Bowers Wrote the Book(s) on Commems

■ In a recent issue, you wrote about early commemoratives. Is there a book on them I may purchase?

There are several good books that specialize in the early U.S. commemorative coin series. Among these is Q. David Bowers’ Commemorative Coins of the United States, A Complete Encyclopedia, and Whitman Publishing’s A Guide Book of U.S. Commemorative Coins, also by Q. David Bowers. Commemoratives are addressed in most books on U.S. coins, but not in as much depth as the two works by Bowers.

■ I recently saw an 1870 Indian “Pickaxe” cent for sale. How do I identify this variety?

The S-7 or “Pickaxe” variety has die gauges or damage that appears in the shape of a pick axe next to the ribbon curl. According to Rick Snow in his book, A Guide Book of Flying Eagle and Indian Head Cents, “[It] has die damage by the last feather, which looks like a miner’s axe. It is relatively common, being paired with at least five different dies.”

■ How reliably consistent are third-party grading services? Third-party services authenticate as well as grade coins. Authentication is rather black-and-white – either a coin is genuine or it isn’t. There isn’t a lot of room for opinion on most issues. If grading was to be done by machine, it would likely be less controversial than when it is done by humans. There is a human factor involved, with several people examining a coin before a consensus on the grade is offered. Not everyone may agree on an assigned grade.

■ What chance do I have of getting the two major certification services to agree on the grade for the same coin?

In an ideal world, all third-party services would agree on the grade for a coin. In fact, each service has its own standards. Some services, not just the two most prominent services, have higher standards than do others. You may find one service is stricter than another on one specific coin series, but more liberal when grading another series.

■ Could a coin slabbed in a grade by one service be a bargain, considering I might be able to resubmit the coin to another service for a higher grade?

The so-called crack-out game has been around as long as coins have been encapsulated by third-party certification services. People are often disappointed to learn the coin will come back assigned the same or a lower grade when submitted to a second service for examination. Yes, there are times the coin might be assigned a higher grade, but unless you have an excellent eye for grade and believe a coin was under-graded, it is unlikely you are going to get a windfall when re-submitting the coin for examination.

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