Equally priced, which one would you choose for your collection?
Tramp
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**Given a choice to buy one of the two coins, equally priced, which one would you choose for your collection? Reason for choice?
USAF (Ret.) 1985 - 2005. E-4B Aircraft Maintenance Crew Chief and Contracting Officer.
My current Registry sets:
✓ Everyman Mint State Carson City Morgan Dollars (1878 – 1893)
✓ Everyman Mint State Lincoln Cents (1909 – 1958)
✓ Morgan Dollar GSA Hoard (1878 – 1891)
Equally priced, which one would you choose for your collection?
This is a public poll: others will see what you voted for.
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The AU cleaned, hands down. A few months on a window sill would do it some good. Dare I say it may even straight grade one day by the looks of it.
Coin 2 is much nicer looking even though it may have been lightly cleaned.
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2, no contest. The cleaning is subtle.
Sorry, don.t know why I was shouting.
Although our host says the coin is not market acceptable, I disagree on this particular coin. (#2) I would take it any day over the straight graded #1 example.
Dwayne F. Sessom
Ebay ID: V-Nickel-Coins
I gotta go with #2 as well.
Without the photos, I'd go for the problem-free coin every time.......
But, from the photos, I'd rather have coin #2 than coin #1, if offered at the same price. Of course, all of this could-change with an in-hand evaluation. If there are nasty hairlines that are easy to hide in a photo but very distracting in-hand, I'd pass.
2 in a heartbeat, what was said above by others is correct.
Why is @MarkKelley yelling ?
I would normally be on the other side, but #2 looks great in the photos.
Can't start your comments with the # sign. It will enlarge the font every time.
2 here too
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I picked #1 because it’s straight graded. But if I wanted one to crack out and put in an album then I’d pick #2
Mr_Spud
@BustHalfBrian @gumby1234 @MarkKelley
I don't see any hairlines to indicate cleaning, what are you guys seeing? Some kind of dipping that removes some stuff but not all? Continued education for me.
Edit to add: #2 hands down for me.
I stay away from problem coins.
If you made this poll because you are actually trying to choose which of these two coins to buy, I recommend you save your money until you can buy a nicer, problem-free example.
I said the straight graded coin, but it really depends on what coin #2 looks like in hand. If there are heavy hairlines, then I'd pass. If the cleaning is light and the coin would benefit from additional toning to be market acceptable, then I'd opt for it.
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I always advocate against buying problem coins but that one looks really nice. I would make an exception here…Especially, since there is no price difference.
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From the photos, coin #2 looks like the winner. But I wouldn’t pull the trigger without seeing it in hand. Some cleanings are only visible from a certain angle, and when you hit that angle, they ruin the look of the coin.
I do like coin #2 just fine, but knowing this is a significant multiple 4-figure outlay I think the straight graded coin will be much easier to sell with authoritative pricing on my side should the time come that I wish to do so. Thus I go with #1.
I pick neither. Without seeing the AU/cleaned coin in hand, I can only assume it has hairlines the photos aren't showing, and it isn't as attractive as the pictures make it out to be. The VF coin is okay, but it's too light for my taste and I'd wait for one with darker color. (Also, the reverse of the VF coin looks to me like a coin that may have been lightly wiped, so I'm not convinced it's a wholly original coin, either, even if it's market acceptable).
I remember seeing a slab shot of coin #2, and thinking the cleaning was particularly bad and the TrueView did a bad job of representing the coin.
If slab shots were available, and they affirmed my opinion above, I’d choose #1.
If it were really my choice, I’d pass on both.
Coin Photographer.
If you buy a problem coin, someone else's problem becomes your problem.
Folks, w/o seeing the coin in hand, why would you risk taking #2??????????????
Its not surprising, take a lower end not that attractive VF against an AU that doesnt look badly cleaned from the pics and this is the result you'll get. There are plenty of people who would take that "problem" coin at the price of a VF25 based on the appearance from the pictures.
Next try a particularly nice VF35 thats CAC approved against an AU harshly cleaned coin and let's see how the straight grade VF polls to a cleaned AU.
I picked #2 because im extremely confident that no matter what it looks like in hand, that i would be able to find a buyer who only cares about getting things "cheap" relative to price guide who would be thrilled to pay me more for that cleaned AU than I could sell that specific VF25 for.
I wouldnt touch either one if it was to keep.
But did the first coin sticker?
2
Another example of how destructive it is for the TPGs to kill nice coins. #2 is a nice-looking coin, but the TPG decided that it's not "market acceptable." The reaction on this thread would suggest otherwise....
