How RARE is a rare coin?

The term rare coin is left open to interpretation, depending on what you consider rare and within your budget.
Over 30-years, I have handled many coins, from $1. Indian cents, to $45,000. gem 1879 CC GSA Morgan at the time only one of two graded by NGC.
So what do you feel is your rarest coin in your collection? That 1909 S VDB Lincoln cent in XF worth $1400.00? Or that 1893 S Morgan worth $25,000.00?
The hobby of coin collecting is truly one that is very diverse and full of twists and turns.
What's your cup of tea?
Just a short note to make one think....

I Hate When Someone Tells You I Told You So, But I Did!

Over a year ago I said "I can see silver doubling in value before gold,  $40. silver before I can see $2200. gold. Now a year later boy was I right (ok I told you so, there I go again), as of this writing with silver over $46., gold just crossing the $1530. mark!
I have talked to many friends during the past year who I thought were smarter than me, all telling me that silver is not a "real" precious metal. The uses for silver were just not there, especially with digital photography not using silver. One of these friends just said that when silver hit $30.,  he shorted silver, feeling that was high enough, and well I guess he lost!
Now, how high is silver going? Profit taking is due, believe me this up market isn't an endless up market - it will correct. Then silver will continue past the $50. mark, into the $60. range if inflation will be as bad I as I feel it will be.
What do you think? I would like to hear your comments?

GOLD AND SILVER ARE BURNING HOT!

At this writing gold has exceeded $1410.00, with silver in the mid $33.00 range. I have always felt that silver had the better future price increase to gold. In other words, silver I felt could more easily double in value than gold. This doubling is on target to happen.
The only factor that makes silver less attractive than gold, is the problem of where to store say 1,000 ounces of silver?!
If you have a coin collection or estate of coins, feel free to call me personally. I will evaluate your collection free of charge for my offer.
Written appraisals are available for a fee.
What do I look to buy? All U.S. coins, including proof and mint sets, silver dollars, gold coin buyer.
Call me directly at: 203-359-2646.
Robert

Cleaning Coins Is A DIRTY Word! Remember just one word - DON'T!

From time to time when someone walks in with a coin collection for sale, I notice that many coins have been cleaned or polished. I say, "gee it's a shame whoever put this collection together cleaned these coins", and usually the person responds, "oh I polished them to make them shiny, they looked dirty".

 I then go into my long discussion of cleaning:

Cleaning, or polishing, coins lowers the value of a coin by removing the original patina (original surface luster). Whether done on a circulated or uncirculated coin, removing the original protective surface opens the coin up to more environmental damages. These manifest themselves to the experienced collector eye as hairlines and off color unnatural toning. I am not saying that all containment removal on a coin's surface is bad, but unless done by an experienced Numismatist, this is just an easily answered - NO, when someone asks me if they should clean their coins. If you had a Renoir painting, I am sure you would not take a rag and bottle of turpentine and proceed to clean your masterpiece!

Consider those old coins as miniature masterpieces of history, and please leave the original toning and "dirt" on the coins for future collectors to appreciate, please?

If you have any questions - always feel free to write or call.
Thanks.

Zazzle Coin Postage Stamp Order Rejected - Why? The Words "In God We Trust"

This is my design available on Zazzle, displaying those forbidden words: "In God We Trust"

Claiming my stamp design goes against their guidelines, Zazzle has rejected my order. This is especially strange because I have ordered stamps with this design before. The stamp contains an image of a U.S. Oregon Trail commemorative coin. Designed by the U.S. Mint, the coin contains the phrase "In God We Trust". The curious part of this whole story is that the exact same picture has been used many times before, such as on mailings to our customers.
This time, to our extreme surprise, the order was cancelled by Zazzle. Upon questioning Zazzle as to why - we received the following email:

Thank you for contacting our Content Management Team regarding your cancelled order. We would love to print everything that our customers submit, however we must abide by all applicable laws and standards as well as our own content guidelines and copyright policies.

Because Zazzle Custom Stamps are real postage, they are subject to special Appropriate Use Guidelines, detailed at http://zazzle.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/135. One of these restrictions prohibits the printing of any postage with content that advocates or protests any particular religious, social, political, legal, or moral agenda of any person or entity.

In this instance, your custom stamp design(s) contained the text "in god we trust", so we were unable to fulfill your order.

You were sent an e-mail notification with an explanation, however, please accept our apologies if you did not get that e-mail; it may have been routed to your bulk mail folder.

When we cancelled the order, we immediately issued a full refund to the account used to make your purchase. You can expect the returning funds to be available in your account within the next 7-10 business days, depending on the processing speed of the financial institution that authorized the initial transaction.

We certainly apologize for any inconvenience or disappointment that you may have experienced due to this cancellation and we look forward to delighting you with high quality products in the future!

Best Regards,
Content Management Team
Zazzle Inc.

So let me get this straight. Our stamp order was cancelled because we wanted to use a picture of a U.S. legal tender coin that just happened to contain "In God We Trust". Meanwhile, if you search for Zazzle postage stamps containing coin designs, one of my designs is currently listed as popular.

The use of "In God We Trust" is according to Zazzle Policy: "One of these restrictions prohibits the printing of any postage with content that advocates or protests any particular religious, social, political, legal, or moral agenda of any person or entity". Has God gotten so politically incorrect today, that we can't use it on a U.S. Postage Stamp, but can on a U.S. Coin?

Let's take a moment to think about this!

