<< <i>Got my set..............They all look really nice too..........Crappy Pic.........
>>
I know there was a question that "artistically" it would look better of the clad and proof silver coin positions were swithced...can the felt(?) coin holder be removed from the case and flipped?? if so then viola! and then you can sell a "packaging alternative" ...for an extra $20 bucks on the bay....hehehe it is ALL about the box (so far)
I know there was a question that "artistically" it would look better of the clad and proof silver coin positions were swithced...can the felt(?) coin holder be removed from the case and flipped?? if so then viola! and then you can sell a "packaging alternative" ...for an extra $20 bucks on the bay....hehehe it is ALL about the box (so far) >>
it wasn't a question.. if one has taken any art classes, art history, where you study the works of others, or studio art classes where you're instructed on how to paint, draw, sculpt, whatever.. you'll know that when you do a composition, whether it's a drawing, painting, commercial design, or whatever, the rule of thumb.. well there are many, and this isn't a painting or drawing, it's a display case holding coins, but the coins have creatures on them.. those creatures have faces.. and the way the two outer coins' creatures are facing, they lead your eyes out of the case.. their positions should be reversed so that they lead your eye INTO the case, to the most important coin, the centerpiece, the Gold piece in the middle..
my set is not where i can reach it right now, but i don't think you can just flip the insert around so the Half is on the left and the DollEr is on the right.. if i disremember incorrectly, that insert is bevelled in such a way that it only fits into the case (so you can close the thing) one way.. this is just an example of a presentation put together by someone who doesn't have a working knowledge or any background in the Arts.. look at album covers, look at famous paintings and other works of art.. advertising, magazine covers, billboards.. look at how an artist or designer balances different elements with color, perspective, light and dark.. size and shape.. and especially look at works of art with multiple people / animals in them.. it's simply bad form to have those things' faces facing OUT, leading your eyes off and away from the "canvas", away from the focal point..
this isn't the same thing as saying the designs on the coins are bad.. they're not.. in fact, look at the Gold coin.. the two birds are both facing inwards.. that's the correct way to do it.. not only did the artist / sculptor know what s/he was doing by orienting them that way, but the design brings your eyes to where their faces meet.. it says "this is a pair of (married) birds.." what i'm saying is that the presentation of the three coins in the case is compositionally wrong.. yeah, in the grand scheme of things, it may be a "who freakin' cares?".. most people not only wouldn't notice, they wouldn't care.. but if you think of the presentation as a canvas, then it is entirely wrong..
even on a portrait of one person, unless that person is facing straight ahead, if s/he's sitting off to one side, hands folded in lap, in the classical "portrait of the founder hanging on a board room wall".. for example, his or her face should be facing IN to the center of the canvas, not facing out of it.. look around your home.. Shirley you have some artwork or posters on the walls.. study the elements that make up the whole.. how did the artist or designer balance the elements that make up the whole?.. you do a painting or drawing of a house.. the house is in the center.. there's a huge tree in the foreground, off to one side.. that tree will usually have branches arcing inwards to lead your eye to the house.. not away from it.. because the work is about the house, not the tree.. with a huge tree in the foreground on the left, and a small house in the distance in the center, you then balance those two elements with a third element on the right.. perhaps another, smaller, darker tree leading your eyes inwards from the right.. or a hill off in the distance.. or a yard bench on the right, tilted diagonally, in perspective.. so it again leads your eyes inwards, towards the house..
when i got the set, and opened the case and looked at the layout, because of the endless hours i spent in Art History classes, and in studio Art classes learning all this stuff.. it just immediately clicked in my mind "this is wrong".. and that's why it's wrong.. i don't know if one in a hundred or even one in a thousand people would notice it's wrong and why it's wrong, or would even care, whether they knew or not.. but anyone who has a background in Art would know it's a bad compositional layout of the three elements..
if this was a Commemorative series with three rocks, "The American National Rock Commemorative Series".. it wouldn't matter.. rocks don't have faces.. birds do.. still, you'd never put the Gold coin off to one side, as the Mint's prototype / mockup / publicity pictures of this set had them laid out.. the Gold coin is the centerpiece, and the smallest, so it belongs in the middle..
we did have a coin in the past few years that was just a bunch of rocks.. the New Hampshire State quarter with the "old man of the mountain" rock formation (which later fell down.. did they ever put him back together?).. look at one of those and how the "face" is offset waaaaaaaaaaay over to the right, but is facing inwards, towards the center of the coin.. look at Mt. Rushmore and how Borglum composed it.. it's a timeless design, and it works, because it's in balance, and pleasing to the eyes.. so when it comes to compositional layout, there's a right way, and there's a wrong way.. again, Bonehead Art 101..
at the risk of belaboring the point, which i've probably already done.. that's enough.. class dismissed..
"I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, I won't be laid a hand on.. I don't do these things to other people.. I require the same of them.." - John Wayne, "The Shootist" (1976.. his final film)..
I'm supposed to get my order tomorrow. I ordered at around 3 pm first day of sale. I called the mint 7 times since ordering. I honestly wondered about their customer service. I know they had the storms in Tenn. and everything, but I was sure I would have my order before this weekend. Oh well. Nice enough people to talk to, but starting two weeks ago I was told they would be here in 3-5 days. Oh well. At least I'll get them.With all the discussion about the not so top quality of the silvers, I wonder how many will be "keepers".
hrlaser.....it's all about the box...can you flip the insert or not? hehehe
i agree....i saw that too as far as composition goes....in my book it is even BELOW bonehead art 101 not to have noticed that the birds on the end face (look) out instead of in and would be more astheic if the proof silver and clad were swapped
btw i am not a professional when it comes to art, yet i have had a few public expositions of black and white large format photography in my day.
both of my sets are still sealed, paid for and tucked away, waitng to see if it really is more than just the box!
<< <i>WoW only 4% of the Silver Proofs went 70. I sent in 100 of each, I think I may be in trouble with them. >>
You and I are in the same boat. I sent in 100 of each of the silver and 30 each of the gold. I didn't look over any of them. The math I did, I would only need 10 silver 70's in either proof or unc and to sell for $180 each to break even. If I can get 5 70's of each and get the $300 they are brining now, I might just break even and have one to keep.
<< <i>Got my set..............They all look really nice too..........Crappy Pic.........
>>
I know there was a question that "artistically" it would look better of the clad and proof silver coin positions were swithced...can the felt(?) coin holder be removed from the case and flipped?? if so then viola! and then you can sell a "packaging alternative" ...for an extra $20 bucks on the bay....hehehe it is ALL about the box (so far) >>
Why does the Mint display this incorrect depiction of the 3 coin set????
Why does the Mint display this incorrect depiction of the 3 coin set????
It's all over eBay in this config.
Harv, I apologize if you mentioned this before.
>>
i think that is either an artist's rendering or a photograph of a mock-up before the set actually went into production and they decided to move the Gold into the center position.. it's really hard to tell, although the coins in the Mint's picture just don't look real enough.. they look like artfully-done artists' renderings.. it's all over eBay because people are too lazy to shoot pictures of an actual set in their possesion, or too dumb to use a digital camera.. so they just click and save the picture off the Mint's Web site and paste it into their auctions.. they did this for pre-sales, because it's the only picture of the set that existed.. and until people started receiving and opening the sets, no one new the placement of the coins in that picture were wrong..
for those now selling opened sets, they should photograph the actual set they're selling.. for those selling sealed-box sets, they should photograph the sealed box (blocking out their name and address on the shipping label is fine.. i would do the same).. but then since their set is sealed, if they only have one, their only option to show an opened set is to steal someone else's photograph of one, which can easily get their auction yanked and their bottom slapped, so if you're selling an opened set with a photograph in an eBay auction, you should prominently slap a copyright notice across the photograph.. or else they picture the sealed box and then use that Mint picture to show what an opened set looks like, except the Mint's picture is wrong.. and that's NOT what it looks like..
i don't regret opening mine.. i went through so much crap just to get it, and it doesn't qualify for "First Strike" labels.. i don't plan on having them slabbed.. and i wanted to see what i had paid almost four hundred bucks for anyway.. now if some variety expert would just discover there is something "different" about any of the coins in the three-coin set versus the singles.. then you'd see some very serious prices for the sets.. i don't think it'll happen but like i said, look how long it took to discover those 5000 Cheerios brass bucks were pattern coins!.. and one of them sold on TeleTrade a month or two ago for $12,500.00.. where are the rest of them?.. most likely went into circulation, or are hiding in kids' dresser drawers..
"I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, I won't be laid a hand on.. I don't do these things to other people.. I require the same of them.." - John Wayne, "The Shootist" (1976.. his final film)..
Why does the Mint display this incorrect depiction of the 3 coin set????
It's all over eBay in this config.
Harv, I apologize if you mentioned this before.
>>
i think that is either an artist's rendering or a photograph of a mock-up before the set actually went into production and they decided to move the Gold into the center position.. it's really hard to tell, although the coins in the Mint's picture just don't look real enough.. they look like artfully-done artists' renderings.. it's all over eBay because people are too lazy to shoot pictures of an actual set in their possesion, or too dumb to use a digital camera.. so they just click and save the picture off the Mint's Web site and paste it into their auctions.. they did this for pre-sales, because it's the only picture of the set that existed.. and until people started receiving and opening the sets, no one new the placement of the coins in that picture were wrong..
for those now selling opened sets, they should photograph the actual set they're selling.. for those selling sealed-box sets, they should photograph the sealed box (blocking out their name and address on the shipping label is fine.. i would do the same).. but then since their set is sealed, if they only have one, their only option to show an opened set is to steal someone else's photograph of one, which can easily get their auction yanked and their bottom slapped, so if you're selling an opened set with a photograph in an eBay auction, you should prominently slap a copyright notice across the photograph.. or else they picture the sealed box and then use that Mint picture to show what an opened set looks like, except the Mint's picture is wrong.. and that's NOT what it looks like..
i don't regret opening mine.. i went through so much crap just to get it, and it doesn't qualify for "First Strike" labels.. i don't plan on having them slabbed.. and i wanted to see what i had paid almost four hundred bucks for anyway.. now if some variety expert would just discover there is something "different" about any of the coins in the three-coin set versus the singles.. then you'd see some very serious prices for the sets.. i don't think it'll happen but like i said, look how long it took to discover those 5000 Cheerios brass bucks were pattern coins!.. and one of them sold on TeleTrade a month or two ago for $12,500.00.. where are the rest of them?.. most likely went into circulation, or are hiding in kids' dresser drawers.. >>
Harv, never have I heard a better argument against the Mint's sales presentation on this issue.
Lazy eBayer's had me in stitches.
