Post a coin that you "made" and the story behind it

Boosibri · September 12, 2014 3:04PM

I've seen the term "making" a coin used several different ways... raw finds, crack outs and upgrades.

I saw this 59-as on eBay in an ICG 55 holder with ok but not good enough pics with a PCGS 55 price tag with 7 day return. I left it and the coin nagged at me for a day. I eventually dropped a lower but reasonable offer for the coin and left for dinner. My phone dings in my pocket with "offer accepted" while in the rest room changing my newborn at the time.

Send the coin to PCGS, in the ICG slab and the coin crosses as a 53, exactly where I thought it should be. Off to CAC for a sticker and now it is one of my favorite coins.

Another interesting and exciting event for me I documented here...

Gold from the wild

Any stories to offer?

Type2 · September 12, 2014 7:04PM

I make a lot of coins every month but here is one that i saw in a dealers case and bought it for $850 and every one was saying i over paid on it, I sent it in and bang rec a MS67 but i was thinking maybe MS66. Now that was a good one for me i get a good one here and there been doing more on the dark side as of late and doing good there as well.

Here is the coin i'am talking about.

CMCART · September 12, 2014 7:11PM

Wow!great CC GSA

LindeDad · September 12, 2014 11:30PM

First show I ever went to, the Boeing show in Kent. Dealers case in a cardboard 2x2 marked VF. Thought it was under graded so did PCGS.

Dealer name withheld as I might want to shop there again.

Neca63 · September 12, 2014 11:33PM

I made an ungraded gem+ 1941 s strong strike full step nickel that could plate.
If I remember correctly , it was close to 6 step.
It is the normal large S and not the doubled one.

Weiss · September 13, 2014 1:17AM

I seemed to be blessed with dumb decisions. Years ago, I decided to expand my small real estate business by taking on a dilapidated 12 unit, 40 bedroom apartment building in a sketchy neighborhood on the outskirts of the local college campus. It was in terrible shape, I didn't have the right experience, and I definitely didn't have the amount of money I needed to pull it off. But I did anyway. After several years of sleepless nights and beating it into shape, I sold the building for 3x what I paid for it. That left me with more cash than I'd ever had in my life--at about the time that it appeared real estate was in for a bumpy ride.

Being a hard asset person like many of us here are, I could see the writing on the wall and decided to sink most of that money into metals. I went big at the beginning, then decided to kind of dollar cost average the rest over the following weeks and months as conditions warranted. That meant often daily trips to my dealer with wads of money earmarked for metals in whatever form I felt appropriate. Looking back it was some of the most fun I've ever had. A real kid in a candy shop with a self-directed obligation to buy as much as I could eat.

I happened to stop by my dealer as he concluded the purchase of a tiny collection from an older woman. Just a few pieces. I asked if there was any gold in the mix. He got a big grin and handed me a flip with a gold dollar in it. Now I didn't know the series and I was looking for saints and eagles. Besides, I was looking for primarily bullion rather than numismatic gold. But I knew enough to know it was a pretty early piece (not your typical 1880s or 1890s $5 gold piece). I think my less-than-enthusiastic response kind of burst his bubble--it was an unusual piece and he'd handled very few of them. I flipped open his counter copy of the redbook, saw the mintage was quite low.

I asked how much. If I recall correctly, he'd given it a high VF grade and offered it to me as a quick flip for about $1000 cash. Again I made a dumb decision: To opt not to buy another ounce or so of gold, to buy a series I didn't know and couldn't grade, just because.

A few months later I sent in my first (and to date only) submission to a TPG. Those five pieces included the gold dollar, as well as a 1914 $20 saint I'd gotten from my dealer about a year earlier as an XF for melt plus a few dollars. The saint was an afterthought--it's got a low mintage but relatively high pops. I just added it to the group because no other raw coin I had seemed to be worth slabbing. And the final dumb decision was NOT to dip, wipe, or otherwise clean the gold dollar. Had no idea that original surface southern gold was so rare. But I sent it in without so much as blowing the dust off of it.

