Jeremy468

I got my photo setup from Ray and practicing with a few pictures.... though I am still practicing and I have not done anything with the photo software yet... I feel these are much better representations of the coin.... I am guessing all will still say it has been cleaned... but what grade might you all attribute to this other than that?

On 7/15/2021 at 8:01 PM, Coinbuf said:

Good luck, here is a recent photo using the camera/lens I bought from Ray, not perfect and I did do some photo editing but the end result is very close to the coin as it appears in hand.

 

On 7/15/2021 at 8:01 PM, Coinbuf said:

Good luck, here is a recent photo using the camera/lens I bought from Ray,

Great! I have several full steps so getting adequate detail is important too. Look good! Thanks again!

On 7/7/2021 at 6:55 PM, Coinbuf said:

For about $500 you can get a full camera setup designed for taking coin photos, a very good system and after some practice you should be able to turn out some excellent photos.

Talk to Ray

Thanks! It seems this is the better way to go and I have reached out.

17 hours ago, Conder101 said:

So I set a snipe bid in a sniping program

As a fellow Hoosier, tell me more... how do we do that

30 minutes ago, VKurtB said:

Stop doing that.

Hilarious! But yes everyone, the fingerprints are definitely on the coins. I guess I am blessed with unique toning. The major one was actually part of a collection, the McClaren Collection, so I suppose I have evidence in case there are any pertinent criminal investigations. 

I am just continuing to work on my personal grading skills before advancing to again buying more expensive coins at some point that are not already graded. So these two were graded in the same lot and the second one earned a +. In my very amateur opinion though, the 64 actually looks better and the 64+ seems to have more distracting marks. 

My understanding is the coins are reviewed by at least two graders, so does anyone have an eye to discern why the 64+ earned that over the 64?

Thanks again for sharing your experience!!

10 minutes ago, Coinbuf said:

Just to clarify, are these coins you sent in for grading or coins you just bought in the holders?

I purchased both of them, and they are both 62s. In the NGC photo (which rarely seem to be the quality I am looking for), part of it can faintly be seen.

I received two more Morgans today, one each from NGC and PCGS. Both of them have a fingerprint on them, though the one on the NGC is clearly more pronounced. So I remember watching NGC's videos explaining the grading process and they were handling coins without gloves. 

So the question is, do they really do that? Could the print be a result of their handling?

Thank you all for the suggestions and insights. The primary purpose is for working towards being able to create good pictures that accurately represent the coins, or at least close to it. So the scope setup is probably more than I need for my purposes right now. I agree that the lighting is a significant issue in balancing proper color including brilliance and reflectiveness yet without glare, and seems to differ based on coin composition, while still capturing

35 minutes ago, PA Coin Collector said:

Every scratch, dent, discoloration, scuff, or whatever needs to be documented

It seems for now one of the USB scopes will end up being what I get, though from briefly looking probably one more in the 100-150 price range. I saw several that have the flexible LED lights similar to those on Ray's but of course smaller, and those would seem to be helpful.

A related question, because I have seen both opinions, is whether the pictures are best taken against a white or black background. Or maybe whichever is the contrasting color?

Does anyone have any recommendations for a decent,  yet reasonably priced scope and/or camera setup for both viewing coins and photographing them? 

Another I was looking for grading opinions on. The damage is quite explicit here - looks like someone was quite angry with the lady. I presume that will have a much more substantial impact on value, but again just working to build a better understanding of impacts of damage on value depending on how pronounced they are. Of course probably worthless to many long time collectors on here, but for those newer and/or on more limited budgets who are not going to go out and buy an AU or MS next week, what might be reasonably expected? Thanks again for any input!

Just looking on grading opinions on this piece, and also how much that ding on the reverse at the rim might affect its value. Thanks!

On 6/22/2021 at 6:58 PM, Woods020 said:

Don’t go by the NGC or PCGS price guide. 

So what would you and others recommend for reliable value/pricing information?

Before finding online price guides, I began using Redbook and got my 2022 copy practically as soon as it was available. It seemed to be a good starting point, but then came across the pricing at usacoinbook.com, PCGS, and NCG. Sometimes they are roughly in line with each other and with Redbook, other times of course one or two differ significantly from the others. Sometimes Redbook is higher, other times it is lower. Of course Redbook is already a few months out of date once a new edition becomes available which had led me to try to rely on the online sites more, in addition to thinking that the prices were influenced by auction prices and supposed to represent retail prices.

