Yup, the easiest, safest, quickest way to open a slab. Learned about it from dealers at shows. Have seen dealers that don't have a pair...
With continuing inflation, it won’t be long until the cent coin has more than one cent worth of zinc in it. Once that happens, it’s game over...
Another option is the gauze pads designed to remove adhesives and ink from skin. I've used them many times on slabs. Can buy at drugstores....
Nice haul! Key appears to be an old style Ford key ... double-cut and symmetrical. Cal
Actually, GC does sell raw coins. Look near the bottom of the category list on their homepage. But it's a very small part of their offerings....
Acetone in low concentrations in air is not harmful. Folks are exhaling it because it’s produced in the metabolism of fat, especially if they...
Another lesson here ... don't store your gold in a cardboard box under the bed. :) Your spouse might toss it in the trash. Great to read stories...
Ya know, safe deposit box burglaries and govt confiscation make the news because they are so uncommon. Commercial planes are the safest way to...
Important contributions to numismatics can’t be erased even if their creator/discoverer is eventually revealed as having committed despicable...
What the bankers’ eyes don’t see, their little minds won’t worry about. Banks provide a private area for SDB clients to open their boxes and take...
The OP has a point, though the thread title is false. Insurance for SDBs is relatively cheap … because the risk is very low, of course. The...
I share your opinion of Breen and respect your decision. However, Breen is dead and can’t receive any royalties even if a new copy of the book is...
The American Numismatic Society (ANS) was able to purchase most of the archives of the Medallic Art Company (MACO), which went bankrupt in 2016....
Whoops! I was still half asleep. Now obvious that John made a typo and meant Breen. Cal
Bremen? John, could you give a more complete citation. I haven't been able to find a book on US proofs by an author named Bremen. I looked...
I too recommend A Short History of Byzantium, by John Julius Norwich. It's well written and a great starter book. Cal
If anyone wants a nondestructive technique that can provide true bulk analysis (i.e. average elemental composition of the whole coin), then it’s...
Actually, a handheld XRF analyzer pretty much is a surface analyzer. Analysis maybe goes down 100 microns, probably less. Problem isn’t the...
Both NGC and PCGS offer metal analysis. I don't know the price, but am pretty sure it ain't cheap. Cal
It was a pattern in the goloid series. Many patterns were struck in multiple metals with the same dies ... sometimes more than six alloys. Many...
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