Hello and some Newbie questions.

[TheJuns Hoard-migration]

Pardon the Screen name.. We dont have much of a Hoard, yet..

 

My name is Sean, and im very new to this numismatic stuff.

I got into this recently, since my wife bought into this

US $1 gold coin program, though some company.

They send you "proof" of every $1 gold coin for every president

for the next 10 years. So far we only got the Washington $1 coin.

 

Since my wifes purchase, ive caught the Numismatic bug, and

i have some questions, regarding my wifes purchase and other

general questions about coins and collecting.

 

Yes i have read the FAQ's and "things to know" and etc, pardon

me if my questions are redundant and annoys you.

 

Anyways.

 

The package my wife bought contained a $1 washington coin, encased

a plastic case. and an album set up where each of the coins for each

president goes in. My question is this. What kind of quality

coin should I expect to receive?? Since these are suppose to be

uncirculated proofs from the mint. Should I expect a PF65 or MS70?

 

Reason I ask is because. looking very closely at the coin though the casing.

I see some dings/nicks on the outter edge and some scuff like marks

on the face of the coin front and back. I do realize these coins are

mass produced and dumped in together and moved around and etc

and do get treated pretty rough. But when they sell you this package.

are the coins suppose to be buffed and polished then delivered??

My wife specifically she wanted coins from 2 different mintss( she bought 2 sets),

Denver and I think Philly. Well both coins are from De. Should I call and

make them fix this and send me another Washington Coin from Philly??

Or am I making to much of a stink about it? Think it makes a differnce in

value down the road??

 

Since I caught the bug, I started collecting pennies to start collecting.

I go though a lot of change, because I own a store. So i started

collecting raw pennies thats been coming through. Some pennies

are OK some have green like corrossion, finger prints and looks dirty.

 

Ive read on here, that ANY COIN SHOULDN'T BE CLEANED.

Does this hold true with raw dirty coins? Should I just wait to find

better conditioned pennies instead of cleaning the ones I obtained???

Some pennies are minted differnet places. So Should I try to obtain

pennies from all the mints??

 

My first coin collection will be the LIncoln pennies from 1909 to current.

any tips or advice will be appreciated. Donations also..

 

Thanks in advance.

[TheJuns Hoard-migration]

BTW:

 

O M F G.. do I realize the errors of my ways.

Throwing away all kinds of pennies, from Wheats pennies and etc

all my life.. Go figure Karma would come and bite me in the butt..

 

To think I got a Late 1800 morgon silver dollar in awesome shape.

I cleaned the heck out of. To clean away the toning and etc.

that I scrubbed, and sat in jewlery cleaner for days..

 

I feel so bad now...

 

Live and learn right..

[MBA101]

Yes, never ever clean coins, as a rule of thumb. We tend to prefer "original" looking coins around here, complete with tarnish and dirt. Cleaning, when not done properly, will degrade the coin considerably. Cleaning should only be considered when the coin has very ugly tarnish, or some sort of foreign matter on the coin.

[MunkyMan95]

The package my wife bought contained a $1 washington coin, encased

a plastic case. and an album set up where each of the coins for each

president goes in. My question is this. What kind of quality

coin should I expect to receive?? Since these are suppose to be

uncirculated proofs from the mint. Should I expect a PF65 or MS70?

 

Well, are the coins Proof coins, or Business Strike coins? Would you be able to find them in pocket change, or are they shinier, and have cameo contrast? Reason I ask is because you used two different grades. PF65 is for PROOF coins, and MS70 is for MINT STATE coins. If they are proof coins, the correct question would be "Should I expect PF65 or PF70?," and if they are Mint State, the correct question would be "Should I expect MS65 or MS70?"

 

If they are proofs, you should expect PF68 or PF69, with a small shot at PF70.

 

Mint state, you might expect MS65 or MS66. These Presidential dollars aren't in that great of condition in Mint State.

 

 

And NEVER EVER clean a coin. It's like the antique furniture business. The dealers always want to see a nice patina on older furniture. They know it's original, and nobody has messed with it that way. It's the same for coins. 99% of the time, patina is a GOOD thing.

 

Hope this helps, and Welcome to the forum!

