A Couple of Sticky Irksome Things posted by Jackson

[CSJournals-migration]

Stickers have no place near coins.....

 

There are many things in this hobby that can get under our skin. I believe the reason that the small things irk us is because we truly love the hobby of numismatics. Some of the things that we are troubled by are more personal pet peeves and others are because of bigger trends in the hobby.

 

I will admit--and I know it is a controversial subject but it is just my own personal feeling ( and for now Americans still retain at least the right to hold personal opinions) but I never liked the green stickers/CAC -money generating business. We already have a dealer with an opinion of a coin's grade, the buyer with an opinion which concurs if he is buying the coin and 3 professional graders who have reached a consensus on the grade and slabbed the coin--

 

Do we need a 4th party grader to put a little green sticker on the slab to say in a god-like fashion, " yes, we coin superiors have deemed that the previous 5 individuals were right about the quality and grade of this coin-it is now deemed worthy of a green football sticker."

 

Which brings up what inevitably happened--and the extremes of this.

 

Irksome sticker thing #1:..I recently was perusing websites and came across a 1942 Walker Half grade PF64--listed right under a 1942 Walker PF67 and PF65. The PF65 was roughly $500...the PF 67 was near $900..and the PF64??..Priced at near $1200 !!!..oh, I forgot to mention that the slab had a "gold sticker/football"...I kid you not. I won't mention the dealer because I don't want to cause any discord to the dealer, they are free to charge as they see fit--but really? I know I don't have to buy the coin so why should I care right? Sorry but it just feels ethically wrong and bad for the hobby as a whole ( try explaining the grading scale and TPG's to a new numismatist and then explain the power of a little gold sticker to make the coin more valuable than others which are 3 to 4 grades better...

 

Irksome sticker thing #2: This is very minor but irksome nonetheless. Has anyone ever gotten a winning coin from auction in an old generation slab with fatty plastic or green writing or rattlers etc etc...and placed right on top of the old hologram on the reverse is an auction lot number sticker? There is no way that sticker is coming off without peeling away the hologram also.

 

Oh well...enough about stickers ( thank goodness auctioneers don't using stickers on Rembrandt's or Picasso's)...I have enjoyed some recent journals that have been posted. It appears that there is always a glut of coin journals at the time of year when the awards are near ( I remember a few years ago there was one journaler who so desperately wanted an award that he posted every day from Thanksgiving to the new year--it worked too as he won his second journal award even though he only had 13 coins in his entire collection.) However for the most part people have posted great thoughts on collecting and not about awards, awards, awards..I particularly got to thinking about a great journal on FMV's, registry points etc. Although these topics have been discussed prior, it is nice to read fresh thoughts and also see how disparate opinions remain on this topic.

 

Ultimately, coins are worth what a buyer is willing to pay for them--many FMV prices are way overboard ( especially with the modernized minting process and wonderful quality the mint consistently produces.) Yet there are always coins that will "blow the curve".

 

My example of a "blow the curve" coin...the 1943-D Mercury dime is of high mintage, common in MS67 and in the top 3 highest grade with FB's...an MS67FB example can be had for about $100 or less...yet I paid over 3x that for mine...and had healthy competition during bidding...if FMV factors in all coins sold at auctions when they deduce a value--then coins like this make the price appear higher than it may be.....happy holidays e1...and happy hunting...

 

See more journals by Jackson

[RichH]

Jackson,

Very nice post, and I would definitely give that dime a gold bean !

 

Rich

[coinsbygary]

Jackson

As always, excellent points! For better or worse, CAC is a current reality that isn't going away. I'm not saying that in support of CAC, just stating reality. In the end it is about what a buyer is willing to pay for a coin like your dime which is a real beauty and worth what you paid because you paid the price to get it. You didn't need a sticker to tell you it was strong for the grade with lots of eye appeal and in reality neither does anyone else as long as the grades are accurate with a guarantee from PCGS and NGC.

 

Now to throw another wrench in the works is the plus grade and a push to have 20 grade levels between MS-60 and MS-70. This is overkill in my opinion but from another perspective competition for CAC. Still, I don't particularly care to have half-grades between MS-60 and MS-70. Remember UNC, CH UNC, and GEM UNC? Incidentally, I bought a 1870 MS-63 half-dime that was much more than FMV simply based on eye appeal.

 

That said, I use FMV as a guide with the understanding that it is an overpriced guide. So far it has served me well in that capacity. Some coins are higher, but most are lower depending on my perspective of eye appeal.

 

As for the auction house stickers, I have a solution! That is put the coins in baggie type bags and put the sticker on the bag! I bought a coin from APMEX in one of those baggies and it worked out quite nice. I'm posting the obverse of my half-dime as an example of how much I was willing to pay for eye appeal which was about $100 over FMV.

Gary

 

[jackson64]

gorgeous coin Gary..$100 over FMV appears to be a steal for that unique beauty...

 

As for the CAC involvement in the hobby, yes I agree--it is here to stay although for the life of me I don't understand how people justify a premium over nicer coins in the same auction tha have not been stickered--almost appears to be collusion ( and there can be little doubt about cronyism in the coin professional realm)

[vumc409]

Jackson,

 

Completely agree with your sentiments on the "gold football". With the TPGs assigned grades why would anyone want a CAC sticker to say he agrees with the TPG grade? Main reason in my honest opinion is the false security it gives to pricing.

 

That said, I would like to have one set CAC stickered and only for one reason, yep pricing, I have one set of 14 coins, ultimately when the set is complete, but 13 now. My mom's 1947 Mint Set, that I would like to have all CAC approved just for insurance should I ever have to sell it. The set is chock full of conditional rarities and would be the last 14 coins to go if I ever had to completely liquidate. I would love the extra money these coins would bring with a CAC stamp of approval.

 

Other than that - nothing doing for me.

 

BTW - hate the auction house stickers too and I like Gary's solution to the problem.

 

Both of you purchased great looking coins.

 

Michael