It's Time To Stop Purchasing Raw Coins From Local Coin Shops

Thanks for being master of the obvious, Spruett.

But I was hoping to get feedback on how widespread the overgrading strategy is.

I would say maybe somewhat wide, give or take. It depends.

That's being the Master of Ambiguity.

I generally take the view of @chesterb.

But I have a question:




So a claimed XF "raw" would come back an F or a VF? Or a claimed MS 66 would come back MS65 or 64? I assume the latter case since I am sure that you could tell an XF from a VF.

I think that there is a fair bit of over-grading, which is why I am very careful when there is a huge price difference between one grade and the next.

Given human nature, there would always be at least a subconscious desire to see a higher grade and a higher price.

That being said, there are many dealers who grade fairly.

Unless you are personal friends with a dealer, I don't think you'll ever get a "fair deal," buying or selling. (Sorry, to the dealers out there.) From my experience, mostly selling to them, they would consistently undergrade my stuff and then still underprice it for that grade.

For instance, I once sold a large size note, w/o a crease, to Stacks in NYC. The dealer insisted it was a VF and, to give you some indication of the state of affairs, his was the best offer I got!

I generally stick with slabbed stuff these days, Mike, to avoid this problem. I also prefer buying & selling via no-reserve auctions where I feel the prices would truly reflect the state of the collecting world.

No no no, a claim of xf-45 comes back as a 35 or 40.

I've always hated dealing with local coin shops. So I avoid purchasing coins from them unless the coin has beautiful eye appeal.

But in every instance, when I send the coin in for grading they have always came back a point or two under.

That guy in Oklahoma that I purchased my raw 72 sld from, swore up and down that the coin was au-53. Even after I showed him graded examples of Seated dollars from my collection that supporting my thesis that the coin was xf-45. He budged some on price, but after agreeing to send the coin in for grading, he slow-played me for months before he shipped the coin to NGC.

When it came back as xf-45, he made no offer to make it right. Quite frankly, after the 3 month ordeal, I was just happy to have the coin back in my possession.

Begs the question: Should shop owners be held accountable in these situations?

I think you're missing the point, Phil. I see this as strategy that local coin shops use on a regular basis in hopes that their customers don't send coins in for grading.

Here's another example from a coin shop in Wichita KS. If I really wanted to get medieval, I would name names.

What exactly is a 'Fair deal' to you then? Is it purchasing at a price where you can immediately turn a large profit? Or is it sold at a price where the actual market dictates it should be sold at?

I consider myself a dealer who gives 'Fair deals', but my prices reflect the actual market. If you are looking for a 'steal', you generally won't find one. However, the reason my prices are the way they are, is because I sell coins at that those prices.

At the NH coin expo last weekend, I had a guy came in right at the beginning of the show and wanted 5 of the nicer pieces I had, however, he kept lowballing, in fact on most of them, offering much below what I had paid buying! He got frustrated and started telling me I didn't know the market for world coins, I was trying to be a museum and wouldn't sell anything, ect, ect. By the end of the show, 4 of the 5 pieces he was interested in were sold, at my prices.

My point is that guy who came to my table would truly believe I did not offer 'fair deals', yet, he would be objectively wrong.