What was your greatest "steal"?

FilamCoins · January 21, 2008 1:21PM

I won a crusty 1942 New Zealand 3 pence "one-dot" variety a few years ago for $36. Sent it to NCS and it came back a 62. Coin catalogues for around $300 in UNC. Not a sensational profit, but it was fun.

I'm curious.

What have been your greatest picks of all time?

coinpictures · January 21, 2008 1:34PM

The coin below, found in a local pawn shop for $15. After an acetone bath, it graded MS62 BN at NGC. Sold it for $300.

JZrarities · January 21, 2008 1:49PM

That's a lot of 'F's....hehe

Some die-cutter was sippin on the Bottle too much....

1960NYGiants · January 21, 2008 1:56PM

This Canadian countermarked token is probably my best pick. Paid $30 for it a couple of years ago 'cause I'd never seen that countermark before. Brought to the CNA convention last year and was told I could probably trade it for a small car. The countermark is by Thomas Church a collector and token maker from Ottawa. Most of his collection was lost in a fire. This example is the only one known with this die pair on this undertype and being off center.

DesertRat · January 21, 2008 2:04PM

Walking into a coin store, seeing their Darkside cabinet forgotten in the corner next to the old vinly LP's they are trying to sell. Seeing the cabinet full of proof sets that hadn't had the price tag changed in years and buying them all.

woodardcoin · January 21, 2008 2:16PM

04 1/10 eagle for $20.00

wybrit · January 21, 2008 3:10PM

I bought an 1839 proof Brit penny at an online auction (when they used to hold them at this very website) for $90. Krause value at the time was $300.

Sold it for $1,575 a couple of years ago.

I also got a steal on my 1869 penny from the same PCGS auction site. I sure miss those auctions...

lordmarcovan · January 21, 2008 6:52PM

Paid five cents or less for this, in a bulk bag of Wheat cents.

PCGS said XF40, making it roughly a $700 coin. I got 600-and-something.

SYRACUSIAN · January 21, 2008 8:07PM

This coin was in an Anacs AU50 holder and I bought it for $270 along with another 18-20 Anacs graded Greek coins, back in 2000.

Five six years later, I've resubmitted it to NGC and it came back NGC MS64BN. Being one of the two key dates of the series, I've sold it to a dealer for 3000 euros cash. I've heard that he later sold it for 5-5500, but I was unable to find such a buyer, plus I needed the money straight away.

That Anacs lot had more than a dozen such coins, but this was the most extravagant in its buy/sell ratio. I sure miss finding other similar lots...

lordmarcovan · January 21, 2008 8:19PM

And then there was the one that hurt, which Cladiator "stole" right off my vest.

Win some, lose some. Ow.

JZrarities · January 21, 2008 10:05PM

This is a good thread....

IstilllikeZARcoins · January 21, 2008 10:46PM

Wow - what a cool story Lord M.

Are any of the guys in the photos PCGS thread contributors ( especially Darkside ) ?

WorldTypeSet · January 21, 2008 11:35PM

In 2002, bought a PCGS slabbed Canadian 1965 5 cent off of eBay for $3.58, plus $1.45 shipping. Guess I was the only one to notice it was the rare Large Beads variety.

These rarely come up for auction, a similar ICCS graded one sold a couple years ago for $6500.

mrpotatoheadd · January 22, 2008 12:13AM

I bought an Australian proof halfpenny last year for $120 and sold it for nearly $500 on eBay. The buyer requested a refund because he didn't think it was a proof. He returned the coin, and I took it with me to the next big coin show I attended. I showed it to a couple of dealers and ended up selling it for $1200.

cacheman · January 22, 2008 1:35AM

Searching the web I found a little obscure coin shop that had just started a web presence. In the offhand that they have some Goetz material I emailed them to ask if they had anything and lo and behold, an old collection was in their hands. I snatched up eveything they had and they are now the majority of my uber rare cast pieces and the highlight of my collection. This was only three years ago but today's estimates place them at around $70K...I picked them up for $8K plus shipping...

7Jaguars · January 22, 2008 2:27AM

Two years ago Ebay: 1845 1/2 sov. definite GEF @ 220 pounds (never seen finer)!
Four years ago Ebay: 1838 reeded edge proof sov., Spink confirmed, @ 1250 pounds.

