Sandon

Welcome to the NGC chat board. As long as you "know nothing about coins", you shouldn't buy any! Knowledge is essential to making the wise purchase of any coin, and you will be ready to make purchases when you can answer your question yourself, which will depend upon your own goals and tastes. We have an old expression, "buy the book before the coin". First, get and study a current (2025) or recent standard edition of A Guide Book of United States Coins, also known as the "Red Book". A grading guide and a current price guide are also basic and essential. See the following forum topics to locate these and other print and online and resources for new collectors: Your education should also include attendance at venues such as coin shows and coin club meetings, where you can examine a variety of coins and speak with knowledgeable collectors and dealers.

The expanded section on dollar coins in the seventh edition of the deluxe ("Mega") Red Book notes Eisenhower dollars erroneously struck on silver clad planchets for the 1972-D (apparently very rare), 1974-D (25-30 known), 1976-D type 2 reverse (possibly unique), and 1977-D (about 20 known). No such error planchet variety is listed for the 1972 (any reverse) or any other Philadelphia issue, nor do I recall hearing of any having been authenticated. The official weight for a copper nickel clad Eisenhower dollar is 22.68 grams, while that for a silver clad piece is 24.59 grams. Tolerances established by the mint were plus or minus 0.907 gram for the copper nickel clad, 0.984 for the silver clad, so a copper nickel clad piece should weigh no more than 23.587 grams, while a silver clad piece should weigh no less than 23.606 grams. Do you have a weight for the coin in question? Obviously, other explanations for a 1972 Eisenhower dollar not showing the copper layer on its edge would be that the coin has been plated or coated with some foreign substance outside of the mint or that it is counterfeit. I have occasionally seen copper nickel clad coins that showed very little if any copper color on the edge, probably due to issues with the clad strip from which the planchets were punched. (Even a silver clad piece should show a somewhat reddish or darker inner (80% copper) layer.) Can you provide images of the coin and its edge?

1872 gold dollar (mintage 3,500), recently NGC graded MS 60:

1946 Lincoln cent PCGS graded MS 66 RD:

Welcome to the NGC chat board. I don't know Russian, but I hope you can translate this. I assume that you want to learn how to submit coins to NGC for third-party grading. Please review the following pages on the NGC website: How to Submit | NGC (ngccoin.com) Coins We Grade | NGC Coin Grading Polices | NGC NGC Services and Fees | NGC (ngccoin.com) My Submissions | Account | NGC (ngccoin.com) You should have sufficient knowledge about your coins to be able to determine that they are worth the cost of third-party grading. Many coins aren't worth it. You should also be able to fill out the submission forms properly. If you don't have this knowledge or ability, you should consider consulting with and perhaps submitting through an NGC member dealer. See Find Coin Shops & Dealers | Coin Dealer Locator | NGC (ngccoin.com)

1888 proof copper nickel three cent piece in old green label PCGS holder as PR 65:

Welcome to the NGC chat board. This is an extremely crude or ludicrous fake that looks nothing like any class of 1804 dated novodel dollar. For one thing, the genuine pieces have crushed lettered edges, not modern looking reeded edges. The only known "Class II" piece was struck over an 1857 Swiss shooting thaler and is in the Smithsonian Institution. See https://www.pcgs.com/coinfacts/coin/1804-1-restrike-class-ii/414488.

As a practical matter, a circulated 1974 cent is only worth face value, as federal regulations prohibit the melting of copper alloy cents. It is extremely unusual to find a coin of any real value in circulation, but if you want to learn more about U.S. coins (such as their mintages and which ones may have collector value) and how to collect them, you should obtain a current (2025) or recent edition of A Guide Book of United States Coins, also known as the "Red Book". The current edition is available from its publisher at whitman.com. Many additional resources for new collectors are described in the following topic pinned to the top of this forum:

Welcome to the NGC chat board. Please note that the "Coin Marketplace" forum is for offers to buy or sell coins in accordance with the guidelines posted at the top of the forum. Questions like yours are best posted on the "Newbie Coin Collecting Questions" forum. We have two old but still pertinent sayings that are applicable to your situation. One is "There is no Santa Claus in numismatics". The other is "Buy the book before the coin", which today includes checking reputable online resources. When they have been sold at auction, genuine 2000-P dollar/quarter "mules" have sold for between $102,000 and $192,000, and the genuine pieces do not resemble the item you purchased. See https://www.pcgs.com/coinfacts/coin/2000-p-sac-1-mule-w-state-25c-obverse/508061. They have also been certified and encapsulated by major third-party grading services before being sold and aren't "loose" like this one. Having some knowledge about these pieces before purchasing a purported but obviously bogus example for what I assume was a small fraction of the market value of the genuine article would have saved you wasted time, even if not money. Perhaps it is just as well that this piece isn't an actual rare coin, as such a piece should never be held in one's bare hands, except by its edges if necessary.

Welcome to the NGC chat board. No. Unfortunately, the coin has been scratched by a roll wrapping machine.

This would likely be a better topic for the NGC Registry forum, which is monitored by the Registry's Administrator. What you describe sounds like a mistake.

