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Have you ever felt like...

DAMDAM Posts: 2,410 ✭✭
in PCGS Set Registry Forum
Have you ever felt like you're buying a coin you don't really want?

What I mean is, sometimes I feel I'm buying a coin not because it's the best one available, but because it's the only one available.

With a lot of collectors' attention focused on collecting by sets these days, the amount of top quality coins available is dwindling. Especially type coins. I believe more now than in any time in my collecting lifetime. For some sets, this isn't an issue because of the population that's available. Especially in modern coins.

Just curious.
Dan

Comments

  • braddickbraddick Posts: 24,147 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I just bought a PCGS MS66 1943 cent and when it arrived wasn't that excited to open the envelope.

    peacockcoins

  • keithdagenkeithdagen Posts: 2,025 ✭
    DAM,

    I find that patience is the best cure for that. For Type collecting, the coins are out there in most cases, if you are willing to wait. It took me 12 months to find a MS-64 1921 Peace Dollar that I liked (upgrade from 63), but when I saw it, I jumped at it immediately. I have literally seens hundreds of others that were not what I wanted, but I passed on each.
    Keith ™

  • DIMEMANDIMEMAN Posts: 22,403 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I agree with Keith. If you wait long enough the right coin will come along. It's a hard thing to do, but you will be glad you did when you see the coin and don't have the money tied up in a coin you don't want and may be hard to sell.

    Jon
  • keithdagenkeithdagen Posts: 2,025 ✭
    There are some Type coins (if going for a Complete set) that you may have to settle for.

    Example: 1793 Liberty Cap Cent -- 33 in PCGS population, take the first one you can afford and upgrade later if need be.

    Example: 1866-67 Shield Nickel w Rays -- haven't found one I liked yet, but with 1,300 in PCGS slabs, one will come along that is right for me.
    Keith ™

  • Steve27Steve27 Posts: 13,274 ✭✭✭
    Yes, I bought a 1914 Barber half in G-6 condition because no one had an honestly graded VG or F. In hindsight I'm glad I did, because I've seen worse examples advertised as VG for twice as much as I paid for mine.
    "It's far easier to fight for principles, than to live up to them." Adlai Stevenson
  • python1python1 Posts: 789
    I must agree with Keith, please wait...it is much more rewarding to have the exact coin you want, and not just a coin you need.....I have bought a few of my coins on the fact that I wanted them to fill a hole at first, but have found it only to be disappointing in the long run. That is why I cant see finishing my set for many years to come. Which is a true statement about the supply of the perfect coin is not there now, but will come around in the future. Just be patient, and have a good time with it.image
    Dennis

    My Dimes

    << If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right the first time! >>
  • BowAxeBowAxe Posts: 143 ✭✭
    DAM,

    Even for some of the modern coins it IS an issue because of very low populations in highest grade. I have not regretted buying any of the coins I've bought but I have regretted the outrageous prices I've paid for a few of them. For instance, in clawing my way to the #1 set in the circ-strike modern gold commems, I got into a bidding war on Teletrade with a dealer over a pop-4 MS70 coin (I subsequently discovered who he was, to a mixture of amusement and irritation, when corresponding with him about another coin.) Now, don't get me wrong; I'm ecstatic to own that coin, although I don't know if I could recoup what I paid for it--more than three times as much as I've paid for any of my other MS70's--if I ever have to resell it. But maybe so, if the population remains low and modern commemoratives increase in popularity over the long haul. All I can do is hope that's what happens.

    Dell
  • DAMDAM Posts: 2,410 ✭✭
    There are some Type coins (if going for a Complete set) that you may have to settle for.

    Example: 1793 Liberty Cap Cent -- 33 in PCGS population, take the first one you can afford and upgrade later if need be.

    The focus of my post was meant to lean more toward Keith's example above. If you need a coin and it's seldom offered for sale, in any grade, do you buy what's available? Or do you wait for something closer to the grade what you want.

    Using Keith's example, there would be 33 coins to go around. Slim pickins.


    Dell,

    I hate that!

    Unless the dealer was driving the price up it would tell me he either had a buyer (which would have paid more than you did image) or he thought there was more upside on the coin. It doesn't make it any easier to swallow though, paying a high price. For the most part, that's the reason why I stay away from low pop moderns. Especially a pop 1 or 2 coin that's a year or two old. Let everyone else spend the big bucks.

