What is the biggest loss you have taken on a coin
lunytune2
Posts: 1,077 ✭✭✭
And how long did it hurt ?
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lunytune2
Posts: 1,077 ✭✭✭
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I don't know yet.
$2000 and it lasted 1 day needed to move on or it will kill you. Not literally but the hurt will only last as long as you keep thinking about it. Stay focus and move on to the next one, you will win some and lose some but there is always a win around the corner. You can go home and kick the dog slap the wife or husband pull your hair out but in the end nothing will change then you will be in jail bald looking like this guy..
Keep your head up and keep on looking for a Cherry it helps.
Hoard the keys.
This may not be believable, but I've never sold a coin for less than I paid.
(That by no means that all of the coins I own are worth more than I paid)
Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry
$1000.00 on Ebay, I thought it would go for more. This was the early days on Ebay. Sometimes I wonder how many coins go for more that they are worth on Ebay....
Not exactly a loss loss. But in the 1990's I made a couple of MS68 Kennedys- 1991-D and 1993-D ; sold the pair for $600.
They are worth about 10 times that now. Makes my stomach knot to this day.
That got dark fast.
2.5K on a 78 CC DMPL
New to collecting and learned the hard way
I'm not new , but still have a lot to learn . If I sell that may be my loss also rainbowlover1
$6000. But it was a (world coin) circulated rarity and the market has declined on these.
Hurt for a few days, but the money was redeployed on better things.
They need an OUCH button for that one Pruebas
8k,
Bought an 1804 PCGS 45 dime at top of market for 48k, and it sold for a loss at 40k last year, but same exact coin just sold again in a heritage sale at 32K this time around.
Wow , could have been much worse if you waited !
At that rate all you have to do is wait four more sales and the coin will be free!
I don't know what my largest loss was, either as a percentage or absolute number, but I have had many.
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
My biggest loss was $6K. But that could have easily been a $10K gain due to market timing. It was a good coin (finest known) and bought right in a down market.....just sold into a poor/scared market. Owned it for 9 years. NGC CAC. Had it been PCGS no-CAC the loss never would have occurred.
I'd rather detail my worst all time % loss.....85%. An 1863 Gem proof seated quarter bought in 1983 from a leading national coin dealer for $3,000. That same dealer has appeared on Pawn Stars a few times as an expert. When I sent my best coins into PCGS and NGC in late 1987/early 1988 to see how they would grade, this was the only coin that came back AT. I was shocked. I was so disgusted with the coin that before I could think it through....I dipped it in an ammonia solution. And it came out looking like a lifeless piece of garbage with hairlines. I sent it back in again....NGC PF62 worth around $450 at that time. I've never forgotten that one. That pain is eternal.
The better course of action would have been to recycle that coin without ever dipping it back into a Stacks or B&M auction. It probably would have realized $1,000 maybe even $2,000. The coin did have decent eye appeal.
Man- That one hurt !
None of my losses to date exceed the low 3 digits but I swim in the shallow end most of the time. It seems that I have accumulated more total losses in the last 6 months though in small nickel and dime amounts because of the rough market.
Hoping to buy new material at more realistic prices. Problem is many don't want to come to reality. Was at a show today and didn't see one generic silver bar or round below $22.
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I'm sure over the years that I've sold some coins at a loss but damn, some of you guys are talking about losing thousands of dollars on a sale. Have you ever considered putting a reserve on the auction?
I know a guy that sold off a gun collection for a fraction of it's value but, he needed cash fast. (I think his past caught up with him).
I've had a lot of losses usually do to unfortunate judgments based on being too trusting of expert opinions, coins certified by non-P/N services. Always be willing to walk away from a deal, no one needs numismatics from a survival standpoint. I've had several $1-$2K losses as well as thefts which were the costliest.
