In 1972 I purchased from Bowers and Ruddy (Rare Coin Review) for $395 a now graded PCGS AU55 1849 Massachusetts and California Co $5 Territorial Copper Pattern - Kagin 2B. I still have the coin, original invoice, the Rare Coin Review in Mint Condition, along with a B & R Certificate of Authenticity and Obv and Rev black and white photos - I still cherish the coin and related materioals. I was only 19 years old at that time. My dad offered to pay the $150 that I could not cover. I don't recall ever paying him back although I was cutting the yard for free for quite some time.
An 1807 MS62 50c. I needed to buy it because I thought it was original, really uncirculated, high end, and very pretty. It cost me about one third of my collection, plus all of my carefully hoarded (coin designated) cash reserves. At the time I knew it was either the centerpiece of my collection or the biggest mistake I would ever make in numismatics. I still have it.
There are 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who do not.
<< <i>A lot of y'all must be pretty solvent! Four figures for a COIN! My budget buster was a 1936 Bufallo for $85.00. Most money I've ever spent on a coin. I guess I lack the cohones to spend 3 figures, let alone 4 figures. Driving a 1998 car still. Can't rationalize spending that kind of money on a coin when I need a new car.
Jonathan >>
I drive a 1998 car too (and my wife a 1991). Cars are not great assets to put money into and I only get a different one when it costs more to repair the current one. (BTW, the '98 is the only new one I had even bought.)
It was a holed Higley Copper that I wish to this day I watched closely as it didn't sell for much at all. The "I cut my way thru" variety. The auction company's desciption, I'll paraphrase , speculated that the hole might have been made by an Indian who wore the coin since the pick ax so closely resembled a tomahawk.
How many of y'all know that auction?
I really wanted that coin but was out of focus when it sold, and missed it
A few years ago, I HAD to have this 19XX gold piece (too embarrassed to reveal the date) I got into a bidding war for and ended up paying about 7K. Ridiculous. I later sold it for 3.5K. What is was really worth!
1878 8 TF VAM 14.11 NGC-65. I knew that it was a one lifetime only opportunity. Sold a certified(near top of the condition census for average grade, including two 7/8 Strong PCGS-64 DMPL) 16 coin set of the 7/8 varieties. That set is still intact with a Calif. collector. Still have the VAM 14.11. Second finest known after the lone PCGS-67, which originally was discovered as PCGS-66 and got bumped up after repeated resubmissions by the Calif. collector.
<< <i>1878 8 TF VAM 14.11 NGC-65. I knew that it was a one lifetime only opportunity. Sold a certified(near top of the condition census for average grade, including two 7/8 Strong PCGS-64 DMPL) 16 coin set of the 7/8 varieties. That set is still intact with a Calif. collector. Still have the VAM 14.11. Second finest known after the lone PCGS-67. >>
I have been there too. That is a coin you just cannot walk away from. Parting with others to bring in the new guy though is tough.
<< <i>1878 8 TF VAM 14.11 NGC-65. I knew that it was a one lifetime only opportunity. Sold a certified(near top of the condition census for average grade, including two 7/8 Strong PCGS-64 DMPL) 16 coin set of the 7/8 varieties. That set is still intact with a Calif. collector. Still have the VAM 14.11. Second finest known after the lone PCGS-67. >>
I have been there too. That is a coin you just cannot walk away from. Parting with others to bring in the new guy though is tough. >>
Well, not really John. I could have replaced all of the coins in the 7/8 set several times since then. Not the case with the VAM 14.11. If anyone tries to convince you other wise, it's all B.S.
I was 15 years old, living on my own, and found a "dream" Vancouver commem at the 1975 Central States Show. Bought it and 90 days later I had caught up with my bills . Still have it. K
Not the most expensive coin i ever bought (2nd)..about 5 years ago, i decided to try to find a vg 1901-S barber quarter to finish a set that had that hole empty for 30 years and complete my barber coin sets. I finally saw a nice vg on JJ Teaparty's Website--after some negotiating, we finally agreed to a price and it took me 6 months to pay for it. Up until that time i had never paid more than $1200 for a coin..I still have it and it has tripled in price since i bought it. I am glad i bought it as i would not purchase one at today's prices. i got lucky because right after i purchased it they started to rise in price quickly. This is the only coin in my collection that i have ever had to take 6 months to pay for. However --Heritage has some interesting coins that i need right now that may just make me do it again. Bob
My most expensive coin to date is a very cool 1797 16 star dime. I traded two early half dollar dupes and cash for the remaining 30%, so it was really quite painless.
