A Lingua Franca of Coins?
dingodog
Posts: 273
If I wanted to describe a coin to you in enough detail so that you would be interested in purchasing or trading for it, I would have to go into quite a bit of detail. I could send you a photograph but photographs can be very deceiving also as they represent an object in a particular light and they don’t show the most important factors well at all because the picture is how the coin looked under that light at that particular instant. It can be modified or touched up at will.
As an example, let’s take an 1872 shield nickel as an coin that you want to sell. The following might be your description: “1872 5¢ Shield Nickel PCGS MS63, nice luster. PCGS web lists at $260.00”
There is no way to tell from that listing if the coin is an error coin. I bought such a listed coin on Ebay a year or so ago and stuck it in a box. Later I found that it was a Small Date over Large Date. Now how would I list the coin if I wanted to sell it? “The Cherrypicker’s Guide”, Fourth Edition, Vol. One lists 14 different identified errors (so far) for that particular coin. If the coin in question is one of the known errors, my description might be: “1872 5¢ Shield Nickel PCGS MS63, nice luster. FS # 5¢ - 007.8 (Breen #: N/L; F-102), Small Date over Large Date, MS63 $1,500.00”
Anyone that checks PCGS’s “Daily Price Guide” on the web might think I’m smoking momo weed, so they would likely prefer a more detailed explanation as to why my coin is worth 5.8 times what PCGS says it is, so I might want to add: ““The point of a 1 is visible northwest of the primary 1, the curve of a secondary 8 above the primary 8 (touching ball), the flag of a secondary 7 northeast of the primary 7, and the curve of a secondary 2 is visible far east of the primary 2.” (p. 244, “The Cherrypicker’s Guide”, Fourth Edition, Vol. One”, available at most coin booksellers.
If I sell the coin at $290.00, do I make $30.00 or lose $1,740? Also, who says it is worth $1,500? Bill Fivaz and J.T. Stanton say (in their book) “… There are five known as of March 1993, with XF being the highest grade. …” If the coin I am selling is a MS63, it is either a totally unique coin-a one of one, or else it is incredibly over graded but is still one of five (or six?). How did these two leading and expert numismatists arrive at a price of $1,500? How many other “one of one” coins are known? The 1933 $20 gold comes to mind and it sold for a bit more, but then it is known (really) to be one of a very limited number and has an interesting background. The 1913 Liberty Nickel is another “unique in a very small bunch” coin and one just sold recently for a bit more than the $1,500 also.
Any ideas on how to describe a coin more accurately in a concise format?
As an example, let’s take an 1872 shield nickel as an coin that you want to sell. The following might be your description: “1872 5¢ Shield Nickel PCGS MS63, nice luster. PCGS web lists at $260.00”
There is no way to tell from that listing if the coin is an error coin. I bought such a listed coin on Ebay a year or so ago and stuck it in a box. Later I found that it was a Small Date over Large Date. Now how would I list the coin if I wanted to sell it? “The Cherrypicker’s Guide”, Fourth Edition, Vol. One lists 14 different identified errors (so far) for that particular coin. If the coin in question is one of the known errors, my description might be: “1872 5¢ Shield Nickel PCGS MS63, nice luster. FS # 5¢ - 007.8 (Breen #: N/L; F-102), Small Date over Large Date, MS63 $1,500.00”
Anyone that checks PCGS’s “Daily Price Guide” on the web might think I’m smoking momo weed, so they would likely prefer a more detailed explanation as to why my coin is worth 5.8 times what PCGS says it is, so I might want to add: ““The point of a 1 is visible northwest of the primary 1, the curve of a secondary 8 above the primary 8 (touching ball), the flag of a secondary 7 northeast of the primary 7, and the curve of a secondary 2 is visible far east of the primary 2.” (p. 244, “The Cherrypicker’s Guide”, Fourth Edition, Vol. One”, available at most coin booksellers.
If I sell the coin at $290.00, do I make $30.00 or lose $1,740? Also, who says it is worth $1,500? Bill Fivaz and J.T. Stanton say (in their book) “… There are five known as of March 1993, with XF being the highest grade. …” If the coin I am selling is a MS63, it is either a totally unique coin-a one of one, or else it is incredibly over graded but is still one of five (or six?). How did these two leading and expert numismatists arrive at a price of $1,500? How many other “one of one” coins are known? The 1933 $20 gold comes to mind and it sold for a bit more, but then it is known (really) to be one of a very limited number and has an interesting background. The 1913 Liberty Nickel is another “unique in a very small bunch” coin and one just sold recently for a bit more than the $1,500 also.
Any ideas on how to describe a coin more accurately in a concise format?
U.S. coin collector since 1943. Have tried desperatly to keep every coin that has come to hand, but unfortunately, some got away.
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The Lincoln cent store:
http://www.lincolncent.com
My numismatic art work:
http://www.cdaughtrey.com
USAF veteran, 1986-1996 :: support our troops - the American way.
1964, Designation MD-PR-1-O-II-C
Desc: Light spread on IN GOD WE TRUST and date
Markers: Strength of doubling will vary depending upon hub and die state
From page: Link
As for the fullness of what coneca deals with, I don't know. Just trying to be helpful.
There will be such a listing before much longer. We are currently compiling one, and it is being incorporated into our software. Originally, we identified a little over 54,000 unique U.S. coins since 1616, now with the addition of errors and varieties that list is approaching 300,000. One of the goals of this software is to provide a concise identifier to each of those coins, and all those that follow so that collectors will know precisely what they are discussing when buying, selling, or even looking at their own coins. The basic software will remain free for downloading or nominal charge for a cd-rom by mail for any interested collector, or person involved in business of coins.
The way we see it is it's a dirty job, but somebody's gotta do it. (If I weren't working on this little project, I would have the funds to buy a few more 2002 errors - got any?)
Rgds
Jan
What I was thinking of was clicking on the item in your inventory, hitting "send to" and send full details and photos to your addressee or list.
Jan