Home U.S. Coin Forum

What specifically do you mean by a "fresh coin?"

We throw the concept of a "fresh coin" about quite a bit.

But what does this concept really mean?

Does a "fresh" coin refer to a unfamiliar specimen that has been unavailable for a long while? Or, can it refer to a recognizable coin that is newly available on the Market?

The reason I ask is this: with the proliferation of registry sets along with the popularity of Coin Facts, many premium pieces can become very familiar to those interested in a particular series.

Will this familiarity diminish the "freshness" of a coin when it eventually comes to market? Or will knowledge of such a coin's existence augment interest and/or the "freshness" factor?
"Discipline is never an end in itself, only a means to an end."

Comments

  • jmcu12jmcu12 Posts: 2,452 ✭✭✭
    I have always disliked this term a great deal; are we talking about Peas, Corn, Green Beans? No, we are talking about metal discs.

    Anyway, when people use it they are suggesting that a given coin(s) has not been offered for sale in a long time. As for availability and the market I think it comes down to rarity; another term which is thrown around like it actually means something.
    Awarded latest "YOU SUCK!": June 11, 2014
  • LindeDadLindeDad Posts: 18,766 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Fresh in the other sense.
    imageimage
  • TwoSides2aCoinTwoSides2aCoin Posts: 43,794 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Who would deem a metal detected dirt find of a 1793 Cent, even with environmental damage FRESH ?
    I would.
  • daOnlyBGdaOnlyBG Posts: 1,060 ✭✭


    << <i>Fresh just means new to market, implying it's been off the market a while. Any coin that has been unavailable for 10+ years would be fresh to me. >>


    That's interesting. Intuitively, I would have thought this term referred to a brand new coin, freshly minted..
    Successful BST transactions with: blu62vette, Shortgapbob, Dolan, valente151, cucamongacoin, ajaan

    Interests:
    Pre-Jump Grade Project
    Toned Commemoratives
  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 45,296 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>

    << <i>Who would deem a metal detected dirt find of a 1793 Cent, even with environmental damage FRESH ?
    I would. >>



    Fresh just means new to market, implying it's been off the market a while. Any coin that has been unavailable for 10+ years would be fresh to me. >>

    image

    Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.

  • CoppercolorCoppercolor Posts: 1,475 ✭✭✭


    << <i>

    << <i>

    << <i>Who would deem a metal detected dirt find of a 1793 Cent, even with environmental damage FRESH ?
    I would. >>



    Fresh just means new to market, implying it's been off the market a while. Any coin that has been unavailable for 10+ years would be fresh to me. >>

    image >>



    Or a raw coin that was just "freshly" graded and available wrapped in the appropriate plastic.
    I'd like my copper well done please!
  • sparky64sparky64 Posts: 7,025 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>Who would deem a metal detected dirt find of a 1793 Cent, even with environmental damage FRESH ?
    I would. >>


    That seems to be about as fresh as it gets.

    To me it would be a lot more than 10 years to be considered fresh.
    That box of 20 gold coins that Great Collections auctioned a week or so ago, fits the bill for me regarding slabbed coins.

    For raw coins, who really knows how long they've been off the radar.
    Unless they're real rarities that people follow ownership closely.

    "If I say something in the woods and my wife isn't there to hear it.....am I still wrong?"

    My Washington Quarter Registry set...in progress

  • ColonelJessupColonelJessup Posts: 6,442 ✭✭✭✭✭
    "Fresh coin" has two different yet similarly rooted meanings.

    Before the Internet, when coins traded much less frequently, "market freshness" was not anything like the factor it is today.

    There was damn near NOTHING but true actual old-time collections. No flipping.

    Today many a coin is trackable and easily identifiable as shop-worn.

    "Planchet freshness" is having surfaces not necessarily unblemished but wholesome and pretty much unspoiled. Original "skin"
    "People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." - Geo. Orwell
  • SUMORADASUMORADA Posts: 4,797
    Who would deem a metal detected dirt find of a 1793 Cent, even with environmental damage FRESH ?

