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Impressions from Berlin, the numismatic show and my last 3 days

So, I believe the title and subtitle speak for themselves.



This is NOT your typical coin show report, there is numismatic interest and loads of it, but no pics yet, because I'm waiting for Mr zompels to image his SUPER-DOOPER new purchases, Then IMAGE MINE, AND POST THEM HERE at this exact order.



So now you've been warned, PICTURES and very good ones WILL FOLLOW , but not today, I apologize deeply for that.



Then again, I felt necessary to write this, so whoever isn't interested in hearing the rest, I strongly advise him/them to stop reading now.



I have a million shortcomings, among them talking a lot, (but listening too), and I'm not afraid to say somethings out in the open, PROVIDED THAT I NEVER OFFEND ANYBODY.



Dimitri



myEbay



DPOTD 3

Comments

  • SYRACUSIANSYRACUSIAN Posts: 6,445 ✭✭✭✭
    OK, we left Athens on Thursday morning, and my priorities were:



    - to make sure that the love of my life, just 3 weeks shy from turning 5 is safe and happy



    -to make sure Mrs Syracusian and Evie along with yours truly spend an enjoyable weekend away from Athens, or London, that we've all seen a million times, including little Evie, who hasn't reached the millionth time yet, but she's not THAT far behind us, as she's half English (from her mummy's side) and half Greek (from her daddy's side), speaks fluently both languages with the right accent on both



    - to see MrEureka with whom I've already had an appointment and have lunch or dinner with him



    - to go to the show, at least for a couple of hours, or one morning/OR evening by myself



    - and during this time, Mrs S would be with Evie doing whatever they want, girlie stuff that daddies aren't interested in, and also often forbidden from even knowing about them, they already have their secrets



    - and MOST IMPORTANTLY, to make all 3 of us happy, (yours truly was born happy, by accidentally falling in the happiness barrel of Mr Panoramix, as well as his "optimist portion" barrel). Case in point: As I'm typing this, an envelope arrived from NY, with 3 notes I've been waiting from Mr ajaan. image
    Dimitri



    myEbay



    DPOTD 3
  • SYRACUSIANSYRACUSIAN Posts: 6,445 ✭✭✭✭
    Gotta go a little faster now.



    We left Athens at 10:45 am, departure time of Ryan Air's flight, we drove o the airport with Mrs S' car because it was more convenient any way you look at it and we were seating on our seats after purchasing only cigarettes, a perfume a couple of toys for Evie and daddy's favorite newspaper, the International NYT,formerly known as the International Herald Tribune, but back then it was a mixture of NYT and Washington Post news and opinions, but no more, ,that includes a tiny 4 page section on the Greek main events, in English, published locally from the most serious (and centre right) newspaper of the country, NOT a tabloid.



    Flight was no frills, speedy, NO stopovers, two and a half hours all together, and very very cheap.



    Episode number one: Mr S had had NO sleep for the past 6-7 days, or almost (maybe 9 hours together, all added up, never mind I can take it, I'll sleep when I go to St Peter's hotel, up in the air), so by the end of the flight, he only needed TOTAL silence, to rest a little and get rid of his headache. But Mrs S was still teasing him, and teasing him, and teasing him, so YES I LOST IT, and Zbiiiiing my hand moved by itself and landed on Mrs S' cheek, BUT VERY LIGHTLY. Within less than a second, Mrs S' hand goes ZBIIIING and lands on Mr S' face, who was wearing glasses to read his paper, and then starts shouting: DID ANYBODY SEE THIS? THIS MAN HIT ME and so on, so the stewardess comes, and asks me to sit down to a different seat until landing which I do without saying another word.



    3 mins later I see ANOTHER male steward this time, much more agressive, speaking to Mrs S, and listening to her version of the story, and in all honesty I did not like his face, and I said: "Hey, YOU, i did what you asked me in no time. Pls DO NOT speak to my wife" and he gave me an angry look and left.



    By landing time, two POLIZEI officers come and take me, I grab my coat, I tell them that my handluggage is still in the plane and that my luggage is on the plane's belly, but no reply, noone spoke English, they quickly shove me inside a POLIZEI van and drive me to a room, they take a photocopy of my passport and after that, just as quickly they put me back into the warm and cozy van (FREEZING COLD outside) , they drive me back to the plane, one of them jumps from it, grabs my bags, hand luggage and luggage, they give them to me and they drive me FULL SPEED to where the other passengers were freezing and they tell me AUF WIEDERSEEN, and everything ok.



    Only by the time I go through passport control and I'm trying to look for Mrs S and Evie, I can't see them, I call them, but they were simply outside, with Mr zompels, who coincidentally was in the same flight with us, and who had already given 100 euros to them, the gentleman that he is, so we meet all 4, everything ok? yes I say, "and Panos, no need to have given any money", I say and "No Dimitri it was my duty, we had no knowledge of how long you'd stay, I wasn't going to leave S+ Evie like that", ok ok, we'll catch up later, see you tonight and each one went his way by taxi.



    Episode number 2: Inside the cozy room, after checking in, I say to Mrs S, this was unfair, and you did the same thing to me, but told a different story, but no apologies from her, only from me, she says to Evie and me, mummy goes to smoke a cigellili outside, and daddy was busy figuring out the wifi, the tv, the safe etc and practically an hour or more passes by, and Evie asks "where's mummy?", and I reply " How can I know sweetheart? She said she'd go for a cigellili, she's late, but you and I are tired", dressed her into her pijamas, or already had, and me too, and I say "let's lie down now, cause we're both tired."



    We're both sleeping within 5 mins, me so tired UND mit earplugs , that ZEE POLIZEI BANGS ON ZEE DOOR AGAIN, and I did not hear them, and they enter with the hotel manager and they tell me that this lady (Mrs S,) came half drunk to find us and told us that you slapped her INSIDE this room!!! image



    I said, very sober, very calm, very polite, this is absolutely not true.



