| Article on PCGS coins from 2012 FUN Show in Orlando | Updated: 1/20/2012 |
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| Early Silver Dollars A Great, Simple Type Set | Posted: 12/29/2010 |
| **Article courtesy of CDN 12/10/2010** Prior to 1878, the year that brought forth the ubiquitous and, at the time, controversial Morgan Dollar, the US Mint endeavored to circulate Silver Dollars on a number of occasions. Today's collectors are fortunate in that they can assemble a Type Set of Early Silver Dollars, prior to the Morgan, which embodies much of American numismatic history, contemporary art, foreign policy, high finance, and ordinary day-to-day life. Such a set provides a great escape from the more commonly collected Morgans, giving beginning collectors a sense of added variety, enthusiasm and appreciation for the hobby. A complete set of Circulated Early Dollars, a total of six coins, can be assembled for as little as 54,000 or less in Good condition. Flowing Hair Dollar 1794-1795 The Mint managed a sparse production total of 1,758 Flowing Hair Silver Dollars dated 1794. Researchers estimate that perhaps 150 exist today. Limited availability and supreme desirability make the transaction of a 1794 Flowing Hair Dollar an exciting event in the numismatic community. When building a Type Set of Early Dollars, the 1795 is the de facto choice for the Flowing Hair design. Much larger production runs result in correspondingly many more survivors. Population data at PCGS show that 1,994 coins have been certified, while the NGC Census accounts for 996. There are multiple varieties of the 1795 Flowing Hair Dollar, most notably the 2 Leaves and the 3 Leaves - these descriptors refer to the laurel branch and the number of leaves adjoined to it on the reverse. Researchers have identified dozens of additional varieties, a phenomenon true of all early Federal coinage from 1792 through 1834. Opting for the more probable sale, minor varieties are regularly offered for Type prices. Coins grading Very Fine represent the most often found state of preservation, which nicely satisfies two very important considerations concerning any Type coin. From the coin-collecting side, the prime concern is the amount of design detail still found on the coin. An opposing concern is the financial consideration. Are there enough survivors to satisfy demand while price levels remain reasonable? PCGS has graded 781, while NGC has graded 340 in grades VF20-VF35. Bid prices for Flowing Hair Dollars have advanced steadily over time. These are up some 300% since December of 1997, when wholesale Bid was $1,500 in VF.. Both varieties of the 1795 are regularly available and offered at similar levels, though the 2 Leaves variety is perhaps a touch scarcer than its counterpart. Lord St. Oswald set aside an example of the 1794 Flowing Hair Dollar, the flagship product of a fledgling Mint, for posterity. This coin resides in a PCGS holder, graded as Specimen 66. The Cardinal Collection Educational Foundation, reportedly paid $7.85 million in May of 2010, thus making it the largest amount ever paid for a single US coin. Draped Bust Dollars, Small Eagle Reverse 1795-1798 By the end of 1795, major changes were made to all existing coin designs currently in use. The Flowing Hair design was abandoned after two years, cast aside in favor of Robert Scot's new Draped Bust design. Scot's conception of Liberty, a much more curvaceous Liberty for sure, was mated with the eagle reverse, the same eagle design paired with the obverse on the Flowing Hair previously. In fact, the very same working dies were used, and are identifiable within the 43,000 that were minted in 1795. These Draped Bust Dollars with Small Eagle Reverse continued to be produced through 1798. Type Bid is $4,260 in VF20 grade. The population of this coin is quite small at 1,674 out of 458,000 minted. Draped Bust Dollars, Heraldic Eagle Reverse 1798-1803 Staunch defenders of the public image were concerned that the eagle, hitherto depicted on the Silver coins of the realm, might be perceived as weak compared to those of the European powers. This proved an easy sell. A major overhaul of the eagle followed, and from 1798 to 1803, production ensued for a new Type, the Draped Bust Dollar with Heraldic Eagle Reverse. Bid for a VF20 example is $2,025, speaking to the much larger surviving population of nearly 5,000 graded examples. Silver Dollar production was suspended indefinitely following the output of the 1803. This situation gave rise to the mystery that was to surround a coin dated 1804, a coin that was without question struck with dies quite similar, if not the very same ones used in previous years. Mint records made no mention nor provision for Dollar coins struck and dated 1804. The