brg5658

Man, this thing is making the rounds. Back up for sale AGAIN -- this time on eBay from Atlas Numismatics (and also on their website). I always wonder, if these are such great coins, why do they change hands every 3-4 months...

Great quality Canadian provincial. These are actually pretty hard to find in good condition like yours. There was such a shortage of copper in the 1840-1850s that most of these are worn down nearly bare. Very nice example!

I think I have a 1964 mint set at home, I can shoot those for you if you needed. Above is an example of my photography.

Two more I picked up for a song.

A new token for my collection. Cheers, -Brandon

I have one coin from Centsles and it was worth the wait (it took him nearly a month to ship it to me!). BUT, in general, I wouldn't recommend buying anything from him that's in his homemade slab -- the coin I bought was in an NGC slab, so I felt safer -- and it was a VERY difficult token.

Not British, but I have always liked this Italian design:

One would like to feel, Dudley being not far from the Soho Works, that M. Boulton had at least a hand in this one. Could 'JAMES' on the reverse refer to Mr Watt, I wonder? Nope, it has nothing to do with either Boulton or Watt. The token was designed and manufactured by Charles James in London.

And two more from the same source (just finished photographing them). The Anglesey - Druid Parys Mine Company pieces were the very first tokens to surface in 1787 (as pennies), and the quality and usefulness of them was quickly recognized. The Wikipedia Article has more information on these (and pictures another Druid token that is in my collection -- I try to contribute images to WIkipedia when I can). Below is one of my all time favorite numismatic items. It is listed as "Scarce" in Dalton and Hamer with an estimated production of likely between 200-300 pieces (possibly as many as 400). This example below is my 4th example in uncirculated condition. I have a bit of a hoard going...

A new 1790 Conder (provincial) halfpenny token. Interesting clash on the obverse around the date, and the detail of the engraving is just stunning. I also love the toning on the reverse of the token, lovely hints of original red and some mellowing. I'm also attaching a close up image of some of the obverse detail of the reclining shepherd.

With age one eventually grows out of the need/want of having a restaurant/club/pub/entertainment on every street corner. I enjoyed that during my university days, but now that I'm creeping up on age 35 I much prefer peace and quiet. But as you said, to each his/her own. Variety is the spice of life -- if we were all robots with the same preferences life would be dull indeed.

Holy buckets, I'm glad I live in the USA. I don't live in a big city (110,000 inhabitants), and my house is fairly small as homes go in the USA (170 square meters, 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom, garden, and garage). It would sell for around £80K. I have more space than I know what to do with...for what would get me a garage (or a nice cardboard box) on your side of the Atlantic (save where Rob lives it seems ).

OK -- I'll spill the beans on the "rest of the story". I recognized this coin immediately from the CRO mailing, as it was a coin I was watching back in January in a Heritage Auction. It turns out that this coin sold at Heritage in an NGC MS65 holder not even 3 months ago for $5581 including the "juice". In the meantime, it was crossed over to a PCGS holder, some "pretty" pictures were taken, and a 40%+ markup later, here it is offered in it's new PCGS plastic garb for $8000. Sadly, this is how most of the USA coin market works -- but apparently it's creeping into the non-USA market here also. I hope whoever purchases this coin enjoys the $2500 plastic bump in price.

I find the coin to be very attractive -- I might be a buyer for £3500 on a "wild day" -- but £4800 is a bit on the "crazy" side. Oh well...to each his/her own. I don't doubt for one second that someone will buy it at this level either -- CRO has a religious following of people with more money than gray matter.

Hi there, yep, your attribution is correct (Fuld-11/298a; the "a" just means copper). The diameter of these is close to the small cent of the time (~ 19mm), but the weights are quite variable. Some are struck on very thin flans, and others on quite thick flans. This particular die pairing is listed in Fuld as "R1" rarity -- Common, more than 5,000 survive. The strike is deep and strong on your piece, and the surfaces look quite nice. ======================== Below is my F-12/297a -- very similar design to your token!

This tactic has become very popular here in the USA also as of late. We call it "nuking" the auction -- bidding so laughably high that no poor chap who would have put in a real bid would get stuck with such a coin.

