zadok

personal experiences....international shipping a def quagmire, very few if any standardized procedures...i buy prob 100-120 coins per year from individual international sellers mostly ebayers, i have only had two occasions where i did not receive items purchased n both times funds recovered thru ebay quickly....i routinely receive coins marked as gifts or tokens n no consequences...as for my international auction firms purchases , they were shipped with all the customs forms n all procedures followed n associated fees incurred but no loses so far....there r a few countries i do not ship to due to theft n corruption but mostly i have had very few problems....

wc's observations on the liberty head (barber) series pretty much rite on as far as collectors concerned (almost a stepchild of us coinage)...just a few bits n scraps to consider, its true not a lot of series for average collector to collect in 20th cent coinage; mercs, roosevelts, washingtons, jeffersons, lincolns, franklins fairly easy to complete n fill those blue folders in circ grades....both dansco n whitman made albums for the barbers n there were still low grade barbers to be found in change as late as the '50s so putting together a next logical step if u had finished the other series...a bit of an increase of interest in the series after the formation of the barber coin collectors society (bccs) several hundred members...but as for rarity its still possible to complete the series (sans '94-s dime) without too much difficulty, diff is trying to match them up, the barber keys n semi-keys comparable to the liberty walking keys in circ grades as to prices n scarcity....relatively stable series as for price appreciation, very little impact as far as bullion increases go.... totally agree with wc on his take on saints being bullion substitute for some investors, i have one collector friend who buys one every month n has done so for the past 4-5 years, so i guess u could say his 50-60 saints have become a mini-hoard now...

nice finds gm.....yep very seldom offered on the market, the '63 bit rarer than the '62....the ireland off year proofs extremely tuff to collect....the free state prohibitive (cept for the '28s), republic a bit more more available, decimals common....n yes the morbiducci proofs (all r patterns from 1927) even tuffer yet, most in museum collection in dublin n family collection in rome, a few on the collector market, farouk had few in his collection...ireland poof collectors in rarified air....great pick ups congrats.....

ur probably correct...on the surface the rarcoa green label wrinkle appears to be an attempt to create another echelon or class of desirability to generate a vehicle to make money n that is exactly what it is, it provides little to nothing to enhance the value or desirability of the coin that has been encapsulated ....just a subtle attempt to coattail for more money from the collector...yes every coin consortium could just create their own label or bean to accomplish the same thing but they would need to underwrite or establish a bona fide financial support level for it to gain acceptance, not an easy nor cheap avenue to pursue...as for ur encapsulating the encapsulated, sort of being done as in the grading of gsa coins n redfield hoard coins now...who knows whats next, anything goes, im guessing more new wrinkles to see how many will follow....as for folks really dislike the stickers, im not seeing that....collectors, dealers n investors seem to be eagerly accepting if not promoting this concept....to paraphrase "money is as money does"....

u mite also want to consider that it is a chinese counterfeit.....i find it diff to believe this coin was in circulation.....

select, choice, prime r official designated terms assigned by the usda.....maybe its ur butcher who is passe....

the above two answers give u viable options n solutions....u have couple choices...use multiple forms for more than 15 or strike out submission number on second form n enter first form number....if u need more space for variety description just use the lines below, u could use the entire page n just submit one coin....yes goes to conservation first n then to grading, entered as received as a submission once goes to grading, but u should get n email saying ur submission has been received n ur tracking number on shipping lets u know when its picked up as well.....

1950-70s...unc 60-61....choice unc 63-64....gem unc 65 n above....62s sort of floated around, if u were selling they were choice if u were buying they were uncs....lustre n eye appeal usually meant that dealers were inflating their grades by at least one....everything very subjective....blazing white was preferred in lots of cases especially morgans....toning hadnt really blew up yet....dipping very common....

fairly accurate assessment....there's also the group that dont like cac because their coins didnt get cac'ed, of course they dont like tpgs because their coins didnt get the grades they wanted....as for ur number 2 group, same dilemma of 35 years ago...lots of super collections sitting raw in dansco n whitman albums, what to do cert or not to cert....things evolve, u either go with the evolution or get left behind....personal decisions...

....no clue, but there is one on ebay at present, asking price $799.99......

u r correct....cac is n will be a continuing subject with a high level of contentiousness...some of which is just because certain persons dont understand the underlying principles that it is based upon...n yes it is a business for profit as r the tpgs....i for one am a big supporter n have n will continue submitting coins on a continuing basis...as with anything with monetary influence the market will ultimately decide if there is warranted value, so far its responding favorably....my forrest reference was directed toward the proposed recourses n not cac, u cant review the review of the review just because u dont like the result....as for a good squabble, its against my principles to step down in weight classes.....

