I have a friend who inherited coins dating back to his great-great grandfather

jackpine20

Let me preface by saying that I appreciate all that PCGS has to offer, even in this current, competitive marketplace. This is a PCGS forum, after all. I think the PCGS Generation 1 and Generation 4 holders were the most aesthetically pleasing. I have examples and I absolutely love them. I take them out of my antique safe, almost daily, just to study. A beautifully appealing specimen, positioned properly in a scratch-free, well-designed holder! Oh, man! This is what I love about coins and grading services. I have a raw, Flowing Hair Dollar that is protected in an AirTite holder for about 350 days out of the year. On special days, I carefully take it out to hold raw history in my bare hands! I admire the current PCGS holder design, too. I just love some of the old-school holders a little more. Do you have a favorite holder? I have put together a relatively small collection, but I absolutely love the specimens that I have assembled. If others love what they collect, who am I to criticize? Just trust your own opinion. Opinions are much of what brings us together on the forum, after all. We can be "right" and still not hold the same opinion.

Feeling good about the beauty that I'm holding in my hands and observing with my eyes! This is why I have been drawn to numismatics since I was very young. So, I have a friend who inherited a briefcase full of coins, passed down from his great-great-grandfather who practiced medicine back in the mid to late 1800s. My friend has owned them for decades since he was in primary school. Included in his assemblage, is a raw 1795 Draped Bust Dollar in perhaps choice XF condition, with honest, faint toning. I gave him AirTite holders for his very best examples, but I'm concerned that all of the silver is in paper flips with the doctor's nineteenth-century street address printed on the front! I tried to explain that paper and silver sometimes don't go well together, with limited effect. But there's more. You see, he goes years without even looking at them! He says, just knowing that he has them in the closet is enough. I don't understand. Much like I don't understand why coins and alcohol go together. You see, I was in my mid-twenties before I had more than a sip. I had no clue why people choose to drink, in the first place. Many people put those pieces together at puberty. Not in my case. I think I have a better understanding, now. But it is still a bit of a puzzle to me. We all come to the table with different appetites. I must accept that. Maybe I should offer a beer the next time my friend agrees to unveil his collection.

TomB

It appears to me this thread would have been better started on a Friday night...

jackpine20

@TomB said:
It appears to me this thread would have been better started on a Friday night...

Ha! Perhaps. Maybe when they come back after their Saturday night beer run, they will check the Forum.

skier07

Someone is obviously very bored with way too much free time.

Perhaps I might be guilty since I’m replying.

2windy2fish

Can you please post photos of your friend’s collection?

alaura22

Like other's have said here
Pictures or it's not real

jackpine20

@2windy2fish said:
Can you please post photos of your friend’s collection?

It's been years since we have spoken. So, he is sort of an old friend. This picture is all I have of his collection. This was his only dollar coin. We figured that someone else inherited the rest. Imagine maybe 100 Capped Bust Halves in manilla paper envelopes, sorted by year some multiples, with many dates represented. Faintly toned. Mid-grade Mint State was perhaps the highest grade, but most were maybe XF to AU. I don't remember many low-grade silver examples. Also included, were hundreds of Coronet Large Cents in AG to VG, but very, very dark, perhaps influenced by the paper envelopes. Maybe some other silver but it was mostly Capped Bust Halves. I looked for Draped Bust Halves, without success. Hundreds of circulated Indian Cents, mid to low-grade, missing the key dates with some saved in a Dansco Album, perhaps collected and filled by descendants. Definitely, this 1795 $1 was the centerpiece!

jackpine20

This example is mine. I have since cracked it out because Liberty's profile had been grossly misaligned in the holder.

jackpine20

@alaura22 said:
Like other's have said here
Pictures or it's not real

It's not the experience that takes talent. It's the telling of the story.

"Always be a poet, even in prose."
~Charles Baudelaire died, 1867

alaura22

@jackpine20 said:

@alaura22 said:
Like other's have said here
Pictures or it's not real

It's not the experience that takes talent. It's the telling of the story.