    OK they say, but it's your word against hers, whom should we believe? I said me of course, she said me of course and on top, she wanted her passport and Evie to leave with Evie straight to London.



    WAIT A SECOND I SAY, because battles are't won in the battlefiefield, I came prepared, (the Art of War), pls look at these officially translated in English papers, that yours truly is the SOLE custodian of Evie, inside and outside Greece, and you can call my lawyer NOW or at midnight or whenever, to verify, and to cut the long story short, the manager said that I had smoked a cigarette inside a non smoker's room, but there was ABSOLUTELY no smell, yours truly was sitting on the ledge, and then left the window open for 15 mins just in case, to make any possible remaining smoke smell inexistant, Evie was far away anyway (inside the 300 square foot room) at Check Point Charlie, BUT, I had seen another guy in the opposite side of the hotel during my 90 second smoke, whom I mistoook for a guest and HE ratted me out to the manager...



    Ouf.



    Anyway, solution: I leave 250 euros as a guarantee to the prepaid hotel along with Mrs' S' passport, so she can leave whenever she feels like, but without Evie, OK, here's the cash, here's the passport, sorry for the inconvenience and the (Hitler in Hotel manager's disguise) told me that he'd be passing himself every ten mins outside our room and if he hears any more noise, we'll find ouselves on Berlin's benches. Police officers had already left, I said politely, we'll be Mother Theresas from now on, I PROMISE and that was the end of it, NO MORE episodes during the rest of the trip to calm you down too. image
    Dimitri



    myEbay



    DPOTD 3
  • SYRACUSIANSYRACUSIAN Posts: 6,445 ✭✭✭✭
    After that, I have a shower and same with Evie, I ask Evie to look after mummie and I grab a taxi to meet Mr Eureka who had already chosen a restaurant and we finally got into numismatic talk. He had picked up a Greek restaurant, (but good luck in finding such a nice one over here), and he gave me my banknotes won at Heritage worth a low $$$$, and Mr zompels joins us later and he too gets his coin from Mr Eureka, a fantastic coin, that I'm not allowed to say, besides not even Mr Eureka told me that night, CONFIDENTIALITY IS NUMBER ONE FOR MREUREKA, and I asked him only what he won for himself, and of course it was CAR coins, and I said, what's the matter with you? that coin to boosibiri was the best looking gold coin I'd ever seen in my life, RED toned gold???? (2 escudos, syracusian does NOT forget)b and he tells e that he had another, higher grade, but not so spectacular and we had a nice dinner, more numismatic talk and then each one went his way, cause Mr Eureka was on a very tight schedule.



    At the hotel, E+ Mrs S were already sleeping and I only looked at the nots for a few mins, I was happy because they were worth twice as much and very nice and I went to bed as well.









    Next morning, Friday, first day of the show, I woke up late , around 9:45 am and so did Evie, mummy still asleep, I give her a quick morning preparation, teethililis, face, hands, and we go with our informal clothes but with shoes downstairs for breakfast, daddy ate like the hungry pig he is, BUT made sure that Evie ate very well as well, because this is Berlin , not Athens, and DO NOT TRY TO CHEAT ON ME with you tea, I do not hea glou glou, so she finished it in no time and the manager was suddenly super happy with all of us and playful with Evie, and daddy takes a fruit salad,and some more breakfast and we take it to mummy upstairs and I have to put a stop here o go and pick up Evie from school, but I will be back soon. image
    Dimitri



    myEbay



    DPOTD 3
  • SYRACUSIANSYRACUSIAN Posts: 6,445 ✭✭✭✭
    After that, I've decided to check on my messages and I see two PMs from the Greek coin forum from 2 guys : one that had given me a low $$$ on credit and another that was waiting for me to deposit $55 for 10 2000 Greek mint sets (at $5 a piece plus shipping) and I reply that I'm in Berlin, and I'll take care of guy number one on Sunday, after landing at the coin club, if I make it there on time and guy number two that his money will be deposited on Monday morning, and then I click refresh , because you have to login to see your PMs (via my ipad) and I see a P.O.S. that had started a new thread, about $5^&8 and %$3&^ , being direspectful to the entre foru, and noone had deleted it, including the ***** of owner who had promised me that he'd keep away that guy from me, but he did not keep his word, and I REPLIED IN A NOT SO NICE WAY, AND THEN THE FORUM OWNER TOLD ME THAT I WAS BANNED FOR LIFE FROM HIS FORUM.



    Hurray, one more reason to be at the Darksiders and the Darkside. The problem with Greek coin forums and in particular that one, is that in fact I know personally 70-80% of the members, 98% of which are super nice guys but they will always be exceptions that confirm the rule, and this guy was the exception ,followed closely by the owner who showed his true colors when he replied to my very polite PM that he did not keep his word to keep him away from me, but instead he leaves such an abomination of a thread unanswered and/or NON deleted that I should go F myself... hmmmm.



