Nothing elicits more comments from the coin community than the topic of cleaning, so let’s start off by stating any type of cleaning, including the use of MS70 Coin Cleaner, is controversial. Some hobbyists put MS70 and similar detergents on the same prohibitive plain as Jewel Luster (e-Z-est Cleaner) or similar products. I don’t. Use […]
Grading Success: Cracking Out Top-Tier Holders
On March 11, Coin Update published an article I wrote titled “Cracking Out Top-Tier Holders,” in which I profiled these coins: As you can see, I paid retail or above prices on each of the aforementioned coins. There’s a reason for this. Many bidders are as skilled as I am in selecting under-graded […]
Bidding in Timed Auctions
Bidding in timed auctions takes time — literally — to learn how to win lots at the best price. Moreover, strategies depend on whether you are bidding in an estate auction on Proxibid with a live and online audience or in an eBay online-only auction. Proxibid auctions are mostly live with an auctioneer describing each lot […]
Cracking Out Top-Tier Holders
Some believe that when a top-tier grading company such as PCGS, NGC, ANACS or ICG slabs a coin, it is the last word on the grade. However, after a numismatist gains sufficient expertise, he or she can spot an under-graded coin, or what is perceived to be one. In this article we are discussing crack-outs, […]
Double Mint Set Tutorial
If you have not yet read my Coin Update post, “Buying Double Mint Sets,” you might do so before reading this one, because unethical sellers often take out the toned coins and replace them with lesser examples with the same date, hoping beginning hobbyists will still pay premiums. It’s one of the biggest ripoffs in […]
To Open or Not to Open? Are Unopened Sets Worth the Money?
There are a lot of ways to lose money collecting coins, with a premium here and a fee there; but in my experience, you can lose money 9 times out of 10 by paying ridiculous premiums for unopened mint and proof sets from the 1950s and 60s. But, as usual, there is no other way […]
NGC Upgrades Guides to Match PCGS CoinFacts
Following the PCGS announcement late last year that CoinFacts would be available to hobbyists for free, competitor NGC has launched a nifty, enhanced price guide that contains many of the same features as CoinFacts, with graphics, census data, and auction prices. In a news release earlier this month, NGC claimed that its U.S. Coin Price Guide […]
CRACK-OUT OR RECONSIDERATION? See these results!
Recently in an estate auction I won more than 50 lots of coins in older green PCGS holders, which traditionally have the allure of being conservatively graded and deserving of upgrades. For several years now I have been submitting my own coins to the top holdering companies, paying an annual fee for that privilege to […]
FLAWED GOLD: How to Spot and Lessen Risk
With the price of gold at less than $1100 per ounce, many hobbyists are buying old coins rather than bullion, taking advantage of price and adding raw coins to their collections. However, unlike other numismatic items, raw gold comes with more potential problems because of the soft metal, history of counterfeits, improper care and, lest […]
PCGS Prepares Labels for Mint’s 2016 Classic Commemoratives
Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) announced today that it is developing a full suite of attractive labels for 2016 coins commemorating classic designs by the U.S. Mint, featuring .9999 24-karat gold coins in the original size of the Winged Liberty dime, Standing Liberty quarter dollar, and Walking Liberty half dollar. The Winged Liberty dime, designed […]
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