Results from my most recent submission.
keets
Posts: 25,351 ✭✭✭✭✭
I recently submitted three raw medals for encapsulation to PCGS and thought I would post the results with the TrueView images and some commentary. Part of the reason stems from comments which are continually posted by members about "hoping" for a certain grade, sending in repeatedly till they receive a grade they agree with, not recognizing problems until after submitting, etc.
To be clear, I suffer these same faults to a degree, but I have learned certain things over the years. The primary thing I have had to learn is to always be critical of my own judgement. That usually means I never, never submit a coin/medal shortly after I buy it. I always wait an extended time to examine it and recognize problems I may have initially missed. That has saved me a lot of money over the years and for my own part I can't remember the last time I received a no-grade. Another thing I try to do is learn from what PCGS sends me back. When I think MS65 and get back MS63 I can usually study the coin and see where I was right. That gets to maybe my important learned thing about having PCGS grade for me: if I submit and "hope" for a grade I think I have fooled myself. I used to do that and learned the pain!!! 
So here is the submission results, followed by the images:
Line Items Cert # PCGS # Description Grade Region
1 1 42466877 642534 1892 Medal HK-220a Bronze World's Columbian Exposition, BN AU55BN USA
2 1 42466878 643548 1912 SC$1 HK-813 Silver Elder "Gold Basis" Dollar MS64 USA
3 1 42466879 785973 1901 Medal Baxter-106 Hermon Mac Neil Ag Pan-American Expo 64mm SP62 USA
This is a medal I bought maybe 5-6 years when I worked in a Coin Shop. I bought it across the counter and then brokered a deal with my boss. At the time it was the only example I had seen and although it had some problems I figured it was worth owning just for the scarcity. To date there are only about 3-4 grade by both PCGS/NGC. What really prompted me to have it graded was a Heritage sale last September of NGC AU50. It has some luster remaining and I thought it would grade AU55, held back by the chatter in the field.
I bought this medal in August of last year from a Stack's auction. Hibler-Kappen list it as an R-8 with 10-12 struck. I was able to trace a Provenance back to about 1986 and one prior sale around 2000-01 that had pictures. The medal looks remarkably unchanged during all that time with not tone, so whoever owned it stored it well. The fields are quite reflective and I expected it would grade MS63PL. Although it looks sort of rough, the uniface reverse only shows unstruck planchet flaws that are highlighted by the reflectivity. It's part of what's turned into an "Elder So-Called Dollar Type Set" for me
This is one of those Pan Am medals that I thought I'd never get to own, just a stellar design. I have wanted and still want a bronze example but this one in silver will have to do for now. It was listed at auction by the seller as Mint State but I found a previous auction listing for the medal which called it AU. The tricky thing for me was the light areas that can be interpreted as rub. When I first received it I was worried because in-hand those light areas are more obvious than in the images I had to judge from. Having it in-hand, though, allowed me to perceive it as being just areas that were untoned and showed luster. There is also some slight unstruck ticks on Miss Liberty's right leg, common to all but the best struck examples. I think the light areas from resting during storage is common with these medals, they're large and don't ever seem to come with an accompanying box of issue. I thought PCGS would grade it either AU58 or MS61 and was sort of surprised with the higher grade. 
Enjoy and please comment or post images of your examples.
Al H.
Comments
All nice but the Pan-Am Buffalo is exquisite. Thanks for sharing.
Sometimes, it’s better to be LUCKY than good. 🍀 🍺👍
My Full Walker Registry Set (1916-1947):
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/
Those are great, Keets! Congrats on getting grades at least commensurate with your expectations.
The MacNeil medal is also one of my all time favorites
Great stuff, Keets!
Beautiful medals Al, and good advice for submitting coins/medals to TPG's. Cheers, RickO
All 3 are very interesting, but that MacNeil example is really beautiful. Appreciate your thoughts on submissions as well.
The medals are fantastic, but your comments about how you critically evaluate coins to submit are no less salient.
Three nice medals.
My grading OPINION based on the photos shown:
1892 Columbian ... AU50. The wear seems a bit much to merit a 55. It has a very late 19th century artistic look. A medal that, when worn, is not particularly appealing to my eye.
1912 Elder ... MS61. There seems to be a lot going on on the plain reverse. Eye appeal is so-so. No artistic merit.
1901 Pan American ... MS62. There seems to be some light rub on the highest points but the medal otherwise has great eye appeal. While I would personally call it AU58 the current market seems to call such pieces MS62. This is my favorite of the three. High artistic merit.
another thing I wanted to mention is the submission costs and service level.
a few years back PCGS changed their pricing structure, raising the cost of Exonumia to $65/medal. when I was filling out the online form I noticed the cost of an Express submission to be $65, so I used that service level. the result was the same cost but the order completed after 15 days instead of 25-30 days.
I am a big fan of those MacNeil Pan Am medals. Here's my bronze example, graded MS62 by PCGS-
Great advice for all submitters...thanks for taking the time to post with your excellent results!
1912 Elder ... MS61. There seems to be a lot going on on the plain reverse. Eye appeal is so-so. No artistic merit.
as stated in the OP which you may have overlooked, the uniface reverse shows some unstruck planchet flaws. as to "artistic merit" that isn't what this particular issue is striving to put forward. it is at the end of the Gold/Silver debate and William Jennings Bryan's Political career and Presidential Campaigns. to that end, it is a little more than the Lesher Dollars, Pedley-Ryan issues, Bryan Dollars, etc.
none of those were intended to be atristic, they are purely Political.
When it comes to medals to me artistic merit is of great importance. When there is no artistic merit my interest in them declines sharply. I am well aware of Elder's tendency toward political statements on medals. I just wish he could have put at least a little bit of artistic effort into that one.
congratulations .... thx for posting results !!
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