[MAULEMALL]

Yes, never ever clean coins, as a rule of thumb. We tend to prefer "original" looking coins around here, complete with tarnish and dirt. Cleaning, when not done properly, will degrade the coin considerably. Cleaning should only be considered when the coin has very ugly tarnish, or some sort of foreign matter on the coin.

welcome to the Boards

[TheJuns Hoard-migration]

The package my wife bought contained a $1 washington coin, encased

a plastic case. and an album set up where each of the coins for each

president goes in. My question is this. What kind of quality

coin should I expect to receive?? Since these are suppose to be

uncirculated proofs from the mint. Should I expect a PF65 or MS70?

 

Well, are the coins Proof coins, or Business Strike coins? Would you be able to find them in pocket change, or are they shinier, and have cameo contrast? Reason I ask is because you used two different grades. PF65 is for PROOF coins, and MS70 is for MINT STATE coins. If they are proof coins, the correct question would be "Should I expect PF65 or PF70?," and if they are Mint State, the correct question would be "Should I expect MS65 or MS70?"

 

If they are proofs, you should expect PF68 or PF69, with a small shot at PF70.

 

Mint state, you might expect MS65 or MS66. These Presidential dollars aren't in that great of condition in Mint State.

 

 

And NEVER EVER clean a coin. It's like the antique furniture business. The dealers always want to see a nice patina on older furniture. They know it's original, and nobody has messed with it that way. It's the same for coins. 99% of the time, patina is a GOOD thing.

 

Hope this helps, and Welcome to the forum!

 

Thanks for your reply..

Sorry im still fuzzy about the whole grading thing.

So MS rating is better than PF ratings??

So when you order coins through the mail/service.

Should I expect to get at least a PF rating or better???

 

The coins I got are shiny and clean, can they be found in pocket change?

I suppose if they are newish I suppose. I was wondering if these coins

should be " perfect" no nicks or marks" Or am I expecting to much??

 

How can you tell if they are proof strike or business strike??

 

Im ready to be enlightened..

[MunkyMan95]

The package my wife bought contained a $1 washington coin, encased

a plastic case. and an album set up where each of the coins for each

president goes in. My question is this. What kind of quality

coin should I expect to receive?? Since these are suppose to be

uncirculated proofs from the mint. Should I expect a PF65 or MS70?

 

Well, are the coins Proof coins, or Business Strike coins? Would you be able to find them in pocket change, or are they shinier, and have cameo contrast? Reason I ask is because you used two different grades. PF65 is for PROOF coins, and MS70 is for MINT STATE coins. If they are proof coins, the correct question would be "Should I expect PF65 or PF70?," and if they are Mint State, the correct question would be "Should I expect MS65 or MS70?"

 

If they are proofs, you should expect PF68 or PF69, with a small shot at PF70.

 

Mint state, you might expect MS65 or MS66. These Presidential dollars aren't in that great of condition in Mint State.

 

 

And NEVER EVER clean a coin. It's like the antique furniture business. The dealers always want to see a nice patina on older furniture. They know it's original, and nobody has messed with it that way. It's the same for coins. 99% of the time, patina is a GOOD thing.

 

Hope this helps, and Welcome to the forum!

 

Thanks for your reply..

Sorry im still fuzzy about the whole grading thing.

So MS rating is better than PF ratings??

So when you order coins through the mail/service.

Should I expect to get at least a PF rating or better???

 

The coins I got are shiny and clean, can they be found in pocket change?

I suppose if they are newish I suppose. I was wondering if these coins

should be " perfect" no nicks or marks" Or am I expecting to much??

 

How can you tell if they are proof strike or business strike??

 

Im ready to be enlightened..

 

A business strike coin looks much like this:

 

 

A proof coin looks like this:

 

 

The grading scale is the same. MS means coins that were meant to be spent. PF coins are special coins only minted for collectors. They are all graded on the same 1-70 scale, 1 being the worst and 70 being the best. Do you have MS or proof coins? I'm going to assume MS, and in that case, you can't expect perfection. The highest graded MS Washington dollar is MS67, which is a far cry from 70.

[physics-fan3.14]

My wife specifically she wanted coins from 2 different mintss( she bought 2 sets),

Denver and I think Philly. Well both coins are from De. Should I call and

make them fix this and send me another Washington Coin from Philly??

Or am I making to much of a stink about it? Think it makes a differnce in

value down the road??

 

Yes, if you ordered a P set and a D set, you should have gotten one of each, and should notify the company and have them correct the situation. The values tend to be very close to each other, but in terms of completeness you will only have half the set. Many collectors like to have date and mintmark sets (meaning, all the mintmarks from all the dates).

 

And welcome to the forums. Good luck in your collecting (and never clean a coin, even if it is raw, circulated, and dirty).

[lkenefic]

 

Welcome to the forum...

 

As a rule of thumb, I don't clean coins. However, there's a difference between "cleaning" a coin and "conserving" a coin to stop damage to it. Search out this website on the differences...there have been a few recent threads dealing with the two...Enjoy!!

 

Leo

[TomB]

The proof Presidential dollars have not been released yet. Therefore, you have purchased business strike coins. I would advise you and your wife to cancel your subscription with this company immediately because you can obtain the Presidential dollars from your local bank for $1 each. There is no reason to pay a company to ship these to you over the next ten years. Of course, depending on what part of the country you live in, you will be buying nearly exclusively P or D mint coins from your local bank. Truly, paying a company for this is a colassal waste of money.

 

Do not clean any coins!!! You will lose significant value by doing so. Also, please go to a local bookstore and buy a copy of the Red Book and read it as it will help you greatly. Lastly, put your wallet away and learn for a period of time before buying. Good luck and have fun.

 

PS: CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION WITH THIS COMPANY-YOU ARE PAYING FOR COINS YOU CAN BUY AT YOUR BANK FOR FACE VALUE!

[RUSS BEGA]

The proof Presidential dollars have not been released yet. Therefore, you have purchased business strike coins. I would advise you and your wife to cancel your subscription with this company immediately because you can obtain the Presidential dollars from your local bank for $1 each. There is no reason to pay a company to ship these to you over the next ten years. Of course, depending on what part of the country you live in, you will be buying nearly exclusively P or D mint coins from your local bank. Truly, paying a company for this is a colassal waste of money.

 

Do not clean any coins!!! You will lose significant value by doing so. Also, please go to a local bookstore and buy a copy of the Red Book and read it as it will help you greatly. Lastly, put your wallet away and learn for a period of time before buying. Good luck and have fun.

 

PS: CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION WITH THIS COMPANY-YOU ARE PAYING FOR COINS YOU CAN BUY AT YOUR BANK FOR FACE VALUE!

 

 

it is true that you NEVER abrasively clean a coin however if your talking Cents you can give them an "olive oil bath" simply let the coin sit in olive oil for about a week or so that should help the apperance of the copper coin with out damaging it too much. anyway welcome to the forum and the hobby!

[WoodenJefferson]

Welcome Juns Hoard

 

If anywhere during the course of your wife enrolling yourselves in an "auto-ship program" where they used the words "exclusive proprietary packaging" then you've been more or less duped into paying more for something that could be purchased else where for far less hard earned money.

 

Sure, it's easy, you may get a bit of history with each coin, if that is what you want, then fine...but for Numismatic purposes these coins will be along the line of "average" uncirculated coins from the US Mint. These are part of the same ones that go directly into circulation but are cut short of that and sold as uncirculated, because in essence they are.

 

Connect with ppl on these chat boards who have already looked at coins, get to know them, trust them and you will benefit by getting some of the better condition coins out there right now.

[bsshog40]

Welcome Juns Hoard. You have come to the right place to find answers to your questions. All have already given good advice on your prez dollar subscrition. If you are wanting to get the complete set of these, P&D, then the US Mint is good place to start in my opinion. You can subscribe to the first day coin covers that will cost about $20 (includes s&h). The washingtons are gone but can still be had a ebay for a few dollars more or you can always post in the forums marketplace to see if anyone here is selling them. As for other coins, please, never hestitate to ask here on the forum. There are very knowlegable people here and others just starting out like you are. As the old saying goes "A dumb question is the one that's not asked". There are lots of us here that can always give good info to you. Some specialize in certain type coins and others know alot about everything. So an answer is always here. You can also learn alot about numismatic history here too!!! As suggested above, the Redbook is a great book (excluding values) for information. I also recommend the "ANA grading guide" to familiarize yourself with what actual grades for coins are. And last but not least, if you own a digital camera, post pics. We are always happy to see pictures of others coins!!!!

