Revenant

On 11/10/2021 at 5:53 PM, Fenntucky Mike said:

Long story short, the artwork/design, history and/or story behind the notes was the reason I purchased these..... and free shipping. 

Uh huh.... The artwork only got you into the new series a long time after the free shipping and my yapping got you into 2 other series / sub-sets. And in spite of your claims of loving the first dollars I notice those don't seem to be happening without free shipping as a booster to buy a note. 

On 11/7/2021 at 8:04 AM, Fenntucky Mike said:

Man! Everything is still glitchy here. I lost a couple of Journal entries yesterday when trying to save or submit and I hit the Submit Comment button for the above comment and it wiped it. Also, still having to sign in and out.

Always type journals in Word first. Copy and paste over to post.

On 11/7/2021 at 8:01 AM, Fenntucky Mike said:

It's been awhile snice I've bought anything from BNW, or have even visited their site, and WOW! I took a quick look this morning and FYI, the minimum order is now $150!?! I

Funny thing is they run sales constantly, which takes all pressure and incentive off the sale because if you miss one you'll get another about as good in 2 weeks.

But the order minimums are probably crippling their business. I will happily drop $25-45 dollars for something I want and I frequently pay a $5 shipping charge to NH for 1 or two notes I want at a good price. But I think long and hard usually before dropping $150 all at once.

On 11/7/2021 at 8:17 AM, Fenntucky Mike said:

I wouldn't think twice about buying a PCGS graded note though or any note in general, no matter the holder or raw, as long as I thought it worthwhile. But yes PMG is king of the hill when it comes to authenticating and grading banknotes,  and nobody should be wasting their time with a TAP note unless they are really, really, really, good at grading banknotes and can cherry pick.

If something legit rare pops up that is promised as authentic by a PCGS holder - like a Cargil Cotton Bearer Check, I'd buy it. But anything commonly available already in a PMG holder is a waste of time and money for me. 

On 10/31/2021 at 9:13 AM, Fenntucky Mike said:

I don't remember but did you consider having them regraded while getting them reholdered? If gradeflation is an actual thing with the 10G's do you think some would have received a bump? 

I did give it some thought and when I look at the old 65s vs the newer ones / newer 66s I think it could happen but I haven't done it for a few reasons. Mostly it's a pig and a poke and that's not how I like to spend / risk money and I like the idea of having coins that are strong for the grade more than ones that are more marginal for the grade. And at the end of the day the coin I own is the coin I own regardless of the number. 

Finally, if we're being honest, the current state of the category gives me little reason to be that aggressive. If I actually pick up a more serious challenger I may take a more aggressive stance but currently my closest challenger has half the number of coins and 40% the points.

On 10/31/2021 at 8:29 AM, Fenntucky Mike said:

I was more thinking of what your opinion was based off of pics, it's not the same as in hand but there is probably almost nobody out there who has seen enough of these in hand to give an evaluation between the two TPG's.

The other thing I think I'd have to grapple with that could be hard to account for is the ever present claims of graded inflation. While I reholdered them this year to make them all match, many of my 10Gs used to be in old Fatty holders. I did some digging and, while NGC can't tell me exactly dates, most of my 10G collection was graded in or around 1993, when NGC was only like 6 years old. Those coins were graded nearly 30 years ago.

On 10/31/2021 at 7:57 AM, Fenntucky Mike said:

I'm assuming you disagreed with the PCGS 68's, so did they look more like a NGC 67 or something else. 

Okay, so I'm probably not being fair to PCGS in saying this as I've never seen a PCGS 68 10G in hand, however 1) my 1 MS67 looks no nicer than my NGC 66s, and I sometimes think it might be a hair worse, more like the 65s, and 2) you almost NEVER seen NGC MS67 coins up for sale it feels like but you see PCGS MS68s on a pretty regular basis - purely subjective and not rigorous in my analysis but I've been shopping the dang things off and on for 12 years.

On 10/31/2021 at 7:43 AM, Fenntucky Mike said:

Anything word?

They were only getting back from being on the road yesterday and their last email said Monday, so I'm just going on Monday. 

It is a little hard for me to take 10G coins in PCGS slabs seriously. With NGC a 67 on a 10G is hard to get. With PCGS, 68s seem far more common. So I'm quite convinced that PCGS is using different standards that are just allowing higher grades.