And the results were...

Boosibri · September 13, 2014 2:27AM

That gold dollar is really really nice!

JRocco · September 13, 2014 2:40AM

I am one of those compulsive collectors. I have always enjoyed "old stuff" and this has sure led me in different directions in my life.

One collection I had was old tools. I loved hand forged tools and had a few nice pieces. One day I was working the bench and one of my regulars, an old farmer in upstate NY told me that he had a similar interest and we started talking about some of the items we had. One item I had was an old coal shovel. This beauty was a heavy, maybe 12 pound shovel with a forged blade and a one piece hand carved wooden handle. No idea of it's worth, but I liked it. Well so did he, and he wanted it.

Well another thing I always enjoyed was bartering and trading. He asked me what I wanted for the shovel and I told him I wasn't interested in money, but asked if he had anything I might want to trade for it. Well it turned out that he had some really nice older coins that he really had no interest in.

He shows up one day while I was at work with this little beauty and asked if I would take it in trade for the shovel.
One look and I told him that this was a really nice piece and probably worth 4 figures. He just smiled and said "Well I guess then we have a trade"

Well I threw in an old tap and die set in it's original wooden box with the coal shovel just because.

Turned out he also had an old Lincoln cent collection with MS coins from the teens and 20's, as well as THE MEDAL, my Pope Pius Cathedral medal I have shown here several times. We traded quite a few items over the years.

1743 Full Crown with roses

edited to add - He said he never purchased the Full Crown but it was in the family forever. I bet it was used in early colonial times here in the states.

AnkurJ · September 13, 2014 3:10AM

Will post a pic but sadly I recently sold the coin.

My local jeweler called me and said she had a $20 gold coin that came in. I said I would stop by to look at it. I was expecting a polished or cleaned coin, but what was handed to me was a very nice original 1909s Saint. I purchased it for a little over melt which was around $1300 at the time. The coin was sent to PCGS where it slabbed as MS64, and it also passed CAC! I loved the coin but sadly had to sell it to fund a bigger purchase. However I am happy it went to a collector who has it in his registry set.

Ankur

Unknown · September 13, 2014 3:23AM

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bamorgan · September 13, 2014 7:55AM

One day during my lunch hour I stopped by an antique store and found a 1888 O Morgan dollar in a cardboard 2x2 listed for what I thought was $50. The handwriting was so poor that the cashier wanted to charge me $80. Knowing this Morgan was worth a lot more than even the $80, I asked the cashier to hold the coin and contact the seller to determine the true asking price. I look back and realize this was foolish, I should have paid the $80 and smiled all the way back to work. It became increasing difficult to focus on the business at hand that afternoon, until the cashier called to tell me that the owner wanted $50 for the coin, business was then out the window and I was giddy researching VAM's. Turns out a "Scarface" is one of the easiest VAM's to identify but one of the most elusive to find.
I sent the coin to PCGS and it came back MS63, one of 27, none finer. Sadly I sold the coin to pay my children's tuition. I say sadly since I miss having that coin in my collection. Some day I will own another.

I will post a picture when I can determine the process.

mercurydimeguy · September 13, 2014 8:10AM

Good timing for your thread, I've had a bunch of orders in at PCGS for a while, and because of shows, etc. they were delayed. Well today was like Christmas in September, I got 3 orders in the mail and one of them was this coin that I just made at PCGS. Most of you will realize how rare this coin is, so while it's not MS anything, this one (in terms of my collection) is a top drawer coin.

Prior to my submission, PCGS has only graded 34 instances of 69-P $5's. I suspect that results in less than 30 actual coins in existence as undoubtedly some of them have been cracked out and resubmitted. I actually don't know the last time PCGS graded a 69-P $5 (maybe someone with older Population reports might know). I do know that earlier this week I single handedly increased the Population by nearly 3%...and when the finest graded by PCGS is an AU58, this VF35 is a beauty in my eyes. It's one of the tougher coins for my 1869 Mint Set...for obvious reasons.