Did you see the latest eBay auction tonight?????
3 coin set commanding a hefty 25% premium already................and who said the COA and pretty box meant nothing?????
<< <i> Did you see the latest eBay auction tonight?????
3 coin set commanding a hefty 25% premium already................and who said the COA and pretty box meant nothing?????
>>
yeah but once you take out the eBay listing fees (depending on how low or high they started it.. as you know, you start it at $9.99 or less, you pay the minimum fee and you take quite a chance.. you start it high and you pay a MUCH higher listing fee..).. plus any options (if they use eBay picture hosting, the first picture is free, then additional ones are what, 15c each?..) .. add more fees if they use bold, or a border, and double the fees if they list it in two categories.. then when it sells, take out eBay's three percent Final Value Fee, then if they have a PayPal Premier account and get paid that way, take off another three percent.. so you're already way, maybe way WAY under a 25% premium over the set's original selling price.. then you have to calculate shipping and not screw yourself on that.. set it too low and you attract bidders and lose more money.. set it too high and you scare people away..
if you don't accept PayPal, something around 75% to 80% of potential bidders won't bid on it.. the age of instant gratification.. bid, win, pay, hey where is it? i already paid you!.. squirm squrim c'mon i paid for it yesterday, where is it?.. so most people are willing to let PayPal take three percent of their sale just to attract bidders.. then you withdraw the money from PayPal into your bank account where it doesn't show up for a few days (i've found that the higher the amount you withdraw, the longer it takes to show up as a bank deposit.. coincidence or conspiracy?.. you know, i'm sure, that PayPal floats your / our money into an off-shore bank, makes a ton of interest on it, then floats it back over before they send it to your bank account when you withdraw it.. these guys didn't get to be billionaires by being charitable..) ..
then add in (or subtract out) what someone's time is worth to photograph an item, write a description and so on.. and how much profit has a guy really made selling a $375.00 set for $425.00 or $450.00 or whatever?..
i think if you only have one or two of these sets, it's way too soon to sell them.. because they haven't been sold out long enough to establish any kind of a real market history, and because you can't buy them at issue price any more.. the thing working in this sets favor is that they never took the "one per household" limit off it.. so i suspect most of the 25,000 are in the hands of people who only own one..
so if you only have one, sure, you can sell it now and make maybe fifty bucks.. give or take, before or after you take out all the fees.. what will they be worth in six months or a year or two years from now.. that's the real question..
if i had any idea that the 2000-W BiMetallics Uncs. would be worth over $3000.00 RAW eight years after i paid $390.00 each for a few, do you think i would have sold my NGC MS70s for $1700 and $1900 back in 2003 when i could probably get over $4000.00 for them now?.. i mean who knew?..
that's why i'm always leery about selling too soon without giving somethinig this new a chance to establish a market price.. the problem with peaks, though, is you never know where the peak price is until it's passed.. sure there are 25,000 of these, and only 6683 of those BiMetallic Uncs., but still..
"I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, I won't be laid a hand on.. I don't do these things to other people.. I require the same of them.." - John Wayne, "The Shootist" (1976.. his final film)..
<< <i> Did you see the latest eBay auction tonight?????
3 coin set commanding a hefty 25% premium already................and who said the COA and pretty box meant nothing?????
>>
yeah but once you take out the eBay listing fees (depending on how low or high they started it.. as you know, you start it at $9.99 or less, you pay the minimum fee and you take quite a chance.. you start it high and you pay a MUCH higher listing fee..).. plus any options (if they use eBay picture hosting, the first picture is free, then additional ones are what, 15c each?..) .. add more fees if they use bold, or a border, and double the fees if they list it in two categories.. then when it sells, take out eBay's three percent Final Value Fee, then if they have a PayPal Premier account and get paid that way, take off another three percent.. so you're already way, maybe way WAY under a 25% premium over the set's original selling price.. then you have to calculate shipping and not screw yourself on that.. set it too low and you attract bidders and lose more money.. set it too high and you scare people away..
if you don't accept PayPal, something around 75% to 80% of potential bidders won't bid on it.. the age of instant gratification.. bid, win, pay, hey where is it? i already paid you!.. squirm squrim c'mon i paid for it yesterday, where is it?.. so most people are willing to let PayPal take three percent of their sale just to attract bidders.. then you withdraw the money from PayPal into your bank account where it doesn't show up for a few days (i've found that the higher the amount you withdraw, the longer it takes to show up as a bank deposit.. coincidence or conspiracy?.. you know, i'm sure, that PayPal floats your / our money into an off-shore bank, makes a ton of interest on it, then floats it back over before they send it to your bank account when you withdraw it.. these guys didn't get to be billionaires by being charitable..) ..
then add in (or subtract out) what someone's time is worth to photograph an item, write a description and so on.. and how much profit has a guy really made selling a $375.00 set for $425.00 or $450.00 or whatever?..
i think if you only have one or two of these sets, it's way too soon to sell them.. because they haven't been sold out long enough to establish any kind of a real market history, and because you can't buy them at issue price any more.. the thing working in this sets favor is that they never took the "one per household" limit off it.. so i suspect most of the 25,000 are in the hands of people who only own one..
so if you only have one, sure, you can sell it now and make maybe fifty bucks.. give or take, before or after you take out all the fees.. what will they be worth in six months or a year or two years from now.. that's the real question..
if i had any idea that the 2000-W BiMetallics Uncs. would be worth over $3000.00 RAW eight years after i paid $390.00 each for a few, do you think i would have sold my NGC MS70s for $1700 and $1900 back in 2003 when i could probably get over $4000.00 for them now?.. i mean who knew?..
that's why i'm always leery about selling too soon without giving somethinig this new a chance to establish a market price.. the problem with peaks, though, is you never know where the peak price is until it's passed.. sure there are 25,000 of these, and only 6683 of those BiMetallic Uncs., but still.. >>
Sage advice..................my 3 coin baldies are staying in their nest at present!!!!!
These sets will be going north of $500 within the next couple of weeks. Quite a quick return, IMHO, and a nice set to boot. I got one sent to my home and used my wife's CC to send another to my mother's house. With the way PM are going these days, sets that everyone considered dogs--like the 2007 Platinum Anniversary Set--have turned out to be huge winners all around. I regretted buying two of those, too, but made $500 on the last one I sold, and am glad I did.
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
<< <i>These sets will be going north of $500 within the next couple of weeks. Quite a quick return, IMHO, and a nice set to boot. I got one sent to my home and used my wife's CC to send another to my mother's house. With the way PM are going these days, sets that everyone considered dogs--like the 2007 Platinum Anniversary Set--have turned out to be huge winners all around. I regretted buying two of those, too, but made $500 on the last one I sold, and am glad I did. >>
This thread is going to hit 1000 posts shortly, pretty wild. I bought the proof set to resell and the uncircs to keep, but now I am not sure if I will sell it later this month or wait a while. If I was buying off ebay, I wouldn't buy unopened boxes with the stories of some people who got theirs after the storms in TN. I would want to know what the coins actually looked like for sure (of course there is probably some bias in that since I have acknowledged that I am most likely selling mine and have opened it ) .
<< <i>This thread is going to hit 1000 posts shortly, pretty wild. I bought the proof set to resell and the uncircs to keep, but now I am not sure if I will sell it later this month or wait a while. If I was buying off ebay, I wouldn't buy unopened boxes with the stories of some people who got theirs after the storms in TN. I would want to know what the coins actually looked like for sure (of course there is probably some bias in that since I have acknowledged that I am most likely selling mine and have opened it ) . >>
except if you look at enough auctions of these sets that contain photographs of them, you're not getting Heritage or TeleTrade-quality pictures of the coins.. and i don't know any seller who's going to slit his own throat by saying "the coins have hits and nicks and boogers all over them".. you'll mainly see a single picture of an opened set that tells you basically nothing except there are three blurry coins in a case.. who can possibly tell a 68 from a 69 from a 70 with most of those eBay pictures?.. and absolutely NO ONE is going to give potential bidders any kind of guarantee that any given raw coin will slab 70.. or even slab 69.. so it's a total crapshoot..
remember too, the coins shipped after the storms in TN could have been boxed up weeks BEFORE the storms, just awaiting shipping labels to be slapped on them.. the three coins in this set have three different Mint marks too.. so they had to be shipped from Philadelphia, San Francisco, and West Point to "somewhere" to be put into the cases, which were then boxed.. and just how much and what kind of damage did the Memphis Fedex facility suffer from the storms?.. was the roof ripped off?.. were there 200mph winds blowing through the place scattering stuff all over the place?.. many many companies keep their stock at that facility.. i would ASSume that the Mint's stuff is kept in some kind of more protective enclosed space than, say, thousands of computers and printers and other stuff which is probably stacked on pallets on steel shelving.. compared to that kind of stuff, even tens of thousands of coins take up very little space.. and is worth a LOT more money per the space it occupies than other kinds of merchandise stored there for shipping.. maybe the Mint even has a "vault" there.. or maybe their stock IS just stacked up on steel shelves in bins.. who knows?..
"I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, I won't be laid a hand on.. I don't do these things to other people.. I require the same of them.." - John Wayne, "The Shootist" (1976.. his final film)..
Here's what the official COA has to say about these coins:
"This coin has been produced by the Department of the Treasury, United States Mint to honor the Bald Eagle's restoration to America's waterways and skies, commemorate the 35th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, and celebrate the removal of this national symbol from the Endangered Species List."
Mint - Philadelphia (P) Condition - Proof Weight - 26.730 grams nominal Diameter - 1.500 inches or 38.10 mm Composition - 90% silver, 10% copper Mintage Limit - 500,000 (all options)
DESIGNS Obverse: 'Depicts a mature eagle soaring majestically through the sky'
Reverse: 'The reverse design is based on a replica of the first Great Seal of the United States that was used between 1782 and 1841. The original engraver of this Great Seal is unknown.'
COIN ARTISTS Obverse: Designer - Joel Iskowitz Sculptor - Don Everhart
THE COINS YOU SEE PICTURED ARE THE COINS YOU WILL RECEIVE!!!
Your coins come inside sonically sealed, hard plastic cases with unique serial numbers and holograms!
Bidding for these Slabbed Commemorative starts at only $0.99!! Don’t miss your chance to get these rare and beautiful coins for just .99 cents with NO RESERVE! That's RIGHT! NO RESERVE!
