Take Responsibility for your bodybags!
MICHAELDIXON
Posts: 6,565 ✭✭✭✭✭
The biggest problem I see with individuals submitting coins is they are not experienced and do not know what to look for. On a weekly basis I have collectors bring me coins to submit that look "good" or "nice" that I will not submit because they have been cleaned. I'd recommed that before you start buying and submitting coins to be certified you spend a year or two going to shows and looking at coins in slabs and those which have been cleaned. Knowledge is key. None of us are automatic experts in any field and I believe that is where the problem begins.
I'm not perfect in submitting coins either. I've cracked coins out of one holder and had another service holder the coin lower. If you would look at my submissions, you would see coins that came back cleaned. I submitted a 1914 D Lincoln that a blind man could tell was cleaned to PCGS and, yes, it came back cleaned. Even though I told the owner when he was pulling the coin out of his shirt pocket the coin was cleaned, he was sure the coin would holder because it was a key date. It was his money for express service to waste and he was adamant about sending it in.
Sometimes, we have to step back and take responsibility for our actions. Is it PCGS' or NGC's responsibility to educate us before we start the slabbing game? No, it is our responsibility.
My major suggestions are:
1) to do your homework,
2) learn all you can about the natural color of copper, silver and gold,
3) attend shows either local or national,
4) talk to experienced dealers and collectors,
5) join a coin club and...
6) wait until you are seasoned before you send coins in.
Flame away, but it gets old reading how the experts were incorrect and novices with very little time under their belts are correct.
I'm not perfect in submitting coins either. I've cracked coins out of one holder and had another service holder the coin lower. If you would look at my submissions, you would see coins that came back cleaned. I submitted a 1914 D Lincoln that a blind man could tell was cleaned to PCGS and, yes, it came back cleaned. Even though I told the owner when he was pulling the coin out of his shirt pocket the coin was cleaned, he was sure the coin would holder because it was a key date. It was his money for express service to waste and he was adamant about sending it in.
Sometimes, we have to step back and take responsibility for our actions. Is it PCGS' or NGC's responsibility to educate us before we start the slabbing game? No, it is our responsibility.
My major suggestions are:
1) to do your homework,
2) learn all you can about the natural color of copper, silver and gold,
3) attend shows either local or national,
4) talk to experienced dealers and collectors,
5) join a coin club and...
6) wait until you are seasoned before you send coins in.
Flame away, but it gets old reading how the experts were incorrect and novices with very little time under their belts are correct.
Spring National Battlefield Coin Show is April 3-5, 2025 at the Eisenhower Hotel Ballroom, Gettysburg, PA. WWW.AmericasCoinShows.com
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Comments
if he tells me its a POS it dont go !
most of my subs lately are craackouts or x at any and it works pretty well
3 years ago i bought a lot of 3rd tier slabs and via this forum i am much better informed
Its really too bad that new collectors dont find this place before they start plunking down hard cash for crap coins !
It can be expensive sending in coins that will be bagged or aren't worth slabbing. That money is better spent on buying coins or paying the expenses to attend a show.
Some people here search and find nice coins, get them slabbed and make money. The post about their successes here and sometimes get a deserved "you suck!". When you read about that you think "I can do that!"
The thing is the people who are successful at that have searched lots of coins. They didn't just look through the 20 different date proof sets they have purchased over the years and send in a couple of the better coins. The successful ones focus on one particular date of one particular series and look at thousands of coins before trying one. They also get disappointed at times and went through a learning curve. It isn't easy.
Ken
<< <i>Very good advice. >>
I agree.
<< <i>Sometimes, we have to step back and take responsibility for our actions. Is it PCGS' or NGC's responsibility to educate us before we start the slabbing game? No, it is our responsibility. >>
It's also not necessarilly a dealers responsibility to educate the buyer... a dealer is there to sell coins, I don't feel he has an obligation to educate, as there are plenty of sources of information out there... now, it may be in a dealer's best interest to educate a buyer, but it is not his responsbility...
42/92
only submit those you feel are as good or better and have 25% success.
I look at my submission results and think they graded the coins figuring enough to cover cost of submission
plus a small profit for my effort. I really can not see resubmitting them over and over to get a certain grade.
only submit those you feal are as good or better and have 25% sucess. >>
If you submit raw coins you compared with one in the slab and get a %25 success rate then it is likely one of two things is happening.
1) Some of the coins really are not better than the one in the slab.
2) The coin in the benchmark slab is low end for the grade.
I have submitted looking for specific grades on specific coins.
Low end for the grade of the benchmark also crossed my mind.
Also evolving/changing standards at the grading companies could play a part.
The crackout game can be rewarding for the expert and the experienced, but even for them there are many disappointments. For most new collectors it is a waste of time and money.
I'll repeat the cliche that anyone can learn how to grade, given a loupe, a grading guide and ten years looking at lots of coins. For the average new collector at least one or two years looking at lots of coins is a reasonable time table to gain some level of proficiency. A few talented people can learn to grade consistently in a shorter time period, but they are exceptional. Spotting expertly made counterfeits and expertly altered coins will take longer.
Jeffs
My most recent bodybag was for a counterfiet. It sure as heck fooled me!