Proxiblog is sponsored by

Liberty Shops Auctions

Welcome to Liberty Trading Post!

Liberty Shops Auctions, also doing business as Liberty Trading Post, continues to set standards on Proxibid, the latest being the top seller! A newer top-ranked house on Proxiblog, auctioneer Sean Cook has helped his company win Honorable Mentions in our annual awards program for the best timed auction, the best value added, the best descriptions and the most improved.


Sean continues to innovate, with his latest being a focus on bidder confidence. He encourages bidders to know more about numismatics because he has seen too many purchasing altered, counterfeit and hyped coins on the portal. So he has issued a challenge with this sponsorship:

The first person registered on one of his coin auctions (for verification purposes only, as you don’t have to bid to win)–and to email him the correct answer to the question below–will receive an American Silver Eagle worth $38 retail.

    Background: In 2007, the public’s ire arose at the suggestion that the US Mint was producing a “Godless Dollar.” Click here to read a CBS News story about that. The public outcry was so intense that the Congress passed a bill mandating that “In God We Trust” no longer appear on edge lettering but on the face of the coin, which the government began minting in that manner in 2009. Turns out that as many as 50,000 2007 Washington Presidential dollars, out of a mintage of more than 300 million, lacked edge lettering that stated “In God We Trust,” a motto appearing on US circulating coinage since the two-cent 1864 coin. But around this date the United States considered a transitional pattern coin that not only preceded and therefore lacked the motto, but also lacked the name of the country.

    godless

    Question: What transitional pattern coin, which hobbyists still collect as part of a series, not only lacks “In God We Trust” but also “The United States of America,” making it a Godless Exile coin?

Proxiblog will reveal the problem on Monday.

We also hope that you will visit Proxibid’s top seller, Liberty Shops Auction, which includes inexpensive shipping and ZERO buyer’s premium. Sean Cook communicates quickly with bidders and focuses on customer service to get return bidders. His company’s values include warm, pleasant and friendly interaction.

If you are interested in bidding in or consigning to his auctions, or in visiting his online store, feel free to contact him at:

Email: libertyshops@hotmail.com
Web: http://www.libertytrading.net/

Sean Cook
Liberty Shops Auction Service
Vandalia, Illinois
618-283-9244 or 618-283-9156

Proxiblog thanks Sean Cook and Liberty Shops Auctions for sponsoring this week’s Proxiblog and for donating to our scholarship fund. While we welcome donations from our audience, Proxiblog invites high quality houses for sponsorship because we want to promote the best on Proxibid to our viewers.

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Win a Collector Kit from our Sponsor!

Liberty Shops Auctions

Welcome to Liberty Trading Post!

Liberty Shops Auctions, also doing business as Liberty Trading Post, continues to set standards on Proxibid, the latest being the top seller! A newer top-ranked house on Proxiblog, auctioneer Sean Cook has helped his company win Honorable Mentions in our annual awards program for the best timed auction, the best value added, the best descriptions and the most improved.


Sean continues to innovate, with his latest being a focus on bidder confidence. He encourages bidders to know more about numismatics because he has seen too many purchasing altered, counterfeit and hyped coins on the portal.

Sean also supports youth numismatics. “I am always looking to introduce coin collecting to the younger generation.”

You don’t have to be a student to enter; but you do have to know one you’d like to introduce to coin and currency collecting. You also need to register via Proxibid in one of Liberty Shops Auctions’ sessions. (You don’t have to bid to enter the contest!)

The winner will receive a group of coins, a grading book, a value guide, and some collecting folders. “The value wouldn’t be huge,” Sean says, “but it would be enough to get someone interested and introduced to the hobby.”

Proxiblog also enthusiastically supports youth numismatics. Here’s the challenge for Proxibidders who know a K-12 pupil or high school/college student who might be interested in collecting: Suggest a youth game that kids through teens can play in a group setting, like a local coin club.

For inspiration, visit this Coin World link featuring just the kind of activities that Sean Cook wants to see to spark interest in a new generation of numismatists. (You can’t use any of the games mentioned in the article, however.)

Invent a new game and send the details to Sean Cook at this email: libertyshops@hotmail.com. Sean chooses the winner. His decision is final.

