PMR - 2024 #1 January/February

MARKET REPORT JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2024 PROFESSIONAL COIN GRADING SERVICE - PCGS.COM

PCGS COIN OF THE ISSUE

1880 FLOWING HAIR STELLA

ROOSEVELT THE LEGACY OF DIMES SHINE CHINA'S CASH COINAGE

R A R E C OI N MARKE T R EPOR T

MAY - J UNE 2022 II

R A R E C OI N MARKE T R EPOR T

MAY - J UNE 2022 1

SPEAKING OF COINS M A R K E T

Happy 2024, everyone! We’re hitting the ground running with a busy array of

R E P O R T

shows during these first weeks of the new year. We at PCGS always love it when things

A Collectors Universe Company

get busy on the convention circuit because it means we get to meet so many of you

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in person, giving us a chance to listen to your ideas and feedback. And some of you

Editor-in-Chief Joshua McMorrow-Hernandez Director of Advertising & Marketplace Taryn Warrecker Content Manager Arianna Tortomasi Lead Designer James Davis Cover Artist Keith Dewald Numismatic Photographer Phil Arnold Distribution Coordinator Ronald Burnett

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provided insightful thoughts on what we can do differently or better as we talked with countless showgoers over 2023. As we look ahead to 2024, we anticipate unrolling a variety of new innovations that will help us serve you better, and so we thank you for speaking up and reaching out to us.

Communication is always key in any relationship, and you know what else is?

Trust and respect, both of which we will always work tirelessly to earn. Reliability is something Roosevelt Dimes is certainly known for, having chugged along with relatively few changes since debuting in 1946. In this issue of PCGS Market Report, we’ll cover this surprisingly dynamic series in an in-depth review, along with a fascinating trip into the history of China’s cash coinage by Peter Anthony.

To become a PCGS Authorized Dealer, contact:

Sanjay Gandhi continues the numismatic voyage around the world with a stop in

Dealer@PCGS.com

Bulgaria, a nation whose coinage is becoming popular on the PCGS Set Registry. And

To become a PCGS Collectors Club member, go to www.PCGS.com/join

speaking of the PCGS Set Registry, we will meet Jim Gately, whose famous Buffalo

Printed in the United States. Copyright 2024 Collectors Universe, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any kind without written permission of the publisher is prohibited by law. PCGS Market Report is published bi-monthly by Collectors Universe, Inc. at P.O. Box 9458, Newport Beach, CA 92658. Postmaster, send address change to Market Report c/o PCGS, Publication Department, P.O. Box 9458, Newport Beach, CA 92658.

Publication of this magazine is not a solicitation by the publisher, editor, or staff to buy or sell the coins listed herein.

Advertising, articles, and other contents of this magazine sometimes contain inadvertent typographical errors, a fact readers should bear in mind when encountering pricing quoted at a fraction of prevailing market values.

The publisher is not responsible for actions taken by any person because of such errors. Advertising prices are subject to change without notice.

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Nickel collection has regularly earned top accolades on the interactive collecting platform. We’ll also chat with young numismatist Rene Alvarenga, a 20-year-old collector who hopes to educate fellow collectors and build bridges within the hobby and beyond. We also dive into the world of treasure coins with articles from Josh Scott and the 1715 Fleet Society.

In addition to the columns from all your favorite PCGS experts, we feature the PCGS Coin of the Issue. And this one is a real “star” in the literal and figurative senses.

It’s none other than an 1880 Flowing Hair Stella, a $4 coin whose name means “star” in Latin and that ranks among the highest-grading examples known. It is graded PCGS PR67CAM, and as Michael Contursi of California firm Rare Coin Wholesalers says, it is one “legendary coin.”

We hope you enjoy this issue of PCGS Market Report and wish you all the best in this new year. We will be marking 38 years of operation in February and look forward to all the great things 2024 has in store for us as a company and for you as a numismatist. As always, we stand by your side and will do whatever we can to help you in your numismatic journey.

Happy New Year, Joshua McMorrow-Hernandez Editor-in-Chief, PCGS Market Report

PCGS MARKET REPORT JAN/FEB 2024

ON THE COVER The spectacular 1880 Flowing Hair $4 Stella graded PCGS PR67CAM is being offered by Rare Coin Wholesalers.

Pg 50 – Coin of the Issue

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Carrying a Torch for the Roosevelt Dime Joshua McMorrow-Hernandez unveils the surprising wealth of collecting opportunities that Roosevelt Dimes offer collectors.

"Nu" Year, "Nu" You?

Joshua McMorrow-Hernandez shares suggestions on how numismatists can kick off the new year with a fresh start in their collections.

The 1715 Fleet Society Silver Cob Research Collection

Explore some of the many amazing finds from under the sea and tracing back to a famous treasure fleet.

PCGS Set Registry: Bulgaria in the Limelight

Sanjay C. Gandhi shares the story behind the tremendous rise in popularity of Bulgarian coinage on the PCGS Set Registry.

Collector Spotlight: Jim Gately

A longtime collector who has built many PCGS Registry Sets, Jim Gately spent years building one of the most famous collections of Buffalo Nickels around.

YN Corner: A Young Numismatist on the Rise

Rene Alvarenga is a 20-year-old numismatist on a mission to inspire his fellow young numismatists and educate those who have a love for coins.

Central Casting

Peter Anthony explores modern coinage that traces China’s ancient history and its ties with cash coinage.

The Ecstasy of Spanish Gold

Treasure coin expert Josh Scott introduces collectors to several beloved historic gold coins of Spanish origin.

36 Auction Highlights 38 PCGS Around the World 44 PCGS Grading Standards 48 Noteworthy Notes 50 PCGS Coin of the Issue

53 From the PCGS Grading Room 56 Market Matters 60 Market Movers & Shakers 62 Coin Market Fundamentals 64 Show Schedule & Advertising Index

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Carrying a Torch for the Roosevelt Dime

By Joshua McMorrow-Hernandez

The Roosevelt Dime has been in production since 1946.

Courtesy of PCGS TrueView.

Roosevelt Dimes have been a mainstay in circulation since 1946, debuting as a tribute to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The dime was a clear choice for memorializing the 32nd president, who was diagnosed with polio. He helped start the March of Dimes organization, which supported the eradication of polio and raised funds for the eventual creation of the polio vaccine.

The Roosevelt Dime has seen very few changes in its nearly 80 years of production. The series did see a transition from a 90% silver composition to copper-nickel clad for circulating and most proof issues beginning in 1965, some minor die enhancements, and the relocation of the mintmark from the reverse to the obverse. However, the coin’s primary design has remained exactly the same for its entire production life.

This is a claim that no other United States coin currently in production for circulation can make.

The Lincoln Cent has undergone multiple reverse transformations since 1959, the Jefferson Nickel saw a series of revisions from 2004 to 2006, and the Washington Quarter has certainly seen its fair share of obverse and reverse design changes since 1999. Even the Kennedy Half Dollar, seldom encountered in circulation anymore, sported a special Bicentennial design in the mid-1970s, and the dollar coin – no longer officially produced for circulation – has also donned numerous designs each year since the mid-2000s.

But the Roosevelt Dime just keeps doing its thing. Some may

PCGS MARKET REPORT JAN/FEB 2024

call it a humble coin, certainly the smallest coin in circulation these days in terms of its physical proportions. Measuring just 17.9 millimeters in diameter and presently weighing 2.27 grams, it’s smaller and lighter than even the one-cent coin. It also garners a relatively smaller number of collectors than, say, the Lincoln Cent and Washington Quarter.

Yet, the Roosevelt Dime offers a ton of potential collecting avenues for numismatists. A standard date-and-mintmark set can be an ideal pursuit for collectors who don’t want to spend thousands of dollars or many years completing a nice set of contemporary coinage. However, those who are financially suited to do so and have the patience to invest in completing an exceptional set of Roosevelt Dimes will find this series right up their alley.

No Dime Spared Roosevelt passed away on April 12, 1945, at the age of 63 from a massive intracerebral hemorrhage. Amid the international mourning upon the passing of the four-term president who helped carry the nation through some of the toughest years of the Great Depression and steadfast into World War II, calls to place the likeness of Roosevelt on the dime grew louder.

Louisiana Representative James Hobson introduced a Congressional bill supporting the Roosevelt Dime on May 7

CARRYING A TORCH FOR THE ROOSEVELT DIME

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was diagnosed with polio at the age of 39 and, despite facing the debilitating physical effects of his diagnosis, he had a successful political career as the nation’s only four-term president. He is seen here in 1941 at his estate with his dog, Fala, and Ruthie Bie, the daughter of caretakers. Public domain image sourced from Wikimedia Commons.

3, 1945. Just two weeks later, on May 17, Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau stated that plans would move forward on replacing the Mercury Dime with a coin honoring Roosevelt.

The Treasury had the leeway to make such a change, as the Mercury Dime had been in production since 1916 and thus had fulfilled the 25-year minimum period after which a coin design could be changed without congressional approval.

Early sketches of design proposals for the Roosevelt Dime.

Public domain image sourced from Wikimedia Commons.

John R. Sinnock works on the Roosevelt Dime.

Public domain image sourced from Wikimedia Commons.

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Chief Engraver of the United States Mint John R. Sinnock was tasked with the work of creating the design for the new Roosevelt Dime, with his assistant, Gilroy Roberts, helping complete many aspects of the project. Sinnock proposed a variety of designs, among them models bearing an obverse design of Roosevelt paired with a reverse depicting a hand grasping a torch along with olive and oak branches. The Commission of Fine Arts, which provides artistic feedback but not prescriptive mandates on coin designs, wanted to see revisions to the Roosevelt obverse as they felt it needed “more dignity.”

Sinnock made further refinements to his design, with continued back and forth between him, Mint Director Nellie Tayloe Ross, and the Fine Arts Commission, the latter suggesting a design competition to land just the right design PCGS MARKET REPORT JAN/FEB 2024

CARRYING A TORCH FOR THE ROOSEVELT DIME

Designer John R. Sinnock’s initials, “JS,” are seen on the lower obverse, just below the bust of Roosevelt and to the left of the date. Courtesy of PCGS. for the new Roosevelt Dime. However, the United States Mint endeavored to complete the design process by the end of 1945 so the new dime could be released in time for a March of Dimes campaign in 1946. By the start of the new year, refinements to the design and placement of inscriptions were perfected, and the coin was officially released on January 30, 1946, the day that would have marked Franklin’s 64th birthday.

The Roosevelt Dime’s Long Journey The Roosevelt Dime’s debut early in 1946 closed the books on the Mercury Dime. This left the Lincoln Cent and the Walking Liberty Half Dollar the last remaining coins in circulation bearing designs from the early 20th-century era known as the Renaissance of American Coinage. The Walking Liberty Half Dollar would also be replaced within a couple of years by the Franklin Half Dollar, coincidentally another coin designed by Sinnock, who died in 1947 and never saw his half dollar unveiled to the public in 1948. Interestingly, it was Sinnock’s initials that triggered some of the biggest buzz upon the release of the Roosevelt Dime.

When the Roosevelt Dime was released bearing Sinnock’s calling card in the form of “JS,” much of the American public, wary of communism during the early days of the Cold War, believed the designer’s initials were part of a subversive plot to honor Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. The U.S. Mint launched a massive campaign to educate the public on the true meaning of the “JS” initials, but the rumors persist even today that the offending initials had conspiratorial origins.

PCGS MARKET REPORT JAN/FEB 2024

By the late 1940s, collectors were beginning to pay more attention to the Roosevelt Dime’s collecting merits, and the release of the relatively low-mintage 1949-S definitely merited some interest. These and other scarcer semi-key dates, such as the trio of similarly low-mintage 1955 emissions from the Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco Mints, were hot commodities during the collecting boom of the late 1950s and early ‘60s when late-date uncirculated rolls topped many numismatic want lists.

A burgeoning coin shortage in the early 1960s had developed into a national problem by 1963, when silver prices climbed to the point that the 90% silver dime, quarter, and half dollar were worth more for their melt value than as coinage. Millions were pulling these silver coins from circulation, causing an unsustainable situation where the U.S. Mint couldn’t keep enough coins in circulation, their backs against the wall of a shrinking silver reserve and rising bullion prices. Congress responded with the Coinage Act of 1965, authorizing the debasement of the dime and quarter with a new copper-nickel clad composition and reduction of the silver content in the half dollar to 40% purity.

Along with the compositional changes to the dime, quarter, and half dollar, the U.S. government removed mintmarks from circulating coinage to reduce the number of coins being pulled from circulation by collectors. The U.S. Mint also placed a moratorium on production of annual mint sets and proof sets, opting for a single product known as a Special Mint Set that contains one example of each circulating coin in a special finish.

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CARRYING A TORCH FOR THE ROOSEVELT DIME

The 1996-W, 2015-P Silver Reverse Proof, 2015-W Proof, and 2018-S Silver Reverse Proof are some of the more novel Roosevelt Dime offerings from the U.S. Mint in recent years. Courtesy of PCGS TrueView.

