And the rain keeps coming.............. Nice to hear from other members in my boat and good to hear they are staying dry. As we can all see on the local news, much of the city is not and is flooded - not really any streets left, lots of canals tho'.
@spacehayduke said:
36 inches of rain in our neighborhood since Friday and it is still raining. News just announced Kingwood as a flooding spot - hope dadams is ok.
Best, SH
Sorry I haven't checked in earlier. I'm still high and dry and very thankful! Still have to see what the next day or so brings but I'm pretty certain I'll be spared the ravages.
The San Jacinto is about 1.5 miles west of my location - the median elevation of Kingwood is somewhere around 66' - I'm at 75.7' - current condition of the San Jacinto near me 65.09' and it normally resides at about 41.5' with Top of Bank at about 50'
has anyone heard from cougar1978? He's a Houston area resident. Hope he is high and dry
m
Walker Proof Digital Album Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
Good to hear from you dada. Haven't heard from cougar 1978. Our official rain guage in our area is now at 44". Yesterday we received 8.5", but it was non-stop and constant, and the neighborhood drainage did its job. The lowest part of our neighborhood is at 12 feet, with a major bayou 100 yards away which is at sea level, so we just have to see what happens over the next few days as all of that water around Houston begins to drain towards us. The good news is that the anticipated storm surge on Galveston Bay won't likely happen to back up the drainage as Harve is moving further east than the early models predicted. Officially there are 444 high water locations on freeways and state highways (only the big roads not counting anything else in this tally). So evacuating out of the area is a major problem for those flooded.
So today is an upswing day, so I will post something more shiny.
I was in Houston this past May for a friends graduation. Had such a nice time, friendly people, good restaurants and the 'Space Center' was amazing. I hope this storm get's lost and people can get some life back. This has been terrible. I can't imagine having a medical emergency or running out of some sort of medication.
So many up here in the Northeast are praying for you all !
This is a terrible, devastating blow to Houston. It is a great city with marvelous people. The two and a half years I lived there were really great. I hope this storm moves out quickly now.. The pictures on the news are horrendous. Best of luck to all who live there.... Cheers, RickO
I live in New Orleans area and today is the 12 year anniversary of Katrina. We are currently under floor warnings and tornado warnings. All of the schools are closed.
I have in-laws in Kingwood, and family west of Houston and a niece in Missouri City to the SW of Houston. The in-laws left Kingwood on Friday, we hope their house in OK. The family to the west has flooded streets but no water in their houses. The niece in Missouri City had a mandatory evacuation order and had to leave, she did find a friends house to go to where she is high and dry.
I hope all of our coin friends in Houston are OK and stay safe.
Crazy Times, glad to be able to come here and see the beautiful coins.
I am ok but anxious. Last few days watching water creep back and forth from side walk to within few feet of house - street flooded. Friday nite concerned may have to move stuff upstairs as it got up in yard 3/4 way to house. A fall few days ago resulted in sprained left thumb injury (freak fall) as was trying pick up coin books dropped in hallway w left hand trying compensate for slightly re-injured right arm stretched nerve injury aggravated from heavy bc of coins a couple of weeks back (Original injury fro oh press at y very painful - watch working w weights). Now right arm feeling better but left (gamer) thumb out of commission. So gaming curtailed. Wife came home yesterday as had stay in hotel near her job as roads impassable then slight lull yesterday.
But feel fortunate home high and dry and have power cable and food stocked up on Friday afternoon. This is extremely bad luck event and I feel for people left homeless / loss of everything. So far been very lucky. My phone beeps tornado warnings for area every couple of hours. Just been watching lots of movies anxiously waiting season finale of Animal Kingdom.
I have a table for Oct fall show but if sales slow may back off the Money show in Dec. I think people here like myself are not going be concerned w spending money on coins lol.
I can't imagine how shop owners and others involved w collections / inventories coping w this but sure hope they ok.
So 4 days of anxiety about flooding w hopefully just one left go. It will take area long time recover this on magnitude of Katrina.
Walker Proof Digital Album Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
@ElKevvo said:
-- News told us that 80% of the homes in Houston do not have flood insurance, which amazes me since it is cheap compared to what you get. --
I can see that though...vast areas of Houston are quite poor and cannot afford any type of flood insurance no matter how inexpensive it is. My in-laws live in Greenspoint and luckily their house is built on a small rise. Only maybe 3 feet but so far it, along with the storm drain right in front of their house, has prevented water from coming in so far. If Harvey is going to come back ashore farther east that would be a good thing indeed.
K
And for those that do have flood insurance the maximum payout is only 25% of fair market home values
Oh great PCGS, in there wisdom, just mailed my graded submission. Er ah, don't they watch the news?
These were submitted raw at ANA. Hope they don't get lost......
1 1 85100365 94511 1829 10C Large 10C XF40 (was IGC 45)
2 1 85100366 5405 1843-O 25C XF45 USA (was NGC 45)
3 1 85100367 395940 1876-CC 25C RPD FS-301 MS62 (was NGC 62)
4 1 85100368 6131 1823 50C MS62 USA (was NGC 62)
5 1 85100369 6294 1858-O 50C AU58 USA (was NGC 62 - Bill Jones told me there was rub, he was right!)
Not sure how much news the folks outside of Texas are getting but it is really really bad. The Army Corp of Engineers is having to open spillways from some dams north of Houston so even though the rain is dropping off a bit (still projected to get an additional 7-10 inches of rain though) areas that previously were not flooding are now doing so.
