Leaderboard

Hey guys and gals, I'm pretty STOKED right now!!! I received confirmation yesterday from Brian Ribar (https://www2.briansvarietycoins.com), Wexler's attributor for Nickels from what I gather based on Wexler's and Brian's respective websites, that a 2020-P Nickel I submitted last month is a legitimate doubled die reverse and the first of its kind. There's more to the story in how this turned out to be a DDR but I'd rather not discuss it.....lol. It is now listed as WDDR-020. I'm just a little bit excited right now, even though it is a minor DDR, but that's totally fine with me. I can't give enough kudos to Brian Ribar for his customer service, timely responses, and utmost attention to my questions I had throughout this process which turned out to be much more streamlined and simple than I had anticipated. This was the first time I have ever submitted a coin for attribution as a first discovery. Thank you for looking!

When you post a question about a coin or coins, it's worth remembering that the people giving you answers--unless it is specifically about an NGC policy matter or submission--are volunteer hobbyists who do this for fun. They are not speaking for NGC; they speak only for themselves, and they want to help people. When you do a good job of posting your inquiry, you increase your chances of helpful replies, because you show respect for the volunteers' time. Please do: Ask a question, or multiple questions. We need to know what to focus on. Authenticity? Grade? Identification? Value? All of these? Think about your questions. "What would this grade at NGC?" and "What grade would you give this coin?" are two very different questions. If you ask the first one, only people who know a lot about NGC's ways have much to offer you. "How much is this worth?" is another nebulous question. Better: "What would a dealer pay me for this?" Or: "What would a dealer sell this for?" Post clear photos of the entire obverse, reverse, and if necessary the edge. If need be, add zoomed photos of specific features, but always clear shots of both full sides. Post all pictures of a given coin in the same thread. Accept that if you have photographic limitations, and you keep posting badly photographed coins, you'll keep being told they're not good enough to use to answer your question. You can't expect everyone to read all your threads and know your circumstances, be they poverty or Parkinson's or can'tbebothereditis. It's not their fault your photos can't or won't get better, even if it is also not always your own fault. Use a thread title that describes the coin(s), so that people who know the subject matter are likelier to read the thread. If you just inherited Bampaw's silver dollar collection which you can see spans the period 1850-1921, you could title it "Evaluating silver dollar collection 1850-1921." People who know a lot about those silver dollars will see it and be likely to help you. "Grading advice" is bad; everyone wants grading advice. "Morgan dollar grading advice" is good. "Is this fake?" is bad. "Is this Chinese silver coin fake?" is good. Post only once per coin. (If you have received a huge collection, and you want to start with a picture of the whole hoard with zoomed shots of parts, that's no problem. This guideline is intended to keep people from slamming multiple fully photographed coins into a single thread, making it difficult to figure out which one the answers are talking about. So if it's a hoard, and you single out some for close scrutiny, go with new threads for each of those.) If the picture files are too large in terms of data, learn to make them smaller without losing necessary information. Paint.net is a free image editor for Windows. Open your pictures in it, crop them, and save them as .jpgs. Look at what sizes they are now. This is too easy. If there is any question of identification or authentication, include weight in grams and diameter in millimeters. If you don't know the metric system, use an online converter. Weight is one of the key diagnostics of authenticity and unless the coin is too obviously bogus to bother, you will be asked for it. Just include it with your first post. Tell us what you know, or what you believe to be the case, about the coin. It's okay to be incorrect. Understand that the term "melt" does not automatically mean someone plans to melt the coin down, nor is anyone suggesting you should. It refers simply to the value of the metal for its own sake. Do not freak out when someone says "melt" about Bampaw's Morgan dollars. We really do not want or expect you to throw it in a blast furnace, all right? Use punctuation. Being easy to read works to your benefit. When you write a twelve-line paragraph with no periods or commas, people tune you out. For those who need reminders, this , is a comma. You use it to separate phrases, more or less. This . is a period. You use it to end most sentences. Hitting Enter will insert a paragraph break. You use this between series of thoughts. Live them. Love them. Use them. because ill tell u what really suxors is when some1 posts sententses like this 1 4 about half a page its impossibel 2 read and some people including me will prob not finish readin it which means u arent gettin as many respontses think about it ur only hurtin ur own cozz notice how stooped this reads ur in affect makin urself ten times harder 2 help and frankly its disrespectfull 2 assume entellegent people should do all that extra work 4 ur sake now kinely clean up ur act and rite like u at least got thru 6ixth grade im glad we had