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Sheik Sheck

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Journal Entries posted by Sheik Sheck

  2. Sheik Sheck
    I need replies so please do so for the sake of beginning a conversation!! Thanks!! I love collecting currency. IT IS SO WONDERFUL!!
    Please vote with your reply, then I will show you the official grades in the third post and I will entitle the grades for each the note "Note Grades for Survey" If you like this note better, then write (1) in your reply. THANKS!!!!!

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  3. Sheik Sheck

    Investment Focus

    By Sheik Sheck,

    What notes are the best investment?
    One might say any note you can buy low and sell high! Since this Journal is useless in that I am talking to myself (no one ever replies) here is my take. GO to Track and Price. It is surprising some notes perceived as rare, BILLIONS were printed. Small silver certificates after 1934 are just about all worth a few dollars. Some make money by selling hundreds of these graded at 65 or 66's bought for 20 bucks ans selling for 50 to 100. Even the star notes are worth not much more than face UNLESS they are rare and those have been cherry picked to death by the experts so just about any small note after 1928 without a star, 99% have little to no value. I am amazed ath the 1934 notes that look exactly like modern money selling for crazy prices. If they are not $500 or $1000 bills forget it. The ony real exception are the Fr2500's the small 1928 gold certificates. If they are 64PPQ or better the 10 and $20 are of value. The $50 and $100 gold certificates are worth a look. One 67PPQ $100 gold certificate from 1928 sold for $105,000!! SO i look for those. I also have a few Fr-1500 red seal funny backs. 64EPQ and above are good investments. Some of the rare Type 1 NAtional from 1929 and rare FR Nationals like the $5 San Fran and St .Louis are valuable but good luck finding them. My advice, don't buy little bits of small note here and there. Save up and buy a high quality LARGE SIZE NOTES, either gold certificates or silver certificates or the old legal tender if you can afford. Small notes, unless you love building complete collections are just a waste of money. I always try to get PPQ or EPQ and but one INVESTMENT instead of 20 graded pieces that will never be worth more than what you paid. Everyone should have an Fr-2405 shown below if you like small. The next journal is large example of paying for a prime note to hopefully let it increase in value since the note is from 1882 and in 40 condition. My Dad always told me, "Buy a house to sell it" I buy notes that I know will sell. Of course, I had to learn the hard way and get ripped off by a guy hat would rather steal a couple of thousand dollars than have a long term customer. Beware of who you buy from and if you buy ungraded notes, you will almost certainly lose. That's where the predators operate.

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  5. Sheik Sheck
    Paint and crop is quite entertaining with scanned notes
    I couldn't help myself. My $20 Gold Large Note collection is nearing completion. I only need an Fr-1181, 1182 and 1183. I have the technicolor Fr-1180. I need the Fr-1179, the other technicolor note to truly complete the collection but that probably won't happen for a long, long time. I hopefully have a trade in the works to get the 1181, 82 and 83. I thought I would choose 6 of the reverses and do another collage. I will do another with the $10 GC's as I am a year or 2 from completing the Hillegas series.

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  6. Sheik Sheck
    Fr-1187 and Fr-1173 are $10 and $20 common gold certificates with great beauty and reasonable price for high quality notes.
    Good starters for those that LOVE the reverse of gold certificates

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  7. Sheik Sheck
    It really doesn't matter what grading company one uses. The standards are so well-defined and tight now that the value of a note has almost no wiggle room.
    As you can see here, I wanted a reputable company to grade a note. Of course, it was a waste of money since the note graded the same thus the value remained the same. Anyone note any sarcasm? That's because there is plenty!! I knew the note would not grade as well. I thought perhaps a 58EPQ would be the lowest but more likely a 62EPQ. Holy cow. What does this say about our hobby as an investment???

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  8. Sheik Sheck
    Fr-1197, a note from 1882. Look at the beaut of the reverse. They don't make notes like this anymore.
    Reverse of a gold certificate with good eye appeal = good investment.

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  9. Sheik Sheck
    The Hillegas $10 is numbered in the 1000's but they are reasonable prices for high quality.
    Get this for the same price someone is selling a 2009 $10 bill with a 2 digit serial number. Or ladder, or radar, or poppycock.