Upon the return of mintmarks and the regular field of annual mint and proof sets in 1968, the mintmark had moved from its original location near the bottom left of the torch on the reverse to the obverse, just above the right side of the date.

Meanwhile, Proof Roosevelt Dime production had moved from the Philadelphia Mint to San Francisco, along with the proof strikes of other contemporary coinage.

Production of the Roosevelt Dime continues to this day with few other changes to speak of, though the Roosevelt Dime began sporting a P mintmark from Philadelphia beginning in 1980 (a change affecting all Philly-minted coins from the nickel on up). Minor die enhancements have also been made throughout the years to refine the appearance and strike of this long-running coin. Changes are slated in 2026 when all circulating coins will sport a special Semiquincentennial design honoring the nation’s 250th anniversary. Until then, the Roosevelt Dime is planned to remain virtually unchanged from its original appearance in 1946.

Surprising Series Challenges

The 1965 Clad and 1968-S Proof Dimes represent the beginnings of a new, contemporary era in U.S. coinage production. Courtesy of PCGS TrueView.

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On its surface, the Roosevelt Dime appears to be a rather simple series for a collector to complete. After all, the run is mainly composed of a fairly straightforward lineup of issues, with most pre-1965 dates ordered into the trinity of P-D-S variants, while business strikes from 1968 to the current are usually P-D binary, struck alongside the S-mint proofs. There are no major regular-issue rarities, with the scarcest dates numbering well into the millions mintage-wise and none standing out with three- or four-figure prices in standard price lists.

But that’s where predictability fades away. A more thorough look at the series reveals a much more astonishing picture. The PCGS MARKET REPORT JAN/FEB 2024

CARRYING A TORCH FOR THE ROOSEVELT DIME

Closeup comparisons of a 1982-P Roosevelt Dime with its mintmark and another absent the P mintmark.

Courtesy of PCGS.

Roosevelt Dime is one of the most complicated contemporary series in the U.S. catalog. For starters, the past 30 years of the Roosevelt Dime series has spawned a cluster of atypical issues, such as the 1996-W, 2015-P Silver Reverse Proof, 2015W Proof, and 2018-S Silver Reverse Proof.

Then there are the varieties. Oh, the varieties! There is no shortage of varieties with the Roosevelt Dime. Among the silver classics are the 1960 Proof Doubled Die, 1963 Doubled Die Reverse, and 1964-D Doubled Die Reverse. The clad strikes offer a slew of curiosities, too… Several of them are missing their mintmarks!

The Case(s) Of the Missing Mintmark While no-mintmark coins aren’t unheard of in American numismatics (just think of such modern examples like the 1990 No S Proof Lincoln Cent and 1971 No S Jefferson Nickel), they’re certainly a strange breed. How mintmarks went absent in the striking process may leave some scratching their heads. In short, these missing-mintmark aberrations occurred because coiners at the mint neglected to punch the mintmark onto the working dies – back when this was done by hand. But they do result in some fascinating numismatic oddities that are very rare, quite valuable, and highly collectible.

The most common and affordable of these missingmintmark Roosevelt Dimes is the 1982 No Mintmark PCGS MARKET REPORT JAN/FEB 2024

circulation strike, lacking its P mintmark. It is the only circulation-strike Roosevelt Dime absent its intended mintmark, and they were most likely made in very large numbers, as several thousand turned up in the months immediately following its production. Many were distributed as change at Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio, with others turning up in nearby Toledo and a little farther away from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A few others were found in Boston, Massachusetts, but all were traced to the Cleveland Federal Reserve branch facility.

Two variants are known for the 1982 No Mintmark Roosevelt Dimes: a weak strike and a strong strike. The strong strike retails for around $250 in MS65, while the weak strike fetches about half as much in the same grade.

Other Roosevelt Dimes sans mintmark are worth far more, and one variety is worth more than the average house in the United States!

Let’s begin with the 1968 No S, a curious variety that became the first proof lacking its mintmark during the era of proof coinage production at the San Francisco Mint.

Examples are rare, with PCGS grading only a dozen proofs and about a half dozen cameo proofs, with none designated as deep cameos. Prices trend around $20,000 in PR67, with examples in PR68CAM fetching closer to $35,000 – on the rare occasion any of these coins cross the auction block.

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CARRYING A TORCH FOR THE ROOSEVELT DIME

The 1970 No S and a closeup of the 1983 No S, both of which boast similar rarity and values. Courtesy of PCGS. The next no-mintmark proof dime was born just a couple of years later in 1970, though this variety offers many more specimens than the 1968 No S. Hundreds are believed to exist, with examples in PR68 going for $700 and those in PR69CAM fetching $3,600. Of similar scarceness is the 1983 No S, which commands $650 in PR68DCAM and $6,000 in PR70DCAM. The 1975 No S Roosevelt Dime is one of the great rarities of the modern era, with just two known specimens and a six-figure price. Perhaps one of the most remarkable things about this particular variety is that it was first discovered in 1977. Just one other confirmed example has been found since, speaking to the elusiveness of this variety.

The rare 1975 No S Roosevelt Dime is one of the rarest and most valuable coins struck in the last 50 years.

Courtesy of PCGS TrueView.

The 1968 No S Proof Roosevelt Dime is a rarity worth around $20,000 and up. Courtesy of PCGS TrueView.

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While both specimens had traded in private sales, its first public offering came in only 2011, when a specimen graded PCGS PR68 notched an astounding $349,600 in a Stack’s Bowers Galleries auction. The next public transaction came in a 2018 Heritage Auctions event, with the PCGS PR68

PCGS MARKET REPORT JAN/FEB 2024

CARRYING A TORCH FOR THE ROOSEVELT DIME

specimen hammering for $456,000. This half-million-dollar coin boasts a mystique unlike any other coin of its vintage, with many wondering if a third example is floating around somewhere in a long-forgotten 1975 Proof Set. The Importance of Full Bands Pricey figures aside, the Roosevelt Dime has seen the rise of another challenging niche in recent years as it relates to collectors vying for specimens with the Full Bands designation.

PCGS grading standards designate “Full Bands for Roosevelt Dimes that grade MS60 or better and show full separation of the upper and lower horizontal bands of the torch on the reverse. To qualify for this designation, a coin must also show no significant cuts or marks across the horizontal bands.”

circulation-strike issues carrying these details are rare because they are notorious for having yielded softer strikes overall, with few known specimens carrying these sharper details.

Some issues are far more likely than others to bear the Full Bands details, with some pieces selling for nominal premiums in FB over non-FB counterparts and others taking exponentially higher sums with this strike detail intact. The bifurcation of Roosevelt Dimes designated either Full Bands or not has created another level of challenge for Roosevelt enthusiasts, some of whom now collect only Roosevelt Dimes graded with the “FB” designation.

Tough FB dates are scattered across the series, with multiple dates in the 1950s, ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s, and even into the ‘90s going for anywhere from $500 to $5,000 or more in the range of MS67FB or better. One of the most valuable FB issues is the 1949, which retails for around $11,500 in MS68FB. Collecting the Roosevelt Dime We’ve already seen how the Roosevelt Dime affords collectors an incredible number of scarce dates, rarities, and a trove of other numismatic surprises. But what does all of this mean for collectors? For one, the Roosevelt Dime is a versatile series, with something for everyone of any skill and budget level. Surely, a nice set of Roosevelt Dimes collected by regular-issue date and mintmark in run-of-the-mill proof and uncirculated grades can be assembled for south of $1,000.

However, collectors who want to make a run at something unmatchable can easily spend many years and many hundreds of thousands of dollars by building a complete set that encompasses every date, mintmark, and variety – including the 1975 No S Proof. The PCGS Set Registry hosts Roosevelt Dimes sets of such prestige and complexity, though there are many other avenues one can take in building a respectable Roosevelt Dime set that doesn’t require the 1975 No S, let alone any of the other expensive varieties.

The PCGS Set Registry offers more than 30 different kinds of Roosevelt Dime categories of virtually every permutation.

Which sets are the right ones for you?

That’s the question the Roosevelt Dime begs you to answer!

This 1947-D Roosevelt Dime exhibits Full Bands details on the horizontal bands of the torch seen on the reverse of the coin.

Courtesy of PCGS TrueView.

As with other series whose coins are enhanced in collectibility by the presence of entire detail, the Full Bands designation is earned by the coin having received a virtually complete strike and isn’t itself a necessarily scarce attribute. However, certain PCGS MARKET REPORT JAN/FEB 2024

Joshua McMorrow-Hernandez has won multiple awards from the NLG and ANA for his work as a numismatic journalist and editor.

He has been a coin collector since 1992 and enjoys all areas of United States coinage and U.S. minting history.

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“Nu” Year, “Nu” You?

By Joshua McMorrow-Hernandez

As we walk into 2024, it’s a good time to make (and hopefully keep!) some healthy numismatic resolutions for the new year. Courtesy of PCGS TrueView.

“Na-nu, na-nu?” No, this isn’t Mork from Ork, the fictional planet in the disco-era comedy series Mork & Mindy starring Robin Williams and Pam Dawber. But this is a longtime “nu”mismatist from planet Earth, where the year is now 2024. I realize that, like so many other coin collectors, maybe it’s time to start things anew in this new year. I know, I know… There’s a lot to do during these next weeks as we turn the page on a new calendar. I’ve got a gym to hit, there are some new leafy foods to try, and this is the year I vow to learn a new language (Orkan, perhaps?). But I also want to try building some new coin sets.

you’re going to find as you study up on a new series is no farther away than your fingertips at PCGS CoinFacts, so be sure to check out this free, comprehensive resource. There’s nothing else like it on the internet.

Spring Cleaning!

Buy That Book First…

I subscribe to the well-known numismatic maxim, “Buy the book before the coin.” The principle is quite simple. It boils down to learning about what you’re buying before you buy it.

It’s some practical wisdom no matter what you’re buying – a car, a house, or that gym membership both you and I may have been contemplating during these first weeks of 2024.

And learning about new coins also caters to my innate curiosity of wanting to know more. It may be why I became a journalist. It may also be why I took up the avocation of coin collecting, which requires more than a passive interest in the sets of coins that I’m assembling. Although I must make a little modern-day annotation to the whole book-buying wisdom… While I absolutely encourage you to both buy and read numismatic books (open disclosure here – I’ve written some!), this is the 21st century. Some of the best information

PCGS MARKET REPORT JAN/FEB 2024

Many collectors sell coins they no longer want to acquire the funds to buy new coins they hope to include in new sets.

Courtesy of PCGS. Starting the new year by establishing a new set goal for my collection gives me the opportunity to clean house, so to

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“NU” Y E AR , “NU” YOU?

speak. Yes, some of us just continue building onto our existing sets. But my budget is limited. So, if I want to build a new coin set, it often means reevaluating what’s in my collection and deciding what of it I can sell to fund my new collecting goals.

While this financial strategy may or may not apply to your numismatic goals, it hopefully gives you pause for a beat to think about your collection in a critical light. Is there anything you really don’t want to collect anymore? Many of us evolve during our numismatic journeys, and our tastes may change. I might still collect Lincoln Cents as I did in the early 1990s when I was just starting out as an adolescent collector.

However, I also have an appetite for a few major varieties – maybe some of those mint sets I bought way back when and no longer want can help fund the purchase of a nice PCGSgraded Doubled Die Lincoln Cent or two.

Liquidating a coin collection isn’t always an easy task, and I’ll tell you right here and now it can be an emotional one.

I’ve written more than once about what I call seller’s remorse.

But I will also tell you that there are few things I find more numismatically liberating than selling coins (or sets) I no longer wish to collect so I can muster the funds to build a new set I simply can’t wait to dive into!

Don’t Throw it All Away…

It’s not always out with the old, in with the new. Many of the collectors we’ve profiled here in the popular PCGS Market Report column Collector Spotlight have shared stories of refining goals for sets they already had.

This often manifests in the form of taking a simple dateand-mintmark set and adding varieties. Or sometimes they embarked on an upgrading project, replacing coins in their sets with better-quality examples. In at least two cases, we interviewed collectors who traded in run-of-the-mill coins for brilliantly toned specimens of the same issues.

Adding varieties, like this 1955 Doubled Die Lincoln Cent, can spice up any “ordinary” date-and-mintmark set.

Courtesy of PCGS TrueView.

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Does it Register?

There’s a good chance you’re already building at least one set on the PCGS Set Registry, the oldest and most popular online platform for collecting coins while vying for top prizes.

But if not, what are you waiting for? It’s a new year, and there’s a first time for everything! The PCGS Set Registry hosts more than 170,000 sets from collectors around the world. And guess what? It’s free to join!

One of the many things people love about the PCGS Set Registry is that many find it a fantastic inventorying tool.

Of course, this feeds right into what I was talking about a moment ago when discussing selling the coins I no longer wanted to collect. When you can see your whole collection at a glance, it makes it much easier to determine what you want to keep or sell.

