Revenant

On 10/8/2022 at 4:37 PM, ColonialCoinsUK said:

@Revenant@Fenntucky Mike

So what has Bonezdogg got that you two haven't ?

Being only a little snarky and salty here, he/she has a more expensive set, all of which he/she bought already graded near as I can tell, so I take his/her ranking as a measure of his/her wallet and not an indication of skill as a collector / grader. I'll end there and not indulge too much in a sour grades rant.

On 10/8/2022 at 5:13 PM, Fenntucky Mike said:

A bigger budget!  That's a jealous rage emoji if you couldn't tell. 

Bonez has some very high grade notes in that set, including a 70! Awesome stuff!  There are quite a few 70 notes in that series and I have seen several go up for auction but that's not something I will be chasing, for modern's 68 is my number, on occasion, a 69 if the price is right. I've talked about this before, but I just can't justify using my limited funds chasing notes graded 70, too many other notes out there that I would rather have. That's not to disparage others who do go after 70 notes, I get it, just not my thing. 

 

My first thought was, "More money."

My main issue with chasing 69s and 70s is the value proposition. Yes, it is maybe technically incrementally better than the 68. But most will never spot the difference or care. I'd rather have a set of 67s and 68s that together tell a story as a set than a 69 or 70.

All that said, if I had it, if I won the lottery and money was no issue, I'd probably make an offer to buy Bonez out.

That said, that this point I've made some 70s and 69s on the NGC side. I think there's 3 70s in my NZ silver Kiwi set that I had graded myself.

My Zimbabwe and Venezuelan coin sets now feature 69s that I earned myself. very proud of those. 

On 10/8/2022 at 5:32 AM, Fenntucky Mike said:

I enjoyed your descriptions for the $50 & $100 notes, the $100 particularly. 

Thanks! BTW, my wife says we're cute together. 

On 9/29/2022 at 5:26 PM, Fenntucky Mike said:

but I ranked the fifth series second for conversation's sake. 

On 9/29/2022 at 5:26 PM, Fenntucky Mike said:

Nice!

I've been noticing a lot of Zim 68's, in various series/denominations, going unsold so I'm hoping prices will start falling across the board in the near future. For notes from all countries that is. 

Now that this series of notes is done, or at least that is what is being said, I wonder how you would rate these notes against other Zim series as far as aesthetics and historical significance or interest? I don't know enough about each series of notes to speak of their historical significance or how interesting that history might be but I could give an opinion on the aesthetics. My ranking of the most attractive Zim banknote series would be (1) the first series, 1980-'94, (2) the fifth series, 2016-'22, (3) the second series, 1994-2004. My second and third place series are pretty much interchangeable to me in all fairness, but I ranked the fifth series second for conversation's sake. 

I'd be just fine with upgrading on the cheap but I sadly know it's because the air is coming out of the stock market and the economy, people are struggling with inflation and the "little extras" are getting squeezed. 

I consider the first series of the 1st dollar and the 5th/6th/RTGS/New ZWD series (because that series wore a lot of hats) about even on aethetics. The OG notes are just of their time while the new ones are modern. But the new ones are one of the few that feel like a spiritual successor to the first series and not something slapped together and rushed out. They tried with the 3rd dollar design to make them look nice and like a revival of sorts after the bearer checks but the two square images together on the back is a lazy design flop that disappoints vs the first dollar notes and the newest ones. The 4th dollar series of '09 just look a bit lazy and tired, but not quite as lazy as the bearer checks.

As far as historical significance the 3rd dollar probably wins as the series at the peak, the end, and the worst of the hyperinflation, with the infamous Trillions notes.

The 2nd dollar bearer checks span the more interesting time period - The Fear. Operation Sunrise. The long, slow, death-spiral of the country.

On 7/12/2022 at 4:49 PM, Fenntucky Mike said:

Either way I'm looking at a submission to NGC in the next couple months, after I get my PMG submission back, which should be soon. 

Well, things were unexpectedly slow today because I didn't get a 3D model from a client I was supposed to get, so I got to fill out my form today. I was going to print everything and put labels in flips... and then my black ink cartridge crapped out.  Ordered a new one. It's supposed to be here... Friday! The day I was going to do the forms originally. I guess this is back to being a weekend project.

On 7/13/2022 at 6:01 AM, Fenntucky Mike said:

I think this is probably accurate as all the news articles describe the coin as the Mosi-oa-Tunya (Victoria Falls). Also, all articles describe the coin as being serialized, so maybe a basic design with fineness and serial number on the other side or maybe on the rim? The design is pretty  if the image is accurate.

Yeah. I don't see anyone really liking that or that generating much collector demand, which is really what I think they're hoping for with this. If they were really going for the populace and commerce they would have gone fractional.

I'd also call this a big step down from what they did 20 years ago, for even what they did with the $10 and $25 coins in 2003, and the Bond Coins in 2014-2016, but even those 2003 coins are pretty "meh" in terms of "nice to look at."

