Five Coins Journey to CAC

[leeg]

Sent five coins Registered Mail on January 22nd from Virginia to CAC in New Jersey. It took seven days to arrive in NJ. There was some bad weather on the East Coast during this time period so a week was not unexpected. My CAC results posted last night which was an 11 business day turnaround. Very nice turnaround in my opinion. (thumbs u The Long Beach Auctions were going on during this time period also.

 

I actually sent six coins but one was a 42-D Jeff and CAC does not verify Jeff's, oops.

 

All five coins received stickers and here is the group:

 

PCGS MS64 BN

 

 

PCGS MS66 RB

 

 

PCGS MS66 RB

 

 

NGC AU53, Old Holder

 

 

PCGS MS66

[Flatwoods]

Nice coins, Lee.

[Coindude]

Love the group Lee. I think I like the top two the best.

[bsshog40]

Very nice coins Lee. I'm still a little confused with the need of a second opinion of such nice coins. Is it for re-sale? I've seen a lot of your coins here and you have an eye for very nice coins. If you don't mind me asking, is there a reason you needed the sticker to verify what you already knew? No sarcasm my friend, just an honest question.

[TomB]

Very nice coins Lee. I'm still a little confused with the need of a second opinion of such nice coins. Is it for re-sale? I've seen a lot of your coins here and you have an eye for very nice coins. If you don't mind me asking, is there a reason you needed the sticker to verify what you already knew? No sarcasm my friend, just an honest question.

 

First, I will mention that I really like the WQ and then I will give my answer (LeeG's answer might be different) to the question.

 

If I recall correctly, every certified coin in my collection has gone to CAC if it fell under the series and date ranges that CAC examines. This would be something less than 90 coins in total. Most of these coins were examined by CAC for no cost at all since I would bring the coins to Coinfest where CAC had set up and was willing to examine up to 20 coins per person without charge. Other coins I have brought down to the CAC offices in NJ and the folks at CAC are very kind in that they not only take me out for a delicious lunch, but also give me a tour of the facility and examine the coins while I wait.

 

So, why do I bring coins or send coins to CAC. It's simple; it is another layer of security for my family and it likely adds liquidity, and by extension adds value, to my collection. I believe I have a pretty good eye when it comes to coins and I think that some folks here might also believe this, too. However, not everyone knows me and not every coin that I have will be with me when or if it becomes available. Therefore, PCGS/NGC with their certification and John Albanese (JA) and CAC stand in for me with their sticker when I am not associated with the coin and they state that in their opinion the coin is at least solid for the grade and that it has not been boinked excessively.

 

When I have sold coins, there have been times when the presence of a CAC sticker has clinched the deal and other times when the deal has been contingent upon the coin receiving a CAC sticker. This is similar to coins that have needed to be crossed from one service to another for a sale to be finalized or for raw coins that must become certified in problem-free holders in order for them to find a new home. In my experience, this has been especially true for coins at the $500 and up range and has really taken root for coins in the $2,000 and up range. I am happy to have these stickers on my slabs because even though the great majority of the coins in my collection are not in my inventory, it does not mean that at some point they won't be in my inventory or that at some point I won't have a need to sell them quickly. In this case, it is all about being prepared for a possible need so that I may act when it arises.

 

Additionally, if something were to happen to me then I would want to have left my wife and daughters in as favorable a position as possible. This includes having high quality images of all the coins in my collection, an up to date Excel spreadsheet with all the data for every coin in my collection, a complete accounting of every item in each of our safe deposit boxes, full insurance on the collection, the names and information for contacts to use in the industry and having the coins already evaluated by PCGS/NGC and CAC. They would have more important things on their minds than attempting to protect themselves in this niche.

 

Other factors include that since I have a number of coins CAC evaluated there might be suspicion cast on the coins that do not have a sticker in that people might wonder if the coin was rejected. Also, and this is quite important, I realize that I do not know everything about coins and that JA might be able to teach me something that I have missed. A lesson such as that when it comes to surface manipulation can be extraordinarily valuable and I would be foolish, in my opinion, to miss out on an education. Lastly, as a collector there might be a little OCD type of thing where I desire to have all the coins in my collection CAC evaluated so that they might be more consistent with one another.

