GRADE POSTED: My 1st CAC submission - guess the grade - and a boring story
Nederveit2
Posts: 138 ✭✭✭
This is my recent (and only) experience submitting a coin to CAC. Warning, a very boring story.
I collected coins as a kid but not as an adult until about 25 years ago. I’m sort of an ‘on again, off again’ collector, especially once I stopped working and lacked income to feed my habit. Initially I bought everything under the sun, from US Mint issues to auctions to many items on the BST that looked or sounded good.
About 7 years ago I decided to pare down and sold all items from the US Mint, the Whitman albums I had inherited and many other coins with the goal of getting to a box of 20 AND all coins had to be CAC certified. Somewhere along the line I started to collect gold coins (the 8 coin short set, think I’m 34th in the registry), but with a quirk to again only CAC coins but also in OGH’s.
Anyway, throughout all of my BST sales, auctions and other churning, I achieved my goal, mostly. Back in May of 2009 I bought an 1834 $2.50 gold certified by PCGS on the BST forum. The seller’s listing seemed almost angry, the coin he had gotten certified came back at a lesser grade than he thought it should be and claimed PCGS was really grading things tough at the moment. I guess that stuck with me because although not CAC certified (they didn’t exist back then) I wondered if it had some potential for a better grade. When CAC came along then at some point I had fantasies of a gold CAC sticker on it.
For years I’ve wondered how a minor collector goes about getting a coin CAC’d. I never joined CAC back when I think I could have had a membership with such privileges, because it’s only something I pictured doing once in a blue moon if that. I don’t really have any relationships in the industry so I sat on this coin for a long time. I recently took the initiative and looked at CAC’s website for dealers that are certified to submit coins to CAC. I filled out the web form for the dealer nearest me (retail presence) and never got a response. I tried the next closest person (no retail presence) and got a response with questions regarding the coin I wanted to submit. I responded immediately but never heard back from that guy.
My third attempt was a coin dealer I worked near many years ago and has a retail presence (downtown Minneapolis, PQCoin). He was happy to help me (for no charge even), and after fees/shipping I think I was in it for just over $100 to try and get a CAC sticker. I think the CAC website stated 30 business days but it was back in about two weeks after it had arrived at CAC, so great service. Well, the good news is it stickered, the bad news was that it was not a gold one. Oh well.
If you’ve made it this far, what is your grade guess? I’ll post the answer in 24 hours. Sorry for the poor pix:
Comments
My gut tells me 58, but since you seemed to be aiming for a gold sticker, I'll go with 55.
Young Numismatist • My Toned Coins
Life is roadblocks. Don't let nothing stop you, 'cause we ain't stopping. - DJ Khaled
AU, but I’m having a hard time telling just how much luster is left. I’ll guess it’s a 53.
53 since the original guy was disappointed
55
Nothing is as expensive as free money.
I’ll guess AU55 (shot 58) since that’s what it looks like to me.
What the seller supposedly thought shouldn’t matter. As we have no way of knowing if he was a competent grader or even if he truly was disappointed, as opposed to using that claim as a selling tactic.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
Given the background, I’m going to venture that it’s in an AU-53 holder, but it’s really an AU-55 by today’s standards, yet didn’t secure the golden sticker because CAC isn’t of the opinion that it should be in an AU-58 holder.
55
Not a gold collector, but I would imagine 55.
Jim
When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest....Abraham Lincoln
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.....Mark Twain
AU 53 is my guess
)
…and your story wasn’t boring (it at least kept me entertained
I am in at 55.
If I had sent that in, it would have come back as AU details, cleaned.
As you sent it to CAC, it straight graded. I’ll go 53, netted down from 58.
Doesn’t look to be a 58 so, if you thought gold, to an unc. grade which it isn’t. So I’ll guess 55.
I actually think it has a “look” of AU58. But, it is CACG so I’ll go AU53. Hey that kind of rhymes. And, not a bad story either.
“The thrill of the hunt never gets old”
PCGS Registry: Screaming Eagles
Copperindian
Retired sets: Soaring Eagles
Copperindian
Nickelodeon
“netted down from 58” for what reason?
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
This seems like a really nice coin; BUT, I can't grade.
Everybody is saying it's an AU; but, to me it looks like a low grade MS - a MS63??
Where are the wear points?
MS61 or so.
@DisneyFan asked “Everybody is saying it's an AU; but, to me it looks like a low grade MS - a MS63?? Where are the wear points?“
I was also debating about whether there is wear on this coin; possibly I see wear at the very tips of the Eagle’s wings and on Miss Liberty’s headband. If it is uncirculated, I don’t think it is near 63; perhaps this is 61 with a slight shot at 62.
Looks like I may be in the majority. It looks like a 55, shot 58 to these eyes from that image.
It's a nice looking coin, for sure.
“We are only their care-takers,” he posed, “if we take good care of them, then centuries from now they may still be here … ”
Todd - BHNC #242
AU58
Collector of Capped Bust Halves, SLQ's, Commems, and random cool stuff! @davidv_numismatics on Instagram
I am at AU53.
Life member of ANA
Great read, and happy to hear it CAC-ed. I'll vote AU55. Neat piece!
Dave
55.
I could certainly be wrong in my “AU55, shot 58” guess. But I arrived at it due to the very light disturbances on Liberty’s face, neck and point of the bust, as well as numerous areas of the fields on each side. However, if the images are making the coin look worse than it actually is, I could see it as an MS62.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
From what look like cleaning hairlines in the photo.
AU53
55
Thank you.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
He sent it in for stickering not grading if I'm reading right.
55
His post indicated that he knew the coin was straight-graded and sent to CAC (not to be graded). And his straight-grade guess was AU53.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
Thank you everyone for your comments and playing along. Great guesses as well.
I arrived at it due to the very light disturbances on Liberty’s face, neck and point of the bust, as well as numerous areas of the fields on each side.
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I could never be a grader!
I wonder what the original owner/submitter thought the grade should have been?