Insider

Any seasoned veterans almost ready to retire? How many days?

Experiment first. That reside will come off easily; however, lots of coins have been damaged when they are being dried after conservation. An acetone dip will air dry BUT it may take some dips in fresh acetone to completely remove the film. I expect NCS could do a great job on your coins but they are not worth the price of using that service.

Col. Jessup often posted things as this that only he could understand.

Roger, Everyone knows that you are a good researcher, acclaimed writer, and experienced numismatist. IMO, ATS made a very bad decision. Yes, I realize that the OP's question was answered in the first post BUT I'll guarantee that someone, somewhere in the world, is going to start explain this characteristic as two snuggling coins! Please save the humor.

I find that the TPGS try to straight grade as many coins as they can. Therefore, it would be an extremely rare occurrence for a normal coin to be detailed. If the TPGS puts a some problem on the label, its on the coin. IMO, the ONLY time a collector is morally obligated to point out defects on a coin is when they sell it to a NON-DEALER. "Market acceptable" is different for every single person. Finalizers at the TPGS attempt to keep the "line" the same for everyone and every coin. The problem started for all collectors long ago when coin dealers snatched the grading process from non-dealer numismatists who had no "skin" in the game. The numismatists just graded coins as they saw them at a time when grading was much more strict. The truth is, both the dealers and the numismatists were doing things correctly. Graders were ranking coins by their degree of preservation but that way of doing things was contrary to the way long-time successful business dealers who did have their "skin" on the line. They knew the market and controlled it. Image how you would feel if you paid $1000 for a Mint state coin and several of your peers would give you an immediate profit yet when your customer sent it in to be graded it came back valued much lower because the numismatists in their "Ivory Tower" had no idea of the "Real World." News flash: I will tell every collector to learn to grade. While you are learning, get your coin out of a details holder. When you sell it to a dealer, it is up to them to know the value of the coin as is. Many dealers try to "put-one-over" on the TPGS's. That's what makes things fun. When NGC rejects their coins they get sent to us. It's like stealing money but they continue to try to get the coin slabbed.

IMHO, an experienced numismatist/professional grader/successful major dealer, knowledgeable collector, etc. can detect a coin that is not in original condition from at least 8 inches away while still in a flip using their eyes alone. The key for me in order of importance is color, luster type (a polished coin has luster - the reflection of light from its surface - just not original Mint luster), and the pattern of the luster (halo effect). When the coin is removed from the flip and examined more closely, parallel hairlines may be present when the coin is tipped and rotated in the correct orientation of light that makes them visible. The condition of a surface w/o hairlines is an indication of chemical cleaning. Then you need to decide if the imperfections you see are "Market Acceptable."

Just heard that all the Rosen Hotels are going to be CLOSED in January! What the... I change my reservation to July.

Thanks Mark. Even if they had the show, the convention center was limiting the number of folks allowed in.

At one time they were our allies. That's when I heard it was done. Hard to believe any old dies would be around.

@RWB Any info on US $20 dies being sent to Russia to strike Saints?

I predicted something more useful along the same lines as your AI Grader. IMO, something much more useful that you could charge a membership fee for would be AI (Foreign/ancient coin) IDENTIFIER! Download an image and find out what the coin/token is. I predict a TPGS may do this eventually now that they are imaging stuff. HOW ABOUT IT NGC?

I guess you are running it. Good Luck.

This is easy to answer. Just call each of the four major services and ask or download their submission forum. As this is an NGC web site, that's all I'll write.

What you may not understand at the moment is it takes all kinds. Some folks like to be sarcastic and mean. Other long time members get really tired of the same old questions. If they decide to help and then are not believed or argued with, the devil comes out and others will often join in. There is some good stuff posted on forums and many folks who join don't post at all. They just read the posts. I will never understand that as I'm full of questions. Bottom line, very few here truly know who we really are. We are only judged by our posts and counter posts. Have fun and who cares what others think they know about us. In the big picture, this is an extremely tiny place populated by all us little people with opinions.

I'll guess it is because he wanted to show his coins to different people. I'll guess he is a novice and thought they were high grade. I suggest every collector both new and long-time send a few of their coins in for grading to see how they are doing. Doing this often saves a big disappointment in the future.

Whenever, anyone posts anything they should be prepared for anything. Criticism is a good thing. That's how we get better unless we are too lazy to learn about white balance when using florescent light.

Well that explains it. "All of the limitations mentioned by those of us here are also mentioned by Goodman, and tilting a coin into a light source is not a recommended method of photographing a coin. Period." You posted about "ALL." While "ALL" may be the subject of your OP, I posted ONLY about tipping the coin exactly as we do when examining it in hand. That's because informed and knowledgeable numismatists far above my pay grade recommend that all of us tip (and rotate) a coin in the light. I am at a total loss to discover why something that works perfectly and is highly recommended (tipping a coin during examination) is virtually never to be done while taking its image. I've been imaging coins using my microscopes for almost fifty years and I have found that the best way to replicate what I am trying to capture is to tip the coin at least 80% of the time. I quoted the advanced section of the book YOU recommended because after reading your OP and seeing your images, I was under the impression that you were an "advanced" photographer. The book also proved that I was not pulling "fluff" out of the air. PS LOL, I'm sure you know the discussion where you refused to defend any of your misguided and uninformed opinions. You just continued to add more nonsense. When anyone disagrees with me about anything (this thread is an example) I'm ready to defend my opinion AND change it if I become more informed.

Agree. I apologize for "high-jacking" your informative thread. However, you disagreed with a friendly SUGGESTION I made for everyone here. The author of a book you recommended made the same suggestion, you refused to try it because you didn't wish to alter your setup, then eventually suggested the same result we both suggested could be accomplished by altering your setup (it could). Worst of all, I'm turned into the bad guy because I will not quit attempting to get you to RETRACT your disagreement. Unfortunately, as with our other disagreements, no answers from you are forthcoming. I'll post my images in a GTG format when I can copy them. I've turned over a new leaf. I don't wish to make anyone feel foolish when they cannot tell if the coin was angled to the lens or not when photographed (with no adjustment made to the lighting). Until our next discussion, thanks to all posters for the photography lesson!

But some of us should learn to be more gracious and empathetic when posting with others.

Yikes! I just tried to post an image Emailed to me from the camera and it will not open! Color me a loser so far . I'll need to get someone familiar with our system to allow me to copy and paste the images in case my terms are met and we get to play: "Tipped or Not Tipped ."

The audience here is very tiny. While I don't think any member should be the subject of a discussion (except those who are missed for some reason or another), my posts and the criticism of my images and teaching method has generated some "life" to the forum. Additionally, I'll bet all of us have learned something on this forum in the last month. I have. Anyway, as the popularity of this forum increases, perhaps you and others will post a sample quiz with the proper images so I'll see the correct way to teach. For now, I prefer to ask is this a ______ or describe what you see in this image; rather than this is a ________.

I've had them on my computer since last week! I thought you were done with "OUR" discussion. I'll post them for everyone but ONLY if YOU promise to play the game: TIPPED or NOT TIPPED. It will prove a coin can be tilted in the light, in focus, and no one can tell which is which. PS And you and others critique my images so I'll get better. It was my first time and the camera was pre-set. I made no adjustments and only took the image.

Still no good but the bubble pattern is visible.

I seriously doubt it so please, please, please. Soap-like multi-bubbles on a coin OF ANY COLOR are BBBBBBBBBBBBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADDDDDDDDDDD! Dry lacquer or glue coatings often include bubbles actual air bubbles but this is different.

I find that it is much easier and quicker to tilt the coin and rotate it under a light source that never moves.