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Have you ever sold a coin that is presently worth 10 -15 % of what you sold for ?

thebeavthebeav Posts: 3,778 ✭✭✭✭✭

I was just going through a box and found a 1973 S Brown Ike. It had to be around 1976, a friend mentioned to me that he thought '73 Browns were cheap and may be due for a run-up. This guy was numismatically astute, so I called everyone in town and bought whatever they had. Nothing amazing, I may have ended up with 15 or so pieces. I think my average cost was in the twenties of dollars.
A few years go by and I see someone in Coin World paying a buck forty-five. Out they went......I just looked on ebay and these can be had for as little as 16 beans......
In many ways disappointing, as I've always liked Ikes. An 8 year run with 32 different coins......Surprises me that they aren't more popular.

Comments

  • ShaunBC5ShaunBC5 Posts: 1,689 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I’ve bought coins that are worth half what I paid for them. Does that count?
    Sounds like you got out at a great time. Going to buy now and play the game again?

  • seanqseanq Posts: 8,621 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Mayyyyyybe... I sold a bunch of two feather Buffalo nickels at the absolute height of the market, when they were first listed in the CPG. I'm not as in tune with the value nowadays but I cannot imagine raw examples of the more common dates are still fetching hundreds of dollars today.

    Sean Reynolds

    Incomplete planchets wanted, especially Lincoln Cents & type coins.

    "Keep in mind that most of what passes as numismatic information is no more than tested opinion at best, and marketing blather at worst. However, I try to choose my words carefully, since I know that you guys are always watching." - Joe O'Connor
  • ctf_error_coinsctf_error_coins Posts: 15,433 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Not that I can think of.

    What I sell holds up very well and usually appreciates.

  • csdotcsdot Posts: 689 ✭✭✭✭
    edited September 9, 2022 1:06PM

    @thebeav said:
    I was just going through a box and found a 1973 S Brown Ike. It had to be around 1976, a friend mentioned to me that he thought '73 Browns were cheap and may be due for a run-up. This guy was numismatically astute, so I called everyone in town and bought whatever they had. Nothing amazing, I may have ended up with 15 or so pieces. I think my average cost was in the twenties of dollars.
    A few years go by and I see someone in Coin World paying a buck forty-five. Out they went......I just looked on ebay and these can be had for as little as 16 beans......
    In many ways disappointing, as I've always liked Ikes. An 8 year run with 32 different coins......Surprises me that they aren't more popular.

    So what does "16 beans" mean in US currency? The $1 face value of an Ike precludes beans meaning cents, but $16 is way more than 10-15% of your $20s sale price (alternatively, the $1.45 sale price compared to a $16 cost today means it is worth many multiples more today, not 10-15%) so hard to tell what your conversion rate is from dollars to beans?

    A good example might be what some paid for 1999 Silver Proof Sets back in the early 2000s compared to what those sets sell for today. Could imagine them losing a good % of their value.

  • ctf_error_coinsctf_error_coins Posts: 15,433 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @FredWeinberg said:
    MEL Dollars

    I agree. you sold a bunch of those. You did very well for sure.

    I never got it as they have very minimal eye appeal. So, I never trading in those.

  • ShaunBC5ShaunBC5 Posts: 1,689 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @csdot I thought he sold for $145 and now they go for $16. Maybe I didn’t interpret correctly?

  • Jzyskowski1Jzyskowski1 Posts: 6,650 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I’m with Sean. I’m sure I’ve bought several loser’s. Don’t sell much but I’m a buying fool 😁😉🦫🙀

    🎶 shout shout, let it all out 🎶

  • JBKJBK Posts: 15,286 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Funny the OP mentioned 1973 Brown Ikes.

    I bought two from the mint at issue prices ($10) and a few years later sold one for $80 to $100. Now they're back down, as you noted.

  • MaywoodMaywood Posts: 2,055 ✭✭✭✭✭

    In the late 1970's those brown-box Ikes were selling at $100 or more. You had to be careful, though, because the "scammers" were cracking the cases and placing a clad inside.

    I remember around 2003 when 1973-S PCGS PR69DCam Jefferson Nickels were a low pop coin and I was trying to get one graded for my set. I managed two of them on one submission, kept one and sold the other for about $180. Maybe six months to a year later the grade pop exploded by about 150 coins(from one submission!!) and the price dropped to about $35.

  • messydeskmessydesk Posts: 19,879 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @FredWeinberg said:
    MEL Dollars

    Yup. I sold a couple early on in "First Day" holders for something like $600 each. What are they now, $20?

  • TennesseeDaveTennesseeDave Posts: 4,770 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Back in 2006, I sold one of the 20th anniversary SAE's that was one of the 1st ones to be graded First Strike MS-70 by PCGS. It sold on eBay for $2000. It is now valued at $150.

    Trade $'s
  • SoCalBigMarkSoCalBigMark Posts: 2,789 ✭✭✭✭✭

    1949-1954 P MS66 Red Cents, look out below!

  • Not a coin but in the 80s I sold a second year Nolan Ryan baseball card for $600. Guy drove 100 miles in a blizzard to come get it. I kept the better one. Sold it 2 years ago at a yard sale for $60.

  • gumby1234gumby1234 Posts: 5,565 ✭✭✭✭✭

    What is a MEL dollar?

    Successful BST with ad4400, Kccoin, lablover, pointfivezero, koynekwest, jwitten, coin22lover, HalfDimeDude, erwindoc, jyzskowsi, COINS MAKE CENTS, AlanSki, BryceM

  • thebeavthebeav Posts: 3,778 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @csdot said:

    So what does "16 beans" mean in US currency? The $1 face value of an Ike precludes beans meaning cents, but $16 is way more than 10-15% of your $20s sale price (alternatively, the $1.45 sale price compared to a $16 cost today means it is worth many multiples more today, not 10-15%) so hard to tell what your conversion rate is from dollars to beans?

