Anyone ever take a chance on a so-called "unsearched lot"

ms70

I've been wandering through eBay today during a few hours of down time and saw some huge (supposed) unsearched lots like this one:

Unsearched Lot of Mixed Coins

I know some are questionable, but did anyone here ever take a chance just for fun and discover something really good?

Silveraholic

There are no such thing as unsearched lots on Ebay. Regardless of what the seller claims.

ms70

But if it's on eBay it must be true.

crypto79

The only context they are unsearched is by the idiots. Fortunately the seller have put them up on ebay to give the idiots their chance.

291fifth

About ten years ago, in a period of greed inspired weakness, I ordered an "unsearched" lot with a big story about how they had been put together. It was obvious from the composition of the lot that the story was a lie. The lot consisted of very low end material that didn't fit the story at all.

It took me more than a month to get my money back.

Never again!

MsMorrisine

There have been reports of unsearched wheat cent rolls which included a good variety.

the rest were likely garbage, but if bought at garbage prices, then the buy turned out well, which I think it did for the purchaser.

Overdate

The only way to make sure a lot is unsearched is to unsearch it yourself!

DenverDave

At Least they brought it outside of the tin shed to take photos... lol

Cougar1978

no - there is no such thing as unsearched or unopened

its just a marketing trick to play certain people

anybody with any kind of sense is going to search a lot or open a USM envelope / box and look at the coins

Davideo

There are certainly unsearched coin lots. However, there are likely very few on eBay and those that are truly unsearched are unlikely to contain much of value. Valuable coins are valuable for a reason. So paying anything extra for "unsearched" is a foolish idea in my opinion.

COALPORTER

I don't know if a trunk like that could hold the weight if it is 100% full ?

AMRC

A chest that large, if full, could not be moved by even two people. I call BS. I sell lots of Wheat cents that I do not search more than a random sampling. I have never bought a batch of coins that was not the "leftovers" of someone else's searching. That was the whole point of the folks accumulating the masses wasn't it? I will sample a percentage of coins and decide if it is worth my time or not. Most of the time it is not, so it all goes into a bin. You WILL find Teens, S Mint coins, Steel etc in my batches, because they are just not worth my time to fish out. Will you find a 1909-S VDB? I really doubt it, but not because I have searched the batch and took it out, but because as a child I searched ten's of thousands of coins looking to find one and never could. Why would anyone think they would have survived in some mythical unsearched batch of a past collector just reminds me that hope springs eternal. I guess it could happen, but heck at that point if someone finds it, they deserve it!

erickso1

<< <i>no - there is no such thing as unsearched or unopened

its just a marketing trick to play certain people

anybody with any kind of sense is going to search a lot or open a USM envelope / box and look at the coins >>



While I am relying on gsaguys word, I feel the GSA boxes I have are unopened.

michiganboy

I remember seeing that picture years ago on ebay searching for large collections and lots as keywords. If it still there no way in hell it even is still the same coins or trunk as some suckers must have bought enougn to empty it out or at least close to. All the cigar box, trunk of, etc.. unsearced bulk lots are a straight up rip.

coindeuce

One time. Bought a small mix of foreign coins for a few bucks from an antique co-op proprietor. Found a 19th century rare date Danish coin that cataloged at nearly $200. Placed it on eBay and sold it to a Danish citizen.

ArizonaJack

I bought $500 face in dimes and have found some nice early Mercs, no 21's yet but many better date coins I have been setting aside.

GrumpyEd

Looks faked.

On the surface all the coins are laying flat. On both sides near the back it looks like the coins are falling into the crack along the edge. Like there was a board slightly below the surface and it had a gap along the edge and the coins were falling into it.

Tookybandit

That front square on the box looks like leopard print to me! That adds a little something spicy.

ms70

The coins are probably only 1/2 deep on a tray! LOL.....

