I won a Canadian coin

[toyonakataro]

I finally got a Canadian dime after serching(on and off) for nearly a year. eBay

.According to the guide book whitch was recommended by a board member(thanks Susan), the price for MS64 is only$7.5. Did I have to pay much more because mine is cameo or did I just pay too much? Or are Canadian coins getting hot? I need to get a quarter and a half doller from 1960's to match this dime, but I won't collect Canadian coins any further because they aren't cheap as I expected. Many coins from late 19th and early 20th century are even more expensive than U.S coins from the same period, aren't they?

[gmarguli]

The CAM and UCAM Canadian silver coins always command premiums. Also, ICCS is rather strict. On average, you can expect the coin to grade at least MS64 at NGC/PCG$ or perhaps even MS65.

[toyonakataro]

My price guide is "Charlston Standard Catalog" but do you know the price listed on this book is based on ICCS grading or "American" grading standatrds?

[gmarguli]

I've never heard of the Charlston Standard Catalog, so I can't say. Since the US/Canada grades don't vary wildly, I don't think it is too much of a difference. It's not like US/European grading where they can say Choice EF and we say MS64. Or even worse, EAC/US grading where they say VG and we say MS68.

[toyonakataro]

Thanks for the reply, Greg.

I also made a post to the PCGS forum regarding Canadian coins(funny thing is I always get blocked to this site when I try to access from my office while I can access to PCGS forum) and learned that ICCS is also good at attributing MS/PL/SP disignations.

I would like to stick with business strike although I don't know how to tell a PL coin from business strike with proof like surface

[spiny]

Hi Toyo,

 

Very nice coin you picked up! The circulation strike cameos do get better prices, but as far as I know, there is no pricing guide for cameo designations.

 

The Charlton guide is the "Red Book" of Canadian numismatics and the pricing in it, as well as other Canadian pricing guides, is based on the same technical grading that ICCS uses. With the US services market grading the same coins, a lot of them tend to get bumps. This can make a significant difference on coins with large price increases between grades.

 

The PL designation on ICCS graded coins is because of the method of manufacture, not a strike designation. They come from the RCM mint sets that started in the early fifties. The coins they produced for the mint sets were struck at a higher pressure from better prepared dies and were more carefully handled. It can be difficult to tell a mint set coin from a circulation strike coin, but if you study a few side by side, the differences become more apparent. Another reason for the designation is that high grade examples made for circulation tended to be scarce, while the mint set coins were relatively common.

[toyonakataro]

Hi spiny.

Thanks for the comments on my dime and the book.

 

I searched through Canadian coins graded by ICCS on eBay and noticed coins from business strikes don't come with high grade as you mentioned,,,, the highest grade I could find was MS65, but do MS69/70 graded by ICCS exist?

And, whitch is more popular for Canadian coin collectors, business strikes or PL coins?

[spiny]

I've seen a few ICCS 66 and 67s, but never anything higher. They could exist, though, I've just never seen one. I couldn't say which is more popular between the circulation strikes and the mint sets. I prefer circulation strikes, but the RCM sells a lot of the mint sets. For the last couple years I've bought rolls to get the coins I wanted for my type set. I had no problem selling enough date sets on eBay to break even and have a few left over for myself.

[kuhli-migration]

If you were just looking for any date in the '60s for a type set, then you paid too much.

 

Colonial Acres Coins

 

They have a 1965 ICCS PL-65 Heavy Cameo 25c listed for US$7.75

Also have a 1963 ICCS PL-64 Heavy Cameo 50c listed for US$8.85

(or you can get a '63 PL-65 Heavy Cameo 50c for US$14.35)

[toyonakataro]

Thanks for the info. I think I didn't have to search through eBay then.

[spiny]

I don't think he paid too much, kuhli, since his is a much less common MS cameo vs. a PL cameo. I'm familiar with the underbidder on that auction, as well. He buys and sells some nice coins. BTW, taro, take a look at 1964 25 cent that the underbidder has for sale. Very nice!

[toyonakataro]

Thanks for the heads up spiny..now it's on my watch list.... it's getting really fun to chase for "affordable" coins