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 Replies: 24 / Views: 3,166 |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
5858 Posts |
Since I'm primarily buying these to fill my Type album and not for investment (don't tell my wife that, though), I'm less concerned with buying coins that may be over-graded and/or cleaned and more concerned with buying coins that are outright fakes (although I do avoid the coins that are mysteriously super-shiny while still having plenty of pits and scratches). The more I read on this forum, the more paranoid I am getting. In fact, I just took a magnet to my entire collection (fortunately, only the 1943 penny was attracted to it). I'm not too worried about my Morgans, Barbers, and more recent coins. But now that I'm looking at stuff like Trade dollars, early Seated Liberty dollars and early Large Cents, well, it seems like these get faked a lot. I can barely afford to buy decent-looking specimens of these coins in the first place, so it would break my heart (not to mention my bank) to spend hundreds of dollars on a single coin and later find out it was a fake. Anyway, thanks for the advice. If I see any potential candidates on places like ebay, I'll be sure to post them here for your opinions. Except, it looks like I need a lot more "quality" posts before I'm allowed to do that... |
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Rest in Peace
United States
4849 Posts |
The 7070 is a lot of fun! I have pulled many a coin out of the slab to fill it. Here is my opinion. Seated and Trade dollars are the most heavily counterfeited. As a result, these would be the ones I would be very wary buying raw. The Classic and Draped Bust Cent don't seem to be as heavily counterfeited, so your less likely to run into a fake. The bigger issue for me, imo, is that a lot of these have corrosion issues or have been recolored....so buying slabbed would help eliminate potential problems if you care about that kind of stuff. The type 1 standing lib quarter, I think your fine buying this raw for the most part...just watch out for cleaned examples. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5858 Posts |
Right now, I suspect the Type 1 Standing Liberty quarter may end up being the one coin I don't end up putting in my album. I recently got a decent 1871 Seated Liberty dollar for around $175. It's pretty worn (you can't really make out "Liberty" on the shield or "In God We Trust" on the reverse), but it's at least recognizable for what it is. Similarly, I hope to find an earlier example without the motto for around $200-300 in the same condition. And I'm sure if I look around I can find both early Large Cents in the $100-200 range. The point is that I don't need to have a coin with every detail crisp, as long as the key elements are there and you can tell what it is. When it comes to Standing Liberty quarters, however, the key difference between type 1 and type 2 is whether the breast is exposed or whether she is wearing chain mail. I can't even afford a type 2 in good enough condition to clearly see the chain mail let alone a type 1 where I can make out the exposed breast. The ones I have seen tend to sell for upwards of $500 (often much more) and I just can't justify (to my wife, let alone to myself) spending that amount of money for a "non-investment" (ungraded, not in a slab) coin. Of course, as I tell my wife, while having a coin graded and slabbed certainly increases the value and makes it more likely to appreciate in value, a good raw coin will at least keep its value over time since there will always be collectors looking for them. |
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Moderator
 United States
189053 Posts |
Quote:Right now, I suspect the Type 1 Standing Liberty quarter may end up being the one coin I don't end up putting in my album I do not understand. The 1916 is not the only option here. The 1917 Type I Standing Liberty quarters are very affordable... http://www.numismedia.com/fmv/price...icesgd.shtmlI would not worry about seeing or not seeing the differences on the observe. The obverse is not the only difference between the two types. Three of the reverse side stars were moved to be below the eagle on the second type. Really, there are actually three types if you count the recessed date that started in 1925 (but the 7070 does not make this distinction). |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5858 Posts |
Thanks for the feedback, jbuck! Yes, I'm aware of the difference on the reverse with the stars, but in my personal opinion it really is the obverse that is the critical difference, since supposedly the whole reason for the redesign was to cover up the breast. The NusmisMedia price guide is very interesting, but doesn't come close to reflecting the prices I have seen at local dealers and on ebay. Maybe if I started hitting the coin shows I could find more reasonable prices, but so far for the level of detail I would like I'm seeing prices above well above $200 mark. But I will keep looking! |
