Black Friday Sale - Starts in

Gerry's Daily Blog

November 20, 2018

Greetings from the Air China Premier lounge at the Shanghai Pudong airport. Another Shanghai visit concludes as I wait to board UA87 to Newark NJ. I have no idea how full the flight will be but since two days before Thanksgiving, I'm prepared for no open seats and many movies to be watched.

Black Friday discounting instructions continue to arrive with the sale shaping up to be another excellent opportunity to secure top quality coins at reduced prices. Black Friday discount loading will start upon arriving to Newark and continue throughout Wednesday. Please remember that I will acknowledge your instructions via email by end of day Wednesday. If you don't hear from me by evening time, then please send me a quick reminder and I will pay attention.

There is little to discuss in today's Blog so will be brief. The following two unsoliciited emails that arrived this morning (China time) and warmed my heart. Feeling appreciated via such kind words provides the power to keep going each day towards offering soliciting and purchasing top quality coins. If the coins being sold have issues, then it is my responsibility to be straight and price accordingly.

Greetings Gerry,

Received the 1861 dime today. It’s just what I have come to expect from you, quality. It’s a nice addition to my collection. Thanks!

I look forward to your future postings as I am quite sure I will find other nice coins whether they are graded/authenticated by PCGS, NGC, or ANACS. I feel that after seriously collecting for about 40 years I have developed an ‘eye’ for quality and originality so I am not afraid to purchase coins graded by someone other than PCGS.

I also have come to trust your trained eye. I know that a coin you post wouldn’t be there if you didn’t believe it is nice. While I am a relatively new customer, I can say that each of the 10 or so coins I have purchased from you have met or exceeded my expectations.

Many thanks,

Another GFRC customer wrote...

Hi Gerry,

I appreciate the current discussion regarding TPG grading services. I offer the following comments regarding my experience submitting PCGS coins purchased from GFRC for CAC Certification. Of the 7 coins recently purchased from GFRC in various generation PCGS holders and submitted to CAC, 5 were awarded the CAC green bean. Even one coin bought raw from GFRC was awarded a CAC green bean after I submitted it to PCGS for grading. I think this represents your ability to identify quality eye appealing coins and is a major reason that I have grown to trust your opinion on what is quality. I would also like to think since the CAC coins are in various PCGS generation holders they would be relatively immune to the current grading shenanigans.

In any event, thanks for all you do.

 

Global Financial News

It has been nearly a week since taking a look at commodity prices and longer term interest rates. Crude oil prices continue to be depressed at $56.82/bbl while gold has established a solid trading range above $1200. Spot gold starts the week at $1222. Bitcoin prices fell sharply towards the end of last week and continue to be depressed at $5258. Finally, the 10 year U.S. Treasury yield has pulled back to 3.08%

There is little worth sharing in terms of Seeking Alpha headlines. The U.S. and China trade war continues and resulted in a non productive APEC meeting.

Echoing the showdown at the last G7 summit, Asia-Pacific leaders failed to agree on a communique at the APEC conference in Papua New Guinea for the first time since the gathering began in 1993. Deep divisions between the U.S. and China over trade and investment stymied cooperation, as well as tariffs and the Belt and Road initiative. Another sticking point was whether to mention the World Trade Organization and its possible reform in the Leaders' Declaration.

There are continuing signals that China-U.S. trade talks are making progress and hopefully the next round of tariffs can be avoid.

"We put tariffs on $250B in Chinese goods, and we could more than double that number," Vice President Mike Pence told the APEC summit, stating the "U.S. will not change course until China changes its ways." The warning follows remarks made by President Trump that helped the Dow close higher on Friday. The U.S. "may not" need to impose more tariffs after China sent over measures it was willing to take to resolve trade tensions, he said, adding that "we'll probably get to the four or five big things that were left off" the list.

So ends today's Blog. My flight is boarding in 45 minutes and best to get to the gate early. The next Blog will be written from the Maine office.

Thanks for stopping by!

 

 

 

November 18, 2018

Preparing for GFRC Black Friday Sale

Greetings and welcome to the next to last Daily Blog edition written in Shanghai. A final set of ramblings will be issued from the Pudong Airport on Tuesday.

Monday turned out to be a wonderful day for walking around Jing'an District, taking in a local lunch and securing a China Mobile sim card for my Huawei phone. Weather was perfect with temperatures in the high 50s and partly cloudy conditions. With a local sim card, I can use the Huawei phone as a hot spot and upload the Blog at any location in Shanghai. That includes the hotel room. Talk about convenience.....

I really don't want to delve into the PCGS grading situation again but a loyal customer sent along a well written commentary on the subject that is worth sharing. But first a wrap on the Shanghai Yunzhou show.

Shanghai Yunzhou Show Summary

Attending the annual Shanghai Yunzhou is important for many reasons. There are the actual bourse floors sales. But relationship building and marketing the GFRC brand are also key reasons for attending the show. GFRC is the only United States coin dealer to take an active role in the Shanghai region towards supporting local collectors. Other United States dealers will attend the Hong Kong show but not the Shanghai show.

GFRC took an additional step towards promoting U.S. coins, during this visit, by establishing a consignment partnership with a local Shanghai Yunzhou dealer who is in the same circle of friends as Shanghai agent, Harry Zhang. Specific coins were consigned to this individual to expand his Yunzhou 6th floor booth stock. Harry Zhang will provide oversight and payment collection. Based on the sales rates, GFRC will could increase consignment supply during 2019.

Overall, the Shanghai visit was a great time including hanging out with Mr. Sun and Rikinn along with a brief holiday from the 12+ hours days in the Maine GFRC office.

 

Guest Commentary - My Two Cents

PCGS is typical American business practice. Ready, fire, aim...

TPG grading turned me off in the middle 90's to collecting. It seemed at best, a way of providing some order and discipline to grading as there would be a tangible standard in the form of a growing population of professionally graded and documented coins. In the middle ground was the idea that new blood and money would be attracted to the hobby/industry (to characterize the two poles of "coin collecting") as there would be a way for folks to have some assurance they were buying genuine and reasonably graded material. This would hopefully increase demand. At it's worst, it is a way of increasing prices through limiting supply by relegating a substantial number of coins to the "details" scrap heap, or worse just body bags. I hate so see the hobby devolving to an econ 101 situation where the way to increase prices is to restrict supply. This is not the way to go...

I have always subscribed to the notion of buy the coin, not the holder. I have walked away from many a dealer who said "if it's not a good coin PCGS would not have slabbed it". The market on the other hand has gone to the other extreme, that if it's not in a PCGS holder and preferably CACed, don't bother. So out of necessity and a short time line (pushing 70...) I look at coins with TPG and CAC as filters, but if I don't like the coin, no deal. Likewise however, if the deal is good/reasonable, I
like the coin and the dealer (trusted dealer here...) does too, I will buy raw, I will buy ANACS, I will buy non-CAC/failed CAC.

NGC. Well, my first experience with sending coins to a TPG was with a local dealer who I like (but had not earned Trust yet...) and went through some raw coins with me and gave his opinions as to 1) grade, 2) whether worth submitting and 3) probable outcome. Sent off several coins to NGC and when they came back, he was pretty much spot on (a $10 Indian gold that he thought might go MS60-62 came back AU58) and we were both happy. Two GFRC coins he agreed on and so did NGC.

PCGS. I took a group of coins to a local dealer (who has since died...), we went through them and selected a group to submit. Unfortunately either he got distracted or his failing health caught up with him, and they did not get submitted in a timely fashion prior to his death. His son (who works for Stacks) offered to handle the deal, but I think the time frame may gets me in the cross hairs of this whole business. We will see. Worst case I crack out and try NGC. I will bet that a conversation
there has been "lets tighten up grading so anything we grade will get a green bean. Then folks will stop bothering and CAC will look loose instead of us..."

We need to keep competition alive in the business/hobby. In my work as a radio engineer I make substantial package purchases from time to time for clients, and I also do small orders for odds and ends. I find on the big packages I put out for bid, I get back pricing where the spreads from dealers are within 1-2%. If the spreads are bigger than maybe 5% I look to why. So I often look at the more intangible aspects, like service, support, etc, and may encourage a client to spend a few extra
dollars to go with a particular vendor that I think provides value to the industry, and try and spread the business around. We need to be careful that we don't end up with particular entities getting such a grip on the business that they feel they can do what they want and not have consequences.

I've emphasized the last line in the commentary as this is a key point. Fortunately or unfortunately, PCGS has become a dominate force in the United States grading marketing due to a host of supporting services including a competitive Set Registry with annual award luncheons and CoinFacts. David Hall has been a pioneering force for the numismatic hobby with PCGS becoming the grading service of choice for most but not all collectors. When a firm has a dominate position, it has responsibilities to maintain order in that market since becoming an enabler of supply and grading consistency.

 

GFRC Black Friday Sale

Believe it or not the Black Friday sales starts in less than four days. Please remember that the deadline for price reduction submissions is Tuesday noon time. In reality, I will not touch down in Newark until 5:00 pm Tuesday. So there is an obvious grace period.

For those who have already provided discounting instructions, those are being loaded today while having some down time in Shanghai. Once a consignor's pricing reductions are loaded into the COIN system, I will send a confirmation email. If you do not receive a confirmation email by end of day Wednesday, then your inputs were not captured. Please contact me and I will take care of oversights on Thanksgiving Day. During each GFRC sale, there are a small number of oversights for a variety of reasons. I hope to continually minimize those situations but need your help.

The Black Friday sale begins on Thankgiving Day midnight and lasts until Sunday 9:00 pm. Once the sale is completed, the Black Friday banner disappears and prices return to those on the regular price list. Detailed instructions will be posted within the November 21 edition of the Daily Blog.

 

GFRC Florida Migration - Revised Mailing Address

The GFRC annual winter migration to Venice Florida takes place in less than two weeks. Starting November 29, the GFRC mailing address will be changed to the following;

GFRC, 502 Auburn Lakes Circle, Venice Florida 34292

All addresses on the GFRC website will be changed come the morning of November 29. Please make note and if mailing consignments or check payments and unsure about the mailing address, then please ask via email. I recognize that the twice annual change of business address can be confusing to all GFRC clients.

 

Featured Coins of the Day

How about a Black Friday sales preview? The Cold Quarters Collection consignor will be discounting all remaining coins between 10 to 15% during the sale. Following are those offerings for your consideration. The 1859 F-107 NGC MS67 CAC Seated dime has amazing eye appeal and luster plus being certifiied in an early NGC Fatty generation holder.

Cold Quarters Collection Consignment

All Discounted 10-15% during Black Friday Sale

          1848/48 V-7 NGC MS65 5C                                                      1859 F-107 NGC MS67 CAC 10C

    

    1873 F-103 Double Die Obv NGC MS61 10C                           1876-CC F-107b Double Die Obv NGC MS64 10C

    

     1852/52 Briggs 1-A NGC MS63 25C                                              1877-CC Briggs 2-B PCGS MS62 25C

    

 

So ends this Blog edition. Thank you for checking in!

 

 

 

November 17, 2018

Wrapping Up The Shanghai Yunzhou Show

Greetings once again from the Shanghai Yunzhou show. It is Sunday morning and the final day of show.

Shanghai weather is consistent with showers and high 50F to low 60s for temperature range. Since spending so much time in Shanghai during the 2006 through 2012 timeframe, it is possible to detect changes in the city's population and culture. One of the most obvious is improved driving habits and respect for pedestrians in cross walks. Today's drivers make a point of stopping and giving right of way to pedestrians. This was not the case years ago. Also smoking has been banned in restaurants and how refreshing! Overall, I thoroughly enjoy being back in the Puxi side of Shanghai.

On Sunday, GFRC's top China customer, Rikinn, made a trip via train from Beijing to Shanghai specifically to hang out with Gerry and Harry at the Yunzhou show. Following are the passionate numismatists at the GFRC booth.

Rikinn Visits GFRC's Yunzhou Booth

 

Feedback on Yesterday's PCGS Commentary

Many emails arrived in support of yesterday's post concerning fresh PCGS grading results for the Dr. Glenn Peterson Liberty Seated half dimes. The sentiment appears unanimous at this point. PCGS has done more than stub their toe. Rather, they are tarnishing their industry leading reputation and not kept their stakeholders abreast of the basis for shifting grading standards. I understand the need to cut costs to support Collectors Universe share price. The dealer network that is dependent on a healthy and vibrant PCGS deserves transparency. We all understand that the TPG business model is flawed and challenging to sustain. At some point, grading volumes must slowly wane as there is not an infinite supply of ungraded coins. Regrades, variety attributions and cross overs become a more significant part of the core service model. Cost management is an independent variable that should not lead to shifting gradings standards.

I received the following email in response to posting Collectors Universe CEO (Joe Orlando) letter to stakeholders. Accountability and transparency to stakeholders and customers is key for long term confidence with delivered services. The Orlando letter failed in that regard and simply addressed the exit of recent management.

Gerry

This letter was very well written and they used all the polite words. Sadly it does not talk about any of the people that were let go or why.

It also avoids all the questions the numismatic community has. Like consistence, employee turn over rate, turn around time and tightening of standards.

Many forces are acting on Collectors Universe, Wall Street, CAC and NGC. The company is now reacting instead of acting. That means they are not in a leadership mode.

When empires come to an end they always crumble from within.

A close friend sent his recent PCGS experience.

Hi Gerry:

Safe travels!

I just wanted to relay a similar PCGS grading experience.

I purchased 10 old ANACs white holdered mid-grade coins from an individual who purchased them in the mid-1990s. He has an excellent eye. I submitted them for cross-over to PCGS a month or so ago allowing for up to a two grade drop (i.e., XF-40 to VF-30). Only two of 10 crossed with only one coin having an explanation (color).

I also question the grading going on at PCGS; moreover, it isn’t worth the $300 + postage and insurance to go through the effort (~$150+/coin). The PCGS we’ve known may not survive this.

More similar experiences could be shared to further reinforce the point that PCGS has shifted standards without explanation. The result is alienation of the customer base. In cases like this, all customers can do is vote with their feet. Holding back submissions or moving to NGC will lead to a reduced revenue stream and hopefully an awakening for the need for transparency and reestablishing customer confidence.

Again the cost cutting measures do not dictate a shift in grading standards. With PCGS top management vacated, who is ensuring consistency in grading standards? Is the shifting standard a strategy, internal sabotage against Collectors Universe or lack of training for graders?

I believe these are fair questions that Collectors Universe CEO Joe Orlando should address since he has taken over the PCGS helm.

In the meantime, GFRC is halting PCGS submissions. Once the GFRC office moves to Venice in early December, I will have a discussion with consignors concerning shifting to NGC for grading.

 

 

 

November 16, 2018

PCGS Grading - Non Viable Situation

Greetings from Shanghai Yunzhou Curio City show and welcome to a Saturday morning Blog edition.

Where do I start with today's Blog? How about venting about PCGS grading after receiving grades for the better Liberty Seated half dimes in the Dr. Glenn Peterson Dansco album? 11 of 35 submitted coins were assigned Detailed whatever grades and the balance were conservatively graded. The situation is downright non viable for rolling out old time collections. I'm now with others that will be halting PCGS submissions or shifting to NGC.

When opening morning emails, a PCGS Customer Service email appeared. The email is written by Joe Orlando, CEO Collectors Universe. It is a bit of a rambling email that finally gets to the point in the last few paragraphs. Mr. Orlando will take a hands on role at the PCGS helm while new talent is located. Following is a copy and paste of Joe Orlando's email. He does not address the shift in grading standards and growing dealer frustrations.

A Message from the CEO of Collectors Universe

Change. In general, very few people like it. This includes me. It’s the way we are wired as human beings, but change is a natural part of life and certainly of business.
In 2002, I can remember when I was asked to step in as the new president of PSA, the sister division of PCGS. I was a much younger man, not far past my 30th birthday. There were a lot of changes occurring at that time. The former PSA president, head card grader, lead autograph expert and others all parted ways with the company in a very short period.

It was a challenging time for the company, and believe me, there were moments where I told myself, "be careful what you wish for." It would be arrogant and disingenuous of me to pretend I didn’t have moments like that, especially being as young as I was. That said, I learned a lot from that experience and so did the rest of the staff who went through that transition.

What I learned above all else is that this is a team, a company filled with people who work hard every day to deliver a quality service and a premium product. This includes dozens of people behind the scenes, from our full-time expert graders to operations and customer service personnel who many of our customers do not know. It is the totality of this effort that makes our brands, PSA and PCGS, bigger than any individual. That is what a great brand is. So, while I will be stepping in to oversee the executive needs of PCGS in the interim, the hardworking team that has been making things happen will continue to do so.

Things change. People come and go, in every business. What’s most important is that the ever-evolving team produces the kind of quality and expertise that you, our customers, demand. Our goal at PCGS is to not only maintain the brand, we want to improve it. After 32 years, how do we do that? By listening to our customers, improving communication, staying innovative and investing in the future.

That’s what we did at PSA many years ago, which not only helped the division get through a challenging time, but the company grew substantially since then as a result.

In the coming months, PCGS will continue to add talent to our outstanding staff and look for ways to make our company better. You deserve it and we plan on delivering.

 

Blogging Live from the Shanghai Yunzhou Bourse Floor

United States gold is hot at the Yunzhou show and as of Saturday, GFRC has been cleaned out. The word on the floor is that dealers and collectors are salting away physical gold at current spot prices. There was moderate interest in United States type coins but the majority of offerings in the display cases remained there through two full show days. One would have thought that a PCGS EF40 three legged Buffalo or a 1921-D PCGS VF30 CAC Mercury dime would be quickly scooped up, but that has not been the case. U.S. gold was in demand with a few other sales across Morgans and smaller denomination type.

Most disturbing is the appearance of counterfeit United States Indian $5 and $10 gold pieces. Thanks to Mateo, an NGC associate in Shanghai, I had a chance to examine several examples. Both pieces had been flagged by NGC graders. The $10 1915 Indian was quite easy to detect with odd coloring, weakly struck stars and metal flow lines that one does not see on genuine coinage. However, the $5 1915-S was most deceptive and would have fooled me if taken in as part of a wholesale lot. Both pieces were purchased raw in Japan by a Chinese jewelry dealer.

Below is image of GFRC booth with Mr. Sun (Gansu Collection consignor), Harry Zhang and Gerry hanging out on Friday afternoon. Mr. Sun is one of GFRC's top China customers. Harry is GFRC's Shanghai agent.

GFRC Booth

Mr. Sun, Harry and Gerry

Yunzhou Bourse Floor

    

 

Black Friday Sale - November 23 - 25

A reminder that the last day for submitting Black Friday sales instructions is November 20. I'm flying back to the States that day and will start loading pricing reductions into the COIN system after arriving into Newark and awaiting Portland Maine connection.

 

Featured Coins of the Day - Special Display Tray Items at Yunzhou Show

If one looks carefully at the above image of Mr. Sun, Harry and Gerry, the GFRC display frame is evident in the left side case. Following are the coins in that frame for your consideration.

Yunzhou Show - Featured GFRC Offerings

    

    

    

    

 

So ends the Shanghai blog on a Saturday. Thanks for checking in and following the global GFRC adventures.

 

 

 

November 15, 2018

GFRC at the Shanghai Yunzhou Show

Greetings from Shanghai and welcome to an international edition of the Blog.

It is early Friday morning here in China as I try to piece together a brief commentary before heading to breakfast followed by a taxi ride to Yunzhou Curio City for the annual Shanghai coin, stamp and postcard show.

There is one advantage when flying to China the week before Thanksgiving; an empty flight! How I love having three seats in UA Economy Plus to myself and turning those into a bed. Flight arrival was early but challenges through China customs made for a late departure from the Shanghai Pudong airport. Chinese immigration has instituted finger printing for all foreign visitors. One must queue in a line to access the finger printing stations. Since I had already had finger prints taken during August visit, the station read my passport and spit out a ticket enabling me to move on to regular customs entrance line. There chaos ensured. The foreign line was long and at a standstill due to several reasons. First was a sports team from Brazil that had not filled out their entrance paperwork. Then the immigration agents was reduced to two. And finally, there was a special lane that somehow was merging into the regular foreigner entrance lane. It took an hour to deplane and finally retrieve my bag.

One thing that everyone should know about Shanghai is the fall rainy season. Securing a taxi after setting up at Yunzhou was a real test of patience. Rain and 5:00 pm rush hour meant that essential all taxis are booked. Luckily, I planned ahead and brought an umbrella from the U.S. Then it was a matter of waiting on a street corner for an empty taxi to appear. That process took 20 minutes. But in the end, I made it to the hotel and then went out for authentic Chinese food after Harry Zhang's visit.

Trying to catch up on sleep with jetlag is the next challenge especially when I forget to turn off the cellphone. At 3:00 am, a coin order arrived from the U.S and that was pretty much the end for sleeping. So here I am writing a Blog edition.

Following is an picture of Gerry and GFRC Shanghai agent Harry during Thursday's visit (with one of his customers) to retrieve coins ordered since August 2018. Harry then distributes ordered coins to his customer base through out Shanghai and JianngSu province area along with an important customer in Beijing.

 

Ok, time for breakfast and then a taxi ride to the Yunzhou show! More later.

 

 

 

Blogging From Newark Airport

Greetings from Newark Airport and welcome to a short edition of the Daily Blog.

