LINCOLNMAN

No clue whether fractional ownership of collectibles will "sell" or be sustainable, but I would bet against it. The only sure winners will be the owners and whoever manages the instruments, and possibly owners of similar collectibles. But only for a short time IMO. As a collector I would have no interest, would rather go to Vegas. Important works of art on the other hand have broader appeal. I might take a piece of a nice Monet.    

I haven't been to the museum in many years, so I just took a virtual tour. An interesting experience involving much more than displaying coins. However, judging by what is on display, there must be a significant stash of coins out of the public eye that may never find their way to an exhibit nor will be used for research (how much research is done using the museum's collection?). Assuming no strings attached I would sell these at auction, give it a lot of fanfare as a fund raising event.  

The more prosaic coins appeared to do okay, as did the vivid toners, at least to my eye and based on the estimates provided. I didn't check prices against other sources. 

An amazing coin. I've dreamed of owning the denarius, now this. Time to buy a lottery ticket. 

Another GIII. Evidently these were saved in quantity. 

1 hour ago, Quintus Arrius said:

For what it's worth, I again requote Lord Bertrand Russell:

"It is the pre-occupation with possession, more than anything else, that prevents man from living freely and nobly."

More words of wisdom. I give myself an out by believing that I'm not "pre-occupied" by cons or other possessions, not most of the time anyway, Actually, when it comes to coins it's the research and the chase for me, more so than possession. 

15 hours ago, Quintus Arrius said:

When I was very young, my mother would take me to places that no longer exist anymore one of which was the Chase Manhattan Bank Money Museum.  And she said something that stuck with me all these years:  "Everything you could possibly want is right here. You don't need to spend money on it. You can come visit it any time you want."  I never forgot that.

A lot of wisdom in that observation. However, it is sadly lost on those of us afflicted with the collector gene. 

Ok, found True Views on a couple of the dimes in my type set. 

Great eye-appeal. 

Here's the reverse of the 1870 dollar. I love the reverses on the seated series as well. 

Oh for Pete's sake. I'm a BIG fan of seated coinage. But I don't have any pictures of my dimes and am challenged in the photo department - sorry, all I can offer are the pictures I kept of some of the other denominations in my collection. Hopefully we can get some more players to join in. 

Lord help me, I'm slowly being drawn to some of these "coins", some of them are actually pretty cool. Very unlikely that I'll ever pull the trigger on line, but perhaps at a show and I'm a little bored.....

Thank you Conder. After looking up Spence's bio and noodling around eBay, the three Thomas's reverse (?) is paired with themes consistent with his history, but the pairing with three men hanging is obviously someone else's doing. Still a lot of nonsensical misinformation out there in numismatics. 

3 hours ago, World Colonial said:

I'm not sure the results will provide any indication.  There are only a very low number of coins which approach it's estimated value and this doesn't really include other 1794 dollars or even most 1804 dollars.

A prominent dealer posting on the PCGS forum once mentioned he estimated that maybe 100 collectors are in the market for MM coins.  (This was almost 10 years ago.) If "ballpark" accurate, it's probably a handful for this coin at the estimated price. 

Hansen can presumably afford it but somewhere on the PCGS forum (maybe that marathon thread, can't remember), one post noted that he has few or maybe no coins above $1MM but even if he does, none close to this price.

Same concept for Larry Miller and Partrick.  Both are or were big budget collectors who could afford this coin but whichever of the two owns a 1794 dollar, it's an MS-62 from what I heard.

I'm thinking may give an overall indication of the market for expensive coins. You may be right as far as MM coins, they may be in a tier of their own, unaffected by the lower ranks. The 94S dime might give us a hint. Will be entertaining for we of the hoi polloi in any case. 

The Simpson auction tonight might give some clues. 

I'm starting to take an interest in these Conder tokens. Can anyone suggest an up-to-date reference book that would include these pieces? Although of English manufacture and apparently more to do with the French revolution, I plan to include the major types in my Colonial type set. The little bit of shopping I've done, I've noticed three reverse types which I'll call The Jacobin Knave; The Wrongs of Man; Pandora's Breeches. Would be fun to identify other Conder tokens that relate directly or indirectly to early America. 

Watched the recording. Coin collecting 101, not a lot new. Some extra focus on patterns, HA has a booklet they've prepared on collecting patterns which should be of interest. Noted that all the coins being sold have all very recently been regraded, apparently with a number of upgrades.  

Yes, here and ATS. 

20 hours ago, Alex in PA. said:

+1

Make that +2. Good grief. 

11 hours ago, VKurtB said:

I’m an old timer. I’ve been collecting for 57 years, and I’m now a senior citizen under most definitions. Where I differ from many old timers is I never found a point in time in which all grading made logical sense to me, so I’ve constantly strived to get a “better” grading system. That’s one of my main quarrels with the chief moderator over at CT. He has a date in his mind, somewhere some 30-some years ago, where he thinks grading was perfect as he has refused to continue evolving. 
 

Heck, there are way too many in this hobby, and on this board, who gave up learning anything new in 1964/65, because they have a fetish for a particular metal and concept of value and of money itself. I keep telling people that if I ever get that way, it’s time to shoot me. At no point will it be okay to insist that change needs to stop here. No point ever. Tastes change. What people find important changes. Embrace the changes, don’t fight them.

 

There is one aspect of grading that I do not SUPPORT, because I choose not to, but I continue to RECOGNIZE it, because at the end, the market decides. That aspect is wild toning. I hate that stuff, but it affects grades, and not by only a little. So I need to grit my teeth and use it as part of grades, even if it’s all BS in my opinion, and it is that.

As an old timer myself, I think your last sentence is the key to all the grading fuss. I don't support a lot of what I have seen in the market, but it is important, if one cares about getting the most for one's buck and preservation of value, to follow and understand what's going on. As much can be said of other markets. BTW I'm with you on the wild toning thing. Silly. 

60-61

4 hours ago, kbbpll said:

"What a maroon!" - Bugs Bunny. Every time i see this thread, that pops into my head.

You aren't alone. Miss those WB cartoons. 

7 hours ago, thebeav said:

I've seen this on Lincolns quite often.

It's never been clear to me whether it means a straight grade or not....... 

The slab above was straight-graded, but then there is great latitude given these old coppers. Often too much IMO. 

15 minutes ago, James_OldeTowne said:

Technically, it is PMD.  But for early copper of that type (New Jersey), it's acceptable to a pretty advanced degree as a reflection of the minting and storage technology of the time.

Thank you!

The area at 2 o'clock is something I've seen before. Had always thought it was inherent, due to the poor quality of the planchet, but wonder if it is PMD of some sort.