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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;airedale, post: 129522, member: 4695&quot;]<b>Two Outa Three Ain&#039;t Bad.</b></p><p><br /></p><p>OK Speedy since you were the only one brave enough. As Meatloaf would say &quot; Two Outa Three Ain&#039;t Bad. &quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>&nbsp;Here are the descriptions!</p><p><br /></p><p>A 1951 LINCOLN CENT WITH NEAR HEAVILY FROSTED CAMEO DEVICES SET AGAINST DEEEEEEEP COPPERY BLACK MIRRORS!!!!! </p><p>Many of you know that 1951 is one of 2 keys to the Lincoln cameo series (1952 being the other) and the contrast on this one is wonderful!!! The frost on the devices is very near heavy and the mirrors are exceedingly deeeep!! Since NGC was tough on this one, it becomes a heck of a bargain. With that word on the grading tag, it would be astronomical. </p><p>THIS PIECE IS A GORGEOUS AND EXTREMELY PRISTINE FULL FIERY MINT RED SUPERB GEM AS WELL…A GREAT COIN WHICH, NEEDLESS TO SAY, BELONGS IN ONE SUPERB SET OF PROOF LINCOLNS. DON’T PASS UP THE OPPORTUNITY!!!!! Superb value relative to a cameo designated example. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>&nbsp;The 1942 Dime!!!! VERY RARE AND BEAUTIFUL !!!! </p><p>One of only a very small handful of Mercury dimes that exist with fully frosted devices yielding gorgeous heavy+ cameo contrast on both sides!!! What a fabulous and very rare extra heavily frosted example of a 1942 Mercury dime…obviously one of the first few strikes from what seems very likely to be the only die pair which produced any cameos at all that year! </p><p>1939 is the “common” date for a cameo Mercury dime. I say that with tongue in cheek…between them, PCGS and NGC have awarded a cameo designation to a whopping 28 dimes of this date out of 4500 1939 examples graded. Next runner up is 1942 with 6 cameo examples out of 8100 graded. The coin for auction here is very rare!!</p><p>This little treasure is quite fairly graded by PCI. It is true that the PCI standard for the cameo designations is less strict than that of PCGS, but folks, THIS COIN SHOULD BE A CAMEO AT ANY SERVICE. The MIRRORS ARE LUSTROUS AND DEEP on both sides. THE CAMEO FROST LEVEL IS FULL HEAVY+ AND EQUITABLE ON BOTH SIDES…A GORGEOUS COIN WITH SIMPLY MAGNIFICENT EYE APPEAL! The surfaces are very pristine and right for the grade level. If this coin were ever to make its way into a PCGS or NGC cameo holder (at any numeric grade), it would instantly become a huge windfall! If you are a prudent buyer, I am sure you recognize that the value here is exceptional. </p><p>FOLKS, CAREFULLY CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN THE CREAM OF THE 1936-42 PROOFS: </p><p>The 2 major grading services are so wound up in discerning the ever so subtle minutia that separates a 66 from 67, a 67 from a 68, etc…that in my opinion, they often miss the bigger picture. As recently as the mid 1980&#039;s, we all bought coins based mostly on our own personal perception of the aesthetic “eye appeal” of a given mint state or proof coin. We were willing to pay more for the nicer, more eye appealing examples...and such examples were assigned &quot;higher grades&quot; by words such as &quot;gem proof&quot; which was nicer than &quot;choice proof&quot;, &quot;superb gem proof&quot; which was better than a &quot;gem proof&quot;. Nobody…I mean nobody…was concerned about the tiniest hairline that only the very sharpest professional could find with his highly trained eagle eye. Today, the &quot;registry folks&quot; stomp on each other to buy a PCGS 69 coin at a truly ludicrous price…and not because the coin looks even the tiniest bit better than its 68 counterpart. Can they see the difference with their own eyes? 9 out of 10 registry collectors cannot see any difference!! They buy it ONLY because PCGS says its better on the grading tag!!!! And to add some real fuel to the fire, if you crack out 10 pre-1972 PCGS proof 69 coins and resubmit them to PCGS for grading, it is exceedingly likely that most of them will get only a 68 on regrade!!! </p><p>It is true that PCI standards for numeric grade, cameo designation, and deep cameo designation are not quite as strict as those of the 2 major services. The fair market prices reflect this quite well (in some cases too well, i.e.. undervalued). But be clear about this: PCI has not lost sight of the BIG PICTURE! Coins with clearly nicer eye appeal are generally awarded higher numerical grades. Coins with clear cameo contrast are awarded the designation without splitting hairs about it (the 2 major services try constantly to split the tiniest hairs). Coins with exceptionally strong cameo contrast are acknowledged with the deep cameo designation again without trying to split hairs! For proofs of the 1936-42 era, there will never be enough cameos designated by the 2 major services to support full collections. There are a few dates/denominations that were simply not made with enough cameo frost to satisfy their excessively strict standards. </p><p>The moral of this story is simple. If you want to build a full collection of really beautiful cameo frosted 1936-42 proof coins don&#039;t hold out strictly for PCGS/NGC examples. Buy them in PCI holders, and/or raw and sprinkle a few PCGS/NGC examples into the collection if you want to and your finances allow it. Your collection will be affordable and tremendously rewarding.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>The Franklin 50 cent piece. The current overly harsh grading of cameos at the major services borders on ridiculous. </p><p>Those of you that follow my auctions know that I’ve been occasionally talking about the fact that NGC now grades cameos just as tough as PCGS. Most of you know that I am a professional in this cameo niche…I sent this coin to NGC feeling totally confident that I was spending my grading dollars wisely…that the coin was going to be graded 67 cameo. </p><p>THIS COIN IS A NO QUESTION 2-SIDED CAMEO!!! JUST LOOK AT IT!!! </p><p>THE PIECE IS VERY CLEARLY ONE OF THOSE REALLY EARLY STRIKE 1955 HALVES WITH HEAVILY FROSTED DEVICES SET AGAINST DEEPLY MIRRORED FIELDS!!!! The fields on both sides are truly superb…they just glisten at you with gorgeous mint bloom. JUST LOOK AT THOSE WONDERFUL HEAVILY FROSTED WHITE DEVICES SET AGAINST STARK JET BLACK FIELDS!!!![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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