Those probably made up for a lot of the miscellaneous crap I've bought.

theboz11 · January 22, 2008 2:33AM

This one by far

1889 Royal Agricultural Society Exhibition at Windsor
The show was held in Windsor Great Park from the 24th to 29th of June 1889. The Prince of Wales acted on behalf of Queen Victoria who was President of the Society for that year. The Queen attended on the 27th and 28th and also knighted the Director of the Show on the 30th. The medal is hollow and was made in two halves, making this an unusual British medal for that period. It was designed and executed by Countess F. Gleichen. The reference for the medal is BHM#3379 and is shown only as being struck in bronze. It is also designated as very rare. 77mm dia and it weighs 114.3grams. It has a NAVY blue leather medal case... on the top it has a gilt CROWN.

This medal is 22kt GOLD. It was presented to the Director when he was Knighted by the Queen, making this medal unique. Verification is in The administrative records of the Society for this period is at the Museum of English Rural Life at Reading University, Within the the minute books of the period under B I 14 and 15 and B III 5 and 6.

I paid less then $300 on ebay.

Second best is multiple buys of Antiqua Barbuda $100 23kt Gold notes. Each one is a 1/10 oz. Buy whole sets of 30 for $400-$700 when gold was $550/oz.

DesertRat · January 22, 2008 6:31AM

<< <i>And then there was the one that hurt, which Cladiator "stole" right off my vest.

Win some, lose some. Ow. >>

Great story, but WOW!!!

spoon · January 22, 2008 6:57AM

I've had my share of good buys. Nothing so spectacular as some of what's been mentioned here. But one of my favorites was this 1914 GB shilling. Got it for $4 after shipping, books for somewhere around $70 (I actually don't know, don't care either.. it's a keeper.). The ebay seller had a ton of nice GB material with penny starts that week--but poor pictures and not necessarily the greatest presentation. Everything went for a fraction of what they should have. Unfortunately I was broke at the time and not terribly interested in GB anyway. Ever since then that seller has refined his presentation and always starts at $9.99, even if that's too high for some things

Seller's pics:

Mine (which really don't do the coin justice either)

Daltonista · January 22, 2008 9:43AM

Great thread!

I guess the best deals I can remember easily were these three:

First, nailing a Proof-64 Gothic Crown in trade for five common-date Morgans back when I was a kid and we could get Morgans over the counter at any bank. Got me hooked on GB and her colonies for life.

Second, a handful of Palestine Holyland tokens in 2x2 flips for a dime apiece...inlcuding a couple of BU's.

Third, in a suitcase (Literally! It weighed 80 pounds!) full of silver US and Canadian minors bought unsearched at melt (in 1981) from the estate of the guy whose house I'd just bought after his death, I found not only a complete set of Washington quarters, including the keys, but also an 1894 Canadian half in about XF and a few hyper-rare seated liberty dimes and quarters, which by themselves covered the price of the hoard itself, not to mention the down payment we'd made on the house. The deceased gentleman was a scrap-iron magnate who'd hoarded coins all his life...the kids put the suitace on a scale at their scrapyard and multiplied the number of ounces by the bullion price of silver and made me an offer I couldn't refuse. I was so giddy with anticipation I probably paid $ 12 an ounce for the suitcase too. The gold, on the other hand, they were more discerning about, and I didn't have the bucks to even consider an offer on those!

I have even better stories in rare books and records (like 45's and LP's), and a couple of autographed JFK items...but they're not for this forum.

Best to all ~
Tom

coinkat · January 22, 2008 10:49AM

consider telling afew record stories...

I bought an Elvis Sun 78 RPM record once upon a time

lordmarcovan · January 22, 2008 3:42PM

<< <i>Wow - what a cool story Lord M.

Are any of the guys in the photos PCGS thread contributors ( especially Darkside ) ? >>

No Darksiders amongst the Overton half dollar specialists- I'm almost sure of that. One or two might be forum lurkers.

Rickc300 · January 22, 2008 5:28PM

An 1875 C 1 pfennig, MS-63 (my opinion) That I dug out out of a "junk" box. I paid 15 cents (US), it will be on the way to PCGS pretty soon... My second best would be a gold 5 Mark gold Hamburg mark that goes MS65 (my opinion again) or as an unknown proof that I picked up for 195.00 Either way I am going to be a very happy camper... Hopefully PCGS will be kind on these!!!

rec78 · January 22, 2008 6:25PM

I found a rb unc. New Brunswick 1/2 cent in a lot of foriegn coins that i bought at a local auction.Dont remember what i paid for the lot but it was way back about 1974 so i most likely got it for about 10 cents- and no i did not know for several weeks until i checked out all the coins. Wish i would have kept this one.--I sold it for $100 about 1974. Hey $100 was a lot of money in 1974.
Also got a mexican gold coin that weighed about 1/2 ounce in an mixed auction lot for $5.00 total.
I took a chance on an Anne Frank medal that was of foriegn origin at a coin club meeting for $2.50 because i thought it might be gold because it was stamped .999 on the edge. (Turned out it was gold-

)Sold it for $32.50 probably worth over $100 today.

