Should holed coins be repaired?

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tydye
tydye Posts: 3,894 ✭✭✭
in U.S. Coin Forum
Much of our early coinage has been holed in the past as keepsakes. Personally I appreciate holed coinage coinage. I like the history associated with it and the savings it affords me in acquiring early examples of US coinage.
For example
$20
image
image

Comments

  • fcloud
    fcloud Posts: 12,133 ✭✭✭✭
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    I think it would be to each their own. The history is cool, but some people may want to have super rare coins repaired. I would be okay with it either way.

    President, Racine Numismatic Society 2013-2014; Variety Resource Dimes; See 6/8/12 CDN for my article on Winged Liberty Dimes; Ebay

  • Nysoto
    Nysoto Posts: 3,833 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    The good intentions of repairing a holed coin will inevitably turn into a sham down the road when the plugged coin is covered with some greasy dirt and passed off as original, I have heard of some ending up in TPG holders. I have a few holed early coins, mostly rare varieties. If a person can appreciate the contemporary history of a holed coin, it is a way to get into an early type that may otherwise be unaffordable.

    Tydye - you have a PQ holed coinimage
    Robert Scot: Engraving Liberty - biography of US Mint's first chief engraver
  • dsessom
    dsessom Posts: 2,481 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    I don't see a problem with it. Kind of like restoring a classic car. It may not be original, but it's better than it was to begin with. image
    Best regards,
    Dwayne F. Sessom
    Ebay ID: V-Nickel-Coins
    My V Nickel Registry Set - https://pcgs.com/setregistry/alltimeset/71874
  • RTS
    RTS Posts: 1,408 ✭
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    Repaired coins leave me cold.
    image
  • gemini12398
    gemini12398 Posts: 885 ✭
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    Neat coin! Want to sell it to me for 25? LOL
  • partagas
    partagas Posts: 2,056 ✭✭✭
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    Personally I don't see a problem with the holes themselves. Agree part of the history that makes collecting so unique.

    I would prefer to have them holed then repaired. Just the same as I would rather have original ugly toning vs. stripped dipped white. The more as it was the better for me.
    If I say something in the woods, and my wife isn't around. Am I still wrong?
  • ziggy29
    ziggy29 Posts: 18,669 ✭✭✭
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    I would say no in the usual case. Given that most of these old coins were probably holed a long, long time ago before these were considered collectibles worth a premium, I look at holes and graffiti much as I do wear -- just stuff people did with their coins way back in the day. And putting a hole in it and wearing it as a necklace (or whatever they did with it) in 1820 is just as much a part of the history as spending it at the local mercantile to buy a few things.
  • yellowkid
    yellowkid Posts: 5,486 ✭
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    I think not.
  • bidask
    bidask Posts: 14,057 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Show it off and make a necklace out of it.

    Maybe the person who put a whole in it did the same thing.
    I manage money. I earn money. I save money .
    I give away money. I collect money.
    I don’t love money . I do love the Lord God.




  • Bjorn
    Bjorn Posts: 545 ✭✭✭
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    No. Most repair jobs look terrible in my opinion...
  • anablep
    anablep Posts: 5,208 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    No.
    Always looking for attractive rim toned Morgan and Peace dollars in PCGS or (older) ANA/ANACS holders!

    "Bongo hurtles along the rain soaked highway of life on underinflated bald retread tires."


    ~Wayne
  • 123cents
    123cents Posts: 7,178 ✭✭✭
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    << <i>I think it would be to each their own. The history is cool, but some people may want to have super rare coins repaired. I would be okay with it either way. >>




    image
    image
  • ziggy29
    ziggy29 Posts: 18,669 ✭✭✭
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    << <i>No. Most repair jobs look terrible in my opinion... >>

    Not just that, but you have the worst of both worlds: You removed some of the history *and* you still don't have an original, problem-free coin.
  • ambro51
    ambro51 Posts: 14,471 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    after you pop a balloon with a pin....is it OK to patch the hole?
  • JamesW
    JamesW Posts: 105 ✭✭
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    One of my favorite coins in my collection is a PCGS Genuine, Holed and Plugged, 1795 2 leaves Flowing Hair Dollar. Bought it raw from a dealer with a guarantee of genuine. This is about the only way I could ever justify owning one.
    I never met a coin that wouldn't fit in my collection.....
  • johnny9434
    johnny9434 Posts: 34,051 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    absolutly no
  • divecchia
    divecchia Posts: 6,715 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    No, as someone down the line will get taken when the coin is sold with no mention of the repair...

    Donato
    Hobbyist & Collector (not an investor).
    Donato's Complete US Type Set ---- Donato's Dansco 7070 Modified Type Set ---- Donato's Basic U.S. Coin Design Set

    Successful transactions: Shrub68 (Jim), MWallace (Mike)
  • kimber45ACP
    kimber45ACP Posts: 2,399 ✭✭✭
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    I always wanted to put a hole in a ragged out silver dollar with a bullet,
    but just can't bring myself to do it.

