Indholdsfortegnelse for June 2019 i Coins

I always look at my change when leaving the grocery store. It can’t be classified as uncirculated; however, this 1905 5-cent piece looked it. I took it to a reputable coin dealer to have them classify it. Everyone in the place wanted to purchase it from me. I just wanted it graded. Their judgements put the 1905 at MS64 or 65 and valued it around $400 as per Coins Magazine, March 2019. Not bad for a circulated coin that some kid probably robbed out of his dad’s coin collection. You gotta keep looking at your change. Dave Sandy, Utah I bought an old piggy bank at an estate sale because you could tell it was old and it had change in it. There is no hole in the bottom, so…

Careful consideration must be given to the condition of a coin before arriving at its value, since a minor difference in grading can mean a substantial difference in price. There are several factors to keep in mind when attributing varying grades of preservation. Determining the condition of a coin is both an exact science and a subjective judgment call. Complete agreement on the exact qualities that constitute a grade of condition does not always occur between two individuals. The following chart is a consensus based on the 10 most frequently encountered coins commanding premium values in circulated condition (illustrations not actual size). The descriptive grades can be applied to other issues. Qualities described are based on the standards developed and adopted by the American Numismatic Association. MS-65 (uncirculated)—MS stands for…

In my two previous columns, I’ve been talking about spring cleaning your collection/accumulation of coins. Of course, by the time you read this, spring will probably be a distant memory, and you’ll be sweating through the beginning of summer. So far, I’ve talked about the importance of organizing your coins and having a good inventory. I’ve also talked about selling some of the coins in your collection, such as “orphans” (coins that are oddballs and don’t fit your collecting interests), junk coins with some value, and partial sets that no longer interest you. At the end of my last column, I talked about coin storage and said that I would have more to say about this. If your coins are relatively common and generally worth less than $100 apiece, then…

LONGTIME COLLECTOR Robert Shippee reveals how he carefully assembled a meaningful collection of rare coins in his newly updated edition of Pleasure & Profit: 100 Lessons for Building and Selling a Collection of Rare Coins. His Waccabuc Collection of half cents through $20 gold double eagles sold at public auction for a profitable $1.5 million. Pleasure & Profit gathers the lessons he learned from buying and selling each of the nearly 150 coins. Shippee provides real-world advice to guide other collectors on acquisition strategies, storage choices, and disposition options, in addition to commentary on auction firms, third-party grading services, famous dealers, numismatic personalities, market forces, and—with unflinching honesty—his laid-bare financial results. “Pleasure & Profit is one of Whitman’s most talked-about books on collecting and investing in U.S. coins,” said publisher…

The expansion or lack of expansion of the coin market is of a continuing concern. Monitoring expansion is always a challenge, but there are some hints we may be headed in a positive direction. Universal Coin and Bullion President Michael Fuljenz recently wrote, “Whenever we see sales increase dramatically for Silver [American] Eagles, that is a good sign that more buyers are (or will soon be) entering the rare coin market.” As this is being written, the price of silver continues to trade in the $15 an ounce range while continuing to challenge the $16 psychological resistance barrier. This is one of several coincidence barometers showing modest coin market gains. Another is the Numismatic Stock Index, an index that tracks the price of publicly traded stock of companies whose business…