The Shanghai flight connection time is rather short therefore today's commentary will be brief. That coupled with little sleep makes for low creativity.

Therefore, I'm turning over the Blog to Dan Gibson who sent the following email in response to yesterday's PCGS grading results and venting. Dan touches upon many key points concerning the ups and downs of the TPG services.

And with that, I bid you a pleasant Wednesday!

Gerry...

Had to weigh in on the PCGS riff in the blog.

Some sixty years of collecting coins has taught me that any buyer is best served by working with ONLY the dealer, dealers who maintain a high level of professionalism, who truly know a good coin's grade, and provide some description.

PCGS, NGC,, and both versions of ANACS have had there ups and downs primarily driven by a 'churn' model that has seriously damaged the TPG integrity.

CAC has certainly had an impact in reining this in. Anyone bidding, buying from a website that has half baked images would be well served to buy only a 'beaned' coin.

None of the TPG's, CAC get it right all the time. Just most of the time. I am not afraid of an expensive coin sans bean if I think it is 'right'.

It appears to me that a huge market has been made with the 'crack-out' game. This practice has destroyed the originality, the look of many a fine specimen. Not to mention the integrity of the population reports. Paying 5x for a coin just because it is in an old holder is a non starter, for me. Appears to me that there are several dealers trying to 'make the market' in a given plastic warp. The recent PCGS hype certainly is a case in point. Over the top by some, in fact.

Just because a coin is in an NGC, and ANACS holder does not mean that it is a bad grading job. Many times it is a better grading job than PCGS!

In today's world I can only suggest that buyers know their coin dealer, that they only remote shop from a dealer website with the best, the most accurate images, the most thorough written description. There are not too many of these sites.

The great grading debate will go on forever. Buy the damn coin, not the plastic wrap. And make certain that your dealer knows how to grade the coin within the plastic wrap.

Cheers and keep up the great work.

 

Next Blog will be written from Shanghai so please check back in 36 hours or so.

Thursday will be busy once landing in Shanghai. I must immediately head to the Yunzhou Curio City to setup the GFRC booth. Then Harry Zhang, my local agent, meets me for the transfer of recent purchases followed by some much needed sleep. The Yunzhou show kicks in bright and early on Friday morning....

 

 

 

November 13, 2018

Heading to Shanghai Yunzhou Curio City

Greetings on a wet Tuesday morning in southern Maine and welcome to another Blog edition.

Monday was a particularly busy day at the Fortin homestead with a host of must do tasks before heading to Shanghai early Wednesday morning. My resignation of Auburn Lakes Condo Association board position became official at a noon time meeting. Diane is taking over my board seat. Immediately after the resignation and vote, it was leaf cleaning time! After several hours of blowing and raking leaves, the property is ready for snowfall. Following is an image documenting that cleaning and the beauty of the barren autumn landscape. Yes, I really enjoy living in Maine as compared to a condo unit in Florida. Ask me the same question in January or February and maybe there will be a difference response!

Immediately after leaf blowing, it was back in the GFRC office for a post NH Coin Expo shipping event. It does take time to write receipts and packaging 15 USPS Priority boxes, then write six consignments checks, and prepare a USPS Express shipment. Every order that could ship under the GFRC Quick Ship program is heading to the post office today. Orders that arrive today will be prepared this evening and shipped tomorrow by Diane. Shipments will restart on November 21 upon my return from Shanghai.

 

GFRC Achieves $3,250,000 in Consignor Proceeds!

I'm most pleased to report that GFRC's consignment business model continues to receive numismatic market acceptance. There is no question that the rate and size of consignment checks is increasing. When entering NH Coin Expo sales into the COIN system, the Consignor Proceeds tally broke through the $3,250,000 threshold. GFRC provides constant transparency on its consignment sales performance. Simply click the Consign link at the top of any GFRC page to gain real time access to current statistics.

 

Grades for First Dr. Glenn Peterson Collection PCGS Submission Announced

Monday also brought an email from PCGS announcing grades for an Economy submission at the Baltimore show. The turnaround for this Economy submission was only one week from input into the PCGS systems to posting of grades on Monday. How did we do? Really a mixed bag with conservative grading and too many pieces being labeled Details for whatever reason. I'm not pleased as typically can differentiate cleaned and damaged coins from those that are worthy of shipping off to PCGS.

The real test takes place when PCGS returns grades from a Regular submission of 35 prime Liberty Seated half dimes from Dr. Peterson's Dansco album. If the results look anything like yesterday's Economy results, I will be most disappointed and frustrated.

For GFRC customers who always ask if an NGC holdered coin will cross, the answer in current grading environment is simple. Don't bother trying to cross. You either like the coin in the NGC holder or you don't.

The current PCGS grading situation begs the question, what is PCGS attempting to accomplish with the recent tightening of standards? If PCGS wishes to slow down the number of 20th century coins being made and resulting impact on market prices, then what about all the current coins in 2015 style holders? For three years, PCGS had a predictable standard that dealers and collectors had become accustomed too. If PCGS is attempting to deal with CAC's impact on the marketplace and have more of its coins approved, then that strategy could work. Who knows.....

 

Upcoming Daily Blogs from Shanghai

Tomorrow morning brings an early UA departure. A 6:00 am Portland to Newark flight means being up at 3:00 am and little sleep this evening. My connecting flight in Newark is not until mid to late morning so there will be time to piece together a short Blog. Afterwards, the Blog will be published from Shanghai with the usual challenges of locating decent internet bandwidth for Dreamweaver to connect to Hostway server. I'll try to post lots of pictures from the Yunzhou Curio City show as my Huawei cellphone will feel right at home!

 

Global Financial News

Crude oil prices continue to be in free fall and now quoting at $58.57 while spot gold is trying to hold the key $1200 mark. This morning's quote is $1199/oz. Seeking Alpha headlines are replete with must read news items.

President Trump is talking down the price of crude oil. On a positive note, lower prices will further impact the Russian economy. But at what point do United States drillers feel the impact?

Crude is another leg lower this morning, slipping over 2% to $58/bbl, following the latest comments from President Trump. "Hopefully, Saudi Arabia and OPEC will not be cutting oil production. Oil prices should be much lower based on supply!" he wrote on Twitter. On Monday, U.S. WTI crude prices fell for the 11th consecutive session, the most on record since the contract began trading.

This headline should be a wake-up call for all investors. Bank of Japan assets are now higher than the annual output of the Japanese economy. Does the BOJ balance sheet ever get normalized or will all of these assets be written off in the future?

Japan's central bank has also become the first among G7 nations to own assets collectively worth more than the country’s annual economic output, with its hoard reaching a staggering ¥553.6T ($4.9T). Assets started ballooning when Governor Haruhiko Kuroda took the BOJ helm in early 2013, vowing that such steps would boost Japanese inflation to 2% in two years. That target has proved elusive, barring a brief increase in prices after a sales tax hike in 2014.

The United States is now pivoting to Japan for the next bilateral trade deal. Like China, Japan is a mostly closed society in terms of immigration with protective trade barriers.

"The U.S. has had a trade imbalance with Japan for too long. American products and services too often face barriers to compete fairly in Japanese markets," Vice President Mike Pence said at a joint media appearance with Shinzo Abe. "The best opportunity for free, fair and reciprocal trade will come in a bilateral trade agreement," he added, stating the deal with Japan would serve as a "model" for other countries. Nikkei -2.1%.

Is it possible that the U.K and EU have reached a Brexit deal? Three cheers for Theresa May!

The U.K. and EU are "almost within touching distance" of a Brexit deal which could be clinched in the next 24 to 48 hours, Theresa May's de facto deputy told BBC Radio. European investors today also have their eyes on Rome, which must present substantially revised spending plans or face disciplinary measures. The populist administration may cut its growth target, but there will likely be no movement on the controversial budget gap.

And finally, if you think that information techology is controlling too much of every day life, you ain't seen nothing yet! 5G networks arrive soon.

The second standard for 5G networks, called Release 16, will be set in December next year and turned in to the International Telecommunication Union, Samsung's Sungho Choi told the 5G Vertical Summit in Seoul. The standards will open the door for connected cars, smart factories, enterprise and private networks, and public safety, playing a "central role in the fourth industrial revolution."

 

Featured Coins of the Day - Tuesday GFRC Orders will ship immediately!

Let's face it, heading off to Shanghai for five days takes time away from the GFRC office and order processing. The GFRC November sales forecast is aggressive and I need to sell more consignor coins.

If you've been considering a purchase and are a GFRC customer in good standing, simply place an order today with immediate shipment on Wednesday. All I ask is that check payment arrives before Thanksgiving.

Nicely Matched Bust Halves - Great Potential as Starter Set!

   1803 Small 3 O-101 PCGS VF20 50C                                          1809 III Edge O-107a PCGS EF40 50C

    

1826 O-116 Raw EF40 50C                                                              1826 O-116a PCGS VF30 50C

    

    1830 O-104 Raw EF45 50C                                                          1836 O-110 PCGS AU53 CAC 50C

    

 

Thank you for visiting the Blog! My attention immediately shifts to starting the wood stove and then preparing Shanghai Yunzhou coin show inventory.

Wishing everyone a great day!

 

 

 

November 12, 2018

NH Coin Expo - New Purchases & Consignments

Greetings on Veterans Day and welcome to the Daily Blog.

Late autumn has arrived with a barren landscape outside the GFRC office window. The mighty oaks still retain some leaves otherwise southern Maine is already at winter conditions. Morning temperatures is a cold 19F and the wood stove is working like a charm. I'm still wearing shorts and t-shirt on principle with just under three weeks before migrating to Florida.

On Sunday, leaves on the left side of the property were corraled and moved into the back woods. Today's chore is blowing leaves across the front landscape for the final time during 2018. When not blowing leaves, it will be a busy day in the GFRC office with a massive shipping event, consignment check tabulations followed by Shanghai Yunzhou coin show inventory selection. Getting into Chinese collectors minds towards decent sales is always challenging.

 

Substantial Collections in the GFRC Consignment Queue

There is no question that the GFRC consignment business model is an indispensible service for collectors. Whether divesting a collection for home projects or shifting collecting interests, the ability to hand-off a life long accumulation to a trusted individual is convenient. Prior to Whitman Baltimore, the Dr. Glenn Peterson Liberty Seated half dimes and half dollars arrived. At the NH Coin Expo, the West Texas Collection of Capped Bust halves and other fine coins were transferred. Below is an impulsive snap shot of the West Texas coins as transposted from the show.

West Texas Collection Consigment - Nearly 95 Offerings

At this time, the GFRC consignment queue is full. Frankly, it is a bit overwhelming to be facing a huge backlog of early silver type but we will methodically work through the Dr. Peterson and West Texas contents and continually showcase new offerings in the Blog and on price lists. Current plan is to photograph the West Texas Collection consignment after the Florida migration and take advantage of much stronger lighting conditions.

GFRC is not cutting off consignments at this time. Rather, I will entertain smaller sized lots of higher priced coins and merge those in with the Peterson and West Texas roll outs.

One of the key issues concerning the Dr. Peterson Collection is PCGS grading stability. I spoke with David Kahn at the NH Coin Expo and he is completely frustrated with PCGS erratic and ultra conservative grading shifts to the point of stopping submissions. Then I spoke with another individual, who is in the know concerning PCGS new management situation. He shared (unverified by me) that PCGS is hiring new graders at an annual salary of $60K. Just think about that for a moment. PCGS is located in Newport Beach, California (Orange County) with a well above average cost of living. Coin grading is a mentally challenging job with many individuals burning out after a year or two. At the offered salary, only single young individuals will be the likely candidates and I'm sure the turnover rate will be high. Of all the task involved in processing coins through the PCGS grading system, the 10 second grading event is the most critical. Accuracy to existing standards must be ensured. Vetting new graders should be an exhaustive process rather than simply being able to score well on incoming grading skills tests. Every time that PCGS turns over a grader and hires a replacement, there is the likely probability for increased grading variance as few individuals have the knowledge and skills to evaluate all aspects of United States coinage including copper, silver, and gold.

At the Whitman Baltimore show, I submitted over 50 Liberty Seated half dimes from the Dr. Peterson Collection and am presently waiting for grading results. If results are consistent with expectations, GFRC will be submitting many more coins. If not, then a command decision must be made to return to NGC with the inevitable customer question...will it cross to PCGS? How I hate this question and hope this discussion explains why.

 

NH Coin Expo New Purchases

Ok, enough rambling about PCGS this morning. Let's focus on several new GFRC acquisitions at the NH Coin Expo. New purchases were limited to those walking up to the table as there was little time to be working the bourse floor for new purchases. Other aggressive dealers had already swept the floor while I as still setting up! Following are three great new purchases. Two are on hold or sold with the 1803 Draped Bust dollar under consideration by a long time customer.

NH Coin Expo Acquistions

1803 Small 3 BB-4 PCGS G06 Draped $1

1861-S F-101 PCGS VF35 CAC 10C - HOLD                                   1861-O CSA W-9 NGC AU55 50C - SOLD

    

 

Several smaller consignments were insourced and following are several of those pieces to consider. The 1869-S PCGS AU55 CAC dime was immediately scooped up along with the 1922 Grant commemorative in old PCGS rattler holder.

New Consignment Arrivals at NH Coin Expo

1859 BG-705 NGC MS64 Fractional G25C - Condition Census

          1861 F-104 PCGS AU50 CAC 10C                                       1869-S F-101a PCGS AU55 CAC 10C - Hold

    

      1861-O CSA W-14 PCGS VF35 CAC 50C                                1922 Grant PCGS MS65 CAC 50C Rattler! - Hold

    

 

Global Financial News

Regardless of Veterans Day holiday today, Seeking Alpha has published its daily headlines. Therefore let's wrap up today's Blog with a look at commodity prices and interest rates plus pertinent headlines.

Crude oil prices continue to be in a slump and drawing much attention throughout the globe. Saudi Arabia and Russia are particularly sensitive to price fluctuations. This morning, crude is quoting at $60.40/bbl. Spot gold has lost its recent gains and is trading at $1207/oz. Bitcoin is moving sideways at $6372 while the 10 year U.S. Treasury yield is flat at 3.18%

The rapid drop in crude oil prices is leading to production cuts by Saudi Arabia....

Saudi Arabia annunced it will slash its oil exports unilaterally next month - by 500K barrels per day - as OPEC producers met over the weekend to halt a market slump that had seen crude decline by 20% since early October. A broader OPEC output cut was also debated in Abu Dhabi, but with Russia warning of "hasty decisions," a verdict was postponed until the next full OPEC meeting, scheduled to take place in Vienna on Dec. 6.

The Chinese online shopping market is huge! Alibaba Single' Day sales totaled $30.8B.

Alibaba clocked in sales of $30.8B during its annual Singles' Day extravaganza, representing a rise of nearly 27% year-on-year, but smaller than the 39% Y/Y growth recorded in 2017. In the past few years, Singles' Day has exceeded the transaction volume of both Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined. The event has also far surpassed Amazon's Prime Day, which is the most similar to Singles' Day because it is also a 24-hour, online shopping event.

 

Wrapping Up the Blog

That is all she wrote for a Monday morning.... I have my final Auburn Lakes Condo Board meeting, via conference call, at 11:00 am followed by leaf blowing to wrap up property clean-up before heading to China and Florida.

The office will be open all day for your orders. May they be frequent and plentiful! Orders from trusted customers will immediately shipped on Tuesday.

Wishing everyone a quiet Veterans Day and upcoming week.

 

 

 

November 11, 2018

Sizzling Saturday At NH Coin Expo

Greetings from the GFRC Maine office and welcome to a Sunday edition of the Blog.

A southern Maine day starts with mostly blue skies but temperature is a cold 26F. While at the NH Coin Expo, the remaining mighty oak and maple leaves have fallen. The front yard is once again covered with leaves and will take priorty as long as winds remain calm. Another strong storm will arrive on Tuesday but the snow line will be just north of Sebago Lake area. Since flying to China early on Wednesday, I'm watching the weather forecast and hoping the Portland to Newark leg is on time towards connecting with the long haul to Shanghai.

If today's weather is conducive, more photography will be in the cards. There are some great new purchases that require imaging.

Seth Godin's Blog: Simply awake

Before going into the final report on the NH Coin Expo, this piece from Seth Godin is worth sharing. He is attempting to make a simple point that is yet so powerful concerning daily lives.... disconnecting from information technology and being aware of the present state and cherishing the simpler aspects of our lives. First we must stop and truly become awake....

Simply awake

Not groggy, not zoned out, not hyper, merely awake.

Aware of what’s around us. Present. Seeing things clearly, hearing them as if for the first time.

How often are we lucky enough to be awake?

Mass media, social networks, marketers—they rarely help us become awake. They seek clicking, buying, fearful zombies instead.

The people we seek to serve, those that we’re trying to reach–in the rare moments when they’re awake, are we wasting that tiny slice of magic? Do we create fear or boredom or ennui in the short run merely because it’s easier for us?

Seeking a state of awake seems like a worthy quest. And when we find it, it’s worth cherishing.

 

NH Coin Expo - Day 3 Report

Wow! It was difficult to believe that the NH Coin Expo became a sizzling event on Saturday with more bourse attendance than on Friday. Collectors swarmed the floor starting at 10:00 with the bourse buzz turning into a downright roar as we approached the noon hour. I remember Tom and I looking at each other and wondering what was going on....where did all these people come from? Show manager, Ernie Botte, needs to be given much of the credit for his promotional efforts, holding YN and Scouts events, plus a grading seminar during the morning hours.

GFRC was non-stop busy from the show open at 9:00am through 2:00pm. Small denomination early type was in favor as copper, half dimes, double dimes and quarters were the popular product lines. During the busy sales period, the West Texas Collection consignor arrived with his massive 100+ piece consignment. The transfer was accomplished one piece at a time as we recorded each new inventory item. The consignment is essentially all Seated quarters, Capped Bust halves, and Seated halves. West Texas is divesting his core set of Capped Bust halves with many better Overton die varieties. The timing was ideal and dovetailed with GFRC current strategy of increasing Capped Bust half dollar inventories towards becoming a more significant player in this market segment.

Overall, GFRC enjoyed a great NH Coin Expo show with above expectations sales and a ton of new consignments and purchases.

Now the office work starts with loading all these new coins into the COIN system. Photography of the West Texas Collection will probably be delayed until after the transition to Florida office.

 

GFRC Acquistion Highlights from the NH Coin Expo

- Not one but two 1861 Seated Dimes grading PCGS AU53 and PCGS AU50 CAC. Both are Type 2 obverses with old time gray patina. The AU50 CAC example has gorgeous deep aquamarine-gray patina from old album paper exposure.

- 1849 F-101 Seated Dime graded PCGS MS63. Creamy frosty luster on both sides and previously purchased from GFRC. Now making a second appearance after being upgraded.

- 1861-S Seated Dime graded PCGS VF35 CAC. An underrated date in the Liberty Seated dime series with only fifteen approved at CAC in all grades. This example is at the ideal collector grade and price point.

- 1861-O Seated Half Dollar graded NGC AU55. A choice original CSA W-9 example with bold reverse diagnostics. This piece must have been an early strike from the dies as fields are reflective with stunning cartwheel luster and gun metal blue patina.

- 1861-O Seated Half Dollar graded PCGS VF35 CAC. A choice original CSA W-14 example with bisecting date crack and speared olive bud reverse die pairing. Commonly known as WB-103/WB-104 and in demand. Bugert rates the W-14 as very scarce and R4 rarity. One sees many W-13 examples but few W-14s.

- Grant 50c Early Commemorative graded PCGS MS65 CAC and housed in 1st generation rattler holder. Perfectly original gem with old time gray-gold patina. This piece screams originality.

- 1803 Small 3 Draped Bust Dollar graded PCGS G06 and so choice for the grade. Walnut-gray patina, absolutely no abrasions and circulated cameo eye appeal come together on this lovely offering. I could not pass this piece up when walking up to my table.

- 1859 Octagon Fractional Gold 25c graded NGC MS64. A BG-705 example and one of the finest certified. For a tiny thin piece of gold, this example offers some serious reflective luster and blemish free surfaces.

GFRC Order Shipment Schedule

Monday is Veterans Day with USPS being on holiday. All accumulated GFRC orders will be shipped on Tuesday with any late day Tuesday orders going out on Wednesday. Shipments will resume on Wednesday November 21. Yes, that is the day before Thanksgiving since traveling to the Shanghai Yunzhou coin and currency show this coming weekend.

Please remember that USPS becomes overwhelmed with holiday shipments starting this time of year. GFRC shipments that would arrive in 2 days will typically extend to 3 days or more.

 

Featured Coins of the Day

One thing learned from operating GFRC is the unpredictability of numismatic market sales. Yes, there is a direct correction between large product line inventories and corresponding sales. But for individual coins, it can be so unpredictable. Coins that have been in inventory and lying dormant suddenly sell. This was the case at the NH Coin Expo where GFRC sold a decent portion of its copper inventory. Who would have guessed going into the show. Seated half dimes were popular also....

All I can do is continue to trust the business process and place great coins into inventory and then have patience. This is my advice to consignors. Plan on a longer timeframe than expected for divesting coins if you wish to secure retail level prices. Just because you release a few duplicates, don't expect hoards of collectors awaiting their arrival. I've learned this first hand while divesting the Gerry Fortin Seated dime reference collection.

