THIS SELLER HAS GREAT DEALS ON ALL KINDS OF ITEMS.FROM GOLD COINS TO DIAMOND RINGS,PENDANTS,LIKE NEW GOLF CLUBS AND MUCH MORE.CHECK IT OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am a coin collector, I watch the TV (HSN) (SHAH), one of these promgrams are saying that the edge lettering is changing in 2008……… Why does the usmint NOT SAY IT? WHY IS THEIR NOT ANYTHING ON THE USMINT.GOV SITE? ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????/

This is a helpful site for buying / selling gold. Kitco . c om . Go under top tab “precious metal store” then click “selling to kitco” then click “materials for refining”. You will find all scrap prices there on one page! Great to have.

I have recently received 8 FAKE TRADE DOLLARS that were purchased on EBAY. They all were “cast” not “stamped” like the mint makes them. You can easily see if your coin is cast by looking at the surface of the “LIBERTY” Ribbon on the obverse. If the coin is cast the surface of the ribbon wil be rough. Genuine coins will be smooth on that surface. Most of these coins come from China but North American sellers also have them. Look at these surfaces under a 10X power magnifying glass if you have recently purchased them. Return them immediately to the seller and make sure other buyers know that you got FAKE TRADE DOLLARS SOLD AS REAL. Real Trade Dollars also weigh 27.22 grams. Many FAKE TRADE Dollars weigh less. Buying Trade Dollars on the internet is a dangerous business. Make sure you check to see what you got. Replicas are nearly worthless compared to the real thing and selling replicas as real is a crime, ( a federal crime if you ship them out of state).

Whats all the rave about First Strikes ?

NGC would have you believe they are more valuable than say a last strikes. To begin with a first strike coin is a coin the mint would have produced first. By the sound of it a First Strike coin was just minted ,fell off the press and landed in an NGC,PCGS,etc slab.

According to the US Mint there is no way to tell which coins were first struck.You can tell when the coins were packaged, by the date on the upc code but in fact that does not tell you when a coin was minted.Production of coins is a long process that has many steps of quality control.The US MINT wants to insure that the first coin is exactly as impressive as its last coin minted.

In order to insure this , the Mint frequently changes thier Dies. Coins are constantly monitored for flaws and imperfections. The dyes are changed at specific times regardless of condition also to insure perfection.

The Proof is in the Video put out by thew US Mint on thier official Website

Take the tour its very interesting,also I’ll bet you’ll be buying directly from the mint instead of paying premiums on e-bay , for coins that are still available directly from the Mint.

So to summerise; a” First Strike Coin” that you are paying a premium for is nothing more than a coin that was produced and PACKAGED first even tho thousands of coins were struck prior to that one.

A truly first struck coin which can be produced from the moment the presses start till the last coin is struck would be a coin that is struck on a BRAND NEW DIE that was just set in the press and removed from the press. Carefully taken off the press and set aside for NGC , PCGS etc

I truly doubt this is happening.With all the different products the mint produces and the millions of struck coins they have to track, do you honestly believe they are setting aside coins for a few favorite companies?

I can understand why third-party coin grading exists. It presents to a
potential buyer an idea of a coin’s condition without actually seeing it.
Sight-unseen buying is a not a new idea, but far more extensive now
what with coin encapsulation (and the internet).

Shopping by viewing a photograph might be a better way to go, -
you’re actually seeing the coin — but only from one angle and only
reflecting the light a certain amount.

So the ideal way to investigate a coin’s true ‘eye-appeal’ is to hold
it in your hand … what then is a good way to tell what kind of coin
someone has when shopping on-line? Third-party grading is one
avenue … having a picture available is good too …. but to give a
better example of what you are selling is good descriptive language
when describing it to potential buyers.