With all my recent coin purchases, I had racked up quite a few E-Bay Bucks. Thus, I was able to upgrade two coins in my 7070 type set based solely on E-Bay Bucks. With the remaining balance I bought a Conder Token for my seated-imagery custom set at a 32% discount.

The first upgrade is of a 2007-D, First Day of Issue, Washington Presidential Dollar grading Brilliant Uncirculated by NGC. I got this dollar as a gift when I first signed up for NGC’s Collectors Society back in 2008. However, from the beginning this coin and it's whopping 12 registry points only served as a placeholder. Because I don’t collect prezzies upgrading this coin has never been a high priority. Nevertheless, the E-bay Bucks presented a great opportunity to get a new coin for free and add 896 points to my registry type set.

That coin is a 2007-S, Washington Presidential Dollar graded PFUC-70 by NGC. Though this coin has a high grade, I don’t particularly like its surface. US Mint proof coins seemed to have reached their heyday in the 90’s as demonstrated by a PFUC-70 1998-S Washington Quarter I purchased for my 7070 set a little more than year ago. The devices on that Washington Quarter are lightly frosted with sharp details. On the other hand, the obverse bust on the Washington Presidential Dollar has a snake-skin like texture with poor hair and facial details. To photograph this coin I had to use defused lighting to soften the snake-skin effect and give it a more pleasing appearance.

One of these days, I may have to buy a high grade satin-finish SMS prezzie for this registry slot even though it maybe worth fewer points. Quickly browsing through several E-Bay listings, I found that satin-finish prezzies grading MS-69 can be much more expense to purchase. Therefore, I will not be upgrading this upgrade anytime soon, if ever.

The second upgrade is of a 2005-S PFUC-69 Sacagawea Dollar. Since this coin only adds 143 points to my 7070 registry set, I thought I might like to upgrade it. Like the prezzies, I don’t collect Sacagawea Dollars and I needed a little more incentive to upgrade it. That said, I love the satin-like surfaces of SMS coins and in the Sacagawea Dollar I found an opportunity to buy a high grade coin with very pleasing surfaces. Thus, the upgrade is a 2005-P dated MS-69 SMS Sacagawea Dollar. This coin has lustrous matte-like surfaces blended with contrasting satin features. Furthermore, I netted another 477 points for my 7070 registry set.

Finally, I purchased an MS-63, 1794 Ireland Half-Penny Conder Token (D&H 351) for my seated-imagery custom set. This token has clean surfaces and sharp details. Issued by ironmonger William Parker of Dublin, Ireland the obverse of this token features a women sitting on a chest while holding a cornucopia and leaning on an anchor. I am currently trying to identify the women symbolized on the obverse, and the three most likely candidates are Hibernia, Hope, and possibly folk hero Grace O’Malley. For now I’m sticking with Hope based on the obverse legend, “May Ireland Ever Flourish”. Interestingly, I can also make a compelling case for folk hero Grace O’Malley of whom the British called a “pirate”. Yet her shipping business produced a great deal of wealth.

The reverse features an ornate-iron stove. Certainly, this item is one of the many things that one could purchase from William Parker’s hardware store. Regardless, my guess is that it might take quite a few of these tokens to buy this stove even in 1794 Dublin, Ireland!

Gary