Channel, Interesting thread. We all seem to have an opinion. I do too. You earn your money and the right to spend it in a way you choose. Good luck! If you regret it later, so what. But it seems our opinions mean something to you or this thread wouldn't exist. So it makes sense to me you would've created the thread first and purchased second. Only an opinion and doesn't count nearly as much as my wish to you>>>>
Channel, I hope you are lucky enough to have posted before paying and after reading all the comments of the experienced members here you don't follow through with the sale. The only thing I see there i would buy are the GSA dollars.The rest looks like the kind of silver you buy by the pound in burlap sacks. Even the gold is only worth its melt value.Of course this is only my opinion, but i wouldn't buy from anybody who didn't have some sort of return policy.If you already paid then i hope you find the Ice cream 1894-s Barber dime.Good luck. GTS
Channel, there is an old expression: there is no Santa Claus in coin collecting. You can be sure this hoard has already been thoroughly evaluated and cherry picked. Walk away from this bad deal.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
Just think what you could have gotten with $16,000 at a coin show, or even spent differently on eBay. I add my strong advise not to go through with the purchase; these coins have almost certainly been searched.
I heard they were making a French version of Medal of Honor. I wonder how many hotkeys it'll have for "surrender."
"It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning." - Calvin "Why waste time learning, when ignorance is instantaneous?" - Hobbes
Good luck really, if you lived in pa I would help...and I agree with most points on the thread, unlikely to break even but it's your money and if you have time it'll probably be months before you realize it....
There is nothing more powerful than the power of goodbye
Sorry to say but "unsearched" rarely is- I have a bunch of wheat ears that I got at face - they are unsearched by me, but I am sure they have been picked over extensively.
I don't know if you checked feedback first but here goes-
mixed silver is junk w/ few nice coins, not fresh nor unsorted, cc and gold ok 9650 (96.5%) of silver was dimes; approx. 1200 pre-1930 Coins seem to have been stripped of anything of value Very poor; average dates; 90% dimes in 100,000 coins Searched IMHO+I said so. Was accused of libel/slander,then Bid-blocked! Nasty! poor coins looked like they just wanted to get reed of their junk only three differnt dates out of 100 coins, come on! Dates and grades not appropriate to price. Seem neither rare nor unsearched Follow-up by damoursund: .48 is steep for run-of-the mill mercs (95% 1940s, 95% AG-VG). Disappointing. Disappointed with your grading system. NOWHERE near VG or XF!!!!!! coins mostly AG some scratched felt some were culls lots of doubles no mintmark Good fast, friendly service, but 97% of coins less then good cond. Fast service but product not that good too many of the same dates over half The unsearched hoard of mercury dimes was searched Fast transaction, but I have to wonder how "unsearched" these were....
A witty saying proves nothing- Voltaire (1694 - 1778)
An error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor
does the truth become error because nobody will see it. -Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869-1948)
Well I don't know which way to go with my opinion....I don't know that he was asking IF he should buy or not, otherwise he would have posted PRE buy. So I think he just wanted to share this with us and ask us what he thought of the purchase.....not advice on what to do. I think that it's his money and like another poster said....if he has $16K to purchase some coins with then the loss is only what HE feels it is. The monetary loss might not mean that much to him, he just wants some coins and maybe will keep some that really have no monetary profit to them but they are neat to him.
So....there's my 2 cents Good luck in searching through all your coins. I do agree though that usually when they say "unsearched".....don't be fooled. I love to search through stuff too but I try to only buy mint sealed or mint rolls....but of course I don't even come close to spending what you do I might purchase unsealed or not sealed rolls if it's just a couple of dollars....hehehe
Live like you were dying. ------------------------------- Bridget ---------- (My beautiful children!!)
If the lot is "unsearched", then how does he know that there is nothing past 1947? Obviously someone has looked at it. (Unless it has been locked up since 1946 and somehow the GSA's magically appeared!)
Robert Getty - Lifetime project to complete the finest collection of 1872 dated coins.
I only hope 16k to you is like $16 to or $160 to the rest of us. If 16k is a drop in the bucket - well then no worries, barely walking around money. But, if it's big bucks as it is to most of us, then you may want to seriously consider backing out, forget the ebay feedback and research these a bit more. there are some descent lots out there, with more variety and a hell of alot less money 1-2k with some real potential to be worth $500-$1000 or more if a rarity isamongst the finds.
