much more significant as a Top 100 Varieties F-104 with heavily polished and cracked reverse. Following are consignor's images.

Forthcoming Seal Beach Collection Consignment

Seal Beach has heeded the GFRC request for casting off duplicates and is sending another top quality Liberty Seated half dollar consignment. This consignment arrives to Maine office tomorrow and will be photographed once back in the office on Monday. Following are the individual new offerings with five of the six Seated halves being CAC approved. First Right of Refusals are suggested to avoid disappointments.

Seated 50c: 1859-O PCGS AU53 CAC; 1858 PCGS AU55 CAC; 1861 PCGS AU58 CAC OGH; 1868-S PCGS AU53; 1873 No Arrows PCGS AU53 CAC; 1878 PCGS MS62 CAC

Global Financial News

For a third day, optimism is waning in global equity markets as most futures are in the red. Interestingly, the 10 Year U.S. Treasury yields continues to climb with a present quote of 2.1%. Higher long bond yields translate into waning demand.

Crude oil prices are stuck in a tight trading range with this morning's quote at $59.20/bbl. Gold prices have also found a new trading range at the $1400 level. Current quote is $1397/oz. Then there is Bitcoin with much anticipation for Facebook's Libra crytocurrency and a higher quote of $12950/coin.

Looking at a few Seeking Alpha headlines, we find this commentary about Facebook's Libra project. Facebook is working to bring all stakeholders on board for its new digital currency initiative.

Facebook will need a lot of help to launch its Libra cyptocurrency and is "taking the time to do this right," David Marcus, head of the Calibra digital wallet, said ahead of his testimony to Congress next week. "We understand that big ideas take time, that policymakers and others are raising important questions, and that we can't do this alone," he wrote in a letter to the Senate Banking Committee. "We want, and need, governments, central banks, regulators, non-profits, and other stakeholders at the table and value all of the feedback we have received."

Tesla has made significant progress with its EV production capabilities.

After achieving record deliveries in the second quarter, Tesla is getting ready to increase EV production at its factory in Fremont, California. "While we can't be too specific in this email, I know you will be delighted with the upcoming developments," wrote automotive president Jerome Guillen. Tesla has said it plans to produce "significantly" more than the 360,000 to 400,000 vehicles expected to be delivered in 2019, easing concerns over demand for the company's electric cars.

Wrapping Up The Blog

It is about time to sign off and start another day. While awaiting Dan White's arrival, I will be keeping myself busy with image processing or other regular task.

Thank-you for visiting the Blog and please check back tomorrow morning for the first of several Summer FUN show reports. Who knows want might be found as one of our favorite wholesalers is in attendance?

See you tomorrow morning!

July 9, 2019

Where's Waldo Again?

Greetings and welcome to the Blog on a Tuesday morning.

Today's edition is written from an inexpensive hotel somewhere in Virginia as an overnight stop. The final destination is Orlando Florida this evening. There is an LSCC Leadership Team conference call at 9:00 pm that I'm attempting to make after settling in at one of the Rosen hotels adjacent to the Orange Country Convention Center.

Monday brought a busy morning as nineteen USPS orders were shipped followed by loading the MDX and heading south. Luckily, the drive was uneventful with the usual bumper to bumper traffic across the Tappan Zee bridge at rush hour. Tuesday's journey was designed to arrive in the Washington DC area after 9:00 pm to avoid that city's rush hour. That I did and was rewarded with a good night's sleep.

There is little to discuss concerning the GFRC business. Orders are quiet while traveling, and recent requests for new consignments have gone unheeded except those already committed from Murphys, Seal Beach and Twin Lakes Collection. Please consider a consignment in the next 7-10 days for the upcoming ANA World's Fair of Money.

Murphys Collection Consigment Preview

While driving south, the Murphys Collection consignor called to finalize his latest consignment. Since GFRC will be insuring the USPS Express shipment, we reached consensus on insured amounts for the shipment invoice. Murphys also sent an email with images of the consigned pieces and I am thoroughly impressed. This consignment is simply awesome. Once back from Summer FUN, several of these consigned pieces are heading to CAC before being offered on the price list. Following are the contents.

Seated 10C: 1878-CC F-101 PCGS AU55 choice with steely gray fields

Seated 50C: 1875-CC Rare WB-1 NGC EF45 gray-brown; 1875-CC NGC MS61 frosty luster with light gold peripherals; 1875-CC PCGS AU55 choice with light gold toning; 1875-CC PCGS AU53 choice gray surfaces; 1877-CC PCGS VF30 crusty gray

Seated $1: 1870-CC NGC EF40 with crusty gray surfaces

First Rights of Refusal are strong encouraged on these offerings to avoid disappointment. Already, there are two requests for the 1870-CC Seated dollar.

Global Financial News

World-wide equity traders remain in a cautious mood after stock market losses on Monday. Commodities and long bond rates are mostly quiet.

Spot gold prices dropped overnight to $1391/oz while crude oil is quoting at $58/bbl. Bitcoin has jumped again to $12356/coin. Finally, the 10 Year U.S. Treasury yield increased to 2.06% indicating a slight decrease in demand.

Let's check a few Seeking Alpha headlines. We open with a piece on Hong Kong's controversial extradition bill. Though the bill may be dead for the time being, we can expect an alternate attempt in the future. Remember that Beijing is the master of playing the multi-year long game towards its goals.

Addressing the weeks-long mass protests, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said Tuesday that the controversial extradition bill was "dead" though she didn't say whether she would withdraw the legislation. The demonstrations have sent financial institutions scrambling for liquid assets, triggering interbank interest rates in the city to shoot up across the curve. Hong Kong was a British colony until 1997, when it became a special administrative region of China under a "one country, two systems" framework, but many citizens have expressed concern that their civil rights are slowly being eroded under Beijing.

While on the China topic, the United States has approved another arms sales to Taiwan. This time, the military equipment is designed to repel a mainland China ground invasion. As expected, Beijing is not happy.

The U.S. has put its plans for higher Chinese tariffs on hold, but raised the political pressure in other ways overnight with the approval of a major arms sale to Taiwan. It includes 108 General Dynamics M1A2T Abrams tanks, 250 Stinger missiles and related equipment at an estimated value of $2.2B. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said the deal was a serious violation of international law and a "crude interference in China’s internal affairs, harming China’s sovereignty and security interests."

Then there is Nintendo which is planning to switching production out of China.

Nintendo has confirmed plans to shift a part of the manufacturing of its Switch to Vietnam from China, where it currently outsources almost all of the gaming console's production. Apparently there are other risks... A spokeswoman said the move was intended to diversify its supply lines and not to escape potential tariff hikes by the U.S. on products imported from China. The Trump administration recently held off from launching a fourth tranche of levies on $300B worth of goods that would cover nearly everything imported from China.

Wrapping Up The Blog

Ok, time to check out and start the second day of driving to Orlando. I will be back on Wednesday morning with another Blog edition including a listing of the latest Seal Beach Collection consignment.

Thank-you for stopping in at the Blog. I will be in the GFRC office mobile all day so please call if considering an order.

July 8, 2019

Summer FUN Show Week Arrives!

Greetings and welcome to the Blog on another beautiful southern Maine morning. Thank-you for checking in.

As the headline indicates, Summer FUN week has arrived with another test of the numismatic market on a regional basis.

Sunday brought an intense day of office catch-up including a week's shipping being prepared. Of course, Murphy's Law was in effect as the COIN Excel software was problematic requiring a complete reload of Office 365. Last week's orders that qualify for Quick Ship handling were processed and are heading to the local USPS office in a few hours. While at the post office, the prior week's mail and shipments will also be retrieved including a Baltimore show PCGS submission that is completed.

Sunday evening brought the issuing of consignment checks before heading to the basement sound room for an hour of relaxation. The new sound system is nothing short of amazing as the Focal speakers continue their 200 hour breakin period and open up with incredible dynamic range.

My apology as there is little to offer this morning. Matt and family are still in Vancouver on a short camping trip before returning to Maine mid-week. Therefore, COIN system improvements or the next round of website upgrades will be discussed next week. It is summer time with vacations being a priority.

Quick Turnaround Time Consignments Wanted

Once back from the FUN show, there will be one month before the major numismatic event of the year: the Chicago ANA World's Fair of Money. Given the booming United States economy and equity markets, collectors have been absorbing fresh GFRC inventory as it appears on the price list. Want lists are increasing. My role is to locate more quality coins to satisfy demand. As a result, today brings a plea for your duplicates that might be languishing in a bank box. Cycling duplicates back into the numismatic market is a healthy process for everyone. Fresh capital for incremental purchases or a home improvement project are possible when releasing duplicates. New collectors to the market have opportunities to acquire their "dream coins".

I'm doing my part with a constant release of Liberty Seated Dime reference collection offerings. More will be forthcoming after Summer FUN. But the GFRC price list is broad-based with a host of product lines to fill. Of particular interest are all Capped Bust denominations, Seated and Trade dollars, along with Barber coinage. I'd even entertain a large lot of Standing Liberty quarters too.

A few Quick Turnaround Time consignments have been committed from Seal Beach, Twin Lakes, and Murphys Collection; including an 1870-CC Seated dollar graded PCGS EF40 and off the market for nearly fifteen years. But more is needed to prepare GFRC for the Chicago ANA.

Global Financial News

Global equity markets are in a sour mood to start the week. We are back in the good economic news is bad news for the stock market mode. Friday's United States job creation report of 224,000 has spooked equity markets. Seeking Alpha captures the situation with this headline.