    I would too!
    .......I sure hope he does the right thing with it.....no cleaning....from the photos I saw I think it will be ok since it appeared to be shown as found, sometimes metal detector folks go for the wire brush type things because they are not collectors....not saying the MD guys are bad, I'm one myself, just sayin sometimes the excitment of a find can ...yada,yada, yada......
  • WoodenJeffersonWoodenJefferson Posts: 6,491 ✭✭✭✭
    Like spitting on it and rubbing it between your fingers, then wiping it off on your pants leg?
    Chat Board Lingo

    "Keep your malarkey filter in good operating order" -Walter Breen
  • vibr0nicvibr0nic Posts: 614 ✭✭✭
    image
    I like large size currency and silver dollars.
  • ColonelJessupColonelJessup Posts: 6,442 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Looks like an MS65 24-P from here
    "People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." - Geo. Orwell
  • MidLifeCrisisMidLifeCrisis Posts: 10,504 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>Fresh just means new to market, implying it's been off the market a while. Any coin that has been unavailable for 10+ years would be fresh to me. >>


    Given that our high-speed internet driven world has caused most people to have the attention span of about 2 seconds, I would consider any coin that has been off the market for 5 years to be fresh.
  • BustHalfBrianBustHalfBrian Posts: 4,117 ✭✭✭
    The only coin I could call "fresh" is one just out of the press.
    Lurking and learning since 2010. Full-time professional numismatist.
  • mrpotatoheaddmrpotatoheadd Posts: 7,576 ✭✭
    Which would you rather have- an ugly coin that's been off the market for ten years or a gorgeous coin that's been sold three times in the past two years? Only one of those two is fresh.
  • scoobydeuxscoobydeux Posts: 498 ✭✭


    << <i>Which would you rather have- an ugly coin that's been off the market for ten years or a gorgeous coin that's been sold three times in the past two years? Only one of those two is fresh. >>



    Your point is well taken--ugly is ugly, and eye appealing is eye appealing without regards to whether the coin is familliar.

    "Discipline is never an end in itself, only a means to an end."
  • mariner67mariner67 Posts: 2,746 ✭✭✭
    Too often, when I see a coin described as "fresh" it is being flipped.
    Successful trades/buys/sells with gdavis70, adriana, wondercoin, Weiss, nibanny, IrishMike, commoncents05, pf70collector, kyleknap, barefootjuan, coindeuce, WhiteTornado, Nefprollc, ajw, JamesM, PCcoins, slinc, coindudeonebay,beernuts, and many more
  • Walkerguy21DWalkerguy21D Posts: 11,114 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>Fresh just means new to market, implying it's been off the market a while. Any coin that has been unavailable for 10+ years would be fresh to me. >>


    I like this definition also - heck, even 5 years is probably sufficient - but the longer time off the market, the fresher it is, I suppose.
    What I don't like is dealers touting a 'fresh deal' when they really just mean coins that are new to their inventory, regardless of the source. At that point it's
    just hype - but I'll still look at them, of course image
    Successful BST transactions with 170 members. Recent: Tonedeaf, Shane6596, Piano1, Ikenefic, RG, PCGSPhoto, stman, Don'tTelltheWife, Boosibri, Ron1968, snowequities, VTchaser, jrt103, SurfinxHI, 78saen, bp777, FHC, RYK, JTHawaii, Opportunity, Kliao, bigtime36, skanderbeg, split37, thebigeng, acloco, Toninginthblood, OKCC, braddick, Coinflip, robcool, fastfreddie, tightbudget, DBSTrader2, nickelsciolist, relaxn, Eagle eye, soldi, silverman68, ElKevvo, sawyerjosh, Schmitz7, talkingwalnut2, konsole, sharkman987, sniocsu, comma, jesbroken, David1234, biosolar, Sullykerry, Moldnut, erwindoc, MichaelDixon, GotTheBug
  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 45,296 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Many times a fresh coin is priced high. After it gets stale the price comes down to realistic levels and it may become a good deal. Each coin purchase should be evaluated on the merits of the coin and the asking price for that coin. Whether it is fresh or stale is not relevant.

    Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.

  • lcoopielcoopie Posts: 8,691 ✭✭✭✭✭
    mad marty's coin
    LCoopie = Les
  • renomedphysrenomedphys Posts: 3,487 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I may not be able to recognize fresh, but I know stale when I see it.
  • MrEurekaMrEureka Posts: 23,891 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Before the Internet, when coins traded much less frequently, "market freshness" was not anything like the factor it is today.

    There was damn near NOTHING but true actual old-time collections. No flipping.



    While it is true that collectors and investors used to hold coins for much longer time periods, dealers used to flip coins very frequently between themselves. In fact, before the TPGs, it was not unusual for a coin to trade hands half a dozen time at a single show. It's just a distant memory now, but such coins would typically remain in the first dealer's flip, with each purchase price "circled" and subsequently crossed off as the coin traded hands. What a blast that was. Leaving money on the table for the next guy wasn't seen as a blunder. That was just part of the fun.

    Anyway, to answer the OP, "fresh" has different meanings to different people and in different circumstances. Here's one nightmare from the old days to illustrate. About 25-30 years ago, I bought an old-time coin collection from a local coin and stamp dealer, who had recently purchased it from an estate. The coins were, to my way of thinking, fresh to the market. I represented it as a "fresh deal" to a dealer friend, and he bought it. Later, he heard that another couple of dealers had earlier been offered the coins by my source - obviously, before I bought it - and my friend complained to me that the deal was not fresh at all. Anyway, he made money, we're still friends, I still think he was off base, and I now use the word "fresh" far less frequently.
    Andy Lustig

    Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.

    Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
  • rickoricko Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭
    If the coin is new to me.... it is 'fresh'.....image Cheers, RickO
  • johnny9434johnny9434 Posts: 27,411 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>The only coin I could call "fresh" is one just out of the press. >>

    agreed
  • scoobydeuxscoobydeux Posts: 498 ✭✭


    << <i>
    Before the Internet, when coins traded much less frequently, "market freshness" was not anything like the factor it is today.

    There was damn near NOTHING but true actual old-time collections. No flipping.



    While it is true that collectors and investors used to hold coins for much longer time periods, dealers used to flip coins very frequently between themselves. In fact, before the TPGs, it was not unusual for a coin to trade hands half a dozen time at a single show. It's just a distant memory now, but such coins would typically remain in the first dealer's flip, with each purchase price "circled" and subsequently crossed off as the coin traded hands. What a blast that was. Leaving money on the table for the next guy wasn't seen as a blunder. That was just part of the fun.

    Anyway, to answer the OP, "fresh" has different meanings to different people and in different circumstances. Here's one nightmare from the old days to illustrate. About 25-30 years ago, I bought an old-time coin collection from a local coin and stamp dealer, who had recently purchased it from an estate. The coins were, to my way of thinking, fresh to the market. I represented it as a "fresh deal" to a dealer friend, and he bought it. Later, he heard that another couple of dealers had earlier been offered the coins by my source - obviously, before I bought it - and my friend complained to me that the deal was not fresh at all. Anyway, he made money, we're still friends, I still think he was off base, and I now use the word "fresh" far less frequently. >>



    That was a very nice story. Thanks for your thoughts!
    "Discipline is never an end in itself, only a means to an end."
  • CatbertCatbert Posts: 6,549 ✭✭✭✭✭
    A year old thread, but I have a few related questions:

    Assume the coin at auction has attractive eye appeal and is desirable for your collection. These questions are not intended for expensive rarities that whales buy.

    1. Given the ease in discovering auction histories, if a coin has say 4 auction listings in the last 8 years (a hypothetical), is the coin stale and thus is its marketability diminished in your eyes (inhibiting your bid)?

