Sandon

"BU" means "Brilliant Uncirculated", which would be MS60 or better. "MS" means "Mint State", which is synonymous with "uncirculated". Therefore, if an entire roll of coins is "BU", every coin in the roll will also be "BU" and "MS".

In the future, use the first topic on the "NGC Registry", forum, to which I am providing a link: NGC doesn't have any competitive set categories for U.S. patterns, and because of the large number of varieties of such pieces it's unlikely there will be any soon. You can create a "Custom Set" to display your patterns in accordance with your own preferences. Use the "Browse Custom Sets" button on the Registry home page to get started.

The term "uncirculated" simply means that the coin has no observable wear or "rub" consistent with having circulated, not that it hasn't been used in any commercial transactions. When a bank teller or store cashier hands you a bright, new coin from a recently opened roll or mint bag and you carefully handle and preserve it, it will still merit an "uncirculated" grade that will depend upon the number of abrasions it received during the minting and distribution process, the quality of its strike and luster, and the like. Because in recent years the mint has distributed coins in enormous plastic bags that contain many more thousands of coins than the old cloth bags, most of such coins, even if taken directly from the bags, probably won't grade higher than MS64.

Your Lincoln cent in the aluminum ring is generally referred to as an encased coin, not a token. These items were quite commonly used in the early to mid-twentieth century to commemorate occasions such as world's fairs and other expositions and events and, as here, as advertising. Numismatic organizations have issued them in recent years to commemorate numismatic conventions.

As I understand it, these tokens, though not legal tender, were accepted by many businesses to make change, not just the one that issued them, and actually circulated. For that matter, I understand that U.S. minor (non-silver or gold) coins weren't legal tender until 1965 and although generally accepted, could also be lawfully refused. Civil War tokens bore no stated value and were valued as agreed by the parties, presumably for one cent apiece on most occasions.

The photo was probably taken after the coin was certified but before it was submitted to CAC.

Civil War tokens are classified into two groups. The first is the "patriotic" Civil War tokens that expressly refer to the war or the preservation of the Union. The second group are tokens of this period that advertise specific businesses or their goods or services, which are known as Civil War "storecards". The storecards legitimately relate to the war because they, as well as the patriotic tokens, were issued as substitutes for low denomination coins, which had mostly disappeared from circulation, along with the higher denomination coins. Congress prohibited further issuance of such private tokens in 1864 and authorized the issuance of bronze cents, two cent pieces, and (earlier) fractional currency to deal with the shortage of small change. I can't tell whether any scratches or other damage to this token resulted from an attempt to remove corrosion or from other causes.

Welcome to the NGC chat board. Your coin, like many older copper coins, appears to be heavily corroded, meaning that exposure to chemicals in the environment, likely from being buried in the ground, has converted some of the copper and other elemental metals (tin and zinc) in this bronze coin into one or more chemical compounds. Unfortunately, it is impossible to reverse this process. The use of chemicals or abrasives that might remove some of the corrosion would leave the coin with significant pits or scratches that would devalue it further. (The coin is a better date Indian cent with VF or XF details, but probably wouldn't be numerically graded even if the green corrosion and darkness could be removed due to the significant scratch beneath the eye.) The coin is likely stable, but any harmful surface residues could be removed by soaking the coin in pure acetone. Another member of the forum, @Coinbuf, has explained how to do this as follows: " Let the coin sit for a while and every so often agitate the acetone by gently swirling the container. If/once the acetone becomes green or murky change [it] out for a fresh bath of acetone, depending on how much PVC [or other residue] is present. It can take several baths to remove it all. Once you feel confident that all the PVC [etc.] is removed place the coin on a paper towel. Acetone will completely evaporate so no need to do any drying or further washing." Note that acetone is highly flammable, so do not use it anywhere near an open flame or something hot and follow any other precautions on the container.

Hopefully, you mean you like the design. If you like coins that have been damaged by being scraped, that is good only in the sense that you should be able to find a lot of them! However, it's exactly the opposite of what a serious, knowledgeable collector would want.

This appears to be a coin that was dipped in acid or some other corrosive substance or possibly hit with something very abrasive. It removed the copper-nickel outer layer on the reverse to the point that the copper core was exposed at the lower right. The coin would have come from a proof set.

The coin in the new, clearer photos is dated 2010, not 2016. So, someone is selling a bullion coin containing about $450 in gold for $200? "There is no Santa Claus in numismatics." I doubt there is one in bullion dealing either. What if he takes your money and doesn't send you anything?

NGC's paper money affiliate is Paper Money Guaranty (PMG), www.pmgnotes.com. PCGS also has an affiliate that grades currency, PCGS Banknote, www.pcgs.com/banknote. As with coins, you should determine that your currency is likely to be worth the cost of grading before submitting it.

