Another dealer takes it on the chin.
The Tulving and Kitco bankruptcies were two big ones, after the price of precious metals plummetted. Now BullionDirect.com has shut down as well. Apparently, JM Bullion has also stopped taking orders while they move to a warehouse in Las Vegas.
When these dealers shut down, what happens to the customers who have orders with them?
Apparently, Apmex has stopped buying gold and silver bullion for now as well. Although, I'd imagine that they are still
Is this the next "1995W Eagle" kind of rarity?
Prices for the 2014 Horse/Chinese Characters Double Privy Maple have been exploding. A cleaned/damaged version of this coin has sold for $800, and the set of four coins sells for $1600 on eBay. Wow! This coin was selling for $389 raw last year!
To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.
An uber rarity acquired!!!
When I first started chasing Canadian commemorative coins in high grade, there were very few people competing in this space and the number of items the RCM produced every year was reasonable.
That has all changed.
In spite of the 100+ commemorative issues that the Frankling Mint, errm, sorry, the Royal Canadian Mint issues every year ... I find the Canada Privy Maples to be the most exciting and challenging. If you truly love the thrill of the hunt, this is the
As it stands, we are seeing a strange paradox: Mints are rapidly expanding the number of modern commemoratives that they issue, while the modern commemorative collector market is just as rapidly contracting.
I have spoken to many modern coin dealers this year, and I hear the same refrain: "barely getting by"
The continued drop in the price of silver, and the overproduction of silver commemorative issues, have driven many collectors out of the modern coin market. This has left a lot of deal
A titanic battle in the registry taking place right now. Absolutely incredible.
Currently, I have been watching a titanic registry battle take place. The two battlers, Martens and Dan Hughes, are competing in a set with almost 300 modern coins in it. In each case, the competitors are battling over coins with PF70 populations of 1 or 2!!
It really is awe inspiring, as these coins come in very low mintages and top population coins are acquired at great cost. Congratulations to both, many o
I am tempted to buy the following top graded error coin, after a recent journal I did on this specific coin.
I recently did a journal on the "CHIIE" error coin and I found it so interesting that I began heavily researching the coin, and images/backstory on this coin. I discovered the top population coin is currently selling on eBay and I am very tempted to buy it ... as I really am intrigued by it. I am a novice to South American coins, so for all you experts out there ... please give me adv
The Mint in Chile misspells the name of their country on the 50P coin in 2008!
A very embarrassing mistake for the Mint in Chile indeed. For a small portion of 2008, the Chilean Mint accidently misspelled the name of their country on the 50 pesos coin. Rather than spelling C-H-I-L-E on the coin, they accidently wrote C-H-I-I-E. The CHIIE error coin is not necessarily rare, but it is almost impossible to acquire in a high grade (Mint State).
The head of the Mint was fired for the mistake.
I would like to start this set on the NGC Registry, but I am seeing the 2007 Mongolia coin typically selling for $1200 - $3000!!! Is this truly the price of this coin?
Does anyone have any experience with this set? It seems to be quite pricy! It may be worth it, if the price is stable or going up. $1200 - $3000 per coin? WOWOWOW
To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.
Video: Buying and Selling Graded Coins Without Taking Delivery
Guy talks about the potential for a live open market, where coins can be traded intraday for profit, without physical delivery ever taking place.Is it only a matter of time before this market evolves like all others before it?VIDEO HERE:www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bmHuFjSkpQTo see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.
Picked up another rarity for my registry set.
I have been attempting to fill the 1953-2012 Canada Circulated 1 Cent Set for a while now. In this set, there are a number of modern rarities which makes this collection very difficult to complete. Included are the 1955 NSF (very few examples (250 or so), AU55 highest graded by NGC), the 1965 Pt5LgBds (MS65RD highest graded by NGC, very few examples), the 1985 Pt.5 (around 250k mintage), the 2006 No Logo Magnetic (1500 or so examples), and the 20
A true modern rarity! I have been searching for this coin in a high grade for nearly 5 years!
For the past five years or so, I have been searching for this coin in a high grade. One was available at the Torex auction in MS62, but ended up selling for over $5000. The 1955 No Shoulder Fold Canada 1 Cent coin is truly a rare coin, and is the key for the 1953 - 2012 1 cent set. Only very rarely does this coin come up for auction, and they are usually in VF condition.
