Sandon

You may find the following resources useful: Double Dies vs. Machine Doubling | NGC (ngccoin.com) https://www.doubleddie.com/144801.html and links therein on mechanical doubling, die deterioration doubling, and abrasion doubling. Variety vs. Mint Error | NGC (ngccoin.com)

As I understand it, the specialty labels signed by coin designers, mint officials, dealers, authors and other notables are only available for bulk submissions by prior arrangement with NGC. See NGC Special Labels | NGC (ngccoin.com). I don't think that you can't submit your own coins and request these labels. You would have to obtain coins already certified with such labels from the bulk submitters or others who advertise them or in the "aftermarket". Where on the NGC site did you think you could obtain coins with such labels? This might be a better topic for the "Ask NGC/NCS" forum.

@Coinbuf--A quarter eagle contains only 0.12904 oz. of gold and if whole contains $266.96 in gold at today's closing price. See U.S. Gold Coin Melt Values | Gold Coin Prices | NGC Coin Melt Value. Yesterday it would have been worth about $262 as I recall, so $260 wouldn't be "significantly under spot." Many common date gold coins that are "ex-jewelry" are so severely damaged (not just "cleaned" or lightly scratched) that in my experience they are of no interest to collectors and are only saleable as scrap or for further jewelry use. I am not currently able to assess the authenticity or condition of the OP's coin.

I take this to mean that this quarter eagle, whose current bullion value is approximately $260, wouldn't be worth more than that unless it graded at least MS 64. I disagreed because an unimpaired AU currently retails above $500. However, a substantially impaired piece, such as one removed from jewelry, might not sell for much more than the bullion value.

Never wipe or rub a coin with anything, no matter how soft! This may leave numerous hairline scratches on the coin, which may cause the coin to be regarded as "cleaned". If you touched the surfaces other than the edges of the coins recently, you might want to rinse them with water (preferably distilled but in my experience tap water will do) and pat (don't rub) them dry with a clean tissue. Flips aren't bags. They are flexible holders for individual coins, usually 2- or 2.5-inch size. If there isn't a coin dealer in your area who has such supplies (try Find Coin Shops & Dealers | Coin Dealer Locator | NGC (ngccoin.com)), you can likely find them online through amosadvantage.com, whitman.com, or Wizard Coin Supply. The Deluxe Edition ("Mega Red") Redbook for $20 is likely an older edition--they usually cost $50 new-- but is alright if you want to do some in-depth, more advanced level reading. You should review my "Resources for New Collectors" initial post, where I explain the need for a current standard edition as a quick overall reference, as well as a grading guide and a subscription to a current price guide.

I use a digital microscope that plugs into my computer to image coins (also not the best images) and can't give you advice on how to use a smartphone, but some of the other forum members may be able to help you. (You might want to post future topics on the Newbie Coin Collecting Questions forum.) The photos of your 1925-D quarter eagle are too small and too grainy to see much detail. I was unable to enlarge them much and really can't see much about the coin. (It wouldn't be possible to definitely authenticate or grade the coin from even the best photos.) For comparison, here are (1) photos that I took of a genuine 1925-D quarter eagle graded MS 62 (Uncirculated) by PCGS and (2) photos taken professionally by Stacks Bowers, a major numismatic auction house, of a genuine 1911 quarter eagle graded MS 63 (Choice Uncirculated) by NGC. An "ex-jewelry" or otherwise impaired coin is undesirable to collectors and would sell at a discount, perhaps a substantial one from a coin in otherwise equivalent grade. I respectfully disagree with @Coinbuf about your coin because the gold value of a quarter eagle is currently around $260, while an unimpaired AU 1925-D lists over $500.

Please see the following topics for essential print and online resources from which you may learn U.S. coins. A current or recent edition of the "Redbook" (2025 edition likely to be published within the next month) and a grading guide are essential. While coins of any value should not be stored unprotected and in contact with each other in a jar, if these are very common coins such as circulated common date wheat cents or "junk" silver coins, it is acceptable to store them in this manner or in tubes. The folders you remember are bad because the coins are open to the air on one side and subject to being touched by bare hands, which you also shouldn't do. While I can't go into depth about storage at this time, for any coins with collector value of a few dollars or more, you should obtain mylar (not vinyl) coin flips, hard plastic holders or capsules, or if you want to collect a series by date and mint, albums such as those made by Whitman or Dansco. If you keep coins in albums, be careful to seat the coins well in the album before you move the top slide to prevent the coin from acquiring slide marks. Proper holders and albums should be obtainable from your local coin dealer or from some of the sources mentioned in the first posted topic. Regarding the photos, those of the Morgan dollar were adequate but should be taken with the camera directly above the coin and not at an angle. They could also be better cropped to eliminate the surrounding surface. It is never possible to evaluate a coin fully without in-person examination.