this little talk Come prepared to accept responsive answers. Brace yourself to learn that Bampaw or Opa, always considered the family's Great Numismatist, may not have been so great at this. No one seeks to offend your relative's legacy, but the coin must be called what it is. Be patient. No one who doesn't know the answer is going to post "I don't know." It can take days to a week for someone to notice. Remember that some inquiries may require research, for which volunteers are not being paid, and are doing as they have time. Expect that opinions may vary, even among experienced numismatists. Realize that if you're rude and/or difficult, your problem is not the people who take time to fight with you. Your problem is the people who, without a word, mark you down as someone not to bother with in the future--because you have no idea who or how many they are, and thus have no power to alleviate that diagnosis. Kindly do not: Just post pictures without giving any indication of what you want to learn. Post glare-obscured, blurry, or otherwise poor photos. Post only partial pictures of errors or damage. Complain that your pics are too big to post. Use an image editor to crop and save them as .jpgs. Get defensive when told your pics are not good. Maybe you're bad at photography; maybe you don't have a good camera; maybe the photography gods just don't like you. If you can do better, do so. If you cannot do better, than just accept that this limits how much we can help you. Post a new thread for every photo of the same coin. Post new threads in the same forum, or other forums, with reference to the same coin. Once suffices. The shotgun approach makes one look impatient and immature. Use a meaningless thread title like "looking for advice" or "no idea what 2 do" or "plz help." Those tell people nothing about the discussion except that it was begun by someone who picks meaningless thread titles. Omit weight and diameter, unless they are completely irrelevant to your question. Get annoyed if you don't like the answers. If you disagree with them, fine; act on your views. Ask us to tell you how we know it's a counterfeit. While that's a legit question on its face, the problem is that even if you didn't mint the fake, those who make them are always looking for ways to improve. We frown upon supplying helpful feedback to criminals, and so should you. So no, don't ask us that. And if we tell you politely that we aren't going into detail, don't get annoyed because you don't like that answer. Grouse about not getting any replies. No one knows everything; no one has unlimited time; sometimes no one knows the answer. Come in telling how many Youtube videos you have watched about coins. This will lower your credibility. Use Photobucket links. If you do, don't anticipate that people will use them. Photobucket has been connected with numerous malware and virus infections. Spell 'nickel' as 'nickle.' Whether referring to the element or the five-cent coin, this misspelling is a very bad look. If you take the time to do this correctly, you can learn a lot more here than if you skip important steps. If you do not take the time to do this correctly, some posters may decide that their time is better spent helping other people. Lastly, here is a Cliff's Notes version that would take care of 95% of the most common disappointed inquiries. If you want to post yours anyway, fine, but just please kindly do not engage in a protracted and dullard debate when you are told that: Your 1804 silver dollar is a bad counterfeit. Look up authentic examples and compare closely. Your 1776 Continental dollar is a bad counterfeit or a souvenir replica. Many were churned out. What you think is a double die is almost surely mechanical doubling, which carries no premium. What you think is a mint error is likely post-mint damage, and your coin is worth face value. Your "silver" non-1943 penny is plated, replated, has had the plating come off, is altered, or somesuch. Your "bronze" 1943 penny is altered somehow, and is worth very little. Your Greek "silver" coin with flanges sticking out of its edges is a bad cast counterfeit. Your cheesy-looking brass token is not gold, and is not a coin. Any clown can mint brass tokens with bad designs. Cleaning your coins is a stupid idea. Yes, even for you. You, too. If you ask how, listen to the people who tell you not to do so. If you cite Etsy as an authority, people will laugh their heads off with good reason. This is horrible for your cred. If you cite a Youtube video as an authority, people will laugh with good reason. This is bad for your cred. If you have more than three supposed error coins you found in change, and plan to post them all, the odds are overwhelming that none of them are mint errors worthy of note. If you keep posting these without seeming to learn, people might conclude that learning is not your thing. There, that rounds up the usual suspects. I'm not saying those answers are automatically always right. However, as the strongest probabilities, they should be presumed correct unless they can be proven wrong. If you have one child and something is broken in the house, not by you or your spouse, typically the child did it. If you can prove the kid innocent, fair enough; but you know the kid almost surely did it. If you argue about a "double die" at fatuous length when it's clear you don't know what one really is, you will look like the kid with soot all over him insisting he didn't really dig around in the fireplace. Don't be that kid. === Opinions, comments, additions, suggestions?

