Thought's On Collecting Cleaned Or Problem Copper Coins

I too reached the point where my budget limited my ability to fill those last holes in my collection. As a boy I collected Indian Head cents and then the incomplete folder sat for decades. The original coins were averaging VG but I wanted full liberty on any new additions to the set. This coin came up on ebay and I felt I got it for a steal based on the detail. I just wish I could conserve it some way to reduce the green look.

Speaking of oxidation here is a coin that was gifted to me by a coin dealer friend. I'm showing it as an example of what I might consider as a coin ruined by corrosion.

i tend to think this would be a perfect contender for " Verdi Care"

I have purchased many so called cleaned coins. However, never, ever on ebay or any web site. I only buy coins at coin shows that way I can carefully inspect each one. If cleaned, I would still buy one but it would have to be in fatastic shape too. Any coin that has excessive wear and cleaned, I keep away from. With no intensions of ever selling a coin, cleaned or not makes little difference. I put most of my coins in Albums so a missing coin shows up to much so a cleaned coin for a really cheap price helps fill the Albums.

One dealer I know (won't say the name) has cleaned or dipped common pennies in the bargain bin. They look amazing (MS+) but when you get down to the nitty gritty there is a lot of lost details (not even Fine condition). I suspect that they are sold that way to entice new collectors. I don't condone it but I also don't not condone it. Buyer beware - do your homework. Buying a cleaned coin says more about your collecting/picking skills than it does about the coin or the person that sold it. All that glitters is not gold.

The times when I have spontaneously bought a Problem coin it was because it was a coin I liked or interest me, and it was cheap. I did not buy with the intent of selling or making money on it, but purely to own it, study it, maybe even experiment with it. I did not buy it to put on display, I put it away and once in awhile get it out to have a look.

However I do have high quality sets I am building with the intent of getting a return when I am too old to enjoy the hobby. And like most of us spend hours daydreaming about completing it. Everyone reaches the point in their collection when the empty hole cannot get filled with the same attention to detail as they gave the rest of the set. And a problem coin is better than no coin. It is likely that even the problem coin you buy to fill the hole will still require a sizable investment.

I think most of us try to collect the finest examples we can find and afford. I don't think you can hold it against anyone who has to stray from the norm in order to fill that empty hole. I think that will be reflected in the entire collection as a whole, not a few coins. I do think there is a fine line to being able to pull that off with taste, aesthetics and the possibility of getting your investment back when its time to sell. And that's kind of what I am hoping to get views and examples of.

And By the way I am really digging those green Indians, I think they have real character.

Patience is a virtue. Never settle for less than what you want, saying, "To heck with it, I'll just buy this cheap, polished key date."

Many of the coins I've aquired, I've spent years searching for them. Not because I couldn't find one, but because I couldn't find a NICE example at an investment price.

The green Indians are cool, don't remember finding any that detailed and evenly corroded.