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I'll give Stack's an A+, ANR an A and Heritage a C-
ColonialCoinUnion
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A little comparison of how Stack's, American Numismatic Rarities and Heritage present 3 different examples of the same coin type. I picked an obscure type that warrants some kind of description - the very rare Talbot / Blofield Cavalry Mule:
The first example described by Stacks:
1795 Talbot, Allum & Lee Cent Obverse/Blofield Cavalry Muling. Ornamental edge. F.M.6, NY.888, Br.1051. Choice Uncirculated, prooflike, with definite claims to a higher grade. 171.5 gns. A gorgeous specimen, with richly satiny fields that display bright, prooflike flash. The piece has been called a full proof by some who have seen it. The color is a pleasing deep tan and medium brown, with tinges of faded mint red color showing. The strike on both sides is sharp, with all design details showing, despite the rusted state of the obverse and the severe rim cud on the reverse. Very rare: this is often the last of the mulings acquired by specialized collectors of TAL's. Breen listed only two, we know of one or two others. This may well qualify for R-7+ status. It was definitely underappreciated the last time it appeared at auction.
Ex Oechsner Collection (Stack's, September 8, 1988, part of lot 1364).
A second example described by American Numismatic rarities in their upcoming auction:
1795 Talbot, Allum, and Lee / Blofield Cavalry mule. Breen-1051. MS-63
Lustrous and lightly reflective brown and tan with plentiful remaining mint color on the Blofield Cavalry side. Glossy and attractive, trifling peripheral roughness, Talbot side aligned to 12:00 on the substantial 30.1 mm planchet, usual serpentine and dots edge device. An extremely rare muling, described on an accompanying "Colonial American Coin Club / First Coinvestors” card by Walter Breen as "partly red UNC. Very rare, one of the two rarest of the Talbot Mules” with his usual purple signature and a photo of this piece. Rarely offered with even the most significant cabinets of early American coinage, an opportunity to set your collection apart with the inclusion of a truly rare token
And a third coin, as described by Heritage:
1795 CENT Talbot, Allum & Lee Cent Mule MS64 Brown Rim Defect Uncertified. Blofield Cavalry. Breen-1051. A very rare mule, probably struck in England in the mid-19th century. The obverse has the traditional TAL Standing Liberty design, while the reverse shows the emblem of the Blofield Cavalry. Sharply struck and prooflike in the fields with strong underlying red luster that flashes forcefully through the overlay of brown on each side.
The first example described by Stacks:
1795 Talbot, Allum & Lee Cent Obverse/Blofield Cavalry Muling. Ornamental edge. F.M.6, NY.888, Br.1051. Choice Uncirculated, prooflike, with definite claims to a higher grade. 171.5 gns. A gorgeous specimen, with richly satiny fields that display bright, prooflike flash. The piece has been called a full proof by some who have seen it. The color is a pleasing deep tan and medium brown, with tinges of faded mint red color showing. The strike on both sides is sharp, with all design details showing, despite the rusted state of the obverse and the severe rim cud on the reverse. Very rare: this is often the last of the mulings acquired by specialized collectors of TAL's. Breen listed only two, we know of one or two others. This may well qualify for R-7+ status. It was definitely underappreciated the last time it appeared at auction.
Ex Oechsner Collection (Stack's, September 8, 1988, part of lot 1364).
A second example described by American Numismatic rarities in their upcoming auction:
1795 Talbot, Allum, and Lee / Blofield Cavalry mule. Breen-1051. MS-63
Lustrous and lightly reflective brown and tan with plentiful remaining mint color on the Blofield Cavalry side. Glossy and attractive, trifling peripheral roughness, Talbot side aligned to 12:00 on the substantial 30.1 mm planchet, usual serpentine and dots edge device. An extremely rare muling, described on an accompanying "Colonial American Coin Club / First Coinvestors” card by Walter Breen as "partly red UNC. Very rare, one of the two rarest of the Talbot Mules” with his usual purple signature and a photo of this piece. Rarely offered with even the most significant cabinets of early American coinage, an opportunity to set your collection apart with the inclusion of a truly rare token
And a third coin, as described by Heritage:
1795 CENT Talbot, Allum & Lee Cent Mule MS64 Brown Rim Defect Uncertified. Blofield Cavalry. Breen-1051. A very rare mule, probably struck in England in the mid-19th century. The obverse has the traditional TAL Standing Liberty design, while the reverse shows the emblem of the Blofield Cavalry. Sharply struck and prooflike in the fields with strong underlying red luster that flashes forcefully through the overlay of brown on each side.
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Comments
Russ, NCNE
It also suggests that if you are trying to sell something in here you should write 'ignore' on it in large letters which will be what I do from now on.
I was in the ANA library last week and was amazed at the number of raw coins that Stack's deals with on a regular basis. Several recent catalogs seemed virtually devoid of plastic. I for one would not mind being on their mailing list.
z
Do auction houses typically use many catalogers from different numismatic backgrounds for a major sale?
What do you expect.
Got quoins?
<< <i>Stacks loves to sell a story...I mean tell a story about their coins. Sizzle you might call it. I don't like their BW pix and dislike even more their raw coins. Do you feel lucky with the graders this week? Are confident enough with your grading skills you can pony up a few grand for that raw MS Trade $?
I am confident enough to know I cannot grade/authenticate when I see those with 10x more experience get burned on a submission.
ANR, more sizzle and they don't take credit cards. Also their images are too small and somewhat misleading. I have a $3.5k mistake to prove it, I kept it to remind me never ever buy sight unseen no matter what the slab says as slabs do not communicate eye appeal.
Heritage. Nice enough except for a few bozos but are they disorganized or what. Half my invoices are wrong. But i'll keep coming back for their, "make it right" attitudes and their albeit bugy, database. These guys are not going away quietly.
You didn't mention Goldberg, so i'll do it. They get an A+ in rudeness. F in all other areas. I would crack out and spend, yes spend, my coins before I would let them auction them. For clarification I am not talking about the principals but those one layer below. They are also terribly disorganized. >>
Boy, life sure does suck.
<< <i>col. coin u- how could you have such an expensive "mistake" from ANR if they are brand new in the business and have never held an auction before? (I know it's familiar faces there, but...) >>
artdeco -
It was ohbaby whining about ANR (and everything else under the sun) -
My post quoted his comments, which he subsequently deleted.
I agree with you - I'm not sure how he had a problem with ANR since, as you point out, they ain't sold anything to anyone yet.