Barry

Wanna buy a bridge?

ricko

Just a ploy.... so many con artists on ebay.... because there are so many suckers. Cheers, RickO

nwcoast

Almost all are scams of course with the sellers that do large volumes of the "unsearched" rolls- salting them with an occasional semi key- to fan their feedback. It's a carefully calculated business model with the excess profits on the vast majority of junk rolls, allowing for the occasional goodie to be thrown in and still making a killing on all the junk.

That said, there are occasionally real unsearched rolls out there.
It's rare but I can vouch personally for having sold some. These rolls were more 'time capsule' material from 1964. Without question "unopened and unsearched" dime rolls from an inheritance I aquired. They had been socked away as silver value in 1964.
I inherited many in all denominations. In the dimes, there would be 64 BU's mixed in with the expected circulated stuff, including an occasionally Mercury....
I sold a couple on Ebay, hoping to get more than silver value, I didn't!
But I did have some happy customers!
I kept the rest, as I'd rather search them!!!
Still have many unopened and saving for a rainy day.... Stored in the safe deposit box BTW....
You're not going to find a 16-d.....
But otherwise...... Who knows???? Like going back in time to 1964!

lordmarcovan

<< <i>One time. Bought a small mix of foreign coins for a few bucks from an antique co-op proprietor. Found a 19th century rare date Danish coin that cataloged at nearly $200. Placed it on eBay and sold it to a Danish citizen. >>



This has happened to me dozens of times. Your Danish example also happened to me with a Danish coin last year. Mine sold for just over $200 and predictably went home to Denmark. I still have another from the same lot which should be a$100-150-ish coin. It is off at PCGS right now.

I have found scarce colonial era issues in bulk lots of world coins: a CT copper, a London Elephant token, a St. Patrick halfpenny, and a fair number of CWTs.

Cherrypicking bulk world coin lots has been a significant part of how I've financed my collecting in the past, and it has taught me a good bit.

No unsearched lots on eBay? Nonsense. I've seen multi-thousand dollar profits earned on box lots that cost $30-40 on eBay.

I'll grant you that that sort of thing doesn't happen all the time, or even all that often, but it DOES happen.

You just have to have a sharp eye, shop the right categories, and yes, have a bit of luck.

That being said, I do agree that you probably can't expect much from sellers who hype the "unsearched" aspect and use the treasure chest pictures and all that.

lordmarcovan

<< <i>The only way to make sure a lot is unsearched is to unsearch it yourself! >>

Actually, this is all it means.

"I did not search these myself. Who knows about the six people who had this stuff before me."

PRECIOUSMENTAL

Doubtful that a chest of that style could withstand 1800 pounds of coins.

Shamika

<< <i>There are certainly unsearched coin lots. However, there are likely very few on eBay and those that are truly unsearched are unlikely to contain much of value. Valuable coins are valuable for a reason. So paying anything extra for "unsearched" is a foolish idea in my opinion. >>



Very well said.

lcoopie

I doubt it is filled with coins indicating fraud to me.

Dentuck

About 15 years ago there was a guy in Pennsylvania who was selling
unsearched lots on eBay. U.S. coins, world coins, and exonumia. Claimed
to be selling off an estate, and at first I was skeptical but he delivered on
the goods. I found some amazing material in his bulk lots --- gold world
coins, old medals and tokens, silver, etc., all of it mixed together "junk
box" style. His communications started to become erratic a few weeks
in --- delayed responses to emails, etc. My last purchase from him was
a canvas bag of Wheat cents that I won for a song, with free shipping.
Took a few weeks of querying to actually get the coins from him. I
couldn't tell if he was just overwhelmed (if the hassle of packaging
and shipping so many eBay lots was getting to him and he was behind
schedule), or if there was some kind of shenanigans going on (like
putting lots up for sale when he didn't actually have the coins in hand),
but his emails toward the end were less and less professional in tone,
almost like he was slowly losing his mind.

Anyway, I'm confident that his lots were unsearched in the sense that
we think of such things --- if he'd done any searching, then he was the
worst cherrypicker in the history of numismatics.

Treashunt

nice, Dennis.


Did you get any of the gold coins?

Dentuck

I did indeed! I remember a Turks and Caicos gold Proof in its original mint packaging.

