My experience with a photo proof submission and a cool find in my change.

I have recently had the pleasure to submit some of my coins to NGC for photo proofing. Using a five free deluxe photo proof certificate, I selected five coins from my ?Inspirational Ladies? signature set. At the deluxe level, this service is very limited. Coins eligible for submission are all US issues, Canadian coinage since 1858, and British coinage since 1662. The submission form is different also, with Amy having to mail me a special photo proof submission form to fill out. This service is expensive too, chiming in at $50 for the deluxe level. That said, I found this service worthwhile for those special coins in my collection, and I will be using it for select coins in the future.

One of the coins in that submission was a British 1872 ?St George? Sovereign grading MS-61. This coin is one of my favorite coins, thinking it would grade AU-58, I was pleasantly surprised when it returned graded MS-61.

When I got the photo proof of my sovereign back from NGC, I got a laminated folded four-page folder. The cover is very attractive with a picture collage of high-grade coins, and my coin pictured in the title banner. This folder comes personalized with my name and the collection my coin resides in on the bottom of the cover. The inside cover has two large photos of the obverse and reverse of my coin against a black background with insets of my coin at actual size and two select blow-ups to accentuate die varieties. The next page has a write up of my coin?s history, including an inset with a professional description of my coin. Information in the inset includes comments on toning, population statistics, and eye appeal. NGC described my coin as handsome and scarce in MS condition. You can imagine how I felt when I read this description of my coin for the first time! The back cover continues the history of my coin and has my coin?s specifications, although you get specifications for US coins only. Included on the back cover are the bibliography and the copyright information. All told, I am very impressed with this service and recommend it to anyone for that ?special coin?.

Of note, I received my first ?Lincoln Birthplace? cents as pocket change at a restaurant last week Thursday. While I do not collect Lincoln cents, I still found it cool to get three of these in my change. When I got home, I could not wait to show my family. I plan to save these cents, probably never submitting them, but preferring to buy them already certified. Pictured below is my prized Sovereign, I hope you enjoy it and as always ?Happy Collecting?!