Best Of

@BillJones said:
My favorite acquisition was this 1839 Gobrecht Dollar. I really wanted to acquire a nice 1793 Chain AMERI. Cent, but I quickly found out that a six figure sum can't do that any more in this market. I bought this instead for a good deal less. It's lead to a great deal of interesting and reward research, which I would like to make into an entertaining artcle to be published somewhere.

I also acquired my first Montgomery Confederate note. I don't know if I will get any more, but this got me started.

Bill, that Gobrecht is just fantastic....Yeah, that would be a lifetime highlight for any collector I think! Beautiful coin.

Will NCIC have a table at the FUN show? That could be a way to raise donations for the cause. FUN might even offer a free table for the cause. I'm just guessing.

Our host grades the 83-S a little tougher assigning 62 a lot. I give that a 63 but wouldn’t be surprised if they gave it a 62.

The 86 should be a 66

I like CACG slabs and prices in the series I collect are very strong. I love CAC because they have the best graders, service, and the best registry by far. Build it and they will come.

For a collector: VF 20 if buying ... F15 if selling.

For a dealer: F15 if buying ... VF20 if selling.

That's the way it has been for decades in the world of raw coins.

@Rc5280 said:
@M4Madness and @johnny010 ,
Thanks, now I know what happened to the Gold coin that I shipped to CA a couple of weeks back?
A newly slabbed, Gold shield NFC chipped slab shipped in a small FR box w/signature ship---DISAPPEARED!
The postman marked it as "left with individual", and the buyer, nor his neighbors signed for it-- never received it. Nobody signed for it.
I didn't insure it, and I'm about to be told to refund the buyer 2800 bucks. I'm seriously bumming right now..
Advice?..
Drug dealers use foil to conceal their goods from being 'sniffed'. Looks like I'm going to use foil to ship PM's from now on...

First off, how well do you know the buyer, and have you done previous business? Is this a forum member or someone you've known for a while? Was this a direct sale, or was it through an intermediary platform like eBay? You say you're "about to be told" to refund the buyer, but by whom? What type of area was the delivery location, how's the crime rate? You should probably make a new post and give as many details as possible, and I mean EVERY detail.

If this is a first time buyer or a rando who isn't known within any coin communities, pump the brakes on the refund. SOMEBODY signed for the package. If it wasn't one of the residents there, then it would have been the postal worker. The post office should be able to retrieve the signature, but you'll likely need the buyers participation to start making noise and get in touch with the postmaster. Does anyone have any ring camera footage?

Priority mail comes with $100 standard insurance, so a claim will need to be filed and I think the buyer must assist as well. That small amount of insurance will give the post office some motivation to start turning over stones. I would also post images of the coin in case it pops up somewhere, set a saved search on eBay for the coin. It's crucial for you to first figure out whether the package was actually dropped off somewhere. If it was physically dropped off, a police report might be necessary

In addition you should Contact Doug Davis at the NCIC, he deals with this for a living and will have more experienced advice than me -
https://numismaticcrimes.org/about/

You may have learned a very expensive lesson, but it isn't that you should have used foil....it's that you shouldn't be shipping any high value, uninsured packages during the holiday season. There are a ton of threads here about stolen packages, shipping methods and insurance. Good luck, and remember like I said...EVERY DETAIL MATTERS.

Notice how everything is flowing towards the rim, that is called Die Deterioration Doubling
caused by a worn die. This is another of the worthless types of doubling.

The best part of numismatics is the tie to history and pioneer gold has it in spades, in part because so much of it is uncertain.

I have met collectors who have little interest in history and I wonder why they even bother.

Dan you, on the other hand, have dug in deeply. Great coin, puzzling grade (in step with the uncertainty of these coins) and a write-up that shows your thrill. Good stuff.