What is the BEST coin purchase you ever made?
Panda4456
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I bought a 1909s MS62 USPI peso for around $350 in an auction. The coin is worth about $900 just a few months later.
Your turn..
7
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1830 Large Letters bust half VF for type price. Many years ago now at a St Louis show.
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.
Jewelry store owner/friend was closing about a year ago. He had a buying gold sign up and a few coins he had bought. I was only interested in one an NGC 61 QE. I offered $170 almost as a joke and he accepted. I think he was more worried about getting rid of the jewelry.
By far my biggest score only costing me $60 between purchase and grading.
Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value. Zero. Voltaire. Ebay coinbowlllc
1961 proof set in OGP that I paid $25.00 for.
It contained a DDR half that graded PF67 last year.
I bought an NGC graded 91-CC GSA holder not for blue sheet but grey sheet. He had just got it in sat morning and pd basically nothing for it. He offers it to me and I hesitated. He takes it out of my hand and calls me a fool for not buying it.
Store closes. I go home and see that for 91-CC, there is a huge spread between raw, graded and GSA graded. He wasn't aware. I'm kicking myself all Sunday for not buying it. I'm waiting at his front door Monday morning. He unlocks the door and says " what are you doing here?" I came to buy the dollar. Cost me IIRC, $550. I forgot my money and left him a gold piece as collateral.
I drive 30 minutes across town and sell it for iirc, $1,500. I went back the next day and redeemed my gold piece. He says, " what are you doing back here?"
I came for my gold.
Did you sell the CC?
Yes
What'd you get?
$1,500.
Quit lying.
I have coins that have gained in value more than this one, but it is still a favorite, bought from a dealer at a local show ten or fifteen years ago for $50. NGC graded MS65 with a green bean.
My Collection of Old Holders
Never a slave to one plastic brand will I ever be.
I used to love those shows out by the airport.
Mine was also an 1830 large letters. Wish I still had it but Couldn’t resist the profit.
BHNC #248 … 130 and counting.
A tie between the two following:
1909-S VDB cent, VF details obverse gouge. Purchased for $0.03 in a bag of about 800 wheat cents. That same bag yielded a 31-S, several other early S-mints including a VF 11-S and a 12-S which I sold alone for almost the entire cost of the bag, and several other goodies.
1566 Order of Malta bronze tari of Jean de la Vallette, struck right after the Siege of Malta. Purchased from an ancient dealer's $10 each bin at a regional show because I thought it looked cool.
"You can't get just one gun." "You can't get just one tattoo." "You can't get just one 1796 Draped Bust Large Cent."
Probably 1827 O-144 or 1836 O-121. Both graded VF30ish. Sold years ago for at least 10x profit on each.
I got an 1864 small date 2c and a 1956 Franklin Type 1 Proof, each for type price, different transactions. It wasn’t until later that I knew what I had.
Also got a 1921 Merc out of a junk tub at a jewelry store in middle or high school. 40 cents. It’s probably a details coin, but still one of my favorite finds.
Hard to remember the best one, there have been quite a few over the years.
1984 Doubled Ear cent NGC MS-68 Red off ebay for $200
PCGS price guide $2250 NGC $1900
1935 DDR nickel MS-62 for $1,375 later sold for $3500..... I wish I wouldn't have sold it.
1990 S Proof DDO nickel picked for $5 later graded at PF-68 DC
2008 ASE reverse of 07 MS-70 for $450 had it for 3 hours and sold it for $950
1967 SMS Quarter DDO off ebay PCGS SP-67 for $125 later sold it on ebay for $650
1964 Half Accented Hair PF-67 DDR for $125 later sold for $950
1878 Morgan 7/8 TF MS-65 DMPL for $500
This one may be the best.
This story takes place “in the deep end of the pool”, but I believe others may find it interesting. I’ve previously posted this in another thread asking the same topic.
I was looking to upgrade my one and only Flying Eagle Cent in my Dansco 7070 PCGS Registry Set, and saw a real nice 1858 Large Letters MS66 with a CAC in a major auction (there’s no rarity in this LL version, other than the high grade). I was the high bidder, but had to stretch. Once I had the coin in hand, I really fell in love.
