I had to share this article with you guys! NGC will now certify cancelled and defaced dies! This is so cool, though I doubt I will have $25K any time soon to buy a cancelled Mercury Dime Die. https://www.ngccoin.com/news/article/7018/cancelled-dies/
From slapping the PL designation on ANY deserving coin. To the game changing star designation..... Theyve always been the cutting edge, honest, reliable, leader in the industry !!! Not surprising at all imo.
The started it for Fred Weinberg as he stated publicly for his 800+ that he submitted to them. I don't have an issue with it and can see the value to some extent The pricing is a little strange
Why in the blazes do we need these things encased in plastic? This seems absolutely ridiculous to me. If the mint sold it, it will come with a COA that is perfectly acceptable to me. If the mint didn't sell it, there are hallmarks to identify a genuine die. And Fred Weinberg's quote in that article seems to be even more pandering - he could put a die in a plastic bag and put his own sticker on it, and any potential buyer would accept his word based on his reputation. He is the last person on earth that needs a crazy plastic box.
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1010342/ngc-now-slabs-coin-dies-what-do-you-think He posted several times in that thread about them if you want to see more about it directly from him
Thanks for that link. As I am not an active participant there, I did not see this thread. Below are Mr. Weinberg's quotes and my responses. That thread, and Weinberg's explanations, actually soured me even more on these marketing scams! I think the key phrase here is "I think its a great idea." Tell us, @Fred Weinberg , why is it a great idea? Because you say it is really quite easy, usually, to determine if a die is authentic. So, why do we need this new "service" ? Ah, @Fred Weinberg , now we come to it. This new "service" is specifically designed to help you market a huge lot of stuff you've accumulated. Get the TPG on board, put it in some fancy plastic.... and what can you sell it for now? Well, it sure must be nice to have so much pull that you can tell the TPG to add a new service just to help you empty out your garage! Sorry if I sound cynical, but you literally just admitted that you advocated for NGC to add this "service" so that you could sell your stuff. Color me crazy, but that sounds shady as crap!
I wasn't really thinking about the politics side of this when I posted, but now I can see why you're cynical.
Why are there so many nails that end up with the planchets at the Mint?? They each look to be about 3 Washington quarter lengths, and used for wood.
I wanted to think on it a bit before responding. Afted doing so at the moment I can see the idea of trying to expand the market giving confidence with the authentication. You know and I know Fred doesn’t need that but a lot of the market doesn’t. The one thing I did like was him saying he doesn’t think they should be graded. If they do start grading them my opinion might change. I do agree most collectors of that probably don’t see any added value, but if the idea is to expand the collectors of it where they can feel more comfortable when they sell i can see the value. It’s one think to buy it from Fred or Mike, but when you’re the average Joe trying to sell one I can see how that helps them out
What about all the ones they sold years ago as scrap in the late 60's early 70's that don't HAVE COA's? I could possibly see it for the 1996 Olympic proof dies to protect the proof surfaces on the die face. As far as the 1960's proof dies or the state quarter dies I don't see much need for it.