Need your opinion - Auction house terminology.

Not at all, I agree with you about the definition of fresh and that it's getting nitpicked. That's clearly open to interpretation and even relative to other things.

The disagreement was the specific statement "In the past 20 years you could count on your fingers the number of newly discovered coins - and still have fingers left over. I wouldn't be surprised if you could go back 50 years and do the same thing !" which clearly isn't true whether you mean coins in general or high value coins, unless you want to argue that because they were minted they can't be rediscovered under any circumstances which would be a very extreme position to take to be right.

 

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Umm.. in no way did I dispute your comment, nor have I attempted to argue one way or another. What I did do was to simply and respectfully ask for clarification as to your definition.

 

I'm still just shocked that after Saddle Ridge not to mention all the other finds someone could think that coins of any tier being found could be counted on their fingers. I know some people have 14-16 fingers from deformities, but can anyone recall someone with dozens and dozens of fingers?

 

Good Heavens........are they from here?

 

The auction house is using the term to boost sales.
Sure the coin got a fresh breath before being entombed again and likely a conservation.

 

The last "fresh" coin I can think of hitting the market was the 1854-S Half Eagle that just sold at auction. As Shakespeare said, "there is nothing new under the sun."

 

LOL

Saddle Ridge still disproves this but we can throw in the SS Central Republic find as well. There have been more finds than these though.

Will we start counting fingers by metal type next?

 

PS "specific coin" as you stated is singular. That means by your own words every coin is counted for what it is.

Your statement makes no sense since you're saying to count the "specific coins" but not the number of coins there. So what are we counting?

In college and post graduate school we would have had to differentiate between specific type and specific coin because there is a massive difference.

 

We had a discussion on the "freshness" of coins a few months ago, and the importance of so-called freshness. You can see my thoughts here: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/what-is-a-fresh-coin.309137/

 

I usually ignore these sales pitches. The main purpose of adding stuff like this to an items description is to garner attention. I'm sure that those who have deep enough pickets to bid on these high end coins won't be fooled.

 

I don’t see the value of “fresh”. If I’m looking to buy a particular type of coin in a particular grade, and if I like the coin, I couldn’t care less whether it has sold three times in the last year or has been in hiding for two centuries (two millennia for ancient coins). Besides “fresh” generally applies to coins sold in public auctions or advertised by dealers. A coin could have traded among dealers many times in a short period of time, then pop in a catalog or ad as “fresh”.

Cal

 

The term "fresh" is subjective and opinions vary. In my opinion the use of words that have no meaning to collectors is more troubling. TV sellers have created a cottage industry with distinctions that have no difference. Witness all the FIRST STRIKE garbage that they peddle at high premiums that will never be recovered by the buyers. Adding an autograph of the designer to a label is meaningless too. You'd be much better off getting that autograph on a blank 3x5 card or a photograph as far as the autograph collectors are concerned.

 

Short and sweet for practicality sake; ''fresh'' in this case represents the new level the coin will start its bidding d/t its upgrade. Just be aware of the marketing money trail and the agenda behind it.