Mobile App is One of Many Options for Coin Values

• Is there an app through which I can learn the value of my coin?

CoinSnap is a mobile application using AI-driven image recognition technology to identify coins. In addition to what the Coin Market section of Numismatic News online, you want to consider the PCGS CoinFacts, Newman Numismatic Portal, CoinNews.net, NGC World Price Guide, Heritage Auctions and GreatCollections websites for coin values.

• How can I know if it is worth the money to have my coin graded by a third-party service?

Try to determine a value and a grade for your coin that appears to be realistic. There are many places you can read about grading. Other collectors and dealers can give you an opinion as well. In general, a coin should be submitted to a third-party certification service if the coin is known to be counterfeited or appears to be questionable, if you need an opinion of the Mint State numerical grade for the coin, or if the value differential for the coin can be considerable from one grade to the next grade.

• I’ve seen slabbed silver dollars selling at coin shows for cheap prices considering the extra cost to have the coin encapsulated. How can a dealer make money if he is going to sell these coins without factoring in the cost of having them slabbed?

Some coin dealers make arrangements with third-party certification services for bulk submissions at deeply discounted prices. If such a dealer sends in perhaps 1,000 recently issued silver American Eagles and even just a few are returned in grade Mint State 70 or Proof 70, the value of these coins will more than make up the expense of the other coins that failed to “make the grade.” The coins assigned a lower grade are typically sold at the value of the coin plus a small premium to get back as much of the dealer’s investment as possible.

• How can I tell if the uncirculated roll of coins I am offered is original?

Freshly struck coins are bagged at the Mint and shipped to the Federal Reserve banks. Each branch wraps the coins, the ends being tightly sealed. These are what collectors call OBs or original bank-wrapped rolls.

• Is there a way I can determine if the rolls I am offered were wrapped by the Federal Reserve Bank or by someone else at a later date?

Certain coin wrappers were available during specific time periods. It may be a challenge to learn if the wrapper in which you see a roll is correct to the period of the date of the roll, but it is the only way to determine if the roll was made up later or if it is original.

• Can rolls of proof coins be original?

The U.S. Mint has made individual proof coins as well as sets, but none of these coins have been rolled by the mint or at a Federal Reserve Bank. All proof coin rolls were put together by someone outside the distribution system at some later date.

• Carl Wilhelm Becker was known for making fake coins that were actually fantasies rather than copies of the real deal. Are there fake U.S. coins that don’t mimic genuine coins?

By design, no. By date, yes. The 1913 Liberty Head nickel and various proof restrikes of our early 19th century copper composition coins come to mind. The culprit in each of these cases appears to be someone inside the Mint using mint supplies and equipment.

• Are there fake Morgan silver dollars in fake GSA holders?

Counterfeit Carson City dollars in fake General Service Administration holders are known for several dates. The black insert used for most of the fake holders looks like paper or cardboard with smooth surfaces. The texture of a genuine plastic GSA holder is rougher than is that of the fakes. The silver lettering is duller and the overall holder plus coin is lighter on the fakes.

• I recently saw the boxes and certificates for GSA dollars for sale online without the coins. Why would anyone want the boxes and not the coins?

There are many General Service Administration Carson City Morgan dollars in their original encasement but lacking their original paperwork or the box. An original certificate number should begin with the last two digits of the year for the accompanying coin. Boxes were made with a weak paper hinge that often breaks. Pristine boxes and certificates accompanying the correct coin increase the value of that “set.” Prior to one of the major third-party services grading the coins in their original holder, many of the coins were broken from these capsules to be certified. That is why some boxes and certificates are available without the coins.

• What constitutes an unopened GSA silver dollar?

Carson City Morgan dollars sold by the General Service Administration were shipped in a plain white cardboard box. The date of the coin was supposed to be, but wasn’t always, stamped on the outside of the box. It is uncommon to encounter an unopened box that hasn’t been re-sealed.

• Why were some GSA dollar coins packaged in soft packaging rather than in hard plastic holders then put into black cardboard boxes?

The General Service Administration is a typical government bureaucracy, in this instance lacking any real understanding of the silver dollars they sold at public auctions between 1973 and 1980. Coins GSA employees decided weren’t uncirculated were packaged in soft plastic sleeves accompanied by a white plastic GSA token. It was later proved that many of these coins simply didn’t have the flashy, un-toned surfaces the clerks thought was necessary for a coin to grade uncirculated.

• I recently saw a 1988 Reverse of ’89 cent for sale. What is this?

The designer initials “FG” on the reverse of the “normal” 1988 Lincoln cent is thinner and in lower relief than is the “FG” on the Reverse of the 1989 variety. The Reverse of 1989 has a thicker, better and higher relief “FG.”

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