Recently I begun to accumulate proof ASE. Originally I purchased US Mint proof ASE, and then I switched to NGC PF69 coins. I have 1993; 1995; and 1997 in US Mint proof (velvet inner box with COA & blue or red outer box) The others are all NGC PF69. Is a set of ASE's worth more if they are all NGC? Is a set worth more than the value of the sum of the individual coins? I was wondering if I should try to replace the three Mint proofs with NGC PF69 coins? I understand that it is easier and less expensive to just buy a graded/ slabed coin, rather than submitting coins for grading. If I asked my local dealer to trade my US Mint proof's for NGC PF69 what should I expect him to charge me if anything? The US mint boxed coins are equal in quality in my opinion to PF69. I Thanks for your comments and suggestions.
If it is your opinion that the three uncertified SAE's are of the same (or better?) grade, you might want to consider submitting them to NGC yourself. It would probably cost you in the neighborhood of $40-$50, total, for all three of them under the Modern tier, and that would include shipping and insurance. However, before you decide, find out what your local dealer would charge for the trade (provided he has them). Chris
Unless they've been used as pocket pieces, most ASEs are PF67+. I'd save your money and keep what you have.
Hi from a fellow ASE collector! Personally I prefer my coins in original mint packaging where possible. I spent a lot of time putting together a complete collection of ASE proof and burnished coins in OMP, and to me they're way more appealing both from visual and tactile standpoints than the bullion coins which I bought slabbed by NGC (bullion coins of course never had any OMP). From a quality perspective, as Aslanmia said, as long as you examine the coin carefully for marks/hazing/milk spots then any ASE proof should be at least a PR67 with most being PR68 or higher. Now when it came to collecting the other modern dollars (Eisenhower, Susan B Anthony, Sacagawea) the only way to get them in OMP would have been to buy complete mint sets for each year of issue. That would have been costly, and additionally I have no real interest in the other coins in the sets, so I went with PCGS PR69 DCAM for them. Presidential dollars are available in proof sets without any other coins, so I have those in OMP. Mostly it comes down to personal preference. For the ASEs there isn't a vast difference in price for slabbed PR68/69 vs OMP until you consider the 1995-W proof. There you're looking in the low $3K area for a PCGS PR69 DCAM example, but to get it in OMP you have to buy the 1995 Anniversary set which runs $5.5K - 6K. Have fun collecting! Speedie
In a word, Yes. In more words, if someone is looking to purchase your set which is composed primarily of NGC Graded coins, then I expect that person would not care for mint packaging and in lieu of having to get the last three graded, might just move on to a complete set. In a word, No. In more words, each piece could be sold individually for a total greater than what the entire set would bring. Full sets are usually discounted due to the volume of coins involved.
Speedie Thank you for you comments. I see that you have a preference for PCGS slabed coins. Is there any particular reason that you choose PCGS over NGC? It appears to me that it is easier to acquire the NGC slabed coins, because I believe more have been graded. Therefore, are the PCGS more valuable, because there are fewer available? I believe that PCGS was established about the same time as the first ASE proof was issued.
Ugh. I had a whole long reply typed out with recent results from Heritage auctions and so forth, and when I hit the "Post" button the connection timed out and it disappeared. You'd think by now I'd have learned to copy/paste into Notepad before posting a long reply, but nooooo... The gist of it was that PCGS coins do tend to command a premium in the market. Whether that's justifiable or not is open to a debate to which countless forum pages have been devoted. For me, if I can find PCGS coins for the same price as NGC, in the same condition, then I'll take the PCGS coin every time just for the perceived premium. On the other hand, if I can find equally nice coins in an NGC holder and the price is substantially lower, well, I'm not a brand snob or a registry set addict. You'll notice that for the plain bullion ASEs I went with NGC MS69. They were only really a "complete the set of every ASE ever minted" purchase and I happened to get a great deal on the whole 1986 - 2010 collection, probably 30% less than I could have bought the same coins in a PCGS holder for. As the saying goes around here, buy the coin and not the holder. For example I'm currently looking for a 1964 Kennedy Half in either PR68 or PR69 DCAM. If I can find an equally nice coin in an NGC holder, but pay substantially less for it than I would in a PCGS holder, then I won't hesitate to pull the trigger.
