Posted 05/27/2013 10:38 am
Generally, it works this way to me: savings (as in, how much money I have on hand) ~ cost >= eye appeal >= scarcity (in the rather scarce cases when I actually know it) >= date (and I mean date as in "hey, that's ridiculously old" - so it's not really applicable to Canadian coins, which only go back to 1858). The "hole filler" choice might also be fairly high (but I've bought nigh-identical coins before if they were cheap enough).
Lustre, to me, is a component of "eye appeal"; toning also the same, though might actually be a negative depending on the severity. "Series" is either another way to say "hole filler", or refers to a favorite type; if the latter, well, I do very often buy coins because they're beautiful, but I rarely get so interested as to buy several of the same type for that reason (one major exception is Netherlands 1 cent from circa 1920s - they're just too beautiful, and I don't come across them that often).
I don't really care about theoretical "grade" in a way that won't be included in "eye appeal"; I don't care at all about a coin being "problem free" (though if the problems are too obvious - and/or detract from eye appeal - then I might think some more before buying). In fact, one of the favorite coins in my collection is an 1907 IHC with such an obvious rim ding that it would probably never get anything but a details grade, and even ignoring that its theoretical "grade" is at most a XF-45; but its eye appeal is so good that I basically feel it's perfect even if it technically isn't.
I would probably prefer a TPG slab for the higher levels of preservation (say at least MS-62 and/or RB); but only so that I can be reasonably sure that the coin won't get any additional scratches and/or tarnish while it's in my collection. Not that it really matters that much, as so far I can't afford these yet
Otherwise, it might just as well be a negative (I prefer to be able to touch my coins occasionally).
I usually don't know anything about trend value; even if I do, over here I usually have a huge problem finding coins for such low prices: as far as I can tell, a Morgan dollar normally sells for $50+, whatever online sites say!
I don't really do any turnover; there were basically two or three examples where I bought an item I didn't really need for the purpose of immediately exchanging it at that stall over there for something I actually wanted. In all of these cases, the amount I paid originally was so minor as to be hardly worth mentioning (IIRC all these amounts summed up to less than one Canadian cent).
As for the specific dealer... well, I'm really bad at distinguishing faces. So even if I wanted, for some reason, to buy from a specific dealer, I would've probably been unable to (though I do have specific places I like to buy coins at - I normally recognize them by the layout and/or the selection; and the reason I like them is usually that they have a nice variety of interesting and reasonably cheap coins).
Lustre, to me, is a component of "eye appeal"; toning also the same, though might actually be a negative depending on the severity. "Series" is either another way to say "hole filler", or refers to a favorite type; if the latter, well, I do very often buy coins because they're beautiful, but I rarely get so interested as to buy several of the same type for that reason (one major exception is Netherlands 1 cent from circa 1920s - they're just too beautiful, and I don't come across them that often).
I don't really care about theoretical "grade" in a way that won't be included in "eye appeal"; I don't care at all about a coin being "problem free" (though if the problems are too obvious - and/or detract from eye appeal - then I might think some more before buying). In fact, one of the favorite coins in my collection is an 1907 IHC with such an obvious rim ding that it would probably never get anything but a details grade, and even ignoring that its theoretical "grade" is at most a XF-45; but its eye appeal is so good that I basically feel it's perfect even if it technically isn't.
I would probably prefer a TPG slab for the higher levels of preservation (say at least MS-62 and/or RB); but only so that I can be reasonably sure that the coin won't get any additional scratches and/or tarnish while it's in my collection. Not that it really matters that much, as so far I can't afford these yet
Otherwise, it might just as well be a negative (I prefer to be able to touch my coins occasionally).I usually don't know anything about trend value; even if I do, over here I usually have a huge problem finding coins for such low prices: as far as I can tell, a Morgan dollar normally sells for $50+, whatever online sites say!
I don't really do any turnover; there were basically two or three examples where I bought an item I didn't really need for the purpose of immediately exchanging it at that stall over there for something I actually wanted. In all of these cases, the amount I paid originally was so minor as to be hardly worth mentioning (IIRC all these amounts summed up to less than one Canadian cent).
As for the specific dealer... well, I'm really bad at distinguishing faces. So even if I wanted, for some reason, to buy from a specific dealer, I would've probably been unable to (though I do have specific places I like to buy coins at - I normally recognize them by the layout and/or the selection; and the reason I like them is usually that they have a nice variety of interesting and reasonably cheap coins).
with SPP-Ottawa, a little bit of everything. Although cost of course is a bit more important. But another thing that strikes me as important is eye appeal. Very good poll idea, I will be watching to see the results.