mystery surrounding the 1804 Draped Bust Dollar wasn't completely solved until the 1960s. Researchers determined that these 1804 Dollars were struck much later, perhaps 1834-1835, in conjunction with an order to prepare the existing coinage as Presentation Sets for foreign dignitaries. B. Max Mehl championed the hobby in the middle part of the 20th century with relentless advertising campaigns, single handedly bringing great fame to the 1804 Dollar, for which he would buy any and all for $500 a piece. As for those Presentation Sets mentioned, the one prepared for the Sultan of Muscat contained a specimen of 1804 Silver Dollar that sold for $4.14 million in 1999, at that time, the world record for a single numismatic item. The King of Siam Set most recently sold for $8.5 million in November of 2005. Liberty Seated "No Motto" Dollars (1840-1866) To own a Liberty Seated Dollar in any grade is truly a privilege considering that so few have been made available. The Dollars of 1840-1873 were issued in two varieties. The first variety issued 1840-1866, known as the "No Motto" type, was what can be considered the first business strike Dollar denominated coin issued for general circulation since 1803. These Dollars were minted in various quantities each year during their issue period by the Philadelphia Mint, with the New Orleans Mint sporadically contributing production in the years 1846, 1850, 1859, and 1860. The San Francisco Mint involved itself in the coin's production only one year - in 1859 - adding only 20,000 pieces to the total produced. PCGS has graded a total of 7,344 No Motto Seated Liberty Dollars ranging in grades AG3 to MS67, most of which graded XF45 at a count of 967 and a quantity of 796 at AU50. Proofs of this type range in grades PR20 to PR67 with a total submission of 1,622, the bulk of which graded PR62 and PR63. Before any further reference to the No Motto variety Dollar is made here, it is important to note that in the aftermath of the American Civil War, the modification of incorporating the motto "In God We Trust" on virtually all US coinage issued in 1866 was applied to the Liberty Seated Dollar as well. However, two known Proof specimens dated 1866 struck without the motto exist (one was owned by the du Pont family estate) and are, of course, considered to be ultra-rarities. Liberty Seated "With Motto" Dollars (1866-1873) Most of the Dollars of 1866-1873 were issued in greater quantities than their prior issued, No Motto counterparts. But as so many more of these Dollars entered circulation during a more economically prosperous time, albeit their much shorter period of issuance, few of this type remain available in the higher, more desirable grades for collectors to acquire. The Liberty Seated Dollar with Motto also was minted uninterruptedly during its issue period in Philadelphia. This "slack" was somewhat filled by the Mint at Carson City, Nevada, producing a meager 1,376 pieces in 1871 and 2,300 pieces during 1873, the final year of issue. The Mint at San Francisco reportedly produced these Dollars during 1870, 1872, and 1873 also. While 9,000 pieces are known to have been struck there in 1872, apparently no records were maintained verifying the quantity of Dollars struck during the other two years of production. PCGS encapsulated 3,064 pieces ranging in grades AG3 to MS67 with 376 specimens falling into the XF45 grade category and 331 at AU50. Trade Dollars (1873-1885) There probably is no other artifact that can better serve as a reminder of the time when our nation first decided to engage in expansive foreign commerce with the East than a US Trade Dollar. The great powers of the latter part of the 19th Century coined precious metal currency to lure the interests of the far off merchants' exotic wares for which many Westerners suddenly yearned, The Trade Dollar provided hope for US trade competitiveness within the Orient. So, in 1873, the US government ordered the Mints in Philadelphia, Carson City, and San Francisco to produce a special Silver Dollar struck with a metal content fineness and purity inscription. But, when these coins first appeared at their points of business, their not so trusting recipients didn't always necessarily take the coins at "face value" and, just to be sure of the metal content, would strike the pieces with sharp implements to assure themselves of not being intrinsically short-changed. The so-called "chop mark" is a term numismatically associated almost exclusively with the Trade Dollar and such a feature, despite its intentionally destructive and disfiguring attributes, is actually considered as bestowing charm and historical lore upon such coins by many who collect them. Even the best known certification services allow for these lacerations