<< <i>This thread is going to hit 1000 posts shortly, pretty wild. I bought the proof set to resell and the uncircs to keep, but now I am not sure if I will sell it later this month or wait a while. If I was buying off ebay, I wouldn't buy unopened boxes with the stories of some people who got theirs after the storms in TN. I would want to know what the coins actually looked like for sure (of course there is probably some bias in that since I have acknowledged that I am most likely selling mine and have opened it ) . >>
except if you look at enough auctions of these sets that contain photographs of them, you're not getting Heritage or TeleTrade-quality pictures of the coins.. and i don't know any seller who's going to slit his own throat by saying "the coins have hits and nicks and boogers all over them".. you'll mainly see a single picture of an opened set that tells you basically nothing except there are three blurry coins in a case.. who can possibly tell a 68 from a 69 from a 70 with most of those eBay pictures?.. and absolutely NO ONE is going to give potential bidders any kind of guarantee that any given raw coin will slab 70.. or even slab 69.. so it's a total crapshoot..
remember too, the coins shipped after the storms in TN could have been boxed up weeks BEFORE the storms, just awaiting shipping labels to be slapped on them.. the three coins in this set have three different Mint marks too.. so they had to be shipped from Philadelphia, San Francisco, and West Point to "somewhere" to be put into the cases, which were then boxed.. and just how much and what kind of damage did the Memphis Fedex facility suffer from the storms?.. was the roof ripped off?.. were there 200mph winds blowing through the place scattering stuff all over the place?.. many many companies keep their stock at that facility.. i would ASSume that the Mint's stuff is kept in some kind of more protective enclosed space than, say, thousands of computers and printers and other stuff which is probably stacked on pallets on steel shelving.. compared to that kind of stuff, even tens of thousands of coins take up very little space.. and is worth a LOT more money per the space it occupies than other kinds of merchandise stored there for shipping.. maybe the Mint even has a "vault" there.. or maybe their stock IS just stacked up on steel shelves in bins.. who knows?.. >>
Yeah, I agree, I just meant me personally, I wouldn't feel good about buying unopened boxes of these. A lot of people were saying they would be sending them back once they started shipping again, but could have just been a coincidence. And if you remember, I have some pretty good pics of my set Can't guarantee 70's but I can gaurantee these coins are included
<< <i>The infamous seller aboncom has some "perfect" Bald Eagles in those bullcrap slabs for sale!!!!!
This guy is treading on thin water with this auction IMHO.
Can you say pushing the eBay coin policy to its limit?????
Just read his suspect product description closely...................
>>
SGS? another bottom-feeder self-slabber.. might as well put them in CW Amos Advantage holders, write PR70 on the labels with a crayon and seal them with a hot glue gun.. it's a shame the uneducated fall for this kind of junk..
"I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, I won't be laid a hand on.. I don't do these things to other people.. I require the same of them.." - John Wayne, "The Shootist" (1976.. his final film)..
Yeah, I agree, I just meant me personally, I wouldn't feel good about buying unopened boxes of these. A lot of people were saying they would be sending them back once they started shipping again, but could have just been a coincidence. And if you remember, I have some pretty good pics of my set Can't guarantee 70's but I can gaurantee these coins are included
>>
what are those tiny white specks on both sides of the Gold coin, and what's that thing that looks like a piece of dandruff under the "E" lin LIBERTY?.. are those marks on the coin? reflections?.. dust?.. did you take it / them out of the capsules to photograph them?..
"I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, I won't be laid a hand on.. I don't do these things to other people.. I require the same of them.." - John Wayne, "The Shootist" (1976.. his final film)..
<< <i>The infamous seller aboncom has some "perfect" Bald Eagles in those bullcrap slabs for sale!!!!!
This guy is treading on thin water with this auction IMHO.
Can you say pushing the eBay coin policy to its limit?????
Just read his suspect product description closely...................
>>
SGS? another bottom-feeder self-slabber.. might as well put them in CW Amos Advantage holders, write PR70 on the labels with a crayon and seal them with a hot glue gun.. it's a shame the uneducated fall for this kind of junk.. >>
Harv,
And the basturd has the nerve to call it a "PERFECT PROOF CAMEO BALD EAGLE SILVER COMMEM SET"
It's NOT a friggin' set!!!!!!!
It's 2 commemorative coins that have eagles on them and only one is silver!!!!!!.....Mis-Leading Much????
Harv, I will redo the gold picture on that, it was dust, and I haven't taken it back out of the case since I snapped that picture the day it came in, and didn't check the pictures before I put them back up. I don't like messing with those gold coins since they move around in the plastic case so easy.
<< <i>Harv, I will redo the gold picture on that, it was dust, and I haven't taken it back out of the case since I snapped that picture the day it came in, and didn't check the pictures before I put them back up. I don't like messing with those gold coins since they move around in the plastic case so easy. >>
rg, you have posted those bald eagle coin photos all over the place.
You know what???
I never get tired of looking at them........they are just stunning.
I wish I could learn to do that.
I have the SpaceMonkey templates and PhotoShop Elements 5.....but I can not figure out the technique!!!
I never did figure out exactly how to do it myself, but improvised and finally like the way they came out. Thanks though for the kind words, I have enjoyed posting them probably a little too much!
<< <i>I never did figure out exactly how to do it myself, but improvised and finally like the way they came out. Thanks though for the kind words, I have enjoyed posting them probably a little too much! >>
accurate coin photography is definitely an art unto itself.. of all the things i've photographed, coins are probably the most wickedly difficult to image accurately, without a proper light table set up and lighting.. even with the dust, those are stunning pictures, because they're crystal-clear, and it looks like the coins are floating in air.. but digital cameras are brutally honest, and i've often taken pictures of coins and other things and not seen the dust on them until i transferred them into the computer and looked at them on a much bigger screen than the 2" LCD screen on my cameras.. then it's usually "oh crap!" and i have to re-shoot.. a can of pressurized dust-off is a handy thing to have around.. so is one of those little soft brushes with a gray squeeze bulb on the end that they sell in camera shops for a couple of bucks..
by the way, speaking of cameras, i read a news blurp the other day that Polaroid is calling it quits and they're going to, if they haven't already, stop making their "600" film packs.. i inherited my Dad's entire Polaroid SX-70 camera outfit.. the original model (no sonar auto-focus).. with the leather pads, leather carrying case, close-up attachments, strobe, filters, some flash bars.. cable release, tripod mount, SX-70 photo albums (some of them full of family photos.. but a couple still brand new, never used).. a ton of stuff.. the last time i bought film for it was a few years ago.. they were selling it under the name of Polaroid "Time Zero" film.. the same good old sealed pack good for ten shots.. with the built-in flat battery, made to work in the SX-70 and some other models.. i need to look around and see if any local stores still have any.. i loved that camera, and i only have ONE sealed pack of film left for it.. with a "good through 2006" date on it.. so i must've bought it a couple years before that.. although i hardly ever touch the thing, and in spite of how advanced it was (and still is).. one of the most innovative and complex pieces of consumer photographic gear ever made.. everybody and his monkey owned an SX-70.. they were wildly popular and Polaroid sold a bajillion of them, so even in pristine condtition they're not worth very much.. since Polaroid's announcement of the cessation of making the film, i see packs of it going on eBay for insane prices.. people are stocking up because it won't be in stores any more, if it even still is.. they're paying $30 to $40 a pack for the film.. the last time i bought a couple of packs at a local drug store, maybe five years ago, it was about $12 a pack.. the end of an era.. hope i can find some.. but i'm NOT going to pay those eBay prices for it..
when i first started selling on eBay ten years ago, i didn't own a digital camera, so i shot my items with the SX-70, then converted the photos to digital with a flatbed scanner.. the beauty of that camera was the battery was in the film pack, so no batteries to leak and corrode its innards.. PLUS they also made a little flat flashlight called the PolaPulse.. i have one of those, and with a screwdriver, you can open it and replace its flat battery with one out of a spent SX-70 film pack because the batteries in those packs have a LOT of juice left in them after you've taken all ten shots.. sorry for the digression.. i HATE it when they stop making supplies for things like this.. it's going to make every SX-70 and 600 camera out there utterly obsolete and useless unless one wants to spend ridiculous money on eBay for film.. i even have a pair of the old Polaroid "Swinger" cameras that were so popular with teenagers in the 1960s.. unfortunately, they stopped making Swinger film eons ago.. so all i can do is admire them, fondle them, relive the memories, and put them away again ..
"I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, I won't be laid a hand on.. I don't do these things to other people.. I require the same of them.." - John Wayne, "The Shootist" (1976.. his final film)..
Happy with my 3 coins set and all the single options in gold and silver available from the mint in OGP. I will not be submitting these at all. Like them the way they are. They are great looking coins.
So, my Gold Unc. Bald Eagle has been on hold since ordering it around Jan 29th.
I called a couple times, they give me the order is on 'hold' because .... blah blah blah,
I log on yesterday, THEY CANCELLED the order !!!
I called to find out why, they say, they tried twice to hit my credit card with no luck, this is odd, because all my other orders are fine.
They ask if I want to place another order, Helll no, not for $25 more.
These people are scum. I'd have to say they cancelled the order because they think they can get more money from people ordering at the full price, not the pre-issue price.
There's an article in the latest issue of CW (it's in the other room so i don't have the cover date handy).. about the storms that damaged the Fedex facility in Memphis on 05 February, 2008.. causing the temporary cessation of "Expedited Shipping" from the Mint's fulfillment center (which is that place).. finally a month later (allowing for lead time).. the press printed some detail as to what happened there during the "tornado-like" storms..
the roof of the building WAS damaged by pieces of a roof of a nearby building which was blown off and crashed down through the roof of the building where the Mint's stock was kept.. rain poured in.. packaged coins WERE strewn around all over the place, and a lot of the packaging was damaged, causing shipping delays while they waited for new packaging to arrive from wherever it comes from.. this probably explains the hits and nicks and other problems we've seen noted here with SOME of the Baldies that were shipped after the storms.. they didn't really detail how many coins of which denominations or Proofs and Uncs. or sets or singles respectively were blown around all over the place.. it's a pretty short story (and no, i'm not going to type the whole thing in.. but maybe i'll shoot a picture of it and post it unless someone beats me to it..) ..
anyway, it looks like if i read between the lines, the coins shipped BEFORE the storms will be more likely to be problem-free than those that were in that warehouse during the storms.. possibly some of them were thrown around with such force that that they actually came out of their capsules, or were water-damaged and had to be cleaned off and re-capsulizated.. so this mess could and probably will create a "70 rarity" for this series depending on what percentage of the total Mintage was damaged and had to be re-packaged, or even put into new capsules and THEN re-packaged..
the story notes that the Mint's stock is heavily guarded (for obvious reasons).. so apparently it's NOT kept in a "vault" in Memphis.. but knowing what the inside of a huge warehouse looks like, more likely in bins on metal racks behind a fenced-in area.. this also leads me to think that they don't pre-package the coins in shipping boxes and then label them as orders are processed.. or, if they do, that those outer heavy corrugated cardboard boxes with which we're all familiar were thrown around in the winds inside the building and suffered water damage themselves, so a lot of coins had to be re-boxed.. like i said, the story didn't go into that kind of detail and there weren't any photographs accompanying it..
