The Daily Blog

 

October 19, 2025

Another GFRC Auction in the History Books

and

GFRC-Lite NCNA Show Report

 

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

An early start to the day is typical after the close of a GFRC Online Auctions event. This was the case this morning as the final bidding tally was printed off the COIN system as a first step. Next came the manual counting of the number of sold lots and bidding total. With the numbers in-hand, it become apparent that Saturday forecast was pretty darn accurate in terms of the final statistics.

Honestly, last evening's finale was the slowest in memory with 8 bids in the final ten minutes. Of course, this event was not Liberty Seated centric which is where GFRC is known to be one of the primary market makers other than the major auction houses. Usually, the Hostway server is hammered with intense bidding in the final minutes rather than last evening's slower pace.

Let's get into the statistics, shall we?

Out of the 85 offered lots, 49 have found new homes leading to a 58% sell through rate with a little rounding. Yesterday's forecast was 57%.

Total auction sales amounted to $164,572 which is 55% of the initial reserves and nicely ahead of my $140,000 projection. The sale of two five figure White Pine gold pieces was the welcomed difference.

Sadly, one of the major collectors that had indicated the he would be active in the auction's gold lots did not appear. These things happen as personal financial conditions can change. We must remember that numismatics is the Hobby of Kings and kings have substantial disposable income towards building a substantial coin cabinet. Chasing the amazing White Pine $5 Liberty gold is an expensive proposition.

Today brings the usual post auction administration workload. This smaller auction will lead to quick invoice generation by the end of day. Winning bidders who can pay via wire transfer, Zelle, or PayPal F&F will see their lots shipping on Monday and Tuesday. GFRC's final office day this week is Wednesday as I'm heading to the Manchester NH coin show on Thursday morning.

Once all the invoices are issued, the unsold lots will be promptly moved to the 30 Day Price List and into GFRC inventory for this week's NH Coin Expo in Manchester, NH. I'm certain that more lots will sell during the upcoming days as history as shown.

 

GFRC-Lite NCNA Show Report

Rich Hundertmark sent along the following North Carolina Numismatic Association show report along with informing everyone of this week's upcoming SCNA event. Please read on for this latest update.

Hi Gerry,

It’s certainly been a busy October down here in central North Carolina. The weather has been great as was the recently concluded annual NCNA event that was held  in Concord, a northern suburb of Charlotte.

Lite pretty much registered strong sales across the board with early copper, classic commemoratives, and seated dimes, quarters & half dollars leading the charge. It's always easy to see if the show is successful, a glance at the display cases will show gaps, a clear sign of buyer activity.

The LSCC was also in attendance, and the Lite table was visited by John Lundsten, Bill Otto and Dennis Fortier along with other club members that attended the show. It's always good to "talk coins" with LSCC and Barber club members as these product lines are at the core of the Lite business.

Speaking of Barber coinage, I was able to do a bit of selective buying on Saturday, and I’m especially pleased with adding the pictured key date 1896-S Barber Quarter to Lite’s inventory that's graded PCGS G6. The coin is currently listed on the Lite site at $890 and represents a buying opportunity for an astute Barber quarter specialist. I've made it a point to add quality Barber coins to inventory whenever I can. Please feel free to check the Lite listing, it will give collectors a window into how I try to hunt value for clients.

I will finish adding new NCNA purchases to the GFRC-Lite site this week, maybe the highlight is a stunning 1917 PCGS MS62FH Type 1 25C Standing Liberty Quarter, or possibly a 1905 PCGS MS64 CAC Liberty Nickel.   

OK, lastly, I leave for the SCNA in Greenville SC on Wednesday. This is my 1st SCNA show and I'm very excited that Lite will be in attendance. The SCNA is the largest South Carolina numismatic event, and I've substituted it for the Baltimore Whitman show to 1- reduce my travel time and 2- to further focus Lite's selling in the Carolinas. The show is open to the public Thursday October 23rd through Saturday Oct 25th., I'll post show info on the Lite site this weekend.

Happy collecting, and as always, thanks to all the blogamanics for reading.

Rich

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Please stay close to the Daily Blog this coming week, specifically on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings as major announcements will be forthcoming. How is that for a teaser?

It goes without saying that today brings an office day regardless of outstanding Maine autumn weather. Given the smaller auction and only 49 selling, maybe I can get the invoices done quickly enough to get an hour or two on the tractor.

Thanks again for visiting with me at the Daily Blog.

Be well!

 

 

 

October 18, 2025

GFRC Online Auction Sale Finale Starts at 8:00 PM

and

The White Pine CAC Approved $5 Charlotte Lots

 

Greetings on an autumn Saturday morning and welcome to the Daily Blog. Thank you so much for staying abreast of our ongoing numismatic events.

Friday brought a wild selloff in the precious metals markets with gold nearly reaching $4400 in London trading before being whacked down during U.S. hours. Gold closed at $4253 while silver dropped to $51.85. On a percentage basis, these numbers are not extraordinary. The carnage took place in the mining sector with most mining stocks down 8% on the day. This equity sector had drawn in momentum players during the recent rally with a potential for many taking profits and fleeing. On a personal basis, I just watched and sat tight given my convictions for much higher prices come 2026.

Let's move to the primary event of the day, namely the closing finale of the White Pine $5 Liberty Gold and Island City Type Set collections auction sale. After a week of erratic bidding, all comes down to who will appear and bid during the closing hours.

As of this morning, 36 of the 85 lots have bids which is a 42% sell through rate. Clearly, I expected a higher number at this point considering the superior quality of the offered lots. In terms of cumulative bids, the number stands at $77,500 on a rounded basis. This is only 26% against the initial reserves. The gap between the sell through rate and the total sales is a function of the higher priced White Pine $5 gold lots being unloved up to this point. My gut feeling is that this fact will change come the closing bidding hour.

It is tradition that I venture a forecast on how the auction will close come 9:00 PM this evening. Not wishing to break tradition, let's take a shot on where the numbers will be at the auction close given some private insights and conversations with clients throughout the week.

The Fortin crystal ball is projecting a 57% sell through rate which is below our typical 60% goal and well below a 75% stretch goal that I initial believed was attainable given how strong these offerings are. In terms of closing sales, the forecast is for $140,000 which is close to doubling the current number. Key is that the White Pine $5 Liberty gold brings out those who have spoken of their interest in these lots.

There you have it with the stage being set.

As is another tradition, come 8:00 PM, I will be sitting in the office and at the laptop taking in the final bidding hour. Once the auction closes at 9:00 PM, the outcome will be known and mental preparations for Sunday morning's Blog commentary will be underway.

Good luck to everyone who will place their closing bids today. The finale is always competitive with a few guaranteed surprises. Come Sunday, invoices will be issued to the winning bidders.

 

The White Pine CAC Approved $5 Charlotte Lots

At this point, I'd like to present the following White Pine $5 Liberty gold showcase gallery with the emphasis being the Charlotte branch mint lots. We cannot overstate the importance of this many CAC approved Charlotte lots being offered in a single auction, especially with uniform originality and conservative grading. It has taken our White Pine client several decades to assemble this magnificent collection. Now is your opportunity to absorb these pieces into your personal numismatic collection. Each lot is illustrate with the current high bid or reserve.

 

White Pine CAC Approved $5 Charlotte Lots

      1841-C PCGS EF45 CAC G$5 - $8,500

   1844-C PCGS VF35 CAC G$5 - $4,500                                           1847-C PCGS AU53 CAC G$5 - $6,750  

        

  1849-C PCGS EF45 CAC G$5 - $4,850                                           1851-C PCGS EF45 CAC G$5 - $6,000  

        

 1852-C PCGS VF35 CAC G$5 - $4,350                                           1854-C PCGS AU50 CAC G$5 - $6,500  

        

 1856-C PCGS AU50 CAC G$5 - $4,650                                           1857-C PCGS EF40 CAC G$5 - $4,500  

        

 1858-C PCGS EF40 CAC G$5 - $4,250                                           1860-C PCGS AU50 CAC G$5 - $8,500    

        

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Being the closing day of a GFRC Online Auctions event, I will be watching my incoming emails for bids and issuing bid confirmations are promptly as possible. There is morning shipping to contend with along with overnight orders.

During the early afternoon hours, I hope to spend time of Johnny2 towards finishing my back acreage park landscaping project. Digging out a fee substantial boulders will be the day's goal.

I really can't think of much else to say at this point, so let's close this edition. Thanks again for the visit.

Be well and good luck to all the auction bidders today!

 

 

 

October 17, 2025

Approaching $4400 Gold, $5000 by Year End?

and

Heading into an Auction Finale on Saturday

 

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog on a week ending Friday morning. We appreciate the visit.

Get ready for more equity market volatility as rising investor anxieties are starting to permeate the long post Liberation Day rally. Equities turned down yesterday afternoon with morning futures pointing to a lower close to the trading week. Regional banks are under pressure after the collapse of Tricolor Holdings, and now Zions Bancorporation and Western Alliance disclosing problematic loans. Problematic loans are located throughout the banking system, the issue is a matter of time before those troubled assets must be revealed to investors.

Then there is gold...

Gold opened overseas trading in Mumbai at $4376 during the overnight and has fallen back to $4327 in London activity. There are still two plus months left in 2025 and I'm starting to sense that we might make a run at the $5000 level before year end.

Why?

Sovereign debt, bank debt, and geopolitical stress between the U.S. and China are what is worrying me. The economic war between Trump and Xi is becoming quite serious as China's move to regulate global rare earth mineral usage hit me like another Covid moment. Back in 2020, when learning that countries were closing down air travel due to the Covid epidemic, it was immediately realized that global supply chains would also be damaged. I made the move out of stocks and into cash and reinvested several months later once the equity markets had stabilized.

When learning of the newly imposed rare earth regulations, a similar reaction took place in my mind. We cannot under estimate the impact to the high tech and defense industry supply chains going into 2026. Just think about it. China is rapidly expanding their military in a race with the United States. The easiest approach for winning the race is to injure the competitor by starving him of critical resources rather than fighting an all out kinetic war.

This brings us back to gold and my long Blog thesis this week that China will leverage its massive gold holdings to disrupt the global U.S. Treasury market. The recent demand for gold is escalating at an unprecedented pace with silver following along. As gold prices continue to escalate, a $5000 year ending number is becoming more plausible.

$5000 gold would be is a clear signal that geopolitical issues are taking a turn for the worse as investors at all levels are running to the ultimate safe haven asset.

 

Heading into an Auction Finale on Saturday

GFRC auction bidding continues on Thursday along with several more bidder registrations. Slow and steady progress is being made. Let's look at the improving statistics with the auction finale arriving tomorrow evening at 9:00 PM.

As of this morning, the sell through rate has improved to 38% as 32 lots are now spoken for. Bidding is consistent for both the White Pine $5 Liberty gold and the Island City Type Set lots as we appear to have two different communities pursuing these premium collectibles. The White Pine Charlotte gold will see strong demand before the auction close.

Total bids have climbed to $89,5000 against the initial reserves of $297,000. We are at the 30% mark currently with expectations for an ever improving outcome.

Please remember that all GFRC auction have a hard close at Saturday 9:00 PM. A hard close means that all 85 lots will close at the same time as compared to a staggered close.

If planning to execute snipe bidding tomorrow evening, please remember one key point. When opening a bid screen, the auction app reads the current high bid at the time that the bidding screen is opened. Snipers have a habit of keeping bidding screens opened until the final seconds in an auction. While the bidding screen is opened, another bid could have been submitted that invalidates the reference number for your bidding screen. My advice is to open a screen and bid promptly.

Since the auction only contains 85 lots, it will be possible to invoice all winning bidders by end of day Sunday.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Today brings another half and half day with morning time on the GFRC office and an afternoon working on the final landscaping stage for the newly cleared area in the back acreage park. There is no shipping today, rather we will kit all outgoing shipments on Saturday morning.

Speaking of shipping....

GFRC has lost three Express packages during 2025 and we are in the final stages of securing insurance payment for the third event. It goes without saying that we are exhausted with the process of dealing with USPS and the insurance claim processes along with the USPS Office of Inspector General (OIG). Yes, I've been working with a special agent out of the Maine OIG including a recent sting operation. All of this takes time, energy, and mental fortitude as we must ship constantly to maintain our business levels.

Lately, I am receiving phone calls or emails from customers who are diligently watching their tracking information. If a package is delayed by one day, there are inquiries as to what to do. Bottom line, there is NOTHING that I can do other than watch the same tracking data that customers are seeing. If you call me and I don't show a lot of empathy, it is because we are mentally calloused at this point. Again there is nothing I can do if an Express package does not move exactly to schedule other than shrugging it off and hoping for the best. If a package is lost or stolen, Hugh Woods insurance is there are the financial recourse.

Let's wrap up the Blog at this point as I'm done rambling for yet another day.

Thanks again for the ongoing readership and please remember to keep every time in a life in proper perspective. We learned on Wednesday that Chris, the TipLine Tree Service owner, just lost his 18 year gold stepson to a car accident last week. This young man was on our recent job site.

Be well!

 

 

October 16, 2025

Peak Colors at the Homestead?

and

Auction Bidding Returns

 

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

Let's kick today's ramblings off with a quick look at precious metals prices with a check of the London Exchange. The ongoing gold price rally shows no signs of aging as the 7:00 AM ET quote has climbed to $4245/oz. On the other hand, judging silver price discovery is becoming more difficult as there is X and YouTube chatter that the LBMA is no silver bars left to delivery. Silver lease rates, among the major banks, supposedly climbed to 100% or higher which is a clear indication that everyone in the trading system is holding on to their silver bars. Why is this an issue? Those that have sold "short" are on the hook to delivery physical silver per their contracts. The typical approach to closing a "short" contract is to move into the market to buy that commodity and transfer to those who purchased the "short" contracts. When there is no commodity to be had regardless of higher prices, then the market freezes up. True price discovery is difficult in this type of environment. The new rumor is that central banks may also be buying silver at this point.

The current LBMA silver quote stands at and even $53/oz. Platinum and palladium metals are also enjoying price increases.

 

Peak Colors at the Homestead?

October 15 is typically when I start looking for peak autumn foliage colors from the back deck. This year's colors are not the best due to the ongoing drought and stressed trees dropping their leaves early. The color shift has been uneven based on the tree species. Maples are close to exhausted while the mighty oaks are still green. The most colorful foliage seasons take place during wet summers as the hardy trees are in no hurry to move into the winter preparation stage.

Following is a back deck image of the coast horizon take at roughly 1:00 PM yesterday. Localized bright reds are interspersed among mostly orange and gold shades coupled with the deep green oaks in the right background. Of course, the white pines also add their incremental green colors as we look far into the horizon.

This image also provides an overall status of the Ledge Hill Park project as we approach November and the Florida transition. Much was accomplished this summer with construction of a long two section stone wall, an expanded horizon view, and landscaping newly cleared areas with wood chips. As usual, clicking on the below image provides access to a higher resolution version.

 

For fun, I went into the Daily Blog archives and located the same coastal horizon view from mid-October 2024 as a comparison. The 2025 horizon clearing and park construction progress should now be readily apparent with this baseline.

 

Auction Bidding Returns

There is a sense of relief this morning as bidding resumed for the current GFRC Online Auctions event on Wednesday. The White Pine $5 Liberty gold is starting to gain traction and much needed love.

A quick tally this morning revealed that 27 lots have bids which translates into a 32% sell through rate. I am so grateful for this development and pray that more bidding takes place today towards attaining a 40% sell through rate.

In terms of the total dollar value of registered high bids, the auction presently stands are $63,800 which is 23% of the initial reserves. Lower prices lots are securing the near term attention which is typical of any GFRC auction. Those collectors pursuing the higher value lots typically appear during the final hour of the auction.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Light shipping is on the morning agenda along with a health walk across the trails. There is one afternoon appointment in Windham, otherwise I will be in the office for nearly the entire day.

Yesterday brought the trade of the 1800 AMERICAI CACG VF30 dollar for gold and cash. I'm certainly willing to take gold coins and bullion as payment for GFRC inventory given my belief that the gold rally still has legs. If you feel otherwise and wish to cash out gold for collector coins, please contact me.

At this point, there is little else to ramble about. We are most grateful for the ongoing business support.

Be well!

 

 

October 15, 2025

The Beat Goes On... $4200 Gold and $53 Silver

and

Great Unloved Auction Lots

 

 

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog as we arrived to the October 2025 midpoint. Thanks for the visit.

What a crazy yet strange week....

I hope that the community enjoyed yesterday's edition as the Vince Lanci summary took time to organize and prepare. Over breakfast this morning, I took in a YouTube discussion between Michelle Makori and Andy Schectman on a similar topic but more focused on silver and the LBMA silver squeeze that is underway. Michelle Makori is a Kitco YouTube veteran while Andy owns Miles Franklin metals, one of the larger bullion dealers in the country. Their conversation fully echoed what was shared in yesterday's Blog. The Chinese have been quietly draining the LBMA of silver to the point where there is little silver left to stabilize the futures paper markets. An ever increasing number of futures contracts are standing for physical delivery rather than being cash settled. The U.S. has now reclassified silver as a strategic mineral, therefore a rush to build a national stockpile. But maybe a bit late as the Chinese, Russians, and Indians have been actively acquiring large amounts of silver for years. BTW, China is the first or second largest producer of silver in the world, but again it is a Hotel California situation.

Bank of America is now projecting $5000 gold and $65 silver during 2026. These numbers could be conservative as Michelle and Andy were discussing a $100-$200 level as being credible given the growing demands via AI data center build outs, military demands, and the clean energy industry before considering the potential monetary aspects.

We live in fascinating times...

 

Great Unloved Auction Lots

The strange aspect of the week is the lack of interest in the current GFRC Online Auctions event. I'm not bothering to report on auction bidding as there is none. There were no bids on Sunday and Monday with a single bid on Tuesday.

Yes, I am aware of certain individuals that will appear on Saturday to bid on the higher value lots. They do not wish to expose their intentions early on.

Bottom line, there are great lots in this auction that would please the most selective collectors. At this point, all I can do is remind everyone of their availability via this auction or at the upcoming Manchester NH and Whitman Baltimore shows if not selling by end of day Saturday.

Take for example the White Pine Civil War and Reconstruction Period $5 Liberty gold with many cited by PCGS as being "less than 100 known". These are truly serious offerings especially when CAC approved.

Rare White Pine Civil War and Reconstruction $5 Liberty Gold

        1862 PCGS EF40 CAC G$5 - $9,500                                           1864 PCGS VG08 CAC G5 - $10,000    

PCGS less than 100 Known                                                         PCGS 60 to 75 Known

        

   1865-S PCGS VF35 CAC G$5 - $7,000                                           1867 PCGS EF45 CAC G$5 - $6,000

     PCGS less than 100 Known                                                        PCGS less than 100 Known

        

          1869 PCGS AU55 G$5 - $11,000                                               1870 PCGS VF20 CAC G$5 - $2,500    

   PCGS less than 100 Known                                                        PCGS less than 100 Known

        

 

The Island City Type Set Collection also presents some awesome pieces that any sophisticated numismatist would be proud to own and share with fellow collectors. These are the best of the best after being hand selected by as long time sophisticated client. Here are a few without bids.

 

Superb Island City Type Set Collection Offerings

              1866 Rays PCGS MS66 CAC 5C - $4,500                                   1840 No Drapery PCGS MS64 CAC 10C - $2,400    

        

          1831 B-5 PCGS MS63 CAC 25C - $6,000                                     1917 Type 1 PCGS MS66FH CAC 25C - $2,850    

        

1854 Arrows PCGS MS64+ CAC 50C - $4,750                                     1860-O PCGS MS66FH CAC $1 - $6,000     

        

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Today brings a half and half day of sorts. I will be in the office throughout the morning with active shipping and a post office drop-off. During the afternoon, a few hours will be spent on Johnny2 wrapping the wood chip spreading project for our newly cleared segment in the Ledge Hill Park. Come 5:00 PM, Lyn and Terry Traver arrive for a dinner party. It will be a busy but comfortable day as the weather is back to seasonal temperatures and partly cloudy skies.

Thanks again for the vis. Be well!

 

 

 

October 14, 2025

The Everything Bubble or Economic War between the Great Powers?

 

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

There is nothing new to report concerning the current auction as no bids were registered on Monday. Let's hope that the big guns will come out blazing on Friday and Saturday.

The Sheffield Liberty Seated half dime consignment has been posted to the 30 Day Price List with the gem 1868 lot being spoken for during the overnight.

The precious metal markets continued a broad advance on Monday with gold now quoting at $4135 during Tuesday London trading. The silver market is in chaos as prices seesaw between $51-$52/oz. Dealers have shifted from Kitco prices in lieu of COMEX futures due to market backwardation. Refiners have stopped accepting silverware as they are overloaded with incoming supply. Coin shops are being overwhelmed with public selling with not place to send silver items as the refiners shut down.

 

The Everything Bubble or Economic War between the Great Powers?

As promised in Monday's Blog, I made a commitment to share precious metal market and geopolitical insights garnered from a Vincent Lanci YouTube interview. Following is the link to access this one hour interview as it is well worth the viewing time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKn-a004RvU

Who is Vince Lanci?

Vince Lanci publishes daily YouTube videos under the name Arcadia Economics providing morning markets & precious metal overviews. A quick inquiry to AI Copilot concerning his "bio" yielded the following information:

Vincent “Vince” Lanci is a seasoned financial analyst and commentator known for his deep insights into the precious metals markets, particularly gold and silver. He regularly contributes to Arcadia Economics, where he shares macroeconomic analysis and market forecasts. His expertise lies in:

• Gold and silver market dynamics
• COMEX futures and options
• Central bank policy impacts
• Geopolitical influences on commodities

He appears regularly in Arcadia Economics videos and podcasts, offering real-time reactions to market events and policy shifts. His commentary is often cited for its clarity and contrarian perspective.

I'm convinced that Vince is not a "me to" gold bug, rather a serious equity and options trader that is absorbed with analyzing the interactions between global geopolitics and the financial markets.

During Monday morning breakfast, I happened to note a Vince Lanci interview rather than his regular daily market and metals reports. I was keen to hear his perspective on the current everything rally where equities, precious metals, and Bitcoin have been increasing since the April 2025 Trump Liberation Day market selloff. The YouTube interview soon became riveting as he was struggling with the same questions that I faced in today's market. It seems too good to be true for both stocks and metals to climb through new record highs on a regular basis with the appearance of an overvalued bubble forming. Being invested in the precious metals space, there is the risk of a black swan event that could alter global dynamics leading to concerns for staying the course or taking profits off the table.

Vince spoke for close to an hour. The interviewer is not the best but sufficient to allow Vince to deep dive into geopolitical affairs and explaining his fears of financial bubbles inflating to an unsustainable levels. As a trader, his focus is short term with a goal of not losing generation type profits on precious metal positions.

I walked away with an in depth understanding of how the United States and China are engaged in economic warfare. The United States, being a declining power due to excess sovereign debt and a stumbling Treasury market, is matched against the power and long term planning of Chinese leaders. The Chinese goal is to surpass and replace the United States as the leading global economy. The Chinese strategy has been underway for years with unstoppable gold buying and a Hotel California policy for domestically mined metals. Their strategy is best summed up as "he who has the most gold makes the rules", a testament to the Chinese affinity for gold.

President Trump and Scott Bessent are attempting to refurbish the United States economy towards elevating growth ahead of deficit spending. The size of our annual deficits are roughly 2 trillion dollars in a strong economic environment. A U.S. economic recession would quickly double that deficit, or more, leading to serious issues in the Treasury credit markets as we attempt to fund ever increasing debt. As Lanci puts it, we are screwed if a serious recession take place. The U.S. Treasury currently funds the deficit on the short end of the interest rate curve with efforts to move the Federal Reserve to a lower rate position. Trump and Bessent have no choice to push hard as capital must flow into the economy for major AI and manufacturing projects. We find ourselves in an economic war with China and must expediently re-shore our supply chains.

Trump and Bessent operating policies must ensure that capital markets (the banks) are providing enough liquidity to the equity markets to guarantee that stock values continue to climb. Capital gains from the equity market (held mostly by the top 10% of the citizenry) are a key funding source for U.S. fiscal budgets. A dump of the equity markets during a recession would have a severe impact on the trustworthiness of U.S. Treasuries and our standing as a debtor nation.

While working peace deals across the global, Trump is rebuilding a 5 trillion dollar economy. Where he secures the energy at 78 years of age is a mystery but truly remarkable.

Let's move to the next key learnings from the Vince Lanci interview. The focus is on the two primary global financial instruments, namely U.S. Treasuries (the dollar) and gold (the Chinese Yuan). Yes, we are to the point where China has cornered the gold market with holdings well beyond those of the U.S. and EU nations. Moving forward, if gold is stated in this discussion, the Chinese Yuan is implied. The China strategy for global dominance is predicated on leveraging its gold holdings by constructing a gold vault based trading network across Asia. Hong Kong is up and running with Dubai in progress followed by Singapore, Moscow, and more to follow.

U.S Treasuries currently enjoy status as the world's reserve currency (dollar) which is the basis for 50-60% of global transactions. Foreign banks hold U.S Treasuries for funding infrastructure or imports to sustain an economy. U.S Treasuries are consider to be a High Quality Liquid Asset (HQLA). A HQLA is a store of capital/wealth on a sovereign entity's balance sheet. but can also be used as collateral for loans. AI Copilot defines an HQLA in this manner.

High-Quality Liquid Assets (HQLA) are assets that can be easily and immediately converted into cash at little or no loss of value, especially during times of financial stress. They are central to meeting the Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR) requirement, which ensures banks have enough liquidity to survive a 30-day stress scenario.

Examples:
• Cash
• Central bank reserves (if withdrawable)
• Sovereign bonds rated AA- or higher (e.g., U.S. Treasuries)

Now let's look at gold.

Effective July 1, 2025, gold has been officially classified as an HQLA under Basel 3 regulations which is a significant milestone. Banks can now count physical gold at 100% of its market value towards balance sheet liquidity. In other words, gold is equivalent to holding U.S. Treasuries.

