I generally post my new acquisitions in the Coin Grading Forum, but there's a lesson to this one which warrants a Main Forum topic.
If you want a nice coin, at a good price, one which suits your tastes and your collection, there are a few ways to go about it. You can form a relationship with a dealer whom you trust, and this dealer will fill your want list coins as he finds them. It's safe, reliable, involves relatively little work on your end, and you know that you're likely to get the coin you want at the price you want. Generally speaking, this will be the most expensive way to buy coins, because your dealer has to have his margin, but it's the most reliable.
Or, you can prowl the dealers, shows, flea markets and such, looking for the coins you want in the grade you desire, and haggle out the price you're interested in paying. This method involves a lot more work on your part - you have to become knowledgeable about the coins which interest you, able to grade, attribute, and properly value them. However, doing it this way has the advantage of putting the coin in your hand before you purchase it, so you can take your acquired knowledge and be absolutely sure that the coin you hold is the one you want. The possibility exists to get some pretty good deals this way, based on the dealer's knowledge or lack thereof, and his need to have cash flow.
Or, you can play the lottery.
There are fine, reputable dealers selling coins online. There are also less-reputable dealers. They sell in varying venues, and the coins are accompanied by photographs of varying quality. Not only is this the riskiest way to fill your collection, it's also the most knowledge-intensive. As I mentioned above, first, you have to know the coin. Second, you have to understand the photographic process to the extent of being able to form judgments based on incomplete information - out of focus pics, improperly lit pics, and even deliberately doctored pics. If you're going to shop this way, it's imperative that you do
all of your homework, or you're going to get burned. Sometimes you get burned anyways.
The upside to playing the lottery is, occasionally you're going to hit the jackpot.
There are
great deals to be had by being in the right place at the right time. And that brings me to today's coin, an 1878-P
Morgan dollar, a Long Nock variety attributed as VAM-83. This variety is characterized first by the extended arrow shaft, which is where the Long Nock name comes from. There are a few such Long Nock
VAM's, some of which I've posted here before. This particular variety has had the first 8 in the date punched too low on the die, making it noticeably lower than the surrounding letters.
A few days ago, I found one of these, unattributed, in a PCGS MS63 holder listed as a lot at a Heritage Tuesday Internet Coin Auction. PCGS does not attribute this
VAM; there are currently 14 in NGC MS63 slabs, and only three on MS64 slabs, one of which is PL. I was in the right place at the right time with the right knowledge, when apparently nobody else was, and I was able to acquire this coin at absolutely no premium over a non-variety example. The premium for this
VAM isn't huge, but it does exist and I suspect this coin would have sold for $125 or better in an attributed slab instead of the $83 it cost me. In the case of this specific
VAM, it's nothing I'd call "winning the lottery." The next one you see me post here will be a slightly different story.
So, you pays your monies and you takes your chances.
This is where I like to live in numismatics, out on the edge where the risk of failure is equal to the risk of success. But my way is only one of a few "good" ways to do it. It's your choice.
Oh, yeah. The coin:
Posted 07/14/2007 2:38 pm
