... or searching for that treasure in a sea of junk!

Coin Journal for the week of 03/18/2012 through 03/25/2012This week saw me with some extra time on my hands, which I put to use by searching every online auction to see what coins could be found. After looking through well over prolly 10k items, I found a few gems hiding amongst the plethora of grot. I also got a great look at the different ranges of terms and buyer premiums out there. I have a few favorites, and few that will never see me again. All in all it was a very educational experience.This weeks treasures are:2009 DCT Puerto Rico Silver in PF70UC1945 Walker (MS64)1930 Standing Liberty Quarter (AU58)1913 T1 Buffalo Nickel (MS64++)1864 (AU58)1883 Shield 5c (MS64)1886 Seated Dime (MS65)1949 D Franklin 1/2 (MS64)1937 Buffalo 5c (MS64)1945 Walker (MS64)1937 Buffalo 5c (MS64)1866 (MS61RB)1937 D Buffalo 5c (MS64)1951 S Franklin 1/2 (MS65)1943 D Walker (MS63)1914 D $2.5 Gold1909 $2.5 Gold1976 Mint Set1884 O Morgan 1885 O Morgan1972 $1 Ike Proof1896 Morgan in MS631883 O Morgan1884 O Morgan1970 Mint Set1963B Joseph Barr Dollars (x3)1963 Red Seal $5 billThe first coin was the only eBay coin I picked up... this one came at a fair price, and I want to complete a perfect proof set of the 09 DC and Territories this year.The next batch with the grades in parentheses are from an auction where bargains were abundant. I only wish I had more money to spend! Peace dollars were really going for way under what you would expect, as everyone seemed to want the Morgans. This is where I picked up that monster toned 1886 dime I displayed in an earlier journal. The pieces I grabbed were also really killer. I put the grades that they sold them as, but the prices were more like VF-XF and in some cases less. It was just a great auction. I feel that even if they grade a little less than listed, I still come out way ahead.The rest of the week saw some great deals. I managed to grab a couple more gold coins, especially the 14D, for really great prices. I'm eager to get these home and ship them off to NGC for grading... speaking of which...The results of my first batch of coins to NCS and NGC are in, and the coins arrived here this morning... wow! Here are the results:1899 Indian Head Cent in AU Details (Environmental Damage)1852 Large Cent in VF Details (Bent)1854 Large Cent in VF Details (Scratches)1818 Large Cent in Good Details (Env Damage)1850 Seated Dime in VF Details (Imp Cleaned)1841 Seated Dime in Fine Details (Imp Cleaned)I was a bit disappointed that all came back in Details, but I learned so much from the experience. I was spot on with all the grades I predicted, which makes me happy. It also gave me a better understanding of how to spot cleaned coins. The conservation of the coins came back with some mixed results.. all are free of the gook n gunk that was on them, and overall they look great. The 52 Cent is still very dark, but the 54 looks so much better. The 1899 IH cent I expected to be AU, since it was picked out from change in that year and put away. Too bad that it was not protected properly until many years later. Still, it looks nice, and it is now fully protected. Funny, that after the conservation, the two dimes have some gorgeous rainbow toning on the reverse... too bad someone screwed them up with cleaning.I will leave you with a quick picture of the 54 Cent... the before image would be a absolute soot black coin. You will find these in my Numismatic Geneaology custom set soon.Thanks for reading, and I will see you fellow coin warriors in the trenches!To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.