You scour all you local shops and discover the following coins. What do you do?
braddick
Posts: 24,628 ✭✭✭✭✭
After many months of looking through dealer stock at all the local shops in your area, you come upon the following raw coins you believe are especially nice. I mean- super duper neat looking for the type.
The three coins are:
An ultra GEM 1970-D Kennedy.
A blazing lustrous 1880-S Morgan that is out of this world.
You would swear a 1938-D Buffalo nickel with a specimen strike, so avoid tics and other imperfections.
After a while, you decide to send them into PCGS along with other material for grading.
To your shock, you see each of your three jewels come back with a grade of MS69. The first-ever MS69 40% Kennedy half! A monster gem Morgan and the finest Buffalo nickel probably anyone has ever seen! You share the TrueViews here and enjoy the accolades that accompany such a find.
A few weeks pass. You still find joy in looking at these three coins, yet secretly you wonder what they would sell for in this hot market.
What do you do? Hang on to them as you know you'll never own another coin like them again or take your riches and expand other collector interests?
If you choose the path of selling, how would you go about doing so?
peacockcoins
Comments
If they are not an area of passion for you, I sell and lock in some profits to continue the journey and hunt in your core area.
agreed, in full
BHNC #203
If I owned these three hypothetical cons, I'd immediately sell it and use the proceeds to buy coins I actually want.
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pcgs would order a recall first and then i would go into hiding and neither me nor the coins would ever be heard from again...
if pcgs said they were ok and once i secured the cac stickers, perhaps contact currin.
Simple for me, sell them and use the profits for other coins that are of interest. The how is also simple for me, contact Ian at Great Collections.
My Collection of Old Holders
Never a slave to one plastic brand will I ever be.
Easy decision for me.... Keep the coins... I do not sell my coins.... (might part with bullion, but not my coins). Cheers, RickO
Sell them via Heritage, buy coins you really care about and, if you're feeling generous, buy the dealer some coffee the next time you go into his store. Bring cash. More even than the coupla hunnerd bucks you spent last time
If you paid as much as $125 for the Morgan, he may have wised up. 
Was the 70-D half proof-like? Would it 69+* at NGC?
Now you're going off the rails.
peacockcoins
Pit all the major auction houses against one another and see who will give me the best package of publicity and % over hammer. Sell them. Bank 75% of the proceeds, spend 25% on something fun.
"It's like God, Family, Country, except Sticker, Plastic, Coin."
I'd go back to see if had any more coins for sale.
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
So, no one is keeping even one of the coins? That Buffalo nickel sounds sweet.
peacockcoins
Max bid - a crayon drawing on a cocktail napkin for immediate release.
OK, then sell the 80-S via Heritage, MS69 CAC unique ($200K or so). Get an appraisal of the other two coins for $185K and donate them to the ANA Museum). Pay your taxes.
I've got a plan "C" and Plan "D" too. For "E" you need a good accountant, For "F" you need a great attorney.
After that, we're "going off the rails". But surely not as much as we would discussing the 100 pt grading scale
I'd sell the Kennedy (least interesting of the three in terms of my collection) and then either keep the Buffalo or the Morgan (I'd compare both to some MS 68 examples and see which was significantly better than its 68 counterpart; if one was close, then I'd sell that 69 and likely buy a 68 with the proceeds of the sale).
Take the money and run.
RMR: 'Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich denn aus der Engel Ordnungen?'
CJ: 'No one!' [Ain't no angels in the coin biz]
I'd keep the special coin, however that is defined in your mind (not necessarily from a market worth standpoint). Having special coins in one's collection is what I'd strive to own (unfortunately, I don't have the money, time, or exposure to gain these). When they come along, time to own them for awhile.
"Got a flaming heart, can't get my fill"
Oh!
I forgot one important detail!
They each CAC Gold!
peacockcoins
I no longer really collect- I couldn't consign them fast enough.
If you no longer collect. . . how did you happen to scour coin shops in your area and end up purchasing these three coins?
peacockcoins
I'd sell and buy a 70 Buick GSX that I couldn't afford otherwise. I imagine driving around in that would be way more fun than having 3 coins in the safe (theoretically of course
)
"When they can't find anything wrong with you, they create it!"
I MAY keep the 1970-D Half, but none are my series, so off to auction they would go.
I cherrypick and flip.