Was in an older style NGC holder and looked like it would grade. I put it as a high end PCGS 35, low end PCGS 40. So it came back as a 35. Some might disagree on the grade, but given that there are not that many to compare, I have no frame of reference. While pictures are really tough, given low mintages of this coin, it is still fully PL (looks like an impaired proof in hand), and has amazing luster. The dankness on the coin photo are actually mirror portions of the coin that reflect back, which makes them look black. The coin has a natural gold color to it and I'm telling you if this was handed to you at arms length you'd swear the coin was AU. It just has that nice eye appeal look to it in hand (the pictures I took were on the quick, I'll probably re-photograph the coin over the next couple weeks).

To put it in context as to how scarce this coin is, I've never actually seen one in hand before this one... (but I don't get out much so that's my disclaimer).

I won this coin at about two thirds of my max bid, thinking the bidding would be spirited for something this rare, but I totally got lucky! Anyhow, I have some much cooler stories of other coins as more than 1/2 of my collection I made at PCGS myself. I will share them and photos later...

PS. Regarding the other "grade-flation" kind of threads, given my recent results I can personally say from my vantage point every coin I got graded came in at the lower end on the potential grade spectrum, meaning a nicer coin than a grade might suggest...so I just don't see some of the complaints about over-grading. PCGS is being really tough with tough coins, that's how I see it, and have for the past 12 months.

lkeigwin · September 13, 2014 8:48AM

Crossing conditional-rarity wheaties is next to impossible. NGC and PCGS simply have different standards. A quick check of pop reports for the difficult Philly and Denver late 40's and 50's in MS67RD shows markedly different numbers.

For example, NGC has graded 133 Lincolns in 67RD for 1953-D (out of 1004 RD submissions). PCGS just 29 (out of 1739).

I found a nice NGC 67RD and took a chance, paying $183.27. It crossed at grade and has a price guide value of $3250. A rare victory for me.
Lance.

Cameonut · September 13, 2014 9:35AM

I always figured that making a coin was having a raw coin graded, but I can see the term applied to upgrades, varieties, etc.

I have three I haven't shared in a while:
First is this quarter that I found in a raw proof set at a small show in Detroit. Can't remember what I paid for the set - something like $5. PCGS liked it and assigned it a PR69dcam - got a YOU SUCK for it.

The second is from another raw proof set I found at a show in Flint Michigan - the cameo was evident even thru the cello bags. PCGS assigned it a 67 dcam grade. Carl Wohlforth (RIP), and I had a great dialog on this one. Paid between bid and ask for the set (maybe $200 if I remember right). Got a YOU SUCK for this one too.

And lastly, I found this in one of those "unopened proof sets" that were discussed ad nauseum on the forums about 8 years ago. But this was from a new dealer at a small show in Flint Michigan. I was hoping for cameos but ended up with "the big one". Paid about $15 or so for the set. Got a YOU SUCK for this one too.

Edited to add more prices...

TwoSides2aCoin · September 13, 2014 10:00AM

One time this dealer traded me some small gold for a large gold. He liked the Saints and Libs. It was a "bullion for bullion" type trade.
I liked the coins he had, and sent them to PCGS where they graded MS 66 and MS 65, respectively.

I think that Saint was a generic 62 and his daughter was the only personality he had.

Bad dealer gone wild.

One time a lady came in with a red felt bag that had about 20 Morgans in it.

Here are a few of them :

Another time, this old man came in. I didn't know he was the TIDY HOUSE Soap guy (Bob Osterholm, RIP) He sold me this dollar for what seemed like a half hour of haggling and finally he said, "Geeze Joe, you're shrewd".
And one day, I decided to submit it.

You don't want to know the rest of the stories.
P.S. When I read the term "made", I always assumed it was a raw coin that got graded. Not a crack and upgrade, but a raw coin submitted.

Kyle · September 13, 2014 10:32AM

<< <i>I make a lot of coins every month but here is one that i saw in a dealers case and bought it for $850 and every one was saying i over paid on it, I sent it in and bang rec a MS67 but i was thinking maybe MS66. Now that was a good one for me i get a good one here and there been doing more on the dark side as of late and doing good there as well.

