• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Fun with ICG - My Long Journey Toward Dementia

Started by gmarguli,

117 posts in this topic

gmarguli

gmarguli

Posted
Posted

At a recent Long Beach show, one of the ICG graders - who will remain nameless - adamantly told me that ICG will slab anything that is numismatically related in even the remotest of senses. Given the demented and perverse mind that I have, I set out to test this theory of slabability.

 

How about some counterstamped / mangled coins from god knows where?

 

They figured them out and slabbed them:

spain.jpg

 

 

 

I'm not discouraged. How about a mint medal from one of those Bicentennial First Day Covers?

 

Damn, too numismatically related:

gw-medal.jpg

 

 

 

Maybe something foreign without any dates? They're not going to go searching out what these trinkets are.

 

893whatthe.gif It must have taken Cameron..er..the unnamed grader at ICG an hour searching the Internet to figure out what these were and what they were made of, but they did it:

russia-mint.jpg

 

 

 

I need to try harder. Perhaps a coin club medal from a defunct coin club would cross the line? I just happened to have a medal from the 1969 10th Anniversary of the Whittier, CA coin club. Only 100 were ever made and they celebrate the fact that Whittier is the home town of Richard Nixon. Why on earth would ICG grade this?

 

Disappointment yet again:

whittier.jpg

 

 

 

Perhaps I was setting my standards to high? Was it time to submit something that isn't as hard to figure out, but not slabworthy? Surely they wouldn't slab a WW2 ration token. It's made out of cardboard. No one slabs them. How in the world would they grade it?

 

My hopes dashed:

opa.jpg

 

 

 

OK, time to go out of the realm of numismatics and into education. How about a Gallery Mint Medal from the 2004 ANA Summer Seminar. There is no way they could authenticate this. Besides, it's not round like they usually make them. This one is a klippe. It's the only one ever made. Snuck out of the Gallery Mint mobile mint by an entrepreneurial student. They will never slab this!

 

Oops, ICG had a grader as a teacher at the Summer Seminar and they likely saw it being made. Damn, but it did grade high:

gmm-klippe.jpg

 

 

 

OK, this is getting frustrating. How about something not even related to numismatics. Bullion silver advertising the Dodgers. No one could possibly slab this. It's no more numismatic than a hub cap.

 

What the 893censored-thumb.gif Aaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!:

dodgers.jpg

 

 

 

I'm pretty much resigned to the fact that ICG will slab anything. What could possibly be left? As I glumly enter the 49th Annual Coinarama coin show in San Diego a few months ago, they're giving out trinkets. I usually don't bother, but something catches my eye. They're giving away wooden nickels. My heart races! Is this the Holy Grail? I grab the best one I can find. After all, if it slabs, I don't want one graded MS62, I want an MS68! Off it goes to ICG. I have high hopes. I hear from someone inside ICG that there is turmoil in the grading room. How can they grade a wooden nickel? But, it's numismatically related - more so than the other stuff. 893scratchchin-thumb.gif Tempers get hot. Accusations, threats, and PF70 State Quarters fly thru the grading room. Word is, it gets graded and slabbed. Then some horrified grader is set to finalize it. He opens his mouth and with the force of a jet engine he asks: WHAT THE 893censored-thumb.gif IS THIS? HOW CAN I GRADE A PIECE OF WOOD? Fists fly, or at least spit from the graders mouth. And soon after, the wooden nickel is sent back to its rightful owner like this:

buffalo.jpg

 

It looks like there are things that ICG won't grade. I'll have to have a talk with their finalizer and express my disappointment. He can grade and authenticate everything, except a wooden nickel. The King is dead. frown.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites
cpm9ball

cpm9ball

Posted
Posted

Fantastic, Greg! I've got some off-the-wall things I might try to run through ICG. By the way, I'm really surprised they didn't grade the wooden nickel. Anyone with any common sense can see that it's G2x4.

 

Chris

Link to comment
Share on other sites
EZ_E

EZ_E

Posted
Posted

This is one of the absolute best threads that I have ever read...EVER!!

 

893applaud-thumb.gif893applaud-thumb.gif893applaud-thumb.gif

 

I love it!!!

 

And, you gotta admit, one has to respect the research they do. thumbsup2.gif

 

But, dammit, no wooden nickels?! I actually have one from 1977 that I got from a coin show as a kid.

