I just spoke with ICG today before they closed so I could back up my statement that they do all var. I mentioned "Friendly Eagle" just to trip up the grader He said they do all the Ike varieties and have several books on IKE $ including Ike group publications. He DID admit that they still need to get a copy of the 1836-38 Reeded Capped Bust 50c book. I'll bet ANACS has one and I know NGC uses it. SO YOU ARE CORRECT and I'll eat crow PS I was not going to tell you that I have seen several ICG slabs at shows in the past labeled "Discovery Coin." as it was unlisted and unpublished. Brian Raines owned many of them. Both ICG and NGC have certified a couple of unlisted varieties last year according to press releases in NN and CW. Two of them were Draped Bust dollars.
With your knowledge, I cannot believe you never heard of the Yellow C/F holder I put many of my counterfeit/altered coin collection in ICG holders when I learned that two of the Summer Seminar instructors (Coin Authentication) did for most of their collections.
Is their grading too liberal, or too tight on modern coins. But first, what do you consider a "Modern?"
Icg does have its perks I guess. Come to think of it I'd love to own a Goodacre sacagewea dollar and the ones you want are the original icg ones. I bet bStrauss has got a few
I use, in the vaguest of senses, 1950 as a cutoff date for what I consider "Modern." For the purposes of my statement, let's call Moderns "coins which you might reasonably find in circulation." ICG is far too liberal with them, and is notorious for offering a 70 to coins which are nowhere near deserving. Do you, by some chance, know who owns ICG?
I consider any coin before AFTER 1964 modern; but you and I are old-timers. Many around here were not even born then. This is an interesting question. I may post a poll sometime. IMO, all of the TPGS throw MS-70 around due to pressure from the dealers. IMO, if a box of Silver Eagles is "beat up" there should be no 70's; yet I hear 10% is expected out of a thousand coins Also, I am fairly certain that none of the young graders w/great eyesight use any magnification to grade them! If I collected the series, a 70 that meets my standard might be hard to find; but THEY DO EXIST and I have seen many examples certified as such by each TPGS. I think I know who the ownerS are. Give me a few days to be sure. When I've called any of the TPGS on this matter it gets a little hazy. Usually there is a person who owns a majority, then LOTS of Surprising Partners show up. I'll bet any attorney on CT could easily check corporate records. Now I'm really interested in learning the owners of ALL the TPGS's ...
That was the "Old" ICG in CO with James Taylor. Randy Campbell told a bunch of us the history of ANACS, ICG, and the break-up/switcheroo at a show a while back. I don't remember much of it; but he is going to be at several FL shows and I will take notes this time if I catch him.
I am pretty sure Yaffee and his family own at least most of the company. I never heard of Black Diamond. I'll bet the ownership is "spelled out" in the court documents. SuperDave, I went up the string and YOU are the one who asked the question! are you holding out on us If you know, why don't you answer your own question?
I'm not sure if Yaffe still owns ICG; with all the legal trouble he's been in he could have been forced out. 3 Black Diamonds is his holding company.
Thanks, He is in jail at the moment so I guess it does not matter. Ever watch Lookup? I heard he is incarcerated in Pensacola and they just did a show on that place. No Fun.
Well, they seized his mansion; I can't imagine them letting him continue owning such a large asset as ICG but I've seen nothing about a transaction aside an Administrative Dissolution filed in 2009: http://search.sunbiz.org/Inquiry/Co...ameOrder=INDEPENDENTCOINGRADING P090000244830
I'll be very curious to see your reported results on the sale of these coins via Great Collections. Specifically, will the money you saved on grading be offset by the lower than expected hammer price for the coins since they're in ANACS holders. I know it will be very difficult to correlate these two, but I would be curious to hear back from you after your coins sell. I realized there are other factors that go into realized auction prices than just TPG plastic, but I do believe this is one factor.
I wrote this up last night but apparently the system lost it and I'm too lazy to search it out again. Do a search in Florida for fictitious names for international coin graders and you'll find it goes back to Florida coin graders which is a current company. And as of April 2nd 2015 which is their last filing, Mark was still president secretary and treasurer of the corporation. A business directory search on Florida coin graders claims they had 26 employees and 1.2 million dollars in revenue.
I just found out some new info for you. I appears that 3 Black Diamonds WAS (keyword WAS) a holding company for the ICG operation in CO. It has not been in existence for many years.
I checked the sale prices for similar VAMS graded by NGC and PCGS at GE. Prices weak. VAM collectors - forgot - IMO, most VAM collectors would rather find one unattributed than purchase one UNLESS it is extremely rare or a top condition specimen.
Humm, Perhaps they are bigger than the posters here think. I do know that the present ANACS lost a lawsuit to ICG for (?) a few years ago and is paying off the money awarded.