What's happening with the Canadian Pop Reports??
golddustin
Posts: 838 ✭✭
Suddenly Canada is listed at the very bottom of the 'C' category under world coins, and there are no coins listed in the only two categories that are available. Is it a total re-arrangement of the Canadian listings due to surface finish issues and all the other stuff that makes collecting Canadian coins such a challenge?
Or did Sandy C. leave PCGS? He told me that he knows more about Canadian coins than:
1) The RCM director ('They don't even know what they are putting out anymore.')
2) Charlton Guidebook authors ('They know they have mistakes, but don't bother to correct them.')
I don't know about anybody else, but if the 'go to' guy at a grading service has the attitude that only he knows what is what for an entire country's coinage, I get very concerned. Does the RCM contact him prior to minting all their coins? Are the Charlton & Haxby guidebooks really knowingly publishing information that is not accurate?
If one person knows more than everybody else alive about a subject, you would think that HE would write the book and set everybody on the correct path...
Anyway, it looks like there are some big changes happening at PCGS as far as Canadian coins go... maybe they will start labeling the coins with cameo levels like every other service does. Or maybe I should start sending my coins to ICCS - they seem to be the toughest and most highly regarded by collectors north of the border.
Or did Sandy C. leave PCGS? He told me that he knows more about Canadian coins than:
1) The RCM director ('They don't even know what they are putting out anymore.')
2) Charlton Guidebook authors ('They know they have mistakes, but don't bother to correct them.')
I don't know about anybody else, but if the 'go to' guy at a grading service has the attitude that only he knows what is what for an entire country's coinage, I get very concerned. Does the RCM contact him prior to minting all their coins? Are the Charlton & Haxby guidebooks really knowingly publishing information that is not accurate?
If one person knows more than everybody else alive about a subject, you would think that HE would write the book and set everybody on the correct path...
Anyway, it looks like there are some big changes happening at PCGS as far as Canadian coins go... maybe they will start labeling the coins with cameo levels like every other service does. Or maybe I should start sending my coins to ICCS - they seem to be the toughest and most highly regarded by collectors north of the border.
Don't you know that it's worth
every treasure on Earth
to be young at heart?
And as rich as you are,
it's much better by far,
to be young at heart!
every treasure on Earth
to be young at heart?
And as rich as you are,
it's much better by far,
to be young at heart!
0
Comments
Sandy Campbell does not work for PCGS and never did however he is instrumental in assisting PCGS determine mint state coins,
Specimen coins, Proof like coins etc. There is also US coin experts ( colonial coins,early copper etc.) I know he was the main force in getting the Canadian Set Registry started and I don't think he was paid.Sandy is probably the shrewdest coin dealer north of the border. He has handled moe valuable
Canadian coins than any other Canadian dealer. He also assists Heritage catalogue Canadian coins for auction.
Why don't you call Sandy up and talk to him. He usually answers the phone. Proof Positive Coins
Stewart
ICCS used to be the toughest grading service. Brian Cornwall (ICCS grader and owner) now grades loose as a goose. There is way too much
AT coins in over graded holders and more ICCS coins will not cross to PCGS.
Look at the pop reports between PCGS and ICCS. NGC use to be THE grading service and PCGS was second fiddle. Not anymore
Stewart
I did call Sandy on his cell phone (which he was kind enough to provide to me). That is when he relayed to me the statements listed in the OP. It is very hard to take an opposite view from a person who claims to know more about a country's coinage than its own mint director! Then, when I brought up a point about the Charlton guide's way of differentiating a certain year's sets from one another, he told me that they publish a lot of misinformation, and that he has contacted the publishers to no avail. He told me that they have been putting out the wrong information for years, and just perpetuate the mistakes.
He may never have been on the payroll at PCGS, but any time I had an issue with PCGS grading guidelines and registry set inclusion/exclusion, the question went from BJ Searles to Gordon Wrubel and then, ultimately to Mr. Campbell, who would proclaim final judgement. He may not have been 'employed', but he was the final arbiter of any questionable grading decision. I certainly won't begrudge his knowledge of Canadian numismatics, however I do find it a bit disconcerting that a single person has such sway at a major TPG. In my dealings with Canadian collectors/dealers, Sandy seems to have a very polarizing effect - they either think he is the ultimate resource, or they dismiss him as a bit of a self-promoting dealer. I know from my own conversation with him that he certainly does not hesitate to expound on his knowledge (it was hard to get a word in, much less an entire sentence), and that is what concerned me the most. Any reference material that I brought up was quickly shot down as incorrect, and his claiming to know more than the RCM director is a statement that is hard to swallow.
Again, if Mr. Campbell possesses such a vast knowledge of Canadian numismatics, I feel strongly that he should write his own reference book, since all other sources of information (including the RCM itself) are not correct in his opinion. That way, those of us who utilize PCGS in grading our Canadian coins will have some idea as to what to expect when submitting examples. Ron Guth has written many books about U.S. coins, but to my knowledge, he has never claimed to know more than the mint director about what is being produced at the U.S. Mint, and has never claimed that the Red Book is continually publishing incorrect information.
But back to the original question - what has happened to the population reports for Canadian coins at PCGS? Also, why, when 'Canada' is clicked, do only two (new) categories appear, but have no coins listed in them? It sure does seem like there is a major overhaul of Canadian grading practices taking place - no more MS, PR, SP, PL listings - only 'circulating' and 'commemorative' at this point. I have some very nice Canadian coins that I would like to get graded, but hesitate to move forward until I know more about what is going on.
every treasure on Earth
to be young at heart?
And as rich as you are,
it's much better by far,
to be young at heart!
Getting your coins graded should not be a problem at PCGS. Do YOU know what type of coins you own ?
The conflict of interest with Sandy is that he is a dealer first and he has those Raccoon eyes. He very well may know more about Canadian coins than the Director of the RCM. he was very instrumental in putting together the two finest collections of Canadian coinage which were the Belzberg and the Canadianana collections. He has been instrumental in helping me put together my collection of Canadian small cents.
Sandy is not always correct but he is most of the time.
If I can help you I would do it gratis.
Stewart