Market Blog - Written by Doug Winter on Wednesday, June 3, 2009 10:36 - 11 Comments
Why a Motley Coin Collection Just Might Make Sense…
Numismatics is, in many ways, the Land of the Anal Retentive and collectors (and dealers) sometimes make decisions that are based more on personal obsessiveness that on sound business principles. Let me illustrate what I mean.
Yesterday, I was talking to a good client about a coin that I sent him on approval. He liked the coin very much but he was worried about the fact that since it was in one of the brand new “with prong” NGC holders that it would destroy the consistency of his collection.
Being a bit AR myself, I could understand where this gentleman was coming from. If I had a specialized collection of, say, New Orleans half eagles, I could see the point of having all the coins in the same service’s holder. I could also see the point of having the coins all pedigreed, of having them in consecutive serial numbered holders, in making certain all the holders were free of blemishes, etc.
But as we were talking, I had what I thought was a Lightbulb Atop Head realization. As someone who looks a lot of collections and buys a lot of coins, I realized that for better or worse the presentation of coins is important to me.
If I see a collection where every coin is in a consecutively numbered NGC or PCGS slab, my impression (right or wrong…) is that this is a deal where someone just sent all the pieces in for grading and there is no “juice” left. Fair or not, I suddenly might become a bit concerned about the freshness of the coins and might not figure them as aggressively as I should.
If the exactly same coins were in a more random array of slabs (some NGC, some PCGS, some old holders, some new holders, etc.) I would probably be more impressed with their “freshness” and figure them more aggressively.
If you are a sensible collector, you probably just read the last two paragraphs and thought “that’s totally insane. The coins are what they are and what the #@$%^ does it matter what holders they are in?”
Good question. But until you’ve been around the coin business a while, you don’t realize how odd this market is. When you come right down to it, think how strange the whole concept of the coin business/hobby actually is. Ponder this: you are paying thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars for a small disc of metal, often with minimal intrinsic worth. The market can be thin and quirky (to say the least) and it is to your advantage to know as many of the little tricks as possible to maintain the integrity of your collection.
So before you send your New Orleans half eagle in the old PCGS green label holder or your Dahlonega quarter eagle in the slightly scuffed-up NGC holder, think twice and ask yourself it just might impact the integrity of your collection when it is time to sell.
11 Comments
The collector’s intuition is very sound. Clearly the coin is not fresh,since obviously it was not discovered in an attic in the last few months. ;its been broken out and sent in for re-graging or more likey not broken out just sent in for upgrade service in the holder. So its at its maximum grade. To me it seems many more NGC coins have been played with anyway so it is certainly not foolish to insist on PCGS, unless of course you are DW and have personally examined the coin. Only then could you remotey possibly be better off buying a new NGC coin.
This points out the conflict that many of us face between being the visually-oriented collector who wants all our coins displayed alike vs the cold business person that understands it is only the coin that matters. Ever since I had to start getting NGC coins to go with my PCGS coins many years ago, I have been frustrated with the stark visual difference between these two types of holders. I even suggested to these companies that they allow the other company to use their holders, but with their own grading service logo on it. I recall the answer was something like the second coming might happen first.
So with the new edge-view NGC holders, I was faced with even a third type of holder to further distract the display of my coins. Doug’s answer was a revelation that I could look back on the differences in grading services and generations of my holders with pride that I have accumulated these coins one at a time over a 20 year period. I also had another revelation: Having looked at this coin, I realized how rarely I see the actual edge of these valuable old coins. It reminded me of how we used to examine the front, back and edges of coins while holding it by the tips of our fingers. I may have become an instant convert to these holders, although I need to see how a smaller coin looks in them.
Finally, being the AR collector of note, I have to answer Reid that this coin was an exceptionally nice coin that was original and conservatively graded by NGC. Doug may know more about this coin, but it may have been graded for the first time. Ultimately, there are very nice coins graded by both NGC and PCGS, so we must either become an expert at judging a coin and its grade or have a trustworthy dealer (like Doug) to find coins for us.
It’s funny because for a minute, I though I was the AR collector of note. Last week after getting a quarter eagle from Doug in one of these new holders, I sent Doug a note saying that I really didn’t like it for such a small coin. I even wrote my own blog entry a few days ago specifically about the coin and the holder.
Today, I received my second coin from Doug in one of these holders, a half eagle. I have to say with the slightly larger coin, I actually like the holder. But coins the size of a quarter eagle or smaller, I don’t. Maybe its because my eyesight is getting worse with age. Plus, with a thin reeded edge coin, there’s not much to see anyway. Now an early half or silver dollar I think would look great in one of these holders.
But in the end, it really does come down to the coin. As I told Doug, I wouldn’t let one of these holders stop me from buying a coin I want.
There are lots of coin guys out there that don’t like the new NGC holders. I don’t really mind them that much. All that I can come up with is that currently there seems to be a finite number of coins available for the market. So at some point the upgrade game was conceived, then set registries, now new NGC holders/ keeping the old PCGS holders, CAC stickers, and also the recent PCGS “genuine” holders. It all seems to come down to the grading services providing a service to keep this coin business running.
I am glad I haven’t taken the time to mess with any of my wide collection of holders. Sometimes doing nothing is the best policy.
JLR: That’s pretty much the perfect way to view your collection.
There is an old adage the ‘experts’ continue to repeat - buy the coin, not the holder.
This topic has really aroused some comment. Just to clarify, if I find the right coin, I buy it regardless of the holder. However, I have to assume most of us as collectors like to look at our coins from time to time, so how they are displayed is important. The stark difference between PCGS and NGC holders creates a mild bit of visual discord when I view a particular set of coins and the new NGC holder created a third, but its not a big deal. However, I am really hoping that the next generation of PCGS holders don’t use a red background.
NGC just announced that their next holders are going to encase the coin in a small capsule guarded by a hungry piranah.
I think that it’s possible to maintain the “freshness appeal” of an older collection (which is DW’s main point), without having an esthetically unappealing variety of different TPG holders.
For example, all of my Dahlonega Mint coins are in PCGS holders (a number of which were “crossed over” from other services). However, I have left all of my older “green label” PCGS holders intact (about 50% of the collection), even though most of them are very conservatively graded by today’s standards.
I do not feel pressured to have the green label coins re-graded. I have found that the older holders have a certain cachet of their own and frequently bring premium prices, especially when sold as part of a fresh, “old time” grouping.
As a case in point, I can remember a significant number of “fresh” green label Dahlonega half eagles that sold out completely at one show, to a number of D-Mint collectors in our “circle,” at prices commensurate with their market grade (generally above the grade on the PGCS label). A few friends who arrived late at the show were actually grousing that they didn’t get a shot at the coins.
Doug, I enjoyed the interesting blog!
Carl: You win the prize for actually “getting” the point of my blog.
Reid Wissner - Jun 4, 2009 05:24 am