Tell me Your worst coin purchase
Panda4456
Posts: 362 ✭✭✭
What was your worst coin purchase? Maybe it’s a coin where you spent a lot of money on it and the value crashed after you bought it. Maybe it’s a counterfeit coin you bought etc.
My worst purchase when a handful of fake “silver pesos” I bought when I was in Mexico. At the time I didn’t know they were fake 😆
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Hmm, my worst was when I was first getting back into collecting around 2001 after 12-14 years out. I bought 10 Morgan dollars on eBay that were supposed to be uncirculated. When I discovered PCGS, and being relatively clueless, I sent them in. All came back AU 55 to 58. So I paid for BU quality plus grading (these were the first things I ever did grading) plus PCGS membership. I don’t even remember what I did with them.
After that the worst I did was try my hand at getting some raw coins at a big show after taking a grading class. I was high on confidence. I bought a 32 Washington that I though was a sure 66. I believe it graded 63 if memory serves. It’s been 17 years after all...
For a long time I looked for a rare variety in a particular series, couldn't find it. Finally one popped up on eBay in a condition I would ordinarily abhor. I bought it. About a year later a very choice example came available that while lower in grade was original and far more attractive. Patience, patience, patience.
I bought a badly cleaned CC Lib DE for too much money. years later I got lucky and CCs became popular enough to get out flat.
neat to have CC gold, though.
I've also mistakenly bought sold out mint issues early on from ebay instead of being patient and letting the market fall from the hyped up prices.
I wonder if anyone will say the ww 2 v75 eagle on here 🤭
Would a coin never received count? Back in the very early days of ebay I won an 18/17-D Buff in XF at an excellent price. Well, it was a scam. I spent $400 for it and received a total of $8 back from ebay when it was never delivered. This was, of course, before they had a real buyer protection plan. Guess I should have known better as it's true there is no Santa Claus in numismatics.
That counts. Sorry to hear that happened to you 😡
Bought 20 Proof Eagles in 2001. 2007 sent all in to PCGS expecting 70's .. 2 68 &18 69
... Still have my terrible pictures of them,before I learned how to image coins 
Thanks. I was a newbie on ebay at the time.
Those are all still good grades I wouldn’t feel too bad though I’m sure you lost money on the grading fees
My worst purchase I'm sure is very common. First started buying raw morgans only to find out they were cleaned. This was quite some time ago. It only took me a couple before I made myself look closer and asking and reading cleaned coin threads. Haven't bought a cleaned one since, that I know of. Lol
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I’ve actually done pretty good. Buying 10 packs of proof westward nickels was probably a horrible idea
2005 Wisconsin error quarters in MS-66 at near the top of the hype. Once the price started falling I realized I screwed up. Sold a few years later for a little over half what I paid. I lost several hundred dollars. Luckily I have had way more good buys that have since made up for that loss.
Maybe the best and the worst, all at the same time ... depending on how you look at it.
Late 1987 or 1988 ... I was still relatively new, and hadn't been mentored or tutored on surface quality nuances, or really much of anything about being a Numismatist. Back then I think all I saw was shinny things and dollar signs.
Anyway, I bought a gorgeous (and bright!) 1829 Dime with attractive luster, and was convinced I made a great purchase. I figured it was a 58, or maybe even a lower range Unc'!
I was getting ready for another 4 month deployment, so I decided I would send it to ANA for certification and grading, as I was a member, and I figured it would be waiting with a grading certificate when I returned.
It was. It came back as Whizzed.
At first I was incredulous. Devastated. Pissed.
But it forced me to stop and really look. And then it begged me to start to learn, and ask a LOT more questions. It also caused me to be a lot more guarded with my approach until I knew a little better about what I was doing. Ultimately that lead me down a much more rewarding path in the hobby.
As a side note ... I had the receipt and so, being a cocksure and salty young buck, I decided I would take it back to the shop I purchased it from and see if I could return it. In retrospect I think I was fortunate in that he took it back without issue.
