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coin928

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  • Homepage
    uspicoin.com
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    Software Entrepreneur
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    Numismatics and keeping my Porsche 928 running
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    Texas

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  1. I was totally shocked and deeply saddened when I read that David had passed. David and I first met at a coin show in Houston around 2005. We shared a common interest in U.S. Philippine (USPI) coins and a conversation with David became an annual event at each Houston show. For a few years NGC only sent a small contingent to accept coin submissions at that show, so David and I corresponded by email. I began attending the annual ANA World's Fair of Money. in 2014 and our annual face to face conversations resumed. I worked with David multiple times concerning USPI varieties and we built a very good rapport. My favorite memory is of spending an hour with David at the ANA show in Denver going through all of my USPI variety coins looking for photo worthy specimens along with being told that some of my "varieties" were just normal coins with a various striking anomalies. A fair number of the photos in in the USPI Variety Plus are of my coins. My condolences to his family, his coworkers at NGC, and to all who knew him in our community. May he rest in peace.
  2. coin928

    Contrasts in Lighting

    Your photos are excellent, but the results for the reverse proof are not as appealing as for a regular proof coin. The side lighting technique accentuates the frosted portions of the coin, which brings out the details of the devices on a regular cameo proof. Unfortunately, on the reverse proof, the background is accentuated and the details of the devices are lost. I would opt or Gary's Standard Lighting technique when it comes to reverse proofs since it provides the most detail for the devices and represents the frosted fields as nearly white.That appears to me to be the most dramatic method for photographing a reverse proof coin. I may still try one on my scanner to see how that looks. Don't look for the results any time soon though.
  3. coin928

    Contrasts in Lighting

    Hi Gary, An excellent post as always. Your photos are a great comparison of techniques, but I'm surprised you didn't try side lighting on this coin. Many years ago, I took photos with a very cheap camera and two lights shining towards each other from the sides in an otherwise dark room. The lights are at the same angle as your 45 degree axial, but without the glass (or in your case, the CD cover).. I was just trying to do comparisons, so the final quality isn't great. I wasn't concerned about dust or the camera lens reflecting on the coin. This technique only works well for cameo proof coins, but the effects can be quite dramatic. The fields can appear totally black which sets off the cameo devices. A similar effect can be achieved using a flat bed scanner. I have not tried either technique on a reverse proof though. I would be curious to see what that looks like. Above photos taken with a very cheap camera and two side lights. Above images acquired with a flatbed scanner.
  4. Last week, I received a box of freshly graded coins back from NGC. I took the box from the postal worker, opened it and reviewed the coins as soon as they arrived. There was of course, the normal mixture of joy and disappointment due to the assigned grades, colors, variety attribution (or lack thereof), and even the dreaded "DETAILS" designation. This batch however came with a new rotation problem I had never seen before. Of the 31 coins graded in this batch, only the two pictured below were so substantially rotated in their holders. They both look fine in the photos on the Verify NGC Certification Page, so I'm pretty sure they were fine when they left NGC.. The direct verification links are 2861766-017 and 2861766-018 for comparison to the photo below. It seems like the inserts should hold the coins tightly enough in their holders so they don't rotate. Is this sort of problem covered under the NGC guarantee? Will NGC fix them for no additional charge?
  5. Based on the title of your post, it sounds like you're not sure if this coin is genuine. I don't know this coin, so I can't tell you if the potential "value bump" will justify the cost of grading. This looks like one of those coins though that basically only has two grades. MS/PF70 might be a home run, whereas MS/PF69 is probably a break even (financially speaking). Anything less than 69 would be disappointing. If you just want to know if it's authentic (i.e. not counterfeit), it would be a lot less expensive (and quicker) to take it to a local or national coin show and have it looked at by several reputable dealers or grading services. Showing it to several local dealers would be the next best choice if there are no shows near you. The folks at your local coin club might also be able to help you verify it's authenticity. Good luck with it.
  6. The arrival date for packages that are currently being opened is shown just above the NGC Grading Tier table on the NGC Services and Fees page. As of this post, it states: Now opening submissions delivered the week of May 31, 2021.
  7. Thanks Dave! Nice to know that for USA/Philippine coins, I can now make my choice of service (World/US) based on current turnaround times.
  8. That's interesting. When I asked this same question (albeit many years ago), I was told to submit them as world coins. I've been submitting US/Philippine coins as world coins for over ten years now, and even have a group at NGC right now submitted on a world coin submission form. Did this policy change? If so, when?
  9. This has been my reaction to pretty much every one of my submissions to NGC. I even created a custom set (Coins I have had graded) to track my expectations vs the results. The coins in the set are listed chronologically, starting with my very first submission. I think my eye has gotten better over the years, but there are still the highs of a grade better than anticipated and the lows of a details grade. Despite my best efforts, some hairlined coins are still seem to sneak through. I'm in the process of prepping 40 coins for submission, and I'm sure there will be some highs and lows in this batch as well. They will be added to the the end of my custom set when I get them back. Something you should keep in mind. Every year at the annual ANA World's Fair of Money, NGC offers one or more "Ask the Expert" sessions where Mark Salzberg will review a few of your coins. They could be coins you are planning to submit or coins that you've purchased or had graded. I've gotten several significant upgrades as a result of those sessions. It is often the best 10 minutes of the entire show. Every submission is a learning experience. Best of luck with your future submissions.
  10. Hi Ali, I'd like to request a type set containing all of the Ethiopian coins dated EE1936(1943-1944). The coins, with KM numbers and example NGC cert numbers, are as follows: KM-32 EE1936 CENT (3500145-053) KM-33 EE1936 5C (3497690-008) KM-34 EE1936 10C (3594917-029) KM-35 EE1936 25C ROUND (2846612-014) KM-36 EE1936 25C CRIMPED (4431273-007) KM-37 EE1936 50C .800 SILVER (2105783-015) KM-37a EE1936 50C .700 SILVER (4828657-008 .700 SILVER was not included on the label, but this was the first coin identified as KM-37a in the census) Thanks, Harry
  11. Thank you for the information. If it's not already in your list of search sites, you might want to look at. https://www.numisbids.com/ They specialize in searching for world coins and ancients on an impressive number of auction sites world wide. You can save your search criteria too and you will receive an email when something matches. Like eBay, you can set up watch lists on their site. Interestingly, you can also find U.S. coins that are being sold in foreign auctions. They have a Facebook page too: https://www.facebook.com/numisbids/
  12. I'm impressed, that's very clever. Just out of curiosity, when you say --script, are you referring to a shell --script like bash or something similar? Also, are you using curl, or something like it to batch execute your searches?
  13. coin928

    crossovers

    I've submitted several coins in their ANACS holders. All have crossed at the same grade or one grade higher.
  14. Hi Ali, I recently saw that you added the set "Peru - 2 Centavos, 1863-1879, Circulation Issue." That's great, and I've already added coins to the new set. There is one problem though. There are now three different 2 Centavos sets for Peru, but none of them include the 1895 2 Centavos. It is the only one that has "fallen between the sets." It would be great if you could also add a corresponding "Peru - Centavo, 1863-1877, Circulation Issue" set. I have four coins listed below that would fit into the proposed set: 2846612-015 - 1C 1863 6 INCUSE CORNUCOPIA LINES 2837034-005 - 1C 1863 (5 INCUSE CORNUCOPIA LINES) 2846612-016 - 1C 1864 COPPER NICKEL 2797545-004 - 1C 1864 BRONZE Thanks!