I'm Done Buying From Dealers Who Don't Use Photos

I'm completely disgusted with my last buying experience. This dealer is one who I know wouldn't deliberately try to put one over on me, but he did realize how picky I was. For the second time in a row, I had to send the coin back for a refund. I don't have the stomach or wallet (shipping!) for taking another chance.

Many of you probably have fantastic experiences buying sight unseen from various dealers. I think the only dealer off hand that I could trust that implicitly would be Mark Feld. I thought I could trust this other dealer, but he simply won't spend the extra few moments to really examine a coin to see if it has any problems or really has the eye appeal that I've discussed with him that I look for. Yes, eye appeal is all about the holder of the coin (me), but there are certain levels of eye appeal which should be relatively obvious.

The first coin was a Seated dollar that was a nice original XF, but it was just a bit too beat up to be desirable. I can't find those pictures so I can't show them here. I did happen to scan the coin and send them off to a forum member here and he completely agreed with my assessment. The hits on the coin were too distracting. So, back it went. This is something I would think a dealer who supposedly knows me would realize that I just might have a problem with those hits. At least mention it to me!

The second coin was an 1872 2¢ that had what I believed to be an altered reverse. The obverse had zero dirt on it, but the reverse looks like a layer of muck was added to it....literally! Wasn't this like a major red flag to the dealer?! There were partial, dirty finger prints all over the devices on the reverse indicating that there was a strong chance the dirt was applied which further indicates that it was done to hide problems. This coin was a virtual lock-in to get a body bag if ever sent into a grading service and also very difficult to sell for anyone careful enough to review the reverse.

I also realize that some of you may feel that if I'm going to be that picky, mail order dealers aren't for me. Sigh. Yep, I guess you're right.

I'm just tired of spending $15-$20++ on shipping charges back on forth on coins that I find are not worth owning from dealers that won't image the coins.