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 Replies: 24 / Views: 2,066 |
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
1091 Posts |
Here in Australia you don't get easy access to US coins. So when I saw a seller here selling unsearched USA wheat pennies I bought 300 to search thru. I was hoping to collect a lot that I'm missing in my USA collection. The wheaties cover fifty years and I knew that with mint marks there would be many more to collect (Roughly 138+). For the 300 pennies I paid $35.85 about 13c each. I had high hopes of getting a good spread of years as these were Unsearched. After examining each one I found I had a "Heinz 57 Variety" collection. Yep, 57 different coins the rest were doubles. As I said, I had a small collection to start with so that I needed 28 date or mintmarks out of that lot. After the treasure hunt was over, and I had my 28 coins, I realised that I paid $1.28 each for them and a bunch of doubles. I could probably buy the specific dates I required for less than that and in better condition, well, I learnt an important lesson. Considering I paid $1.28 each for a 1956, 1956D, 1957, 1957D,1958,1958D I think I will go to a dealer next time. Now, are there really any UNSEARCHED pennies around? In my sample of 300 there are No 1909, 1910, 1911, 1912, 1913, 1914, 1915, 1917, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1931, 1932 or 1933 with or without mintmarks. I now think it was unrealistic of me to think after all these years that no one has gone through these coins and taken the older dates out already. I did get eight 1916's. LOL I had a chance to buy 30 Buffalo nickels for $60.00 from the same seller. The only description was "readable dates" which meant to me that they would be in "good to very good" condition. But after my unsearched pennies buy, I passed on the 30 nickels, as I don't need 15 x 1936 nickels. LOL I did buy 27 Buffalo nickels at a coin show that if you look with a magnifying glass in strong light at the right angle you could make out "part" of a date and figure out what year the coin was made. I paid $25 for them. Was that too much in that condition? I just got excited at the time as I hardly ever see Buffalo nickels here. My name is toast because I get burnt so often. But this time it was self-inflicted. LOL. I'll learn. I would be better off getting these specific common date coins from a dealer. I see I'm too new to the forum to put in a want list. The few weeks it will take me to get to post 50 will give me the time to get a list together of what I'd like to collect in USA coins. Edited by toast
05/23/2005 04:02 am
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Valued Member
Netherlands
309 Posts |
There are. When I buy kilowhere here, manny times there are US coins in it, of cource most the 1 cent pieces, becouse I am a world coins collector by type and year, I have a lot of them on my trade list, but the rest all goes back into the bulk, maybee when we both get to post 50 + you and I can make a swap some times, so I get rid of some of those doubles, and get me some ausies that I miss in return ;-) Greetings, Carl |
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Pillar of the Community
 Australia
1091 Posts |
Good idea Carl, I was wondering what to do with the 272 extra's I just bought. LOL
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Forum Mom
 United States
5877 Posts |
Unfortunately, there really aren't any "unsearched" lots to be had, especially if you're looking on ebay. Even if the seller thinks they're being honest because he didn't search them himself, it's almost sure that they were searched before they ended up in that seller's hands. Our Trade section should be a good way for you to get just the dates that you need, without overpaying for a lot of coins that you simply don't need. Most Wheat cent lots contain predominantly coins from the 1940's and 1950's. Occasionally, you will see some teens and twenties, but not often. There are lots on ebay that completely list out the dates of the coins in the lot. If you're lucky, they also have pictures. This is very rare, though. Buffalo nickel lots generally contain 1935-1937 coins, often with well-worn dates. Mercury dime lots generally contain 1940's. All of these tend to be a very poor deal for the buyer. I know that dealers pay about 3 cents (or less) per coin for wheat cents, so your seller made a bundle. For the type of coins that you are looking for, I strongly advise you to keep posting here on the forum until you reach your 50 posts and post in the trade section. I'm sure that you will find members here who would love to trade with you and you get a better deal from people you can trust.  |
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Valued Member
Netherlands
309 Posts |
Susan,
you'r partly wrong, there still can be found lots whitch are not searched, shurely not often, but sometimes you find them, abouth a year or four back I got some kilo's from an older woman, her past husband just put all coins he got in a big box to sort them out after his pension, he never did it, and I was the lucky one to get this box. (Did some redecoration there)
In this box the oldest coins where from the German states beginning 1700, so verry sometimes, a collector can get lucky ;-)
Greetings, Carl
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Forum Mom
United States
5877 Posts |
I stand corrected. However, if you are purchasing on ebay, those lots are searched, without a doubt. |
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Valued Member
Netherlands
309 Posts |
That might be the reason I don't use E-bay, but the more smaller auctions on the net, you might like to look once at; https://www.MPO.nl |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2724 Posts |
quote:
Originally posted by CarlTromp
you'r partly wrong, there still can be found lots whitch are not searched,
Just because the current owner has not searched the rolls or coins, does not mean that they were not searched prior to them obtaining the coins. Yes it is true that you can find a family friend or member who bought new coins at the bank and never looked through them. Once these sets or rolls are offered for public sale, they HAVE been looked through. |
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Valued Member
Netherlands
309 Posts |
ND, when I mean lots, I mean in bulk, so not in holders, not searched out on date, but boxes filled with coins, and be honnest, if you would get a box filled with coins, and you see there coins (and tokens and that cind of stuff) from a period for over 300 years, you can imagine that it might be looked at, but searched?!?!
