It pays to have good friends, and Shane, aka Kryptonitecomics, is one of the best. About 45 minutes ago, he sent me a PM on the NGC forums with photos of some of his recent acquisitions. There were three of them that I really liked, so I sent him a reply asking if they were for sale or for his personal collection. I decided that I couldn't wait for a reply, so I called him and asked, "How much, you SOB?" Yes, he was going to put them on eBay, and he probably would have made more off them at auction, but they will be on their way to me tomorrow morning. I also told him that I was stealing his photos since his use of axial lighting is far better than anything I could produce. So, here they are! Enjoy! Chris
Loving that 1884 sweet pickups. If you don't mind me asking how much did you pay x greysheet for them??
That last one is a very clean 64, or at least I can say so from those pictures. That one is actually my favorite! Hope to deal with Shane one day, I was planning on bidding a MS66 toner a while back, it went under $300, really nice looking one, but I pulled back at the last second. He seems like a good guy.
He's got this on Ebay right now... I was gonna bid, but that looks like an AU coin, not an MS coin, to me... http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320566750983&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
Train, It looks pretty nice to me, and I think it's consistent for most 63's. It looks like there are die polishing marks on the reverse. Note that they don't extend into the devices. That mintmark looks interesting. If you are considering bidding, I don't think it was very wise posting it here. Only 2+ days left and a low bid. Go for it! Chris
5X.............which I think is pretty good, but I got one of them at his cost. I love the splashes of sea green and tangerine on the 83-O & 84. They remind me of early morning sunrises on the Atlantic. Chris
Nah! I don't care to play those (added expense) games like others do. I'm happy with them just the way they are. Chris
Nice coins. I must say, my appreciaton of toners has grown quite a bit since I started reading/posting on Coin Talk.
I've destroyed my budget in the past week with that CC, and two other PCGS MS63's I bought on ebay, one of which is PL. I don't need to buy that, I need the price to skyrocket so I can't afford it. My main concerns with that coin are on the high points. Look at the flowers or whatever in her hair, the cap, the hair itself on the obverse... I'm no grading expert, but none of my MS examples show anything like that, and one is a toned 1885-O. On the reverse, the bottom of the wreath, the legs, torso, and head... Those just detract from the quality of the coin to me. Your examples look much nicer, and I'm more than slightly jealous.
Nothing against Chris's new coins (they are very nice) but in my experience, none of them will qualify for a star designation.
The 1885-O in PCGS MS63 is completely PL which is why you see die polish lines....no way it's AU it just has a typical O mint mushy strike so there is no wear on the coin. As far as the coins Chris purchased......he bought some of the best I had at the moment and I don't blame him for grabbing them before they hit Ebay :devil:
Hey, you bum you! You didn't ask if it was okay to come over here. Gee, my avatar looks better than yours.
As far as the star designation goes...the 1884P and 1883-O shold be a lock for the designation based on the color luster and eye appeal but.....since they have already passed over the star on the 1883-O...it pretty much proves that there are no locks. I would be shocked if the 1884-P didn't get it...but the 1904-O has no chance as they don't like dark coins when giving out the star. Regardless...they are very pretty to look at and I am sure Chris will be pleased with them in hand :u*meY: