What was your most regrettable 'pass' ?.........
thebeav
Posts: 3,918 ✭✭✭✭✭
We've all done it. Passed on a deal only to regret it later......
Perhaps mine was, many, many years ago.....A show in Ohio somewhere, I think.
A dealer came into the room and stopped at the 'door' table. I watched him as he then went to the next table. He ended up shopping the entire room. Last but not least, he's at my table. He's got an original roll of 1930 quarters. "Roll of quarters, 4 thousand bucks" he says as he lays the roll on my table.......So I'm second guessing myself, why did the entire room puke on this deal? So, I take a few of the top coins off to look, nice stuff.....I start thinking out loud....."A hundred dollars a coin" I say aloud.
"Is that all it is?", this dealer then says. "I meant to say 42 hundred", he then says.
So here, the whole room has already barfed on this roll at 4 large, it gets to me last and the price goes up !
I passed......I heard, a month later, that roll traded at 11.8 K......
Oh well. My life wouldn't be any different today.....
What's your regrettable 'pass' ?
Comments
Passing on Google's IPO in 2004. I'm still having "nightmares."
I’ve had a few. The latest was a toned coin for $600 that I thought was close but not necessarily what I wanted. It ended up going for over $1,000 in an eBay auction.
Another example was a 65+ Toned Morgan that sold a few years ago for an opening bid of around $550 (with the juice at GC). At the time I skipped it thinking I’d find a better value. Recently I found out that it upgraded to 67+ and sold on Heritage for over $2,500. Then it upgraded again to 68 and now sits in strong hands.
About 30 years ago I was point blank offered a alternative option in a trade with a antique dealer.
Instead of what I accepted I was shown two 1792 raw Kentucky colonial cents in unc fully red.
With no smart phone internet access back then to instantly research these actually having survived in red without being doctored I passed
This post makes me sad.
Insert witicism here. [ xxx ]
1801 Jefferson Inaugural medal. Had the cash; had the opportunity.
If it makes you feel any better, those pieces are really condor tokens and don't belong in "The Red Book" in my opinion. There are a fair number of Brown Uncs. around, and they were not that expensive when I was dealer. I had a certified one and had a hard time selling it.
10 or 15 years ago I was bidding on an internet auction and had the high bid on an AU-55 Libertas Americana Medal. Auction is over and I contact the house for an invoice since I hadn't received one. I was told my bids were not recorded as I was using a third party website. It just turned out that another bidder had my same bid amount as I did and I was left out in the cold. Not really a pass, but regrettable non the less.
Poker table in Vegas..............with a flush:(
Not investing for the long term in stocks. Trading instead. Last week I stared at a RBC 100 ounce bar new for sale by Pinehurst Coins for $1500. I passed and was quickly regretting.
I'm 75 years old, so there is nothing new about me.
Tibet Pick #2 - Krause plate example
Tibet paper market exploded 5 years later and the note I could have bought for $2400 will cost me more like $15k today...which is why I still don't have one.
No regrets, if in doubt, BUY!
Probably 10 years ago. I like to dabble in option trading. Had a hundred or so contracts on a company that was a potential takeover target. Had made a few bucks and the expiration date wasn't too far out so I put in a limit sell order about 10 minutes before market close. I didn't check to see if it went through, wasn't a big deal.
I wake up the next morning to see the company had been bought out. My strike price could not have been more perfectly placed. A frantically checked my trades, and of course the trade was executed ONE MINUTE before close the prior day. At the time, it would have been a life changing event.
1829 LM-3 half dime in MS64, reverse cud and rare as so. Didn't have $1500 (I think that is what it was) at the time. Maybe 12 years ago?
Yes, it's a real bummer when the auction house fails to record your bid, and it sells for less than you bid. I had that happen to me with one of the Springfield, Massachusetts baseball medals. Fortunately I was able to buy one for my a collection a few years later.
Other than a luscious AU58 $10 Indian, all those donuts, cupcakes and shots I could’ve eaten and taken.
When I first started dabbling in clipped type coins, in the very early days of eBay, there was an auction for an 1813 large cent with decent surfaces and a big 10-15% clip. I think the opening bid was $99 and it went unsold. Had I known then just how hard it is to find any classic head large cents with good fields, nevermind one with a big error, I never would have let it go.