Friday's jobs report, which showed American employers added a much-higher-than-expected 224K jobs to the economy last month, has triggered a broad re-pricing in markets around the world. Traders are now looking for a smaller July rate cut of 25 basis points, and perhaps only one more after that for 2019. Shares in Asia fell on the news, with the Shanghai Composite leading a retreat across the region by closing down 2.5%, while U.S. stock futures point to a modestly lower open. Dow and S&P are showing losses of 0.2%, while the Nasdaq is off by 0.4%.

Commodity prices and the long bond interest rate are mostly flat to start the week. Gold is back over the $1400 mark and quoting at $1407/oz. Crude oil is quoting at $57.47/bbl. Bitcoin enthusiasm continues with prices knocking at the $12000/coin level. The U.S. 10 Year Treasury yield has increased slightly to 2.03%.

Wrapping Up The Blog

Time for a quick shower and then a drive to the Windham post office to retrieve last week's mail. It will be another busy day!

I look forward to seeing you at the Blog on Tuesday morning.

July 7, 2019

Back In Maine Office - Order Shipments are the Priority

Greetings from the GFRC Raymond, Maine office and welcome to the Blog.

It is great to be back in southern Maine for a short period of time before heading to Orlando Florida. The day starts with clear blue skies and pleasant morning temperature of 66F. Today's high temperatures will approach 80F.

Today's Blog edition is being written on Pacific-Alaska time as we arrived home late and slept in. It was a long travel day with Detroit to Portland Maine connecting flight delays due to mechanical issues. There is no prepared content to share. Today's Blog will be brief as there are several important "must do" items before heading to Orlando tomorrow. Key is preparing a week's shipping and packing show inventory.

Seth's Blog: ‘Scrappy’ is not the same as ‘crappy’

Seth Godin is back with an insightful blog topic that captured my attention and provides sound advice. Too often business people, or even numismatic writers, are overly cautious and fail to execute their ideas. The reason? Those individuals are hesitant to publish or to launch new business concepts until the expected outcome is absolutely perfect. I've subscribed to the "scrappy" philosophy for most of my life since I'm a natural risk taker. Close to home with the GFRC business, new ideas are announced in the Blog followed by Matt's implementation. Yes, a few bugs or issues appear during the implementation phase; but they are quickly resolved. Of utmost importance is to get the idea into the mainstream for feedback and debug.

The same "scrappy" concept was true for publishing The Definitive Resource for Liberty Seated Dime Variety Collectors web-book back in 2004. The 2004 web-book edition was a work in progress, considering its die variety identification mission along with rarity assessments. Once the Seated Dime web-book was published, crowd sourcing became a important factor for enhancing the product and fine tuning certain rarity estimates. The 2004 web-book was indeed a "scrappy" ground breaking product and I would conduct the release the same way again if given a chance at a redo.

‘Scrappy’ is not the same as ‘crappy’

The only choice is to launch before you’re ready.

Before it’s perfect.

Before it’s 100% proven to be no risk to you.

At that moment, your resistance says, “don’t ship it, it’s crappy stuff. We don’t ship crap.”

And it’s true that you shouldn’t ship work that’s hurried, sloppy or ungenerous.

But what’s actually on offer is something scrappy.

Scrappy means that while it’s unpolished, it’s better than good enough.

Scrappy doesn’t care about cosmetics as much as it cares about impact.

Scrappy is flexible and resilient and ready to learn.

Ship scrappy.

GFRC Order Shipments Status

All GFRC orders from the prior week will ship on Monday. Shipments will be made via Quick Ship for well known customers along with check payment arrivals for new customers. Then shipment will resume on Monday July 15 after the Summer FUN show.

Wrapping Up The Blog

Let's close the Blog with a reminder of the GFRC location at the Summer FUN show. I'm hopeful for a decent show given the amount of time and effort required to attend.

I will be in the GFRC office the entire day and available for phone and email orders.

Thank-you for checking in at the Blog!

Summer FUN - GFRC at Corner Booth 827

July 6, 2019

Where's Waldo?

Greetings and welcome to the last of the July 4th holiday week and a Saturday Blog edition.

Where's Waldo?

Thank-you for hanging in there with me during the week as ramblings have been published later than usual for East Coast readers. Content has been a bit on the erratic side. I've done my best to keep up with the Blog while on a week long holiday. So where has Waldo been this week? The following images might provide the answer if you are a seasoned traveler.

If not a seasoned traveler, the image filenames should help.

It has been a challenge to be on holiday and still maintain the Blog for security reasons. With three and four hour time zone differences, it was necessary to compose Blogs during late evening hours or very early morning. Since attempting to not gain weight during this cruise while eating three substantial meals per day, topside deck exercise was paramount. 6:30am morning health walks were best since few people ventured out at that time for their casual strolls. This meant writing each Blog edition during afternoon or evening hours and attempting to add Global Financial news the following morning. Images files were prepared before leaving on the cruise and queued for publishing.

All seemed to work out well as I received a customer phone call on Friday morning concerning the new 1856 PCGS AU58 1/2 cent. When explaining I was walking the top deck of a cruise ship off the coast of Alaska, this avid Blog readers was taken aback and surprised. My security attempt was therefore somewhat successful.

The Yamatin family is also on the cruise along with Chikae's parents. The extended family has enjoyed a marvelous time together along with the Alaska sights. Matt can be found running his daily one hour regimen on the 10th deck during early mornings while his father takes his "stroll". My exercise routine is a stroll as compared with Matt's lapping speed.

Sunday brings a recovery day that will include preparations for the Summer FUN show. There is a huge amount of shipping to move into the USPS system before leaving for Orlando.

Feedback on the Strong Demand for AU58 Graded Coins at GFRC

There is no question that the quickly prepared segment on GFRC's AU58 graded coin sales was far from being scientific. Feedback arrived to remind me of this fact and I accept the comments. When looking for filler Blog content during an Alaska cruise, I did the best possible without a long research period. Following are several feedback points.

I do not dispute the popularity of the AU58 coins, but a better measure might be how long it takes for them to sell as compared to other grades. A confounding variable in your analysis is how many of the lower grades you offer, and for that matter how many MS60 and 61s cross your desk.

That's a good analysis on sales by grade but wouldn't turnover by grade be the metric to get the full picture? What if 25% of your average inventory is AU58 and sales are 21% Or, another example, you don't stock a lot of the G-VG grade so I would expect a low sales percentage unless you turned them over rapidly. But regardless and intuitivitely, I think your AU58 conclusion is valid and I would guess your average AU58 inventory is probably less than 21% so turnover probably is high in comparison to other grades. BTW, I was messing around with your sales / inventory search engine last night and it's very good, the best of all the dealers I frequent.

In response to the above feedback, I've gone back and calculated current AU58 inventory as a percent of total GFRC offerings. That percentage is only 11.6% which further enhances my conclusion on the popularity of AU58 grade coins. Roughly 12% of inventory is generating 20% of sales. How I wish every grade level could be so prolific with revenue generation and inventory turnover.

New Jim Poston Offerings

Following are more quality offerings to consider from Jim Poston. This client gallery is Part 2 of a three part series. The final group will include Early Silver Commemoratives, Walking Liberty halves, and toner Morgan dollars. Look for the following coins to be posted to price list shortly. Drescriptions may be limited.

Quality Jim Poston New Offerings - Part 2

1834 Sm Date, Sm Letters PCGS AU58 OGH 50C

1814 E/A O-108 PCGS VF20 CAC 50C 1875-S PCGS AU58 50C

1860 PCGS MS62 OGH 5C 1834 PCGS AU50 50C 1857-O PCGS AU55 50C

Wrapping Up The Blog

Again my sincere appreciation to the Blog community for hanging in there during the July 4th holiday period. I've done my best while on vacation to continue writing and loading new content to the Blog and price lists. GFRC does not offer price reduction sales during the holidays; rather I just work through them and appreciate your patronage.

July 5, 2019

Twins Lakes PCGS AU58 Early Copper Arrives!

Greetings and welcome to the Blog on a Friday. I suspect that most readers are taking a long weekend given the July 4th holiday week.

About the only person focused on numismatics during July 4th was yours truly. The holiday quiet time allowed for more image processing. It was time to return to a previous Twin Lakes Collection consignment and format a nice group of PCGS AU58 graded early copper coins. Copper coins are more challenging to properly image than their silver or gold counterparts. Darker brown coins lack contrast and give the Nikon Coolpix995 camera occasional fits. Then there is the propensity for minute dust particules to appear on the images. Why and how these particules appear is still a mystery to me. This issue can be solved by careful photo editting it is does take time.

Below is an attractive Twin Lakes Collection client gallery that should garner some attention given the consistent AU58 grades for all pieces. These will start appearing on the price list during the later Friday hours.

Twin Lakes Collection - PCGS AU58 Early Copper Offerings

1828 PCGS AU58 Rattler 1/2C 1832 PCGS AU58 1/2C

1856 PCGS AU58 1/2C 1837 Head of 1838 PCGS AU58 1C 1846 Sm Date PCGS AU58 1C

1849 PCGS AU58 1C 1851 PCGS AU58 1C 1857 Lg Date PCGS AU58 1C

Wrapping Up Early

My apology for the erratic Blog segments this week. Please check Saturday's Blog to learn why.

July 4, 2019

Popularity of the AU58 Grade at GFRC!

Happy July 4th Holiday Too

Greetings and welcome to the July 4th, 2019 edition of the Daily Blog.

