POLL: Do you buy problem coins, or un-messed-with coins, or both?

ER · August 21, 2006 2:37AM

I buy them both, if I like what I see, as long as I know a problem coin is a problem coin.
Here is my definition of problem coins, and it could any one, or combo, or all of these: holed, corroded, tooled, plugs, scrubbed, dipped, AT, colorized(

), scratched, graffitied, general damage, puttied(

), plus others............

Edited to add more problems.

mgoodm3 · August 21, 2006 2:43AM

I try to avoid problems (not always successful)

saintguru · August 21, 2006 2:44AM

Dude....like being married isn't enough of a problem, mess or both?

mozin · August 21, 2006 2:44AM

If the major grading services body bag a coin, I don't want it.

Longacre · August 21, 2006 2:44AM

I buy unmessed with coins. My dealer tells me they're unmessed with.

Barndog · August 21, 2006 2:46AM

if someone holed a capped bust half dime and then whizzed it and cleaned it and then AT'd the thing AND it was R-7+ die marriage, I would buy it. Please make offers.

ziggy29 · August 21, 2006 2:47AM

I don't think "problem" and "unmessed with" are exact opposites. There's some overlap and some disconnect.

There are some "messed with" coins that I don't think are really "problem coins". And there are "unmessed with" coins that have problems.

Having said that, I don't buy coins that I consider "problem" coins. I recognize that some people may have a more rigid definition of "problem coin" that automatically includes (say) a light dipping, but I don't necessarily.

StrikeOutXXX · August 21, 2006 2:47AM

<< If the major grading services body bag a coin, I don't want it. >>

I'll agree with you 99% of the time. The only exception that comes to mind would be for one of my kids' whitmans - If I can get a $2,000 coin that was BB'd but still fairly presentable for $20 to fill the hole, it's there - they can upgrade themselves when they get older

ER · August 21, 2006 2:50AM

<< If the major grading services body bag a coin, I don't want it. >>

Really? You let a TPG make up your mind for you?

Cladiator · August 21, 2006 3:00AM

Both. I have more than a couple R5 and R6 coins that the general collecting public would call "problem" coins.

lathmach · August 21, 2006 3:02AM

I buy rare and semi-rare coins.
If the coin is rare enough, no problem is too bad.

Ray

StrikeOutXXX · August 21, 2006 3:03AM

<< 

<< If the major grading services body bag a coin, I don't want it. >>

Really? You let a TPG make up your mind for you? >>

I do for the most part at this point in my collecting. I'm still using the rule we always quote of until you can grade yourself reliably or spot counterfeit/altered coins - buy from PCGS/NGC and sometimes ANACS/IGC.

I'm not at the point yet where I can argue much with them.

Winston · August 21, 2006 3:03AM

problem free - although I have made mistakes

Steve27 · August 21, 2006 3:03AM

I like problem coins for my raw type set.

LanLord · August 21, 2006 3:06AM

Older bust stuff, I'll buy even if it's goofed with under certain circumstances, newer stuff (Seated Lib and later) I try to avoid the goofed with look!

Barndog · August 21, 2006 3:11AM

<< I like problem coins for my raw type set. >>

For my Dansco 7070, I select no-problem coins.

NumisOxide · August 21, 2006 3:28AM

I voted both.

I try to avoid buying problem coins but I do buy them. It depends on the type of problem the coin has. If it's a really beat up coin with a whole bunch of severe scratches and digs, whizzed, badly corroded, puttied then no.

If it's cleaned, dipped, scratched, counterstamped then yes. It also depends on the location of the problem. It's a case by case thing. The coin would have to be evaluated and considered by me. If I think the problem won't bother me I buy. Also, problem coins are cheaper to buy then problem free coins but some people say there hard to sell.

I won't buy any modern problem coin though just classics.

shirohniichan · August 21, 2006 4:05AM

<< I buy rare and semi-rare coins.
If the coin is rare enough, no problem is too bad.

Ray >>

Yea, verily.

If you can't find a problem-free example at any price, but a problem one and keep looking.

mozin · August 21, 2006 4:06AM

<< 

<< If the major grading services body bag a coin, I don't want it. >>

Really? You let a TPG make up your mind for you? >>

Yes, I do. I want ALL my coins encapsulated. Over many years, I had my fill of trying to get the grading services to encapsulate at the correct grades. No more submissions for me, I will leave that hassle to others. When comes time to sell my collection, it will be easy to ship it off to the auction house.

DNADave · August 21, 2006 4:12AM

Both

bidask · August 21, 2006 4:17AM

I have made too many mistakes in the past buying problem coins for non problem prices. I have just told myself to just say no to problem coins to protect myself. Its tough enough to filter through the ones that are slabbed and supposedly not problem.

Myqqy · August 21, 2006 5:42AM

Most problem coins just don't make me happy when I look at them..... but I can see being a bit more liberal with certain bust half issues......

TorinoCobra71 · August 21, 2006 6:06AM

Neither, RedNecker!

TorinoCobra71

JrGMan2004 · August 21, 2006 6:07AM

I try to avoid them... but many times when an R.5+ comes up, even if it's got problems, I'm gonna jump on it... I was offered an R.7 by another collector (Probally actually an R.6++++ now) for a decent price... but it was expensive to me, so I hesitated about saying yes, but when I came back to say Yes, it had already been sold to another collector...

stman · August 21, 2006 6:21AM

Old circulated Bust material, and more-so tough dates I'll put up with a so-called problem. The thing is as I see on here, many folks seem to think a toned in scratch or a dig is a "Problem." These things circulated and are expected to show just that.... circulation. Yes it's nice to find a completely smooth old circulated Bust half, but it ain't easy. For those that think the services bag these "problem" type of coins, I might suggest you get out more often

They slab 'em with much more "Problems" then I have mentioned. I actually love when folks will only buy 'Perfect" coins from the slab farms.
Truth be known, many of the remaining nice ones that come to market have stayed raw. (But ya didn't hear that from me)

ER · August 21, 2006 6:22AM

You found it!

robertpr · August 21, 2006 6:28AM

There is absolutely nothing wrong with problem coins so long as

• They're either in a holder denoting as such, or the condition is fully disclosed by the seller.

• It is understood their market value is far below a non-problem piece, as is the liquidity.

BillJones · August 21, 2006 6:28AM

Over the course of my time as a collector, (more than 45 years) I have purchased a few problem coins on purpose. When I was completing my type set, I got “type set fatigue.” I really wanted to have one of everything; I was getting tired of all those coins with arrows that cost a lot; and my budget was getting wrung out. So I bought a few coins that were AT and one that had light graffiti in the fields. Over time I’ve been upgrading those and selling off the losers. I have no trouble selling the losers because I know some dealers who trade in them, and by in large I’ve made money on the transactions.

Today I don’t buy problems coins for me, and I don’t buy them for the business unless they are dirt-cheap. You can make money on problem coins, and there are collectors want them for the same reason I did years ago. It’s just a matter of being honest about what they are.

09sVDB · August 21, 2006 7:04AM

I try to buy unmessed with but sometimes that doesn't work so I have to vote for "both."

Leiana · August 21, 2006 7:06AM

I try to buy coins that don't have major problems. Small things on circulated pieces are the norm and do not bother me, they just are "used" you know? But when someone intentionally does something to a coin, then I no longer view it as okay in most instances. MS coins, now, should be very nice with no problems. That's why they are Mint State.

-Amanda

RichieURich · August 22, 2006 10:10AM

Both. As many others have stated, sometimes the coin is so rare or so expensive in problem-free condition that a problem coin makes sense.

carl · August 22, 2006 10:32AM

If your an idiot type collector like I am, you end up collecting everything. I have 6 boxes of 2x2 error coins, rolls of that famous 55 poor mans double die, 26 rolls of 1943 steel cents, boxes of 2x2's of foreign coins that I don't even know what country they are from. Lots of Missouri Mills. Then there is the dented, scratched, bent, faded, etc coins. I have some blanks that are really not coins. I tried giving lots of that stuff away but I just keep on finding more. I've noticed my house is sinking because of all the weight.

ER · September 2, 2006 12:41AM

Here's a problem coin that I like, knowing it's a problem coin.

mach19 · September 2, 2006 1:38AM

I try not to. However, I did purchase a 1996 ASE with a brown spot on it.

lasvegasteddy · September 2, 2006 1:42AM

I'VE BOUGHT MORE PROBLEM COINS THAN I WANTED TOO...BUT SUCH IS LIFE AND LEARNING I AM

Gemineye · September 2, 2006 1:59AM

I cannot bring myself to buy a problem coin.I am a modern collector.Probably that is the main reason why I do collect moderns and not bearing the cost to buy old classics.Maybe it's both I don't know.When I look at the prices of the classics and to get a gem grade you gotta shell out some big bucks.Why should I settle for problem coins in my collection when I want a nice set..??

slumlord98 · September 2, 2006 2:29AM

My collecting focus is such that coins of interest must be considered regardless of past indignities. If an interesting coin is made available, it is considered regardless of surface issues. Of course, the price and level of interest must cross somewhere in my comfort zone. Momma raised several fools, but I ain't one of 'em!

rec78 · September 2, 2006 3:18AM

I voted for unmessed with as that is what i strive for. However sometimes it is being unrealisted to expect problem free coins to be available for some rare issues.(At least at reasonable cost). Minor problems are ok on older circulated coins. Cleaned bust and seated coins are the norm. I do not consider cleaning to be a big problem unless it looks like someone took a brillo pad to it. By minor problems i mean - Light cleaning, very light scratches that are barely noticable, light digs if not too noticable,etc. Like someone else has said--The rarer the coin the more promlematic it can be and it will still be acceptible.- I would gladly accept a Brasher Doubloon with sixteen holes in it, scratched to smithereens, and sawed in two. Bob

MrHalfDime · September 2, 2006 5:22AM

Like Barndog, I would eagerly purchase what might be described by some as a 'problem' coin if it were the right coin, and I have done so on numerous occasions. Unfortunately, for both Barndog and myself, those 'problem' coins are in the same series. One example was from the Jules Reiver sale - an NCS 'XF details' 1833 LM-3.5 Capped Bust half dime, with an enormous full cud at NITE.

http://coins.heritageauctions.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=390&Lot_No=22046&src=pr#

(You may have to sign in to the Heritage Archives in order to view the coin).

When making a decision to purchase such a coin, one of the deciding factors was the population - just 2 known. It was now or never. I am willing to overlook the dent and porous surfaces in order to add this R8 cud to my reference collection. Overall, my collection of Capped Bust half dimes is uniformly high AU, but I was not willing to forgo adding this incredible terminal die state to my collection because of some obsession about 'problem' coins.

I do have my standards, but I would place completion of a set above strict adherence to a grading standard.

POLL: Do you buy problem coins, or un-messed-with coins, or both?

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