Three Doily questions.

keets

1. Does anyone know of or think their exists a large, old time collection which could be considered a "Hoard" of Doily holders or which contains a large number of Doily holders??
2. Can anyone post a picture of a Doily holder that they bought 30 years ago when it was the current holder and still own??
3. Would anyone care to share stories about owning several Doily holders and selling them --- or --- cracking coins out of Doily slabs before the craze to collect them started??

Thanks in advance, this might be fun.

Al H.

sweetwilliet

OK, I'll start.
1) No, I don't know of a large stash, but do imagine there are a few out there, maybe for no other reason than someone collected coins at the time the doilies were made and never sold. Probably in an attic somewhere collecting dust. See #3 as well, those coins are with a forum member now.
2) Wish I could, 30 years ago I only had raw coins.
3) I collected doilies years ago, both before and then during their run-up in popularity. I collect mainly pl and dmpl Morgans, so I wanted to see how many I could find in these conditions. Most were not in my registry set, as they were graded a little lower than what I collected for my primary set. I found them everywhere, ebay to every dealer you could imagine. Early on, I paid no premium, then as things progressed, did start paying some extra just to get them. I finally sold off my entire Morgan pl and dmpl set, and my brother sold his full Barber half set, both thru Heritage. I did save the doilies and sold them all here as I figured they would be more appreciated here than a large auction. I'll go find pictures and post.

sweetwilliet

Like I said, I no longer own these coins, but it was fun to collect them. I have seen a few more pl and dmpl doilies since then, and most I have see are on this forum.

sweetwilliet

These are the 2 I still own.

TomB

I am aware of at least two stashes of doily style holders, but neither of these is from a single collection from the 1980s. Rather, they are groups of coins purchased in more recent years and held together as a group.

I've sold lots of doily holders and in one particular instance I picked up several US gold coins in these from a single dealer and then submitted them to CAC where they all received gold stickers. The coins flew out of my inventory at very strong prices after that.

As for cracking these holders, I have never done it, but I was there when a high grade Draped Bust piece was cracked out of a doily and sent back to PCGS where...wait for it...it came back with the same grade. I had cautioned the owner that it was currently correctly graded before he cracked it out, but he insisted it would upgrade on the first shot. This was also after the advent of the PCGS reconsideration service, so there really wasn't an absolute need to lose the holder. The coin was subsequently sold with no mention of it being previously in a doily.

keets

ouch!!

messydesk

@TomB said:
...

As for cracking these holders, I have never done it, but I was there when a high grade Draped Bust piece was cracked out of a doily and sent back to PCGS where...wait for it...it came back with the same grade. I had cautioned the owner that it was currently correctly graded before he cracked it out, but he insisted it would upgrade on the first shot. This was also after the advent of the PCGS reconsideration service, so there really wasn't an absolute need to lose the holder. The coin was subsequently sold with no mention of it being previously in a doily.

For a high grade draped bust piece, which I assume is an order of magnitude or two more valuable than most coins in doily holders, is there still a doily premium?

TomB

My experience would suggest the premium is negligible, but that the liquidity might be enhanced. Of course, liquidity and premium might be two sides of an equivalent equation.

keets

I would add that I am shocked at some of the sellers who run large online stores that still do not understand the premiums of certain holders. Or perhaps they are stuck in their ways and can not fathom the thought of someone collecting fragile plastic.

at the risk of angering some member I will say that there is a certain point where any premium for these holders is just silly. there's a reason some of the coins are still in the holders, the term is "coffin" and the coins will never be liquid without the holder they're in. it isn't a sacrilege to admit as much. to that point, the "Doily" has been as cleverly marketed as anything else in the Hobby, but that's the sort of stuff that makes the world go 'round. these holders were around for a long time before someone convinced a lot of people that they needed to have them and that they were valuable, the coins inside of them notwithstanding.

I look at it like this: when the holder becomes more important than the coin inside of it, when the holder is really all that is important in the purchase equation, when the holder is the principal thing "hyped" at the point of sale, collectors have been duped and might not even know it.

sweetwilliet

Pretty much agree with all the points above. Coin first, then holder. The doily definitely adds, at least to less expensive coins, then the premium all but disappears for rarities/high end coins. I collect coins, so the little piece of metal matters most, but that slightly bigger piece of plastic around that little round (usually round) metal also comes into play, sometimes more than others.

BAJJERFAN

I thought I heard rumblings about a set of Walkers and Mercs in doilies, but I don't know if that's true or not.