What is more important to you. Grade of Condition?

braddick

For example, you may have a choice between a graded MS65 type coin or one that is either raw or is "graded" less yet with all the attractive attributes you seek.

If the price was the same would you buy the graded coin or the one where the condition of the coin checks all your boxes?

Jzyskowski1

Before becoming active on this forum I would have bought the graded 65. Now that I’ve been learning and listening, and have bought several great books on grading, I might use the tools available to me. Post it here, check my books and other tips I’ve picked up here. I maybe just might trust my judgment. It’s hard to break the buy only slabbed coins (as a newer collector ) habit. James 😉

AMRC

You should always buy the coin, not the holder. However, the holder is there for a really good reason. In the end, it is really about your confidence level and how much you like what is in front of you at that moment.

Smudge

Condition and scarcity.

oldabeintx

Graded if a US coin. All my US coins of consequence are slabbed. More to the point, even after 65 years of collecting, there's no way I can match the skills of a professional grader or dealer- I'll never see enough coins. Might make an exception if the coin were common and attractive and the slabbed coin were unattractive. Even then, after factoring in the grading fee, I'd probably just move on and find a graded example.

BillJones

I have committed "registry suicide" a time or two by replacing a higher grade coin with a lower grade one that pleased me more, but it was nothing expensive. The coin was a Roanoke commemorative half dollar. I replaced an MS-65 graded piece with unattractive toning spots with an MS-64 that was more attractive.

As for raw U.S. coins, I am out of the market if it's a coin that's worth more than say $1,000. Getting coins graded is too expensive and too much of a hassle after you have paid the grading fees and sky high postage costs both ways.

ReadyFireAim

@BillJones said:
I have committed "registry suicide" a time or two by replacing a higher grade coin with a lower grade one that pleased me more....

Yep, TWICE

1924 MS66+ saint for a MS65 & a 1910-D MS65 for a Details (Alt-Surf later graded MS64)
Sometimes you look at the grade & your eyebrow just goes up.

oih82w8

Eye Appeal. Just because it is graded higher does not mean it is a better looking.

gumby1234

Whichever coin looks better to me.

crazyhounddog

Beauty rates extremely high in my book. Then I start checking boxes.

Walkerfan

It depends on the coin. I would take the higher grade, if it was PQ, but if it was only average for the grade, then I would rather prefer to have the lower-grade with the better attributes. I built my whole Walker set around using this philosophy.

Zoins

@braddick said:
For example, you may have a choice between a graded MS65 type coin or one that is either raw or is "graded" less yet with all the attractive attributes you seek.

If the price was the same would you buy the graded coin or the one where the condition of the coin checks all your boxes?

The the coin is equivalent, why not get the one in a holder or holder led with a higher grade?

Or are you saying the higher grade coin is not as nice?

Crypto

Total coin vs price

scotty4449

I sold off the first coin (66+) and picked up the second coin (66) because I couldn't get over how ugly the toning was on the reverse of the 66+.

66+

66

Catbert

Grade is somewhat irrelevant since I’m not trying to compete with others but I do prefer an AU or better coin for type. Eye appeal is the weed out factor. They need to be slabbed to protect my investment given their individual expense.

coinbuf

If I were attempting to win a registry competition then grade would trump all. As I am not it all depends on the coin, high grades can be great if the coin is all there.

Catbert

@braddick would you say ugly and unloved would be a primary factor for you? 😉😉😉😉😬🙃

BryceM

When things are graded correctly, there shouldn’t be a difference.

Personal preference comes in to play here, but that’s always true.

CaptainBlunt

Just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in

lkenefic

I don't play the registry game so that pressure is off. For me, it mainly comes down to eye appeal... and the fate of the particular coin. For instance, I don't think twice about cracking coins for my 7070 Album... but for the Classic Gold Type, they will all be slabbed since I'm also interested in authentication...

ctf_error_coins

I buy the coin based on eye appeal.

More times than not, the coin ends up being a high MS grade.

braddick

@Catbert said:
@braddick would you say ugly and unloved would be a primary factor for you? 😉😉😉😉😬🙃

Yes.
Some rescue dogs. I rescue coins.
All dogs need and deserve love. So do all coins.

ALL COINS MATTER!

/s

JRGeyer

The more nuanced my eye has become, the more I am interested in condition over grade.

For modern coins, grade and condition almost go hand in hand. In the seated series though, specifically half-dimes which I am collecting hard now, my obsession is original surfaces.

Not that grade is unimportant, but a coin that was dipped or had an old clean but still straight-graded is just less attractive than an original surface coin, even if it grades a rung higher like AU to EF or EF to VF. I have found you can get a better deal on a better overall coin with that mindset as well.

coinnut

I have one criteria for buying coins. Eye appeal. It trumps everything else.

Cougar1978

If choice is slabbed coin vs raw I go with the slabbed coin.

Dave99B

I’d choose the raw or lower graded coin, assuming it was more attractive/original.

Dave

ricko

For me, it will come down to condition/eye appeal - providing they are coins I am confident in my appraisal abilities. I am in the collecting stage where, after authenticity, it is the attractiveness of the coin that gets my attention. Cheers, RickO