Hey Thing & Ancient Coin People...

[gmarguli]

Ever seen one of these? I've owned it for many years - probably 15-20. While the coin is a common type, it's a neat error.

 

 

I had no idea what type of coin it was, so I couldn't sell it and it sat in a box for a long time. After talking to one of the ICG graders about a year ago, I learned that they would accept a submission where I didn't even know what the coin was and they would figure it out for me. Shortly after, off it went to ICG listed as "ancient coin". Needless to say, I was impressed they figured out what it was and slabbed it as the error I felt it was (a loser ancient dealer said brockage even though I knew that was wrong and it was a flipover double struck). While I won't pretend to know how to grade these, the grade of VF35 seems a little strict.

[the_Thing ®]

Greg, I've never seen an ancient error like that. Want me to ask around about its rariety/value?

[gmarguli]

Yes! I'd love to know it's rarity and value. I read somewhere that ancient coin errors are highly collectible, but I can't seem to find any sale records.

[TJ]

Yes! I'd love to know it's rarity and value. I read somewhere that ancient coin errors are highly collectible, but I can't seem to find any sale records.

It's not rare, it's not valuable. All ancient coins are error coins. Duh. NEXT!

[gmarguli]

Yes! I'd love to know it's rarity and value. I read somewhere that ancient coin errors are highly collectible, but I can't seem to find any sale records.

It's not rare, it's not valuable. All ancient coins are error coins. Duh. NEXT!

 

Thanks TJ. I knew someone with the numismatic knowledge of you would come along and answer this. I'll just throw the coin out.

[the_Thing ®]

Greg, most of the people I asked agreed at $100.00.

[gmarguli]

Thanks! It's cool, so I'll probably keep it for a while at that price.

[Hoot]

Very interesting piece Greg. Kudos to ICG for their attributions!

 

Hoot

[the_Thing ®]

Is there an ancient coin series that ICG won't grade?

[gmarguli]

Not that I am aware of. If it will fit in their slab, they will grade it. It appears that if they don't have the knowledge about it, they send them out to outside experts for authentication and attribution and then grade them in house.

[the_Thing ®]

Ya know, I used to make fun of ICG because their head honcho always wore that goofy white hat, even in their ads. Perhaps I should rethink things.

[gmarguli]

I used to really dislike ICG. Their grading was awful and they had goofy garbage like signed slabs. However, I think their grading has gotten better. They still have goofy garbage like signed slabs, but sadly so do all the services.

 

After talking to James Taylor (goofy hat guy) and a couple other people at ICG, I've begun to have a much higher opinion of them. I'm NOT referring to Cameron. I've tried a few "real" coins there and the grading has been in line with what I was expecting. The sale prices were OK.

 

They're also willing to slab pretty much any numismatic coin/medal which is a nice thing. While I'd prefer to have most of the stuff I send to ICG graded by NGC instead, that just isn't an option now. Until NGC starts to slab some of this stuff (and I'm not too sure why some of it won't be slabbed by NGC), I'll continue to use ICG.

 

BTW, goofy hat guy was never their head honcho. He was their customer service guy.

[the_Thing ®]

Customer support? Why the hell would they a put a picture of a goofy wardrobe challenged person like that in their ads? Seems like they would want people to take them seriously.

[syracusian]

While I'd prefer to have most of the stuff I send to ICG graded by NGC instead, that just isn't an option now. Until NGC starts to slab some of this stuff (and I'm not too sure why some of it won't be slabbed by NGC), I'll continue to use ICG.

 

 

 

 

Greg:

 

[gmarguli]

They'll slab a few, but they have to be in bulk (100+ pieces), the same exact piece, and approved prior to submission. That does me no good when I want to submit single examples of a bunch of different coins.

 

Hopefully, NGC will start slabbing more ancients and use a numeric grading system for them.