to appear on these coins without disqualifying them for grade assignments, a consideration only granted to Trade Dollars. PCGS has so far documented a total of 8,149 Trade Dollars ranging in grades from AG3 to MS68, most of which are graded MS62 and MS63 in almost equal quantities, 1,133 and 1,123, respectively. Of this series, the 1875S with an original mintage of 4,487,000 tallied the most submissions with a total count of just 1,192 pieces. NGC graded business-strike Trade Dollars currently total 5,389 submissions that range in grades AG3 to MS67, with the MS62 grade claiming the highest count at 929 specimens. Fortunately for today's collectors, most Trade Dollars were issued in relatively large quantities as business-strikes, but during the later years of this coin's issue, beginning in 1879, only Proof struck examples were produced in very limited quantities. These pieces are, of course, rare, highly-prized and costly. Fortuitous circumstances often conspire to create something which in retrospect appears to have been perfectly planned. Some might agree that this is the case with the present popularity of the United States Silver Dollar as a collectible. Had it not been for the $200 million stockpile of Morgan Dollars - say they simply hit the melting pot - this series would have nowhere near the following it has today. It is not a stretch to suggest that the one-point grading scale, MS60 to MS70, would never have developed or at the least been delayed a long, long time without the Morgan Silver Dollar as the guiding light. A natural consequence of sustained interest in a particular series is also the most likely motivation for collectors to move outside the series, but staying with something historically related in one way or the other. Only then did interest in the first Silver Dollars, that is those prior to the Morgan Silver Dollar, gain a following of collectors outside the small community of researchers and numismatic scholars. The saying, "The rest is history" is much more than a trite truism. The most valuable coin in the world is a US Silver Dollar (1794 FH Dollar, The most famous coin in the world is a US Silver Dollar (any and all 1804 Silver Dollars). Arguably, the two most popularly collected coins in the world are US Silver Dollars (Morgan Silver Dollars and Silver American Eagles) |
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| PNG Issues Statement on Coin Doctoring and PCGS Lawsuit | Posted: 6/7/2010 |
| Coin Update News: PNG Issues Statement on Coin Doctoring and PCGS Lawsuit By Coin Update Staff on June 3rd, 2010 Categories: Press Releases The Board of Directors of the Professional Numismatists Guild (PNG) issued the following statement following a meeting on June 2, 2010 in Long Beach, California. The Professional Numismatists Guild Board of Directors applauds the Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) in its efforts to battle the deceptive practice known as coin "doctoring." The deliberate, deceitful alteration of a coin can pose an egregious financial consequence to individual collectors, investors, dealers as well as the general public. PNG believes the unconscionable practice of "doctoring" is an enormous detriment to the numismatic marketplace. We congratulate and support both Numismatic Guaranty Corporation and Professional Coin Grading Service for their diligent work to detect 'doctored" coins, and encourage both organizations to continue to aggressively combat this assault on the hobby. "Doctoring" of coins is a definite violation of the PNG Code of Ethics, Section 7, that prohibits members from "knowingly dealing in counterfeit, altered or repaired numismatic items without fully disclosing their status to my customers." "Doctoring" is also a violation of Section 4 of the PNG Code of Ethics that prohibits "misrepresenting the quality of a coin." The PNG Board regrets that three of its member-dealers have been named among the defendants in a Federal Court Complaint filed May 28, 2010 by Collectors Universe, Inc., the parent company of PCGS. The PNG takes allegations such as the ones made by PCGS very seriously. The board will monitor the progress of the complaint and react promptly, appropriately and in accordance with the organization's bylaws. Furthermore, in response to the recent influx of fraud related hobby concerns, the PNG board has pledged to revisit, review and update each and every ethical standard adopted by the PNG over the past 55 years. In particular, the board acknowledges the need to clearly define the term "doctoring," in order to establish an enforceable criterion for its membership. The PNG board is unified in its resolve to nurture and maintain the PNG member-dealers' standards of excellence through a more proactive posture regarding egregious acts of fraud in the numismatic marketplace. Founded in 1955, the Professional Numismatists Guild is a nonprofit organization composed of many of the top rare coin and paper money dealers. For additional information, visit online at www.PNGdealers.com or call (760) 728-1300. X |
