Tag Archives: News

How to Submit and Choose a Holdering Company

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Grading is expensive. If you don’t know how to grade coins, buying ones from top-tier companies mentioned here will be your best bet. If you want to send you coins to a company, though, you had better know the various companies and which ones to avoid.

Also, some general price an submission rules. Go to the site of the top companies here and read their price and submission guidelines:

If you decide on a company, be sure to note whether it has membership fees. You’ll also have to pay grading, handling and mailing fees. If you want photos of your coin, you’ll pay more. If you are submitting error coins, you’ll pay again. As such, you don’t want to join a company and send in one coin. Figure at least five.

And you will have to fill out forms and use the correct flips for submissions.

Each holdering company has its own rules, but two stand out with their grades so consistent that they were considered sight-unseen buys in the pre-internet era. Those are PCGS and NGC.

TOP TIER

My favorite for U.S. coins is PCGS because of its spectacular TrueView photos and set registries. Here’s one from a coin that I sold recently at GreatCollections, an MS68 1990 American Silver Eagle that looks like a flag, primarily because it was stored in corrugated cardboard.

NGC grades as consistently as PCGS. I recommend it for ancients.

Both PCGS and NGC have shortcomings. For instance, they are inconsistent with toned coins, often calling them artificial. But I always recommend the two if you are considering grading.

CAC (see photo below) is as consistent or even more so than NGC and PCGS. But it’s relatively new to the grading game as it initially was founded as a fourth-party grading company, in essence, affirming (or not) grades of PCGS and NGC. One drawback concerns those assembling a set of PCGS or NGC to compete in registry sets. CAC is not there yet but will be in time.

SECOND TIER

Second-tier reliable grading companies include ANACS and ICG. ANACS coins in my view are close to PCGS/NGC in grading. ICG, less reliable.

Older ANACS holders sometimes are rigorously graded, as in this one:

Here is an 1878-S MS64 by ICG (I say MS63 at PCGS):

THIRD TIER

A few other holdering companies are hit-and-miss with a tendency to overstate grades and to overlook flaws. Nevertheless, they are somewhat reliable. I place them in a third tier. I would not submit to these. But I do at times see coins accurately graded. Some, like PCI, were taken over by unreliable companies. Look for old green and yellow PCI holders and SEGS and Numistrust holders. See below. I always look at these coins at auction and rely on my grading ability to affirm their grades. Personally, I like SEGS the best but have spotted common flaws on some of its coins, including pin scratches. So again I inspect rigorously.

BOTTOM TIER

These are some holdering companies I skip right over, not wasting time, because the grades are usually inflated and flaws, overlooked: SCG, National Numismatic Certification, newer PCI, PGA.

Here are examples:

JUST MY OPINION

Keep in mind that this post is based on my opinion and experience. You may think differently, experience different results, and even prefer lower tiers to PCGS and NGC.

But here is a warning if you are buying coins housed in these lower holders: Do not look up the year/date/mint mark on the PCGS or NGC values sites. All grading companies use the Sheldon 70 scale, but different grading standards mean different values. Read this post about that.

If you like posts like this, subscribe so you can be informed whenever there is a new article or column.

Proxiblog also has thousands of followers on Facebook Coin Groups, YouTube and other social media. To get the latest discussion and commentary, be sure to friend us by clicking here.

You can find more information about types, varieties, errors, grading, bidding and buying in Coin News Updated: The Essential Guide to Online Bidding. Please consider buying or gifting the work for a friend, as it underwrites this hobbyist blog. Thank you.

Visit Numismatic Crime Information Center

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The Numismatic Crime Information Center is one of the most comprehensive and important sites for coin shop dealers, hobbyists and the public at large.

It was founded by Doug Davis, whom I have admired for years and from whom I receive email updates about numismatic theft. His personal story, which you can read by clicking here, showcases his integrity, empathy and police background.

