I've heard a lot about this guy Anaconda

stman

Are the coins he has pretty nice. And how do the coins in person look compared to images? Thanks for any input.

Stman Barber Quarter

goose3

I am going to bet that his coins look as good as, if not better than his images in person.

That is a sharp barber!

bennybravo

I would imagine that this coin in particular looks much better in person.The luster didn't capture well.I thought it was a scan at first, but I detect a little natural light from the slab.His digital photos always look very natural and nice to me, especially compared to alot of those photoshop masterpieces you see on eBay.

oldcameoproofsguy

stman,

Anaconda seems to always have really great high end coins. This Barber is sweet. It also looks like a really nice cameo as well as having really nice toning. Anaconda also welcomes phone calls, so if you have any questions about the coin give him a call.

Old Cameo

DCAMFranklin

Evidently, you 've not watched his auctions. Some of the most beautiful classics found anywhere. You can't find any better terms on or off of Ebay. Buy the Barber and see for yourself. If you're not happy with the coin, and you won't be, then there is a MOST generous return privilege.

Dog97

Personally I don't like black periph toning and the patch of hits behind Liberty's head and the ticks that go tick tick tick tick tick across the shield and the lines in Liberty's face kills it. I wonder how it got 66.

oldcameoproofsguy

One thing that I didn't notice when I looked at the coin the first time. Is there a thumb print behind Liberty's cap?

Dog97

Looks like ticks to me. What I'm wondering is if that is a print in front of Liberty or textile pattern from a bag?

Placid

How does the field tone like that so close to the head (around the nose) yet the head isn't toned? I thought the high parts of the coin toned first?
How did it get that high of a grade, besides to obverse the shield on the reverse has some ticks across it.

stman

Placid, hard to say from image. I've seen on a few of these barbers liberty will be a lavender type color. Actually it kind of looks that way on this one also. I'm not saying I love this coin mainly wondering about how this sellers images measure up in person. There is another one he has that I might like though.

Stman

Coppernicus

Anaconda has a great reputation for very high end coins. I trust his pics!

Coppernicus

Placid

Stman no idea I never saw one of his in person but it seems like pcgs dropped the ball on the grade of that one. I aksed about the toning because I am still trying to learn about how different patterns form so I can spot at'd coins from original better.

stman

It's hard to say. What others point out I seen it. The rev shield bothers me. And behind liberty's head also. But who knows if whats behind liberty's head is on the coin. One thing that really bothers me that nobody mentioned is on the neck the dark spots. Could be toning marks or could be something that had touched on it for a while which could be a problem.

But I will add, I"ve looked at a lot of these on sites and there are a bunch of 66's on the major sites that have a lot more hit's than this one.

Stman

lordmarcovan

That coin has some pretty attributes, but it just doesn't "do it" for me.

That being said, though, Anaconda has some of the prettiest stuff around. He certainly ranks among the top dealers of quality rare coins.

stman

I just want to add, And it doesn't really concern this coin. But sometimes on these classic toned pieces. The ones that look all electric and pretty on the images are the ones that are nothing close in person. And a lot of the ones that look ugly in the images are the nice ones in person. Maybe something to think about.

Stman

lordmarcovan

Food for thought, not only on this coin but on the $3900 Seated half I am contemplating in another thread. A picture can make or break a coin. Sometimes I think it is probably better to shop for coins of this caliber in person, at shows. But not all of us have the liberty of going to that many shows (I'm a once-a-year guy, myself). God bless the Internet for that reason.

I'd still rather shop from a picture than sight-unseen, as I did not that long ago in my pre-Internet mailorder days. And I was buying slabs. If one goes back a few years before that, to when I was buying raw coins sight-unseen through the mail, well...

Let's just call those the Bad Old Days. Or the Dark Ages.

stman

Lord M, Yes I agree. I have to go to the net for these also. Local dealers don't have any of this kind of stuff. And every time there is a big show I'd like to go to it isn't possible for me. I'm self employed so that probably explains it. But photos don't really make it or break it for me. As even if the color doesn't seem right I at least try and get the technical part from it. That is the most important for me first, to even consider looking at the color. Than I try to imagine it in person.

Stman

Placid

I bought this one off eBay awhile ago. It has no dark on it at all its mostly bright silver. Just some light toning and the shield is fully struck and no marks. It has great lustre and is in a ms64 pcgs slab. The pics are the ones from the eBay auction.

stman

Placid, see thats what I meant. A lot of folks would look at that and think it's dark toning no luster and such. These barbers are a little tricky. And you say it's not dark at all and has nice luster. Great.

I guess it's like Michael has said many times, you have to know what your looking at.

stman

Placid

Yes the dark areas are really gold color and the rest is silver like a new coin.

stman

Sound like it's been dipped and retoned.

Placid

Maybe, if it was the dipper did a good job as the lustre is is still great.

Tonekiller

On Adrians photos, the coin will be as good or even better......he knows what he is doing and take great pains to make sure its right.

TBT

dorkkarl

regarding anaconda, the question i never got answered was this: does he OWN the coins, or are they consignments? i had heard that his really expensive stuff is consignment coins. anybody know?

