Mike Ellis Adds Another Prestigious Award to His Distinguished Numismatic Career
Virginia Beach, VA. Dominion Grading Service is happy to announce Mike Ellis’ latest honor of being selected as the 2009 recipient of CONECA’s Hall of Fame award.
Mike came to DGS in October 2008 bringing 20 years experience as a professional numismatist and numismatic educator. A coin collector since 1968, he has served 12 years as a board member and officer of CONECA; including 4 terms of President of the organization.
He has been an instructor for ANA Summer Seminars since 1996, has given several Numismatic Theater presentations at ANA Anniversary Conventions and made many educational appearances at other shows and club meetings across the country. Read the rest of this entry »
Virginia Beach, VA. The graders at Dominion Grading Service were very excited to receive some high powered submissions lately, including five numismatic gold rarities.
These rarities, and their final grades are:
- 1879 Flowing Hair $4 DGS Proof 62 (Altered Surfaces)
- 1795 $5 Small Eagle DGS AU50 (Altered Surfaces, Tooled)
- 1795 $10 DGS AU50 (Lightly Cleaned, Tooled, Rim Damage)
- 1920‐S $10 DGS MS62 (Cleaned, Environmental Damage)
- 1921 $20 DGS AU53 (Reverse Scratches)
Senior grader Mike Ellis says "The more coins we get out there in DGS holders the more the numismatic community is learning to appreciate the value we offer. All five of these coins are rare and valuable, albeit some with minor problems and cleaning." Read the rest of this entry »
Virginia Beach, VA. – On March 20, 2009 Dominion Grading Service (DGS) made its new and improved Submission Form live on www.dominiongrading.com. DGS worked hard on simplifying the form to make it very user-friendly. Along with being loaded with special, optional services, you can now submit different service tiers on one form. It is an all-in-one easy to use form.
Along with the new form, DGS has posted an extensive but not yet complete list of references used in variety attribution and research. The list also shows what the various attribution numbers will look like on your holder. Mike Ellis, Senior Grader states, "Though it has a large amount of references that any one interested in attributing their coins will want to know about, many more will be added in the near future. To the best of my knowledge it is already the most extensive list of its kind ever published in any form. You owe it to yourself to check it out today! Read the rest of this entry »
Virginia Beach, VA. ‐ In July of 2008 Ken Potter wrote an extensive and lavishly illustrated article reporting on the discovery of a most interesting and eye catching die variety found on an 1857 Liberty Seated Quarter dollar. It has since been embraced by the numismatic community and dubbed the"Smoking Liberty" variety.
Potter reported the variety was first spotted by collector John O’Hare who showed it to friend and fellow collector, Saverio Barbieri, in the early part of 2000.
So smitten by the variety was Barbieri he began an eight‐year search for more specimens. After searching an estimated 30,000+ Liberty Seated quarters of that date on eBay and shows across the country Barbieri found a total of 28 specimens bringing the known population to 29 pieces. O’Hare still has his "discovery piece" he first shared with Barbieri.
Since publication of the seemingly rare die variety Mike Ellis, senior grader and variety specialist at Dominion Grading Service (DGS) in Virginia Beach, Virginia, found one in a client’s submission which was encapsulated by DGS as a lightly cleaned AU55 making it the first "Smoking Liberty" encapsulated as such. Read the rest of this entry »
Mike Ellis brings over 20 Years Experience in Research, Grading & Teaching
(Virginia Beach, VA.) Management at Dominion Grading Service (DGS) formally announced this week the hiring of Michael Ellis as a senior grader and variety specialist. Mr. Ellis has over 20 years experience in professional numismatics with a rich resume spanning everything from President of CONECA, to 12 years of teaching at ANA Summer Seminars.
According to DGS President, John Feigenbaum, "Mike comes to us at the ideal time for Dominion [Grading Service]. We’ve been officially grading coins since April and the number of submissions has gradually increased with each month, to the point that we could no longer keep up with the pace.
Collectors are really starting to embrace our services and we see DGS as a trend setter in the future of coin grading. DGS can make a real difference with specialty offerings like variety designations and the grading of error coins. Mike is one of the strongest attributors in the country and we’re extremely fortunate to have him aboard."
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Duvall 4-E Variety is Just the Second Reported Specimen
Virginia Beach, VA. DLRC Auctions is proud to offer this week the second known example of the rare Duvall 4-E variety of the Lafayette dollar. This variety was thought to be unique until the discovery of this coin, which has been graded AU58 Cleaned by Dominion Grading Service (DGS).
According to John Feigenbaum, President of David Lawrence Rare Coins, the coin has "the initial appearance of a mint state coin but the luster is almost too nice and lacks the frosty surfaces of a true mint state.
The coin has virtually no wear and has been very lightly cleaned to show evidence of wipe lines upon close examination in proper lighting. The only significant mark on either side of the coin is a 3 mm scratch on Washington’s cheek. Without the mishandling, this coin might have otherwise graded MS63."
Read the rest of this entry »
Duvall 4-E Variety is Just the Second Reported Specimen
Virginia Beach, VA. The graders at Dominion Grading Service are excited to announce that they have certified the second known example of this very rare variety. The Duvall 4-E variety was thought to be unique until the discovery of this coin, which has been graded AU58 Cleaned by DGS.
According to John Feigenbaum, President of DGS, the coin has "the initial appearance of a mint state coin but the luster is almost too nice and lacks the frosty surfaces of a true mint state. The coin has virtually no wear and has been very lightly cleaned to show evidence of wipe lines upon close examination in proper lighting. The only significant mark on either side of the coin is a 3 mm scratch on Washington’s cheek. Without the mishandling, this coin might have otherwise graded MS63."
Read the rest of this entry »
