Understanding Coin Price Guides

There are many coin price guides published; weekly, bi-weekly, monthly and annually. They come in the form of magazines, newsprint, “hot sheets”, and books. All of us have referred to one of these from time to time to ascertain what a particular coin might be worth. Yet, few of us stop to think about what we are getting from any one of these Price Guides, beyond the price or value of a coin. After all, don’t price guides, just give you the price? What else is there?
Basic to an understanding of price guides are two things: 1) the Grade of the Coin; and 2) the Foundation of the price guide. Knowing the Grade of the Coin is required before one can begin. Saying so seems to be obvious, but what more does it mean?
Unless the coin is Graded by an appropriate Professional Grading Company, which has designated what Grade and Identity has been assigned to the coin, most of us are making an assumption about the actual Grade. This assumption we make can be very dangerous because of: a) the difficulty in grading a coin; and, b) the different possible outcomes or results that occur. One Grade “point” or level can make the difference in hundreds or thousands of dollars in the Value of a Coin.
Price Guides assume that YOU already Know the Grade of the Coin. This is why we have the First Rule of Coin Collecting: Know the Grade of Your Coin.
Secondly, ALL Price Guides are founded on the same Principle, which is that the Coin, whose price you are looking up, has been Graded using one Grading Standard. That Grading Standard is set by the ANA – American Numismatic Association – and is entitled the Official Grading Standards For US Coins.
Therefore, ALL Price Guides have a “silent assumption” built in to their guide; which is that the Grade that YOU decide upon, is the True or Accurate, and that such Grade is based on the ANA Standards.
The first difficulty that arises is that most people never know if the Grade that they have decided upon is Accurate. Of course, this difficulty never comes into question, if the coin is Professionally Graded by an appropriate company. There are only four (4) reputable Professional Grading companies that strictly follow the Guidelines set by the ANA, and they are: PCGS, NCG, ICG, and ANACS.
The second difficulty arises because of this “silent assumption” or Foundation of all price guides is whether or not the Grade has been decided upon using the Guidelines or Standards established by the ANA. If you don’t have the skills and training of a professional coin grader, the decision is probably questionable.
Even if you do have the skills and training of a professional coin grader, the decision is still probably questionable. Why? Because even professional coin graders have differing opinions. This is why the reputable professional coin grading companies require the opinions of three (3) professional coin graders to arrive at the “Grade” designation to be placed on every coin.
The obvious conclusion is that a Serious Coin Collector is going to invest in rare and modern coins that are graded by one of the Top Four reputable Grading companies. It is the only certain way to eliminate the disagreements and arguments about the Grade of Any coin being Bought or Sold! It is the only certain way one can Value their coin collection. It also eliminates “getting taken” or cheated buying raw coins.
Have fun collecting your Perfect Coins!
Robert L Taylor, JD
Copyright 2006, Robert L Taylor, JD