K S

gemtone65

I'm reasonably certain that Anaconda owns most if not all of his current inventory. Occasionally he will handle a consignment; he did so recently with a small offering of nicely toned, relatively low priced Morgans. His photography is quite exceptional, and his actual coins look very much like the pictures, with a slight bias towards being somewhat darker in actuality. He has a wondeful eye for quality coins, especially of the toned variety, and as others have indicated above, he offers some of the very best coins on e-bay. I have purchased some of these pieces, and can say that I am very pleased with them.

dorkkarl

thanks for the info. i remember a couple of years ago (at least) there was some guy that had very high-dollar coins, but they were all consignments. thought it might have been anaconda

K S

keets

one thing i'm always leery of with photos/scans is whether the color has been manipulated. and that includes making the pic lighter. i always like to see the insert on a holder because i know what that should look like so i can make a comparison. kinda like adjusting the TV picture off the skin tone.

in the picture placid posted, the holder looks lavender on my screen so i'd guess the coin wouldn't look as the scan indicates. with the anaconda coin the holder is shown seperate. i'd much prefer for a seller to show me an unaltered picture with an explanation of how the coin really looks instead of one showing his attempt to edit the picture back reality.

al h.

coinguy1

stman,

Adrian/Anaconda handles great, eye-appealing coins. We have sold some to him and bought some from him.

Regarding how the coins might compare to the images - I would bet that some of the coins are better looking than they appear in the images and that others are worse looking. And, unless someone is always playing games with their images or not good at it, that will most likely be the case with other sellers as well. Certain coins, no matter how wonderful they might be, simply don't photo well. Others aren't quite nice enough looking to image accurately and still attract would-be buyers!

BASEagle

Anaconda posted on this forum for a time and had what some might consider to be a hair trigger temper. Occasionally, he would over-react to some comments. Then, he exited the forum with a formal announcement and a great fanfare.

He does deal in high end coins and I wanted to see what else he had listed on ebay. One of his listings provides an amazing insight into his state of mental health. Follow the link.

For those of you who don't get the point - he wrote this advice to himself.



http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1386602975

For those of you who are miserable.

Russ

<< <i>One of his listings provides an amazing insight into his state of mental health. Follow the link.

For those of you who don't get the point - he wrote this advice to himself. >>



Ah, I see that we have an internet shrink among us. Hey! Did you bring your couch? I need a nap.

Russ, NCNE

Bear

Russ, If everyone who needed psychological counseling

were to leave this Forum, we would have no one left to converse with. Bear

barney

And of course, some of us use coins as "therapy..."

Bear

Barney - That must be why so many of us need soooooo many coins. Bear

dorkkarl

i was not necessarily a big fan of anaconda's, but i gotta say that he rambles at least as badly as "deb".

what would happen if those 2 were ever in a conversation together?

K S

keets

what would happen if those 2 were ever in a conversation together?

they'd most likely hear what they'd said, not what each other had said.

al h.

Elcontador

Agree w Mark's comments re imaging. Buying a coin from an image IMO is buyint it sight-unseen. The key is whether a no questions asked return privilege is offered as part of the package.

You are not going to see hairlines on proof (and some Unc.) coins, flyspecks on copper, etc. via an image. Forget about getting an accurate image re toned coins. It is not going to happen.

I don't care how good the imaging / camera equipment is, the image is not going to mirror how the coin looks. An example is that Heritage has images as good as anyone's and their RD copper looks dark to me. I picked up a drop dead gorgeous MS 66 Liberty Nickel from them recently that looked dead from its image, even the coin had excellent cartwheel luster.

Loki

I just received my first Anaconda today and I must say that the coin looks better than the pic and the pic was awesome! Kudos to him!!! Plus he offers a 7 day no questions asked refund and if you request it, he picks up the return shipping charges to boot. His eBay feedback is impeccable!! How can you go wrong?

Dog97

Placid I would say the head isn't toned because it was in an album which started the tone at the periph and the tone gradually moved inward to the head but before it worked it's way up & over the head it was plucked from the album and placed in the slab. It is neat & unusual and I appreciate it for that and if it were 97 and a decent price it become a Dog pedigree.

I'll disagree with the coin looking better in person than the pictures show on some coins because on most Barbers you have to tilt & rotate the coin to see the different colors and the coin is always pictured showing the most vivid color so it will be most appealing looking. So in other words the picture is "maxed out." I mean you don't really expect any seller to show the coin from the angle where it looks solid black & brown and ORIGINAL do you? Stman knows what I mean, he understands the qualities of original.

Everytime I see a coin I comment on it but stman was looking for a scathing critique on the seller so here goes:
sneaky snake is a fast shipper and if he likes you he won't even wait for the check to clear his bank before he ships.
He leaves nice feedback for you.
He ships properly. No broken slabs in a safetymailer in a #10 envelope. Insured of course.
I bought a weird toned Morgan from him one time and while waiting arrival of the coin I sent him several emails concerning the toning pattern on the coin which he promptly answered and his opinion pretty much agreed with mine.

You want a critique on his personality too? sneakysnake is a weird off the wall cat but I am too so I enjoyed dealing with him. Unlike everyone else that calls him Adrain like they have been his bestest buddy all his life I just call him sneakysnake because lawyers are snakes and he's a big one.