Need advice on Canadian coins

Yorkshireman

I have long been intrigued by early Canadian and provincial large pennies.
Who are the dealers to whom I should be talking for guidance?

PillarDollarCollector

The best in Canada are Mark and Eric from the Canadian Numismatic Company they deal with the lower end to the very best coins. Couple of dollars to hundreds of thousands. No dealer in Canada comes even close maybe Sandy Campbell but he may be retired. They are located in Quebec city and they are trustworthy.

https://www.canadiancoinsandpapermoney.com/

PillarDollarCollector

You have to remember here in Canada the #1 grading company is ICCS then PCGS.

Here is their upcoming major auction in January 2021

https://mcusercontent.com/eb70cbda7a800c12c8ff4a5e2/files/fe49a9d5-bec4-4e8e-9741-a545d48bb084/TCNC_2021_New_Year_Sale_LR_1_.pdf

PillarDollarCollector

The rarest large cent in Canada is the 1859 Brass variety. I know 10 years ago one collector was trying to corner the market but I believe he gave up and sold the few he had. The 1936 dot is the most expensive but it is a small cent with only 3 known at cost about $500 000 Canadian if you can find one I have never seen one in person or in the currency museum in Canada either they may have one now not sure have not been there in 10 years. As far as large cents or any cents buy the best you can that are RED yes some are very rare in that state but they are the best.

syl

There are quite a few token and large cent collectors on here, some with Registry Sets in the top handful. Most have other very high grades just below their Registry examples. Sandy is still around, but doesn't visit this board much. I suggest you do an archive search on the CCF site for large cent Registry examples, if that's the row you want to hoe. There are private collectors on here that have thousands of early large cents & tokens. It just depends what you need ... examples or just high grades.

PillarDollarCollector

My advice forget the provinces stick to the regular series from 1858. The small cents are also very nice up till 1936.

PillarDollarCollector

@syl said:
There are quite a few token and large cent collectors on here, some with Registry Sets in the top handful. Most have very high grades just below their Registry examples. Sandy is still around, but doesn't visit this board much. I suggest you do an archive search on the CCF site for large cent Registry examples, if that's the row you want to hoe. There are private collectors on here that have thousands of early large cents & tokens. It just depends what you need ... examples or just high grades.

I know Sandy purchased the 1911 dollar with a partner for almost $700 000 Canadian (cheap in my opinion should be a 1-2 million dollar coin easy). He was I think suppose to put it on loan at the currency museum in Ottawa he does not want to see it ever leave Canada. They (museum) already have one I believe or maybe they now have all 3 known not sure.

TwoKopeiki

I've always been attracted to the idea of collecting blacksmith tokens. Alas, I still have not finished all of the Mexico 8 Reales and varieties

PillarDollarCollector

@TwoKopeiki said:
I've always been attracted to the idea of collecting blacksmith tokens. Alas, I still have not finished all of the Mexico 8 Reales and varieties

I sent him the link by PM for the Tokens. They are fun and most are not to expensive the top ones being in the 15k range.

1960NYGiants

The first dealer that comes to mind regarding Canadian large cents is Hugh Powell of Newcan Coins. Sandy Campbell represented the Cornerstone Collection which contained some of the finest Specimen Large I've ever seen.

Board member Bosox is the authority on Victorian large cents. He has written several books on the subject.

https://www.vickycents.com/ by Dr. James Haxby is the site for 1859 die pairs.

Check out the Registry sets here:
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/canadian-federation/canadian-cents/canadian-large-cents-varieties-circulation-strikes-1858-1920/376

and here:
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/canadian-federation/canadian-cents/canadian-large-cents-specimens-1858-1912/378

syl

I echo Gene's comments and suggestions ... couldn't have said it better.

Yorkshireman

@1960NYGiants said:
The first dealer that comes to mind regarding Canadian large cents is Hugh Powell of Newcan Coins. Sandy Campbell represented the Cornerstone Collection which contained some of the finest Specimen Large I've ever seen.

Board member Bosox is the authority on Victorian large cents. He has written several books on the subject.

https://www.vickycents.com/ by Dr. James Haxby is the site for 1859 die pairs.

