Options
How many collectors or dealers buy a coin without looking at it?
Tiny
Posts: 2,598
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?
0
Comments
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.
RMR: 'Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich denn aus der Engel Ordnungen?'
CJ: 'No one!' [Ain't no angels in the coin biz]
<< <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....
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.
<< <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.
RMR: 'Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich denn aus der Engel Ordnungen?'
CJ: 'No one!' [Ain't no angels in the coin biz]
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.
"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
See http://www.doubledimes.com for a free online reference for US twenty-cent pieces
Best wishes,
Eric
<< <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.
Erik
<< <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.
"Seu cabra da peste,
"Sou Mangueira......."
Coin Rarities Online
<< <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.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
<< <i>Thats what the Bean is for. >>
That's a convenient theory, but my experience has not supported it.
<< <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.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
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.
If I celebrated this fact on the boards, I'm suddenly a villain, huh ?
One man's junk is another man's jewel
Hoard the keys.
For the common stuff, I would tend to buy things in person as much as possible.
Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
coins for sale at link below
https://photos.app.goo.gl/yGharuQgUMTSUKav7
It's just one more risk to factor into the equation. Might be a deal-killer, but you have to keep an open mind.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
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.
"Look up, old boy, and see what you get." -William Bonney.