I understand that dealers use greysheet, so I paid for an online copy of that a few weeks ago and it was my impression that it was more representative of value to dealers or what they would pay. The online copy is a bit cumbersome to use, but of course the printed copy would surely be easier to use, but obviously pricey.

On top of that, I purchased CoinManage last week to keep inventory of my growing collection, and of course it has its own default values. With all of these, the largest differences most often occur with higher grades in addition to gold and larger silver coins like Morgans.

So any advice would be greatly appreciated, and I would suspect that most new collectors would appreciate the information also.

Just an example for a 1926 Quarter Eagle in AU50: Redbook $400, USA $507, PCGS $550, $500, GS June $370, CoinManage $350.

This was my first gold coin purchase. At least at this point I decided for now that I would mostly only buy gold coins already graded. Except for an 82 eagle I bought I have stuck to that so far acquiring one dollar, two half eagles, and two double eagles. I have used Photograde more often lately and even with that with this coin I arrive at different conclusions. To me it appears to grade somewhere between 40 and early 60s. I lean towards 55-60 here, but may be overly optimistic. The numerous scratches on Photograde in the 60-62 grades are what probably sway me towards allowing the higher ones. Any opinions on how this might grade and if it might be worth submitting would be appreciated. 

7 minutes ago, Woods020 said:

Well clearly don’t do that 😂. But I would assume it’s a lamination then. 

I certainly would not do that of course. I have several coins that people have abused in one way or another. Thanks again for your input. Any other opinions would be appreciated also especially since the reverse seems to be a better grade than the obverse. 

4 minutes ago, Woods020 said:

Does it look like in hand that this part of the metal is separating?

It is really hard to see even under magnification (not even noticeable to the plain eye), but it does appear that if I took a nice sharp razor to it from bottom right and scraped towards upper left in exactly the correct manner that it might lift it.

i could not seem to capture a closeup with my phone like the the dealer's camera setup had... but here is a closeup with my phone through what I think is a 60x lens.

9 minutes ago, Woods020 said:

I think you are in the right range. I’d say EF 45 to be conservative. Might go low AU on a good day. 

Thanks and 45 was exactly what I was thinking, and yes... I will post a closeup of that issue also. Was not sure if that adds or subtracts from value.

Though I have certainly gotten better at estimating grades the last several months, the differences seem to be more subtle for the less experienced the higher the potential grade goes. Here is a better 1912 D Liberty nickel that I estimate is somewhere between 40-50 based on Photograde. I am just looking for the opinions of more seasoned collectors as to how they would grade this or how  NGC might. 

2 minutes ago, Woods020 said:

It’s been very harshly cleaned. With sandpaper it appears haha. Sans cleaning I can’t say. Look at something like PCGS photograde or look at graded Morgans sold at auction houses. You’ll start to get a feel for how many bag marks equal roughly what grade. This one I can’t tell what was bag marks and what was abrasive cleaning so it’s impossible to tell the what if grade had it not been cleaned. 

Thanks so much for your input! I have had several questions about specific coins that I have acquired the last couple months and now that I am logging them all in CoinManage rather than the spreadsheet I was keeping I have been revisiting those and just came across the forum. Regarding this one though I was coming to realize the rough cleaning likelihood and will look out for that better in the future. 

Thanks for the input. Hopefully these help more. I was trying to make sure the marks were clear before rather than a head on shot. It seems pretty clear it is a lesser grade than I initially thought. To clarify though, if the marks (or what may have been a cleaning) were not involved, are the details then more consistent with a 64-65?

Thanks again!

these should help

I have never submitted a coin for grading but was beginning to consider this one, especially since higher grades for this coin seem to be more valuable. 

After comparing this to other Morgan dollars I have that NGC has graded as MS63, I was initially thinking that it could have potentially graded a bit higher (maybe even PL) than that as it seems to have a little less wear on the higher points and with the shine maybe even be prooflike. However, it does have significantly more scratches, and I am guessing from someone's cleaning attempt, so that seems to negate all of that.

So my questions are, do those scratches seem to represent a cleaning attempt? If so, if it had not been cleaned, any opinions as to how it might grade if submitted would be helpful for future reference and my own education. If that was a cleaning, then is it correct to assume it is pointless to submit for grading? Also, any suggestions on valuation?

Thanks again for any input on this.