I hope you can see how the Chinese are leveraging their massive gold holdings to capture a portion of the U.S. Treasury market while tying the Yuan directly to gold. This is essentially a Bretton Woods II generational period where the U.S. Treasury (dollar) will be battling a newly created physical gold trade settlement network being created by China. China will monetized gold making it a HQLA asset. With gold equivalent to U.S. Treasuries on an HQLA basis, they become interchangeable monetary instruments. What differentiates the two are the trading networks (SWIFT for U.S./EU) and the new BRICS' mBridge system that is now showing early operations in Asia for China crude oil purchases. The second key factor is the trust in the U.S. dollar versus gold. The 2022 confiscation of $200 billion in Russian Treasuries by the U.S./EU will go down in history as the turning point for lost trust in the western financial system. It appears that the Chinese have a VERY STRONG hand to play towards challenging the United States.

Why is gold continually increasing in value?

There is insufficient gold in the world, at present value, to capture and replace a substantial portion of the U.S. Treasury market. Let's look at the size of the U.S. Treasury market via AI Copilot.

As of late 2023 and into 2024, the global U.S. Treasury market reached approximately $29.7 trillion in outstanding debt, with issuance totaling $22.3 trillion year-to-date by September 2024. This reflects a year-over-year growth of about 7.2% in outstanding securities.

Outstanding Debt
• $29.7 trillion in total outstanding U.S. Treasury securities as of September 2024
• This includes bills, notes, bonds, and TIPS held globally by governments, institutions, and private investors
• +7.2% year-over-year growth, driven by rising deficits and increased issuance

Now the global gold market.

The global gold market was valued at approximately $276.04 billion in 2023 and grew to $291.68 billion in 2024, reflecting a year-over-year increase of about 5.7%. This expansion was driven by record central bank purchases, rising investment demand, and elevated gold prices.

Gold is only 10% the size of the U.S. Treasury market at 2024 year ending valuations! If the Chinese plan to replace a portion of global commerce with a gold backed Yuan, the price of gold must increase substantially.

I'll stop here and let this discussion sink in for a moment. Here are key points to consider.

Gold is in the process of being revalued higher by the Chinese with the western LBMA and COMEX exchanges now price followers. It appears that Trump's tariff pressure on China is accelerating the gold vault network build out and higher gold revaluations.

Trump and Bessent are in no position to slow down gold's revaluation by China. Their issue is ensuring that the gold reported to be in Fort Knox is actually there and not leased. The U.S. Treasury will also benefit from a gold revaluation, at some point, to lower the value of its Treasury debt market due to unsustainable deficits. The U.S. cannot revalue gold until there is a physical audit of Fort Knox holdings.

We are experiencing a power struggle between a legacy financial system and a challenger that controls rare earths and precious metal commodities. This is economic war being waged in front of our eyes with gold being the barometer.

Good luck and invest wisely.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

The shipping department comes back to work this morning after the long Columbus Day weekend. The afternoon brings a doctor's appointment. Otherwise, the wet weather will keep me in the office and I will probably start loading more raw web-book Liberty Seated dime plate coins to the 30 Day Price List.

I hope that you enjoyed this edition as much effort was expended on the equity and precious market situation.

Thanks again for the visit. Be well!

 

 

October 13, 2025

A Truly Special Mountaineer Collection

and

A Slow and Steady GFRC Auction

 

Greetings on Columbus or Indigenous People Day (whichever you prefer) and welcome to the Daily Blog.

Let's jump right into the meat of today's headlines as I was enthralled with a incredibly insightful YouTube interview of Vince Lanci that cements the economic and monetary strategies of China and the United States moving forward. Vince is well known in the precious metal, oil, and financial industry, and like many of us, has been attempting to build "the puzzle" that explains why gold, silver, equities, and Bitcoin have all been moving up in parallel. One of the conclusions is that gold will be essentially monetary tool within both the China and U.S. strategies but to different ends. It will take some time to re-watch the video interview and digest all that was shared. However, it is clear that the current gold rally is far from over and I will continue to be a buyer even at current levels.

 

A Truly Special Mountaineer Collection

A serious shout-out goes to the Mountaineer Collection (John Erwin) as he has undertaken a truly special collecting objective that brings back memories of my early collecting days. Way back during the early 1990s, I as focused on locating and adding Kam Ahwash plate coins to my collection as a side activity to the die variety research project. Locating Kam Ahwash coins was tough as most auction catalogs still featured raw coins with grainy images. Checking individual description and prior auction sale pedigrees was paramount for potentially locating an Ahwash Seated dime. I did manage to locate a fair number with nearly all being sold via my die variety reference collection release at this point with maybe one to two left to release.

Fast forward to 2025 and the new Mountaineer Collection effort to collect the Fortin die variety web-book plate coins via CACG certification. CACG has agreed to print special pedigree labels that designate the Fortin plate coin status along with the attribution number. After years of effort with Liberty Seated Dime die variety research and publishing The Definitive Resource for Liberty Seated Dime Variety Collectors online reference, John Erwin's project touches my heart. Little else needs to be said. Following is John's Fortin plate coin gallery for enjoyment. A higher resolution image is available by clicking on each of the below images.

The Mountaineer Collection

Gerry Fortin Web-Book Plate Coins

 1856 F-101 CACG PR64 10C

 

    1867 F-102 CACG MS64 10C                                                    1871-S F-101 CACG MS63 10C

        

    1875-S IW F-102 CACG MS64 10C                                                   1877-S F-101 CACG MS65 10C    

        

 

    1884-S F-105 CACG MS64 10C                                                    1889-S F-108 CACG MS64 10C 

        

 

A Slow and Steady GFRC Auction

Bidding continued on Sunday for the final GFRC Online Auctions event of 2025. The progress is best described as slow and steady as more lots are heading to new homes.

As of this morning, 20 lots have secured one or more bids which calculates to a 24% sell through rate. In terms of sales volume, the tally stands at $45,900 or so.

Honestly, I was expecting more bidding activity given the premium number of lots being offered by the White Pine and Island City Collections. But, it is what it is as of Monday morning. I'm hopeful that Friday and Saturday will bring out the more aggressive collectors in the community.

 

Wrapping Up The Daily Blog

There is not much else to share at this point. Cold cloud and wet conditions will be rule for the next 48 hours which will keep me in the GFRC office. The latest round of Sheffield Collection Liberty Seated half dimes will be posted to the 30 Day Price List as the image processing is nearly complete.

Spot gold starts the week back in rally mode with an LBMA 7:45 AM quote at $4078 with silver moving up to $51.46. I see this rally continuing through the end of the year and going with a $4500/oz price target for gold based on the current trajectory. This time is truly different as both China and the United States policy makers wish to see higher gold prices. Silver will follow along.

Thank you, as always, for the visit. I hope that you've enjoyed today's content.

Be well.

 

 

 

October 12, 2025

Ledge Hill Park Progress

and

A GFRC Online Auctions Event is Underway!

 

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

As mentioned frequently in the Blog, I live for the autumn season in Maine. The temperatures have subsided whereby walking the trails or working on rock walls and landscaping can be accomplished without overheating. Second is the disappearance of the insect population. Saturday brought ideal outdoors conditions which resulted in a full day of landscaping effort. I could go on and on describing the progress that is being made with this Ledge Hill Park addition but an image is always the best medium to convey progress.

This cellphone shot was taken at 4:30 PM as I was wrapping up for the day and looking forward to time on the back deck with a happy hour beverage and some nuts. Given Maine's high latitude, the western sun was already low in the sky creating long shadows. Beyond the shadows, the landscaping progress is visually apparent. Once again, crushed 1.5" stone is being employed for walking paths and drainage channels. Instead of attempting to seed more lawn, I've gone with a wood chips ground cover since the recent TipLine Tree Service clearing has generated this natural resource that is free. On the lower right portion of the image, the gravel base is evident as a leveling and weed barrier layer. At this point, I've exhausted the two wood chip piles that were left in this location. To complete the job, wood chips from the horizon clearing crossing trail will need to be transported by Johnny2. The alternative is hooking the Polar cart to the Polaris Ranger UTV and transporting wood chips in this manner. Actually, this will be a faster solution and one of the reasons that the Ranger UTV was purchased.

Bottom line, the Ledge Hill Park is truly beginning to take shape and does give the appearance of a full-fledged walking park for family visits and our neighbors, Rick and Sharon. Clicking on the below image provides access to a higher resolution version.

 

A GFRC Online Auctions Event is Underway!

The final GFRC Online Auctions event of 2025 kicked off last evening in a predictable manner. Once the clock struck 9:00 PM ET, bids began to arrive for both the White Pine $5 CAC Approved Gold lots and the Island City Type Set Collection. Bidding continued until 1:00 AM with the White Pine 1857 Charlotte $5 finding a new home. Which new home will be determined come next Saturday evening.

As of this morning, 15 of the 85 lots now enjoy bids which is an initial 18% sell through rate. Yes, there is a long way to go to reach my 75% target and hopefully more bidding will be incoming throughout the day. There are just too many great lots to go unnoticed in the numismatic marketplace.

A quick tally of the presently winning bids arrived at $36,800 again total reserves at $297,485. My trusty calculator indicates a bit over 12% of the initial reserves being attained at this point. Yes, there is a long way to go during the coming week but we certainly appreciate those in the community that stepped forward with initial bids to get the event rolling along.

As I've always said, "trust the process" when it comes to well planned business initiatives and this auction is no different. The only difference between this auction and those prior 2025 events has been the lack of an auction lot viewing opportunity at a major coin show. If on the fence on any of the lots, simply email me for an appointment to discuss the coins that you might be considering. You will get straight talk on every lot, and frankly, it is fun to describe premium CAC approved lots.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

The current bright sunny morning sky will give way to cloudy condition by late morning. Come Monday and Tuesday, thick clouds and showers will arrive leading to the firing up of the wood stove.

Today brings a half and half day with the morning hours focused on loading the Sheffield Seated half dimes to the 30 Day Price List while the afternoon will find me transporting wood chips to the current landscaping effort.

I will be monitoring my cellphone for emails or auction related phone calls. Please don't be shy about disturbing me on a Sunday.

That is the extent of today ramblings. I'm uploading the Blog a bit after the regular 8:00 AM publishing time since sleeping in this morning.

Thanks again for the visit and please be well!

 

 

 

October 11, 2025

Final GFRC Online Auctions Event of 2025 Opens at 9:00 PM

 

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog on a traditional Columbus Day Weekend. We appreciate your ongoing patronage.

Our humble GFRC numismatic business has enjoyed a truly special year with record sales in excess of $4,000,0000 with much of the fourth quarter still to realized. In the coming 2.5 months, we will be attending three coin shows, and of course, working through an important auction event that opens this evening. This record breaking 2025 sales performance results from GFRC handling higher priced numismatics as its reputation has grown with respect to marketing and selling premium CAC approved coins. It takes years to earn this level of trust, while building relationships with a host of clients. Building a business of this size did not happen by chance, rather growth is a function of persistence and evolving skills in locating and supporting our client base.

The final GFRC Online Auctions event of 2025 arrives in the matter of hours. At 9:00 PM, the community will have the opportunity to bid on 85 marvelous lots those who are passionate about adding only the most premium coins to their collection. Our staff cataloger, Len Augsburger, has shared his thoughts concerning the 34 piece White Pine $5 Liberty gold offerings and a full CAC approved type set collection release from our Island City client. For those who have not visited the Auction landing page, let's recap Len's summary of both collections.

White Pine Gold is White Hot

GFRC is pleased to present a 34-piece consignment of Liberty Head five-dollar gold pieces. The Liberty Head gold series is extensive and is challenging to complete even with an ample checkbook. Thus, most collectors will pick a subset, with mintmark sets being especially popular, as this design was struck in seven different locations – Philadelphia, the three southern Mints, and the three western Mints. While not attempting completion, the White Pine collector has pursued the series with a number of themes in mind. For starters, nearly every coin in this set resides in a PCGS holder with CAC approval. Collectors seem to prefer this particular combination of multiple endorsements, as no single service is infallible. Thus, the overall quality is strong, and we expect spirited competition throughout the sale.

The White Pine consignment further includes 11 Charlotte pieces, representing fully half of the Charlotte Liberty $5 set. These pieces were struck from 1839 to 1861, bookending the discoveries of Southern gold, in the 1830s, and the Civil War. Moreover, many of the White Pine pieces lie at the lower end of the grading spectrum, making the examples here more affordable than usually seen. Gold circulated much less than copper and silver, meaning that even lower grade pieces, typically in the XF range, retain significant detail and eye appeal. Given the overall rarity of the Charlotte series, with no issues exceeding a production of 100,000 pieces, there is much to appreciate in the present offering.

As the price of gold rises, numismatic premiums tend to shrink, which makes the current sale an exceptional opportunity to pursue scarcer-date gold. While none of these lots will sell for melt value (as collectors we can dream), most examples do sport CAC populations of less than a hundred pieces, representing an opportunity to acquire gold coins that are both choice and rare. GFRC has its roots in the Liberty Seated series, beginning a generation ago, when rarity was seemingly prized above all else. Collectors have matured, and the emergence of CAC reflects on a market that is now just as driven by originality and eye appeal. With the White Pine coins, you get the best of both worlds. Good luck with the bidding, and we hope to see as many different collectors as possible acquire a piece or two from this noteworthy collection.

Island City Type Set - Assembled by a Patient and Picky Collector

GFRC is pleased to present an attractive selection of U.S. type coinage from the Island City consignor. Without exception, every coin is certified by both PCGS and CAC, and the overall quality is higher than usually seen. Even when collecting stickered coins, it is possible to fall into a “hole filling” trap, but a careful examination of the present offering will reveal a patient and picky collector. Although not a complete type set, auction previewers will note strength in the Seated and Bust portions of the sale.

Selecting the plate coin for a sale is always a pleasant chore. Gerry has picked the 1795 Flowing Hair LM-5 half dime, a better variety among the early half dimes. The present cataloguer (Len) is partial to the 1917 Standing Liberty Type I quarter, a hammered Full Head example with Gem+ luster and light toning. One might also select the 1877 Liberty Seated half dollar in MS61, an “old friend” to GFRC (check the prices realized archive) that always draws interest. This piece exhibits attractive toning, and we expect enthusiastic bidding.

In terms of building a type set, the three ten-dollar pieces in the Island City collection are instructive. The 1847 ten in AU50 is a quintessential example of “old gold,” with original, medium skin. Moving to the 1901-S eagle, this MS64 piece perfectly illustrates the type with exceptional, frosty luster. The set wraps up with an MS62 Indian, a first-year of issue example exhibiting a balanced combination of smooth surfaces and original flash. These selections where obviously made with deliberate planning. We like these coins, and we think you will too.

 

Again, auction bidding opens at 9:00 PM this evening and closes next Saturday at 9:00 PM. I'm expecting the typical bidder behaviors that have characterized past auctions. This evening and Sunday's bidding will kick start the event as busy individuals have already made a decision on their maximum bids and will place those at the front end of the auction. Next comes the Contemplation Period where early bidders are watching how well their bids are holding up while those who bid during the auction's last day are sizing up the playing field towards projecting what bids will be necessary to take home targeted lots. Friday brings a bidding uptick with the potential auction sell through rate showing some clarity enabling a Fortin auction closing project come Saturday morning's Daily Blog. Saturday evening brings the intense bidding finale as focused collectors pull out the stops to acquire their must have pieces. Starting at 8:00 PM, it is tradition that I will sit at the laptop and watch the action during the final hour.

Some house notes are in order as several new bidders have registered.

- The is a bid centric auction with no tied back to a bidder number. Each bid is a unique event with its assigned bid number that appears within the bid section of the online catalog. Once placing a maximum bid, that bid must be deleted if wishing to increase that bid at a later date as we do not want another bidding against themselves. In those cases, simply email me and I will delete the early bid allowing for placement of a more aggressive effort to win a lot.

- GFRC will continue to offer a three payment layaway across 60 days for lots in excess of $3000. This is a courtesy to those with limited numismatic budgets. However, to take advantage of this courtesy, you must contact me prior to the auction start to make arrangements.

- All winning lots will be invoiced on Sunday October 19 towards securing wire transfer, Zelle, and PayPal F&F payments on Monday. Those using these quick payment methods will see their lots shipped on Monday through Wednesday. Come Thursday, GFRC is heading to the NH Coin Expo in Manchester with the unsold auction lots and regular price list inventory. There will be no shipping of check paid auction lots until Monday October 27 and onward.

- If there are any auction questions, today is ideal day to send along an email with your clarification needs.

Good luck to everyone who plans to be active come this evening at 9:00 PM or during the finale next Saturday. We certainly appreciate your participation.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

An ideal southern Maine weather day is upon us before clouds and chance of showers invade the region on Sunday through Monday. I'm making good progress with landscaping the newly cleared area and will be spending more time outdoors on this project today. There is little time left to wrap this project up as once our current auction closes on October 18th, we will be consumed with post auction administration, the Manchester show and the Whitman Baltimore show in quick sequence. One week after the Baltimore show, the Fortins are transitioning to Florida for the winter months. The next five weeks will be consumed with numismatic business and traveling before settling down in our Venice condo.

At this point, there is a hard close on further consignments. GFRC will have sufficient inventory for the NH Coin Expo and the Whitman Baltimore shows considering the unsold lots that will emerge from this week's auction.

So ends the extent of this morning's ramblings. There is no shipping due to a long holiday weekend with USPS closed on Monday. Rather, I will catch up with overnight orders and then head outdoors.

Thank you again for returning for another Daily Blog visit. Your time is sincerely appreciated.

Be well!

 

 

October 10, 2025

Gold at $4000, Silver over $50

October 11 Auction Bidding Opens Tomorrow

and

New Consignments Reaching The Price List

 

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

Clearly, this autumn morning is the coldest in southern Maine with temperatures at the freezing mark and a lovely white frost on the newly moved lawn. In the past, I would have started the wood stove to take the chill out of the homestead on days like this. The issue with a wood stove, during the middle of autumn, is over heating once the sun appears and solar heating initiates. This year's approach is an experiment given that we have banked a tad under 2000 KHr of solar power with Central Maine Power. If not consumed, that power and its financial value will be eventually loss for non usage. Not being a fool, I've shifted the new heat pumps into heating mode and allowing them to warm our home with all this excess power. The heat pumps can't compare to the warmth generated by a wood stove however. Let's see how long the heat pumps will be sufficient before returning to wood as a heat source once cloudy days arrive.

 

Gold at $4000, Silver over $50

The two precious metals went for a wild ride on Thursday along with a sell-off in the mining space. Gold was idling along at $4040 while silver explodes momentary above $51/oz. Immediately after reaching those levels, a market sell-off occurred with gold dropping below $4000 and silver dumping below $49. The mining stocks were hammered with large losses. Was this development surprising? Not at all as momentum traders decided to sell and take profits. The quick drop also triggered sell stops leading to even more selling.

This morning's Kitco website reports gold trading between $3995-$4000 and silver idling above $50. Now that the precious metals have stabilized during overnight trading, the mining stocks should recover a portion of Thursday losses. Welcome to volatility as the metals move higher.

 

October 11 Auction Bidding Opens Tomorrow

The stage is set for the final GFRC Online Auctions event of 2025!

Bidding opens tomorrow evening at 9:00 PM for a marvelous array of CAC approved lots from the Island City Collection Type Set and the White Pine $5 Liberty Gold Collection.

New bidding registrations continues along with existing clients sending along questions or requesting images of the coins in their holders. I find the latter request a result of GFRC unique approach to lot photography without full holder images. Since launching GFRC, I've been marketing coins and not holders with my coin specific images that strive for accurate in-hand color matching. The images are well known for illustrating surface conditions and marks resulting in a near zero return rate across years of sales.

It this point, I don't know what else to say that has not already been said. Both collections offer premiums lots with market competitive reserves. When steadfast collectors with a discriminating eye decide to sell, then it is an opportunity to gain access to top notch pieces. I hope that many in community will capitalize on the opportunity.

 

New Consignments Reaching The Price List

Two incremental consignments arrived early this week and have been processed with a portion posting to the 30 Day Price List today.

The Tenafly Collection has located some extra Seated pieces that were not included during this summer's GFRC Online Auction event. Here is a quick image of those lots with all posting to the price list today. All but the 1876 and 1886 dimes were sourced from GFRC with prior sales records and descriptions in the Sales Archive. The 1859 dime is a real sweetheart and originated from my personal collection.

The Sheffield Collection is back with a six-piece Liberty Seated half dime release with several better dates. The 1838-O V-1 is a consistently challenging early date with few CAC approved survivors along with being plagued by weak strikes from eroded dies. The 1863-S Civil War date is always in constant demand, especially when found in a CACG holder. Lastly, the 1868 PCGS MS65 CAC lot was previously purchased from GFRC and is a superb lot at the certified grade.

I have pricing approval for the group and need to wrap up image processing before posting these to the price list. If compelled to request a first shot, I would gladly quote the offer price.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

It appears that I'm done with numismatic and precious metals ramblings for another day.

Today brings another "half and half" day with morning shipping and Tenafly lot posting to the price list. Once the outdoor temperature rises to a reasonable level, I will be again outdoors landscaping the newly clear area behind the recently added stone walls.

GFRC emails will be monitored throughout the morning and after the dinner hour.

Thanks again for the visit. Be well!

 

 

 

October 9, 2025

Gold Holds, Silver Testing $50

GFRC Online Auctions Event Arrives on Saturday

and

GFRC Soon Heads to the NH Coin Expo

 

Greetings on a Thursday morning and welcome to the Daily Blog. As usual, we appreciate the community readers that consistently appear.

From 80+ degree highs to a freeze warning, southern Maine weather has made the shift to seasonality. As the Blog is composed, the outdoor temp is a cool 37F with a stiff breeze to start the day. Our Florida transition is just five weeks away with the reality of the situation becoming evident when booking a car transport company for the 718 Boxster on Wednesday. As a preview, the GFRC office will be moving back to our Venice location during the November 15-16 weekend.

Today Blog edition will be on the brief side. There are some new 30 Day Price List posting from the Sooner Collection and a regular anonymous consignor to consider.

Yesterday's gold pricing gains held up nicely during overnight trading after the historic break above the $4000 mark. Now, the attention shifts to silver and tranversing the key $50 milestone.

Checking London market trading, silver is quoting at $49.60 and is a stone's throw away for the $50 breakout point. Could this milestone be breeched during U.S. trading hours? The gold/silver ratio is still historically high at 82 which is also bullish for silver.

 

GFRC Online Auctions Event Arrives on Saturday

Our attention now shifts to the upcoming October 11 GFRC Online Auctions event which is just 72 hours or so away. I don't believe that citing more auction statistics or posting highlights will have much impact at this point as the community is on board and preparing to bid.

We are targeting a 70% sell through rate with unsold lots immediately posting to the 30 Day Price List and Collectors Corner. Winning invoices will be issued via email on Sunday and initial shipments for wire transfer and Zelle payments going out on Tuesday and Wednesday. Come Thursday, I'm heading to Manchester NH!

 

GFRC Soon Heads to the NH Coin Expo

That is right! Immediately after wrapping up the October 11-18 GFRC Online Auctions event, GFRC is heading to Manchester, NH for one of my favorite coin shows of the year. I've always felt at home at the NH Coin Expo as a steady table holders or collector/exhibitor going on several decades. The Manchester show is a great place to hang out with fellow collectors on the bourse as will again be the case this year. Of course, I need to mention Ernie Botte, the show promoter who knows how to stage one of the best "small" shows in the country. There are a host of short walk dining options too for after show relaxation.

This Fall event features dealer setup on October 23 followed by two days of retail trading on October 24-25. This show is well attended by major dealers, which in turn draws a substantial crowd.

Here is the bourse floor map with GFRC at its usual Table #608 location. I'm looking forward to seeing the regular attendees at the GFRC table.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Today brings another half and half day and I'm not talking about a coffee creamer....

The morning hours will find me in the GFRC office catching up on a few overnight orders and some image processing/COIN database loading. After the day's temperatures warm up, I'm heading outdoors to mow the lawn or continue landscaping the newly cleared area behind the recently added stone walls. But first on the agenda is testing the old backpack Echo leaf blower. If this beast gives me a hard time with starting, I'm off to Lowe's or Home Depot for a new machine. A leaf blower is a critical tool for the Raymond homestead given the amount of leaf clearing that will take place through our Florida departure.

The Echo leaf blower sparks one final thought for the day. Learning how to effectively use tools of all kinds is key to a successful life. If an outdoorsman, handling a rifle. knife, fishing line, and survival gear is paramount. If a landscaper, knowing how to effectively use a tractor with multiple implements can lead to impressive results. Being one's own mechanic or carpenter requires knowledge of a completely different set of tools. Finally, if operating an online business, a laptop and Internet centric applications (tools) are paramount.

My point is that mastery of tools expands one's ability to live a broader and more active life, and in my case, a truly personal and fulfilling existence. Learning to master a host of tools can lead to new hobbies or even part time businesses. There are times were being theoritical is important, but mostly our existense is predicated on working in a physical world and handling tools is mandatory.

And on that note, it is time to say good-bye for another day. I hope that today's ramblings were worth the time taken to visit.

Be well!

 

 

 

October 8, 2025

Gold Breaks Through the $4000 Mark

Rare 1839-O V-1 Half Dime to Consider

and

October 11 GFRC Online Auction Event Nears!

 

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog on a historically significant day for the gold-bugs among us. Thank you for the returning visit.

It is now official! Spot gold has decisively broken above the $4000/oz mark. Gold prices made new records highs throughout the overnight across the Hong Kong, Mumbai, and London Exchanges. First came Hong Kong where gold officially traded at $4004 at 10:30 AM local time. Then came the Mumbai quote at $4026 at Indian Standard Time which is 9 hours and 30 minutes ahead of Eastern Standard Time in Maine. The next domino to fall was the London Exchange with gold reaching $4035 at their opening time. After peaking at $4050/oz , gold is currently trading at $4038 as the Blog is composed at 6:45 AM ET.

Tuesday brought a back and forth conversation with Carlo, our money manager for an ever increasingly smaller portion of our Merrill Lynch account. He is still in denial and worries about the current precious metal rally and rather wishes to invest in the current AI boom. He located an article via Google that indicates that there is no currency debasement, rather the destruction of the dollar's buying power directly correlates to economic growth and the necessary M2 money growth to fuel this trend. I was just too busy to formulate an argument, rather indicating that we can assess who generated higher 2025 gains come December 31.

