gmarguli

You should have been around in the late 1980's. OMG were the TPG slow. I remember getting a package in the mail from ANACS and wondering what the hell they would be sending me. Upon opening it were coins I had forgotten about submitting since it had been so long. My slowest submission ever took (no joke) over a year.

I think that the eBay system automatically adjusts it based on where the item shows in tracking. Makes sense as they don't want you to get upset with the seller when they have no control over the shipping time. I've had days change on international shipments recently. Haven't noticed it on domestic shipments.

CU was purchased for the sports card business. Supposedly they have a multi-million card backlog of cards waiting to be graded. I'm sure demand for coin grading has increased during the pandemic as coin prices increase. And I'm sure this was a well thought out, calculated decision where NGC figures (knows?) PCGS will again adjust their pricing so they are both in line and NGC believes the marketplace values their services enough to justify these prices. I have no problem paying for services that bring value, but when you feel like you are being taken advantage of it is much harder to do business with that company.

NGC and NGC Ancients Announce Revised Services and Fees Unlimited Value WalkThrough tier – fee changed to $350 + 1% (Was $300 + 1%) WalkThrough tier – fee changed to $250; Maximum Value changed to $25,000 (Was $150 and max value $100,000) Express tier – fee changed to $100 (Was $65) Therefore: Any coin valued $3,000+ will cost $100 to grade. Any coin valued $10,000+ will cost $250 to grade. Any coin valued $25,000+ will cost minimum $600 to grade ($350 + 1% which is a minimum $250). Clearly NGC has a much better insight into its business than I do, but I gotta say, NGC I think you're f***ing insane!! I'm flat out offended at those fees. And reducing the max value from $100K to $25K for the WalkThrough tier... Fees go up "due to inflation", but the value limits stay the same or go down. Greed will open up the market to competition. History has shown this over and over again.

Walkthrough is 4 days. I guess gone are the days of dropping off a coin, going to have lunch, and coming back and it would be ready for you.

Finest know examples with exceptional toning sell for big money??? That's some hard hitting reporting they did there. I guess Coin World is desperate for things to fill their paper.

Hey everyone, we're unloading the junk. Anything nice that would bring significant funds will be kept, even if it is redundant.

1967 Congo Likuta trial strikes. First is a die trial strike in copper. Second is a die trial strike using two obverse dies. Both examples are believed unique. 1921 Finland Markka in proof/specimen. One of two known. AH1308-A (1890) Comoros 5 Centimes in proof/specimen. Only example I've been able to locate. 1982 Seychelles 10 Cent Mule (1982 Design KM-48.1 with 1981 Design KM-44). Believed unique. 1925 Bulgaria Lev (Brussels Mint) in proof/specimen. Mintage unknown. Only 3 examples ever certified. 1946 Luxembourg "John The Blind" 100 Francs in proof. Mintage of 100. While a couple of other examples have been certified, I've never seen another one for sale. A couple of German states Pfennigs in proof. While some of the mintages on 19th century proof German coins are known, most are not. Typically only a handful minted.

Maybe slide marks would have been a better term. And within those slide marks are a few noticeable hits.

I formed an opinion before I saw your grade and I agree with MS62. There appears to be a significant scrap from the eye to ear that would likely limit it grading higher.

Anything to do with a CAC sticker on this coin is a pure CAC marketing gimmick. Zero value added. Zero necessity.

Isn't that the way it is done these days? Grade the obverse and then as long as there is nothing awful on the reverse, the grade sticks. Weren't they graded 10+ years ago? If so, the MS66 is now MS67+, the 2 MS65s are now MS66+ and MS66, the 6 MS64s are MS64+ to MS65+, and that cleaned one is MS63.

Mon dieu! Qu’est-ce que ce monde est venu à? I looked up her platform: She would like to make it [ANA] evolve and integrate as well as possible the globalized context in which we live since the emergence of the Internet. Sounds like she is advocating open boarders! Also, it appears she works for Spink. Spink sounds like it could be some sort of racial epithet. Hey Spink, don't come around my neighborhood anymore. Due to my complete and total apathy with the ANA elections and the fact I never actually vote in them, she will not be getting my vote.

I just looked at who is running. Is there any difference since last year or the year before or the year before that or...

Kiosks are different than Contract Postal Units and Village Post Offices. The USPS refers to their self-service machines as kiosks. CPU & VPO are actual staffed locations. That's according to the USPS website. I just looked up the one from the building I worked in. It was a VPO and had the same zip code as a full service Post Office a couple blocks away and the same zip code the building it was in.

I don't know if this is what Mark was referring to, but the USPS does have "Post Offices" that are inside businesses and staffed by employees of that business. They're called Contract Postal Units and Village Post Offices. They offer limited services, sometimes not really open to the public. I worked in an office building where we had a Post Office next to the mail boxes. You needed a key to get into the mail room, so other than the people who worked in the building I doubt anyone else ever went in there.

NGC really needs to get a way to track if a package has been received, but not entered into their system. Something like this. And if it has been entered into their system, they really should have something that shows it's status. Something like this. And at the very least, if a package has been in limbo in the mail for a long time, you'd think the USPS could at least have some sort of way to inquire about the location of the package. Something like this.

I don't know the exact threshold, but once you get above ~$1000 in USPS insurance, it does become cheaper to use Registered Mail. I was told (don't know if it is true) that the loss ratio for Express Mail is extremely low, close to that of Registered Mail. Supposedly Express Mail is scanned every stop on the way and never sits around long so it is very rare that they get lost/stolen. Unless it is a very valuable submission, I'll send Express with no insurance. Cheap and fast!

They aren't coins. First one appears to be imitating Spanish coinage. Second one is George Slaying the Dragon, which is a very common motif. Lettering appears gibberish, but I can't really tell since you took the pictures at an extreme angle. Both appear to be fairly modern made pieces.

Prices are rising. No doubt about it. It's happening with all collectibles and investment class assets. Even stamps, where the average collector is around 113 years old and the hobby long thought dead, is hot. Investors are desperately seeking out places to put their money to use. There are no traditional place to invest your money right now. US consumers have $3+ TRILLION of cash waiting to be spent. Sadly, the average American will spend this money as things get back to normal rather than save it. Increases in collectible prices is likely to continue for a while.

Hey Joe, did PCGS also call these counterfeit or have you not tried them yet?

The TPG charge fees based on the tier selected which partly corresponds to what the submitter claims the value is. Most submitters have an idea of value before submitting. If you over value the coin, that's on you. The TPG still provided the service speed level you selected and they still need to insure it for your declared amount while in their possession and when shipping it back to you. No one ever complains when they get a grade they weren't expecting and the coin is worth way more than the grading tier they paid for.

Quarter million. I'd be upset too if I thought I had coins worth a quarter million only to find out they are worthless.

I compared all 4 coins to multiple known authentic examples of each type. None of them match. Given the value of these coins, I'm sure NGC took extreme care in examining them. Your coins are counterfeit.

If they're going to mock-up a picture of the coin, at least they could do is get the grade correct. It's PR68, not MS68.