Anyways, following are more great Half Dimes from GFRC inventory to consider on a Veteran's Day weekend.

          1829 LM-3 PCGS MS64 5C                                                  1830 LM-13 PCGS MS63 GOLD CAC 5C

    

          1838-O NGC EF40 CAC 5C                                                   1848-O V-4 Sm O NGC MS64 CAC 5C

    

1858-O NGC MS64 CAC 5C                                                             1863 NGC PF64 CAC 5C

    

 

Thanks for stopping by. I'm heading to the shower and then directly into blowing leaves! Will be monitoring emails throughout the day for orders and please send some along.

Have a great day!

 

 

 

November 10, 2018

Enjoying the Bourse Floor Buzz at NH Coin Expo

Greetings once again from Manchester, New Hampshire and welcome to another Daily Blog edition. A special welcome to Coin World digital newsletter readers who clicked on the GFRC Daily Blog banner and find themselves exploring this online publication for the first time. The GFRC Daily Blog has been published for well over four years on a continuous basis and provides detailed insights in the numismatic business and financial markets. Gerry's parallel careers as a semiconductor industry executive and numismatic researcher enable the sharing of thought-provocating content. Again, a sincere welcome to Coin World subscribers.

 

Black Friday Sales Countdown Kicks-off

Before sharing a Day 2 report from the New Hampshire Coin Expo, a quick reminder that the GFRC Black Friday sales arrives in just two weeks! Matt Yamatin has initiated the traditional black banner and countdown clock at the top of Daily Blog and For Sales pages. This is a reminder to consignors that it is time to submit pricing reduction instructions. The sales takes place at Thanksgiving Day midnight and continues until Sunday November 25 9:00 pm.

GFRC consignors wishing to participate should send me an email with discounting instructions. Please use GFRC Black Friday Pricing Instructions in the title line. Thank you.

 

NH Coin Expo - Day 2 Report

As today's Blog headline indicates, the NH Coin Expo bourse was active and felt like a traditionally busy coin show. This was most refreshing after the slow Whitman Baltimore show which never seemed to gain enough velocity to go wheels up.

Upon opening at 10:00 am, floor buzz ramped quickly as a wave of collectors worked their way through the bourse towards their favorite dealers. The bourse remained active until about 3:00 pm when floor traffic abated. The GFRC table was active throughout that timeframe as old customers and new friends stopped by and made purchases. The day was off to an immediate pleasant start when an old friend stopped by with fresh coins for purchase. A quick inspection of his raw coins resulted in two purchases including a scarce 1891-O F-106a RPD/RPM die variety that graded AU58 with choice original surfaces and frosty luster. This piece is one of the requirements for a Top 100 Variety set and should not last long on the price list. The other purchase coin was an 1896 $20 Liberty with pristine surface and nice luster. Both coins had been put away for over fifteen years or more.

Traffic at the GFRC table was steady from a sales and consignment perspective. On the sales side, the recently acquired 1916 Standing Liberty quarter (NGC F15 CAC) found a Vermont home at a fair price along with one of the Dr. Glenn Peterson Seated halves. Individuals who asked for specific coins to be brought to the show conducted careful reviews and made purchases. Walk by visits and sales also resulted in more sales. As usual, visitors would spend time viewing GFRC inventory and commenting on the superior quality. Many could not afford higher priced coins but expressed thanks for a pass through the museum. More consignments arrived from three separate individuals.

A sincere thank-you goes out to Tom Coulombe for spending the day at the GFRC table as an assistant. Having a second person at the booth provided flexibility to move around the bourse floor to close deals and do some consulting work. Following is a picture of Gerry and Tom at the GFRC table taken around 4:00 pm.

 

Also of note at the NH Coin Expo was a memorial to Charlie Browne who passed away during 2018. Charlie's regular dealer table was decorated as shown next. Charlie's dedication to the hobby spanned decades including being an early PCGS grader and ongoing grading instructor at ANA Summer Seminars.

 

GFRC Expectations for Day 3 at the NH Coin Expo

Friday is always the main sales day for GFRC at the Manchester show given the expensive early type inventory. Saturday's attendance has tended to be a local Manchester crowd with mixed results in the past. I'm hopeful for a few more sales while waiting for a 100+ piece consignment to arrive from the West Texas Collection consignor. This consignment is nearly all Capped Bust and Liberty Seated quarters and halves and will add more depth to current GFRC inventory.

 

Featured Coins of the Day

Following are some of the GFRC offerings in the primary display frame at the NH Coin Expo to consider on a quiet Saturday morning.

        1875-CC NGC MS62 CAC 20C                                                  1917 Type 1 PCGS MS66FH CAC 25C

    

        1795 O-104 PCGS VG08 CAC 50C                                               1814 O-103 PCGS AU58 CAC 50C

    

1826 O-112a NGC AU50 GOLD CAC 50C                                               1838 RE PCGS AU53 50C        

    

                      1852 PCGS MS62 50C                                                  1861 Scott Restrike PCGS UNC Details 50C

    

 

Thank you for stopping in at the Blog. The next edition will be written Sunday morning from the Maine office.

Wishing everyone a great Veteran's Day weekend.

 

 

 

November 9, 2018

More GFRC Consignment Rarities in Manchester, NH

Greetings from the Hilton Double Tree in Manchester and welcome to the Daily Blog. The New Hampshire Coin Expo is now underway with a robust dealer turnout.

 

NH Coin Expo - Day 1 Report

Driving from Maine to Manchester took a little under two hours and I arrived to the Hilton Double Tree in time to check in and then retrieve four coin cases from the MDX. The bourse opened promptly at 3:00 pm with Ernie Botte running a top notch operation. Reserved cases and lights were on the table and in excellent working order upon arrival. Multiple security guards were patrolling the floor as dealers went through their booth setup process. Then dealer wholesale trading kick in with an active bourse floor buzz that signaled a good start to the show. It was hectic at Table 701 since working alone. While filling seven cases with coins, other dealers were already picking out coins and requesting quotes. It is just the nature of the beast during dealer setup. There were immediate sales and definitely not at wholesale prices. Other dealers are searching for key and semi-key Liberty Seated dates for clients and GFRC was the place to find these. When the dust settled, GFRC had decent sales during Thursday setup and also took in an important consignment. More on the latter shortly.

The NH Coin Expo opens at 8:00 am on Friday to dealers and early birds; then at 10:00 am to the public. I'm expecting a strong show since GFRC has a huge selection of broad based quality inventory. The key, of course, will be collector attendance.

 

GFRC Consignment News - A Liberty Seated Half Dollar Die Variety Rarity

It gives me great pleasure to announce the offering of a truly rare Liberty Seated Half Dollar die variety including being one of the finest examples extant. The 1876 WB-106 Large Date/Small Date is a classic rarity with precious few examples currently known after years of cherrypicking attempts by specialists. Surfaces are somewhat prooflike in the fields with pale champagne-gold iridescence at the centers that turns to deep gold at the peripheries. The remaining luster is substantial and surface marks are minimal. The small underlying date is from a double die date punch and is plainest at the 18 and the 6 digits in the date.

PCGS has graded one at AU50, one at AU55 (present coin) and two at AU58 graded level. GFRC sold one if the two AU58 certified examples during July 2018 for $5250 as a reference for this AU55 specimen.

1876 WB-106 Lg Date/Sm Date - PCGS AU55 50C

 

Important NH Coin Expo Consignment

If the 1876 WB-106 Seated half dollar announcement were not enough, how about another important rarity? This time, we move to California Fractional Gold!

Just hours ago, GFRC received one of the finest known 1859 Octagon Liberty Gold 25c pieces graded NGC MS64. The reference number is BG-705. You are invited to check CoinFacts here to view the current PCGS BG-705 certified population. There are all of two at MS63 and a lone example at the MS64 level with none finer. Now GFRC is offering an exceptional NGC MS64 specimen that has just been graded to tight NGC standards. BG-705 features a crude engraving of Liberty with heavily clashed background. The die clashing is not associated with the reverse die used to strike this coin. On the reverse, the denomination and date are weakly engraved. Fields are lightly mirrored with substantial reflective luster for such a tiny gold piece. This example will be fairly priced $2475. The only PCGS MS64 example last sold at auction during August 2007 for $2875.

 

Feedback: Push vs. Pull Marketing Commentary

As expected, feedback arrived from Blog readers concerning the Push vs. Pull Marketing topic and my personal perspective on the matter.

One individual liked the GFRC pull strategy and his everyday reading of the Blog.

Hi Gerry

Just a note to let you know I agree with your comments about the various marketing strategies (I don’t like to be bombarded with unsolicited correspondence either) and I am glad you have adopted your pull strategy. By doing that you have made me a loyal customer. I read your blog everyday to gain knowledge. I know that you are the best source that meets my needs for quality bust and seated coinage.

Keep up the good work!

On the other hand, another customers enjoys receiving new purchase newsletters to stay abreast of of his hobby in an efficient manner.

Hi Gerry,

Regarding today's topic, I have found that subscribing to regular updates from a dealer that I'm interested in doing repeat business with have kept me abreast on coins I would be interested in buying that I otherwise would've missed out on.

In at least a dozen occasions when I "remembered" on a whim to browse a certain dealer's offerings, I've found that a coin I would've purchased in a heartbeat was posted without my knowledge and already on hold.

I personally follow several blogs online, but at the same time try to cap my "screen time" each day so if one post was particularly long or thought-provoking it may cause me to skip other reads unless something jumped out at me. We have already given so much of our daily lives to automation in today's tech-driven world, why not use it in a positive way and give those of us who are willing the option to voluntarily subscribe to a NEWPs newsletter?

 

New Murphys Collection Offerings

GFRC is pleased to announce the shipment of another quality consignment from the Murphys Collection. Like many other collectors, this individual is divesting certain portions of his numismatic holdings towards other pursuits. I have cellphone images of all coins other than the 1871-CC PCGS AU Details Seated half and can attest to the quality. GFRC customers will have fun considering these once reaching the price list.

Seated 50c: 1857-S PCGS VG08 original gray patina; 1871-CC PCGS AU Details; 1875-CC PCGS AU55 choice original light gold; 1875-CC PCGS VF30 choice original gray

Morgan $1: 1878-CC Reverse Rotated 45 degrees left

Quarter Eagle $2.5 Gold: 1860-S PCGS AU58; 1868-S NGC AU58; 1871-S PCGS AU58; 1872-S PCGS AU55; 1873-S NGC AU58; 1877-S PCGS MS62; 1878-S PCGS MS61

 

Global Financial News

Sinking crude oil prices and U.S. interest rate increase fears are impacting global equity markets as we close out a trading week. Crude oil sank to $57.72/bbl and now stands in bear market territory. Gold also retreated slightly to $1220 while Bitcoin moved lower to $6376. The U.S. 10 year bond years is holding steady at 3.21%

Was it not a few months ago that traders were pushing up oil prices due to Iranian sanctions? American production is compensating at a record high of 11.6M bbl/day. An amazing feat for the United States crude oil producers.

Oil fell below the $60 level overnight a day after slipping into a bear market. That means U.S. crude is now down by around 20% since early October as rising supply and concerns of an economic slowdown pressure prices. Fresh U.S. sanctions are unlikely to cut as much oil out of the market as initially expected with Washington granting temporary exemptions to Iran's biggest buyers. American production has also reached a new record high of 11.6M bbl/day.

The U.S. Dollar as world reserve currency is under attack by Russia and China. Russia is attempting to shift its oil sales into euros.

Seeking protection against possible new U.S. sanctions, Russian energy majors are heaping pressure on Western oil buyers to use euros instead of dollars for payments, as well as penalty clauses in contracts. Russia supplies over 10% of global oil, so severe sanctions could affect crude prices. Global oil majors further rely on Russia to feed their refineries, especially in Europe and Asia, so they cannot just walk away from annual contract negotiations.

Interest rate increase jitters are impacting trader mindsets. Many global "zombie" companies have been surviving on very low interest rates. Higher rates could lead to some firms being overwhelmed by debt refinancing in a higher interest rate environment.

U.S. equities look poised to slip again at the open, continuing a global market retreat after the Fed appeared to remain on track to raise to its key rate next month. Some traders had hoped that the sharp stock selloff during what has been called "Red October" might have encouraged the central bank to take a more dovish approach, but a statement confirmed expectations of "further gradual increases" in the prime lending rate.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Ok, time for quick breakfast and then the first full day of the NH Coin Expo. GFRC is ready to deal and sell lots of coins! Tom Coulombe arrives at 10:00 am and I'm looking forward to his help and company throughout the day.

See you tomorrow with another edition of the Blog.

 

 

 

November 8, 2018

Time for NH Coin Expo - GFRC Table 701

Greetings again and welcome to another edition of the Daily Blog.

GFRC inventory is packed and I'm most excited about setting up at the NH Coin Expo later today. Maybe it is a need to get out of the GFRC office after days of image processing? Actually, there are several reasons as to why time on a bourse floor is enjoyable. First is the sense of pride in displaying quality early type inventory that I would enjoy owning as a collector. One has to believe in the products being offered and sold. Second, and just as important, is meeting customers and new collectors towards discussing great coins and collecting strategies. There is a saying that great coins sell themselves which is quite true. The challenge remains with raising awareness, within the global numismatic industry, that GFRC offers many top quality coins. So off to another coin show to market and raise awareness. Following is the NH Coin Expo bourse floor map and GFRC's location. Please come visit me first!

GFRC at Manchester, NH Show - Corner Table 701

 

Push vs. Pull Marketing - Why the GFRC Blog is Written Daily

In yesterday's Blog, I made the following statement concerning the Daily Blog....

The Daily Blog is a true test of readership as compared to email based newsletters.

After reflecting on today's potential Blog topic, it dawned on me that the difference between the Blog and email based newsletters can be easily explained with a discussion of Push versus Pull Marketing approaches. Searching Google immediately brought up the following graphic that illustrates the differences between the two marketing concepts.

Push Marketing is indeed broadcast based marketing towards raising product awareness among potential customers. Dealer email newsletters and/or advertising with Coin World, CDN, and other online broadcasters with huge subscriptions lists, provides an opportunity for exposure with a group of targeted individuals. These are people who have shown some interest in coins, made a prior purchase or have subscribed to a digital magazine. The issue is focus and cost as the targeted customer population is broad based in terms of collecting interests and information technology skills. When previously advertising with traditional paper push marketing, GFRC could be mostly reaching 20th century collectors (Morgan, Mercuries and Lincolns) or those with limited internet skills. This I know first hand from phone calls resulting from Coin World print ads. The potential customer does not own a computer and found my name in a paper magazine and hopes I will mail out a price list.....

Pull Marketing is a much more targeted effort and requires significant efforts to reach out to a smaller group of collectors. Rather than purchasing ad space in newsletters, the business owner must develop strategies towards having customers valuing the business entity as a important supplier. When a need arises, these individuals will think of you first and reach out to your business. Essentially, the marketing effort involves more personal contact including face to face meetings at coin shows and through one on one communications via email. One of the results of pull marketing, if well executed, is the building of a loyal community of customers and friends surrounding that business. Creating goodwill is another benefit of Pull Marketing.

In closing this short topic, I would like to share that I am a principaled individual, maybe to a fault, and enjoy my privacy. Yes, this may be difficult to believe but true. I feel that unwanted solicitations are an invasion of my privacy and therefore could not bring myself to sending out GFRC newsletters to those who have purchased a coin at one point or another. Making a purchase from GFRC does not provide me the right to issue that customer with incremental solicitations until they take the step to unsubscribe to my newsletter. My belief is that of Pull Marketing whereby GFRC offers products and services that motivate individuals to come by to visit via their own decision. If a numismatic purchase results, then the goodwill resulting from developed relationships has been realized.

I hope this explanation was useful and would appreciate your comments and feedback....

 

Global Financial News

Life resumes after the United States mid-terms elections with CNN's Jim Acosta being barred from White House press briefings. I took in Trump's press briefing on Wednesday and was amazed by Acosta's lack of civil behavior towards the President of the United States. Some call it personal grandstanding which I agree with. Anyways, it is about time that his press credentials are pulled.

Let's peek into the financial world and past 24 hours movement in commodity prices and interest rates. Crude oil took another step down to $61.80/bbl which is great news for consumers. Gold also lost some ground to $1224 as did Bitcoin to $6486. Importantly, the 10 year U.S. Treasury bond yield increased to 3.22% as worries mount concerning another Federal Reserve interest rate increase in December.

How about a few Seeking Alpha headlines to close out today's Blog? We open with a piece that essentially confirms that another Fed rate hike is coming in December with equity marketing beginning the adjustment process.

The Fed is likely to leave rates unchanged this afternoon as it announces its decision following a two-day policy meeting. U.S. stock index futures are still giving back some of yesterday's gains as traders get nervous about upcoming tightening in December. Recent reports showing strong job and economic growth give the FOMC little reason to materially change its statement, while recent stock weakness doesn’t appear large enough to warrant extra attention from the central bank.

The Italians and the EU remain at odds over Italy's planned deficit spending. This situation will be interesting to watch as the EU is the proxy for Germany.

Italy will breach the EU's 3% deficit limit in 2020 and will come extremely close to doing so next year, according to the European Commission. Brussels has given Rome until Nov. 13 to resubmit its spending proposals after concluding that they amounted to a "particularly serious breach" of fiscal rules. Italy could face sanctions and fines if it refuses to comply.

China and United States business are both involved in a large inventory build-up prior to higher tariffs kicking in January 1. This could spell trouble for United States Q1 2019 GDP if there is a glut of inventory in warehouses without need for Q1 transport services. Building inventories can be financially dangerous in the event that demand does not materialize; especially after the holiday shopping season.

China reported strong trade data for October as shippers rushed goods to the U.S., its biggest trading partner, before higher tariffs kick in on Jan. 1. Dollar-denominated exports rose 15.6% from a year ago, while imports advanced 21.4%, resulting in a trade surplus of $34B (and $31.7B with the U.S). That may not be enough to please President Trump, but it's down from a record $34.1B in September.

And finally, Walmart is planning to pull you aware from family at the Thanksgiving holiday towards more consumerism. So sad....

Earlier and earlier... Walmart wants you in stores ahead of Thanksgiving dinner. The retailer will hold parties, with free coffee and cookies, on Nov. 22 - from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. - before you carve up the evening turkey. Walmart is also rolling out Black Friday deals online at 10 p.m. ET on Nov. 21, earlier than it's ever done before.

 

Wrapping up the Blog

Ok, time for some quick shipping followed by wrapping up the packing for the NH Coin Expo and a couple of nights at the Manchester Double Tree hotel.

If attending the NH Coin Expo, then I look forward to seeing you. If not, emails will be monitored for potential orders during the next few days. Shipments will resume on Monday.

Thanks for stopping by and visiting with me at the Blog.

 

 

 

November 7, 2018

Dr. Glenn Peterson Liberty Seated Half Dollars to Consider

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog on post mid-term election morning.

A wonderful upcoming Autumn day is on hand in southern Maine. The day opens with bright blue skies and a forecasted high of 57F. Photographing the new Union Bridge Collection consignment and more Dr. Glenn Peterson coins will be on the agenda along with the usual health walk. Let's enjoy the warm weather as Sunday evening's low is forecast at 22F.

Now that another election cycle is over, hopefully numismatics will fill in hours that have been consumed with U.S. politics. The baseball season is behind us leaving only college and NFL football to entertain on weekends. Hopefully coin collecting will have a decent chance of garnering attention through the early December timeframe.

Back in Maine, the electorate wisely defeated a special ballot initiative that would have established a commission (government body) to raise taxes towards keeping older people in their homes. Maine struggles with holding businesses due to a high tax environment and this initiative would have been yet another blow to the state. There is a constant struggle with aging demographics as younger generations leave the state for opportunities elsewhere.

GFRC's Daily Blog Digital Coin World Ad

I'm sticking with Coin World advertising but have moved to their digital newsletters rather than traditional weekly and monthly magazines. Upcoming on November 10 will be a GFRC banner featuring the Daily Blog. Below is the graph prepared by the Coin World graphic department that is well done. I like the Coins and Coffee lead line as many readers have commented about reading the Blog first thing in the morning over a cup of coffee.

So how is Daily Blog readership fairing these days? Thanks for asking! Daily readership ranges between 500 to 600 individuals with a slight decrease on weekends. Current goal, with the Coin World ad, is to increase readership by 50 people on average.

The Daily Blog is a true test of readership as compared to email based newsletters. Once subscribing to a newsletter, it arrives automatically whether being read or not. Coin dealers send out newsletters or price lists to those who make a purchase and provide an email address. Other examples of email newsletters are CDN, E-Sylum and Coin World. All have huge subscription rates as new readers are continuously added. But do all subscribers read each issue?

Measuring Daily Blog's readership level is accomplished via Google Analytics. Reported data is the actual number of daily click on the Blog link. The data can be analyzed to the hourly level and also to the city where the IP address is located. My primary concern is the number of clicks per day and the long term trend. An upward trend suggests that the ramblings are worthwhile to many.

 

LSCC's Seated Feast Initiative - November 17th

Dennis Fortier, LSCC Regional Chairperson, is starting a social initiative for New England based club members. Entitled Seated Feast, Dennis will be hosting a social event on November 17th in Millbury, MA. Nothing like pizza, coins and numismatic friends for an autumn afternoon. Hopefully, this kick-off event will be well attended. Please don't hesitate to contact Dennis with questions or seeking directions.

