My second coin show (San Diego) and what I'm learning about this hobby

SDCollector

Went to my second coin show here in San Diego. Here's what I'm beginning to understand about this hobby, based on my very limited experience:

- Local coin shows are a lot like eBay. You have to search through hundreds of below average, mostly cleaned raw coins to find a few gems.
- Certified coins are available but the selection is limited.
- It helps to see the coins first hand at a show, but there's a lot of distractions and no matter how closely I looked, I made a few bad purchases.

Here's my score card.

My successes:
1834 Capped Bust dime (F) - nice original coin, no major problems
1853 Seated Liberty dime (VF) - properly graded, no problems
1853 Seated Liberty quarter (VF) - over graded, but original
1876 Seated Liberty quarter (XF) - dark but original, overgraded but good price

My failures:
1877 Seated Liberty quarter (F) - harshly cleaned. I really missed it on this one. I fooled myself into thinking it was a good purchase.
1922 Peace dollar (MS) - I never realized how hard it is to find an attractive Peace dollar. I settled on this one and I should have passed...spots on the reverse.
1942 Washington quarter - too many scratches. I rushed and didn't spend enough time looking at it.

I was disappointed at the bad purchases since I was trying to take my time and study the coins closely. There's just so many bad coins that you have to look through. It's a real learning experience looking at so many coins, but the margin for error is so high since there's so many bad ones. I haven't decided if I have the patience to look through so many raw coins next time. I may just focus on the slabbed coins at the next show.

All of these coins were well within my budget. Maybe 4 out of 7 isn't too bad. But if these were more expensive, I would not be too happy with these results.

The typical advice I read is go to coin shows and see as many coins as possible. It's good advice, but I also think it's probably the most difficult place for a newbie to buy quality coins and learn about this hobby. Show dealers are busy and I suppose most are knowledgeable but you may never see that person again. I got lucky with a good local coin shop. I've learned a tremendous amount from them.

A good experience, but it would be a challenge to learn about this hobby just from attending coin shows.

Catch22

A very candid post on your experience. I suspect that your learning curve has been far quicker and much less expensive than most.

Dog97

<<<You have to search through hundreds of below average, mostly cleaned raw coins to find a few gems.>>>
<<<There's just so many bad coins that you have to look through.>>>

You have "very limited experience," huh? You sound wise for your years because that's what us old grumps that have been collecting for 100 years are always saying. There just aint no good coins left.

kranky

I don't think you are as bad off as you might think. All your bad purchases (to use your term) are related to one area - learning how to look at coins. Since you saw the problems when you got home, that means that you do recognize them. So all you really need to do is to be more careful when you look at the coins so you make sure you see them before you buy.

Imagine how many people are buying problem coins and don't ever know it.

What technique do you use when looking at the coins?

koynekwest

Yep-buying over grade coins and don't realize it-just look at scardinal on ebay and tell me-does he really get a 99.8 feedback rating or is there an army of shillers involved here? Or, is it just newbies not knowing what they're getting?
We all go through the learning process-I've been collecting since 1961 and still get fooled from time to time.
It's part of the hobby (like any other) and you'll certainly come out ahead in the end-if you just remember to look at the COIN and not the SLAB-learn how to grade on your own (at least within a point or two on Mint state coins) and not to depend on someone else to tell you that the grade is correct-this in spite of the elitists that believe anything printed on a PCGS or NGC slab regardless of what's contained therein.

koynekwest

Seems like I always end my first reply before I complete my response-so here's part two.

If you have an experienced dealer to help you, you are fortunate-if he's trustworthy, listen to his advice.

Don't assume that a coin is correctly graded just because it's in a slab-some slabbing companies are more trustworty than others-but don't believe that only PCGS or NGC coins are the only ones that "do it right." Some of the better ones other than these are ICG, SEGS, and ANACS.

One big benefit of a slabbed coin (by a reputable company) is that it's almost always genuine-to me, this is much more important than the grade-I would stay away from companies such as ACG, PCI, NTC, Truegrade, SGS, or any of the other ephemeral outfits that have proliferated of late-there are many. (Let 'em all sue me.)

I previously said to grade on your own-it's not a simple thing to do. It may be a good idea to attend an ANA grading seminar if you can do so-i.e-if you intend on spending a lot of money on coins and if it's a practical thing for you to do.

Raw coins-well, you just have to develop an "eye" for problem coins. Find a trustworty dealer-maybe one that's recommended by a more experienced collector-buy Photograde to grade the circulated stuff-learn to recognize a cleaned or whizzed coin. Not easy, but it can be done if you pay attention and develop that "eye."

Good luck in your endeavors-you'll find few hobbies as rewarding as Numismatics.

Myqqy

I was disappointed at the bad purchases since I was trying to take my time and study the coins closely.

What I've noticed lately for myself, is that minor and major problems jump out at me much more quickly than before. It seems like I don't have to force myself to study coins as much, because my eye for picking up on negative attributes has become much more sensitive. This makes the wading through the sea of problem coins a little less of a strain....

koynekwest

Well, you've learned much faster than I did. If you're seeing these things with this type of clarity now, this is your hobby. It's a good one-enjoy!!! If you need assistance from a veteran, don't hesitate to ask-tho I'm not an expert by any definition of the term.

SDCollector

Thanks for excellent replies. I think the problem coins will jump out more easily as I continue to learn. I guess I was hoping for a better success rate. But the financial investment was very small and the learning experience was significant.

Putting together a type set makes grading much more challenging since there are so many coins to look at. (But it is a really fun set to put together.) My goal is to be able to identify the problem coins a little more easily.

dimples

Great thread Bill! I think you'll develop into a fine collector with a little time behind you

Dan

coinguy89

Nice job on finding a problem free capped bust half dime. Very hard to finds those at shows these days, im glad you picked one up. Great series of coins, no keys, all within most peoples limits. It also has some profit chances. Nice job.