[MarkFeld]

And the above is from someone whom I think has an excellent eye for grading, and quality, as well as the ability to detect originality, vs. coins that have been messed with.

 

If Tom can learn and benefit from CAC, I have a sneaking suspicion that a few others out there, could, as well. And that's whether they know it and/or care to admit it or not.

 

 

[mhomei]

what is CAC EXACTLY

[mommam17]

I agree with TomB 100%, even the OCD part. Glad I'm not alone.....

[MarkFeld]

what is CAC EXACTLY

Here is a link to their website. If you have specific questions, please feel free to post them here. You will probably receive answers, some of which will be supportive of CAC and others, which will not.

[bsshog40]

Thanks for the answer Tom. I don't get coins graded and certainly do not have the funds for coins that that would benefit from CAC. I can see your reasoning behind it and I guess if I was ever able to purchase coins of such caliber, then I would appreciate a CAC sticker on the slab also.

[leeg]

Very nice coins Lee. I'm still a little confused with the need of a second opinion of such nice coins. Is it for re-sale? I've seen a lot of your coins here and you have an eye for very nice coins. If you don't mind me asking, is there a reason you needed the sticker to verify what you already knew? No sarcasm my friend, just an honest question.

As usual, TomB summed things up better than I could.

 

Thanks all for compliments on my coins. I've learned patience over the years to wait for the right coin, in my mind, to add to my Type Set.

 

 

All but one of the coins came from Forum Members here. (thumbs u

 

The 1909 VDB I found on eBay in 2006. The 1834 Half Cent and 20 Cent piece came from Mark Feld. The 1934 Lincoln came from chinook and the Washington came from Shane.

 

All of them are Top Shelf in my book with never a concern from either party.

[Tradedollarnut]

Great post, Tom.

[Dudley the 1st]

Love that Seated piece.

[Dudley the 1st]

I really wish CAC would include a written analysis for those coins that fail to get the CAC approval. That truly would be a tremendous benefit for us all.

[mkman123]

Nice coins I have a question though to those that use CAC.

 

If another company came along and was a competitor for CAC and did the same thing, will you also send it to them? After all, Tomb said:

 

"It's simple; it is another layer of security for my family and it likely adds liquidity, and by extension adds value, to my collection. I believe I have a pretty good eye when it comes to coins and I think that some folks here might also believe this, too. However, not everyone knows me and not every coin that I have will be with me when or if it becomes available. Therefore, PCGS/NGC with their certification and John Albanese (JA) and CAC stand in for me with their sticker when I am not associated with the coin and they state that in their opinion the coin is at least solid for the grade and that it has not been boinked excessively."

 

So if another company came along, wouldn't they be another pair of eyes to make sure that CAC and PCGS or NGC graded correctly?

 

 

[Catbert]

Yes they would, but they may not have the same reputation (and thus credibility) that JA has. In my view, one additional and credible opinion is enough.

[Tradedollarnut]

They would - provided that they had the grading stature of John Albanese and the market presence of CAC [ie: subsequent sight unseen bids and millions in liquidity to back it up]

[saen78]

Nice coins Lee. I really like your twenty cent piece (thumbs u

[James_OldeTowne]

I am not a huge fan of that twenty, but I'd be thrilled as an owner of these coins!

[leeg]

James the 1875-P is much nicer in hand. Very difficult to image in the old NGC holder. I couldn't get a good image, so I gave up. Mark's image is much better than what I could do. The coin has semi prooflike surfaces on the obverse and the reverse is very original with some nice crust to it. When it gets back from CAC I'm sending it to Mark Goodman to image for me. I'll post Mark's shots of the coin, then let me know what you think.

[dan3e]

I could not have said it any better about CAC, I had similar questions from the forum as to why I have sent all the coins in my collection to CAC. CAC is really good for this great hobby!