Hello fellow collectors, I am new to the collecting world. Within this time I have never experienced the amount of missinformed dealers as I have recently. My daughter is 19 and is a Cadet for the Army National Guard. While she was in San Antonio she visited a dealer and saw a 1964 Kennedy Half Dollar which interested her. While seeing the coin she noticed it was graded MS 68 by UNC. She inquired about the price and dealer said " Since you are an officer in the Army and are protecting the best interest of our country I will give you a great deal". The dealer then told my daughter he would sell it for $20.00. That obviously is a great deal, if in fact it was an MS 68. My daughter asked about the reputation of UNC, and the dealer stated it was a reputable grading company. To make a long story short, is the coin worth $20.00 and could it be an MS 65 instead of the so-called MS 68. Is it even worth the effort and the money to have it shipped to a grading company such as PCGS. Please advice Thank You
UNC - United Numismatic Company - Self slabbers. Not a TPG company. They essentially grade and slab their own coins. You could do the same with blank slabs and called it Ferreram Numismatic Company. Here's a link to ebay's guide to Third Party Graders: http://reviews.ebay.ca/Guide-to-Third-Party-Grading-Services-for-coins_W0QQugidZ10000000004417463
Thanks for the info. Is there any way to tell if it is worth at least $10.00. That would be half of my daughter investment and the rest is would be written off as a learning exp for both of us.
If it's mint state, it's probably worth right about that. The silver content is worth over $6.50 by itself. $13 is a cheap lesson to learn... Very cheap.
If you could post a picture of it we could possibly give a guess at it's grade. One thing to note, never buy slabs slabbed by unknown companies. There's a chance it's a fake Chinese slabber who slabs fake coins that they make.
Thank you all for answering this post. I am glad that this web site exists for all of us " new kids on the block" I have become a more informed collector since finding this great site. Again thanks to all and I will certainly keep a more watchful eye in my upcoming purchases.
Welcome to the neighborhood! As you discovered, there are some dealers who can't be trusted to give you an honest answer. This doesn't appear to be a case of the dealer simply being misinformed because it is his job to know if a grading service is reputable or not and also how that service's "product" would be viewed by most veteran collectors. If the dealer had been doing his job, he would have given your daughter the pro's and con's regarding the value of the coin in the UNC slab. Since you both are new to numismatics, I would strongly advise that when you consider buying certified coins, stick to the major services.....NGC & PCGS. Please convey to your daughter my thanks and appreciation for her service to our country. Chris
And I strongly second that emotion! The only certified slabs I deal in as a rule are NGC and PCGS. And thanks to you and your daughter for your sacrifices.