Let's open today's Blog with a Happy July 4th wish to GFRC customers, clients and Daily Blog friends. Summer holiday season is upon us and even your's truly is taking some time off from the daily grind. More details concerning my vacation activities will be shared within the Friday and Saturday Blogs. In the meantime, following is some quality numismatic reading to kick-off your vacation day.

New Jim Poston Offerings

Jim Poston continues to be a steady buyer for GFRC and is back with yet another consigned lot of quality offerings. Having buyers located throughout the United States is paramount and fresh material can randomly appear at any geographical locations. Jim covers the mid-west area and attends many coins shows searching out the best possible pieces for GFRC sales.

Once a shipment arrives, the first step is a CAC submission to ensure that the well above average coins are properly certified and approved. This new lot has been through CAC review. Those with Green beans were obviously approved and those without were not. Please use this information when making purchase decisions.

Below is first of several Jim Poston client galleries. These five offerings should reach the price list within 24 hours.

Quality Jim Poston New Offerings - Part 1

1830 Large 0 PCGS AU55 50C 1872-S PCGS AU53 OGH 50C

1874 PCGS AU58 CAC 5C 1855-O NGC AU55 CAC 5C 1838 F-113 PCGS VF35 CAC 10C

Strong Demand for AU58 Graded Coins at GFRC

There is no question that the AU58 grade level has become very popular since PCGS launched Set Registry Everyman sets. This was another brilliant marketing effort. The AU58 grade is often considered to be the ideal value point on a coin's pricing curve. An accurately graded AU58 coin should have mint state luster and details with just a trace of rub on the highest points. AU58 graded coins typically offer superior eye appeal to those at the MS60 and MS61 grades and consistent with or better than those graded MS62. This fact fundamentally explains the popularity. A collector can purchase an AU58 graded coin at a fraction of the cost of a the same low grade mint state example while securing more eye appeal at the same time.

Well almost...

Tthe growing popularity of AU58 graded coins has driven up demand. Then came CAC approval as another filtering criteria. AU58 examples with CAC approval are currently under huge demand and prices are quickly rising. At GFRC, I am typically pricing AU58 CAC approved coins at MS62 price guide monies and sometimes even higher for those with gem original quality ratings. If one steps back for a moment to consider why, CAC approved AU58 coins are those with minimum friction, strict originality and above average eye appeal. Should those pieces not be priced competitiviely with an average MS62 specimen without CAC approval?

I am aware of several GFRC clients building exclusive AU58 sets with preferences for CAC approved coins. These individuals recognize the value and are willing to pay the MS62 premiums to secure top quality pieces.

So how popular is the AU58 grade level at GFRC since the start of 2019?

To research this question, 2019 sales to date were analyzed by building a frequency distribution of GFRC sold coins by grade. The analysis was simple and is being shared today. The COIN database is a magnificent tool for data sorting and answering most any question about GFRC sales profiles. Following are the findings that did not surprised me.

GFRC 2019 Sales by Grade Range - All Product Lines

G-VG - 1%

F12-15 - 6%

VF20-35 - 13%

EF40-45 - 15%

AU50-55 - 19%

AU58 - 21%

MS60-62 - 8%

MS63-64 - 13%

MS65-67 - 4%

Conclusion? The 2019 data clearly indicates that AU58 graded coins are the most popular grade point. If combining all four AU grades (AU50, AU53, AU55, and AU58) together, those account for 40% of GFRC's unit sales in the past six months. I'm not surprised at all by these findings since AU graded coins are constantly being shipped to customers.

If Blog readers wish to sell AU grade level coins and in particular, AU58 graded coins with CAC approval, now is the time to do so. It is always best to sell into strong demand. Please contact me and let's discuss what you might have to offer.

Wrapping Up The Blog

Thank-you for checking in at the Blog on July 4th. I will be monitoring emails for orders just like any other day. Don't be bashful to send an inquiry as I should respond fairly quickly.

See you tomorrow with more ramblings.

July 3, 2019

GFRC's Much Anticipated Christmas in August Sale Announcement!

Greetings and welcome to the Blog on Wednesday, July 3rd!

Regardless of being a holiday week, I'm pleased to report that collectors are still enjoying their hobby and placing orders. GFRC is off to a great sales launch for the month of July.

Today's Blog will contain some GFRC bits and pieces to share.

Christmas in August Sale - August 23 - 25

Yes, I've finally had a few spare moments to consider the scheduling of the 2019 Christmas in August Sale. Looks like the sale will tale place on the weekend between the the ANA World's Fair of Money show and the Central Ohio Numismatic Society show on Labor Day weekend.

The usual rules will apply for this much anticipated GFRC sales event.

- The Christmas in August Sale launches on August 22 midnight. Look for the special sale banner on the GFRC website about one week prior to the sale event.

- A minimum 8% price reduction is required to participate in the sale. More aggressive discounts typical result in more sales.

- Pricing reductions are due to me by Tuesday August 20 midnight. Those sale prices are loaded into the COIN system on August 21 and each consignor is notified of their confirmed participation.

- GFRC's three time per year sales events are cash and carry with no lay-a-way options.

There will be additional announcements in the Blog during the latter part of July.

Rascal is Back with Exceptional 1839-O Dimes

Last week's bank box visit yielded another fresh lot of better date Liberty Seated dimes that are part of the Rascal's ongoing divestment project. As I dig deeper into the two remaining large sized bank boxes, the trepidation grow but so does the significant of the offerings.

Today's offerings are two 1839-O dimes with substantial pedigrees. The first is a beautiful 1839-O F-105b dime purchased at the Stack's 2005 NYC Lemus sale. The Lemus sale contained a substantial number of mint state Liberty Seated dimes but all were raw. I remember traveling to the NYC auction preview and lot viewing. There were many lots of interest and potential die variety acquisition targets since releasing the Liberty Seated dime web-book the year before. The following dime was one of those pieces I feel in love with. It was listed as Choice Mint State in the auction catalog and I agreed. The lot was won for strong MS63 money and utilized as the 1839-O F-105b web-book plate coin and described as MS64. Then it went off to PCGS for grading. There was significant disappointment when the piece returned in an AU58 holder. The next opportunity for redemption took place during the CAC review of my core collection. This piece was included with expectation for a Gold bean. Instead, it received a Green bean and went back into the bank box until being pulled last week. I've offered this piece to an important GFRC client and he agreed to purchase at $2000.

1839-O Seated Dime Web-Book Plate Coins - Gerry Fortin Reference Collection

1839-O F-105b R4 PCGS AU58 CAC 10C

Next is a superb 1839-O F-107 dime strike with Huge O obverse and a Small O reverse. The F-107 die pairing is much rarer than the Huge O die pairing and warrants a substantial premium. The following piece was purchased during June 1995. It has an important pedigree that dates back to the James A. Stacks Sr. sale held during October 1994 by Stacks. The piece was also held briefly by Roy Ash, a well known early LSCC member and Gobrecht Journal author.

PCGS graded this piece accurately and CAC provided a subsequent Green bean. Nearly all the 1839-O F-107 dime I have seen are problematic and will not grade let alone receive CAC approval. This piece is also the web-book plate coin. A historical piece that will be offered at $1250 with several FRoRs already in place.

1839-O F-107 R6 PCGS VF35 CAC 10C

Global Financial News

Predictions of a slowing global economy are growing louder in the financial press after several disappointing United States economic metrics. If the United States sneezes, the global economy will catch a cold. Flight to safety is underway and witnessed by Tuesday's drop in long bond yield and a substantial increase in gold prices. The U.S. 10 year bond yields dropped to 1.97% as investors become more fearful. Who could have predicted this huge bond rally just one year ago?

Spot gold prices saw a sharp increase to $1429/oz after a few days of consolidation. The upward momentum continues and I suspect we are looking at $1500 gold before Labor Day. Bitcoin also jumped to $11396/coin. Crude oil dropped due to growing global economic fears and is priced at $56.70/bbl.

This Seeking Alpha headline caught my attention; IMF Managing Director, Christine Lagarde, has been nominated to replace Mario Draghi as the new European Central Bank head. Obviously, the ECB dovish monetary policy will not shift with this change in leadership.

Ahead by 0.3%, U.S. stock index futures are following European equities higher, with the Euro Stoxx 50 up 0.9% at midday after IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde was nominated as the new head of the ECB. Lagarde is expected to continue the dovish policies of current chief Mario Draghi, whose term expires on Oct. 31. Oil is up 0.8% to $56.69/bbl after a 4% plunge in the previous session, while 10-year Treasury yields dipped to the lowest since November 2016 following a disappointing run of economic data.

The current United States administration is also feeling an upcoming slowdown with President Trump taking steps to influence the Federal Reserve towards lower interest rates, on a proactive basis, rather than using interest rates as a tool to combat an acknowledged recession.

Amid a yearlong assault on the Fed and its chairman, President Trump has tapped two economists to the central bank’s board who are likely to support a call for lower interest rates. Christopher Waller is director of research for St. Louis Fed President James Bullard, who was the only dissenting vote in favor of a rate cut at the Fed's meeting in June. The other, Judy Shelton, has been an informal adviser to Trump and publicly said the central bank should reduce rates.

Wrapping Up The Blog

GFRC continues to remain open for business during the holiday week. I will be available via email and phone for coin orders.

Thank-you for checking in at the Blog and my apology for the late publishing times this week.

July 2, 2019

GFRC Taking a Break During July 4th Holiday Week

Greetings and welcome to a much delayed Blog edition on a Tuesday morning.

The July 4th holiday week is upon us and it is vacation time for most Americans. I've decided to slow the GFRC business pace for the next few days and take a long overdue break. As a result, Blog editions will be published on an inconsistent basis. It is impossible to regularly create new client galleries while spending quality time with family and friends. I believe everyone will understand this point.

