FRIDAY MIDNIGHT MADNESS

I've been livestreaming on Youtube lately, learning how the software works in preparation for offering coins for sale Live and in person.  The platform seems stable.  The coins are lined up.  Looks like everything is in place.  Time to get this project off to a good start.

TIME

Friday Night at Midnight Eastern
If you miss the Live Show there may still be coins remaining.  Don't hesitate to contact me by email - kpeavey@live.com

PLACE

Youtube, my channel: LINK --->  kpeavey2

WHO

You, Me, Them, Everybody

WHAT

• Walking Liberty Design 1 Oz Copper Rounds
• 2007 Satin State Quarters
• BU Canada Cents
• BU Wheat Cents
• Dollar Deals
• 1960 Small Date Lincoln Cents
• Satin Lincoln Cents
• Franklin Half Dollars
• Two Cents
• 1807 1/2 Cent
• Proof Lincolns
• Wheats

HOW

Watch the show.  You can ask for close ups in the chat feature and I should be able to accomodate.  To order, send me an email.  Some items have duplicates.  Many items are single availability and are First Come First Served.

I will go through the emails in the order they come in, issuing Paypal Invoices until items are unavailable.

SHIPPING

USPS 1st Class Shipping with Tracking.
Single Coins: $3, be it 1 or many coins.
For sets, rolls, folders, supplies, the weight will determine shipping charges.

• Up to 8 Ounces, $3
• Over 8 to 12 Ounces, $4
• Over 12 to 16 Ounces, $5
• Over 16 Ounces required Priority Mail, $7.50

I DO NOT ship Internationally.

Good Luck To All

A Friendly Challenge

The Gauntlets are off!
A challenge has been made and accepted between myself and Sylvia, the host of SJ's Mixed Adventures.

We were chatting late one night, she was doing a livestream, I was goofing off.  The subject of selling coins came up.  We could both use some cash (who doesn't?) and selling coins is a fairly simple endeavor as we have done it before and supplement our incomes regularly doing so.  As the

Cotton "Gauntlets"

conversation progressed it developed into a challenge: Who can sell the most in a week?  I don't think either of us cares who wins (as long as it's me!).  We're not looking to outdo each other or vanquish an opponent.  It's a friendly challenge.

The whole point is to show folks how we do what we do and how much we can make in hopes it inspires others to dip their toes in the water.

There's much opportunity to be found in the hobby.  Coin shows, flea markets, auctions, and online selling offers a chance to develop a secondary income.  People do it all the time.  Some folks go to a coin show every few months, setting up a table and making sales as a sideline to their primary job.  Some sell online just on weekends.  I'm at a point in my life when working a full time job is not necessary so I get to do this pretty much anytime I want.

Imagine spending every day on your hobby and making a living doing it!

It's possible.  Becoming self employed as a coin dealer probably won't happen overnight.  Getting involved and making an effort can offer a nice shot in the arm.  In one of the first articles in this blog I explained that as little as $50 per week in additional income is enough for a whole of folks to improve their situation.  That's not a fortune by any metric.  If one can earn this much each week regularly, that extra couple hundred bucks a month would go a long way towards an improved lifestyle.  I know one seller who puts all sales income into a savings account for a downpayment on a home.  A few years effort would get you out of an apartment, into a home of your own.  This seller I mention only works weekend flea markets, 6 hours every Saturday 8-2.  Putting in a day a week to end up with a house in a few years is pretty fantastic.


I'll keep you posted on results as they come in.  I'll be listing coins for sale and auction in the Coin Opp Sales group on facebook.

Good Luck, SJ.  I wish you the best!

Small and Large Date Lincoln Cents

I've had Small and Large Date Lincoln Cents on my blog article list for some time.  Wait no more...Chris Rhodes has a series of videos which explain each design variety in complete detail.  Rather than reinvent the wheel, I've got his videos below, shown here with his permission.  Be sure to subscribe to his channel and check his other videos while you are at it.  He puts out good information and shows you the sources he uses.

There are 4 and ONLY 4 dates in the Lincoln Cent series that have large and small date varieties:

• 1960 P and D
• 1970 S Only
• 1974 PDS
• 1982 P and D

1960

1970 S

1974

1982

Thanks, Chris. 
Keep up the good work!

Coin Collecting and Social Networks

The social networks (facebook, twitter, forums, and other chat sites) are a new arena for discussion of coins and coin collecting that is quickly becoming a primary means of communication.  Being the internet, you get the good with the bad.  In a facebook coin group recently there were a couple of questions asked by new collectors who were met with some coarse replies.  I addressed the manner of the replies in a separate post.  Thought I'd share it here...

"I'm involved in this group to help new collectors. The hobby needs every one of them. If you want your coins to be valuable in the future, it would be in your interest to see more people get involved.
This group has new people joining every day. Some are experienced, some are novices, just as you all were when starting out. We get lots of entry level questions which have been asked dozens of times

before. We can treat people like trolls or we can give them a straight answer. How were you treated when you got started?

This hobby is not only about coins. There is an element of personal growth involved (see Axiom #7). Handling the questions of dozens of new people about the same topic teaches patience, tolerance, compassion, and understanding. If you don't have the patience to repeat the same answer, maybe this group is not the place for you. Alternately, this group can help you learn patience-you can practice it every single day.
I understand that it can be a tiresome burden to answer questions that seem mundane or insignificant. Bear in mind, to the person doing the asking, they seem prudent and important. Do you wish to be the person who shrugged off such questions or is it better to help out and build relationships? I've got several dedicated customers because I have stopped what I'm doing to chat with them for a few minutes. Look at it from the new collector's point of view: would you be more willing to buy coins from someone who helped you or from a jerk?

Be helpful, get rewarded.
Be a jerk, people won't do business with you.

