NostoNews, March 1, 2004 by Tommy Jasmin Gone in a Flash... Several weeks ago I received an email from a good friend with news of the passing of Julius Schwartz. While our comics users all know Julius, our coins users may not. Let's just say to them Julius was one of the comic book's greatest ambassadors for almost 60 years. My reaction was frustrating, immediate sadness. No, not Julie... Imagine my confusion however, when a few days later Comics Buyer's Guide number 1580 arrived in the mail with a big cover story on Schwartz and how February 23rd would mark the 60th anniversary of his working for DC Comics. What's going on? Was my friend wrong? These aren't the kind of things you want to let develop into Internet rumors. As it turns out, CBG's celebration was a bit premature, and Julie didn't quite make it to February 23rd. It's hard to fault CBG for this, after all, Schwartz was in some ways starting to seem immortal. The following week's issue, number 1581, had the headlines "Softly: A Living Legend Passes", with an obituary by one of the few people I can think of worthy of handling such a chore - Harlan Ellison. I wasn't a friend of Julie's, and feel a little funny just typing the informal name his friends called him. But I can tell you this - I know when I'm in the presence of greatness, and those times I've seen him talk (at Comic-Con International last year for example), I've experienced that feeling. It's a wonderful thing. How about if we take a moment, just a moment, and pause our hectic lives for Julie. Julius Schwartz June 19, 1915 - February 8, 2004 Thanks. Coin grade range expanded Coin users get a pleasant surprise this month. Until now, the grades available for tracking your coins were the official A.N.A. list of grades. As a result of user requests, we have expanded this range to include all grades used by the certification companies, so users can track their collections and values at the exact grade assigned, instead of the closest grade Nosto supports. Once again, an example of our users influencing Nosto's direction in becoming a better service for all. The full grade list for coins is now: MS-70 Perfect Uncirculated MS-69 Very Choice Uncirculated MS-68 Very Choice Uncirculated MS-67 Choice Uncirculated MS-66 Choice Uncirculated MS-65 Choice Uncirculated MS-64 Select Uncirculated MS-63 Select Uncirculated MS-62 Uncirculated MS-61 Uncirculated MS-60 Uncirculated AU-58 Very Choice About Uncirculated AU-55 Choice About Uncirculated AU-53 Select About Uncirculated AU-50 About Uncirculated EF-45 Choice Extremely Fine EF-40 Extremely Fine VF-35 Very Choice Very Fine VF-30 Choice Very Fine VF-25 Select Very Fine VF-20 Very Fine F-15 Fine F-12 Fine VG-10 Very Good VG-8 Very Good G-6 Good G-4 Good AG-3 About Good FR-2 Fair PO-1 Poor Prizes Don't forget, all you have to do is create a single Collection, Wantlist, or Salelist item during the appropriate month to qualify for our sweepstakes. Why not take a look and see what we're giving away (and gave away last month), free as always. Thanks, we'll see you all next month. Visit our NostoNews Archive.