What is your best coin buy ever?

secondrepublic

What is the best coin buy you ever made?

Mine is a Poland 5 groszy 1934 that I bought on Ebay about 2 years ago. The 1934 is by far the rarest date of all the small groszy coins from interwar Poland. In uncirculated condition, the coin is very rare, and appears on the market maybe once a year or once every two years, or less. Prices are high - in a recent auction in Poland an uncirculated specimen sold for close to a thousand dollars. All for a little bronze coin the size of a nickel! The 5 gr. 1934 is like the "1909 S VDB" of small Polish coinage from this period - small, rare, desired, and when nice, really expensive.

A seller on Ebay from Argentina was selling the 5 groszy 1934. He described it as "AU/UNC" condition. The seller didn't have a lot of feedbacks, and the picture was horrible - it was "overexposed" and the coin looked like could well have been cleaned. But the detail all appeared to be there. And having some cash to burn in my pocket, I decided to bid up to $200 for the coin. I figured that, if worst comes to worst, I'll have a coin I can trade. I didn't even bother asking the seller about a return policy - figured it was unlikely I'd see that cash again.

The coin sold for about $100. I sent the seller my money and waited... and got a absolutely amazing coin. Definitely uncirculated, original delicate toning on one side, reddish on the other side. Probably MS 63, a few light contact marks, but otherwise close to perfect. Here's a link to some pics I made with my digital camera - the pics aren't perfect but take my word that the coin is really nice - 5 groszy 1934

How it got to Argentina, I'll never know... maybe some Polish immigrant moved there and his children sold it. I'd like to find out what the seller paid for it... his starting bid was $19.99.

tbirde56

Nice!!!

Sylvestius

I have a few bests, one because it took a long time to get, another because it was a very nice one.

Although i'm now going to say something that i'm definately not known for. There was one coin that i made a nice profit from. (Which is definately not me, usually i don't give two hoots about selling again and i usually lose out but this was memorable).

I was in a coin shop and i decided to purchase some gold. But i had a choice. Charles II Guinea (decent grade F; £240) or James II 1688 Half Guinea (Grade F; £225). So i stood and thought about it. The Charles was older and bigger and the grade was a little better, the James was the half guinea denomination (halves being scarcer than full guineas) it was from a scarce monarch and was in a decent problem free grade. But which to go for?

In the end i went for the James and i'm glad i did. I really enjoyed having the coin around but due to some financial issues i had to sell it. When i came to sell it i had owned the coin just over a year, and i managed to get the dealer to pay near full catalogue price of £350 for it.

So £125 profit which is the most i've ever made on one coin. (Actually most ever) but i've lost many hundreds more selling stuff at half what i initially paid for them. You win some you lose some (or many), but that was a real nice day, an added bonus i did not expect. And it's the only coin i regret selling.

Preussen

<< <i>What is the best coin buy you ever made? >>



Sounds like you made a great buy; Congrats. I suppose we've all had such experiences. I could bore you with several myself, but I'll pick just one

Picked up this 1712 2/3 Thaler on Ebay a while back. Those familiar with Prussian coins will recognize that any coin depicting Friedrich I (1701-1713) is pretty scarce. This one was raw, with a low starting bid. It looked good (but a bit dark). Seller had good feedback, etc., so I emailed a question about authenticity, return policy, etc. Seller said it was a consignment, guaranteed authentic, with full return privilege. He also said the owner valued the coin at $500. I can't recall if there were any bids early on, but if so, none were serious. I sat poised with my snipe of around $1,200 and waited for the last minute sniping to begin. Interestingly, only one other bid came in...exactly $500 (gee, I wonder who that was), so I won it for like $505 or $510. I "koinsolved" some crud off (lightened it up considerably) and sent it to PCGS. It graded AU-53. I wouldn't sell the coin for 3x my cost. - Preussen

secondrepublic

I figured a thread on "what's your worst coin buy ever" would be too long and too depressing. I've got some of those stories, too....

ajaan

My best buy isn't value wise, I once bought a proof George IV farthing off ebay for $9.99, again fuzzy and dark image.