Competition closes at 6 p.m. (central time) Saturday, March 2. Winner announced on Monday, March 4, on Proxiblog.

We also hope that you will visit Proxibid’s top seller, Liberty Shops Auction, which includes inexpensive shipping and ZERO buyer’s premium. A few other coin auctions have offered low or zero buyer’s fees, but Liberty Shops Auction adds value to that with customer service, grading expertise and numismatic descriptions accompanied by expandable visuals so that bidders know what they are getting in word and photo.

Sean Cook also communicates quickly with bidders and focuses on customer service to get return bidders. His company’s values include warm, pleasant and friendly interaction.

If you are interested in bidding in or consigning to his auctions, or in visiting his online store, feel free to contact him at:

Email: libertyshops@hotmail.com
Web: http://www.libertytrading.net/

Sean Cook
Liberty Shops Auction Service
Vandalia, Illinois
618-283-9244 or 618-283-9156

Proxiblog thanks Sean Cook and Liberty Shops Auctions for sponsoring this week’s Proxiblog and for donating to our scholarship fund. While we welcome donations from our audience, Proxiblog invites high quality houses for sponsorship because we want to promote the best on Proxibid to our viewers.

Free Collector Giveaway Tomorrow!

checkback

Do you know a youth, teen or student who’d like to collect coins and currency? Check back tomorrow to see how you can win a collector kit–coins, folders, and more!–to get him or her started in the hobby!


Sean Cook, auctioneer at Liberty Shops Auctions, says his sponsorship of a free Silver Eagle giveaway drew lots of positive responses. “I am thrilled at how many we received,” Sean says.

He also issued a challenge: “I am always looking to introduce coin collecting to the younger generation especially college students. I would like to do something on a regular basis in an effort to make more people interested in numismatics. I would like to have a student giveaway once a month.”

You don’t have to be a student to enter; but you do have to know one you’d like to introduce to coin and currency collecting. You also need to register via Proxibid in one of Liberty Shops Auctions’ sessions. (You don’t have to bid to enter the contest!)

The winner will receive a group of coins, a grading book, a value guide, and some collecting folders. “The value wouldn’t be huge,” Sean says, “but it would be enough to get someone interested and introduced to the hobby.”

Proxiblog also enthusiastically supports youth numismatics. Check back here tomorrow for rules and win a kit for a kid!

Proxiblog is an independent entity with no connection to the auction portal Proxibid. Our intent is to uphold basic numismatic standards as established by the American Numismatic Association and the National Auctioneer Association and to ensure a pleasurable bidding experience not only on Proxibid but also on similar portals such as iCollector and AuctionZip.

Silver Eagle Won Within Hours

1879CC_TradeDollar

An astute viewer took up our and Auctioneer Sean Cook’s challenge of identifying the primary flaw of the above picture, an 1879-CC Trade Dollar, a counterfeit coin in as much as the last circulating Carson City trade dollar was minted in 1878.

Trade dollars were minted for export as the US Government needed a large silver coin to compete with the Mexican 8 Reales. Trade dollars weighed 420 grains, a little heavier than the Morgan dollar.

Business strike trade dollars were minted from 1873-78. They have the distinction of being a popular counterfeit coin, flooding the US market from China. Other coins often counterfeited are quarter eagle and $3 gold pieces. These typically come from the Middle East and were sold to tourists there during the 1960s. California fractional gold made of brass or gold plate ranks as one of the most abundant fake coins because they have been manufactured in the US continuously from the 1880s to this day.

Within a few hours of our post, a Proxibidder (D****7), who registered on Liberty Shops Auctions, wrote:

“Love your auctions, zero buyers premium and lots of value in the coins. I believe that the trade dollar is a fake. It looks like a business strike but, they only made proof trade dollars in 1879. That coin does not have proof like surfaces. So either it was heavily dipped to remove proof surfaces or it is a fake. Either way it is not worth much more than any silver content. Thanks for the contest.”

When informed that he was the winner, as the last Carson City trade dollar was minted in 1878, D****7 added, “Thank you Sean and Michael. Almost all of what I learned about examining and grading coins at auction, I learned from Proxiblog. Hope that both of you keep up the great work.”