"I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, I won't be laid a hand on.. I don't do these things to other people.. I require the same of them.." - John Wayne, "The Shootist" (1976.. his final film)..
<< <i>So, my Gold Unc. Bald Eagle has been on hold since ordering it around Jan 29th.
I called a couple times, they give me the order is on 'hold' because .... blah blah blah,
I log on yesterday, THEY CANCELLED the order !!!
I called to find out why, they say, they tried twice to hit my credit card with no luck, this is odd, because all my other orders are fine.
They ask if I want to place another order, Helll no, not for $25 more.
These people are scum. I'd have to say they cancelled the order because they think they can get more money from people ordering at the full price, not the pre-issue price.
>>
I feel your pain! My order was actually shipped with an incomplete address, rejected by FEDEX and returned to the shipper. I called FEDEX to have it redelivered but they said they couldn't stop it. I called the Mint to have it redelivered and they said that I would receive it in a week to 10 days. I then received an E-Mail stating that my return was processed and that my CC would be credited. So no 3 coin set for me! From now on if I can't order on the web, I'm not going to order!
I'd keep playing. I don't think the heavy stuff will be coming down for quite a while!
The post by hrlaser that mentions mint shipping water damage is good.
The odd marks I got on my proof half coins(a unusual multitude of linear scuff or scrape marks) is by his report possibly from wiping from a drying towel. The marks ar unidirectional as if someone wiped the coin..
here's the CW story printed in the latest issue about the storm damage to the Fedex facility in Memphis to which i referred earlier.. the possible (probable?).. cause of problematic Baldies and probably other coins that were in there and shipped after the storm.. draw your own conclusions.. as to if there were actual raw coins flying around which were wiped clean and re-capsulized, or what happened.. the story begs more questions than it answers.. typical incomplete journalism, but maybe that's all the information the writer could get..
"the number of items damaged represent approximately 1% of the inventory" <-- ? what inventory.. the Mint's TOTAL inventory everywhere, or just the inventory that was in that building?.. i could read it either way.. my three-coin Proof set looks virtually perfect, but the singles of the Proof and Unc. DollErs and Haves i received a couple of weeks later have tiny hits on them.. they don't look like someone dragged them across gravel, or wiped them with a rag, but they sure ain't no 70s.. i'm not going to hassle sending them back, nor am i going to order any more.. i'll just hang onto them and use them as gifts or something.. they don't look like garbage, they're just not worth slabbing.. none of them would do better than a 69.. in fact i doubt i'll have any of my three-coin set slabbed either.. i think, now that it's sold out, it's worth more as an intact set, plus i still think there's a very remote possibility that somewhere down the road, some variety expert might find something "different" about the coins in that set.. hey, it's happened before.. (2000 Millenium C&C set with PL Brass bucks are worth a bundle if slabbed with that designation.. Cheerios DollErs.. and so on..) .. and it took years to discover those things..
"I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, I won't be laid a hand on.. I don't do these things to other people.. I require the same of them.." - John Wayne, "The Shootist" (1976.. his final film)..
<< <i>So, my Gold Unc. Bald Eagle has been on hold since ordering it around Jan 29th.
I called a couple times, they give me the order is on 'hold' because .... blah blah blah,
I log on yesterday, THEY CANCELLED the order !!!
I called to find out why, they say, they tried twice to hit my credit card with no luck, this is odd, because all my other orders are fine.
They ask if I want to place another order, Helll no, not for $25 more.
These people are scum. I'd have to say they cancelled the order because they think they can get more money from people ordering at the full price, not the pre-issue price.
>>
I feel your pain! My order was actually shipped with an incomplete address, rejected by FEDEX and returned to the shipper. I called FEDEX to have it redelivered but they said they couldn't stop it. I called the Mint to have it redelivered and they said that I would receive it in a week to 10 days. I then received an E-Mail stating that my return was processed and that my CC would be credited. So no 3 coin set for me! From now on if I can't order on the web, I'm not going to order! >>
these kinds of stories really grind my gears.. but what can you do?.. the Mint is a monopoly.. WE own it but WE have absolutely NO control over how they do business.. they do whatever they want to whomever they want, and have a very cavalier attitude towards their loyal customers because they know full-well we have nowhere else to go to buy new issues at cost.. well, except banks, and you sure can't get Commemoratives or Eagles or ANY kind of new Precious metal coins at Banks for face value.. so when they pull these kinds of stunts, the little guy is up against a couple of huge corporations (the Mint and Fedex).. who have absolutely NO sympathy to your plight, and you can talk yourself blue in the face and get nowhere.. it sucks..
"I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, I won't be laid a hand on.. I don't do these things to other people.. I require the same of them.." - John Wayne, "The Shootist" (1976.. his final film)..
<< <i>So, my Gold Unc. Bald Eagle has been on hold since ordering it around Jan 29th.
I called a couple times, they give me the order is on 'hold' because .... blah blah blah,
I log on yesterday, THEY CANCELLED the order !!!
I called to find out why, they say, they tried twice to hit my credit card with no luck, this is odd, because all my other orders are fine.
They ask if I want to place another order, Helll no, not for $25 more.
These people are scum. I'd have to say they cancelled the order because they think they can get more money from people ordering at the full price, not the pre-issue price.
>>
I feel your pain! My order was actually shipped with an incomplete address, rejected by FEDEX and returned to the shipper. I called FEDEX to have it redelivered but they said they couldn't stop it. I called the Mint to have it redelivered and they said that I would receive it in a week to 10 days. I then received an E-Mail stating that my return was processed and that my CC would be credited. So no 3 coin set for me! From now on if I can't order on the web, I'm not going to order! >>
these kinds of stories really grind my gears.. but what can you do?.. the Mint is a monopoly.. WE own it but WE have absolutely NO control over how they do business.. they do whatever they want to whomever they want, and have a very cavalier attitude towards their loyal customers because they know full-well we have nowhere else to go to buy new issues at cost.. well, except banks, and you sure can't get Commemoratives or Eagles or ANY kind of new Precious metal coins at Banks for face value.. so when they pull these kinds of stunts, the little guy is up against a couple of huge corporations (the Mint and Fedex).. who have absolutely NO sympathy to your plight, and you can talk yourself blue in the face and get nowhere.. it sucks.. >>
Well this story just keeps getting better.....
This morning, I get another E-Mail from the Mint saying that my order was shipped again. Usually I get this message the day after I receive my coins. So I check the tracking number on the FEDEX site and the coins were delivered and signed for by someone I don't know! Since I had them shipped to work and there are multiple companies in this office building, I went down to the security guard and asked her if she had a list of people who worked in the building. The person had a rather unique last name, so it wasn't to tough to find him. I stopped in the lobby of the company he worked for and asked the receptionist if she would check on this for me (I gave her a copy of the tracking results from FEDEX) and she said she would call me when the signer came in. About an hour later, she called and I picked up my package (it was still sealed) . I opened it up and the coins look quite nice. I'll inspect them with a microscope later this weekend.
What happened? Well it appears that when you provide and address correction to the Mint, your account gets updated but the order does not. So when the warehouse prints out a shipping label it still has your old information on it. This also happened to me with a CC. I lost some coins on a multiple coin order because the backordered coins could not be charged to my card when they were in stock (because they used the old card information) so they cancelled the rest of the order. And the reps can't (or won't) call the warehouse to make corrections.
I am happy that I received my coins. I was wrong about the rep not correcting my information (it was correct on the E-Mail they sent) but I think they could start working on a few system enhancements that would save them money by eliminating screwups!
And best of all, this post is almost at 1000!
I'd keep playing. I don't think the heavy stuff will be coming down for quite a while!
<< <i> This morning, I get another E-Mail from the Mint saying that my order was shipped again. Usually I get this message the day after I receive my coins. So I check the tracking number on the FEDEX site and the coins were delivered and signed for by someone I don't know! Since I had them shipped to work and there are multiple companies in this office building, I went down to the security guard and asked her if she had a list of people who worked in the building. The person had a rather unique last name, so it wasn't to tough to find him. I stopped in the lobby of the company he worked for and asked the receptionist if she would check on this for me (I gave her a copy of the tracking results from FEDEX) and she said she would call me when the signer came in. About an hour later, she called and I picked up my package (it was still sealed) . I opened it up and the coins look quite nice. I'll inspect them with a microscope later this weekend.
>>
all i can say to that is you were freakin' lucky in two ways.. that the guy they mis-delivered it to had an unusual name and was easy to Track down, AND that he didn't open the package.. he could easily have just opened it, ("Fulfillment center?.. who the Hell is that.. let's open it and find out.. ooh! coins! Gold!".. looks around, tucks box into briefcase.. takes it home..) .. and then where would you be?.. of course if you believe in Karma, he'd burn in Hell for doing something like that.. the other problem is Fedex would have Proof of delivery and you'd be screwed out of hundreds of bucks.. "Hey, we delivered it to the address on the package, it didn't have Restricted Signature required.. we wipe our hands of all responsibility.. we did what we were paid to do.." .. shame you're in a position where you can't have them shipped to your home address.. but if nobody's home during the day, all you get is the dreaded door tag and then you have to either arrange to take off work and stay home and wait for re-delivery, or go find the local Fedex depot and wait in an endless line to get your package(s)..
the guy with the weird name COULD have bothered to Track YOU down and hand you your package which obviously didn't belong to him.. ahh, the joys of office life ..
"I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, I won't be laid a hand on.. I don't do these things to other people.. I require the same of them.." - John Wayne, "The Shootist" (1976.. his final film)..
LOL, I'm still following it, kind of want to see what goes on on ebay for the next month or so with the 3 coin sets. I will be sending in my uncirc gold and silvers this week though, so I will update when those grades post also, thanks for keeping the info coming Goldbully!
<< <i>Looks like the Bald Eagle Commemorative craze is dying.
Isn't anyone even interested in the pop reports????
I guess this thread will never see a thousand posts like rgCoinGuy said it would...... >>
It's the mint's new strategy, sell stuff, hold delivery for 6 weeks until the buyers forget about the purchase, and by then they are on to buying more stuff they can't have for months...
Comments
<< <i>Got my set..............They all look really nice too..........Crappy Pic.........
