Virginia Beach, VA. The graders at Dominion Grading Service were very excited to receive some high powered submissions lately, including five numismatic gold rarities. These rarities, and their final grades are:

1879 Flowing Hair $4 DGS Proof 62 (Altered Surfaces)
1795 $5 Small Eagle DGS AU50 (Altered Surfaces, Tooled)
1795 $10 DGS AU50 (Lightly Cleaned, Tooled, Rim Damage)
1920-S $10 DGS MS62 (Cleaned, Environmental Damage)
1921 $20 DGS AU53 (Reverse Scratches)

Senior grader Mike Ellis says “The more coins we get out there in DGS holders the more the numismatic community is learning to appreciate the value we offer. All five of these coins are rare and valuable, albeit some with minor problems and cleaning.”

Ellis continues, “We feel that collectors need to know the degree of severity of such problems, as well as the specific problems – so they can make an informed and accurate determination of value. When clients submit these kinds of coins for authentication and grading, we know we are doing things right.”

(more…)

Virginia Beach, VA. – In July of 2008 Ken Potter wrote an extensive and lavishly illustrated article reporting on the discovery of a most interesting and eye catching die variety found on an 1857 Liberty Seated Quarter dollar. It has since been embraced by the numismatic community and dubbed the “Smoking Liberty” variety.

Potter reported the variety was first spotted by collector John O’Hare who showed it to friend and fellow collector, Saverio Barbieri, in the early part of 2000. So smitten by the variety was Barbieri he began an eight-year search for more specimens. After searching an estimated 30,000+ Liberty Seated quarters of that date on eBay and shows across the country Barbieri found a total of 28 specimens bringing the known population to 29 pieces. O’Hare still has his “discovery piece” he first shared with Barbieri.

Since publication of the seemingly rare die variety Mike Ellis, senior grader and variety specialist at Dominion Grading Service (DGS) in Virginia Beach, Virginia, found one in a client’s submission which was encapsulated by DGS as a lightly cleaned AU55 making it the first “Smoking Liberty” encapsulated as such. It brought the number of known, slabbed examples to three, the first two being unattributed examples in NGC MS-64 and NGC MS-61.

Both NGC and ANACS have since declined to attribute the coin in their holders, citing the new variety as being too much of an unknown.

This is a common reaction to new varieties submitted to major grading services as they opt for more information to come to light before proceeding. Barbieri asked PCGS, NGC, ANACS and ICG at the recently concluded FUN show in Orlando, Florida again if they were ready to attribute this really fun variety on the holder. Again they reported they were not yet ready to do so. (more…)

Mike Ellis brings over 20 Years Experience in Research, Grading & Teaching

Management at Dominion Grading Service (DGS) formally announced this week the hiring of Michael Ellis as a senior grader and variety specialist. Mr. Ellis has over 20 years experience in professional numismatics with a rich resume spanning everything from President of CONECA, to 12 years of teaching at ANA Summer Seminars.

According to DGS President, John Feigenbaum, “Mike comes to us at the ideal time for Dominion [Grading Service]. We’ve been officially grading coins since April and the number of submissions has gradually increased with each month, to the point that we could no longer keep up with the pace. Collectors are really starting to embrace our services and we see DGS as a trend setter in the future of coin grading. DGS can make a real difference with specialty offerings like variety designations and the grading of error coins. Mike is one of the strongest attributors in the country and we’re extremely fortunate to have him aboard.

About Mike Ellis

A coin collector since 1968, Mike comes to DGS with over 20 years experience as a professional numismatist and numismatic educator. He served 12 years as a board member and officer of CONECA; including 4 terms as President of the organization. He has been an instructor for ANA Summer Seminars since 1996, has given several Numismatic Theater presentations at ANA Anniversary Conventions and made many educational appearances at other shows and club meetings across the country.

Ellis first became a consultant to ICG in 1998 serving in that capacity until April of 2006 when he became a full time grader with ANACS, moving to ICG in January of this year when ANACS was sold. Ellis is also an accomplished numismatic writer having penned a column for “Numismatic News,” served as editor of “Errorscope” and “Cherrypickers’ News,” edited “Cherrypickers’ Guide to Rare Die Varieties, 4th Edition, Volume I” for which he received an NLG Award, penned numerous articles for several numismatic publications, contributed to dozens of numismatic publications and either wrote or contributed to many numismatic auction catalogs. (more…)