Showing posts with label Coin grading. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Coin grading. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

A High Grade MS65 British Trade Dollar Year 1902 !!??!!

This listing was found on ebay.
http://www.ebay.com.my/itm/1902-UK-trade-dollar-NGC-MS65-/321135919346?pt=US_World_Coins&hash=item4ac53140f2&_uhb=1#ht_500wt_923 (when link broken means listing has ended)

It is a NGC graded MS65 British trade dollar.
It is verifyable at NGC coin verification site.


The price quote is standard price for a MS65 coins.
Though NGC must have their reasons for giving a MS65 grade.
Would you be buying this coin??



It may be a MS65 coins, but personally i think the coin is lacking the eye appeals.
I would rather keep a nice lusters coin then this "superbly toned coin."
Nevertheless, i admit that I do have personal liking to a coloured and rainbow toned coin, but not of this type.
This remains a personal opinion.

What you think??



Wednesday, May 29, 2013

New Trend of Collection habits among Collectors.

A bit of deviatrion form the trade dollars to discuss on market place...

NGC and PCGS coin grading have been around for decades. In the old days, usually only better grades and rarer coins are being slabbed for authentification purpose and also for preservation.I would say it all started with the mania on China Silver coins in the past 2-3  years, where authentification is the prime concern at that time. Many sellers have problems letting go their unslabbed coins and have to settle for a lower dealing price for such coins. From there, the demand for slabbing service picks up locally.

As a result of that a few dealers have started having runners sending coins for slabbing to Singapore (Mavin or Monetorium) or Hong Kong (PCGS) for grading service and a new chapter of events unfolds.

An overview of a grading process can be read at my friend and sifu blog post at: Slabbing Coins with NGC

The new chapter of events unfolding locally are:

For new generation of collectors who are more affluent, they prefer these slabbed coins.  They are less burdened by preserving the coins and they are willing to pay a price for the authentification process. It is in opinion that these coins are easier to sell later on, be it over the coin dealers or internet base platform like ebay, facebook etc.

For more senior coin collectors who have been collecting for many many years, they started to realized that these coins may deteriorate, and over the years some of their collections have become scarce. As such, slabbing these coin is cost effective and a reasonable thing to do. For example, they may have bought some coins for RM 80. But now the price has risen say to RM 600 in the catalogue. By slabbing the coin, it may added a cost of RM200 per coin in the process; but they will be able to sell it easier at the catalogue price of RM600. There will be a lot of argument if these coins are not slabbed, and they may only be able to sell it around RM 400-500 after bargaining process.

A walk in Times Square KL yesterday, I also find lots of new dealers coming into the market. A simple chat with them also revealed their preference for dealing with slabbed coins. To them, it save them the hassles of arguing the grading process with the prospective customers. In addition, the beautifully high grade slabbed coins also added prestige to their newly started shops - be it in presence, or virtually on the internet.

These sellers are extremely friendly and helpful, do visit them if you drop by in Kuala Lumpur. However, over weekends, they are still stationed in Amcorp Mall.

As for you and I...
Are we going to send our coins for slabbing?
Are we going to buy these slabbed coins at higher price?
Are you going to be like some collectors who are only after MS 65-67 coins or you wound settle for MS 62-64 like most seasoned collectors??
What are you going to do with the AU details, UNC details coins - sell them as fast as possible like the MS maniacs, or have the comfort of saying "they are genuine coins, so it is fine" ??

What are you saying on this???

My take it...
We must have the knowledge to deal with these scenarios and coin.
It is the knowledge that will prevent us from buying an overpriced coin.

The old saying from a property investor still hold true... if you are buying for investment
"You make the profit at the point of buying, not when you sell"



Monday, May 20, 2013

Frence Indo China Piastre Trade Dollar from a collector point of view.

French Trade Dollar is also minted to smooth trading process of French colonies in IndoChina in particular. It shares the common weights of 0.900 silver as other trade dollars.

The seated lady liberty on the observe of the coins makes this coin beautiful and unique.

The mintage tables are as the top page bar

These French Trade Dollars are difficult to find in high quality specimen.

NGC graded AU Details even high points shown some worn off effects
The reverse
The high points especially on the observe made this coin easily worn out even in mild circulation. The reverse of the coin is less susceptible to abrasions. This toned coins showed the high points extremely clearly.

Abrasions esp at the face, thorax, both forearms, the thigh, leg and feet.
Compare with the above coin, you can see these areas are actually bulges forward
the reverse are less susceptible. The high points are the flower ring.
A mildly circulated coins will showed these high points are worn off as in this coin
NGC graded XF details. Mildly circulated coins.
The sad things about this coin is the face is quite easily worn off. This cause significant defiguring of the coin. The lady liberty looks funny at times, some turned into bird face.

Therefore, the high grade coins of any french trade dollar usually fetch a very high auction price. Especially those with beautiful face preserved.


Tuesday, May 14, 2013

British Trade Dollar MS64 Examples



This is an example for MS64 British Trade Dollar.
Gorgeous Coin.

MS64 British Trade Dollar Grading Example and Tips





My personal guide for grading British trade dollar
1. Look at overall luster.
2. Look at the rim for any damage.
3. Details of the observe can be seen at the following high points.

  • The hand: can all fingers seen
  • The foot: can all toes seen
  • The breast area... (sorry but high grade coin should buldge outward.)
  • Details of the helmet.
  • Details of the mintmark "B" at the prong
4.The Britannia surroundings has lots of empty space - should free from scratches or marks.
5. The reverse is generally no high points and less signs of worn seen here compared to the observe.

Ini pandangan peribadi saya tentang grading untuk British Trade Dollar:
1. Meneliti luster koin keseluruhan.
2. Meneliti tepi koin untuk sebarang tanda langgar / jatuh.
3. Bahagian depan koin boleh diteliti dari high-points berikut
  • Tangan harus nampak semua jari
  • Kaki harus nampak semua jari
  • Bahagian dada... (maaf, namun koin yang tinggi great, dada harus tonjol keluar)
  • Bahagian helmet tidak haus.
  • Keterangan mintmark "B" di prong.
4.  Di sekeliling Britannia terdapat banyak ruang kosong - Sepatutnya tiada scratch atau mark di sini.
5. Bahagian belakang koin secara umumnya lebih rata dan jarang haus dengan mudah berbanding depan koin.

Coin Grading - NGC and PCGS Verification Sites



NGC and PCGS are the two most trusted coin grading service in the numismatic world. They provide online verification for the slabbed coin as below. They are very useful to determine the authenticity of the slabbed coins as there are news about fake slabbed coins coming in the market. However, so far, i haven't seen one.

Coin verification page

NGC:  http://www.ngccoin.com/certlookup/index.aspx



PCGS:  http://www.pcgs.com/cert/


NGC dan PCGS adalah dua syariket yang dipercayai dalam dunia numismatik. Kedua-dua syarikat ini telah menyediakan perkhidmatan pengesahan kesahihan koin yang telah "slab" melalui alamat internet di atas.  Perkhidmatan ini amat berguna memandangkan terdapat khabar angin yang mengatakan bahawa terdapat "slabbed coin" palsu di pasaran. Namun demikian, setakat ini, saya belum terjumpa satu slabbed coin palsu lagi.