    Keith,

    Patience is definetly a virtue needed for collecting coins.
    Dan
  • littlewicherlittlewicher Posts: 1,822 ✭✭
    I have put my registry sets on a backburner for a little while. I'm more attracted to the coins I like, not just buying it for the registry set.image I feel a sense of fulfillment when I buy coins that I like.image


    For some life lasts a short while, but the memories it holds last forever.
    -Laura Swenson

    In memory of BL, SM, and KG. 16 and forever young, rest in peace.
  • MikeyMikey Posts: 477
    What I am finding is that even PR69DCAM state quarters have lots of defects. I'm finding that buying a slabbed coin off ebay can be risky, there are too many variables within the same grade.
    When I was a child, I caught a fleeting glimpse
  • daveyndaveyn Posts: 150 ✭✭
    Dam,
    I've bought a few I didn't really want at the time, but was in too big of a hurry to fill an empty slot. I have grown to like them a little more as time went on, they don't really fit my set but I guess I'll keep them. My problem has been reading the scans properly, I have bought a few coins I thought were nice looking on EBAY only to find them not as attractive as I was expecting.
    But yes, I know the feeling.


    Daveyn
    Dave
    NOBLE REGISTRY
  • lavalava Posts: 3,286 ✭✭✭
    For coins I don't see often, I buy them even if I want better ones, so I filled my slots but I keep looking. That is only true for those tougher years. For more common stuff, wait. I can wait forever until I find the right morgan 1879-S, 1880-S of 1881-S ms66pl -- there are just too many of them, and too many unattractive ones at that grade.
    I brake for ear bars.
  • CocoinutCocoinut Posts: 2,512 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Sure, there have been times when I've bought coins because I thought I'd have a tough time finding another. It doesn't happen often now, though, thanks to the internet and access to so many more coins. Even so, if the description or photo leaves any doubt about a coin's appearance, I'll wait for another to come along. That approach is working well for me now, as I'm putting together a Mercury set. The coins I need don't appear that often, so I can save my money and wait until a nice one is available.

    I don't know if the supply of choice older type coins is at an all-time low. I was at a show last weekend though, and they seemed to be in short supply. I suspect this to be partially due to the increased emphasis on modern coins, but I was there when the doors opened on the first day, and didn't see many high-end registry quality coins from any series. With investors' faith in the stock market shaken, those with any money left don't want to put it into CD's that are paying les than 5%. So why not put it into coins? I'd like to think that we're on the verge of a bull market in coins, but there have been so many false alarms in the past that I don't want to get my hopes up.

    Jim
    Countdown to completion of my Mercury Set: 1 coin. My growing Lincoln Set: Finally completed!
  • FairlanemanFairlaneman Posts: 10,424 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Before the Internet and Ebay a Person would have Been Foolish to buy a Coin just to Fill a Slot untill a better coin or the coin he wanted showed up. Ultimately he would Loose Money on the First Purchase which in Reality Drove Up the Price of the Coin He Really wanted. Now Days it is Not nearly as Bad to Buy that first Coin as More Avenues to sell it are open.

    Still even with the Web Sites available too Collectors there are Still Many Coins that a Collector Must just Jump at as Some of the Populations are Under 50 Graded. Folks that is Not Many Coins to satisfy the Entire Collecting Community of which the Registry People are Just a Small Part of.

    In the Mercury Dime Series I can think of Atleast 10 Coins that are Jump At Coins and this is not Counting the So Called Key Dates. Many of the Semi Key and Common Coins that are Just Plain Hard to Come By. Tell Me when is the Last Time You Saw a 1918P MS65 PCGS Graded Mercury Dime on Ebay or a Major Dealers Web Site ?? This is a Example of a Common Date Coin that is Very Tough to Find.

    So with this in Mind, Yes sometimes a Coin is Bought just Because it is the Best Available at the Time.

    Ken
  • WhitewashqtrWhitewashqtr Posts: 736 ✭✭✭
    I agree with Keith. Although you might think that coin is the ONLY one available.. as soon as you buy it .. another one becomes available thats even nicer. I have built my sets on patience and it is well worth the wait. I have a gorgeous set of untoned silver Washingtons. Still a work in progress (because I am patient) and very picky.

    Anyone have early date Washingtons in 66 or higher for sale. PM me.
    HAVE A GREAT DAY! THE CHOICE IS YOURS!!!!
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