LSCC Seated Feast - November 17th - Millbury MA

 

Dr. Glenn Peterson Liberty Seated Half Dollars to Consider

Let's been honest here! I'm having a lots of fun rolling out the Dr. Glenn Peterson Collection of Liberty Seated half dimes and half dollars. This collection is a die variety treasure trove and learning opportunity. Just last evening, I reviewed and listed an 1848 WB-12 Seated half with bold repunching on the date digits. The half is graded ANACS EF45 with nice original surfaces and conservative grading. Checking Bill Bugert's Federal Registry on Seated half dollar Philadelphia strikes revealed this piece to be at least R6 and maybe R7 as few have been seen. I took a best guess on potential value (with some consulting help) and listed the half at $850. Within two hours, a phone call arrived from a Seated half dollar die variety specialist. His words were clear....I want this coin and ship it to me immediately!

Following are many of the holdered Peterson halves to consider. The 1865 ANACS AU58 is a pure gem and also shipping out today. The 1881 ANACS PF62 example is stunning and undergraded. Also pay special attention to the 1874 Large/Small Arrows half graded ANACS EF45 as it features gorgeous toning. Finally the 1840-O WB-8 with re-engraved denticles is not cleaned regardless of being housed in PCGS AU Details holder. I've looked at enough Seated halves in the past four years to judge cleaned surfaces. This example is definitely original and a lovely WB-8 example with the long obverse denticles.

Dr. Glenn Peterson Liberty Seated Half Dollars - ANACS OWH

1865 ANACS AU58 OWH 50C                                                   1881 ANACS PF62 OWH 50C

    

  1848 WB-12 R6 ANACS EF45 OWH 50C     1874 WB-102 ANACS EF45 OWH 50C          1874 WB-103 ANACS EF45 50C          

        

 

Dr. Glenn Peterson Liberty Seated Half Dollars - PCGS Graded

1839 Drap WB-6 PCGS EF40 50C                    1840 WB-3 PCGS VF35 50C                         1840 WB-10 PCGS AU55 50C

                

1840-O WB-10 PCGS EF Details 50C        1840-O WB-8 R5 PCGS AU Details 50C

        

 

NH Coin Expo Arrives on Thursday - GFRC at Table 701

Yes, I will be hand selecting GFRC inventory items, this afternoon, to be displayed at the NH Coin Expo. Last call for special requests.

 

Global Financial News

United States mid term election results are reassuring to the financial markets as there were no major surprises. The Republicans maintained control of the Senate while the Democrats took a slight margin in the House. Commodities and interest rates are stable to start the day.

Spot gold is holding recent gains at $1235/oz while crude oil appears to have bottomed out at $62.84/bbl. Bitcoin is up slightly at $6521 and the 10 year U.S. Treasury bond is also flat at 3.18%

Seeking Alpha headlines are rather limited this morning given the attention to mid-term elections and potential impacts to financial markets. Following is a summary of the election and potential impact on equity trends.

U.S. stock index futures are pointing to a strong opening on Wall Street after the baseline consensus forecast for U.S. midterm elections proved correct as Democrats won control of the House, while the GOP hung on to the Senate. History has shown that mixed party control is generally the best combination for equity markets, while the highest-growth stocks can keep putting up terrific numbers even during an economic slowdown. Democrat-friendly sectors, like the biotech cohort which runs counter to Big Pharma, could also get a boost.

We can expect more gridlock in Washington and slower actions towards incremental deregulation efforts.

Gridlock in Washington could also stall the White House's bid to deregulate banking and financial services. Representative Maxine Waters, a fierce Trump critic and Wall Street foe, appears poised to take control of the House's powerful financial services committee. The halt of deregulation legislation could also affect other sectors like energy, industrials and small business.

This headline borders on the bizarre from France's Macron....

"We have to protect ourselves with respect to China, Russia and even the USA," French President Emmanuel Macron told French radio, calling for the creation of a "true European army." It comes after President Trump pulled out of the 1987 INF Treaty and demanded more NATO spending from European countries. The EU launched an annual €5.5B joint defense fund last year, and added another €13B in June to support development of new military technology.

As mentioned in yesterday's Blog, Russia and China are cooperating towards building a Boeing 787 equivalent for the Asian market. However, the jet engines must be source from the U.S. or Europe.

The Russian-Chinese joint venture developing a new long-haul jet to challenge Boeing's 787 and Airbus's A350 is shopping around for engines. It will make a decision between General Electric's GEnX and Rolls Royce's Trent 7000 engines by the first half of next year, according to its chief designers. Eventually the CR929 intends to use a Sino-Russian engine which is currently under development.

 

Featured Coins of the Day

Let's wrap up today's Daily Blog edition with yet more great coins from GFRC inventory. Any of these can be yours! Just email or call to discuss towards a potential deal. GFRC must sell coins on behalf of consignors and I am motivated. Let's make a deal.....

Beautiful Barbers to Consider!

1892-S PCGS AU55 CAC 25C                                                   1908 PCGS MS63 CAC 25C

    

    1892 PCGS MS65 50C                                                           1900-S PCGS AU55 CAC 50C

    

1905-O PCGS EF45 CAC 50C                                                       1908-O PCGS MS63 50C

    

 

Thank you for checking in at the Blog. Time for the usual activities; a quick shower followed by packing and shipping of yesterday's orders. If placing an order by 11:00 am ET, I will guarantee its shipment by the time Doug, the mailman, arrives for his routine pick-up!

Have a great post election day!

 

 

 

November 6, 2018

More Dr. Glenn Peterson Liberty Seated Half Dimes to Consider

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog on mid-term election day.

Thank goodness this day has finally arrived and negative advertising will disappear. Maine weather for election day will be cold with heavy rain forecasted during the afternoon hours. I would like to get shipping and voting wrapped up before those rains arrive, therefore a short edition today.

Seth Godin: Who cares?

A quick check of Seth Godin's Blog revealed a commentary on today's mid-terms. The psychology of voter suppression through negative advertising is called out by Godin as an intended strategy by consultants. The premise is that weeks of heavy negative campaign ads wear down the electorate to the point of disgust with candidates. As a result, some of us will not vote due to being worn out from the process. This is especially true for those who spend time watching television during late afternoon and evening hours.

Who cares?

On almost every issue that divides the electorate (in the US and abroad), the group that gets out the vote will win.

In most elections, the more some candidates spend, the more disillusioned the electorate becomes. The goal is to keep the opponent’s supporters from caring enough to vote.

These are not unrelated facts.

We’re being played, manipulated and pushed around. It’s important to not fall for it.

Here’s the simple math:

If you’re tempted to not vote because of the vitriol or the imperfect nature of the choices, then you’re supporting a downward cycle, in which the candidate who best suppresses voter turnout of the opponent’s backers wins.

On the other hand, if you always vote for the least-bad option, then a forward cycle will kick in, in which candidates (and their consultants and backers, who are also causing this problem) will realize that always being a little less bad than the other guy is a winning strategy. Which leads to a virtuous cycle in the right direction.

Don’t get tricked. Show up.

 

More Dr. Glenn Peterson Liberty Seated Half Dimes to Consider

Working with the Dr. Glenn Peterson Collection is a die variety discovery and self education process. Previously, my knowledge of Liberty Seated half dimes was limited to the major die varieties. Handling the Peterson Collection has become an in depth study of Valentine's early research and subsequent articles in the Gobrecht Journal. Liberty Seated half dimes are indeed a die variety treasure trove and worthy of attention by those with limited collecting budgets. Demand for Seated half dimes is dwarfed by the larger denominations therefore cherrypicking interesting die varieties at common date prices is possible.

The Peterson Collection is also a joy to photograph and catalog due to old time originality. Like my own Liberty Seated dime reference collection, Peterson's half dimes were purchased years ago and remained off the market for several decades. Today's gallery exemplifies the old time originality and quality.

The following client gallery illustrates those pieces housed in ANACS old white holders that date back to the early to mid 1990s. Originality is immediately obvious along with substantial eye appeal for many of the offerings. The entire lot is priced and posted to the 30 day price list. These pieces are selling quickly so don't hesitate to make purchase decisions. Already the 1837, 1849, 1852, and 1862 half dimes are on hold. The 1858 Over Inverted Date is a hugely popular die variety and rare in mint state. Please note GFRC quality ratings as there are several gems in the lot that may not be apparent from the images. Again, please carefully read my descriptions when considering a purchase. Yes, I must write these today!!!!

Dr. Glenn Peterson Collection Consignment

Liberty Seated Half Dimes - ANACS OWH

1858 Inverted Date ANACS MS61 OWH 5C

 1837 V-1 ANACS AU50 OWH 5C           1840-O V-1 Lg O ANACS F12 OWH 5C         1841-O V-4 ANACS AU50 OWH 5C

            

 1849 V-6 ANACS AU50 OWH 5C               1851-O V-1 ANACS AU55 OWH 5C               1852 V-4 ANACS MS62 OWH 5C

            

 1856 ANACS MS62 OWH 5C                    1858 ANACS AU58 OWH 5C                       1862 ANACS MS60 OWH 5C

            

 

Ensuring Desired GFRC Inventory Travels to NH Coin Expo

Just a quick reminder that I will be packing GFRC inventory tomorrow for the NH Coin Expo that starts on Thursday. Already two individuals sent emails with long lists of inventory items to be examined for potential purchase. I welcome these requests and hope other collectors will follow suit.

Don't be disappointed when arriving to GFRC Table 701! Plan ahead and make requests for specific coins that you might be interested in. It only takes a few more minutes, during inventory preparation, to pull requested coins.

 

Another GFRC Consignment Wave Arrives!

GFRC is enjoying substantial consignor support as the business and service model becomes increasingly recognized in the numismatic industry. Collectors have multiple alternatives for divesting their numismatic holdings and GFRC works hard to be viewed as a credible candidate.

I'm pleased to announce that three substantial consignments have arrived or will be transferred in the next five days. The former strategy of itemizing consignment contents in the Blog has been modified due to growing volumes and processing times. Consignments are growing larger and best to employ the First Right of Refusal process at the time that client galleries are published rather than issuing pre-announcements with itemized coins.

Following are upcoming consignments that will be reaching the price lists during late November and throughout December.

Union Bridge Collection - 14 pieces of mostly Seated and Capped Bust type coins. This consignment arrived to GFRC office on Monday.

West Texas Collection - Over 100 pieces of Capped Bust and Seated coins with many better dates. About half are slabbed and the balance being raw. Transfer takes place at the NH Coin Expo.

Murphy's Collection - A wonderful lot of early San Francisco struck $2.5 gold (seven pieces) that consistently grades PCGS and NGC AU58. These are low mintage dates. Also in the shipment are two 1875-CC Seated halves and an 1878-CC Morgan with rotated reverse.

More individuals are contacting me towards incremental consignments to be transferred at the FUN show. And of course, let's not forget the upcoming complete set of Liberty Seated quarters from the Sunset Point Collection that transfers in February 2019. This set is valued at the middle six figure level since most pieces are graded AU and Mint State.

 

Global Financial News

Commodities and interest rates are holding steady going into the mid-term election. Crude oil remains slightly under $63/bbl while spot gold has inched up to $1237/oz. Bitcoin is steady at $6422 and one must wonder if crytocurrencies have run their course and are shrinking in significance. The 10 year U.S. Treasury bond yield is essentially flat at 3.19%.

Following are a few Seeking Alpha headlines worth noting on election day. We open with Saudi Arabia planning to go nuclear and build 16 reactors over 20 years. This plan will result in considerable Middle East controversy.

Seeking to diversify his nation's energy mix, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has laid the foundation for the kingdom’s first nuclear research reactor, among seven projects launched during a visit to Riyadh's King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology. The world’s top crude exporter hopes to build 16 reactors over the next two decades for $80B, despite concerns over nuclear proliferation in the Middle East.

Italy and the EU remain at odds over planned Italian deficit spending budget for 2019. The Italian are defiant with their EU masters....

Eurozone finance ministers are urging Italy to engage in talks with Brussels on a revised draft budget for 2019, backing the European Commission's view that the plans violate previous commitments by Rome to shrink its deficit next year. The budget "will not change," Italian Finance Minister Giovanni Tria said in response, adding that there is "neither conflict nor compromise" with the commission.

Positive signals continue between the United States and China towards resolving current trade war. Trump and President Xi will be meeting during late November, therefore much ground work is underway.

Breakthrough? "The Chinese side is ready to have discussions with the U.S. on issues of mutual concern and work for a solution on trade acceptable to both sides," Vice President Wang Qishan told the Bloomberg New Economy Forum. Ahead of his expected meeting with President Xi later this month, President Trump has threatened to impose further tariffs on $267B of Chinese imports if the two countries cannot reach a trade deal.

And finally, Russia and China are cooperating towards building a Boeing 787 equivalent for the Asian market.

The biennial Airshow China has kicked off in the coastal city of Zhuhai, with China and Russia unveiling a life-size model of their widebody CR929, which they hope will eventually compete with Boeing's 787 and Airbus's A350. What about the Sino-U.S. trade war? Boeing said it was optimistic of a quick resolution, while Airbus indicated that it did not expect a sales windfall from the tensions.

 

Featured Coins of the Day

A reminder that GFRC has one of the broadest selections of mid circulated grade Capped Bust quarters that are CAC approved. All will be available at the NH Coin Expo. No other dealer has this level of dates and quality!

1818/5 B-1 PCGS F12 CAC 25C                                                   1820 PCGS B-3 VF20 CAC 25C

    

    1822 PCGS B-1 VF25 CAC 25C                                                   1824/2 B-1 PCGS VF25 CAC 25C

    

    1825/4(2) B-2 PCGS VF30 CAC 25C                                         1828 25/50C B-3 PCGS F12 CAC 25C

    

Thank you for stopping by at the Blog on mid-term election day. After a quick shower and packing up orders, I'm off to the voting booth.

I will be in the GFRC office the entire afternoon working on additional Dr. Glenn Peterson Collection new offerings. This time the focus will be Liberty Seated halves.

Wishing everyone a great day in the numismatic neighborhood!

 

 

 

November 5, 2018

New Hampshire Coin Expo Week Arrives

Greetings once again and thank-you for visiting the Daily Blog.

Yes, I know the headline should make mention of mid-term elections on Tuesday as a news item. However, here in Maine, we have been saturated with out of state funded negative advertising and just want the BS to go away. These ads treat the electorate as if we are a bunch of simpletons who can be influenced by one character attack after another. How have we reached this point?

Instead, numismatics is a shelter from the craziness and best to stay focused on coins and working with fine individuals who comprise the GFRC supply chain and customer base.

I'm pleased to report that the leaves were raked on Sunday and the Fortin front yard appears nice and tidy. Clean-up took four hours and was great exercise. Between the outdoor time and ending Daylight Savings Time, I was in bed before 8:00 pm and enjoyed a good night's sleep. This is the reason for a lack of preview client galleries or images last evening. There are plenty of newly consigned coins to publish, but the energy simply was not there to get the job done.

GFRC Ramps Coin Purchases!

When starting the GFRC business back in 2014, a consignment business model approach was selected to minimize personal capital injection into the start-up. Much of my capital was tied up in the Liberty Seated dime reference collection and shifting monies from equities to coins was not desirable. Four years have passed with GFRC becoming a successful enterprise. I've sold a fair number of Seated dimes through GFRC. This brought about new capital towards becoming a more aggressive buyer of coins consistent with the types and quality presently being offered.

In particular, GFRC is seeking the following items;

- Better date/quality United States gold

- Strictly original Liberty Seated and Trade dollars

- Strictly original 1861-O Seated half dollars in grades Fine through Mint State

- Bust and Seated type with substantial eye appeal and CAC approval

 

GFRC and LSCC at New Hampshire Coin Expo - November 8 - 10

After a much needed break from the Whitman Baltimore show, I'm in a thoroughly positive mood going into the "Manchester Show". The NH Coin Expo starts on Thursday afternoon, of this week, with dealer set-up at 3:00 pm and the usual dealer to dealer wholesale trading. Friday is the main sales day as serious collectors will arrive to enjoy their hobby and hopefully grab a few coins from the GFRC cases. Saturday tends to be a slower day with local traffic.

As mentioned in a previous Blog, Tom Coulombe will be the GFRC table assistant. This is Tom's first time behind the table and should be fun for all involved.

The Liberty Seated Collectors Club will be visible, as usual, with John Frost providing an encore display and performance of his incredible William and Charles Barber research. The displays were previously offered at the Philadelphia ANA and Whitman Baltimore shows. Plan to attend John's presentation on Friday afternoon at 2:00 pm if not seen at the major shows. You will walk away with a different perspective of William and Charles Barber as Chief Mint Engravers.

Please email me if you wish to see certain coins in GFRC inventory at the NH Coin Expo. GFRC will only have six cases for regular inventory which means that a subset of online inventory will not be brought to the show. It is best to email me about specific coins rather than arrive to the show and be disappointed. Already, one customer has request eight coins be brought and I whole heartedly welcomed his request.

For a complete NH Coin Expo agenda, just click on this link. There is much taking place including a Saturday session on coin grading by Tom Caldwell of Northeast Numismatics.

 

Two Exceptional Consignments Arrive to Price List

Following are two exceptional new offerings to kick off the NH Coin Expo week.

First is an important 1875 F-106 Seated dime with Misplaced 5 in the Base. This die variety has been elusive for years since first published by Greer during 1992. Two MS66 graded examples are known with one being the Eric P Newman specimen (NGC MS66 CAC). The second is the following example that was originally in my personal reference collection and then sold to the Indiana Collection. Now back on the market and the plate coin at The Definitive Resource for Liberty Seated Dime Variety Collectors.

Indiana Collection Consignment - 1875 Misplaced 5 in Base

1875 F-106 PCGS MS66 CAC 10C - Tied for Finest Known

 

Up next is a marvelous 1852 WB-2 Liberty Seated half dollar offering from the Dr. Glenn Peterson Collection. This offering HAS NOT been to CAC for review and stands a strong chance for approval.

Dr. Glenn Peterson Collection - Important 1852 Liberty Seated Half Dollar

1852 WB-2 R4 PCGS AU58 50C

 

Finally, I'm pleased to offer two quality Liberty $10 eagles as a combination numismatic and bullion gold play. Each piece is choice and graded MS63. Offered at $725 each. If purchasing both, GFRC will ship for free.

GFRC $10 Eagle - Choice Uncirculated Offerings - $725 Each

1899 PCGS MS63 G$10                                                                  1907 NGC MS63 G$10

    

 

Check Back Late Afternoon For Dr. Glenn Peterson Seated Half Dimes

Once today's packing and shipping is completed, emphasis shifts to loading a Liberty Seated half dime client gallery from the Dr. Peterson Collection. All reside in ANACS old white holders and will be worth a second visit to the Daily Blog.

 

Global Financial News

Another week arrives and time for an initial check in on commodity prices and longer term interest rates.

Crude oil continues it slow price swoon regardless of reimposed sanctions on Iran's energy sector. Crude is quoting at $62.80 while spot gold is holding recent price gains at $1233/oz. Bitcoin prices are steady at $6412. The 10 year U.S. Treasury yield is back up to 3.2%.

Seeking Alpha headlines provides an important overview of international developments regardless of United States mid-term elections. We open with a detailed discussion of U.S. sanctions on Iran. Energy, shipping and financial industries are being targeted with six month waivers for certain U.S. allies.

Tough U.S sanctions targeting Iran's critical energy sector have come into force, as well as fresh measures against the nation's shipping and financial industries. Eight countries - including Turkey, Italy, India, Japan, and South Korea - will receive temporary six-month waivers allowing them to continue to import Iranian petroleum products as they move to end such imports entirely, but the Islamic Republic can only spend the money on a narrow range of humanitarian items. Iran exported the equivalent of 2.5M barrels a day in April, before the announcement of sanctions turned away buyers.

China's President Xi is preparing the country for restructured import and investment barriers as U.S. tariffs are weighing on the economy.

Talking up his commitment to "free trade," President Xi promised to lower import tariffs, reduce investment barriers and broaden market access at the opening speech of the China International Import Expo. Separately, China's services PMI chalked its slowest growth in over a year in September, a somewhat worrying data point as many have been counting on it to offset trade war manufacturing pressure.

Turkey has an inflation issue due to recent currency crisis....

Turkish annual inflation surged to 25% in October, recording its highest in 15 years and highlighting the sustained impact of a currency crisis on the wider economy. However, there was little reaction from the lira, which weakened to 5.44 against the dollar from 5.43 beforehand. The currency has recently stabilized from a selloff driven by concerns over a U.S.-Turkish spat and central bank independence.

And finally, the Bank of Japan is preparing its financial institutions for a return to "normal" rather than negative interest rates.

"The BOJ fully recognizes that, by continuing monetary easing, financial institutions' strength will be cumulatively affected," Governor Haruhiko Kuroda told business leaders in Nagoya, central Japan. "Although these risks are judged as not significant at this point, the BOJ will scrutinize developments," he added, outlining that Japan is no longer in a situation where it's best to "decisively implement a large-scale policy to overcome deflation."

 

Featured Coins of the Day

GFRC November sales have been strong over the past four days and I would be pleased if the momentum would continue going into the NH Coin Expo. Following are some great offerings to consider. These will be available at the Manchester show for inspection and purchase.