Yet, there’s more to the PCGS Set Registry than organizing your collection. One of the best features of the Registry is “showing and telling.” That’s right… Even if you prefer anonymity, something many collectors understandably seek, many – maybe even most – collectors like showing off what they have. And isn’t it fun showing off your latest acquisition to others who will appreciate it? The PCGS Set Registry is an exciting and safe environment for doing exactly that.

The PCGS Set Registry is perfect for building that new set of coins you want to build in 2024. It provides you with an easy-to-follow outline for determining what coins you will need to assemble that new set (preset from among thousands of categories for U.S. and world coin sets). It also offers you a place to publicly showcase all those new coins you will be buying in the months ahead. Perhaps your new set will even win a PCGS Set Registry Award later this year…

Making it All Happen in 2024 Here we stand in the first weeks of the new year. What’s it going to look like? Is it going to be the year you completely revamp your collection? Will you trade in some old coins to buy new ones? Are you going to upgrade part of your collection or perhaps expand a basic set? The choice is completely up to you, but ultimately you won’t be alone if you do something numismatically new in 2024. Many successful collectors embark on new collecting goals at the start of the year. And it’s not just about the motivation of kicking off the new year on a new foot. Oh, no…

There are practical aspects to pursuing new collecting goals in the first weeks of the year. Certainly, for many collectors the start of a new calendar year means a new budget – one that might include replenished funds for building a coin collection. Then there are the bevy of major shows happening PCGS MARKET REPORT JAN/FEB 2024

“NU” Y E AR , “NU” YOU?

The PCGS Set Registry is a safe, free, and fun place to build a coin collection and earn some bragging rights – and maybe even a PCGS Set Registry Award! Courtesy of PCGS.

during the early months of the year, including the Florida United Numismatists Convention, New York International Numismatic Convention, Houston Money Show, the Long Beach Expo: The Collectibles Show, and the PCGS Members Only Show.

The Long Beach Expo in Southern California is one of the best major coin shows held during the first months of the new year, offering collectors a fantastic opportunity to buy coins for their new numismatic goals in 2024. Courtesy of PCGS. PCGS MARKET REPORT JAN/FEB 2024

Not only are hundreds of dealers offering coins at each of these shows, but there are also major auctions being held in conjunction with these events, giving collectors innumerable opportunities to add new coins to their collections. Don’t forget the hundreds of PCGS Authorized Dealers who also offer mail-order and online sales, allowing you to buy the coins you want right from the comfort of your home.

The bottom line? Whether or not you decide to start building a new set or two this year, hopefully 2024 brings many good things your way. As I hope you always remember, PCGS serves as your partner in numismatics and endeavors to make all your collecting goals easier, safer, and more fun.

And with that, I’ve got to run – run to the gym, that is!

Happy New Year!

Joshua McMorrow-Hernandez has won multiple awards from the NLG and ANA for his work as a numismatic journalist and editor.

He has been a coin collector since 1992 and enjoys all areas of United States coinage and U.S. minting history.

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The 1715 Fleet Society Silver Cob Research Collection

By The 1715 Fleet Society

Two examples of 1715 Mexico Eight Reales with full, complete dates. Courtesy of the 1715 Fleet Society.

A few hundred yards off the East Coast of Florida between Fort Pierce and Sebastian lie the decaying remains of one of the richest treasure fleets ever assembled: the Spanish Plate Fleet of 1715. A tremendous quantity of silver coinage sailed in the hulls of that doomed fleet. Since the early 1960s, salvage efforts have recovered tens of thousands of silver coins known as “cobs.”

Unlike modern coins that are mass-produced by precision equipment, these coins were all handmade. As such, no two are alike. They are crude, to be sure. Yet, in their crudeness lies their beauty.

Thousands of these coins with many spectacular examples have been marketed over the years. However, they have, with a few notable exceptions, gone largely unstudied. One of the goals set by the 1715 Fleet Society was to publish on its website a sample of some of the finest Fleet silver coins known to us in private hands.

On the left is a 1687 Eight Reals from the Potosi Mint and on the right is a 1690 Eight Reales, also hailing from the Potosi Mint. Courtesy of the 1715 Fleet Society.

It is to be noted that our focus is primarily on dated material. It is estimated that over 98% of recovered Fleet coins lack dates. This is due to the primitive and often hasty minting process implemented at that time.

Most dated specimens will be coins from the Spanish PCGS MARKET REPORT JAN/FEB 2024

colonial mint at Mexico City and date between 1711 and 1715, although earlier dates have been identified in lower quantities.

Other colonial mints are also represented, specifically Potosi and Lima. These coins range from 1665 to 1700.

In assembling our collection, particular emphasis was given to those factors that should be considered when grading such coins. While undated coins have their own unique characteristics, our focus has been on the grading of dated coins, as they are rarer and more sought after. In addition to the date, which can be full (with all four digits showing) or partial (with only part of the date visible), other key factors are weight, strike (obverse and reverse), the presence of mint and assayer marks, corrosion, and eye appeal.

Feel free to enjoy our entire collection on our website at 1715fleetsociety.com.

A 1692 Eight Reales from the Lima Mint and A 1703 Eight Reales from the Lima Mint. Courtesy of the 1715 Fleet Society.

Founded in 2008, the 1715 Fleet Society was established to promote public awareness and scholarly study of all facets of the 1715 Fleet shipwreck disaster. The 1715 Fleet Society is a nonprofit corporation with members from across the globe who share a passion for history, treasure, and underwater archaeology.

19

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PCGS SET REGISTRY

Bulgaria in the Limelight

By Sanjay C. Gandhi

1979 Bulgaria 5 Stotinki, PCGS PR67DCAM. Courtesy of PCGS TrueView.

I remember looking through a dealer's inventory back in 2014 at the Baltimore Whitman Expo. I must have looked through a total of 15 or more double-row boxes, and each double-row box contained about 300+ coins. Hours had gone by until I added seven coins dated 1979 marked between $1.50 and $3.50 to my pile. Not finding any other coins, I bought those seven specific pieces for about $17.

Sitting there in my chair, my composure was as cool as a cucumber. However, in my mind, I had the 1981 chart-topper “Celebration” by Kool and The Gang playing at 150 decibels.

Confetti was being thrown around by my imaginary partygoing friends who were belting out the lyrics, “There’s a party going on right here, a celebration to last throughout the years.”

Naturally, nobody could hear this song but me.

I knew that I had purchased the 1979 Bulgarian Proof Set, listed within the PCGS Set Registry – though this was well before my time with PCGS. The set had a mintage of 2,000, and the catalog price at the time was $22.50. At the time, I knew the market value was greater than the price for which this set was listed. With my best poker face, I paid my fellow dealer, and I was on my merry way. Later that year, I had the set certified, which cost me another $250, and it sold at auction for over $1,000! This was my first experience with Bulgarian coins that resulted with such lucrative results. Of course, as so many of us experience, such positive outcomes are counterbalanced by those that aren’t so positive. Lessons like these have been my best teachers in terms of learning.

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1979 Bulgaria Lev, PCGS PR68DCAM. Courtesy of PCGS TrueView.

PCGS MARKET REPORT JAN/FEB 2024

PCGS SET REGISTRY – BULGARIA IN THE LIMELIGHT

1888 Bulgaria 10 Stotinki, PCGS MS66. Courtesy of PCGS TrueView.

In 2013, I recall my mentor asking me what country I was going to focus on specifically. I mentioned “India” to him and he replied, “Kid, if you focus on one country, you’ll be out of business in six months.” He was right – I took heed of his advice and began diversifying my knowledge base. The second and third Bulgarian coins that I did well with in 2014 were the 10 stotinki and the 20 stotinki coins, which are part of the set titled Bulgarian Principality Denomination Set, Circulation Strikes (1888). This short set of four denominations consists of coins that were struck in copper-nickel and minted in Brussels by the Royal Mint of Belgium. The use of copper-nickel during the late 19th century in Europe wasn’t as widespread as it is nowadays. These 1888-dated coins were superbly crafted, each denomination was struck in the millions, and they are highly sought after by collectors today in uncirculated grades. Coining copper-nickel coins causes stress to the die striking the coins due to the hardness of the metal. This die deterioration can cause weak strikes, sooner or later the die breaks, and it cannot be used going forward.

The next 5, 10, and 20 stotinki denominations were not struck until 1906. This means that the coins dated 1888 were used in commerce and circulated for many years. Once copper-nickel coins start to wear due to friction, the eyeappeal will quickly become worse. This may also explain why an MS64 example of any of these coins will cost $1,000 or more depending on which denomination collectors seek.

Bulgarian silver coins from the late 19th century have always been difficult to find in uncirculated grades. There are

PCGS MARKET REPORT JAN/FEB 2024

1891 KB Bulgaria 2 Leva, PCGS MS64.

Courtesy of PCGS TrueView.

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PCGS SET REGISTRY – BULGARIA IN THE LIMELIGHT

1894 KB Bulgaria 5 Leva, PCGS MS62. Courtesy of PCGS TrueView. many reasons for this, and one that comes to mind is the .835fine silver that was used during the era. Any time a coin enters commerce, the clock is virtually ticking against the “newness” of the coin, and nobody knows when it will be rescued from circulation to preserve its condition.

Any time a coin enters commerce, the clock is virtually ticking against the “newness” of the coin, and nobody knows when it will be rescued from circulation to preserve its condition. The mintages for Bulgarian silver issues were generally lower in comparison to their base-metal counterparts during this era. Many denominations in general were not regularly minted on a sequential yearly basis. For example, the 2 leva denomination was minted during the years of 1882, 1891, and 1894 during the late 19th century. Stephen Album Rare Coins recently sold an 1894 2 Leva graded PCGS MS62 for a record auction price of $21,600!

Highly competitive markets may produce record results. A little over five years ago, a similar coin in the same grade could have been purchased at auction for about $3,500 if the other bidder was willing to step aside. In an auction setting, a buyer may be willing to bid any amount to acquire a coin that they want to own. Similarly, a PCGS Set Registry member may be willing to defend their top spot by acquiring “Top Population” or “Top Pop” examples at no cost.

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Sometimes, the marketplace for Bulgarian coinage in this instance has become increasingly competitive, and parabolic pricing may linger for years. This is not necessarily because of the PCGS Set Registry but rather because of increased demand and high-grade coins simply not being available in the marketplace. Coins from Bulgaria have always been collectible, and it seems as of late the market has been in overdrive. There are many examples that are available in XF grades or below at more-than-reasonable prices. A PCGS AU58 1894 5 Leva could be purchased for about $300 or less, whereas an MS62 might set back a collector about $3,000 nowadays. Due to recent global economic softness and rising inflation, prices may not increase as much as they have in the past few years.

Therefore, collectors looking to fill holes in their sets may be able to pick up examples at lower prices going forward.

Sanjay C. Gandhi is a senior content manager at PCGS. His knowledge base consists of a wide variety of world coinage, and he has a great appreciation for toned coins that display vibrant colors. In addition to contributing content to PCGS Market Report, he also assists collectors with the PCGS Set Registry.

PCGS MARKET REPORT JAN/FEB 2024

2 5 J ULY - AUGUST 2023

P CG S MA RKE T R E PO R T

By Joshua McMorrow-Hernandez

Jim Gately is a longtime collector of coins with several sets on the PCGS Set Registry built around Buffalo Nickels.

Courtesy of Gerard Brown.

This stunning 1916 Doubled Die Obverse Buffalo Nickel is graded PCGS MS64 and is one of the crown jewels in Gately’s magnificent collection. Courtesy of PCGS TrueView.

Jim Gately was attending St. James Elementary School in Southern California in the 1960s when his love for coins was first kindled. “Every Thursday for lunch, we had what was called ‘Hot Dog Day.’ This was a very special treat, as my school had no cafeteria or indoor eating area,” he recalled.

“All the kids would bring spare change and buy hot dogs and chips. It was a great treat, and all the kids loved it! Well, my mom was the treasurer of the school, and she would bring all the coins home that night to deposit in the bank the next day. My dad was a coin nut, so we would sit at the dining room table that evening and go through these coins. I had no idea what to look for, as I was only about nine or 10 years old, but to handle and swap out coins that were decades old 26

JIM GATELY

COLLECTOR SPOTLIGHT

was very exciting and fun.” A young Jim sought many of the classic U.S. coins from the earlier decades of the 20th century, though he gravitated toward Buffalo Nickels.

He rode his bike to several coin shops in Southern California over the next few years, purchasing many of the Full Horns Buffalo Nickels he needed to round out his collection. “Then one day, it happened. A coin shop owner brought me behind the counter and said, ‘You have to see this nickel.’ So, I took a look at it and almost dropped to the floor. It was an uncirculated Buffalo Nickel, and I had never seen anything so beautiful!” He added, “As a kid new to the hobby, I had no idea there were uncirculated Buffalos still around, and I still remember that moment almost 60 years later!”