Welcome to the NGC chat board. In the future, please place inquiries of this nature under the "Newbie Coin Collecting Questions" forum, as the "Marketplace" forum is for solicitations to buy or sell coins. While, as noted by @Greenstang, it is not possible to give a good assessment of the coin's grade without better photos, it appears that the coin is somewhere in the middle of the About Uncirculated range (AU55) to the low end of the Uncirculated range (MS 60-61). The seemingly deep nick on Liberty's face and a possible "cleaning" could result in the coin's being impaired and not numerically gradable.

In my experience, an estate appraiser's compensation can't be contingent on the value of the property as determined by the appraiser. This would create an incentive for the appraiser to overvalue the property.

The depression in the chin may have been in the planchet from which the coin was struck, although it's hard to tell from either pigeonman's or NGC's photos. The higher relief areas in the design of the coin such as this part of the chin receive less pressure from the dies, so planchet defects are still visible on the struck coin. The "66" grade was likely the result of the coin's original bright color, lack of spots, and full strike. In my opinion many coins graded "65" and "66" aren't true "gems". As others have stated, you have to look at coins before buying them and base your purchases on your own taste, not on the number on a little paper tag.

This is what your 1935 cent would have looked like "new".

In most if not all jurisdictions, the property of a deceased person's estate must be appraised by a qualified person who has no interest in the estate--which would not include the spouse of a person left property under the will--and the appraisal submitted to the probate court. Your wife should discuss this with the estate's lawyer. Because of the specialized knowledge involved, coins should be appraised by a coin dealer or other person with substantial experience in numismatics and in this case with world as well as U.S. coins, not by a general personal property appraiser. That person could also provide advice on whether it would be worthwhile for the estate to incur the expenses involved in having any of the coins third party graded and also on how best to distribute or sell the coins. The appraisal, which would likely be based on retail prices, would give you a guide as to what offers would be reasonable.

See Based on this old thread, it appears that NGC will keep a record of its certification number and intercept it in the unlikely event that the coin is re-submitted to NGC in its holder. You may also want to contact the Numismatic Crime Information Center through www.numismaticcrimes.org.

An NGC certified coin can be sold whether or not it's on the NGC Registry! If it's NGC certified, its certificate number will still show up on the "NGC Certificate Verification" function whether or not its owner participates in the Registry. Most collectors don't participate in the Registry. If the purchaser tried to enter the coin in the Registry, NGC would likely ask you to remove the coin from your competitive coin list, so you would learn of the sale from NGC in those circumstances. Moreover, the coin's being in your set would tend to prove your ownership, so, no, you should not remove it from the Registry until this matter is resolved.

The raised line down the nose appears to be a die crack. Coinage dies can crack as they wear. The pressure of striking squeezes metal into the crack, resulting in the raised line. Die cracks are particularly common on older coins, such as those from the nineteenth century, but they occur with some frequency on modern coins as well. The coin is likely worth little or no premium due to this relatively minor die crack.

The coin was apparently covered by insurance procured by the auction house. You should read your consignment contract or other documentation with the auction house for any pertinent provisions. (You should always read and understand such documents before deciding to send coins.) You will likely have to provide proof of what the coin was and that you owned it, such as by invoices, proof of payment, photos, or the like. If the coin was certified by a reputable third-party grading service such as NGC or PCGS, the value can likely be determined by reference to current price guides. Any method of valuation provided by the contract would be determinative, however.

Did you obtain insurance on this package?

As it doesn't look like anyone else has had this problem on this site, it may be @Just1hoein's computer that has been compromised. Although I'm not a computer expert, I would recommend that he run a scan with current antivirus and antimalware software to hopefully identify and eliminate any such problems. He should also activate pop-up blockers on his browser if he has not already done so.

In addition to finding reputable dealers, you need to learn as much as you can about the coins you want to collect. "Buy the book before the coin", as the saying goes. For Canadian coins the best overall guide would likely be a recent edition of the Charlton "Standard Catalog", which I believe is available from its publisher at www.charltonpress.com and from major booksellers. For U.S. coins, see the following topic on print and online resources for new collectors:

Welcome to the NGC chat boards. As this forum is for questions pertaining to the NGC registry, you should post inquiries of this type under the "Newbie Coin Collecting Questions" forum or the "U.S., World, and Ancient Coins" forum. The date (2010) and the mint mark ("P" or "D") should be on the edge of the coin, along with "E PLURIBUS UNUM" and stars. Some were mistakenly made with plain edges according to the seventh (2021) edition of the Deluxe "Redbook", a.k.a. "Mega Red". I have no information as to whether the plain edge coins have sold for a premium. Dates and mint marks only appear on the obverses of Sacagawea dollars dated from 2000 through 2008. The later issues with the Sacagawea portrait, which are known as "Native American dollars" and are issued with a different reverse design each year, have the date and mint mark on the edge.