SilverAge3

Most of the auctions here, outside ebay, are 99% certified, and those not are usually inferior lots. And looking through ebay, very few people sell good quality raws, and most of those are from outside thd US. It's just the way things are here, so a good bit of my better pieces are slabbed, even though I'm fine buying raws.

Great Collections is reasonable, and they also dispatch packages quickly (usually within 2-3 days), and don't gouge on shipping, compared to the much bigger dealers. 30% is horrible. A freaking third more, and you know they're siphoning off both sides, too.

David Lawrence is the only one I know. I've never purchased from them, though. The lowest BP of houses I reg bid at is Great Collections -- 12.5%, or 10% paid by check/ach, minimum $5. Most others are 20%, Heritage w/ minimum $29/lot, which is steep for lower end items.

Many auction houses here attach a buyer's premium AND a premium to the seller (and often listing fees per item).

Over here we have to prove it's profit, or it's assumed 100% to be profit. If you don't have receipts/invoices to prove what you paid into it, it will go on gross. It also makes a headache just to say, get reimbursed for a loan, if you are repaid by some digital payment app..

The new threshold is set to be $600, combined accumulation across all platforms, and all money services like Cash App, Paypal, etc. What was it previously, $40,000, ir something wildly different?

I saw Dave Craddock mentioned in here numerous times. I looked him up, and read about him being robbed with a machete after a show. All the same, i emailed him, inquiring if he were still selling coins, but alas never heard back.

I'd not heard of them prior to this, but i'm in the states. If course because i'm in the states, i often try to find sources on that side of the Atlantic whom i can purchase from (sadly, some dealers, like Michael Gouby won't ship here -- i can't even purchase his penny books, which aggravates me to no end, i wish he'd at least offer pdf versions, even though i'd clearly prefer hardcopies; other dealers make payment impossible for me, only taking checks in £, or international wires, and i don't have access to these services). So I looked through this dealer's offerings, and the catalog is immense, offering pieces i'd be more than interested in, but most have no pictures. I'm not plunking hundreds of £ sight unseen. Pictures can deceive, as it is, but to not offer this bare minimum is a no-go for anything over say £20-50, and especially pieces multitudes of that threshold. It's mind-boggling, and this added with commentary above makes me even more apprehensive. I could just focus on the few pieces with pics, but that eliminates many of my current main focuses to obtain.

I've watched videos of people removing copper spots off gold with a torch. Seems to work, but not personally tried.

Thanks for the reminder it was one of the hypo years.

The acidity in olive oil is part of what gives it its pungent flavor. Besides, olive oil gets gummy, and can go rancid. I know for treating wooden spoons, cutting boards I use walnut oil, to avoid the rancidity and gumminess, but suspect it, too, is acidic, so would avoid on coins.

Then there's sellers who have higher quality coins I'm looking for, but on top of charging high sums, feel the best way to show off a coin is laying it in their greasy hand. I might even consider the high price tag, even with the carbon spot, but how have they decided handling these coins like this is appropriate? Especially aggravating when it's a tough coin to find in higher grades, like this 1934 penny. This seller has several 1934s, all mishandled similarly, and priced at over £200, yet I can't find other copies this nice, but I can't justify spending this, since it'll likely arrive all oily and printed up. Really drives me nuts. At least I know before buying that the seller mishandles them, is my only consolation. https://www.ebay.com/itm/145198978191

I use telegram a fair bit, but for topical discussions like this, forums are superior... or would be if most people hadn't stopped using them. But case in point, I'm a recent member, because I feel forums are the best format for hobbies, and the like.

it gets tiresome to dig through crap, when I specifically use search queries like (unc, bu, uncirculated, ms), and yet I still get greeted by pieces which are listed as "bu gem stunning", but look like someone took steel wool to it. This isn't the most heinous example (those are often accompanied by insane pricetags too), but it's annoying. /rant https://www.ebay.com/itm/315065305741

Glad to be , sorry your lit has suffered water damage, hopefully it can be mitigated. I prize my reference books for all my interests, and lost some things along the way, it's no fun.

As an aside, what does Selig 1305 refer to?

Thanks for the feedback. Photos really can alter a coin's appearance.

I'm not trying to disparage any dealers validity, or anything, I have a lot to learn, but this thread confirms more what I thought bronzed proofs typically looked like, so with that said, I had wondered about these two 1806 proofs (these do not have imperfect 1 and 0, obv), as they looked less like I thought bronzed proofs might. Granted photos can dramatically alter coin appearances, but curious on others' thoughts. I'm just trying to learn, so pardon the ignorance. I'll upload across a couple more comments, as site's being finicky.

thanks for that tip

Thanks for the confirmation.

Thanks for the confirmation, and thanks again for your website, that page is one I had not yet trekked down, and not just the unrecorded mule, but many of the mules I was unaware of. Fascinating. Follow up question, @secret santa, is the distinction between P1326 and 1327 going to be discernable by assuming the bronzed ones will have darker chocolate fields, generally? I suspect I own the copper, not bronzed, but looking to verify. I'll try to upload pics, but often max out beyond constraints... I was able to get one up, which hopefully suffices, but can try to compress other images without destroying purpose of uploading them. Thanks again for your input.

Ok thank you, so it is beyond the scope of just pennies. Much appreciated explanation.

The 1806 pennies with imperfect 1 and 0 -- 1 missing the base, and 0 open at top -- are only to be found in proof issues, not currency, is that correct? Just clarifying for my own records. Thanks.