A list of coins in the Smithsonian collection that includes grades?

Cloudster · May 31, 2020 12:25AM

I believe when I last checked their website they show some coins they have but no grades..

ReadyFireAim · May 31, 2020 1:28AM

In the case of my set, PCGS has grades estimated in the registry section.
Not sure what type coins you are interested in.

https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/gold/20-gold-major-sets/st-gaudens-20-gold-date-set-circulation-strikes-1907-1932/alltimeset/23147

JesseKraft · May 31, 2020 8:46AM

Museums don't really grade their coins.

Gazes · May 31, 2020 9:03AM

The encyclopedia of us gold by garrett and guth has the Smithsonian grade for gold coins

Sonorandesertrat · May 31, 2020 9:05AM

A list of the donated coins that are not believed to be genuine (e.g., the Lilly coins included ones purchased from John Ford, now believed to be fakes) would be more interesting.

davewesen · May 31, 2020 10:14AM

@JesseKraft said:
Museums don't really grade their coins.

and many have 'cleaned' them, not sure about Smithsonian

JesseKraft · May 31, 2020 10:17AM

@davewesen said:

@JesseKraft said:
Museums don't really grade their coins.

and many have 'cleaned' them, not sure about Smithsonian

Indeed. The Smithsonian as well.

logger7 · May 31, 2020 10:25AM

The 1849 has a grade estimate of PR64, but with the ultra rarities like this, "does it matter"?: https://www.pcgs.com/coinfacts/coin/1849-20/71908

Cloudster · May 31, 2020 8:58PM

@JesseKraft said:
Museums don't really grade their coins.

nice job title Jesse, I guess you'd know a little something about this topic, lol.. thanks.

Cloudster · May 31, 2020 9:01PM

@ReadyFireAim said:
In the case of my set, PCGS has grades estimated in the registry section.
Not sure what type coins you are interested in.

https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/gold/20-gold-major-sets/st-gaudens-20-gold-date-set-circulation-strikes-1907-1932/alltimeset/23147

thanks.. yes, it turns out the pcgs set registry does have quite of a few of their coins and their estimated grades listed there!

Cloudster · May 31, 2020 9:02PM

@davewesen said:

@JesseKraft said:
Museums don't really grade their coins.

and many have 'cleaned' them, not sure about Smithsonian

I'm not a coin expert, but their 1804 silver dollars and 1913 liberty nickel don't appear cleaned at all.

Zoins · May 31, 2020 9:05PM

@JesseKraft said:
Museums don't really grade their coins.

Does the ANS include any graded coins?

If graded coins are donated, are they stored in the slab or cracked out and stored raw?

Cloudster · May 31, 2020 9:09PM

@logger7 said:
The 1849 has a grade estimate of PR64, but with the ultra rarities like this, "does it matter"?: https://www.pcgs.com/coinfacts/coin/1849-20/71908

not as much with the unique 1 of 1 specimans, nope.. that 1849 Double Eagle is one badass coin isn't it!?

JesseKraft · June 1, 2020 11:57AM

@Zoins said:

@JesseKraft said:
Museums don't really grade their coins.

Does the ANS include any graded coins?

If graded coins are donated, are they stored in the slab or cracked out and stored raw?

We have a few that are encapsulated and remain so, others that were graded at one point but since cracked out but that happened before my time. None were submitted by us. If one was donated now (or one we already have), I wouldn't crack it out except for good reason. The collections of museums are there for research purposes, and it's difficult to fully research a coin when it's in plastic. Exact weights and measurements are difficult to obtain. To further clarify, just wanting to know the exact specs of the coin isn't good enough reason for me to crack it out. If that information was needed for a qualified research project, however, then I'd consider it.

On the other hand, the encapsulation of some coins enhance their historical significance (I'm not talking market value). For instance, one of our Trustees, Mary Lannin (who's also the Chair of the CCAC) donated a 2019-S Reverse Proof Silver Eagle with it's COA that was signed "To the ANS, Best Wishes, David Ryder, 11/14/19" just prior to encapsulation. The matching numbers on the PCGS label keep a record of these two together, otherwise that would be lost if cracked out. 99.999+% of our coins, however, are raw without record of their subjective market grades.

JesseKraft · June 1, 2020 12:07PM

@Cloudster said:

@davewesen said:

@JesseKraft said:
Museums don't really grade their coins.

and many have 'cleaned' them, not sure about Smithsonian

I'm not a coin expert, but their 1804 silver dollars and 1913 liberty nickel don't appear cleaned at all.

