Beginner Needs Help

mev55 · April 17, 2007 6:25PM

Hello everyone, I'm new to this forum, and I need help on how to have a coin graded..I understand that grading is clearly one of the most important parts of buying and selling rare coins. My question is how does one go about doing this, and what are the costs involved. I'm concerned with a specific coin from hungary, and I've had one person kind enough to help me but his desciption doesn't quite match my coin, so naturally I'm concerned with the authenticity of this coin..

Thank You all in advance for any repiles

Mev55

laurentyvan · April 17, 2007 9:53PM

Good to have you here, welcome!

No answers to your question yet I see but be patient.

dcamp78 · April 17, 2007 10:49PM

It's hard to tell from these pictures. If you can, take another set of pictures.
Place the coin on a lighter color and rotate the coins 90 degrees clockwise.

Sapyx · April 17, 2007 11:41PM

Hi, and welcome to the forum.

Your coin looks more like a silver denar, rather than a gold ducat, to me. If it appears "golden", then it's probably just a combination of toning/tarnish and the low-grade silver sometimes used in these coins. I wouldn't be too worried about it being a counterfeit - these coins are so cheap and plentiful, the forgers normally bypass them and aim for bigger game.

As to the question of grading, it depends.

For mediaeval and early modern coinage, grading is made even more difficult than it normally is by the poor quality the coins were usually made to start with. As a general rule, familiarity is the key. Learn (or be able to make an educated guess about) what a "perfect" specimen ought to look like, so that when you see a 'real' coin you know what should be there and what shouldn't - any missing bits are wear, and the more wear a coin shows, the lower the grade - and value.

Note that for ancient and medieval coins, worn dies were commonly used to make coins, and it's very hard to tell the difference between a theoretically high-grade coin struck from a worn die, and a low-grade coin that's just plain worn. "Wear" and "worn dies" are a 'difference that makes no difference' to the condition or price.

For your coin, let's run through the exercise. It shows the Coat of Arms of Hungary on one side, and the Virgin Mary, patron saint of Hungary, enthroned on the other. Your pictures are a little fuzzy to make a definite judgement (though they're a very good effort for a first-time attempt at such a small coin!) but it looks like most of the writing is present and legible, the various design elements of the shield are all visible and the details of the Virgin (like her face and folds in her robes) are mostly clear and present. I'd be happy calling that coin "good Very Fine", possibly even "Extremely Fine".

I have a small collection of denars of Hungary which I'm basing this judgement on - they're one of the earliest "date series" you can collect (many coins from other countries in the 1500's don't have dates on them). Mine are dated 1508, 1513, 1518, 1588 and 1622; none of mine are in as nice a condition as that one. I paid AU$10-AU$20 each for them. As to the value of yours, sorry, but I don't have any catalogues covering the 1500's, so I can't give you a "book value". I did find this one on CoinArchives which sold for US$163 in Germany in 2001; it's graded "Vorzüglich", which is the German equivalent of "Extremely Fine".

DesertRat · April 18, 2007 1:26AM

"Wear" and "worn dies" are a 'difference that makes no difference' to the condition or price.

I'm lost

laurentyvan · April 18, 2007 2:01AM

Sapyx, you know your stuff! Tell us more about yourself...

mev55 · April 18, 2007 7:06AM

sapyx, I thank you for you expertise, do you want to buy this coin for your collection?

Sapyx · April 18, 2007 3:56PM

<< <i>mev55 said: sapyx, I thank you for you expertise, do you want to buy this coin for your collection? >>

Not at this stage, thanks.

<< <i>laurentyvan said: Sapyx, you know your stuff! Tell us more about yourself...

>>

OK, if you insist. (Where's the Blowing Your Own Trumpet icon?)

34 years old, born in Canada, lived most of my live in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. I've collected coins since I was a kid, 1980 or thereabouts. I collect "world coins", with no specialization or limit to the time period - ancient, mediaeval, modern, Australian, British, US... I like 'em all. I have a small collection of paper money, tokens and medals, but I don't actively pursue these (with some exceptions). OFEC is a primary collecting goal for me. If my coin database isn't lying to me, I've currently got 7368 coins (etc) in my main collection.

I'm currently the Editor of the Queensland Numismatic Society's club magazine. It's amazing what kinds of numismatic trivia you pick up at a coin club. Some of those guys have forgotten more coin stuff than I'll ever know. One piece of wisdom that has sunk in for me is "buy the book, then the coin".

Rickc300 · April 18, 2007 4:20PM

<< <i>"buy the book, then the coin". >>

That is a huge bit of advice there! Who needs to spend $50 (or more) on a book when they can pay $50 for a coin (or more) instead?

It pays when you find out later that you bought a bunch of 5 dollar coins for $50 each (or more)

LOL! Yes, I wish I had bought the book first, but being young and dumb it wasn't in the cards. Now I find myself more restrained and much more knowledgeable (thanks to the books) about anything I want to add to my collection or collecting interests.

laurentyvan · April 20, 2007 2:46AM

7368 as an OFEC collector- I love it; you've taken it about two times+ further than I did.

What a jolly journey!

Being an OFEC
gives us such liberty
to simply buy
whatever delights the eye.

I'm currently the Editor of the Queensland Numismatic Society's club magazine. Thanks for the link-post much!

Beginner Needs Help

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