I am on the dole (unemployed) presently, and broke. When all this SNOW melts (2 feet in my backyard)!!!!! Then I can FINALLY go back to doing yardwork and make some serious $$$$ to buy more COINS!!!! Here are photos of my house, lovely Winter scene....
Would an ancient (circa 400 BC) MS 5/5; 5/5 qualify as an MS 69 on this thread?? If not, I only have a few lowly MS66s from the 17th century (1674/5). I doubt if many mints had the quality control or equipment to strike MS69 grade coins going back 150 years. 66 or 67 is all I've seen...… but maybe I move in lowly circles in the world of numismatics Here's an MS66 1674 Moghul dynasty mohur from the reign of Aurangzeb, year 19
Nice one....1934 Wreath Crown! I think an ancient graded FDC by CNG might qualify, since their CH- EF graded coins turn up at later auctiond TPG as MS-65!!!!!! Here is my CNG graded FDC Aureus Diocletian.
In my garage under a protective cover. Do not get much time to ever drive it, I work sunup to dark 7 days a week. Last year, I only had 7 months to work, snow came early (Nov. 8th) Almost five months with snow on ground.... John PS: Seems mindblowing to see your Mohur, struck so long ago, yet in great state of preservation. You never see Zodiac Mohurs in MS-66!
Well in that case here's my Phoenician shekel 400-340BC in MS 5-5. Haven't seen any graded higher but if anyone has, please can you send me the details. Thanks
That Diocletian aureus never fails to blow my mind every time I see it. I put it up there with @AncientJoe's beautifully toned Vespasian aureus from the Boscoreale Hoard as one of my favorite "other people's coins". Speaking of @AncientJoe and the Colosseo Collection, and early supergrade stuff (Ch MS; 5/5, 5/5), I just parted with this piece I got from him. @kazuma78 owns it now. I shall miss it dearly, but it helped pay some bills.
It's a fantastic coin, I cant wait to show it to some of my family who share an interest in history/coins
Thanks Lordmarcovan Its a real crapper, when you have to sell such a gorgeous coin to pay bills Talking about paying bills, hopefully all the snow around here will melt away, so I can go back to work and make $ again I have been off work since November 5th. Still cool here, 4 celsius. John
Just adding on, I wouldn't count ancients here, as they can't accurately be graded on a numerical scale due to their age and method of striking. But hypothetically I would consider an NGC MS equivalent to about MS60-MS63, an NGC Choice MS equivalent to about MS63-MS65, and an NGC Gem MS equivalent to about MS65-MS67.
I've never seen the Gem MS designation on an NGC Ancients holder (indeed, didn't know it existed), but I suppose that shouldn't be surprising, as they are probably as rare as the proverbial hen's teeth.
I've seen a few before, they're hard to find but not as uncommon as you might think. I think they are all given 5/5 5/5 designations (would be weird to have lower and still be Gem). I've seen only one Gem 5/5 5/5 in hand that also had a star for eye appeal; those are the REALLY rare ones. That piece would easily be an MS67 or MS68 in modern terms, and may have been struck as some sort of specimen - it really was hard to believe in hand. It sold for many times what a normal Mint State piece would have, in a Heritage auction last year: https://coins.ha.com/itm/byzantine/...mbnail-022817&tab=ArchiveSearchResults-012417.