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Aspie_Rocco

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CoinJunkie

It's your collection and your money, but my first thought was whether stickers are really necessary on coins such as:

1881-S $1 MS62
1942-P 5C PR66
1884-O $1 MS63

Aspie_Rocco

Just in from the mail

ShaunBC5

Were all of your old coins already submitted to CAC for a look?

Aspie_Rocco

@ShaunBC5 said:
Were all of your old coins already submitted to CAC for a look?

No, only Some of my early proof Jeffersons have been to CAC, however, I plan to submit some from the photos and others I still have (early half dollars and an SLQ) not shown.

ShaunBC5

Good luck! You know that’ll be a good looking set.

savitale

Nice! I'm also divesting everything not in my core seated dime set. I'm looking forward to having some cash to start in a new, higher quality direction.

BryceM

@Aspie_Rocco said:

......Culling every non variety and non CAC coin from my holdings. Following a brief excursion into buying buffalo nickels, I began a massive trade off and sell off........

....... I could only find one other CAC approved Ike on my eBay search, after I luckily stumbled on one last week. I scoffed a >little at the price, some multiples above commonly available non CAC examples but bought it anyway..........

........ I have learned a lot about patience........

OK, here's my thoughts and I mean for them to be constructive, not harsh.

It's your collection, and you can do it however you want, but I find the first two statements to be a contradiction to what you said in the third statement. Your thought process still seems a little disorganized. I've been there myself (and still am there possibly).

Buying CAC-only coins is fine, but paying multiples over regular prices to get them is almost always a bad idea. I went through a recent weed-out of weak coins in my set, so I get what you're going for, but maybe slow down a little and really define the end goal. If you look carefully, watch the auctions, and work with dealers who sell better modern coins, you'll easily find a few dozen CAC'd Ikes within a few months. Not all will meet your own taste or price point, but many will. Really nice Ikes are NOT hard to find.

It's likely that you're in a phase where you're rapidly learning more and more about the hobby. More knowledge leads to different buying decisions, and your purchases might be running a bit ahead of what you know. The antidote for this is actual patience. Maybe try buying one stellar coin every few months - 2 or 3 or 4 per year. Work with dealers, learn about each coin, and be prepared to wait months or years for the "right" one. A type set isn't really all that big and it will be more meaningful to assemble a great set over 20 years than a so-so set in 2 years. Either is possible, but only one reflects true patience.

Once you have enough knowledge, you'll likely be perfectly comfortable including non-CAC coins, perhaps even raw or problem coins, as long as you understand and really know why they got the grade they did. This forum leans heavily to the PCGS CAC side of things, but when it comes to mid-grade Peace dollars and Morgans, the broader market doesn't really care all that much. I went to a show recently where maybe 1% of the coins there had CAC stickers. Probably less than 1% of the people who attended cared.

if you just can't stand to not get something in the mail every few days, work on an inexpensive side project. For me it was a couple of album sets of raw walkers.

I've done virtually everything as you describe it, so it's pretty easy to recognize the pattern. Most of my flash-in-the-pan, running-around-with-my-hair-on-fire buying happened in a rising market so I was easily able to trade out of my mistakes. In a market like this, you better make good decisions the first time.

The 1887 Morgan looks nice, as does the Peace dollar (especially the Peace dollar, depending on the reverse). The 1881-S Morgan in MS62 is fine, but isn't really worth TPG grading, let alone CAC certification.

But, as others have said, it's your collection so have fun and enjoy the hobby.

ChrisH821

Just don't put too much stock in CAC approval... after all, they are your coins and what really matters is that you like them, not necessarily that JA has given his blessing.
Most of my collection is non-CAC, I just tell myself they would approve if I ever sent them

airplanenut

@BryceM said:

The 1881-S Morgan in MS62 is fine, but isn't really worth TPG grading, let alone CAC certification.

@CoinJunkie said:
It's your collection and your money, but my first thought was whether stickers are really necessary on coins such as:

1881-S $1 MS62

This is what immediately stuck out to me, too, and for a few reasons it's an illustration of a point. The 1881-S dollar is as easy to find as just about any coin, it's consistently the nicest date/mint Morgan you can buy (it's probably more of a feat to buy an ugly one than a nice one), and the price spread below gem is tiny. The PCGS price guide has 62/63/64/65 pegged at $55/60/75/130; the CAC price guide has stickered coins in those grades at $58/61/74/150. Obviously one of these guides is off (I'll guess the PCGS guide is high, though I haven't looked at any prices realized), but the key is that for a few dollars more, you can get a 64 instead of a 62, and especially for such a common coin, it's extremely unlikely that a super-nice 62 will be better than a mediocre 64, let alone a nice 64 will be easy to find and won't carry a premium because quality is ubiquitous for the date.

The point I'm trying to illustrate? As has been said, it's your money and you can do with it as you please, but there's a law of diminishing returns, and it seems to me that paying for extras gets little if anything in terms of a better coin, when for a small price increase, you can just get a higher-end example. Note that this doesn't always apply. Maybe a 64 with a sticker is worth it, because there's a sizable price jump going to 65 (again, not a great example because 64s for this particular coin are so common and nice). More likely, take a coin that comes in varying quality and there is a significant spread in price between all grades. The sticker could be worth it in the last grade you can afford before the price shoots up or to signify that the oft-abused and ugly issue is nice and original. I'm not a strict proponent of always buying the best you can afford, since there are coins I can afford but are more than I want to spend, and what I end up getting is significantly less expensive. But if you are looking at coins where the difference in two grades is a mere few percent, I'd focus on getting the coin that's nicer, not the one with the little green football.

Jimnight

Nice collection

keets

reading this thread reinforces my opinion that the "CAC" phenomenon will continue to follow the same path as the "TPG" phenomenon did. through the 1990's, and continuing to a lesser degree even today, was the belief that everything needed to be encapsulated. now, there is a belief that everything needs to be verified.

ricko

A nice collection....I can see you are having fun and your collection shows both focus and randomness as your collecting interests vary. If you are having fun, then that is great. It is a hobby after all...Though for some it becomes a business. Some good inputs above...worth considering. Cheers, RickO

Rob9874

Loving this thread. I too am getting back into coins and have narrowed in on a CAC first year of issue type set. Have enjoyed reading the advice. I'm open to my focus changing, so I'm taking my time. Haven't bought my first one yet.

KindaNewish

I dunno.
Rocco, you have an incredible ability to find and identify oddball Jeffersons. Keep at it.

CAC stickers are nice, and obviously increase the value and saleability of these coins when it comes time to sell. But anyone can accumulate a load of commons with stickers.
Keep finding the weird nickles, some day the world will catch up with you.

winesteven

@Aspie_Rocco - GREAT News! Heritage just posted their lots for their weekly auction for next Tuesday/Wednesday, and I see there are 39 Eisenhower lots, every one of them PCGS/CAC.

Just go to “Departments”, then “Coins, Currency & Stamps”, then “US Coins”, then scroll down to see their catalogs, then hit on the one that says “Tuesday and Wednesday US Coins Auction” , and hit on “View lots”.
Then use the filter in the left column, “Special Properties” to filter for those with CAC and Gold CAC. You can then choose if you wish to filter for only those graded by PCGS, and you can then scroll down in the results to see 39 of them PCGS, all with CAC’s.

Happy Hunting!

Steve