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| How Does CAC Fit Into Today's Coin Market? | Updated: 5/18/2010 |
| Many dealers thought PCGS and NGC solved the grading problem nearly 25 years ago. Others still want nothing to do with either and deal exclusively in raw coins. Still others have dealt in certified coins for many years, but have become concerned about "gradeflation." Then, in 2007, CAC was formed. CAC, which stands for Certified Acceptance Corporation, was founded by John Albanese, a seasoned coin dealer who was also involved in the start-ups of both Professional Coin Grading Service and Numismatic Guaranty Corporation in 1986 - unique qualifications, for sure. CAC is a private business that is owned by 20 to 25 numismatic shareholders. Its mission is to screen coins graded by PCGS and NGC to identify those that are, at a minimum, solid for the grade, in CAC's opinion. Albanese is no longer affiliated with either PCGS or NGC. He was a founding partner in the California Gold Marketing Group which purchased the SS Central America treasure for a price that exceeded $100 million. He was also chief marketing strategist for the coins recovered from the SS Republic shipwreck. Among other endeavors of note, he founded Numismatic Consumer Alliance in 2005 to assist consumers in getting refunds from unscrupulous coin dealers. The Founding Coin dealers of CAC are attempting to manage "gradeflation," which exists as the result of grading standards of PCGS and NGC having loosened over the years, in their opinion. They believe that gradeflation has been dragging down the market prices of solid to high-end coins for the grade. This is consistent with what Albanese explained to me in an hour long conversation at the Baltimore ANA convention in 2003, long before CAC was actually formed. It had been in the works for several years. How CAC is attempting to accomplish its mission is illustrated by a simple process the company uses. They say there are at least three quality levels of coins graded by PCGS and NGC: 1) Those that are high end, commonly known as a premium quality for the grade, called "A" quality coins; 2) those that are average, or solid, for the grade, called "B" quality coins; and 3) those that are below average, called "C" quality coins. CAC stickers just the "A" and "B" quality coins, even though it considers all three levels to be properly graded. Those coins that meet CAC's standards are then given a green, tamper-evident, oval-shaped sticker with a CAC hologram placed on the front of each coin's PCGS or NGC holder. CAC refers to this sticker as a "green bean," and a few others refer to it as a "green football". Importantly, CAC is also making a market in coins they have verified by purchasing them sight-unseen. To date, CAC has bought and sold, on a wholesale basis, nearly $150,000,000 in CAC-stickered coins. CAC is also developing a coin dealer trading exchange called Coin-Plex, which is expected to be launched this summer. With this background in mind, there is no up-front agenda for this article. I was asked to write this in a fair and unbiased manner. It's just a read on the pulse of how today's coin market perceives and accepts CAC. Some like it. Others think CAC is "unnecessary." Some even feel threatened by CAC and go as far as saying it's "disingenuous." In order to get broad-based comments, I spoke with dealers, collectors, investors, and auction houses to get their feedback. I also called Mark Salzberg, chairman of NGC, and David Hall, president of Collectors Universe, PCGS's parent company. Additionally, I have never been a shareholder in any of these grading services, but my business is a submission center for all three grading services, PCGS, NGC, and CAC, just like hundreds of other dealers' businesses are. I also graded coins for PCGS in its early days, just like many other dealers did. The intent of this article is to be fair to all parties concerned. This was written prior to the announcement of "The Big One" by PCGS on March 25, 2010, and updated after the announcement. CAC is only about three years old, while PCGS and NGC have both been operating for nearly 25 years. PCGS and NGC have each graded about 18 to 19 million coins, worth about 18 to 19 billion dollars, while CAC has evaluated about 144,000 coins so far, with a declared insurance value of about $800 million. Of this total, CAC has stickered more than 68,000 PCGS and NGC graded coins. These are vintage