EagleRJO

A "poor investment" where you likely could have had better returns with more traditional investment vehicles, and hopefully an "enjoyment" for you which is really the point in my mind.

It all depends on personal preferences. Forget about labels and stickers, and go with what you like. I am partial to Morgan dollars so I would go with the 1885 (P) Morgan dollar even though it's a very common issue that is not worth very much.

I don't think it's really so much a negative aspect as that is a nice set of quarter eagles. It's just an unusual way to buy them, and with that kind of set I am assuming you picked them up for a good price. It just may take a little while to find the right buyer for the full set, or cost a little extra to have them re-holdered individually, when you sell them. And if you wait on re-holdering them until you have other coins to submit to NGC to minimize shipping and handling costs per coin, or have a local coin shop send them in for you as part of a bulk submittal, it shouldn't cost very much per coin to have that done.

I think low humidity is the most importantant factor. My coins are stored either in a safe deposit box (bank vaults are usually temperature and humidity controlled) for the more valuable ones, or in a home floor safe that is in an air conditioned space. And yes, I also store all my coins with silica packs in the albums or boxes as an additional protection measure. For very valuable coins, particularly for valuable copper coins that are more susceptible to environmental damage, you can also consider "Intercept Shield" storage boxes in a humidity controlled vault or area ... https://www.wizardcoinsupply.com/products/intercept-shield-boxes/

Proof coins are made with polished blanks and polished dies resulting in frosted design elements and mirrored fields, like the coin Sandon posted. See this NGC webpage about those ... https://www.ngccoin.com/news/article/7639/learn-grading-proof-types/ An old school way to get an indication if it is proof or prooflike that JPM posted a while ago is to hold a #2 pencil up to the coin and see if you can read the lettering in the fields. Agreed it's a nice coin, but I always hated the term "uncirculated circulation strike". Just seems like an oxymoron, and prefer uncirculated "business strike" as others have used even though it may not be technically correct.

I agree that's a good option, as coins that I have been following at auction sites like GC, HA or ebay that have a significant or very noticeable holder crack typically sell for a decent amount less than the same coins with intact holders. You can hold onto it until you also have some other coins to submit to NGC in order to save on shipping and handling. Just be sure to store in a controlled environment as the holder has been compromised, even though they are not air tight.

A 1925-1929 five (5) coin set of Indian Head gold quarter eagles is not a common set of gold coins, or one you would find in the NGC or PCG$ registry sets (example attached). It looks like something a particular dealer did as a marketing thing. It's a nice set of gold quarter eagles that I would also probably just hang onto, and maybe use that as a starting point for a complete 13 or 15 coin registry set, as there are individual NGC certification numbers for each coin. It may be a little difficult to sell all at once, as you would expect the average collector looking to buy gold quarter eagles would do that one at a time or look to fill in some missing years one at a time. Might be worthwhile to look into Re-holdering individual coins by NGC when it does come time to sell them.

Wow, a Lincoln Memorial cent that's almost 2,000 years old struck by time travelers ... that would be worth a fortune.

@NeverEnoughCoins09 the post by Coinbuf gives a good example of how you can easily look up past auctions of particular coins at the sites I mentioned. That one is from Great Collections ... GC Auction Archive for 1939 5C Rev of 40 FS [P.S. It is much easier to search sites like GC and HA by using the "Industry Number" or "PCGS Number" that can be found on PCGS CoinFacts (see attached example which is 894003 for the subject nickel). I don't know why NGC uses a different "Universal ID" which doesn't work for searching those sites.]

The simple answer is price guides are just that - a guide. They are usually based on averages of past auctions. Actual bids can vary considerably as you indicated depending on who is bidding at the time as others have indicated. In some cases there may not be enough past auctions to generate a guide price, in which case you can look up the results of past auctions at sites like Great Collections, Heritage Auctions, Sacks Bowers, and ebay. I do that anyway regardless of if there is a guide price or not. As noted coins are not a very good "investment" compared to other investments like stocks, bonds, funds, etc. And coin dealers generally do not just look for one particular coin, they try to buy popular coins at a good price by being patient and passing on anything they couldn't make a profit on. On the other hand collectors are looking for particular coins, not just ones they can make money on. Sometimes they can get them at a good price where they could make a little flipping it, but that's usually not the case.

Why would you bid on something if you had no idea what it was or what it was worth? Was it represented as being an error coin at the auction?

I think that is the one many agreed was not very appealing, so there shouldn't be any regrets. Go with your initial gut reaction as it's likely something you will hold for a while.