A Blast From The Past 1983 Premier Issue of "Report on ANACS Coins"

PART 1

Many years ago - back in March of 1983 to be exact, we began to publish a newsletter about the ANACS Certified coin market "REPORT OF ANACS COINS". At that time, and for 3 years to come ANACS was the game in the certified coin market, PCGS and NGC were not around.
ANACS protected many collectors and investors from counterfeit and over graded coins. What follows is my editorial from the premier issue of Report on  ANACS Coins. Every few weeks I will share with you, some interesting articles from my 27-year old newsletter. I hope that you will see, as I feel that all these years later this still is as timely and as interesting to read. Your comments are welcome!

Editorial
Robert S. Riemer
Vol. 1 No. 1 (March 1983)


The concept behind this publication, REPORT ON ANACS COINS, is that of a source of news and information for the certified coin collector; and has been in the planning stages for well over a year.
One of the major obstacles in publishing has been getting what felt was very important statistical information from ANACS. I had requested over a year ago that this information, relating to the number of coins in the various grades that have been authenticated and graded by ANACS be released. For example - how many 1909-S VDB cents have been graded MS-65165? I was interested in all grades from AG-3 to a potential MS-70/70.

A year ago at the ANA Board meeting my proposal was voted down. The reason, ANA's computer was not equipped to give that information and more important priorities at that time existed.
Recently, in December 1982 I requested the same information from ANACS, and was told that it was now available for coins graded during the past year. Earlier statistics would be available in a few months, all for a fee based on ANA staff time involved. Upon this agreement, we decided now was the time to publish REPORT ON ANACS COINS. A few weeks later we were told that the ANA Board of governors would have to vote on this issue. As of now, the ANA Board will be voting in late February.

OUR STAND

During the years that I have been involved with certified coins, many collectors have inquired as to the availability of certain coins in various grades. Has ANACS ever graded a Peace dollar MS-67/67? For the ANACS collector this information besides being straight statistics, would tell them if that MS-67167 1924 Peace dollar with ANACS papers does exist.
ANACS has made its mark on Numismatics. It is here to stay. Collectors put their trust behind ANACS' authentication and grading standards, and many do only buy certified coins.
Now is the time for the ANA Board to decide whether or not to unlock these ANACS numbers. The information is there, and we want to be able to report it.

Remember that the above was written back in 1983. ANACS was relatively new and I felt that the population numbers of dates and grading numbers of coins would be interesting to report. Back then, ANACS had other priorities, and compiling these for me was not one of them. Except for a few grade populations release months later, not much of this information was released.

Watch here for future editions of REPORT ON ANACS COINS!
.

New Auctions Up Featuring Morgan GSA dollars and Gold

Although ebay is not our favorite venue for selling coins, we do have a new auction listing online. So why do we use it? Despite the multitude of added fees and rules rubbing many sellers the wrong way, including us, the online auction site does have a strong following. As an alternative, we have used ebid in recent months for selling, with the only drawback being the smaller customer base.

But alas, I diverge, as the main reason for this post is to inform you of the GREAT deals we currently have up for auction. I must point out, there is plenty of time to bid for holiday buying! You can check them out here.

Robert Riemer

Hot Off The Press!

I have just finished our latest newsletter - price list. A copy is just waiting for you to call me! Included in this issue are cent through gold, with my usual emphasis on silver dollars.
So why not give me a call today:
203-359-2646
Just leave your name, address, and phone number for your FREE copy.
Remember that this blog is a two-way street. We would like to see your comments and suggestions, so join us now!
Robert S. Riemer

Coins For Gift Giving? Now Is The Time!

If you're thinking of coins for the holiday, now is the time to order. Depending on your budget and level of the giftee, Morgan dollars are always a good starter. Where can you get a U.S. coin over 100-years old in certified MS 63 condition for under $55. or MS 64 for under $70.? In addition, there are well over 20 different dates available in the above price range.

If your collector is into Mercury dimes or Lincoln cents, many dates are available  in the certified MS 65 and 66 grades for as little as $25.

Remember, with coins there are no sizes to worry about, no styles or colors to pick from, just a piece of American history, maybe a birth year would work! Start a collector today! An interesting hobby - with a potential profit down the road!

Ho-Ho-Ho, and happy Hanukkah to boot!

A Brief History of Certified Coins

The concept of certified coins came about in the 1970's. The American Numismatic Association (ANA), a national collector/dealer organization, started a grading service called American Numismatic Association Certification Service (ANACS). They were one of the first companies to certify coins, with a third party unbiased grading opinion, while authenticating the coin.

In 1986 PCGS (Professional Coin Grading Service) and NGC (Numismatic Guaranty Corporation) a year later, started certifing coins. These two services placed their coins in protective plastic holders called slabs. Today, the top two grading services in the certified coin market are PCGS and NGC.

Certified coin grading has dramatically changed the coin market! The changes have been a positive for the collector, as well as dealers. Counterfeit and overgrading of coins were the two major issues within the coin market. I decided to support certified coin grading because I saw these services as a way of combating both issues and making the marketplace a safer environment for everyone involved.

I was one of the first coin dealers recognized as a supporter of the certified coin market. In the 1980's I published newsletters entitled, "Report On ANACS Coins," and "Report On Certified Coins."

Even though we specialize in certified coins, Morgan dollars, and GSA Carson City dollars being half our business, we also buy and sell from soup to nuts. Half-cents to commemoratives, dollars, and gold coins. I am a strong coin buyer. I need to buy coins so I have coins to sell. So if you have raw coins, certified coins, PCGS, NGC or whatever, I am a coin buyer! Give me a call! RSR COINS, your certified coin source!