I know there was a question that "artistically" it would look better of the clad and proof silver coin positions were swithced...can the felt(?) coin holder be removed from the case and flipped?? if so then viola! and then you can sell a "packaging alternative" ...for an extra $20 bucks on the bay....hehehe it is ALL about the box (so far)
Gold Uncs have 45% chance of an MS70
Proof Silver Dollar in PR70DC going to have a nice premium attached.
Overall, pretty low numbers in the Pops Report.
<< <i>
I know there was a question that "artistically" it would look better of the clad and proof silver coin positions were swithced...can the felt(?) coin holder be removed from the case and flipped?? if so then viola! and then you can sell a "packaging alternative" ...for an extra $20 bucks on the bay....hehehe it is ALL about the box (so far)
it wasn't a question.. if one has taken any art classes, art history, where you study the works of others, or studio art classes where you're instructed on how to paint, draw, sculpt, whatever.. you'll know that when you do a composition, whether it's a drawing, painting, commercial design, or whatever, the rule of thumb.. well there are many, and this isn't a painting or drawing, it's a display case holding coins, but the coins have creatures on them.. those creatures have faces.. and the way the two outer coins' creatures are facing, they lead your eyes out of the case.. their positions should be reversed so that they lead your eye INTO the case, to the most important coin, the centerpiece, the Gold piece in the middle..
my set is not where i can reach it right now, but i don't think you can just flip the insert around so the Half is on the left and the DollEr is on the right.. if i disremember incorrectly, that insert is bevelled in such a way that it only fits into the case (so you can close the thing) one way.. this is just an example of a presentation put together by someone who doesn't have a working knowledge or any background in the Arts.. look at album covers, look at famous paintings and other works of art.. advertising, magazine covers, billboards.. look at how an artist or designer balances different elements with color, perspective, light and dark.. size and shape.. and especially look at works of art with multiple people / animals in them.. it's simply bad form to have those things' faces facing OUT, leading your eyes off and away from the "canvas", away from the focal point..
this isn't the same thing as saying the designs on the coins are bad.. they're not.. in fact, look at the Gold coin.. the two birds are both facing inwards.. that's the correct way to do it.. not only did the artist / sculptor know what s/he was doing by orienting them that way, but the design brings your eyes to where their faces meet.. it says "this is a pair of (married) birds.." what i'm saying is that the presentation of the three coins in the case is compositionally wrong.. yeah, in the grand scheme of things, it may be a "who freakin' cares?".. most people not only wouldn't notice, they wouldn't care.. but if you think of the presentation as a canvas, then it is entirely wrong..
even on a portrait of one person, unless that person is facing straight ahead, if s/he's sitting off to one side, hands folded in lap, in the classical "portrait of the founder hanging on a board room wall".. for example, his or her face should be facing IN to the center of the canvas, not facing out of it.. look around your home.. Shirley you have some artwork or posters on the walls.. study the elements that make up the whole.. how did the artist or designer balance the elements that make up the whole?.. you do a painting or drawing of a house.. the house is in the center.. there's a huge tree in the foreground, off to one side.. that tree will usually have branches arcing inwards to lead your eye to the house.. not away from it.. because the work is about the house, not the tree.. with a huge tree in the foreground on the left, and a small house in the distance in the center, you then balance those two elements with a third element on the right.. perhaps another, smaller, darker tree leading your eyes inwards from the right.. or a hill off in the distance..
or a yard bench on the right, tilted diagonally, in perspective.. so it again leads your eyes inwards, towards the house..
when i got the set, and opened the case and looked at the layout, because of the endless hours i spent in Art History classes, and in studio Art classes learning all this stuff.. it just immediately clicked in my mind "this is wrong".. and that's why it's wrong.. i don't know if one in a hundred or even one in a thousand people would notice it's wrong and why it's wrong, or would even care, whether they knew or not.. but anyone who has a background in Art would know it's a bad compositional layout of the three elements..
if this was a Commemorative series with three rocks, "The American National Rock Commemorative Series".. it wouldn't matter.. rocks don't have faces.. birds do.. still, you'd never put the Gold coin off to one side, as the Mint's prototype / mockup / publicity pictures of this set had them laid out.. the Gold coin is the centerpiece, and the smallest, so it belongs in the middle..
we did have a coin in the past few years that was just a bunch of rocks.. the New Hampshire State quarter with the "old man of the mountain" rock formation (which later fell down.. did they ever put him back together?).. look at one of those and how the "face" is offset waaaaaaaaaaay over to the right, but is facing inwards, towards the center of the coin.. look at Mt. Rushmore and how Borglum composed it.. it's a timeless design, and it works, because it's in balance, and pleasing to the eyes.. so when it comes to compositional layout, there's a right way, and there's a wrong way.. again, Bonehead Art 101..
at the risk of belaboring the point, which i've probably already done.. that's enough.. class dismissed..
- John Wayne, "The Shootist" (1976.. his final film)..
UNC: Looked at 100, found only 1 coin for a shot at a PCGS 70, another 9 that are nice, but have a flaw above the "A".
Proof: The first look at 100 coins show most with specks in the fields.
A 70 of either flavor might be worth the grading fees....
==Looking for pre WW2 Commems in PCGS Rattler holders, 1851-O Three Cent Silvers in all grades
Successful, problem free and pleasant transactions with: illini420, coinguy1, weather11am,wayneherndon,wondercoin,Topdollarpaid,Julian, bishdigg,seateddime, peicesofme,ajia,CoinRaritiesOnline,savoyspecial,Boom, TorinoCobra71, ModernCoinMart, WTCG, slinc, Patches, Gerard, pocketpiececommems, BigJohnD, RickMilauskas, mirabella, Smittys, LeeG, TomB, DeusExMachina, tydye
i agree....i saw that too as far as composition goes....in my book it is even BELOW bonehead art 101 not to have noticed that the birds on the end face (look) out instead of in and would be more astheic if the proof silver and clad were swapped
btw i am not a professional when it comes to art, yet i have had a few public expositions of black and white large format photography in my day.
both of my sets are still sealed, paid for and tucked away, waitng to see if it really is more than just the box!
<< <i>WoW only 4% of the Silver Proofs went 70. I sent in 100 of each, I think I may be in trouble with them. >>
You and I are in the same boat. I sent in 100 of each of the silver and 30 each of the gold. I didn't look over any of them. The math I did, I would only need 10 silver 70's in either proof or unc and to sell for $180 each to break even. If I can get 5 70's of each and get the $300 they are brining now, I might just break even and have one to keep.
Hopefully the bulk dept gets them out soon!
<< <i>
<< <i>Got my set..............They all look really nice too..........Crappy Pic.........
I know there was a question that "artistically" it would look better of the clad and proof silver coin positions were swithced...can the felt(?) coin holder be removed from the case and flipped?? if so then viola! and then you can sell a "packaging alternative" ...for an extra $20 bucks on the bay....hehehe it is ALL about the box (so far)
Why does the Mint display this incorrect depiction of the 3 coin set????
It's all over eBay in this config.
Harv, I apologize if you mentioned this before.
<< <i>
<< <i>Notice his set has a different layout than the U.S Mint's photo of the set. BTW 27896xxx
Edited to correct the order number above. >>
This thread is so old, I forgot about this post!!!!!!
This is the correct depiction
<< <i>
Why does the Mint display this incorrect depiction of the 3 coin set????
It's all over eBay in this config.
Harv, I apologize if you mentioned this before.
i think that is either an artist's rendering or a photograph of a mock-up before the set actually went into production and they decided to move the Gold into the center position.. it's really hard to tell, although the coins in the Mint's picture just don't look real enough.. they look like artfully-done artists' renderings.. it's all over eBay because people are too lazy to shoot pictures of an actual set in their possesion, or too dumb to use a digital camera.. so they just click and save the picture off the Mint's Web site and paste it into their auctions.. they did this for pre-sales, because it's the only picture of the set that existed.. and until people started receiving and opening the sets, no one new the placement of the coins in that picture were wrong..
for those now selling opened sets, they should photograph the actual set they're selling.. for those selling sealed-box sets, they should photograph the sealed box (blocking out their name and address on the shipping label is fine.. i would do the same).. but then since their set is sealed, if they only have one, their only option to show an opened set is to steal someone else's photograph of one, which can easily get their auction yanked and their bottom slapped, so if you're selling an opened set with a photograph in an eBay auction, you should prominently slap a copyright notice across the photograph.. or else they picture the sealed box and then use that Mint picture to show what an opened set looks like, except the Mint's picture is wrong.. and that's NOT what it looks like..
i don't regret opening mine.. i went through so much crap just to get it, and it doesn't qualify for "First Strike" labels.. i don't plan on having them slabbed.. and i wanted to see what i had paid almost four hundred bucks for anyway.. now if some variety expert would just discover there is something "different" about any of the coins in the three-coin set versus the singles.. then you'd see some very serious prices for the sets.. i don't think it'll happen but like i said, look how long it took to discover those 5000 Cheerios brass bucks were pattern coins!.. and one of them sold on TeleTrade a month or two ago for $12,500.00.. where are the rest of them?.. most likely went into circulation, or are hiding in kids' dresser drawers..
- John Wayne, "The Shootist" (1976.. his final film)..
<< <i>
<< <i>
Why does the Mint display this incorrect depiction of the 3 coin set????
It's all over eBay in this config.
Harv, I apologize if you mentioned this before.
i think that is either an artist's rendering or a photograph of a mock-up before the set actually went into production and they decided to move the Gold into the center position.. it's really hard to tell, although the coins in the Mint's picture just don't look real enough.. they look like artfully-done artists' renderings.. it's all over eBay because people are too lazy to shoot pictures of an actual set in their possesion, or too dumb to use a digital camera.. so they just click and save the picture off the Mint's Web site and paste it into their auctions.. they did this for pre-sales, because it's the only picture of the set that existed.. and until people started receiving and opening the sets, no one new the placement of the coins in that picture were wrong..
for those now selling opened sets, they should photograph the actual set they're selling.. for those selling sealed-box sets, they should photograph the sealed box (blocking out their name and address on the shipping label is fine.. i would do the same).. but then since their set is sealed, if they only have one, their only option to show an opened set is to steal someone else's photograph of one, which can easily get their auction yanked and their bottom slapped, so if you're selling an opened set with a photograph in an eBay auction, you should prominently slap a copyright notice across the photograph.. or else they picture the sealed box and then use that Mint picture to show what an opened set looks like, except the Mint's picture is wrong.. and that's NOT what it looks like..
i don't regret opening mine.. i went through so much crap just to get it, and it doesn't qualify for "First Strike" labels.. i don't plan on having them slabbed.. and i wanted to see what i had paid almost four hundred bucks for anyway.. now if some variety expert would just discover there is something "different" about any of the coins in the three-coin set versus the singles.. then you'd see some very serious prices for the sets.. i don't think it'll happen but like i said, look how long it took to discover those 5000 Cheerios brass bucks were pattern coins!.. and one of them sold on TeleTrade a month or two ago for $12,500.00.. where are the rest of them?.. most likely went into circulation, or are hiding in kids' dresser drawers.. >>
Harv, never have I heard a better argument against the Mint's sales presentation on this issue.
