Jump to content
British Coin Forum - Predecimal.com

50 Years of RotographicCoinpublications.com A Rotographic Imprint. Price guide reference book publishers since 1959. Lots of books on coins, banknotes and medals. Please visit and like Coin Publications on Facebook for offers and updates.

Coin Publications on Facebook

   Rotographic    

The current range of books. Click the image above to see them on Amazon (printed and Kindle format). More info on coinpublications.com

predecimal.comPredecimal.com. One of the most popular websites on British pre-decimal coins, with hundreds of coins for sale, advice for beginners and interesting information.

jaggy

Accomplished Collector
  • Content Count

    1,424
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    41

Everything posted by jaggy

  1. jaggy

    LCA JUNE

    1878 - over 7
  2. jaggy

    LCA JUNE

    Sorry .... coins purchased in the 1980s and 1990s .... mainly from Glendinings. Examples might be a 1878 over 7 sixpence which I had graded as an MS62 and which cost me £80 (inc. juice & postage) or my 1887 Private pattern sixpence in Aluminium, graded PF64 and which cost £160. Same with the sixpences I bought at the Willis sale in 1992. All graded highly, all are quite rare and all cost less than £200 (everything included).
  3. jaggy

    LCA JUNE

    That is 20 years ago. Times change and markets change. I have some pretty rare coins from the 1980s and 1990s that cost me relatively little but which would probably bring a lot of money now.
  4. jaggy

    LCA JUNE

    Like many people I rationalise the reasons for my purchases when, instinctively, I think they might be expensive. At the end of the day I wanted this coin and I got it for less than my maximum bid. So that is a win and '1930 sixpence' gets deleted from my buy list. Top quality coins always cost more than the books say and if they are graded and slabbed then that adds a premium. Just the way it is. As has been pointed out by others, I am a collector, not a dealer. I don't have to worry about profit margins and resale. I don't have to worry about capital tied up in stock. When I die my collection will be there for my children to dispose of. I won't care, I will be dead ...... and you can't take it with you.
  5. jaggy

    LCA JUNE

    Well done on the 48/7!!!
  6. jaggy

    LCA JUNE

    Well ... that depends ...... 1. That I care what it is worth because resell is on the horizon ..... which it isn't. 2. What its market value actually is if and when I chose to sell. 3. What it costs me to have a coin graded and slabbed and whether I do it in this case. 4. How important the coin is to me as a component of my overall collection. 5. Whether the cost of this coin is counter balanced by getting other coins cheaper .... or ..... was I under budget for this auction? I was.
  7. jaggy

    LCA JUNE

    So .... I bid on four lots and won three of them all well under my maximum bid: 1. 1904, Threepence, Large Ball on 3, NGC graded MS66. A nice addition to my Edward VII type set. 2. 1930 sixpence in an LCGS holder and graded LCGS 88. 3. 1697 sixpence. Third Bust, Later Harp, Large Crowns, in an NGC holder and graded NGC MS62. I already have a couple of these but this is an upgrade. While I was a little bit disappointed that this sale didn't have any of my 'must have' coins, still nice to get these ones.
  8. jaggy

    LCA JUNE

    I never buy mixed lots and very rarely do I buy a lot with more than one coin in it. I often wonder who buys the larger lots and speculate that it may be dealers replenishing stock or e-bay sellers buying stock.
  9. jaggy

    LCA JUNE

    For me, they simply don't have the dates or the quality I am looking for. However, I think that is also a function of my maturing collection as I have most of what I want and the stuff I don't have tends to be rarer and comes up less often at auction. In terms of quality, where I am looking to upgrade there is plenty of run of the mill material but not much top end. So now I am tending to buy in ones and twos from a variety of sources, both auctions and dealers.
  10. jaggy

    LCA JUNE

    Very little in that catalogue for me, unfortunately.
  11. jaggy

    Photographing Coins

    What matters is not so much the DSLR but the lens, the lighting and the editing (e.g. Photoshop). A top quality macro lens like the Nikon 105mm with decent lighting will produce outstanding results. Unfortunately, that lens costs $900. It is, however, on my list to purchase at some point in the future.
  12. jaggy