The best buy I have is a British 1958 halfpenny in Proof. These are VIP coins with only 15 or so known. What is even more amazing is I have owened two of them but spinaker has one now.

shirohniichan

My best purchase was getting an 1876 type II obverse, type II reverse from a Heritage auction. There are probably about 20 known in all grades, though I'm sure that number will go up as collectors figure out how to distinguish them and some get double-counted. Even though it is polished, it is still a rare coin.

Michigan

A VF 1895-O Barber dime in a Bowers and Merena auction in 1983 for around $250.

Now worth in the range of $1100-$1200.

Runner ups: 1909-S VDB, 1922 Plain and 1914-D Lincoln cents in VF condition in the mid 1980s.

Have increased a lot since that time. None were cheap at the time but look like nice bargains today.

1jester

Fantastic acquisition, 2ndRep!!! I don't know how the coin got there, but maybe it got there through some Nazi who'd served time in Poland and escaped to South America after the war. Who knows.

I think my best deal was buying an 1860-O dime at a WCN auction 8 years ago for $175. It was extremely original, beautiful actually, and in F condition. It graded VG10 by PCGS, and I sold it a couple years ago for about $900. I guess another good deal was buying a Philippines cent dated 1918-S Large S variety (extremely scarce) for about 50 cents on allegro a few years back. It's high grade XF/AU.

bosox

I don't know if it is my best buy, but I recently got this for $160. If ICCS grades it like I think they will, it's a $1,000 coin.

elverno

My best coin was an 1801 2 Soldi, Subalpine Republic in VF++ for $3 including shipping. They're always porous, always worn and horribly undervalued in Krause.

My best deal on medals was British Historical Medals No. 980, Death of Colonel Charles Herries, $25, one of three struck in copper. Not even the British Museum has one of these.

Second best medal deal was British Historical Medals No. 537, Peace of Amiens, $25, one of less than 10 struck, UNC in brass. It looks very similar to an extremely common medal struck the prior year that must have been produced literally by the ton. No one wanted this one except me...

Almost as much fun as finding a diamond in the garage sale costume jewelry

lordmarcovan

I once won a small lot of about 20 coins on eBay. I think I won the action for two or three dollars- even after shipping, it barely cost me five bucks.

One of the coins in it was a 1694 thick planchet London Elephant Token. Damaged, but genuine.

There were some other neat early tokens and such in the lot, too.

gxseries

Mine is probably going to be the proof (or proof-like) 1834 Alexsander Column ruble. Mishandled, but I paid for this for less than 500US (I think?) around 3 years ago when I thought prices are pretty tough by then. Who would know that such coins would start to hit more than 4 digits in proof grade... Appearently, even such coins in fine are pretty difficult to find nowadays...



The rest of the pictures can be found here - I didn't feel like spamming ultra large pictures in here:
Link

trozau

In terms of appreciation in value: 1 troy ounce platinum coins bought from 1989 through 2000 raging in price from $365 to $554.

In terms of rare opportunity at a reasonable price: 1995 Jamaica $100 Bob Marley proof gold slabbed PF70 by NGC

Danegeld

Beautiful Grosny

Here's mine, a 1749 Milled/Pillar 2Reale. Another eBay acq. Total population of 40-140...

Again, GREAT COIN!!!




edited for spelling

worldcoinguy

This is probably my favorite. I picked this up 7 years ago raw for around 200. I was happy to see it slab at au-55 at anacs.

SYRACUSIAN

My biggest success to this day,is I guess my two big Ionian coins bought back in 98 (?). I didn't exactly know what I was buying or how rare they'd turn out to be .I just loved their looks,and like most great coins they came from a good dealer. I sent them to PCGS and both got a PR65RB. Their value has also multiplied.

theboz11

I really don't know yet. I don't sell much Best price difference was a lightside coin, Judd 1367 1874 2 1/2 Gold Trial piece struck in copper that a board member purchased and understand sold at a profit.

