Mercanti numbers increasing
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Posts: 413 ✭✭✭✭
I'm a bit miffed at something I'm not quite sure I understand. I started a $50 Gold Buffalo set with Mercanti signatures several years ago. In the past few months the number of Mercanti signed pieces on several of my pieces have magically increased. So pieces I purchased with a population of 5 may have 6 or 7 now, and populations of 20 now have 24. What is going on here? When I purchased these Buffalos the populations were supposedly "set", sold as such, and now they're increasing. This doesn't seem very favorable when I'm being sold something based on a "population" when PCGS initially shows a number that increases for coins in slabs signed several years ago. Am I missing something here? Can Mercanti just go back and sign pieces that were previously slabbed and unsigned and just re-slab them with his signature? This is really making me rethink buying any more for my collection. Cheers.
Comments
Resubmissions? Graded 69 and hoping for a 70 so crack out.
New pieces? The labels are extra cost, so if you are submitting a previously raw piece, and you think the label is important... you pay the upcharge.
ANA 50 year/Life Member (now "Emeritus")
I believe he signed a bunch of "blank labels" that have been put to use as of lately.
Thank you, Heavenly Father, for first loving us.
I've never been able to figure out why people want Mercanti's signature.
I agree,
I hate all those signature labels, after market, just give me standard labels. Most of the customers I know prefer these as well.
Collectors collect.. all sorts of things. Signature labels are just another niche area. Unless a particular label/signature/etc. quantity is guaranteed/documented at the initial offering, it will have the potential to change. There have been many collecting interests over the years... and most fade with time (i.e. beanie babies, et al). Along with interest fading, values decrease as well. Collect what interests you, have fun, good luck. Cheers, RickO
I could see it with the astronauts or the baseball players, even Q. David Bowers. Most coin designers and Mint officials just aren't celebrities.
Buy the coin and not the label.
knovak1976- best I know, Mercanti now signs exclusively for NGC. But, before he did, I believe he signed a great many PCGS inserts kept on the shelves at PCGS to use in the future for whatever the owner(s) of those inserts desires them to be used for. Same for Moy I believe. Same as my Cleveland label (see below) except he still signs with PCGS.
I don’t think your “pop 5” coin was ever “guaranteed” to remain pop 5? If I am wrong on that, please show us the guarantee you received. In theory, next month it could be pop 15 - yes? FYI - “my team” has an exclusive Cleveland label with PCGS designed by us. We use it for many different modern products. The pops rise constantly on most products and only on select products where we have “guaranteed” a fixed max. pop will that pop not rise in the future through anything we will do with our exclusive label.
Hope this helps.
Wondercoin
2015 - NGC post about exclusive agreement with Mercanti;
2021 - Mercanti still exclusive to NGC; Gaudioso added to the fold.
good grief.
Overexposed IMO. Buy the coin not the chicken scratch.
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Me neither.
Interesting story about him, though.
Pete
I guess when you have the signature of the sculptor of the coin/medal he's designed it's the same as getting a signed Dali or Picasso print. Sure you can get the print for $150 but add the signature and it skyrockets (especially since they are both deceased as is the case of D and P). What is interesting though is, as someone here posted, it's like Beanie Babies. They HAD a great thing when only a few were signed by the creator, but then he got over zealous and started popping the signed and rare ones out like candy, and the interest and prices dropped like a rock. Now you can't give them away.....so my "collection" found its way to a local kids hospital so those amazing kids could enjoy them and give them some happiness. I'm just a bit worried that Mercanti has "oversold" his signature on the slabs as they seem to be everywhere now. I know his signature on the V-75 coins put them at a significant premium and I mean significant...but maybe it was just the hype. I do have a few of his earlier coins where he actually took the time to spell his last name out vs now where it's just a quick M with a tail on it. Thanks for the replies everyone!
I buy the coin, not a signature. If I want a signature, I meet the person in person. I did that with John Wayne and Bob Hope. Both times an absolute thrill. A beautiful coin is all I seek numismatic wise.
Serious question, NOT snark.
I did a quick search for info regarding the Gold Buffalo. Found a lot of Fraser, but could not find anything about direct Mercanti involvement.
Was Mercanti directly involved with the 'design/engrave/sculpt' of this specific coin?
To me these will matter more a couple of hundred years from now.
No, but apparently his signature insert on a lot of coins brings more "value" to the set due to his prestige in the coin/medal designing world. So my previous statement would be a "bit off" since he didn't actually design this particular coin.....sorry.
Thanks for the post, and the clarification.
"John M. Mercanti, was the 12th Chief Engraver of the US Mint, and the designer of the reverse of the American Silver Eagle 1986-2021. He designed well over 100 coins and medals—more than any other employee in the history of the US Mint."
You would think that with his talent used to design "well over 100 coins", some would certainly be, well, mediocre.
I must be missing something - pop reports increase over time as coins are submitted and resubmitted. Why would one think otherwise?
Maybe… what is the value of letters or historical documents signed by engravers or US Mint officials from a couple hundred years ago such as Gobrecht, Barber or Longacre?
Very different things. However, forgetting value, I can appreciate the desire to collect these "signed" slabs. Certainly no odder than collecting early slabs or many other numismatic or other items that are difficult to rationalize with a non-collector. (E.g. my entire family.)
Eliizabeth Jones was the last decent US Mint chief engraver. I'd take a Barber or Morgan signature if they were alive and our hosts existed though.
Your analogy is not even close. Most or at least a high proportion of US coin collectors have heard of Picasso and Dali because these artists are legitimately famous.
There is a good possibility (highly likely IMO) that most buyers of this NCLT have never heard of Mercanti. US Mint Directors, Chief Engravers, or whatever aren't hardly known at all by the collector base. They don't read this forum, the numismatic press, or even if buying directly from the Mint's website, notice who any of these people are.
I have some signatures in my collections. This is due to me buying a coin in the grade that I sought and a price that to me was fair.
I have not purchased any coin for its signature alone.
To those that do, good for you.
Collect and enjoy what you want.
Has anybody put together a complete set of American Silver Eagles with all the different and "famous" signatures available? LOL
Wayne
Kennedys are my quest...
That’s my point. These modern signatures have little to no historical value even within numismatics. If signatures
from historically important numismatic persons are worth little, why would these modern signatures ever have value?
I collect certain labels, but I keep this to a small percentage of my overall hobby spend and don’t expect to recoup any of the value based on the label. Collect away (and have fun!), but be wary of anyone claiming these labels are a good long term investment.