A quiet week... an anecdote

A quiet week numismatically speaking. Snow last Tuesday and more expected Monday night. Looked at more Mercs online in the past few days and found a couple that I am considering adding to my collection. As I mentioned in an earlier posting, I have a certain "standard" I am going for - not necessarily a "look" (most Mercs look the same to me unless they are worn or toned anyway), not necessarily a grade (I can't really tell much difference between a 65 and a 66 and some FB Mercs can look otherwise horrible). I'm looking for no knicks, marks or spots that draw your eyes to them right away, especially on the fasces on the reverse. I would think most collectors have a standard that they are going for in a set, no matter the series. A matched set based on a "standard", or at least closely matched, is more interesting to me than one that is matched solely because of a grade on the slab. Ok, let me get off my soapbox before I get in trouble. Oh, and yes, I've got NGC graded slabs in my sights...

Well, since not much new is worth talking about this week, I thought I'd share an anecdote. In my beginning days of collecting a few years ago, I used to buy raw coins from dealers at coin shows. Ok, I admit I still do (when I even bother going to shows), but I'm a lot wiser now - hence, registry sets. Anyway, back to the story - I was browsing at a reasonably large local show a few years ago and was just starting to have an interest in Mercury dimes. I spied a really nice looking 1945-D in a dealer's case. Looked at it, loved it - of course, less knowledgeable then than I am now - in fact, one might say I was seduced by its bright, white beauty. Paid $16 for its MS-63 rawness and took it home along with other purchases I now don't remember.

I had recently set up a "custom" Dansco album with spaces for dimes, quarters, silver dollars, Canadian silver dollars, and nickels. Even had a list of dimes by date and mintmark that I wanted to purchase (Seated Libertys, Barbers, and Mercs). The 1945-D was on my list and so I purchased it, took it home, and put it in the appropriate spot in my Dansco album. I put the album in its anti-corrision slipcase (ha!!!!! as I would discover soon) and put it away.

Added some other coins along the way in different pages, but I noticed that my once beautiful 1945-D was beginning to tone. It was beginning to tone around the edges and darkly. I'm not really a fan of toned coins, but decided to salvage this one. I carefully took it out of the album and into one of those round plastic cases with a black ring around the coin - honestly, I forget the brand name.

A few months later I take it to a coin show to sell it - maybe I can get $12 for it, after all a lot of collectors like those toned coins. Turns out this seductive little dime had been subject to a cleaning at some point (and I do agree with that diagnosis after close examination). The dealer's actual words were something like "This coin has been cleaned and then someone tried to tone it to hide the cleaning. It looks like a coin that **** **** would sell." Now, **** **** is actually a coin dealer who regularly advertises in at least one national coin publication and has a negative reputation among many collectors. Of course, I was not happy - my first coin sale was a flop, although he did offer me Greysheet MS-63 raw for the coin. $8 wasn't as important to me as keeping the dime as a reminder of past mistakes. So my first coin sale didn't go very good, but I learned something and got the experience of actually offering something for sale. Having done this once, I would not be afraid to try again in the future if need be.

This evening I'm holding that little round case with the dime in it and it reminds me to be oh so careful of what I purchase. Just because they are pretty doesn't mean they're perfect. After that experience, I decided to go with slabbed coins for the most part. I still buy raw silver and nickel but never if I expect a return on my "investment". I do buy raw early copper, but I've read quite a bit, know what to look for and watch out for and who to usually buy from.

Well, what I thought would be a short journal entry turned out just as long as the others. Perhaps next week's entry will be more current "news", perhaps more anecdotal/soapbox speechifying - I can't wait to find out.