From the August 2023 Numismatist: Roger has been my mentor for maybe 10 years on my research of the early commemorative coin series. This award is past due in my opinion. Thank you Roger for all you've done to help me on my book project!!

It seems that some need a reminder of the guidelines accepted when creating an account here. Recently there has been an uptick in the number of unacceptable posts. As a result, there will be greater scrutiny of the material posted here. In summary, the following will not be tolerated: Political posts Mud Slinging Trolling Baiting Masking Inappropriate references (analogies, etc.) to significantly emotional topics such as Nazis, slavery, etc. Threads started explicitly to bash other members Hi-jacking of other people's threads in a way that stifles the originally intended topic Disrespect The disrespect exhibited in recent posts is overshadowing all the positive and valuable content being posted here and is creating a climate of hostility. It is particularly disappointing to see the way in which new members and collectors are being treated. Using words like ignorant and stupid is not the way to educate and welcome the well intentioned folks making an effort to embrace this community. It stops now.

This Draped Bust Half Dime I picked up at the Long Beach Show last Friday completes my #1 ranked 19th Century Circulated Type Set, No Gold 🌞

I found this at FUN.

I’ve spent most all of my life collecting coins. It started with Mercury dimes but all of a sudden, I found beauty in our Buffalo nickels when I was very young, I think I was 11 years old, I am 71 years old now. My father got me into collecting coins when I was a Cub Scout as I needed a hobby to earn a badge. He was a coin collector too. I never, ever thought it would stay with me my entire life. So, I mainly collect buffalo nickels as it still is my passion and I still add to my collection. My coin collection now spans decades has widened out quite a bit. I like gold coins too. Happy hunting to all😊

Yes the thread ats is about Mr. Lange here at NGC, I think the member ats that mentioned his passing was a misunderstanding and more as a question. Best wishes to Mr. Lange and his family as he battles with cancer, I have never had the pleasure of meeting him in person but have always thought of him as a true gentleman, and amazing numismatist. I was hesitant to post this here but as it has now come up, this is from an email on the ANA advisory board that was posted ats: "My communication ability is limited by illness for now, My breast cancer has progressed to where it's affecting my brain. I'm unlikely to respond to most message, so please let my friends know that I'm otherwise viable and will be around for awhile. Share with anyone outside the company for now." Dave, David W. Lange

One of the biggest challenges in trying to help people is to imagine ourselves not knowing all that we know. For example, the term TPG: The new numismatist (let's say NN) rarely knows that this means Third-Party Grading (service). Some of us are good at realizing that we're addressing an audience that doesn't know all that we know, and some follow the "I'm not going to spoon-feed you; you know how to Google, so keep up, homes" approach. We can do better, and since I'm probably the only professional editor in this particular space--if not, I'm not seeing anyone else step up, so I might as well be--I can help by mentioning things like this. I'd encourage us all to remember our audience, what it doesn't know, and to take the few extra moments to dial the guidance down to their level. It might feel repetitive, such as when explaining TPGs for the twentieth time, but each new arrival lacks awareness of our fatigue. We will better serve them if we try our utmost to assume less knowledge and impart the maximum understanding. It's always reasonable to refer NNs to explanatory articles, price guides, grading guides, and so on. We can't control their content, and it will often be worth examining. But when we're the guides, let's make sure we don't miss the basics. For example, when the NN asks what the coin is worth, that question has multiple valid answers. There's what a typical dealer might pay; there's what a private collector might pay; there's what the price guides say. Obviously dealers do not pay full retail. Most of us have seen that collectors tend to pay more than dealers. No one's going to give them full book. NNs need to understand this or they can't get a fair idea of which number applies to their circumstances. This could help alleviate some needless confusion.