The dealer fended some ignorance but stated something like if he knew I was going to have it graded, he would have cautioned me against it. As I learned more, I realized he was the type to pass such things off quite often ... and as I recognized this, I stopped doing business with him altogether, and just smiled and waved in passing, so to speak.
“We are only their care-takers,” he posed, “if we take good care of them, then centuries from now they may still be here … ”
Todd - BHNC #242
Many years ago I bought what I thought was an attractively toned seated half. With experience and time I came to see that it was very obviously cleaned and re-toned, MS details with no luster at all and bluish-purple surfaces. Live and learn.
Does it have to be a single coin?
Friend of mine ran into a guy selling an estate. His father was a huge hoarder. Had a basement full of coins including a whole wall that was 6 feet high of boxes of wheat cents. He hooked me up with him and I had to pay him a 10% vig.
So, I meet the guy and he's got some circ morgans and some circ seated material and some 2 & 3 cent pieces and a couple seated coins. Well, of course, there is the promise of more, so I pay the guy strong. Comes to about $9000
Then we meet again and there's mostly common, circ U.S. widgets with a couple 19th century type. And the guy is just an absolute pain to deal with. He had looked up every coin on eBay and put the highest price for each coin on the holder, regardless of grade or even sale of the coin. And he wanted 70% of the eBay number. So we spend 4 hours as I school him on grading and show him the greysheet etc. And I spend another $5000.
We meet a 3rd time. And the quality is dropping faster than the price. He is learning to grade a little bit, but I still have to negotiate the price of every coin.
By the 4th meeting, I've had enough. But my friend, of course, wants his free and easy 10%. So I agree to one last meeting. Now we've got low grade common foreign showing up and rolls of circ wheat and memorial cents. I tell my friend, never again.
The guy goes to Florida for the winter but when he comes back, he wants to meet again. Somehow, I get talked into it again.
By the time I finally stopped, I had spent $55,000 over 2 years buying boxes of common crap. It took me 4 years to sell 95% of it for which I realized a grand net total of $55, 300. LOL. I figure I made about 20 cents per hour.
I bought a 1897-S Morgan sight unseen on the description of the owner; MS65+ he said. It arrived in great condition. So I thought "why not send it in to be graded"? It came back "cleaned". Needless to say I was very unhappy. So I set it free of the plastic cage. It sits on my desk to remind of my early naviete.
My worst coin purchases have been the annual sets from the U.S. Mint... which I stopped buying years ago,... but still have a carton full. Cheers, RickO
A full set of Peace Dollars that I bought raw in the early 80s as BU before third party grading...when I sent them to ANACS a few years later I found out that I paid 63/64 money for many 58-62 coins...worse than the financial loss was that it soured me on the game for a decade or two...
In 2005 I purchased an 1837 Bust half from a well know Eastern coin company. It was raw and they had graded it AU58. I didn’t have any other coins at the time I wanted graded so I held on to it. Finally sent it off twice twice to the big two. Same result both times. Cleaned. Last time I ever bought a raw coin that cost over $50.00. Still have the coin as a reminder of being stupid.
1909-S IHC.
Well, it was actually a 1909-P IHC that someone had (not too skillfully) applied an "S" to.
And I didn't realize it until I got much more educated and experienced. Lesson learned, better late than never!
**NO. The pain is still too intense **
If so many of you guys aren’t able to grade or notice hairline scratches on these coins, why don’t you just buy the coins already graded? I imagine most of the raw coins dealers sell nowadays are details coins that were cracked out of the case in order to trick their buyers.
1905 Lewis & Clark G$1 in N65 ten years ago when I was new to the hobby. Dumb
Latin American Collection
HA HA HA. Sorry if this offends you, but this is actually funny. Please come to my house! I have lots of stuff for you!
4 years of work to make $300? At least you didn't loose money.
