Early copper MRB

[JIM F.]

I was looking through a Heritage catalog and noticed that for early copper coins towards the end of the description is MRB and then a grade. For instance MRB MS62. The MRB grade is always lower than the TPG assigned grade.

 

What is MRB?

 

 

[Keigwin]

Mark R. Borckardt, a cataloger with HA who gives his opinion on early copper's EAC grade.

Lance.

[BillJones]

EAC grades are almost always lower than slab grades, BUT don't expect to buy an EAC graded copper coin for the catalog price for the grade. You pay more. For example if a the EAC grade is MS-63 and the Slab grade is MS-65, you will end up paying MS-65 money in virtually all cases.

 

“If the alligators don’t get you, the mosquitoes will.”

[Arizonadesertrat]

If you want a better feel for what kinds of prices correspond to EAC grades, buy a copy of the latest edition of 'Copper Quotes by Robinson'

[AnkurJ]

EAC members are sometimes confused by their grading scale. A friend and I joked that you can take the grade on the slab and subtract 10 to get an EAC grade!

[michael]

and yet the supposedly overgraded slab is still priced the same or more at a typical eac dealers table

[AnkurJ]

Of course!

I'm sorry to say but I don't have much success dealing with most EAC dealers.

[michael]

100% correct from my limited experiences as such

the last 45+ years

[Conder101]

They used to use EAC and the the grade in the Heritage catalogs, but then it was felt that it seem to imply that the organization was approving the grades so Mark dropped the EAC and used his own initials to indicate the net grades were his and not "EAC's".

 

And although it seldom happens there ARE cases where the EAC or MRB or whoevers adjusted grade is HIGHER than the slab grade.

[BillJones]

And although it seldom happens there ARE cases where the EAC or MRB or whoevers adjusted grade is HIGHER than the slab grade.

 

That usually applies to problem coins in "genuine" holders. I much prefer the EAC approach which gives a copper coin with problems a grade to the slab practive of trashing them. Some net graded copper coins are as desirable or more desirable as their slab grade counterparts that often have some of the same problems.

[Conder101]

I've seen it on non-problem slabs as well.

[JIM F.]

If one were to submit early copper to Heritage can it be requested to NOT have anyone else's (such as "MRB") opinion added to the Heritage description? It seems to me this is a dis-service to the seller and a potential conflict of interest.

 

 

[BillJones]

If one were to submit early copper to Heritage can it be requested to NOT have anyone else's (such as "MRB") opinion added to the Heritage description? It seems to me this is a dis-service to the seller and a potential conflict of interest.

 

 

By in large some of the guys who pay the highest prices are EAC members. Including an EAC grade is standard procedure for auctions of early copper variety collections. Having an EAC grade there helps to attract bids if the person doing the grading is consistent with the EAC "main stream." In other words the EAC grade is more of plus than a minus.

 

In the field of early copper, their grading system is more important to many collectors than the systems used by both of the major services.

[Arizonadesertrat]

I completely agree with what Bill Jones wrote. The EAC grade is very important, and should not be viewed as a 'disservice to the seller'. Pricing for EAC-graded coppers does not coincide with pricing for market-graded coins. And forget about CAC stickers---they are meaningless in the world of early copper collectors.