All three of their 1804s were pretty badly cleaned while still in the Mint Collection, which goes for pretty much any coin that was in that original collection. This practice carried over to the Smithsonian but hasn't been the case for a long time. It's not in a reputable museum's practice now to clean their coins, so these have all re-toned (some better than others). The Smithsonian, the ANS, and I'm sure many, many others were guilty of this at one point.

Coinosaurus · June 1, 2020 1:12PM

The first part of the question was "list of coins." It doesn't exist. Some parts of the National Numismatic Collection (NNC) have been inventoried (ie. U.S. gold) but most parts not. It's frustrating, but the funding simply isn't there to catalog everything (let alone get it graded), as the whole collection is on the order of a million pieces.

@Sonorandesertrat said:

A list of the donated coins that are not believed to be genuine (e.g., the Lilly coins included ones purchased from John Ford, > now believed to be fakes) would be more interesting.

Indeed. Today's collectors appreciate that the current administration had absolutely nothing to do with the original accession (c. 1968), and that all the players involved are long gone. Still, it would be good to have transparency with respect to this part of the collection.

ms70 · June 1, 2020 4:57PM

@davewesen said:

@JesseKraft said:
Museums don't really grade their coins.

and many have 'cleaned' them, not sure about Smithsonian

Back in 2004 the Smithsonian had a special numismatic display that I went to see. I was amazed that many coins were mounted to a "wall" of sorts with some sort of glue or wax. One of the coins, a double eagle, had fallen off leaving the glob of glue on the wall.

Cloudster · June 2, 2020 5:50AM

@ms70 said:

@davewesen said:

@JesseKraft said:
Museums don't really grade their coins.

and many have 'cleaned' them, not sure about Smithsonian

Back in 2004 the Smithsonian had a special numismatic display that I went to see. I was amazed that many coins were mounted to a "wall" of sorts with some sort of glue or wax. One of the coins, a double eagle, had fallen off leaving the glob of glue on the wall.

LOL... such disrespect for great coins.. lol.. fortunately they do take care of their most valuable coins a tad better, no wax or glue or anything:

Zoins · June 2, 2020 8:24AM

Are collector grade coins (good condition) generally better preserved by collectors or museums?

Sonorandesertrat · June 2, 2020 8:45AM

I suspect that collectors are more careful.

Most of the coins in museum collections are raw, and they get handled by a variety of people. Some were cleaned long ago, and are hairlined as a result.

Catbert · June 2, 2020 9:01AM

That Saint holder is not much of an improvement....

Cloudster · June 2, 2020 7:31PM

I guess museums have decided that the display of the coins is more important than anything else, so no keeping them in protective holders like collectors do, obviously.

JesseKraft · June 2, 2020 7:50PM

@Sonorandesertrat said:
I suspect that collectors are more careful.

Most of the coins in museum collections are raw, and they get handled by a variety of people. Some were cleaned long ago, and are hairlined as a result.

Raw, yes. Cleaned long ago, yes. Handled by a variety of people, you'd be surprised. Unless specifically asked for by the occasional visitor, most coins sit there for years or decades and don't get touched.

DrDarryl · June 3, 2020 5:19AM

Speaking of the Smithsonian Institution (SI), many collectors are unaware that President Dwight D. Eisenhower donated his entire coin and medal collection to the SI in June 1958. Refer to the attached pdf document.

I have the complete donation inventory (but no grades) that was received by SI (undisclosed for now and possible future paper).

I was performing research on "why a US President would have an entire series of medals struck by the US Mint for his use during his tenure as POTUS" and came to the conclusion that it was his experience as a coin/medal collector. Wouldn't you award/gift a token of appreciation to deserving individuals if you were POTUS?

The above medal was manufactured ahead of President Eisenhower executing his travel itinerary. The medal was issued/awarded while President Eisenhower visited the State of Alaska, Philippines, and Formosa. The generic "June 1960" design replaced the planned uniquely designed medals for Alaska, Philippines, and Formosa.

Jimnight · June 3, 2020 8:39AM

@davewesen said:

@JesseKraft said:
Museums don't really grade their coins.

and many have 'cleaned' them, not sure about Smithsonian

I believe some coins were even glued into holder / holders.

A list of coins in the Smithsonian collection that includes grades?

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