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Replies: 21 / Views: 1,255 |
New Member
United States
10 Posts |
I purchased the pictured 1895 Indisn Head coin as being an ANACS graded MS 63 but upon receiving the slab I saw that it says it is actually graded by ANA. I read that they are an organization that uses NGC to do their grading. This is an older slab and could have been graded before ANA started using NGC. Does anyone know if this is a legitimate slab and whether ANA was a reputable first class grading organization? Also, I would like your opinions as to the grade of the coin. Thanks.     
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Bedrock of the Community

United States
78331 Posts |
Pics are frankly too dark to see the coin's surface details clearly.  to the CCF!
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
14527 Posts |
 the shadows are tough. the coin is inset in the holder which makes photos a little more of a challenge. I think you need lighting from two sources to offset the shadowing. coin however looks correctly graded based on what I can see. I'm not familiar with ANA so cant comment on that
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Pillar of the Community
United States
756 Posts |
ANA doesn't use anyone to do their grading. they are a coin club. they are sometimes affiliated with a grading company in the way a beer company is sometimes affiliated with a football team. ANACS was the first grading company and worked heavily with the ANA in the early days. they had some really bad years in the middle and now they are back to being a respected grading company. during the less consistent years they lost their ANA affiliation. you can read about their fall from grace and peoples thoughts on the company here: http://goccf.com/t/434289your slab is really early ANACS. I think this is the type of holder that is often called a soapbox. the plastic is worth a premium on your coin. I'm not up to date on that market so I'm not sure what kind of premium though.
I collect low grade large cents. I currently have >230 Sheldon varieties and >235 middle date Newcomb varieties.
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Pillar of the Community

United States
3842 Posts |
CarrsCoins you are wrong. ANACS was founded by and part of the ANA until late 1990 when it was sold to Amos Press. Coins were initially just authenticated and then photocerts with grades were issued, ANACS began encapsulating coins using the soapbox holder in 1989. Those are the coins with the blue "Official ANA Grade". With the rise of PCGS and NGC, ANA would have had to invest substantially to keep ANACS going. As a federally chartered educational society, ANA would have been hard-pressed to justify the investment. Hence the sale to a private entity. After the sale, Amos began using the green underprint labels. After a couple of years they stopped using the two-letter, four-digit cert#s from the ANA days and began using all numeric certs.
-----Burton 49 year / Life ANA member (joined 12/1/1973) Life member: Numismatics International, CONECA Member: TNA, FtWCC, NETCC, OnLine Coin Club Owned by four cats and a wife of 39 years (joined 1983) PS: ANA's records are messed up, they show me as a 50-year member and I'm now Emeritus
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Pillar of the Community

United States
3842 Posts |
Being the official ANA grading service after the sale to Amos Press is a paid-for relationship. ANACS grades under ANA ownership reflect the highly technical grades of the era following the ANA Grading Standards. Under ownership by Amos Press and later by Anderson Press, they moved to more market-based grading which was the standards of PCGS and NGC. There isn't an exact 1:1 relationship between the ANACS-ANA grades and today's grades. Many coins are undergraded, but there are also coins in those holders that are overgraded - BY TODAY'S STANDARDS. Might technically be MS63, but it's an UGLY MS63 and it gets an MS62 grade today.
-----Burton 49 year / Life ANA member (joined 12/1/1973) Life member: Numismatics International, CONECA Member: TNA, FtWCC, NETCC, OnLine Coin Club Owned by four cats and a wife of 39 years (joined 1983) PS: ANA's records are messed up, they show me as a 50-year member and I'm now Emeritus
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Pillar of the Community
United States
756 Posts |
thanks for clarifying that bstrauss3. you have a lot of good points to add about anacs history. perhaps my wording was unclear. ill try to clarity - what I was trying to convey is that ANA doesn't use anyone to do their grading because they are a coin club. they dont have grading that needs to be done. they arent resellers. they dont grade coins. the coins they display at their museum arent slabbed (usually). the coins they use for education can be slabbed by any company or none at all. ngc currently has an affiliation with them which they pay for. that relationship is advertising. as a subsidiary of the ANA they worked heavily with the ANA proper in their infancy. ANACS had a relationship with the ANA. they lost that affiliation.
I collect low grade large cents. I currently have >230 Sheldon varieties and >235 middle date Newcomb varieties.
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Bedrock of the Community

United States
10343 Posts |
I would agree with 63RB. Perhaps even 64RB. I have a few coins in the old small ANA holders (they are quite collectible in and of themselves and will bring premiums irrespective of the coin inside) and have found them to be accurately graded for the most part, or slightly under modern market grades. The early ANA/ANACS small white holders were not well sealed, though, and coins inside can sometimes tone in less than desirable ways. The last series of ANACS small white holders (before the change to the modern large-size slabs) don't seem to have that issue as often. The ANA / ANACS / NCI Photo Certificate coins are also very collectible, and they were still using the American Numismatic Association branding and logos back then as well. In my opinion it is not a good idea for the company that literally wrote the book on modern grading standards to have a vested ownership interest in the certification and grading process, and that is probably at least one reason why the ANA now only has an advertising relationship/agreement with NGC.
Longhorn Coins & Exonumia Member ANA - EAC - TNA - SSDC - CCT #890 "Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossible before they were done." -- Louis D. Brandeis
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Pillar of the Community
United States
9691 Posts |
I also think it looks better than 63rb. Nice coin! 
IN NECESSARIIS UNITAS - IN DUBIIS LIBERTAS - IN OMNIBUS CARITAS My coin e-commerce website: https://fairfaxcoins.comLet me build your coin e-commerce website: https://fairfaxcoins.com/ur-site/
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3915 Posts |
Here is information about your slab: ANACS Slab Generation 1 Produced from Feb 1989 - Jun 1990. It is ANACS' 11th Generation of certification following the 10 generations of Photo Certificates. This holder is the 1st generation slab style holder issued by the ANA prior to being purchased by Amos Publishing and being re-labeled ANACS. The slab is uncommon and it is a keeper.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4562 Posts |
Coins in these slabs are generally properly graded. I wouldn't worry about it, in fact, many are conservative and may grade higher by today's standards. Let me add - toning appears stable after all these years, and coin looks as if it could grade MS-64 or higher. If offered at auction as is, it should bring a premium.
Edited by jimbucks 12/10/2022 6:46 pm
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10126 Posts |
That's ANACS and yes, completely legit. Beautiful coin in an old holder.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
770 Posts |
I agree, legitimate grader, nice coin.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1571 Posts |
No need for better pictures at all.
Those slabs are easily recognizable and they are highly sought after and bring premiums.
They are legit, respectable and known for having a conservative grade.
You realize when you know how to think, it empowers you far beyond those who know only what to think.
-Neil deGrasse Tyson
Edited by NumismaticsFTW 12/10/2022 11:30 pm
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Bedrock of the Community

United States
10306 Posts |
 to the CCF Nice looking coin.
Take a look at my other hobby ... http://www.jk-dk.artToo many hobbies .... too much work .... not enough time.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1004 Posts |
Grading will always be subjective even amongst TPG's. 63RB seems correct to me.
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Replies: 21 / Views: 1,255 |
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