What's the worst coin purchase you ever made?

MrEureka

What's the worst coin purchase you ever made? What did you learn?

Russ

<< <i>What's the worst coin purchase you ever made? >>



A harshly cleaned POS 1825 Bust Half.



<< <i>What did you learn? >>



That I should stick to what I know.

Russ, NCNE

1956Quarter

The most hideous 1958 MS-60 Franklin Half DAMAGED on the planet in a slab marked MS64. I'll never do a slab again in my life.

Clankeye

Stone Mountain NGC 67. Top of the bubble.

Clankeye

ursabear

An ACG PR70 DC Silver 1999 Kennedy.

Always look around and study before you jump in.

BigD5

I bought a group of copper/nickel indian head cents once, all looked ms/64+........all came back bodybagged. When I looked at them again, they all had hairlines, which were noticeable, and made me wonder what in heck I was thinking when I purchased them. "Must have been the lighting", I kept telling myself. That sounded better, to myself anyway, than being momentarily braindead.

*I actually received decent money (not as much as I paid, but more than I probably deserved) for the coins when I sold them as cleaned. That took some of the pain away.

I learned that I should avoid braincramps whenever possible

Russ

Now that I think about it, my purchases of PR70CAM ACG junk JFKs is probably tied with the above.



<< <i>Always look around and study before you jump in. >>



Ditto. Helps keep tuition expenses down.

Russ, NCNE

fcloud

A 1976-S silver quarter I purchased raw.

Sent it to PCGS for Grading.

They put a fingerprint on it.

I sent it back to PCGS to review.

They dipped the coin and ruined it.

Now, I have sent it back again.

They claim they are going to take care of me, but with their attitude, we'll see.

I sent this picture to customer service, and they claim they don't see anything wrong.



My respect for Laura (Legend) increases everyday.

Fairlaneman

Counterfiet 1916D Merc Dime in AU. Was bought in the 80's shortly after I started my first stint into coin collecting. All worked out fine in the end.

Ken

MrEureka

I paid 30K for a PR69RD Indian cent in 1988 or 89. I hated the value, but the market was hot and I thought it would sell for more. I held it for about six months, only because I hadn't found a buyer yet. Then, the coin started developing a finger print! Bad had become worse. I blew the coin out for (I think) a small loss. Later, I heard that PCGS took the coin off the market. I've certainly lost more money on other coins, but I never felt as stupid buying a coin as I did with that one.

Epilogue - Today, we have fingerprinted 1963 Lincolns for 30K! And I hate to think what a PR69RD Indian would bring...

njcoincrank

Andy ole' Chap,

Hard to say, as I have tried to forget so many.

The most recent one, and it is not from a financial point of view, would be a gold pattern I bought from you know who. Now I want all of them and I makes my head hurt.

Thanks alot.

njcoincrank

Flash

An ICG MS70 half from Teletrade. I learned never to buy ICG-certified coins, never to buy anything off Teletrade, and not to waste my money on MS70 coins when I can't tell the difference from a 69, and neither can ICG.

FatMan

An ICG 1986 SAE PR70DCAM. The typical new collector uninformed eBay purchase. Paid $250 for it. Actual Value about $40.

barberlover

Remember my horror story post, [even the big man posted to that thread] anyway my single [by far] worstcoin transaction accured when i baught thru a heritage sinature auction a 1837 half cent graded 64 red ny p.c.g.s for way above market because the lighting in the image made the coin ook better than it was, at that time Heritage didn't have a return privelege on auction coins and even though i complained i ended up reauctioning that turkey for a cool 1000 plus dollar loss!!! I'm still a little ticked at heritage over that one!!!

Since someone updated this page on 3/31 i might as well correct a mistake i made, the date of the half cent i mentioned was 1835.

roadrunner

Sometime in the mid-80's I bought a raw "gem" proof 1863 seated quarter with monster color from a company called Early America or something like that...$3000. When sent in for slabbing a few years later it graded AT. Disgusted, I dipped the coin figuring it was unsaleable as such. Later graded PF62 and I got $500 for it. A hard lesson learned.

Another major gaffe occured at the 1988 Heritage ANA sale I believe.
The hall lighting was very tricky. I asked to have the overhead lights turned down once but it wasn't enough. In the end I spent thousands on coins that all looked a point worse once I saw them back in the hotel room. Took a licking on nearly every piece. A good lesson on raw auction viewing lighting. Many others too but it's painful to keep dredging them up.

roadrunner

Draco

$350 for a raw 1829 Bust dime that came back from PCGS in a BB as cleaned. I won't even mention the fact that I paid for it as a BU coin and even if it had not be BBed, it would have come back AU. It was my first attempt at getting a decent classic coin in my collection.