My farthest behind catalog on the darkside would be this NGC MS 65 1930 danzig

gxseries

omg the 1912 ruble for only 200USD? You can probably add another zero to the back if it happened to be UNC which is very close... omg... *sigh* Why do Russian coins have to be ridiciously expensive right now *sigh*

wybrit

Great stories. My best find was a 1919H penny at a show a couple of years ago. It was graded VF and sold on the cheap (discounted further for multiple coin buys). I knew it was EF or maybe a little better. It graded MS63 at NGC, which was a bit of a surprise to me - I figured AU58. It has since passed on from my possession.

coinpictures

Nice stories and coins so far. No specific ones to relate (I'll try to dig a few up this weekend); I'm more of a bottom feeder, wallowing in junk boxes. I've found quite a few $20-50 coins in those N-for-a-dollar junk boxes over the years.

Many coin dealers here in the U.S. have a very dismissive attude towards darkside material, and view it as garbage. So much the better.

-Dan

mojoman

Hi Congradulations from another Michigan member
up in the thumb area

Avarel

Its lightside, but it funded darkside material for many months. Couple of years ago I was trolling Ebay and stumbled across a buy-it-now for a PCGS PR70DCAM Kennedy for 34.95. Given the grade craze for a number, it was the best 35 bucks I ever spent, especially since I turned it around for much much more later down the road. I thank the forum for it because someone had posted about trolling in the wee hours and finding great deals for coins. I've taken that wisdom to heart and I've found all sorts of deals and best buys combing through some poorly worded, no pictures, or in Ajaan's successful case, bad picture gambles that paid off.

Av

shirohniichan

My story wasn't as good as some of the others posted here, so if someone could just sell me an 1876 Romanian 1 leu in UNC for $5 or so...

ajaan

<< <i>so if someone could just sell me an 1876 Romanian 1 leu in UNC for $5 or so... >>


I sold one of those about 6 months ago for $95.













































































not really.

lordmarcovan

I once bought a 1799 British 1/2d, ANACS MS63 RB, with a lot of red, from the Mushroom Man... for sixty bucks

coinnerd

About 10 years ago I was walking a small club show and a dealer had just purchased a collection of 8 escudo gold pieces. All were round machine made coins except one, a 1739 Lima hammered cob. After weighing it and examining it, I was satisified it was genuine. I asked for his best price. $600 - Sold it 2 years for $2300.

lordmarcovan

<< <i>Its lightside, but it funded darkside material for many months. Couple of years ago I was trolling Ebay and stumbled across a buy-it-now for a PCGS PR70DCAM Kennedy for 34.95. Given the grade craze for a number, it was the best 35 bucks I ever spent, especially since I turned it around for much much more later down the road. I thank the forum for it because someone had posted about trolling in the wee hours and finding great deals for coins. I've taken that wisdom to heart and I've found all sorts of deals and best buys combing through some poorly worded, no pictures, or in Ajaan's successful case, bad picture gambles that paid off.

Av >>



Avarel- that's a good example of "buy the plastic, not the coin!"

And it was a good buy, too. I got three PCGS PR70 DCAM coins off Teletrade in 1999- one was a clad Washington, one a clad Kennedy half, and the last was a SBA dollar. All were in OGH (old green holder) slabs. Paid fifty bucks apiece for them (maybe the SBA cost me sixty-something).

Resold them after I joined up here, for $300-350 each.

shirohniichan

<< <i>

<< <i>so if someone could just sell me an 1876 Romanian 1 leu in UNC for $5 or so... >>


I sold one of those about 6 months ago for $95.

















not really. >>




Whew! I was just about to buy a ticket to Buffalo so I could pee on your lawn.

ajaan

<< <i>Whew! I was just about to buy a ticket to Buffalo so I could pee on your lawn. >>


Been there, done that.

lordmarcovan

I forgot about this one, back in February.

