I think it's actually pretty cool to do it as a "smallest circulating denomination" set. That's a super cheap way to go. Largest circulating denomination would be fun as well.
That's one of the fun parts of OFEC - there are so many ways to do it. You can create one darn near for free, or drop some serious resources into it.
Ooooh. Not to mention a very beautiful collection - most countries saved their best work for gold and there are some fabulous designs out there.
I've actually been kind of wondering about that. Specifically with tokens, for the most part, unless it's a CWT or other early token, it doesn't seem like grade matters very much at all. Nor does it seem to matter very much if they're cleaned, certified, etc, as long as the detail is there and it's a nice-looking piece. Would you say that's accurate? @Jwt708 and @longnine009 what's your take on that?
Yes, absolutely. Grading with exonumia is similar to ancients. Sure mint state might be appealing but you may never find another example of that worn, holed, corroded token you just found. It's all relative and challenging. I feel that holding out until a better example comes along doesn't apply very well to the tokens I collect thought this isn't a hard rule. Now CWTs I think suffer from being "cool enough" to get swept up in the hype of grading like other U.S. coins and there's a strong enough market to support the prices. There will be tokens, regardless of grade or details designation, that will command strong prices just because you can't get one and there are enough collectors after them. Case in point - I cannot locate a McCord or Mildenhall token and I've only heard of one being auctioned off several years ago that went for strong money.
I have military tokens that were graded = + - or average/typical, above average, below average. Sometimes a medal or token will be called Unc, AU or just circulated--unless you get into popular stuff like CWT or Hard Times tokens.The more popular a series is, the higher is the grading tax. Yes grading tax. It's like having a swanky address in the burbs you'll probably pay a higher tax to live there. Circulated brass tokens that have been cleaned, IMO, don't look anywhere near as hideous as cleaned circulated silver, which reminds me of 60 year olds at the beach wearing spandex. And frankly as much as I like dark toning on any metal, I can't tell naturally toned dark brass from a piss job.
Forget the slabs. Learn the market, figure what you're willing to spend, and learn your series and you'll do great! You'll score absolute rarities for pennies and feel that much better because you have the knowledge.
Yeah, I'm starting to get a feel for some of these things. I like to tell people I collect coins, not plastic, so slabs are not a thing I tend to rely on a whole lot. But, rarity is a whole different ball game when it comes to tokens than for US coins. Something with a mintage of 2000 will come up on eBay once every couple of months in nice condition and sell for like $20 or something. And, even within the ever-popular CWTs, you can get R7 or R8 pieces in high grade for a few hundred. The whole "grading tax" thing is actually pretty natural, when you think about it. If you have a lot of people chasing a limited number of pieces, that naturally drives prices up. And, it creates price discrimination, as sellers try to get maximum value out of what they have. The primary way of doing that is by charging more for higher grade pieces. That's why the Dan Carr stuff sells for more than issue price as soon as they're discontinued.
For me the prerequisites that the TPG’s require are far more important than the designation they end up with… 1) genuine AND 2) gradable (original surfaces, lack of env damage, etc etc) makes the 'tax' worth it.
I agree. For key dates, a guarantee of authenticity is... key. It's nice to have an opinion as to the grade and surface quality, but I can grade myself and I know what I like. More than one dealer has told me I have a "good eye." It's also nice that most slabs are really good physical protection for the coin and help protect it from toning (except for PCI slabs, which actually induce toning!).