    Eitherway, Mr zompels had already self expelled from it, and then, vkeram another super nice guy who briefly posted here too, was also banned for life for speaking the TRUTH, and for not being hypocritical, and bye bye my love goodbye, I'm now stuck with you..... image
    Dimitri



    myEbay



    DPOTD 3
  • SYRACUSIANSYRACUSIAN Posts: 6,445 ✭✭✭✭
    By now, time is early afternoon, I have a quick shower and I also prepare Evie, and then I leav them some money to go to Legoland and wherever else they wanted and I finally hit the show at 4:30 pm, 90 mins before closure, first day for the public, ie Friday. I buy some notes just to calm myself down, then of course Andy had already left, BUT I found Mr zompels smoking outside, who gave me a quick tour (he was living in the hotel above the show, in East Berlin, the Estrel convention center), and a very nice guy from Cyprus who has the finest collection of Cyprus coins besides museumas and who was the person I've sold my 1901 Cyprus proof set 10 years ago, or nine, for low $$$$$, only he went and deposited 90% of it at a bank of my choice without ever having met me and we met two days later at the airport in Athens where I gave him the set and he gave me the remainder 10% in cash. THAT'S THE GUYS I LIKE TO BE WITH, SUCH as Mr Zompels, Mr vkeram, MrEureka, and so many others. There are few things I can no longer afford, one of which is numismatic greediness, LET OTHERS BUY SOM NICE coins too, there are MORE than enough for everybody... and the other is that my most precious asset is TIME, and I cannot afford to spend it with miserable (in soul) people, or with extremely low IQs ,o whoever takes time from my tim with Evie for no reason and that's it.
    Dimitri



    myEbay



    DPOTD 3
  • SYRACUSIANSYRACUSIAN Posts: 6,445 ✭✭✭✭
    So, Mr Zompels gives me the tour, we're now running against time, 55 mins before closing, and after the quick tour, we finally hit Baldwin's table, who had various Greek coins of interest, but zompels wanted my opinion on a Greek 1833 20 drs gold, reasonably priced, but I gave it an AU58 at best, a coin that Panos already owns in that grade certified, so zero upgrade, let alone the two monster gold coins that he had come to receive, the one that MrEureka brought him, a DREAM COIN, and another, also gold, also from 1876, UND RRR TOP POP, albeit not as high grade as the other, but good luck in locating these EVER in true unc, and BTW, both these coins were sold by CNG raw at ridiculously low prices, I too had seen them but was not interested, I already had both, the gem that Panos finally got in choice unc and the choice unc tha he got in AU58 or better (very old certification), but they STILL WERE GREAT BUYS even if not at CNG but from a well known dealer, who had already certified them.
    Dimitri



    myEbay



    DPOTD 3
  • JCMhoustonJCMhouston Posts: 5,306 ✭✭✭
    Well that sounds like an interesting weekend!
  • TwoKopeikiTwoKopeiki Posts: 9,528 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Kept me on the edge of my seat - Dimitri should write more image
  • SYRACUSIANSYRACUSIAN Posts: 6,445 ✭✭✭✭
    Anyway, now with 5 mins left, my eyes go ZBIIIIIING to mainly 2 coins (there was also a full red gem Canadian 1911 cent but it can be found at any given time) and they were



    - North Borneo, SUPERB full red specimen IMHO, an SP66RD I'd say with strong strike, amazing luster, blinding fire red, 1/2 cent 1886-H, heaton mint, Victoria, KM1 , priced at GBP 400



    - Straits settlements 1901, 5 cents, Victoria, silver 0.800, 1.36 grams, KM 10, with the most amazing toning on such a tiny coin that I initially confused it for a cu-ni, but after looking it up, it was silver,nice original light blues etc with strong underlying luster, a possible MS66, but who cares, it's the beauty that counts, priced at GBP 220.







    Edited to correct the metal content of the Straits settlements 1901 5 cents: it was not cu-ni, but 0.800 silver, I apologize. image
    Dimitri



    myEbay



    DPOTD 3
  • SYRACUSIANSYRACUSIAN Posts: 6,445 ✭✭✭✭
    Guys, thanks for the compliments, photos I omise that I'll post them as soon as zompels will honor me to do it. I've written that last part three times because I had forgotten shroom's wise advise NOT to put the pound sign because it does not pass validation, error code 103 I think. Hmmmmm.
    Dimitri



    myEbay



    DPOTD 3
  • ZoharZohar Posts: 6,629 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I may need to read this a few times to digest. Seems like a hectic yet productive show!
  • SYRACUSIANSYRACUSIAN Posts: 6,445 ✭✭✭✭
    Anyway, this was all my numismatic deals with the show, TOTAL time at the show 85 mins, most of which useless, bought some notes from a US wholeseler to calm myself down with the other forum, total 82 euros (prices were in USD) AND HE WOULDN'T EVEN TAKE IT DOWN TO 80, so be it. Then zompels and Baldwin's and THIS REALLY COUNTED. after which my numismatic interest was over.



    The rest of the night, we've joined the smokers, I saw Murielle who had litterally set up PCGS Paris, PCGS hong Kong, PCGS Beijing and imagine her schedule, and she has now joined Spink to find a new challenge, and zompels was asking her numismatic questions in English and I was talking to her in French (because she IS french, and I'm much more fluent in French with NO accent) and I was asking her what films (French of course) she had recently seen, and we agreeed that Le Prenom was a great comedy but she had to leave, busy, busy, busy, and then we've joined the others, Mr PCGS PARIS rep in Greece, who BTW had a slight difference with Panos, and zompels was right, but I told him that it's of no importance, and I forced both of them to make up, shake hands and look eye to eye, because they both know how crazy yours truly is, and we all went for dinner with another dealer from Athens as well as a collector, and we ate some huge Argentinian steaks UND of course several side dishes, UND a couple of Cabernet Sauvignon from Chile, UND zee most important, apple SCHTrudel MIT vanillien cream UND vnillien ice cream and we went our separate ways after that.



    Saturday was uneventful, we were all klnackered, but I still wanted a family dnner out and Mrs S said no, she was still semi-mad with me, but Evie answered on my behalf. While Mrs S was out to do a cigellili, and (good Lord) order a... pizza, I couldn't hold myself and Evie saw the tears in my eyes, and she said " but daddy, you told me that daddies do not cry" and I sad that' right and that's a secret between us, and when Mrs S came back Evie told her JUST LIKE SHE HAD TOLD ME THE NIGHT BEFORE BUT VICE VERSA , that "mummy you made daddy very sad and I'm going to eat with him tonight and sleep at his (double) bed, -pevious night I slept alone for the same reason- and Mrs S finally got a grip, had a shower, we both prepared Evie, I've tried to suggest walking to a nearby restaurant, because I had walked 20 mins the preious night because Frau Einstein the cab driver left me to ANOTHER hotel of the same chain, but not the one I was staying at, and Mrs S said NO, and thank God for that, because not only we had started walking to the opposite direction, but the restarant that I saw was a tapas one, and I was in no mood for tapas, nor was anybody else, and we ended up in a similar place like the one n Alexander Platz, only daddy ate AGAIN like a pig, but not Mrs S and Evie and then we went back and went to bed at 11 pm knackered.



