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Have you or will you overpay for the last coin you need for a complete set?
DMWJR
Posts: 5,975 ✭✭✭✭✭
Some people last for years with one hole waiting on the right coin at the right price, while others pay moon money to plug that hole.
Do you have will power, or will you overpay for that last coin you need to complete a set?
Doug
0
Comments
<< <i> will you overpay >>
Yes I will
<< <i>
<< <i> will you overpay >>
Yes I will
+1
Joseph J. Singleton - First Superintendent of the U.S. Branch Mint in Dahlonega Georgia
Findley Ridge Collection
About Findley Ridge
I went about three years with only a 15-s needed to complete my basic Lincoln set, and passed on several during that time and many more in the years before that. But, I can't deny that there was a lot of self imposed pressure to pull the trigger when one in the grade I wanted came up for sale. It's a tough date to find nice. I felt pressure to buy a lesser grade, even to overpay for a lesser grade just to fill the hole. It seemed so much easier to pass on them until I got down to that last hole. I finally found one about a year ago and bought it. It's nice for the grade and fits my set, but I'm pretty sure I'm not going to get my money back on it if I sold it
I have two other sets now in a similar situation. With one, a coin is coming up for auction in the grade I want, but the about average for the grade. In looking at the current bid and the number of trackers, it looks to go for more than I would probably like to pay. In the other set, there is a nice coin in a dealer's inventory but at about 2.5x what they have publicly sold for. It's frustrating.
when the next opportunity to purchase said coin will present
itself. At this point in time I do not plan on selling my collection
and possibly lose money; but who knows what the future holds.
The pleasure of owning has to be worth something.
<< <i>I've over paid for many coins just to have them. Who knows
when the next opportunity to purchase said coin will present
itself. At this point in time I do not plan on selling my collection
and possibly lose money; but who knows what the future holds.
The pleasure of owning has to be worth something. >>
+1
My Collection of Old Holders
Never a slave to one plastic brand will I ever be.
<< <i>I've over paid for many coins just to have them. Who knows
when the next opportunity to purchase said coin will present
itself. At this point in time I do not plan on selling my collection
and possibly lose money; but who knows what the future holds.
The pleasure of owning has to be worth something. >>
+2
OINK
Sean Reynolds
"Keep in mind that most of what passes as numismatic information is no more than tested opinion at best, and marketing blather at worst. However, I try to choose my words carefully, since I know that you guys are always watching." - Joe O'Connor
Many Lincoln collectors give up on the S mints in the teens and twenties and "settle" for a coin they are not happy with or one that doesn't fit their set. Kudos for paying up for a truly rare coin when it comes available. I have paid a premium for many when the coin is all there and don't have the remorse I have when I "steal" an average or lower quality coin. That's where my remorse coins reside. It's just that the last coin has the added pressure of giving you the satisfaction of completion that no other coin in the set can give you. It's a unique feeling in the collecting process!
ACR -- you suck!
Well . . . now the set is basically gone. No problems, just knew it was not going to rise any farther up the Registry. Had some great pieces and sold and did well.
Except my 1889-CC.
Still have it. One of my last two keys -- have been setting up at shows and dropped the price continually for two years -- still no one looking.
Was my last coin. It will also be the last coin I die with . . . . .
Drunner
How about on most of them--at least compared to sheet. (I don't personally think that I overpaid for them since they were worth the paid price TO ME.)
Now that's a stroke of luck, but if I had to GO FIND it, there's no question most of us will have to "STEP" up when the opportunity presents itself. That is, IF one really , truly wants it and the time is typically irrelevant as are finances. when we (boys) want our toys.
The "stars" usually have to come into alignment for most of us. Or shall I say, the "lucky stars". As I see it, most serious collectors will answer YES to this question.
That's why my first post said "I'm not finished spending stupid money"
<< <i>I have found that starting with the most difficult dates makes more sense. The last coin that I buy will be very common.
