Most over/under priced key dates

Several times I've almost started a collection of Canadian dollar coins, but was never quite able to pull the trigger. I think part of the reason is that there don't seem to be any internet dealers who offer good selections of coins from Canada. Maybe coin collecting isn't popular up north.

 

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I'm not trying to be funny but that to me is the best sign of all of under value. I guess it depends on how people view things. High prices usually bring out better material, which is good-- to a point. Better material tends to bring out more eager buyers which is good-- to a point. Once it all becomes too easy and everyone is doing it, I see that as over crowding and over value and probably a good time to ponder the significance of why one can't figure out who the "mark" is in the poker game. But that's just me.

I like to buy stuff just because I like it but only if few others like it. That usually means I don't get to buy much. I'm lucky if I can get a dozen military tokens a year that I like. But I know I'm not over paying and I doubt TPGs will get their hands dirty on specialties that have a small amount of interest. So, if they show up that's my signal that it's time to look elsewhere. I don't want what I collect to be easy. Not because I adore "challenges" or that "the thrill of the hunt" rubbish but because I get a nervous (walking into an ambush) feeling when things are too easy. But that's just me.

 

longnine,

I don't disagree with anything you said, and Canadian coinage appears undervalued compared to US coins. But one criteria I have set is ease of resale. In general, I don't want my family to have any difficulty disposing of the coins at close to fair market value if something happens to me. I bend this rule sometimes with the purchase of Hard Times, Civil War and Canadian bank tokens, which I like. But they are a small part of the collection.

 

I totally agree, in my possession are $60.00 mint sealed bags of 1965 Canadian Proof Like Cents and there is no market to my knowledge, other than raw copper!

 

FOLKS, CAREFULLY CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING IF YOU ARE SERIOUSLY INTERESTED IN THE REAL CREAM OF THE PROOFS:

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 they very often miss the BIG PICTURE. As recently as the mid 1980s, 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 "higher grades" by words such as "gem proof" which was nicer coin than a "choice proof", "superb gem proof" which was better than a "gem proof". 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 "registry folks" 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 the difference!! They buy it ONLY because PCGS says its better on the grading tag!!!! And to add insult to injury, if you crack out 10 pre-1972 PCGS proof 69 coins and resubmit them to PCGS for grading, it is exceedingly likely that 5 or even more of them will get only a 68 on regrade!!!

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 value market prices reflect this quite well (in some cases too well, ie. 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 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 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.

 

John
Let me take a guess---the above "comment" was written by a seller trying to sell a PCI graded coin?
Most collectors that know how to grade and even collectors like me that still are learning will disagree with that and rightly so.
PCI is known to overgrade and always will be untill they shape up.

Speedy

 

You and the other one of the other moderator's ( Roy ) try to continue to protect your PCGS/NCG investments. That is OK but my prognosis is those coveted services will drop to meet the " Second Tier " services some where at about 60% of their value. I thought it was so poor the way " Coin Great " Les Fox was " booted " the moment he offered to offer some legitimacy to this deal!

P.S. I do not sell, but I enjoy buying, not at the ridiculous prices that people pay for the " Top Tier " however. You buy a coin there and you are guaranteed a flaw in less than 70. Buy a higher grade at a " Second Tier " and you might get lucky!

 

Roy???--- ...I bet he doesn't have ONE slabbed coin in his whole collection....and I'm not trying to help out PCGC or NGC---I don't invest in either....I just can't suggest someone use a grading company that doesn't grade right with a clear mind---

Les Fox was NOT booted---the thread was locked and some of his posts were taken away because he had broken the rule we have here of Self Promotion--anyone that does that will have the same thing happen---even if it was a Moderator.
EDITED TO ADD----The thread I talked about above was unlocked just yesterday IIRC.

I also buy coins graded by PCI and second tier like you do---and I have gotten some good deals but lets be honest here those kinds of deals are far and not many.....when PCI started they started out to be a good company---they had a heck of a good grader----he left and so did their grading---most of the time their grading is off by 1-2 points.
I wish they would get back to where they were good---I also would say the same thing for ANACS---Before Mr Taylor took charge I think they were one of the best grading companies around---not many people liked them but I think they graded harder and just as good as NGC and PCGS if not better----now that Mr Taylor took over and they have hired some of the best known graders in the county and now they have IMHO gone over the hill----it use to be a once in a life time chance to see a coin graded by ANACS at a 70....now it is pretty common...

Speedy

 

Perhaps again you will address this again when you turn twenty years old!

 

What a strange comment to make. Someone is right if their facts and reasoning is correct. It has nothing to do with the number of times the Earth has circumnavigated the Sun.

I'm keeping my coins in the old ANACS holders, but I won't buy any in the new holders for now until the smoke clears on their new business practices. Most of the PCI coins I see are priced about a half point lower than the stated grade. For example, an MS64 will be priced midway between a NCG MS64 and 63. This usually isn't quiet enough of a discount to get me interested. I wish PCI was a well thought of grading company because I see a lot of their coins.

 

heck, i am a little offended by that comment...

I do agree with the basic gist of your comment on how most people will not be able to tell the dif. between a 67/68/69/70.

I am also a little disgusted by the registry hounds that only care about the technical grade.

I would rather have an AU-58 coin with superb eye apeal then a junky looking technical graded ms-64.. I have seen a lot of 64's that look like dogs...

 

back to the topic at hand...
I really think that the Roosevelt dime series is undervalued, especially the 1996-W which has an astonishingly low mintage for moder coinage.

 

AU is just about my favorite grade [if there is such a thing]. Some AU coins are very good looking and sell at a fraction of the price that some ugly MS coins go for.

 

lol, yeah, maybe then you will have some experience and will know what you are talking about

 

They are all uncirculated, but even so I still agree with you. I've put away a few of them in the hope that they will perform well. Actually I think the entire Roosevelt series has a fair chance of being undervalued.


The 38D half is overvalued and the 31D dime is undervalued, imo.

 

Good guess Speedy, that is the standard text of a well know eBay seller who offers mostly PCI coins. If he would spend more time selling properly graded coins than trying to convince everyone that his overgraded coins aren't overgraded then he would have a better reputation.

 

How true Speedy, and why I do, and will continue to buy decent 31-s wheaties when the opportunity knocks.

 

You lose Spencer!

I have two PCGS slabs and one NGC slab that I haven't gotten around to cracking open yet. All three contain 18th Century gold, with diameters that don't match any standard US coin sizes. As a result, leaving them in their plastic tombs is cheaper and easier than finding a way to securely and precisely fit them in Airtites,

Thankfully the whole slabbing craze hasn't caught on very well (yet ) among collectors of Japanese coinage. The Japanese grading system more closely approximates the simple adjective system

• poor
• well circulated
• circulated
• uncirculated
• brilliant uncirculated
• gem brilliant uncirculated

than it does either the 70 point Sheldon scale or the modified 160-point Sheldon scale of 1-59 by ones and 60-70 by tenths. :rolling: .