What would happen next? I'd wake up, utter an expletive, drag myself out of bed and have a bowl of oatmeal.
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
I’d probably sell the half and keep the other two. Might keep all 3, though.
Realistically, in my collection, they’d still be raw because I’ve never sent anything in and probably wouldn’t if my local shops hadn’t deemed them worthy already.
I will send stuff in one day, but it’s not a priority right now.
Is this a phone call from area code 420?
Beyond "off the rails" and into "did you check your parachute" territory.
I would slap myself and say " wake up, you are dreaming "
Successful BST with ad4400, Kccoin, lablover, pointfivezero, koynekwest, jwitten, coin22lover, HalfDimeDude, erwindoc, jyzskowsi, COINS MAKE CENTS, AlanSki, BryceM
Hold up!
I get a personal note from CAC stating that these three coins would be awarded platinum stickers.
Oh, and all the national morning shows want a representative from PCGS and, of course, me to take a segment to speak on what a terrific collector and overall sweet guy I am.
peacockcoins
Keep. Beauty sometimes surpasses what one collects and doesn't collect....
The Type I platinums or the Type IIs? Type IIs are like Regency stickers (or something) They have a bioluminescence feature so viewers can see how special the coins are, even in a group of other unique pseudo-quasi-rarities. In the dark!
While Mr. Albanese does enjoy his bridge games with Mr. Buffet and Mr. Gates, rumors of the development of an inobtanium sticker seem highly speculative. Rumors abound that @Dwight_M has lately been stacking inobtanium, maybe for years.
peacockcoins
Then I wake up.
Naked in a bathtub filled with ice and a kidney is missing!
peacockcoins
I'd unload any 20th century finest known coin as quickly as possible, unless it was something genuinely rare, like an 01 S Quarter.
"Seu cabra da peste,
"Sou Mangueira......."
I'd send them to Legend Auctions for write-up and sale. They have a neutron microscope.
LIBERTY SEATED DIMES WITH MAJOR VARIETIES CIRCULATION STRIKES (1837-1891) digital album
And it's set on double nuclear white hot.
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
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i'm just shocked. i would think it goes without saying because it is you but... well here is the addition(s):
What would happen next? I'd wake up, utter an expletive, drag myself out of bed (instantly VAM the coin even though it is only an 80-S to find out that it is a discovery in ms69!) and then have a bowl of oatmeal and then go to VW and politely but wittily harass several members about your newly made monster moose.
Forget sets. These three represent the goal.
Keep sending coins in, you're on a roll.
Get them to auction as soon as possible as those are three series I don’t collect. Even if I did collect them I’d still send them to auction because those ultra high grades don’t fit in my collection. I’d rather have 3 nice coins that fit my collection and bank the extra $10,000-$20,000 than have 3 conditionally-rare ultra common coins.
I scour the bathroom in my shop, after neutralizing the dip with baking soda.
My stuff comes back questionable ( even if I leave them alone) .
In this scenario, Keep the Buffalo. Send the others to the auction house. Use the profits to scour on ...to keep the fire burning. Lather, rinse, repeat. Return to those shops and give them a gift of thanks.
Do I get to keep the crayon?
"It's like God, Family, Country, except Sticker, Plastic, Coin."
Send me the Kennedy to upgrade my set. LOL
I too would keep the coins as I only collect.
Wayne
Kennedys are my quest...
Good tale
Are you spending grocery money on your addiction...er, hobby?
If so, sell the coins and buy some groceries.
If not, then keep what you like, sell what you don't, and continue the journey.
"Fewer Groceries. More Coins."
That's my bumper sticker.
peacockcoins
If they were in my field of interest or area of focus; I'd keep them, of course.
Otherwise, I'd sell and buy what I REALLY want!!
Personally, I'd keep the Morgan and sell the other two.
Sometimes, it’s better to be LUCKY than good. 🍀 🍺👍
My Full Walker Registry Set (1916-1947):
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/
I'd keep the Kennedy.
Sell the other two.
You could go back to the shops where you got them and share the good news, I'm sure they would be glad for you!
I'm less discriminating on my purchases, I just want to enjoy the hobby.
My question is how do you get these to PCGS and JA? USPS Registered Mail? If so, how much insurance?
I'd be tempted to deliver them personally.....
They would be sold as soon as I could find an appropriate venue. I am not enamored with these ultra high grades-a 65 or 66 is good enough for me.