How about the 1874 and 1875-CC CAC approved Trade dollars as a well-matched pair?

1795 Flowing Hair PCGS VG10 CAC 50C                                       1803 Small 3 O-103 PCGS EF40 50C

    

        1862 PCGS AU53 CAC 50C                                           1866-S No Motto PCGS VF30 CAC 50C

    

1874 PCGS AU58 CAC Trade $1                                                   1875-CC PCGS AU53 CAC Trade $1 

    

 

So ends another edition of the Blog. Lots of tasks to get done today. I'm immediately off to the packing and shipping department for weekend sales.

See you tomorrow morning but remember to check back during late afternoon for more offerings from the Dr. Glenn Peterson Collection.

 

 

November 4, 2018

Last of Baltimore Show Consignments and Other Ramblings

Greetings and welcome to the Blog on the first Autumn 2018 day without Daylight Saving time.

Today's composition starts at 6:00 am with a lovely sunrise under clear skies. What a pleasure to be writing with a small amount of light outside the office window that reveals a front yard covered in leaves. Saturday's weather system brought heavy rains followed by high winds that stripped a fair portion of the mighty oaks and the maple adjacent to the house. With back to back NH Coin Expo and Shanghai Yunzhou shows during the next two weeks, it is probably wise to spend the afternoon cleaning the heavy leaf accumulations. Who knows when the first permanent snow may arrive burying the leaves for the winter. Since the leaves are still wet and nearly frozen (it is 33F as I write), this may be a raking rather than blowing event.

Sunday's Clean-up Event - Wonderful Autumn Colors

 

Feedback on Temporaryism and Next Generation Collectors

More feedback arrived on both topics. One individual, who fit my definition of next generation Liberty Seated coinage collectors, offered this commentary that well summarized the key points from the past two days' ramblings. Indeed, our hobby is incredibly special and rewards those individuals who invest time, energy, along with respect for the beauty of Liberty Seated coinage. Our challenge is to convince more next generation collectors to join us and share the fun!

Gerry,

I hope you are well. I always appreciate your persistence with your excellent blog.

I wanted to comment on your note today about "young numismatists". I find myself in the 1970-80 range (although don’t feel too young some days) and am an avid liberty seated dollar collector. I have approximately forty MS liberty seated dollars and love all of them for their unique and historical significance.

I sincerely hope the next generation of liberty seated collectors begin to surface and take up the mantle. It is a wonderful hobby that rewards the collector in direct porportion by the amount of time, energy and respect invested.

Thank you for your continued leadership of the LSCC and your passion for our wonderful hobby!

 

GFRC Adds 1916 NGC F15 CAC Standing Liberty Quarter to Price List

Do you remember being a kid and dreaming of owning the financially unattainable 20th century key date coins within United States coinage. I was always in awe of the 1916-D Mercury dime and the 1916 Standing Liberty quarter as one would have to mow hundreds of lawns to be able to afford. Even today, there is a thrill in announcing the arrival of a choice original 1916 Standing Liberty quarter to the GFRC price list. The piece is posted at $6000 and will be photographed in a few hours and images immediately added.

 

PCGS Turnaround Times

One of the oldest games in business sectors that quote turnaround times is to delay starting the measurement clock. I well remember my Wuxi China sales staff delaying the start of production orders by up to a full week to support factory on time deliver metrics. Customers knew the game and I would be often confronted during customer visits. Once American and European customers placed an order, their leadtime measurements clocks kick in for Just in Time supply chain management.

The same is true for PCGS operations. At the Baltimore show, two submissions of Liberty Seated half dimes (Dr. Peterson collection) were made on Friday afternoon (October 25). Yesterday, I received confirmation of the first order (Regular turnaround) and still waiting for confirmation of the second Economy submission. Yes, a full week of lost time towards securing thirty-five of Dr. Peterson's coins back for photography and marketing. That is just the Regular order....

So when viewing PCGS forecasted business days turnaround times, just add a week to the numbers for a more credible estimate.

 

GFRC Black Friday Sale - November 23 - 25

The week following the Shanghai Yunzhou show brings Thanksgiving holiday and the GFRC Black Friday weekend sale. For those Daily Blog readers that are new, please allow me to explain how the three GFRC sales events are conducted. The other two are the St. Patrick's Day sale and Christmas in August sale.

GFRC's special sales are an opportunity for consignors to discount their offerings by a minimum of 8% to participate in that sale. Consignors are free to discount as much as they wish but 8% is the minimum threshold for having coins listed on the Black Friday price list.

Starting around November 14, a special banner will appear at the top of the GFRC For Sale price list page and the Daily Blog. That banner will contain a countdown clock. Once the clock reaches 0:00, then the banner becomes a link to a special price list that is entirely separate from regular GFRC price lists. Clicking on the link initiates the download of the special price list with tabs for individual product lines. Customers can scroll the various tabs searching for that special coin that is now bargain priced. Shopping cart icons will be enabled and available for triggering an email for purchasing the coin.

The Black Friday sale starts on November 23 12:00 am and ends on November 25 at 9:00 pm. Each sale typically has 600 or so coins being offered at various discounted prices. Once the sale closes on November 25, the special banner and link disappear with unsold coins being available at regular prices in effect before the sale.

GFRC sales events are cash and carry with no lay-a-way provisions. If purchasing multiple coins and needing 30 days to pay off the entire purchased lot, then I'm sure mutually agreeable terms can be worked out.

Consignor pricing reductions must be sent to GFRC by noon time November 20! Please use a special email entitled GFRC Black Friday Pricing Instructions to help me easily pick out the sale reductions emails from regular GFRC business correspondence. Starting November 21, I will load pricing reductions into the COIN system and send a confirmation email. If you don't hear from me by noon November 22, then pricing reduction instructions may have been missed. This happens when consignors provide price reduction instructions as part of an email that includes multiple topics. Therefore, I ask that Black Friday price reductions be issued in a separate email for easy tracking. Please remember that I am flying back from Shanghai on November 20 therefore there is little time to absorb the Black Friday sales instructions and have the event run smoothly.

 

A Gem Original Half Cent - What a Challenge to Photograph!

Photographing larger sized copper coins is more challenging than silver or gold pieces. The uniform darker surfaces lack contrast resulting in the Nikon Coolpix995 amplifying colors, lighting reflections and surface conditions that are not there. Case in point is the challenge with this gem original 1835 PCGS MS63BN CAC half cent with the most beautiful satiny cartwheel luster. The camera saw greenish arcs when none exist on the coin. Lighting reflections from the PCGS holder are most likely the issue.

This story has a happy ending as this exceptional offering is now on hold. An existing GFRC customer trusted my written description and ordered the coin. Believe me, he will be thrilled upon arrival as this peice is a superb gem for the grade.

Gem Original Beauty - Most Difficult Copper Ever to Photograph!

1835 PCGS MS63BN CAC 1/2C - There is no green patina on the coin!

 

Last of the Baltimore Show Consignments

Yes, I am finally caught up with consignments transferred at the Whitman Baltimore show. Following are great new offerings to consider. First up is a near gem original 1905-O Barber half dollar, graded PCGS EF45 CAC, that has much luster at the assigned grade level. Actually, the reverse has full cartwheel luster under the light gold patina. PCGS population is low at the EF45 grade level, making this piece a noteworthy value. Thank you to the Saw Mill Collection consignor for the consignment.

Saw Mill Collection Consignment - Low Pop Barber Half

1905-O PCGS EF45 CAC 50C - Near Gem Original

 

The New Jersey Collection consignor was also in attendance at the Whitman Baltimore show and transferred four additional Liberty Seated halves that he happened upon in a bank box. All are in older PCGS holders with three of the four being in a single submission based on the serial numbers. The 1857-O date always captures my attention as definitely not common. The 1843-O offering is the WB-16 die variety with reverse cud at (UN)ITED. The 1865 half is the WB-102 double date. Lots to consider here for those who enjoy Seated half dollar die varieties.

New Jersey Collection Consignment - Liberty Seated Halves

1857-O WB-2 PCGS EF40 50C

    1843-O WB-16 Rev Cud PCGS VF30 50C          1865 WB-102 PCGS VF25 50C                  1865-S WB-3 PCGS VF35 50C            

        

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

It is nearly 8:00 am and time to publish this edition and get on with another day. There will be a substantial amount of coinage photography followed by cleaning the leaves. And yes, darkness will arrive by 4:30 pm so best to plan accordingly and get an early start to must-do items.

Thank you for visiting with GFRC! I will be back on Monday with more ramblings. A host of new consignments are being planned for transfer in the next week and previews will be forthcoming.

GFRC is also buying quality coins consistent with current inventory. Please email and let me know what you have to offer.

 

 

 

November 3, 2018

Another Quality Newtown Collection Consignment to Share

Greetings and welcome to a weekend edition of the Blog.

Daylight Savings time ends on Sunday November 4 which means clocks must be positioned back one hour before heading to bed. For those living in the northern United States, the end of Daylight Savings time means darkness arrives at 4:30 in the afternoon with dual commutes without sunlight. Luckily, the GFRC commute is from the bed to kitchen (1st coffee of the day) followed by office time towards writing the Blog. Writing the Blog with darkness outside the office window is a different experience than during bright early summer mornings. There is less creativity where staring into a pitch black window frame.

Another wet day is at hand for southern Maine with rains forecasted to end by early afternoon. Daily health walks have become an important part of each day for shedding the extra weight acquired during China employment and countless hours on United Airlines. Yes, it has taken multiple years of daily exercise and diet management to slowly eliminate the belly fat. The process would have been faster if the evening scotch was also eliminated. But then, there are certain small pleasures in life that I refuse to compromise upon.

Seth Godin: Hiding in plain sight

Seth Godin is back with a short play on words yet powerful message. In life, we face many challenges. Human nature, being what it is, typically leads us to an initial denial phase before taking steps towards positive change. The awakening that solutions are at our finger tips can arrive quickly if we wish to be bold and attempt new initiatives. In the case of GFRC, probably the wisest action of 2018 was the migration to Collectors Corner. I struggled with the GFRC marketing strategy, for several months, only to realize that loading inventory onto Collectors Corner brought an immediate payback via exposure to a host of new customers. Now, I must get NGC holdered inventory into that marketplace.....

Hiding in plain sight

The answer to your quandary is right there, in front of you.

It’s just that it involves more work, more risk, or more trade-offs than you were hoping for.

 

Temporaryism Feedback

Several Blog readers took the time to respond to yesterday's ramblings on Temporaryism. Following are excerpts from their emails. The Cleveland Collection consignor shared the following....

Yes, I think temporaryism is widespread and affects coin collecting and a lot of other things, like reading books, serious study, career path planning, and a whole lot of items that involve sustained effort over time. I also think self-improvement suffers. People are looking for quick fixes to solve their problems, but it is usually sustained effort over time that brings real progress.

One positive aspect to coin collecting in a changing world...it is environmentally friendly, as it involves mainly collecting things that have been produced in the past, rather than adding to all the stuff.

A long time GFRC customer shared the following concerning next generation collectors being kids. I don't agree with that assumption and wish to explore this thought further.

My only answer to the next generation is immerse kids at a very young age and make it fun for them. The only reason why I collect now I think is because my father was an avid stamp/currency/coin collector and he would always take me to the shows when I was a kid. I had a Lincoln Dansco book. Other than TV and a very simple electronic football game, I had no other electronic means besides the radio; and my book reading seemed boring to me. However, I always liked to go to a show with my father. I met a lot of nice gentlemen who always gave me small items that piqued my curiosity.

There are so many distractions for kids today it's hard for them to focus. The technology improvements and internet have isolated most. I have to admit I have tried and failed to get my kids interested in my quarters.

 

Who are Next Generation Collectors for Liberty Seated Coinage?

Whenever a conversation shifts to facilitating next generation collectors for Liberty Seated coinage, nearly every person I meet assumes the targeted group are young kids or YNs (Young Numismatist). They hear the words next generation and immediately assume youngsters, since nearly all of us can trace out roots to early Whitman blue folder hole filling or searching through bank rolls for a key date prize.

I agreed that for overall numismatics, this assumption is valid. But for Liberty Seated coinage, I firmly believe that the next generation collectors were born during the 1970 through 1980 timeframe and are presently pursuing careers and family. There are three key factors to consider when attempting to collect Liberty Seated coinage is a serious way; information access, time, and financial resources. Let's explore each of these parameters.

- Information Access: There is a multitude of guidebooks available for collectors of Liberty Seated coinage. These books range from general information (Bowers' Whitman Liberty Seated Silver Coins) to specialized books on each denomination. Many are now free online. Information access is not an issue for potential collectors of Liberty Seated coinage!

- Time: Yes, time is a key resource with multiple demands for our attention. Families are a priority for those with younger children. But the technology age has brought too many engineered distractions (clickbait is the latest) for securing our time and hopefully opening out wallets towards buying stuff. Capitalism drives consumerism as a core enabler.

Controlling our usage of time and setting life priorities is paramount for continuous learning. I'm a firm believer that continously learning is an enabler of a longevity and happiness. Those individuals with hobbies that require reading, study and exploration tend to be more content with life than those who live for the moment.

- Financial Resources: A key element in the collecting equation! Individuals in their 30s and 40s typically have some level of disposable income that can be committed to a hobby. To maintain interest in a hobby, there must be continuing participation and activities. Whether it is building plastic scale models, going to a gun range, or attending coin shows, time and commitment are required along with the financial capability to spend at a level consistent with the hobby.

Numismatics is an expensive hobby but also a potential financial asset. Actually, numismatics can be part of a financial investment program. Quality historical artifacts hold value as long as demand can be sustained. For the casual collector, eBay purchases are typically the first step in a longer-term journey. My point is that numismatics requires disposable income that becomes available in our 30s or 40s. As collectors age and pursue more significant cabinets, their funding requirements increase. This is not the territory of YNs.

Conclusions?

Numismatics is a hobby for those who wish to complete a project, engage in historical studies, pursue continuous learning, and have the time and financial resources consistent with their goals. Not often mentioned is the side benefits of making long life friendships among individuals with similar philosophies towards life.

Maybe one of the key issues is the growing lack of respect for early American history? Liberal institutes appear to be uncomfortable with teaching certain aspects of our 18th and 19th century history. Have you noticed that many collectors, but not all, have conservative political leanings?

 

Another Newtown Collection Consignment Arrives!

The Newtown Collection consignor is a passionate collector of Liberty Seated dimes and half dollars. He currently holds the top position for Liberty Seated halves in the GFRC Open Set Registry. For Liberty Seated dimes, he faces a formidable challenge with top sets by Bender, Feldman, and Fortin.

Newtown has embraced an important philosophy towards building top rated sets; divesting duplicates quickly to fund upgrading. GFRC is fortunate to be handling the Newtown duplicates on a consignment basis. Following is another lot of quality Liberty Seated dimes and half dollars that were transferred at the Whitman Baltimore show.

The 1868-S and 1877-S dimes are already on hold!

Newtown Collection Consignment - Upgrading and Duplicates

1837 F-101 PCGS AU53 10C                                                      1865 F-101a NGC MS66 10C

    

1868-S F-101 PCGS AU50 10C                                                  1877-S F-101 PCGS MS64 10C

    

1848 PCGS MS61 50C                                                   1854 Arrows PCGS MS61 50C

    

1868-S PCGS AU55 50C

 

Featured Coins of the Day

GFRC is enjoying an excellent start to the month of November. Consignments continue to pour in and more new customers are arriving from the Collectors Corner marketplace. My ongoing challenge is finding homes for consigned coins as proceeds are typically redirected into new acquisitions.

Following are six consigned coins searching for a new home. Could these be for you?

1804 C-6 Spiked Chin NGC MS61 1/2C                                              1906 NGC MS65RD Fatty 1C     

    

1884 PCGS PR66CAM CAC 3CN                                                1884 PCGS AU55 CAC 3CN 

    

1830 LM-13 PCGS MS63 GOLD CAC 5C                                          1838 Lg Stars PCGS MS64 5C     

    

 

Thank you for stopping by and checking out another long edition. I would be most pleased if you could consider an acquisition towards your collecting goals.

See you on Sunday morning!

 

 

 

November 2, 2018

Temporaryism has been the Black Plague and Jesus of Our Age

Greetings to all and welcome to a Friday edition of the Daily Blog.

Southern Maine weather will be a wash out today with continuous heavy rains followed by clearing on Saturday and bright sun arriving on Sunday. We are well beyond peak autumn foliage with nearly all leaves on the ground. The mighty oaks are still holding back and much of their leaves are typically dealt with in the spring. Sunday will be a major landscaping clean up day as the upcoming week brings the NH Coin Expo in Manchester.

So what about today's headline, Temporaryism has been the Black Plague and Jesus of Our Age?

As Liberty Seated Collectors Club President, I'm continually struggling with the challenge of fostering the new generation of Seated coinage collectors. This challenge is mentioned in every Gobrecht Journal issue and was also touched upon at the recent Baltimore regional meeting. Demographics is the unquestionable threat to our wonderful hobby. Every elderly collector, who no longer has the means or capacity to participate in our hobby, must be replaced with a younger individual to maintain balance.

Unfortunately, we live in an age of Temporaryism. Temporaryism is becoming a plague for our wonderful hobby. Numismatics requires long term passion, persistence and study to fully extract potential knowledge and personal rewards. One less mentioned outcome of numismatics is the life long friendships that arise when individuals share a common thread to life: especially when the thread requires in depth study of historical artifacts and attention to minute details. indeed, numismatists are a special breed.

So last evening, I was down in the basement soundroom and watching Incubus at Red Rocks. One of the songs, entitled Just a Phase, contained this passage, Temporaryism has been the black plague and the Jesus of our age. This passage captured my attention and well explained my LSCC dilemma. I was excited about sharing as today's headline and exploring the ramifications to our hobby.

Indeed, modern society could be viewed as temporaryism; all is quick and temporary with possessions being a hinderance to a fast paced life style. I see this playing out with Millennials. The sad part is temporaryism is an end all to many and worshipped similar to Jesus. Social medium can be viewed as temporaryism as compared to the importance of building face to face relationships. With social medium, one cannot learn the important subtleties of body language for communicating emotions. I could go on with many more examples, but believe most readers are of a persuasion to catch my point.

So yes, temporaryism is a plague for our wonderful numismatic hobby and as the current stewards, we must be creative in finding ways to slay this beast. My message to readers is simple. Amassing possessions for careful study and cultivating knowledge can be a positive and an important enabler towards a happy life. Internet images cannot truly replace physical objects in the same way social mediais unable to replace the warmth of interpersonal face time.

I solicited and welcome your comments on this topic.

 

NH Coin Expo Arrives Next Week - GFRC Booth 701

After the long Whitman Baltimore coin show event and endless planning, I'm especially looking forward to next week's more laid back Manchester NH coin show. I'm pleased to report that the Massachusetts Collection consignor, Tom Coulombe, has agreed to be GFRC's table assistant at the show. It will be a pleasure to hang out with Tom on Friday and Saturday.

Saturday brings a visit from the West Texas Collection consignor and a massive consignment. We have been in discussions for nearly a year on potential transfer point and the NH Coin Expo will be the venue. I should have a detailed Excel spreadsheet with forthcoming contents shortly.

What is GFRC bringing to Manchester NH?

As a reminder, GFRC will have seven (7) cases at the NH Coin Expo. One will be dedicated to Discount Coins and the other six (6) will be filled with great quality offerings. My focus will be Draped, Capped Bust, Liberty Seated and United States gold. If your collecting aspiration are in those areas, then plan to spend some time at Booth 701!

 

Black Friday Sale Arrives November 23 - 25

Thanksgiving arrives early during 2018 which also means that the GFRC Black Friday sale takes place in just three weeks. In Saturday's Blog, I will review consignor's schedule for submitting pricing reduction instructions.

 

More GFRC Baltimore Show New Purchases

I'm making progress with image processing and loading Baltimore show new purchases onto the price list. Among the new purchases, some Gerry Fortin reference collection Seated dimes are also being added to spice up the offerings. Below are new items that can be found on the price lists.

New Purchases - Eye Appealing Small Denomination Type

1827 JR-13 R3 PCGS EF40 CAC AU50 10C - On Hold

  1862/1 PCGS MS63 3CS                       1852-O PCGS VF20 CAC 5C                      1832 LM-7 PCGS AU58 CAC 5C

        

 

Gerry Fortin Reference Collection Offerings

1869-S F-102 Sm Weak S PCGS AU50 CAC 10C                              1871 F-102a PCGS AU58+ CAC 10C - Hold    

    

 

Global Financial News

Wow, global equity markets are flagging large potential gains as positive economic news originates out of Washington. The clickbait mainstream media is so focused on next Tuesday's mid term elections to properly communicate the upcoming news headlines. But first a look at commodities and interest rates.

Crude oil prices continue to fall with the black gold quoting at $63.58/bbl to start the day. Precious yellow gold is moving up with a Friday morning quote of $1237/oz. Bitcoin is flat at $6351 and the 10 year U.S. Treasury bond is priced to yield 3.17%.

We open Seeking Alpha headlines for a potential explanation for recent swoon in crude oil prices. Now the news is out....United States exemptions for allies towards purchasing Iranian oil.

Oil is set for its biggest weekly loss since February as the U.S. reportedly agreed to let eight countries - including Japan, India and South Korea - keep buying Iranian oil after it reimposes sanctions on the OPEC producer. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo will formally announce the number of exemptions later today ahead of a deadline at midnight on Sunday. Beyond that point, any country unloading a tanker from Iran risks the full wrath of the U.S. government.

Could the United States and China reach an all encompassing trade deal? This headlines is suggesting the possiiblity.

Stocks across the globe are advancing rapidly on positive trade developments between the U.S and China. President Trump has asked officials in his administration to start drafting terms of a trade deal with Beijing, sources told Bloomberg, which reported that multiple agencies are involved in the effort. Hopes are for reaching an agreement with Chinese President Xi Jinping later this month at the G20 summit in Argentina.

Sadly, there is are new allegations of high technology know how theft by Taiwan's UMC and its mainland China based partner. The victim is the United States remaining memory chip maker, Micron.

Latest allegations of Chinese technology theft... The DOJ has unsealed charges against a Chinese state-owned firm and its Taiwan partner - United Microelectronics - for allegedly stealing trade secrets from Micron Technology, the largest U.S. memory chip maker. "In 2015, China committed publicly that it would not target American companies for economic gain," Attorney General Jeff Sessions declared. "Obviously, that commitment has not been kept."

 

Wrapping Up the Blog

The 8:00 am publishing time has passed so best to get today's Daily Blog edition posted. I need another hot cup of coffee and a shower towards engaging the morning packing and shipping.

Please check back during the afternoon hours as the latest Newtown Collection consignment of Liberty Seated dimes and half dollars (from the Baltimore show) will be posted as client galleries.

Thank you for stopping by on a Friday and please consider a purchase. GFRC's November sales forecast will be an uphill climb and best to get going early......

I look forward to seeing all of you tomorrow.

 

 

 

November 1, 2018

LSCC Leadership Team is Haunted on Halloween!

Greetings on November 1st and welcome to another edition of the Daily Blog.

As the headline indicates, three members of the LSCC Leadership team were haunted on Halloween! Believe me that we are not making up the following stories. Wednesday was a downright strange day.

Haunting #1 - Bill Bugert's Microsoft Update Gone Bad

We open with an 8:40 pm email from Bill Bugert concerning the release of the LSCC's November E-Gobrecht edition. Bill writes the following as asking for help with distribution of the latest E-Gobrecht.

Hi Gerry,
I wanted to let you know that my computer did an update to the Windows operating and Microsoft applications software. With that, my Outlook email contacts and address list is afoul. I have been unable to fix it and send this out. Would you would post this month’s E-G on your blog until I get this problem resolved.

Bill and contributing authors have assembled another solid issue with extensive coverage of LSCC happenings at the Whitman Baltimore show along with your favorite monthly columns. Simply click here or on the headline page image below to download the Novmber 2018 edition in PDF file format. The images alone are worth the time to download and review.

November 2018 E-Gobrecht is Available Here!

 

Haunting #2 - Gerry's Bizarre Numismatic Contacts

It is not out of the ordinary to receive emails concerning new Liberty Seated dime die variety discoveries by those who are not well skilled with die variety analysis. This is part of my responsibility as being the expert researcher on the topic.

But Wednesday brought two bizarre correspondences; the first was a phone call and the second, an email from registered Collectors Corner individual (not a GFRC customer). Here is a synopsis of my Halloween hauntings.....

- 10:30 am Phone call - Coin shop individual reports finding an 1891/1871-O overdate. Really, I said?...Oh yes replies the caller! But New Orleans mint did not strike dimes from 1861 through1890 replied Gerry. Oh, that is not important detail and I'm sure it is an 1891/71-O overdate states the caller. Send pictures I said.... Pictures arrive: coin is only Good 4 at best, cleaned with post mint stuff.

- 3:00pm email from Collectors Corner registered person. Your 1830 PCGS MS63 Capped Bust half dime (GOLD CAC) is way overpriced at $1800. DLRC has a non approved one for $775 and quotes another listing at $1200. Person is implying I'm trying to rip off collectors and closes email with "It pays to shop around" in unfriendly tone.... I reply that it is Gold CAC approved and please read the description carefully. Person replies.....Oh, I don't pay attention to CAC, just the label grades.

Believe me, I not making this stuff up.....

 

Haunting #3 - Len Augsburger's AirBnB Event - Lucky to Have Len Around Today!

There is no question that Bill Bugert, Len Augsburger and Gerry are close friends. When Bill's email arrived asking for E-Gobrecht distribution help, I replied with the events of my bizarre day to comfort Bill and copied Len. The Len writes back with the following......wow!

Spooky indeed. So this is how my Halloween started.

I got into St. Louis, Amtrak was two hours late, at 1am.

I went over to my AirBnB. Landlord said key would be under the doormat. There’s no doormat, but across the hall is a doormat with a key underneath it. I figure the landlord got the unit numbers mixed up. I use the key to open the other unit and end up startling the full time occupants who were already asleep in bed. THANK GOD these folks were not of the carrying persuasion, otherwise I might not be here today. I called the landlord who of course did not pick up. I found a hotel and AirBnB refunded all my money today.

Yes indeed it was a strange Halloween day for the LSCC Leadership team!

 

A Ton of GFRC New Purchases

Thank goodness that November 1 has arrived and the Halloween hauntings are out of the way!

I spent most of Wednesday processing images and loading the Daily Blog with today's galleries. All images are also loaded onto the GFRC price lists with descriptions forthcoming asap.

We open with three strictly original Draped Bust and Reeded Edge halves that are toned over with classic gun metal gray-blue patina. GFRC images for the 1803 O-101 and 1806 O-107a halves are 100% color accurate. Don't you love it when early silver Federal coinage can be located with circulated cameo appearance as is the case for the 1803 Large 3? The 1806 half is so well struck with bold device features at the VF20 grade level. Then there is the 1839 GR-7 Reeded Edge half graded PCGS AU53. This piece has exceptional luster under the blue patina and will please the most selective collector.

More GFRC New Purchases - Gun Metal Gray-Blue is Beautiful

1803 Large 3 O-101 PCGS VF20 50C                                                   1806 O-107a PCGS VF20 50C

    

1839 GR-7 PCGS AU53 50C

 

Before heading to bed, I made an all out push to complete image processing for the balance of the Capped Bust halves purchased during the Baltiore pre-show. This lot of halves was purchased from a single source and were part of a complete set by Overton die variety. Dan and Gerry went through six boxes of halves and pulled the absolute best in terms of eye appeal and conservative grading. Several pieces from the lot were sold immediately at the Baltimore show and the 1808 is shipping out today to a GFRC customer. Following are the balance of the pieces. All have exceptional luster that is not seen on GFRC images.

New Purchases - Eye Appealing Capped Bust Halves

1811 Sm 8 PCGS AU58 CAC 50C                                                   1814 PCGS AU58 CAC 50C

    

1809 O-117a III Edge PCGS EF40 50C                1811 O-112 PCGS EF45 50C                      1822 O-106 PCGS AU53 50C       

        

1822 O-112 PCGS VF35 50C                           1826 PCGS AU55 50C      

    

 

Finally, I believe that GFRC is making inroads into the Barber coinage market. Barber quarters have been a strong product line during the past several months. Therefore, more quality pieces were sourced at the Baltimore show to continually improve GFRC inventory offerings. The 1892-S is a pure gem with gray-gold patina and satiny luster; what eye appeal! The balance of the offerings are no question choice original and will fit nicely into a circulated date and mintmark set for not a lot of money.

New Purchases - Four Choice Original Barber Quarters

1892-S PCGS AU55 CAC 25C

  1893-S PCGS EF40 25C                           1896-O PCGS VF20 25C                             1900-O PCGS VF35 25C

        

 

Global Financial News

Great news on the commodity front for America drivers as crude oil drops again to $64.84/bbl! My sympathies if you are an investor in the United States oil industry. Spot gold is back to the median of its current trading range and is quoting at $1226/oz. Bitcoin is flat at $6321 and does anyone care? Finally, the 10 year U.S. Treasury bond yield has inched up slightly to 3.16%.

Seeking Alpha headlines are quite dull this morning. Following are a few items to fill space in this segment of the Blog.... Imagine fine tuning regulations towards managing the "too big to fail banks" differently than smaller banks? What a novel approach!

The Federal Reserve has unveiled a proposal that takes a tiered approach to match regulations for large banking organizations with their risk profiles. If enacted, the new rules could ease liquidity and compliance requirements for such banks as PNC Financial, Charles Schwab, U.S. Bancorp and Capital One by establishing four categories of standards for large banking organizations - those with more than $100B in total consolidated assets.

GE is now just three notches above junk bond territory! How about an emergency call out to Jack Welch? During Jack's tenure as CEO, General Electric value grew by 4000%.

General Electric fell for a sixth straight session yesterday after Moody's lowered the company's credit rating by two notches to Baa1 from A2, three notches above "junk" territory. The downgrade, which came a month after S&P cut GE's credit rating, reflected "the adverse impact on GE's cash flows from the deteriorating performance of the Power business... and misjudgment of financial prospects and operational missteps."

 

Featured Coins of the Day

It is only 8:00am and time for a quick look at some great GFRC offerings going into the NH Coin Expo next week. GFRC has boxes and boxes of quality inventory that needs a loving collector home. Here is a small sampling including rarities and superior eye appeal.

              1846 PCGS VF30 OGH 5C - Key Date                        1848-O V-4 NGC MS64 CAC 5C - Condition Census

    

1807 JR-1 NGC UNC Details 10C - Affordable Type Coin               1875-CC BF-1 NGC MS62 CAC 20C - Eye Appeal!    

    

1892 PCGS MS66+ CAC 25C - Exceptional Eye Appeal             1873 NA Open 3 NGC EF45 50C - Important Rarity     

    

 

So ends another edition of the Daily Blog! Whew....

Time for packing and shipping department work followed by posting more great consignments to the price list.

By the way, GFRC will receive a substantial new consignment from the West Texas Collection consignor at the NH Coin Expo. Stay tuned for details.

Many thanks for checking in and please share the Daily Blog link with numismatic friends. Let's not keep all of this fun to ourselves, right?

See you tomorrow!

 

 

 

October 31, 2018

Happy Halloween - No Tricks or Treats at GFRC, Just Great Coins

Greetings on Halloween 2018 and welcome to another edition of the Blog.

Tuesday's overriding goal of photographing all Baltimore show new purchases and consignments was completed, but barely. The day started with partial cloud cover and there were concerns that heavy clouds would arrive during noon time and wash out any photography possibilities. The Nikon Coolpix995 battery was charged and coins arranged in size order to faciliate a quick photo session if a break in the clouds appeared. By 11:15 am, cloud cover remained and I had an early lunch salad. Then at 11:30, lady luck spread her good fortune. The overcast conditions abated with large breaks between white lower level puffy clouds. It took an hour plus to photograph nearly 45 coins including image inspections and re-photographing those with excess lighting reflections. Then at 1:00 pm, thick dark clouds arrived and closed off sunshine for the balance of the day. Having completed the day's primary task, it was time for a health walk......

Most other dealers will think I'm crazy for being so dependent on weather conditions for photography requirements. So be it, but the below results speak for themselves. Color matching is exact with no surprises for GFRC customers when a purchase arrives.

Case in point is a wonderful 1869 PCGS MS63 quarter that was consigned on the final day of the Baltimore show. Below is a side by side comparison of GFRC and Heritage Auctions images. Which do you think better represents the piece in hand? This is the marketing advantage when working with GFRC. Sure, I'm a bit out of the box with respect to business approaches including photography.

GFRC vs. Heritage Photography Comparison - 1869 PCGS MS63 25C

         GFRC                                                                            Heritage Auctions

    

 

Semi-Key Date Liberty Seated Quarter Consignment

If a serious fan of the Liberty Seated quarter series, then the following three consigned items, from an unnamed individual, should capture immediate attention. All are low mintages issues under 100,000 pieces and well known challenging dates; 1865-S (41,000), 1869 (16,000), and 1869-S (76,000). The 1869-S was previously sold as part of the Iowa Collection and is back for a second showing. For fun, the total CAC populations were also checked. Are you ready for the findings?

Total CAC approved by date: 1865-S (14), 1869 (12) and 1869-S (13). Definitely an under-appreciated and under-valued denomination within the Liberty Seated era!

Unnamed Liberty Seated Quarter Consignment - Semi-Key Dates

1865-S PCGS VF30 CAC 25C                                                   1869 PCGS MS63 25C

    

1869-S PCGS VF30 CAC 25C

 

 

GFRC New Purchases Arrive!

Now that photography is completed, Blog readers will be treated to a host of new purchase galleries. We start the rollout with four great CAC approved offerings including a wonderful 1917 Standing Liberty quarter with eye appealing toning followed by several Liberty Seated and Trade dollar pieces. The 1842 PCGS AU50 CAC Seated dollar is already sold!

Please check back on Thursday morning for another exciting gallery.

GFRC New Purchases - Whitman Baltimore Show

1917 Type 1 PCGS MS66FH CAC 25C

    1842 PCGS AU50 CAC Seated $1                                          1875-CC PCGS AU53 CAC Trade $1

    

1876-S PCGS AU53 CAC 25C

 

 

Global Financial News

Equity market volatility returned in ernest during October with the S&P 500 down nearly 8.0%. The Q3 earnings season is weighing on investors with several American bellweather companies having difficulties. General Electric and Fiat Chrysler are examples.

Crude oil pricing appears to be settling in at the $66 to $67/bbl level. Spot gold is near the low end of its new trading range at $1220/oz. Bitcoin is quoting at $6279 and the 10 year Treasury bond yield is stable at 3.14%

Several Seeking Alpha headlines are worth reviewing. We open the headlines with more news out of China. Note that the PMI index is at 50.2 and straddling the point between economic expansion and contraction. The People's Bank of China will issue more cash to prop up the economy; this time the focus is Hong Kong.

Chinese equities tracked gains on Wall Street, with Shanghai up 1.4%, despite a weak reading on the nation's factory activity. The official manufacturing PMI index came in at 50.2, short of estimates and pushing it closer to the 50-point line separating expansion from contraction. In other news, the PBOC said it will issue a total of 20B yuan of bills out of Hong Kong next month, its first issuance in the former British colony and the world's biggest offshore yuan clearing center.

As the U.S. Federal Reserves continues to increase interest rates, the Bank of Japan is still holding on to negative rates. Why would anyone buy Japanese 10 year bond for no return?

The Bank of Japan opted to hold rates at -0.1% at its October meeting, while trimming inflation forecasts and saying it will purchase 10-year Japanese government bonds to maintain the yield at "around zero percent." This will see the BOJ fall even further behind global peers in normalizing policy amid its long battle to stoke inflation, which it now expects to remain below its 2% target until at least early 2021.

General Electric is down and Facebook is up. The technology age has brought profound changes.

Earnings headlines yesterday morning centered around General Electric, which slashed its quarterly dividend to $0.01 as it restructured its troubled Power division. The conglomerate also disclosed a DOJ probe of its accounting practices, sending shares below $10 for the first time since April 2009. After the closing bell, attention turned to Facebook, which posted a healthy profit beat and nearly in-line revenues, but user growth disappointed some observers. Shares rose 3.1% AH.

Elon Musk's major challenge continues to be operational performance consistent with his creativity and aspirations. Changing seven members of a senior management team is dramatic and requires time for the new team to learn how to work together.

Elon Musk bought $10M of shares in Tesla on Monday and "committed" to buying additional shares worth about $20M, according to an SEC filing. Before the purchases, he held a stake of more than 19% in Tesla. Musk also abruptly replaced at least seven members of SpaceX's senior management team, with a mandate to launch its Starlink satellites - a new satellite-based Internet service - by the middle of next year.

 

Wrapping Up the Blog

Let's end today's edition at this point. There is a ton of image processing that needs to get done along with morning shipping.

Please check back after dinner time (East Coast) for more Baltimore show new purchases including a wonderful run of Capped Bust halves; all with special eye appeal.

Thanks for stopping by the Blog and wishing everyone a frightful Halloween!

 

 

October 30, 2018

A Review of 1860 - 1861 Type 1 vs. Type 2 Obverse Seated Dimes

Good Day and welcome to another edition of the Daily Blog.

It is great to be back in the GFRC office after a long Baltimore week. Inventory is organized and loaded in the safe. All new purchases and consignments were extracted from general inventory and are patiently waiting for photography. GFRC listings on Collectors Corner are have been updated. Hopefully, Maine weather will cooperate and bring a day replete with sunshine. Last evening's weather forecast indicate a decent chance of cloudless skies during the noon time period.

Speaking of Collectors Corner, the decision to load GFRC offerings on their platform was one of the GFRC highlights for 2018. With Collectors Corner, there is a measureable marketing cause and effect unlike nebulous advertising with Coin World and other platforms. During the Yamatin's visit, starting December 15, Matt and I will investigate next steps for automatically loading NGC holdered coins onto Collectors Corner.

Seth Godin - The problem with people is that they outnumber you

Seth Godin sure has it right this morning with his latest Blog post. Empathy for others is paramount for a civil society. Empathy for collectors is one of the platforms that GFRC was built upon. Wikipedia defines empathy as, "Empathy is the capacity to understand or feel what another person is experiencing from within their frame of reference, that is, the capacity to place oneself in another's position."

Probably the most empathetic United States president was Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln had empathy for people he didn’t personally know. Those included working men and women, the soldiers fighting the Civil War and of course, the widows and orphans or so many lost soldiers. Ordinary people mattered to Abraham Lincoln and thus, his greatness thoughout history. Our country needs another Abraham Lincoln of the social media age as omnipresent communication platforms are becoming dangerous and polarizing.

The problem with people is that they outnumber you

It doesn’t make any sense to spend your life proving them wrong, it’s a losing battle.

Far more effective is the endless work of building connection, forming alliances and finding the very best you can in those you engage with.

You can’t possibly know what it’s like to be someone else, but it’s also true that no one knows what it’s like to be you.

One more reason to put in the effort to find the good.

 

1860 - 1861 Type 1 vs. Type 2 Obverse Design Hubs

Later in today's Blog, readers will find a new client gallery with several 1860 and 1861 dimes from my reference collection. All are "web-book" plate coins. Explaining the difference between the 1860 and 1861 obverse design hubs is a timely exercise as most collectors struggle with immediately recognizing the differences between two uniquely engraved hub dies.

Let's start this educational module with a brief review of the Type 1 vs. Type 2 obverse designs per the following illustrations. By the way, these illustration along with a host of other Liberty Seated dime design differences are located on Liberty Seated dime website at this link: www.seateddimevarieties.com/Basic_Varieties.htm.

Type 1 Obverse                           Type 2 Obverse

        

All 1860 Philadelphia struck dimes employed a Type 1 obverse design which has very "delicate" relief that can wear down quickly. Few if any examples are seen with poor strikes or die cracks. The mintage to die ratio is low (50,580 per die), which could explain the quality of surviving examples.

My belief is that Assistant Mint Engraver, Anthony Paquet, was responsible for the Type 1 obverse design based on shallow relief, lack of bold device details and lettering that is style consistent with Paquets other works.

During 1861, Longacre updated the obverse hub to improve striking quality. During that year, obverse dies were produced from both the Type 1 and Type 2 obverse hubs. The old Type 1 hub of 1861 has 5 vertical lines in the upper part of the shield above the banner. Liberty's index finger also fell on the outside of the left shield edge. On the new Type 2 hub of 1861, there are 6 vertical lines above the banner. The letters on the Type 1 hub are thinner than the letters on the Type 2 hub. Once a Seated dime collector becomes familiar with the appearance of the Type 1 and Type 2 obverse hubs from these diagnostics, it is rather simple to identify the hubs by the overall appearance of Liberty's upper body.

All 1861 San Francisco strikes were done with Type 1 obverse design resulting in rapid wear and few choice survivors for present day collectors.

 

GFRC Consignment News

Before sharing a lovely lot of Liberty Seated dimes from my reference collection, let's have a look at a gem original 1838 Reeded Edge half dollar consignment that arrived at the Whitman Baltimore show. This gorgeous 1838 half dollar was first sold by GFRC as part of the Montana Collection and was purchased by the Port Matilda collector. Now this piece is back on the market as the Port Matilda enjoys owning great coins for a short period and then divesting towards new acquisitions. The Montana Collection consignor purchased the piece from Aspen Rare Coins years ago.

The obverse features an internal rose center that is framed by a thin ring of aquamarine which also surrounds the primary device. Immediately outside the center ring is a transparent golden film that surrounds the stars. Bright light viewing is amazing. The reverse exhibits circular sky blue toning across the eagle and immediate fields. This area is nicely framed by a burnt gold ring at the periphery.

Port Matilda Collection Consignment - Eye Candy on Steriods

1838 Reeded Edge PCGS AU53 50C

 

Thank you for reading this far into the Blog! Now for the main course of the day! Following are nine more quality Liberty Seated dimes from the Gerry Fortin reference collection that have been processed through PCGS and CAC prior to the Whitman Baltimore show. All have resided in the Fortin collection since the 1990s and now come to market. FRoR are warranted as these dimes will not last long. Already the 1860 F-109 and 1869 F-103 are reserved and discussion is underway with another collector for one of the 1861 offerings.