Buying Paintings: Minimalism

Though I could enjoy speaking on the topic of art for sometime, I found myself without a way to truly understand the differing values in the ways of thought that permeate this grouping of human experience, and found myself looking to sources over the Internet to further my knowledge to utilize the information gathered to purchase paintings.  I have always been interested in the passions evoked by the series of artists and movements that proliferate what we have come to know as the history of art.  Reflecting on this notion of life’s passing interaction whether Romanticist, Surrealist, or Minimalist in nature.
Speaking on Minimalism now, the ideas that made this movement unique relied heavily upon the work being stripped down to the barest fundamental aspects, and laying bare those integral parts of self-expression.  Many pieces of work other than visual art has been affected by these ideals of minimalism, and acted outside of this particular aesthetic appeal, creating new ways to interpret literature and even lifestyles.  As far as painting goes, however, the minimalist paintings will typically use limited color schemes and simple geometric designs.  Minimalist sculpture is focused on the materials used.
Some of the phases commonly agreed on about this movement are each notable for how they have progressed the overall conception of minimalism as a movement.  A distillation in forms was the first phase, with contributors claiming in order to create a universal language of art that masses were meant to understand easily, and seemed poised to support the rapid industrialization for particular settings of the time.  Searching for a purity of form, and paving the way for the abstractions to come later on, allowing for the second more notable phase to reach its’ crescendo afterwards.
Much of the formats for commercial artwork we see today have had a great deal of background in this movement of visual art, allowing us to understand on a fundamental level what the message is that the work is trying to convey, and a large amount of the signs and signals we find today relies heavily upon these ideals to translate a universal meaning to the general populace.  We can easily see the progression of minimalism in these examples of the world over, and it almost as ingrained into our society now as much as we care to see.
A minimalist painting will typically use a very limited amount of colors and have a very simplistic geometric design. Minimalism in sculpture, on the other hand, is much more concerned with the materials used. Many people believe that minimalism in generally is about geometric shapes, but this interpretation depends widely on the branch of art as well as the interpreter.
But the simplest way to describe minimalism is that the less that is in the painting or work of art, the better it is. Minimalism is all about drawing attention to the few objects and colors of the composition. In this way minimalism shows us that less is better, for the eye is not drawn away by this of that filler or extra objects.
Minimalism is about starting with nothing and then carefully applying the few objects and colors that will define the piece as a whole. Minimalism is still one of the major parts of contemporary art, but it is used I conjunction with other styles and flairs from other art movements to form new types of minimalism.

Hershey’s Sweet Old Stocks

All of us are aware of the Hershey Foods Company. Most of us consume something made by the Hershey Food Company at least once per week, especially if that something is a candy bar. However, the company was formerly known as the Hershey Foods Corporation, up until 2004. And if you’re into collecting stock certificates, know someone who is, or you are thinking about it, these are very interesting and historical stock certificates to get your hands on.

The Hershey’s company was founded in 1894, but the process began in 1876 when Milton Hershey began a candy shop in Philadelphia. However, it failed just six years after being opened. After a failed endeavor in New York City, he returned to Philadelphia and started the Lancaster Caramel Company and this is an endeavor that proved to be successful. However, he sold it in 1900 to concentrate on making chocolate, so he began constructing a chocolate plant in 1903. After the plant began manufacturing chocolate, it was very successful. However, it was prior to this, in 1896, that Hershey had built a milk chocolate plant, which resulted in the Hershey Process in 1899. This is the very process that is used today.

Hershey’s was incorporated in 1908. With this incorporation, they were made a publicly traded company. And there are some very interesting facts regarding Hershey’s stocks. For instance, we all know that a stock split is a good thing. A person can have one stock split into two, which means more shares for them. Well, this has happened on several different occasions with Hershey’s. They saw a 3-for-1 stock split in 1947, a 5-for-1 stock dividend in 1962, and a series of 3-for-1 and 2-for-1 stock splits from 1983 to 2004. Anyone interested in collecting Hershey Foods stock certificates may wish to have stock certificates from these very special periods in Hershey stock history.

Another interesting aspect of Hershey stock history that is very special is the stock that was given to the Industrial School of Orphans in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Hershey had established the school in 1909 with his wife, but his wife passed away in 1915 and, since he was childless, he made sure that the school was set up very well financially for many years to come. The stocks that he awarded them were valued at $60 million at the time. To this day, the school still owns 31% of the company’s stock. As of 2007, the company’s worth stood at $4.97 billion and the revenue continues to grow every single year.

Even though the company is still in operation and will be for a very long time, there are a number of canceled stock certificates out there available for collectors to purchase. Perhaps one could even find themselves in possession of a canceled stock certificate awarded to the Industrial School of Orphans. If so, that is a certificate that would be very special to have, just like any Hershey’s certificate would be due to the incredible history of this very strong company.