Now the rest of the story - I received the coin, was very excited about it, but no time to put in the bank box before leaving the home for a day. So I found a very special hiding place that nobody could ever find, and set the security system. When I returned, it was 12 hour workdays for the next three weeks. Finally, I had time to put the coin in the bank box. I went to where I THOUGHT I hid it, and it wasn't there. After three weeks of confusion, did I actually put the coin in the bank, but didn't remember doing so? I went through both bank boxes at two separate banks twice! No luck. At this point I began to panic and actually considered buying a metal detector to find the coin. Well, a month went by, and something clicked in my brain as I was close to the area I had hid the coin. I found it, and the coin would have never been found (without a metal detector!) as it was within the structure of the house.
After 30 years of collecting coins, there are still lessons to be learned
Robert Scot: Engraving Liberty - biography of US Mint's first chief engraver
1985: For $300 bucks I bought a XF40 1909SVDB Lincoln. Set it to PCGS came back with an added MM. Next one was an 09SVDB years later certified by PCGS AU55 for $725.
Not very common, I could not afford it in one lump some and could never pull the trigger at auction. Finally Legend had a nice example going at just under the last auction price and they worked with me pretty well to take some one time trade ins and reduce the price enough for me to go ahead and get it. ( A once in a life time deal made possible with a coin I thought I might not ever own.)
It was the last peice I needed to complete the series so I splurged and got two grades above anything else I own.
I am still paying for it and probably will be paying for it over the next 5 or 6 years. No plans to dump it as I enjoy looking at it.
My first budget busting coin was an 1877 Indian Head Cent. It cost me $35 as I recall. Of course this was about 1965 or so and I was 14 years old. My monthly take home from paper route and odd jobs was about $30.
My last budget busting coin was a 1889 CC Morgan in a MS62 DMPL. It was considerably more than $35.
It was 1962 and I didn't even have a paper route yet. I scraped up about $8 to buy a F 1913-D t2 buffalo from Beymer. It was a lot of money for me and he must have been out of F's because he sent a nice solid (and attractive) VF. At the time I thought it was XF and learned all the other coins I'd bought through the mail (from other parties) were overgraded.
That one coin saved me from taking a loss on the set when it was later sold.
For me, it was really more of a bullion item than a coin, but for all intents and purposes it is a coin so it meets the criteria for this story. I am still quite young (closer to 30 than 20, but barely so) and any money for me is still precious. I'm still paying off college loans, paying higher auto-insurance prices because I'm young, and trying to save up to afford a place to live. I finally have a job where I make decent money, but still not nearly enough to afford a $1,000+ mortgage a month on my own as well as utilities and whatnot. However, while I am able to save quite a bit each month to reach that goal of affording a home, I also tend to go through "spending bursts". I really don't know what brings them on, but every now and then I'll get in this urge to spend money on one of the collections I have.
This past summer a lot of the spending bursts were on my baseball card collection. I still need one or two traded sets and a few of the Barry Bonds cards from the HR Chase from a few years back, but those can wait a while as I'm in no rush to complete them. (Since I really have no place to store/display them, they can wait until I have more room). I think the only collection I have where I didn't go into a spending burst is my collection of the elements. That one has been slowly built and slowly upgraded over the years and has kind of tied into my coin collection.
Lately, I've been in a spending burst trying to complete my "currently circulated" collection. I just spent a good deal of cash on mint sets from 1999 forward and silver quarter sets as well. I only need the 1999 silver quarters to have all the state quarters and the 2002 proof dollar to have all the Sacagaweas. I completed my Roosevelt collection a while back.