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  10. Sheik Sheck
    A very happy birthday to my Fr. 1225h graded PMG 25VF. It's date is February 20, 1917 so Monday (tomorrow) February 20, 2017 this note will be a century old. Nice!
    Tomorrow, February 20, 2017, this fine old $10,000 gold certificate turns 100 years old. Note the date on the note is February 20, 1917.
    Most were destroyed, with the exception of a number of 1900 $10,000 bills that were in a box in a post office near the U.S. Treasury in Washington, D.C. There was a fire on 13 December 1935, and employees threw burning boxes out into the street. The box of canceled high-denomination currency burst open. Much to everyone's dismay, they were worthless. There are several hundred outstanding, and their ownership is technically illegal, as they are stolen property. However, due to their lack of intrinsic value, the government has not prosecuted any owners, citing more important concerns. They carry a collector value in the numismatic market and, as noted in Bowers and Sundermans' The 100 Greatest American Currency Notes, the only United States notes that can be purchased for less than their face value. This is the only example of "circulating" U.S. currency that is not an obligation of the government, and thus not redeemable by a Federal Reserve Bank. The note bears the portrait of Andrew Jackson and has no printed design on its reverse side

  11. Sheik Sheck
    I am stupid
    This is the last time, I promise!! I will never be STUPID again. Several Ebay dealers that continuously get 5 star feedback for selling ungraded notes. Probably because the buyer never gets the note graded. I have learned my lesson over and over again that ungraded notes that are rare or valuable are UNGRADED FOR A REASON. These rare or highly desirable notes have probably been looked at and looked at again and again by professionals that know why they should not grade them. THEY ARE WORTH MORE UNGRADED!! These sellers can describe them as "Almost Uncirculated" or a "Real Beauty LOOKS Gem Uncirculated" and get top dollar for them because normal collectors can never judge a note by a scan!!!! Any seller selling ungraded notes that says they are "Uncirculated" (and I am talking about expensive or rare notes usually more that 600-700) ARE NOT UNCIRCULATED. Otherwise, they would have them graded and sell them at a higher premium. I fell for it one more time. A seller that is usually good and who I have bought graded notes from but this seller mainly auctions ungraded notes. I bid and the price goes up and up. Who drives the prices up? Well I have a theory on that as well. So the note looks great on scans. I think if I grade it, it will be at least worth another $1000. The seller said the Fr-282 was "Near Uncirculated" Knowing myself that I am a sucker, I was hoping for a 45 EPQ knowing it wasn't close to uncirculated. How about 35 NET with Repaired on the back! So the sellers know these notes are going to be NET so they advertise as "NEAR UNCIRCULATED" or "SUPERB GEM UNCIRCULATED" knowing the sucker won't get it graded. I get them graded and virtually every note I paid over $750 for ungraded came back NET. Only 2 ever came back without NET and the best I ever did was a $10 small 1928 gold described as "SUPERB GEM UNCIRCULATED" by the seller and that came back AU55. Don't ever pay more than a couple of hundred bucks for an ungraded note unless you can look at it in person or get a professional opinion. There is a whole sub-culture of sellers profiting off this ugly practice.
    PLEASE, quit bidding and buying ungraded notes that are rare and/or expensive. They have been very well looked over and you are being bid up to where you will never get your money back. I promise, I will never purchase an ungraded note again. The sellers I refer to are very well established sellers that have 100% feedback because they prey on the uninformed. They make a fortune off losers like me. I'll be happy to post the pictures when I receive the note if you ask me to.
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  13. Sheik Sheck

    Scope Creep

    By Sheik Sheck,

    All Collectors are Victims of Scope Creep
    That's why PMG, PCGS, Ebay, Heritage love us because our scope creeps beyond our wallet, spouses and our own original design!!

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  14. Sheik Sheck
    The reverse of the note from the sellers advertisement. To refresh your memory, here is the note description.
    "On the want lists of many collectors, but rarely ever offered. Most seen are very low grade and ugly. Examples in mega high grade like this one here tonight, are very few and far between. Incredible design with a portrait of Lincoln, and nicknamed the "Porthole Note". This specimen is near uncirculated with just very minor handling(see enlarged scans). Premium paper quality is crisp and bright with bold inking. Gem centering. Sharp edges and corners. A great opportunity, as these notes rarely come around. An excellent addition to your collection."

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  16. Sheik Sheck
    Lesson on what is advertised versus what the truth is....
    This is Picture 1 from the seller, a picture of the obverse of the note. Notice how the note look beautiful and white. Here is the description by the seller...
    "On the want lists of many collectors, but rarely ever offered. Most seen are very low grade and ugly. Examples in mega high grade like this one here tonight, are very few and far between. Incredible design with a portrait of Lincoln, and nicknamed the "Porthole Note". This specimen is near uncirculated with just very minor handling(see enlarged scans). Premium paper quality is crisp and bright with bold inking. Gem centering. Sharp edges and corners. A great opportunity, as these notes rarely come around. An excellent addition to your collection."