He collected into his teen years and ended up focusing on other aspects of life as he got into high school years. Then about 20 years ago, his passion for Buffalo Nickels stirred once again. “This is when I learned about third-party grading, ‘slabs,’ PCGS, and Registry Sets. It was another ‘WOW’ moment, and I got back into my pursuit of Buffalos.” He became a PCGS Set Registry member around 2006, inspired by the Buffalo Nickel sets of Tom McCarroll and Gerald Forsythe, which he thought were “two sets that I realistically felt were unbeatable.”

And yet, he beat them. “The PCGS Set Registry has 13 different sets of Buffalo Nickels – eight major sets and five specialty sets. My Buffalo Nickels are #1 in every set category.”

PCGS MARKET REPORT JAN/FEB 2024

COLLECTOR SPOTLIGHT – JIM GATELY

While his Buffalo Nickels are known for their magnificent toning, he said his original aim was completely different.

“I started out trying to collect blast-white Buffalos,” he remarked. “I soon found out that toned Buffalos added another level of beauty to these coins. So, I opened my search to include toned Buffalos.”

He is quite the variety enthusiast, having built a complete variety set, short of one he noted PCGS has yet to grade: the 1915 S/S RPM FS-502. “I am not sure that one does exist! It is the only Buffalo I am missing.” He also has several other notable PCGS Registry Sets, including a Standing Liberty Quarter set and Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle set. While he owns some of the most beautiful examples of early 20thcentury U.S. coinage known, he hopes to one day add some early pattern strikes to his prestigious collection.

Among his other interests is building a trio of sets centered around money from Ireland and England during the period of 1689-90. “These sets are of Irish Gunmoney and are of great historical importance in Ireland and England,” he said. “These coins are not too expensive and very interesting to collect.”

PCGS MARKET REPORT JAN/FEB 2024

How does he assemble such impressive sets? “The advice I would give to the average collector is to go slow and keep your eyes open. Do not be in a hurry, but when you see something out there, don't hesitate to scoop it up. You never know when you may have this opportunity again.”

Joshua McMorrow-Hernandez has won multiple awards from the NLG and ANA for his work as a numismatic journalist and editor.

He has been a coin collector since 1992 and enjoys all areas of United States coinage and U.S. minting history.

27

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YN CORNER

A Young Numismatist on the Rise

By Rene Alvarenga

Rene Alvarenga is a 20-year-old numismatist with big ambitions to build bridges in the hobby.

Courtesy of Rene Alvarenga.

My name is Rene Alvarenga, and I’m a 20-year-old numismatist from Palm Springs, California, and a collector of primarily U.S. coins. My numismatic journey began when I was 12 years old and used to find Lincoln Wheat Cents in change at a sandwich shop my parents owned. Since then, I’ve moved into collecting a larger variety of U.S. coins, with my favorite series being Morgan Dollars, including ones that exhibit beautiful toning.

I’ve also studied what goes into grading U.S. coins. I first put my grading skills to the test when I participated in the PCGS Coin Grading Competition at the Long Beach Expo in Long Beach, California, in June 2019. I remember right after I finished grading coins for the YN grading competition, the staff members at the PCGS booth said I graded those coins so well, that they wanted me to try my hand at the pieces prepared for the adult competitors. Of those, I graded 70% correctly – an above-average percentage. I was awarded first place in the YN competition and received a PCGS-graded Morgan Dollar as a prize. Later that same month, I attended my first-ever American Numismatic Association (ANA) Summer Seminar in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where I took the “U.S. Coin Grading Part 1” course.

In July 2019, I started an Instagram account called America’s Classic Coins (@americasclassiccoins), where I post short educational videos describing the brief history of each U.S. coin type. I also started an Instagram account (@renetheyoungnumismatist) for sharing photos of my coins and the numismatic events I attend. Later that same month, I was invited for a private tour of the PCGS Headquarters in Southern California to be congratulated for being the winner PCGS MARKET REPORT JAN/FEB 2024

of the PCGS YN Coin Grading Competition and to meet many of its graders and experts.

I attended my next ANA Summer Seminar in June 2023, where I built friendships with many other young numismatists, took more grading courses to further improve my grading skills, and received the 1st Place Kenneth E. Bressett YN Literary Award for an article I wrote called “Coin Grading: A Revolutionary Standard,” which describes the history of the coin grading scale and the numismatic organizations that have adopted the scale.

Three weeks later, I was in San Francisco, California, to attend Witter Coin University 2023. There, I learned more of the fundamentals of grading and numismatic research, explored the city, gave a presentation, built more friendships with many other fellow young numismatists, and met many prominent instructors. Afterward, I attended the inaugural Professional Numismatist Program hosted by Stack’s Bowers Galleries, where I learned more skills, including advanced grading and trading. I also met more young numismatists and experts while I was there.

I’m looking to build a prominent reputation and career within the numismatic community, help inspire a younger generation of coin collectors, and contribute to the hobby itself. What I really enjoy about coin collecting is that there’s a large variety of coins to collect and learn from, and that this hobby can really take you places – you can even build a career around it! Best of all, though, are the friendships and memories being made throughout my numismatic journey.

29

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PCGS MARKET REPORT JAN/FEB 2024

Central Casting

By Peter Anthony

The process of casting cash coins is illustrated on this 1992 China Numismatic Museum medal.

Courtesy of Peter Anthony.

As the sun hangs low in a cantaloupe-orange sky, wisps of sand blow across the highway. Accompanied by a faint tingting-ting as specks of mineral smack car metal, we sweep toward the Xi’an city limits. Towns and hamlets beaten into dullness by the desert wind pass by outside. I stare out at car body shops and warehouses with tin roofs but see no pedestrians. Once upon a time, caravans of camels might have passed this way on their Silk Road journey. Now, my friends and I chat in an air-conditioned ship of the desert on wheels.

Mr. C. announces, “Almost anywhere in Xi’an that you dig, you will find something buried in the ground, including coins.”

Mr. A. retorts, “So, now we know why you brought a shovel, to dig up national treasures at night.” Laughter fills the car.

Mr. C. told the truth, though; Xi’an’s soil has yielded stunning archaeological treasures. People have lived here since the Stone Age. Originally called Chang’an, this city was the capital of 10 different empires. Few places are more promising, however digging for artifacts is illegal.

Our car crosses a bridge that spans a wide, sluggish river.

Welcome to Xi’an! After the flat landscape, it is something of a shock to see apartment buildings tower over both sides of the highway. The change is so sudden that they seem to have suddenly sprouted from the ground. Each is large enough to be home to hundreds, if not thousands, of people.

These new apartments contrast with the remaining

PCGS MARKET REPORT JAN/FEB 2024

buildings from China’s first dynasty, the Qin (221-206 B.C.), whose capital Xi’anyang was a short distance away from here.

Or those of the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-23 A.D.) that replaced it and made Chang’an (now Xi’an) its capital city. In fact, no buildings from those eras exist today in Xi’an. That’s because the city was destroyed in AD 23 — by a peasant rebellion that ended the Han Dynasty the way it started. Even so, other things remain, including coins!

The Qin period began when a 22-year-old prince inherited the throne to the minor State of Qin. Through innovative strategies and the latest weaponry, this king proceeded to conquer all the other Chinese kingdoms, one by one. By 221 B.C. China was united into a single country for the first time.

The king then proclaimed himself Emperor Qin Shihuangdi, the first Qin Emperor.

Qin Shihuangdi subdued his foes through harsh and ruthless tactics. He ruled his empire the same way. For example, it is reported that he buried hundreds of scholars alive because he disapproved of their teachings. It was once said of his family, “If there be an opportunity for material gain, it will disregard its relatives as if they were animals."

Despite his callousness to the lives of others, the emperor was intensely preoccupied with his own mortality. One major project was to build an immense mausoleum to prepare for his continued rule in the afterlife. Thousands of workers and artisans built this outside Xi’anyang and then were

31

CENTRAL CASTING

A 1984 silver 5 Yuan coin shows one of the famous terracotta warriors. Courtesy of Peter Anthony. put to death, many buried alive, to keep its details secret.

Their skeletons, some still in agonized positions, have been uncovered. The mausoleum was put into use sooner than the First Emperor of the Qin expected. While on a quest for an elixir of eternal life, he fell ill and died at age 50.

More than 2,000 years later, one of his secrets was finally revealed. In 1974, a group of farmers in the Xi’anyang region near Xi’an was digging a water well. Instead of water, their drilling hit pottery shards and an ancient bronze sword. They reported this, and further excavation unearthed one of the most spectacular archaeological finds of all time.

In 1984, China released a quartet of 22-gram silver coins, each denominated five yuan, that shows examples of the treasure the farmers uncovered. The coins feature images of warriors fashioned from terracotta clay: one turns left, one turns right, one kneels, and the fourth leads a horse. These four represent a fraction of the army of 8,000 life-size terracotta warrior figures found so far. Around 1,000 of them are lined up in rows inside a football-field-size open-air museum that draws two million visitors a year. Beneath its roof, there are also side rooms. In these, tourists crowd around glass cases and take photos of the actual clay warriors that appear on the coins. If anyone is curious, a single terracotta warrior’s value was once estimated at $4.5 million.

Much more affordable – and available – is the set of four 1984 36-millimeter-diameter 99.9% silver Outstanding Historical Figures of China coins, with an authorized mintage 32

of 30,000 (actual mintage of 14,000). A five-coin version of the set includes a 100 yuan one-third-ounce gold coin that is 23 millimeters in diameter and contains 91.6% pure gold.

This coin features a depiction of Emperor Qin Shihuangdi on the reverse. While 25,000 were authorized, barely more than 10,000 were struck. Or a collector might select a 1993 Ancient Chinese Inventions and Discoveries coin with a terracotta army design. These were minted in gold, platinum, and silver.

There were just 400 of the half-ounce gold and 100 quarterounce platinum coins made. A little easier to find is the 22gram silver version, with 8,150 reported produced.

For all its flaws, especially in human rights, the Qin Dynasty made several important advancements. Among them was China’s first national written language system. It also established China’s first national currency: round copper pieces with a square hole in the center and with writing that established their authority and value. Today, we call these cash coins. The primary type of cash coin from the Qin Dynasty was a Ban Liang. It weighs eight grams and has a diameter of 32 to 34 millimeters. This standardized money helped increase trade between cities and expanded the economy.

Cash coins were cast from molten metal in molds, not struck on blanks like Western coins. After cooling, the mold was broken away, leaving the coins attached to a “tree.” The money was then snapped off, and any roughness filed down.

How efficient was this? It is estimated that 220 million coins per year were produced during this era. The minting process, PCGS MARKET REPORT JAN/FEB 2024

CENTRAL CASTING

A Xi'an marketplace where wheat is pounded into flour with mallets and noodles stretched by hand. Scenes like this would have been a familiar sight in ancient times. In the foreground is an early Tang Dynasty copper cash coin. Courtesy of Peter Anthony. from smelting to pouring to separating the individual coins from the mold, is illustrated on a 1992 60-millimeter-wide bronze medal made for the China Numismatic Museum.

A total of 10,000 of these medals were struck at the Shanghai Mint.

The Ban Liang was the legal tender used to pay taxes and fines, which were large and frequent, to the Qin government.

Among common folk, this caused much resentment. In 206 B.C., a peasant revolt erupted. Two rebel factions besieged the government, one led by a man named Liu Bang. His forces toppled the Qin Dynasty, after which there were three more years of fighting between the usurpers. The victorious Liu Bang called himself “King of the Han” and began what is now called the Western Han Dynasty. In contrast to the Qin rulers, Liu Bang lowered taxes, reduced punishments, and was generally more tolerant. He made Chang’an his capital city; we now call this area Xi’an.

There is a modern numismatic connection to Liu Bang.

The 1986 edition of the popular Chinese Outstanding Historical Figures series includes a gold coin that portrays him on horseback as he points the way forward. This 100 yuan coin contains one-third ounce of 91.6%-fine gold and is 23 millimeters in diameter. The original plan to strike 25,000 coins at the Shenyang Mint was reduced to 4,980.

Night falls, and we continue to our hotel. The car passes through the central part of the city where the

PCGS MARKET REPORT JAN/FEB 2024

imposing, exquisite, brilliantly lit Bell Tower of Xian, built in 1394, stands.

Within it are several bronze bells that were cast during the older Tang Dynasty (618-907 A.D). This was a period that many consider the high point of ancient Chinese culture. The tower was placed at what was then the exact center of the city, at what had been the exact center of Chinese life; in other words, the perfect location.

The Tang government ruled with a relatively light hand.

The Tang Code made the law less arbitrary and more rational.

Some forms of capital punishment, as well as other cruel penalties, were abolished.

The arts and sciences flourished. Examples in science are the invention of gunpowder, the astronomical clock, the first natural gas cylinders, and the first air conditioner (nonelectric). Woodblock printing advanced to the point that common people could afford books, and literacy became widespread. In 1974, a document printed sometime between 650 to 670 A.D. was excavated in Xi'an. It is one of the oldestknown printed items.

Closely connected to printing was poetry. Poetry was revered as the highest art form, and some of China's greatest poets, like Li Bai and Du Fu, lived during the Tang Dynasty.