Therefore today's Blog will be limited to the Global Financial News segment.

Global Financial News

World-wide markets are mostly flat to start the day. Traders are digesting the G20 summit results and attempting to trade on the news. The semiconductor market segment is reacting to President Trump's assurances that United States suppliers will once again be allowed to sell components to Huawei.

Let's have a quick look at commodity prices and interest rates before sharing several Seeking Alpha headlines.

Spot gold is establishing a new trading range within a $1390 to $1420 pricing level. Today's current quote stands at even $1400/oz. Crude oil has pulled back to $59.03/bbl. As quickly as the Bitcoin euphoria arrived, speculation is waning with a sharp price drop. The current quote stands at $9852/coin. The 10 Year U.S. Treasury long bond yield is flat at 2.01%.

Back to U.S. chipmarkers and the Huawei supply chain issue. President Trump signaling that American companies will be able to sell to Huawei sparked a serious rally in this segment.

Chipmaker stocks rose broadly on Monday after a U.S.-Sino trade detente sparked hoped that American companies will resume selling to Huawei. Skyworks Solutions +6%, Western Digital +4.4%, Broadcom +4.3%, Micron +3.9%, Qualcomm +1.9%, AMD +2.7% and Nvidia +1.2%. President Trump said a ban was unfair to U.S. suppliers, who were upset that they could not sell parts and components to the Chinese tech giant without government approval, but didn't mention which U.S. firms could resume supplying Huawei.

Bitcoin is back under $10K but remains on an upward trend.

Undoing some of this year’s epic rally, Bitcoin plunged 10% overnight to $9,852, taking down some other large coins like Ether and Litecoin, which fell 6% and 7.4%, respectively. Bitcoin has repeated this pattern before: since January, the crypto has on multiple occasions reached new yearly highs after breaking above the upper band and then backslid sharply. The moves were then followed by new highs after a consolidation phase.

OPEC+ is extending production cuts and attempting to balance supply originating from United States shale producers.

Oil prices were on the move again Tuesday, rising modestly in early European trading before worries set in that demand could ease amid hints of a slowdown in the global economy. It follows yesterday's agreement between OPEC members, Russia and other producers, an alliance known as OPEC+, that will extend the group's production cuts of 1.2M barrels per day until March 2020. "I have no doubt in my mind that U.S. shale will peak, plateau and then decline like every other basin in history," Saudi Oil Minister Khalid Al-Falih told reporters. "Until it does I think it's prudent... to keep adjusting to it."

Wrapping Up The Blog

Thank-you for checking in at the Blog and yes, there will be more content on Wednesday.

I will be reading emails on a fairly constant basis and responding to new orders as quickly as possible.

Wishing everyone a fantastic July 4th holiday timeframe.

July 1, 2019

New Offerings From Lasalle Collection

Greetings and welcome to the Blog on a Monday morning.

July 4th holiday week is upon us. Out of state tourists have already arrived to coastal Maine and the various internal Maine lakes. Here in Raymond, the town population doubles during the middle of summer due to out of state property owners. The increased population can even be felt via internet speeds as heavy daytime demand decreases bandwidth. Even though restaurants are crowded and road traffic is most busy, out of state tourism is a blessing to the local Sebago Lakes region. Sebago Lake property owners carry a substantial portion of Raymond's property tax burden as just one example.

New Offerings from the LaSalle Collection

Rainy conditions on Sunday brought an opportunity to process the Lasalle Collection consignment. This individual's latest consignment is featured next and will be posted to the price list shortly. There is something in the wide-ranging consignment for every collector to consider. My three favorite pieces start with an 1811 O-106 Capped Bust half that is natural toned with frosty textured luster. How about a 1938-D Walking Liberty half graded PCGS MS64? Actually, this is the first mint state 1938-D half handled by GFRC. Strike is well executed along with brilliant luster and a faint gold skin. Speaking of gold, GFRC is pleased to be adding an 1860-S PCGS AU Type 3 Indian Princess gold dollar piece to inventory. The tiny mintage of 13,000 pieces should attract immediate attention.

LaSalle Collection Offerings - Wide-Ranging Offerings

1860-S PCGS AU55 G$1 1811 Small 8 O-106 NGC AU53 50C

1861-S PCGS VF Details 25C 1868-S PCGS EF Details 25C 1856-O NGC AU58 50C

1856-O ANACS EF45 50C 1868 PCGS NGC AU58 50C 1876-S WB-9 NGC VF35 50C

1881 ANACS Net PF55 50C 1938-D PCGS MS64 50C 1843 ANACS EF40 Seated $1

The Liberty Seated Collectors Club's July 2019 E-Gobrecht Is Published

Yesterday afternoon, Bill Bugert published the July 2019 issue of the E-Gobrecht to kick off the month's numismatic reading. The LSCC's ANA Summer Seminar class offering is already in the history books. A curriculum summary is documented in this issue by John Frost. The class summary is augmented with many images. This topic alone is worth downloading the July E-Gobrecht issue.

But there is more! Dennis Fortier shares his ongoing Stories from the Club Table followed by our favorite monthly columns. Craig Eberhart documents the latest auction sale results in Auction News. Greg Johnson provides an in depth review of the The 1855-S Quarter Dollar and Len Augsburger add another Curious Collector column with his perspective of the ANA Summer Seminar 2019. Monthly columns close out with Dennis Fortier and his Regional News. To download and read the entire issue, simply click here or on the below cover page graphic.

Global Financial News

The holiday week stars with financial markets in an upbeat mode since Presidents Trump and Xi agreed to get along at the G20 Summit. At least for now, China and United States discussions appear to be back on track with investors in a risk on mood.

Looking at commodities, lower trade war risks took a toll on physical gold. Spot gold prices have dropped back to $1392/oz. The irrational Bitcoin rally has lost some steam with price quotes moving down to $11,100/coin. Crude oil is quoting exactly at $60/bbl and the 10 Year U.S. Treasury yield remains at 2.02%.

Looking at a few Seeking Alpha headlines, U.S.-North Korea nuclear talks on again after the historical Trump-Kim Jong Un meeting at the DMZ. Tucker Carlson's commentary concerning Kim Jong Un's health are worth checking out at FOX News.

In a quickly arranged meeting in the demilitarized zone this weekend between President Trump and Kim Jong Un, the two leaders agreed to restart talks over denuclearization. They agreed to designate nuclear negotiating teams that will begin work over the next several weeks. New working-level talks will probably start in mid-July, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said. But the two sides don’t have a common definition of denuclearization.

Chances for the survival of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal appear to be bleak.

After talks in Vienna on Friday with the remaining signatories of the 2015 nuclear deal - Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China - Iran's deputy foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said he would report back to Tehran on the discussions. Though a step forward, the talks didn’t meet Iran’s expectations, he said.

Unrest continues in Hong Kong and is not making United States national news.

Protestors tried to storm Hong Kong’s legislature, ramming windows as about 100 riot police warned them to stop charging or they would use force. Earlier, police beat some protesters with batons and used pepper spray to try to disperse crowds near where officials were preparing a ceremony to commemorate the city’s handover back to China from the U.K. in 1997.

Wrapping Up The Blog

Time to start another day with focus on the LaSalle Collection and image processing of new forthcoming from Jim Poston.

Thank-you for starting your 4th of July holiday week at the Blog. I should be back tomorrow with more ramblings.

June 30, 2019

Summer FUN Around The Corner

Greetings and welcome to the Blog on a Sunday morning.

The final day of June is upon us. Southern Maine weather remains in a wet weather pattern with more clouds and rains today. But alas, the 4th of July week will be mostly clear as hot summer weather finally arrives. Forecasts call for temperatures in the mid to high 80s throughout the week, the first for 2019.

Seth Godin's Blog - Smashing the piggybank

We open today's Blog with some well founded advice from Seth Godin concerning business relationships. Those relationships must be mutually beneficial to endure. Organizations or companies that are short-sighted and tilt a business relationship to their favor will eventually pay the price. Nothing in life is free. Relationships form the basis for communities whether being localized in a small town, or on a national level via the internet.

Smashing the piggybank

You can only break it open once.

Organizations (and political candidates) that forget this and treat their biggest supporters like bottomless ATMs learn the piggybank rule at great cost.

Every interaction you have with a customer either strengthens your relationship (because it’s mutually beneficial) or weakens it. Weaken it enough time and you break it.

The fact that you ended up with a few bucks in the meantime is immaterial compared to the long term damage of breaking the relationship because you’re in a hurry.

GFRC at Summer FUN - Booth 827

With the arrival of July 4th holiday week, attention is already shifting to the upcoming Summer FUN show held in Orlando. Summer FUN is a smaller regional show as compared to the huge winter event. Though smaller, it is well attended due to cooperation between FUN and the many local Florida coin clubs. Bus transport from west and east coast Florida cities to Orlando ensures the show's attendance.

Due to a delayed FUN show application and not attending the 2018 event, the GFRC booth location is less than favorable. GFRC will be located at booth 827 by the message center. On a positive note, we are a straight shot from the entrance and hopeful that the GFRC reputation will attract customers.

Dan White and I remain optimistic for a decent show. GFRC will have its entire United States gold inventory on display as this product line has as done well at prior Summer FUN events. Of couse, there will be the usual Liberty Seated and Capped Bust inventories for sale. If booth traffic is slow, then attention will shift to buying.

