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I buy coins I like
MWallace
Posts: 4,313 ✭✭✭✭✭
Others opinions can be helpful, but in the end, if I don't like it, I don't care what friends, PCGS, NGC, ICG, ANACS, or CAC think. I do however appreciate their opinions on authenticity.
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That is my method .... I must first be either attracted to a specific coin, or looking for a coin type...Then, upon examination, it must be appealing to me - to my sense of aesthetics and quality....It is my opinion, first and foremost, that counts when adding to my collection. Cheers, RickO
Agree.
Wouldn't it be silly not to?
I offered four Liberty seated quarters to a collector that I had just had graded. They were graded by NGC. He didn’t even want to see pictures, just a pcgs guy. To bad all four coins cac’d. Buy the coin not the holder!
You are so right. I couldn't agree more, but there are people who do, just as @Pickwickjr illustrates.
It's sad really that a coin collector would even need to make a statement like the op title, but here on this forum the brand of plastic is more important than whats in the plastic. It's nice to go to local shows and talk to coin collectors, so much of the discussions here center around plastic investing vs coin collecting.
My Collection of Old Holders
Never a slave to one plastic brand will I ever be.
Good thread. I have held $5000 coins in the right plastic that had a distraction that was a deal killer. Never met an MS 63 Morgan though that I didn't like!
I agree. I made the statement because it seems that myself and people like me are becoming more an more rare as time passes by.
@Pickwickjr
I offered four Liberty seated quarters to a collector that I had just had graded. They were graded by NGC. He didn’t even want to see pictures, just a pcgs guy. To bad all four coins cac’d. Buy the coin not the holder!
That's crazy. Way too much Kool-Aid consumed, IMO.
Dave
I remember about 20 years ago buying in a really choice AU Turban Head $10 and offering it to a would-be high roller. He sneered at it because it was less than Mint State. Well, it is probably in a MS holder now, so Mr. High Roller can enjoy it because other people tell him he can enjoy it!
I agree whole heartedly and makes good sense
Remarkable how a coin can uncirculate if given enough time.
Did he only care about the holder 20 years ago or did he care about the coin being in Mint State?
You apparently can grade effectively and identify quality coins. Kudos. I would suggest you submit your coins to PCGS instead. Then, once CAC approves them, you'll have a 'product' that realizes the best returns. You have a skill - you should have a strategy that maximizes your fiscal returns.
Just curious why you picked NGC? Seems like a bit of an odd choice. They are common for tokens and medals, but PCGS is more desirable for Seated coins.
Virtually all of my coins are PCGS and virtually all of my exonumia are NGC. Just the way they come.
If these were common date coins I would pass also. But if they were varieties or rare dates I needed sure buy them then get in PCGS holders.
the title of this thread is "i buy coins i like". the collector you offered the coins to prefers PCGS. He is doing exactly what he prefers doing.
Dimeman
Yes they are varieties , choice and original. If I don’t get a fair price than the person won’t buy them. They were in my set, so I decided to get them graded.
As far as way NGC, they are fine with me. Plus I picked a really good coin out of another grading companies holder that they graded wrong. I sent it to NGC had it graded. I figured it would look good being a dark coin with a white surrounding. > @Gazes said:
The thread isn’t I buy plastic I like!
i just think its ironic that people louldly proclaim they support a collector who only buys coins they themselves like regardless of any other factor but then are critical of a collector who has decided to focus on only coins reviewed and graded by our hosts. That is what he likes!
I don't think anyone is being critical or begrudging someone for buying the plastic. It's their money. They can do as they please. But would they also buy a painting that they may not like just because they like the frame?
why would you buy coins you didn't like?? am I missing something??
Well, as a one time registry set participant, I am guilty of buying coins for the registry set. Sure, I liked them enough, but I didn't love them. Those coins are all now sold. I can't even remember what they looked like.
The coins I love, no matter the holder or raw, those I kept, and those are the coins I really enjoy.
The obsession with numerical scores and by whom they were issued reminds me of wine snobs who can’t enjoy a glass unless they know the wine was rated at least 90 points by Robert Parker.
Smitten with DBLCs.
To have a complete collection, whether it is Whitman, Dansco or PCGS Registry Set.
Because it was not Mint State. As was his choice. But it was a gorgeous coin!
No doubt PCGS typically fetches more money than a NGC coin. For that reason I’d prefer to submit to PCGS. That said I agree with Pickwick. If a person wants my coin regardless of which plastic it is in they will have to pay the price. I have a handful of Seated dollars in my set that are certified by NGC. Most of them are CACd which from what I’ve seen typically fetches close to or the same as PCGS CACd coins. I always buy the coin and don’t really care which holder it’s in. When buying choice original seated dollars you have to take them how you find them... Especially when you get down to the harder dates.
Conversely, I like the coins I buy.