DWL...i noticed that the two 1855 quarters i submitted for variety consideration r now listed as scheduled for grading....was bit concerned that service designation didnt reflect anything bout variety consideration for the ddo we discussed....were u able to see them before they went to grading?....could u advise if they r being evaluated as variety plus ddo that we had discussed before?...thanks

hmmm lets think bout this for a moment....not all coin collectors brag bout their collections, sometimes u dont want others to know what u own....im sure an owner of a rare van gogh mite only have one but still considers him/herself to be an art collector...by strict definition a collection is three or more items so i guess stuart qualifies as a collector of rare things anyway....its sort of like how many buffaloes does it take to be a herd or how many whales does it take to be a pod....guess it depends on how big ur backyard or ur pool is....

...as forrest would say..." ****** is as ****** does".... and this is and does.....

about as likely as u dunking on dikembe mutombo in his house...

if u got to ask...then yes u already missed the boat....its really very simple....not all xf45 coins or au58 coins or ms63 coins etc r the same....

DWL... i see that the above ref 1855 half dime was segregated from 5941935 to a diff submission number, 2112755....just fyi in case u looked for it....

DWL... both the 1855 ddo quarters arrived at ngc pick up last week and were picked up according to usps tracking, addressed to ur attention, submission number 5942338 variety plus express handling....hopefully these higher grade coins will provide better definition of the ddo's, use any photos as u see fit....on a different note, another variety plus submission that mite be of interest to u, submission number 5941935, .... 1855 half dime with request for ddo variety, this particular coin has 7 horizontal stripes in the obverse shield versus 6 as normally found, ngc currently has a 1855 ddo half dime variety listed however the variety plus photos only show the bottom of the skirt n banner of the shield n does not show the full shield, i suspect this is the same ddo but not 100% certain, if it is perhaps u mite want to add the shield in the variety plus photos, if it isnt the same ddo perhaps consider it as a second ddo variety....i have searched prob a thousand 1855 half dimes over the past several years n have seen exactly 4 with this 7 stripes doubling, two were very low grades, one was in a listing by gerry fortin n the submitted coin, so im assuming its very scarce to rare....thanks again....

yea i could say the same bout financial advisors n stockbrokers ripping off their clients too, but that would just be generalizing n overblowing a known issue the same as u r doing bout usps workers stealing coins to from tpg...u should stick to known personal experiences u can make unequivocal statements bout from first hand knowledge instead of perpetuating rumors or over exaggerating issues....im sure anyone can find examples of theft in every industry that exists but that doesnt equate to it being widespread....the orig poster wanted to know if it was safe to ship coins to the tpgs, the answer is yes if u ship with common sense n take advantage of existing safe methods of shipping....

obviously not a well informed reply to discussing how registered mail works n why its the most reliable means to ship coins.....registered mail is tracked n documented both internally by the usps n can be monitored externally by the sender at every transfer point on its route to destination....neither the post office box nor the zip code r negatives in shipping security... their r very few instances of thefts of registered mail, the thefts of money items thru the mail r usually currency in non insured non registered birthday cards or xmas cards since security on those types of shipping is less stringent n if u open enuf cards u prob will find some cash....internal security at usps is very tight with ccts, overhead monitoring, supervisory positions etc....obviously there r always some degree of theft n loss in all shipping systems, but these horror stories of loss of coins to n from tpgs is overblown...

so no credible source....just rumor mongering.....

yes u r correct, i routinely receive parcels back from NGC (600+ to date) they have always been sent by registered post n require a signature....priority as u say is often just left, the covid has created a tendency for carriers to become a bit more relaxed in their stringency on delivery requirements, partially due to social distancing n i suspect also due to increase in temp hires to fill employee voids....the biggest detraction by using registered delivery is it is significantly slower due to monitoring requirements, but as u stated much more secure....

crooked workers?...clearly determined?...just how many coins have u had stolen when submitting to PCGS n NGC?...or other collectors that u know personally that have had coins stolen when submitting?...or is this just passing on rumors that someone knew someone that heard that someone had lost a coin?....

because they were legally sold n not subject to confiscation.....the stamps were resold n again resold very soon after the initial purchase....there was never any official federal orders to actually confiscate them after leaving gov't control, the orders were to destroy all that were still in possession of the gov't...

well time will tell.....it is the only plate block of 4 so it has a higher premium than the other known blocks of 4.....plus there is an over abundance of cash sitting on the sidelines just looking for a place to go...