Cricket - PCGS 65FH (Detached)

messydesk · September 9, 2021 6:38PM

@MrEureka said:

@Lakesammman said:
If you've ever tried to catch a cricket, it's very doubtful it was slabbed alive!

I catch them in my house all the time. And release them outside, of course. But at these prices, maybe next time I'll just ship them to Newport Beach, PETA be damned!

More than 100 and you can go through bulk, maybe get a special label, too, while you're at it.

gumby1234 · September 9, 2021 6:52PM

I wonder if it would cross over at a higher grade

ianrussell · September 9, 2021 6:57PM

@MrEureka said:
BTW, this is not the only PCGS slabbed insect out there. When I was at PCGS in 87-88, one of the graders had some insect slabbed. (I'm thinking it was a rattler cockroach, but I could be wrong.) So Fred's cricket, important as it is, is not completely unique.

For this particular breed of cricket, we believe it is. We've spent a considerable amount of time studying orthopteran insects over the past month, since Fred entrusted it with us.

Ian

Byers · September 9, 2021 7:01PM

Andy- you are correct.

A few non-numismatic items in nature ( no pun intended) were slabbed by PCGS, mostly in the late 80’s.

Byers · September 10, 2021 5:13PM

The PCGS slabbed Cricket is getting alot of activity in such a short time!

•2,360 page views
•50 members tracking
•39 bids
•Current bid $1,550.

Proofmorgan · September 15, 2021 11:46AM

$2050 now.......I say hammer close to $5k

NumisOxide · September 15, 2021 12:25PM

Not worth anything to me, how is my Leapord Gecko going to eat that? Plus he's fussy and won't eat dead insects.

Byers · September 15, 2021 6:32PM

I bid 2k.

Now it’s at 2600.

Probably time to bid again😳

I’m guessing it sells for 10k

gumby1234 · September 15, 2021 6:56PM

Stupid cricket is worth more than many of my coins are.

Byers · September 15, 2021 7:02PM

With all due respect, Ian graded the cricket MS 65...

But shouldn’t it be SPECIMEN 65🤔🤔🤔

Lakesammman · September 15, 2021 9:42PM

I am SO glad it doesn't say SAMPLE on the label!

Zoins · September 15, 2021 10:26PM

@Lakesammman said:
I am SO glad it doesn't say SAMPLE on the label!

Are you trying to convince yourself it's not a sample?

You know you want it!

Zoins · September 15, 2021 10:52PM

@Byers said:
With all due respect, Ian graded the cricket MS 65...

But shouldn’t it be SPECIMEN 65🤔🤔🤔

It’s quite the specimen!

TPRC · September 16, 2021 11:07AM

Buy the cricket (or the cockroach), not the slab!

ShaunBC5 · September 16, 2021 12:43PM

@gumby1234 said:
Stupid cricket is worth more than many of my coins are.

It may be worth more than my entire collection by the time the hammer drops.

ctf_error_coins · September 16, 2021 1:22PM

Because of the price and publicity of this slabbed insect,

I wonder if there will be some "Midnight Minting" going on at PCGS

JonBrand83 · September 16, 2021 2:14PM

Think its been to CAC?

Broadstruck · September 16, 2021 5:39PM

@ianrussell

That cricket looks like it's about to disintegrate...

So how will you ship that so the winner doesn't receive a slab with just beige dust in it?

IkesT · September 16, 2021 5:56PM

@JonBrand83 said:
Think its been to CAC?

You mean Cricket Acceptance Corporation?

MrEureka · September 16, 2021 6:08PM

@Broadstruck said:
@ianrussell

That cricket looks like it's about to disintegrate...

So how will you ship that so the winner doesn't receive a slab with just beige dust in it?

That is a REALLY good question!

ianrussell · September 16, 2021 6:31PM

Am I happy that this is getting more attention than the 1893-S $1 we recently auctioned?

Yep, sure, absolutely. :-)

Ian

ianrussell · September 16, 2021 6:34PM

@Broadstruck said:
@ianrussell

That cricket looks like it's about to disintegrate...

So how will you ship that so the winner doesn't receive a slab with just beige dust in it?

We're being very careful with it here (it's not housed with other coins in double row/single row boxes etc.). I'd prefer someone to pick it up from us, but if we ship it, we will make sure it is packed very well. It did survive going to/from coin shows for Fred - he displayed it at quite a few shows.