Music and painting also advanced and cross-pollinated with influences from abroad.

There are several modern Chinese coins that celebrate this

33

CENTRAL CASTING

This Shenyang Mint Museum diorama shows the process of casting cash coins. Courtesy of Peter Anthony. period. For example, the 1995 Traditional Culture set has three coins with a design of Tang Taizong, the best-known Tang emperor, on them. His image appears on the 100 yuan one-ounce gold, the 10 yuan tenth-ounce gold, and five yuan 22-gram silver coins. Mintages are 138 pieces for the oneounce gold, 4,500 for the tenth-ounce gold, and 13,800 for the 22-gram silver piece.

The largest of the 1998 Ancient Chinese Paintings coin series is a five-ounce rectangular silver 50 yuan piece. It features colorized poses of six “Elegant Ladies of the Tang Dynasty.” The mintage is 18,800.

As Tang Dynasty society prospered, it grew: a census from 742 AD lists 1,960,188 people living in the Chang’an area.

That made it one of the first cities in the world with a million people in it. Not all these people were Chinese. Under the Tang Dynasty, the country opened up to foreign trade, much of which was carried by camel caravans to and from India, Central Asia, Iran, the Arabian Peninsula, and East Africa.

Sights and scenes from this trade are the theme of a threeyear series of Silk Road coins issued between 1995 to 1997.

Each year offers a 50 yuan one-third-ounce gold coin and four of the five yuan 22-gram silver coins. The 1997 50 yuan gold coin is the key to the series. A mintage of 10,000 was authorized, but a mere 297 are reported to have been struck.

The plan that year for silver was to mint 15,000 sets, but prices suggest that fewer of those were produced, as well.

Chang’an had two major market areas: East and West.

Foreigners’ movements were limited to the Western market 34

district. They brought with them not only physical goods but also their culture and coins. Foreign singers and dancers filled the night spots of Chang’an. They sang popular tunes from their homelands, while dancers were hits with audiences. The 1997 five yuan silver coin known as “Banquet Dance” hints at this sort of revelry. For numismatists, there is also a room worth visiting in the Shanghai Museum that is devoted to ancient coins from the Silk Road. The range and value of all the coinage that circulated in Tang Dynasty Chang’an must have challenged the wits of every tavern keeper.

Even today, a bit of this Silk Road atmosphere lingers in Xi’an. As I stroll through a brightly lit night market one evening, the street is crowded with people from across Central and East Asia. Many wear the distinctive clothes of their native lands. The smells of unfamiliar foods fill the air. Noodles are the staple of the Northern Chinese diet. As skillfully as any juggler, a street vendor tosses and twirls dough through the air to create long strands of pasta. Enthralled by the performance, I muse, “How many Ban Liang for that bowl of noodles?”

Peter Anthony is a PCGS consultant on modern Chinese coins and is the author of The Gold and Silver Panda Coin Buyer's Guide 3, a two-time Numismatic Literary Guild winner. He is also the publisher of China Pricepedia, a monthly journal and price guide for modern Chinese coinage.

PCGS MARKET REPORT JAN/FEB 2024

COLLECTORS CORNER LISTINGS

1882 $5 Brown Back PCGS Banknote 67 FR. 475 $5,250

1888-O $1 PCGS MS66

1857-S $20 PCGS MS65

1914 $2.50 PCGS MS65+

$1,500

$14,750

$45,000

Dealers: If you're interested in selling your inventory on Collectors Corner, Email: CCE@Collectors.com We look forward to hearing from you soon!

Auction Highlights

By Jaime Hernandez

With 2023 behind us, we look ahead to 2024 with the coin market in a state of good health overall. We believe it will be another good year for the hobby, and with this in mind, we take a moment to reflect on three recent auction transactions that really highlight the strength of the marketplace across various areas.

1919-S Standing Liberty Quarter, PCGS MS66+FH PCGS has graded just 10 examples of this scarce Standing Liberty Quarter in MS66 with the Full Head designation, with just five such examples grading higher with the Full Head designation. Besides being conditionally rare in PCGS MS66+FH, the 1919-S Quarter boasts one of the lower mintages in the series overall, making it one of the more coveted coins in the series. One of these rare MS66+FH beauties crossed the block at GreatCollections on October 1, 2023, realizing $182,812. It’s interesting to note that the last auction sale of this issue graded PCGS MS66FH dates to August 2006, when that piece took $78,900, indicating a significant price increase amid continued demand.

with none others grading higher with the coveted DCAM designation. The year 1950 marked important milestones for the Franklin Half Dollar, as it was the first year for which proofs were struck in the series and saw the lowest mintage output among the proof emissions for the coin’s run. The 1950 PR66DCAM specimen profiled here has many of these exciting attributes, and are just some of the reasons that the coin sold for an impressive $66,000 at the June 2023 Stack’s Bowers Galleries auction.

1934 $5,000 Fr.2221-G, PCGS Choice Unc 64 Overall, $5,000 banknotes are really scarce, and most examples are usually in circulated grades. The $5,000 notes prompt something of a numismatic yearning for many banknote collectors, as most can never own a specimen.

Many have fantasized that, someday, they will be able to own one of these scarce and fascinating $5,000 notes. One such individual seized that opportunity on September 15, 2023, when Heritage Auctions offered a PCGS Choice Uncirculated 64 example of a $5,000 1934 Federal Reserve Note that realized a whopping $300,000.

1950 Proof Franklin Half Dollar PCGS PR66DCAM Although most Proof Franklin Half Dollars may seem common, some examples can be rare in higher grades or when carrying special grading designations, such as CAM (Cameo) or (DCAM) Deep Cameo. Examples exhibiting DCAM surfaces, especially on both the obverse and reverse, can be quite rare. This is exactly what this example is – conditionally rare. PCGS has graded this single example in PR66DCAM, 36

Jaime Hernandez is an editor for the PCGS Price Guide and has been a proud member of the PCGS team since 2005. By the time he reached his early 20s, Jaime was successfully buying and selling coins with some of the most prominent dealers and collectors in the country.

Email: jhernandez@collectors.com PCGS MARKET REPORT JAN/FEB 2024

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37

PCGS AROUND THE WORLD

A Coin from Essequibo & Demerara

By Jay Turner

Essequibo & Demerara 1813 Stiver, PCGS PR64+BN. Courtesy of PCGS.

It is always surprising to see coins from all around the world being submitted from places that one would not think they would turn up. Recently, in a PCGS Express submission for our office in Hong Kong, a coin from a short-lived British colony was submitted for grading. It is likely that if one were doing person-on-the-street interviews, no respondents would reveal any knowledge of Essequibo, Demerara, or even British Guiana.

Once an area colonized by the Dutch, the colonies of Demerara and Essequibo were both located in what is today the South American country of Guyana. Essequibo, named for the Essequibo River, was the first area colonized by the people who fled Pomeroon after being destroyed by Spanish and indigenous attackers. The area was a colony of the Dutch West India Company from 1616 until 1792, with the Dutch state continuing to hold it until 1815.

Demerara is also named for its river. The Demerara River first started as a trading post in the 1690s and in 1745 became a separate colony. It, too, was ruled by the Dutch West India Company until 1792 and then the Dutch State until 1815.

Starting in the 1780s, the colonies started changing possession between Dutch, French, and British.

With different treaties, these colonies would change hands more than six times between 1781 and 1815. It eventually became a British Colony and was ratified as such by the Netherlands in 1815. The colonies of both Essequibo and Demerara were combined into a single colony by the British in 1812.

What was different about Demerara, Essequibo, and Berbice is that a deal was struck with the colonies that all 38

laws and customs could remain and all citizens would be equal to British subjects. This continued with their currency, which remained on the Dutch standard of guilder and stiver denominations even being produced by the British.

Aside from the cut-countermarked pieces of 1808, the first British coins started being introduced dated 1809 with onequarter, one-half, one guilder, two guilder, and three guilder denominations.

Even before the colonies were combined, the coins noted “COLONIES OF ESSEQUIBO & DEMERARY TOKEN” on the reverse. The first copper coins were produced in 1813 in the denominations of one half and one stiver. Coins for Essequibo and Demerara would be made until 1835 when the colonies were merged with Berbice and renamed British Guiana.

An Essequibo and Demerara coin submitted to PCGS from Hong Kong was that of an 1813 copper stiver struck in proof.

Struck by the Royal Mint for collectors alongside its business strike for commerce, the proof has an unknown mintage. This coin is nice and original, grading PR64+BN by PCGS.

Jay began collecting coins at the age of 13, when he inherited his uncle’s coin collection. Turner is proficient in U.S. and world coins, token and medal variety attribution, grading, and counterfeit detection. In 2017, Turner joined PCGS as a grader specializing in world coins.

He is stationed at the PCGS U.S. headquarters and grades onsite for the Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Paris offices.

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PCGS MARKET REPORT JAN/FEB 2024

39

The Ecstasy of Spanish Gold

By Josh Scott

Colombia two escudos were minted during the reign of King Charles II. Courtesy of PCGS TrueView.

Since the dawn of civilization, gold has been the most sought-after commodity in the world. It has been used throughout history for trade, manufacturing jewelry and religious icons, decorating arms and armor, and, of course, minting currency in the form of coins.

As a coin collector and history buff, I have always been fascinated by the quest for lost treasure and the exploits of pirates on the high seas. This fascination evolved over the years into a passion, especially for coins and artifacts, from the period between the reign of King Philip II of Spain (1556-1598) through the golden age of piracy (1650-1720). It all started with my father giving me a couple of eight reales, often referred to as “pieces of eight,” recovered from the Nuestra Señora de Atocha. This led me to take a deep dive into deciphering the mintmarks, assayers’ initials, legends, castles, and other features on these coins known as “cobs.”

When I got older, I had the opportunity to buy my first gold doubloon, an almost uncirculated two escudos struck during the reign of King Philip II. The moment I saw that coin, I was hooked, and there’s nothing quite like holding a 16th-century Spanish gold doubloon in your hand!

The History of the Doubloon The word doubloon comes from the Spanish word doblón, or “double,” i.e., double escudo. Escudo is a Spanish word that means “shield.” A two escudos doubloon should weigh close to

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Lima two escudos minted during the reign of King Philip V. Courtesy of Josh Scott.

6.76 grams and be of the purity of 22-karat gold. Doubloons were minted at a variety of mints throughout Spain, including Seville, Segovia, Toledo, Valladolid, and Madrid, as well as the viceroyalties such as New Spain (Mexico), Peru, Bolivia, Columbia, and others.

The rarity of gold cobs makes them highly sought after, especially specimens that display the most complete details.

Gold cobs also offer an abundance of unique characteristics for collectors, including numerous designs, assayers, mintmarks, die varieties, errors, and neat shapes.

The design of most doubloons (except those that display the pillars and waves design) have the Hapsburg shield struck on the obverse and a Jerusalem Cross, also known as the “Crusader’s Cross,” emblazoned on the coin's reverse. The

PCGS MARKET REPORT JAN/FEB 2024

THE ECSTASY OF SPANISH GOLD

Toledo mint two escudos minted during the reign of King Philip II. Courtesy of Josh Scott. appearance of the cross indicates the close ties between the Catholic Church and the Spanish monarchy during the period.

Specimens that reveal the majority of the design elements and a date are very rare and are similar to finding a needle in a haystack. Old World Spanish gold cobs minted in Spain tend to be better struck than those from the Spanish colonies, which often makes finding high-quality pieces minted in the “New World” quite challenging.

The Commerce of Kings and Pirates Most of the gold found in the “New World” was fashioned into irregular-shaped, crude-looking cobs to be shipped across the Atlantic, where they were melted down at mints in Spain.

This gold was used to create one, two, four, and eight escudos of a much higher quality for the king. The Spanish galleons transporting this vast wealth across the ocean had to deal with untold hardships, including sickness and disease, adverse weather, and rough seas. And if that wasn’t enough, they also had to run the gauntlet of pirates, privateers, and warships from other countries who were always looking to relieve them of their precious cargo. Famous pirates such as Edward Teach (Blackbeard), Henry Morgan, Benjamin Hornigold, Calico Jack Rackham, Mary Read and Anne Bonny, and Captain Kidd were notorious for plundering Spanish vessels throughout the Caribbean.

PCGS MARKET REPORT JAN/FEB 2024

A 1736 engraving by J. Basire of Blackbeard, the infamous pirate. Public domain image sourced via Wikimedia Commons.

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THE ECSTASY OF SPANISH GOLD

Seville, Spain, four escudos minted during the reign of King Philip IV. Courtesy of PCGS TrueView.

The discovery of “Black Sam” Bellamy’s ship, the Whydah, which sank off of Cape Cod in 1717, held a massive amount of gold and silver cobs from Spanish colonial mints. This serves as proof that Spanish colonial gold cobs are, without a doubt, real pirate’s treasure.