The problem is that all these peopole tht say the coins are unsearched are liars. Even the ones that say we'll scoop out 100 pennies form this massive hoarde you may get a 1909svdb. The reason they are sellingthis stuff on ebay is to make moeny. If the potential for really obvious good coins of value are in the ir 'hoarde' they'll no.
Best of luck and again I hope 16k is a drop inthe bucket for you this way it's not that big a deal.
One last item, your new to collecting, learn fast---buy slow......
10,000+ Old US Silver, including silver dollars, half dollars, quarters & dimes. The majority will be Mercs. What's the melt value of $1200 (est.) $5000? Maybe a few decent coins in there.....there was a picture of a CC Morgan & Dime. Value of these $5500-$6000 (LOL)
52 Brilliant UNC. $5 Gold Eagles. Going on eBay for about $55 each. Value here around $2860
15 GSA Carson City Dollars I'm guess 1882, 1883 & 1884's. $200 each average? That comes out to $3000
So, the lowball value is about $12000
Like I said before.....I'll help you sort if you live near Ventura/Oxnard, CA.
Even if these 10,000 coins were worth the $16K you paid, you would be much better off in the long run (value wise) with $16K in say 1 to 100 coins than you will be with 10,000 coins. I have been given the good advice to "buy quality coins". In the long run they are more enjoyable, desirable, and valuable.
You would have the chance to own some really nice rare stuff, and not thousands of common pieces which would be hard to sell and not really anything special.
My recommendation if you want to search coins would be to buy wheat cents: at least those are less expensive.
I don't have to stick my hand in a pot of boiling water to know it wouldn't feel very good.
Don't knock it until you try it!
Regarding this lot, I would gladly take a neg for non-payment. Isn't 1 negative worth $4,000? The 90% silver in the lot is more than likely junk that has been picked through dozens of times. Just not a good deal at all.
On the bright side, this could have been worse, and I have seen far worse deals than this on eBay or elsewhere. But, as long as you are happy......
If you decide to go through with the transaction please keep the board in mind and post an update on what you find in the lot! It would be interesting no matter if it was good or bad...and FYI I hope ya do find some good stuff that was overlooked!
I don't mean to pile onto you for this purchase, however, I will share some of my considerable experience with you and it won't cost you nearly what you might lose on this lot.
"Unsearched" lots are rarely unsearched, and if they are sold by someone who has done so much business as this seller seems to have done then I would guess that nearly every coin of numismatic value has been removed. Of course, there will be some type coins thrown in, if for no other reason than to make the images look better in order to drive up the bidding. It is probable that these coins are largely the result of culling problem, low grade and or common coins from other collections. These types of coins are difficult to sell to most collectors as they are plentiful. They also have very little individual demand.
So, what will be in here? We already know that there are 15 GSA Morgans and I will assume the coins to be of approximately MS63 quality and will throw a number of $200 each for them. This gives you a $3,000 head-start, which I believe to be a generous estimate, on the value of the group. The gold coins look to be 1/10th ounce bullion, which is worth essentially melt and I will estimate this at $43 per coin for a gold coin total of $2,236. I will also assume that there are about 50 various type coins in the group and that their average value will be $20 each so that we have $1,000 in type. This leaves you with 9,900 coins that must total just over $10,000 for you to break even. This number is obtained by taking your winning bid plus a fair bit for shipping and then subtracting out the GSA Morgans, bullion gold and various type. Obviously, the numbers are approximate but should not be that far off. That's essentially one dollar per coin for the remainder. Easy, huh? I highly doubt it. You will most likely get an enormous number of low grade Mercs and some Roosevelts and these are not worth one dollar each. You might even get an enormous stash of low grade War nickels as these are also silver and are worth very little, but I would hope the seller would not rake you over the coals by doing that, too.
I believe you will lose money on the deal. However, some may argue that you will gain significant value from the education of going through this hoard. I don't see it happening. After all, you have just bought what is likely a pile of junk silver, and how much education can be obtained by wasting one's time sifting through junk silver? If, however, you actually like spending hours of your time going through junk silver, then you have made a terrific purchase. I'm really not trying to be negative, but I think the only resale these pieces have is through an ebay auction similar to what you have just won, but I wouldn't want to count on people bidding it up that high again, especially if gold is a little lower or GSA Morgans aren't as hot.