    Now apparently I was so tired that my snoring image was moving the floor and ceiling and Mrs S woke me up at 3 am, and she had already made my bag as well as hers and Evie's and we opened the window and we smoked 4-5 cigatettes each to piss off the manager ( maybe Hitler in disguise of a hotel manager) and we made everything disappear and clean, woke up Evie and we left, and we arrived in Athens at 10:15 am local on Sunday morning.
    Dimitri



    myEbay



    DPOTD 3
  • SYRACUSIANSYRACUSIAN Posts: 6,445 ✭✭✭✭
    And this is my last post B4 I get the images. I had my car at the airport, I drove Mrs S and Evie home, Evie went to her grandmother who had missed her and was worried about her, Mrs S took the car for 45 mins, just the time for me to choose some coins and banknotes and change clothes, and I went to the coin club 20 mins before 1 pm but it was closed and I went to a nearby cafe that we all go, and th guy I had the coin from on credit was there and I said, listen George, with all this spending in Berlin, now every euro counts, do you mind trading the coin with coins and notes? And he agreed and I gave him one very nice coin tha itself covered the debt, but I gave it at a 15% discount, and I added 30 in banknotes wholesale= 200 + 50 euros worth of decent crisp unc banknotes so that he gives me 50 euros to pay guy number 2, and I'll give him the 10 sets at 5 euro each (super wholesale price) so that he can resell them and he's very good at that and he agreed.



    Then I entered the cafe , had a chat with a few friends, one of which in particular I drove him back to his house, discussing various subjects about behaviors of collectors and the likes, a very nice and mature guy, who also showed me an incredibly beautiful 1832 drachm, that PCGS had unfortunately missed it, writing UNC details, questionable color, but the toning had no questions at all, and it was 110% original IMHO and I told him to resubmit asap, then my final appointment was to purchase 2 proof 2 euros that the Bank of Greece sold in 3 hours without prior notice to collectors in practice, only a couple of days earlier, and now they sell at 100 a piece (buyprice 16 euros a piece) and YET another great guy gave me the pair for 40, I refused I gave him 50, and still I felt super obligated and only then I went back home, because there's loads of February left, that includes THE MOST IMPORTANT EVENT OF THE YEAR for THIS household, Evie's birthday on the 28th, and I have to organize her party, buy her that bike that she loves etc etc tc.



    Anyway, she was happy as Larry, but tired, she slept at her grandmother's from 3 pm to 9 pm , then she came to our house and an hour or 90 mins later she went back to sleep and it was Mrs S who drove her to school today and I only picked her up, because I've spent my entire morning writing about this trip. SORRY FOR THE LACK OF IMAGES, IT'S TEMPORARY. image OUF!
    Dimitri



    myEbay



    DPOTD 3
  • SYRACUSIANSYRACUSIAN Posts: 6,445 ✭✭✭✭
    Originally posted by: Hydrant

    Interesting, informative, educational. Thanks!






    You are welcome and thank YOU for reading all this text, without illustrations and the same goes for Jeff and Roman, and as for my buddy Zohar, who mentioned that he "had to re-read it", without any obvious signs tat he was joking, I'm starting to think tha he has mazpchistic tendencies.... image





    ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________At least I've warned you in the OP what a long story this would be but without illustrations yet. Take ajaan for example. Long text, post or PM t him, means telegraphic to me, remember the good old telegraphs, the quickest way to reach somebody before the smartphones , the apps, facetime and skype, emails etc? Well, that's how Don writes, only without the STOPs? Well that's Don's posts and PMs an I assume that whenever he sees a thread such as this one, he quickly escapes, even if he has to self eject from his seat and fall witthout a parachute.... from 3 feet up .image





    Well, here's some good news too: I just spoke with the illustrator and KEY figure in the story above, Mr zompels,an extremely talented photographer and a great guy. He told me to bring him the coins whenever I want, and as a token of appreciation, I'd love THAT HE HIJACKS THIS THREAD AND GIVES YOU HIS MUCH SMALLER REPORT, along with not only the illustrations of MY two coins, but also, the illustrations of HIS MONSTER NEWPS that I'm still not allowed to say, but heres a hint: THEY'RE GOLD, THEY'RE EXACTLY 140 YEARS OLD , ONE OF THEM IS A RRR GEM, AND THE OTHER IS THE SAME DATE, DIFFERENT DENOMINATION, A CHOICE UNC, WHERE IN THAT DATE AND DENOM, A 62 EVEN GRADE-FLATED AND NON ORIGINAL IS A VERY RARE SIGHT AND HIS TRUE CHOICE UNC, CERTIFIED BY OUR HOSTS IS AMONG THE 3 FINEST IN EXISTENCE, WITHOUT A SINGLE DOUBT., SO i GIVE IT AN RRRR , DESP[ITE THE LOWER GRADE AND PRICE.







