New Book: Secrets of the Rare Coin & Bullion Business

"Secrets of the Rare Coin and Bullion Business from a Longtime Trader" by Michael Garofalo is one of those rare books that actually teaches you about how the industry works behind the curtain. Garofalo covers the industry from the insider's perspective and devotes chapters to everything from retail marketplaces like eBay, to pricing sources, trade publications, grading services, major retailers, and even CAC.

To read the complete article, see:
SUBSCRIBE TOSecrets of the Rare Coin & Bullion Business(https://www.greysheet.com/publications/secrets-rare-coin-bullion-business-from-lifelong-trader-michael-garofalo)

Overstrikes, Multistrikes & Clashes

Overstrikes are coins or tokens struck using an already struck example of a different issue as a planchet (then referred to as the undertype). This may occur inadvertently, but is most often intentional, with extant coins serving as a convenient and economic alternative to requisitioning a freshly manufactured batch of blanks. While an overstriking typically obliterates the majority of the undertype, this can frequently be identified via discernible remnants of the design in the fields, or on the edge. Such apparitions, such as the word below the date on the imaged 1795 Half Cent, do not generally detract from the grade of a piece, as they were present at the time of striking.

In contrast to overstrikes, multistrikes are pieces struck more than once from the same die pair. If the planchet rotates within the collar or flips over between impressions, visually spectacular errors can be created.

Die clashing is evidence of a permanent impression left on a die from its collision with another (usually mated) die without a coin in between to cushion the blow and absorb the design. In some series, such as the Three Cent Nickels from the middle of the 19th century, this is common, and such pieces command no premium. In other instances, they can be highly collectible. This 1857 Flying Eagle Cent obverse die was somehow clashed with the reverse die from a contemporary Liberty Seated Half Dollar, leaving dramatic evidence on the obverse: the projections from the eagle's beak, front wing, and tail are all clash marks and not at all detrimental to the grade.

To read the complete article, see:
From the PCGS Grading Room: Overstrikes, Multistrikes & Clashes(https://www.pcgs.com/news/from-the-pcgs-grading-room)

Heath's Microscope

The ANS Library and Archives recently acquired an interesting little gadget-one of Laban Heath's Improved Adjustable Compound Microscopes. Patented by Heath in 1877, he sold it primarily as a tool for examining bank notes- Ideally, it would be used in conjunction with his Infallible Counterfeit Detector, just one of a number of similar print publications that proliferated in the nineteenth century, helping people determine the real value and authenticity of bank notes.

These publications-bank note reporters and counterfeit detectors-arose at a time when state and territorial banks, large and small, scrupulous and not, were permitted to issue their own bank notes, exchangeable for silver or gold. The resulting variety of notes made the counterfeiter's job much easier. And the actual value of the notes varied from place to place, regardless of the face value. In fact, a note might circulate from a bank that no longer existed. Bank note reporters and counterfeit detectors helped people make sense of it all.

To read the complete article, see:
LABAN HEATH'S IMPROVED ADJUSTABLE COMPOUND MICROSCOPE(http://numismatics.org/pocketchange/microscope/)