Here is the coin i'am talking about.

>>

Overpaid at $850?! That's less than MS-65 money.

You scored on that one, it's hard to find GSA coins in that condition, that haven't been slabbed.

I assume you had posted it on here when you first bought it. Do you have a link to the thread?

Bodin · September 13, 2014 11:19AM

<< <i>

<< <i>I make a lot of coins every month but here is one that i saw in a dealers case and bought it for $850 and every one was saying i over paid on it, I sent it in and bang rec a MS67 but i was thinking maybe MS66. Now that was a good one for me i get a good one here and there been doing more on the dark side as of late and doing good there as well.

Here is the coin i'am talking about.

>>

Overpaid at $850?! That's less than MS-65 money.

You scored on that one, it's hard to find GSA coins in that condition, that haven't been slabbed.

I assume you had posted it on here when you first bought it. Do you have a link to the thread? >>

LINK

Swampboy · September 13, 2014 11:22AM

This was a fun coin for me to find going through 2 x 2s at a show a few years back.

I paid $8.50 for it and then sent it in to PCGS.

It came back 66RB pop 1/0 and boy was I was delighted.
It's still the only 33-D 66RB and is now in another members collection.

CoinFacts image

Kyle · September 13, 2014 11:34AM

<< <i>LINK
>>

Thanks, I remember reading through that thread.

JCMhouston · September 13, 2014 1:19PM

I picked this up raw in a UK auction, after seeing the picture I discussed it with the auctioneer and placed a substantial bid, he seemed a bit surprised by how much I wanted it. The toning is not attractive, and it does have a ding on the obverse portrait...

1812 1 Shilling 6 pence Bank of England token, laureate head, small letter pattern, currently 1 of 5 known, and now in a NGC holder as the only one graded.

mercurydimeguy · September 14, 2014 1:04AM

Here's another one (had it posted in my Clad feedback thread). It's a tough coin in MS66 and higher, and basically a ghost in FB designation. Even if you stumble upon an MS66, a lot of them really have no eye appeal.

I bought the below example raw for $8. I almost couldn't believe I found an example this nice, and it was so cheap. Thought it had to be at least a 65...shot 66 (no shot at FB because bottom band is not all there). Here it is today, part of my 1969 Registry Set in a PCGS MS66 holder

Baley · September 14, 2014 1:10AM

Here's my best one so far, and probably ever, it's been over 10 years now

The story behind it

edit: still looking though

ricko · September 14, 2014 6:17AM

That '81 CC is a beauty.... Cheers, RickO

Ajjohnson77 · September 15, 2014 12:32AM

This Norfolk was originally in an NGC MS66 slab. I cracked it out and sent it to PCGS and it came back MS65, which was upsetting. SO I cracked it out once again and sent it to PCGS and it came back MS67. I still have the coin as part of my early half commem set.

SkyMan · September 15, 2014 2:40AM

I wasn't sure whether this was going to grade because of it's scratch. I thought it was an AU (although I paid well more than that). PCGS liked it for an MS62.

relicsncoins · September 15, 2014 3:13AM

Here are a couple.

Paid $150 and sent into PCGS, and it came back MS67.

Paid $120 and sent into PCGS came back MS66FB

Wabbit2313 · September 15, 2014 3:56AM

Some great stories here!

I am not so sure about those 1881-O Morgans? With the grading fees, they are losing money big time!

Jinx86 · September 15, 2014 4:30AM

Dealer likes to hold world coins for me. The day this came in his shop he sold it to me for $115. I was very hesitant at that price but really liked the eye appeal.
Sent into PCGS 3-4 years later and came back as a MS65 Pop 1/0. I showed it to a specialty dealer who offered $3000.
This is one of my personal favorite coins and with how little I have into it, Im holding till I need to sell or find a new passion.

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Post a coin that you "made" and the story behind it

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Post a coin that you &quot;made&quot; and the story behind it

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Post a coin that you "made" and the story behind it