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Moderator
United States
189053 Posts |
Definitely keep looking! The coin show is a great idea (I buy all of my coins at shows). The competition should keep the prices inline with what NumisMedia is showing. Be positive! You will fill that hole with a satisfactory specimen and it will not be the most expensive coin you bought for the 7070.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5858 Posts |
All right, anybody care to give me an opinion on this 1917 SLQ currently up for auction on ebay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/1917-P-STAN...em415ce9327aThe Buy It Now price seems reasonable enough and it has enough details to make me happy. It doesn't appear to have any luster whatsoever, though. I can't tell if it has been improperly cleaned or whether it's just the picture (I've discovered that using my scanner instead of a camera to take pictures also produces a very dull-looking matte effect). Thoughts? |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1704 Posts |
For the early type coins your best bet is probably going with slabbed coins and removing them to put them in your album. Save the label for each so that if ever you decide to sell the album the scarcer type coins are already graded and you won't have to worry about getting cheated on the grade. Ed ANA LM-3175 |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
2362 Posts |
I agree with #1 and #2. I often break out slabbed coins and set them free unless I'm looking to resell them. Regarding raw coins - I've used the resources of these talented forum people and received great support.
Member ANA and EAC "You got to lose to know how to win". Dream On by Aerosmith |
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Valued Member
United States
56 Posts |
I'd go with option 1 but I'd take 2 if I could get an extremely good deal. I've been working on what I call the "bargain bin 7070" meaning no coin in there is over the price listed on the highest bargain bin at my local coin shop (so, nothing over $40 bucks). As such, I'm quickly approaching your conundrum myself. What to do about those Trade dollars, etc.? I can tell you one thing I learned: hunting for coins out in the wild has made me learn a thing or two really quick and has actually increased my love of collecting more than simply bagging and tagging slabbed coins. And this site has been uber-helpful in my education. But the key here, I think, is cherrypicking. Know the ballpark price and know the coin (I study the photograde to give myself a burned in mental image of what I'm after at the moment and average a couple of price guides for the ballparks) and cherrypick like blazes. Also, I'd say, is look everywhere for coins. ebay, online coin shops, brick and mortar coin shops, etc. etc. etc. As has been my experience there's always an odd coin out there somewhere that is just waiting for someone to buy it really cheaply. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5858 Posts |
So... What do you guys think about that one on ebay I linked to a few posts back? |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
870 Posts |
Well, I'd watch it and put a bid in on it at the last second. If you can get it for closer to $52 or so total, it's not bad. No reason to spend more than you need to. If somebody else decides they need it, there will ALWAYS be another one, and I wouldn't feel too crushed if this one gets away.
I like the advice of buying your coins certified so you're sure you know what you're getting. That is, if you plan to try to have any kind of "investment" (that is non-bullion) value. If you don't care too much and you just want to fill holes, pieces like this fit the bill nicely.
Did you make it to a show yet?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5858 Posts |
Thanks for the advice. And no, I haven't made it to a show yet. Went to NYC with the family and bought a bunch of coins from dealers in the Jewelry District, though, so that was nice.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
Quote:
but in my personal opinion it really is the obverse that is the critical difference, since supposedly the whole reason for the redesign was to cover up the breast. Actually the whole reason for the change was to raise the eagle and a few minor changes to the obverse. The matter of the exposed breast was never mentioned or discussed and when the changes to the coin were approved the changes were enumerated and it was ordered that no other changes were to be made other than the ones mentioned. The exposed bust and the chain mail was not mentioned. That change was wholly undertaken by the designer on his own initiative and was actually an illegal change. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5858 Posts |
Well, that's why I said "supposedly." I guess that's another urban myth laid to rest, eh?
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Replies: 24 / Views: 3,166 |
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Posted 08/12/2011 10:09 am