Ian

gumby1234 · September 16, 2021 6:40PM

Large box and wrap it in 10 inches thick bubble wrap

Byers · September 16, 2021 7:56PM

CoinWeek has published a detailed article and included a video showcasing Fred Weinberg and his famous Cricket.

In the article, CoinWeek quotes Fred stating that a dealer offered a substantially higher offer for the Cricket.

Fred didn’t want to name the dealer or the amount offered, since he did not want to hype the sale of the Cricket by Great Collections.

Fred was referring to me. I had called Fred immediately when I noticed that GC had listed it in their auction, and offered Fred five thousand dollars to pull the sale and sell me the PCGS Cricket. He thanked me for the offer but said he couldn’t end the auction.

As of now, the bid is $2,600. I still feel that the Cricket will jump higher, and hit 10k before it’s all over.

Zoins · September 16, 2021 11:00PM

@Byers said:
As of now, the bid is $2,600. I still feel that the Cricket will jump higher, and hit 10k before it’s all over.

I hope so. It’s fun to see a cricket jump!

Zoins · September 16, 2021 11:01PM

I hope it can make it back to PCGS for a TrueView!

Here's a concept rendering

Here's one with the slab!

morgansforever · September 17, 2021 1:25AM

Unbelievable what people spend their money on.

Zoins · September 17, 2021 8:20AM

@morgansforever said:

Unbelievable what people spend their money on.

That's what many spouses think about coins

Byers · September 17, 2021 8:33AM

An unopened copy of Super Mario Bros has sold for $2 million to an anonymous buyer, a record-breaking price for a single video game.

The PCGS Cricket sounds like a bargain.

ElmerFusterpuck · September 17, 2021 9:38AM

Will this be on display for the next Long Beach show? Maybe in a jar with small holes poked in the lid?

pcgscacgold · September 17, 2021 2:59PM

Now at $2900 ($3200 with BP). Seems like Irrational Exuberance to me but then I don't collect Crickets in PCGS Slabs. Maybe it is undergraded.

Zoins · September 18, 2021 9:02AM

@pcgscacgold said:
Now at $2900 ($3200 with BP). Seems like Irrational Exuberance to me but then I don't collect Crickets in PCGS Slabs. Maybe it is undergraded.

Someone is hoping it CACs!

wondercoin · September 18, 2021 9:27AM

“Fred was referring to me. I had called Fred immediately when I noticed that GC had listed it in their auction, and offered Fred five thousand dollars to pull the sale and sell me the PCGS Cricket. He thanked me for the offer but said he couldn’t end the auction.”

“As of now, the bid is $2,600. I still feel that the Cricket will jump higher, and hit 10k before it’s all over.”

I’m really confused- if someone really wants to own an “item” at the very fair (offer) price of $5,000, why publicly predict it will hit $10,000 before it is over?? What am I missing? Are the proceeds of this auction now going to a charity, which might explain that?

Wondercoin

privatecoin · September 18, 2021 9:35AM

No cac. Not enough luster...

Byers · September 18, 2021 9:53AM

Andy Lustig said:

‘I hope Fred has the decency to donate the proceeds to PETA or some worthy cricket conservation society.’

I have nothing to do with any proceeds going to charity or not.

People were predicting the outcome and were guessing the final price. I guessed 10k.

Fred didn’t want to hype his unique PCGS Cricket 🦗 in the CoinWeek article, so he didn’t name me or the price (5k). Fred’s a classy guy.

To specifically answer your question, I wanted to help the Cricket jump a bit, but I am not inferring that the proceeds are being donated.

Byers · September 18, 2021 10:05AM

Zions- I actually like your concept rendering of a PCGS TrueView for the Cricket.

Having said that, I think PCGS should offer a TrueView with the option of having the side of the slab on the TrueView.

ianrussell · September 18, 2021 11:24AM

@Byers said:
CoinWeek has published a detailed article and included a video showcasing Fred Weinberg and his famous Cricket.

In the article, CoinWeek quotes Fred stating that a dealer offered a substantially higher offer for the Cricket.

Fred didn’t want to name the dealer or the amount offered, since he did not want to hype the sale of the Cricket by Great Collections.

Fred was referring to me. I had called Fred immediately when I noticed that GC had listed it in their auction, and offered Fred five thousand dollars to pull the sale and sell me the PCGS Cricket. He thanked me for the offer but said he couldn’t end the auction.

As of now, the bid is $2,600. I still feel that the Cricket will jump higher, and hit 10k before it’s all over.