My biggest loss on a single coin was around $400-$500 dollars. Back in the late 80s or early 90s I bought an ugly toned (IMO) 1949 S PCGS MS66FBL Franklin half, broke it out and dipped it. It turned out terrible and I should have known the toning was embedded in the coin. Lesson learned. The sting didn't last long, until YOU brought it up!
Maybe a hundy give or take a few dollars, but I have also made a hundy or so on a few coins.
Some of you people are way out of my league.
Setting strong reserves don't ensure anything....other than you're likely to get your coin back and take a 5-10% BB fee hit in the process. How many times do you want to do that? I always use reserves and set the coin at the least amount I would ever take for it....and usually that's low, low wholesale. If the market is good, and the coin is good, that coin will bring solid money.
Speaking of big hits by big players. How about Joe Thomas' 1839 ND half in MS67? He paid $375K-$450K for that in 2004-2006. In early 2009 it went for around 1/3....and in 2011 it fetched $172K. In 2013 it brought $138K. No amount of reserves setting would have protected him. In 2015 Gene Gardner sold the ex-Newman monster 1840-0 ND quarter MS67 for $199K....one of the most impressive MS seated quarters ever. The only negative was that he paid $329K for it the year before at Newman. Timing is everything....even for quality coins. The 1794 Amon Carter FH dollar SP66 was on the market for $1 MILL in 1989/1990. Not too long after that it was around $400K. Even the best neighborhoods can experience a fire sale. You think a "reserve" was going to help any in these situations?
About $700 and it hurt for at least 20 minutes if not 30. I have bought and sold a lot in the last 10 years and sometimes it doesn't go your way.
TBD
"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
I'm sure many people have quite a few unrealized losses that will be realized when they or their family sell.
My biggest was this year to the tune of $1,500.
If you can't afford to lose you shouldn't be in the game...I've lost a few thousand...made a few thousand...guessing Roadrunner has made much more than he has lost...
"Speaking of big hits by big players. How about Joe Thomas' 1839 ND half in MS67? He paid $375K-$450K for that in 2004-2006. In early 2009 it went for around 1/3....and in 2011 it fetched $172K. In 2013 it brought $138K. No amount of reserves setting would have protected him. In 2015 Gene Gardner sold the ex-Newman monster 1840-0 ND quarter MS67 for $199K....one of the most impressive MS seated quarters ever. The only negative was that he paid $329K for it the year before at Newman. Timing is everything....even for quality coins. The 1794 Amon Carter FH dollar SP66 was on the market for $1 MILL in 1989/1990. Not too long after that it was around $400K. Even the best neighborhoods can experience a fire sale. You think a "reserve" was going to help any in these situations?"
Uh yes? Granted the coin would not have sold in any of those situations but, if they had put a reserve they wouldn't have lost their ass either. They would still have the coin today and the market might be better. On a coin that expensive, I would put it away in a safety deposit box before I took a loss like that.
What is this selling you speak of?
I had a washington clad quarter that was really odd (as in had a few hills and valleys) not lined up with one another.
I found it in pocket change and sold it to a family friend that collects more coins then me for $5.... Not sure if I lost money on it or not.
I'll see if I can get some pictures and let y'all figure out if it's worth more then $5.
I did take the $5 and run it across the blackjack table and doubled my money.
Must have been a lucky quarter.
The key points being the coin would not have sold and it " might" be worth more in the future. Sometimes realizing a loss and using your money for other purposes is the smarter play.
I'll refer to the people who have the kind of money to trade in 6 figure + coins for their take on it. It's all about minimizing how often losses occur.
Can you imagine investing your stock portfolio with an advisor who says" I never sell a stock for a loss"
Let's just hold that Enron and hope it's worth more later.
We may all say we are collectors, but really when you expect to realize a gain when selling you are also acting like an investor.
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probably less than $200. i recall the scores better than the losses. i think my biggest losses have been in the form of unrealized profit, for various reasons. recently, probably $2-4k.
anyone wanna calculate the husak/holmes? 1c s-79/? $300k+ loss.