@ElKevvo said:
Not sure how much news the folks outside of Texas are getting but it is really really bad. The Army Corp of Engineers is having to open spillways from some dams north of Houston so even though the rain is dropping off a bit (still projected to get an additional 7-10 inches of rain though) areas that previously were not flooding are now doing so.
Be safe!
K
An example of how bad it is - Friendswood - during Allison a few 100 homes flooded. This time 1/3 of the community, or 3,000 homes are flooded.
I am pleased to report that we are in the aftermath of Harve although he still is hammering points east. Several hundred thousand individuals have already applied to Fema for disaster relief. Many areas still underwater, short term recovery is going to happen but many problems will linger for years. So this is my last coin for this topic, perhaps the brightest one so far.......
@ElKevvo said:
-- News told us that 80% of the homes in Houston do not have flood insurance, which amazes me since it is cheap compared to what you get. --
I can see that though...vast areas of Houston are quite poor and cannot afford any type of flood insurance no matter how inexpensive it is. My in-laws live in Greenspoint and luckily their house is built on a small rise. Only maybe 3 feet but so far it, along with the storm drain right in front of their house, has prevented water from coming in so far. If Harvey is going to come back ashore farther east that would be a good thing indeed.
K
And for those that do have flood insurance the maximum payout is only 25% of fair market home values
That is crazy if accurate. I wonder what type of relief FEMA will offer. One of my former coworkers lost his home in a flood from a hurricane and FEMA paid him 95% of FMV to buy the property, demolish the house, and convert it to a park. That was over 15 years ago so a lot may have changed.
@ElKevvo said:
-- News told us that 80% of the homes in Houston do not have flood insurance, which amazes me since it is cheap compared to what you get. --
I can see that though...vast areas of Houston are quite poor and cannot afford any type of flood insurance no matter how inexpensive it is. My in-laws live in Greenspoint and luckily their house is built on a small rise. Only maybe 3 feet but so far it, along with the storm drain right in front of their house, has prevented water from coming in so far. If Harvey is going to come back ashore farther east that would be a good thing indeed.
K
And for those that do have flood insurance the maximum payout is only 25% of fair market home values
That is crazy if accurate. I wonder what type of relief FEMA will offer. One of my former coworkers lost his home in a flood from a hurricane and FEMA paid him 95% of FMV to buy the property, demolish the house, and convert it to a park. That was over 15 years ago so a lot may have changed.
I dont know if its across the board standard for all companies but a lady was on Neil Cavuto Business by phone and was told by her ins company the night before that they had approved her claim for the maximum which was $250k on a million dollar home. She said she had the best and most expensive flood insurance plan too which her lender required.
The highest amount of coverage you can get through the federal government is $250,000.
If you need/want more coverage than that you have to buy an additional policy.
@Mercury said:
The highest amount of coverage you can get through the federal government is $250,000.
If you need/want more coverage than that you have to buy an additional policy.
I doubt she was talking about emergency government coverage. Sounded like a private policy since it was required by the lender. My guess is that the epic scale of this disaster has all ins companies in full panic mode cutting corners however they can legally.
And it will make everyone else's insurance go up just like Katrina and Sandy did. I think it's a crock myself. People choose where they live and should know the risks and prepare for them...proper insurance being the main thing!
@Mercury said:
The highest amount of coverage you can get through the federal government is $250,000.
If you need/want more coverage than that you have to buy an additional policy.
I doubt she was talking about emergency government coverage. Sounded like a private policy since it was required by the lender. My guess is that the epic scale of this disaster has all ins companies in full panic mode cutting corners however they can legally.
So sad to see this happen to my fellow Americans. Stay safe and remember most "things" can be replaced and rebuild, people can't.
This is a good reminder for people here to ensure they have adequate insurance policies and umbrella coverage for their belongings.
I recommend everyone take a video (if you have a smartphone) while walking through your house from basement to attic. Go through every cabinet and closet to quickly show the type of items (clothes, electronics and appliances and collector items) you have as a quick way to inventory your belongings.
It is a very quick and easy way to cover your ass in the case of a catastrophic loss and you can use it as proof in case of a flood, fire or larceny. Video can be uploaded to YouTube and set as private so only you can see it...
@ShadyDave said:
So sad to see this happen to my fellow Americans. Stay safe and remember most "things" can be replaced and rebuild, people can't.
This is a good reminder for people here to ensure they have adequate insurance policies and umbrella coverage for their belongings.
I recommend everyone take a video (if you have a smartphone) while walking through your house from basement to attic. Go through every cabinet and closet to quickly show the type of items (clothes, electronics and appliances and collector items) you have as a quick way to inventory your belongings.
It is a very quick and easy way to cover your ass in the case of a catastrophic loss and you can use it as proof in case of a flood, fire or larceny. Video can be uploaded to YouTube and set as private so only you can see it...
This is very good advice for folks and thanks for sharing. Airports open and up to what it seems is around 80-90% of flights operating. Water is receding, lots of shelters open for the homeless. Texans are a proud people and it good to see all of the citizens take action to help in this disaster.
No damage or flooding In my home water in my street all gone so consider myself fortunate.
Watching the newscast yesterday it showed heavy flooding in NW Houston area where HWY 6 met I10 going north. I saw where the Palace Inn past Bear Creek Park still underwater - guys who worked in area and also SC players (many O&G co sites and HQ nearby) met girls there for nooners who danced at area clubs like Cover Girls and Joy of Houston which just 3 miles from my office.
