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What Percentage of Your Collection Was Bought In-Person vs. Online?
FlyingAl
Posts: 4,391 ✭✭✭✭✭
Just trying to get a gauge for a piece of writing I'm doing.
This could also be interpreted as "how much of your collection did you buy from an in hand look vs. an image?"
Rough estimates are ok!
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Almost all of mine were done with images vs in hand, 90%+. In some cases I was able to view the items at auction viewing before bidding, so I guess that counts as in hand look. Some dealers just have a reputation for handing very quality pieces and I will by them sight unseen with a very small group of trusted sellers.
99% In Hand. Exceptions are the Sets from the mint. Can't afford the $$ or the hassle of dealing with an unknown shyster on line. Although, based on this years Mint prices, I may have to add them to the list of Shysters.
Roughly 80-90% online. I'm very comfortable purchasing from images, no matter the quality.
"But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you" Matthew 6:33. Young fellow suffering from Bust Half fever.
BHNC #AN-10
JRCS #1606
Value wise, I'm probably at 90% bought from online dealers or auctions from pictures only.
I'd be interested to see that breakdown by age...I would bet the under 50 crows and over 50 crowd have very different answers to the question.
70% in person with the rest online/auction
1% of my collection was bought in-hand (from a dealer or collector in person at a show or shop).
80% was purchased sight seen (auction preview or dealer return policy)
19% purchased sight unseen (viewed only by a friend, or just straight rolling the dice off of images)
I would think so as well. I can count on one hand the number of times I've bought a coin in hand, simply because I am underwhelmed by the selections of coins available in that format.
Coin Photography
11.6% of my active collection was purchased in hand, the rest purchased from digital images
Nothing is as expensive as free money.
98% viewed in hand.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
90% not in hand...literally same comment as @redraider above
Interesting question! I had to go through a few spreadsheets but it seems as though... "it depends". It depends on which part of my collection we're talking about, and there's a threshold ($$$) at which I'm much more likely to view coins "in hand" before a purchase rather than relying solely of a high resolution image.
For my 7070 (76 coins)... 41 coins were purchased from Internet sales (53.9%), 35 coins (46%) from Dealers at major shows (Baltimore mostly). Of the 35 purchased "in-hand" the vast majority are $300- $500+ coins.
For my Large Cents and Early Copper... The vast majority (85%) in my Wayte Raymond album (100 raw coins) were purchased from online sources such as ebay, GC, or from Early American Copper dealers from high resolution images and a generous return policy (I've only used that once)c. That said, I also have nearly a whole box of certified LC's that were ALL purchased from online vendors using high res images.
My Box of 20... I'm at 18/20 for the set... Of the 18 coins in this current iteration, 12 were purchased from dealers face-to-face at a major show (67%)... 6 (33%) from online auctions or BINs. Interestingly, nearly all of my gold in the Box of 20 was purchased on the Internet using high res images, and at least three of those coins ($20 Saint; $10 Indian; $3 Princess) are among the most valuable in my collection. ...caveat emptor>>> when gold was >$5k/oz...
Successful BST transactions with: SilverEagles92; Ahrensdad; Smitty; GregHansen; Lablade; Mercury10c; copperflopper; whatsup; KISHU1; scrapman1077, crispy, canadanz, smallchange, robkool, Mission16, ranshdow, ibzman350, Fallguy, Collectorcoins, SurfinxHI, jwitten, Walkerguy21D, dsessom.
28.125% was online though many were older purchases
"Another day, another Collectors Universe forum scrolling session."
- Someone, probably
@FlyingAl, do you mean value wise or quantity?
Either works!
Coin Photography
I have purchased probably 95% of my collection in person. Most of the on-line purchases have been from auctions based on photos.
I am not typical because I've been a collector since the 1960s.
I buy mostly proof coins so 80%+ are online purchases
Based on value, 73.2% in-hand. The remainder online from my personal Circle of Trust.
There are 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who do not.
Estimate 75% in-hand at shows, the rest eBay, Heritage, etc., including some (gasp!) via mail order; yes, I’m THAT old 😁
Almost entirely online. There just aren't (m)any dealers around here with the things I want and can afford.
99% online.
I'd say 60% online, 40% in person at shows.
I don’t like surprises.
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
16116 coins in the collection, total. Online purchases, maybe about 30 of them? So that would be about 0.2%. Other sight-unseen purchases, probably around 50 or so. So, guessing 99.5% in-person, 0.5% "other".
Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, "Meditations"
Apparently I have been awarded the DPOTD twice.
I’m probably around 60% in person, 40% online.
My guess is 99.9% on line……but quite a bit of research goes into most purchases before I buy. I’ll be 68 in a few weeks and the majority of my collection was bought in the past 10 years or so.
I'm about 90% online, 10% in-person (and the in-person is like 90% shows, 10% LCS). My strong hypothesis (along with others, it seems) is that the data will correlate that buying behavior is generational.
Probably 25% of value bought online (Great Collections and EBay). That’s probably 5% of the volume, though. I still have most of the collection I put together as a kid before internet days and increased budget.
Since restarting my childhood hobby about 99% online.
Casual collector: Morgans & Peace Dollars & 20th Century Type Set. Successful BST transactions with ProofCollection, Morgan13, CoinFinder, CoinHunter4, Bretsan.
Aside from what I’ve purchased over the last 40 years directly from the Mint, I only purchase coins that I view in hand.
So I guess I can say I purchase 100% of my coins in hand. I don’t like surprises either.
This is a direct result of having purchased coins from CoinWorld newspaper back in the ‘80’s from dishonest advertisers. I gave several of these guys my business and they gave me the business back. From then on, I decided to only buy coins I could view ahead of a purchase. I still follow this practice today.