You have 3 options:

• Be helpful
• Be a jerk
• Don't comment on a newbie post. This is a much better choice than #2

For those who are new and encounter some gruff or rude comments, consider the idea that the grumps are not yet ready to move on to the next level. They need your patience and support if they are to improve themselves.
The hobby is not just coins and facts. It's a journey that will last a lifetime. One day, if you are up to it, you'll be the experienced teacher.

Coin Video, Blog and Livestream Directory

I've started to put together a directory of coin videos, blogs and livestreams.  Formatting the directory is best served with a spreadsheet so it is being done off blog.

Have a Look: Coin Video, Blog and Livestream Directory

If you have a coin blog, Youtube or video channel, or livestream, send me the link and let me know the showtimes for livestreaming.  kpeavey@live.com

Lookzee - The Little App With Huge Impact

I was talking with Dustin Morgan about the future of coin collecting and how technology is impacting the hobby.   30 years ago there was no such thing as digital photography.  My price list was typed, photocopied, and mailed out.  No photos.  Payment was by check, took two weeks to clear.  This was the way of things back then.

My pricelist, back in the day

Today I can take a photo of a coin with a phone, post it online, have it sold (sometimes in seconds), paid for with the money in my account in seconds, print a shipping label with tracking, and call the post office to pick it up, never having got up out of my chair.

1954-S Lincoln with repunched mintmark

What's happening right now is the cell phone camera revolution.  Its not just that the phones have cameras.  It's the level of quality, detail, and resolution the cameras are able to bring to the table that is changing the hobby.  It's good enough to show repunched mintmarks in crystal clarity.  While discussing potential phone apps I said to Dustin "I want to take a picture of a coin, find out what it is, and what it's worth."   This was less than 6 months ago.

Tim Rathjen, owner of the Stamp and Coin Place in Bellingham Washington, has already put it together.  After 5+ years of hard work he has developed the Lookzee App for iPhone.  The user can take a picture of a coin, find out what it is, and what it's worth.  This is wonderful news.  It means I'm only 5 years behind cutting edge technology!  If I can think stuff up 5 years sooner, I'll be on top.

The app is easy to use.  All you have to do it take a picture.  The app does the rest.

Here's where I want to try to think 5 years into the future.

There's an app anyone can use that will answer the 2 biggest questions I get:

• What is it
• What's it worth

Before someone drops their grandfathers collection into a coinstar machine, they can take a moment to see if it something worth keeping.  Handy enough all by itself.

I spoke with Rathjen about the app.  The potential is awesome.  Imagine a few million users

• Servers, bartenders, tipped workers
• Stay at home parents looking for an opportunity
• Young adults facing a tight job market
• Anyone sitting in the passenger seat for a long car ride.
• Anyone with a coffee can full of change

People use the app, it's a sure bet they will find valuable coins.  Wheat Cents, silver, Buffalo Nickles...they are out there.  Just look at any coin roll hunting video.  The app will identify coins.  A lot of people using the app will identify a huge number of coins with collector value.  OK, so the app boosts the supply.  One would expect prices to fall as a result.  The beauty of it all is that the app will also create new collectors or inspire folks to get back into collecting.  Normally there are around 50,000 new collectors born each year.  This app can draw a couple million new collectors to the hobby in the next year.  More collectors means the hobby will continue to endure, as it always has, but with renewed vigor.  I know of no other technology that offers this much potential impact.  When PCGS and NGC were getting started there were cries they would commercialize the industry and remove it from the hands of the common man.  They did not.  They brought opportunity to the high end coin market and security to sight unseen trading.  This app is not limited to high end coins or professional traders.  It puts coin identification into the hands of everyone.  If you know nothing about coins, the app will tell you if the coin is worth keeping.

Knowledge is power.  I see the power of this app as it's ability to create opportunity.   A user can take a photo, and post it to facebook, craigslist, the Marketplace, or to buyers with links on the app. Rathjen says this feature and others will be added when the app is out of Beta testing.

It is entirely realistic to forsee some users scanning coins with the specific intent to sell them.  If that's not opportunity, I don't know what is.  The app gives people the power to improve their situation.  My own investigations have shown that it takes as little as $50/week to improve the situation of a lot of families.  This app can do it.

4:27 PM Just got a message directly from, Tim Rathjen:

• Please send an email to social@lookzee.com with ANY tech questions!

Good Luck, Tim.

Coin Class

The article I posted last week, A Coin Roll Hunting Primer, generated nearly 2000 views in just a few days-quite impressive for this little coin blog!  It also has me thinking. Lots of folks would benefit from and take advantage of a coin roll hunting, coin collecting, error and die variety class.

I've been learning the OBS software platform, so livestreaming would make such a class interactive.

I figure I'd start with a weekend afternoon class, about an hour long. Longer if need be. Start with a discusion of the subject, show examples, then get to Q&A with the viewers.

1918-D Woody Planchet

A topic that has been floating around in groups lately is Woodies. I've been promising to write about them but always seem to have something more important to do.

Time to reprioritize my action list with this at the top.

TIME: 3PM EST
DATE: Saturday October 7
PLACE: Youtube
COST: Nuthin
WHO: You, Me, Them, Us, We, They
LINK: kpeavey2 Channel on Youtube

• Presentation
• Examples
• Q&A
• Test
• Live Chat

It is your duty to show up.

Final Exam

To liven things up one lucky learner will receive a (gently pre-owned) copy of James Ruddy's Photograde, 18th Edition, a 10x loupe, and maybe some coins if I'm still in a good mood.

Come Early
Stay Late
Work Hard

Study

and no matter what, DON'T QUIT

Trivia Contest Update

In the lead with 3 points:  Lindsey Slentz

See the scoreboard and find out what I'm talking about by checking the Trivia Contest article.