    NGC Slabbing

    I looked at both PCGS and NGC and chose to go with the latter. I just has a better feeling about them. Overall, I have found their grading to be strict but fair and that has made me much more careful about my purchases. I think the differential with regard to auction prices mainly applies to US coins and, there, I think that PCGS has a stronger presence amongst dealers which helps push prices. I'm not sure that there is much of a differential for non-US coins. At least I haven't noticed it. The NGC vs PVGS discussion is one of those 'wars of religion' that never finds a conclusion. In reality, both grading companies are very reliable, quite consistent and extremely professional. They do, however, grade to their own proprietary standards. I followed an online discussion on this subject and a very reputable US dealer commented: "In my observation and experience, NGC started to award higher grades to coins with original surfaces where the surfaces were devoid of marks, hits, scrapes, etc... whereas PCGS started to award higher grades to coins with great luster or extremely attractive toning. Over time, this started to weight the pools of coins seen in NGC and PCGS holders so that high grade, valuable coins in NGC holders were more likely to have muted surfaces or neutral-to-unattractive toning while coins from this same niche in PCGS holders were more likely to have good luster, cool toning and better arm's length eye appeal. Obviously, this was not universal and did not happen overnight, but I would think that by 1995-1997 there was a clear distinction between the pools of coins graded by the services that were available at auction or on the bourse. In my opinion, the early decisions by PCGS and NGC ended up harming NGC while helping PCGS establish a firm hold on the top spot in the eyes of many folks."
  13. Far be it for me to defend Atlas. However, the last two coins I bought from them were significantly better in hand than the photos suggested. With $80 software (e.g. Photoshop Elements) it is very easy to 'doctor' a photo without actually touching the coin itself.
  14. Thanks. As you know, I'm not too knowledgeable on pennies but I liked the look of this one and the price was reasonable.
  15. Picked this up at Heritage on Thursday.
  16. jaggy

    My Latest Acquisition

    I have thirty five (35) 1952 sixpences at least two of which are UNC and very nice. Picked most of them up years ago. They seemed more plentiful then and you don't seem to see them much nowadays. It is hard to get one in really good condition. I did pick up an UNC although with an edge nick in 2013 and that one cost me £50 plus postage, etc. etc..
  17. There is a poster on here who has specialised in 1887 and has, I think, either a complete or almost complete set of the pattern sixpences.
  18. I have a similar example though in aluminium and not silver (ESC 3307).
  19. Pretty disgusting and sordid but I don't see what the link to Trump is.
  20. jaggy

    US Grading vs UK Grading.....

    This looks like a nice reverse and, were it not for the gouge, might have achieved a much better grade. In my experience, NGC is very intolerant of marks such as hairline or other scratches which are more than just contact marks. They are, however, tolerant of marks which can be attributed to the minting process such as adjustment marks. I don't know about PCGS as I have never submitted to them. UK auction graders seem, in my opinion and experience, to be more tolerant of hairline scratches and often don't even describe them. As such, I have learned to become very cautious when buying at auction in the UK. My overall experience of having coins graded by NGC in the USA is that the graders are pretty strict and generally accurate. When I go back and look at a coin following the grading, I can usually see exactly where the graders are coming from. That, incidentally, has helped me become a better judge of grade when buying.
  21. jaggy

    US Grading vs UK Grading.....

    It is just a question of getting used to the different systems. The UK system is a bit more general in that, for example, EF is a fairly broad designation. The US system, on the other hand, tries to be more specific. In my opinion, graders on both sides of the pond usually get it right despite the odd 'failure'. I am pretty comfortable with both but there is still no substitute for looking at the coin and forming one's own opinion.
  22. jaggy

    March 2018 LCA

    Well, went back in and had a good close look. While there are some nice coins, there is nothing that is on my buy list and in the quality I am looking for. So I will have to pass on this one.
  23. jaggy

    March 2018 LCA

    On first viewing of the catalogue, not much there for me.
  24. jaggy

    Pushy

    I don't see anything wrong with the above. The guy is in business and a business is supposed to make a profit. Your memories are not his problem. There is a programme on TV called Pawn Stars where this pawn shop buys stuff from people. The number of individuals who don't seem to understand that the shop had to pay overheads such as rent, utilities and wages as well as providing a living for its owners and, as a result, cannot pay retail prices is amazing. When I was in business and clients were haggling over rates, I would sometimes respond that we were not a charity. I don't have a problem with a business pointing this out to potential sellers. It has the merit of clarity.
×