Population Reports

keyman64

Forgive me for I am new(yes, I plan to milk this for as long as I can). I'm just trying to learn from those wiser than myself.

I just got a Mercury Dime 1943-D MS67 FSB DDO. It is in an ANACS holder. It is real. It does exist! But if you go to the ANACS population report, the dime does not exist! Not sure if it is the finest known, one of only a couple known, or one of a million known. That kinda affects value...duh! I called ANACS. They verified the coin as valid via the serial number. I asked about the population report and the girl that answered the phone(while chewing food in my ear) told me that not all varieties get posted in the population report. I was like, WHAT?!!? She went on to say that they have never had a complaint about this before. I was like, WHAT?!!? How could they not? If only 10 exist of a variety as opposed to say 1,000 existing of a variety....do they think there might be a difference in value somewhere? I got an email back from Paul A. DeFelice Vice President, Client Services and Marketing and he said "Errors and Varieties are often not in the pop report, however, they are recorded in the general population." My only possible response to this is WHAT?!!? I just think the people over there are plain crazy now.

How does NGC and PCGS work? Do they assign everything properly in the population reports or do they just put the stuff in randomly like ANACS? If I send this coin to PCGS will they put the variety on the holder and add it to the population report properly? To quote PCGS recently, they have an interest in unleashing value(something like that with their Secure + announcement), not destroying the crap out of it(although I understand a bit of that has happened too).

Thanks for your wisdom,

Greg

DIMEMAN

Yes, PCGS list varieties in their pop report.

keyman64

ANACS Does As Well.......sometimes! And that is why collectors should be outraged. They have plenty of varieties listed...but not this one. Has this ever happened to anyone else?

DIMEMAN

PCGS only list the varieties that are in their sets.

Silverstate

If a variety gets an "E" holder which stands for Mint Error.
It will not have it's own pop but be included with the "regular" non variety type coins.

Coins that do have their own PCGS number will have there own pop.

DIMEMAN

You shouldn't send in a coin for variety ($24) unless it is a variety that PCGS does. It's a waste of money.

LindeDad

I think the key is if the varity is listed in the "Cherry Pickers Guide" there are many vary low population varities that are not in the guide and are not assigned coin numbers by any of the grading services. In those cases the market for the coin sets the value and the seller must find the right collector or dealer to get top value from the coin.

19Lyds

PCGS's populations are policed with regularity and IMO very well organized.

As for your specific coin, there is no number for a 1943-D DDO Dime which means that it is not listed in the CPG and therefore not a gradeable variety for PCGS at this point in time. Since it's not in the CPG, it could possibly be what would be considered a minor DDO by the Mercury Dime collecting enthusiasts. I don't know for sure.

When a coin DOES appear in the CPG but no populations or coin numbers exist it means that nobody has submitted the variety for grading just yet.

As for ANACS, when they switched with ICG, populations became available online but are sporadic at best. Since coins are listed by "title" and not assigned coin "number", a simple DDO can appear any number of ways.



However, the company has changes hands a couple of times and each new owner seems ti have a different opinion on how these should be recorded so this is understandable.

PCGS, on the other hand, is fairly straight forward and consistent even though you have to go through multiple screens to view all the pops.

DIMEMAN

Just for clarification about the pop report. Just because there is not one listed does not mean PCGS doesn't do that one. It could mean that none have graded yet.

Your best bet is to look at the set in which your coin would be. If there is a slot for it in the set then PCGS will grade and attribute it.

Hope I worded this right.

scottgardener

As far as I understand it, PCGS reports populations on anything it notes on the holder--date, grade, variety, and all those two-letter designations, like RB, FH, PL, DC, and so forth. They're noting plus grades, not afraid to double the amount of trees a printed copy of the population report kills. But, as Dimeman already pointed out, PCGS does not always recognize a variety as significant and noteworthy enough to indicate on the holder. As a Morgan collector, I'm familiar with VAMs and like scanning my collection for them. But, PCGS only recognizes some of them; some are just too minor in their opinion. If the eagle is spitting fire or Lady Liberty has snake eyes, they note it. If one of the eights on the date leans a little to the left and some die cracks occur between two or three stars, they're not that interested.