I was hoping for a book I could go pickup. I like books and feel that it somehow encourages my kids to put down the device and pick up a book. Maybe that's just wishful thinking. But if anyone knows of any books that could be helpful to an absolute beginner. It would be appreciated.
I wish we had a library. I think I'm just going to hit up the library Friday and see what I can find. I get that the internet is a tremendous resource, but I went to school to become a programmer and I just got burned out on technology. Made me feel like a zombie and still does every time I Google something.Thanks for the replies.
Heck yeah. That helps. That's awesome. But from what I can gather is that two IHCs that I found in one of my change jars could potentially be extra fine. Maybe. Lol. I need to do more research. And when do you feel a coin is worthy of sending off to get a grading?
There is nothing wrong with collecting raw coins. However for a newbie buying more expensive Indian Head cents, buying raw coins without lots of knowledge, experience can have it's fair share of pitfalls. Look very closely for problem coins to avoid (cleaned, damaged, re-colored, and so on) since originality is very important to coin collectors and is to some collectors more important than having a higher grade.
For me graded coins are a must if I'm spending a few hundred bucks on a coin. The key dates of the series, like the 1877 and the 1909-S are heavily counterfeited so graded/slabbed coins are a must there for me. Grading through third party graders (PCGS, NGC) is costly, in a best case scenario perhaps you could piggy back on a local coin dealer's submission to the grading company and possibly get a better rate. ANACS might also be an option, they are a bit cheaper on their grading fees but don't quite have the reputation that the big two (PCGS & NGC) have.
Welcome, I'm a new member as well starting today, but I'll gladly offer my opinion on your grading question.
Obviously it is extremely exciting to find a high grade coin. However, until you have gained enough visual experience to detect what will keep a coin from being "body bagged" (for example being scratched, cleaned, etc.) instead of slabbed when grading, hold off.
Specific to the Indian Head series, I find that the only coins worthy of getting graded under AU are the key 1877 and 1909-S, and depending on your purpose of slabbing, 1866-1872 and 1886. Most other dates really don't add much value when slabbed under AU, since even raw, they're still rather easy to find today.
If you feel you must get something slabbed that isn't a $$$ coin, get on the ANACS mailing list, they often have a promo for only $10 grading of cents. You could also consider this a good test of your grading skills ... at $10 a pop. =-)
If you want a book, something you can use as a reference, Snow wrote the book for the Whitman series,
A Guide Book of Flying Eagle and Indian Head cents: Complete Source for History, Grading, and Prices Paperback - February 25, 2009 by Rick Snow (Author), Q. David Bowers (Introduction), Tom DeLorey (Foreword)
You can get it from your local coin shop (LCS) or at Amazon:
thanks everyone. I would also like to explain something. I do not care whether the coin is valuable or not. I'm looking into grading to teach my 9 year old son so we can evaluate which ones to save in our collection. Obviously you want to find something great, and I already have. didn't think bout searching through rolls from the bank, but it has made my day.....
I am surrounded by 4 kids searching through rolls and the excitement they show when they find the oldest date/wheat/unique reverse(which seem to be only the 2009 cents?). this is what I was hoping for. no IHC's but when they find their birth years they think it's awesome. especially when it's "like gold". lol. We may end up collecting Canadian Cents also after tonight
@biedercoins. what got me interested was that after almost spending a 1857 quarter, I went through one of my change jars and found a couple of IHCs and my 9 year old chose those out of the Spanish silver, Two Cent Piece and the large cents as to what we would make as our focal point for our new hobby. lol
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Posted 01/27/2016 9:10 pm