    Finally, tomorrow or a few days later, I'll post a new topic and will explain to all of you, why a collector of Greek coins, whose goal is not completion, not a best "set",not a competition, registry set type, even informal,and where there's no such thing as yearly mintage of ANY denomination, of ANY type of coin, of ALL metals, with the exception of the period 1828-1831 where all 3 copper denominatuons were minted not only yearly, but with so many varieties, that it has become the favorite domain of the most experienced collectors, but with such a shallow market for the super rare varieties , that especially as we speak, if variety XYZ.3a, RRRR goes for sale and the three biggest collectors of this domain own it in similar condition, its price automatically drops to a third or fourth or fifth of the original asking price, because that's what the next in line collector of these varieties can afford and it's like being relegated to a lower soccer category.



    So if one's goal is to present the Economic history of Greece from 1828 to 2000 with very little and indispensable text,and preferably illustrated by his OWN COLLECTION, he has NO CHOICE but to cover HUGE PERIODS during these past almost 200 years and therefore to own a banknote collection, mostly to cover huge pieces of time, such as 1912-1954, during which only one 8 coin set from 20L to 20 drs was minted (and the two biggest denominations were only available in banknotes umntil 1959) and the rest of the transactions were done with banknotes and often with gold sovereigns too. That also goes for the 19th century, where most of the finest notes are VG-8 and unavailable, because there are two in existence, both in museums, or a 1869 500 drs PMG VF25, finest in existence, that represents 500 drs of the new monetary reform from 1863 till the early 1920s, when Greece became a member of the Latin Union and its highest denomination was basically 20 drachmai in gold, ie 1/5th of an oz, and therefore the 500 drachmai were equivalent to 5 ounces of gold, or say five $20s, HOW CAN IT BE POSSIBLE NOT TO INTERCONNECT THE TWO?



    Taking this thought a bit further down, if someone chooses to do a type set of coins, but only in condition rarity grasdes, his banknote collection shoiuld also be consistent, right? OTHERWISE, IF NOONE IS INTERESTED IN THE HISTORY BEHIND THESE METALD AND PAPERS, how exactly is he/she different than some early primitive native people that fell in love with shiny mirrors and were trading them with uktra valuable to the West, gold, diamonds etc? All this and more is to be continued, I'nm now going to enjoy a double episode of the "Knick", the Knickerbroker NY hospital in 1901, with Clive Owen as the lead character of the series and a great script. image



    Dimitri



    myEbay



    DPOTD 3
  • coinkatcoinkat Posts: 22,719 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Never a dull moment... quite an adventure

    Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.

  • MrEurekaMrEureka Posts: 23,891 ✭✭✭✭✭
    All I ask is the opportunity to play myself in the movie.
    Andy Lustig

    Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.

    Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
  • zompelszompels Posts: 215 ✭✭
    This numismatic trip was unique cause we had together, Mr.Syracusian !
    Great moments , great stories by Mr.Syracusian and of course interesting discussions with Mr.Eureka !

    P.S: Dimitri , bring me whenever you want your new full red gems from Baldwins to take some nice images and share them to the forum .
  • lordmarcovanlordmarcovan Posts: 43,194 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I've enjoyed the stream-of-consciousness reporting.



    As a hotel night auditor, however, I would be professionally remiss if I did not come to the defense of my German counterparts in saying that we have to take all "domestic disturbances" VERY seriously and show ZERO tolerance for such behavior. Even though most of them turn out to be much ado about nothing (as in your case), there are those which do not turn out so well. We had a near-miss with a knife-wielding ex-wife the last place I worked. Another time a lady asked me for a key to her husband's room, and since she showed proper ID and was obviously his wife (same address on her driver's license as on his reservation), I made her a duplicate key, assuming she just hadn't been listed on the reservation. The trouble was, she was his estranged wife. No, she didn't find him in the room with another woman (though that does happen). She let herself in while he wasn't there and stole his laptop, so we then had a whole lot of 'splainin' to do. Fortunately the guest realized his spouse was the manipulative perpetrator and did not blame us.



    All too often we hotel workers (especially at the front desk) end up caught in those "damned if you do and damned if you don't" situations. Believe me, we do not like being forced into the middle, and certainly do not enjoy having to be babysitters for people who are squabbling and/or have had too much to drink. And all too often it's a "he said/she said" situation which we of course can't sort out. That's where Security and the police come in.



    I also should mention that I've become so burned out on this kind of stuff that I must admit to you (though I consider you a brother and have the utmost respect for you), that if I were in that hotel manager's shoes (and I often am), and you were a stranger, and I was confronted with the situation you described, you probably would have gotten a similar scornful and/or unfriendly vibe from me. We do try to keep it professional, but some people really strain that courtesy, if you know what I mean. And I unfortunately have a very readable face, so when I am annoyed or disgusted with someone it must show, because even drunks have picked up on it. (I need to practice and work on my impassive poker face.)



    Of course I've worked with a lot of Germans in my three decades in the hospitality biz (the general manager of the first resort I worked in was a real German baron with the "von" and all), so I know all too well what they can be like when they get all Nazi-ish on you. (Or let's leave Hitler and the Nazis out of it, and just say Germans do "hardnosed" all too well.)* But do try to step into their shoes and see it from the other side, is all I'm suggesting.



    Funny you should mention "ZBIIING" and face-slapping.



    We had just such an incident here tonight, a few minutes before I came in to work.



    I made a digital stick-figure cartoon about it, to add to my ongoing series. (Speaking of OT diaries and such.)



    Looking forward to your coin pix! I remember many of the coins you specifically mentioned in this thread.



    Oh, and speaking of Berlin, I am currently reading Anthony Beevors' The Fall of Berlin 1945. Hopefully they've swept up a bit in the last 71 years. Sounds as though the place was in a wee bit of a mess back then. I'll bet there are still a few bullet-scarred buildings, eh?



    One doesn't see much of that sort of thing here in my part of the USA, except at Fort Pulaski north of here, which still shows damage from the Federal naval barrage of 1862.







    *- PS- I should also add that many of the Germans I've worked with were warm and wonderful people. I fondly remember my first boss in the hospitality business, who was a German lady maître d'.