Tell-Tale Signs If you are curious as to whether a gold cob is from a shipwreck, look closely in and around the devices and legends. Many gold cobs, especially those from the “New World,” show evidence of coral encrustation in the devices such as this one escudo minted in Mexico that was recovered from the 1715 Spanish Fleet. Those that have survived until today are typically recovered from shipwrecks or found on beaches after storms.

It is estimated that there are hundreds of 16th- through 18th-century Spanish, French, Dutch, and English treasureladen shipwrecks strewn across the Caribbean and East Coast of the U.S. Only time will tell when the next treasure ship will be found and what amazing gold coins will be recovered. No other type of coinage in the world evokes stronger images of pirates and lost treasure than the Spanish colonial escudos.

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An 18th-century escudo minted in Mexico.

Courtesy of PCGS TrueView.

Josh Scott is the marketing manager at PCGS and also operates Redbeardsrelics on Instagram, where he tells engaging historical tales and shares fascinating relics of ages past.

PCGS MARKET REPORT JAN/FEB 2024

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PROFESSIONAL COIN GRADING SERVICE

GRADING STANDARDS A Guide to PCGS Grades & Designations There are 30 grades used by PCGS to grade coins, 1 being the lowest grade and 70 being the highest grade.

For a description of all the grades and designations used in the PCGS Market Report, refer to the PCGS Grading

Standards listed in this issue. Space does not permit us to show a comprehensive photographic grading guide here, but those interested in a detailed look at virtually all U.S. coins in all grades are referred to PCGS’s Photograde section, found at www.PCGS.com/photograde.

PCGS COIN GRADING STANDARDS Regular Strikes For regular strikes, the primary attribute for circulated grades, i.e. Poor (PO01) to About Uncirculated (AU58), is the amount of wear or the amount of the original design detail that is still evident. Other attributes contributing to the grade for circulated regular strikes are surface preservation and eye appeal, either of which can be positive, negative, or neutral and which affect the grade accordingly. For regular strikes in Uncirculated condition (MS60 to MS70), there are four primary attributes that determine grade: marks, strike, luster, and eye appeal.

A PCGS MS70 is a modern coin in "as struck by Mint" condition. Minor mintmade imperfections may be present. No damage or imperfections caused after minting. Not known in vintage coins.

A PCGS MS69 will show only one or two miniscule imperfections. Must be fully struck and have full original luster and eye appeal.

A PCGS MS68 will have some extremely minor imperfections. Must be sharply struck, have full original luster, and good eye appeal.

A PCGS MS67 will have some minor imperfections (marks, abrasions, etc).

Must be well struck and have good luster and eye appeal.

A PCGS MS66 will have a few marks and/or abrasions. The strike, luster, and eye appeal must be good.

A PCGS MS65 will have some marks and/or abrasions, but they will be minor.

The strike must be above average, and

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Components of Mint State Grading Strike The completeness/incompleteness of a coin’s intended detail when originally struck.

Luster The strength and pattern of light reflected off a coin.

Surface Preservation The condition of the surface of a coin, notably marks and/or scratches.

Eye Appeal The element that “grabs” the viewer. The overall look of a coin. Often manifested as “toning.”

luster and eye appeal must be good.

A PCGS MS64 will have some marks and/or abrasions, and they may be significant. The strike and eye appeal should be average or above and must not be negative. Luster may be somewhat subdued.

A PCGS MS63 will have marks and abrasions that are moderate in number and/or size. Strike may not be full and eye appeal can be slightly negative.

Luster may be somewhat dull.

A PCGS MS62 will have no wear on high points. There may be considerable marks and abrasions and some may be severe. Strike may not be full and eye appeal may be negative. Luster may be dull.

A PCGS MS61 will have no wear on the high points. There may be multiple heavy marks and abrasions. Strike may not be full, luster may be dull, and/or eye appeal may be negative.

A PCGS MS60 will have no wear on the high points. There may be many heavy marks and abrasions. Strike may not be full, luster may be very dull, and/or eye appeal may be quite negative.

A PCGS AU58 will show full detail with minor friction on only the highest points.

A PCGS AU55 will show full detail with friction on less than 1/2 of the surface, mainly on the high points.

A PCGS AU53 will show full detail with friction on 1/2 or more of the surface.

There may be a very slight flatness on high points.

A PCGS AU50 will show full detail with friction over most of the surface and slight flatness on high points.

XF45 Detail is complete with most high points slightly flat.

XF40 Detail is complete with some high points flat.

VF35 Detail is 80 to 85% complete.

VF30 Detail is 70 to 80% complete.

PCGS MARKET REPORT JAN/FEB 2024

PCGS GRADING STANDARDS

VF25 Detail is 60 to 70% complete.

VF20 Detail is 50 to 60% complete.

F15 Detail is full in recessed areas. All lettering is sharp.

F12 Detail is evident in deeply recessed areas. Lettering is mostly sharp.

VG10 Design is worn with some detail evident.

VG08 Design is worn with only slight detail evident.

G06 Detail is flat, but rims are complete.

Peripheral lettering is full.

G04 Detail is flat. Rims slightly worn.

Peripheral lettering nearly full.

AG03 Rims are worn but most lettering is readable though worn.

FR02 Mostly worn, but some design details are visible.

PO01 Barely identifiable as to date and type.

Proofs For proof strikings, the primary attributes of grade are hairlines and/ or marks (or lack of), reflectivity (for brilliant proofs), and eye appeal.

Note that nearly all proofs are fully struck, thus strike is usually not a factor. Strike only comes into play

when a proof shows a partial strike, resulting in a downward adjustment of grade. Note that for toned brilliant proofs, the reflectivity is as perceived under toning.

A PCGS PR70 shows no imperfections under five-power magnification.

Brilliant proofs must be 100% fully reflective.

A PCGS PR69 will show only one or two miniscule imperfections. Brilliant proofs must be 100% fully reflective.

A PCGS PR68 will have some extremely minor imperfections. Eye appeal must be outstanding. Brilliant proofs will be fully reflective.

A PCGS PR67 will have some minor imperfections (hairlines or perhaps an extremely minor mark or two). Eye appeal must be very good. Brilliant proofs must be fully reflective or virtually so.

A PCGS PR66 will have a few hairlines and/or very minor marks. Eye appeal must be very good. Brilliant proofs must be fully reflective or nearly so.

A PCGS PR65 will have minor hairlines and or minor marks. Eye appeal must be positive. Brilliant proofs must show good reflectivity.

A PCGS PR64 will have noticeable

hairlines and/or small marks. Eye appeal must not be negative. Brilliant proofs may have subdued reflectivity.

A PCGS PR63 will have obvious hairlines and/or marks. Eye appeal may be somewhat negative. Brilliant proofs may be dull.

A PCGS PR62 will have numerous hairlines and/or marks. Eye appeal may be quite negative. Brilliant proofs may be dull.

A PCGS PR61 will have lots of hairlines and/or marks. Eye appeal is negative. Brilliant proofs may not be reflective.

A PCGS PR60 will have no wear on the high points, but will be very hairlined and/or marked. Eye appeal is negative.

Brilliant proofs may not be reflective.

Proofs below PR60 for proof strikings grading below PR60, the grading is based on the amount of wear and the standards are the same as for regular strikes.

In addition to grade, certain coins have characteristics that collectors recognize as important and PCGS designates these characteristics using the standards that follow.

PCGS COIN DESIGNATIONS Color for Copper Coins (MS60 or better)

Brown (BN) PCGS designates Brown for copper coins that have less than 5% of their original mint-red color.

PCGS MARKET REPORT JAN/FEB 2024

Red Brown (RB) PCGS designates Red and Brown for copper coins that grade MS60 or better and show between 5% and 95% of their original mint-red color.

Red (RD) PCGS designates Red for copper coins that grade MS60 or better and show 95% or more of their original mint-red color.

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PCGS GRADING STANDARDS

Full Steps for Jefferson Nickels

Full Bands for Roosevelt Dimes

Full Bell Lines for Franklin Half Dollars

Full Steps (FS) PCGS designates Full Steps for Jefferson Nickels that grade MS60 or better and show a full five or six steps in the portrait of Monticello (Thomas Jefferson’s home) on the reverse. To qualify for this designation, a coin must also have no major disturbances, including cuts and marks, to the separation of the steps.

Full Bands (FB) PCGS designates Full Bands for Roosevelt Dimes that grade MS60 or better and show full separation of the upper and lower horizontal bands of the torch on the reverse. To qualify for this designation, a coin must also show no significant cuts or marks across the horizontal bands.

Full Bell Lines (FBL) PCGS designates Full Bell Lines for Franklin Half Dollars that grade MS60 or better and show full separation of the lines on the bottom of the Liberty Bell on the reverse. To qualify for this designation, a coin must also show no major disturbances, including cuts and marks, of the separation of the bell lines.

Full Bands for Mercury Dimes

Full Head for Standing Liberty Quarters

Prooflike Surfaces

Full Bands (FB) PCGS designates Full Bands for Mercury Dimes that grade MS60 or better and show full separation of the central crossbands on the crossbands on the reverse. To qualify for this designation, a coin must also have no major disturbances, including cuts and marks, of the separation of the crossbands.

Full Head (FH) PCGS designates Full Head for Standing Liberty Quarters that grade AU50 or better and show full detail of Miss Liberty’s hair (on Type Ones) or helmet (on Type Twos); Type Ones (1916-1917) must show a distinct separation between the hair cords and the cap. Type Twos (1917-1930) must show three complete and distinct leaves to the helmet, a complete outline to the bottom of the helmet, and a distinct ear hole. Note that on the ultra-rare 1918/7-S, PCGS will designate Full Head on coins that grade XF40 or better and that meet the Full Head criteria.

Prooflike (PL) PCGS designates Prooflike for coins that grade MS60 or better and show clear reflectivity, i.e. mirrored surfaces at a distance of two to four inches. If the cartwheel effect or striations cause an area to lose clarity, the designation will not apply.

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PCGS MARKET REPORT JAN/FEB 2024

PCGS GRADING STANDARDS

Prooflike Surfaces

Cameo Proofs

Deep Mirror Prooflike (DMPL) PCGS designates Deep Mirror Prooflike for Morgan Dollars that grade MS60 or better and show deep reflectivity, i.e. deeply mirrored surfaces. The differences between PL and DMPL is one of degree.

Cameo (CAM) PCGS designates Cameo for brilliant proofs that show light to moderate frosting of the devices. Both sides of a coin must have frosted devices to earn the Cameo designation.

Deep Cameo (DCAM) PCGS designates Deep Cameo for brilliant proofs that display deep, even frosting on the devices of both sides of the coin.

No Grade Coins

PCGS Holder No Grade coins are returned to the submitter with encapsulation.

Code Reason 82 Filed Rims 91 Questionable Color 92 Cleaning 93 Planchet Flaw 94 Altered Surfaces 95 Scratches 97 Environmental Damage 98 Damage

No PCGS Holder

PCGS does not grade coins that are counterfeit, have been artificially toned, have had their surfaces altered, have been environmentally damaged, have been abrasively cleaned, have extremely large scratches, or have been repaired. Some allowances are made for ultra-rarities, Colonials, and Territorial gold coins, in which there are some instances when “net grading” is used by PCGS as a service to the numismatic community.

No Grade coins are returned to the submitter without encapsulation.

Code Reason 83 Peeling Lamination 86 Authenticity Unverifiable 90 Counterfeit 96 No Service 99 PVC Residue

Would you like further information about the PCGS Grading Standards, Designations, and No Grade Standards?

View high-resolution images and in-depth videos for each at www.PCGS.com/grades. For PCGS Banknote grading standards visit www.PCGS.com/banknote/grades.

PCGS MARKET REPORT JAN/FEB 2024

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NOTEWORTHY NOTES

1914 $50 Federal Reserve Star Note, PCGS Very Fine 25

By Philip Thomas

This 1914 $50 Federal Reserve Star Note graded PCGS Very Fine 25 and bearing the signatures of U.S. Secretary of the Treasury William McAdoo and Treasurer John Burke became the second of two such known notes. Courtesy of PCGS. The PCGS Banknote grading room is no stranger to rarities of all kinds, from all categories, all classifications, and all continents. This includes much of the better, tougher material cataloged in the seminal Paper Money of the United States by Arthur and Ira Friedberg, the standard reference work on American paper currency from colonial times to the present.

While we still stand in awe of and reverence for the many five-, six-, and even seven-figure banknote wonders that regularly grace us with their presence, we are typically not shocked to see them submitted and entrusted into our custodial care for authentication and grading. We are PCGS Banknote graders…

We’ve practically seen it all.

But we must admit, this blue-sealed, Burke-McAdoo-signed 1914 Series $50 Federal Reserve Star Note from the Kansas City district was a little shocking. It may not be the most valuable banknote we’ve ever certified, nor the oldest. It may not be in the best condition or have the most flashy, colorful design out of the hard-hitting U.S. large-size type note lineup. Yet from a sheer how-many-in-existence statistical standpoint, this numismatic unicorn can lock its mythological horn with the scarcest of them.