@ElKevvo said:
Not sure how much news the folks outside of Texas are getting but it is really really bad. The Army Corp of Engineers is having to open spillways from some dams north of Houston so even though the rain is dropping off a bit (still projected to get an additional 7-10 inches of rain though) areas that previously were not flooding are now doing so.
Be safe!
K
K
I live on the west side of 99 and there are many flooded houses around the Mason/FRY intersection. The GB Park is flooded to FRY and because of the overflow and flooding in C Ranch water is being released. Buffalo Bayou is flooded the worst the bayou is over Beltway 8. I grew up in Briar Grove Park and all the nicest houses in the neighborhood are flooded. I have never seen anything like this flood.
Five KISD schools are flooded and Houston ISD will not start until 9/921/19 weather permitting. We are out till at earliest 9/2 but there is no place st send the KISD students who had their school flooded.
Strange as it sounds the weather is now good and very cool for August.
We have taken in a lady and as I type she is getting in to see what her house looks like. She is one of the few that had flood insurance. It will take her a year to recover from the storm as she lost everything except to changes of clothing and her two dogs.
I would imagine the film I just saw will be on national news. Over 5.000 rescues and counting and a vast majority were done by individuals that were not part of the Corp. of ENG, Police or any other govt. agency. Not saying the got. was lax but the people started as soon as the need became apparent.
More flooding will occur due to run off of water and no place to put it as so many thousands of homes are or were under water.
@amwldcoin said:
And it will make everyone else's insurance go up just like Katrina and Sandy did. I think it's a crock myself. People choose where they live and should know the risks and prepare for them...proper insurance being the main thing!
@Mercury said:
The highest amount of coverage you can get through the federal government is $250,000.
If you need/want more coverage than that you have to buy an additional policy.
I doubt she was talking about emergency government coverage. Sounded like a private policy since it was required by the lender. My guess is that the epic scale of this disaster has all ins companies in full panic mode cutting corners however they can legally.
The above post showing a limit for the dwelling is $250,000 is correct with the Federal Flood Insurance program. People chose west Houston/ Katy for the quality schools and it has never flooded like this. Knowing about a flood like this one is impossible to predict impossible as never has there been a storm like this one. You could say the same about a tornado ripping up the area where you live but not as much as we got over 630 billion gls of rain in Harris county and billions more in Ft.Bend, which is adjacent to Harris. A very large one would increase premiums but insures have to make money as does every for profit company. If your area were destroyed like Katy/Houston has i would not have any problems with a higher premium as this is how the insurance industry works.
Rest assured a vast majority of the people will pay out of pocket as we are not near a flood zone and lenders do not require it on homes outside of a flood zone. Most did not opt for flood insurance.
The only good thing I have seen is how everyone loaded up food, clothing and their boat to help and rescue people with no pay and taking significant risk. I have never seen so many people start helping as soon as they made sure their family was safe. Makes one proud to be a Texan.
I will wager the flood zones will be redrawn. They were here. I hope my comment didn't come of too crass. But my opinion is people who choose to live in no risk areas should not have to pay for those who do. I never realized how low the topography of the Houston area was until this happened. If I was looking there it would definitely be higher ground!
@amwldcoin said:
And it will make everyone else's insurance go up just like Katrina and Sandy did. I think it's a crock myself. People choose where they live and should know the risks and prepare for them...proper insurance being the main thing!
@Mercury said:
The highest amount of coverage you can get through the federal government is $250,000.
If you need/want more coverage than that you have to buy an additional policy.
I doubt she was talking about emergency government coverage. Sounded like a private policy since it was required by the lender. My guess is that the epic scale of this disaster has all ins companies in full panic mode cutting corners however they can legally.
The above post showing a limit for the dwelling is $250,000 is correct with the Federal Flood Insurance program. People chose west Houston/ Katy for the quality schools and it has never flooded like this. Knowing about a flood like this one is impossible to predict impossible as never has there been a storm like this one. You could say the same about a tornado ripping up the area where you live but not as much as we got over 630 billion gls of rain in Harris county and billions more in Ft.Bend, which is adjacent to Harris. A very large one would increase premiums but insures have to make money as does every for profit company. If your area were destroyed like Katy/Houston has i would not have any problems with a higher premium as this is how the insurance industry works.
Rest assured a vast majority of the people will pay out of pocket as we are not near a flood zone and lenders do not require it on homes outside of a flood zone. Most did not opt for flood insurance.
The only good thing I have seen is how everyone loaded up food, clothing and their boat to help and rescue people with no pay and taking significant risk. I have never seen so many people start helping as soon as they made sure their family was safe. Makes one proud to be a Texan.
It's good to hear that the weather is finally improving in Houston. No doubt it will be a long recovery for many.
I've been interested in the "L" and "E" counterstamps for many years and have heard a few theories. One of the more popular ones was that they were given as educational prizes or "Rewards of Merit". The theory held that the "L" stood for "Latin" and the "E" for "English". Silver medals were struck for this purpose, so why not countermark a few coins? Although possible, I'm not convinced that this is the likely answer. There's no supporting evidence for this theory.
The "E" and "L" are not in the die, but applied after these were struck. The fact that they were done carefully suggests to me that they might have been done by a jeweler, not necessarily at the mint. The two dates used, and XF-UNC condition of most survivors, suggests that these were pulled from circulation as current coinage sometime shortly after 1825.
With more and more online resources, like the Newman portal and many other useful sites, I believe that we will solve this numismatic mystery someday.
