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 Replies: 9 / Views: 1,876 |
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Valued Member
United States
115 Posts |
A year ago, I had a chance to purchase a 1921 saint, it was not graded by PCGS. Although genuine, it had mounts removed, it did have AU details. Being a newbie, I did not buy it because it appears to been taken off a necklace at one time. The coin sold for about $ 14,000.00. My question is all about when is a not graded PCGS coin worth buying. I do thank you for thoughts and hope this is not a dumb question.
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Moderator
 United States
16679 Posts |
Welcome to the CCF JFH. The 1921 Double Eagle is an expensive key date only worth buying if certified by a reputable TPG. Other coins, just depends. swcoin.ecrater.com
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Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
Nice to have you here with us. Your willingness to purchase raw coins should be dictated by your comfort with authenticating and grading them yourself. Sounds like a lot of work? Yup. It is. Numismatics is knowledge-intensive to a degree that few outside the hobby can imagine. Generalists are rare - I trust myself with any Morgan dollar but wouldn't touch a raw Saint because I'm unqualified, for instance. That's why we're here.  Yes, there are raw coins out there, even Saints, that are well worth your money. And it doesn't matter what coin, there will be someone here at CCF who can help educate you regarding them. |
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Valued Member
 United States
115 Posts |
Sorry I was not clear, if a PCGS coin is certified as genuine, but has a mark of 98, are these coins worth purchasing, such as the 1921 Saint that I passed up?
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Valued Member
United States
291 Posts |
It all depends on what you are looking for. For some coins that are extremely expensive in any grade, people would rather purchase one with a details or damage grade just to have it since they would probably not be able to afford an example of it otherwise. Generally, people prefer "problem free" coins.
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Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
Ah. Thanks for clarifying, JFH. Yes, such coins are as worthy as any other. Numismatists are not owners, they are only temporary caretakers of history. It's our duty as collectors to preserve as much of that history as is physically possible because the laws of chance take examples away by accident every day. A cleaned/altered coin is better than none at all, and just as deserving of preservation for future generations as best can be done.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6389 Posts |
Good comments all so far.
Going back 10 years in the Heritage auction archives shows just 3 examples of "problem" 1921 Saints being sold. These were AU details coins with defects noted as Altered Surface, Cleaned, and Damaged. Each of these realized over $40,000. During the last several years problem-free examples in low Mint State have sold for around $100,000 and up. If you want a gem MS-65 recent history shows you had better be prepared to spend a million dollars!
Sounds like it would have been a good investment to have bought that damaged piece last year. These are truly rare and valuable coins.
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Valued Member
United States
115 Posts |
Thank you all for your input, I do appreciate all comments.
In retrospect, I am thinking that the maybe it was a good thing I passed the coin up, it seems to be too good to be true now. I am still just learning, not everything is done by honest people.
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Moderator
United States
16679 Posts |
Agree with Jaobler. Some coins with problem designations, such as the 1921 SG, could sometimes be had at bargain levels as compared to their non-problem counterparts.
This is and will always be a very rare and desirable coin so yes, at 14K, that coin was a great price.
Absolutely nothing wrong with being cautious but if it's a reputable dealer and PCGS, I think you'll be just fine :-)
swcoin.ecrater.com
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4337 Posts |
I'm late to the party here but JFH, its good to become familiar with the auction archives at HA and places such as PCGS Coin Facts (especially if you are looking to compare PCGS certified coins to raw ones in a "what if" scenario). Coin Facts will also offer links to the various cyber-universe archived auctions against theirs and NGC coins.
In retrospect, although mounted and ex-jewlery, had you purchased and sent to PCGS, you could very well have had a details graded coin in a reputable holder and gone to auction for quite a potential profit.
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Replies: 9 / Views: 1,876 |
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Posted 11/22/2014 9:19 pm