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If a note is rare, Friedberg will usually tell you. After scratching our collective heads and trying to remember if we had ever handled any Friedberg 1060* examples (we hadn’t), we cracked open our well-used 22nd edition and saw that as of its 2021 publication date, only a single example was known to exist. Then, after consultation with the array of reliable census data at our disposal, we discovered that this sole documented torch bearer for the Friedberg number was not the banknote in our possession (serial numbers make such conclusive determinations possible). Our note was new to the census.

The Federal Reserve Act of 1913 set up the legal framework for a nationwide central banking system that ushered in brandspanking-new designs of circulating banknotes the following year. The series of 1914 and 1918 Federal Reserve Notes represent a bountiful collecting jackpot. The many denominations ($5 through $10,000), differing seal colors (red and blue), issuing districts (12), and signature combinations (four), along with stars and other quirky varieties and anomalies, are enough to keep even the most aggressive of U.S. type note collectors busy for decades. Their well-balanced, dignified designs set the firm precedent for how successor Federal Reserve Notes would PCGS MARKET REPORT JAN/FEB 2024

NOTEWORTHY NOTES — 1914 $50 FEDERAL RESERVE STAR NOTE, PCGS VERY FINE 25

generally look for the remainder of the 20th century: portrait of dignitary at the very center, conspicuous denomination counters at each corner, seals and serial numbers at center left and center right, and historical or geographic vignettes artfully displayed on the back.

Beginning hobbyists may be wondering what the bold, blue stars overprinted at the end of the serial numbers are all about.

To put it succinctly, this note – as evidenced by those stars – was meant to replace another note from the rather limited $50 Kansas City print run that somehow became damaged or was deemed defective or otherwise unusable prior to issuance. The replacement run quantity would have been even more limited considering its narrow purpose, which explains the sharp scarcity of this survivor today.

More advanced hobbyists may wonder why this note seems to have the older, 19th-century serial number typeface font, considering the BEP’s 1903 roll-out of the higher-speed rotary presses. First, excellent eye... You’d be right! Second, it was common for numbering-division press operators to use the old paging machines (which still delivered the old-style font) for the first thousand notes of a particular run. This, given the setup

of the eight-subject numbering heads and the transitioning between single-, double-, and triple-digit serial numbers on the new equipment was impractical and unwieldy.

One was just too lonely of a number. So, then there were two…

Because banknote lots were hung on Southern California coin shop bid boards eye-level with a first-grader, a young Philip gravitated toward collecting notes versus their circular metal numismatic cousins in the mid-1980s. He has maintained his passion for banknotes ever since and joined PCGS in his current role as banknote specialist and research manager since the launch of PCGS Banknote in early 2020.

STACK’S BOWERS GALLERIES Fr. 1132-I. 1918 $500 Federal Reserve Note.

Minneapolis. PCGS Banknote About Uncirculated 50.

REALIZED: $50,400

CONSIGN NOW! Always Buying and Selling!

CANADA. Banque du Canada. 20 Dollars, 1935.

P-47 / BC-10. PCGS Banknote Choice Uncirculated 64.

REALIZED: $22,200

Contact Peter or Aris to consign your U.S. and World paper money today.

CHINA-PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC. People’s Bank of China.

10,000 Yuan, 1951. P-858Aa. PCGSBG About Uncirculated 50.

Fr. 2200-G. 1928 $500 Federal Reserve Note. Chicago.

PCGS Banknote Superb Gem Uncirculated 67 PPQ.

REALIZED: $31,200

Peter A. Treglia

Director of Currency PTreglia@StacksBowers.com

Aris Maragoudakis

REALIZED: $385,500

Director of World Currency Auctions Aris@StacksBowers.com

800.458.4646 West Coast • 800.566.2580 East Coast • Consign@StacksBowers.com • www.StacksBowers.com PCGS MARKET REPORT JAN/FEB 2024

49

PCGS COIN OF THE ISSUE

1880 Flowing Hair $4 Stella, PCGS PR67CAM

By Joshua McMorrow-Hernandez

One of the great numismatic rarities of the Gilded Era is the $4 Stella, a rare gold pattern that has captured the imaginations of collectors for generations for its beauty and mystique. The Stellas, named for the Latin word meaning star and smaller than its contemporary half eagle, were designed for competition against the British sovereign, Italian 20 lire, and Spanish 20 peseta to facilitate international trade.

They were struck over the course of 1879 and 1880 in two designs, which include the Coiled Hair and Flowing Hair types. The 1879 Coiled and Flowing Hair types were destined for presentation to Congressmembers, while the 1880 Coiled and Flowing Hair pieces were clandestinely struck and sold to collectors. Ultimately, the $4 pattern never came to fruition to serve as America’s international gold coin.

The legacy of the Stella has become ingrained in the numismatic community, with collectors paying seven and eight figures for the opportunity to own one. Indeed, these unusual $4 gold coins have found homes in some of the most prestigious cabinets. And now a rare opportunity has arisen with Rare Coin Wholesalers of Laguna Beach, California, offering a magnificent example of the 1880 Flowing Hair graded PCGS PR67CAM. A mere 35 examples were struck, and the specimen offered

by Rare Coin Wholesalers is tied with just one other example for the highest graded by PCGS. “This is a legendary coin,” said Rare Coin Wholesalers President Michael Contursi.

“Our family has been able to acquire only three 1880 Flowing Hair Stellas over the last 48 years, and this is by far the finest example we have had the honor to own.”

Contursi’s firm, a multi-generational family business stewarding some $85 million in high-end United States coinage in its inventory, is accustomed to handling rarities of this caliber. But even Contursi will say that a rarity like the 1880 Flowing Hair Stella is something particularly special.

“We take great pride in being the stewards of so many incredible American artifacts that represent our cultural heritage and sovereignty on the world stage. The hunt for and acquisition of these trophies is exhilarating, and we have been fortunate to privately place and transact over $2 billion of these 50

This exquisite 1880 Flowing Hair $4 Stella is graded PCGS PR67CAM. Courtesy of PCGS. assets globally. The 1880 $4 Stella is one of the great rarities with an incredible story that brings intense excitement when you hold it in your hand. These are the types of assets that typically remain in an estate for many generations, providing the next owner an opportunity to enhance its legacy.”

Stellas don’t frequently come up for sale, and this flashy proof, with its resplendent watery fields and frosty devices, is a treasure beyond comparison. This is especially so when considering its significance in numismatic history and the captivating lore behind its origins. This piece, dated 1880, was most surely born under covert circumstances and would have many stories to tell about its surreptitious early life – if only it could share these tales with its next owner.

The PCGS PR67CAM 1880 Flowing Hair Stella awaits its next curator, whose name will forever be etched into its proud provenance. Contursi compels those who are interested in acquiring this trophy for their cabinet to contact him for more information by either calling 949-679-1222 or reaching out to him by email via mcontursi@rcw1.com.

Joshua McMorrow-Hernandez has won multiple awards from the NLG and ANA for his work as a numismatic journalist and editor.

He has been a coin collector since 1992 and enjoys all areas of United States coinage and U.S. minting history.

PCGS MARKET REPORT JAN/FEB 2024

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FROM THE PCGS GRADING ROOM

Real Specimens

By Kyle Clifford Knapp

A 1964 Kennedy Half Dollar with Special Mint Set (SMS) finish, graded PCGS SP68.

Courtesy of PCGS TrueView.

While the frosty surfaces of business-strike coins and the deeply reflective mirrors of cameo proofs may be easy to distinguish, numismatists sometimes encounter coins that do not neatly fit into either of these categories. PCGS uses the “SP” prefix (in place of “MS” or “PR”) to designate this genre of specimen or special-strike coins, and it includes some spectacularly interesting and attractive pieces. We’ll explore a few here to sketch out the flavor of the category.

The “SP” coins that will be highly familiar to collectors are those issued in the Special Mint Sets of the mid-1960s. No proof or uncirculated sets were issued by the United States Mint during these years, the mint instead offering a hybrid of sorts, struck in San Francisco (but bearing no mintmark) and featuring a shimmering, semi-reflective surface. While sets from 1965 through 1967 are widely available, a minuscule number were produced in 1964, remaining unknown until the 1990s. Today, these are some of the most highly prized pieces of 20th-century numismatics, with the 1964 SMS Kennedy Half Dollar alone (like that pictured above) bringing $50,000 to $100,000 at auction. These can be told apart from their circulation-strike counterparts via the distinctive, swirling die polish in the fields, which is the same on all known examples.

However, the Special Mint Sets were far from the first specimen coins produced by the U.S. Mint. The RandallGarrett-Pogue 1795 Draped Bust Dollar, pictured here, is clearly of distinct surface fabric and striking quality from all

PCGS MARKET REPORT JAN/FEB 2024

A Specimen 1795 Draped Bust Dollar, graded PCGS SP66.

Courtesy of PCGS TrueView. other known examples. The fields are again semi-reflective, the detail needle-sharp throughout, and the surfaces scattered with minute lint marks of the type commonly seen on proof – and not business-strike – coins. Widely remarked upon as a unique treasure as early as the 1860s, the coin realized $1,057,500 when sold as part of the Pogue Collection in 2016.

Perhaps one of the least-known yet most captivating special strikes is the 1927 Buffalo Nickel. Like the 1964 Special Mint Sets, these turned up unexpectedly many decades after their manufacture, entering professional numismatic awareness as a group in the late 1980s. Their surfaces are reminiscent of the proofs struck a decade later, but with slightly less reflectivity.

Their extreme rarity and placement in one of the United States’

53

FROM THE PCGS GRADING ROOM — REAL SPECIMENS

A 1927 Special Strike Buffalo Nickel, PCGS SP66. Courtesy of PCGS TrueView. most popular series means they are scarcely to be seen at auction, with no public sales recorded in more than 10 years.

While the pieces discussed herein are of “numismatic caviar” quality, there are many more widely available entry points to the Specimen / Special Strike genre that afford collectors the opportunity to acquire a familiar design with an unconventional and enchanting finish. Some popular modern issues are the Jefferson Nickels of 1994 and 1997 (look for examples with even golden toning on the reverse, a result of long-term storage in their original mint packaging), and the Kennedy Half Dollars of 1998. Putting these alongside the business- and cameo-proof strikes in your collection creates a pleasing array of surface variation and metallic aesthetics, and their mintages (only 25,000 in the case of the 1997 Jefferson Nickels) are often shockingly low when compared to other striking formats.

The 1997-P Jefferson Nickel graded PCGS SP70FS. Courtesy of PCGS TrueView.

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An avid childhood collector, Kyle first came to Collectors Universe in 2005 as a grading intern while in high school. Now a senior member of the grading and authentication team, some of his favorite coins include the Nova Constellatio coppers, Flowing Hair Dollars, and Flying Eagle Cents.

PCGS MARKET REPORT JAN/FEB 2024

5 5 J ULY - AUGUST 2023

P CG S MA RKE T R E PO R T

MARKET MATTERS

30 Years & Change

By Joshua McMorrow-Hernandez

The 1955 Doubled Die Lincoln Cent, in this nice, lightly circulated grade, was a $500 coin in 1994. Today, this and other coins that sold for similar sums in 1994 are going for prices approaching or exceeding $2,000.

Courtesy of PCGS TrueView.

If you had told me in 1994 that, with the passage of three decades, Draped Bust Dollars grading G4 would be $1,000 coins while a generic Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle in MS63 could notch $2,000, I’d have probably bought more Draped Bust Dollars and Saint-Gaudens 20s way back then.

Ah, but if only…

In 1994, I was 13 years old growing up in a working-class household, and my allowance and holiday gifts were just enough to afford the completion of my first circulated 20thcentury type set. Don’t get me wrong, I wanted a circulated Draped Bust Dollar and “Saint” for my collection, but they were $350 to $500 coins in those days – way out of my league.

I was perfectly content with my 20th-century type set – something I still own today (with a few upgrades).

As a collector, I’ve since bought and sold a handful of Draped Bust Dollars and Saint-Gaudens Double Eagles, which I have long believed symbolize an area of the market that bridges the gap between more “affordable” coins and midmarket material – pieces that traipse into four-figure territory.

These and a few other four-figure blue chips, like moderately circulated 1955 Doubled Die Lincoln Cents, 1916-D Mercury Dimes, and 1889-CC Morgan Dollars, are good plot devices in any review of the coin market over the past few decades.

They all see frequent market activity, are coveted by scores of collectors, and have shown solid performance over the last 30 years, despite economic hiccups in our industry and our national economy.

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Amazingly, all those coins I just reeled off could be bought for mid-three-figure prices in the mid-1990s. Maybe they weren’t boasting Mint State grades at that price point, but decent circulated specimens were surely available in the range of $350 to $500 apiece. What happened? Some may cite inflation, but that’s too simplistic of an answer.

By the mid-‘90s, the market had hit bottom after suffering major losses in the wake of a bust cycle that began when hedge funds and other big-time investors – many with a lot of disposable income but no numismatic background – bailed out. Many dealers who are now in their 50s, 60s, and 70s will share plenty of stories about the “good times” in the late 1980s. That was when droves of investors who had become leery of traditional investments amid the stock market crash of 1987 and savings-and-loan failures at the time gravitated to alternative assets they could touch and hold.