What is so telling is that the major banks have shifted from being "short" gold on the futures exchanges to being "long" gold. I've mentioned this in the Blog previously. If the big boys like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley move towards advocating for gold ownership, one has to conclude that these banks are also acting in their own self interest. This article appeared on the Kitco website yesterday and speaks to this point that the largest financial market players are advocating for higher gold prices.

Goldman Sachs now sees $4,900 gold by Q2 2026 on rising ETF and steady central bank demand

Goldman Sachs has raised its December 2026 gold price forecast from $4,300 to $4,900 per ounce, according to a research note published on Monday.

The investment bank expects the added gains will be driven by strong Western exchange-traded fund (ETF) inflows and sustained central bank buying.

“We see the risks to our upgraded gold price forecast as still skewed to the upside on net, because private sector diversification into the relatively small gold market may boost ETF holdings above our rates-implied estimate,” Goldman analysts wrote. The bank expects Western ETF holdings to rise as the Federal Reserve lowers the funds rate by 100 basis points by Q2 2026, they said.

Goldman also projects central bank buying will average 80 tonnes in 2025 and 70 tonnes in 2026, and said emerging market central banks are likely to continue to diversify their reserves away from the U.S. dollar and into gold.

Spot gold is up 52% year-to-date on the back of strong central bank buying, increased demand for gold-backed ETFs, a weaker dollar and growing interest from retail investors looking to hedge against trade and geopolitical tensions.

“In contrast, noisier speculative positioning has remained broadly stable. Following the large September increase, the level of Western ETF holdings has now fully caught up with our U.S. rates-implied estimate, suggesting the recent ETF strength is not an overshoot,” the analysts said.

On Oct. 1, Goldman Sachs Research led by analyst Lina Thomas said gold prices will gain an additional 6% by the middle of 2026 as fresh demand from key groups of buyers will drive the yellow metal to new record highs.

They said the new forecast is driven by “strong structural demand from central banks and easing from the US Federal Reserve (which supports ETF demand for gold).”

The analysts said buyers of gold fall into two broad groups. “Conviction buyers tend to purchase the yellow metal consistently, regardless of the price, and based on their view on the economy or to hedge risk,” they said. “These include central banks, exchange-traded funds, and speculators. Their thesis-driven flows set the price direction.”

“As a rule of thumb, every 100 tonnes of net purchases by these conviction holders corresponds to a 1.7% rise in the gold price,” they noted.

On the other hand, opportunistic buyers – including households in emerging markets – enter the market only when they believe the price is right. “They may provide a floor under prices on the way down and resistance on the way up,” the analysts said.

According to Goldman Sachs Research’s nowcast of central bank activity, central banks purchased less gold in July than the monthly average for 2025. “Central banks have purchased 64 tonnes of gold per month this year, which is below Goldman Sachs Research’s forecast of 80 tonnes per month,” the report stated.

“This is consistent with the seasonal pattern,” Thomas said. “Central bank purchases tend to slow in the summer and re-accelerate from September. But the seasonal pattern supports our unchanged central bank outlook.”

“At the same time, speculative positioning in derivatives markets by large investors like hedge funds appears significantly bullish on gold,” the report noted. “The amount of net long gold bets on the futures and options exchange COMEX is in its 73rd percentile since 2014 as speculators build up their long positions betting on gold prices to rise.”

Goldman Sachs Research said at the time that gold prices are more likely to exceed their analysts’ $4,000 forecast than to undershoot it. However, the increase in long gold positions, a bet that prices will rise, “raises the risk of tactical pullbacks” as speculators’ net bets on gold tend to revert to the mean over time, Thomas said.

On September 26, Goldman Sachs Research advised investors to diversify through commodities like gold to protect against unexpected financial market tail risks.

If Goldman's projection is correct, they are indicating another 23% increase for the yellow precious metal in only eight months. To match that performance, the S&P 500 must climb to 8260 by the end of Q2 2026 on the back of AI centric technology stocks. Only time well tell...

For completeness, silver is trading at $48.92 and appears poised to break the $49/oz mark today. These are exciting times if a believer in precious metal long term store of value.

 

Rare 1839-O V-1 Half Dime to Consider

GFRC is thrilled to be offering the following 1839-O Large O V-1 half dime via an anonymous consignor. Rather than write a long description unique for the Blog, let's check my price list description that is posted immediately below the image.

1839-O V-1 Reverse of 1840-O PCGS VF25 H10C - $4150

Very Rare Large O, Circulated Cameo Eye Appeal, Strictly Original. GFRC is excited to be offering this very rare 1839-O V-1 example struck with the Large O reverse of 1840. Few examples are documented and listed as R5 rarity in the Clint Cummings online reference at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_o5viK3j9ao797Jc0aN8_h8J-N8W6_-D/view. His reference presents a roster of known specimens with this lot unlisted and easily being a top 5 specimen. Pricing records are minimal leading to a challenge with setting an offer price. GFRC has sold an PCGS AU53 CAC example for $12,000 as the highest priced record. An AU Details example, the Al Blythe plate coin, has sold twice for $4,313 and $,3000. Next in the roster is an original ANACS EF40 that has sold for $6,500 and $4,773. No VF sales records are reported by Cummings. My offer number captures this example's circulated cameo eye appeal that should immediately cement its status in the condition census. Surfaces are well preserved with natural coin gray patination and without contact marks. Housed in PCGS Gen 6.1 (2020-2025) holder. Please note that our consignor has not submitted this lot to CAC. The originality is all there for approval, the question mark is how conservative is the grading for a potential green bean, a second and parallel criteria.

 

October 11 GFRC Online Auction Event Nears!

In the matter of a few days, bidding will open for the combination White Pine $5 Liberty Gold CAC Approved Rarities and The Island City 18th and 19th Century Type Set Collection.

Rather than rambling on about each collection. let's show four of my favorite lots from each collection as numismatics brings a substantial visual experience as part of the hobby.

 

White Pine $5 Liberty Gold - GFRC Favorites

      1841-C PCGS EF45 CAC G$5 - $8500                                           1860-C PCGS AU50 CAC G$5 - $8500    

        

 1867 PCGS EF45 CAC G$5 - $6000                                              1869 PCGS AU55 G$5 - $11000  

        

 

Island City Type Set Collection - GFRC Favorites

   1795 LM-5 PCGS EF45 CAC H10C - $8000                                           1831 B-5 PCGS MS63 CAC 25C - $6000    

        

1917 Type 1 PCGS MS66FH CAC 25C - $2850                                           1860-O PCGS MS63+ CAC $1 - $6000      

        

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Much needed rain is falling today as southern Maine counties are in drought or severe drought conditions with reports of home owners losing well supplied water. The situation is most acute in Oxford County which is a bit north of Raymond.

Today will find me in the GFRC office the entire day processing newly arrived consignments that appeared on Tuesday. October 11 auction inquiries and registrations are also starting to appear and need attention. We will probably move a few more orders into the USPS shipping system this morning too.

I hope that you've enjoyed today's edition. We thank you for the ongoing readership.

Be well!

 

 

 

October 7, 2025

The Gold Room?

 

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

You are probably wondering what today's headline is all about outside of the fact that spot gold is pushing ever so closer to the magical $4000 mark. The precious metals rallied on Monday along with miners and the equity markets all moving higher. As of 7:30 AM, spot gold is holding its gains with a London quote at $3960 with silver trading at $48.36/oz.

Monday brought an absolutely perfect northern New England weather for a top down 718 Boxster journey into the New Hampshire White Mountains and specifically, to the Mt. Washington Inn for lunch. For years, a visit to the Mt. Washington Inn had been on my list of places to visit. Sure, I've been up and down the Mt. Washington Auto Road several times but never to the Mt. Washington Inn, an imposing structure that was constructed in 18 months starting in 1902 with Italian workers. The Inn is famous as the site of the 1944 Bretton Woods Accord that established the global monetary system with the U.S. dollar pegged to gold, along with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

Today's headline captures our visit to the museum portion of the Inn including the "Gold Room" where the IMF Articles of Agreement were ratified by the 48 country delegates during July 1944.

Following are images of that visit as today's Blog will not contain any numismatic content since we spent the entire day touring through the White Mountains.

The first image is that of the majestic Mt. Washington Inn contrasted against clear blue skies. The temperature reached a hot 84F during the early afternoon hours.

We enjoyed a wonderful lunch at the outdoor Rosebrook Bar which is located on the back side of the Inn and facing towards the Presidential Range. The White Mountain Presidential Range includes several prominent peaks named after U.S. presidents and historical figures, with Mount Washington being the tallest. The primary President Peaks include "4,000-footers" including Mt. Jackson, Mt. Piece, Mt. Eisenhower, Mt. Washington (6,288 ft), Mt. Jefferson, Mt. Adams, and Mt. Madison.

 

This image captures the "Gold Room" in the Inn. As a student of history, I was touched by the opportunity to spend time in this small museum room with images of delegates and a listing of all signatories to the IMF Articles of Agreement.

 

And finally, a selfie of Diane and Gerry enjoying themselves on a personal holiday. Little else needs to be said.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Today brings another gorgeous Indian Summer autumn day. We will be working in the office during the morning hours as there is a decent amount of shipping to move into the USPS system along with responding to overnight purchase orders. Come the afternoon, I will first be photographing a new consignment from the Sheffield Collection before mowing the lawn as rain is in the forecast for the overnight into Wednesday. I've not mowed the lawn during the drought to avoid stressing the grass but with a fresh batch of rain in the forecast, the landscaping can be tidied up a bit.

Wednesday will bring a full office day due to wet weather and a more numismatic centric Daily Blog edition.

As always, we appreciate the readership. Be well!

 

 

October 6, 2025

$4000 Spot Gold This Week?

and

October 11 GFRC Online Auctions Countdown Begins

 

Greetings on an autumn Monday morning and welcome to the Daily Blog. We certainly appreciate the ongoing visits.

Sitting in the GFRC office on an early morning brings a special vantage point. The office window looks directly at the top of Ledge Hill and the intersection of Valley, Ledge Hill, and Spiller roads. On a regular day, the early morning car headlights mark the beginning of daily commutes to work. On other occasions, the intersection is used as a staging point for road sports, cross country running events, or other gatherings as there are broad shoulders. This morning, there were a number of large dump trucks staged at the top of the hill before heading down Valley Rd. Yes, this might be a trivial approach to opening a Blog edition, but this is a day in a life here in Raymond, Maine. If the homestead was positioned 15" higher on the hillside, there would be a clear view of Mt. Washington once the leaves are down.

Sunday worked out as planned with much progress in the newly cleared area in the back acreage park. I was on the job at 7:30 AM and wrapped up at 1:00 PM for lunch followed by spending the balance of the day in the GFRC office responding to orders for the freshly consigned Mint State Liberty Seated quarter lot. Seven of the seventeen pieces are already on hold as per posted on the 30 Day Price List. All remaining lots are immediately available other than the exceptionally pretty 1851 NGC MS64 CAC Fatty lot where the collector is traveling.

The Newton Liberty Seated half dollar discounting effort has also produced results with five pieces now on hold and several other high value lots under serious contemplation.

One of the first steps taken every morning is checking the Kitco website for London gold and silver trading prices. This morning's trading activity was of particular interest as the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) is closed due to a national "golden week". It is Mid-Autumn festival holiday in China whereby the country shuts down allowing citizens to enjoy traveling, and hopefully, boosting the Chinese economy. Since the SGE is closed, the price setting for gold and silver is being driven out of the west, namely London and Chicago trading. In the past, these two trading pits would try to knock down prices that increased during overnight SGE trading. Now, the "shorts" are nearly wiped out with all major western banks moving to a "long" position on gold and silver. This is readily evident when major banks like Goldman Sachs start shifting investment advice from 60/40 (stocks/bonds) to 60/20/20 with the incremental 20% being gold. In the past, being labeled a "gold-bug" was a negative as we were seen as fringe people or preppers. Now that the largest banks have gone "long" on gold, they are changing their recommendations to clients. What brought about this attitude change? Simply stated, China is now in the drivers seat for setting global gold prices due to their huge accumulations along with currency debasement in the west. Long term holding of U.S. dollars (cash) or Treasury bonds is a losing proposition in term of real purchasing power.

As today's opening headline indicates, we will most likely see $4000 gold this week, if not in the next 48 hours. $50 silver is also in the cards this week. As of 7:00 AM ET, gold is quoting at $3943 while silver is trading at $48.43/oz. Looking at pre-market trading, GDX is trading up another 1.2% before Wall Street opens at 9:30 AM. For those new to gold investing, GDX is the gold miner ETF while GDXJ is the ETF for smaller gold miners and exploration companies.

I would not be surprised at all to see $4000 gold this week... Another significant milestone is about to be reached leading to the next question. Is $5000 gold possible in early 2026? If you don't own any physical at this point, you've missed one of those generational opportunities.

 

October 11 GFRC Online Auctions Countdown Begins

October 2025 brings two important GFRC events. First is the Island City/White Pine Collection auction that opens on October 11 and runs through the evening finale on October 18. Come October 23, GFRC will be traveling to Manchester NH for the annual fall NH Coin Expo held at the downtown Double Tree hotel.

Let's recap the October 11 auction statistics, shall we?

This final GFRC auction features two wonderful collections from long time clients. The Island City Collection has previously sold his complete Barber quarter collection via GFRC during November 2023 along with consigning smaller lots in other auction events. Our dear friend, White Pine, started selling his Liberty Seated coinage holdings during 2017 via fixed price list consignment and shifted to selling his United States numismatic gold holdings during 2021. This auction brings the release of his $5 Liberty gold with rare Charlotte and Civil War dates. Key for both gentlemen is that CAC approved lots were their collecting focus.

The October 11 features a total of 85 lots with a combined reserve value at nearly $300,000. Surely, an auction of premium lots with a 94% CAC approval rate will garner significant collector attention. Based on limited auction lot previewing at the Oklahoma City ANA, I'm expecting to exceed the 60% sell through rate goal with ease. There is just too many premium offerings in this sale, across two different collecting segments, for an under performance. I'm thinking at a 70% sell through rate should be the expectation going into this auction event.

As usual, I will be available this week for private reviews of the auction lots via phone. Simply email me to schedule an appointment as I would be happy to provide accurate lot descriptions via phone. At this point, everyone in the Blog audience knows that I am 100% straight during lot evaluations.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Today's agenda includes morning shipping along with processing two smaller consignments that arrived last week. It will be another gorgeous Indian Summer day here in northern New England and I plan to spend a few hours on Johnny2 while continuing to wrap up the landscaping of the recently cleared back acreage property. Life is much too short to sit in an indoor office processing coins on such a wonderful weather day.

Please mark October 21 on your numismatic calendars for a not to be missed GFRC announcement.

So ends another early morning of rambling at the keyboard as I'm off to the shower. Thanks again for the visit.

Be well!

 

 

 

October 5, 2025

Hurry on These CAC Approved Liberty Seated Quarters!

 

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

Why am I composing a Blog edition after a weekend Saturday dinner? The long and the short of the story is Sunday morning will see me heading outdoors to work on the back acreage park due to cooler temperatures during that time of day. We are experiencing an Indian Summer period with high temperatures topping out in the low 80s. I don't do well working in that temperature environment and much prefer the cool 50s and 60s during the early morning hours.

Saturday brought a busy office day with the new Liberty Seated quarter consignment prepared for a Sunday morning gallery showcase. A quick response was received from our consignor in terms of pricing buy-off along with working on Saturday afternoon to finalize and upload the images. I hope that the following presentation is enjoyed as this collection release brings a host of premium Seated pieces back to the market place. All lots are priced as marked and ready to sell. At some point on Sunday, these lots will be posted to the 30 Day Price List. Those with First Rights of Refusals will be contacted when it is their time to tender a buy or pass decision. Please help me out by checking in on a purchase decision so that I don't need to follow-up with you. The 1886 quarter was by far the lot with the highest number of FRoR requests with the tally now at five requests.

We open with a superbly pleasing 1851 Briggs 1-B lot in an old NGC Fatty older. The presentation for this challenging date is simply awesome. Our consignor paid up for this piece and the reason should be readily evident. There is a FRoR on this lot for information. Next in the gallery are splendid 1854-O and 1874-S quarters, both with MS64 or MS64+ grades with the 1874-S having a single FRoR. The late date low mintage Philadelphia issues are well represented with 1880, 1883, and 1886 examples. All three pieces have FRoRs with the 1886 being a question of who will secure the piece among the many who emailed for first shot. The balance of the lots are also of premium nature and warrant careful inspection. CACG grading standards are incredibly strict with their price guide now appearing to be too conservative for CACG certified lots.

 

CAC Certified Liberty Seated Mint State Quarters to Consider

1851 Briggs 1-B NGC MS64 CAC Fatty 25C - $8750

    1854-O Briggs 1-D PCGS MS64 CAC 25C - $4850                            1874-S Briggs 1-A PCGS MS64+ CAC 25C - $2950   

        

        1880 Briggs 1-A PCGS MS66 25C - $2750                                    1883 Briggs 2-B CACG MS64+ 25C - $2450    

        

 1886 Briggs 1-A CACG MS63 25C - $2950                                         1891-S PCGS MS64 CAC 25C - $1250    

        

1856 PCGS MS62 CAC 25C - $900                1858 NGC MS63CAC 25C - $950                1861 II/II PCGS MS63 25C - $1050

                

  1875 CACG MS62 25C - $695              1876 Br 3-C PCGS MS62 CAC 25C - $575         1876-S CACG MS64 25C - $1150

                

1877 PCGS MS64 25C - $875                    1877-S PCGS MS64 CAC 25C - $900                 1890 PCGS MS62 25C - $900 

                

 

Sunday morning update....

The 1876-S, 1880, 1883, 1886, and 1890 are confirmed as sold. I'm waiting for FRoR responses for the 1851, 1874-S and 1891-S.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Come Sunday morning at 7:30 AM, I will be heading to the barn to fire up Johnny2 for the continuation of the back acreage landscaping behind the newly construction stone wall. There is 200' of newly purchased weed mat and ample amounts of loam tailings, gravel, 1.5" stone, and wood chips to make substantial progress into the noon lunch hour. Afterwards, I will be back in the GFRC office to deal with the incoming orders and prompting those with FRoRs for their play/pass decisions.

At this point on a Saturday evening, I am heading to the basement sound room for an hour of "tunes" before heading to bed.

Thanks again for stopping by at the Daily Blog.

Be well!

 

 

 

October 4, 2025

GFRC October 11 Auction in One Week

and

Newtown Seated Half Dollar Price Reductions Part 2

 

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

Time moves along so quickly when fully engaged with multiple GFRC and homestead projects. Friday brought a busy morning after publishing the first part of the Newtown Liberty Seated half dollar pricing reductions. I'm pleased to report that four halves sold in the matter of a few hours. When not on the phone with clients, the new Liberty Seated quarter consignment images were being processed along with kitting and invoicing other orders. The day's goal had been to build a pricing proposal for those quarters which did not happen and needs to get done today. By 2:00 PM, it was time to jump into working clothes and continue the landscaping effort within the back acreage park. Progress is slowly being made in the upper section, thought not readily visible from the back desk. This progress image was taken close to 5:00 PM with long shadows over the gazebo and left side of the image. The low angle sun made photography difficult but the best possible at that time of day and location. If inspecting carefully, the sandwich approach of a base layer of loam tailing followed by gravel, and then the wood chips covering will be noted. This approach takes considerable time and effort, but should minimize the amount of long term weeding.

The seeded grass, above the ledge outcrop is now coming in nicely while the balance of the ground covering will be wood chips from the recent TipLine Tree Service clearing. The 1.5" crushed stone drainage channel is just beginning to take shape as I ran out of weed mat. Trust me, I have a mental image of how this area will appear and it is just a matter of time before an update report is shared in Blog upon completion.

 

GFRC October 11 Auction in One Week

Another indication that time is moving along quickly is the fact that the next GFRC Online Auctions event arrives in just one week! Come Monday's Blog, the emphasis will shift to marketing the many great lots being offered from the Island City 18th and 19th Century Type Set Collection and the White Pine rare date $5 Liberty gold. I hope that potential bidders have placed this auction on their calendars and plan to be active during the event.

 

Newtown Seated Half Dollar Price Reductions Part 2

As mentioned earlier, GFRC sold four Newtown Liberty Seated half dollars on Friday after the discounting presentation. Today brings the second installment of this effort. Let's get right into the showcase presentation with the discounted prices. Please note the importance of the Carson City offerings! Once the Blog is posted, I will be updating the30 Day Price List with the reductions.

 

Newtown Seated Half Dollar Price Reductions Part 2

      1870 WB-7 PCGS MS65+ CAC 50C - $11,000                                   1870-CC WB-2 PCGS AU55 50C - $46,500       

        

     1871-S WB-8 PCGS MS64 CAC 50C - $3850                                 1872 WB-6 PCGS MS65+ CAC 50C - $8750      

        

        1872-S WB-1 PCGS MS65 CAC 50C - $17,500                           1873-CC Arrows WB-8 PCGS MS63 50C - $15,000      

        

        1874 Arrows PCGS MS66 CAC 50C - $27,500                              1874-CC WB-3 PCGS MS63 CAC 50C - $35,000      

        

  1875-CC WB-4 PCGS MS64 CAC 50C - $6250                                     1879 PCGS MS66 CAC 50C - $5500            

        

    1882 PCGS MS65 50C - $4100                                                 1884 PCGS MS66 CAC 50C - $7000

        

1885 PCGS MS66+ CAC 50C - $11,000                                           1891 PCGS MS64 CAC 50C - $1900    

        

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Saturday morning shipping and pricing the new Liberty Seated quarter consignment are the next must get done tasks after securing some coffee and caffeine towards increasing mental acuity. I just seem to be in slow motion this motion and did my best to get this Blog issue composed and published.

At some point today, I will definitely be working on the back acreage landscaping again as Diane secured a 200' roll of weed mat during her Windham visit on Friday.

There is little else to discuss as I'm not in an creative state of mind.

As always, thank you for the visit.

Be well!

 

 

October 3, 2025

Volatility in the Precious Metals Market

and

Newtown Seated Half Dollar Price Reductions Part 1

 

Greetings on a mid-autumn Friday morning and welcome to the Daily Blog. We appreciate the ongoing visits and community fan club.

The seasonal transition is now well underway as this morning's 37F temperature is a sign of things to come. Unlike past years, we are now using the heat pumps to take the chill out of the homestead rather than briefly firing the wood stove or oil furnace. With excess electricity generation via the solar panels, there is ample power credits to enjoy the convenience of the heat pumps. The days are quickly growing shorter as a reminder that the Florida transition is now that far off. This morning's sunrise occurred at 6:42 AM while sunset now arrives at 6:19 PM. Finally, the driveway maple has lost most of its leaves and the burning bush (winged euonymus) is bright crimson red.

Yes, there was no Blog presentation on Thursday due to an 8:00 AM car inspection appointment opportunity that surfaced on Wednesday. The 2008 Toyota Rav4 was two months overdue for its annual inspection and I could not pass up the chance to get this situation rectified. In Maine, we are required to submit cars for an annual fitness and safety inspection. The Rav4, with a V6 engine, passed the inspection and is legal for another year. Once back from the early appointment, my focus shifted to insourcing and photographing the new Liberty Seated quarter consignment along with adding other lots to the 30 Day Price List rather than trying to create late Blog content. I believe that everyone survived the lack of ramblings at the usual 8:00 AM publishing time.

Let's get into the headline topics.

 

Volatility in the Precious Metals Market

Thursday brought a long overdue pullback in the precious metal market along with the gold and silver miners amplifying the drop. Gold dropped to $3815 or so while silver dipped back below $47 during the morning hours. The drop on the Kitco chart was dramatic as pictured by air rushing out of a balloon. The afternoon hours brought a steady recovery with gold closing end of day at only $9 off the opening number. This morning, gold is trading at $3866 with silver quoting $47.48/oz.

Those of us who have large position in the precious metals and miners have an enemy. That enemy is the momentum traders who operate on margin. Margin calls, during a quick sell-off, will lead to further selling to meet those calls. The avalanche effect can lead to technical chart damage as "investing" has much to do with human psychology, namely fear and greed. Greed drives those that wish to leverage by investing (speculating) with borrowed monies (margin) and fear drives conservative investors to exit long term positions during times of excess volatility.

The S&P 500 also continues to grind higher through one record close after another. My YouTube viewing has revealed that the AI infrastructure build out of huge power consuming data centers is now being fueled by debt. Multiple companies, with Oracle being in the lead, are borrowing and investing heavily towards chasing this disruptive technology innovation. Let's hope that there is enough end demand to absorb this installed computing capacity once on line as the ramifications could be another year 2000 market correction.

Outside of precious metals and the technology sector, the balance of the equity market is not that healthy. WTI crude is bouncing between $60-$63/bbl as OPEC again raises production output towards stifling the United States fracking industry. The oil sector is not robust, though the low energy costs bring increased profits for the gold and silver miners as this industry is very energy intensive.

 

Newtown Seated Half Dollar Price Reductions Part 1

Our lead client, the Newtown Collection, has decided that it is time to conduct a discounting operation for his remaining Liberty Seated halves originally auctioned during the first half of 2025. We've decided to make this move given the upcoming coin show season that opens later this month in Manchester NH, namely the NH Coin Expo on October 24-26. We are also including a few well aged pieces outside of the Seated halves in this discounting process. For nearly all lots, the offer price is below Newtown's purchase price with auction records visible on the PCGS Price Guide or purchases prices in the GFRC Sales Archive. In a number of cases, we have discounted prices directly to CDN bid for both CAC approved and non-CAC coins. Every serious Liberty Seated half dollar collector should take the time to carefully review these discounts as the adjustments are quite substantial in some cases. One man's loss can be another man's gain is certainly applicable for today's announcement.

Let's move forward with the first of two showcase galleries to illustrate the discounts. Later today, I will install the discounts into the COIN database and place these lots at the top of the 30 Day Price List with the reduced numbers. GFRC's three payment layaway policy will be honored for these lots.

Those that wish to have a quote for the balance of Newtown's Seated halves, not featured today, are free to call, text, or email me with an inquiry.

 

Newtown Seated Half Dollar Price Reductions Part 1

      1840 WB-1 PCGS MS64+ CAC 50C - $6500                                       1849 WB-11 PCGS MS64 CAC 50C - $4000    

        

  1850 WB-4 PCGS MS65+ CAC 50C - $45,000                                       1852 WB-2 PCGS MS65 CAC 50C - $18,500    

        

      1856 WB-1 PCGS MS65 CAC 50C - $7000                                     1856-O WB-13 PCGS MS65 CAC 50C - $5150   

        

1857-O WB-1 PCGS MS64 CAC 50C - $7000                                        1858 PCGS MS65 CAC 50C - $5000       

        

  1858-O WB-14 PCGS MS64 CAC 50C - $3000                                       1863 WB-7 PCGS MS64 CAC 50C - $3450    

        

  1868-S WB-8 PCGS MS64+ CAC 50C - $7000                                     1869 WB-1 PCGS MS64 CAC 50C - $4500    

        

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Today brings a combination day with the morning in the GFRC office loading the Newtown discounts to the 30 Day Price List and building a pricing proposal for the newly arrived Liberty Seated quarter consignment. The mid-afternoon will find me working on the back acreage park with Johnny2 for a few hours.

As always, thank you for returning for another Blog edition.

Be well!

 

 

October 2, 2025

A Delayed Daily Blog Edition

 

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog on a Thursday.

Today's edition will be delayed due to a sudden 8:00 AM appointment that popped up yesterday afternoon. I'm fine and will be back at some point today with a full edition including a Newtown discounting announcement for his remaining Liberty Seated halves on the GFRC price list.

The precious metal trend continues to hold with gold trading $3884 at 6:45 AM along with silver quoting at $47.34.

Thanks and I will be back later today.

 

 

 

October 1, 2025

Spot Gold Attempting $3900 Level

GFRC-Lite at NCNA Show October 2-4

New GFRC Offerings to Consider

and

Wonderful Mint State Seated Quarter Consignment Arrives

 

Greetings on the first day of October 2025 and the beginning of the final quarter of the year. Halloween is just 30 days away! Welcome to another great Blog edition and thanks for the visit.

Let's open with a precious metals market update, shall we?

Yesterday, I pointed out how spot gold had been knocked down to $3800 during early morning London trading. That dust-up did not last long as gold closed the day in U.S. trading at above $3860. As of 6:30 AM today, gold has moved higher to $3889 and is poised to break the $3900 mark at some point during the day. Silver is solidly over the $47/oz mark in current trading.

The longer term forecast for $4000/oz could be realized this month as more entities are piling in the yellow precious metal along with major investment firms now advising high net worth clients to start diversifying their portfolios with precious metal exposure. Sadly, the last segment of the population to the party will be the average working Joe and Mary who are probably selling gold on an opportunistic basis at these levels.

On a personal note, I made an 11.5 ounce gold bullion purchase yesterday to continue adding to physical gold holdings. Yes, I am aggressively buying at these higher levels and wished there would have been more conviction to pile in earlier this year when gold was trading at $3200.

Now we have a U.S. government shutdown underway and a restructuring of United States military policies within the past 24 hours. Let's not forget the discussion of introducing Tomahawk missiles into the Ukraine-Russian conflict along with an equity market that is highly leveraged with over 1 trillion dollar in margin loans. These are exciting times and owning a physical gold stash appears to a wise decision for protecting a lifetime's effort of wealth creation. The beauty of holding physical gold is that of no counterparty risks. Holding gold ETFs or mining stocks entails credit risks with those investments firms that hold your monies.

Let's move forward with today's headlines as this is a busy Blog edition.

 

GFRC-Lite at NCNA Show October 2-4

The following notice arrived to my email Inbox during the overnight hours. Rich Hundertmark is pumped up for this week's North Carolina Numismatics Association annual convention and coin show in Concord, NC. Good luck Rich!

Hi Gerry,

Wow the summer flew by, especially after August ANA. Is it because as we get older time becomes more precious with every day valuable?  Amazing to me that the NFL is already going into week 5, my beleaguered Giants have won a football game, and the fall baseball playoffs are now underway. 

Since the OKC show I’ve taken somewhat of a needed break from coins to recharge my batteries, but for the last 2 weeks I’ve prepared for Concord and one of my favorite show events. I especially like this venue as it’s one of just three that don’t require a motel stay as it’s just under a 1-hour drive.

The show is always well run, and the Thursday night barbecue for dealers is always exceptional. Most times I do good business with dealers opening night, I hope that this will also be the case this year.

Speaking of cases, I’ll have 3 populated with certified 19th and early 20th century type coins and a 4th case loaded with early copper, bust and seated raw coins. 

The weather forecast looks good for central North Carolina this weekend, so if in the area and thinking of attending, details for the show can be found on the Lite website.

I’ll write a post-show recap blog next week,

Cheers to all the blogamaniacs.!

Rich

 

New GFRC Offerings to Consider

Regardless of the back acreage gravitational pull on Tuesday, the entire day was spent in the GFRC office processing the nearly arrived consignment and fixing more website damage from the recent COIN database corruption matter. GFRC also conducted several substantial bullion and numismatic gold deals, both on a buying and selling basis.

Following are the newly arrived consigned lots that were showcased as a group photo yesterday. These five pieces are priced as marked and will be posting to the price list today with full descriptions.

Die variety specialists should take a close look at the 1877-CC Type 2 Reverse F-109 lot as this is the multiple repunched 77 die variety that is analyzed in considerable detail within the Fortin Liberty Seated Dime web-book. Here is that link: https://www.seateddimevarieties.com/date_mintmark/1877cct2_109page.htm

 

Freshly Consigned and Immediately Available

1877-CC Type 2 Reverse F-109 PCGS MS65 10C - $2850

  1838 Large Stars PCGS MS65 H10C - $1450                                           1845 F-105a NGC MS65 10C - $2200    

        

1864-S F-101 PCGS AU50 OGH 10C - $1175                                           1887 PCGS MS67 10C - $2150         

        

 

Wonderful Mint State Seated Quarter Consignment Arrives

I must commend USPS for the lightning fast transport of a Mint State Liberty Seated quarter consignment that has been previously mentioned in the Blog. The Express box shipped on Monday and was delivered at 5:30 PM yesterday. I've scanned through the consignment and am quite impressed with the premium nature of these lots. In particular the 1851 quarter is an unquestioanble gem! It will be an absolute pleasure to photograph these today under the noon time sun followed by loading these pieces into the COIN system. Following is a group photo to whet your appetite.

Yes, First Right of Refusals are welcomed with pricing numbers probably ready by end of week.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Southern Maine temperatures have dropped with today's high forecasted at 61F but under bright sunny skies. I will be in the office during the morning hours and heading outdoors promptly after lunch time. Afternoon GFRC orders and email correspondence will be responded to after dinner.

So ends another Daily Blog edition. We appreciate the ongoing readership and GFRC business support.

Take care and be well!

 

 

 

 

September 30, 2025

A Day In the Life of a Coin Dealer

Are the Shorts Trying to Pull Gold Prices Down?

and

Small Denomination Seated Consignment Preview

 

Greetings on the final day of September 2025 and welcome to yet another Daily Blog edition. Thank you so much for the return visit.

Monday brought a fantastic southern Maine weather day along with the usual challenges with operating the GFRC business. The day started off well with the shipping department cranking out an LL Bean canvas bag full of Priority and Express Mail shipments. Yes, you red that correctly, we have reverted to Express Mail shipment again. I can't go into details concerning an active USPS Office of Inspector General investigation, but we feel comfortable in moving back to to Express shipments. BUT! A warning to any consignor who ships coins to GFRC. The USPS counter staff are poorly trained with respect to insourcing Express shipments with Signature Confirmation. Please read on...

Again it was a beautiful day and Diane's birthday on Monday. I took the freshly washed 718 Boxster into Raymond to drop off the Priority packages and have the counter staff handle an Express shipment. Guess what happened, the clerk processed the Express without Signature Confirmation. I always check the paper receipt for those most important two words, namely Signature Requested. Sadly, the receipt showed Signature Waived. OK, we must void the transaction and start over as I had checked the Signature box on the Express form. The clerk was at a loss at to what to do. She consults with the postmaster, Trisha, who I know all too well. Trisha response was don't worry about it, the Signature box is checked on the form which was attached to the shipping box. "I'm sorry but the receipt must read Signature Requested" was my response as I properly checked the Express form. Again, Hugh Woods will only insure a package if shipped with Signature Confirmation. The clerk went back to Trisha to indicated that I was not budging on my position. Long story short, Trisha was forced to come to the counter and advise the clerk on how to void a transaction and then start over.

The drive back home was wonderful as there was no traffic on RT 85. We all know what that means when driving a top down Porsche. Fast is the operative word.

Once back in the office, the next day's challenge quickly arrived. Blake Gibb texted that www.seateddimevarities.com website was indicating "not secure" on his browser. On Sunday, Tenafly had also emailed me with the same finding. What the heck is going on as I paid my GeoTrust SSL certificate fee in early August? This SSL fee is nothing but an annual website extortion fee. Over lunch, I was chatting with a Hostway support person to understand what was going on. Again long story short, the SSL certificate installation was improperly completed. The support person reimplemented the installation as all was fine.

At that point, it was photography time for a newly arrived consignment that will be showcased shortly. Then, I was off for a double loop of the walking trail. The contrast between the bright sunny portions of the trail with those under a dark shaded tree canopy was dramatic as was the temperature difference.

Upon returning back to the office, I noticed that there were some strange numbers appearing in the Consignor Credits portion of the COIN database as I owed several consignors way too much money! Yep, somehow the COIN database had become corrupted. Darn, I hate when that happens but since this is not my first rodeo, a backup copy is always held on the Hostway server for recovery. The backup copy was downloaded and brought current with the past two days sales and payment activity. At that point, the time had arrived to take Diane to the Sicilian Table in Falmouth for a birthday celebration. We enjoyed the most tender short ribs followed by a pumpkin bar for dessert along with Disarrona and B&B liquers as our dessert drinks.

Isn't being a coin dealer fun? Many collectors believe that coin dealers simply handle great coins every day and are blessed with the opportunity. Believe me, there are days when things that can go wrong, do go bad on you. The key to not having these events ruin you day is having the experience with a quick diagnosis and knowing how to secure corrective actions.

 

Are the Shorts Trying to Pull Gold Prices Down?

It appears that the "shorts" are back at it and attempting to slow down gold price increases. The following Kitco graph for overnight and morning trading in London is quite dramatic. After trading at $3865 during the early morning hours, the gold price was knocked down to $3800 in the matter of several hours. Those institutions that are still trying to short gold and the GLD ETF are finding themselves in a very difficult position.

 

Small Denomination Seated Consignment Preview

Monday also brought the delivery of a small Liberty Seated half dime and dime consignment from a fairly new client. Those lots are showcased next and have been photographed. The 1877-CC Type 2 Reverse dime is really nice! Today brings COIN system loading and a pricing proposal for consignor approval.

 

Wrapping Up the Blog

As nice as the Maine weather will be today, the GFRC business will keep me in the office for most of the day with multiple client phone calls including a personal consultation on the forthcoming October 11 auction lots.

There is no shipping today which is a plus in my book. The 718 Boxster will just have to be lonely in the garage today.

One final note, there is only one remaining 1913 St Gaudens on the30 Day Price List as we approach another sellout. If you think this coin carries too much of a numismatic premium, then just wait a month or two. Those clients that scooped up our consignor's PCGS rattler gold at $3700 are now smiling and patting themselves on the back....

Thanks again for making the Daily Blog are part of your online reading.

Be well!

 

 

 

September 29, 2025

Precious Metals Again on the Move

 

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog as we are about to close out the month of September with another wonderfully warm day. Thank you for the visit.

I can't remember a more pleasant southern Maine month of September in terms of warm temperatures and sunshine than that just experienced. Yesterday brought another great outdoor day with highs approaching 80F. The 718 Boxster secured a careful washing during the morning hours followed by working in the back acreage park during the afternoon. It was so warm that I called it a day at 4:00 PM rather than trying to get some final work done prior to 5:00 PM happy hour. Between the recent rain and the hot temperatures, the lawns are returning to their green shades.

The 10 Day extended weather forecast indicates a few days of cooler temperatures mid-week before returning to the 80F high temp mark come next weekend.

Looking at the Tesla solar power application, our installation has generated an excess of 300KW-Hrs this month as compared to 540KW-Hrs of total usage. For the past 12 months, the solar panel and Tesla battery installation is ahead of consumption by 2400 KW-Hrs thanks to the weather conditions and aggressively sizing the number of panels on our rooftop.

Let's move to today's headline topic...

 

Precious Metals Again on the Move

After a strong move in gold and silver prices during the prior week, the momentum continues during London trading. Gold has broken through the $3800 level and is trading at $3816 as the Blog is composed. Silver pricing is also ramping quickly and is trading at $46.87 after briefly breaching the $47.00/oz mark. Platinum and palladium metals are also increasing in value with gold and silver.

What is driving this relentless rally in the metals?

It appears that the long awaited repricing of gold is underway. For several decades, the price of gold and silver was suppressed by a western cartel of banks and government entities through manipulation on the COMEX futures and LBMA. Those days are over as price leadership has shifted to Asia with the Shanghai Gold Exchange now appearing to be in the driver's seat. There is a saying that he who has the most gold makes the rules and this fact appears to be playing out in front of our eyes. While China continues to stockpile gold, the United States Treasury is in a mad scramble to import gold bars with the most likely reason being the rebuild of our Fort Knox gold reserves. There is considerable speculation that U.S. gold reserves were leased which would explain why a physical audit has not been performed since the 1960s. Given the circumstances, Congress introduced the Gold Reserve Transparency Act of 2025, which mandates the first full audit of America’s gold holdings in decades. This includes:

• Physical assay and inventory of all gold reserves
• Security analysis of storage facilities
• Full accounting of leases, swaps, and transactions over the past 50 years

The Ukraine-Russia conflict is also becoming more virulent as Trump has had enough of Putin's posturing. Ukraine is hitting Russian energy facilities while the United States plans increasing shipments of long range missiles to Ukraine via its NATO partners.

There are a host of other reasons that have been previously cited in past Blog editions that will not be repeated.

At this point the call for $5000 gold grows louder by the day with sophisticated analysts researching gold's prior status as a foreign reserve asset and the possibility for reaching the $8000 or higher level come 2026. Bottom line, we are witnessing de-dollarization in our lifetimes.

 

Four Unloved 1913 $20 Gold Pieces on the Price List

A reminder that GFRC still has four unloved 1913 $20 St Gaudens on the price list that is the final tranche of holdered numismatic gold from our consignor. These pieces are PCGS graded MS62+/MS62 with a small numismatic pricing premium. If these pieces do not sell in the coming days, I may just add them to my personal holdings.

Those clients who purchased the PCGS rattler gold at $3700, from the same consignor, should consider dollar cost averaging.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

There is a considerable amount of outgoing shipping this morning.

The Mint State Liberty Seated quarter consignment arrival appears mid to later this week. A preview will be provided within Tuesday's Blog.

That is all she wrote on a Monday morning. Please accept our gratitude for the ongoing readership.

Be well!

 

 

September 28, 2025

GFRC Online Auctions - October 11 Event in Two Weeks

and

Soliciting Offers for the Newtown Liberty Seated Halves

 

Greetings on an early Sunday morning and welcome to the Daily Blog. Thank you for taking the time to catch up with my latest ramblings.

Let's start today's edition with a short piece from Seth Godin. I've selected this blogpost as a reminder to each and everyone of us concerning life and taking the initiative on whatever we may desire. It could be a small investment step, some exercising, or reading a historical biography. Progress is a function of small steps as is demonstrated by my back acreage park project that has been under construction for five years or more. Acting now could lead to impressive long term outcomes.

Seth Godin Blogpost - Act Now!

Start where you are.

Start with what you’ve got.

Start now.

Now is the perfect moment. It only feels ‘fast’ if we’re rushing.

Don’t rush. But act.

With deliberate progress.

 

GFRC Online Auctions - October 11 Event in Two Weeks

Two weeks and counting!

The final 2025 GFRC Online Auctions event is now just two weeks away and wraps up an amazing year of top rated auction sales. We opened the 2025 calendar year with the Gerry Fortin Liberty Seated Dime and Newtown Liberty Seated Half Dollar Collection sales. Both were monumental events for these long time collectors along with the GFRC platform. A few lots from both collections are still available on the GFRC price lists with Newtown seeking offers on his last pieces. More on that topic in the next segment.

Summer time brought the next GFRC auction event that featured the Massachusetts Liberty Seated Dime Collection sale coupled with the Tenafly Collection that included both Liberty Seated dimes and $5 Liberty gold. Both auction sales have done well with strong post-auction demand being steady. Clearly, the GFRC business model that couples auctions sales with regular price offerings has proven to be quite successful.

Now arrives the Island City Type Set and White Pine $5 Liberty Gold Collection auction sale. Bidding opens on October 11 and closes one week later on October 18. There is a strong sense that this final 2025 event will be well subscribed along with any unsold lots being showcased at four rapid succession coin shows. Immediately after the October 18th auction close, GFRC is heading to the NH Coin Expo (Manchester Show) the following week with the unsold lots. Two weeks later, this inventory will be featured at the Fall Baltimore show.

As a reminder, the October 11 auction event provides access to premium numismatics from two long time GFRC clients.

White Pine $5 Liberty Gold with CAC Approved Rarities

- 34 Lots with 91% CAC approved

- $173,000 in total reserves

- A host of rare low mintage dates spanning the Civil War era into the early 1870s

- Premium quality is the rule!

Island City 18th and 18th Century Type Set Collection

- 48 Lots with 96% CAC approved

- $115,000 in total reserves

- Offers spanning a host of collecting genres from early copper through gold

- Hand selected top quality lots that are affordable for most collectors

 

Soliciting Offers for the Newtown Liberty Seated Halves

GFRC's top client emailed on Saturday and said it was time! What time you might ask?

The time has arrived to solicit offers for the remaining Newtown Liberty Seated halves that are listed on the GRFR price lists. Our goal is to find homes from these Mint State halves within the next four months. Whether online or at the forthcoming coin shows, I am been asked to secure reasonable offers for the balance of the Newtown inventory. The operative word is "reasonable". Please don't mistake a request for offers as being equivalent to a fire sale. I have been asked to solicit offers for Newtown's consideration.

Most of the Newtown Seated halves have prior sales records either in the GFRC Sales Archive or auction records within the PCGS Price Guide. Armed with that information and the fact that the numismatic hobby will be entering the active season come October, GRC clients are in a position to assess what a reasonable offer might be.

I look forward to testing those offers with Aaron across the coming months. The ball is in your court to step forward.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

It is a Sunday when God rested after creation.

Today will find me outdoors on a beautiful autumn day. There are a host of property maintenance items to get done along with giving the 718 Boxster a thorough cleaning.

I will not be responding to GFRC emails until the evening hours as a full day off is in the cards.

Thank you for the visit and please remember to take life one day at a time with wellness being the imperative.

 

 

September 27, 2025

Autumn Colors Begin to Appear

$20 Saint Gold is Posted to 30 Day Price List

and

Silver Closes At $46

 

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog on an autumn Saturday morning. Thank you for stopping by.

There is not a whole lot of new content to share today other than the Red Sox making the playoffs this season. My morning breakfast habit includes watching the Red Sox MLB highlights of the prior day's game on YouTube. I remember the terrible early Red Sox start when they were under .500 followed by several extended winning streaks to propel them to this achievement.

Let's move to the headlines, shall we?

 

Autumn Colors Begin to Appear

As we approach the end of September, the peak foliage colors will arrive in the matter of weeks. Already, the color change is readily visible per the following coast horizon view from the homestead's back deck. This image was taken during the early afternoon hours with bright sunshine and no shadows. Years of back acreage clearing and landscaping efforts are captured with this colorful canvas. As I often mention to visitors, the back acreage is my artistic pallet. Rather than working with paints or chalk, my medium of expression is with natural elements. Every happy hour, weather permitting, will find me sitting on the back deck enjoying the scenery with the satisfaction that the design and implementation being a multi-year personal experience. I hope that you enjoy this autumn foliage baseline. A higher resolution version is available by clicking on the image.

 

$20 Saint Gold is Posted to 30 Day Price List

The recent $20 St Gaudens consignment has been posted to the 30 Day Price List will all pieces sold other than the four 1913 Saints graded PCGS MS62+ and MS62. As reference, spot gold was trading most of Friday above $3775/oz before settling back to $3760. The $4000 mark is now just a 6% movement away.

 

Silver Closes At $46

Silver closed Friday's trading at $46 continuing it recent bold rally. I remember months ago when legendary investor Jim Rogers announced that he has sold his U.S. equities and taken a large silver position. So far, he has been proven correct as silver steams towards the $50 level.

All precious metals are in rally mode including platinum and palladium. It appears that a multi-polar world is bringing a scramble for all precious metals.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

I will be in the office this morning followed by heading outdoors during the afternoon hours. The consignment queue has a few new offerings that will be photographed and prepared for posting.

We appreciate the ongoing readership and the opportunity to share the ongoing activities in a life.

Be well!

 

 

 

September 26, 2025

A Coin Whisperer You Say?

and

$20 Saints Posting to the Price List

 

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog on the final Friday of September 2025. Thank you for the visit.

Day long rain was the welcomed main event on Thursday. I was excited for several reasons including at least a temporary end to an extended drought. Much precipitation persisted throughout the day and early evening. One key reason for cherishing the rain was the ability to view first hand the water flow channels in the newly cleared and to be landscaped areas. There I was with a rain jacket and umbrella marking the edges of the water flow channels. Some may think I'm nuts, but I'm excited to have a clear visual layout of where the water flow channels must be banked and then filled with with 1.5" crush stone. Learning to get downhill water flow right saves a lot of landscaping modifications in the future.

It is a Friday will little prepared content. Yesterday's discounted U.S. gold showcase and 30 Day Price List posting resulted in three of the ten offerings being sold. About 60% of the $20 Saints were also posted with descriptions and no images. All but the 1909 PCGS MS62 CAC lot are on hold with the many 1913 pieces appearing today.

 

A Coin Whisperer You Say?

A compliment arrived from our U.S. gold consignor on Thursday indicating that I am a legitimate coin whisperer.

OK, I had never heard of the term coin whisperer before and conducted an AI Copilot check for an explanation. Here was the response which was most enlightening.

A coin whisperer is someone with an exceptional ability to understand and interpret the subtle characteristics and histories of coins—almost like a numismatic empath.

Here's what it means in practice:

• They can detect signs of a coin’s past treatments, like chemical dipping or artificial toning, just by examining its surface.
• They recognize second-generation toning (retoned coins after cleaning) and can distinguish it from original patina.
• They intuitively assess a coin’s condition, authenticity, and market appeal beyond what a casual collector might notice.
• Some even describe it as “feeling the coin’s pain,” especially when it’s been mishandled or altered.

In a more artistic or fictional sense, the term has also been used to describe someone who can “read forgotten stories” by touching coins—imagining the lives and events those coins have passed through. It’s part science, part art, and part storytelling.

Our client is certainly spot on as there are time when I do feel a coin's pain due to its abuse....

 

$20 Saints Posting to the Price List

As mentioned earlier, six of the ten new $20 Saints are posted to the price list without images. I could have sold the 1911 twice in the matter of a few hours.

The four 1913 dated pieces will be added today after photographing the entire lot during the late morning.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

I will be in an out of the office today depending on how quickly the ground dries after yesterday's extended rain. The primary task is wrapping up the $20 St Gaudens price list additions and servicing the follow-on requests. I suspect that only the 1909 dated piece will be left by end of day.

The shipping department will have the day off.

Checking in on the precious metals, gold is trading in a tight range around $3750 which is a healthy consolidation. Silver has broken through the $45 level with a London quote at $45.09. Interestingly, Bitcoin is seeing a slow downward trend and quoting at $109,000. I suspect that a portion of the Bitcoin "investors" may be moving monies into the gold and silver trade at this point.

There is little else to share at this point. Thanks again for the visit and please remember to keep life's events in context. Being well is the imperative.

 

 

 

September 25, 2025

Silver Closes in on $45 Mark

and

Let's Discount Prices Says Our U.S. Gold Consignor!

 

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

Yes, it is raining in Maine! What started as showers on Wednesday afternoon has turned into a full day of rain today. I could not be more pleased with this development as the land is so parched and in need of multiple days of constant precipitation to recharge. Our little pond is down three feet from normal and close to being empty as an indication of the dry summer and early autumn that has been experienced.

On the flip side, the rain is delaying photography of the new $20 St Gaudens gold that was featured in Wednesday's Blog. Pricing approval has been secured and I will be writing the descriptions today. Come Friday, the sun is due to be out again and we will catch up the photography and hopefully offer a gallery showcase on Saturday. So far, I've received requests for six of the ten lots.

Dave's World wrapped up their heat pump installation on Wednesday. The Fortin homestead now has air conditioning in all upstairs bedrooms and throughout the first floor living space. Another 2025 project has been completed.

At this point, there is little else for near term news. Therefore, let's move into the headlines.

 

Silver Closes in on $45 Mark

The silver precious metal rally appears to be gaining momentum as prices briefly touched the $45/oz mark in London trading. The current rally is a convergence of deep structural and macroeconomic forces. Let's touch upon several of those forces.

One of the most important forces is a multi-year supply deficit whereby silver demand has outpaced supply by 100-150 million ounces annually. I've made mention of this fact on prior occasions in the Blog. The supply side of the equation is being challenged as only 30% of the silver supply arrives from primarily pure play silver miners. Names like First Majestic Silver (AG), Pan America Silver (PAAS), and Coeur Mining (CDE) are the top pure play silver miners that warrant investment attention if wishing to take a position.

Second is a weakening U.S. dollar which makes silver cheaper for international buyers like China and Indian.

Thirdly, a Federal Reserve Policy shift towards lower interest rates increasing the returns opportunity for non-yielding assets like silver and gold. Historically, silver has gained 15-20% during the six month following the beginning of a rate cut cycle.

Bottom line, the probability of realizing $50 silver before year end continues to grow. There are several ways to play the silver rally. One can buy the pure silver ETFs like SLV, SGOL, or PSLV depending on who you trust to hold physical silver in vaults and their jurisdiction. If wishing for more leverage, then the silver miner ETFs are SIL for the larger producers, and SILJ for the junior or smaller firms.

 

Let's Discount Prices Says Our U.S. Gold Consignor!

Wednesday brought a request from our primary U.S. gold consignor to start discounting his numismatic gold that remains in GFRC inventory. That exercise was promptly conducted along with developing a pricing proposal for the new ten lot $20 St Gaudens consignment. All of my proposed prices were promptly approved with the numismatic gold being discounted and placed at the top of the 30 Day Price List.

A few comments are warranted in conjunction with the following showcase.

The 1868 and 1870 $2.5 gold Liberty dates have very low mintages of 3600 and 4520 respectively. The 1868 date is very challenging in Mint State with few examples certified. This NGC MS60 example is an opportunity that should be acted upon as CDN bid is $2200. The 1870 date is even more difficult in Mint State and attractively priced with its discount.

The $10 Liberty gold is consistently CAC approved with the 1906-D being a compelling listing at its new discounted price. This piece offers superior eye appeal.

Finally, someone needs to jump on the 1922 PCGS MS64+ CAC St Gaudens as the luster and surfaces are incredible. Yes, there is still a notable pricing premium but that premium will continue to shrink as spot gold moves towards the $4000 level.

Let's Discount Prices Says Our U.S. Gold Consignor!

      1868 NGC MS60 G$2.5 - $2400                                                  1870 PCGS MS61 G$2.5 - $5750  

        

      1892-CC PCGS AU58 CAC G$10 - $5650                                        1892-CC PCGS AU55 CAC G$10 - $4450     

        

   1905-S PCGS MS62 CAC G$10 - $2950                                           1906-D PCGS MS64 CAC G$10 - $2750    

        

       1913 PCGS MS64 G$20 - $6000                                             1922 PCGS MS64+ CAC G$20 - $4450

        

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

With a full day of rain, the GFRC office will be my home during regular business hours. We have a small amount of morning shipping to kick things off followed by writing the $20 St Gaudens gold descriptions. Afterwards, I may return to posting a few raw Liberty Seated dimes from my reference collection that are web-book plate coins. These are always popular sellers and the procures can be rechanneled into bullion precious metals.

September 2025 GFRC sales have been outstanding due to the strong influx of unsold auction lots from the Massachusetts and Tenafly Collections and the tranches of $20 St Gaudens gold.

As a reminder the GFRC Online Auctions October 11 event is just a tad over two weeks away and will bring some excitement prior to heading to Manchester NH for the NH Coin Expo during the final week of October.

Thanks again for the visit.

Be well!

 

 

September 24, 2025

Final $20 St Gaudens Consignment Arrives

 

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog on a Wednesday morning. We certainly appreciate the ongoing support and readership.

Today's edition will be brief as Dave's World is back at 7:30 AM to wrap up the installation of three head units and an incremental compressor. The crew conducted the physical installations on Tuesday and now the electrician arrives for wiring and debugging functionality. I'd like to get a shower in before the contractors are back inside the homestead.

Other than Trump making a 180 degree turn on Putin (Ukraine should drive Russia out of its eastern provinces), the major news of the day is the early arrival of the final $20 St Gaudens release by our U.S. gold consignor. Yes, this is sad news as GFRC has enjoyed handling the liquidation of a sizable amount of physical gold by our client. All good things must eventually come to an end as the saying goes...

Since these 10 Saints are newly arrived late yesterday, I must get the photography, COIN database loading, and pricing completed before being able to offer. In terms of offering these lots, I will be giving the substantial buyers of the initial two releases first shot so that everyone gets a few of these lovely gold pieces.

Following is a group photo of the lot including an important 1909 PCGS MS62 CAC example that will carry a strong numismatic premium. Being able to offer two 1909/8 Saints at an attractive grade and price point is also advantageous to our clients.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

We live in exciting times.... I'll probably discuss my view of geopolitics and yesterday's UNGA developments in a follow-on Blog edition.

Let's close for the time being as I must move forward with another day in the GFRC office. A Lakeland Collection consignor will be given priority along with the newly arrived gold.

I can also now confirm that the recently hinted at Mint State Liberty Seated quarter consignment is being prepared for shipment. Once the coins are in transit, a full list of offerings will be published.

Thanks again for the visit.

Be well!

 

 

 

September 23, 2025

Feeling Like an Archaeologist

and

Relentless Gold and Silver Price Increases

 

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

Let's start today's Blog edition by stating that there is much taking place within the GFRC business, though I must be opaque concerning those activities. We are certainly busy with orders, shipping, and the arrival of carefully approved consignments.

The GFRC consignor proceeds metric has increased to nearly $19,550,000 with a run at the $20,000,000 mark being possible by year end. The October 11 auction now stands at $300,000 in reserves with the overall lot quality suggesting a 70% sell through rate being achievable. U.S. gold sales have been incredibly robust with the last two consignments being complete sell outs. Luckily for our clients, another shipment will be arriving this week and should be ready for offer by the weekend.

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

 

Feeling Like an Archaeologist

Monday afternoon brought another outdoor work session as the focus shifts from clean-up, after the TipLine tree clearing, to landscaping nearly opened areas. Monday's target was the area surrounding the ledge outcrop and developing a strategy for water flow management given the area is quite steep and subject to erosion. As I stared and contemplated, the question became that of extending the ledge outcrop and potentially channeling the water flow across the ledge. But first, there was a need to determine the full extend of the outcrop and how the surrounding dirt could be positioned.

Nearly two hours were spent with an old chisel, a pair of pliers, and a broom towards removing accumulated soil and roots in the fissures followed by digging out the edges to discover how large this piece of ledge was. To my surprise, the fissures were quite deep and require considerable digging with the chisel to get at the last of the blueberry bush roots. Once the entire surface was carefully broomed, the following image was taken. The ledge continues to the right but is buried by centuries of soil accumulation. As a side note, the seeded area above the ledge is just starting to show signs of grass growth though much of the green color is weeds.

What is the strategy moving forward? The soil at the right side of the ledge will continue to be removed creating a sloped bank. That sloping area will be covered with weed mat and 1.5" crushed stone so that the water will be guided across the right side of the ledge. Stone will also be added at the top of the outcrop to hold the upper soil in place. More images will be shared as a final landscape solution is implemented.

 

Relentless Gold and Silver Price Increases

It is becoming clear that large firms and institutional investors are beginning to pile into the precious metals based on the increasing price action. Just this morning, both silver and gold are gain on the move with spot gold trading at nearly $3800 and silver quoting at $44.26. The respective $4000 and $50 milestones appear to be in reach by end of year if not sooner. Andy Schectman at Miles Franklin, who I follow religiously on YouTube, is now confirming that physical metal order rates are increasing from these larger firms, but the regular retail trade remains tepid. Major rallies are typically characterized by the in the know investors jumping in first followed by the retail crowd.

I've been talking gold and silver for several years with the current price ramp being rewarding for the investment risks that I've taken. Building a slow, but consistent, physical gold accumulation has been a prudent decision based on current price increases. Am I still adding to the stash? Yes, but not deviating from the core accumulation strategy of dollar cost averaging. Little by little, slow and steady, will provide long term gains, especially during the forthcoming retirement years.

For those that are curious about adding gold bullion holdings, I will have access to roughly 100 ounces of bullion gold across various issuing countries and denominations. The core question is the business model for handling this gold on a consignment basis as the consignor could easily take the bullion to a major precious metals house to cash out.

 

Dave's World Heat Pump Installations Today and Wednesday

Last spring, we contracted a local vendor entitled Dave's World to install heat pumps within the lower level of the homestead and our master bedroom. The workmanship was superior and the results most welcomed during the hot summer months. We've decided to add air conditioning to the two guest bedrooms and the GFRC office with Dave's World being on site on a few minutes to accomplish this task. It will be a busy day at the homestead...

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

With Dave's World due any minute at this point, it is best to wrap up today's ramblings.

I will be working in the office for most of the day as there is plenty to do in terms of shipping and other administrative tasks.

Thanks again for the visit.

Be well!

 

 

September 22, 2025

A $20 Gold Sell Out - More on the Way!

Gold and Silver Price Acceleration

and

GFRC Secures Wonderful Mint State Seated Quarter Consignment

 

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog as the final full week of September 2025 is upon us. We appreciate the ongoing readership.

This has been an amazing southern Maine autumn season so far as each day brings bright sunny skies. Sunday was no exception as I spent the entire afternoon clearing the last of the brush and large rocks out of the newly cleared area. This is an important milestone as the emphasis can now shift to preparing the upper section, by the ledge outcrop, for some creative landscaping. Yes, I was wearing an N95 mask the entire time while on Johnny2 and immediately took a shower upon entering the homestead to remove allergens from my hair. This morning, the hay fever symptoms are mild and without an impact to composing today's Blog edition.

Let's jump directly into the headline topics as I arose late due to watching several of the Charlie Kirk memorial speeches on YouTube before heading to bed. But before we go there, here is a William Butler Years quote that captured my attention this morning while checking FOX News headlines and a Bill Bennett opinion piece.

"The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity".

If curious as to why I've shared this quote, please take a few minutes to read Bennett's commentary. The situation with his son's university challenges as a conservative certainly ring true as someone who writes daily and has suppressed his convictions.

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/william-bennett-what-charlie-kirks-murder-tells-us-about-american-mind

 

A $20 Gold Sell Out - More on the Way!

Sunday's GFRC offering of another release of $20 St Gaudens has gone well with a another sellout. As of this morning, only the 1913-S $10 Indian remains available as all the double eagles have been sold. GFRC clients are not picking single pieces for purchase, but rather are buying multiple examples at once.

I'm pleased to announce that another $20 St Gaudens shipment will arrive to the office this week. The contents are more bullion centric with PCGS MS62 grades being prevalent. These will be offered first to those clients who have been active buyers in the recent two offerings.

 

Gold and Silver Price Acceleration

Another precious metal trading week starts with both silver and gold adding to recent gains. Gold is quoting at $3727/oz while silver is really starting to gain its mojo at $43.77.

We must remember that accelerating precious metal prices are not indications of the metals becoming more valuable, but rather that the U.S. dollar continues to lose its purchasing power. Many of us who are transferring wealth into the metals have come to realize that a global financial system reorganization is underway and are acting accordingly. Andrew Maguire said it so well this week during his latest Life From the Vault edition in that the COMEX is no longer a price setter, but rather a price follower. The leadership is now originating from the Shanghai metals exchange.

I could go on concerning this topic but need to wrap up as the 8:00 AM publishing time is rapidly approaching.

 

GFRC Secures Wonderful Mint State Seated Quarter Consignment

During the weekend, GFRC has begun working with a client for a substantial Mint State Liberty Seated quarter consignment that will ship in the next week of so. Our client is a busy person (and a car guy like me) and will be preparing the shipping documentation shortly. I believe this consignment will be well received by the community.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Little changes in the office as morning shipping is the next priority. Over the weekend, I did a $35,000 deal for regular inventory along with multiple $20 gold purchases. These lots will be assembled and queued for shipment as electronic payments arrive. Come the afternoon hours, I will be back outdoors working on initial landscaping preparations near the ledge outcrop. Regular business correspondence will be addressed after dinner.

Thank you again for the visit.

Be well!

 

 

 

September 21, 2025

Quality U.S. Gold Offerings to Consider

and

The Challenge of Landscaping Cleared Space

 

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog on a Sunday morning. As always, thank you for checking in.

I'll be honest...

Saturday's Blog composition was a struggle due to another hay fever attack. Calling in as a sick day would have been a better alternative as I went back to bed after the upload. Dale Miller had to remind me that the forthcoming GFRC auction is scheduled for October 11 and not August 11 as was initial listed in the headline. My concentration, or lack there of, was that bad. I'm feeling much better today and now taking Claritin to manage the symptoms. Last evening, we slept with the windows closed and the air conditioning on to filter the incoming air. Today's outdoor work will be done with an N95 mask as much as I hate wearing these masks with protective eye glasses.

Let's get to the day's primary headline topic which is a showcase gallery of quality large denomination U.S. gold from a constant supplier. Our consignor has consigned and sold nearly all of his numismatic TPG certified gold via GFRC and is now releasing the more bullion centric double eagles. The freshness of the releases is readily evident by the age of the PCGS holders. In today's gallery, the holders are consistently PCGS Gen 4.3 and 4.4 (2005-2011). If a lot is CAC approved, it was purchased with the green bean. One final reminder is that spot gold closed at $3686 on Friday as a reference point. Several of these offerings are better low mintage Philadelphia dates that still command a numismatic premium. For full disclosure, I've purchased two of the lots for my own physical stash as a privilege that is afforded to the dealer who handles these incoming shipments.

Here are the ten new pieces for consideration including the key date 1913-S $10 gold piece in choice circulated condition. In terms of First Right of Refusals, I have the time stamped emails and will be reaching out to those who made specific date requests once today's Blog is uploaded. All lots will also be immediately posted to the 30 Day Price List with full descriptions.

 

Premium United States Gold to Consider

1913-S ANACS EF45 G410 - $2150                                                1907 NGC MS63 G$20 - $4000    

        

   1910-D PCGS MS64 G$20 - $3950                                                1912 PCGS MS63+ G$20 - $4350    

        

   1913 PCGS MS63 G$20 - $4250                                                1914 PCGS MS63 G$20 - $4250    

        

        1915 PCGS MS63 G$20 - $4000                                                1922 PCGS MS63 CAC G$20 - $3950

        

1925 PCGS MS64 CAC G$20 - $4000                                           1925 PCGS MS64 G$20 - $3950    

        

 

The Challenge of Landscaping Cleared Space

For the next week, the back acreage focus will be on the recently cleared area behind the summer of 2025 constructed stone wall. To date, this downward sloping land has been mostly cleared of brush and larger rocks. A portion of the upper section has been seeded, but with drought conditions, little grass has appeared. The primary landscaping options are seeding grass, utilizing 1.5" crushed stone, or laying down wood chips. After studying the situation yesterday afternoon, the landscaping solution will be a combination of all three approaches.

For today's Blog, here are two baseline images of the upper and lower cleared sections as taken from a middle point behind the newly constructed stone wall. There is much time involved towards turning these areas into picturesque outcomes. Also a key consideration is the ongoing maintenance challenge from weed growth and erosion during heavy rain storms. Beauty, stability, and weed control are all equally important when designing a solution.

Moving forward, I will be sharing images from the back deck and today's vantage point as progress is made. That effort starts this afternoon by removing the residual weeds in the upper section and marking a downhill water drainage channel that will be filled in with 1.5" stone as a first step.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

I will be stationed in the GFRC office this morning to handle the incoming orders for the featured ten gold pieces. By noon time, I'm heading out to the back acreage to start working on the showcased landscaping challenge.

Thank you again for the visit.

Be well!

 

 

 

September 20, 2025

Two Incremental October 11 Auction Lots

New U.S. Gold Consignment Gallery on Sunday

and

Silver Closes Above $43/Oz

 

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

Southern Maine temperatures are moving down the autumn season curve as the current reading is only 39F with today's high forecasted to be in the high 60s. Sunny skies will continue with no substantial amounts of rain in the 10 day forecast.

Friday brought a full outdoors working day and I could not be happier other than another bought of hay fever this morning. Conditions were quite dusty as the ground is bone dry at this point. I've never been to the point of wearing an N95 mask on Johnny2, but this idea is being given consideration based on how I feel currently. This will not be a long Blog edition.

Let's get to the headlines, shall we?

 

Two Incremental August 11 Auction Lots

The August 11 auction will be augmented with two incremental Seated dime lots from the Cleveland Collection. These lots arrived on Thursday and were quickly processed with images available for display today. The 1843-O and 1860-O are great in demand dates, especially with CAC approval. Reserves and descriptions will be added to the online auction catalog this weekend.

Incremental Cleveland Collection Lots for October 11 Auction

1843-O F-101 PCGS VF30 CAC 10C                                                   1860-O PCGS F12 CAC 10C  

        

 

New U.S. Gold Consignment Galley on Sunday

The First Right of Refusal response resulting from Friday's preview was quite strong with the potential for another sell out of the newly arrived St Gaudens double eagle consignment. Pricing approval has been received. Today brings images processing towards a gallery showcase in Sunday morning's Blog edition.

 

Silver Closes Above $43/Oz

After a slow start to trading in London, silver enjoyed elevated demand during the U.S. trading hours and closed above the $43 mark. This week ending close above another milestone is a bullish signal with the $45 level being less than a 5% increase.

Gold prices were also bid upward on Friday afternoon with a close at $3686/oz. The gold and silver mining sector responded positively to both metals with the GDX ETF closing at $72.36, a record level for the past 20 years or so. Those of us who invested early in the precious metals mining sector are being rewarded.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

My hay fever allergy symptoms are quite bad this morning and it has been a struggled to get this Blog edition composed. Once uploaded, I may head back to bed for a nap before spending the balance of the morning in the shipping department.

Thanks again for the visit.

Be well!

 

 

 

September 19, 2025

Morgan Stanley CIO Recommends a 60/20/20 Investment Portfolio

and

Another $20 St Gaudens Consignment to Consider

 

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog as we wrap up another autumn week. Yes, I am feeling much better and energized this morning. Thank you for the visit.

Today edition will focus on one of my favorite topics, namely gold.

Momentum is accelerating towards ownership of the precious metal as an inflation hedge along with its stellar appreciation during the past two years. Wall Street is finally recognizing, in public, that there are multiple forces working in favor of gold ownership. I've spoken about these forces on occasion in the Blog. Let's summarize those today.

- The globe is moving towards a multi-polar world with separate financial systems. The BRICS nations are embracing gold as their primary settlement currency and nucleus for financial lending. The west is still attempting to salvage the U.S. Treasury market and threatening sanctions via the SWIFT system.

- Gold now exceeds U.S. Treasuries in terms of foreign reserve holdings.

- Major western countries are in a vicious debt cycle with the U.K, France, and Germany painting a pictures of what could be in store for the United States. Long duration bond yields continue to climb given heighten inflation expectations as governments have no option but to print and tax.

- Inflation is the only politically acceptable alternative to deal with growing debt spirals, the United States included as we've just witnessed with the Federal Reserve favoring economic employment via a rate cut while inflation is running ahead of expectations.

This morning I learned that the Morgan Stanley Chief Investment Officer has shifted to a 60/20/20 investment allocation recommendation for client portfolios You are welcome to read the online article at this link.

https://www.reuters.com/markets/wealth/morgan-stanley-cio-favors-602020-portfolio-strategy-with-gold-inflation-hedge-2025-09-16/

A 60/20/20 portfolio replaces the traditional 60/40 investment allocation of 60% equities and 40% bonds with some fine tuning based on age and investment horizon. The new recommendation takes the 40% bond total and shifts 20% to gold.

We must step back for a moment and contemplate the profound nature of this recommendation. The global equity and bond markets are huge. Checking in with AI Copilot for specifics, the U.S. equity market is reported to be $62.8 trillion and the U.S. bond market is $46.0 trillion. What about gold?

AI Copilot reports that the GLOBAL gold market is $1.3 trillion. Adding in the gold and silver mining equities brings another $0.3 trillion. There in lies the opportunity for gold prices to escalate quickly if investment managers begin moving a portion of the traditional bond market allocations into gold and precious metal mining stocks. Simple said, there is not enough gold to service this type of allocation shift at current prices.

The forecasts for $5000 to $6000 gold don't seem to be that far fetched anymore... Just something to reflect upon on a Friday morning.

 

Another $20 St Gaudens Consignment to Consider

GFRC is fortunate to have a strong relationship with an individual that holds a substantial United States numismatic gold hoard. Over the past two years, we have been slowly liquidating his smaller denominations and now are shifting to his TPG certified $20 gold pieces.

Thursday brought the arrival of another consignment shipment. These lots have been photographed and entered in the COIN system with an offer price recommendation submitted to the consignor last evening.

Following is a group photo of the new arrivals with a number of better Philadelphia dates which will be priced accordingly. First Right of Refusals are welcomed and will be responded to later this afternoon or evening once I have offer price approval. Clicking on the below image will provide access to a slightly higher resolution version.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Today brings a near full day on Johnny2 working outdoor in the back acreage park. The goal is to remove all the brush, branches, and sawn logs towards beautification of the area behind the new stone wall. Diane and I are excited about sitting on the back deck and being area to view this area fully landscaped with wood chips.

There is no shipping today and I will not be in the office to take phone calls or respond to emails on a quick basis. Come the lunch hour and after dinner, I will do my best to catch up on orders and correspondences.

Please check back for Saturday's Blog for several images of the back acreage park progress. Maine weather will be sunny but cool and bringing ideal autumn working conditions.

Thank you, as always, for checking in at the Daily Blog. I hope that today's visit was worthwhile.

Be well!

 

 

 

September 18, 2025

A Brief Daily Blog Edition - Fall Hay Fever Arrives

 

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

I'm in a low energy state this morning as Fall allergies have kicked in. My tolerance to allergens continues to diminish with age and this morning's autumn hay fever attack has sapped my energy. Just in the past two years, I've developed a reaction to lobster meat along with pizza bread containing gluten. The latter may be the result of eating a constant keto diet where starches are dramatically reduced. Anyways, I'm not at the top of my game this morning which includes low creativity.

There is not much to discuss presently. I was able to spend four hours on Wednesday afternoon on Johnny2 towards clearing the rough area behind the new stone walls. The 16 yards of loam tailings have been nearly consumed as the area has seen all surface rocks removed and is now level. The next step is placing the grapple on the tractor and moving the residual brush down to the compost dump site. I was able to clear enough wood chips to open up a path to that location.

Sales for the Sooner Collection Liberty Seated halves have started with two pieces on hold and a request for a "dealer wholesale" price for a third. The latter requester will be disappointed as we do not discount newly posted coins, especially when so nice.

The shipping department will be active today along with a visit to a Windham BoA notary for validating a Proof of Loss document towards securing an insurance claim for one of our lost shipments. Losing a shipment is such a hassle in terms of time and documentation. Multiple losses even worse....

Gold is trending at $3670/oz and is consolidating its recent gains. Silver is quoting a tad under $42. Equity markets are liking the Fed's 0.25% interest rate cut and showing a 1% increase at the opening bell. I was wrong about buy the rumor and sell the news. It appears the 25 basis point cut was a Goldilocks moment for investors.

That is it for today's ramblings.

Thanks again for stopping by.

Be well!

 

 

September 17, 2025

A Sooner Seated Half Dollar Gallery Showcase

New Orleans Collection Issue Price Reductions

and

GFRC Shipping Policy Update

 

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog on a Wednesday morning. We appreciate the ongoing patronage for both these ramblings and GFRC numismatic offerings.

When experiencing life with a host of goals and commitments, time becomes such a precious asset. Time can be allocated in a host of ways. Accomplishing daily goals includes serving the GFRC business platform and handling client requests while hoping to find short periods of enjoyment when working on personal projects. What I'm trying to say in an eloquent manner is that the GFRC workload is crowding out my time in the back acreage park. For example, Tuesday brought an office day from 6:00 AM through 2:30 PM leaving a bit more than two hours on Johnny2. Southern Maine weather has been ideal for working outdoors and it seems like a pity to be sitting in an office processing coins or conducting the usual administrative task that are associated with operating a business of this size.

My Wednesday started at 3:30 AM, yes that early as I am targeting to be outdoors by 1:00 PM as another fine weather day is in the cards. Consignment requests continue to arrive via emails and I am being cautious as to what will be supported during the best time of the year in Maine. For those who were disappointed in not gaining access to this weekend's U.S. gold offerings, the same consignor has shipped an incremental lot of 20 St Gaudens that will arrive by the end of week. A Mint State Liberty Seated quarter consignment has also been offered and we are working through those details.

 

A Sooner Seated Half Dollar Gallery Showcase

Today's primary headline is a wonderful Sooner Collection consignment that was insourced at the Oklahoma City ANA with a portion being submitted to CAC. Those Seated halves are back which presents an opportunity to showcase the entire consignment. I would suggest that Liberty Seated half dollar fans take a close look at these new offerings. There are pieces previously purchased from GFRC along with refreshly CAC approved 1871 NGC AU58 CAC Fatty lot that is an incredible gem. CAC is very conservative at this point as I thought the 1854-O and 1867 would sticker, but they did not.

All of the following Sooner halves are now posted to the 30 Day Price List. So please consider a shopping visit as these duplicate halves need to find new homes.

 

Delightful Sooner Collection Seated Halves to Consider

      1849 WB-5 NGC MS62 50C - $1650                                              1854-O WB-5 NGC MS62 50C- $1200    

        

      1855-O NGC MS64 CAC 50C - $3700                                        1856-O WB-14 NGC MS61 CAC 50C - $1400

        

1866-S No Motto PCGS EF45 50C - $3000                                           1867 PCGS MS62 50C - $1600       

        

1871 WB-8 NGC AU58 CAC Fatty 50C - $850                                        1873 Arrows PCGS AU53 50C - $550       

        

 

New Orleans Collection Issue Price Reductions

Yesterday brought contact from the New Orleans Collection with a request to drop prices on his remaining lots on the GFRC price lists. That request was serviced this morning with the attractive priced offerings now at the top of the 30 Day Price List. Following is a showcase of those lots and the discounted numbers.

 

1847-O WB-2 PCGS MS65 50C - $16,500

    1842-O Sm Date PCGS VG08 CAC 25C - $1375                                        1898-O PCGS MS64 25C - $2850                   

        

    1845-O WB-9 PCGS MS64 50C - $7150                                           1857-O WB-3 PCGS MS64 50C - $5350    

        

 

GFRC Shipping Policy Update

Let's move to the GFRC shipping situation. As many are aware, GFRC has suffered losses in the USPS system. We are presently under a gag order to not discuss details as USPS investigates those losses.

Every shipping loss brings a sizable documentation workload to be made whole (less deductibles) via our insurance coverage. Diane and I have studied our shipping procedures and made modifications that will be noted upon shipments arrivals. For insured shipments greater than $5000, we are now using Priority Mail with Registered tracking. Registered transport is the safest option that USPS offers with recorded signatures at each hand-off point. Express Mail, though fast, has its chain of ownership limitations as we unfortunately discovered on multiple occasions. Of course, Registered mail brings longer transport times before clients received their purchases. We ask for your understanding as losing a shipment impacts both the seller and the buyer.

Most importantly, we have discontinued "ship aheads" for packages valued over $5000. As part of the insurance claim process and supporting documentation, evidence of payment establishes shipment value. Whether a check, Zelle transfer, PayPal payment, or credit card receipt, there is clear documentation of the shipment's insured value that supports an insurance claim.