I also bought a Virginia half cent in VF from a dealers foriegn 10 cent box. I still have this coin.
I also got a 1873-A German one pfennig coin in VF from a dealers 10 cent foriegn box. This i sold for $60. (about 1974 or 1975.) Bob

ajaan · January 22, 2008 10:41PM

My greatest 'steal' was probably an 1822 Farthing I bought off eBay. The image was a blur. Could hardly make out the coin but it did look Unc. I probably paid $20 or so for it. Sent it to NGC and it came back as a Proof coin. Sold it for a lot more than $20.

secondrepublic · January 23, 2008 1:48AM

Let's just say I did fine on this piece.

silverpop · January 23, 2008 6:25AM

This 1904 Silver japan 20 sen in fine condition, bought it for $4.00 now worth $8.00

FilamCoins · January 23, 2008 11:10AM

<< <i>Let's just say I did fine on this piece.

>>

You ain't kidding!

JZrarities · January 23, 2008 11:52AM

<< <i>Let's just say I did fine on this piece.

>>

OMG !!!!!!

7Jaguars · January 23, 2008 12:05PM

Nice, but still would not trade for the 1838 proof milled edge sovereign. Was that off of ebay?

oldshep · January 23, 2008 1:03PM

These were plucked from a dealer junk pile for somewhere around 20 to 50 cents if that much. The one franc is F3.50/VF7.50/XF40.00/UNC125.00(all US dollars)
The 2 franc is F6.00/VF15.00/XF60.00/UNC250.00 in my 2003 Krause.

Shep

bosox · January 23, 2008 1:17PM

I bought a Newfoundland small cent off of the Bay. Usual story, crappy picture of a raw coin from a buyer who knew not what he had. One other bidder recognized the variety and took my bid from $50 to about $300 for it. It was a 1941 doubled date NF cent that went ICCS 62RB with the DD noted and PCGS 63RB. Retail value is about $1,800 CAD. One major Canadian dealer is currently advertising one at that price in 62RB as "probably the finest known". (Neither ICCS or PCGS separate this variety in their pop reports, so who knows?)

amiller · January 23, 2008 1:57PM

Just today I was at my local B&M and picked up a Canadian 1998 90th Anniv Set (Antique finish) for $28.
Yeah, nothing too exciting, but I do enjoy looking at them.

A bit more exciting, I bought my grandfather's collection from him without really looking at what was there first. He had stopped collecting years ago and needed some cash so sold it as a lot. It is mostly world issues from the mid 40's - mid 70's. I have known for years that he had a collection, but also knew he never had a great job to enable an outstanding collection to be built, so didn't expect to find anything over $50 or so. Well, imagine my surprise when I discovered he had a 1974 Italy 10 L !!! Once I get a camera I will post to see if you guys can help me with an approx. grade and whether I should submit it to be slabbed or not.

amiller · January 23, 2008 1:58PM

lordmarcovan, I love that cent. Too bad for me it is long gone

coinnerd · January 23, 2008 2:33PM

At a small show in 1997 I came across a dealer selling 6 Spanish colonial 8 escudos. 5 of the 6 were common late 18th century machine struck pieces, the 6th was Lima cob. $800 each. After convincing myself the Lima was real asked best price, $600 hem haw, ok, I'll take it. Sold it two years later, hated to sell but needed a new furnace for the house, $2250.

ColinCMR · January 23, 2008 3:32PM

I've picked out numerous coins in the $10-50 range from bulk world coin bags. A great way to sustain collecting and learning and hobby-ing.

CollectorBob · January 24, 2008 6:10AM

Not me :-( but somebody quickly spotted this and got a great "steal":

1794 Half Cent

worldcoinguy · January 24, 2008 12:21PM

I have done well with a few pieces from Russia, but it is more a factor of buying before the big runup.

I guess my biggest "steal" was this puerto rican 20 centavo from 1895, pulled from a foreign junk box for $.25. It was actually one of my first eBay coin auctions back in 2002, and I was floored when it brought in around $105. Luckily my picture taking skills have improved a bit since then.