About 50/50
Of my current inventory, only 14% was purchased in person or in hand. So, 86% was purchased online from photographs.
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’m a younger senior but I’m guessing that 95% of my purchases are online. I’ve never bought an expensive online coin without return privileges. I have returned maybe two coins in 20 years. My online purchases include auction coins and I’m able to view a fair number of GC and SB coins and HA did have lot viewing in Long Beach. I don’t have a breakdown of auction purchases I was able to lot view but I’m guessing 40%.
Well, online from photos about 80%. Lot viewing and auctions 10%. From
Dealers over the phone, texting, emailing 10%. That’s Value-wise. In terms of number of coins 95% online, the remainder split evenly between the other two sources above.
Almost entirely over the internet using images and trust. And careful vetting of vendors before buying.
I would love to have a quality brick & mortar store that I could shop at, which would have a good variety of the coins that I collect. But I am no aware of even one in a decent driving distance.
Back in the 80s and up to 2015 when I lived in Ca I went to the Long Beach shows and bought all of my coins sight seen in hand
Now, where I live there aren't any shows or B&M close, so now 100% online from trusted sellers.
Mike
My Indians
Dansco Set
95% of my purchase between 1986 and 2017 in person and did well with in- person purchases by getting 95% of them green or gold CAC stickered afterwards. In the past few years since 2018 I have bought much more on-line but insisting on CAC stickering. It is a must.
95% on line.
WS
I’d guess 80-90% online, almost exclusively from major auction houses. There are very few shows in my area and I rarely travel for the sole purpose of attending a national show.
Of my personal collection:
Auction - 15%
Show Pur - 20%
Dealer direct - 25%
Walkin into shop - 35%
Private Arrangement - 5%
If you would have asked me 10 years ago, it would have been heavily auction purchase, but over the years being a dealer, I have learned most coins you chase in auction, you best buy to enjoy, because when it comes time to sell one(because of fee structure both ways), its hard getting break even or making a profit. Much better if you purchased from a dealer or at show over time, or even better yet, I have found a few pieces for my personal collection over the years that came thru the shop, those I always seem to be good in price wise.
Depends on the time-frame for me:
Valuewise:
97%+ purchased online.
3% "acquired" in hand (see below).
2015 - 2026: 100% purchased online from major auction houses and trusted dealers
1966 - 2015: purchased in hand (coin shows, dealers). Some purchased in the 1970's were sight unseen via mail from trusted dealers
1966 - 1976: found in change or given to me (i.e. almost my entire 1941 - 1968 Lincoln Cent Collection I found in change, same for Jefferson Nickels).
The bigger majority was purchased online. Percentage wise? 90%
BST transactions: dbldie55, jayPem, 78saen, UltraHighRelief, nibanny, liefgold, FallGuy, lkeigwin, mbogoman, Sandman70gt, keets, joeykoins, ianrussell (@GC), EagleEye, ThePennyLady, GRANDAM, Ilikecolor, Gluggo, okiedude, Voyageur, LJenkins11, fastfreddie, ms70, pursuitofliberty, ZoidMeister,Coin Finder, GotTheBug, edwardjulio, Coinnmore, Nickpatton, Namvet69,...
Currently only one of the coins in my collection was purchased in person. I still work, so my coin hunting is usually done during the liminal spaces in my day.
Newbie collector of type and circulated Peace dollars, photographer of places and animals, player of instruments and builder of amplifiers, espresso industry professional, and a person distracted by shiny objects.
CACG Registry
MyCollect Registry
Wow, based on the responses so far I really am a dinosaur.
Almost everything, estimate 99%, in person. I really enjoy the face-to-face even if it means taking longer to get the coins I want.
Coin stores are mostly gone now in my area. nearly 100% online.
Wild a** guess:
85% online, 15% in person. Hope that adds up to 100%.
Dave
99% online
Successful BST:here and ATS, bumanchu, wdrob, hashtag, KeeNoooo, mikej61, Yonico, Meltdown, BAJJERFAN, Excaliber, lordmarcovan, cucamongacoin, robkool, bradyc, tonedcointrader, mumu, Windycity, astrotrain, tizofthe, overdate, rwyarmch, mkman123, Timbuk3,GBurger717, airplanenut, coinkid855 ,illini420, michaeldixon, Weiss, Morpheus, Deepcoin, Collectorcoins, AUandAG, D.Schwager, blu62vette, morgan13, torinoCobra71.
Very interesting question to consider and also some very interesting responses, some even very specific.
Different parts and era of my collection have been acquired in different ways, but I'd say for my CBH's, for which I have a couple hundred examples, about 25% were in person or after in hand viewing, 25% were with an absolute no questions asked return policy with decent to outstanding images, and the other 50% were from auctions and venues where I only had images to work with, and returns may not have been a welcome outcome (and were very rarely used).
Between 1987 and 2002 almost everything I purchased was in-hand, save for an auction pickup now and then, mostly by catalog images and descriptions. Between 2002 and 2019 almost everything was mostly through on-line venues without previous in-hand inspections, but with images I thought I understood. And then from 2020 until now, it's a good mix, although even with a couple (or more) shows a year, it's still skewing to images only, with various potential return scenarios.
“We are only their care-takers,” he posed, “if we take good care of them, then centuries from now they may still be here … ”
Todd - BHNC #242
Probably about 50%
Mr_Spud
I restarted collecting in 2002 buying graded coins in person from a trusted dealer and later a few at major shows. In 2018, I sold a significant portion of my collection at auction with 50% of the coins getting CACs through the auction house. Since then I've limited myself to buying only CAC coins at on-line auctions and from on-line dealers.
I am around 70% in hand, 30% online. excluding mint purchases.