Experiment in storing junk silver

Discussion in 'Bullion Investing' started by sakata, May 11, 2017.

  1. V. Kurt Bellman

    V. Kurt Bellman Yes, I'm blunt! Get over your "feeeeelings".

    Why? Because I wear a suit and work for my state's legislature? I must admit that I don't even slightly understand why being mainstream is a reason for denigration. I AM KEENLY AWARE why being out on the fringe is. We in legislative employ ALL disregard fringe types. Only advocates of more nuanced policies are ever taken seriously. Why? Because listening to fringe advocates ALWAYS costs more politically than it gains you.
     
    Last edited: May 16, 2017
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  3. TheMont

    TheMont Well-Known Member

    With over 5,000 posts, I don't find it strange that you have 3,000+ likes. Again, different strokes for different folks. I wonder how many likes were tougue in cheek? Then there's the amusement factor, if something makes peole laugh they tend to "like" it. I noticed you have, with all those posts, not "best answers", and only 113 trophy points. I think the amusement factor has a lot to do with your likes.

    I'm surprised you admit you're involved with Pennsylvania state politics
    By mid-2012, eight of Pennsylvania's former legislative leaders were in prison, and former House Speakers John Perzel, a Republican, and Bill DeWeese, a Democrat, briefly shared a cell.

    They were among more than 30 public officials with ties to the state Capitol who had been convicted of corruption charges by state, federal and local prosecutors.
    It never ended.

    Since 2013, 11 state officials — including five former legislators and former Treasurer Rob McCord — have been convicted in cases ranging from bribery and extortion to theft. In many cases, they agreed to plea bargains and offered pleas to conflict of interest. McCord pleaded guilty in February to extortion.
    There appears to be no end in sight.

    Federal prosecutors charged U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah, D-Philadelphia, and four others with a racketeering conspiracy, including bribery and misappropriation of money. They maintain their innocence.

    Former Harrisburg Mayor Stephen Reed has been charged with 499 counts of theft, bribery and tampering with evidence filed by Attorney General Kathleen Kane. His attorney predicts he will be vindicated.

    Kane is expected to find out soon whether she will be charged by the Montgomery County district attorney's office. A statewide grand jury recommended charging Kane with perjury and obstruction of justice, concluding that she leaked secret documents to a newspaper, lied about it and tried to cover it up. Kane insists she has done nothing wrong. .

    “The learning curve in Pennsylvania seems to be a very slow one when it comes to political corruption,” said Christopher Borick, a political science professor at Muhlenberg College in Allentown.
    Pennsylvania is the fifth most corrupt state in the nation, according to a study released last year by the University of Hong Kong and Indiana University at Bloomington, based on federal prosecutions. The Keystone State might be ranked higher if state statistics, which accounted for many of the convictions, were factored in.

    And you said that New Mexico was a corrupt state.
     
  4. -jeffB

    -jeffB Greshams LEO Supporter

    I don't think Kurt especially needs any help defending himself, and I don't picture him obsessively watching his "likes" total.

    I do have to point out, though, that 113 trophy points is the maximum anyone can possibly obtain with CoinTalk's current configuration.
     
    Kentucky likes this.
  5. TheMont

    TheMont Well-Known Member

    Upon reflection, I apologize for bringing politics into a forum discussing junk silver. I shouuld not have wandered into the political arena and stayed within the topic. Sometimes I just let my emotions take over instead of staying with reason.
     
    Last edited: May 16, 2017
  6. V. Kurt Bellman

    V. Kurt Bellman Yes, I'm blunt! Get over your "feeeeelings".

    The reason I HAVE my legislative job is because so many others went to jail. So many previous staffers went away that they needed to hire new people.

    You're using old sources. Former AG Kane was convicted. Her crime? Using her office for political vendetta purposes and the perjury surrounding that effort. Yes, this is a very corrupt state. I was hired by my boss for my extraordinarily high ethics and bipartisan record. I'm here now 9 years and no attorney ever even has had a reason to talk with me.

