Trying to explain what sight-seen and sight-unseen bidding are is at once easy and confusing.

The market for sight-unseen coins is predominantly for “generic” gold coins, like this 1926 Saint-Gaudens gold $20 double eagle coin and other coins with large populations, several experts told Coin World.

There is little market for sight-unseen trading of certain collector coins, like the 1916-D Winged Liberty Head dime, one expert said.

“Sight-seen” and “sight-unseen” bidding are terms describing ways that dealers can buy and sell coins through dealer-to-dealer networks. But, it turns out, it’s much more complicated than that.

At the basic level, someone buying a coin “sight seen” has the option, once they’ve seen the coin, to buy it at a price already established between buyer and seller for a coin from a specific grading service and in a specific grade, or they can reject the purchase.

Buyers engaging in “sight-unseen” purchases may submit their bid for coins they wish to purchase, again for pieces certified by a third-party grading service, but without seeing the coins before agreeing to the deal.

The ability to pick-and-choose coins under the sight-seen method generally means those coins receive higher prices.

Technology changes market

As technology has evolved, the means and methods by which dealers trade coins has changed. In the 1960s, dealers used teletypewriter systems that transmitted their bid and sell messages to other dealers on the network.

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In 1949, Dr. William H. Sheldon introduced the numismatic term “condition census” in his book Early American Cents, later renamed Penny Whimsy.

Condition census, according to Sheldon, denoted the finest example and average condition of the next five finest known of a given variety of large cents dated from 1793 through 1814.

Catalogers have gradually extended the use of condition census to other U.S. coin series. According to numismatic writer Q. David Bowers, the term has been used indiscriminately, sometimes to describe any coin that was in a particularly high grade category for its variety, regardless of how many others might share that category.

Growing from the condition census concept are the set registries for certified coins initiated by Professional Coin Grading Service and Numismatic Guaranty Corp. at the end of the 20th century.

The set registry concept was the brainchild of PCGS co-founder David Hall, currently the president of Collectors Universe, PCGS’s parent company. It began when Hall published in 1998 a printed booklet providing lists of the finest PCGS-certified coin collections and almost complete collections by denomination.

BJ Searls, the PCGS Set Registry manager, launched the registry online in February 2001. NGC followed suit in August 2001 with the NGC Registry.

Read Full CoinWorld Article Here

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Some collectors who buy Uncirculated American Eagle gold, silver and platinum bullion coins wonder why they can’t buy the coins directly from the United States Mint instead of having to buy the issues from dealers on the secondary market.

The answer lies within the purpose of the American Eagle bullion coins: to enable investors to buy U.S. bullion coins at prices not much above the coins’ bullion values.

While some hobbyists collect the Uncirculated American Eagle bullion coins without Mint marks by date, those issues are intended to be investment vehicles. Their value is tied to the daily spot price of gold, silver or platinum, plus a premium.

Consumers are able to buy the Proof and Uncirculated collector versions of the American Eagle coins, all bearing the W Mint mark from the West Point Mint, directly from the U.S. Mint. However, these collector coins are sold a fixed price that is considerably higher than the intrinsic value of the metal each coin contains.

In terms of composition and size, the U.S. Mint sells nine different American Eagles, irrespective of finish. The American Eagle .999 fine silver coin is sold in a 1-ounce size only. The American Eagle .9167 fine gold and .9995 fine platinum coins are sold in four sizes: 1 ounce, half ounce, quarter ounce and tenth ounce.

Read Full Coin World Article Here 

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In virtually any series of coins, collectors may run across a designation of “prooflike” surfaces, but the term is most often encountered in regard to Morgan silver dollars.

It gained currency in the 1950s and 1960s as the last of silver dollar releases from Treasury Department vaults took place. Seemingly vast quantities of decades-old coins suddenly were becoming available in “Uncirculated” condition.

It was apparent even among all these never-used coins that there were substantial differences in overall appealing qualities. Some were “bag-marked” (heavily affected by contact marks). Some were toned from contact with canvas. Some had dull surfaces and others – exceptional pieces – were, well, “prooflike.”

“Proof,” as collectors learn early in their grading lessons, is not a grade but a manufacturing process. A Proof generally is exceptionally well struck, but the surface might vary by process chosen. A Matte Proof, for instance, has a grainy-looking surface.

When collectors talk about “Proof surface” or “prooflike surface,” however, they mean a more usual, brilliant, highly reflective finish in the fields. (Fields are the flat, plain areas away from the design and inscriptions.)

A “prooflike” Uncirculated coin, then, is one with such fields, often described as “mirrorlike.”

Read Full Coin World Article Here 

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The multiple dates and Mint marks in the holders encouraged many beginning collectors to avidly search their pocket change.

Many of today’s hobbyists, whether neophytes or collectors of long standing, still opt for coin storage boards, whether they are single-board, open space holders; tri-folds; multipage albums with sliding window covers, or something similar.

Coin World’s parent company, Amos Press Inc., through its Amos Advantage program for hobbyists, offers a wide range of coin folders and albums from a number of manufacturers.

Some of these manufacturers, as well as designated distributors, also advertise their products in Coin World.

Advantages, disadvantages

Each coin board, folder or album has its own set of advantages or disadvantages in storage and preservation, depending on the condition and value of the coins that an individual collector may choose to place in them and the composition of the storage medium.

Evolution

In Coin Collecting Boards of the 1930s and 1940s: A Complete History, Catalog and Value Guide, David W. Lange traces the genesis of coin boards from the first board created in 1934 by J.K. Post, who subsequently contracted for their printing with Whitman Publishing.

Read Full Coin World Article Here

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