This coin is a 1925-D $2.50 gold piece, also known as a quarter eagle, of the Indian Head design minted from 1908-1915 and 1925-1929. Unfortunately, coins of this type have been extensively counterfeited, with the 1925-D listed ninth on NGC's list of fifty most frequently counterfeited U.S. coins. See 9. 1925-D Indian $2.50 | NGC (ngccoin.com) for diagnostics of some known counterfeits. Coins of this type have also been used in jewelry and become impaired (damaged) from this use. Your photos are too low in resolution to give me any basis for an opinion as to whether the coin is genuine or whether it is unimpaired or to get a firm idea of its grade, which could be About Uncirculated. The ring around the edge could have resulted from use in jewelry. (In any event, it is nothing that would add value to the coin.) A genuine, unimpaired coin in About Uncirculated condition would have a current retail value of approximately $525.

Welcome to the NGC chat board. Based on the photos, this 1921 Morgan dollar is in approximately About Uncirculated condition (AU 50-55). Coin World lists its retail value at $33-$34. This is the most common of all Morgan dollars. There are no Morgan dollars dated after 1921. Silver dollars dated 1922-28 and 1934-35 (and some 1921s) are of a different design and known as Peace dollars. Are you interested in becoming a collector, or are you just curious about the values of some coins you happen to own?

1942, 2 over 1 "Mercury" dime, ANACS graded XF 45 in old small holder:

There is no way to know what is in these rolls without opening them. They may have all come from a mint bulk bag of uncirculated coins, or they may be a mixture of coins. I suggest that you open them and, if they are solid date, "new" coins, you transfer them to plastic coin tubes. If you don't want to save all of them, you can "cherrypick" those that are the best quality in terms of surface preservation, strike and luster and spend the rest. Regarding the original topic, on April 3 a Stacks Bowers session includes two lots of single 1950 boxed proof sets and group lots of 1952, 53, and 54 boxed sets. All of these sets have been opened. Here is the auction photo of one of the 1950 sets, showing how rust from the staple has discolored the cellophane. The nickel shows some green discoloration (possibly corrosion), possibly related to moisture where the set was stored that likely caused the staple to rust.

Unfortunately, the term "rare coin" has been used to refer to a variety of coins ranging from pieces such as 1913 Liberty nickels and 1894-S dimes, of which very few actually exist, to 1909-S V.D.B. Lincoln cents and 1916-D "Mercury" dimes, of which tens of thousands exist, and even to any coin that one could no longer expect to find in circulation, such as any Morgan or Peace dollar. Almost any coin made for circulation to which a third-party grading service has awarded a high enough grade is also now referred to as "rare", even if it is a modern coin with a mintage of billions. The pricing of coins is based on demand, as well as supply, and a coin of which only a few dozen exist but for which there are relatively few customers, such as the pattern coin described in the initial post, may sell for far less than a coin in equivalent grade of which thousands exist but is much more popular. The definition of "truly rare" is relative and not subject to objective determination. I've never heard of a "CFR" scale before, but the scale usually used for earlier U.S. coins by date or die variety runs from R1 (more than 1,250) to R8 (2-3 known) or R9 (unique) and was developed by Dr. William Sheldon of early large cent reference and Sheldon Grading Scale fame but who was posthumously exposed as a coin thief. Under this scale, most "rare" coins, such as the aforementioned 1909-S V.D.B. Lincoln cents and 1916-D dimes, would be classified as R1 along with coins existing by the millions. A "Rarity 2" would have an estimated population of only 501-1250 and to most collectors of popular series by date and mint would be considered very rare indeed. Q. David Bowers proposed a "Universal Rarity Scale" in which an issue or variety that is "URS-1" is unique, "URS-2" means 2 known, "URS-3" means 3 or 4 known, and the estimated population doubles for every next number, so that, for example, "URS-20" means an estimated population of 250,001 to 500,000. This scale has been adopted by the authors of the Cherrypickers' Guide and may be more practical for more popularly collected issues and varieties. Just how many coins of a particular issue or variety actually exist is generally unknowable. Only one 1873-CC "No Arrows" Liberty Seated dime is publicly known to exist, with no others reported, but it is always possible, no matter how unlikely, that one or more others will be found in some forgotten collection or accumulation.