For a much smaller sum of money you could have actually started to learn about coins and build a collection. I sincerely wish you good luck with this group and hope you enjoy it, I just don't think you will break even monetarily or will have an enjoyable set.
Excellent analysis, TomB, which synthesizes the thoughts of many of the posters in a single commentary.
Lest one thinks that everyone is piling on to bag CI, there is an educational aspect to this, and it provides a warning for inexperienced collectors. The fact that you do NOT see experienced collectors taking these deals should be a lesson in itself.
<< <i>Excellent analysis, TomB, which synthesizes the thoughts of many of the posters in a single commentary.
Lest one thinks that everyone is piling on to bag CI, there is an educational aspect to this, and it provides are a warning for inexperienced collectors. The fact that you do NOT see experienced collectors taking these deals should be a lesson in itself. >>
My thoughts exactly. Tom summed up what we've all been saying. I certainly hope the OP heeds our advice.
Congrats Channel best thread i've read, great advice from veteran collectors and even some dealers.A great example of one mans junk being another mans junk. GTS
Thats a lot of money and a lot of coins. I gotta admit im a "newbie" when it comes to coins, never was really interested until my dad gave me a huge bag of coins for me to look through, he used to own a pawn shop and took in a ton of coins, he has about 3 safety deposit boxes full and im just scratching the surface of the first and I have to admit it VERY addicting stuff, I love going through them. Hopefully you feel its "worth" it on that deal, im sure you'll find some good ones and have a lot of fun in the process but I dont know, if I had $16,000 to blow on coins id go about it a different way, oh well to each is own, hope you have a blast.
I agree with TomB, except that while I do not like the idea of paying much more than melt for junk, I feel like I have gained immeasurable experience and fun, as well as some decent coins by going through junk bags. My favorite is a 1892-O Barber half, G obv, AG rev that I pulled from a junk bag as well as many EF and even AU Walkers. Again, I don't like this deal, but please, everyone, don't be afraid to sift through junk coins if you have access to them.
Well he has a better shot than Vegas but not much. I've been keeping quite because like many I've brought 2 new cars in the last 4 years and he'll do much better than those buying cars at 0% interest that they don't really need. To each their own GOOD LUCK!
Funny how some on this board probably blow their money just as badly but raise HE11 when someone buys something they wouldn't. It's not like anyone own anything we just rent it for our kids to blow on something they want.
In a year from now, 95-98% of this accumulation will be sold off after becoming totally disatisfied with it. For what it's worth I agree with Tom B. The time to search the junk silver will only be a few hours and in the end it will have taught you nothing other than not to do this again. If silver goes up to $12/ounce you just may get out of this deal alive.
For $16,000 you could have bought a 300 coin lot of 19th century tokens, a 200 coin lot of colonials and early large cents, as well as many rolls of BU Morgans. That would be have very instructional going through imo.
I'd bail on this deal and chalk it up to posterity. If the only thing you learn from this is not to buy ANY raw coins on ebay, you will have learned one of the most valuable lessons possible.
After this experience, he probably gave up on coin collecting.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
Comments
I've got to agree with the one's who say you're going to take a loss.
Interesting thread. We all seem to have an opinion. I do too. You earn your money and the right to spend
it in a way you choose. Good luck! If you regret it later, so what.
But it seems our opinions mean something to you or this thread wouldn't exist. So it makes sense to me
you would've created the thread first and purchased second. Only an opinion and doesn't count nearly as
much as my wish to you>>>>
RegistryNut
GTS
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
"It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning."
- Calvin
"Why waste time learning, when ignorance is instantaneous?"
- Hobbes
Yes, I would (but if I can't please post pics).
I agree with most here, you're going to get a lot of mercury dimes... Will be fun to sort through, though.
I don't know if you checked feedback first but here goes-
Negs and neutrals
mixed silver is junk w/ few nice coins, not fresh nor unsorted, cc and gold ok
9650 (96.5%) of silver was dimes; approx. 1200 pre-1930
Coins seem to have been stripped of anything of value
Very poor; average dates; 90% dimes in 100,000 coins
Searched IMHO+I said so. Was accused of libel/slander,then Bid-blocked! Nasty!
poor coins looked like they just wanted to get reed of their junk
only three differnt dates out of 100 coins, come on!
