Video wouldn’t post. Bummer. “Magic Bus” by the Who. It reminded me of this blog.

Photos are easily manipulated nowadays. A dark coin can look lighter, or more editing to diminish chatter, holding and looking the best way but no present remote purchases rule now. Love the true scan shots tho

Cali, seems like a lot of early coins, which have been cleaned without abrasions or color disfigurement pass muster w 3rd party graders more nowadays than b4. I collected Bust Halves actively for years and years, in the past 5y IMO I’ve seen coins slabbed that would have got a details holder or “body bag” before. But the coin not the holder, I heard that somewhere!
Reb must have hit the Mega Millions min Jackpot, or 2 jackpot$. Been tough buying any good at these levels, but some better dates of Pre33 are goi g well under pricing, as the spot rise has swallowed the sexiness of some better dates to many in the public some in the know can take a flyer. CCs still Strong…

Thanks Shark

Don’t get me wrong in regards to bashing PCGS TV(TrueView) photos, I love it, value it, and pay for it when submitting. Pro pics are crucial. However, the service is inconsistent when it comes to the accuracy of the coins ‘True’ look at times. It’s a “glamor shot”, and in hi-res, but is sometimes off, way off. Ever since PG had lost their Top Photographer (Phil Arnold), to Great Collections 2 years ago, they’ve been missing the mark with the over-saturation, shadow tricks, etc. They miss Phil, no doubt.

Yes REB, what Cali said above ⇈.
Whenever I’m interested in a coin(certified or not), the first thing I do is look up the coin at PCGS for data & pics. If slabbed I enter the cert# at the respective TPG, and see what they have that will be useful when researching the coin. The latest Red Book(E1) is another source, same with Greysheet, etc… I depend on the TPG’s posted info and greatly value it. Anytime that you can get prior auction info can be a useful tool to have in negotiations, such as your coin(s). Whatever you see highlighted in red in my pic ⇊, is where I usually go…

REB, I mention above: “You might use CoinFacts to take a peek at past auction results and look at the coin pictures that are linked to Heritage and Stack’s Bowers past auctions of those AU58’s.” Rick may also have another suggested or preferred way as well? See PSS below for shorter answer, haha.

However, here’s one way of doing so. I do a search on Google using the coin I want to know more about. In this case I searched “1795 Small Eagle”. I then scroll through results looking for the PCGS coin that best represents my desired result, usually in the first 5-10 or less. I open the page, which more often than not, will be the associated CoinFacts page. Then scroll down to the chart with grades and prices. Once you locate the grade, below that there are the rows that list both : “Auctions – PCGS Graded and Auctions – NGC Graded. Notice the “light blue” colored dates, initials(auction house) and prices.
Pick one and click on it. That next page will show you the “True View” coin with PCGS cert number and other related auction data, such as lot, date, price, population, where and when sold, etc. In this instance, near the top you will see: “1795 Capped Bust Right Half Eagle. Small Eagle. BD-3. Rarity-3+. AU-58 (PCGS)”. Just below in small “light blue” is the heading or embedded link that reads: “Original Lot at Stack’s Bowers”. This is a hot link that will take you directly to the Lot for the original sale for this coin. Hope this helps. PS The Cert number is identical and then you can start comparing images looking for the same landmarks. I found it interesting, that in the pics Rick put side by side, how the air bubble in the planchet or hole/crater in the “olive branch leaf” touching the “U” is visible in the brighter colored yellow image and almost completely obscured in the darker orangish colored pic. Easily seen if you click on or open Rick’s attached side by side pics above and zoom in.

PSS As I suspected! There is an easier, more direct/efficient route to find this information on a coin! Open up the PCGS main page, then use the “Verify” button that looks like a holdered coin, next to sign in(silhouette of person) near the top right of the page. Click on it and enter the coins certification number from the holder. BAM, you now get your coin and below the pictured coin there is the “Latest Major Auction Appearances of This Coin:” data. Then click on the “blue lettering” under the “sale”’ column that reads “Spring U.S. Coins Auction” and off to Stack’s you go. I know some may find this long winded, however some of us benefit from thorough and detailed information and may find it useful.

Reb said regarding the 1795 AU58: This is one instance when it would be good to see the coins side by side in person.” John Q replies: “Prefer the one on the left, subtle color, hard to imagine. The one on right hasn’t been cleaned over the years….and years, left too maybe less so?”

Too funny, I feel better and great lesson Rick. Thanks for shining the light, illumination and education! As my original interpretation was and what I believe REB and John Q had also possibly concluded. That your original post with the 2 AU58 coins, I errantly thought were the coin I’d linked($108,732.99) and the less expensive shiny coin($82,500) REB was looking at originally, due to the color variance. Although I’d looked at the listed coins via PCGS auctions, attempting to see if I could find the coin I’d linked, due to the color variance. I neglected look for landmarks or check the coins PCGS number.

I searched in order to see how much over the sellers paid auction price the coin was listed for. Hoping that I could guesstimate what kind of a deal REB might be able to negotiate? The color variation from the 1st pic on the EBay site(coin I linked) and the first pic on the original SB listing, threw the “scent off” as I fervently tried to track! DOH! Glad I followed this thread and I learned a lot from doing so Rick and Reb! Thanks again gentlemen! Also East Coast and John Q’s observations contributed to painting a more vivid picture of what we were or weren’t seeing and discussing! Kudos to all! PS Now that you’ve enlightened, my guess is that REB should be able to swing a deal for $89,700-$92,040? Maybe less, depending on his negotiating skills or how eager the seller is to free up some capital or move product? Fingers crossed…

Now that’s some impressive sleuthing, Rick! How did you check PGCS to find out the S&B auction history? Do NGC and CAC have the same or similar registry? It’s kind of like checking the property/tax records to see how much someone paid for their house. Amazing masterclass in numismatics, Rick. Thanks.