    FWIW, TheMont, I'm not a bit surprised you'd play the "guilt by same profession" card. Typical of someone with nothing useful to contribute.

    The people who went to jail here all had something in common that I don't have - they were al highly partisan and motivated by a desire to destroy all opposition. I prefer to laugh at the idiocy of ALL hyperpartisans. They all have that sad attribute of being REALLY funny and don't know it.
     
    Last edited: May 16, 2017
  7. TheMont

    TheMont Well-Known Member

    You brought up the fact that you worked for the Pennsylvania Government. i guess you forgot the rant you went on concerning New Mexico Government when I mentioned that was where i live.

    I have been a coin collector for over 40 years and I have been able to contribute to this forum in a civil manner and respect other peoples points of view. I don't like bullies, that try to impress people with their supposed superior knowledge and mock people who don't share theie views.
     
  8. sakata

    sakata Devil's Advocate

    That goes a long way to explaining his belligerent attitude to those who do not conform to the sheeplistic norm. Throughout history governments and their lackeys have had good reason to fear those who think for themselves. Perhaps we should not be too harsh on him: after all, he probably just doing his job.
     
  9. V. Kurt Bellman

    V. Kurt Bellman Yes, I'm blunt! Get over your "feeeeelings".

    I consider it almost a DUTY to mock people with fringe ideas and ideologies.
     
    micbraun and Kentucky like this.
  10. ldhair

    ldhair Clean Supporter

    Well at least I have never seen Kurt take someone else's image and claim to own the image and coin when it was not true.
     
  11. TheMont

    TheMont Well-Known Member

    Who appointed you the arbitrator of what is fringe ideas and ideologies? I've said it before and I'll say it again, as long it doesn't hurt anyone else, people have a right to do and say what makes them happy. If collecting junk silver makes makes someone happy. more secure, etc., more power to them.

    idhair:
    I'm not going to start that discussion again. I own both the 1955 and 1972 Double Die. Apparently you have nothing better to do than moan about a coin that is similar in apperance to yours and to get your posse out to help you.
     
  12. V. Kurt Bellman

    V. Kurt Bellman Yes, I'm blunt! Get over your "feeeeelings".

    I'm not any kind of arbitrator, just a VERY keen observer. Look, the people I work for each represent about 61,400 people. Almost ALL of them fit their constituencies pretty well. They do what gets them returned to office. Here's the rub - how many even ADEQUATELY represent the people of the state as a whole? Almost none of them. There are whacked out lefties and whacked out right wingers by the dozens and dozens. Out of 203 Reps., I'd guess maybe 5-10 of them are even marginally acceptable to the population at large. At some level, you have to either laugh or cry about that. I've chosen to laugh and mock the fringes on both sides. It's easy to draw a line around 61,400 people who mostly think alike. 12 and 1/2 million is a tougher task.

    They all talk about the wishes of The people. Ain't no The. There's only Mine and Yours. What's hysterical is almost nobody sees that. It's all a case of voluntary self-segregation into communities that almost never see each other.

    I'm sitting here with a cat on my lap looking over a valley with almost no sign of humanity in it. Less than 8 miles from here is a city where if I deface the wrong graffiti, I won't survive the trip back without being killed by gun violence. Just an observer, Monty, just an observer.
     
    Last edited: May 16, 2017
    Kentucky likes this.
  13. ldhair

    ldhair Clean Supporter

    All you had to do was tell the truth. You had several chances to do that.
     
  14. TheMont

    TheMont Well-Known Member

    Kurt:
    Let's stop talking politics and get back to coin collecting. I've already apologized to the forum for allowing myself to get off topic. Again, let people collect, hoard, etc. whatever they want to as long as it makes them happy. I or you may think some of the things people collect are silly, but they have a right to collect whatever they find interessting without someone telling them they are wrong, silly, whacked out, etc.

