Are there any good raw coins left?
savitale
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Except for the occasional estate sale, and except for generic gold that sells for bullion or thereabouts, I'm feeling like there are no good raw coins left. I'm talking about coins where there cost of certification makes sense, coins with a numismatic value above $200 or so. Everything still raw would be "Genuined" for one reason or another. Has anyone observed differently? If so, where are those nice raw coins?
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71 raw coins submitted this year. Coins were dated from 1895 thru 1939. 1 genuine came out of the whole bunch. Value of most of the coins was from $85.00 to $375.00. All of the coins were Indian Cents, Lincoln Cents and Mercury Dimes with the exception of 1 Walker. Almost all of the coins were purchased off Ebay in the last 3 years.
Yes there are nice Raw Coins still out there. Below is my last 16P that came from Ebay. I have put about eight 16P's in PCGS slabs that have graded from MS62FB, which was a Bummer, to MS66FB.
Ken
There are many nice raw coins left. One very good general example is EAC coins.
Fan of the Oxford Comma
CCAC Representative of the General Public
2021 Young Numismatist of the Year
Numismatics is very rich with opportunities in set collecting with many raw coins still out there. World coins which are often beautifully done as well as lots of US type coins stashed away in bank deposit boxes. May ancient coins and medieval coins are still raw. Another area is tokens and medals. These can still be found raw!! Not to worry the grading companies need raw coins to stay afloat.
Of course. You just have to know where and when to look.
I think the amount of slabbed coins is barely a fraction the amount of Lincoln cents minted in just about any given year. So I'd say yes.
- Bob -
MPL's - Lincolns of Color
Central Valley Roosevelts
Yes, I've purchased and submitted several hundred Barber Dimes, Quarters, and Halves over the last couple of years. Almost all straight graded, but admittedly I returned about 75% of the coins purchased through the mail. I troll eBay frequently; about 99% of the raw listings are low grade or problem coins. A few nice ones do show up, however.
There are many, many nice raw coins left. You have to work harder than the average bear to find them. You won't find them at the usual sources (eBay, etc.) unless you are lucky and fast. Put a want to buy ad in your local paper and be prepared to sort through mountains of garbage, but they can be found.
My 1909-s VDB Lincoln was a raw coin in a paper flip from its purchase date of 1935 till I had it holdered earlier this year, came back ms66rd. So yes many nice coins are still out there.
Some of the dealers I speak to on a regular basis submit substantial numbers of coins every month or so depending what comes in; I have done good numbers of coins this year; I know dealers who are always running down the grading services and won't submit anything worth under $300-$400. I have seen Morgan dollars in rolls, with some gems if people wanted to submit. There are significant opportunities as well as hidden lemons.
It's like we discuss this every few days. There are tons and tons of nice coins out there which have never been slabbed. Non-collectors hold a very great amount of coins as a form of inter-generational wealth, and many of these coins are nice. These folks have never heard of slabbing and/or pay little attention to their coins or organized numismatics - they simply see the coins as a long-term or rainy day reserve of value. Many coin collectors have nice coins that they will never submit to the TPGs because they dislike or disagree with the concept of slabbing, or they will not pay the price to have a coin slabbed, or they will not allow their nice coins to leave their own hands because of the various risks involved. There are far more worthy raw coins out there than there have been coins submitted to the TPGs.
A little OT, but since somebody posted one earlier, here is my 1881-CC, presently in the pile of "what do I do with it?" coins - very old polishing & now retaining a bit:
Rim bump too, but not the worst.
I don't expect a straight grade, but should I send it to be slabbed?
This 1963d Silver Dime i found in change sometime ago
**sale
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https://photos.app.goo.gl/KCe1Nn849FDidA1z7
EAC is a good example. I've seen and considered picking up a few raw EAC graded coins but haven't pulled the trigger yet.
I know for a fact that there are at least 400 nice uncertified bust halves and about 50 Capped Bust half dimes uncertified out there (in my collection),!
A: The year they spend more on their library than their coin collection.
A numismatist is judged more on the content of their library than the content of their cabinet.
I don't know much about early coppers, but I've observed that in auction listings a very large fraction of the certified examples are not straight graded. I could see how this segment would opt-out of certification if just by their nature 200 year old copper coins often won't straight grade.
Totally agree about ancient and world coins too. I was thinking about US coins, originally.
LIBERTY SEATED DIMES WITH MAJOR VARIETIES CIRCULATION STRIKES (1837-1891) digital album
There are a ton of really nice bust coins that are raw. Many of us prefer them that way.