I have had coins rotate in the holder from shipping alone. NGC images every coin it holders before it is shipped (a simple scan). So, it was easy to tell that it rotated after they put it in the mail, and it was fine before that. But, my earlier statement still holds -- I'm not sure what it really matters if the coin rotates a little in the holder. It's still the same coin, and it's protected in the plastic (which is the point of the slab). I will agree with you that a much bigger issue is when foreign materials are encased in the slab with the coin. Even scratched holders, while annoying, are just doing their job -- protecting the coin...and it's usually not the TPGs that scratch holders, it's the irresponsible dealers and collectors.

For the "Conder era" tokens from 1787-1804 (or so), the Dalton and Hamer reference is the standard work. It is available in its entirety online at this link. For the tokens from the 1811-1820 era, the standard reference work is the Paul and Bente Withers book (which is a little spendy, but very well put together). You might be able to find a copy at a larger library in the UK. Otherwise, the link above goes to the website to order directly from Paul and Bente (I ordered my copy from their site, and they were nice enough to entertain my request to have it autographed in the front cover). Some other references for tokens of the time are the works by R. C. Bell. For example, here, and here, and here.

Hi there. The Dorsetshire DH-6 is a common token, but even common tokens in very nice condition have decent value. That token looks to have nice original surfaces, some remaining red, and only one slight (not distracting at all) spot on the obverse toward the right rim. The strike is very good, and the details are splendid. In the condition posted, I would put it's reasonable value at £30 or so. At £20 I would call it a very good deal, but over £40 I would call a strong price for such a common token. Hope this helps!

I hope they are genuine. I have seen about as many fake CC Morgans as I have seen genuine ones.

Coins rotating in holders without prongs is fairly common. It can happen slowly over time, or in jostling of shipments. What I find more humorous than the positioning of the coin in the holder (which doesn't really affect the coin at all IMO) is that they assigned a grade of "Verdigris UNC". As if "verdigris" is some sort of benign adjectival modifier for uncirculated.

Absolutely! Are Barber coins much rarer? Because I find that an acceptable design, but relative to the Morgans see very few examples. Tom, Morgan Dollars are probably the most popular coins in America...while Barbers (all types) are not so well liked, because of their design. I have always thought that Morgan Dollars are popular because they are so plentiful. I mean, they were saved by the bag, and most dates (save a few in the mid-1890s) are available to the masses in gem unc. I do actually quite like the reverse eagle on the coin, but the mug on the obverse is simply unattractive to my eye. My type-set example (pictured below) was chosen for the high state of preservation and the fact that it is from 100 years before my birth-year. It simply glows in hand, lustrous frosty beauty, but still by no means even in my top-10 favorite US coin designs. The Barber coinage is liked by fewer people, but it's also much more difficult to find (and afford) high end Barber pieces. The bulk of the Barber coinage was used very heavily in commerce, and so even finding a nice Barber Half in XF (VF British) is hard for some dates. I had the pleasure of photographing in January an absolutely lovely 1906-S Barber Half for a friend that was graded PCGS MS64+, a coin barely over 100 years old. This coin recently sold for over $3,000!! High-end attractive Barber material is simply difficult to find, and thus less appealing to the average collector (and his/her budget). Below is that Barber Half -- not my coin, but my images.

I'm quite sure this is the case, but I have no idea how one gets on that "preferred" list. I'm a collector, not a dealer -- what happens off the books between dealers and "good-ole-boys" is anyone's guess. I get the feeling there is a lot of nepotism and corruption in general among coin dealers this side of the pond.

I don't care for any of those coins. Firstly, because I find the Morgan Dollar design to be extremely unattractive. Secondly, because the colors are garish (and the images are over saturated IMO). Thirdly, because the prices are simply laughable. On an aside, I almost never agree with anything that particular OP posts on the PCGS boards. The guy collects PCGS TrueView pictures more than he collects coins. If you want a taste of his collection, you can see it at this link. Be forewarned, you may want to find a bag before clicking.

Did I read somewhere that Heritage won't take consignment under $5000.Correct. An elitetest auction house, yet they don't bother who buys, only with what they sell because they require much Commission Just for clarification, the minimum consignment total for all coins from a single seller is $5000. Not $5000 per coin (obviously). There are exceptions made if you originally purchased the coin from HA and are re-consigning it back through them. It is a bit of an "elitist" requirement, but it also makes sense that HA has to restrict submissions in some way -- the amount of paperwork and bookkeeping required if they allowed any Tom, Dick, or Harry to consign a $50 coin would be a nightmare.