What you have is a 1982 small date cent in the brass (95% copper, 5% zinc) alloy with an official weight of 3.11 grams that was discontinued in the latter part of that year and replaced with the current copper-plated zinc (official weight 2.5 grams) composition. It is relatively common and has no collector value when circulated like yours but is worth keeping if you find it interesting. All 1982 and 1982-D cents, whether of the large or small date varieties or composed of brass or copper-plated zinc are common, except for the 1982-D small date struck in brass, which was discovered a few years ago and of which only two are presently known to exist. One would likely have better chances winning the "Mega Millions" lottery than finding another. If you want to learn about U.S. coins and how to collect them, you should obtain basic books about them, at a bare minimum a current (2025) or recent edition of A Guide Book of United States Coins, commonly known as the "Red Book" and available from its publisher at whitman.com. Additional print and online resources are described on the following forum topics:

Welcome to the NGC chat board. Your coin is a 1990-P Jefferson nickel with damage affecting the date numerals. It has no collector value. The earliest Jefferson nickels were struck in and are dated 1938. A nickel dated 1900 would be of the Liberty head type dated 1883-1912 and would look like this 1897:

1937-S Lincoln cent, PCGS graded MS 66RD:

The primary reason for the creation of third-party grading services in the mid-1980s was that they would give an opinion as to the grade of a coin without the biases inherent in being the coin's prospective buyer or seller. That is why it would be unethical for grading services to engage in the buying or selling of coins. Their opinions would then be of no more value than that of any established dealer.

@The Neophyte Numismatist--Respectfully, I largely disagree with your view. Counterfeiters have access to the same print and online resources that we do, and they can (and do) create pieces that are more deceptive than these. If they can post on this board, they can just as easily check out the Counterfeit Detection pages on the NGC website and similar resources. The best protection against counterfeits is understanding how to detect them, including knowledge of what the genuine pieces look like. Bearing this in mind, there are sometimes less obvious characteristics that I don't reveal.

Many unknowledgeable people overpay for coins. The NGC Price Guide does currently list a 2016 1-ounce American Gold Buffalo does currently list $2,750 in MS 70, so it is possible that the coin you saw had been given that maximum grade by a reputable third-party grading service such as NGC or PCGS. They list around bullion value in all other grades. Gold Buffaloes - $50 (2006-Date) | Price Guide & Values | NGC (ngccoin.com).

It means "Original Poster", in other words, the topic author. (I'm not sure what "lol" means myself.) I understand @VKurtB's frustration, but how can we get new or prospective collectors to "Read. Study. Listen." if they don't know what to read or study or to whom to listen? I have no compunction about telling those who post on these forums that they are wrong or have been misguided, but I try to explain why and direct them to appropriate resources. As for an explanation of the "minting process", the diagram on the following topic provides an elementary overview, and there are links to resources about this and other valuable subjects:

Welcome to the NGC chat board. Your purported 1794 silver dollar is an obvious counterfeit, likely of the sort that have been mass produced in China over the past few decades. See 1794 BB-1,B-1 $1 MS | Coin Explorer | NGC (ngccoin.com) for photos of a genuine example of this rare coin, of which fewer than 200 are believed to exist. All of these coins were struck from the same pair of ties, so the shapes and positions of all letters, numbers, stars and other design elements are identical on all genuine pieces. Note, just for example, the differences in the appearance of Liberty's face and hair and of the eagle on the genuine piece from the counterfeits. Regarding your purported 1793 Chain cent, another very rare coin, please note preliminarily that (1) it is best to post one coin per topic and (2) you should not touch a coin that you believe may have collector value with your bare hands, except to hold it by its edges if you must. This coin is also a counterfeit, also probably of recent origin, that has been darkened to look old. Compare, for example, the detail in Liberty's hair and the positioning of the date numerals and lettering with each of the known varieties at Chain and Wreath Cents (1793) | VarietyPlus® | NGC (ngccoin.com). Where and when did you obtain these "coins"?

Someone on the forum may be able to identify this token, but it would help if the inscriptions were more legible. Please try to better focus your photos and crop them like this.

1937-D Lincoln cent, PCGS graded MS 66 RD:

Welcome to the NGC chat board. The Coin Marketplace forum is for offers to sell or buy coins in accordance with the posted guidelines. A topic of this sort would receive best attention on the "U.S., World, and Ancient Coins" forum.

Welcome to the NGC chat board. Please post clear, cropped photos of each full side of a coin about which you have questions. It isn't helpful to magnify an image to such an extreme size. Any significant variety can be identified at 5-7x magnification according to most experts. I assume that you are referring to nicks that the coin acquired from contact with other coins and other objects while it was being distributed and in circulation.

1875 twenty cent piece (much scarcer than the 1875-S), PCGS graded AU details, cleaned:

Welcome to the NGC chat board. The NGC Registry program is for topics related to the certified coin registry. A question like yours would best be posted on the "U.S., World, and Ancient Coins" forum for proper attention. (The Administrator will likely move it.) Additionally, if possible, please post clear, cropped photos of both sides of your token, as there may have been a number of tokens produced for this company. Unless the token was issued holed, a hole would be considered a severe impairment that would greatly reduce whatever value it could otherwise have.