Great Collections?

Ya same here great rates
Ive been doing business w/ them since they were Teletrade
Im curious to see how a whole collection does
as Im thinking along those lines

 

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Thank you very much. This larger group was informative and entertaining telling a lot about the various grading services. There were a few coins that even cheapskate me would have bid more than the realization. There were things I did not know existed like a Ch XF with 1/5 surfaces but a few very nice mid grade coins that got no respect from the bidders. This link certainly gives a different view of the site than that of the 89 (up from 45 since last I looked) current offerings. I suggest others of the CT ancients community might benefit from looking at these sold items. I am not suggesting it would be a productive place to shop but the results show a lot about a corner of the market in our hobby that we do not ordinarily see. I was amazed at the number of coins selling for less than the standard slab fee. I enjoyed the one error I found on a slab (not an NGC). Overall it was an interesting bit of time spent looking.

 

JBG => good luck dumping your US coins (hopefully you unload the dead-wood and claw-back enough cash to buy some sweet ancient winners!!)

 

My sentiments exactly. I bought my first ancient on November 2, and by the time I was on my 5th ancient purchase on November 14, I knew my days of collecting slabbed US coins were over. Once I held a 2,300 year old tetradrachm and a few 2,000 year old denarii in my hands, holding a plastic slab with a 50 or 100 year old coin inside didn't appeal to me anymore. I sold off my entire US collection on EBay and at local coin shops over the following two weeks. I have no regrets either, I feel like a little boy in a candy shop every time I go shopping for an ancient coin, and every time I look at my growing ancient coin collection, I crave more knowledge about the past and find myself rekindling my passion for classical history. I've even dusted off my old Roman and Greek history books and began to re-read them.

 

When I collected US coins, I was strange (big surprise) in that I liked to know about the history that even those coins had seen. For example, who was President when my 1806 half cent was made and why did the copper nickel cents result in the Civil War tokens. You are almost forced to do this sort of thing with ancients or at least more collectors do learn a little about them rather than just pushing them into a hole in a blue folder. I really regret that we, today, do not have coins issued under the ground rules of the Roman times with current events reflected in the Happy Days are Here Again cent and the Hiroshima half. If the congress or President were required to approve a new set of designs every year things could get interesting. If the candidates for election were allowed to design them, things could be brutal in an EID MAR sort of way.

 

I continue to have a keen interest in Hard Times and Civil War tokens, because like so many ancients, they have a direct connection to specific people, political statements, businesses, etc. Also, I occasionally find myself at small shows and brick and mortar shops that rarely have ancients. But most of them have at least a handful of tokens to peruse.

 

I know it is a free country and firms can open lots at any price they want--we are not forced to bid. But, putting an $800 opening bid on a Constantine campgate with bad surfaces (a $10 coin) is an indication of something negative.
http://www.greatcollections.com/Coi...-AD-307-337-AE3-BI-Nummus-333g-Cyzicus-NGC-MS

They should be ashamed to be associated with such offerings. If the consignor decides, they should decline that part of the consignment. Too many buyers are not well-informed about value and professional firms should not make a practice of offering coins at many multiples of true "value," possibly benefitting from someone else's error. I see an issue of trust here. I would like to be able to trust dealers from whom I buy.

It is hard to trust a firm that allows such blatant misrepresentation of value.

 

And that's the truth!

 

@John Anthony I'll admit most of the 18th through early 20th century US coinage and tokens are artistically interesting, and some have politically interesting themes too, even if there is not a lot of variety (compared to some other countries or ancients) due to the short spance of time and the many decades some of those coin designs were in production. However, ever since we went down the sterile presidential route, things have gotten bad. Even the so called quarter programs are a joke artistically when compared to the gracefully designed coins of 80+ years ago. Even old commemorative coins from 1894 through the early 50s was far more artistically interesting than most of the borring, sterile, and predictable themes and designs that the mint is popping out these days.

And honestly, over 100 years of the same design for the obverse of the penny, with the most borring reverse designs ever introduced to US coinage. Don't even get me started on the recent obverse redesign of the nickle, or the Presidential dollars. The reverse of the Presidential dollars is especially brutal. They almost look like what you would see a Chuck E. Cheese token artist design for a game token.

 

I like the 2009 Lincoln commemorative cents. The designs are artistically meritorious and they remind me of classic commems. So far, they're the best thing that ever happened to the Lincoln cent imo. I have fun collecting the state and parks quarters out of change with my nine-year-old daughter, but that has nothing to do with the coins.

 

I think the shield is a good idea, but might have benefited from a few more classical touches. Personally I find it a little plain. However, I do wish they had gone back to using a non-politician themes instead of doing a new reverse only. Nothing wrong with Lincoln, but we need more liberties, animals, and perhaps some americana related themes on coins, and it would not be a bad idea to have the designs change every 15 to 20 years...that way you get variety without the expense of too frequent a redesign.

 

I don't care for the shield design at all. It appears to have been intended as a gesture of simplicity, ie. less is more, but it comes across as simplistic. And lazy. At least to my eyes.

 

Like I said, a good idea, but not developed enough. I think they gave some artists a $100,000 government grant to design it, and a two month deadline, and they proceeded to blow the money on wild parties and vacations for 59 days before remembering they were supposed to design a reverse, and slapped something together in 20 minutes the night before the presentation...and presto, we got that plain borring design.

 

they were never Teletrade, Ian left teletrade to start his own company. Teletrade was part of the Spectrum group and is now run by Stack Bowers

 

Update: I shipped my 7 slabbed US coins to "Great Collections" on December 30. Yesterday I recieved an email from Ian Russell &Raleen Endo letting me know the coins arrived and would be processed for consignment.

I will be notified once they are listed and I will be able to view them in "MyGC".

So far, so good!

 

I've had good experiences with Great Collections both buying and selling. Their seller fees are lower than others I have gone to.

 

I have used them three times with excellent results. Payment was quick and any correspondence with Ian was very professional.

 

I have the feeling that these insane prices are being set by the sellers, many of whom are migrating to GC from ebay and other places. I've seen more than a few ridiculous prices at GC, especially for varieties, of late.

 

JA, The overwhelming factor here seems to be "monkey-see-do" GREED If one gets it the others follow in lock step behind.....

 

I have bought coins happily from Great Collections but a lot of others I considered got bid beyond reason. They generally have an excellent selection, at least in the areas I'm interested in.