Lazy eBayer's had me in stitches.
Did you see the latest eBay auction tonight?????
3 coin set commanding a hefty 25% premium already................and who said the COA and pretty box meant nothing?????
eBay Link
eBay Link #2
<< <i>
Did you see the latest eBay auction tonight?????
3 coin set commanding a hefty 25% premium already................and who said the COA and pretty box meant nothing?????
>>
yeah but once you take out the eBay listing fees (depending on how low or high they started it.. as you know, you start it at $9.99 or less, you pay the minimum fee and you take quite a chance.. you start it high and you pay a MUCH higher listing fee..).. plus any options (if they use eBay picture hosting, the first picture is free, then additional ones are what, 15c each?..) .. add more fees if they use bold, or a border, and double the fees if they list it in two categories.. then when it sells, take out eBay's three percent Final Value Fee, then if they have a PayPal Premier account and get paid that way, take off another three percent.. so you're already way, maybe way WAY under a 25% premium over the set's original selling price.. then you have to calculate shipping and not screw yourself on that.. set it too low and you attract bidders and lose more money.. set it too high and you scare people away..
if you don't accept PayPal, something around 75% to 80% of potential bidders won't bid on it.. the age of instant gratification.. bid, win, pay, hey where is it? i already paid you!.. squirm squrim c'mon i paid for it yesterday, where is it?.. so most people are willing to let PayPal take three percent of their sale just to attract bidders.. then you withdraw the money from PayPal into your bank account where it doesn't show up for a few days (i've found that the higher the amount you withdraw, the longer it takes to show up as a bank deposit.. coincidence or conspiracy?.. you know, i'm sure, that PayPal floats your / our money into an off-shore bank, makes a ton of interest on it, then floats it back over before they send it to your bank account when you withdraw it.. these guys didn't get to be billionaires by being charitable..) ..
then add in (or subtract out) what someone's time is worth to photograph an item, write a description and so on.. and how much profit has a guy really made selling a $375.00 set for $425.00 or $450.00 or whatever?..
i think if you only have one or two of these sets, it's way too soon to sell them.. because they haven't been sold out long enough to establish any kind of a real market history, and because you can't buy them at issue price any more.. the thing working in this sets favor is that they never took the "one per household" limit off it.. so i suspect most of the 25,000 are in the hands of people who only own one..
so if you only have one, sure, you can sell it now and make maybe fifty bucks.. give or take, before or after you take out all the fees.. what will they be worth in six months or a year or two years from now.. that's the real question..
if i had any idea that the 2000-W BiMetallics Uncs. would be worth over $3000.00 RAW eight years after i paid $390.00 each for a few, do you think i would have sold my NGC MS70s for $1700 and $1900 back in 2003 when i could probably get over $4000.00 for them now?.. i mean who knew?..
that's why i'm always leery about selling too soon without giving somethinig this new a chance to establish a market price.. the problem with peaks, though, is you never know where the peak price is until it's passed.. sure there are 25,000 of these, and only 6683 of those BiMetallic Uncs., but still..
- John Wayne, "The Shootist" (1976.. his final film)..
<< <i>
<< <i>
Did you see the latest eBay auction tonight?????
3 coin set commanding a hefty 25% premium already................and who said the COA and pretty box meant nothing?????
>>
yeah but once you take out the eBay listing fees (depending on how low or high they started it.. as you know, you start it at $9.99 or less, you pay the minimum fee and you take quite a chance.. you start it high and you pay a MUCH higher listing fee..).. plus any options (if they use eBay picture hosting, the first picture is free, then additional ones are what, 15c each?..) .. add more fees if they use bold, or a border, and double the fees if they list it in two categories.. then when it sells, take out eBay's three percent Final Value Fee, then if they have a PayPal Premier account and get paid that way, take off another three percent.. so you're already way, maybe way WAY under a 25% premium over the set's original selling price.. then you have to calculate shipping and not screw yourself on that.. set it too low and you attract bidders and lose more money.. set it too high and you scare people away..
if you don't accept PayPal, something around 75% to 80% of potential bidders won't bid on it.. the age of instant gratification.. bid, win, pay, hey where is it? i already paid you!.. squirm squrim c'mon i paid for it yesterday, where is it?.. so most people are willing to let PayPal take three percent of their sale just to attract bidders.. then you withdraw the money from PayPal into your bank account where it doesn't show up for a few days (i've found that the higher the amount you withdraw, the longer it takes to show up as a bank deposit.. coincidence or conspiracy?.. you know, i'm sure, that PayPal floats your / our money into an off-shore bank, makes a ton of interest on it, then floats it back over before they send it to your bank account when you withdraw it.. these guys didn't get to be billionaires by being charitable..) ..
then add in (or subtract out) what someone's time is worth to photograph an item, write a description and so on.. and how much profit has a guy really made selling a $375.00 set for $425.00 or $450.00 or whatever?..
i think if you only have one or two of these sets, it's way too soon to sell them.. because they haven't been sold out long enough to establish any kind of a real market history, and because you can't buy them at issue price any more.. the thing working in this sets favor is that they never took the "one per household" limit off it.. so i suspect most of the 25,000 are in the hands of people who only own one..
so if you only have one, sure, you can sell it now and make maybe fifty bucks.. give or take, before or after you take out all the fees.. what will they be worth in six months or a year or two years from now.. that's the real question..
if i had any idea that the 2000-W BiMetallics Uncs. would be worth over $3000.00 RAW eight years after i paid $390.00 each for a few, do you think i would have sold my NGC MS70s for $1700 and $1900 back in 2003 when i could probably get over $4000.00 for them now?.. i mean who knew?..
that's why i'm always leery about selling too soon without giving somethinig this new a chance to establish a market price.. the problem with peaks, though, is you never know where the peak price is until it's passed.. sure there are 25,000 of these, and only 6683 of those BiMetallic Uncs., but still.. >>
Sage advice..................my 3 coin baldies are staying in their nest at present!!!!!
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
<< <i>These sets will be going north of $500 within the next couple of weeks. Quite a quick return, IMHO, and a nice set to boot. I got one sent to my home and used my wife's CC to send another to my mother's house. With the way PM are going these days, sets that everyone considered dogs--like the 2007 Platinum Anniversary Set--have turned out to be huge winners all around. I regretted buying two of those, too, but made $500 on the last one I sold, and am glad I did. >>
Nice prediction, grote15...................BIN $495 SOLD!!
Seller's Link
<< <i>This thread is going to hit 1000 posts shortly, pretty wild. I bought the proof set to resell and the uncircs to keep, but now I am not sure if I will sell it later this month or wait a while. If I was buying off ebay, I wouldn't buy unopened boxes with the stories of some people who got theirs after the storms in TN. I would want to know what the coins actually looked like for sure (of course there is probably some bias in that since I have acknowledged that I am most likely selling mine and have opened it
except if you look at enough auctions of these sets that contain photographs of them, you're not getting Heritage or TeleTrade-quality pictures of the coins.. and i don't know any seller who's going to slit his own throat by saying "the coins have hits and nicks and boogers all over them".. you'll mainly see a single picture of an opened set that tells you basically nothing except there are three blurry coins in a case.. who can possibly tell a 68 from a 69 from a 70 with most of those eBay pictures?.. and absolutely NO ONE is going to give potential bidders any kind of guarantee that any given raw coin will slab 70.. or even slab 69.. so it's a total crapshoot..
remember too, the coins shipped after the storms in TN could have been boxed up weeks BEFORE the storms, just awaiting shipping labels to be slapped on them.. the three coins in this set have three different Mint marks too.. so they had to be shipped from Philadelphia, San Francisco, and West Point to "somewhere" to be put into the cases, which were then boxed.. and just how much and what kind of damage did the Memphis Fedex facility suffer from the storms?.. was the roof ripped off?.. were there 200mph winds blowing through the place scattering stuff all over the place?.. many many companies keep their stock at that facility.. i would ASSume that the Mint's stuff is kept in some kind of more protective enclosed space than, say, thousands of computers and printers and other stuff which is probably stacked on pallets on steel shelving.. compared to that kind of stuff, even tens of thousands of coins take up very little space.. and is worth a LOT more money per the space it occupies than other kinds of merchandise stored there for shipping.. maybe the Mint even has a "vault" there.. or maybe their stock IS just stacked up on steel shelves in bins.. who knows?..
- John Wayne, "The Shootist" (1976.. his final film)..
Linky
This guy is treading on thin water with this auction IMHO.
Can you say pushing the eBay coin policy to its limit?????
Just read his suspect product description closely...................
2008 PERFECT PROOF CAMEO BALD EAGLE SILVER COMMEM SET
You are bidding on a fantastic Authentic Slabbed Proof Half and Silver Dollar Set commemorating the Bald Eagle
In this auction you are guaranteed to receive:
In our opinion, these coins would be graded PR70CAM
2008 S PR70CAM BALD EAGLE Half Dollar Commemorative
2008 P PR70CAM BALD EAGLE Silver Dollar Commemorative
In our opinion, these coins would be graded PR70CAM
and the original government packagings and the original Certificates of Authenticity!
These coins are Guaranteed to be Authentic!
This is a beautiful set and not to be passed up by a collector.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here's what the official COA has to say about these coins:
"This coin has been produced by the Department of the Treasury, United States Mint to honor the Bald Eagle's restoration to America's waterways and skies, commemorate the 35th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, and celebrate the removal of this national symbol from the Endangered Species List."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Specifications:
(HALF)
Mint - San Francisco (S)
Condition - Proof
Weight - 11.340 grams
Diameter - 1.205 inches or 30.61 mm
Composition - 8.33% Nickel, Balance Copper
Mintage Limit - 750,000 (all options)
DESIGNS
Obverse:
'Depicts baby eaglets at about two or three days of age, settled in a nest with an unhatched egg'
Reverse:
'Features the famous Bald Eagle "Challenger" with the American flag in the background'
COIN ARTISTS
Obverse:
Designer - Susan Gamble
Sculptor - Joseph Menna
Reverse:
Designer - Donna Weaver
Sculptor - Charles Vickers
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Specifications:
(SILVER DOLLAR)
Mint - Philadelphia (P)
Condition - Proof
Weight - 26.730 grams nominal
Diameter - 1.500 inches or 38.10 mm
Composition - 90% silver, 10% copper
Mintage Limit - 500,000 (all options)
DESIGNS
Obverse:
'Depicts a mature eagle soaring majestically through the sky'
Reverse:
'The reverse design is based on a replica of the first Great Seal of the United States that was used between 1782 and 1841. The original engraver of this Great Seal is unknown.'
