A Hallmark Moment

RGT

I picked up this Rhode Island commem on ebay last night. At first I thought it was an old green PCI holder but it's actually a Hallmark. I have a few green PCI slabs but this will be the first Hallmark I have owned. I hear they stand a decent chance of being correctly graded or even undergraded. Either way the downside is small since it's graded MS65 and I paid an MS64 price. It was actually right at half the cost of my NGC MS65 Rhode Island. It's hard to tell from the lousy pictures but it might even look nicer than my somewhat plain white NGC coin.

Of course I could have saved myself a few bucks by buying this one in an old thick NGC slab. But I think for $7.50 more I got the better looking coin.

Russ

<< <i>I hear they stand a decent chance of being correctly graded or even undergraded. >>



I've heard the same thing. Be sure and give us an update when you have the coin.

Russ, NCNE

sliderider

Hallmark =Bowers and Merena (or was it Heritage)if I remember my slab history correctly. Maybe Conder or Cameron can confirm this?

kieferscoins

Hallmark was owned by Bowers and Merena back in the 80's.

Cameron Kiefer

coppercoins

Looks kind of lackluster in the photo - hopefully it will look nicer in real life.

RGT

I really couldn't tell much about the luster from the photos. Actually, my NGC MS65 is a bit lackluster too, if I recall correctly. I was more concerned that the toning might be ugly.

I'll let you know when I get it.

UncleWiggly

I've heard pretty much good things about Hallmark. Why did they stop grading coins?


Jerry

oreville

Hallmark was an excellent grading service. Always felt they were quite consistent. They went out of business since they never achieved the mass numbers of slabs needed to stick around.

The owners sold off the slabbing machines and holders to another outfit (not sure if it was a new company) which is now known as PCI.

I cannot tell if the commem is nice.

njcoincrank

If my memory serves me correct... Bowers and Merena were only minority partners in this company. Many other major players had a piece as well. Delaware Valley Rare Coins and Northeast Numismatics are two that quickly come to mind. Lee J Bellisario, formerly with New England Rare Coin Auctions as their director, and more recently with Heritage, and now heading up his own company, Bellisario Gallery, was the driving force in the beginning. I'm a little fuzzy on the other players at this time.

njcoincrank

bestclser1

My best score ever was in 1991.A Hallmark graded 1880cc Morgan 64pl crossed to a PCGS MS65DMPL which promptly sold for $10,000.My cost was $550.Thanks Hallmark.

MrEureka

Many other major players had a piece as well. Delaware Valley Rare Coins and Northeast Numismatics are two that quickly come to mind. Lee J Bellisario, formerly with New England Rare Coin Auctions as their director, and more recently with Heritage, and now heading up his own company, Bellisario Gallery, was the driving force in the beginning. I'm a little fuzzy on the other players at this time.

Add MrEureka to the list of unlucky investors. The reasons the company failed are very interesting, but this isn't the place to discuss it. On the other hand, if anyone wants to write an article for the Harvard Business Review, I'd be glad to help arrange some interviews.

RGT

Sounds like there's a good story in there somewhere, and I suspect it's just as appropriate here as about half of the other threads in this forum.

RGT

The coin arrived today. When I first pulled it out and gave it a once-over it looked very nice. Then I took it to a better light to look over carefully. With fairly direct light the luster looks pretty good, but not great. But when tilted so that the light is not reflecting on the coin it starts to look flat, like it has a haze over the coin. I also noticed some areas that have a slight greenish tint. I suspect it may have a PVC problem. I read in an old thread that some of these Hallmark holders, as well as some old green PCI holders, contain PVC. I've never seen a PVC affected coin in person before so I can't be sure.

As for the details, the coin looks great. I think it's an easy 65 and possibly a 66 if the luster is good enough. But if there is active PVC then I have a bodybag coin.

What are the chances acetone could remove the PVC if I crack it out? How can I be sure it's really PVC? It's really hard to see except at the right angle with very good light.

Hallmark seemed to have done a great job of grading the coin, but perhaps a lousy job of protecting it.

nwcs

I'd send it to NCS to be sure. If it is PVC, acetone will remove it. However, if it has eaten into the coin surface you're out of luck. If it is something else, the acetone may help it. Or even a dip.

RGT

I'm not sure it's worth sending to NCS. I will probably try a good soak in acetone first to see how that works. But I may take it to the local club meeting on Monday to get other opinions first. Then I will need to figure out how to crack a slab since I never have done it before.