It makes me glad that PCGS world coins aren't allowed in the registry. I think if they were my currently top ranked set would get curbstomped by those inflated grades.

Makes me think of a lot I saw recently with a bunch of Zim notes including a ZIM91. Everything was in a PMG holder except the ZIM91, which was PCGS. "Ick. The most important note in the group is in the worst holder."

I think I'm happy enough just digging through my lots of raw z coins and staying out of it. There's been some stuff popping up for Zimbabwean notes and I'm just like, "that's nice, but I think I'm good focusing my budget on my coins."

I'm honestly starting to think I'm done on the notes end for a bit unless I catch a favorable deal on a VEN104 or VEN114.

It's feeling like a long wait for Monday to get some final resolution on that order we've been discussing.

Ugh... you need to learn to not abuse your audience like this. 

I'm not gonna claim I read all of this- there was some skimming and eye glazing that occurred, but interesting stuff with the competition.

At the end of the day, I think it's hard to build most truly great and unique registry sets without doing some of the grading yourself. At some point you're gonna hit some rare or rarely collected or rarely graded thing that you just won't get to buy off inventory for a reasonable price. 

On 10/19/2021 at 5:06 PM, Fenntucky Mike said:

I've already said it but I'll say it again, that is one hell of a gift! 

That seller is up to 9 sold... Sit on the fence long enough and you might end up getting stuck with that Canadian seller wanting $500 for one. 

On 10/20/2021 at 5:57 AM, Fenntucky Mike said:

 I guess I'd try to chip away at them, assuming that they are available in the years to come.

I probably would too, but it just becomes an issue of do I have the budget / cash when one comes up.

Those are hard in the $500-600 range because for about $300-400 I can get a low mint state coin with about 0.1 oz of gold. Like a 10 Mark, a French 10 Franc or an old 1930 10 Bolivar. For 600-700 I can have something like an upgrade to the 10G set, a Dutch 20 Kroner  or a Gold 20 Bolivar. And those are literally Gold.

On 10/19/2021 at 5:06 PM, Fenntucky Mike said:

I've already said it but I'll say it again, that is one hell of a gift! 

Big Time! Shocked but very happy that she let me get away with it!

On 10/19/2021 at 5:06 PM, Fenntucky Mike said:

I wouldn't think it would have been painful at all,  I'm thinking it was necessary.

The fact that it was necessary after all of this is why it was done but it still stung a bit to hit "Confirm" while still remembering that that 68EPQ 20 Trillion note for $99.99 now retails at $65, and the more I get rarer notes at big sums like this and the more I upgrade things the more that set becomes slightly less of a "low budget champion." But I'm pretty sure I'm still less than $3500 into that set, which would still make it a pretty cheap winner.

On 10/19/2021 at 5:06 PM, Fenntucky Mike said:

an empty slot would bug me unless it's just not a realistic note to acquire. Those you just have to come to terms with and/or wait it out. 

And that's where I'm basically shrugging with the P-13, the P-14 and the P-24 through P-27. When those come up at all people want $300-500 for them raw and in very circulated states. I just don't know that I'll ever be able to go there. I had also once thought it would be great to get a full variety set of the first series (P-1 through P-4). I did that with P-1, but P-4a, P-4b, P-3a, and P-3b are... soul crushing... at the moment.

I feel a temptation to nuke my set for spare 3rd dollars for the crime of breaking up my 100% completes.  

Just so I can find/ remember this later:

ISO currency codes:

Old Bolivar: VEB

Bolivar Fuerte: VEF

Bolivar Soberano: VES

Bolivar Digital: VED

On 10/14/2021 at 4:13 PM, Fenntucky Mike said:

I'm more curious about the coin and what it's really going to look like in hand, not that I'm planning on getting one. Right now that design is right up there with the Eunice Kennedy commemorative dollar. 

Agreed. Very curious on how it will look in hand. 

Simon Bolivar - the Zimbabwe bird of Venezuela. He is on everything now.

This seems to confirm we're getting a coin for the 1 Bolivar Digital.

On 10/13/2021 at 4:51 PM, Fenntucky Mike said:

 

 

 

Be still, my beating heart...

The back does look different / new.

Five more bank notes to buy....