    2. Do you research the specific coin's auction history (as opposed to the general type and grade) in determining a bid?

    3. What if the auction history also shows the coin in a different holder, does that influence you? How so?

    "Got a flaming heart, can't get my fill"
  • BAJJERFANBAJJERFAN Posts: 30,977 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>Which would you rather have- an ugly coin that's been off the market for ten years or a gorgeous coin that's been sold three times in the past two years? Only one of those two is fresh. >>



    Fresh doesn't necessarily mean great, tho it may imply it. If a fresh coin was a dog, I bet you would see people like Laura not even mentioning it.
  • BAJJERFANBAJJERFAN Posts: 30,977 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>We throw the concept of a "fresh coin" about quite a bit.

    But what does this concept really mean?

    Does a "fresh" coin refer to a unfamiliar specimen that has been unavailable for a long while? Or, can it refer to a recognizable coin that is newly available on the Market?

    The reason I ask is this: with the proliferation of registry sets along with the popularity of Coin Facts, many premium pieces can become very familiar to those interested in a particular series.

    Will this familiarity diminish the "freshness" of a coin when it eventually comes to market? Or will knowledge of such a coin's existence augment interest and/or the "freshness" factor? >>



    I know what it means to me when I see the term used. Can you provide a better one?
  • AUandAGAUandAG Posts: 24,515 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I would not use the term "fresh" unless it's been stowed away for at least 30 years.

    One complete generation of collectors or thereabouts.

    bobimage
    Registry: CC lowballs (boblindstrom), bobinvegas1989@yahoo.com
  • CatbertCatbert Posts: 6,549 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>A year old thread, but I have a few related questions:

    Assume the coin at auction has attractive eye appeal and is desirable for your collection. These questions are not intended for expensive rarities that whales buy.

    1. Given the ease in discovering auction histories, if a coin has say 4 auction listings in the last 8 years (a hypothetical), is the coin stale and thus is its marketability diminished in your eyes (inhibiting your bid)?

    2. Do you research the specific coin's auction history (as opposed to the general type and grade) in determining a bid?

    3. What if the auction history also shows the coin in a different holder, does that influence you? How so? >>



    Anyone interested in answering my questions? image
    "Got a flaming heart, can't get my fill"
  • SonorandesertratSonorandesertrat Posts: 5,695 ✭✭✭✭✭
    "1. Given the ease in discovering auction histories, if a coin has say 4 auction listings in the last 8 years (a hypothetical), is the coin stale and thus is its marketability diminished in your eyes (inhibiting your bid)?" No

    "2. Do you research the specific coin's auction history (as opposed to the general type and grade) in determining a bid?" Depends. If it's a scarce variety, then I will do some detailed research.

    "3. What if the auction history also shows the coin in a different holder, does that influence you? How so?" Yes. I look at the coin differently. Has it been 'improved' en route from one holder to another? Etc.....
    Member: EAC, NBS, C4, CWTS, ANA

    RMR: 'Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich denn aus der Engel Ordnungen?'

    CJ: 'No one!' [Ain't no angels in the coin biz]
  • 410a410a Posts: 1,325
    The term is used to describe a coin that hasn't been on the market as of late. Something new and interesting with a value that transcends both, value and interest or one or the other. A nice collection of raw EF 45 SLQs that have that matching crusty originality comes to mind. Put together by a collector who knew his stuff. A set of Peace dollars in the highest MS 64 cac you could resonalbly assemble. Just a couple of examples that I give.

    The nicest looking original half dozen bust halves or Barber Halves.

    I don't really care for the term it is too subjective and mostly used by one dealer we all know.

    I really can't stand the term "Dreck' either.

    I'll bet you think my examples are silly. You know what so is the term
    Fresh or Dreck...........BECAUSE THEY ARE SUBJECTIVE.

    One man's ceiling is another man's floor. BM

  • 410a410a Posts: 1,325
    yes, Andy and that was about the time that the term "New" was getting tossed around. I heard that term 'what's with this new' I dunno "new?" yeah "new" jeez.......it didn't stick. That it did not was a good thing too.
  • BLUEJAYWAYBLUEJAYWAY Posts: 7,939 ✭✭✭✭✭
    A partial definition for me of "fresh" is any coin obtained through roll searching/in circulation finds, even if I already have copies of said finds.
    Successful transactions:Tookybandit. "Everyone is equal, some are more equal than others".
  • It is an adjective. It is an opinion or idea. Use with care and common sense.

