By Thomas K. DeLorey - Copyright - Reprinted with permission. Harlan J Berk

Photos used with permission and courtesy of Heritage Auction Galleries

When asked to write an article on the ten most significant U.S. commemorative coins for this issue, I chortled and thought to myself what an easy assignment this was going to be! I had just that day finished reading galleys for the commemorative coin section of the Coin World “Comprehensive Catalogue and Encyclopedia of U.S. Coins” edited by David T. Alexander and myself, and all of the material was fresh in my mind.

However, when I went back over the listings with a consideration in mind of their national importance rather than a straightforward documentation of them, I suddenly realized how hard it was going to be to find ten pieces that were truly significant! After weeding out the 14 state commemoratives and most of the town, county, island, mountain, trail, bridge and music center commemoratives, there were scarcely ten pieces left that were both national and significant. Here’s what I came up with, though you might disagree.

Number one on my list is the Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition half dollar of 1892 and 1893, in part because the fact that Columbus landed in what we now call “the Americas” in 1492 was one of the major historical events of the last millennium, and in part because it was the first U.S. commemorative and set the stage for all that followed, good or bad. (more…)

By Thomas K. DeLorey - Copyright - Reprinted with permission. Harlan J Berk

Photos used with permission and courtesy of Heritage Auction Galleries

For a small State, Connecticut has played a large role in the field of colonial American numismatics. Besides being known for its wealth of pre- and post- Revolutionary paper issues, its most famous coins are the Higley Coppers of 1737-39 and the Connecticut Coppers of 1785-89.

The Higley coppers were issued by Dr. Samuel Higley and his heirs, using virtually pure copper from a mine they owned near Granby, CT. Higley’s first token issue bore the picture of a deer with the inscription THE. VALVE. OF. THREE. PENCE. on one side, with three crowned hammers, the date 1737 and the inscription CONNECTICVT on the other. It is arguable as to which side should be considered the obverse, but common usage calls the side with the deer the obverse.

The next issue used the same obverse plus a similar reverse with I AM GOOD COPPER replacing CONNECTICVT. Perhaps someone objected to the use of the name of the state on an unauthorized private token. Someone certainly objected to the value Higley placed on the piece, which was no heavier than an English half pence of the period and sometimes lighter, and his third issue saw the deer side changed to VALVE. ME. AS. YOU. PLEASE. A second die saw VALVE spelled as VALUE. Both include the Roman numeral III beneath the deer, thereby hinting at the value that Higley hoped they would pass at.

Higley died in 1737 while escorting a load of his copper to England, and the mine was taken over by his brother, John. John was presumably responsible for a fourth issue that paired the Deer/III obverse with an undated reverse that bore a hatchet with the inscription J. CUT. MY. WAY. THROUGH., and a similar issue that bore the date 1739 below the hatchet. A sixth issue paired the undated hatchet die with an obverse that bore a 12-spoked wheel and the inscription THE. WHEELE. GOES. ROUND., but it is not known if this issue predates or postdates the 1739 issue. (more…)

By Robert L Taylor, JD

Why should a coin collector and investor buy and collect professionally graded and certified coins? Commonly called “slabs”, they are housed in a protective plastic holder. There are many companies – over a dozen are less than 2 years old – which will put your coin in a slab after Certifying that it is Authentic, and assigning a Grade to the coin. The first reason for buying and collecting Certified and Graded Coins applies to all of these companies. However, the most important reasons apply only to the Top Four companies: PCGS, NGC, ANACS, and ICG.

Reason No 1. To Protect Your Coin from Damage.

Visible Damage, which includes anything from finger prints/oils to being stepped on. More importantly, Environmental Damage, including such things as exposure to the air, or the wrong kind of air, chemicals in the air, and touching other objects (e.g.: certain plastics, liquids, food) and other coins, which will change the appearance and even structure of the coin. Damage causes loss of Value, which means Your Investment. A slab is an air tight container, and its purpose is Protection.

Reason No 2. To Establish Authenticity.

You want and need to know that your coin is not only the Real thing, but that it has not been altered (changing a mint mark - fraud) or changed, for example by cleaning, polishing, changing the appearance or surface of the coin, in any way that would render your coin unfit to collect. If it is Unfit to Collect, there won’t be many Buyers or Sellers. Many coins graded by lesser companies end up getting Rejected by one of the Top Four for these reasons. (more…)

By Doug Winter (republished with permission) www.raregoldcoins.com

Editors Note: The original article was published in 2000, so obviously the prices quotes are no longer accurate. However the concept and application of incremental grading is important especially in todays market.

Old time collectors often bemoan the fact that there are “too many grades.” In their opinion, there is no need for a ten point Mint State/Proof scale (i.e., Mint State-60 to Mint State-70 and Proof-60 to Proof-70) and even less of a need for multiple numerical levels in the circulated grades.

I strongly disagree with the theory that there are too many grades. In fact, I can let you in on a secret that would make many of these old collector’s eyes roll if they were aware of it. Expert graders, such as myself, actually use a whole series of “secret grades” (which I refer to as “incremental grades”) when examining coins.

Before I explain what incremental grades are, it is important to understand why they exist. Back in the “old days,” coins weren’t very expensive and there were not very large spreads between nice coins and not-so-nice coins. A really superb 1927 $20 might sell for $55-60 while an average quality example was readily available for $50-55. This all changed when coins became more popular and a greater emphasis was placed on owning “the best.” Today, a superb quality 1927 $20 might sell for $4000-5000 (or more) while an average quality Uncirculated example is worth just $400-500.

The most important thing to remember about grading is that it is subjective. While most experts can reach an impressive degree of consistency when grading a group of coins, there is always some room for disagreement. The reason this exists is due to the fact that a grade actually represents a shorthand for a range of grades. This is where the aforementioned “incremental grades” come into play. (more…)