On 7/12/2022 at 10:37 AM, Fenntucky Mike said:

The one thing I might do is start a completely different Journal if I veer off of Ukrainian notes and tackle other areas, it would make it easier for me to keep everything organized here and easier to follow. Maybe. 

You gotta make sure you're working that "Category" option to split up your posts or have sub-sets because I don't think the system lets you have more than one "journal."

On 7/12/2022 at 10:37 AM, Fenntucky Mike said:

ColonialCoinsUK & VE Coins have been adding some journal entries recently, I haven't seen any of the others post here in a long time. Over a year probably. 

I can't say I completely blame them because it does feel a bit like speaking into the void some days.  But I at least know you're here.  But by the measure of "recently" CCUK and VEC probably beat me.  

I still have not been able to find pictures of the new gold coins - only images of a coin from 2001 celebrating their gold refinery or something with the Zimbabwe bird on one side and the Black Rhino on the other. Apparently the new coins are going to be one troy ounce which breaks my heart a bit because they're going to be expensive and I think that is going to effectively price me out.  I also think that suggests this is more a ploy for creating collectables for the international market and not for making something for the locals because I think the locals have a poverty rate of 90%, most of them earn something like $2-3 a day (if I remember reading something along those lines right) and the locals are not going to be buying $1,900-2,000 coins. Anyway...

I do think I'm going to order a P-106 soon just to be able to upload my description and have the set up to date and likely "finished" for the foreseeable future because I, like you, think we're done at the 100

It's also my hope to fill out paperwork for a submission to NGC on Friday.  

On 7/11/2022 at 5:02 PM, Fenntucky Mike said:

Just noticed this but your 100th Journal entry is about a $100 note/s, how serendipitous. 

Congrats on 100 Journal entries, gotta be a record. 

I honestly had not even thought about it even a little bit when posting this. I just had something to post about over here for the first time in a while.  I've been focusing all my collecting efforts on Italian coins and the Venezuelan coins so this set and the PMG side have just been very quiet. But... yeah. I could be one of the few with 100 entries over here. The one I mainly think about in that regard is my NGC journal, which now clocks in at 386 entries, but it would probably be over 400 if I hadn't deleted some old entries I no longer felt comfortable with or approved of over its 15 year run. 

You are at 85 entries.

Steve R is at 81

The Shiek is at 75

mikim13 is at 23

GSA_Gem_Quest is at 29

ddr70 is at 22

Amarillo1 is at 21

Given that there are only 647 entries and the top 4 there make up 341 I think its fair to say that the 4 of us do most of the heavy lifting over here.

I sometimes worry that these long journals with multiple posts must make me seem very self-absorbed and self-important or something.  I worry that it isn't a good look sometimes.  

On 7/11/2022 at 1:16 PM, Fenntucky Mike said:

Yeah, I read about that gold coin somewhere the other week, they had a picture of a coin but it was probably a stock image of some sort of bullion. If I can find the article I'll let you know.  

Thanks, I'd like to see that if it's a real picture. If they really are going to be releasing these in 2 weeks as they claim they have to have them struck by now, so they certainly know what they'll look like and have examples to show off so it wouldn't surprise me if the images are out there. I just need to find them.

I am sure that either the rocks or the bird will feature prominently on the new coins. The only thing that gives me a little doubt on this is the Bond Coins - which are very tokenized and do not feature the national imagery and symbolism that were on the other coins. If you look at the photos in my Zimbabwe coin set, that Zimbabwe bird side of your bullion issue is almost the same as the obverse of those older coins.

On 7/11/2022 at 1:16 PM, Fenntucky Mike said:

I think they pretty much had to release the $50 & $100 notes. They probably had them printed at the same time as the rest of this series and since they were laying around why not release them.

Yeah. After you said this I went back and checked and the $100 notes are dated 2020 too. So they probably just sat on them for 2 years while they just got worth less and less and then got worthless. 

I've drafted up a description for the $100 note. I'm going to try to snap up an example soon to plug in my set and have it fully up-to-date for the first time in about a year. After that though I'm thinking you're right and I'll get a break from having to update these until the new new series hits.

On 3/22/2022 at 5:42 PM, ColonialCoinsUK said:

Fill an empty slot in a collection or upgrade an existing one???

There are few holes left in that set. And the ones that are left are not trivial to contend with. From here it's mostly upgrade or bust. And if you look at several of the series / subsets they're 100% complete.

On 3/22/2022 at 4:48 PM, Fenntucky Mike said:

But would a 67 to 69 upgrade in the same price range interest you? A 68 is good enough for most and is an arbitrary goal of mine when building modern sets. I've a couple 69's which I picked up in that price range, but they weren't upgrades.

69s always get my attention, but they're rarely offered at prices I find attractive.

On 3/19/2022 at 3:37 PM, Fenntucky Mike said:

68 or bust for moderns.  I've been concentrating on a new set lately, , and I've been holding strong on the 68 minimum I've set. Meaning, I only buy the note if I see one graded 68. No upgrading for this set.  We'll see how well I hold up when pickings get slim, I'll probably break.   

You can only have so many notes with essentially the same design, I would have thought that the added zero's would have kept people interested but.. I've been noticing about a six month lag lately from when a note is released and NH has some graded examples available. It's got to be close to that timeline for the DB.

I mean, back when I started the 68s just weren't there at affordable priced. And then for a while I was picking up 67s and 66s for cheap from BNW. And it won me an award. So no regrets! Lol. But I will keep bumping them up where it makes sense - but I'm not paying $60 to upgrade a 67 to a 68.

Yeah. The switch to the Digital Bolivar (no new added zeros) with no new design I think is not going to be kind to this series from a collector standpoint... but... I'm  in it. 

Working up to expanding this to coins as with Zimbabwe but that's still slow going and something has come up that may shift my focus back to the 10G set.

On 1/25/2022 at 12:24 PM, Fenntucky Mike said:

I don't know if it's the Russian threat, the holidays, or what, but it's never taken this long for packages to arrive from Ukraine before.  As long as they all show up intact, I guess I'll live.  Waiting on these sets, some other notes and coins, and some bonds right now. Just got a package of several specimen notes from Ukraine yesterday, that was a nice surprise. 

Yeah. A seller we both use for coins took quite a while to get an order out for me and now the post is taking a while. It'll get here eventually. 🤷‍♂️ Fortunately I'm not in a rush on that.

On 12/24/2021 at 6:35 AM, Fenntucky Mike said:

True that! Nowhere near as bad as 34 notes in 6 months, but definitely a busy year if your trying to stay current and cherry pick the best notes and serial numbers. If I wasn't trying to stay "real time" with my collection it wouldn't be near as painful, and if more commemoratives/varieties are issued next year I may just wait. I'm thinking other than the complete set of commemorative notes in 2022, nothing else will be issued next year unless there is a regime change at the NBU.

Yeah. I hear ya on that one. I tried to have the Fuertes notes tied up before I started the Soberano notes and I'm going to probably buy the 1M Bolivar note before I seriously consider getting the Digital notes. The 104 is just a gap I'm going to tolerate for now just because I don't want a 66.

I mean, it could be worse. From August 2008 to Feb 2009 the RBZ released the entire 27 note 3rd dollar run (some with varieties) and the 7 note 4th dollar run. 34 notes in 6 months - not including varieties!

Venezuela was also kinda painful this year. They put out 8 new notes, not that I've gotten into most of that - I only have 2 so far, but 2 of the three that have been out a while. The 5 new ones are still working on trickling through.

On 12/15/2021 at 6:52 AM, Fenntucky Mike said:

That would follow a similar theme to the $50, a definite possibility.

We're getting into 2022 soon with a nice gap since the release of the $50. They may feel brave enough soon to release the $100 while claiming that inflation is still very under control and that they are not abandoning the local currency and that everything is just fine. Just. Fine. JUST. FINE.

On 12/15/2021 at 6:12 AM, Fenntucky Mike said:

I think they should put him on the $100 bill, when they release it. 

Who knows? That may be the plan.

On 12/11/2021 at 7:42 AM, Fenntucky Mike said:

Hmm, Harare is a much larger city than I was thinking. Google Earth shows that they have urban sprawl down to a science and it looks like the northside was maybe developed first, or that's where the upper class is and the southside newer and/or poorer. That's just me drawing conclusions based off of the images.

Last I checked the poverty rate was like 80-90% even now and it's basically a kleptocracy. I guess it's good to be the king. Always has been and always will be.

I hadn't been too aware of this but apparently Russian battalions have been massing near the border and they're worried that next year Russia might invade with about 175,000 troops. I wonder how bold they're feeling since I don't see how the US and NATO would get out of responding to that ala that Season of "Madame Secretary."

On 12/6/2021 at 5:49 AM, Fenntucky Mike said:

When was the last time that they weren't trolling someone?  It's what they do. 

Which is why they're the best at it.  

Very interesting stuff. Gotta love the Russians when they're being trolls.

No late comers. We closed out at 1192 today. 

I'm guessing why 1 & 2 and not 5 $ 10 comes down to the cost - including the cost of the souvenirs/ Collector's items / sheets to the expected buyers and their expectations of what people would be willing to spend. I'm guessing they felt their wouldn't be enough demand for 5 and 10 products to make it worth it.

On 11/27/2021 at 4:26 PM, Fenntucky Mike said:

That's sweet! Where do you see that number at?

It does seem to have picked up a little around here, but I guess it usually does around awards time. 

Yup!

I just click the "overall ranking" link on my control panel and that pulls up the big ranking of everyone. Then I click to the last page and scroll to the bottom.