Any News On 25th Anniversary ASE Set?

Coins1371 I hate when that happens. Someone is always home at my house, yet when I check to see if a package has come, I'm greeted by that little sticker hanging on the door window. I thought it was my family just not opening the door, but a friend of mine who works for USPS said they will leave those stickers without even knocking or ringing bell. They do this to build the next days route. So I started to pay closer attention, then I caught one of my USPS del guys in the act. After he placed the sticker on the window, I jumped up and ripped the door open, While yelling "I got ya" it was pretty funny, his face was priceless. He didn't know whether to Poop, Scream, run, duck, While he fumbled for words, I told him no more, save that ish for another house. So it might not be the other 2 people in the house.

I ordered first as a collector, then as time was ticking away, I kept ordering additional ones for resale. Couldn't pass up on the fact these could whined up free.
If I send a set out for grading, it go to NGC. I was a associate member, but I read you can't submit the 25th Anv Set with an Associates Membership(The one through the ANA). You would have to pay there normal membership fee. So we'll see. I'd only send it for grading for resale. I might of mislead some, with my rants about sealed boxes. I understand the whole purpose of it. I'm just uncomfortable not being able to see what I'm sending. I get why, I'm just a control freak, who use to be very intouch with how far people will go for money. I like what TPG's did for the industry in terms of security, and the fact they allow more people to enjoy collecting, if their not comfortable with grading....I know, but what I see these days is slabs and labels becoming more important then the coin its self. Their taking away key designations which hurts us collectors. IMO the reason they're not designating the S is because all the big Monster Box dealers had something to say about it. So they blame it on the COA and say they spoke to someone at the mint but won't mention who. That It seems so fabricated, for a hidden purpose. Having that S would make the SET even more attractive. I enjoy getting certain coins graded like variety's for my collection, or coins that I know will grade well or pretty much anything that will demand a premium. I don't agree with paying premiums well over what the coin would cost you because it has a fancy label. But the potential profit to be made with one is something I just can't ignore. I love seeing how cheap I can win a Top 2 graded coin on.. ebay. Of course they're always coin's I think are smart investments. And I really enjoy when I snag a FS, or ER. Cause I know what it costs. Some will say this is kinda mean, but they shouldn't of paid that extra money for a meaningless prefix. Its really been great tossing letters around with eveyone.
What do you think the 30th Anv Set will be? Maybe Three 10oz coins, or six five oz.
Or how bout a whopping 30oz SAE. I'd buy it. Of course I'd have to sell my current set first :0)

When you get down to it, judging one TPG as better than another because it concludes that fewer coins are perfect is a fairly narrow view. To rate a grader by the limits they set on each numerical grade is not a particularly useful tack to take. We might be better off if we took some measure of consistency as opposed to a measure of average grade awarded. PCGS graders aren't inherently better because they, on average, return lower numerical grades. Sure, coins of a particular numerical grade may average higher selling prices but that is a given. It doesn't mean that the grader that hands out the lowest grade for a given coin is correct. We cannot reasonably expect the companies to be the same, there is no absolute standard for the cutoff between grade levels for coins. Each coin type is different in how various areas are weighted. I have seen many people very concerned about rim dings and for some coins, these aren't even part of the grading equation. There are no fixed criteria for how to weigh the various areas of a coin. Even grade 70, which many refer to as perfect, has a range of coins that will fit the grade. If it did not, then no coin would ever be judged perfect. We shouldn't use the average selling price of coins graded at a particular level as a measure of the quality of a company. If we don't like the fact that a TPG has a favorable contract with a particular large customer we should not forget that they all do that. If we don't like that a TPG is trying to create artificial rarities by selling or giving away special labels we should not forget that they all do that as well.

Modern coins and their collectors have created a difficult situation by deciding that numerical perfection is somehow worth ten times what the next best thing is. As both buyers and sellers we have put far too much value in the numerical grade received and are forgetting to examine the coin to see if we like it or not. Large volume dealers use grades and the companies that assign them as a way to set the price of large lots of coins that they buy sight unseen. They can do this because they are buying enough units to have probability work its magic and allow them to make a profit. When we are buying or selling a single coin or a small set of coins, placing too much emphasis on the assigned grade is dangerous at best. I am sorry, but a low end 70 is really only worth, at best, a few dollars more than a high end 69 from the same grader (and even that assumes that it really was the same grader and that the two coins were graded very close in time to each other). A 70 from one TPG is really only worth more than a 70 from another if the individual coin is actually better. A situation has come about where many people who know virtually nothing about coins are investing huge amounts of money in buying, selling, and grading modern coins and have created a business that has almost nothing to to with the coins themselves. That world and the world of the classic collector have become hopelessly intertwined and there is probably no way to fix that but each of us needs to be fully cognizant of which world we are operating in at any point in time. As long as we understand that sometimes it is all about the money and sometimes it is all about the coins then we should be OK as long as two parties are on the same page. When we start getting greedy enough to lie (to ourselves and others) about which realm we are acting in we risk more than we might think. OK, big rant, I know, but this set has really brought this whole notion to the forefront for me and I had to say something so my brain wouldn't come out through my ear holes.

Be careful out there. If you have coins that you are sure are high end 69s and you want to sell them, go someplace where the buyers can see them close up and know why you are asking the price you have set. Provide high res images so potential buyers can grade for themselves. If you are buying, especially if you are paying huge premiums for "perfect" coins, make sure you get a close look at the coins before committing. Don't take the assigned grade at face value. NO matter what you might think, there are 70s from ANACS that are better specimens than 70s from PCGS (and the opposite is of course also true). With the amazing difference in money being paid for the step from 69 to 70, buyer and seller need to educate themselves to avoid being taken for a ride that they will regret. I shy away from most internet sales as a buyer because I rarely see images of the coins for sale that allow me to "grade" a coin properly, and I use "grade" more to mean "assign a value to" than "assign a number to".

Yippeee...bank acct. charged for my 4-sets....called the Mint last night to swap CC #, as first charge was, er, declined...darned lucky to swap a new card, and have it fly through...

No, the Mint did not call me...I called them late last night to see if a charge had gone through....
I think they cancel orders if your credit card is declined automatically, without calling you, so, the lesson here is make sure you are using a card # that will fly...

Yea

My box came .. just sitting there. I am not sure what to do.

I have a offer of $4250 for the sealed box. I would have to pay shipping.

Is this crazy or what. Maybe the real crazy part is I don't know what I will do.

You can turn $1,500.00 spent on 5 Sets, into $4,250.00 ..........?

Mercy ! .....


But then you have no Set after it's all sent off ? .....

I dunno what ya otta do .......but ya better do it quickly !
If it sits there for too long ....... Temptation would have me opening that dang box sooner than later, to see what's in there ! .....

Reasonable price....