It depends upon you want to have graded. NGC is the leading service for foreign and ancient coins. PCGS is the leading service for U.S. coins. ICG...
Here's a close up of the 1929 $2.50. It was graded "BU," and it really is BU about an MS-63 or 64. [ATTACH]
Sesquicentennial Coins? This is in low relief with the sitting president, Calvin Cooledge, on the obverse. He was still alive at the time, but...
The 1800 half cent has it's feet in the 18th and 19th centuries. The obverse was the "new" Draped Bust design. The half cent was the last of the...
This one is graded MS-61. You can like because it's bright and shiney, or you can hate it because it's white and was dipped successfully. [ATTACH]
This 1925-D is my type coin. It's graded MS-65. [ATTACH] I put this set together in the late 1980s. The coins are still all raw. I bought the...
They were all weak for one reason or another. For some reason, the people who were marketing them wanted the half dollar and the quarter eagle in...
There was an earlier commemoratives bubble, before the one in 1989. In the late 1970s and 1980, there was a big promotion for "collector coins."...
I did something similar. I cut back to assembling a set of Two Cent pieces in EF. The speculators didn’t want them.
It’s 1979-80 all over again, which was not a fun time for real collectors. Back then it was the Garret sales. I remember a common date Peace...
They also had to buy stuff from the local population, and the local population would not accept anything but gold.
Finding a “SPOOT” token like that one is really hard. Congratulations!
This marks the first time the mint as put an eagle in a dime since 1837.
You grade the coins on their merits. I don’t know if they are “new blood.” I just know the quality of at some of the recent stuff is not as good.
It started with a book, but this time I Googled it because I have not memorized this stuff and needed a quick answer. Google AI is powerful.
That is an 1868 presidential campaign token. It was from the first time U.S. Grant ran for president. He won. The quote is one he made during...
I use two magnifiers “on the road.” The first one is an old Bosh and Lomb 3x that I use in general. I have a B&M 5x too, but I prefer the 3X. In...
It’s my understanding that the Chinese Government comes down hard on anyone who counterfeits post revolution Chinese coins.
My guess is your piece was struck in 20th century. I am not sure about the finish because the Paris mint did different things in the 20th century....
By a small margin, the most I have paid for a foreign coin was this 1813 British military guinea. These pieces were issued for use in Spain when...
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