Dates and grades not appropriate to price. Seem neither rare nor unsearched
Follow-up by damoursund: .48 is steep for run-of-the mill mercs (95% 1940s, 95% AG-VG). Disappointing.
Disappointed with your grading system. NOWHERE near VG or XF!!!!!!
coins mostly AG some scratched felt some were culls lots of doubles no mintmark
Good fast, friendly service, but 97% of coins less then good cond.
Fast service but product not that good too many of the same dates over half
The unsearched hoard of mercury dimes was searched
Fast transaction, but I have to wonder how "unsearched" these were....
A witty saying proves nothing- Voltaire (1694 - 1778)
An error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor
does the truth become error because nobody will see it. -Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869-1948)
If you go through with the purchase I will be happy to help you sort them if you happen to be in the Orlando, FL area or thereabouts.
Joe.
So....there's my 2 cents
-------------------------------
Bridget
----------
(My beautiful children!!)
This May have been asked before but why did you choose buying a big lot of "common" coins over plunking down the same kind of money for one primo one?
Bear in mind, this question comes froma guy that sweats bullets over pulling the trigger on a $400 coin.
Obviously someone has looked at it. (Unless it has been locked up since 1946 and
somehow the GSA's magically appeared!)
The problem is that all these peopole tht say the coins are unsearched are liars. Even the ones that say we'll scoop out 100 pennies form this massive hoarde you may get a 1909svdb. The reason they are sellingthis stuff on ebay is to make moeny. If the potential for really obvious good coins of value are in the ir 'hoarde' they'll no.
Best of luck and again I hope 16k is a drop inthe bucket for you this way it's not that big a deal.
One last item, your new to collecting, learn fast---buy slow......
I see no redeeming qualities in these sleazebay junque lots.
Edited to add: I certainly am pulling for you in finding something to make this worthwhile. But, I honestly do not see that happening.
Cheers,
Bob
10,000+ Old US Silver, including silver dollars, half dollars, quarters & dimes. The majority will be Mercs. What's the melt value of $1200 (est.) $5000? Maybe a few decent coins in there.....there was a picture of a CC Morgan & Dime. Value of these $5500-$6000 (LOL)
52 Brilliant UNC. $5 Gold Eagles. Going on eBay for about $55 each. Value here around $2860
15 GSA Carson City Dollars I'm guess 1882, 1883 & 1884's. $200 each average? That comes out to $3000
So, the lowball value is about $12000
Like I said before.....I'll help you sort if you live near Ventura/Oxnard, CA.
Thank You
SilverDollar
Enjoy the search and do let us know how it went.
<< <i>How many people on this forum have searched a lot like this? >>
I don't have to stick my hand in a pot of boiling water to know it wouldn't feel very good.
Russ, NCNE
Even if these 10,000 coins were worth the $16K you paid, you would be much better off in the long run (value wise) with $16K in say 1 to 100 coins than you will be with 10,000 coins.
I have been given the good advice to "buy quality coins". In the long run they are more enjoyable, desirable, and valuable.
You would have the chance to own some really nice rare stuff, and not thousands of common pieces which would be hard to sell and not really anything special.
My recommendation if you want to search coins would be to buy wheat cents: at least those are less expensive.
But then would you really "know"?
Joe
There's a lot of pessimism around here when it comes to "unsearched" lots, but it's healthy and in many cases from lessons learned.
Please keep us posted on how this one turns out.
collections: Maryland related coins & exonumia, 7070 Type set, and Video Arcade Tokens.
The Low Budget Y2K Registry Set
I don't have to stick my hand in a pot of boiling water to know it wouldn't feel very good.
Don't knock it until you try it!
Regarding this lot, I would gladly take a neg for non-payment. Isn't 1 negative worth $4,000? The 90% silver in the lot is more than likely junk that has been picked through dozens of times. Just not a good deal at all.
On the bright side, this could have been worse, and I have seen far worse deals than this on eBay or elsewhere. But, as long as you are happy......
Our eBay auctions - TRUE auctions: start at $0.01, no reserve, 30 day unconditional return privilege & free shipping!
<< <i>Hey bro, enjoy ur coins! Some of these pps aren't happy till they bash someone! Who? Who? Who? >>
I don't see any bashing here. I see several people trying to help the OP in avoiding a sure loss of at least $5,000.