Gerry Fortin Liberty Seated Dime Reference Collection Offerings

         1860 RPD F-109 PCGS AU58              1861 Type 1 F-102 PCGS AU58 CAC        1861 Type 1 F-107 PCGS MS62 CAC

        

1861 Type 2 F-102 PCGS MS63            1861 Type 2 F-107 PCGS AU58 CAC                1862 F-105a  PCGS AU55     

        

  1868 F-108 PCGS AU55 CAC                 1869 SF1 F-103 PCGS EF45 CAC                  1869 LF1 F-105a PCGS EF45

        

 

Global Financial News

Another day arrives with yet another quick check in on commodities and interest rates. Spot gold lost ground during the past 24 hours and stands at $1222/oz while crude oil is trading at $66.50/bbl. The 10 year U.S. Treasury bond yield has moved up slightly to 3.12%

Seeking Alpha headlines have several noteworthy items to share on a Tuesday morning. The opening headline is important: Angela Merkel days as German Chancellor are coming to an end.

After damaging results for her CDU party in a regional election over the weekend, German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced her intention to retire from politics. Not going quietly, Merkel said she intends to serve until her term expires in 2021, citing need for her expertise in challenges like Brexit and the INF treaty. Her preferred successor is Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, the CDU secretary general.

Beijing Central government continues to reassure mainland investors with more pledges of cash (debt) and a hands off approach to the equity markets. Xi Jinping has to be concerned with the next wave of United States tariffs.

Chinese shares recouped early losses and crept higher overnight as Beijing made fresh attempts to stabilize its stock markets. The China Securities Regulatory Commission said it will enhance liquidity, reduce unnecessary interference in trading and create a level playing ground for investors. Gains looked fragile, however, amid reports that the U.S. is planning tariffs on the remaining $257B in Chinese goods if Trump-Xi trade talks fail.

Mexico's currency and equity investors are worried about President-elect Obrador's ability to manage the country's economy.

Mexico’s peso tumbled 3.6% on Monday, blowing past the key 20 per U.S. dollar level, after President-elect Lopez Obrador announced he would cancel construction of a partially built $13B airport for Mexico City. The decision, a response to a referendum on the matter, left investors fretting over how he would manage the economy and made it more likely the central bank would hike interest rates. Mexico's benchmark BIVA stock index also closed down 4.2%.

European countries, including the U.K., are taking bold taxation steps for large technology firms.

It's the most concrete attempt yet by an industrialized nation to rewrite the world's tax code for the digital era. The U.K. is moving ahead with plans to introduce a first-of-its-kind tax on locally generated revenue by large technology firms like Google and Facebook. It comes as governments hope to capture more revenue from such services as economic activity increasingly shifts online.

 

Featured Coins of the Day

Let's try something new today and feature eight random coins from the GFRC Baltimore show discount cases. I've included the discounted pricing in the title line. All you have to do is email me to reserve the discounted offering. Shipping is extra per normal GFRC sales terms.

GFRC Discounted Case Items - Priced as Marked

1875-S PCGS VF25 CAC 20C - $175                                            1835 B-8 R4+ PCGS VG10 25C - $120

    

1853 NA PCGS VF20 25C - $2650                                                  1858-O PCGS VF25 25C - $130

    

1890 PCGS VG08 25C - $95                                                        1908-D NGC MS62 25C - $230

    

1826 O-115a PCGS VF30 50C - $140                                            1827 O-106 PCGS EF45 50C - $225

    

That is a wrap for another edition of the Daily Blog!

I will be in the office the entire day outside of a health walk and a long photography session around noon time. If interested in a potential purchase, then just email or call. By now, GFRC customers know that my response time is fast as I'm here to sell coins on behalf of consignors.

As an FYI, the GFRC Payment to Consignor tally stands at $3,212,695 as of this morning. You can track GFRC's consignment sales progress at the Consign page link on the website header.

Wishing everyone a great day as preparations are underway for Halloween!

 

 

 

October 29, 2018

Difficult to Improve Upon - 2018 Red Sox

Greetings once again from the Maine office and welcome to another late edition of the Daily Blog.

Light rain is at hand to start the day along with cool 39F temperature. The wood stove is already ramped up and I'm sitting here in shorts writing today's Blog. It has become a matter of principal to stay comfortably dressed in the office before the Florida migration. Unfortunately, the weather will not allow new purchase and consignment photography to take place due to cloudy conditions. Tuesday weather looks promising however, with sunshine returning and a forecasted high of 48F.

Yes, the Boston Red Sox provided life long fans with an amazing season. David Price's 7 inning pitching performance dispelled any thoughts of struggling in the post season.

The Cleveland Collection consignor sent along an email with today's headline and the following commentary.

Hi Gerry,

When presenting a really nice coin, you sometimes say that it would be very difficult to improve upon.

The same can be said for the 2018 Red Sox season.

They won 108 games in the regular season, defeated two other 100-win teams in the American League playoffs, and then won the World Series, with only one loss in each playoff series. It doesn't get any better.

Congratulations to the Red Sox and all of their fans on a really great season!!

 

New Hampshire Coin Expo Arrives on November 8 - 10 - Table 701

Now that the 2018 Fall Baltimore show is in the history books, GFRC is heading into another busy schedule with multiple events compressed into a short period of time. This week is like the calm before the storm and an opportunity to catch up on a host of administrative items, photography, and loading new purchases and consignments.

The first event on the upcoming compressed schedule is the NH Coin Expo held in Manchester on November 8 - 10. This year, GFRC will be situated at Table 701 with seven cases of quality Capped Bust, Liberty Seated, and U.S. gold inventory. One of the seven cases will be discounted items with much double stacking. If in the northern New England area, please plan a visit to the bourse. Getting in and out of Manchester and the convention center is easy.

GFRC at Manchester, NH Show - Corner Table 701

 

GFRC at Yunzhou Coin Show, Shanghai China - November 16 - 18

Within a few days of wrapping up the NH Coin Expo, GFRC is heading to Shanghai for the annual Yunzhou Antique Mall (88 Damuqiao Road) coin show. Hanging out with Shanghai agent and good friend Harry Zhang, and Beijing customer Ricky, plus Mr. Sun, Mr, Gong, Mr Cai, and other repeat customers is always a pleasure. The Yunzhou show brings the opportunity to consume local sweet Shanghai cuisine in the evenings as I truly enjoy authentic Chinese dishes. If brave enough, I will take in a few spicy Sichuan and Hunan dishes too.

 

GFRC Black Friday Sale - November 23 - 25

Thanksgiving arrives early this year and so does the annual GFRC Black Friday sale. The sale opens on Thursday November 22 midnight and proceeds through Sunday November 25, ending at 9:00 pm. GFRC consignors, that wish to participate, must have their discounting inputs to me by no later than noon time November 20. By now, GFRC consignors well understand the rules with a minimum 8% discount to have coins featured in the sale.

I will publish a complete set of instructions for the Black Friday Sale later this week. So don't worry too much and please don't start sending me emails on this topic at this time.

 

GFRC Office Migration to Florida - Early December

If attending the NH Coin Expo, Shanghai Yunzhou show and conducting a Black Friday sale were not enough to keep me busy, the GFRC office migrates back to Venice Florida during early December. I will be publishing a schedule for mailing and shipping address change immediately after the NH Coin Expo. This year is a tad more complicated as Collectors Corner must also be updated with the new mailing address.

The GFRC office needs to settled down quickly once in Venice as the Yamatins arrive for their Christmas holiday visit on December 15th! Little Natsumi is growing up so quickly.

 

Global Financial News

Wow, it has been a week since writing a Global Financial news module due to the Baltimore show travels and business schedule. Let's open with a look at commodities and interest rates to see if much has changed in a week.

Our good friend spot gold appears to have found a new trading range between $1225 and $1235 and is quoting at $1232 to start the day. Crude oil is solidly below the $70 level at $67.40/bbl and Bitcoin is flat week on on week at $6416. Does anyone care about Bitcoin anymore? Longer term interest rates have moved down slightly with the 10 year Treasury yield at 3.09%

Seeking Alpha headlines are fairly dull to start the week but here are a few to consider. Volatility remains for the Shanghai Composite as Beijing Central government efforts to support stock prices and investor sentiment can only go so far when the Chinese economy is slowing.

The Shanghai Composite slipped 2.2% overnight on fresh signs of cooling in the world’s second largest economy. Chinese data over the weekend showed slowing profit growth at industrial firms for the fifth consecutive month in September as sales of raw materials and manufactured goods ebbed. An escalating trade war with the U.S. has also added to pressure on overall output.

The WTO will be busy with Chinese and American claims and counter claims.....

The dispute resolution body of the WTO will hear a complaint today filed by the U.S. accusing Chinese firms of breaking patent laws by pilfering technologies after licensing agreements with American companies end. According to WTO rules, China is able to block the first intellectual property rights hearing, but cannot block a second one from being held, which would probably take place as early as next month.

In terms of the aggressive Chinese space program, a set back on Saturday. Let's face it, there is no such thing as a "private" space company in China. All is controlled by the central government.

A Chinese carrier rocket, developed by Beijing-based Landspace, failed to reach orbit after lifting off on Saturday, in a blow to the country's nascent attempts by private companies to rival Elon Musk's SpaceX. Since coming to office in 2012, President Xi has made becoming a "space flight superpower" a priority for the government, which has a goal of sending a permanent manned space station into orbit by around 2022.

 

Featured Coins of the Day

It has been awhile since a Daily Blog edition featured coin images. Regardless of being over an hour late for publishing today's edition, let's add a few quality coins to consider.

GFRC is now well known as the leading dealer for Liberty Seated coinage, but October's Draped and Capped Bust half dollar sales have also been strong. These series will be receiving more attention as I plan to increase inventory levels starting in 2019.

Quality Draped and Capped Bust Halves to Start a Monday

1795 O-104 PCGS VG08 CAC 50C                                                 1809 O-103 PCGS EF45 CAC 50C

    

1812 O-105a PCGS AU58 CAC 50C                                                  1823 O-105 PCGS AU50 CAC 50C

    

1826 O-112a NGC AU50 GOLD CAC 50C                                               1829 O-112 PCGS AU58 CAC 50C

    

 

Thank you for being a loyal Blog reader and GFRC customer. The GFRC business could not be prosporous without the support of hundreds of customers throughout the United States and China.

Yes, this edition is very later this morning. Tuesday's edition should be published at typical 8:00 am schedule.

See you tomorrow.

 

 

 

October 28, 2018

Winter Conditions Back at the GFRC Maine Office

Greetings from the Maine GFRC office and welcome to a late edition of the Daily Blog.

As the headline indicates, it sure feels and looks like winter here in the Maine foothills. Snow covers the ground with the temperature hoving at 32F. The nor'easter winds continue to howl. Wild turkeys are parading through the front yard and the wood stove in roaring.

The drive from Baltimore to Maine was uneventful other than rainy conditions through Maryland and then once again in Massachusetts through Maine. The temperature dropped quickly proceeding up Maine's I-95 segment and stood at 34F as we exited at Gray. There was this suspicion that the Fortin homestead would have snow based on past experiences. I was right as the last few country miles brought a transition from rain to snow as we approached Ledge Hill (950 ft above sea level). The roadway being plowed was also a dead give-away.

Upon arrival, we were greeted with a cold home and gusting winds for unloading GFRC inventory and luggage. First order of business was firing up the wood stove and oil furnace followed by a night cap to take the edge off after 9 hours of driving in less than ideal conditions.

 

Whitman Baltimore Show - Saturday Report and Summary

This report is straightforward to write. Just read the Thursday and Friday reports! Floor traffic was slow with GFRC enjoying one sale with a Rochester NY area dealer.

By 1:00 pm, I decided to slowly start packing the booth and spent some private time with my Liberty Seated Dime collection to enjoy the pieces before boxing up and returning to the bank vault on Monday. Displaying the set was well worth the effort along with the positive feedback. Following is a short email from a fellow serious numismatist (Capped Bust dimes) who traveled to the Baltimore show primarily to view the Seated dime set.

Hi Gerry - I am heading home from the Baltimore show. I gotta tell you that I was in awe viewing your seated dime cabinet. As a Bust dime collector, It clearly showed to me that your set is a labor of true love. It shows that this set wasn’t built over night nor a few years but over many many years. I want to thank you very much that you shared your collection with me and everyone that attended the Baltimore show.

Stepping back, GFRC had a good show as the expectations and goals were much higher than for past shows. With double the inventory and significantly more staff, one must sell more coins to cover expenses. Given GFRC's consignment business model, it is also my duty to consignors to sell their coins! This we did and there will be many pleased consignors once I start reporting their sales via COIN account reports.

The major disappointment was the lack of floor traffic with most dealers reporting uncharacteristicly weak sales for a Fall Whitman show. Several Blog readers shared their theories via email concerning potential explanations. These can be grouped into the following categories;

- The media amplification of Baltimore weather conditions was a deterrent to some collectors.

- The Baltimore show was only ten weeks after the Philadelphia ANA show where area collectors spent like drunken sailors.

- Recent stock market volatility is leading to elderly and/or newly retired collectors to be conservative with this funds.

- The mid term elections are weighing on people's mind. Before the 2016 election, GFRC business went soft during September and October timeframe.

Probably the biggest GFRC disappointment and learning opportunity were the discount cases. We sold more coins at the CONA show from the cases than at Baltimore! Few dealers were walking the floor towards buying due to slow sales. Those dealers that did significant wholesale buying accomplished their mission during the Wednesday pre-show, for example GFRC. The discount cases will probably do much better at smaller regional shows where dealer setup is the time that wholesale business gets done. Therefore, GFRC will once again offer the same two discount cases and inventory at the NH Coin Expo. Since that show is just 10 days away, I will not bother to unbox those coins unless an online order arrives. Actually, I might even do a two day online preview of the those coins next weekend and give online customers a first shot.

One final comment for consignors! I've often mentioned that selling consignor coins can be unpredictable and let me provide an example from the Baltimore show. The Union Collection consignor has had an 1860-O PCGS MS62 Liberty Seated dollar, with mirrored fields, on the price list for nearly two years with little attention. At the Baltimore show, there were three collectors who viewed the coin and asked for price quote. The third collector purchased the coin after the usual best price negotiations. The motto to the story is that one never knows when a consigned coin will sell. A coin can lie dormant across many shows and then all of a sudden, multiple collector demand appears. This is the unpredictable nature of the coin market for early type coins.

 

Important Liberty Seated Quarter Consignment

Two important Liberty Seated coinage consignments arrived during the Baltimore show. First up is three noteworthy offerings for advanced Liberty Seated quarter collectors. Some one should immediate jump on the 1865-S quarter at a minimum. The 1869 quarter is a sweet piece with low mintage and would please the most selective collector. Yes this is a duplicate piece for the consignor! The 1869-S is from the Iowa Collection and returning to the market.

The 1876 Large/Small Date Seated half dollar is a substantial rarity at the AU55 grade level and features a regular Seated half dollar date punch over an initial double dime date punch. This piece has lightly mirrored fields, bold overdate features and light gold patina.

Classic Collection Consignor

Seated 25c: 1865-S PCGS VF30 CAC near gem original with circulated cameo eye appeal; 1869 PCGS MS63 choice original with frosty luster; 1869-S PCGS VF30 CAC ex Iowa Collection

Unnamed Collection Consignor

Seated 50c: 1876 Lg/Sm Date PCGS AU55 a major overdate rarity in Liberty Seated coinage!

 

Wrapping Up the Blog

It is nearly 10:00 am on Sunday morning and time for a shower followed by unpacking the Baltimore show suitcases. Then there is the usual post show updates to the COIN database and refreshing the GFRC website price lists and now, Collectors Corner.

Thank you for the following the GFRC adventures at the Whitman Baltimore show via the Blog.

Wishing everyone a peaceful Sunday. Monday's Blog should be published at the regular time.

 

 

 

October 27, 2018

A Remarkably Strange Whitman Baltimore Show

Greetings from Baltimore on a cold and rainy Friday evening with an update on Saturday morning. Welcome to the last Blog edition from the Baltimore show.

The headline well captures the Baltimore show event of the past two days. It is well known in numismatic circles that the Fall Baltimore show is the best attended of the three annual Whitman events. So when Thursday's collector attendance failed to reach take off speed, nearly all dealers were scratching their heads including GFRC. What potential explanations could be had to explain the weak collectors attendance?

Friday brought a chance for everyone to regroup with strong anticipation for regular attendance levels and decent retail sales.

The day started with a well attended LSCC regional meeting and busy agenda. Much ground was covered including John Frost introducing Jo and Trip Trepagnier who were at the meeting and descendents of William Barber. Gerry provided a club update, a reminder that the LSCC Premier Club Medal program was closing by year end and finally, a preview of the upcoming SeatedFest II at the Spring Baltimore show. Bill Bugert shared a preview of the Fall Gobrecht Journal that will be mailing shortly followed by Dennis Fortier covering the latest Regional Meeting news and his new SeatedFeast initiative for New England club members. The meeting wrapped up with John providing an insightful presentation entitled William Barber Revisted. Following is a group photo that documents the meeting attendees.

LSCC Regional Meeting Group Photo - 35 Attendees!

 

Then 10:00 am arrived and the Whitman Baltimore bourse floor opened for another day of numismatic business and high hopes. Initial floor traffic was definitely better than on Thursday and a familiar hum was building on the bourse. Collector traffic at the GFRC booth was brisk for several hours but by 1:00 pm, the bourse noise subsided and deja vu became apparent. Tom Bender and others who walked the floor returned to the GFRC booth and reported that most aisles were empty and one could easily approach nearly any table to immediately do business. This situation continued through the balance of the day with nearly all dealers having a weak overall show.

In summary, this Whitman Baltimore show was remarkably strange as no one could provide an explanation for the weak attendance.

I'm sure that consignors are concerned about GFRC sales as everyone wishes to sell their divested coins and raise cash for new purchases. Friday turned out to be a great sale day at the GFRC Booth 818 with combined Thurday and Friday sales at the mid five figure level and just $10,000 shy of the GFRC show goal. A host of consignor coins sold and there will be pleased individuals when their sales news is communicated.

Saturday brings the final day of the Baltimore show with inclement weather forecasted through most of the day. Probably 25% of the bourse is already empty as of Friday evening. Fortunately, this provides the remaining dealers with a chance for sales to local customers who typically frequent the show during the weekend. GFRC will be in operations through mid afternoon and allowing the nor'easter to pass through before driving north. Who knows the potential sales opportunties that might arise?

 

Gerry Fortin's Liberty Seated Dime Set Display

A sincere thank you goes out to Tom Bender and Greg Johnson for hosting my Liberty Seated Dime collection at the Baltimore show. Many individuals stopped by to view the set and inspect their favorite pieces with loupes. When time allowed, I would wander over to share a few coin purchase stories with viewers. Several of the Heritage staff stopped by to take in the set leading to the most memorable quote of the day from Mark, one of the Heritage buyers. Mark is an aggressive buyer with years of experience and always frequents the GFRC table at each national coin show. When viewing my dime set, Mark brought a laugh when commenting that viewing my set was like going to a no touch strip club. Yes, the set was a tease for many who stopped by and illustrated the conservative grading during the 1990 - 2005 timeframe. I've labeled that timeframe as the pre Eugene Gardner era as gaining access to high end quality Liberty Seated coins become most challenging once Gene entered the Seated coinage market during 2005 with essentially unlimited funds.

 

GFRC Consignment News

As usual, more consigments arrived to the GFRC table throughout the show.

Also worth mentioning is that GFRC submitted 33 Liberty Seated half dimes from the Dr. Glenn Peterson Collection to PCGS on Friday. These are going through at regular processing speed and I hope to have back before Thanksgiving.

Newtown Collection Consignment

The Newtown Collection consignor arrived to the Whitman show on Thurday to view my Liberted Seated dime set, pick up a few purchases and dropped off the following consignment. This collector is practicing the art of quickly turning duplicates into cash for additional upgrades. Following are his latest quality offerings. More in depth commentary once on the bourse floor and viewing the coin in hand.

Seated 10c: 1837 Small Date PCGS AU53; 1868-S PCGS AU50 and such a challenging date at this grade level; 1877-S PCGS MS64 also challenging in at the mint state level.

Seated 50c: 1848 PCGS MS61; 1854 PCGS MS61; 1868-S PCGS AU55

New Jersey Collection Consignment

The New Jersey Collection consignor dropped by the GFRC table with more Liberty Seated halves that he happened to stumble upon during a bank box visit. Following are those pieces that were dropped off.

Seated 50c: 1843-O PCGS VF30; 1857-O PCGS EF40; 1865 PCGS VF35; 1865 PCGS VF25 WB-102

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Ok, it is time for Saturday morning breakfast and the final day of the Whitman Baltimore show. Let's hope for decent local attendance and a few more sales before break down and the long drive back to Maine.

Thank you for checking in. Yes, there will be a Blog edition on Sunday morning but probably later in the morning.

 

 

 

October 26, 2018

Where Were Baltimore Show Collectors on Thursday?

Greetings from Baltimore once again and welcome to a short edition of the Blog.

What a busy day on Thursday setting up the GFRC booth and Liberty Seated dime set. A sincere thanks goes out to Dan, Len, Diane, Rose Marie, Tom and Greg for their combined support throughout the day.

Setting up 15 cases was a tad more challenging than the usual 8 cases. About a third of the way into placing coins in the cases, we made a command decision to remove the plastic covers from the slabbed coins to improve visibility. This set back the effort, but luckily the GFRC booth was ready for business a bit after 10:00am. Len Augusburger did a great job setting up the Liberty Seated Dime set display and soon Tom Bender arrived as our first host for the set. Early bird traffic was unfortunately anemic......