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Some small pct losses back in January but gross margin positive at this point.
My biggest loss about $100 - $200 Victory on coin in 1990 result of 89 crash. But able take funds and buy more equivalent material due to lower market prices. Nothing huge like some of these guys with big ticket material. I try buy low sell high, keep stuff in inventory until sells for profit, stay away from big ticket coins.
No losses... since I do not sell coins. Well except for a few darkside gold a few years ago... and that was in a hot market, so did well. Are some of my coins worth less than what I paid? Probably...for various reasons... however, this does not concern me since I just enjoy having them. Cheers, RickO
I retired about 3 years ago, and I was looking for a way to add some extra income. I was buying coins from different sources and trying to flip on eBay. I sold about a 100 coins, in the $50 to $500 range, but I could not beat the eBay, PayPal, and shipping fees. On a single coin my biggest lose was about $30 and my biggest profit was about a $100.
"Can you imagine investing your stock portfolio with an advisor who says" I never sell a stock for a loss"
Let's just hold that Enron and hope it's worth more later."
That wouldn't be any worse than an advisor with a history of buying high and selling low. And there is a big difference when comparing coins and stocks. Major corporations go belly up once in a while but a quarter million dollar coin is always going to retain most of it's value and likely increase in value over time.
You are right, both would be a bad choice, but coins are more like stocks or other investments than many will admit. Sometimes the market for a series will change. Gem Morgan's and commemoratives come to mind. People who bought into either of those series in the 80's could still be holding trying to recoup costs.
It is all about minimizing how often it happens. I'm guessing Gene Gardner did pretty darn good on most of his coins and the gains exceeded the losses. Even the very large one RR posted.
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This is a good post. I lost 3K on a 12K coin way back when. I later made a choice to sell it privately at this loss because another (nicer) came to market which was extremely rare. Sometimes one buys a "not-so-perfect" coin because they may feel another may not come around (the first coin was in fact the only one I knew of for 15 years) BUT, about 80% of the time this has been false with me. I later purchased the nicer coin and resold it canceling out my previous loss. I was lucky.
Roadrunner: I really enjoy the wisdom and truth along with your process of dealing with things that you share on these posts.
Enjoyed numismatic conversations with Eric P. Newman, Dave Akers, Jules Reiver, David Davis, Russ Logan, John McCloskey, Kirk Gorman, W. David Perkins...
I don't expect a gain as a collector , just not a huge loss. I have gained as much as $2k holding onto gold for extended periods of time. But losing $2k is different. Like the difference between a smile and a frown to be exact !
I think that the hobby of collecting items lends itself to "investment" thinking. Whether it be coins, art, or beer steins. Many people who collect things hope that they will get some kind of ROI. It's interesting to me that many times collectors seem to be less OK with taking a loss than dealers. When it almost seems it should be the opposite. I am not saying anyone should be happy about a loss, just it seems that often the value of the enjoyment of collecting is left out of the equation.
Many hobbies are all about just the enjoyment, and that is the only ROI a person gets from it.
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The dealer just has more opportunities to profit from another sale than the average collector. I think coins as a hobby is a little different , because the day they are minted it has monetary value . I enjoy the hobby , but like everyone else I hate to lose money. Easy to spend , hard to earn.
Sounds like par for the course. Similar experience, and that's just variable overhead. Shows have been worse.
My losses have all been on what I didn't KEEP!
I sold my TYPE SET! Sure wish I hadn't.
Sorry for the itty bitty pix. But you might be able to get an idea from them anyhow.
Sorry, but they would have lost their ass in 2009, 2011, 2013 or in 2016. The coin is only worth what it's worth. And the market has readjusted for this coin. It's telling you it's only worth at best MS65 money today. I'd have rather had that money 7 years ago and put it back to use in something more productive....rather than sitting on the same coin, worth the same money or less, year after year. The market is not better for this coin and probably won't be in 5-10 more years. In fact, I could see this same coin worth 50% of today's price, 10 yrs down the road. I graded this coin a MS64.
