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Share your "Coin Collecting 101" Story - Times you learned a lesson you'd never forget...
pcgs69
Posts: 4,409 ✭✭✭✭
Mine is... you can pay way too much for a PQ coin when you get caught up in the moment. Think things over first.
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"First, learn lesson #1. NEVER buy a coin from an image unless you know you have the right to return it. Even the best images don't look like the coin in hand because images are static." FatMan
Of all the deals I've done with board members I've only returned 3 coins but I like the piece of mind knowing I can.
"Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working" Pablo Picasso
* Problem coins are easy to buy, tough to sell (most times). Even rare ones.
* Lower tier slabs often trade at a significant discount, especially at the wholesale level, even if the coin is all there (the coin must be crossed to get the money out).
* The biggest lesson is the first time I heard the term "market acceptable" and learned that cleaned/dipped coins are in top tier holders.
Secondly, always buy a coin with a photo on eBay. Especially if that coin is a special variety.
Here is what one of them looked like. They still look nice, but I will likely be stck with 4 whizzed Columbians for life.:
<< <i>Bought a fake EF 1877 Indian cent 25 years ago from a family friend B&M coin dealer. No return and I wasn't willing to call the cops, today might be different. I still have it and it's a very good fake. >>
Doesn't sound like much of a friend. I would have called the cops in a heartbeat.
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
Your local "friendly" B&M coin dealer is probaby the worst place to buy higher quality coins from. Unless you know how to grade technically on your own, you are probably over-paying by a lot.
Most dealers don't want the coins they sold you back, at least not at 70-85%. They'd much prefer to buy at 5-50% of wholesale. This is esp. true for local B&M shops and for 90% of what they sell.
Problem coins are almost never cheap enough. For every one you make something on, you'll lose on the next 9.
roadrunner
(but look! they're so shiny!)
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Good trades with: DaveN, Tydye, IStillLikeZARCoins, Fjord, Louie, BRdude
Good buys from: LordMarcovan, Aethelred, Ajaan, PrivateCoinCollector, LindeDad, Peaceman, Spoon, DrJules, jjrrww
Good sale to: Nicholasz219
I realized it was probably over graded by 3 or 4 points, but figured it had to be at least an Unc.
Turned out it was a whizzed, low AU coin.
It was a $55 lesson, SGS is not a grading service.