I don't buy "details"-graded coins, in large part because I have no way of determining whether I'm paying a reasonable price for it (since there cannot be a useful price guide for "details"-graded coins). As much as B would cost, I would not feel confident that I could get a large portion of my money back, if I had to sell.
I like #2 better, but I would not buy it, alas.
Key date, straight grade.
Wow, what a humorous comment. Your facetious CAC digs on every thread never get old, and they bring amusement to us all.
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It's a valid consideration. Which one would I likely be able to flip for a profit in the future? If there are some problems that caused the first coin to fail to sticker, then many may treat it as a problem coin too. And if there are two problem coins, why not go with the most attractive one?
Just say no to problem coins. When you go to sell, potential buyers will also only see problems. Would I go for the VF25, nope, not that coin either.
If buying a 1916-D, I would only buy a PCGS CAC example.
Also, if you are in that price realm, I would be happier saving just a little more cash and going with an EF example.
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If that’s the case, then I apologize for my misinterpretation. I agree with that logic.
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2
Every day of the week and twice on Fridays.
I don't see "failure to get a CAC sticker" as the same thing as "it's a problem coin."
Sure, if you're buying hoping that the coin is better than its holder says it is, then "it must sticker" is a fine concern. But a coin can be a problem-free example and still not sticker.
It’s not that failure to sticker = problem coin, but failure to sticker could mean that market perception could be that it’s a problem coin. It’s $5000 coin, and if it can’t sticker as a VG, then CAC might think there’s an issue with surface preservation.
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Thanks.
Wow; it's a fidgety crowd!
But, just asking, how would anyone know that it failed to sticker? Is it just assumed that any $5000 coin would be sent in?
I wouldn’t buy either coin but if I was forced to make a decision I would reluctantly pick the straight graded one. There’s no good reason to buy a details 16-D IMHO. They’re expensive but certainly not rare and there’s no reason to compromise.
Nobody knows for sure, but it’s a reasonable assumption based on capitalist logic. If you’re selling a coin that might bring 6k if it stickers, and 5k if it doesn’t, wouldn’t you spend $35 (formerly $16) to send it in and try?
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I have it in an AG 3, so my choice is #2
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/u-s-coins/quarters/PCGS-2020-quarter-quest/album/247091
But you don't know that. You only know that it's possible to take a picture of the second coin that is "nice-looking". Question: would any of the people who chose the details coin be willing to pay $5000 (or whatever the asking price is) without seeing it in hand, or at least without a full return privilege?
Remind me never to buy a coin from you...................................................
Sure but you are judging it solely from images, see it in hand and say again #2 is better...................
1 for me.
Dave
All 16-D's are way overpriced to the point of ridiculousness. Despite being a key, it is as common as mud in a wet field except in MS grades where it is uncommon (certainly not rare). But bc it is called a key, demand is high and folks pay way too much for these. So I agree with you that I would not spend my money on either, or, any other 16-D in existence. Certainly for the money for one of these in any grade one can buy truly rare coins in less common series.....................
Straight grade for me. Thanks!
Yeah; makes sense. Except I'm sure it's not universally followed. I have ne> @daltex said:
I do know that it's silly to throw many of the coins they do into a body bag, because of some mystical set of criteria, which are, in fact, pretty decent coins, while they straight-grade lots of pretty ugly coins.
As to whether people would pay without seeing it "in hand," I would say, with certainty, that many would, were it not entombed in a body bag. Straight-grade that coin, and it's worth a lot more than $5000. In hand. To many people. With a full return privilege. Also, of course, I wouldn't buy any coin, remotely, without a clear return privilege.
The problem is the binary world the TPGs have created, in which every straight-graded coin, no matter how ugly, exists on a higher plane than every details-graded coin, no matter how attractive.
Sure. But I wish the TPGs would leave that up to us. Without doubt, there are many coins with details-grades that are, in fact, quite attractive in hand, while we all know that there are lots of ugly coins that get straight grades. That's a flawed system.
The original post specifically asked which would you buy if they were equally priced. Go look at the auction histories. An AU details 1916-d is worth well over $1000 more than a VF25 straight grade on the market. In this scenario where you only have these 2 to pick from, why would anyone ever select the VF?
As I stated in my earlier post, i would not select either for my collection, but if I had to choose one of these given the same price tag, its a no brainer for #2.
If you changed the question to which one of these would you buy if each one was listed at its market price, then many people would probably change their answers.
They are saying "if". Photos can be deceiving.
I recommend in hand inspection. If I was forced to choose from these images #2.