gmarguli

If the US Mint would limit production to a similar number, which would be about 95,700 sets based on population ratio, I'd gladly pay $93.50 per set. 

I'd also be willing to pay an extra $20 for a mint set if they were of super high quality like the Swiss sets.

These are apples to oranges comparisons. 

17 minutes ago, VKurtB said:

By the way, have you ever priced a base metal (CuNi) Swiss mint set or proof set at their website? Amazing how much they sell for. We have been spoiled literally for decades. Nowhere else in the whole world is their the assumption that numismatic coins closely track the metals used to make them. It's a uniquely American fetish and expectation.  

Their mint set is 40 CHF ($44) and the proof set is 85 CHF ($93.50). 

The quality of their mint sets blows the hell out of the US garbage. Their mint sets are gem PL coins that would typically grade MS68. Ours are garbage that would grade MS64. Their proof sets are equal in quality to ours.

They also limit the mintages to 8000 mint and 2500 proof. This allows them to hold their value in the post market much better.

1 minute ago, VKurtB said:

They ARE astonishing, but not out of line when compared with the pricing at other major World Mints. They're pretty much in line. We've gotten spoiled by being subsidized forever up until now.

They're selling the clad basketball commem for $42. This is a JFK 50c with a different design in a 20c cardboard box. No way in hell it costs them more than $1 for the coin and the box. The Mint must have $10,000 toilet seats they are spreading the cost of over all the products. 

23 hours ago, Moxie15 said:

Sometimes I wonder if there should be a separate designation for a toned coin. 

From 2000-2002, NGC used to designate coins T for toned and W for 100% white coins. The demand for this in the marketplace was pretty much zero. 

31 minutes ago, VKurtB said:

It seems ridiculous to me to claim that there is some finite point at which environmental toning instantly becomes environmental damage.

When the toning has materially etched into the surfaces or greatly impairs the underlying luster, you can call it environmental damage. 

2 hours ago, brg5658 said:

The NGC stock slab photos are as you describe.  But, the NGC PhotoVision (similar service to TrueView) are quite good, and could be used for your auctions.  They are $8 each apparently (mentioned earlier above), but they are very high quality and are taken of the coin before it is holdered.  Well worth the cost IMO - especially if it saves you yet another trip in the mail somewhere to a photographer. 

I've used the PhotoVision service and the results are fine. I'd be ahppy to use those in auctions. However, at a cost of $8 vs free, I can't do that. In the last year I've submitted around 2500 coins. That'd be an extra $20K in costs. 

6 minutes ago, MAULEMALL said:

Ocrap that's right..  Those were the Cowboy days...

Miss Them Greg? 

It had its moments, but I don't miss it. I do miss some of the people. I wonder if they are still in coins or left the hobby. 

I enjoyed the PCGS Open Forum before LS got it shut down. The race with TJ to 10,000 posts. The Water Cooler here wasn't too bad either. It was fun trading punches with the comic geeks. 

1 hour ago, Fenntucky Mike said:

I will say that the "stock" photos that NGC takes of coins in the slabs can very wildly in quality, but they are photos for verification not glamor shots.

The NGC stock photos are lifeless and the contrast is cranked way too high. The PCGS pictures have way too much light and the colors are overly enhanced. Too bad there isn't a happy medium.

I really wish that NGC would start to take pictures of the coins out of the slab like PCGS does. I bet they would get a lot more submissions. I know I send stuff to PCGS just because of the pictures. They are decent pictures that I can use for eBay auctions and I don't need to take my own pics when I get them back. Saves me time and money. I can't use the NGC pictures. Not only are they not good enough for online auctions, but NGC tries to prevent you from using them by blocking their download. I say they try because anyone with minimal knowledge of an internet browser can get around this. 

46 minutes ago, MAULEMALL said:

Man the memories..

I remember this incident. It was when David Hall had a meltdown when NGC outbid PCGS for the "Official ANA" designation. It was a priceless angry rant that showed both of his faces. He flouted the official designations like a peacock when PCGS had them, but once NGC took over, he cried like a person_without_enough_empathy. 

I am blown away at those prices. I already felt that the Mint was ripping off customers at the current price levels, but the proposed prices on many items is just crazy. 

Way to go to kill a dying hobby. How many people got their start in this hobby by their parents buying proof sets every year. Who's going to spend $105 on a silver proof set? 

Proof silver eagles at $83. That's a $60 mark up over silver. 

I guess the good news is that with these crazy prices, the mintages are going to fall off a cliff and we will have some modern coins that have demand above supply. Last time that happened was the Buffalo commem?

11 hours ago, GoldFinger1969 said:

Mainland Chinese want gold bullion or the like, not numismatics with an American flavor.

But Hong Kong Chinese and other Asians might be more open to Saints and Liberty's and others that sell at a premium to bullion content.