I have always wanted at least one nice example.

I want to make a thread that will be interesting and help get to know each others areas of collecting. It would really be fun and educational to others to read the replies from everyone. You can post anything you want about what you collect, what inspired you to collect those types, what you like about them, also some fun facts about them. Any kinds of facts about your types of coins would be great. Such as the composition, mintages, historical facts, etc. I hope this thread dosent slowly get buried at the bottom of the list. I hope it keeps growing and we can keep it going. Come back anytime you like and add anything about what your into. Even if you decide to get into something new it would be great to add what your learning. I think if people contributes to this thread it would be educational and alot of fun to learn about different types and denominations of coins from the collectors of them. Also helps to learn more about each other. Just please try not to put others down for what they collect and try not to argue. It ruins it for everyone when people start arguing back and forth for 2 or 3 pages. This thread is for anyone who wants to contribute to it. It may inspire others to collect types they never thought about collecting before. I want to add that a good friend who Ive learned alot from inspired me to start this thread. Hes the main reason why I decided to collect in my main area of the hobby. Ive always been curious about others main areas of collecting. The time Ive been a member of this forum Ive learned alot of members main interest. I would like to learn about more members and also more about the ones I already know. It dont have to be your main interest. It can be your smallest sets that you still like. Hopefully some new collectors can get some value from this thread. Even more expirenced collectors may get some value from it. Its open for anyone.

I wanted to share this one a long time ago but couldnt get pictures to post. I finally found a computer to use where I can start posting again. I done some trading with a good friend for this one. It is a true beauty in hand and Im happy to give it a good home in the slab holder box with my other buffalo nickels.

This 1875 proof Trade dollar is the largest acquisition I've made since about two years ago. It is PCGS graded PR63CAM with a green CAC sticker on the holder:

With a little bit of luck I was able to add one of @erwindoc lovely quarters to my set. Very cool to now have one from the #1 Cherry Tree Collection set in my set now. Or soon will. Not got it in hand yet. I really like this one. There was a few I really liked a whole lot more but they went way out of my budget. Im still very happy to add this one to my set. NGC MS67

Very sad day. Dave was a huge asset to the team here at NGC, both professionally and personally. He will be greatly missed by those of us who had the privilege to work beside him for so many years.

Im very pleased to add this one to the set. Thanks to my son for a late Christmas gift. Won it on GC auction. PCGS MS66. Sellers pics. Cant wait to get it in hand. I love those lightly golden rim toners. I think its a very lovely quarter. Just by the pictures it seems to have very few bag marks. Also lusterous.

Part of my type set.

I buy a coin for me on my birth month. October is that. This is the coin I selected and came with another item:

I have to give a shoutout to our good member here @tj96 . He contacted me via a personal message after reading a thread started by @J P Mashoke regarding the 2020-W V75 Privy Mark Quarters. I mentioned I was in need of the Samoa (the Bat coin as I call it) as I had luckily found the other four different reverses all in the wild. Before I go any further, I have to mention that tj is a U.S. Military Veteran. I think most of you know my love for our Country and our Military personnel, both current and former. Thank you tj for your service to our Country! Tj just simply asked for my address, said he was going to send me a Samoa, with no strings attached!!! He told me he had luckily found several of the V75 Samoa's while CRH'ing back when they first started coming out. Tj said he just wanted to gift one to me, to help me out, which he surely did and sent me a beautiful and lustrous one at that.... simple as that. I can't thank tj enough for his gracious contribution, and generosity, in helping me complete my 2020-W V75 Privy Mark Quarter set. THANK YOU TJ!!!!!

Been a long time comin', as I paid up for this low pop gem.

She looks better than I thought she would.

Mark Goodman images.

