Seriously.... tell me if you think you see the Snow-1 DDO in this image:
>
All day brother... haha
So... what was the outcome of your $8 purchase?
Looks at least AU-details?
Nice job hunting down the auction . I got an AU details, run of the mill 1891 cent. Disappointing, but it won't stop me from taking another flier on the next one I see.
Sean Reynolds
Dang... had me fooled
BST: KindaNewish (3/21/21), WQuarterFreddie (3/30/21), Meltdown (4/6/21), DBSTrader2 (5/5/21) AKA- unclemonkey on Blow Out
A long time ago... before everyone had smartphones that could take decent photos of coins... we coin buyers sometimes had to do some eBay gambling! Ha!
I remember buying this coin for around $2500 from this lone, blurry eBay image. I was much more impatient at the time and was trying to fill up my Dansco 7070 type set album:
I think I got quite lucky on that purchase and it ended up being a coin I was pretty happy with:
My best pick up was a 1959 proof set in OGP on EBay. The photo was of poor quality and the mint cello was cloudy. However the appearance of the half dollar hinted at the presence of frosted devices.
When the proof set arrived and I cut the half out a Cameo half dollar emerged. I paid about $20.00 for the set. Turned out great for me.
I do sometimes. Bad pictures on eBay can be a blessing since they often result in much lower prices. It depends on what about the picture is bad. I avoid raw coins photographed on scanners. I also generally avoid any expensive raw coins since there’s most likely a good reason they aren’t in a slab. Seems a lot of sellers crack out details coin and sell them raw in hopes of getting high speculation bids. I’ve had good results with bad photos on eBay and have been disappointed by a heritage purchase with photos that were more flattering than in-hand.
I bid on a really blurry picture of a raw circulated Texas Commemorative because I could make out good contrast between the fields and devices. I checked what else this seller had up for auction and it turned out they sell mainly CHILDREN'S PERFUME. I figured the seller didn't know what she was doing photographing or selling coins. It turned out to be a gorgeous, richly toned AU50, by far the nicest circulated Texas I have ever seen. I received a half dozen PM's praising the coin and one guy here asked to photograph the coin.
Another time, I purchased a 1900-O Barber half off of weak photos from someone in England. The coin turned out to be choice, original VF35 - for only $130.
I've had some turn out to be dogs, but not enough to make me completely ignore coins with blurry images on Ebay.
Lousy images, yes! I've actually learned how to interpret certain eBay sellers (and dealers) images. I could explain how I do this, but then I'd have to kill you. We have some bad photographers out there, folks, and I love it.
Dave
Always looking for original, better date VF20-VF35 Barber quarters and halves, and a quality beer.
I have on a number of occasions and have been successful (or just darn lucky) each time. I think studying coins under different lighting helps, especially to learn how a toned coin looks when the toning is not "popping".
Great transactions with oih82w8, JasonGaming, Moose1913.
Only if the return is ironclad or the variety so rare that the grade doesn't matter.
"My friends who see my collection sometimes ask what something costs. I tell them and they are in awe at my stupidity." (Baccaruda, 12/03).I find it hard to believe that he (Trump) rushed to some hotel to meet girls of loose morals, although ours are undoubtedly the best in the world. (Putin 1/17) Gone but not forgotten. IGWT, Speedy, Bear, BigE, HokieFore, John Burns, Russ, TahoeDale, Dahlonega, Astrorat, Stewart Blay, Oldhoopster, Broadstruck, Ricko, Big Moose, Cardinal.
I do fairly regularly. Sometimes its disappointing, but other times I'm pleasantly surprised.
It really depends on the situation. If it's a coin that I already have an MS63 that I want to upgrade, then I won't take a chance on photos. But if it's an empty hole in a circulated grade, I'll roll the dice more. After buying lots of stuff on eBay I've gotten better at interpreting photos.
Bad pictures can lead to very, very lucrative surprises. You just have to way what you are willing to gamble. If there is a return policy, so much the better.
I have purchased several coins from lablover, every one was better by large margin than the pictures that were posted. In particular, a Roosevelt looked crusty in the pics but when I got it, in hand it had very eye appealing blue, green, and grey toning that in sunlight was just beautiful. Close to being my favorite coin.