For those clients who have become used to GFRC shipping coins ahead of payment, please recognize that we are no longer supporting this policy for purchases of $5000 or more. We must have payment before shipping. This is unfortunate but a necessary change to our policy that is effective immediately..

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Shipping department activity is next on the GFRC agenda followed by other normal COIN system data entry that will consume the entire morning. In the queue is a Lakeland Collection consignment that has been photographed with image processing next.

Spot gold is trending at $3669/oz over in London trading while silver has seen a sharp pullback to $41.50. The outcome of this week's FOMC meeting and interest rate decision is weighing on the equity markets.

OK, another Blog edition is in the history books. Thanks again for the visit.

Be well!

 

 

 

September 16, 2025

Spot Gold Attempts $3700 Mark

Important 1860-O Dime Surfaces at OKC ANA

and

NH Coin Expo is Approaching

 

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

A fully consumed life is a happy life per my way of thinking. There is always more on the "let's get done" list than time allows which means there are leftovers for the following day!

Monday brought an active shipping department, the posting of premium Sooner Collection Liberty Seated halves to the 30 Day Price List, and the sale of the final $20 gold lot from the recent consignment. Yes, the $20 gold has experienced a complete sell out. I still found several afternoon hours to enjoy spreading wood chips on the back acreage trails with Johnny2. A decision has been made to not bring back Dave Wilkinson's excavator on site this week. Rather, a new strategy was developed for landscaping the disturbed areas behind the newly constructed 2025 stone walls. Rather than tearing up and leveling the surface with an excavator, which will yield an untold number of incremental rocks, I've order 16 yards of loam tailings and another 16 yards of crushed 1.5" gravel to coat this area before spreading wood chips. Think of the solution as a sandwich of loam tailing, gravel, and wood chips. The loam tailing, which are 60% small rocks and sticks, are the first layer which makes an ideal fill material for the divots and uneven surfaces. Once the loam tailings have smoothed the surface, the gravel will be applied as a weed barrier along with further smoothing. The final step is spreading the wood chips. Any larger rocks can be dug out with the backhoe and moved onto one of the many walking trail side rock formations.

Bringing an excavator on site is a big deal as the heavy equipment will tear up nicely packed stone paths and the like. After cleaning up from the prior Dave Wilkinson and TipLine Tree Service visits, I'd rather not go through that process again.

Let's shift the commentary to precious metals as spot gold is making a run at the $3700/oz mark. As of 7:00 AM ET, gold has peaked at $3699/oz and is currently trading at $3695 on the London exchange. Silver is holding yesterday's gains and quoting at $42.77. Could we see $43 silver today when U.S. trading opens?

The new news in the gold space comes from China. The Chinese government is moving gold into HQLA status and thus marking gold employable in the repo market in lieu of U.S. Treasury bonds. There is a lot to unpack in that statement. HQLA is an acronym for High Qualify Liquid Asset. For the curious in the community, you can visit the Bank of International Settlements website for a concise definition of the characteristic of a HQLA. Here is the link.

https://www.bis.org/basel_framework/chapter/LCR/30.htm?tldate=20191226&inforce=20191215

Bottom line, the Chinese are taking another concrete step towards replacing U.S. Treasuries with gold as the predominate liquid asset for financial transactions and repurchase agreements on a multi-national basis. This step will reduce the price volatility of gold just as a U.S. revaluation would accomplish. For gold investors, the idea of an asymmetrical trade is quite enticing.

 

Important 1860-O Dime Surfaces at OKC ANA

At the recently concluded OKC ANA, GFRC was offered an attractive 1860-O dime graded PCGS EF45. I've not made mention of this fact since the dime was submitted to CAC for stickering at the show. Well, the dime did not sticker and is now back in the office and immediately available for placement in an advanced Liberty Seated dime collection. Here are the images.

1860-O F-101 PCGS EF45 - Offered at $6950

 

NH Coin Expo is Approaching

Looking ahead into October, GFRC will have yet another busy month with the October 11 GFRC Online Auctions event that closes on October 18th followed by attending the NH Coin Expo show. The "Manchester Show" is my favorite coin show of the entire year for a host of reasons. First is the two hour drive from Raymond office, second is Ernie Botte who runs one of the best coin shows in the business in terms of dealer support and security. The show venue is connected to a lovely Double Tree hotel. Across the street are many quality restaurants for relaxing with numismatic friends.

The Fall event takes place on October 24-25 and is well attended by major dealers, which in turn draws a substantial crowd.

Here is the bourse floor map with GFRC at its usual Table #608 location.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Today will be like yesterday with morning shipping followed by posting the 1860-O dime to the 30 Day Price List and other office duties. Come the mid-afternoon hour, I will be back on Johnny2 to enjoy two plus hours of spreading more wood chips on the walking trails. Since Diane and I are religiously walking the trails each day, the addition of wood chips makes the experience that much more enjoyable.

Stay tuned to the Daily Blog is GFRC is working on another substantial $20 St Gaudens gold consignment for those that missed out on the Sunday offerings.

And with that I shall close today's ramblings. Thank you again for the ongoing visits and patronage.

Be well!!

 

 

 

September 15, 2025

Insanely Great says the GFRC $20 Gold Consignor

October 11 GFRC Online Auction is Ready!

and

A Massive Wood Chip Pile and More

 

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog on a Monday morning. Thank you so much for finding your way back to these ramblings.

We've reached the September 2025 mid-point and so far it has been a beautiful Maine autumn season. Sure, we could definitely use more rains to increase the green landscape coloring but we've secure enough precipitation to hold the status quo.

Sunday morning was downright wild in terms of the $20 St Gaudens showcase gallery and morning orders. Immediately after uploading the Blog, the orders began to pour in and by early afternoon all but a single 1907 PCGS MS63 double eagle had been sold. The 1907 High Relief was one of the first lots to be ordered by a long time GFRC client. Towards mid-afternoon, I sent a COIN account report to our consignor to share the remarkable progress. He opened his response with "Insanely great!" Yes, it was a great GFRC sales event and an acknowledgment that the community understands the importance of holding physical gold as either a pure bullion play or a combination of numismatic and bullion influenced pieces. Our consignor is considering whether he will release more as capital gain tax implications must also be factored into the equation.

By mid-afternoon, Diane and I jumped into the 718 Boxster and drove to our favorite ice cream shop in Windham. The top down Porsche ride always puts a smile on my face. After the treat, we took a really long way back home to enjoy a fantastic day in a life.

Changing subject to finances and the equity markets, I'm contemplating selling most of my non precious metal equity positions today. There are several reasons. First is history does repeat itself. The Federal Reserve will cut interest rates this week during a period where the S&P is cruising to new all time highs. Those new highs are being driven by retail investors while CEO and other insiders have been selling. . Second is the irrational exuberance that is becoming evident for AI related stocks. I clearly remember the 1999 going into 2000 scenario where any "dot.com" stock was hitting the market with ridiculous valuations only on projected future earnings. We have an equity market that is at an all time high while the economy has moved into a stagflation period. The Fed will cut rates due to its employment mandate while inflation remains hot. I believe it is time to take money off the table as further S&P gains appear to be limited. One last point is in order. Traders love to buy the rumor and sell on the news. I've seen this pattern happen so often and would not be surprised to see a market drop once the rate cut is announced. If I'm completely wrong, then what has been lost? The risk/reward ratio is too tilted to risk at this point.

Gold and silver are steady in London trading with gold changing hands at $3646/oz and silver up a few cents to $42.16. The fact that the precious metals have held their recent gains through the weekend and into a new week's trading is quite telling.

 

October 11 GFRC Online Auction is Ready!

It is official! The October 11 GFRC Online Auction is ready to go other than a single 1876 Large/Small Date PCGS EF45 CAC half dollar from a consignor at the OKC ANA. We will get that piece priced and described during the next 24 hours.

Len Augsburger has shared his perspective for both collections at the Auction link.

There are now four weeks remaining before this GFRC auction goes live. I hope that you will take time to review the White Pine and Island City Type Set offerings as there is a ton of great lots to be had. This auction may be considered small but the premium quality is huge! Collectors can bid with confidence that there will be not negative surprises upon auction lot receipts.

 

A Massive Wood Chip Pile and More

I made a promise that the TipLine Tree Service wood chip pile would be shared in today's Blog. Well, here are images of not one but two wood chip piles located on the crossing trail which provides access to a cluster of tall maple trees that were blocking our view of Bradbury Mountain Sate Park. That view has been established and it will take days of Johnny2 transport to move this amount of wood chips to the walking trails. This image does not accurately share the wood chip pile size as the height is 4.5' with a length of 12' and was taken looking uphill. The effort to move this amount of chips will be worthwhile as walking on a wood chip carpet is heaven as compared to crushed stone.

If the first pile was not enough, there is a second wood pile close by that I've begun to pull from to open up egress through the crossing trail that runs parallel to our coastal horizon view.

 

Finally, there are some wonderful straight logs that would be ideal for a wood mill or firewood. This wood is free for anyone who had a four wheel drive pickup and 15' trailer. I will be glad to drop these logs onto your trailer with Johnny2. The log pile at background right is only good for firewood and has aged for over a year.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Today finds us back in the shipping department to start the day. The major question is how will we ship those packages valued over $5000. The USPS shipping shadow is absolutely troubling.

Come mid-afternoon, I will be on Johnny2 moving wood chips to the trails.

Thank you again for the visit.

Be well!

 

 

 

September 14, 2025

$20 St Gaudens Gold in Early PCGS Holders to Consider!

 

Greetings on a quiet Sunday morning and welcome to the Daily Blog. We are thrilled with your ongoing visit. Thank for this courtesy.

Saturday brought a lovely Maine autumn day with temperatures hitting the mid-70s and partially cloudy skies. Towards dinner time, the clouds turned dark with a few rain drops. My day was consumed as advertised in yesterday's Blog. We managed to get eight USPS Priority shipments out the door that resulted in a trip to the Windham post office. The Windham city center was hustling and bustling all of the major chain stores are located in one crowded area off RT302. This includes, Walmart, Home Depot, Lowe's, Hannafords, Staples, CVS, and a host of the usual fast food restaurants.

After lunch, it was time for the dreaded Johnny2 oil change. From a procedures perspective, the oil change is not that much more difficult that a lawn tractor. However, gain access to the engine is a bit more challenging with the front loader on the machine. Of course, an oil change is a messy experience and requires close attention to avoid spilling the black waster oil.

After the oil change, the next task was repairing all the property damage brought about by Dave Wilkinson and TipLine's equipment and transports. The access path had been torn up by dump trucks pulling trailers with excavators. The crushed stone areas required repacking by Johnny2's weight. The last task of the day was clearing the crossing trail of debris after the substantial clearing efforts by TipLine Tree Service. I forget to take a picture of the massive wood chip pile for today's Blog. But don't worry, I'll have an image for Monday's edition.

Saturday also brought a return shipment from CAC NJ with dismal approval results. I've promised to not call ball and strikes in the Blog but will only indicate that CAC stickering is really tight or that I've lost my sense of what the characteristics of a premium coin are.

After happy hour and a grilled haddock dinner, it was time to head back to the GFRC office to process the $20 St Gaudens images that I've been promising. I made it through that task without falling asleep and uploaded the images to the server. It had been a long day.

 

$20 St Gaudens Gold in Early PCGS Holders to Consider!

The highlight of today's Blog edition is the $20 St Gaudens gold gallery showcase with nearly all offerings being in early PCGS Rattler, OGH, and blue label Gen 4.4 holders. There are a few CAC approved lots as purchased by our consignor. When viewing the images, please realize that our consignor has not submitted the non-stickered lots to CAC. These lots are as purchased years ago with most pricing being a function of spot gold plus a small premium. Let's remember that spot gold is presently at the $3650 level as a baseline.

There were several FRoR on this group and both individuals have made their selections. These lots will be posted to the 30 Day Price List today with holds on the sold coins.

The really cool lot is the 1907 High Relief $20 with its unique hub design and highly detailed motifs. The MS60 grade is a function of some reverse surface chatter at the sun and adjacent rays. Otherwise, the obverse is quite pretty and pleasing.

1907 High Relief PCGS MS60 Rattler G$20 - $18,000

   1907 PCGS MS63 G$20 Rattler - $4150                                             1907 PCGS MS62 G$20 OGH - $3850  

        

   1907 NGC MS62 CAC G$20 - $4000                                             1910 PCGS MS64 G$20 Gen 4.3 - $3985

        

 1910 PCGS MS62 G$20 Rattler - $3750                                           1910 PCGS MS61 G$20 Rattler - $3750  

        

1911-D/D PCGS MS64 CAC G$20 Gen 4.4 - $4500                                  1920 PCGS MS63 G$20 Gen 4.4 - $4150           

        

 1925 PCGS MS62 G$20 Rattler - $3700                                           1927 PCGS MS62 G$20 Rattler - $3700  

        

1928 PCGS MS62 CAC G$20 Rattler - $3850                                        1928 PCGS MS62 G$20 Rattler - $3700     

        

 

Island City Type Set Auction Descriptions Posting Today

Another Saturday milestone was the arrival of Len Augsburger's descriptions for the initial 40 Island City Type Set lots. Those descriptions will be posted to the online auction catalog at some point this morning. This leaves the newly added 8 gold lots and the 1860-O PCGS MS63+ Seated dollar to secure Len's authoritative evaluations.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Today brings a slower paced day with some time in the office followed by an afternoon session on Johnny2 spreading wood chips on the walking trails. The difference between walking on crushed stone versus wood chips is dramatic and brings a sense of urgency to get our wood chip piles spread throughout the trails.

Thanks again for today's visit. I'll be monitoring emails and text messages throughout the day for potential orders.

Be well!

 

 

 

September 13, 2025

GFRC Shipping and Johnny2 Oil Change

 

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

The autumn season is moving along quickly, actually much too quickly as we approach the midpoint of September 2025. Seasonal colors are starting to appear as the days quickly grow shorter at the Maine northern latitude. Today's sunrise occurred at 6:19 AM while sunset takes place prior to 7:00 PM. Come the end of September, we will lose nearly another hour of daylight.

There is little to ramble about in today's edition. I watched Erika Kirk's moving tribute to her husband Kirk over breakfast this morning. If you have yet to watch, please do. Little else needs to be said about the importance of God, family, and country.

Today brings two goals. The first is a substantial amount of GFRC shipping that will be processed once the day's Blog is uploaded. Eight USPS Priority packages are heading to a post office counter by the noon cut-off time. Afterwards, the time has arrived for a Johnny2 oil change to enable the clean-up efforts after TipLine Tree Service did their job of taking down a host of trees and converting most of the wood into huge wood chip piles.

I believe that Len will have the Island City Type Set descriptions completed by the end of the weekend. Therefore, we are ahead of schedule for the start of the October 11 auction event.

Remaining in the GFRC queue is the $20 gold lot consignment which requires image processing. Offer prices have been approved. Those images will be completed either this evening or on Sunday with this new offering posting on Monday.

One consignment arrived this week from the Lakeland Collection which will be processed during the coming week. Afterwards, the GFRC queue is empty and will stay that way in the near term. I've decided to keep the GFRC consignment window closed for the time being. Simply said, I owe it to myself and Diane to take some time off from the constant GFRC demands and instead focus on enjoying the Maine autumn season and our great outdoors. We have not driven the 718 Boxster enough since its delivery at the end of May, as an example. Between family visits, coin shows, and daily GFRC time demands, we never did take that day drive to the Owl's Head Transportation Museum.

This is the extent of the day's ramblings. We wish you a pleasant weekend.

Be well!

 

 

September 12, 2025

Island City Type Set Auctions Reserves are Posted

Showcasing Incremental Island City Auction Lots

Price Reduction for the Fortin 1849-O PCGS MS64 CAC Dime

and

Mission Accomplished - A Wider Coastal Horizon View

 

Greetings on a Friday morning and welcome to a regular Daily Blog edition. We appreciate your patience while I was hanging out with TipLine Tree Service. Thank you for the visit.

Before we go any further, I do wish to state that the assassination of Charlie Kirk still has me deeply saddened. This feel like the United States of America is experiencing a Martin Luther King moment with the associated turmoil. When conservatives become targeted by deadly violence, our country is moving into a dangerous place in time. Those on the left who are cheering Charlie Kirk's demise are blinded by ideology and do not understand the long term ramifications of these types of actions. Enough said.

It is good to be back in the office and composing a Daily Blog edition. The past two days have been hectic with after dinner shipping and order handling. On a positive note, yesterday was a fabulous Maine autumn day with blue skies and perfect temperatures for working outdoors. Probably the most memorable point is a bit of bonding with the TipLine crew as they did one heck of a job clearing a host of tall maple trees while also cleaning up older downed trees on the crossing trail that connects the northern and southern trails. In a subsequent Blog edition, I will share an image of the massive wood chip pile that resulted from the chipping of countless maple trees.

Let's move to numismatics....

 

Island City Type Set Auctions Reserves are Posted

The star for the day is the Island City Collection (Chip Nimsgern) as we move towards finalizing his Type Set auction preparations.

The term "star" is used as Chip has secured one of the highest number of GFRC-Gem quality ratings that I can remember. His type set is a marvelous assemblage of top quality pieces that were hand selected for their eye appeal and strict originality. On a numerical basis, 25 of the 48 lots are rated Gems without a single Original or Near-Choice Original quality rating. I can't stress enough how well-constructed this type set release is! Our congratulations go out to Chip for a truly outstanding numismatic effort. I'm personally quite pleased to have the opportunity to handle the set's auction presentation.

Blog readers are invited to visit the Auction link to view all 48 lots within the Island City Type Set. Reserves are now posted and a very fair for the quality. I hope that you place October 11 on your calendar as this will be a substantial auction along with the White Pine $5 gold.

Len reports making good progress with descriptions and we hope to be posting those within the matter of days.

 

Showcasing Incremental Island City Auction Lots

At the Oklahoma City ANA, Chip dropped off 40 pieces which were first photographed and posted to the online auction catalog. Afterwards, he shipped another 8 lots which are showcased next and also posted within the online catalog. His gold pieces are stunning and hopefully my images will do them justice,

Included with each image is my proposed auction reserve that must be approved by Chip. We may make some minor fine tuning, so please be aware of this fact as you are witnessing an online auction being assembled in real time.

Island City's Newest Auction Lots

      1836 Script 8 PCGS AU58 CAC G$2.5 - $3150                                      1925-D PCGS MS64+ CAC G$2.5 - $1350         

        

1854 PCGS AU55 CAC G$3 - $2250                                             1912 PCGS MS64 CAC G$5 - $3600

        

1847 PCGS AU50 CAC G$10 - $2650                                           1901-S PCGS MS64 CAC G$10 - $2650

        

1907 PCGS MS62 CAC G$10 - $2850                                           1860-O PCGS MS63+ CAC $1 - $6000

        

 

Price Reduction for the Fortin 1849-O PCGS MS64 CAC Dime

Only a few Liberty Seated dime from my personal collection remain on the price list and it is time to lower prices towards moving these to new homes. Today brings a price reduction for the 1849-O F-101a PCGS MS64 CAC dime that is the web-book plate coin and a condition census example. Following is that piece and the new offer price. As usual, GFRC images are unable to illustrates the rich frosted luster as this is a difficult coin to photograph.

For the curious collectors, there are no auction records for the Fortin dime as purchased directly from Legend when it first appeared on the market. At the time of purchase, it was the finest known. All of the PCGS price guide auction records are for the second PCGS MS64 1849-O dime, a Small O F-104b example struck from lapped dies.

1849-O F-101a PCGS MS64 CAC 10C - $16,000

 

Mission Accomplished - A Wider Coastal Horizon View

I'm quite proud to be presenting a back deck image of our elongated coastal horizon view as photographed on Thursday afternoon.

The clearing of the coastal horizon has been a long term project with the first step being the construction of a cross trail path to gain access to those tall trees that were blocking the horizon. I've been working on this project, along with Dave Wilkinson, and TipLine Tree Service for several years. Yesterday brought many aspects of the project together with a final push to clear at least six oversized maples trees. One could hear the sound of chain saws and the grinding of a commercial grade chipper throughout the morning and into early afternoon. When the cutting and chipping was done, the owner of TipLIne (Chris) requested that I go to the back deck to check that all the view blocking trees had been removed. What a joy to take that first look at a much wider coastal view as shown in the following image. The "hump" that is close to the center of the image is Bradbury Mountain State Park which is 486 feet above sea level.

Clicking on the image will provide access to a higher resolution version. If you do have a look, please note that the area behind the gazebo has been fully landscaped with wood chips and 1.5" crushed stone. Now the challenging is developing a landscaping strategy for the unfinished area behind the new stone wall. A fair amount of this area is across the property line and Dodson neighbor land. Therefore I will be limiting the landscaping effort and letting a portion return to its natural state.

A Wider Coastal Horizon View

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Today brings another great weather day, however, there is lots of backlogged office work to get done since being outdoors for two days. First on the agenda is processing the recent $20 gold consignment images and getting those gold offerings posted to the price list. Consignment checks need to be prepared and mailed along with some residual August auction shipping that will go out on Saturday morning.

So where are the precious metals this morning? Spot gold is trading over in London at and even $3650/oz for starters. The big news of the day is that silver has broken through the $42 mark with a quote of $42.16 prior to uploading today's Blog edition. The silver miner stocks are on a tear including PAAS, WPM, AG, and HL being my favorites in the Merrill Lynch equity portfolio,

 

 

September 11, 2025

TipLine Tree Service - Day 2 Arrives

 

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog on a Thursday morning. Thank you for returning to these ongoing GFRC and homestead updates.

I'm running short of time this morning after preparing 5 outgoing lots in the shipping queue. All online orders have been responded to.

This will be a quick Blog update followed by heading to the shower and then outdoors for the TipLine arrival.

The first image was taken yesterday morning and shows TipLine at work chipping smaller trees. The wood chip pile, which is one of many, is quite substantial.

 

This second image was taken at 5:00 PM with long shadows already appearing through the barn. An arrow marks the newly uncovered coastal horizon view after a day's work.

 

Today brings the removal of tall maples (on the right) that are blocking a clean view of Bradbury Mt in the distance. Again the amount of wood chips being generated is huge. The challenge is getting TipLine to build the piles in a location that is easily accessible with Johnny2. Chris, the owner, is a weak communicator and pretty much dumps piles where he wishes. Therefore I need to stay on top of where the commercial chipper is being moved.

That is it for today.

Thanks again for the visit.

Be well!

 

 

 

September 10, 2025

Coastal View Expansion with TipLine Tree Service

 

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog on a Wednesday morning. Thank you for checking back on GFRC and homestead happenings.

Today brings TipLine Tree Service on site for two days of coastal view expansion. A host of trees will be cut and chipped across these two days. The wood chips will be ideal for further lining our walking trail.

There is no GFRC shipping today. Rather, I will be back in the office by mid-afternoon and will prepare shipping for Thursday morning's transport to the post office by Diane. All overnight orders have been responded to.

Over on the auction link, the Island City attributions and short descriptions have been completed. Len has the template file for adding his long descriptions. The October 11 auction event is in good shape. I've also photographed all the $20 gold that was recently consigned and will be processing images this evening.

After a slow Tuesday, gold has resumed its upward trend with a spot quote at $3658 as the Blog is composed. Do we sense that the U.S. dollar's value demise is accelerating given current food price increases and the unrelenting climb of precious metals?

My apology, but this is the extent of today's ramblings as TipLine will be here in a few minutes to get the work day started.

Thank you again for the visit.

Be well.

 

 

 

September 8, 2025

White Pine $5 Gold Auction Descriptions Posted

$20 Rattler Gold Offer Prices are Approved

and

Gold Punches Through $3600

 

Greetings on a September Monday morning and welcome to the Daily Blog. As always, your ongoing visits are what fuel these daily ramblings.

A new week arrives with lots to get done in the GFRC office along with a major back acreage tree clearing event come Wednesday and Thursday. From the homestead building structure perspective, Diane has secure a husband and wife window cleaning team to wash the accumulated air pollution off our sun room enclosure. Second is a dryer vent cleaning specialist to ensure that there is no lint build up in our long vent tubing run in the attic. Proper maintenance is paramount for keeping the homestead building in as new condition as possible regardless of construction during 1985.

Sunday brought a second full day in the GFRC office with much accomplished. The financial portion of the COIN database is now up to date along with loading the $20 gold PCGS Rattler lot into the COIN system and preparing a pricing proposal. This morning's shipping was also partially staged. By 4:30 PM, the basement sound room was calling my name and I could not resist 45 minutes of wide dynamic range listening pleasure. Afterwards, Diane and I spent happy hour playing an intense Rummikub match. At this point, we are equally matched concerning skills and strategy with the luck of draw being the deciding factor on who emerges victorious.

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

 

White Pine $5 Gold Auction Descriptions Posted

The October 11 White Pine and Island City auction is approaching quickly and opens for bidding in a tad over 30 days.

I'm pleased to report that Len Augsburger completed the White Pine $5 Liberty gold lot descriptions on Sunday. His numismatic assessments are now posted at the Auction link.

Len is positioned to start preparing the Island City Type Set descriptions, but first I must complete the die variety attributions. To keep the momentum going, the attributions will be finalized by Tuesday.

Also on the agenda for today is photography of the incremental Island City gold pieces, and the exciting 1860-O Seated dollar that were showcased in Sunday's Blog edition.

 

$20 Rattler Gold Offer Prices are Approved

As mentioned earlier, the last Sunday task was loading the newly consign $20 Saint gold lot which features 9 pieces in PCGS Gen 2.1 Rattler holders. An offer price proposal was assembled and emailed to our consignor. Before heading to bed, we secured approval for that proposal and are ready to offer quotes.

Remaining is photography and image processing for moving forward with what I believe will be an exciting addition to the 30 Day Price List.

At this point, there are two clients who have secure First Right of Refusals for this gold release. With gold spot price continuing to trend to new record highs, I have a feeling that this consignment will be well subscribed.

 

Gold Punches Through $3600

Every morning I am up between 4:30 and 5:00 AM. One of the first actions of the day is firing up the Lenovo laptop (a wonderful and superior machine vs. the Dell XPS) and checking the Kitco website for gold trading action in the Shanghai and London markets. Trust me, we are no longer seeing speculation in the gold market but rather a reshaping of the global monetary system. The ever increasing alignment between China and Russia, as a BRICS foundation, is cementing the fact that globalization is dead and we are entering a period of multi-polarity. The East is building and transitioning to its own gold backed monetary system and supporting technological infrastructure (mBridge) while the West continues to employ SWIFT and its reliance on the U.S dollar as a reserve currency.