Summer FUN - GFRC at Corner Booth 827

Quick Turnaround Time Consignments Wanted

Upon returning from the FUN show, there will one month's time to prepare for the massive ANA World's Fair of Money show. Expectations are high for this show since it's located in Chicago and specially, at the Rosemont Convention Center.

The Chicago ANA brings an opportunity for collectors to consider pruning their numismatic cabinets or shifting their collecting goals. The United States economy is hot. Many collectors are enjoying higher levels of disposable income. Some of those monies are being allocated to numismatic assets leading to a strong overall 2019 market.

GFRC is planning for a busy ANA show and offering top quality inventory is paramount. Two important consignments are presently under discussion for potential delivery after Summer FUN. Nevertheless, GFRC's current sales rate and multiple product lines requires a constant flow of new coins to satisfy customer demand. Therefore, there is a need to formalize GFRC's Quick Turnaround Time (QTAT) program towards heightening awareness. QTAT is ideal for collectors who wish to consign smaller lots with market value of $2500 or more. The consigned lot size can be a single coin or up to five pieces. Once a QTAT consignment arrives at the GFRC office, it is immediately unpacked, photographed, and loaded into the COIN database. Within 24-48 hours, the consigned lot is featured in the Daily Blog and loaded to the price list.

Already, the Seal Beach and Murphys Collection consignors have committed Quick Turnaround Time consignments that will be arriving soon. But more are requested!

Wrapping Up The Blog

Today's attention will be placed on loading the new Dr. Glenn Peterson Liberty Seated halves to the price list along with continuing efforts with Matt on upcoming GFRC website enhancements.

Thank-you for spending a part of your Sunday at the Blog.

June 29, 2019

Another Offering of Dr. Glenn Peterson Seated Halves!

Greeting and welcome to an early edition of the regular Saturday Blog.

GFRC is back with more handpicked Liberty Seated half dollars from the Dr. Glenn Peterson Dansco bookshelf albums. Today's client gallery presentation contains a host of important dates that are typically lacking when attempting a complete Seated half dollar collection by date and mintmark. All of the following halves were carefully selected and submitted to PCGS for grading. I expected all to straight grade. The submission took place in early 2019 during a conservative PCGS grading period. As a result, light hairlines were flagged with Details grades rather than being net graded down by one to two lower points. This is the case for the 1884 UNC Details half in the gallery. The 1846 6/Horizontal 6 was also assigned a Details (Scratched) grade due to an ancient line in the upper reverse shield. Frankly, I missed this line during the selection process as surfaces are perfectly original.

Look for the this Dr. Peterson lot to reach the price list by Sunday or Monday. In the meantime, First Rights of Refusal are recommended to ensure gaining access to desired coins.

Dr. Glenn Peterson Collection - Important Liberty Seated Halves

1873-CC No Arrows WB-1 PCGS VF20 50C 1883 PCGS AU53 50C

1885 PCGS EF40 50C 1888 PCGS AU50 CAC 50C

1846 6/Horiz 6 PCGS F Details 50C 1866 Motto PCGS AU Details 50C 1882 PCGS PR58 50C

1884 PCGS UNC Details 50C 1886 PCGS AU50 50C 1889 PCGS F12 50C

I will be back on Sunday morning with more ramblings. Thank-you for checking.

June 28, 2019

Liberty Seated Dime Eye Candy!

Greetings and welcome to a Friday Daily Blog edition.

Morning fog is typically an indication of forthcoming high humidty in southern Maine. That was the case yesterday and also today. Hot humid weather has finally arrived with today's high forecasted to be an unpleasant 87F. Best to open windows and doors early to allow cool morning air to migrate into the Fortin home. Later it will be time to retrieve the floor standing fans.

The past 24 hours have been busy. Thursday morning brought the usual shipping followed by dialog with a past consignor about a special Chicago ANA consignment. More will known on this possibility during the coming week. Jim Poston's new consignment was photographed. Afterwards, its was lawn mowing time followed by cutting down an aging flowering plum tree with the newly tuned chain saw. Outdoor maintenance is a joy when the equipment is functioning properly.

Forthcoming GFRC Website Updates

Once back in the office, Matt and I held a GFRC project development review session. We solidified several projects that will bring changes to the GFRC For Sale homepage. A Google Analytics review helped quantify improvement opportunities. Following are updates that customers can expect in the coming weeks.

- Current Top 100 Seated Dime Varieties and Counterfeit price lists will be replaced. Contemporary counterfeit offerings will be listed by denomination along side their regular mint issue counterparts. The Top 100 Varieties are already designated within Liberty Seated dime listings, therefore nothing is lost by removal of the price list.

- In consideration of feedback and many requests, GFRC will be adding a JUST BUY IT NOW price list. GFRC developed the JUST BUY IT NOW concept with adoption by a major Mid Atlantic state dealer. Now it is time for GFRC to bring out its own JUST BUY IT NOW price list and homepage gallery. Stay tuned here...

- A special Dansco Album price list will also be added for raw coins that sell without images. This new feature mimics the old time dealer price lists that we received in the mail prior to the internet being commonplace. There will be no pictures, rather a table listing individual dates, grades, die varieties, quality rating, and a brief description if any. This new feature will be designed for collectors who are shopping for raw coins to fill Dansco or Whitman bookshelf albums. The price list design will be flexible. Once an image is added for a raw coin, that listing will move from the Dansco Album price list to the regular price lists.

Click Thru On Featured Coins of the Day

So far the feedback on the Daily Blog's new Featured Coins of the Day header has been positive. Thursday brought a subtle but powerful enhancement. Blog readers can now explore the individual coins descriptions for Featured Coins by simply clicking any image. For example, please have a look at the six Gold CAC approved Featured Coins. Here is a screen capture of those offerings.

Now click on the 1830 LM-13 PCGS MS63 Gold CAC half dime! The result is access to that coin's price list description per below.

This option has been a long time coming after a host of requests. Finally, GFRC offers direct access to individual coin descriptions directly from an image file in the Blog. I'm sure this capability will be expanded over time.

Liberty Seated Dime Eye Candy

In between the many Thursday activities, there was still time to process a few images and add fresh coins to the price list. A recent bank box visit yielded several choice or gem original Liberty Seated dimes from my reference collection. These three new offerings have been off the market nearly two decades. Each is a specially toned piece that brought countless inspections and enjoyment. The time has arrived to divest and migrate these wonderful dimes to new collections.

Liberty Seated Dime Eye Candy - Gerry Fortin Reference Collection

1837 Large Date F-101b PCGS MS63 CAC 10C

1873 WA F-114 ANACS MS62 10C 1884 F-109 NGC MS64 CAC 10C

Global Financial News

The week closes with global equity markets mostly mixed. The G20 summit in Osaka Japan is being closely watched. All eyes will be on Saturday's meeting between President Trump and President Xi Yinping. There are high hopes for a trade war settlement.

Looking at commodities and long bond interest rates, crude oil's steady price increases proceeded during the past 24 hours. The current price quote stands at $59.55/bbl. Gold continues to consolidate its recent gains with ongoing strength at $1417/oz. Bitcoin's pull back has steadied with a quote of $11806/coin. The United States bond rally continues with the 10 Year Treasury yields back to 2.02%.

The Iranian regime is ready to exceed enriched uranium production if Europe, Russia and China do not provide an alternate financial trading system. This is a pivotal moment between the United States and European allies. Russia and China are already trading with Iran and settling account payments with physical gold.

Today's meeting in Vienna between the remaining signatories of the 2015 nuclear deal - Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China - is the "last chance" to save the accord, according to Iran, which said it will not accept "artificial" solutions to U.S. sanctions. At issue is how much money can be transferred via INSTEX, a special mechanism set up that allows for imports/exports without any direct financial flows. Tehran has already threatened to exceed the maximum amount of enriched uranium permitted by the deal and is just days away from that limit.

Wrapping Up The Blog

A sincere thank-you for stopping by at the Blog. I will be in the office the entire day and just a phone call or email away from accessing quality coins.

Saturday morning brings an early appointment, therefore tomorrow's Blog will be composed this evening.

June 27, 2019

Last of the New England Buying Trip Offerings

Greetings and welcome to the Blog on international trash pick-up day.

A southern Maine day starts with the landscape wrapped in fog. Within a few hours, the fog will burn off leading to another sunny day with forecasted high of 76F.

Yesterday's automated Featured Coins application ran into a minor technical issue leading to the Daily Blog being unavailable during mid-day hours. A minor programming issue was the root cause. With a few key strokes by Matt, we were back to normal. All is fine this morning with CAC approved United States gold offerings being showcased. How I love this Blog enhancement and the ease for selecting coins to be featured.

The GFRC IT development staff was hard at work late Wednesday afternoon. Already, the newest member is undergoing a rigorous training program and should be writing code shortly.

Did I watch the first Democratic debate? Since swearing off politics in the Daily Blog, the alternative was time in the basement sound room and taking in Sting's Live in Berlin concert. Life is too short and securing happiness is paramount. A mandated "time in the sound room" company policy is being strictly enforced at GFRC. This leads to more pleasant Blog compositions the following morning.

Chicago ANA - Entire GFRC Staff on Site!

I'm most pleased to report that Harry Zhang has secured a United States visa and will be working as a GFRC table assistant at the Chicago ANA show. For those who are new to GFRC or the Blog, Harry is GFRC's Shanghai sales agent and coordinates China sales orders back to the United States office. Harry is also my table assistant at the Yunzhou Antique Mall show, held every November in Shanghai. Harry will be bringing his thirteen year old son, Zhengxian, to the show as a numismatic educational opportunity along with a chance to practice his English while servicing customers. Future plans are for Zhengxian to attend university at a United States or Canada institution.

