There are some real "gems" still out there...

Greetings Collectors,

I have been very busy of late with my business and of course my favorite hobby and have been meaning to post a "tidbit" of information on the very first series of holders from PCGS AKA "Old Green Holders".

When I started collecting in the mid 1960's there were no such thing as grading companies. Everyone was pretty much at the mercy of whoever he or she was dealing with. I took a long break from coins at the completion of high school to pursue a professional career in surfing. When I tired of sleeping in caves and on sandy beaches and making very little money, I turned back to school and business and picked up the passion of numismatics with a vengence.

I can remember very clearly placing an order with "Blanchard and Company" out of New orleans for my first gold coin that was from an "official" grading company. It was a 1904 $20 Liberty in an NGC "first generation" holder graded MS63 and the cost, a whopping $640. I am sure most of you that have dealt with companies such as this in the past or now in the present, they assign someone to you who starts to call you, in what seemed like then, most every day, telling you about this and that "great deal". It was shortly after this first coin buy that Adam (I still remember his first and last name) called with a great deal on some PCGS graded Mercury dimes. I can also remember him explaining to "dummy me" that these dimes had "full split bands". At that time I paid little attention to the details but only caught the part that these dimes were the ones to have and they could be mine for the low, low price of... Anyway I dont remember the exact price but I remember them being very inexpensive, as in $12-13 bucks each. I agreed to buy six or eight and when I got them, they were in a very odd small green holders. Having only recently purchased my first graded coin and it was an NGC, these holders I was not particually thrilled with. They didn't stack well together, they were small and the coins seemed loose inside. I do believe that my preferance toward NGC started then. The year was 1990.

I then started doing business with the US Mint, (along with Blanchard), for mint and proof sets, buying at least two or three of each thing the mint came out with, commemoratives included. I would continue to buy graded coins as well but stuck mostly with NGC. I did pick up a Morgan dollar or Franklin half on occasion that were holdered in these 1st generation PCGS "rattlers" and soon PCGS came out with their 2nd generation old green holder (OGH) which was easy to stack and was even somewhat compatible, "stack wise" with the NGC holders.

As most of what I just mentioned happened in the early 1990's, today I called PCGS to see if I could get some "somewhat" exact dates and this is what they said. The first person I spoke with had no clue as to what and when but she put me on hold and came back with the following info. The very first generation old green holders/rattlers were produced from around 1986-1989-90 and then the larger "OGH" were used from around 1990-1994. After that the clear holders we see now were put in use.

Having said all that, I will say that I have bought over a half dozen 1st and 2nd generation old green holders that I have "cracked out" and re-submitted to both NGC and PCGS and have never dropped a grade, stayed the same only once and jumped up as many as three grades. (I had a gold coin that went from a AU58 OGH to a NGC 62) I purchased a $20 gold liberty, 1906 in a 2nd generation OGH MS 60 that looks better than all of my other double eagle libertys that are in MS 62 holders PCGS & NGC. My point being, that if you look, there are still some very "undergraded" coins still out there in those old green holders.

Those first Mercury dimes are coins that I paid very little for and are not worth a whole lot today but I wouldn't take anything for them as they are some of the very first "graded coins" I have and are very special to me. I have even made a point of starting the Mercury "big" short set (1934-1945) and I will take my time and get each in those 1st generation PCGS "rattler" holders. All of the ones I got in the early 1990's are MS65 "full split bands" and I have picked up a few more this year. I think I have about 14-15 toward completion of the set and all will be 65 & 66 FSB. I even started a "signature set" devoted to those old holders. I need to go to the bank and dig out the rest of the coins I have in those original holders to add to that sig. set.

Changing the subject a little, in that today I sent off the balance on my "layaway" and will have the last piece of my "20th Century Gold Type Set" with my 1907 "no motto" $10 Indian. The NGC-61 will soon be on the way to its new home here at the registry. I am trying to bust below 300 in the standings. I think this coin and maybe one more small entry will get me into the "high 200's". My goal is to make it into the top 100 here at the registry. It seems like it is taking forever but that's what makes all this so much fun. What a GREAT hobby we share here. Here's wishing a great safe week to all of you and yours. Happy Collecting! WKF