I've been thinking.......we have a "For the love of copper" thread, so why not a "For the love of silver" thread? So, let's give this a try!! Post any coins you want to share, just as long as they're silver. I'll start us off with my only Faustina the Younger provincial, a silver Tetradrachm minted in Alexandria, Egypt: Let's see some great silver!!!

A couple of new coppers. Following the Lincoln cent is a Braided large cent with a good sized strike through under the ear and a couple of die cracks on the reverse.

I recently picked this up and wrote about it ATS. I needed a 1936-S for my late date (1934-38) buffalo set. Honestly this was a set that I didn't even know I was building, but I buy coins here and there and I am almost done now. This coin was an exciting buy, because it was listed as an S, but it is the FS-501 S/S (this is one of my favorite RPMs due to the north/south spread).

A couple recent purchases, the first is a new die marriage for me, my 152nd, graded F-12 by NGC, a later die state with the die lump by the first S in States and some nice clashing by the Of on the reverse. The second is a quintuplicate of this marriage, but I'm a sucker for overdates!

The old lady said if I would buy her some curtains for Valentines day that she would buy me a coin. She got me this one. PCGS MS64 FL

I just purchased this 1907 Barber quarter, which is NGC graded MS 64. The coin is less toned and even more attractive than suggested by the photos, which are courtesy of Stacks Bowers Galleries:

I just picked up this 1897 Morgan yesterday. It’s the highest graded coin in my set at MS66+. I won this at auction and look forward to getting it in hand

Just wanted to update everyone here that NGC was on point with my recent submission. I had put things off due to the delay from the pandemic as long as I could as my grading credit was about to expire. It was mailed on 11/16 and received 11/22. My grades posted on Friday, 12/9 and they actually already made it in hand today. I am super impressed! Did I mention it was sent in economy and this was over Thanksgiving? WOW!!! Here is my favorite coin from the group I sent in.

Here’s 2 new ones I purchased yesterday for my circulated type sets

I think we now know where the person behind "New Coke" currently works. They're at NGC. This honestly sounds like one of the worst ideas ever. Horrible idea. You took a well known 70 point scale with 30 grade points and changed it to a 10 point scale with 29 grade points so that ultra-novice collectors, most of which will not remain in the hobby very long, can feel better about understanding the condition of the coin they couldn't grade themselves because they don't bother to educate themselves before jumping in. I'd be extremely surprised if this lasts to the end of the year.

I thought this one looked pretty cool and these seller pics aren’t too bad. (I did circle crop and side by side the top pic.)

I finally got a couple of the key dates I needed for my Washington set. They are low grade but Im still happy to get them. Maybe one of these days I can upgrade them but it will probably be a while. Lucked out and won the bid on both of them at the same time. The dreaded 1950 D/S and 1950 S/D. These are hard to find at an affordable price even in a lower grade. This is actually the first purchase Ive got to make in a few months.

I’m generally not an error coin collector, but I do like the broadstruck coins and always wanted an example for the collection. I also wanted an example of a holder with the FS designation before they went with the 5 and 6 step. I believe this is a Gen 7 holder. 2 birds with one stone. Edit / When I entered this cert# it came up as a CAC coin which I thought was weird because it is too modern. Out of curiosity I checked the CAC site cert lookup and no match was found. I think it is a glitch in NGCs system.

I picked up my new 2022 for my ASE collection from my favorite coin shop today for $35 it is not a MS70 just a BU and one is all I need.

Just found this little dandy and picked it up. Seller pics.

So I have wanted a coin of this type for quite a while now, not a priority but one that I really did want. I find the no star seated dime design to be so clean, uncluttered, and simple, just an elegant presentation of the design. I was able to aquire this piece from a PCGS forum member on the BST ats, I think this is a very wholesome, unmolested coin with some a very original look to her. In addition this was the first year of operation for the New Orleans mint, which adds that little bit extra coolness factor for me. So here she is, an 1838 - O no stars seated dime, PCGS XF40. Photos courtesy of the seller, a bit lighter in hand then the photos suggest with a touch more color.

Got smitten by a Franklin proof.