But that is not all!

Jim Poston called late last week and shared his plans to also attend the Chicago ANA show. Jim has been GFRC's eBay sales agent going on four years. Since I stopped attending the Denver show, Jim and I have had little face time. The Chicago ANA will be an opportunity to catch up on personal and numismatic items. Jim will be walking the ANA bourse starting on Tuesday as a GFRC buyer.

Of course, Dan White will be the primary GFRC table assistant at the ANA show and handling the United States gold product line. Dan recently undertook another southern United States buying trip and reports finding more quality CAC approved gold for Summer FUN and Chicago ANA inventory.

Last New England Buying Trip Offerings

The following gallery presents the last of the New England buying trip selections for your consideration. These pieces will be posted to the price list this morning. Already, there are multiple FRoR on the 1843 Seated dollar and the 1854-O Seated half dollar. Could it be CAC approval driving the demand?

Quality Coins from New England Buying Trip

1843 PCGS EF45 CAC Seated $1 1877-S PCGS MS62 Trade $1

1838 Partial Drap PCGS AU50 10C 1853 A&R PCGS AU58 50C 1854-O WB-36 PCGS AU58 CAC 50C

Global Financial News

The G20 meeting takes place in Osaka Japan with all eyes on President Trump and President Xi Yinping. It appears that President Xi is taking the offensive and has presented a set of pre-conditions before more negotiations will be conducted. Following is the Seeking Alpha headline that captures those pre-conditions.

Ahead of their G20 meeting in Osaka, President Xi plans to present President Trump with a set of terms the U.S. should meet before China is ready to settle their market-rattling trade confrontation, WSJ reports. Among the preconditions, Beijing is insisting that Washington remove its ban on the sale of American technology to Huawei and also wants the U.S. to lift all punitive tariffs. The nation additionally wants the Trump administration to drop efforts to get China to buy even more U.S. exports than Beijing said it would when the two leaders last met in December.

Checking in on commodities and the long bond interest rate, crude oil is holding at $58.85/bbl while physical gold is consolidating recent gains at $1406/oz. Bitcoin has also seen a pullback to $11619/coin. The 10 Year U.S. Treasury yield increased slightly to 2.05%.

Major Europe countries are attempting to circumvert United States financial system based sanctions on Iran.

In the next 48 hours, France, Britain and Germany are set to double down on their efforts to keep alive economic ties with Iran by providing a credit line to help a special mechanism called INSTEX, or Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges. The European governments are set to provide a capital injection of at least a few million euros to hasten the first transactions, allowing the import and export of goods without the need for any direct financial flows.

Is the Amazon-Walmart delivery war getting crazy or what? Pick-ups at Rite Aid?I don't get the need for deliveries at one's home or car. But then again, I'm a country person and use to scheduling buying trips into town when necessary.

Car trunks, home garages and potentially by drone, Amazon has been steadily adding options for customers to receive their packages. A new option, called Counter, will allow shoppers to pick up purchases - at no additional cost - across specialized counters in more than 1,500 Rite Aid locations by the end of the year. Amazon is also looking to get other retailers, including small businesses, to join the program as it expands.

Wrapping Up The Blog

The Yamatin family is up and having breakfast. Time to wrap up the Blog for today and get that health walk in early.

Of course, I will be in the GFRC office the entire day and processing more consignment images towards an evening client gallery. I'm available for purchase orders via email, phone call or text messages.

Thank-you for checking in at the Blog.

June 26, 2019

Automated GFRC Featured Coins of the Day Debuts

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog. Thank-you for making these regular ramblings a part of your day.

Southern Maine rains arrived on schedule Tuesday afternoon and continued during the overnight. Sunny conditions are forecasted for today and should allow more afternoon photography. The current weather pattern also leads to frequent lawn mowing, which will be necessary once the grass has had time to dry out.

A Memorable Act of Maine Kindness

I'd like to call out an act of Maine kindness that took place on Tuesday. I took the Husqvana chain saw to a Windham small engine repair shop that specializes in the Husqvarna brand. The young service counter attendent was very friendly and obviously had sawn a few trees in his life, given his upper body build. I explain that the chain brake sprocket was frozen and the clutch band was not properly seating when mounting the cover. As a result, the chain would not move though the engine was running fine. Out came the special Husqvarna socket and screw driver tool that comes with each unit. The attendant had seen this problem before, probably numerous times. An adjustment freed the spocket, and the clutch band was popped out and properly positioned. He tested the chain flow on the bar and provided a lesson for proper chain tension setting since I have a tendency to pop the chain during angled sawing. He wraps up and indicates that I'm good to go. I asked how much for this great service? He looks at me and indicates nothing. This is a free service that he provides to Husqvarna owners. His act of kindness spoke volumes and I will frequent his shop and not the big box stores the next time there is a need for power equipment.

Automated GFRC Featured Coins of the Day Debuts

By now, Blog readers should have noticed the new Featured Coins of the Day in the header. Matt Yamatin has automated the process inside the COIN database. I no longer need to spend the time required to manually build a Featured Coins gallery every day. From this day forward, Featured Coins of the Day will be illustrated as a Blog header. Actually, if refreshing the view, an alternative set of coins will be highlighted based on the number designated in COIN. My role is to change display flags every 24 hours, or so, to keep the a fresh set of Featured Coins in the Blog header.

Now the great news! Matt has also located code that will auto-size the Featured Coins images for the viewing platform. In other words, the images will be automatically scaled to fit mobile, tablets, and laptop display screens. This is the first of several forthcoming website enhancements towards being more friendly on cellphones and tablets.

Incremental New England Buying Trip Offerings

Last evening brought quiet time to focus on incremental New England Buying Trip purchases. Following are a few quality pieces with more to be loaded to the price list today. The 1897-O Barber dime is a better early New Orleans date with awesome obverse bullseye toning. Then there is an amazing 1876-CC PCGS AU58 CAC Seated half that is already on hold.

New England Buying Trip - More New Offerings

1833 LM-1 PCGS AU55 CAC 5C 1897-O PCGS EF40 10C

1853 A&R PCGS EF45 CAC 50C 1876-CC PCGS AU58 CAC 50C

Global Financial News

Asian equity markets are mostly flat on a Wednesday, though futures for United States markets are solidly green.

Physical gold prices have take a breather and currently stand at $1411/oz. Settling in at a new pricing level is always healthy as rocket ship type trends always succumb to gravity. Speaking of rocket ship trend charts, Bitcoin gapped up to $12604 as speculation mounts. Crude oil saw a small gain to $58.74/bbl. Finally, the 10 Year U.S. Treasury bond yield is flat at 2.02%.

Seeking Alpha headlines provide some background insight into today's financial market trends. We open with commentary explaining a strong projected opening for the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The United States economy remains strong and progress is being made on China - U.S. trade talks. Frankly, I believe that Steven Mnuchin is one of the most powerful men on the planet at this time.

DJIA futures are ahead by 123 points, with stronger-than-expected earnings from Micron pushing Nasdaq futures up 0.8%, as positive trade comments from Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin added to gains (see below). It followed a series of Fed comments on Tuesday that trimmed hopes of a big July rate cut and weighed down the Wall Street benchmarks. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank is "insulated from short-term political pressures", while St. Louis Fed President James Bullard, the most dovish of the FOMC's voting members, declared that a 50 basis point rate cut in July would likely be "overdone" given the underlying strength of the U.S. economy.

"We were about 90% of the way there (with a trade deal with China) and I think there’s a path to complete this," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CNBC, ahead of a big G20 meeting between President Xi and President Trump. He's also hopeful an agreement could be struck by the end of the year but said "there needs to be the right efforts in place." The outcome could be pivotal for financial markets that have been rattled by 18 months of trade tensions between the world's two largest economies.

Bitcoin speculation is rampant at this point. We are back to 2017 pricing levels in a little over one week.

Bitcoin prices are partying like it's 2017 amid the recent enthusiasm stoked by Facebook's foray into the world of cryptocurrencies. Advancing for eight trading sessions in a row, Bitcoin jumped as much as 14% overnight to nearly $13,000, bringing its overall return for the year to 250%. Also notable is the fact that the cryptocurrency crossed above 60% market dominance for the first time in over 17 months.

eBay will take on Amazon during their annual Prime Day. My suggestion is to focus on mostly non-depreciating assets like coins rather than purchasing stuff that you don't really need due to its cheap price.

eBay has announced plans to hold a "Crash Sale" on July 15 to compete with Amazon Prime Day, which will offer discounts of up to 80% on a variety of products. But unlike Amazon's 48-hour event, eBay is planning weeks of deals, culminating with its Crash Sale. "If history repeats itself and Amazon crashes that day, eBay's wave of can't-miss deals on some of the season's top items will excite customers around the world," the online auction site wrote in its announcement.

Wrapping Up The Blog

Matt just left the homestead for a morning run and I plan to do the same. I won't be running but rather walking with usual hand weights.

Today's shipping is light and allows more time to be allocated to processing images and incremental price list posting.

Again, thank-you for visiting the Blog. I will be in the office the entire day other than mowing the lawn during later afternoon hours. Don't be bashful with a purchase inquiry.

June 25, 2019

Spot Gold Continues Rally to $1430/oz

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog.

Tuesday arrives with a pleasant weather start to the day. Skies are mostly blue with high clouds. It will be best to get outdoor activities done early as more rain arrives during the mid to later afternoon hours. I'm thoroughly enjoying this weather pattern as lawns remain lush green moving into the July 4th timeframe. More important is the fact that floor standing fans continue to hide in storage due to cool evening sleeping temperatures.

