Borderline Uncirculated Buffalo nickels

Dentuck

I saw a display ad in one of the trade papers for rolls of "Borderline Uncirculated Buffalo nickels" for $90 per roll.

I assume BU in this case actually means AU.

Is this a good deal?

Sincerely,

-- On the Borderline

BillJones

On the surface the price sounds cheap, but I'd have to examine every coin in the roll, and I would do some thinking about the market for inexpensive coins.

The Gray Sheet bid for the most common date Buffalos in AU is $5.00 each, but it’s only $1.25 for coins in EF. Any coins in the roll that were cleaned, scratched, spotted or worn below AU would not be worth the $90 roll price.

There is also the question of liquidity. Unless you are going to flip the roll for a profit, don’t count on selling these coins one at a time. That can take forever. The selling price for cheap coins often includes a “service fee” for packaging them, which means the dealer won’t pay that much for the coin. In other words, from a wholesale perspective, I don’t think that you could get $5 each for AU Buffalo nickels if you tried to sell them to a B&M dealer or a dealer at as show.

WinPitcher

Plus it would mainly contain common dates.

I'd pass if I could not see the exact coins.


Steve

gecko109

<< <i>Plus it would mainly contain common dates.

I'd pass if I could not see the exact coins.


Steve >>




At that price, they would ALL be common dates.

Dentuck

I'm tempted to place an order just to have some fun analyzing the contents of the roll.

gecko109

<< <i>I'm tempted to place an order just to have some fun analyzing the contents of the roll. >>




$90 is a fairly cheap lesson that will help you to realize that nobody sells a $20 bill for $12. Of course, you could play the "bigger sucker" game and try to flip the coins to someone else at a profit. Now THAT would be a fun experiment to read about. Keep track of all details and document the process for us to enjoy.

BillJones

<< <i>I'm tempted to place an order just to have some fun analyzing the contents of the roll. >>



I think you are going end up with whole lot of 1936 and 1937 Philadelphia mint nickels. Any other issues will probably be missing or over graded.

mrpotatoheadd

<< <i>I assume BU in this case actually means AU. >>

Assuming stuff doesn't always turn out well for the assumer. Doesn't it seem odd that the coins are being offered for retail sale at less than half of AU wholesale bid? And don't you wonder why the ad says "borderline uncirculated" in the first place, when that's not a generally accepted grading designation? Why not call the seller and ask if "borderline uncirculated" actually means AU and not XF before you send your money in?

Dentuck

No! This is a goldmine waiting to happen. A flipper's dream. I'm sending my check.

Walmann

Clearly a deal for those looking to get buffalo'd.

Kdog08

Just make sure that they are not the 2005 version if you decide to buy em Dennis!! That would NOT be a good deal!

Dentuck

<< <i>Just make sure that they are not the 2005 version if you decide to buy em Dennis!! >>



LOL!

Ouch... that would be a painful lesson.

Longacre

Given the trying economic times, I am not sure if it will be worth sending in your $90.