Now that gold has replaced U.S Treasuries as the predominate foreign reserve holding for sovereign countries, the demand for gold continues to increase along with a pricing realignment that we are witnessing in real time.

As of 6:45 AM, gold is quoting at $3618/oz while silver is exchanging hands at $41.11 during London trading. The calls and forecasts for $4000 gold grow louder by the day with new forecasts for $5000 gold now appearing. We must recognize that the days of gold pricing being suppressed by western banks, on behalf of the U.S. government, are now in the rear view mirror. Instead, I believe that Trump and team wish to see natural market forces pushing gold higher before a revaluation event takes place.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Today brings another long morning in the shipping department as most payments for the recently concluded auction have arrived. Once the shipping is transported to our random post office of the day, I will be photographing the incremental Island City Type gold lots and the $20 Saint gold consignment. By end of the day, the Island City Type Set attributions will also be finalized. Yes, there is an anticpating for checking off a host of items during the next 12 hours.

Bottom line, I am planning to go into Wednesday and Thursday with a clean numismatic slate while TipLine Tree Service is on site. Two days of tree cutting is another substantial step in the back acreage park expansion which will require my oversight.

Thank you for the visit!

Be well!

 

 

 

September 7, 2025

Robust Post Auction Sales Continue

Island City Type Set Images Posted at Online Auction Catalog

and

Eight Incremental Island City Lots to Note

 

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog on a cold and wet Sunday early morning here in southern Maine. I could not be more pleased with the weather conditions! Thank you so much for the visit.

Slow and steady rain coupled with another long day in the GFRC office are the main themes for the next 24 hours. The rain will clear out by evening leading to a new week of bright sunshine and the slow erosion of day and nighttime temperatures. Life could not be better during the autumn season if born and raised in southern Maine. This is the time of year that I am most excited about.

Looking at some of the upcoming week plans, Monday and Tuesday bring heavy GFRC shipment days as we work through the remaining just completed auction shipments. Our security measures have increased dramatically towards thwarting suspected thieves in the Scarborough Maine USPS distribution center. Firstly, we are no longer shipping via the Raymond, Maine post office as everyone in that facility knows the contents of our packages. A mole in that office could be easily tipping off someone working in the distribution center. We have taken other measure that will not be shared but will be evident upon package arrival.

Wednesday and Thursday brings TipLine Tree Service to the back acreage park for another two days of coastal horizon tree clearing. They will be operating with three primary pieces of equipment. First is a small size excavator coupled with a large commercial chipper being pulled by a Kubota tractor about one frame size larger than Johnny2. The commercial chipper can handle log sizes up to 8" which is exactly what I need. The goal is to generate as much wood chips as possible in lieu of wood logs. The wood chips will be employed to cover the newly finished area adjacent to the incremental stone wall along with lining the walking trails.

There will be no Blog edition on Wednesday morning along with no shipping on Wednesday and Thursday. Clearing the property is serious stuff and I wish to be watching TipLine's execution to ensure that the wood chip piles are placed in locations that are easily accessible with Johnny2.

 

Robust Post Auction Sales Continue

Saturday brought another great sales day as the residual Massachusetts and Tenafly Collection lots continue to be in demand by those who bid in the auction but walked away with less pieces than desired. I could not be more pleased with the auction outcome and the post auction sales rate.

 

Island City Type Set Images Posted at Online Auction Catalog

It took all of Saturday to get done... I pleased to announce that the initial Island City Type Set Collection images are now posted within the auction catalog. Please forgive my lack of humility, but the images turned out quite well and accurate illustrate the premium nature of this long term collection. Following are six lots that are more than worthy of being noted. Please forgive the lack of die variety attributions at this point.

 

Noteworthy Island City Type Set Auction Lots

  1820 Large Date PCGS MS65RB CAC 1C                                                1795 PCGS EF45 CAC H10C               

        

           1831 PCGS MS63 CAC H10C                                                    1840 No Drap PCGS MS64 CAC 10C    

        

1806 PCGS VF30 CAC 50C                                                            1799 PCGS VF35 CAC $1    

        

 

Eight Incremental Island City Lots to Note

This past week also brought the arrival of another 8 lots from the Island City Type Set Collection increasing the total number of lots to 48. Here is a group photo of these incremental pieces. The 1860-O Seated dollar graded PCGS MS63 CAC has secured a GFRC-Gem quality rating at its grade. Those who are familiar with the date understand how these were stored in bags with ongoing field contact marks being an issue. The Island City lot has essentially clean fields with tons of frosted luster and spinning cartwheels. The gold type is also of a premium nature as hand selected by our long time consignor.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Today's office goals are two-fold. First is catching up on smaller tasks like overdue invoice adjustments and posting several smaller lots to the 30 Day Price List. Second is catching up the COIN database with sales information for the past two weeks. And if the days goes well, I will be loading the newly arrived U.S. $20 gold consignment into the COIN system along with the incremental 8 piece lot from Island City.

Since being in the office, I will be available for phone call orders, or those via email.

It is unofficial, but the GFRC consignment window is closed for the time being. I'm not a position to be accepting new consignments until the October 11 auction preparations are finalized.

Thank you for the visit.

Be well!

 

 

 

September 6, 2025

A Burly Stone Wall Addition

and

Island City Type Set - Auctions Images Post Today

 

Greetings on a Saturday morning and welcome to the Daily Blog. We appreciated the ongoing readership.

Let's touch upon southern Maine to open this today's ramblings. Finally, we will be experiencing a wet weekend with severe thunderstorms forecasted for the afternoon hours followed by all day rain on Sunday. I could not be more pleased with the thought of staying indoors in the GFRC office while the ground is nourished with substantial rain. There is still time to green up the lawns before late October freezes begin to arrive.

 

A Burly Stone Wall Addition

Friday brought a great day working outdoors as Dave Wilkinson was on site. I had planned the day in considerable detail to maximize the amount of work that could be accomplished. That planning quickly went out the window when Dave's excavator boom had an unfortunate contact with a tree during the first task of the day. The contact resulted in a cracked hydraulic hose. So there we were with the excavator cab jacked in the air to remove a 12' hydraulic line so that Dave could head into Auburn to purchase a replacement. He was back on the job site by noon and up and running an hour later. At that point, both of us hustled to get as much of the planned worked accomplished.

While Dave was in Auburn, Mike from TipLine Tree Service appeared on site to mark the trees that will be cut and chipped next Wednesday and Thursday. If that job goes to plan, the Fortins will have a wider coastal horizon view along with a substantial amount of wood chips for landscaping the newly completed area behind the gazebo.

As the lead headline indicates, Dave and I were able to construct a substantial boulder wall on Friday afternoon. The term "boulder" is the operative word as many of the stones were beyond Johnny2's lifting capacity and required Dave's more powerful equipment. Clearly, a one ton piece of granite should be granted the boulder title.

The new wall is a strong addition to the back acreage park as it sets a boundary of sorts between the cleared land and the remaining trees behind that wall. The ugly stump in front of the wall will be removed by TipLine as they have a stump grinder on tracks that will be brought on site. Once that stump is ground down, it will be covered with the 1.5" crush stone. Between the white crushed stone and the wall will be wood chips. By next weekend, this area will be quite attractive.

One final note is in order. Please note the sandy brown color of the incremental stone wall as many of these stones were dug out of the ground. This weekend's rain will wash the dirt off the rocks. Afterwards, it will take several years for the stones to begin acquiring that gray field stone appearance.

 

To put the incremental wall into context within the overall back acreage park layout, here is a coastal horizon image taken yesterday during happy hour. Actually this image is a great baseline considering the tree clearing work that will be accomplished next week. Yes, the lawn looks terrible due to lack of rain.

 

Island City Type Set - Auctions Images Post Today

Progress continued concerning the Island City Type Set auction images. I worked on those after dinner and again this morning. If my day goes as planned, we will start posting those images this afternoon with the entire lot being completed on Sunday.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Check payments for the Massachusetts and Tenalfy Collection auction lots have begun to arrive. This morning brings another stint in the shipping department with a USPS counter delivery by noon. Afterwards, the afternoon hours will be dedicated to Island City image processing.

So ends another Daily Blog edition. Thank you for the visit.

Be well!

 

 

September 5, 2025

The GFRC October 11 Auction Banners Arrive!

Dave Wilkinson and Another Back Acreage Stone Wall

and

PCGS Rattler $20 Saint Gold Preview

 

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

Today's Blog edition will be on the brief side as there is one hour to ramble on a bit, coupled with a shower, before heading outdoors and spending a day in the back acreage park with Dave Wilkinson and his trusty excavator. Yes, I get excited at the thought of having a large machine on site that can move rocks and brush that Johnny2 is unable to handle. As reader information, Johnny2's front loader lift capacity is limited to about 1300-1400 lbs at 1-2 feet off the ground. That is a sizable boulder but the Fortin property has many boulders weighing over a ton that requires the power of Dave's excavator. The downside of an excavator is that it is slow as a transport vehicle as compared to Johnny2. With Dave in his excavator and Gerry on Johnny2 as a team, much can be accomplished by using the strengths of both machines.

Thursday brought another day in the GFRC shipping department with 10 packages transported to a local random post office. The local labor shortage is becoming so bad that these smaller post offices are now closing counter service for one to two hours at lunch time as there is is sufficient manpower to staff the delivery trucks and the counters simultaneously during a lunch period.

After closing down the shipping department, my focus moved to reconfiguring the auction link for the upcoming October 11 auction. Worries of not being able to hit this date have evaporated as much progress was made yesterday including the initial Island City Type Set image processing. Yes, I was aligning and color balancing his type set images until 9:00 PM before calling a day.

So please visit the Auction link to view Len Augsburger summary of the White Pine $5 gold release and the Auction online catalog for a quick look at several Island City images.

One final note is in order. The new $20 gold consignment shipment arrived around 6:00 PM yesterday and was promptly opened reveal a lot of premium gold Saints. Following is an image to close out today's Blog. As usual, clicking on the image provides access to a higher resolution version.

 

There is no shipping today as I will be working outdoors the entire day. Email orders or text messages will be responded too come the end of day.

Thank you again for stopping by.

Be well.

 

 

 

 

September 4, 2025

GFRC Consignment Proceeds Crush the $19,000,000 Level

and

White Pine $5 Gold Auction Reserve Prices Posted

 

Greetings on an early autumn Thursday morning and welcome to the Daily Blog. We appreciate the visit!

Yes, southern Maine weather is quickly migrating to Fall conditions with the shift being quite noticeable for both daytime and overnight temperatures. After the coming weekend, daytime highs will struggle to reach 70 F along with the overnight cooling taking us into the low 50s. Speaking of the coming weekend, there is much needed rain in the forecast with the first bout arriving this evening and into Friday morning. What timing with Dave Wilkinson allocating all of Friday for a full excavator day here in the back acreage. Dave has an enclosed cabin on the excavator while Johnny2 is wide open to the weather conditions. Tomorrow morning shall be interesting.

The precious metal situation is such that gold is now trading within a new range of $3525 to $3560 while silver is trending at $41. If stopping for a moment and looking at the price charts for both metals, gold has increased from $2000 at the beginning of 2024 to the current $3540 level which is a 75% increase in roughly 20 months. In that same time frame, silver has moved from $24 to $41, a 71% increase. The rapid rise in precious metal prices is sending a signal of major change in the global financial order which I will save as a discussion within a subsequent Blog edition. For those of us who are comfortable with holding precious metals as a long term store of wealth, the past two years have been rewarding. Unfortunately for most Americans, the equity markets still are their primary resource for wealth management. Currently, the AI boom reminds me of the 1999 Internet tech boom and its corresponding risks. Bread and butter staple stocks in the Dow Jones are moving backwards as all eyes are on the high tech NASDAQ. My advice is to diversify into precious metals even at these new levels. My gut tells me that Trump will revalue gold before his term is completed. Rather than create a step function increase in the gold price during a revaluation, why not let the price incrementally rise to $4000 or much higher without spooking the masses. A 75% increase from where we are today takes us to $6200/oz by mid 2027. Silver could run into the low $70 range.

I meet with Carlo this morning, my Merrill Lynch money manager, and preparing for the classic precious metal vs. equity discussion. It should prove to be interesting.

 

GFRC Consignment Proceeds Crushes the $19,000,000 Level

Our humble GFRC business has been in an auction upswing since the beginning of 2025 with the Fortin/Newtown Seated Collection auction events followed by the just completed Massachusetts/Tenafly Collection auction.

I took a look at the Consignor link yesterday and was not that all surprised to see that GFRC has literally smashed through the $19,000,000 consignor proceeds and is well on its way to achieving the $20,000,000 level. This morning's number is exactly $19,350,248 and growing by the day as we see continued post auction sales this week. This number is even more substantial on a raw sales basis if one inserts in the accumulated GFRC commissions. Some quick math indicates well over $21 million in consignor sales since inception.

 

White Pine $5 Gold Auction Reserve Prices Posted

Wednesday brought a long busy day with the shipping department assembling 16 outgoing shipments followed by a quick 718 Boxster drive to a random post office locale for delivery. "Quick" is the operative word as the Porsche always puts a smile on my face and will for years to come.

Once back in the office, the focus shifted to the October 11 auction and the amazing White Pine $5 gold consignment. For several hours, I had the pleasure of reviewing each piece and setting GFRC quality ratings along with researching fair auction reserves. Two things become readily apparent....

First is the premium nature of this collection with all lots having a minimum GFRC-Choice quality rating with several Near-Gems and Gems. What a joy it is to be handling gold that is unquestionably original and enjoying the deep green background coloration on AU pieces and copper-gold on lower grade circulated examples.

Second is the rarity that is contained in this collection as most lots have mintages between 1,760 to 80,000 and include a wonderful release of Charlotte survivors. Not only this, but the 1862, 1864, 1865-S, 1867, 1867-S, 1869, 1870, and 1875-S are listed in the PCGS price guide with "less than 100 known" qualifiers.

Following are four lots that typify the intersection of premium quality and rarity.

     1862 PCGS EF40 CAC G$5 - $9,500                                           1867 PCGS EF45 CAC G$5 - $6,000    

        

1867-S PCGS EF40 CAC G$5 - $4,750                                              1869 PCGS AU55 G$5 - $11,000    

        

Bottom line, premium quality coupled with date rarity is presently on full display in the online auction catalog as the reserves are posted. Len Augsburger is currently preparing the individual lot descriptions and we should have this auction segment wrapped up in the next 10 days or so. This will allow me to shift focus to the Island City Type Set Collection in the near term.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Today brings another long office day with continued auction lot shipping followed by configuring the Auction link for the upcoming October 11 auction.

A comment about auction ship ahead progress is warranted. In the past, and when offering smaller auctions, we were able to promptly package and ship most lots within a few days of the auction close. However, with the just completed 250 lot auction and robust post auction buying, we are unable to offer the same amount of ship aheads. There are still 27 packages in the queue as of this morning. This fact coupled with our heighten packaging security for Express shipments means that some shipments will not be going out until next Monday. Currently, shipment priority is based on payment arrivals as we are experiencing an increased amount of Zelle, wire transfers, and PayPal payments. I'm certain that mailed checks will start to appear today.

Let's close this Blog edition with a thought. Operating as a coin dealer is way cool but requires a substantial personal commitment to be truly successful. Client service, numismatic professionalism, and integrity are paramount. At GFRC, we have been "at it" since 2014.....

Thanks again for the visit.

Be well!

 

 

 

September 3, 2025

Post Auction Shipping in High Gear

and

Fresh Gold Consignment Arrives Today

 

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

The lack of fresh new content continues today as we are just now recovering from the 250 lot Massachusetts and Tenafly Collection auction. The invoicing process has been completed as of Tuesday afternoon. Post auction purchases, from the 30 Day Price List, continue at a strong pace. Given the auction size, we are seeing a host of incoming Zelle and wire transfer payments requiring Diane to remain vigilant with our Bank of America account. Paid for lots are moved to the top of the shipping priority list.

Today brings a huge shipping day with considerable time in the office and transport to a random post office. I wish that more could be offered in today's Blog, but this is just the reality of operating as a coin dealer and staging a massive auction for two long time clients. The response has been exciting and rewarding, though the workload is substantial.

Friday brings a full day away from the office as Dave Wilkinson is back at the homestead with his excavator. I will not be denied in terms of having some outdoor fun during the month of September. Also making an appearance on Friday is Mike from TipLine Tree Service for marking the trees that will be cut and branches chipped come the middle of next week. This leaves only today and Thursday to move out the auction shipments.

 

Fresh Gold Consignment Arrives Today

With spot gold trending at $3540/oz during early morning LBMA trading, the arrival of a fresh $20 consignment is quite timely. GFRC has helping a certain older gentleman liquidate his massive numismatic gold holdings during the past several years. This process continues with today's consignment arrival, a lovely group of $20 Saints including nine pieces of varying dates in PCGS 1986-1989 rattler holders. Included in the PCGS rattler group is a 1907 High Relief example. How cool is that?

If all goes to plan, this entire consignment will be imaged and featured in Thursday's Blog edition. In the meantime, here is an Excel table to whet the appetite of the gold bugs among us. The table is an extract from the standard GFRC consignment template. First Rights of Refusals are welcomed but will not be acknowledged or acted upon until the coming weekend given what is on the GFRC schedule through Friday.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

One final thought is running through my mind is that the October 11 GFRC Online Auction may need to be pushed back by a week to October 18 given all that this going with the business and pre-scheduled back acreage projects. Once we can get through the current auction shipping and the office returns to normal, I will be in a better position to make a time assessment and the scheduling of the final GFRC 2025 auction.

Thank you again for the visit.

Be well!

 

 

 

September 2, 2025

Massachusetts and Tenafly Auction Invoices - 95% Complete

and

Auction Lot Shipping Kicks In

 

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

It was a long day in the GFRC office on Labor Day Monday. Both Diane and I were committed to wrapping up the Massachusetts and Tenafly auction invoicing and sorting all the sold lots into shipping containers. Then came the post auction buying that was the strongest experienced since starting the GFRC business. My guess is that we sold another 15 lots on Monday afternoon. We took a much needed happy hour break in the gazebo for a change of scenery followed by a grilled dinner. Afterwards, I was back in the office until 9:00 PM continuing to process and issue invoices. Come 9:00 PM, it was time for bed and to secure rest as Tuesday brings a shift of attention into the shipping department. As the Blog is being composed, there are still another 4-5 invoices to be prepared and issued. My apology to those clients who are receiving their invoices this morning rather than on Monday.

The 30 Day Price List has been populated with the unsold auction lots and looks like its more "normal" self. If curious about which lots are seeing post auction sales, a visit to the price list is suggested.

I'm not in a position this morning to ramble on towards creating clever or dull content. This is going to be a very busy week as I have a session with Carlo, our money manager, tomorrow morning. Friday brings Dave Wilkinson on site with his excavator for adding an incremental section to the recently constructed stone wall. There is some clean-up walk to accomplish before TipLine Tree Serve appears next week for two days of coastal horizon view expansion. Many tall oaks and maples are being targeted.

I do wish to comment about the precious or monetary metal sector...

We are experiencing an overdue breakout of both gold and silver along with the corresponding mining stocks. Gold traded at nearly $3500/oz on Monday while silver pushed up to $41 for a moment. Of the two metals, silver is being watched for its upside opportunity with most analysts now seeing $50 as a reasonable target. That would be another 25% jump in price.

There is much taking place across the globe that is driving the metals rather than just trader speculation. Key is that the US dollar continues to lose ground as a foreign reserve holding by global trading partners. Instead, their foreign reserves are being channeled into gold. We are now living throught a period of history where the U.S dollar is losing significance and the stability of gold is enticing as an alternative. I believe that Trump's tariff policies have only hastened that process along with the BRICS alignment. For several years, this transition has been discussed in the Blog with the acceleration now underway.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

So today will find me in the GFRC office in the shipping department. At some point, I will be transporting the shipments to a random post office in the area. Since experiencing two Express package losses during the past several months, we are taking extraordinary measures to disguise our shipping process. Both packages disappeared in the Scarborough, Maine distribution center and USPS management could give a rat's you know what about the issue. Shipping lots has become a stressful exercise, especially the high value Express shipments. Therefore, we are compelled to mix up the drop-offs points and the shipping boxes.

GFRC will not be executing ship aheads as quickly as in the past for two reasons. First is the sheer volume of the just closed auction. The second is package security. I hope that clients understand our situation.

Thank you for the visit.

Be well!

 

 

September 1, 2025

Preparing Massachusetts and Tenafly Auction Invoices on Labor Day

and

Silver Breaks Through $40 Mark

 

Greetings on Labor Day 2025 and welcome to the Daily Blog. Thank you for checking in on a holiday Monday.

Today's Blog will be brief as the invoicing task for the just completed Massachusetts and Tenafly Collection auction is quite substantial with an early start being advised. Already, there are winning bidders sending emails that checks are going into the mail before invoices are sent. Please have mercy on me and let the invoices be issued before sending payments.

GFRC has broke new ground by conducting a 250 piece auction, therefore the post auction administrative workload is considerable and will take time to execute. In past GFRC auctions that were typically 50-100 lots, I was able to load the COIN database with the auction results and issue invoices by the end of Sunday. This is not the case for this event as I will be in the office the entire day preparing and issuing invoices. There is also an afternoon phone call with a client who has interest in several post auction purchases and requests my recommendations. I'll give the invoicing task my best effort on a holiday, so please have patience.

 

Silver Breaks Through $40 Mark

Though it is a national holiday here in America, the precious metal markets are opened in Asia and Europe.

Both gold and silver are continuing Friday's rally with silver breaking through the $40/oz level. As of 6:30 AM ET, silver is up nearly a dollar an ounce with a quote of $40.56. Spot gold is also trending upward at $3472.

It certainly does feel like both metals are in the middle of a historical breakout to the upside.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

This is the extent of my commentary on a holiday Monday. I could either spend more time creating content or immediately focus on generating and issuing invoices for the just completed auction. I believe it is a wise decision to go with the latter.

Thank you again for the visit.

Be well!

 

 

 

August 30, 2025

Another Wild GFRC Online Auctions Finale!

 

 

Greetings on a Labor Day weekend Sunday morning and welcome to the Daily Blog. Thank you for checking back for the latest GFRC happenings.

A "wild finish" best describes last evening's auction closing 30 minutes. The serious and exceedingly motivated bidders appeared and let loose with sizable bids with the Massachusetts Collection's 1843-O PCGS EF45 CAC dime being an example of the intense competition. Speaking of that 1843-O dime, I has a mid-afternoon consultation with a passionate Seated dime collector and we specifically discussed this dime. My insight were that this piece was one of the major highlights of the Massachusetts Collection sale and will be a $10,000 coin. This collector made a valiant attempt on the coin but was slammed by a late monster bid by another long time client who was committed to acquire the coin at whatever it took

1843-O F-101 PCGS EF45 CAC 10C - Realized $11,501

 

Another substantial surprise was the Port Matilda 1814/3 PCGS EF45 CAC Rattler $5 gold lot, a stunning numismatic masterpiece that is heading into a comprehensive type set. The winning bidder stepped up taking this lot to nearly $28,500. GFRC congratulations go out to our OKC ANA table assistant, and all around great guy, who feel in love with this exceptional lot and would not be denied. For the final time, here is the Port Matilda early quarter eagle for your viewing pleasure.

1814/3 BD-1 PCGS EF45 CAC Rattler G$5 - Realized $28,377

 

There were bidding battles throughout this auction event including the Seated quarters and several of the Tenafly $5 Liberty gold lots. A circulated cameo 1853-O PCGS EF40 CAC quarter was in high demand and brought $955. The rare Civil War 1862-S PCGS G06 CAC $5 gold lot was bid up to $9150.

Looks take a look at the final statistics which exceeded yesterday's conservative forecast.

When the clock struck 9:00 PM, 143 lots out of the 250 offerings secured at least one bid translating into a 57% sell through rate. This ending outcome was quite the improvement as compared to Saturday morning's baseline. I could not be more pleased with the number of lots that have sold. Already, I have received an email with an inquiry for multiple post auction purchases even before posting the unsold lots to the 30 Day Price List and Collectors Corner. All is moving forward well...

In terms of the final sales tally and with a touch of rounding, this auction event realized $291,000. When comparing to the initial reserves totaling $520,000, the auction attained the 56% mark. The sales tally could have gone even higher if most or all of the Massachusetts big four Carson City dimes selling. Only the 1873-CC dime sold at the $8500 reserve. Also a fair number of the Tenafly $5 gold did not find bidding interest.

After the auction close, I received an email from Tom Coulombe expressing his delight with the auction outcome. He closed the email with, "I wonder if am going to get any sleep tonight....??" Yes, Tom, we trusted the GFRC auction process with all turning out well. Your remaining big four Carson City dimes will see in short order at the upcoming end of 2025 coin shows.

 

Post Auction Admin is Substantial

I'd like to remind every successful bidder that this Connoisseur's Series auction sale was huge and the largest ever attempted by GFRC. With 143 sold lots, the amount of post admin auction workload is quite substantial and will take days to complete. Usually, I can get nearly all invoices generated by end of Sunday following an auction close. This will not be the case this time around due to the auction size.

Today brings the loading of all winning bids into the COIN system followed by a double check for accuracy. Afterwards, the invoicing process begins with the multiple lot winners having priority. Some winning bidders will be using Trading Desk credits while others wish to have pre-auction price list purchases kitted with the auction invoice. My point is that many of the invoices are customized efforts and take time to execute.

My target for having all invoices issued is end of day Monday which means I will be in the office throughout the next two days followed by regular GFRC shipping starting up on Tuesday.

Please have patience while the post auction admin and kitting of coins into shipping boxes is accomplished as we have never closed an auction of this size before.

 

Wrapping Up the Blog

I was up early and a long office day awaits me. Usually, the closing Blog summary for a major auction contains more visuals and details. My apology for today's straightforward composition and summary.

Now comes the October 11 auction that features the White Pine $5 No Motto gold and the Island City Type Set offerings. Yesterday brought the USPS delivery of another 8 pieces from that type set. This forthcoming auction has become substantial with 80 lots!