    Sold at 145......Now worth 16.......11 % from the high.

  • FredWeinbergFredWeinberg Posts: 5,790 ✭✭✭✭✭

    MEL = missing edge lettering (Presidential Dollars)

    Retired Collector & Dealer in Major Mint Error Coins & Currency since the 1960's.Co-Author of Whitman's "100 Greatest U.S. Mint Error Coins", and the Error Coin Encyclopedia, Vols., III & IV. Retired Authenticator for Major Mint Errors
    for PCGS. A 49+-Year PNG Member...A full numismatist since 1972, retired in 2022
  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 45,915 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited September 10, 2022 3:56AM

    @gumby1234 said:
    What is a MEL dollar?

    I had no idea. Now that I see what it is, I would have never guessed what MEL stood for. It would help if people would actually spell out the more esoteric phrases.

    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

  • gumby1234gumby1234 Posts: 5,565 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Thanks @FredWeinberg I was racking my brain trying to figure that one out.

    Successful BST with ad4400, Kccoin, lablover, pointfivezero, koynekwest, jwitten, coin22lover, HalfDimeDude, erwindoc, jyzskowsi, COINS MAKE CENTS, AlanSki, BryceM

  • gumby1234gumby1234 Posts: 5,565 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @thebeav Maybe I am lucky, but I have never had a coin that lost 85 to 90 percent of its value. A few didn't change much in price thou. I did have giveaways on the forum so that's like selling at a loss.

    Successful BST with ad4400, Kccoin, lablover, pointfivezero, koynekwest, jwitten, coin22lover, HalfDimeDude, erwindoc, jyzskowsi, COINS MAKE CENTS, AlanSki, BryceM

  • rickoricko Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I may have some coins that fit the OP title.... never sold any that fit though. I rarely sell any coins.... Just a few over the years. Some gold sets when gold hit $2K/toz. years ago... I just like to keep my coins. Cheers, RickO

  • BillJonesBillJones Posts: 33,832 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Yes, 1973-S Brown Ikes. I sold one for $175, 40 years ago. I sold one a few years ago for $15.

    Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
  • csdotcsdot Posts: 689 ✭✭✭✭

    That was one pricey Ike. Glad I missed out on that bubble.

  • coastaljerseyguycoastaljerseyguy Posts: 1,296 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Wow, 90% drop in value, that's disheartening to the new buyer, glad you got out. The Mint Proof Commemorative dollars took a big drop, probably ~50%, except for the Buffalo and a couple of others which held their own. But I remember when these were hot in the mid 2000's.

  • thebeavthebeav Posts: 3,778 ✭✭✭✭✭

    The five dollar coin from the Statue of Liberty series in 1986 was a hot number for a few minutes. I had many customers sell me their sets at twice what they paid, before they had even received them. I had confirmed them off even before I had them.
    That was a relatively short lived thing. The sets could be bought around issue price not long after. Of course today, by virtue of the gold price, that five dollar piece holds some good value.

  • BillJonesBillJones Posts: 33,832 ✭✭✭✭✭

    It's probably not down by 90%, but when I lived in New Jersey in the 1970s, I knew a dealer who was touting modern Proof sets as "investments." Looking at the modern Grey Sheet numbers, all one can say is, "Boy, was he off."

    When I was dealer I got a run of them as part of a deal. The best price I could get was 15% in back of "bid." There are some of them now that would hardly be worth their face value if the discount was that high.

    Having said that, I like Proof sets, but I guess I'm in the minority.

    Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
  • BillJonesBillJones Posts: 33,832 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited September 11, 2022 8:21AM

    @thebeav said:
    The five dollar coin from the Statue of Liberty series in 1986 was a hot number for a few minutes. I had many customers sell me their sets at twice what they paid, before they had even received them. I had confirmed them off even before I had them.
    That was a relatively short lived thing. The sets could be bought around issue price not long after. Of course today, by virtue of the gold price, that five dollar piece holds some good value.

    I really like that set as a collector. Going back to the time you mentioned, in 1986, the three piece set once sold for $450. The six piece set was $850 to $875. Today the six piece set is at $907 on the Grey Sheet because of the gold coins. I paid $155 for the six piece set when the prices were at the bottom. When I got home, I calculated that I had paid slightly under melt for the gold and silver.

    Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
  • jmlanzafjmlanzaf Posts: 33,423 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @BillJones said:
    It's probably not down by 90%, but when I lived in New Jersey in the 1970s, I knew a dealer who was touting modern Proof sets as "investments." Looking at the modern Grey Sheet numbers, all one can say is, "Boy, was he off."

    When I was dealer I got a run of them as part of a deal. The best price I could get was 15% in back of "bid." There are some of them now that would hardly be worth their face value if the discount was that high.

    Having said that, I like Proof sets, but I guess I'm in the minority.

    Tough to get 85% today

  • BillJonesBillJones Posts: 33,832 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Tough to 85% today.

    Years ago I knew a dealer who put together groups of modern Proof sets that sold for bid to other dealers. The deal went beyond perfect, spotless coins. The cardboard covers had to be in MS-70. Then you could get bid if you knew who was buying.

    Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
  • thebeavthebeav Posts: 3,778 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Yea, proof sets are kinda sad.
    I think part of the problem is the fact that they're purchased by lay-people, grandmothers and such. Often given as gifts or mistakenly thought of as numismatic investments.
    When I would see someone coming with a banana box, or more, my heart would just sink......

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