Bob Sr CEO Fieldtechs
<<< Do you ever take a risk and buy a coin from less than ideal images? >>>
Absolutely yes. However it's an art to doing it, not a science.
The way I do it, is leaving a lot of room for error. Whereby the worst case scenario is that I basically break even on the buy, or possibly have a nice score.
I've had more break even buys than nice scores, and many in between over the years. But the nice scores have been very nice indeed.
I would never do an all or nothing buy such as, is the 1909-S VDB on Ebay real or not? Someone with more courage than me can go for that one.
I really don't venture out on too many big ticket items, but have. Best was a pattern sovereign "cherry picked" at 2k USD and then dogged [wrongly] by our hosts and subsequently sold to a major specialist for just over 20k USD; I almost showered on the hosts with this one, but all is mostly ok now.
I have eaten a couple in auctions that were on the order of 1-2k and immediately had lost half (or more) of the value.
Love that Milled British (1830-1960) Well, just Love coins, period.
Yes, intentionally from Ebay, years ago. I was bored one day and wanted to see if I could pick off something nice solely due to a lousy picture. And I did. It was a very fuzzy NGC-67 common Merc. for 11 dollars. 1943 or 43-S, I have forgotten. It was gorgeous!
Many years ago I took s chance on a raw 1893-S Barber half. I was working on XF set then. Terrible photos. Really nice original coin shows up (paid $250). Graded at 35 though. So I sent it to David Kahn to sell. Went for around $1400
Yes, but only when looking for something very scarce, like a variety. And I buy it for a price which assumes the coin has been cleaned, which 90% of the time has turned out to be corect.
Yes, I just took a chance on a raw piece which looks likes the photos were over exposed and perhaps juiced. However, the coin had a strong strike and great color. I just received it and it looks super nice to me. Need to get a TrueView or something now.
Yup. All the time. My best cherry-picks have been from poor pictures. The most recent was an 1876-S DDO Trade $1. Way more home runs than strikeouts, but you gotta know what you're looking for...
Comments
Dang... had me fooled
BST: KindaNewish (3/21/21), WQuarterFreddie (3/30/21), Meltdown (4/6/21), DBSTrader2 (5/5/21) AKA- unclemonkey on Blow Out
A long time ago... before everyone had smartphones that could take decent photos of coins... we coin buyers sometimes had to do some eBay gambling! Ha!
I remember buying this coin for around $2500 from this lone, blurry eBay image. I was much more impatient at the time and was trying to fill up my Dansco 7070 type set album:
I think I got quite lucky on that purchase and it ended up being a coin I was pretty happy with:
Michael Kittle Rare Coins --- 1908-S Indian Head Cent Grading Set --- No. 1 1909 Mint Set --- Kittlecoins on Facebook --- Long Beach Table 448
Yes. A few times.
My best pick up was a 1959 proof set in OGP on EBay. The photo was of poor quality and the mint cello was cloudy. However the appearance of the half dollar hinted at the presence of frosted devices.
When the proof set arrived and I cut the half out a Cameo half dollar emerged. I paid about $20.00 for the set. Turned out great for me.
I do sometimes. Bad pictures on eBay can be a blessing since they often result in much lower prices. It depends on what about the picture is bad. I avoid raw coins photographed on scanners. I also generally avoid any expensive raw coins since there’s most likely a good reason they aren’t in a slab. Seems a lot of sellers crack out details coin and sell them raw in hopes of getting high speculation bids. I’ve had good results with bad photos on eBay and have been disappointed by a heritage purchase with photos that were more flattering than in-hand.
Yes, I've done it, too.
A couple of times it worked out well.
Sometimes, it’s better to be LUCKY than good. 🍀 🍺👍
My Full Walker Registry Set (1916-1947):
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/
I bid on a really blurry picture of a raw circulated Texas Commemorative because I could make out good contrast between the fields and devices. I checked what else this seller had up for auction and it turned out they sell mainly CHILDREN'S PERFUME. I figured the seller didn't know what she was doing photographing or selling coins. It turned out to be a gorgeous, richly toned AU50, by far the nicest circulated Texas I have ever seen. I received a half dozen PM's praising the coin and one guy here asked to photograph the coin.