Thank you for the better photos, which reaffirm my conclusion that the coin is scratched. There are ridges of displaced metal on each side of the depression. I don't know what sort of "drag marks" would be left by a sharp point or blade. The usual mint caused reason for a narrow, long depression on a coin would be that the coin was struck through an object, such as a piece of wire, that was lying on the die or planchet (coin blank) when the coin was struck. Such a "strikethrough" would not show displaced metal at its sides, and the inside of the depression would likely be bright. A die crack is a common cause of a raised line on a coin, but there would be no depression. Here is a photo of the obverse of an 1806 half dollar described by PCGS, a major grading service, as "scratched". Note the similar ridges of raised metal at the sides of the deeper scratches. It's possible that some other forum members will have different opinions, but I've been collecting and studying U.S. coins for over fifty years, and although I'll never know everything, I think I know what a coin that has been scratched looks like.

I assume that by this you mean that you intend to submit these coins to a third-party grading service such as NGC. Unless you have adequate knowledge of and experience with grading yourself to determine that the coins you wish to submit are likely to achieve grades that would give them market values of at least several hundred dollars apiece, it makes no sense to submit them. It is extremely unlikely that you have a 1955 or 1967 Lincoln cent (with or without "cuds") that would be worth the grading (minimum $23 per coin), error attribution ($18 per coin), processing ($10 per order) and return shipping (minimum $28 per order) fees, plus your cost of shipping the coins to NGC.

Welcome to the NGC chat board. Please note that the NGC Registry forum is for topics pertaining to the certified coin registry, not for questions like yours, which for best attention should be posted on the "Newbie Coin Collecting Questions" forum. The Administrator will likely move this topic to that form next week. Additionally, when you post photos of coins, please crop them so that they show only the coin and not the surrounding surface, and make sure that the photos are properly and evenly lit. Based on what I can see from the photos you submitted, the reverse of your 2021-P "Crossing the Delaware" quarter has simply been damaged by being scratched by a sharp metal object such as a knife or a nail. I observe metal displaced by such an object at the sides of the depression. This is one of the many forms of damage that may befall a coin after it leaves the mint.

1836 Reeded Edge Capped Bust half dollar, NGC graded AU 53, one of my rarest coins: Photos courtesy of Stacks Bowers Galleries.

I don't think that the ghostly image well to the southeast of the primary image indicates a repunched mintmark ("RPM"). This is more likely from die deterioration and frequently appears around mintmarks. An RPM is generally much crisper in appearance and closer to the primary image. I checked the three major 1943-D RPMs shown on VarietyPlus, only two of which have photos, but I was able to find photos of the third in the Cherrypickers' Guide. I also checked the numerous 1943-D RPMs listed on Wexler's Die Varieties (doubleddie.com) and Variety Vista. See Lincoln Cents, Wheat Reverse (1909-1958) | VarietyPlus® | NGC (ngccoin.com), https://www.doubleddie.com/887255.html, http://www.varietyvista.com/02a LC RPMs Vol 1/RPMs 1943D.htm. None of these varieties appears to match your coin, but you may want to check these yourself, including the various "die markers" shown by Wexler. If by "worth bothering with", you mean submitting to a grading service, the answer even if the coin were identifiable as an RPM, the answer would be no. In the case of a steel cent, the oxidation is literally rust, and this coin could only be "details" graded as environmentally damaged. NGC only attributes the varieties shown on VarietyPlus.

If the A.N.A. continues to treat its volunteers badly, some day it may not have any.

2007 and certain other Presidential dollars without edge lettering have turned out to be relatively common and not worth the $37 in grading and error attribution fees, not to mention the allocable portion of the processing and shipping costs, that a collector member would have to pay NGC to grade and encapsulate such a coin. The NGC Price Guide lists George Washingtons at $60 in MS 65, but this price was last updated in 2014, and interest in them appears to have diminished since then. See Presidential Dollars (2007-2020) | Price Guide & Values | NGC (ngccoin.com). If you had to have one in a certified holder, however, it wasn't a bad deal. I have a lightly circulated (2008) Andrew Jackson dollar without edge lettering for which I paid $1. I got it at a bank when I bought some dollar coins to use as public transportation fare. I put it in a flip and haven't thought about it much.