Collector and dealer in obsolete currency. Always buying all obsolete bank notes and scrip.
@amwldcoin said:
I will wager the flood zones will be redrawn. They were here. I hope my comment didn't come of too crass. But my opinion is people who choose to live in no risk areas should not have to pay for those who do. I never realized how low the topography of the Houston area was until this happened. If I was looking there it would definitely be higher ground!
I do believe your comment is at least very naive. The flood maps were already redrawn from Alison flooding in 2001, and then again later on. So they know the flood zones very well already with the changing topography that occurred via resource drawdown (water, hyrdocarbon withdrawl have sunk Houston in some places up to 10 feet) over the past century.
People in non-flood areas don't pay for those in flood areas already so I don't see your point. Premiums scale with the defined flood zone your house is in. They are calling this a millennium flood so as said earlier this one was just hard to have maps for. HST, it could happen again because the climate is warming up. Meyerland for example, which has never flooded in the past 60 years, has flooded now 3 times in 3 years. Because of climate change and shifts, Houston seems to be getting more intense storms. HST, many of the folks in Meyerland they interviewed noted they would not rebuild, so we are likely to have more open space there now that it is a noted floodable area in this new climate we are making.
Higher ground was meaningless this time, it was proximity first, to where the largest amount of rain fall, and second, how close one lived to a drainage channel be it a river, stream, ditch or bayou. My house is at 16 feet, it did not flood, houses at 70 feet flooded.
Know your information before you talk about a flood and city you have never lived in - JMHO.
@sellitstore said:
It's good to hear that the weather is finally improving in Houston. No doubt it will be a long recovery for many.
The "E" and "L" are not in the die, but applied after these were struck. The fact that they were done carefully suggests to me that they might have been done by a jeweler, not necessarily at the mint. The two dates used, and XF-UNC condition of most survivors, suggests that these were pulled from circulation as current coinage sometime shortly after 1825.
While an interesting idea, it does not make sense to pull from circulation sometime shortly after 1825. There are only 2 die marriages these are stamped on - the 1815 B1 and the 1825 B2. Pulling from circulation would result in sampling whatever die marriages and years were out there, and there are at least 6 other years and dozens of die marriages to sample at that time and ignoring the Draped Bust series.
Pulling from circulation would result in sampling whatever die marriages and years were out there
If a jeweler in NY or Philadelphia or Baltimore wanted nice shiny new coins from which to make the awards, he may have gone to a bank that received coins directly from the mint and selected shiny new coins, likely struck from the same dies.
The fact that there are only two die pairs does not preclude the possibility that these were done outside the mint. Indeed in my scenario, it would be unusual to have many die pairs. So, this is still possible, and not far fetched.
Collector and dealer in obsolete currency. Always buying all obsolete bank notes and scrip.
@Baley said:
My wife grew up in Friendswood, Webster, Clearlake, Corpus, etc and tells stories of floods there but nothing like this, best wishes to all affected.
Awesome busts!! Have a set of Large size early quarters buy Browning variety but no E or L counter stamps yet.
Tompkins has an interesting theory in his book thats the most compelling I've heard..
Thanks Baley, I will have to read Steve's theory again and see what I think.
@sellitstore said: Pulling from circulation would result in sampling whatever die marriages and years were out there
If a jeweler in NY or Philadelphia or Baltimore wanted nice shiny new coins from which to make the awards, he may have gone to a bank that received coins directly from the mint and selected shiny new coins, likely struck from the same dies.
The fact that there are only two die pairs does not preclude the possibility that these were done outside the mint. Indeed in my scenario, it would be unusual to have many die pairs. So, this is still possible, and not far fetched.
I agree with the bank theory but that is not pulling from circulation and that is where I did not agree with your previous post. The bank may have had uncirculated quarters still in original rolls from the mint that were allocated to whomever did the stamping. Why 1815's still in 1825 tho is a question. But having rolls of each set aside and then stamped is a very likely scenario. My take as the most reasonable scenario is that someone had set aside rolls in 1815 and then when they decided to do the stamping, got fresh rolls from the bank in 1825. The key to any theory, is whether all of the quarters from each die marriage are from the same or similar die states, supporting the idea they were minted together and thus put in rolls together. If they come from variable die states, it is much harder to support a theory where a bank had fresh rolls that were then used for the stamping.
I agree that the comparative die states would tell us more. Have you had an opportunity to compare some of these, even if just by HA Archive photos?
I don't know about rolls. Think wooden kegs and leather bags for non standard count groups of coins. But that raises the question of when rolls actually became standard units. I'd guess that happened several decades after bust coinage was last used.
The two different dates could very easily be explained by these awards being used for two, three, or four years, perhaps mid 1820s. The jeweler goes to the bank in 1823 for the awards and gets 25 new quarters, all from the same batch, dated 1815. He uses these for the 1823 and 1824 awards. Needing more in 1825, he again goes to the bank for shiny new quarters, perfect for the awards and gets another 25. He carefully stamps them "E" and "L" for use by the school.
These would be similar to the Franklin Institute award medals, except used by a less prestigious and well-funded institution. Many less impressive "Awards" and "Rewards of Merit" exist, both metallic and paper.
Other theories of which I'm aware, have to do with die alignment or planchet weight, except these don't really make sense.
For die alignment, if "L" stands for left, one would expect "R" to be the other letter.
For planchet weight, suppose "L" stands for light, what's "E", excess? One would expect "H" for heavy and besides, this doesn't correspond to actual weights of known specimens.
