VKurtB

Many places, this is fantastic advice. Many other places, a quixotic quest.

You have reminded me of one thing in PCGS's favor. Among the last few major shows I've been to, NGC has packed up earlier than PCGS has. If that becomes chronic, rather than just the way outbound flights fall, it'll be a strike against NGC. We'll see. Orlando and Phoenix will be interesting. One show much much closer for one firm or the other at both shows. I'd expect PCGS to head out earlier at F.U.N. and NGC to do so at ANA Phoenix.

This brings up a philosophical question that has always bugged me about my beloved hobby. People talk of "survival rates". Whiskey Tango Foxtrot? How do coins fail to survive? Really! They merely become misplaced, don't they? Unless they fall prey to the melter's pot, or some cataclysmic fire outside a blacksmith's shop, aren't pretty much all coins still out there (or down there) SOMEWHERE? Or when people talk of "survival rates" are they really talking about "survival in mainstream numismatically acceptable condition"?
Yes, when the sun goes into the red giant phase, ALL coins, and everything else, will fail to survive as the sun consumes the earth wholesale, but according to my sources, that ain't happened yet. The big metal recycling center in the cosmos. Open one day only, cuz that's all they'll need to be open. "From dust were ye made, and dust ye shall be".

There, fixed it fer ya'. [We kid because we care.]

I NEVER blame the US Mint for these debacles. They are pretty much blameless. There ARE two usual perpetrators - 1) Congress, and 2) the entire "flipper culture". State any kind of mintage limit and WHAMMO the flippers move in. State that it's unlimited and often FAR FEWER are ever sold. Mass hysteria and "quick buck" fever rule the day. It's one of things that ruin this hobby. #ScrewTheFlippers

No. Stop thinking in terms of wiping or brushing of any kind. All of it creates damage that is easily seen.

Mine say “One Penny” or some say “New Penny”. Do yours? By the way, some don’t say a darned thing about a denomination, you’re just supposed to know.
 I get really giddy when people call pre-decimal pennies “British large cents”, which is just wrong on every level. 

Karen, 
‘Tis a finer world upon which you enter when you become a World Coin aficionado. U.S. cents will instantly come across as mundane and banal. 

It’s absolutely NOT personal, but I have never felt comfortable with the flipper culture. As someone formally trained in economics, I consider it a bastardization of the market, rewarding “insincere demand” at the expense of legitimate demand. Sorry, again, not personal.

I NEVER blame the US Mint for these debacles. They are pretty much blameless. There ARE two usual perpetrators - 1) Congress, and 2) the entire "flipper culture". State any kind of mintage limit and WHAMMO the flippers move in. State that it's unlimited and often FAR FEWER are ever sold. Mass hysteria and "quick buck" fever rule the day. It's one of things that ruin this hobby. #ScrewTheFlippers

Sho nuff.

Doesn't the person giving the briefings need to BE intelligent? Finding that might prove to be the limiting factor, given the track record of our national intelligence services. He's probably better off just listening to Jill.

Is Ratzie33 on it?

No, the seller is one, and the buyer is two. Then the TPGS is three. See what I did there? CAC or QC check, or Eagle Eye, or all those, are FOUTH (and up) opinions. By the time a nearly illiterate “broad” from New Jersey weighs in, it’s beyond ridiculous.

Absolutely so. That’s the kind of thing one learns at ANA convention talks, but seldom on discussion boards. Occasionally, as at Rosemont in 2019, the designers from the US Mint even give such talks. Pardon me, but I am a HUUUUUGE critic of Internet numismatics and an even “huger” fan of going to major coin shows. It’s a place to learn, rather than to shop.
I can’t tell you how often I’ve learned even strictly “inside” information at ANA shows, but when I refer to them later online, the ‘Net Ninnies all ask for a link. The link is often ME. I’ve worked a little less than half my working life in government. Less than 10% of important stuff EVER goes online. And included in that is the documentation of how ballots REALLY are counted. Berks County, PA Election Director, 2001-2005. 

Please stop it with this advice. It’s irresponsible. 

If coins are only what’s keeping you from drinking or gambling, I’d bet $100 you badly need a drink.

Or hare brained?

I object to the entire concept of a sticker. We need, in a few cases, a third party opinion. But fourth? Where does it end?

Fortunately, I missed that entire episode when I was what they used to call “AFK” for many days straight. I’m kinda glad, because I might have been tougher on your antagonist than anyone. Being of German descent myself and from a virulent Anti-Nazi family on one side and Swiss pacifists on the other, the charge is one of the most odious ever made. My uncle died two years ago still with Nazi shrapnel in his body. 

If coins are only what’s keeping you from drinking or gambling, I’d bet $100 you badly need a drink.

Amen. In the United States, this day honors all veterans, living and dead.
In the rest of the Western world, this is Remembrance Day, the equivalent to the American late May holiday.
Regardless, it commemorates the armistice that ended World War I hostilities. The Treaty of Versailles screwed it up only much later. 

Personally, I prefer swell foops, one or many, it doesn’t matter. 

Sales tax tokens are their own specialty area. The national organization called TAMS is the society that encompasses the specialty.  TAMS stands for “Token and Medal Society” and they meet annually at the ANA August convention. Sometimes at the March show also.
The serious TAMSers can get pretty hard core about them, but they are the “keepers of the flame”.

I had a CAC once, but a thorough gargle took care of it. I CACed it right up like a hairball. Not to put too fine a point on it, but I’ve never cared what John Albanese might think about much of anything. I only care about two opinions - the seller’s and mine, end of list. Perhaps NGC as a neutral third party occasionally, but I never give them a dispositive position even then.