RareSov · January 24, 2008 2:16PM

My best would have to be a aUNC 1859 Australia 1Sov, $1600 plus slabbing fee

Graded at NGC and was AU58, sold for $5500

KUCH · January 25, 2008 5:21AM

Would like to see a picture of the Canadian 1965 5 cent rare Large Bead Variety. Thanks

NonCents · January 25, 2008 6:27AM

I paid $3 a piece for a group of 1944-S U.S. Philippines One Centavo's. Sent them into PCGS and two of them came back MS67RD; POP TOP's! I don't think I'll ever get that lucky again.

DCH · January 25, 2008 10:06AM

A few ebay steals:

$38 lot containing: Mexico 250Peso, .2500AGW; Mexico 500Peso, .5000AGW;
2x Bermuda 1983 $2, cat $45ea; Macao 1992 100Patacas cat $42 mintage 1000
Macao 1993 100Patacas cat $48 mintage 500; and about 10 junk coins. Seller had all coins pictured
individually. Junk coins at the top of the page, good stuff buried about 3 pages down, all with small blurry pix.

For $7, a 1916 Cuba 40 Centavos in XF, cat $350. Seller had small out of focus picture and I took a chance

A VF 1904 Norway Krone cat $125 for a bit under melt. Was mixed in a junk lot of Swedish Krona with no picture....

STLNATS · January 26, 2008 1:04AM

Most of my absolutely best buys have been US National banknotes. On the darkside, one of my best buys was a pair of coins on ebay indicated as fakes. Went for something like $15-18 for the pair including post. One was a horrible copy of a 1st revolt shekel in a bronzy metal that's now lost on my desk somewhere.

The other was an absolutely genuine 1693 1/2 piastre of the Papal states with the pelican on reverse. One of my absolute, all time favorite papal pieces. Matches the Muntoni plate and one I already had, unfortunately in essentially the same condition. But at the price who cares!

I left the seller a positive altho the lot wasn't exactly as described (LOL).

FilamCoins · August 29, 2008 9:06AM

Any new rips lately??

Hussulo · August 29, 2008 9:32AM

Not to long ago I won this set of gold coins:

I paid £550 including postage.

I sold the 1866 Sovereign for £140, the 5 Dollars and 2 Dollars are now in PCGS AU55 slabs,
and the 1879 s is in a PCGS AU58. The current market value for the shield back 1879s
Sovereign in British EF is about £500-£600.

ColinCMR · August 29, 2008 4:06PM

very nice gold haul!

CollectingFanatic · August 29, 2008 4:09PM

That's gotta hurt!!!

TheKidCollector1991 · August 29, 2008 5:49PM

I love this thread!
Well, a few years ago I travelled to Sri Lanka (FABulous place)
My family and I were on our way to a temple there, and I spotted an antique shop, this was 6 years ago and I had just started collecting coins.
Well, I dropped in and saw some ceylon coinage that I liked and dad bought them. Paid around $50 or so for the whole bunch.
Just recently I have been looking for the coin I had on the net and my 2 stuiver VOC 1792 had a 3 dot variety which was sold on CoinArchives for $187, where I only paid $15 for the individual coin.
Nothing compared to other deals here.
TheKid!

Sapyx · August 29, 2008 7:40PM

The greatest "steal" I've had so far has to be my Polish 1917 fenig discussed in this thread, discovered thanks to folks here on the forum. Paid $2 for it from a local dealer, who knew it wasn't listed in Krause but didn't know why. The forum consensus seems to put the current value somewhere in the $500 range.

Nothing else in my numismatic experiences has come close to that.

7Jaguars · August 29, 2008 11:29PM

Well, a bit costly up front, but I took a risk and got an 1841 GB half sov. from the 'bay @ 1125 USD that encapsulated as a gem in NGC 65 (and possibly undergraded at that!). A risky move but paid off - take care in these kind of buys.

Bjorn · August 30, 2008 3:16AM

Wish I had photos, but a few of my more memorable ones:

A 1935 one centavo from Panama in high AU/low UNC for 10 cents.

A 1927 Canada 25 cents in VG for about $1

A set of Canadian large cents, mostly 1880s and 90s in VF and 1900s and 1910s in EF to AU, all for about $1 each

A 1951 West German 2 Marks (don't remember the mintmark - not an 'A' though) for 25 cents

An 1848 6 kracjar (sp?) from Revolutionary Hungary in VF for 25 cents

Two 1869 Espana pesetas (the rarer type) for bullion, both in F or so

An 1863 IHC with massive die cud, about VF, for $1 or so

An 1877 or 1878 5 centimes in nice VF as part of a bulk lot

There are numerous others but I can't remember them - and sadly, most of my collection is in a safety deposit box in Ohio while I am in Scotland!

What was your greatest &quot;steal&quot;?

Comments

What was your greatest "steal"?