Six Liberty Head Gold Issues Which Have Been "Ruined" by the Grading Services

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Six Liberty Head Gold Issues Which Have Been "Ruined" by the Grading Services

The powers that be at PCGS and NGC have never sat down and said “let’s deliberately ruin such and such issue by misattributing them or miscalculating them.” Unfortunately, this is exactly what they have done on a number of important U.S. gold coins. I have selected six. There are more, but these examples are egregious enough to merit discussion.

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Gary Carlson: In Memoriam

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Gary was a world-class expert on early type and knew more about early silver dollars then just about anyone else in the coin business. Our numismatic paths didn’t cross all that often but when they did, I found Gary to be fair and honest. In my dealings with collectors, Gary’s name would come up from time to time and I never heard anything bad attached to him. When someone told me they were a “Gary Carlson customer” I knew that their coins were nice and that they were being treated fairly.

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A Quick One: The Type Collector's Dilemma

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A Quick One: The Type Collector's Dilemma

The dilemma that I speak of is this: given an average budget of around $5,000 per coin, is it advisable to buy a common date in the best affordable grade, or a scarcer date at the same price point? A quick caveat: this dilemma does not exist, of course, for certain issues like Type Two dollars as coins like the 1855-O are one-year issues with no ability to select from a variety of dates.

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"Wow...the Coin is Better Looking in Hand!"

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At least once a week we hear from a client who calls excitedly or emails us immediately, pleased with their most recent purchase. And they always say the same thing, "You know, I loved the photos, but this coin looks even better in person!" So that begs the question - why do I not show you exactly what you can expect when you open a package from DWN?

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Battle of the Classic Head Fives: The 1838-C vs. The 1838-D

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Battle of the Classic Head Fives: The 1838-C vs. The 1838-D

If you ask most casual collectors which of these two issues is the rarer or more desirable, I’m guessing most would select the 1838-D. Let’s look at the Tale of the Tape for each issue and then I will add some analysis.

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