coins, not modern or world coins which are included in the PCGS and NGC totals. CAC does not evaluate modern or world coins. Its market share is tiny compared to PCGS and NGC, as pointed out by both Q. David Bowers, a minority shareholder in CAC, and David Hall, founder of PCGS. Hall estimated that CAC has evaluated only about 3 percent of the coins his firm has graded during the past three years, the total time CAC has been in operation. Hall said, "John Albanese is a very good coin grader, and he does a good job with CAC. They are a small boutique, and as their published numbers indicate, they are only looking at a very small percentage of the coins that have been graded by PCGS and NGC. I think people should buy CAC coins if they like the concept, but for me, I don't need the service, and I don't pay extra for CAC coins." And that's where the real impact of CAC is felt - in pricing. Presently, large premiums are often paid for CAC verified coins. By submitting coins to CAC, owners can often raise the market values of those coins by getting them stickered. The flip side is that dealers, collectors and investors who own coins slabbed by PCGS and NGC that are not CAC-stickered see the market values of those coins suffering. Some buyers may be skeptical of non-CAC coins because they may not make the grade, just as they may be skeptical of many raw coins which might not be "slab-worthy." That's why CAC doesn't release PCGS and NGC serial numbers of coins that have been submitted to them but did not sticker. CAC wants to help protect owner's interests. Dealer John Feigenbaum believes CAC has developed good brand awareness. Similarly, collectors spoken to for this article were generally aware of CAC. But many people, including quite a few dealers, don't seem to understand the background of why CAC was formed. I've heard several people say CAC is "political." It's really a private, competitive business. Feigenbaum, who retails coins to collectors, said, "CAC has been a net positive for the coin collecting community. CAC helps me (and my customers) feel more comfortable about the coins they are buying. I see an increasing number of collectors who are buying or bidding for CAC verified coins every month through our website. Simply stated, I prefer to buy coins with CAC stickers." And that expresses what collectors have said as well. Most, who know of CAC, agree that owning PCGS and NGC graded coins with CAC stickers helps them feel more reassured they won't have problems reselling their coins back into the market in the future. Most collectors also believe their coins are worth more money with CAC stickers than without. However, that leaves collectors just as nervous as dealers regarding the values of their other coins, especially if those coins fail to get stickered. That may be more reason to get their coins examined sooner rather than later to decide whether to keep them or sell them, based on CAC verification or lack thereof. Dealers can generate more business for themselves by assisting customers with submitting and upgrading or trading coins that don't get verified. CAC reports that more than 40 percent of the PCGS and NGC graded coins submitted are given CAC stickers. However, that percentage has been shrinking a little recently, according to John Albanese. But there are many submitters who fare significantly better, such as Kevin Stratten, a collector I recently helped with a CAC submission. He said, "I guess at this point the long-term will tell on the benefit of CAC, although already it looks like they've had a significant impact on the market; otherwise, I wouldn't have gone through with our venture. I was pleasantly surprised that I got a higher ratio than I was expecting stickered, and I was very pleased with their turnaround." But, regardless of the ratio of coins a submitter gets stickered by CAC, dealer Gary Adkins said, "We are a service business. Collectors and investors should develop relationships with dealers who provide great service and quality! A little green placebo is not the ultimate guarantee. You want dealers who know quality and will be there whether you are buying or selling!" On the other hand, many collectors want the assurance of buying only CAC verified coins these days. They realize that owning CAC stickered coins is insurance if the CAC concept becomes a generally accepted requirement in the market, just as it predominantly has for PCGS and NGC graded coins. Some dealers are anticipating this and deal only in CAC coins. Similarly, Teletrade is featuring specialty auctions that offer CAC coins exclusively. Mark Salzberg, Chairman of NGC, has a different take on CAC. He said, "CAC is a trading network that makes markets in coins that it stickers. A grading service, by