Not bad, for two or three cents!

MrEureka

The Standish Barry Doubloon!

lordmarcovan

OK, MrEureka-

1jester

<< <i>OK, MrEureka-

>>




No kidding.

JamminJ

<< <i>

<< <i>Its lightside, but it funded darkside material for many months. Couple of years ago I was trolling Ebay and stumbled across a buy-it-now for a PCGS PR70DCAM Kennedy for 34.95. Given the grade craze for a number, it was the best 35 bucks I ever spent, especially since I turned it around for much much more later down the road. I thank the forum for it because someone had posted about trolling in the wee hours and finding great deals for coins. I've taken that wisdom to heart and I've found all sorts of deals and best buys combing through some poorly worded, no pictures, or in Ajaan's successful case, bad picture gambles that paid off.

Av >>



Avarel- that's a good example of "buy the plastic, not the coin!"

And it was a good buy, too. I got three PCGS PR70 DCAM coins off Teletrade in 1999- one was a clad Washington, one a clad Kennedy half, and the last was a SBA dollar. All were in OGH (old green holder) slabs. Paid fifty bucks apiece for them (maybe the SBA cost me sixty-something).

Resold them after I joined up here, for $300-350 each. >>



No flaming bag of dog poop? You're slipping.

dalbert

I got a 1915-S US Philippines 1 centavo for $178.00 -- my grade was AU55 or maybe 58 at best. I sent it in to PCGS and it came back MS63BN. Just turned down an offer for $1,000 for it.

SYRACUSIAN

I remembered another one. Must have been summer of 1995, I was at a coin shop and the owner showed me a lot he had just purchased of around 12 Greek coins in Anacs slabs, most early coppers in AU-low MS grades, plus a couple of silver. Asking price was about $1200 for the lot of 10 coppers,plus $500 specifically for a 1833 1/2dr MS65 and $3000 for an extremely rare 1851 drachma in MS62.I agreed to buy the lot minus the 1851 coin because I simply did not have enough for it. A week later I had an epiphany: I could trade all my modern Greek gold commems for it! After all I could just buy them back at anytime, they're the ones we call "readily available". Unfortunately when I got there, the 1851 drachma was gone bought by someone who had traded his gold modern commems for it! This and the obscene price that I had paid for the gem 1833 half, (3,4x of what a simple choice unc was worth back then) made me think that this was yet another one of my worst deals ever.

Little did I know.

The total number of slabs, the first ones I ever bought and encountered, turned me into a steady Anacs fan and little by little I submitted every single valuable coin that I had to them, so by the end of 2000 I had a collection of slabbed coins only. Then, later, when I decided that a full set of early coppers in high grade was not only cost forbidden but also practically impossible, I started selling them one by one on ebay and in private,keeping only the best type coins for me. After the first four-five sales, I realized that Anacs had been way too tough on some of them and I decided to cross a few to NGC. So, I found myself with upgrades that went as far as MS64BN from a previous AU50, but in general there was a two,three point increase per coin. Anyway, each and every coin of that lot sold for prices between $1000-$2500 each,and I still have 3-4 more available. What's more, some of the coins that I slabbed back then after the purchase of the lot have also been sold before the slab mania hit Greece for prices that I could only dream today.

In a nutshell, these sales have brought practically more than what I spent on coins the last 4 years all together. A single coin sold from that lot was enough to buy me BU coins to fill my two British albums ,and leave some change for my current Swiss project. As for the two silver coins, I still haven't found a true mint state 1851 drachma, (I bought a pretty unc details, scratched AU55 net), but I have yet to see a better 1833 half than the one I bought back then as a newbie.




edited, found the exact details on that deal

Udo

So why do such things never happen to me?

SYRACUSIAN

You never know when it might happen Udo. But keep in mind, that for each of the two stories I posted here, I have about a dozen of lousy and overpriced purchases ,resold at a fraction of their buyprice.