Some of already you know, whiles others don’t, but it’s a fact that the Presidential Dollar Program is a bust. I liked the idea and still do, but it’s costing tax payers a lot of money. It’s not a good time, for any government program, to be considered an obvious loss of money during an era of spending cuts as we’re are enduring presently.

I wonder what decision Congress will make on this matter? Will they just cut the mintage of each coin? Will they cease the Presidential Golden Dollar Program forever? Or will they suspend it, for a later time, until it’s more economical to continue production?

Watch this video and you will see a need for swift action. Click the title of this article to view entire article and watch video.

Many collectors ask which coin grading service are most reputable, and are confused about which coin grading services are accurate and consistent. This is easy to answer since PCGS, NGC, ICG and ANACS are the most trusted and recognized coin grading companies in the business. They are the most reputable services, and consider so by all the majority of the experts, collectors and dealers. While NTC, PCI, SEGS, and Dominion Grading (formerly PCI), all get some respect, but no matter which coin grading company holder one is looking at, always examine the coin carefully, compare it to other coins of the same grade, and buy the coin for the grade it appears to be, and not for what the holder claims.

Suffice it to say, any coin grading service that’s NOT mentioned on this home page, I do NOT recommend, and neither do the experts. I have several other pages where visitors can see who I don’t recommend. If you would like to check out these other coin grading services then click on the link at the bottom of this text. I have researched over 124 coin grading companies or so-called services, and very few meet the mark. As a matter of fact, most are down right hideous at grading coins, to the point where in most instances, must be purposely unscrupulous undertakings, to say the least.

Don’t ever think, or even believe, that just because a coin is in a thick plastic holder that it’s accurately graded. Furthermore, I don’t care what the seller of these so-called slabs claim, they could promise you the moon, but don’t fall for it. The holder might look professional and have some fancy bar code, stickers or hologram stickers, a decorated label, and is a great deal on a high grade coin, but it’s nothing more a lie and a fraud.

I don’t think the question is “Which grading services are reputable”, but “Which ebay sellers are reputable”, and I say this because any non-greedy, honest and well educated numismatically a sellers is, the less likely they will sell over-graded coins, or coins with problems, touted as a high grade.

 Related Link 124 Third Party Coin Grading Services 

TPGS and Coin Grading Forum

Recently, Heritage Auction Galleries released an interesting top ten list for the highest valued US Coins sold by Heritage with a details grade of AG or lower. (For collectors that don’t know, a coin assigned a grade and details like “AG details”, for example, is a coin that would grade AG but it has been cleaned or has an altered surface.) The ten highest valued US coins sold by Heritage with a details grade of AG3 or lower: 1802 H10C NCS. AG Details, sold for $25,300. 1797 50C Fair 2 PCGS, sold for $20,701. 1794 1C Starred Reverse. S-48, B-28, R.5. AG3 NGC. Good 4 EAC, sold for $20,700. 1794 1C Head of 1794 AG3 PCGS, sold for $19,550. 1796 1/2 C With Pole AG3 PCGS, sold for $16,675. 1849 $5 Oregon Exchange Co. Five Dollar Fair 2 PCGS, sold for $14,950. 1796 1/2 C With Pole NCS. Fair Details, sold for $12,650. 1796 10C Fair Details, NCS. JR-7, R.8, sold for $11,500. 1802 H10C AG3 Details, NCS, sold for $10,350. 1802 H10C Fair Details, Net Poor 1, sold for $10,062. Some photographs are posted under the Fair Use doctrine of Copyright Act of 1976, 17 U.S.C. ? 107 for the purpose of criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research.

On September 22, the United States Mint gave collectors and the public a glimpse of the four different Lincoln cent reverse designs which will be used in 2009. Not only does 2009 hallmark the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth, it also marks the 100th anniversary of America’s most popular and favorite copper coin – the Lincoln cent.

The Lincoln cent coin has circulated throughout this country for almost a century. We have all spent or received this coin in change at one time or another and that would include our parents, grandparents, great grandparents and so on. In a few months, the defining moment will come and we will all have the opportunity to handle the new, redesigned Lincoln cents.

The U.S. Mint has not only successfully redesigned America’s most popular copper coin, but it has also strategically been able to introduce and redesign the coin in significant years – 1909, 1959 and now in 2009 – signifying important milestones of the coin and Abraham Lincoln himself.

The first of the four different reverse Lincoln cent designs will be released on February 12, which happens to be Abraham Lincoln’s birth date. The remaining three designs will subsequently be released throughout 2009. All four designs will display images of significant moments in Abraham Lincoln’s life. For more information about the new redesigned Lincoln cents you can log on to the U.S. Mint website at www.USMint.gov.