Singapore, Please Read re: Auctori Plebis

dwood

Regarding our discussion of the AU 50 1787 Auctori Plebis, and your AU58 sample, I found the article that referenced the AU58 as "finest graded," with a poulation of 1. This auction ended slightly less than 1 year ago, so I can't imagine much, if anything, has changed. The token sold in the auction was a PCGS AU55, and it brought $2415. I suspect you know something (probably a LOT) about these tokens that Goldberg doesn't, but I wonder if you're sample is even better (more scarce) than you think? And no, I'm honestly not trying to make mine "sound more valuable," as it really doesn't matter (its not something I collect, but evidently my daughter does


Just thought you might find this interesting.
Lot 16 1787 Auctori Plebis Token. PCGS graded AU-55

Thanks again for your input and advice...truly invaluable to a "token neophyte" like myself

Singapore

Hey dwood -

Thanks for the post and the info.

In my earlier response to your other post, I was only trying to clarify the difference beween the often mis-used phrase 'finest known' to describe a coin that is 'only' the finest seen by PCGS. It wasn't a criticisim or rebuke of you - just a point of interest.

Typically the auction houses - particularly Goldberg and Superior and sometimes Heritage - will describe a pop-top colonial piece as finest known in hopes of pumping up the coins desirability and value.

Keep in mind that PCGS has probably seen no more than 10 - 15% of the total number of colonials out there. This is generally true for all types and varieties so I would caution you not to read too much into any of the PCGS colonial rankings.

Let me give you a little example. Heritage was offering a Chalmers Shilling at FUN in AU55. They had previously had this coin in one of their sales last year at which time it was the pop-top lone coin in AU55 and was described as the 'finest known'. However, a couple of months earlier Stack's had auctioned an uncirculated, raw Chalmers with a long pedigree that is generally regarded as among the finest known piece by experts.

Heritage either was unaware of the Stack's piece, or chose only to report on the PCGS rankings when describing the coin. In either case the Heritage description was misleading. Casual review of past auctions actually shows one dozen or more Chalmers pieces that are finer than the Heritage coin. But its still the highest graded by PCGS!

The Heritage coin sold last year for $7,750. The Stack's coin brought $27,600. The knowledgeable collectors knew the difference.

Back to the Auctori Plebis - the AU58 is the highest graded example by PCGS. And while I would be delighted to have the finest known Auctori Plebis and it would benefit me financially to say that I do - the reality is that I probably don't.

If you want to learn more about the coins, the grades, the PCGS rankings, etc you might check the Q&As - I asked David Hall about colonial grading a couple of weeks ago.