LINCOLNMAN

I don't recall the title, but Dave Bowers put together a nice encyclopedia. I thought it a great primer. 

On 6/29/2023 at 7:38 AM, Just Bob said:

I would call it AG, but PCGS probably graded it Good.

Agree, would be details if it weren't an early copper. No disparagement intended, I like the coin. 

Excellent presentation and topic. Those of us who have been at this for a while have been nonplussed by the changes. However, the coins themselves are unchanged, so we adapt. Just need to be aware so as not to be disappointed and take care to examine slabbed purchases more critically than we perhaps did 30 years ago.. 

They deduct their fees from the sales price, no check needed. 

QA here is the counterfeit in question. Faulty memory, it was ICG who kindly slabbed it. White label is mine. Note the warnings, looks like a crime scene. 

I find it rather silly that a distinction is made between counterfeits made in Colonial times in the US and those made in England. I have a nice British GIII halfpenny in my collection that was produced in England at the same time Machin's Mills and other US counterfeiters were operating. I collected it as part of my Colonials. I couldn't find anyone except SEGS to slab it and they put all sorts of warnings on the slab  Absurd. . 

Very helpful, thank you Roger. 

Thanks for the advice above. The coin in question is listed on eBay. I don't have the skills to provide a link, but it is a 2 escudo piece minted in Chile, 1794. The dealer has fairly limited experience on eBay and a no return policy. I've expanded my type set to include examples of foreign coins that circulated in the Colonies and early US. Looking for one example minted in Chile, any denomination. The 8 escudos is readily available slabbed, but much more pricey than the referenced example. Lots of fun identifying and finding these early coins. But tough to find slabbed examples of many early foreign coin types, especially cheaper coins, else I wouldn't consider this. Should probably have stayed raw, but too far along to turn back.  

I'm considering a foreign gold coin graded by the Canadian company CCCS. Does anyone have any familiarity with this outfit? I've read that a competing Canadian service, ICCS, is reliable, but I also read that ICCS only grades the obverse. I will be crossing to NGC for set consistency and would hope for reasonable grading consistency. Many thanks.  

Lisa, I have several submissions, time is not critical (collector just cleaning things up). Best to hold up? 

Another very entertaining report, thanks for posting. Love the Ferrari. 

My preference would be to assign a grade based solely on the state of preservation and strike, what I think is called, in part anyway, a "technical grade". The more subjective determinants of market price should depend on the taste of the buyer. This is what happens anyway, judging by the divergent prices realized for coins of similar grades at similar times in similar venues. This will never happen of course because most people want to be told what is "good" in all fields of life. Furthermore we have the moronic chase for registry status, which is based solely on a TPG grade, now with a CAC opinion thrown in (brilliant marketing schemes BTW). 

Sorry, no. Hopefully one of the experts will respond. 

Tough crowd. A reminder for all of us to do our homework. 

I'm a very avid collector, but expect that the proceeds from the sale will benefit a lot more people than the collection does. We had our chance to view and study the collection over many years and should be grateful to Harry Bass and his foundation for that. 

It won't straight grade. Worth sending in if you just want it in a holder. I often send very old coins in that I don't expect to grade because my collection, other than medals, is in slabs. 

I sent my lion in as foreign. It came back details, but it has character, as does yours.

BTW, I'm no expert on these so I'm assuming it's genuine. Good luck.

On 4/8/2022 at 5:46 PM, Just Bob said:

Don't care for the moniker, since the bison actually has four legs, but one has been polished away. Don't think a coin struck by an over polished die is worth a premium just because someone came up with a name for it, either. But, I don't control the market or collectors' tastes, so to each his/her own. It definitely is not my place to define another's collecting preferences.

Agree. Vastly overpriced and overrated IMO. Also agree regarding most variety names; however, I make an exception for colonials. Provided that some modern marketeer hasn't dreamed it up. 

Three network channels and one local. Then PBS came along. Now my wife and I have seemingly hundreds with cable and Roku and on and on. If there aren't any sports of interest happening, I struggle to find anything to watch after the news. A blessing really. 

On 4/1/2022 at 4:11 PM, Hoghead515 said:

Definately a fake and a bad fake at that. If its silver then its just worth the value of the silver in it. 

Nevermind. It went over my head this was a joke. 

If you were an old geezer like me the name JB Tipton would have tipped you off. John Baresford Tipton was the benefactor in a show popular in the 50's called The Millionaire. 

On 4/1/2022 at 12:12 PM, Oldhoopster said:

Happy April Fools Day

Back at you. 

On 3/9/2022 at 11:49 AM, Just Bob said:

I haven't shopped for a copy lately, but I have to admit that I am surprised you found one that easily. Copies of that book have been scarce in the past. I was actually going to reply and wish you good luck in your hunt. Congrats on scoring one so quickly.

Excellent reference including a great deal about US coinage acts up to 1857, the history of these coins and federal coins as well. Focuses solely on legal tender coinage addressed by congress from 1793 (silver and gold), so it is limited if one is collecting copper or coins less frequently used, particularly earlier than 1793. Eric Newman contributed. Can't believe this is new to me, should have been part of my library. I've already added a couple of coins to my want list. These are coins addressed as legal tender but I would guess not encountered with regularity "in the wild". English crown and 8 escudos or "doubloon" (according to official documents). 

On 3/8/2022 at 12:00 PM, RWB said:

If you concentrate on coins used by merchants, your should be able to establish a reasonable boundary. Cons used by the general public, would, of course, be different and exclude most gold.

Good advice, thanks Roger. Amazon is sending me Shilkie and Solomon today (small miracle and thanks again Bob). Should give me lots of clues if sources are documented.