The Bloody Raven: taken for a ride to the Coin Show, and not to the hospital.

Lately I've been wrestling with this budding career on the Steemit platform going now for about five months since my very first post.
My objective was to replace one or all of my moonlighting jobs that I need to help finance my Silver Stacking objectives. So it would keep me at home more with my kids but that objective seems further off than I thought.

This speeding train called Steemit was dragging me along faster than I could keep up. The Incentive systems tend to be geared into putting up as much content as possible regardless of quality. To keep up good content demanded much more time and energy than I could provide while pulling double duty as a parent and a career that now barely pays the bills while living in an area with one of North America’s highest cost of living. To do that I was forced to dip into what Time I had left, sleep time. When my average dipped below 6 hours this last week it made me real moody, when it dipped below 5 hours I find I commit far more grammatical, typos, and story errors. My writing goes badly downhill. My bike commute had becomes dangerous as my ability to situational awareness of traffic was impaired as evidenced by a few recent near accident that could have cost my life.

Being burned out has become common fare for me, but falling into a deep depression is pretty much a danger signal for those who know me personally. So Friday night my local co-stacking mentor Punky's Dad, invited me to a coin show in Burnaby right after my shift. His son was looking after my kids so I didn't need to worry this Saturday morning.

He couldn't help noticing how lousy a state I'm in. Weeks ago I tried to share with him in joining our Steemit social platform but my body language said the total opposite. I'm such a terrible salesman. He said "It looked like too much work for so little return". Yeah that comment touched a little truth nerve with me. And slashed back with my defensive reply as, "Well, it's more than what YouTube gives me and that's zip." He parried and thrust again, "And did you buy anything with those earnings yet?" On the defensive again, “Yes, but it's a...a... gambling bot thing, a little mistake." A HIT! "You said you were planning to make a silver purchase with @phelimint with that?" Yes I was. I know he is looking out for me and he knew I was neglecting myself for a chance of better returns later. So, trying to accelerate those plans at the expense of my health is a no-no. I’m obviously headed down the Depression cycle again and suggested for me to get off this Time-Hungry social platform for my own sake for now. At least he acknowledges Steemit as a positive cash flow and good potential for a cash income model. And like all things business, it takes time and so I’ll need to adapt or get out.

"Faithful are the wounds of a friend." ~ Proverbs of Solomon

I am my own worse patient.

He asked me how have been Stacking lately? My answer, a few delightful gifts from friends, a few contest wins, a few orders he transacted and received for me or us, nothing more than what he already knew. With the much higher inflation and taxes in the last few years there is no spending cash for Stacking any more. "Ahh," he said, as if going in for the kill, "Having not taking your Stackitis medication. I know, cash is tight and that tax return hasn’t paid out yet I take it?" Ouch, hit another little truth nerve. So he did read my Stackitis article. "And that is why we're going to the North Shore Numismatic Society coin show for some medicine. How much cash you got?"

In the two hours there we kept talking, news, personal finances, work, kids, expectations, etc. And after all the bargaining between a few dealers, Punky's Dad and I picked up our Pirate's plunder! Having a talk cheered things up a bit. The day started out pretty cloudy and became sunny figuratively and literally.
Six awesome pieces, three for him, and three for me.

1958 Italy 500 Lira 0.835 Fine Silver, 11 g, 29.3 mm, KM 98, Mintage of 24.2 Million.

I finally got this one off my ‘Affordable’ check list and a great Treasure Map piece.
The Reverse side are the Ships of Christopher Columbus; Nina, Pinta, and the Santa Maria.
Engraved by Pietro Giamaoli.

This Obverse shows an Italian Renaissance woman along with the Shields of the 19 States of Italy including my Favorite Firenze (Florence). “Hey, it’s my Mama Auditore Da Firenze!”
Engraved by Guido Veroi..

Numista Source

TD 1 troy oz Fine Silver Bar, Matte Finish, Date Unknown.

And a little hard asset tribute to my neighbor from across two towns @thedamus bar…

I don’t know how many of these were made but Johnson Matthey has had a history of making silver bars for the TD, Toronto Dominion Bank) the bank has since been renamed TDCT after the merger with Canada Trust. Apmex. TDCT. And as far As I know the TD Division still retails silver bars TD but at a pretty hefty premium.

So far the All Engelhard Site doesn’t seem to have any information on this TD bar having been made by Johnson Matthey. So we will not know yet until new information comes out in public. Mintage Unknown

Peru 1916 One Sol. 0.900 Fine Silver, 25 g, 37 mm, KM 196 Type 27

And finally, this gem of a beauty caught my eye. And since we both agreed this is a medical emergency I committed the Emergency portion of my cash on hand for this one.

Obverse with Peru’s National Coat of Arms, REPUBLICA PERUANA LIMA 9 DECIMOS FINO Y.B

Reverse with Liberty Seated, denomination of One Sol, FIRME Y FELIZ POR LA UNION
Numista Source

The takeaway.

You know that sleight of hand played by any huckster that asks his victim to make change but keeps changing the original change until you somehow gave him more cash than you started? Well I think he did it to me in the opposite by attributing the lion's share of the dealer volume discount such that it was exactly what cash I had in my wallet. "And don't skip your lunches, take some of that Steemit time to pack a decent lunch."

The Invoice for my choice started $117 CAD, dealt down to $98, and somehow factoring his selections my cost was boiled down to $87 from this week’s petty grocery cash in my wallet plus treating him to lunch this summer. He knows how my deep my sense of pride resists accepting unearned cash gifts. I do owe him…five lunches now and counting, maybe having his family over to my place for lunch. Punky’s Dad is like a brother to me and he knows when something is wrong. His advice? Forget the schedule and go back to a post a week if I am concerned with keeping up quality. He say’s he can’t tell me what to do but It’s not worth ending up injured in a traffic accident or even back on drugs again. He means well, my adopted big brother likes to look out for me. Things may be different from here on in, I'll show you guys the beautiful coin he got in a later blog. And perhaps a post on my Strategies in dealing with Depression will be in the works.

“Et lux in tenebris to serve laboro, sum sicarius” “I work in the shadows to serve the Light, I am an Assassin”