Russ

Draco,

Do you own that yummy Hard Times token that's your avatar?

Russ, NCNE

EVillageProwler

I haven't had any single mistake of note, but I have had many small mistakes that did add up to a well priced tuition at the local Coin U.

EVP

EVillageProwler

Oh, I just remembered... but am too embarrassed to say. Ok, I'll say: I bought several coins from ValueVision (a TV show that sells stuff).

In my defense, I had just reacquired the coin bug after a long hiatus.

The lesson? Isn't it self-evident?!?

EVP

KevinGlo

I bought an 1850 half dollar from a dealer at a swap meet. He pretended that he didnt know what he had and sold it to me for $300. I am a pretty good grader and graded it an MS60, so I thought I was really getting a good deal. Well, after I took it home, I looked closer under my light and noticed that it was most likely a counterfeit coin. I took it in to my local dealer and he agreed. Oh well, I guess that guy was ahead of the game.... At least it wasn't an exorbitant amount of money though.

STEWARTBLAYNUMIS

Barberlover - How can you possibly be upset over a coin that doesn't exist ?I have never heard,seen nor read about an 1837 dated half cent ?

The worst coin purchase I ever made was a 1932 D Washington quarter in ms 65 in 1989 for $12,500.A week later I could not sell the coin for $5,000

Stewart

g097103

Worst purchase:
PCI MS70 ASE.

Lesson learned:
PCI sucks, I left my emotions overrule my brain, PCI sucks.

hookedoncoins

I have yet to hae a BIG "worst coin purchased," however I have had a few small ones. Pretty much all of these were from the first few years of collecting, and they were 19th century coins that some of which were cleaned and a few I paid too much for, but I'm talking about between $1-30 a coin. They were cheap lessons.

-Jarrett Roberts

WACoinGuy

A complete set of silver nickels in VF-AU condition for $50 (in 1991). I was too swayed by the idea of getting the whole thing in one shot and by the nice display case it was in to realize how overpriced the coins were.

barberlover

got the date on the half cent wrong sorry but it did happen [i guess if i wanted to pain myself i could look it up in the heritage auction archives

IrishMike

Back in the late 80's I went in business as a silent partner with a life long friend. Both of us had been avid and long time Morgan collectors. Well we all know the bubble burst and rather than let my (and his) friends take a blood bath, I had to pony up into the lowe 6 figures to bail him out. It was a painful lesson, that being a Banker I should have known better. Sometimes you don't mix business with something you love to do and with friendship. Since that time I have considered this just a hobby and promised my wife to stay out of the expensive rare coin business.

Three years ago when Larry became serious ill, we were able to bury the hatchet.

Blade

Worst purchase was 3 nice raw type coins - 3cN, large cent, barber dime, in MS63. Got them from a local dealer when I first got back into collecting in 2001. I joined the PCGS collector's club and sent them in as my freebies. All 3 BB'd for cleaning. Definitely a newbie lesson.

09sVDB

In 1985, a 1909VDB in XF with an added MM for 300.00

paigowjohnny

A raw 89-CC Morgan, supposedly in VF, from one of the big CoinWorld advertisers...and I was too stupid to send it back. Ended up selling it for a 50% loss because it just kept gnawing at me. Expensive but meaningful lesson.

MadMonk

years ago, at a coin show with poor lighting, a cameo proof that was altered by "whizzing" (for lack of a better word) the portrait to create a more frosted look. Thats when I learned the value of good lighting.

KlectorKid

Cleaned AU barber quarter... dealer gave me a full refund even after i had it for 2 months.

rays

I still have it. In 1994, when starting out building a US Type set, I bought what is still a nice generic MS64 PCGS 1901-S Liberty Half Eagle. I paid the appropriate price of grey sheet bid or so, which was around $2200. Bid today is about 60% less. I still don't understand what happened to bid levels on some of these gold coins. I was told once that the major market maker in generic gold abandoned the market a few years ago, and without their support, bid levels declined.

ksteelheader

ttt

Woodwind

Mine was an 1882-CC "BU" Morgan Dollar purchased through the mail from a coin magazine advertisement. I think I paid $60.00 or so. It really didn't impress me much. Just sent it to PCGS, came back BBed for PVC contamination.

There were a few other Morgans I ordered from advertisers and bought at a bid board about 10 years ago when I got back into the hobby. Turns out upon closer investigation, most of them have been cleaned, whizzed, and also have PVC damage. I'm thankful that this only set me back less than $200. I don't see myself ever purchasing a raw Morgan ever again.

joejeweler

IrishMike:

WOW......a better man than me! Friend or not......"RISK" has always been a part of going into business. Want a "sure thing" then buy government bonds and hold them to maturity! But in business......decisions made by a group of owners should be shared equally by all who would also be in a position to benefit greatly should the business take off! To bail them out, at great personal sacrifice to yourself, was an injustice to not only yourself ......but to them as well. Hard lessons learned in business make you a better businessman!