Wealthy Chinese want their money out of China. Either a piece of land in a stable country or tangible property that is easy to hold in a safe country. I'm sure many buy gold, but that is not practical for the very wealthy. Just $1 million would be 400 double eagles, or 20 PCGS blue boxes filled. Not practical.

3 hours ago, World Colonial said:

I have guesstimated 2MM "active" US collectors which is about 2/3 of 1%.  So maybe 1% from this group or somewhat more but it's still potentially over one hundred.  However, it's evident that even if this is accurate, almost none of these candidates are in the market for this one or the few other coins like it.  They won't risk the financial exposure, collect something else, and/or the attributes which US collecting considers such a big deal (in terms of quality) aren't important enough to them.

So to conclude, I think it's reasonable to assume quite a few more current collectors can afford this coin than many might think.  If what I write is not directionally accurate, then the very wealthy have even less interest than I believe in coin collecting.

2 million coin collectors in the US? Seems very high. There are only around 30K ANA members.  Lots of people buy proof sets or have a box of Morgan dollars from Las Vegas, but I wouldn't necessarily call them coin collectors. What about the people who collect from change, are they coin collectors? In my opinion, there is a difference between a true coin collector and one who just buys mint products or has a small accumulation of coins.

Actually, what I see (and I admit it might be a bad pic  or my eyes playing tricks on me) is that there is an outline of something where the last digit should be and that outline appears to be higher than the 194 digits. If that is the case, 1946 is the only date where the last digit is higher than the 194. The 3 in 1943 is lower than 194.

Also, there appears to be a void in the last digit and that void aligns with the bar in the 4 which matches the 1946 date. 

I declare this a 1946 and I don't need fishing lures as I can see the fish right below the surface and catch them with my bare hands. 

2 hours ago, RWB said:

...or "circulation strike." (ALL coins made at a mint are part of the mint's 'business.'  The term "circulation strike" specifically identifies the purpose or type of manufacture: circulation; collector proof; etc.

What if this came from a mint set? Collector circulation? 

I can make out the date. It's 1946.

I'm not a big crossover guy in either direction. I feel that you get a better shot at a fair grade if you crack them. I've done crossovers that have failed to cross and then when cracked and submitted raw, they've upgraded. Also, I feel that PCGS is much more likely to cross a world coin than a US coin. 

I did do a few world coin crossovers to PCGS that posted grades last week.

Invoice 1: 45 Coins, 39 crossed, 16 upgraded including 4 new Pop 1/0 and 1 Pop 2/0.

Invoice 2: 6 coins, 3 crossed. Not shocked that the other 3 coins did not cross. They were marginal for their grade.

Invoice 3: 5 coins, 3 crossed, 2 upgraded. These were old ANACS & a SEGS slabs. One of the ANACS and the SEGS upgraded. The 2 that didn't cross, one was called cleaned (I agree, but hoped PCGS would net grade it like ANACS did) and the other I'm very surprised it didn't cross. 

You have a lot of obstacles to overcome. The major downside is that the medal has $900 worth of gold in it. The second major downside is that it has Jimmy Carter on it. He is wildly viewed as a loser president. Even though history has softened on him, he is still not considered a good president. 

You need to find:

1. A collector of Presidential Inaugural medals.
2. Who wants one in gold, not the cheaper silver, copper, plated, etc other versions.
3. Who has $900+ to spend for one.
4. Who wants a Jimmy Carter one.
5. Who doesn't already have one.

Best of luck on that. The odds of you finding that is just slightly better than the odds of SETI finding extraterrestrial life. 

If they were mine, they'd be off to the smelter as soon as possible.

57 minutes ago, MarkFeld said:

I believe that the 1794 dollar is reserved at quite a bit less than $10 million.

Supposedly at $8M. However, I think it is exceedingly likely that the coin is coming up for auction because Bruce/Laura know that there are at least two people interested in it at a certain price level. 

Very nice results on a better date coin. 

Have you had these for a while or are they from the recent hoard? I don't know much about the hoard other than several BU rolls were made available about a year ago. Most of the coins were red gems. 

I find the (non-Morgan) PL designation one of the most inconsistent for both PCGS & NGC. I've only received a few PL from PCGS and those were on coins that had very deep mirrors. However, I've seen several in the marketplace that I felt were just very flashy, but they awarded the PL designation. It's a cr*p-shoot.

12 hours ago, Just Bob said:

Did you recognize what it was immediately, or did you have to do some research? Either way, that is a fantastic find!

I bought the Peru 2x2s as many of the coins were nice gems including a few that I knew were key dates. I did not know this was a pattern until I looked it up.

21 hours ago, MAULEMALL said:

As long as it actually commemorates The Morgan and Peace with dignity and authenticity , I wouldn't mind having one of each to display with mine.. It would be the cheapest of each I own.. 

That'll happen...

2 hours ago, zadok said:

....CAC doesn't sticker foreign coins.....

Give it time...

There is Wings that does foreign coins. Pretty much zero demand for this service.