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  • marcmoishmarcmoish Posts: 6,207 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I finally read this all this morning..what a fantastic read...weird wired, and wow!
  • SYRACUSIANSYRACUSIAN Posts: 6,445 ✭✭✭✭
    Rob, I've read your reply very carefully. Here's what I have to say:



    - you are absolutely right on everything you write, regarding the hotel episodes. This was a 4 star hotel, and a very good 4 star hotel, at Check Point Charlie, the place where the Wall that separated East and West Berlin used to be. Regarding the hotel, my only complaint, was that they have completely abolished their restaurant, and even if their breakfast buffet is superb, after 10:30 am, there's absolutely NOTHING to eat, wether at their tiny bar that opens at 17:30 and closes at 22:30 , or any form of room service: not even a couple of basic stuff, a sandwich, an omelette, some milk for the kids, something anyway, and after that huge breakfast, a regular person, including very hungry ones such as yours truly, does not need to go for dinner even if it's 7-8 pm.



    - BUT ,even in this case, one has to eat elsewhere, ie dress himself up, and make himself/herself presentable and either walk to a nearby restaurant (the 4* hotel is situated near the biggest commercial street in Berlin, Friedrichstrasse, that has several restaurants, from world ethnic cuisine -they seem to like tapas a lot- to a regular steak house) or take a taxi to it. Now during the very last night , and while I was still eager to go and eat at a nice restaurant with my family only, even by a short taxi ride, because Serena was knackered, she insisted to get a pizza by calling the reception. I had seen during my previous night walk, that there was a pizza joint, mostly for deliveries,a stone throw away from our hotel, but I didn't say anything because I wanted to have a decent LAST dinner with Evie and Serena, IN FAMILY, period.



    - so she says, "take Evie and go for dinner the two of you and I'll order a pizza." This was her wish, I had to respect it, so when she went herself downstairs to order that pizza from the reception (still 7 pm) and go outside for a quick smoke at the same time, I've entered the shower with little Evie and we both had so much fun and the water took all the feeling of tiredness away, after which we dressed ourselves up, and then time passed by doing small things and at some point, Serena and I realized that over an hour had passed by and still no pizza. THAT's when she finally decided to have a shower as well (AND after Evie's talk to her) and she felt much better and then we all went downstairs, fresh and clean, and still no pizza, and by now it was laughable. THEY NEVER BOTHERED TO ORDER IT, period and this IS NOT the night shift Rob, there were 2 people at the reception, a very quiet Saturday night and a third person at the almost empty bar. So I did not find it unreasonable, that Serena (who by now had changed her mind anyway) told them that in London or in Athens, if a pizza comes 5 mins later than the maximum waiting time that is 30 mins, you get it for free, but 75 minutes we didn't even want it for free ,and if they wanted it, they were welcome to eat it and pay for it. And when we went out, she too noticed the pizza joint, then she looked at me, and we both burst out laughing....image



    -regarding Germans, I agree as well and I hate generalizations. There are good (mostly) people everywhere in the world and some bad apples , but even if the percentages change from country to country, the good people are ALWAYS the (often silent) majority and there's no need for such racist terminology



    - finally to answer your question about Berlin: this was the third time I was going there. The previous one was in 2007 I think, when Ron Guth was still president, and because of a logistics mistake while I was still at the NYINC show, he told me to meet him at Berlin in February where he'd had them with him, and that's exactly what happened. At the time, they were looking with Murielle to set up the final details of starting PCGS Paris, that as we all know by now,it became so successfull, that it was soon followed by PCGS Hong Kong and PCGS Beijing. It wasn't much different from now.



    But the very first time, was in 1985, still a 23 year old student, and we visited Berlin as a class of 4th year architecture students from Brussels with our Art History teacher. The things that stroke me back then, was the amazing number of huge cranes all over West Berlin, they were rebuilding the whole city, project by project won in international competitions, that were won by a wide variety of famous and less famous architects from all over the world. Then, I was also struck by the freedom, the lack of tidiness that is so characteristic in the rest of Germany, just like Switzerland, by the huge number of punks (mid-80s), the nicely done graffitis, and the overall chaos in a city that was starting to be reborn from its ashes a process that lasted two more decades and later included East Berlin too. But at the time, we've crossed Check Point Charlie, by subway, and I still remember the East German soldiers in all corners of the station, high up in their observatories, with their Kalashnikoves ready, and even if youth has no fear of such things, especially since we were not involved, it was an impressing sight. East Berlin had a few huge avenues, not unlike Paris, with paves on the streets, pretty neoclassical buildings, but not a singl shop, not a single person on the streets, not even a cat, or a newspaper stand, which seemed like we were sddenly transferred in some different planet, an almost metaphysical experience.





    Berlin is by no means what we'd call a beautiful or picturesque city. There's a mixture of neoclassical buildings, art deco buildings, art nouveau buildings, fascist buildings (there is a term called fascist architecture, look it up if you do not believe me) and even all the new projects built from 1980 to date are so varied in style, in size, in everything and done by so many different architects, from all over the world, that it truly lacks cohesion. But if you ask me, it's also part of its charm.





    Anyway, thank you all for your nice comments and in particular zompels who as promised will image the coins and it's up to him to image his or not, but I'M telling you, IT IS NOT YOUR AVERAGE COINS, IT'S THE CREM OF THE CREAM OF THE CREAM of some already rare gold coins, worth low $$$$ even in 58, let alone in 65 etc...