We are so grateful to Sean Cook and Liberty Shops Auction for sponsoring this Silver Eagle giveaway to promote grading and coin-buying skills. If you are an auctioneer and would like to arrange a free-giveaway sponsorship, please write to Proxiblog at this address.

Congratulations to D++++7 and to all who sent in answers to Sean Cook. Watch for more such sponsorships from Liberty Shops Auction!

Proxiblog Is Sponsored By …

Liberty Shops Auctions


Welcome to Liberty Trading Post!

Liberty Shops Auctions, also doing business as Liberty Trading Post, continues to set standards on the Proxibid coin portal. A newer top-ranked house on Proxiblog, auctioneer Sean Cook has helped his company win Honorable Mentions in our annual awards program for the best timed auction, the best value added, the best descriptions and the most improved.

Sean continues to innovate, which includes inexpensive shipping and ZERO buyer’s premium. A few other coin auctions have offered low or zero buyer’s fees, but Liberty Shops Auction adds value to that with customer service, grading expertise and numismatic descriptions accompanied by expandable visuals so that bidders know what they are getting in word and photo.

Liberty Shops Auctions regularly features Proxibid sessions that include U.S. and World gold coins, GSA dollars, Morgan and Peace Dollars, Walking Liberty Half Dollars, Kennedy Half Dollars, Mercury Dimes, Indian Head Cents, Type Coins, as well as all modern issue coins and bullion.

Sean Cook also communicates quickly with bidders and focuses on customer service to get return bidders. His company’s values include warm, pleasant and friendly interaction.

If you are interested in bidding in or consigning to his auctions, or in visiting his online store, feel free to contact him at:

Email: libertyshops@hotmail.com
Web: http://www.libertytrading.net/

Sean Cook
Liberty Shops Auction Service
Vandalia, Illinois
618-283-9244 or 618-283-9156

Proxiblog thanks Sean Cook and Liberty Shops Auctions for sponsoring this week’s Proxiblog and for donating to our scholarship fund. While we welcome donations from our audience, Proxiblog invites high quality houses for sponsorship because we want to promote the best on Proxibid to our viewers.

“People come into our shop with coins that have been slabbed by a self slabber and the buyer paid huge money for them. The looks on their faces when I tell them the truth about there coins is very disheartening, and some get very upset and angry.

“Just about six weeks ago a gentleman came in with three coins. A 1878 S & 1884 O Morgan dollar in [bottom-tier slabs]. All three graded as MS67. The holders look great with certification numbers a barcode and the whole works. He told me that he paid in total over $8,000 for the coins and had a receipt for them from about 2 years ago from what appeared to be a legitimate coin company. He wanted to know for sure so he asked us to send them to NGC for him.

“So with him still present, we photographed the coins, filled out the grading service papers and sent them off. We received them back last week. The 1878 S graded ‘Unc Details, Improperly cleaned,’ 1884 O graded “MS 63,” and the 1885 graded “MS64. So in all there might be $200 worth of coins a total loss of around $7,800 + the grading fees.

“This is one of the largest losses I have seen, but I am sure it happens all the time. If it looks too good to be true it probably is and if it isn’t NGC, PCGS, ANACS, ICG make sure [the holdering company or seller] has a good return policy.”

Email: libertyshops@hotmail.com
Web: http://www.libertytrading.net

Sean Cook, Numismatist and Auctioneer
Liberty Shops Auction Service
Vandalia, Illinois
618-283-9244 or 618-283-9156

Proxiblog’s next to last rankings of 2012 shows the level of competition by some of the best houses on the portal. Our rankings are based on our personal experience. Your experience may differ from our reviews. That said, let’s look at the innovations being made on Proxibid.



So very little separates our top 10 houses. Western claims the sole #1 spot because of superior consignments that grade well with the most rigorous holdering company in the business, PCGS. Speaking of PCGS, Weaver Signature Coin and Currency Auction sold a rare Regency holdered Morgan, which we won in a bidding war and which is being profiled in an upcoming edition of Coin World!

