The crazy world of Top pop buyers

[azda 963]

A common 1913 half Sov

[oldcopper 238]

1 hour ago, azda said:

A common 1913 half Sov

As one dealer told me, this micro-incremental grading scale is just a way of making more money out of collectors. This here being a prime example.

[azda 963]

5 minutes ago, oldcopper said:

As one dealer told me, this micro-incremental grading scale is just a way of making more money out of collectors. This here being a prime example.

Exactly.

[Silverlocks 54]

The nice thing about George V sovs is that you can get really good examples at bullion prices.  Something like 440 million were minted in total and they were uncirculated for most of the 22 years they were in production.  Most of mine would grade between AU-58 and MS-63 and I've got a 1918 that would probably do better than that.  They're nice coins but Georges in that condition are fairly common and they're not worth grading.

I know folks who love their premium slabbed coins and actually buy proof sets from the RM to send off to NGC in pursuit of the coveted PF70 Ultra Cameo.  However, I can't really bring myself to get excited about slabbed coins, let alone paying top dollar for them.

One can see the point in the US with the enormous trade in restoring Morgan dollars and suchlike.  Having an expert certify that the thing is at least genuine, especially when you're going to shell out hundreds of dollars for a coin with a melt value of $20, sort of makes sense.  Buying a brand new proof coin and immediately bundling it off to a grading firm - not so much.  

Edited February 21 by Silverlocks

[VickySilver 647]

How about one of the major driving forces behind this "pop top" business? Registry sets! Yikes.

The TPGs rate people's submitted sets but note that all coins must be from that TPG and no others included. I probably let my pride get the better of me, but thrice with regards to sixpences and shillings (Victoria and George V) and Victoria half sovereigns, I suggested to each poster on one of the chat rooms that possibly I might blow their set(s) out of the water but chose not to party at their end of the pool & of course they took exception. I guess my real point is that there are many coins that are not slabbed or not entered into registry set competition.

[Rob 2,783]

40 minutes ago, VickySilver said:

How about one of the major driving forces behind this "pop top" business? Registry sets! Yikes.

The TPGs rate people's submitted sets but note that all coins must be from that TPG and no others included. I probably let my pride get the better of me, but thrice with regards to sixpences and shillings (Victoria and George V) and Victoria half sovereigns, I suggested to each poster on one of the chat rooms that possibly I might blow their set(s) out of the water but chose not to party at their end of the pool & of course they took exception. I guess my real point is that there are many coins that are not slabbed or not entered into registry set competition.

Like the guy who took exception when I suggested they were collecting opinions. Was it MS65 1967 pennies? Whatever, really rare because only a handful had been slabbed in such exalted grade. Thus proving that most people still retain their marbles.