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Replies: 13 / Views: 306 |
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Valued Member
Korea, Republic Of
447 Posts |
I've recently made a turn in my collection style. Up until now, I've pretty much hoarded rarities and key dates in Korean coins. However, a friend recently mentioned to me the idea of refining my collecting to Top Pop and very high-grade rarities. The idea is to sell off rare, but lower grade coins to purchase one, really rare coin. One way of doing this is having a personal rule about the number of slabbed coins you have. If you want a new rarity, sell off one that you own to make room. This is the start of many, but this is the #1 PCGS MS-65+ 1968 5 Won that I have recently acquired.   
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Pillar of the Community

United States
4595 Posts |
What a cool protected (I assume) warship on the obverse.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3031 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
3317 Posts |
It's definitely a good way to start. For me, I am reluctant to sell unless I have the upgrade on hand. A lot of coins that I wish I could upgrade are either absurdly expensive or coins that I haven't seen offered for the last decade or so.
An example from my Korean collection is 1896 1 fun. Mine is damaged but it's a coin that rarely appears in the market. If it does appear in problem free condition, I suspect it would cost a pretty penny.
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Valued Member
Korea, Republic Of
447 Posts |
Quote: I am reluctant to sell unless I have the upgrade on hand. I feel you. I actually owned an MS-63 (I think) 1968 5 Won before I put it up for sale. I don't think I would have sold it unless I had this MS-65+ one. And Korean "modern" (1880s~1910s) coins are super expensive in MS condition, so I feel your pain. A genuine 1886 1 Mun is like 75K, gold coins are stupid expensive, etc. Fortunately, I was graced with living in Korea for quite a while, so I had direct access to auctions with the rarest of coins. Those almost never make it to eBay or other markets. I've got lots of duplicates in high AU or MS grade that I could get rid of to get a really nice piece.
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Valued Member
Korea, Republic Of
447 Posts |
@gxseries Just a quick look at the Korea markets shows even an NGC VF 505 1 Fun is on sale for $600~$700. I'd imagine the price climbs rather rapidly from there; possibly reaching $2,000 in AU? I can't imagine MS... May be 4000 at that point.
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
3317 Posts |
Lembafc I guess I got really lucky and had an early start. Korean coin prices have rocketed in the last 10 years. I wish you best of luck, I'm sure you'll assemble a decent collection.
That said, by any chance have you come across a 1987 500 won coin? Any grade is ok as long as it's not banged up.
My partial coin collection http://www.omnicoin.com/collection/gxseriesMy numismatics articles and collection: http://www.gxseries.com/numis/numis_index.htm Regularly updated at least once a month.
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Valued Member
Korea, Republic Of
447 Posts |
Gxseries, yes. Korean coin prices in general have skyrocketed. I don't want to take all the credit, but my YouTube channel in Korea that covers Korean coin collecting and metal detecting has brought a LOT of new collectors into the hobby. When I first started going to the Auctions there were only a couple dozen folks there. As my videos became more popular and subscribers grew (141,000 as of today), the auctions became more full and coin collecting forum participants went through the roof. I would say within reason that my "influence" on Korean coin collecting has definitely effected the hobby there. Prices for circulated key dates have tripled, prices for cash coins have gone up 4~5x... Its crazy.
As for the 1987 500 coin, yes. I have two, but they are both circulated. You trying to get one? I have no idea how I would get it to you in Aus.
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
3317 Posts |
That's awesome lembafc! I had a bit of a chuckle when you got pretty upset over the quality of the recently issued proof Korean mint set. YouTube vids are something I have considered but I'm not a photogenic person and I have a pretty odd accent. Plus I'm not too keen on the idea of people identifying me on the streets and get robbed... Personal preference. I'm sure there are other ways to showcase - maybe text or text to audio. I guess I've diversified in too many areas - Russia, China, Korea, Japan. I think I've pretty well in where I got up to. As such, my policy has been is if I know a certain coin is somewhat scarce or uncommon, it's ok to purchase a damaged coin as long as the price is right. This is the 1896 1 fun coin that I've own for the last decade.  It has a minor bent and not in the best condition but it's a coin that I haven't been able to upgrade at a reasonable price. At the same time, what's reasonable today these days when prices of a lot of coins are just going through the roof! I shall send you a PM about the coin.
My partial coin collection http://www.omnicoin.com/collection/gxseriesMy numismatics articles and collection: http://www.gxseries.com/numis/numis_index.htm Regularly updated at least once a month.
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Valued Member

United States
171 Posts |
I was amazed at the Turtle Ship when I toured the Korean War Museum. Hard to believe they were built in the 1500s and used up until the 1800s. I'll have to dig through my Korean coins again. My father was there during the Korean Conflict (War), and I did four tours there, but much later.
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Valued Member
Korea, Republic Of
447 Posts |
Quote: I had a bit of a chuckle when you got pretty upset over the quality of the recently issued proof Korean mint set. Yea I was pretty bummed about it. They skirted around the issues by stating "We never said it was a proof set", but we all know it was. And yea getting recognized thanks to Youtube is pretty funny, but I've been on Korean TV multiple times as well. Korea is also a much safer country, so you don't need to worry about getting recognized and then robbed. Hehe Those 505 1 Funs are quite rare and if it were me, I'd send it in to get graded on rarity alone. :) Look forward to your PM. Quote: I was amazed at the Turtle Ship when I toured the Korean War Museum. Hard to believe they were built in the 1500s and used up until the 1800s. I'll have to dig through my Korean coins again. My father was there during the Korean Conflict (War), and I did four tours there, but much later. Yes the ship in real life is quite amazing. They used to have a full scale model way down south that you could go in and experience what it was like, but it burned down last year I think. Your father was a hero and all of us thank him for his service to Korea. There were some pretty coins from the 60s that he may have collected. Take some photos and how us what you find. :)
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
3317 Posts |
I've sent a pm Lembafc. Might have landed on your junk mail box.
As much as I'm tempted to send a few coins for slabbing, the logistics and cost just puts me off. That said, there are some that I'm curious of the grade. I wouldn't say the 505 1 fun coin is the highlight of my collection.
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Valued Member
Russian Federation
192 Posts |
At the moment I have one collectible topic that I want to complete completely in the weaknesses of NGC or PCGS. Now I don't have much money, and it's quite difficult to collect coins from a country other than my own country (many sellers simply refuse to deliver to Russia or overcharge the delivery price) Therefore, I hope that I will complete my collection and only then I will think about buying better preserved coins, but this is a very costly and expensive process.
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Valued Member
Korea, Republic Of
447 Posts |
@gxseries Okay. I will check the spam folder. I was wondering why I didn't see it. :)
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Replies: 13 / Views: 306 |
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