[Conder101]

As Tom said these are NOT proofs because they haven't even issued the proof coins yet. (I'm surprised it took so kmany posts before someone pointed out that fact.) So your coin HAS to be a regular business strike available at the bank for $1. (This may not be the case in the future though.) I would STRONGLY recommend that you cancel your subscription to this program immediately.

 

Welcome to the forum.

[SkyMan]

Welcome Aboard!

 

As everybody else has said, cancel your subscription if you can get out without some abusive fee. Good luck.

[ldhair]

Welcome.

Check out this link to the United States Mint.

Mint web site

[michael]

welcome

[TheJuns Hoard-migration]

thank you all for your replies.

 

good to know you can go some place and get such valuable information.

 

As for the mail order golden dollar. I/wife shall be cancelling this subscription

ASAP. Basically it was $150 dollars for 40 something dollar worth of coin.

Maybe you have heard of it. Its called " World reserve Monetary exchange"

ill post some pictures (hopefully). They even offered in their packaging

as if I won something. all 50 state quarters for free if I buy their display at

$197. what a bargain.

 

as far as my penny collection i just started. I got all lincoln pennies from

2007 to 1950 something missing the key in the 50's, with some wheaties

in 1940something. not bad for a couple of days. All raw coins probalby worthless

but getting interesting as its starting to get tough.

[TheJuns Hoard-migration]

another picture

[TheJuns Hoard-migration]

another

[TheJuns Hoard-migration]

how do you get pictures to show in the post???

 

thanks..

[stinkycheese1]

how do you get pictures to show in the post???

 

thanks..

 

 

Go to a website like photobucket or imageshack. Upload your picture there, then click Image post the URL, and then hit image again.

 

 

Good luck!

 

Always like to help new collectors.

Also, try going to your local library and looking at numismatic books that interest you.

[TheJuns Hoard-migration]

What a bummer..

 

This little box of old coins isn't worth much.

 

but its stiill cool, to have old coins that are over a century old.

 

time to get my hoarding into high gear.. haha

[construct]

What a bummer..

 

This little box of old coins isn't worth much.

 

but its stiill cool, to have old coins that are over a century old.

 

time to get my hoarding into high gear.. haha

 

"Worth much" is a relative matter. We're still talking about an accumulation worth at least $140-150. That isn't exactly "not worth much" to my way of thinking. (I assume you're talking about those pictures of ASEs and circ silver from the other thread.)

[Keleum]

As a presidential dollar collector (modern) myself.

 

Here's my routine. I troll the mint website looking for the announced date of the newest coin(s). I have subscriptions to some of the mints products, so I get them when they come out. On the release date ,or within a couple of weeks, I go to the main branch (not the one closest to me) of my bank and get a few rolls. I do quarters and dollars without a problem. I just make a withdrawl and ask for the money in rolls I want.

 

I'll then open the rolls carefully examining each coin, I'll save probably the 2 or 3 of the best examples, in flips or an album.

[TheJuns Hoard-migration]

As a presidential dollar collector (modern) myself.

 

Here's my routine. I troll the mint website looking for the announced date of the newest coin(s). I have subscriptions to some of the mints products, so I get them when they come out. On the release date ,or within a couple of weeks, I go to the main branch (not the one closest to me) of my bank and get a few rolls. I do quarters and dollars without a problem. I just make a withdrawl and ask for the money in rolls I want.

 

I'll then open the rolls carefully examining each coin, I'll save probably the 2 or 3 of the best examples, in flips or an album.

 

Keleum,

 

mind if I ask why?? if you already have subscription and probably getting

the PROOFS. why go to the bank and get circulated business strike examples?

to have them all?? proofs and circulated types??

[Keleum]

Yep, exactly. To get P & D and S (San Fran). I also like the idea of building and finding my own collection not just buying it

 

I'll also get the satins (Mint sets) when they come out. I never really asked the group here, but it seems to me the mint sets aren't really unciriculated business coins anymore.