COIN ARTISTS
Obverse:
Designer - Joel Iskowitz
Sculptor - Don Everhart
Reverse:
Sculptor - Jim Licaretz
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE COINS YOU SEE PICTURED ARE THE COINS YOU WILL RECEIVE!!!
Your coins come inside sonically sealed, hard plastic cases with unique serial numbers and holograms!
Bidding for these Slabbed Commemorative starts at only $0.99!! Don’t miss your chance to get these rare and beautiful coins for just .99 cents with NO RESERVE! That's RIGHT! NO RESERVE!
eBay Link
<< <i>
<< <i>This thread is going to hit 1000 posts shortly, pretty wild. I bought the proof set to resell and the uncircs to keep, but now I am not sure if I will sell it later this month or wait a while. If I was buying off ebay, I wouldn't buy unopened boxes with the stories of some people who got theirs after the storms in TN. I would want to know what the coins actually looked like for sure (of course there is probably some bias in that since I have acknowledged that I am most likely selling mine and have opened it
except if you look at enough auctions of these sets that contain photographs of them, you're not getting Heritage or TeleTrade-quality pictures of the coins.. and i don't know any seller who's going to slit his own throat by saying "the coins have hits and nicks and boogers all over them".. you'll mainly see a single picture of an opened set that tells you basically nothing except there are three blurry coins in a case.. who can possibly tell a 68 from a 69 from a 70 with most of those eBay pictures?.. and absolutely NO ONE is going to give potential bidders any kind of guarantee that any given raw coin will slab 70.. or even slab 69.. so it's a total crapshoot..
remember too, the coins shipped after the storms in TN could have been boxed up weeks BEFORE the storms, just awaiting shipping labels to be slapped on them.. the three coins in this set have three different Mint marks too.. so they had to be shipped from Philadelphia, San Francisco, and West Point to "somewhere" to be put into the cases, which were then boxed.. and just how much and what kind of damage did the Memphis Fedex facility suffer from the storms?.. was the roof ripped off?.. were there 200mph winds blowing through the place scattering stuff all over the place?.. many many companies keep their stock at that facility.. i would ASSume that the Mint's stuff is kept in some kind of more protective enclosed space than, say, thousands of computers and printers and other stuff which is probably stacked on pallets on steel shelving.. compared to that kind of stuff, even tens of thousands of coins take up very little space.. and is worth a LOT more money per the space it occupies than other kinds of merchandise stored there for shipping.. maybe the Mint even has a "vault" there.. or maybe their stock IS just stacked up on steel shelves in bins.. who knows?.. >>
Yeah, I agree, I just meant me personally, I wouldn't feel good about buying unopened boxes of these. A lot of people were saying they would be sending them back once they started shipping again, but could have just been a coincidence. And if you remember, I have some pretty good pics of my set
<< <i>The infamous seller aboncom has some "perfect" Bald Eagles in those bullcrap slabs for sale!!!!!
This guy is treading on thin water with this auction IMHO.
Can you say pushing the eBay coin policy to its limit?????
Just read his suspect product description closely...................
>>
SGS? another bottom-feeder self-slabber.. might as well put them in CW Amos Advantage holders, write PR70 on the labels with a crayon and seal them with a hot glue gun.. it's a shame the uneducated fall for this kind of junk..
- John Wayne, "The Shootist" (1976.. his final film)..
<< <i>
Yeah, I agree, I just meant me personally, I wouldn't feel good about buying unopened boxes of these. A lot of people were saying they would be sending them back once they started shipping again, but could have just been a coincidence. And if you remember, I have some pretty good pics of my set
>>
what are those tiny white specks on both sides of the Gold coin, and what's that thing that looks like a piece of dandruff under the "E" lin LIBERTY?.. are those marks on the coin? reflections?.. dust?.. did you take it / them out of the capsules to photograph them?..
- John Wayne, "The Shootist" (1976.. his final film)..
<< <i>
<< <i>The infamous seller aboncom has some "perfect" Bald Eagles in those bullcrap slabs for sale!!!!!
This guy is treading on thin water with this auction IMHO.
Can you say pushing the eBay coin policy to its limit?????
Just read his suspect product description closely...................
>>
SGS? another bottom-feeder self-slabber.. might as well put them in CW Amos Advantage holders, write PR70 on the labels with a crayon and seal them with a hot glue gun.. it's a shame the uneducated fall for this kind of junk.. >>
Harv,
And the basturd has the nerve to call it a "PERFECT PROOF CAMEO BALD EAGLE SILVER COMMEM SET"
It's NOT a friggin' set!!!!!!!
It's 2 commemorative coins that have eagles on them and only one is silver!!!!!!.....Mis-Leading Much????
Buyer beware of this scumbag!!!
<< <i>Harv, I will redo the gold picture on that, it was dust, and I haven't taken it back out of the case since I snapped that picture the day it came in, and didn't check the pictures before I put them back up. I don't like messing with those gold coins since they move around in the plastic case so easy. >>
rg, you have posted those bald eagle coin photos all over the place.
You know what???
I never get tired of looking at them........they are just stunning.
I wish I could learn to do that.
I have the SpaceMonkey templates and PhotoShop Elements 5.....but I can not figure out the technique!!!
<< <i>I never did figure out exactly how to do it myself, but improvised and finally like the way they came out. Thanks though for the kind words, I have enjoyed posting them probably a little too much! >>
accurate coin photography is definitely an art unto itself.. of all the things i've photographed, coins are probably the most wickedly difficult to image accurately, without a proper light table set up and lighting.. even with the dust, those are stunning pictures, because they're crystal-clear, and it looks like the coins are floating in air.. but digital cameras are brutally honest, and i've often taken pictures of coins and other things and not seen the dust on them until i transferred them into the computer and looked at them on a much bigger screen than the 2" LCD screen on my cameras.. then it's usually "oh crap!" and i have to re-shoot.. a can of pressurized dust-off is a handy thing to have around.. so is one of those little soft brushes with a gray squeeze bulb on the end that they sell in camera shops for a couple of bucks..
by the way, speaking of cameras, i read a news blurp the other day that Polaroid is calling it quits and they're going to, if they haven't already, stop making their "600" film packs.. i inherited my Dad's entire Polaroid SX-70 camera outfit.. the original model (no sonar auto-focus).. with the leather pads, leather carrying case, close-up attachments, strobe, filters, some flash bars.. cable release, tripod mount, SX-70 photo albums (some of them full of family photos.. but a couple still brand new, never used).. a ton of stuff.. the last time i bought film for it was a few years ago.. they were selling it under the name of Polaroid "Time Zero" film.. the same good old sealed pack good for ten shots.. with the built-in flat battery, made to work in the SX-70 and some other models.. i need to look around and see if any local stores still have any.. i loved that camera, and i only have ONE sealed pack of film left for it.. with a "good through 2006" date on it.. so i must've bought it a couple years before that.. although i hardly ever touch the thing, and in spite of how advanced it was (and still is).. one of the most innovative and complex pieces of consumer photographic gear ever made.. everybody and his monkey owned an SX-70.. they were wildly popular and Polaroid sold a bajillion of them, so even in pristine condtition they're not worth very much.. since Polaroid's announcement of the cessation of making the film, i see packs of it going on eBay for insane prices.. people are stocking up because it won't be in stores any more, if it even still is.. they're paying $30 to $40 a pack for the film.. the last time i bought a couple of packs at a local drug store, maybe five years ago, it was about $12 a pack.. the end of an era.. hope i can find some.. but i'm NOT going to pay those eBay prices for it..
when i first started selling on eBay ten years ago, i didn't own a digital camera, so i shot my items with the SX-70, then converted the photos to digital with a flatbed scanner.. the beauty of that camera was the battery was in the film pack, so no batteries to leak and corrode its innards.. PLUS they also made a little flat flashlight called the PolaPulse.. i have one of those, and with a screwdriver, you can open it and replace its flat battery with one out of a spent SX-70 film pack because the batteries in those packs have a LOT of juice left in them after you've taken all ten shots.. sorry for the digression.. i HATE it when they stop making supplies for things like this.. it's going to make every SX-70 and 600 camera out there utterly obsolete and useless unless one wants to spend ridiculous money on eBay for film.. i even have a pair of the old Polaroid "Swinger" cameras that were so popular with teenagers in the 1960s.. unfortunately, they stopped making Swinger film eons ago.. so all i can do is admire them, fondle them, relive the memories, and put them away again
- John Wayne, "The Shootist" (1976.. his final film)..
Box of 20
I called a couple times, they give me the order is on 'hold' because .... blah blah blah,
I log on yesterday, THEY CANCELLED the order !!!
I called to find out why, they say, they tried twice to hit my credit card with no luck, this is odd, because all my other orders are fine.
They ask if I want to place another order, Helll no, not for $25 more.
These people are scum. I'd have to say they cancelled the order because they think they can get more money from people ordering at the full price, not the pre-issue price.
the roof of the building WAS damaged by pieces of a roof of a nearby building which was blown off and crashed down through the roof of the building where the Mint's stock was kept.. rain poured in.. packaged coins WERE strewn around all over the place, and a lot of the packaging was damaged, causing shipping delays while they waited for new packaging to arrive from wherever it comes from.. this probably explains the hits and nicks and other problems we've seen noted here with SOME of the Baldies that were shipped after the storms.. they didn't really detail how many coins of which denominations or Proofs and Uncs. or sets or singles respectively were blown around all over the place.. it's a pretty short story (and no, i'm not going to type the whole thing in.. but maybe i'll shoot a picture of it and post it unless someone beats me to it..) ..
anyway, it looks like if i read between the lines, the coins shipped BEFORE the storms will be more likely to be problem-free than those that were in that warehouse during the storms.. possibly some of them were thrown around with such force that that they actually came out of their capsules, or were water-damaged and had to be cleaned off and re-capsulizated.. so this mess could and probably will create a "70 rarity" for this series depending on what percentage of the total Mintage was damaged and had to be re-packaged, or even put into new capsules and THEN re-packaged..
the story notes that the Mint's stock is heavily guarded (for obvious reasons).. so apparently it's NOT kept in a "vault" in Memphis.. but knowing what the inside of a huge warehouse looks like, more likely in bins on metal racks behind a fenced-in area.. this also leads me to think that they don't pre-package the coins in shipping boxes and then label them as orders are processed.. or, if they do, that those outer heavy corrugated cardboard boxes with which we're all familiar were thrown around in the winds inside the building and suffered water damage themselves, so a lot of coins had to be re-boxed.. like i said, the story didn't go into that kind of detail and there weren't any photographs accompanying it..
