Woods020

I strongly agree. The 34 you posted is nice. If anything under graded, although the reverse isn’t as great as the obverse. The more I look at this one the lower my guess goes. I just noticed the right wing tip. Someone much sharper than I will nail it I’m sure.

Welcome to the forum. Did you have a question about the coin?

It’s not MS it doesn’t appear. Breast and hair show some wear. Curious to see where it graded out.

AU 55

Fair enough. Any other part of numismatics is far less work, doesn’t require a deep knowledge base, and is a much surer bet. You got me there.

Ask yourself this bubblebling: why is everyone telling me this is a bad idea? There are only a few possibilities. 1. it is simply a bad idea, and the members of this board are kind enough to tell you so. They don’t want you to lose money which will turn you away from the hobby, or screw others and turn them away when you sell. 2. The other members are dealers and don’t want competition. I can tell you this isn’t the case. Everyone who has given you this advice buys way way way more than they sell. If anything more good dealers would help them collect. 3. It’s a conspiracy and they have all had a side meeting and decided to screw with you by all saying don’t do it. Seems unlikely unless your hat of choice is made of tin foil. Seriously people are trying to protect you and the hobby. And I don’t think you realize the value of the advice and who it is coming from. I’m a nobody in this hobby, but you have unknowingly gotten advice from the some of the best. Literally some of them have written the book on the subject. Where else are you going to get free advice from the experts in a field and say no thanks?

This is not the point several are trying to get across. In fact someone rightly suggested a great way to get into the hobby and start leaning to examine and evaluate coins is by roll hunting. Go to your local bank and get rolls of quarters since they interest you. Go through them with a critical eye and start trying to determined condition, identify errors, etc. To do this it forces you to read (grading examples, variety vista, etc.) and learn what you are looking at. So no children learning to collect through pocket change is not risky and is a great idea. A child thinking they can buy and sell coins for a profit on day one with no experience is the bad idea.

Bubblebling, Of all the things you could open a store on eBay and sell, why coins? And I’m not badgering you I’m truly asking. 1. As many have pointed out the learning curve is enormously complex and takes years. I continue to be amazed at how technically complex some of this world can be. 2. On average, margins on coins aren’t that great. Yes you may occasionally find a steal and sell it for a nice profit, but those will be exceptions to the rule. In order to make low margin businesses like this worthwhile, you need to turn a lot of volume. $600 in startup capital won’t yield much. 3. It’s extremely risky as many very very experienced collectors have told you. Counterfeits, cleaned coins, and grossly inflated descriptions of coins are rampant online. If you are buying your inventory online the chance you are the sucker for some other “dealer” is much higher than you realize. High risk+Low margin+high barriers to successful entry = bad business decision You should consider another market or item to sell on eBay. If you insist on numismatics being your focus area your margin/risk balance would probably be better on collector supplies perhaps. Sell 2x2s, albums, etc. Just a thought

This is interesting. I learned something new. And I’m assuming the displacement of this liquid caused the die/planchet to shift as the liquid is displaced which leads to the strike doubling? I wasn’t aware they lubricated the dies. Is this a purposeful exercise to prevent deterioration or accidental as a result of leakage from oiling the machinery?

I’m currently dealing with getting my money back for a few counterfeit Morgan’s now that I purchased in September. If anyone has recently gotten burned, file a report against the person at the following agency as well as an internet crime. My financial agency requested I do this for their records as they clawed back the payment. I’m hopeful someone is reading these reports and taking action. New collectors have a tough road ahead of them as they learn some of these lessons. It’s extremely difficult to grow a hobby with this risk everywhere. https://www.ic3.gov/Home/FileComplaint

I’ve learned the very hard and expensive way early on in collecting, buying a raw Morgan on eBay is a very risky proposition. If you do want to take the risk examine the coin thoroughly with know examples when you receive. If possible take it to a competent dealer for their assessment within the return period as well.

Yeah something isn’t quite right here. The appearance screams fake with the grease smeared to look like aging. And the ad itself doesn’t help. I would definitely say buyer beware for these

This is amazingly generous of you. Count me in

PR-67

Ms 67 FB

Here is another MS 67+ FB Merc. I’m working on a PCGS registry set.

Generally coins sell below book value. As a general rule of thumb people usually say 80-85% of retail. My opinion is that you may do better parting them out from a dollar value, but you have to value your time as well. So the time to sell each individually vs a single sell as a set you will need to determine. I don’t think anyone will pay a premium yet may expect a slight discount when buying in bulk.

I don’t disagree. Like I said it was expensive tuition, but I did learn from it. We can’t all be lucky enough to buy loads and loads of Morgan’s for $30-$50 and they never grade less than MS64. Most of us mere mortals have more challenges with collecting than that.

I’ll sadly admit I wish my first big learning experience only cost me $500. When I first started I went in head and wallet first. I quickly amassed about 50 coins, mainly Morgan’s, that I bought believing they were BU, Gem, etc. as all the scrupulous sellers had stated. Many off eBay. I sent them all in, and was nauseated when I got the grades. I really thought I had some great stuff, but I think MS64 was the highest of the bunch. Atleast half were cleaned. 2 were counterfeit. BUT I’ll tell you while it was expensive tuition, I learned many lessons from it. It got me in gear to read more, submit less, and question everything.

Where exactly is the line between “preservation” and “cleaning”. Is any action taken to improve the appearance, such as silver in acetone, cleaning even though it does not alter the coin surfaces?

I am fairly new to collecting, and the first set of coins that I was ecstatic to send in for grading went to PCGS. I was convinced I was getting back top grades, and was nauseated to see what the grades turned out to be. I was like you, and felt it was complete and utter nonsense and PCGS had screwed me over. BUT in the last six months of taking much more time to learn the grading nuances, poring over tons of graded examples, etc. I can honestly say they are pretty darn spot on. Go figure the professionals knew more than I did? I’m not saying you are as inept at grading as I was, and admittedly probably still am, but there is a reason both PCGS and NGC are far and away the top of their field.

Slowly building my PCGS registry set of Mercs

What photo process distorts the staples in the 2x2 that way?