    PS: I had missed that OT open forum page of yours Rob, and thank you for your link, and I don't think I need to tell you that I voted option number one. image
    Dimitri



    myEbay



    DPOTD 3
  • SYRACUSIANSYRACUSIAN Posts: 6,445 ✭✭✭✭
    OT PS: Oh, and BTW, I've added your book to my Amazon basket, now with 5 items (minus the Banknote Reporter that was the 6th but it cannot be delivered in printed form every time it circulates), only I cannot buy ANYTHING from Amazon so far, because our credit cards are useless for the time being outside Greece and amazon does not accept Paypal. Everything I paid for in Berlin was in cash, only the hotel and the flights were paid by cc in Greece via Booking.com. One more inconvenience caused by the idiotic measures taken by the former Minister of Finances , called "capital controls" to stop the very few remaining funds from leaving Greece, but without thinking that by the same measures, he's killing the few remaining healthy enterprises in Greece, especially the ones that are export-oriented, the most important ones, let alone the huge inconveniences of withdrawing a max of 420 euros a week from one's bank account (and what about pensioners and others who need all their pension in one go?) ,or the maximum 2000 euros per person when travelling, whether it's for business or pleasure or both (I have Serena, who as an English citizen is not subject to these idiotic laws).



    What's even more frustrating, is that this former minister, now "unemployed", is giving "lectures" around the world and he's getting paid around a thousand euros a minute if not more! image I can't make up my mind, who's more at blame here: the joker of former minister, or the people who pay to listen to his BS? I know I wouldn't listen to a word even if it were the other way around and I was being paid. Besides, I've had my share fair of listening to his cr@p , while he was still in government.....
    Dimitri



    myEbay



    DPOTD 3
  • amwldcoinamwldcoin Posts: 11,269 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Syracusian, The best rating that hotel could garner here in the states is 2+1/2 stars. A hotel must have a restaurant here to get a 3 star rating or better!
  • YQQYQQ Posts: 3,264 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Dimitri,

    excellent and very entertaining reporting.
    It is interesting, but indirectly this Berlin Show actually robbed me of some much needed sleep. And it is an item you considered as possibly buying.

    At exactly 03:00 Friday my time , 12 noon Friday in Berlin (guess where I was... ZZZZZZzzzzing) my Cell phone woke me up. mmm who would call at such a time. must be an emergeny.
    surprise surprise..., a familiar German voice pronounced that he is at the Berlin show and has found some fantastin Canadian coins. all high grade. so, awakw anyway now, I asked my friend Ralf if he was aware of the time here...well, around 9 AM he said... fact is I told him, it is 3 AM.... ooops. we hang up and agreed for me to call him back.
    so I got up, made coffee and went to my desk to call him back on his cell.
    he was all excited about these Canadian coins offered by a Polish dealer. Amongst them were numerous Newfoundland coins and about a doz Canadians, including a 1911 1 cent in very high grade and red. Although there was some interest on my side for other coins there there, the asking prices and the fact they were from a polish dealer, made it a no-no for me.
    Also, knowing the German grading system and methods, and having no return possibility, enforced my NO.
    Their grading, especially at shows, is simply mostly not acceptable compared to our system.
    Their preferred grade is SS-VZ, in our grade = VF20 to EF45. They stretch it both ways as much as possible......like a very elastic rubber band.
    prices are usually based on a KRause book and are totally out of "Whack".
    funny co-incident , that Canadian red 1911.. and the somewhat associated stories.

    So I told my friend that if he buys any Canadian coins, he is on his own and with them and I will only buy them from him when I have "coin in hand" when we meet. and only if they are acceptable. he actually spent a few K's and we shall see.
    His primary interest is colonial coins, German, French, British with emphasis on German New Guinea in Proof. he is working on his 2nd set including the gold pieces.
    Today is the first day of the rest of my life
  • SYRACUSIANSYRACUSIAN Posts: 6,445 ✭✭✭✭
    iHis primary interest is colonial coins, German, French, British with emphasis on German New Guinea in Proof. he is working on his 2nd set including the gold pieces.





    Why, YQQ, German New Guinea in Proof is no joke, it's no joke in circulation either.image You've just reminded me an almost random meeting with Mr Eureka at Baldwin's London headquarters, where we had seen each other the previous day, about 4-5 years ago maybe, or slightly less, and I went to Baldwin's in that trip for 3 consecutivE days to see an old and legendary Greek dealer (his Spink No 5 sale 1979, still remains to this date as the most complete and high end GreEk collection, ever sold at any auction) and who had joined Baldwin's as sort of junior partner and specialist in Greek and Commonwealth coins, (especially Ionians, Cyprus and many many more, often ex Asian colonies) working in a little office at the basement by himself, smoking and meeting whomever he liked.



    Unbelievable:we've reached the second page and still no image of any coin. I promise I'll do my best to give my Berlin purchases to Mr zompels tomorrow, ANd HE HAS FULL LIBERTY TO POST them himself as well as post his US purchases that he received in Berlin. THIS IS NOT the Greek coin forum, there is no jealousy, gossip, and noone comments on the prices. SMALL EAGLE, POSTED ANCIENTS WORTH LITTERALLY MILLIONS OF DOLLARS and because of too much non chalance, I'm thinking that he got fed up both with our ignorance and our reluctance to comment, let alone the history lesson in each and every presentation that was not liked by all I must add...}





    I remember in that trip, that I wasn't always visiting him alone, but also accompanied by elder collectors whom he knew better, and at some point I was getting bored of too much talk, ending up buying the 1926 Albanian set, 3 red coppers and 2 silvers, the one from 1927 if memory serves, which ended up in Cathy's hands who really liked these Albanians and why shouldn't see, great Italian designs and a little hoard that had drastically reduced their prices and increased their quality to red gem,and gem status,as well as a 1874 couple of Greek silver minors, again raw, the 20L of which graded MS65, a very rare grade that now resides in PBRat's collection and the 50L that graded 64. Here's the 20L and 50L from that trip.



    image



    image

    Anyway, on the way up and by the time we were leaving, I see MrEureka in front of a full 1887 Belgian Congo set, the coppers of which are rather common and easy to find, and these were slightly spotty, but the silver and especially the crown seemed terrific. The price was GBP7000 and it was probably exceeding Mr Eureka's client's top limit, so he called him on the spot, giving him his honest opinion on the set, that MrEureka seemed to like, especially because of the silver, after all the coppers could easily be upgraded for very little to gem red if one wanted, but the reply was negative on the other end of the line, so he reluctantly had to let it go. Little stories like this, that make these trips worthwhile.