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  17. Sheik Sheck
    Ungraded notes are sucking your wallet
    Ungraded notes steal from your pocket. Why would a rare gold certificate from 1882 be ungraded? They are so rare, just about every dealer has seen every one of these notes. I see it all the time, dealers saying, "oh I sold this same note five years ago" The notes are ungraded because experts know they will grade NET. They are able to spot the tiniest flaw that even if an average collector had the note in his hand, he would not be able to tell it was "retouched" or "Repaired" Ebay doesn't provide a forum to air this out because guess what? Ebay profits off our stupidity! They don't want the big secret out that ungraded notes are for suckers. Once again, if you are buying a $100 star note from 1999 for $250 and the seller says "Superb Gem Uncirculated", it's probably OK. But on notes that are worth more than $500, you don't think those notes have been scrutinized again and again? An expert saying, "I can see a tiny tear that was repaired" Those words cut the value in half. So why not, recolor the note to make the image brighter and mask the flaws, sell it on ebay with no reserve as "GEM UNCIRCULATED" and know the buyer will not have it graded. Or by the time you have it graded, you have left feedback and it's too late to let everyone know the seller sold you a 30 NET. I wait until the notes are back from PMG before leaving feedback. One seller said of my negative feedback, "Well out of 5,000 notes sold, one negative review isn't bad!" No Mr. Seller, actually I had bought several notes from you ungraded, ALL came back less that what you advertised and I had simply left the feedback too early. The final ungraded note I bought, I waited until it got back from PMG praying that the seller was correct and it was "SUPERB GEM UNCIRCULATED" instead....35 NET, closed pinholes. I didn't even notice the closed pinholes until I got the note back!! DON'T BUY UNGRADED NOTES!!
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  18. Sheik Sheck
    Almost 2000 have been graded by PMG of this common note. This 66EPQ is in the top 3% graded with only 6 notes graded at 67EPQ.
    The Fr. 39 is a very common note. But this one has such perfect centering, embossing punched all the way through the note and a note that is so bright, the note looks like it just came off the printing press.

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  19. Sheik Sheck

    New PMG Holder

    By Sheik Sheck,

    Newly graded on 4/18/2016 Fr-1184 with PMG's super material. It is very nice.
    The lovely and rare Fr-1184.

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  20. Sheik Sheck

    My Favorite Note

    By Sheik Sheck,

    The best grades are not always the greatest eye appeal.
    My $20 large note gold certificate collection is almost complete, only lacking the Fr-1179. As you may know the Fr-1179 and 1180 are the technicolors so you will forgive me if I only have one of the two in my collection? This reverse is my most wonderful. I love it dearly.

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  21. Sheik Sheck

    Red Man

    By Sheik Sheck,

    Red Notes are nice
    Any red note specialists out there?

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  22. Sheik Sheck

    Investment Focus II

    By Sheik Sheck,

    GOLD CERTIFICATES
    Everyone should have some gold coins, but gold certificates are really good investments. Don't buy . Try to score at least a 30 and preferably better in PPQ or EPQ. I look at the 1922 and 1913 large size $50 Grants. With the exception of Fr-1200, these are incredibly low populations! And finding these $50's in better than PCGS, PMG 50 is really difficult (unless the 1922 Fr-1200) So buying a quality 30 or above with no NET or Apparent and especially if you can get EPQ/PPQ, I believe these are going to do well for mid-size in the future. Instead of buying a bunch on star notes from 1934 or new currency (why do people collect currency that is still in circulation?) try to get large sizes in the 1800's vintage. They can only get more rare. Why people find allure in new currency with low serial numbers or radars or ladders...CRAZY!! In 150 years they will definitely have value. Some person was selling a one dollar bill, brand new with a serial number like 00000073. He wanted like $380!! I offered $120 only because it was my wife's bday year and her declined. I was relieved. Why pay for that !!?? Folks selling brand new currency with two or three digit serial numbers as if it were special. Poppycock. Save you dollars and maybe, if you can, buy one of these once a year than 60 pieces of paper with no investment value at 70 bucks a piece when you can get this one piece. Someone reply, this is getting boring posting t myself.

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  23. Sheik Sheck
    New holders are definitely better than old ones
    I have some freshly graded notes from earlier this year and when you hold the newest holders to the light and compare with the previous holders, there is no doubt. The old holders look great but are cloudy looking when held up to the new holders. You would not know unless you compare them directly!

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  24. Sheik Sheck

    Gold Collage

    By Sheik Sheck,

    Spectrum of Colors Composing Gold Certificates
    This is a collage of the different reverse colors seen on various gold certificates. What better background than a Fr-1180 technicolor? I have always been fascinated with the different "orange" colors that make up the reverse of the gold certificates. Here is a direct comparison!

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  25. Sheik Sheck
    The Fr-1198 has only 39 graded between both the services.
    The Parker-Burke signature combination from the 1913 series has 21 graded at PMG and 18 graded from PCGS for a grand total of 39 Fr-1184 graded notes. Compare that to the more common Speelman-White signature combo of the 1922 series (Fr-1187) where 3,907 have been graded. Yet, there isn't a great premium between the two? That's why I don't mind owning multiple Fr-1184 notes! One day...

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