Check out the Registry sets here:
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/canadian-federation/canadian-cents/canadian-large-cents-varieties-circulation-strikes-1858-1920/376

and here:
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/canadian-federation/canadian-cents/canadian-large-cents-specimens-1858-1912/378

@syl said:
I echo Gene's comments and suggestions ... couldn't have said it better.

Thanks, guys!!

syl

And FYI, 3 of the top 10 Registry sets for PCGS Large Cents are active on this board. Bosox is #1, Papeldog is #9, and Gene(above who answered your post) is #4. Lots of knowledge right here in/on this forum.

YQQ

"I have long been intrigued by early Canadian and provincial large pennies."

Who are the dealers to whom I should be talking for guidance?
Listen to what Gene and SYL have written. they are experts and they know what they are saying.
Guidance?? you are an experienced collector and surely aware that every dealer or auctioneer just basically want to sell, sell, sell.
Join CCF and you have all the real experts for all Canadian coinage right at your finger tips. Membership is free! (Syl has thousands of large cents and it looks like sometimes he has more and more and again more of most regular cents, errors and varieties .. perhaps a large basement full. he is a living encyclopedia for CAN large cents)
I can offer to help you, as some of mine, from low to high grade, raw and some graded, will be sold in the next while.

YQQ

forgot this:
if you are looking for ONLY top stuff, then the registry set is a good start. IMO, RS's are only a show case and to make $ for our host.
As far as information about coins is concerned??? yes, but only if and when the coin is in the set.

Yorkshireman

Thanks for the advice so far.
Thru a PM, Someone suggested skipping the provincial coins and starting in 1858. I was told the provincial coins are not very popular. Do you agree with either point?
It was also suggested to stick with Red examples. Agree?
Actually, when it comes to US copper, I tend to prefer RB examples(or even colorful Browns).
I also prefer toned silver, but not necessarily the bright colors you sometimes see on Morgan dollars.
Yes, I know we are supposed to collect what we like, but is it a mistake to aim for RB coins? Why or why not?
What about specimens? Please comment on the pros and cons of those (other than cost). Are they like proofs?

I have lots more questions, but that is a start.
Thanks!

PillarDollarCollector

People pay top dollar for red and when selling you will find buyers. And buy nice eye appeal red OK some are just to rare in that state but you will have to learn that over time and by talking to main coin dealers in Canada or here. This is not the US market this is Canada. Do not buy specimen or proofs either unless you have gained deep knowledge about them. I know a lot about Canadian coins over 25 years reading about them but am a rookie with those.

You will never find a 1859 Brass variation cent in red they may not even exist in that state.

syl

Yorkshire .... try to get a copy of the March 2012 CN Journal for a long article that I helped with on the 1859 brass cent. It was/is our opinion that the "brass" cent was merely an alloy mixing error where a portion of one or more of the small ingots had small areas of higher zinc content that were then rolled down into the sheets to be punched into planchets. They were not made on purpose and who knows how many planchets had a high enough zinc content to be called brass. I suggest that you join the RCNA while you get your feet on the ground for Canadian coinage (you can use their extensive library) and do some heavy archive searches there. I would suggest that you try to establish contact with "bosox" on this site who has been mentioned in this thread for his books and #1 Registry sets. His books on the early Canadian large cent coinages are beyond reproach and his recent book on proofs and specimens can be purchased thru the RCNA as well.

Yorkshireman

@syl said:
Yorkshire .... try to get a copy of the March 2012 CN Journal for a long article that I helped with on the 1859 brass cent. It was/is our opinion that the "brass" cent was merely an alloy mixing error where a portion of one or more of the small ingots had small areas of higher zinc content that were then rolled down into the sheets to be punched into planchets. They were not made on purpose and who knows how many planchets had a high enough zinc content to be called brass. I suggest that you join the RCNA while you get your feet on the ground for Canadian coinage (you can use their extensive library) and do some heavy archive searches there. I would suggest that you try to establish contact with "bosox" on this site who has been mentioned in this thread for his books and #1 Registry sets. His books on the early Canadian large cent coinages are beyond reproach and his recent book on proofs and specimens can be purchased thru the RCNA as well.

Thank you, Syl. I will join and start some reading.