Mohawk

Here's another great orichalcum (brass) Faustina the Younger coin I have.  This one was my first dupondius:

It's actually a mint error?  I've never heard of a ragged fissure before.  I'm shocked!! I thought for sure it was a victim of someone going crazy with metal snips.  This "Pac-Man" may actually be worth something......I'll be damned!  Even after 22 years of doing this, I still learn new things all the time in this hobby.

Very nice.....my fiancée would be drooling over that one.  She's a big Morgan Dollar fan. 

One that I submited myself
 

It's actually a mint error?  I've never heard of a ragged fissure before.  I'm shocked!! I thought for sure it was a victim of someone going crazy with metal snips.  This "Pac-Man" may actually be worth something......I'll be damned!  Even after 22 years of doing this, I still learn new things all the time in this hobby.

That's a great idea!! If you type "ancient coin replicas" or "ancient coin reproductions" into Google, you'll find several different resources to acquire replica pieces that would work very well for a jewelry project.

One of these days I would like to pick up a set of Ron Landis fantasy nickels done in Felix Schlags original design for the nickel that never made it to production. 

There are many museum replicas to choose from for jewelry. Why not use one of them instead of paying hundreds for an authentic coin that will damaged with use in a necklace?

All are perfectly fine “album coins”, but not third party grading worthy.

I am cringing at the way you are handling the coins 🙀fingerprints don’t come off. Handle coins by the edge. Cotton gloves a100percent cotton t-shirt. Also never clean coins. I don’t think you have any thing special but check for varieties. 🤓

You're absolutely right.  I can't tell you how many hearts I had to break and hopes I had to dash when I worked at the brick and mortar shop with stuff like this.  People would bring things like this, stuff from Littleton, stuff bought off the TV and we'd have to tell them what they had was either worthless or worth far less than they paid for it.  And some of these people really needed some significant money when they came to sell to us.  But we couldn't help them.  In this hobby, and in life, there are many things which are legal but which aren't necessarily ethical.  If NGC certifies these coins with a special label, that's more than fine, but to sell these coins for such a high markup over what an ordinary uncirculated 1964-D Kennedy sells for, I have a big issue with that. I just don't see what makes them worth that kind of a markup.

NGC Does not in my opinion have the worth to charge anyone for grading without assigning a grade. If you send a coin to ICG at least they will place a grade on your coin. Example: MS66 altered color. NGC uncirculated altered color! No GRADE! they suck

Actually, gripes came from across the "political spectrum." The bill I prepared early this year required rounding up or down for cash, and no rounding for electronic or account transactions. The mean gain or loss was about 4-cents per year if only the cent was eliminated and 5-cents per year if both cent and nickel were abolished. Cost of implementation was expected to be trivial for all involved, with a possible slight reduction in cash counting overhead for high-cash users such as convenience stores. (No one checked Nevada brothels.) CoVID-19 got in the way of this.
As the BBC article notes, unless required to be fair to customers, businesses usually round upward.

You know, Woods, I have no idea value-wise on the value on most of these replicas.  I think some of Dan Carr's items do have some value.  Another member here mentioned today that his 2009 "Proof Silver Eagle" sells for like $120 or something like that.  But I should note that I have no idea what that sold for originally.  As for what I want, an Annia Faustina replica, it's more of a scholarly/completeness thing.  Along with trying to do a comprehensive collection of Faustina the Younger's coins, I've been thinking about having one coin to show each of her relatives and descendants who also appeared on coins.  Most of these are very affordable, but Annia Faustina is the exception.......when there are only 5 denarii of someone known in the whole world, you start talking huge price tags and a lifetime can go by without one being offered for sale.  And even if one did come up for sale, I could never afford it.  Hence the desire for a replica.  I'm sure in what I'm looking for, the replica would hold no value, but it's not about that for me, as is the case for all of my ancients.  

You learn to grade by reading books, referencing good sources like that which has been noted in prior posts, and reviewing lots and lots of coins in hand not from photos.   Trying to learn grading from ebay or etsy photos will not be the way to learn as those photos are taken in different conditions.   You have to hold a coin in your hands and rotate it under a light source to see the luster bands and any potential issues like cleaning hairlines.   This just cannot be learned from photos even the really good photos.

This exactly.  Well said!  When I worked at the brick and mortar shop, I liked Photograde for grading U.S. coins.  I found it worked well, and the other guys there used it as well.  

This exactly.  Well said!  When I worked at the brick and mortar shop, I liked Photograde for grading U.S. coins.  I found it worked well, and the other guys there used it as well.  

[Water did taste funny. I thought it was chromium-6]  🐓

I'm with you....I like to be able to hold and feel my ancients, which is why I do not have a single certified ancient.  If I bought one certified, I'd probably crack it out, put it in a 2x2 and into my stockbook, with the rest of my collection.  And where Annia Faustina is concerned, I'm so with you on the quality reproduction!!! Sometimes, a repro is the only way you can represent something in your collection, and I feel that there is no shame in having a properly marked reproduction in one's collection for that impossibly rare piece.

Seems to just re-enforce buy what you like. For me I am a touchy freely kinda guy and a quality reproduction is right up my alley at the same time I have the greatest respect for each of our unique interactions with coins. I am a stickler for quality 🤓

You know, Woods, I have no idea value-wise on the value on most of these replicas.  I think some of Dan Carr's items do have some value.  Another member here mentioned today that his 2009 "Proof Silver Eagle" sells for like $120 or something like that.  But I should note that I have no idea what that sold for originally.  As for what I want, an Annia Faustina replica, it's more of a scholarly/completeness thing.  Along with trying to do a comprehensive collection of Faustina the Younger's coins, I've been thinking about having one coin to show each of her relatives and descendants who also appeared on coins.  Most of these are very affordable, but Annia Faustina is the exception.......when there are only 5 denarii of someone known in the whole world, you start talking huge price tags and a lifetime can go by without one being offered for sale.  And even if one did come up for sale, I could never afford it.  Hence the desire for a replica.  I'm sure in what I'm looking for, the replica would hold no value, but it's not about that for me, as is the case for all of my ancients.  

And I have to compliment you on your pretty lady as well......that's a very nice second to last year of issue you have there.

Thank you for the kind words on my latest addition!!! Oh yeah, the waiting's hard........but I think that's a pain we all know!!  

🐓:  NASA?  What's NASA got to do with it?  This is an outrage! 
VKB:  Not NASA, NARA, the National Archives. C'mon, Quintus!
🐓:  NARA?... Never mind... carry on. 

Someone buys unslabbed Peaces on Ebenezer? Could be worse, I suppose; could be on Counterfeitsy.
One gets the ANA grading guide, or one of the other recognized grading guides. If the vendor's photos do not show enough detail, one does not buy from that vendor.