Monday brought a huge GFRC sales day and some file corruption to the COIN database. The COIN database file continues to expand and currently stands at 18Mb due to growing sales and accumulated Sales Archive data. GFRC customers will not be impacted by the file corruption issue other than not seeing a price list update to start the day. Matt is correcting the corrupt data (Collectors Corner loading information) followed by a regular GFRC price list update.

Natsumi loves being with Grandpa in the GFRC office. Her official jobs are assembling USPS Priority shipping boxes and counting coins. Here Natsumi is sorting through my accumulated change and preparing for a bank deposit. There is no need for a coin counting machine in the GFRC office!

Spot Gold Quoting at $1430/oz

The gold price rally continued on Monday and during the overnight. Current quote is $1430/oz. Following is the live Kitco trendchart that display gold's price action during the past 36 hours. We are experiencing a substantial technical breakout at this point with no overhead resistance until reaching the mid $1600/oz range.

Kitco Live Pricing Chart - Spot Gold

The gold:silver ratio charts were also studied this morning, given gold's upward momentum. Silver is hardly moving, with a price quote in the mid $15/oz range. This result in a historically high gold:silver ratio of 92. In other words, one ounce of gold will presently buy 92 ounces of silver.

I found the following gold:silver ratio distribution chart which captures average monthly ratios going back to 1971. The chart makes it clear that the ratio is at a historically high level. Silver prices are not participating in the current rally as they did back during the 2010-2011 precious metal rally timeframe. My conclusion? Silver prices look to be inexpensive at the moment if gold can hold on to its gains.

What to Expect From GFRC Today?

As soon as possible, the GFRC price list will be updated with Monday's sales and new offerings. The morning hours will be consumed with a large shipping queue. With Quick Ship, one day's orders immediately translate into next day shipping. The afternoon's goal is wrapping up New England buying trip image processing and loading those offering to the price list. Then attention shifts to LaSalle and Dr. Glenn Peterson Collection consignments as the Quick Turnaround Time consignment pipeline is quiet.

The recent Jim Poston's consignment, fresh from CAC review, will be photographed during the next sunny day and is scheduled for attention later this week.

Global Financial News

Equity markets are forecasted to open down today after recent gains. Crude oil is holding steady at slightly under $58/bbl. Bitcoin is priced at $11320/coin and the 10 Year U.S. Treasury yield is flat at 2.02%.

This Seeking Alpha headline provides insights into the new round of Iranian sanctions. It appears that the top echelons of the Iranian government are being barred from international financial trading systems.

Crude prices are on watch as the Trump administration ordered new sanctions against the assets of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several Iranian military commanders, as well as plans to target Foreign Minister Javad Zarif later this week. The penalties effectively freeze the business operations of the Supreme Leader's office, which controls a global network of private companies that some experts estimate is worth between $100B-$200B. Tensions already worsened in May, when Washington ordered all countries to halt imports of Iranian oil, and then escalated following a series of apparent Iranian-backed skirmishes in the Middle East. "Imposing useless sanctions is the permanent closure of the path of diplomacy," Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi wrote on Twitter.

Wrapping Up The Blog

Best to get a quick shower in before a long morning in the packing and shipping department. Thank-you for checking in at the Blog.

Yes, I will be in the office the entire day and look forward to your purchase orders. June 2019 sales have been robust and within striking distance of a new June sales record. It is possible to gain a sense of recent consignor sales activity by viewing the scorecard at the GFRC Consign link.

Wishing everyone a pleasant day in the numismatic neighborhood. I will be back tomorrow with more GFRC news and ramblings.

June 24, 2019

Hold On To Your Seats! Awesome Type Coins Arriving Today

Greetings and welcome to the Blog on the final Monday in June. Amazingly, the July 4th holiday is ten days away.

The Fortin homestead is peaceful as another week starts. Southern Maine weather was just outstanding on Sunday. Highs climbed to the low 80s with a strong breeze throughout the day. Being outdoors was such a pleasure though the clutch band on my Husqvarna chain saw is not functional. Plans to cut some firewood did not materialize. Time for a trip to a small engine repair shop.

Today's forecast calls for similar weather conditions before rains arrive on Tuesday. Big girl Natsumi spent time at nearby Crescent Lake with Meme and made new friends during the afternoon hours. The Yamatins have overcome jetlag and everyone is back to regular sleep schedules. Life is good.

Daily Blog Enhancement Arrives Soon!

As we've come to expect, a Yamatin visit to the Maine homestead brings an opportunuty for GFRC website improvements. Matt has been busy coding an enhancement to the Daily Blog as our first project. Last evening, Matt and I were grilling dinner and enjoying the late afternoon time on the back deck. Laptop computers are omnipresent at the Fortin home and, of course, a laptop found its way to the deck. Matt showcased his initial layout of a revised Daily Blog format with posting automation. I'm confident that readers will enjoy the new Blog layout and appearance. We can expect this update at some point this week.

Progress on Love Token Collection Sale

Within the June 6 Blog ediiton, the insourcing of a substantial love token collection was highlighted. To refresh everyone's memory, here is the image of the collection.

I'm pleased to report that several lots within the collection have found the best possible homes, passionate token collectors! It's taken several weeks to properly evaluate the collection contents and devise a disbursement strategy. The goal was to place individual pieces or groupings with those collectors who would appreciate the opportunity. Sunday brought the purchase of a nineteen piece Morgan dollar love token lot along with a forty piece half dime, dime and quarter grouping. I'm sure this person will have a wonderful time exploring her new purchase! Following is a cellphone snapshot of the Morgan dollar love tokens.

GFRC New Offerings

Maintaining a flow of new offerings onto the GFRC 30 day price list is paramount. A portion of Sunday was spent processing images towards an awesome early type coin display in today's Blog. We open with four incremental pieces purchased during the New England buying trip. I am absolutely thrilled to be offering stone cold original 1835 Capped Bust coinage in mint state grades plus CAC approval. Both pieces will enhance any type set. How about a naturally toned 1845 F-110 dime in gem mint state? Probably the most notable offering is the 1868-S quarter graded PCGS AU55 and absolutely original. This date is a rarity in AU or better grades. PCGS has only graded two at AU55. This piece is already on the price list and immediately available.

New England Buying Trip Offerings

1835 LM-8.1 PCGS MS64 CAC 5C 1835 JR-3 PCGS MS63+ CAC 10C

1845 F-110 PCGS MS64+ CAC 10C 1868-S PCGS AU55 25C

The Racal is Back with More Liberty Seated Dimes

Several GFRC friends have been requesting coins from my reference collection. On Thursday, I made a visit to the bank box and pulled a group. Following are three web-book plate coins that I expected to garner substantal attention. I was correct! After posting the 1851 F-102a and 1883 F-106 dimes to the price list, multiple requests arrived. Obviously, both are already sold. The 1890 F-101 will reach the price list today and probably won't last the day before locating a new home.

Gerry Fortin Reference Collection - Web-Book Plate Coins

1851 F-102a PCGS EF45 CAC 10C 1890 F-101 PCGS MS63 CAC 10C

1883 F-106 PCGS MS62 10C

Global Financial News

The week starts with the cryptocurrency market on fire. Bitcoin blew through the $10,000/coin milestone during the weekend and currently quotes at $10878. I'm old fashion and like to hold my money. Physical gold continued its breakout and climbed to $1409/oz. Middle East war tensions persist and provide a tailwind for crude oil. The black gold has moved from the low $50 level to today's $58/bbl quote in just a week's time. Finally, the 10 Year U.S Treasury yield is holding steady at 2.03%.

Yes indeed, speculation runs uncontrolled and the crypto craze is back! Seeking Alpha discusses the sharp pricing increases.

Along with the truly bizarre state of global interest rates, the rebounding crypto market is shaping up to be the largest finance-related story of 2019. On watch Thursday and Friday for re-crossing the $10K threshold, Bitcoin over the weekend not only blew through that level, but took out $11K as well, nearly tripling in price YTD. Alongside, Ether crossed over $300 for the first time in about a year. Others rallying include Litecoin, Ripple, and Bitcoin Cash.

It is becoming clear that the United States 5G infrastructure will not be manufactured in mainland China.

The Trump administration is examining whether to require that next-generation 5G cellular equipment used in the U.S. be designed and manufactured outside China, WSJ reports. The proposals could force telecom equipment giants Ericsson and Nokia to reshuffle their production locations, with Citi analysts estimating that China represented 45% and 10% of their manufacturing-facility area in 2018. Washington has already essentially banned telecom equipment from Chinese companies, especially industry leader Huawei, over cybersecurity concerns.

Wrapping Up The Blog

Another busy day is at hand. Sunday sales were robust, which translates into a decent sized shipping queue to start the day. A few errands await me during the mid-day hours, followed by time in the GFRC office starting mid-afternoon.

Please remember that ordering a coin in GFRC inventory is straightforward. Orders can be placed via email using the shopping cart at the end of each listing. Old fashioned phone calls also work well as you will never reach an automated answering service, just me!

Thank-you for visiting the Blog. I will be back on Tuesday with more ramblings.

June 23, 2019

GFRC Website Access Is Back!

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

Saturday was not one of my better days. Matt and I noticed that the COIN database portion of the GFRC website stopped functioning around 10:00 am. The web-book portion of the website remained operational but any queries that required access to the COIN database generated response errors. I called Hostway's technical support to make them aware. Their response was the usual policy statement. Typical response time for resolution is 24-48 hours. Ok, I'm used to this response and prayed for a fix within a few hours.