I'm going to make a cup of coffee to start the day.

Thank you as always for the ongoing patronage at the Daily Blog and the support for this humble coin business.

Be well!

 

 

 

 

August 29, 2025

Massachusetts and Tenafly Collection Auction Closes at 9:00 PM

Gold Sets New Record Monthly Close

and

October 11 Auction - White Pine Gold $5 Images are Posted

 

Greetings on Labor Day weekend and welcome to the Daily Blog. Thanks again for the return visit.

Autumn has arrived in northern New England as daytime high temperatures begin their decent. Today's weather forecast indicates that we will be no warmer than 70F this afternoon with overnight lows dipping into the high 40s next week. Honestly, I love the cooler September weather that enables vigorous walks on the back acreage trails without building up a sweat or being bothered by insects. It is the "just right" time of the year for being outdoors in the woods.

Friday was a great day in many regards. First was the afternoon rain that has finally soaked the parched soil. Second was the completion of the White Pine $5 gold images for the forthcoming October 11 auction event. Lastly, gold prices rose to a new record monthly close after Friday's inflation report came in at 2.9%.

Bidding for the current Massachusetts and Tenafly Collection auction also continued on Friday. We will discuss the auction status next.

 

Massachusetts and Tenafly Collection Auction Closes at 9:00 PM

The finale of the current GFRC Online Auctions event is now a little over 12 hours away. Let's baseline where this huge 250 lot auction stands at this point.

The morning tally indicates that 107 lots now have at least one bid which translated into a 43% sell through rate. I was hoping that bidding would kick in for the Tenafly $5 Liberty gold, but so far there has been disappointment that is difficult to explain. With gold bullion on an upward march along with most other asset prices, one would expect to see more action concerning these lots. Maybe that will change today.

In terms of total auction lot sales, the number stands at $195,000. That is a 37% of the initial reserves. One factor holding back this number is the lack of bids for the big four Carson City dates in the Massachusetts Collection. One would expect these to sell as these dates are typically the last to be acquired by those who wish to complete their Liberty Seated dime sets. Being able to source one of these dimes for under five figures is definitely an opportunity that should be capitalized upon. Following is a showcase of those four Carson City dimes with all being CAC approved except the 1874-CC.

Massachusetts Collection - Key Date Carson City Dimes

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

        

 1873-CC PCGS F12 CAC 10C - $8500                                              1874-CC PCGS VF25 10C - $23,500    

        

 

The time has come for my usual auction closing assessment and forecast. Honestly, this event is quite difficult to forecast given the huge number of lots and a concentration of Liberty Seated dimes and $5 Liberty gold. What comes next is a rough guess on my part as there are no special insights on who is planning to bid on what coins in the final hours. Therefore let's go with a 52% sell through rate which translate into another 23 lots being sold by the 9:00 PM bidding deadline. As for the auction's total sales, my estimate is $245,000 if the 1874-CC dimes does not sell. If it does, then the forecast increases to $270,000 which is a tad more than half of the initial reserves.

FAIR WARNING! THIS IS NOT A SNIPING AUCTION

I'd like to provide a fair warning to those bidders that wait until the last minute to bid. Don't do it....

This is a 250 lot auction with a substantial amount of bidding expected in the final 10 minutes. Each bid is typically followed by the bidder refreshing his desktop view to confirm where the bid now stands. Just image 50+ bidders all placing last minute bids and hammering the Hostway server with refresh requests. Each requests required a complete download of the auction table and its 250 coins. Since images are stored on everyone's computers, only the table content, including bid status, must be downloaded. I can predict that the Hostway server will be slammed in the closing minutes with delayed online auction catalog refreshes resulting in bidders not knowing if their last bid is high bid. My apology in advance for this fact, but you have been advised to place those maximum bids prior to the 5-10 minutes of the auction's 9:00 PM ET hard close.

My final comment is that someone needs to take the Massachusetts Collection's 1871-S PCGS AU55 CAC dime home. This is a wonderful gem that is worth the reserve. Let's see who listens to my advice.

Good luck to every bidder at this point and hopefully you will be able to secure your targeted lots.

 

Gold Sets New Record Monthly Close

Both gold and silver had a great week with gold setting a new monthly record close at $3449/oz while silver attempted to break through the $40 mark. Silver closed at $39.61 after approaching close to $40 during the early afternoon hours. Believe me, I was watching the price action on Kitco while processing the White Pine $5 Liberty gold images.

After several days of trending close to the $3400 mark, gold made its move after the Personal Consumption Expenditures Index (PCE) rose 0.3% for June and now July. The real inflation number is higher of course but let's not debate that fact in today's Blog. So here we are with a minimum of 3% annual inflation and the Federal Reserve planning to cut interest rates in September. The Federal Reserve is shifting attention from fighting inflation towards its unemployment management co-mandate. It should be obvious that the Trump admin must inflate a portion of the massive national debt away while preserving the equity markets as a key source of tax revenues. We are experiencing a slow motion currency debasement that has larger wealth holders moving into gold and silver assets.

Frankly, I don't expect gold and silver's upward momentum to stop. We've experienced a long awaited breakout for gold with $3600 being easily obtained on a path to $4000. It is only a matter of time before silver trades above $40/oz.

 

October 11 Auction - White Pine Gold $5 Images are Posted

Let's close today's Blog with an announcement that White Pine $5 gold images, for the October 11 auction, have been posted at the end of the online auction table. I will be working through quality ratings and a reserve pricing proposal today. Once those are settled, the auction catalog will reflect this new content.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

I will not be in the office this morning as a trip to Windham is necessary for outdoor supplies. Johnny2 needs an oil and filter change which necessitates a visit to Hall Implement for these maintenance items. There is also a need to purchase more 30% Vinegar and RoundUp at Lowes. I've found that the 30% vinegar is effective at burning weed leaves but not killing the roots. RoundUp is much more effective for killing the entire weed plant, especially when employed for weeds and vines originating from within the stone walls.

Come the afternoon hours, the plan is to be in the office to handle any last minute auction registrations and deleting current bids in lieu of high bids. After 8:00 PM this evening, everyone is on their own with respect to bidding. Again, please heed my warning and don't start dumping bids within the final two minutes of the auction close. You will be running blind at that point in terms of where the high bid stands.

Come Sunday morning, I will be back with an auction closing summary followed by spending the balance of the day loading winning bids into the COIN system and starting to issue invoices. I'm expecting that the invoicing process will not be complete until end of day Monday.

So ends another busy Blog edition. Thanks again for the visit.

Be well!

 

 

August 29, 2025

Final Two Days of the Connoisseur's Series Auction Sale

Gold is Again Primary Global Reserve

and

September Back Acreage Plan

Greetings and welcome to the Daily Blog as we acknowledge the end of summer 2025 given that the Labor Day weekend is upon us. Thank you for the ongoing readership.

I'm in a great mood this morning as the weather forecast is calling for an overcast day with ongoing periods of rain, the heaviest arriving during the afternoon hours. Rain is a precious commodity here at the homestead for supporting ground water levels and bringing back the landscaping to a green color. The newly seeded area by the new stone wall also needs a good day's rain to kick start the germination during the cooler September temperatures.

Thursday brought yet more progress with the October 11 auction preparations as all on site lots were photographed and the White Pine $5 gold piece images being partially processed. A check in with Len Augsburger confirmed that he is available for writing the auction descriptions. This support is much appreciated given the short window to complete all preparations.

Shifting subjects, spot gold traded above the $3400 mark for the entire day and is still at $3406 on the LBMA. Bank of America has issued a report calling for $4000 gold during the first half of 2026. The gold and silver mining sector has been the top equity market trade in August as investment monies are finally moving into precious metal stocks.

 

Final Two Days of the Connoisseur's Series Auction Sale

The dreaded contemplation period for the current GFRC Online Auction is now behind us. Already, I have a consultation session scheduled for this morning and will be approving the registration of a new bidder who previewed the Massachusetts and Tenafly Collection lots at the OKC ANA. I can feel the momentum starting to build as a 250 lot auction offers coins at all price points along with the majority being CAC approved.

We enter the final two days of bidding with 99 lots now heading to new homes. On a percentage basis, that is essentially 40% with a little bit of rounding. The gap to a 60% sell through rate is now 51 additional lots needing to find a bidder. I'm very confident that we will achieve a 50% sell through rate, but check back tomorrow morning for my final forecast going into Saturday evening's finale.

 

Gold is Again the Primary Global Reserve

There is breaking news for the gold bugs among us. Gold is again the primary global reserve on a dollar basis per the following X post by Tavi Costa. Here is a screen capture of that post.

 

To put this graph in context, I asked AI Copilot to defined when the "petrodollar" was establish after Nixon took the United States off of the gold standard during 1971. Following is the response that provides sufficient background for the sharp drop in global gold reserves in the 1980s in lieu of the U.S. dollar.

The petrodollar system was established in the early 1970s, following a series of pivotal geopolitical and economic shifts:

• 1971: The U.S. ended the Bretton Woods system by abandoning the gold standard, which meant the dollar was no longer backed by gold.

• 1973: In the wake of the oil crisis, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia struck a deal: Saudi oil would be priced and sold exclusively in U.S. dollars, and in return, the U.S. would provide military protection and economic cooperation.

• This agreement became the foundation of the petrodollar system, where oil-exporting countries—especially OPEC members—would conduct oil sales in dollars and often reinvest those dollars in U.S. assets.

This system helped solidify the dollar’s status as the global reserve currency, even after its decoupling from gold. It also created a feedback loop known as petrodollar recycling, where oil revenues flowed back into U.S. financial markets.

 

September Back Acreage Plan

I've not spoken much about work that is ongoing in the back acreage park of late as there have been too many conflicting priorities with the GFRC business and family visits. This situation will change come September as both Tip Line Tree Service and Dave Wilkinson are scheduled to be on site during the second and third weeks of the month. Now you can see why I am frantically attempting to prepare the October 11 auction so quickly.

Here is an image of the back park taken yesterday afternoon after allocating only 1.5 hours on Johnny2. The area behind the gazebo has been the recent focal point. The area immediately in front of the tree line has a sharp drop and is being filled in with several loads of loam tailings, a rocky material that packs well. Once that area is leveled, the new stone wall will see an extension across the path as is highlighted in the image. I've been preparing a rock pile for Dave Wilkinson to work with after the departure of the Yamatin family. Our property is replete with granite rock and why not continue to construct stone walls as the material is free? Also draw onto the image is the location of a 35' flagpole that will be added come the summer of 2026. The flagpole is obviously not to scale and will tower over the gazebo.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

There is no shipping today or Saturday as we are moving into the Labor Day weekend and I don't want to risk any shipments loitering in USPS distribution centers over the long weekend. Accumulated orders will be shipped starting Tuesday.

Today is a 100% office day with a huge effort to post as many October 11 auction images as possible. If wishing to have a private consultation on lots for the current auction, please feel free to call me.

Thank you for today's Daily Blog visit.

Be well!

 

 

 

August 28, 2025

Auction Bidding Heats Up - Final Contemplation Day

30 Day Price List Recovery

and

October 11 Auction Lots Posted to Online Catalog

 

Greetings on a lovely late summer morning and welcome to the Daily Blog. The Labor Day weekend is just 48 hours away! Thank you for the visit.

There is much to report in today's Blog as I spent the entire day in the office on Wednesday. From the time that yesterday's Blog was uploaded to the 5:00 PM happy hour, there was non-stop efforts towards moving forward with the GFRC business. Today's preamble will be brief given the amount of items to announce and discuss.

 

Auction Bidding Heats Up - Final Contemplation Day

Wednesday brought a reasonable amount of incremental bidding for the Massachusetts and Tenafly Collection auctions during the quiet contemplation period. The statistics are improving with 92 lots now heading to new homes with the final destinations determined on Saturday evening. Our sell through rate has climbed to 37% with still a substantial amount of ground to cover towards the 60% goal. Another 58 lots must sell between now and Saturday's 9:00 PM auction close. Please remember that all GFRC auctions have a hard close, therefore bidding for all 250 lots will stop at exactly 9:00 PM.

In terms of sales volume, the current auction has a tally of $166,000 or so, which is a 32% of the initial reserves. The Tenafly CAC approved $5 gold continues to lag in terms of demand and I don't understand why. These lots were carefully selected by Tom and are competitively priced.

As for the Port Matilda 1814/3 $5 gold lot, the key question is whether anyone will step forward with a bid that overtakes the current winning bid.

Today brings the final contemplation day for the current auction. We are hoping that a few more regular clients will jump into the fray and disclose their bidding positions.

 

30 Day Price List Recovery

As stated in Wednesday's Blog, one of the day's goal was to recharge the 30 Day Price List with newly consigned lots secured at the Oklahoma City ANA show. I hope that you will check this popular price list this morning as 18 new offerings were posted including three awesome Mint State Liberty Seated quarters, one of which has already sold. According to the consignor, the 1859-O NGC MS64 Fatty and the 1878-S NGC MS65+ are both fresh coins and completely new to the market. My own auction lot research supports this fact. Here are images of the two lots. If there is no immediately demand, I'm sending these to CAC New Jersey for review. If the 1859-O were to sticker, it would be pop two at grade with a single MS65 finer.

Important Liberty Seated Quarters to Consider

 1859-O NGC MS64 25C Fatty - $12,000                                           1878-S NGC MS65+ 25C - $14,500    

        

 

The 1862-S PCGS MS63 quarter, from the same consignor, was promptly purchased by a long time GFRC client that operates out of Florida. My congratulations go out to this collecting duo for their important acquisition.

 

October 11 Auction Lots Posted to Online Catalog

I was on a mission yesterday to add the White Pine $5 gold to the COIN database along with the current on-hand Island City Type Set pieces. This objective was met including posting these to the online auction catalog as a new auction event. Please check the auction catalog and you will find 71 new lots appended to the current auction. Of course, the postings are without images, descriptions or reserves at this point. As a preview treat, here is a group photo of the White Pine No Motto and Motto $5 gold pieces. This release is quite substantial given the number of Charlotte lots plus rare Civil War Philadelphia and San Francisco issues. Given that 90% of these lots are CAC approved, I must believe that the October 11 auction will draw considerable attention.

As usual, clicking on the below image will provide access to a higher resolution version which is necessary for reading the individual dates on the holders.

 

Other Consignment GFRC News...

I'm also pleased to report that a steady U.S. gold consignor will be sending another installment come next week. This shipment will be exclusively $20 Saints including a 1907 High Relief and nearly ten pieces in early PCGS rattler holders. Stay tuned for more information concerning this important consignment development.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

Today's primary objective is the photography of the White Pine and Island City Collection pieces for the October 11th auction. I'd like to get all of the lots properly imaged and loaded into the online auction catalog by the end of next week.

Of course, I continue to watch the precious metal trends while working in the office. The gold and silver miners have been moving upward as money pours into the sector in anticipation of higher gold and silver prices.

As of 7:40 AM EST, gold is trading at $3407 across the pond at the London gold exchange. Silver is again approaching the $39/oz mark with a quote of $38.89. I'm very bullish on these metals at the moment for a host of reasons. One of which, and not discussed on any financial channel, is an growing long bond yield crisis throughout the globe. Yields for the UK 30 Year Gilt, plus German, and Japanese 30 year bonds continue to climb as national fiscal budgets continue to produce deficit spending. Sovereign debt levels are becoming a substantial issue. In the United States, Trump is aggressive tacking this matter by shifting deficit financing to the short end of the yield curve along with tariffs and the Genius Act that will allow banks and companies to issue Stablecoins based on their holding of U.S. Treasuries. In other words, Trump has created a new market for U.S. deficit financing. However, I am skeptical as this strategy will increase the money supply and lead to more inflation. Gold and silver will be the beneficiaries of higher inflation and a global debt crisis. So far, my research and intuitions have been correct and if taking personal actions, you have done well.

Thanks again for the visit.

Be well!

 

 

 

August 27, 2025

A Quiet Auction Contemplation Period

and

West Texas Collection Seated Quarters Posting to the 30 Day Price List

 

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

There are days when it is difficult to compose yet another Blog edition. One side of me wants to surrender and take a pass for the day. The other committed side pushes for consistency and staying the course. It appears that the the committed side has won today's mental battle.

Little has changed weather wise as the north New England drought continues. Yes, the days are becoming cooler and the morning trail walks at that much more enjoyable due to cool conditions and a lack of insects.

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

 

A Quiet Auction Contemplation Period

Simply stated, there were no bids on Tuesday. Therefore, the statistic are unchanged.

Following are six lots that have no bids but should given their premium quality and eye appeal. I've reviewed and studied these auction lots enough to tender an insightful judgment on those that warrant serious consideration and a bid. Here goes...

  1838 Sm Stars F-101a PCGS AU58 CAC 10C - $900                           1843-O F-101 PCGS EF45 CAC 10C - $7500         

        

      1847 F-103 PCGS AU55 CAC 10C - $1000                                1857-O F-105 PCGS MS62 CAC H10C - $825    

        

  1859 MPD F-103 PCGS MS62 CAC 10C - $850                                  1860-O F-101 PCGS VF25 CAC 10C - $3950    

        

          1867-S F-102a PCGS EF40 CAC 10C - $1600                            1875-CC BW F-103a PCGS MS62 CAC 10C - $1650    

        

 

One correction is in order. The 1850 NGC MS62 lot is not CAC approved per the description and lack of a CAC green bean in the date and grade table column. I liked the coin so much when processing images that a CAC green bean symbol was mistakenly inserted. We are at the point in the auction that even if I update the image and remove the CAC emblem, everyone has the current image stored in their image history folder with the revised image not being displayed.

Eric P. Newman 1850 WB-4 NGC MS62 50c is NOT CAC Approved

 

West Texas Collection Seated Quarters Posting to the 30 Day Price List

The first order of the day is posting the West Texas Liberty Seated quarter consignment to the 30 Day Price List. These lots were showcased yesterday in the Blog. Already the 1849-O PCGS F12 lot has been listed.

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

As much as I would like to work outdoors, today brings an office day focused on loading all the White Pine and Island City Collection lots, targeted for the October 11 auction, into the COIN database along with as much photography as possible. The October 11 auction is not that far off and I need to get moving quickly to ensure a premium GFRC Online Auctions event for our long time clients.

Thank you for the visit. Maybe tomorrow's Blog edition will have more fresh content.

Be well!

 

 

 

August 26, 2025

GFRC Online Auctions - Heading into the Contemplation Period

and

Rescuing the 30 Day Price List

 

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

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

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

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

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

 

GFRC Online Auctions - Heading into the Contemplation Period

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

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

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

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

 

Rescuing the 30 Day Price List

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

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

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

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

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

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

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

Thanks again for the ongoing visit.

Be well!

 

 

 

August 25, 2025

GFRC Online Auction Bidders Out in Force!

 

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

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

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

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

 

GFRC Online Auction Bidders Out in Force!

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

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

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

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

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

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

        

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

        

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

 

 

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

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

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

Thank you again for the visit.

Be well!

 

 

August 24, 2025

The Massachusetts and Tenafly Collection Auction Sale Is Underway!

The Oregon Beaver Visits the GFRC Booth

and

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

 

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

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

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

 

The Massachusetts and Tenafly Collection Auction Sale Is Underway!

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

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

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

 

The Oregon Beaver Visits the GFRC Booth

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

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

Thank you again for the visit.

Be well!

 

 

 

August 23, 2025

It is Good to be Back Home In Maine

A Six Figure Plus OKC ANA

and

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

How High Will She Go?

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

 

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

 

Wrapping Up A Late Blog

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

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

Be well, and see you on Sunday morning.

 

 

August 21, 2025

OKC ANA Well Beyond Expectations

and

The Massachusetts and Tenafly Collection Auction Sales Open on Saturday!

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

A GFRC Team Photo!

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

 

The Massachusetts and Tenafly Collection Auction Sales Open on Saturday!

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

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

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

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

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

Be well!

 

 

 

August 20, 2025

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

 

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

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

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

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

 

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

Thank you for the visit.

Be well!

 

 

 

August 16, 2025

Heading to the OKC ANA

and

GFRC Online Auctions - August 23 Connoisseur's Sale Approaches

 

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

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

 

Oklahoma City ANA - GFRC at Booth #621

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

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

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

Oklahoma City ANA - GFRC at Booth #621

 

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

 

GFRC Online Auctions - August 23 Connoisseur's Sale Approaches

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

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

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

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

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

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

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

Be well!

 

 

 

 

August 15, 2025

A Roadway Shooting in Windham, Maine

First Blog Edition with Lenovo Laptop

and

Preparing for the the OKC ANA

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Preparing for the the OKC ANA

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

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

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

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

Be well!

 

 

 

 

August 15, 2025

Who Needs A Radio in a Porsche?

GFRC Online Auctions - A Substantial October 11 Auction

and

Classic Silver Guest Blog - Preparing for the the OKC ANA

 

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

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

 

GFRC Online Auctions - A Substantial October 11 Auction

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

 

Classic Silver Guest Blog - Preparing for the OKC ANA

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

12.  Get ready for a great time!

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

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

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

Thanks again for the visit.

Be well!

 

 

 

August 14, 2025

Operating with Two Laptops

Ayumi - The Budding Numismatist

Announcing Mid-October GFRC Online Auction Event

and

GFRC Inventory/Auction Lots at OKC ANA

 

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

So what happened on Wednesday morning?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Ayumi - The Budding Numismatist

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

 

Announcing Mid-October GFRC Online Auction Event

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

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

No Motto

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

Motto

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

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

 

GFRC Inventory/Auction Lots at OKC ANA

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

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

 

GFRC-Lite Blog Posting Announcement

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

HI Gerry,

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

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

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

Best
Rich

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

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

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

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

Thank you for the visit. Be well!

 

 

 

August 13, 2025

A Full Computer Port is Underway

 

Greetings with a late Blog edition.

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

Wish me luck.

 

 

 

August 12, 2025

It is Quite Dry in Southern Maine

Ayumi - The Climber

Hawk Farm Consignment Items to Consider

and

Another Fortin Seated Dime Web-Book Plate Coin Release

 

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

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

 

Ayumi - The Climber

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

 

Hawk Farm Consignment Items to Consider

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

New Hawk Farm Collection Offerings

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

        

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

        

 

Another Fortin Seated Dime Web-Book Plate Coin Release

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

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

More Web-Book Plate Coins to Consider

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

        

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

        

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

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

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

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

 

 

 

August 11, 2025

Final Week Before 2025 Oklahoma City ANA

and

30 Day Price List Sales are Robust!

 

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

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

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

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

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

 

30 Day Price List Sales are Robust!

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

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

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

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

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

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

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

Be well!

 

 

 

August 10, 2025

Hoosier Liberty Seated Quarters Finding New Homes!

 

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

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

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

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

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

Let's move into numismatics...

 

Hoosier Liberty Seated Quarters Finding New Homes!

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

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

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

 

Another Hawk Farm Consignment Being Processed

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

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

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

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

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

Be well!

 

 

 

August 9, 2025

Hoosier Liberty Seated Quarters Ready to Sell!

 

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

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

 

Hoosier Liberty Seated Quarters Ready to Sell!

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

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

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

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

Hoosier Liberty Seated Quarters to Consider

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

        

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

        

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

                      

 

Massachusetts and Tenafly Auctions Catalogs Being Printed

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

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

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

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

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

 

 

 

August 8, 2025

Oregon Beaver Seated Halves Sold Out

and

Hoosier Liberty Seated Quarter Consignment Arrives

 

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

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

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

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

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

 

Oregon Beaver Seated Halves Sold Out

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

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

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

 

Hoosier Liberty Seated Quarter Consignment Arrives

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

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

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

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

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

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

Thank you again for the ongoing visits.

Be well!

 

 

 

August 7, 2025

Revealing a Weathered Ledge Outcrop

Oregon Beaver Seated Halves Sell Quickly

and

Running Boar Consignment Arrives

 

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

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

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

 

Oregon Beaver Seated Halves Sell Quickly

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

Available

1874-S PCGS MS63 CAC 50C - $5250

Immediately Sold

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

        

 

Running Boar Consignment Arrives

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

 

Gold and Silver Prices Remain Strong

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

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

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

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

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

Thanks again for the ongoing visits.

Be well!

 

 

August 6, 2025

Finally! The Tenafly Collection Auction Catalog Arrives!

and

Oklahoma City ANA - Where is GFRC's Booth?

 

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

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

 

Oklahoma City ANA - Where is GFRC's Booth?

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

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

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

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

Oklahoma City ANA - GFRC at Booth #621

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

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

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

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

Be well!

 

 

 

August 5, 2025

Tenafly Collection Auction Catalog Publishes Today

and

A Premium Oregon Beaver Consignment Arrives

 

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

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

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

Tenafly Collection Auction Highlights

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

        

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

        

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

        

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

        

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

        

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

        

 

A Premium Oregon Beaver Consignment Arrives

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

 

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

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

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

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

Thanks you again for the visit. Be well!

 

 

 

August 4, 2025

A Full House

Missed Another Daily Blog Anniversary

and

Completing the Tenafly Collection Auction Catalog

 

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

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

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

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

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

 

Missed Another Daily Blog Anniversary

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

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

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

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

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

 

Completing the Tenafly Collection Auction Catalog

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

 

Wrapping Up the Blog

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

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

Thanks again for stopping by.

Be well!

 

 

 

August 3, 2025

GFRC Consignments Update

Another Liberty Seated Dime Web-Book Plate Coin Release

and

Working on the Tenafly Collection Auction Catalog

 

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

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

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

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

 

GFRC Consignments Update

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

Liberty Seated Quarters

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

Liberty Seated Halves

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

U.S. $5 Gold

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

 

Another Liberty Seated Dime Web-Book Plate Coin Release

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

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

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

 

Liberty Seated Dime Die Variety Reference Plate Coins

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

        

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

        

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

 

Working on the Tenafly Collection Auction Catalog

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

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

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

Thank so much for the returning visit. Be well!

 

 

 

August 1, 2025

Lawn Seeding During Light Rain

The GFRC Consignment Window is Open

and

Working on the Tenafly Collection Auction Catalog

 

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

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

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

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

 

The GFRC Consignment Window Is Open

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

 

Working on the Tenafly Collection Auction Catalog

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

 

Wrapping Up The Blog

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

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

Thanks for the visit. Be well!