"Always be a poet, even in prose."
~Charles Baudelaire died, 1867

And without pictures it's "just a story"

daltex

@jackpine20 said:
This example is mine. I have since cracked it out because Liberty's profile had been grossly misaligned in the holder.

Can't you just (gently) tap the holder to rotate your coin to the desired alignment?

jackpine20

It's not the experience that takes talent. It's the telling of the story.

"Always be a poet, even in prose."
~Charles Baudelaire died, 1867

And without pictures it's "just a story"

What makes you think it was fabricated? Maybe I could have just misspelled a handful of sentences, without proofreading. I could have said I had a friend who inherited some coins and fails to appreciate them for what they are worth. Would you still resist liking it?

jackpine20

@daltex said:

Can't you just (gently) tap the holder to rotate your coin to the desired alignment?

Maybe some Rattler holders allow for a gentle manipulation, but not the modern generations of holders. I know I could tilt the holder or tilt my head, but that's not my thing.

Now, I can appreciate the raw coin, and I still have the TrueView! The best of both worlds.

jayPem

I like the story.
And now there are pictures, so thanks for the tale. Already better than the majority of posts, imo but that's because I'm strictly here for the classics...
I won't bother trying to authenticate some 4th party's raw bust dollar, but if genuine the 1795 bust looks like a real beauty. I'd say the paper envelopes haven't set it back any. Wish we could see the bust halves..

alaura22

@jackpine20 said:

It's not the experience that takes talent. It's the telling of the story.

"Always be a poet, even in prose."
~Charles Baudelaire died, 1867

And without pictures it's "just a story"

What makes you think it was fabricated? Maybe I could have just misspelled a handful of sentences, without proofreading. I could have said I had a friend who inherited some coins and fails to appreciate them for what they are worth. Would you still resist liking it?

I never said it was fabricated, would just like to see some pics
Edited to add
I have rotated many coins in new holders without any problems

braddick

It was suggested a vibrator could be turned on and gently placed against the side of the slab and the coin within will rotate.
Pull away the vibrator once the coin is in the proper and desired position.

The tenor of this thread is such the above slab hack is not only feasible but warranted.

jmlanzaf

@jackpine20 said:
This example is mine. I have since cracked it out because Liberty's profile had been grossly misaligned in the holder.

Let's see a picture of it raw.

ricko

I would love the chance to go through an old collection such as described by @jackpine20. What a great time that would be... each old envelope containing a treasure. Cheers, RickO

DCW

Hopefully anything that gets slabbed in that old collection retains the little paper envelopes. Man, to me that is where the real treasure lies! That is the connection to his relative he never met. I keep all the 2x2s with my slabs of collectors that came before me. Often, they have little notes about provenance and purchase dates written on them. It's all part of the history.

ricko

@DCW... I agree, I have retained any associated envelopes or notes that came with coins I acquired through the years. Cheers, RickO

Jzyskowski1

@jackpine20 said:

@daltex said:

Can't you just (gently) tap the holder to rotate your coin to the desired alignment?

Maybe some Rattler holders allow for a gentle manipulation, but not the modern generations of holders. I know I could tilt the holder or tilt my head, but that's not my thing.

Now, I can appreciate the raw coin, and I still have the TrueView! The best of both worlds.

Howdy. Fun story, thanks.
I’ve rotated coins in pcgs, ngc and anacs, most varieties of holders. Never met one I couldn’t rotate either direction. Just patience and tap, tap tap. Thanks 🙏

MFeld

@jayPem said:
I like the story.
And now there are pictures, so thanks for the tale. Already better than the majority of posts, imo but that's because I'm strictly here for the classics...
I won't bother trying to authenticate some 4th party's raw bust dollar, but if genuine the 1795 bust looks like a real beauty. I'd say the paper envelopes haven't set it back any. Wish we could see the bust halves..

Nothing about the appearance of that dollar causes me to have any doubts regarding its authenticity. And I agree about the storage in an envelope. On a percentage basis, very few Bust Dollars of any grade look anywhere close to as original as that one.

jackpine20

@jmlanzaf said:

@jackpine20 said:
This example is mine. I have since cracked it out because Liberty's profile had been grossly misaligned in the holder.

