Continuing List To Show Everyones Latest Acquisitions

SLERK



From the APMEX website:

Partnership with PCGS
PCGS has joined forces with APMEX to give the MintDirect® Premier product the PCGS FirstStrike® seal of approval. These 2022 MintDirect® Premier Silver Maples, which were graded in their original sealed packaging by PCGS, are recognized as meeting their stringent criteria for FirstStrike® eligibility if submitted for grading.

After the mint tubes are placed on the conveyor into the machine, they're sealed completely with tamper-evident packaging by a unique machine used by APMEX. The tube is then removed from the machine and inspected to verify that the packaging meets our high standards. You now have a MintDirect® Premier + PCGS FirstStrike® 2023 1 oz Silver Maple Leaf coin in its completed form.

Thanks very much, Dearborn!

I almost never "settle" for a lower grade coin than I have on my want list. The couple times I have it's been for a proof-like example or one with really beautiful toning. I will occasionally splurge and go higher if I find a really nice example at a reasonable price. The difference with my classic commemoratives was initially I hadn't planned on building a collection of those, I just wanted some attractive examples of the ones I liked. Thus, I hadn't spent the time to do my homework and put together a proper want list with minimum grades.

At some point I did put together that want list but by then I already had quite a few and I've been in the process of upgrading those since I finished the complete set a couple years ago. It's a long-term project, but keeps it interesting!

Well Silver was in 'surplus' and nickel was not - nickel was a much needed metal for the war effort and silver was not. BUT 'We The People' still needed spending money such as nickels so the mint used the silver to compensate for the loss of the nickel metal.

I fully agree. And another thing to remember is that since coins were minted from PMs at the time, people were used to PMs as a natural part of their life. Today, relatively speaking, PMs are too expensive to make our money out of. We have been divorced from the mindset of the time period that when you though of regular money, you typically just "knew" you would be dealing with PMs.

So when period people saw the PM nickel I do not believe it struck them as being as odd we currently do. I also believe everyone at the time knew exactly what Dearborn said. The industrial metal was actually more "precious" for its utilitarian implementation than "just using" silver (which was in everyone's pocket anyway).

Imagine living in a time where even when you spent even a penny, your mind just understood the value of that coin was inherent to the coin in your hand b/c of the PM it contained. After PMs were taken away, a coin became an abstract metal disk not grounded to anything "tangible" (if that is even the right word I am looking for?).

Nice commemorative!

The Tolkien monogram looks very similar to the Chinese symbol "shù", which means "to bind" or "to control".
Coincidence?

@owatchman
Beautiful Tolkien commem!

Very nice token!



I doubt it, but would need to look it up...
...One ring to rule them all...