Opinions On Buying Fom Great Southern Coins

I've purchased five or six coins from GSC in the past few months and have not returned any. They have a great selection of coins. Many of the sellers on ebay exaggerate the grade of their coins and it's important to have a really good photo or scan so you can make your own decision about the grade. GSC's pictures are the best and make my decision much easier. Some photos by others are not so clear and that where you can be mislead. I do see that the bids get out of hand sometimes as potential buyers are caught up in those great photos and bid way too much. Smart ebay buyers set a $ limit for a coin and stay with it.

Also, their packaging strategy is very professional by protecting the coin but not making the unpacking impossible. I receive so many coins from other ebay sellers that contain a dozen staples, wads of paper, and ten feet of tape.

I bought a 1902 IHC which they claimed was CU/BU. I sent it to NGC, came back as MS Details Altered Color. I don't think I will buy from then again, at least not uncirculated coins. Also, I agree that their prices always seem inflated at the end of the auction.

Photo's can always be misleading. Here is the general rule I follow. 1. Never accept sellers grade on raw coins. 2. Always downgrade seller's grades or your grades (by judging pictures) by at least one full grade. 3. Stay away from any coins that display large nicks or gouges (normally they are signs of field problems that would lower grades) 4. Never pay more the 70-80% of the CDN (Coin Dealers Newsletter) "bid" column in the aforementioned leaser grade. The only time I will break this rule is if after months of attempting to buy the type coin I seek fails. Those coins will be my only exceptions. Here is a good example; currently I am trying to finish off a collection of nine lower grade Lincoln sets. The 1910s and 1933d are both proving to be a bit harder to get. The 10S CDN values at 14 bucks and the 33D is valued at 2.75, neither of these can be bought at my 70-80% curve, so I had to pay more to get them. Hope this helps..... happy hunting!

ebay buyers seem to love their coins and bid them way up. I've won around 6 auctions from them and I've never been disappointed. However, I've never submitted a coin purchased from Great Southern for TPG grading, so I can't comment on that aspect of the transaction.

After viewing many of their offerings and making several purchases, I think I've finally "decoded" Great Southern's terminology:
"superb Gem" = MS 65 - 66
"solid Gem" = MS 64 - 65
"Gem" = MS 63 - 64
"near gem" = MS 62 - 63
"Choice BU" = MS 61 - 62
"BU uncirculated = 60

I would consider them a trusted ebay seller. Any thoughts?

I was turned off by their site. Everything I was looking at was overpriced and over graded from what I could see in the pics. I got a baaaaad vibe.

Only seller I have had a pic issue with was southparkcoins. The "light engraving" that could not even be seen in the pic was initials my wife could see from the other side of the living room. Though it was a completely no hassle return, so that was good.

Here is my recommendation from experience. Stay away from their raw coins, They do sell slabbed coins, take a close look at the pictures and make your own judgement call. I am very happy with a slabbed gold coin I bought from them yet was disappointed on a raw copper coin that came back from NGC as Unc details questionable color.

Interesting this thread popped up again. After that post, we ended up buying a coin from them (and I will be sent straight to Hades but that I can NOT remember what it was) and we found it to be pretty much what was pictured. I do remember it was a snipe for a decent price.

Never bought from them, but just looking at their pictures you can tell its been photoshopped. The unfortunate thing about coin photography is that even without juicing the pictures you can create great looking images by playing with light.