contrast, renders a determination of grade and authenticity, and leaves the market to determine the value of the coins that it certifies. NGC, of course, takes this further by offering a money-back guarantee of grade and authenticity. We do not trade in coins or own a marketplace. Because of the potential for conflicts of interest, grading and market-making are separate functions." In the March 25, 2010 unveiling of its new "Secure Plus" service, PCGS said on its website, "It is a fact of life that high-end coins exist within each grade. Collectors and dealers alike will seek these coins out and pay more for them. The PCGS Secure Plus system is designed to help single out the more desirable high-end coins within a grade. Coins meriting the "+" designation could command a significant premium." Prior to that announcement, CAC distributed the following statements as part of a larger press release: "Change may be in the air at one or more coin grading services, but dealers, collectors and investors will find business as usual at Certified Acceptance Corporation. CAC will continue to evaluate submissions, and determine whether to award stickers to those coins, strictly in the context of the basic numerical grades assigned by either PCGS or NGC." Further, John Albanese stated that CAC will disregard any additional descriptive words or symbols. "We don't want buyers and sellers to get the impression that by stickering a coin, CAC is confirming someone else's 'PQ' designation. CAC makes a market in coins that it has stickered, and its disregard of PQ-type designations will be reflected in its buying and selling prices." The press release goes on describing its bid price for an MS65 1892O Barber Quarter at $1,150, "And if it came with an asterisk or a rainbow or a halo, we'd still pay $1,150 - as long as it had a sticker." The general experience of dealers in today's market is that prices for CAC verified coins are trading at roughly 20 percent more than PCGS and NGC coins in the same grades that have not been verified by CAC. This has been the experience of dealer Laura Sperber, a minority owner of CAC. She said that, in her experience, the general price differences between CAC coins and non-CAC coins has grown during the past couple of years to the 20 percent level from about 15 percent. She also told me that her company, Legend Numismatics, which deals exclusively in CAC verified coins, sold fully 60 percent of its purchases from the most recent Baltimore coin show within 24 hours after posting those new purchases online. In other words, demand is very strong for CAC verified coins, and buyers are willing to pay extra for them. The start-up years of CAC have been similar to what PCGS and NGC experienced during their establishment. Some people liked the idea, others didn't. Those who did often paid premiums to be able to buy PCGS or NGC coins early on. There was also a learning curve in grading as PCGS and NGC evolved. I know. I was one of the dealer/graders during the first few years, who sat shoulder to shoulder with the other graders at a table in David Hall's offices. In the beginning, PCGS introduced the grading scale of commercially using all the numbers between 60 and 70 for Mint State and Proof coins. It was a big adjustment for the grades to begin using those numbers. Previous to that, the market predominantly used MS60 and MS65, and later, MS63. Grades MS61 and MS62 were unheard of! As prices continued to rise, some of us began using "MS63+" or "MS65/70" to indicate a really "gemmy" coin. This evolution of numerical grading can be witnessed by looking through back issues of the Greysheet during the 1970s and '80s. It also took people in the market time to adjust to using MS61 and 62, and MS66 through 70. And it was an adjustment for PCGS to begin grading coins with those numbers. For example, MS66 had not been regularly used in day-to-day trading. The market was hung up on using MS65 to designate a "Choice" or "Gem" coin, depending on who used either term. In the beginning, it was a real push for graders to break through the MS65 barrier. So during the formative years of PCGS and NGC, the technique of coin grading evolved, and the market's perception of those grading services changed, sometimes full circle, as time went on. Similarly, people are still making their minds up of what they think of CAC. The fact is, CAC's acceptance is growing, and it is most likely a financially strong company, given the reputations of the principal stakeholders. CAC is likely to be with us for a long time. Countless dealers and their customers have accepted CAC for what it is and are finding ways to use it for profit. Mark Ferguson Reliance Numismatic Services, LLC |
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