My collecting “Pride & Joy” is my PCGS Registry Dansco 7070 Set:
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/type-sets/design-type-sets/complete-dansco-7070-modified-type-set-1796-date/publishedset/213996
Nothing great - bought a 1991 1/2 ounce gold eagle back then raw from a bullion dealer, when gold was low. Low mintage. A couple years ago, I had it graded, at MS-69.
Hmm.. Favorites?
Bought a 1909 S Lincoln at a local coin shop, for $40
Now in an NGC F-12 slab, 1909 S VDB.
On eBay, bought an "AU" 1909 S, now in an ANACS MS 63 RB S Over Horizonal S SLAB.
Fling Eagles:
1858/7 F-15, for $20
" XF-45, possibly cleaned for $135,
" Vf-20 for $20
All cherry picked.
BHNC #203
The best coin purchase I ever made wasn't for resale at a profit. It was the centerpiece of my barber collection fifteen years ago when I bought it, and still is, PC35 (and I'm still looking for a nice, original XF or AU to replace it).
l
It's not having what you want, it's wanting what you've got.
One of the most satisfying purchases I made was an 1890 Liberty Seated Dime for $30 off ebay and it was a proof. I sold it to HJBerk for $300 after having it slabbed. $200+ profit. Sold it as I did not like the look after conservation.
Jim
Seller's Pic
After conserving
When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest....Abraham Lincoln
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.....Mark Twain
Excluding cherrypicks and "instant winners," it would be a toss up between these two:
1) 1822 Bust quarter 25/50 reverse - graded PCGS VG10 - bought when greysheet was $2250, before the Bust 25c books came out
2) 1895-O Barber 10 - PCGS MS64 - bought when greysheet was $9000 and CAC stickers weren't a thing yet
If I gave advice on a "buy and hold" strategy, it would be based strictly on rarity, not grade. The common type coins I purchased over the years are still common type coins, and nobody "needs" them to complete a set.
One of my best coin purchases ever made was for a "raw" 1909 S VDB cent. I bought it from the Coin Cove in Roseville, MI back in 1992 for $500. Since it was so expensive, I put it on layaway, and it took a few months to pay it off.
I submitted it to PCGS in early 1994. It now resides in a MS61RD holder.
I still have this coin, and it is one of the coins that I have no intention of ever selling.
I had an unsolicited offer on a 1995W ASE, PCGS slabbed, for less than a quarter of the current value. I grabbed it then (1997)... Still have it. Cheers, RickO
I'll have a go
)
1920 saint in MS64+
+600% in 4 years if we're talking money.
If we're talking beauty...
This one was conserved after I bought it to eliminate heavy PVC haze & what looked like nose grease.
The dealer was probably curious as to why I didn't send it back because I payed almost full price.
(It also got a + upgrade
My Saint Set
A handful of foreign poundage which I have no idea when or who I bought from. I used to let it pile up for sometimes a year before I would get a rainy day to go through it. Low and behold there was an AU Bechtler dollar in there! Wish I had it back...sold it for 2K years ago.
A couple of good stories, one where I almost lost money but ended up making a lot of money and another where I almost made much more money but still made a lot of money.
I bought this standing liberty quarter for $400 years ago. I changed the focus of my collection so I decided I wanted to sell it. I showed it to probably 4-5 people. 3 of them had zero interest in it. One said they thought it was over graded so they only wanted to offer me $300 for it. Another dealer offered me $325 saying they liked the coin but that was all it was worth to them. I didn’t sell it to any of them. I then across another dealer who had a couple of half ounce gold First Spouse coins among many other coins I had no interest in.