Pete
I buy coins that I like regardless of the plastic. Most of my tougher coins are in PCGS holders.... that's just the way it worked out. Some dates are really tough to find in NGC plastic. I lean more towards PCGS, now, because NGC has disallowed PCGS coins in their registry. But, if I saw a really nice coin that was a rare date, in nice condition in NGC plastic, you'd better believe that I'd buy it!
Sometimes, it’s better to be LUCKY than good. 🍀 🍺👍
My Full Walker Registry Set (1916-1947):
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/
Everyone is so worried about plastic and stickers now a days that its really going nuts/overboard IMHO. For instance at local shows how many collectors do you see putting together sets in folders and albums? Dont get me wrong slabs are great but nothing looks better or is more fun then putting a matching set in a dansco and running around a show filling in holes!!
I don't think anyone buys only PCGS coins regardless of whether or not they like the coin in the holder. Going back to what I hear a lot---buy whatever you like----I don't see any problem with someone who has decided to only buy coins they like in PCGS holders for whatever reason---registry, consistency, they believe it is a better product, etc. If someone truly believes you should buy what you like----hard to understand being critical because someone likes the PCGS product and focuses only on PCGS coins that they also happened to like.
I think you either misunderstood me or I worded my stance wrong. I will and do by coins I like/need in all holders or even raw. Then I get them in PCGS holders. The reason I do this is because I like the PCGS Registry and do not like the NCG Registry. There are great coins in all holders and some great coins that have not been graded. On common coins I usually wait on a coin I like that is already in a PCGS holder. On varieties you have to take what you can get.
I was going down a similar path with my thoughts. Nothing against anyone who collects only holdered coins - to each their own. I just kinda feel like this obsession with which plastic is the best is taking away from the fun of collecting actual coins. Does anyone around here just but raw coins anymore? Put them in Dansco albums, or 2x2s in a binder? Does anyone care to hold a coin in their hand? To feel its weight? To hear the ring of silver when you flip it in the air?
I do own some coins in plastic: PCGS, NGC, ANACS, ICG....it doesn't matter to me, as long as I like the coin. But, I can't really say I enjoy them any more than some of the raw coins I have, or even the well-circulated Morgan, Merc, and 2-cent pieces that i carry in my pocket.
I will continue to buy coins I like, whether they're raw, or in plastic, anyone's plastic. The vast majority will be raw, I'm sure. But, then again, I'm not in a position to buy 4-digit, 5-digit or 6-digit+ coins! If that ever happens, maybe I'd change my tune completely. Still, I'd have to like the coin, not just buy it because it is in a certain holder.
What about the rest of you? Do you still buy raw coins? Or, are those days over?
Rocking my "shiny-object-syndrome"!!!
I dont ever think those days will stop of buying raw coins in just not in my nature lol. Its never ending for upgrading wheaties roosies and jeffs etc. I have some of my heavy hitter coins in slabs that i bought that way and some i home made when the series was doing hotter. Unfortunately i dont have any 4 5 or 6 didgit coins but instead lots of 3s lol.
.> @Eric_Babula said:
I have been buying probably equal numbers of raw and slabbed coins over the last few years. Early on 10-15 years ago or more I bought more coins raw for sure. If I have bought coins I didn't like it most likely was at an auction where the lot contained other coins than what I was really wanting. So overall I would say that even though the coins I buy I do like there are reasons why some of them are easier to part with when I want to raise a little cash to expand my collection or to upgrade certain examples. I do have a dozen or so Dansco albums in which I maintain and occasionally add or upgrade coins.
People do this all the time, then take the ugly picture out and put something they like in the frame. It's not uncommon for a picture to sell for less than its frame is worth. Not directly comparable, IMO.
On the other hand, some slabbed coins are worth less than the cost of slabbing.
To the topic at hand: it can make sense to buy certain plastic because it is easier to sell when the time is right. If one collects gem and better Ikes, it is a lot easier to sell them for a significant fraction of what he paid if they are in PCGS holders than raw.
Well, what looks way better than a Dansco is a Capital Plastics. I still want a set of War Nickels in one. Gold is killer.
I do have my roorise and some Lincoln s in the capital holders they r nice and durable. Heck even the single holders are great pieces
That's awesome! So, there ARE some people out there still buying raw!
Rocking my "shiny-object-syndrome"!!!
IMO, it is comparable. I know people buy ugly pictures in nice frames just for the frame. But would they buy an ugly coin just because of the plastic and/or sticker.
As a collector, I'm not concerned what a coin will sell for when the time comes. I want coins in my collection that I like. I have total respect for the opinions of most TPG's as well as friends and some stickers. In particular I appreciate their opinion on the authenticity of a coin and whether it's been cleaned, damaged, altered, etc. But in the end, I have to like it no matter what plastic it's in, or what sticker is on it, or what friends think. I have coins in my collection that I like MUCH BETTER (for various reasons) than coins graded even 2 or 3 points higher.
I buy a bunch of raw Civil War Tokens from Steve Hayden. He seems to have a never ending supply of these which is great.