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"Buy the Coin and not the Holder"
AndyNC2005
Posts: 171
If this is true, why does everyone buy the coin in a holder? It seems that TPG has made collectors lazy. Instead of learning to grade, they take someone else's word for it. It also seems to have taken the "Hobby" out of it. Everyone says that they are in it for the joy of collecting. The joy of collecting is not finding a modern Lincoln cent slabbed n MS 69 instead of one in MS 68, but in finding that coin in the nicest grade possible for your collection. How many Registry sets have we seen for sale that say these people were in it for the money, maybe? . It's one thing to pay an extra $20 to insure that your 1909-S VDB in fine is real, it's another to pay$2000 for a modern cent because someone says its MS 69. How many people would still collect coins if there were no slabbing companies?
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<< <i>why does everyone buy the coin in a holder? >>
I would say that the basic reason is to protect the coin. Then we can go from there... As I'm sure you know, it gets kinda complicated.
ps. welcome to the boards.
If TPG's didn't exisit, I would still collect.
Recently I decided to get more away from plastic for some basic sets. I recently started several dansco sets for myself. I have set a goal for each and stick to it. The best part is it is cheaper and I would guarantee that most of the coins would come within a few points of my grade on them.
So to answer your question, I do buy the coin most of the time!
Zach
Check my ebay BIN or Make Offers!!
Maybe I can tell you why I had the more expensive coins in my Lincoln cent business strike and proof strike collection slabbed by PCGS. After just about completing my collection over the years from 1983 to 1997 I realized at that time that in order to protect the true value of my coins I needed to get them slabbed. I chose PCGS as the best TPG at that time. The rationale is quite simple. People would not pay me anything near what I can now get for my MS65 1914D. Why, because even though the coin looks nice raw, they wouldn't know for sure it wasn't cleaned. People trust the professional grader alot more than they would trust their own eyes when real money is involved. I've spent over $2k in grading fees since 1997 and that money is well spent. Steve
My Complete PROOF Lincoln Cent with Major Varieties(1909-2015)Set Registry
President, Racine Numismatic Society 2013-2014; Variety Resource Dimes; See 6/8/12 CDN for my article on Winged Liberty Dimes; Ebay
One must always evaluate the coin to see if it meets the standards
you expect from the grade and the price .
Camelot
WS
<< <i>Even PCGS has PQ coins and bad coins in the same grade.
One must always evaluate the coin to see if it meets the standards
you expect from the grade and the price . >>
I searched several 1980 D lincolns before chosing one from Jamie. Of the 25 ms67 1980 D lincolns, I bet I have seen 10+ in hand or for sale. The one I bought from Jamie I did so becasue it is very very PQ for the grade. It is definitely knocking on the ms68 door. This is another example where I bought the coin, not the holder!
Zach
Check my ebay BIN or Make Offers!!
<< <i>"Buy the Coin and not the Holder"
If this is true, why does everyone buy the coin in a holder? >>
Because it isn't true. It's really nothing more than a tired platitude that is automatically repeated ad nauseam in just about every grading discussion. Let's be honest about it. Nobody buys a graded coin without at least considering what holder it's in.
Russ, NCNE
I won't buy an ungraded coin unless I can examine it in person prior to purchase.
I have only done that once and all 20 of the coins had been cleaned.
Pick a date like a 1988-D and these come essentially perfect with creamy surfaces
and can be fully PL. They are simply spectacular and look like branch mint proofs.
You probably won't find a coin like this outside of a holder but you can since about
every thousanth coin in an '88 mint set will rival this. What you won't find is some-
one who knows how tough these are willing to sell them for a few cents.
If you don't like memorials than you won't like a nice '88-D, but if you do then you
can spend the money paying market price or you can spend a lot of time and effort
searching for your own. Or you can even get a lower graded coin for a few cents.
You can even get one in circulation.
The modern market was below the radar of most collectors until just the last few
years and some believe that it is the grading companies and the registries which
have spawned these markets. This simply isn't true. PCGS didn't even allow any
modern coins in the registries until the late '90's and NGC refused to grade them
until the mid-'90's.
These markets were around and growing before the TPG's even existed.
People collect coins. It can hardly be surprising that this even applies to common
coins like an '88-D cent. That the price is high for highly graded specimens is test-
ament to the fact that collectors like the best quality and to the fact that many of
all coins (not just moderns but especially moderns) can be scarce in high grades.
Because it isn't true. It's really nothing more than a tired platitude that is automatically repeated ad nauseam in just about every grading discussion. Let's be honest about it. Nobody buys a graded coin without at least considering what holder it's in.
Yes. The holder induces a bias right from the start. But what if you covered over the grade of a coin and offered to sell them "grade-unseen?" You would have many willing buyers, but at the buyer's perceived grade, which in most cases would be 1-2 pts lower than the TPG. I'd have no problem making offers on slabbed material this way (from non-dealers). I've paid the next grade up on a number of occasions for high grade type coins...because I felt the coin was a full grade higher and I liked the coin. And most everyone who buys expensive coins does so with full consideration for what holdered grade the coin would come back as if sent out. TPG's have infected all our of psyche's. I do however like the downside support that the holder offers.
roadrunner
" Buy the coin, and not the holder"- true, but that is only half of the story. What you will NEVER hear is : " Sell the coin, and not the holder "
When it comes time to sell, even coins that are correctly graded will bring much, much, less if they are in a holder that is perceived as not accepted in the market place.
Sad fact but true.
If I hear "buy the coin not the holder" one more time I think I am going to SCREAM.
My motto is: "buy the coin.....but in the holder." As long as you like it, and the TPG liked it just as much as you did, you're in.
roadrunner
Because the vast majority of buyers don't have the skills to "buy the coin", so they can't follow the advice.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
Leo
The more qualities observed in a coin, the more desirable that coin becomes!
My Jefferson Nickel Collection