I bought a huge lot of 19th century, us coins, liberty seated, barber etc., from an eBay seller for over $8000.00. this was before the buyer protection policy that they have now. Turns out that the value was only about $1000 back then. The value now is about $3000. So, I guess I could make out if I keep them another 65 years or so. I will probably see these on ebay just to free up some cash.
That is generally good advice to newbies. But remember:
No offense. I laugh about it. I wholesaled the Morgan $s and the 90% as well as any bulk wheats, indian cents, liberty nickels, etc. The single coins had a stock code A##. So, the last single coin I sold from that lot was R78 which means I sold 1878 single lots over 4 years. I still have a box full of singles and miscellaneous world.
Thank God I cut him loose before I bought the wall of cents! Some were all wheats. Some were mixed wheats and memorials...I'd still be sorting!
Not all the USM products were dogs. L relish the days of getting AGE sets for $995.00 the 1995 set buoyed by the ASE 'gift.' Then started purchasing the sets from Vollmer for $750 to $800. Fortunately, I held on to several!
I thought years ago buying about 500 sets of clad modern proof sets- mostly unopened was a good deal at 20% back of bid. Nope. Tons of time- and honestly, not interesting and rather bland/boring coins- taught me I never wanted to be a full-time dealer. It is not glamorous. Made practically nothing when all was said and done. Even if I would have held those sets, today they sell for the same or less. ::Blah:: never want to look at a modern clad coin again.
peacockcoins
Too many to remember. It's all a blur.
Walkers: 1919-S in 63 w/mediocre strike, dull surfaces and strike-through error. Lost a bit of money on that coin.
Later, another 1919-S in 64 with no luster and dip residue. Miraculously, came out ahead on that piece.
Overpaid by 100% for both my 1917-S rev. and 1927-S. No plans on selling those, so maybe time will help me to 'catch up' on those two. They were both unique and I got it into my head that I HAD to have them. I am a formidable opponent, once my mind reaches a state of conviction.
Sometimes, it’s better to be LUCKY than good. 🍀 🍺👍
My Full Walker Registry Set (1916-1947):
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/
Somehow, I feel my worst deal may still be ahead of me! Stay vigilant my friends.
Most intelligent post of this thread.
I won’t really know until I sell them sometime after I retire.
Mr_Spud
Possibly the first one I paid more than face value to acquire.
I was fortunate to be able to buy one 1968 proof set for $5 from the mint when they restarted the program after the 1965-67 break. The price went up to around $40 on the secondary market. By 1971, I had come up with a great idea- buy extras to sell. I bought 10. Still have them, and they're not worth much more than the original issue price of $5. Allowing for inflation, that $5 issue price is 79 cents today.
Every coin. I hear it from others all the time. If I think it is a MS65 it's usually a ag5, Deep cameo== whizzed.My buying skills are a disaster. I currently bought a 2011 native american dollar with no edge lettering. I have heard of the 2009 but the 2011. No one will tell me how rare it is. Can't find another one anywhere. contact me with your pristine looking bags of crap, so I can over pay for them.
Were these coins slabbed?
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
An 1888(?) ACG MS 66 Morgan in 2001.. Cracked it sent for a regrade came back 64 auctioned it on ebay at no reserve and erased it from my memory...
Thanks for making me relive it
My "worst" purchase was a medal I paid too much for in an auction where everything cost too much. It was my first purchase in the auction and gave me a feel for how expensive things were running. I think I overpaid by 7x.
The good thing is that it seems to be a unique or high rarity piece. I ended up being the underbidder on another, similar piece with 10 struck. Much later, I was able to build a collection around this piece with the top pop for the one I missed.
So at least it was paying "too much" for a unique piece that ended up being part of a new collection.
Nearly all moderns I purchased from the US Mint, Royal Canadian Mint, Perth Mint and the Royal Mint are worth far less today making these coins my worst coin purchases.