I think that they were likely done outside the mint, possibly be a jeweler. I'm not convinced that they were rewards of merit, but that's one possibility.
I first held one of these about 45 years ago and remember being intrigued with the fact that nobody really knew what the "E" stamped on this pretty early (1815) quarter signified. I'm surprised that this question hasn't been answered yet and I think that it will.
Maybe I'll poke around on the interweb a bit more and see what I can find.
Collector and dealer in obsolete currency. Always buying all obsolete bank notes and scrip.
@sellitstore said:
I agree that the comparative die states would tell us more. Have you had an opportunity to compare some of these, even if just by HA Archive photos?
I don't know about rolls. Think wooden kegs and leather bags for non standard count groups of coins. But that raises the question of when rolls actually became standard units. I'd guess that happened several decades after bust coinage was last used.
The two different dates could very easily be explained by these awards being used for two, three, or four years, perhaps mid 1820s. The jeweler goes to the bank in 1823 for the awards and gets 25 new quarters, all from the same batch, dated 1815. He uses these for the 1823 and 1824 awards. Needing more in 1825, he again goes to the bank for shiny new quarters, perfect for the awards and gets another 25. He carefully stamps them "E" and "L" for use by the school.
Oops, rolls... Thats what happens when one takes modern handling of coins and extends that too far in the past. Thanks for updating me on that.
I like your hypothesis on how they could have been restricted to 2 dates as above. But, what happened to all of the 1818, 1819, 1820, 1821, and 1822 uncircs that could/would/should have been at the bank in 1823? Nevertheless and interesting hypothesis.
I have lived in the Houston area all my life but that will change next year as my wife and I are moving to the hill country next to the Guadalupe River. Very high, dry and pretty. We are fine and took in a lady that had her home flooded. She will be ok but rebuilding a normal life will take the better part of a year.
I have never seen so many local people put their boat in the water to rescue people and their pets. It is these people that were first respondents and they saved many lives. They ask for nothing and many did not have time to talk to the media or want to. When the number of people that were not saved given the size of the storm their effort was unbelievable.
As far as why Houston floods so much it is because so much of the ground is paved and the run off just to much for the drainage corridors to handle. The homes that flooded in my area west of Houston did so because the Corp. of Engineers had to control the amount of water released from the large reservoirs to keep the main bayou from going any higher. Some peoples homes were sacrificed in an effort to minimize the amount of homes lost.
No one can tell anything with certainty about the loss as Friday was the first day helicopters could fly over the area. Only ones up prior were the Coast Guard. Those guys are good.
Houston will recover but it will be at least a year as food, medicine and construction material and labor are not in any way abundant. people from all over the country have arrived, including the President to help.
I just hope the south eastern part of the state fairs better than expected as it is very flat and the water only accumulates.
To those that have helped in any way thanks.
SH hope you are still fine as my family is in Cinco.
We came through unscathed as did our area. Only minor flooding despite being in the bullseye for max rain. The neighborhoods in the area were designed to drain well. We had selected our house based on the waterline evidence in the floods in Allison in 2001.
I agree with oldgoldlover that the Texan/local response to helping was simply astounding. No one asked, they just did. As I noted earlier, native Texans are the most courteous, friendly, and proudest folk I have ever met. This really showed up to help during the disaster.
Comments
And the rain keeps coming.............. Nice to hear from other members in my boat and good to hear they are staying dry. As we can all see on the local news, much of the city is not and is flooded - not really any streets left, lots of canals tho'.
Bust still some nice bust quarters around.
I have a cousin with a family in Houston (I once heard it is pronounced "House-ton"); I hope your part of the country gets all the help it needs.
36 inches of rain in our neighborhood since Friday and it is still raining. News just announced Kingwood as a flooding spot - hope dadams is ok.
Best, SH
Sorry I haven't checked in earlier. I'm still high and dry and very thankful! Still have to see what the next day or so brings but I'm pretty certain I'll be spared the ravages.
The San Jacinto is about 1.5 miles west of my location - the median elevation of Kingwood is somewhere around 66' - I'm at 75.7' - current condition of the San Jacinto near me 65.09' and it normally resides at about 41.5' with Top of Bank at about 50'
Glad you're doing good.
-d
has anyone heard from cougar1978? He's a Houston area resident. Hope he is high and dry
m
Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
Good to hear from you dada. Haven't heard from cougar 1978. Our official rain guage in our area is now at 44". Yesterday we received 8.5", but it was non-stop and constant, and the neighborhood drainage did its job. The lowest part of our neighborhood is at 12 feet, with a major bayou 100 yards away which is at sea level, so we just have to see what happens over the next few days as all of that water around Houston begins to drain towards us. The good news is that the anticipated storm surge on Galveston Bay won't likely happen to back up the drainage as Harve is moving further east than the early models predicted. Officially there are 444 high water locations on freeways and state highways (only the big roads not counting anything else in this tally). So evacuating out of the area is a major problem for those flooded.
So today is an upswing day, so I will post something more shiny.
Best, SH
Do you still have water and electric service in your area?
yes
I was in Houston this past May for a friends graduation. Had such a nice time, friendly people, good restaurants and the 'Space Center' was amazing. I hope this storm get's lost and people can get some life back. This has been terrible. I can't imagine having a medical emergency or running out of some sort of medication.
So many up here in the Northeast are praying for you all !
That's cool. If something like this came to my area, we would just have to leave and wait. Good luck SH.
