Jason Abshier

@Mr.Bill347 IPhone will take suitable pictures I found natural light like from a window at 2-3 feet away lay coin flat , stack some books up rest IPhone just over the edges of book about 4”-5” above the coin , zoom in on iPhone camera to fit coin full screen shoot away, then crop the photo makes it look even bigger I found (natural light shows what coin will look in your hand with a naked eye) … lighting is another issue like RWB said about proof coins are a little more tricker . I found LED lights to give best lighting when I need it . But most of time I strive for that “natural look” with no artificial lighting to change colors sometimes it’s not always practical we have to add that lighting getting the lighting angle right can be a pain in the butt sometimes !

Picked up another MS 1863 Grand Duchy of Baden German 1 Kreuzer for my raw German collection one of my favorite designs in German coinage coat of arms with the 2 Griffins

I’ve found good deals on MA-shops , collectors corner , great collections to name a few I also buy coins on live actions over seas never had any problems . I rarely find a really good deal on eBay anymore , maybe from a large dealer who has a large overhead operation they sell a bunch coins on eBay I can haggle with them , but the smaller sellers that have like 20 coins listed they won’t budge on prices real hard to haggle probably because of seller fees ? Maybe ? Either that or they are inexperienced collectors try to flip a coin from a huge marked up profit also bought a few good deals on Facebook market place I met a collector at coin show to buy a coin off him , but very very “few”good deals on Facebook market place

@J P Mashoke you are correct about some counterfeit Spanish reales , as well as any coinage . I myself been collecting German coinage for last 6 years I have Krause book just for German coins with over 1,000 pages of nothing but German coins from 1600-present modern day … world coins are interesting so many roads and doors to open with world coinage you’ll never get bored ! Some are ugly , some are drop dead gorgeous, some are plain Jane , some are just down right cool ! … reason why I went to German coins because of my heritage then it became addictive to keep collecting German coins my favorite design is German Baden state designs . My wife is maya Indian from Guatemala soon I’ll be starting a collection of Guatemala coins I’m sure I’ll be running into some Guatemala reales just like a Spanish reales hopefully they ain’t Fake either … but I buy both Raw and graded world coins

Lately dealers got smarter with the ANACS coins aren’t always cheaper simply just because the coin is in an ANACS holder it sells cheaper than PCGS and NGC , I see a lot of ANACS coins selling for almost close as NGC coins and some close to PCGS if the coin indeed really looks nice … maybe some of the “uglier” ANACS coins sell for cheaper ? Or problem coins I noticed ANACS details a lot of coins for cleaning where PCGS will pass that on or NGC will detail a coin for harsh cleaning

@Haskel some ANACS coins are nice not saying they pull a premium all the time but there are some out there with nice coins in them even on eBay ! If I had to pick ? I would say that PL 1884-O ANACS is worth a shot at buying if I wanted to buy the best looking coin compared to PCGS and NGC 1884-O. Although the price for ANACS 1884-O is a little steep I would haggled it down some but I personally would leave it in holder and not crack it out it doesn’t look very DMPL to me compared to PCGS AND NGC they all look almost the same proof like wise

This price guide was from June 2021 probably out of date already … I don’t collect Morgans anymore I used too , maybe someday I’ll come back start collecting them right now I’m focusing on my German world coins . Prices for world coins are tough not a lot data for world coin pricing the price guides are out of date sometimes , really have haggle around prices on world coins mostly I used auction prices for world coins even then some prices are too high

A lot of them have been cracked out and submitted to PCGS and NGC, if you go to a coin show sometimes you’ll find a few goodies in ANACS white holders or old PCGS rattlers … they are become scarce and scarce as the years go on with all the grading wars and hype going on sadly a lot of them are being cracked out … I buy a lot old holders even tho I think a coin can upgrade I leave them in old holder … there plenty of other newly graded coins to buy in higher grades leave the old slabs alone

@J P Mashoke a guy I work with is a PCGS member he gets monthly PCGS price guide your 1884-O is in the price guide MS64 $80

Although a lot people bash ANACS but for newer collectors joint the hobby. when you look back in history of TPG , I’d say ANACS is the granddaddy of them all they pioneered the way to what TPG grading really is. although a lot dealers and collectors say PCGS was first true TPG Service maybe so on market grading with a fancy slab at that time then along came NGC but too much credit was given there (they just didn’t get that idea out of the blue unless it wasn’t for ANACS at that time)

@Conder101You’re correct I forgotten all about ANACS photo grading coins long before slabs ever came out they took photos of the coin obverse and reverse of the coin then put it in plastic bag with the grade card those are rare to find intact as well on today’s market

Looks like artificial toning gone wrong .