Pretty much all of the PCI coins Purchased at the beginning of my collecting, Bought about 5 or 6 coins that they had graded 65/66(Thinking that I was an absolute genius) I paid around $150 each. When you factor in the $40 PCGS charged me for grading fees and the results.. of Altered Surfaces, AU55-62 it was pretty much a train wreck. I cringe thinking about it
I made plenty of mistakes buying Liberty Seated Dollars when I first started my set. Funny thing is the mistakes were all purchased from the same source. A polished 1859 $ and a lacquered 1853 $ immediately come to mind. Lost my ass but learned a valuable lesson...
In the dark ages before slabbing I purchased the finest know 1949 half dollar! Soon thereafter I learned about whizzing. The first step to becoming a numismatist. In retrospect it really wasn’t that bad of a buy......it put me on the road to education. Still have it.
A: The year they spend more on their library than their coin collection.
A numismatist is judged more on the content of their library than the content of their cabinet.
Mine was a seated dollar that was on eBay. At the time I was interested in it and also a person that was a friend at the time.
Even though they had two higher graded examples. I decided to step aside because they wanted to be selfish and have 3. So FROR was mine when they decided to sell it. Cost thousands later, that’s a good friend. 😎
So if you see a coin you want bid on it regardless.
Yes
Sometimes, it’s better to be LUCKY than good. 🍀 🍺👍
My Full Walker Registry Set (1916-1947):
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/
My purchase was of a Hi-Relief $20 Saint. What makes it unusual is that as I was making the purchase, I knew exactly what a big loss it was going to be.
Flashback: First time I saw the coin, I had been referred to a lady who had a nice story about an aunt who worked in the U.S. Treasury at the time of issue. The coin had been passed to her and kept locked in a SDB for ages. The coin looked sweet and I told her a value that was akin to an MS63 price. She put it back in her box for several more years.
I heard from her again and she said she’d wanted to sell it. By then, I’d become much better at spotting problems. While looking at it this time, I realized that while it had relatively few marks, it had a look of being very lightly polished— probably not a cleaning but mis-storage/handling. PCGS later confirmed this.
Feeling obligations to her, the person who referred her to me, and to my reputation, I paid her a price that I knew was several thousand dollars more than I now knew it was worth. So with a bruised wallet, but reputation intact, I took my lumps and moved on.
I got burned on my 17S rev also. Some years back a dealer acquaintance called me about an awesome walker set he’d acquired. Most had been cracked from slabs and then housed in a Dansco. So I drove two hours to meet him to get first shot. He wanted top dollar for everything and I felt obligated to buy at least a few, the most expensive being a 17S reverse that still had the OGH 63 sticker. When I submitted it along with the label, it came back as a 62. I’ll likely resubmit it someday, but lesson learned about paying slab prices for raw coins, and inspecting expensive coins in dimly lit restaurants!
My worst purchase was a1918/7 S SLQ. Purchased on eBay many years ago in an old ANACS yellow “Genuine Not Graded” labeled holder. Part of a lot with 2 other SLQ’s. I paid $1,000 for the lot including a 1917D T2 (since sent to PCGS and graded AU58) and 1919 S (kept in the old ANACS VF20 holder). I graded the 1918/7 S as a VF details coin and figured my cost was $700. Happy to fill the hole in my Library of Coins album I cracked it out and kept the label. 5 years later I decide to send to PCGS to slab. It comes back as “Counterfeit Altered Variety”. I then send to ANACS with the label and it’s returned to me ungraded Altered. It was an education to say the least.
I’ve since purchased a nice XF PCGS example and will never crack it out.
I bought a raw 1901-S Barber half in my youth. It had 58 details but alas came back QC. Tuition paid. Diploma received.
I traded near an ounce of gold in Anacs and pcgs plastic and 13 silver eagle bullion for 2019 ERP in box. Soon after gold and silver started its rise and the ERP came back 69 when the majority were 70’s. Total bust
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