    As for the Canadian 1911 cent, Baldwin's original asking price was GBP 125 and I immediately assumed that I could have easily taken it down to a 100 if not 90, if we consider the discounts on the other more expensive and much rarer pieces that went from 825 euros to 600. But even though I'm rather ignorant on these, something inside me was telling me that a readily available or almost PCGS 65 RD, or 65 RB 95% red could be located at any given time and for less money, especially since we added the certification costs.

    Anyway, here's a pre-Berlin purchase that I finally paid for and got it today: Italy 1882-R, Umberto I, 20 lire, PCGS MS64



    image





    TOMORROW, i promise, some decent stuff, if not spectacular and breathtaking if zompels posts his NEWPS. image





    Dimitri



    myEbay



    DPOTD 3
  • lordmarcovanlordmarcovan Posts: 43,194 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Originally posted by: SYRACUSIAN



    Unbelievable:we've reached the second page and still no image of any coin.




    That's only for people with the default settings. I have 100 posts per page set, so you're still on page one here. image



    I wonder what my 1882 Umberto 20-lire (you'll remember it) would've graded, had I gotten around to that, rather than selling it while still raw. Might've only been 62, but it was incredibly prooflike.



    Nice coins so far. Keep 'em coming. Looking forward to more from you, or Zompels both.



    As to one of your other comments, I certainly hope Smeagle hasn't tired of us. He is perhaps just busy.

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  • zompelszompels Posts: 215 ✭✭
    Here is another one Italian 20 Lire i picked up recently raw . Vittorio Emanuele PCGS MS64 .....just graded !!

    image
  • SYRACUSIANSYRACUSIAN Posts: 6,445 ✭✭✭✭
    Originally posted by: YQQ



    Dimitri,



    excellent and very entertaining reporting.

    It is interesting, but indirectly this Berlin Show actually robbed me of some much needed sleep. And it is an item you considered as possibly buying.



    At exactly 03:00 Friday my time , 12 noon Friday in Berlin (guess where I was... ZZZZZZzzzzing) my Cell phone woke me up. mmm who would call at such a time. must be an emergeny.

    surprise surprise..., a familiar German voice pronounced that he is at the Berlin show and has found some fantastin Canadian coins. all high grade. so, awakw anyway now, I asked my friend Ralf if he was aware of the time here...well, around 9 AM he said... fact is I told him, it is 3 AM.... ooops. we hang up and agreed for me to call him back.

    so I got up, made coffee and went to my desk to call him back on his cell.

    he was all excited about these Canadian coins offered by a Polish dealer. Amongst them were numerous Newfoundland coins and about a doz Canadians, including a 1911 1 cent in very high grade and red. Although there was some interest on my side for other coins there there, the asking prices and the fact they were from a polish dealer, made it a no-no for me.

    Also, knowing the German grading system and methods, and having no return possibility, enforced my NO.

    Their grading, especially at shows, is simply mostly not acceptable compared to our system.

    Their preferred grade is SS-VZ, in our grade = VF20 to EF45. They stretch it both ways as much as possible......like a very elastic rubber band.

    prices are usually based on a KRause book and are totally out of "Whack".

    funny co-incident , that Canadian red 1911.. and the somewhat associated stories.



    So I told my friend that if he buys any Canadian coins, he is on his own and with them and I will only buy them from him when I have "coin in hand" when we meet. and only if they are acceptable. he actually spent a few K's and we shall see.

    His primary interest is colonial coins, German, French, British with emphasis on German New Guinea in Proof. he is working on his 2nd set including the gold pieces.







    Don't think for a second that I haven't read what you wrote from the start. I just preferred to stay silent and reflect upon the matter. IN MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, every single contact with Polish sellers was a waste of time. Overpriced (ultra-common) 1902/1903 5 roubles that are readily available in NGC 67, they had them at 65 for the price of a 67 if not 68. And more, more of these, or other overpriced items, until I finally hit a stand, where the guy also sells notes. So I ask him, in English: "Do you by any chance have any Greek notes?" Now I see that he has two rare Canadian PMG graded notes in front of me, so what's the harm of asking, right?



    Employee number 1 speaks to employee number 2 in Polish and after couple of minutes they finlly get it, or so I thought. He tells me "Wait, I need to call boss, ok?" No answer from me, just taping my foot, which he could not see. After the phone with his boss, he takes a calculator, shows me a price in Polish currency, and he multiplies it by the coefficient that would give him the euro number: 1150 ! I said WHAT is this FOR? WHICH note? And he shows me the top one among the two Canadias and I was off to Baldwin's before he lifted his finger off the note.



    Images (luster IS missing, but that's the DSLR problem, not zompel's. You gotta choose details or luster I guess, and you can see that in several TrueView pictures too.



    North Borneo, 1886-H (Heaton Mint) clearly NOT a specimen, but a 66RD? Maybe?



    image



    Straits settlements, 1901, Victoria, 5 cents, KM10, this coin is 15mm in diameter I think (o 16), so it has BLAZING luster but you'll only see tthe details here and even an annoying microscopic spot in front of Victoria's nose, INVISIBLE IN HAND even with a normal loupe.



    image



    IN HAND, I GIVE IT A 66 MINIMUM.

    This last one cats for $420 in my 39th edition Krause in unc, UNPRICED in BU, so I'm guessing that 200 euros that I paid for it, isn't that much after all.



    Dimitri



    myEbay



    DPOTD 3
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