On 10/13/2021 at 4:35 PM, Fenntucky Mike said:

Any confirmation on the designs or if there will be a coin?

According to some redditors the first 2 denominations are in the wild but I haven't seen anything yet and I haven't seen the back, just the front. Hoping for at least a new back design. 

I really want that coin to be a thing so I can buy a bunch and send a couple in with my 2022 Z coin submission.

On 10/3/2021 at 4:43 PM, Fenntucky Mike said:

The stupid money is definitely a roadblock. It's weird as I've been reluctant to submit raw notes to PMG for some reason, I think mainly I hadn't built up a good stock pile of raw notes and it costs more to have notes graded through PMG compared to coins at NGC. The last time I looked it cost more, anyway.  Also, Ukrainian notes were stupid cheap a year or two ago, now not so much...

NGC is $18 for modern coins where PMG is $20 for modern notes. So, higher but not really a big deal. I'm mentally expecting to pay $20/coin to submit z coins next year as I'm expecting a price increase. 

The dealers like notes hobby can submit in bulk for $13-14 per note, which is why it tends to be cheaper for us to buy from them than self-submit for most cheap modern stuff.  At the point where I can get a guaranteed 68EPQ for $35 I'm not going to pay $20 + note cost + shipping to take a chance.

On 10/3/2021 at 8:07 AM, Fenntucky Mike said:

Nope, didn't win a thing. I'll just keep biding my time, eventually I'll acquire the notes I was going after. More than likely I'm going submit my own notes and call it good.

You just have to ride it out. It stinks but... funny thing being there were p-40, p-45, and p-46 zimbabwe notes I could have bought instead of grading my own. As Bonez did apparently. I just absolutely wasn't willing to pay the stupid money some people were demanding for "bleh" grades.

Well, he apparently bought a bunch of notes he didn't want and, while he might make some money on some of them, if he takes a bath on the one you bid up I'm sure he's not gonna pocket much for the time and effort and being out his cash a while.

You didn't get the notes you wanted this time but you can just wait - always more opportunities, my friend. 

So... did you win anything at an inflated price??? The post leaves me a bit unclear on this.

The real winners here will be Heritage and eBay, who will pocket fees every step of the way while we smack each other like stooges. 

On 10/2/2021 at 3:11 PM, Fenntucky Mike said:

The worst case scenario, I think, is that they will receive the Pick # UNL on the PMG label but that won't stop me from asking for a slot in the registry and I'm pretty sure PMG will acquiesce. 

I wouldn't be surprised if they helped you out but it might be hard / interesting to see how they slot them in and categorize them if they don't fit into the Pick system.  You might get what you want in a way you don't much like.

On 10/2/2021 at 2:02 PM, Fenntucky Mike said:

I agree that the SCWPM is less than accurate, but still a great reference, and based on what you are telling me this is another swing and miss. A different printer doesn't mean a separate Pick #, typically, their are several Ukrainian banknotes of the same design/denomination where issues were printed at different facilities. The different printers are even called out under the same Pick # in the SCWPM so I'm ruling that one out. 

Ok, I just opened the SCWPM to figure out what you're talking about  and I'm wondering why there isn't 28a, b & c. Having three different Picks for these seems really odd to me.  I think that 29 & 30 need to be merged into 28. While we're at it, might as well change 32 to 31b. You became a prefix collector and didn't know it. 

I agree, 100%, which is why, even though for a long time my goal was a pick set, I just largely shrugged at the idea of not having these. I only had separate open slots for them for a while now because they are, technically, for now, different pick numbers that I didn't / don't have.

But if you think I didn't know I was a prefix collector you haven't looked at my GTS set close enough, or the fact that for about a year now there have been 2 P-6 notes with different prefixes.

On 10/2/2021 at 2:17 PM, Fenntucky Mike said:

I'm tempted to get a subscription to the Banknote Book to see what they have listed for these. You used to be able to buy individual chapters but since they sold out to Greysheet the price went way up and it's a monthly subscription. I hate that. It's $10 for a one month subscription, I found it more accurate for Ukrainian banknotes than the SCWPM. I just go there to read the weekly updates.

 The Banknote Book (greysheet.com) 

BanknoteNews – Breaking news about world paper money. Powered by The Banknote Book.

While accuracy counts for a lot, if it isn't what PMG goes by I don't know how helpful it is for the registry.