How do you define sight-unseen / sight-seen?

ER

If I buy a coin with a picture on the web, but do not see it in person first, would that be sight-seen or unseen?
Obviously, a coin without a picture is sight-unseen.

nwcs

Sight seen: I'm holding it in my hand
Sight unseen: a text description
Blurry sight: seeing a picture

Steve27

I used to think that a pic/scan could be considered sight-seen, then I learned that you can't grade from a pic/scan.

RKKay

Scans and digital images can be very deceptive. Consequently, I feel it is sight unseen until you are holding the actual coin.

DragonOfFire

Ones with the picture because they can rip you off

kranky

Like nwcs said, if it's in my hand it's sight-seen. Anything else is sight-unseen.

pmh1nic

Sight-seen...holding the coin in my hand.
Sight-unseen...anything short of holding the coin in my hand.

dorkkarl

sight-seen - you see the actual coin under KNOWN lighting conditions. ALL ELSE is sight-unseen

K S

tjkillian

<< <i>sight-seen - you see the actual coin under KNOWN lighting conditions. ALL ELSE is sight-unseen K S >>



That's an interesting way of looking at it: I like it. I look at my coins in a dark room with a single incandecent 100W lightbulb. At coin shows, the lighting is completely different. Coins seem better when looking at them at the coin show, compared to at home.

Tom

dorkkarl

bingo, tjkillian!

K S

roadrunner

Coin show purchases (at least the ones you looked at carefully) never get better when you get them home. No substiture for your
personal home lighting.

Sight-unseen = paying $40K for 1963 proof cent
Sight-seen = anything more than a description. A scan is the first
level of sight-seen. Sort of like MS60 on the Sheldon Scale.


roadrunner

Conder101

It would be sight seen since the sale would not be final until after you actually had the coin in your hands and had examined it.

Sight-Unseen as it was defined back when the third party services started is completely different. Since the slabbing was intended to make coins fungible, the concept of sight-unseen was that you bought the coin based on the service grade, period! As long as the slab had the required grade the coin was yours, no returns, done deal. If there is a return privilege it is NOT sight unseen. Even if you buy without a picture, but with return priviledge, it is still sight seen.

michael

sight seen is looking at the coin while it is physically in your hand with your own two eyes

sight unseen in just that you have not seen the coin up front and personal

sincerely michael

never buy/ bid for coins sight unseen..................... i guess there are some exceptions

and if you do let the buyer beware

dorkkarl

michael, remember that an extremely important part of sight-seen is "looking at the coin while it is physically in your hand with your own two eyes" under your preferred lighting conditions

this part of sight-seen is almost never mentioned, but is criticial to the def'n

K S

Nysoto

As others have said, sight seen is in your hand under ideal lighting.

I now purchase 90% of my coins through dealers and auctions with mostly internet images, or, with a few select dealer/specialists, verbal descriptions. WHAT IS IMPORTANT IS THE RETURN POLICY, which allows you to see the coin under your own lighting. It does not make sense to pay $500 to travel everytime I see a $1000 coin I want. I seldom return coins, but you still must have return privilege/approval, this is why I will not buy from a dealer who is not established. You cannot see the luster, color, hairlines, or small defects from an image.

Typetone

Buying sight seen means you have either seen the coin in hand first, or that you have a full return priviledge if you buy it without seeing it in person. Sight unseen means you have not seen it and have no return priviledge. Seeing a scan only makes no difference.

Greg

Gilbert

I like you guys' description, but "under ideal lighting conditions" seems a bit far-fetched.

If you get to actually physically examine a coin, it is sight seen. Now, if you examine it with a blacklight (facetious) of some lighting NOT conducive to the best examination THATS YOUR FAULT.

Reminds me of something like undoing a sale because the date on the receipt is in the wrong place, or your name doesn't begin with a capital letter. Yeah, extreme but illustrative.

rwhite

If you're not looking at the coin in person, then its sight-unseen. If you have an image, you have a little more to go off of, but its still sight-unseen.