 

There goes my dreams dashed and my hopes crushed. sorry.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites
EZ_E

EZ_E

Posted
Posted
Have you tried numismatically themed chocolate wrapped in foil? 893scratchchin-thumb.gif

 

 

And, this is one of the funniest posts that I've ever read! 27_laughing.gif27_laughing.gif27_laughing.gif

 

Once again....

 

27_laughing.gif27_laughing.gif27_laughing.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites
cpm9ball

cpm9ball

Posted
Posted
Have you tried numismatically themed chocolate wrapped in foil? 893scratchchin-thumb.gif

 

Yeah, Tom, move them back and forth from the refrigerator to the top of a radiator and see if they tone.

 

Chris

Link to comment
Share on other sites
jgrinz

jgrinz

Posted
Posted

Greg - Thank you so much as I have wanted to SLAB for protection purposes a Token Issued BY my home town for thier 250th Anniversary Celebration. I have lived in this town for Most of my 45 Years ( oops 46 ) and was there at the celebration. I thought it was VERY intellegent of the Bellingham Community to ISSUE these tokens as they would last a lot longer than any other commemorative of the event.Runour has it that there is a STOLEN bag of these around somewhere and I am constantly looing for them to show up ... Nothing so far. The coin has extreme details - The Obverse Showing what the Center Baptist Church looked like in the center of town - The reverse is of Lord Bellingham - The COin is made out of Heavy Bronze and is about the size of a half dollar.

I did not know ICG did this and it is OFF this week for Slabbing ... I would call this a token correct ???

 

Whats nice about bronze is there is no LIGHT glare to worry about smile.gif

 

1519861-Token.jpg

 

 

IF ONLY ALL MY PICTURES CAME OUT THIS WELL smile.gif

 

1519861-Token.jpg.e2229b687d0b082cc6f01d38c542410b.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites
James_OldeTowne

James_OldeTowne

Posted
Posted

I really hate to admit this, but my respect for ICG just about tripled! I'll have to keep this in mind. Now, my next question is: How in the heck do they maintain POP reports for stuff like this 27_laughing.gif?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
DC Dawg

DC Dawg

Posted
Posted

My only question is whether they would slab elongated coins? 27_laughing.gif

This is great! I have tokens I may send in. 893applaud-thumb.gif

Great story. thumbsup2.gif

 

Scott hi.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites
cpm9ball

cpm9ball

Posted
Posted
No one likes my Token ...

sorry.gif

 

It is more likely a medal than a token. There are private firms that produce medals for anniversary celebrations. I have quite a few medals that were produced by Medallic Art Company (MACO) for various towns in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Like yours, some are made in bronze while others are in copper, silver, pewter or gilt.

 

Chris

 

PS. Oh yes..................................nice medal.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Zoins

Zoins

Posted
Posted
No one likes my Token ...

sorry.gif

 

It is more likely a medal than a token.

I agree it's a medal and a nice one. You said it was half dollar size. A half dollar is 31mm. If your medal is 33mm or larger it would qualify as a So-Called Dollar.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
TJ'S Coins

TJ'S Coins

Posted
Posted

 

1519861-Token.jpg

 

 

Very nice token. I like it a lot!

 

This is one of the best threads that I have ever read. Thanks for the very informative post. I've had some coins graded by ICG, they do some great research on these items.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
gmarguli

gmarguli

Posted
  • Author
Posted
BTW, did they attribute and slab my 1891 Canadian cent? 893scratchchin-thumb.gif

 

Sorry, but too esoteric. confused-smiley-013.gif

 

Actually, it's on an invoice that was submitted 3 days later, so it should be back this week.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
shirohniichan

shirohniichan

Posted
Posted
BTW, did they attribute and slab my 1891 Canadian cent? 893scratchchin-thumb.gif

 

Sorry, but too esoteric. confused-smiley-013.gif

 

Actually, it's on an invoice that was submitted 3 days later, so it should be back this week.

 

Maybe they'll slab it as a "state penny".

Link to comment
Share on other sites
cpm9ball

cpm9ball

Posted
Posted
BTW, did they attribute and slab my 1891 Canadian cent? 893scratchchin-thumb.gif

 

Sorry, but too esoteric. confused-smiley-013.gif

 

Actually, it's on an invoice that was submitted 3 days later, so it should be back this week.

 

Greg, out of curiosity, what was the turn-around time?

 

Chris

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Go to topic listing