CBC

I have what probably ranks as one of the "smallest" denomination coins ever made. On one of my many trips to Ethiopia around 2012, I managed to get an Ethiopian one cent coin - 1/100 of an Ethiopian birr. It is made of aluminum and is smaller than a US dime. At the time, the exchange rate was 1 US dollar = 15 Ethiopian birr, which gave this coin a face value of 0.067 US cents.

After allowing PCGS coins for years, then not allowing them for a while, then letting them back in, I would be extremely surprised if they flip-flop again and ban PCGS coins, regardless of ANA actions.

I recently had a Priority Mail - Two Day Delivery package arrive at my local post office. Tracking confirmed it arrived at the PO on Nov. 14. When it had not been delivered by Nov. 21, I went to the PO to try to pick it up. They had a photo of the package when it arrived but could not find it. It was finally delivered December 12. I have never had a Priority Mail package lost, but this is the second time one has taken a month to be delivered. The first one, two years ago, left Houston, showed up in Greensboro the next day, Newark a week later, Miami a week after that and was finally delivered 27 days after shipping. So, I would say give them a few days and open an lost package ticket with the PO. It will eventually show up.

Clashes are very common on Morgan dollars. One of the most extreme examples of die clashes on a US coin is an 1814 half dollar, one of the first coins I bought (I was in eighth grade at the time) because the clashes were so obvious.

All three look like recent Chinese products. They are all over ebay.

You can submit PCGS coins to NGC for crossover, but my experience is that NGC will frequently reject the PCGS grade and return the coin in its PCGS slab. They still charge the full grading fee. I have submitted about a dozen PCGS coins to NGC over the years, with about half coming back in NGC slabs. My track record with ANACS is actually better - all of the five or six ANACS coins I submitted have graded the same with NGC, with no rejects - but I have also been very picky when evaluating ANACS coins for crossover. Add in the fact that PCGS coins typically sell for higher prices than identically graded NGC coins, there's seldom a good reason to try.

This used to be that place. It has now devolved to an endless series of links to ebay auctions.

That one should have a * to go with the +.

Congratulations on a great addition to an outstanding set!

Kerry, Good to see you back and writing again. Journals had sort of dried up the last few years with the changes in the website and some frequent writers dropping out of sight. I like Franklins and have two (almost) full sets of FBLs, one in PCGS slabs and one in NGC slabs, except for the 53-S in both sets. I think all 34 of my NGC FBLs would get the FBL from the other guys, but probably no more than ten of the PCGS coins would get a FBL from NGC. The difference is that obvious. I prefer the look of the NGC holders also, and even before the rules changed my collection was predominately NGC. It would be nice to still be able to add PCGS coins, particularly the hard-to-find issues, but PCGS has never allowed other graders in their registry so I guess it's understandable. I have never played the crackout game but have attempted to cross over a few, and actually had better success crossng ANACS coins (approximately 70%) than PCGS coins (approximately 50%). Welcome back!

EBay frequently offers sellers extra incenives to create new listings, like 50% off sellers fees for five new lstings. This offer only applies to the first listing period, not to relistings of expired listings. Maybe the seller had an eBay "deal" that only applied to the first listing period, and lowered his initial price accordingly.

I suspect IGS is another of those "graders" like Accugrade that just assign the grade the customer wants without even looking at the coin. EBay use to be littered with Accugrade MS-67's with obvious wear and XF-40's with the rims worn flat and partial dates.

(1). There is no such thing as a "correctly graded" gold-toned PF-70 coin as any toning disqualifies the coin from a 70 grade. (2) A "correctly graded" 1957 NGC PF-69 Jefferson nickel is currently listed on ebay at $144.95 Buy-it-now. (3) Many "correctly graded" 1957 NGC PF-68 Jefferson nickels are currently listed on ebay for $15. (4) There are exactly zero 1957 NGC PF-70 Jefferson nickels. Yours will certainly not be the first.

No presidents were on our coinage for the first 116 years of the Mint's history. Lincoln replaced the Indian on the cent in 1909. Washington showed up on the quarter in 1932, which was originally supposed to be a one-year commemorative issue but was adopted for good in 1934. The guidance for coin design in the late 1800's / early 1900's was to issue a new design for each denomination at approximately 25 year intervals. Liberty and Buffalo nickels, Barber dimes, quarters and halves, Mercury dimes, Standing Liberty quarters and Walking Liberty halves all roughly followed this practice, and made very collectible series with well-defined start and end points. I think a total re-do on our coinage would be a good thing. As great as Lincoln, Jefferson and Washington were, 80+ years on the same coin is too much.

Greedy sellers and ebay seem to be a good match. I see coins I'm looking for on ebay all the time at BIN prices that are 40% to 80% higher than market, with a "Make Offer" option. I can't count the number of reasonable offers I have made, only to get a counteroffer 2% lower than the BIN price. I don't even bother to respond to those counteroffers, and then watch the coin sit there, month after month, unsold.