UK Sellers of pre-1965 US coins?

[Oxford_Collector 0]

Hi - I'm interested in collecting pre-1965 US silver (and gold, when I can afford it...) coinage (though also collect British silver), I've managed to pick up a few US pieces from Michael Coins in Nottinghill, but high quality examples seem to be hard to come by in the UK and importing from the USA risks VAT and import taxes being applied (and I'd prefer to be able to look at the coins in person before buying, if possible). Is there anywhere in the South East (especially near Oxford or London) that sells good-quality US coins? I'm particularly interested in Peace Dollars and Walking Liberty halves, but also Standing Liberty Quarters and Mercury Dimes.

BTW for British Silver, I'm mostly interested in florins from Victoria to George V.

[Peter 615]

I've never paid VAT or import duties on coins imported from the US.But I'm not a big chunker.

Obviously Ebay and I've seen a few US coins at fairs.

Their prices are usually too steep compared to UK coins on a like for like basis.

[Oxford_Collector 0]

I've never paid VAT or import duties on coins imported from the US.But I'm not a big chunker.

Obviously Ebay and I've seen a few US coins at fairs.

Their prices are usually too steep compared to UK coins on a like for like basis.

I know, but I'm a sucker for the designs on the early to mid 20th Century US coins and they were real silver right up to 1964...

[Generic Lad 25]

Since I don't live in the UK I can't really help you find sellers, but when it comes to buying from US sellers, the high quality coins (MS-64+) are usually slabbed and graded (NGC/PCGS are the two most reputable graders in the US) and (despite the fact I don't really like slabs) if you buy them you can usually get high resolution photos of the coin if you put the certification number in PCGS/NGC's websites. Their grading is fairly consistent and so it wouldn't be too bad if you were buying high-end coins to import them from the US except for high shipping/import fees. Aside from Standing Liberty quarters (which are high even in XF), most can be found for fairly cheap in mint state if you are looking for a type set (rather than a full date/mintmark run).

If you stick with the 2 big names and understand their grading policies and check the certification numbers online, you should have no problem with not knowing what you get. Beware of self-slabbers though.

[Rob 3,242]

Since I don't live in the UK I can't really help you find sellers, but when it comes to buying from US sellers, the high quality coins (MS-64+) are usually slabbed and graded (NGC/PCGS are the two most reputable graders in the US) and (despite the fact I don't really like slabs) if you buy them you can usually get high resolution photos of the coin if you put the certification number in PCGS/NGC's websites. Their grading is fairly consistent and so it wouldn't be too bad if you were buying high-end coins to import them from the US except for high shipping/import fees. Aside from Standing Liberty quarters (which are high even in XF), most can be found for fairly cheap in mint state if you are looking for a type set (rather than a full date/mintmark run).

If you stick with the 2 big names and understand their grading policies and check the certification numbers online, you should have no problem with not knowing what you get. Beware of self-slabbers though.

I think they ought to be ok for US coinage, but their knowledge of world coins has many gaps with the id frequently incorrectly attributed. It stands to reason that if they can't identify something properly, how the hell can they say what grade the effectively unknown coin is? Grading accurately is based on a knowledge of what something looks like in a state of perfect preservation and varying states of wear.

[Generic Lad 25]

Since I don't live in the UK I can't really help you find sellers, but when it comes to buying from US sellers, the high quality coins (MS-64+) are usually slabbed and graded (NGC/PCGS are the two most reputable graders in the US) and (despite the fact I don't really like slabs) if you buy them you can usually get high resolution photos of the coin if you put the certification number in PCGS/NGC's websites. Their grading is fairly consistent and so it wouldn't be too bad if you were buying high-end coins to import them from the US except for high shipping/import fees. Aside from Standing Liberty quarters (which are high even in XF), most can be found for fairly cheap in mint state if you are looking for a type set (rather than a full date/mintmark run).

If you stick with the 2 big names and understand their grading policies and check the certification numbers online, you should have no problem with not knowing what you get. Beware of self-slabbers though.

I think they ought to be ok for US coinage, but their knowledge of world coins has many gaps with the id frequently incorrectly attributed. It stands to reason that if they can't identify something properly, how the hell can they say what grade the effectively unknown coin is? Grading accurately is based on a knowledge of what something looks like in a state of perfect preservation and varying states of wear.

Yes, most third party graders are terrible when it comes to non-US coins. And I have a problem with the prevailing attitude towards slabbing and grading by TPGC (and then having to certify the TPGers) in the US which is one of the reasons why I switched my focus away from US coins. But it still remains that in US numismatics if you are to get high quality coins, they are going to be graded and most dealers sell their high-end coins in slabs (and if you ever want to sell your coins at auction, they usually need to be slabbed too) and the technical grade I've found to be pretty consistent when it comes to TPGers although subjective things like eye appeal certainly differs (there are many coins where I've found a high AU grade to be much more attractive to the eye than a coin designated as lower mint state).

I wouldn't trust NGC or PCGS with world coins unless I had a very high end example that was being sold to bidders in the US where it is customary to have everything slabbed before auction. I /certainly/ wouldn't trust them with ancient coins. I have one slabbed (NGC) ancient coin I bought for far too much a while back before I really researched ancient coins and realized how affordable they were. It was a double-denarius of Gordian III that they graded it as XF with I believe 3/5 for surface 4/5 for strike with a disclaimer about corrosion and old collection inking on the reverse. I'm ashamed to admit I ended up paying $100 for it thinking WOW! What a high end ancient coin! When in reality I can pick up coins that are much better (same denomination and time frame) for under $40 from a dealer online. If that coin was a modern coin, there is no way the coin would have even received a certification, aside from a "genuine" guarantee and certainly not a grade. But alas, I didn't know much better back then (should have though!), now I know to disregard any ancient coin that is slabbed

But when the topic is high end US coins, for better or for worse slabs and third party grading is king.