If you apply that same logic to losers you bought at market peaks in 1980 and 1989 or even 2008, how long do you wait before taking the loss? I hope there still aren't people out there who bought gem Commems in 1989 and are waiting for them to come back 30 yrs later. Another current post lists an MS66 Columbian going for $475. That coin in MS65 back in 1989 was $3500-$4000. There were no opportunities to wait for a rise in price and then get out. I suspect the 1839 MS67 ND half is in that same boat. It will NEVER be $350K-$450K again in my lifetime....and likely not in yours either.
Thanks. I'm just trying to show others the pitfalls so they can better avoid them. Many don't want to listen. If a single person dodges a land mine due to one of my posts, it was worth the time and effort.
Sure Gene Gardner had a ton of big winners too. Those were generally ALL the coins he bought prior to 2005. I recall knocking heads with him at Stacks Queller sale in 2002 on the gem 1857-s half dollar. I had it worth $18K-$20K as a strong 65, and they saw it as a 66 worth a lot more. They paid $22K as I recall. It went PCGS MS66. That sold for $55K or more when Gene liquidated. Timing even affects the big boyz. Ideally, buying periods should have been 1982-1987, 1995-2003, 2009-2011. If you buy important coins outside of the optimum periods, don't expect optimum returns...or possibly even losses. And that also assumes you probably should lighten your holdings somewhat during the next market peak (ie 2006-2008 primary top or 2014-2015 secondary top).
So I guess you don't agree with this statement -
The honest answer is that there’s no way to say for certain when, or if, rare coin values will recover. If they do, it is usually on a case-by-case basis. Yes, in general, the rare coin market is historically very robust, and short downturns are often just that: temporary.
That doesn’t mean values will always rise to their previous historic highs. But, for the most part, values rise again. And, values for numismatic coins usually rebound when the general economy does. That is, when most people have enough money to make lavish discretionary purchases.
I know one of our members who lost $16,000 on a coin but I'll let him decide whether or not to share.
And I know of an esteemed member who lost a bit more at a public land fill . . .
Drunner
Cheap slabs will bring hardly shipping cost. I recently bought a world coin with a CV of $30 for $4.86 on ebay. I blew out a large number of items in January via auction and lost 11.4%. Arriving at the desired number of slabbed items I have only sold at retail for the most part since then. GM is now positive but Overhead expenses throw me into the red. My new product line of MRR equipment has made a larger profit than coins. I sell these MRR items via my ebay store and also consign some to a local hobby shop. The last month has been dead for everything. I recently picked up a nice NGC MS 65 WLH for $62 - this is lower than bluesheet on this coin. The NGC MV on it is $125.
Wow, some of you guys are making me feel better. My biggest loss was $850 on a dealer buyback.
Sometimes, it’s better to be LUCKY than good. 🍀 🍺👍
My Full Walker Registry Set (1916-1947):
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/
My biggest loss was $3700, and it doubly hurt because it was on a Gem Red PCGS 1909-S VDB! I was in my 30s at the time (this would have been in the late 1980s sometime) and bought a really nice OGH coin for a strong price, and I even had to pay 7% Tennessee sales tax on it as well. I paid it off in increments over a few months, but it was more coin than I could realistically afford to hold onto at the time. After the market bottomed out a year or two later and we had moved to Virginia, I was out of a day job and sold some coins to get by. I got $1800 for that coin.
I can't complain nonetheless, as I have had many more winners than losers over the years.
Kind Regards,
George
It's tough take a big pct loss no matter how big or small ticket the coin. I get over it and move on. It's made me more conservative, picky in buying.
The biggest buying mistake I can make is buying beyond my means. Then I am vulnerable to other factors forcing an untimely sale at a loss.
Biggest single loss, to my memory was around $400
It sucked for sure.
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