This is a terrible, devastating blow to Houston. It is a great city with marvelous people. The two and a half years I lived there were really great. I hope this storm moves out quickly now.. The pictures on the news are horrendous. Best of luck to all who live there.... Cheers, RickO
I live in New Orleans area and today is the 12 year anniversary of Katrina. We are currently under floor warnings and tornado warnings. All of the schools are closed.
I have in-laws in Kingwood, and family west of Houston and a niece in Missouri City to the SW of Houston. The in-laws left Kingwood on Friday, we hope their house in OK. The family to the west has flooded streets but no water in their houses. The niece in Missouri City had a mandatory evacuation order and had to leave, she did find a friends house to go to where she is high and dry.
I hope all of our coin friends in Houston are OK and stay safe.
Crazy Times, glad to be able to come here and see the beautiful coins.
Stay Safe my friends.
I am ok but anxious. Last few days watching water creep back and forth from side walk to within few feet of house - street flooded. Friday nite concerned may have to move stuff upstairs as it got up in yard 3/4 way to house. A fall few days ago resulted in sprained left thumb injury (freak fall) as was trying pick up coin books dropped in hallway w left hand trying compensate for slightly re-injured right arm stretched nerve injury aggravated from heavy bc of coins a couple of weeks back (Original injury fro oh press at y very painful - watch working w weights). Now right arm feeling better but left (gamer) thumb out of commission. So gaming curtailed. Wife came home yesterday as had stay in hotel near her job as roads impassable then slight lull yesterday.
But feel fortunate home high and dry and have power cable and food stocked up on Friday afternoon. This is extremely bad luck event and I feel for people left homeless / loss of everything. So far been very lucky. My phone beeps tornado warnings for area every couple of hours. Just been watching lots of movies anxiously waiting season finale of Animal Kingdom.
I have a table for Oct fall show but if sales slow may back off the Money show in Dec. I think people here like myself are not going be concerned w spending money on coins lol.
I can't imagine how shop owners and others involved w collections / inventories coping w this but sure hope they ok.
So 4 days of anxiety about flooding w hopefully just one left go. It will take area long time recover this on magnitude of Katrina.
Stay out of harms way cougar
m
Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
And for those that do have flood insurance the maximum payout is only 25% of fair market home values
Oh great PCGS, in there wisdom, just mailed my graded submission. Er ah, don't they watch the news?
These were submitted raw at ANA. Hope they don't get lost......
1 1 85100365 94511 1829 10C Large 10C XF40 (was IGC 45)
2 1 85100366 5405 1843-O 25C XF45 USA (was NGC 45)
3 1 85100367 395940 1876-CC 25C RPD FS-301 MS62 (was NGC 62)
4 1 85100368 6131 1823 50C MS62 USA (was NGC 62)
5 1 85100369 6294 1858-O 50C AU58 USA (was NGC 62 - Bill Jones told me there was rub, he was right!)
Best, SH
Not sure how much news the folks outside of Texas are getting but it is really really bad. The Army Corp of Engineers is having to open spillways from some dams north of Houston so even though the rain is dropping off a bit (still projected to get an additional 7-10 inches of rain though) areas that previously were not flooding are now doing so.
Be safe!
K
An example of how bad it is - Friendswood - during Allison a few 100 homes flooded. This time 1/3 of the community, or 3,000 homes are flooded.
This is going to set back Houston for years.
Best, SH
Considering sign at my table upcoming Houston October show and possibly Dec show "All coins no more than $5 over cost just say Harvey sent u."
So far avoided flooding to my home but anxiety high until over.
I am pleased to report that we are in the aftermath of Harve although he still is hammering points east. Several hundred thousand individuals have already applied to Fema for disaster relief. Many areas still underwater, short term recovery is going to happen but many problems will linger for years. So this is my last coin for this topic, perhaps the brightest one so far.......
Best, SH
That is crazy if accurate. I wonder what type of relief FEMA will offer. One of my former coworkers lost his home in a flood from a hurricane and FEMA paid him 95% of FMV to buy the property, demolish the house, and convert it to a park. That was over 15 years ago so a lot may have changed.
At least those who purchased flood insurance from the federal government will be okay:
https://www.fema.gov/media-library-data/6a2ad0291e8d6a5452aa891a6c037039/fema_Summary_508C.pdf
Not sure about the L counterstamp. No proof , but it could be for "Liquid" . Stay dry.
``https://ebay.us/m/KxolR5
I dont know if its across the board standard for all companies but a lady was on Neil Cavuto Business by phone and was told by her ins company the night before that they had approved her claim for the maximum which was $250k on a million dollar home. She said she had the best and most expensive flood insurance plan too which her lender required.
The highest amount of coverage you can get through the federal government is $250,000.
If you need/want more coverage than that you have to buy an additional policy.
I doubt she was talking about emergency government coverage. Sounded like a private policy since it was required by the lender. My guess is that the epic scale of this disaster has all ins companies in full panic mode cutting corners however they can legally.
And it will make everyone else's insurance go up just like Katrina and Sandy did. I think it's a crock myself. People choose where they live and should know the risks and prepare for them...proper insurance being the main thing!
So sad to see this happen to my fellow Americans. Stay safe and remember most "things" can be replaced and rebuild, people can't.
This is a good reminder for people here to ensure they have adequate insurance policies and umbrella coverage for their belongings.
I recommend everyone take a video (if you have a smartphone) while walking through your house from basement to attic. Go through every cabinet and closet to quickly show the type of items (clothes, electronics and appliances and collector items) you have as a quick way to inventory your belongings.