Bail outs to bad decisions make you.....well......a sort of "welfare" provider, and they recipients! Hasn't worked in government and no reason to expect better results in private business ventures.

They should have had more pride and self worth than to have accepted your generousity. Lick your wounds and move on......i have many times! Success is sweeter and rewards appreciated much more when it's deserved and earned.........not given to you. Just my thoughts on the matter......

Doesn't lessen the graciousness of your decision, BTW.......it was truly a charitable gesture....... but i surmise YOU were the only one in the group that "learned" something.

Joe T




<< <i>Back in the late 80's I went in business as a silent partner with a life long friend. Both of us had been avid and long time Morgan collectors. Well we all know the bubble burst and rather than let my (and his) friends take a blood bath, I had to pony up into the lowe 6 figures to bail him out. It was a painful lesson, that being a Banker I should have known better. Sometimes you don't mix business with something you love to do and with friendship. Since that time I have considered this just a hobby and promised my wife to stay out of the expensive rare coin business.

Three years ago when Larry became serious ill, we were able to bury the hatchet. >>

UncleJoe

Counterfeit gold coin.

I don't buy gold coins anymore.

Joe.

1956Quarter

A slabbed Franklin half that was graded MS-64. I cracked it out and found the most hidelus piece of garbage I ever saw in my life. It was pitted, scratched, nicked, and would not realistically grade more than MS-60, and I paif MS-64 money for that piece of junk. What did I learn, it confirmed what I knew all along, NEVER buy a slabed coin, there all incorrectly graded. IE: Grossly overgraded. Learn to correctly grade by yourself, then BUY RAW.

hughesm1

<< <i>Counterfeit gold coin. I don't buy gold coins anymore. Joe. >>



I feel for ya man, it happened to me too Likewise, I don't buy gold anymore.

vega1

No huge mistakes, just a bunch of small ones. I have learned 3 things from all these small mistakes.
1) Never to buy sight unseen.
2) Never buy from TV
3) If it seems too good to be true, it is.

Interesting how some won't buy slabbed coins any more because of bad experiences.

I won't buy raw anymore because of bad experiences, unless the coin is worth less than $50 or so.

CarlWohlforth

Back before I learned the little I know now I bought a wizzed proof 20 cent piece from one of the Magazine ads. But at least I knew enough to think it looked funny. I got a second opinion in time and returned it. So that wasn't my worst.

This story:
$350 for a raw 1829 Bust dime that came back from PCGS in a BB as cleaned. I won't even mention the fact that I paid for it as a BU coin and even if it had not be BBed, it would have come back AU. It was my first attempt at getting a decent classic coin in my collection.

Sounds almost exactly like mine. Substitute a Bust Half and $600 and it is the exact same story!!!! Whoever says grading companies are worthless hasn't made this mistake!

DeepCoin

When I first came back to the hobby (and before I found these boards) I bought a set of 1920 PDS Mercs from Paul Sims. Of course one was body bagged by PCGS a year later when I decided to send the "best" one in for certification. A cheap lesson by most standards. I keep them to this day to remind me the value of an expert's opinion.

Veep

A while back, I bought a High Relief $20 slabbed as AU58 by one of the top two services. When the coin arrived, I was "iffy" about keeping it. But, I wanted one so badly that I kept it. Instead of having the pride in ownership, I was disappointed in the strike and luster every time I looked at it. Six months later I sold it and took a hit for spread of a few hundred dollars.

Lesson: If the coin doesn't knock my socks off, I don't keep it.

Elcontador

In 1968, I paid $75 for what I thought was a top drawer BU 1931 D Merc with Full Bands. I grew up, forgot about coins for many years, and then took it to a dealer for an opinion on the coin.

He pointed out a scratch that ran the length of Miss Liberty's jaw, which I was unable to see when I viewed the coin years earlier or I would not have bid on it in the first place. The scratch limited the coin to an MS 63, so I unloaded it for $50, thirty years later.

To give you an idea of how much $ I lost on that coin, two months earlier, I bought a BU 1936 S Walker that currently sits in a PCGS MS 66 holder. I paid $35 for it.

LincolnCentMan

The first (and last) ACG coin I bought was a 22-Plain cent in XF-45. When I got it it was actually a G-4 1922 shadow D. It didnt have a return privilege. That day, I vowed never to buy another ACG coin. That was almost five years ago, I think. It is a vow I have not broken.

David

pontiacinf

i bought a bunch of ICG signed signature series first year statehoods from Bob Green for 149.00 a pair...


ill be lucky ta dump em for 50 cents years from now