Matt found a workaround to allow Blog readers to still gain access to that portion of the website, but with error messages. This workaround left the For Sale page active with error messages in each of the product line selection boxes and confused many customers. Emails, text messages and phone calls arrived to inform me that the website was experiencing problems. Those continued through mid afternoon and I decided to ignore these towards moving forward with loading new offerings to the Blog and price list.

I called Hostway at 3:00 pm for an update. The outcome was their standard response. They were aware of the issue but standard resolution time is 24-48 hours. As you might imagine, I was not pleased with the lack of transparency concerning the severity of the technical issue and potential recovery time.

The Fortin and Yamatin family went out to dinner at a new Mexican diner in Raymond. Yes, you read that correctly. Raymond recently acquired a Mexican restaurant housed in a 1950s style diner equipped with soda fountain, booths, jukebox, and all the expected chrome decorations. Upon returning home, the website was still down. Finally, at 10:00 pm, an email arrived from Hostway stating that the problem had been corrected and access to the MySQL (COIN) database was restored. Matt removed his workaround code and the GFRC website was back in business. A day's orders had been lost. Hopefully customers will not be discouraged and will return today.

Strong Hands Consignor is Back!

After a three year consignment hiatus, the Strong Hands consignor is back with two important Liberty Seated dimes for your consideration. His two piece consignment was consistent with the recently announced Quick Turnaround Time (QTAT) service and immediately processed.

The 1860-S PCGS AU58 dime deserves special attention as few come to market at this grade level. The Strong Hands offering is an old GFRC friend and was originally consigned by the Twin Lakes Collection. The 1863 NGC MS66 dime offering is rare at this grade level and a no question business strike. Only one die pair was employed for proof and circulation strikes during 1863. Therefore, circulation strikes will exhibit semi proof-like fields and wire rims. A thin layer of mint frost covers both sides and validates its business strike origin.

Strong Hands Consignment - Important Liberty Seated Dime Dates

1860-S F-102 PCGS AU58 10C 1863 F-101a NGC MS66 10C

New CAC Approved GFRC Purchases

I'm always on the hunt for choice and gem original offerings for the GFRC price lists. Most dealers attempt to locate inventory that will provide the best short term profit margin, as business people should do. At GFRC, my philosophy is different. Quality offerings are paramount and subordinated to profit margin. As GFRC sources and sells the best possible coins, those sale records populate the Sales Archive and provide important insight into pricing levels for top end coins. Eventually, a portion of these sales will be re-consigned to GFRC. Once great coins enter the GFRC community, a reasonable percentage will remain and trade among clients. This business philosophy is a long game approach consistent with future GFRC aspirations.

Both the 1852 trime and 1909-S Barber 50c are sweet coins and will please the most selective collectors. The 1909-S Barber 50c date is underrated at the AU grade level. This PCGS AU50 CAC example is the only AU50 approved at CAC, a population of one!

New CAC Approved GFRC Purchases

1852 PCGS MS64 CAC 3C Silver 1909-S PCGS AU50 CAC 50C

What to Expect Next from GFRC?

Now that the website is back to normal operation, my attention shifts to image processing for the New England buying trip purchases. These are back from CAC and ready to be posted.

The LaSalle Collection has released a nice offering of Capped Bust and Liberty Seated larger denomination type coins. Those are photographed and will also be finding their way to the price list this week.

On Thursday, I made a trip to the bank vault and pulled roughly ten more Liberty Seated dimes from my reference collection. Several were requested dates/die varieties, while others were selected to energize the Liberty Seated dime price list. As time moves forward, I'm digging deeper into the collection and releasing better and better pieces. They will be priced with appropriate premiums as I'm not in a rush to sell.

Featured Consignor of the Day - Seal Beach Collection

Seal Beach is one of GFRC's key clients and always on the hunt for superior Liberty Seated halves at the AU58 grade level. During his collecting journey, the divested pieces are shipped to GFRC to be sold with the resulting capital returning for incremental purchases. Following are eight Liberty Seated halves in grades ranging from AU55 to MS62 for your consideration.

Current Seal Beach Liberty Seated Half Dollar Offerings

1842 Sm Date WB-5 PCGS MS62 CAC 50C 1848 WB-7 PCGS AU58 50C

1850-O WB-2 PCGS MS61 50C 1851 WB-6 PCGS AU58 50C

1853-O WB-13 PCGS AU58 50C 1865 PCGS AU55 50C

1871 PCGS MS62 CAC 50C 1876 PCGS MS62 CAC 50C

Wrapping Up The Blog

Let's pray for a stable website allowing time to focus on new offerings and time with granddaughter Natsumi on a Sunday.

I will be in and out of the office today but always watching emails for new orders.

Thank-you for stopping by at the Blog, and I wish everyone a peaceful Sunday.

June 22, 2019

New England Buying Trip Scores at CAC

Greetings and welcome to a weekend edition of the Daily Blog.

Here I sit in the GFRC office at 6:00am with hot coffee and a quiet home. Matt is sleeping on the TV room couch after running and winning a local 5K race Friday evening. It was a fun race celebrating the longest day of the year. Big girl Natsumi quietly let Buddy out of our bedroom and gave him breakfast before decending to the basement sound room to watch a movie on her Ipad. Yesterday, Natsumi shared how much she loves living with Grandpa and Meme due to the big house and ability to play in so many different rooms.

Friday brought a huge GFRC sales day with consumption of the remaining USPS staging and shipping boxes. The GFRC staff came to the rescue preparing over 40 additional boxes. Following are Natsumi and Matt on the job with Buddy guarding the family members. Don't be fooled by that quiet sleepy demeanor.

Natsumi quickly achieved her GFRC USPS box making certification and is busy in the office with her first solo building event.

New England Buying Trip Scores at CAC

CAC submission results arrived on Thursday and Friday. Thursday results captured a substantial Jim Poston submission with 21 pieces approved out of 44 submitted. Look for much of these to be offered next week on the GFRC price list.

Yesterday brought a second communication of CAC approval results. The submission included coins purchased during a recent New England buying trip. My gut feel leaned towards a high approval rate as the purchased coins were so obviously original and yes, I had to pay strong monies for these. The CAC 72% approval rate validated my purchasing judgment and expectations.

Following is a copy/paste of the purchased items as shared in the June 12 Blog. I've added CAC designation to those pieces that were approved, along with using bold font as further highlight. GFRC customers should be prepared for some awesome new early type listings in the upcoming week as all pieces are already photographed.

Capped Bust 5c: 1829 LM-1 PCGS MS64+ CAC gem original with mirrored fields; 1833 LM-1 PCGS AU55 CAC choice original gold patina with mirrored fields; 1835 LM-8.1 PCGS MS64 CAC crusty gem original silver gray with thick mint frost

Seated 5c: 1847 PCGS AU58 CAC choice original with lightly mirrored fields

Capped Bust 10c: 1835 JR-3 PCGS MS63+ CAC near gem original with frosty cartwheels

Seated 10c: 1842 F-103b Double Rim Cud Obverse PCGS MS64+ CAC gem original and now finest know example of this rare terminal die state; 1845 F-110 PCGS MS64+ CAC another gem with same original toning as the 1842 F-103b.

Barber 10c: 1897-O PCGS EF40 gem original bullseye, deep blue and rose peripheral coloring

Seated 25c: 1868-S PCGS AU55 choice original dirty gray patina over frosty luster, so rare to find an 1868-S with unmolested surfaces! 1878-CC Canceled Die Obverse raw MS62-MS63 with heavily mirrored fields, an amazing example

Seated 50c: 1853 A&R PCGS AU58 choice original with thick frosty luster; 1853 A&R PCGS EF45 CAC near gem original crusty gun metal gray-blue; 1876-CC PCGS AU58 CAC gem original steely gray-brown

Trade $1: 1877-S PCGS MS62 classic steely reflective luster with transparent gray-gold patina, so pretty for type

Seated $1: 1843 PCGS EF45 CAC choice original gray patina and completely unmolested surfaces

Following are two forthcoming highlights to consider with their CAC green emblems in place!

New England Buying Trip Highlights with CAC Approval

1829 LM-1 PCGS MS64+ CAC 5C 1842 F-103b PCGS MS64+ CAC 10C

Spot Gold Holding at $1400/oz

The news that the United States almost entered a war with Iran helped support gold prices throughout Friday. After trading just shy of the $1400/oz level for most of the day, the close was at $1400 on the ask side.

Following is the Kitco 5 year technical trendchart that now captures the breakout. What next week will bring is an unknown. But the ball is clearly in the Iranian court for the next move. President Trump issued the United States response via a masterful use of the media rather than with physical destruction and lives lost. The 24 hour media is displeased as they need blood and destruction to fuel their news cycles. This is the scary world that we reside in today.

Kitco - Gold Five Year Technical Chart

Wrapping Up The Blog

It is time for an early morning health walk before moving into the packing and shipping department. The roadway is somewhat quiet and it's best to get that walk in early.

Yes, I will be in the office the entire day waiting for your purchase orders. Don't be shy. Great coins are just a phone call or email away.

Thanks for visiting the Blog on a Saturday morning.

1915-S NGC MS63 CAC G$20 $1800	1884 PCGS MS63 50C Golden Harvest $2500	1886 NGC MS63 CAC G$1 $925
1878 F-107 PCGS MS63 CAC 10C Tenafly $475	1830 LM-13 PCGS MS63 5C Osprey $1800	1884 F-110 PCGS MS63 CAC 10C Newtown $365