Why does ANACS do this?

Coins of the British Empire are one of my interests. Hence, I spend a lot of time on auction sites looking at coins with an effigy of a British king or queen on the obverse. And every time I see one encapsulated by ANACS, the coin is flipped so that the reverse is shown on the front of the slab and the effigy is on the back side.

For me, that’s a total non-starter and these coins are automatically off the table. No matter how nice the coin is or how attractively priced it is, there’s no chance in you-know-what that I will bid on it.

I can’t believe I’m the only world coin collector who feels that way. What is ANACS thinking? Why would they turn off buyers that way? What’s the point?

Or is it just me?

 

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Personally, I'd prefer the non-portrait side of BE coins facing the front of the slab.

Not that I have anything against the QE2 portraits, but the reverses are just more interesting to me and have more information (date and denomination, plus the two coins you gave are prime examples of the reverse being the more interesting side.)

The George portrait, though, is much nicer/more interesting (just my opinion) so for those coins I feel it's more of a toss-up (either way would be fine with me.)

Shouldn't the quality of the coin matter more than the orientation of it inside a TPG slab? Or the price?

I mean, I think it's totally fine for you to prefer it obverse facing front...no judgements...but IMHO that's not something that would cause me to instantly ignore an attractive coin. That's a problem easily fixed by money (sending it in to the TPG of your choice to have the coin oriented however you want it) or by just taking nice photos of the coin, circle cropping out the slab, and displaying the digital image as you see fit.

Where I get annoyed is if I submit a coin that's a one-sided toner, or a very valuable die variety (like my Philippine 1908/1908 S/S/S 1 Centavos) where the "important" side isn't facing the front of the slab...especially if I've specified on the submission form that's what I'd prefer.

 

Not for us OCD types.

Otherwise, point taken.

 

I get it - then it's a simple matter of factoring in the cost of re-slabbing the coin as you want it into your purchase price and waiting the appropriate amount of time to get it the way you want it, right?

 

Also, pretty cool Aussie 1959 Proof Florin, mintage of just over 1500 pcs. I consider myself extremely lucky to own the 1963 silver proofs (I bought them in the original black plastic case for silver melt having no idea that was how they packaged proofs.)

It's too bad they didn't have the copper proofs as well (probably dumped them somewhere with a bunch of junk.)

 

I like seeing the date and denomination facing up.

 

So, it looks like it IS just me.

 

That defeats the purpose, though. Easier to just wait until I find the coin I want correctly oriented in a PGCS or NGC slab.

 

I'm with @stldanceartist here; I think the non-portrait side is more interesting too.

I believe all the grading companies might default to slabbing these world coins with the side having the date/denomination facing forward (as they do for most US coins).

There are some coins where it would be nicer to have a certain side facing forward (especially one sided toners) but that hasn't stopped me from bidding on a coin. As was mentioned, if one wants to change it, save up a few coins and send them all in to your preferred TPG with instructions of how to orient them. I understand this would not make financial sense with less expensive or common coins, but if it's something scarce, why pass up the opportunity over something that can be fixed for $30-$50?

 

Why not default to having the obverse of the coin facing forward? Makes sense to me.

Also, most, if not all, US coins have the denomination on the reverse. And I don't personally recall ever seeing a US coin slabbed with the reverse facing forward — by ANACS or anyone else.

 

I believe NGC told me at some point during my prior submission (where I’d specified on the form that certain coins should be oriented with reverse facing forward) that their default is obverse front.

There are probably plenty of people who agree with you. You could do a poll! And bar graphs! Or an official survey and make it scientific!

 

I'm with you there. I've noticed anacs slabs German coins with the reverse facing out. Passed on a couple of nice thalers only for this reason. Passed on a Cyprus 45 Piastres too because the reverse is facing the front. I wonder if they think the coat of arms side is the obverse, but it's not. I don't understand the reasoning either. But I also don't care for the holders to begin with, I much prefer the old soapbox holders and will snatch those up.

 

I think another option we haven’t mentioned is that, for zero additional dollars and minimal effort, OP could crack the coin out of the slab and display it according to their personal standard.

 

Yes the obverse facing forward is the default. However, with many world coins, there isn't always a clear view of what is the obverse. And often the TPGs won't take the time to figure it out.

 

I too prefer the reverse side of these coins, much better than the bust of the royals!

 

I agree with @stldanceartist as well on this one. I don’t have many graded coins but when I put world coins in 2x2s, usually whichever side has the date is in front.

 

As I mentioned above, I don't think the TPGs (or at least the people grading some of these) know which side is the obverse/take the time to figure it out. It could also be that there is no clarity on which side is the obverse.

As for the other comment, some world coins do have the date and denomination on the same side. For US coins, it's just the date and that side usually is slabbed facing forward.

There are plenty of US coins with the reverse facing forward though. Here are just a few example that I had:

 

Sorry to pile on but I too prefer to look at the side without the king/queen on it. No matter what the official designation, I always think of the ruler side as the "back."

 

NGC does this with Greenland Milled coinage "sometimes". I recently sent in a group of Greenland polar bear coins and they all came back with the polar bear facing forward even though the crowned Danish coat of arms is the obverse. I don't mind that they accommodate a request to holder the reverse facing forward, but in absence of that, I think they should holder the obverse facing forward as a default. So in principle, I agree with the OP, but no way would that prevent me from buying a coin that I wanted because it was not facing the way I wanted. Heck, if it bothered me that bad, I would just send it back for re-holder.

 

They know which side is which theyve just made decisions about what side to have forward barring requests by the submitter. Realistically as nice as a lot of world coins are, the crown countries obverses are rather boring being basically the same on everything