    I saw a sign, somewhere, that a person had taken a picture of, that was at a gas station offering gas for a really low price if people would pay for it with 90% silver coins. There are people out there willing to accept silver coins, at melt value, not face value, for goods and services. Let's not forget the huge number of we buy gold and silver stores that also buy gold and silver for melt or close to it.
     
  15. V. Kurt Bellman

    V. Kurt Bellman Yes, I'm blunt! Get over your "feeeeelings".

    Here's my point AGAIN Monty. I wouldn't be able to find either type of place if you gave me an hour and a tank of gas, honest, I wouldn't. It's ALL about local cultures. I remember that picture too. My memory says it was somewhere in Arizona, but I wouldn't swear to it.

    MY local culture is, if there were some kind of apocalypse, neighbor would help neighbor gladly and readily, WITHOUT being paid in PM's, because "it's the right thing to do". And then they'd all go to worship services.

    By the way, these people are the most apolitical I've ever known. TODAY is Primary Election Day and there are NO lawn signs around.
     
    Last edited: May 16, 2017
  16. TheMont

    TheMont Well-Known Member

    I know this is a stretch and going back in history, but pilots during WWI and WWII were given goid coins (French Angels, if I remember correctly) to use as bribes if they were shot down. I coulldn't begin to list the number of people who were able to bribe their way out of Germany using gold coins.

    Gold has and will always will be, worth something. I don't "stack" gold or silver. I collect coins that have numismatic value and interest me, but if someone is made to feel safer putting away junk silver or even some gold, then let them. It's their right and it doesn't hurt anyone, actually if enough people do it there's the chance it may help raise the price of PMs. Just kidding about that last sentence.
     
  17. V. Kurt Bellman

    V. Kurt Bellman Yes, I'm blunt! Get over your "feeeeelings".

    Funny, your second last sentence is one main reason WHY I disapprove of stacking. Warps the numismatic market. It's why I won't buy "bullion price influenced" anything. My serious buying is all copper or non-bullion influenced pieces, like classic commemoratives. I won't buy bullion at inflated values like these.

    Yes, I view even $16 silver as FAAAAAR overpriced. And don't get me started on gold. Anything over $700 is speculative froth, maybe $500.
     
    Last edited: May 16, 2017
  18. V. Kurt Bellman

    V. Kurt Bellman Yes, I'm blunt! Get over your "feeeeelings".

    ldhair,

    You have a posse? How'd that happen? This is PA I'm writing from, where Sheriffs don't even have arrest powers.

    I have the same arrest powers as a County Sheriff. What some of them DO have is a willingness to break state law.
     
  19. V. Kurt Bellman

    V. Kurt Bellman Yes, I'm blunt! Get over your "feeeeelings".

    @TheMont, I was thinking about your war story, and I was thinking about how Europe's attitude about gold has morphed. Do you recall which major currency was the last backed by gold? It was the Swiss franc. Just a short number of years ago, the Swiss held a national plebiscite over whether to return to a modified gold standard. The Swiss! As economically conservative as they come. It crashed and burned. The No vote won by quite a margin.

    If EVEN the Swiss are now rejecting "hard money", and they are, it's a fringe ideology if ever there was one.
     
  20. ldhair

    ldhair Clean Supporter

    No posse. Don't know where that came from.

    In my area the Sheriffs can do anything and they do a great job.

    This makes me think of the last Fun show in Ft Lauderdale. When the tragedy went down at the airport the Sheriffs were all over the place guarding the show with rifles. Folks felt good about it. There was a lot of Gold and Silver moving around.
     
  21. V. Kurt Bellman

    V. Kurt Bellman Yes, I'm blunt! Get over your "feeeeelings".

    Yeah, here we have a State Police force and some municipalities have professional municipal departments. Counties aren't in that business here. Our attitude here is elected people should never be cops or directly run such departments. When you're at ANA 2018, if you look around, you'll know why.

    Gawd forbid, but if any terrorism goes down in Philly during that show, there'll be nary a Sheriff or Deputy in sight, but the Pennsylvania State Police will be thick as flies. We like Andy and Barney as fictional.
     
    Last edited: May 16, 2017
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