Turn on your PM.
I just might have something I want to sell you.
Ray
Sounds good to me.
"Unsearched" lots are rarely unsearched, and if they are sold by someone who has done so much business as this seller seems to have done then I would guess that nearly every coin of numismatic value has been removed. Of course, there will be some type coins thrown in, if for no other reason than to make the images look better in order to drive up the bidding. It is probable that these coins are largely the result of culling problem, low grade and or common coins from other collections. These types of coins are difficult to sell to most collectors as they are plentiful. They also have very little individual demand.
So, what will be in here? We already know that there are 15 GSA Morgans and I will assume the coins to be of approximately MS63 quality and will throw a number of $200 each for them. This gives you a $3,000 head-start, which I believe to be a generous estimate, on the value of the group. The gold coins look to be 1/10th ounce bullion, which is worth essentially melt and I will estimate this at $43 per coin for a gold coin total of $2,236. I will also assume that there are about 50 various type coins in the group and that their average value will be $20 each so that we have $1,000 in type. This leaves you with 9,900 coins that must total just over $10,000 for you to break even. This number is obtained by taking your winning bid plus a fair bit for shipping and then subtracting out the GSA Morgans, bullion gold and various type. Obviously, the numbers are approximate but should not be that far off. That's essentially one dollar per coin for the remainder. Easy, huh? I highly doubt it. You will most likely get an enormous number of low grade Mercs and some Roosevelts and these are not worth one dollar each. You might even get an enormous stash of low grade War nickels as these are also silver and are worth very little, but I would hope the seller would not rake you over the coals by doing that, too.
I believe you will lose money on the deal. However, some may argue that you will gain significant value from the education of going through this hoard. I don't see it happening. After all, you have just bought what is likely a pile of junk silver, and how much education can be obtained by wasting one's time sifting through junk silver? If, however, you actually like spending hours of your time going through junk silver, then you have made a terrific purchase. I'm really not trying to be negative, but I think the only resale these pieces have is through an ebay auction similar to what you have just won, but I wouldn't want to count on people bidding it up that high again, especially if gold is a little lower or GSA Morgans aren't as hot.
For a much smaller sum of money you could have actually started to learn about coins and build a collection. I sincerely wish you good luck with this group and hope you enjoy it, I just don't think you will break even monetarily or will have an enjoyable set.
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
Lest one thinks that everyone is piling on to bag CI, there is an educational aspect to this, and it provides a warning for inexperienced collectors. The fact that you do NOT see experienced collectors taking these deals should be a lesson in itself.
<< <i>Excellent analysis, TomB, which synthesizes the thoughts of many of the posters in a single commentary.
Lest one thinks that everyone is piling on to bag CI, there is an educational aspect to this, and it provides are a warning for inexperienced collectors. The fact that you do NOT see experienced collectors taking these deals should be a lesson in itself. >>
My thoughts exactly. Tom summed up what we've all been saying. I certainly hope the OP heeds our advice.
GTS
Funny how some on this board probably blow their money just as badly but raise HE11 when someone buys something they wouldn't. It's not like anyone own anything we just rent it for our kids to blow on something they want.
For $16,000 you could have bought a 300 coin lot of 19th century tokens, a 200 coin lot of colonials and early large cents, as well as many rolls of BU Morgans. That would be have very instructional going through imo.
I'd bail on this deal and chalk it up to posterity. If the only thing you learn from this is not to buy ANY raw coins on ebay, you will have learned one of the most valuable lessons possible.
roadrunner
9,000 mercs @ 3600.00 ?
<< <i>
<< <i>How many people on this forum have searched a lot like this? >>
I don't have to stick my hand in a pot of boiling water to know it wouldn't feel very good.
Russ, NCNE >>
But if there was a DCAM AH Kennedy in it, you sure as hell would!!
Positive BST as a seller: Namvet69, Lordmarcovan, Bigjpst, Soldi, mustanggt, CoinHoader, moursund, SufinxHi, al410, JWP
I would rather have $6,000 than an eBay NPB strike and a negative feedback.
But then again, I wouldn't have gotten into that situation to begin with
My posts viewed
since 8/1/6
For $16,000 one could buy fairly decent and desirable examples of 1921 D half, '16 D dime AND '74 CC dime...Might even have some change left over...
BTW CI, that "CC" dime is not a '74...
Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire