Share your regret, tell me about a coin purchase you wish you'd made!!
keets
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You know the kind I'm talking about, that coin you can still picture in your mind's-eye after months or maybe even years!! I have two that haunt me from 2003, so I'll start.
There was a two cent piece that a dealer had in his showcase, nothing big grade wise, MS63BN, but the color was fantastic----almost wholly blue/purple on both sides with strong luster. It was to replace another coin in a set I'm assembling that I actually had with me to sell at the show. I made a mental note of the table and when I sold the first coin and went to buy the second, the dealer was gone!!
Several months later I chanced upon an 1890 Seated Dime that was another toned gem, the obverse especially. The shield area was bright gold and the rest of the coin deep blue fading to that gold!! The seller quoted me a price two grades higher than what the coin was holdered at and I couldn't force myself to pull the trigger. It was a mistake not to buy it cause it still haunts me.
Anyone else have moments like that?? C'mon brother, share your anguish!!
Al H.
There was a two cent piece that a dealer had in his showcase, nothing big grade wise, MS63BN, but the color was fantastic----almost wholly blue/purple on both sides with strong luster. It was to replace another coin in a set I'm assembling that I actually had with me to sell at the show. I made a mental note of the table and when I sold the first coin and went to buy the second, the dealer was gone!!
Several months later I chanced upon an 1890 Seated Dime that was another toned gem, the obverse especially. The shield area was bright gold and the rest of the coin deep blue fading to that gold!! The seller quoted me a price two grades higher than what the coin was holdered at and I couldn't force myself to pull the trigger. It was a mistake not to buy it cause it still haunts me.
Anyone else have moments like that?? C'mon brother, share your anguish!!
Al H.
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At the ANA in Baltimore I saw a nice 3 legged Buffalo in PCGS XF at a very fair price and at a nearby table a Dahlonega $5 in PCGS XF, also
at a fair price. The problem was that both tables were one of the first ones just inside the door on opening day & I wanted to look around
first. When I came back later both were gone!
Great transactions with oih82w8, JasonGaming, Moose1913.
Earlier this year I was in a coin store looking for "something special". I had no idea what I wanted, I just wanted something really cool. I had been saving for a few months and had a fairly nice lump of cash. Nothing seemed to peek my interest though. Then the dealer pulls out a 1796 quarter. The obverse is in VG+/F and the reverse is G. I must have looked at it for about 20 minutes, then decided the stickershock was too much for my poor old veins to handle. So I passed. Well, night after night I looked at my collection and pictured where it would go, day after day I wondered if it was sold. Finally I called him up and said, put it aside. I don't know how or when I'll get you the money, but I will. He did, I did and now I have it in my type book.
would have been interesting to see where our bidding war would have gone...
z
Later, I saw the exact same coin at the April 27, 2002 Signature Sale held in Columbus, OH. It was now in a PCGS MS63 and sold for $2990.00:
My regret isn't that I might have profited as this guy did, but that I could have had a very nice key date Buffalo for a song.
It keeps me awake at night.
If I had it my way, stupidity would be painful!
Years later, I finally coughed up $11,000 to buy that same dime. Still have it. You think I am letting go of it?
The coin has gone up $500 since I passed on it but that's not the problem. The $500 is secondary to the fact that it was a wonderful coin for the grade and you don't see them offered that often. I've got an "MS-62" in my collection that is really an AU-58
Screw-up number 2 was George Washington inaugural button from 1789. It was the variety that is similar to a Continental dollar with a chain link with the states around the border, “Long live the President” and “GW” in the script in the center. It is just the one I wanted. (DeWitt 1789-9) The piece had the original shank, which is somewhat unusual. 19th century collectors broke the shanks off of many of these pieces so that they could be displayed like coins.
This piece which had ANACS papers (!!!) could have been mine for $2 grand. Then things went crazy. Some Bozo (more money than brains) paid $11,000, which is WAY too much, even in this market. If I could find another it, which is problematical, it would cost me $3 to $4 grand.
I am not regretting anything as per my sample slabs and am having a field day cherrypicking and getting new kinds all the time.
I wish I hadn't sold my #5 CNS type set over a year ago. The prices have really gone up on some of those pieces.
Cameron Kiefer
In a 1994 Heritage Long Beach sale there was a 1918-D and a 1919-D Lincoln, both graded PCGS MS-67RD. They both sold for in the $2000-$3000 range. Stewart has the 1919-D now and the 1918-D I've never seen since. Definitely TWO THAT GOT AWAY!!!
Turns out the 41-D was REAL!!
Oh well!! Better safe than sorry, I guess.
WWQ
I did get another 1806/9 O.111a NGC EF40 recently that is very nice and well struck on the date.
The market is so hot for 1883, 1884, and 1885 Morgans from Carson City. DMPL prices have doubled/tripled for 1884-cc in the past year. So...what do I find at the Baltimore Coin show? An 1884-cc, MS65 DMPL...slabbed by PCGS. In a first generation rattler holder. WOW. I look at it, amazing clear fields, see a minor chin hit otherwise the coin is a knockout. So good I grimace when I ask the dealer how much?
When he said $675, when I was expecting $1,000+. After all, the coin is possibly a 66DMPL by today's standards.
Could have flipped it on eBay for a large profit, but I wanted to liquidate some other coins first. So I walked the floor looking to raise some cash, when I got back the dealer had packed and left the show.
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