Anyway, earlier this year when I got my new job I realized that I got this flyer in the mail for a low-interest rate Visa card. I looked at the details and realized that it was a VERY good deal. High limit and no interest until March of 2007. I also realized that I did not have a one-ounce platinum coin and I really wanted one for a long while. I just couldn't decide if I should get a maple leaf, or a platinum eagle. I like the design of the platinum eagles, but I had one ounce versions of every maple leaf so decided to complete that "set". I went online and bought a one ounce platinum maple leaf using my Visa card. It was the first time I had ever made ANY purchase over $1,000. A grand all at once would cripple me, but with my new job I figured I could pay off the charge long before any interest accrued. I still have my platinum maple leaf to this day and just finished paying it off last week.
I collect the elements on the periodic table, and some coins. I have a complete Roosevelt set, and am putting together a set of coins from 1880.
My first budget busting coin was a purchased from a fellow collector. The coin was offered to me, and I jumped at the chance. IIRC, it was the first coin I was not able to pay for out of my coin budget in one fell swoop. I still own the coin, and in retrospect it was probably the best purchase I have made -- it is still the centerpiece of my collection and remains my favorite US coin design bar none:
Since purchasing the above coin, I've busted my budget on a few more occasions, but in each case it (I hope) has been for coins that were worth strectching for....Mike
Collector of Large Cents, US Type, and modern pocket change.
I'm scared of these type stories... then everyone will see what a fool I was
this thread should be reserved for a confessional or with the elders of the church or um ... well forget it, andy I'll just say it was over a grand... on more than a few occasions.
Practice makes perfect & nobody is perfect. So, practice being nobody and be perfect !
I charged a 50.00 Pan-Pac on my Amex card while I was drinking and had to scramble to pay for it before the bill came, I still have it in my registry set--------BigE
I had a lovely gem New Orleans Barber 25c pedigreed to Eliasberg and to Clapp before him. I won't say which, as it's a pretty recognizeable coin. I adored the coin, but I had to milk my collection for close to 2/3 its total value when my folks needed help to buy a building lot; it had to go. It was around a $2,000 coin, which for me is enormous.
Comments
There are 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who do not.
<< <i>A lot of y'all must be pretty solvent! Four figures for a COIN!
My budget buster was a 1936 Bufallo for $85.00. Most money I've ever spent on a coin. I guess I lack the cohones to spend 3 figures, let alone 4 figures. Driving a 1998 car still. Can't rationalize spending that kind of money on a coin when I need a new car.
Jonathan >>
I drive a 1998 car too (and my wife a 1991). Cars are not great assets to put money into and I only get a different one when it costs more to repair the current one. (BTW, the '98 is the only new one I had even bought.)
NSDR - Life Member
SSDC - Life Member
ANA - Pay As I Go Member
How many of y'all know that auction?
I really wanted that coin but was out of focus when it sold, and missed it
Coin's for sale/trade.
Tom Pilitowski
US Rare Coin Investments
800-624-1870
"Everything is on its way to somewhere. Everything." - George Malley, Phenomenon
http://www.american-legacy-coins.com
<< <i>1878 8 TF VAM 14.11 NGC-65. I knew that it was a one lifetime only opportunity. Sold a certified(near top of the condition census for average grade, including two 7/8 Strong PCGS-64 DMPL) 16 coin set of the 7/8 varieties. That set is still intact with a Calif. collector. Still have the VAM 14.11. Second finest known after the lone PCGS-67. >>
I have been there too. That is a coin you just cannot walk away from. Parting with others to bring in the new guy though is tough.
NSDR - Life Member
SSDC - Life Member
ANA - Pay As I Go Member
<< <i>
<< <i>1878 8 TF VAM 14.11 NGC-65. I knew that it was a one lifetime only opportunity. Sold a certified(near top of the condition census for average grade, including two 7/8 Strong PCGS-64 DMPL) 16 coin set of the 7/8 varieties. That set is still intact with a Calif. collector. Still have the VAM 14.11. Second finest known after the lone PCGS-67. >>
I have been there too. That is a coin you just cannot walk away from. Parting with others to bring in the new guy though is tough. >>
Well, not really John. I could have replaced all of the coins in the 7/8 set several times since then. Not the case with the VAM 14.11. If anyone tries to convince you other wise, it's all B.S.
