NUMISMATIC PARTICULARIZATION ANYONE?

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V18 2015 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 18, Number 33, August 16, 2015, Article 16

Gary Beals submitted these notes on numismatic specialization or "particularization" as it's called here. It's a pretty comprehensive list of the various ways numismatists (and in this case, marketers) divide and subdivide the topic into finer and finer areas. For collectors these represent different areas of study; for marketers, they often represent additional ways of squeezing money from buyers. -Editor

John Michael Murbach of Temple City, California in the 1990s had some tart and witty Internet columns items which I have been allowed to use pieces of in my book. One in particular is about particularization which I find fascinating as someone who jumped back into numismatics after some 40 years away. I have not been able to contact him directly so if anyone knows his e-mail I would love to compliment him personally. I can be reached at Segovia.gary@Yahoo.com

Particularization is a term of The Rare Art Traditions by Joseph Alsop. In any serious collecting field collectors, investors, speculators, and dealers tend create finer and finer categories. As prices go up and money flows into the market, the players create ever finer distinctions in rarity, grade, or desirability, and, therefore, in value for their objects. With coins this is done using several contrivances. For instance, U.S. numismatic particularization is:

(1) Separating coins by dates and mints of issue.
(2) Collecting low mintage pieces.
(3) Using 70 grade categories.
(4) Isolating toning from brilliance.
(5) Separating a proof-like surface from normal luster.
(6) Determining provenance so that a noteworthy previous owner might add value to the coin.
(7) Population or census numbers from grading companies — low pop versus high pop.
(8) Condition Census.
(9) Die varieties — often nearly invisible.
(10) Die states within die varieties.
(11) Finest Known and tied for Finest Known.
(12) Rarity ratings — 1 through 8.
(13) So-called Premium Quality versus average quality.
(14) Split grades as in XF-AU.
(15) Minor variances such as open 3 vs. closed 3, or tall date vs. medium date vs. small date
(16) Full strike vs. average strike.

To these we can add "First Strike" or "Early Strike" designations, signatures of coin designers and various Mint officials, and all of the grading and "meta-grading" options discussed last week, such as the slab stickers proclaiming fourth and fifth opinions of third-party graders. -Editor