Stretch Dates: Liberty Head Quarter Eagles
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The Concept of the "Stretch Date"
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Unless you are a very savvy collector, it is likely that many of the preconceptions you have about building your set(s) of choice are wrong. One of the most egregious mistakes that I see set collectors make has to do with the decision of what grade to purchase a specific date.
Read MoreWhy No Motto Philadelphia Half Eagles May be the Best Value in Today's Dated Gold Market
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I have written these words before but I still feel that the No Motto Philadelphia half eagle date run, issued from 1840 through 1865, contains a number of under-appreciated issues. These issues clearly don’t include the 1862-1865 which are now in strong demand due to their Civil War issuance, but which do include nearly all the dates made between 1840 and 1861.
Read MoreThe Final Link to Completing a Charlotte Gold Collection
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Can you guess which coin took me over two years of searching to find and which I finally found to complete the Revere Collection of Charlotte gold? Hint: it isn’t what you think it is.
Read MoreSix Liberty Head Gold Issues Which Have Been "Ruined" by the Grading Services
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The powers that be at PCGS and NGC have never sat down and said “let’s deliberately ruin such and such issue by misattributing them or miscalculating them.” Unfortunately, this is exactly what they have done on a number of important U.S. gold coins. I have selected six. There are more, but these examples are egregious enough to merit discussion.
Read MoreCool Coins from Long Beach: 1851-O $20.00
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I always like to share some of the interesting “secret” coins that I buy at shows and I recently realized that it’s been a long time since I’ve written a “Cool Coins” Blog.
Read MoreWhy are so Many 19th Century-Dated Gold Issues so Rare with Original Color and Choice Surfaces?
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As collectors become more insistent on originality, they are quickly discovering that many 19th century issues are extremely hard to locate with a nice, natural appearance. Why is this?
Read MoreWhat Are the Three Rarest Carson City Half Eagles?
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Of the three denominations of gold coins struck at the Carson City mint, perhaps the most popular to collect by date are the half eagles.
Read MoreGary Carlson: In Memoriam
/Gary was a world-class expert on early type and knew more about early silver dollars then just about anyone else in the coin business. Our numismatic paths didn’t cross all that often but when they did, I found Gary to be fair and honest. In my dealings with collectors, Gary’s name would come up from time to time and I never heard anything bad attached to him. When someone told me they were a “Gary Carlson customer” I knew that their coins were nice and that they were being treated fairly.
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