Another time, I purchased a 1900-O Barber half off of weak photos from someone in England. The coin turned out to be choice, original VF35 - for only $130.
I've had some turn out to be dogs, but not enough to make me completely ignore coins with blurry images on Ebay.
Sight-unseen, no.
Lousy images, yes! I've actually learned how to interpret certain eBay sellers (and dealers) images. I could explain how I do this, but then I'd have to kill you. We have some bad photographers out there, folks, and I love it.
Dave
No
Yes, for many reasons stated above.
All the time, as long as the price is right. That's what started my obsession with toned gold.
Jackpot on that one jwitten.
Great transactions with oih82w8, JasonGaming, Moose1913.
I have on a number of occasions and have been successful (or just darn lucky) each time. I think studying coins under different lighting helps, especially to learn how a toned coin looks when the toning is not "popping".
Great transactions with oih82w8, JasonGaming, Moose1913.
Only if the return is ironclad or the variety so rare that the grade doesn't matter.
I do fairly regularly. Sometimes its disappointing, but other times I'm pleasantly surprised.
It really depends on the situation. If it's a coin that I already have an MS63 that I want to upgrade, then I won't take a chance on photos. But if it's an empty hole in a circulated grade, I'll roll the dice more. After buying lots of stuff on eBay I've gotten better at interpreting photos.
IG: DeCourcyCoinsEbay: neilrobertson
"Numismatic categorizations, if left unconstrained, will increase spontaneously over time." -me
Bad pictures can lead to very, very lucrative surprises. You just have to way what you are willing to gamble. If there is a return policy, so much the better.
I have purchased several coins from lablover, every one was better by large margin than the pictures that were posted. In particular, a Roosevelt looked crusty in the pics but when I got it, in hand it had very eye appealing blue, green, and grey toning that in sunlight was just beautiful. Close to being my favorite coin.
Bob Sr CEO Fieldtechs
<<< Do you ever take a risk and buy a coin from less than ideal images? >>>
Absolutely yes. However it's an art to doing it, not a science.
The way I do it, is leaving a lot of room for error. Whereby the worst case scenario is that I basically break even on the buy, or possibly have a nice score.
I've had more break even buys than nice scores, and many in between over the years. But the nice scores have been very nice indeed.
I would never do an all or nothing buy such as, is the 1909-S VDB on Ebay real or not? Someone with more courage than me can go for that one.
I really don't venture out on too many big ticket items, but have. Best was a pattern sovereign "cherry picked" at 2k USD and then dogged [wrongly] by our hosts and subsequently sold to a major specialist for just over 20k USD; I almost showered on the hosts with this one, but all is mostly ok now.
I have eaten a couple in auctions that were on the order of 1-2k and immediately had lost half (or more) of the value.
Well, just Love coins, period.
Yes, intentionally from Ebay, years ago. I was bored one day and wanted to see if I could pick off something nice solely due to a lousy picture. And I did. It was a very fuzzy NGC-67 common Merc. for 11 dollars. 1943 or 43-S, I have forgotten. It was gorgeous!
Whit
Many years ago I took s chance on a raw 1893-S Barber half. I was working on XF set then. Terrible photos. Really nice original coin shows up (paid $250). Graded at 35 though. So I sent it to David Kahn to sell. Went for around $1400
Not lately especially if raw
Yes, but only when looking for something very scarce, like a variety. And I buy it for a price which assumes the coin has been cleaned, which 90% of the time has turned out to be corect.
LIBERTY SEATED DIMES WITH MAJOR VARIETIES CIRCULATION STRIKES (1837-1891) digital album
Yes, I just took a chance on a raw piece which looks likes the photos were over exposed and perhaps juiced. However, the coin had a strong strike and great color. I just received it and it looks super nice to me. Need to get a TrueView or something now.
Yup. All the time. My best cherry-picks have been from poor pictures. The most recent was an 1876-S DDO Trade $1. Way more home runs than strikeouts, but you gotta know what you're looking for...
mbogoman
https://pcgs.com/setregistry/collectors-showcase/classic-issues-colonials-through-1964/zambezi-collection-trade-dollars/7345Asesabi Lutho
Rarely but if the price is right and there’s a return privilege why not.