2007 Topps Moments And Milestones Baseball Card Set

In 2007, the Topps trading card company revolutionized the baseball card hobby by releasing a massive set called 2007 Topps Moments and Milestones.  The set totals 12,453 cards (not including the add-on rookie card set) and at the time was the largest sports card set ever assembled!  To date, it is the second largest sports card set ever, trailing only the 2008 Topps Moments and Milestones baseball set!

The set often is criticized for being impossible to build and for being extremely complicated.  The set is designed like this:

• There are 169 regular cards in the set (not including the add-on rookie card set)
• Each card (#1-169) celebrates a milestone in that player’s career
• For example, card # 2 in the set is a tribute to Albert Pujols’ 130 RBI season in 2006
• So since it celebrates 130 RBI, there are 130 variations of card #2 (1-130)
• Each regular card is printed on white cardboard and is serial #’ed to 150 copies

There are also parallels built into to the set to make busting packs more enjoyable.  There is the black parallel which every card is serial numbered to only 29 copies and there is the highly popular red parallel where every card is serial numbered to just 1 copy in the world!

Today, singles from this set are hard to find and usually can be found easiest and cheapest at online auction sites such as eBay, SportsBuy and sportZoid.  Collectors can expect to pay roughly between 25 cents – 50 cents for the white (/#150) cards and about $1.00-$2.00 for the black parallel cards (numbered to 29 copies each).

If you are considering collecting this set and attempting the “impossible,” its recommended that you search the auction sites on the internet for the best deal. Aside from auction sites, you can also check your local hobby shop, flea markets and yard sales. Good luck wtih completing this massive set and enjoy the fun of completing the impossible!

Meccano Parts

From the beginning of Meccano’s history, many competitors wanted to imitate Horby’s genious. Although the exact number is unknown, it is estimated that 600 separate products use the Meccano design as a base: bolting parts with holes in them together. This is what caused Meccano to mark all of their parts in an almost obsessive fashion. Thankfully, this makes being a collector much simpler with this method of differentiation.
While there are a few exceptions, nearly all Meccano parts are stamped with their name. The most common exception is those parts stamped before and during World War I. These parts were nickel-plated; stamping did not start until Meccano began painting the parts or using zinc. As a general rule of thumb, if the part is colored or zinc and does not say Meccano somewhere on it, it is not a Meccano part.
The next decade brought another convenient method of identifying Meccano parts. The French government made the decree in 1921 that any product sold in the country must have some sort of label of the country in which it was manufactured. Because France was a vital component of Meccano marketing, they simply stamped every part with “Fabrique en Angleterre” (Made in England). While this should make Meccano parts much easier to identify, some collectors still confuse them for knock off pieces manufactured in France! This French decree remained in effect until 1926. However, the markings became part of the essence of Meccano. For a few years after, “Made in England” was still stamped on the parts until it was replaced with the undeniable “Meccano” stamp.
As was previously stated, some people confuse the parts for knock off French pieces. There was a small factory in France in the 1920’s that stamped the parts with “Meccano France” because the major French factory was not built until 1930. The enormous demand for Meccano in the UK overflowed the Liverpool factory, and outside help was necessary. Collectors should not get confused. If a part was manufactured in France, it will still say “Meccano.” If it was manufactured in England in the early stages of the company, it may or may not say the name.
Parts manufactured after World War II are the easiest to identify. Meccano focused on export sales due to the foreign currency that was needed. Because of this change, the stamping process changed yet again. All post-WWII parts, up until the silver/yellow/black era, read “Meccano Made in England.” However, there is one word of caution. Many of the flexible plates that were manufactured towards the end of this period were stamped significantly lighter than the rest. Sometimes it is nearly invisible, but taking the time to go over the part with a fine-toothed comb will reveal the stamp.
The Meccano markings changed yet once more with the emergence of the zinc period in 1970. They simply read “Meccano England.” The company stamped every single piece, despite the rumors that the dark blue was not. Meccano parts collectors want to make sure that their prized collection is actually worthy of their praise. Following these guidelines can ensure their authenticity.