- John Wayne, "The Shootist" (1976.. his final film)..
<< <i>So, my Gold Unc. Bald Eagle has been on hold since ordering it around Jan 29th.
I called a couple times, they give me the order is on 'hold' because .... blah blah blah,
I log on yesterday, THEY CANCELLED the order !!!
I called to find out why, they say, they tried twice to hit my credit card with no luck, this is odd, because all my other orders are fine.
They ask if I want to place another order, Helll no, not for $25 more.
These people are scum. I'd have to say they cancelled the order because they think they can get more money from people ordering at the full price, not the pre-issue price.
I feel your pain! My order was actually shipped with an incomplete address, rejected by FEDEX and returned to the shipper. I called FEDEX to have it redelivered but they said they couldn't stop it. I called the Mint to have it redelivered and they said that I would receive it in a week to 10 days. I then received an E-Mail stating that my return was processed and that my CC would be credited. So no 3 coin set for me! From now on if I can't order on the web, I'm not going to order!
The odd marks I got on my proof half coins(a unusual multitude of linear scuff or scrape marks) is by his report possibly from wiping from a drying towel. The marks ar unidirectional as if someone wiped the coin..
The plot thickens!
here's the CW story printed in the latest issue about the storm damage to the Fedex facility in Memphis to which i referred earlier.. the possible (probable?).. cause of problematic Baldies and probably other coins that were in there and shipped after the storm.. draw your own conclusions.. as to if there were actual raw coins flying around which were wiped clean and re-capsulized, or what happened.. the story begs more questions than it answers.. typical incomplete journalism, but maybe that's all the information the writer could get..
"the number of items damaged represent approximately 1% of the inventory" <-- ? what inventory.. the Mint's TOTAL inventory everywhere, or just the inventory that was in that building?.. i could read it either way.. my three-coin Proof set looks virtually perfect, but the singles of the Proof and Unc. DollErs and Haves i received a couple of weeks later have tiny hits on them.. they don't look like someone dragged them across gravel, or wiped them with a rag, but they sure ain't no 70s.. i'm not going to hassle sending them back, nor am i going to order any more.. i'll just hang onto them and use them as gifts or something.. they don't look like garbage, they're just not worth slabbing.. none of them would do better than a 69.. in fact i doubt i'll have any of my three-coin set slabbed either.. i think, now that it's sold out, it's worth more as an intact set, plus i still think there's a very remote possibility that somewhere down the road, some variety expert might find something "different" about the coins in that set.. hey, it's happened before.. (2000 Millenium C&C set with PL Brass bucks are worth a bundle if slabbed with that designation.. Cheerios DollErs.. and so on..) .. and it took years to discover those things..
- John Wayne, "The Shootist" (1976.. his final film)..
<< <i>
<< <i>So, my Gold Unc. Bald Eagle has been on hold since ordering it around Jan 29th.
I called a couple times, they give me the order is on 'hold' because .... blah blah blah,
I log on yesterday, THEY CANCELLED the order !!!
I called to find out why, they say, they tried twice to hit my credit card with no luck, this is odd, because all my other orders are fine.
They ask if I want to place another order, Helll no, not for $25 more.
These people are scum. I'd have to say they cancelled the order because they think they can get more money from people ordering at the full price, not the pre-issue price.
I feel your pain! My order was actually shipped with an incomplete address, rejected by FEDEX and returned to the shipper. I called FEDEX to have it redelivered but they said they couldn't stop it. I called the Mint to have it redelivered and they said that I would receive it in a week to 10 days. I then received an E-Mail stating that my return was processed and that my CC would be credited. So no 3 coin set for me! From now on if I can't order on the web, I'm not going to order!
these kinds of stories really grind my gears.. but what can you do?.. the Mint is a monopoly.. WE own it but WE have absolutely NO control over how they do business.. they do whatever they want to whomever they want, and have a very cavalier attitude towards their loyal customers because they know full-well we have nowhere else to go to buy new issues at cost.. well, except banks, and you sure can't get Commemoratives or Eagles or ANY kind of new Precious metal coins at Banks for face value.. so when they pull these kinds of stunts, the little guy is up against a couple of huge corporations (the Mint and Fedex).. who have absolutely NO sympathy to your plight, and you can talk yourself blue in the face and get nowhere.. it sucks..
- John Wayne, "The Shootist" (1976.. his final film)..
<< <i>
<< <i>
<< <i>So, my Gold Unc. Bald Eagle has been on hold since ordering it around Jan 29th.
I called a couple times, they give me the order is on 'hold' because .... blah blah blah,
I log on yesterday, THEY CANCELLED the order !!!
I called to find out why, they say, they tried twice to hit my credit card with no luck, this is odd, because all my other orders are fine.
They ask if I want to place another order, Helll no, not for $25 more.
These people are scum. I'd have to say they cancelled the order because they think they can get more money from people ordering at the full price, not the pre-issue price.
I feel your pain! My order was actually shipped with an incomplete address, rejected by FEDEX and returned to the shipper. I called FEDEX to have it redelivered but they said they couldn't stop it. I called the Mint to have it redelivered and they said that I would receive it in a week to 10 days. I then received an E-Mail stating that my return was processed and that my CC would be credited. So no 3 coin set for me! From now on if I can't order on the web, I'm not going to order!
these kinds of stories really grind my gears.. but what can you do?.. the Mint is a monopoly.. WE own it but WE have absolutely NO control over how they do business.. they do whatever they want to whomever they want, and have a very cavalier attitude towards their loyal customers because they know full-well we have nowhere else to go to buy new issues at cost.. well, except banks, and you sure can't get Commemoratives or Eagles or ANY kind of new Precious metal coins at Banks for face value.. so when they pull these kinds of stunts, the little guy is up against a couple of huge corporations (the Mint and Fedex).. who have absolutely NO sympathy to your plight, and you can talk yourself blue in the face and get nowhere.. it sucks.. >>
Well this story just keeps getting better.....
This morning, I get another E-Mail from the Mint saying that my order was shipped again. Usually I get this message the day after I receive my coins. So I check the tracking number on the FEDEX site and the coins were delivered and signed for by someone I don't know! Since I had them shipped to work and there are multiple companies in this office building, I went down to the security guard and asked her if she had a list of people who worked in the building. The person had a rather unique last name, so it wasn't to tough to find him. I stopped in the lobby of the company he worked for and asked the receptionist if she would check on this for me (I gave her a copy of the tracking results from FEDEX) and she said she would call me when the signer came in. About an hour later, she called and I picked up my package (it was still sealed)
What happened? Well it appears that when you provide and address correction to the Mint, your account gets updated but the order does not. So when the warehouse prints out a shipping label it still has your old information on it. This also happened to me with a CC. I lost some coins on a multiple coin order because the backordered coins could not be charged to my card when they were in stock (because they used the old card information) so they cancelled the rest of the order. And the reps can't (or won't) call the warehouse to make corrections.
I am happy that I received my coins. I was wrong about the rep not correcting my information (it was correct on the E-Mail they sent) but I think they could start working on a few system enhancements that would save them money by eliminating screwups!
And best of all, this post is almost at 1000!
<< <i>
This morning, I get another E-Mail from the Mint saying that my order was shipped again. Usually I get this message the day after I receive my coins. So I check the tracking number on the FEDEX site and the coins were delivered and signed for by someone I don't know! Since I had them shipped to work and there are multiple companies in this office building, I went down to the security guard and asked her if she had a list of people who worked in the building. The person had a rather unique last name, so it wasn't to tough to find him. I stopped in the lobby of the company he worked for and asked the receptionist if she would check on this for me (I gave her a copy of the tracking results from FEDEX) and she said she would call me when the signer came in. About an hour later, she called and I picked up my package (it was still sealed)
>>
all i can say to that is you were freakin' lucky in two ways.. that the guy they mis-delivered it to had an unusual name and was easy to Track down, AND that he didn't open the package.. he could easily have just opened it, ("Fulfillment center?.. who the Hell is that.. let's open it and find out.. ooh! coins! Gold!".. looks around, tucks box into briefcase.. takes it home..) .. and then where would you be?.. of course if you believe in Karma, he'd burn in Hell for doing something like that.. the other problem is Fedex would have Proof of delivery and you'd be screwed out of hundreds of bucks.. "Hey, we delivered it to the address on the package, it didn't have Restricted Signature required.. we wipe our hands of all responsibility.. we did what we were paid to do.." .. shame you're in a position where you can't have them shipped to your home address.. but if nobody's home during the day, all you get is the dreaded door tag and then you have to either arrange to take off work and stay home and wait for re-delivery, or go find the local Fedex depot and wait in an endless line to get your package(s)..
the guy with the weird name COULD have bothered to Track YOU down and hand you your package which obviously didn't belong to him.. ahh, the joys of office life
- John Wayne, "The Shootist" (1976.. his final film)..
Proof Half from Mint: $10.95
Proof Siver Dollar: $43.95
Get both for $162.50 from that stellar seller, aboncom
eBay Link
p.s. "In our opinion, these coins would be graded PR70CAM"
<< <i>Latest Pops Update as of 3/2/08
Gold Uncs have 45% chance of an MS70
Proof Silver Dollar in PR70DC going to have a nice premium attached.
Overall, pretty low numbers in the Pops Report.
***************************************************************************************************************
Latest Pops as of Sunday March 9th
Double the gradings for the Silver Dollars.
Not much change in the Unc gold.
Small jump in the Proof gold submissions.
Key is still the Silver Dollar Proof in PR70DCAM
Isn't anyone even interested in the pop reports????
I guess this thread will never see a thousand posts like rgCoinGuy said it would......
<< <i>Looks like the Bald Eagle Commemorative craze is dying.
Isn't anyone even interested in the pop reports????
I guess this thread will never see a thousand posts like rgCoinGuy said it would......
It's the mint's new strategy, sell stuff, hold delivery for 6 weeks until the buyers forget about the purchase, and by then they are on to buying more stuff they can't have for months...
<< <i>I guess this thread will never see a thousand posts like rgCoinGuy said it would......
998
<< <i>I guess this thread will never see a thousand posts like rgCoinGuy said it would......
999
<< <i>I guess this thread will never see a thousand posts like rgCoinGuy said it would......
1000 Can I do that?