Best Of

I have a half dozen moderns in their possession now, due back around the middle of next month. But honestly? If you buy coins to keep in your collection (perhaps to get passed on to loved ones when you shuffle off this mortal coil), and you don't buy them for investment, and you just want them certified genuine with an idea of their worth, and you're not overly flush with cash... then why not ANACS?

Christmas 1964 - As a young teenager, the wonderment of Christmas had started to fade from my childhood days but this year would prove to be different. After I went downstairs that morning and began to peruse the cornucopia under the tree, an envelope caught my eye. It was addressed to me with a return address of "Coin World, Sidney, OH" with an added comment "A Gift For You". You see, a couple of months earlier, my mother had brought home a copy of Coin World for me that she had found at a newsstand in Albany, NY which I had read and re-read until it practically fell apart. So, I thought, "Could it be?"

Well, the tradition in our house was that you couldn't touch any presents until after my parents got up and we had breakfast. Needless to say, every year, my younger brother and sister and I would inhale breakfast and sit fidgeting in our chairs waiting for our parents to finish (you know they ate slow on purpose). Then, it was a mad dash to the living room. I opened the envelope to find that my mother had gotten me a 1-year subscription to Coin World. After that, the rest of the morning was anticlimactic and I certainly don't remember anything else I received that year. Because it was the Holiday season, mail delivery was slow and so I had to wait on pins and needles for almost a week before the first issue arrived (actually, two issues showed up at the same time).
To quote Ralphie from A Christmas Story, it was the best Christmas present I had ever received or ever would receive. (Well, OK, after I had grown up and gotten married, our son was born on Christmas Day in 1975 so I guess that's a close second).

Sixty years later, while I do read Coin World on-line, there is still a bit of excitement when I find a new issue has arrived in mailbox (especially the Monthly Edition) and I can look forward to some enjoyable time in the easy chair flipping from page to page. My mother has long since passed away so I have to pay for my own subscription now (a lot more than the $5 she paid). However, every once in a while, when reading the latest issue, I find myself looking up and saying "Thanks, Mom".

Merry Christmas Everyone!

I am hunting for coins in this ANACS holder.

Wow! Fabulous coins and the backstory is also amazing; thanks for sharing these with us.

@Goldminers said:
I find it interesting that the seller has 100% positive feedback. In the last year 3,204 positive, 7 neutral, and zero negative feedback. The buyers indicate they are very happy with the coins.

I guess many of the collectors buying these coins raw, do not get them graded.

I tried leaving negative feedback but eBay removed it. They protect him. He makes money for them.

@ctf_error_coins said:
Yellow is about the worst possible color for a slab with a coin it. Worst decision ANACS every made.

Frankly I like them. The yellow Anacs slabs good sellers for me, especially with women.

@burfle23 said:
I really like ANACS for their early copper grading and attributions; actually started the "details grading" concept and were always spot on in my experiences.

Unfortunately can't comment on Franklins...

I think you may be incorrect on this. While you are a very accomplished and advanced "student" of coin authentication, I consider myself a "student" of coin grading. I cannot get enough of the history and evolution of grading. Interest in the subject started for me when I picked up a copy of Grading Coins: A collection of Readings in summer decades ago at an ANA Library Book Sale.

All modern "Detail Grading" is a rehash of the old Technical Grading System - grade the coin; describe any problem. The first TPGS to "Detail Grade" problem coins rather than net grade them was PCI sometime around 1990. They put problem coins in a slab with red labels. ANACS followed. This eventually forced NGC and PCGS to stop using body bags and provide a real service to their customers.

As for the subject of this thread, ANACS gets a bad rap. Marketing and coin dealers have poisoned the mind of collectors and the market. IMO, there is absolutely no reason to put the top two services ahead of ANACS because there is so much crap in slabs from every TPGS these days that a CAC was needed and that company better not eventually go down the drain as the others who were especially good at the beginning.

That said, there is only one reason to stick with the top services over ANACS and that is because the hype causes a demand making their coins sell for more money! And now, it better have a green bean to boot.