- 12/06/2019
- Warren Mills
- Winter of 2019
Questions from our Mailbag
I see that most of your coins that you offer for sale are CAC stickered, how come?
D.T.
Thanks D.T.! The easy answer is to protect the value of our client’s collection in the future. Initially, I had a more specific reason. I always thought that the 100-point grading system would become a reality. If customer coins had to be re-graded for the new system, I wanted the best coins in their hands. The pricing re-set for off-quality in this scenario would crush marginal coins and ruin most of the value in many collections. Now that the grading services have expanded out into paper money, sports cards, comic books, and who knows what else, coins are just part of the mix. The 100-point system may never become a reality now, but isn’t it belter to know that you have the best coins for the grade that you can afford?
The one undeniable truth in the coin business is that you can always buy coins cheaper that are the same identical grade. They may be resurfaced, re-tooled, altered or over-dipped. Rest assured, most dealers are happy to sell the off-quality coins. They will make up a story about why it isn’t CAC, that CAC is a fad, or that you can buy CAC stickers anywhere and put them on the coin yourself! But a quick check of auction results will show you that the proof is in the pudding. Our motto is “quality doesn’t cost, it pays.” I’ve seen this proven over time since I have become a full-time dealer in the 1970’s. Yes, I have had many customers tell me that they would rather have my approval for a coin than CAC. I’m thankful, but if it is in our inventory, you get the best of both worlds.
Thanks for the question D.T. and keep those questions coming.
Warren