Worth The Money?

hedgehog847

Were these worth what they went for? I only bid $8.50 max, which I thought was high, but I kind of wanted the coins.

1954 Frankie
1959 Frankie

Also, I think I finally found some direction with where I want my coin collection to go-- I'm going to build grading set for Morgans, Peace dollars, and Franklin halves. Waddya think?

vega1

Not an expert on Frankies, so I couldn't say if they are worth what was paid.

Congratulations on deciding on your 'theme'

What do you mean by 'Grading Set' exactly? Do you mean a set of certified examples, or a set ranging in grades (MS60, MS61, MS62, etc.) If you mean a set of certified examples, if you haven't already, you should search the forums on the various third party grading companies (PCGS, ANACS, NGC, PCI, etc.) and become familiar with them. There are lots of threads about the various companies, and they are not all equal.

BillJones

MS-61 is a pretty low grade for 1954-D Franklin half dollar. They are pretty common in grades like MS-63 and 64. The Gray Sheet wholesale "bid" on the coin is $8 is MS-63, so I'd say that $15.50 + $3 postage is a pretty high price.

The 1959 Franklin in PCI MS-64 sold for a total of $13.50 ($10.50 for the coin + $3 postage.) Gray Sheet "bid" is $12 for this item in MS-64, but the question is, was this coin really an MS-64? PCI certification is all over the place when comes to grades, and the pictures of both coins were pretty fuzzy. AND to top things off they did not bother to post a picture of the reverse of either coin.

I'd say that you didn't miss anything. The prices were not bargains, and the quality of the pictures made it impossible to really tell what grade the coins were.

BillJones

<< <i>Also, I think I finally found some direction with where I want my coin collection to go-- I'm going to build grading set for Morgans, Peace dollars, and Franklin halves. Waddya think? >>



The trouble is that you need an expert grader to pick out the coins for your grading sets. It's been my experience that none of the grades services spend enough time to get it right when it comes to grading common date, inexpensive coins. I think that you need to review the ANA Grading Guide, or better still get to know a local dealer who really knows how to grade coins. You also need to look at as many coins as possible. That's the best way to learn to grade them.

pharmer

On slabbed coins, I try to take into account the slabbing/grading fee. The very lowest being ANACS's $10 lifetime price (you won't see them again in your lifetime) to an average of $16-18 for economy (2-4 months turn-around aka a PCGS Year) to $30 regular service (says 15 days, means a month). I figure any coin bought below those prices is close to free.

BTW,

hedgehog847

Thanks everyone for the advice!!

hedgehog847

Bill: I didn't think I was missing anything either. That's why I didn't bid up on them. I was also concerned about the coin graded by PCI: it didn't seem to be 64 to me. I try to stick to NGC, PCGS, and ANACS when buying slabbed coins.

I actually have learned something from this board.... Buy the coin, not the holder!!

With regard to my idea of a grading set-- I guess I was considering putting together a slabbed set ranging in grades from F to MS-66, mostly as a learning tool to learn about grading. But, I think you guys are also right about having to go look at coins and not rely on the TPG's to tell me what 64 is or 65 is.

vega1

Thats a cool theme hedgehog. Thats what I like about collecting, "the search within the search". In this case, searching not only for an F-12 example of a certain coin, but the 'perfect' F-12 example.

hedgehog847

Thanks, Vega. I appreciate the encouragement! It would be way fun to assemble that collection, and it would be a great learning experience.

Whoever said, "It's just a hobby-- have fun with it!" was certainly right.

TWQG

There are many graded coins that are worth much less than the grading fees to encapsulate them. Don't fall into the trap of bailing smoeone out of their grading mistakes. This would be especially true of PCI holdered coins.

hedgehog847

Good advice, and point taken! I plan on sticking to PCGS, NGC, and ANACS.