    Think it would be a nice conversation piece.
  • DoubleEagle59
    DoubleEagle59 Posts: 8,433 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Holed coins that are repaired are truly hideousimage

    They are better left alone.
    "Gold is money, and nothing else" (JP Morgan, 1912)

    "“Those who sacrifice liberty for security/safety deserve neither.“(Benjamin Franklin)

    "I only golf on days that end in 'Y'" (DE59)
  • ChrisRx
    ChrisRx Posts: 5,619 ✭✭✭✭
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    No, the damage is already done.
    image
  • MICHAELDIXON
    MICHAELDIXON Posts: 6,756 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    I crudely plugged a 2c piece whenever I was in Hawaii and sold it as such. While stationed in Korea about 10 years later, I was building a set of 2c pieces and won one on a mail bid auction. Whenever I received it, you guessed it, it was the crudely plugged 2c piece I had sold years before in Hawaii. The mail bid auction didn't mention the crude plug! I ended up keeping the coin and have it around somewhere.

    So, yes plug the holes! But...mention it in the ad whenever you sell it! image
    Thanksgiving 2026 National Battlefield Coin Show November 27 & 28, 2026 at the Eisenhower Hotel Ballroom, Gettysburg, PA. No Early Bird passes for this show. WWW.AmericasCoinShows.com
  • COALPORTER
    COALPORTER Posts: 2,900 ✭✭
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    Okay to fill a hole in the field. It should always be noted by the seller and the coin gets no increase in value, but it may be more collectable. Filling a hole and retooling detail is going to far, at least for me. I would never want it at any cost.
  • RedTiger
    RedTiger Posts: 5,608 ✭
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    As always with these threads, hypothetical coins are one thing. Show me two or more real coins with real world pricing and the question becomes real (as opposed to academic).

    It is interesting that the vast majority are saying to leave the holed coins as is and yet, most of the time, repaired coins sell for quite a bit more money than holed coins. It is another numismatic case where majority opinion doesn't have much impact on the market price. Why is that? Because 95% of those voting against repairs likely won't buy a holed coin for their permanent collection, so their opinions have little impact on market prices. In the small group of collectors that may actually buy a holed coin, likely have a much higher percentage that might appreciate a non-holed coin for their album.

    I own several holed coins and at least one holed and repaired coin.




    Investment blog: gold, stocks and more
  • tydye
    tydye Posts: 3,894 ✭✭✭
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    I almost purchased a holed 1799 large cent a few years ago for $400. I was probably the only one with somewhat of an interest in it. The owner eventually sent it out to be repaired. Sold quickly for 1000 and then resold later the same day for 2000.

    I have heard that repaired holed coins can be detected with a black light. Can anyone confirm this from experience?

  • telephoto1
    telephoto1 Posts: 4,966 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    I really don't have a problem with repairing a hole if it is done well and it is offered honestly as having been fixed. Repaired coins, if done well, look good and make for an attractive yet affordable addition to a collection.

    That said, I'd rather have a coin with a hole than have one with a really sloppy, poorly done plug job. That looks worse than the empty hole IMO.

    RIP Mom- 1932-2012
  • MrEureka
    MrEureka Posts: 24,777 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    I'd like the option to repair my coins, but I'd prefer that nobody else repairs theirs.
    Andy Lustig

    Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.

    Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
  • ricko
    ricko Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    I would vote no. Because somewhere down the road, an unsuspecting newbie will get taken for good money. Cheers, RickO
  • Baley
    Baley Posts: 22,663 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    I'd like the option to repair my coins, but I'd prefer that nobody else repairs theirs.

    great response! image

    Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry

  • PerryHall
    PerryHall Posts: 47,751 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    << <i>Repaired coins leave me cold. >>



    And holed coins don't leave you cold?image

    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

  • HoledandCreative
    HoledandCreative Posts: 2,890 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Since I collect holed coins by date and mintmark, I would prefer to get all I want before they disappear to the coin doctors.
  • lordmarcovan
    lordmarcovan Posts: 45,335 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    image

    << <i>Since I collect holed coins by date and mintmark, I would prefer to get all I want before they disappear to the coin doctors. >>


    (Of course I am not quite as looney as he is... by date AND mintmark? Sheesh!) image



    << <i>I almost purchased a holed 1799 large cent a few years ago for $400. I was probably the only one with somewhat of an interest in it. The owner eventually sent it out to be repaired. Sold quickly for 1000 and then resold later the same day for 2000. >>

    Think again. Plenty of people would have had an interest. More would have wanted it repaired, of course, but I happen to lack the 1799 (for obvious reasons) in my holey large cent date set on the back of my vest. (1793, 1795, 1799, and 1804 are the ones I lack, and probably always will. I have thought about drilling some replicas.)

    I totally love that half dollar in the OP. But I suppose that was predictable enough.

    Collector since 1976. On the CU forums here since 2001.

  • melvin289
    melvin289 Posts: 3,019 ✭
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    I once read that one of the reasons coins were holed and worn around the neck was that pockets back then weren't too reliable or deep. The coins were worn around the neck to keep from loosing them. Another reason would be an emergency stash, kind of like a 20 hidden in one's wallet now. But for whatever reason they are holed I would rather have the hole than a repair. It's like the coinage off the sunken ships. They might be "Conserved" to them but they are cleaned to me.

    Ron

    Edited for spelling.
    Collect for the love of the hobby, the beauty of the coins, and enjoy the ride.
  • PerryHall
    PerryHall Posts: 47,751 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    << <i>Holed coins that are repaired are truly hideousimage

    They are better left alone. >>



    Not every repaired coin is hideous. I've seen several holed and repaired coins that were virtually impossible to detect.

    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

  • pmac
    pmac Posts: 3,189 ✭✭✭
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    << <i>after you pop a balloon with a pin....is it OK to patch the hole? >>


    Now that takes a skilled technician.image
    Paul

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