The cert verification tool is a help, but if there are no pictures, it has a limited use. It all gets back to the fundamental point. Know your...
I can’t see a problem with envelope toning, especially when it’s the type that takes years to form. It’s how the original toning got there. As...
Fake coin. The color and luster are all wrong, especially for an “MS-65.” From the sub-par photos, done that way for a reason, it looks AU....
This piece appears to be a KY 640-2a, which means it's made of copper with store card obverse die # 1034 paired with it. In the new store card...
Hard to say ... it varies over time. I enjoy the collection more than chasing after the coins, which different from many collectors. Some people...
Back during the Civil War and for a few years after it, pieces that are considered to be Civil War tokens were made for collectors of that period....
I would say that it is an AU with some red on it. The fields around the rabbit look to be flat with no mint luster. The reverse is more brown, and...
I think he wanted to know what it’s worth, not advice about buying it. The piece has been cleaned, but it’s genuine and not from China, which is a...
Some people think that NGC over grades coins all the time, but i’ve seen it got both ways. I have an 1835 half cent that I bought raw many years...
If you are going to get into Civil War tokens in a big way, you really should get the new store card book. There is also the classic work by...
EF-45. The reverse looks weaker, but I believe I see mint luster in the protected areas, which is part of that grade.
#2 seems to have less surface friction. I would say that one graded MS while #1 did not.
When I saw the photos of this coin, the first thought was that it didn’t look like the silver alloy that I see on the denarus coins that I have. I...
I try to make the point, but some people refuse to listen. There is a difference between cleaning and dipping. Cleaning involves moving the...
Yes, I have done that, and it has often worked. In my experience it takes five or six years, but that’s how the toning got there in the first place.
I view the shipping fees as a wash. If I buy the item at a show, I had to spend money to get there, sometimes a lot of money when you have airfare...
High buyers' fee kill the auctions for me. Yes, you can use your calculator and figure out what you want to bid, but there seem to be a few people...
Many of the big consignors pay no consignors' fee or even get a percentage over the hammer price. It depends on what you can negotiate.
Yes, one of the dumbest buys, in my opinion, are these "first release" slabs which are nothing but marketing. In the old days, early die states...
We now have more than enough commemorative coins. Sometimes we don't get the commemorative coins that should have been authorized, like a piece...
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