PCGS and NGC price guides should be used for reference , don’t go by the prices listed they are high retail prices I see a lot sellers on eBay pricing coins exactly what NGC and PCGS priced in their guides and websites (where they get those prices ?) I have no idea !!!! Grey sheet is more accurate but it’s pricey … However PCGS does show Auction prices for certain coins you can see what people were paying for coins at auctions and even Ebay auction as well … You do is take High retail prices and auction prices , then narrow it down to what you’re willing to pay for a coin close to (recent auction prices) . Then go bid on coins but set “your price” and don’t go over it .. Sure you’ll lose some bids , thats the way it is you’ll also win some bids too. There’s deals out there just have to find them searching around online and private dealer websites with inventory (make them an offer) what’s worse they say? No . Most dealers are open to offers they don’t tell everyone that they expect you to know that and how to haggle but most of them are motivated to sell coins at offer prices

Back a little while ago NGC made pink insert holder for 2018 breast cancer awareness commemorative silver dollar

They started drinking something else after they removed David hall out of his own firm when he was one of the the one’s who basically started it all . Immediately terminated him I still haven’t found out real story why they did that ?

ANACS is good for error coins and varieties that have a long data base for that purpose more than NGC or PCGS has . ANACS glory days of good grading on rare coin market are long over … Thats why I prefer older White ANACS holders back in the days when they first started out grading they were strict on a standard (some of the white holder coins are on the money or little under graded on today’s market) . PCGS and NGC over took the market under a different grading standard “market grading” that’s where ANACS got thrown under the bus they didn’t adapt (when they did try to adapt PCGS and NGC shot them out of the air with the market grading) ANACS could never catch up . However they still have loyal followers that keep them alive . But I have found some nice graded ANACS coin in the older slabs. However ANACS does make it little easier for anyone to send them coin for grading unlike the bigger guys NGC and PCGS (membership only) blah blah blah wish they would be a little more looser with the membership especially PCGS and (their cult driven dealers claiming only PCGS coins are more superior)

I agree with you you got some nice Star war coins , where’s all the silver basher people at now? “oh that just silver bullion you wasted your money buying that it’s only silver nobody gonna buy it for more than melt !”, “looks cool but again its only silver bullion” or “don’t send that into grading it’s not worth it , coin must be over $150 or more to be graded”… I Myself am a classic coin collector, I was guilty of saying some of that stuff towards new collectors ,seems like some collectors haven’t (accepted) that there is a “new market era” of coin collecting and collectors today . I’m finally starting to dabble around and venture in the new market of graded silver bullion and gold and modern coins I buy few here and there . It’s the next generation of collecting I see nothing wrong with graded silver bullion with low mintages . After all our hobby need to stay alive with newer collectors it’s a new era and times are changing

A lot Morgans are overrated with bogus claims stating they are rare when there thousands and thousands to choose from in all different grades higher grades depends on how deep your pockets are but it doesn’t make them rare, not like 1933 Saint Gaudens (now that’s rare) morgan dollars are the most common coin collected just about every collector probably has few or bunch of Morgan dollars in their collection pretty common coin to see not saying there isn’t scarce years in the series like I said deep pockets play in that ball field when it comes to scarce Mint state Morgans they will always have a love affair with American collectors

Actually the dealer can put his/her personal stickers on the bottom of slab and not directly right over the hologram , they say “No room” then make a smaller sticker so it fits at the bottom of the slab … Common sense isn’t rocket science !

Not on that slab , those are more tougher type on hologram on the back if he peels sticker off slowly it should be okay , ( Be careful when using any goo-off or other chemicals trying wipe off sticker residue off on the holograms) I seen someone literally rub the hologram off using acetone or goo-gone or something . Just simply use a little dish soap and little water wipe it off …. Acetone would be a big no-no to use on plastic , pour acetone in a plastic cup you’ll see it dissolve the plastic. Perhaps Denature alcohol would probably be better safer solution to use , I also use denature alcohol to dip all my raw coins in when I first buy them to remove finger prints and so on before I put them in 2x2 … And NO denature alcohol will not harm toning on coins it evaporates very quickly as well , I’ve also dipped a lot of copper coins in denature alcohol as well with no ill effects to the coin

Some of the newer modern NGC holograms are more stronger can take that sticker on back , also some years NGC put hologram on the inside of “some” slabs for a short period of time . I think the newer NGC slabs on today’s market has hologram on the inside of the slab ? I’m not real sure I have to check , but I know there was a period they put hologram on inside of slab and switch back to putting the hologram on outside of slab again . it was the older hologram fatty holders like in your first picture that suffered what I called “dealer sticker syndrome” they got damaged easily I guess dealers back then didn’t care or didn’t have enough common sense to stop putting stickers on holograms , but fast forward to today some dealer see these old fatty NGC holders have a collectors market and are appreciated now . They try to sell them for little more premium than what the coin is worth , uh! Nope ! Not if that hologram severely ruined on the back Discount it ! When your buying . Buying old slabs is like buying antiques would you buy an ugly antique at a high price ?

@Hoghead515 this Photo is not mine ! I didn’t have time to look in my collection but I do have 2 of them with gold embossed sticker hologram on back of NGC slab they are starting to get harder to find now every once in awhile a few pop up for sale

@Hoghead515 do you have any of the old fatty holders with gold foil hologram on the back of slab ? Those are getting harder and harder to find … lately I been hunting down the old fatty holders with no bar code light green labels they only made that style green labels for short period of time … I also buy any fatty holder I can find in world coins which is a little more rarer seeing world coins in NGC fatty holders … I’m picky also the hologram on back of slab must be fully intact and not ripped off if it is ripped off I’ll discount price of the coin another 5% when I’m buying from a dealer I’ll point out the damaged hologram some say it ain’t nothing no big deal , to me it’s part of the package buying when buying a coin just like how a collector rather have a mint package for a coin purchase from the mint

I was hoping someday that NGC would go back to retro “fatty” holders I still like them to this day they were pretty strong holder hard to scratch them too , I wouldn’t mind if ANACS went back to retro white holders …I’m not a big fan of Retro black NGC holders

@J P Mashoke down in south it was different , my wife and I took a trip down to North Carolina my Oldest son arrived back at Camp lejeune in Jacksonville N.C , after being in Japan for a whole year we haven’t seen him all year he’s in the Marine Corps he was being awarded Sergeant E-6 rank, he want me there to see it , I didn’t hesitate to drive down we arrived I noticed a lot of stores people wore mask but inside restaurants waiting in line nobody wore mask . inside out hotel there was no mask policy either, on the Marine base there was no policy either it was not mandated but inside buildings it was strongly suggested to wear a mask at all times until you go outside there was no “6 feet rule either” after my son’s sworn oath ceremony was over the Gunnery sergeant and Master Gunny sergeant came up to me with no mask gave me plague for my wife and me with our names on them … Then they shook my hand like a real person would do at an important time like that they “thanked me for making a Marine” I’ve never heard that one before . People Join marine corps for discipline and honor and dignity and faithfulness that where Marines are made . Not back at home in the bedroom making babies 🤣 in Pennsylvania a hand shake was highly forbidden during Covid19 Up here in Pennsylvania mostly all restaurants were closed to take out only we had wear a mask when they did open on limited capacity we had to wear mask until we were seated and had to actually wait until we could eat then we were allowed to remove the mask and 6 feet rule was strongly mandated anyone caught breaking rules in store not wearing mask law enforcement was sometimes called to escort stubborn people out of the stores I used see all kinds of stubborn people try to fight with police when being told to leave store actually pressed down on ground and handcuffed ! Geeze was all that drama really worth it ? Simply put a mask on !!