If at First you Don't Succeed!

Some of you have seen this coin before. Some of you may have seen this coin in person, when I bought it at the 2016 FUN show.

I arrived at the show Friday morning, and I went straight to Rick Snow's table. I had recently purchased my PL Flying Eagle cent, and I wanted to confirm the variety with him (and make sure it wasn't a proof). He was helpful, told me it was definitely not a proof, and complimented my coin. We got to talking, and I told him about the type set I was building (a prooflike Type Set).

Well, he showed me this coin. It was gorgeous. Rick had given it his "Eagle Eye" seal of approval, and told me that this coin came from Q D Bower's personal collection. I knew instantly that I wanted it. But I hesitated. It was in PCGS plastic, which meant that it did not have a PL designation. Rick was understanding - my entire collection is in NGC plastic, and I play on the NGC Registry. It was also a very large amount of money. If I bought that coin, I'd be done not only for that show but for the next couple of months.

Well, I brought a friend over to look at the coin, and he laid one simple piece of advice on me that I've never forgotten: "If you don't buy that coin, will you regret it?" I've realized over the years that there have been a couple of coins that "got away," and I always regretted not buying them. Not taking the chance, not putting it all on the line. I actually went, got a hot dog, and thought about his advice while I ate the hot dog. I pondered the coin, the price, the opportunity, the coin, how beautiful the coin was, the price.... I went back and forth. But then I realized... If I didn't buy it, this is a coin that I would think about for years and wish that I had.

So I bought it.

The rest of the show was spent pleasantly wandering the aisles, just looking, listening, talking, and chatting. It was one of the best shows I ever went to, and I had spent my entire budget in the first hour of a 3 day trip.

Anyways, I get the coin home and I knew that I had to cross it to NGC for the PL designation. It was graded by PCGS as 65 RD, and I knew the grade was solid. Turns out, NGC agreed - they actually thought it was premium, and graded it 65+ RD. But no PL? What? There must be some mistake.

I sat on the coin, and waited to resubmit. I recently sent it in for designation review, and finally got the grade back today: MS-65+ RD PL. The highest graded Indian Prooflike in the series! This makes the 5th graded PL known in the Indian cent series. There was absolutely no question in my mind when I bought this coin that it was everything I thought it was, but it is still nice to have the TPG agree. Man, I'm so excited right now!

 

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Congrats dear fellow. Determination perseveres. You stuck it out and won..........

 

Superb example - well done, Jason!

 

FUN 2019?

 

Great answer .................
You get the top prize from me, good job ............

 

Good for you, Jason!

Chris

 

Didn't realize I answered anything......

Must be the Scotch.....

 

I always wondered how a business planchet and die, produces a PL coin .

 

Early die state?

 

You answered the whole year, best answer that there can be .

 

Wow, that is truly a remarkable coin. Congrats!

 

There are a few different options. It's either a very early die state (the dies are often polished before being put into service to remove any manufacturing defects), or later in die life the dies are polished to whip them back into shape. Sometimes, if there was a die clash, or if the dies were out of service for a while and maybe rusted a bit, the dies will be polished a bit before being put back on the line. At other times, especially during the second half of the 19th century, a die would be used to strike a bunch of proofs, but then when all the proofs were struck it would be put into use for the regular strikes.

Each of these will leave their own traces.

 

Great coin.

 

Congratulations

 

I can relate to this question the most, Jason. It is one that eats away at me when I see something unobtainable.

Congratulations on the coveted PL designation, it certainly is an exquisite coin!

 

Incredible coin. I admired this one in your PL set. You have a great eye.

I have always followed that advice. I know a special coin when I see it, and I never regret my purchase (when I have the money, of course).

 

congrats.

 

Looks great~!~

You finding another winner this year?

 

Thanks for all the great comments, y'all!

 

Great looking IHC!
I think the key was eating the hot dog while making the purchase decision; essential brain food at any coin show. And mustard... very important neurotransmitter!