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Posted 09/17/2008 09:35 am
ASSUME all rolls of coins of any denomination are searched at all times and also assume you will get commons and largely low grade culls. Then, if you get something better than that, it is a nice bonus. Those rolls you see on ebay are done with store-bought wrappers and a crimping machine.
I would only pay what you consider comfortable for a mixture of wheats + Indian cents, assuming 49 wheats and 1 Indian cent, unless the seller makes some guarantees, like 5 avg per roll. But if they make guarantees, they are basically telling you it is searched. It amazes me how many of these so-called bank-wrapped Indian cents just so happen to have a tougher date or an S mint mark showing at the end of the wrapper. It is "seeded" there purposely so that the final bid is very high.
As for the positive testimonials, I can tell you that in my experience of selling coins on ebay, that I know for a fact that the buyer got keys or semi-keys from my lots. Never did they leave a feedback in which they said the specific key date they got. There may be a few out there that will leave such testimonials, but it seems to be uncommon, even if they in fact received a key or semi-key. So when I see a seller have tons of feedback with specific testimonials on key dates being received, I am highly skeptical. It could the be that ebay seller's friends or family doing it by "shill bidding" and winning the auction and then pumping the seller's feedback. Maybe every once in awhile the testimonial is correct. But I am very skeptical and you should be too.
Only one time did I get a key date from an Indian cent lot from a seller (1909 S VG!) and it was my 4th or 5th time winning a large auction from the seller and it is my belief that he put the coin in there to keep me coming back and/or to say thanks for all the business. I still do not believe the coins were unsearched. And I did leave a testimonial saying that I got a key date.
The one thing that you can say about coins, however, is that most lots are not searched thoroughly for rare varieties or errors. I think this is because there are so many to look for and you have to know what you are looking for. As an example, just last week, I got in some Indian cents and it was low grade cull material, no tough dates, mostly 1890s and 1900s, not even a 1909. But there were two 1897 "1 in neck" varieties. So it was searched for dates, but not varieties.
Also, be careful of the word "unsorted". A lot of sellers are using this word to imply unsearched, but unsorted just means "a pile of coins that need to be sorted".
Good luck on your searching!
I would only pay what you consider comfortable for a mixture of wheats + Indian cents, assuming 49 wheats and 1 Indian cent, unless the seller makes some guarantees, like 5 avg per roll. But if they make guarantees, they are basically telling you it is searched. It amazes me how many of these so-called bank-wrapped Indian cents just so happen to have a tougher date or an S mint mark showing at the end of the wrapper. It is "seeded" there purposely so that the final bid is very high.
As for the positive testimonials, I can tell you that in my experience of selling coins on ebay, that I know for a fact that the buyer got keys or semi-keys from my lots. Never did they leave a feedback in which they said the specific key date they got. There may be a few out there that will leave such testimonials, but it seems to be uncommon, even if they in fact received a key or semi-key. So when I see a seller have tons of feedback with specific testimonials on key dates being received, I am highly skeptical. It could the be that ebay seller's friends or family doing it by "shill bidding" and winning the auction and then pumping the seller's feedback. Maybe every once in awhile the testimonial is correct. But I am very skeptical and you should be too.
Only one time did I get a key date from an Indian cent lot from a seller (1909 S VG!) and it was my 4th or 5th time winning a large auction from the seller and it is my belief that he put the coin in there to keep me coming back and/or to say thanks for all the business. I still do not believe the coins were unsearched. And I did leave a testimonial saying that I got a key date.
The one thing that you can say about coins, however, is that most lots are not searched thoroughly for rare varieties or errors. I think this is because there are so many to look for and you have to know what you are looking for. As an example, just last week, I got in some Indian cents and it was low grade cull material, no tough dates, mostly 1890s and 1900s, not even a 1909. But there were two 1897 "1 in neck" varieties. So it was searched for dates, but not varieties.
Also, be careful of the word "unsorted". A lot of sellers are using this word to imply unsearched, but unsorted just means "a pile of coins that need to be sorted".
Good luck on your searching!
