Greetings From Texas - Very Minor Collector Here With Small, Specific Goal

Well, yeah, my problem was that I never suspected that those estate auctions would have a fake. It just never occurred to me.

It SHOULD have, as a 61-year-old man with a lot of life experience - but I am by nature a trusting person, so it didn't even cross my mind.

We all learn hard lessons sometimes.

But - I did buy a couple of coins for that made me more than the $1097 I lost, so in the end I am in the black.

You can't learn everything before you start doing something. Learning comes from doing :)

Hi lars1963, &,

...as an older guy who is still learning the hard way, ..."a little knowledge is a dangerous thing"... I agree with nicklesearcher's advice ...

...not that you can't sometimes come out ahead on a deal, but when it comes to liquidating a collection, there are extra costs involved, such as auction fees (as high as 30%), listing fees, dealer offer prices ... dealers have to make a profit, & rarely offer market value,, usualy 80%, or less, depending on desirability of the coin(s)...a coin's market desirability may even decline over the years ...

...also, having a coin graded & slabbed adds costs that you may not recover ... that $90 Morgan isn't going to bring any more because it's slabbed, & you've added cost & significantly reduced your return when selling...I see this situation a lot ...

...not all coins automatically increase in value over time ... pay $100 for a coin today & sell for $110 in a few years, & inflation may eat away at your gain.

...Any investment vehicle carries risk, &, it's best to be as knowledgeable as possible ... & you're still taking a risk ... enjoy this hobby for what it is, & best of fortune on your endeavor ...

Would there be any advantage to building a Morgan registry set of good quality, and selling it as a block? Just a thought. Good luck!

I like many others believe that it is a mistake to be purchasing coins as a "investment". This is rarely the case even with rare date high end coins and especially for the short term as you are intending. There are many other investment opportunities that far outweigh the prospect of getting wealthy by collecting coins. Even the precious metals are a long time "investment" and more accurately described as a hedge against inflation rather than an investment. If you had invested $10K in gold bullion back in 2005, it would be worth nearly $54K today and that is over a 20 year period. Even that is no guarantee, there is risk with any investment. If I were you I wouldn't venture any deeper with coins as an investment strategy.

Buying raw coins online can be a risky venture (there is a lot that can be done with photography). Always check out the selller's feedback and sale records at a minimum. Sending coins to a TPG is expensive so only do so for solid coins worthy of the investment or to confirm they are genuine. If TPG coins are your objective, I would encourage you to purchase graded coins.

I appreciate all the advice, & NO, I'm not trying to make a mint. It's not like I'm counting my retirement on this small 85-coin hobby LOL.

I bought these coins usually at a good price. I'm getting them all graded (the ones that already weren't) with PCGS & CAC.

Even with grading, they will sell for more than I paid. If I make $25 on a coin & $200 on another coin, which I WILL because I did my research on the coins, that's fine with me.

I'm talking about something like a $6,500-$7,500 investment & about a $9,500-$10K return. Nothing huge.

I'm getting the best of the PCGS coins CAC-stickered, so that will raise the value.

I might just end up selling them all myself on ebay. Either way, I'm stubborn enough that I will make my money.

PCGS tells me the value of the coins when I add them to my Inventory on their site, so I know what they are worth now, & they probably won't go up much with a CAC sticker. But I have seen CAC stickers raise sales prices 10% or more.

So thanks for all the advice, appreciated!!

Unless you're really good at assessing and buying raw coins from photos, you might find that PCGS doesn't always agree with your (or the auction house's) assigned grade. As you probably know, even a one point difference in a mint state grade can make a huge difference in value. Then there's the risk that PCGS finds a borderline issue that results in a details grade, like overdipping or questionable color. Some higher value Morgans auctioned raw on HiBid might be there because they were cracked out of details holders. Making any kind of profit by buying at auction then selling a few years later is not easy, especially when you consider grading fees and selling fees. Hope it works for you, but there are a lot of pitfalls.