It is a very quick and easy way to cover your ass in the case of a catastrophic loss and you can use it as proof in case of a flood, fire or larceny. Video can be uploaded to YouTube and set as private so only you can see it...
This is very good advice for folks and thanks for sharing. Airports open and up to what it seems is around 80-90% of flights operating. Water is receding, lots of shelters open for the homeless. Texans are a proud people and it good to see all of the citizens take action to help in this disaster.
Best, SH
No damage or flooding In my home water in my street all gone so consider myself fortunate.
Watching the newscast yesterday it showed heavy flooding in NW Houston area where HWY 6 met I10 going north. I saw where the Palace Inn past Bear Creek Park still underwater - guys who worked in area and also SC players (many O&G co sites and HQ nearby) met girls there for nooners who danced at area clubs like Cover Girls and Joy of Houston which just 3 miles from my office.
K
I live on the west side of 99 and there are many flooded houses around the Mason/FRY intersection. The GB Park is flooded to FRY and because of the overflow and flooding in C Ranch water is being released. Buffalo Bayou is flooded the worst the bayou is over Beltway 8. I grew up in Briar Grove Park and all the nicest houses in the neighborhood are flooded. I have never seen anything like this flood.
Five KISD schools are flooded and Houston ISD will not start until 9/921/19 weather permitting. We are out till at earliest 9/2 but there is no place st send the KISD students who had their school flooded.
Strange as it sounds the weather is now good and very cool for August.
We have taken in a lady and as I type she is getting in to see what her house looks like. She is one of the few that had flood insurance. It will take her a year to recover from the storm as she lost everything except to changes of clothing and her two dogs.
I would imagine the film I just saw will be on national news. Over 5.000 rescues and counting and a vast majority were done by individuals that were not part of the Corp. of ENG, Police or any other govt. agency. Not saying the got. was lax but the people started as soon as the need became apparent.
More flooding will occur due to run off of water and no place to put it as so many thousands of homes are or were under water.
Its day by day here and will be for many months.
Rest assured a vast majority of the people will pay out of pocket as we are not near a flood zone and lenders do not require it on homes outside of a flood zone. Most did not opt for flood insurance.
The only good thing I have seen is how everyone loaded up food, clothing and their boat to help and rescue people with no pay and taking significant risk. I have never seen so many people start helping as soon as they made sure their family was safe. Makes one proud to be a Texan.
I will wager the flood zones will be redrawn. They were here. I hope my comment didn't come of too crass. But my opinion is people who choose to live in no risk areas should not have to pay for those who do. I never realized how low the topography of the Houston area was until this happened. If I was looking there it would definitely be higher ground!
It's good to hear that the weather is finally improving in Houston. No doubt it will be a long recovery for many.
I've been interested in the "L" and "E" counterstamps for many years and have heard a few theories. One of the more popular ones was that they were given as educational prizes or "Rewards of Merit". The theory held that the "L" stood for "Latin" and the "E" for "English". Silver medals were struck for this purpose, so why not countermark a few coins? Although possible, I'm not convinced that this is the likely answer. There's no supporting evidence for this theory.
The "E" and "L" are not in the die, but applied after these were struck. The fact that they were done carefully suggests to me that they might have been done by a jeweler, not necessarily at the mint. The two dates used, and XF-UNC condition of most survivors, suggests that these were pulled from circulation as current coinage sometime shortly after 1825.
With more and more online resources, like the Newman portal and many other useful sites, I believe that we will solve this numismatic mystery someday.
I do believe your comment is at least very naive. The flood maps were already redrawn from Alison flooding in 2001, and then again later on. So they know the flood zones very well already with the changing topography that occurred via resource drawdown (water, hyrdocarbon withdrawl have sunk Houston in some places up to 10 feet) over the past century.
People in non-flood areas don't pay for those in flood areas already so I don't see your point. Premiums scale with the defined flood zone your house is in. They are calling this a millennium flood so as said earlier this one was just hard to have maps for. HST, it could happen again because the climate is warming up. Meyerland for example, which has never flooded in the past 60 years, has flooded now 3 times in 3 years. Because of climate change and shifts, Houston seems to be getting more intense storms. HST, many of the folks in Meyerland they interviewed noted they would not rebuild, so we are likely to have more open space there now that it is a noted floodable area in this new climate we are making.
Higher ground was meaningless this time, it was proximity first, to where the largest amount of rain fall, and second, how close one lived to a drainage channel be it a river, stream, ditch or bayou. My house is at 16 feet, it did not flood, houses at 70 feet flooded.
Know your information before you talk about a flood and city you have never lived in - JMHO.
Best, SH
While an interesting idea, it does not make sense to pull from circulation sometime shortly after 1825. There are only 2 die marriages these are stamped on - the 1815 B1 and the 1825 B2. Pulling from circulation would result in sampling whatever die marriages and years were out there, and there are at least 6 other years and dozens of die marriages to sample at that time and ignoring the Draped Bust series.
Best, SH
My wife grew up in Friendswood, Webster, Clearlake, Corpus, etc and tells stories of floods there but nothing like this, best wishes to all affected.
Awesome busts!! Have a set of Large size early quarters buy Browning variety but no E or L counter stamps yet.
Tompkins has an interesting theory in his book thats the most compelling I've heard..
Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry
Glad to hear SHD and others are doing ok. This disaster is still unfolding, from reports from Beaumont and Port Arthur. To see ordinary folks with bassboats, johnboats, airboats, kayaks etc rescuing their fellow citizens and pets was inspiring. Made me think of Dunkirk. Please donate to the relief effort, which will continue for months. https://nytimes.com/2017/08/28/us/donate-harvey-charities-scams.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=span-abc-region®ion=span-abc-region&WT.nav=span-abc-region
I'm proud to be an American due to people like this and the "Cajun Navy" and all the other volunteers who are stepping up to help their neighbors:
This is a video of some awesome Texans rescuing National Guard vehicles, hahahah:
'Merica!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Pulling from circulation would result in sampling whatever die marriages and years were out there
If a jeweler in NY or Philadelphia or Baltimore wanted nice shiny new coins from which to make the awards, he may have gone to a bank that received coins directly from the mint and selected shiny new coins, likely struck from the same dies.
The fact that there are only two die pairs does not preclude the possibility that these were done outside the mint. Indeed in my scenario, it would be unusual to have many die pairs. So, this is still possible, and not far fetched.
Thanks Baley, I will have to read Steve's theory again and see what I think.
Best, SH
I agree with the bank theory but that is not pulling from circulation and that is where I did not agree with your previous post. The bank may have had uncirculated quarters still in original rolls from the mint that were allocated to whomever did the stamping. Why 1815's still in 1825 tho is a question. But having rolls of each set aside and then stamped is a very likely scenario. My take as the most reasonable scenario is that someone had set aside rolls in 1815 and then when they decided to do the stamping, got fresh rolls from the bank in 1825. The key to any theory, is whether all of the quarters from each die marriage are from the same or similar die states, supporting the idea they were minted together and thus put in rolls together. If they come from variable die states, it is much harder to support a theory where a bank had fresh rolls that were then used for the stamping.
Best, SH
I agree that the comparative die states would tell us more. Have you had an opportunity to compare some of these, even if just by HA Archive photos?
I don't know about rolls. Think wooden kegs and leather bags for non standard count groups of coins. But that raises the question of when rolls actually became standard units. I'd guess that happened several decades after bust coinage was last used.
The two different dates could very easily be explained by these awards being used for two, three, or four years, perhaps mid 1820s. The jeweler goes to the bank in 1823 for the awards and gets 25 new quarters, all from the same batch, dated 1815. He uses these for the 1823 and 1824 awards. Needing more in 1825, he again goes to the bank for shiny new quarters, perfect for the awards and gets another 25. He carefully stamps them "E" and "L" for use by the school.
These would be similar to the Franklin Institute award medals, except used by a less prestigious and well-funded institution. Many less impressive "Awards" and "Rewards of Merit" exist, both metallic and paper.
Other theories of which I'm aware, have to do with die alignment or planchet weight, except these don't really make sense.
For die alignment, if "L" stands for left, one would expect "R" to be the other letter.
For planchet weight, suppose "L" stands for light, what's "E", excess? One would expect "H" for heavy and besides, this doesn't correspond to actual weights of known specimens.
I think that they were likely done outside the mint, possibly be a jeweler. I'm not convinced that they were rewards of merit, but that's one possibility.
I first held one of these about 45 years ago and remember being intrigued with the fact that nobody really knew what the "E" stamped on this pretty early (1815) quarter signified. I'm surprised that this question hasn't been answered yet and I think that it will.
Maybe I'll poke around on the interweb a bit more and see what I can find.
Oops, rolls... Thats what happens when one takes modern handling of coins and extends that too far in the past. Thanks for updating me on that.
I like your hypothesis on how they could have been restricted to 2 dates as above. But, what happened to all of the 1818, 1819, 1820, 1821, and 1822 uncircs that could/would/should have been at the bank in 1823? Nevertheless and interesting hypothesis.
Best, SH
500,000
Number of cars flooded during Harvey.
I have lived in the Houston area all my life but that will change next year as my wife and I are moving to the hill country next to the Guadalupe River. Very high, dry and pretty. We are fine and took in a lady that had her home flooded. She will be ok but rebuilding a normal life will take the better part of a year.
I have never seen so many local people put their boat in the water to rescue people and their pets. It is these people that were first respondents and they saved many lives. They ask for nothing and many did not have time to talk to the media or want to. When the number of people that were not saved given the size of the storm their effort was unbelievable.
As far as why Houston floods so much it is because so much of the ground is paved and the run off just to much for the drainage corridors to handle. The homes that flooded in my area west of Houston did so because the Corp. of Engineers had to control the amount of water released from the large reservoirs to keep the main bayou from going any higher. Some peoples homes were sacrificed in an effort to minimize the amount of homes lost.
No one can tell anything with certainty about the loss as Friday was the first day helicopters could fly over the area. Only ones up prior were the Coast Guard. Those guys are good.
Houston will recover but it will be at least a year as food, medicine and construction material and labor are not in any way abundant. people from all over the country have arrived, including the President to help.
I just hope the south eastern part of the state fairs better than expected as it is very flat and the water only accumulates.
To those that have helped in any way thanks.
SH hope you are still fine as my family is in Cinco.
SH
We came through unscathed as did our area. Only minor flooding despite being in the bullseye for max rain. The neighborhoods in the area were designed to drain well. We had selected our house based on the waterline evidence in the floods in Allison in 2001.
I agree with oldgoldlover that the Texan/local response to helping was simply astounding. No one asked, they just did. As I noted earlier, native Texans are the most courteous, friendly, and proudest folk I have ever met. This really showed up to help during the disaster.
Best, SH