Your Best Coin Deal(S) ?

I just picked up a 2000 ASE, 85' mint set, 1903 IHC [good], 1906 V Nickel[good] for $24 total with my radio auction gift cards. I got two $25 gift cards for $12 each to a pawn shop. I only wish she had more silver to get instead of the extra coins.

Ya done good!

I'm glad that you like reading my posts. I'm sure that not everybody does.

ebay is a study in human psychology, both that of the seller and of the buyer. Successful buying via that venue first and foremost, presumes that the seller will follow through with their end of the bargain. Provided both parties do as they say, it can be rewarding....or not.

The forums are a good place to get a pretty good "fix" on the mindset of potential buyers. There are folks who, IMHO generally well heeled folks who think a lot of their own knowledge, who think ebay is just an avenue for sellers to dump their junk. These people tend to leave ebay alone (at least they'd have you believe that). That's a "win" for me. The more those folks shy away, the better for me.

People have preconceived notions. Things people say all the time..."All the buy it nows are overpriced junk", and the cynics who say "yeah right, your uncle died and you don't know diddly but you're selling these coins". In the first place ... Buy it nows are my "staple". I never even look at items up for open bidding. And secondly ... yes, people sell things without the due diligence required to know what they're selling. It happens every day.

My approach to ebay is more a study of the seller than the material they're offering. I'm looking for that guy who just wants "rid of this pile of crap" that Uncle Wiggly left him, and will take whatever he percieves to be a fair price for it. When I pull up a list of results, numismatic terminalogy in the listing title, is a turn off for me. It presumes the seller has some knowledge and there won't be any "deal of the decade" buying done there.

There are those who are offended that using the techniques I use are basically tantimount to preying on the ignorant .... OK, so if I don't then nobody else will, right? You and I both know that's not the way it works. Then some are offended that I share my exploits here, seeing it as somehow harmful to young collectors, or as gloating. I have an enthusiasm for this stuff that I've had since I was a youngster myself, and it's nice to be able to tell somebody who might care. The Mrs ... God bless 'er ... just could care less.

I want every collector to have every success in building the collection they are proud of. I think that there are little nuggets of wisdom that I drop along the way that can help others use ebay more effectively to acquire pieces for their collections.

You know you're doing something right when the consignment director for one of teh major auction houses calls you a thief for agreeing to buy what somebody has decided to sell, and has set a price for. Then .... and it slays me ... they ask me via a questionairre .... just when I might wish to sell my collection, naturally the pitch is to allow them to represent the material. I couldn't find the "when pigs fly" box, so I opted to not complete the survey.

If I ever decide to use this outfit, I will do so after a public appology from the "chief cook and bottle washer" of same concern, for the way I was sullied in a public forum by his "consignment director".

Oh yeah .... off of that soapbox. The idea is to know as much about your prospective seller as you can when you search ... and "search" is not "browse". They are two different approaches to the same venue. Either or both can be successful, but I prefer searching to blindly browsing.

To quote Robert Deniro in the movie Awakenings.... "Look ... Learn from me".

Chance

I got a VF20 '21 Peace dollar in a lot of junk silver.

I've already posted these in other topics, but I'll post them in this forum to keep it alive :

-I bought a Maria Theresa restrike Thaler (worth $25) for 50 cents

-A dealer had to give me back $2 so he gave a 1968 and 1969 mint wrapped dollars that he had bought himself in those years

-Got around $13 in silver coins for $5, giving me a nice little set of world coins including an Italian coin from 1830

-Also 1898, 1899, 1901 10 cents in quite nice condition at $7 even though it is below the value at G4. The 1898 was in the best condition (VF20) worth around $70

-Netherlands 2 1/2 Gulden 1940 in VF for $15

-1847 coronet head cent in VF20+ for $20

-1935 Canada dollar (around MS60) for $25

Another 3 am est ebay snag ... I spied this 1896-S Morgan dollar in AU for 45.00 plus shipping. A "condition rarity", it's worth between 600 and 800 dollars if slabbed by one of the top 3.

Makes the weird hours thing "work for me"

Chance

I didn't post the 3rd picture....

I had to do some major enhancement to satisfy myself that it was an "S" .... here's that picture.

Chance

My best coin deal is actually just coin related. I bought one old massive coin book from antique store for €20 and sold it few months later for €300 (about 400 USD) on internet auction. The book wasn´t keeper after I heard the real value of it... and there´s always few copies of that book in local libraries too.