Sean Reynolds
"Keep in mind that most of what passes as numismatic information is no more than tested opinion at best, and marketing blather at worst. However, I try to choose my words carefully, since I know that you guys are always watching." - Joe O'Connor
I was trying to buy a coin without using the Heritage cell phone app.
Pushed the buy button just as the page jumped to load a picture.
Bought the wrong coin.
It was nearly identical to the one I wanted but I asked them to correct my order.
My coin got a big $ upgrade and I'm sure the other one would have as well.
Oh-well...Thinking like a collector & not a dealer.
My Saint Set
Easy for me. I passed several $40-$50 Cheerios dollars while I was trying to cut back on coin purchases. Back before the discovery
It helps us to not look for perfection, not constantly review past choices, but instead find satisfaction in what we’ve done and focus on what we’re doing now.
Not an individual item but a lesson I learned and re-learned several (actually way too many) times when I was just starting as a dealer & also for my personal collection -- if you see an item you want, need or can turn the sure $ on and have reasonable confidence in your knowledge, pull the trigger. Don't walk around the bourse floor first, don't think about it overnight, don't take time to research what you already know or call a fellow collector just to reinforce your decision -- pull the trigger because if you defer the decision, way too many times it will be gone by the time you come back. I know this goes against the more conservative approach practiced by many (most?) but trust your knowledge and experience; if it is elusive, visually desirable or just plain rare in your measured estimation, it will be to others as well.
I'm sure this guy regrets those pizzas!
https://qz.com/1285209/bitcoin-pizza-day-2018-eight-years-ago-someone-bought-two-pizzas-with-bitcoins-now-worth-82-million/
What's the saying? "No Regerts!"
As far as coins are concerned, none, and never. If someone wants to pay more than I do for a particular coin, it's his or hers.
I have seen maybe five coins in fifty years of collecting that "talked to me." I paid what was asked for them. See above re everything else.
"Seu cabra da peste,
"Sou Mangueira......."
I always laugh when I see people opine on the "worth" or "value" of Bitcoin. It is probably the largest scam perpetuated in world history. It has no intrinsic value, has no government backing or regulation, is prone to hackers, is nothing more than computer code with no real function, and is not useful as a "currency" given the volatility and issues in quickly converting large amounts to real currency (there are usually daily caps).
Yes, I had long, heated discussion with a libertarian on a political site about how bad Bitcoin is. I cited the problems the U.S. had prior the Civil War with state chartered banks that could issue their own currency. He stuck to his guns, but went silent when the value of the stuff had yet another correction in value. Any country that made Bitcoin its national currency would make a “banana republic” look financially stable.
Passed on the unattributed 1885-cc Wayne Miller plate coin in PCGS 66 DMPL around 2003. Even the well known dealer did not know. Realized later, but it was GONE!
High relief saint from the mint a few years back
Not a coin... but many years ago, as a young sailor, in port in Copenhagen, Denmark.... I was perusing a shop and saw a beautiful, hand carved, ivory chess set... In a case, all pieces there, for a ridiculous low price. Even then, I was a chess player and knew values. It was Christmas time (approaching) and I would be back in the U.S. for the holidays... so I had to think about gifts for the family... and passed on the set. I still think about that set today...Cheers, RickO
I really liked this love token. It came up on eBay several months prior and was pulled the next day because the consignor told the seller they changed their mind about selling. When it finally came back I put a lot of thought into what I’d be willing to pay. Looks like I was only competing against one bidder as the next increment up won it. It was only after I lost that I realized my max bid was out of line with how much I wanted the piece/how much I was really willing to pay. If somebody here owns it let me know if you want to sell...
In 1968 and a freshman in college I wanted to take. $1000 from savings and buy $20 gold pieces. My parents intercepted
Lafayette Grading Set
Ha. I saw a coin in a dealer’s case at a Long Beach show many years ago. It stood out from a distance with insane luster and nice color. I was immediately drawn to it. It was clearly a special coin with unique properties. He was willing to sell it at the time for $9k. I hesitated and tried to forget about it. A couple weeks later I just couldn’t and called about it. In the interim it had received a green sticker and the new price was $11k.
So, I swallowed hard and bought it. The whole time I’m kicking myself for being so stupid....... until 2 years later when I sold it. It upgrades right before the sale and becomes almost a top-pop coin with a book value of close to $30k.
It was a $2k lesson in trusting my eyes and my gut. Fortunately the tuition was covered by a minor grading miracle. Since then I’ve just decided to act when something truly special comes along. So far, no big disasters......