One lot included several British and Commonwealth crowns --- silver WWII
commemoratives and others. Now that I think of it, my CU forum icon was one of the
coins in one of these unsearched lots.

pcunix

<< <i>

<< <i>The only way to make sure a lot is unsearched is to unsearch it yourself! >>

Actually, this is all it means.

"I did not search these myself. Who knows about the six people who had this stuff before me." >>



Yes, definitely. But it CAN be real. I know someone right now who is debating whether to search his older mint bought boxes for error coins or just sell them as unsearched - which is truly what they are. Now, I wouldn't buy them even knowing him, but if I already owned them (presumably due to having lost my mind at some point and buying rolls or boxes from the mint), I'm not sure what I would do either.

lkrarecoins

Always remember, "Unsearched" means unsearched by human hands....doesn't mean that these guys below didn't look at them!

Wabbit2313

<< <i>if he'd done any searching, then he was the
worst cherrypicker in the history of numismatics. >>

WoodenJefferson

I found some pretty good deals when e-Bay was in it's infancy and the novelty of selling something on-line appealed to the adventurous sort of folks who would part with most anything just to say "I sold that on e-Bay!"

Unsearched was not used as much as 'lots' were used, where you had Grandpa's cigar box half full of coins, watch fobs, company tokens, ball markers for golf...junk, etc. The pictures were lousy, you did not know what was underneath nor was it explained, just said 'coins' and that they would put the coins in zip-locks and put them inside the cigar box before shipping.

(Note: If you remember e-Bay auctions that said, cigar box, treasure chest not included, the auctions I looked for were for real people selling off personal items where they could get their feet wet and make a little money)

I pulled a raw AU-58 1877 Seated Liberty half dollar out of a lot of mostly wheat cents & Jefferson nickels. When I went back to the auction and looked at the images provided, I think I could now see a small part of the rim from the half dollar peeking out of the pile. Had they put that coin 'on top' of the pile, they would have generated more interest, if IRRC I paid less than $15 for the lot and maybe $3 for shipping.

Those days are gone forever, now e-Bay is rife with hucksters pawning off "Unsearch" rolls, mint & proof sets, bags, boxes, chests, pails, barrels, bottles, tin cans, violin cases full of culls & junk...you name it, they sell it!

gonzer

You tellin' me that thing weighs as much as a '67 VW bug???? I.....don't....think...so.

georgiacop50

I went for a bag of unseatched wheats many yrs ago.

Was surprised to find that the different dates/ mint marks were almost all present in various multiples of 50...

quite a remarkable coincidence!

That was M S Hirschorn whom was a Coin World cent seller in the early 1980's.

leothelyon

Yeah, sure....big waste of time........don't bother looking for treasures on ebay.

secondrepublic

There are probably some truly unsearched bulk lots. It's a lot of work to look through ten thousands of wheat cents, especially for varieties. Even common 90% silver may not be closely searched. For dates and mintmarks, maybe 'yes,' but for more estoteric varieties, probably there is actually some amount of unsearched material.

mustangmanbob

I bought, maybe 10 years ago, about 8 lots out of maybe 100 that were being auctioned, unsearched, coin dealer inventory, liquidating, etc.

The ebay description promised a gold coin in each lot, and they were going for $60 or more at first, and by the end, were going for $150 plus.

What I got was the usual, about 6" long box of 2 x 2's. Mostly overgraded wheat pennys, but there was at least 1 Morgan and 1 Peace in each, and lots of Franklin and Liberty Halves, so it was not a total waste, however, there was no gold coin in any of it.

I questioned the seller, and the seller's response was that all the coins came from a single dealer lot, (all 100+ lots being auctioned) and there was one gold coin in THAT lot.

Anyway, I protested, and the seller's rating turned RED from other people negative rating the seller.

She called me back, and asked if I wanted to keep the coins, and would $40 a lot be OK, and she would refund the overage. At that time, a Silver dollar was going for around $12, so I agreed. Basically, it was silver melt for the lot, with the pennys and nickels for free.