1/2 of Each Ruler -- Low Ball
Private
Updated:
3/26/2026
Views: 183
<=== ½ of Vickie says: “After consulting with our financial advisor, we have devised a new strategy to keep things interesting. If there’s no hope of reaching a high level, then we shall aim lower!
Those of you familiar with the PCGS set registry may be aware of a special type of category they have called ‘low ball.’ Unlike normal categories, for this type of set the lowest score wins! It’s really quite fun, and NGC currently has nothing equivalent. But that doesn’t mean that one can’t be started here! And we have therefore chosen this completely hopeless London Mint ½ sovereign type set as our first entry in this new and exciting type of category.
Our race to the bottom is going to be somewhat more complicated than with PCGS however, since the NGC system is based completely on scoring. Acquiring coins in the lowest possible condition may not result in the lowest score, if some of those coins are rare and receive high scores even in very low grades. So we have devised a two-tier system of competition classes to get around this.
If any other financially challenged collectors would like to play along, just start up a new set with ‘low ball’ in the title, and try to fill it up appropriately in one of the two categories of losers:
Class A: Lowest Grades
Just like it says, the goal is to get the lowest total of grades for the 8 slots in this category. ‘Details’ grades are counted as the lowest value for that grading tier, so for example ‘AU-Details’ would get a score of 50. Thus an AU-Details coin would score the same as an AU50 coin. Empty slots will be assigned a grade of 75.
Class B: Lowest Scores
The object here is to amass the lowest total score for all 8 slots. In order to be fair, ‘Details’ graded coins will not be allowed, since unscrupulous competitors might be tempted to take a VF coin and scratch their initials on it before sending it in for grading in order to cut the score in half! And of course, coins designated by NGC as ‘non-competitive’ are not allowed either. Empty slots will be assigned a score of 10000. Sounds kind of harsh, but there are coins out there that get high four-figure scores and the penalty for missing coins needs to be higher.
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If nobody else wishes to compete, at least the rest of you can have the thrill of cheering us on as we start filling things in. Initially, we intend to assemble a set of coins in the poorest possible condition (Class A), and that will be quite challenging since worn examples of more modern coins don’t really exist. Just have to see what we can come up with …”
As coins are added, we will keep a running total here:
Slot Grade Rank
1 06 Sole Bottom Pop
2 03 Sole Bottom Pop
3 06 Sole Bottom Pop
4 35 Bottom Pop
5 30 Bottom Pop
6 75
7 60 Sole Bottom Pop
8 75
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290
** Update 15 July 2025 **
I recently had a thought ... It would be in NGC's interest to begin authorizing "Low Ball" set competitions, as a marketing strategy. Currently, nobody besides me is stupid enough to spend money getting heavily worn common coins graded, since they have no value over melt and the grading fee is completely wasted. But, if poor quality coins suddenly become desirable, then competitive collectors will be incentivized to send them in rather than sell them for scrap. Could be a nice payday for our friends in Sarasota. I wonder if they're clever enough to realize the potential, and perhaps award my groundbreaking set a special "Best Innovative Idea" prize for 2025? Yes! :-)
** Update 22 August 2025 **
It appears that NGC is not as smart as I thought. :-(
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1/2 of Each Ruler -- Low Ball
By Cozdred
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