"Everything is on its way to somewhere. Everything." - George Malley, Phenomenon
http://www.american-legacy-coins.com
My 1866 Philly Mint Set
Here is mine:
Not the most expensive coin i ever bought (2nd)..about 5 years ago, i decided to try to find a vg 1901-S barber quarter to finish a set that had that hole empty for 30 years and complete my barber coin sets. I finally saw a nice vg on JJ Teaparty's Website--after some negotiating, we finally agreed to a price and it took me 6 months to pay for it. Up until that time i had never paid more than $1200 for a coin..I still have it and it has tripled in price since i bought it. I am glad i bought it as i would not purchase one at today's prices. i got lucky because right after i purchased it they started to rise in price quickly. This is the only coin in my collection that i have ever had to take 6 months to pay for. However --Heritage has some interesting coins that i need right now that may just make me do it again. Bob
Now the rest of the story - I received the coin, was very excited about it, but no time to put in the bank box before leaving the home for a day. So I found a very special hiding place that nobody could ever find, and set the security system. When I returned, it was 12 hour workdays for the next three weeks. Finally, I had time to put the coin in the bank box. I went to where I THOUGHT I hid it, and it wasn't there
After 30 years of collecting coins, there are still lessons to be learned
Not very common, I could not afford it in one lump some and could never pull the trigger at auction. Finally Legend had a nice example going at just under the last auction price and they worked with me pretty well to take some one time trade ins and reduce the price enough for me to go ahead and get it. ( A once in a life time deal made possible with a coin I thought I might not ever own.)
It was the last peice I needed to complete the series so I splurged and got two grades above anything else I own.
I am still paying for it and probably will be paying for it over the next 5 or 6 years. No plans to dump it as I enjoy looking at it.
My last budget busting coin was a 1889 CC Morgan in a MS62 DMPL. It was considerably more than $35.
to buy a F 1913-D t2 buffalo from Beymer. It was a lot of money for me and he
must have been out of F's because he sent a nice solid (and attractive) VF. At
the time I thought it was XF and learned all the other coins I'd bought through
the mail (from other parties) were overgraded.
That one coin saved me from taking a loss on the set when it was later sold.
This past summer a lot of the spending bursts were on my baseball card collection. I still need one or two traded sets and a few of the Barry Bonds cards from the HR Chase from a few years back, but those can wait a while as I'm in no rush to complete them. (Since I really have no place to store/display them, they can wait until I have more room). I think the only collection I have where I didn't go into a spending burst is my collection of the elements. That one has been slowly built and slowly upgraded over the years and has kind of tied into my coin collection.
Lately, I've been in a spending burst trying to complete my "currently circulated" collection. I just spent a good deal of cash on mint sets from 1999 forward and silver quarter sets as well. I only need the 1999 silver quarters to have all the state quarters and the 2002 proof dollar to have all the Sacagaweas. I completed my Roosevelt collection a while back.
Anyway, earlier this year when I got my new job I realized that I got this flyer in the mail for a low-interest rate Visa card. I looked at the details and realized that it was a VERY good deal. High limit and no interest until March of 2007. I also realized that I did not have a one-ounce platinum coin and I really wanted one for a long while. I just couldn't decide if I should get a maple leaf, or a platinum eagle. I like the design of the platinum eagles, but I had one ounce versions of every maple leaf so decided to complete that "set". I went online and bought a one ounce platinum maple leaf using my Visa card. It was the first time I had ever made ANY purchase over $1,000. A grand all at once would cripple me, but with my new job I figured I could pay off the charge long before any interest accrued. I still have my platinum maple leaf to this day and just finished paying it off last week.
My first budget busting coin was a purchased from a fellow collector. The coin was offered to me, and I jumped at the chance. IIRC, it was the first coin I was not able to pay for out of my coin budget in one fell swoop. I still own the coin, and in retrospect it was probably the best purchase I have made -- it is still the centerpiece of my collection and remains my favorite US coin design bar none:
Since purchasing the above coin, I've busted my budget on a few more occasions, but in each case it (I hope) has been for coins that were worth strectching for....Mike
this thread should be reserved for a confessional or with the elders of the church or um ... well forget it, andy
I'll just say it was over a grand... on more than a few occasions.
Practice makes perfect & nobody is perfect. So, practice being nobody and be perfect !
An authorized PCGS dealer, and a contributor to the Red Book.
<< <i>I charged a 50.00 Pan-Pac on my Amex card while I was drinking >>
Now that's funny.