In the mid-'90's nothing was selling and the coin market seemed to be dying. I passed on a really nice civil war token collection with lots of AU's and sliders that I could have had for a few bucks each. I knew if the market ever came back these tokens would do well.
In my defense I was saving lots of old collections and it was almost impossible to flip them.
Mormon Gold...when there were pieces in the 5-6K range.
@BryceM
Do you have a photo of the coin?
Why? Couldn't he have gotten all he wanted at close to the price he sold them for? It's not like bitcoin was irreplaceable or even undervalued.
A 1876 Quarter PCGS45 for 12K.........................in 1985.
My icon seated quarter dollar....James A. Stack sale 1975. Went to specifically buy this coin and had researched the heck out of it for a year. But since nothing as nice as that had ever surfaced before there was no price history on a superb gem. And it sold for 2X my max bid at $1800. I really didn't know how to value it other than I knew I wanted it and it was incredibly rare. I'd have paid that amount had I gotten some informed opinions on pricing. 2 years later it traded for $5500 to Jim Halperin. And 3 years after that it sold for $30,000 at auction. My college education cost $20,000 back then. That single coin could have paid for it with change left over for a new car. How about d'em apples? At the same time....that coin was by best purchase ever in 1986 at 32% of its previous auction appearance. What goes around....comes back around.
There are many other "finest known" seated coins I passed on in the early 1980's that eventually went up 5X to 10X by 1989....I was pretty fussy. It was a good time to buy.
Mary Ellen J****, 1964.
Two PCGS certified 1890-s seated dime varieties were being offered by L&C for a few hundred dollars each. I thought the price was too high for circulated minor varieties. Turns out the varieties are nearly unique in straight grades and I may never see one again.
LIBERTY SEATED DIMES WITH MAJOR VARIETIES CIRCULATION STRIKES (1837-1891) digital album
In the late 80's I passed on a matched set of XF/AU 1793 large cents Chain, Wreath and Cap for $25k...and I had the $25k. Perfect surfaces, yada, yada.
A totally choice 1916/16 Buffalo, perfect XF, that Brian Greer offered me in 1985 or so for 2K. I've never seen a better one.
LRC Numismatics eBay listings:
http://stores.ebay.com/lrcnumismatics
Quite a few years I had a purchase hold on an 1895 Morgan vf30 for 8K and an 1969 double die cent in AU for about the same price at David Lawrence but didn't pull the trigger. Wish I had bought either one of them. Would have been the highlight of my collection.
In March of 2002, 1771 Peru 4R XF-AU with nice color. Saw a very low quality one a few months ago but not another one since.
I have a few regrets for not passing stuff I should have run from.
I do regret passing on an 1856 Flying Eagle for about $12k in MS 63 many years ago. Haven't checked guides lately, but at the time I thought it was a steal.
Regrets ? Yeah. Limiting purchases to 4 figures and below.
``https://ebay.us/m/KxolR5
Investing in Bill Gates for 10% share in company when he was still in college and developing DOS for $500.00
Bob Sr CEO Fieldtechs
I was 16 years old at the time and had to pass on a date restored 1918/7 Buff. It was selling for "moon money" back then.................at least for a teenager like me.
$20.00.
Pete
I'm curious. Does anyone know what acid treated 1918/7-D buffalos are selling for these days?
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
These days, I really don't know. I did sell one for 250.00 years ago.....I used to acid treat only MM dateless Buffs.....got lucky one time......
From Stacks' Taichert sale in 2001. It went for $ 23,000.
I should have borrowed the money...
In the mid 1990s Apple was floundering and had to be propped up by Bill Gates, their stock was in the single digits and I thought: "Good time to buy a lot of that!". It was
Around the same time, perhaps a bit earlier (my memory is hosed these days), Cisco stock had taken some horrible dumps, I thought: "Good time to buy a lot of that!". It was
Around 2001 or 2002 gold was in the low $300s, I thought: "Good time to buy a lot of that!". It was
Around 2003 or 2004 there was this beautiful Connecticut commem half on Ebay, had awesome fall colour to it (might have been AT but it was so beautiful I could probably live with that, I thought: "Good time to buy that!" I don't know if it was or not, but I've never seen it again. MDWoods (I think that was his handle) and I were PMing back and forth talking about it, I think we both missed the opportuity.
Other than that I probably only missed a few dozen good buys.