Mike, this post reminds me why we typically don't put consignor's names in the listing!

Ian

Byers · September 18, 2021 11:44AM

Ian-

I certainly understand. It’s a double edge sword. GC prominently has ‘From the Fred Weinberg Collection’ in the auction listing title. And Fred was in the video that Coin Week published.

Part of my conversation with Fred was giving GC the commission if Fred pulled it. But as I mentioned in my previous post, Fred said he couldn’t ask you to pull it, and I certainly understood.

Fred and I had discussed the value of his PCGS Cricket and who might purchase it...before it was listed on your website as an auction lot.

Anyways, good luck with the PCGS Cricket auction! It’s certainly one of the most exciting and unusual PCGS slabs ever. And it’s great publicity for GC.

AUandAG · September 18, 2021 2:49PM

20 years Fred? Try 30 years. Oh, that ought to help out the retirement fund a bunch!

bob

Walkerfan · September 18, 2021 3:38PM

A LOT of deep pockets, in this hobby/industry, to be able to throw money at and purchase something like this.

No interest from me....I'll stick to coins. But, I'm guessing that it sells WELL into the 5 figures, at least.

Probably purchased by someone who is closely related to the history of this story and/or it's players.

Zoins · September 19, 2021 10:11AM

Cricket is on 🔥

GC says so!

It's up to $3,500 before BP with over 42 days to go!

And it's worth more than its weight in gold!

Zoins · September 19, 2021 10:30AM

@ianrussell I noticed that the cricket is the #3 highlighted item on the GC homepage.

Any way to get it to the #1 slot?

fiftysevener · September 19, 2021 10:33AM

Of course it's worth more in a PCGS holder. But if I were a shareholder I would like to know what the real priorities were at the time.

Zoins · September 19, 2021 10:33AM

Is this a Top 5 slab from the @FredWeinberg Collection?

Zoins · September 19, 2021 10:40AM

@fiftysevener said:
Of course it's worth more in a PCGS holder. But if I were a shareholder I would like to know what the real priorities were at the time.

It could have been getting rid of the cricket sound so the staff could concentrate on throughput.

Byers · September 19, 2021 10:46AM

Zions- most likely this PCGS Cricket will turn out to be the most famous item that Fred ever handled!

tcollects · September 19, 2021 10:47AM

I'm a catch-and-release kind of guy with bugs so I don't like this

fiftysevener · September 19, 2021 10:47AM

@Byers said:
Ian-

I certainly understand. It’s a double edge sword. GC prominently has ‘From the Fred Weinberg Collection’ in the auction listing title. And Fred was in the video that Coin Week published.

Part of my conversation with Fred was giving GC the commission if Fred pulled it. But as I mentioned in my previous post, Fred said he couldn’t ask you to pull it, and I certainly understood.

Fred and I had discussed the value of his PCGS Cricket and who might purchase it...before it was listed on your website as an auction lot.

Anyways, good luck with the PCGS Cricket auction! It’s certainly one of the most exciting and unusual PCGS slabs ever. And it’s great publicity for GC.

Maybe good publicity for GC but it sure doesn't look good for PCGS. I would want to be assured graders are spending time on my coins to be graded accurately. So do we need a grading set to identify these things ?

Zoins · September 19, 2021 10:52AM

@fiftysevener said:

@Byers said:
Ian-

I certainly understand. It’s a double edge sword. GC prominently has ‘From the Fred Weinberg Collection’ in the auction listing title. And Fred was in the video that Coin Week published.

Part of my conversation with Fred was giving GC the commission if Fred pulled it. But as I mentioned in my previous post, Fred said he couldn’t ask you to pull it, and I certainly understood.

Fred and I had discussed the value of his PCGS Cricket and who might purchase it...before it was listed on your website as an auction lot.

Anyways, good luck with the PCGS Cricket auction! It’s certainly one of the most exciting and unusual PCGS slabs ever. And it’s great publicity for GC.

Maybe good publicity for GC but it sure doesn't look good for PCGS. I would want to be assured graders are spending time on my coins to be graded accurately. So do we need a grading set to identify these things ?

I think it’s fine for PCGS. It’s from the early days and part of history now.

Zoins · September 19, 2021 10:56AM

@Byers said:
Zions- most likely this PCGS Cricket will turn out to be the most famous item that Fred ever handled!

Could be???

I know about the off center Morgan which is used for his store card.

Will these two end up being the most famous?

Cricket - PCGS 65FH (Detached)

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