I showed him the standing liberty quarter and told him I wanted to sell it. He was very interested in it and I asked him what he could offer me for it. He didn’t have a lot of cash on him so he could only offer $500 cash but said if I came back the next day he would give me $700. I then gave him my contact information saying that maybe we could work out something later. I then asked out of curiosity how much he wanted for his First Spouse coins. He said $700 each. I then had an idea. I asked if he would be willing to trade one of the First Spouse coins for the standing liberty quarter. He said sure and asked if I wanted Dolley Madison or Martha Washington. I picked Dolley. I then went back to the original 2 dealers who offered me $300 and $325 for the quarter and showed them the half ounce gold Dolley Madison coin. The $300 offer guy said he didn’t buy those types of coins but said it was nice. The $325 guy liked it and offered $725 because he wasn’t in love with it but liked it enough. At the time this was just a little over melt. I accepted this offer knowing I would be making $325 in the end. I wasn’t in the mood to go to other dealers since I was getting tired and the day was almost over. I figured making $325 was good enough but I do wonder how much more I could had gotten from someone that was “in love” with the Dolley Madison gold First Spouse coin. I was pretty happy with the result that day.
A friend of my mother’s father had passed away and he had a big coin collection they wanted to sell. I took a look at it but they knew the value of it for the most part so the vast majority of the collection I didn’t make money on as it was mostly 90% silver and common date wheat cents. However, there was a 1955 doubled die. I was very interested in this but it was not slabbed so I was very scared it might be counterfeit. I asked if I could send in the coin for grading and slabbing and they reluctantly let me do it (they didn’t like the idea of the coin leaving their house before me buying it). After a month or two I got the coin back. It came back as MS63 BN. They at first didn’t want to sell the coin so they held onto it for several months then one day they said I could buy it for $1500. I decided to buy it mostly to resell.
I decided to shop it around at the local coin shops first. Two of the local coin shops weren’t interested in it. A third coin shop I had never visited due to it being 45 minutes away told me via phone that they would be interested in it and asked me to send them pictures of the front and back via email. I sent them the above pictures. They emailed me back saying they are definitely interested and offered me $3500 in the email. I accepted that and called them up saying I was going to be there in 45 minutes. When I arrived, I showed them the slabbed coin and they took a quick look at it and said “it’s been cleaned, I can offer you $700.” I told them NGC is usually pretty reliable and I didn’t think it was cleaned. I asked why he thought it was cleaned and he said because it wasn’t more red. He didn’t like that it wasn’t Red Brown in color. I told him it was Brown just as I said in my email and it said on the slab. He told me he didn’t like it and said he could give me $700 otherwise he wasn’t interested. I thought we had a deal for $3500 but he said “that deal is no good since it’s cleaned.” I was very disappointed and went home. I figured he must had changed his mind while I was on my way to his shop so he thought of a phony excuse so he didn’t have to spend $3500.
A few weeks later I showed it around at the local coin show that month. I had several people offer me $2000 but initially some offered or were thinking of offering me $3500 since that was what the gray sheet said. However there were at least a dozen 1955 doubled die slabbed coins available on the floor that day, all in various grades, most in lower grade than mine. I also did a recent search on eBay and noticed they were selling for around $1500-$2000 for the MS62-64s brown cents. So I knew the gray sheet was overpriced. The best cash offer I got was $2000 so I sold it to that guy and made $500 which I was happy but knew I maybe could have more than doubled my money if that local coin shop guy gave me the $3500 we agreed upon in the email.
This is one of my first and biggest cherry picks on eBay. DDO # 2 in 64 RED. Paid $9 worth $1000 now. Wish I had kept the crappy eBay picture but I am sure you can all visualize a crappy eBay picture.
WS
I pulled this one from a bank's bag of dollars. It now resides in a PCGS Mint Error slab graded AU58 Struck Through Obverse.
1918/7-D Overdate Buffalo Nickel G-06 in a PCGS green slab.
Bought for $500.00.
It was raw. Dealer insisted it was a VG-8. I knew it wasn't. Bought it anyway.
Now worth around $1300 give or take a little.
Pete
Best because it still makes me smile. A BN 1929-S Lincoln, ANACS-64, purchased from Teletrade back when all we had was the newsprint catalog and a phone. I've tried many times to capture the "green sheen"; the photo below is the best I've been able to do.
If we were all the same, the world would be an incredibly boring place.