As the headline suggests, Thursday was a slow day on the bourse as collector traffic was light and the floor never achieved "the hum or roar" that dealers associate with an active coin show. Many old friends stop by to view the large booth and to view my Liberty Seated dime set. However, bread and butter retail traffic was light. Even the discount cases saw little action simply due to the lack of attendees.

Friday brings another day and the GFRC staff is looking forward to a large turnout. Baltimore weather will be issue only after 6pm and into Saturday with forecasted rains.

Discussions with other dealers who are "in the know" indicate that PCGS is experiencing a major staff turnover including graders. Several high volume dealers are frustrated with processing times and grading results. Don Willis is only handling bulk submissions as an example of the significant changes with most other well known PCGS management names gone. Given the turmoil at PCGS, I'm most leery about placing submissions into the service in the near term.

Following are photos of the GFRC staff taken at the end of Thursday. Regardless of the slow retail business, the staff is upbeat and enjoyed the traditional 5:00pm Happy Hour scotch and wine sharing to wrap about a busy day. First up in the GFRC staff photo along with David Perkins joining us for social time. Left to right are David, Dan, Gerry, Diane, Len and Greg. Thank you to Rose Marie for taking this photo.

GFRC Staff Plus David Perkins

 

Len was also active with his cellphone camera and took the following images.

GFRC Booth 818

Carl Feldman Viewing Gerry's Liberty Seated Dime Set

The Opening of the Glenlivet Founders Reserve

    

 

LSCC Regional Meeting - 9:00 am Room 301

It is almost time for breakfast and then heading off to the Baltimore convention center for the LSCC Regional Meeting that starts promptly at 9:00 am in the usual Room 301 location. We are hoping for a large turnout. The meeting will be fast paced with John Frost providing insights into the life of William Barber.

See you on the bourse floor!

Please check back on Saturday morning for another Whitman Baltimore show report. Thanks for checking in.

 

 

 

October 25, 2018

Time for the Baltimore Show!

Greetings again from Baltimore and welcome to a another brief edition of the Blog.

It is Wednesday evening with all preparations for the GFRC booth at Whitman Baltimore completed. Inventory is in security room. All Baltimore pre-show purchases are loaded in the COIN system and priced. They will be going directly into the showcases along with regular inventory. Staffing has arrived including Len Augsburger who just texted his BWI arrival, from Chicago, at 8:00pm. Diane and Rose Marie has been given a crash course on booth security best practices. Diane will be hosting the discount cases and raw coins. Rose Marie will be helping out with regular inventory cases.

What to Expect at GFRC Booth 818

A final reminder is in order to entice you to visit Booth 818 first on Thursday.

- 10 cases of GFRC regular inventory; from 1/2 cents to $20 double eagles. We will have essentially the entire inventory for review and purchase.

- 2 case of discounted GFRC inventory and consignor coins. You really must visit these two cases that will be manned by Diane. Please don't ask her for further discounts. She knows I will be most unhappy if approached for incremental discount decisions on coins in the discount cases. These are priced at net and our final offer.

- 1 case with 15 sheets of raw coins. That is 300 additional coins to consider! This is how coins use to be sold until the 1990s arrived.

And finally.....

- 2 cases with the Gerry Fortin Liberty Seated Dme Collection on display. Tom Bender and Greg Johnson will be taking turns hosting the set and allowing collectors to inspect individual coins. The golden rule is one coin out of the case at a time per host. No exceptions!

There are so many reason to visit with GFRC and spend a good portion of the day with us. Booth 818 will be a happening place for collectors of 19th century coinage.

 

LSCC Regional Dinner at 6:30 pm - Pratt Street Ale House

Another reminder that the traditional LSCC Baltimore show dinner has been moved to the Pratt Street Ale House. We have reserved a private room in anticipation of 16 club members. Please consider joining us for a fun dinner. As usual, the dinner event will be separate checks so drink and eat as much or as little as you wish.

 

See you at the Baltimore show!

 

 

 

October 24, 2018

GFRC In Baltimore; Excellent Pre-Show New Purchases

Greetings from Baltimore and welcome to a short edition of the Daily Blog.

Colorful foliage was a pleasant backdrop for Tuesday's drive from Maine to Baltimore. The journey was uneventful with the MDX and a new set of Michelin tires performing well. Dan White and Rose Marie arrived slightly ahead of the Fortin's as they had a shorter drive from Gettysburg.

Tuesday brought an exceptional online order day with slightly over $20,000 in sales. What a way to kick off the Whitman Baltimore shows towards record breaking October sales. Orders were wide ranging and even included a Collector's Corner order from Japan and more last minute orders from China customers. How I enjoy doing international business as a reminder of my days in the semiconductor industry. The day wrapped up with an after dinner hotel room buying session with my favorite wholesale dealer. Dan and I enjoyed the camaradarie and lively pricing negotiations towards wrapping up a long day.

Today's Blog will be written in bits and pieces since I must leave for the Baltimore convention center shortly and the start of pre-show activities. GFRC has a decent want list, especially from China customers, therefore Dan and I will be searching through many dealer boxes looking to fill those orders.

Most important is to immediately note new purchase made last evening. These six pieces are all there in terms of quality and eye appeal and will not last long. FRoR are suggested as I'm sure many will be gone once hitting the display cases on Thursday. Offer prices will be available by end of day.

Following are six great GFRC new purchases from Tuesday evening.

Capped Bust 5c: 1832 LM-7 PCGS AU58 CAC light blue and rose patina

Capped Bust 10c: 1827 JR-13 PCGS EF40 CAC with gorgeous deep blue green peripheral toning surrounding rose centers.

Seated 50c: 1850-O PCGS AU55 CAC gem original example with light silver gray obverse and bullseye rose/sky blue reverse, under appreciated date

Seated $1: 1842 PCGS AU50 CAC choice original with classic light gray patina, loads of eye appeal for originality fans

Trade $1: 1875-CC PCGS AU53 CAC a better date that is always in demand, light gray with golden hues and perfect for the grade; 1876-S crusty golden gray patina with tons of eye appeal for originality fans

 

GFRC Afternoon Update: Exceptional Baltimore Pre-Show New Purchases

The saying goes that the early bird gets the worm and this sound advice also pertains to coin dealers and how they approach pre-show buying. Getting first shot is a big deal when a major dealer has a substantial amount of fresh inventory. GFRC was up early and the first person at this major dealer's table this morning. Being the early bird meant searching through nearly a 1000 quality coins and cherrypicking those with the best eye appeal, surfaces and most importantly, competitive price. Along with those purchased, Dan White and I saw some outstanding coins with superb eye appeal but the premiums were just too high. I hate to pass on gorgeous coins, but being a coin dealer is a different ballgame than being a collector. Sure, I can bring my years of collector evaluation skills into good use but pricing has to make sense for GFRC customers. There is quite a bit of subjectivity involved in this game and that is what makes the hobby and the GFRC business so much fun!

OK, following is a complete list of new purchases from the Baltimore pre-show. These will be priced by end of day, I hope, and into the showcases tomorrow morning. If there is something of interest, please email and I will do my best to get you decent cellphone images. Best to ask for a description and trust my judgment as all of the following coins are the cream.

Classic Head 1/2c: 1835 PCGS MS63BN CAC gem original with dazzling cartwheel luster, satiny greenish copper coloring, JUST BUY IT NOW recommendation

3c Silver: 1862/1 PCGS MS63 near gem original, frosty cartwheel luster, perfect surfaces and rims, aquamarine-gold obverse, mottled orange-blue reverse

Seated 10c: 1860 F-104 PCGS MS65 CAC gem original with semi-transparent gray centers and electric blue peripheral toning. Huge eye appeal and worth of one of the advanced collections being assembled.

Barber 25c: 1892-S PCGS AU55 CAC classic crusty gray-bold patina with mirrored fields under a light source, gem original quality rating; 1893-S PCGS EF40 crusty gun metal gray-blue and undergraded, at least full EF45 or better; 1896-O PCGS VF20 choice original crusty gun metal gray-blue; 1900-O PCGS VF35 gray-gold and choice original

Standing Liberty 25c: 1917 PCGS MS66FH CAC superb gem with deep rose-gold patina at the peripheries, reverse toning is amazing, ideal for a type set

The next group reflects GFRC's efforts to expand Draped and Capped Bust half dollar inventories with exceptional coins. All of the following are fully choice, near gem or full gem original at the assigned grade levels. Eye appeal was a key purchase parameter.

Draped Bust 50c: 1803 O-101 Large 3 12 Arrows PCGS VF20 gorgeous circulated cameo specimen with gun metal blue-gray fields; 1806 O-107a Knob 6, Sm Stars PCGS VF20 bold strike with gray field and circulated cameo eye appeal

Capped Bust 50c:

- 1808 O-105 R3 PCGS EF45 with AU appeal including faint rose/gold toning thin sky blue ring at the peripheries;

- 1809 O-107a III Edge PCGS EF40 gem original with AU luster, ebony blue obverse patina and extensively cracked;

- 1811 O-112 Small 8 PCGS EF45 with AU eye appeal, aquamarine-gray obverse and rose-gold reverse

- 1811 Small 8 PCGS AU58 CAC gem original with rose gray centers and peripheral sky blue

- 1812 PCGS AU58 gem original, frosty cartwheel luster coupled with faint rose and peripheral blues at the rims

- 1814 O-103 PCGS AU58 CAC gem original, frosty cartwheel luster with light rose patina, dies are heavily eroded, cracked and clashed

- 1822 O-106 PCGS AU53 near gem original, frosty cartwheel luster, light gold at the peripheries

- 1822 O-112 PCGS VF35 choice original with aquamarine-gold obverse and rose reverse with peripheral sky blue

- 1826 PCGS AU55 near gem original with frosty cartwheel luster and fluorescent teal toning

- 1828 O-120 PCGS AU55 near gem original, steely cartwheel luster, aquamarine gold patina with hammered strike

- 1829 O-107 PCGS AU55 gem original, iridescent cartwheel luster, light rose with peripheral teal... a superb piece!

Reeded Edge 50c: 1839 PCGS AU53 near gem original with light gray-rose centers and peripheral sky blue

Early Commem 50c: 1925 Stone Mountain PCGS MS66 CAC frosty cartwheel luster with faint gold patina

 

Global Financial News

Let's wrap up today's Blog with a quick look at the usual commodities and global financial headlines per Seeking Alpha.

Crude oil continues to drop as the Saudis are indicating a willingness to pump as much oil as possible in the near term. This morning's crude oil quote is down to $66.31/bbl and welcomed news at the gas pumps. Gold continues to hold recent gains at $1234/oz while Bitcoin is flat at $6478. The 10 year U.S. Treasury bond yield has dropped to 3.14%.

Let's head to Europe to check in on Italy and Brexit news. Italy has no Plan B with respect to the EU rejecting their budget. Things could get a bit tense between the parties.

"There isn't any B plan," Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte told Bloomberg as the European Commission formally rejected Italy's draft budget. "I said that the deficit at 2.4% of GDP is the cap. I can say this will be our cap." While actual sanctions are improbable and wouldn't be levied for months, European officials have also been wary of handing more ammunition to Italy's euroskeptic government.

Brexit becomes more and more complicated for Theresa May. Not only does she face issues with the EU but all the Irish and her own party members.

British Prime Minister Theresa May will face another Brexit showdown with her party today, this time confronting a gathering of the so-called 1922 Committee of rank-and-file Tory MPs. Her strategy has stalled over a disagreement on the Irish "backstop" clause, an insurance policy to ensure there will be no return to a hard border on the island if a future trading relationship is not agreed in time.

Pakistan needs more bailout monies to pay for imports supporting China infrastructure project. Maybe the Chinese should write off some Pakistan debt?

Pakistan will still seek a bailout from the IMF even after it secured $6B in financial support from Saudi Arabia. Islamabad will now negotiate from an "improved position," Finance Ministry spokesman Noor Ahmed told Bloomberg. It would be Pakistan's 13th bailout since the late 1980s, as imports for Chinese-financed infrastructure projects rise while its exports lag the region.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

That is all she wrote for a Tuesday in Baltimore. It is already 4:15 pm and I've still not loaded the new purchases into the COIN system or priced out each item. Much to get done before scotch and dinner time.

Wishing all Blog readers a great day in the numismatic neighborhood.

 

 

 

October 22, 2018

Whitman Baltimore Show Week Arrives!

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

After much planning and anticipation, the Whitman Baltimore show arrives this week. Many Blog readers will be traveling from points throughout the Northeast and Middle Atlantic states to attend one of the best national coin shows of the year. The informal word among dealers is that the Fall Baltimore is the best of the three shows in terms of collector attendance. Let's hope so!

GFRC is geared up with its expanded presence that will cover two full corner tables along with the display of the Gerry Fortin Liberty Seated Dime Collection. David Perkins and Jim Matthews will be occupying the balance of the quad corner booth with their usual excellent Draped and Capped Bust offerings across all denominations. So please remember to visit Booth 818 first for the widest ranging early type coin inventory on the entire Baltimore bourse floor. We are just a short walk from the entrance to Booth 818.

Whitman Booth 818 - Home to Gerry Fortin and David Perkins Rare Coins

 

GFRC Consignment News

Great consignments continue to arrive just in time for display at the Baltimore show. Sunday was a very busy day as all shipments were completed and more consigned coins were photographed and processed for yet another set of quality client galleries. Response to the new offerings has been swift with some pieces going immediately on First Right of Refusal (FRoR) or even on hold. Let's take a quick stroll through the new offerings.

Golden Harvest Collection Consignment

These new offerings arrived from a Midwest collector on Saturday and were photo'ed on Sunday and will be on the price list by end of today. Of course, if not spoken for, these are traveling to Baltimore on Tuesday. Don't let the ANACS Gold holder deter you from selecting the 1865 Seated quarter. It is a wonderful example with just minor rub and bold luster on both sides.

Golden Harvest Collection Consignment - Better Liberty Seated Dates

1865 ANACS AU58 25c - Gold Holder

            1871-S PCGS F12 25C                                                               1859-S WB-6 PCGS MS61 50C

    

 

Duplicates from Gerry Fortin Date and Mintmark Set Collection

It was difficult to let the following two pieces go to market. The 1856 dime was purchased raw during 1990 from Bob Levi at Maine Gold & Silver in S. Portland. It was one of the first mint state purchases made. Check out the strike for an 1856 Small Date dime! Then there is a spectacular 1865 dime graded PCGS MS66 CAC that I finally decided to let go as I already have a frosty PCGS MS67 CAC specimen in an old green holder. This piece is on FRoR for potential purchase at the Baltimore show.

Gerry Fortin Liberty Seated Dime Reference Collection

1856 Sm. Date F-103 PCGS MS64 CAC 10C                                    1865 F-101a PCGS MS66 CAC 10C     

    

 

Dr. Glenn Peterson Collection - Seated Halves

Following are three Liberty Seated halves that went to CAC review last week. As expected, the 1840(O) Reverse of 1838 is already on hold with several requests on the books. The 1849 WB-2 has proof like fields and plenty of old time eye appeal for originality fans.

Dr. Glenn Peterson Collection - Quality Liberty Seated Halves

1840(O) Reverse of 1838 WB-4 PCGS VF35 CAC 50C

1840-O V. Sm. Mintmark WB-7 PCGS EF40 50C                                   1849 WB-2 NGC AU55 CAC 50C         

    

 

Global Financial News

We start a new week at roughly the same level as last for commodities and interest rates. Crude oil remains slightly under $70/bbl while gold is stuck at the $1226/oz level. Ditto for Bitcoin which is trading at $6443. Finally, the 10 year U.S. Treasury bond is yielding an even 3.2%

Let's have a quick look at several Seeking Alpha headlines as we monitor situations in Europe and China.

The Italians are at odds with their European Union masters.....

Yields on Italian debt fell sharply overnight as Moody's left the country's credit rating above "junk" status, while the nation's coalition government vowed to stay in the eurozone. The bond rally cooled off, however, after the Five Star and League parties showed no signs of backing down over their budget, which was criticized by the European Commission last week and dubbed "unprecedented in the history" of the EU. Italy faces a deadline to formally respond to the bloc's reprimand by midday.

Brexit will probably bring down the Theresa May government....

Theresa May will face a last-ditch fight this week to save her leadership as it is thought that MPs may have enough support needed to trigger a no-confidence vote. The report comes as London experienced its second biggest demonstration in a century. About 670K protesters this weekend overflowed the streets for more than a mile, from Hyde Park Corner to Parliament Square, to demand a fresh Brexit referendum.

Chinese stock investors are in a rally mood after government assurances and what appears to be a loosening of share margin requirements.

The Shanghai Composite closed up 4.1%, on track for its best day since March 2016, following a Friday jump spurred by signals of government support in the wake weaker quarterly growth figures. President Xi further vowed "unwavering" support for non-state firms over the weekend, while the country's stock exchanges committed to help manage share-pledge risks and the government released a plan to cut personal income taxes.

President Trump's attention moves to renegotiating old nuclear weapons agreements with both Russian and China. China has not been part of prior agreements and it appears that Trump is attempting to deal with both Asian competitors at once.

Due to Russian violations and breaches, President Trump is exiting a Cold-War era treaty that eliminated ground-launched intermediate-range nuclear missiles. However, he would be open to making a new arrangement with both Russia and China, which is not a signatory to the deal. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov responded by saying a unilateral U.S. withdrawal would be "very dangerous" and lead to a "technical military" retaliation.

 

Wrapping Up the Blog

Attention immediately shifts to loading the three Golden Harvest Collection coins to the price list followed by packing for the Baltimore show. I have a host of emails with guidance for the 15% discount cases and will be pulling those coins first and packing separately from regular inventory.

Unfortunately time does not allow for a Blog edition on Tuesday. Please check back on Wednesday morning for new ramblings from Baltimore Inner Harbor. Already, I have an appointment with my favorite wholesale dealer for a hotel room buying session on Tuesday evening and a potential topic for Wednesday's Blog.

Yes, I will be in the Maine office the entire day and looking forward to any pre Baltimore show orders. These will ship next week.

Have a great start to the week and will see many of you at the Baltimore show!

 

 

October 21, 2018

Serious Baltimore Show Crunch Time in GFRC Office

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

As today's headline indicates, crunch time has arrived in terms of GFRC preparations for the Whitman Baltimore show. There are more tasks to be done than humanly possible in the upcoming 48 hours. Therefore this Blog edition will be brief as time is so precious towards loading yet more coins on the price list and dealing with incremental consignments that arrived on Saturday. Therefore let's immediately jump into today's rambling without a long preamble.

 

Upstate New York Collection Consignor Hiking at Great Gulley

Autumn brings excellent opportunities for hiking in the woods. Temperatures are subdued and the insect population is quiet.

The Upstate New York Collection consignor sent along this family picture taken while hiking in Great Gulley Nature Preserve with multiple waterfalls along the trail. Here is Bart Chapman with wife Linda (on left) and sisters Molly and Carol (on right).

 

GFRC New Consignment Arrivals

Golden Harvest Collection Consignment

The flow of new consignments continues with the arrival of three impressive offerings from the Golden Harvest Collection. This individual is a serious collector of Liberty Seated quarters and halves and utilizes GFRC to sell duplicates. His set grade objectives are at the AU and Mint State grade levels where financially possible. The following three noteworthy pieces arrived on Saturday.

Seated 25c: 1865 PCGS ANACS AU58 accurately graded with bold frosty cartwheel luster, choice original and needs to migrate to PCGS holder; 1871-S PCGS F12 choice and accurately graded with light gray surfaces

Seated 50c: 1859-S PCGS MS61 perfectly original with soft satiny cartwheel luster, light antique gray toning as one would expect for strict originality

I'm not sure if it will be possible to photograph these newly consigned coins today. But they will reach the price list regardless and be included in Baltimore show inventory.

Gerry Fortin Liberty Seated Dime Date and Mintmark Set Collection

Saturday evening was spent documenting my Liberty Seated Dime date and mintmark collection for insurance purposes. A special Hugh Woods insurance rider has been secured for transport and display of the set at the Whitman Baltimore show.

The set contains duplicates whereby I've been unable to make a decision on which dime I like better for the date. A decision was made to release two lovely Seated dimes to GFRC on consignment as follows;

- 1856 Small Date F-103 PCGS MS64 CAC and "web-book" plate coin.

- 1865 F-101a PCGS MS66 CAC with spectacular rose and peripheral blue toning

 

Last GFRC USPS Shipments on Monday

Fair warning again that Monday brings the last day for GFRC shipments prior to departure for the Baltimore show. Orders that arrive today can be shipped on Monday otherwise the next shipping date will be October 29.

 

Wrapping Up the Blog

Time to wrap up and continue posting more coins to the price list and also continue the preparations for a massive PCGS submission for the Dr. Glenn Peterson Collection of Liberty Seated half dimes. There is insufficient time to prepare his Liberty Seated half dollar set for PCGS submission and this task will have to wait until after the Baltimore show.

I will be in the GFRC office all day for potential purchases. Please understand that I will not be able to conduct small talk on die varieties topics today. The attention will be on Baltimore show preparations and getting all potential inventory items documents on price list and into show transport boxes.

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful Sunday.