Coin Collecting Dilemma

There are many times where a nice original MS-63 coin has more eye appeal than a lower end MS-65. Just buy the nicest coin you can afford with best eye appeal you can find.

It would depend on the coin for me. I'm doing a classic commems set where all the coins have the range where the significant jumps occurs. Some of my favorite coins Ill go the extra level up if I can find one a like. With the coins that I am not a huge fan of and may or may not have gotten if I didnt need them to complete the set I will get the best one I can find right before the big jump.

Really its all just personal preference and what you can afford. If you have the money and find a gem in the higher price you really like go for it. If you dont have the money though dont stretch your budget just for the extra level

"Buy the coin, not the slab"
That is the ongoing mantra here, and it is good advice.
I have seen many documented cases of PCGS slabbing fake coins,
so there is an arguement to be made that TPG coins are not
always better or accurate. It is all about someone's opinion,
and that someone might not see 'eye appeal' the same way you
do, or even give a number grade that everyone would agree with.

I don't have a 'registry set', but I can say that I buy coins that
I think look best to me. I might look at them through a loupe when
I am thinking of buying, but I place most of my decision to buy
a coin based on what it looks like to the naked eye. Often low MS
coins look better to the naked eye than high MS coins, IMO.

I think we all agree that, in principle, the "buy the coin not the slab" mantra sounds great.

But in the practical sense, that is not how the market appears to be working. People still demand, and get, more $ for a fugly 63 than a super eye-pop 62. They trust and "adhere" to the slab rating - in-general. I don't see very many "buyable" slabs outside auctions. Maybe a few at cheapslabs but that's about it! Raw coins are all over the map, but slabbed coins ( at least for the ones I collect ) have a much "higher side" range of pricing by sellers. They all want "retail list" or more. The ugly coins go for retail, problem-free ones for more. And people still buy.

JMHO

Agreed. Its important to remember that just because you think a 65 is better than a 66 doesn't mean the market will agree.

Personally as opposed to buy the coin not the slab, I go more for buy the coin that correctly matches the grade you want. Most of the slabs the coin will agree with but there will always be that percentage of coins that are either very ugly for their grade or fantastic for their grade and I stay away from the low end ugly ones

"Each coin has a level where the price jumps significantly."
True for many, many coins.

"For example, the coin price increases in a smooth linear manner from MS61 through MS64, then the price doubles at MS65."
True. MS65 has a magical appeal for many people. MS64 is an "also ran."

"So far I have been inclined to go for the best looking MS64, rather than paying double for a number on a piece of plastic."
There is much wisdom in these words.

"What would you do? Is getting the coin in the mint state number after that big price jump important?"
No. Not to me, and not to coin COLLECTORS!

Coin INVESTORS, on the other hand, have bought into the lie that the "number" is everything.
Collectors know, and have always known, that eye appeal trumps numerical grading.

Look, usc96, a very quick history of slabs:

1) "Let's make coins just like stocks. To be traded by people who are not collectors.
Why shucks, let's make it so easy that buyers and sellers do not need to even look at coins at all."
2) Keep referring to No. 1 until you understand why this original idea has failed miserably.

Even the best third-party graders are held suspect some 20 to 30 years later. The advice
to buy the coin and not the holder is as true today as ever.
If your grand parents set you up with a seven figure trust fund and your ego is so fragile
that you simply must have the best that money can buy then go for MS70.
Most of the rest of us are quite resigned to study the coins and to patiently
acquire the best LOOKING coins that we can reasonably afford.

I believe that, by your original post, you will agree with most of what I have just written.

To IndianGoldEagle:
This is called "grade creep."
In my opinion, a much greater danger than a TPG letting a counterfeit pass as genuine.
It is INVESTORS, who demand MS65, that drive grade creep.
And yes, not for the better.