Tommy
Won this cigar box of supposedly all 1909 VDB cents in an online auction for $200
And this was found
My best buy was a 1901-P Morgan in PCGS MS62 that I soon upgraded to MS63. Sold it in a heartbeat and then went shopping for another MS62... and other expensive dates for my set that I hadn't been able to afford before.
Buying my 2019S ERP Eagle for $65 from the mint. It graded @ NGC PR70 and I could get $2,000+ out of it if i ever needed to.
Going to be hard to ever beat that!!
Acquired July 2003
End Systemic Elitism - It Takes All Of Us
ANA LM
LSCC
EAC
FUN
1887 Morgan dollar in a old PCGS ratter holder for under $100 graded MS63
2003-present
https://www.omnicoin.com/security/users/login
Not necessarily a big financial windfall, but I was very happy to pick up this 1835 VF25 CAC bust quarter raw from a mixed lot of seated and bust quarters with poor quality pictures. The other coins were pretty. Decent for the most part. After selling off the other coins raw the 1835 was pretty much paid for.
On a whim I bought a 1874cc PCGS AU50 Trade dollar form a guy in a IHOP on the shady side of town for a fair but unremarkable price. It started a 15 year trade $ set which was one of my must rewarding of the hobby so far for me. I think I made about 150$ on that coin a decade later but thousands in enjoyment
11.5$ Southern Dollars, The little “Big Easy” set
A few that turned out well:
1932 $10 for 900 bucks in 2018:
This $3 for 1900 bucks in 2019:
My YouTube Channel
This last summer for $3300
My YouTube Channel
There are others but those are most notable.
My YouTube Channel
Outside of cherrypicks, it might be the 1901 PCGS MS61DMPL Morgan $1 from the Heritage FUN sale in 2005. I paid $25,300 for it and sold it for much more years later to the collector who still has it.
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do you rub your dogs belly before looking for picks?
also, the 7/8 dmpl, is that the moster of a coin i think it is?
nice list there! amazing how strong the 35 ddr appears in that condition.
@LanceNewmanOCC said: "also, the 7/8 dmpl, is that the moster of a coin i think it is?"
Yep
Old holder resubmissions after being cracked out of better date type I and type II $20 gold pieces.
Last year I was offered this piece raw as it came in with a inherited collection of nicer graded pieces, including a couple of MS or proof patterns. Collector went for unusual things and had a good eye. But why was this the lone raw coin in this 15- or 20-coin collection?
Fortunately the seller had the same question. I got to examine the coin outside of the airtite, and took obverse/reverse images to study. I got 24 hours to yes or no, knowing there were others waiting to take her if I declined. I negotiated a price equal to Red Book VF minus a good cushion in case it came back details.
And how it ended:
--Severian the Lame
Bought this raw for vf money in 2015. Sent in for grading where it graded VF30. Later to CAC where it stickered. Posted it here and I find out it is only the fourth known HM-2 1838-c without the die break. Had an unsolicited offer of 15K but I passed.
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nice one. i do like the scarce classic marriages/states. i recall someone doing a classics book somewhat recently but i don't recall whom HM is, do you? i think i was using another designation. i just checked the pops and see HM but their variety page doesn't list anything here.
I had a lady who inherited her aunts "piggy bank" which consisted of a bunch of walking liberty halves, morgans and other junk silver. She mentioned taking it to the we buy gold place and thinking their offer was a bit low (ended up being 40% of melt)
I had her count up the total number of coins and offered spot for it sight unseen (well a few blurry pics)
She was happy and I found a 1938-d walking liberty half and an 1879-cc morgan both in VF condition
Win-win
It's all about what the people want...
I think he is a member here. Name is Daryl Haynor. John Mclosky and he wrote this book
that's the one. thanks!
Some sweet examples on this thread! Thinking a little differently, my favorite buy was a $50 gold buffalo bought in 2006 for the then expensive price of $633: now worth roughly 3X that price.
Nearly 25 years ago, I bid on an 1835 Half Cent in an OGH holder which was in an MS 65 RB holder. I didn't get the coin. Whomever was the high bidder decided he didn't want it, so the coin was offered to me. It's all there for the grade, 40% RD on both sides. Still have it.
"Seu cabra da peste,
"Sou Mangueira......."