How many collectors or dealers buy a coin without looking at it?

Tiny

Do you really spend money on a coin that you've never looked at or held in you hand?
Back before digital pictures and the internet there was a large portion of deals made just
by the spoken word and how the seller would describe a coin. Then came the third party
grading companies that seemed to be trusted over night and everyone thought they could
fall back on those TPGs guarantees about condition so it seemed safer to buy sight unseen.

Now we have all this technology so that we can all most hold the coin in hand via various
ways of communication so that we can judge for ourselves the quality of a coin. Have you
ever wondered how much raw coin sales have increased over the past many years threw
web base dealers and web sites. What if auction sites like Great Collections, Teletrade, HA.com
and others that do not accept raw coins for auctions started taking submissions for their
auctions? Some of those would never do it because they would have to improve the quality of
their pictures but there are auction sites that have great quality and a determination is easy
from their pictures.

When you go to a B&M shop or a small or giant coin show you can hold that coin in your hand
and use your judgment about it weather it is in a thick plastic slab a thin plastic flip or like what
I used to put my coins in when I was a kind, the old cardboard flip. What I am trying to say is an
answer to an earlier thread wanting the members to say which TPG slab is better than the other
when how can you really say that? Do people really buy a slab and never look at the coin? Does the
name on a label and the grade real mean more than a person's judgment? Are we all coin lemmings
following what we read and not what we see?

If a coin does not have good pictures in an auction, any auction, I do not look twice at it I move along.
Look and ye shall find one that does have good pictures so you can make a better decision. If the coin
is not in a plastic holder graded by a TPG and has great pictures, stop and look at it because you may
have the real deal. Don't we have enough to keep in mind when buying a coin? Do we need to add how
to grade a Third Party Grading Service to our skills?

tradedollarnut

Occasionally. If a trusted representative views the coin personally, that along with an image can suffice. Or if the opportunity is sufficiently rare then I might jump even without either of those.

TwoSides2aCoin

I went in blind and expect to go out the same way

Sonorandesertrat

As far as I am concerned, buying a coin (or bidding on one) sight-unseen is extremely foolish.
Unless:
1. There is an ironclad return privilege; or
2. Someone I absolutely trust has seen the piece in hand and informs me that it is all there for the grade.

ricko

In the early days of ebay I purchased some coins sight unseen - although I had spoken with the seller. Always had good results then, would never do it now....heck, I won't buy anything from ebay now....Cheers, RickO

tradedollarnut

<< <i>As far as I am concerned, buying a coin (or bidding on one) sight-unseen is extremely foolish.
Unless:
1. There is an ironclad return privilege; or
2. Someone I absolutely trust has seen the piece in hand and informs me that it is all there for the grade. >>



So if the 1849 double eagle came on the market and you had a chance to buy it at a reasonable price you would pass because you or yours hadn't seen it? Sometimes, it just doesn't matter....

BillJones

I have purchased many Civil War tokens without looking at them first because the guys who offered them were expert graders, very conservative and very honest. There was a return privilege, but my return rate was something like 1% out of over 200 lots. There are still a couple of guys in the CWT business I'd bid blind because I trust them.

As for coins I did it a time or two on some half cent die varieties in a major auction. Every was raw back then, I was lucky; the coins worked.

Today I've burned when I bid based on photos, so I shy away from it.

Sonorandesertrat

<< <i>

<< <i>As far as I am concerned, buying a coin (or bidding on one) sight-unseen is extremely foolish.
Unless:
1. There is an ironclad return privilege; or
2. Someone I absolutely trust has seen the piece in hand and informs me that it is all there for the grade. >>



So if the 1849 double eagle came on the market and you had a chance to buy it at a reasonable price you would pass because you or yours hadn't seen it? Sometimes, it just doesn't matter.... >>



If the coin is well known, then I agree that it doesn't matter. But 99% of the time, when coins are purchased by collectors, it most certainly matters.

tradedollarnut

Agreed

sparky64

I verbally agreed to by 2 commems from my favorite trusted dealer without seeing them first.
They were part of his collection at his home and he told me I couldn't miss. I said sold.
He was right. The next week I couldn't get the money over the counter fast enough.

Other than that, no way.

johnny9434

no, i want to see it up front. i did have a 1 dealer that i did that with and unfortanatly he passed on a few years ago.

Jinx86

I have a few ebay clients that just want me to send them a description of what new I have in stock and my prices for them. They don't care for pics most of the time. Ive sold $3397 to one of my better clients the other day just off my description of the coins. Sometimes it just matters on how much trust there is between the two of you.

TwoSides2aCoin

I buy them every day, and close one eye half the time.

astrorat

There are some dealers I work with who describe coins accurately enough that images are not necessary. I have no worries buying sight unseen. Brian Greer and David Kahn are two of them.

magikbilly

Well, I would much prefer to buy a slabbed coin sight unseen than a slabbed autograph, but in general either is not for me. As noted, if it is exceptional, I would not care (I do stay away from things with no return unless truly exceptional). I will happily deal with "no returns" - if I can hold it before purchasing it.