    I would be foolish to think that I was actually the very first person to go through the photo and card collection of XXXXXX after he died. The 6 inch high stack of material of 25 years collecting was represented as "fresh". It is my specialty and I have a reputation, but I'd never believe I was actually THE first. Maybe, probably not. So, like opinions and other adjectives, I take it with a image or grain of salt or what have you.

    Eric

    Sometimes I wonder how a truly "fresh" coin would be identified image
  • JRoccoJRocco Posts: 14,277 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I purchased a mid 16th Century medal about a month ago from the Old Country, and the last office exchange was in Bulgaria on 3/17 with an estimated arrival date of 4/11.
    The medal is from a very old collection.
    Now this one will be "fresh"
    image
    Some coins are just plain "Interesting"
  • lkeigwinlkeigwin Posts: 16,885 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I'm not crazy about trite language either. But to me the term "fresh" should be reserved for attractive or otherwise in-demand coins that have been off the market for a long time.

    To answer catbert's questions,

    "1. Given the ease in discovering auction histories, if a coin has say 4 auction listings in the last 8 years (a hypothetical), is the coin stale and thus is its marketability diminished in your eyes (inhibiting your bid)?"

    Not in the least.

    "2. Do you research the specific coin's auction history (as opposed to the general type and grade) in determining a bid?"

    No. It is fun stumbling on it, though.

    "3. What if the auction history also shows the coin in a different holder, does that influence you? How so?"

    No. I like to know these things but it doesn't change my opinion or value of the coin.
    Lance.
  • ShamikaShamika Posts: 18,759 ✭✭✭✭

    In my opinion, fresh should mean a coin that has just been certified for the first time.

    Buyer and seller of vintage coin boards!
  • BaleyBaley Posts: 22,658 ✭✭✭✭✭
    a "Fresh Coin" has two main elements:

    1) No one has seen it for a while; it's certainly not "made the rounds" or been offered for sale in recent memory. Time varies, depending, but usually at least a few years.

    2) Has some kind of "story" to enhance the "freshness"... it could be part of a collection that was inherited, or a hoard from long ago, or an astute collector

    Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry

  • BaleyBaley Posts: 22,658 ✭✭✭✭✭
    although I like Shamika's definition, too, the first time TPGs have seen it.

    Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry

  • Bayard1908Bayard1908 Posts: 3,975 ✭✭✭✭
    Quite some time ago another poster opined that a dealer's idea of a fresh coin is one that could be purchased at a price suitable for resale because the collector-seller had owned it long enough that nominal appreciation would mask his real loss.
  • CoinJunkieCoinJunkie Posts: 8,772 ✭✭✭✭✭
    It means it's been so long since I last saw it, my opinion of its PQness may have changed... image
  • WildIdeaWildIdea Posts: 1,872 ✭✭✭✭✭
    After checking in at my buddies shop to catch up and see what's been happening he hands me an old blue Lincoln folder with mylar sleeves, just before I get ready to leave. Says it just came in the other day and there might be a something in it that I like, with a wink. Towards the back there is 1935 high mint state BN beauty awash in obv green toning. I quickly swing the page and the reverse, although not matching, is problem free. I say I'm not leaving without this coin and will gladly pay 5 times gray sheet or whatever laughing as it's on there for 20 bucks. He says I can just have it. Now this coin I consider fresh as it's most likely been in that collection awhile or at least before the slabbing/ internet/ show circuit timeline. Or would be considered fresh if I ever cut it loose onto the market. But a super duper coin (insert any coin type) would just get walked around my buddies and get scarfed up before it would need to be heavily marketed.

    I suspect there are tons of coins that travel within inner circles and only hit the outer public market when for some reason that is the last option for the coin.

Leave a Comment

BoldItalicStrikethroughOrdered listUnordered list
Emoji
Image
Align leftAlign centerAlign rightToggle HTML viewToggle full pageToggle lights
Drop image/file