Some turned to investing in wines, cars, and art. Others preferred coins because of their allure as tangible investments boasting precious metals and real rarity. Serendipitously, PCGS had come along in 1986 and had made coins easy, safe, and fun for people to buy and sell sight-unseen. So, PCGSgraded coins were directly involved in this late-‘80s market boom in an incalculably significant way. By the time outside investors had left the scene for other investment pastures in the waning months of 1989 and into 1990, PCGS had become an established force in the numismatic marketplace.

I came into the hobby a couple of years later, completely PCGS MARKET REPORT JAN/FEB 2024

MARKET MATTERS – 30 YEARS & CHANGE

oblivious to the market dynamics of the previous five years.

Unbeknownst to adolescent me at that time, my first couple of years in the hobby probably dealt the best buying opportunity I will have ever seen as a numismatist. So, do I regret not having bought more of the blue-chip coins that I so love?

From a purely financial standpoint, sure. But I was perhaps more Dennis the Menace than Richie Rich, so I really can’t get too dejected about not buying more $500 coins in those days, can I? Nor should you, especially if you hadn’t the funds nor numismatic knowledge to make those buys 30 years ago.

Yet what we all can gain from looking back is some wisdom.

The market goes up, the market goes down, but blue-chip coins remain resilient. Something else I have learned from watching the market over the last 30-plus years is that even blue chips have their grey days. Things got a little dicey as the Great Recession pushed many to hold back on spending – whether for collectible coins, fancier cars, or second homes.

But just like real estate and the automotive industry, the numismatic sector also saw better days in the decade or so that followed, especially over the past three to four years as

PCGS MARKET REPORT JAN/FEB 2024

countless people around the world have doubled down on their numismatic pursuits.

We don’t know what the market has in store for 2024, especially with so many variables at play on the home front and abroad right now. However, what 30 years of market observations has also taught me is that solid-quality coins tend to ride the waves with their heads above the water. But buy them only if and because you like them, not because you think you’re going to retire with the check you receive after selling them. Because as we’ve also seen over the years coin prices don’t always go up. Nevertheless, if you like what you have in your collection, regardless of its value, you’ll always be happy.

Joshua McMorrow-Hernandez has won multiple awards from the NLG and ANA for his work as a numismatic journalist and editor.

He has been a coin collector since 1992 and enjoys all areas of United States coinage and U.S. minting history.

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5 8 MARC H - APRI L 2023

P CG S MA RKE T R E PO R T

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Market Movers & Shakers

By Jaime Hernandez

The 2020-W American Samoa V75 Quarter is a popular coin that was one of the biggest market movers of recent months.

Courtesy of PCGS TrueView.

DESCRIPTION

GRADE

TODAY'S PRICE

PRICE 3 MONTHS AGO

GAIN

% CHANGE

2020-W American Samoa V75 Quarter

66+

$250

$95

$155

163%

2011-P Jefferson, FS

67+

$1,500

$700

$800

114%

1957 Franklin Half Dollar, DCAM

68+

$6,750

$3,750

$3,000

80%

2006-W $50 Burnished St. of Liberty

69

$1,500

$915

$585

64%

2008-W $25 American Buffalo, DCAM

70

$3,000

$2,000

$1,000

50%

2020-W American Samoa V75 Quarter

67

$625

$425

$200

47%

1982-D Jefferson Nickel, FS

66

$475

$325

$150

46%

2008-D Lincoln Cent, RD

68

$1,600

$1,150

$450

39%

1955-S Lincoln Cent, RD

67+

$800

$575

$225

30%

2008-W $10 American Buffalo, DCAM

70

$2,250

$1,625

$625

38%

With 2024 rolling into gear, we can now look back and reflect on some of the modern coins that performed the best in 2023. There were some huge winners last year, such as a 1969-S Doubled Die Lincoln Cent graded PCGS MS66RD. It realized a record price when it was sold by GreatCollections in January 2023 for a stunning $601,875. There were many other modern coins that sold for remarkable prices.

In the past few months, we have also had other modern coins that have performed very well in the market. However, because of space limitations, we only listed 10 of the Top Gainers from the PCGS Price Guide in the graph above. To view all the Biggest Gainers and Losers, please visit the PCGS Price Guide and click under “Price Changes.”

The first coin on the PCGS Price Guide’s Gainers list

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for the past three months is the 2020-W American Samoa V75 Quarter. The coins were first issued back on April 6, 2020, and immediately collectors all over the country were searching for them. The coins are popular for several reasons.

One of them being that the new quarters were struck at the West Point Mint, and they were some of the first quarters to enter circulation that had the “W” mintmark. The coins also have a mintage of two million, which is relatively small for a circulation-strike U.S. coin of the modern era. Additionally, the coins feature a privy mark, making them extremely appealing to collectors. This can explain why the coins have seen a huge demand and significant price increase, especially in PCGS MS66+ grade. We recently raised the price from $95 to $250, reflecting a recent public sale where the coin took $400. While we are careful to not let any single sale influence

PCGS MARKET REPORT JAN/FEB 2024

MARKET MOVERS & SHAKERS

our pricing, this showing suggests that the market value for this coin has improved in recent months.

Our second example on the past three months' Gainers list is a 2011-P Jefferson Nickel graded PCGS MS67+FS. The coin has a low population of three, with only three examples graded higher by PCGS. Therefore, collectors definitely would love to have this coin for their collection, especially those seeking high-grade examples for their PCGS Registry Sets! The last auction sale that we have on PCGSCoinFacts.com, is from 2021, where an example sold for $2,640 in PCGS MS67+FS. There have not been any other public sales of this piece in such a grade since then, and as mentioned previously, we don’t necessarily change the price of a coin based on one sale.

Other variables go into play, and based on no other recent sale history and the coin remaining with a low population, a price increase was merited.

Our third example is a 1957 Franklin Half Dollar graded PCGS PR68+DCAM. For a coin that was struck 67 years ago, it's simply astonishing that it obtained and remains in this PR68+ grade, let alone that it boasts Deep Cameo surfaces.

Even coins struck today aren’t always of this quality. This coin currently has a population of just one in PR68+DCAM and only three examples grade finer by PCGS. Less than a year

ago, this exact coin sold for $6,600 at a Heritage Auctions sale. A subsequent market price increase was necessary for this conditional rarity.

These were just three of the modern coin highlights that performed the best, in the past three months based on the PCGS Price Guide changes. In the graph above, you can also see the 10 Biggest Gainers, and if you would like to see more Gainers (or Losers), visit the PCGS Price Guide online and check under “Price Changes,” where you can go back and see the biggest Gainers and Losers in the past day, week, month, or even several years back.

Jaime Hernandez is an editor for the PCGS Price Guide and has been a proud member of the PCGS team since 2005. By the time he reached his early 20s, Jaime was successfully buying and selling coins with some of the most prominent dealers and collectors in the country.

Email: jhernandez@collectors.com

earlycents.com Early American Coppers

Specializing in Half Cent & Large Cents

Chris McCawley with Lucas Baldridge and Travis Hollon

CHRIS VICTOR MCCAWLEY EARLYCENTS.com stores.ebay.com/friscomint PCGS MARKET REPORT JAN/FEB 2024

“I love what I do and I take the covenant I make with my clients seriously. As opposed to just doing transactions, I am interested in forming an ongoing collecting relationship with my new clients.

Please feel invited to contact me.”

— Chris Victor McCawley

P.O. Box 6400 • Austin, TX 78762 405-226-5072 • cmccawley@aol.com ebay - friscomint@live.com 61

COIN MARKET FUNDAMENTALS

Do Your Homework

By Vic Bozarth

Morgan Dollars aren’t immune to the mercurial mood of the coin marketplace, which can be all green upward arrows one day and downcast red arrows the next. Even still, they remain steadfast as a perennial collector favorite and are often at the top of many numismatic want lists. Courtesy of PCGS TrueView.

Regardless of how often you advise research and patience when buying rare coins, we’re all human and prone to bouts of instant gratification.

“Wow, that’s cool… I’ve got to have one!” Just swipe your card…

We’re experiencing a market maturation currently after strong demand, nearly across the board, for all numismatically related U.S. coins since COVID swept through the United States in 2020. When updating pricing in some series, for the first time in a couple of years, my minuses are exceeding my plusses. Do these minuses indicate softness in the value of a particular coin? Maybe, but the softness I see is more in demand. Folks are still buying coins, but they’re buying fewer coins.

I’ve always got at least several coins or other collectibles that interest me. Some of these “wants” are realistic and some, big sigh, will never be. I think like a collector, too. There are always several coins I desire that I have yet to find for my set(s). There are also coins on that want list that I will never be able to afford.

Interestingly, what I’ve found over the decades is that keeping my options open has afforded me the opportunity to both learn about and take advantage of different coins and collectibles. Conversely, I have also observed that for those who have no interest in numismatics, the only point of interest is value. They’re interested in only what they can get for their coins.

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Some of those who get excited about coins soon lose interest. Somebody may have told them they could make money. Buying something when everybody wants one and then selling it when people have lost interest? Hmm… Does that work?

Sometimes the best option is to put your best coins in the freezer for a period of time. They’re not going anywhere, and you are not doing yourself any favors churning away at an already desirable set. Sometimes tinkering around with the nuts and bolts of your collection might be a mistake.

What can you do that is constructive? Do your homework!

Try something new. Focus on upgrading or liquidating unwanted parts of your collection. And invest some hours in your own personal numismatic education. Expand your library, attend a seminar, write an article on your pursuits, join a coin club, go to show(s) and meet other collectors and dealers, and read your reference material – not just the pricing sections.

It’s no fun liquidating coins. Generally, when we have coins to sell, there’s a reason. Maybe you really liked a coin when you bought it, but either your tastes have become more discerning or you bought a coin with an issue, maybe having done so because it was offered at a more affordable price. Don’t take that notion personally – we’ve all bought coins we later regretted purchasing.

Be logical and brutally honest when liquidating your extras or mistakes. The first mistake most people make is overvaluing PCGS MARKET REPORT JAN/FEB 2024

COIN MARKET FUNDAMENTALS — DO YOUR HOMEWORK

Regardless of grade, PCGS-graded coins have a ready market. Consider pieces like this 1942/1-D Mercury Dime overdate, which many collectors may be reluctant to buy if raw but will feel reassured if correctly attributed and accurately graded by PCGS. Courtesy of PCGS TrueView. their merchandise. Frankly, it is worth what it is worth!

Spend some time finding sales information on similar items. Do your homework!

Price… Once you determine what other similar items sell for, you have a starting point. You won’t get that retail figure – nobody is going to pay you the same amount for your item as what they want for theirs.

And there’s the matter of grade. First, and this is advice I’ve had to heed personally, if it is ungraded and has value, you will benefit by having the coin graded by PCGS. You might not get the grade you expected, but a PCGS-graded coin will almost immediately give you the information to determine a realistic price range for your item. And a PCGS-graded coin is easy to value!

While there are dozens of ways to sell your coins, your due diligence, prior to sale, will almost always pay dividends.

Conversely, you will not be successful liquidating coins hoping for inflated and unrealistic prices. You are wasting both your time and that of the prospective buyer. So, again, do your homework.

Just a personal note: While I’ve had to make the decision to sell many times, I’ve curiously regretted selling very few coins over the decades. The only common regret in my career when selling coins has always been a lack of due diligence. I didn’t “do my homework” on the coin and its value, and I ended up getting less than what my coin was worth. The bottom line?

Don’t be lazy when preparing to sell your coins!

Remember, too, that you might need the assets to buy desirable coins you want when they become available. You might very well find something nicer later.

PCGS MARKET REPORT JAN/FEB 2024

OK, let’s get back to the research. After all, when talking about numismatics, research and investigation of your items is your homework. Hundreds of times in my career, mundane numismatic reading and research has paid me thousands in profits. Find and read whatever you can relevant to your pursuits. Even better? Acquire copies for your personal library – every book, pamphlet, or article you can find on what you like.

Especially today, online resources are nearly endless on so many subjects – including numismatics. I’m curious and strive to remain so. What I’ve found is when I research a topic I am often exposed to another subject that proves to be an unexpected boon. So many numismatic subjects have plots and subplots. These side trips, and yes, sometimes they’re rabbit holes, have built so much of my numismatic knowledge, and I enjoyed every minute of it!

These suggestions, which I utilize myself, are also pertinent if you are liquidating a collection or group of coins. Ultimately, while we can do little to change markets, we can position ourselves and our collections to better take advantage of those markets when they change.

Do your homework. There will be a test!

Vic Bozarth is a familiar face on the bourse floor to many who have attended coin shows over the last five decades. He’s a self-described “coin weenie” who has attended more than 1,000 shows and vast experience both buying and selling many of the finest PCGS coins. His numismatic knowledge as a dealer and collector provides a unique perspective on our industry.

63

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