Recommendations For Buying A Draped Bust, Heraldic Eagle Dollar

Hi everyone,

I will soon be in the market for what will likely be the biggest coin purchase of my life, a Draped Bust Dollar, to finish my U.S. type set. The 7070 crowd might ask: who needs a Draped Bust Dollar for their type set? Well, apparently me, because I chose to use Whitman #9138 (Basic U.S. Type Set) when I was younger because the Dansco was more expensive to purchase and more daunting to fill. My Whitman album, for instance, only has one hole per denomination for the Seated Liberty series.

All that being said, the album contains one hole which is more difficult to fill (at least with an entry level piece) than any one in the Dansco--the Dollar sized hole marked "1794-1803". Thus, I now find myself in the market for a Draped Bust, Heraldic Eagle type U.S. Dollar. As this purchase will likely be the most substantial coin acquisition I ever make, I have a few questions before diving in.

1. To immunize myself against the many high-quality fakes that exist, should I purchase a slabbed coin, buy a raw coin after familiarizing myself with the die varieties, or familiarize myself with the die varieties and then purchase a slabbed coin?

2. My budget is on the low end for these coins, in the roughly $600-$1000 range. Because of my plan to put the coin in a Whitman album, I am targeting one with problems but without anything that is so. patently ugly as to debase my collection. Should I try to save up to $1500 and buy a more visually appealing example, or does my plan to crack it out and put it in an old, chemically active Whitman album (that produces classic Whitman toning) mean I should "ruin" an example that already has serious issues? (Obviously, "ruin" is used extremely loosely here, as Whitman Bookshelf / early Classic album toning is generally market acceptable. I am just very particular about not doing anything to change the appearance of the rare, problem free examples, which I regard as crown jewels of U.S. numismatics which should be confined to slabs).

3. Going back to the counterfeiting problem, is buying from ebay (even a slabbed coin) something that should be regarded as completely off the table? Ought I to restrict myself to purchasing in person or from a more reputable online site like Great Collections?