If I get my hands on such a stock again, I will be happy as a small kid again, believe me!!
(o.k., o.k., a child's hand is filled quickly, but I'm a 39 year old kid ;-) )
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Valued Member
United States
138 Posts |
I've been buying and selling coins for years but I still get a bang out of going through groups of coins I just bought. Unsearched lots? Virtually non-existant...but lightning does strike sometimes, as it did for Carl. But realistically we can't be decieved by sellers today who boast "UNDISCOVERED BONANZA FANTASTIC HOARD" over and over again. It's hard not to buy into the hype, especially if you hear it repeatedly. MY shipping clerk, smart guy, was into collecting before me, even, knows coins inside and out, just bought 2 u.s. silver dollars on ebay...from China! Of course they were fake. I coulda smacked him. But it just goes to show that if you get hit with advertising enough, almost anyone can begin to believe. Nick |
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Rest in Peace
United States
2884 Posts |
Hello Crew! Many years ago my Father used to take me to the bank and "buy" a bag of 5000 pennies.(I'd cull a few hundred, add back replacements and talk Dad into doing this this a few times a year) I assure you that these were largely unsearched. Even back then (mid to late 1960's) most of the good stuff was gone. Wheaties were plentiful, but still mostly "mega produced dates from the 40's and 50's". People started stashing wheaties as soon as the Memorial cent's appeared in 1959. I have a dealer buddy who is selling bags of 5000 for around $325.00-$350.00.(last time I asked, no bogus "unsearched" notes attached, even though he buys and sells in bulk and I doubt he goes through them.) Shipping costs are better now that USPS has the flat rate box up to 70lbs. If anyones interested send me a private mail. Mike |
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Valued Member
United States
138 Posts |
Not trying to be a downer here but bags of wheats are easily obtainable in the $200 range.
Nick
p.s. Mike what do you feed your animals to make them smile like that? It's peanut butter, isn't it? :)
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Rest in Peace
United States
2884 Posts |
tradernick, thats 4 cents retail![:0] What are they paying for them? I think thats about the buy price and retail is about 6 cents. Toast said he paid 13 cents each! I'll have to go bust my dealer buddies chops about this! By the way,that's good news for anyone out there buying, not a downer! I just knew my buddy advertises at about $300.00 per 5K (without shipping) Mike Edited by Mike
05/24/2005 01:48 am
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Forum Mom
United States
5877 Posts |
Dealers are paying about 3 cents (sometimes a little less).
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2724 Posts |
quote:
Originally posted by Mike
What are they paying for them?
Most dealers will pay $135 to $150 across the counter. Dealers trade the bags between each other in the $160 to $175 range. They retail for $180 to $200. Now as Nick stated, 99.9% have been searched over and over. Yes there will be minor things found like RPM's, OMM's. DDO's, DDR's, and maybe some better dates. If you think that you will find the big ones, or believe the stories on ebay, well............ |
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
1091 Posts |
National dealer, Those prices are for bulk common coins in bags of 5000. LOL I, first thought the 5K was 5 kilograms and worked out all the prices for the 1608 coins in 5 kilograms of coins. They were much more expensive.  5000 coins at $135 = 2.7 cents 5000 coins at $160 = 3.2 cents 5000 coins at $200 = 4 cents So these bags weigh 15.55 Kilograms or a bit over 34.2 pounds. That would give any collector quite a few doubles.  Edited by toast
05/24/2005 10:28 am
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Replies: 24 / Views: 2,066 |
Posted 05/23/2005 06:10 am
