U.S. Coin HELP! Blog

Archive for January, 2009

I would like to take the time to introduce our site visitors to a new web page I have developed. It’s called ‘Numismatic Home Page’ and I hope coin collectors will enjoy the wealth of information available on this page.

The Numismatic Home Page offers the latest coin news feeds for US Coins, Mint Error News, Auctions News, Coin Show News, World Coin News, Ebay News Releases, and a Custome Google Coin Search.

I will be improving on this theme and hope it offers coin collectors a page they can make their home page to be contantly informed about the world of Numismatics.  I will be adding features like local weather, time and date, calander, and google earth widgets soon.

I would love feedback on this page and recommendations for how to improve it. Click Here to see it! Numismatic Home Page

 PCGS Grading Process Video

Youtube offers a variety of coin videos, but most are not professional and are poor quality, however, there remain a few that are worth watching. One example, is the above PCGS coin grading process video. The process that PCGS uses to grade coins is of great interest to coin collectors. Watch the video then visit our main website’s coin video page to watch more. Watch more coin videos

Heritage is the World’s Largest Collectibles Auctioneer, but we’re always striving to improve, and so today we are asking for your help. Let us know what you collect and what you’d like to see in upcoming Heritage Coin auctions.

By answering all of these questions fully, you can help Heritage to continue to build auctions with the material you want to see. And remember, if you fully answer this confidential survey you may be chosen to win one of these valuable prizes:

• Grand Prize: Certified Brilliant Uncirculated $20 High Relief!*
• Second Prize: Five winners can auction up to $100,000 of their coins for free (no seller’s commission).
• Third Prize: Ten winners can auction up to $50,000 of their coins for free (no seller’s commission). 

   

• Mint State Saints – There are three more ways to win:
  1. Provide your e-mail address for a special bonus drawing.
  2. Fill out your survey on our website: HA.com/Coins
  3. One Saint awarded for every 1,000 ANA members responding.
• All respondents receive a coupon to auction one coin valued above $1,000 free of seller’s commission – a $100+ value!
• Plus, anyone who fills out the survey and requests it, will receive a free copy of “The Collector’s Handbook” on estate planning – the PNG Book of the Year and the NLG Award for Extraordinary Merit.

*Acceptance of prize constitutes permission to use winner’s name and photograph in advertisements, website promotions, and for other promotional purposes, unless prohibited by law

Take Survey

 
Before the inception of the third party grading service page on my website, I spent many months researching the topic of grading companies, and entered discussions at many coin forums on the Internet.

During this endavour, I was met with many different opinions on the grading of coins by third party services. For instance, ”I don’t need a company to tell me the grade of my coin, I learned through experience how to grade, and so should other collectors” and “I like the idea of having my coins graded, authenticated and safely housed in a sealed holder.” And these are but two of the many variations of thought that I experienced.

Personally, I have certains coin of my choosing, graded by PCGS and feel that companies like PCGS, ANACS, ICG, NGC help enhance my favorite hobby, adding a bit of validity to grading coins that was once an inconsistant practice.  Dealers could call it how they saw it, and unfortunetly not all dealers and collectors saw it the same.

It’s akin to what we see today on ebay where a dealer or a “basement” TPGS grades coins as they see fit, and in a manner that boost profits instead of protecting and furthering Numismatics in general.

With these thoughts in mind. Do we still need third party grading services? If not, what should be done about this delima? If so, then how can it be improved to prevent all the grading scams?

Feel free to enter your comments, I would love to hear them!

Want to learn more about grading companies? Click Here

Here is a link to an ebay auction that I don’t recommend bidding on Click Here.

At least the seller hasn’t used a reserve, but still, SGS seems to always grade modern coins PF70 or MS70, and older coins much higher than the accepted standard. If you do bid on coins in SGS holders, don’t bid more than PF69 or MS69 values for most modern coins, and learn how certain grades look for older coins before placing a bid.

Also, ask for clear and detailed photos of each coin so you might determine the actual grade from your opinion and experience. If the seller doesn’t respond to your email for pictures, or offers an excuse on why they can’t send better pictures,  don’t bid on their items!

A further note, any auction that offers bidders “unknown” or “lottery” lots of graded coins are not a safe method of obtaining coins for your collection. The winning bidder(s) will almost always pay more than what the coins are worth.

The following list displays the United States Mint’s 2009 products and their dates of availability. This list will be updated periodically as dates for products being released later in the year have yet to be set. All dates are subject to change by the United States Mint without prior notice.

Availability Date  

1/5/2009 United States Mint 2009 District of Columbia & U.S. Territories Quarters Proof Set™
1/15/2009 Native American $1 Coin Rolls
1/22/2009 2009 Ultra High Relief Double Eagle Gold Coin
1/22/2009 Kennedy Half-Dollar Bag and Two-Roll Set
1/26/2009 District of Columbia Bags and Two-Roll Sets
2/10/2009 2009 United States Mint Presidential $1 Coin Proof Set™
2/12/2009 Abraham Lincoln Commemorative Silver Dollar
2/19/2009 William Henry Harrison $1 Coin Rolls
3/26/2009 Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar
Spring District of Columbia Official First Day Coin Cover
Spring First Spouse Series One-Half Ounce Gold Proof Coin – Anna Harrison
Spring First Spouse Series One-Half Ounce Gold Uncirculated Coin – Anna Harrison
Spring Anna Harrison Bronze Medal 1 5/16″
Spring United States Mint 2009 District of Columbia & U.S. Territories Quarters Silver Proof Set™
Spring 2009 Presidential $1 Coin Uncirculated Set (P&D)
Spring William Henry Harrison $1 Coin Cover
Spring United States Mint Presidential $1 Coin & First Spouse Medal Set™ – William Henry Harrison
Spring Puerto Rico Bags and Two-Roll Sets
Spring 2009 United States Mint Proof Set®
Spring Puerto Rico First Day Coin Cover
Spring John Tyler $1 Coin Rolls
Spring Guam Bags and Two-Roll Sets
Spring 2009 United States Mint Silver Proof Set™