Let's see a picture of it raw.

jackpine20

@braddick said:
It was suggested a vibrator could be turned on and gently placed against the side of the slab and the coin within will rotate.
Pull away the vibrator once the coin is in the proper and desired position.

The tenor of this thread is such the above slab hack is not only feasible but warranted.

Now I know. I learn something new every day. I will remember for next time. Thanks.

jackpine20

@jmlanzaf said:

Let's see a picture of it raw.

This is a much better image of my 1795 raw coin, in hand.

Walkerlover

@Jzyskowski1 said:

@jackpine20 said:

@daltex said:

Can't you just (gently) tap the holder to rotate your coin to the desired alignment?

Maybe some Rattler holders allow for a gentle manipulation, but not the modern generations of holders. I know I could tilt the holder or tilt my head, but that's not my thing.

Now, I can appreciate the raw coin, and I still have the TrueView! The best of both worlds.

Howdy. Fun story, thanks.
I’ve rotated coins in pcgs, ngc and anacs, most varieties of holders. Never met one I couldn’t rotate either direction. Just patience and tap, tap tap. Thanks 🙏

I haven’t had success with the Old Blue Holder. What’s your real trick? I have tapped and the coin doesn’t move.

jmlanzaf

@jackpine20 said:

@jmlanzaf said:

@jackpine20 said:
This example is mine. I have since cracked it out because Liberty's profile had been grossly misaligned in the holder.

Let's see a picture of it raw.

>

Solid

hchcoin

Let me just say that the first 1795 is gorgeous. Cool story. I would call up your old friend and have a nice chat and then ask about the collection and that coin.

gumby1234

@Walkerlover try using an electric toothbrush on the edge of the slab

jacrispies

I would do anything to look through those bust halves in the collection! I only dream to go through an original victorian era collection... There has to be some high grade rarities in there with possibly some undiscovered die states!

That 1795 is phenomenal!

Davidk7

The surfaces on that 1795 are insane! Definitely worth a shot contacting your old friend I would say.

Tramp

@jackpine20 said:

@jmlanzaf said:

Let's see a picture of it raw.

This is a much better image of my 1795 raw coin, in hand.

Still, must be awesome to hold the coin raw. The history of where it's been. Thanks for sharing the pics!

BryceM

If coins rotate in a holder once, they can do it again. I’ve had the most luck with the electric toothbrush trick.

Klif50

Did you tell your friend you were going to post about him and his coins and post a picture of one of his? If you did that to me without telling me before hand I would probably not be your friend any longer. Posting with permission is one thing, posting without letting the owner know is something else.

jesbroken

Yes, I doubt the coin was installed offset. So it should be able to rotate with aid.
Jim

jackpine20

@Klif50 said:
Did you tell your friend you were going to post about him and his coins and post a picture of one of his? If you did that to me without telling me before hand I would probably not be your friend any longer. Posting with permission is one thing, posting without letting the owner know is something else.

Klif50, I think you are onto something, there. I should not have shared without his permission.

jackpine20

@jesbroken said:
Yes, I doubt the coin was installed offset. So it should be able to rotate with aid.
Jim

My 1795 Flowing Hair example was returned to me, offset in the new holder by more than 20 degrees. I maybe should have pushed back and asked PCGS to reholder it, but I cracked it out in frustration within minutes! The thing is, the TrueView was offset by 20 degrees in the other direction!!! That was a frustrating day. They must really be rushed! So, I sent off an email expressing concern about the image and they fixed the TrueView within a day or two. The TrueView image that you can find when verifying the cert#46595287 (pictured above) looks fine, now after they fixed it. But if we search Coin Facts for it (1795, G04 in 2 leaves variety), we find the rotated version still on display, pictured here:

I have cracked out more than a few coins because I didn't like the way they were positioned. I possess only one coin in a rattler holder but that coin is 98% perfectly positioned and doesn't rattle! cert#08173037

I'll try the electric toothbrush trick, next time.