It could be a couple of different things. I would post cropped pics in focus to a new topic to get some feedback, instead of piggybacking onto another topic where that could confuse things.

Like you said there is not that many circulation strikes to begin with. But perhaps a one-a-year Indian head quarter eagle date set (13 coins), an "early date" 1908-1915 one-a-year Indian head quarter eagle date set (8 coins), or a late date 1925-1929 one-a-year set (5 coins).

Yup, a 1982-D Small Date Lincoln Cent. But I would bet the family ranch it's plated zinc that weighs roughly 2.50 grams. There were over 6 billion (yes with a "b") copper plated zinc small date and large date 1982-D cents struck that year since it was a transition year, with the circulated ones that are typically posted worth about 2 cents or less. And so far only two valuable small date copper 1982-D cents, so that's one-in-three billion odds. It really amazes me how many people it seems actively look for a (virtually-zero-rainbow-unicorn-better-odds-at-hitting-mega-lottery) rare small date copper 1982-D cent. But knock yourself out for those that know the chance of finding a rare one is virtually zero and enjoy looking anyway, and why I compiled the attached infographic to help with the search.

I agree it looks like it was sanded or scraped on something. It's called Post Mint Damage (PMD), and significantly damaged coins are sometimes referred to as "Parking Lot Coins". 😆 If I had actually found one in a parking lot like that it would be a good candidate for my short set called "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly".

It seems like you are very interested in coin errors and varieties from your recent posts, and like others I think your willingness to learn is refreshing. You will find many here happy to help with a good attitude like that. Keep in mind that errors and varieties generally have to be pretty substantial and clearly visible without magnification to have a shot at adding value. Some good sites to research errors and varieties are error-ref.com , VarietyVista.com, and NGC Variety Plus. Also see the following topic for some additional information, particularly the "Resources for Newer Collectors" link to another topic started by @Sandon towards the end of the first post ... https://boards.ngccoin.com/topic/428817-resources-for-new-collectors/ Keep in mind that generally (there are always exceptions) something cut into or incuse on a coin is likely damage (very common) or a struck-through (the outline of an object is visible, with no coin elements struck in that area), and a raised area is likely a die chip, die break or something added to the surface. Happy hunting! 😉

As Sandon indicated the coin has only minor "rim cuds" that don't really add value. It has to be a pretty substantial cud (like the attached) to add any value to the coin. See this error-ref.com webpage for more info on varous cuds, including rim cuds about 2/3 down the page ... https://www.error-ref.com/?s=Cud

I don't think you will find much on the history of the registry sets, like the NGC Registry - Gold Quarter Eagles, The registry sets are just suggestions on different ways to collect particular coins which are then approved to be added to the registry. You are probably better off finding information about the various coins in those registry sets, like doing some reading about Indian Head Gold Quarter Eagle coins. See this link for some good resourses on coins ... https://boards.ngccoin.com/topic/428817-resources-for-new-collectors/

I wouldn't bother weighing coins in slabs due to the unknown holder weight. They are not standardized with specified weights you can look up like specifications with tolerances for US mint coins. You are better off getting familiar with authentication and grading standards to then examine the coins that are in holders as a double check. The following topic has some good recourses and recommendations related to that as a good starting point ... https://boards.ngccoin.com/topic/430263-basic-resources-glossary-for-those-posting-questions/

Were you surprised by this?

Did you mean after 1964 (i.e. 1965 to present as noted by Sandon)?

I think @JKK knows a little about older coins like than.

Agreed that small die cracks, particularly like ones on the op's coin where you need a scope to clearly see it, typically don't add any value to the coin. It generally has to be an attributed variety, like from NGC VarietyPlus which includes the Top 100 Morgan VAMs, to even have a chance of adding value to a coin. Then look at price guides, like the NGC Price Guide for that variety to see if there is any added value. Sometimes it does add value, like those noted above that are significant. But collectors generally want to be able to see the die cracks or chips without needing a scope to see it, and possibly in a pattern like a 1891-CC VAM-3 "Spitting Eagle" Morgan. Also, the more popular or rare the coin is, the more an error will add to the value. Also, I would put the scope away while looking for errors or varieties that may add value, as it can be very misleading in terms of the magnitude of what you see on a coin. A scope should really only be used to confirm something you see without magnification, evaluating surface conditions (e.g. hairlines, whizzing, etc), and looking for die indicators to authenticate a coin or confirm a variety.

That's interesting that the coin was so severely damaged at a crack like that since the holders are not air tight. Possibly exposed to a moist environment at some point in time?