A GREAT THREAD FOR MODERN COLLECTORS and us all...

Hunt

Hey guys,

I thought of something I'm sure someone else has thought of at one time. What do you guys think about sabatoging millions of mint state coins so that the rarity of a high grade specimen is more rare. In other words, buying millions of dollars (hypethetically) of a said coin in circulation, at or slightly above face value and scratch the coins or rub them on sandpaper to mess up the coin a little. I'm not talking about destroying it, just messing it up enough to make it "uncollectible" Is this even legal? And has it ever been done before in history? Let me know what you think. Maybe then I'll start to collect moderns!!!

FC57Coins

Hmmmmm - My first gut reaction is that defacing government property somehow comes into the picture... not sure - anyway, ruining coins sucks. There's a hotsy-totsy hotel in San Francisco that takes your change and cleans it for you - really - they give you bright shiny coins in return for your icky ones - they put it in a big drum and slosh it around with who knows what - they've been doing it for decades. I'd say that this has caused enough damage as it is.

Regards,

Frank

kryptonitecomics

I can't stand the thought of defacing coins, modern or not. Could your master plan to inflate coin prices due to artificially creating a scarcity factor really work.......probably if you were alive long enough to deface several hundred Billion coins!!!! Good Luck and let me know when you reach 1 Billion, we'll throw you a party!!!

cladking

There's nothing illegal about ruining coins, but it is illegal to spend them afterward.
There are also severe logistical problems which makes such an endeavor impossible.
You just can't lay your hand on enough specimens to accomplish your goal unless
you pay a substantial premium for the coins, which would be prohibitively expensive
when talking having to buy 200,000,000 coins an average of 5 times each in order
to get them "all".

But there's a better reason not to do it. If you just leave them alone, time will take
care of the problem for you. Every three years 90% of circulating issues wear down
one grade (defined as the amount of wear between unc and AU). Since these are not
being saved for their silver content then virtually every single coin is wearing out in
the grinder we know as circulation. Just sit back and relax.






punctuation, spelling

66Tbird

Then mint is taking care of 99% of that job for us. JMO after 30 SQ bags

Whitewashqtr

This would only work if you had the moderns beforehand. The prices would be too high after your decimation.

ARCO

There aren't enough years in a century to even remove one modern date and mintmark in any meaningful way.

Think of how pleased and proud your loved ones would be as all your neighbors, friends and family watched you spend the remainder of your life in some basement room, surrounded by ten of thousands of coins in a mad dash to scratch them all up! LOL

Tyler

gemseeker

You obviously would need a machine to do that by the millions. A person could not ever get around to do that by hand. LOL

FlyTooHigh

<< <i>Then mint is taking care of 99% of that job for us >>



Agreed! Based on so many threads here.

dbldie55

The lowest mintage state quarter, if stacked on top of each other (as in rolls) would only go 420 miles. (remember this is "low" mintage and by mint mark). Anyone want to take the time to do anything about that? My time would be better spent sleeping. Does anyone really realize how many of these coins are minted?

cladking

A 420 mile high tower of quarters would collapse under it's own weight.
The lower coins would be flattened beyond recognition and the upper
ones would be damaged in the fall.

cointagious

so, cladking, that's how the mint does it?

misterR

Take it from someone who has personally searched thousands of mint sets for high grade coins. Mainly the years from 1971 and newer, there are many examples where the mints packaging machines have done an excellent job of ruining 100% of a certain date/denomination. Here are a few examples(please check your mint sets and let me know if you agree). All of the following have a scuff to some degree: 1984-D quarters, 1980-D half dollars, 1981-D half dollars. In other words, none of these examples from a mint set will ever be found in a grade of 66 or better. All the 66 and better examples of these coins will be found in BU rolls and unfortunately these rolls were not saved in any quantity.