Welcome to the NGC chat board. In the future, please post questions about coins, preferably with clear, cropped photos, on the "Newbie Coin Collecting Questions" forum, where forum members, many of whom are experienced collectors, will endeavor to answer them. The coin you describe is a 2009 "Professional Life" reverse Lincoln cent, of which 316 million were made. It features one of four commemorative reverses that were used in 2009 to commemorate the bicentennial of Lincoln's birth and the centennial of the Lincoln cent. Although it isn't possible to evaluate this particular coin without photos, your coin is probably only worth its face value of one cent or not much more and wouldn't be worth the cost of submission to a third-party grading service such as NGC. If you are interested in learning the basics of U.S. coins and how to collect them, please refer to the print and online resources described in the following forum topic:

1827 Capped Bust dime, ANACS graded XF 45 in old small holder:

Proof sets and "mint" (officially uncirculated coin) sets are different sets containing different coins. Proof coins contain specially struck coins that have mirror surfaces and sometimes frosted devices and are specially handled, while "mint" sets generally contain examples of circulation quality coins. (From 1965 to 1967, the mint issued "Special Mint Sets" with somewhat prooflike coins as a substitute for both proof and "mint" sets.) However, even most "mint" sets are worth at least some premium over face value, and they occasionally contain coins that were not made for circulation. Current retail prices for these sets in their original government packaging are listed in such publications as Coin World (coinworld.com) and the CPG Coin & Currency Market Review (greysheet.com), which may require subscriptions. (I found a free summary of proof and "mint" set prices at https://www.greysheet.com/coin-prices/series-landing/united-states-proof-sets.) They are also listed in A Guide Book of United States Coins, commonly known as the "Redbook" (whitman.com), whose 2025 edition should be out by next month, though the prices will already be from several months earlier. (The 2024 or other recent edition would give you an idea of their values.) You could also post a listing of the types and dates of the sets you have, and we should be able to give you estimated values. The actual values of specific sets may depend on the state of preservation and particular characteristics of the coins they contain. For example, some proof coins dated before 1971 or so with "cameo" or "deep cameo" contrast as determined by an expert may be worth a substantial premium, and some proof sets may contain rare varieties. Those that have suffered environmental damage would be worth less than list values. You may want to take at least some of these sets to an appraiser after getting a basic evaluation from a referenced source.

The exchange rate changes daily.

Regarding the 1969-D half dollar, the photo is much too small to see anything significant. Here are appropriately sized and cropped obverse photos of a 1969-D half dollar that I've had in an album for decades and of a 1969-S proof that NGC graded MS 68* (and for which I paid less than what it would have cost to submit it). On both of these coins, the second "9" in the date appears to have a somewhat different configuration that makes it appear "larger" than the first, and this was likely the case for every half dollar minted that year. A different date style on one or more obverse dies would have required more than one "hub" (die making die) in use for that year, and it is likely that any such variety would have been discovered before now. If you still believe that your coin is significantly different, please post a better photo of your coin, as well as of another 1969-D half dollar that you think would be "normal".

Welcome to the NGC chat board. A mint error of any significance, such as an off-center or multiple strike, a broadstrike, or a coin struck on a clipped, defective or wrong planchet, would be observable to the unaided eye. Die varieties, such as doubled dies, which would appear on a large portion if not all of the coins struck from a specific die pair, are regarded as significant by knowledgeable collectors and attributable by grading services only if they are observable at no or lower (5x-7x) magnification. Those that NGC is willing to attribute are listed, with photos in most cases, on VarietyPlus, Countries | VarietyPlus® | NGC (ngccoin.com). Most of what I see on the extremely magnified photos you have posted appears to be the result of die deterioration, which is extremely common and generally commands no premium. It would be best for you to learn the basics of collecting U.S. coins, such as the history of U.S. coins, types, which dates, mints and major varieties are valuable, grading and basic authentication before getting into more advanced topics such as mint errors and die varieties. It is also essential for you to have knowledge of how to grade and otherwise evaluate coins yourself before you even think about submitting coins to grading services. Do you have basic references such as a recent edition of the "Redbook", a grading guide, and a subscription to a current price guide? See the following forum topics for suggestions of basic print and online resources: If you want an overview of what constitutes a mint error and how to distinguish between mint errors from die varieties, see the following articles on the NGC website: Learn Grading: What Is a Mint Error? — Part 1 | NGC (ngccoin.com) Learn Grading: What Is a Mint Error? — Part 2 | NGC (ngccoin.com) Learn Grading: What Is a Mint Error? — Part 3 | NGC (ngccoin.com) Learn Grading: What Is a Mint Error? — Part 4 | NGC (ngccoin.com) Variety vs. Mint Error | NGC (ngccoin.com) For a comprehensive treatment of mint errors, see the site error-ref.com.