BY BRIAN CORNWELL Inspect your coins regularly for signs of deterioration. Far too many collectors think this to be unnecessary. However, it is one of the many collector-oriented tasks that truly needs attention, especially since most collectors intend owning their coins for very long periods of time. The advice still applies even if you consider Read More
Blog
Blog
A few rules that can help make investing stress-free
BY BRIAN CORNWELL This is the eighth and final article in a series dealing with coin investing. In the earlier seven a number of comments were made that are worth repeating once again. Keep them in mind as you go about your coin investigation and buying activities. In no special order, they appear as follows. Read More
Quick Tips: Canada 50¢ 1870…LCW or No LCW?
Just because you may not see the engraver’s initials on a 1870 fifty-cents doesn’t necessarily mean that it is real variety. Maybe the coin is really worn or, even worse, sometimes someone might mischievously scratch off the initials along the truncation of Victoria’s neck in order to fool you. Thankfully, there are a couple of Read More
Quick Tips: Identify Relief
A common mistake of the newer collector submitting coins to ICCS is recognizing the 1951 High Relief 5-cent nickel variety. Not that identifying the High Relief obverse is the problem, but remembering to check the reverse of the coin and making sure that it’s the Beaver reverse and not the Commemorative reverse.
Quick Tips: Canada Dollar 1966 – Large vs Small Beads
The easiest way to determine a Large Beads from a Small Beads dollar is to imagine drawing a line through the I of REGINA and follow it to the beads. The Large Beads will be off centre from the middle of the I. The Small Beads will have a bead centred right in the middle Read More
Challenging coins
Let's suppose that you are a better than average coin grader. You know this because you enjoy the challenge of grading coins and the kind of fact finding and analysis that goes along with it. Besides many of your friends regularly ask you for your opinion on their own coins or those they are about Read More
Assessing marks on coins
You and a collector friend are discussing a coin that each of you has just graded. Actually, the two of you are arguing because you disagree on the coin’s grade. Why the difference? Two possibilities follow. First, each of you are using a different frame of reference, i.e. a different set of grading standards. This Read More
Toning can confuse even the best graders
Because of my grading activity at International Coin Certification Service I’m often asked “Do you really use a microscope to grade coins?” This is a regularly asked question because the stereo microscope is one of the first things people see when visiting the ICCS office. To exaggerate matters, I’m usually seen studying a coin with Read More
Mint state nickel coins can challenge the grader
The George V nickel series extends from 1922 through 1936. For mint state collectors it is a series that is a challenge. There are two reasons. First it is a difficult series to grade. Second, true mint state examples are very hard to find, especially in grades at or higher than MS-63. When high grade Read More