Best wishes,
Eric

Broadstruck

<< <i>I have purchased many Civil War tokens without looking at them first because the guys who offered them were expert graders, very conservative and very honest. There was a return privilege, but my return rate was something like 1% out of over 200 lots. There are still a couple of guys in the CWT business I'd bid blind because I trust them. >>



I too buy a lot of tokens this way which are usually sent on approval. Most arrive better then expected so I don't even bother asking a ton of questions prior to shipment.

3keepSECRETif2rDEAD

I would reasonably assume that there are blind folks who collect coins... So the answer is yes to the question.

Erik

Elcontador

<< <i>I would reasonably assume that there are blind folks who collect coins... So the answer is yes to the question.

Erik >>



I would hope they'd have a trusted rep look at the coin so at least they'd have someone in whom they believe vouch that the coin is nice for the grade and is reasonably priced.

I only did this once, when I didn't know any better. I paid for a coin which I thought was high end for the grade when it was a middle of the grade coin. I was lucky; I only paid $150 too much for it. But lesson learned, I never made this mistake again.

CoinRaritiesOnline

As a dealer I'm willing to take some calculated risks to buy things sight unseen (such as in a foreign auction). Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't.

Broadstruck

This was sent to me sight unseen on approval based and I don't recall ever writing out a check so fast on any other!

PerryHall

<< <i>I would reasonably assume that there are blind folks who collect coins... So the answer is yes to the question.

Erik >>



I can't imagine a blind person collecting coins unless it's for investment purposes with the help of a trusted collector or dealer.

PerryHall

If there is a return privilege you aren't really buying sight unseen.

ambro51

Thats what the Bean is for.

BillJones

<< <i>Thats what the Bean is for. >>



That's a convenient theory, but my experience has not supported it.

PerryHall

<< <i>

<< <i>Thats what the Bean is for. >>



That's a convenient theory, but my experience has not supported it. >>



Agree---CAC means properly graded in their opinion which doesn't necessarily mean it has good eye appeal.

OKbustchaser

There are a lot of dealers from whom I will order coins based solely on their description, however, that doesn't mean I will buy them sight-unseen. If you can look the coin over in hand prior to committing yourself--in other words, if once you look at it you can still return it if it doesn't work for you--then you are buying sight-SEEN not unseen.

As for photos--no matter how good they may be--that has absolutely nothing in the world to do with whether or not a purchase is sight seen or unseen. As far as no-return auctions are concerned, yes, I have a price level where I will bid without first seeing the coin, but above that price point the coin needs to be seen--in hand not picture--either by myself or by a trusted agent.

TwoSides2aCoin

So far, I've purchased a 1914 D, 1931 S, 1922 No D, and several other Lincoln cents without looking at them.

If I celebrated this fact on the boards, I'm suddenly a villain, huh ?
One man's junk is another man's jewel

Type2

Funny you say this it does happen. I went to a dealers office on sat he tossed me a zip lock bag and says how much will you give me for it, I kinda look at it and spit out $150 he says $180 and it's yours I bought it and i pulled out 6 coins that are going in to PCGS that will be good ones and the rest are $40 to $70 coins on the low side. There is around 35 of them. He said they are all junk but i know he did not even open the bag to take a look at them from what i found in this bag.....

keyman64

Interesting thread. Most of what I collect these days is rare when it comes to known examples, at least in mint state. With only a couple that are R4, some are R5, many are R6 and some are even R7. When building a set of these you do not have a choice in the matter most of the time. Sure, I'd like to see every single coin before I buy it but it is not possible and it could be years before you find another example...or it could be weeks...and with the goal of building a set of these varieties, it just doesn't matter. You buy the coin and ask questions later, almost. If I need to upgrade it later, so be it. You just never know. I just bought another coin sight unseen although I did see photos, it is in a TPG holder with a CAC sticker. I hope it is nice in hand. It is a variety that NO ONE I know has an example of and they have been searching longer than myself. I hope it is all there MS67. This has potential to be a pretty cool find. I hope to know by the end of the week.

For the common stuff, I would tend to buy things in person as much as possible.

LindeDad

I would think that many dealers basicly do this when buying collections but do it at a steep discount to cover the dreck they get this way.

silverpop

I buy either from a trusted company or person I have done biz with before or I have seen the coin in hand those are the only two ways I will buy a coin

Lakesammman

If it's in the right collectible holder, I don't care what the coin looks like.

MrEureka

As far as I am concerned, buying a coin (or bidding on one) sight-unseen is extremely foolish.

It's just one more risk to factor into the equation. Might be a deal-killer, but you have to keep an open mind.

breakdown

Big difference between buying a coin sight unseen and ordering a coin with full return privileges. Mailing back a coin is a hassle but sweet comfort.

A related question that I would like to know the answer to is in major auctions, where there is no return privilege, how many winners never saw the coin in hand or had a dealer or other agent look at the coin for them. If the percentage is higher than most of us think, then I still don't understand why an auction house doesn't hire Todd Pollock or Messy Desk or Mark Goodman or Tom Bush for imaging. I'm sure it's a matter of economics, but I am amazed at how poor some of the images are of some of the coins I have sold in auction.