OINK >>
This
Latin American Collection
1815 & 1794 Half Dollars are just a little too much. Did it on the new Kennedy's just the other day on the Modern Commemorative set though, but the water there is not as deep.
<< <i>
<< <i>I have found that starting with the most difficult dates makes more sense. The last coin that I buy will be very common.
OINK >>
This >>
Let me just make another comment or two based solely on my experience regarding this. My sets have all been 10+ years in the making. It may take that long for the right coin for your set to come up in those stopper dates. While you are doing that it makes sense to pick up common dates as they come along and look really good. My most beautiful coins are common dates, but the grade rarity and eye appeal make them an extreme pleasure to own and at a very reasonable price. Nevertheless, your key dates are going to be the centerpiece of your collection and finding the right ones are going to take time, money and relationships.
Also, you can spend a lot of time trying to find beautiful coins in the common dates. Mass production of some dates and eras did not produce beautiful coins, and Registry set demands on TPG's have caused serious overgrading for some dates like the P mint Lincolns from the late 40's and early 50's in MS65, 66, and even 67.
Lack of patience has produced my most regrettable purchases, whether the money was strong or cheap for the grade.
When I was a collector, for two sets it took ten years to find the last coin. One was a bargain, the other I overpaid. Ten years is a long time to look for a coin.
At a show a few years ago, a collector found a coin at my table that was exactly what he was looking for. Problem is he wanted to pay $500 and I needed $600 for it. I asked him how long he had been looking for the coin. Five years. He didn't buy the coin which of course is OK as it is his collection and he can decide what he wants to buy or not buy. But when I was a collector, I would have bought the coin for the extra $100 if I had been looking for it for 5 years.
I have had sets that I approached by buying the most difficult dates first. Thus the last coin(s) will be common, and there is no need to overpay for them. In fact, for one set the last 5 coins were so common that I decided not to buy them as they wouldn't have added anything to the set except getting closer to completeness. That set I was missing two ultra-rarities that meant that the set would never be completed.
An authorized PCGS dealer, and a contributor to the Red Book.
Hoard the keys.
Cheers,
Bob
As I am working through my collection, I am like the OP. I have been watching the coins that are readily available and appear in almost every major auction/show and you can really "choose" the one that calls to you. What I have found fascinating is the other coins, the early D's and S's for Lincolns (pre-1930), how strike and color becomes an interesting study and hides the true keys. Overlay the original look for a date and how that changes as compared to coins that have been cleaned decades ago and now have retoned. Throw in die varieties, rpm's, DDO's, DDR's, clashed dies to spice up the collection and you realize the last one is not there, it has become a shell game within the coins you collect as to which is the "last" one. I think I have bought the "last" one a number of times!
Regarding overpaying, I will "overpay" on coins that don't come available every collecting cycle (peak and valley). I don't like to think of it as overpaying but paying what I feel the coin is worth based on various guides and condition rarity but with the knowledge that due to limited availability, these coins are extremely hard to determine what is a reasonable price to pay as they don't become available every collecting cycle.
Where I won't overpay is when a coin's PCGS population goes from 10 in top grade to 40-50 but sellers are still asking the pop 10 prices. I will sit patiently for those for a very long time.
Have a Happy New and may you all get your last coin for half what you would have paid for it!
<< <i>I will wait it out, I have more time than money. >>
Not me....at my age, time is not on my side.
Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry
And I guess it is because time is also not on my side and I would like to have a complete collection to pass on.
I often think of "Am I going to loose this coin over 20 bucks!" and When will I find and see the next one for sale.
I do enjoy looking over the peices I have collected and I do like to carry some of them around to show friends and family.
I have a good time at any show I go to and show the coins to any and all dealers, Some just can't believe I collect what I do.
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Great transactions with oih82w8, JasonGaming, Moose1913.
“I may not believe in myself but I believe in what I’m doing” ~Jimmy Page~
My Full Walker Registry Set (1916-1947)
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars