Well the Sovereign was first stuck in 1817, so two hundred years is a long time for a coin to be struck. I see your counting modern as the post Medieval era.
That all makes a lot of sense, especially 1 and 2. I didn't consider the "authenticity" issues that may be encountered with higher end coins. And if more time and liability avoidance costs are required, then it makes sense that the fees should be higher. In the least, my Waiter/Hotdog/Steak tipping analogy is nullified. In the end, if people pay it, then it must be worth it. Thanks for taking the time to elaborate.
My offer was turned down also, you would think that after she received lowball offers there might be an issue . Oh well ? Do people working at grading companies get to grade their own coins , if so, I was wondering if it would make a person more apt not to see potential issues . Also would a person be harder on themselves then others they do ? I do not imagine a person would be allowed to grade their own items , or if they are allowed to be in the hobby at all?
Graders can not grade there own coins. My club had a show this month and ANACS came to grade coins and he said when the coins come in the are given a number so the grader doesn't know who they belong to and they can't grade their own coins.
That is what I thought , it would be like a conflict of interest . the number system sounds like it would work well then there would be no favors by boosting your friends coins by a grade or 2. thank you.
I do not remember much about the story (Person, TPG, Who told me, etc), but I remember hearing a story about a guy at one of the currency grading companies. He would intentionally under-grade high end notes, seek them out for purchase, and then resubmit them for grading at the other TPG with the intent of making profit when they came back at the appropriate grade. I can't say for sure whether this actually happened, but it does represent another example of how someone could take advantage of the system. Seriously doubt if this kind of thing is really something that we need to worry much about though.
I have a feeling that that's something that"s pretty far fetched. What's the odds someone would sell the notes and the person would find where they were being sold and then be the high bidder. Most graders know each other too, so it would seem strange for a grader from one service submitting to another service. Also I believe currency is like coins- two graders and one finalizer.
I believe all major TPGs have a "finalizer" confirm the grade assigned by the grader. Therefore, you would have to have at least 2 people working together to pull off this scam.
I have known and admired Barry for years but never more than today when he posted more truth than we get here in many months. This should be the headline banner of ancient coin forums. It is a fact. We see it when we try to help and we violate it when we hope our junk is worth the Million. We hear what we want to hear. That is pretty much my view as well. Here on Coin Talk several of us begged for some time to get an Ancient section separate from the World Coins area. We got it but since then Ancients has added Medieval and we get quite a few posts from what I'd call 'serious' moderns. That left World to mean non-US bullion and spendables (Euros etc.) I don't mind so much and am not so delusional to believe we would be given even more splits to the non-US areas of CT. Those who post moderns to the Ancient section and receive yawns or ignorance rather than the appreciation they expected need to realize that Ancient does not mean anything no longer having an active place in the market place. NGC plays by different rules for their Ancients and Regular slabs. Pretty much my definition of something I won't collect is something NGC guarantees while something Barry or David will handle might be considered collectible if we stretch a point. I most sincerely agree with this statement. However, I could say the same thing about many, many, many coins not 'worth' anything approaching $750 and we all could show examples of things that sold at auction for ten times estimate or reasonable expectation just because two big dogs with big bank balances bumped heads. If we define 'great day' we could go the other way and see $750 take a coin the owner expected to go much higher. That would make it a 'great day' for the buyer. I'm starting to think the best answer when someone asks how much their coin is worth that a reasonable answer would be $750 on a great day. If you have watched sale realizations long enough you know what I am saying. What is a $750 coin? A rough and otherwise undistinguished example of a really popular coin??? The nicest known example of a coin with a few fans but not known to the legions who do not collect ancient coins??? A relatively low end example of a coin popular to ancient specialists that usually sells for much more??? The only known example of something at least two people would not mind owning??? A decent coin that a really wealthy collector wants and has not yet obtained otherwise??? All of the above??????? Below I will show seven coins from my collection. None are for sale and that means not even for $750. I may be delusional thinking someone would pay $750 and you may be delusional thinking that you could but one for that figure. Delusions are what makes coin auctions in the Ancient market. We are not talking about moderns that exist by the roll. You can look here and see which of these you would trade for the million dollar owl. My answer is 'None of them!' I am not offering any of these for $1million but reserve the right to consider bona-fide cash offers over that level. Maybe I don't want to be helped either. Ignorance is fun sometimes. It is, after all, a hobby. Would another $750 add a day to my life or the enjoyment of that day? Would a million? ID's should be obvious but will be provided on request. ex NGC VF 5/5 2/5 "graffito"
After my offer of $255 was declined I received this message from the seller: "The beauty part about empirical reality is that it works without need of consensus. Attached are all the submissions thus far, and a page highlighting the errors in each of the contender coins. Missing earrings are in purple. Missing or smashed crests are in blue, and huge cracks and bits missing are in red. I have to tell you, we are having a laugh riot on this side as well. I even had one excuse with an example that was sent, where I pointed out the earring missing, and the guy said, and I kid you not. "Well that's just because it wasn't centered when they stuck it". OMG, lol, yes my point exactly I said, man, o man. Your welcome to try your hand at it, but as it stands now. This is still the most complete Tetradrachm in existence, with examples rather than idle talk to prove it. Most amazing in my opinion is the horrid "Mint Strike" I left the picture in the case of. I actually approached the NGC after mine was graded, and they said, "It is true that collectors value a complete strike more so than one that has an incomplete strike, but that is not factored into the technical aspects of the grading system". I nearly fell out of my chair when I read that!!! The NGC doesn't take into account the completeness of the strike. Take that to the numismatist boards if you would like something to laugh about, that is a scoop and a half, wow, no wonder half the coins in the examples are missing so much receive "mint" status. I didn't even get into the owl side, most of em were half there or missing legs and letters. P.S. Never mistake a cleaned coin for a complete coin. Cleaning decimates the value of high end coins, any serious collector knows this."
You guys can all scoff, but she will be validated when someone pays the $1,000,000 for her coin!!!!!! I expect that will happen: NEVER.
She sounds crazy as the day is long. This is what I think of when an owl approaches the million dollar mark.
They are common, but very popular. Kind of like in modern coins why coins like the 1909 S VDB commands such a high price without being so scarce.
