[photo Posted: 1869 3CS PCGS XF45] Tease... 25222633

1869 3 Cent silver in xf45! Nice! Can't wait for pics!

It's funny how you read up on a coin and learn the details and figure "I'll never own one". My 3cs set is business strikes in XF, so of course it ends with 1862.

Mintage of the type 1s is 25 million. Given their age, they are uncommon but not rare. The type 2s with a little under 5 million are harder to find, but they exist. Even the 139,000 mintage 1855 has several hundred certified between NGC and PCGS. And nice raw ones ARE out there if you look hard (not something you find in a 20 table show at the VFW, but a little work at a big regional or national show and it can be found).

The first years of the type 3s (1859 - 364K, 1860 286K, 1861 497K, 1862 343K) - they're available. Actually seem to even be a little more plentiful than the mintages would indicate (probably hoarded when the war started while still in pretty decent condition and never really returned to circulation - the 3CN met what demand there was for a Three Cent coin in 1865 and later).

So the run from 1851 to 1862 is doable.

Then you get to 21K 1863, 12K 1864, 8K 1865, 22K 1866, 4K 1867, 3.5K 1868, 4.5K 1869. 3K 1870, 3.4K 1871 and 1K 1872. With certified populations in VF/XF of 8 at NGC and 40 at PCGS. Over 8 years of mintage.

So, not being Dr. Money bags you plan to cut off the typeset at 1862.

WC Fields said it - "If at first you don't succeed, try again. Then give up. Don't be a <bleep> fool."


And then, the lamest coin show you ever attend. More action at the VFW. Between poor marketing, poor organization and poor weather (the last being the LEAST of the problems)... Half the dealers don't show up. Some of the ones that do bring a small # of very expensive items.

So you drift around the show - it's not busy - there are maybe six members of the public in the hour or 75 minutes you spend there.

Chat with Charmy and share cat pictures and cat stories. Say hi to another couple dealers you know casually. See if they have anything new & cool and then keep moving. Lust after the lots at Heritages next few auctions. But one knows when one is looking beyond one's means - I really couldn't justify the cost of the look.

And then there it is...

An ANACS sample slab with an Oklahoma quarter in it. SCORE (I'm trying to build a set of state quarter/ATB samples for all 56 states and territories).

So it's not such a bad day after all...

So you finish the row, and then there it is...




(click for the full sized image)

The internal debate and the knowledge it means several months of tube not sirloin steak... that lasts microseconds...

Any as the final blow to a mixed day - you realize you wasted your 1000th post griping about ebay instead of on something IMPORTANT.


So you see, this is why I love the hobby. The bad things turn out to be good things and the good things turn out to be great things. And you NEVER know what tomorrow will bring.

Wow Bstrauss3 your description of the lamest coin show is a perfect description of my local coin club show which happens in 2 weeks! It's lame but I wouldn't miss it for the world. I always force myself to buy at least something.

Yes, CelticSoul, I dig the bit about supporting the club show. You just have to. Besides a couple of interesting people setup there.

Let's see there's weird Bob - his short term memory [~ 15 years of it] is gone, so he can be relied upon to always tell the same story. He's a dealer in foreign coins so you can always unload a baggie of random junk at the club auction.

Then there's Bill who still hopes that TSG will someday get the recognition it deserves as a slabbing company. But I've bought several toilet bowl slabs from him over the years. He gives a club discount to people he knows. And mixed in with his junk are always a few nicer items. But you have to get there early - He's never figured out that buying from other dealers at retail and selling to them at wholesale is backwards. The good stuff never lasts.

There's J.H. - he's a reputable numismatist and always has interesting stuff: he has a Peace dollar in a "WCG" slab graded MS68. If that was real, it would be the finest known and worth north of $20K. But he keeps it to show people what NOT to buy - it's cleaned and might be worth $40 on a good day. He had a couple of NCI slabbed Franklins from the very early days that his Father sent in. Just nice honest untouched PF64s and PF65s. All gone now, but several of the nicer ones are sitting in MY collection. Not cheap - he knows what stuff is worth, but just gorgeous coins priced fairly.

There is the penny crusher - always worth a whirl. We buy baggies of copper cents for the shows and the fun fair to give out to the kids.

The guy with the handlebar mustache. Never have figured out how he stays in business, but it's the last retail store in the area, so I guess he's covering the rent buying silver OTC. His store is next door to Subway where I often have lunch and I would suspect that a fair number of his customers would have trouble getting their, um, vehicles, up or down the highway to the next county.

And a couple others.

But hey, it's the club and so you have to show up...