I picked this up earlier in the year, raw. There are still nice coins out there, you just have to go out and find them.
many, many still raw.
BHNC #203
I am sure that there still are raw coins out there waiting to be found. The trouble is many raw coins, that are worth some money, are raw for a reason. The last time I really thought about buying a raw coin was when I found a very nice looking 1836 $5 gold at a show. It looked really great (Mint State) until I checked the rims. Sure enough a spot had been filed on them.
You wouldn't buy this and park it outside would you?
There has to be tons of $500+ raw coins out there. I know many folks, including myself, that have albums and no desire to self-slab coins.
I'd say that $20,000+ classic coins unslabbed would be somewhat unusual, but I image they are out there.
Of course there are. There are still NUMISMATISTS in the world that collect coins, not plastic.
Sometimes you gotta look in the nook and crannies but yes they are out there. Bought these about 6 months ago or so
Nice p/up on the walker.
We need more icons.
I’ve submitted 160 raw coins to our host this year with 23 of them being problematic key or semi-key dates. The remainder straight graded. I have also seen tons more of nice, raw coins that I was unable to buy. So yes, there are lots of quality, raw coins out there.
heritage is showing off a double pan pac set in frame that had been on someones wall for the last 50 years
those are raw and cool
There will always be many nice raw coins in strong hands.
Sure there are. They're busted out of slabs and sent in for grading all the time.
I see many raws at premium price as if they were slabbed with perceived grade by sellers.
I have made a few raw coins with my Husky hammer
The mint doesn't slab them as far as I know.
``https://ebay.us/m/KxolR5
There are many EAC coins that are currently raw.
In fact, the piece that I consider to be the single finest known Chain Cent -- of any Sheldon variety -- is currently raw, and is beyond belief. The strike, surfaces, color and correscating luster are off the charts, and it just happens to be an S-1 Ameri. variety. The last time the owner had it on display at an ANA, I just stood staring at how unbelievable it was. It totally blows away the MS66 Chain Cent with Periods, and the SP67 Chain Cent with Periods.
What about in the marketplace? I can understand there are still lots of albums and 2x2's in old collections that I'll never see. But the auction houses are 99.9% certified. And it seems like almost all the higher-value raw stuff at shows and on eBay is raw for a reason. Maybe I'm going to the wrong shows. Note that I'm talking about US coins.
LIBERTY SEATED DIMES WITH MAJOR VARIETIES CIRCULATION STRIKES (1837-1891) digital album
I've got hundreds of nice raw 1795-1836 US coins including dozens cracked out of pcgs and ngc graded holders.
Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry
I had a chance to run several double row boxes of raw coins in 2x2s at a coin shop the other day. Early copper, Indian heads, Lincolns, Walkers etc. It was pretty clear pretty quick there was nothing in those boxes that would straight grade. I don't know why I kept looking, but they were polite people and kept them coming and I sort of took a weird interest on the group of coins that was so perfectly picked through and pre rejected for slabbing. I found one pretty decent AU 26s Lincoln for my framed vintage coin board that was priced as a XF and bought it along with a few low value large cents that were neat. Those are like get me while you can coins in my head.
But I'd bet a weeks pay that solid problem free raw coins come in the store, get bought and processed and sold through other channels. I'm fine with that.
It's either own a business and all that goes along with that or pay a premium, I'm for paying the premium and not doing the coin hustle. Coins aren't my day job. I don't bottom feed at shops and I don't hunt mistakes, but am sometimes stunned to find them and don't feel obligated to point them out but sometimes do anyway.
Today is my mother's birthday. When she died I moved all her belongings. I found an Indian head penny in a drawer. It was "raw" and it was "good." At least I thought it was good at the time. It was definitely raw. That was many years ago. So maybe I got lucky and I got the last good raw coin. I haven't come across one since. So....to answer your question; There are no more good raw coins. I got the last one. Lucky me.
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Maybe I can answer your question with some anecdotal evidence. I, along with quite a few other members on this forum and in the community, collectively buy a lot of raw coins off of eBay and I think we all do fairly well with them.
I bought this raw off eBay and it's now in a PCGS 65 holder.
There are many EAC coins that are currently raw.
True, but not as many as there used to be.
After many years it appears the big EAC dealers are succumbing and have been submitting a lot of their inventory to the TPG's.
Yes. Bought this one "raw" for $90 at a local pawn shop. Sent it out a couple months ago for grading and was pleased for the $$$ spent.
That was four years ago. Found anything since then?
I find some stuff in Europe on occasion.
Latin American Collection