Whenever Leonard Auction and Capitol Coin Auction host a Proxibid session, you can be sure of some of the best consignments being offered with PCGS-accurate grading … and intense bidding. Auctioneers John Leonard and Brad Lisembee rank among the most knowledgeable and competitive coin sellers in the business. You can count on their photography, too. We’re never disappointed.

Sean Cook and Larry Fuller also are consummately professional graders. Cook manages Liberty Shops Auctions, a house that continues to rise in the rankings because of 0% buyers’ premium and fine photography with inexpensive, quick shipping. We’ve touted Larry Fuller of SilverTowne more than any other grader on the portal. Larry had to take a short break in the past few months. We didn’t realize that but saw a small decrease in grading. That’s how we found out about the hiatus of our friend, who is back and grading again, for which we are thankful.

SilverTowne also has scheduled regular timed auctions. Some real bargains can be had there.

We also appreciate Darron Meares of Meares Auction, one of the most knowledgeable and accomplished auctioneers in the country. He’s making innovations again in lower buyer’s premiums and catering to the seller in stiff competition. We bid often in his auctions, but we do so wholesale, as our intent is to slab and sell our coins and help our scholarship fund. But we have a hard time winning anything wholesale in Meares’ auctions because he’s an expert at drumming up competition. Our hat’s off to him!

Eddie Caven of Key Date Coins provides some of the best coin photography on the portal. He’s been specializing in MS63-65 Carson City dollars, which always brings a crowd, as well as an assortment of older mint sets and uncirculated Franklin halves, among other denominations.

Mark Murphy of Rolling M. Auctions draws competitive onsite and online crowds and offers a good selection of slabbed coins from top companies. We also like Kaufman Realty Auctions whose consignments are nifty. Shipping is a tad slow, though; but if you’re patient, this is a great place to acquire Morgans and uncirculated rare silver denominations.

Back in our top companies is Jackson Auction, which recently had a terrific session with Morgans and slabbed coins from superior grading companies. Auctions Unlimited has a low 10% BP and has offered of late a good selection of mint sets, including rarer prestige ones.

And then there is the slow riser, Back to the Past Collectibles, creeping up from the lower ranks to the top tier of our rankings. We’re seeing increasingly delectable consignments, acceptable photographs and low buyer’s premiums.

We’re also buying from Midwest Coins, which has relaunched with new emphasis on bidders. Owner Charles Commander is a numismatist who ships quickly and is always on the hunt for good consignments.

Consider these top companies Proxiblog favorite sellers, much like you might find on eBay. We’ll continue to bid with new houses and patronize ones in our rankings to cover as many old and new coin auctions on Proxibid. As we state regularly, you may have a different experience as auctioning coins is complex, requiring numismatic skills, labor-intensive photography, and target marketing.

We remain amazed at how our top houses continue to produce, month after month, and serve the hobby.

And as always, we thank sponsors of Proxiblog. You keep us posting, and your generosity is appreciated. Sponsors are invited to showcase their companies, and we only invite those houses whose practices we have known in the long term. We reserve that right. We don’t advertise. We don’t accept payments to us personally as all donations go through the Iowa State Foundation’s scholarship fund.

Finally, we thank Proxibid, especially Jason Nielsen for establishing ever stronger quality control measures. We are an independent site, dedicated to covering the company which, we believe, offers the best coin buys of any portal, including eBay.

ZERO BP, FREE Ship Auction

Liberty Shops Auctions has joined Southwest Bullion in offering a ZERO percent buyer’s premium with APN clearance. Only this auction also comes with free shipping.

Liberty Shops’ coin auction today features silver half dollars, Morgan and Peace dollars, Walking Liberty and Kennedy halves and Silver Eagles, among other denominations.

Auctioneer Sean Cook has tested low buyer’s premiums and free shipping as opposed to a low 8% buyer’s premium and attests that these auctions draw bidders and competition.

Liberty Shops also features numismatic lot descriptions and expandable digital photographs.

Proxiblog is an independent entity with no connection to the auction portal Proxibid. Our intent is to uphold basic numismatic standards as established by the American Numismatic Association and the National Auctioneer Association and to ensure a pleasurable bidding experience not only on Proxibid but also on similar portals such as iCollector and AuctionZip.