Here’s an excerpt:

In 1985 Doug was the lead investigator in the murder of Robert Rosberg and a close friend, who operated. a coin shop in Pantego, TX. Rosberg was flex cuffed to a table in the rear of his shop and shot three times in the head execution style. The suspects stole over a quarter of a million dollars in coins and currency. For two years, Doug traveled across the country tracking leads, which resulted in the arrest of three suspects who were later convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Based upon the investigation, the ringleader, Forrest Leon Ethington, was later charged with the killing of Dallas coin dealer Dewayne   Frost and responsible for eight-coin shop robberies in southern California. 

Davis soon realized that law enforcement lacked the necessary skills and resources to cover numismatic crimes. He has helped that effort and continues to do so with regular alerts.

Here is a recent report, which I also received via email:

“A dealer traveling home from a coin show in Alexandria, MN stopped to eat and while inside an unknown suspect/suspects entered the victim’s vehicle by punching the driver’s side door lock. The suspect/suspects removed several tubs of coins. Investigators are currently reviewing video for additional information.”

Another highlight is the news tab. You can find an archive of educational and current incidents in addition to news about counterfeits and other threats to the hobby.

My numismatic book, Coin News Updated: The Essential Guide to Online Bidding, covers numismatic crimes in online auctions, concerning no-pay bidders who defraud dealers with fraudulent credit cards, gold scams and other deceptions.

Brad Lisembee, owner of Capital Coin Auctions, are among sellers interviewed in that chapter. “Fraud — particularly credit card fraud as well as counterfeit coins — has gotten noticeably worse in recent years, as more people realize there is a lot of interest in coins as well as a lot of money changing hands.”

Those facts–the value and investment of coins–is why we need Doug Davis and the Numismatic Crime Information Center. You can make a donation to the NCIC by clicking here.

If you like posts like this, subscribe so you can be informed whenever there is a new article or column.

Proxiblog also has thousands of followers on Facebook Coin Groups and across social media. To get the latest discussion and commentary, be sure to friend us by clicking here.

You can find more information about types, varieties, errors, grading, bidding and buying in Coin News Updated: The Essential Guide to Online Bidding. Please consider buying or gifting the work for a friend, as it underwrites this hobbyist blog. Thank you.

Fake Ancient Drachm

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Ancient coins are copied for a number of reasons, selling as souvenirs in museums and tokens in online venues like Etsy, eBay or Amazon. They are also frequently counterfeit, preying on bidders who lack knowledge of ancient numismatics.

As such, these are among the most risky to bid on in HiBid, Proxibid, LiveAuctions and similar platforms.

I won this fake Aegina drachm with a bid of $35 from a HiBid seller who described it as authentic. The description did not include weight.  These coins typically sell for hundreds of dollars.

When I received the token, I could tell it was cast rather than struck by inspecting the rim and surface. I used my coin microscope to get a closer look at the casting. Notice the fine bubbles rather than struck silver imprints.

Here is an authentic drachm, ca 350-338 BC, 18.5 mm, 5.81 g.

My token was underweight at 17 mm, 5.7 g. Worse, it was base metal. Look at the rim of the token in this photo, and you can see why this is a counterfeit rather than an ancient coin. The rim is smooth rather than rounded.

Granted, my fake drachm had the right inscriptions and devices, a tortoise with a segmented shell on the obverse and an incuse pattern with N-I in the upper sections and a dolphin swimming in the lower left section. But my fake’s devices had the mushy look of the casting.

My advice is to learn all you can about ancient coins by purchasing guidebooks or visiting educational sites like Proxiblog. Better still, even with that knowledge, often it is difficult to detect counterfeit Greek and Roman coins based on seller photos alone. You need a lupe and the coin in your hand to be sure. So go to established auction sites like GreatCollections or Heritage to buy holdered coins.

Here’s a turtle stater, Isle of Aegina c.525-480 B.C., 12.09 g, that I won in a GreatCollections auction for $591 realized price.

It’s in my bank box with a few other ancient coins.

If you like posts like this, subscribe so you can be informed whenever there is a new article or column.

Proxiblog also has thousands of followers on Facebook Coin Groups and across social media. To get the latest discussion and commentary, be sure to friend us by clicking here.

You can find more information about types, varieties, errors, grading, bidding and buying in Coin News Updated: The Essential Guide to Online Bidding. Please consider buying or gifting the work for a friend, as it underwrites this hobbyist blog. Thank you.