increasing coin buying instead of holders..

I won't make a blanket statement and say Everyone or Always,but lately I have noticed a different kind of bidding showing up at auctions.

Several weeks ago I noticed that Heritage had six MS66 1946-S Walkers coming up for auction at one time. I wasn't particularly looking for a 66, I was mainly looking for a certain strike quality and cleaness. If I had found that coin I was going to try and purchase it, whether it was in a slab that said 64, 65 or 66. Anything higher than that is way out of my buying budget.

I looked through the six coins--two PCGS and four were NGC. All four of the NGC's were better coins, but two of them really popped out. They had great strikes for what is usually a poorly struck issue ( most 46-S are very weak). I put in a bid on one--it wasn't enough--and bid again--still not enough. I switched to the other eye-popper of the six and placed a successful bid. I have been following that coin for a few weeks now.

Today with the internet bidding nearing an end I raised my bid another $20--just in case. My hopes were based on the fact that there were 6 of these. Maybe anyone who was in the market for this date would bid on the lower priced PCGS coins first,--essentially buying the slab and not the better coin.

To cut to the chase, the first coin I bid on sold for the highest....I won my second bid and the second coin of the fabulous duo....the other two NGC coins sold for less than mine..and surprisingly the 2 PCGS coins (which were the worst of the 6 and barely 65 quality) went unsold !!

I only say surprising because I have often seen people bid higher for lower quality coins..either for the name on the slab or the grade it states. It is rather refreshing to see a trend recently of a more observant collecting going on. I am not completely thrilled with this....I mean, I like buying a cheaper 64 and getting a nicer coin than the other guy got for his 65 money and label.

Here is a pic of my new addition...I don't have the coin in hand so I can only use the image I transferred from the sight-- and the pic seems to have suffered a bit in the transition---but there is no hiding that original mint luster no matter how blurry the pic has gotten...