I was very lucky to acqu
The Canada>Bullion>Silver Maple Leafs with Privy Marks Set
Privy marked SMLs are notoriously difficult to collect in high grade, and the elusiveness of the set has made it all the more desirable.
First off, these are bullion coins, so prior to 2007, most of these coins were stamped out and packed in an SP67/SP68 grade. If you look through the populations, you will see a number of SP64/SP65 OGP coins being graded by NGC.
Second, the 9999 purity of the coin makes them very soft and
$400 later, and almost nothing crossed.
For those thinking of crossing PCGS coins, don't bother. I spent $400 crossing PCGS coins to NGC, and most didn't cross. It was ultimately an expensive disappointment and a waste of money.
To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.
As time goes forward, certain collections will become impossible to amass on the registry sets, as the number of coins in each set grows, and mintages continue to dwindle.
Merry Christmas everyone!
Certain registry sets, going forward, look as though they will be increasingly impossible to build. A few I can speak to, in particular, are some of the Canadian commemorative and bullion sets.
The Maple Privy Set, for example, is one of my favorites. Every year, the Mint adds four or five n
Starting to cross all PCGS coins over.
This comes at a high cost, and high risk - as the coins must cross the Canada-US border. I have decided to cross all my PCGS coins, some pedigreed to major collections like Norweb, Pittman and Eliasberg. One reason, is that I want my registry sets to be recognized as complete in the World Sets. Even more importantly, the variety attributions on the PCGS coins are weak ... and I believe that NGC has improved service over this. I was very disappointed t
I have managed to get hold of a "Mintage 1", or only coin ever minted, coin for my custom set.
MINTAGE = 1.
This coin was the pattern strike for the 1979 0.925 New Hebrides Silver Mother and Infant coin. The strike quality and detail of this pattern coin ultimately lead to the acceptance of this coin for minting. The coin created a fair bit of controversy, and only 60 pieces were minted. Each of the 60 coins minted have the "925" stamped on the obverse of the coin. The pattern strik
Does anyone else feel that the Royal Canadian Mint is flooding the collector coin market?
The Royal Canadian Mint has been issuing 100s of collector coins since 2005, some of them quite questionable as to what they are even commemorating. Superman, wolves, cougars, obscure legends/stories, random animals, buildings, leaves and trees, hockey logos, snowflakes ... I mean it is all a little ridiculous. I think this is eroding collector value, as many collectors feel disillusioned with everythin
Building an all MS69 Canada Maple Leaf Bullion Set for 5 years now.
For the past 5 years, I have been attempting to build an all MS69 Canada Maple Leaf Bullion set. I am very close, and will be sending a few PCGS coins to NGC for crossover. A few pickups from APMEX are on their way ... but nonetheless, this has proved to be an EXTREMELY difficult task.
Here is a link to the set:
http://coins.www.collectors-society.com/registry/coins/SetListing.aspx?PeopleSetID=154543
NGC REQUEST: 1971 Dahomey Proof Set
The coins of the 1971 Proof Dahomey Set have been exploding in value over the past 5 years. In 2009, I sold the 500 Franc coin in NGC PF67 for $80. They are now selling for almost $500 in that grade. The trois presidents gold coin just sold for $3800.
Please add this set to the registry. If this is not the correct method of adding sets to the registry, could someone with the knowledge of how to request sets please help me.
All the
I have many rare 1oz bullion bars. Will NGC grade them as genuine?
Does anyone know if NGC certifies rare bullion bars? I know they fit into their holders, because the RCM playing card money fits into NGC holders. I would like to have these certified, so that they are in protective holders, rather than in sleeves.
Will they certify/holder them?
Best,
JG
To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.
Need some advice from collectors/investors/hobbyists
Hello,
I am building a registry set through a fund. We have several complete high grade modern sets. However, many coins are graded by PCGS. Has anyone had experience crossing these coins over? Is it worth it? These are client coins, and I am hestitant to reholder them unless they grade higher. It appears as though NGC does not allow PCGS coins in their World Registry Sets.
I am assuming that the higher value coins have already bee