Problem Coins - they always will be

For me anyway, when the weather starts to warm up in the spring and through the summer, my activities tend to push off the bourse floor and coin shops outside into the nature preserves, up to the cottage etc.  I still pay attention to coins but at a hugely reduced rate.  As I write this, the wind is howling outside and the temperature has dropped significantly.  It’s Coin Season!

So I was looking through my search results and main categories on eBay and I was shocked at the number of certified problem coins being offered at 70-80% of trends or more!  When did this happen?  Why are they not discounted to acknowledge the problems. Why would I want to buy a damaged coin when I can by an undamaged coin for the same or better price?  This I don’t understand.  This you need to be careful of when you purchase your coins!

There are very, very few reasons that I would shell out hard earned cash for a known problem coin.  By known problem I’m talking about TPG’s that tell you through their labeling that the coin has been damaged and is not a good an example.   While “buy the coin, not the holder” is really sound advice, pay attention to the holder if the coin is third party graded!  There is information there you can use.

PCGS labels coins as “Genuine” that it feels are problems.  They are not shy about telling you the problem either.  The coin receives a “Details” grade with the problem identified in words and by code.  Here is a link to the PCGS grades including problem identification. 

NGC labels coins as “Details” that it feels are problems.  They are also not shy about telling you the problem.  The coin gets a “Details” grade with the problem identified in words.  Here is a link to the NGC glossary of “Details” grading. 

ICG also labels coins as “Details” on their holders with the problem identified in words.  I could not find a published list of ICG grading standards or what would make a coin a candidate for this type of designation.   

ANACS grades the coin as normal but gives the grade a “Details” label.  In addition to the label, they also tell you in writing what they feel the problem with the coin is.  Here is a link to the ANACS FAQ page showing their “Details” grading standards. 

ICCS grades the coin as normal and uses the comment line to make any notes.  I could not find a published list of ICCS grading standards or what would make a coin a candidate for a problem comment.

CCCS grades the coin as normal and uses the comment line to make any notes.  Here is a link to grades including items that will make the comment line on a CCCS holder.

The other problem I see are coins that are obviously cleaned, altered, damaged etc. but are not indicated on the holder whatsoever.  It all makes one’s head spin.  Use your eyes for all aspects of the coin and the holder.  Even if the holder doesn't indicate a problem, if the coin doesn't look right, if your gut is telling you there is something wrong, the colour is off, there are wiz marks etc. don’t buy the coin. Leave problem coins where they are!  Once a problem - always a problem. They will not serve you well in your collection and will disappoint you when it becomes time to sell them.  You are certainly better served waiting for a good example to come your way.  At least that’s how I see it.

Victoria Large Cent Census

I'm taking a census of all the varieties published in the Charlton large cent variety section of the 65th Edition.  If you would like to participate, and I hope you do, check out the information on the census on the end of this link

Getting Your Grade On

Flip open any coin catalog, CCN Trends, on-line price guide or the like and you are faced with a table format showing different retail pricing for any given date based on grade. Other items factor into the equation to determine price, but it is listed by grade.  How good are you at grading coins?  This is one of the most important and least end user mastered aspects of our hobby.  If the price we are going to pay is determined by grade, why then are we all too willing to accept the grade offered on the holder or uttered by the vendor as being correct?   If you are a good grader and are confident in your skill, you can probably stop here.  If you generally buy the grade offered on TPG holders, you probably need to keep reading.  If you accept the scrawl on a 2x2 you definitely need to keep reading!

Complicating this pesky grading business are things like weak strikes, eye appeal, colour, toning, marks, rim nicks, planchet flaws and the fact that I change my mind.    What looked to be fine today might look very good next week when I look again.  Am I splitting hairs?  Could be, particularly if I’m vacillating between VG10 and F12 on a common date large cent, sometimes it just doesn’t matter.  Other times it does.  I was just looking at a particular discussion board and some of the opinions on grade offered against a key date variety coin were from VG to F15.  It looked more like G4 to me.

OK so on this grading thing, you know more than you think.  Here is an exercise for you.  This is best done on the same design so for Victoria, choose a particular portrait like obverse 4 as an example.  Select 10-15 coins.  If you are a date collector you will have this many without difficulty.  Flip them all over so that you are looking at the obverse side and not the date.  Now without prejudice, sort them from the most worn looking obverse to the least worn obverse.  At the most basic level you have graded the group in front of you.  You could do this day after day and probably put the coins in the exact order you have in front of you now. You could be consistent.   That is good because you can do exactly the same on the bourse.  I was off at a show a few weeks back and I was looking at obverse 1 coins.  This one particular vendor had a ton of 1876-82 coins marked VG-VF.  I thought his grading was subjective I flipped the group over and picked the best 10 from the bunch and put the rest back.  The grades on the holders and the associated prices were a split between VG and VF, but I purchased the best of the bunch.

That approach works fine for groups but what about single coins.  With your group still sorted from most to least worn, your next task is to identify a particular grade. What is the highest grade for the coins in the group?  What is the lowest grade? If you have VG to EF as your end points, which coin in the group represents F, VF20 and VF30 and how will you know if you are right?

You can assemble a grade set of coins to use as standards if you want.  You can then compare against your grade set.  How do you set up a grade set?  You have resources.  Use quality pictures on the internet auction sites, or grading sets already assembled like that from Mike Walsh link.  You can even assemble a set based on TPG if you want and purchase an example of each grade you are interested in for your set.  If you do this, stay with one TPG company and only use a respected one.  Grades can vary significantly between the TPG’s so stay top tier to minimize errors.  Staying with the same company for this exercise will drive consistency into your sample set based on the standards the TPG employs, grade creep notwithstanding.  Charlton has also published a Standard Grading Guide for Canadian & Colonial Decimal Coins.  This deals with circulated grades up to AU.   

The more coins you look at and mentally grade, the better you get.  Come back to exercise your skill at grading against known standards frequently to stay sharp.  Don’t let other factors influence your grade.  Since the cost of the coin will be determined by a variety of factors including grade, master the variables like grade to minimize mistakes on your part.  You can’t control mintage, survivability, demand, inventory etc. but you can control your ability to assess the offering independently of the dealer and then determine if your money stays in your pocket or if it gets replaced by a nice EF Vickey.

Now for your final task, flip the coins back over to the reverse.  Do your grades match those written on the holders?  What adjustments do you need to make?  Are the grades on the holder correct?  Were they influenced by something else?  The three biggest influence's are date, price and variety.  As we just found out, none of these plays a role in grade.  Protect yourself and your cash by learning how to grade.  The cost of a mistake is minimal on common coins but gets large on keys, varieties and better grade coins.  Cherry pick by grade next time you are at a show.  Your collection will thank you and so will your wallet.