Am I An Idiot For Buying This Coin? Flying Eagle 1857

If you are an expert then buy raw because you will save money. I buy raw but am no expert, so if I decide to pay hundreds then I will definitely buy slabbed coins.

The advice is sound, but it might better have been worded in a less personal tone: "When paying hundreds of dollars for a coin, an NGC or PCGS holder will provide added assurance of your purchase." All too often, we coin collectors find it difficult to be objective about coins. If I got a coin from MY grandfather, and YOU criticize the coin, YOU are questioning MY grandfather's integrity!

Another aspect to weigh on this quote is that when we offer a statement in this forum, we are speaking to not just one person, but a group. Generally, our comments address the group, and not just one person. Thus, we need not take these matters personally, even if we interpret a comment that way.

Getting back to this particular coin, it may well be worth less than what was paid for it. What collector hasn't missed a beat now and then, going with an impulse buy? I once heard a dealer say, after making a $2,800 mistake, "If I don't make a bad buy now and then, I'm not doing enough business." I recall thinking, "What a great attitude he has!" We collectors can learn from this, own the knowledge and move on. This particular coin can be returned if the light of day confirms the assessment of this forum.

Personally, this oldtimer prefers buying raw coins; mostly, at shows and shops. I trust my judgment. Sometimes, there are cleaned AU's that have more eye appeal than an MS-63. So, I don't rule out buying a cleaned or recolored coin. The disparity in price is something to weigh as well as one's exit plan when the time will come to pass the coin on.

The Flying Eagle cent is, IMHO, one of the best coin designs out there. When buying, I try to avoid letting my fondness for a particular design or my preference for certain dates overshadow other aspects of the purchase I'm considering.

I like to go off of good pictures, but then you pay more. Just like buying slabbed coins you have to pay more than raw. There's kind of a similar chance buying raw as there is buying with a bad picture. I did however buy a really nice MS 1970 s small date lincoln for real cheap on ebay. It's beautiful and no one snagged it because the picture was horrible. Some people just can't take pictures and that is their only reason for a bad picture. Others try to purposely scam. There are all sorts of risks when buying coins online, but everyone has different methods of buying. Nothing wrong with buying a raw coin with questionable pictures... as long as there is a good return policy.

It arrived today and I am returning it. The color is fine - looks more like macmercury's pics in person and has the same color and tone etc of my other FE that is PCGS MS62 certified. But the surfaces do look way too good and clean and polished-like. Not worth the risk that it'd likely be body bagged if I submitted it.
Thanks for the input!

I will say that those claiming to see wear that would make it an AU are off, IMO. I've seem certified 63's and 64's online that were a lot weaker and appear a lot more like true wear than this one does. The surfaces/fields are what pushed me to decide to return it.

GL2ALL

I feel that if you aren't prepared to listen to what experts here have to say, perhaps you shouldn't ask. IMO.

Les

If you don't want to be called an idiot, you shouldn't start with "am I an idiot?"

That's my opinion.

And the expertise here is far above yours. I've met some of these people in person, and many are dealers and collectors with many, many years of experience.

If you don't like what they say then don't ask.

And good luck to you.

Upstate's illustrated FE Cent certainly helps to support the consensus opinion that the subject coin is an AU.
These old eyes see trace of wear on the subject's reverse and a suspiciously "grainy" field on the obverse; this, suggesting artificial enhancement of the surfaces. Admittedly, pics can be deceiving. IMHO, the buyer was wise to return it. The controversy in this thread may well have helped tip the scales in that regard ... doubtless, a good thing.

While it's true that the title of this thread seemingly begs personal criticism, that's not what this hobby is about. That was a "tongue-in-cheek" invitation to adjudicate a coin.

You may not want to call it an AU coin but it is certainly not Mint State by any stretch of the imagination. An MS63 with a weak strike will still have full luster, including the areas of strike weakness. Loss of detail is not what strictly defines wear, it is the loss of luster that defines wear. That is why so many collectors have such a hard time seeing the difference between an AU58 and an MS64, the only real difference between the two(other than value) is breaks in the luster on the high points.

Take a weakly struck MS coin and then clean it to the point of removing significant amounts of luster. Suddenly, that uncirculated coin is now an EF without having ever circulated. Once the luster is gone, strike weakness and wear are essentially the same thing. The lack of luster on this 1857 FE combined with a little weakness= AU details coin all day long.